Summary of Human Resource Development Essay Example for Free

Summary of Human Resource Development Essay HRD OVERVIEW POSITIONING The definition of HRD is an integrated and holistic, conscious and proactive approach to changing work-related knowledge and behaviour, using a wide range of learning strategies and techniques in order to improve individual effectiveness and productivity. HRD is highly required in every organization to achieve their goals. HRD also defined as the capacity to incorporate learning into behaviour. HRD scope related to get the right people on the job, retain the right people in organization, and develop them in order to improve individual effectiveness. Furthermore, the primary HRD function aims to improve individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. It involves in training and education, organization development, and career development. Employability is the willingness and ability to recognize personal strength and develop self, which acquires new skills, knowledge, expertise to improve performance and effectiveness for both current and future job. In order to support the process of continuous personal development and lifelong learning of employees, it is important for HRD function to give attention for learning and with how it might be managed. B. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES WITHIN ORGANIZATION Every person is fundamentally different from everyone else, thus managers must recognize that these differences exist and attempt to understand them. One of the HR department task’s is to identify and well known the existing employees so that they can place the employee in the fit/appropriate job/position, groupwork, in the organization. Therefore, better selection and recruitment process is needed to avoid errors in the placement of an employee. Recruitment and selection process aims to find the right person for the right job by analyzing the persons personality. There are big five types of personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness, negative emotionality, extraversion and openness. These aspects have taken into account in the recruitment and selection process. These types of personality do not only give the benefit to the person itself but also to the organization. As we know that poor recruitment process can result in higher rates of turnover, reduced performance effectiveness, lower job satisfaction and reduces work motivation. Nowadays, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is believe as an important tool to recruitment and selection process. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the extent to which people are self-aware, can manage their emotions can motivate themselves, express empathy for others, and process social skills. Human resources is important and valuable asset for every company. Many organizations improve their employees competencies to achieve the company goals. Most of companies are willing to spend a lot of money to develop their employees knowledge and skills. There are several ways to develop employee skills by conducting workshops, seminars, inhouse training, tailor made training, off job training and studying in the higher level of education in local or foreign schools. The 7 habits of highly effective people (Stephen Covey) are: be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first thing first, think win-win, seek first to understand then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw. C. INTERCULTURAL MANAGEMENT – CULTURAL AWARENESS Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from another (Geert Hofstede). Culture is not static but is dynamic. Another definition of the culture is the uniqeness and trust that attach in one group that could be distinguished from another and become the habit which implemented in the daily life. In the shipping and transport organization, we could see many people from different nations work together. Intercultural is always coloring every company in the world. Culture shock is the confused feelings one experiences when confronted with a large number of new and unfamiliar people or situations. To prevent a cultural shock, we must know why people do certain things. To avoid a culture shock we need to develop cultural sensitivity. Furthermore about intercultural differences there are Collectivism versus Individualism. This is a social theory favouring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control. The big different between Individual and Collective Societies is the intensity of ties among individual it self. D. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT MOTIVATION LEARNING THEORY Motivation is the set of forces that leads people to behave in particular ways. The objective for managers is to motivate people to behave in ways that are in the organization’s best interest. One of the famous theories of motivation is â€Å"The Dual-Structure theory† by Herzberg. Herzberg theory identifies motivation factors, which affect satisfaction, and hygiene factors, which determine dissatisfaction. Motivation factors are intrinsic to the work itself and include factors such as achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth. Hygene factors are extrinsic to the work itself and include factors such as company policy, supervision, relationship with superior, work conditions, status, and job security. Learning is the process whereby individuals acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes through emperience, reflection, study or instruction. There are three learning styles models but the famous one is learning cycle model by Kolb. There are four styles of learning, they are: divergers, assimilators, convergers and accomodators. E. ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT LEARNING ORGANIZATION Organization development is the process of planned change and improvement of the organization through application of knowledge of the behavioral sciences. There are three definition of learning organization but the famous one is Senge’s definition, learning organization is organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. F. HUMAN ELEMENT IN SHIPPING Human Element in Shipping correlated with Human Error. Human element according to the International Maritime Organization is a complex multi-dimensional issue that affects marine safety, security and marine environmental protection involving the entire spectrum of human activities performed by ship’s crews, shore based management, regulatory bodies and others. Human error is sometimes described as being one of the following incorrect decisions, an improperly performed action or improper lack of action. Human element is influenced by some factors, they are: a. People factors b. Ship factors c. Working and living condition d. Organization onboard e. Shore side management f. External influence and management The above factors could influence every seafarer during his work onboard the vessel. These elements will deliver good performance of seafarer or in contrary, these could result in bad performance of seafarer that would cause much impact to the people, animal and environment. We all know that many accidents on the vessels caused by the human error. That is why HRM and HRD play important roles to reduce this issue by allocating the right person in the right job. The causes of maritime incidents can be linked to a number of contributory factors: a. Poor ship or system design; b. Equipment failure through poor maintenance; c. Fatigue; d. Ineffective communication; e. Lack of attention to rules, regulations, and procedures; f. Inadequate training in the operation of equipments; g. Unawareness of the vulnerabilities of electronic systems; h. Complacency. G. CONCLUSSION One of the most valuable assets in a company or organization is human resources. By having good quality of human resources the organization will be able to running well. To obtaining good quality of human resource in the organization, in the beginning management has to make sure the good quality process of recruitment, so that management can place the right people for the right position. Furthermore, one the HR department responsible is to developed human resource through training, learning even to higher level school. Through good human resource organization can avoid errors or failures in the company. To develop human resource requires considerable cost, therefore budget problem often happen in many organizations, moreover the level of success for this development program will not be known in an uncertain manner. Finally, human resources development is very important for people and organization to achieve the company goals.

