Tuesday 22 March 2011
Me,MySeLf & I
Unemployed problems, who should be blame?
When we graduate are you sure you can get the job? Many people out there are still unemployed…and from the news paper that I have read 1years ago I found that…..unemployed people are discouraged or upset because they have no job but they cannot assume that there is no work for them. Many employers are still hiring workers but not the local. There employer are hiring the foreigners because the local graduate from premier university like Oxford or Cambridge have wrong attitude and lackadaisical where 50% of 52 graduate came late. They were not well equipped with a notebook and pencil.
The lack of ‘basic employability skills’ makes many employers reluctant to hire people who are not ready for work and merely pass exams. A wrong attitude and lackadaisical attitude of 50% applicants who came late for the interview make them not to be hire. Applicant come to interview not well equipped with notebook and pencil when they were asked to solve a problem although they are A level students.
Another reason, many of the young people do not have a basic job skills and this situation make difficulty to employer to hire young people who really can do the job. Five million adults were functionally illiterate and 17 million could not add up properly. A Confederation of British Industry, survey, showed more than 50% of employers complained that young people were inarticulate, unable to communicate concisely, interpret written instructions or perform simple mental calculations. Too many children have been leaving school after 11 or 13 years of compulsory education without the basic skills to get on in life and also to go down to a job. The Department for Work and Pensions agrees United Kingdom (UK) citizens are on welfare because of no basic employability skills, incentives and motivation. A teacher also failed to pass values that had allowed student to progress in their life. They fail viewed a manners such as punctuality, lucidity, spelling, grammar attributes inculcating and manners as patronising. Lastly, students do not know were to start when they want to find a job and student also are not proactive. Beside that, there are many reasons why many young people unemployable. The other reason such as student did not active in co-curriculum, attitude of some parents, graduate themselves, teachers and also the employer can be the effect why student did not have basic employability skills. To solve it, all parties have to play their part in order to decrease unemployable and decrease the percentage of taking migrant workers. All the parties such as employer, graduate, parents and schools should look this situation in all aspect and not blame one party only. They should think how to solve unemployed and not think who should they are blame….as a student we should think how to build up confident and employment skill to involve in job environment.
A new journey…=)
What are you expect when you get know you can continued your study in insurance…..for me it just like a new challenge that I have to take………because this is a new thing for me..I never care about insurance and never want to know more about it….because I have a bad perception about insurance and I think insurance is like how the company want to collect money from their insured…why I think like that is because when I watching movie especially china movie, it show like insurance company like to liar their customer, insurance company is like to take a customer money but try to avoid to pay a claim from it customer in many way…they will investigate whether the claim from their customer is correct or not…so, I already set in mind that I will never buy insurance because of fraud that have in insurance company. But when I learn about insurance…it not actually like show in television…it actually depend on insurance company itself and also the insured whether want to make a fraud or have intention to trying to get money advantages. The insurance company actually have to alert with claim that make by the insured because the that have pay to the person who claim it is from a common pool or many insured, they do not want the money belong to the incorrect person, because of that company insurance must be careful about it. We actually need insurance because there a lot of advantages…for example free of mind. When we have insurance we do not have to think about money when losses happen. This is because insurance company will cover for us. If you do not have insurance and when lost happen to you, you will be totally loss….you lost your thing and you do not get back even in a little pieces. Claim that you make is like to make you happy…you lost but you not totally losses, there are something you will get in return. Beside that..you also will more careful in what you have doing because the insurance company will give some outline or some suggestion to you to fulfill it to avoid losses from happen….you automatically be careful and know how to avoid a losses….that give a benefit to yourself. For those that do not know about insurance and have bad perception like I before, you should know insurance benefit and try to change your perception about it like I do, beside that insurance company is under Bank Negara and government. So you should not worry about the insurance company try to cheat you…because you will be protect by the government , but before that make sure that you invest in a registered insurance company that approved by the government….http://www.takaful-ikhlas.com.my/
