The Negative Stigma Of Sex - 1404 Words

Taxes and death are two certainties of life, but there is also a third certainly no one like to mention, sex. Every person came from two other people having sex. Not only do people have sex for reproducing, but also for pleasure making humans the most sexually active animals on the planet. Yet, the negative stigma behind sex keeps such a natural topic in the dark. Over the past hundred years everything in our society has changed; cars, cell phones, the internet, and education, but one topic still has not changed, the way younger generations learn about sex. The United States rates 14th out of 40 countries in education. But ranks 2nd out of 14 in ignorance about social issues (Rice, 2015 ). This is a hard concept to grasp considering†¦show more content†¦People look at this type of teaching as planting a â€Å"seed† for sex in their minds. This is very untrue. Teenagers do not need help to think about sex, teenagers already think about sex. With the influx of hormones during puberty primary and secondary sex characteristics become more noticeable and desirable to teenagers. Sexual education does more good than harm and actually helps adolescents development. Studies conducted by the World Heath Organizations has established that sexual education programs both abstinence and comprehensive based programs help delay and reduce sexual encounters. Teaching adolescents sexual education improves knowledge and understanding. This can intern result in the building of autonomy and confidence. Adolescents are faced with what Erik Erikson’s describes as identity versus role confusion (Berger, 2014). In this crisis adolescents must discover who they are so they can plan for the future. Sexual education programs in school can help adolescents plan for the future. By giving them information about sex it can help to avoid unwanted pregnancies along with transmissions of diseases. Because after all education will not plant any seeds, just help plants grow successfully. In a study looking at Netherlands and England, it was found that Netherlands that does have school sexual educational program and England that does not, England has three times more teen pregnancies than Netherlands. Yet, both societies have

The Impact Of Sigmund Freud On Psychiatric Practice

The Impact of Sigmund Freud on Psychiatric Practice The psychiatric practice would terrify the mentally ill, but not until Sigmund Freud came along. During the early 1800 s, the Catholic Church would torture people that were mentally ill, blaming them to be sinners because of their illness. Freud graduated as a general doctor, but soon found a great interest in the human brain. He came up with the theories of psychoanalysis, Oedipus complex, Electra complex, and even with dream interpretation. Because of all his theories, there were psychoanalytic societies formed, which influenced artists and writers. Even now the way children are educated has changed because of him. Sigmund Freud impacted psychiatric practice and with his theories, the world now knows how the human behavior really works. Years ago, the psychiatric practice was not the same as it is today, but instead, it was torturous. The Catholic Church was the one involved with the psychiatric practice. In the mid 1800’s , Russia started to set up asylums for the most troubled people. The Church made the people believe that they should attend mass on a regular basis in order to cure their mental stability. Since the sixteenth century and forward, asylums were being established all around the world. The Valencia mental hospital in Spain was the first mental institution to open in 1406 C.E. Cruel treatment was given to the people that were admitted to this asylum. Instead of helping the ill recover, the asylums wereShow MoreRelatedPsychoanalysis : The Height Of Academia Essay1635 Words   |  7 PagesMartin Seligman: Well the state of psychoanalysis wouldn’t exactly put it on a pedestal to measure my work against†¦ Sigmund Freud: What are you proposing? Is Psychoanalysis not the height of academia in your time? Martin Seligman: Only if the height of academia includes the isolation of most psychoanalytic ideas as well as psychoanalysis losing its place within psychiatric education (Hoffman 2010). A lot of psychoanalysis has gone unacknowledged in my era, outside of psychology within pop cultureRead MoreViktor Frankl Vs. Sigmund Freud1409 Words   |  6 PagesShamecca Marshall Professor Dietz Psychology 11 July 15, 2015 Viktor Frankl Vs. Sigmund Freud Viktor†© Frankl†© and†©Sigmund†© Freud, are two†©of the most significant†© psychological†© philosophers†© of†© our time. They, have†© formed†© powerful†© perceptions†© concerning†© the†© role†© of†© culture, humanity, and†© the†© healing†© method. Even though†© Frankl†© and†© Freud†©jointly†© experienced†© misery†© within†© their†© own†© existences†© and†© equally†© observed†© dramatic†© socio†political†© alterations†© within†© the†© premature†©Read MoreFreud s Theories Of Human Sexual Development Essay1961 Words   |  8 Pagessexual development. Arguably one of the most influential theories of human sexual development are Sigmund Freud’s stages of psychosexual development (Freud, 1905/1962). While this entry seeks to give the reader an overview of Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, it is also a worthwhile venture to include the environmental, societal and philosophical backgrounds which influenced Freud. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the counseling technique of psychoanalysisRead MoreEssay on The Transforming Life of Sigmund Freud3836 Words   |  16 Pages Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a psychologist and analyze how their theories impact society in general. Sigmund Freud, one of the most recognized names in psychology to date, had developed some eccentric theories that many scientists still accept as having some factual basis. His theories on hypnotherapy, psychosexual development, and defense mechanisms gives people the ability to control and predict their future behavior. These theories, being recognized as some of the mostRead MoreThe Medical Model Of Psychopathology962 Words   |  4 Pagesto define psychopathology in the abstract. By analogy with the concept of pathology in medicine, psychopathology may be defined as abnormalities in mental structures, processes, and states that give rise to abnormal, deviant behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Psychopathology is by definition the study of the mental disorders. This can be done through observations of an individual, watching their behaviors or engagin g with them. Psychopathology has to do with the mental health ofRead MoreExamination of Clinical Psychology1306 Words   |  5 PagesThe examination of clinical psychology increases from Sigmund Freud to Greek philosophy as well as contemporary psychology that gathers information from science, ideas, and other jurisdictions. The exploration of science moves forward and alters clinical mediations as empirically grounded proof backing up the ethics which psychologist in the clinical field treat human trials. However, significant differences occur among clinical psychologists and other psychological sciences, each enhances theRead MoreRepressed Memories5487 Words   |  22 Pages(Rofe ´, 2008). The challenges of memory recovery have not escaped judicial attention. Courts have increasingly found repressed memory testimony to be challenging in terms of its admissibility as valid and reliable evidence (Lipton, 1999). Sigmund Freud (1914) viewed repression as the â€Å"foundation stone on which the whole structure of psychoanalysis rests† (p. 297). It is therefore no wonder that â€Å"Hundreds of psychoanalytic investigations have been interpreted as either propping up or tearing downRead MoreReligion : A Religious Experience2619 Words   |  11 Pagescarries the moral of every person. One may say that rationalism protects one’s self against psychosis as well as sinning while the other might say that it is only religious experience that can protect one from delusion and sin. William James and Sigmund Freud offer competing views on the specifics of religious experience and the capabilities of as well as limits of the human knowledge in attempting to understand the ‘religious.’ In terms of whether the religious experience is exclusive or rare or notRead MoreAnimal Assisted Therapy : The Beginning Of A New Approach1026 Words   |  5 Pagesenabled her to make such discov eries by observing the impact animals had on her medical patients. She discovered that the company of a small pet reduced anxiety in children and adults that resided in psychiatric institutions and recorded her findings in her book â€Å"Notes on Nursing†. With Nightingale’s involuntary record of these human-animal interactions, animal-assisted therapy approaches began to flourish. The â€Å"father of psychoanalysis†, Sigmund Freud, was next to reveal the amazing discovery duringRead MoreWhat is normal about abnormality?1905 Words   |  8 Pagesto form affectionate relationships; and Productivity. There are four models of Abnormality which are: Medical –Pinel (1745-1826) for Europe and Dix - (1802-1887) for America, the practice is used worldwide; Psychodynamic - psychodynamism came about in the late nineteenth century by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud believed that mental disorders were caused by internal factors, he looked at these as psychological rather than physical condition; Behavioural - Watson and Rayner (1920) cause could

