Mfecane: The wars that shaped Southern and Eastern Africa

Mfecane refers to the numerous wars that were started by the Ndwandwe king Zwide and spread to the rest of the African societies in Southern Africa at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Therefore, the statement that the mfecane was largely a Zulu affair is not true considering that their activities were mainly concentrated in the Natal area while the Mfecane itself occurred in a far wider range than that. Furthermore, most evidence points to the fact that the Zulu only got involved in the mfecane when it was at its climax. The mfecane began in the later part of the eighteenth century when the process of nation building among the Nguni of the northern Natal region began. The larger political units that came from this development were partly due to the competition for the control over the lucrative trade in ivory with the Portuguese based in the Delagoa Bay. 

Moreover, the population pressure among the Northern Nguni people led to the increased competition for resources because the effect of white pressure on the frontier of the Cape colony had, by the end of the eighteenth century, made expansion in a westerly direction impossible. In the years around 1803, there was a long and severe drought which sparked the unprecedented competition between the emerging states for control over good pastureland and other essential resources. The conflict between three main groups of the northern Nguni namely the Ndwandwe, the Ngwane, and the Mthethwa brought about the mfecane, the first of which was between the Ndwandwe of Zwide and the Ngwane of Sobhuza , the latter who after being defeated, moved further north where the Swazi nation was to be eventually established. Contrary to the popular opinion among the proponents of the old paradigm concerning the mfecane, it was the Ndwandwe rather than the Zulu who initiated the climax of the mfecane by attacking the Ngwane of Matiwane. When the Matiwane and his Ngwane were driven from their home by the Ndwandwe, they began a career of conquest and terror against the communities they encountered. They surprised and defeated the Hlubi, killing their chief Mpangazitha, defeated the Tlokwa, and forced Moshoeshoe of the Sotho to pay tribute to them.

It should be noted that the first known recorded history of the mfecane was written, not by the Africans themselves, but by Afrikaans and English speaking writers. Most of these histories were written with the idea of European superiority in mind hence the portrayal of Africans as savages. The Zulu serve as an example of this mindset with their portrayal as the originators of the mfecane despite overwhelming evidence on the contrary. One would agree with Julian Cobbing’s argument that the role played by the Zulu in the events known as the mfecane were minimal at best and that the emergence of the Zulu kingdom was a result rather than a cause of this period of upheavals. The Zulu kingdom was one of the defensive states such as the Sotho, the Swazi, and the Pedi kingdoms that emerged due to the mfecane. The so called acts of aggression by the Zulu against other groups were merely measures of defence; attacks to defend themselves against future aggression. If the states surrounding the Zulu had been allowed to become too powerful, then the nation would have been destroyed.

Although the Zulu were not responsible for the mfecane, their military innovations like the use of the short broad bladed stabbing spear which allowed them to close in on their enemies instead of standing off from them, as well as their discarding of their ox hide sandals in battle, gave them superior speed making the mfecane wars even more devastating. The rise of the Zulu came at a time when large states were necessary to protect people from enemy attack. An example of these is the Mthethwa who, after their defeat by the Ndwandwe, turned to the only person in the region who had the ability to defend them against their enemies, and this was Shaka. It was this choice which brought about the ascendancy of the once insignificant Zulu. The Zulu, therefore, did not contribute to the chaos surrounding them but instead brought order in the Natal region with the creation of their state, the forceful absorption of weaker groups, as well as the destruction of the more aggressive ones like the Ndwandwe state.

