Theater Review The Arabian Nights Essay Example For Students

Theater Review The Arabian Nights Essay On April 21st, 2015, the American University of Sharjahs’ College of Arts and Sciences Performing Arts Program presented Mary Zimmerman’s finest theatrical adaptation play â€Å"The Arabian Nights† in the Arts Rotunda. This play was edited and directed by Professor Anthony Tassa, who dedicated two months of rehearsals with the cast to make this performance as outstanding as it turned out to be. With the help of Professor Ted O. Rhyner, the lighting and Scenic Design coordinator and Technical Director, made the stage come to life. Zimmerman’s play first showcased in 2008 at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, having the intensity in each of the character roles within the characters themselves put a lot of pressure and expectation upon watching the final production. Furthermore, this fascinating production consisted of two acts; within these acts, a lot of scenes with different themes took place on stage. The multiple scenes in the first act mainly consisted of stories that were voiced through Shahrezade and deep into each of the stories within the other characters in order to buy more time and survive Shahryars blade. We will write a custom essay on Theater Review The Arabian Nights specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Act two talked about the slow buildup and progression of Shahryar and Shahrezade’s relationship through the tales Shahrezade told and Shahryars reaction to them. The show concludes with Shahryar confessing his love to Shahrezade. Both Acts in the play entailed a lot of characters, which were played by the same actors within different characters. Other than being the main character that the play revolved around, Shahrezade played a huge role as she was the narrator and guide to the audience to follow throughout this play. During the play, I really came to enjoy the performance of every actor but of them all, I mostly enjoyed Noor Safieh’s performance which played multiple characters like Perfect love, Tortoise and little girl. Her deliverance of each roles playfulness and outbursts were on point. Since I have studied this play thoroughly in my Theatre 242 class this semester, I could relate all that I have done on the script analysis to a live performance which to me was perfected by the deliverance in some performances and crew. Starting with her facial expressions and up to the way she used her hand gestures when performing, all of the detailed movements with her costume and props also contributed to the depth of her character. Along with her performance, her hair, costume and the set added to the success of the character at that era. Everything really blended in and could be seen plainly through some of the characters. Moreover, her final role as little girl in Act two was superb, the pitch change in her voice, with each plea and line she stated were incredible. To be able to switch in character and personality from sultry and flirtatious self to an innocent little girl was outstandingly captivating. In addition to Noor Safieh’s performance, I would also like to discuss the performance of Julian Hedlund-Drumm who played Shahryar and the Mock Khalifa’s character. Starting with the moment he entered the stage in Act one, until the very last scene in Act two, Julian was right man for this role. No one could have done it better, with his arrogance and movements on stage. Likewise, while running his lines during the course of his performance, he had demanding presence, a strong voice and remarkable spot on facial expressions. An audience like myself would not buy confidence and superiority from a character if the actor himself did not perfect it. And that is indeed what happened with his performance, his never ending need to slit his one night stands to his complete transformation at the end of act two was wonderful. I was astonished as to how much the Theatre courses in AUS could do to one’s ability to perform in such a delicate, yet manly way. .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb , .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .postImageUrl , .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb , .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:hover , .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:visited , .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:active { border:0!important; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:active , .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3cb624d58fd3f4d61ac76bbf06462ddb:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Arthur Miller In the Crucible EssayIn addition to Julian Hedlund-Drumm, Noor Safieh and the rest of the cast, the dancing scenes along with the Choir throughout the play gave the audience a sense of connection and converse with the marvelous performance. Moving on, the Technical crew did an outstanding job as well, having the stage set and built so that each scene of the play and acts fit together, really impressed me, because without them the whole play wouldn’t have had the same outcome as it did. In addition to that, the way the lights were set out and played with to satisfy the right effects for a specific scene captured the essence of both the characters and their surroundings. Special thanks and gratitude should be given the Technical Crew, Artistic team as well as the Costume and Wardrobe team for handling such a hard task in a professional manner, as it is not that easy to create a stage and whole scenery from scratch. In conclusion, being a member of the audience, while keeping in mind the notes I was taking throughout the performance, other members of the audience perception also helped me while I evaluated the play as a whole. Everyone seemed amused and interested at what came next, no yawning, no distractions and no talking took place as the performers were on stage. From what I have learnt about the story line and script, I thought to myself, something would go wrong during the show. But on the contrary, it was really entertaining and beautiful to watch. I would recommend everyone to take some time to watch this play, because it was played beautifully.

dave matthews essays

dave matthews essays The Dave Matthews Band has been a musical power house for years. They have meshed together almost every type of music together to create their extremely unique sounds and attractiveness towards their music. Dave Matthews, lead singer and guitarist has put together a band that no one will ever be able to create again. Dave picked four extremely talented and unique sounding men to join his band and together they have created some amazing music. Joining Dave in the band is Stefan Lessard on bass, Boyd Tinsley on violin, Leroi Moore on saxophone and one of the best drummers in the world, Carter Beauford. Together these men will one day leave behind a similar reputation as one of the most respected bands of all times such as The Doors, Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix. Dave Matthews has always been into music. He grew up in South Africa where he became very interested in the guitar, especially African tribal music. He says, I love African pop and jazz, but Ive never thought of what I do in those terms. He says, Ive only written one song that sounds African at all to me and that's Proudest Monkey [Crash], which has a circular structure that I associate with African music. But theirs lots of great, very inventive and very energetic music from there, and if anyone hears it in what I do, great Dave has a very unique guitar style that many take notice of. Matthews guitar lines are full of leaps and wide leaps and unexpected syncopations, cross times against Stefan Lessards bass, and Carter Beaufords drums, says John Parcekes of the New York times. Along with Daves guitar work, he has an extremely unique voice, that is an instrument of its own and has been highly thought of by the best out there. The Dave Matthews Band members are able to create such harmony within their instruments but still remain to keep each ins ...

Archaeological Hearths - Features With Benefits

Archaeological Hearths - Features With Benefits A hearth is an archaeological feature that represents the remnants of a purposeful fire. Hearths can be extremely valuable elements of an archaeological site, as they are indicators of a whole range of human behaviors and provide an opportunity for obtaining radiocarbon dates for the period that people used them. Hearths are typically used to cook food, but may also have been used to heat-treat lithics, burn pottery and/or a variety of social reasons such a beacon to let others know where you are, a way to keep predators away, or simply provide a warm and inviting gathering place. The purposes of a hearth are often discernible within the remnants: and those purposes are key to understanding the human behaviors of the people who used it. Types of Hearths Over the millennia of human history, there have been a wide variety of intentionally-built fires: some were simply piles of wood stacked on the ground, some were excavated into the ground and covered to provide steam heat, some were built up with adobe brick for use as earth ovens, and some were stacked upwards with a mix of fired brick and potsherds to act as ad hoc pottery kilns. A typical archaeological hearth falls in the middle range of this continuum, a bowl-shaped soil discoloration, within which is evidence that the contents have been exposed to temperatures between 300-800 degrees centigrade. How do archaeologists identify a hearth with this range of shapes and sizes? There are three crucial elements to a hearth: inorganic material used to shape the feature; organic material burned in the feature; and evidence of that combustion. Shaping the Feature: Fire-Cracked Rock In places in the world where rock is readily available, the defining characteristic of a hearth is often plenty of fire-cracked rock, or FCR, the technical term for rock thats been cracked by exposure to high temperatures. FCR is differentiated from other broken rock because it has been discolored and thermally altered, and although often the pieces can be refit together, there is no evidence of impact damage or deliberate stone working. However, not all FCR is discolored and cracked. Experiments recreating the processes that make fire-cracked rock have revealed that the presence of discoloration (reddening and/or blackening) and spalling of larger specimens depends both on the kind of rock being used (quartzite, sandstone, granite, etc.) and the kind of fuel (wood, peat, animal dung) used in the fire. Both of those drive the temperatures of a fire, as does the length of time the fire is lit. Well-fed campfires can easily create temperatures up to 400-500 degrees centigrade; long-sustained fires can get to 800 degrees or more. When hearths have been exposed to the weather or agricultural processes, disturbed by animals or humans, they can still be identified as scatters of fire-cracked rock. Burned Bone and Plant Parts If a hearth was used to cook dinner, the leftovers of what was processed in the hearth may include animal bone and plant matter, which can be preserved if turned to charcoal. Bone which was buried under fire becomes carbonized and black, but bones on the surface of a fire are often calcined and white. Both types of carbonized bone can be radiocarbon-dated; if the bone is large enough, it can be identified to species, and if it is well-preserved, often cut-marks resulting from butchery practices can be found. Cut-marks themselves can be very useful keys to understanding human behaviors. Plant parts can also be found in hearth contexts. Burned seeds are often preserved in hearth conditions, and microscopic plant residues such as starch grains, opal phytoliths and pollen may also be preserved if conditions are right. Some fires are too hot and will damage the shapes of plant parts; but on occasion, these will survive and in an identifiable form. Combustion The presence of burned sediments, burnt patches of earth identified by discoloration and exposure to heat, is not always macroscopically apparent, but can be identified by micromorphological analysis, when microscopically thin slices of earth are examined to identify tiny fragments of ashed plant material and burnt bone fragments. Finally, non-structured hearthshearths that either were placed on the surface and were weathered by long-term wind exposure and rain/frost weathering, made without large stones or the stones were deliberately removed later and are not marked by burned soilshave still been identified at sites, based on the presence of concentrations of large quantities of burnt stone (or heat-treated) artifacts. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Archaeology Features, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Backhouse PN, and Johnson E. 2007. Where were the hearths: an experimental investigation of the archaeological signature of prehistoric fire technology in the alluvial gravels of the Southern Plains. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(9):1367-1378. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.027Bentsen SE. 2014. Using Pyrotechnology: Fire-related features and activities with a focus on the African Middle Stone Age. Journal of Archaeological Research 22(2):141-175.Fernndez Peris J, Gonzlez VB, Blasco R, Cuartero F, Fluck H, Saà ±udo P, and Verdasco C. 2012. The earliest evidence of hearths in Southern Europe: The case of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). Quaternary International 247(0):267-277. Goldberg P, Miller C, Schiegl S, Ligouis B, Berna F, Conard N, and Wadley L. 2009.Bedding, hearths, and site maintenance in the Middle Stone Age of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 1(2):95-122. Gowlett JAJ, and Wrangham RW. 2013. Earliest fire in Africa: tow ards the convergence of archaeological evidence and the cooking hypothesis. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa 48(1):5-30. Karkanas P, Koumouzelis M, Kozlowski JK, Sitlivy V, Sobczyk K, Berna F, and Weiner S. 2004. The earliest evidence for clay hearths: Aurignacian features in Klisoura Cave 1, southern Greece. Antiquity 78(301):513–525.Marquer L, Otto T, Nespoulet R, and Chiotti L. 2010. A new approach to study the fuel used in hearths by hunter-gatherers at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Abri Pataud (Dordogne, France). Journal of Archaeological Science 37(11):2735-2746. doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.009Sergant J, Crombe P, and Perdaen Y. 2006. The ‘invisible’ hearths: a contribution to the discernment of Mesolithic non-structured surface hearths. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:999-1007.

