Modernization theory and Dependency theory Essay

Skidmore and Smith present two theories, Modernization theory and Dependency theory. Modernization theory is that positive material growth yields positive social equality. Dependency theory states that a dependent economy yields or brings social inequality, which in turn can lead to political authoritarianism. Skidmore and Smith state that dependency theory distorts modernizations predicted outcomes. Mercantilism is a form of dependency. The social, economic and political outcomes from Modernization seem positive. Socially, the transition from a rural to an urban society will bring a change in values. People would begin to participate in voluntary organizations which only an authentic democracy requires. A middle class would emerge to play a progressive and economic role in society. This theory shows that they weren’t different just behind. Skidmore and Smith’s modernization theory is used to describe the nature of development. The social, economic and political outcomes of a dependant economy are negative. Social inequality will appear and the different classes will become further and further apart. Economically Latin America would depend on foreign markets, which â€Å"during the 20’s a depression occurred.† Economically Latin America exported raw materials and imported finished goods. This leads to growth without development. Economic dependency leads to a political authoritarianism. The causative variable for these outcomes that Skidmore and Smith stated is economic dependency. There are two forms of economic dependency that Skidmore and Smith explain. They are mercantilism, the colonial period, and the ECLA thesis, post 1880 period. Mercantilism is a dictated economic policy that emerged during the colonial period. Mercantilism required colonies to produce raw materials for the mother country. The mother country would supply the colonies with finished products in return. This arrangement was geared toward the economic enrichment of the mother country at the expense of the colonies. The ECLA thesis developed by Presbish, it states that overtime the prices of finished products rise faster than the prices of  primary products, raw materials. The ECLA thesis explains the nature of dependency during the post-independent, 1880 period to the present.

Leadership Analysis

Running head: SCHOLARSHIP, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP Scholarship, Practice, and Leadership Essay Cory A. Muhammad University of Phoenix Education and Information Literacy In a US society where information literacy is considered a luxury and not a human right enables intellectual illiteracy limits to be pushed to the max. It’s a nightmare how some can be deceived and taken advantage of or even locked out of opportunities by those who demonstrate the use of information literacy. The desire for current and upcoming generations desiring access to information through text is becoming scarce. Researchers found that current and possible future generations would rather watch videos or tutorials instead of reading information found in text materials. â€Å"Experts suggested that they preferred to view information rather than read it, and so tended to choose information that was graphically represented rather than just text-based† (Venkatraman, 2009, p. 6). Today within the environment of education we are experiencing an increasing need for individuals to take interests in their own learning and exposure to information literacy for a variety of reasons: a) It gives learners the ability to become exposed to higher education and technology b) Enables learners to communicate (using technology) in an educational setting, and c) Prepares students to relate to the various generations of learners. In this essay I will discuss how information literacy relates to the scholar/practitioner/leadership model. Higher Education and Technology Anyone pursuing higher education will have to get use to the ideal of incorporating scholar practice of information literacy. As learners grow stronger in the use of information literacy, we can expose ourselves to higher educational opportunities such as Universities, trade colleges, skill centers, or career enhancement programs. Once an individual can be exposed to the various information located in most libraries all information retrieved completely enhances all researched subjects and allows for more profound subject content. In higher education information literacy plays a major role in the use of technology. Technology is an essential learning tool used amongst students and professionals today. Information illiteracy can lead to the mis-understanding and fear of technology. Information illiteracy can ultimately cause generational gaps in communication as-well. When one generation has not adequately prepared for the trend of another generation (generation X) vs. (Generation Y), this is a clear indication of information illiteracy. The new generation communicates in an integrated way, leveraging the technology that’s available. However libraries and other information providers â€Å"have fundamental problems in adapting†, â€Å"They're not keeping up with the demand of these researchers, who live in the wider internet space,† (Venkatraman, 2009, p. 6). Education and Communication Using Technology Computer literacy, Internet literacy, e-mail functionality, search engine and database li teracy are a few amongst a huge arena of technology functions in our ever changing world we live in. Information literacy allows learners the opportunity to become literate in the world of technology and the use of wonderful tools to gain better performance in processing day to day tasks. The flipside to this same coin is information illiteracy prevents people from knowing about the reality of technology and its benefit. Information literacy ultimately improves the learner’s quality of life as they are being exposed to superior methods of functioning, as well as make themselves marketable from possessing education. â€Å"Most are not even aware of the potential help that is available to them. Libraries, which provide the best access point to information for most U. S. citizens, are left untapped by those who most need help to improve their quality of life† (â€Å"Association of College & Research Libraries,† 1989). Communication Channels to Transcend Generations Information literacy ensures opportunity for open communication channels between different generations of learners, or leadership teams. Adequate communications through information literacy develops leadership amongst the educational atmosphere. The one who has the ability to relate to the various generations can easily emerge from the groups as a leader. Learning and professional environments benefit a great deal when an open line of communications exists between generations incorporating, wisdom, knowledge, desire, energy, and perspective. Information literacy allows for generations to be aware of each others benefit, but also rely on each other for constant innovation and progress. Information illiteracy will only promote detraction from any information or understanding of various generations and a low desire for people to pursue higher education. â€Å"There is a danger of a new elite developing in our country: the information elite† (Venkatraman, 2009, p. 6). Information literacy on the other hand, promotes the desire of individuals to continue to pursuing knowledge, and learning. In conclusion, the articles researched on information literacy revealed the current condition in our country regarding information illiteracy. Grades K-12, secondary, post secondary, graduate and even doctoral learning suffers from information il literacy. Students not engaging in intense research fail to use credible sources that handicap their ability to broaden their knowledge on specific subject matter. Students’ abilities to incorporate diverse forms of information literacy will enhance their educational experience and make it a more lifelong and fulfilling learning experience. By restructuring the learning process learners can develop skills to become practitioners of information literacy. Information literacy helps set up various frameworks for individuals to resolve moral dilemmas. The continued development of information literacy models could provide students and professionals within organizations the relatable life skills required for the scholar/practitioner/leadership model. References: Association of College & Research Libraries. (1989). Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report. Retrieved from http://news. ala. org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential. cfm#opp. on June 7, 2009. Lauer, S. , & Yodanis, C. (2004, July). The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP): A Tool for Teaching with an International Perspective. Teaching Sociology, 32(3), 304-313. Retrieved June 7, 2009, from SocINDEX with Full Text database. Venkatraman, A. (2009,

Why I Choose a Career of Medical Transcripionist

There is a wide range of job opportunities available to practically anyone in the US. One particular occupation is a Medical Transcriptionist, a career I have been inspired to strive for. There are a number of reasons why I desire to become a Medical Transcriptionist. One reason is that I spend a large amount of time in front of the computer. I continue to maintain a 70-80 WPM typing, and I would honestly love to gain money from typing. I also would like to contribute to making sure medical processes go smoothly by creating concise, clear documents. My friend recommended medical transcription to me, and I began to research it. I wanted to pursue a Medical Transcription certificate or degree to increase my chances to get some sort of transcriptionist or clerical job. The most beneficial advantage for working as a MT is the flexible hours and availability to work anywhere, like at home. Although that may be the largest advantage to most, there is a reason for me to be able to work at home. As my spouse in IT job, most of the time we are travelling from one city to another. Due to this frequent travels and switching of places I am not able to concentrate on my job. Also I have my children to look after and concentrate and also I want to be a support for my husband so that we can take acre of the loans and other needs of the family in a more efficient way. Also we are living here in another country far away from ours and we are not able to frequently visit our family back there due to financial constraints. With this flexibility, I will be able to afford money and time to visit them. Penn Foster is a great MT course choice for many different reasons. I have searched long and wide for medical transcription schools and found many, including US Career Institute, Allied Medical School, and Career Step, all of which ranges from $1200-$1800! The cheap pricing (and high quality) of Penn Foster is a great motivation to consider this class over others. In addition, the courses will give me a great overview to how each medical practice works, allowing documents to be written smoothly. In addition, Penn Foster allows me to take the course at my own pace and also in the comfort of my home. This educational program also offers services to student. I feel like I have confidence that I can do my best with Penn Foster by my side. In the future, I hope to achieve the MT education needed to be granted a job as a transcriptionist. I believe taking this class will give me a much better understanding with medical disciplines and the works. Penn Foster really seems like the best opportunity I can pursue to achieve that job placement!

Systems Project Management Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Systems Project Management Approach - Essay Example It happens separate from business as usual and the management of projects is normally separate. Project management therefore requires the managers and their teams to develop distinct technical skills and management strategies (Project management institute, 2000). Some of the main challenges include scope, time, quality and budget. While other ones that can come in secondary include optimizing the allocation of necessary inputs and integrates them to meet the objectives (Wheeler, 2000). Organizational Situation The project in question is called Versace. It involves 9 Customer requests. The project is for a global brand management company which has customers located all over the world. Flow of work in the company is illustrated in Figure 3. Customer contacts Administrator by email or phone requesting label design to be created. Then Administrator summarizes Customer request and then passes over to an Artist. After Artist created label design he then passes over the design to Quality Co ntrol Department who evaluates the label design and checks if Customer brief been followed. If Artist made a mistake then QD (Quality Department) sends label back to an Artist to get it amended and if label is correct then it is being transferred back to Administrator. Administrator then checks the design to make sure it is correct and if it is wrong she then sends it back to Artist and if it is correct then she adds costs and sends design over to Customer. After Customer received the design he then evaluates and checks if brief been followed. For this project as many other projects within the company Right First Time (RFT) is very low as customer majority of times adds additional request and workflow is being repeated as many times as customer sends additional changes. It is important to note that each project for each action has set timelines as per below Figure 1 however customer demands for designs to be delivered quicker then set deadlines. Figure 1 - Set Action Timelines 1st A ction (A) 3 Days 2nd Action (B) 2 Days 3rd Action (C) 2 Days 4th Action (D) 2 Days 5th Action (E) 2 Days Figure 2 reflects actual times each action taken for specific number of label designs- Versace. Figure 2 Action Number of Labels Days taken to complete Right First Time % A 1 3 11.1% B 2 4 22.2% C 4 5 44.4% D 1 6 11.1% E 1 7 11.1% Figure 3 - Flow of Work - Versace Systems Project Management Approach The lean systems management approach was chosen due to the fact that lean system methodology regards to project management that all tasks need to serve the purpose of the customer as efficiently as possible (Atkinson, 2006). As outlined above all tasks for the project are in place to serve customer request. Critical discussion on why lean system project management was used Versace project can be described as dynamic and unpredictable as customer requested for extra changes to be done and demanded for timelines to be reduced for actions B/C/D/E. This was not foreseen prior project star ting (Leach, 2005). This therefore increased the duration of the project which affects interaction between activities and resources in ways that are not considered in the traditional methods of project management (Koskela, 2002). The reduction of time for the project actions therefore

Software Process Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Software Process Models - Essay Example The products are usually distributed through physical outlets in the market as well as through the Internet. Additionally, electronic outlets, product-line retailers, software partners and big technology retailers also serve consumers with the company’s goods. The company also boasts effective consultancy services relative to its products. The spiral methodology blends the design of prototyping with the structured, refined qualities of the waterfall methodology (Kan, 2003). The development of the spiral model is premised upon a refinement of the application on a bit-by-bit basis as the spiral grows. The methodology also clearly encompasses risk management measures within software engineering. The approach recognizes major risks at various stages of implementation such as the practical and supervisory aspects, and explores ways in which the risks can be reduced. These measures keep the software engineering work better and more controlled. The spiral methodology is premised on continuous polishing of the main products in order to ensure that the product meets the market standards including the system and design of the application as well as the code developed for use (GeambaÅŸu, Jianu, Jianu, & GavrilÄÆ', 2011). Notably, at each stage around the spiral, the software is an improvement of a prior product. The spiral mo del shares most development phases with the waterfall model, with the main differences involving planning, evaluation of risks, and the development of models and simulations. Software developed through this methodology solves the problem of haphazard production of documents, which otherwise would not reflect the important details at a given stage in the engineering process. Like the application they describe, the documents are representative of the all the key stages of development (Kan, 2003). The concept is to guarantee a

Tourism policy paper -crowding management in tourism Research

Tourism policy -crowding management in tourism - Research Paper Example Crowd management, as the name implies, is defined as management of the crowd, where management includes but is not limited to planning, accommodation, and administration of the crowd in a particular setting. Safety and well-being of the tourists is the matter of prime concern in any kind of tourism service. Crowd management is intrinsically about ensuring the delivery of best service to the tourists. Inadequate crowd management in tourism causes loss of profitability of the tourism business in addition to more severe consequences including loss of life and property. Inappropriate crowd management incurs bad reputation to the organizers in the market and tourists’ confidence in them is shattered. This reduces their client base, affects the profitability of business, and many legal implications have to be faced (Rahmat, 2009). A potential reason of inadequate crowd management is poor estimation of the size and needs of the crowd in a particular location. Poor estimation and scheduling is often an outcome of lack of experience. Rahmat, NB 2009, The relationship of crowd management strategies and safety performance among sport tourism event venue organisers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Universiti Teknologi Mara, [Online] Available at http://eprints.uitm.edu.my/5722/1/NORAZLINA%20BT.RAHMAT%2009_24.pdf [accessed: 7 May

The death of the moth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The death of the moth - Essay Example The essay is also an excellent picture of the struggle endured by living creatures for their mortality. Each creature has its own views and goals in life even in the case of the day moth which the author describes as not being somber like other moths or gay that the butterfly. The setting of the story is in September and from the being the author attempts to install sympathy for the moth from the readers’ perspective for the misplaced moth. The author personifies the creature and further shows potential joys that the moth could endure in the morning and the joys enjoyed by other species, with only the life of the moth lacking any fruitfulness. At the end, despite all the struggles experienced by the moth, the final one is one that is uniform among all creatures and the author boils all the moth’s experiences to a bead of life. Even at the end, when there seemed to be no hope, the moth fought to remain alive in its presumably insignificant

