In Focus: On Kurds and Their Struggles for Independence

Kurds are a non-Arabic ethnic group adhering to the teachings of Sunni Muslim faith. This group is said to be compassionate, romantic and fatalistic as it is evidently shown with their literature. Kurds are politically and ideologically diverse (Yildiz and Blass, 2004). They fought several struggles to claim their independence, but still, their struggles seem unending. At present, they are still establishing their own independent states in Syria, Iran, and Iraq. Brief History About the Kurds McKiernan (2006) stated that Kurds are Indo-European people residing in the mountains and highlands of Kurdistan ( area where Turkey, Iran and Iraq meet). They do have their own native language that is much like of the Persian language. Also, Kurds adhere to the belief of Sunni Muslim faith, but there are some who embrace other religions such as Jews, Yazidis, Christianity and other sects. Their way of living is nomadic. Herding sheep and goat is their main source of living. Until the middle of 19th century, Kurds were never at peace due to the disagreement of the Ottoman and Persian Empire about border areas. The result: Kurds are mistrusted by both empires. The group was pressured to give up their old ways, to conform to the majority. They are forced to learn the language of the nation. Upon learning such language, they were to give up Kurdish identity and to accept the nationalism of the borders where they are residing. The group was divided; but most of them tried to resist the changes particularly those concerning their identity (Saleem, 2006). Kurds and Their Struggles As early as 19th century, Kurdistand, a territory for the Kurds had been promised but it was never kept until this day. Throughout the years, as new state systems have been imposed targeting centralization, homogenization, and control, the Kurds hav been made homeless. In addition, new state systems have their own political ideologies where the demands of the minorities are last among its priorities (McDowall, 2004). After the conflicts and struggles, there was peace among the Kurds that lasted for twenty years. But during the peaceful period, Kurds were maltreated; specifically they did not have rights that ensured their safety and protection. Due to such treatment, Kurds opted to continue their struggle for independence and nationhood (Mckiernan, 2006). Yildiz and Blass (2004) reported that Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria are the concerns since Kurds area presently residing in those countries. The government of the mentioned countries have implemented several strategies on whether to accept or deny the political, social, and security demands of the Kurds. And often, the strategies deny the legitimacy of the Kurds in the country concerned.   The demands and rights are taken away from the group, peaceful talks regarding the concepts of Kurdistan were never given. In Turkey, there are bout 10 million Kurds forbidden to speak their native language, instead they are forced to learn and speak the Turkish language; if caught speaking the Kurdish language, they will be imprisoned. Also, they must not call themselves as â€Å"Kurds†, instead they must label themselves as â€Å"Mountain Terks†. The Kurds in Turkey cannot withstand the discrimination, they rebelled against the Turkish government but instead of winning their plea; the government suppressed the rebellion by deporting thousands of Turks from the country (Gunter, 1997). It was in 1920 when the Iranians ruled over the Kurds. The Iranian domination over the Kurds stopped in 1946, when the Kurds of Mahabad were successful in claiming their independent republic. The Kurds were able to win their rights, registering their tribal lands as their own possession. They were also given a seat in the ruling elite, ensuring that their demands and rights are protected as well. After the Shia revolution, their demands and rights were once more deprived of them (McDowall, 2004). It was in Iraq, where there are several revolts held by the Kurds to uphold their rights and privileges as a nation, as an inhabitant of Iraq. The revolt started in 1964 which was led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani, the famous leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP). In 1975, the rights and privileges fought for had been heard later on to find out that their leader had abandoned the Kurds in exchange for self-interest. Brutal attacks had been done to Kurdish civilians (Yildiz and Blass, 2004). The demands of the Kurds are seen as challenges for the country’s ruling body. The group is regarded as a hindrance for government systems to be implemented smoothly. Often, Kurdish political demands such as shared power and resources among different political groups, multi-ethnic and multi-religious, are viewed as threats for the country’s security and sovereignty.   Despite the long years of struggles that are continuing up to the present, Kurds remain to be political inhabitants of the country (Mckiernan, 2006). The Kurdish people up to present are still continuing their battle against oppression and colonization among Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. They are continuously fighting to uphold their identity, rights and to rule over their own individuality. Despite the efforts given, the conflicts among Kurds must first be resolved. The tribal social structure of each group residing in Kurdistan areas, their beliefs and particularly the political ideologies they are adhering to. The differences among them must first be resolved in order to achieve good outputs.   