Sunday, April 26, 2020
Management of human resources
Introduction Sound recruitment and selection systems are more important than reward systems. The presence of qualified staff in business enterprises has a lot of benefits, with regard to increasing market share and growth, as well as maximizing on profits by organizations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management of human resources specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Innovation is a key factor to success for any businesses. It is essential that the human resource departments of all organizations pay close attention to the strategies that enhance innovation (Cohen, 2009, p. 8). This paper discusses reasons why sound recruitment and selection systems are more significant compared to reward systems. Recruitment and selection systems vs. reward systems Effective recruitment and selection of employees are instrumental to success of organizations, particularly in meeting their visions, missions, goals, and objectives (W ylie Jolly, 2013, p. 10). This can be achieved by integrating recruitment and selection systems. Poor recruitment and selection of workers can lead to increased costs (Gilmore Williams, 2012, p. 89). These costs include increasing labor turnover and lowering morale of the existing employees among other costs (Linz, 2004, p. 261). Hiring the right people for the right jobs can be a significant challenge without recruitment and selection systems (Carless, 2007, p. 155). Reward systems are not necessities in organizations, considering that there is no need of rewarding employees particularly when they perform poorly.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For instance, the findings of survey data on recruitment and selection systems in the USA confirms that most established companies depend on these systems for improved performance or productivity (Piotrowski Armstrong, 2006, p. 48 9). Through interviewing HR managers of these companies, the researchers found that over 90% of 1000 organizations in the US integrate recruitment and selection systems. Most of them preferred having recruitment and selection systems over other systems including reward systems. Their simplicity also enables the management to monitor and adopt them easily through a continuous practice and experience (Gregory, Meade Thompson, 2013, p. 1950). In other words, employees must improve their workplace performance in order to be rewarded. To increase the rate of performance, human resource managers ensure that employees get trained and assigned jobs that they are good at, within their respective organizations (Hart, 2006, p. 263). As aforementioned, efficient recruitment and selection of employees helps organizations meet their strategic goals and objectives. Rewarding employees does not contribute to this achievement. The practice is an additional cost that organizations incur (Stern, 2011 , p. 11). For instance, Bruce (2013) reports on Starbucksââ¬â¢ plan for its employees and customers during holidays. The companyââ¬â¢s strategy of rewarding employees and customers frequently and making holiday gifts cheaper can be pleasing to them, but it affects the company in one way or the other. It is like an additional cost that the company will incur.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Management of human resources specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Howard Schultz (Starbucks CEO), the company has made that step as a positioning strategy to make customers and employees loyal to the company. It is way of making them feel that the company cares about them. I agree with him, but in the real sense, the company will incur costs. This clearly confirms that reward systems are not as important as recruitment and selection systems. It is recommendable that employees be rewarded after showing exemplary improvements in their workplace. This should include changes that lead to higher sales, profits, and revenues. In reference to Gross and Friedman (2004), modern organizations utilize reward systems in influencing employees to support organizational culture. The authors discuss the importance of reward systems in regard to persuading, and influencing workers to support the goals and objectives of organizations (Gross Friedman, 2004, p. 10). However, the reward systems can only be more efficient in organizations, which employ the best recruitment and selection systems, than those that do not (Braddy, Meade Kroustalis, 2008, p. 2995). This confirms that recruitment and selection systems are more important in organizations than reward systems. Recruitment and selection systems enable human resource managers to examine and align employees with an organizationââ¬â¢s culture and change (Thirty-One New Hires Come Aboard, 2008, p. 44). This enables workers to adopt and adhere to specif ications of organizations.