Importance of HRM for the Function of Organisations

Importance of HRM for the Function of Organisations The functioning of modern organizations is highly dependent on the effectiveness of human resource management, which affects consistently the organizational development. In actuality, human resources comprise important assets of any organization. In such a situation, many organizations are concerned with the improvement of the performance of human resources through motivating employees and developing effective approaches to human resource management. Traditionally, human resource management played an important role in the effective functioning of an organization. At the same time, the present epoch is characterized by the development of numerous human resource challenges which were practically unknown in the past. In such a situation it is extremely important to clearly identify the problem or problems and their major causes in order to be able to cope with the HR challenges and maintain normal functioning of organizations. In this respect, it should be said that the wide implementat ion of new technologies is one of the main HR challenges many organizations working in different fields, including healthcare, face since they create serious problems caused by the gaps in the professional qualification of the personnel and the wide implementation of new technologies. In such a context, it is obvious that human resource management affects consistently the performance of organizations and the improvement of the organizational process that can be achieved through effective motivation of employees and effective leadership. In the contemporary business environment, human resources play an extremely important role because the development of organization occurs on the ground of the introduction of innovations. The introduction of innovations helps companies to take a leading position in the market and get competitive advantages over their rivals. In fact, the potential of human resources may be the major source of innovations because employees are able to generate new knowledge and introduce innovations. In this regard, the improvement of the organizational performance occurs due to the effective human resource management that can stimulate employees to innovative activities. At the same time, the effective human resource management may be a serious challenge for organizations. On analyzing the major HR challenges caused by the implementation of new technologies, it should be pointed out that probably the most serious problem is the lack of experience and essential skills of the personnel to work with new equipment and apply new technologies in practice. To put it more precisely, the current development of new technologies turns to be faster than the professional training of the personnel. What is meant here is the fact that professionals simply do not have knowledge, skills and experience to practically implement new technologies (Notorantonio, 2006). As a result, new technologies that could be very perspective and could increase substantially the work of the personnel and the performance of the organization at large are used only partially or, at any rate, their potential is not fully used. At the same time, the implementation of new technology and the lack of essential skills and knowledge engender another serious challenges the necessity of the professional training of the personnel in order to increase the qualification of professionals and prepare them to work effectively with new technologies. However, it should be said that the organization of training courses and implementation of some educational programs may be viewed only as a partial solution of this problem because in the modern, rapidly progressing world it is practically impossible that professionals could maintain the high professional level only with the help of special training or some educational programs (Clarke, 2001). In fact, nowadays, good professionals should be able to acquire new knowledge and develop new skills independently from any training programs or educators. In fact, self-education should become the major trend in the preparation of professionals to work in the modern world. In such a way, they should learn to progress constantly and improve their professional level without any external assistance but on the basis of their own skills and abilities to acquire new knowledge and develop new skills. Today, organizations attempt to keep their employees motivated and satisfied with their position and work that contributes to the higher productivity and effectiveness of work and, therefore, it contributes to the better organizational performance. In such a situation compensation methods and benefit programs may be crucial for employees and organizations, but it is important to understand the fact that compensation and financial stimuli are not the only factors that can have a positive impact on the organizational performance. First of all, it should be said that compensation methods are primarily used to motivate employees work better. In this respect, it should be said that such motivation heavily relies on the idea of utility as the cornerstone of the utilitarianism. In other words, the motivation is defined by individuals needs and interests, which are prior to all other factors that can motivate him/her. To put it more precisely, the utilitarian approach to the motivation stands on the ground that people are more likely to get motivated to do some actions, for instance, when they get some benefits from it and, on the contrary, the risk of losses or some harm that may be caused by these actions is an important factor that decreases considerably the motivation of an individual. It should be pointed out that the utilitarian approach to the motivation heavily relies on the rationalism of an individual since, in terms of this theory, human actions are determined by their utility or profitability (Clarke, 2000). This means that it is only a perspective of some benefits that can really motivate a person, but, on the other hand, such a utilitarian view implies that an individual should evaluate carefully all his/her action and motivation is also rationally justified and evaluated because it is on the basis of the racial judgment an individual can get either motivated or non-motivated to take an action. At first glance, such an approach seems to be logical and quite convincing, but, in actuality, it proves to be rather naÃÆ' ¯ve because such a view on the motivation means that people are unable to spontaneous actions. In other words, the motivation is rather a rational act than a spontaneous or unplanned act. In such a context, the use of financial compensation seems to be efficient. At the same time, different types of compensations may have different effects. For instance, skill-based pay implies that employees skills play the primary role in their benefits. Hence, they are motivated to train and improve their qualification, but, on the other hand, it does not ensure really effective and productive work because the quantity or productivity of work is not mirrored in benefit programs and compensations. The same trend may be traced in regard to the competence play. On the other hand, compensation and benefit programs cannot rely solely on the productivity of employees, the amount of products or services they create and provide for customers because it does not stimulate the professional development of employees. In this respect, the variable pay seems to be the most balanced compensation and benefit program because it stimulates both professional development of employees along with high effectiveness and productivity of their work. As a result, employees are interested to work better and, what is more important, they are conscious of the fact that if they learn, train and improve their qualification they will have better career prospects and higher benefits. In such a situation, the motivation of employees is very important because it contributes to the improvement of the organizational performance consistently. At the same time, the development of effective human resource management and motivation of employees leading to the consistent improvement of their organizational performance is impossible without the effective leadership. The process improvement occurs in the course of the organizational development, which is grounded on the development of the human resource management and effective leadership that helps employees to maximize the effectiveness of their organizational performance. In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the organizational performance is grounded on the effective leadership and the process improvement is impossible without the leadership as well. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the leadership contributes to the consistent improvement of the organizational performance. However, contemporary leaders pay a particular attention to the improvement of the organizational performance through the improvement of the effectiveness of the human resource management. In actuality, leaders are particularly effective in motivating of employees. At this point, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that effective leaders can motivate employees without using financial motivators. Consequently, organizations can save costs and maximize their organizational performance using the power and leadership qualities of their leaders to motivate employees and to maximize their performance. Moreover, charismatic and effect ive leaders can encourage their employees to develop innovations and introduce innovative approaches to their work. Therefore, the development of the effective leadership style can be crucial for the process improvement and the improvement of the organizational performance. In actuality, it is possible to distinguish different leadership styles which are considered to be effective. In this respect, it is possible to single out transformational leadership style as one of the most effective leadership styles in the contemporary business environment. In fact, the transformational leadership style facilitates the introduction of changes and innovations in organizations and managers can use the transformational leadership style to maximize the effectiveness of the organizational performance. The transformational leadership style implies that leaders act as stewards to their employees and guide them in the course of the introduction of change, innovation, or their regular work. In such a way, leaders close the gap between them and their subordinates and help to facilitate the introduction of changes and maximize the effectiveness of the performance of employees. Therefore, the organizational performance depends consistently on the effectiveness of the leaders hip and human resource management. In such a situation, leaders can stimulate and motivate their employees to improve their performance and the organizational performance at large that leads to the overall improvement of the organizational development. Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that contemporary organizations depend on the effectiveness of the performance of their human resources and leadership. In this regard, leaders can facilitate the introduction of changes and other processes that improve the organizational development and organizational performance. In fact, the motivation of employees and ability of managers to introduce changes contribute consistently to the improvement of the organizational performance. As a result, it is possible to estimate that the rapid technological development, leading to numerous HR challenges related to the unpreparedness of professionals to the practical implementation of these technologies and leading to the necessity of organization of training courses and educational programs, can be used more effectively if the personnel comes prepared and being conscious of the necessity to continue their education and development of new skills and knowledge on their own as a part of their professional development. Consequently, modern organizations are dependent on the leadership, motivation of employees, effective human resource management that facilitates and improves the organizational performance. References Anonymous (1994, May). New technologies will impact HR departments. HR Focus 71 (5), 11. Clarke, R. L. (2000).   Investing in the human resource.   Healthcare Financial Management 54 (2); 16. Keener, R. (1999, May). Problems for everyone in IT staffing needs. Healthcare Management Technology 20 (4), 10. Minehan, M. (1997, December). Technologys increasing impact on the workplace. HR Magazine 42 (12), 168. Notorantonio, R. (2006).   Going Once, Going Twiceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Health Management Technology 27 (2), 30. United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (2003). Employment Unemployment.   Retrieved on December 8, 2003, from http://www.bls.gov/.

