Introduction of human resource development process

Introduction of human resource development process Human resource Management is, perhaps, the oldest and most widely researched subject in management. Yet, as technologies change, cultural diversities occur and peoples expectations undergo fundamental shifts towards newer and newer dimensions. In this rapid revolutionary changing environment, human resource development, a part of human resource management plays an important factor in determine an organizations success. Human Resource Development is important to any growing business organization because it helps to improve business performance through the development of personnel, and, directing and enhancing talents and skills through planned activities design to improve organizational learning. Ronald R. Sims (2007) described Human Resource Development as strategically-driven activities designed to improved current and future learning, performance, and change (p 2). Sims pointed out that in the early 1980s; the field of personnel management shifted its emphasis as personnel departments renamed themselves à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¹Ã…“human resource department. Although this change in some instances was a scheme, Sims pointed out that in many cases, The change in language marked a subtle shift, from a function that essentially handled staffing and related administrative activities to a function that focused on the development of people as a resource to the organization (2007, p. 2). 2) The Human Resource Development Process In the information base economy, human capital can be an organizations greatest asset or it can also be its greatest liability. However not being the physical assets but the intellecture assets within employees. A companys human capital asset is the collective sum of the attributes, life experience, knowledge, inventiveness, energy, and enthusiasm that its people choose to invest in their work and that are the reasons human resources development is so crucial to a companys success. The human resource development process has traditionally focused on improving the skills, knowledge, and attitudes of the individuals. Due to this, confirmation of success has primarily been made by measuring individuals satisfaction with events and, to lesser extent, to the learning that has occurred. Although at some point HRD activities has been viewed as an optional and sometimes wasteful activity by decision makers but according to Jack Phillips and Elwood Holton (1997), majority of this business decision makers view HRD as a value added activity; something that is potentially worth doing ; and HRD as a major business process; something an organization do to succeed (p. 1). As the worlds economy contentiously dominated by instability and change, while the disturbance and corporate transformations in the vast industry, the growth and productivity afforded through information technology, and the increasing turnover among successful and failed business ventures as well as the political, economic and social turmoil confounded business development planners, the HRD plays an important role to examine business opportunities, and determine the key performance requirements of new business objectives, and position highly competent people within state-of the-art work system to achieve those objectives. Phillips and Holton contend, Strategic development and utilization of employee expertise is now imperative for organizations trying to create new opportunities for growth (1997, p. 2) Phillips and Holton emphasized that the process of development and deployment of employee expertise are important components of HRD function. They stated that as organization condition s compel the reshaping of approach, workforce competence and flexibility at all levels of the organization, become vital to business success, in the midst of strategy formulation, planners and decision makers, HRD understanding and expertise are in a critical position to examine and determine business opportunities and performance requirements. The HRD process then is the HRD function of training, enhancing employees skills, deploying competent workforce towards the companys competitive advantage, and positioning of company strategy towards competitive advantage through appraising performance and aligning company strategy towards this objective. It is also included in this process the critical examination of the business opportunities and determining key performance of new business objectives. In other words, the HRD process are also the company strategy towards its competitive advantage and this involve the training or career development, to organize skills enhancement and development training, the organizational development, to conduct research new business opportunities and orientation on performance requirements, and performance appraisers, for the evaluation of employee performance. This performance evaluation is important in creating motivation and instilling loyalty among the employee towards the company. A systematic training and development approach is a methodology for managing training programs to ensure a comprehensive training process in 3 typical phrases; Assessment phrase where the training objectives are identify and decision makers to determine when training will occur and who will be involve. Activity phrase is the phrase of designing and implementing training package upon the establishment of the training objective. Evaluation phrase where employees are evaluate if the training are being value-adding. It is only essential to the organization if employees are being value-adding to them after training and have a more positive turnover. If the entire process is not value-adding at all to the organization and have little or non return of investment to the organization, it