Republic Day Essay Example for Free

Republic Day Essay Republic Day is one of the three national holidays of India and the greatest festival celebrated in the country. It is celebrated every year on January 26, in New Delhi with great pomp, fanfare and pageant. While in the capitals of the States and other headquarters, it is marked with patriotic fervor. The most spectacular celebrations are marked by the Republic Day Parade that takes place in the capital of New Delhi at Rajpath. It includes march past of the three armed forces, massive parades, folk dances by tribal folk from different states in picturesque costumes marking the cultural unity of India. Further, the streak of jet planes of Indian Air Force, leaving a trial of colored smoke, marks the end of the festival. It was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress at midnight of December 31, 1929 January 1, 1930, that the Tri-Color Flag was unfurled by the nationalists and a pledge was taken that on January 26 every year, Republic Day would be celebrated and that the people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Democratic Republic India. The professed pledge was successfully redeemed on January 26, 1950, when the Constitution of India framed by the Constituent Assembly of India came into force, although the Independence from the British rule was already achieved on August 15, 1947. It is because of this fact that August 15 is celebrated as Independence Day, while January 26 as Republic Day. The festivity of Republic Day concludes officially with the intriguing Beating Retreat ceremony on the evening of 29th January. This enthralling ceremony is performed by the military, the Indian Air Force, India Navy and India Army in the Raisina Hills, New Delhi, in front of the President of India as the Chief Guest.

