Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Starbucks - Essay Example Furthermore, the report provides a discussion of the marketing mix and possible strategies that should be employed in order to ensure that the launch of a new organic product line by Starbucks in the UK is successful. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1.Introduction 3 2. Situation Analysis 4 2.1 PESTLE Analysis 5 The rise of health conscious consumers in the UK means that the organic food industry is no longer categorized as a niche market but has recently become a market that is targeted towards the masses. According to IBISWorld, sales volumes of organic products in the UK are expected to rise by 2.6% resulting in financial growth of ?2.02 billion (PRWEB 2013). Certainly, this trend reflects increased consumer awareness regarding food products and the benefits of organic produce on health. 6 2.2 SWOT Analysis 7 3.Market Summary 8 3.1Segmentation 8 3.2Targeting 9 3.3.Positioning 10 3.3 Competition 10 3.4 Market Growth Potential 11 4.1 Marketing Objective 12 4.2 Target Market 12 4.3 Product Offering 12 4.4 Marketing Program 13 4.4.1 Marketing Mix 13 4.4.2 Marketing Communication Mix 13 References 15 PRWEB (2013). UK Organic food industry is moving from niche to mainstream markets [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 The Asset (2013). Strong UK GDP growth through Q3 seen, SWIFT Index predicts [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 UKTI (2012). Finance, grants and incentives for businesses in the UK [online] available from [24 June 2013] 15 1. Introduction Starbucks started its operations in 1971 with a sole location at Seattle’s Pike Place Market engaging in the buying and selling of ground coffee and whole bean (Starbucks 2012). The business started with Howard Schlutz’s vision of taking the European coffeehouse experience and translating it according to the requirements, demands, needs and wants of the American customer (Kotler 2010). According to Kotler (2010) the success of Starbucks which is reflected in the existence of 17,651 sto res (as of July 2012) across the globe (Starbucks 2012) has been its ability to integrate a rich experience and successful product to provide the Starbucks Experience. Starbucks made entrance in the European coffee market in 1998 as a consequence of its acquisition of 65 Seattle Coffee Company outlets located in the United Kingdom (Starbucks 2013a). Analysts note that Starbuck’s entrance into the UK market via this strategic business decision was aided by the similarities shared by the two companies it their culture, values and commitment towards the customers (Starbucks 2013). 2. Situation Analysis According to the financial results of Starbucks in the last 5 years, the company has experienced significant growth in its earnings per share which is a positive sign. Under this consideration financial analysts can make accurate evaluations regarding the financial state of the company and the performance of the sales department in particular. According to reports, the earnings pe r share of the organization have increased on a consistent basis from $0.87 in 2007

One Step Home Brewing Kit Essay Example for Free

One Step Home Brewing Kit Essay There are a lot of home brewing kits available in market but all have a typical problem associated with it. We have come with a new â€Å"One Step Home Brewing Kit† based on our patented technology. Soon we plan to launch it in market. We did a market research for such product and gained a lot of valuable information. Based on all those observations we have come with the following plan. We would be operating through internet instead of setting up a shop for it, at least for the initial phase. Not only it reaches to more people but also is more convenient to operate. We won’t run the website ourselves but would outsource to a separate company. Our research shows that outsourcing would be cheaper. We have finalized our hosting company and hosting plans. The initial one time cost comes to be around $10,000/-. Regarding our financials For the first month our primary target is set our infrastructure right. We need to get comfortable with the setup, optimize our settings. So, for the first month we won’t be spending much on advertising but would mainly focus on our acquaintance and word-of-mouth publicity to get our customers. We have kept a modest sales target of 100 units. Each kits selling price would be $30/-. Cost of revenue is assumed to be 45% of revenue. Biggest expense during this time would be of setting up the website which includes one time cost of website hosting, web designing and taking photographs of our product. The setting up process will take around 20 -25 days. From the last few days of the month we would increase our advertisements and also would put user experiences of our product on the website. Rough estimate shows a loss for the first month which is very well expected at the beginning of a business firm. In the second month we expect sales of around 500 units. This increase is expected due to increase in our advertising and the positive feedback given by our customers for our product. We ourselves have no doubt that our product is best and hence expect strong positive atmosphere for our product in the market. To cater to this increasing need we would need to purchase a new computer and hire an operator for that. The New system’s cost is put in office equipment expenses field. This would increase our staff from 1 to 2. We also would have to work in those positions to curtail our staff requirements For the 3rd month we expect sales of around 800 units and hope to induce a new staff and a new computer to keep up with our increasing customer visits and their database. We hope to reach our break even point by the end of 3rd month. For the next quarter we hope to keep a calm speed and again check our system and get the work boundaries of everyone more finer. We would take one more employee at non technical position. For 3rd quarter we again expect a rapid increase in our sales due to the previous quarter’s corrective steps. We will introduce a new staff in our team to concentrate specifically on our advertising. So our advertising cost reaches an all time high. For final quarter we hope to keep up this good trend. For 2nd year we will try to outsource some of our processes like dispatching, packing etc. so that we focus more on our core competence i. e. our product. We will also try to start RD around our product. This will help us bring out some new product. We will first be looking to bring some product that would complement our product. Also we may venture out in new areas if they seem perfect for our conditions. Our Rent is going to increase by 20% In 3rd year we will double our infrastructure. This may be for our new product or to keep the increased volume of sales of our existing product. This year we will definitely setup our RD if they are not setup to the full extent in the second year. As the world is progressing fast in technology fields and future would hold golden days for technology products. We will surely bring some product in this domain. Our core product would of course be always our focus and we will always try to better it. As we move past the expected milestones we would surely be getting more experienced and will fine tune our expenses, Mobilize our staff to specific positions. This is our plan till now and we hope to surpass it every month, quarte

Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS

Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS CIPD Management Report Utilising E Recruitment Executive Summary This Management report will look at the Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust and identify if E recruitment can help with the difficulties experienced in the Trust. Alongside a literature review of Recruitment difficulties, Employer Branding, Traditional recruitment and E recruitment, the author has conducted a benchmarking exercise in order to establish best practice in recruitment in local NHS organisations, A Process Mapping exercise to identify current practice and identify any difficulties or hold ups in the current process and a Managers questionnaire to allow the author to identify current perceptions of the recruitment service in the organisation alongside what expectations are. Appendices. Satisfaction Survey Survey results 1.0 Introduction The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was established in April 2002 and manages hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and North Manchester. Serving a population of approximately 800,000, the Trust is one of the largest in the country and had an operating expenditure of over  £425 million in 2006/07. It runs services across five hospital sites: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury; North Manchester General Hospital; The Royal Oldham Hospital; Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale and employs a staff of approximately 10,000. The Trust has four divisions identified as Surgery, Medicine, Women and Childrens, and Diagnostics and Clinical Support. It also has directorates providing support to clinical services including Human Resources, Facilities, Planning, Finance, Information and Management Technology, Modernisation and Performance, Governance and Research and Development. The local economy in which the Trust is situated is strong, with a great deal of competition from local organisations for staff. There is little competition within the NHS for staff, as Pennine is ‘the only Trust in town, in each of the 4 areas. Transport links to the Trust are generally good, although access to some peripheral sites is difficult, and car parking can be a problem, especially at the Royal Oldham site. The Trust is concerned, as many Trusts in the Greater Manchester area are, that many of its nurses will retire within the next five years and it is trying to develop a programme to get people to stay on after the normal retirement age. It also attempts to recruit as many student nurses as possible, but positions for newly qualified staff have been reduced in the last few years due to reconfiguration of services and redeployment to avoid redundancy. The Trust has a lower proportion of nursing staff from ethnic backgrounds than the local population, when comparing the 2001 Census with its workforce data; but the percentage of staff as a whole from ethnic backgrounds is higher, due to the numbers of medical staff from ethnic minorities within the Trust. The Trust works hard to recruit staff from ethnic minorities/deprived backgrounds. It has an Equality and Diversity Team who work to promote diversity within the Trust, supporting proactive recruitment where there is a concentration of individuals from ethnic or disadvantaged backgrounds. There is a central HR function, with designated HR Managers for each division. Restructuring of this model has taken place in recent years. Recruitment is managed from the North Manchester General Hospital site and provides a central function. With a workforce of over 10,000 people, the average monthly cost of recruitment at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is xxxxxx. Added to this is the length of time it takes to place a new employee in post, which is on average 60 days. This estimate is from measured from the advertised positions closing date to offering that position. Recruitment is currently a major issue in the Trust with days lost in the recruitment process costing money and reducing morale and effectiveness. At present the department is receiving a lot of pressure from the rest of the Trust and the reputation of the department is poor. This management report is being undertaken to identify recommendations that will allow the recruitment process to become more efficient and identify whether utilisation of e recruitment is a viable proposal in the Trust and whether its implementation will increase efficiency and save resources. All employers face the challenge of employing the right staff for their organisation and this often falls under a human resource arena. The recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been identified as a key challenge facing the NHS (NHS Plan 2002). High on the agenda at local, regional and national levels is the development of strategies and initiatives to attract suitable people to work in the professions, in order to ensure that services are responsive to patient needs. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment is an extensive subject with many aspects making up the area. A study by Ullman (1966) cited in Breaugh Starke (2000) was one of the first to examine recruitment sources. Finding that new employees who were recruited by means of informal sources (i.e., employee referrals, direct applications) had a lower turnover rate than individuals recruited via formal sources (i.e., newspaper advertisements and employment agencies). Barber (1998) has since concluded that past research has not made a strong case for the importance of source differences. The author is interested in research into the prevalence of the sources used in traditional recruitment, which appears to be research that has not been undertaken significantly. Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) identified that employers in the UK recruit over 3 million people each year, in a costly and time consuming exercise to add suitable staff to their organisation. They identify a need to ‘sell jobs to potential employees in order to ensure they can generate an adequate pool of applicants. Organisations are now facing a greater challenge recruiting rather than selecting. (Ployhart 2005) Other researchers having also identified the difficulties organisations have in attracting candidates, identifying selection will only be effective and financially defensible if a sufficient amount of applicants apply to the organisation. (Taylor and Collins, 2000) However according to Barber (1998), It is important that employers do not consider the recruitment process to be completed at this point, It continues during the short listing and interviewing stages and is only deemed as complete when an offer is made. For the purposes of this literature review the author will review thoughts and research on the initial stages of recruitment, that being the attraction of employees and advertisement of vacancies in order to recruit to the organisation, this will allow the author to include the areas of employer branding and e-recruitment in the review. 2.1 Recruitment Difficulties The Audit Commission (2002) has identified that the UK labour market is highly competitive at present with the rate of unemployment at a historically low level. Employers are openly competing harder to attract and retain staff. This is made more difficult, with reports across the country, of recruitment and retention problems affecting local public services, the NHS being no exception. There have been serious concerns about shortages in staff numbers, and fewer young people being attracted to work for the public sector, meaning there is a potential ‘demographic time bomb. It has been identified that 27 per cent of the public sector workforce are now aged 50 or over. (Gulland (2001), Audit Commission (2002)) Recruitment is also expensive, in a recent survey; CIPD (2007) identified the average cost of recruiting a member of staff is  £4,333; however this increases significantly to  £7750 when organisations are also calculating the associated labour turnover. They identified that eighty four percent of organisations have reported difficulties in filling vacancies in 2006, a rise of 2 percent on the previous year. The key challenges faced by organisations in regard to recruitment have been identified from the survey as; attracting and recruiting key staff to the organisation, reducing recruitment costs, enabling the achievement of the organisations strategic goals and addressing skills shortages. CIPD strongly believes that: ‘effective recruitment is central and crucial to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organisation. stating that ‘successful recruitment depends upon finding people with the necessary skills, expertise and qualifications to deliver organisational objectives and the ability to make a positive contribution to the values and aims of the organisation. The Audit Commissions report (2002) also identified there are concerns about ‘skill shortages, not only in terms of ‘basic skill levels in the workforce, but also in key leadership, management and specialist skills that are required. Previous research from the Audit Commission (2001) has showed that, on average, a new employee will perform at only 60 per cent of their productive potential when they are first appointed, only reaching 100 per cent after being in a post for a year. This makes recruitment in these areas and adequate delivery of services even harder to manage. In their extensive report on public service recruitment, the Audit Commission identifies the way the employers can maximise their recruitment practices. They advised: Informed, quick and professional responses to job advertisement enquiries are essential for maximising applications; routine monitoring of recruitment will ensure that recruitment initiatives are driven by the bigger picture rather than just the latest concern; success in addressing diversity issues are to be achieved through efficient, effective targeted recruitment campaigns based on knowledge of the target community; and any initiative to attract a specific group of staff will benefit from being profession-led and in partnership with HR. Audit Commission (2002) Effective recruitment practices and policies are recognised as making a significant contribution to an organisations success, according to Plumbley (1990). He states it is not simply about placing suitable candidates into jobs, but also about building an adept and flexible workforce in order to meet the organisations changing and demanding needs. The first stage of recruitment and selection is to be able to attract an adequate number of appropriate candidates. Prospective employees do not select the organisation they wish to work for on the foundation of job and organisational characteristics such as location, and organisational structure alone. 2.2 Employee Brand The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to organisations spending more time, effort and resources on developing their recruitment brand and expanding the range of advertising methods used, to try and attract quality applicants from as broad and diverse a pool possible. Almost seven in ten organisations describe themselves as having an employer brand according to CIPD (2007), and studies have shown that an organisations reputation and identity is vital in the fight to attract suitable talented applicants into organisations. (Lievens Highhouse, 2003; Cable Turban, 2001). Identifying that in order for the corporate brand to be more successful at attracting suitable candidates there is an importance in promoting and monitoring that brand. (Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, 2004) Fombrun, (1996) agrees with this stating the reputation of an organisation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors that can affect the probability of potential applicants choosing to apply to work for it. In the same way, organisation reputation has been found to be an important influence on applicants decisions of whether they fit with an organisation and want to join it (Rynes et al., 1991). This researcher has also showed that applicants utilised information on how informative and the ‘recruiter friendliness as an indicator of how an organisation treated its employees. Fombrun (1996) expands this argument to identify that reputation is of particular concern to applicants seeking employment in knowledge-based institutions, such as universities and hospitals, because of the intangibility of the services these organisations provide. Whilst Turban et al. (1998) also found that applicants perceptions of the specific attributes of a post were influenced by their evaluation of the organisation, even if they had been interviewed and were successful. The importance in private/commercial organisations reputation in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff has been well documented in literature, for example: (Turban, 2001) and Cable and Graham (2000), Gray and Ballmer 1998)), there has however been comparatively little consideration on the impact of reputation for public sector organisations. Most people in the course of their life have a need to use the services the NHS provide, some more than others and health is an important issue, not only on a personal level, also in the political arena. The NHS is the UKs largest employer, so many of the UK population are at present working in it, with a great number more many having done so at some point in their lives. In brief, the NHS has a wide range of different stakeholders, who may feel they have a vested interest in the quality; provision of services and ultimately, the reputation. People have varied, and very personal experiences of the NHS and this could mean image and reputation are therefore difficult to manage. The Audit Commission study (2002) study showed that public sector staff thinks that ‘their image in the eyes of the public would discourage potential recruits from entering the NHS. The study analysed a wide sample of the UKs national press to see if the evidence supported this observation. Analysis of the results showed that plenty of stories are told and coverage given to the NHS is extensive. They concur that the picture of public sector work presented to the reading public is often bleak. Of the former public sector workers surveyed, 68 per cent thought that the image of their former profession would discourage people from entering that job. Only 9 per cent thought the opposite and stated that the image would instead encourage people to enter. The NHS is such a well-known organisation that carries out specific roles in society, that when considering a career in the NHS people often have an idea regarding an occupation they would like to pursue. The GTI (2006) conducted a survey to establish the major determinants that influence applicants in their choice of employer. The results show that for 22% of student nurses and doctors, the reputation of a prospective employer (often influenced by media coverage) is a key factor in determining their aspirations. They identify that ‘word of mouth can be damaging to an employers reputation. If employers get things wrong, it can really affect the way they are viewed by potential employees as over half of the survey respondents have shared their bad experiences with their peers. So for some people the images and reputation of the NHS may be crucial to their decision of whether to work for it. 2.3 Traditional Recruitment Methods Traditional recruitment methods are the way in the past, that an organisation announced a job opportunity to the marketplace, through a classified advertisement, a job fair, an external recruiter, or other media. Any candidate who happened to see the announcement would submit his or her CV, ring the company for an application form or submit a letter of interest. Lievens and Harris (2003) have stated that in the past, job searching was a more time-consuming activity. They identified ‘A candidate who wished to apply for a job would need to first locate a suitable job opportunity, which often involved searching through a newspaper or contacting acquaintances. After locating potentially suitable openings, the candidate would typically have to prepare a cover letter, produce a copy of his or her resume, and mail the package with the appropriate postage. Arboledas, Ferrero and Vidal (2001), presented some examples of recruitment methods that organisations have traditionally used. These were identified as newspaper advertisement, faxed/mailed resumes, recruitment agencies or the use of headhunters. Galanaki (2002) similarly identified all these methods and also defines them as ‘traditional recruitment methods. This idea of traditional methods can also be found quoted in numerous HR texts, which have sections dedicated to recruitment and try to identify best recruitment practices. The authors of such texts include Cole (2004), Rayner and Adam Smith, Armstrong (2007) and Mullins (2005). These texts give a useful overview of the concepts of recruitment but again the best practice and evidence of what is most effective is not present. An IDS study in 2006 reported that to maximise their chances of appointing the best candidate, many organisations have utilised a combination of online and traditional approaches. In 2004 Softworld HR and Payroll identified in a study, that 24% of respondents envisaged e-recruitment entirely replacing all traditional methods of advertising in the future, however 76% of the practitioners surveyed, see it as an additional tool to allow the widest possible range of applicants to be accessed. Traditional methods also identify the use of recruitment agencies in the way of recruiting staff. According to an IES study (2005), recruitment agencies remain confident that the growth in e-recruitment technology will not eliminate their role in the process, as many organisations lack the time and expertise to carry out these tasks. Many organisations, especially smaller ones may also lack the technology to carry out their own recruitment online. They state with the low unemployment rate that currently exists, the task of finding quality candidates will remain challenging and this may prompt organisations to continue to use agencies, in particular, for specialised, senior or difficult to fill positions A Demos report (2007) however has identified difficulties in the recruitment business. They point out that the ‘landscape has changed remarkably over the past decade. And identify the recruitment industry has been growing rapidly, and the talent war has led to an increase in outsourcing and much greater efforts being made to reach candidates through on and offline advertising. They identify that recruiters have had to embrace technology, or be left behind. In the 2007 CIPD recruitment and retention survey, it was identified for the first time in the UK; corporate websites have broken even with local newspapers advertisements as the most common method of recruiting candidates. 