Et Al. Meaning and How to Use It

Et al. essentially means â€Å"and others,† extra, or in addition. It is the abbreviated form of the Latin expression et alia (or et alii or et aliae, the masculine and feminine form of the plural, respectively). The abbreviation et al. often appears in academic documents. It is generally used in footnotes and citations: for example, when a book has multiple authors, et al. can be used after the first name to indicate that there are more than two other authors who worked on the project.   How to Use Et Al. Et al. can be used in a situation that refers to more than two people. Make sure it’s always followed with a period, which indicates that it’s an abbreviation, but given its prevalence in the English language, italicizing it is not necessary in reference citations, though some publications may require it. According to the APA, it should only be used when there are two or more authors. For three to five authors, all names must be listed within the first citation, but all following citations can include just the name of the first author and et al. For six or more authors, the first author and et al. can be used in all citations, including the first. If you’re referencing sources with many of the same authors, spell out as many names as possible before using et al., until there is no room for confusion. If using a different style guide, be sure to reference the corresponding manual as rules can differ. Keep in mind that since et al. is plural, it must apply to at least two people. For example, if you are dealing with four authors and have typed out three names, you cannot use et al. to substitute the last one, since it cannot be used in place of just one person. Does it have a place outside of citations? Generally, no. Though not technically incorrect, it would be rare, and overly formal, to see it within an email greeting to multiple people, such as: â€Å"Dear Bill et al.†Ã‚   Et Al. vs. Etc. Et al. might sound familiar to another abbreviation we encounter regularly: â€Å"etc.† Short for â€Å"et cetera†Ã¢â‚¬â€which means â€Å"and the rest† in Latin—â€Å"etc.† refers to a list of things, rather than individuals. Unlike et al. which normally makes appearances in academic sources, â€Å"etc.† is both formal and informal and can be used in a wide variety of contexts. Examples of Et Al. Jolly et al. (2017) published a revolutionary study on the role of the gut microbiome: In this sentence, et al. doesn’t appear on a reference list, but still serves to indicate that Jolly and others contributed to the study in question.  Some large-scale surveys found cats to be the preferred pet (McCann et al., 1980) while others found dogs to be the ideal pet (Grisham Kane, 1981): In this example, et al. is used in the first citation because there are more than two authors. If this is a first citation, that indicates there are six or more authors, or if this is a subsequent citation in the text, there could be three or above authors. Et al. is not used in the last citation because there are only two authors who worked on the study.  Meditation once a week was found to improve focus by 20% in study participants (Hunter, Kennedy, Russell, Aarons, 2009). Meditation once a day was found to increase focus by 40% among participants (Hunter et al., 2009): This example, though citations of the same study would normally not occur in such close proximity, shows how et al. is used when introducing a work co-authored by three to five individuals. Et al. is reserved for all subsequent citations, with the first clearly naming everyone involved.   The Other â€Å"Et Al.†: Et Alibi In less common situations, et al. stands for et alibi, which refers to locations that will not appear in a list. For example, if you went on a trip, you could use et alibi when writing down the places and hotels you visited so you don’t have to name all of them. This can also be used to refer to locations within a text.   How do you remember what this means? Think of an alibi, which is used to prove that a criminal suspect was elsewhere when the crime took place, thus absolving them of suspicion.

