Denmark s A Prison Sovereignty, Surveillance And...

Presley Balholm English 155 Response Paper #1 â€Å"Denmark’s a prison†: Sovereignty, Surveillance and Oppression in Hamlet In Act II, Scene II, Hamlet characterizes his oppression by the state by comparing it to one of the clearest manifestations of the government’s control over the subject’s body: a prison, â€Å"A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards and dungeons, Denmark being one o’ th’ worst† (Act II, Scene II). This statement succinctly describes the claustrophobic atmosphere that pervades Elsinore. Indeed, Elsinore’s restrictions and constant surveillance infringes upon the individual rights of many of the characters, including Hamlet. In the play, the sovereign state, represented by Claudius, places limitations upon the individual subject’s right to exercise their agency by regulating their bodies and actions. Hamlet’s rebellion against his uncle’s oppressive regime positions him as a figure who, by consciously and deliberately rejecting the political demands made by the sovereign state, is able to achieve a greater deg ree of political subjectivity and personal freedom. By creating a play that is fixated upon who, or what, holds agency over one’s body and actions, Shakespeare raises questions concerning the role of agency in an individual’s internal (personal) and external (political) lives. The issue of actively taking action against political, and personal, injustice versus trusting in God’s will remains unanswered. The question of whoShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagescentral to managing, organizing and reflecting on both formal and informal structures, and in this respect you will find this book timely, interesting and valuable. Peter Holdt Christensen, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark McAuley et al.’s book is thought-provoking, witty and highly relevant for understanding contemporary organizational dilemmas. The book engages in an imaginative way with a wealth of organizational concepts and theories as well a s provides insightful examplesRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesincluded in a long twentieth century (and perhaps even if it is not), migration served as a mode of escape from oppression and poverty and, in many instances, as an avenue toward advancement for an unprecedented number of people that soared well into the hundreds of millions by century’s end. But for a clear majority of these migrants, movement was coerced by flight from war and oppression or was enticed by labor recruiters who preyed on the desperately poor. The prospects for the great majority

Women s Rights Of Women - 1590 Words

Introduction Through out American history, until the 1920s, women were ignored in every aspect of their life. From politics, to social situations, women were constantly looked at as lesser. The 20s was a decade of women ready to fight for their rights. From gaining social freedoms, to getting political rights, the 20s was the first decade of feminism. Many women played key roles in the fight for women s rights through speeches, marches, and much more. The women that fought for their rights in the 1920s completely changed how women live their lives today. Women before the 1920s Before 1920, women were treated extremely unfairly. Single women were not allowed to own their own property, or sign their own contracts. Single women even had a hard time getting their own credit. Without a husband, women were overlooked. The social norm was for women to stay home and take care of the house or kids, while the men would earn all of the money (Pearl 2014). If women did have jobs, they were only paid 54%-60% of what a man got paid. Even if she was qualified, not many men would trust a women to do their job correctly. Girls were also expected to wear long, loose dresses, with high collars and big hats. Politically; women were not allowed to vote, or hold positions on the jury (Pearl 2014). A girls parents would also expect her to marry fairly early with the man they chose for her. But, men, by law, did not have to treat women properly.Show MoreRelatedWomen s Rights Of Women Essay1455 Words   |  6 Pagesa myriad of women have expressed through outlets such as pub lic assemblies, literature, and speeches. There have been three waves of the women’s movement, each targeting a variety of issues within each era. The third wave was in 1995, where Hillary Clinton spoke in Beijing, China, claiming that women’s rights were the same as human rights, that every aspiring girl deserved the civil liberties that every man was given around the world. Moreover, the movement had shifted towards women in developingRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1265 Words   |  6 Pagesstands in the way of women being equal to men? Journalist Carlin Flora suggests the following, â€Å"While not all claims to humanity are universal and no one context, culture or continent can truly represent all peoples, the following three examples from very different contexts, cultures and continents show that some violations of women’s human rights are universal. In particular, it is still the case the world over that a woman’s reproductive rights, which impa ct on her right to life, are still seenRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women881 Words   |  4 PagesTwenty –first century ladies are discovering it a daunting task to keep up both sexual orientation parts as an aftereffect of the women s activist development. They are presently assuming liability for both the supplier and the nurturer, battling like never before to acquire and keep a superior personal satisfaction. Woman s rights has supported in equivalent vocation opportunity, battling to get ladies acknowledged into the employment advertise, and what initially began as ladies strengtheningRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women Essay1647 Words   |  7 Pagesthe early 1920’s, women thought they had achieved the unachievable. They could finally work, keep their earned wages, marry whomever they please, and even vote. After reaching their goal and fighting vigorously, women could taste equality and the freedom they deserved. While women still have the right to work in todayâ⠂¬â„¢s society, women are not exactly treated equal in the workplace. Regardless of the past and the extreme measures taken to ensure equal opportunities for both men and women, there are manyRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1230 Words   |  5 PagesWomen’s suffrage has stretched from the 1800’s to present day, as women have struggled to have the same civil and constitutional rights as men in politics and be appreciated as equals in the workforce. Groups of women known as suffragists questioned the customary views of women’s roles. Eventually our nation has evolved and realized that male-controlled societies suppress women’s rights. From the beginning steps taken in 1850 to 2013 with women earning combat roles in the military, women’s rolesRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1206 Words   |  5 Pagesto speak of women and the role of women in this election, the subject of women is tiresome but necessary in a world where gender is still existent as an obstacle for most. I cannot identify what woman is. I am basing my definition from our modern understanding of woman, our general view, and the popular experience. People are using younger women voting for Bernie Sanders as proof of gender’s irrelevant in this election, that women have achieved their rights. Even if women ‘have rights now’ it doesRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1393 Words   |  6 Pages Women all over the world are being treated different than men. Iran is one of the places that women are being treated the worst. From restrictions to punishments, women in Iran are being treated with no respect, and that is not okay. Women’s rights activists have tried to get it to change, and have traveled to many places to try and get more people to join their movement. There are many issues with women not having the same rights as men. One of the main problems is that they are treated lessRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1272 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout history, women have fought a strenuous battle for equal rights. Many men, and even some women, all over the world believe that women do not share the same value and importance to society as men do. On September 5, 1995, Hillary Clinton spoke at the 4th World Conference on Women, on behalf of women all over the world. Clinton raised awareness on how women s rights are being violated and why it is important to recognize women s rights as equal to everyone else’s rights. Even today, in 2016Read MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1052 Words   |  5 PagesThe family has traditionally been the basic unit of Chinese society where women have long been charged with upholding society s values in their roles as wives and mothers. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, women were required to balance society s i deals with the reality of raising a family and maintaining a household. Throughout the imperial period and into the beginning of the twentieth century, the relationship among family members was prescribed by Confucian teachings. The revered philosopherRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1159 Words   |  5 PagesWomen’s Rights is an extremely ethical topic that is surrounded by ethical theories and has a lot of history. While some of the theoretical systems in ethics have helped to gain women their rights, others have assisted in preventing women rights. Women in America have seen much improvement in our modern day society regarding Women’s Rights, but what about the women in less economically stable countries? Women continue to fight against abuse, hatred, and discrimination worldwide. I will be discussing

Literature Review on Smart City Initiative

Question: Discuss about theLiterature Review on Smart City Initiative. Answer: Introduction There is the feeling to the idea that living in cities makes one feel more at home especially in the 21st century. The large and dense cities in the current century can be highly productive and even be made greener than ever and make them appreciated in the future (Stokes, 2015: 13-17). However the massive rural-urban migration by citizens presents major challenges to the governments of cities. Along with the positives that come along with densely populated areas there also comes the negative side of the situation such as the traffic congestions, access to public resources, crimes and the management of waste. With the demand for quality and better services being the most immediate issue its the tax revenues that often come later to fund such projects. With increased levels of globalization the world has become more connected now more than ever before in terms of capital and resources. All these challenges has led to a different approaches in the lines of design, planning, finance, th e control and management of infrastructure, governance and services which can be defined as smart cities. These approaches have been linked with the modern Information and technology. Discussion The need to develop smart cities all over the world has led to the formation of professional communities who work collaboratively to understand and learn architecture, engineering, utilities, planning, environmental sciences, communication, information technology and the public policies and finances ( Zbornik, 2015:42-44). One of the major hypotheses that the team focus on is the theory