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This helps them to focus and align their work with goals and objectives of companies (Khosla, Goonesekera, Chu, 2009, p. 1320). Rewards come after employees have shown their commitment to helping organizations achieve their visions and missions. Most of the U.S organizations value recruitment and selection systems. For instance, they use Web-based software systems to make in-house recruitment easy and friendly (Klaff, 2004, p. 78). Reward systems contribute to organizations incurring costs, but recruitment and selection systems help organizations acquire innovative staff, cut on costs and makes work efficient. Organizations also use recruitment and selection systems in attempts of developing innovations. Many organizations employ innovation strategies in their operations to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors (Shih, Huang Shyur, 2005, p. 1550). For instance, companies such as Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi-Cola use recruitment and selection systems to hire innovative workers (Wade, 2007, p. 10). These innovative workers contribute a lot to the success of these companies. These companies occupy large market share in their respective industries. The innovative staffs are instrumental to the companiesââ¬â¢ high performances. For instance, Google uses recruitment and selection systems hire innovative staffs to help the company come up with creative innovations in technology. It is true that rewarding employees raises their morale in workplaces and leads to an improved workforce performance (Galanou, Georgakopoulos, Sotiropoulos Dimitris, 2011, p. 490). According to Wilson (2010), HR managers use sound reward systems to influence employees to accept transformations in organizations (Wilson, 2010, p. 91). However, this cannot compete with recruitment systems in helping organizations to become innovative. In most cases, companies reward employees who have worked for a long period, but not new employees (Parmalee, 2004, p. 11). Th erefore, it is obvious that reward schemes are not more important than recruitment and selection systems. The latter plays a significant role in making organizations innovative (Cooper Robertson, 2001, p. 184). Conclusion In conclusion, recruitment and selection systems are more important than reward systems. Sound reward systems help organizations to influence their staff to adopt organizational changes. It attracts and retains workers, as well as raises their morale in the workplace. However, the role played by recruitment and selection systems exceeds those of reward systems. For instance, it helps human resource managers to place employees in jobs that they perform best. Employees get trained and engaged in activities that correlate with the goals and objectives of organizations. Through sound recruitment and selection systems, organizations become innovative and hence gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. The recruitment and selection systems also enable human r esource managers to delegate duties to competent workers. This keeps the employees motivated and focused on meeting organizational goals and objectives. If an organization has the right people, working on the right jobs, it can easily expand in terms of growth, market share, and profits. The roles played by recruitment and selection systems are many, and more significant than those of reward schemes. List of References Braddy, P, Meade, A, Kroustalis, C 2008, Online recruiting: The effects of organizational familiarity, website usability, and website attractiveness on viewersââ¬â¢ impressions of organizations, Computers In Human Behavior, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 2992-3001. Bruce, H 2013, ââ¬ËStarbucksââ¬â¢ plan for holidays: Give you a way to saveââ¬â¢, USA Today, n.d. Carless, SA 2007, Graduate recruitment and selection in Australia, International Journal of Selection Assessment, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 153-166. Cohen, E 2009, ââ¬ËInnovative Recruiting- Targeting Passive P rofessionalsââ¬â¢, Power Engineering, 113, 10, pp. 8-10. Cooper, D, Robertson, IT 2001, Recruitment and selection: A framework for success Thomson Learning, London. Dahl, D 2009, Tapping the talent pool without drowning in resumà ©s, Inc, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 121-122. Galanou, E, Georgakopoulos, G, Sotiropoulos, I, Dimitris, V 2011, The effect of reward system on job satisfaction in an organizational chart of four hierarchical levels: a qualitative study, International Journal Of Human Sciences, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 484-519. Gilmore, S, Williams, S 2012, Human resource management, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Gregory, C, Meade, A, Thompson, L 2013, ââ¬ËUnderstanding internet recruitment via signaling theory and the elaboration likelihood modelââ¬â¢, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 1949-1959. Gross, S, Friedman, H 2004, Creating an effective total reward strategy: holistic approach better supports business success, Benefits Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 7-12. Hart, KT 2006, Evaluating recruitment process through ââ¬ËMystery Shopsââ¬â¢, Nursing Economic, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 263-267. Khosla, R, Goonesekera, T, Chu, M 2009, Separating the wheat from the chaff: An intelligent sales recruitment and benchmarking system, Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 3017-3027. Klaff, L 2004, New internal hiring systems reduce cost and boost morale, Workforce Management, vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 76-79. Linz, SJ 2004, Motivating Russian workers: analysis of age and gender differences, Journal Of Socio-Economics, vol. 33, no. 3, p. 261. Parmalee, PJ 2004, Industry outlook, Aviation Week Space Technology, vol. 161, no. 7, p. 11. Piotrowski, C, Armstrong, T 2006, Current recruitment and selection practices: A national survey of fortune 1000 firms, North American Journal Of Psychology, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 489-496. Shih, H, Huang, L, Shyur, H 2005, Recruitment and selection processes through an effective GDSS, Computers