Sex And Darkness In Macbeth Essays - English-language Films

Sex And Darkness In Macbeth Sex and Darkness in Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare's Macbeth presents more than the simple tale of a murder and revenge. Macbeth wants to be king, and Duncan stands in his way. However, Macbeth hesitates. His wife, Lady Macbeth, must urge him on strongly, like a rider whipping a horse. Macbeth does not want to commit the murder because it creates a conflict in his unconscious mind. Specifically, the act of plunging a knife into Duncan's breast is like the sex act, making the murder a homosexual act for Macbeth. For Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, it is a reversal of the normal sexual roles. She has plays the dominant, male role, forcing her husband and Duncan both to take the submissive, female role. She is much stronger than her husband, and she uses her strength to force him into the act of murder. Most of the action in Macbeth takes place in the darkness that comes just before dawn. The murder, the nightmares, and the confession all take place in the hours of the night when most people are sleeping, either alone or with a lover. When the blood begins to flow, it becomes a metaphor for sex. Lady Macbeth displaces her desire to destroy her husband onto Duncan, and Macbeth displaces his desire to dominate his wife sexually onto Duncan. The poor victim of these psychological mechanisms, Duncan, is killed more like the victim of a rape than the victim of a murder. When his blood flows, and his life ebbs away, Lady Macbeth feels a sexual orgasm, and Macbeth feels the loss of his erection at the end of the act. Macbeth is trying to prove his manhood by committing the murder, and Lady Macbeth is unconsciously expressing her desire to possess the power of a man, which Freud called penis envy. The murder causes a greater conflict for Lady Macbeth because of her deep psychological problem, which is that she cannot accept her position in the world as a member of the weak female sex. Lady Macbeth feels dirty after the murder because she has unconsciously engaged in a forbidden sexual act. By watching her husband plunge the knife into Duncan, she has experienced the erection and the orgasm of a man. She also experiences the let-down that follows. She tries to wash off the blood, the same way that most people take a shower after making love. She cannot remove the blood because she cannot remove her feeling of guilt. When she cries, Wash your hands, put on your nightgown, look not so pale (V.ii.60-63), she is unconsciously contrasting the pale dead man, who has lost all his blood, with the rush of blood that makes a lover look red and flushed with passion. Macbeth keeps his sanity because he is weak. Since his wife forced him to commit the murder, he bears less of the guilt in his own mind. Lady Macbeth's strength allows her to plan the murder and urge her husband to carry it through. Her ego is satisfied with this act of male sexual power. However, this strength comes from the instinctive level of the id, and her superego fails to control its destructive power. After killing Duncan, she turns the power of her own id against herself, becoming insane because she has not successfully repressed her id. The superego, or conscience, crazy with guilt, runs away like a horse without a rider. Shakespeare