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - Insanity and Hamlet :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Hamlet and Insanity  Ã‚   The following five paragraphs will cover the point of: What is insainity? How does Hamlet tie in with insainity? What or who is the cause of insainity? While I try to overcome these questions to tackle the true answers, you will be thinking and deciding for yourself if Hamlet is "insane" or not. What does insainity? The Webster's New World Dictionary--Third College Edition defines it as "mentally ill or deranged; demented; mad; senseless." My defintion is not as cruel as the dictionary's definition. My opinion of someone that is insane is they don't necessarily have all of their marbles. The definition in the dictionary kind of explains my definition which is someone that is not paying close attention to those around them. The way people just throw the word insane aroud makes it seem as if it's not a real sickness. But the thing is that people don't realize that it's not something they should joke about. About three or four years ago, there was a song that was titled "Sane" and in one part they said, "...you're insane, got no brain..." So this little line in the song is also part of the true meaning of insainity. Is Hamlet crazy? I personally don't feel that Hamlet is crazy. I think that because the Queen didn't want to face her past with her first "true" husband, she labelled Hamlet as someone that is "mentally ill, or mad." When we had the discussion of what do we think about the topic of your parents paid one of your friends to talk to you to see if you're okay, I think we also covered some good points to defend both sides of the arguement. On one hand people were saying that what the Queen did was wrong because she shouldn't have someone to talk to her son but that she should do it for herself. And on the other side of the arguement, people were saying that they would talk to their friend for the parent but not if they were going to get paid. I don't think that Hamlet is crazy, I feel that he just needed to get his thoughts to gether because he was still trying to comprehend that fact that his mother got married to his uncle and she didn't even seem to care about what he felt. What is the cause of someone being insane or who?