Mathemat ics With Applications, vol. 50, no. 10-12, pp. 1543-1558. Stern, GM 2011, Virtual job fairs becoming more of a reality, Workforce Management, vol. 90, no. 2, p. 11. Thirty-One new hires come aboard 2008, Music Trades, vol. 156, no. 11, pp. 44-45. Wade, D 2007, ââ¬ËPeptides Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi-Cola ââ¬Ë, Wade Research Foundation Reports, 4, 1, pp. 1-16. Wilson, FM 2010, Organizational behavior and work: A critical introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Wylie, J, Jolly, A 2013, Understanding recruitment: outcomes associated with alternate methods for seed selection in respondent driven sampling, BMC Medical Research Methodology, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1-11. This essay on Management of human resources was written and submitted by user Senator Bail 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.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Finding Good Extended Essay Topics For IB Exams
Finding Good Extended Essay Topics For IB ExamsThe following advice will help you find good extended essay topics for IB exams. I'm sure you'll agree that the best way to succeed on your IB exams is to write and submit to a comprehensive syllabus. To do this, you have to be able to demonstrate your knowledge and skills on your topic.One of the most important tips that you should remember is that your topic for your IB essay has to be specifically chosen to suit your own education and background. This means that you need to make certain that you choose a topic that is appropriate to your personal circumstances. You can find out exactly what your IB exam needs are by browsing online and reading through all the IB topics that are available.If you have been given an extended essay topic, then make sure that you also have a source of information to support what you are writing. Many students come up with questions on their topics and may come up with topics that they want to change or add to in order to build on it. You can find out from your teachers as well as the IB board if your topic is fine for the test or not.There are plenty of tips that you can use in order to help you in the preparation of your essay for the IB. One of the best ways to keep yourself focused on your topic is to take the time to do some research on it. You can either go to an online library and see what is available there or you can search the Internet for keywords related to your topic.When it comes to making sure that you can get the best content that you can from your essay, you may find that it is not so much about finding the best content for your essay topic as it is just about finding the most relevant content for the subject that you are studying. Therefore, before you submit your essay, make sure that you understand what is on the test so that you can put together the most relevant topic. Once you've finished all of your essays, your teacher will give you feedback and this feedback can really help you find the best topics for your IB exams.Another tip that you should remember when it comes to choosing good extended essay topics for IB exams is to ensure that you understand what is being asked on the exam. If you do not understand how the exam will be graded, then you can find yourself struggling during the exam. You should be able to understand the grading scale as well as your questions' answer choices to ensure that you are as well prepared as possible to score high.The bottom line is that you should always try to find the best extended essay topics for IB exams. If you are good at writing and addressing specific learning issues, then you will be able to find the best content for your syllabus. It is also a good idea to have a reliable resource with you when it comes to picking out topics.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essays
Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essays Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essay Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House Essay A play serves as the authors tool for critiquing society. It is rare that a person encounters the ability to rise above accepted social beliefs. Some plays help to reflect controversial issues that the audience can relate to because they interact in the same situations every day.à Henrik Ibsen was a Norwegian writer who was known for his critical view upon society. A Dolls House was written in the late 19th Century, this era and its traits are echoed in his play in many ways. Ibsen provides unique analysis and reflection on issues his culture never thought as wrong. In the play he tackles womens rights as a matter of importance being neglected, acknowledging the fact that in 19th Century European life the role of the women to stay home, raise the children, and attend to her husband was unfair. Ibsen shows us this in A Dolls House constantly when Nora is being dominated and controlled by Helmer. Nora is called a number of names by Helmer throughout the play. These include little songbird, squirrel, lark, little featherhead, little skylark, little person, and little woman. Helmer seems to be particularly consistent about using the modifier little before the names he calls Nora. These are all usually followed by the possessive my, signalling Helmers belief that Nora belongs only to him. Analysing this type of language you could say that not only is it slightly insulting, the references to small animals, physically refer to Nora as something weak and helpless making her inferior to him. Ibsen has