My university……………………
Uitm…what I can tell about it…I knew about Uitm is when my sister..kak sah can continued her study in Uitm in diploma level…start from that I dream to continued my studies just like her…I’m from poor family and to continue study in university need a many money…but my father always said that..if you want to study..just study and do not think about money..don’t make money as a thing that decrease your motivated to continue your study…because of my father supported..my brother n my sister after kak sah also can continue their study…..and I really proud to my father even he just work as a ‘penjual kelapa’ he still can support their children to continue study…my father work is really tired…and sometime he just sleep in a night….I know how he work to get RM1 and its really painful ….we also study because of him………after I get SPM result, I little bit frust because my result is not like what I expected.. …because of that I think I not qualified to continued my studies because of my result is not better like anyone……….that was really frustrated me when I do not get offer to continue my study in Uitm and also polytechnic my second choice……………because of that I just continue my studies in SMK Putera in lower six……………..but in month of December I got offer from polytechnic to continued my study in courses accountancy……this my change and I decide to go……when I prepare to go to polytechnic….I little bit shock when I get letter from Uitm that offer me to study in accountancy course same as a poly….so my family told me to go to Uitm because Uitm is better than polytechnic………and for me also it ii the best for my future…………..so……my first University is Uitm Machang………………I’m really proud to be one of student in Uitm Machang………..firstly I scare to go there because that is first time I far from my family and I do not have any friend at Uitm Machang……but in first day I meet one person….and until in the end of my study in Machang………………and after that I can adapt with the situation and environment in University…….it not stress me at all because Uitm staff just like welcome us…and I happy to be one of the student at Machang….. my new friend and classmate also really cool….and every week I can go back home….so…it’s not stress me at all to live at campus life…. Now I at Uitm Kampus Bandaraya Melaka……and even I little bit stress because of change in campus life to city life, it is not effect at all my feeling proud to be Uitm student and I love to be one of Uitm community…..love my university……..http://www.uitm.edu.my/
Monday 21 March 2011
When Children Fail in School: Understanding Learned Helplessness
by: Carmen Y. Reyes
Learned helplessness is the belief that our own behavior does not influence what happens next; that is, behavior does not control outcomes or results. For example, when a student believes that she is in charge of the outcome, she may think, “If I study hard for this test, I’ll get a good grade.” On the contrary, a learned helpless student thinks, “No matter how hard I study for this test, I’ll always get a bad grade.” In school, learned helplessness relates to poor grades and underachievement, and to behavior difficulties. Students who experience repeated school failure are particularly prone to develop a learned helpless response style. Because of repeated academic failure, these students begin to doubt their own abilities, leading them to doubt that they can do anything to overcome their school difficulties. Consequently, they decrease their achievement efforts, particularly when faced with difficult materials, which leads to more school failure. This pattern of giving up when facing difficult tasks reinforces the child’s belief that he or she cannot overcome his or her academic difficulties.
Learned helplessness seems to contribute to the school failure experienced by many students with a learning disability. In a never-ending cycle, children with a learning disability frequently experience school difficulties over an extended period, and across a variety of tasks, school settings, and teachers, which in turn reinforces the child’s feeling of being helpless.
Characteristics of Learned Helpless Students
Some characteristics of learned helpless children are:
1. Low motivation to learn, and diminished aspirations to succeed in school.
2. Low outcome expectations; that is, they believe that, no matter what they do in school, the outcome will always be negative (e.g. bad grades). In addition, they believe that they are powerless to prevent or overcome a negative outcome.
3. Lack of perceived control over their own behavior and the environmental events; one’s own actions cannot lead to success.
4. Lack of confidence in their skills and abilities (low self-efficacy expectations). These children believe that their school difficulties are caused by their own lack of ability and low intelligence, even when they have adequate ability and normal intelligence. They are convinced that they are unable to perform the required actions to achieve a positive outcome.
5. They underestimate their performance when they do well in school, attributing success to luck or chance, e.g., “I was lucky that this test was easy.”
