Agile Software development (individual Reflection Report ) Essay

Agile Software development (individual Reflection Report ) - Essay Example alyze and gather various sets of information on agile development process so as to use its techniques in developing the Student Attendance Monitoring System. The group got information from lecture notes, books and online sources about the Agile Development process. The group was able to come to an agreement that the system offers a framework that is lightweight, entailing a collection of development methodologies which are iterative used by development teams. From the information that the group gathered, it was clear that agile development software delivers working software of high-quality in the functionality of business value. This is the kind of software that the group needed in the development of the monitoring system. Another technique that the group was looking out to in the agile development process was its combination of methodologies such as question-and-answer (QA), project management, and even in engineering practices, together in a way that will help the agile development team through processes of managing, planning and delivery of the software. Every member of the group had a role to play, assigned by the group leader. With the combination of all the roles, the group saw the realization of its objective on the assignment. The members gathered information from sources mentioned earlier. The group was able to compile the information that Agile’s most popular methodologies include the extreme programming methodology (XP), Scrum, Kanban and hybrid methodologies. The group noted that even though these software methods have approaches that are specific and unique to each of them, they have the same core values and share a similar vision stated in the agile manifesto (Holcombe 2008). During the development process, the group employed some of the XP practices. The practices were pair programming, system metaphor, test first development, small release, and continuous integration and collective ownership. All the group members knew how the system works

Racial Harmony throughout Hawaii Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Racial Harmony throughout Hawaii - Essay Example Harmony on other hand represents happiness or agreement and so it is important to note that the happiness of the USA is Hawaii. Having put that across, it is pertinent to heed that Hawaii has a role in representing â€Å"Harmony† in USA history and media, since â€Å"USA† means several states of America under the same rule and all of the states are governed by harmony. It is vital to note that the republic of North American represents fifty different states. Therefore, when the United States is discussed, the foremost thing to think of is the term harmony (Winters 23). The above is true because despite of the country being a comprise of several states, they live in peace and agreement. The above is only possible because of the respect the Americans have to the rule of the state, the culture, and laws followed by the definition of the American history. With the above point in mind, it is noted that harmony is a pertinent requirement to the states of America. It is intere sting to realize that Hawaii specifically represents harmony in itself among the states of America. In other words, Hawii is a model of harmony that aspire the rest of Americans. It follows that Hawaii is a link or rather a channel that enforces harmony to the states of America (Lee 14). The above is true according to the common sense that, for any given individuals of different caliber to stay together then it needs harmony. It applies to the state of Hawaii, with the relationship it has with the rest of the states of America. According to the experts, several reasons have been drawn to represent the harmonic symbol of Hawaii to the Americans. Here the first reason that makes Hawaii to have the harmonic symbol in the United States is that as fiftieth state, Hawaii joined the union on August 21 in the year 1956. It is also important to acknowledge the fact that USA respects the laws, culture and lands of the Hawaiians (Haas12). Further to the above, the whole country (united state) does not only agree but also accepts the Hawaii as one of the state member. The above evident the fact that though it is the last to be assimilated into the states of America, it has to some extent participated to the contribution of the harmonic environment to the American state. By harboring harmony and promoting peace to the whole nation. The idea that acknowledges Hawaii as a harmonic symbol of the United State is that Hawaii has a Pearl Harbor. Here, it is notable that the US Navy guards are situated in the Pearl Harbor of the Hawaii and they act as the state protectors (Liu 42). Fortunately, the guard does not protect only the states or Hawaii but the entire world, where they enforce peace and unity. Therefore, with the US Navy guard at the coast, they facilitate harmony in not only the Hawaii but also the entire world. The above is true since the guards maintain law and order and in so doing, they facilitate peace in the American country and the entire world. With its origin at the coast of Hawaii, it is enough reason to note that Hawaii is harmony motivator in the states of America. If that is not enough, the reason of tourism development to some extent acts as a symbol of Harmony. Here, tourism develops in Hawaii makes the whole of US people to think that Hawaii is a harmonic figure in the history of the US (winters, 57). It is evident that a tourist sector is always peaceful to attract the tourist. That is way; the tourist development in Hawaii gives it advantage of being a Harmonic

Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management

Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background of the research on â€Å"How can international human resources managers effectively manage diversity in multinational company?†- Case study Tesco. The company overview of Tesco in UK, background of the research, organisation background, rationale statement, research questions, and purpose of the research conducted the aim and objectives of the research identified by researcher. The structure of the dissertation is described at the end of the chapter. 1.1 Background of the Research 1.1.1 Managing Diversity Managing diversity means maximizing diversitys potential benefits such as greater cultural awareness and broader language skills, while minimizing the potential barriers such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the companys performance. Dessler (2008, p.61) referred to diversity as potentially a double-edged sword. Generally diversity refers to the variety or multiplicity of demographic features that characterize a companys workforce, in terms of race, sex, culture, national origin, age and religion. Many organisations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing link between how the human resource managers deal with diversity and its impact on the organisation is a diversity strategy that is executed using a planned approach to systemically manage diversity (Leopold Harris 2009). The increasing diversity and changing demographics of the UK workforce, the expansion of anti-discrimination legislation, legal rights for individuals with caring responsibilities and government policy commitment to the work-life balance have created new challenges for employers across employment sectors. This research explores some of the issues that arise for employers, managers and employees in the development and application of multinational organisational human resourcing policies which are intended to promote equality of treatment and recognize diversity in the workforce. The 2004 WERS survey (Kersley et al., 2006) found that 73 percent of workplaces had a final written equal opportunities policy or a policy on managing diversity compared to 64 percent in 1998. This figure increased to 98 percent in the public sector (97 percent in 1998) with the incidence of formal policy being higher in large workplaces which means that most employees work in establishments with a formal poli cy. This was evident in the 2007 CIPD annual recruitment and retention survey which revealed that only half of the 905 participating organisations had a formal diversity strategy although again the public sector is more proactive with 83 percent reporting a strategic approach to diversity (CIPD, 2007 a). Todays business and service organisations are meeting the challenge which demands systematic efforts, as many of them have come to realize. Whether the multi-cultural character of the organisation arises from its international workforce and its local operations in various countries, from the mixed backgrounds of a workforce in a single location, the organisation must address this diversity if it is to be successful. Groups of people see the world through their own set of assumptions, values, beliefs, customs, traditions and attitudes that are shared by an organisations members. Learn about their culture and how it shaped them, and aim to understand how other culture work that can be an effective global manager. 1.2 Organisation Background In this research, selected company will be Tesco Metro (Whitton, Branch) London outlet where different cultural people working. Tesco is one of the UKs major retail supermarkets. Tesco is an international retailer where there are working different countries and cross-cultural people. This research is a collection of how the Tesco Company has used diversity to support their business goals and valuable learning and what makes good diversity practice. Tesco is the fastest and largest growing retail chain in UK as well as international arena. Tesco started its journey in 1919 in the East End of London. As a result, Tesco came as a national store across the country in 1970. To beat others and to reach top Tesco brings more innovative idea and implemented those from 1992 to 2004 like slogan â€Å"every little help†, Tesco value, Club card, 24 hours service, Online service and so on (A history of Tesco: The rise of Britains biggest supermarket). Tesco is operating in the UK set its position as a market leader with over  £2 billion of profit with total 3728 stores around the world, where in the UK 2,306 stores and employing over 286,394 staff. It provides online services through its subsidiary, Tesco.com. The UK is the companys largest market where it operates under four banners of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. The company sells almost 40,000 food products, including clothing and other non-foods lines. The companys own-label products (50 percent of sales) are at three levels; value, normal and finest. As well as convenience produce many stores have gas stations, becoming one of Britains largest independent petrol retailers (Tesco Annual Report Review, 2009). According to market share Tescos positions in number one in UK and third position around the world. Tesco is the market leader with 30.40% (March, 09) of market share though its lost a bit of market share 0.5% in recent year due to credit crunch. Tesco market s hare is nearly two times higher than other retail shop like Asda (17.5%), Sainsbury (16.1%). (Retail Analysis) Tesco has a very friendly and supporting approach in the routine ways that staffs at Tesco behave towards each other, and towards those outside the company that can make up the ways people do things, where at great place to work. The control systems and measurements are constantly under the management review to monitor the efficiency of the staff and managers decisions. On-going meetings and communication at every level of the companys hierarchy represent a strong internal environment (Tescos Value and Strategy). Cultural web theory application (The cultural web theory is also an effective analysis for management in order to represent the underlying assumptions linked to political, symbolic and structural aspect of the company) is a useful tool in considering the cultural context for Tescos business (Tescos Value and Strategy). Culture generally tends to consist of layers of values, beliefs and taken for-granted actions and ways of doing business within and outside the company. Therefore, the concept of cultural web is the representation of these actions taken for granted for understanding how they connect and influence the strategy (Veliyath and Fitzgerald, 2000; Johnson and Scholes, 2003). It is also useful to understand and characterise both the companys culture and the subcultures in adaptation of future strategies. 1.3 Rationale statement Generally, a self assessment for international human resource managers is to evaluate and improve their global management skills. But it also creates a challenge for individual managers who must manage with working across geographic and cultural areas; understand how issues of managing diversity inform and influence human resource strategies and evaluate the respective responsibilities of international human resource managers for managing diversity policies and practices. The key concept of managing diversity accepts that different cultural workforce consists of a diverse population of people. The diversity management can recognize a wide range of individual differences and benefits to the employment relationship to individual needs which can lead to the organisational competitive advantage. This research explores the key principle of diversity in one of UKs leading super market named Tesco Metro (Whitton Branch) London. The researcher intends that how managers mange working with diversity people in workplace in Tesco, whereas equal opportunity focuses on different ethnic groups. 1.4 Research Questions As human resource manager in a multinational company needs to consider the following major issues: 1. How people manage a group of different culture people? 