Managing asmall business Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing asmall business - Dissertation Example While this study will focus on all important aspects of managing a halal business, management techniques and business practices related to the successful operation of a local, small halal foods store will be the primary interest of this study. The focus of this research will be one such local Halal food shop serving both Muslims and general halal food purchasers, Marhaba. 2.3 What will the general topic area be, and can you give us a general overview of the developments to date in this area? What is already known about the area/industry/issue? The academic focus of this dissertation will be management. Specifically, this dissertation will analyse the management techniques and business stratigies employed by Marhaba, a local halal foods shop, to appeal to their unique customer base: Muslims seeking to purchase halal food. The specific industry being studied will be the local halal foods industry, and the specific organization to be considered will be Marhaba shop. Before a basic liter ature review can be conducted, halal food needs to be defined. The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council describes halal food in specific terms by saying, â€Å"Halal is an Arabic word meaning lawful or permitted. The opposite of halal is haram, which means unlawful or prohibited. Halal and haram are universal terms that apply to all facets of life,† (IFANCA). The IFANCA goes on to describe some common haram foods, such as pork, alcohol, and birds of prey. The idea of halal comes from the Al-Baqara of the Quran, which says, †O, ye men! Eat of what is in the earth lawful and wholesome and follow not the footsteps of Satan; for verily he is an open enemy to you,† (Quran). According to a recent report conducted by the government of Canada, the 1.6 billion Muslims currently alive are the engine behind a growing $580 billion halal food market. This report gives an encouraging take on the market saying, â€Å"There is strong commercial potential for halal certified produc ts, with consumers looking for safe, genuinely certified and diversified halal products,† (Canada 2008, 4). This promising market data shows that the market is growing, and remains already large. While a local halal grocer will only take in a miniscule fraction of this \market, a growing market is encouraging for any business, no matter the size. One of the biggest concerns for any management is whether or not the current customer base will be there in the future. Bubbles pop, booms die, and fads fade, yet a true niche market will serve a business for years. (please write source These sentences were not drawn from a source, this is using common knowledge which is acceptable according to MLA standards. If you were citing specific bubbles or niche markets you would need to cite this, but in this context, these sentences are just a general introduction to the main point.)The question facing halal food shops across the UK is will the European Muslim population remain as large as i t has been in the future, or will this population dwindle in size? According to a 2011 article by Steve Doughtry for the Daily Mail, the answer to this question is no. According to Doughtry, the UK will have 5.5 million Muslims within 20 years, forecasting England to have more Muslims than Kuwait in the year 2030. While these statistics certainly draw up an immigration conversation, in terms of the halal foods industry, they couldn’

Celebrity Influence on the Community Research Paper

Celebrity Influence on the Community - Research Paper Example Celebrities influence makes the audience to admire their publications and their lifestyle according to Turner (2004). Some community members tend to imitate celebrities due to media influence, peer pressure as well as lack of self confidence. Media invades the society with variety of information about celebrities thus making the society create more interest in celebrities. For instance, Britney spears who was targeted by paparazzi sometimes back was reported in a popular magazine to have married her best friend after an out of control night. Afterwards the wedding turned to a nightmare despite the fact that it was exposed to the public. Therefore the media is said to have played a major part in celebrity influence to the community. Some members of the community are also influenced by celebrities due to their lack of confidence. Some individuals who are shy or lack personality is most cases find pleasure in imitating other people as suggested by Chaturvedi (2008). This way they had up being drawn to the lives of celebrities and try to fit in it. For instance in a movie titled Attracting Peers, a certain character, Mandy Moore acts as a shy high school girl who altered her appearance to that of Madonna. This attitude is in most cases encouraged by teenagers who believe that by imitating the lives of celebrities, makes them more acceptable to the society. Teens as they try to gain popularity, they had up being affected by celebrity influence. Peer pressure has also contributed to celebrity influence in the community. In high school, teenagers tend to copy the lives of their peers who are celebrities themselves. This is because most of the teenagers admire the lives of celebrities due to their fame and interest in fashion as suggested by Redmond and Holmes (2007). Therefore some individuals imitate the celebrities so as to become