Ancient Egyptian Art, Painting, and Sculpture Research Paper

Ancient Egyptian Art, Painting, and Sculpture - Research Paper Example Source: http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptart.html Being that ancient Egypt was a religious nation, most of the paintings and sculptures during civilization encompass the goddesses, gods, and Pharaohs.3 These were religious leaders who were considered as divine and they were accorded much respect as they determined individual fate. The ancient arts were characterized by idea according to the outlined order. The arts consisted of clear and precise lines that combined with simple shapes and colors to create some manners of order and top bring balance in the Egyptian nation. Source: http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptart.html Similarly, ancient Egyptian arts had horizontal and vertical lines, which they used in maintaining proportions in the artistic works. The artists maintained both religious and political orders, as they were involved in their artistic works. They also drew figures into sizes not considering the painter’s point of view as it was meant to define the social hierarchy of situations. A good example of this can be depicted by drawing the figure of pharaoh to be bigger in the painting paying no respect to its location.4 It also applies to greater gods and lesser gods. Egyptian sculptures were made of clay, wood, metal and stones. These materials were readily available during the period and they were regarded precious in making sculptors at the time. The use of stones in making sculpture was the most plentiful as it was considered permanent because it is hard and was available in different colors which provided a wide choices. The ancient Egyptian sculptors were very distinctive in its nature in two different ways: it is characterized as cubic and frontal. This is because it takes the form of the cubes or the... This paper stresses that ancient Egyptians arts resembled the actual life situations and nature. They conformed to strict rules which represented their three dimensional forms. Most of the paintings if not all portrayed the figures and images of real life and nature as it was easily noticeable with keen observation. The drawings and paintings were very complete and pretty and they also represented real life situations. ancient Egyptian arts had horizontal and vertical lines, which they used in maintaining proportions in the artistic works. The artists maintained both religious and political orders, as they were involved in their artistic works. They also drew figures into sizes not considering the painter’s point of view as it was meant to define the social hierarchy of situations. A good example of this can be depicted by drawing the figure of pharaoh to be bigger in the painting paying no respect to its location. It also applies to greater gods and lesser gods. Egyptian scul ptures were made of clay, wood, metal and stones. These materials were readily available during the period and they were regarded precious in making sculptors at the time. The use of stones in making sculpture was the most plentiful as it was considered permanent because it is hard and was available in different colors which provided a wide choices. The ancient Egyptian sculptors were very distinctive in its nature in two different ways: it is characterized as cubic and frontal. This report makes a conclusion that the ancient Egyptian arts, paintings, and sculpture play an important role in the life of the Egyptian. The ancient arts have certain characters which makes them distinctive from other forms of arts of other countries. This has made them stand over period and preserve their arts.

Adam Smith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Adam Smith - Essay Example Advantages of division of labor can be seen in large organizations that have various branches and finally the branches incorporate into one bigger organization. Each branch has its own set of activities that it works on and has perfected. For instance, in a manufacturing organization there could be branches such as finance, production, sales, and marketing among others. Combination of all these branches makes one large organization and bringing together activities from the various branches gives better performance than if these tasks were to be conducted by one body. In his example about pin making, Smith argues that division of labor yields better results that non specialization (Smith, 2007, p. 3). This implies that division of labor is certainly an important aspect in increasing production levels in an organization. Actually, division of labor yields multiples than what would have been produced without division of labor. Combinations of the results presented from division of labor are seemingly unachievable if each person carried out the entire process alone. Borrowing from Smith’s example of pin making, it is evident that sometimes production of one person may not even yield one complete production of a pin per day. The efficiency and change brought about by division of labor is amazing. Increasing number of branches within an organization raises the chances of more production. This implies that breaking down a large organization into various stand-alone branches adds efficiency and consequently increased production. Evidently, countries that have adopted division of labor are more productive. Each person in the society has specific tasks and upon bringing the various different tasks together, the total production of the country is great. For instance, areas with huge chunks of land are used specifically for farming and the people around those areas only dwell in

Active Listening in 4 Steps Essay Example for Free

Active Listening in 4 Steps Essay Active listening in 4 steps: The best managers make the best listeners Managers spend a good part of their workday listening to other people. But bear in mind, there’s a big difference between â€Å"passive† and â€Å"active† listening. Effective listening includes a four-step process to ensure understanding: 1. Listen to the total message.  2. Prove your understanding by using nonverbal signals. 3. Use open-ended probes. 4. Paraphrase what you hear. Motivating employees through realistic deadlines: 4 dos and donts Without deadlines, employees flounder. They can’t be aware of the urgency or priorities of a project unless their supervisors tell them. Following are four tips on motivating employees by setting realistic deadlines: 1. Do be specific  Name the target day and time. And mean what you say. If you ask for completion â€Å"next week,† don’t complain on Friday that you really needed it on Wednesday. 2. Do clarify priorities Let people know if this assignment takes precedence over any other projects they’re working on now. Avoid the old, favorite deadline â€Å"ASAP,† which usually translates in an employee’s mind as â€Å"whenever it gets done.† 3. Don’t set false deadlines  Setting a deadline earlier than necessary (because you don’t trust your employees to meet the real deadline) creates more problems than it solves. Your staff will soon learn that’s how you operate and will assume there’s always air in the schedule. As a result, they’ll always miss that first deadline, just as you knew they would. 4. Do establish an update schedule  The best-laid plans can go astray, and so can deadlines. You’ll minimize the chance of this occurring by setting up a progress report schedule when you assign the project. This is especially important for long-term projects. Motivating employees to do their best each day: 6 office communication techniques Here are six tips for motivating employees to stay on task and work together toward the common goal, according to a report by OnPoint Consulting: 1. Clarify, clarify, clarify.  2. Establish clear expectations. 3. Don’t micromanage your entrepreneurial-minded employees. But do monitor them. 4. Encourage employees to share bad news with you. 5. Solve problems quickly, but not too quickly. 6. Encourage informal and spontaneous interaction. Managing employee retention: Listen for subtle whispers of employee turnover Most good employees don’t stand up one day and quit out of the blue. They send off subtle hints that, if you’re listening, you can act on before the good employee walks out the door. That’s why it’s important to listen to statements like these that can act as an â€Å"advance warning system† for employee turnover: * This job isn’t what I thought it would be. Rather than exploring what the employee was originally told or trying to defend miscommunication, focus on the present. Ask, â€Å"How do you want your job to be?† * I’m at a plateau. I can’t grow here. Consider that a plea for job stimulation. Provide the employee with new responsibilities, cross-training opportunities or exposure to influential mentors. * I don’t get any feedback. Most employees crave regular input from their supervisors. Don’t leave them in the dark. Plan regular sessions to discuss ongoing projects and performance. * This place has too much politics. While you may not be able to eliminate all dissension and politics in the organization, you can level with the employee. If someone makes this complaint, address rumors head-on, a nd don’t play favorites. Maintaining workplace productivity: 7 common employee gripes (and how to silence them) A recent study says that 40% of managers in the United States are considered â€Å"bad bosses† by their employees. Yet most managers assume that their relationships with their employees are running smoothly. Obviously, some of those bosses are wrong †¦ and that can create major problems for workplace productivity. A Gallup Poll says organizations are 50% less productive—and 44% less profitable—when serious boss-employee conflicts exist. Employee retention strategies: 8 little things managers can do to retain the best When good employees leave for greener pastures, it makes a manager’s job much more difficult. Managers can prevent this syndrome by doing what they can to make their own pasture the greenest. While compensation helps, it’s not always cash that makes pastures greener. When salaries are equal with the marketplace, other factors take priority. Here are eight easy-to-plant â€Å"seeds† that help keep employees growing and content, according to a KEYGroup report: 1. Keep them engaged. Consider ways to provide opportunities for employees to improve on their skills or learn new skills they can use in their jobs. 2. Give praise where praise is due. Recognizing a job well done isn’t an expensive proposition, but it will mean the world to your employee. 3. Be aware of employees’ changing needs. By recognizing their changing needs, you show sensitivity to what’s going on in their lives. This builds loyalty and helps bring stability to their personal lives, which means they can focus better at work. 4. Realize that great employees thrive under great leaders. Employees won’t leave for greener pastures unless you drive them. The buck starts and stops with their leaders. 5. Conduct regular â€Å"stay† interviews. Rather than exit interviews, use regular â€Å"stay† interviews to provide an opportunity to compliment high performers on their work and inspire them to do more. 6. Create an environment where people can do their best work. By allowing employees to develop and implement their own ideas, you’ll keep them passionate about their work. 7. Create an environment of trust. Employees are happier and work harder when they trust their leaders. They decide which leaders they can trust based on how their fellow employees, company vendors and customers are treated. 8. Rid your pasture of weeds. The weeds are those poor performers and negative employees who stifle the good attitudes and high performance of their co-workers. The bottom line: Striving to keep employees happy and engaged is not just a â€Å"nice† thing to do — it’s the only way to maximize workplace productivity. Thoughtful employee retention strategies are useful not just for retaining people to avoid the high cost of recruitment. Engaged employees are creative, productive, motivated and brimming with good ideas

