Saturday, January 11, 2020

Human Resource Management †Recruitment and Selection Essay

1. A report distinguishing between traditional personnel management and the new approach to human resource management, outlining their historical development. 2. The Human Resource department in TD Travel Group. Its role and purpose in the organization. Task 2 1. An analysis of the objectives and the process of human resource planning. 2. An evaluation of the systematic approach to recruitment for NIS Europe. 3. An investigation of the selection procedures used for NIS Europe and TD Travel Group. 3. Evaluation and Conclusion 4. Bibliography Task 1 TASK 2 AN ANALYSIS OF THE OBJECTIVES AND THE PROCESS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING. Human resource planning is the task of assessing and anticipating the skill, knowledge and labour time requirements of the organisation and initiating action to fulfill those requirements. Human resource planning involves a strategy for the: * Recruitment * Retention * Utilisation * Improvement, and * Disposal of the human resources of a business. It needs to look at the following factors: * What are the skills and abilities of the current workforce? * What skills and abilities the organisation needs in the future? * Where can the organisation find its future supply of labour? * What are the future objectives of the business likely to be? * How will the business manage and obtain its human resources to meet these objectives? In order to plan Human Resources effectively a business has to undertake considerable research. Here is a table showing the things companies have consider when planning human resources: What is happening now? * Organisational Objectives * Analysis of staff numbers and age * Wage rates * Work loads * Key skills * Labour turnover * Absenteeism What do we expect to happen to the demand for products / services and therefore labour? * Changing technology * Sales forecasts * Market research * New product development * Managerial skills * Wage Rates * Union Agreements What do we expect labour supply to be like in the future? * Local unemployment / employment trends * Local skills and availability * Demographic changes * Legislation * Government training schemes * Quality of local education, housing and transport * Competition for workers All these issues raise questions, which the human resource plan should cover. The plan should include: * Organisation development * Training and management development * Recruitment, redundancy and redeployment * Appraisal and job evaluation * Promotion prospects Human Resource Planning (HRM) is a form of risk management. It involves realistically appraising the present and anticipating the future (as far as possible) in order to get the right people into the right jobs at the right time. This may seem simple at first, short of staff – hire some new staff, too many staff – make redundancies. Unfortunately its not that simple anymore and that is why human resource planning is necessary. Why Human Resource Planning is necessary: It is increasingly important to look beyond the present and short-term future to be able to prepare for contingencies. This will help to exercise control over as many variables as possible, which influence the success and failure of a business. For example, for highly skilled or specialised jobs, it will be more difficult to find replacement staff with the right skills quickly, therefore the need for new staff will have to be anticipated in advance to give enough time for extra training to be given without leaving the company short staffed and unable to provide an efficient service. For example, in the travel industry, reservation staff need to be fully trained on the computer reservation system (CRS) and have a full understanding of fares and ticketing, otherwise there would be a minimum of a six month training period, which would leave the business vulnerable and unable to provide good quality service Redundancies are not as easy to make anymore. It is a much slower more costly experience, not only in financial terms but also in loss of reputation as a secure employer. This in itself may make it harder to recruit labour when required. Rapid technological change is leading to a requirement for manpower, which is both more highly skilled and adaptable. Labour flexibility is a major issue, which means that the career and retraining potential of staff are at least as important as their actual qualifications and skills. They must be assessed in advance of requirements. In the selection process trainability is one of the most popular innovations of the HRM era of personnel management. The UK still suffers from particular skill shortages, despite high unemployment levels, for example nurses at Macclesfield Hospital, 20 nurses from the Philippines have had to be employed, as there was a shortage of suitably skilled staff in the UK. The scope and variety of markets, competition and labour resources are continually increased by political and economic moves such as the unification of Germany, the opening of Eastern Europe and continuing progress towards European Union. Computer technology has made available techniques which facilitate the monitoring and planning of manpower over fairly long time spans: manipulation of manpower statistics, trend analysis, modeling and so on. THE PROCESS OF HRP There are three main factors in HRP: * Forecasting Demand * Forecasting Supply * Closing the gap between demand and supply FORCASTING DEMAND The Demand for labour must be forecast by considering several factors: The objectives of an organisation – Organisations will normally devise a strategic plan, which will set out its objectives. This will be the responsibility of the directors who will devise their plan after discussion with the most senior managers. In some cases the directors of companies may decide to change the strategy of the business completely. This could involve getting rid of the senior managers and replacing them with a new managerial team, which can put the new strategy into place more efficiently. This happened both at British Airways and at Tesco’s where it was decided that a complete change of image was needed to improve profits. Most of the top management were replaced and in both cases the strategy was successful. This sort of strategy will obviously affect the demand for labour in general and / or for particular skills. Manpower utilisation – how much labour will be required given the expected productivity or work rate of different types of employee’s and the expected volume of business activity. Productivity will depend on capital expenditure, technology, work organisation, employee motivation and skills, negotiated productivity deals and many other factors. The cost of Labour – including overtime, training and other incentives, and therefore what financial constraints there are on the organisations manpower levels. Environmental factors – trends in technology and markets that will require organisational change, because of threats or opportunities. The recession in the 90’s created conditions in which expectations of labour demand in the short term were low: downsizing of staffs and delayering of organisation structures were the trend. FORCASTING SUPPLY The available supply of labour will be forecast by considering the following factors: * The skill base, potential trainability and current and potential productivity level of the existing workforce * The structure of the existing workforce e.g. age distribution, skills, hours of work, rates of pay etc The likelihood of changes to the productivity, size and structure of the workforce, caused by, wastage (turnover by resignation and retirement), promotions and transfers, absenteeism and other staff movements; this will require information on: * The age structure of staff (forthcoming retirement or family start-up) * Labour turnover for a comparable period * Promotion potential and ambitions of staff Other causes of changes in productivity are employee trainability and motivation, which may increase productivity and flexibility. Organisational, technological and cultural changes are factors, which may affect employee productivity and loyalty. The present and potential future supplies of skilled labour in the environment – that is, the external labour market. The HR