Interesting Facts About Maya Angelou

Interesting Facts About Maya Angelou Thanks to her award-winning writing, Maya Angelou was internationally known decades before her death at age 86 in 2014. Despite her fame and her many memoirs, many interesting details about her life remain widely unknown to the public. Familiarize yourself with the life and work of Maya Angelou with this list of interesting facts about her life. Family Life She may have risen to fame as â€Å"Maya Angelou,† but she was not born with that first name or with that surname. Instead, Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis. â€Å"Maya† derives from a childhood nickname and Angelou is a shortened version of Angelopulos, the surname of a Greek sailor the writer married in 1952.It’s uncertain how many times Angelou married, the New York Times reported in her obituary. â€Å"Throughout her life, she was cagey about the number of times she married- it appears to have been at least three- for fear, she said, of appearing frivolous,† the Times noted.Although Angelou married a number of times, she bore just one child, a son named Guy Johnson. She gave birth to him at the age of 16. He was the product of a brief romance Angelou had with a neighborhood boy in Northern California. Career During her young adulthood, Angelou became the first black woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco, according to the Times.Although Angelou stood 6 feet tall, she managed to carve out a career as a dancer as a young woman. She even danced with the likes of Alvin Ailey.Angelou appeared in a number of theatrical productions, earning a Tony nomination for her role in 1973’s â€Å"Look Away,† a play about Mary Todd Lincoln and her seamstress. Friendship With Prominent African Americans Angelou stopped celebrating her birthday because the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a friend of hers, was assassinated on that day. Instead of celebrating her birthday, Angelou sent flowers to King’s widow, Coretta, according to Biography.com. In addition to King, Angelou was friends with a number of other prominent African Americans, including James Baldwin and Malcolm X, the New York Times reported. Literary Career Angelou rose to fame after the publication of her 1969 memoir, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. That book made history, as it marked the first time an autobiography by an African-American woman became a best-seller in the United States.Caged Bird was far from Angelou’s only memoir. The writer followed that effort up with Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) and A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002). Moreover, in 2013, Angelou’s memoir about her relationship with her mother, Mom Me Mom, debuted.Despite the fact that she excelled as a writer above all else, Angelou said that the craft did not come easily to her. In 1990, she told the Paris Review, â€Å"I try to pull the language into such a sharpness that it jumps off the page. It must look easy, but it takes me forever to get it to look so easy. Of course, ther e are those critics- New York critics as a rule- who say, Well, Maya Angelou has a new book out and of course it’s good but then she’s a natural writer. Those are the ones I want to grab by the throat and wrestle to the floor because it takes me forever to get it to sing. I work  at the language.†Ã‚   More About Maya Angelou A globetrotter, Angelou spoke a number of languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, and the West African language Fanti, according to her website.Angelou had a seafood allergy. Apparently, it was so severe that she requested people not to eat seafood prior to meeting with her.

Specific Heat Capacity Definition

Specific Heat Capacity Definition Specific Heat Capacity Definition Specific heat capacity is the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance per unit of mass. The specific heat capacity of a material is a physical property. It is also an example of an extensive property since its value is proportional to the size of the system being examined.In ​SI units, specific heat capacity (symbol: c) is the amount of heat in joules required to raise 1 gram of a substance 1 Kelvin.   It may also be expressed as J/kg ·K. Specific heat capacity may be reported in the units of calories per gram degree Celsius, too. Related values are molar heat capacity, expressed in J/mol ·K, and volumetric heat capacity, given in J/m3 ·K. Heat capacity is defined as the ratio of the amount of energy transferred to a material and the change in temperature that is produced: C Q / ΔT where C is heat capacity, Q is energy (usually expressed in joules), and ΔT is the change in temperature (usually in degrees Celsius or in Kelvin). Alternatively, the equation may be written: Q CmΔT Specific heat and heat capacity are related by mass: C m * S Where C is heat capacity, m is mass of a material, and S is specific heat. Note that since specific heat is per unit mass, its value does not change, no matter the size of the sample. So, the specific heat of a gallon of water is the same as the specific heat of a drop of water. Its important to note the relationship between added heat, specific heat, mass, and temperature change does not apply during a phase change. The reason for this is because heat that is added or removed in a phase change does not alter the temperature. Also Known As: specific heat, mass specific heat, thermal capacity Specific Heat Capacity Examples Water has a specific heat capacity of 4.18 J (or 1 calorie/gram  °C). This is a much higher value than that of most other substances, which makes water exceptionally good at regulating temperature. In contrast, copper has a specific heat capacity of 0.39 J. Table of Common Specific Heats and Heat Capacities This chart of specific heat and heat capacity values should help you get a better sense of the types of materials that readily conduct heat versus those which do not. As you might expect, metals have relatively low specific heats. Material Specific Heat(J/gC) Heat Capacity(J/C for 100 g) gold 0.129 12.9 mercury 0.140 14.0 copper 0.385 38.5 iron 0.450 45.0 salt (Nacl) 0.864 86.4 aluminum 0.902 90.2 air 1.01 101 ice 2.03 203 water 4.179 417.9 Sources Halliday, David; Resnick, Robert (2013).  Fundamentals of Physics. Wiley. p.  524.Kittel, Charles (2005). Introduction to Solid State Physics (8th Ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey, USA: John Wiley Sons. p. 141. ISBN 0-471-41526-X.Laider, Keith J. (1993). The World of Physical Chemistry. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-855919-4.unus A. Cengel and Michael A. Boles (2010). Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach (7th Edition). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 007-352932-X.