Oil Conspiracy Essay -- Environment Oil Fuel Essays Papers

Oil Conspiracy It is common knowledge these days that major oil companies are among the most wealthy and powerful entities in the world. Their massive incomes contribute enormously to economies all over the world and this gives them massive pull in these economies. It is no wonder then that conspiracy theories and myths of large scale evil plots surround these major oil producers. They range from the ridiculous to quite believable. Every thing from the deletion of alternative energies from ever making it into the market to wars has been blamed on these major oil companies. Some of them are very believable while others seem a stretch of the truth. Are oil companies really behind these vast conspiracies? Have they really been evilly plotting to start wars and destroy the environment? Believe it or not it is rather difficult to find real hard facts on either side of this dilemma. Those that say yes are often radical left wing liberals that blow this out of proportion and blame things like 9/11 on oil companies, claiming that it was an elaborate scheme to start a war in the Middle East to increase oil production. This seems way too farfetched and I personally hope to god that it’s not true. On the other side of the argument against oil companies (the sane one) it is equally as difficult to get information. When you sift through the articles it is apparent that there has been corruption and cases of oil companies using their vast power to influence government legislation and alternative energy uses. Whether or not these represent true cases of conspiracy is not clear. They do however show that oil companies have used less than ethical tactics to ensure high earnings for them selves. Cases like t... .... Rosentreter, Richard. (Sept. 2000) Oil, Profits, and the Question of Alternative Energy. Retrieved Feb. 9 from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1374/is_5_60/ai_65133031 2. Liese, Lindsey. Disappearance of the Electric car Unveiled in Documentary. West World. Retrieved Feb. 8 from http://www.niles-hs.k12.il.us/westword/issue4,06-07/world5.pdf 3. Stop the Oil Company Greed. Nader.org. Retrieved on Feb. 9 from http://www.nader.org/template.php?/archives/276-Stop-the-Oil-Company-Greed.html http://aboutfacts.net/Conspiracy2.htm 4. Did General Motors destroy the LA mass transit system? The Straight Dope Retrieved Feb 9 from http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_335.html 5. General Motors Street car Conspiracy. Wikipedia. Retrieved Feb 8 from http://www.answers.com/topic/general-motors-streetcar-conspiracy