And for the past years of struggle, many Kurds have given up their lives to achieve the political ideologies that they have been fighting for. Kurds experienced devastating tragedies killing fellow Kurds believing in their rights a group, as an individual, and as an ethnic Kurd member (Saleem, 2006). Conclusion Despite the years that have passed, the struggles seem endless for the Kurds. There are several reasons contributing to the failure of their long struggle. Internal disputes among them seem trivial but have effectively impeded their way to success. The countries still hold to their tactics in eventually eliminating their rights and privileges, while Kurds adhere to their political beliefs and upholding their rights. Unless a quorum is reached, this issue is unlikely to be resolved . Compromise among the countries and the Kurds must be made possible. Peaceful dialogue among the groups should be initiated as early as now. Once more, we should not allow devastating killings to occur and peace initiatives at the national and international levels must be strengthened in order to have a conducive atmosphere for peaceful dialogue. As for the Kurds, who suffered pain throughout their years of battle, they must conform to these peace initiatives being set. The peaceful coexistence of both peoples is achievable. For this proposal to occur, there must be bilateral ceasefire and negotiations among the involved parties. The future of the group is within their hands. The internal conflicts among them must first be resolved in order to achieve unity. The differences and the question of supremacy must be set aside in order to negotiate the rights and privileges that they are all fighting for. The governments will see that the rights and privileges are not demands that would impede the country’s system. Respect is the key for the successful deployment of peace negotiations. One must learn to respect one’s individuality. The political beliefs that both parties have, are working well for their respective inhabitants, and the process should be allowed to maintain this status quo. Kurds may preserve their individuality and be able to utilize the culture handed on to them in such a set-up.   Language and education would be their most powerful tools that will allow them to churn out meaningful literary output (written in their native tongue), showcasing to the world their cultural heritage and its uniqueness. References Gunter, M. (1997).   The Kurds and the Future of the Turkey. St. Martin’s Press, NY. USA 56-70. McDowall, D. (2004). A Modern History of the Kurds. 3rd edn. St. Martin’s Press, NY.USA. 423-456. McKiernan, K. (2006). The Kurds: A People in Search of their Homeland.   St. Martin’s Press, NY.USA. Saleem, H. (2006).   My Father’s Rifle: A Childhood in Kurdistan. Picador. 47-87. Yildiz, K. and Blass, T. (2004). The Kurds in Iraq: The Past, Present, and Future. Pluto Press.

Managing Business Problems Essay

What are the causes of poor productivity within large organizations and how can we look at trying to improve this? Productivity is the degree of output achieved in relation to a certain level of input. For example, in a call centre environment, productivity would be seen as the number of telephone calls answered per hour by a certain number of staff. The telephone calls are the output and the staff available to take the calls are the input. In order to improve productivity, one of the following has to occur: The level of input is decreased however the level of output remains the same, or, the level of output increases but the level of input remains the same. In relation to the example of the call centre, this would mean reducing the number of staff available to answer the phone but yet the remaining staff would still have to answer the same number of calls, i.e. they would have to answer more calls each to compensate for the decrease in staff. Or the other way to increase productivity in a call centre would be to keep the same number to staff available to take customer calls but the number of calls being answered in total would have to increase. Productivity is a major issue within any organisation but especially call centres. Call centres do try to forecast the number of calls they expect everyday and allocate resources accordingly to deal with these pressures, however there are still thousands of calls abandoned (where the customer hangs up before even getting through to an advisor) each and every day, this is sometimes referred to as â€Å"call leakage†. This is a growing problem for call centres across the country and it is surprising the amount of customers who will take their business elsewhere simply because they cant get through on the phone as they see it as poor customer service. In many cases it isn’t feasible for staff numbers to be increased in order to cope with the call volumes that are being received and so the only solution to reducing the call leakage is to increase the productivity of the existing staff. Working in a call centre environment myself I appreciate that this is a very challenging task as call centre agents generally feel overworked and underpaid already and trying to get more work out of them will be difficult. However my research into call centre life has thrown up some issues surrounding the task of increasing staff performance in order for your business to work smarter. My research examines the possibility of reward systems as a means of increasing productivity, how call centre staff view their own roles and changes they would like to see in order to help them perform better