of how cities can make use of information of what is happening in the city. The other thing that the team is seeking to understand is the impact of information technology on the society moral norms and behaviors. The new smart cities as they are theorized will give a better understanding of the urban system at the micro level. The definition of what a smart city is depends on the purpose of the city and it varies from one city to the other. Depending on how the concept is visualized the definition differs according to the level of development that the city will bring and the citizens willingness to change into the new smart cities and how they plan to live in the new cities ( Zbornik, 2015:44). There have to be guidelines that make the definition of what a smart city is across the different cities and countries. First the cities should guarantee quality life to the residents and have clean and sustainable environments through using smart solutions. The city should be able to offer assured basic amenities such as water and electricity resources and have efficient mobility and general public transport. The city should have a sophisticated Information technology infrastructure that will cater for the high tech needs of the city and ensure security to all the citizens. Singapore is a leading city in mobility technology given that the country is an Island with a 5 million population. The country has been able to control its traffic congestion using an innovative road system to detect traffic congestions and ease up the congestions the smart way. Smart cities are aimed at making the citizens feel free and have fun an instance is the shadowing project in Bristol, Britain in 2014 where infrared light with sensors was added to the street lighting. The sensors detect the pedestrians walking below and record their shadows and later it the street lamps project the shadows for other pedestrians who are walking by making it more fun. Another instance is the face recognition cameras in public buses to detect who has a bus permit on who doesnt. Smart means something that can be able to operate automatic without being controlled much. Governments all over the world are working hard to make their countries to be in the frontline in the new digital era this involves coming up with innovative ideas and policies that will make their citizens proud. The smart cities movement is one of the initiatives that governments across the world are using as a standard that define quality life style to its citizens. The fact that smart cities will solve most of the challenges facing the urban cities of such countries they are still facing the challenge of initiating these projects because they cannot get into terms on what a smart city is to them. The use of the computing technology will be of great help so to speak but its the economic side that is more appealing to the governments of these cities that they forget the other side of the technology (CELINO and KOTOULAS S, 2013: 34-35). With the current world being interconnected through the i nternet then it will become easier for the governments and other partners to decide on what a smart city is. With the internet it is easy to have real time data and make real time decisions. With a connection it means that a city will be able to form one big community under one technological roof. The smart cities will not only bring the positive things that people would want to have but also there is the negative side to it. According to the social theory of smart city Researches point out that the intelligence in the smart cities will be an area that needs to be addressed more clearly. With the usage of surveillance cameras it makes it easy to have the facial recognition features. In the current world smartphones for instance can be traced using GPS (Zipf, 2009: 23). Depending on the person who is handling information it will be difficult to monitor if the information is used in a beneficial or harmful way. Having in place data privacy rules will help the smart cities solve the issue. The society should be able to address the issue on privacy and offer the way forward on how privacy should be maintained. Creativity is one of the major drivers of the smart city movement especially in the 21st century. Education and learning will be an important part of the people living in the smart cities. With the learning culture a new group will emerge referred as the creative class (winter, 2010:9). With the new class it will be easy to team up and build a new city concept. A social infrastructure will be built that will reflect the peoples way of life and their relation in this cities. The smart cities will generally be a mix of cultures, education and learning to bring a new hybrid society. With the new society there will be new social, cultural and economic enterprises. A smart city will bring the opportunities to exploit the human potential and thus be able to lead creative lives. According to winters (2010:22) the smart cities will be made up of smart people that are the educated and skilled work force. The citizens in these cities will be able to advance their communities through offering their skills at work place. The levels of smartness will differ from one city to another where some will be considered as being smarter than the others. With this community work force there will come economic developments that will improve the quality of life of the citizens greatly. Therefore a smart city is made up of a smart community, knowledge city, the human factors, technological factors and the institutional factors. All these have to work together to make a city smart. The phrase smart city was adopted more in 2005 by several leading technology companies such as Cisco, IBM and Siemens. The technology companies developed interest in the issue in areas of its