A Public Place That Has Been Changed by Time Essay

A Public Place That Has Been Changed by Time - Essay Example Some have completely changed with others following the same trend. Some of the changes experienced are at time positive with others being completely negative. Among the public place that have experienced some of the most positive changes include the Bryant Park, a recreational facility located in New York. Bryant Park is a 39, 000 m2 public park that is privately managed and that is situated between the Fifth and the Sixth Avenues in the New York City. The main entrance of the green is along the Sixth Avenue and the facility is managed by a non-profit organization. The good management of the park marks a good and effective partnership between the private and public sector. The park is directly above an underground building that houses New York Public Library. A few years ago, the park experienced one of the major changes that completely changed its appearance and public image. Initially there used to be no buildings around the park, but as time went by new buildings were built around the park to a point that the investors were scrambling for the available spaces for commercial developments including the park’s space. This was due to the rising demand for space since the population in the city was rapidly growing due to immigration and the search for job opportunities in the cit y. In 1980, the park had to be closed temporarily to give room for the construction of the current structure that houses the library. The building is found below the ground level what is commonly referred to as basement with the park being on the ground level as it used to be. This was a prudent idea that the management can only be celebrated for. The public need these two facilities despite the fact that there was no adequate space in the city to have them at different places. Before this significant change had occurred in the area, the park used to be a very unsafe place for recreational activities as it had been dominated by prostitutes, homeless individuals, and drug dealers.

Differentiating Between Market Structures for the Toyota Motor Essay

Differentiating Between Market Structures for the Toyota Motor Corporation - Essay Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that market structures refer to the kind of market organization or plan that exists in a certain economy with reference to the supply of products, customers’ behavior and strength and distribution of suppliers into the market. For any organization to prosper in its business processes there must be a properly defined and established market structure to assist in conducting a significant sale of products. Determining the nature and structure of the market in which a company intends to venture prepares the company in making critical decision and systems to encounter potential competition in the targeted market. Prior information of market structure that rules in a particular market setup prepares business organization on how best to face the existing challenges in the particular market. Some of the most common market structures operating in the contemporary economic standing include perfect competition, monopoly, olig opoly, and duopoly. A decision on the kind of market structure to venture into depends on the products and customers targeted by a given business organization. The Toyota Motor Corporation is an example of an organization that has emerged successful in the global market due to the realistic choice of a market structure. The Toyota Motor Corporation has adopted strategies to emerge successful in a perfectly competitive market structure that characterizes the global automobile industry. To survive in this market, Toyota has been successful in identifying and analyzing the nature of the market, the responsiveness of its customers and the ingenuity of its competitors. In this respect, Toyota has focused its technology and production processes towards filling the perceived loopholes that exist in the global motor market. Toyota operates in a market structure where there are many buyers and sellers interacting in a free market without hindrance to enter or exit with rational prices. This means that the market for products offered by Toyota Motor Corporation is highly competitive and requires the adoption of viable competitive strategies to succeed. Toyota Motor Corporation ventured into the perfectly competitive market not out of pleasure but due to the existence of stiff competition that characterizes the global motor vehicle industry. Even though Toyota Motor Corporation enjoys the status of being classified among top five global motor companies, it faces stiff competition from Ford Motor Corporation, KIA, Honda, Nissan, and Mercedes Benz, among other globally renowned motor producing companies. Operating in a perfectly competitive structure requires Toyota to adopt mass production as well as highly innovative and creative strategies to ensure a strong competitive advantage in the motor vehicle industry. In addition, Toyota Motor Corporation found it easier to settle on the perfect competition marketing structure due to the efficiency and price sanity ensured by t he model.