Managment-- managing change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managment-- managing change - Essay Example The chosen company is a ship broking company that acts as the intermediate source between the ship owners and clients who want to transport their goods by means of ships. The clients present their requirement of the delivery time and the amount of dry commodities that are required to be transported. The sales executives of the chosen company browse through their database of ship owners whose service attributes and routes comply with the requirements of the client. The status of the shipment orders are tracked by the shipment tracking department until the orders reach their destinations. An interview was scheduled with the management executive who headed the technological change in the company. The analysis of the company’s transition towards technological infrastructure gave useful information about the strategies that are adopted in the real world. Journal papers, articles and organizational reports were also studied for the theoretical information about the respective topic. 2. Drivers of Change According to the information provided by the executive, the drivers of the change in the company can be categorized into two types; internal and external. 2.1 Internal Drivers The sales executives had to access the database of the ship owners whenever a shipment request was received from a client. It involved excessive traversals through the database and extensive calculations of several factors such as shortest route, cost effective route and rates of the routes. Such processing consumed lot of time of the sales executives, due to which they could not cater all the requests from the clients. Denial of service to clients often led to more business for the competitors. The calculation of the routes and costs was not always error-free since it involved manual processing. The shipment tracking department did not have a reliable system to track the status of the orders. Another aspect that led to the technological intervention in the company, involved the lack of a ny software application or tool to evaluate the performance of the company. The top management had to rely on the reports that were generated by the respective departments; these reports were manually made after the accumulation of figures for generated revenues, losses etc. The technological change had been a part of the company’s long term goals but never materialized since the top management was not totally committed to the cause. An organizational change cannot prove to be productive for the company if the support of the top management is not present (Joanne 2002). When the external, as well as internal factors accumulated, the top management decided to fully commit to the technological change in the company. 2.2 External Drivers Other companies in the ship broking industry had started to focus on the technological integration in their companies. The market positions of the competitors started improving since they were able to cater to more clients and earn more profits d ue to their organizational change. Clients of the modern times even prefer technological processes and operations since they are error free and fast-paced. External changes play a vital role in signaling the need for changes in the internal processes of the organization (Mackenzie n.d.). 3. Perspectives of Change Three systems were planned to be deployed in the organization. The relevance

Does flexibility in location and time affect behavior towards work Research Paper

Does flexibility in location and time affect behavior towards work - Research Paper Example The researcher clearly identifies the research problem before working on the research. He clearly states the problem and links the problem to the current way of doing things. In the title, â€Å"New ways of working: does flexibility in time and location of work change work behavior and affect business outcomes?† the researcher has here clearly indicated, using this title, that he intends to identify, if any, how flexibility in time and location of work changes the work behavior and affect business outcomes. Further, in the abstract, the researcher explains what he means by business outcomes, where he identifies business outcomes to be the productivity of a business. It is important to note that his identification of what business outcomes means breaks would be ambiguity in the statement and makes it easier for the reader to follow on the purpose of the research. Therefore, the question that lingers is whether it is easy to determine what the researcher intends research? Yes it is. The researcher intends to find out how the â€Å"New Ways of Working† which bring about the flexibility in the time and location of work affects the productivity of a business and the impacts it has on the work behavior. (Strauss, Kochan, & Ichnowiski, 2000) Literature Review The author has not literature review section, which in my view weakens the credibility of the research. Having literature review works to give legitimacy to what one is studying and connects it to previously done works. Such a connection would enable readers of the research document to figure out what previous researchers have suggested in their findings regarding a similar topic or a related one. With nothing to compare the research with or to derive scientific knowledge from this puts dents on the findings of this research because of the lack of a benchmark. That having been said, the researcher tried to use others findings in his references and in text citations e.g. â€Å"The Telework Trendlines 2009 [7] reported that the number of U.S. employees who worked remotely at least one day per month increased 39% in two years from approximately 12.4 million in 2006 to 17.2 million in 2008.† Though this is worth mentioning, it cannot be used to replace the literature review sectio n (Merle, Schelvis, Groenesteijn, & Vink, 2012). Objective and hypothesis When it comes to the identification of the objectives and the hypotheses of the research, the researcher did a good job since it is very clear from the beginning what the research intends to achieve. The research question is â€Å"does flexibility in time and location of work change work behavior and affect business outcomes?† which is clear in the tile of the research and severally repeated throughout the research document. The hypothesis of the research has not been clearly stated though was indirectly alluded. â€Å"Expectations of these measures are often high, such as a reduction in operating costs and an increase of productivity.† Here the researcher is trying to give the general expectations of the research though he is not clearly stating what the hypothesis is. Ordinarily, the researcher would be expected to identify the research hypothesis

Illinois v. Wardlow 528 U.S.119 (Case law) Research Paper

Illinois v. Wardlow 528 U.S.119 (Case law) - Research Paper Example They found a handgun from him and later o arrest him for further enquiry. When the case was presented in the Illinois Trial court, Wardlaw’s motion in that area was denied to suppress by the court and they also gave the judgment as the gun was found during a legal stop and search operation. But state Appellate Court reverse the decision stating that there was not enough evidence of doubt for Nolan to stop and search Wardlaw. Latter on Supreme Court stated the fact that sudden movement or flight in a high crime zone could not be a reason to suspect and stop-search an individual as the movement can be treated like â€Å"right to go on one’s way†. But as the suspect tried to flight from the place therefore the further investigation can be carry on. (Legal Information Institute, 2000). The Fourth Amendment of US law did support the action of the police office. According to Ferguson & Bernache (2008), under the guidelines of the Supreme Court, lower court while giving any decision can consider an area as high crime area as a factor to review the reasonableness of Fourth Amendment stop. But the definition of high crime area was not mentioned by the highest court, and therefore a lot of controversies were there during Illinois v Wardlaw case. After this incident, the need of defining high crime area was understood. According to them, high crime area could be defined based on three different parameters, such as: the area have to be marked by high degree of particularized criminal activities, the geographical boundary of that area have to be specified and thirdly the assigned police officer adjacent to that specific area should have knowledge about the boundary of the high crime area (Ferguson & Bernach, 2008, p.1586). According to Amar (1994), the Fourth amendment always calls for warrants and probable cause for any kind of police searches and exclusion of vehicle obtained illegally from any individual or group of people† (Amar, 1994, p.757). Carmen and Walker(2011), in their writing presented this case with analysis as how the fourth amendment was imposed on Wardlaw by the two police officer and whether it was justifiable or not. According to the

One Night Stands and Regret Essay Example for Free

One Night Stands and Regret Essay Sex is considered a taboo up until we become college students. We have people whom want to remain chaste until marriage, we have people whom want to have experimental encounters with as many people as they can in college, and then there are people whom would only consider having sexual relations with their significant other. College parties are wild and it is guaranteed that at least 5 couples will end up hooking up at the end of the night. Most hook ups becomes one-night stands. If we were to ask those individuals if they regret their past encounters many would say yes because drugs or alcohol were involved. Drugs and and alcohol play an important role in sex. It is more likely for an intoxicated person to engage in sexual encounters than a sober person. In the magazine Psychology Today, there is an article called â€Å"If I Could do it All Over Again† that talks about the half-life of sex. In this article we are informed with statistics of men and women whom admit as to why they regret their past encounters. The article also explains scenarios of cases where sexual encounters break relationships and marriages. The biggest questioned raised by Matt Huston in his article is â€Å"When it comes to sexual misadventures, why do we feel so wrong about that which, in the heat of the moment, felt so right?† (Huston 39). Huston suggests that people feel thrill when having encounters rather than casual sex. What is there to regret of sex? Women who lose their virginity in a sexual encounter regret it because they feel like they lost their pureness to the wrong man. Women also regret having sexual encounters because they feel like they moved too fast to jump into sex. Men have other type of regrets. There are men who regret no jumping into bed and having sex with a random person. There are men who regret not being more sexually active in their youth. On a survey done to men and women, 55% of men regret not having sexual encounters. 48% of men regret not being sexually active at a young age. 43% of women regret moving too fast and jumping into sex. 41% of women regret  losing their virginity to the wrong person. Both men and women regret things differently. Women regret most of their past sexual encounters while men regret not having more sexual encounters. A very interesting study done in the Journal of Sex research, finds that regardless of sex, both genders that engage in sex with relative strangers may actually be more anxious and depressed. Another impactful statistic is that more than 70% of â€Å"college students who’d had a one-night stand had also experienced sexual regret† (39). This magazine article is very informative. It really doesn’t persuade people not to have sexual encounters; it just informs us about the people who regret sexual encounters. The magazine’s job is to inform us of a topic that really isn’t talked about on a daily basis. One can say that this magazine is sending out a subliminal message, which is to think before we engage in sexual encounters. The magazine believes that this generation has changed the idea of sex and has created a new a separate type of sex called sexual encounters. It also shows how many of these people show regret for past encounters. While shopping at Target I looked around and saw the books and magazines sections. I decided to buy a National Geographic magazine. The cover had an interesting hook; it basically said that Aliens weren’t far from earth. I bought the magazine and read the article, however, it didnt finish the article when I decided to return the magazine to the store. The article was very boring, the language wasnt clear to understand, and the text became boring the further I read. I went back to Target and looked around for another magazine and I decided to look at Psychology Today. My initial article to write my essay was on â€Å"Daydreams† and how those fantasies affect our futures. As I flipped through the magazine I came across the topic of sex. I read the title and I felt a relation to that topic. We’re college students and we know people whom participate in sexual encounters. Sexual encounters are something that is incredibly popular in college and especially at parties and clubs. It is interesting to know how both men and women feel after sexual encounters. Before I read this article I had no opinion on sexual encounters. I have a few friends whom participate in this type of acts. I always tell them to use protection and avoid stupid mistakes. I dont judge people, everyone makes mistakes and many of us keep making mistakes. After I read this article it hit me. I used to believe that when someone engages in sexual encounters they aren’t sensitive and dont have emotional feelings. But this magazine proved me wrong. Men and women do feel regret; their regret differs but they still feel regret based on a sexual encounter. I dont regret reading this article because it really caught my attention. I scanned the article and emailed it to some of my friends. I was really amazed with the research that explained that most of the people who participate in sexual encounters are anxious and depressed. It is rude to ask personal questions to people but I’d be very interested in knowing if they are anxious or depressed. If I ever feel the necessity of participating in a sexual encounter I will think back to this article and analyze the moment. Drugs and alcohol are not our friends and intoxication can make us do things we wouldnt do when sober. I would also think of the statistics of people whom regret the sexual encounters. This article has made me realize that there is a negative effect on sexual encounters, there is more to than just sex. Sex involves feelings. I think that every college student should read this article. Many people could prevent feeling regretful if they read an interesting article like this one. Works Cited Huston, Matt. If I Could Do It All Over Again. Psychology Today 1 Mar. 2014: 37-39. Print.

Standardized Testing Essay Example for Free

Standardized Testing Essay Are you one of the many students who cram in hours upon hours of studying the night before an exam that has been stressing you out all week? You wake up the next morning nervous and full of anxiety, just to take the same test as everyone else, under the same conditions as everyone else. Sounds fair right? Well I don’t believe it is, and here’s why. Standardized tests were made to test the knowledge of a student over a particular course or subject. The ACT and SAT, for example, are composed of four multiple choice sections usually including math, english, science and reading. Well here’s the funny thing, everyone is different. Some students thrive at written tests where some students fail. Some students are better at presentations where other students are not. Because of the differences in student’s ability to learn and retain information caused by many different teaching methods and criteria covered, standardized testing has become an unreliable way to measure a student’s knowledge and should be replaced by other means such as using e-portfolios or performance based assessment. Some of the main problems with standardized tests such as the ACT or the SAT include trying to accurately measure a students knowledge over a particular set of subjects and a phenomenon involving teachers called â€Å"teaching the test†. In a 2013 speech to the American Educational Research Association, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said â€Å"State assessments in mathematics and English often fail to capture the full spectrum of what students know and can do,† he said. â€Å"Students, parents, and educators know there is much more to a sound education than picking the right answer on a multiple-choice question† (Evans). I completely agree with Arne Duncan on this matter. On a typical standardized test you have about a twenty five percent chance of getting the answer right. Potentially, you could have a student who does not know the material at all, but could guess right on more than half the answers and get credit for it. Being a student who has taken the ACT more than once, I can honestly say I feel like the ACT was a poor representation of my knowledge over the subjects tested on. Now with the phenomenon called â€Å"teaching the test† which is where teachers center their curricula around state tests, students become subject only to material that will be found on the test. This not only causes teachers to lack creativity within the teaching of the course, but also causes students to become limited to learning test taking skills. Even though standardized testing can be harmful to student’s creativity, there are some alternatives to this problem. One alternative to standardized testing, relating to the SAT and ACT, would be the use of electronic portfolios or e-portfolios. Terrel Rhodes, vice president for quality, curriculum, and assessment at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC;U) says that â€Å"E-portfolios provide a means for collecting assigned work, as well as students accomplishments in non-classroom settings, so that faculty, internship supervisors, and others can assess it and aggregate or disaggregate the results, depending on the purposes of the assessment† (1). Basically e-portfolios would be a collection of student’s individual work throughout the year, organized into a folder that the teacher would have access to at all times. This folder would help the teacher view how each and every student learns and give an overview on how much each student took away from the course, what not to teach in the following years and what to cover more heavily. This alternative is more effective and personal than a standardized multiple choice test because it gives the teacher a chance to personally view how each individual student is progressing throughout the year. In terms of college admissions, if your portfolio was shared with the colleges of your choice, it would allow college admissions to see your progress throughout the year. So instead of just seeing an ACT test score that a student could have potentially guessed on for more than half the answers, they would be able to see a portfolio showing how well equipped and prepared for college the student is. It would be a great way of telling if the student would be a good fit for their program or not. Given the knowledge at hand, I believe e-portfolios would be a great alternative to standardized testing. Another alternative to standardized testing is performance based assessment. â€Å"Performance assessments measure skills such as the ability to integrate knowledge across disciplines, contribute to the work of a group, and develop a plan of action when confronted with a new situation† (Brudali). This differs from standardized testing in the fact that teachers focus more on the process of learning, where standardized testing focuses on the product. Instead of using tests that are multiple choice that require a student to choose the one correct answer, performance based assessment often times uses group projects, hands-on projects, essays and verbal presentations to determine a student’s knowledge and skills over a particular set of subjects. Another advantage to performance assessment is that â€Å"Performance assessments provide teachers with more information about the learning needs of their students and enable them to modify their methods to meet these needs† (Wren). Teachers actually try to assess each and every students learning process and direct the class accordingly, letting students take away more from lectures. Having this type of assessment in high school would benefit students tremendously in college. Having experience with verbal presentations and hands on projects will provide the student a head start with skills you need for college. These skills would be used for interviews, group projects in labs and speeches given throughout the years. Performance based assessment would tremendously benefit and prepare students for college and would be a great alternative to standardized testing. Knowing that there are already proven solutions to standardized testing, let me ask you why you are still taking them? Studies have clearly proven that standardized testing is an inaccurate and unreliable way to display the knowledge of students. Not only that, studies have also proven that different methods such as e-portfolios and the performance based assessments are a more accurate and effective way of displaying a students knowledge over various subjects. So why don’t you take initiative? Join a club like student council, a club where you have a say with what goes on with your school and the decisions being made. Start a petition against standardized testing and let students get involved. Not only that, let your community get involved. Tell your family and friends about the disadvantages of standardized testing and its inability to measure students’ knowledge. There are many ways you can get involved in your school and community to have a say in the decisions being made with problems such as standardized testing. All you have to do is take initiative and act upon it. With all the knowledge at hand, I truly believe standardized testing is a terrible way to reflect a student’s knowledge and there are many alternatives that can be provided in place of it.