6. They generalize from one failure situation or experience to other situations where control is possible. Because they expect failure all the time, regardless of their real skills and abilities, they underperform all the time.
7. They focus on what they cannot do, rather than focusing on their strengths and skills.
8. Because they feel incapable of implementing the necessary courses of action, they develop passivity and their school performance deteriorates.
The Pessimistic Explanatory Style
Learned helpless students, perceive school failure as something that they will never overcome, and academic events, positive or negative, as something out of their control. This expectation of failure and perceived lack of control is central in the development of a learned helpless style. The way in which children perceive and interpret their experiences in the classroom helps us understand why some children develop an optimistic explanatory style, and believe that they are capable of achieving in school and others develop a pessimistic explanatory style, believing that they are not capable of succeeding in school (Seligman, Reivich, Jaycox, and Gilham, 1995).
Children with an optimistic explanatory style attribute school failure to momentary and specific circumstances; for example, “I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Children with a pessimistic explanatory style explain negative events as something stable (the cause of the negative event will always be present), global (the cause of the negative event affects all areas of their lives), and internal (they conclude that they are responsible for the outcome or consequence of the negative event). A typical pessimistic explanatory style is, “I always fail no matter what I do.” On the contrary, when the outcome of the event is positive, a pessimistic child attributes the outcome to unstable (the cause of the event is transitory), specific (the cause of the event is situation specific), and external (other people or circumstances are responsible for the outcome) causes.
Learned Helpless Students Need Learning Strategies
Due to this perceived lack of control of the negative event, a learned helpless child is reluctant to seek assistance or help when he is having difficulty performing an academic task. These children are ineffective in using learning strategies, and they do not know how to engage in strategic task behavior to solve academic problems. For example, learned helpless children are unaware that if they create a plan, use a checklist, and/or make drawings, it will be easier for them to solve a multistep math word problem. With learned helpless children, success alone (e.g. solving accurately the multistep problem), is not going to ease the helpless perception or boost their self-confidence; remember that these children attribute their specific successes to luck or chance. According to Eccles, Wigfield, and Schiefele (1998), trying to persuade a learned helpless child that she can succeed, and asking her just to try hard, will be ineffective if we do not teach the child specific learning and compensatory strategies that she can apply to improve her performance when facing a difficult task. The authors state that the key in helping a learned helpless child overcome this dysfunctional explanatory pattern is to provide strategy retraining (teaching her strategies to use, and teaching explicitly when she can use those strategies), so that we give the child specific ways to remedy achievement problems; coupled with attribution retraining, or creating and maintaining a success expectation. When we teach a learned helpless child to use learning strategies, we are giving her the tools she needs to develop and maintain the perception that she has the resources to reverse failure. Ames (1990) recommends that, in combination with the learning strategies, we help the learned helpless child develop individualized short-term goals, e.g., “I will make drawings to accurately solve a two-steps math word problem.” When the child knows and implements learning strategies, she will be able to experience progress toward her individualized goals.
Learned Helpless Students Need to Believe that Effort Increases Skills
To accomplish this, we need to help learned helpless children recognize and take credit for the skills and abilities that they already have. In addition, we need to develop in children the belief that ability is incremental, not fixed; that is, effort increases ability and skills. Tollefson (2000) recommends that we help children see success as improvement; that is, we are successful when we acquire or refine knowledge and skills we did not have before. We need to avoid communicating children that, to succeed in school, they need to perform at a particular level, or they need to perform at the same level than other students. When we help children see success as improvement, states Tollefson, we are encouraging them to expend effort to remediate their academic difficulties. In addition, we are training them to focus on strategies and the process of learning, rather than outcomes and achievement.
