Strategies For Employee Engagement

Question: Discuss about the Strategies For Employee Engagement. Answer: Introduction The report here deals with the concept of employee engagement, its importance in the growth of any organization, the strategies of efficiently managing employees to increase productivity. The strategies of employee engagement used by Oman Arab Bank of Oman to achieve its goals and gain competitive advantage are also covered in this assignment. Conclusion part summarizes the main view points of this research and analysis work. About Oman Arab Bank Oman Arab Bank SAOC is an OMAN based joint stock company. It was founded on 1st October 1984.The two key people of the organization are Rashad Al Zubair (Chairperson) and Amin Rasheed Al Hussaini (CEO). The two shareholders of the bank are Omnivest (51%) and Arab Bank Group (49%). It has 60 branches and offices across Oman. In 2011 it acquired the position of third largest bank in Oman. It started its operations in 1973. It took over Omani European bank in 1992 and expanded its operations further. Operating areas of the bank are retail, investment banking and Islamic finance sectors. Investment banking deals with asset management, brokerage and research. In 2013 the Islamic bank part named Al Yusr was established. The headquarter of this bank is at Al Ghubra, Muscat, Oman (Oman Arab Bank, 2017). Literature Review Employee Engagement is a process of creating healthy working environment for all employees attached to the organization so that they get engaged in vast areas of the organization and give their best, knowing that company is taking care of their well being. A successful business has trust, integrity and two way commitment and communication between the company and its workers. Right engagement strategies improve the productivity of both the organization and its members. It is measured in two grades as poor and great (Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, 2012). As an employee, engagement refers to the enthusiasm, interest and feeling good about working with the organization. It is about understanding ones position and the exact working area in the company. An individuals engagement is also to provide new and beneficial ideas for the organization. The ideas need to be presentable enough to be heard. Engagement as an employee is fulfilled only when that person completely gets accepted in the team, increases productivity by constantly upgrading oneself and thus getting recognized and rewarded. According to Bratton and Gold (2012) autonomy, skill variety, feedback, task identity and significance positively affects employee satisfaction and motivation. As an employer, employee engagement is achieved successfully, when the employees are proud and happy with the company. It is about the positive attitude in approaching a client. It also includes grooming an employee to deliver its best .Growing a healthy bond with the employee reduces absentees and grievances thus increasing productivity of the organization. Armstrong and Taylor (2014) stated that a satisfactory relation with supervisors positively effects engagement. The JD-R model introduced by Baker and Demerouti in 2007, 2008 shows the relation between job demands and job resources. According to this model individual performance and workplace culture are interdependent. According to this framework, a clearly and relevantly designed job profile positively motivates an employee for better performance and feels satisfied. Autonomy that is independence provided to employees helps them to take decisions. Further, varied skill sets that an employee get through training helps in performing better. On the other hand, amount of feedback an employee gets and task identity helps an employee to understand the sole responsibility for completion of a job within time and finding out the significance of the job on other workers are some of the core job characteristics of the model (Bakker et al. 2014). Employee engagement is not given much importance. But researches have proved that for increasing profits right employee engagement at all levels of the organizational structure is a must (Daley, 2012). Marketing through a noble cause is one of an important marketing strategy of an organization nowadays. By forcing employees to participate in such events without the individuals will and knowledge spreads only negative vibes about the company (Afiouni et al. 2013). Engaging employees through including in the decision making process and also absorbing their ideas help the individuals feel as a part of the event (Rees and French, 2013). As a result they happily volunteer in such programs. It has been observed that the companies that engage their employees are 200% more successful than companies who do not value their employees. When the opinions of an employee are given importance, they feel a connection with the company and hence try to give their best (Crawford et al. 2014). It has been found out that non engagement of employees subjects to huge losses by increasing the expenditure for absenteeism and health care of employees. Another major loss that companies face is due to employee turnover. Every year $11 billion is lost due to this. If employees feel that they are valuable and their ideas and hard work are recognized and rewarded then a strong bond is developed between the employees and the organization. It is the duty of the employer to make the employee feel wanted and hence grow a strong two way commitment bond (Anitha, 2014). A satisfied employee is less prone to leave. Positive marketing is always good marketing. Employers who can cultivate positive thinking in their employees by properly engaging them are sure to have a positive feedback through them (Albrecht et al. 2015). A