Decision-Making and Strategy Development Essay - 2210 Words

I. Introduction Examining my lessons on how businesses and other similar entities traditionally developed their strategies, and comparing it with the way that some of todays more innovative firms have begun to plan, reminds me of the change in many companies approach to quality decision-making. From what I have learned, quality was traditionally associated with inspectors assuring quality after the fact--after parts were made--rather than getting everyone down the line involved in building in quality in the first place, as eventually happened through the TQM (Total Quality Management) movement. Indisputably, a similar trend is emerging in the fields of decision-making and strategy. Traditionally, many companies regarded strategy†¦show more content†¦This, in turn, provides employees with information technology and considerably more information on a more frequent basis. Coping and intellectual skills to handle these changes in information flow are critical. II. Policy-Making: Genuine Application of Info- technologies in Decision-making Policy is the product of a group struggle between contending factions who constantly strive to weight policy creation and decision making in their favor. As one good example that I uncovered, within social service settings; resource policies promoted by management compete with service policies of social workers. Management familiarity with information technology rewards operational advantage in resource application at the expense of social work personnel. Social workers thus far have reportedly failed to incorporate information technology withhin the natural systems approach resulting in a state of disempowerment face to face with information technology itself. 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International Human Resource Management Theory and Practice

Question: Discuss about the International Human Resource Management for Theory and Practice. Answer: The essay consists of a solution of a case study related to Flextronics company. The company is an electronics company based on Singapore. The country has its operations across many countries of the world. International human resource management is defined as the process of allocation, procurement and utilisation of the human resource in a company. The HR manager of multinational corporations integrates their policies in the subsidiaries of the company. It is done in order to accomplish the organisational goals that are set for the parent company. The policies are to be implemented by keeping in mind about the benefit of the employees. The flexibility of the international regulations is to be maintained as per the laws of the country. For expanding a business in a particular country, it is mandatory to abide by the rules of the country. Specifically, international human resource management deals with these issues of a multinational company. The essay describes the issues faced by Fle xtronics in its international business operations. The case study describes the operating procedure of the company along with its cultural and employee related issues. Solutions are also provided related to the problems mentioned in the case study. The European operation of Flextronics is known as Central and Eastern European branch. The headquarters of the strategic business unit are located in the countries of Austria and Vienna. However, the problems had arisen in the branch of Hungary. The new plants of the country are characterised by normal set up problems. The startup problems are known as inexperienced personnel, high volatility in the sales market, lack of adaptability and high fluctuation (Alfes et al. 2013). However, Flextronics is very keen in mitigating the identified issues in the Hungarian manufacturing plants. Whenever a company expands in the international market, apart from the external environment issues there are many internal environment issues. Internal environmental issues of a company include process, system, employees, and management (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). Flextronics in its Hungarian new manufacturing plants are facing issues in terms of employees, business processes and management. The problems are mentioned earlier that reflects the cultural problems and institutional forces that affect the profitability of the company as well as lower productivity in the new plants (Bratton and Gold 2012). The employees of Hungary are of different nature and mindset that are not identified by the human resource department of Flextronics. The HR director of the CEE is much focused on the issues faced by the workers of the Hungary manufacturing plants. It is the responsibility of the HR department of the company to manufacture policies abiding by the regulations of the country as well as the rules of the organisation. Employees are considered as the assets of a firm. Hence, the policies of a company are to be formulated for the benefit of the employees (Brewster et al. 2016). The employees of the Hungary division of Flextronics are not so much competent enough for increasing the productivity of the new plants in the country. However, the company has changed its HR policies to improve the condition of the people associated with the company. The issue of cross-cultural communication is prevalent in this situation. Cross-cultural problems are very common in organisations in different parts of the world (Buller and McEvoy 2012). Flextronics, on the other hand, is emphasising the cultural issues of it but the mitigation process is of no use. The HR Department of Flextronics develops a training module. The company has developed the module by taking help of an external consultancy. Apart from that, technical skills along with soft skills developmental program are formulated for the Hungarian employees. The approach of the HR department is not commenced in a right direction. The mindset of the people of Hungary is different from that of Austrian people (Jackson e t al. 2014). The case study mentioned differences between the approaches of Austrian employees and the Hungarian workers. The programs that are set for the overall development of the employees of Flextronics are not at all satisfactory in terms of improvement of the skills of the workers. However, it is seen that the employees of Hungary are not responding to the training module developed by the company. The participants of the country are showing very low responses towards the programs. They are not interested in completing the full session of the course of the grooming and training of Flextronics. There is an implicit assumption between the two concepts of best practice and best fit. The two concepts are interrelated with each other but are different in the field of implementation. The first term is related to theoretical frameworks while the second one is related to the implementation in real life. Both the terms are related