2.4 E-recruitment E-Recruitment is identified as ‘the use of Internet technology to make the job of recruiting staff more efficient and effective, when used together with traditional recruitment methods; the benefits derived from e-recruitment can be considerable. (E-recruitment Best Practice Guide 2007) Internet usage in recent years has seen the recruitment process transformed. Online recruitment, internet recruitment, web-based recruiting and e-recruitment are terms used to describe the use of the internet to recruit potential employees, and mediums to conduct other elements of the recruitment process. We will use the terms interchangeably in this report. According to Schreyer McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to â€Å"The recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents E-Recruitment is establishing itself as a significant part of the recruitment strategy in a range of organisations across the UK and the world. This is in addition to becoming a progressively more accepted method for job seekers in searching and applying for jobs. The traditional method of recruitment has been transformed by the appearance of the Internet. In the past few years, the Internet has dramatically changed the face of HR recruitment and the ways organisations think about the recruiting function. There is predicted to be a continued dramatic growth in recruiting and hiring via this medium in future years. (CIPD 2007) A survey by the public appointment service in Ireland in 2006, relating to e-recruitment in Irish organisations, has also identified a high level of current or intended future use of e recruitment, this being identified as an area forming an important part of the Irish recruitment strategy. It would seem that e-recruitment has been implemented in many organisations from small companies to large organisations. These organisations are already using e recruitment to advertise jobs and accept CVs on the Internet, and also to communicate with the applicants by e-mail. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey it was identified that eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use of e-mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also said they are actively advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online recruitment applications. Lievens and Harris (2003) have identified the following methods of using the Internet to attract candidates, acknowledging that approaches are continually changing. †¢ Company websites Advertising posts and providing information to candidates through the company website. The facility to apply online is often also provided. †¢ Job Boards Commercial general purpose recruitment portals, (e.g. Yahoo!, Monster.com) and specific industry job boards. †¢ Online Searching Recruiters searching online sources such as company websites and professional chat sites to identify candidates who may not be actively looking for a position. †¢ Relationship recruiting Using the internet to build and maintain long term relationships with passive candidates, through using internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to e-mail regular updates about careers and their fields of interest. Kerrin and Keetley (2005) have suggested that the reasons for many organisations to introduce e recruitment have been recruitment cost reduction, speedier processes, access to a wider pool of applicants and better employer branding. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006,  it was identified that the key drivers for e-recruitment were; reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). It was also noted that : ‘over a third of respondents believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. This has been further supported by the IRS Employment review (2007). Reduction in costs E-Recruitment has allowed employers to make reductions in advertising costs and remove their dependency on recruitment agencies. Technology in online recruitment is not expensive and the hours saved in the pre-selection process gives HR staff more time. Administration can be significantly reduced in most organisations. This can prove to be extremely important when recruiting involves high numbers of staff or when receiving high numbers of applications. (DTI 2006, Guertal et al 2007). The IRS 2007 study identified 7 out of 10 organisations say administration is easier to perform when utilising online recruitment services and 8 out 10 identified the e- recruitment process as being substantially cheaper. Cappeli (2001) calculated that ‘it costs only about one-twentieth as much to hire someone online as to hire that same person through †¦ other traditional methods. This can again, be achieved through significantly reducing advertising costs and by reducing recruitment related administration according to Elkington (2005) An IDS HR Study in April 2006 identified how the Internet now plays a significant role in recruitment activities of employers. The report examined the use of corporate and third party recruitment websites and identified they are being used to reduce advertising costs and tap into a more diverse candidate base. They also identified that technology is streamlining the application process with the encouragement of online applications, linking into sophisticated application tracking systems and allowing organisations to measure the success of attraction methods. IDS state that over 70% of adults utilise the Internet, and employers are using this medium to attract and recruit much more frequently. They identify significant cost savings for employers and reduced time taken to fill vacancies, but are keen to point out the wariness of employees in missing out on potential candidates and feel that traditional recruitment media is set to retain and important role, particularly when recruiting locally or hard to fill jobs. This supports reservations held by IRS (2007) who identified that e recruitment was considered unsuitable for certain kinds of vacancies. Grout and Parrin, authors of the book, ‘recruiting excellence agree with the assessment by IDS. In an article for HR Director (2006), they identify that online recruitment can improve efficiency by the reduction in man hours involved in the process, and help employers reach a wider and larger audience of jobseekers. They also recognise that it can be a valuable part of a recruitment process, in addition to traditional press advertising and the use of agencies (DTI, 2005). Kerrin and Keetley (2005) however, have stated, that the full cost savings are often only realised if the whole recruitment process is carried out online, a view supported by a number of authors. (Demos 2007, IRS 2007) Reducing time-to-hire With e-recruitment the time taken to recruit can be reduced by as much as 75% and allow the recruitment of the most appropriate employees more quickly into the organisation. Time is also saved by spending a reduced amount of time tracking, communicating with and screening the applicants. Online recruitment also allows organisations to the share best practice and improves the consistency of recruitment processes across the organisation. The Public Appointments Service survey showed that a reduction in administrative workload (cited by 49% of respondents), and reduced timescales for hiring (cited by 40% of respondents), were key drivers in the decision to implementing e recruitment. Hogg (2000) stresses a shorter recruitment cycle can be gained by the speed at which several steps of the recruitment process are carried out online. Elkington (2005) supports this and has identified that the immediate posting of jobs online and the effortlessness of completing online application forms and e-mailing CVs to an organisation has made these steps much faster. Moving further into the recruitment process, the short-listing process can be accelerated by routinely aligning applications dependent on prearranged criteria (CIPD 2005). Applications can be progressed within minutes rather than weeks, saving both recruiters and job applicants time. Widening Talent Pool Internet tools that enable employers/recruiters to reach a wider pool of potential applicants and to fill positions faster with less cost to the organisation are obviously advantageous in such a competitive environment. Online advertising opens up a wider candidate pool, by providing 24/7 access to job seekers, at local, national and international locations, thus providing a better chance of finding the right candidate (CIPD 2005a). As job seekers become increasingly more web literate and the growth of broadband makes web surfing easier and cheaper (IRS 2005), the potential for e-recruitment to attract wider candidate pools is increasing. Enhancing Employer brand Increased numbers of candidates are expecting to apply directly online and they routinely make judgements about employers based on their recruitment process. To combat this employers are adopting increasingly dynamic e-recruitment solutions to allow them to distinguish themselves from others and to professionally manage the recruitment process. (Willock, 2005; Paton 2006). E-Recruitment enables an organisation to raise its profile to potential applicants and promote itself as innovative and forward looking, allow visitors to the website to leave with a positive experience. Kerrin and Kettley (2003) in their report ‘e-recruitment is it delivering identified a key factor for organisations in their adoption of e-recruitment, is the desire to increase their profile as an employer of choice amongst potential candidates and to promote their image as a progressive organisation. This is supported by 7 out of 10 organisations also agreeing that the use of online recruitment was more likely to improve reputation (IRS 2007) E-Recruitment can help to build the image of a brand. Barrow (2005) recommends that organisations build their brand identity very carefully however; warning of a need to ensure substance is beneath the clever name, logo or design, as employees once appointed will see through the facade. This is further supported by Gray and Balmers (1998) term, ‘routine interactions. They state that outsiders have a place in shaping image and reputation when they interact with organisations; communications are likely to be received with scepticism when they do not match personal experience. CIPD (2005) also demonstrated that more detailed information can be provided on the organisations website than in a newspaper advertisements and in recruitment agency literature, reinforcing the employer brand, improving the corporate image and profile whilst also giving an indication of the organisations culture The use of the Internet allows organisations to pass far more information in a much more dynamic and consistent fashion to candidates than was the case in the past (Lievens and Harris 2003). Applicants therefore have much more information at their disposal before they even decide to apply for a job than in the past. In addition, candidates can easily and quickly search for independent information about organisations from various sources, such as internet search engines and libraries. Therefore, unlike in the past, a candidate may have applied for a job based on practically no information; todays candidate may have reviewed a substantial amount of information about the organisation before choosing to apply. Disadvantages of e-recruitment The CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers. A factor which seems to be discouraging some employers from making more use of online recruitment systems, is a concern, over the level of internet access and levels of accomplishment with technology, of their target audiences. While