Globalization Has Rendered The State Powerless Politics Essay

Globalization Has Rendered The State Powerless Politics Essay Globalization is an accelerated global interconnectedness (Held et al., 1999). There are different descriptions of globalization and its impact on the state, generally dependent on the understanding of what the terms imply. The state can be defined as the sovereign authority in a specified territory, with the right to use force both to maintain internal order and to defend its territory against aggression (Lechner and Boli, 2008: 219). As national borders became more fluid, Finer (1999:79) determined that a state should be judged based on defence, internal law and order, law-making and taxation, public works and welfare, rights and citizenship. When any of these characteristics are threatened, the power of the state can be seen as diminished. The World Bank (quoted in CLMS, M5 U1: 2) defines globalization as an inevitable phenomenon in human history thats been bringing the world closer through the exchange of goods and products, information, knowledge and culture. Alternatively, glob alization can be considered a choice to encourage and benefit from the growing interdependence between states in their economic, social, cultural, technological and political agendas (Weiss, 1997). Some perceive it as domination by multinational corporations influencing peoples preferences as well as the national and global economy (Reinicke, 1998). This can reduce the authority of the state allowing greater conflict and unchecked corporate power. Others contend that globalization makes the state stronger by creating opportunities for prosperity, democracy and equality (The United Nations, 2001). The various perspectives determine how people view the relationship between globalization and the state (CLMS, M5 U1). Globalization challenges national sovereignty with rising international trade, capital flows and foreign direct investment (Pinder, 2011). Faster innovation, new technology, better communication and increasing deregulation give transnational corporations a wider array of options for production and distribution (Carayannis et al., 2012). Globalization enables international collaboration by allowing companies, organizations and individuals to voice their agenda without the involvement of the state (Mackay, 2004). According to Reinicke (1998), nation-states can choose how to respond to these developments. They can use market ideology to determine their international policies and provide the most favorable environment for business and investment. They can work with neighboring nations in order to standardize polices in a region like the European Union (Weiss, 1998). Some states advocate nationalism to protect their interests. Dominant forces like the United States, China and G8 can use t heir power to influence global policy to their advantage (Carayannis et al., 2012). However, there are also states that seek to democratize global governance (McGrew, 2004). We will consider three general schools of thought with regards to the impact of globalization on the state. Internationalists believe that the effects of globalization are greatly exaggerated and that the state has remained strong (Dunning, 1999), while globalists see globalization as the end of the nation state citing the fact that external developments influence national events and that territory is now irrelevant (Ohmae, 1995). Transformationalists posit that the nation state will not disappear completely but will alter the manner in which it functions in order to adapt to the changes wrought by globalization (Held et al., 1999). In this essay we will examine different aspects of globalization from a globalist, internationalist and transformationalist perspective and will see that while globalization has changed the structure of the state making it more flexible, the state still retains significant power. Globalists view globalization as an inevitable process immune to human interference and political entities like nation states (Ohmae, 1995). Pessimistic globalists consider the displacing of local culture in favor of more dominant cultures like those of America, Europe or Japan to be cultural imperialism (Mackay, 2004). They believe that immigration without assimilation is also undermining national culture (Hirst et al, 2009). A report from the Pew Hispanic Center says that about 51% of Hispanics in the United States of America (USA) identify themselves with their familys country of origin while about 21% identify themselves as American (Taylor, et al., 2012). Additionally, contemporary culture is driven by corporations. People have more in common with those they are connected with through technology across the world (Ohmae, 1995). For example, globalists see the international computer game community as one connected by a global product like Sony Playstation or Xbox irrespective of n ation state (Goggin, 2008). Media is no longer constrained by jurisdictional borders. This reduces the ability of local government to enforce their policies on culture or morality (Hirst et al, 2009). Technology has strengthened the flow of information and conversation that bypasses government control (Mackay, 2004). An open global forum can help people rise up against injustice or dictatorial governments or give the disadvantaged a more equal footing in todays free market (Cochrane and Pain, 2004). The infrastructures created by the internet and new technology help globalize services and manufacturing thereby shaking a critical foundation of a nation state which is territory (Mackay, 2004). The role of the state is being usurped more often by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that respond to social needs on an international scale more effectively than the government. We see NGOs and the global civil society focus on issues like human rights, gender and wealth equality and environmental protection (McGrew, 2004). For example, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was established by NGOs and several companies to solve the problem of deforestation after government efforts failed (IISD, 2002). Additionally, the number of private security firms is increasing in proportion to the rising population, immigration and urban insecurity (McGrew, 2004). More people are employed by the private security industry in the United Kingdom than by their uniformed police force (Kobrin, 1999: 178). The nation state also does not have the authority to police international crime effectively. Privatizing parts of its administration and allowing supranational organizations to use its armed forc es are further examples of how the state is sharing its responsibilities (Hirst et al, 2009). Therefore, the states internal sovereignty, legitimacy as well as their enforcement and regulatory capabilities are vulnerable (Reinicke,1998). States may be seen to have lost their ability to govern themselves due to the influence of multinational corporations, organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the increasingly global market that limits the negotiating capability of individual states (CLMS, M5 U1). The WTO deals with global trade policies and this reduces some of the power that nation states have to influence trade through tariffs, subsidies, or other means. The European Union also promotes its own monetary and regulatory policies (Weiss, 1998). The legislation of member countries needs to reflect the principles of the supranational organization (Carayannis et al., 2012). While the purpose of these agreements is to limit a governments ability to adversely affect other countries, it does entail a loss of some national sovereignty (Pinder, 2011). Intervention by the IMF or the United Nations on an economic or military front can undermine a nations credibility, thus weakening its security and independence (McGrew, 2004). States are being pressured to support local interests and organizations in the face of global encroachment and challenges. They are also being encouraged by the international community to collaborate or comply with international mandates (Pinder, 2011). Several policies, like those regarding taxation or investment, are influenced by or have a significant impact on other countries (Carayannis et al., 2012). For example, according to a report issued by the IMF in 2001, the European Commission spends 2.7 billion euro a year to help European farmers profit from making sugar while imposing high tariffs to prevent low-cost imports of tropical sugar (IMF, 2001). Therefore, some policies and their consequences are not entirely in the states control (CLMS, M5 U1). Factors like transnational companies, outsourcing and division of labour diminish the states ability to enforce their regulations and laws in fear of investments and industry leaving the country (Ohmae, 1995). The international fina ncial market is a decisive factor in the economic policies of national government. The emphasis is on deregulation, dismantling the welfare state and reducing government involvement in the provision of goods and services. However, this could result in unfavorable environmental, worker and welfare policies (Pinder, 2011). Private companies like Moodys and Standard Poors wield tremendous power in evaluating a nations credibility and ability to repay its debts. Their credit assessment determines a nations access to capital and interest rates and is dependent on the health of that nations government (Hirst et al, 2009). Transnational organizations like IBM, Coco-Cola or Microsoft draw income from the host state as well as control some of its resources (Ohmae, 1995). Sourcing, processing, manufacturing, research and development, various administrative tasks and even management can all take place in different parts of the world resulting in a larger difference between political and economic borders and a decreasing importance of individual nations policies (Pinder, 2011). Ohmae (cited in CLMS, M5 U1) sees the lessened role of the state as a way to ensure that people can get the best the world has to offer and not be constrained by a government trying to protect certain industries or groups of people. Governments are finding it more difficult to implement policies that will allow for fairer redistribution of income and improve the quality of life of its citizens (Dunning, 1999). More countries are considering a flattened tax rate instead of a progressive system. By 2008, 24 nations including Russia, Hongkong and several Central and Eastern European nations had adopted a version of the flat tax (CFP, 2008). The growing number of multinational corporations (MNCs) and tax havens makes it easier for companies to shift funds across borders and more difficult for states to determine exactly where profits are made (Carayannis et al., 2012). The globalists conclude that all the essential functions of a nation state are negatively affected by globalization. In a borderless world, where deregulation is encouraged and the corporate agenda is dominant, states can no longer wield the authority they once had (Ohmae, 1995). MNCs, supranational organizations, NGOs and even subnational entities are usurping the roles of the state. When states cannot act independently to solve their domestic problems whether in regards to policy or even internal security, there is a definite lack of sovereignty (McGrew, 2004). On the other hand, internationalists and transformationalists firmly believe that the state has an important role despite globalization (Cochrane and Pain, 2004). Internationalists view the concerns of cultural imperialism as underestimating the local human dynamic (Mackay, 2004). For example, while gaming technology itself has spread worldwide, the popularity of games, whether action, sport or role playing, vary from nation to nation depending upon cultural preferences (Goggin, 2008). They also note that individual nations continue to exert a lot of power over media using licensing and regulatory frameworks (Mackay, 2004). For example, the Middle East and China heavily censor their media industry. Broadcast media is subject to regulation like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the USA (Biagi, 2013). Several governments also have legislation that gives them control of the internet in emergencies like the 2003 Communications Act in The United Kingdom and the Protecting Cyb erspace as a National Asset Act in The United States. The importance of the G8/G20 in forming international policy and the continuing dissension between countries like the USA, Iran, North Korea and China highlight that nation states are still significant (Carayannis et al., 2012). In addition to market forces, internationalists consider factors like slow domestic economic growth, the end of the Cold war and the growth spurt of public sector enterprises in the 1950s and 1960s to have contributed to the diminished policy making ability of the states (Dunning,1999). Kurdle (1999) posits that the state still has the power to make its own policy and regulate the impact of the global financial market as it sees fit. Personal tax can be set at the states discretion and cannot be avoided easily by citizens. The state also has complete control over its immigration policy. Any lack of effectiveness in this area is mainly due to politics not capability (Kurdle, 1999). Dunning (1999) states that the policies of nation states do not have to be depe ndent or linked to those of other nation states. Country specific rules and policies are still necessary and effective since the majority of business is still domestic and new developments always require new regulations (The United Nations, 2001). The government may change and acquire new functions but this does not make it obsolete. Even though territorial borders are becoming more fluid, the government ensures that transaction costs are kept at an acceptable level (Carayannis et al., 2012). Dunning (1999) argues that states can choose what role they want to play. They can be the instigator, co-coordinator or they can even opt to resist globalization. Most states prefer to orchestrate by controlling the competition in their region. They can heavily tax businesses that they do not wish to support and subsidize the businesses that they want. While it is easy to assume that jobs go to where the wages are the lowest, Dunning (1999) reminds us that factors like infrastructure, training, productivity, health and education are the responsibility of the state and are used to attract businesses. States can ensure high standards of living, high quality workforce and goods as well as create an environment that supports entrepreneurship and innovation (McGrew, 2004). Conforming to international policies is a political choice and does not represent lack of sovereignty. Internationalists conclude that the role of states hasnt changed a great deal due to globalization. Governments can still have individualistic yet effective policies (Dunning, 1999). Supranational organizations do not have to be at odds with nation-states but can in fact support them. Their main contention is that globalization is not forced upon states but that states can choose how they involve themselves (Weiss, 1998). Transformationalists consider that aspects of globalization are more calculated and less inevitable (Cochrane and Pain, 2004). For example, video games have been designed incorporating the preferences of multiple nations in order to have global appeal (Goggin, 2008). Transformationalists also have a different point of view on the globalist claim of cultural imperialism. While culture is no longer limited by geographical boundaries, several products are tailored to suit the importing market. Audiences and consumers view them through their own cultural perspectives and absorb or transform it accordingly (Mackay, 2004). For example, global fast-food companies like Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds cater to the regional market by incorporating local food preferences into their menu (Ritzer and Malone, 2001). Transformationalists place more importance on the individual and the nation-state rather than the unstoppable force of globalization. While transformationalists acknowledge the inherent challenges faced by states as a result of globalization, they contend that states are not static entities. They adapt and embrace new roles such as working closely with private institutions and international coalitions at both the regional and national level (Weiss, 1998). A country that chooses to integrate its economy with the global economy is aware of the constraints. However, this does not negate the states ability to tax or regulate. In fact, economic integration increases the number of options a state has when responding to policy. It creates competition and encourages governments to provide better services to retain valued businesses (Carayannis et al., 2012). Agreements made with supranational and powerful private organizations with regards to long term policy decisions solidifies a nations credibility and enhances their commitment to the private sector (McGrew, 2004). The rules of the global economy are designed by individual governments (Pinder, 2011). While some states have more political leverage when it comes to formulating international agenda, others need to learn how to influence international policy to their benefit (Carayannis et al., 2012). However, stronger nations have always impacted the internal affairs of weaker nations and weaker nations have always been ready to surrender a part of their sovereignty in return for protection or some other advantage (Hirst et al, 2009). In short, globalization is a product of global strategies (Held et al., 1999). Instead of abandoning their national identity and ambitions, states are building alliances and using agreements with other nations and corporations, both domestically and internationally, to gain more security, tighten immigration and strengthen their economy (Carayannis et al., 2012). While the WTO is sometimes criticized for being biased towards the richer, developed countries and subject to powerful business interests, the majority of WTO member countries are not rich. These developing economies are therefore capable of taking care of their own interests, like when the G20 rejected proposed trade policies in Doha (CLMS, M5 U2). Globalization may have increased transnational collaboration but it has also increased the inequalities between nations that have embraced globalization and those that are struggling with it (Pinder, 2011). The state is the main entity that can reduce these inequalities and can make a difference in a time of economic crisis (Lechner and Boli, 2008). The ability of the state to act, especially in cooperation with international bodies when needed, is essential when addressing global problems. For example, the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 began with the mortgage crisis in the USA and spread worldwide (Carayannis et al., 2012). Developed nations coordinated with international entities like the G20 to call for financial reform as well as bailed out some banks in trouble at the national level (BBC News, 2010). The contention that the state is powerless implies that the limits on government capabilities are definite instead of variable. Globalists tend to exaggerate the earlier powers of the state so as to highlight a greater lack of power now (Weiss, 1997). Many of the problems with regards to financial policies like the budget, deficit or being able to fund public programs are primarily due to the recession rather than globalization (Held et al., 1999). The inclination of capitalists to seek the best business environment is not a new phenomenon. States are under pressure to lessen the tax burden and restructure taxes where possible due to the increased mobility of todays capitalists (Pinder, 2011). Globalists believe that this will reduce the states capability to provide high quality social services (Weiss, 1998). However, nations can use differentiated taxes depending on industry to allow themselves to have attractive national policies as well as control the personal tax rate. Weiss (199 7) posits that governments claim of powerlessness is a fallacy promoted by them in order to implement legislation of their choice. An open economy does not automatically reduce government expenditure or size. In fact, open economies are likely to spend more and collect the taxes to do it (The United Nations, 2001). Globalists assert that territory is increasingly irrelevant and international organizations can move between nations to benefit from the most favorable policies (Pinder, 2011). However, there are several advantages to having a strong national base like the cost benefits of regional sourcing and production, strengthening relationships with local associations and institutes as well as subsidies or benefits from national or local governments (Weiss, 1997). Political stability of the state and a strong domestic economy are important for investment and trade. For example, most firms still sell more products domestically and they tend to invest a greater portion of their assets locally (Hirst et al, 2009). In addition, the inputs for a large number of transnational corporations are sourced by national suppliers (The United Nations, 2001). Local and international businesses need states to address their concerns and negotiate better rules for trade and investment (Carayannis et al., 2012). The state defines a peoples identity and most people would be reluctant to give it up. Regardless of the number of non-state organizations that help the drive the states economy and policy, the majority of people will still hold the state responsible for their quality of life and protecting their interests (Cochrane and Pain, 2004). From a social perspective, we see that NGOs seek to support or reform the existing system, not abandon it entirely (McGrew, 2004). While some NGOs like Greenpeace do not accept government funding, many NGOs like Oxfam and Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res (MSF) are dependent on the state for a great deal of government aid (Moore, 2011). Even independent security companies are often hired by the state to enhance their capabilities (Held et al., 1999). We have seen a mix of cultures, like European, Eastern, Asian, Latino among others, that have had a global influence. Historically, cultural interactions have taken place for centuries and local culture has alwa ys remained strong and integrated cultural elements of their choice (Cochrane and Pain, 2004). Technological innovations and faster, cheaper communication has influenced politics, culture, education and social organization. The prevalence of new technology does not negate the effect of the environment, language and customs on people. The generation gap will exist regardless of global media. While some aspects of new technology are liberating, its distribution throughout the world is uneven and is strictly monitored by the government (Mackay, 2004). The state can also use these technological advances to increase their surveillance capabilities and exert further control on its people (Carayannis et al., 2012). A strong democratic state promotes social welfare, institutes means for representation and accountability, funds public services, provides for internal and external security, protects the more vulnerable parts of society and works towards a fairer distribution of the benefits of globalization (Carayannis et al., 2012). It facilitates discussion at various levels and supports a system that helps mediate disputes and resolves conflicts, cultural or otherwise, that evolve in a diverse society. The modern state is moving towards a more regulatory position (The United Nations, 2001). It aims to establish a framework for the private sector and entrepreneurship to succeed. While several of the states functions are being transposed on to supranational organizations or being outsourced to private organizations, the state is still needed to coordinate the planning, negotiating and decision making process among different entities and at various levels of governance (The United Nations, 2001). As we can see, ones understanding of the term nation-state affects how one views the impacts of globalization. Globalists see globalization as a new unstoppable force that is eradicating the nation state and generally consider territorial sovereignty to be crucial. Internationalists see globalization as simply more of the existing conditions and still regard the state as a continuously evolving dominant force. Those that see a transformation in the states roles often differentiate between external and internal sovereignty. However, globalists ignore the power of the nation state as a collective, while internationalists ignore that new technology like the internet has made the state less effective in some of its roles (Carayannis et al., 2012). Transformationalists acknowledge the new trends caused by globalization and the uncertainty of the role of the state, but still believe in the states ability to adapt to these trends. The flexibility of the transformationalist theory allows it to cover different aspects of globalization and makes it the most exhaustive (Cochrane and Pain, 2004). Modern states have the ultimate authority over their citizens (Weiss, 1998). The states role is fundamental in protecting the general interests of its citizens as well as managing the various multilateral and intergovernmental agreements. The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan (quoted in The United Nations, 2001: 6) stated that the challenges that we confront today are beyond the reach of any State to meet on its own. At the national level we must govern better, and at the international level we must learn to govern better together. Effective States are essential for both tasks, and their capacity for both needs strengthening. Globalization is a choice made by a nation to enhance its economy. The act of making a choice determines that the state cannot be considered powerless (Weiss, 1997). Globalization does not reduce the functions of the state but simply redefines them in response to the changing regional, national and international conditions (The United Nations, 2001). States are learning to adapt to the new environment, co-operate with non state entities to direct their resources as much as possible and retain their influence locally and on an international scale (Lechner and Boli, 2008).