An Analysis Of Global Alliances

An Analysis Of Global Alliances As a matter of survival, airlines within the current environment are constantly reviewing and altering their strategies. An important component of any airlines strategy to remain viable and maintain competitive advantage in todays setting is to pool resources and share risk, known as an alliance. A broad definition of an alliance that occurs in the aviation industry is the collaboration between two or more firms that retain their autonomy during the course of their relationship (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004). To that end, there are certain variations of airline alliance in vogue today, in particular the Global Airline Alliance. Starting with a synopsis and identification of these alliance groups, the discussion will move to a selection and analysis of benefits and shortcomings that can be associated with global alliances from a business and consumer perspective. From here, an appreciation will be gained of the major airline alliances and typical rationale of alliance strategies. Currently, the most popular forms of coalition in the airline business are the non-equity marketing alliances known as Airline Alliance Groups (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004) or Global Multicarrier Alliances (Cools Roos, 2005). At the present time, the main global multicarrier alliance networks are Star Alliance, One World, and Skyteam (UBM, 2010). These alliances are predominantly a massive global network of multilateral codesharing and joint resource Air Service Agreements (ASAs) between carriers. This allows a central point of contact for the passenger to ensure a convenient, smooth and efficient worldwide travel experience (Star Alliance, 1997). Although individual airlines are aligned under the umbrella of a single corporate entity, distinct airline brand identities and cultures are retained. These alliances have set out to revolutionise seamless air travel for the international passenger from hub to hub and beyond. Additionally, the synergies created were only possible due to ast ute governance of previously implausible collaboration. To that end, airline conglomerates now understand The best way to generate real business growth and expansion is by forging the appropriate strategic partnerships (Borovich Yeheskel, 2001). From an airline business perspective, membership in a global alliance has one distinct, instantaneous and strategic advantage. Almost overnight, all member airlines geographic route structures will have expanded without costly capital investment in infrastructure and assets. This allows airlines to service routes that were previously deemed non-profitable or inaccessible, albeit on other alliance members aircraft. This complementary alliance (Oum Park, 1997, as cited in Chen Ross, 2000, p. 328) has the flow on effect of generating untapped markets within the domestic environment and yielding higher load factors for all alliance members aircraft operations. Henceforth, this produces larger revenues which in turn diminishes overhead costs and maintains more efficient airlines by lowering unit cost base (Doganis 2001, p. 76). While this contributes to diversification and larger profit margins for collaborating airlines, the traveller can be confident airfare cost will remain relativel y reasonable assuming competition remains viable on any given route. This is a beneficial outcome for all involved, both airline businesses and the consumer. A comparable example where alliances between two airlines operating on the same route is however, considered anti-competitive (Chen Ross, 2000, p 328). Here the competing airlines could strike a codeshare accord, typically after a tenuously long and protracted battle attempting to gain market share. This is routinely known as a parallel alliance (Oum Park 1996, p. 190), however this is unfortunately likely to result in cartel type price fixing. This form of alliance generally benefits the airlines as it narrows competition and has a propensity to create a higher demand for a particular service, hence higher airfares (Chen Ross, 2000, p 328). Conversely, the pre-alliance scenario utilising capacity dumping (NZ Parliament, 2006), where supply exceeds demand, only profits the consumer with ridiculously low and unsustainable airfares. This invariably serves to strengthen the dominant market leaders position by financially eliminating the competition in the long term. These types of al liance are inherent of predatory behaviour with very little consumer benefit and require antitrust immunity (Bilotkach, 2005, p. 168). An example of this type of arrangement within the global alliance networks does exist, although on the exceedingly competitive North Atlantic route between Lufthansa and United Airlines (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 23). While codesharing is one weapon with which to condense costs, create better margins and maintain a reasonably priced service, it is not the only resource available to benefit allying partners and the consumer. One only needs to visit any of the global airline networks websites to see a large scale joint marketing experience. Consequently, Extensive market presence plays an essential role in major airlines plans for survival and prosperity (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 113), and this influence is an effective tool when multiple powerful brands are combined. For the smaller airlines within the alliance groups, association with some of the mega-carriers alone is a sufficient marketing device to increase recognition and augment passenger numbers. This is simply a case of if passengers do not find you, they will not fly you (Bammer, 2000, as cited in Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 121). For the bigger carriers in the group, enhanced economies of scale (Doganis, 2001, p. 76), scope and d ensity (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 39) beckon, to provide growth quickly while mitigating a host of regulatory and economic barriers. This coincides with the global alliance concept To contribute to the long-term profitability of its members beyond their individual capabilities (Star Alliance, 2010, p. 6). Another advantage of such extensive market sway is the collective consumable and asset purchasing power. Doganis states, the Star Alliance group is estimated to save between five to seven percent each year with this strategy (2001, p. 78). In contrast, these combined marketing regimens can be inflexible and force a loss of individual brand identity. As the global alliance brand builds its own characteristics, it will be perceived by the customer to deliver a certain expectation, and if not all of the alliance members fit the model, they may be forced to compromise their own identities to conform, or risk being extricated. This is known as the domino effect (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 17). The airlines are not the sole profiteer from this vast marketing onslaught. Customer satisfaction, retention and relationship quality is the target of any marketing strategy, and with immensely large global brands and reputations at risk, standards will always be under scrutiny. The consumer perception of these alliance groups is that of a seal of quality (Kleymann Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 39), and all members are logically required to exact some consistency over the service spectrum. To that end, the global alliance groups have combined value adding resources to meet or exceed the expectations of the high value international traveller (Star Alliance, 2010, p. 6). Some pertinent examples are: priority check-in, lounge access, additional baggage allowances, priority boarding, global ticketing, common terminals and priority baggage handling. As aforementioned, the consistency and variation with which these additional benefits are delivered can provide a potential drawback. Products vary f rom brand to brand, for example; Air New Zealand has a premium economy seat (Star Alliance, 1997), of which not all airlines utilise. A customer that purchases this seat flying from New Zealand to Germany with alliance codeshare partner Lufthansa (McCaw, 2010), would in all likelihood be downgraded to an economy seat from England or the United States. Furthermore, differing cultures can also play a role with service delivery. Once again, the customer flying from New Zealand to Germany may enjoy the relaxed Kiwi attitude, but may be overwhelmed by the clinical and formal German approach, or vice versa. Henceforth, Kleymann and Seristà ¶ suggest successful brand image and customer fulfilment is particularly relevant to quality and consistency of service (2004, p. 121). Global alliances offer many joint benefits to consumers from airlines prospering within their own niche, which could not be possible without reliance on international partners. While the phenomenon of globalisation is a reality and people seek to condense and simplify work, time and travel experiences, global airline alliances fit the mould as a reaction to seek balance. At present, the rules of international aviation preserve sovereignty and do not endorse a truly competitive environment. While grandfathering provisions of landing rights at major airports and governmental influence in survivability of flag carriers ensues, the only room for growth from independents is to collude. At this point in time, global alliances serve the needs of both consumers and airline businesses. As with every decision, there are good and bad consequences and not all choices will gratify everyone. Global alliances endeavour to satisfy the majority, while sustaining the future of the alliance members to provide a useful service. Until all nations relax rules around freedoms of the air and airline foreign ownership, so as to furnish a genuine open skies policy, these mega-conglomerates will flourish. Word Count: 1343