usage of the Internet does vary by social group there is evidence to suggest that recruiting online results in at least as diverse an applicant group as those recruited through traditional methods (McManus M.A., Ferguson M.W. 2003). Searle (2003) would dispute this however stating that participation in online recruitment is skewed towards ‘white males from higher socio-economic groups. A further concern in relation to access is the suitability of online recruitment methods for candidates with disabilitie Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS Analysis of Recruitment in the NHS CIPD Management Report Utilising E Recruitment Executive Summary This Management report will look at the Recruitment Processes with an NHS Acute Trust and identify if E recruitment can help with the difficulties experienced in the Trust. Alongside a literature review of Recruitment difficulties, Employer Branding, Traditional recruitment and E recruitment, the author has conducted a benchmarking exercise in order to establish best practice in recruitment in local NHS organisations, A Process Mapping exercise to identify current practice and identify any difficulties or hold ups in the current process and a Managers questionnaire to allow the author to identify current perceptions of the recruitment service in the organisation alongside what expectations are. Appendices. Satisfaction Survey Survey results 1.0 Introduction The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust was established in April 2002 and manages hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, Bury and North Manchester. Serving a population of approximately 800,000, the Trust is one of the largest in the country and had an operating expenditure of over  £425 million in 2006/07. It runs services across five hospital sites: Fairfield General Hospital, Bury; North Manchester General Hospital; The Royal Oldham Hospital; Rochdale Infirmary and Birch Hill Hospital, Rochdale and employs a staff of approximately 10,000. The Trust has four divisions identified as Surgery, Medicine, Women and Childrens, and Diagnostics and Clinical Support. It also has directorates providing support to clinical services including Human Resources, Facilities, Planning, Finance, Information and Management Technology, Modernisation and Performance, Governance and Research and Development. The local economy in which the Trust is situated is strong, with a great deal of competition from local organisations for staff. There is little competition within the NHS for staff, as Pennine is ‘the only Trust in town, in each of the 4 areas. Transport links to the Trust are generally good, although access to some peripheral sites is difficult, and car parking can be a problem, especially at the Royal Oldham site. The Trust is concerned, as many Trusts in the Greater Manchester area are, that many of its nurses will retire within the next five years and it is trying to develop a programme to get people to stay on after the normal retirement age. It also attempts to recruit as many student nurses as possible, but positions for newly qualified staff have been reduced in the last few years due to reconfiguration of services and redeployment to avoid redundancy. The Trust has a lower proportion of nursing staff from ethnic backgrounds than the local population, when comparing the 2001 Census with its workforce data; but the percentage of staff as a whole from ethnic backgrounds is higher, due to the numbers of medical staff from ethnic minorities within the Trust. The Trust works hard to recruit staff from ethnic minorities/deprived backgrounds. It has an Equality and Diversity Team who work to promote diversity within the Trust, supporting proactive recruitment where there is a concentration of individuals from ethnic or disadvantaged backgrounds. There is a central HR function, with designated HR Managers for each division. Restructuring of this model has taken place in recent years. Recruitment is managed from the North Manchester General Hospital site and provides a central function. With a workforce of over 10,000 people, the average monthly cost of recruitment at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is xxxxxx. Added to this is the length of time it takes to place a new employee in post, which is on average 60 days. This estimate is from measured from the advertised positions closing date to offering that position. Recruitment is currently a major issue in the Trust with days lost in the recruitment process costing money and reducing morale and effectiveness. At present the department is receiving a lot of pressure from the rest of the Trust and the reputation of the department is poor. This management report is being undertaken to identify recommendations that will allow the recruitment process to become more efficient and identify whether utilisation of e recruitment is a viable proposal in the Trust and whether its implementation will increase efficiency and save resources. All employers face the challenge of employing the right staff for their organisation and this often falls under a human resource arena. The recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals has been identified as a key challenge facing the NHS (NHS Plan 2002). High on the agenda at local, regional and national levels is the development of strategies and initiatives to attract suitable people to work in the professions, in order to ensure that services are responsive to patient needs. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment is an extensive subject with many aspects making up the area. A study by Ullman (1966) cited in Breaugh Starke (2000) was one of the first to examine recruitment sources. Finding that new employees who were recruited by means of informal sources (i.e., employee referrals, direct applications) had a lower turnover rate than individuals recruited via formal sources (i.e., newspaper advertisements and employment agencies). Barber (1998) has since concluded that past research has not made a strong case for the importance of source differences. The author is interested in research into the prevalence of the sources used in traditional recruitment, which appears to be research that has not been undertaken significantly. Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2005) identified that employers in the UK recruit over 3 million people each year, in a costly and time consuming exercise to add suitable staff to their organisation. They identify a need to ‘sell jobs to potential employees in order to ensure they can generate an adequate pool of applicants. Organisations are now facing a greater challenge recruiting rather than selecting. (Ployhart 2005) Other researchers having also identified the difficulties organisations have in attracting candidates, identifying selection will only be effective and financially defensible if a sufficient amount of applicants apply to the organisation. (Taylor and Collins, 2000) However according to Barber (1998), It is important that employers do not consider the recruitment process to be completed at this point, It continues during the short listing and interviewing stages and is only deemed as complete when an offer is made. For the purposes of this literature review the author will review thoughts and research on the initial stages of recruitment, that being the attraction of employees and advertisement of vacancies in order to recruit to the organisation, this will allow the author to include the areas of employer branding and e-recruitment in the review. 2.1 Recruitment Difficulties The Audit Commission (2002) has identified that the UK labour market is highly competitive at present with the rate of unemployment at a historically low level. Employers are openly competing harder to attract and retain staff. This is made more difficult, with reports across the country, of recruitment and retention problems affecting local public services, the NHS being no exception. There have been serious concerns about shortages in staff numbers, and fewer young people being attracted to work for the public sector, meaning there is a potential ‘demographic time bomb. It has been identified that 27 per cent of the public sector workforce are now aged 50 or over. (Gulland (2001), Audit Commission (2002)) Recruitment is also expensive, in a recent survey; CIPD (2007) identified the average cost of recruiting a member of staff is  £4,333; however this increases significantly to  £7750 when organisations are also calculating the associated labour turnover. They identified that eighty four percent of organisations have reported difficulties in filling vacancies in 2006, a rise of 2 percent on the previous year. The key challenges faced by organisations in regard to recruitment have been identified from the survey as; attracting and recruiting key staff to the organisation, reducing recruitment costs, enabling the achievement of the organisations strategic goals and addressing skills shortages. CIPD strongly believes that: ‘effective recruitment is central and crucial to the successful day-to-day functioning of any organisation. stating that ‘successful recruitment depends upon finding people with the necessary skills, expertise and qualifications to deliver organisational objectives and the ability to make a positive contribution to the values and aims of the organisation. The Audit Commissions report (2002) also identified there are concerns about ‘skill shortages, not only in terms of ‘basic skill levels in the workforce, but also in key leadership, management and specialist skills that are required. Previous research from the Audit Commission (2001) has showed that, on average, a new employee will perform at only 60 per cent of their productive potential when they are first appointed, only reaching 100 per cent after being in a post for a year. This makes recruitment in these areas and adequate delivery of services even harder to manage. In their extensive report on public service recruitment, the Audit Commission identifies the way the employers can maximise their recruitment practices. They advised: Informed, quick and professional responses to job advertisement enquiries are essential for maximising applications; routine monitoring of recruitment will ensure that recruitment initiatives are driven by the bigger picture rather than just the latest concern; success in addressing diversity issues are to be achieved through efficient, effective targeted recruitment campaigns based on knowledge of the target community; and any initiative to attract a specific group of staff will benefit from being profession-led and in partnership with HR. Audit Commission (2002) Effective recruitment practices and policies are recognised as making a significant contribution to an organisations success, according to Plumbley (1990). He states it is not simply about placing suitable candidates into jobs, but also about building an adept and flexible workforce in order to meet the organisations changing and demanding needs. The first stage of recruitment and selection is to be able to attract an adequate number of appropriate candidates. Prospective employees do not select the organisation they wish to work for on the foundation of job and organisational characteristics such as location, and organisational structure alone. 