Maniac Magee :: essays research papers

Maniac Magee is about a boy who struggled throughout his life. His name was Jeffrey Lionel Magee, sometimes known as Maniac Magee. His parents died in a trolley accident when he was three years old. He is patient, determined, and he really wants to be loved and understood. He spent eight years in bizarre household of his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan, who hated each other but refused to divorce. They lived in the same house without speaking to each other, using Magee as their go-between. He tried to have them talk to each other but he failed, so in the middle of his school concert Magee screamed: â€Å"Talk to each other†, and then ran away. That was the beginning of his run and search for a real home. He ended up in the town of Two Mills, two hundred miles away from his aunt and uncle. The Jeffrey meats a black girl called Amanda Beale, who introduced him to the town and told him that this town is divided by race into East and West Ends. It is with Amanda and her family that Magee found a home. In Two Mills, he was called â€Å"Maniac Magee† after defeating John McNab, a giant five feet eight twelve year old child, in a baseball game. McNab was a member of the Cobras, a survivalist gang who hates and fear blacks. Magee has a strong sense of jus tice, a thirst for knowledge, and an amazing lack of fear. The only time that he showed fear in the book was when he did not walk out on trolley trestle where his parents were killed, not even to help a frightened little boy. Magee then met a new friend called Earl Grayson, an old man at the zoo. Magee helped Grayson how to read and then he found a home with him at the zoo bandstand.