Concluding Comments
To minimize the negative impact of learned helplessness in children, we need to train them to focus on strategies and processes to reach their academic goals, reinforcing the belief that, through effort, they are in control of their own behavior, and that they are in charge of developing their own academic skills. For example, to help a child focus on the learning process, after failure, we can tell the child, “Maybe you can think of another way of doing this.” This way, our feedback stays focused on the child’s effort and the learning strategies he or she is using -within both the child’s control and modifiable. When children themselves learn to focus on effort and strategies, they can start feeling responsible for positive outcomes, and responsible for their own successes in school and in life. http://www.edarticle.com/
The Challenges Of Globalization and The Role of Human Resources
By Arshad Husain
Globalization symbolizes the structural making of the world characterized by the free flow of technology and human resources across national boundaries presenting an ever-changing and competitive business environment. A vital aspect of globalization is the way diverse challenges are being faced by nations in an increasingly inter dependent world. No country can meaningfully progress today without efficiently responding to demands and pressures generated by international organizations and processes. World Trade Organization (WTO) for instance is bound to lead in a whole new system of trading relations. This paper is an attempt to address two limitations. First the human factor is the key in the new era of globalization, a primary objective of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for effective management of human resources as a response to the growing interaction of globalization and business performance. That in order to manage employees for competitive edge in a period of globalization. And the second limitation of paper will focus on how training is important for fulfilling strategic goals and especially during times of technological growth and development in the modern world of ever changing information and innovation in order to meet the challenges of globalization.
INTRODUCTION
As we enter a new millennium, the effects of internationalization now known as globalization are everywhere apparent. This has played a major role in sustaining the economic expansion of the global economy in the second half of the 20thcentury. Globalization is seemingly shrinking the planet as barriers to trade are dismantled, transport and communications costs fall, and global production systems are formed and managed by giant multinational corporations.
Globalization can be defined as the ongoing economic, technological, social, and political integration of the world that began after the Second World War. There are several dimensions to this dynamic process, including the increased internationalization of economic markets as reflected, for example, in trade and financial capital flows. The primary objective of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for strategic management of human resources as a response to the growing interaction of globalization and business performance. The rapid integration of the world economy through increased trade and investment, which has been fueled by new technologies, the spread of information and the growing importance of knowledge-based industries, provides the potential for opening up new avenues for human development.
Three central arguments made in this article are:
1. That a great deal of evidence has accrued to suggest that changes taking place in the global business environment often are not accompanied by complementary changes in human resource management practices leading to a situation whereby the failure of some firms is due to the mismanagement of people rather than to problems with technical systems.
2. This is because organizations have achieved relatively low levels of effectiveness in implementing Strategic Human Resource Management practices.
3.That in order to manage employees for competitive edge in a period of globalization, human resource personnel must possess competencies relevant for effective implementation of such strategic HRM policies and training.
HRM ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN GLOBAL MARKETS
The coming of the 21 century poses distinctive HRM challenges to business especially those operating across national boundaries as multinational or global enterprise. Competing in global markets entail many factors and centralization of its human resource practices is certainly vital to improve global competitiveness and empower employees for global assignments. To achieve success in global marketplace, the challenge of all businesses regardless of their size is to understand global corporate cultural differences and invest in human resources. There are certain human resource management issues that are particular for the global enterprise. The key issues involve staffing policies selecting and retaining talented employee, training and development whilst encouraging employees to be innovative and creative, culture barriers, and legal frame work. Others issues include understanding the challenges of living and working overseas, performance appraisals from a distance, training and management development, compensation packages, and labor relations and organized labor laws.
STRATEGIC HRM AS A RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION
The world has undergone a dramatic change over the last few decades, the forces of globalization; technological changes have greatly changed the business environment. Organizations were required to respond in a strategic manner to the changes taking place in order to survive and progress. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) involves a set of internally consistent policies and practices designed and implemented to ensure that a firm's human capital contribute to the achievement of its business objectives. Strategic human resources management is largely about integration and adaptation. Its concern is to ensure that:
1. Human Resources (HR) management is fully integrated with the strategy and the strategic needs of the firm.
2. HR policies cohere both across policy areas and across hierarchies.
3. HR practices are adjusted, accepted, and used by line managers and employees as part of their everyday work. SHRM practices are macro-oriented, proactive and long term focused in nature; views human resources as assets or investments not expenses; implementation of SHRM practices bears linkage to organizational performance; and focusing on the alignment of human resources with firm strategy as a means of gaining competitive advantage.
