Concept And Definition Of Hrp Business Essay

Concept And Definition Of Hrp Business Essay It is very natural that, the continual positive development of any business owe to its effective planning. Making all the necessary preparations and appropriate arrangements proactively basing upon what is expected to happen in future and performing a series of tasks and activities accordingly in a systematic and organized way is one of the important functions of management, which necessitates an effective and proactive planning process. Proper planning and designing an effective organizational structure by assigning an assortment of responsibilities to the concerned employees may help the business organizations to accomplish their set of objectives. Putting the right person at the right place and at the right time is essentially much important to any business as it comprises of a wide and comprehensive range of activities in relation to the management of man. Manpower power planning, not only focuses on the effective utilization of existing human elements but also concern in fulfill ing future manpower need of the organizations at the time of need. Man power planning is the process of determining manpower needs and the means and ways to meet those needs in order to carry out the integrated organizational plan. It is very much indispensable for any organization to perform the activities efficiently and to produce desired results. It is an apparently well known fact that, the success of any business highly rest upon the competent people that a business organization posses. Man power planning is considered as crucial functions of human resource management. It gives due importance to the human element than that of material elements and strive to manage and maintain the good will of a business. It endeavours to add to the organizational development and success of the business with due recognition of knowledge, skills, competence, experiences, expertise and talent of the employees. Effective recruitment and selection process follows an effective manpower planning process in fulfilling future manpower need as and when needed by the organisation. That necessitates manpower planning process and put lot of significance to it. At the same time, it contributes significantly to the achievement of organizational objectives by avoiding overstaffing and understaffing. However, although the notion of Human Resource Planning is well established in the HRM vocabulary, in practice, it does not seem to be as key HR activity. Need for man power planning is continuously driven by many of the factors in the organizations. It is essential when labour turnover is to be determined. There are situations that compel to replace older employees, disabled personnel and people whose medical conditions cause disturbances to usual functioning of the organisation. While executing effectively, man power planning process entails analyzing the requirements of present and future vacancies. These situations usually take place at the time of retirements, transfer of employees or they are upgraded due to promotion. Similarly, manpower planning is inevitable to deal with the situations that arise at the time, when employees avail their leaves or in case of their absences. In order to carry out the assigned task in a planned or intended way business organizations need personnel having necessary qualifications and experience which can be accomplished optimally through a effective man power planning process. Manpower planning is of great importance in identifying the surplus and shortages of the employees. In case of surplus, the man power may be redeployed from one area or activity to another in case of the former, whereas shortages demand providing required personnel. Man power demand forecasting, manpower supply forecasting and manpower audit are some of the important tasks concerning the process of manpower planning. Manpower demand involves estimating total man power requirements and planning accordingly. Then, the next step in manpower planning process is man power supply forecasting. It comprises of both internal supply forecasting and external supply forecasting. Internal supply forecasting works when the employees are transferred or promoted, while the need of external supply arises from the requirement of new workers when a business expands or there is change in technology or adopts new methods of production. In addition to that the process entails man power audit. Manpower audit is carried out through Skills inventory. It provides detail information about each employee. The overall value of an employee in an organization is also determined through skills inventory. For the sustenance of the key workers, man power audit analyses the factor s that compels and propels the employees to leave the current jobs and move elsewhere. As a result of which necessary measures may be taken to curb the rate of turnover in the context maximum utilization of Human Resources. Manpower planning is significant for the best interest of employees as well as for organization. While implementing appropriate selection procedures for the right candidates, Human resource planning undertakes proper recruitment methods and thereby preserves the individual talents of the employees. It focuses on assessing the requirement and the arrangement of training and development programs for the employees in order to equip them with the prerequisites of job. Manpower planning also focuses on the promotion procedures for competent people who can be entrusted with the challenges of advanced tasks. The inefficiencies of the employees are also identified by means of manpower planning process. So that necessary training may be provided leading towards improving employee morale. In this way the manpower planning process improves productivity and efficiency of the employees