Functions & Responsibilities of Hr & Admin Department of Rcl

Chapter: 1 Introduction 1. Background of the report After completion of MBA program students have to do internship in an organization for the fulfillment of the Degree. Internship program gives an opportunity of learning the real working dynamics and applied knowledge of Business Administration. I complete my M. B. A program from department of Management Studies, University of Chittagong. To complete the academic requirement I did my internship at HR department of Royal Capital Limited.My internship topic was â€Å"functions & responsibilities of HR and Admin department of Royal Capital Limited. This report is prepared to focus on the functions and responsibilities of HR and Admin department of Royal Capital Limited. 1. 2Rationale of the report Internship program is the part of MBA program which gives a scope to MBA students to prepare a study report focusing solution to problematic issues of management of the organization. It is an opportunity to gather practical knowledge and redu ce the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.It also gives opportunity to the future managers to deal with practical problems and give solution in real business life. I did my internship in Royal Capital Limited which is a leading equity brokerage house in the country. My internship report is based on the practical experience through working at the HR department of the company. 1. 3Objectives of the report The main objective of this report is to fulfill the academic requirement as well as the following objectives: †¢ To understand the Human Resource Management practices. †¢ To have a clear picture of the basic HR functions. To identify the clear picture of HR practices in RCL. †¢ To analyze the performance of the HR & Admin department of RCL. 1. 4Methodology and Data collection The report is prepared on the basis of experience and data collection through direct supervision at the work place. The methodology followed for the purpose of the study has been desk research as well as field survey. The desk research method has been followed to review the existing literature on the subject. Both primary and secondary data were collected to prepare the report.The main sources of the primary data to prepare the company profile and its performance had been collected from organization’s web site and the concerned with HR Manager of Royal Capital Limited and secondary data collected from the web site and books for the purpose of preparing the literature part. 1. 5Scope of the report The report is prepared on the basis of direct supervision and collection and analysis of primary and secondary data. It provides information of a successful broker house, its practice and prospect of HR and Admin department.It will guide and give complete idea to a learner and clients about broker house and its activities. This report also provides gridlines to a learner about practice of HR and functions and responsibilities of HR and admin department. 1. 6Limit ations of the report The study has been conducted subject to certain limitation. The rate of success of my study may be limited as I might have failed to collect proper information due to lack of my experience, some data could not be supplied for their confidentiality and official secrecy. The secondary sources of data were not available and well organized.In addition to the above, RCL is a private limited company, which does not does not provide with all the necessary information as required due to their sensitivity and competitiveness in regard to its competitors. In spite of these limitations, I have tried my best to pinpoint various findings of this company. I, therefore, hope that the study will be evaluated subject to the recognition of the above limitation. 1. 7MY WORKING AREA As I complete MBA program major in HRM from department of Management Studies, University of Chittagong my interest was to know the HR practice in real life in the organizations.I got the opportunity to work in the HR department of Royal Capital Limited under HOD-HR manager. My internship topic was â€Å"functions & responsibilities of HR & Admin department of Royal Capital Limited†. My organization supervisor helps me to closely work with the functions and responsibilities perform by them to successful continuation of a company in the competitive business environment. Chapter: 2 Company Overview 2. 1Royal Capital limited Royal Capital Limited is a leading equity brokerage house in the country.It has diverse clientele of institutions, high net worth individuals, foreign funds and retail investors which help to success in the market. Royal Capital Limited was established in 1995 and over time become one of the largest stock broking companies in the country. Side by side it has also dealership licences. It’s a member of Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange. Its authorized capital is TK 150 million; paid-up capital is TK 65 million. There are 12 offices and branches of Ro yal Capital Limited situated in Dhaka, Chittagong, Feni, Jessore, Bogra and Khulna.Its corporate head office is located in Chittagong. Its number of employees is 110. The number of Beneficiary Owner Account holders is 37,112. Its daily average turnover is US $ 1. 7 million. The market share of Royal Capital Limited is 1. 20%. Royal Capital Limited is a depository participant of Central Depository Bangladesh Limited. Mr. A. Q. I Chowdhury, OBE is the chairman of the company, a prominent business personality of the country. He has a good track record of running the manufacturing and service oriented multinational company like James Finlay Plc for the last 20 years.He was awarded by Her Excellency Queen Elizabeth II the â€Å"Order of British Empire† (OBE) for his contribution to the society and ethical business. Under his leadership a young dedicated, skilled professional team has been develop to render the service as required by customers. 2. 1. 1Mission The mission of Royal C apital Limited is to develop the company into an ideal and antique financial institution by providing excellent financial service to its customers. 2. 1. 2Objectives of Royal Capital Limited Success of an investor depends on good understanding of market, reliable information, sound fund management and risk planning.Royal Capital Limited is the right place to get all those services. It has already gained confidence of Investors of all class for its sincere efforts to assist client in every possible way. Objectives of Royal Capital Limited are as follows: ? To help client understand investment choices. ? To provide timely account and transaction information that accurately reflects the investment positions of the client. ? To Build and justify clients trust. ? Provide clients with frank, timely feedback on how we are doing and how we can improve our service to clients. 2. 1. 3ManagementRoyal Capital Limited has a policymaking body which consists of 7 members of whom 2 are elected. The board comprises of one Chairman, one Managing Director, three directors and 2 members. It has provision for 23,000 clients. The executive power of RCL is vested with the Department Manager. 2. 1. 4Sister concerns The followings are the concern business of Royal Capital Limited: ? Royal Trade International ? Royal Cuisine ? Royal Garden. 2. 2Major businesses and product divisions As a broker house Royal Capital Limited perform following activities: ? Brokerage Activities:Royal Capital limited provides trade execution activities for clients in Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange under Securities & Exchange Commissions Law. ? Dealer Account: The SEC Act defines a dealer as someone who is engaged in the business of buying and selling securities for his own account that would require their registration as a dealer under SEC Act. Also Royal Capital limited has a dealer Account, Name: ROYAL CAPITAL LTD. B. O ID: 1201590000001005. ? Stock Broking Account: The process of investing in the sh are market, either individually or through a broker is known as stock broking.Stock broker is also an individual who makes stock trades on behalf of his or her clients. ? Margin Loan: Margin loans are taken to finance the purchase of securities, usually the purchase of stock (also known as equity). Margin loans normally are extended by the same financial services firm (stock brokerage firm or securities firm) that the customer uses to trade in the security in question. The maximum value of a margin loan relative to the value of the underlying securities is set by the SEC. Each firm is free to implement more stringent lending policies than prescribed by the SEC. Margin Loan Activities & Agreement of RCL: In this segment Royal provide two kinds of A/C: Cash: This type of account asks to client deposit cash and then client can use that cash to buy stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other investments. But sometimes client can take loan for buying securities, it’s providing for short time. It’s also called unauthorized loan. Margin: With a margin account the broker lends a portion of the funds at the time of purchase and the security acts as collateral. The loan in the account is collateralized by the securities and cash.If the value of the stock drops sufficiently, the account holder will be required to deposit more cash or sell a portion of the stock. ? Margin Call: A broker demands an investor using margin to deposit additional money or securities so that the margin account brought up to the minimum maintenance margin. Margin calls occur when an account value depresses to a value calculated by the broker's particular formula. This is sometimes called a â€Å"fed call† or â€Å"maintenance call†. ? Margin facilities of Royal Capital Limited:A financial institution must have some written guidelines on the credit approval process and the approval authorities of individuals or committees as well as the basis of those decisions. Royal Capital Limited provides credit facilities to the customer as per Margin Rules, 1999. ? Margin Risk Management Process: Margin risk management process should cover the entire margin cycle starting from the origination of the margin in a financial institution’s books to the point the margin is extinguished from the books. ? Internet Trading Service (ITS): This is a border less trading system.Investor who have access to internet take part in share market from any part of the world, and can do his own buy-sale at own pace. Investor interested to may be able to log on to www. bangladeshtockmarket. com to get all the relevant information on the Internet trading and also for trading. ? Real time trading facility in both Dhaka & Chittagong Stock Exchanges: A client can trade any bourse simultaneously from any of our branches. ? Xpress Settlement On selling shares through ‘Xpress settlement’ cheque is issued on the same day & not on the exchange payout date.This money can then b e withdrawn immediately. ? Any Branch Trading Facility RCL is giving any branch trading facility to its client. ? Depository Service A depository is an organization formed to provide electronic depository facilities to share holder under prevailing law in the electronic form through the medium of depository participants (DPS). The Central depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) is the only depository in Bangladesh, which is setup and governed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Bangladesh (SEC).RCL is among the few Depository Participant (DP) in the country and the first DP who started related service right from introduction of this in the country. ? Beneficiary Owner (BO) Account A BO account is mandatory for applying IPO shares and also for trading of CDBL shares in secondary market. By opening a BO account with RCL you can enjoy both facilities. ? Demat Securities Dematerialization is the process of converting physical securities in electronic form. RCL is trusted name in provi ding that service for its client. ? PledgeDepository service with RCL allows you to pledge demated securities with any bank or financial institution to avail loan. ? Research Activities: This is one of the issues that the Royal Capital Limited management was very much serious about and accordingly put due emphasis according to the need of the capital market. Stock business is information based. Right information at the right time in the right place is the core of the game. So RCL publish some very informative and analytical publications intended to help explore the financial performance of the listed organization so that the client can take wise investment decision. . 3Board of directors Chairman – Mr. A Q I Chowdhury, OBE CEO & MD- Mr. Munir Ahmed Director- Ms Jesmin Islam Chowdhury Director- Mr. Sami Chowdhury Director- Mr. Saadi Chowdhury SWOT Analysis of Royal Capital Limited |Positive |Negative | | |Strength(s) |Weakness(w) | |Internal |Goodwill. |Inadequate IT system. | |Factors |Credibility. |Lack of trained ersonnel. | | |Strong financial condition; ample financial resource. |Absence of risk management assessment. | | | |Insufficient research and development. | | |Efficient and experience management team. |Lack of strategic planning. | | |Prompt service. | | | |Transparency. | | | |Never a default to client and to DSE, CSE and CDBL. | | |Opportunity(O) |Threats(T) | |External |Immense scope to increase trade. |Entry of new competitor. | |Factor | |Increased competition. | | | |Share market crisis. | 2. 4Organogram of RCL: Royal capital Limited at A Glance Name of the company: Royal Capital Limited. Type of company: Private limited.Date of incorporation : 1st April 1995. Member Registered No: Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd. Registration No. 3. 1/Dse-21/2006 Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd. Registration No: 3. 21/CSE-121053 Authorized capital: BDT 150 million. Paid up capital: BDT 65 million. No. of Offices & Branches: 12 No. of employees: 110 Number of BO holders: 37,112 Daily average turnover: US$ 1. 