planner will have to assess and monitor factors such as: * Skill availability, locally, nationally and internationally (e.g. within the EU) * Changes to skill availability due to education and training initiatives (or lack of these) * Competitor activity which may absorb more or less of the available skill pool * Demographic changes – areas of population growth and decline, the proportion of younger / older people in the workforce in a particular region, the number of women in a workforce etc. * Wage and salary rates in the market for particular jobs CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN DEMAND AND SUPPLY A deficiency of labour may be met by: * Internal transfers and promotions, training and development * External recruitment or improvement to recruitment methods * Extension of temporary contracts, or contracts of those about to retire * Reducing labour turnover by reviewing possible causes (e.g. pay and benefits) and improving induction and socialisation * The use of freelance / temporary / agency staff * The development of flexible working methods and structures * Encouraging overtime working * Productivity bargaining to increase productivity * Automation (increasing productivity, and / or reducing the need for human labour) A surplus of labour may be met by: * Running down manning levels by natural / accelerated wastage * Restricting or freezing recruitment * Redundancies (voluntary and/or compulsory) * Early retirement incentives * A tougher stance on discipline, enabling more dismissals * Part time and short contract working, or job sharing * Eliminating overtime and peripheral workforce groups * Redeployment of staff to areas of labour shortage. This may necessitate diversification by the organisation, to find new work for the labour force, and/or plans for multi-skilling, so that the workforce can be flexibly deployed in areas of labour shortage as and when they emerge. There are also external constraints on HR planners when considering any of the above such as, UK legislation and EU directives, regulations and court rulings, the employer brand or reputation and other factors must be taken into account when planning to hire, ‘fire’ or alter working terms and conditions. Labour turnover is the number of employees leaving an organisation and being replaced. The rate of turnover is often expressed as the number of people leaving as a percentage of the average number of people employed, in a given period of time. The term natural wastage is used to describe a normal flow of people out of an organisation through retirement, career or job change, relocation etc. AN EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO RECRUITMENT AT NIS EUROPE. Recruitment is the phase, which immediately precedes selection. Its purpose is to pave the way for selection procedures by producing, ideally the smallest number of candidates who appear to be capable either of performing the required tasks of the job from the outset, or of developing the ability to do so within a period of time acceptable to the employing organisation. The main point that needs to be made about the recruitment task is that the employing organisation should not waste time and money examining the credentials of the people whose qualifications do not match the requirements of the job. A primary task of the recruitment phase is to help would-be applicants to decide whether they are likely to be suitable to fill the job vacancy. This is clearly in the interest of both the employing organisation and the applicants. The current approach to recruitment within NIS Europe works in six stages. Stage One – Determining the vacancies Human resources would confirm what resources are needed and determine as to whether or not they wanted to fill the vacancy. This very much depends on the aim and objectives of NIS Europe. Stage Two – Considering the sources internally and externally If appropriate they would advertise the vacancy internally, or think of possible transfers. HR within NIS always gives this very careful consideration and where possible favour’s this option first for the following reasons: – * Existing employees are know to the organisation and are generally familiar with its customs and practices * The cost and time that recruitment, selection and induction procedures consume can be significantly reduced * Internal recruitment may be used as a means of career development, widening opportunities and stimulating motivation amongst existing employees If the vacancy were not filled internally then they would look to external sources. Dependent on the vacancy this would be via one of the two main means: – * Through employment agencies – governmental, institutional and private commercial * Advertisements in newspapers and journals Stage Four -Preparing and publishing information NIS Europe feels that this aspect of the recruitment process requires very special attention and skill. It is their objective to publish information, which fulfils the following conditions: * It is succinct and yet gives a comprehensive and accurate description of the job and its requirements * It is likely to attract the attention of the maximum number of potentially suitable candidates * It gives a favourable image of the organisation in terms of efficiency and its attitude towards people * It does not contravene employment laws concerning sex and racial discrimination Along with the submission of curriculum vitae, NIS Europe standard procedure is for each applicant to submit a NIS Europe application form. This falls in line with equal opportunities and allows NIS to obtain standard information about the applicant, that on a curriculum vita may be omitted. See appendix for job advert and application form. Stage Five – Processing and assessing applications When all the applicants have been received by the due date, the next task is to select those applicants who, on the evidence available, appear to be the most suitable as future employees of NIS Europe and therefore, worth the time and cost of further examination in the selection procedures. The screening process is based on the published requirements for the job. It involves a scrupulous study of the information provided by the applicants, a comparison of this information with the job requirements, and then a final decision as to whether to accept or reject the applicant at this stage. Stage Six – Notifying applicants Once the selection process from the applicants has taken place, the final step is to notify the chosen applicants of the arrangements for the selection procedures, and the rejected applicants that they have not been chosen. The letter to the successful applicants will have full details about the arrangements for the selection procedures, i.e. time and place. NIS Europe ensures that all letters informing applicants of the result of applications are sent as soon as possible. THE EVALUATION OF THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH FOR NAVIGANT INTEGRATED SERVICES EUROPE Below is an evaluation of the recruitment procedure for Navigant Integrated Services (NIS). The aim of this evaluation is to determine whether NIS recruitment procedures succeed in getting a suitable person for the job advertised and at an acceptable cost. The methods for auditing the recruitment process follow these performance indicators: – Total numbers of applicants received: Dependent on the type of vacancy NIS Europe can expect to receive on average around a dozen applicants for an advertised job vacancy. They have recently advertised for an accounts co-ordinator and have received over 30 applicants. They have admitted by not stating the salary this has interested applications, covering a wide range of experience, or in some cases very little experience. Time taken to locate applicants: Most vacancies within NIS are usually filled within one month of the advert being placed. Cost per applicant: NIS calculates à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000.00 per applicant, including the initial training. Time taken to process applications: NIS normally processes their applications within one week. Number of female /minority/ disabled applicants: NIS does not meet this indicator. They predominantly employ females; they have one minority employee and no disabled employees. When this was discussed with our HR department