negative and disengaged employee always has negative feelings and thus spreads all bad things about the company, bringing down its goodwill to a great extent. Satisfied employees are the happiest, the most hard working and knowledgeable assets f any organization. Engaging an employee to the fullest is not only beneficial for the employer but it also boosts the career of the employee thus inducing a satisfactory feeling in them. Engaged employees are always interested in donating and volunteering in the nonprofit organizations that the company is attached to. A sense of fulfillment in their work areas acts as a great booster for all these activities (Breevaart et al. 2014). An engaged employee effectively communicates with everyone, be it colleagues, customers or managers. They can communicate to any extent to get their work done and increases the flow of knowledge and improves their skills. Increased engagement of employees brings out their creative best (Shuck and Reio Jr, 2014). Increased understanding of their work through communication and other engagement activities brings out new ideas which are beneficial for both the employees and the organization. Making the employees feel as if they are only used for certain benefits for the organization and their rights are always stepped upon, leads to negative employee engagement. Negative engagement leads to huge losses and negative feedback s thus leading the business to failure. One of the best examples of employee engagement is GOOGLE. Their work culture mainly focuses on transparency. Google encourages creativity by engaging employees in activities outside work. Employees are always kept well informed about all good or bad without hiding any agenda (Ugwu et al. 2014). Thus, it becomes clear that a work environment that encourages creativity has a positive effect on employee engagement. Discussion Arab bank has implemented several strategies for employee engagement which has increased their productivity and has decreased the employee turnover rate drastically. According to the data released by the organization in 2014, employee turnover rate was only 8.5% as compared to the 296 new recruitment which comprises 10.5% of the total employee strength. The strategies of this bank are considered as one of the most successful structure of employee engagement in UAE (Oman Arab Bank, 2017). The engagement strategies that are followed for transparent communication with the employees include- Annual Performance Reviews All employees of the bank are reviewed annually so that they can identify their shortcomings and achievements. They are also allowed to have transparent discussions with their supervisors regarding their future career development plan. They are also provided training opportunities which enhances their skill set by overcoming their laggings (Assarie, 2017). Internal newsletter The bank has started publishing its own electronic newsletter since 2010 which keeps the employees updated about the latest happenings of the bank. It contains latest news and programs about the bank. There is a special section called sustainability focus which publishes the latest articles on sustainability and the banks latest CSR initiatives (Assarie, 2017). Arabina Arabina is an internal communication portal that contains everything related to a bank like news, circulars, phone directory and even special offers for employees and the banks employee policies. To increase the employees voluntary participation in the banks CSR programs, photos of volunteers and details about their participation is displayed on the home page of the portal since 2014. An analysis reveals that 98.9% of employees visit the portal for news, articles, HR whereas, 25% visited its sustainability tab to know about the Together program of the company and the sustainability policies (Pressreader.com, 2017). Engage Newsletter It was first launched in 2012. It is mainly targeted for consumer banking division to boost the communication between the employees and the customers. It includes information on sales target, sales strategies etc. It also publishes the achievements of employees and what is in store in the near future. This brings out the creative part of the individuals which greatly help them in arranging campaigns. Volunteers blog It is a blog for volunteers of the banks CSR program Together. It helps them to interact with each other freely and to share their ideas and views on volunteering activities (Oman Arab Bank, 2017). Employees in the community Engaging employees in voluntary activities for the community hugely boost their positivity which increases their productivity and motivation to deliver the best. Since 2014 302 employees have volunteered in the banks CSR program. Arab Bank follows the Jordanian labor laws. Abiding by these laws the organization does not employ individuals of less than 18 years of age. In addition to that they have internal policies which protect an employee from discrimination, bullying and harassment, thus creating a respectful work culture. There is an Employee Relations Committee which looks after the internal grievances of the employees and even gathers feedback through exit interviews. The technical and soft skills of the individuals are enhanced through appropriate training. This is one of the main sustainability strategy of the organization. Trainings are mainly based on the employees performance and one that caters to the needs of the bank operations. The Occupational Health and Safety committee of the bank, established in 2012, looks after the overall health related issues of an individual. They implement policies to reduce the risk factor of fatal accidents to 0% (Oman Arab Bank, 2017). They engage employees in fire fighting drills; much health related