Thursday, May 7, 2020

Observations on Property in Robinson Crusoe and Second...

Observations on Property in Robinson Crusoe and Second Treatise People have been fighting over land and possessions since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. But what actually constitutes the ownership of property? In the eighteenth century John Locke and Daniel Defoe addressed this question. In his Second Treatise, Locke defends the rights of people to property and he explains the basis for obtaining and maintaining dominion over it. In Robinson Crusoe, Defoe suggests a definition of property that concurs in part with Lockes, which indicates that people can claim ownership of property when they have added their labor to some part of it. In addition, Locke stipulates, according to principles of the rational use of†¦show more content†¦There is a serious question as to whether any of his claims can be justified, at least in accordance with Lockean views. Defoe does seem, at least in part, to agree with such views. This seems appropriate since both men lived during an era when the economy was changing so quickly that the issue of propert y was often debated. However, Defoe seems to take possessiveness, ownership, and dominion or power through ownership even further than Locke does. While both men held similar views on property, the influences on them were different. A predominant influence on Locke was that, from the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth century, the last vestiges of feudalism were disappearing and capitalism was beginning to develop. Despite the gradual move toward industrialism, agriculture was still the occupation of the majority. Land was beginning to be viewed by many as a capital investment for profit making. It was viewed also as an indication of social position and political power (Wood 16). Locke shared these views and felt that land was the key to a viable social order, serving not only as a source of food but also as a supplier of raw materials necessary for the system of domestic and foreign commerce. While he defended the principle of self-preservation, he argued that the fundamental law of nature is the preservation of society, which takes precedence over self-preservation. Locke thought that government has the right and the du ty

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Self Evaluation for Decision Making Free Essays

From: Kayayetta Dukes To: Lana Lincoln Subject: Self Evaluation January 17th 2012 Dear Mrs. Lincoln, Here is my yearly self-evaluation report about the managerial decisions I have made regarding the restaurant’s employee retention issues we face. As we have previously discussed at meetings our employee retention ratio to turnover is fairly poor for a restaurant. We will write a custom essay sample on Self Evaluation for Decision Making or any similar topic only for you Order Now I think many establishments face this challenge of retaining good employees and there are several reasons that are to blame for the high ratio. I feel if we didn’t implement these criteria it would snowball and grow into bigger problems so it seemed a no brainer to waste no time in starting this makeover. I’ve come up with a game plan to drastically reduce our turnover rate so we can focus on other issues that warrant our attention in the process of making the restaurant number 1 in all aspects possible. Our major issue at the restaurant is that our employee retention rate is around 15% which leaves our turnover rate at an out of control 85%. With most of our employees being constantly replaced its hard for our staff to have a sense of cohesion, team pride, and stability. My criteria with this challenge was to create a sense of loyalty with the staff, make them feel like they are a part of a big family; show them that this job can be a long-term career and that we want to promote from within. Weighing these criteria helps me figure which are most important in reaching our overall goal of reducing our turnover rate. The numeric value of 5 will count as most vital in accomplishing our goal and 1 will represent the criteria that can be put on the back burner until the 5’s are implemented and in force. Communicate managements’ goal to promote from within 5 * Reward full-time and part-time employees for length of service 1 * Team-building exercises once a month 1 * Create an employee suggestion box 5 * Revamp scheduling to create more convenience 5 Although I feel strongly about my above solutions I’ve created a few alternatives that could possibly work just as well. My first alternative idea would be to mandate training classes for al l employees. This plan would include training on customer service skills, teamwork strategies, and personal growth. Another alternative would be to mandate employee events to reward good service and promote togetherness. My final solution would be to crack down on the team with serious consequences for being late, missing shifts, or receiving customer complaints. This method would consist of writing repeat offenders up and firing them after so many to show we want to employ and keep worthy employees and we will not tolerate less. To rate these alternatives I used a score of 10 for the best and a 5 for the ones that I have reservations about. * Mandated training classes for all employees. 10 Mandated after work employee events to promote team cohesion. 5 * Rid the restaurant of employees who aren’t doing a good job. 5 I carefully considered these alternatives before making the optimal decision of sticking with the original plan plus including the first alternative to have a fail proof way of getting a serious hold on our retention rate. I did encounter problems completing the challenge thoug h. This included resistance from employees who were reluctant with accepting change. Also we had issues with scheduling for additional trainings and after work events to work on team cohesion. I overcame these hurdles by making the trainings available more days to accomidate more employees without conflict, we created the suggestion box and also are now taking a majority vote for the monthly reward meeting in which we will have an open forum about issues that have risen in the previous month as well as to cover progress and future expectations. In conclusion, this project has been widely successful in just these few short months. Our team is working more cohesively and taking teamwork to a whole other level. The suggestion box has been filling up and we have been addressing concerns of our employees which have made them feel their opinion is not only important but wanted. This in return is creating more loyal enthusiastic and eager workers whom are giving great customer service to our guests. I hope you are as satisfied as I am in the team and see the overall difference and growth. Sincerely Floor Manager Kay Dukes Reference: Bazerman, M. H. , Moore, D. A. (2010). Judgment in Managerial decision making (6th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. How to cite Self Evaluation for Decision Making, Papers