they advised this was nothing discriminate. The travel industry is known as being a female dominated environment and there have never been any disabled applicants at NIS. If there were any disabled or other minority applicants, they would go through the same process, as other applicants and no preferential treatment would be given. Number of qualified applicants: 90% of applicants are qualified for the job advertised. NIS biggest employment is of reservation staff for the travel industry. If they obtain a new account they will need to recruit fairly quickly, training is costly and time consuming so it is important that they stipulate qualified applicants only, at the advert stage, which is why they have a good success rate in finding candidates quickly for the vacancy advertised. Number of qualified female/minority/disabled applicants: About 70% of our applicants are female and qualified. NIS has very few minority or disabled applicants applying. Cost effectiveness of the recruitment methods: Dependent on the type of job will determine where NIS Europe advertises for staff. If they are looking for reservation agents they would normally get in touch with one of the industries recruitment agency’s. Most staff within the industry registers with the agencies. Many years ago jobs were advertised in industry papers the trend now leans towards recruitment agencies. Dependent on the level of salary the agencies take a percentage. For example on a salary of 17,000 they would take 10% of the gross salary. As the salary increases so does the percentage. Although working with an agency can work out costly, they do have a majority of the qualified personnel on their database and therefore gives NIS access to qualified personnel straight away. Monitoring the make-up of the workforce: NIS Europe workforce is split into the following departments and the make up of the workforce is as follows: – Reservations – within the Travel, Hotel & Conference reservations department, NIS employs 60 staff in this department, 10% of the workforce is male, 88.33% are female, none are disabled and only one staff member is a minority employee. * Sales and Marketing – NIS employs eight staff in this department, 37.5% of the workforce is male and 62.5% are female. None are disabled or minority employees. * Accounts – NIS employs four staff in the department, 25% are male and 75% are female. None are disabled or minority employees * HR – NIS employs two staff in this department, 100% are female. None are disabled or minority employees. * IT – NIS employs five staff in this department, 100% are male. None are disabled or minority employees. * Top line management – The top line management of NIS is made up of four. 25% is female and 75% are male. None are disabled or minority. From the above information it is evident that there are three groups of employees that are underrepresented at NIS Europe, male, disabled and minority. Attitude Surveys: Once you under taken employment with NIS Europe, they do not require you to fill in an attitude survey asking you if you were satisfied with the stages of recruitment and selection process. AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SELECTION PROCEDURES USED AT NIS EUROPE AND TD TRAVEL GROUP. Selection is the part of the employee resourcing process, which follows on from recruitment. It essentially involves the identifying of the most suitable of the potential employees attracted to the organisation by recruitment efforts. The crucial importance of selecting people who can meet the requirements described in the job description and person specification hardly need to be stressed. It is equally evident that mistakes in selection can have very serious consequences for corporate effectiveness. Such mistakes may adversely affect colleagues, subordinates and clients. Employee incompetence may lead to costly mistakes, loss and waste of valuable resources, accidents and avoidable expenditure on training. Employee selectors face an inevitable dilemma. They have to carry out a vitally important task, but one that at the same time is fraught with problems to which there are either no answers or no easy answers. The abiding problem is the dependence on subjective human judgment. We must take into consideration, that fallible human beings devise so-called objective lists. For example some person specifications require certain attitudes and attributes, such as conscientious or able to stand pressure, how can the selectors identify these requirements in a person whom they do not know during the short acquaintance of the selection process. In view of the importance and difficulties of the task, employers need to take selection most seriously. Appropriate investment at this stage can and will be cost-effective if it avoids the possibly enormous and incalculable cost that faulty employee selection may produce. For example, NIS Europe recently employed an operations manager through a recruitment agency, within six weeks of employment it was evident to NIS that he was not capable of the job he had been employed to do. Therefore NIS had to terminate his employment at a cost to the company of approximately à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8,000. Other errors of the selection process could include lack of skill or experience of interviewers, stereotyping by the interviewer in the absence of more detailed information and incorrect assessment of qualitative factors such as motivation, honesty or integrity. Various selection methods are used to try to reduce the risks by gathering as much relevant information about the candidate as possible. Currently NIS Europe is working with UMIST on a competencies project where NIS is contacting their client base to investigate in terms of service, what their expectations of NIS Europe are. The information collated in turn will then be translated into competencies and then used in the selection process. Following on from our earlier systematic approach to recruitment is the systematic approach to selection Point five & six of the systematic approach to recruitment overlaps with the first & second point of the Systematic approach to selection. Stage One – Processing and assessing applications When all the applicants have been received by the due date, the next task is to select those applicants who, on the evidence available, appear to be the most suitable as future employees of NIS Europe and TD Travel Group and therefore, worth the time and cost of further examination in the selection procedures. The screening process is based on the published requirements for the job. It involves a scrupulous study of the information provided by the applicants, a comparison of this information with the job requirements, and then a final decision as to whether to accept or reject the applicant at this stage. Stage Two – Notifying applicants Once the selection process from the applicants has taken place, the final step is to notify the chosen applicants of the arrangements for the selection procedures, and the rejected applicants that they have not been chosen. The letter to the successful applicants will have full details about the arrangements for the selection procedures, i.e. time and place. NIS Europe ensures that all letters informing applicants of the result of applications are sent as soon as possible. TD Travel Group operates a very informal selection procedure. If the curriculum vitae are up to standard the applicant will be called for an interview, nothing will be advised on paper, arrangements are made on the telephone. If the curriculum vitae do not have the correct qualifications for the job it will be discarded straight away and no call to advise the applicant will be made. Stage Three – Possible interviewees â€Å"Possibles† will then be more closely scrutinised, and a short-list for interviews drawn up. Ideally this should be done by the HR specialist and the perspective manager of the successful candidate, who will have a more immediate knowledge of the type of person that will fit into the culture and activities of his department. In TD Travel Group’s case, John Owen (the operations Director) would be solely responsible for this stage, as there is no human resources department employed. At NIS Europe Barbara Sutton (Human Resources Director) and the line manager of the relevant