Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The program Leadership Innovation and Growth
The program Leadership, Innovation and Growth has been designed by the management at General Electric in order to facilitate team training in leading change. The strategic focus under the leadership of CEO Immelt has been the growth strategy through expanding businesses and creating new ones rather than through acquisitions.The business of GE that participated in the program was Power Generation, one of the company’s oldest businesses. So far GE’s successes had been spurred by the headquarters.But now Immelt wanted to pass on the responsibility to the teams in the individual businesses. In order to facilitate this delegation of responsibility, the LIG program had been designed. The program facilitated team training to lead change and therefore to embed growth into the DNA of the company. The purpose of the program was to make innovation and growth a religion at GE.The program underscores the value of team training. Under the previous CEO Jack Welch, the strategic focus had been to maximize operational excellence. Now the new CEO Immelt wanted to combine innovation and organic growth with operational excellence to synergistic effects.This meant redesigning the organizational structure. Thus the business issue was the process of managing change. However the focus of traditional training programs had been individual training.Therefore when the employee returned to work on the new initiatives, he faced resistance from the rest of the team who had not been trained. The LIG program addressed this problem by focusing on team training so that the participating managers can reach consensus on the growth opportunities and the strategies to be implemented in capitalizing upon them.The industry in which GE Power Generation operates is characterized by a fast pace of change. As a result, the business must be able to manage change continuously. The business has been growing at a fast rate throughout the world. However it emerged from the program that the busine ss did not possess enough management capital to bring about the regulatory changes. This meant that the managers would have to rethink the strategies of developing human capital.The business was growing at a fast rate in emerging markets such as India, China and the Middle East and therefore the critical success factor was to expand the regulatory expertise accordingly. In addition, maintaining the momentum of the company’s growth meant speeding up the product development process. The management needed to reach a consensus in how to implement these strategies in these areas.The management needed to figure out how to delegate authority to the different regions. For example, the natural response to new product development has been to maximize the extent of standardization. Variety and customization have always been disliked. However the challenge in front of the management was to develop products in country for country. Thus the product development process had to be redesigned in terms of delegating more authority to the regional managers.This involved cultural reorientation so that when the regional delegation did not go right, the blame did not fall on headquarters. The management also had to make sure that the process for global customers remained uniform across the regions and that there was a consensus on which contract terms should remain the same and which should be varied. These issues caused the need for the LIG program to be launched.The recommendations that have emerged from the program have been categorized into five areas. The first is the area of team training. This form of training enabled the managers to reach a consensus on what were potentially the barriers to change and how best to attack them. The second area was to consider both the hard barriers and the soft barriers to change. The hard barriers were defined as the existing organizational structure, capabilities and resources.The soft barriers were defined as the interactions between the members of the leadership teams individually and collectively. The management needed to address both barriers in order to manage change effectively. For example, GE Power Generation pursued the growth strategy of developing products in country for country. The barrier to implementing the strategy was the lacking in regulatory strength.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Business Ethics Tyco International Essay
