Turkey and the European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Turkey and the European Union - Essay Example It will also be considering the significant impacts Turkey's accession would have on the Union, how such an enlargement could be managed, and how this would affect the future of the European Union. Since signing the accession agreement in 1963, Turkey's declared objective is to become a full member of the European Union, and her first application was made in 1987. The reasons that she has not been accepted are based on issues concerning human rights, the Kurds, the Armenian massacre, her long-standing conflict with Cyprus and, perhaps, doubts that exist over whether she is truly European. "Turkey confirms its traditional goal which is to align itself with [a] Europe that is politically plural, economically liberal, rich in cultural diversity and strategically necessary to the defence and security of the West" (FindArticles.com, Online Article, 2007). While it would seem that the EU considers Turkey to be primarily an Asian country, Turkey evidently considers herself to be essentially European, and has been making efforts to 'Europeanise' herself for almost one hundred years.The westernisation of Turkey began during the 1920s, under the leadership of Kemal Attaturk, who introduced a formal and fundamental policy based upon the ultimate goal of becoming part of the European Union. The reforms were extensive. The Latin alphabet was introduced, along with the European calendar, the Christian day of rest was adopted, and women's rights were formally recognised in 1922 (which was far more progressive than most other European countries - France, for example, didn't suffragette their female citizens until 1945!). The civil code was adopted from Switzerland, the penal code from Italy and, most importantly, Turkey brought in measures that assured the removal of Islamic political power, thus becoming a secular state like other European cou ntries - with its only difference being that its members are predominantly Muslim rather than Christian.Following World War II, Turkey was accepted into the West because of her strategic importance. In 1949 she became a member of the Council of Europe, in 1952 an important member of NATO, and she has been an associate member of the European Union since 1963. It is also clear that since the end of the Cold War her strategic importance has increased, rather than decreased - which is clearly demonstrated by her crucial role in the Gulf War - and this strategic position is extremely useful to Europe. Turkey could choose to align herself with the Middle East, or the ex-Soviet Republics of Transcaucasia and Asia, however, due to the political

Managing People in the Modern Workplace Research Paper

Managing People in the Modern Workplace - Research Paper Example The modern workplace has changed significantly as most employees are now increasingly involved in decision-making in addition to other tasks and they work as a team. Therefore, today, people work as a team in any organization and the employers expect the employees to work as a team in managing the workplace. People normally want to do good work in any organization and therefore proper management makes them feel that they matter and are actively involved in making a difference in the organization. Employees normally prefer working in places that magnify or increase their strengths and not focus on their weaknesses. In order to achieve this, they need some level of autonomy and structure, and therefore the organization must always be honest, coherent and open in managing the human resource at its disposal. However, achieving this may at times be tricky or difficult due to the competing needs of the organization as compared to that of individual employees. This is because managers are f aced with numerous challenges at the workplace and must continually work extra hard to forge ahead in pushing the objectives of companies. As managers strive to make the organizations authentic in one way or the other, they should realize the potential of their human resource in achieving their core values. Managing People Creating the best workplace is important in making the organization work at its best as the employees are allowed to realize their optimum potential (Goffee and Jones 2013, p.3). This involves nurturing the differences between each employee and the value of each employee is appreciated. Thus, all information available should be utilized towards improving the welfare of the company while at the same time making the workplace more rewarding (Goffee and Jones 2013, p. 4). Research has shown that employees who are highly engaged by their employers are likely to exceed the workplace expectations by 50% than those workers that are less engaged. This same result also sho ws that firms that actively engaged their employees in the workplace had a higher percentage of customer satisfaction by 89% and a chance of retaining their employees by 54% as compared to other firms (Goffee and Jones 2013, p.4). Similarly, research in other nations has revealed that employees who have the free will to express their real selves had higher levels of commitment to their organizations' performance at the individual level and the propensity to help fellow employees in their assigned tasks. An important strategy of managing people in the modern workplace is to let the employees be themselves in whatever task they are doing or undertaking (Atif 2009, p.60). This encompasses having thoughtfulness of the differences in perspectives, important assumptions, and habits of the mind.