During my research I searched the Emerald website to find relevant journal articles to assist my studies. I came across an interesting one called † An exploration of managerial issues in call centres† by Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole and Jean Prescott. This paper consisted of two case studies carried out in two large organisations; these will be known as Case Study A and Case Study B. I found this article useful as it explores why people work in call centres, how they feel about their jobs and this research is spread over all levels from call centre agent to general manager. Case Study A provides a good background to call centre life and will aid understanding of what it is like to work in a call centre environment. In Case Study A, a total of fourteen staff members of all levels were interviewed, interviews lasted one hour and were all taped and transcribed. The interviews explored the initial decision to work for a call centre, the expectations they had before they started and the extent to which their jobs had lived up to those expectations. The authors also examined company statistics; they found evidence of high turnover in staff who had been employed for a few months then reducing to comparatively low turnover after they had been employed for more than six months. I found the findings from Case Study A to be very surprising having worked in a call centre myself and not having had very many positive experiences during my time there. The overall impression from those interviewed was that they felt very positive about their workplace. There were inevitable differences in how different levels of employees viewed certain issued but there were more similarities than differences. I was interested to see how employees had spoke about productivity and performance targets. It became apparent that performance targets were related to the number of calls answered, the time in which it took to answer the calls and also the levels of call leakage. It is very easy to monitor call centre agents against an array of time-related measures and staff felt under a lot of pressure at times due to this. I can relate to this, as this is exactly how I felt working as a call centre agent. One manager interviewed in Case Study A stated that the most important thing in managing call centre staff was â€Å"motivation, motivation, motivation†, yet the manager in question admitted he had little idea of how to motivate staff. I do agree that motivating staff to perform well is an issue and I appreciate that highly motivated staff will be more productive but I also think that if staff working in call centres had a better understanding of the bigger picture and knew how their actions impacted upon the business as a whole they may change their attitudes and automatically perform better and more efficiently. This is just my opinion from my experience of working in a British Gas call centre for almost three years I have been privileged enough to have been given an insight into the deeper realms of the business, something which frontline staff rarely come into contact with and I do feel this would be of benefit to them. As it stand now, staff are being thrown tough performance targets by management and expected to meet them without question, they have no understanding of why the business needs them to perform at a particular level and what the consequences will be if they don’t. I believe business awareness to be a vital part of representing a company to the public and the company I work for do offer a business awareness course, however this is e-learning based and has to be completed in your own time. Needless to say, there are not many staff who take advantage of this opportunity to understand the business they work for due to the above conditions and a lot of staff are probably unaware that the facility even exists. If British Gas were to allow the time for staff to complete this course during working hours or even to be paid overtime for the time they spend on it outside their scheduled hours, they would have a massive response and although this would be time consuming and possibly quite costly, I believe that the positive effects on how employees work would outweigh the costs. Productivity is very poor in the call centre I work in after reading relevant sections in a book called â€Å"Remuneration Policy† by Patrick McCauley I am under the impression that a successful reward system can help to improve productivity. McCauley defines motivation simply as â€Å"goal directed behaviour† and he makes it clear that employees will only be motivated to increase their performance by goals that are actually of interest to them, for example if a manager said to his team one day that the person with the highest productivity that day would be rewarded with a family ticket to the local pantomime then you would get Sandra, the mother with 2.4 children, husband and nice semi-detached house working her socks off, however, Matt, Gary and Emma, the three students on the team and Harold the grandad of the team who is six months off retirement would not be interested in the slightest by the managers offer of reward. McCauley states that the three key questions we need to consider when devising a successful reward system are: * What goals will employees actually pursue? * What factors will determine their success or failure in achieving these goals? * What will be the consequences of achievement or frustration for the employee and the organisation? As I have already mentioned, it is important to offer rewards that are of interest to the staff and that will actually