trainings on a regular basis to keep them updated about their safety measurements taken by the company. Conclusion Employers are always in search of strategies to motivate employees to bring the best out of them and increase the productivity of the organization. The company has to bear a huge set back from its competitors if their employees are less engaged and less efficient. The bar of employee engagement is raised every hour by increasing international competencies. So employers are now greatly attracted on the implementation of correct and relevant engagement strategies for their organization. From this analysis it is clear that employees who feel valued are more inclined to continue their job and give its 100 percent to the company. By reducing staff turnover and by reducing sickness absence an employer greatly benefits the organization by lowering its expenditure. Considering employees as individuals and not mechanical robots, by taking care of their personal and financial well being and introducing policies catering to the needs of employees retains maximum workforce within the organization. Reducing the gap between the benefits promised and the benefits actually received by the employees increase their belief in the company. This helps to build a strong two way bond between the employee and the employer. A transparent communication system with the employees should be an integral part of any employee engagement strategy. The short sidedness of employers to measure the impact of the workforce can be a huge blow to the business. A successful business always try to retain their loyal and most efficient employees by taking good care of their well being. Employers cannot afford to lose good employees even when their economy flows in high tide. An employee whose hard work is recognized and rewarded always gets the motivation to be more engaged with the company. Statistics show that companies having good reward policies retain their maximum employees. So it is very important to introduce effective employee recognition strategies to increase employee retention. It can be concluded that proper employee engagement strategies are one of the key ingredients of a companys success. So it increase engagement some of the major steps that needs to be followed are communicating the exact goals and expectations of the company, sharing all good and bad news with the employee and keeping then well informed, encouraging their expression of opinions without criticizing, informing employees immediately about incidents, developing trust in employees, encouraging the individuals creativity, providing and receiving feedback. References Afiouni, F., Karam, C.M. and El-Hajj, H., 2013. The HR value proposition model in the Arab Middle East: identifying the contours of an Arab Middle Eastern HR model.The International Journal of Human Resource Management,24(10), pp.1895-1932 Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach.Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance,2(1), pp.7-35 Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance.International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers Assarie, A. (2017).Oman Arab Bank Showcases Promising Opportunities To Local Talent During Squ Career Fair 2016 | Oman Arab Bank. [online] Oman Arab Bank. Available at: https://www.oman-arabbank.com/oman-arab-bank-showcases-promising-opportunities-to-local-talent-during-squ-career-fair-2016/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Bakker, A.B., Demerouti, E. and Sanz-Vergel, A.I., 2014. Burnout and work engagement: The JDR approach.Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav.,1(1), pp.389-411. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012.Human resource management: theory and practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Breevaart, K., Bakker, A., Hetland, J., Demerouti, E., Olsen, O.K. and Espevik, R., 2014. Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee engagement.Journal of occupational and organizational psychology,87(1), pp.138-157 Crawford, E.R., Rich, B.L., Buckman, B. and Bergeron, J., 2014. The antecedents and drivers of employee engagement.Employee engagement in theory and practice, pp.57-81 Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resource management.Public Personnel Management, pp.120-125 Jiang, K., Lepak, D.P., Hu, J. and Baer, J.C., 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms.Academy of management Journal,55(6), pp.1264-1294 Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A., 2012.Human resource management at work: People management and development. London: CIPD Publishing. Oman Arab Bank. (2017).About us | Oman Arab Bank. [online] Available at: https://www.oman-arabbank.com/home/about-us/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Pressreader.com. (2017).PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News. [online] Available at: https://www.pressreader.com/oman/times-of-oman/20150914/281998966241265 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017]. Rees, G. and French, R., 2013.Leading, managing and developing people. CIPD Publications Shuck, B. and Reio Jr, T.G., 2014. Employee engagement and well-being: A moderation model and implications for practice.Journal of Leadership Organizational Studies,21(1), pp.43-58 Ugwu, F.O., Onyishi, I.E. and Rodrguez-Snchez, A.M., 2014. Linking organizational trust with employee engagement: the role of psychological empowerment.Personnel Review,43(3), pp.377-400

Symbolism In A Rose For Emily Essays (537 words) - A Rose For Emily