2. What is the communication within work? 3. How do the managers manage diversity and equal opportunity within the service? 4. How can the manager influence teams performance? 5. How can the manager help people learn and develop? 6. How can the manager help people to manage change? 7. How he is motivating people? 8. How can the manager handle equal opportunity? 9. What strategy managers should apply to get a good result from employees? How a human resource manager can handle all those areas and successfully the organisations mission with different countrys people. 1.5 Purpose of the Research 1.5.1 Research Aim The aim of the dissertation is to analyse the competitive advantage of the organization that are managing people as assets which are fundamental. And to examine diversity, equality and discrimination issues in a multinational company, in the particular way of human resource managers to manage work with different culture people. Tesco has been used as a case study in this dissertation. 1.5.2 Research Objectives 1) An international human resource managers needs to know the way of managing people in the organisation. An overview of what a manager needs to do in relations to managing people in a changing environment which will be include at diversity issues and international human resource management policies. 2) To observe a multicultural company from the perspectives of diverse social peoples. 3) For an organisation to succeed on a global scale, radical shifts in business procedures are required. To become a successful global manager is to develop a global outlook. 4) A global manager needs to know what point an organisation has reached in the globalization process, and where it wants to go. Understand the process and recognize the strategies that will give the organisation a global advantage. 5) Understanding people as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as drawing up some general principles for managing them like motivates them, job satisfaction, and job design. 6) Recruiting, and selecting the right people. This research will disclose some essential factors which help organisations to maintain their diversity effectively within the organisation and make a fair working environment of employees within the organisation. 1.6 Structure of the Dissertation The dissertation report has been structured into the following chapters. Chapter 1: This provides an introduction to the research, where justification of the research is presented and the purpose of the research is explained. Chapter 2: The second chapter is the literature review of this dissertation concerned about, the works of various authors who have discussed relevant existing theories and policy of diversity and the different interpretations of diversity management which is based on secondary data. Those relevant theories and policy will help to find out the appropriate analyse of the following research. Chapter 3: The third chapter will discuss the research methodology. Research method presents the research philosophy, approach and sampling, data collection procedures and shows the right direction to achieve an outcome. This chapter also explains the reasons behind the use of selected research method and the advantages by using the research approach. Chapter 4: This chapter contains the analysis and findings. This part of dissertation informed the research findings quantitatively with the help of constructed research model and research hypotheses. It also shows the data gathered in the company through interview and questionnaire of Tescos managers and employees, and analysis the data to provide a productive meaning of the research finding. Chapter 5: This chapter encloses the conclusion of the dissertation within the research questions and objectives, describe limitation of research and recommends opportunity for further research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the works of various authors and scholars who have highlighted theoretical exploration of the existing knowledge that is relevant to the diversity area. This chapter also focuses on similar and contrasting perspectives that researchers have used to approach this research areas. 2.2 What is Diversity Diversity means relating and working with people who hold different perspectives and views and bringing different qualities to the workplace. According to (Kandola Fullerton 1994, p.19) diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include age, background, race, sex, disability, personality and lifestyle. The concept of diversity means respect and acceptance, means understanding each individual is unique and recognizing our individuals differences. It can be the aspects of race, age, gender, ethnicity, sex, disability, religious beliefs, and political views and so on. It is also exploration of these differences in a safe positive and development organizational environment. As the Wall Street Journal (2005) put about diversity, as companies do more and more business around the world, diversity is simple a matter of doing what is fair or good public relations which is a business imperative but diversity is supposed to enrich an organisations human capital, whereas equal opportunity focuses on various ethnic groups. Brewster (2002) defined that managing diversity tries to build specific skills and to create policies that derive the best from each employee and it is based on the assumption that diverse groups will create new ways of working together and have understanding in that group, profit and productivity will increase in the organisation. Where he found, diversity management is fast becoming a management approach that is being applied effectively within the organizations. 2.3 Benefits of Diversity Diversity needs to be seen as an integral part of the business plan, essential to successful products and increased sales. This is especially true in todays global marketplace, as organizations interact with different cultures and people. Kandola Fullerton (1998) identified the possible areas of diversity benefits, these are: a) Creativity increases when people with different ways of solving difficult problems work together towards a common solution and the more ideas can obtain from different people. b) Productivity increases when people are from all cultures pull together towards a single inspiring goal. Increased productivity is an obvious advantage of diversity in the workplace. c) Provide strong leadership they take strong stands on advocating the need for a diverse workforce and can handle effectively different cultural people. d) New attitudes are brought to the business by people from diverse cultures. In most other countries around the world time is for building relationships and an integral part of getting to know that are considering doing business with before starting a transaction. e) Provide diversity training and education are obviously needed in todays increasingly global market and diverse employees often have this ability. Every company needs specific knowledge or language skills where the international job seekers have the advantage. f) New processes when people are with different ideas come together and collaborate. In todays first moving world, employee must bring multiple skills to the working environment and adapt quickly to new situations. (Harris et al. 2003) International human resource manager can make organisations more successful and productive by managing diversity in the work place. Diversity brings real benefits to business environment where employing a diverse workforce enables it to use a wider range of skills and lead to creativity and innovation. 2.4 Human Resource (HR) Policies HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of people management should be handled. The aim is to ensure that any HR issues are dealt with the values of the organisation with certain principles. Armstrong (2009) defined the philosophies and values of the organisation on how people should be treated and all organisations have HR policies. HR policies can be expressed formally as overall statements of the values of the organisation or in specific areas. Kandola Fullerton (1994), these values are espoused by many organizations in one form or another. HR policy on managing diversity recognizes that there are differences among employees and properly managed where will enable work to be more effectively. 2.5 Managing Workforce Diversity Legislation and the high profile of equal opportunities in the UK has had both positive and negative effects on the way people view each other, (Barker, 2000). On the one hand, there is now widespread recognition that discrimination at work on the grounds of gender, race or ability alone is unjust, although the practice still continues. However, the grouping of minorities such as women or ethnic or disabled has produced responses. More recent thinking has moved towards ‘managing diversity-recognizing and valuing differences in people and their unique contributions to the workforce. Managing diversity involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and experience personal growth. This requires the company to develop employees that they are comfortable working with others from a variety of ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. Noe et al. (2003) found that managing diversity may require changing the company culture. It includes the companys standards and how employees are treated, competitiveness, innovation and risk taking. Where management of diversity has been linked to innovation, improved productivity, lower employee turnover and other costs related to human resources, (Cox, 1993, p.24). Price (1997, p.265) noted that the management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity instead of allowing a greater range of people the opportunity to ‘fit in the concept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their differences and variety. Diversity perceived to enrich an organisations human capital. Whereas equal opportunity focuses on various disadvantaged groups, the management of diversity is about individuals and model of resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees. According to Harvard Business Review, managing diversity does not mean controlling or containing diversity, it means enabling every member of workforce to perform to their potential and getting from employees; everything right to expect and if it is well then thing they have to give, (Thomas, 2001). The future success of any organisations relies on the ability to manage a diverse of capacity that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organisational asset if an organisation is able to make the most of diverse talents. Especially for multinational companies, who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR manager needs to be aware and may utilize a Think Global, Act Local approach in most circumstances, (Jackson, 2002). The goals of diversity training are eliminate values and managerial practices that restrain employees personal development and allow employees to contribute to organisational goals within the cultural background, (Jackson Associates, 1992). It is because of equal opportunity employment laws that companies have focused on ensuring equal access to jobs. With a population attempt towards high technology and knowledge-based economy; foreign ability are tempt to share their expertise in these areas. Thus human resource managers have to undergo cultural-based human resource management training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly qualified but culturally diverse. 2.6 Achieving Equality and diversity Approach The diversity approaches argue that diverse workgroups generate wealthier ideas and solutions than homogenous groups where benefits of diversity management include a greater concern for socially responsible behavior in organisations and more flexibility in organizational policies, (Wentling Palma-Rivas, 1998, p.237). Ross Schneider (1992, p.49) discussed the fundamental perspective from equality to diversity that employers will find competitive advantage in encouraging diversity at work. Equal opportunities should become internally driven not externally imposed and focused on individuals where the responsibility of all. Fredman (2001) observes that traditionally equality laws have been informed by neutrality, individualism and promotion of autonomy principles. These principles aim to ensure that people are treated in the same way and appear to be the most consideration in the UK anti-discrimination framework which is an approach to workplace equality based on achieving fairness. Walsh (2007) in her analysis of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey findings points out that womens representation in senior management in UK workplaces had only marginally improved by 2 percent between 1998 and 2004. So diversity is a concept which recognises the benefits to be gained from differences and equal opportunity has traditionally been a concept, which sought to legislate against discrimination. These two concepts have the following characteristics:. Those characteristics suggest that how organisations can move from where most are at present to a situation in which diversity enters the majority. 