2.2 Employee Brand The increased competitiveness in the recruitment market has led to organisations spending more time, effort and resources on developing their recruitment brand and expanding the range of advertising methods used, to try and attract quality applicants from as broad and diverse a pool possible. Almost seven in ten organisations describe themselves as having an employer brand according to CIPD (2007), and studies have shown that an organisations reputation and identity is vital in the fight to attract suitable talented applicants into organisations. (Lievens Highhouse, 2003; Cable Turban, 2001). Identifying that in order for the corporate brand to be more successful at attracting suitable candidates there is an importance in promoting and monitoring that brand. (Slaughter, Zickar, Highhouse, Mohr, 2004) Fombrun, (1996) agrees with this stating the reputation of an organisation has been acknowledged as one of the key factors that can affect the probability of potential applicants choosing to apply to work for it. In the same way, organisation reputation has been found to be an important influence on applicants decisions of whether they fit with an organisation and want to join it (Rynes et al., 1991). This researcher has also showed that applicants utilised information on how informative and the ‘recruiter friendliness as an indicator of how an organisation treated its employees. Fombrun (1996) expands this argument to identify that reputation is of particular concern to applicants seeking employment in knowledge-based institutions, such as universities and hospitals, because of the intangibility of the services these organisations provide. Whilst Turban et al. (1998) also found that applicants perceptions of the specific attributes of a post were influenced by their evaluation of the organisation, even if they had been interviewed and were successful. The importance in private/commercial organisations reputation in relation to the recruitment and retention of staff has been well documented in literature, for example: (Turban, 2001) and Cable and Graham (2000), Gray and Ballmer 1998)), there has however been comparatively little consideration on the impact of reputation for public sector organisations. Most people in the course of their life have a need to use the services the NHS provide, some more than others and health is an important issue, not only on a personal level, also in the political arena. The NHS is the UKs largest employer, so many of the UK population are at present working in it, with a great number more many having done so at some point in their lives. In brief, the NHS has a wide range of different stakeholders, who may feel they have a vested interest in the quality; provision of services and ultimately, the reputation. People have varied, and very personal experiences of the NHS and this could mean image and reputation are therefore difficult to manage. The Audit Commission study (2002) study showed that public sector staff thinks that ‘their image in the eyes of the public would discourage potential recruits from entering the NHS. The study analysed a wide sample of the UKs national press to see if the evidence supported this observation. Analysis of the results showed that plenty of stories are told and coverage given to the NHS is extensive. They concur that the picture of public sector work presented to the reading public is often bleak. Of the former public sector workers surveyed, 68 per cent thought that the image of their former profession would discourage people from entering that job. Only 9 per cent thought the opposite and stated that the image would instead encourage people to enter. The NHS is such a well-known organisation that carries out specific roles in society, that when considering a career in the NHS people often have an idea regarding an occupation they would like to pursue. The GTI (2006) conducted a survey to establish the major determinants that influence applicants in their choice of employer. The results show that for 22% of student nurses and doctors, the reputation of a prospective employer (often influenced by media coverage) is a key factor in determining their aspirations. They identify that ‘word of mouth can be damaging to an employers reputation. If employers get things wrong, it can really affect the way they are viewed by potential employees as over half of the survey respondents have shared their bad experiences with their peers. So for some people the images and reputation of the NHS may be crucial to their decision of whether to work for it. 2.3 Traditional Recruitment Methods Traditional recruitment methods are the way in the past, that an organisation announced a job opportunity to the marketplace, through a classified advertisement, a job fair, an external recruiter, or other media. Any candidate who happened to see the announcement would submit his or her CV, ring the company for an application form or submit a letter of interest. Lievens and Harris (2003) have stated that in the past, job searching was a more time-consuming activity. They identified ‘A candidate who wished to apply for a job would need to first locate a suitable job opportunity, which often involved searching through a newspaper or contacting acquaintances. After locating potentially suitable openings, the candidate would typically have to prepare a cover letter, produce a copy of his or her resume, and mail the package with the appropriate postage. Arboledas, Ferrero and Vidal (2001), presented some examples of recruitment methods that organisations have traditionally used. These were identified as newspaper advertisement, faxed/mailed resumes, recruitment agencies or the use of headhunters. Galanaki (2002) similarly identified all these methods and also defines them as ‘traditional recruitment methods. This idea of traditional methods can also be found quoted in numerous HR texts, which have sections dedicated to recruitment and try to identify best recruitment practices. The authors of such texts include Cole (2004), Rayner and Adam Smith, Armstrong (2007) and Mullins (2005). These texts give a useful overview of the concepts of recruitment but again the best practice and evidence of what is most effective is not present. An IDS study in 2006 reported that to maximise their chances of appointing the best candidate, many organisations have utilised a combination of online and traditional approaches. In 2004 Softworld HR and Payroll identified in a study, that 24% of respondents envisaged e-recruitment entirely replacing all traditional methods of advertising in the future, however 76% of the practitioners surveyed, see it as an additional tool to allow the widest possible range of applicants to be accessed. Traditional methods also identify the use of recruitment agencies in the way of recruiting staff. According to an IES study (2005), recruitment agencies remain confident that the growth in e-recruitment technology will not eliminate their role in the process, as many organisations lack the time and expertise to carry out these tasks. Many organisations, especially smaller ones may also lack the technology to carry out their own recruitment online. They state with the low unemployment rate that currently exists, the task of finding quality candidates will remain challenging and this may prompt organisations to continue to use agencies, in particular, for specialised, senior or difficult to fill positions A Demos report (2007) however has identified difficulties in the recruitment business. They point out that the ‘landscape has changed remarkably over the past decade. And identify the recruitment industry has been growing rapidly, and the talent war has led to an increase in outsourcing and much greater efforts being made to reach candidates through on and offline advertising. They identify that recruiters have had to embrace technology, or be left behind. In the 2007 CIPD recruitment and retention survey, it was identified for the first time in the UK; corporate websites have broken even with local newspapers advertisements as the most common method of recruiting candidates. 2.4 E-recruitment E-Recruitment is identified as ‘the use of Internet technology to make the job of recruiting staff more efficient and effective, when used together with traditional recruitment methods; the benefits derived from e-recruitment can be considerable. (E-recruitment Best Practice Guide 2007) Internet usage in recent years has seen the recruitment process transformed. Online recruitment, internet recruitment, web-based recruiting and e-recruitment are terms used to describe the use of the internet to recruit potential employees, and mediums to conduct other elements of the recruitment process. We will use the terms interchangeably in this report. According to Schreyer McCarter (1998) e-recruitment refers to â€Å"The recruitment process, including placing job advertisements, receiving resumes, and building human resource database with candidates and incumbents E-Recruitment is establishing itself as a significant part of the recruitment strategy in a range of organisations across the UK and the world. This is in addition to becoming a progressively more accepted method for job seekers in searching and applying for jobs. The traditional method of recruitment has been transformed by the appearance of the Internet. In the past few years, the Internet has dramatically changed the face of HR recruitment and the ways organisations think about the recruiting function. There is predicted to be a continued dramatic growth in recruiting and hiring via this medium in future years. (CIPD 2007) A survey by the public appointment service in Ireland in 2006, relating to e-recruitment in Irish organisations, has also identified a high level of current or intended future use of e recruitment, this being identified as an area forming an important part of the Irish recruitment strategy. It would seem that e-recruitment has been implemented in many organisations from small companies to large organisations. These organisations are already using e recruitment to advertise jobs and accept CVs on the Internet, and also to communicate with the applicants by e-mail. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey it was identified that eighty-four percent of respondents have made greater use of e-mail applications in the last three years. Over seven in ten organisations also said they are actively advertising jobs on their corporate websites and using online recruitment applications. Lievens and Harris (2003) have identified the following methods of using the Internet to attract candidates, acknowledging that approaches are continually changing. †¢ Company websites Advertising posts and providing information to candidates through the company website. The facility to apply online is often also provided. †¢ Job Boards Commercial general purpose recruitment portals, (e.g. Yahoo!, Monster.com) and specific industry job boards. †¢ Online Searching Recruiters searching online sources such as company websites and professional chat sites to identify candidates who may not be actively looking for a position. †¢ Relationship recruiting Using the internet to build and maintain long term relationships with passive candidates, through using internet tools to learn more about web visitors interests and experience and to e-mail regular updates about careers and their fields of interest. Kerrin and Keetley (2005) have suggested that the reasons for many organisations to introduce e recruitment have been recruitment cost reduction, speedier processes, access to a wider pool of applicants and better employer branding. In the CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover survey 2006,  it was identified that the key drivers for e-recruitment were; reducing recruitment costs (cited by 71%), broadening the selection pool (60%) and increasing the speed of time to hire (47%). It was also noted that : ‘over a third of respondents believed it brought greater flexibility and ease for candidates, and over a quarter believed it strengthened the employer brand. This has been further supported by the IRS Employment review (2007). Reduction in costs E-Recruitment has allowed employers to make reductions in advertising costs and remove their dependency on recruitment agencies. Technology in online recruitment is not expensive and the hours saved in the pre-selection process gives HR staff more time. Administration can be significantly reduced in most organisations. This can prove to be extremely important when recruiting involves high numbers of staff or when receiving high numbers of applications. (DTI 2006, Guertal et al 2007). The IRS 2007 study identified 7 out of 10 organisations say administration is easier to perform when utilising online recruitment services and 8 out 10 identified the e- recruitment process as being substantially cheaper. Cappeli (2001) calculated that ‘it costs only about one-twentieth as much to hire someone online as to hire that same person through †¦ other traditional methods. This can again, be achieved through significantly reducing advertising costs and by reducing recruitment related administration according to Elkington (2005) An IDS HR Study in April 2006 identified how the Internet now plays a significant role in recruitment activities of employers. The report examined the use of corporate and third party recruitment websites and identified they are being used to reduce advertising costs and tap into a more diverse candidate base. They also identified that technology is streamlining the application process with the encouragement of online applications, linking into sophisticated application tracking systems and allowing organisations to measure the success of attraction methods. IDS state that over 70% of adults utilise the Internet, and employers are using this medium to attract and recruit much more frequently. They identify significant cost savings for employers and reduced time taken to fill vacancies, but are keen to point out the wariness of employees in missing out on potential candidates and feel that