Divorce, the Cause and Effect

The divorce rate in America is at an all time high with approximately 41% of the first time marriages and 60% of second marriages ending in a divorce, which I am a statistic of both. Two major causes that lead to a rise of divorce rates is lack of communication and financial problems; the overall effect of a divorce is a person’s general happiness. One of the primary reasons why people cannot stay married is a lack of communication. Communication is a vital element in a marriage couples need to discuss their problems with one another. If a couple does not discuss how they feel, their spouse will never understand what they are feeling. Open communication will allow each other to know the situation he/she does not like, so that maybe they will be more considerate of the others feelings, and will adjust to accommodate the other spouse. We should also listen to what our spouse is trying to tell us; sometimes we hear, but we do not listen. For example, if we find ourselves arguing over the same topic over and over again, that means one of us was not listening. Communication is a vital key to a successful marriage and without communication; the marriage is doom to fail. I can personally attest to this. I have been married three times, the first was a cause other than communication, but the second was defiantly due to the lack of communication and one not being able to accept what the other one was saying. The second cause of divorce is financial problems. Sometimes when there is financial hardships due to the loss of a job, economy, or illness, a spouse will lose control oppose to keeping their composure and supporting a loved one. Just because you spouse got laid off from work does not mean that everything is going to crumble. This is the time a spouse should be supportive of the other spouse in a new job search. If the financial problems are due to over spending and living beyond one’s means, then the two spouses shall sit down and discuss their spending habits and ways to correct the problem. Effects of a divorce can be general happiness. Some people after a divorce can be severely depressed because they feel they have lost everything. People realize the places and things they used to do were as a couple. A person feels isolated and alone at a married friends house, a person especially females no longer feel the financial stability, and security. Some people need a companion all the time; so the loneliness leads to depression and they cannot cope without having someone with them, leading to medication or alcohol to try to overcome the depression. In conclusion, I believe that if a couple communicates with each other and will support one another financially through difficult times they will have a successful marriage. If a person has a successful marriage, then they should be a happier person. The divorce rate would be lower if people would sit down and take the time to realize what they want and what their spouse wants. Before a couple gets married they need to learn to communicate and be financially supportive of each other, then that is when a couple knows that they are ready for marriage.

The novels Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence

The novels Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence and Orlando by Virginia Woolf make interesting comments on sexuality and the gender roles defined by society and the class system. Through Orlando and the other characters of that story, Woolf depicts androgynous characteristics of men and women, highlighting the similarities between the genders. Lawrence’s characters, too, show an interrelationship between the sexes that belies the societal norms. Classification and structure of the societies in both novels denote a separation that, like that of gender, seems superficial as the main characters are able to transcend class by experiencing aspects of different strata. Many of the problems regarding gender and sexuality, it is found, persist regardless of the class. In both stories, therefore, one finds the depiction of relations in which class and conventions dictate the role of women and men on the societal level, yet on the individual level, the relationships between men and women a re often odd and confusing in defiance of these dictates.Though Orlando starts out sarcastically mocking its own direction with the words â€Å"He—for there could be no doubt of his sex [†¦]† (Woolf, 3), the descriptions of the characters and especially of Orlando in the novel demonstrate a fundamental likeness between the two sexes that is often overlooked in a society that stresses the salient yet superficial differences. In fact, Woolf at first draws attention to his being in the middle of slicing a Moor’s head—an action not conventionally considered suited to females, but then she traces his image by defining body parts that are common to both sexes and hold very little gender-differentiating characteristics. She describes his red cheeks â€Å"covered with peach down† (4). Though this â€Å"down† might be in reference to a (very thin) mustache, the delicacy of the description lends a feminine flavor to the entire portrait. Other cha racters are described in this way too. The archduchess Harriet is a very tall woman—who turns out to be really a man, and when Orlando first sees Sasha he is unable to determine her sex as she appears to be straddling both.Sons and Lovers can be seen to portray a similar view of the masculine children of the Morel family. The sons William and Paul are introduced in their youth, which is the time when girls and boys share many characteristics that are differentiated in the future. As they grow up, their co-dependence on their mother further attributes to them an appearance of femininity as they (especially Paul) are unable to make decisions that leave her out. In the sister Annie, too, has an element of the hermaphrodite, as she is described as a tomboy to whom Paul looks up. These facts prepare the readers for the further confusing roles of the sexes and the strange ideas of class and sexuality that come with them.At the beginning of the novels both protagonists (Paul and Orl ando) are pictures of sexual purity. Queen Elizabeth considers Orlando to be a picture of innocence. Soon, however, Orlando encounters Sheba, expresses freedom with his sexuality, and has trouble finding love. It is interesting to note that though Woolf ostensibly portrays the two sexes as only superficially different, Orlando’s sexual freedom becomes tempered once he changes from man to woman, and it is in his female state that he finds love. Paul, on the other hand, exhibits an initial restraint toward sex during his more youthful and effeminate period. It is later in his maturity that he becomes passionate and pursues sexual relations with Miriam. Both Orlando and Paul are met with difficulty in finding what Orlando terms â€Å"life and a lover† (Woolf, 90). Orlando is, however, able to reconcile his differences with†¦ the opposite sex. Paul cannot, however, and remains alone.The roles of the men and women in these two stories are atypical when compared with th ose defined by the class and society in which they live. It is noteworthy first of all that though the class distinctions existed, they all regarded women as members of the softer sex who were in need of protection and guidance from the opposite sex. In Sons and Lovers, Mr. Morel is a poor provider for his family as he dissipates his earnings on drink and lives in a house provided by his mother. His wife directs the path of his sons, and he plays a very small role in his family. Alongside him, Mrs. Morel appears less like the fireside, knitting woman and more like the man who solicits work for her sons and advises them on relationships.Miriam’s reaction to Paul is also one in which the woman expresses the desire to perform in a role that is conventionally reserved for men. He thoughts are, â€Å"Then he was so ill, and she felt he would be weak. Then she would be stronger than he. Then she could love him. If she could be mistress of him in his weakness, take care of him, if he could depend on her, if she could, as it were, have him in her arms, how she would love him!† (Sons and Lovers, 137) The role of protector is given to man by Western society, and in all classes men are seen as the stronger sex that exist to take care of women. Here Miriam wishes to fill that role, take Paul in her arms, protect and love him. Paul’s character, in turn, appears to be one that would fit well into this portrait, as he is already in a subordinate position with his mother.In Orlando, something can be said along these lines as well. The title character weaves in and out of the roles of women and men as though they were only superficially differentiated. He admits that at core he is the same, though by society’s standards he performs adequately in each role. Researcher Ruth Gruber writes, â€Å"There is almost no perversion in Orlando's bi-sexuality. As a man, he has a strong predilection towards women, makes violent love to princesses and lies with ‘loose women’† (87). He is accepted by female prostitutes and male archdukes alike, their genders allowing them no knowledge regarding the truth of this woman who once was man.The fact that the prostitute as well as the arch duke accepts Orlando leads also to the idea that class barriers are as superficial as the ones that separates the sexes—which renders them complicated but superable. Orlando himself declares that he feels attached to the low born, but when he goes to live among the gypsies, he realizes he does share some of the appreciations of the higher classes. This gives the idea that just as human nature transcends gender, so it also transcends class.This idea is reflected too in Sons and Lovers. Paul is also akin to the common people and tells his mother this when she expresses the desire for him to rise to a higher class. This mother, who had accepted a lower position in marrying Mr. Morel, has found little happiness in the descent. Lawrence writ es this in a letter to a friend: â€Å"a woman of character and refinement goes into the lower class, and has no satisfaction in her own life† (â€Å"Letter,† 28). Still, judging from his mother’s desire and that of Miriam who â€Å"hated her position as a swine girl† (Sons and Lovers, 137), it is put forth that the luxuries of the higher class were still (perhaps naturally) desirable to humans.Remarkably, the authors hit upon similar themes in two vastly different types of novels. Orlando, a fantastic piece written by Virginia Woolf, presents theories about gender, class and sexuality that show them to be complex and therefore not as easily defined as convention would have it. D. H. Lawrence’s more realistic tale is able to touch upon these issues as well. The novels challenge both reality and belief by depicting the characters with plausible emotions in their situations. Even in the case of Orlando, the handling of relationships rings authentic i n both his period as a man and as a woman. The class situations and the expressions of sexuality also assist in demonstrating that the complicated nature of the human being transcends barriers of sex and class.Works CitedGruber, Ruth. Virginia Woolf: The Will to Create as a Woman. New York: Carroll and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Graf, 2005.Lawrence, D. H. â€Å"Letter to Edward Garnett, 19 November 1912.† D. H. Lawrence’s Sons    and Lovers: A Casebook. Eds. John Worthen and Andrew Harrison. Oxford:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oxford UP, 2005.Lawrence, D. H. Sons and Lovers. New York: Signet, 1985.Woolf, Virginia. Orlando: A Biography. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth, 1995.