Bribery and Corruption Police Corruption

The word corrupt when used as an adjective literally means â€Å"utterly broken†. The word was first used by Aristoteles and later by Cicero who added the terms bribe and abandonment of good habits. According to Morris, corruption is described as the illegitimate use of public power to benefit a private interest. Senior, however, defines corruption as an action to (a) secretly provide (b) a good or a service to a third party (c) so that he or she can influence certain actions which (d) benefit the corrupt, a third party, or both (e) in which the corrupt agent has authority. Scales of corruptionCorruption can occur on different scales. There is corruption that occurs as small favours between a small number of people (petty corruption), corruption that affects the government on a large scale (grand corruption), and corruption that is so prevalent that it is part of the every day structure of society, including corruption as one of the symptoms of organized crime (systemic corrup tion). Petty corruption occurs at a smaller scale and within established social frameworks and governing norms. Examples include the exchange of small improper gifts or use of personal connections to obtain favors.This form of corruption is particularly common in developing countries and where public servants are significantly underpaid. Grand corruption is defined as corruption occurring at the highest levels of government in a way that requires significant subversion of the political, legal and economic systems. Such corruption is commonly found in countries with authoritarian or dictatorial governments but also in those without adequate policing of corruption.The government system in many countries is divided into the legislative, executive and judiciary branches in an attempt to provide independent services that are less prone to corruption due to their independence. Systemic corruption (or endemic corruption)[5] is corruption which is primarily due to the weaknesses of an organ ization or process. It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within the system. Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives, discretionary powers; monopolistic powers; lack of transparency; low pay; and a culture of impunity.Specific acts  of corruption include â€Å"bribery, extortion, and embezzlement† in a system where â€Å"corruption becomes the rule rather than the exception.† Scholars distinguish between centralized and decentralized systemic corruption, depending on which level of state or government corruption takes place; in countries such as the Post-Soviet states both types occur.Corruption in different sectorsCorruption can occur in different sectors, whether they be public or private industry or even NGOs.Government/Public SectorPublic sector corruption is one of the more insidious forms of corruption; a corrupt governing body can lead to widespread effects in the rest of society. Recent r esearch by the World Bank suggests that who makes policy decisions (elected officials or bureaucrats) can be critical in determining the level of corruption because of the incentives different policy-makers faceLegislative System (Political)Main article: Political corruptionA political cartoon from Harper's Weekly, January 26, 1878, depicting U.S. Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz investigating the Indian Bureau at the U.S. Department of the Interior. The original caption for the cartoon is: â€Å"THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR INVESTIGATING THE INDIAN BUREAU. GIVE HIM HIS DUE, AND GIVE THEM THEIR DUES.† Political corruption is the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected government officials for personal gain, e.g. by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes[10] It can also take the form of office holders maintaining themselves in office by purchasing votes by enacting laws which use taxpayers' money.Executive System (Police)Main article: Police corruptionPo lice corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, and/or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest. One common form of police corruption is soliciting and/or accepting bribes in exchange for not reporting  organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities.Another example is police officers flouting the police code of conduct in order to secure convictions of suspects — for example, through the use of falsified evidence. More rarely, police officers may deliberately and systematically participate in organized crime themselves. In most major cities, there are internal affairs sections to investigate suspected police corruption or misconduct. Similar entities include the British Independent Police Complaints Commission.Judiciary SystemJudicial Corruption refers to corruption related misconduct of judges, th rough receiving or giving bribes, improper sentencing of convicted criminals, bias in the hearing and judgement of arguments and other such misconduct. Governmental corruption of judiciary is broadly known in many transitional and developing countries because the budget is almost completely controlled by the executive. The latter undermines the separation of powers, as it creates a critical financial dependence of the judiciary. The proper national wealth distribution including the government spending on the judiciary is subject of the constitutional economics. It is important to distinguish between the two methods of corruption of the judiciary: the government (through budget planning and various privileges), and the private.CorporateMain article: Corporate crimeAs corporations and business entities grow larger, sometimes with a monetary turnover many times that of small countries, the threat of corruption in the business world, within the organization, in dealings with other organ isations and in dealings with the government is a looming and growing threat.UnionsLabor racketeering is the domination, manipulation, and control of a labor movement in order to affect related businesses and industries. It can lead to the denial of workers’ rights and inflicts an economic loss on the workers, business, industry, insurer, or consumer. The historical involvement of La Cosa Nostra in labor racketeering has been thoroughly documented: More than one-third of the 58 members arrested in 1957 at the  Apalachin conference in New York listed their employment as â€Å"labor† or â€Å"labor-management relations.†Three major U.S. Senate investigations have documented La Cosa Nostra’s involvement in labor racketeering. One of these, the McClellan Committee, in the late-1950s, found systemic racketeering in both the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. In 1986, the President†™s Council on Organized Crime reported that five major unions—including the Teamsters and the Laborers International Union of North America—were dominated by organized crime. In the early 1980s, former Gambino Family Boss Paul Castellano was overheard saying, â€Å"Our job is to run the unions.†Labor unions provide a rich source for organized criminal groups to exploit: their pension, welfare, and health funds. There are approximately 75,000 union locals in the U.S., and many of them maintain their own benefit funds. In the mid-1980s, the Teamsters controlled more than 1,000 funds with total assets of more than $9 billion. The FBI currently has several investigative techniques to root out labor law violations: electronic surveillance, undercover operations, confidential sources, and victim interviews.They also have numerous criminal and civil statutes to use at their disposal, primarily through the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Statute. Citation needed The Teamsters are the best example of how efficiently the civil RICO process can be used. For decades, the Teamsters has been substantially controlled by La Cosa Nostra. In recent years, four of eight Teamster presidents were indicted, yet the union continued to be controlled by organized crime elements. The government has been fairly successful at removing the extensive criminal influence from this 1.4 million-member union by using the civil process.

