CIPD Level 5 Assessment - 5MDN Meeting Organisational Development Assignment

CIPD Level 5 Assessment - 5MDN Meeting Organisational Development Needs - Assignment Example CIPD Level 5 Assessment - 5MDN Meeting Organisational Development Needs Two learning interventions will be chosen for this study, beneficial for accomplishing set goals or objectives. Justification of methods would be provided along with reasons for eradicating other alternatives. Learning intervention design shall also be incorporated in the study that could effectively meet learning and development needs. Learning and development needs are an important component which helps in improving overall organizational performance. Tesco Plc is a multinational general merchandize and grocery retailer having its headquarters in United Kingdom. On the basis of revenue margins, the firm is the second largest retailer across the globe. Tesco has about 6784 retail stores and has an employee base of approximately 500,000. There are some business subsidiaries of Tesco Plc such as Tesco Stores, Tesco Bank, Tesco Mobile, Dobbies Garden Centers, Tesco Ireland, Dunnhumby and Giraffe restaurants. The company has diversified into wide array of geographical regions. Learning and development strategy is adopted by the company and is inclined towards enhancing knowledge base and skills of employees. Training sessions are organized for employees in specific time interval. Employee retention policies are based on career development approach, performance based pay and encouraging team members to contribute their innovative ideas. Performance management policy forms an essential part of organizational functions.

Issues with Cadburys Workforce

Issues with Cadburys Workforce One of the most important workforces issues that Cadbury has to tackle after the Krafts takeover will be the psychological contract and the employee engagement, thus, the fundamentals issues this paper work address are; explores some of the most important external and internal influences and business pressures that Cadbury is facing now, recommending the most appropriate strategic responses and describing some of the key Human Resource issues that the company have to bear in mind during the whole process of this transition. Secondly, this essay does a depth analyses of how Cadbury should tackle their psychological contracts issues, through a fully understanding of the workforces expectations and beliefs towards the Cadburys new employer, generally these expectations are out of the formal or legal contract, which means they are unwritten and unspoken but they still play an important role during this takeover. In addition to the psychological contract, this essay also explores another important issue in this takeover which is the employee engagement, this engagement generally is something given by the employees to the company which shows their commitment, effort and dedication, using the best of their capabilities to achieve the companys goals, therefore, this paper studies how Cadbury should make an appropriate adoption of the employee engagement concept bringing a tremendous vantage for the company. 216 words STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Business Pressure Cadburys company was built nearly two hundred years ago in Birmiham Great Britain, where during whole these years the company has stood up of the crowd for its chocolates quality and has even been awarded for the British Queen in February 1984 (Cadbury 1) Cadbury has also launched some chocolates which have became in a totally British iconic, chocolates bars such as wispa, which was first launched in 1981 and the creams eggs which sell around two hundred million units every year in the UK, and the Dairy Milk which was first launched in June 1905 and has become a mega well-known brand in many different varieties around the world (Cadbury 2), All these products and much more, have made that Cadbury become nowadays the second most engaging brand in the UK, according to a study made by the agency Hall Partners (2010), this study measures how the British people are engaged with brands and analyse how do they feel and think about it. The study reveals that Cadbury is a UK proud brand that British people love; as during whole these years, Cadbury has built a strong relationship with its customers and products in a consciously and unconsciously way. http://www.netimperative.com/news/2010/february/cadbury2019s-and-google-top-uk2019s-10-most/view Hence, taking into the account all these historic facts of Cadbury, it seem obvious that after the announce of Krafts takeover, a huge business pressure had grown all over UK regarding to continuation of the workforces inheritance , the maintaining of their manufactories in UK and the loss of jobs seems to be the most complicated business pressure. As a complement, after the acquisition of Cadbury in  £11.9 billion, Kraft is on  £7 billion debt, and to be able to solve this issue Kraft has created a saving plan of  £450 million a year (The Guarding 3) to pay off all its debts to the Royal Bank of Scotland, which ironically is 84% owned by the UK Government, which means that the UK government has borrowed the money to sell out one of the most engaging British