Reality Television Do More Harm Media Essay

Reality Television Do More Harm Media Essay Although reality television may be popular source of entertainment, it is doing more harm to the society by corrupting its thoughts; and therefore the harms of reality television outweigh its positives. What is Reality Television? Reality television is a television-programming genre that presents purportedly unscripted melodramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded. Arguments The content aired on reality television programs plays a major role in manipulating the viewers thoughts about certain aspects of the society and help create stereotypes in the minds of the people through false representation of facts. Reality television program participants become victims of the edited material aired on TV and their image is hampered. The competition in the shows is extremely intense and brings out the worst in the participants. Reality television occupies a large amount of precious time of the viewers, thus preventing them from performing much more productive activities. KHATRY III Counter Arguments Reality television helps satisfy the needs of the people for juicy or spiced content on the screen, thus attracting large audiences. It acts as a medium of escape for the viewers from their everyday chores. However, the reality TV shows are becoming boring and pointless. Reality television helps provide a platform to bring the common man in the spotlight. But there are allegations of reality TV shows being rigged. Reality television provides an economical form of entertainment, thus proving to be profitable for the television producers since no major celebrities are usually involved. Nevertheless, the production cost averages between $800,000 and $2,000,000 plus per episode. Conclusion- Summarize and restate the arguments and counter arguments and thus, prove that the harms of reality television outweigh its positives. KHATRY 1 Does Reality Television Do More Harm Than Good? According to the American Time Survey 2011 conducted by the Bureau Of Labor Statistics U.S. Department Of Labor, The average American spends 2.4 hours everyday in front of the television screen, this means he spends 16.8 hours a week and 873.6 hours a year watching television. (American) Seven years of our lifetime in front of the idiot box can surely have a great influence on us, especially a negative one. One of the most prominent genres of modern television is the unscripted reality-based television program or commonly called Reality TV by the viewers. So what is reality television? Annette Hill in her article Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television, describes reality television as a television programming genre that presents purportedly unscripted melodramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded. (Reality) Reality TV pro grams like The Bachelor, Fear Factor, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and many more have overtaken the prime television slots and have become an integral part of the American family-couch time. Although reality television may be popular source of entertainment, it is doing more harm to the society by corrupting its thoughts; and therefore the harms of reality television outweigh its positives. First of all the content which is aired on the reality television programs is highly sexual and violent. Social cognitive theory suggests that people can discover meaningful sources of identity in their teens that feel connected to what theyre viewing. (288) According to the reports of attorney of law, Patrick A. Trueman, teens exposed to sexual material on television were more likely to be subject to premature sexual activities. Americas Next Top Model, a model hunt, has been repeatedly criticized for promoting KHATRY 2 poor body image of women resulting in low self-esteem and eating disorders among the young viewers. These shows also play a major role in creating stereotypes in the minds of the audiences. The audiences relate the actions of the participants to the ethnic or regional background they belong to. One such show is Jersey Shore, a reality television series that follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer in New Jersey; the highly sexual and abusive content aired on the show has created misconceptions in the minds of the people regarding the residents of New Jersey. The show portrays a negative image of the American youth to the world as that of disturbed and unsophisticated. Omarosa Manigault a participant on the show The Apprentice stated, A friend of mine said, The fabric of reality TV is conflict, so make sure that youre either in the fight, breaking the fight up, or starting the fight.' The harms of reality televise are not only subjected to the audience but the participants and the crew in these shows too are pushed to the brink. The crews are made to work under unacceptable working conditions and are paid dimes for it. Three former employees of reality television shows, including American Idol, claim in a lawsuit filed that the producer forced them to work under sweatshop conditions and failed to pay for overtime hours they worked. The employees say the producer, Fremantle North America, forced them, to work up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week, sometimes without meal and rest periods, and that Fremantle falsified payroll records. (7) The participants in the reality television programs often become a victim of the misleading edited material aired on TV, which can go a long way in hampering their image in the real world. The participants in