Leadership Styles of Baby boomers and Millennials

The economic recession that has in the last few years come to affect the United States has had a huge impact in the lives of many Americans today. This impact has not only been on the economy, but it has also come to affect the working environment of people all over the nation. The economic recession hit the United States at a time when the Baby Boomer generation was on its way to retirement. Many of the members of this generation were not prepared for such an occurrence and this left them without any savings or a means to support themselves after retirement. This created a situation where many baby boomers had no choice other than to continue on with their current employment, and for those who had retired, to look for jobs in order to make a living. The workplace therefore came to be filled with people who would, under normal circumstances, have retired, creating a potential for conflict with the younger generation of employees. The fact that many baby boomers are currently still in the job market has created plenty of competition between them and the current young generation, the millennials. The millennials are those who are currently between the ages of eighteen and their early thirties, and as the most youthful generation, they are finding it much harder than their predecessors to either find jobs and to keep them. In addition, even after they get these jobs, their style of doing their work is much different from the way the baby boomers did things. This has come to raise questions concerning the attitudes towards work that is displayed by the baby boomer and the millennial generations.

It is a fact that the leadership styles of the baby boomers and the millennials in the workplace are quite different from each other. Each of these generations tends to have different ways of dealing with situations which enable them to achieve the goals set by the organization for which they work. The baby boomer generation tends to be completely obsessed with the achievement of results no matter the cost incurred. Since most organizations are headed by baby boomers, the main drive of these institutions tends to be the making of a profit and this has led to conflict with the millennial generation, which is more conscious of the social responsibilities of the organizations for which they work. In matters of leadership, the baby boomers and the millennials tend to have a conflict when it comes to matters concerning integrity and ethics at the workplace. Many millennials believe that when the leadership of an organization ceases to implement the original goals of an organization and instead concentrates only at making a profit at any cost, then this leadership has ceased to be ethical and steps should be take to have such leadership removed. In order to be effective, the leadership of an organization has to have integrity and this means that they have to stick by what they regard to be ethically necessary or worthwhile. It is therefore necessary for an organization’s leadership to have certain coherence in matters of ethics, either between ethical values over time or between values and behavior. Millennials believe that leaders should ensure that their goals or objectives are harmonious with those of the organizations that they lead so that matters concerning ethics do not arise in the day to day running of the organization. Without leadership integrity in an organization, there can be no ethical leadership and this is because integrity and ethics are things which are inseparable especially when one is considering the running of an organization whose reputation depends on how its leadership is running it. While this is a fact, many millennials often find that their workplace is frustrating because many of the baby boomer managers tend not to show any sort of integrity at the workplace, often keeping the millennials in the background where they cannot be able to make their ideas heard or implemented.

Most organizations tend to have a corporate culture whose purpose is to govern the ways through which the people who work within the organization work, interact with one another, and work together towards the achievement of its goals. Furthermore, this culture is heavily influenced by the signs and symbols which an organization is recognized by and this determines the way the people who work within this organization behave, thus they are the embodiment of the organization’s culture. While this is the case, there has been a swift shift in the corporate culture of many organizations as the millennial generation has started going up the ranks of leadership in different organizations. While in the baby boomer generation, corporate culture was based on the formal interaction between employees, the millennial generation has influenced the introduction of a more informal atmosphere at the workplace. While there is still a shared language in many organizations, which is very important in the development of a corporate culture because language is the adhesive that holds a society together and without a common means of communication within the organization, then it would collapse, the way this language is communicated seem to have changed. It is a fact that each generation has its way of expressing itself and this is true of the baby boomer and millennial generations at the workplace, where the latter tend to express themselves in a way that many of the latter do not understand, and the reverse is also true. Furthermore, while the corporate culture in many organizations run by bloomers tends to separate work from their personal lives, in those run by millennials, the opposite is often the case. Millennials prefer working in an informal environment and this has enabled them to bring their work and personal lives together. It is therefore not a strange thing to find that most millennials prefer working from home than at the office. In most instances one will find that it is the baby boomers that prefer working at the office, since this favor keeping their work away from home. Although it is a very difficult thing to happen, the culture of a particular organization is subject to change and this has often come about because of the generational conflict between the millennial and the baby boomer generation. While this change does not come easily, it comes about when more of the latter generation retires and more of the millennial generation takes its place. This has caused the development of a culture where individuals are more attached to their work than previous generations. Millennials, despite their high attachment to their work are also quite strict concerning having time to themselves. Unlike the baby boomers, who would work long hours without going for breaks, millennials prefer working for a certain time and then afterwards do something else which is not work related.