The role of people in the implementation of strategic responses has a significant bearing on the success rate. It is therefore imperative for organization to look at the human issues involved before implementation of any strategic responses. At this connection the question is: How can organizations effectively adopt, implement and maximize HRM practices for valued firm level outcomes? That is, how can firms increase the probability that they will adopt and then effectively implement appropriate HRM practices? Insuring that members of the HRM personnel have the appropriate human capital or competencies has been suggested as one way to increase the likelihood of effective implementation of HRM practices .The future HR professional will need four basic competencies to become partners in the strategic management process. These include business competence, professional and technical knowledge, integration competence and ability to manage change.
IMPLICATIONS FOR HRM PRACTICES
HR professional competence describes the state-of-the-art HR knowledge, expertise and skill relevant for performing excellently within a traditional HR functional department such as recruitment and selection, training, compensation, etc. This competence insures that technical HR knowledge is both present and used within a firm.
Business-related competence refers to the amount of business experience HR personnel have had outside the functional HR specialty. These capabilities should facilitate the selection and implementation of HRM policies and practices that fit the unique characteristics of a firm including its size, strategy, structure, and culture .In other words, these competencies will enable the HR staff to know the company's business and understand its economic and financial capabilities necessary for making logical decisions that support the company's strategic plan based on the most accurate information possible.
FRAMEWORK AND PROPOSITIONS
The human resource function faces many challenges during the globalization process, including creating global mind-set within the HR group, creating practices that will be consistently applied in different locations/offices while also maintaining the various local cultures and practices, and communicating consistent corporate culture across the entire organization. To meet these challenges, organizations need to consider the HR function not as just an administrative service but as a strategic business.
The following is derived from the framework as mentioned above:
1. Human resource managers may have achieved higher levels of HR professional competencies and lower levels of business related competencies.
2. The incidence of implementing strategic HR practices is lower in organizations especially in the developing countries.
3. Both HR professional competence and knowledge of the business (business related competence) significantly contribute to the extent of implementing SHRM Practices.
4. Managerial competencies are significantly related to organizational performance.
5. The extent of implementing SHRM practices contribute significantly to firm level outcomes.
6. The relationship between SHRM and organizational performance is affected by organizational context variables (firm size, level of technology and union coverage).
It may be pertinent to point out here that the six propositions derived from the framework are particularly relevant for giving insights into the HRM challenges facing organizations in the new era globalization. In other words, these propositions will help us organize thought on the level of readiness (and otherwise) of organizations in response to the challenges of the global business environment. For example, if HR personnel especially in developing countries demonstrates higher levels of HR professional competence relative to the business-related competence (as found in the literature), it would be important to set right this wrong as a stepping stone for succeeding in global business. This is because to succeed in the new era of globalization, the human factor is central. That is why it is necessary for HR personnel to prove themselves beyond reasonable doubt that they are capable of playing key roles in enhancing the status of the HR department (Barney & Wright) must possess a thorough understanding of busines and also act as important influences in the level of integration between HR management and organizational strategy (Golden & Ramanujam).
TRAINING FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS
Firms competing in a global market place, and organizations are to survive and prosper in the modern world of rapid change, they need to be more flexible, faster-moving and faster-learning than before. For that firms are implementing special global training programs, the reason for doing to avoid lost business due to cultural insensitivity, improving job satisfaction and retention of overseas staff and enabling a newly assigned employee to communicate with colleagues abroad. Providing training for employees not only helps them develop their skills and knowledge, but it is also motivational and a building block to organisational success. Global training programs opt for prepackaged programs. (Gary Dessler).
• Executive Etiquette for Global Transactions: This program prepares managers for conducting business globally by training them in business etiquette in other cultures.