shows such as Big Brother and The Bachelor are subject to no privacy. The editing KHATRY 3 team crop the video footage in order to make it more entertaining, thus not revealing the whole truths. As a result the audience misinterprets their words and thus misconceptions are created in the minds of the viewers regarding the participants. Diana Eng a contestant on Project Runway stated in an interview, One morning the crew scared me so bad I jumped and screamed. They said that wasnt good, so I had to pretend to wake up again. (The Real) The world of reality television has also revealed the ugly face of racism in the Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy. Fellow contestants Jade Goody, Jo OMeara and Danielle Lloyd mocked Shilpa Shettys Indian accent and branded her as The Indian and a dog. (Celebrity) The highly competitive nature of the shows and the hunger to win usually brings out the worst in the participants. Sometimes even a lifetime may seem short enough to earn reputation however a moment of bad judgment is enough to lose it all. In a world where time is money and every single second is precious reality television consumes a large amount of the productive time of the viewers. The viewers spend numerous hours in front of the television watching these shows, time that they can use to perform more productive activities. Also there has been a decline in the outdoor activities of young adults, who would prefer an hour in front of the screen rather than playing ball in the park. Robert Foehr in his article Rideout states, Excessive TV viewing can contribute to poor grades, sleep problems, behavior problems, obesity, and risky behavior. (Rideout) However, we cannot be oblivious to the positive factors of this genre. Despite the numerous harms caused by reality television, the genre has become the most viewed form of television with its television rating soaring higher than ever. KHATRY 4 Realty television is one of the best means of entertainment for the viewers. For the common man it acts as a medium of escape from the arid realities of everyday life since the viewers can relate themselves with the participants on the show. The major reason for the numerous reality television programs being aired nowadays is the audiences thriving appetite for juicy or spiced content on the screen. However, the reality TV shows are soon becoming boring and pointless. Audiences have lost interest in the shows because lack of plot and repetition of themes. The show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo has received criticism globally from viewers according to whom the family is nothing but a laughing-stock. Reality television programs like American Idol and Master Chef help provide a platform for the common man to express his talents and achieve his dreams. Reality television programs are a source of instant fame and recognition for the common herd. The sole purpose of these programs is to focus on the life of ordinary people and bring them in the spotlight rather than the major celebrities. These have given the world phenomenal talents in the form of Kelly Clarkson, season one winner of American Idol, and the extraordinaire chef Jennifer Behm, who won the second season of Master Chef USA, and many others. However there are allegations of reality TV shows being rigged. The contract signed by the contestants on the reality TV shows states that the producers posses the right to determine the winners. Hope Solo, a contestant on Dancing With The Stars, pointed in her journal Solo: A Memoir Of Hope a specific incident behind the scenes that led to her elimination. Although the actual number of votes may not be twisted, producers have other illusive means to manipulate the public opinion. Dian Anderson Minshall stated in her article How Authentic Are Your Favorite  Shows? that Tom Poe a contestant on Americas Got Talent, a talent show, who lied about being injured by a grenade and suffering a brain KHATRY 5 injury while serving in Afghanistan insists the show is rigged and audiences are coached to support predetermined favorites. (How) Not only is reality television entreating but is economical as well. Producers nowadays are willing to invest in new reality TV ventures rather than sitcoms because of the huge difference in costs. Reality television programs fall cheaper to produce since no major celebrity is being paid a hefty fee. Advertisers are willing to pay millions for a 30 second commercials during the ad breaks. Nevertheless, the production cost averages between $800,000 and $2,000,000 plus per episode. Large sums of money are awarded to the winners of these shows. The cost for putting up the grand stages and sets for shows like Survivor and American Idol are exorbitant. As we have known it that there are always two sides of a coin, both the merits and demerits of reality television are present. Like it or not reality TV will remain to be one if the most popular television genre as long as the viewers demand it. Reality television has corrupted the thoughts of the viewers and hampered their perceptions about certain aspects of the society. There is hardly any authenticity to the content aired on the reality television programs; the manufactured drama aired on these shows is not reality. These acknowledged negative factors surpass the mere qualities of reality television. As stated in the above augments, although reality television may be popular source of entertainment, it is doing more harm to the society by corrupting its thoughts; and therefore the harms of reality television outweigh its positives. KHATRY 6