motivate them to perform better and drive them towards goals which involve meeting productivity and performance targets on the way. It is important to offer generic rewards that are appealable to all or a choice of a few different rewards in order to cater for all the different ages, cultures etc. I have dome some research in to reward systems whilst working on a service excellence team in the British Gas call centre and the rewards that were constantly being requested by staff were things such as an extra days annual leave, high street vouchers, deputising for a higher level role for half a day as a development opportunity etc. These were things that the frontline staff were telling management would motivate them to work harder and to a higher standard, however management declined these requests as they saw them as too ambitious and they were especially against the extra holiday which unfortunately was the most popular suggestion. It was a shame these suggestions were declined as staff then felt that they were being ignored which in turn lowered morale and saw a drop in productivity for a short while, it would probably have been cheaper for the company to have allowed a small number of desired rewards which would have increased productivity for while and certainly wouldn’t have reduced it. Staff are already aware of what their targets are on a day to day basis and we need to remember that there will be a percentage of staff who do consistently meet these targets, therefore when setting criteria for a reward system we have to set it higher than daily performance targets to show that staff are being recognised for going above and beyond the call of duty and not just being coaxed into doing what is already expected of them. Staff will have to meet daily performance and productivity targets and then some before they can achieve a reward. If an employee successfully achieves a reward for their performance then not only will their productivity have had to increase to achieve the reward in the first place but as that desired behaviour has now been rewarded, the employee will be conditioned into repeating it in order to gain further rewards. If an employee either attempts and fails to reach the goal required to achieve a reward or doesn’t make the effort and sees his colleagues around him being rewarded for their increased effort and performance it will have one of the two following effects upon him: * He will become de-motivated as he is feeling left out or a failure as his efforts are not being recognised because he fails to reach the required standard and his performance will drop further. * He will become determined to work to the required level to achieve a reward to prove to himself and his managers that he too can perform well. If the latter of the consequences occurs then the reward systems is still being effective in all areas as even failures are being motivated to continue to strive for the reward on offer. However if the company begins to see individuals experiencing a drop in motivation and performance they may need to consider addressing this with a reward for example for the most improved productivity each month, therefore even those whose efforts don’t bring them above the required productivity level for a standard reward have a chance of recognition for their efforts alone. McCauley examines Vroom’s expectancy theory and this supports the issues raised above. Vroom does state though that the criteria that needs to be met in order to achieve a reward has to be very clear cut and communicated thoroughly to all levels of staff so as to avoid woolly areas where decisions to reward or not may be disputed. Throughout my research I have identified underlying issues surrounding the productivity of call centre staff and how to improve this by encouraging motivation amongst staff and providing them with personal goals that at the same time guide them towards achieving the productivity levels required by the business. I have come to the conclusion that productivity can only really be successfully increased in the long term by providing something for the individual to work towards, not just setting targets and expecting them to be met. I also think that increased business awareness amongst frontline staff would be beneficial to any call centre so then at least they know and understand why there are certain pressures placed upon them and they may be more welcoming to the challenge of attaining higher targets. Bibliography An exploration of managerial issues in call centres. (Journal Article) Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole & Jean Prescott. Remuneration Policy

Letter of Advice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Letter of Advice - Research Paper Example The most important thing in a new relationship is to develop understanding and trust among each other. Only with understand can hindrances or fail of communication can be coped up. One very common example of a failure in effective communication occurs when interaction or communication between people take place either in a crowded place or through a medium like telephone where the voice cannot be heard properly. Under such circumstances, it is very much possible that a partner could misinterpret or hear something else that was intended to. For example while taking the course we came across a couple in class that shared their experience of miscommunication over the phone. The couple had recently tied the knot and one fine day while talking on the phone from office the female partner said â€Å"Honey my life was so incomplete without you.