again shown us this accepted part of society on page 25 when Helmer directly says Oh Nora, Nora, how like a woman! Ibsen shows us the insolence and discourtesy women were expected to accept because despite these comments Nora, throughout the play, does not question or even comment until the play is coming to a close. At this point Nora decides to challenge her husband and the idea that he controls her thoughts and actions. This kind of rebellion was extremely rare and unusual at this time, But it is unheard of for so young a woman to behave like this! . Ibsen, you could say, was slightly ahead of his time with his opinions on women because later in the century there was the womans movement and their long and complex journey to liberation, freedom and equality. Being a playwright on a particularly social level, Ibsens work imitated and questioned recognized contemporary culture and their ethics and views. Another recognised expectation of society during the 19th Century was the need to hold out an appearance that you are the ideal family, living in others eyes as kind, wealthy and happy. This is shown in the play through the Helmers family life and their need to hold themselves to others expectations. One of the first things, although minor, to happen in the play is Nora giving the Porter a pound after he asks for a shilling, our first impressions are of her generosity, but we soon after discover that Nora knows she cannot afford this with her threatening financial situation. Therefore to a certain extent this was not an act of kind-heartedness but more of the realisation of the probable neglect from society if they did not portray themselves as the ideal family to others. Ibsen shows us a second example of social acceptance with Krogstad and his fear of unemployment. Krogstad is obviously desperate not to experience this, most likely due to the fact that he would be exiled from society and thought of as unsuccessful if he could not acquire work. Ibsen was able to write about this situation extremely accurately because in 1836 his father, who had been prosperous until thatà time, went bankrupt, in that culture and at that time it proved as a disgrace profound enough to affect him and his children for the rest of their lives. Ibsen had a slightly alternative style of writing, compared to other play writes at the time, trying to be as realistic and precise as possible. After the 1848 revolution, a new modern perspective was starting to appear in the literary and dramatic world, challenging the romantic tradition. Ibsen was mastering and popularising the realist drama derived from this new perspective, A Dolls House could easily have been just another modern play with another comfortable moral lesson. However, when Nora tells Helmer that they must sit down and discuss all this that has been happening between us, the play diverges from the traditional form. Ibsen raises issues which have not previously been considered, but not in a point blank way, instead he manages to make A Dolls House interesting and thought provoking. Ibsens major target audience was the middle class, as he was brought up in similar circumstances he was able to portray the thoughts and feelings of middle class life accurately. Ibsen chose to use colloquial language to emphasize this style of realism and to help relate to his audience. Despite this Ibsen also managed to tactfully reveal that the middle class did in fact have some flaws, his realist drama disregarded a number of things, for example the tradition of the older male moral figure.
Monday, March 2, 2020
How to Amend the Constitutionââ¬About the Process
How to Amend the Constitution- About the Process Amending the Constitution was never meant to be simple. Although thousands of amendments have been discussed since the original document was approved in 1788, there are now only 27 amendments in the Constitution. Though its framers knew the Constitution would have to be amended, they also knew it should never be amended frivolously or haphazardly. Clearly, their process for amending the Constitution has succeeded in meeting that goal. Constitutional amendments are intended to improve, correct, or otherwise revise the original document. The framers knew it would be impossible for the Constitution they were writing to address every situation that might come along in the future. Ratified in December 1791, the first 10 amendments- The Bill of Rights- list and vow to protect certain rights and freedoms granted to the American people and speak to the demands of the Anti-Federalists among the Founding Fathers by limiting the power of the national government. Ratified 201 years later, in May 1992, the most recent amendment- the 27th Amendment- prohibited members of Congress from raising their own salaries.à The Two Methods for Amending the Constitution Article V of the Constitution itself establishes the two ways in which it may be amended: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. In simple terms, Article V prescribes that amendments may be proposed either by the U.S. Congress or by a constitutional convention when and if demanded by two-thirds of the legislatures of the states. Method 1: Congress Proposes an Amendment An amendment to the Constitution may be proposed by any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate and will be considered under the standard legislative process in the form of a joint resolution.