is being regard as an excess overhead that will be axed off in no time. Through the use of the systematic approach to training, practitioners ensure that relevant skills are identified, proper learning methods are used, and that employees can perform work as expected when they are assigned to work. 3) The importance of Human resource development and its Process HRD and its process are important because they are in powerful position to assist in and measure strategic organization results such as performance outcomes and return on investment. Phillips and Holton noted that HRD practitioners also provide strategic capability by assisting in the translation of strategies into more consistent behaviours and the realignment of work process (1997, p. 3). HRD professional are expert at facilitating and directing process level organization change, allowing for the translation of strategic direction into new and improved ways of accomplishing the organizations work. Because of this expertise, HRD has become important in the positioning of the companies strategy towards competitive advantage not only of the business strategy but also the employees competitiveness. HRD is also involved in the strategy formation, which requires that organization value human capital as an ingredient for the organizations long-term success. According to Monica Lee (2003), HRD as a process has the potential of harmonizing, supporting, and shaping the larger systems (p. 27). Monica Lee pointed out Swansons (2001) systems theory to HRD which argues that the system worldview model of HRD as a process with in the organization. Leonard David Goodstein, Timothy Nolan, and J. William Pferffer (1993) stressed that in addition to serving as a champion for strategic planning HRD professional play the stakeholder in the planning process. They pointed out as stake holder, the HRD professional has the important responsibility of linking the organizations over all strategic plans to its human resources (1993, p. 76). This job according to them requires the HRD professional to understand the nature of the overall strategic planning and should be aware that strategic planning is the process through which the senior management of the organization clarifies what it intends the organization to become and what its goals are, both financial and non-financial matters. Thi s process requires a high degree of problem solving skills and the HRD professional are expected to be a model for such skills. 4) Advantages of HRD to the Organization Catherine M. Sleezer Tim I Wentling, and Roger L. Cude (2002) noted that HRD has become strategically integrated in the organization (p. 11). They pointed out that training has become a cote value for organization, and manager view employees education, training, and development as critical to organizational success. The importance of HRD in business organization is reflected by the fact that today, team building activities, and skills enhancing and leadership training and the human resource is viewed as important in the companys strategy towards competitive advantage. John P. Wilson stressed that today business environment requires that HRD not only supports the business strategies or organizations, but that assumes a pivotal role in the shaping of business strategy (1999, p. 12). Wilson pointed out that HRD serves a strategic role by assuring the competence of employees to meet the organizations present performance demands. Wilson adds, HRD also serves a vital role in shaping strate gy and enabling organizations to take full advantage of emergent business strategies (1999, p. 12). 6) Advantages of HRD to the employees The advantage of the HRD to the employees is that HRD provides training through instructor-led classrooms. Catherine M Sleezer, wintling, and Cude noted that HRD is rooted in training and development, organizational development, and career development to improve individual, group, and organizational effectiveness (2002, p. 2). Thomas N. Garavan, Pat Costine, and Noreen Heraty (2002), viewed human resource as decision-making employees, and this, they point out, is increasingly significant factor as the influence of more sophisticated technology is leading to a reduced demand for manual employees and an increase for decision making employees (p. 17). Thus, there are views that stress on development of people as a company investment. Garavan, Costine, and Heraty contends that this view suggest that investment in human resource development will automatically lead to improve business performance (2002, p. 28). The advantage to the employee of HRD aside from the trainings and development the HRD is providing is that it serves as the agency for promotion and incentive to performance and productivity of the employees performance as they are evaluated and appraised for necessary action. The HRD also provides the opportunity for employees to develop their talents and lay down the path for career development. (7) Problems that affect the human resource development Human resource development depends upon various factors of standard of living. One of these factors is the social problems. Education, housing, and health care are the top issues in the social problems. These factors According to Qureshi M.U. affect human resources, natural resources, and technological resources (p. 221). Qureshi M.U. (2005) emphasized that education develops human resource while better health provisions contribute to his health maintenance. Housing and social services meets the individuals needs. Another factor affecting human resource development will be the morality of employees. Perhaps the issue here is the workers grievances and injustice they suffered from employers. These grievances maybe caused by inconsistent treatment of workers, discrimination, or salary related matters. Milan Kubr (2002) suggested the need of consultant to address the mechanics of grievance procedure or other conflict resolution procedures (p. 402). In this way, the problem of legal changes can be addressed practically. Laurie Larwood and Urs E. Gattiker (1999) pointed out that technological change affects the supervisory jobs, staffing and development needs (p. 19). From the statement, the need of training for current and prospective employees is proven to be essential in order to pace up with the rapid tempo of technological changes today. 