National Political Influence and the Catholic Church Essay -- Politics

Democratic transitions recently became a topic of great discussion among political scholars as a domino effect of democratization began in Latin America in the 1970s and continued through Eastern Europe in the late 1980s. In many of these transitions, the Catholic Church[1] played a crucial role as the protector of civil society during periods of communist and right-wing authoritarian rule, as well as taking an active role to promote the establishment of democracy (Bruneau 1994, Levine 1980, Stepan and Linz 1996, Perà ©z-Dà ­az 1993, Ramet 1987). While the Church’s political role in transition is important, significantly fewer scholars have explored how democracy affected the Catholic Church within the national context (Eberts 1998, Ramet 1999, Vilarino and Tizon 1998). Even fewer have attempted cross-national comparisons of the Church, thus permitting generalizations to be made about the political influence of the Church since the institution of democratic governance (Casan ova 1993, Gill et al.1998). With the establishment of democracy the Church was expected to flourish, due to its organizational and political advantage within new democracies. However, initial research suggests otherwise. Using the involvement of the Church in abortion policy as an indicator of political influence, it is clear the cases of Spain, Brazil and Poland vary extensively. The Polish Church maintained the most political influence, followed by the Brazilian and Spanish Churches (Neilsen 1991, Volenski and Gryzmala-Mosczynska 1997, Gautier 1998, Casanova 1993, Linz 1991, Morris 1993). In Brazil and Poland, the Church played an instrumental role in the democratic revolution, making a political decline in the Church almost inconceivable. While initially th... ...ee is regarded as a non-member state permanent observer allowing it to occasionally participate in General Assembly discussions and decisions and participate in UN International Conferences. Holy See, however, has no voting rights. [3] Secularization refers to the number of clergy that disaffiliated from the Church (i.e. transfer from ecclesiastical to civil). [4] Vatican II theology â€Å"stressed a very different notion of the Church as the people of God, assigned a more important role to the laity, redefined the authority of the Pope over the hole Church and the bishops over the diocese† (Mainwaring 1986). Vatican II theology stressed the need for social justice and vowed to help the less fortunate, this came to be known as the option for the poor. [5] The Roman Curia is the collection of ministries for governing the International Church (Della Cava 1993).

