Reflection of Black Like Me essays

Reflection of Black Like Me essays The book I read was called Black Like Me and the author is John Howard Griffin. John Howard Griffin is also the main character, author, and narrator of the story. He is a middle-aged white southerner who wanted racial justice in 1959. His plan is to make his skin color darker and posing as a black man. He calls medical information services and tells them what he plans to do and they give him three names of some Dermatologists. The first name on the list he gives a call and gets an appointment immediately. He is exposed to ultraviolet rays and takes a medication orally. Within a week he looks like a black man. He then makes sure us has full support from George Levitan who is the editor for a black-oriented magazine called Sepia. This magazine is going to fund Griffins excursion. Everywhere he goes he is insulted and experiences difficulties. He cant find jobs or bathrooms to use that he had no problems using when he was a white man. No one takes his money and is bullied a round all the time by white people. Its been several days now and Griffin decides to travel to Mississippi and Alabama, which happens to be worse than New Orleans. He is very tired and losing hope and calls P.D. East who is a white newspaperman. P.D. East also is very opposed to racism. Griffin spends one day with P.D. East and they talk about how the legal code of the south is influenced by writers and politicians. After spending the day with his friend he ventures throughout Alabama and Mississippi. In Montgomery however Martin Luther King J.R. shines no light on the black community. Its called passive resistance and its a nonviolent way to deal with the racist laws. He starts to switch from a black man to a white man because he is starting to lose hope in the whole plan (this is the climax of the story). He will first go somewhere as a black man and then go to the same place as a white man and spot the differ...

Third Battle of Kharkov in World War II

Third Battle of Kharkov in World War II The Third Battle of Kharkov was fought between Feb. 19 and March 15, 1943, during World War II. As the  Battle of Stalingrad  was concluding in early February 1943, Soviet forces launched Operation Star. Conducted by Colonel General Filipp Golikovs Voronezh Front, the goals of the operation were the capture of Kursk and Kharkov. Spearheaded by four tank corps under Lieutenant-General Markian Popov, the Soviet offensive initially met with success and drove back German forces. On Feb. 16, Soviet troops liberated Kharkov. Angered by the loss of the city, Adolf Hitler flew to the front to assess the situation and meet with the commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. Though he desired an immediate counterattack to re-take Kharkov, Hitler ceded control to von Manstein when Soviet troops neared Army Group Souths headquarters. Unwilling to launch a direct assault against the Soviets, the German commander planned a counterstroke against the Soviet flank once they became overextended. For the coming battle, he intended to isolate and destroy the Soviet spearheads before mounting a campaign to re-take Kharkov. This done, Army Group South would coordinate with Army Group Center to the north in re-taking Kursk. Commanders Soviet Union Colonel General Konstantin RokossovskyColonel General Nickolay VatutinColonel General Filipp Golikov Germany Field Marshal Erich von MansteinGeneral Paul HausserGeneral Eberhard von MackensenGeneral Hermann Hoth The Battle Begins Commencing operations on February 19, von Manstein directed General Paul Haussers SS Panzer Corps to strike south as a screening force for a larger assault by General Hermann Hoths Fourth Panzer Army. Hoths command and General Eberhard von Mackensens First Panzer Army were ordered to attack into the overextended flank of the Soviet 6th and 1st Guards Armies. Meeting with success, the early days of the offensive saw German troops breakthrough and sever Soviet supply lines. On February 24, von Mackensens men succeeded in surrounding a large part of Popovs Mobile Group. German troops also succeeded in surrounding a large portion of the Soviet 6th Army. Responding to the crisis, the Soviet high command (Stavka) began directing reinforcements to the area. Also, on February 25, Colonel General Konstantin Rokossovsky launched a major offensive with his Central Front against the junction of Army Groups South and Center. Though his men had some success on the flanks, going in the center of the advance was slow. As the fighting progressed, the southern flank was halted by the Germans while the northern flank began to overextend itself. With the Germans exerting heavy pressure on Colonel General Nikolai F. Vatutins Southwestern Front, Stavka transferred 3th Tank Army to his command. Attacking the Germans on March 3, this force took heavy losses from enemy air attacks. In the resulting fighting, its 15th Tank Corps was encircled while its 12th Tank Corps was compelled to retreat north. The German successes early in the battle opened a large gap in the Soviet lines through which von Manstein pushed his offensive against Kharkov. By March 5, elements of Fourth Panzer Army were within 10 miles of the city. Striking at Kharkov Though concerned about the approaching spring thaw, von Manstein pushed toward Kharkov. Rather than advance to the east of the city, he ordered his men to move to the west then north to encircle it. On March 8, SS Panzer Corps completed its drive north, splitting the Soviet 69th and 40th Armies before turning east the next day. In place on March 10, Hausser received orders from Hoth to take the city as soon as possible. Though von Manstein and Hoth wished him to continue the encirclement, Hausser directly attacked Kharkov from the north and west on March 11. Pressing into northern Kharkov, the Leibstandarte SS Panzer Division met heavy resistance and only gained a foothold in the city with the aid of air support. The Das Reich SS Panzer Division attacked into the western side of the city the same day. Stopped by a deep anti-tank ditch, they breached it that night and pushed on to the Kharkov train station. Late that night, Hoth finally succeeded in making Hausser comply with his orders and this division disengaged and moved to blocking positions east of the city. On March 12, Leibstandarte division renewed its attack south. Over the next two days, it endured brutal urban fighting as German troops cleared the city house-by-house. By the night of March 13/14, German troops controlled two-thirds of Kharkov. Attacking again the next, they secured the remainder of the city. Though the battle largely concluded on March 14, some fighting continued on the 15th and 16th as German forces expelled Soviet defenders from a factory complex in the south. The Aftermath of the Third Battle of Kharkov Dubbed the Donets Campaign by the Germans, the Third Battle of Kharkov saw them shatter fifty-two Soviet divisions while inflicting approximately 45,300 killed/missing and 41,200 wounded. Pushing out from the Kharkov, von Mansteins forces drove northeast and secured Belgorod on March 18. With his men exhausted and the weather turning against him, von Manstein was compelled to call a halt to offensive operations. As a result, he was unable to press on to Kursk as he had originally intended. The German victory at the Third Battle of Kharkov set the stage for the massive Battle of Kursk that summer. Sources World War II Database: Third Battle of KharkovTimelines: Third Battle of KharkovHistory of War: Third Battle of Kharkov

Educational Biography Statement Personal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Educational Biography - Personal Statement Example The first lesson I learned in school was about authority. I learned that you did not question it. My parents were the type of parents that were always on the side of the school. They had a sort of conflicted relationship with public schools because they both had a difficult time in school. On the one hand, they recognized that the people in school were professionals and were there to teach me. They had a lot of trust in my individual teachers and always believed what they said. If I went home and said, â€Å"Mrs. Kershaw smacked my had with a ruler today!† they would ask me, â€Å"Well, what did you do?† They never questioned a teacher’s authority to discipline or teach me, so this taught me to listen and obey my teachers. On the other hand, my parents were almost paranoid about the institution of education. They were suspicious of the people at the very top. The superintendents, principals and specialists that ran the school and were responsible for the big pict ure were viewed as lazy and wasteful. Nothing they did was every OK with my parents. They railed against tax increases, curriculum changes and decisions about school safety. It took me a long time to realize that my parents were taking a stance against what they perceived as management (Cook, 1978). Both were laborers and they viewed my teachers as peers, but everyone else was management. I was in high school before I figured out why my parents were so supportive of the education system on the one hand, and so against it on the other. This was the beginning of my own conflicted feelings about schooling and education. By high school, I could see that my parents wanted me to get a college education so that I would be a part of a class of people that they mistrusted. I know that this sounds conflicted, but that’s my parents. They wanted me to be more secure than they were themselves, but their view was that the only way this could happen was to be something other than I was. Not quite fitting into a defined social position is not something new for me. From elementary, through middle and high school, I always felt that all of the students were strongly encouraged to fill a slot in a specified, existing group. Some students are academically inclined, others are athletes. Some students are compliant while others are rowdy troublemakers. There seemed to be a lot of either/or decisions that were expected of me in school that caused me to question what I was and what I really wanted out of life. Two of these incidences that were very powerful occurred when I was in elementary and high school. They both involved a conflict in scheduling that could have been resolved had the school not been trying to force me into a specified social construct. In elementary school, there were many activities that were commonly called pullouts by the teachers. Looking back, I realize that some of these pullouts were for students that struggled to learn, but others were and effort t o differentiate instruction for small groups of students (Tomlinson, 2005). I was identified as Gifted students, so one of my pullouts was a required class called Reach. I met with other Gifted students at this