part of them and they had up being influenced. The various roles played by celebrities in Hollywood, attracts many people in the communit y to an extent that they admire them and thus imitate their lives. The society has been soaked up in celebrity holiday destinations as they are advertised in newspapers and other media. According to Bowen and Clarke (2009)., a study which was recently contacted by Internet travel community site, Trip Advisor, showed that sixty eight percent of the respondents visited a holiday hotspot which receives a lot of celebrity tourists. The celebrities’ holiday decisions are related with the type of lifestyle choices of many people and their social aspirations. For instance after Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, celebrities in Australia, honeymooned in Bora Bora the number of people visiting the area increased tremendously. There has been a controversy regarding the influence of celebrities in tourist destinations according to Marshall (1997). Some argue that it halts the flow of tourists while others argue that it endorses it. This is because some incredible acts such as immorality ass ociated with celebrities create a negative attitude towards them. According to Choi and Yocam (2010), this results to negative influence to those who perceive celebrities in this perspective. Celebrity influence to the community has also been enhanced by marketing practices whereby companies and organizations use celebrities in marketing their products. This makes individuals in the society aspire to be celebrities so a

Language and Gender in Adolescence Essay Example for Free

Language and Gender in Adolescence Essay In the reading, I agree with Penelope Eckert that adolescents are leaders of linguistic change. According to the World Wide Web, linguistic change is a phenomenon whereby phonetic, morphological, semantic, syntactic, and other features of language vary over time. Adolescents also known as teenagers or youth play a significant role in deteriorating or accelerating the kind of linguistic system in a particular place or community. If to be analyzed, this can be equated to the strong, active and consistent participation of the youth in voicing out their opinions, getting into social issues and trends, and in creating an environment that is suitable and almost ideal to their generation. In my opinion, there are three reasons which support the claim that adolescents are leaders of linguistic change in today’s age. These are peer pressure, media and the Internet. Peer Pressure A primary concern for teens during adolescence is the issue of ‘fitting in’ and ‘belongingness’. Since adolescence is an adjustment period where children suddenly leap to a stage where he or she would start in creating an image of themselves or a self-concept, there is a tendency for them to be lost and confused to who and what they really should be due to the numerous options in front of them. Often said than not, adolescents are more easily swayed rather than adults. It is easier to teach a youngster that is less matured and still in the process of knowing his or herself than an adult who already has a formed principle and beliefs. For example, if there is a new trend, let’s say in fashion or music, an adolescent would normally be swayed to what is ‘in’ and hit’ to most of the people around him or her so that he or she may be accepted in the circle he or she wanted to belong to. This also goes with his or her choice of words and language. Adolescents tend to speak the way people around them speak. They tend to become the persons their environment and peers dictate them to be in order to be socially accepted and relevant. When it comes to choice of words and language, youth can be easily influenced with what vernacular or words to use since in the stage of puberty serves as their training ground and preparation phase of how and who they’ll be in the future. Moreover, due to peer pressure, adolescents are assigned to groups or pacts which can influence another group of adolescents that make the widening of a certain trend expand faster. For example, in the Philippines there is this particular way or style of speaking called the ‘conyo’. In this manner, the person tends to combine his or her vernacular with American English when speaking in public or to certain persons. Most youth embraced this kind of manner since it is what is ‘in’ and famous among adolescents of their generation. Now, if a group speaks that way then heard by another person or group of persons and then that certain persons adopt the manner of speaking, there is a domino effect of the ‘conyo’ style that changes the linguistic system existing in that certain place or community. Media and the Internet Media and Internet are two powerful tools in linguistic change. This can be viewed in two ways: first, media and internet as tools in changing and influencing the minds and behavior of the people, and second, these tools as used by the people to change and influence their environment. Since most media and internet users are composed of the young population, those of which belong to the teen’s age and young adulthood, it can be concluded that the adolescents compromise this population. Now, how do the media and the Internet serve as tools in influencing their users? The media is changing and along the likes of TV programs that are hit to their viewers, people especially teenagers are going along with the change. Since media is a daily part of