application such as the integration of information system in the urban cities infrastructure, buildings and designs and the public safety. With time the basic understanding has been revised to refer to any innovation that is technology based in the areas of city planning and development and operations within the city such as the electric vehicles initiative that requires plugins stations all over the city (Portland, 2011:7). The term smart city has been defined by many according to their way of understanding in relation to the society that they live. The Indian government website defines the smart cities as cities which are intelligent in physical, economic, social and institutional infrastructures (Harrison, 2014:8). The cities are expected to ensure that the citizens get their livelihood and are able to live joyful lives there more of utopia. The Indian definition of what a smart city refers is closely related to its demographic environment where about 31% of the population lives in urban cities and the population is projected to increase to 65% in the next ten years (USC, 2011:42). To cater for the projected demand India has put the target of setting up 100 smart cities to meet the expected challenges of urban population. Indian government is fully supportive of the initiative and has committed more than $1 billion dollars to the project which will be built from scratch. The smart city movement was launched to address the challenges that urban cities face and there are several benefits associated with it. With smart cities there is the reduced resource consumption such as energy and water which in turn reduces carbon emissions (NYC 2007:14). The system utilizes the existing infrastructures and makes improvements to provide quality life for the citizens (Stockholm 2006:75). The system will avail new services that have not existed before. The commercial enterprises will be improved through real time transmission of data on the cities services (Singapore 2011). The city can have real time data of the demand for services in the city and thus be able to manage the available resources. A city can be able to manage disasters in a more prepared way. The smart cities will greatly improve the quality of life of its citizens. With companies such as IBM who began project such as the smarter Planet initiative (IBM 2008) the response from the public on its initial stages was very positive. Its the economic development that cities around the world will get that makes the idea to be highly accepted. Cities all over the world are in constant competition to offer superior quality lifestyle to their citizens. The challenges of creating this lifestyle lie in the developers on how they can create a smart city and make it attractive now and for the future generation to come (Moraru and Mladenic, 2012:24). The smart city will be able to understand the current generation as described by Florida (2008:25). A smart city should be able to interact with the public and offer quality services through interacting with them in the digital platform rather than through the traditional offices associated with long queues. The cities should be able to appe al to the creative class as referred by Florida (2008:27). With the current technology and fresh innovative minds the smart city project is becoming a reality. There is very high competition in cities such as New York, Paris and Singapore. Cities such as Dubuque have propelled themselves through the theme of smart city movement and have gotten world recognition. Dubuque is listed among the livable cities in America (Dubuque, 2008:17-21). With such a complex setting and advanced technology the smart cities are most likely to change the social norms and behaviors of the citizens (KHATOUN and ZEADALLY, 2016: 46-47). In order to change the current cities into complex and integrated social cities there will have to be a clear understanding of the current society settings such as morals and behavior and determining how the new cities will affect behavior and conduct. With the advanced technology the cities will need to observe the citizens more deeply and in real time so as to note the patterns of change in the society. The technology can allow the city to have control of the misconducts in the society (Cleantechblog and Ling, 2013: 32). This sounds very good to the society security but looking at the other side the system will be capturing even the unintended data which may cause serious negative results. Information that is captured through the citys intelligent cameras need to be smartly handled so that it doesnt fall i nto wrong hands which can cause privacy infringement cases. The understanding of how the smart cities will work is important in accepting the idea of how the cities are more or less attractive to its citizens. First we have to understand the current urban city system in order to be able to accept the new cities. The information that flows through the network needs to be handled and addressed in a smart way to ensure that it is more benefit to the city citizens (Caragliu, Kourti and Nijkamp, 2015: 111). For instance one leaving water tap running can be the reason why the city is spending more money in water. The macro and micro levels in the cities need to be addressed first before decisions are made on adopting the smart cities theory. To discuss the issue collaborative urban systems have been formed to try and define what a smart city may be or will have to be in respect to the societys way of life. With these discussions agreements can be reached on how personal information will be handled in the urban system and also make research on how the urban system will work based on the general societys way of thinking or perception. Through having members from different levels in the society to make views it will be possible to