traditional recruitment media is set to retain and important role, particularly when recruiting locally or hard to fill jobs. This supports reservations held by IRS (2007) who identified that e recruitment was considered unsuitable for certain kinds of vacancies. Grout and Parrin, authors of the book, ‘recruiting excellence agree with the assessment by IDS. In an article for HR Director (2006), they identify that online recruitment can improve efficiency by the reduction in man hours involved in the process, and help employers reach a wider and larger audience of jobseekers. They also recognise that it can be a valuable part of a recruitment process, in addition to traditional press advertising and the use of agencies (DTI, 2005). Kerrin and Keetley (2005) however, have stated, that the full cost savings are often only realised if the whole recruitment process is carried out online, a view supported by a number of authors. (Demos 2007, IRS 2007) Reducing time-to-hire With e-recruitment the time taken to recruit can be reduced by as much as 75% and allow the recruitment of the most appropriate employees more quickly into the organisation. Time is also saved by spending a reduced amount of time tracking, communicating with and screening the applicants. Online recruitment also allows organisations to the share best practice and improves the consistency of recruitment processes across the organisation. The Public Appointments Service survey showed that a reduction in administrative workload (cited by 49% of respondents), and reduced timescales for hiring (cited by 40% of respondents), were key drivers in the decision to implementing e recruitment. Hogg (2000) stresses a shorter recruitment cycle can be gained by the speed at which several steps of the recruitment process are carried out online. Elkington (2005) supports this and has identified that the immediate posting of jobs online and the effortlessness of completing online application forms and e-mailing CVs to an organisation has made these steps much faster. Moving further into the recruitment process, the short-listing process can be accelerated by routinely aligning applications dependent on prearranged criteria (CIPD 2005). Applications can be progressed within minutes rather than weeks, saving both recruiters and job applicants time. Widening Talent Pool Internet tools that enable employers/recruiters to reach a wider pool of potential applicants and to fill positions faster with less cost to the organisation are obviously advantageous in such a competitive environment. Online advertising opens up a wider candidate pool, by providing 24/7 access to job seekers, at local, national and international locations, thus providing a better chance of finding the right candidate (CIPD 2005a). As job seekers become increasingly more web literate and the growth of broadband makes web surfing easier and cheaper (IRS 2005), the potential for e-recruitment to attract wider candidate pools is increasing. Enhancing Employer brand Increased numbers of candidates are expecting to apply directly online and they routinely make judgements about employers based on their recruitment process. To combat this employers are adopting increasingly dynamic e-recruitment solutions to allow them to distinguish themselves from others and to professionally manage the recruitment process. (Willock, 2005; Paton 2006). E-Recruitment enables an organisation to raise its profile to potential applicants and promote itself as innovative and forward looking, allow visitors to the website to leave with a positive experience. Kerrin and Kettley (2003) in their report ‘e-recruitment is it delivering identified a key factor for organisations in their adoption of e-recruitment, is the desire to increase their profile as an employer of choice amongst potential candidates and to promote their image as a progressive organisation. This is supported by 7 out of 10 organisations also agreeing that the use of online recruitment was more likely to improve reputation (IRS 2007) E-Recruitment can help to build the image of a brand. Barrow (2005) recommends that organisations build their brand identity very carefully however; warning of a need to ensure substance is beneath the clever name, logo or design, as employees once appointed will see through the facade. This is further supported by Gray and Balmers (1998) term, ‘routine interactions. They state that outsiders have a place in shaping image and reputation when they interact with organisations; communications are likely to be received with scepticism when they do not match personal experience. CIPD (2005) also demonstrated that more detailed information can be provided on the organisations website than in a newspaper advertisements and in recruitment agency literature, reinforcing the employer brand, improving the corporate image and profile whilst also giving an indication of the organisations culture The use of the Internet allows organisations to pass far more information in a much more dynamic and consistent fashion to candidates than was the case in the past (Lievens and Harris 2003). Applicants therefore have much more information at their disposal before they even decide to apply for a job than in the past. In addition, candidates can easily and quickly search for independent information about organisations from various sources, such as internet search engines and libraries. Therefore, unlike in the past, a candidate may have applied for a job based on practically no information; todays candidate may have reviewed a substantial amount of information about the organisation before choosing to apply. Disadvantages of e-recruitment The CIPD Recruitment, retention and turnover 2006 survey revealed some concerns that e-recruitment could increase the number of unsuitable applicants and that it could act as a barrier to recruiting older workers. A factor which seems to be discouraging some employers from making more use of online recruitment systems, is a concern, over the level of internet access and levels of accomplishment with technology, of their target audiences. While usage of the Internet does vary by social group there is evidence to suggest that recruiting online results in at least as diverse an applicant group as those recruited through traditional methods (McManus M.A., Ferguson M.W. 2003). Searle (2003) would dispute this however stating that participation in online recruitment is skewed towards ‘white males from higher socio-economic groups. A further concern in relation to access is the suitability of online recruitment methods for candidates with disabilitie

Secondhand Smoke :: Argumentative Persuasive Example Essays

How Secondhand Smoking Affects Us   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As most of you know, smoking is bad for your health, but what some of you might not know is that you don’t actually have to smoke to be harmed by smoking. Lung cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women, is mainly caused by cigarette smoking. Secondhand smoking causes approximately 2 percent of lung cancer deaths each year. It causes respiratory disease, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), middle ear disease, and asthma attacks in children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Imagine a room full of young, healthy second-graders with a Joe Camel cigarette in their hand, smoking; that is basically what secondhand smoking is like. It has toxic and carcinogenic effects that are practically the same as smoking a cigarette. Children from birth to 2 years of age are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke because their lungs are not fully developed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The EPA estimates that secondhand smoking is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respitory infections in infants and children under 18 months of age yearly, which result in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year. Children exposed to secondhand smoke are also more likely to have reduced lung function and symptoms like coughing, excess phlegm, and wheezing. Secondhand smoking can lead to a buildup of fluid in the middle ear, the most common cause of hospitalized children for an operation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asthmatic children are especially at risk. Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the number of episodes and severity of symptoms in hundreds of thousands of asthmatic children. Between 200,000 and 1,000,000 asthmatic children have their condition worsened by secondhand smoke.

Morphology of Rural Settlements in Malda Essay

Abstract: The rural settlement within the Malda district highlights human attempts for the livelihood and building the habitat on the diverse geographical landscapes. The characteristics of its natural endowments, social conditionality and historical antecedents and most importantly the human efforts gave the rural countryside a certain kind of social and morphological characteristics. The morphological characteristics of the villages have been collected from the different natural regions of the districts in order to understand the divergent forces and feature of it. This paper has focused on understanding the settlement pattern in the Malda district in the three broad geographic regions of it namely Tal, Diara and Barind. Key Words: Village, Morphological structure, Geographical landscapes, landuse, The Malda district. Introduction: Settlement morphology is primarily concerned with the lay-out, plan and internal structure of the settlements. It not only views settled area in terms of physical space but identifies its various components in respect of socio-economic space which has its direct bearing in controlling the arrangement of buildings, patterns of streets and fields and functional characteristics of settlements in general. Types, Form and Pattern constitute the three basic elements of morphology of rural settlements. Type would refer to three sets of formal and functional relationship: I) house to house, II) street to street and III) street to street. The inherent principle of village morphology is the human instinct of gregariousness. To have a comprehensive view of settlement, it deals with the morphogenesis and the morphological structure of rural settlement. Besides the geometrical shape, this is visualized through air view or on a well drawn map, as one aspects of the form of a settlement, the intern al arrangement of lanes, houses, with varies relationship, provide another aspect, named as morphology, hence morphological structure. The morphological structure of villages, as concrete expression of human activity in space, involves five principles of settlement formation, advocated by Doxiadis. His hypothetical frame for any settlement consists of four parts: Homogenous parts, Central part, Circulatory part and Special part. These basic parts are closely associated with the dimensions of height, length, width and time, which are best explained by morphological analysis of the villages. The internal morphology naturally involves analysis of structural morphology and social morphology. Of these, the former concern with the description and interpretation of relationship involves and deals with the varied dwelling group, community structures and land or spaces. Literature Review: Agglomerate and isolated homestead would be the two extreme types intervened by a large number of intermediate types. While in an agglomerate type there is one habitation site on which are located all the buildings, in the dispersed or isolated type there would be as many habitation sites as the building. Form connotes the geometric shape of the aggregate of building and streets, and thus, is expressed through innumerable categories, such as circular, rectangular, square, quadrilateral and irregular. Finally, pattern would be indicating geometrical arrangement of large number of settlement suggestive of correlation with natural and cultural features of the landscapes. Form, type can be applied to individual settlements but pattern is applicable only to a set of large number of rural settlements (Mukerji A.B, 1976). Generally rural settlements spread over number of buildings and distribution of cultivated lands on several levels. Just as in the cases of scattered and dispersed village s, this type of settlements represents a typical form which there can be established a sequence of form and structure (Gh. Iordache, 1974). The tendency of grouped households, agglomerating in the heartland is typical for settlement within plain lands, with intensive agricultural economy and low relief intensity. The phenomenon of households agglomerating in the heartland is