Family firm going public Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Family firm going public - Essay Example The family business is flourishing in many developed and developing countries throughout the world. It is a particular breed of business that can be more clearly understood by keeping in mind the idea of two interconnecting but separate systems. The family and the business are two systems in that the goals, needs and tasks of each are not identical. Because of the ambiguous nature of the interconnection, problems can and do arise. Methods for sorting out the roles and rules for the two systems need to be consciously developed and understood (Bogod & Leach, 1999). The advantages of running a family business are worth reiterating. They bear closed resemblances to those voiced by entrepreneurs generally – a feeling of freedom, a provision of income and capital, a sense of creativity. Family businesses can be a satisfying way to provide a living and for family members to feel collectively rewarded for their personal sacrifices. Under the best of circumstances, the family firm can provide a basis for meaningful and enduring family connections. Although there are many advantages, the concept of family business is not free from disadvantages. One such disadvantage arises when the procurement of capital comes into picture. Few, family firms reach this stage, which comes about when the business needs additional capital to continue its operations (Sitorus, 2001). Capital is procured by going public, usually concurrent with the introduction of professional management.... referred to as the primary market and the subsequent trading as the secondary market (Monteith, 1995). It is important to an economy that both markets operate efficiently. Similarly, a liquid a transparent secondary market will encourage investors to participate in the stock market and should again increase the availability of equity capital and lower investors' required returns. (Sitorus, 2001) Until recently limited liability was only available to limited companies, which ruled out sole traders because the company had to have at least two shareholders (Kline, 1994). Many traders go round this by setting up private limited companies, with another member of the family holding nominal accounts of shares to qualify for company status. They remained, in reality, one person business. There is now the possibility of limited liability for shareholders companies. There is no upper limit to the number of shareholders. Many family businesses are organized as limited companies but others prefer the informality of remaining unregistered (Marchisio, 2003). Many family businesses have been started on this basis and some have grown to considerable size within this format. The main limitation is that shares cannot be made available to the public, which restricts the company's power to raise additional capital through new shares (Bogod, 1999).By inviting members of the public to subscribe to the business, it enjoys much wider opportunities to raise funds. Going public also gives existing shareholders greater liquidity as they can now realize the value of their shares by selling them on the open market (Newman, 1985). Since the shareholders in a family

Assignment Coursera Essay Example for Free

Assignment Coursera Essay Score Explanation 6. 34 Correct 5. 00 Correct. This is where a spreadsheet comes in handy. Total 5. 00 / 5. 00 Question Explanation This is a simple IRR calculation. Drawing a time line helps. Question 3 (5 points) Austin needs to purchase a new heating/cooling system for his home. He is thinking about having a geothermal system installed, but he wants to know how long it will take to recoup the additional cost of the system. The geothermal system will cost $20,000. A conventional system will cost $7,000. Austin is eligible for a 30% tax credit to be applied immediately to the purchase. He estimates that he will save 1 ,500 per year in utility bills with the geothermal system. These cash outflows can be assumed to occur at the end of the year. The cost of capital (or interest rate) for Austin is 7%. How long will Austin have to use the system to Justify the additional expense over the conventional model? ( i. e, What is the DISCOUNTED payback period in years? Discount future cash flows before calculating payback and round to a whole year. ) Answer for Question 3 Your Answer Score 6 Correct. You discounted before calculating payback, but it still is a very myopic measure. Total Simple payback calculation, but with discounting. Question 4 (10 points) In high school Jeff often made money in the summer by mowing lawns in the neighborhood. He Just finished his freshman year of college and, after taking a Business 101 class, he has some ideas about how to scale up his lawn mowing operation. Previously, he had used his fathers push mower, but he is thinking about getting a r101ng mower tnat wlll save tlme ana allow nvm to 00 more lawns. He Touna a used, zero turn, riding mower on Craigslist for $1,200. He will also need a trailer to pull the mower behind his pickup; that will cost him an additional $600. With the new ower he can take on an additional 20 lawns per week at an average cash inflow of $20 per lawn he will receive at the end of each week. He has 14 weeks of summer in which to mow lawns. (For convenience, assume that the mower and trailer will have no value after Jeff is done with his work this summer. ) The discount rate for Jeff is 10% (Keep in mind this is an annual rate). What is the Net Present Value of the mower/trailer project? Your Answer -1147 3117 4320 3720 10. 00 Correct. You know how to set up and calculate wv, at a weekly interval. Total 10. 00 / 10. 00 A fairly common NPV problem, with weekly compounding. Question 5 (10 points) Yassein is looking to refinance his home because rates have gone down from when he bought his house 10 years ago. He started with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage of $288,000 at an annual rate of 6. 5%. He can now get a 20-year fixed-rate mortgage at an annual rate of 5. 5% on the remaining balance of his initial mortgage. (All loans require monthly payments. ) In order to re-flnance, Yassein will need to pay closing costs of $3,500. These costs are out of pocket and cannot be rolled into the new mortgage. How much will refinancing save Yassein? (i. e. What is the NPV of the refinancing decision? Your Answer 16467 17517 16975 Correct. This is a very common situation we all face all the time. 15463 A problem we saw last week, but I expect you to do this routinely now. It is a value generating opportunity through financing only because interest rates changed. Question 6 (10 points) Chandra has the opportunity to buy a vacant lot next to several commercial properties for $50,000. She plans to buy the property and spend another $60,000 immediately to put in a parking lot. She has talked to the local businesses and has some contracts lined up to fill the parking spaces. The profits from the ontracts will provide $25,000 per year and the contracts will last 10 years. What is the NPV of Chandras plan if the appropriate discount/interest rate is 10%? (Enter Just the number without the $ sign or a comma; round off decimals. ) Answer for Question 43614 Correct. You know how to calculate NPV. Questlon Explanatlon A standard NPV problem. Question 7 (10 points) This question introduces you to the concept of an annuity with growth. The formula is given on p. 3, equation (7), of the Note on Formulae, but I would encourage you to try doing it in Excel as well. (If the first cash flow is C, the next one ill be C(l+g), and so on, where g is the growth rate in cash flow). As an example, the present value of an annuity that starts one year from now at $100, and grows at 5%, with the last cash flow in year 10, when the discount rate is 7%, is $860. Confirm this before attempting the problem using both the formula and excel. What is the NPV of of a new manufacturing project that costs $100,000 today, but has a cash flow of $15,000 in year 1 that grows at 4% per year till year 12? Similar investments earn 7. 5% per year. (Enter Just the number without the $ sign or a comma; round off decimals. ) Answer for Question 7 0486 Correct. Hope you used both methods. This is a set up and calculation problem, nothing new conceptually. Question 8 (1 5 points) Diane has Just 18 and also completed high school and is wondering about the value of a college education. She is pretty good with numbers, and driven by financial considerations only, so she sits down to calculate whether it is worth the large sum of money. She knows that her first year tuition will be $12,000, due at the beginning of the year (that is, right away). Based on historical trends she estimates that tuition will rise at 6% per year for the 4 years she is in school. She also estimates that her living expense above and beyond tuition will be $8,000 per year (assume this occurs at the end of the year) for the first year and will increase $500 each year thereafter to keep up with inflation.

Menu for Sandwichman :: Free Descriptive Essays

Menu for Sandwichman Sandwichman is the name for our sandwich restaurant. Sandwichman was started by four college students at Iowa State University: Rajane Patel, Ashlyn Bloom, Rachel Te, and Agus Leonardo. We decided to open this sandwich restaurant at 1000 Duff Avenue here in Ames, Iowa. The basic colors for our sandwich restaurant are orange and yellow. My responsibilities in building this sandwich restaurant are designing and preparing the menu. The Menu is considered to be the most important aspect in order to build a restaurant because a menu tells what the restaurant offers. In order to create a menu for this restaurant, several items need to be considered, such as: prices, type of ingredients, and the nutritional facts for the sandwiches we offered. I have done some research about the menu from other sandwich restaurants. In this paper, I would like to discuss all these items. Prices are one of the most important considerations for people who want to buy a sandwich. In order to determine the right prices for our sandwiches, we have to know our targeting customers first. In this case, the majority of our targeting customers are students and people who are living in the lower economic class. Because of these targeting customers, the price for a sandwich in our restaurant is relatively cheaper than in other sandwich restaurants, such as: Subway, Jimmy John's, etc. Moreover, our sandwich restaurant is built as a low-profit restaurant. The price for all sandwiches in our restaurant will be $3.75. They all have the same price because it will be easier for the internal operation of the restaurant, especially the cashier. Moreover, having the same price enables the customers to pay for any sandwich more conveniently and easily too. Besides that, our restaurant also provides meal packages. These meal packages consist of a sandwich, a drink, and chips. In these meal packages, customers are free to choose what kind of sandwich, drink, and chips they want to have. These meal packages will cost $5.00 for one meal. Beside sandwiches and meal packages, our sandwich restaurant also provides salads, chips, and drinks. Salads will cost $3.00; chips will cost $0.75; and drinks(soda and lemonade) will cost $1.00. However, iced tea will cost only $0.75. The payment for the sandwiches can be done by cash or credit cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover will work. Choosing the right type of ingredients is a major concern for this menu.