department would be jointly responsible. Stage Four- Inviting candidates from the short list for interviews At this stage the company would require successful candidates to complete a standardised application form if not already submitted at the outset. NIS Europe standard procedure is for each applicant to submit a NIS Europe application form along with the curriculum vitae at the first stage for applying for the job. See appendix for application form. This falls in line with equal opportunities and allows NIS to obtain standard information about the applicant, that from a curriculum vita may be omitted. TD Travel Group have no standard information that is required and work off the submission of a curriculum vitae only. Stage five – Interview potentially qualified candidates. Since the interview is likely to continue to play a major role in the selection process, it seems sensible to adopt a realistic approach, which means making the best possible use of the interview. There are many different types of interview including: * One-to-one interviews – these are the most common selection method. They offer the advantages of direct face-to-face communication, and opportunity to establish rapport between the candidate and interviewer. Each has to give attention solely to the other and there is potentially a relaxed atmosphere, if the interviewer is willing to establish an informal style. * Panel Interviews – A panel may consist of two or three people who together interview a single candidate, most commonly, a personnel manager and the departmental manager who will have responsibility for the successful candidate. NIS Europe use the above forms of interview, however they also have other interviewing techniques, which can be panel interviews or one to one interviews, such as: * Audition interview – this is predominantly to assess people in leisure and service industries; it focuses on personality versus skill. This would involve exercises, which display the personality of the candidate as well as the skills. * Criteria based interview – these are specific questions which highlight predetermined behavior which you are looking for e.g. if you need an outgoing person you would ask a question â€Å"If somebody came into the room how would you put them at ease?† You would rate the response as positive or negative. * Behavioral event interview – ideally this interview is a taped interview. The interviewer would have a competence list on a chart and when questions asked and in turn answered, the competencies would be marked off. TD Travel has a much more informal interview technique. It is generally a panel interview conducted by the Operations Director with the General manager and also the Sales and Marketing Director. There are no set techniques; it is more of a formal chat about skills and qualifications, outlined on the curriculum vitae. Stage six – Selection testing Once the interview has taken place, some companies go one step further by inviting candidates for a selection test. These tests are all standardised so that an individuals score can be related to others, reliable in that it always measures the same thing and is non discriminatory. These can be in various forms: * Intelligence or cognitive testing – these test memory, ability to think quickly, perceptual speed, verbal fluency and problem solving skills. See appendix. * Aptitude tests – these are designed to predict an individuals potential for performing a job or learning new skills. * Personality tests – these may measure a variety of characteristics such as the applicant’s skill in dealing with other people, ambition, motivation or emotional stability. See appendix. * Proficiency tests – these measure the ability of the applicant to do the work involved e.g. a typist would be asked to type, and a salesperson would be asked to sell. Td Travel does not use selection tests at all. Most people are employed through word of mouth, as travel is a very incestuous business. NIS Europe use personality and aptitude tests. Stage seven – Checking references of short listed candidates References provide further confidential information about the perspective employee. A reference should contain: * Straightforward factual information confirming the nature of the applicant’s previous jobs, previous employment, pay and circumstances of leaving * Opinions about the applicant’s personality and other attributes. At least two employer references are desirable, providing necessary factual information, and comparison of personal views. NIS Europe and TD Travel Group offer the successful candidate the job subject to checking the references. Stage eight -Institute follow-up procedures for successful applicants The follow up procedures include: * Offer of employment – Assuming that the right candidate has by now been identified, an offer of employment can be made. It is common for an oral offer to be made. With a negociated period for consideration and acceptance. * Draw up a contract or written particulars – this should include all terms, conditions and circumstances of the offer must be clearly stated and negotiable aspects of the offer and timetable for acceptance should be set out, in order to control the closing stages of the process * Arrange work permits if required – Work permits are required of people coming into the UK for employment * Plan induction – Induction is a formal programme, designed and carried out by HRM to introduce new employees to the organisation, in all its social as well as work aspects. Stage nine- Review all candidates Review un-interviewed candidates and sort out those that my be kept on file for possible future use. Send standard letters to unsuccessful to applicants and holding letters to those being kept on file. NIS Europe will hold candidates on file for a maximum of one year. TD Travel group do not use this procedure, they would start their informal recruitment process again as and when required. SUMMARY OF THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR TD TRAVEL GROUP AND NIS EUROPE It is evident from the above information that NIS Europe carries out a more formal selection procedure than TD Travel Group. This is down to the fact that NIS Europe have more employees than TD Travel Group, and therefore see it necessary to have a HR department.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Lgbt Substance Abuse Treatment Best Practices - 2822 Words

LGBT Substance Abuse Treatment Best Practices: An Annotated Bibliography Introduction Practice with special populations led to an inquiry regarding LGBT substance abuse and best practices. What was interesting in looking through the existing research is that there is really not a huge breadth of information out there regarding the LGBT population in relation to substance abuse and best practices. The importance of this subject was made apparent by the lack of concrete evidence for particular models of treatment when working with the LGBT community as a whole. Due to the lack of LGBT specific treatment evidence based outcomes, the search focused on comparisons of outcomes between LGBT and heterosexual participants in treatment programs, gay†¦show more content†¦A search of the Campbell Collaboration and Cochrane Collaboration (systematic reviews) yield no information on the topic of the LGBT community and substance abuse/use or chemical dependency. Because the LGBT community is often subject to discrimination within the healthcare system as a whole, it is crit ical for providers of substance abuse treatment programs to be aware and able to assist those who exist outside the heterosexual norm. LGBT individuals are, in general, less likely to disclose their sexual orientation or gender identity for fear of real and perceived discrimination. Being able to provide LGBT affirming and/or specialized services for those in the community seeking assistance through traditional channels seems to be the next logical step forward. There still seems to be quite a lot of work done in the research field to identify what works best in terms of treatment for the LGBT population however, evidence is showing that if a LGBT person feels welcomed and comfortable within a chemical dependency treatment program, the outcomes of program persistence and adherence is higher. Topic Outline/Critical Points Substance Abuse in the LGBT Community Finlon MSW, C. (2003). Substance abuse in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Journal of Gay Lesbian Social Services, 14(4), 109-116. This article outlines the lack of knowledge in relation to substance abuse and the LGBT community. An online search was