† The male partner heard the sentence wrong and asked â€Å"Do you mean to say that your life was complete without me and that now I am part of it it’s not complete?† The female partner without realizing what she heard said yes. This infuriated the male partner and he banged the phone down only to return home late and drunk that night. Later when the issue was sorted out the problem looked very simple but because the two of them had not known each other that well, it had looked very big before. Our lecturer then told us that it is very important to develop an understanding so one could know what to expect from the other. The lecturer gave the example of the couple and said that if there was better understanding between the couple at that moment in their life then an incident of that nature would not have taken place. The male partner would know that his female partner would never say something like that and even if she does then maybe in light humour. This was an ideal example of misconception in interpersonal communication (West and Turner, 2010). The relationship of a newly engaged couple is very delicate as both the partners try to make maximum effort in trying to understand each other. It is also a testing time when a partner tests the patience, attitude, behaviour and other characteristics of his or her counterpart. It is very important to select the words in order to create and affect the attitude, behaviour and perception. Words once spilled out from the mouth can never be taken back no matter how sweet or bitter they are. I do not mean to tell you to be extra cautious while talking to one another. That is not good otherwise there will be more silence than talking. All that I am saying is that you two must be in control of your conversation rather than the conversation controls you. If one of you gets upset then the best way to handle the situation is by kindly talking it over rather than spilling out rude words or showing body language that is not appropriate. You two must understand that most of the problems in marriage and other relationships are caused by misunderstanding and what Sigmund Freud described as ego. At the lectures in our courses, the lecturers try to tell us how to handle our ego and help from keeping it away from our relationships. Your ego is your self esteem. It is something that always wants to keep you superior in front of your counterpart. In a healthy relationship the two of you must look to make a compromise with your ego placing more importance to your partner. It is not a problem if the male partner first says hello. There should be

Mustang Ford Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mustang Ford - Assignment Example egies that enable them to retain and also attract more customers, for instance, by lowering their costs, improving quality of their products, and producing vehicles with attractive features. Ford is forced to adopt the same strategies to compete with these industries and stay competitive in the ever changing market. A strategic group in the automobile industry consists of industries which face the same factors of competition and carry out the same strategies in similar strategic dimensions. According to Mahoney (2005), strategic groups in the automobile industry usually begin with the choice of dimensions of strategies. Different dimensions will be employed in defining strategic groups: quality of products, cost position, identification of brand, services, financial leverage, and specialization. Reluctance of banks to give car loans. Unavailability of credits from banks puts much strain on Ford’s capital. Ford has to ensure that its sales are stabilized, or it may be forced to seek monetary assistance from the government. More customers are now opting for environmentally friendly vehicles. Ford has taken advantage of this opportunity by developing an ‘Eco Boost’ technology, which the industry is using to manufacture cars that have 20% greater efficiency in fuel use and also have reduced carbon dioxide emissions (Hitt et. al, 2012). Due to the increased environmental awareness, manufactures make environmentally friendly vehicles that are more marketable because of the need to conserve one’s environment. There are few manufacturing automobile industries compared to the number of consumers. New technology is available in this industry, and this has made it possible to manufacture cars according to what consumers prefer. Mobility barriers will prevent the industry from moving to a different strategic group. These mobility barriers will ensure that the industry does not face increased rivalry and that it still is able to make sufficient economic profits

Business Plan (3Gen Informatics) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business Plan (3Gen Informatics) - Essay Example A business plan is often considered to be a crucial step for an entrepreneur intending to inaugurate new business venture or expand business unit to a newly located marketplace. The plan generally assists an entrepreneur towards performing various operations resulting in attaining superior competitive position in the respective industry. With this concern, this paper intends to prepare a realistic along with a practical business plan for the proposed business venture relating to computer sales and service. In order to increase the viability of the business plan concerning the above depicted business venture, the business plan s would encompass various aspects associated with the type of business. In this similar context, the plan would clearly depict the business including its offerings, sales and marketing