one’s life, it can easily influence its viewers on how they should be. For example, most teens mimic their favorite artists with their fashion, choice of stuffs and even with their manner of talking and handling things. Aside from the media, the Internet constitutes a great deal in linguistic change. The trends being delivered by Internet services like instant messaging, blogging and social networking influences the culture of its users when it comes to their linguistic style and system. Instant messaging taught us the short-style of sending messages (i. e. â€Å"Who R U? †, BRB, LOL, and the like). Through media and Internet, adolescents are also exposed to different styles of language. They are exposed to the kind of words they see in web pages, newspapers, magazines and different publications, and hear in TV and radios or in podcasts that sooner or later they’ll adopt. On the other hand, these tools are also used by the people to change and influence their environment and co-individuals. Through these, the youth became more empowered when connecting with their co-youth and when sharing their ideals that affect a great deal of people. They became more heard, powerful and capable of changing the linguistic system they live with. They were able to take control of the system through media, internet, and their characteristics as youth and population. To summarize, I believe that adolescents are the leaders of linguistic change. Primarily, the interconnectedness of peer pressure, media and the internet attributed to the power of the youth to be the catalyst of change in their linguistic system due to their own ways and styles of dealing with their environment and in their process of finding and knowing them

Pretend Plays role in childrens cognitive development

Pretend Plays role in childrens cognitive development For many years, researchers have been interested in the implications of pretend play in child development; and whether imagination influences how well children evolve in later life. Presently, pretend play is claimed to contribute exceedingly to a childs social and academic wellbeing, with increased emphasis imposed upon pretend play and its relation to cognitive development. From studies supporting clear links between pretend play and cognitive competence; researchers have proposed numerous theories that have contributed to a better understanding of whether pretend play may be implicated in child development. Accordingly, this essay will argue that pretend play is related to several components of cognitive development; while also proposing that a range of variations across cultures in the types, structures and frequencies of pretend play may exist, with such variations influencing a childs development. Utilizing evidence from a study by Joseph (1998), the relationship between mental representation (theory of mind) and pretence will be reiterated; with additional evidence by Kraft and Beck (1998), Wyver and Spence (1999) and Curran (1999) used to further emphasize that other cognitive strategies such as self-regulation, narrative recall, problem solving and rule understanding are linked to pretend play. Haight, Wang, Fung, Williams Mintzs (1999) study will evidently support the idea that several cross-cultural differences exist in the pretend play of children. Fantasy play or pretend play is defined as simple imitative actions done in a non-functional context (Smith, 2010), involving certain actions, use of objects, verbalizations or meanings. The first phase of pretend play or decent-ration is said to surface at the age of one, when young children begin to use an actor, object or action to symbolize reality (Sigelman Rider, 2009). By the age of two, children begin to join in pretence; initiating imaginary actions, playing with imaginary objects or imitating their parents; a stage known as de-contextualization. Pretend play increases in frequency and sophistication at around two to five years of age, when children incorporate their ability for pretence and their increase in social play to form social pretend play, or play which allows them to interact with peers or caregivers. Later, children show the ability to integrate pretend acts together in order to create a narrative. It is this type of play in particular that requires a high deal of social competence, including the theory of mind or people reading skills (Sigelman Rider, 2009); two theories proposed by some researchers and discussed to some extent in this essay. Engaging in pretend play allows children to construct and develop their theory of mind, hereby understand other peoples perspectives, and overcome egocentrism. This relationship between pretend play and the development of mental representations or Theory of Mind (TOM) was first introduced by Leslie; when it was suggested that children have the capacity for metarepresentation (Leslie, 1987) or multiple mental representations and that pretence aids a childs ability to understand mental states (Leslie, 1987) of self and of others. Recent laboratory studies of theory of mind indicate younger children often show understanding of others thinking and beliefs in their naturally occurring play (Bergen, 2002). Joseph (1998) conducted a series of experiments of 3 and 4 year old children and their understanding of pretend behaviors through their ability to distinguish between an involuntary behavior and the same behavior acted through a pretend action. It was concluded that children aged 4 were able to