Needs Theories

1. INTRODUCTION Motivation is an important element in organizational learning due to its ability to enable employees to function effectively. There are several theories of motivation which can be useful to managers in motivating employees of organizations. You may ask yourself what motivation is. Well, motivation is that drive you have within you to get something done, what drives you to work as much as you do, for example, a student will want an A in a test, he will be motivated to study hard and achieve that A.It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. Motivation stems from psychological factors within the person, but can also be induced by factors in the workplace. In human resource management it is essential to know how workers inputs via their task inputs and inputs via superiors can be conductive to worker effectiveness. Motivation is a process that involves the purposiveness of behaviour. Factors that have been shown by research include externa l and internal activators.In this assignment we will outline important motivation theories and how they are used in the workplace. Motivation theories seek to 2. MASLOWS HIERACHY OF NEEDS Peoples’ needs are arranged according to its importance of human survival. Human needs may be placed in a hierarchy where the lowest level contains the most basic needs, which must be satisfied before the higher order needs emerge and become motivators of behaviour. The needs of the hierarchy are as follows, psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, ego/esteem needs and self-actualization needs.Psychological needs: These are the basic needs for a human which are essential for a human beings biological functioning and survival. Examples would be food, water and warmth. Employees who are adequately paid can provide for these needs. Safety needs: As soon as the psychological needs are satisfied, another level of needs emerge and the importance of the previous level of needs disappear. In this level a person looks for security, stability and a safe environment. Many employees’ most important need is job security; other security factors include increases in salary and benefits.Social needs: Once a person feels secure in their surroundings and are in control of possible threats, social needs are activated. These include the need for love, acceptance, friendship and a sense of belonging. At this level, employees desire social relationships inside and outside the organization. Peer group acceptance within the workplace is often an important psychological need for employees. Ego/esteem needs: These needs may be divided into two groups namely, self- respect and self-esteem, the respect and approval of others.Once employees form friendships the need for self-esteem becomes priority. Needs, such as self-confidence, independence, recognition, appreciation and achievement all fall under this level. Organizational factors such as job title, status items within the organ ization, such as parking spaces or office size and level of responsibility become important to the employee. Self- actualization: If all the above mentioned needs are largely satisfied, people than spend their time searching for opportunities to apply their skills to the best of their ability.Maslow describes the needs as the desire to become more and more what one is and to become everything one is capable of becoming. Self-actualization is the uninhibited expression of your true self and your talents. Employees seek challenging and creative jobs to achieve self-actualization. This theory has many implications for individual performance, the most common strategy being motivating people in terms of service benefits and job security. The work people do and the way the work environment is designed, increases interaction between employees which helps satisfy social needs.However, disadvantages pertaining to this may result in excessive socialization and may have a negative effect on th e employees work output (NEL P. S et al,2004). If a person’s work is directly associated with need satisfaction, then that person becomes self-regulating, making the roles of external incentives become less significant as motivators. As one level of need is met, a person moves onto the next level of need as a source of motivation. Hence, people progress up the hierachy as they successively gratify each level if need(Nelson Q, 2011) (http://upload. ikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs. png) 3. HERTZBURGS TWO FACTOR THEORY Herzberg's Two Factor Theory is a â€Å"content theory† of motivation† (the other main one is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs). Herzberg analysed the job attitudes of 200 accountants and engineers who were asked to recall when they had felt positive or negative at work and the reasons why. From this research, Herzberg suggested a two-step approach to understanding employee motivation and satisfaction, these were hygiene factors and motivator factors. Hygiene Factors:Hygiene factors are based on the need to for a business to avoid dissatisfaction at work. If these factors are considered inadequate by employees, then they can cause dissatisfaction with work. Hygiene factors include: * Company policy and administration * Wages, salaries and other financial remuneration * Quality of supervision * Quality of inter-personal relations * Working conditions * Feelings of job security Motivator Factors: Motivator factors are based on an individual's need for personal growth. When they exist, motivator factors actively create job satisfaction.If they are effective, then they can motivate an individual to achieve above-average performance and effort. Motivator factors include: * Status * Opportunity for advancement * Gaining recognition * Responsibility * Challenging / stimulating work * Sense of personal achievement & personal growth in a job There is some similarity between Herzberg's and Maslow's models. Th ey both suggest that needs have to be satisfied for the employee to be motivated. However, Herzberg argues that only the higher levels of the Maslow Hierarchy (e. g. elf-actualisation, esteem needs) act as a motivator. The remaining needs can only cause dissatisfaction if not addressed. Applying Hertzberg's model to de-motivated workers These few examples indicate de-motivated employees in the workplace: * Low productivity * Poor production or service quality * Strikes / industrial disputes / breakdowns in employee communication and relationships * Complaints about pay and working conditions According to Herzberg, management should focus on rearranging work so that motivator factors can take effect.He suggested three ways in which this could be done: * Job enlargement: It is a human resource practice used to motivate employees in a particular position. A job is enlarged horizontally through the addition of new responsibilities and diverse duties. * Job rotation: A system of working in which employees work in a range of jobs in a company so that they have different types of work to do and understand the organization better, it can help employers by keeping employees from getting bored and looking for another job. Job enrichment: Motivating employees through expanding job responsibilities and giving increased control over the total production process. Employees normally receiving training and additional support as well as increased input in procuderes. 4. VROOMS EXPECTANCY MOTIVATION THEORY Whereas Maslow and Herzberg look at the relationship between internal needs and the resulting effort expended to fulfil them, Vroom's expectancy theory separates effort (which arises from motivation), performance, and outcomes.Vroom's expectancy theory assumes that behavior results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual factors such as persona lity, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities. He stated that effort, performance and motivation are linked in a person's motivation. He uses the variables Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence to account for this. Expectancy is the belief that increased effort will lead to increased performance i. e. f I work harder then this will be better. This is affected by such things as: 1. Having the right resources available (e. g. raw materials, time) 2. Having the right skills to do the job 3. Having the necessary support to get the job done (e. g. supervisor support, or correct information on the job) Instrumentality is the belief that if you perform well that a valued outcome will be received. The degree to which a first level outcome will lead to the second level outcome. i. e. if I do a good job, there is something in it for me. This is affected by such things as: 1.Clear understanding of the relationship between performance and outcomes – e. g. the rules of the reward â €˜game' 2. Trust in the people who will take the decisions on who gets what outcome 3. Transparency of the process that decides who gets what outcome Valence is the importance that the individual places upon the expected outcome. For the valence to be positive, the person must prefer attaining the outcome to not attaining it. For example, if someone is mainly motivated by money, he or she might not value offers of additional time off.The theory has three key elements or concepts that it uses: 1. Performance-outcome expectancy: This means that the individual belives that every behaviour is connected to an outcome, and different levels of that behaviour can be connected to different levels of the outcome. 2. Value: With regard to that, the attractiveness of that outcome depends on the individual, for one, the outcome may be a highly values reward whereas for another, it could be perceived as a punishment. 3. Effort-Performance expectancy: Lastly, individuals evealuate the effort-pe rformance expectancy relationship.In essence, the employee asks himself whether he will be able to perform a specific task and translates those perceptions to probabilies of success. He or she then chooses the behaviours' that have the highest likelihood of success. Crucially, Vroom's expectancy theory works on perceptions, so even if an employer thinks they have provided everything appropriate for motivation, and even if this works with most people in that organisation, it doesn't mean that someone won't perceive that it doesn't work for them. It could equally apply to any situation where someone does something because they expect a certain outcome.For example, one recycles paper because they think it's important to conserve resources and take a stand on environmental issues (valence); they think that the more effort they put into recycling the more paper they will recycle (expectancy); and they think that the more paper they recycle then less resources will be used (instrumentalit y). Thus, Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation is not about self-interest in rewards but about the associations people make towards expected outcomes and the contribution they feel they can make towards those outcomes. 5. ADAMS EQUITY THEORYJohn Stacey Adams, a workplace and behavioural psychologist, put forward his Equity Theory on job motivation in 1963. There are similarities with interpretation of previous simpler theories of Maslow, Herzberg and other pioneers of workplace psychology, in that the theory acknowledges that subtle and variable factors affect each individual's assessment and perception of their relationship with their work, and thereby their employer. One of the most important issues in motivation is how people view their contributions to the organization and what they get from it.Ideally, they will view their relationship with the employer as a well-balanced, mutually beneficial exchange. As peope work, they realize their consequences of their actions, develop beliefs about outcomes and asses how fairly the organization treats them(Snell A. S. & Batemen T. S 1999, Management:Building Competetive Advantage). The Adams' Equity Theory model therefore extends beyond the individual self, and incorporates influence and comparison of other people's situations – for example colleagues and friends – in forming a comparative view and awareness of Equity, which commonly manifests as a sense of what is fair.When people feel fairly or advantageously treated they are more likely to be motivated, when they feel unfairly treated they are highly prone to feelings of disaffection and demotivation. The way that people measure this sense of fairness is at the heart of Equity Theory. Equity, and thereby the motivational situation we might seek to assess using the model, is not dependent on the extent to which a person believes reward exceeds effort, nor even necessarily on the belief that reward exceeds effort at all.Rather, Equity, and the sens e of fairness which commonly underpins motivation, is dependent on the comparison a person makes between his or here reward/investment ratio with the ratio enjoyed (or suffered) by others considered to be in a similar situation. Equity Theory reminds us that people see themselves and crucially the way they are treated in terms of their surrounding environment, team, system, etc – not in isolation – and so they must be managed and treated accordingly.Some people reduce effort and application and become inwardly disgruntled, or outwardly difficult, recalcitrant or even disruptive. Other people seek to improve the outputs by making claims or demands for more reward, or seeking an alternative job. 6. ALDERFER’S ERG THEORY A theory of human needs more advanced than Maslow’s theory is Alderfers ERG theory, meaning that Maslows theory has general applicability whereas Adelfer aims his theory at understanding peoples needs at work.Aldelfers theory builds on some of Maslows thinking but reduces the number of universal needs from five to three and is more flexible in terms of movememy in levels. Like Maslow, Alderfer also believes that needs can be arranged in a heirachy. The ERG theory infers that there are three sets of needs: * Extintence needs are all material and psychological desires. * Relatedness needs involve relationships with other people and are satisfied through the process of mutually sharing thoughts and feelings. Growth needs motivate people to productivity or creatively change themselves or their environment. ERG theory proposes that several needs can be operating at once, whereas Maslow assumes that lower-level needs must be satisfied begore a higher-level need is a motivator. Alderfer lifts this restiction. Accordning to the ERG theory, a higher-level need can be a motivator even if a lower-level need is not fully satisfied, hence several needs can be operating at once. Maslow would say that self-actualization is important to people only after other sets of needs are satisfied.Aldelfer maintains that people can be motivated to satisfy both existence and growth needs at the same time. Alderfer agrees that as lower level needs are satisfied, a worker becomes motivated to satisfy higher-level needs, but he breaks down with Maslow on the consequences of need-frustration. Maslow says that once a lower-level need is satisfied, it is no longer a source of motivation, whereas Alderfer suggests that when an individual is motivated to satisfy a higher-level need but has difficulty doing so, the motivation to satisfy lower-level needs becomes higher.To see how this works, lets look at a middle manager in a manufacturing firm whose relatedness needs(lower-lvel needs) are satidfied. The manager is currently motivated to try and satisfy her growth needs but finds this difficult to do so as she has been in the same position for the past five years. She is extremely skilled and knowlegable about the job and the fact that she has too much work and responsibiliies already leave her no time to pursue anything new or exciting. Essentially, the managers motivation to satisfy her growth needs are being frustrated because of the nature of her job.Alderfer postulates that this frustration will increase the managers motivation to satsfy a lower-levelneed such as relatedness. As a result of this motivation, the manager becomes more concerned about interpersonal relations at work and continually seeks honest feedback from her colleagues. Both Maslows and Alderfers theories have practical value in that they remind managers the type of reinforcers or rewards that can be used to motivate people. (http://www. envisionsoftware. com/es_img/Alderfer_ERG_Theory. gif) 7. McCLELLANDS NEEDS THEORY The theory was developed by David McClelland and his associates.It focuses on three needs, achievement, power and affiliation. Achievement is characterized by a strong orientation towards accomplishment and an obession wit h success and goal attainment. It is a drive to excel and to achieve set standards. Challening work motivates them and they take personal responsibility for success or failure. They like to set goals that require stretching themselves a little and have a drive to succeed, they strive for achievement rather than rewards. They wish to do something better or more efficiently than it has been done before.The people with this need look for situations where they can attain peronal responsibility for finding solutions to problems , in which they can get quick feedback of their performance so they can determine whether they are improving or not. This helps them to set their goals. The need for power is a desire to influence or contol other people. This need can be a negetive force which is termed personalizes power, if its expressed through aggressive minipulation and exploiting others, these people want power only to achieve their own personal goals.However the need for power can also be s een in a positive manner which is called socialized power because it can be be conducted towards the constructive improvement of organizations ans societies. It is basically the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise. Individuals with a high need of power prefer to be placed into competitive and status-orientated situations and tend to be more concerned with prestige than with effective performance. Affiliation reflects a strong desire to be liked by other people such as your colleagues nd anoyone you may be working with. Individuals who have a high level of this need are more orientated towards getting along with others and may be less concerned with performing at high levels. These types of individuals are usually very social and friendly. The need for affliation is not important for management and leadership success as one would find it difficult to make tough but necessary decisions which will make some people unhappy. They prefer cooperat ive situations rather than competitive ones and desire relationships that involve a high degree of mutual understanding. . McGREGORS THEORY OF X AND Y Douglas McGreggors theory of X and Y is a management based style of theory that tries to expalin different management styles and leadership behaviour within the workplace. McGreggor proposed that the organizations leaders and the organization as a whole has different views on the skills and motivation of the employees of the organization. These potential views can be described as Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X With Theory X assumptions, management's role is to coerce and control employees. People have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible. * People must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment in order to get them to achieve the organizational objectives. * People prefer to be directed, do not want responsibility, and have little or no ambition. * People seek security above all else. Theory Y With Theory Y assumptions, management's role is to develop the potential in employees and help them to release that potential towards common goals. * Work is as natural as play and rest. People will exercise self-direction if they are committed to the objectives (they are NOT lazy). * Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement. * People learn to accept and seek responsibility. * Creativity, ingenuity, and imagination are widely distributed among the population. People are capable of using these abilities to solve an organizational problem. * People have potential. McGreggor did not see these theories as mutually exclusive and believed that managers could use these theories simultaneously.He compared his theory with Maslow’s where he put Maslow's higher needs and Theory X together and lower needs to Theory X. This proposes that people who are seeking higher needs, such as self-actualization, are motivated by a Theory Y lead er, whereas people who don’t have work-related needs are motivated by Theory X leadership style. 9. CONCLUSION In conclusion, It is therefore essential for organizations to look for and employ people who â€Å"fit† into the values of the organization and are able to function according to organizational values.Organizations must also have suitable managers who have the ability to coach and mentor their employees to deliver optimally. Enhanced leadership enables managers to motivate their employees to produce the best possible skills and practices in human resources. Research confirms the importance of motivation in leading employees and influencing them to stimulate and energize people so that they â€Å"work towards organizational goals†. Researchers have placed great importance on the responsibility of managers â€Å"to create a proper climate in which employees can develop to their fullest potential†.All these motivational theories have played a pivotal role in helping managers achieve the best results, and also helped undestand how important motivation is. Motivation thoeries give a broader explanation about how people perceive their work and lives, and how they use these insights to motivate themselves and grow, as people as well as in their jobs. 10. LIST OF REFERENCES NELSON, Q. (2011), Principles of Organizational Behaviour, 7th Edition, Place: South-Western Cengage Learning LUTHANS, F. (1998), Organizational Behaviour, 8th Edition. Place: McGraw-Hill Irwin. GEORGE, J.M and JONES, G. R. (2002), Organizational Behaviour, 3rd Edition, Place:Prentice Hall. MULLENS, L. J( 2010),Management and Organizational Behaviour, 9th Edition. Place: Prentice Hall. ANTHONY, W. P et al(1999), Human Resource Management: A strategic approach, 3rd Edition, Place: Hartcourt College Publishers. BERGH,Z and THERON,A. (2006). Psychology in the work context, 3rd Edition. Place: Prentice Hall. ROBBINS, S. P. (2003). Organizational Behaviour, 10th Editi on. Place: Prentice Hall. ROSENFELD,R. H and WILSON,D. C(2004). Managing Organizations, 2nd Edition. Place: Oxford.