have these smart cities built for the common good of the society though a multi-disciplinary organization that will give an understanding of the urban system way of thinking. Conclusion With the increased globalization levels it will mean that many people will want to live in state of the art Smart Cities by the end of the 21st century. The definition of what a smart city is depends on the cities critical needs now and in the future. Thus we have the opportunity to shape the future coming generation through making viable decisions that will make the urban system unique. That can be possible if we are able to first understand our current society and be able to accept the future in a more positive way. With the current rise in cities all over the world especially for the emerging economies the time is now to come up with theories of the smart cities which will act as foundations in order to achieve the demanding goals in both the current and new cities to come. The issue on smart cities needs to be looked from an all-round perspective and not only on the information technology and engineering perspective. Different professions need to work together collaboratively to make the smart cities theory true. References Caragliu, A, Kourtit, K and Nijkalmp, P. (2015). Smart Cities. News trans. Cleantechblog, and Ling, F. (2013). Smart Cities. Cleantech Blog. 2013-11. Celino I., and Kotoulas S. (2013). Smart cities. IEEE Internet Computing. 17, 8-11. Dubuque, (2008), US Conference of Mayors Announce 2008 City Livability Award Winners, https://www.usmayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/cityliveng.pdf [22 Oct 2016] Florida, R. (2008), Whos Your City?, Basic Books, New York Harrison, C. (2014). A Theory of Smart Cities. Natural England. IBM, (2008), A Smarter Planet: The Next Leadership Agenda, Council on Foreign Relations, https://www.cfr.org/technology-and-foreign-policy/smarter-planet-next-leadership- agenda-video/p17696 [22 Oct 2016] IBM, (2009), Smarter Cities: New York 2009, https://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_cities/article/newyork2009.html Jacobs Khatoun, R. and Zeadally, S. (2016). Smart cities. Communications of the ACM. 59, 46-57. Moraru, A., and Mladenic, D. (2012). Complex event processing and data mining for smart cities. Zbornik (2015)Smart City conferences- IS 2012, 8.-12. October 2012, Ljubljana, Slovenia. A, 185-188. NYC, (2009), NYC rolling out new technology projects, https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20091001/FREE/910019988[22 Oct 2016] NYC, (2011), PlaNYC, https://nytelecom.vo.llnwd.net/o15/agencies/planyc2030/pdf/planyc_2011_planyc_ full_report.pdf[22 Oct 2016] Portland, (2011), Electric vehicle infrastructure drives Portland's economy and environment, https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/05/electric_vehicle_infrastruct ur.html[22 Oct 2016] Rantakakko, M. (2012). Smart City as an innovation engine: case Oulu. Elektrotehnis?ki Vestnik. 248-254. Singapore, (2010), Singapore Government Info-communications Development Authority, https://www.ida.gov.sg/home/index.aspx Singapore, (2011), Singapore LiveTraffic, https://www.livetraffic.sg/mobileapp[22 Oct 2016] Simmons, S. (2016). Smart cities. Part III: smart data management Part III: smart data management. Parking Today. Stokes, P. (2015). "Smart cities" - dynamic sustainability issues and challenges for "old world" economies: a case from the United Kingdom. Dynamic Relationships Management Journal. 4, pp. 3-22. USC (Urban Systems Collaborative), (2011), urbansystemssymposium.org USC (2014). 2012 International workshop on learning within and from smart cities. Zipf, G. K., (2009), Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort, Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, MA

The Effect of HRM Practices on Psychological Contract in Organisation

Abstract The practices of human resource management have a direct impact on the psychological contract between the employees and their employer. Whenever the management makes promises to the employees when they are hired or during the normal management processes, the promise will develop a psychological contract that binds the employer and the employee.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Effect of HRM Practices on Psychological Contract in Organisation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When the management keeps the promise, the contract shall have been honoured, and the two parties would have a positive working environment. When the management fails to honour the promise, the relationship between the employer and the employee may be strained, and this could lead to serious negative consequences. Introduction Employees form a very important part of an organisation, and their commitment would always determine the ability of a firm to achieve its objectives. According to Guest, Isaksson and Witte (2010), the ability of an organization to achieve success is always based on its capacity to motivate its employees. For this reason, it is important to ensure that they remain motivated in order to remain productive in their respective tasks. Their motivation is always defined by the kind of working environment they are subjected to by their employer, especially the junior managers who directly supervise their work. This environment will define the relationship between the employees and the employees. Psychological contract plays a pivotal role in defining the relationship and the attitude of the employee towards the employer and the task. When one signs a contract to become an employee of a given organisation, there are always some expectations developed out of spoken or unspoken communication between the employee and the employer. The spoken expectations can be in the form of direct promises made by the employer to the employee on such issues as increase in salary, promotions, or improved working environment. The unspoken expectations may come in the form of the impression that the manager or the organisation itself gives to the employee. For instance, BP is one of the largest firms that pay its employees handsomely. When an employee is hired by such an organisation, he or she will expect high pay. In this research, the focus will be to determine how psychological contracts are affected by human resource management’s practices in an organisation.