8) Improving organizations Ronald Sims (2007) pointed out that HRD is concerned to support employees within the organization to perform at their highest level so that the entire organization can perform at its highest level. There are two ways that the HRD can help the organization; first, the HRD must support the work done in the organization and provide human resource development at the place it is needed and at the tome it is needed. Second, Support the work to be done in the future by creating learning infrastructure that will help employees and the organization learn and grow and change in line with environmental demands. In other words, HRD professional must, as Sims advice, must identify critical workforce and must design initiatives that help the employees develop their skills to improve their performance. Sims point out that organization needs employees that are multi-skilled/reskilled knowledge workers who can effectively work in teams in as increasingly global world. 9) Conclusion HRD is important in business organization because they are professional whose expertise is in developing the human resource. Today, more and more companies are recognizing human resource as a human capital in business. They invest on their development and provide corresponding incentives to their efficiency. Indeed despite of the advance of technology, still it cannot be a substitute to human expertise because technology merely depends on the skills of the decision-making employee. Because of the importance of the human resource, I recommend that business organization should look into the welfare of the employee and offer opportunity for social developments such as providing housing loan, educational assistance to immediate family members or any other applicable benefits. All this should be undertaken by the HRD as they are more connected to the employees. I also recommend that business organization empower HRD to handle employees grievances injustice against their superior to verif y the matter and submit report to the personnel manager or to the appropriate authority. In this way, the organization can avoid unfair labor treatment at the same time giving solution to social, legal, and changing technological problem that may arise. The success of any organization is determined by its people, their caliber and their attitude to succeed and out perform. Employees are the only resource, which is capable of self-propulsion and value addition. Unlike any machinery that gets devalued or depreciated with time and age, the human resource i.e. people appreciates with age and experience. So they are very special but this fruitful only if people are developed and kept satisfied. It is unlikely that any improvement can be made in terms of production, productivity, and quality or customer service until people are well developed.

The Role of Money and Economic :: essays research papers

Power, education, wealth, poverty, and economic opportunity are all aspects, not the only aspects, which determine a societies progress and development. Throughout the duration of this class we have thoroughly examined these aspects and many more through books and movies. Books such as â€Å"The Republic† by Plato, â€Å"An Enemy of The People† by Henrik Isben, â€Å"The Laughing Sutra† by Mark Salzman, and â€Å"Nickled and Dimed† by Barbara Ehrenreich. We have also found these characteristics to be common in movies such as â€Å"Wag the Dog†, â€Å"Moscow on the Hudson†, and â€Å"Manwate†. All of these previously mentioned forms of information have included one or more of the aspects that have either help build or helped destroy the society mentioned within the particular book or movie. In the following I will be discussing these certain aspects and how they have had an affect on the outcome of these societies. Plato’s â€Å"The Republic† is a wonderful example of a society that is built or conditioned to use some of the best aspects to help form a perfect society. Even though Plato made it a point to not have classes amongst the people determined by how much money they made he still had groups of people that where better then others. Wealth wasn’t as big an issue to Plato as skills or education was. He believed wealth was destructive. A person who has wealth will be overcome by greed and not want to work and work was what his society was based on. Plato didn’t use poverty to keep people powerless since in his society money wasn’t a very important aspect of success. Keeping people more or less powerful was determined by what class of citizen they were. Classes shaped Plato’s perfect society. Some were born to be leaders, others were born to be guardians, and others workers. Opportunity for the economy to progress was Plato’s whole plan. In ot her words, Plato molded his society in a way that they would have and be the best of the best, so economic opportunity was very important and available. Plato believed that a perfect society can be based on equality but he also believed that there should still be classes of leaders, guardians, and workers. In contrast to â€Å"The Republic†, wealth was so much more important to the society in â€Å"Enemy of The State†. Even though it was said to have equality amongst the people, wealthy people were the main one’s who were heard and allowed to speak out.