Symbolism In ?A Rose For Emily? William Faulkner's ?A Rose for Emily? is a story that addresses the symbolic changes in the South after the civil war. Miss Emily's house symbolizes neglect and poverty of the new times in the town of Jefferson. The rampant symbolism and Faulkner's descriptions of the decaying house, coincide with Miss Emily's physical and emotional decay, and also emphasize her mental degeneration, and further illustrate the outcome of Faulkner's story. Miss Emily's decaying house, not only lacks genuine love and care, but so does she in her adult life, but more so during her childhood. The pertinence of Miss Emily's house in relation to her physical appearance is brought on by constant neglect and under-appreciation. The house is situated in what was once a prominent neighborhood that has now deteriorated. The house was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies of an earlier time, no w many of the towns people see that the house has become an eyesore among eyesores. Through lack of attention, the house has deteriorated from a beautiful estate, to an ugly desolate shack. Similarly, Miss Emily has also become an eyesore in the following various ways. She is first described as a fallen monument to suggest her former grandeur and her later ugliness. This story by Faulkner contains a high rate of symbolism thoroughly distributed and revealed by shady foreshadowing. Just as the house has, Miss Emily has lost her beauty. Once she had been a beautiful woman, who later becomes obese and bloated. In this post civil war town, the great estate and Miss Emily has suffered the toll of time and neglect. As the exterior, the interior of the house as well resembles Miss Emily's increasing decent and the growing sense of sadness that accompanies such a downfall. All that is told of the inside of Miss Emily's house is a dim hall, where a staircase is mounted into descending darkne ss, with the house smelling of foul odors. The combined darkness and odor of the house relate with Miss Emily with her dry and cold voice as if it were scrappy and dry from disuse just like her house. The similarity between the inside of the house and Miss Emily extends to the mantel, where there is a portrait of her father and Miss Emily sitting there. Internally and externally, both Miss Emily's building and her body are in a state of deterioration and are tarnished like a metallic material. The setting of Faulkner's story is highly essential because it defines Miss Emily's tight grasp of ante-bellum ways and unchanging demeanor. Just as the house seems to reject progress and updating, so does Miss Emily, until both of them become decaying symbols of their dying generation. Though descriptions of the house resemble descriptions of Miss Emily Grierson, A Rose for Emily emphasizes that beauty and elegance can become distorted through neglect and lack of love and affection. As the ho use deteriorates for forty years until it becomes ugly and unappealing, Miss Emily's physical appearance and emotional well-being decay in the same way. English Essays

Product Design and Decision Making Tools Essays

Product Design and Decision Making Tools Essays Product Design and Decision Making Tools Paper Product Design and Decision Making Tools Paper Assignment Day 4 Question 5. 9 Prepare a product-by-value analysis for the following products, and given the position in its life cycle, identify the issues likely to confront the operations manager, and his or her possible actions. Product Alpha has annual sales of 1,000 units and a contribution of $2,500; it is in the introductory stage. Product Bravo has annual sales of 1,500 units and contribution of $3,000; it is in the growth stage. Product Charlie has annual sales of 3,500 units and a contribution of $1 ,750; it is in the decline stage. Sort descending this list by looked at the individual dollar contribution and total annual dollar contribution. Product Bravo Product Alpha Product Charlie Contribution $3,000 $2,500 $1,750 Annual sales 1,500 units 1,000 units 3,500 units Life cycle Growth Introduction Decline Sales Look at the table and graph, product Charlie at decline stage of life cycle and know this product will be end in the certain period from now. The products are not up to date, not suitable for this era (technology era). Thus, the customers turn to the competitor products because they come out with new and fresh idea. Therefore, this product must produce in the small quantity while it has the demand and also as organization responsibility for certain people that cant adapt new 1 | P a GE products. Besides that the organization must plan to terminate offering. For product Alpha, it seat at the introduction of life cycle, so for this product, it didnt have any problem to produce in a large quantity if it get the good response from customers but if the response from customer is bad or not well, produce the product in the small quantity. Because, these products are new in market, not all customers know about it and also still need some changes. Additionally in this stage, should to do ore on research, product development, process modification and enhancement and supplier development. In addition, the advertising to introduce or promote this product to customer must do it well. Furthermore, the life cycle of product Bravo is growth. In this stage, the product is become stable, because the customers already know about the products. Thus, by add more on quantities to accommodate the raise in product demand. Last but not least, the advertising also must do for create the demand. Question 5. 11 The product design group of Floors Electric Supplies, Inc. , has determined that it needs to design a new series of switches. It must decide on one of three design strategies. The market forecast is for 200,000 units. The better and more sophisticated the design strategy and the more time spent on value engineering, the less will be the variable cost. The chief of engineering design, Dry.