Performance appraisal Essay

Introduction The  process  by which a  manager  or  consultant  (1)  examines  and evaluates an  employee’s  work  behavior  by comparing it with preset standards, (2)  documents  the  results  of the comparison, and (3)  uses  the results to  provide  feedback  to the employee to show where  improvements  are needed and why. Performance appraisals are  employed  to determine who  needs  what  training, and who will be promoted, demoted, retained, or fired. ‘PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL IS A FORMAL, STRUCTURED SYSTEM OF MEASURING AND EVALUATING AN EMPLOYEES JOB, RELATED BEHAVIORS AND OUTCOMES TO DISCOVER HOW AND WHY THE EMPLOYEE IS PRESENTLY PERFORMING ON THE JOB AND HOW THE EMPLOYEE CAN PERFORM MORE EFFECTIVELY IN THE FUTURE SO THAT THE EMPLOYEE, ORGANIZATION, AND SOCIETY ALL BENEFIT’. Performance appraisal is a process of summarizing, assessing and developing the work performance of an employee. In order to be effective and constructive, the performance manager should make every effort to obtain as much objective information about the employee’s performance as possible. Performance Appraisal is a review and discussion of an employee’s performance of assigned duties and responsibilities based on results obtained by the employee in their job, not on the employee’s personality characteristics. Personality should be considered only when it relates to performance of assigned duties and responsibilities. It is a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. In many organizations – but not all – appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions. By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify poorer performers, who may require some form of counseling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay. HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL The history of performance appraisal is quite brief.  Its roots in the early 20th century can be traced to Taylor’s pioneering Time and Motion studies. But this is not very helpful, for the same may be said about almost everything in the field of modern human resources management. As a distinct and formal management procedure used in the evaluation of work performance, appraisal really dates from the time of the Second World War – not more than 60 years ago. Yet in a broader sense, the practice of appraisal is a very ancient art. In the scale of things historical, it might well lay claim to being the world’s second oldest profession! There is, says  Dulewicz (1989), â€Å"†¦ a basic human tendency to make judgements about those one is working with, as well as about oneself.† Appraisal, it seems, is both inevitable and universal. In the absence of a carefully structured system of appraisal, people will tend to judge the work performance of others, including subordinates, naturally, informally and arbitrarily. The human inclination to judge can create serious motivational, ethical and legal problems in the workplace. Without a structured appraisal system, there is little chance of ensuring that the judgements made will be lawful, fair, defensible and accurate. Performance appraisal systems began as simple methods of income justification. That is, appraisal was used to decide whether or not the salary or wage of an individual employee was justified. The process was firmly linked to material outcomes. If an employee’s performance was found to be less than ideal, a cut in pay would follow. On the other hand, if their performance was better than the supervisor expected, a pay rise was in  order. Little consideration, if any, was given to the developmental possibilities of appraisal. If was felt that a cut in pay, or a rise, should provide the only required impetus for an employee to either improve or continue to perform well.   Sometimes this basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended; but more often than not, it failed. For example, early motivational researchers were aware that different people with roughly equal work abilities could be paid the same amount of money and yet have quite different levels of motivation and performance. These observations were confirmed in empirical studies. Pay rates were important, yes; but they were not the only element that had an impact on employee performance. It was found that other issues, such as morale and self-esteem, could also have a major influence. As a result, the traditional emphasis on reward outcomes was progressively rejected. In the 1950s in the United States, the potential usefulness of appraisal as tool for motivation and development was gradually recognized. The general model of performance appraisal, as it is known today, began from that time.   Modern Appraisal Performance appraisal may be defined as a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, that usually takes the form of a periodic interview (annual or semi-annual), in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. In many organizations – but not all – appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions. By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify the poorer  performers who may require some form of counselling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay. (Organizations need to be aware of laws in their country that might restrict their capacity to dismiss employees or decrease pay.) Whether this is an appropriate use of performance appraisal – the assignment and justification of rewards and penalties – is a very uncertain and contentious matter. TRADITIONAL METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL 1.Rating Scales Method Rating Scales Method is commonly used method for assessing the performance of the employees and well-known traditional method of performance appraisal of employees. Many corporations and companies example in the country India, Telecommunications Company like airtel  and US IT companies like  Dell  Corporation  are using this method for evaluating the employees and subsequently take decisions on concerned employee. Depending upon the job of employee under this method of appraisal traits like attitude, performance, regularity, accountability and sincerity etc,are rated with scale from 1 to 10. 1 indicates negative feedback and 10 indicates positive feedback as shown below. Attitude of employee towards his superiors, colleagues and customers   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely                                                                                                                                                       Excellent poor Regularity in the job   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely                                                                                                                                                       outstanding poor Under this method of performance appraisal, employee may be assessed by his superiors, colleagues, subordinates or sometimes by his customers which all depends on nature of the company or job which is added where the employee. Appraiser is a person who appraises employee will give rating for every trait given by marking or choosing number basing on his observation and satisfaction. ultimately all numbers chosen or marked will be added to determine highest score gained by employee. Employee who scored more points will be treated as top performer following   descending scored employees will be treated as low performer and the least scored employee will be treated as non-performers. 2.  ESSAY APPRAISAL METHOD This traditional form of appraisal, also known as â€Å"Free Form method† involves a description of the performance of an employee by his superior. The description is an evaluation of the performance of any individual based on  the facts and often includes examples and evidences to support the information. A major drawback of the method is the inseparability of the bias of the evaluator. Under this method, the rater is asked to express the strong as well as weak points of the employee’s behavior. This technique is normally used with a combination of the graphic rating scale because the rater can elaborately present the scale by substantiating an explanation for his rating. While preparing the essay on the employee, the rater considers the following factors:   Job knowledge and potential of the employee; Employee’s understanding of the company’s programmes, policies, objectives, etc.; The employee’s relations with co-workers and superiors;  The employee’s general planning, organizing and controlling ability; The attitudes and perceptions of the employee, in general. Essay evaluation is a non-quantitative technique. This method is advantageous in at least one sense, i.e., the essay provides a good deal of information about the employee and also reveals more about the evaluator. The essay evaluation method however, suffers from the following limitations: It is highly subjective; the supervisor may write a biased essay. The employees who are sycophants will be evaluated more favorably then other employees. Some evaluators may be poor in writing essays on employee performance. Others may be superficial in explanation and use flowery language which may not reflect the actual performance of the employee. It is very difficult to find effective writers nowadays. The appraiser is required to find time to prepare the essay. A busy appraiser may write the essay hurriedly without properly assessing the actual performance of the worker. On the other hand, appraiser takes a long time, this becomes uneconomical from the view point of the firm, because the time of the evaluator (supervisor) is costly. 3.  RANKING METHOD How do we use the ranking method?  Under the ranking method, the manager com-pares an employee to other similar employees, rather than to a standard measurement. An offshoot of ranking is the forced distribution method, which  is similar to grading on a curve. Predetermined percentages of employees are placed in various performance categories, for example,  excellent, above average, average, below average, and poor,. The employees ranked in the top group usually get the rewards (raise, bonus, promotion), those not at the top tend to have the reward withheld, and those at the bottom sometimes get punished. In Self-Assessment and Skill Builder 8-1, you are asked to rank the performance of your peers. Why and when do we use the ranking method?  Managers have to make evaluative decisions, such as who is the employee of the month, who gets a raise or promotion, and who   gets laid off. So when we have to make evaluative decisions, we generally have to use ranking. However, our ranking can, and when possible should, be based on other methods and forms. Ranking can also be used for developmental purposes by letting employees know where they stand in comparison to their peers—they can be motivated to improve performance. For example, when one of the authors passes back exams, he places the grade distribution on the board. It does not in any way affect the current grades—but it lets students know where they stand, and he does it to motivate improvement. 4.  PAIRED COMPARISON A better technique of comparison than the straight ranking method, this method compares each employee with all others in the group, one at a time. After all the comparisons on the basis of the overall comparisons, the employees are given the final rankings. 5.  CRITICAL INCIDENTS METHODS This technique of performance appraisal was developed by  Flanagan and Burns. The manager prepares lists of statements of very effective and ineffective behaviour of an employee. These critical incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behaviour of employees on the job. The manager maintains logs on each employee, whereby he periodically records critical incidents of the workers behaviour. At the  end of the rating period, these recorded  critical incidents are used in the evaluation of the workers’ performance. An example of a good critical incident of a sales assistant is the following: July 20 – The sales clerk patiently attended to the customer’s complaint. He is polite, prompt, and enthusiastic in solving the customers’ problem.   On the other hand the bad critical incident may appear as under: July 20 – The sales assistant stayed 45 minutes over on his break during the busiest part of the day. He failed to answer the store manager’s call thrice. He is lazy, negligent, stubborn and uninterested in work. This method provides an objective basis for conducting a thorough discussion of an employee’s performance. This method avoids recency bias (most recent incidents get too much emphasis). This method suffers however from the following limitations: Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive incidents. The supervisors have a tendency to unload a series of complaints about incidents during an annual performance review session. It results in very close supervision which may not be liked by the employee. The recording of incidents may be a chore for the manager concerned, who may be too busy or forget to do it. 6. CONFIDENTIAL REPORT SYSTEM Confidential report system is well known method of performance appraisal system mostly being used by the Government organisations. In this method of  appraising  system, subordinate is observed by his superiors regarding his performance in the job and on his duties done. Thereafter  Superior  writes confidential report on his performance, mainly on his behaviour in the organisation and conduct and remarks if any. Confidential reports will be kept confidential and will not be revealed to anyone and finally confidential reports will be forwarded to the top management officials for taking decision against person on whom confidential report has made. Confidential reports are the main criteria for promoting or transferring  of any employee mainly in the government sector. All governmental organisations example judiciary, police Department and other government  departments in the India are using confidential reports method as a tool to know about the employee and to take any decision connecting to him. Procedure of confidential report system The superiors who appraise their subordinate’s performance, behaviour and other key issues will be kept in the form of writing on paper, which is called as confidential report.   