All workplaces have many subcultures which interact with one another for the sake of the running of the achievement of the goals that have been set for the employees. Despite the fact that baby boomers and the millennials sometimes work within the same environment, these two generations do not always see eye to eye on many issues concerning work. Although this is the case in most instances, the two generations have been, out of necessity, forced to work together. Each of these generations have created its own characteristics and sense of identity and an example of this is within the workplace where employees can easily classify themselves socially according to their areas of specialization, membership in a particular union, and age. Although these generations may be diverse, each of them is developed for the purpose of furthering the goals of the organization through different means. In the baby boomer generation, people tended to have mentors in the workplace that would inspire and guide them through their careers. The millennial generation, on the other hand, tends to be extremely independent, preferring to navigate their own way through their career paths. They often see any advice from their bosses, who are more often than not, baby boomers, as being too paternalistic and unwanted. The workplace culture is slowly changing as the baby boomer generation is giving way, grudgingly, to the millennial generation and this is ensuring that the formal workplace environment is becoming informal. While many millennials, just like the baby boomers take their work extremely seriously, this seriousness tends to be accompanied by an informality which many baby boomers would find uncomfortable to work in. Baby boomers tend to take their work so seriously that everything that they do has to be done formally. In such instances where meetings are needed to clarify different things at the workplace, while baby boomers would prefer meeting in a boardroom for a fact to fact consultation, millennials prefer the use of technology to achieve the same goal. The latter have adopted new means of communication, such as social networking, and adapted to them so well that they have become a permanent part of their lives.

The baby boomers are a generation who were taught to function more as individuals than as teams at the workplace. They prefer working in a strictly structured environment with as little feedback as possible coming to them. This is in direct contrast to the millennial generations, who not only prefers working in teams, for greater efficiency, but also has a need for constant consultation with their managers. In order to better manage their workplaces, many of the baby boomer generation, to their credit, have come to adopt teamwork in order to be able to interact more with the millennial generation. This ensures that the employees are able to function as a team to achieve the aims of the organization. Working in teams is a means through which closer ties can be developed between the top management of an organization, who are often bay boomers, with its employees of the millennial generation. The close ties that are developed between these teams help in the reinforcement of the skills of the workforce in such areas as attitude, and knowledge. While previously, many baby boomers and millennials were wary of each other in the workplace, with the former feeling threatened by the possibility of being replaced, while the latter felt resentful because they felt that the baby boomers were not allowing them to advance at a pace which was suitable. It has come to be found that for the two generations to be able to work together there are certain factors, such as corporate culture and policy, the working environment and professional activities, which should not be seen as justifiable in the determination of the effectiveness of the task and responsibility. This has created the need for team building to ensure that the gap between the two generations has been bridged, so that each of them can be able to teach the other about what they know, to the benefit of both of them in doing their work. Team building between members of the baby boomer and the millennial generations at the workplace should be enforced entirely so that it can be incorporated as one of the compulsory norms and values of the institution's corporate culture. Furthermore, there has been the revelation that the skills such as communication skills, the ability to handle crisis and problems in the workplace, the traits of information sharing and motivation amongst workers between the two generations can be extremely helpful in making the workplace more efficient.