companies. http://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadburyandchocolate/ourstory/Pages/ourstoryFlash.aspx#/1941_1980/product/1971_creme_egg (2) http://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadburyandchocolate/ourstory/Pages/ourstoryFlash.aspx#/1820_1860/product (1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/04/cadbury-kraft-union (3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8470776.stm (4) Strategic Responses Seems to be a very tough task, to set a good and appropriate strategic response, after all these enormous business pressures that surround Cadbury, hence, Kraft should start doing a deep analyses of each one of the business pressure, covering the customers and workforces expectations, to fully understand the whole context. Once exist a better understanding of the whole picture, Kraft should be more likely to face these business pressures in a more efficiently and appropriate manner, setting up the best possible strategic responses to tackle the whole problem. However, bearing in mind that my understanding of the whole picture will never be as deeper as the one Kraft could achieve inside their world, my best possible strategic responses should be keeping their pledges, showing the commitment and interest of Cadburys new owners to the workforce, doing the best of their capabilities to keep the social and ethical values, analysing the business strategic and vision of the company. On the other hand, UK Government should do everything they can, to ensure the jobs are kept in UK after the Krafts new acquisition, however the Cadburys Chairman has admitted that jobs loss are unavoidable as a consequence of the big acquisitions price of  £11.9 billion (The Indepent 2010 5), but as strategic response to this issue, Kraft should make a further investment in better technology machines to increase the productivity and reduce their overhead costs more efficiently without the need to make jobs redundant. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/takeover-will-mean-job-cuts-says-boss-of-cadbury-1873155.html (5) HRM Factors; possible impacts There are many numbers of possible HR impacts in this unexpected and unwelcome Krafts takeover, the first of them, is one of the most common HR impacts which takes place in most of the takeovers, these are the workforces strikes, which are already happening in Cadbury, the employees are desperately seeking for a plan or a law from the UK government which secure their jobs and give them work stability. Secondly but not less important, as consequence of this unwelcome takeover, Cadburys workforce might change its attitude and loyalty towards the company, creating a stressful and uncomfortable workplace environment for everybody, leaving as a result, a depth impact in the productivity of the company. Additionally to the job instability, lack of support from the companys new owner and stressful environment, all these issues could make that the best workforces men remaining in the company, decide to jump out of the ship before the company decides to throw them out. Lastly, the workforces future expectations, beliefs and principles might also change towards the company, meaning a partial or total loss of the engagement from the employees which could easily lead a collective decrease in the productivity. HRM Strategic to tackle As HR strategic, one of the first issues to tackle should be to build a much healthier workplace environment to the wellbeing and productivity of all the company, however to be able to solve this issue the strategic should starts improving the lack of communication between all the workforce, making ice-breaking session involving all manager and plant workers. On the other hand, the HR strategic, should also look at the terms and conditions of the workforces formal contracts, giving additional benefits, securing their jobs stability to all the workforce or at least the best workers and lastly making periodically reviews of their salaries and their current position in the company, all these incentives are with the aim of create a better perception of their psychological contract and get back the employees engagement. As a complement and improvement of the psychological contract perception, the company should also invest in their employees, giving them special training and special support wherever needed, earning also some of the trust which has been lost during this whole process. In support of the business pressures, strategic responses and HRM factors mentions above, the table below shows a strategic framework as develop by Sparrow and Pettigrew to complement the main points which have just been described, this framework shows some of the external influences issues and business pressures that Cadbury is currently facing after Krafts takeover, highlighting the most strategic responses and the HRM factors to my point of view. Business Pressure Strategic Responses HRM Factors Cadbury Now UK Prime Minister has done nothing to secure the Cadburys jobs Takeover will lead to a collective jobs redundant and losses at Cadbury as part of the annual cost saving plan of  £450 millions Public and government concerns about maintaining social, ethical values, and inheritance of Cadbury Customers value and expectations towards Cadburys product may change specially within UK Lack of trust between Cadburys new owners and Cadburys