Confidential report should not be sent openly on a paper, it must be kept in a sealed cover to send it to decision-making authorities. Only authorised persons are allowed to open the sealed covers which consists of confidential reports. Confidential reports shall not be handed over in loose sheets to the subordinates. Key factors assessed in  Confidential  Report writing Character and conduct of an employee Absenteeism of an employee Knowledge of an employee His nature and quality of work Punctuality of employee Unauthorised absenteeism or leave without permission Behaviour of an employee with colleagues, superiors and with public Ability of supervision and controlling His/her integrity and honesty If any complaints against employee 7.  CHECKLIST METHOD The rater is given a checklist of the descriptions of the behaviour of the employees on job. The checklist contains a list of statements on the basis of which the rater describes the on the job performance of the employees.   Ã‚  Another simple type of individual evaluation method is the checklist. A checklist represents, in its simplest form, a set of objectives or descriptive statements about the employee and his behavior. If the rater believes strongly that the employee possesses a particular listed trait, he checks the item; otherwise, he leaves the item blank. A more recent variation of the checklist method is the weighted list. Under this, the value of each question may be weighted equally or certain questions may be  weighted more heavily than others. The following are some of the sample questions in the checklist.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Is the employee really interested in the task assigned?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes/No   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Is he respected by his colleagues (co-workers)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes/No   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Does he give respect to his superiors?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes/No  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Does he follow instructions properly?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes/No   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Does he make mistakes frequently?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes/No 8. GRAPHIC RATING SCALE Example of Graphic Rating Scales Method Performance Trait Excellent Good Average Fair Poor Attitude 5 4 3 2 1 Knowledge of Work 5 4 3 2 1 Managerial Skills 5 4 3 2 1 Team Work 5 4 3 2 1 Honesty 5 4 3 2 1 Regularity 5 4 3 2 1 Accountability 5 4 3 2 1 Interpersonal relationships 5 4 3 2 1 Creativity 5 4 3 2   1 Discipline 5 4 3 2 1 This is the very popular, traditional method of performance appraisal. Under this method, core traits of employee pertaining to his job are   carefully  defined  like Attitude, Knowledge of Work, Managerial Skills, Team Work, Honesty, Regularity, Accountability, Interpersonal relationships, Creativity and Discipline etc. These traits are allotted with numerical scale to tabulate the scores gained by appraisee (employee) in  performance assessment  relating to his job by appraiser (employer) and sum-up to determine the best performer.   Appraiser ticks  rating of particular trait depending upon his endeavour in his job.  Score vary form employee to employee depending up on his performance levels and endeavour in his job. This method is popular because it is simple and does not require any writing ability. The method is easy to understand and use. Comparison among pairs is possible. This is necessary for decision on salary increases, promotion, etc. Companies like  DELL,  Maruti Suzuki India Ltd  and  airtel  are using this graphic rating scale method to appraise performance of their employees in there jobs and to take decisions regarding the matters concerned to employees 9.  FORCED DISTRIBUTION A rating system used by companies to evaluate their employees. The system requires the managers to evaluate each individual, and rank them typically into one of three categories (excellent, good, poor). The system is thought to be relatively widely-used, but remains somewhat controversial due to the competition it creates, and also the reality that not all employees will fit neatly into one of the categories and might end up in a category that does  not reflect their true performance. One of the first companies to use this system was General Electric, in the 1980s. ——–Businessdictionary.com Forced ranking is a method of performance appraisal to rank employee but in order of forced distribution. For example, the distribution requested with 10 or 20 percent in the top category, 70 or 80 percent in the middle, and 10 percent in the bottom. The top-ranked employees are considered â€Å"high-potential† employees and are often targeted for a more rapid career and leadership development programs. In contrast, those ranked at the bottom are denied bonuses and pay increases. They may be given a probationary period to improve their performance. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  BEHAVIOURLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES:  Statements of effective and ineffective behaviors determine the points. They are said to be behaviorally anchored. The rater is supposed to say, which behavior describes the employee performance. Advantages – helps overcome rating errors. Disadvantages – Suffers from distortions inherent in most rating techniques. 11.  Ã‚  FIELD REVIEW METHOD:  This is an appraisal done by someone outside employees’ own department usually from corporate or HR department. Advantages – Useful for managerial level promotions, when comparable information is needed, Disadvantages – Outsider is generally not familiar with employees work environment, Observation of actual behaviors not possible. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  PERFORMANCE TESTS AND OBSERVATIONS:  This is based on the test of knowledge or skills. The tests may be written or an actual presentation of skills. Tests must be reliable and validated to be useful. Advantage – Tests may be apt to measure potential more than actual performance. Disadvantages – Tests may suffer if costs of test development or administration are high. Future Oriented Methods 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Management By Objectives:  It means management by objectives and the performance is rated against the achievement of objectives stated by the management. MBO process goes as under. Establish goals and desired outcomes for each subordinate Setting performance standards Comparison of actual goals with goals attained by the employee Establish new goals and new strategies for goals not achieved in previous year. Advantage – It is more useful for managerial positions. Disadvantages – Not applicable to all jobs, allocation of merit pay may result in setting short-term goals rather than important and long-term goals etc. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychological Appraisals:  These appraisals are more directed to assess employees potential for future performance rather than the past one. It is done in the form of in-depth interviews, psychological tests, and discussion with supervisors and review of other evaluations. It is more focused on employees emotional, intellectual, and motivational and other personal characteristics affecting his performance. This approach is slow and costly and may be useful for bright young members who may have considerable potential. However quality of these appraisals largely depend upon the skills of psychologists who perform the evaluation. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Assessment Centres:  This technique was first developed in USA and UK in 1943. An assessment centre is a central location where managers may come together to have their participation in job related exercises evaluated by trained observers. It is more focused on observation of behaviours across a series of select exercises or work samples. Assessees are requested to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, computer simulations, role playing and other similar activities which require same attributes for successful performance in actual job. The characteristics assessed in assessment centre can be assertiveness, persuasive ability, communicating ability, planning and organizational ability, self confidence, resistance to  stress, energy level, decision making, sensitivity to feelings, administrative ability, creativity and mental alertness etc. Disadvantages – Costs of employees travelling and lodging, psychologists, ratings strongly influenced by assessee’s inter-personal skills. Solid performers may feel suffocated in simulated situations. Those who are not selected for this also may get affected. Advantages  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ well-conducted assessment centre can achieve better forecasts of future performance and progress than other methods of appraisals. Also reliability, content validity and predictive ability are said to be high in assessment centres. The tests also make sure that the wrong people are not hired or promoted. Finally it clearly defines the criteria for selection and promotion. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  360-Degree Feedback:  It is a technique which is systematic collection of performance data on an individual group, derived from a number of stakeholders like immediate supervisors, team members, customers, peers and self. In fact anyone who has useful information on how an employee does a job may be one of the appraisers. This technique is highly useful in terms of broader perspective, greater self-development and multi-source feedback is useful. 360-degree appraisals are useful to measure inter-personal skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills. However on the negative side, receiving feedback from multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening etc. Multiple raters may be less adept at providing balanced and objective feedback. PROCESS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL ESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS The first step in the  process of performance appraisal  is the setting up of the standards which will be used to as the base to compare the actual performance of the employees. This step requires setting the criteria to judge the performance of the employees as successful or unsuccessful and the degrees of their contribution to the organizational goals and objectives. The standards set should be clear, easily understandable and in measurable terms. In case the performance of the employee cannot be measured, great care should be taken to describe the standards. COMMUNICATING THE STANDARDS Once set, it is the responsibility of the management to communicate the standards to all the employees of the organization. The employees should be informed and the standards should be clearly explained to the. This will help them to understand their roles and to know what exactly is expected from them. The standards should also be communicated to the appraisers or the evaluators and if required, the standards can also be modified at this stage itself according to the relevant feedback from the employees or the evaluators. MEASURING THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE The most difficult part of the  Performance appraisal  process is measuring the actual performance of the employees that is the work done by the employees during the specified period of time. It is a continuous process which involves monitoring the performance throughout the year. This stage requires the careful selection of the appropriate techniques of measurement, taking care that personal bias does not affect the outcome of the process and providing assistance rather than interfering in an employees work. COMPARING THE ACTUAL WITH THE DESIRED PERFORMANCE The actual performance is compared with the desired or the standard performance. The comparison tells the deviations in the performance of the employees from the standards set. The result can show the actual performance being more than the desired performance or, the actual performance being less than the desired performance depicting a negative deviation in the organizational performance. It includes recalling, evaluating and analysis of data related to the employees’ performance. DISCUSSING RESULTS The  result of the appraisal  is communicated and discussed with the employees on one-to-one basis. The focus of this discussion is on communication and listening. The results, the problems and the possible solutions are discussed with the aim of problem solving and reaching consensus. The feedback should be given with a positive attitude as this can have an effect on the employees’ future performance. The purpose of the meeting should be to solve the problems faced and motivate the employees to perform better. DECISION MAKING The last step of the process is to take decisions which can be taken either to improve the performance of the employees, take the required corrective actions, or the related HR decisions like rewards, promotions, demotions, transfers etc. THE 10 STEPS FOR CONDUCTING AN EMPLOYEE APPRAISAL EVALUATION For managers, there’s no single path to conducting highly successful employee-evaluation sessions. At the same time, when you’re leading these appraisal discussions, 10 steps will help make the meetings more interactive and productive: 1. Let your employee talk. Giving your employees the chance to discuss their actions, achievements, and competencies is rewarding to them because it further emphasizes your respect and trust, while also reinforcing your partnership with them. 2. Give an overview of the session. After you’ve heard your employee’s thoughts regarding her performance, your next step is to give her a brief overview of overall topics that you’ll be covering in the session. 