Business Online And Gogal Designs

Question: Develop an understanding of domain knowledge about a range of issues relating to electronic commerce.This may lead to severe academic penalties asoutlined in USQ Policy Library? Answer: Introduction: The act of selling the goods and services over the internet is called online business. In this process the total interaction between the customer and the service provider is done through internet. This process is very easy and people find it convenient to shop with comfort from home or office. In the contemporary time it is very popular form of purchasing the goods. Most of the companies are doing their business through online. In this assignment GOGAL Design is facing problem in doing business and their market share is also decreases due to the not adaptation of the change in the business environment (Olsson, 2013, pp-96). Now they are feeling that they should go with the online business to regain their position in the market place. Here the researcher is considered as a consultant of Moose Consulting. The researcher is contracted by the GOGAL Design to investigate the market condition and provide some solutions according to the situation. 1. Identifying suitable online business model for GOGAL Design: Here, the researcher suggests GOGAL Design for the revenue model because this model provides the framework for generating the revenues. This model identifies the sources of revenue, price of the value, payers of the value etc. As the market share of GOGAL Design is declining day by day so revenue is the most important factor for them to survive in the competitive market place. According to the researcher advertising revenue model will help GOGAL Design to recover the position in the market. Advertising model is generally used by the business houses to get the platform where the customer gat all the information regarding the product and services. Various medias like newspaper, magazines, journals etc. are used for this purpose. Now a day the companies also uses internet as a medium of providing the information. Business houses are using their websites for their product and services, even they uses social networking sites for promoting the product. Mobile applications are used for the advertisement purpose and to attract the customers. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram strengthen the revenue potential for the company (Bartikowski and Singh, 2014, pp-34). The revenue model helps GOGAL Design for segmenting the market acceding to their taste and preference. According to the need of the customers they can easily produce the product. This model also helps to understand the level of competition and to identify the competitors. This model also sets the revenue centric culture in the organisations. As advertising promotes the product to the customers so this model will help in increase the sell and market share of the company. Advertising also helps in reinforce the value proposition to the potential customers. For any profitable business, brand value is the most important factor (Daniel et al. 2014, pp-145). To raise the sales and to improve the market share advertising create a great impact with the help of several advertising tools like promotional activity, internet, cell phone, posters, banners etc. the company should give proper options in their websites to the various customers of various segments regarding their services. Advertisin g also helps in to do the right thing according to the marketing situations. It is very difficult to judge the market conditions advertising helps in judging the market and ensure the proper steps to deal with the situation (Marketing Donut, 2015). But there are some negative aspects also. The costs increase due to the advertising. To cope with the market competitions sometimes advertising underlines the social values. The advertising concepts many times confuse the customers; even they feel cheated on the product. Through the advertisement many times the companies selling the inferior goods to the customers. Moreover the advertisement of bad taste influence negatively to the customers regarding the product (Pakroo and Stewart, 2012). Apart from the negative points, there are more challenges regarding the effectiveness of the advertising. Staff turnover, expansion of the market, transparency, attracting ability also required for the appropriate advertising model. So according to the researchers view advertising revenue model is the best for the company. 2. Suitable marketing and promotional strategy with benefits and challenges: To enter in to the travel industry marketing and promotional strategy is very important from GOGAL Design point of view. As the company is losing market share in the current situation so to improve this situation it is very important to adopt some attractive strategies to attract and retain the customers in the market. For marketing here the researcher suggest GOGAL Design to adopt few marketing strategies to attract the customers in online travel industry. These are content marketing, social media marketing, Image centric marketing, online advertising etc (Sheng and Hartono, 2013, pp-103). Content marketing: The main reason that the companies are establishing authority and increasing trust from the customers is by continuously creating valuable content regarding the product or services through the channels. This includes industry information, companys situation according to the market, social media marketing, article in business websites, newsletters, case studies, videos on the websites (Nambisan and Watt, 2011, pp-894). This will create goodwill for GOGAL Design in the market. This method is more effective than other mediums like television, news paper in the contemporary times. Social media marketing: Few years ago business channel was limited. But now social media networks play a vital role in the marketing. For example Facebook, Twitter, LinkeDIn, Google plus are the most effective ways to attract the customers especially between the ages of 18 to 45. Day by day the increasing popularity of the social networking sites is increases the effectiveness of this type of marketing. This diversification seems to prove more fruitful for the organisations (Marceau, 2012, pp-77). Even it helps in building brand equity and brand loyalty to the customers. Image centric marketing: As customers number are increasing to the online marketing so GOGAL Design can adopt this strategy to attract the customers. It is becoming more important for the companies to attract the customers with their websites attract ability. More images in the websites, designs help the customer to easily attracted towards the product and select is own choice (McKeever, 2012, pp-192). For GOGAL Design, they can use graphics, images and pictures to attract the customers in their travel industry. Online advertising: Online advertising refers to the advertising process which will show the customers, information regarding the products and services across different websites. This technique is very effective as when the internet user opens various sites according to their need they even get the information regarding the particular product (Orsburn, 2012, pp-192). It helps in building brand loyalty, customer trust, familiarity with the product etc. Mobile friendly content: Due to the wide spread use of smart phone and tablets GOGAL Design should use mobile friendly content. According to the Brewer (2012, pp-46), almost 68% people use these gadgets to purchase any product or services. So user friendly content will increase the level of the appreciation and customer number for the company. 3. Development of wireframe regarding present to potential customers: A wireframe is a visual guide which helps in representing the skeletal framework of a website (Valliere, 2012). These are generally created for the purpose of arranging elements depicting the page layout or the arrangement of the websites content. For the company GOGAL design which is looking to invest in the tourism industry there must be enough information with regards to travel in other subsidiary websites which the company operates. There are three main areas of wireframe designing which includes: Information design: In this part of the designing activity the presentation, placement and prioritazitation of the information have been done so that the display information has been effectively displayed in clearing the information (Rousseau, 2012). In the current scenario the GOGAL design company should be giving clear instruction to the customers that they are venturing into the tourism business and conduct a market survey on whether their retail customers would also stay with them in case of the shifting of the industry. Navigation design: The navigation system provides a set of screen elements that allows the user in moving from page to page throughout the website. The design of the navigation should help in communicating the relationship of the link that it contains. In case of the current company GOGAL design there should be different pages on the expected changes that they wish to make in their business objectives, proposed packages on travelling and the areas they would like to explore should be clearly mentioned (Dolnicar and Laesser, 2007). Interface design: The user interface design also includes selecting and arranging the interface elements for allows users to relate with the functionality of the system. For GOGAL design there should be text-fields, check boxes and drop-down menus so that the users can see through a wide range. 4. Discussion regarding the implication legal and ethics issues which might arise in conducting online business: Legal issues: Here as the researcher is considered as the member of the consulting company Moose Consultancy, so he is providing some information regarding the legal issues to the GOGAL Design how to deal with these situations. There are many legal considerations to start and run online business. As GOGAL Design is transferring their business from clothing to the travel industry it is very difficult for them to obey all the rules regarding online business. The main issues which can be faced by the GOGAL Design are discussed below: Misappropriation: Sometimes the organisations run their business and unfairly misappropriated the commercial property. They are doing this thing only for their profit. It is a punishable offence according to the law (Partner, 2012, pp-174). Trademark: Every company has their own trade mark for the identification of the product or services. So when GOGAL Design will start the travelling business they need to select a proper trademark and it should be different from others. Copyright: Copy right is the exclusive rights belonging to the organisations for their respective content, websites. Many times it is happened that one company is copying the market leaders style and increase their business. It is the violation of law and punishable offence. Violation of the advertising laws due to the competition: There are certain rules in online advertising which the company needs to obey. The advertisement law regarding the pictures used in the advertisements, languages used should obey the rules (Appleyard, 2015, pp-75). The data provided in the advertisement should be truth. The company cannot use any vague information to attract the customers. There are some guidelines which will help GOGAL Design to maintain the rules and regulations regarding online business: The companies cannot frame a linked page with the websites advertising. There should permission granted from the authority to open the websites. The companies must be careful when selecting the URL and it should not be displayed from another site (Stylist Magazine, 2015). Ethical issues: The advertising industry operates within strict rules and regulations monitored by federal trade commission. There are some ethical issues that GOGAL Design should maintain to create a value and regain the market position. These are as follows: Truth in advertising: The information presented by the company to the customers through online is very important. Otherwise the customers are feeling cheated by the company. Advertising to the children: The unethical behaviour of the companies during the online business of the firm is also creates negative image regarding the companys product or service. The products or services for the children should be accurate (Lin et al. 2015, pp-879). False information encourages creating a good image regarding the company in the mind of the childrens. Advertising tactics: Various advertising tactics helps to increase the rate of unethical online business. GOGAL Design should not adopt such tactics to attract the customers in their travelling services. Emotional appeal, political campaign is the most used unethical advertising tools by the companies (Kupritz and Cowell, 2010, pp-81). 5. Technology, infrastructure and hardware requirements for the plan: There are certain technologies are required for developing the online business. As GOGAL Design wants to develop current business practices in the online so it is very necessary for the company to properly apply the technologies to attract the customers and satisfy them with the service. The required technologies are: Online business plan service: To achieve the objectives set by the managers and to run the business smoothly. Webhosting: To get the website up and to and running. Antivirus: All business needs some internet connection to run the business properly. Antivirus guards the networks and computers against the viruses, Trojans, warm, malwares etc. Credit card processing: In the contemporary market condition credit cards are the most used medium for payment of the cash. Credit card processing allows the business houses to accept all forms of payment. Time tracking and management system: In order to be successful in the market it is important for the business system to increase the productivity of the company for that a proper time management system should be introduced to achieve the standard level of performance (Daniel et al. 2014, pp-332). Online data storage: Now days the business houses are relying on the past data to make the future plan. For that reason to do online business a company needs to store the data. It is easily accessible and movement of the data are also very easy. For doing online business infrastructure is very important. Infrastructure refers to the basic physical facilities to run the business. For GOGAL Design, as they are trying to go in the travel industry they should take proper care of the infrastructure like building, roads, water, power supply to run the business properly. These infrastructures help in building the goodwill in the market place (Belk, 2014, pp-1598). A decorated building attracts the customers more in comparison to the normal building. Proper supply of water, power helps in creating attractable environment for the customers. Proper transportation, communication also added value in the companys goodwill. In case of hardware GOGAL Design requires several computers with high speed internet connections. The computer should contains a first processor, adequate data storage capacity, high capacity ram etc. External hard disk, network server solutions, wireless router, printer is also required to provide customer satisfactions. 6. The purpose and functions of the software which is suitable for GOGAL Design: Sabre@ Central command software is software which can be used by GOGAL design as because it offers a fully included end-to-end trade information system for different travel agencies and the travel management companies. It will also help in the powerful back-office financial management tools for the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This is required because of the fact that there is a requirement of fast generation of reports as well as systematic revenue planning and expenses (Valliere, 2012). The multi-travel software helps in fully synchronising the internet system with travel incoming database which also includes allotments and the bookings will be done automatically (Rousseau, 2012) The reporting time will be dramatically reduced as because the period-tasks will be automated as well as enhancing the agencys ability in managing the change. This softwares will help in improving the operational efficiency of the firm and increase its speed of executing deals in a much comfortable and smooth way that has the potential in trying to make a very well organized way. As the company is currently in a shifting mode so it will be required to find the situation that will help in the management of the company. Strategic decisions of the organization will also need to be carefully taken so that the issues relating to the analysis can be productively taken. It has to choose current software in the market or give the contract to a software company in making custom-made software according to the requirement of the company (Dolnicar and Laesser, 2007). 7. Advantages and challenges of online organisation: The advantages and challenges are discussed below: Advantages: With the help of online business there is no need to pay for the extra payment for land, running costs, office staffs (Chen and Lee, 2015, pp-428). Online marketing creates a wider range of customer base. All over, the country or globe can purchase the product. The structure of this type of business is flexible. There is no need for extra initial costs. Challenges: Use of developed technology is a very big challenge for the companies. Technology is developing day by day, so to cope up with this situation it is necessary that the company also uses latest technologies to attract and retain the customers. In the competitive market place the ideas of long run required developed technologies. Sometimes the strategies are not properly implemented due to the unavailability of the technologies (Olsson, 2013, pp-112). For the services provided by GOGAL Design, there should be need of proper technology. They should try to do something new in comparison to the competitors to attract the customers. 8. Recommendations: To improve the business and market share the company there are some recommendation for the company. GOGAL Design needs to develop a proper market research regarding the target audience. It will help them to identify the taste and preference of the targeted group and satisfy them. They also need to provide the services properly according to the market demand. This will help them to run their business properly. As they are new in the travel industry they should offer some discounts or offer to the customer. In case they also try to use latest technologies and infrastructures to provide better quality of service. Otherwise they will survive in the market like their other business sections clothing department is surviving. In the online marketing GOGAL Design should use attractive photos, videos, colour combination, offers to the customer, grievance box to provide satisfaction to the more number of customer. Conclusions: Online business is very essential in todays business perspective. In this assignment, the researcher identifies the problem faced by the GOGAL Design. As the company wants to start their new business in the travelling industry, it is very important for them to do the business properly. Otherwise their business runs in loss and survives in the market place. Here in this report the researcher suggest the probable solutions to run the business safely in the market place. The researcher provides some informations to the board of directors of GOOGLE Design regarding the online business of travelling industry. These will help to deal with the problems and run the business properly in the market place. Reference list: Books: Brewer, R. (2012). 2013 writer's market. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books. Cockrum, J. (2011). Free marketing. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. McKeever, M. (2012). How to write a business plan. Berkeley, CA: Nolo. Olsson, M. (2013). Build a profitable online business. [New York]: Apress. Orsburn, E. (2012). The social media business equation. Australia: Course Technology PTR. Pakroo, P. and Stewart, M. (2012). The small business start-up kit. Berkeley, Calif.: Nolo. Partner, K. (2012). How to Set Up an Online Business 2013. London: Dennis Publishing. Journals: Appleyard, M. (2015). Corporate responses to online music piracy: Strategic lessons for the challenge of additive manufacturing. Business Horizons, 58(1), pp.69-76. Bartikowski, B. and Singh, N. (2014). Doing E-Business in France: Drivers of Online Trust in Business-to-Consumer Websites. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 33(4), pp.28-36. Belk, R. (2014). You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), pp.1595-1600. Chen, T. and Lee, M. (2015). Personality Antecedents of Online Buying Impulsiveness. JOEBM, 3(4), pp.425-429. Daniel, E., Domenico, M. and Sharma, S. (2014). Effectuation and home-based online business entrepreneurs. International Small Business Journal. Kupritz, V. and Cowell, E. (2010). Productive Management Communication: Online and Face-to-Face. Journal of Business Communication, 48(1), pp.54-82. Li, C. and Fang, Y. (2015). How online service recovery approaches bolster recovery performance? A multi-level perspective. Service Business. Lin, I., Wu, H., Li, S. and Cheng, C. (2015). A fair reputation system for use in online auctions. Journal of Business Research, 68(4), pp.878-882. Marceau, G. (2012). Online Banking in France: Innovative Business Model or Mimetic Phenomenon?. International Business Research, 6(2). Nambisan, P. and Watt, J. (2011). Managing customer experiences in online product communities. Journal of Business Research, 64(8), pp.889-895. Sheng, M. and Hartono, R. (2013). An exploratory study of knowledge creation and sharing in online community: a social capital perspective. Total Quality Management Business Excellence, 26(1-2), pp.93-107. Websites: Marketing Donut, (2015). Starting an online business. Available from: https://www.startupdonut.co.uk/startup/set-up-a-business/starting-an-online-business [Accessed on 19 Jan. 2015]. Shopify, (2015). Sell Clothes Online | How to Start an Online Clothing Store. Available from: https://www.shopify.co.uk/sell/clothes [Accessed on 20 Jan. 2015]. Stylist Magazine, (2015). How to set up an online fashion business. Available from: https://www.stylist.co.uk/stylist-network/how-to-set-up-an-online-fashion-business [Accessed on 18 Jan. 2015].