Compare and Contrast Home Depot and Umpqua Bank Essay

Compare and Contrast Home Depot and Umpqua Bank - Essay Example Different companies have different cultures, which will be discussed here in the light of the Hofstede’s dimensions. Masculinity When both managers of home depot and Umpqua bank took office, their first initiative was to change organizational cultures so as to make the companies more competitive. This was a common goal and therefore each of the company took an initiative to ensure that its culture is transformed. Both companies gave the mandate to different individuals who are males thereby indicating the gender biasness in the two banks. Home depot hired Dennis Donovan while Umpqua hired David from Ziba to research and therefore come up with a solution. Low Uncertainty Avoidance Both of the company embarked on an environmental creation mission because they are change oriented and are ready to take risks. Umpqua ensured that it cleaned all its surrounding as this had a bad image on the company. It also refurbished its structures to ensure that the image of the company changes completely and becomes more user friendly to all customers (Freeze n.d). They did this by changing the structures to become open door one so that each customer can feel free to get in. This is because offices that are regarded as of higher standards keep off lower ranked employees and even customers who refer them as out of their reach. On the other hand, home depot structures such as low light in its orange store houses gave it a new look. Others included cluttered aisles and sparse signage (Charan, 2006). These changes in structures, which are part of organizational culture, saw great improvement in the performance of both companies. There was a major difference on how both companies implemented their policies of changing the organizational structure. Umpqua set aside a budget while home depot company just implemented the policy silently without interrupting the companies program. This played a major role in ensuring that the performance of the company is maintained even in the pe riod of transformation. Low Power Distance Language and relationship between the company officials is another important aspect that both companies undertook. Relation between the members especially the attitude in communicating plays a major role in ensuring that organization work together in achieving the set goals and objectives. Home depot ensured that it installs a good discipline among all members of the organization and all those who were not ready to comply with the new condition were swept out of the company (Charan, 2006). This showed how this aspect of culture was important to the whole performance of the company. Home depot applied an important tactic to ensure that cultural change does not get much resistance from the employees. This was through making the employees understand the benefits that the company will accrue from the change. It did this by holding various meetings with all stakeholders while the project was made clear to all people. On the other hand Umpqua cha nged its philosophies of which the employees came to uphold. It also did this by changing the features of its brand which signaled a new change in the company which was welcomed by the employees (Edger, 2010). Both companies ensured that they install a positive belief on their employees and workers. This gave both companies an upper hand as it changed the mindset of the customers towards the companies’