3. Focus on objectives. This part of the discussion focuses on the agreed-upon objectives and the extent to which your employee met them. 4. Focus on performance results. The emphasis in this section is on the various additional performance-related outcomes that were the result of your employee’s actions and efforts, even if such outcomes were not directly attached to the overall objectives. 5. Focus on critical incidents. Your comments in this area are focused on the way in which your employee handled particularly noteworthy situations, whether positively or negatively. 6. Focus on competencies. This is where you discuss instances in which your employee applied his skills effectively to the job, shared his knowledge with others, or took specific steps to further build his competencies. 7. Focus on points of agreement. Whether based on your employee’s self-evaluations or on her opening comments regarding her performance, your focus at this point in the session is on the areas in which your employee agrees with your ratings. 8. Focus on points of disagreement. This is the time to discuss the areas in which you rated your employee lower than he rated himself, whether based on his self-evaluation or his opening comments. Your objective is to learn more about your employee’s rationale for giving himself ratings that are higher than yours and for him to understand the rationale behind the ratings that you gave. 9. Focus on the overall rating. At this point in the process, you and your employee have discussed all the key performance-related issues and concerns, and it’s now time to discuss the overall rating. Your comments should focus on the steps you took to determine this rating. 10. Focus on raises. There’s a good deal of debate among managers and management theorists as to where to place raises in the performance appraisal session. Some managers don’t even think that raises belong in the session at all. Here are your options: *  Bringing up raises in the beginning:  Letting them know at the outset is supposed to put an end to their wondering and allow them to pay attention to the feedback you’re providing. *  Bringing up raises toward the end:  After giving glowing reviews, you’re ideally able to provide a direct reward for the employees’ stellar behavior, demonstrating the clear link between better performance and better rewards. *  Eliminating raises from the discussion:  The idea behind this approach is that raises don’t belong in the performance appraisal session at all. Instead, these sessions should focus exclusively and extensively on the employees’ past performance, while issues such as raises and objectives should be discussed in separate sessions. Objectives of Performance Appraisal Performance Appraisal can be done with following objectives in mind: 1. To maintain records in order to determine compensation packages, wage structure, salaries raises, etc. 2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees to place right men on right job. 3. To maintain and assess the potential present in a person for further growth and development. 4. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status. 5. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and related status. 6. It serves as a basis for influencing working habits of the employees. 7. To review and retain the promotional and other training programmes. Advantages of Performance Appraisal It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company which can be justified by following advantages: 1. Promotion:  Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programmes for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case. 2. Compensation:  Performance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance Appraisal tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which includes bonus, high salary rates, extra  benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority. 3. Employees Development:  The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing future development programmes. 4. Selection Validation:  Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard. 5. Communication:  For an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. Through performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following ways: a. Through performance appraisal, the employers can understand and accept skills of subordinates. b. The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors. c. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship. d. It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees. e. All the above factors ensure effective communication. 6. Motivation:  Performance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of employees, a person’s efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a person for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future. LIMITATIONS OF PERFORMANCE APPAISAL 1.LACK OF CLARITY: The objective of performance appraisal is to evaluate and develop employees. An organization should avoid using one appraisal system to achieve both objectives. The particular system of the appraisal system should clarify before it is designed and should be discussed with all managers and  employees to gain their commitment. Any performance appraisal system, however good the design, is unlikely to succeed if the managers and employees are suspicious of its objectives. It is extremely difficult if not impossible to device a system that will be able to satisfy both performance and reward. It happens because employees are likely to resist negative feedback and tend to be defensive when weakness in current performance is identified. It is because of this type of overlap in purposes that the appraisal loses it’s practically and increases the conflict between the manager and the employees. 2. APPRAISAL ERRORS: These are as follows; Halo, Regency, Contrast effects: the Halo effect occurs when a manager rates an employee high or low on all teams, because of one characteristic. For instance; if an employee has few absences, his manager might give him high rates in all other area of work. The recency effect happens when a rater gives greater weight to recent occurrence when appraising an employee’s performance. This sort of effect is an understandable rater’s error. It may not be easy for the manager to remember all events that happened like for instance; six months ago. Contrast error occurs when employees are rated relatively to other employees rather than to performance standards. For example; if everyone else in a group is doing mediocre job, an employee performing somewhat better may be rated as excellent because of the contrast effect. Rater biases: this occurs when manager values distort the rating. Reasons for bias differ, for instance, religion, age, sex, appearance or other arbitrary classifications. If a manager strongly dislikes a certain ethnic group, this will be negatively reflected in appraisal if the appraisal scheme is not properly designed. 3. UNEQUAL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS People differ from each other in the way they perceive things. What is good for some may be bad for others. Therefore managers have different judgments in appraising their employees. Managers’ attitudes to their employees differ, so different managers will appraise the same people quite differently which could make appraisal system subjective and manipulative. 4.CULTURAL FACTORS Culture has profound impact on the appraisal system as it should be in consonance with the organizational culture. A system based on the employee participation and openness would be non-starter if the organizational culture is authoritarian and non-participative in its approach to other employee related policies. ‘Readymade’ performance review system imported from other organization rarely function satisfactorily. Their failure is partly due to culture differences. Thus culture is a vital factor to look after CASE STUDIES CASE STUDY 1 1) A sweet employee performance appraisal system for Jelly Belly Customer profile Candy making is a fun business, and so it’s no surprise that it’s fun to work at the Jelly Belly Candy Company of Fairfield, California. But at this family-owned company, there’s no fooling around when it comes to promoting employee performance and job satisfaction. So when Jelly Belly decided to overhaul and automate its antiquated employee performance and talent management process, it was looking for a serious solution to help give its employees across the United States fair, accurate performance appraisals. Herman Goelitz Candy was founded in 1869 by Albert and Gustav Goelitz, whose great-grandsons own and run Jelly Belly today. The Jelly Belly Candy Company makes Jelly Belly brand jelly beans in over 50 flavors, as well as candy corn and other treats. Introduced in 1976 and named by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan as his favorite candy, the company’s jelly beans are exported worldwide. Like almost every smart company, Jelly Belly recognizes that employees are more likely to stay with their employer when they feel connected and recognized for their efforts. Programs for managing and evaluating employee performance are critical to aligning corporate and employee values and priorities. Challenge Jelly Belly’s search for a new employee performance and talent management system began several years ago, when two branches of the family business were reunited into a single company. One branch was using an outdated  performance management software program. The other was doing its employee performance appraisals manually, using paper forms. Having a variety of jelly bean flavors is great — a variety of employee appraisal processes in a single company is not. The task of updating and consolidating the performance management process fell to Margie Poulos, HR Manager of Jelly Belly’s Midwest operations. She and a small team of Jelly Belly HR staff were charged with finding a single automated system that could be used for all of Jelly Belly’s 600 employees in three locations. The driving factor behind Jelly Belly’s performance management automation was the belief that thorough, accurate reviews help employees to better understand what’s expected of them,  so that they can set clear, measurable objectives. That translates into higher employee satisfaction, said Jeff Brown, Jelly Belly’s Director of Human Resources. â€Å"When employees feel they have gotten a thorough and accurate review, it boosts their morale,† Brown said. It also leads to improved talent management and  makes it easier to retain valuable employees, which management experts know is a key factor in corporate growth and market leadership. Solution To meet their strategic goals, Poulos and her team drew up a list of the criteria that a new system had to meet. Top on the list was ease of use. â€Å"We didn’t want to end up with a system that is so complicated that the managers wouldn’t use it,† Poulos said. A new system also had to save time. Because employees were in multiple locations, it needed to be web-based for accessibility. And it had to be flexible, easily incorporating core competencies into different forms. Jelly Belly’s selection committee looked at products from different software vendors. â€Å"We eliminated right away those that were geared to very large companies and those that were not web-based,† Poulos said. â€Å"We also eliminated those that offered too many options for customization. It’s one thing to offer options, but another thing when the product requires so much customization that it becomes overwhelming.† The committee selected Halogen eAppraisalâ„ ¢, a  web-based application for managing employee performance  from Halogen Software. â€Å"We liked the way it looked, and we really liked the user-friendliness of it. It’s easy for the managers to use and it’s customizable without overwhelming them,† Poulos said. After two days of training by Halogen staff, four members of Jelly Belly’s HR team set  out to train the company’s supervisors on the new system. About 50 managers received a crash course in using Halogen eAppraisal, and then used it to complete annual employee evaluations in May. Jelly Belly’s HR team is now customizing the software to include more relevant competencies and to respond to comments from managers and staff on the new system. â€Å"The feedback has been really positive, from both managers and employees as well. Some staff said this was the best appraisal they’ve had,† Poulos said, â€Å"They felt the evaluations were fair and realistic, and supervisors had the scope to provide more relevant and legitimate comments than they could before. Rather than just clicking on a bunch of canned comments, they were accurately reviewing the employee.