Leadership in the workplace is one of the areas where the baby boomers and the millennials have both major differences and similarities about. Both of these generations believe in strong leadership in the workplace to ensure that all the employees are able to effectively implement what their leader wants. This enables the employees within an organization to know exactly what their leader wants and exactly how that leader wants it done and these employees are able to completely focus on the achievement of their leader’s vision. It is a common belief among workers of both generations that the leader that shows integrity in his work and in his vision will definitely inspire his subordinates to follow his example in their own work and this will ensure that a high level of ethics are practiced within an organization because of the ethical leadership inspired by the integrity of the organization’s leader. However, the difference comes not on the area of strength but on how the leader is to present himself to the workers. Baby boomers believe that for a leader to be more effective, he or she has to not only show strength of character towards the workers, but should also remain aloof so that the latter can have the opportunity to do their own work properly. Furthermore, baby boomers in the workplace today believe that they are being overworked and are shown very little appreciation by their leaders. This has created a situation where many have become disgruntled and only continue to work not because they love the job, but because they need an income to maintain themselves. Millennials on the other hand believe in more interaction between the leader and the other workers in the workplace. Millennials have been raised in a culture where there is need to have employment which has meaning to an individual and this has encouraged them to seek more interaction with their supervisors at work. The need to have meaning in work has ensured that many millennials do not stay on one job for too long because of their endeavor to seek meaning and fulfillment, something that is often elusive if one is not determined to find it. It has therefore become a culture among millennials to be constantly learning from their superiors in the workplace in a bid to not only create a path for their own advancement, but also for the purpose of creating space for themselves in the management positions which are currently dominated by the baby boomer generation.

In conclusion, it can be said that while the baby boomers and the millennials may have different attitudes concerning work and the workplace, both of these generations’ attitudes have been formed from the environment within which they were raised. In fact, while the baby boomers may feel differently from the millennials, when it comes to work, it is a fact that a large majority of the millennials was raised by the baby boomers, and it is this environment which has formed their attitudes. Moreover, one would say that these two generations are not as different as many think because of the fact that one generation raised the other. This means that the attitude towards work that is displayed by the millennials, is in fact, the very same attitude that is held by many of the baby boomer generation, only the former are more open about these ideas than the latter. One would further go on to say that the only major difference between these generations is age, and the other differences would not be there had there not been an economic recession which forced both generations to compete for work.

Eddie Mabo

Eddie Mabo was an Australian man who played a crucial role in the recognition of the right of the indigenous people to own the land in the country. He was born in the Torres Strait Islands in 1936 and it was one of his fundamental beliefs that the land upon which he was born belonged to him and his people. An indigenous Australian, he displayed an astute knowledge of the fact that the land upon which he was born was rightfully indigenous, and that the laws that had been instituted by the colonial settlers and their government did the indigenous people a great injustice. For almost a decade, this man fought for the rights of his people by taking a case to court with the intention of having it overturn the terra nullius land system in Australia which alienated the indigenous people from their land. The sheer determination of this man, against all odds, ensured that he had one of the greatest wins in Australian history for an indigenous person, because the ruling made, overturning the terra nullius system, ensured that over three hundred years of injustice had almost come to an end. The overturning of this system further granted the indigenous people the confidence of identifying themselves with the land of their ancestors and ensured that their right to it was recognized beyond doubt. Eddie Mabo was a man who rose from humble origins as a gardener to becoming one of the national icons of Australia because of the fact that he was deeply involved in fighting for the rights of his people.

While he was born in the Torres Strait Islands, Mabo spent most of his life in Queensland, and was in fact not a well known figure in his home island until after he took his case on indigenous land rights to court. It was only after his death from cancer as well as the court victory over the land issue five months later that his fellow indigenous people on the island welcomed his as one of their own. His victory did not only affect the people of his home island but also all the indigenous people of Australia and this is the reason why Mabo has become one of the most respected men among them. The idea that an indigenous person could almost singlehandedly challenge the Australian status quo and gain a great victory from it was one of those instances which were unheard of in the history of this country. The indigenous people had long been suppressed by the colonial government, and later by the white settlers who dominated and continue to dominate almost every aspect of life in Australia. Mabo’s posthumous court victory ensured that the indigenous people were recognized as a legitimate part of the Australian population with the same rights as those who dominated the society. Furthermore, it may have played a role in the recognition of indigenous people as reasoning human beings who had, throughout the history of the colonization of Australia had been treated unfairly; the court case was therefore the first step in correcting the injustice done to them.