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Iran s Domestic Affairs And Foreign Policy - 2429 Words

The historical lift of decades-long sanctions on Iran earlier this year has sparked numerous discussions about what the future holds for the country. Without a doubt, possibilities that have been blocked by the past economic sanctions are now accessible to Iran. However, it’s crucial to understand that change cannot happen overnight. In fact, it may take years or even decades for Iran to catch up with the majority of countries around the world. There are some notable events in Iran’s domestic affairs that can assist us in navigating where the semi-theocratic regime appears to be headed. One of them would be the recent Iranian election and its conceivable outcomes. This paper will examine the possible progresses post-sanctions Iran can†¦show more content†¦Nevertheless, we may deduce that recent elections suggested Iran’s leaders — and not merely reformists — have learned that the most effective way to mitigate this dilemma is to forge a pea ce deal with some of their rivals. The prospects for such a deal emerged when Rouhani publicly assailed the Guardian Council, asserting that the parliament â€Å"is the house of the people and not a particular faction.†2 While the Council of Guardians ignored this signal and chose instead to disqualify Hassan Khomeini — along with thousands of other would be candidates — persistent criticism of the council’s actions from Rouhani, Rafsanjani, and others compelled it to readmit some 1,500 aspiring candidates — political novices, to be sure, rather than veteran reformists, but whose ranks included many supporters of Rouhani and his allies. These dynamics suggest a grudging readiness by Iran’s top leadership to negotiate a political accommodation that could very slowly, yet eventually favor greater pluralism and openness in the Islamic Republic. This seems to be the objective of Iran’s reformists, who — with Rouhani’s suppor t — have signaled a growing measure of political sophistication, strategic vision, and unity.3 In the end, noShow MoreRelatedRonald Reagans Domestic and Foreign Affairs Essay1728 Words   |  7 PagesReagans Domestic and Foreign Affairs. The reason that I choose this topic was because I have always been personally interested in Ronald Reagans time in office and the national crisis he had to deal with. Reagan was awesome when it came to foreign policy because he knew how to negotiate with foreign leaders and their countries to get what he wanted. There were several instances during his time in office that he had the chance to use his ability to get the country out of danger. Domestic AffairsRead MoreIr A Second Largest Gas Producer On The World With Gas Production Of 360 Billion Cubic Meters /1216 Words   |  5 PagesIran has stated a goal to remain the third largest gas producer in the world with gas production of 360 billion cubic meters / year by 2025. The European Union will be able to assist Iran with this goal as the expansion of the upstream gas production will re quire investment and technology from European and international companies. Iran has also expressed interest in injecting gas into the oil fields in order to maintain and increase oil production. EU companies can offer efficient solutions to increaseRead MoreThe Legacy of Ronald Reagan1004 Words   |  5 Pages However, in doing so he got wrapped up in the Iran-Contra Affair, which will forever be tied to his name in a negative regard. Within America, Reagan was able to improve society such as his success in curbing the use of illegal drugs. Ronald Reagan is often times cited as the best president the United States has ever had, due to his relentless attacks on communism and illegal drug use in America, even with his involvement in the Iran-Contra Affair. Ronald Reagan was tremendously successfulRead MoreDomestic American Terrorism1780 Words   |  7 PagesForeign and domestic policies are not linear, rather the policies are connected in a circle, with each policy reinforcing the values of another. Domestic American terrorism in the prison and detention systems and governmental reforms are influenced by the mobilization and ethnocentrism abroad. The militarization internationally is justified by the domestic handling of the same cultural issues within the United State borders. The United States has strangely used a near Catch-22 to handle dilemmasRead MoreJimmy Carter And His Foreign Affairs1305 Words   |  6 PagesOn the other extreme is Jimmy Carter, president from 1977 to 1981. Ranked last for both his foreign affairs and his overall presidency, Carter left the Oval Office a very unpopular man. Carter’s sole accolade came from the Camp David Accords of 1978-9. Carter invited Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyp tian prime minister Anwar Sadat to Camp David, the presidential retreat, to work out an agreement. Carter played a major role in the negotiations, mediating a dispute that resulted in a peaceRead MoreMutually Beneficial, A Dependency On Iranian Oil For Beijing s Policy Decisions Before809 Words   |  4 Pagesmutually beneficial, a dependency on Iranian oil for Beijing’s policy decisions vanished and can no longer be used as a valid argument to analyze China’s decision-making process from 2004 until the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as authors such as Dorraj and Currier or Kozhanov did. In January 2005, Bush repeatedly warned, that military action against Iran was likely, hence increased Beijing’s fear for regime-change, particularly since the IAEA inspectors visited the Parchin military complexRead MoreThe Iranian Hostage Crisis Of 19791667 Words   |  7 Pageswith the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran by Khomeini-supporting Islamist students, who took 66 Americans hostage. Since the Western â€Å"realm† is held together by shared values and sense of community, amongst other features, and Khomeini’s Iran had proven itself to be not only an ideological threat to Westerners, but a security one as well as exemplified by the hostage-taking, Canada swiftly worked bilaterally to defend its realm by sheltering 6 American diplomats in the home of CanadianRead MoreAnalysis Of Taken Hostage By David Farber1350 Words   |  6 PagesStates embassy in Tehran and the hostage of four hundred and forty-four days following, were the first steps le ading up to the perpetual War on Terror. In the book Taken Hostage by David Farber informs about the Iran Hostage Crisis and the First Encounter with Radical Islam. United States and Iran got into conflict, leading to the Iranians holding American Embassy members hostage as revenge for them feeling betrayed by the United States. It also informs us about other events that occurred in a decadeRead MoreEssay about The Reagan Tax Cuts And Foreign Policy1376 Words   |  6 Pages The Reagan Tax Cuts and Foreign Policy nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;During the 1980s President Ronald Reagans (our 40th president from 1981 to 1989) domestic policy of a substantial tax cut led to greatly increased economic prosperity for our country. During Reagans administration marked changes were made to the tax code and economic statistics showed a major change for the better. However, at the same time, the Democrats controlled the Congress and continued increased spending against ReagansRead MoreThe Reagan Tax Cuts and Foreign Policy1442 Words   |  6 PagesThe Reagan Tax Cuts and Foreign Policy During the 1980s President Ronald Reagans (our 40th president from 1981 to 1989) domestic policy of a substantial tax cut led to greatly increased economic prosperity for our country. During Reagans administration marked changes were made to the tax code and economic statistics showed a major change for the better. However, at the same time, the Democrats controlled the Congress and continued increased spending against Reagans wishes. The Joint Economic

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Food Labeling And Consumer Associations With Health,...