ETHICS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

ETHICS - Essay Example Ethics or doing what is right is expressed in the company’s corporate social responsibility and is the core value that drives and animates it. While ethics resides in the abstract of ideals of intending to do the right thing, corporate social responsibility on the other hand materializes this ideal through concrete acts in the various operations of the business. Ethics in a business context however is easier said than done and we need not to research far on how the lack of it can make a company wayward such as the examples of Enron, Worldcom and many others. This explain ethics needs to be integrated in the business organization’s strategic plan. Putting in practice to produce the ideal behavior of an organization and its employees can be a challenge and this can be possible by integrating ethics right at the core of the strategic plan. Business, with its profit motive when left unchecked has the tendency to resort to unethical practice to realize it profit motive and t his can only be prevented by enunciating at the core of company’s values and strategies that it will do business ethically. Finocchio, the former CEO and chairman of Informix Corp., expressed how ethics is can concretely integrate into the company’s strategic plan and ultimately, in the business practices through its socially responsible acts. He prescribed that â€Å"ethics should be part of the company's mission statement, long-term strategic plan, public pronouncements, and codes of conduct†. This is the only way to make ethics a "cornerstone of the organizational culture" by integrating it in the core of the strategic plan right at the definition of the most basic question of the business such as â€Å"what do we stand for? What is our purpose? What values do we have?† (Schulman, 2012). The integration of ethics in the strategic plan would reinforce ideal behavior that the company intends to have and will enable the company to project a positive image through their socially responsible acts that inspires confidence among its various stakeholders that would enhance its bottom line as a business enterprise. II. Explain ethical perspective has evolved throughout the program The changing business landscape and the demands of the business various stakeholders has changed the ethical perspective from a mere prerogative to a business imperative. This is express in company’s Corporate Social Responsibility not an addition to a company’s PR work but a tangible business practice whereby a company does not only conforms with the minimum requirement of the regulatory agencies but also consciously exercise an ethical business practice. Corporate social responsibility has also an economic value. When CRM is integrated in a company’s culture, it reinforces that desired behavior that support the objective of having a good brand that would enable the company project a positive image that could ultimately led to the publicâ⠂¬â„¢s confidence and therefore enhance the company’s bottom line. In short, being ethical is more profitable for a business not to mention that the company is relieved not only from government prosecution and fines because it always does what is right but also as a competitive advantage because customers now tend to patronize companies who are ethical. Gone are times when business has to be callous in

History of Environmental Education and Environmental Policies Essay

History of Environmental Education and Environmental Policies - Essay Example Today, an Environmental Education includes not only the technical impact that technology has presented, but also the responsibility that industry and individuals have in their approach to maintaining a sustainable geography that is productive as well as healthy. Modern attitudes towards an Environmental Education have been the result of an evolution in thinking towards the environment that has spanned the last two and a half centuries. Environmental Education traces its roots back to 1762 and the publication of Emile, a novel on educational philosophy that argued that education should focus on the environment (McRea). Wilbur Jackman's 1891 publication of Nature Study for the Common School initiated the Nature Study Movement that was pioneered by the American Nature Study Society headed by the naturalist Liberty Hyde Bailey (McRea). A greater environmental awareness was fostered in the United States by the Romantic Nature Movement and the Progressive Education Movement led by John Dewey (Haskin). In essence, "Environmental education did not spring forth fully formed from any one discipline, but rather as a product of a co-evolutionary process within science, public awareness of environmental issues, and educational ideas" (Haskin). The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was accompanied by an even greater awareness of our environment and the need for conservation and sustainability. The movement towards toda... Movement was spearheaded by Aldo Leopold, a Wisconsin educator that advocated an "an approach to science that merged environmental thinking, science and life practice" (Haskin). This thinking led to the first college degree in conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1946 and the coining of the phrase 'environmental education' by Thomas Pritchard, Deputy Directory of the Nature Conservancy, at a meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Paris in 1948 (McRea). The next decade would see a greater public awareness of nature and the natural surroundings and a call for increased sensitivity and responsibility in our actions that affect our world's environment. These attitudes were brought into greater focus by the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, a critical review of the devastating effects that man and technology can have on the environment (Haskin). The modern environmental movement had been born and the first Earth Day in 1970 can be considered the birth of the modern national policies on Environmental Education, as well as environmental law and policy. Since the 1970s, environmental education has been addressed in the US and around the world based on a few basic principles. 1977 marked the world's first intergovernmental conference on environmental education held at Tbilisi, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia (Archie and McRea). The conference set forth five broad objectives for environmental education that the EPA agreed to and continues to support. These five principles are (1) Awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges; (2) Knowledge and understanding of the environment and environmental challenges; (3) Attitudes of concern for the environment and motivation to

Hudson River Dredging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Hudson River Dredging - Essay Example GE, along with supporters from a portion of the public, strongly opposed dredging as a cleanup option, stating that it was unnecessary since the river was eliminating the PCBs through natural means. However, in 2002 EPA initiated the dredging of two million cubic meters of sediment to remove an estimated 68,000 kilograms of PCBs from a 250-kilometer stretch of the upper Hudson. For the design and implementation of the dredging project, active public involvement was ensured by EPA2. The fish caught from the upper Hudson River were found to be contaminated with the 209 different chemical compounds of PCBs which accumulate in its fat tissues. Humans who consume contaminated fish increase their risk of cancer. Currently, PCB pollution is such that fishing for the purpose of human consumption is prohibited in the upper Hudson River, and permitted only to a limited extent downstream, by health advisories3. While cleaning the Hudson River through dredging and remediation are essential, the technological feasibility, the overall environmental benefits, the adverse impacts caused by hazardous waste from the operations, and the problems caused to nearby communities need to be taken into consideration. Thesis statement: The purpose of this paper is to discuss Hudson River dredging and remediation to remove PCBs; and to examine the environmental benefits and disadvantages resulting from the operations. The Hudson River in New York State is one of the best known examples of a large river system with widespread sediment contamination with PCBs. The upper forty miles of river will undergo cleaning operations, with 2.65 million cubic yards of sediment proposed to be removed. Cleanup has yet to begin, although dredging of 265,000 cubic yards from 94 acres is planned for the first year of dredging operations4. The United States federal government is compelled to address the problem of polychlorinated

Personal project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Personal project - Assignment Example Such countries include Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (GDA 1). Their vision is to bring together top-tier research organisations, for companies (both profit and non-profit) from the Front Range in order to synchronise the exceptional strengths of every Consortium member along with the entire multi-disciplinary expertise so as to improve knowledge awareness of need, inform research and science efforts and eventually offer real-time and location-specific information globally to inform choices that ensure the development of agriculture, as well as public health (GDA 1). The current projects being run by GDA are West Africa Weather Station Installation and Agriculture RE-Analysis of Precipitation Data both in Africa. These projects begun on July, 2014 and still run to date. They are meant to enhance the broader goal of the organisation and that is enhancing food security (GDA 1). The project that I intend to aid is the Weather Station Installation project, which seems to be more fascinating. With the proper kind of research, it would be worthwhile to involve myself in such a

Islamic Banks and Commercial Banks Performance Essay

Islamic Banks and Commercial Banks Performance - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that conventional commercial banks have a better opportunity for increasing profitability and shareholders’ returns since they charge interest and fees on their customers. On the other hand, the Islamic banks have a lower opportunity cost for profit making and increasing the investors’ returns, because they operate on the principle of free-interest. Nevertheless, that is not to say that Islamic banks are not profitable. The low profitability and return on investment for the Islamic banks are largely accounted for by the fact that the Islamic banks operate on a more benevolent basis than the conventional banks. Additionally, the commercial banks have a better grip on the economy of countries than the Islamic bank, since they have a long history compared to the Islamic banking, which is a contemporary phenomenon. The concept of Islamic and commercial banking has attracted a lot scholarly of attention of late, with different fina ncial scholars trying to understand how the concept of Islamic banking works in relation to both Islamic banks profitability and Islamic banks customer behavior. The interest in studying this area has arisen out of the fact that the Islamic banks operate on the basis of the Islamic religious laws, which is a totally different concept from the conventional banking operations. Defining the profitability of the conventional banks is more straightforward because it is based on the banks charging interest rates and fees to their customers of different products and services that the banks offer to the customers.