Single Shot Review Essay Example

Single Shot Review Paper Essay on Single Shot Im not a big fan of the genre sci-fi thriller, but when there is a full bezknizhie have to read 🙂 Orlova I have not read, so downloaded liters with a small piece of the beginning seemed promising, forcing me to buy a book. As soon as the beginning of the book there was a complication of the plot , after which the plot develops quite rapidly, all twirling and twisting spiral. Not to say that this part of the work is original someone lost his memory, but the skills are gradually gaining its place in the world again, what is happening fast enough. After all, the memory of the body this hoo 🙂 But in any case, it is quite readable, but then went miracles. And wonders unpleasant. The main character has become so cool that you wonder how it is still the land. All he can, but knows all the crafts, each as superekspert. And, of course, excellent warrior. And, all this is accompanied by unthinkable somersaults plot, for example, so as not to spoil otherwise, except to say that the first quarter of the book takes place in a medieval world, then there appear spaceships and end in general all transformed into a space opera. It may be added that all of the bad stuff is made between them, except for the plot glue, the coolness of the protagonist. And it increases with each page:) We will write a custom essay sample on Single Shot Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Single Shot Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Single Shot Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer But it could survive if the characters were real people. Unfortunately, the characters are more like a network of bots, than living people. Let me give a couple of dialogues: I would like to put on his clothes, said Maj. Of course.. After all, for this it repaired and cleaned. I was hoping that you get well soon, but it turned out otherwise -. As you dragged here interceptor, he also weighs a lot -? Oh, we have a wealth of experience in transportation of heavy loads. Im recently built a new castle. Or,  «Look, Mike, how to meet girls  »  «Look, do not need the look too unapproachable!  »  « There is no woman who would not want Jack Becket, remember this So I went. Watch and learn  » If we add that the main character villain, the picture is still the same. Imagine a bot a scoundrel:) The authenticity deserves a separate paragraph. After all, it is not there. Starting with the quantity and quality of skills of the protagonist and ending illogical actions of other characters. If not for the constant dynamics of the narrative, which leaves no time to think, to read a book it would be very difficult. In summing up and summarizing the comments here, on this opus, I do not recommend this book to read. Perhaps she will enjoy a big fan of this genre, still in the book, there are militant and speaker (sorry that others are not). Author of the black list, a book in the closet. The evaluation of this product on a scale you can see in my blog.

Special Economic Zones in China

Special Economic Zones in China Since 1979, China’s Special Economic Zones (SEZ) have been beckoning foreign investors to do business in China. Created after Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms were implemented in China in 1979,   Special Economic Zones are areas where market-driven capitalist policies are implemented to entice foreign businesses to invest in China. The Importance of Special Economic Zones At the time of its conception, Special Economic Zones were considered so special because Chinas trade was generally controlled by the nations centralized government. Therefore, the opportunity for foreign investors to do business in China with relatively no government intervention and with the freedom to implement market-driven economics was an exciting new venture. Policies regarding Special Economic Zones were meant to incentivize foreign investors by providing low-cost labor, specifically planning Special Economic Zones with ports and airports so that goods and materials could be easily exported, reducing corporate income tax, and even offering tax exemption.   China is now a huge player in the global economy and has made large strides in economic development in a concentrated period of time. Special Economic Zones were instrumental in making Chinas economy the way it is today. Successful foreign investments galvanized capital formation and spurred urban development what with the proliferation of office buildings, banks, and other infrastructures. What Are the Special Economic Zones? The first 4 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) were established in 1979. Shenzhen, Shantou, and Zhuhai are located in Guangdong province, and Xiamen is located in Fujian province.   Shenzhen  became the model for China’s Special Economic Zones when it was transformed from 126-square-miles of villages known for sales of knockoffs to a bustling business metropolis. Located a short bus ride from  Hong Kong  in southern China, Shenzhen is now one of China’s richest cities.   The success of Shenzhen and the other Special Economic Zones encouraged the Chinese government to add 14 cities plus  Hainan Island  to the list of Special Economic Zones in 1986. The 14 cities include Beihai, Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Lianyungang, Nantong, Ningbo, Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, Shanghai, Tianjin, Wenzhou, Yantai, and Zhanjiang.   New Special Economic Zones have been continually added to encompass a number of border cities, provincial capital cities, and autonomous regions.