War and Peace Essay -- European History Germany France War Essays

War and Peace The greater threat to world peace in the 20s, 30s, and 40s is a point that could be argued and debated upon for essays on piles of essays. The true threats of world peace were those who were naà ¯ve enough to believe that a people can be totally humiliated as the Germans were in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I and not be subject to promises of regained glory. Throughout the 1920s, the world was relatively peaceful—save perhaps the Italian â€Å"revolution† by Mussolini who had his Fascist government set up fully by the year 1926 and the Beer Hall Putsch led by Adolf Hitler in 1923. With the crushing of the revolution by the Bavarian government (which was completely riddled full of Nazi sympathizers), Hitler was sentenced to the minimum five years in prison at Landsberg Castle in Munich where he had a Martha Stewart-esque term of â€Å"hard-time.† Even at his trial, he spoke as if it were a political rally! Hitler’s book was inspired from the encouragement of other members of the Nazi party, Emile Maurice his chauffeur being the original â€Å"writer† until young Rudolf Hess took over shortly after Hitler began to dictate the book. Hitler originally titled his autobiography â€Å"Four Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice† (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERmein.htm). The publishers thought the title to be too long and instead changed it to Mein Kampf which translates to â€Å"My Struggle.† After H...

Research and Critical Thinking :: Critical Thinking Essays

Research & Critical Thinking Research and critical thinking is such a crucial entity in the world of every single science and our every day lives. While a biologist is testing the effects of carbon monoxide on the environment, a little girl is pointing in the sky counting how many colors there are in a rainbow. Both of these scenarios involve research and critical thinking but are extremely different. There are no guidelines for the little girl but there are many that the biologist has to follow. The same goes for psychological research. Psychological research is almost exactly the same as scientific research. First you must make a hypothesis, experiment, collect data, and based off of the data you make conclusions as to whether or not your hypothesis was confirmed. The difference between psychological research and some other sciences is in what’s considered data and how that data is gathered and processed. Because psychology deals greatly with the mind and sometimes focuses on things that are not measurable, research has been restricted to things that are observable and therefore can be traced. To do research that successfully gives birth to credible data there are certain elements that must be followed as closely as possible. First your hypothesis must be researched and generalized. Secondly, before starting an experiment one must have a dependent variable, a control variable, and an independent variable. Third the data must be collected and translated properly. In the case of the researcher who studied college students he has completely abused all the elements of research. He has done almost everything wrong in his research, therefore making his research highly un-credible and almost bogus. Starting with the first step in the scientific method, which is forming a hypothesis, I have reason to believe that after reading this researchers hypothesis he hasn’t a clue how to properly conduct it. Comparing the four year college students to the two year college students is not the problem; it is the structure of the hypothesis. Instead of saying students at a four year colleges are more intelligent than students at two year colleges, the hypothesis should be if students who attend four year colleges and students who attend two year colleges take the same IQ test, than the students who attend the four year college will score higher than the students who attend the two year college. It is much more descriptive without being to constricting.

Plagiarism and the Internet :: Cheating Education Essays

Plagiarism and the Internet It appears that plagiarism is a problem that has very unclear guidelines according to most. People seem to be struggling with the concept of it in regards to the internet because others do realize the vastness of information on the internet is very difficult to regulate in plagiarism. The realization is that in many institutions instructors simply overlook the crime because they themselves find it too tedious to check all the information on the websites to verify their originality. This seems shocking because of all the warnings students receive about plagiarism. The largest concern it seems is finding ways to sift through all the information that is turned in for a paper. One of the websites used to aide in this process is turnitin.com. It is a place where students can send their papers to be checked. It searches the internet and finds anything that is plagiarized in the entire paper. This then also rids the instructor from having to check all the sources the student used because that is what the website does. "Who wants to sit around looking for websites trying to find out if a paper is plagiarized or not... pretty soon you're a private investigator." -- a Stanford University professor, from an article in TechWeb News. (http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism_stats.html) While the internet is so huge and many ideas circulate throughout it at all times, there are proper ways to do a research paper without having a problem with plagiarism. There are several websites that list the proper way to cite several types of information on the web. There are plenty of resources available giving out information and warnings about plagiarism. One website offers information about the situations instructor face when dealing with students who plagiarize. The website commented that it is something that can be  ¡Ãƒ a painful, time-consuming experience for faculty. ¡ÃƒÅ" Because there are different levels of plagiarism sometimes faculty feel that the punishments that universities give are too much and need to vary with the level of plagiarism.

Applied Criminal Justice Ethics Essay

My interviewee was Commander Hamry, of the Milton police department in Washington. When interviewing Commander Hamry, I found the following to be his impressions of the police force in general: Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Because we represent everything we believe in, not only in local and state law, but the Constitution of the United States. We are part law enforcement, lawyer, priest, counselor, mother/father figure etc†¦at any given moment. We have a nano-second to decide whether or not to shoot whereas everyone else has months/years to decide if that action was proper or not. Due to an elevated level of training and discipline, we are held to a higher standard. This includes: morals, ethics, actions/decisions which the public has entrusted it’s care to us which go back to the issues when the tea was first thrown into the harbor. Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? Due to immediate access of public information and technology, the magnification of the microscope has been increased. However, that is something that evolves with public perception, the legal system, etc†¦ where something that was common place and ethical 100 years ago would not be considered today. People are basically good and the basic Judeo/Christian principle upon which our system is founded has remained, for the most part, unchanged. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? To over simplify the answer, because they are human. They make mistakes like anyone else or experience temptations in which they cannot or choose not to handle. No different than the clerk who pockets a dollar when no one is looking. Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? Ethics are like character building and/or common sense. It evolves with experience and upbringing. How would you teach common sense or character? However, a strong emphasis IS placed on ethics in the law enforcement academies, but the basic concept and belief in such values has to be present to start with. Those that don’t develop the concept strong enough should be weeded out during the background phase of the hiring process. People can change and develop a stronger sense of ethics (I believe) as to the examples set by those they are influenced by or choose to be influenced by. Should ethics training be offered as an ongoing process for law enforcement officers? Yes, and I believe it will remain an integral part of the basic academy program. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? Yes and No. The elevated awareness may make them think about it more. But it is also a lifestyle and belief in the basic system that we work within. This is no different than being asked to go out and enforce laws that we do not either believe in, or question. We don’t make the laws, we merely enforce those that the people have asked to be on the books and thus should act the same. Being within law enforcement is like living in a fish bowl. You are always under the scrutiny of the public perception on and off duty. You are judged by how your kids act in school, to how you look or what you do when you go to town.

How policies and procedures promote health, safety and security in a health and social care setting Essay