† Results The new automated employee performance appraisal system has completely formalized and organized Jelly Belly’s employee evaluation process. â€Å"It allows us to standardize competencies across job classifications, add signature and comment sections to make our process more interactive, and increase accessibility for remote managers,† Brown said. Under Jelly Belly’s old system, employees conducting reviews started from scratch once a year with new  performance journals. Halogen eAppraisal will let them log notes throughout the year and regularly update their on-line appraisals. Employees use one consistent employee evaluation form to add comments and to sign their appraisals. The web-based product helps remote and traveling managers maintain access to the forms and the data they need to evaluate their staff. â€Å"In our old system, a few folks in Chicago would have access to the system. But we have managers in California with Chicago subordinates. It’s important that they can share the same forms across the board. And we have folks who are on the road a lot or are working out of home offices, so having them be able to access this is a huge point for us,† Brown explained. Organizing and automating the appraisal process results in performance appraisals that are more accurate and fair, Brown noted. â€Å"This is important because, after all, an employee appraisal is a legal document,† he said. The new system is also helping Jelly Belly  track training requirements and development  in its staff, Poulos added. â€Å"We’ve always had a separate training manual. Now we can go in to the evaluations and more easily monitor employees’ skills development, see what training is needed by individuals and check the due dates for training and renewal. That makes it much easier for us to keep track,† Poulos noted. The new employee performance and talent management system has proven to be a big time-saver for Jelly Belly’s HR team. â€Å"Since this year was the first time using the new system, it took us a little longer than it will next year. But the process was a whole lot faster,† Poulos said. â€Å"It has already saved us a lot of time, and we got everybody’s appraisals done in one shot.† The new system is also helping Jelly Belly to better align employee goals with the company’s business objectives. And for one of America’s best-known candy companies, it doesn’t get any sweeter than that. CASE STUDY 2 2) Saving $20 million with a new appraisal system Most people enjoy having their performance appraised about as much as root canal treatment. Executives and HR professionals have a different view of these systems. Executives see Performance Management Systems (PMS) as a tool to help them  achieve their companies’  business objectives, whereas HR professionals see them as an opportunity to  assess and enhance performance of individuals. Let us examine the multi-million dollar opportunity that an HR professional found in his company’s performance management system. Yellow Freight System, one of the largest transport companies in the US, found itself competing with smaller companies on the basis of price and losing money for the first time in many years. The financial shock caused soul searching and strategy reformulation at the highest levels of the company. The top management concluded that only very large companies with the best talent would survive the newly introduced deregulation policy. This resulted in a programme of route expansion, employee reorientation and reorganisation into a hub-and-spoke transport system. Yellow Freight’s  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœs board of directors decided to train the entire workforce to take advantage of the realities of the deregulated environment. The head of HR was told to recruit a manager for Human Resource Development (HRD) who could provide employees state-of-the-art knowledge and development, which would help differentiate Yellow Freight from its competitors. The HRD manager’s first step was to define the  new department’s mission as â€Å"helping management manage and improve employee performance.†Ã‚  A needs analysis conducted suggested that branch managers, sales representatives and front-line supervisors needed to be trained. The HRD department conducted a performance audit  to identify the group, which had the  greatest potential to improve performance. A sample of employees from each of the three groups was identified based on functional considerations. Individuals were drawn from each major geographic region, from different size terminals, from every job function, all levels of management, and with high, average and low levels of job performance. This type of sample allowed each group in the company to feel that they had been represented. It also allowed the HRD department to observe exemplary and poor performers, and provided excellent information on why some employees performed better than others. Performance measures and standards were identified  for each of the three groups. Actual performance data was collected, where available, and the value of the average performer’s results was compared to the value of the exemplar’s performance. A performance improvement potential was defined as the gap between the performance of the exemplar and the average performance of the group. The largest gaps coupled with the largest number of performers pointed to the areas with the greatest potential return on investment. The HRD department also  searched for causes  for these performance gaps. Solutions that  seemed to close the gaps  were suggested to the performers. The main finding of the study was that while job responsibilities were not  consistent from location to location for any given job title, the work that had to get done was. Yellow Freight’s  new performance appraisal system  was designed as a performance management system. This meant that it was designed first as a tool for supervisors to use when managing employee performance, and second as a tool for evaluation and compensation. The performance management aspect of the programme focused on how to write accomplishment-based performance standards, design feedback systems, and troubleshoot performance problems and reward employees. To make sure the new programme would succeed,  Yellow Freight  provided additional training to improve interpersonal and communication skills. This case illustrates how a transport company responded to external deregulatory pressures and trained every manager and supervisor to manage more effectively and improve the performance of their employees. Results showed that an overwhelming percentage of the trainees felt the programme was useful; they met the learning objectives and were using the skills taught. Performance changes grossed   Ã‚   over $20 million in one year for  Yellow Freight! CASE STUDY 3 3) Case Study on the Performance Appraisal at Xerox In  the  mid-1980s  Xerox  Corporation  was  faced  with  a  problem—its  performance  appraisal system was not working. Rather than motivating the employees, its system was leaving them discouraged and disgruntled. Xerox recognized this problem and developed a new system to eliminate it. THE OLD SYSTEM The original system used by Xerox encompassed seven  main principles: 1. The appraisal occurred  once a  year. 2. It required employees to document their accomplishments. 3. The  manager  would  assess  these  accomplishments  in  writing  and   Assign  numerical ratings. 4. The appraisal included a summary written appraisal and a rating from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (exceptional). 5. The ratings were on a forced distribution, controlled at the 3 level or below. 6. Merit increases were tied to the summary rating level. 7. Merit increase information and  performance appraisals occurred in one  session. This system resulted in inequitable ratings and was cited by employees as a major source of  dissatisfaction. In fact, in 1983, the Reprographic Business Group (RBG), Xerox’s main copier  division, reported that 95 percent of its employees received either a 3 or 4 on their appraisal. Merit raises for people in these two groups only varied by 1 to 2 percent. Essentially, across-the-  board raises were being given to  all employees, regardless of performance. THE NEW SYSTEM Rather than attempting to fix the old appraisal system, Xerox formed a task force to create a new system from scratch. The task force itself was made up of senior human resources executives; however, members of the task force also consulted with councils of employees and a council of  middle managers. Together they created a new system, which differed from the old one in many key respects: 1. The absence of a numerical rating system 2. The presence of a half-year feedback session. 3. The provision for development planning. 4. Prohibition in the appraisal guidelines of the use  of subjective assessments of  performance. The new system has three stages, as opposed to the one-step process of the old system. These stages are spread out over the course of the year. The first stage occurs at the beginning of the year when the manager meets with each employee. Together, they work out a written agreement on the employee’s goals, objectives, plans, and tasks for the year. Standards of satisfactory  performance are explicitly spelled out in measurable, attainable, and  specific terms. The second stage is a  mid-year, mandatory feedback and discussion session between the manager  and the employee. Progress toward objectives and performance strengths and weaknesses are discussed, as well as possible means for improving performance in the latter half of the year. Both the  manager  and the  employee  sign an  Ã¢â‚¬Å"objectives  sheet†Ã‚  indicating that the  meeting  took  place. The third stage in the appraisal process is the formal performance review, which takes place at year’s end. Both the manager and the employee prepare a written document, stating how well the employee met the preset performance targets. They then meet and discuss the performance of the employee,  resolving  any  discrepancies  between  the  perceptions  of  the  manager  and  theemployee. This meeting emphasizes feedback and improvement. Efforts are made to stress the  positive aspects of the employee’s performance as well as the  negative. This stage also includes a developmental planning session in which training, education, or development experiences that can help the employee are discussed. The merit increase discussion takes place in a separate meeting from the performance appraisal, usually a month or two later. The discussion usually centres on the specific reasons for the merit raise amount,  such as performance, relationship with  peers, and position in salary range. This allows the employee to better see the reasons behind the salary increase amount, as opposed to the  summary rank, which tells the employee very little. A follow-up survey was conducted the year after the implementation of the new appraisal system. Results were as follows: 81 percent better understood work group objectives  84 percent considered the new appraisal fair   72 percent said they understood how  their merit raise was determined 70 percent met their personal and work objectives  77 percent considered the system a step  in the right direction In conclusion, it can be clearly seen that the new system is a vast improvement over the previous one. Despite the fact that some of the philosophies, such as the use of self-appraisals, run counter  to conventional management practices, the  results speak for themselves. QUESTIONS 1. What type of performance appraisal is central to new system at Xerox? Which, if any, of  the criteria for a successful appraisal does this new system have? 2. Given the emphasis on employee development, what implications does this have for  hiring and promotions? 3.How  do  you  think,  management  feels  about the  new  performance  appraisal  system? Why? 4. Are there any potential negative aspects of the new performance appraisal system CONCLUSION Organisations need some means of ensuring performance standards are being achieved and objectives are being met. They also need to plan for the future by setting organisational objectives. These should be achieved through personal objectives agreed at the appraisal. This is vital for all employees in order to maintain a competitive position, and it is important that the method for doing this is successful. All the material in the ‘Skills of Appraisal and Performance Review’ resource is dedicated to that end. However, underlying the methods, practices and techniques there must be crucial managerial thoughts, attitudes and activities. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Organizational Behavior by Steve Robbins The Art of HRD, Reward Management, Volume 9  by Micheal Armstrongand Helen Murlis Performance Management, Concepts, Practices and Strategies for  Organisation success by S. K. Bhatia Human resource management by sunny fernandes WEBSITES https://www.google.co.in/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=performance+appraisal&oq=performance+appri&gs_l=hp.3.0.0i10j0j0i10l8.1230.3930.0.5456.17.17.0.0.0.0.258.2039.6j10j1.17.0†¦.0†¦1c.1.28.hp..6.11.1167.T3ijeK0xX8s# https://www.google.co.in/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=performance+appraisal&oq=performance+appri&gs_l=hp.3.0.0i10j0j0i10l8.1230.3930.0.5456.17.17.0.0.0.0.258.2039.6j10j1.17.0†¦.0†¦1c.1.28.hp..6.11.1167.T3ijeK0xX8s# https://www.google.co.in/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=performance+appraisal&oq=performance+appri&gs_l=hp.3.0.0i10j0j0i10l8.1230.3930.0.5456.17.17.0.0.0.0.258.2039.6j10j1.17.0†¦.0†¦1c.1.28.hp..6.11.1167.T3ijeK0xX8s#