and their performance may be more effective and they can contribute optimally to the total organizational develo pment. Above all, the success of any business revolves round the quantity and quality of human resources of that particular organisation. CONCEPT AND DEFINITION OF HRP HRP is supposed to be an integral part of total organizational planning. The Human Resource Planning includes managerial activities that contribute to set the companys future objectives .It also determines appropriate means and ways for achieving those objectives. Where as organizational planning facilitates the realization of the companys future objectives and determines appropriate means for achieving those objectives. HRP is a systematic effort that comprises of three key elements: Workforce forecast Manpower assessment Staffing programme According to Leon C. Megginson, Human Resource Planning is an integrated approach to perform the planning aspects of the personnel function. It ensures sufficient supply of adequately developed and motivated workforce to perform the required duties and tasks to meet organizations objectives by satisfying the individual needs and goals of organizational members. Stainer defines manpower planning as a strategy for the acquisition, utilization, improvement, and preservation of human resources of an enterprise. It is a way of dealing with people in a dynamic situation. It relates to establishing job specifications or the qualitative requirements of job determining the number of personnel required and developing sources of supply of manpower. Human resource planning determines the determinants of changing job requirement. Technological advancement that requires introduction of new equipment, product, and process and invariably resulting in changes in jobs and job structure in an organization can be dealt with proper manpower planning. It is therefore, manpower planning is essential for the organization to meet the demands of future job requirements in order to survive and remain competitive. Otherwise, the organizations experiencing the effect of rapid technological change will face the shortages of skilled employees in the absence of effective human resource planning. HRP can be defined as the task of assessing and anticipating the skill, knowledge and labour time requirements of the organization and initiating necessary action to fulfil those requirements. If the organization is declining, it may need a reduction plan or redeploys its existing labour force. On the other hand, if it is growing or diversifying, it requires finding and tapping suitable sources of skilled labour. According to Coleman HR planning is The process of determining manpower requirements and the means for meeting those requirements to carry out the integrated plan of the organization. Manpower planning is the Strategy for acquisition, utilization, improvement and preservation of an enterprises Human Resources. It is the process by which management determines the path for the organization to move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position in order to carry out integrated plan of the organization. Vetter (1967) defines Human Resource Planning as the process by which management determines how the organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired position. Through planning, management strives to have the right number and the right kind of people, at the right places, at the right time, doing right things resulting in maximum long-run benefits both for the organization and for the individual. Human resource planning takes place within the broad framework of organizational and strategic business planning. It involves forecasting the organizations future human resource needs and planning accordingly to meet those needs. It also includes establishing objectives and then developing and implementing HR programs like staffing, appraising, compensating, and providing training in order to ensure that people with the appropriate skills are available as and when the organization needs them. It may also include developing and implementing programs to improve employee performance or to increase employee satisfaction and involvement in order to boost organizational productivity, quality, or innovation (Mills, 1985b). Finally, human resource planning includes gathering data that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing planning programs which will be useful for the planners when revisions in their forecasts and programs are needed. Human resource planning is the process of systematically reviewing human resource requirements to ensure that the required numbers of employees with requisite skills are available at the time of need. Human resource planning encompasses four elements: Quantity: No of employees Quality : Required, skills, knowledge and abilities Space: for which department, unit and level Time: at which point of time and how long Nature and Scope of HRP HRP includes identifying both present and future needs of various types of employees in an organisation, comparing these needs with the present workforce, and determining the numbers and types of employees to be recruited. Persons can be recruited and selected from outside the organisation or selected out of the organisations potential group and fit them into the organisational set up to get the best out of them. While extracting the best out of the employees, the organisation has also a responsibility to protect the interests of employees in terms of their career prospects, adequate compensation for their work, providing the best work environment and developing a culture of interpersonal, intrapersonal, employee-employer relationship and introduce a sense of quality consciousness within everyone to produce the best. Leading Features of HRP The leading features of HRPs are listed below. It is systematic in approach. It