The employer’s position is to supervise the health, security and safety of all the staff, visitors, volunteers to the grounds of the building and also its service users. Employers may assign accountability for health and safety to the employees, health and safety agents, administrators and the service users as well. But, it is still the employer’s job to have supreme accountability for health and safety . Another of the employer’s roles is to make sure that all of the staff that is working under the employer is CRB checked. For under the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s’ (ISA) Vetting and Barring Scheme all staff also including any volunteers that work with people that are vulnerable have to be CRB checked. The reason for this is to make sure that the staff or volunteers are appropriate for the part that they are applying for and have not beforehand injured a child or a vulnerable adult or put then in danger of injury. It is a criminal offence for a person that is barred by the ISA to apply to work or work, with vulnerable adults or to work with children. It is also the employer’s role to reduce the risk of abuse and the way that the employer does this is by the CRB checks because it stops or reduces the chance of the staff harming the service users. Another way that the employer could stop this is by training the staff so that they will work better and so (for instance) not to be tempted to abuse a service user because the staff member is angry. The employer should also monitor the staff so that they are not doing things that they should not be doing. The ways that the employer can monitor the staff can be by monitoring the staff’s phone calls, their computers and also their accounts to see if they are doing things that they should not be doing and which could harm the service users . It is also the employer’s role to report abuse from the employees to the police The Employers responsibilities The Employers are accountable for the health and safety of employees, any visiting workers from other institutes and also visitors when they are on the grounds of the building. There are legal and organisational requirements that they have to abide by to keep people safe. In an organisation an individual will be selected to supervise health and safety for the employer. Who to make sure that they can do this say that it is vital that the person selected to supervise health and safety has to have or is keen to start a Health and Safety at Work qualification. This will obtain for the person a detailed understanding of legislation and also how to succeed in health and safety in the place of work. This will make the individuals will have a bigger chance of being safe . Records have to be maintained of all incidents and accidents as after an occurrence, the employer has a duty to evaluate the settings policies and procedures and reflect on whether the reason the occurrence was because of a fault in the system. This will stop the same hazard from happening again and also to see who is at fault for if an employee is badly hurt, because of a fault in the system, recompense would be required to be paid to the person hurt for any charges gained or loss of salary consequently because of the damage. This is why an employer should make sure that the place of work is entirely insured. The â€Å"Employers Public Liability Insurance and Compulsory Liability Insurance† is what will have to be taken out . The employer has to foresee any hazards and put into position dealings to decrease these risks from happening. To do this they do a risk assessment. This is when they observe a service user doing something and then decide the possible dangers that there are and how to overcome these dangers. ( This job can be given to suitable employees) For example, they could observe manual handling, where the capability of a service user to move themselves, possibly from their chair to their bed, will be viewed by the employer, and the best appropriate gear recognized to reduce the danger of the service user falling or acquiring uncomfortable skin from the abrasion . The employer has to make sure that the setting has health and safety procedures and policies written specifically for it. Which the employer has to check frequently to certify that the procedures and policies are keeping staff, service users and visitors safe from coming to any harm. The employer also has to put on training sessions for staff. All the staff ought to be given health and safety training in the first week of have being employed, to make sure that they will know what to do in the case of any immediate hazards to a person’s health and safety. The employer should ensure that any staffs do not manually handle any service users minus the proper training. This will ensure that that people do not pose a risk to another person because they do not have the knowledge to deal with the problem. The employer is also accountable for making sure that hazardous waste is got rid of properly, this means that it is put into specialist containers and then be put into lockable bins outside the building where certain members of staff can put the waste when the specialist containers are filled. The local council or a specialist private company will pick up these containers. This is all done to stop the spread of infection. The employer must also provide safety equipment like throwaway protective aprons and gloves for the staff to get rid of and transport the bodily waste. It is also the employer’s duty to make sure that all the staff is appropriate or fit for the job. Under the Department of Health’s Protection of Vulnerable Adults order all staff working in care homes, adult placement and domiciliary care has to be CRB checked against the Department of Health’s Protection of Vulnerable Adults list, to check if they have before injured a vulnerable adult or placed a vulnerable adult at risk of any harm. It is furthermore the duty of the employer to foresee danger or harm to a person and to install ways to decrease a risk occurring . Employers have to make a fire evacuation plan in case of any fires to ensure that the people the setting are safe and that they know what to do. To achieve this the employer have to make sure that fire evacuation regulations are on display so that everyone can see then and will know what to do in cause of an emergency so that they can get out as quickly as possible. The employer ought to make a member of staff a fire chief who trains all new staff on the evacuation design. The employees in charge of the evacuation plan have to have a comprehensive evacuation map and have precise information on evacuation as they are probably going to be the last persons who are left in the construction. There must also be evacuation actions, fire principles and fire exits in place. There furthermore should be routine fire drills. Employers have to make available suitable accommodations to preserve personal sanitation and have the kitchens designed suitably to evade contamination from other food supplies. This will stop/hinder the spread of infection. The employer has to keep a safe atmosphere for the staff and theservices users and have to track abuse and violence against employees and other professionals. They have to certify the safety of prescription medications and other supplies. Employers return to assessments yearly and proceed to confirm control procedures are in home. Employee’s roles in a care setting Employees also have the responsibility to keep safe themselves, their co-workers, service users and visitors from injury. It is the role of the employees to keep themselves, their colleagues, visitors and service users safe from harm. There are legal and organisational requirements that they have to abide by to keep people safe. The Employees responsibilities Employees must follow organisational policies and procedures otherwise the money financed in health and safety by the employers will be irrelevant. Also Employees will not be able to claim compensation if they have an accident or incident because they were not following procedures. So an employer has to use the equipment given, be present at the training sessions, and follow all the guidance that is there for their safety. This will ensure that they are safe and the people under there care are as well. All the employees have to sign in and out of the workplace so that it is known whether or not they are in the building. Employees have to be careful that everyone who entering the building has a genuine reason for being there. Employees must always ask who the person is and why they are there and who there are to visit. An employee should know what to do if a visitor arrives who is not allowed access to a certain service user . An employee must recognize hazardous circumstances and must not ignore it. For instance, a spillage might cause a person to slip and fall, or if it is a hazardous material, it might cause an infection to spread. An employee must report the spillage and put up a sign warning people. Any Items that will obstruct fire exits or will produce a tripping risk must always be moved and put away. And any defective equipment should be reported, so that accidents may be avoided in the future and also so that maintenance can be done on the faulty equipment. As an employer you have to shut and lock any external doors that have been left open or unlocked, and then check why/what it was open for. This will stop strangers getting in and children or patients with problems (like dementia) getting out. As an employee it is vital that you use and store supplies and gear as stated by the producer’s instructions, policy, guidance and legislation. An employee has to make sure that any dangerous materials are stored away in a suitable place when people do not use them. For instance, combustible ingredients have to be kept away from a heat supply. Staff that are in charge for medication have to make sure that the cupboard where the drugs are kept is locked and that the trolley with the drugs on is locked also to the wall when not in use. Also employees have to make sure that the distributing of medication is recorded so that if someone steals any it will be found out quicker as there will be inconsistencies. And furthermore employees have to make sure the temperature where the medication is stored is reserved at the right temperature as the wrong temperature can change the nature of the medication making it poisonous to the patient. When service users do their own medication it has to be unreachable for the other residents. Some groups give the service users a key to a little drug cabinet which will be in their room. This is all done to stop others from gaining access to the person’s drugs. All medical stocks, like needles and syringes, have to be locked away. Certain substances might be required to be kept in a refrigerator, like liquid drugs. Neatness is vital when you are working in a care setting, as it will stop people tripping and falling over but also so that objects may be found rapidly in an urgent circumstance. Furthermore dry things have to be stored in a place that does not contain any moisture as this will make them unusable. It is moreover an employee’s duty to inform of every threat that they recognize. They should not leave is so that someone else can deal with it. Employees have to uphold hygiene in their work place this is very important as it is very easy to get ill and pass on infections through food so to prevent this, employees have to cook food at the right temperature to stop the food being undercooked to throw away food when it pass its use by date, to wear personal protective gear to stop infection increasing/spreading and using separate knives and cutting boards for vegetables, fish and meat. Lone workers still have to abide by rules and regulations to keep themselves safe and the people that they work for. Lone worker have to comply by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 which state that lone workers have to recognize dangers of the work that they are doing and Measure the hazards encompassed and furthermore they must put in place actions to gauge and limit these hazards . Sources: Health and Safety book 1

A Reflection on My Learning

Coming from a modest background in the countryside, I have been fortunate to have traveled to various parts of the world observing many rich cultures and traditions of humanity.   These travels were not only a mean to satisfy my inner urge to learn more about people across the world but also a sincere effort to observe how they find solutions to their daily life problems.I believe in strong traditional values of family and culture, and being hands-on in my approach toward different facets of life, including the problems faced by people around the globe.   Gaining an understanding of other people’s lives, in my opinion, is a way for me to find solutions for them when they feel that they cannot do so for themselves.Belonging to the countryside never stopped me from dreaming and knowing more about people.   Traveling has introduced to me an outlet where I can freely share my knowledge and experience with people whom I meet.   It has also helped me in understanding my own self much better.   According to Scott (2005), self-awareness is at the center of learning and development.In order to boost his career potential, each individual must understand himself, being aware of the kind of work he enjoys, and recognizing his strengths, weaknesses and skills, as well the effect that he has on others.   Self-awareness allows people to easily manage their own behavior apart from their colleagues or peers, while fulfilling the goals of the institution that they represent.   As a matter of fact, self-awareness lies at the very core of successful leadership.Who Are You?My family comprises of seven different nationalities, so it does not come to me as a surprise when I learn that people from different cultures may tackle the same problems dissimilarly.   Living in a multicultural environment since childhood has developed me as an empathetic and tolerant individual, who is always on the verge of trying something new.   I do not subscribe to the policy of Me Vs. Them.   As a matter of fact, I firmly believe in understanding other people’s perspectives and respecting the desires and fears that motivate their decision making.For this reason, I am confident that I could play leadership roles in institutions that must learn to manage diversity so as to enjoy the full advantages of the richness of human cultures and belief systems.   Diversity management has become a prominent issue in business practices and management theories around the world; and I consider myself in a privileged position as far as understanding this need of the contemporary organization is concerned (Whitfield & Landeros, 2006).Being different is not different to me.   Being a member of a multiracial and multicultural family, I am good at absorbing differences and devising my own ways to solve problems.   Hence, I believe that I could be highly useful for a variety of organizations in future.   Moreover, my interest in self-awareness has helped me to be conscious of my responses to different situations.Self-awareness also leads to self-acceptance, which, in my opinion, is an essential quality for a manager or leader to adopt (Hardingham, 2004, pp.48).Where Are You Now?I happen to be at a stage of life where most things are going according to plan.   My life is stable both personally and financially.   I spend most of my time with my boyfriend who shares many of my interests, such as fishing, hunting and camping.  The stability and support that I am experiencing at present has provided me with an opportunity to plan ahead for better things in life by simply moving forward and doing the things that I enjoy.   Being at a stage where I can take decisions regarding my life without fearing that something might go wrong has helped me in making correct decisions.   Secondly, I feel less pressured about managing mistakes at present, and this has helped me to increase my focus on the tasks at hand.What Do You Want To Do?Gandhi h ad stated, â€Å"Be the change that you want to see in the world.†   Inspired by these words, I would like to make a difference to the world not by sitting on the fence but actually working and bringing about the desired changes in myself.   There are a variety of problems faced by our human community, such as hunger, disease, violence, the negative effects of global warming, etc.; and I would like to help the world to a degree where I can see the desired changes in people and the world around me while I am still living in it.As mentioned previously, I am willing to be the change that I want to see in others.   For this, I would like to lead by example rather than being a desktop pundit.   Furthermore, I would not want to teach people to simply adapt to the circumstances that make them suffer.   Rather, it is essential for me to lead people to solve their problems, regardless of whether the problems are related to the management of diversity to reduce violence in th e world, or global warming.   In short, I would like to help people, depending on their needs at any given time.   