Ethics, Gender and Family - Legalising Same-sex marriage for the Research Paper

Ethics, Gender and Family - Legalising Same-sex marriage for the benefit of children - Research Paper Example Different religions tend to have different point of views on same sex people; and the same could be said about the politicians also (Maylor and Blackmon, 2005, p. 209). Today same sex marriage is legally recognized in countries like Belgium, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Denmark, etc. Another major issue that has evolved over the past few years along with same sex marriage has been the issue of partnership and adoption issues related to same sex marriage. There are people who believes that same sex marriage should be legalized mainly for the benefits of the children; however there are those who believe that same sex marriage is something which is not natural and it may not actually benefit the children. The present study has been conducted in lieu to understand the issues involved in the debate against and for same sex partnering by recognizing the attitudes, prejudice, stereotypes, myths involved in the lesbian and gay individuals in the role as parents. Hereby it is also needs to mentioned that secondary research has been used for the collection of secondary data, which has been used for the analysis to draw the final conclusions. A child is defined as an individual person below 18, except the national regulations and laws identify the age of majorities earlier. The controversy of same sex marriages is growing every day. Several options are rising with fear or courage. It is quite difficult to understand to find out the appropriate argument. Smart (1991) has argued that, psychoanalytical theories have labelled the homosexuality as the trait of deviant psychiatric. It is evident that, the attitude of human beings has changed in recent years (Staver, 2004). Still a prejudice element exists regarding the same sex parenting. It is assumed that, children may be flat with the confusion about gender. Moreover, in this case children may get confused over the sexual orientation and stigmatisation. In several countries, the identification of same sex couple is wel l established. Denmark is the first country who has introduced same sex union’s legal reorganization. By observing this, several other countries also have granted several legal rights to these kinds of same sex couples. Civil marriage rights are exist in eight jurisdictions, such as Spain, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and South Africa (Laycock, Picarello & Wilson, 2008). In these countries, there is no distinction between the heterosexual and same sex couples. In the year 2008, the parliament of Norway has adopted a marriage law considering the same sex couples (Wardle, 2003). In the year 2006, the supreme court of New Jersey has passed a law about the same sex couple. Moreover, the higher courts of New York City and Washington D.C. have defined the same sex marriage (Eskridge & Spedale, 2006). In the same year, the supreme court of New Jersey has announced that, the couples of same sex will enjoy the same social benefits similar to the couples of opposite sex. The same sex marriage was legalized in the year 2009 in the supreme court of Columbia, New Hampshire and Vermont. Moreover, the states of Washington and Maryland have legalized the same sex ma

Hong Kong affect its future economy Essay Example for Free

Hong Kong affect its future economy Essay This research project seeks to bring out the effects of the Hong Kong population structure on the future economy of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a booming economy being one of the major financial districts of the South Asian region and its changing population structure has a lot to do with its workforce and in turn affects its working culture and present and future economic structure as well. Research Question: The research question for this project seek to study how or to what extent the population structure a regards to age and gender or social characteristics of the population tend to affect the present and future economy of Hong Kong. So there are two parts to this research project – the first part analyzes the population structure of Hong Kong with regards to the age and gender or social status and the second part brings out the economic structure of Hong Kong from its past to present changes and the future of Hong Kong economy in a more globalized world and the impact of global markets on the financial centre of Asia. The focused research question in this case brings out several dimension of the study as through the analysis of the qualitative and quantitative dimensions, the subjective and objective aspects of the study. The impact of the changes in population structure on the economy could be understood on the basis of changing population numbers and percentages quantitatively and the socioeconomic changes as understood qualitatively. The research question essentially focuses on the qualitative and quantitative dimensions of the research as it seeks to bring out the impact of population change in economic structure of Hong Kong in a descriptive manner and in accordance with socioeconomic changes, as in influence of wage, gender, age gaps and changes etc an also the direct statistical values and correlations between population and economic structures in terms of numbers and statistical values. The research question on the extent to which population structure affects the Hong Kong economy thus brings out this ‘extent’ in terms of numbers or real values as also in terms of description of changes in Hong Kong as what happens qualitatively when the population structure changes and what is the impact on the economy from a descriptive point of view. Like for example this can be related to lack of high living standards, poor health conditions of the elderly. These would be qualitative dimensions of the research and the values or percentages of changing population and simultaneously changing economy would be the quantitative aspects of research. These two methods are discussed further in the methodology section as given below. Background/Literature Review: A brief literature review is provided here and brings out the main points of research articles as published in journals and obtained from ingentaconnect or sciencedirect or JSTOR. The literature review is on the Hong Kong population and economic structure and articles published and written on these issues showing the impact of an ageing population on Hong Kong’s economy and job prospects and on the industries in Hong Kong as influenced by a global economy and ageing population. In this literature review section a study by Leigh (2006), a research article by Chui published 2003 and another by Fan and Lui (2003) have been selected. Leigh’s study shows the direct impact of ageing on Hong Kong’s economy, fiscal changes and living standards. Chui shows how the ageing population face problems of survival and housing in a fast paced Hong Kong economy and Fan and Lui talk of gender and wage gap in Hong Kong’s population that could redefine economic changes and structure. The studies chosen here highlight the qualitative aspects of the impact of ageing and gender changes in population or demography on the economic structure of Hong Kong. The participation of women has also increased significantly necessitating needs of study of the impact of gender on Hong Kong’s economy and how women’s participation in the workplace can change things for the economy. In a research article on the population structure of Hong Kong, Leigh (2006) has suggested that Hong Kong SAR’s population has been aging rapidly and aging could adversely affect the growth and living standards of people in Hong Kong. There has to be some change in economic and administrative policies in keeping with the aging or changing population according to the article. There is a high labor and productivity growth with increased migration of younger skilled workers from Chinese mainland in Hong Kong mainly due to Hong Kong’s booming economy and although this attenuates the economic impact of aging, there is no full offset of the impact of aging population on the economic structure of Hong Kong. According to Leigh, aging puts considerable pressure on public finances particularly as with aging there is also rising health costs that directly affect government spending. There are relatively fewer options that government has and opportunities to implement polices on this are also limited that could lessen the impact of aging on the governance and structure as demographic effects would start setting in by 2015 when the ratio of working population would peak. The Hong Kong SAR authorities have been focused on administrative and governance policies that would limit or reduce the fiscal impact of aging and they have also provided continued expenditure restraint on reform of health care financing with private health insurance systems, along with tax reforms and non age sensitive areas (Leigh, 2006). Considering the gradual ageing problem of Hong Kong, Chui (2001) suggest that Hong Kong as one of the Four Dragons of Asia is faced with the gradual ageing problem that seems to have affected the urban fabric of the city as also the general population. However one of the regions in which Hong Kong seems to be booming along with the economy is property development as Hong Kong is mainly based on a property led economy and the government as well as private and public property developers have been launching redevelopment projects for setting up new structures in Hong Kong. However as Chui points out the special needs problems of elderly people have not been attended to and most of Hong Kong’s elderly people are poor physically, financially and socially. However with urban renewal and changes, the elderly people are at disadvantage and face threats to their survival as they are not in a position to cope with the restructuring changes in Hong Kong’s fast paced urban development projects. There has also been a gradual weakening of the respect to Chinese traditional values and culture as for the respect given to the elderly and this along with nuclearization of families have added to the problems of the elderly. Chui writes that government housing policies in Hong Kong should emphasize on community care and ageing in place and help in solving housing problems and needs of the elderly. The study shows the plight of older people in Hong Kong, a booming economy in the South Asian region and a contrasting fate of the elderly people. The gender gap in wages has been analyzed by some researchers and the trend shows a narrowing gender gap in wages. According to Fan and Lui (2003), the narrowing gender gap may be related to women’s advantages compared with earlier times especially women’s changing positions at the workplace. Gender gap is found as smaller in occupations and industries that are less dependent on physical labour as men are more suitable for physically rigorous work. This shows that when an economy transforms from a manufacturing or production oriented approach to a more service oriented one, women’s productivity would be recognized an with increased women’s participation in service based economies, the gender gap on the basis of wage or participation at the workplace also decreases. A 1% random subsample was used in this study for two population censuses and the results of the experiment also support empirical results. Methodology The methodology to be used for this study will be both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative and quantitative data would be primarily available from the internet and research journal databases and journal articles will be selected along with studies by the Hong Kong government as based on the economic indicators, as well as statistical and other government reports on the population and GDP, GNP and labor or prices. Of course in this section we highlight the importance of theory and practice and differentiate between the theories and the practical implications of research and the use of methodology to explain these two features. The theories that will be dealt with will be economic theories and changes in the global economy along with changes in the Hong Kong economic structure. The practical implications here would be changes in the population structure statistically obtained and otherwise and population changes as indicated in journal articles that deal with ageing and its associated problems in Hong Kong. The theories and practice of the economic and population changes in Hong Kong will be obtained from journal articles selected from journal databases and these articles are obtained by using search terms such as ‘Hong Kong economy’, ‘Hong Kong population, ‘Ageing population, ‘South Asian Economy’, ‘Economic structure of Hong Kong, Population of Hong Kong, ‘Elderly in Hong Kong, ‘Employment in Hong Kong and Economy’ etc. As indicated in the later part of the study, the government’s reports on the economic changes and population changes have been given here and the results can be used to show the trends and the analysis can be done quantitatively and qualitatively to show the changes in population in terms of age, gender and wages or social status. In fact wage structure shows changes in economic conditions of the major part of population and results could be drawn to show how economy and wages would be related in turn to gender and age and the overall impact this has on the Hong Kong’s population structure could be drawn in the analysis and interpretation section of the results. The different possible methodological frameworks would be the qualitative methodology and the quantitative methodology. Qualitative methodology is about understanding the more qualitative or subjective aspects of the population and delineating the attributes or the characteristics of job changes, economic structure and population structure in Hong Kong. Quantitative methodology is about showing statistical tables and values and suggests the population and economic structural changes in terms of values or numbers as given in statistical tables. The impact of old age or ageing population on the economy as discussed qualitatively by researchers would form part of the study using journal articles and descriptions of the situation as given by researchers in articles and published papers as would be the quantitative aspects that are given in published reports and statistical tables giving values or numbers that define the changes in Hong Kong’s social, demographic and economic structure quantitatively in terms of values, statistics and numbers. A snapshot of the qualitative and quantitative primary data as would be used in the research study is given below and from some of the research papers as used in the literature review and the reports published by the Hong Kong government, the primary data in terms of tables or published research reports will be chosen and analyzed for the purposes of this study. The published articles or papers in journals as selected from ingenta, sciencedirect, JSTOR or other such databases thus provide the basis for qualitative primary data and the published research reports as available from Hong Kong government sites showing statistical analysis of population and economic structure form the more quantiatve aspects of this study and a balance of quantitative and qualitative methods will be considered for analysis of this research study. Social science research is largely based on ontological and epistemological propositions that help to understand consumer behavior and in this case population structure and government approach to population and how it affects Hong Kong economy in general. From the ontological point of view any phenomena could be analyzed objectively using economic data and in this case the economic structure of Hong Kong could be comparatively objectively analyzed considering other developed or developing economies and the effects of population on economy. The epistemological approach to methodology emphasizes on people’s perspectives and the subjective or qualitative aspects of research as already indicated. Positivistic and Interpretive theories in social science research focus on scientific data (as in positivism) in which experimental findings are of prime importance and interpretive analysis in which drawing out qualitative aspects and viewpoints of the researcher would be more important. The epistemological, interpretive positions are closer to qualitative methodology and the positivistic, ontological philosophies are akin to quantitative methodology as used in any research project. The Table below provides the population structure of Hong Kong by age and sex and as seen from the initial study of 2007 population growth and structure, 3. 9% of the population is above 60 years of age, 3. 4% of the population is above 65 or 70 years of age, 2. 7% of the population reaches above 75 year limit and 1. 7% of the population crosses the 80 year old mark. 1. 4% of the population is above 85 years. This suggests that a significant portion of the population is an aged population in Hong Kong and this is a change from 2006 in which the 60 year old population was at 3. 7% and above 75 year olds was at 2. 6% and above 85 year olds was at 1. 3%. The charts show that thee has been a slight yet significant increase in aging population of Hong Kong and considerable decrease in the young population as seen from the population data of 2006-2007. If data is attained over a period of last 10 years this aging population trend will however become more prominent and this will be elaborated in the methodology and data collection section of the research. This research table thus forms part of the resources that we use as data for our study on the effects of population on economic structure.