ensures a continuous and proper staffing. It checks on occupational imbalances i.e shortages or surplus occurring in any of the department of the organization. There is a certain degree of flexibility, which is meant for modifications and alterations in accordance with the needs of the organization or to adopt with the changing circumstances. Manpower plans can be done both at micro and at the macro levels. Thus, HRP is a kind of risk management tool. It involves realistically appraising the present human resources and anticipating the future need as far as possible in order to get the right people into right jobs at the right time. Underlying Factors of HRP Undoubtedly, there are a lot many factors that contribute for the increased attention towards human resource planning. Again, environmental forces like globalization, new technologies, economic conditions, and changing characterstics of work forces create complexity and add uncertainty for organizations. Therefore, organizations typically attempt to reduce the interference of uncertainty. While attempting so, formal planning is considered as one common tactic used by organizations to buffer themselves from environmental uncertainty (Thompson, 1967). Manpower Planning vs Human Resource Planning Manpower planning or HR planning both can be used interchangeably. HR planning is more broad-based. Human Resources planning refer to planning conducted for all aspects of Human Resources. It takes care of training, employee safety, recruitment, manning levels, Performance Management and so on. But manpower planning basically tends to revolve predominantly around numbers. The number of people required to perform efficiently and productively in order to produce the best results with minimum cost is known as manpower planning. However, these concepts are always evolving and are variously called as manpower planning, personnel planning or employment planning and human resource planning. Levels of HRP Human resource planning is done at various levels. The purpose of manpower planning determines its level. However, broadly level of manpower planning falls in the following categories. National Level: At National level, government of India undertake macro human resource plans for the entire country by anticipating the demand for and supply of human requirements at the national level. Sectoral Level: Along with central government various state governments of the country also plan human resource requirements for different sectors of the economy. Sectoral level manpower planning endeavours to cater the needs of manpower requirements of some particular sectors like Agriculture Sector, Industrial Sector and Service Sector. Industry Level: To cater to the manpower needs of a particular industry such as Engineering and Heavy Industries, Paper Industries, and Consumer Goods Industries, Public Utility Industries, Textile, Cement/Chemical Industries and so on and so forth industry level manpower planning is done. Unit/ Departmental Level: To take care the manpower needs of a particular department in a company such as Marketing Department, Production Department, Finance Department, etc unit or department level manpower planning is conducted. Job Level: Man power planning at job level fulfils the human resource requirements of a particular job family within a department. For example, the requirement of number of sales executives in the marketing department or customer care people in customer care department is done by planning at the level of Job. Periods of HRP Short -Term Human Resource Planning: Short term Human resource planning primarily focuses on designing and implementing the activities like recruitment, selection systems, and training programs to serve short-term organizational needs. Generally such activities involve an element of planning that is future-oriented to some extent. Short-term human resource planning is done to achieve long term objectives of the organisation. Long-Term Human Resource Planning: Increasingly, long-term human resource planning is done minimum for the period of three years or sometimes beyond that. Long term human resource planning is critical for the effective functioning of organizations. The rapidly changing world and highly competitive marketplace is causing firms to turn their focus on human resources for survival and competitiveness. Effective long-term human resource planning demands integration of the skills and knowledge of the manpower planner and all other executives who are responsible for strategic planning. Intermediate -Term Human Resource Planning: Human resource planning is a risk averting tool and buffer organizations from future uncertainty. Since, human resource programs such as recruitment, selection, training, and motivation of employees ensures availability of required number of people with appropriate skills at all levels in the organizations and thereby it help to reduce uncertainty. Short term human resource planning is associated with very little uncertainty about which skills and how many people will be needed. For which it is relatively easy to predict supply. However, due to rapid, turbulent and ongoing changes in todays business environment, it is difficult to anticipate future by simply projecting past trends. When the focus of planning shifts from short term to intermediate term, what is the requirement of an organisation becomes dominant problem so also the uncertainty related to the question of availability. As a result of which more technical attention is required to be given to the problem of forecasting. To minimise the uncertainty in intermediate term human resource planning, interaction between the human resource planner and line managers is even more critical for making accurate demand and supply forecasts. PURPOSE, NEED AND OBJECTIVE OF HRP Purposes of HRP   The primary function of Personnel planning is to analyze and evaluate the available human resources within the organization. It also determines how to obtain the kinds of needed personnel to staff various organisational positions starting from assembly line workers to chief executives.   