employees A massive disappointed from the UK citizens regarding to the money that RSB bank has lent to Kraft to takeover Cadbury Agreement between Cadbury and UK Government to maintain the Cadburys workforce Better technology machines should be used to increase the productivity and reduce the costs efficiently Show the commitment and interest of Cadburys new owners to the workforce, doing the best of their capabilities to keep the social and ethical values, analysing the business strategic and vision of the company. Keeping promises up to the workforce and showing them that the company really cares and worries for its employees POSSIBLE IMPACTS Possible strike from Cadburys workforce Insufficient support from the Company to the workforce, deteriorating the communications Hidden pressure that managers are not aware of The workforces attitude towards their work activities may change, leaving an impact on the company productivity Stressful work environment Employees concerns about jumping ship and their future career within the Cadbury Cadbury in the Future The UK Government cannot do legally anything to stop the massive fires; they were only concern about their votes There are not hopes that anything will change for the better as result of the takeover The takeover brings a deeper financial crisis for UK Government concern about lack of investment from Cadbury Kraft in UK The maintaining of the Cadbury manufactories in UK The inheritance of Cadbury have come to the end Make an aggressive marketing camping to show everybody the benefits, the takeover has brought To expand the manufacturing production along UK, Create a strategic plan to help sustain the inheritance of Cadburys workforce families HRM STRATEGIC TO TACKLE Restructure the workface of the company Create a healthy workplace environment for the employees wellbeing and productivity of the company Retain the best employees of the Company ensuring them long-terms stability Maintain terms in staff legal contracts (e.g. pension schemes) Revise recruitment policies (to retain existing staff + attract new talents from outside) Introduce training + long-term benefits for commitment of existing staff Conduct ice-breaking sessions for new managers and employees to build positive relationships 1470 words Management of the Psychological Contract and Employee Engagement The management of the psychological contract and employee engagement is one of the areas how Cadbury could tackle its challenges in strategic people management; however to be able to tackle it appropriately, first is essential some degree of understanding of what a psychological contract and what employee engagement is. Psychological Contract There are many different definitions of what the psychological contract is; this concept was first introduce by Argyris, C. (1960), to refer to the different expectations that the employers and the employees have out of the formal contract, since this concept was introduced, many writers have attempted to modify and refine it. At a general level, the concept of Psychological Contract refers to a voluntary agreement between the employee and the employer in exchange of compensations (Rousseau, D. Schalk, R. 2000), in this voluntary agreement, each party, held a number of commitments and beliefs, those beliefs can take the form of promises, expectations or obligations which are generally unwritten and unspoken in the legal agreement contract, however they still play a critical role as they can be interpreted differently by each party (Osborn Jones 2000). This concept of psychological contract implies that either the employee or the employer can have a different perception of anothers expectations, voluntary commitments, obligations and aspirations which are out of the formal contract of employment (Herriot, P. et al. 1997). Therefore, a certain degree of mutual understanding of the agreement between both parties is essential to achieve each participants goals. (Rousseau, D. Schalk, R. 2000), Employee Engagement This seems to be an easy topic to define and describe, however after some research, the huge numbers of definitions regarding this issue seem to be uncountable, making this topic unclear but at the same time attractive enough to the HR consultancy market, consulting firms, business press and some academics writers. Having said that, one of the most complete definitions I found about employee engagement out there to my point of view is the one by Robinson et al., (2004). A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee. Robinson et al., (2004) has also stated in his work, a set of additional characteristics of the employee engagement, which include a belief in the organisation, and the desire of the employees have to work and make the organisation better, basically the concept Robinson presented in his paper work is about the employees having a bigger picture and a better understanding of the business context as well as keeping up to date with the latest information which concern to his/her field. Relation between the Psychological Contract and the Employee Engagement Having defined the employee engagement as; a positive attitude, behaviour and/or outcome from the employees towards the company and its values, being aware of the whole business context and working together with the colleagues