2.7 How the Diversity Concept has developed Changes in the social and economic landscape led to legislation covering equal pay, sex and racial discrimination in the 1970s, followed by disability laws in the 1990s, (Daniels Macdonald, 2005). More recently discrimination of sexual orientation and religion has been added by the law. By 1990s, it was being recognised that they had limited success in achieving their goals. At around the same time, researchers were also finding that culturally diverse teams were more creative than homogenous teams and contributed more effectively to meeting organisational goals. Three separate commissions have promoted equality and particular aspects of the legislation: the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission. From October 2007, a new Equality and Human Rights Commission has been established to cover all equality issues as well as of human rights, from (CIPD, 2007). From the recent survey, unemployment is twice as high among people from ethnic minorities, although in UK relatively more Asian and Black African graduates than white graduates where only 12 percent of white men are in professional occupations. Statistical survey found that 41 percent of white women in employment work part-time but only 7 percent of white men and as opposed to 38 percent of Bangladeshi men, (http://www.cipd.co.uk/surveys). 2.8 Diversity Policy Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. The perspectives of diversity policy may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams in the organisation. 2.8.1 The Business Issues Equal opportunities are often seen as meaning treating everyone in exactly the same way. Kandola (2006) argued that the social justice and business issues for diversity are complementary because unless people are treated fairly at work they will therefore under-perform. But diversity takes equality forward and evidence indicates that organisations that are serious about diversity show better overall financial performance. Diversity policies also help organisations to create an environment in which people from all backgrounds can work together. 2.8.2 People Issues People are aspiring to work for employers with good employment practices and feel valued at work place. Dowling et al. (1999, p.262) states that to be competitive organisations need to derive the best contributions from everyone and need to create an inclusive workplace culture in which everyone feels valued. The HRM aspects are operating different countries as a way of illustrating the situation that may confront multinationals attempting to penetrate developing markets. 2.9 The Nature of Diversity in Decision-Making Teams Many organisations use the term diversity to refer only to demographic differences among employees, with gender, ethnicity and age being the dimensions of greatest concern. Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. Diversity may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams. 2.9.1 Gender Diversity Gender diversity in teams may indicate the extent to which team members form same gender relationships outside the team. Studies on social networks suggest that employees form relationships with each other based on their gender. In a study of male and female managers in an advertising firm, Ibarra (1995) found that men and women formed same gender networks that served both social and instrumental goals. 2.9.2 Ethnicity Diversity Social identity and organisational demography suggests that people are preferred to interact with members of their own identity group rather than with members of other groups. Where white males tend to perform in higher positions, (Chow Crawford, 2004) females and ethnic minorities tend to occupy more junior positions. Experiences of racism shared by women and members of different ethnic groups affect their attitudes and behaviours in the workplace. 2.9.3 Age Diversity People within age groups share common experiences, attitudes and values (Lawrence, 1988), a persons age can act as an indication that triggers social categorization processes and promotes communication among group members. Descriptions of workforce demographics usually emphasize the fact that the average age of the work force is increasing but the distribution of ages represented in the workforce is also changing. Following figure showing age distribution where non-white groups are younger: White groups have an older age structure where the mixed group had the youngest age structure 50 percent were under the aged of 16. The Bangladeshi, other Black and Pakistani groups also had young age structures of 38 percent were aged 16. This was almost double the proportion of the White British group, where 20 percent were under the age of 16. 2.10 Managing Diversity is Different from Affirmative Action Managing diversity focuses on maximizing the ability of all employees to contribute to organisational goals. Affirmative action focuses on specific groups because of historical discrimination, such as people of colour and women, (Kravitz Klineberg, 2000). Affirmative action emphasizes legal necessity and social responsibility where managing diversity emphasizes business necessity. So it is much more inclusive and acknowledges that diversity must work for everyone. Affirmative actions having the employer take actions in recruitment, hiring, promotions and compensation to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Affirmative action is still a significant workplace issue today. The incidence of major court-mandated affirmative action is down, but courts still use them. Furthermore, many employers must still engage in voluntary programs. For example, executive order 11246 (issued in 1965) requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to improve employment opportunities for groups such as women and racial minorities. EEO 11246 covers about 26 million workers about 22 percent of the US workforce, (Dessler 2008, p.63). 2.11 Organisational Context Managerial approaches to diversity will inevitably be informed by the specific organisational context. Attracting different types of people to an organisation will be determined by peoples perceptions of the industry in which the organisation operates. The image and reputation of the organisation as an employer will affect the types of people attracted to the organisation, (Markwick Fill, 1997). The maternity and children specialist retailer who came 18th in the 2008 Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For list attribute their ranking to a number of factors to their employer brand. These include an emphasis on work-life balance, flexible working, better than average maternity pay and leave. These argue helps to attract and retain staff especially female employees, (Leopold Harris, 2009). If an organisation is able to employ a diverse workforce, the extent to which these individual differences are recognised in employment practices will be significantly affected by the size and structure of the organisation. 2.12 Diversity in Multinational Companies As more and more organisations become global and people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds work together, the need for multicultural understanding becoming obvious to many organisation. Harris et al. (2003, p.25) referred that a multinational team would be much stronger in communication which is vital aspect in business. Most of the multinational company gives priority to work with diversity people as a result they are success in international market. Ansari Jackson (1995, p.12) described, multicultural teams led to more people from different culture and ethnic intermarrying. Globalisation and advances in communication and technology have reduced trade barriers and increased interaction among people. Companies and leaders who recognise the cultural diversity and find the right cultural mixture among the team can achieve comparative advantages. To understand how diversity is managed in multinational company, in that case need to understand the concept of corporate culture which describe the organisational diversity programs and how to minimize conflict between employees. 2.13 Why Culture Counts According to Mattock (1999) organisations have moved on from international to multinational to global. Multicultural teams have become very common in recent years. With cross border mobility becoming much easier the number of people moving from one country to another has grown significantly. As a manager need to successful interaction with others like sharing ideas, their needs and helping to improve performance, where need to consider cultural context. A diverse multi cultural work place enables a company to handle diverse projects. Erlenkamp (2007, p.7) found, in the last decades many scientist tried to define intercultural difference to enhance the communication between different cultures. ‘The most important studies were conducted by Geert Hofstede, Edward Hall and Fons Trompenaars, that shows the importance of multicultural workforce and HRM of many organisations do study these theories to implement it in their employee training. 2.14 Understanding Cross-Cultural Communication Language issues can develop into a source of conflict and inequality within culturally diverse organisations becomes more and more multicultural, (Ansari Jackson 1995). In the international business environment of today and tomorrow communication is a business necessity Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management Role of Human Resource Managers in Diversity Management CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background of the research on â€Å"How can international human resources managers effectively manage diversity in multinational company?†- Case study Tesco. The company overview of Tesco in UK, background of the research, organisation background, rationale statement, research questions, and purpose of the research conducted the aim and objectives of the research identified by researcher. The structure of the dissertation is described at the end of the chapter. 1.1 Background of the Research 1.1.1 Managing Diversity Managing diversity means maximizing diversitys potential benefits such as greater cultural awareness and broader language skills, while minimizing the potential barriers such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the companys performance. Dessler (2008, p.61) referred to diversity as potentially a double-edged sword. Generally diversity refers to the variety or multiplicity of demographic features that characterize a companys workforce, in terms of race, sex, culture, national origin, age and religion. Many organisations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing link between how the human resource managers deal with diversity and its impact on the organisation is a diversity strategy that is executed using a planned approach to systemically manage diversity (Leopold Harris 2009). The increasing diversity and changing demographics of the UK workforce, the expansion of anti-discrimination legislation, legal rights for individuals with caring responsibilities and government policy commitment to the work-life balance have created new challenges for employers across employment sectors. This research explores some of the issues that arise for employers, managers and employees in the development and application of multinational organisational human resourcing policies which are intended to promote equality of treatment and recognize diversity in the workforce. The 2004 WERS survey (Kersley et al., 2006) found that 73 percent of workplaces had a final written equal opportunities policy or a policy on managing diversity compared to 64 percent in 1998. This figure increased to 98 percent in the public sector (97 percent in 1998) with the incidence of formal policy being higher in large workplaces which means that most employees work in establishments with a formal poli cy. This was evident in the 2007 CIPD annual recruitment and retention survey which revealed that only half of the 905 participating organisations had a formal diversity strategy although again the public sector is more proactive with 83 percent reporting a strategic approach to diversity (CIPD, 2007 a). Todays business and service organisations are meeting the challenge which demands systematic efforts, as many of them have come to realize. Whether the multi-cultural character of the organisation arises from its international workforce and its local operations in various countries, from the mixed backgrounds of a workforce in a single location, the organisation must address this diversity if it is to be successful. Groups of people see the world through their own set of assumptions, values, beliefs, customs, traditions and attitudes that are shared by an organisations members. Learn about their culture and how it shaped them, and aim to understand how other culture work that can be an effective global manager. 