Cases on labor law Essay

In May 1994, ABS-CBN† signed an Agreement with the Mel and Jay Management and Development Corporation. ABS-CBN was represented by its corporate officers while MJMDC was represented by SONZA, as President and General Manager, and Carmela Tiangco , as EVP and Treasurer. Referred to in the Agreement as â€Å"AGENT,† MJMDC agreed to provide SONZA’s services exclusively to ABS-CBN as talent for radio and television. ABS-CBN agreed to pay for SONZA’s services a monthly talent fee of P310,000 for the first year and P317,000 for the second and third year of the Agreement. ABS-CBN would pay the talent fees on the 10th and 25th days of the month. On 30 April 1996, SONZA filed a complaint against ABS-CBN before the Department of Labor and Employment, National Capital Region in Quezon City. SONZA complained that ABS-CBN did not pay his salaries, separation pay, service incentive leave pay, 13th month pay, signing bonus, travel allowance and amounts due under the Employees Stock Option Plan (â€Å"ESOP†). On 10 July 1996, ABS-CBN filed a Motion to Dismiss on the ground that no employer-employee relationship existed between the parties. ISSUE: Whether or not there is employer-employee relationship that existed between them, HELD: Although Philippine labor laws and jurisprudence define clearly the elements of an employer-employee relationship, this is the first time that the Court will resolve the nature of the relationship between a television and radio station and one of its â€Å"talents.† There is no case law stating that a radio and television program host is an employee of the broadcast station. Applying the control test to the present case, we find that SONZA is not an employee but an independent contractor. The control test is the most important test our courts apply in distinguishing an employee from an independent contractor.[29] This test is based on the extent of control the hirer exercises over a worker. The greater the supervision and control the hirer exercises, the more likely the worker is deemed an employee. The converse holds true as well – the less control the hirer exercises, the more likely the worker is considered an independent contractor. We find that ABS-CBN was not involved in the actual performance that produced the finished product of SONZA’s work. ABS-CBN did not instruct SONZA how to perform his job. ABS-CBN merely reserved the right to modify the program format and airtime schedule â€Å"for more effective programming.† ABS-CBN’s sole concern was the quality of the shows and their standing in the ratings. Clearly, ABS-CBN did not exercise control over the means and methods of performance of SONZA’s work. SONZA insists that the â€Å"exclusivity clause† in the Agreement is the most extreme form of control which ABS-CBN exercised over him. This argument is futile. Being an exclusive talent does not by itself mean that SONZA is an employee of ABS-CBN. Even an independent contractor can validly provide his services exclusively to the hiring party. In the broadcast industry, exclusivity is not necessarily the same as control. ADJUDICATION: The petition is denied. CONSULTA vs CA Case Digest [G.R. No. 145443. March 18, 2005] RAQUEL P. CONSULTA, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, PAMANA PHILIPPINES, INC., RAZUL Z. REQUESTO, and ALETA TOLENTINO, respondents. FACTS: Consulta was Managing Associate of Pamana. On 1987 she was issued a certification authorizing her to negotiate for and in behalf of PAMANA with the Federation of Filipino Civilian Employees Association. Consulta was able to secure an account with FFCEA in behalf of PAMANA. However, Consulta claimed that PAMANA did not pay her commission for the PPCEA account and filed a complaint for unpaid wages or commission. ISSUE: Whether or not Consulta was an employee of PAMANA. HELD: The SC held that Pamana was an independent agent and not an employee. The power of control in the four fold test is missing. The manner in which Consulta was to pursue her tasked activities was not subject to the control of PAMANA. Consulta failed to show that she worked definite hours. The amount of time, the methods and means, the management and maintenance of her sales division were left to her sound judgment. Finally, Pamana paid Consulta not for labor she performed but only for the results of her labor. Without results, Consulta’s labor was her own burden and loss. Her right to compensation, or to commission, depended on the tangible results of her work – whether she brought in paying recruits. The fact that the appointment required Consulta to solicit business exclusively for Pamana did not mean Pamana exercised control over the means and methods of Consulta’s work as the term control is understood in labor jurisprudence. Neither did it make Consulta an employee of Pamana. Pamana did not prohibit Consulta from engaging in any other business, or from being connected with any other company, for as long as the business or company did not compete with Pamana’s business. The exclusivity clause was a reasonable restriction to prevent similar acts prejudicial to Pamana’s business interest. Article 1306 of the Civil Code provides that â€Å"[t]he contracting parties may establish such stipulation, clauses, terms and conditions as they may deem convenient, provided that they are not contrary to law, morals, good customs, public order, or public policy. There being no employer-employee relationship between Pamana and Consulta, the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC had no jurisdiction to entertain and rule on Consulta’s money claim. Consulta’s remedy is to file an ordinary civil action to litigate her claim Petition is dismissed. ANGELINA FRANCISCO, Petitioner, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, KASEI CORPORATION, SEIICHIRO TAKAHASHI, TIMOTEO ACEDO, DELFIN LIZA, IRENE BALLESTEROS, TRINIDAD LIZA and RAMON ESCUETA, Respondents. G.R. No. 170087 August 31, 2006 FIRST DIVISION. YNARES-SANTIAGO, J. In 1995, petitioner was hired by Kasei Corporation during its incorporation stage. She was designated as Accountant and Corporate Secretary and was assigned to handle all the accounting needs of the company. She was also designated as Liaison Officer to the City of Makati to secure business permits, construction permits and other licenses for the initial operation of the company. Although she was designated as Corporate Secretary, she was not entrusted with the corporate documents; neither did she attend any board meeting nor required to do so. She never prepared any legal document and never represented the company as its Corporate Secretary. However, on some occasions, she was prevailed upon to sign documentation for the company. In 1996, petitioner was designated Acting Manager. As Acting Manager, petitioner was assigned to handle recruitment of all employees and perform management administration functions; represent the company in all dealings with government agencies; and to administer all other matters pertaining to the operation of Kasei Restaurant which is owned and operated by Kasei Corporation. For five years, petitioner performed the duties of Acting Manager and as of December 31, 2000 her salary was P27,500.00 plus P3,000.00. In January 2001, petitioner was replaced by Liza R. Fuentes as Manager. Petitioner alleged that she was required to sign a prepared resolution for her replacement but she was assured that she would still be connected with Kasei Corporation. Thereafter, Kasei Corporation reduced her salary by P2,500.00 a month beginning January up to September 2001 for a total reduction of P22,500.00 as of September 2001. Petitioner was not paid her mid-year bonus allegedly because the company was not earning well. On October 2001, petitioner did not receive her salary from the company. She made repeated follow-ups with the company cashier but she was advised that the company was not earning well. On October 15, 2001, petitioner asked for her salary but she was informed that she is no longer connected with the company. On the other hand, the Private respondents averred that petitioner is not an employee of Kasei Corporation. They alleged that petitioner was hired in 1995 as one of its technical consultants on accounting matters and act concurrently as Corporate Secretary. As technical consultant, petitioner performed her work at her own discretion without control and supervision of Kasei Corporation. Petitioner had no daily time record and she came to the office any time she wanted. She also did not go through the usual procedure of selection of employees. Also, the private respondents submitted a list of employees for the years 1999 and 2000 duly received by the BIR showing that petitioner was not among the employees reported to the BIR. Issues: (1) Whether there was an employer-employee relationship between petitioner and private respondent Kasei Corporation; and if in the affirmative, (2) whether petitioner was illegally dismissed. Ruling: Yes. The court adopts a two-tiered test involving: (1) the putative employer’s power to control the employee with respect to the means and methods by which the work is to be accomplished; and (2) the underlying economic realities of the activity or relationship. Thus, there is no doubt that petitioner is an employee of Kasei Corporation because she was under the direct control and supervision of Seiji Kamura, the corporation’s Technical Consultant. She reported for work regularly and served in various capacities as Accountant, Liaison Officer, Technical Consultant, Acting Manager and Corporate Secretary, with substantially the same job functions, that is, rendering accounting and tax services to the company and performing functions necessary and desirable for the proper operation of the corporation such as securing business permits and other licenses over an indefinite period of engagement. She was selected and engaged by the company for compensation, and is economically dependent upon respondent for her continued employment in that line of business. Respondent corporation hired and engaged petitioner for compensation, with the power to dismiss her for cause. More importantly, respondent corporation had the power to control petitioner with the means and methods by which the work is to be accomplished. The corporation constructively dismissed petitioner when it reduced her salary by P2,500 a month from January to September 2001. This amounts to an illegal termination of employment, where the petitioner is entitled to full backwages. Thus this petition is GRANTED and is REMANDED to the Labor Arbiter for the recomputation of petitioner Angelina Francisco’s full backwages from the time she was illegally terminated until the date of finality of this decision, and separation pay representing one-half month pay for every year of service, where a fraction of at least six months shall be considered as one whole year. ANGEL JARDIN, DEMETRIO CALAGOS, URBANO MARCOS, ROSENDO MARCOS, LUIS DE LOS ANGELES, JOEL ORDENIZA and AMADO CENTENO, petitioners, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION (NLRC) and GOODMAN TAXI (PHILJAMA INTERNATIONAL, INC.) respondents. G.R. No. 119268. February 23, 2000 SECOND DIVISION. QUISUMBING, J. Facts: Petitioners were drivers of private respondent, Philjama International Inc., a domestic corporation engaged in the operation of â€Å"Goodman Taxi.† Petitioners used to drive private respondent’s taxicabs every other day on a 24-hour work schedule under the boundary system. Under this arrangement, the petitioners earned an average of P400.00 daily. Nevertheless, private respondent admittedly regularly deducts from petitioners, daily earnings the amount of P30.00 supposedly for the washing of the taxi units. Believing that the deduction is illegal, petitioners decided to form a labor union to protect their rights and interests. Upon learning about the plan of petitioners, private respondent refused to let petitioners drive their taxicabs when they reported for work on August 6, 1991, and on succeeding days. Petitioners suspected that they were singled out because they were the leaders and active members of the proposed union. Aggrieved, petitioners filed with the labor arbiter a complaint against private respondent for unfair labor practice, illegal dismissal and illegal deduction of washing fees. In a decision, dated August 31, 1992, the labor arbiter dismissed said complaint for lack of merit. On appeal, the NLRC (public respondent herein), in a decision dated April 28, 1994, reversed and set aside the judgment of the labor arbiter. The labor tribunal declared that petitioners are employees of private respondent, and, as such, their dismissal must be for just cause and after due process. Private respondent’s first motion for reconsideration was denied. Remaining hopeful, private respondent filed another motion for reconsideration. This time, public respondent, in its decision dated October 28, 1994, granted aforesaid second motion for reconsideration. It ruled that it lacks jurisdiction over the case as petitioners and private respondent have no employer-employee relationship. Issue: Was there a grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction? Was there an employer-employee relationship? Ruling: Yes. The phrase â€Å"grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction† means such capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment by the tribunal exercising judicial or quasi-judicial power as to amount to lack of power. In this case, private respondent exhausted administrative remedy available to it by seeking reconsideration of public respondent’s decision dated April 28, 1994, which public respondent denied. Thus, when private respondent filed a second motion for reconsideration, public respondent should have forthwith denied it in accordance with Rule 7, Section 14 of its New Rules of Procedure which allows only one motion for reconsideration from the same party. The rationale for allowing only one motion for reconsideration from the same party is to assist the parties in obtaining an expeditious and inexpensive settlement of labor cases. For obvious reasons, delays cannot be countenanced in the resolution of labor disputes. The dispute may involve no less than the livelihood of an employee and that of his loved ones who are dependent upon him for food, shelter, clothing, medicine, and education. It may as well involve the survival of a business or an industry. The second motion for reconsideration filed by private respondent is indubitably a prohibited pleading which should have not been entertained at all. Thus, the public respondent gravely abused its discretion in taking cognizance and granting private respondent’s second motion for reconsideration as it wrecks the orderly procedure in seeking reliefs in labor cases. Yes also for the second issue. Under the boundary system which is observed in the relationship of the petitioners and the private respondent, it is that of employer-employee and not of lessor-lessee. In the case of jeepney owners/operators and jeepney drivers, the former exercise supervision and control over the latter. The management of the business is in the owner’s hands. The owner as holder of the certificate of public convenience must see to it that the driver follows the route prescribed by the franchising authority and the rules promulgated as regards its operation. Now, the fact that the drivers do not receive fixed wages but get only that in excess of the so-called â€Å"boundary† they pay to the owner/operator is not sufficient to withdraw the relationship between them from that of employer and employee. Thus, the employees of private respondent, can be dismissed only for just and authorized cause, and after affording them notice and hearing prior to termination. In the instant case, private respondent had no valid cause to terminate the employment of petitioners. Neither were there two (2) written notices sent by private respondent informing each of the petitioners that they had been dismissed from work. Thereby, instant petition is GRANTED. Private respondent is directed to reinstate petitioners to their positions held at the time of the complained dismissal. Private respondent is likewise ordered to pay petitioners their full backwages, to be computed from the date of dismissal until their actual reinstatement. However, the order of public respondent that petitioners be reimbursed the amount paid as washing charges is deleted. [G.R. No. 121605. February 2, 2000] PAZ MARTIN JO and CESAR JO, petitioners, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION and PETER MEJILA, respondents. QUISUMBING, J.: FACTS: Private respondent Peter Mejila worked as barber on a piece rate basis at Dina’s Barber Shop. The owners and the barbers shared in the earnings of the barber shop. In 1977, petitioners designated private respondent as caretaker of the shop. In November 1992, private respondent had an altercation with his co-barber, Jorge Tinoy. The bickerings, characterized by constant exchange of personal insults during working hours, became serious so that private respondent reported the matter to Atty. Allan Macaraya of the labor department. Meanwhile, private respondent continued reporting for work at the barbershop. But, on January 2, 1993, he turned over the duplicate keys of the shop to the cashier and took away all his belongings therefrom. On January 8, 1993, he began working as a regular barber at the newly opened Goldilocks Barbershop also in Iligan City. On January 12, 1993, private respondent filed a complaint for illegal dismissal with prayer for payment of separation pay, other monetary benefits, attorney’s fees and damages. Significantly, the complaint did not seek reinstatement as a positive relief. ISSUES: Is there an employer-employee relationship between petitioners and private respondent? Was the private respondent dismissed from his employment? HELD: YES. In determining the existence of an employer-employee relationship, the following elements are considered: (1) the selection and engagement of the workers; (2) power of dismissal; (3) the payment of wages by whatever means; and (4) the power to control the worker’s conduct, with the latter assuming primacy in the overall consideration. Absent a clear showing that petitioners and private respondent had intended to pursue a relationship of industrial partnership, we entertain no doubt that private respondent was employed by petitioners as caretaker-barber. No. The labor arbiter was convinced that private respondent was not dismissed but left his work on his own volition because he could no longer bear the incessant squabbles with his co-worker. Nevertheless, public respondent did not give credence to petitioners’ claim that private respondent abandoned his job. On this score, public respondent gravely erred as hereunder discussed. JPL MARKETING PROMOTIONS v. COURT OF APPEALS G.R. No. 151966 July 8, 2005 FACTS: JPL Marketing and Promotions is a domestic corporation engaged in the business of recruitment and placement of workers. On the other hand, private respondents Noel Gonzales, Ramon Abesa III and Faustino Aninipot were employed by JPL as merchandisers on separate dates and assigned at different establishments in Naga City and Daet, Camarines Norte as attendants to the display of California Marketing Corporation , one of petitioner’s clients. On 13 August 1996, JPL notified private respondents that CMC would stop its direct merchandising activity in the Bicol Region, Isabela, and Cagayan Valley effective 15 August 1996. they were advised to wait for further notice as they would be transferred to other clients. However, on 17 October 1996, private respondents Abesa and Gonzales filed before the National Labor Relations Commission Regional Arbitration Branch (NLRC) Sub V complaints for illegal dismissal, praying for separation pay, 13th month pay, service incentive leave pay and payment for moral damages. Aninipot filed a similar case thereafter. Executive Labor Arbiter Gelacio L. Rivera, Jr. dismissed the complaints for lack of merit. The