Ancient Persia and the Persian Empire

Ancient Persia and the Persian Empire The Ancient Persians (modern Iran) are more familiar to us than the other empire builders of Mesopotamia or the Ancient Near East, the  Sumerians,  Babylonians, and  Assyrians, not only because the Persians were more recent, but because they were amply described by the Greeks. Just as one man, Alexander of Macedon (Alexander the Great), ultimately wore the Persians down quickly (in about three years), so the Persian Empire rose to power quickly under the leadership of  Cyrus the Great. The extent of Persia varied, but at its height, it extended southwards to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean; to the east and northeast, the Indus and Oxus rivers; to the north, the Caspian Sea and Mt. Caucasus; and to the west, the Euphrates River. This territory includes desert, mountains, valleys, and pastures. At the time of the ancient Persian Wars, the Ionian Greeks and Egypt were under Persian dominion. Western Cultural Identity and the Persian Army We in the West are accustomed to seeing the Persians as the them to a Greek us. There was no Athenian-style democracy for the Persians, but an absolute monarchy that denied the individual, common man his say in political life. The most important part of the Persian army was a seemingly fearless elite fighting group of 10,000, known as The Immortals because when one was killed another would be promoted to take his place. Since all men were eligible for combat until age 50, manpower was not an obstacle, although to ensure loyalty, the original members of this immortal fighting machine were Persians or Medes. Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great, a religious man and adherent of Zoroastrianism, first came to power in Iran by overcoming his in-laws, the Medes (c. 550 B.C.)- the conquest made easy by many defectors, becoming the first ruler of the Achaemenid Empire (the first of the Persian Empires). Cyrus then made peace with the Medes and cemented the alliance by creating not just Persian, but Median sub-kings with the Persian title khshathrapavan (known as satraps) to rule the provinces. He also respected area religions. Cyrus conquered the Lydians, the Greek colonies on the Aegean coast, the Parthians, and Hyrcanians. He conquered Phrygia on the south shore of the Black Sea. Cyrus set up a fortified border along the Jaxartes River in the Steppes, and in 540 B.C., he conquered the Babylonian Empire. He established his capital in a cold area, Pasargadae (the Greeks called it Persepolis), contrary to the wishes of the Persian aristocracy. He was killed in battle in 530. The successors of Cyrus conquered Egypt, Thrace, Macedonia, and spread the Persian Empire east to the Indus River. Seleucids, Parthians, and Sassanids Alexander the Great put an end to the Achaemenid rulers of Persia. His successors ruled the area as the Seleucids, intermarrying with native populations and covering a large, fretful area that soon broke up into divisions. The Parthians gradually emerged as the next major Persian power ruling in the area. The Sassanids or Sassanians overcame the Parthians after a few hundred years and ruled with almost constant trouble on their eastern borders as well as to the west, where the Romans contested the territory sometimes through to the fertile area of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) until the Muslim Arabs conquered the area.