Smaller companies have assigned the function of HR planning to the human resource department or personnel department. Larger corporations have separate departments for this function.  Personnel planning aims at minimisation of waste in employing people, lessen uncertainty of current personnel levels and future needs, and eliminate mistakes in staffing pattern.   The purpose of Human Resource Planning aims at maintaining the required level of skill by avoiding workforce skill shortages, stopping the profit-eroding effects of being overstaffed or understaffed, preparing succession plans and shaping the optimum future work force composition by hiring the right skill in appropriate numbers. Need of HRP Manpower Planning is basically a two-phased process. It analyses the current human resources, makes manpower forecasts and thereby draw employment programmes. Manpower Planning serves organisational purpose in many ways. It ensures optimum use of manpower and capitalizes on the strength of organisations Human Resources. Talent reservoir of an organisation is maintained at any point of time. The assigned tasks can be carried out easily if people skills are readily available. All these things can be possible with the help of effective HR Planning that provide information beforehand. To forecast future requirements and provides control measures: Although planning is considered as the essential process of management, HRP becomes especially critical when organizations go for mergers, relocation of plants, downsizing, right sizing or at time of closing of operating facilities. For example, expansion of scale of operations of any business requires advance planning that can ensure a continuous supply of people with appropriate skill set who can handle the challenges of the jobs easily. To face the challenges: Human resource planning helps the business to encounter the challenges that occur due to turbulent and hostile environmental forces like technology, social, economic and political factors. To adopt with technological changes: The change in technology in production, marketing methods and management techniques have been very extensive and rapid. It has profound effect both on job contents and job contexts. These changes may cause problems relating to redundancies, demand for retraining and redeployment, In order to cope with these changes, organisations need systematic manpower planning. To face Organizational Changes: The nature and pace of changes in organizational environment marked by cyclical fluctuations and discontinuities and the changes in activities and structures affect manpower positions of the organisation and require strategic considerations which necessitate perfect HR Planning. To determine recruitment/induction levels: A readily available HR plan can provide fairly good ideas about the kind of people are recruited and at what position. This will help in determining the kind of induction the organization require and thus can help to plan induction level successfully. To determine training level: Human Resource Planning helps in determining training levels in an organisation and lays foundation for management development programmes. To know the cost of manpower: In cases of expansions or opening up a new factory or if there is a new project organisation would require more number of human resources of different skill set. In those cases, Human Resource Planning helps in estimating the manpower cost. Hence a proper budgetary allocation can be made well in advance for this type of upcoming corporate strategic move. To assist in productivity bargaining: In case of automation, Human Resource Planning Data helps in negotiating for lesser workers as required for the same amount of the job. The organisation can offer higher incentives to smoothen the process of VRS, voluntary layoffs and so on. To assess physical facilities: Physical facilities such as accommodation ,canteen, school, medical help, etc. can also be planned well in advance, because a good HRP can assist in solving many problems of the firm, from day to day ones to very strategic ones. Moreover, Human Resource Planning helps in maintaining the stability of a concern preventing it to incur several intangible costs due to inadequate, improper or lack of HRP. For example, inadequate HRP may cause unfilled vacancies and the resulting loss in efficiency cost a lot to the organisation, particularly when the lead-time is required to train replacements. There are also situations in which employees are laid off in one department on the other hand applicants are hired for similar jobs in another department due to absence of proper HRP. There may be situation of over hiring resulting in the need to lay off effective employees. These are the variety of factors which necessitate Human Resource Planning in an organisation for optimum utilisation of Human Resources. Objectives of HRP The objective of human resource planning is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs, while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. Human resource planning is a sub-system of the total organizational planning. It constitutes an integral part of corporate plan and serves the very purpose of organization in many ways. The primary purpose of human resource planning is to prepare for the future by reducing organizational uncertainty in relation to the acquisition, placement, and development of employees .Human resources planning is done to achieve the optimum use of human resources and to have the right types and correct number of employees to meet organizational