Role of the HR Professional

No matter the breadth or the depth of an organization, it will always have the inherent need for human resources. It is safe to say that without manpower, no organization in the world would exist. Recognizing not only the need for people, but more importantly, the need for skilled, efficient and loyal employees has been a key turning point in defining the role of the HR professional. As the â€Å"people people† or organizations, today†s HR professionals work in a wide variety of capacities as mediators, mentors, job analysts, and career planners – to name a few. However, perhaps some of the most important and challenging functions of HR professionals are directly related to the recruitment, selection, training, and appraisal of the organization†s employees (or potential employees as the case may be). It is up to HR manager or management team to create processes and methodologies in recruiting, training, and appraising its staff in such a way that it is congruent with the values, vision and culture of the organization. This can be an enormous challenge – especially in today†s business world where companies are constantly acquiring and merging together forming whole new identities at an exponential rate. In dealing with the ambiguity of the corporate world HR professionals realize that it is not singular performance of each and every HR function that will assure the best human resources for their organizations, it is the alignment and integration of all of the HR functions that create an environment that empowers and encourages employee growth, competency, and loyalty. There are two main components of the staffing function, which are the recruitment and selection of potential employees. Recruitment, which involves all actions in attracting applicants from both inside and outside the organization, is one of the most pivotal roles of the HR professional. The bottom line in the recruiting effort is to attract the most qualified applicants for the needed positions by communicating the qualifications needed in order to fulfill the position. With a constant cycle of mergers and acquisitions occurring around the globe involving some of the world†s most monolithic organizations, the role of recruiter has changed vastly over the past few years. Because organizations are finding themselves more and more saturated with talented and highly competent employees, they are looking to fulfill vacant positions within the organization. This is also a very logical approach because existing employees are already well oriented with the policies and culture of the organization and do not need to undergo the orientation that an â€Å"external hire† would require. In contrast, recruiters have also had to become much more creative and ultimately aggressive in recruiting potential applicants externally. With the introduction of the World Wide Web and the increase in competitiveness among universities, colleges and other post-secondary institutions, graduates are entering the business world with more knowledge, skills and insight than ever before, making them desirable assets to many organizations. With the increase in popularity of job fairs, co-op programs and web-based career centers, recruiters are now equipped with the resources they need to seek out and entice the most qualified of applicants. At the same time, graduates and other people seeking employment have become empowered to seek out their most desirable positions, and are challenging recruiters with a much more proactive and aggressive approach themselves. Once the recruiter has aptly performed the function of attracting qualified applicants, they then assume the role of â€Å"selector†. In this capacity, it is up to the HR professional to select the best possible applicants to fill the positions that are needed. Usually the selection process involves the consideration of three types of information: 1. Education, Work Experience and Background History 2. KSAO†s – Ability, Performance, Personality, Honesty/Integrity 3. Medical Condition or similar considerations – physical and psychological health The selection process also usually involves, the initial sharing of information, filling out and application, initial interview, the administration of any tests, a final interview (or secondary interview with potential colleagues), reference checks, and then the final selection is made. Although the selection process varies in different organizations, the underlying framework is usually the same. Throughout the entire recruiting and selection processes, the HR professional must also use their intuition and consider the applicant using less â€Å"tangible† measurement methods, such as observing their mannerisms, understanding the applicants† personal values and beliefs and what their extra-curricular interests are. Although an applicant is judged more on his or her qualifications and skills, as a â€Å"selector†, it is important for the HR professional to select someone whose values and beliefs are congruent with the company and who they feel would best â€Å"fit† within the culture of the organization. If an HR professional is able to use their intuition and â€Å"people skills† effectively in attracting and selecting applicants, they are ultimately integrating and aligning their â€Å"staffing† role with their successive role as a trainer, which follows once a successful applicant has been selected. The health of any organization depends on the development of its people. If indeed the greatest asset is its human resources, then it is even more vital that the organization allow for its HR professionals to invest time and energy into this vital planning