Analytical reflection on three actual events Essay

Analytical reflection on three actual events - Essay Example However, RO was no less fun. In-game towns and cities were jam-packed with players at any given time. In fact, the Chaos server in particular often had literally over 9,000 people from all walks of life and of all ages playing at a given moment. The diversity of the community, as can still be seen on the Ragnaboards, coupled with a simple yet addictive gameplay interface, was what hooked me – the first two months of my stay were spent leveling up my character. Alas, it was not meant to be; I ended up quitting after getting a first-hand experience of Level Up’s lack of customer care. I logged in one day to find my character stripped bare – all the gear and the loot I had hunted for disappeared. When I filed a complaint to their Customer Service, they refused to compensate my loss – this angered me to the point of quitting. Sadly, Level Up seemed to have deteriorated even further from there. Over time, hacking and scamming alike increasingly fell on deaf ears. Bots – 3rd party programs used by players to gain an unfair advantage – while ostensibly illegal, were no longer being addressed. Next thing I knew, Level Up legalised botting (MPC Forums, 2005). The overwhelming number of other reports such as item duplication made it worse. It still makes me sad sometimes. I loved the game, but the company’s utter disregard for its customers in the name of money turned me off – the legalisation of botting in order to maximise their income by way of prepaid cards attests to this. Considering how much prosperity RO and its players brought to Level Up, one would think these customers deserved better treatment. Feminism, as the word implies, entails the defense of women’s rights. As further explained by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (first published 2003), some writers use the word in reference to specific American and European movements whereas others equate it with the belief that

Television Addict by Marie Winn Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Television Addict by Marie Winn - Assignment Example She first gives the pleasurable symptoms of television addiction, and confirms the same through a sample individual confession. In the essay, she also gives various examples of how significant television addiction influences peoples lives in more negative ways that commonly imagined by the victims themselves; an indication of how the victims sense of reality. In explicit statements, she is categorical that addicts tend to ignore all other productive activities in order to stay put in front of their screens, to which they cannot master enough strength to turn off for countless. The thesis statement of the easy can, therefore, be stated as follows: Television experience is as serious enough as any other addictions of hard drugs, for they not only activate pleasurable effects that inactive mental state of reality, but does well to destroy an individual’s worth through withdrawal from being objective in life. The author switches from discussing addiction in general terms to talking specifically about addiction to television in paragraph six. She, in fact, informs the reader more directly by stating clearly what follows in the very paragraph, that: â€Å"Let us consider television viewing in the light of the conditions that define serious addictions.† Indeed right after the statement, Winn jumps straight away to the symptoms of television viewing that makes it an addiction like those of alcohol or other drugs. To be certain, she argues that television viewing distorts the victim’s sense of reality, forcing the participant into a passive world of pleasurable mental state, to which they completely have no control over. From the point on, the author talks specifically to the readers over television addiction, more particularly with regards to the Vitim’s control ability to limit hours spent in front of television screens. Marie follows her discussion of the symptoms of television addiction with a sample

Portrait of Dr Gachet Essay Example for Free

Portrait of Dr Gachet Essay A. Introduction When the name Van Gogh comes up, one can imagine sunflowers, stars at night, rice fields, and lonely portraits. His works resemble writing. (Berger, 2001, p.87) His life rendered to writing. When one hears his name, one remembers a song, a play, a book.   Van Gogh’s appeal is world-wide. Collectors, dealers, and museums place a high price on a painting. Artists, art critics, and even an ordinary person who knows a thing or two about Western art can appreciate his works as well as his life story.    He was a post impressionist painter. (vangoghgallery.com) One of the controversial paintings of Van Gogh is the Portrait of Dr. Gachet. The subject (Paul Ferdinand Gachet) was the painter’s physician and friend. He made the portrait six weeks before he committed suicide. (businessweek.com, 1998) B. Description / Analysis The subject in the painting occupied much of the space. It cuts a diagonal line in the middle of the canvass. The slant gives the mood of the subject. Dr. Gachet is in a reclining position as if exhausted and sad. The subject’s outline – from his hat, to his shoulders, to his hand, was drawn with soft curved lines. The features of the face and the coat are also of curves. The curves give the work an over-all softness which contributes to the idea of sadness; as opposed to sharp lines which usually denote coldness. There were very few straight lines used. They can only be seen in the objects (two books) beside the subject. There are also the famous small strokes using semi-curved lines used by Van Gogh to give texture. The strokes have little space between them. And, the background colors of these strokes are still very visible. These small strokes create a pattern-like detail ( it used the principle of repetition) to the visual objects that uses them such as subject’s clothes and his background.   