1.2 Organisation Background In this research, selected company will be Tesco Metro (Whitton, Branch) London outlet where different cultural people working. Tesco is one of the UKs major retail supermarkets. Tesco is an international retailer where there are working different countries and cross-cultural people. This research is a collection of how the Tesco Company has used diversity to support their business goals and valuable learning and what makes good diversity practice. Tesco is the fastest and largest growing retail chain in UK as well as international arena. Tesco started its journey in 1919 in the East End of London. As a result, Tesco came as a national store across the country in 1970. To beat others and to reach top Tesco brings more innovative idea and implemented those from 1992 to 2004 like slogan â€Å"every little help†, Tesco value, Club card, 24 hours service, Online service and so on (A history of Tesco: The rise of Britains biggest supermarket). Tesco is operating in the UK set its position as a market leader with over  £2 billion of profit with total 3728 stores around the world, where in the UK 2,306 stores and employing over 286,394 staff. It provides online services through its subsidiary, Tesco.com. The UK is the companys largest market where it operates under four banners of Extra, Superstore, Metro and Express. The company sells almost 40,000 food products, including clothing and other non-foods lines. The companys own-label products (50 percent of sales) are at three levels; value, normal and finest. As well as convenience produce many stores have gas stations, becoming one of Britains largest independent petrol retailers (Tesco Annual Report Review, 2009). According to market share Tescos positions in number one in UK and third position around the world. Tesco is the market leader with 30.40% (March, 09) of market share though its lost a bit of market share 0.5% in recent year due to credit crunch. Tesco market s hare is nearly two times higher than other retail shop like Asda (17.5%), Sainsbury (16.1%). (Retail Analysis) Tesco has a very friendly and supporting approach in the routine ways that staffs at Tesco behave towards each other, and towards those outside the company that can make up the ways people do things, where at great place to work. The control systems and measurements are constantly under the management review to monitor the efficiency of the staff and managers decisions. On-going meetings and communication at every level of the companys hierarchy represent a strong internal environment (Tescos Value and Strategy). Cultural web theory application (The cultural web theory is also an effective analysis for management in order to represent the underlying assumptions linked to political, symbolic and structural aspect of the company) is a useful tool in considering the cultural context for Tescos business (Tescos Value and Strategy). Culture generally tends to consist of layers of values, beliefs and taken for-granted actions and ways of doing business within and outside the company. Therefore, the concept of cultural web is the representation of these actions taken for granted for understanding how they connect and influence the strategy (Veliyath and Fitzgerald, 2000; Johnson and Scholes, 2003). It is also useful to understand and characterise both the companys culture and the subcultures in adaptation of future strategies. 1.3 Rationale statement Generally, a self assessment for international human resource managers is to evaluate and improve their global management skills. But it also creates a challenge for individual managers who must manage with working across geographic and cultural areas; understand how issues of managing diversity inform and influence human resource strategies and evaluate the respective responsibilities of international human resource managers for managing diversity policies and practices. The key concept of managing diversity accepts that different cultural workforce consists of a diverse population of people. The diversity management can recognize a wide range of individual differences and benefits to the employment relationship to individual needs which can lead to the organisational competitive advantage. This research explores the key principle of diversity in one of UKs leading super market named Tesco Metro (Whitton Branch) London. The researcher intends that how managers mange working with diversity people in workplace in Tesco, whereas equal opportunity focuses on different ethnic groups. 1.4 Research Questions As human resource manager in a multinational company needs to consider the following major issues: 1. How people manage a group of different culture people? 2. What is the communication within work? 3. How do the managers manage diversity and equal opportunity within the service? 4. How can the manager influence teams performance? 5. How can the manager help people learn and develop? 6. How can the manager help people to manage change? 7. How he is motivating people? 8. How can the manager handle equal opportunity? 9. What strategy managers should apply to get a good result from employees? How a human resource manager can handle all those areas and successfully the organisations mission with different countrys people. 1.5 Purpose of the Research 1.5.1 Research Aim The aim of the dissertation is to analyse the competitive advantage of the organization that are managing people as assets which are fundamental. And to examine diversity, equality and discrimination issues in a multinational company, in the particular way of human resource managers to manage work with different culture people. Tesco has been used as a case study in this dissertation. 1.5.2 Research Objectives 1) An international human resource managers needs to know the way of managing people in the organisation. An overview of what a manager needs to do in relations to managing people in a changing environment which will be include at diversity issues and international human resource management policies. 2) To observe a multicultural company from the perspectives of diverse social peoples. 3) For an organisation to succeed on a global scale, radical shifts in business procedures are required. To become a successful global manager is to develop a global outlook. 4) A global manager needs to know what point an organisation has reached in the globalization process, and where it wants to go. Understand the process and recognize the strategies that will give the organisation a global advantage. 5) Understanding people as individuals and recognizing their differences as well as drawing up some general principles for managing them like motivates them, job satisfaction, and job design. 6) Recruiting, and selecting the right people. This research will disclose some essential factors which help organisations to maintain their diversity effectively within the organisation and make a fair working environment of employees within the organisation. 1.6 Structure of the Dissertation The dissertation report has been structured into the following chapters. Chapter 1: This provides an introduction to the research, where justification of the research is presented and the purpose of the research is explained. Chapter 2: The second chapter is the literature review of this dissertation concerned about, the works of various authors who have discussed relevant existing theories and policy of diversity and the different interpretations of diversity management which is based on secondary data. Those relevant theories and policy will help to find out the appropriate analyse of the following research. Chapter 3: The third chapter will discuss the research methodology. Research method presents the research philosophy, approach and sampling, data collection procedures and shows the right direction to achieve an outcome. This chapter also explains the reasons behind the use of selected research method and the advantages by using the research approach. Chapter 4: This chapter contains the analysis and findings. This part of dissertation informed the research findings quantitatively with the help of constructed research model and research hypotheses. It also shows the data gathered in the company through interview and questionnaire of Tescos managers and employees, and analysis the data to provide a productive meaning of the research finding. Chapter 5: This chapter encloses the conclusion of the dissertation within the research questions and objectives, describe limitation of research and recommends opportunity for further research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the works of various authors and scholars who have highlighted theoretical exploration of the existing knowledge that is relevant to the diversity area. This chapter also focuses on similar and contrasting perspectives that researchers have used to approach this research areas. 2.2 What is Diversity Diversity means relating and working with people who hold different perspectives and views and bringing different qualities to the workplace. According to (Kandola Fullerton 1994, p.19) diversity consists of visible and non-visible differences which will include age, background, race, sex, disability, personality and lifestyle. The concept of diversity means respect and acceptance, means understanding each individual is unique and recognizing our individuals differences. It can be the aspects of race, age, gender, ethnicity, sex, disability, religious beliefs, and political views and so on. It is also exploration of these differences in a safe positive and development organizational environment. As the Wall Street Journal (2005) put about diversity, as companies do more and more business around the world, diversity is simple a matter of doing what is fair or good public relations which is a business imperative but diversity is supposed to enrich an organisations human capital, whereas equal opportunity focuses on various ethnic groups. Brewster (2002) defined that managing diversity tries to build specific skills and to create policies that derive the best from each employee and it is based on the assumption that diverse groups will create new ways of working together and have understanding in that group, profit and productivity will increase in the organisation. Where he found, diversity management is fast becoming a management approach that is being applied effectively within the organizations. 2.3 Benefits of Diversity Diversity needs to be seen as an integral part of the business plan, essential to successful products and increased sales. This is especially true in todays global marketplace, as organizations interact with different cultures and people. Kandola Fullerton (1998) identified the possible areas of diversity benefits, these are: a) Creativity increases when people with different ways of solving difficult problems work together towards a common solution and the more ideas can obtain from different people. b) Productivity increases when people are from all cultures pull together towards a single inspiring goal. Increased productivity is an obvious advantage of diversity in the workplace. c) Provide strong leadership they take strong stands on advocating the need for a diverse workforce and can handle effectively different cultural people. d) New attitudes are brought to the business by people from diverse cultures. In most other countries around the world time is for building relationships and an integral part of getting to know that are considering doing business with before starting a transaction. e) Provide diversity training and education are obviously needed in todays increasingly global market and diverse employees often have this ability. Every company needs specific knowledge or language skills where the international job seekers have the advantage. f) New processes when people are with different ideas come together and collaborate. In todays first moving world, employee must bring multiple skills to the working environment and adapt quickly to new situations. (Harris et al. 2003) International human resource manager can make organisations more successful and productive by managing diversity in the work place. Diversity brings real benefits to business environment where employing a diverse workforce enables it to use a wider range of skills and lead to creativity and innovation. 2.4 Human Resource (HR) Policies HR policies provide guidelines on how key aspects of people management should be handled. The aim is to ensure that any HR issues are dealt with the values of the organisation with certain principles. Armstrong (2009) defined the philosophies and values of the organisation on how people should be treated and all organisations have HR policies. HR policies can be expressed formally as overall statements of the values of the organisation or in specific areas. Kandola Fullerton (1994), these values are espoused by many organizations in one form or another. HR policy on managing diversity recognizes that there are differences among employees and properly managed where will enable work to be more effectively. 2.5 Managing Workforce Diversity Legislation and the high profile of equal opportunities in the UK has had both positive and negative effects on the way people view each other, (Barker, 2000). On the one hand, there is now widespread recognition that discrimination at work on the grounds of gender, race or ability alone is unjust, although the practice still continues. However, the grouping of minorities such as women or ethnic or disabled has produced responses. More recent thinking has moved towards ‘managing diversity-recognizing and valuing differences in people and their unique contributions to the workforce. Managing diversity involves creating an environment that allows all employees to contribute to organizational goals and experience personal growth. This requires the company to develop employees that they are comfortable working with others from a variety of ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. Noe et al. (2003) found that managing diversity may require changing the company culture. It includes the companys standards and how employees are treated, competitiveness, innovation and risk taking. Where management of diversity has been linked to innovation, improved productivity, lower employee turnover and other costs related to human resources, (Cox, 1993, p.24). Price (1997, p.265) noted that the management of diversity goes beyond equal opportunity instead of allowing a greater range of people the opportunity to ‘fit in the concept of diversity embodies the belief that people should be valued for their differences and variety. Diversity perceived to enrich an organisations human capital. Whereas equal opportunity focuses on various disadvantaged groups, the management of diversity is about individuals and model of resourcing aimed at finding flexible employees. According to Harvard Business Review, managing diversity does not mean controlling or containing diversity, it means enabling every member of workforce to perform to their potential and getting from employees; everything right to expect and if it is well then thing they have to give, (Thomas, 2001). The future success of any organisations relies on the ability to manage a diverse of capacity that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organisational asset if an organisation is able to make the most of diverse talents. Especially for multinational companies, who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR manager needs to be aware and may utilize a Think Global, Act Local approach in most circumstances, (Jackson, 2002). The goals of diversity training are eliminate values and managerial practices that restrain employees personal development and allow employees to contribute to organisational goals within the cultural background, (Jackson Associates, 1992). It is because of equal opportunity employment laws that companies have focused on ensuring equal access to jobs. With a population attempt towards high technology and knowledge-based economy; foreign ability are tempt to share their expertise in these areas. Thus human resource managers have to undergo cultural-based human resource management training to further their abilities to motivate a group of professional that are highly qualified but culturally diverse. 