Love and Violence in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men Essay -- Steinbe

Love and Violence in Of Mice and Men In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the characters display a definite violence directed toward those they love. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" relates to what seems to be the destructive tendencies of the men in this book. Though Lennie's ruinous behavior originates from his childlike fascination with soft things, George and Candy appear to have almost productive reasons for causing harm. The differing means of hurting those they love emerge throughout the book in harsh words as well as in violence. Love can wound for different reasons and in different ways as in correlation with the poem, but that love is not always disastrous. Lennie's incredible need often causes him to be "a man [who] kills the thing he loves." Recurrently, the reader is reminded of the way in which Lennie inadvertently kills animals and frightens people. For example, at the pool George and Lennie reveal in their conversation the reason that they are traveling. Lennie got himself into trouble in the last town for petting a woman's dress "like it was a mouse." This obvious innocence foreshadows the inevitable end to Lennie's carelessness. Trouble follows the two men because Lennie cannot realize what he is doing wrong. George can only call him "a crazy son-of-a-bitch" and pretend that he does not want the responsibility of the childish man. However, the powerful simpleton never means harm to his victims or comprehends the complications to George that come from the things he does. His thoughtless manner in which he lives represents those who continue to hurt their loves because they cannot think beyond their own needs. When Candy has his dog killed, it is intentional. In part, he allows this to... ... not display it earlier in the plot, he is the only one "brave" enough to "do the deed" personally. The poem lists several ways in which people hurt those that they love. With Lennie, this is entirely unintentional. He never means harm to anyone, but with the capricious way in which he treats everything he wants to love, it is inevitable. Curlie's wife simply disregards the needs of others to satisfy her own, and this is willful selfishness. In Candy and George's case, however, the harm is deliberate, but not malicious. The "bitter" words that hurt Lennie are mostly used to help him because he cannot take care of himself. George, though he never admits that he loves his friend, acknowledges that he must occasionally be harsh to do good for Lennie. Sometimes hurting someone is necessary because of the love for the relationship, not in spite of it. Love and Violence in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Essay -- Steinbe Love and Violence in Of Mice and Men In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the characters display a definite violence directed toward those they love. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" relates to what seems to be the destructive tendencies of the men in this book. Though Lennie's ruinous behavior originates from his childlike fascination with soft things, George and Candy appear to have almost productive reasons for causing harm. The differing means of hurting those they love emerge throughout the book in harsh words as well as in violence. Love can wound for different reasons and in different ways as in correlation with the poem, but that love is not always disastrous. Lennie's incredible need often causes him to be "a man [who] kills the thing he loves." Recurrently, the reader is reminded of the way in which Lennie inadvertently kills animals and frightens people. For example, at the pool George and Lennie reveal in their conversation the reason that they are traveling. Lennie got himself into trouble in the last town for petting a woman's dress "like it was a mouse." This obvious innocence foreshadows the inevitable end to Lennie's carelessness. Trouble follows the two men because Lennie cannot realize what he is doing wrong. George can only call him "a crazy son-of-a-bitch" and pretend that he does not want the responsibility of the childish man. However, the powerful simpleton never means harm to his victims or comprehends the complications to George that come from the things he does. His thoughtless manner in which he lives represents those who continue to hurt their loves because they cannot think beyond their own needs. When Candy has his dog killed, it is intentional. In part, he allows this to... ... not display it earlier in the plot, he is the only one "brave" enough to "do the deed" personally. The poem lists several ways in which people hurt those that they love. With Lennie, this is entirely unintentional. He never means harm to anyone, but with the capricious way in which he treats everything he wants to love, it is inevitable. Curlie's wife simply disregards the needs of others to satisfy her own, and this is willful selfishness. In Candy and George's case, however, the harm is deliberate, but not malicious. The "bitter" words that hurt Lennie are mostly used to help him because he cannot take care of himself. George, though he never admits that he loves his friend, acknowledges that he must occasionally be harsh to do good for Lennie. Sometimes hurting someone is necessary because of the love for the relationship, not in spite of it.