Description of Organization and Product Tyco International Ltd. is a corporation with official headquarters based in Pembroke, Bermuda but the company maintains operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. Tyco has grown into a multi-billion dollar company (scattered in over 100 countries)  with revenue of $41.0 billion USD (2006) to boast. Founded in 1960 by Arthur J. Rosenberg, Tyco was birthed when Rosenberg opened a laboratory intended for research and experimental works catered for government use. Incorporated by 1962 as Tyco Laboratories, it shifted its focus to developing scientific materials as well as energy conversion products, which now caters for the commercial sector. Tyco is a manufacturing and service conglomerate which is involved in a variety of products ranging from electronics, fire and security services, healthcare, aerospace, and some industrial products. For instance, its passive and active electronic components are found in computers, aerospace, automobiles, industrial machines, and household appliances among others. Under its fire protection and electronic security operations, it is responsible for designing, manufacturing, and installing products as well as providing services in these areas. Part of Tyco’s Healthcare business involves medical, pharmaceutical, surgical, imaging, and respiratory products. The company also manufactures industrial valves, and fire sprinklers thereby giving services in residential and industrial settings (â€Å"Tyco: Our Business†). It also provides services  consultation on engineering and construction management, including operating services. Through one of its subsidies, the company also has an integrated system used for the tracking and controlling public transportation system, tunnels, and bridges. Furthermore, Tyco is involved in the monitoring of systems of burglar & fire alarms, and on medical alert systems where 24-hour monitoring and response is necessary. Tyco is also engaged in buying steel and resin in the United States, as well as copper, gold, zinc, brass, paper, ink, cotton, wax, chemicals and additives. Other products purchased by the group are foil, copper clad materials, adhesives, and cloth. As of 2005, Tyco is responsible for employing about 247,900 people in its company (â€Å"Company Research: Tyco International Ltd.†). Tyco’s phenomenal growth can be traced back in the late 1980s when the company engaged in a number of acquisitions in some major companies such as ADT, Siemens Electrochemical Components, Thorn Security, and Mueller Company. But it was not until the 1990s and the subsequent years that Tyco became more aggressive in its acquisition strategy under Dennis Kozlowski as CEO. In a span of about eleven years (from 1991 to 2001), Tyco has reportedly acquired 1000 other companies. It was in 1997 that Tyco made the controversial shift of headquarters from Massachusetts to Bermuda, after the company’s acquisition of ADT.  ADT Limited has its origins which can be traced way back in the 1900s in the United Kingdom and by 1980s was restructured under the laws of Bermuda. Although part of the merger, since ADT was incorporated in Bermuda, it was still perceived as a shrewd move to avoid taxes. Shareholder and investors were later informed of this tax advantage. A partial list of Tyco’s products and its brands: AMP for its electronic components and cables RAYCHEM for circuit protection devices Ansul, Total Weather, Skum & Sabo for fire fighting products Kendall, Monoject, Shiley for medical supplies Simplex Grinnell, Wormald for fire sprinklers OpenSky and EDACS for critical communications systems Violation / People Involved            During the 1990s, the company continued to show a stable and steady rise in income. But by 1999, rumors of accounting irregularities began to leak with charges directed against Tyco’s top executives: Dennis Kozlowski (former chairman and chief executive), Mark H. Swartz (former chief financial officer), and Mark Belnick (former general counsel). These accusations were vehemently denied by the company’s leadership.            It was not until January of 2002 that prosecutors found Kozlowski guilty of tax evasion for his art purchases. Investigators later followed a trail of lavish expenditures, thereby making Kozlowski’s tax evasion scheme a mere ‘tip of the iceberg’.            Eight months later, these three men were arrested and tried before the New York State Supreme Court. Kozlowski and Swartz were charged of robbing the company of about $600 million with the aid of Belnick. They were found guilty of treating Tyco as a personal bank account, stealing worth of $170 million through company loans and $430 million worth of fraudulent sales of securities without the company’s shareholders knowledge (â€Å"Three Tyco Execs Indicted for Fraud†). Kozlowski was found guilty of masterminding a series of ethical violations, by misusing corporate funds for relocation and executive loan programs. Since 1996 up to 2002, these two men awarded themselves hundreds of millions of dollars with low or no-interest loans usually from Tyco’s Key Employee Corporate Loan Program (KELP). The company explicitly defined the purpose of the program. Tyco’s KELP was designed to provide loan assistance for Tyco key employees to pay their taxes when investing upon Tyco’s common stock. Of the $270 million that Kozlowski took through KELP loans (from 1997 to 2002), about $29,000,000 only were used for taxes because of the result of the vesting of Tyco stock. The rest of the money were improperly