Do you know what is happening with your eggs? According to Food Labeling and Consumer Associations with Health, Safety, and Environment, as consumers become more increasingly aware of where and how their food comes from, consumers have demanded for a larger need of labels in their products. Labels, for the most part, give consumers insight on any given product but have evolved as a way to mislead consumers into buying their products. This type of misleading information is easily seen in the egg market; using labels to advertise certain aspects of their products that is considered true throughout the industry as a whole, the use of double speak in wording regarding labels, the labeling of certain type of eggs being perceived by consumers†¦show more content†¦An increase in the price of eggs due to labels that reinforces a common practice among the whole egg industry is problematic. Companies are taking advantage of consumers by making it seem that their product is distinctly different than their competitors by adding a label. This label essentially raises the price of their product, exploiting the consumers and taking their hard earned money. This system, that puts costumers at a disadvantage for a profit, can also be seen with vague labeling. Labels on any food product, including eggs, should be clear for consumers to understand. In many cases, this is not accurate, companies use terms that are covered in double speak when labeling to ensure consumers purchase their products. William Lutz defines double speak as a form of communication that hides information and mislead the receiver of the message. In this case, the receiver of this message are consumers. The USDA has allowed companies to use double speak in their labels with terms that do not have a clear meanings and have a meaning that are different from what consumers believe. For instance, When companies use the term fresh on their labels, it is not exactly what consumers may believe. The USDA defines the term fresh for poultry as never reaching twenty six degrees Fahrenheit but never clarifies how many days it has been on display nor when it was slaughtered. Which means as consumers, the probability of buying a poultryShow MoreRelatedEthics Of Genetically Modified Organisms816 Words   |  4 Pagesorganisms (GMOs) have been used for in the production of medicine and food and are widely used in scientific research and the production of other products (Junod, 2009). A GMO is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques, including mutation, insertion, or deletion of genes (Nelson, 2010). GMOS and GM technology have become a topic of great concern among scientists, regulators, consumers, farmers, and politicians. Despite potential benefits, public hostilityRead MoreAn Inside Look at Gluten-Free Food Essay1345 Words   |  6 PagesGluten-Free Food There is an estimate of 3 million people in the United States that have celiac disease (CD). Individuals with CD, any foods that contain gluten trigger the production of antibodies that attack and damage the lining of the small intestine; thus, limiting nutrient absorption (U.S. FDA, 2013). On August 2, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule that defines â€Å"gluten-free† for food labeling. â€Å"The FDA’s new ‘gluten-free’ definition will help people withRead MoreArguments Of Proponents And Opponents Of The Safe And Accurate Food Labeling Act1744 Words   |  7 PagesAccurate Food Labeling Act. This paper will now analyze each issue to determine the strengths and weakness of each side’s argument. One argument that proponents make about genetically modified food is that they are no different than natural foods. An argument that opponents make is that genetically modified organisms have not been tested enough becaus e they are fairly new and some scientist truly don’t have an understanding of how it will affect humans bodies differently than natural foods. ProponentsRead MoreOrganic Food : The United States Department Of Agriculture753 Words   |  4 PagesInterest in organic food has been increasing over the past decade. The United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) defines the term organic as:â€Å"... a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods † (â€Å"Consumer Information,† 2014, para. 1). In fact, consumers have become aware about food quality, and this has increased the sales of organic foods. According to The Organic Trade Association (2011), organic food sales have been identifiedRead MoreAnalysis Of Watching Food Inc.1396 Words   |  6 PagesWatching Food Inc. movie was a deception and a horrifying experience on what is happening in the food industry in the U.S. After spending time o n some of resources like The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on food safety, The National Food Processors’ Association that are in place to protect farmer’s industry and food consumers, to find out these agencies like are not protecting farmers nor are protecting food consumers in the U.S; and to learn about big corporations like Tyson Foods, Monsanto thatRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Labeling Legislation Essay934 Words   |  4 Pagesbeing able to halt the sale or planting of controversial genetically modified (aka GMO) or genetically engineered (GE) seeds, no matter what health issues may arise concerning GMOs in the future† (â€Å"5 Appalling Facts†)? Genetic engineering allows genetic material to be transferred between any organism, including between plants and animals. Genetically modified foods have been in existence since the early 1990s and they are not going away any time soon. In the European Union, â€Å"Member States may provisionallyRead MoreThe Debate Of Labeling Genetically Modified Organisms Essay2376 Words   |  10 PagesThe debate for labeling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food supply has been an ongoing battle for years. Both sides have valid points and believe passionately in their stance. One side states they are safe for the consumer to eat and do not need to be labeled. The other side argues not enough long term studies have been done to validate this claim and labeling should be mandatory to protect the consumer. While both supporters and non-supports of labeling GMO foods may not seem toRead MoreThe Information Found On Two Reliable Internet Websites1424 Words   |  6 Pages RELIABILITY: The information found on two reliable Internet websites is a secondary source by a renowned and well-known university, established since 1870 and a prestigious association, The Health Research Funding. In source 1 the pages linking to genetically modified foods is very rich in detail and has more then one contributor, all of which are very highly qualified in their areas of science. Therefore the information obtained is considered reliable. In source 2 the information is clear andRead MorePersuasive Speech: Why We Should Abandon Genetically Modified Food1580 Words   |  7 PagesGenetically Modified Food We all enjoy a cold glass of milk with homemade cookies, a refreshing pop on a hot summer day, and a juicy cob of corn in the summer months. But, do we ever wonder what is really in our food? Because genetically modified foods do not have to be labeled, you will likely never know if the food you are consuming is genetically modified. As a fellow member of the Organic Consumers Association, I am eager to inform you of why genetically modified food is an issue that we mustRead MoreGreen Marketing : Customer Satisfaction And Environmental Safety1651 Words   |  7 Pagesanalysis the impact of green marketing strategies on customer satisfaction and environmental safety using comprehensive literature review. As a result, this paper can be used by researchers who need to find out the impact of green marketing on customer satisfaction and environmental safety. Keywords: Green Marketing, Consumer Satisfaction, Environmental Safety. 1. Introduction In the last decade, consumers have become more enlightened on environmental issues. Green marketing refers to selling product

Monday, December 9, 2019

Monologue in Jessica Essay Example For Students