to strategic human resource management. The approach of best fit in strategic HRM identifies the close knit relationship between HRM and strategic management. It considers the nature and influence of vertical integration (Keho and Wright 2013). In the case of vertical integration, a gain of advantage is done by maintaining a close relationship between the policies of HR and goals and objectives of the business. Many types of research about improved and effective HR practices suggested that models of the best fit should be flexible enough to implement the benefits of the employees of a certain organisation. The best-fit theory illustrates that HR policies of a firm become effective only when it is integrated with the external environment of the business. The best-fit approach emphasises on the fact of alignment between the systems of business with the organisational strategy. Companies must start its business by formulating an organizational strategy at first (Kramar 2014). The strategy of the organization includes performance levels, strategic management goals, etc. On the other hand, the approach of best practice illustrates the influence of business strategy in the performance of the company. High commitment management is the concept that is positively related to the theory of best practice in human resources. The theory of best practice forecasts the relation between the organisational performance and good practices of human resources in an organization (Marler 2012). In the case study, the difference between the concepts of best fit and best practice are clearly mentioned. Flextronics wants to implement many theoretical models in its organisational level for solving the problems. However, Flextronics have found that the effectiveness of the theoretical models is very different in real life implementation. Organisations must modify the theories according to the requirements and nature of the problem faced by it. For instance, Flextronics have started the approach of "One Flextronics" in order to solve the customer complaints regarding their p roducts and distribution of the products (Marler and Fisher 2013). The aim of the approach is to standardise the level of production at a global scale. To implement this practice in the company, Flextronics have gained an idea about different theories that will help in mitigating the production problems. Theories that are selected by the HR department and operation department of the company for mitigating the issues are program management, six sigma, material and quality management, finances, training and engineering. However, many other issues of production and supply chain are prevalent in the company except the cultural issues. Initially, the company is unable to figure out the best practice theories that will serve the purpose of problem-solving in the company. In the later part, it is noticed that by conducting extensive research Flextronics have successfully chosen best-fit theories in its production problem. Failure in choosing best-fit models in the cultural issues results in a lack of productivity of the employees at the organisational level. If a company implements same policies in two different countries then the expected result would not be same. The institutional and cultural specifics of a country are different from another country. In the case study, Flextronics had applied same training and developmental program for the two countries. However, it does not portray fruitful results in Hungary. The difference in national culture is well explained by Hofstede in his theory of cross-cultural communications. The theory of Hofstede describes the cultural differences in a detailed manner. The companies should always keep it in mind that one solution should not serve the purpose of the problems of all countries (Martin et al. 2016). There are many differences in cultural, political, social, legal and many other differences. Firms must keep in mind about the factors mentioned above. Firms should gain a deeper understanding of the factors affecting the productivity in different scenarios. The main motive of a company is to ea rn a substantial amount of profit from the market. Apart from that, they are committed to providing quality services and products to the customers in order to gain trust and reputation from it. It is also a part of the branding of the company. Delivering quality product to the customers will lead to earning a substantial profit for a company in the near future. Globalisation is the process that is adopted by many domestic companies to expand its business operations in many target markets. Most of the firms are facing issues in the cultural fields (Mitchell et al. 2013). The strategic management department of the parent companies must focus on the external issues of a country. However, internal issues are equally important like that of the external factors. Researchers had shown that most of the firms that have adopted internalisation are facing issues in cultural aspects. A firm can face many problems in its business operation in a particular target market. Apart from the cultural aspects, other challenging factors are disruptive technological change, geopolitical instability, business risk management, people management, innovation, environmental issues, etc. There are many gaps in skills in the global market such as disconnection of skills between the needs of the organisation as the educational system (Mondy and Martocchio 2016). Talent identification, international ethics, deployment, innovation and knowledge dissemination, language, internal ethics are the cultural issues that are faced by companies in its international locations. In the case study, it is mentioned that Flextronics is suffering from decreased productivity due to diminished employee re lations as well as talent gaps. It is already discussed that the qualifications of the employees of new plants of Hungary are very low (Morgeson et al. 2013). They are not able to perform well in the Hungary location. However, the mitigation programs formulated for improving the performance of Hungary branch is not giving expected results. The HR department lacks in maintaining a communication between the employees of the branch. For formulating any policies, it is necessary for the personnel of the HR to consult the employees. This is important because the developmental programs are formulated only for the benefit of the workers. It will help in forecasting effective progress of the employees in the company (Paill et al. 2014). The company is a technology based company and is suffering from many challenges in its different international locations. Countries of Europe faced most of the challenging issues regarding cultural aspects and other production processes. It is mentioned in the case study that the company is not only facing issues in terms of employee relations but also in the facility sites of the new plants in Hungary. However, due to