used for self-serving interests such as acquiring luxury apartments and estates, expensive artworks, estate jewelry, a yacht, and spending about $100 million for a lavish party for his second wife. Also, Kozlowski is now notoriously known for owning a gold-laced shower curtain worth $6,000  a picture for his lavish lifestyle. He also used KELP funds to finance his own personal investments and other business ventures, deliberately violating the program’s purpose. Swartz also misappropriated about $85,000,000 dollars from the company’s KELP loans during these same periods. Following from Kozlowski’s example, he too appropriated only about $13,000,000 dollars to cover taxes as a result from the vesting of Tyco stock. Swartz misappropriated the remaining $72,000,000 dollars for self-serving purposes such as financing his own business investments, and the purchasing of real estate holdings and trusts. Kozlowski and Swartz were also guilty of deceitful acts by deliberately failing to disclose in their annual Director & Officer Questionnaire (â€Å"D&O Questionnaire†), which are given to Tyco’s senior executives, the information of these loans  much less the manner of which how these KELP loans were used. Tyco’s shareholders were deceived by Kozlowski and Swartz’s failure to reveal these important facts on the company’s Form 10-K and proxy statements. The company also has a relocation loan program since 1995, to give assistance to its employees who were affected when it moved its offices to New York City from New Hampshire and later to Florida. Kozlowski and Swartz also enriched themselves by availing of relocation loans and spending it for purposes not covered by the program. Of the $46,000,000 dollars which Kozlowski amassed from the relocation loan, $18,000,000 was spent to buy a waterfront compound in Boca Raton and an estimated $7,000,000 Park Avenue apartment for his previous wife. Swartz spent $6,500,000 to purchase an apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side; $17 M for a waterfront compound also in Boca Raton; and the rest of the funds were used in purposes not authorized by the program. They were also accountable for repeatedly classifying and reclassifying their debts to the company, and even moving on to authorizing transactions by which their millions of dollars of KELP and relocation loans were forgiven and written off the company’s books. They also instructed others to falsify the company’s books and records in order to conceal these violations. Swartz also enriched himself by selling his New Hampshire real estate to a Tyco subsidiary for $305,000, but in which the Tyco subsidiary sold it at a far lower price about two years later from its purchase. Swartz purposely did not disclose this transaction from Tyco’s investors. Both Kozlowski and Swartz abused company perquisites from Tyco  such as causing the company to purchase luxurious apartments and stay in it rent-free and made use of Tyco corporate aircraft in purposes unrelated to the company’s business. The former CEO also misused Tyco’s funds by releasing large amounts of charitable donations in his own name, and all the while failed to disclose and report these facts to investors, as mandated by the federal securities laws. While possessing material information, Swartz engaged in fraudulent sales of Tyco stocks through family business partnerships. Both men lied to Tyco’s auditors by signing management representation letters which avowed the absence of fraudulent acts from significant employees involved in Tyco’s internal control. Belnick, Tyco’s former chief legal officer, amassed millions of dollars from Tyco through similar violations committed by Kozlowski and Swartz (T Newkirk, J Coffman, R Kaplan, D Frohlich, and J Weiner. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). Explanation of the Outcome            The two former top Tyco executives received 8 1/3 to 25 years of prison-sentence after being tried before a New York state court, after it’s first resulted in a mistrial. They were found guilty of siphoning and misappropriating company funds during their stint as Tyco’s top executives. This was considered as one of the biggest ethical violations in a series of white-collar crimes that has tainted and eroded public confidence in the US corporate landscape. As a result, Kozlowski and Swartz served their terms in New York state prison, a case which differs greatly from other convicted corporate executives.            Other convicted corporate executives such as Adelphia’s John Rigas, or Martha Stewart served their prison sentences in a federal prison. Often dubbed as â€Å"Club Feds†or â€Å"Camp Cupcake†, federal prison conditions could appear like a ‘boarding school’ â€â€- there are no bars and some are even offering facilities like tennis courts.            In stark contrast, state prison do not offer such ‘luxuries’ and the gravest issue could boil down even to the inmate’s safety. It usually houses criminals convicted of rape, murder and other violent offenses â€â€- one reason which explains its unsafe condition and which makes tight security a necessity.            