P-ISM

When writing a short observe, pen and paper are nevertheless maximum herbals to use. The five pen technology with virtual pen and paper makes it possible to get a digital reproduction of handwritten facts and have it ship to virtual devices through BluetoothP-ISM (Pen Style Personal Networking Gadget) that is nothing but the new discovery that's developed by means of the Nec Co-operation in 2003 . It's far truly a new invention in the computer and it is related to communique area. Honestly, this may have a remarkable effect on the pc discipline. In this tool, you will locate Bluetooth as the main interconnecting tool between extraordinary peripherals.INTRODUCTIONLaptop impacts our lives in a far larger manner then most of us may have an idea. It has grown to be a compulsory requirement in most professions with a view to use pc software. Modern computer systems which can be primarily based on integrated circuits are small enough to fit into mobile gadgets, however, imagine having a computer a good way to suit into a pen.Imagine a global wherein everybody can use modern IT without being a professional. P-ISM is a system gadget including five functions: it includes a CPU for processing, it also used as a conversation pen, it carries a very small projector within it, and also it has a digital camera scanner and a battery with it. P-ISMs are linked to each other via short-range Wi-Fi generation. The P-ISM (Pen-fashion personal Networking machine bundle) is best a prototype underneath growing level by NEC employer. In 2003, Geneva held the ITU telecom phrase exhibition which exhibited a conceptual $30,000 prototype of a P-ISM designed by means of the Tokyo-based totally NEC employer.A PC that uses an electronic pen (called a stylus) as opposed to a console for input. Pen PCs for the most part require unique working frameworks that help penmanship acknowledgment with the goal that clients can compose on the screen or on a tablet as opposed to writing on a console. Most pen PCs are hand-held gadgets, which are too little for a full-estimate console.WORKING PROCESSThe P-ISM (Pen-style personal Networking system gadget) consists of a gadget of five pens that everyone has unique capabilities, Figure 1: Working of P-ISM? CPU penCPU capability is dead by mistreatment the pen itself. â€Å"P-ISM† is additionally referred to as computing engine Processors used within the pen is that the twin-core processor and it's miles labored on the premise of home windows OS.? Communication penP-ISM uses Wireless Bluetooth technology for the communication and transfers the information to a different system. P-ISM additionally also will create a connection to with any cellular device and also it can use the Wi-Fi technology. ? Virtual keyboardP-ism provides associate degree integral virtual optical maser keyboard that may be a new widget. The operating of the P-ISM is that it emits the optical maser beams on the table surface that forms a keyboard On this specific keyboard, this can be done by a 3D IR sensing element technology with optical maser technology to induce a full-size keyboard. ? Led ProjectorThe pen contains an Led projector within it. So it can project an led monitor with the size of A4 and the resolution of the screen is approximately of 1024*768. The monitor projected by the P-ISM gave more clarity for the projection and a gave a good picture to the viewer.? Digital CameraWe had a photographic camera within the form of a pen. It is helpful in video, Videoconferencing; merely it's known as a net cam. It's additionally connected to different devices through Bluetooth. The key advantage it's little that is well transportable. It's a 360- Degree communication Device. We've seen video phones many times in movies.Advantages of P-ISMWhat makes the P-ISM totally different from all of the prevailing elements is that its form likes pens. Pens are quite common objects that we supply around on everyday basis; by carrying simply four pens you'll produce a laptop. So, its transportable and may be carried simply.As the pen is a smaller amount visible and it's easier to require it out with you, the scale and weight are plenty less and it will probably priceless because it can use less material.P-ISM adopts Bluetooth technology for informatio n transfer that may be a wireless technology.Disadvantages of P-ISMThe P-ISM is formed from five loose pens which are able to move around with any amendment within the movement of the area. in an exceedingly train journey, there's tons of movement which is able to shake the pens around and shake the projection of the keyboard and screen. So, this can't be as stable and economical as a portable computer.Also, these pens area unit terribly little and fragile so that they are broken simply whereas handling them or carrying them around. One pen itself prices quite a striated muscle thus you can't risk damaging or losing them.ConclusionThe specialized gadgets are getting to be noticeably littler and conservative. This is just a case of the beginning of this new innovation. We can expect all the more such advancements later on; it appears that data terminals are boundlessly getting littler P-ISM.