Comparing Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther K

"...A little rebellion now and then is a good thing...It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." Thomas JeffersonThoreau, a transcendentalist from the mid 19th century and Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights movement leader of a century later both believed the necessity of medicine for government. Although they showed disagreement of opinion on issues regarding voting, both writers agreed on the necessity to reform the government and the means of accomplishing it. In King's Letter from Birmingham Jail and Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, both agreed on injustice of majority to rule over minority, both resisted the government passively, and both wanted a better government immediately.The majority is not necessarily right, but they have always been the ones in power because they are the strongest and the most influential. Therefore, all the laws are written by the majority, almost all are in favor of the majority, and all are enforced by the majority. According to King, a law drafted by the majority is only just when the minority are willing to follow it. He wrote "An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself" (2:475). In other words, if a law denies the right of the minority or is inflicted upon the minority by force, then it is not a just law. Similar opinions are shared by Thoreau, when he writes "But a government in which the majority r...

Benefits and Concerns of Surveillance

Many of us go about our day with little thought we are being watched. We take our privacy for granted. In some instances where we go or what we do is recorded by CCTV cameras. These little cameras housed in a black round domes seem to be everywhere hanging over our heads. Are they invading our privacy? Are they there to protect us? There is always a debate discussing the benefits and concerns of surveillance. What is surveillance? Surveillance is a French word meaning â€Å"watching over†. It is also the monitoring of activities and behaviours of people usually individuals or groups from a distance. It is used by government agencies and law enforcement to maintain social control and prevent criminal activity. Surveillance come in other forms than a CCTV camera. There is computer surveillance, Telephone surveillance, Biometric surveillance, aerial surveillance and more. With the increasing speed of computers and the internet it is not only the government and private corporations watching us it is also ourselves. Our culture has changed dramatically over the past two decades. It used to be personal hand held video cameras that recorded those family milestones such as a baby’s first step or a birthday. Now the personal video camera has now turned into the instrument to catch the unexpected, but not in our personal life but the public. So not only has surveillance invaded our privacy we have also made it a part of lives to use surveillance on others. There are many benefits and concerns to surveillance. The debate is what are the true benefits and concerns of surveillance in our society? Audio & Biometric Surveillance  Audio surveillance has been a major component in surveillance monitoring since wiretapping began on telegraph lines. Audio surveillance became more difficult with the introduction of the telephone, as the rate of information increased dramatically. Audio surveillance has become easier with the advancements in recording ability and computing power. Traditionally telephone calls had to be listened to live and transcribed to paper. Today human agents are not required to monitor calls. The first Speech-to-text machines was introduced in 1952, but was restricted to recognizing spoken numbers. Almost sixty years later software now creates readable text from intercepted audio and is then processed by automated call-analysis programs (Charles Piller, 2002). Audio surveillance provides raw information for investigations and has been successful for many law enforcement agencies. In the united states agencies have million dollar contracts that require phone companies to keep all call records easily searchable and accessible (Singel, 2007). The private sector benefits in audio surveillance by using software programs in cal centers that isolate phrases used frequently. These trends can be used by analysts to identify potential problems so actions can be taken. These early identifiers can help reduce call volumes, improve the bottom line, and greatly increase customer satisfaction (Wint). Software based audio surveillance provides a certain amount of privacy. The entirety of an audio recording might be available to listen to, but the huge amount of audio information being produced today means that software has to be used to search for key words. This helps introduce a level of privacy for the public and also gives the general public a higher level of safety. Law enforcement agencies and direct their man power to calls with repeated illegal activity instead of jeopardizing the privacy of the public. With increased power comes increased responsibility. The software searching through audio is controlled by humans, this introduces concern on privacy. Operators could use these systems for their own benefit instead of the greater good of a company or nation. Biometrics