discriminate the intentionality of the pretend behaviour (Bergen, 2002), and although relatively low, evidence was also found 3 year olds showed an emerging understanding (Joseph, 1998). These findings oppose prior suggestions that children under the age of 5 do not evaluate intent from action-outcomes and do not understand the role of intention in pretend. Focus was also emphasized on understanding of pretend as a mental state and whether this may result in a childs appreciation of pretend as mental representation (Joseph, 1998). While 5 year olds were able to associate the knowledge condition of pretense well, 4 year olds showed little understanding. However, Joseph suggests that 4 year olds were failing the task not because they saw pretend as a strictly behavioural phenomenon because they were associating pretense with a mental state of ignorance (Joseph, 1998). It is important to point out that the relative low performance of 4 year olds in tasks evaluating their unders tanding of pretend, could be an indication of the difficulty, but not the absence in a childs reasoning formally about the logical relations between intention, knowledge and pretend (Joseph, 1998); proposing an underestimation of a childs ability to recognize mental states in previous studies conducted. Importantly, however the study does point out that throughout the experiment children were aware of the characters states of pretending, hereby eliminating them of creating their own determination of pretend; and a possible limitation of this study. Overall, however this study shows that children understand the mental and subjective features of pretence by age of 3 or 4 years (Joseph, 1998) and are able to reason correctly about counterfactual mental representations in the context of pretend play before they are able to do so in the context of belief (Joseph, 1998), hereby supporting the relationship that pretend play contributes to the development of the theory of mind and therefore to cognitive development. Following in the footsteps of Lev Vygotsky, who proposed the young infants use speech as a way of regulating their behavior, it has also been suggested that pretend play aids a childs higher cognitive functions, including self- regulation and narrative recall. Expanding on this theory of the use of speech to regulate behavior, mainly through internal thought; Krafft and Beck (1998) conducted an experiment in order to compare the use of private speech in children of preschool age attending play based programs. It was concluded that speech did occur predominantly during the program; specifically during pretend play. They suggested that for preschool children make-believe play serves as a vital context for the development of self-regulation (Krafft and Beck, 1998). Furthermore, the study proposed that pretence within a social setting, which allows children to determine task goals and carry them out (Bergen, 2002); gives children an opportunity to practice and use self-regulating speech compared to play environments which are guided by prior goals or adult direction. Similarly, in a study conducted to examine cognitive change and pretend play, Kim (1999) tested 4 and 5 year old children on their ability to understand narrative structures; by way of reenactment of stories to condition using storytelling. It was found that children in the pretend play condition use more elaborative narratives and had higher levels of narrative structures (Kim, 1999). Additionally, children showed relatively higher rates of narrative recall in the pretend enactment and even at a later time when asked to retell the story. This strong evidence between self-regulation and narrative recall and pretend play suggests a clear link that pretend play does enhance cognitive development; as it was proven that speech was highly correlated with pretend play and that children who engage in pretend play create more complex narrative stories and prove to have a higher rate of narrative recall even at a later stage. Similarly, additional studies have been conducted to further elaborate the effect of play, specifically socio-dramatic pretend play on problem solving and rule understanding. In order to detect this relationship, Wyver and Spence (1999) compared two types of problem solving to numerous categories of play. It was concluded that there seems to be a reciprocal, rather than unidirectional relationship between problem solving and pretend play, with co-operative social play having a more general influence on divergent problem solving and thematic play having a more specific influence on semantic problem solving (Bergen, 2002). Similarly, Curran (1999) conducted an observational study of 3- 5 year old children engaging in social pretence. It was discovered that children could use explicit rules to engage in fair pretend play; while also suggesting that while children construct implicit rules, these rules were harder for them to act out. Curran (1999) found that while play stopped if rules w ere broken when explicit rules were used; the children stopped playing altogether. Interestingly enough, under another condition, children gradually learned the rules if they were foreign to them, while the more experienced children also aided those who were inexperienced in order to keep the play ongoing. Therefore it can be suggested the development of implicit rules, in particular, requires both divergent thinking and comprehension of rules structure (Bergen, 2002), two skills important for