Marshall & Gordon

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Assignment 2 Marshall & Gordon: Designing an Effective Compensation System Situational Analysis Paul Nasr is the president of Morgan Stanley (MG) who has nearly 20 years of experience in the capital markets business. He assumed the leadership of the newly created Capital Markets Services division. The Capital Markets division is an interdisciplinary entity created to serve as a link between the Investment Banking division and the sales and trading arms of the firm, Equity and Fixed Income.The division is created to provide the clients with more focused attention and service. The employees in this division were also expected to generate business from organizations that were not previously clients of Morgan Stanley. Nasr hired Parson who is a successful, young banker and has a proven track record in the financial sector. He believed Parson is the right person in growing the capital market services arm of the firm. Parson had ten years of experience and possess es strong relationships in the banking and insurance industries.He didn’t have the Ivy League background that other employees in Morgan Stanley had had but he has the required experience working in bank and investment houses. He quickly rose up the ranks to become the Managing Director of a small firm. He is assigned the title of Principal and is expected to give analytical solutions to complex problems, have good client relations, understand the clients’ objectives and constraints and identify and create business opportunities for MG. He should possess excellent negotiation skills and also be a team supervisor and leader of the Investment Banking Department. 60O FEEDBACK PROCESS This process is a feedback solicited from superiors, peers, subordinates and internal clients as well as self-evaluation of an employee to gauge his/her performance. The inputs from this feedback helps in understanding and quantifying an employee’s strength, his/her deficiencies as well as gives cues for required developmental trainings and appraisal/promotion. This process minimizes the perceptional evaluation from a single source and gives a sense of ownership and fair judgment to one’s self perception.During the performance evaluation before his supposed promotion to the managing director or partner of the firm, Parson is credited for his good marketing skills, knowledge of the market and product, aggressiveness in making the deals with clients, his ability to cross-sell products to the clients. But he also got some very negative comments for being judgmental, not being a team player, not being professional at times. Nasr, though, defended that Parson is still young in MG and needed time to align himself with the firm’s values. Problem DefinitionNasr is staring down the barrel on whether to promote Parson as a Managing Director/Partner of the firm or give him more time. He also did not want to lose Parson who might leave the firm if he did not get the promotion. Options Nasr has three ways of coming out of this quagmire: a. Promote Parson and assume that he will get better with time. b. Hold his promotion till the next evaluation and give him a chance to overcome his shortcomings. c. Terminate his employment because his work doesn’t align with the firm’s core values. Evaluation Criteria:The following criteria should be used to evaluate the options available to make a fair decision: a. The employee should be result-oriented b. He should have good interpersonal skills c. He should bring new business to the firm d. He should be able to win the confidence of the clients e. He should possess both the market and product knowledge f. Understand the needs of the clients and utilize his market knowledge to work with the product specialists in providing a new product g. He should be a good team player h. He must possess good analytical skills to solve complex issues. Evaluation of Options a. ) Promote ParsonRob Parson is an excellent employee who has turned around the Capital Markets Services division in Morgan Stanley in an unconventional way and brought in new business through his aggressive marketing skills. He is instrumental in improving the market share from 10th position to 3rd position, during which the market share rose from 2% to a substantial 12. 