Labor Arbiter found that Gonzales and Abesa applied with and were employed by the store where they were originally assigned by JPL even before the lapse of the six (6)-month period given by law to JPL to provide private respondents a new assignment. Thus, they may be considered to have unilaterally severed their relation with JPL, and cannot charge JPL with illegal dismissal. The Labor Arbiter held that it was incumbent upon private respondents to wait until they were reassigned by JPL, and if after six months they were not reassigned, they can file an action for separation pay but not for illegal dismissal. The claims for 13th month pay and service incentive leave pay was also denied since private respondents were paid way above the applicable minimum wage during their employment. NLRC. agreed with the Labor Arbiter’s finding that when private respondents filed their complaints, the six-month period had not yet expired, and that CMC’s decision to stop its operations in the areas was beyond the control of JPL, thus, they were not illegally dismissed. However, it found that despite JPL’s effort to look for clients to which private respondents may be reassigned it was unable to do so, and hence they are entitled to separation pay. The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition and affirmed in toto the NLRC resolution. While conceding that there was no illegal dismissal, it justified the award of separation pay on the grounds of equity and social justice. ISSUE: Whether or not the respondents are entitled to separation pay? HELD: Under Arts. 283 and 284 of the Labor Code, separation pay is authorized only in cases of dismissals due to any of these reasons: (a) installation of labor saving devices; (b) redundancy; (c) retrenchment; (d) cessation of the employer’s business; and (e) when the employee is suffering from a disease and his continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his health and to the health of his co-employees. However, separation pay shall be allowed as a measure of social justice in those cases where the employee is validly dismissed for causes other than serious misconduct or those reflecting on his moral character, but only when he was illegally dismissed. In addition, Sec. 4(b), Rule I, Book VI of the Implementing Rules to Implement the Labor Code provides for the payment of separation pay to an employee entitled to reinstatement but the establishment where he is to be reinstated has closed or has ceased operations or his present position no longer exists at the time of reinstatement for reasons not attributable to the employer. The common denominator of the instances where payment of separation pay is warranted is that the employee was dismissed by the employer. In the instant case, there was no dismissal to speak of. Private respondents were simply not dismissed at all, whether legally or illegally. What they received from JPL was not a notice of termination of employment, but a memo informing them of the termination of CMC’s contract with JPL. More importantly, they were advised that they were to be reassigned. At that time, there was no severance of employment to speak of. Furthermore, Art. 286 of the Labor Code allows the bona fide suspension of the operation of a business or undertaking for a period not exceeding six (6) months, wherein an employee/employees are placed on the so-called â€Å"floating status.† When that â€Å"floating status† of an employee lasts for more than six months, he may be considered to have been illegally dismissed from the service. Thus, he is entitled to the corresponding benefits for his separation, and this would apply to suspension either of the entire business or of a specific component thereof. As clearly borne out by the records of this case, private respondents sought employment from other establishments even before the expiration of the six (6)-month period provided by law. As they admitted in their comment, all three of them applied for and were employed by another establishment after they received the notice from JPL. JPL did not terminate their employment; they themselves severed their relations with JPL. Thus, they are not entitled to separation pay. Nonetheless, JPL cannot escape the payment of 13th month pay and service incentive leave pay to private respondents. Said benefits are mandated by law and should be given to employees as a matter of right. HYDRO RESOURCES CONTRACTORS CORPORATION, petitioner, vs. LABOR ARBITER ADRIAN N. PAGALILAUAN and the NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, public respondents, and ROGELIO A. ABAN, private respondent G.R. No. L-62909 April 18, 1989 Petitioner corporation hired the private respondent Aban as its â€Å"Legal Assistant† and received basic monthly salary of P 1,500.00 plus an initial living allowance of P 50.00 which gradually increased to P 320.00. On September 4, 1980, Aban received a letter from the corporation informing him that he would be considered terminated effective October 4, 1980 because of his alleged failure to perform his duties well. Aban filed a complaint against the petitioner for illegal dismissal. The labor arbiter ruled that Aban was illegally dismissed. This ruling was affirmed by the NLRC on appeal. Hence, this present petition. ISSUE: Whether or not there was an employer-employee relationship between the petitioner Corporation and Aban. HELD: The Supreme Court dismissed the petition for lack of merit, and reinstate Aban to his former or a similar position without loss of seniority rights and to pay three (3) years back wages without qualification or deduction and P5,000.00 in attorney’s fees. Should reinstatement not be feasible, the petitioner shall pay the private respondent termination benefits in addition to the above stated three years back pay and P5,000.00 attorney’s fees. A lawyer, like any other professional, may very well be an employee of a private corporation or even of the government. This Court has consistently ruled that the determination of whether or not there is an employer-employee relation depends upon four standards: (1) the manner of selection and engagement of the putative employee; (2) the mode of payment of wages; (3) the presence or absence of a power of dismissal; and (4) the presence or absence of a power to control the putative employee’s conduct. Of the four, the right-of-control test has been held to be the decisive factor. In this case, Aban received basic salary plus living allowance, worked solely for the petitioner, dealt only with legal matters involving the said corporation and its employees and also assisted the Personnel Officer in processing appointment papers of employees which is not act of a lawyer in the exercise of his profession. These facts showed that petitioner has the power to hire and fire the respondent employee and more important, exercised control over Aban by defining the duties and functions of his work which met the four standards in determining whether or not there is an employee-employer relationship. Duncan Association of Detailman-PTGWO v. Glaxo WellcomePhilippines G.R. No. 162994 September 17, 20004 Tinga, J. FACTS: Glaxo Wellcome Philippines Inc. hired Pedro A. Tecson as medical representative on October 24, 1995. In Tecson’s contract of employment, it was stipulated, among others, that he agrees to study and abide by existing company rules; to disclose to management any existing or future relationship by consanguinity or affinity with co-employees or employees of competing drug companies and should management find that such relationship poses a possible conflict of interest, to resign from the company. Glaxo’s Employee Code of Conduct also contains provisions to the same effect. Said contract was signed by Tecson and hence commenced his employ with the company. He was assigned to cover the Camarines Sur-Camarines Nortesales area. Tecson met Bettsy, a branch coordinator of Astra Pharma, a competitor of Glaxo. As fate would have it, they eventually fell in love and got married in September 1998. Tecson’s superiors were worried since the marriage gave rise to a conflict of interest and hence, gave him the option to choose whether to stay with the company and let his wife resign from her job or Tecson himself will resign so that his wife may continue working with her company. Tecson never made a decision hence Glaxo moved to transfer Tecson to the Butuan-Surigao-Agusan del Sur sales area considering that he was from said area. But then, Tecson brought the matter to Glaxo’s Grievance Committee. During the pendency of the grievance proceedings, Tecson was paid his salary. However, he was not issued samples of products which were competing with similar products manufactured by Astra. They failed to resolve the conflict hence they submitted the matter for voluntary arbitration. The company offered Tecson a separation pay of one-half month pay for every year of service, but he declined the offer. The National Conciliation and Mediation Board decided in favor of Glaxo. The Board declared Glaxo’s policy on relationships between its employees and person employed with competitor companies as valid, and affirmed Glaxo’s right to transfer Tecson to another sales territory. Upon appeal, the Cour of Appeal affirmed the NCMB decision. It reasoned that the company’s policy is a valid exercise of its management prerogatives. Tecson filed for reconsideration but was denied hence the case was brought to the Supreme Court. ISSUES: 1. Whether the policy of a pharmaceutical company prohibiting its employees from marrying employees of any competitor company valid? 2. Whether said policy violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution? 3. Whether Tecson was constructively dismissed? RULING: 1. Yes. Glaxo has a right to guard its secrets, manufacturing formula, marketing strategies and other confidential programs and information from competitors, especially so that it and Astra are rival companies in the highly competitive pharmaceutical industry. The said prohibition only aims to protect its interests against the possibility that a competitor company will gain access to its secrets and procedures. No. the policy does not violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution. Glaxo does not impose an absolute prohibition against relationships between its employees and those of competitor companies. It is not a policy against marriage. An employee can still marry anyone of his/her own choosing. However, the company still has the right from exercising management prerogatives to ensure maximum profit and business success. It was also stressed that Tecson was aware of the restriction when he signed his employment contract and when he married Betssy. Hence, he is stopped from questioning said policy. 3. No. the Supreme Court ruled that Tecson’s reassignment to another area was not equivalent to his employment termination. Tecson was not demoted nor unduly discriminated upon by reason of such transfer. It must be noted that Glaxo even considered the welfare of Tecson’s family. The reassignment was merely on keeping with the policy of the company in avoidance of conflict of interest, and thus valid. ANDRES VILLAVILLA and ESTER GADIENTE VILLAVILLA v. COURT OF APPEALS, SOCIAL SECURITY COMMISSION, REYNALDO MERCADO, and MARCELO COSUCO, respondents, SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM G.R. No. 79664 August 11, 1992 BELLOSILLO, J.: FACTS: Reynaldo Mercado owned the fishing boat â€Å"F/B Saint Theresa. On September 11, 1877, said boat sank off Isla Binatikan, Taytay, Palawan. One of the casualties in said incident was Arturo Villavilla, son of petitioners. He was employed as â€Å"tripulante† (crew member). The parents of Arturo filed a petition with the Social Security Commission against Reynaldo Mercado for death compensation benefits of Arturo whom Reynaldo failed to register as their employee. The Social Security System (SSS) filed a petition in intervention alleging that petitioners must prove that Arturo was an employee of Reynaldo. If said employment was proven, then Reynaldo should be held liable in damages equivalent to the benefits due the petitioners for failure to report Arturo for coverage pursuant to Sec. 24 (a) of the Social Security Act, as amended. 6On November 28, 1984, respondent Social Security Commission issued an Order dismissing the petition for lack of cause of action. 9 The parents of Arturo then brought their case to the Court of Appeals. On appeal, the CA affirmed the questioned Order of the Social Security Commission there being no reversible error. Hence, they elevated their case to the Supreme Court. ISSUES: 1. Whether there was an employer – employee relationship between Arturo Villavilla and Reynaldo Mercado? 2. Whether Reynaldo Mercado is liable for death compensation benefits of Arturo Villavilla? 3. Whether there was a violation of the Social Security Act, as amended ,by Reynaldo Mercado for not registering Arturo Villavilla with the System as his employee as mandated by law. RULING: 1) None. The arrangement between the boat owner and the crewmembers partook of the nature of a joint venture. The fundamental bases for the existence of an employer – employee relationship were not present. a) Reynaldo Mercado had no connection with the selection and engagement of Arturo. The boat owner did not hire them but they simply joined the fishing expedition upon invitation of the ship master, even without the knowledge of the boat owner. b) Reynaldo likewise exercised no power of dismissal over Arturo c) There was no such uniform salary involved. The crew members did not receive fixed compensation as they only shared in their catch. d) Reynaldo had no power of control or had reserved the right to control as to the result of the work to be done as well as the means and methods by which the same is to be accomplished. They ventured to the sea irrespective of the instructions of the boat owner. Upon their own best judgment as to when, how long, and where to go fishing. 2) No. Since there was no employer – employee relationship, then Mercado is not obliged to remit any employer’s contributions to the SSS accounts of said fishermen. Hence they cannot compel him to pay for any death compensation benefits. 3) None. Since it is impossible to determine the monthly wage or earning of the fishermen for the purpose of fixing the amount of their and the supposed employer’s contributions, there is every reason to exempt the parties to this kind of undertaking from compulsory registration with the Social Security System . *** the Supreme Court stated: For, we are not unaware that in this jurisdiction all doubts in the implementation and interpretation of provisions of social legislations should be resolved in favor of the working class. But, alas, justice is not fully served by sustaining the contention of the poor simply because he is poor. Justice is done by properly applying the law regardless of the station in life of the contending parties. NATIONAL SERVICE CORPORATION (NASECO) AND ARTURO L. PEREZ, petitioners, vs. THE HONORABLE THIRD DIVISION, NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, MINISTRY OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT, MANILA AND EUGENIA C. CREDO, respondents. G.R. No. L-69870 November 29, 1988 EUGENIA C. CREDO, petitioner, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, NATIONAL SERVICES CORPORATION AND ARTURO L. PEREZ, respondents. G.R. No. 70295 November 29,1988 PONENTE: Padilla, J. FACTS: Eugenia Credo was an employee of the National Service Corporation. She was terminated from office for the commission of offenses against company policies, public moral, and authority. A particular situation asserted by NASECO was Credo’s non-compliance with another NASECO officer’s memorandum regarding the entry procedures in the company’s Statement of Billings Adjustment. This was in lieu with the findings of NASECO’s Committee on Personnel Affairs. Both parties appealed to respondent National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) which, on 28 November 1984, rendered a decision: 1) directing NASECO to reinstate Credo to her former position, or substantially equivalent position, with six (6) months’ backwages and without loss of seniority rights and other privileges appertaining thereto, and 2) dismissing Credo’s claim for attorney’s fees, moral and exemplary damages. As a consequence, both parties filed their respective motions for reconsideration, which the NLRC denied in a resolution of 16 January 1985. In the case at bar, the court found that NASECO did not comply with these guidelines in effecting Credo’s dismissal. Although she was apprised and â€Å"given the chance to explain her side† of the charges filed against her, this chance was given so perfunctorily, thus rendering illusory Credo’s right to security of tenure. That Credo was not given ample opportunity to be heard and to defend herself is evident from the fact that the compliance with the injunction to apprise her of the charges filed against her and to afford her a chance to prepare for her defense was dispensed in only a day. This is not effective compliance with the legal requirements. Furth, Credo’s mere non-compliance with Lorens memorandum regarding the entry procedures in the company’s Statement of Billings Adjustment did not warrant the severe penalty of dismissal NLRC ruled ordering her reinstatement. NASECO argues that NLRC has no jurisdiction to order her reinstatement. NASECO as a government corporation by virtue of its being a subsidiary of the NIDC, which is wholly owned by the Phil. National Bank which is in turn a GOCC, the terms and conditions of employment of its employees are governed by the Civil Service Law citing National Housing v Juco. ISSUE: Whether or not employees of NASECO, a GOCC without original charter, are governed by the Civil Service Law. HELD: NO. The holding in NHC v Juco should not be given retroactive effect, that is to cases that arose before its promulgation of January 17, 1985. To do otherwise would be oppressive to Credo and other employees similarly situated because under the 1973 Constitution prior to the ruling in NHC v Juco, this court recognized the applicability of the Labor jurisdiction over disputes involving terms and conditions of employment in GOCC’s, among them NASECO. In the matter of coverage by the civil service of GOCC, the 1987 Constitution starkly differs from the 1973 Constitution where NHC v Juco was based. It provides that the â€Å"civil service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the Government including government owned or controlled corporation with original charter.† Therefore by clear implication, the civil service does not include GOCC which are organized as subsidiaries of GOCC under the general corporation law. ADJUDICATION: WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the challenged decision of the NLRC is AFFIRMED with modifications. Petitioners in G.R. No. 69870, who are the private respondents in G.R. No. 70295, are ordered to: 1) reinstate Eugenia C. Credo to her former position at the time of her termination, or if such reinstatement is not possible, to place her in a substantially equivalent position, with three (3) years backwages, from 1 December 1983, without qualification or deduction, and without loss of seniority rights and other privileges appertaining thereto, and 2) pay Eugenia C. Credo P5,000.00 for moral damages and P5,000.00 for attorney’s fees. G.R. No. 78090 July 26, 1991 PACIFIC MILLS, INC., petitioner, vs. ZENAIDA ALONZO, respondent. Facts: From July 30, 1973, Zenaida Alonzo was employed as a ring frame operator in the Pacific Mills, Inc. until September 30, 1982 when she was discharged by Management. The record shows that in the early afternoon of September 22, 1982, Zenaida challenged Company Inspector Ernesto Tamondong to a fight, saying: â€Å"Putang Ina mo, lumabas ka, tarantado, kalalaki mong tao, duwag ka . . Ipagugulpi kita sa labas at kaya kitang ipakaladkad dito sa loob ng compound palabas ng gate sa mga kamag-anak ko.