in order improve the performance of the company and gain the best benefits for the organization, and having defined psychological contract as; a set of beliefs which can take the forms of promises, expectations and/or obligations existing in a voluntary agreement between the employee and the employer. It seems to be a straightforward relationship each other definitions. Both definitions are relate to the employer and employee relationship, and the first challenge is to efficiently manage the loyalty and trust instead of dictate the rules by organizations, this relationship is fragile and should not be taken for granted by any of the parties, the second challenge is to keep a healthy relationship for the wellbeing of both participants. http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/features/Opinion/927664/Engagement-depends-clear-psychological-contract-employee-employer/ On one side, the employer expects that their employees always performance to the best of their capabilities, being loyal to the company and understand the whole business context, and on the other hand the employees want to be respected, valued, heard and compensated by the employers, therefore the key issue is to build mutual trust which engage the employees with the employers, always keeping an eye on the psychological contract, which means, keeping clear and understandable expectations for both participants (Wellin, M. 2007) However, Cadbury Previous Psychological Contract Having already analysed the general psychological contracts context, is much easier now to deepen in the previous Cadburys psychological contract, but bearing in mind this contract is a pure metaphoric action, where each participants have their own voluntary commitments regarding to the performance and fulfilment of each other, we can infer that each one of the 45000 UK Cadburys workforce have a different psychological contract, which make this an even bigger scenario to analyse but at the same time a extremely attractive, as based on the records, (reference) it shows that most of UK workforce had a similar metaphoric contract. Thus, is unavoidable raise a fundamental question; How Cadbury former owners made that all the forces underlying the legal agreement of their workforce where so similar to each other and how did they manage to sign 45000 similar psychological contracts where does not even exist a physical document as it is a subjective phenomenon? There are evidences (Morrinson, E. and Robinson, S. 1997) which indicate that the performance of each participants psychological contract is directly proportional to how clearly each participant has spelled out the conditions and exchange of their mutual agreement. This last paragraph makes me conclude that, Cadbury has truly understood this issue and has conveyed its commitments, beliefs, and expectations through their whole workforce, establishing in this way some degree of mutual agreement among its 45000 UK employees. Rousseau, D. Schalk R. (2000) indicated in his work that, when both participants of the psychological contract believe that they owed each other something, is very likely that each one gets whatever they desire. The power of the promises Cadbury seems to have conveyed well its expectations and beliefs, establishing a degree of mutual agreement. However, this might not be enough to unify the similar conditions of the psychological contracts in 45000 employees during 180 years. Is remarkable to note at this point, that all sort of beliefs cannot be taken as part of a psychological contract, what this means is, not all expectations, promises and obligations that arise in the workplace can form part of the psychological contract context, as if this happen the concept itself will be weak enough to utilize as an analytical tool (Convoy and Briner 2005), The challenge here is to identify and clarify, which promises, expectations, and/or obligations can be categorized as part of the psychological contract context, nevertheless, does not exist any concern for this essay to deepen in this subject. Having clarified that, psychological contracts are basically a subjective phenomenon based on implicit promises; promises which do not include any belief derive from other inferences. Despite to what we normally think that promises can only be a verbal action, in the psychological context the promises can also be inferred, and is right there, when it becomes difficult to properly interpret these promises into the psychological contract framework. The two key issues here are; primary, do not set promises in the legal contract which could lead to a future misunderstanding of the employees, second do not take into consideration promises derives from any inferences. Tackling the Challenges of the Psychological Contract Having spelled out the success of Cadburys previous psychological contract, is notorious that Kraft / Cadbury has the key issue to maintain the same psychological contract within the UK workforce in order to manage this takeover in the most appropriate way. Kraft will not enjoy of the current Cadburys workforce commitments until they truly understand its ingrain psychological contract as well as its own culture identity Therefore Kraft / Cadbury, in order to tackle the challenges of the psychological contract in the most effective way, they