is the study of measurable biological characteristics (Random House Dictionary). Biometrics is concerned with the analysis of biological data obtained from video, audio nd even physical data. Face, fingerprint, retina, signature, veins, and voice recognition are all examples of biometric identification schemes (Random House Dictionary). Biometrics really helps to enhance current surveillance technologies. It allows for the automated identification of individuals. Automated identification is the major benefit and also the biggest concern. Currently biometrics is used to track and quickly identify targets and it’s argued that they are completely useless without a well constructed threat mode to track. (Biometrics: Who's Watching You? 2003) The biggest current threat with using biometrics is the assault on individuals to gain secured access with a biometric device (Biometrics: Who's Watching You? , 2003). For example, in 2005, Malaysian car thieves cut off the finger of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class owner when attempting to steal the car. (Kent, 2005). Video & Electronic Surveillance After taking root in the late 19th century video surveillance started as an all analog video surveillance system, also known as closed-circuit television monitoring. The transmission distance was not too far and mainly used for small scale monitoring. Today’s digital equipment has given birth to intelligent analysis technology that is able to provide more substantial results, such as motion detection, face recognition and target tracking with the capability to transmit over great distances in virtually any setting. Likewise the advancement in computer technology has opened opportunity for other means of electronic surveillance. One example is data tracking, sometimes referred to as data logging, which is the ability to capture information such as places of preferred visit, individual purchases, telephone activity, choice of TV programming and internet websites of interest to name a few. Chuck Huff writes â€Å"with technology comes knowledge and with that comes responsibility†. So is today’s surveillance responsible or are we inadvertently stepping the boundaries of acceptable supervision? Yes one could argue the whole point of surveillance is to keep us safer from those in society who could potentially hurt us. Might it be a true statement to consider the fewer cameras there are, the higher chance of crime happening. Unfortunately surveillance cameras are not able to prevent the crimes or stop the criminals. Yes, cameras can make us aware but unfortunately don’t protect us. Consider the privacy impact on both cameras and data logging. The laws that most affect the legality of using these types of surveillance are personal privacy laws that limit the collection, use and disclosure of individuals’ personal information, this law is PIPEDA (personal information protection and electronic documents act). Cameras in public areas like parks tend to make the laws outlined in PIPEDA seem opaque and unclear. If cameras are put in public areas doesn’t that now make it a private area because the whole idea of being watched is added in? This is of course if we accept public areas defined as that which is open to all persons. So if we put more surveillance in a grocery store, does it become a private venue? No, it does not. In the same way, employers using cameras, blackberry surveillance software, listening to live calls, GPS tracking, secretly reading text messages and viewing call logs in the workplace doesn’t mean that it’s an invasion of privacy or illegal; it just means that the use of surveillance in the workplace is subject to restrictions. In the end, just because people don’t like being watched doesn’t mean we sacrifice our inherent rights as a society to have safety, security and stability. Society must also consider the impact of surveillance on individual perception. There is the potential that added surveillance in a neighborhood will cause communities to lose money and possibly raise taxes, which makes the community less popular. Yet cameras and data logging violate the country’s Privacy Act, because it records the actions of thousands of people in public areas / spaces without there being any reasonable grounds that a criminal act is occurring. Society can’t help but ask, when does surveillance inadvertently switch from supervision to â€Å"snoopervision†? Ultimately the use of technology has outpaced Canada’s privacy laws, especially in a post September 11th, 2001 world where security concerns threaten individual rights. Conclusion Surveillance technology compositions such as audio, video too much more complex system such as data tracking and biometrics offer great importance to national security, public safety and overall protection of people from harm. These surveillance systems also neglect individual freedom and right to privacy. Surveillance technology protects society against child molesters, terrorist attacks and destruction. But at the same time these technology is used to neglects individual rights by tracking everyone’s actions which intern harms society because they do not protect people’s privacy. There are benefits and concerns of using surveillance system because different situation compels us to take measures that can protect or neglect society as a whole.