While others may see this conviction too harsh for a white-collar crime, Kozlowski and Swartz cannot escape their fate since their case began as a state investigation for trying to evade about $1,000,000 dollars worth of tax payment for acquiring expensive artworks by Renoir, Monet and other celebrated painters.            Also, this has come upon the government’s stand of placing stricter measures on its effort of cracking down corruption in the corporate scene (K. Crawford. â€Å"For Kozlowski, An Especially Grim Future†).            According to a former SEC prosecutor, the sentences for white-collar criminals are getting tougher and judges’ former tendency to give them milder treatment is fast disappearing. While Kozlowski is credited for building up Tyco’s multi-billion dollar industrial empire, which used to give an impressive and illustrious career  rising from being an ordinary employee to become Tyco’s chief executive officer, his crime is also credited as the grandest (so far) in scale and amount of thievery in corporate history.            While some would protest about the usefulness of long prison sentences given to white-collar criminals, especially when they are towards the age of retirement. However, there is an inescapable trend among state and federal courts to give longer years of prison-conviction. Whereas in the early 1990s, when such crimes were new and few, a certain convicted salesman received eight years reduction in his 10-year term, an equivalent of 22 months in jail (L. Lazaroff. â€Å"Ex-Tyco Executives Get Up To 25 Years: Kozlowski, Swartz also to pay millions in restitution, fines†). Kozlowski is serving his prison sentence at Midstate Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y., located outside of Syracuse of N.Y.            Clearly, there has been a great shift of change. Opinion of the Outcome            In the aftermath of the Enron, Adelphia, Tyco and other high profile business scandals which prove that ethical violations can pose a serious and costly risk for a business entity’s ability to grow or thrive. As demonstrated by Kozlowski, Swartz and Belnick â€â€- the collapse of integrity could cost hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars for its company to cover extra expenses such as litigation, fines, damage of company reputation, subsequent loss of client’s trust, decline in sales, and the process for damage-control.            While this indictment against Kozlowski and his accomplices seem severe when it received as much punishment as those who commit violent crimes, but given the substantial amount stolen, the consequent loss of wealth due to erosion of public trust, and costly lawsuits  the benefits of giving such harsh convictions would serve as a deterrent for future losses. It is also the government’s responsibility to restore confidence among investors towards corporate entities in order for these institutions to survive.            Kozlowski’s shot for â€Å"dizzying success†(even using fraudulent and criminal means) was fed in part by Wall Street’s hero worship of ‘rock star’ CEOs. However, in light of a string of corporate scandals, leaders must be emulated for their ability to ‘shepherd’ their company and provide examples of living up to ethical standards themselves.            This outcome also brings the much needed transformation on government (such as the Sarbeans-Oxley Act) and company policies pertaining to how business is conducted by those who serve them. While most of the focus is on the violators, the rippling effects of such crimes could threaten the financial security of millions of the company’s employees and their families.            Companies, in lieu of the scandal, have now placed greater importance of training its employees to make ethical decisions which would cultivate a corporate culture founded on trust and integrity.            This case also helped to strengthen greater consciousness for the need to fight corruption in a global scale. The United Nations signed a new treaty in its bid to fight corruption worldwide. This covers not only government officials but is applied to the private sector as well (â€Å"United Nations Convention Against Corruption†). The Organization Today            Rebounding from the moral crises that swept its top executives, along with other companies, there has been greater commitment for transparency among the new management performers in Tyco and other companies. These are corporate leaders who have built a track record of excellent performance and who have been practicing high ethical standards. All efforts are geared toward rebuilding the company’s reputation, public and investor’s trust.            When Edward D. Breen became Tyco’s new CEO in July 2002, he took a bold step in his sweeping reform to re-establish credibility and faith to the company, which included firing the Board of Directors that hired him. Of the 500 employees in Tyco’s Princeton, N.J. headquarters, as much as 480 are newly hired since Breen breezed in to Tyco’s management scene.            