goals. Objectives of Human Resource Planning are: Achieve Goal: Human Resource Planning helps in achieving individual, Organizational National goals. Since Human resource planning is linked with career planning, it can able to achieve individual goal while achieving organisational and national goal. Estimates future organizational structure and Manpower Requirements: Human Resource Planning is related with number of Personnel required for the future, job-family, age distribution of employees, qualification desired experience, salary range etc and thereby determines future organisation structure. Human Resource Audit: Human resource planning process is comprised of estimating the future needs and determining the present supply of Manpower Resources. Manpower supply analysis is done through skills inventory. This helps in preventing overstaffing as well as understaffing. Job Analysis: The process of studying and collecting information relating to operations and responsibilities of a specific job is called Job analysis. Job analysis is comprised of job description and job specification. Job description describes the duties and responsibilities of a particular job in an organized factual way. Job specification specifies minimum acceptable human qualities necessary to perform a particular job properly. Other objectives of HRP are as follows: To link human resource planning with organizational planning. To ensure optimum, planned use of currently employees. To forecast future skill requirements. To provide control measures in order to ensure that necessary resources are made available as and when required. To anticipate redundancies and avoid unnecessary dismissals. To provide a basis for management development programmes. To deploy the manpower in upcoming new projects. To enable the organization to identify trouble spots. To study the cost of overheads. To decide whether certain activities need to be subcontracted. To achieve more effective and efficient use of human resources. To better recruit employees having the necessary skills and competences. To determine optimum training levels. To obtain fairly satisfied and developed workforce. To facilitate the roll-out of strategic plans and missions. To achieve more effective and equal opportunity planning. To relieve the organization of unnecessary and unneeded labour. Human resources planning are human resource administration, quite similar to that of financial planning. But unlike financial planning, there are very few organizations that engage in any form of explicit human resource planning. However, if properly used, human resources planning can increase the prospects of an organizations management and of its resources by better coping with dynamic situations. Human resource planning aims at maintaining and improving the organizations ability to attain the goals by developing strategies, purporting to magnify the contribution of human resources. Objectives of HR planning are to ensure availability of the HR needs of the organization at specified times in the future. It is a systematic approach to help the organization to reach at its business objectives. TRENDS AND BEHAVIOURAL FACTORS ON HRP Trends That Impact HRP   A Personnel planner seeking to study the trends in Human Resource planning should include the following variables:   The state of the economy of the organisation: The spectrum of economic activity of the organisation which largely depends upon the companys sphere of operations is a crucial factor that is to be considered while doing HRP.     Demographics: The present and future age and sex composition, literacy level of the population of the organisation affect HRP.   Employee losses or turnover: The retirements, deaths, promotions and resignation affect the current number of individuals employed at every level.   New skill requirements:  Obsolescence of current skills and its effects along with what new skills will be needed due to new technology markets or products affect HRP.   The availability of materials: The status of the availability of material and direction of materials prices is also considered while doing HRP.    Technological changes: Rate of change of technology along with technology adoption by the organisation affects manpower planning.   Social changes: Effect of up gradation of educational backgrounds of the people in a given society and the willingness of people to take lower level jobs affect manpower planning.   Labour costs: The direction in which the labour cost move is given due consideration while doing human resource planning. Behavioural Factors on HRP Behaviour can be defined as the observable and measurable activity of human beings. Activity of human beings under this category shows a great variety. It may include anything like decision making, a mental processor, handling a machine, a physical process. Behavioural factors of HRP include: 1. Understanding Human Behaviour 2. Controlling and directing Behaviour 3. Organisation Adaptation 1. Understanding Human Behaviour: Understanding human behaviour in the organisation encompasses the following elements. (i) Individual Behaviour: It is known as first behaviour of people and provides means for analyzing why and how an Individual behaves in a particular way. (ii) Interpersonal Behaviour: It provides means for understanding the interpersonal relationship in the organization. Analysis of reciprocal relationship, role analysis, transactional analysis falls under the umbrella of interpersonal behaviour. (iii) Group Behaviour: Group behaviour comprises of group norms, cohesion, goals, procedures, communication, and leadership. (iv) Intergroup relationship: Intergroup relationships are in the form of intergroup cooperation and intergroup co-ordination. 