Monologue in Jessica Essay Topics: Brought back to life after 100 years, how does your character respond to the way society has progressed and its response to them now in comparison to before? By_ Peter Lee My character: George Thomas It makes me so angry that people dont recognise that I am a powerful man! I have money, status, but those stupid people dont know who I am. When I used to dine at luxury restaurants, department store, hotels and other famous places, I was recognised as George Thomas usually, have people give me top service. Thats a now a problem of course. Now people expect me to sit with filth. When I complain to the manager about the pitiful service and behaviour of the bloody waiters or waitresses, they look at me like I am some fool! Its only after my constant demands that they finally take me to fitting accommodation. Why must I have to ask, can they not see from my stature, do they not know the Thomas name? Why do these things happen to me? I used to buy expensive things from the stores, the community knew, that was a common practice for me but these people, They make comment about how those things are expensive. Who cares about the price of the things? Only, poor filthy animals like them care about it because they dont have much money like me. I look at them with contempt Oh this restaurant has the most expensive food in the city. It is very delicious to eat. What? What the bloody hell? Why is that black animal coming to seat in this premium area? Uh what Sitting behind me? It must not happen! How dare this black abo think he is welcome in this fine luxurious restaurant and sit behind me! Eww! Its really disgusting! It doesnt make sense! I cant have a meal in the presence of this company, I must complain at once to the manager he must not realise this is happening! Hey, manager! Do you think this make sense? Huh? You dont know what Im talking about? Oh, you bloody idiot! Whats wrong with your brain? Why is this black animal in this restaurant, let alone the table!!! (Hey! what are you looking at? ) Look here Mr Manager! Throw her away or youll regret what youve done! I will take my money else where and ruin the reputation of this restaurant if you do not remove her! What? What did you just say? What the hell are you talking about? Because she is your customer, you cant let her out? Oi, do it or Ill walk out of this restaurant, you son of bitch! No? Okay! Fine then, Ill go! Youll regret this one day and Ill remind you of what Ive just said to you. Black and White cannot sit next to each other. They cant stay with us! It is unacceptable! Hey you Abo! Walk out yourself or Ill get you! I know what you all are buggers get away with everything; expect things to be handed to you on a silver platter! Well, maybe you should earn your place in this world like the rest of us! I had to! Nothing came my way easy you know! You think it was easy for me to make my way to the top! Married to a woman who treated me like a sty dog half the time! Walked my hands in the soil, protected what was mine, only to have it taken away by you! That land was mine! Not yours! Mine! I paid for that land with my sweat and tears! My wife and daughters died on that land! Hey, man! Bloody hell Oi, police! Yeah, you! Listen to me! Do you think it is acceptable for whites and blacks to be in the same place? You cant just remove me from here! They are the ones being indecent! Look at them! Filthy Black dogs and white humans cant live together, you know?! What? .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 , .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .postImageUrl , .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 , .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:hover , .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:visited , .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:active { border:0!important; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:active , .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66 .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u79ea1905d724e04a0ce27e1d83741a66:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Frankenstein's Monster EssayYoure telling me to, Shut up! ? You dont know who I am? Im George Thomas, the wealthiest man in the city, you know! Everyone knows who I am! I have the power to take everything from you! What? Yeah, you think I am racist! Mate! Im bloody normal, the only normal one in this place! I am normal, you know! Those disgusting aboriginals shouldve been kicked out of Australia! What have they done for this country Tell me that! And the other Asian shouldve been banned from my precious land too! They will ruin this country, you wait and see! Im George Thomas! I AM George Thomas!

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Humpback Whale Essay Example For Students

The Humpback Whale Essay To look up into the mountains and see the steam rolling from a mountain stream on a cold winters morning is a beautiful sight. However, to look out over the horizon and see the white spray of salt water coming from the blow of a huge hump-back whale is much more exciting sight and a whole lot warmer. I lived in the mountains of Colorado for most of my childhood. The first time I had the opportunity to see the ocean was on a vacation to California, when I was about 15 years old. It was even better than I had dreamed it would be. The different animals in the ocean, the color of the water, and the warm sand between my toes was probably what led me to come to the islands of Hawaii. When I first saw the hump-back whale I was amazed at their huge size and how they could breach out of the water so gracefully. It is as if they were trying to play or show off. So when we were asked to choose a favorite animal, I had no problem deciding on the hump-back whale.The hump-back whale gets its name from the distinctive hump in front of the dorsal fin and from the way it raises its back high above water before diving. They are a member of the order Cetacea. This order is of aquatic mammals and the hump-back belongs to the suborder of the Mysticeti. The Mysticeti are the baleen whales which have three families and several species. The family in which the hump-back belongs is the Balaenopteridae, the true fin backed whale. The thing that separates this genus from the other fin-backed whales is the pectoral fins, which grow in lengths of about 5 meters (16.4 feet). This Genus is called Megaptera meaning great wing (Tinker 290). There was a controversy over the species name in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1932, Remington Kellogg finally settled the matter with Megatera Novaeangliae (Cousteau 84). The common English name is the hump-back whale.The hump-back whale lives in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Since we live in the Pacific Ill be discussing the hump-backs of the North Pacific. They migrate from North to South. In the months of July through September they gather in the Aleutian Islands, Bering Sea or the Chukchi Sea. They head south for the winter. They go to one of three areas: (1) Between the Bonin Islands, the Marianas Islands, the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan; (2) The Hawaiian Islands, and (3) Along the coast of Mexico (Tinker 291).One of the reasons these whales go North is for feeding. They have a short food chain compared to most mammals. Phytoplankton turns sunlight into energy and this energy is consumed by zooplankton. The zooplankton and phytoplankton are eaten by small fish. The whale in turn eats the fish. The chain is complete when waste products or dead whales decompose. They have a very short time frame in which they eat compared to the twelve months out of the year. They have not been seen feeding in Hawaii. It seems that they only feed during the summer months up north. During the fasting periods, in Hawa ii, they survive on their blubber. They mix their diet with copepods, euphausiids (krill), and small fish, primarily herring and capelin. They are considered filter feeders, using baleen plates to filter out their food. They take huge amounts of water into their mouth using a gulping method and then when they push the water out, they put their tongue up so the water must pass through the baleens. The food becomes trapped and falls toward the rear of the mouth. The two gulping methods hump-back whales use are lunge feeding and bubble net feeding. Lunge feeding is used when food is abundant. The whale simply swims through the prey with its mouth open engulfing the prey. They can do this vertically, laterally or inverted. This is done toward the surface of the ocean. Bubble net feeding is used when the prey is less abundant. The whale dives below the prey and discharges bubbles from its blowhole. As the bubbles ascend they form .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 , .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .postImageUrl , .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 , .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:hover , .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:visited , .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:active { border:0!important; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:active , .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3 .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ucf6b7dc23fc3b4be3c6d5e923f91f8a3:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Human Evolution Essay We will write a custom essay on The Humpback Whale specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Female Knights