Describe some of the highs and lows of the week Essay Example for Free

Describe some of the highs and lows of the week Essay Describe some of the highs and lows of the week. Aim to bring to life each situation by describing the atmosphere, the event and your reactions. Avoid writing a simple chronological account. I finally had the chance to see what life is like out of school, and what life will be like in the future. Sothebys Billingshurst and to Sothebys Olympia in London was where I went for my one week work experience. It was a truly enjoyable experience and an excellent opportunity to see how the business operates, and also an opportunity for me to learn. The best part of the week was taking part in a live auction. The least exciting task was helping the gallery staff, as this only involved patrolling the gallery. The auction was the highlight of the week. It was a two day sale selling mostly garden statuary, but there were also some very interesting Jurassic fossils. The fossils I became most fascinated with were six fossilised dinosaur eggs, which managed to gain 2,400. I expected them to sell for more. During the auction I did the currency conversion. This is where I had to listen to the auctioneer say every price for each lot, for example. I would have to type these numbers into the computer and then they would be converted. The prices for each currency and the image of the lot selling would be shown to the buyers on a huge plasma screen. I also got the chance to step up onto the rostrum several times. This was an excellent opportunity for me. I was the sales clerk, so I had to record the money obtained for each lot, and bid information. I really enjoyed being part of the auction. The sale became especially exciting when two buyers were bidding against each other for a lot worth. Overall the total money from the auction was over a million pounds. Another experience I liked was going to Sothebys Olympia in London. The reason for this is fewer sales take place at Billingshurst, so there is more happening in Olympia. The day began when I joined other commuters at the train station on the 6. 45am train to Kensington Olympia. I quickly realised that this must be the most tedious and time consuming part of the working day. I thought how soul destroying this would be to have to repeat this journey every day of a working lifetime. When I got off the train everyone seemed to be rushing to where they were going. The pace of life had changed and I was aware that I was in the fast moving centre of a huge capital city. When I arrived at Olympia it surprised me to see the size of the building where this international company was based in stark contrast to the Victorian manor house in the Sussex countryside where I had my first taste of the auction business. The offices were modern and open plan. I was introduced to some of the staff, and met Lord Dalmeny, chairman of Sothebys Olympia, and one of the countrys richest men. He referred to me as boy, which I thought sounded a little old fashioned. The work I did was firstly filing, which was rather boring, but a job that had to be done. Then I had lunch in the restaurant, which was far superior to Bishop Luffas canteen. After lunch I helped the gallery staff label all thee lots, ranging from an eighteenth century sundial to an unusual Perspex spherical ceiling light from the swinging sixties. The day went in a flash and I soon joined my fellow commuters homeward bound. One of the disadvantages of being in the world of work as opposed to school is the long hours. Although I started later I finished later too, and I was working eight or nine hours, instead of six hours with far fewer breaks in between. I also had to do several jobs at once, unlike school where I would be doing one. I found it more tiring than school, and would have to go to bed earlier than I normally would. There were a lot of mundane jobs that had to be done that were not very interesting, but a necessary part of the smooth running of the day to day business. There were also unexpected interruptions that stopped me in the middle of some jobs. The most thrilling part of the week was undoubtedly the live auction, with a room full of people listening to the auctioneer who had complete command of the auction. It was staggering to think that people could even afford the items on offer, and it made me aware of the different life styles people experience, for example; it was an every day event for clients to drop in by helicopter. The hardest part was the long hours, as I am not used to them. My work experience was very rewarding and enlightening, and I was disappointed to see the week over.