2. Controlling and directing behaviour: these are the different factors that need to be taken care of in while controlling and directing people behaviour at workplaces. (i) Organisational Climate: it refers to total organizational situations affecting human behaviour i.e how people of an organisation interact with each other at workplace. (ii) Communication:-free flow of both way communications is inevitable in order to control and direct human behaviour because, it is through communication people come in contact with each others. (iii) Leadership: leadership style is also very much crucial and plays vital role in order to control and direct peoples behaviour at workplace. (iv) Employee empowerment: It refers to the degree of autonomy provided to people of an organisation so that they can take certain decision on their own without waiting for the supervisor to direct and may be utilized in many ways. 3. Organisation Adaptation: Organisations have to adapt themselves to the environment changes by making suitable internal arrangements like Management of Change. INFORMATION FOR HRP Information that forms the basis of Human Resource Planning include statistics of past years data on all aspect of Human Resource programmes. It includes turnover data, recruitment costs, staff numbers both actual and forecasted, budgetary information, safety statistics, and performance appraisal statistics and so on and so forth. Basically, information is gathered taking into consideration of any objective for the year. For example, if organisations seek to reduce turnover, which thereby reduces recruitment and selection costs, need to focus man power plan on retention strategies. To strategise the retention strategies the organisation may go for benchmarking from other successful companies, may seek industry information, take the help of Human Resources Institutes and so on and so forth. After getting information and ways and me

Aztec Belief System Essay

Throughout the history of mankind civilizations have trusted in the existence of a higher power. Although the existence of a higher power doesn’t bear as large of an impact on societies like the United States today, it was the focal point of life in many civilizations of the past. A great example of a civilization that was extremely reliant on the connection between humans and higher powers was the Aztecs. The Aztecs believed that they were connected to the universe by a sacred energy. They believed this energy was the source of all natural events and if it were unbalanced, they would suffer. In order to maintain the balance, the Aztecs performed ceremonial sacrifices, bloodletting, and other forms of violent cultural behavior. The connection between the Aztecs and the universe is evident among their myths about how humans were created. One creation myth is the story of the goddess Tlaltecutli. In the story Tlaltecutli was ripped apart by the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca and her body parts were used to create the earth and the other gods. This event caused Tlaltecutli to desire human hearts and she would not be quiet until they were brought to her. Nor would she bear fruit until she had been drenched in human blood. Another creation myth, and the most common legend amongst the Aztecs, was that the god Quetzalcoatl descended into the underworld and retrieved the bones and ashes of previous human beings in order to recreate humanity because the universe had been destroyed after the fourth Sun went out. Quetzalcoatl ground the bones into powder and used his blood to fertilize it and create humans.   The Aztecs also had a myth that explained how the Sun and moon were created. According to legend, the gods Nanautzin and Tecuziztecatl sacrificed themselves by jumping into a fire, which turned them into the Sun and moon. The other gods also sacrificed themselves to provide nourishment for the Sun. However the Sun and the Earth still had an insatiable craving for human blood, therefore war was created to satisfy the Sun’s needs. What’s interesting about these creation myths is that they all included some form of death, sacrifice, or blood shed in order to create something. The creation myths shaped the foundation for why Aztecs placed so much emphasis on violent cultural behavior. In the Aztec society, human sacrifice was extremely common. This is because sacrifices were the main method of creating cosmic order between humans and the universe. Pubic sacrifices took place at the beginning of each of the 18 twenty-day months. The sacrifices consisted of mostly captured warriors, but in rare cases included children and young women. The purpose of public sacrifice was to acquire the divine forces embedded in the physiology of human beings in order to nourish the Sun, Earth, and rain. Aztec ceremonies consisted of days of ritual preparation, ceremonial sacrifice, and acts of nourishing the gods and the community. Priests carried out the sacrifices, which included many forms such as decapitation, burning, hurling from great heights, strangulation, and arrow sacrifice. The most common was the removal of the heart. The heart and the head were the two most important body parts to the Aztecs. Tonalli was a type of energy that came from the head and determined the shape of one’s temperament and destiny. Tonalli was first acquired as an embryo in a female uterus. The Sun was the most powerful way to increase tonalli. It was believed that hair prevented tonalli from leaving the body. Therefore hair was a major prize in warfare. When heads were decapitated during ceremonies, the city as a whole gained tonalli. Teyolia, or â€Å"diving fire†, was the energy that came from the heart and determined a person’s sensibilities and thinking patterns. When a person died his or her tayolia traveled to the world of the dead, or â€Å"sky of the Sun†. Tayolia gives energy to the Sun, which is why heart sacrifices were so popular.   