Female Knights There are plenty of fierce women who have battled their way through history in politics and warfare. Although from an academic standpoint women could not generally carry the title of knight, there were still many women in European history who were part of chivalric orders and performed the duties of female knights without the formal recognition. Key Takeaways: Female Knights During the Middle Ages, women could not be granted the title of Knight; it was reserved for men only. However, there were many chivalric orders of knighthood that admitted women and female warriors who performed the role.Documented stories of women- primarily high-born- prove that they donned armor and directed troop movement in times of war. Chivalric Orders of Europe The word knight was not just a job title, it was a social ranking. For a man to become a knight, he had to be formally knighted in a ceremony, or receive an accolade of knighthood for exceptional bravery or service, usually in battle. Because neither of these were typically the domains of women, it was rare for a women to carry the title of knight. However, in parts of Europe, there were chivalric orders of knighthood that were open to women. During the early medieval period, a group of devout Christian knights joined together to form the Knights Templar. Their mission was twofold: to protect European travelers on pilgrimage in the Holy Land, but also to carry out secret military operations.  When they finally took the time to write down a list of their rules, around 1129 C.E., their mandates mentioned a pre-existing practice of admitting women to the Knights Templar. In fact, women were permitted as part of the organization during its first 10 years of existence. Lorado / Getty Images A related group, the Teutonic Order, accepted women as Consorores, or Sisters. Their role was an auxiliary one, often related to support and hospital services during times of war, including on the battlefield. In the mid-12th century, Moorish invaders laid the town of Tortosa, Spain, under siege. Because the towns menfolk were already off at battle fighting on another front, it fell to the women of Tortosa to set up defenses. They dressed in mens clothing- which was certainly easier to fight in- picked up weapons, and held their town with an array of swords, farm implements, and hatchets. In the aftermath, Count Ramon Berenguer of Barcelona founded the Order of the Hatchet in their honor. Elias Ashmole wrote in 1672 that the count granted the women of Tortosa numerous privileges and immunities: He also ordained, that at all publick meetings, the  Women  should have precedence of the  Men; That they should be exempted from all Taxes; and that all the Apparel and Jewels, though of never so great value, left by their dead Husbands, should be their own. It is not known whether the women of the Order ever fought in any battles other than defending Tortosa. The group faded into obscurity as its members aged and died out. Women in Warfare During the Middle Ages, women were not raised for battle like their male counterparts, who typically trained for warfare from boyhood. However, that doesnt mean they didnt fight. There are numerous examples of women, both noble and lower-born, who defended their homes, their families, and their nations from attacking outside forces. Margaret of Anjou directed troops during the War of the Roses. Hulton Archive / Getty Images The eight-day siege of Jerusalem in 1187 relied on women for success. Nearly all of the citys fighting men had marched out of town three months earlier, for the Battle of Hattin, leaving Jerusalem unguarded but for a few hastily-knighted boys. The women, however, outnumbered men in the city by nearly 50 to 1, so when Balian, Baron of Ibelin, realized it was time to defend the walls against the invading army of Saladin, he enlisted the female citizens to get to work. Dr. Helena P. Schrader, Ph.D. in History from the University of Hamburg, says that Ibelin would have had to organize these untrained civilians into units, assigning them specific, focused tasks. ... whether it was defending a sector of the wall, putting out fires, or ensuring that the men and women doing the fighting were supplied with water, food and ammunition. Most astonishing, his improvised units not only repulsed assaults, they also sortied out several times, destroying some of Saladin’s siege engines, and two or three times chasing the Saracens all the way back to the palisades of their camp. Nicholaa de la Haye was born in Lincolnshire, England, around 1150, and inherited her fathers land when he died. Married at least twice, Nicholaa was the castellan of Lincoln Castle, her family estate, despite the fact that each of her husbands tried to claim it as their own. When her spouses were away, Nicholaa ran the show. William Longchamps, a chancellor of Richard I, was heading to Nottingham to battle against Prince John, and along the way, he stopped at Lincoln, laying siege to Nicholaas castle. She refused to yield, and commanding 30 knights, 20 men-at-arms, and a few hundred infantrymen, held the castle for 40 days. Longchamps eventually gave up and moved on. She defended her home again a few years later when Prince Louis of France tried to invade Lincoln. Women didnt just show up and perform the duties of knights in defensive mode. There are several accounts of queens who traveled into the field with their armies in times of war. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Queen of both France and England, led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She even did it while dressed in armor and carrying a lance, although she didnt personally fight. During the War of the Roses, Marguerite d’Anjou personally directed the actions of Lancastrian commanders during battles against Yorkist opponents while her husband, King Henry VI, was incapacitated by bouts of madness. In fact, in 1460, she defeated the threat to her husband’s throne by calling on the Lancastrian nobility to assemble a mighty host in Yorkshire that ambushed York and killed him and 2,500 of his men outside his ancestral home at Sandal Castle. Finally, its important to note that over the centuries, there were countless other women who donned armor and rode into war. We know this because although medieval European writers documenting the Crusades emphasized the notion that pious Christian women did not fight, the historians of their Muslim opponents wrote of crusading women battling against them. The Persian scholar Imad ad-din al-Isfahani wrote, a woman of high rank arrived by sea in late autumn 1189, with an escort of 500 knights with  their forces, squires, pages and valets. She paid all their expenses and also led them in  raids on the Muslims. He went on to say that there were many female knights among the Christians, who wore armour like the men and fought like men in battle, and could not be told apart from  the men until they were killed and the armour was stripped from their bodies. Although their names have been lost to history, these women did exist, they simply were not granted the title of knight. Sources Ashmole, Elias. â€Å"The Institution, Laws Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter Collected and Digested into One Body.†Ã‚  Early English Books Online, The University of Michigan, quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A26024.0001.001?viewtoc.Nicholson, Helen, and Helen Nicholson. â€Å"Women and the Crusades.†Ã‚  Academia.edu, www.academia.edu/7608599/Women_and_the_Crusades.Schrader, Helena P. â€Å"Surrender of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187.†Ã‚  Defending the Crusader Kingdoms, 1 Jan. 1970, defendingcrusaderkingdoms.blogspot.com/2017/10/surrender-of-jerusalem-to-saladin-in.html.Velde, Francois R. â€Å"Women Knights in the Middle Ages.†Ã‚  Women Knights, www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/wom-kn.htm.