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hypothesis Statement Research hypothesis is always necessary as it guides the process of collecting data. In this study, the researcher developed a hypothesis statement below based on the preliminary information obtained in this field. H1. Human resource management’s practices h ave direct impact on the psychological contract within an organisation. As shown in the hypothesis statement above, the researcher believes that there is a close connection between the practices of the management unit, and the psychological contract. As Petersitzke (2009) observes, the management unit is always represented within an organisation by the managers. To employees, what the managers do will be viewed as an action of the firm because they are the agents. The perception of the employees towards the managers can, therefore, be regarded as the view these employees have towards the firm. This preposition will be determined by reviewing literatures on this topic. Definition of Psychological Contract in Organisation The concept of psychological contract has attracted attention of many scholars who try to find its true definition and relevance in a workplace setting. According to Guest and Conway (79), psychological contract are the beliefs and expectations that an employee devel ops when hired in a given firm, and expects them to be fulfilled within the period he or she will be working in the organisation. George (2009) defines psychological contract as â€Å"The mutual beliefs, perceptions, and informal obligations between an employer and an employee.† It is important to note that in this definition, there is an emphasis on the mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. In this regard, a contract can only exist when the two parties have a mutual agreement over an issue. This may be out of verbal discussion or expectations of the employees and the employer. The verbal agreement may take place when the employee and the employer verbally agree to achieve a specific goal and give specific benefits over a specified period of time. Such agreements would not be documented, but each party will have the information that they are expected to deliver on their promises.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Effect of HRM Pract ices on Psychological Contract in Organisation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The second form of psychological contract takes place between the employer and employee non-verbally. This means that both parties will be expecting the other to deliver on a specific promise without verbally talking over the issue. For example, when HSBC Bank hires a certified accountant, the human resource manager will be expecting the accountant to understand principles of accounting that is in practice within the United Arab Emirates. Although they may not talk about this, the employer will believe that the employee will be able to undertake this task without problems. On the other hand, the employee will be expecting that his or her promotion and salary increment will be based on the output he or she delivers. The unspoken expectation of the two parties will form a basis of psychological contract and at the beginning of the relationship both will expe ct the other party to meet the demands. When either of the party fails to meet either verbal or non-verbal agreement, then this will constitute a disagreement or a breach of the contract. Importance of Psychological Contract in Organisation According to Conway and Briner (2005), many managers have ignored the relevance of psychological contract to the success of an organisation. It would be interesting to determine why such global firms as Apple Inc have remained very successful in a market where other giant firms like Motorola failed. These are firms operating in the same market environment and affected by similar policies set by the government. The answer to this secret could be lying with the manner in which managers view the relevance of psychological contract within the organisation. Wellin (2007) says that psychological contract could be more important than the written contract when it comes to motivating employees and making them achieve what they are expected of within a spe cified period. According to McGregor’s Theory Y, employees are always optimistic individual who can work with minimal or no supervision at all, but still achieve the best results. McGregor’s Theory X on the other hand holds that employees are always cunning and would make every effort to dodge their work whenever they have the opportunity. For this reason, they need strict and very close supervision.