Giving hearts and heads wasn’t the only donation made to the higher powers. Bloodshed was also seen as a type of nourishment. The Aztecs believed that spilling blood was vital to please the gods and to ensure natural forces such as strong harvests. Another Aztec creation myth, the story of Tezcatlipoca, gives strong insight into the importance of bloodshed. In the story the body of Tezcatlipoca was cut into pieces and divided over the four directions of the world, with his blood flowing into the center. The divine blood redistributed energy to animals, body parts, vegetation, and the calendar. Although The Aztecs believed that by giving the hearts and heads of their victims to the gods and the universe, they would be blessed with gifts like bountiful harvests, strength in war, and healthy lives, they didn’t practice sacrifice just to receive blessings; they also feared that the universe would be destroyed. The Aztecs believed that there had been four previous ages that the universe passed through prior to the present age, the Fifth Age. At the end of each age, the Sun went out and caused a catastrophic event that destroyed all life on Earth. In the Second Age, for example, it was believed that the beings that lived there were carried away by the wind. (AD1, p. 4) The fear of the Sun going out again and ending the Fifth Age is one the main catalysts for explaining why the Aztecs placed so much importance on human sacrifice, warfare, and other violent cultural behavior. In order to ensure that the Sun wouldn’t go out again, the Aztecs participated in what is known as the New Fire Ceremony. It took place once every fifty-two years and was used to ensure that the Sun would last for another fifty-two years. The rebirth was achieved by the heart sacrifice of a brave, captured warrior specifically chosen by the king. The ceremony began at the top of a mountain with a priest cutting out the warrior’s heart and throwing it into a fire. The people in the village would then cut themselves and splatter their blood in the direction of the fire. The fire was then brought down the mountain and the people blistered themselves with fire. The Aztecs believed that if they did not perform the ceremony properly to nourish the Sun, it would go out and the demons of the darkness would descend to eat all human beings. The New Fire Ceremony is a great example of how the Aztecs viewed the connection between human beings and the cosmos. The role of humankind in the Aztec society was very pre-determined. Men were devoted to warfare and females were devoted to the household. Warfare was extremely important to Aztec men because it was used as a way to appease the gods with the hearts of prisoners of war.   It was also used a way to rank the importance and worth of a man. Men higher up in the military rank received more luxuries and entitlements than men of lower ranks. For example, a top war commander, or â€Å"quauhpilli†, was given land by the ruler and could run schools for commoners.   Military service was a compulsory obligation by all free men. The Aztec’s innate desire for combat is a direct impact of the believed connection between conflict and nourishment for the universe. When a male child was born, he is dedicated to the Sun, and â€Å"the flowery death† of the warrior in battle or on the killing stone. This shows that the Aztecs believed that the only honorable death for a male is on the battlefield or being sacrificed on another tribes killing stone. The Aztec devotion to the universe was so strong that they not only believed that they had to sacrifice others in battle to please the gods; they had to sacrifice themselves as well. The culture and beliefs of the Aztec civilization were much different than the culture and beliefs of society today. Human sacrificing no longer occurs because it is considered cruel and unusual punishment. Humans do not believe that sacrifices and bloodshed are necessary to please a higher power. Although there are certain religions that believe that the way humans act bear some consequence on things like karma and where we go in the afterlife, it is rare to find a society in today’s world that believes wholeheartedly that there is a direct connection between human’s actions, the divine, and natural forces, like the Aztecs believed. Science and technology have allowed humans to understand that we can control all aspects of processes such as growing crops and that the gods have no effect on it. Warfare, although still important, does not have nearly as strong of an impact on humans today. Warfare is only needed for protection, to defend other countries, or in certain areas of the world, to attempt to settle religious differences like the Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Today, men and women have the choice to grow up and become whatever they want. Men are not required to serve in the military and women have the ability to do more than just take care of the household. The main difference between the Aztecs and humans today is that for the Aztecs, the connection to the universe was the most important aspect of life, while today creating a family, treating others fairly, and having proper morals are the most important aspects of life. The majority of people just want to make the most of their lives on Earth while they still have time, and depending on their beliefs, if they do it right they will reach an afterlife when they die. The Aztecs were one of mankind’s most interesting civilizations. They devoted their lives to pleasing the universe and believed that sacrifice and bloodshed were the best ways of doing it. They attempted to control every aspect of their lives in order to keep the connection between humans and the universe in balance. The Aztec belief system was very extreme. No other civilization has put so much emphasis on sacrifices, and more than likely, no civilization ever will again.