later school success. While not extensive, this evidence does point to both definitive and precise ways in which pretence play may aid higher-level aspects of cognition, allowing a child who engage in pretence to develop rule understanding and higher levels of problem solving skills; two clear indications of cognitive development. Pretend play has been studied in several cultures, with aspects of childrens play and cultural differences being the focus; while also emphasizing the assumption that pretend play and development of children is not universally distributed. Much of this research suggests that, although play is often regarded as universal, many researchers propose play to be a culturally mediated activity that may take different forms in different groups (Haight, Wang, Fung, Williams Mintz, 1999). In fact it has been proposed that the physical and social characteristics of environments; such as setting, props, time, individuals around the child and the beliefs of pretend play by adult figures influence development. Using longitudinal data of Irish American families in the United States and Chinese families in Taiwan, Haight et al. (1999) proposed universal, culturally variable, and development dimensions of young childrens pretend play(Haight et al., 1999), arguing several universal dimensions may exi st, but that numerous differences are also evident . It was pinpointed that both Chinese and Irish children used objects in their pretend play, much in conjunction to the theory that for toddlers, objects may facilitate the transition from the literal to non-literal world (Haight et al., 1999), suggesting that for the child to imagine something the child must first define the action. The study also proposed that the act of pretend play in children is fundamentally a social activity as it was found that in other cultural communities, pretend play was primarily a social activity embedded within interactions with family members and friends (Haight et al., 1999). Contrastingly, the study proposed that interpersonal context of pretend play varied amongst the two groups; with the Chinese children pretending more with their caregivers, while the Irish American children were found to pretend considerably more with other children. Variations in the amount of social play is said to exist; as compared to Irish American children, a greater amount of pretend play by the Chinese children was social. However, Irish American children frequently engaged in multiparty pretending in groups of three or more players, often including slightly older children (Haight et al., 1999). Additionally, conduction of caregiver-child play, function of caregiver initiations and centrality of themes vary significantly across cultures. Haight et al., (1999) found that caregiver pretend play in Irish American families was conducted by children, while the opposite applied to the other group. The study also suggests that Chinese caregivers initiations more often functioned as way to practice proper conduct (Haight et al., 1999) and points out that toys around Western children appeared to be toys from childrens movies, suggesting that greater emphasis is placed on fantasy themes. Finally, the study proposed that centrality of objects, particularly toys varied significantly; suggesting Irish American caregivers purchased many objects for childrens pretending, and the majority of childrens pretend play time revolved around toy miniatures (Haight et al., 1999). Chinese children did not exhibit any play with objects, and seemed to rely on shared knowledge of social routines to guide their joint play. Much of the current research on pretend play does not account for variations of culture and do not take into account how such variations play a part over life course development. It is possible that in order to construct a valid theory, research should focus on the relationship between a set of complex ecological and ideological factors and their effect on pretend play (Haight et al., 1999) in multiple cultures or communities, an aspect not focused on in this study. It is clear that universal and variable dimensions of pretend play in certain communities do exist. It can be concluded that such variations may have the ability to create specific and unique development pathways, possibly influencing a childs various aspects of social, emotional and cognitive development, such as theory of mind and higher cognitive strategies, such as rule understanding or later problem solving skills. There has been a growing body of evidence supporting the relationships between cognitive competence and pretend play, as well as the concept of pretend play and its variations across cultures. Pretend play has been positively linked to a childs ability to develop a theory of mind, self-regulation, narrative recall, problem solving and rule understanding. Additionally, variations of pretend play across cultures have been revealed, with a possibility for variable dimensions creating distinctive pathways in play and development itself. It can be suggested, that while current research, based on small scale studies seems insignificant at present, it is fundamentally important for society to continue implementation of pretend experiences in young children; while also implementing further research on the relationship of play and cognition during childhood; as it can been seen from the evidence above that this stage of life has proven to be important and crucial in overall development.