lack of effective HR practices, Flextronics have recruited people that are not competent enough from the people of other countries (Purce 2014). A comparison with Austria is illustrated in the case study that points out the issues and problems of Flextronics in a detailed manner. Apart from that, it is also found in the case study that the HRM practices that are formulated for solving the employee related skill gaps are universal in nature (Storey 2014). The modules and developmental programs are not modified as per the deficit of the employees in their skills. The ele ctronics company mainly runs on the dearth of technology. Countries that have more feasibility in the usage pattern of latest technologies tend to develop more than that of countries with the low feasibility of the technology. European countries are very developed. Hence technological aspect is very developed. The company on its usage of more powerful information and technologies in its project can develop the prospects in a particular country. Technology has always positive and negative impacts on every aspect. Technology no doubt helps organisations to grow faster in many perspectives such as production, innovation, etc. Innovation and development are the key area of differentiation followed by most renowned companies across the globe. However, Flextronics is also trying to follow the path (Swart and Kinnie 2015). The company is trying to adopt much innovative and updated training module for development of skills for it employees. Training modules are formulated using ideas from different theoretical frameworks as well as from other organisations. Many organisations of United States are following various developed and modern training and developmental modules and programs for the enhancement of skills of their employees. Investment in the training department will not only develop the car eer of the employees but also the productivity of the manufacturing sites of Flextronics in Hungary (Truss et al. 2012). Implementation of technology in terms of increasing the production of the manufacturing facility of Hungary will give positive results in the company. But if the people are not so much efficient enough in handling the modern technologies using in the manufacturing sites of Flextronics in Hungary location, then the reaction will be opposite. The dearth of skills in the employees of Flextronics is a disadvantage of the companies. In this scenario, there will be a divergence of the situation. The reason for the divergence is the unskilled employees in Hungary (Ulrich 2013). Despite training modules, the employees are not interested in completing the whole session of the grooming classes and training session of the company. It is the reason of divergence in the field of implementation of technology in the company as well as in the new manufacturing plants. The company has worldwide operations in many countries of Europe, Asia and North America. The company is facing many cultural and institutional problems in its business operations. Flextronics is an electronic company that is not able to manage its all business operations smoothly in all countries. The company in the operations of Hungarian branch faces many problems specifically in the international human resource management aspects. Performances of the employees are not up to the mark in the branch compared to the performance of the other countries of Europe. However, the firm is focused in pointing the errors that are prevalent at the organisational level of the Hungarian branch. After pointing the errors, many training modules are also proposed by Flextronics by the implementation of the theoretical models regarding the problem. Research has also done regarding the feasibility of the theoretical frameworks used by the company in the real life world. The case study has pointed var ious issues in the Hungarian branch. The essay describes many concepts of strategic human resource management that help companies in increasing the effectiveness of the production of the company as well as their employees. The concepts of best fit and best practice are explained in a detailed manner in terms of the case study analysis. References Alfes, K., Shantz, A.D., Truss, C. and Soane, E.C., 2013. The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model.The international journal of human resource management,24(2), pp.330-351. Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012.Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan. Brewster, C., Mayrhofer, W. and Morley, M. eds., 2016.New Challenges for European Resource Management. Springer. Buller, P.F. and McEvoy, G.M., 2012. Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight.Human resource management review,22(1), pp.43-56. Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human resource management.The Academy of Management Annals,8(1), pp.1-56. Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of management,39(2), pp.366-391. Kramar, R., 2014. Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource management the next approach?.The International Journal of Human Resource Management,25(8), pp.1069-1089. Marler, J.H. and Fisher, S.L., 2013. An evidence-based review of e-HRM and strategic human resource management.Human Resource Management Review,23(1), pp.18-36. Marler, J.H., 2012. Strategic human resource management in context: a historical and global perspective.The Academy of Management Perspectives,26(2), pp.6-11. Martin, G., Farndale, E., Paauwe, J. and Stiles, P.G., 2016. Corporate governance and strategic human resource management: Four archetypes and proposals for a new approach to corporate sustainability.European Management Journal,34(1), pp.22-35. Mitchell, R., Obeidat, S. and Bray, M., 2013. The Effect of Strategic Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of High Performance Human Resource Practices.Human Resource Management,52(6), pp.899-921. Mondy, R. and Martocchio, J.J., 2016.Human resource management. Pearson. Morgeson, F.P., Aguinis, H., Waldman, D.A. and Siegel, D.S., 2013. Extending corporate social responsibility research to the human resource management and organizational behavior domains: A look to the future.Personnel Psychology,66(4), pp.805-824. Paill, P., Chen, Y., Boiral, O. and Jin, J., 2014. The impact of human resource management on environmental performance: An employee-level study. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(3), pp.451-466. Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals),67. Storey, J., 2014.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Swart, J. and Kinnie, N., 2015. Strategic Human Resource Management and performance management in professional service firms. InThe Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms. Truss, C., Mankin, D. and Kelliher, C., 2012.Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press. Ulrich, D., 2013.Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press.