The overturning of the terra nullius policy can be said to be, in reality, a policy of inclusion whose purpose is to ensure that all the Australian people have an equal chance to compete in making their dreams and aspirations come true. Previously, indigenous groups were completely excluded from the majority of economic activities in Australia except for those which were considered to be labor intensive. Moreover these groups were rarely ever accepted in the mainstream Australian life, therefore, Mabo’s court victory can be said to have been a step towards the inclusion of the indigenous people into the center of Australian society. From the very beginning of the Mabo’s case in court, there has been opposition towards it with those against it stating that it is giving an unfair advantage to minority groups over other people in Australia. Those who are opposed to the overturning of the terra nullius system further state that this action went against the proper way of Australian life because of the belief that did not treat all people equally, and instead it gives unfair privileges to those people who would otherwise not have deserved them. These arguments are not very logical considering the injustices which were committed against the indigenous Australian groups in the past. The white population in Australia has been, for a long time, dominant, and Mabo’s court victory was a direct challenge to this status. This may help to explain why Mabo’s grave was vandalized and racist terms painted all over it. This vandalism forced the exhumation of his body and its reburial in his ancestral home in the Torres Strait; a place for whose people he had fought for and won the right to own the land upon which they had lived from time immemorial.

Mabo’s court victory has over the last two decades come to have a significant impact on the people of the islands where he was born. Among the most significant aspects of this has been the recognition that the indigenous people were greatly marginalized in matters concerning health when compared to the mainstream Australian population. This has led to the improvement of the healthcare facilities which are available for them, ensuring a higher life expectancy than in previous years. The declining child death rates has led to a decline in the birth rates, because parents are now more secure because they know that there are enough resources available today to ensure that their children survive. Another reason for this is the fact that the economic conditions prevalent in the indigenous Australian society today do not allow parents to have more than a few children at a time because they cannot afford to have more even if they wanted to. This results in not only fewer children, but it also means that there are fewer ties to the extended family and this in turn means that in subsequent generations, there will be fewer uncles, aunts and cousins, on whom to rely, than in previous generations.

The life expectation of native Australians between the years 1991 and 1996 was projected to be fifty six and sixty one years for men and women in that order. This was found to be considerably lower than that of the mainstream population which was estimated to be between 75 and 91 years for men and women respectively. Furthermore, it was found that the death rate among many indigenous people was at a much higher rate than those of the mainstream Australian population. In fact, the death rate was so high that that they exceeded the general Australian population in every age group that was analyzed. Most of the people from indigenous populations died before reaching the age of fifty, and this was attributed to the lack of the proper healthcare facilities that other Australians have access to. The indigenous population has been completely marginalized in all matters concerning health and this has contributed a great deal in the high mortality rates among them, just when they are at their prime. It has been found that one of the leading causes of death among this population are cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, and these made up 75% of all the deaths that were reported within this population. The rates of hospitalization was much higher among the indigenous people than that of the general Australian public, with these being much higher in all the age groups that were assessed.

While Mabo’s court victory may have been the first step towards the improvement of the lives of the indigenous people, there is still a lot to be done to achieve this objective. Racism is still as prevalent as it was before the ruling, as seen when Mabo’s grave was vandalized just one day after his funeral with racist terms being painted all over his headstone. In addition, the health status of indigenous people, for whom Mabo fought, while it has improved somewhat, still has a long way to go before it can reach the status that the other Australians enjoy. Life expectancy is still low, with many indigenous people not living to be more than fifty years old, an occurrence which is a great tragedy in a country which prides itself in being one of the most developed in the world. The fact that an indigenous person had to go to court in order to get basic land rights for its people shows just how ironic Australian democracy is because it favors those people of Caucasian descent more than the natives of the land. This has created a situation where the latter are dominated completely and they have little say in their own destiny. It is to either bow to the status quo or risk the continued marginalization of their society. This is something which should not be accepted, not only by the indigenous people themselves, but also by the government because the latter should be at the forefront of protecting the rights of the indigenous people. The indigenous people should also fight for their own rights because not to do so would mean that their situation will not be recognized, hence a solution will not be attained. It such a thing was to happen, then the legacy of such indigenous men as Eddie Mabo would be forever tarnished.