2.6 Achieving Equality and diversity Approach The diversity approaches argue that diverse workgroups generate wealthier ideas and solutions than homogenous groups where benefits of diversity management include a greater concern for socially responsible behavior in organisations and more flexibility in organizational policies, (Wentling Palma-Rivas, 1998, p.237). Ross Schneider (1992, p.49) discussed the fundamental perspective from equality to diversity that employers will find competitive advantage in encouraging diversity at work. Equal opportunities should become internally driven not externally imposed and focused on individuals where the responsibility of all. Fredman (2001) observes that traditionally equality laws have been informed by neutrality, individualism and promotion of autonomy principles. These principles aim to ensure that people are treated in the same way and appear to be the most consideration in the UK anti-discrimination framework which is an approach to workplace equality based on achieving fairness. Walsh (2007) in her analysis of the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey findings points out that womens representation in senior management in UK workplaces had only marginally improved by 2 percent between 1998 and 2004. So diversity is a concept which recognises the benefits to be gained from differences and equal opportunity has traditionally been a concept, which sought to legislate against discrimination. These two concepts have the following characteristics:. Those characteristics suggest that how organisations can move from where most are at present to a situation in which diversity enters the majority. 2.7 How the Diversity Concept has developed Changes in the social and economic landscape led to legislation covering equal pay, sex and racial discrimination in the 1970s, followed by disability laws in the 1990s, (Daniels Macdonald, 2005). More recently discrimination of sexual orientation and religion has been added by the law. By 1990s, it was being recognised that they had limited success in achieving their goals. At around the same time, researchers were also finding that culturally diverse teams were more creative than homogenous teams and contributed more effectively to meeting organisational goals. Three separate commissions have promoted equality and particular aspects of the legislation: the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality and the Disability Rights Commission. From October 2007, a new Equality and Human Rights Commission has been established to cover all equality issues as well as of human rights, from (CIPD, 2007). From the recent survey, unemployment is twice as high among people from ethnic minorities, although in UK relatively more Asian and Black African graduates than white graduates where only 12 percent of white men are in professional occupations. Statistical survey found that 41 percent of white women in employment work part-time but only 7 percent of white men and as opposed to 38 percent of Bangladeshi men, (http://www.cipd.co.uk/surveys). 2.8 Diversity Policy Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. The perspectives of diversity policy may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams in the organisation. 2.8.1 The Business Issues Equal opportunities are often seen as meaning treating everyone in exactly the same way. Kandola (2006) argued that the social justice and business issues for diversity are complementary because unless people are treated fairly at work they will therefore under-perform. But diversity takes equality forward and evidence indicates that organisations that are serious about diversity show better overall financial performance. Diversity policies also help organisations to create an environment in which people from all backgrounds can work together. 2.8.2 People Issues People are aspiring to work for employers with good employment practices and feel valued at work place. Dowling et al. (1999, p.262) states that to be competitive organisations need to derive the best contributions from everyone and need to create an inclusive workplace culture in which everyone feels valued. The HRM aspects are operating different countries as a way of illustrating the situation that may confront multinationals attempting to penetrate developing markets. 2.9 The Nature of Diversity in Decision-Making Teams Many organisations use the term diversity to refer only to demographic differences among employees, with gender, ethnicity and age being the dimensions of greatest concern. Changing workforce demographics and new organisational forms are increasing the diversity of work teams in general and decision-making teams in particular. Diversity may lead to a variety of different consequences for decision-making teams. 2.9.1 Gender Diversity Gender diversity in teams may indicate the extent to which team members form same gender relationships outside the team. Studies on social networks suggest that employees form relationships with each other based on their gender. In a study of male and female managers in an advertising firm, Ibarra (1995) found that men and women formed same gender networks that served both social and instrumental goals. 2.9.2 Ethnicity Diversity Social identity and organisational demography suggests that people are preferred to interact with members of their own identity group rather than with members of other groups. Where white males tend to perform in higher positions, (Chow Crawford, 2004) females and ethnic minorities tend to occupy more junior positions. Experiences of racism shared by women and members of different ethnic groups affect their attitudes and behaviours in the workplace. 2.9.3 Age Diversity People within age groups share common experiences, attitudes and values (Lawrence, 1988), a persons age can act as an indication that triggers social categorization processes and promotes communication among group members. Descriptions of workforce demographics usually emphasize the fact that the average age of the work force is increasing but the distribution of ages represented in the workforce is also changing. Following figure showing age distribution where non-white groups are younger: White groups have an older age structure where the mixed group had the youngest age structure 50 percent were under the aged of 16. The Bangladeshi, other Black and Pakistani groups also had young age structures of 38 percent were aged 16. This was almost double the proportion of the White British group, where 20 percent were under the age of 16. 2.10 Managing Diversity is Different from Affirmative Action Managing diversity focuses on maximizing the ability of all employees to contribute to organisational goals. Affirmative action focuses on specific groups because of historical discrimination, such as people of colour and women, (Kravitz Klineberg, 2000). Affirmative action emphasizes legal necessity and social responsibility where managing diversity emphasizes business necessity. So it is much more inclusive and acknowledges that diversity must work for everyone. Affirmative actions having the employer take actions in recruitment, hiring, promotions and compensation to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Affirmative action is still a significant workplace issue today. The incidence of major court-mandated affirmative action is down, but courts still use them. Furthermore, many employers must still engage in voluntary programs. For example, executive order 11246 (issued in 1965) requires federal contractors to take affirmative action to improve employment opportunities for groups such as women and racial minorities. EEO 11246 covers about 26 million workers about 22 percent of the US workforce, (Dessler 2008, p.63). 2.11 Organisational Context Managerial approaches to diversity will inevitably be informed by the specific organisational context. Attracting different types of people to an organisation will be determined by peoples perceptions of the industry in which the organisation operates. The image and reputation of the organisation as an employer will affect the types of people attracted to the organisation, (Markwick Fill, 1997). The maternity and children specialist retailer who came 18th in the 2008 Sunday Times 20 Best Big Companies to Work For list attribute their ranking to a number of factors to their employer brand. These include an emphasis on work-life balance, flexible working, better than average maternity pay and leave. These argue helps to attract and retain staff especially female employees, (Leopold Harris, 2009). If an organisation is able to employ a diverse workforce, the extent to which these individual differences are recognised in employment practices will be significantly affected by the size and structure of the organisation. 2.12 Diversity in Multinational Companies As more and more organisations become global and people of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds work together, the need for multicultural understanding becoming obvious to many organisation. Harris et al. (2003, p.25) referred that a multinational team would be much stronger in communication which is vital aspect in business. Most of the multinational company gives priority to work with diversity people as a result they are success in international market. Ansari Jackson (1995, p.12) described, multicultural teams led to more people from different culture and ethnic intermarrying. Globalisation and advances in communication and technology have reduced trade barriers and increased interaction among people. Companies and leaders who recognise the cultural diversity and find the right cultural mixture among the team can achieve comparative advantages. To understand how diversity is managed in multinational company, in that case need to understand the concept of corporate culture which describe the organisational diversity programs and how to minimize conflict between employees. 2.13 Why Culture Counts According to Mattock (1999) organisations have moved on from international to multinational to global. Multicultural teams have become very common in recent years. With cross border mobility becoming much easier the number of people moving from one country to another has grown significantly. As a manager need to successful interaction with others like sharing ideas, their needs and helping to improve performance, where need to consider cultural context. A diverse multi cultural work place enables a company to handle diverse projects. Erlenkamp (2007, p.7) found, in the last decades many scientist tried to define intercultural difference to enhance the communication between different cultures. ‘The most important studies were conducted by Geert Hofstede, Edward Hall and Fons Trompenaars, that shows the importance of multicultural workforce and HRM of many organisations do study these theories to implement it in their employee training. 2.14 Understanding Cross-Cultural Communication Language issues can develop into a source of conflict and inequality within culturally diverse organisations becomes more and more multicultural, (Ansari Jackson 1995). In the international business environment of today and tomorrow communication is a business necessity

Animal Testing Essay -- Animal Testing

Animal Testing Speaking Outline: Animal Testing Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience about the three major ways of how scientific experiments on animal is inhumane. Introduction I. Put yourself into an animal’s position. Imagine that you are being poked and probed by needles for the benefits of humans. II. Animals are being abuse more and more everyday in scientific experiments. III. I have pets and I’m against animal testing, so knowing that animals are used in research is appalling. IV. Some research and scientific experiments are impractical and immoral. Animals are being overly abuse. V. Today, I am going to discuss to you about the three major ways of how scientific experiments on animal is inhumane: there is unnecessary abuse, it is unethical, and most of the experiments are unneeded. Body I. The first major way of how scientific experiments on animals are inhumane is the unnecessary abuse. A. Animals are in an unnatural environment. 1. They are constantly being locked up, so they can’t grow normally like others in their species. B. Animals are injected with unnatural, man-made chemicals. 1. The Environmental Protection Agency plan to do a test to evaluate the effects of industrial chemicals on the human hormonal system by looking at animals reproductive system. a. Between 600,000 and 1.2 million animals will be killed for every 1,000 chemical tested. b. They estimated that between 5,000 and 87,000 chemicals would be tested. c. There’s a non-animal screening...