Although at first, Breen found the company in confusion, low morale among its employees, and about to face a cash shortage because of an $11 billion debt due a year after, Tyco has a good foundation due to Tyco’s acquisition of a number of stable businesses (S. Lohr. â€Å"New Strategies Changing Face of Corporate Scandal†). This separates Tyco from much of the companies who suffered the same fate from dishonest dealings by its top executives most of which filed for bankruptcy. Tyco was able to recover from the crisis.            According to a public announcement made last January 13, 2006, Tyco International is divided into three business segments: Tyco Healthcare, Tyco Electronics, and Tyco Fire & Security, and Tyco Engineered Products & Services (TFS/TEPS). Each has operations separate from each other and possesses their own set of board of directors, executives, and financial structure. By February 6, 2007, Tyco has revenue of $41 billion and currently employing about 250,000 people in different countries.            Despite being in the process of splitting into three major companies, Tyco International Ltd. still saw an increase of net earnings of up to 43 % or a profit rise of about $793 million due to great demand especially for its electronics and security devices. Company profit taken from continuing operations is up on 37 cents per share – a performance which proved better than Wall’s Street’s forecasts.            Among Tyco’s four divisions, three reported an increase in sales and better operating profits for the first quarter of this year; with its heal-care the only segment which handed in a lower yield in profit due to the company’s restructuring measures.            Tyco is preparing to push on its health-care and electronics divisions by the second quarter. It is gearing up for more aggressive measures as it sees a favorable global economic environment for this year, being optimistic to avail a rise of 6 to 7 percent in sales.            Tyco’s shares have even achieved more than 30% over the previous year, twice than the rise of Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Another measure of its success- Tyco’s stock price rose to $33.21 on the New York Stock Exchange from its $8 value just right after the scandal (â€Å"Tyco’s Net Earnings Jump 43%†). References:  â€Å"Tyco: Our Business†. http://www.tyco.com/ â€Å"Company Research: Tyco International Ltd.†. The New York Times. February 16, 2007. http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp?MW=http://marketwatch.nytimes.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=TYC&sid=42806#compinfo â€Å"Three Tyco Execs Indicted for Fraud†. CNN.com/BUSINESS. http://edition.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/09/12/us.tyco/ Newkirk T, Coffman J, Kaplan R, Frohlich D, Weiner J. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaint/complr 17722.htm Crawford, K. â€Å"For Kozlowski, An Especially Grim Future†. CNNMoney.com    http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/21/news/newsmakers/prisons_state/ Lazaroff, Leon. â€Å"Ex-Tyco Executives Get Up To 25 Years: Kozlowski, Swartz also to pay millions in restitution, fines. Chicago Tribune. September 20, 2005. â€Å"United Nations Convention Against Corruption†.    http://untreaty.un.org/English/notpubl/Corruption_E.pdf Lohr, S. â€Å"New Strategies Changing Face of Corporate Scandal†. New York Times News Service. June 4, 2005.    http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050604/news_1b4scandals.html â€Å"Tyco’s Net Earnings Jump 43%†. February 6, 2007.    http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/06/news/companies/bc.tyco.results.reut/index.htm
Mark Twain Short Stories Essay
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name of Mark Twain, is a widely renowned author whom, throughout his life, wrote countless short stories and essays criticizing politics, media, and other government and social areas. Twain was an avid supporter of civil rights and was extremely critical of the court systems. Twain often criticized how society treatment of criminals changes for every social class. Mark Twain uses his dark humor and irony to convey said theme in three of his more popular short stories, The New Crime, Running for Governor, and A Presidential Candidate. Mark Twain’s short story, The New Crime, illustrates the positive side of having a high social class and the special treatment from the court systems that comes along with wealth. Twain first writes about a series of ordinary murder cases committed by wealthy men and lords in which the murderers are all pardoned from their crimes and giving the insanity plea. The insanity plea basically states that if a person is mentally insane, they cannot be held accountable for any crimes they commit while insane. All of the murders from said cases are ordinary murders, which show no