Filial Piety in Korea

Filial piety is one of the most fundamental concepts in many cultures in the world, and it has existed in these societies since time immemorial. While this is the case, this concept has come to fall into disuse since the beginning of the spread of the era of globalization. This is because of the fact that many of the young people are slowly becoming independent and they do not observe the traditional way of life like they once used to.  While this has been the case elsewhere, it does not apply to Korea, where the idea of filial piety is still extremely strong and it is, in fact, one of the strongest ideals of the nation. Korea has been greatly influenced by Confucian thought concerning filial piety, which according to this philosophy is not only a virtue through the showing of respect for one’s parents, but it is also a means through which one shows respect for one’s ancestors.

According to the Confucian thought, it is one’s duty to be good to his or her parents, to take care of them, and to display good behavior both within and without the home so that the ancestors and parents can have a good name or standing in society. Furthermore, it is one’s duty to ensure that one does one’s job well so that material means can be acquired to ensure that one’s parents are well taken care of and that sacrifices have been provided for the ancestors. Filial piety requires an individual not to be rebellious towards his parents and it also requires him to show love not only for his parents but also for his siblings as well. One of the duties of filial piety also requires an individual to give wise advice to his parents in case they are involved in activities which are unrighteous. It is an individual duty to ensure that they display sorrow in case of his parent’s sickness or death, and carry out sacrifices for them after they die.

In Korea, filial piety is considered to be one of the basic tenets of society because it is said that the family, not the individual, is the basic unit of the nation. Because of this, morality is said to come from directly from the family and as such, filial piety plays an extraordinarily important role. Filial piety is what brings order within the family because it establishes the necessary hierarchy for the survival of the nation. A strong family is one which has abundance of filial piety and in Korea; it is the basic responsibility of its entire people to observe it. This idea is taught to all the children in the nation and this process has been ongoing for many centuries since its founding. It is an idea which many are taught to take to heart and observe all their lives. the power of this idea is so great that it is believed that the observance of filial piety is what determines whether the nation can be governed or not. If families can not be governed, then the nation too would be ungovernable. Filial piety is in Korea is also believed to be a major contributing factor to peace since filial duty within families is believed to be a source of peace in society.

One of the aspects of filial piety is devotion, and this implies that children are required to be devoted not only to their parents but also to their ancestors. In the traditional Korean society, for example, all children were required to live with their parents until such a time as they got married. Even though this was the case, even after marriage, it was the responsibility of the oldest son to live with and continue taking care of the parents until they met their deaths. With the coming of the modern age, however, this has changed since the old lifestyle of a large family living in a large house has changed considerably. Nowadays, families live in small apartments which would make one’s living with one’s parents impractical once they reach adulthood. The younger generation is becoming more independent as they move out of their parents’ home and start living their own lives. Despite this, many children still observe filial piety and they still come home often to fulfill their filial duties to their parents because it is still a powerful force in their lives. In Korea, it is a fact that those people who work in any sector of the economy have to fulfill their filial duties if they want to have success in their work. Those who are known not to perform their filial duties despite their excellence in their work tend to be passed over in promotions, and in some cases even end up losing their jobs because Koreans have no respect for such people.

Hierarchy is extremely essential in Korean society because it is believed that a hierarchical structure is immensely important for the stability of society. Filial piety is considered to be one of the most vital factors that determine this structure since the basic component of Korean society is the family. In the modern Korean society, children are supposed to make time for their parents even if they live a long distance away from them. It is not uncommon for people to travel at least once a year to the home of their eldest brother so that they can be able to spend time with their parents and siblings. On such occasions, it can be observed that the younger generations show immense respect for their elders, performing all the duties that are required of them. The elders, on the other hand, acknowledge what their children and grandchildren do for them with the dignity that their status affords them. Such gestures of respect as allowing the elders to enter a room first before the younger generation are strictly observed because not to do so would be a sign of great impropriety on the part of the younger generation. In this way, filial piety in Korea is still strong and this ideal is likely to continue for many generations to come.