2%. Since the division is new, he had to adopt these methods to win the clients’ trust. He introduced clients to his colleagues and also is able to cross-sell products. He might not always be social given his responsibilities but he is not antagonistic towards anyone.Moreover, Parson acknowledges that he is poor at self-promotion and is not in sync with the organization’s goals. b. ) Hold his promotion Nasr is in a position of responsibility and authority. If he chose to promote Robert Parson just on the basis of results, it would create a wrong precedent to other employees that they can bypass the Morgan Stanley culture and still get promoted. In addition, Rob Parson is personally recruited by Nasr and, giving a promotion to Parson despite the interpersonal issues indicates adaption of unfair practices in the performance evaluation.Also, the newly implemented 360-degree feedback stresses on culture of the firm rather than goal orientation. In this case, Parson is more goal-oriented than organization-oriented. So, his promotion being put on hold could be a viable option at this juncture. c. ) Terminate his employment Parson came from a background where he ought to be more result-oriented than being a cultural-fit in pursuing his goals. By adapting this strategy, he had created an internal notion that employees can bypass the core values of an organization to achieve one’s goals.This could undermine the very working culture of the firm and would lead to internal conflicts within the employees. So, his employment could be terminated to maintain the stability within the organization. Recommendation It can be concluded that he is a valuable asset to the firm given his contributions and should be promoted to the Managing Director position. He could undergo trainings on team building and interpersonal skills to further improve himself. The 360-degree performance evaluation can be used to give feedback to Parson on both his strengths and areas where improvement is needed.

The Holocaust and The Final Solution Plan Essay - 622 Words

The Holocaust, it’s such a horrific topic. Why do we study this? The answer I will give at the end of this essay, although, there are many ways people look at the holocaust, different opinions that people have, different understandings. This is my understanding. Holocaust. (The Greek word meaning Whole (Holo), and burnt (Caust). The name although sad, is quite an appropriate name for this event in history, because the Jewish people’s spirt, was almost entirely â€Å"Burnt†. Hitler’s rise to power began in the year of 1919, the NAZI party was started during post World War 1, and Hitler became the leader of Germany, with the help of his â€Å"High Charisma†. Being able to spread his racist ideals with ease. His hatred was directed for the most†¦show more content†¦Throughout the duration of the war Allied forces would capture German troops, thus making them P.O.W’s. (Prisoners of War) Germany had two types of internment camps, one type treated Jews more fairly, giving them substantial amount of food, and labor that didn’t involve â€Å"Digging your own grave† While the other one was just the opposite. They would take prisoners from the more fairly treated camps and trade them for Germ an P.O.W’s. Hitler’s reasons for doing so is that he was afraid that if the world knew of what despicable crimes that Hitler was committing that the world would have a major revolt towards Germany. Hitler’s plan worked well, gaining back able bodied soldiers, while keeping his crimes hidden, under a thick veil of deceive. Although hard to admit, Hitler was a prodigy. Anne Frank is the most well known member of the â€Å"Secret Annex† The reason being she has given the most descriptive and vivid feel of what it’s like hiding from Germany’s rule during the Holocaust, through her diary, that was published by Otto Frank, (Anne’s father, also the only survivor of the Secret Annex.) Otto read Anne’s diary and figured that the world needs to know about what was written in her diary. In later times when the diary had become more well known, the school that Anne Frank attended before the Holocaust, was renamed, â€Å"Anne Frank middle school.† The members of the Secret Annex were the Van Danns, Peter, Mr., and Mr.’s, Mr. Dussel, and theShow MoreRelatedHeinrich Himmlers Role In Nazi Germany And The Holocaust1258 Words   |  6 PagesGermany and the Holocaust, Heinrich Himmler should be the first person that comes to mind. Heinrich Himmler was one of the leading members of the German National Socialist par ty, or widely known as the German Nazis. Himmler was the leader of many operations during his time in Nazi Germany, with the Final Solution during the Holocaust being his most well known. Three reasons why people should learn about Heinrich Himmler when talking about the Holocaust is his role in the Final Solution, the SS (eliteRead MoreThe Holocaust: Why the Jews?712 Words   |  3 PagesThe holocaust was a traumatic event that took millions of lives. Hitler led the holocaust in an attempt to single out the Jewish race for genocide. He thought they were unclean. My history teacher said, at first he didn’t want to kill them but send them elsewhere. He wanted to ship all the Jews off to Madagascar (â€Å"Sanders†). Hitler strongly believed that Jews would be the downfall of the Germans. Hitler hated the Jews and blamed them for the loss of WWI. 