Impact of Global Recession on Indian Economy - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1044 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/09/16 Category Economics Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? Impact of global meltdown on Indian economy in 2009 Ashok Handoo | 08 Jan, 2009 With the advent of 2009, economists are debating the extent of the impact of global meltdown on the Indian economy in 2009. The predictions range between somewhat optimistic to fairly pessimistic. But the common thread running is that 2009 will be challenging, indeed. The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia says the stimulus package part two is part of the government strategy to deal with the situation as it evolves. The fiscal and monetary measures taken under the second package are targeted to increase iquidity for pushing up demand, addressing the concerns of the industries and provide incentives to exporters that have been hit by the recessionary conditions. The first objective is aimed to be met by reducing the key interest rates further the CRR has been cut by point 5 percent, bringing it down to 5%. The repo and the reverse repo rates have been reduced by1% eac h, bringing them down to 5. 5 % and 4% respectively. All this will leave more funds with the banks to enable them to lend more at lower rates of interest. The second objective will be met by curbing cheap imports. That explains why certain duties on import of cement, Zinc and ferro-alloys, TMT bars etc. which were removed earlier to fight inflation, have been restored. The third objective to boost exports is hoped to be met by a twin stroke-increasing duty drawbacks, which the exporters claim against the taxes paid on inputs needed to manufacture the item for export and extend the duration of the scheme up to the end of December this year. The government is able to do this because the inflation rate is consistently falling for the last one and a half month. As Ashok Chawla Economic Affairs Secretary in the Finance Ministry observes the trend is clear. This will translate into lower interest rates. There is a possibility of inflation rate coming down to a tolerable 5% by th e end of the current financial year. Ahluwalia is confident that despite the gloomy international economic situation India will register growth rate of 7 %. But, he says, fiscal deficit will be higher than anticipated on account of the stimulus packages announced. The mid-year economic review presented in Parliament, projects its ncrease to 5 percent against the target of 2. 5 percent. The Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao too admits that 2009 will be more challenging adding that the RBI will continue to do everything possible to mitigate the impact of global crisis on the Indian Economy. He however, says that the outlook for India and the world remains uncertain and the path of global crisis and its resolution remains unclear. That view is shared by the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen as well. Sen recently admitted that he did not have a ready answer to how deeply global meltdown will affect India in the New Year. The World Bank President Robert Zoellick predicts that the glo bal economy is likely to worsen in the first half of 2009. The IMF chief concurs with him. The RBI has made it more than clear that it has a road map to deal with the situation and steps will be taken as and when required. To quote Subbarao our approach has been to cross the river by feeling the stones. It has already lowered its key interest rates-the CRR to a 2 year low and the repo and reverse repo rates to an 8 year low. But there are areas of concern as well. Foreign investment flows have declined. The Commerce Minister Kamal Nath informed the Lok Sabha that FDI inflows between April and September 2008 showed an increasing trend each month in comparison to the same period in the previous year. But he cautioned that FDI flows to the developing nations would generally decline in 2009. He was however quick to add that the government has put in place a liberal policy which permits FDI up to 100 percent on the automatic route, in most sectors and activities. The other area of c oncern is that Indias industrial growth has declined for the first time in 15 ears. Since Industry accounts for about 25 percent of the country’s GDP it is bound to affect the growth rate. Exports declined by 9. 9% in November last which is also worrisome. The RBI in its report says there are downsize risks from Indias increasing global integration such as the sustained outflow of capital, financial contagion and slowing world growth. It corroborates Prime Ministers view that in a globalised world, we cannot pretend that we will not be affected by the crisis that has been created somewhere else. But it says that use of a ombination of instruments to absorb excessive pressure had helped cushion the impact on Indian economy. The silver lining is that since 50% of our GDP comes from the service sector, which is not affected much by the global recession, growth rate in the current year will end up around 7%. That is what the mid- year review estimates. Five years of nearly 4% far m growth and high domestic saving rate of 36% is seen as making that possible. That the government is alive to the situation is apparent through the measures it has been aking in association with the RBI from time to time. It has raised public expenditure by Rs. 20,000 crore through the first stimulus package announced on December 7. The RBI too injected Rs. 300,000 crore liquidity into the system through a series of cuts in rates. The second package will increase availability of funds with banks and non-banking financial companies by 75,000 crore. The state governments too have been allowed additional market borrowings of Rs. 30,000 crore. It is now for the Banks and the big industries to fulfill their share of responsibilities and nsure that the measures taken are effective. They need to move hand in hand with the government. Time and again, the Prime Minister has been assuring the people that despite the international environment the country has the capacity, ability and resilien ce to cope with the present global crisis. He has been citing the economic crisis of 1991 which Asia faced and which was more serious, but India overcame it efficiently. With steadfast commitments of all the players in the field we look forward to see India coming out of the present global crisis with minimum bruises. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Impact of Global Recession on Indian Economy" essay for you Create order