à In addition, as ensured by the First Amendment, all American citizens are free to petition Congress or their state legislatures to amend the Constitution. To be approved, the amending resolution must be passed by a two-thirds supermajority vote in both the House and the Senate. Given no official role in the amendment process by Article V, the President of the United States is not required to sign or otherwise approve the amending resolution. Presidents, however, typically express their opinion of proposed amendments and may attempt to persuade Congress to vote for or against them. States Ratify the Amendment If approved by Congress, the proposed amendment is sent to the governors of all 50 states for their approval, called ââ¬Å"ratification.â⬠Congress will have specified one of two ways by which the states should consider ratification: The governor submits the amendment to the state legislature for its consideration; orThe governor convenes a state ratifying convention. If the amendment is ratified by three-fourths (currently 38) of the state legislatures or ratifying conventions, it becomes part of the Constitution. Resurrecting ERA? Clearly, this method of amending the Constitution can be lengthy and time-consuming.à However, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that ratification must be completed within ââ¬Å"some reasonable time after the proposal.â⬠Beginning with the 18th Amendment granting women the right to vote, it has been customary for Congress to set a maximum time period for ratification. This is why many have felt the Equal Rights Amendment is dead, even though it now needs only one more state to ratify it to achieve the required 38 states. The ERA amendment was passed by Congress in 1972; 35 had ratified it by its extended deadline of 1985. However, in 2017 and 2018, two more states ratified it, concerned about the constitutionality of setting those deadlines. If Virginia would ratify it in 2019, people expected a battle to ensue in Congress over whether to accept the late ratifications. Method 2: The States Demand a Constitutional Convention Under the second method of amending the Constitution prescribed by Article V, if two-thirds (currently 34) of the state legislatures vote to demand it, Congress is required to convene a full constitutional convention. Just as in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, delegates from every state would attend this so-called ââ¬Å"Article V Conventionâ⬠for the purpose of proposing one or more amendments. Though this more momentous method has never been used, the number of states voting to demand a constitutional amending convention has come close to the required two-thirds on several occasions. Indeed, the mere threat of being forced to surrender its control of the constitutional amendment process to the states has often prompted Congress to preemptively propose amendments itself. Although not specifically mentioned in the document, there are five unofficial yet legal ways of changing the Constitutionà used more often- and sometimes even more controversially- than the Article V amendment process. These include legislation, presidential actions, federal court rulings, actions of the political parties, and simple custom. Can Amendments Be Repealed? Any existing constitutional amendment can be repealed but only by the ratification of another amendment. Because repealing amendments must be proposed and ratified by one of the same two methods of regular amendments, they are very rare. In the history of the United States, only one constitutional amendment has been repealed. In 1933, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment- better known as ââ¬Å"prohibitionâ⬠- banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States. Though neither has ever come close to happening, two other amendments have been the subject of repeal discussion over the years: the 16th Amendment establishing the federal income tax and the 22nd Amendment limiting the president to serving only two terms. Most recently, the 2nd Amendment has come under critical scrutiny. In his editorial appearing in the New York Times on March 27, 2018, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens controversially called for the repeal of the Bill of Rights amendment, which guarantees ââ¬Å"the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.â⬠He argues that it would give more power to peoples desire to stop gun violence than the National Rifle Association. Sources The Constitutional Amendment Process. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. November 17, 2015.Huckabee, David C. .Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitutionà Congressional Research Service reports. Washington D.C.: Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress.Neale, Thomas H. .The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congressà Congressional Research Service.