Concept of internal marketing

Concept of internal marketing The concept of internal marketing The concept of internal marketing is a tool that companies use within their workforce to communicate with their employees. Many company owners and authors of internal marketing believe this concept is as important to a companys survival as external marketing (communicating to customers). When communicating to employees this involves the communications of â€Å"corporate culture and goals, mission and vision statements, as well as personnel policies and procedures†. http://www.bnet.com/2410-13237_23-168356.html Internal marketing was introduced in the mid 1970s. This was initiated so companies could use the concept as a way of achieving consistent service quality. Internal marketing became known in the service marketing industry. The objective of this concept was to get a more improved performance from the employees who regularly dealt with customers. Although this concept began within the service marketing it has now broadened beyond and is included in many other companies and organisations. Ahmed and Rafiq authors of the book Internal Marketing: Tools and concepts for customer-focused management suggest that authors have many definitions of internal marketing and from studying the literature they have highlighted 5 main elements of the concept; Employee motivation and satisfaction Customer orientation and customer satisfaction Inter-functional co-ordination and integration Marketing-like approach to the above Implementation of specific corporate or functional strategies Employee motivation is a significant element of the concept, for many authors understand this to be the essence of what internal marketing to be. An employees attitude towards their own work place is believed to directly influence the value of the customer service that is given to consumers. This was summarised by Kusluvan (2003) â€Å"Internal marketing efforts are assumed to result in employee satisfaction, job involvement, work motivation, employee commitment, maximum employee effort on behalf of the organizations and customers, increased job performance, service-oriented behaviours and lower turnover which, in turn should improve service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty† Kusluvan, S (2003) pg:42. There are many other definitions of internal marketing. Ahmed and Rafiq argue that the span of understanding about internal marketing from other authors is huge but vague in its limitations. One of the earlier studies by the author Berry, L (1974) believed that â€Å"effective internal marketing, which would contribute to effective marketing would require financially rewarding personnel, management commitment to sales training and self-development revision of personnel transfer policies and a redefinition of management in terms of helping people to achieve through work† (p.13). Berry along with Pasuraman (1991) later added another definition to the concept in their book Marketing services: Competing Through Quality by stating â€Å"Internal marketing is attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employees through job-products that satisfy their needs. Internal marketing is the philosophy of treating employees as customers and it is the strategy of shaping job -products to fit human needs† (pg 26). These authors believed that there was a set of principles to treating employees fairly and motivating them. They also highlighted the belief that employee satisfaction was an important element of internal marketing. The definition by these authors stress the importance that employee satisfaction is needed in order to develop, motivate and retain the best and most qualified employees. From these two definitions given by Barry you can understand that the concept of internal marketing is a broad notion. The American Marketing Association have given a more simplistic and modern definition for the concept â€Å"marketing to employees of an organization to ensure that they are effectively carrying out desired programs and policies†. This definition doesnt give readers a breadth understanding of the concept. Unlike Berrys (1991) definition it doesnt justify how internal marketing can be achieved in the workplace and it also doesnt explain the ways in which employees are to be marketed to ensure the work carried out by them is effective and of a good standard. An important element of internal marketing as said earlier is motivation [motivating the work force]. Considered by many authors as the ‘grandfather of all definitions on internal marketing Grà ¶nroos (1994) created a definition which saw the efforts of motivating employees as very important. Grà ¶nroos had two previous definitions both created in 1981 which suggests that internal marketing is the selling of the firm to employees who are seen as the internal customers. Grà ¶nroos believed that â€Å"the higher employee satisfaction that will result will make it possible to develop a more customer-focused and market-oriented firm† (Cahill, 1996, p.4). Grà ¶nroos 1994 article looks into motivation and states that â€Å"the internal market of employees is best motivated for service mindedness and customer-oriented performance by an active, marketing-like approach, where a variety of activities are used internally in an active, marketing like and coordinated way† (Grà ¶nroos, 1994, p. 13). This definition, as well as Johnson and Seymours (1985) definition which explains internal marketing should â€Å"create an internal environment which supports customer consciousness and sales-mindedness†. Both definitions highlight the fact that internal marketing is about the service and sales mindedness of the customers. There are other recent definitions of the concept of internal marketing by Ballantyne (2000) which suggests that internal marketing â€Å"is a strategy for developing relationships between staff across internal organisational boundaries. This is done so that staff autonomy and know-how may combine in opening up knowledge generating processes that challenge any internal activities that need to be changed. The purpose of this activity is to enhance quality of external marketing relationships† (pg: 43). This definition emphasises the importance of the relationship between the staff and the organisation and how internal marketing is a strategy that will allow this relationship to become stronger. It also highlights the fact that building on the relationship can enhance the service quality and also their relationship with their external markets. To evaluate how affective internal marketing is with employees companies usually give staff seasonal or yearly surveys which they will us e to measure the affects of their internal marketing efforts. There are many answers to what can actually make a successful company. Some may say its the companys ability to adapt to the market or even a companys high level of customer retention and many believe successful companies are created from within the organisation. Communicating internally but affectively to your internal market (employees) many authors believe is an important attribute for company success, An article written in 2007 about the importance of internal marketing suggested thatâ€Å"Internal communications is traditionally viewed as the sole province of the Human Resources department,† and the article continued by stressing the importance that employees have over effective external marketing â€Å"When employees understand and commit to the value proposition of the company and its brands, external marketing becomes more effective, because the employees become product champions†. As the pace of the economy is fast changing and the recent recession has affected many companys survival, internal marketing grows increasingly important. Due to the recession and the increasing pace of change in the workforce, there has been news of many companys creating alliances with one another, merging with one another and also downsizing as a whole. During these hard times employee motivation is extremely important, especially if every employee is understandably beginning to have concerns about their own companys survival or their current job position. Organisations must instil within these employees some sort of strength and satisfaction that would mean that the employees would continue working and at a good level. Generally, a strategy that many companies use and one which coincides with Ballantynes (2000) definition is that companies â€Å"empower staff to build stronger customer relationship†. Internal marketing supports this strategy (or theory some might say) and suggests that through staff empowerment employees will drive for better understanding, they will have a deeper commitment to the relationship they hold with the organisation and as a result there will be greater involvement from the staff. While todays diverse work force becomes more complicated there are a few barriers which can possibly affect how internal marketing is kept within an organisation. In the book Internal marketing: directions for management, Varey R and Lewis B explain these barriers. The first and probably the most important barrier would be the employees and an organisations ‘resistance to change. Kotler (1990) believed that problems can occur from an organisations ‘built-in â€Å"resistance of management to change† (Percy and Morgan 1990). Managers often do not consider new ideas brought about their company, and this is because a change in the work place can bring forth an overall fear of concern about their job and future positions. Other barriers to internal marketing are ‘inter and intra functional conflict. Inter-functional conflicts often occur when a senior managers assumption of their organisational culture is ill-advised and as a consequence managers may become unaware of the issues and problems which affect prolific activities or â€Å"co-operation and integration† (pg: 78). Intra-functional conflicts are basically when one internal function fails to recognise another internal function. Intra-functional conflicts on the other hand are where the goals and objectives of the organisation and its departments are different to the individual and personal goals of employees. â€Å"It occurs because individuals have different goal, desires and ambitions, and will be submerged in different social spheres of interaction that will impact upon their overall attitude and behaviour†. (Pg: 79) If ever these barriers work in cohesion then it can spell big trouble for any organisation. Although the three chosen are seem as the major barriers affecting the use of internal marketing within an organisation there are also a few other problems which can affect successful implementation of the concept. 1, managerial incompetence 2, poor understand of the internal marketing concept 3, rigid organisational structure and 4, top members of staff treating employees like they are unimportant to the business. Anon (2007) Internal Marketing Kotler P, Bowen J and Makens J (2003) have stated 5 importances of internal marketing; Employees must have a customer service attitude Employees must understand your product Employees must be enthused about your product and your company There must be good communication between employees and management Employees must be able to identify and solve customer problems Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism 3e (2003) Generally employees of organisations, especially those who communicate directly with customers can have an influence on customer satisfaction. The authors suggest that these are 5 important features of internal marketing and in order for it to be affective organisations must aide in ensuring that employees behave in a desired manner expected of them from the organisation. Internal market in todays industry is needed because as Berry L Pasuraman A (1991) stated it serves as a â€Å"managerial philosophy† that a company deploys on to employees that in turn would teach the employees how to maintain good high standard of affective customer service. Within organisations employees are recognised as a major part of the capabilities that service organisations produce. â€Å"The popular view is that employees constitute an internal market in which paid labour is exchanged for designated outputs.† Fill C (2009) pg: 895. Fill suggests if the objective of an organisations internal market is kept then employees will reap the benefits through paid labour. Kotler P, Bowen J and Makens J (2003) have proposed that these are the four objectives of internal marketing; To ensure that employees are motivated for customer-oriented and service-minded performance. To retain good employees. To increase customer satisfaction To increase profitability Some may argue that the main objective of internal marketing is to retain suitable and efficient employee personnel. As a means of retaining these ideal employees, organisations develop motivated and customer-conscious staff which while working simultaneously and cohesively can work towards achieving absolute customer satisfaction. There is a philosophy in internal marketing that every action made within the organisation is oriented towards this sole purpose. As times and the economy change so would the process of internal marketing. The model above shows four steps of internal marketing. Some authors believe this model to be too vague and feel that the complexity of the internal market or many organisations cannot be met by four simple steps. Grà ¶nroos (1996) believes â€Å"The internal marketing process is not to be viewed as a process, which only moves in one direction from the top down. On the contrary, the process needs to be directed from and to every side of the organisation in order for it to be successful† As it is important that an organisations internal marketing objectives are met by its employees, an organisation will produce an internal environment that staff will need to function in to a desired way recommended to them by their company. In the article Internal Marketing (2007) it is written that there are four important areas within an organisations internal environment which are essential for the organisations internal market: Motivation Co-ordination Information Education Internal Marketing from engineer sood These four areas have come up many times in definitions by numerous authors and combined create the four objectives of internal marketing that organisational managers should be trying to reach from their employees. If these are reached then as a result the employees work would drive the profitability of the organisation to a positive and effective level. To conclude in many definitions you will read internal marketing being referred to as a concept that aims on â€Å" attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employee† Berry Pasuraman (1991). In some other cases you will read that internal marketing is a philosophy whereby employees are treated as customers or even in some cases where organisations will basically teach employees a specific way of working in the work place and handling customers. Internal marketing has come a long way since it was first proposed in the service marketing industry in the 1970s. The role of marketing in general has undergone many changes. Organisations have begun networking with one another and members of organisations have begun sharing responsibilities and working as teams. Although many if not all definitions of the term ‘internal marketing can still be relevant to today, the concept in itself over the past 40 years has become one which is/will constantly change as long as the world of business changes. From a concept which first focused on supporting the consciousness and sales-mindedness of employees to one which broadens its scope and understands that the concept is much more profound and more complex to achieve good employee to customer service quality. Key words such as ‘relationships, or ‘motivate and philosophy are now being used in the more modern terms of the definition. J.N. Sheth suggests â€Å"motivation is what moves people. It is the driving force for all human behaviour or more formally, it is ‘the state of drive or arousal that impels behaviour toward a goal objective† (Sheth et al 1999). Indeed, motivating employees has continually been used by authors since the concept of internal marketing was initiated , and although motivating employees to work harder and more efficiently is seen to be very important, organisations also need to understand and create a way of making employees enjoy the work that they are doing. Content workforces which take pleasure in their work are understood to be more productive and affective, which in turn creates a better service and customer experience.Organisations must instil within these employees some sort of strength and satisfaction that would encourage the employees to continue working and at a good level. As the new age dawns many organisations have even used employees to help sell their company e.g. Halifax. Halifax adverts and many other adverts similar to this have used employees as a way of advertising to external customers about big internal changes to policies and procedures that the company may be having. You see adverts everywhere with pictures of employees holding offers or incentives from their company or maybe even different adverts where employees are actually talking to the camera. This can be seen as a form or a strategy used for internal marketing. As a good employee is as important to a company as the employer, employees may feel the need to get more involved with company actions and strategies. In the article Internal Marketing (2007) it was stated that one of the problems which could affect the successful implementation of internal marketing is the ignoring of an employees importance to the company and treating them like any other tool of the business. Companies such as The Carphone Warehouse have their own internal marketing strategy whereby they are accompanied by new employees on a weekend of training. On this expedition employees are taught how to deal with customers, they are given information about the company and objectives that the company and each individual employee are and should be trying to reach, they are taught many things about the products sold in the shops, how to deal with complaints and they are also taught ways in which they should act in the workplace (the rules and codes of conducts). Organisations which take on the strategy to market internally must have a clear and precise objective and mission. The objectives of the organisation must be very clear if it is to correspond with how managers internally market their company to employees. If objectives are clear there will be no confusion within the staff on how to do things and what to aim for. This will help the process of knowledge development of the employee by piecing together understanding and loyalty to individual development. As a personal definition of the term internal marketing one would define it as an internal culture created by the managers of an organisation. This culture allows employees to express their creativity and innovative selves to an extent where they still show responsibility and accountability. It is the selling of the ideals and objectives of the company to the employees so that they work harder towards the goal of ultimate success. Developing and motivating employees are strategies deployed to attain the best qualified staff which would allow organisations to reach set objectives. It is a concept which can be evaluated seasonally through surveys and observations of the employees. Internal marketing should be used to meet the expectations of customers, instead internal marketing should be used to exceed them.