• Cross Cultural Technology Transfer: This program shows how cultural values affect perceptions of technology and technical learning.
• International Protocol and Presentation: This program shows the correct way to handle people with tact and diplomacy in countries around the world.
• Language Training: Language training delivered by certified instructors, usually determined by the learner's needs.
CONCLUSIONS
This article summarizes the interaction of globalization and business performance especially with a flavor of the challenges from the perspectives of human resources. This article presents a framework for Strategic Human Resource Management as a response to prepare organizations for the challenges of globalization. It has been observed that by and large organizations have achieved relatively low levels of effectiveness in implementing Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) practices (Huselid, et al.). The rampant pace of global competition, the speeds of technological developments, rapidly changing demographics, and the incredible increase in information technology have resulted in a business environment that changes day to day, hour to hour. To remain competitive in such a dynamic environment, businesses must continually improve their human resource management systems and organizational changes. If the propositions outlined above are supported, then the real challenge for organizations in the era of globalization is to pay particular emphasis to strengthening their human resources by upgrading the relevant competencies. Addressing these issues is a necessary step towards facing the challenges of globalization in to the next millennium.
Tuesday 1 March 2011
Viruses and Worms: The Problems and Their Solutions
Written By:
Soroush King
History and Background
The virus was one of the first ever threats to computer security. It brought a whole new fear upon computer users. Bugs and glitches could cause damage unintentionally, but a virus created havoc intentionally, and therefore often caused much more damage then just glitches in software. Technically a virus must be in a host file and spread manually by people, versus a worm which spreads by an automated process and doesn't require a host file, but we will include worms as part of the term virus. Therefore, the threat of viruses quickly multiplied expotentially. One computer infected by a virus is manageable, but a virus spreading uncontrollably and automatically can cause damage to sometimes entire populations. And with the introduction of the Internet, billions of computers worldwide could be accessed with a click of a button. These abilities are what made the virus probably the greatest security to personal computers in the 21st Century.
What kind of damage will it inflict?
Since up to 100 new viruses are discovered every minute by anti-virus industries worldwide, the damage they inflict varies considerably. Some will display an annoying popup. Some will swap your mouse buttons. Some will uninstall Internet Explorer. Some will delete all your personal files. And some, though rare, will slow down your computer fan to the point that your computer processor starts smoking. All have 1 thing in common - they reduce your productivity in some way and they inhibit you from comfortably using your PC. Therefore you must take several precautions to insure you do not to become infected with viruses. With just a few simple security measures, the chances of getting infected with a virus can be cut down by over 90%.
Security Measures
The most important step - Be careful of everything you do on the Internet! It is extremely rare for a computer to get infected by a virus if you only download and browse trustworthy sites and emails. If an email has an attachment and looks suspicious it is very likey to be a virus. If a site is providing illegal or inappropiate content, it should be considered a risk. These are basic rules of safe browsing of the Internet and unfortunately, most people only learn these rules after a disaster. Don't learn from experience! Don't let it happen in the first place.
Keep your system up-to-date. Nearly every major virus threat to operating systems are patched soon after discovery. Visit your operating system update website often, which is www.windowsupdate.com for Windows users.
Get a reliable antivirus solution. The most common is Norton Antivirus, but I personally do not like its unreliability and incompatibility with many PCs. On the otherhand, it is probably the most user friendly antivirus solution on the market, and is probably best for PC beginners.
If you're looking for a free yet extremely reliable and easy-to-use antivirus solution, Avast may be your answer. I am currently running Avast and am very happy with it. I previously tried Norton Antivirus, Norton Client Security, NOD32 Antivirus and McAfee Antivirus, but each had their own individual problems and so I had to constantly change antivirus software until I finally reached Avast.
Some people go overboard and install many other security measures but I don't recommend this. These measures only hog resources, confuse users and cause conflicts with other software. Some of this software includes firewalls, memory explorers and file protection.
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