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Analysis of Zircon Cars Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Analysis of Zircon Cars Company - Essay Example The essay "Analysis of Zircon Cars Company" analyzes if it is profitable to acquire the Korean Composites Company as Zircon Cars is contemplating on reducing its production costs. The diversification finance concept dictates it is advantageous to invest in several market segments, including investing in the new Korean fibre body shell market segment. On marketââ¬â¢s profitability will reduce the risk of losses in another market. The above table 6 shows the combined financial report for two segments. The combined report is based on the 2016 accounting period. The United Kingdom is one of the chosen Zircon Cars market segments. The United Kingdom Zircon Cars market segment sales is à £113,100,000 and the Korean Composites global fibre body shell market segment generated 48,140,000,000 Korean Won Currency amount. The conversion or translation of the Korean currency to the United Kingdom currency, British Pound. The sales amount of the Korean Composites Company for 2016 is à £28,407,548.59. Combining the 2016 accounting period sales of both the Zircon Carsââ¬â¢ United Kingdom market segment and the Korean companyââ¬â¢s sales, the total sales figure is à £141,507,548.59. Also the United Kingdom Zircon Cars market segment income before tax deduction is à £ 22,857,510 and the Korean Composites global fibre body shell market segment produced 9,621,706,787.40 Korean Won Currency amount income before tax deduction amount. There is the same conversion of the Korean currency to the United Kingdom currency, British Pound.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Pharmacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Pharmacy - Essay Example The differentiation of these departments is to make management easier and also to establish quality in control and offering standard services. Minimizing risks in the hospitals is important as it improves the safety, security and the welfare of the patients. Safety in hospitals is an assurance of better services to potential customers and the staff. Risk and quality management in hospitals is important and should be effected timely to make the running of hospitals smooth. The primary purpose of risk and quality management in the healthcare is to improve the quality and efficiency of health care. Risk management itself is important in hospitals is important as it helps control risks and improve the chances of achieving set objectives by the management. Quality management as its name suggests is effective in establishing standards of operations related to hospitals. Quality management aims at achieving customer satisfactions and reducing the number of reported complaints. It will in turn will improve the image of the hospital and place it at a better position in business. The purpose of risk management in relation to the hospital is to gear all operations in order to achieve the objectives. A hospital can target to purchase new equipment at a certain set date. It will be the duty of the management to determine the source of funds for the purchase and in turn finance the operation to achieve its objectives. The preparation to achieve objectives is what is being referred to as risk management. The purpose of quality management, on the other hand, is to maintain operation standards and ethics. Quality management mainly focuses on quality service delivery and customer satisfaction. Although there are variations between quality and risk, all address the issue of change and improvement. Concepts of risk and quality management in the hospital are established in order to enable proper and timely
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Pardee Lowe Father and Glorious Descendent :: Essays Papers
Pardee Lowe Father and Glorious Descendent Pardee Lowe penned his autobiography, Father and Glorious Descendent, in 1943. In the book, Lowe tells his story of growing up in the home of first generation Chinese immigrants. Throughout the book he relates the trials and tribulations endured by himself and his family in California, ranging from major events like the Great San Francisco earthquake at the beginning of the century to everyday occurrences like dealing with widespread racism in the white majority. In the end, the author relates his success in attending Stanford College and later attending one of our nations most prestigious business schools. In doing so, he presents an Asian-American success story that serves as a tribute to the spirit and culture of a people. During the time when the field of Asian-American studies began to emerge, many scholars looked back upon Asian works from the past to try and build a library of books to convey the experiences of early Asian immigrants. Father and Glorious Descendent was dismissed by many in the field as a ââ¬Å"document of self contemptâ⬠and a ââ¬Å"humiliating bookâ⬠to the Chinese and thus it was dismissed in most academic circles. Lowe begins his book with the statement ââ¬Å"I strongly suspect that my fatherââ¬â¢s life is a fraud,â⬠but he does not mean this as a derogatory statement. Instead it is a subtle compliment to his fatherââ¬â¢s ability to amalgamate into a foreign culture and become successful. This mirrors the fact that the rest of the book is a tribute to the ability of a people to adapt to a foreign land without losing themselves or their culture. It is for this reason that I believe Father and Glorious Descendent deserves to be studied by todayââ¬â¢s scholars and students. First, Pardee Loweââ¬â¢s book is a compliment to the Chinese because it continually paints the first generation of immigrants in a very favorable light. This story is filled with numerous success stories of immigrants building large businesses and becoming reasonably successful. There are families that own laundries and others, like Loweââ¬â¢s, that own large dry goods stores. The author never refers to these businessmen in a derogatory way and often he speaks of his childhood amazement at the wealth of some of these people. At no point does he attribute this wealth to a shedding of traditional Chinese ways or to a complete adoption of American attitudes either.
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