7million Market share: 1. 20% Chairman of the company: Mr. A Q I Chowdhury, OBE CEO & MD: Mr. Munir Ahmed Administration : 07 members Board of Directors Organization Address: Corporate Office:Finlay House (Ground Floor), Agrabad C/A, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Chapter: 3 Literature Review 3. 1Human Resource Management HRM involves all kind of decisions related with human resource. HRM can be define as a specific combination of HR practices, work structures and process that maximizes employees knowledge, skill, commitment and flexibility. Storey (1995) defines HRM as a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to obtain competitive advantage developed showing how HRM practices leads to overall corporate performance.According to Khatri (1999), people are one of the most important factors providing flexibility and adaptability to organizations. Rundle (1997) argues that one needs to bear in mind that people (managers), not the firm, are the adaptive mechanism in determining how the firm will respond to the competitive environment. Several scholars have noted that managing people is more difficult than managing technology or capital (Barney, 1991; Lado and Wilson, 1994). 3. 1. 1Human Resource Management: Nature Human Resource Management is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each are met.HRM practices refer to organizational activities directed at managing the pool of human resources and ensuring that the resources are employed towards the fulfillment of organizational goals (Schuler & Jackson, 1987; Schuler & MacMillan, 1984; Wright & Snell, 1991). Redman and Matthews (1998) identify an ‘HRM bundle’ of key practices which support service organizations quality strategies, these being: ? Careful recruitment and selection, for example, ‘total quality recruitment’, ‘zero defects recruitment’, ‘right first time recrui tment’. ? Extensive remuneration systems, for example, bonuses available for staff willing to be multi-skilled. Team working and flexible job design, for example, encouraging a sense of cohesiveness and designing empowered jobs. ? Training and learning, for example, front line staff having enhanced interpersonal and social skills. ? Employee involvement, for example, keeping employees informed of key changes in the organization. ? Performance appraisals with links to contingent reward systems, for example, gathering customer feedback to recognize the work by employees over and above their expected duties, which in turn is likely to lead to a bonus for staff. 3. 1. 2Human Resource Management: ObjectivesHuman Resource Management (HRM) ‘is about matching employment practices to an organization’s strategy’, according to Hendry (1999, p. 3). In Torrington, Hall and Taylor’s (2008) opinion, its objectives are to ensure that organizations are well staffed and that those employees are well treated, motivated and committed to their work to provide best performance. ? To help the organization reach its goals. ? To ensure effective utilization and maximum development of human resources. ? To ensure respect for human beings. To identify and satisfy the needs of individuals. To ensure reconciliation of individual goals with those of the organization. ? To achieve and maintain high morale among employees. ? To provide the organization with well-trained and well-motivated employees. ? To increase to the fullest the employee's job satisfaction and self-actualization. ? To develop and maintain a quality of work life. ? To be ethically and socially responsive to the needs of society. ? To develop overall personality of each employee in its multidimensional aspect. ? To enhance employee's capabilities to perform the present job. To equip the employees with precision and clarity in transaction of business. ? To inculcate the sense of team spirit, team work and inter-team collaboration. 3. 1. 3The HRM Department is responsible for: ? Understanding and relating to employees as individuals, thus identifying individual needs and career goals. ? Developing positive interactions between workers, to ensure collated and constructive enterprise productivity and development of a uniform organizational culture. ? Identify areas that suffer lack of knowledge and insufficient training, and accordingly provide remedial measures in the form of workshops and seminars. Innovate new operating practices to minimize risk and generate an overall sense of belonging and accountability. ? Recruiting the required workforce and making provisions for expressed and promised payroll and benefits. ? Implementing resource strategies to subsequently create and sustain competitive advantage. ? Empowerment of the organization, to successfully meet strategic goals by managing staff effectively. ? The human resource department also maintains an open demeanor to employee grievances.Employees are free to approach the human resource team for any conceived query or any form of on-the-job stress that is bothering them. ? Performance of employees is also actively evaluated on a regular basis. Promotions are conducted and are predominantly based on the overall performance of the individual, accompanied by the span or tenure he has served the organization. The Human resource department also looks at the possibilities of the employee migrating from one job to another, maintaining the hierarchy in the company and considering the stability of post and the salary obtained over a period of time. 3. 2Functions of HRM:The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding the staffing needs of an organization and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issu es, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Human resource department of an organization consist of all human resource management functions. Job Analysis: Job analysis is one of the most important task that performed by the HR staff.Through job analysis the vacant position is find out and the job description and job specification is prepared. Job description: Job description is an organized and factual statement of the duties and responsibilities for a particular job. Job Specification: It is a statement of minimum acceptance of human qualities necessary to perform a job properly. The company selects employees according to job specification. 1. Recruitment: Recruitment involves searching for and obtaining qualified job candidates in such numbers that the organization can select the most appropriate person to fill its job needs.In addition to filling job needs, the recruitment activity should be concerned with satisfying the needs of the j ob candidates. [pic] Methods of recruitment: Job posting: The organization announces position openings through bulletin boards, company publications, and internet/intranet. Skills inventories: Manual or computerized systematic records listing employees' education, career and development interests, languages, special skills, and so on to be used in forecasting inside candidates for promotion. 2. Succession PlanningSuccession planning refers to the plans a company makes to fill its most important executive positions. It involves analysis of the demand for managers and professionals by company level, function, and skill and planning of individual career paths based on objective estimates of future needs and drawing on reliable performance appraisals and assessments of potential. 3. Selection: The selection criteria for a position are a list of the essential and desirable skills, attributes, experience, and education which an organization decides is necessary for a position. Step-1 Job analysis: Job analysis means developing job-related information. It’s the starting point in the selection plan and, for that matter, in the entire recruitment and selection process: †¢ Conducting a job analysis: Start by generally describing the purpose of the job. Define the major work processes the employee does. These are the duty statements. †¢ Decide which duties are essential: Essential duties are either critical to the job or they take up a large percentage of time. †¢ Identify the KSBs: needed to do the major duties and responsibilities. Minimum qualifications (MQs) describe the knowledge, skills, and behaviors (KSBs) needed to perform the major duties of a job upon entry to the job †¢ Developing minimum qualifications: Using the job analysis, identify the KSBs that are necessary on the first day of the job. ? Step-2 Identifying selection procedures Following job analysis, the second stage in developing a selection plan is deciding how you will eva luate applicants and select the best person for the job. †¢ Training and experience evaluations – This method, often called TE, looks at an applicant's training and experience as they relate to the job. Supplemental Questions – Supplemental questions give applicants specific guidelines to describe the competencies they gained through training and experience. †¢ Written tests – Written tests can be good selection tools, but they aren’t always practical. Written exams cost a lot of time and money to develop. †¢ Performance tests – Performance tests involve having an applicant perform small samples of an actual duty. Examples include: †¢ Physical tests – Physical tests often include endurance or strength measurements, which could adversely impact on women, older workers, and others. References – If not done well, reference checks can result in the same problems as informal, unstructured interviews. †¢ Work Sample – A work sample is some tangible thing an applicant has produced. It should represent the applicant's level of competence in a specific area. †¢ Interview – The oral interview remains the most popular selection procedure, but they also need to be valid and consistent. †¢ Medical examination- Medical tests are conducted to ensure physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of employee absenteeism. Appointment Letter- A reference check is made about the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal appointment letter. 4. Human Resource development: Human Resources Development (HRD) is a framework for the expansion of human capital within an organization through the development of both the organization and the individual to achieve performance improvement. HRD includes the areas of training and development, career development, and organization development: [pic] Training and development means acquiring knowledge , developing competencies and skills, adopting behaviors that improve performance in current jobs.Organization development is the diagnosis and design of systems to assist an organization with planning change. Career development is the activities and processes for mutual career planning and management between employees and organizations. 5. ORIENTATION & TRAINING After recruiting & selecting next step is to orientation & train the employees. To ensure better performance, employees must know what to do & how to do, to know this they have to go through orientation. Training Need Assessment A needs assessment is the process of identifying the â€Å"gap† between performance required and current performance.The purpose of a training needs assessment is to identify performance requirements and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by an organization’s workforce to achieve the requirements. The assessment should address resources needed to fulfill organizational mission , improve productivity, and provide quality products and services. 6. Performance Management And Appraisal: Performance management is a process that consolidates goal setting, performance appraisal and development into a single common system, the aim of which is to ensure that the employee’s performance is supporting the company’s strategic aims. . Compensation and benefits: Compensation is the financial remunerations given by the organization to its employees in exchange for their work. Employee compensation refers to all forms of pay or rewards going to employees and arising from their employment. There are two main components of employee compensation: ? Direct financial payments: wages, salaries, incentives, commissions, bonuses. ? Indirect payments: employer paid insurance and vacations. Types of benefits are as follows: †¢ Pay for time not worked It is also called â€Å"Supplement Pay Benefits†.It is generally an employer’s most costly benefits because of the large amount of time off that many employees receive. Common time off pay periods include Holidays, Vacations, Maternity leave, Sick leave, Personal days, Unemployment insurance payments for laid-off or terminated employees. †¢ Insurance benefits: workers’ compensation, health & disability insurance, mental health benefits and life insurance. †¢ Retirement benefits: pension plans, retirement benefits and survivor’s or death benefits. †¢ Services: personal services credit union and counseling services. Chapter: 4 Findings 4. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT of RCL Human Resource Management has come to be recognized as an inherent part of management, which is concerned with the human resources of an organization. Besides all other departments Royal Capital Limited also has a HR department. HR Manager is responsible person the planning the Human Resource Policy in the organization. The basic Organogram of the Human Resource Department of RCL is as f ollows |Manager (HR) | |Deputy Manager | |Assistant Manager | Senior Executive | |Executive | |Jr. Executive | The role of Human Resource department of RCL is as follows: ? Human resource planning, recruitment and selection. ? Making Human Resource Policy. ? Under taking training programs for skill development. ? Ethical issues and codes of conduct ? Maintain liaison with the administrative manager. ? Grievances handling of the employees. ? Keep proper security of the company assets. ? To arrange promotions for staffs. Maintain personal files & records of employees. ? Conducting motivational programs. ? Taking care of in-house cleanliness, health and safety. 