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Genocide is â€Å"theRead MoreHow The Holocaust Was A Long Term Plan1461 Words   |  6 PagesAssess the View That the Holocaust Was Mainly the Result of a Long Term Plan by Hitler to Eliminate the Jews Of the four historians, it is Kershaw, Goldhagen, and Peukert who propose the idea that the holocaust was a long-term plan and Berghahn who argues that it was a reaction to the circumstances brought about by expansion during world war two. All of the historians agree to a certain degree that the extermination of the Jewish people from Germany was a long term idea of Hitler’s, but it is atRead MoreThe Final Solution For World War II1668 Words   |  7 PagesHundreds of thousands of Jews had already been murdered during World War II when The Final Solution made its appearance. When Hitler and his party, the Nazis, were elected in 1932, (The History Place) Hitler’s ambitions seemed far-fetched. In 1941, two years after World War II had begun; Adolf Hitler’s plan to erase the Jewish population was already underway and fully operating right under everyone’s nose. In Germany, Austria, Poland, and Belgium, thousands of people were being killed monthly, butRead M oreEssay about Evidence for the Holocaust844 Words   |  4 PagesEvidence for the Holocaust The reason for the development of the final solution is under much historical debate. There is the structuralists who believe it was a result of wartime problems, that it was a improvised response to the problems. However there is the intentionalists who believe Hitler planned the holocaust due to his pathological hatred of the Jews. Now in this essay I am going to present the evidence for both schools of thought. There is substantialRead MoreThe Nazi Party1100 Words   |  5 Pagesleaders. The meeting took place in a wealthy area in Berlin on a lake that was named Wannsee. 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The Wannsee Conference put the Final Solution in motion; the World had lost their opportunity to save 6 million Jews and others. The Beginning Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, after World War 1 when tensions were high because the Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for the destruction

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The Psychological Characteristics Of Breast Cancer

It has long been known that certain physical characteristics are biologically determined by genetic inheritance. Color of eyes, straight or curly hair, pigmentation of the skin and certain diseases (such as Huntingdon’s chorea) are all a function of the genes we inherit. Other physical characteristics, if not determined, appear to be at least strongly influenced by the genetic make-up of our biological parents. Height, weight, hair loss (in men), life expectancy and vulnerability to specific illnesses (e.g. breast cancer in women) are positively correlated between genetically related individuals. These facts have led many to speculate as to whether psychological characteristics such as behavioral tendencies, personality attributes and†¦show more content†¦However nativists also argue that maturation governs the emergence of attachment in infancy, language acquisition and even cognitive development as a whole. At the other end of the spectrum are the environmentalists – also known as empiricists (not to be confused with the other empirical / scientific approach). Their basic assumption is that at birth the human mind is a tabula rasa (a blank slate) and that this is gradually â€Å"filled† as a result of experience (e.g. behaviorism). From this point of view psychological characteristics and behavioral differences that emerge through infancy and childhood are the result of learning. It is how you are brought up (nurture) that governs the psychologically significant aspects of child development and the concept of maturation applies only to the biological. For example, when an infant forms an attachment it is responding to the love and attention it has received, language comes from imitating the speech of others and cognitive development depends on the degree of stimulation in the environment and, more broadly, on the civilization within which the child is reared. Examples of an extreme nature positions in psychology include Bowlby s (1969) theory of attachment, which views the bond between mother and child as being an innate process that ensures survival. Likewise, Chomsky (1965) proposed language is gained through the use of