function. As was stated earlier, the success of the HR professional in being an effective recruiter and selector is key in ultimately determining their success as a trainer, and the employees† success in becoming well-oriented with the philosophy, policies, procedures, and culture of the organization. When planning how best to train new and existing employees, HR professionals should always be sure to address both immediate and long-range goals, behaviours and skills. However, more often than not, just like anyone else, HR people cannot always assume or pretend to know what would best work for everyone, so it is critical that before planning out the training process, they must conduct a thorough needs assessment. This can be done through many ways such as the administration of questionnaires and surveys to determine employee needs and expectations, observation of job functions and the organization as a whole, and other methods of qualitative information gathering. Once a training plan has been established, the entire process by which people learn what is expected of them in their new roles in the organization is socialization. This process, not unlike many other HR processes, has multiple stages such as: Entry/Anticipatory Socialization, Socialization/Accommodation, and Mutual Acceptance. It is important for HR professionals to recognize and encourage the full development of the new employee through all of these stages. Throughout the orientation and training of new (or old) employees, it is also important for an HR professional to conduct a training and development assessment. A thorough assessment would include an analysis of the training needs as well as the development needs over the next few years. Training needs should be based on immediate needs for changes in behaviour, where as the long-range development goals should be based on the acquisition of knowledge and skills to be used now and in the future. Positioning employee training to focus on short and long term development helps HR professionals to look â€Å"down the road† and address how they can help their employees meet challenges, create change and ensure the overall health of the organization. In using this futuristic approach, an imperative strategic alignment is built to integrate employee training and development, with that of employee performance management. Once employees have gone through all of the processes or socialization and have become well-oriented with how the organization functions on all levels, it is at this time that the HR professional takes on yet another role as that of performance measurer and manager. There are two primary reasons for performance management: 1. Administrative: includes promotional consideration, dismissal consideration, compensation, benchmarking and the ability to manage performance at all levels 2. Developmental: includes the ability to provide feedback, assessing training needs, encouraging external and internal motivation, and analysis current job design Historically, the only people directly involved in the appraisal of an employee†s performance were the employee and their immediate supervisor. However, as the practice of HR evolves, so have many of its functions, especially in the area performance appraisal. Today, more and more organizations are adopting the practice of â€Å"360 degree feedback† in evaluating their employees† performances. This method involves not only the boss and the employee, but also the employee†s peers, subordinates, and clients. ‘This relatively new practice facilitates a much more well-rounded and thorough evaluation of the employees performance and has been proven to be much more useful in assessing the employees developmental needs and areas for improvement. However, like any major practice, the â€Å"360 degree feedback† method is not without it complications. Allowing this type of participation in performance appraisal can cause such problems as: the â€Å"Halo Effect†, central tendency, overt leniency or strictness, and biased appraisals. In recognizing these common appraisal problems, it can be said that the ends still justify the means in this case. As long as appraisals are designed to be relevant to the job, sensitive, reliable, fair, and practical, employees receive a much better picture of how they are doing in their jobs and where they can improve. It is my opinion that the strategic integration of the HR functions that have been discussed in this paper such as staffing, training, and performance management are not aligned in the sense of a linear relationship. In my mind, they are linked cyclically, with each function being a continuation of the previous function. For example, once a performance appraisal has been conducted, it is at this time that a training needs assessment is also conducted, allowing all parties involved to gain a better understanding of the areas in which improvement is needed. In turn, this would be where the HR professional would take on the role of trainer and facilitate the further development of the employee. It can also be seen that performance appraisals are also very helpful within the recruitment and selection role in aiding the HR professional to gain a better understanding of the qualifications and behaviours that are essential in seeking out potential candidates and choosing the best one for the job. Writing this paper and taking closer look at these specific HR functions has helped me to gain a better understanding of the many roles that the HR professional has to assume at any given time. It has also given me a greater appreciation for the underlying connectivity between all of the HR functions and how strongly they are linked.