1. Human Resource Planning Human resource planning is a process that identifies current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Manpower planning is the process by which an organization can engage the right number of people for the right job at the right time. The manpower needs of RCL reviewed twice in a year. The responsibility of HR Planning is on HOD-HR. RCL follow the following steps for effective human resource planning:Step 1 Analysis of existing positions An analysis of all post done with respect to the requirement of those posts for the current and future functioning of the organization. They use trend analysis and ratio analysis for forecasting personnel needs. Step 2 Estimation of job vacancies The number of job vacancies which will occur in the coming year estimated considering the following matters: ? Promotions ? Demotions ? Separation due to Retirement, Resignation and/or Dismissal Creation of new position due to increased work load, i. e. Workload P = No. Of peopleStep 3 Taking stocks of the existing manpower skills Then a list is prepared of each employee which contains his/her name, educational qualification, experience in each trade/position, area of specialization, special award received, outstanding achievements etc. Step 4 Arriving at the net manpowe r requirements & initiating further activities The gross manpower requirements, assessed as per Step 2 compared with the availability of existing skills arrived at Step 3. The comparison leads to one of the following situations: All vacancies may be filled up by the redeployment of existing manpower.The redeployment can be done based on the skills identified in the Performance and Potential appraisals of every employee. The options before management are Promotions, Transfer, Retraining, Reallocation of work and Job Rotation. This will occur when it is found that there is surplus manpower in certain departments/sections/branches and deficit of similar skills in other departments/sections/branches. The decisions taken by the HOD-HR and the concerned HOD and the final approval of the MD. Deficit manpower skills: If in spite of redeployment of personnel, deficit of skills remain in the organization the action is recruitment.In case of surplus manpower, retrenchment action will be resort ed to after approval from the MD. Based on the above steps the HOD-HR prepares a detailed Manpower Plan for the coming year. A copy of the Manpower Plan forwarded to all the competent authority. It is the responsibility of HOD to get approval from MD. After getting the approval it is the Manpower Plan for the coming year. Then it is the responsibility of the HOD-HR to institute necessary subsequent actions based on the Manpower Plan i. e. Promotions, Transfers, Retraining, Job Rotation, Recruitment etc. fter carrying out the above Manpower Planning exercise if new positions need to be added, it need to get approval from the Board. 2. Recruitment and selection of employee Recruitment involves searching for and obtaining qualified job candidates in such numbers that the organization can select the most appropriate person to fill its job needs. In addition to filling job needs, the recruitment activity should be concerned with satisfying the needs of the job candidates. 1. Recruitment RCL have a standard recruitment procedure described as follows: [pic]Personnel requisition form contains detail the Job specification, Job responsibility and necessary qualification, experience, and skills required for the specific post. The HOD-HR sends the PRFs to the departmental heads as the number of the positions to be filled in that department. The departmental heads return the PRFs to the HOD-HR after filled up the forms. Based on the specifications in the PRF, the HR department will start the recruitment process. The recruitment process done through the following medium: †¢ Open Recruitment This involves recruitment through advertisements.The advertisement for required post will appear in major national and regional newspapers, business magazines or in different websites of job circulation. †¢ Deputation Some vacancies filled y recruiting employees on deputation. †¢ Receipt of resume The last date for receipt of resumes/applications will specified in the adve rtisements. Once the applications are received, they can screen out by the HOD-HR. then suitable candidates are sent interview letters by the HR department. The call for test/ interview sent only short listed candidates well in advance.The letter will inform the candidates’ date of test/ interview, venue of the test/ interview. HR department is responsible for making the test/ interview arrangement at the appointed date, time and place. This consist of an appropriate test and interview room, a waiting room, lunch and tea for candidates and selection committee members, arrangements for the reimbursement of the fare to candidates and to interview panel experts. 2. Selection RCL follow the standard selection procedure for selection of personnel: All the above steps are detailed below.Selection procedure for support staff such as Drivers, Office Assistants, etc. , For selection of support staff the following procedure shall be adopted: ? The Drivers and Office Assistants may be s elected from known and reliable sources after verifying the reliability of the applicant. ? The applicant must possess basic knowledge of office environment. ? The person selected shall be appointed on probation for a period of 12 months, which shall be reviewed and if needed can be further extended up to 12 months. ? The support staff shall be selected by Managing Director (MD) on the recommendation of board of directors. [pic]The persons who will constitute the selection committee depend upon the position for which the interview will be conducted. ? For MD : A subcommittee of the Board of Directors. ? For GM & DGM : MD and some other members of the Board of Directors. ? For HODs : The selection committee consists of the ED, GM, DGM, HOD-HR, and some experts may also be called from outside the organization to assess the candidate. The members of the Governing body can also be part of the selection committee. ? For other posts: The selection committee consists of the concerned HOD, and HOD-HR. The MD involves in recruitment of all employees.Final approval of all candidates lies with the MD. The MD and HOD-HR meet to form the selection committee. The HOD-HR informs the respective HOD of their role on the committee. An appropriate date for the interview/test is fixed with the consent of all and the selection committee informed of the same. HOD-HR is responsible for coordinating with the selection committee members. Various tests like the Language test, Performance test, Aptitude test, Intelligence test and Personality test is conducted, if required, depending upon their relevance and applicability for different positions.The Human Resource Department designs the above tests in consultation with the respective HODs and gets it approved by the MD. After the test, (if administered), the short listed candidates are interviewed by respective the selection committee. Irrespective of the position being filled, Interviews are conducted. Each members of the selection co mmittee fill up one approved rating form for each of the candidates. The selection committee meets, at the earliest, after all the interviews are over, to decide on the final candidates to be selected.The points scored in the tests and interviews tallied and the final decision for the selected candidate taken. The list is forwarded to the MD for approval. The MD returns the list to the head of the HR department to send the letter of offer. The letter of offer informs the candidate of his/ her selection. It contains details of the post, grade and scale of pay being offered to the candidate. It also contains any special terms and conditions of appointment. The letter also contains the proposed day and date of joining, intimation of the address of joining and how to get to the address.A copy of the letter send to the selected candidate duly signed indicating that he/ she will join on the appointed date and time. If certain terms are unacceptable to him/ her, then he/ she may inform acc ordingly so that negotiations may be conducted, if required. The letter of Offer duly signed by the selected candidate (after all negotiations are over, if required) will constitute the Letter of Acceptance. The objective of the appointment procedure is to ensure that the employee completes all formalities before he is given the formal appointment letter. The procedure for appointment will consist of the following steps: ? Joining reportThe prospective employee has to report to the HOD-HR on the appointed date. The HOD-HR then takes the employee through the appointment procedure. ? Check of Certificates The appointing authority checks the certificates of the prospective employee. These include his/her academic and other certificates as well as past experience certificates. These are cross checked with the information mentioned by the candidate in the application form. ? Check of age of candidate The appointing authority also check the age of the candidate through his/her school lea ving certificate and cross check it with the age mentioned in the application form. Medical tests The candidate will be asked to undergo a medical test consisting of blood test, chest X-ray, blood pressure, eye test. ? General check up The organization can either appoint a doctor on contract or it can approve a panel of doctors for the employees of the society. The prospective employee shall bring the above test reports with him/ her or the doctor can send them directly to the organization. ? References The prospective employee is asked to furnish names and address of three references who have known him/ her for more than two years.The HR department sends reference sheets to them and gets their responses on the person’s qualifications, abilities and other traits. ? Secrecy Bond The prospective employee also signs a bond of secrecy so that confidential information is not leaked out. ? Appointment Letter After all the above steps are completed the HOD-HR issues a formal Appoint ment letter to the selected candidate, duly signed by the MD. ? Employee Personal File As soon as an employee joins the organization, a personal file is opened on his/ her name. This file is kept confidential and maintained and is under the care of the HR department.The personal file will contain the following: †¢ Joining report †¢ Ratings of Test and/ or Interviews †¢ Photocopies of academic Qualification certificates †¢ Photocopies of past employment certificates †¢ A record of the date of birth or National ID card †¢ Medical test report at the time of appointment as well as any subsequent tests done. If any †¢ Comments of referees †¢ Copy of the secrecy bond †¢ All correspondence before joining including copies of the letter of Offer, Letter of Acceptance, and appointment Letter †¢ Emergency contact number and address 3. InductionInduction is the process of familiarizing a newcomer to the organization with the job, surroundings an d the organization itself. RCL use the following induction process for the new employee to familiarize the job and the organization to him/her: The procedure of induction consists of the following steps: ? Orientation of new Employee The HR department plans an induction program in consultation with the departments concerned for the newly induced employees based on experience and grade. ? Introduction to the Organization The new employee meets the HOD-HR.He explains the new employee organizations mission, objectives, culture and organizational structure. The HOD-HR also ensures that he/she gets a booklet that contains important rules/ terms of service and conditions of employment. ? Advice to various departments The HR department informs the relevant department heads of the appointment of new employee. This also includes the HOD-Finance and Accounts as well as the HOD of the concern department. ? Introduction to the employees of the organization This consist the three following group s of employees: †¢ The MD and GM/DGM and their immediate staff The concerned HOD and immediate superior †¢ The other employees ? Induction Training The HOD informs the employee his/her induction training schedule. ? Issue of identity Card and Visiting Cards A formal identity card with the employee’s name, number, photograph and signature issued. The HR department also arrange visiting card for the employee. ? Service book Proper record of different types of leaves, performance etc of employees of the RCL for sanctioning leave, leave encashment, annual increment and performance of individual employees maintained in the service book of the employee concerned. . Compensation management All the employees of RCL receive salary and allowances as per the rules framed by the governing body of RCL. The pay and allowances paid to the employees on the 1st date of the month following the month during which the service is performed. If the 1st day is holiday then the payment mad e on the afternoon of the last working day of the month for which payment is due. ? Increment Increment normally accrues on satisfactory of the completion of the calendar year. The increment is granted on satisfactory performance of the employee and the approval of the MD. Special pay Special pay may be granted for discharge of additional work, work of high quality or special nature. The grant of special pay requires the approval of the MD. ? Revision of salary structure The management of RCL conducts a salary structure revision once in a year. The responsibility of revising the salary structure for all grades lie within the management and the authority for approval lie with the Governing Body. [pic] Non-financial benefits of RCL that provided to its employees are as follows discussed: Pay for time not worked: ? Weekly HolidaysFriday and Saturday are weekly holidays