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These two theories hold that employees would always become what an employer want them to become. A human being is an independent creature by nature, and trying to subject it to strict regulations or policies would only be a counter-productive process. The psychological contract, unlike the written contract, would always define the manner in which the employer the the employee would view each other. It has stronger impact than written contract because the two parties may withstand each other when in cases where written contract is violated as long as the psychological contract is respected. Psychological contract defines the way an employee would relate with the employer. As mentioned, the employee and the employer would have a mutual agreement that each party must fulfil within a given duration. When an employee fails to deliver the results that were expected by the employer as specified in the psychological contract, he or she will be considered to have breached the contract. In su ch cases, there are consequences that the employee must be ready to bear. The employer may decide to retain the employee in the current position but deny him or her much anticipated promotion. The employer may decide to demote the employee as a clear warning that any breach of the psychological contract may lead to other serious consequences. In some instances, the employer may decide to dismiss the employee on basis of incompetence. These are some of the consequences that an employee must be ready to deal with in case he or she fails to honour the psychological contract. On the other hand, the employee may also decide to take some measures in case the employer fails to honour the contract. One of the most common reactions would be a reduced productivity of the employees who will be spending much of their time relaxing and wondering why the employer has breached the contract. In some cases, the employee may decide to take the case with the employee. This would involve confronting th e manager and complaining about unmet expectation. The employer may also consider the issue of unionisation as a way of making their views be respected by the management. In such cases, the body will have a higher bargaining power than when they have to address the issues on their own as individuals. When the employee is convinced that the employer is not willing to honour their psychological contracts, they may despair, and those that are ambitious will consider leaving the firm to other firms where their views would be respected. Psychological contract within an organisation is very important. It helps in maintaining a positive relationship between the employer and the employees. It helps in retaining a pool of self-motivated employees. It helps in eliminating high employee-turnover rate within a firm. It also helps in creating trust and mutual respect between the employer and the employee. These factors are vital in creating a positive working environment that would yield positiv e output for the firm. Causes of Psychological Contract in Organisation It would be important to understand some of the common causes of psychological contract in an organisation. One of the leading causes of this psychological contract is the verbal agreement that is made between the employer and the employee. This is very common during the interview or soon after one has been confirmed as an employee of the firm. An employee may promise the employer that he or she has some special skills that can be of help to the firm. The employer may also promise the employee some benefits over a given period as a way of motivating them. These promises would constitute a psychological contract. Sometimes the psychological contract may be developed non-verbally out of our perception. The employee would look at the structures within an organisation, the nature of the business they are engaged in, and the profitability of their organisation and make their own independent judgement about what they should earn. The employer may also look at the academic credentials of the employee and the past experience and develop a perception of what their output should be within the organisation. This develops into a belief, and then it becomes a psychological contract. The Effect of HRM Practices on Psychological Contract in Organisation The practices of the human resource management have a significant impact on psychological contract in an organisation. It would be necessary to define how the concept of psychological contract was developed. When Argyris was introducing the concept of psychological contract in 1960, he noted that there was a strange behaviour among the employees at a construction site that was based on the type of the foreman they were given (Kiazad, 2010). When these employees were assigned strict foreman who would follow their activities closely and direct them on what to do at every stage, their output was reduced considerably. On the other hand, when they were assigne d a foreman who looked more tolerant and highly approachable, their output drastically improved. Argyris was interested in understanding this paradoxical situation. It would be expected that with the strict foreman, the output will be greater than when they had a weak supervisor. He therefore, joined the group of employees in order to understand the trick. He realised that when the strict supervisor was on duty, employees never concentrated on their work. All their concentration was on the supervisor, monitoring his move, and putting a great show when he was approaching just to make him believe that they were doing a lot. When the supervisor left, they would relax taking a position that would make a person standing from a distance believe that they are very busy in their work. This means that they were pretending in their work, a fact that negatively affected their output. When the employees assigned a more relaxed supervisor, the pretext was gone, and they would behave as normally as possible. They would take a short rest when they felt a little tired, but would always try to be serious when addressing their duties. It was also observed that they had respect for the tolerant supervisor than the strict foreman. For this reason, they were always willing to work harder in order to please the supervisor that they believe is considerate to them. This research clearly indicated that the management has a big role in defining the attitude of the