The main subject is oval. He is like a fruit reclining on a table. The dominant colors are blue and green. There are many shades using these colors. They are contrasting to the subject’s skin tone which is mostly a combination of yellow and cream. The face and the arms are fair with soft details using light brown and green. The contrast of the dark and the light colors brings attention to the face, and thus the mood of the subject; which as mentioned earlier looks exhausted and sad. The subject was placed in the middle ground.   The foreground are the other visual objects such as books, table and the flowers in a vase. The foreground gives an idea to the setting; that the portrait was done during a casual encounter. The background is an outline of a landscape (in dark blue) and sky (in pale blue). The background colors are of the same shade which create harmony. The Portrait of Dr.Gachet was painted in 1890. Its size is 67 x 56 cm. It used oil on canvas.(paletaworld.org) Van Gogh used this medium the most as shown in his most famous paintings. There are debates on whether Van Gogh’s art is impressionist, expressionist or post-impressionist. Partly, due to the small brush strokes he used to give detail to visual objects, some say he belongs to the impressionist painters. The small strokes are signs of the artist’s swift motion during painting. Since the outline of the visual objects are simple, one gets the idea that the artist must have paid attention to the affect reality such as the mood or feeling of the subject at that time. This presents a way of seeing; as opposed to hyperrealist artworks which concentrate on the mastery of details. (Berger, 2001, p. 8) C. Interpretation The over-all impact of the painting is sadness. It was an intimate portrait because the painter was drawing out feelings. This can be seen in the choice of colors, soft lines and -most obvious- the details of the subject’s face. By the title alone Portrait of Dr. Gachet, one expects to see a serious man. Visual details show the same characteristic as the subject appears to be a serious man. Beside the subject were books. Reading suggests educational or professional background. The subject wore a dark coat and a defined moustache -which are the common symbols of being proper. The usual portraits are arranged like a pictorial. The Portrait of Dr. Gachet deviates from this. It is not a display of attributes. The painting is affective. This means that it shows a relation between the subject and the painter. The subject was relaxed enough to recline and show his emotions. He looks exhausted or resigned from something, and he is conveying it. The table used as a foreground suggests the looker (the painter) might be on the other end. Facts concerning the subject’s relation to Van Gogh came as no surprise. He was said to be unable to help Van Gogh in his depression and is suffering from it as well. (Bertman, 2006) The subject’s relation to the painter is relevant. He was his doctor. And he was with him days before the painter’s death.   The sad and tired look on the doctor’s face symbolizes surrender. The death of Van Gogh came days later. In the Portrait of Dr. Gachet, Van Gogh was painting vulnerability. He was keen to the moment being lived by himself and his subject. D. Judgment The Portrait of Dr. Gachet stirred controversy for the high price it was bought and the mystery of its vanishing. It was auction in 1990 with a bidding that started with $20 million and sealed with $ 82.5 million. A Japanese industrialist kept it in a secret store room. He gained notoriety when he exclaimed in jest that the piece would be cremated with him. After his death, the painting was said to have been sold, but it was no longer seen by the public. The Portrait of Dr. Gachet is controversial not only because it was the painting bought with the highest price for an auction. The very manner of passing it from one collector to another who did not have any interest in sharing it to the public, and not even to view it himself, (Kleiner, 2000)   show how art is a property of the privileged. Its vanishing act sparked further debates on the commodification of art. The common sentiment revolves around the seemingly waste of art because Van Gogh was important to the public. But, the pr ivileged (collector) did not have the intention to give. It seemed their own love of art is a pretension. (Berger, 103) E. Conclusion The Portrait of Dr. Gachet is a portrait of many values. It is a portrait drawn to portray beyond social status. It also described social relations. It is an artwork about perception and emotions. It is an intimate portrait of a man who was supposed to cure the painter. It is significant to all who appreciate Van Gogh. It is also valuable to all who regard art beyond one’s private collection.