should firstly, fully understand the drivers of their beliefs and what make the employees engage with the company so tightly, taking into consideration the culture differences. As the saying goes, England and America are two different countries separated by the same language; this is a clear caveat to Kraft / Cadbury does not forget that exist some underlying forces of the legal contract, which could leads or infer to a misunderstanding of the beliefs between both participants and as consequence a disengagement of the workforces commitments. For instance, Kraft / Cadbury could hire an external local brand auditor to investigate the reason(s) of key employees engagement, such as plant employees and/or relevant senior employees with the company and/or the brand itself, this audit should be placed with the aim of understand the whole picture in a much clear scenario, before any action takes place to align the companys psychological contract Once these employee engagements reason(s) are clear and there are not doubts of the workforces beliefs, it is equally essential that Kraft/Cadbury spells out their own expectations towards the future of the company and most importantly, the future of their workforce, this action should be made in the most understandable way, covering the entire negatives and positives beliefs so that the workforce can clearly understand the companys position and deal with it in the same psychological contract context. However, this action of conveying the negatives and positives beliefs towards the company and workforce, does not guaranty that the workforce will accept them and share the same commitments that they were sharing before the merger, but at least it will not create wrong expectations, setting up fair rules during the game. Actions such as the recent announcement of the closing Somerdales factory close to Bristol, (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article7022608.ece) losing approximately 400 UK jobs, once Kraft had mentioned that there were not going to be any job cuts during the first six months of the merger, this announcement only creates unrealistic expectations among the workforce towards the company, and being this action the first impression which Kraft has given to their employees of breaking the pledges, it only shows the lack of principles and lack of commitments to keep what they say. These types of actions are the ones which Kraft has to avoid will happen again, after this announcement; it seems to be obvious that the way how Kraft expresses its beliefs and commitments, certainly has not been well understood not only for its workforce but also for all its UK customers and the UK government. Therefore, if Kraft really wants to be engage with their workforce is going to have to work even harder to firstly recover the trust which ever had gained and secondly to rectify the first opportunity which has just spoiled out. CONCLUSIONS

America Must Censor Internet Pornography :: Pornography Censorship

Since their founding, computers and the Internet have become a tool that nearly every man, woman, and child in the World have been able to use. E-mail has become one of the Worlds fastest growing ways of communication and the Internet has become one, if not the largest source of information available today. You can find just about everything you wanted to know about anything with the stroke of a few keys on the keyboard. However, along with these positive aspects of the Internet, there lies much negativity surrounding the internet and its use. Access to teenage pornography, bestiality, brutal murder pictures, XXX stories, and other un-ethical sites is extremely easy. In fact, the pornography industry has grown 63% since the Internet was first available for use.(Bishop 91) It is one of the leading industries on the Internet and has become quite a controversy in the United States. Censorship of such sites has done very little due to the fact that most parents feel that these sit es are not accessed by their children. We have currently found no solution that has worked and many government officials see the problem only getting worse. Pornography on the Internet though should not be banned, but rather better controlled and censored due to its availability and graphic nature. Pornography on the Internet is available in different formats. These range from pictures and short animated movies, to sound files and stories. Most of this kind of pornographic content is available through World Wide Web pages. The Internet also makes it possible to discuss sex, see live sex acts, and arrange sexual activities from computer screens. There are also sex related discussions on the Internet Relay Chat channels where users in small groups or in private channels exchange messages and files.(Akdenis, 1997) There are millions of different pornographic sites on the internet, so there is almost no way of regulating every site unless there was some type of a universal censorship required for every site. Nearly every one of these millions and millions of sites is accessed daily. Men, women, and children of every age and race are on the Internet looking at inappropriate sites every day. Over 2/3 of Americans who have access to the Internet have accessed pornographic or o ther un-ethical sites, and the numbers are only growing.