Self-improvement througth Frost Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living† â€Å"Know thyself† The great philosopher Socrates stated these ideas and made it his duty to fulfill his own reasoning. He knew that as human beings, we are a complex system of nature’s product that is still very enigmatic to our selves. Thus in order to fully comprehend one self as an individual, one must look inward and seek the cause and function of one’s own natural condition. Many methods are effective in one’s search, and this fact holds evident to our own differences, some use social interaction as a form of investigation, while others may find solitary confinement as a more productive approach. Through my own personal path to clarity and understanding, it has proved invaluable to myself that the reading of literature and poetry has a profound effect upon fulfillment. By associating oneself into the thoughts and theories of the writer, one can gain an insight into their personal condition. In particular, Robert Frost includes much thought and examples into his own behavior a s well as others. Through the analysis of Robert Frost’s poetry, one attains an insight into oneself, and a deeper perspective of the human condition. Poems such as â€Å"The Death of a Hired Man†, â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, and â€Å"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening† all are incorporated with his thoughts of the natural human condition, and delve into his own definitive bearing. Poetry, he wrote, was â€Å"one step backward taken,† resisting time-a â€Å"momentary stay against confusion.†(Baym 1116) The confusion that Frost recalls is the chaos that is included in the search for oneself, and poetry to him was an elapse from the confusion. It gave him comfort to read and write of his thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, and analyze them in a humanistic nature that many could relate to and enjoy. In the 1930s when writers tended to be political activists, he was scene as one whose old-fashioned values were inappropriate, even dangerous, in modern times. Frost deeply resented this criticism, and responded with a new hortatory, didactic kind of poetry. (Baym1116) This style of poetry created an atmosphere that urged the reader to generate perception into the moral subject and envision the meaning behind them. Frost shared with Thoreau and Emerson the belief that everybody is a separate individuality and that collective enterprise could do nothing but weaken the self. (... ... own idea of their balance and enforce the idea that the importance of such is invaluable, thus aiding in the search for oneself as an individual. Scientists say that the human race is the most complex and sophisticated race of all. They say that the full understanding of such an entity is far from attainable. Robert Frost is a man and a poet who knew himself, a person who will continue to fulfill his needs as a human. His work as a poet is all the evidence that is needed to prove this thought. One may greatly benefit in the study and thought of his work, a teacher for all to learn if the mind is open. The human condition is continuously brought up in his poetry as a force to be made comfortable and understanding to. Listen to your inner condition and learn as Frost has of its great power to enrich the individual to a higher plain. Search into yourself as a book always being rewritten, ready for tuning, open for improvement. Work Cited Baym, Nina. The Notron Anthology of American Literature. Fifth edition, vol 2. Ed. Juliae Reidhead. Unites States of America, 1998 Self Improvement through the poetry of Robert Frost

Perception: Seeing is Believing - UFOs :: essays research papers

Perception: Seeing is Believing - UFOs Since the times when the earth was believed to be a flat object, man has had a lust and curiosity about space and the bodies that exist in it. Early astronomers trying to grasp the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe would study the patterns of the stars and planets to try to put this massive puzzle together. In their studies history has recorded sightings of objects that didn't hold to any pattern or set movement supposedly proved to be correct. Objects that moved freely in the sky in any way, shape or form they pleased. Having no further explanation for these dilemmas of space, they were dubbed "UFO's". The acronym UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. Modern electronics and science have helped us in the search for an explanation of these mysterious floating objects. In actuality they haven't gotten us much further on the mission for proof of other living beings in the universe. But in a universe so incomprehensibly large that we no not even a boundary, I sincerely doubt that the human race is the only form of life. It seems certain scientists have come up with other hypotheses concerning UFO's. While all astronomers yearn for a concrete explanation on UFO's, their beliefs on their origin contrast. Many looking for a more scientific definition disregard UFO's as nothing more than a mere misinterpretation of a plane, weather balloon, or meteor. Some have gone so far as to say that specific witnesses to UFO's have seen nothing more than a hallucination and "wanted" to see a UFO so their minds adapted that idea into an illusion to satisfy the urge. Personally, I have had two encounters with unexplainable objects in the sky and to disregard them as a misinterpretation or hallucination is an impossibility. Witnesses who were with me on one of the occasions saw exactly what I did and we concluded it impossible to be anything but unexplainable. Numerous other people out there have also had personal experiences with UFO's and have proof of what they saw. Some people lucky enough have had cameras and home video recorders with them at the time of the encounter caught them on tape. Further analysis of the tapes and photos have proved them to be real, strengthening the believers point of view on alien existence. The strongest piece of evidence on alien existence is the efforts the government makes to cover up the proof on UFO's. The most famous example of this is a building compound found out in the deserts of Nevada called Area 51. Employees of this top secret alien research compound have talked out on the Perception: Seeing is Believing - UFOs :: essays research papers Perception: Seeing is Believing - UFOs Since the times when the earth was believed to be a flat object, man has had a lust and curiosity about space and the bodies that exist in it. Early astronomers trying to grasp the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe would study the patterns of the stars and planets to try to put this massive puzzle together. In their studies history has recorded sightings of objects that didn't hold to any pattern or set movement supposedly proved to be correct. Objects that moved freely in the sky in any way, shape or form they pleased. Having no further explanation for these dilemmas of space, they were dubbed "UFO's". The acronym UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. Modern electronics and science have helped us in the search for an explanation of these mysterious floating objects. In actuality they haven't gotten us much further on the mission for proof of other living beings in the universe. But in a universe so incomprehensibly large that we no not even a boundary, I sincerely doubt that the human race is the only form of life. It seems certain scientists have come up with other hypotheses concerning UFO's. While all astronomers yearn for a concrete explanation on UFO's, their beliefs on their origin contrast. Many looking for a more scientific definition disregard UFO's as nothing more than a mere misinterpretation of a plane, weather balloon, or meteor. Some have gone so far as to say that specific witnesses to UFO's have seen nothing more than a hallucination and "wanted" to see a UFO so their minds adapted that idea into an illusion to satisfy the urge. Personally, I have had two encounters with unexplainable objects in the sky and to disregard them as a misinterpretation or hallucination is an impossibility. Witnesses who were with me on one of the occasions saw exactly what I did and we concluded it impossible to be anything but unexplainable. Numerous other people out there have also had personal experiences with UFO's and have proof of what they saw. Some people lucky enough have had cameras and home video recorders with them at the time of the encounter caught them on tape. Further analysis of the tapes and photos have proved them to be real, strengthening the believers point of view on alien existence. The strongest piece of evidence on alien existence is the efforts the government makes to cover up the proof on UFO's. The most famous example of this is a building compound found out in the deserts of Nevada called Area 51. Employees of this top secret alien research compound have talked out on the