Robert Burns :: Essays Papers

Robert Burns A Biography of Robert Burns Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and writer of traditional Scottish folk songs. He was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire. Burns was the oldest of seven children born to William Burness and his wife Agnes Broun. His father was the descendant of a line of tenant farmers. His wife was also eldest daughter of a tenant farmer. Burns’ parents were both not very well educated, but were deeply religious. When Burns was born, his father worked as a gardener. However, the family grew too large for their cottage at Alloway and their needs to great for his father to support as a gardener. His father then decided to try his hand at farming and moved his family to the farm of Mount Oliphant. At Mount Oliphant, Burns engaged in difficult farm work and suffered from undernourishment, which lead to permanent injury to his health. His father next moved the family to the farm of Lochlea where Burns’ father, William, died in February 1784. Burns was then left as head of the family. He and his brother Gilbert decided to rent Mossgiel Farm that later proved to be another failure. Although his family struggled, Burns managed to obtain an education. At the age of six, Burns and his brother Gilbert were sent to John Murdoch’s School in Alloway. In 1768 Burns and his brother left the school and Burns briefly boarded as a pupil of John Murdoch at Ayrshire Grammar School in 1773. Through Murdoch’s influence, Burns read Shakespeare, Milton, Pope and Dryden. However, a great deal of Burns’ education took place in his own home. He was encouraged in his self-education by his father and his mother acquainted him with Scottish folk songs, legends, and proverbs. Burns also read widely in English literature, the Bible, and learned to read French. Burns’ literary career began with the Vernacular Poems. In 1784 Burns read the works of the Edinburgh poet Robert Ferguson. Under his influence and that of Scottish folk tradition and older Scottish poetry, he became aware of the literary possibilities of the Scottish regional dialects. During the next two years he produced most of his best-known poems, including â€Å"The Cotter’s Saturday Night,† â€Å"Hallowe’en,† â€Å"To a Daisy,† and â€Å"To a Mouse.† In addition, he wrote â€Å"The Jolly Beggars,† a cantata in standard English, which is considered one of his masterpieces. Several of his poems, notably â€Å"Holy Willie’s Prayer,† satirized local ecclesiastical squabbles and attacked Calvinist theology, which brought him into conflict with the church.

A Timeless Struggle in Brokeback Mountain Essay -- Brokeback Mountain

Author Isaac Asimov once wrote,† Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right.† This saying came to mind while reading both Montana 1948 and Brokeback Mountain. The authors, Larry Watson (Montana 1948) and Annie Proulx (Brokeback Mountain) both write stories with the internal conflict of man vs. himself. In Montana 1948 Larry Watson’s main characters the Hayden family cope with a situation of sexual abuse that forces them to search for their moral base and choose between right and wrong. Each member of the family begins at a different in their moral expedition, but eventually end up with the same internal resolution. Similarly, in Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain, the author sketches a picture of two men who live in a constant struggle with their ideas of morality. Rationalizing and avoidance exist as Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar’s main internal defense mechanisms. Proulx presents a devastating study of Jack and Ennis’ su bsequent struggle with both their families and their work as they try to come to terms with their sexual relationship. To begin in this examination of the moral code of the American West, we turn to the relationships and struggles brought about in Larry Watson’s novel Montana 1948. In this novel, there exists conflicts between several of the characters, however; the main conflict lies within the characters themselves. The reader sees the Hayden family struggle with the realization that the town doctor, their relative, has been molesting young Indian girls. This situation forces Wes Hayden, the town’s sheriff and the doctor’s only brother, to choose his actions towards this ethical dilemma carefully. He deliberates on his situation throughout most of the novel, relying on his wife’s set-in-stone morals to guide his decision in some ways. Through this interaction, the reader sees that some people who were not brought up with a strong moral code must develop one for themselves, while others who were taught their morals at an early age may alter them to fit their own perspecti ves as they grow. Also, noted very plainly, the moral code of the American West did not exist as equal to today’s code. The characters in this novel existed in what they believed to be a moral society, but by today’s standards