Mcdonald’s Green Marketing Strategy

How McDonald’s Change Their Customer Perspective and Increase Their Sales with Green Marketing The green issue has became a global issue since year 1990s, peak in year 2000s. In business, it can drive people perspective to choose which brand was good or bad. McDonald’s probably is one of the company that realize this issue is very important for their business in this century. McDonald’s is the biggest fast food chain in the world with more than 32,000 outlets in 117 countries. The company has employed more than 1. 7 million people. Last year, they’ve made 1. 2 bn out from 6. 1 bn.For years, many critics came up against McDonald’s about how bad they treat world environment and questioning how far they care about people healths, especially on obesity. The most famous â€Å"attack† to this fast food company probably was a documentary film that tells a people who eat Mcdonald’s meals for a month would hasten his death. McDonald’s al so considered to have responbility of 28% waste package (littering) in UK. Public suggested the company to more persuade their customers not to do littering. And also, public critics McDonald’s happy meal which caused early obesity to child.Those critics had succeed to change people perspective, in year 2000, their income declined with some outlets shut as their new record. Started in 2000s, McDonald’s is fighting back, massively and quietly counter the critics with green marketing. It is not only to increase the company sales, but more important to change the way customers think about McDonald’s, their perspective. But how they do it? McDonald’s is not sustainable company from the beginning, they has core DNA to create delicious food, fatty foods, and sugary foods.They must be careful to take an action, the green strategy not only have to change customers willing to buy, but also it could reduce cost and generate more valuable profit. McDonald’s i s aiming to blow up their green with five criteria, there are nutrition and well-being, sustainable supply chain, environmental responbility, employee experience, and community. They started to create a new logo –switching their traditional red background with the deep green one- to promote a eco-friendlier image.McDonald’s has done a lot of things in order to prove their environmental responbility to their customers, especially by reduce the energy they used. In Germany, at less 100 McDonald’s restaurant would use the green logo by the end of year 2009. And also, some restaurant in Great Britain and France would too. They started to use eco-friendly package – 80 percent of their package was made of renewable resources-. They change white napkins with plain brown, which saves 1. 3 million dollars annualy, while reducing energy, woods and water use.In France, some restaurants has made an innovation to use eco-friendly sofware that can reduce electricity us age by 11%. In Sweden, they use CO2 detector in their restaurants to adjust ventilation, which is reduce the usage of electricity by 15% anually. Various anti-littering campaign is spread to many countries, such as Portugal, UK, France, Switzerland, Australia, and others countries. From their menu, they change a bit in the name of their customer health, they reduce French fries size, adding fruits to its food, bring more healthier salad, less sugar drinks and foods, even low fat foods.Moreover, in Germany, there are some restaurants that provide no burgers and sells salad at just 7 euros, they can choose 5 traditional salads and mix it. Another weapons is sells coffee –sustainbly grown coffee and organic milk- with brand McCafe, while they offering low-calorie foods in the other sides. This strategy was made a significant growth, in Germany there are currently 1386 reaturants with 737 integrated McCafe inside, encouraged by a worlwide revenues of 23. 5 billions dollars.They a lso made a contribution to the local communities, all supply of each restaurants is provided by the local farmers in that city, except their global sponsor drinks, Coca-Cola. They also prove that they care about woman livings, 28. 1% of worldwide top management (VP and Ups) are women, while 50% Company Owned Restaurant Managers are women too. The last but not least, more than 30 countries recognises McDonald’s as great place to work. All of green things above was successfully delivered to customers by various medias, it proved by the increasing growth 13% sales in year 2011 from year 2008.And also, the legendary Big Mac sales rose 10 percent last year, helping keep the company stock price to nearly $100 a share. In the other hand, the advertising budget has been estimated to exceed $2 billion. It shows that McDonald’s has successfully came back to winning by counter critics with the right strategic green marketing. They do the strategy without change the â€Å"fastfoo d† image, but they do with showing their will and contribution to the environment. Finally, it can change human perspective and willing to buy with the increasing sales as the success parameter.Sources Birkner, Christine. 2012. McDonald’s Scores Itself on Sustainability: Will Consumers Be ‘Lovin’ It’?. http://www. marketingpower. com/ResourceLibrary/Documents/newsletters/mne/2012/1/mne_mcdonalds_sustainability. pdf. September 3rd 2012. O Brien, Keith. 2012. How McDonald’s Came Back Bigger Than Ever. http://www. nytimes. com/2012/05/06/magazine/how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-ever. html? _r=1pagewanted=all&&pagewanted=all. September 3rd 2012 Environmental Leader. 2012.McDonald’s Counters Criticism With Green Marketing Effort. http://www. environmentalleader. com/2009/05/19/mcdonalds-serves-up-green-practices/. September 3rd 2012. Salisbury, Peter. 2011. Behind the Brand: McDonald’s. http://www. theecologist. org/green_green_li ving/behind_the_label/941743/behind_the_brand_mcdonalds. html. September 3rd 2012 Laura, Nerdy. 2011. McDonald’s going green – I’m lovin’ it. †¦?. http://businessnerds. wordpress. com/2011/05/29/mcdonald%E2%80%99s-going-green-%E2%80%93-i%E2%80%99m-lovin%E2%80%99-it/. September 3rd 2012.