Patient’s history Essay

Nursing Diagnosis 1: Inadequate nutrition Debbie’s nutrition is not adequate for her age, as well as her weight. Due to frequent nausea/vomiting, emotional distress she lost weight. Her weight is less ( 89 pounds) compared to her usual weight ( 110 pounds). The assessment and management of weight is a major preoccupation in contemporary healthcare. Clinical interventions focus on achieving energy balance deficit and are premised on claims that excess weight/fatness (body mass index (BMI) > 25) is a significant direct cause of morbidity and mortality and, correspondingly, that weight loss in fat (‘overweight’ or ‘obese’) people will reduce risk and/or improve health outcomes. (Aphramor, 2010). Desired Outcome 1 Desired Outcome 2 Nursing Intervention 1 Refer Debbie to nutritionist. Debbie will have more information regarding healthy eating within 2 weeks. She will realize the importance of her diet and metabolism. Debbie realized the importance of healthy nutrition and regimen. She gained weight in 2 months more than 10 pounds. She feels comfortable and happy. Nursing Intervention 2 Pharmacological intervention, education regarding medications. Debbie will control her weight also by controlling her nausea using the prescribed medication for nausea. She will receive information on how to use the medication, frequency, dosage, side effects in 2 days. After one week Debbie has more information regarding her medications, realized that medication helps her to control nausea and takes as ordered. Evaluation method Follow up visit in doctor’s office after discharge within 2 weeks, daily weights. Follow visit- patient weighs 12 pounds more, less nauseous, feels comfortable in her weight. Rationale Patient education, more information regarding nutrition, talking, relaxation techniques, pharmacological. Given instructions regarding future appointments and plans on her treatment, daily weights, weight control. Nursing Diagnosis 2: Educational deficit Debbie needs more information regarding her care. She needs education related to medications, self-catheterization, breast self-examination. Patient education is a central the practice of nursing and should be in part of their domain. The most important part of patient education is to prepare Debbie for independence in her care, increase the confidence and competence for self-management. (Bastable, 2006). Desired Outcome 1 Desired Outcome 2 Nursing Intervention 1 Instructions on how do self breast- examinations and self- catheterization, warning signs/symptoms. Debbie will be able to do breast self-examination herself in one week, will be able to perform intermittent self-catheterization. Two weeks passed. Debbie states how she performs breast self-examination, what she needs to look out for. She states how often she does the examination and demonstrates what positional changes she needs to do. Nursing Intervention 2 Patient education Debbie will know information about her medications, route, dosage, side effects in 2 days. Teach back achieved regarding medications. Debbie states that she was anxious previously as she thought the will not remember all the information given. She is happy as she did everything correct. Evaluation method Asked multiple cross questions, Debbie answers as educated, seems more interested in future education. Debbie made an organizer for her. The organizer contains medication regimen, few special considerations, reminders. Rationale Demonstrated Debbie how to do breast examination, catheterization. Used a kit and plastic body to demonstrate. Used the board to give important information regarding medication. Debbie demonstrates what she does at home to do the catheterization, breast self-examination, questions given, answered properly as was educated. Nursing Diagnosis 3: Emotional distress. Debbie is experiencing emotional distress, anxiety. As stated in case study she is tearful, has great concern regarding her future. Effective  communication among nurse and patient/family can improve care and relieve suffering. The diagnosis and treatment for cancer is a major challenge and it affects all aspects of life. By therapeutic communication, providing information, encouraging optimistic outlook, teaching how to reduce stress patient care will have better outcomes. (Yarbro, Wujchik, & Gobel, 2010). Desired Outcome 1 Desired Outcome 2 Nursing Intervention 1 Debbie will get used to controlling her stress by daily walks, relaxation techniques, music, spending time with family in 2 weeks. Debbie states she feels better spending time with family, resting, being in the park, meeting friends when feeling lonely and anxious. Nursing Intervention 2 Debbie will be seen by spiritual care in 2 days. Debbie states that her conversations with spiritual care makes her feel more relaxed, she reads books, has prayers at her bedside. Evaluation method Given instructions on how to manage time and stress with different activities, planning activity and periods of rest. Asked questions regarding Debbie’s days, stress management. Rationale Educational packets, brochures, referrals provided. Multiple written stress tests used to find our patient’s emotional condition. Seems more relaxed and less anxious. References Aphramor, L. (2010, July). Validity of claims made in weight management research: a narrative review of dietetic articles. Nutrition Journal, 9(). Bastable, S. B. (2006). Essentials of Patient Education. : Jones & Bartlett Learning. Yarbro, C., Wujchik, D., & Gobel, B. (2010). Cancer Nursing: Principles and Practice (7th ed.). : Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Race in America since the 1960s Essay