Charles Darwin Essays - Charles Darwin, Coleopterists, Free Essays

Charles Darwin Essays - Charles Darwin, Coleopterists, Free Essays Charles Darwin science Charles Darwin Darwin was born in February, 1809. He left the school at Shrewsbury to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. In 1827 he dropped out of medical school and entered the University of Cambridge, intending to become a clergyman. There he met Adam Sedgwick, a geologist and John Stevens Henslow, a naturalist. Henslow not only helped build Darwin's self-confidence but also taught his student to be an observer of natural phenomena and collector of specimens. After graduating from Cambridge in 1831, the 22-year-old Darwin was taken aboard the English survey ship HMS Beagle, largely on Henslow's recommendation, as an unpaid naturalist on a scientific expedition around the world. Darwin's job as naturalist aboard the Beagle gave him the opportunity to observe the various geological formations found on different continents and islands along the way, as well as a huge variety of fossils and living organisms. In his geological observations, Darwin was most impressed with the effect that natural forces had on shaping the earth's surface. During the voyage Darwin found himself doubting that all creatures had been created individually when he found fossils closely ressembling each other. In the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, he also observed that each island supported its own form of certain animals; the various forms were closely related but differed in structure and eating habits from island to island. Both of his observations raised questions about the links between different species. After returning to England in 1836, Darwin began recording his ideas about changeability of species in his Notebooks on the Transmutation of Species. He wrote a theory about his findings but did not publish it. Darwin's theory was first announced in 1858 in a paper presented at the same time as one by Alfred Russel Wallace, a young naturalist who had come independently to the theory of natural selection. Darwin's complete theory was published in 1859, in On the Origin of Species. The Origin sold out on the first day of publication and after this went through six editions. His ideas were widely critized by scientists and the Church. Darwin spent the rest of his life based around his theory and arguments against it. He was honored by burial in Westminster Abbey after he died in Down, Kent, on April 19, 1882.

How can computer science help students in school Essay

How can computer science help students in school - Essay Example This sequence must be unambiguous and detailed. It is practiced by engineers, scientists and mathematicians. Through engineering, the building of hardware and software is achieved, while reason and logic are provided through mathematics. It has a strong connection to other specialties like software systems, computer architecture, software engineering, graphics and even artificial intelligence. As such, each of these specialties, having been drawn from Computer Science would mainly focus on particular challenges, and the application and understanding of basically all aspects of Computer Science. Research by the Sheehy shows that only about 21,000 high schools out of about 42,000 public and private high schools in America offered Advanced Placement test in Computer Science in 2011, a 25 per cent drop in the last 5 years. Only 9 states allow Computer Science as a satisfaction to core science or math requirements. Computer Science is considered as a math or science in 41 states. Some of the most influential people in the world like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs all had one thing in common; they all learned Computer Science in high school. ... Thus, computers have become necessary companions to students in various fields to understand the world around them. As Bentley puts it, â€Å"computers are our invisible helpers† (5). Science students use computer-based equipment to make the required observations and to determine the needed facts. For instance, Biologists use it to determine the genetics of given samples. Chemists use it to determine the concentration of chemicals in various samples. Thus, Computer Science provides the capability for students to understand their academic world. Secondly, Computer Science provides the capability of interacting with other students and peers around the world. The Internet gives computers the ability of being tools of communication across the world. Online versions of print publications are always available on the Internet because of the capabilities provided by Computer Science (Straubhaar, LaRose, and Davenport 263). A huge amount of information is stored on the Internet and is always available to the user. An online version of a newspaper will contain a blog section, where readers can contribute their views by leaving their comments, additional links to other sites with related news, multimedia extensions, online forums, and even audio and video files. Academically, they could access information on the advancements in research studies so as to determine the existing knowledge gap. Thus way, students would be able to carry out relevant research studies that would greatly contribute to the existing body of knowledge. Students could use this capability to interact with people from various parts of the world and get to understand what happens in other parts of the world, be it academic or otherwise. Of importance with regards

America became a culturally distinct place from England during the Essay

America became a culturally distinct place from England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Using information about decorative arts, architecture, - Essay Example One of the cultural differences that emerged between England and America was in speech. Americans no longer carry even a hint of a British accent. The Americans created a new unique form of English. Several reasons can explain this phenomenon. First and foremost Americans wanted to show their lack of class. Classes such as nobility, middle, and lower classes had their own accents in England. America wanted everyone to be equal. Thus by speaking slurred English, Americans showed their solidarity with one another (Larkin, 1989: 154). The melting pot of cultures that came to America also contributed to the unique English. Germans, Italians, Irish, African, and many other cultures collided with their accents making the American accent. Americans did not want to create an English Colony, they wanted to create a new country with a new language. American English is also written differently than British English. For example, Americans write center, whereas the British write centre. The British do not write words ending in er, but use re. The lack of reading material in the beginning of the Colonies might have contributed to the misspelling of words, which in turn created this whole new distinctive English (Larkin, 1989: 36). Words for common things also became different. In England, a queue is a line in America. This could be created to the illiterate, which spelled the words wrong, with a new generation adopting them, or a deliberate attempt to leave their English roots behind. The Americans created a new version of English that is still around today. Art in America reflected the culture that the artist came from. Pictures of farmers, landscapes, and hardships started appearing in the seventeenth and eighteenth century (Larkin, 1989: 176). These paintings were exclusively American, since they depicted American life. American Gothic, Old Virginia Home, and The Declaration of

Three Types of People to Fire Immediately Essay Example for Free

Three Types of People to Fire Immediately Essay The article that I read was â€Å"Three Types of People to Fire Immediately† by Michael Maddock and Raphael Louis Viton from Bloomberg’s Businessweek. The authors of this article discuss how we are taught to be creative and innovative from the beginning when we are children. They also talk about how another key element to be successful is to teach managers how to fire people. Maddock and Viton talk about how letting someone go can be beneficial to your organization because some employees are part of the problem and not part of the solution. They say that the people who are innovative and willing to learn are the ones who will push your organization to the next level and that there are three types of people that will hold your organization back. These three people are the victims, the non-believers, and the know-it-alls. The victims are the people who say things like â€Å"Can you believe what they want us to do now? And of course we have no time to do it. I don’t get paid enough for this. The boss is clueless† (Maddock Viton 2011). They will often see problems as singling them out and punishing them rather than a challenge that they need to overcome and persevere. Victims are usually angry, annoyed, and always complaining about anything that they can. They are the ones at the holiday parties that are very negative and don’t really want to be there but come anyway just to bring everyone else down. Maddock and Viton say that victims are not looking for opportunities but instead look for problems because that is the frame of mind that they are used to seeing things in. The authors say that the non-believers think like this â€Å"Why should we work so hard on this? Even if we come up with a good idea, the boss will probably kill it. If she doesn’t, the market will. I’ve seen this a hundred times before† (Maddock Viton 2011). Maddock and Viton believe that the only difference between a winning team that is innovative and the losing one that comes up short can be attributed to the lack of willpower within the corporate culture. Good managers are those who can find the believers in the organization and promote them while weeding out the non-believers to make the organization stronger. The know-it-alls will say things like â€Å"You people obviously don’t understand the business we are in. The regulations will not allow an idea like this, and our stakeholders won’t embrace it. Don’t even get me started on our IT infrastructure’s inability to support it. And then there is the problem of †¦. † (Maddock Viton 2011). Maddock and Viton believe that the best innovators are those who are willing to learn and not those who think that they know enough to get by. It is management’s job to make and sculpt the culture in the way that they want. If management wants to have an innovative culture then they must convey a learning culture because that is the best way to be innovative. It is also said that the know-it-alls become very keen in using their knowledge to constitute why things are not possible rather than trying to find a way to make it possible. The authors say that managers should try to retrain or teach the Know-it-alls before firing them because they can be valuable if they can break their bad habits. In my opinion I would have to agree with this article for the most part. I do believe that it is necessary to get rid of certain employees such as the â€Å"Victims† and the â€Å"Non-believers†. The Victims and the non-believers will only bring your organization down with their negativity and poor attitudes. Not to mention the fact that they are usually incapable of seeing anything as a positive opportunity rather than a punishment or waste of time. There are a lot of things in the world that were seen as a waste of time or a crazy idea to people but because of the believers and dreamers we have a lot of new technology and innovation to this day. The part that I would have to disagree with is when they talk about the â€Å"Know-it-alls† and how they are not innovative. I believe that the know-it-alls can be very innovative and can solve a lot of organizations problems. However, I also believe that they might be more realistic in their thinking and this could be a good thing in that it could help keep the dreamers from getting their heads too far in the clouds. So in my opinion I do believe that it is necessary to fire people for the good of the organization but you should always evaluate what the employee brings to the table and how they negatively affect the organization before action is taken.

herody Free Essays on Homers Odyssey - Odysseus Is Not A Hero :: Homer Odyssey Essays

Odysseus Is Not A Hero A hero is "a man noted for his special achievements" according to the dictionary, but if you ask most people what a hero is, you will get the same general response. They will probably say "someone who does something for other people out of the goodness of his heart." Odysseus, who is the main character of the book "The Odyssey" written by Homer, would fit the dictionary's definition of a hero; but if you go deeper, looking at what people feel a hero is, he doesn't even come close. In the book, Odysseus does nothing out of the goodness of his heart. Even if Odysseus fought in the Trojan War, he is not a hero because he is self-centered and ignorant to other people's values and needs. There are multiple examples of Odysseus being self-centered, such as not taking people's advice. Odysseus was given advice from Circe that said not to try to fight Scylla even when she takes six of your men, but Odysseus tried to fight her and he lost three more men than the six he already lost. He also neglected to take the advice from his crew member, Eurylochus. Eurylochus told Odysseus not to send men to see what was on Circe's island and because he sent them anyway, they ended up being turned into pigs. Odysseus also neglects other people's lives when he takes action; such as when he tried to fight Scylla after strictly being told not to. Because of this ignorant action, he lost three more men on top of the other six. He also sacrificed men when he waited at the Cyclops' home for "gifts." Odysseus was very self-centered where real heroes are not. Odysseus also lacks the part of the hero profile which includes having a good heart. Odysseus definitely does not have this because he kills people without giving them a chance. Odysseus killed every one of the suitors in cold blood when most of them didn't commit a crime suitable for the death penalty. He also killed all of the maids who were raped by the suitors as if the had a choice in the matter. Odysseus also doesn't care about his crew members.