strategies, information of management groups and their roles amid other relevant factors. Brief Overview of the Venture 3Gen Informatics is a proposed business organization which would deal with the business of computer sales and service. ... inclusive collection of selling computer systems including hardware, software and network trouble shooting for small, medium and large business industries. The services of the organization will be focused on designing and installing network systems, computer hardware along with software supports and training programs. The objective of 3Gen Informatics would be to provide individuals with wide range of services consisting of providing solutions to network problems, hardware and software upgrades, repairing hardware and many more. Thus, the initial investment will be less as the company will focus on services more rather than selling hardware components. Additionally, the company would also recruit five new members in order to accomplish its different computer sale and service related functions. Choice of Sources of Funds for Your Business with Justification Preparing an effective and valid financial plan can be duly considered as one of the major aspects for entrepreneurs to develop a n effective business plan. The financial forecast of the business plan would typically involve various major outlines of identifying different costs that are required to start and operate the overall process of the organization. An effective and authentic financial plan for a business involves various attributes such as balance sheet, cash flow and profit statement which aids in accomplishing feasible and profitable outcome from the business operations (Byrne, n.d.). In this regard, the initial investment for starting up a business would require greater initiatives from the owners or the partners. In relation to the proposed business venture, a projection of US$ 100,000 can be made in order to start up the venture including all required expenses. In this regard, a sum of US$ 60,000 would

Influence Technique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Influence Technique - Essay Example I had my chance to apply the persuasion technique once when I worked part-time as a life planner. A life planner ( commonly known as an insurance salesman) is not an easy job. The rewards are great but a person must be equipped with good persuasive skills to become successful in this field. During the training, we were equipped with all the information we needed to educate potential clients; however, the real experience presents a lot of surprises for a rookie. Before graduating from the training, we must pass a role-playing with a very critical customer. This means I must be able to handle all the rejections carefully and convert them into neutral statements. The main point of the test is to sell the concept of life insurance and sell our services to the person. The person I was trying to influence is a married man who comes from a middle-class family. He is knows the value of life insurance but does not know much about our company. The strategy employed. The strategy I used was rec iprocity for a number of reasons. First, it is our first time to meet so there is no interpersonal relationship yet. Rather, both parties were using mutual trust on the assumption that we’re both professionals. Also, I have something to offer that can provide long term benefits for the person.

Evaluate the main Problems Associated with Using Plastic Bags Essay

Evaluate the main Problems Associated with Using Plastic Bags - Essay Example As the report stresses in India non-biodegradable bags result in long-lasting litter at landfill sites. This is especially dangerous to wildlife away from areas of human population. Collecting plastic bags is not profitable for waste pickers in India, and this leads to plastic bags continuing to create a major threat to the environment. As a consequence the landscape of India is dominated by litter from plastic bags. Presently, plastic accounts for an estimated 10 percent of generated waste. This paper discusses that some of the litter that does not end up in landfills results in blocked drains and choked soil. Plastic bags are light and so they lead to blocked drains which results in water logging and nuisance to citizens. They can also lead to choked soil because they are non-porous, and do not permit the free flow of water and air, hence causing plants to choke. The rotting waste from pits generates methane. The toxins present are dissolved, permeates the soil and pollutes groundwater during monsoon rains. Plastic bags are photo-degradable instead of bio-degradable – which means that they break down into small toxic bits. This results in the contamination of the ground and waterways. This becomes a heath hazard to humans, animals, marine life and plant life. Suffocation as a result of plastic bag is not uncommon, especially in Malaysia. There have been accidental deaths, both among small children who play with shopping bags and adolescents who are solvent abuse rs. There have been instances of homicide cases, and the victims are invariably infants or adults who are frail or terminally ill and are not able to struggle or show resistance (Perez-Martinez et al 1993). Impact on plants, animal and marine life In India dumping grounds are filled, levelled off and converted into parks. Owing to the fact that the soil was predominantly plastic bags, the trees were not able to anchor firmly into the ground. The flora is destroyed due to the uprooting of trees from the high velocity winds that blow over the city during the