America has come a long way since the dark days when slavery marred the continent. The journey to equality was not always a smooth one, and only in the last half-century have African-Americans been granted their complete rights and freedoms. Now that they have these equal rights, they are taking their place to take advantage of their equal opportunities, but there still seems to be a glass ceiling preventing their further progress. White Americans still cite racial progress in many areas, while the reality remains that much of this progress is illusion. With the election of Barack Obama as the President of the United States, it seems safe to say that racial relations in the country have certainly improved in the past fifty years. In the 1950s, many African-Americans could not even vote in many parts of the country, with racist leaders and citizens doing everything in their power to deny this most basic of rights. Once desegregation took effect and was enforced by the federal government, it seemed that African-Americans had finally achieved equality. However, this was largely a myth based on the horrible conditions they once faced, and the current conditions still often view them as a marginalized race. Couple this with the massive influx of Latin Americans into the U. S. , and race relations are just as explosive as they were in the 1960s. One program designed to aid racial equality is affirmative action, which has been both a blessing and a curse for minorities. Originally conceived as a means to redress discrimination, affirmative action has created racial preferences that have instead promoted discrimination. And rather than fostering harmony and integration, these preferences have divided many businesses and college campuses across the country. In no other area of public life is there a greater disparity between the rhetoric of preferences and the reality than with affirmative action. Many have cited lesser qualified applicants hired or accepted to colleges based on race, not qualifications or need. If preferences were truly meant to remedy disadvantage, they would be given on the basis of disadvantage, not on the basis of race, so that a poor, qualified white student would stand a better chance of being admitted than the under-qualified son of a black doctor. This illustrates a problem with the idealism of affirmative action and how remedying some racial issues have merely created unfairness in other areas. Instead of a remedy for disadvantage, many supporters now claim that preferences promote â€Å"diversity. † This same push for â€Å"diversity† also has led colleges like Stanford University to create racially segregated dormitories, racially segregated freshman orientation programs, racially segregated graduation ceremonies and curricular requirements in race theory and gender studies (Sacks & Thiel, 1996). But if â€Å"diversity† was really the goal, then preferences would be given on the basis of unusual characteristics, not on the basis of race. The underlying assumption—that only minorities can add certain ideas or perspectives—is offensive not merely because it is untrue but also because it implies that all minorities think a certain way. While affirmative action is a noble effort, it is perhaps antiquated. Today, while African-Americans enjoy greater freedom and equality, Latinos have come to represent the current racial crisis. Many conservative Americans demand that they learn English, adopt American culture, and assimilate or leave. Additionally, Middle Eastern Americans are finding life equally difficult and face often violent retributions for crimes that they did not commit. This xenophobic behavior may be largely from the scares encouraged by global terrorism, but may also be representative of the fact that not much has really changed except the language used to discuss race. The only way to truly understand the state of race in America and make a balanced assessment is to measure the equality of each race. The sad state is that many of the minorities in America are still marginalized, make less money, and have far less influence politically than the dominant white culture. Progressive and liberal legislation may continue to chip away at long held racial prejudices, but Americans cannot achieve complete equality unless it is an endeavor equally valued by all. Unfortunately, as history has shown, those in power will be reticent to relinquish that power, and those in power in America are still largely male, largely white, and largely though subtly fearful of difference. With a president with parent that are black and white, much of the racial future of America rests with a man that represents better than anyone the progress made in the past fifty years, as well as the distance left to travel until true racial harmony is achieved.