Legal, Safety, Regulatory Essay

Human resources must abide by legal regulations and safety laws, along with regulations requirements. This is set in place for organizations to avoid litigation. The employee-related regulations have been established by the United States including; Department of Labor, the U. S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Department of Homeland Security. The main focus of these regulations is to prevent any manager from acting biased or irrationally. As a result, common sense and compassion have been replaced by litigation. What managers and employees fear the most is being sued. Managers will make special efforts to prevent such situations from occurring. Some managers will neglect high stress levels of their employees and lack the proper attention to legitimately discontented and unhappy employees. This throws common sense and compassion out the door. Compassion is the workplace amplifies the morale and enthusiasm of the employees along with cooperation where people are actually open to help and not move quickly into suing and organization. Experiencing compassion at work generates positive emotion and, in turn, shapes employees’ long-term attitudes and behaviors. Positive emotions generated by compassion have a cascading effect on employees’ attitudes and behaviors, thereby increasing job satisfaction and lowering job stress, (University of Michigan: Newsroom, 2003). The most recent of the major Equal Employment Opportunity laws is The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 also known as ADA. The law forbidding employment discrimination against people with disabilities who are able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). This act also provides the definition of what a person with disability truly entails. Managers must be especially careful when it comes to this because these days employees will knit pick and strip down a situation and call it discrimination when without a doubt they were probably not fulfilling the job description. HR managers need to ensure the safety of their employees. To ensure such safety there are two important standard regulations; that is workman’s compensation laws, each slightly differing upon which state the employee is in, and OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act established since 1970 on the federal level . Workman’s comp is a legally required benefit that provides medical care, income continuation, and rehabilitation expenses for people who sustain job-related injuries or sickness. Also provides income to the survivors of an employee whose death is job related (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). That being the case, there are audits held to prevent employee’s from filing fraudulent workman’s comp claims. OSHA has set federal and states laws, employees are to abide by their states OSHA standards to ensure safety in the workplace (Dellpo, 2013). In violation to following such laws can result in employer fines. With compassion and common sense lacking in the workplace a real disgruntled employee could cost and employer tons of money by carelessly contributing to fines. Then when presented with such allegations will then claim discrimination. When dealing with laws that effect HR, these are brought to the EEOC, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Employment decisions should not be based on characteristics such as race, sex, age, or disability (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). The EEOC are the ones who investigate claims and situations involving harassment, discrimination, ect. And do take everything seriously. Employers these days definitely abuse the EEOC for simple situations that common sense can be easily applied to, and under those circumstances wasting a lot of time and money for an organization. In the end, after exanimating the effect of legal safety and regulatory requirements on human resource process the main focus of these regulations is to prevent any manager from biasedly and without cause irrationally treating an employee badly. As a result, common sense and compassion have been replaced by litigation. It is unfortunate, but as managers that is why it is important to take actions that develop trust, such as sharing useful information and making good on commitments. Act consistently so that employees are not surprised by unexpected management actions or decisions. Be truthful and avoid white lies and actions designed to manipulate others by giving a certain (false) impression. Demonstrate integrity by keeping confidences and showing concern for others. Meet with employees to discuss and define what is expected of them. Ensure that employees are treated equitably, giving equivalent rewards for similar performance and avoiding actual or apparent special treatment of favorites. Adhere to clear standards that are seen as just and reasonable, for example, neither praising accomplishments nor imposing penalties disproportionately. Demonstrate respect toward employees, showing openly that they care about employees and recognize their strengths and contributions (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). By practicing these key points compassion and common sense can be restored in the workplace.

Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness

Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness Vera Bitsch Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University, 306 Agriculture Hall, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824 Tel: +517-353-9192, Fax: +517-432-1800, [email  protected] edu Paper presented at the 19th Annual World Forum and Symposium of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, Budapest, Hungary, June 20-23, 2009 Acknowledgements This study was supported by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Hatch project #0191628. The author would also like to thank the Elton R.Smith Chair in Food & Agricultural Policy at Michigan State University for supporting the participation at the IFAMA World Forum and Symposium. Copyright 2009 by Vera Bitsch. All rights reserved. Readers may make verbatim copies of this document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies. Personnel Management Research in Agr ibusiness (Executive Summary) One of the challenges faced by agribusinesses in the 21st century is the attraction, motivation, and retention of sufficient and qualified labor.However, personnel management research has mostly focused on other industries. Accordingly, agribusiness managers have little to rely on, when developing personnel policies and procedures. Once a business has grown beyond the labor capacity of the immediate family, personnel management becomes an issue and practices developed for large corporations do not always scale down well to smaller businesses or may not fit the agribusiness environment. This paper reviews the foci and results of personnel management research in the United States and in Canada, but results are likely applicable beyond these two countries.The analysis concentrates on publications analyzing personnel management publications, largely excluding labor market, immigration, and similar analyses. The unit of analysis is the business, not the mark et, society, or other institution. The review covers agribusiness and agricultural economics journals, and also animal science and horticultural science journals. Research reports and conference papers are included when accessible. With few exceptions, personnel management was virtually absent from agribusiness and agricultural economics research before 1990.Since then research methods cover the full range from in-depth, unstructured interviews and group discussions, through interview or moderator guide based approaches, up to fully structured surveys. Several broadly based results are emerging. First, many agribusiness managers perceive their personnel management competencies as a weakness, in particular during periods of organizational growth. Second, experienced managers typically have an adequate conceptual frame of the personnel management functions, but with respect to the details gaps and misconceptions persist.Third, the peculiar circumstances of agribusiness and farm work r equire specific skill sets and beginning managers could benefit from targeted training. Fourth, although compensation is important, employees’ job satisfaction and retention can be increased with inexpensive measures, such as feedback and appreciation. Fifth, the relationship between personnel management practices and financial success measures is complicated and difficult to assess. Few personnel management studies have been able to provide evidence of a substantial relationship between any particular personnel management practice and profit, or even productivity. Personnel Management Research in Agribusiness Problem Statement One of the challenges faced by many agribusinesses and farms in the 21st century is the attraction, motivation, and retention of sufficient and qualified labor. Although this problem is more pronounced in industrialized and developed economies, growing and transitional economies, including China, also face a lack of interest in agricultural work. In ad dition, personnel management research has mostly focused on other industries, neglecting agribusiness.Accordingly, agribusiness managers have little to rely on, when developing personnel policies and procedures for a growing business. Once a business has grown beyond the labor capacity of the immediate family, personnel management becomes an issue and practices developed for large corporations often times do not scale down well to smaller businesses or may not fit the agricultural or agribusiness environment. Farm Labor in the U. S. In 2007, U. S. hired farm labor comprised $21. 9 billion or 9. 1% of total production expenses. That was an increase in monetary expenses of $3. billion, compared to $18. 6 billion in 2002, but a decrease in percentage of expenses. In addition, contract labor amounted to $4. 5 billion in expenses or 1. 9% of total production expenses, up $1. 1 billion from 2002. Custom work and custom hauling, which includes machinery costs was up by $0. 8 billion at $4. 1 billion; 1. 7% of total production expenses (2007 Census of Agriculture). Hired labor was the third largest expense group behind purchased feed and purchased livestock and poultry. But farm labor expenses are not equally distributed regionally.According to Kandel, total farm labor expenses amounted to 22. 3% of the cash receipts in California, but only to 2. 5% in Iowa in 2006. The top five states in terms of payroll expenses were California, Florida, Texas, Washington, and Oregon. They account for 42. 8% of the expenditure on hired labor in the U. S. Runyan reported that 1910-19 the share of family labor of total farm employment was 75%; 1990-99 this share had declined to 64%. While total farm employment is declining, the role of hired workers is increasing with increasing farm sizes.However, farm wages rank near the bottom of all occupational groups, second only to private household work (Runyan). This fact may be ameliorated, at least in part, by lower cost of living expenses in rural communities (Gisser and Davila). By agricultural specialization, hired labor is most important for horticultural 3 operations (tree nurseries, ornamentals, fruit, and vegetables) and in dairy farming, followed by livestock and poultry farming; hired labor is least important in field crops.Objectives This paper reviews the foci and results of personnel management research in agriculture and agribusiness in the United States and in Canada, but results are likely applicable beyond these two countries. The goal of the review is to extract the lessons learned and derive guidance for both agribusiness management practice and future research. The specific objectives are to (1) analyze the state of the art of personnel management research in agribusiness, in particular agricultural production, including an analysis of research methods; (2) determine the ain themes with respect to (a) research questions and (b) empirical fields; and (3) summarize empirical results to (a) provide a f oundation for manager training and decision support and (b) serve as a roadmap to future research projects. Procedures Geographically, this paper focuses on the United States and Canada and the review is limited to publications in English. The analysis concentrates on publications analyzing personnel management questions, largely excluding labor market, migration, immigration, and similar analyses.Labor market, migration, and immigration studies are important to understanding the agricultural labor problem and a considerable amount of work has been done on these questions (see, e. g. , Devadoss and Luckstead; Ise and Perloff; Martin and Taylor; Taylor; Tran and Perloff; Walters, Emerson, and Iwai). Less work has been published on personnel management functions and the use of different management practices in agribusiness. Personnel management functions include practices to recruit, train, manage, organize, evaluate, compensate, discipline, and terminate employees, as well as, questi ons of job satisfaction, motivation, and retention.Therefore, the unit of analysis is the agribusiness or farm, not the market, society, or other macro institution. The review covers agribusiness and management journals, agricultural economics journals, and also animal science and horticultural science journals. In addition, research reports and conference papers (gray publications) are included when accessible and relevant. 4 Articles reporting on empirical research, as well as, review articles were content analyzed with respect to the objectives outlined above.A qualitative analysis method was used to determine the personnel management questions addressed, the research methods, the empirical field, the specific results with respect to the questions addressed, and the broader implications of each article. Only articles meeting the criteria summarized above are included in the discussion of the main themes and in the summary tables. Furthermore, although this paper is based on a com prehensive review, it cannot claim to include every study in this field. State of the Art Before 1990, personnel management was virtually absent from agribusiness and gricultural economics research (Howard and McEwan; Rosenberg and Cowen), with very few exceptions (e. g. , Adams, How, and Larson). For the agricultural field, personnel management research basically began in the early 1990ies, but many of these studies are difficult to access, because they have been published as conference or working papers, or in trade magazines, not in peer reviewed journals. Until the end of the 1990ies, studies remain few and common themes are yet to develop, with the possible exception of job attitudes, which appear as an early focus (e. . , Adams, How, and Larson). Additional themes emerging later include managers’ conceptualization of the personnel management functions, managers’ personnel management competencies and practices, and the relationship between personnel management pra ctices and organizational outcomes. Few studies focus on one particular personnel management function; more studies encompass a broad array of functions and the related management practices. Exceptions are studies of the management and preferences of migrant workers and of compensation (table 1).Compensation studies in agribusiness frequently are limited to a description of actual wages and their distribution, sometimes not including benefits, and not relating compensation to organizational outcome variables (see, e. g. , studies cited in Maloney and Milligan). Examples of compensation studies, which transcend this limitation, are a pay method and performance study (Billikopf and Norton), a study of the effect of compensation and working conditions on retention (Gabbard and Perloff), and studies of the relationship between wage, production technologies, and farm size (Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Yu et al. . Gabbard and Perloff found that for the same monetary investment employ ee benefits increase the probability of retaining good workers more 5 than higher wages. Strochlic et al. also found benefits to increase retention. No relationship between wages and retention rates was found by Miklavcic, as well as Strochlic et al. Considering that, regardless of the personnel management model used (see Delery and Doty for the universalistic, contingency, and configuration models), specific management practices cannot e considered to function in isolation and independent of other practices. Conclusions based on such studies of singular practices would be limited. Therefore, even researchers interested in a particular personnel management function and in comparing relevant practices for this function, would have to take a more integrative approach and describe other practices to provide context. Empirical evidence for the relevance of the integrative approach in agriculture and agribusiness was provided in Adams, How, and Larson; Chacko, Wacker, and Asar; and Muger a and Bitsch.Despite many commonalities between different branches of agricultural production, the type and conditions of work vary, as does the dependency on weather and growth cycles, e. g. , comparing vegetable production to swine production. Both researchers and practitioners therefore will primarily look at the research matching their current undertaking most closely. Studies vary in their empirical coverage, with respect to the scope of farming specializations included, from studies focused on a single specialization (e. g. , floriculture) to studies including multiple specializations (e. . , horticulture, including floriculture, fruit and vegetable production), and the scope of personnel management functions analyzed, from single function studies (e. g. , compensation; see above) to studies including selected or multiple functions (table 1). Dairy farming stands out as the specialization most likely to be researched. Given that hired labor plays an even larger role in horticu ltural production than in dairy farming, the reasons for the higher interest in personnel management in dairy research are not obvious.The Journal of Dairy Science published papers of a Symposium: Dairy Personnel Management as early as 1993. In addition to the dairy studies reported in table 1 that address personnel management specifically other studies of dairy farming included personnel management questions in broader studies of farm expansion (Bewley, Palmer, and Jackson-Smith; Hadley, Harsh, and Wolf; Stahl et al. ). These studies found that personnel management competencies are most important for the success of farm expansion, but these competencies are also most challenging for farm managers.After an expansion, managers are more likely to use formal practices with respect to all major personnel management functions (Stahl et al. ), but some 6 problems, such as communication, persist (Hadley et al. ), although managers spend more time on personnel management. Also, personnel ma nagement education for large dairy farms has been emphasized as an opportunity for extension programming (Brasier et al. ).A relatively new arena of research, which cuts across different agricultural specializations, is the interface of personal management and sustainable or organic production. The questions being asked include whether sustainable and organic agriculture are inherently beneficial to employees, whether the commitment to sustainability does or should include a social component, and whether a fair labor certification approach would be beneficial to producers (e. g. Shreck, Getz, and Feenstra; Strochlic and Hamerschlag; Strochlic et al. ). Although a majority of certified organic farmers in California believe that organic agriculture is more socially sustainable than conventional agriculture, there is little support to include criteria on working conditions in the organic certification (Shreck, Getz, and Feenstra). On the other hand, Strochlic et al. found considerable interest in a fair labor certification (59% of respondents).Research Methods of Empirical Studies Considering the early stage of personnel management research in agribusiness, research methods were expected to be mostly exploratory and qualitative (Bitsch 2000 and 2005). However, research methods cover the full range from in-depth, unstructured interviews and group discussions, through interview or moderator guide based approaches, up to fully structured surveys administered at the business site or off-site one-on-one or in a group setting, over the phone, or mailed questionnaires (table 2).Fornaciari and Dean found a similar phenomenon in the study of religion, spirituality, and management, where research methods also include many quantitative approaches, despite the early stage of the research field. Reasons for the seemingly early venture into highly structured and quantitative research approaches are more likely to be caused by expectations set up in the qualification process of researchers, professional pressures regarding publication outlets, and differing prestige of certain research approaches in researchers’ professional fields than by research considerations.Although, this review of studies of personnel management in production agriculture and agribusiness cannot claim completeness, the number of studies employing unstructured or moderately structured methods (first two columns in table 2) appears lower than the number of studies employing highly or very highly structured methods (last two columns in table 2). 