employees, and the approach they take when assigned different tasks. This experiment clearly shows that there is a close relationship between actions of the management unit and the psychological contract. According Durai (2010), employer always makes some promises that they know are unrealistic. They hide under a very misleading belief that their employees would forget those promises after some time. However, the truth is that the employees would never forget these promises. They form a basis of a contract that must be respec ted by the management as promised. When the promise is not fulfilled, then there would be a breach in the psychological contract. Such breaches bring tension and mistrust between the employees and the employer. The management has the capacity to regulate these psychological contracts. It can be done by minimizing the promises made as much as possible. Whenever a promise is made, the management should make an effort and fulfil it. HR practices which affects psychological contract in organisation As discussed above, there are specific human resource practices that may affect psychological contract in an organisation such as recruitment, compensation, and employee-management practices. During recruitment, each of the parties may make promises to each other that may constitute a psychological contract. During the process of managing the employees, the management may make some promises in order to influence their performance. Compensation or rewards is one of the ways of fulfilling a psy chological contract that the management has made to the employee. An Interview with HR manager at HSBC Bank In order to gather first-hand data on this issue, the researcher organised an interview with a middle manager at HSBC. The following were the responses obtained. Researcher: Do you understand the concept of psychological contract between an employer and an employee? The Manager: Yes, I do. Researcher: Do you think it is practically taking place at your place of work? The Manager: It is. At HSBC, we are always under pressure to give higher output. As part of management, I always make promises to reward those who excel in their work. Researcher: Do you always keep these promises? The Manager: We always try to, but in some cases we may fail. Researcher: What are the reactions of the employees when you fail to honour the promise? The Manager: They always protest and some become very demoralised. For this reason, we always avoid failure. Researcher: Do you believe that HRM practice s affect psychological contract in an organisation? The Manager: Yes. In fact, I think that it plays the pivotal role in defining psychological contract within an organisation. Human Resource Planning Process Human resource planning is one of the most important tasks of the management that can be used to regulate psychological contract within an organisation. The figure below shows specific stages of the planning that should be closely observed by the human resource during the planning process. Source: (Armstrong, 2007, p. 76) At the first stage, the management must understand the current position of the workforce in terms of their capacity and compensatory needs. With this information, it should define the future of the workforce in terms of what they should be able to achieve and how the firm will compensate them. When this is achieved, the human resource should develop strategic means of reaching the desired destination. This should be done in a realistic manner based on the cur rent and expected financial strengths of the firm. Conclusion Psychological contract is a mutual perception and responsibility between the employee and the employer that defines their relationship. Unlike a written contract, psychological contract is always written in the minds of two parties and a breach may not resolve through a litigation process. However, it is important to note that its impact on the overall performance of the employees and trust between the employer and employee is greater than that of a written contract. The practices of the human resource management have a central role in defining this contact. The promises that the management make creates the contract and their ability to fulfil these promises would define its relationship with the employees. References Armstrong, M. (2007). A handbook of human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page. Conway, N., Briner, R. B. (2005). Understanding psychological contracts at work: A critical evaluation of theory a nd research. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Durai, P. (2010). Human resource management. Chennai: Pearson. George, C. (2009). The psychological contract: Managing and developing professional groups. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill Open University Press. Guest, D. E., Isaksson, K., Witte, H. (2010). Employment contracts, psychological contracts, and worker well-being: An international study. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guest, D., Conway, N., Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. (2004). Employee well-being and the psychological contract: A report for the CIPD. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Kiazad, K. (2010). Responses to psychological contract breach: Moderating effects of organisational-embeddedness. New York: Cengage. Petersitzke, M. L. (2009). Supervisor psychological contract management: Developing an integrated perspective on managing employee perceptions of obligations. Wiesbaden: Gabler. Wellin, M. (2007). Managing the psychological con tract: Using the personal deal to increase business performance. Aldershot: Gower. This report on The Effect of HRM Practices on Psychological Contract in Organisation was written and submitted by user Zeke Beasley to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.