Film Music – Crash

CRITICAL STUDIES: Film Music Assessment 1: Research Essay Crash (2004) – Composer: Mark Isham Crash is a film directed by Paul Haggis and was released in 2004. The film depicts various social and political themes, the strongest being the issue of racism in the larger societies of the US. Mark Isham composed the score for the film; his work mostly consisting of smooth, ethereal and other-worldly sounds.The scene in analysis consists of a car crash in which Officer John Ryan, a racist white cop who tries to save a black woman from her upturned car, his attempt in rescuing her being delayed as he realises that she is the woman he had sexually abused the night before. Mark Isham was born in New York City, USA. He grew up learning to play classical piano, violin and trumpet. He played jazz trumpet whilst in high school and ventured on to electronic music in his early 20s.He had simultaneous careers as a classical, jazz and rock musician, performing with acts such as the San Fransis co Opera, The Beach Boys, the famous jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders and co-lead Rubisa Patrol with pianist Art Lande. In 1979, he formed the Group 87 ensemble with Peter Mannu, Patrick O’Hearn and Terry Bozzio, in which they released a self-titled debut album a year later and A Career in Dada Processing four years after. He also recorded and toured with Van Morrison’s band, playing trumpet and flugelhorn. (Oxford Online)Mark Isham started to develop his compositional skills in the 80s, using brass, electronics and his own trumpet. His work is quite extensive and can be heard in films, documentaries and children’s fairytales. Some films in which he’s worked in are The Times of Harvey Milk, Made In America, The Net, Kiss the Girls, Blade, Rules of Engagement and many more†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Paul Haggis’s Crash is a film which delved into the ‘prejudices’ or racist attitudes that people have about others, in a larger society of the USA. The film’s foundation is the exploration of racism and how people’s cultural prejudices affects the lives of those around them.The film maintains its narrative around different characters, their lives, and these characters intertwining with the lives of the other characters. The main characters are: two young black car thieves, one of these young men is the missing brother of a black detective who’s partner is white; a black film director and his wife, his wife sexually abused by a white racist cop – his white partner having a problem with his unethical attitudes and behaviour; a white upper class lawyer and his wife; a Persian family who owns a store in which is robbed and vandalised and a Latino man, his wife and daughter.This film is set in a postmodern, post-civil rights, postracial, postfeminist, post-9/11 U. S. culture and so the various racial, social and cultural themes presented within Crash are a reflection of Haggis’ bold gesture to inform and challenge audiences about the ‘prejudices’ and cultural differences that everyone has. (Middleton, J. I, 2007) The scene in analysis is a scene in which a racist white cop Officer John Ryan gets to a crash scene and realises that the victim in the upturned car is Christine, the black woman he had wrongfully abused the night before.Her distress is heightened when she realises that he is the one who had abused her and his attempt in rescuing her is delayed and strived. The music in this excerpt is ethereal, haunting and ethereal, Isham’s use of electronics and ethnic sounds enables the audience to experience the emotions and journey of the characters on screen. The scene begins with the police car making its way towards the crash site. The cue in this instant consists of thick textured and ethereal string/ pad or electronic sounds which overall create an ambient and otherworldly atmosphere, which essentially remains consistent throughout the entire scen e.As they get to the crash scene and Officer John Ryan gets out of the car, the sustained string/ pad sound changes harmony and is played in a higher register, the piano being struck with sustain and repeats the same note, driving the action and momentum forward on screen and also mirrors what is happening on screen, that is, John running to the upturned car. This change in feel; this uplifting, bright and ethereal music can also be indicative of John’s expected values that he is to uphold as a police officer, that is, bringing justice, helping people and protecting the people within his society.Furthermore, the smooth and ethereal score also illustrates not only the nobility of the values he is to uphold as a police officer, but also foreshadows the nobility and strength of character he is about to portray in the upcoming moments of attempting to rescue Christine. One can also say that it foreshadows the potential change of heart and perspective he undergoes as he encounters Christine and saves her life. As he is running towards the car, the music is dominant; the sound effects are sparse and soft, and so the music directly illustrates John’s desperation in getting to the car and also outlines his strength of character.Sound effects are heard in full when he reaches the car and he is contact with Christine and engages with dialogue. Obviously, the sound effects and the dialogue are heard as well the score, to engage the audience and reinforce the gravity of the situation and allows for the audience to empathise with both of the characters’ situations. The female voice is heard as soon as he reaches the car and engages with Christine. The female voice is singing in a foreign language, and is smooth, soft, tender and ethereal in tone and timbre.The female voice, in a way, is a portrayal of the shared experience of John and Christine. A single bass drum sound, like a timpani, is struck when Christine looks up and realises that it’s Jo hn who’s attempting to rescue her. The single hit of the bass drum reinforces her distress when the realisation of John being there occurs. Rather than feeling relieved that someone’s there to help her, her distress and fear dramatically increases due to what he had done to her the night before.When he asks to reach across her lap to free her from the seatbelt and she agrees, the viewer can hear a change in tone and atmosphere in the music. The female voice is absent and it becomes gentler in dynamics and thinner in texture with only the sustained electronic sounds and the piano playing notes in the higher register, sounding almost bell-like. The tension is broken as she realises the magnitude of her situation and allows him to come closer to her.The music therefore parallels the softening of the tension and drama, also portraying the understanding between the two characters. The female voice being absent is significant as it allows the viewer to engage with the emotio ns and experiences of the characters, also allowing the viewer to appreciate the change of hearts in both characters. The repetition of the same chord which is created by the synths, forewarn the viewer of the coming danger as the shot of the gasoline travelling closer to the car is seen and the female voice comes back in.This creates a feeling of suspense, even amongst the ethereal sounds of the electronic sounds. The music is therefore fuller in texture, symbolising added elements of danger on the screen and brings the viewer back to the drama and action of what is happening around them. The fuller texture is contrasting to the thinner texture of the music played in the moment between John and Christine, the fuller texture illustrating the outside world and the thinner texture representing the change process within each character.In the following sequence, the gasoline alights and explodes around the car, and John is pulled out and Christine is left in the car. The viewer can see Christine screaming and John shouting as he is pulled out of the car, which is now surrounded by fire. All the dialogue and sound effects are muted in this instant, therefore the ethereal music and the female vocals are dominant, which serves to highlight the emotional aspects of the scene, that is, Christine’s distress and hysteria and John’s desperation in rescuing her.The repeated chords re-occur as John goes back in to pull Christine out, the dialogue suddenly heard as he says ‘Pull! ’ in which then, the sound effects are heard again. These repeated chords are indicative of moving action that is, moving nearer to the subject on the screen, first with the gasoline coming towards the car, and then with John coming towards Christine to rescue her. It helps drive the action and prompts momentum on screen. The repeated chords are then consistently played throughout the scenes where Christine is pulled out of the car and they’re safe from harm.However , these chords are played by the piano and are different in timbre – they’re softer, light and gentler in sound and blend in with the sustained electronic sounds in the background. It creates a layer of constant sound and represents the characters’ overall freedom, not only from the physical danger but from the ‘prejudices’ they had of each other. The female vocals are still heard once they’re free from the car, finally stopping just before John and Christine embrace, and John comforts her.The female vocals are important as it symbolises the two characters sharing the experience and also their need of each other at that particular time. The vocals end just before the embrace as it has completed its purpose, in that it helped the characters through the situation achieve self-realisation: John redeeming himself in his act of selflessness and finding his strength of character and Christine allowing herself to be vulnerable and accept help from o thers; the embrace representative of the end of their journey.Isham talks about the score and states that certain scenes can come off as truly horrendous, and I felt like the music had to help you through the movie and be like a shepherding hand†¦ A friend of mine described the  score  as being like a guardian angel and there was a sense we had that that was what the  score  needed to do. (Bond, 2005) In conclusion, from the above quote, it’s clear that the cue acted as a guide for the characters on screen.This particular excerpt of the film is rather serious and distressing, yet the underscore for these sequences is overall tender, smooth and ethereal. This contrast in music and action on screen is effective in that the marriage of these two things help tell the narrative, explore the emotions of the main characters and engage and evoke the emotions of the film’s viewers. Film