† And suiting action to the word, she thereupon boxed Tamondong in the stomach. The motive for the assault was Zenaida’s resentment at having been reprimanded, together with other employees, two days earlier by Tamondong for wasting time by engaging in Idle chatter. 1 Tamondong forthwith reported the incident to the firm’s Administrative Manager 2 as well as the Chairman of Barangay Balombato, Quezon City. 3 On September 30, 1982, Zenaida Alonzo was given a Memorandum by the company’s Executive Vice President & General Manager terminating her employment as of October 1, 1982 on various grounds: poor work, habitual absences and tardiness, wasting time, insubordination and gross disrespect. The service of that memorandum of dismissal on her was not preceded by any complaint, hearing or other formality. These were apparently considered unnecessary by Management 4 in view of the provision in the Company Rules and Regulations (embodied in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the company and the union representing the employees) that: Fighting or attempting to inflict harm to another employee, will render (sic) the aggressor to outright dismissal. It was only at the hearing of the complaint for illegal dismissal (and non-payment of proportionate 13th month pay) instituted by Zenaida on October 4, 1982 in the NCR Arbitration Branch, that evidence was presented by the company not only of the assault by Zenaida on her superior but also of many other violations by her of company rules and regulations, in an attempt to substantiate the validity of her dismissal from work. The Labor Arbiter found that Alonzo had indeed verbally abused and struck her superior, Tamondong, and rejected her contention that the assault was not punishable since it was â€Å"not work-connected and was provoked/instigated by Ernesto Tamondong.† 5 The Arbiter also declared as â€Å"fully established the previous infractions of complainant,† these being â€Å"a matter of record and not denied by complainant (Zenaida).† The Arbiter was of the view, however, that Alonzo was entitled to relief, because (a) the penalty imposed was â€Å"harsh and severe and not commensurate with the offense, . . . suspension of three (3) months . . (being) the proper, just and reasonable penalty . . .;† and because (b) the company had failed â€Å"to investigate complainant before she was dismissed.† Acting on the employer’s appeal, the National Labor Relations Commission rendered judgment on March 23, 1987, sustaining the Labor Arbiter’s findings Pacific Mills Inc. has instituted in this Court the special civil action of certiorari at bar praying for nullification of the judgment of the NLRC for having been rendered with grave abuse of discretion. In the comment thereon, 7 required of him by the Court, the Solicitor General opined that: . . . both the Labor Arbiter and the NLRC apparently failed to take into consideration the fact that Zenaida Alonzo was dismissed not because of this isolated act (of assault against her superior) but rather because of numerous and repeated violations of company rules and regulations. It was only this last incident which compelled Pacific Mills, Inc. to finally terminate her services. It is the totality of the infractions committed by the employee which should have been considered in determining whether or not there is just cause for her dismissal. Issue: whether or not there is just cause for her dismissal Held: Decisive of this controversy is the judgment of the Court en banc in Wenphil Corporation v. NLRC, promulgated on February 8, 1989, 10 in which the following policy pronouncements were made: Thus in the present case, where the private respondent, who appears to be of violent temper, caused trouble during office hours and even defied his superiors as they tried to pacify him, should not be rewarded with reemployment and back wages. It may encourage him to do even worse and will render a mockery of the rules of discipline that employees are required to observe. Under the circumstances, the dismissal of the private respondent for just cause should be maintained. He has no right to return to his former employer.However, the petitioner (employer) must nevertheless be held to account for failure to extend to private respondent his right to an investigation before causing his dismissal. The rule is explicit as above discussed. The dismissal of an employee must be for just or authorized cause and after due process (Section 1, Rule XIV, Implementing Regulations of the Labor Code). While it is true that Pacific Mills, Inc. had not complied with the requirements of due process prior to removing Zenaida Alonzo from employment, it is also true that subsequently, in the proceedings before the Labor Arbiter in which Zenaida Alonzo had of course taken active part, it had succeeded in satisfactorily proving the commission by Zenaida of many violations of company rules and regulations justifying termination of her employment. Under the circumstances, it is clear that, as the Solicitor General has pointed out, the continuance in the service of the latter is patently inimical to her employer’s interests and that, citing San Miguel Corporation v. NLRC, 11 the law, in protecting the rights of the laborer authorizes neither oppression nor self-destruction of the employer. And it was oppressive and unjust in the premises to require reinstatement of the employee. WHEREFORE, the petition is granted and the challenged decision of the respondent Commission dated March 23, 1987 and that of the Labor Arbiter thereby affirmed, are NULLIFIED AND SET ASIDE. However, the petitioner is ordered to pay private respondent a proportionate part of the 13th month pay due her, amounting to P351.00 as well as to indemnify her in the sum of P1,000.00. No costs. ABANTE v. LAMADRID BEARING & PARTS CORP EMPERMACO B. ABANTE, JR., petitioner, vs. LAMADRID BEARING & PARTS CORP. and JOSE LAMADRID, President, respondents. [G.R. No. 159890 May 28, 2004] FACTS: Petitioner was a salesman of respondent company earning a commission of 3% of the total paid up sales covering the whole area of Mindanao. Aside from selling, he was also tasked with collection. Respondent corporation through its president, often required Abante to report to a particular area and occasionally required him to go to Manila to attend conferences. Later on, bad blood ensued between the parties due to some bad accounts that Lamadrid forced petitioner to cover. Later petitioner found out that respondent had informed his customers not to deal with petitioner since it no longer recognized him as a commission salesman. Petitioner filed a complaint for illegal dismissal with money claims against respondent company and its president, Jose Lamadrid. By way of defense, respondents countered that petitioner was not its employee but a freelance salesman on commission basis. ISSUE: Whether or not petitioner, as a commission salesman, is an employee of respondent corporation. HELD: To determine the existence of an employee-employer relationship, the SC applied the four fold test: 1) the manner of selection and engagement; (2) the payment of wages; (3) the presence or absence of the power of dismissal; and (4) the presence or absence of the power of control. Applying the aforementioned test, an employer-employee relationship is notably absent in this case. It is true that he was paid in commission yet no quota was imposed therefore a dismal performance would not warrant a ground for dismissal. There was no specific office hours he was required to observe. He was not designated to conduct services at a particular area or time. He pursued his selling without interference or supervision from the company. The company did not prescribe the manner of selling merchandise. While he was sometimes required to report to Manila, these were only intended to guide him. Moreover, petitioner was free to offer his services to other companies. Art. 280 is not a crucial factor because it only determines two kinds of employees. It doen;t apply where there is no employer-employee relationship. While the term commission under Article 96 of the LC was construed as being included in the term â€Å"wage†, there is no categorical pronouncement that the payment of commission is conclusive proof of the existence of an employee-employer relationship. R TRANSPORT CORPORATION v ROGELIO EJANDRA G.R. No. 148508 May 20, 2004 CORONA, J.: Facts: Rogelio Ejandra worked as a bus driver of R Transport Corporation and was paid on a 10% commission basis. He informed R Transport’s general manager that his license was confiscated after he was apprehended for a traffic violation. The manager gave him money to redeem his license. Ejandra went to the LTO office everyday but it was only after a week that he was able to get back his license. When he reported back to work, the manager told him to wait until his services were needed again. When asked how long he had to rest, the manager did not give a definite time. Considering himself dismissed, Ejandra filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against R Transport. R Transport denied Ejandra’s allegations and claimed that he abandoned his job; that he lied about his license being confiscated; and that he was not an employee because theirs was a contract of lease and not of employment, being paid on commission basis. The labor arbiter rendered his decision in favor of Ejandra, finding his dismissal to be without just cause and ORDERING R-Transport to REINSTATE him to his former position without loss of seniority and other benefits and to pay him backwages from the time of his dismissal until actual reinstatement. The NLRC affirmed this decision. R Transport filed in the Court of Appeals a petition for certiorari on the ground that the NLRC committed grave abuse of discretion in affirming the decision of the labor arbiter. The CA denied the petition. Issues: 1. Did Ejandra abandon his job? 2. Is there an employer-employee relationship between R Transport and Ejandra? 3. Was private respondent dismissed for just cause? Ruling: 1. No. R Transport failed to prove the requisites constituting abandonment. Ejandra’s absence was justified because the LTO did not release his license until after a week. He never intended to sever his employment as he reported for work as soon as he got his license back. If he abandoned his work, R Transport should have reported such fact to the nearest Regional Office of the Department of Labor and Employment in accordance with Section 7, Rule XXIII, Book V of Department Order No. 9, series of 1997. 2. Yes. R Transport invoked the Supreme Court’s rulings on the right of an employer to dismiss an employee. By adopting said rulings, R Transport impliedly admitted that it was the employer of Ejandra. The fact that Ejandra was paid on commission basis did not rule out the presence of an employee-employer relationship (Article 97(f), Labor Code). 3. No. It also violated Ejandra’s right to procedural due process by not giving him the required notice and hearing provided for in Section 2, Rule XXIII, Book V of Department Order No. 9., series of 1997 (Rules Implementing Book V of the Labor Code). Ramos vs Court of Appeals () 380 SCRA 467 Labor Standards Case Digests Facts: Petitioner Erlinda Ramos was advised to undergo an operation for the removal of her stone in the gallbladder. She was referred to Dr. Hosaka, a surgeon, who agreed to do the operation. The operation wasscheduled on June 17, 1985 in the De los Santos Medical Center. Erlinda was admitted to the medicalcenter the day before the operation. On the following day, she was ready for operation as early as 7:30am.Around 9:30, Dr. Hosaka has not yet arrived. By 10 am, Rogelio wanted to pull out his wife from theoperating room. Dr. Hosaka finally arrived at 12:10 pm more than 3 hours of the scheduled operation.Dr. Guiterres tried to intubate Erlinda. The nail beds of Erlinda were bluish discoloration in her left hand.At 3 pm,Erlinda was being wheeled to the Intensive care Unit and stayed there for a month.Since theill-fated operation,Erlinda remained in comatose condition until she died.The family of Ramos sued them for damages. Issue: WON there was an employee-employer relationship that existed between the Medical Center and Drs.Hosaka and Guiterrez. Held: No employer-employee between the doctors and hospital.Private Hospitals hire, fire and exercise real control over their attending and visiting consultant staff.While consultants are not technically employees, the control exercised, the hiring and the right toterminate consultants fulfill the hallmarks of an employer-employee relationship with the exception of payment of wages. The control test is determining.In applying the four fold test, DLSMC cannot be considered an employer of the respondent doctors.Ithas been consistently held that in determining whether an employer- employee relationship existsbetween the parties, the following elements must be present: (1) selection and engagement of services;(2) payment of wages; (3) the power to hire and fire; and (4) the power to control not only the end to beachieved, but the means to be used in reaching such an end.The hospital does not hire consultants but it accredits and grants him the privilege of maintaining a clinicand/or admitting patients.It is the patient who pays the consultants. The hospital cannot dismiss theconsultant but he may lose his privileges granted by the hospital. The hospitalî€ s obligation is limited toproviding the patient with the preferred room accommodation and other things that will ensure that thedoctors orders are carried out.The court finds that there is no employer-employee relationship between the doctors and the hospital FILAMER CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE v IAC August 17, 1992 FACTS: Funtecha was a working student, being a part-time janitor and scholar of Filamer Christian Institute. One day, Funtecha, who already had a student’s driver’s license, requested Masa, the school driver and son of the school president, to allow him to drive the school vehicle. Assenting to the request, Masastopped the vehicle he was driving and allowed Funtecha to take over behind the wheel. However, after negotiating a sharp dangerous curb, Funtecha came upon a fast moving truck so that hehad to swerve to the right to avoid a collision. Upon swerving, they bumped a pedestrian walking in hislane. The pedestrian died due to the accident. ISSUE: Won Filamer Christian Institute should be held liable HELD: YES First it should be noted that driving the vehicle to and from the house of the school president were bothAllan and Funtecha reside is an act in furtherance of the interest of the petitioner-school. The school jeep had to be brought home so that the school driver can use it to fetch students in the morning of thenext school day. Thus, in learning how to drive while taking the vehicle home in the direction of Allan’s home, Funtechadefinitely was not having a joy ride or for enjoyment, but ultimately, for the service for which the jeepwas intended by the petitioner school.(School president had knowledge of Funtecha’s desire to learn how to drive.) Court is thus constrained to conclude that the act of Funtecha in taking over the steering wheel was onedone for and in behalf of his employer for which act the school cannot deny any responsibility byarguing that it was done beyond the scope of his janitorial duties. The fact that Funtecha was not the school driver does not relieve the school from the burden of rebutting the presumption of negligence on its part. It is sufficient that the act of driving at the time of theincident was for the benefit of the school. Petitioner school has failed to show that it exercised diligence of a good father of a family.Petitioner has not shown that it has set forth rules and guidelines as would prohibit any one of itsemployees from taking control over its vehicles if one is not the official driver or prohibiting theauthorized driver from letting anyone than him to drive the vehicle. Furthermore, school had failed toshow that it impose sanctions or warned its employees against the use of its vehicles by persons other than the driver. Thus, Filamer has an obligation to pay damages for injury arising from the unskilled manner by whichFuntecha drove the vehicle since the law imposes upon the employers vicarious liability for acts or omissions of its employees. The liability of the employer, under Article 2180, is primary and solidary. However, the employer shallhave recourse against the negligent employee for whatever damages are paid to the heirs of theplaintiff. On Labor Code’s Rule X The clause â€Å"within the scope of their assigned tasks† (found in CC) for purposes of raising thepresumption of liability of an employer, includes any act done by an employee, in furtherance of theinterests of the employer or for the account of the employe at the time of the infliction of the injury or damage Even if somehow, the employee driving the vehicle derived some benefit from the act, the existence of a presumptive liability of the employer is determined by answering the question of whether or not theservant was at the time of the accident performing any act in furtherance of his master’s business. Rule X, which provides for the exclusion of working scholars in the employment coverage and on whichthe petitioner is anchoring its defense, is merely a guide to the enforcement of the substantive law onlabor. It is not the decisive law in a civil suit for damage instituted by an injured person during avehicular accident against a working student of a school and against the school itself. Present casedoes not involve a labor dispute.An implementing rule on labor cannot be used by an employer s a shield to avoid liability under thesubstantive provisions of the CC. Motion granted G.R. No. 75112 August 17, 1992 FILAMER CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, petitioner, vs. HON. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT, HON. ENRIQUE P. SUPLICO, in his capacity as Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch XIV, Roxas City and POTENCIANO KAPUNAN, SR., respondents. GUTIERREZ, JR., J.: FACTS: Funtecha was a working student, being a part-time janitor and a scholar of petitioner Filamer. He was, in relation to the school, an employee even if he was assigned to clean the school premises for only two (2) hours in the morning of each school day. Having a student driver’s license, Funtecha requested the driver, Allan Masa, and was allowed, to take over the vehicle while the latter was on his way home one late afternoon. It is significant to note that the place where Allan lives is also the house of his father, the school president. Allan Masa turned over the vehicle to Funtecha only after driving down a road, a fast moving truck with glaring lights nearly hit them so that they had to swerve to the right to avoid a collision. Upon swerving, they heard a sound as if something had bumped against the vehicle, but they did not stop to check. Actually, the Pinoy jeep swerved towards the pedestrian, Potenciano Kapunan who was walking in his lane in the direction against vehicular traffic, and hit him. ISSUE: WON there exists an employer-employee relationship between the petitioner and its co-defendant Funtecha. HELD:Yes. Funtecha is an employee of petitioner Filamer. He need not have an official appointment for a driver’s position in order that the petitioner may be held responsible for his grossly negligent act, it being sufficient that the act of driving at the time of the incident was for the benefit of the petitioner. Hence, the fact that Funtecha was not the school driver or was not acting within the scope of his janitorial duties does not relieve the petitioner of the burden of rebutting the presumption juris tantum that there was negligence on its part either in the selection of a servant or employee, or in the supervision over him. The petitioner has failed to show proof of its having exercised the required diligence of a good father of a family over its employees Funtecha and Allan.