Performance Appraisal

Performance Appraisal is the estimation of how the employees of an organization have performed over a certain period as well as to gain an understanding of how these employees work. It is a process through which an organization’s employees are assessed to ensure that they work in conformity with its goals. The appraisal is conducted as part of the performance management process of the organization because how it is handled is what determines whether the organization is able to achieve its goals or not. It can further be said that a performance appraisal is an assessment and discussion of how an employee has performed in his or her work and this assessment is based purely on performance and not on the characteristics that a re displayed by the individual employee. This process helps in the measurement of the skills that have been displayed and the things which an employee has accomplished with as much accuracy and uniformity as possible.

The understanding that is developed by the employee’s supervisor enables him to determine the abilities of individual employees and this ensures that they are placed in positions within the organization which will further its growth and achievement of its goals. Furthermore, it is designed to help the employers determine the areas whose performance needs to be enhanced as well as ensuring that the employees are provided with the opportunities that are necessary for the promotion of their professional growth. This process is done in methodical ways which gives the supervisors the opportunity to measure the payments that are made to their employees in comparison to the aims and objectives of the organization. Performance appraisal also gives the supervisors the opportunity to make an analysis of the factors that determine how the employees perform over a certain period. It is a system which helps the management of an organization to be in a position where it is able to provide guidance to its employees towards a path which will lead to their performing better in their jobs.

While performance appraisal can be considered to be an immensely important tool for that can be used by supervisors to gain an understanding of the people who work under them, it is not necessarily the only one. This process has to be augmented by the supervisors ensuring that there are open lines of communication available to employees throughout that ensure that there is an understanding which helps in the determination of a good and effective working relationship. When conducting a performance appraisal, the supervisor must ensure that each employee is given an appraisal that is thoughtful and careful so that an accurate assessment can be made. In order for a performance appraisal to be successful, the supervisor must display a willingness to conduct an appraisal that is both constructive and objective. In addition, the employee must display a willingness to take positively all the suggestions that are made to him or her, and to be able to work with the supervisor to achieve the goals of their organization.

A performance appraisal is a process that is conducted once every year by a supervisor to evaluate the performance of all the employees that work under him. There might arise cases where an employee may have changed jobs within the period before the appraisal and in such cases, both of the supervisors of this employee during his period have to make a submission of his or her performance so that a fair appraisal can be made. During this process, the most up to date job description of the employee on file is evaluated by the employee and their supervisor and if it is found to be necessary, this description can be revised. The process also involves a review of the salary increase to which each employee is entitled and this tends to be subject to the approval of the administration. The basis upon which this increment is allocated is that of the merit of the employee’s performance and its aim is to reward the top performers within the organization as a match for their contributions. 

In many organizations, the performance appraisal is part of the annual activities that have to be conducted. However, in many cases, the role that is given to the supervisor as judge tends not to be taken lightly and it is in fact heartily disliked by many supervisors. This is due to the fact that many of the supervisors involved tend to hold the fate of their employees in their hands during this process, something which can be disastrous for both parties involved. Many of the supervisors who conduct the performance appraisal tend to be influenced more by the recent actions of the employees than that of the entire period of the appraisal. Since most of the information gathered by the supervisor is based on recent memory, it is often difficult to create a true picture of an employee’s performance. One would go as far as to say that the appraisal process is flawed because it lacks the objectivity needed to judge the employees fairly.

It is common practice in many organizations for the supervisors to put off conducting performance appraisals for their employees because of their discomfort over being the judge of the level of their employees’ performance. This, in the process, ensures that many of the performance appraisals are often long overdue and this creates a situation where the employees become resentful of their supervisors. Many employees often feel that their supervisors are denying them the right of receiving a well deserved pay increment since the annual pay rises of the employees tend to be tied to how well they performed in their appraisals. The performance appraisal is subject to many complications some of which include inaccuracy of the information concerning employees. This is because of the fact that many of the decisions made by the supervisors as judges is often from recent memory and it fails to put into account the performance of individual employees throughout the period, usually a year. To avoid any conflict with the employees, supervisors end up assessing them favorably and not according to their real performance, ensuring that there is a flaw in the day to day running of the organization.