Music – Crash CRITICAL STUDIES: Film Music Assessment 1: Research Essay Crash (2004) – Composer: Mark Isham Crash is a film directed by Paul Haggis and was released in 2004. The film depicts various social and political themes, the strongest being the issue of racism in the larger societies of the US. Mark Isham composed the score for the film; his work mostly consisting of smooth, ethereal and other-worldly sounds.The scene in analysis consists of a car crash in which Officer John Ryan, a racist white cop who tries to save a black woman from her upturned car, his attempt in rescuing her being delayed as he realises that she is the woman he had sexually abused the night before. Mark Isham was born in New York City, USA. He grew up learning to play classical piano, violin and trumpet. He played jazz trumpet whilst in high school and ventured on to electronic music in his early 20s.He had simultaneous careers as a classical, jazz and rock musician, performing with acts such as the San Fransis co Opera, The Beach Boys, the famous jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders and co-lead Rubisa Patrol with pianist Art Lande. In 1979, he formed the Group 87 ensemble with Peter Mannu, Patrick O’Hearn and Terry Bozzio, in which they released a self-titled debut album a year later and A Career in Dada Processing four years after. He also recorded and toured with Van Morrison’s band, playing trumpet and flugelhorn. (Oxford Online)Mark Isham started to develop his compositional skills in the 80s, using brass, electronics and his own trumpet. His work is quite extensive and can be heard in films, documentaries and children’s fairytales. Some films in which he’s worked in are The Times of Harvey Milk, Made In America, The Net, Kiss the Girls, Blade, Rules of Engagement and many more†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Paul Haggis’s Crash is a film which delved into the ‘prejudices’ or racist attitudes that people have about others, in a larger society of the USA. The film’s foundation is the exploration of racism and how people’s cultural prejudices affects the lives of those around them.The film maintains its narrative around different characters, their lives, and these characters intertwining with the lives of the other characters. The main characters are: two young black car thieves, one of these young men is the missing brother of a black detective who’s partner is white; a black film director and his wife, his wife sexually abused by a white racist cop – his white partner having a problem with his unethical attitudes and behaviour; a white upper class lawyer and his wife; a Persian family who owns a store in which is robbed and vandalised and a Latino man, his wife and daughter.This film is set in a postmodern, post-civil rights, postracial, postfeminist, post-9/11 U. S. culture and so the various racial, social and cultural themes presented within Crash are a reflection of Haggis’ bold gesture to inform and challenge audiences about the ‘prejudices’ and cultural differences that everyone has. (Middleton, J. I, 2007) The scene in analysis is a scene in which a racist white cop Officer John Ryan gets to a crash scene and realises that the victim in the upturned car is Christine, the black woman he had wrongfully abused the night before.Her distress is heightened when she realises that he is the one who had abused her and his attempt in rescuing her is delayed and strived. The music in this excerpt is ethereal, haunting and ethereal, Isham’s use of electronics and ethnic sounds enables the audience to experience the emotions and journey of the characters on screen. The scene begins with the police car making its way towards the crash site. The cue in this instant consists of thick textured and ethereal string/ pad or electronic sounds which overall create an ambient and otherworldly atmosphere, which essentially remains consistent throughout the entire scen e.As they get to the crash scene and Officer John Ryan gets out of the car, the sustained string/ pad sound changes harmony and is played in a higher register, the piano being struck with sustain and repeats the same note, driving the action and momentum forward on screen and also mirrors what is happening on screen, that is, John running to the upturned car. This change in feel; this uplifting, bright and ethereal music can also be indicative of John’s expected values that he is to uphold as a police officer, that is, bringing justice, helping people and protecting the people within his society.Furthermore, the smooth and ethereal score also illustrates not only the nobility of the values he is to uphold as a police officer, but also foreshadows the nobility and strength of character he is about to portray in the upcoming moments of attempting to rescue Christine. One can also say that it foreshadows the potential change of heart and perspective he undergoes as he encounters Christine and saves her life. As he is running towards the car, the music is dominant; the sound effects are sparse and soft, and so the music directly illustrates John’s desperation in getting to the car and also outlines his strength of character.Sound effects are heard in full when he reaches the car and he is contact with Christine and engages with dialogue. Obviously, the sound effects and the dialogue are heard as well the score, to engage the audience and reinforce the gravity of the situation and allows for the audience to empathise with both of the characters’ situations. The female voice is heard as soon as he reaches the car and engages with Christine. The female voice is singing in a foreign language, and is smooth, soft, tender and ethereal in tone and timbre.The female voice, in a way, is a portrayal of the shared experience of John and Christine. A single bass drum sound, like a timpani, is struck when Christine looks up and realises that it’s Jo hn who’s attempting to rescue her. The single hit of the bass drum reinforces her distress when the realisation of John being there occurs. Rather than feeling relieved that someone’s there to help her, her distress and fear dramatically increases due to what he had done to her the night before.When he asks to reach across her lap to free her from the seatbelt and she agrees, the viewer can hear a change in tone and atmosphere in the music. The female voice is absent and it becomes gentler in dynamics and thinner in texture with only the sustained electronic sounds and the piano playing notes in the higher register, sounding almost bell-like. The tension is broken as she realises the magnitude of her situation and allows him to come closer to her.The music therefore parallels the softening of the tension and drama, also portraying the understanding between the two characters. The female voice being absent is significant as it allows the viewer to engage with the emotio ns and experiences of the characters, also allowing the viewer to appreciate the change of hearts in both characters. The repetition of the same chord which is created by the synths, forewarn the viewer of the coming danger as the shot of the gasoline travelling closer to the car is seen and the female voice comes back in.This creates a feeling of suspense, even amongst the ethereal sounds of the electronic sounds. The music is therefore fuller in texture, symbolising added elements of danger on the screen and brings the viewer back to the drama and action of what is happening around them. The fuller texture is contrasting to the thinner texture of the music played in the moment between John and Christine, the fuller texture illustrating the outside world and the thinner texture representing the change process within each character.In the following sequence, the gasoline alights and explodes around the car, and John is pulled out and Christine is left in the car. The viewer can see Christine screaming and John shouting as he is pulled out of the car, which is now surrounded by fire. All the dialogue and sound effects are muted in this instant, therefore the ethereal music and the female vocals are dominant, which serves to highlight the emotional aspects of the scene, that is, Christine’s distress and hysteria and John’s desperation in rescuing her.The repeated chords re-occur as John goes back in to pull Christine out, the dialogue suddenly heard as he says ‘Pull! ’ in which then, the sound effects are heard again. These repeated chords are indicative of moving action that is, moving nearer to the subject on the screen, first with the gasoline coming towards the car, and then with John coming towards Christine to rescue her. It helps drive the action and prompts momentum on screen. The repeated chords are then consistently played throughout the scenes where Christine is pulled out of the car and they’re safe from harm.However , these chords are played by the piano and are different in timbre – they’re softer, light and gentler in sound and blend in with the sustained electronic sounds in the background. It creates a layer of constant sound and represents the characters’ overall freedom, not only from the physical danger but from the ‘prejudices’ they had of each other. The female vocals are still heard once they’re free from the car, finally stopping just before John and Christine embrace, and John comforts her.The female vocals are important as it symbolises the two characters sharing the experience and also their need of each other at that particular time. The vocals end just before the embrace as it has completed its purpose, in that it helped the characters through the situation achieve self-realisation: John redeeming himself in his act of selflessness and finding his strength of character and Christine allowing herself to be vulnerable and accept help from o thers; the embrace representative of the end of their journey.Isham talks about the score and states that certain scenes can come off as truly horrendous, and I felt like the music had to help you through the movie and be like a shepherding hand†¦ A friend of mine described the  score  as being like a guardian angel and there was a sense we had that that was what the  score  needed to do. (Bond, 2005) In conclusion, from the above quote, it’s clear that the cue acted as a guide for the characters on screen.This particular excerpt of the film is rather serious and distressing, yet the underscore for these sequences is overall tender, smooth and ethereal. This contrast in music and action on screen is effective in that the marriage of these two things help tell the narrative, explore the emotions of the main characters and engage and evoke the emotions of the film’s viewers.