Antigone And Creon Essay Example For Students

Antigone And Creon Essay Many dramatic theorists have documented their opinions of Sophocles tragic play Antigone. They have presented their interpretations as to the motives and moral character of Antigone and Creon. I will attempt to encapsulate the basic logic behind the arguments of the critics Brian Vickers, A.C. Bradley who interprets Hegel, and H. D. F. Kitto, and venture my own humble opinion as to their validity. Brian Vickers clearly favors the character of Antigone. He challenges Hegel and Hegels view that both Creon and Antigone were essentially right in their beliefs. Vickers sums up Hegels theories in a single diagram Vickers 526, showing Creon and Antigone as forces in antithetical opposition. I believe that Hegels theories of tragedy, as explained by A.C. Bradley, encompass much more than a simple diagram. Hegel thought that Creon and Antigone represented these forces, but not necessarily that they were diametrically opposed. Hegel thought that the tragedy of Antigone was that the beliefs of Antigone and Creon forced them into opposition, because their beliefs were valid and just, though they did not go about practicing their beliefs in a valid and just manner. Vickers presents the notion that Sophocles himself favored the character of Antigone, since Sophocles never criticized her. With this I must disagree; there were many aspects of Antigones character that Sophocles would not have included had he viewed her as above reproach. For instance, she is dreadfully overbearing and righteous. While Sophocles clearly showed he could paint the picture of a sympathetic character if he so chose in Oedipus the King, I believe that he deliberately made Antigone, frankly, a much more bitchy character than Oedipus. Oedipus displays sympathy and is emotive in ways that Antigone simply isnt, and that makes Oedipus the King much more tragic than Antigone. Here, Oedipus demonstrates his compassionate nature when he tells the plague-stricken citizens of Thebes how he feels for their distress Sophocles 48: Poor children! You may be sure I know All that you longed for in your coming here. I know that you are deathly sick; and yet, Sick as you are, not one is as sick as I. Each of you suffers in himself alone His anguish, not anothers; but my spirit Groans for the city, for myself, for you. Oedipus will not be deterred in his search for the truth, no matter who tries to persuade him to abandon the quest Sophocles 64: Oedipus: Do you know anything about him, Lady? Is he the man we summoned? Is that the man this shepherd means? Jocasta: Why think of him? Forget this herdsman. Forget it all. This talk is a waste of time. Oedipus: How can you say that, when the clues to my birth are in my hands? Jocasta: For Gods love, let us have no more questioning! Is your life nothing to you? My own is pain enough for me to bear. Oedipus: You need not worry. Suppose my mother a slave, and born of slaves: no baseness can touch you. Jocasta:  Listen to me, I beg you: do not do this thing! Oedipus: I will not listen; the truth must be made known. Oedipus conscious choice to pursue and accept his doom makes him a tragic figure. Bernard M. W. Knox, author of The Heroic Temper: Studies in Sophoclean Tragedy, points out that the hero has to choose between his doom and an alternative which if accepted would betray the heros own conception of himself, his rights, his duties, but in the end the hero refuses to yield; he remains true to himself, to his physis, that nature which he inherited from his parents and which is his identity. Knox 106 Therefore, one can see Oedipuss unwavering insistence to uncover the truth about the murder of Laius, and then about himself, as proof of the heros resolute commitment to uphold his own nature. Oedipus unyielding quest for the truth fits his self image as a man of action, the revealer of truth, and the solver of riddles. Knox adds that the heros determination to act is always announced in emphatic, uncompromising terms. Knox 22. Oedipus proclaims his intention of finding Laius killers by saying, Then once more I must bring what is dark to light. Sophocles 49. The hero cannot be swayed by threats nor reason; he will not capitulate. Creon, after being accused by Oedipus of conspiring against the king, retorted, You do wrong when you take good men for bad, bad men for good. . . . In time you will know this well. Sophocles 58. Oedipus, however, never learns in time; he remains unchanged. Oedipus, after his terrible self-mutilation, realizes that he treated Creon unjustly: Alas, how can I speak to him? What right have I to beg his courtesy whom I deeply wronged? Sophocles 70. But later, Creon has