7However, even many of the quantitative, highly structured studies did not attempt (or accomplish) representative sampling and, therefore, their generalizability can only be judged based on their descriptions of the research approaches and the methods used, and the comparison of results across studies. As a result, researchers and practitioners planning to use studies of either research approach may need to analyze the original sources a nd pay close attention to details, before evaluating the applicability of their results to a different context.Most studies rely on a single method for data collection and multi-method studies are rare. An exception is the case study approach of best management practices by Strochlic and Hamerschlag that employed a variety of methods including semi-structured interviews with farm managers, focus groups with employees, and informal interviews with key informants. Multimethod approaches are likely to yield more valid results, due to the method triangulation involved.The method used most often by personnel management researchers in production agriculture and agribusiness is a survey questionnaire (table 2). Questionnaires are administered in a variety of ways, most frequently in person, which is more likely to garner to reliable results than mailed questionnaires, given the sensitivity of many personnel management questions, but also requires more resources. The number of studies using a mailed questionnaire is surprisingly high, considering the difficulty of developing a questionnaire that is fully understood by potential research participants.Other methods used frequently are moderately structured interviews either in an individual setting or set up as group discussions. Although resource intensive, these latter approaches are more likely to gather reliable data and allow for in-depth study of research questions than the more highly structured approaches, given the early stage of the field, the lack of common understanding of personnel management terms of potential research participants and researchers, and the multitude of interactions etween personnel management practices. Managers’ Conceptualization of Personnel Management Functions As early as 1967, Adams, How, and Larson observed that some farmers seem to have much fewer difficulties in finding and keeping the workforce they needed than other farmers in a comparable situation. Their research showed that this difference was not a chance occurrence, but that these farmers had invested considerably in the relationships with their workforce and carefully developed their personnel management practices.Similarly, Rosenberg and Cowen 8 found dairy managers’ assumptions about their workforce to correlate with their milk output, and suggest that those assumptions guide the choice of organizational structure and the management practices. Hence, it may be concluded that managers’ perception of which personnel management functions need to be given attention and which practices are available to them, will be the determinants of their management choices.After 2000, a renewed effort to delineate the field of agricultural personnel management resulted in three studies using focus group discussions to identify management practices in different areas of agricultural production and services, to describe their advantages and drawbacks from managers’ perspective and to critica lly review these practices. As a research method, focus group discussions are useful to integrate research and extension goals.The interaction between research participants and between research participants and the researchers triggers learning processes. In addition, relationships are developed and reinforced, which not only increase openness during the research process, but encourage participation in educational programs. During the research process, knowledge deficits can be diagnosed (Bitsch 2004). Bitsch und Harsh convened five focus groups with managers and owners of greenhouses, tree nursery operations, and landscape operations in Michigan.The study showed that horticultural managers conceptualize personnel management and its challenges and opportunities along the management process: recruiting and selection, training and development, performance appraisal and discipline, careers and relationships, and compensation. For the research participants, hiring immigrants and labor l egislation were also important HRM topics. In addition, Bitsch et al. convened four focus groups with dairy farmers and managers.Their perceptions of personnel management functions were similar to the horticultural study, and differences were mostly due to the more seasonal character of labor needs in the earlier study. Discipline was more important in dairy farming, because the continuous availability of work creates the need for terminating and replacing some employees who do not perform at the expected level. Seasonal operations often deal with these employees by providing less work to them, laying them off before the end of the season, and not recalling them for the following season.While horticultural managers considered working conditions mostly as an image problem in recruiting, to dairy managers working conditions were a permanent stress on employees. 9 Labor laws and regulations were less important in dairy farming, because few operations had their practices audited by gove rnment agencies at the time of the study. Finally, Bitsch and Olynk (2008) convened six focus groups with owners and managers of pork farms in Kansas and Michigan and reanalyzed the transcripts of the second study.Results of this study served to refine the framework of agricultural personnel management developed based on the first two studies. The most significant extension is an additional set of personnel management practices regarding the performance management function. Performance management describes the daily, informal interaction between managers and employees, including informal feedback, task-related communication, setting priorities, and dealing with problems. Although these practices are important in the day-to-day management processes, there has been little discussion about them in the literature.Also, working conditions were extended to include the organizational structure, and the social environment at work was established as another arena to be monitored and consciou sly managed. The resulting framework of agricultural personnel management includes eleven management functions: recruiting, selection, hiring immigrant employees, training, working conditions and organizational structure, social environment, performance management, discipline, performance appraisal, compensation, and labor law and regulation.Managers’ Personnel Management Competencies and Practices In a recent study, Stup, Holden, and Hyde identified competencies in different management areas on the senior and the middle management level of dairy farms through group discussions and then surveyed different managers about their comfort level with respect to these competencies. While managers were generally confident about their competencies, senior managers were least confident about their personnel management competencies (4. 95 on a 7-point Likert scale, 1=very low, 7=very high, n=41). Middle mangers ranked themselves second lowest in personnel management competencies (4. 1, n=22) and lowest in community service and public relations (4. 05, n=20). Bitsch and Olynk (2007) developed a typology of required personnel management skills for successful management in animal agriculture based on ten focus groups with dairy and pork farmers and managers. The typology consists of five skill sets: motivator, housekeeper, model employee, counselor, and change agent. This typology shows a number of commonalities with 10 the Competing Values Framework, used in general management education (Faerman, Quinn, and Thompson), but also industry specific differences.The motivator with the ability to train and motivate others, and to provide constructive feedback and the housekeeper with the ability to control, to lead, and to discipline others build the core of agricultural personnel management skills and also likely other production enterprises. In addition, the ability and willingness to be a model employee plays a surprisingly large role in agriculture. The function of the counselor, to support employees with their personal problems at work and beyond, was discussed less frequently by the research participants, but is necessary to prevent problems and to sustain employee productivity.The change agent initiates or implements innovations in the production process and was mentioned mostly by managers of larger farms. The authors point out that to be successful managers need to command a complete repertoire of skills including skills from each of the five types and not limit themselves to skills from only one type, for example, out of familiarity with certain behaviors (Hutt and Hutt). The role and the functions of middle management are a field of agricultural personnel management with few studies, but increasing importance.Not only did the share and impact of hired labor increase with increasing farm sizes, and personnel management became more important, but supervisors and middle managers are also playing a larger role. Billikopf (2001) interviewed far m supervisors in California and found them to struggle with personnel management tasks. Bitsch and Yakura employed a case study approach to develop a grounded theory of agricultural middle management (see Bitsch 2005, on grounded theory applications in agribusiness; see Glaser and Strauss on the foundations of grounded theory).The participating middle managers described an unexpectedly large number of different personnel management practices. Bitsch and Yakura suggested that these practices can be clustered into two basic types: traditional practices and participative practices. Traditional practices include reprimanding employees, orienting and training employees, monitoring and controlling employees, and dealing with conflict. Participative practices include accommodating employees (e. g. flexibility in schedules, task and team assignments), managing relationships with employees, providing information and goal setting, listening to employees, providing appreciation and feedback, r ewarding employees (non monetary), modeling work behavior, peer control, manager-induced team building, and training by coworkers. 11 Although this typology shows similarities with McGregor’s Theory X and Y, Bitsch and Yakura underline a significant difference. For the participating middle managers, using traditional or participative practices was not correlated with individuals.Each manager used both traditional, as well as, participative practices. The authors suggest that management success corresponds rather with the number of practices individual managers command than with the type of practices they use more frequently. McGregor had assumed that participative managers would be more successful. Bitsch and Yakura pointed out that some managers did use few practices, whereas others were using the full breadth of the described practices. Given that day-to-day management consists of many different management situations, anagers with a more complete repertoire are more likely to choose suitable practices. Employees’ Job Attitudes and Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is considered both a goal in itself, as well as, a means to reduce turnover and increase motivation and performance. Although meta-studies found a smaller relationship between job satisfaction and these correlates than expected, several studies of job satisfaction in agriculture have been conducted during the past 50 years (see Bitsch and Hogberg). One of the more frequently applied models is the empirically grounded two-factor model by Herzberg et al.This model is particularly suited to structure the analysis of job attitudes and their context. Empirical evidence that indeed job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are caused differently as predicted by the Herzberg et al. model is scant (Bitsch 2007). Independent of the theoretical models and the research methods several common results emerge from studies of job attitudes in agriculture. Porter pointed out that half of the dairy far m employees surveyed in New Hampshire saw appreciation of their work as the most important factor for their performance.In addition, they mentioned open communication with their supervisor, good records, and control of the work situation; Porter concluded that financial incentives are less important. Adams, How, and Larson found financial incentives to be important for a satisfactory employer-employee relationships, but stressed the importance of consideration for workers as human beings, taking into account personal problems of workers and helping to find solutions, and getting the right fit of worker and job (see previous section for middle managers’ practices for a similar finding).Bitsch (1996) in a study of tree nursery apprentices in Germany found that a large majority did desire higher wages, but almost half also 12 desired increased appreciation, more training, and more responsibility for their tasks. More training was also requested by Spanish speaking dairy farm emp loyees surveyed by Maloney and Grusenmeyer in New York. Surveying New York dairy farms, Fogleman et al. found that employees were least satisfied with the factor managers had most control over, that is performance feedback.Billikopf (2001) had found supervisors in all branches of agriculture to be mostly satisfied with their jobs. More detailed case studies with horticultural operations found for employees without supervisory responsibilities (Bitsch and Hogberg) and also for supervisors (Bitsch 2007) that the same factors seem to contribute to job satisfaction, as well as, to dissatisfaction, depending on their availability and characteristics.For both groups of employees, job security, achievement, technical competency of the superior, and personal relationships at the workplace were more likely to be perceived as positive. The work itself and organizational procedures and policies were perceived as ambiguous, contributing to both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Compensation was perceived rather negative, more negative by employees without supervisory responsibilities than by supervisors; the latter are likely to be higher paid and more likely to receive benefits.Employees without supervisory responsibility perceived their work/life balance more positive than supervisors; the latter are also less satisfied with their working conditions. Mainly, this was due to the fact that employees with supervisory responsibilities were expected to be available for work whenever required, whereas employees without supervisory responsibilities were given more flexibility. An earlier study in Germany, also had found that horticultural employees value flexible scheduling and benefit arrangements (Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich).Relationships between Personnel Management Practices and Organizational Outcomes Relationships between personnel management practices and various organizational outcomes, such as productivity (Rosenberg and Cowen), profit (Adams, How, and Larson), or co mpetitiveness (Chacko, Walker, and Asar; Mugera and Bitsch) have often been assumed, but infrequently been empirically researched. Owners and managers of agricultural operations also testify to a relationship between personnel management practices and farm level outcomes (Bitsch et al. Strochlic and Hamerschlag). The few studies attempting the empirical description and measurement of these relationships in production agriculture and agribusiness have found limited evidence. 