Oka Conflict in Canada

The Oka conflict which took place in Quebec in 1990 is considered to be among the most prominent show of Native fight for their land rights in Canada. This is mainly because of the fact that it was a protest against the government of Oka’s decision to expand a golf course into land claimed by the Mohawk people without even consulting the latter and ignoring their pleas. The members of the Mohawk community who led the protests and established barricades barring any form of construction from taking place were labeled as being savages and individuals who spread chaos in the town by a significant population of the town of Oka. The racist remarks, which were made towards these individuals, who were only protecting their environment and land rights from destruction, led to the realization that despite the advancement of the Canadian society, racism was still prevalent within a significant portion of its white population. The media also played a role in downplaying the events which took place during the Oka conflict and he suggests that the media did so mainly because it was an issue involving the natives of the land. The lack of importance that was normally given to the concerns and issues involving the First Nations of Canada may have prompted the media to act the way it did because it was believed to be just another skirmish which would be quickly be resolved. However, he concludes that despite everything, the media also worked towards exposing the crisis on the world stage and this enabled the Canadian government to come to a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the Mohawk people whose rights had been violated.

Had the government been more diligent in its duties towards the First Peoples and the conservation of their environment as well as the protection of their land rights, this confrontation would never have happened. In addition, he states that the actions taken by the mayor of Oka from calling in the police and military forces to deal the situation created a situation where the government turned its military forces towards fighting domestic protestors instead of its main duty of dealing with external threats. The Oka conflict proved to be a turning point in the relationship between the Natives and the Canadian government because the latter came to recognize the importance of having native support before embarking on any projects that were to be conducted on land and reserves claimed by them. The confrontation at Oka marked a turning point in the relationship between the native and non-native people of Canada and this is mainly because it acted as a prelude to further conflicts of their kind in the rest of the country over native land rights and usage. Most of the places where these confrontations took place were not only burial grounds for the native people, but also pristine natural environments which had lain undisturbed for generations. The fight by native people to conserve these areas were the reason for the confrontations which took place because the Canadian government only considered the economic gains from developing these areas and not the deprivation of native rights and degradation of the environment.

The Oka conflict and its aftermath was the beginning of the reconciliation between the rights of the natives and those of the non-natives of Canada. It led to the development of a national dialogue concerning the rights of natives and the need to preserve these rights against any form of economic considerations which might be harmful not only to them but also to their environment. The fact that this and other events took place because of the threat to their land rights and usage ensured that all the parties involved had to come to terms concerning the best way through which the land issue in Canada would be solved. This has come to significantly affect the formulation of government policies towards the environment as well as the native people. Martin declares that the native people of Canada, as a result of these conflicts, have come to be more involved in their own government, with a reduction in their isolation in government, and an increase in programs intended for their empowerment. The fact that these people are being brought into active political life is a clear picture of a change in the Canadian government policy where the process of assimilation is reduced in favor of one of acceptance. The government has come to the realization that the integration of the native peoples in the entire country is important since they represent the cultural heritage of the nation.

After the Oka protests took place, the government came to reverse its methods of dealing with the native people within the country. She considers the fact that while in the past, the government often pursued a policy based on assimilation among the native communities, because of the belief that the latter’s way of life was inferior, this has slowly changed. This is because it has come to be realized that the native are an integral part of the country and that through the Canadian government’s protecting of their rights, interests, as well as their way of life, it is also playing a role in ensuring that its interests in the entire country where natives are present, are protected. In addition,  the Canadian government has set out to work in partnership with the native communities in an attempt to ensure that its position among them is strengthened through the lessening of any antagonism between it and these communities; instead embracing a new spirit of cooperation between them. This has ensured that the land and environmental rights of the native people of Canada have come to be respected and protected by the government.