Why Women Colleges Are Losing Funding

In a nation where college admissions are up (having risen from 26% to 41%over the last three decades), the harsh reality is that small colleges all over the country are losing funding. Those that survive are finding it necessary to cut programs (in particular, art and music) so that they can offer majors in fields considered more lucrative to prospective students —including business, engineering and computer science. In this type of climate, women’s colleges are getting hit particularly hard; and many have either closed, gone coed, or merged with coed universities. The numbers tell an even harsher story. In 1960, there was a total of 200 women’s colleges in the US. By 2014, that number has dropped to just 47 throughout the US and Canada. While these closings may seem like a recent trend, the fact is many of the nation’s most renowned women’s colleges became coed decades ago. For example, back in 1972, Texas Womens Universitystarted accepting men, who today make up 12%of the student body. Just a few of the scores of famous women’s colleges which have either closed or gone co-edinclude Radcliffe College (which closed in 1991 and is now part of Harvard); Wheaton College (coed since 1987); Hunter College (coed since 1964); Sarah Lawrence (coed since 1968) and Vassar (coed since 1969). Are Women Losing Interest In Women’s Colleges?In 2004, 8.7 percent of women enrolling in private colleges chose women’s colleges. By 2012, that number had dropped to 7.9%.By 2014, only 2%of women applicants chose to attend a single-gender college. Not all women’s colleges have suffered from diminished enrollments, however. Historic Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, which had an enrollment of 600 womenundergraduates in 1994, has just received its all-time high enrollment of 902in 2016. Other historic colleges, however, have struggled to survive. One notable example is Sweet Briar College, VA, which was slated to close before its alumni raised $12 million to save the school. By 2016, Sweet Briar’s enrollment grew from 751 in 2015 to a record-breaking 1099 in 2016. Stories such as Agnes Scott’s and Sweet Briar’s show the loyalty that many women have, not only toward their single-gender alma mater, but also to the concept of women’s colleges surviving in the 21st century. Women’s colleges are losing funding primarily because of a declining interest in single-gender colleges. During the time of Sweet Briar’s crisis, interim president James F. Jones, Jr. cited the problem as being â€Å"declining interest among today’s applicants in rural, liberal arts colleges as well as single-sex colleges,† and today’s analysts, backed by statistics, agree. Why Are Women’s Colleges Losing Funding?For more than two decades, the number of women applying for college has topped the number of men. In 1994, 63% of female high school graduatesenrolled in college, as opposed to 61% of male graduates. By 2012, 71% of female graduates were enrolling in college, while the numbers for male students remained at 61%. The increase in female enrollment continues — but today’s women prefer to opt for co-educational colleges because many believe that it will better prepare them to compete with menin the job market. For a variety of reasons, women’s colleges still have a relevant place in the 21st century. Educators in particular cite the psychological benefitsof women having a support system among peers of their own gender in a world where men still get higher pay and preferential hiring for executive jobs. Others cite the increased violence on today’s coed campuses as a reason why some women feel physically safer going to a single-gender school. According to some reports, however, there’s a dark side to college admissions programs which might make it even more necessary for women’s colleges to continue to exist. Are Women’s Colleges Still Relevant?A little-known fact is that private colleges are exempt from the US government’s ban, under Title IX, on sex discrimination. According to a recent expose in the Washington Post, this loophole theoretically allows private colleges and universities to discriminate against women in their admissions practices. The article goes on to say that the men/women acceptance ratio at many of the more famous colleges average 60:40. Specific examples cited in the article include Vassar College, where admissions for men are typically around 34 percent as opposed to 19 percent for women; Columbia University, where the acceptance rate is 8 percent for men and 6 percent for women; and Vanderbilt University, where the acceptance rate is 15 percent for men versus 11 percent for women. The Washington Post expose adds that public colleges and universities are not exempt from the ban, and that Title IX protects the admission of women in all schools that are federally funded. These numbers are even more significant considering that, statistically, there is a substantial gender difference between performance levels of high school girls and boys. According to recent statistics, 70% of the nations high school valedictoriansare now girls.The numbers tell the story. If this level of discrimination is still prevalent among the nation’s top-drawer colleges, then there is still a vital need for women’s colleges. According to an extensive study conducted by the Womens College Coalition, nearly 65 percent of those who attend women’s colleges plan to get higher degrees, and are more likely than coed college attendees to aspire to a Ph.D. Statistics such as these — plus the loyalty that womens college alumni show toward their schools — indicate that women’s colleges continue to have a valid and valuable place in the realm of higher education in the 21st century. Are you applying to a womens college? Are you currently attending one? Let us know what your thoughts are in the comment section below!