13 Rosenberg and Cowen tested several personnel management practices’ and management assumptions’ impact on dairy farm productivity, including prevalence of Theory Y assumptions (McGregor), upward and downward responsibility diffusion, employee selection procedure, employee assessment criteria, and employee performance feedback, along with record use and herd size.In addition to record use, the authors found that Theory Y assumptions and the amount of feedback provided to employees impacted producti vity. Feedback has also been found to be important in employees’ job satisfaction (Bitsch 1996; Fogleman et al. ). Although management assumptions are likely to guide organizational structure, personnel management practice choice, and managers’ communication and interaction with employees, the study did not provide evidence of the relationship between assumptions and particular practices.Stup, Hyde, and Holden analyzed several personnel management practices of successful dairy farms in Pennsylvania, including milk quality incentives, performance reviews, employment of Spanish-speaking employees, use of standard operating procedures for milking, feeding, and reproduction tasks, continuing training, and use of job descriptions. Except for continuous training of employees, farm success did not differ significantly for farms using compared to farms not using these practices.While differences in definitions between Stup, Hyde, and Holden, and Rosenberg and Cowen and little overlap regarding the management practices researched, make it difficult to compare both studies, it should be noted that Stup, Hyde, and Holden did not find performance reviews to be significant. Chacko, Wacker, and Asar compared perceptions of agribusiness managers with respect to the contributions of different technological and personnel management practices to their competitiveness. In general, managers ranked technological practices higher than personnel management practices.However, job security and measures of training and development were among the top ranked management practices. Job security has also been emphasized in job satisfaction studies (Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch 2007). Training has been found to stand out in Stup, Hyde, and Holden and has also been emphasized in job attitude studies (Bitsch 1996; Maloney and Grusenmeyer). Based on managers’ perception of particular technological and personnel management practices, Chacko, Wacker, and Asar also aggregated pr actices in a factor analysis and regressed these factors on perceived competitiveness.The regression analysis showed personnel management 14 factors to contribute to a higher extent to different measures of competiveness than technological measures. The employee commitment factor (job security, sharing of profits and gains) stood out as contributing to most competitiveness measures. Mugera and Bitsch used a resource based perspective to analyze whether personnel management practices and the personnel itself constitute a competitive advantage for dairy farms (see Wright et al. for a general discussion of the application of the resource based theory to personnel management).The authors conducted case studies with dairy farms to analyze the integration of personnel management practices with each other (e. g. , practices regarding recruitment, selection, training, and compensation) and their outcomes (e. g. , voluntary turnover and termination). The case studies provided empirical examp les of the applicability of the resource based theory and evidence of the use of personnel management practices as a competitive advantage. The authors emphasize that studies of isolated management practices may lead to misleading results, due to the importance of the integration of practices with each other.Therefore, they recommend an integrative approach to researching and changing personnel management functions. Strochlic et al. surveyed 300 organic farms of various agricultural specializations with respect to their personnel management practices and organizational outcomes. They found significant relationships between an overall labor conditions score and 5- and 10-year retention rates, several occupational safety related practices and person-days lost due to accidents and injuries. No relationship was found between the surveyed management practices and supervisory costs or access to sufficient labor.Conclusions Personnel management research in agribusiness has increased over t he past 20 years, but the field is in an early stage of its development. Although agribusiness managers and organizations are demanding more decision support and training in personnel management, a rapid increase in research volume cannot be expected. The number of researchers giving this field more than cursory attention is relatively small compared to other agribusiness fields. Research funding is limited or unavailable for many agribusiness related personnel management questions. Peer reviewed articles are rare, because ublication outlets lack sensible reviewers for this field and many editors do not perceive it as a priority. 15 Notwithstanding the early stage of personnel management research in agribusiness, several broadly based results are emerging. First, many managers on different hierarchical levels perceive their personnel management skills as an area of weakness. This weakness becomes more visible during organizational growth, when additional employees are needed and tas ks change from production orientation to management, including management of more personnel. Growth processes have been researched mainly in dairy farming.Despite managers’ perception of a lack of personnel management competencies, participation rates in educational programs targeting such skills are not very high. Second, experienced managers typically have an adequate conceptual frame of the personnel management functions, and potential challenges and risks, at least regarding the big picture. They acknowledge all textbook personnel management functions (recruiting, selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation, discipline, and labor law and regulation), although they do not necessarily practice conscientious management with respect to all of these functions.For example, performance evaluation and discipline are rarely practiced. Also, gaps and misconceptions persist with respect to the details of each practice and potential alternative practices, and typically t he details decide the success of these practices. On the other hand, managers perceive a need for additional practices, rarely discussed in the literature, with respect to performance management, the social environment at the workplace, working conditions and organizational structure, as well as, hiring immigrant employees.Third, not only are the personnel management tasks outlined above numerous and often times difficult to balance, but they also result in challenging requirements with respect to the breadth and depth of management competencies and practices. Due to the peculiar circumstances of agricultural work, including long hours and family relationships, requirements of managers are not less stringent, but rather more demanding than in other sectors. Various new and unexpected tasks need to be mastered by newly promoted individuals who normally are not prepared to deal with these tasks.Learning management in agriculture is often limited to imitating the supervisor (Hutt and H utt) and training in many cases consists of â€Å"sink or swim† (Bitsch and Yakura). Many farms could improve their HRM practices through preparatory and accompanying training of their supervisors and managers. On the other hand, given their lack of training, managers have acquired and are using a surprisingly large number of traditional, as well as non traditional, HRM practices. 16 Fourth, compensation is important, as can be expected, considering the low level of agricultural wages compared to other occupational groups.However, incentive systems are not necessarily preferred by employees (Porter; Strochlic and Hamerschlag). In many cases, job satisfaction can be increased with inexpensive measures, such as providing more feedback and appreciation for tasks well done. Similarly, many farms could use training and employee responsibility for task performance to increase productivity and job satisfaction. On the other hand, in general, employees seem satisfied with their work and specifically with its context.Flexibility, especially for employees without supervisory responsibility, and positive personal relationships at work, particularly with superiors, contribute primarily to job satisfaction. As Adam, How, and Larson stated, â€Å"Such relationships seem to be the end result of a combination of policies and practices on the part of farmers and of a genuine liking of farm work and their employers on the part of employees† (p. 60). Fifth, the relationship between personnel management practices and financial measures of organizational success is complex and difficult to assess.Few personnel management studies in production agriculture and agribusiness have been able to provide evidence of a substantial relationship between any particular personnel management practice and profit, or even productivity. In particular, isolated practices do not usually show a statistical relationship with financial measures or even intermediate measures, such as produ ctivity, retention, or supervision costs. Although this is to be expected according to the integrative model of personnel management, it hinders the development of manageable research projects that can be analyzed and described in a standard form.Additional problems stem from the lack of data availability and changing conditions and actors who also continuously develop new practices and strategies. Compared to twenty years ago, when Howard and McEwan declared the absence of personnel management research in the agribusiness field, managers and researchers have more to build on today. A suitable framework of personnel management functions in production agriculture has been developed (Bitsch and Olynk 2008), on which manager training and future research can build.This framework must be broadened to encompass the agribusiness value chain as a whole. Groundwork has been done to describe and conceptualize what managers do in their day-to-day practice to motivate and lead employees, and wh ich competencies they need to acquire to be or become successful managers of personnel. In addition, a lot more is known about how 17 agricultural employees perceive their work and its context and where they see improvement needs. Nevertheless, differences and commonalities between production agriculture and the broader agribusiness environment need to be explored further.Also, future research will have to develop methods to establish the relationship between personnel management practices and organizational outcomes and to analyze specific practices in their organizational context more indepth. Education and training of production agriculture and agribusiness managers, both in the classroom and beyond, can and has started to build on a growing body of empirical research, instead of solely relying on results from other industries and large organizations, which may or may not be applicable in the industry settings.Specific results from many of the studies discussed have been used to develop personnel management programs for managers in production agriculture, both in terms of determining educational needs, as well as developing and organizing program content tailored to managers’ experience and understanding. 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Scope of Personnel Management Studies and Personnel Management Functions Analyzed in Production Agriculture and Agribusiness Studies Focused on One Farm Specialization Studies Focused on One or Few Personnel Management Function(s) Dairy Immigrant employees Harrison et al. ; Maloney; Maloney and Grusenmeyer; Stup and Maloney Floriculture Recruiting and selection Maloney, Milligan, and Petracek Swine Compensation Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Yu et al. Vineyards Compensation Billikopf and Norton Studies Encompassing Selected or Many Personnel Management FunctionsDairy Bitsch et al. ; Fogleman et al. ; Hutt; Hutt and Hutt; Mugera und Bitsch; Porter; Rosenberg and Cowen; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Stup, Hyde, and Holden Swine Howard et al. Floriculture/Greenhouse Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich Maloney and Milligan Horticulturea) Bitsch (2004); Bitsch (2007); Bitsch and Harsh; Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch and Yakura; Miklavcic; Strochlic and Hamerschlag Livestockb) Bitsch and Olynk (2007 and 2008) Studies Encompassing Multiple Farm Specializations Horticulturea) Compensation Billikopf (1995 and 1996) Compensation and working conditions Dunn; Gabbard and PerloffAgriculturec) Adams, How, and Larson; Billikopf (2001); Chacko, Tree nursery production Wacker, and Asar; Howard; Bitsch (1996) Rosenberg, Perloff, and Pradhan; Strochlic et al. a) Horticulture indicates two of more of the following specializations: floriculture and greenhouse, fruit, nuts, vegetable, and vineyard produc tion. b) Livestock indicates two of more of the following specializations: dairy, beef, swine, and poultry production. c) Agriculture includes at least one horticultural and one livestock specialization, as well as agribusiness. 23 Table 2.Degree of Structure of Research Approaches and Methods Used in Personnel Management Research in Production Agriculture and Agribusiness Unstructured or Little Structure Individual Methods Examples Unstructured interviewing Billikopf (2001)a); Hutta); Hutt and Hutta); Strochlic and Hamerschlag Moderately Structured Interview schedule Adams, How, and Larson; Bitsch (2007); Bitsch and Hogberg; Bitsch and Yakura; Howard; Mugera and Bitsch; Porter; Strochlic and Hamerschlag Highly Structured Administered questionnaires At the work site: Billikopf (1995 and 1996); Bitsch, Bromm, and Schalich; Fogleman et al. Howard et al. ; Maloney and Grusenmeyer; Rosenberg and Cowen; Stup, Hyde, and Holden At a housing site: Dunn Over the phone: Billikopf (1996); Malo ney; Maloney and Milligan; Maloney, Milligan, and Petracek; Strochlic et al. Group Methods Examples Unmoderated group discussion Stup and Maloney Moderated group discussion Very Highly Structured Mailed questionnaire Billikopf and Norton; Chacko, Wacker, and Asar; Hurley, Kliebenstein, and Orazem; Miklavcic; Rosenberg, Perloff, and Pradhan; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Yu et al.Secondary data analysis: Gabbard and Perloff Questionnaire administered to individuals in a group setting Bitsch (2004); At school sites: Bitsch and Harsh; Bitsch (1996) Bitsch and Olynk (2007 and 2008); Bitsch et al. ; Harrison et al. ; Howard; Stup, Holden, and Hyde; Strochlic and Hamerschlag a) Studies where the method was not described sufficiently to categorize by the level of structure were categorized as unstructured. 24