unless otherwise specified. ? Leaves The organization provides leave to the employees to refresh themselves, celebrate festivals and have a vacation. The following types of leave are allowed: †¢ Annual Leave one day for every 18 days worked (Annual leave is based on the number of days worked by the employee and not given for the days during which the employee was on leave without pay) †¢ Casual leave 10 days in a calendar year. †¢ Sick leave 14 days in a year (Medical Certificate needs to be produced if leave is taken for three or more days) †¢ Maternity leave National & Festival Holidays organization observes the same National holidays and holidays on account of festivals and other holidays. ? Other benefits: †¢ Insurance RCL provide insurance benefits to its employees. †¢ TA/DA †¢ Dearness allowances †¢ Tour expenses †¢ Profitability sharing 5. Performance appraisal & management Performance and potential appraisal for employees of RCL is done quarterly in a year. The individual appraisal is done in Appraisal forms. The HR head send as many forms as the re are employees in each department and each branch, to the department heads and branch in charge.The department heads distribute the forms to all employees who would fill up the relevant columns along with their immediate supervisors within a week’s time. Then the departmental heads give their ratings and discuss the same with the respective employees and their immediate supervisors. After completing the forms sent to the HR department for completion. Individual performance Appraisal will be done at two levels: ? Initiating Authority: This would lie with the immediate superior of the appraisee. ? Accepting Authority: This would lie with the HODs /MD/Chairman as the case may be.The Initiating authority and Accepting authority at different levels in SIFPSA will be as follows: †¢ Performance Appraisal for the MD The initiating and accepting authority would lie with the Chairman of the Governing Body of RCL. †¢ Performance Appraisal for the GM The initiating authority would be the MD and the accepting authority would be the Chairman of the Governing Body of RCL. †¢ Performance Appraisal for Grade IX employees. GM shall be Initiating / Reviewing Authority and Managing Director shall be the Accepting Authority. Performance Appraisal for Grade I to VIII employees Initiating Authority shall be the Departmental Managers of the division concerned. Reviewing Authority shall be the GM and Accepting Authority shall be the Managing Director. Organization performance appraisal The MD, GM, and Heads of the departments will meet to discuss the performance of RCL as a whole. They will assess the achievements of the organization since the last appraisal, causes for delay/ non-achievements, corrective measures, and the tasks for the organization till the next appraisal. 6. Training and developmentTraining is the process of teaching new employees the basic skills they need to perform their jobs. On the other hand Management development means any attempt to i mprove current or future management performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or increasing skills. ? Procedure During the Performance and Potential Appraisal, the training needs of individuals and departments will be identified. The HR head prepare a list of training needs and categorize them into Technical, Managerial, and Behavioral. He/ She will also circulate the days and dates of the various training programs to be organized in the next one year.The training programs should ideally begin after the recruitment process is over so that new employees can also be trained along with the regular employees of the organization. Kinds of Training The various trainings that will be imparted are as follows: †¢ Training conducted by a society employee: This type of training is essentially conducted by an experienced employee of RCL. It is conducted when some skills are to be transferred to another person within the society or to train new employees. †¢ Training cond ucted by outside agencies:This training is conducted when new skills are to be imparted to the employees of the organization. The HR department identifies agencies and experts who can impart relevant training. The HR department also has to arrange the training conducted in the organization or outside it. ? Training Impact Assessment Thus training and development programs play an important part in the smooth and effective functioning of the organization. The impact of such programs on the functioning of the organization also assessed periodically. The responsibility of such assessment is of HOD-HR.The period of assessment is from one month to a year after the program has been conducted or on the spot assessment. Based on these assessments the organization decides to discontinue the particular program. It can also decide to change the trainer in order to improve the impact of such training. 6. Career planning & growth Career Planning is concerned with providing experiences that will e nable employees to develop their full potential. Procedure RCL designs avenues for career planning and growth of the employees and its compensation package such as to attract and keep the best managerial talent.Career planning and growth of the organization, take place through the following steps: [pic] †¢ Career Planning Performance and Potential Appraisal is an indication of the employee’s accomplishments and his/ her potential Training and its applications show how quickly he/ she is able to adapt to new roles and responsibilities. The employee have to take initiative in his/ her own career planning by setting targets for himself/ herself and suitably getting nominated for training in areas which he/ she needs to develop. Based on the above, management encourages career planning and growth for all the employees of RCL. Career Growth Career Growth depends upon the performance of the employee and the avenue open for him/ her in his/ her own or other departments due to e xit of superiors. If the employee needs special skills to occupy those positions, appropriate training arranged for him/ her. The Appraisal committee decides the promotion of the employee and indicates future avenues of growth. Promotion also takes place through transfer of employees from one department to the other or from one location of operation to another. The management consults the employee on whether such a promotion is acceptable to him/ her or not. Promotions: The HOD – HR prepares the following letters at the end of the Appraisal Committee deliberations: The above letters are approved by the MD and sent to the employee. 7. DIFFERENT TYPICAL HR FUNCTIONS OBSERVED IN RCL RCL authority provides opportunity to the students from different institutions, to take part in their internship program. This type of programs continues for 2- 3 months. As RCL is a giant organization in the area of capital market, there is ample opportunity for the students who engaged there for in ternship, to gather lots of practical experiences, which will be fruitful for their career.Another most comprehensive responsibility for the HR department of RCL. The executives of HR department in RCL are responsible to develop the personal files of different employees. For that they have to always keep close contract with every employee to collect their profile and to update their personal history, which are kept into a different format prescribed by the RCL authority. It’s a common responsibility for all the departmental heads of Royal Capital Limited to give daily briefing to their executives about the particular responsibility for the day.For example the Trade Manager of RCL It involves discussions- it means that is an act of communication and the general objective of counseling is to understand and/or decrease an employee’s emotional disorder. Counseling is involved in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship. 1. Analysis and gap between theory and pract ice After analyzing and comparing the literature with the functions and responsibilities of HR & Admin department of RCL it is found that RCL follows a well established HR policy to recruit and to guide its human resource.But there are some gap between the theory and practice which need addressed to make its human resources more competitive and achieve organizational goals. Chapter: 5 Recommendations & Conclusions 5. 1Key policy recommendations Develop a strategic HR function ? Review the configuration and staffing of the HR function to transform it into a strategic HR function. ? Develop a service improvement plan that reflects customer feedback and builds on the work started at the HR away day. ? Refocus the work of the HR team on the OD agenda and the refined HR strategy and implement an associated development program for HR staff.Review and develop the HR strategy ? The HR strategy should capture the ‘employer brand’ of RCL, and focus directly on achieving the visio n and developing the required culture. ? Communications/ employee engagement and workforce development planning should be key strands. ? Review core values and develop the new vision into a practical strategy and change program that all staff can understand. Align Training and Development to OD ? Create a separate training and development department for the employees. ? Refocus corporate training and development to ensure that core training eflects and reinforces the OD agenda. Performance management ? Performance standards should be defined in quantifiable and measureable terms which easily understood able to the employees of RCL. ? There should use the 360degree performance appraisal method to evaluate the performance of the employees. ? The employees should provide the feedback of performance appraisal so that they can improve their performance in future. 5. 2Conclusion Human resource management (HRM, HR) is the management of an organization's employees. An organization success i s fully depending on proper personnel management.As a result, the organization can ensure the productivity by ensuring the proper human resource management. They provide better service facility to their employees, which in turn give the timely production and necessary activities effectively and efficiently without any hazard. It means the proper service facility and sound-working condition remains the whole organization. The stock market of Bangladesh as of today consists of stock exchanges such of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).In modern business world stock broker house plays a vital role for their client. This research report took an endeavor to identity the brokerage house human resource management practice and performance that took place within last decade with special emphasis on Royal Capital Ltd. Royal Capital Limited has a HR department with highly skilled professionals who are employed to achiev e organizational goals. The successes of an organization fully depend on its human capital. So it needs to provide proper guidelines, training and continuous developing with the changes in the business world to achieve the market share and rganizational goals. References 1. Organization’s web site. 2. HR manuals of Royal Capital Limited. 3. Dessler G. (2004), â€Å"Human Resource Management†, 11th edition, Prentice Hall. 4. Management, Heinz Weigh rich, Harold Koontz 10th edition. 5. A b c d Thomas N. Garavan, Pat Costine, and Noreen Heraty (1995). â€Å"Training and Development: Concepts, Attitudes, and Issues†. Training and Development in Ireland. Cengage Learning EMEA. pp. 1. ISBN 1872853927. 6. Derek Torrington, Laura Hall, and Stephen Taylor (2004). Human Resource Management. Pearson Education. pp. 363.ISBN 0273687131. 7. Web site, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 8. Storey, J. (1995). â€Å"New perspectives on human resource management†. New York: Rutledge. 9. Beatty, R. W Schneier, C. E (1997). â€Å"New Human Resources roles to impact organizational performance: From partners to players†. In D. Ulrich, M. R Losey & G. Lake (Eds), â€Å"Tomorrow’s HR Management: 48 Thought leaders call for change, pp. 69-83. 10. Public Sector and Management Act (May 9, 2001), â€Å"Advertising, Selection, Appointment, Transfer and Promotion†, Employment Instruction Number-1,from http://www. ocpe. nt. gov. u/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/9791/ei01. pdf[pic][pic] [pic][pic] ———————– Junior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Executive Junior Executive Executive Junior Executive Executive Junior Executive Executive Activities of RCL: ? Stock Broking ? Cash Account ? Margin Account ? Internet Trading Service (ITS) Real time trading facility in both DSE & CSE ? Xpress Settlement ? Any Branch Trading Facility ? Depository Service ? BO Account ? Demat Securities ? Pledge Functions of HRM: ? HR planning. ? Recruitment, selection & placement Training & development ? Performance Appraisal ? Transfer ? Remuneration ? Social security & welfare of employees. ? Setting general and specific management policy ? Collective bargaining, contract negotiation and grievance handling. ? Staffing the organization. ? Role Analysis for job occupants. ? Job Rotation. ? Quality Circle, Organization development and Quality of Working Life. ? Benefits: †¢ Health care insurance †¢ Life insurance †¢ Disability insurance †¢ Retirement †¢ Voluntary accidental death and dismemberment insurance †¢ Leave Transfer Program Tuition Assistance Plan †¢ Training opportunities Junior Executive Executive Senior Executive Junior Executive Executive Senior Executive Junior Executive Executive Senior Executive GM Assistant Manager Assistant Manager Assistant Manager Assistant Manager Deputy Manager Deputy Manager De puty Manager Deputy Manager Deputy Manager Deputy Manager Deputy Manager Chairman & Board of Directors Manager (HR) Manager (Compliance) Manager (C. C) Manager CDBL & Settlement) Manager (IT) Manager (Fin & Acc) Manager (Trade) Managing Director Assistant Manager Assistant Manager Assistant Manager