to remind Oedipus that he is no longer king when he starts issuing imperious commands such as: But let me go, Creon!; Take pity on them; see, they are only children, friendless except for you.; Promise me this, Great Prince, and give me your hand in token of it.; No! Do not take them from me! Sophocles 71. Examine the changing relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and discuss how this is presented by Shakespeare EssayUnfortunately, Kitto goes on to say that Hegels view of Antigone is preposterous. Hegel says that something is seriously wrong with Antigone, while Kitto counters with the statement that only Hegel can tell us what Antigones blemish is Kitto 129. I have to agree with Hegel here. Antigone takes a principle, valid or not, and rams it down everyones throat with her words and deeds. She is a glory hound and a would-be martyr. She does not need to announce her deed, or be caught doing it; she chooses this course of action. She invades a camp of guards and manages to bury a body and leave no tracks. She surely must know that the body will be uncovered at some point, so why does she not consider her duty done after the first burial? Or, since she is so adept at sneaking around, why not remove the body and bury it somewhere it will never be discovered? Did she intend to check the body every day to make sure it was still buried? Her actions are nonsensical and illogical unless they are specifically engineered to say, Here I am, the only one doing the right thing, so punish me! I am better than all of you! There in no loyalty to her brother in her behavior. On to Hegel: Macbeth is as far removed as possible from Antigone, but is still of one nature Bradley 89 with it. The death of Macbeth is much less tragic than Antigone, because Macbeth wasnt essentially a good man. Antigone was following the edicts of the gods in burying her brother and was doing rightly as far as she knew. I would agree that Macbeths death is less tragic, yet I feel worse for him than I do for Antigone. At least Macbeth was an emotive, passionate man, not a righteous machine. Hegel believes that all other things in tragedies being equal, the tragedy with the hero as a good man is more tragic than as a bad. The more spiritual value, i.e. Antigone doing her deed for spiritual purposes, the more tragedy in conflict and waste.  The more evil a character, the less tragic his circumstances. Moral evil diminishes the spiritual value of personality. Because Antigone and Creon are trying to do what they feel is right at heart, their conflict has much stronger implications than the conflicts in MacBeth, since MacBeth was a murderer who wanted to ascend to the throne. Which is not to say that MacBeth isnt a tragedy, because it is much more than just a conflict between good and evil. Hegel believes that ethical or universal ends and justice have nothing to do with catastrophe. A tragic action is a self-division, or internal conflict, and the catastrophe is the annulment of this division, but this is only half of Hegels ideas. A catastrophe has two aspects, negative and affirmative. It is a power which is irresistible and inescapable, and negates anything incompatible with it. But if a catastrophe were only such an unintelligent, characterless force, it would invoke feelings of horror, with is not a feeling associated with tragedy like pity and fear. It is also the source of our feelings of reconciliation. The catastrophe is the violent restitution of the divided spiritual unity, and some sort of projection of the division in the hero. So that there is some sort of paradoxical feeling in the inevitable death of the hero, when we die with him, yet exult or feel that his death means nothing. The hero escapes the power which killed him. Of the three critics and theorists, I relate to Hegel the most. He knows that Antigone and Creon are flawed beings, though they do what they feel is morally right. He realizes that they take their morality and let it become their personalities and define their actions, instead of just influencing them. And therefore, though worthy of sympathy, they are the masters of their fates, and choose their respective dooms. Hegel believed that the tragedy of Antigone lies in the conflict between the rules of the state and the rules of man. It is unfortunate that these two forces must be in opposition, and therefore their practitioners or champions in this particular case have to be in opposition as well. I agree with this; the tragedy is in the circumstances that pit two essentially right forces against each other. The morality of the characters determines the course of the tragedy, and their personalities and convictions determine the emotional power for the reader.