result of the complex historical, economic, social and demographical factors (V. Cucu, 1998). Study area: Malda district consists mainly of low lying plains, sloping towards the south with undulating areas on the north-east. Located between latitude 24040’20’’N to 25032’8’’N and longitude 87045’50’’E to 88028’10’’E. The Mahananda River divides the district into two regions. The western region is further subdivided by the river Kalindri into two areas. The northern is known as ‘Tal’- it is low lying and vulnerable to inundation during rainy season, the southern area consists of very fertile land and is thickly populated, commonly known as ‘Diara’. The region of mature alluvium that had given North Bengal its old historical name of varendri or barendri is known today as ‘Barind’. This region is made up of the ancient alluvial humps that are remnants of old riverine floodplains that remain unaffected subsequently by inundation and renewed silting. Fig 1: Broad physiographic map of Malda district Fig 2: Study area map Source: District Human Development Report, Malda Source: District Human Development Report, Malda Harischandrapur I & II, Chanchal I & II and Ratua I & II are located in Tal region. Gajol, Old Malda, Bamongola and Habibpur are located in Barind region and Diara region consist English Bazar, Manikchak, Kaliachak I, and II & III. For my study, I have studied on Harischandrapur I & II from Tal region, Adina from Barind region and Manikchak from Diara region. Objectives: The rural settlements within the Malda plain area highlight in the geographical landscape by specific features which give its individuality. The characteristics of its natural background (majorly plain area- sub-divided into Tal, Diara, and Barind etc.), social-historical evolution and conditions and human economic activities gave the villages certain morphological-structural features, which harmonize with the general features of rural settlements within the plain. The following subtypes of settlements are viewed in the area- agglomerated, compact and dispersed villages. The selective objectives are– * To analyze the Characteristics of rural house type; * To determine Characteristics of rural house building materials with their availability * To analyze rural road type and rural road network; * To determine the landuse pattern in different physiographic divisions. * To analyze rural economy with relation to land-use pattern and daily habits of the rural habitants; * To find the impacts of Physical environments on land use of the villages. Database and Methodology: Both primary data and secondary data have been used in this term paper. Secondary data related to physiographic map, satellite images from Google earth, census data 2001 etc. For this term paper, primary data collected from one selected blocks from each physiographic division and field survey has done on this areas. To analyze data a very simple statistical tool like bar graph has been used. Analysis: Characteristics of rural house type: At first this paper shows characteristics of rural house type in the district of Malda. In Malda district, houses in rural area express the basic relationship between human beings and their physical and social environment. A feature common throughout most of Malda is the courtyard. This is in the centre, in front of or behind the house. This open space alternates as living room, workplace and storage space. Rooms are built round the courtyard with doors opening into it. The rooms often surrounded by raised verandas. Fig 3: Rural houses are located around the courtyard Fig 4: Animal breeding in open space in front of house Source: Field Survey Source: Field survey The plinth of the rooms is often raised. When rooms are built along one side of the courtyard only, three sides are fenced or walled in with an entrance door at the front. Such layout provides both privacy and safety. The courtyard provides the division between the outer part of the house and the inner sanctum reserved for women. This kind of layout is common all over the rural area in Malda. Fig 5: Rural house with conical roof Source: Field survey In Malda district, another significant characteristic of rural houses are that their roofs are inclined because in rainy season, the sloping roofs allows water to drain off. On the other hand, some conical roofs are found in certain tribal and caste areas of Malda. In my study, I have seen this kind of roof characteristics in Harischandrapur in Malda. Characteristics of rural house building materials: different blocks of Malda district, rural dwellings are built of locally available materials. Generally houses in rural area have made by mud, bamboo and brick. Some hay made houses are also found in rural area. Very few number of pakka houses are found in rural area in which mainly Brahmin families and economically well developed families are lived. For making wall of the houses, people use brick, mud, hay etc. In the case of making roof portion of houses, dwellers use mainly tile (square brick for flooring or roofing), hay and tin etc. Fig 6: Brick made house with tile roof Fig 7: Hay made house with tile roof Source: Field survey Source: Field survey Fig 8: Bamboo made house with tile roof Fig 9: Mud made house with tile roof Source: Field survey Source: Field survey Due to non-availability of proper building materials, there did not allow for the growth of permanent of settlements. Tents made of skin or leather used by the various tribal groups in Harischandrapur block. They were the dwellings in this area before modern housing materials began to be used. So the mud and sundried brick houses with thatched or tiled roofs are the commonest in Malda district. The quality of house building materials used depends on the economic condition of the owners. In some areas of Malda district e.g. Adina, Harischandrapur etc, government also provides prefabricated building materials. The using of house building materials of dwellers in rural area depends on physical conditions of Malda, mainly the climatic condition. The climatic condition of Malda is very harsh throughout the year. For example, in this climatic condition people use mud for making their house in rural area because mud reflects the sun heat and makes the house relatively cool in summer season. Rural road type and rural network: Rural roads are the last link of the transport network, however, they often from the most important connection in terms of providing access for the rural population. In Malda district, permanent or seasonal absence of road access is a constraining factor in terms of providing rural communities with essential services such as education, primary health care, water supply, local markets as well as economic opportunities. The availability of such services and opportunities are difficult to sustain without a quality and well maintained rural network. In rural area of Malda district, both metalled and unmettaled roads are found. Cart tracks are also found in villages. The conditions of the roads are not very good. Especially in rainy season roads are broken as well as damaged. The common feature is that most of the houses in rural area are located besides the both sides of the roads. Fig 10: One unmettaled road of Adina Fig 11: One mettaled road of Harischandrapur Source: Field Survey Source: Field survey Fig 12: Village road joints with NH 34 Fig 13: Damaged village road in rainy season Source: Field survey Source: Field Survey In other hand, another common feature of the rural area is that roads under the villages are directly meet with the National highway. This common feature indicates positive aspect of village road network in Malda district. In Malda district, keeping in view the socio economic benefits accruing from providing road connectivity to the villages, there is a need to impart greater thrust to providing road connectivity. So government launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) in different blocks in Malda, with the objective of providing road connectivity through good all weather roads to all unconnected habitations. Landuse pattern of three broad physiographic divisions in Malda district: The differences in cross regional landuse pattern across the Tal, Barind and Diara reflect the same set of settlement intensities, agrarian features and agricultural constraints. According to 2001 census, landuse patterns of Malda district are as follows- LANDUSE PATTERN OF THREE BROAD PHYSIGRAPHIC DIVISIONS IN MALDA DISTRICT Divisions| Landuse in hectares| | Homestead land| Orchards & Pasture land| Culturable wasteland| Net cropped area| Net irrigated area| Multi cropped area| Tal| 4712| 140| 213| 92373| 16528| 68426| Barind | 3717| 161| 262| 109539| 9563| 32751| Diara| 7176| 134| 196| 78098| 8480| 38225| Source: Census 2001 HOMESTEAD LAND DISTRIBUTION ORCHARDS & PASTURE LAND DISTRIBUTION CULTURABLE WASTELAND DISTRIBUTION NET CROPPED AREA DISTRIBUTION NET IRRIGATED DISTRIBUTION MULTI CROPPED AREA DISTRIBUTION In the Diara where settlement densities and regional land pressures are the highest, the quantum of land used for homestead purpose is nearly as high as the sum of homestead lands in the Tal and Barind. The extent of Culturable wastelands available for potential future cultivation in the Diara is correspondingly low. However, while the Net Cropped Area (NCA) is highest in the Barind, the irrigation and multi cropping intensity here is relatively low. Thus unlike the Tal where virtually all agricultural lands are multi cropped, a large portion of farming operations in the Barind are carried out on monocrop land. Cropping intensity in Diara for entirely different reasons, this has to do with the seasonal flooding and region experiences, as a result of which agricultural land becomes inaccessible for a certain part of the year. In recent times, the spread of mango cultivation, brinjal cultivation, chestnut cultivation etc. across the Diara has also been a factor in reducing cropping int ensity. Fig 14: Canal irrigation in Harischandrapur Fig 15: Irrigation through shallow machine Source: Field survey Source: Field survey Generally the main source of irrigation is rainwater. Others irrigation facilities like canal, shallow machines are also found in some part of Tal region like Harischandrapur. Due to these facilities, agricultural lands are mainly multi cropped as well as cropping intensity is also high in Tal region than Barind and Diara region. The cropping intensity of Tal region is about 205% where 156% in Barind region and 167% in Diara region. Rural economy with relation to land-use pattern and daily habits of the rural habitants: Rural economy is directly related with the livelihood pattern of this particular region. The differing characteristics in rural settlements and their habitant have seen across in Malda district seem directly related to livelihood pattern and work opportunities in different sub regions. Work participation is highest in Diara which has the highest density of settlement. However, the livelihood stress caused by rapid growth of district population against a limited land resource base means that work participation rates are well below 50% in all three regions of the district, and are lowest in Tal region at just under 37%. Each worker in the Tal thus has to support an average of 1.7 dependents, against 1.4 dependents in Barind regions and 1.2 in the Diara. According to 2001 census, in Tal and Barind region almost 75% of rural people are engaged in agricultural activities. Household Industries are mainly concentrated on Kaliachak I and Kaliachak III. Almost 50% people in total workers are engaged in Household industry activities. In other hand, in Old Malda, Englishbazar, Kaliachak I and Kaliachak II, almost 50% people are engaged in other economic activities. So, mainly rural economy depends on agricultural activities. Outside, the Barind region, therefore, land scarcity is a major problem in the district. Agricultural and in Tal and Diara regions is mostly irrigated and already intensively cropped and cultivated. The scope of generating additional employment for the landmass in agricultural sector in this region has become progressively limited since each hectare of farmland in Tal and Barind blocks already engages between 2-4 agriculture on the average. In the Barind where the land situation is more favourable, most farmland is mono cropped because of terrain factor, low water table and resulting difficulty in providing in supplementary irrigation on such lands to generate additional work opportunities in agriculture. Consequently, the district is now poised for a major shift of workers from cultivation to non agricultural sector. Impact of physical environments on land