Things Everyone Should Know-Chemical and Biological Weapons essays

Things Everyone Should Know-Chemical and Biological Weapons essays In every life time one will experience the effect of a weapon, whether it is that of a car, knife, gun or even the horrors of a bomb or the possible threat of chemical and/or biological agents. No matter what the source of destruction, it causes the downfall of some type. Some believe that a car accident or a gun is more dangerous and destructive to life, however that common person does not understand the unfamiliar hazards and irreversible effects that these viruses and bacterium can cause. Currently the United States has been struggling with the thought of anthrax and other weapons of biological threat infecting their loved ones and our nations world status. Chemical and biological weapons developed by the United States scientists have not only protected the United States against a massive chemical and/or biological attack, but have also cost the United States millions of dollars and thousands of lives in the production and the investigation of chemical and biological weapons. The use of chemical and biological weapons date far back in the history books, even before writing was around. At least 3,000 years ago, chemicals were added to fires to create fumes that would choke and sicken the enemy. Greek fire was a chemical weapon, perhaps invented in A.D. 660 by a Greek engineer named Callinicus (Pringle, pg 14). The Greek fire caused the Arab and Russian enemies to weaken on the port city Constantinople producing a Greek victory. The term biological warfare is a more recent development in the weapons of mass destruction era. Only until the nineteenth century did scientist prove that germs cause infectious disease. (The term germs includes bacteria, viruses, and rickettsia.) In the 19th century, citizens only knew that disease spread through a sick person, a human corpse or an animal carcass. An easy way to poison an enemys population was to simply p...

Minerals essays

Minerals essays Minerals have many different shapes, colors, and they also have many uses. Crystals, metals, and rocks are also minerals just a different kind. Minerals are all over this planet and even in outer space. Living creatures have used minerals in their systems to help their growth. A mineral can also be deadly to living creatures. Some minerals can only form in certain conditions. Certain minerals take long periods of time to create. Crystals, metals, and rocks are all minerals just in some different forms. Crystals have a pure look and they come in many shapes, and colors. Metals have a shiny look, and they also have a softness to a very hard strength. Rocks like limestone has a combination of several minerals. Minerals are classified in 11 different forms. 1. Native elements 2. Sulfides 3. Sulfosalts 4. Oxides and Hydroxides 5. Halides and borates 6. Carbonates 7. Nitrates and oidates 8. Phosphates, vanadates, and arsendates 9. Sulfates10. Tungstates and molydates 11. And silicates. Minerals have more than a thousand different shapes, colors, strength, weight, and their dividing centers. Each mineral has there own specific looks. For example titanium is very hard and has a black-grayish look. But aluminum is soft and has a light-greyish look . There have been 1,500 estimate minerals, but only 200 were identified as common minerals 30 consider frequently enough to be considered as rocks. A crystal is a mineral but looks different from metals. Sometimes crystals and metals will combine into one for example a titanium crystal. Metals are mostly shiny hard useful minerals. Crystals are mainly clear objects that have a crystal look. Minerals come in hardness here are the soft to hardness of minerals from 1 to 10. 1. Tack 2. Gypsum 3. Calcite 4. Fluorite 5. Apatite 6. Orthoclase 7. Quartz 8. Topaz 9. Corundum and 10. Diamond. Crystal comes from the Greek word meaning clear ice. Greek use to think that ice was just another form for qua...