How to Make and Use Homemade Ant Bait Traps

How to Make and Use Homemade Ant Bait Traps To get rid of ants for good, you need to use a treatment that kills the entire colony, including the queen back in the nest. Dont waste your time squishing the ants on your counters because as long as the colony is actively nesting nearby, more ants will appear. Ant baits, whether homemade or commercial, are the treatment of choice for eliminating kitchen infestations. Ant-killing bait combines a desirable ant food with a pesticide. Worker ants carry the food back to the nest, where the pesticide works on the entire colony. You can make an effective ant killer using boric acid, a low toxicity pesticide available in hardware stores and pharmacies. Identify the Ants Before you make and use homemade ant bait, youll need to confirm which type of ants you have. Ants that youd find in your kitchen usually fall into one of two groups: sugar ants or grease ants.   From an entomological perspective, theres really no such thing as sugar ants. People use the term sugar ants to describe any number of ants that happen to like sweets. Depending on where you live, your sugar ants may actually be Argentine ants, odorous house ants, pavement ants, or some other kind of ants. Grease ants, also referred to as protein-loving ants, prefer proteins or fats over sugars. This doesnt mean they wont eat sweets, but theyre more interested in food with some protein content in it. Grease ants include little black ants, big-headed ants, and pavement ants, among others. To determine which kind of ants you have, do a taste test. Put a teaspoon of jelly and a teaspoon of peanut butter  in the area where you see the most ant traffic. Tape down a piece of waxed paper, or use a paper plate, and apply the bait on the paper or plate to avoid smearing jelly or peanut butter onto your counters or floor. Next, determine which type of baits the ants prefer. If they went for jelly, make a sugar ant bait. Ants that prefer peanut butter will respond to a protein-based bait. Now youre ready to make your homemade ant bait. Ingredients: Break Out the Borax Whether you have sugar or grease ants, boric acid is an effective, minimally toxic pesticide that you can use to create effective ant-killing bate. Both boric acid and sodium borate salts are derived from the element boron, which occurs naturally in soil, water, and rocks. Boric acid is a low-toxicity pesticide, but that does not mean its nontoxic. Virtually any substance can be harmful or fatal if used improperly. Read the label carefully, and follow any directions or cautionary information on the boric acid package. You can purchase boric acid at your local pharmacy or hardware store. Its commonly used as an antiseptic or mixed with water for use as an eyewash. To create a homemade ant killer, youll need to purchase borax in a powder or granule form. How to Make Homemade Ant Killer Use either of the following methods, depending on what kind of ants you have: Sugar ant bait recipe:  Mix 2 tablespoons of mint jelly with about  ¼ teaspoon of boric acid powder. Research suggests that mint jelly is the best sugar ant lure, but you can also try another jelly flavor if you dont have mint jelly in your fridge. Grease ant bait recipe:  Mix 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of honey, and about  ½ teaspoon of boric acid powder. Protein-loving ants respond best to a bait made of both protein and sugar. Use and Application Place your ant bait in an area where you see ants the most. You want the bait to be somewhere along their regular travel path. Use masking tape to secure a square of waxed paper or cardboard, and place the ant-killing mixture on it. If you chose a good location and prepared the right kind of bait, youll probably find ants swarming around the bait within a few hours. If you dont, try moving the bait to a different location. How It Works Boric acid works primarily as a stomach toxin on ants. The worker ants will carry the bait food, loaded with boric acid, back to the nest. There, the ants in the colony will ingest it and die. The boric acid seems to interfere with the ants metabolism, although scientists arent exactly sure how it does so. Sodium borate salts affect an insects exoskeleton, causing the insect to desiccate. Tips and Warnings Keep children and pets away from the ant bait mixture. Although boric acid has low toxicity, you dont want your dog or cat licking up the bait, nor should you allow children to come in contact with it. Store the boric acid and any extra bait mixture where children and pets cannot access it. You will need to replace the bait regularly with a fresh batch, as the ants wont be interested in jelly or peanut butter once it dries up. Continue putting out bait until you no longer see ants. Sources Ant Baits: A Least Toxic Control, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, accessed May 1, 2012Boric Acid (Technical Fact Sheet), National Pesticide Information CenterMaking Your Own Ant Bait, Michigan State University Extension (General Fact Sheet)Boric Acid, National Pesticide Information Center (PDF)Sugar Ants, Washington State University Extension

From the Ostrich of the Mesozoic Era to Modern Birds

From the Ostrich of the Mesozoic Era to Modern Birds Youd think it would be an easy matter to tell the story of bird evolution- after all, it was the striking adaptations of finches on the Galapagos Islands that, in the 19th century, led Charles Darwin to formulate the theory of evolution. The fact is, though, that gaps in the geological record, differing interpretations of fossil remains, and the exact definition of the word bird have all prevented experts from coming to a consensus about the distant ancestry of our feathered friends. Still, most paleontologists agree on the broad outlines of the story, which goes as follows. The Birds of the Mesozoic Era Although its reputation as the first bird has been overblown, there are good reasons to consider Archaeopteryx the first animal to inhabit a place more on the bird than on the dinosaur end of the evolutionary spectrum. Dating from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, Archaeopteryx sported such avian features as feathers, wings, and a prominent beak, though it had some distinctly reptilian traits as well (including a long, bony tail, a flat breastbone, and three claws jutting out of each wing). Its not even certain that Archaeopteryx could fly for extended periods of time, though it would easily have fluttered from tree to tree. (Recently, researchers announced the discovery of another basal avilian, Aurornis, that predated Archaeopteryx by 10 million years; its unclear, though, if this was any more a true bird than Archaeopteryx was.) From whence did Archaeopteryx evolve? Heres where matters become a bit ambiguous. While its reasonable to assume that Archaeopteryx derived from small, bipedal dinosaurs (Compsognathus is often cited as a likely candidate, and then there are all those other basal avilians of the late Jurassic period), that doesnt necessarily mean that it lay at the root of the entire modern bird family. The fact is that evolution tends to repeat itself, and what we define as birds may have evolved multiple times during the Mesozoic Era- for example, its possible that two famous birds of the Cretaceous period, Ichthyornis and Confuciusornis, as well as the tiny, finch-like Iberomesornis, evolved independently from raptor or dino-bird forebears. But wait, things get even more confusing. Because of gaps in the fossil record, not only could birds have evolved multiple times during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but they could also have de-evolved- that is, become secondarily flightless like modern ostriches, which we know descended from flying ancestors. Some paleontologists believe certain birds of the late Cretaceous, like Hesperornis and Gargantuavis, may have been secondarily flightless. And heres an even more dizzying idea: what if the small, feathered raptors and dino-birds of the age of dinosaurs were descended from birds, and not the other way around? A lot can happen in the space of tens of millions of years! (For example, modern birds have warm-blooded metabolisms; its entirely likely that small, feathered dinosaurs were warm-blooded as well.) Thunder Birds, Terror Birds, and the Demon Duck of Doom A few million years before the dinosaurs went extinct, they had pretty much disappeared from South America (which is a bit ironic, considering thats where the very first dinosaurs probably evolved, back in the late Triassic period). The evolutionary niches that had once been occupied by raptors and tyrannosaurs were quickly filled by large, flightless, carnivorous birds that preyed on smaller mammals and reptiles (not to mention other birds). These terror birds, as theyre called, were typified by genera like Phorusrhacos and the big-headed Andalgalornis and Kelenken, and prospered until a few million years ago (when a land bridge opened between North and South America and mammalian predators decimated the giant bird population). One genus of the terror bird, Titanis, managed to prosper in the southernmost reaches of North America; if it sounds familiar, thats because its the star of the horror novel The Flock.) South America wasnt the only continent to spawn a race of giant, predatory birds. The same thing happened about 30 million years later in similarly isolated Australia, as evidenced by Dromornis (Greek for running bird, even though it doesnt seem to have been particularly fast), some individuals of which attained heights of 10 feet and weights of 600 or 700 pounds. You might assume that Dromornis was a distant but direct relative of the modern Australian ostrich, but it seems to have been more closely related to ducks and geese. Dromornis appears to have gone extinct millions of years ago, but other, smaller thunder birds like Genyornis lasted well into early historical times until they were hunted to death by aboriginal human settlers. The most notorious of these flightless birds may be Bullockornis, not because it was particularly bigger or deadlier than Dromornis but because it has been given a particularly apt nickname: the Demon Duck of Doom. Rounding out the roster of giant, predatory birds is Aepyornis, which (wouldnt you know it) dominated another isolated ecosystem, the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar. Also known as the Elephant Bird, Aepyornis may have been the biggest bird of all time, weighing close to half a ton. Despite the legend that a full-grown Aepyornis could drag off a baby elephant, the fact is that this imposing bird was probably a vegetarian. A relatively late newcomer on the giant bird scene, Aepyornis evolved during the Pleistocene epoch and lasted well into historical times, until human settlers figured out that a single dead Aepyornis could feed a family of 12 for weeks! Victims of Civilization Although giant birds like Genyornis and Aepyornis were done in by early humans, most of the attention in this regard centers on three famous birds: the moas of New Zealand, the Dodo Bird of Mauritius (a small, remote island in the Indian Ocean), and the North American Passenger Pigeon. New Zealands moas formed a rich ecological community all by themselves: among them were the Giant Moa (Dinornis), the tallest bird in history at a height of 12 feet, the smaller Eastern Moa (Emeus), and assorted other picturesquely named genera such as the Heavy-Footed Moa (Pachyornis) and the Stout-Legged Moa (Euryapteryx). Unlike other flightless birds, which at least retained rudimentary stumps, moas completely lacked wings, and they seem to have been devoted vegetarians. You can figure out the rest for yourself: these gentle birds were completely unprepared for human settlers and didnt know enough to run away when threatened- the result being that the last moas went extinct about 500 years ago. (A similar fate befell a similar, but smaller, flightless bird, New Zealands Great Auk.) The Dodo Bird (genus name Raphus) wasnt nearly as big as the typical moa, but it evolved similar adaptations to its isolated island habitat. This small, plump, flightless, plant-eating bird led a pretty much care-free existence for hundreds of thousands of years until Portuguese traders discovered Mauritius in the 15th century. The Dodos that werent easily picked off by blunderbuss-wielding hunters were torn apart by (or succumbed to diseases carried by) the traders dogs and pigs, making them the poster birds for extinction down to the present day. Reading the above, you might get the mistaken impression that only fat, flightless birds can be hunted to extinction by humans. Nothing could be further from the truth, a case in point being the Passenger Pigeon (genus name Ectopistes, for wanderer.) This flying bird used to traverse the North American continent in flocks of literally billions of individuals, until overhunting (for food, sport, and pest control) rendered it extinct. The last known passenger pigeon died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo, despite belated attempts at preservation.