use of the villages: Physical environments directly affect on land use pattern of the villages. In Malda district, the soils of the Barind regions are hard silty clays of a reddish hue that has developed through the sesquioxides. Organic residues in this soil are highly decomposed, leading to no acidic soil pH at levels as low as 6.8 in the Barind tracts of Malda. Organic carbon content is also generally low at 0.54% in these Malda tracts, as a result of which overall soil fertility remains at modest level under unirrigated conditions. Since the undulating terrain in the Barind promotes a fair amount of runoff and the hard impervious clayey Barind soil permit little percolation, most of the monsoon runoff accumulates in the large natural bills or pools in the ravines formed by the courses of the Tangan and Punarvava rivers, covering the low lands here until long after the monsoon is over. Spanning Manikchak, Kaliachak I, II, III and Englishbazar blocks within the district, the Diara is relatively well defined flatland formed by the fluvial deposition of newer alluvium in the transitional zone between the Barind upland and marshy Tal tracts. The Tal is mostly composed of Bog lands formed in mainly marshy pockets around vestigial inland drainages. Consequently, Tal is strewn with innumerable marshes, bils and oxbow lakes. The uplands of Barind gradually slope downwards towards the north-east and north of Malda district in the region lying beyond the Mahananda. The six development blocks situated here. They are bounded by the Mahananda to their east, by the Ganga to west and the river Kalindri to the south. Since the tract is bounded by the river, soil conditions improve considerably, providing favourable for mango orchard and for the cultivation for jute and several other kharif and Rabi crops. However although the geophysical situation of the Tal is relatively favourable compared to that of the Barind. Being the largest of three sub regions, the Barind also has the largest number of habitation. However, these are widely dispersed and their populations are smaller. The reasons for the lower scale of human settlement in Barind lie in its semi arid and water deprived character, with upland soils that supports a lower intensity of cultivation. Conversely the Tal and Diara, which are better endowed with water and also with fertile sedimented soils, have supported more diversified cultivation, more work related migration, and greater intensities of human settlement, which is reflected particularly in the Diara by higher masculinity within the regional population. Cross regional differences also occur in agricultural yields across the Tal, Barind and Diara, which reflect intrinsic differences in soil quality, water availability and land husbanding practices. Except for the yields of the main aman rice that grows in rainfed condition over the monsoon months, agricultural yields are uniformly higher in the well watered Tal region. Again the yields overall for the Barind is actually a consequence of the vast extent of land cultivated during the rainfed aman season when differences in crop yields across the three regions are minimal. Major findings: * Common feature in the most of the rural area in the Malda district is courtyard base rural houses. This is in the centre; houses are built up around this courtyard. * In the Malda district, rural settlements are mainly semi-compact and disperse type. * In rural area, people build their houses with the help of locally available materials. Their houses patterns depend on both their economic condition and the physical condition. * In Malda district, keeping in view the socio economic benefits accruing from providing road connectivity to the villages, there is a need to impart greater thrust to providing road connectivity. In rural area of Malda district, both metalled and unmettaled roads are found. * The landuse patterns are different in different physiographic divisions in Malda district. Homestead lands are well distributed in Diara tracts, where In Barind region, orchards and pasture lands, net cropped area and Culturable wastelands are well distributed. On the other hand, irrigat ion facilities and multi cropped area are well distributed in Tal region. * The rural work participation rates are highest in Kaliachak I block. In other Kaliachak blocks, Harischandrapur II, work participation rates exceeds uniformly but WPR is very low in Englishbazar, Manikchak, old Malda and other blocks of Tal regions. * Mainly rural economy depends on agricultural activities. Majority of rural people in Tal and Barind region are engaged in agricultural activities. Household industries are mainly concentrated on Kaliachak I and III blocks. In other hand, in Englishbazar, Manikchak, Kaliachak II and old Malda blocks, half of the worker people engage in other economic activities. * In Barind region, overall soil fertility remains at modest level under unirrigated condition. Upland of Barind is bounded by the river, soil condition improving considerably, providing favourable for mango orchards, and for the cultivation for jute and several others kharif and Rabi crops. * In the Tal and Diara region have supported more diversified cultivation due to fertile sediment soil. These conditions occur more work related migration and greater intensities of rural settlements which reflect on Diara by higher masculinity. * Agricultural yield in Tal, Diara and Barind regions differ due to intrinsic differences in the soil, availability of water and land husbanding practices. Agricultural yields are uniformly higher in Tal region. Conclusion: Malda district is mainly lower part of the Gangetic plain as well as southern part of the North Bengal plain. The three broad subregions can be defined physiographically within Malda district like Tal, Diara and Barind. The village economy of the Malda district is based on agricultural activities, orchards etc. Agricultural features of Malda district depends on monsoon climate. Irrigation facilities are also available in the Malda district. Major portion of agricultural lands in Malda district are multi cropped. Traditional houses pattern in rural area has been changed by the economy. All over morphology of the rural areas are almost similar to each other in three physiographic regions. Agricultural crops are mainly jute, paddy and wheat. Mango orchards spread large portion of the Malda district. Rural houses types are almost similar all over the Malda district. But in the case of livelihood pattern, some regional variations are followed. In Tal and Barind region, large number of people engages in agricultural activities, on the other hand household industries and other economic activities are developed in Diara region. In rural area of Malda district, half of the people have engaged in agricultural activities which indicate the agriculture based rural economy. At present time, government has taken some steps for development of rural area in Malda district like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarok Yojna; Jatio Gramin Kormosangsthan Prokolpo etc. this kind of project control the morphology of rural settlements in Malda district. Another feature of village area in Malda district is that some tribal people have been lived in periphery of the villages. This tribal people are not permanent, they are come at a particular time of the year for some work and after finish their work, they go back. In my study, In Harischandrapur block, this kind of sight has been showed. So at a glance, rural morphology in Malda district is much diversifi ed. References: * Bylund, E., ‘Theoretical Considerations regarding the Distribution of Settlement in Inner North Sweden’ in Geografiska Annaler, Vol. 42, No. 4, Advance and Retreat of Rural Settlement: papers of the Siljan Symposium at the XIX th International Geographical Congress (1960), pp. 225-231. * Desai, A. R. (1961), Rural India in Transition. Popular Book Dept., Bombay, 1961. * Doxiadis, C. A. (1969) ‘ Ekistics, An attempt for a Scientific Approach to the Problems of Human Settlements’ in Science and Technology and the Cities (eds.), Committee on Science and Astronautics, U. S. House of Representatives Washington, D. C., U. S. Govt., p. 9. * Ghosh, S., Introduction to Settlement Geography. Orient BlackSwan, 2008. * Mandal, R. B., Introduction to Rural Settlement. Concept Publishing Company, 2009. * Mukerji, A. B., ‘Rural Settlements of the Chandigarh Siwalik Hills (India): A Morphogenetic Analysis’ in Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, Vol. 58, No.2 (1976), pp. 95-115. * Siddique, A., Rajbongshi, B., ‘An Analytical Study on Design and Analysis of Stabilised Rural Roads’ in Proceeding of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 813-828, 2005. * Singh, R. Y., Geography of Settlement. Rawat Publication, 1994.

A Quiz About Misplaced Modifiers

A Quiz About Misplaced Modifiers A Quiz About Misplaced Modifiers A Quiz About Misplaced Modifiers By Mark Nichol Modifying phrases intended to provide clarity can be counterproductive if placed in the wrong position in a sentence. Repair the improper installation of modifiers in the following sentences, then compare your solutions with my revisions at the bottom of the page: 1. â€Å"Joseph Priestley began to suspect that air was not a simple substance while he was at Leeds.† 2. â€Å"It was under these conditions that Protestantism was introduced to Europe, a branch of Christianity that declared public festivities sinful and vulgar and convinced large numbers of people that their lives should be spent on disciplined labor and worship.† 3. â€Å"He had accumulated millions of dollars there that couldn’t be taken out of the country according to rules established after the war ended.† 4. â€Å"I already had a number of books and comics under my belt I had drawn with my brother.† 5. â€Å"A list of states with the highest past-year rates of driving while under the influence of alcohol among adults ages 18 or older follow.† Answers and Explanations 1. As organized, this sentence implies that the scientist limited his doubts about air’s composition to the time he spent in Leeds, rather than stating that his suspicion began during his time there. To clarify the sentence, move the modifying phrase to the head of the sentence, and, for good measure, change the tense of the second verb, because air’s substantive nature has not changed since Priestley’s lifetime: â€Å"While he was at Leeds, Joseph Priestley began to suspect that air is not a simple substance.† 2. Because Europe is the noun immediately preceding the gloss, a reader might assume that the gloss defines Europe, rather than Protestantism, the correct subject of the definition. To eliminate that ambiguity, move the reference to the continent to the end of the sentence so that the definition is a mid-sentence parenthetical: â€Å"It was under these conditions that Protestantism, a branch of Christianity that declared public festivities sinful and vulgar and convinced large numbers of people that their lives should be spent on disciplined labor and worship, was introduced to Europe.† 3. This sentence is not egregiously incorrect, but the phrase beginning with according seems to modify country. It would be easier to read and the most essential information would effectively be reserved for the end of the sentence with the phrase inserted as a parenthetical: â€Å"He had accumulated millions of dollars there that, according to rules established after the war ended, couldn’t be taken out of the country.† 4. As constructed, this sentence implies that the writer and his brother had collaborated on drawing a belt, under which a number of books and comics were kept. The phrase â€Å"under my belt† should be shifted closer to the head of the sentence: â€Å"I already had under my belt a number of books and comics I had drawn with my brother.† 5. This painfully contracted sentence needs to be relaxed. The impetus to avoid a weak â€Å"to be† form of a verb is admirable, but it is awkward for that verb to be located at the very end, after a confusingly extensive subject. It would be better to immediately state the location of the list, then uncoil the tightly wound phrase identifying the subject of the list: â€Å"The following is a list of states with the highest rates of adults ages 18 or older who drove within the last year while under the influence of alcohol.† This is a rare instance in which the modifying phrase (in this case, the subject of the list) is more effectively placed at the end of the sentence, rather than inserted somewhere in its midst. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Redundant Phrases to Avoid40 Synonyms for â€Å"Different†Especially vs. Specially