Equality of Condition Essay

In his book â€Å"democracy in America†, Alexis de Tocqueville provides a thorough study of the equality of condition as a distinctive feature of the democratic America and discusses some of the consequences it might have. He begins his writing by introducing the reader that during his stay in America the equality of condition struck his attention the most. In America, the democracy has reached another level that has never been seen before or experienced in any of the European countries but that are slowly progressing towards it. This level of democracy has created a society in which all persons are legally understood to be socially and politically equal. Despite all the benefits that the equality of condition brings to the society, it also tends to isolate people from one another and cut them off from the social beliefs and values. When this form of isolation is transformed into an extreme form of individualism, it creates selfishness and egoism among people. When these people come together to form a majority which in a democratic society enjoys a great amount of power, it might cause the tyranny of majority – de Tocqueville’s main concern. The concept of equality of condition is more complex than it first seems and a society based on this fact poses a threat to freedom. De Tocqueville argues that â€Å"the influence of the equality of condition extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the country and it has no less empire over the civil society than over the government, it creates opinions, gives birth to new sentiments, founds novel customs and modifies whatever it does not produce† (â€Å"Democracy in America† Heffner ed., 26). It is important to depict from this quote that a society based on the equality of condition, above all, creates the common opinion. In an equal society, the fact that all the members are resembled enables them to trust and support the common judgment and opinion. Furthermore, de Tocqueville argues that all the inhabitants of the democratic society are individually equal and independent to each other but if one individual alone tends to contrast the â€Å"totality of his fellows†, he will find himself insignificant and weak. Therefore in a democratic society, the public has, as de Tocqueville calls, â€Å"a singular power† where it enforces certain opinions and infuses such opinions in the intellect of their mind. Considering that in a democratic society, it is the majority that takes decisions, the public opinion will then become the law creating political omnipotence. Therefore, de Tocqueville claims that in the US the majority comes up with opinions and the individuals although they develop their personal thoughts have to adopt those that the majority offers since they, alone, are unable to contrast them. This, in turn, discourages and in a way prohibits them from developing their own intellectual thoughts. Thus, the equality of condition that gives rise to the majority opinion poses a great threat to the individual freedom of thought. During his stay in America, de Tocqueville discovered that the American people appeal only to their own individual effort of its own understanding. He has found that in America the tie which unites generation is broken and that nobody traces or cares about the ideas of their forefathers. In a society where everybody is equal and classes tend to disappear, no man can have an intellectual influence in the mind of another man since nobody looks at his fellows as being superior. Therefore, de Tocqueville argues that in a society based on the equality of condition, not only the trust of one man on another is destroyed but also the intellectual authority on any man. In absence of such intellectual authority, people develop their own believes and judgments within themselves different from the rest of the society. In the absence of an intellectual trustworthy authority capable of imposing social beliefs and values, people are left to seek the truth alone and when they fail to do so or such truth is against their personal judgment, they simply ignore it. Thus, an equally conditioned society tends to isolate people from one another and cut them off from a common set of social beliefs and values. This isolation that results from the equality of condition has dangerous consequences if it reaches extreme levels which de Tocqueville calls individualism. As a result of the individualism, the selfishness and the egoism of people will be born. The egoism and selfishness cause people in this society to develop a love for material gratification a love for richness. They want to acquire everything for themselves even if it is done in the expense of other people. Furthermore, according to de Tocqueville, these individuals do not change their character as they unite with each other or grow in number. In fact, they tend to enforce those selfish opinions but on a greater scale. The majority they create will then act as one selfish individual and in a pure democratic society is given the power to make laws and take decisions on behalf of everybody. Therefore, such a majority consisting of egoist people who fulfill their needs and greed in the expense of the other people composing a minority creates the tyranny of majority. In a democratic society, the ultimate reason that the tyranny of majority occurs, is the individualism which separates people from each other and from the social values and beliefs and allows people to establish selfish opinions that hurt the other people. Therefore, de Tocqueville argues that the establishment of â€Å"family†, â€Å"religion† and â€Å"patriotism† are necessary protections against such tyranny because they bring people together and enforce on them social and moral values. Families bind people together and connect them with each other. Members of the family are taught to sacrifice some of their personal gratification for his ancestors and descendants. Therefore, the establishments of families attempt to fight the selfishness that individualism has created. The members of the family in their childhood are taught morals and social values. The elderly in the family can influence the young ones because they are perceived to have some intellectual authority. Therefore, the family brings people close to each other, where one member of the family cares about the others, and to the social values avoiding the isolation. Patriotism also fights the selfishness and brings people together. De Tocqueville sees patriotism as one citizen making a personal sacrifice for the greater welfare of the public. He also argues that in a patriotic society people do not fail to faithfully support each other. A patriotic person believes that it is his duty to make himself useful to other fellow citizens. Therefore, patriotism also creates a strong community where the members care about one another. It breaks the isolation and consequently the individualism that the equality of condition creates. Religion also brings people close to each other and to the social and moral values. De Tocqueville argues that every religion places the object of men’s desire above any treasurer in the earth. Every religion imposes duties on men towards his fellow citizens and draws him away from the contemplation of himself. Furthermore, the main concern of religion is to purify and restrict the excessive and exclusive taste for well being which men in the periods of equality wishes. Man cannot be cured by the love of the riches but they may be persuaded to enrich themselves by none but honest means (â€Å"Democracy in America† Heffner ed., 152). Thus, religion serves as a superior intellectual authority which brings people together to each other and also enforces on them moral values that people abide to. In essence it fights both the isolation and the selfishness of people. The â€Å"family†, â€Å"patriotism† and â€Å"religion† fulfill the absence of a superior intellectual authority, create a strong community and bring people close to the social and moral values which lack in an egalitarian society. De Tocqueville emphasizes the importance of associations in a democratic society. In his opinion an association consists of a group people united by a common interest and who agree to promote their ideas in a certain manner. Simply, associations guide a group of people with divergent minds towards achieving a specific end. In order for an association to exist it has to have the liberty to create an opinion and the freedom to meet which a democratic society grants to them. De Tocqueville distinguishes between two types of associations; the political association and the civic association. The political association besides having the two liberties mentioned above, they also have the liberty to unite into electoral bodies and chose their representatives. A political association acts as a government within a government where the delegates of the association represent the collective force of their party just like the delegates of the majority. The civic associations include a large number of organizations starting from building inns, churches, schools and hospitals. While the political associations have one major goal that they try to achieve by electing delegates; the civic associations are less formal, include a larger number and attempt to improve the social life in the society. Political associations are sometimes used to organize revolutions like those in Europe whereas the civic associations are voluntarily created and peaceful in their nature. The political associations are similar to the political parties today who elect their delegates and compete for offices. The civic associations are very similar to the interest groups where a group of people form an organization and express their point of view in certain issues and attempt to influence those who already occupy offices. The civic associations like the interest groups include a greater variety of interests. De Tocqueville goes further to argue that the political and civic associations are necessary to retain an active community life in a democratic society. De Tocqueville argues that in a democratic society all the citizens are independent and feeble and they, alone, cannot do anything and cannot oblige another person to assist them. They all become powerless if they do not learn to help each other voluntarily. If they do not form associations, which are simply artificial ways of binding people, they might preserve their wealth but their independence as well as their civilization will be in jeopardy. Furthermore, in a democratic society, as I have discussed earlier, people tend to get isolated from tone another. Therefore, since civic associations are very diverse, they are necessary to voluntarily bring people together and create ties among them. Thus, they are crucial to retain an active sense of community life. The political and civic associations are very important in a democratic society in the attempt to avoid the tyranny of the majority. The minorities can create political associations and elect their delegates in order to directly fight the oppressive laws created by the majority. The civic associations can also be used by minorities to create a larger group and then together voice their opinion. The associations are also used to bring people together and avoid the creation of individualism which is very likely in a society based on the equality of condition. Political and civic associations are, therefore, necessary schools for democracy because they teach us how to avoid the tyranny of majority in advanced democracies. De Tocqueville’s philosophy is still relevant for our own time. Nowadays, the political and civic associations play a very important role in creating communities. As countries become more democratic, the number of associations in those countries increases because people as individuals become powerless and they are unable to defend their beliefs on their own. Today, the political and civic associations are very common and much more active that they have ever been. The political and civic associations enable people to unite and become active members of the society. As people join different organizations, they agree to help and support other fellow citizens. People unite and form associations because they have strong feelings for a cause they fight although such a cause might not directly affect them. Therefore, political and civic associations tend to correct and remove selfishness from the people. The existence of a large number of associations is the reason why we have not exp erienced the tyranny of majority although a number of countries have reached advanced levels of democracy.