Western Australian Excursions: Off School Site Activities Policy

EDP120 Introduction to Teaching WA Excursion Policy: Off school site activities document analysis This intention of this report is to analyse the Western Australian (WA) Excursions: Off school site activities policy document and discuss action plans for three potential scenarios. Effective 1 July 2003, (Western Australian Department of Education, (WA DoE), 2003) the rationale behind the policy is to set out and provide principals, teachers, and supervisors from both government and privately run schools with consistent, comprehensive standards and expectations whilst being off school grounds.The WA school excursion policy, written by the Western Australian Department of Education recognises that a well planned, properly managed and curriculum aligned off site school excursion can contribute to the educational benefits for a student. (WA DoE, 2003, p. 4 2. 1) With an excursion not being a regular occurrence in a school year, and therefore a variation to the routine of a typical school day. It is essential to note that with any variation to a routine and environment, that there is an increase in the potential of risks and hazards. WA DoE, 2003, p. 4 2. 1) Especially, when students are in the public arena and the actions of others cannot be determined. In addition, schools have a moral obligation to provide a ‘duty of care’ to their students on and offsite school grounds. The care provided by the teacher/s-in-charge essentially needs to be increased in relation to these newfound potential risks. (Department of Education, Training, and Employment, (DETE), 2013) Hence, the importance of using such a policy in today’s teaching environment.With the education and safety of students being paramount, schools are bound by common law to protect students, teachers, and others. (DETE, 2013). It is therefore not only health and safety concerns of students’, but a legal requirement to demonstrate that an excursion’s are planned efficiently, man aged and risk assessed. (Tronc, K. 2004) In the event of an emergency, effective planning minimises the risk of confusion and empowers teachers to make informed decisions.Furthermore, by adhering to the key points in the WA school excursion policy, the school is thus reducing the chances of a costly and lengthy litigation if a court deems that the school has not breached its duties. (Tronc, K. 2004). Key points of the policy include information on assessing risks in relation to; the environment of the excursion, transportation of participants, a students’ capacity; in relation to health, skill level and cultural requirements, establishing the skills of the supervisor/supervisory team and competency levels of involvement by external providers.The policy then provides guidelines on; establishing supervision strategies, providing information and seeking consent from parents, developing communication strategies, emergency response planning, briefing students and supervisors, reco rds that need to be retained, gaining approvals for excursions; whether it be interstate or international and then makes note on privately arranged activities. Scenario One The parents of a student are experiencing financial difficulties and cannot afford to pay for their child to participate in the excursion.Whilst the policy does not give advise pertaining to financial hardship, the policy does clearly state, â€Å"Where financial hardship is understood to be the reason for a student’s non-participation, schools should endeavour to provide financial assistance†. (WA DoE, 2003, p. 11) It would be fair however to assume, that before an excursion is planned that the related costs would have already been deemed as reasonable and affordable and approved by the principal to allow students to participate. (NSW Government, Education & Communities, 2009).Hence, it would stand to reason that if a parent was under financial burden due to the excursion, then the appropriate cour se of action would be to discuss their given situation with the principal to obtain available financial assistance. The issues with the policy regarding financial assistance is that there are no formal guidelines as to determining eligibility requirements, nor as to how much assistance should be provided and what would indeed be deemed financial hardship in the policy. Based on this lack of guidance it would be reasonable to expect that the principal would determine the assistance level based on the severity of hardship.However, the foreseeable issue with this is that parents/guardians could place undue burden back on the school for ongoing assistance or indeed take advantage of the funding available. Interestingly to note The ACT Government provides information on their information portal website regarding financial assistance for families and they determine low income status by photocopying a government issued health care card or Centrelink card as these are means tested. (ACT Gov ernment, Education and Training Directorate, 2013, para. 7) Scenario TwoA student is injured during a class excursion to the museum. The student is under the care of a parent helper and requires medical assistance. Assuming that the excursion does not require an overnight stay and the parent teacher has been given the relevant approvals by the principal and/or teacher-in-charge (WA DoE, 2003 p. 14, 3. 10. 1). The teacher-in-charge would have already deemed that the parent helper has a working with children check or completed a Confidential Declaration, has the skills to perform a supervisory role and to manage an emergency should one arise. (WA DoE, 2003, p. 8, 3. 2. ) Prior to the commencement of the excursion a risk assessment and management plan would have been arranged and discussed in some detail with the staff and education officer at the museum. At the point of being alerted to the injury the supervisor would signal to the group of students the emergency signal that was commu nicated and practiced prior to arriving at the museum. (WA DoE, 2003, p. 12, 3. 6). Being that the museum has recommended student to supervisor ratio’s and does not offer supervision whilst on the excursions (Western Australian Museum, Government of Western Australia, 2013b, p. ) the parent helper will not be able to leave the students alone to seek medical attention as this would be negligent to the other students being left unsupervised. The museum according to their excursion essentials information booklet expects the teacher-in-charge to bring their own first aid supplies. (Western Australian Museum, Government of Western Australia, 2013a, p. 4) Depending on the nature of the injury the parent helper or teacher-in-charge would administer basic first aid and if possible with the assistance and/or guidance of the museums Senior First Aid trained Visitor Service Officer. Western Australian Museum, Government of Western Australia, 2013b, p. 3) If urgent medical attention shou ld be required, it would be at the discretion of the trained first aid officer and/or parent/guardian once notified and medical appointments would be at the discretion of the parent/guardian as costs associated with the accident are the parent/guardians responsibility WA DoE, 2003, p. 25, Appendix E). During this time, the parent helper would have had access to the management plan that also includes student health forms and student emergency contact information, (WA DoE, 2003, p. 2, 3. 7) Either the parent helper or the teacher-in-charge would call and advise the parent/guardian and would then contact the principal. Being a museum that is a government owned building, the museum is fully compliant with the public liability insurance requirements (WA DoE. Page 9, 3. 2. 5, 2003). Scenario Three Three students miss the bus for their class excursion. The school principal asks you a (teacher) to transport the three students to the excursion using your private vehicle.As part of the Ã¢â‚¬Ë œduty of care’ of students, it is reasonable for a teacher to transport students in the event that they miss the bus for an excurison. However, according to the policy document guidelines â€Å"Private vehicles should only be used when there is no other option. † (WA DoE, 2003 p. 7, 3. 2. 2) As the principal has asked you, as a teacher to transport the students it would be fair to determine that all other avenues had been previously exhausted. It should also be noted, that it would not be reasonable to assume that a student could make their own way to the excursion without being at risk of injury or danger.The duty of care for a student is not limited to the school grounds and may require a higher level of duty of care than that of a parent’s duty of care. (Association of Independent Schools, (AISSA) 2000) It would be good practice, not necessarily a requirement of the policy to contact the parent/guardian to inform them that the student had missed the bus and t o advise them that they would be travelling with a teacher in a private vehicle. The implications of not informing the parent/guardian could be far reaching, as the parent/guardian may not approve the transport by a teacher in a private vehicle.The teacher-in-charge of the excursion also has a responsibility and could be held liable, to ensure that you the teacher, driving the private vehicle has comprehensive private motor vehicle insurance and the vehicle complies with the Road Traffic Act 1974. (WA DoE. Page 7, 3. 2. 2, 2003) Conclusion In conclusion, all schools have a ‘duty of care’ to the teachers, students, and others whilst onsite and offsite school grounds. A breach in a ‘duty of care’ can result in a costly and lengthy legal negligence case.Hence, all teachers that supervise students have a moral and legal liability to be concerned for the welfare and safety of students. By adhering to the policy guidelines, this allows for a consistent approach t o the welfare and safety of participants whilst on excursions. Furthermore, completing risk assessments and management plans, allows teachers to be empowered and to assess potential risks and avoid foreseeable and avoidable injuries. References ACT Government, Education and Training Directorate. (2013) Financial Assistance for families. Retrieved from http://www. det. act. gov. u/school_education/starting_school/financial_assistance_for_families Association of Independent Schools. (AISSA) (2000). Year 2000 Ncisa Conference, The duty of care of schools. Retrieved from http://www. ais. sa. edu. au/resources/Duty%20of%20Care%20of%20Schools. pdf Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE). (2013). School Excursions. Queensland: Queensland Government. Retrieved from http://ppr. det. qld. gov. au/education/management/Pages/School-Excursions. aspx NSW Government, Education & Communities. (2009) Excursions Policy Implementation Procedures. New South Wales. NSW Government.Retriev ed from https://www. det. nsw. edu. au/policies/student_admin/excursions/excursion_pol/implementation_1_PD20040010. shtml? query=excursions Pack N Go Educational Tourism. (2011) Why school should have education trips? Retrieved from http://www. educationaltourism. org/why-us. html Tronc, K. (2004). â€Å"Schools and the law: closing the rhetoric and reality gap. † The Practising Administrator. Vol. 26, no. 1, p. 22-24. Western Australian Museum, Government of Western Australia (2013a) Excursion Essentials. Retrieved from http://museum. wa. gov. au/explore/education/perth/excursion-essentialsWestern Australian Museum, Government of Western Australia (2013b) Excursion Management Plan 2013 – Western Australian Museum – Perth. Retrieved from http://museum. wa. gov. au/explore/education/perth/excursion-management-plan-2013-western-australian-museum-perth Western Australian Department of Education (WA DoE). (2003). Excursions: off school site activities. Western Austr alia: Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www. det. wa. edu. au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/policies/excursions-off-school-site-activities. en? oid=au. edu. wa. det. cms. contenttypes. Policy-id-11684723