it was amoral, devoid of moral standards. Watson brings this idea to life when he writes through the narrator’s voice,... ... that their homosexuality was immoral. Thus we see two novels whose characters deal with an internal struggle. Both the characters in Montana 1948 and those in Brokeback Mountain struggle with their set of morals in situations that can change their lives forever. In Montana 1948 Wes Hayden faces a situation that may estrange his family or estrange himself from his moral base. He eventually chooses to be true to himself, in arresting his only brother for molestation and murder. However, in Brokeback Mountain the cowboys, Jack and Ennis, must hide their relationship because of its immoral content. Thus, they live a life hiding from their true feelings. At some times they even trying to deny their nature. Because of the threat of being ostracized and possible killed, these men led a life separate from their love for one another. Though, in the end their prejudice, along with every one else’s killed Jack. Ennis knows this and the only place that they have left is Brokeback Mountain, a place untouched by the world, unab le to be soiled with prejudices. Work Cited Proulx, Annie. â€Å"Brokeback Mountain.† Close Range: Wyoming Stories. New York: Scribner, 1999. 251-82. Print.

Human Resources Performance Appraisals

This paper should include sections on the strategic advantages of performance appraisals, potential forms of bias within the appraisal system, as well as how performance appraisals can contribute to the achievement of strategic objectives. Performance appraisal is considered a key tool for managerial needs of today’s organizations and is the process by which organizations evaluate job performance. A performance appraisal system usually requires a manager to rate each employee’s performance according to performance criteria’s that have already been established over a period of time.Performance appraisal systems also provide a basis for planning improvement as well as means for determining merit increases, transfers and even dismissals. The most important purpose or goal of the appraisal is to improve performance and hence productivity in the future. Performance appraisals allow employees to see where they are at and managers can get valuable information from emplo yees to help them make employee's jobs more productive.As a result of appraisals, managers’ control over work and results may increase, problems can be identified early, employees are motivated by being allowed to input into and own their objectives, enhances communication, objective feedback given back to employees, facilitates decision making in regard to pay scale and promotion, centralized record of performances. Some strategic advantages of performance appraisals are that it can provide a record of performance over a period of time.Meaning that if you have been on the job for 5 years and the current appraisal is not up to par the employer can go back and look at past appraisals and see if it’s worth it to fix the problem to keep you or let you go. They provide an opportunity for a manager to meet and discuss performance with an employee. In larger companies an HR manager may hardly ever see the employees; by doing the performance appraisal it allows for a one on o ne with each employee.Another strategic advantage is the appraisal provides the employee with feedback about their performance and how they completed their goals. Thus it also opens up the subject of how the employee could improve on the lower rated performances and provides an opportunity for an employee to discuss issues and to clarify expectations with their manager. Finally some strategic advantages could be an opportunity to think about the upcoming year and develop employee goals and can be motivational with the support of a good reward and compensation system.Some potential forms of bias within the appraisal system could be a Personality conflict between a manager and an employee and this could cause the manager to inaccurately assess an employee's contributions to an organization. The manager could be comparing the skills and contributions of one employee to another and it could result in an unfair assessment of the employees. A manager should be assessing an employee's perf ormance after a pre-determined amount of time. A first-impression performance appraisal isn't enough time to make an assessment.It has the potential to be swayed either positively or negatively. A manager should never rate an employee's performance based on recent behavior rather than on past performance. If an employee has a spotless record except for a recent mistake, the manager should not forget all of the good he or she has done. The last potential form of bias with in the appraisal system is that a manager should avoid political bias. This happens when non-performance related issues cloud the judgment of a performance appraiser such as religious beliefs or lifestyle choices.