sign of insanity. This clearly displays that the men are only acquitted because of their deep pockets. One of Twain’s favorite literary devices is irony and he often uses it to ridicule the government. In The New Crime Twain uses irony when he writes, â€Å"The servant girl, Bridget Durgin, at the dead of night invaded her mistress’ bedroom and carved the lady literally to pieces with a knife. Then she dragged the body to the middle of the floor and beat and Lemacks 2 banged it with chairs and such things. †¦No such insanity plea was offered in her defense. †(Twain 5) This is ironic because, in Durgin’s case, she is obviously deranged but, since she is of low social standard, she is not offered the insanity plea and, instead, is promptly hanged. The reader knows that Twain is purposefully being ironic because he includes details such as the facts that she has no motive for the murder, saves the woman’s baby, and continues to hike through the snow with the child having left her shoes, which all show how clearly insane the girl is. In using his precious irony, Twain makes his point very clear and makes sure to drive the message of the judicial systems corruptness through to the reader. In Twain’s short story, Running for Governor, he writes about when he was nominated for governor of New York. He uses said story to show the negative side of having a high social status and how the media will treat one differently when they are put in the spotlight. Twain himself is the main character and has never done a single thing in all his life to be ashamed of. When his campaign begins, Twain feels that his advantage over his competition is that he possesses good character whereas, Twain’s two opponents are portrayed in the papers as terrible men. The next day newspapers start to come out accusing Mr. Twain of ridiculous crimes. One of the papers says that Twain has been convicted of perjury by thirty-four witnesses against a native woman in Cochin China! Twain is list all of the absurd accusations in the following pages. What Twain is doing is making the charges serious, such as murder, but also incredibly odd. The reason being to create a subtle, dark humor in all of the newspaper articles so that the reader will see how the media is clearly just making up stories about whomever runs for a political office. Twain uses this same technique in his short story, A Presidential Candidate, in which he jokingly writes that he has made up his mind to run for president but, instead of waiting on Lemacks 3 reporters to publish everything bad about him in the newspaper, he is going to come out with everything bad that he has done in the past. Twain uses dark humor when he writes, â€Å"The rumor that I buried a dead aunt under my grapevine was correct. †¦ Does that unfit me for the presidency? The Constitution of our country does not say so. †(Twain 21) Once again, as he did in Running for Governor, Twain is making up silly crimes that, even though they are serious, one cannot help but chuckle at them. Twain succeeds once more in ridiculing the media through dark humor. Mark Twain wrote hundreds of short stories, essays, and sketches. Many of these works contain two of his favorite techniques; dark humor and irony, which often accompany one another in Twain’s stories. It is through his expert use of the two figurative language devices, along with many others, that Twain was able to criticize the difference in treatment towards different social classes to the extent that he did. Lemacks 4 Works Cited Twain, Mark. Taming the Bicycle: And Other Essays, Stories, and Sketches. Ed. Eric C. Link. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2009. Print.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Climate Change and Its Impact on Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words
Climate Change and Its Impact on Health - Essay Example Solar radiation powers the climate system. Here we are trying to explain the factors, which are affecting our climate change, and how the human activities are affecting the climate mostly in negative way. Further we will try to understand how the global warming the most visible aspect of climate change affects our whole climate system including humans worldwide. Finally we will discuss the ill effects of these climatic changes on human health as a whole. Apart from environmental perspective we would discuss this phenomenon on the basis of social and economical development and how we can manage these changes effectively and equitably. Key-words: Global warming, Current Situation Analysis (CSA), Qualitative Research Methodology (QRM), Focus Group Discussions, In Depth Interviews, Key Informant Interview, questionnaire, Free Listing, Green House Gases, Emissions. Introduction: There can be no clearer illustration of the need for human beings to act globally than the issues raised by the impact of human activity on our atmosphere. That we all share the same planet came to our attention in a particularly pressing way in the 1970's when scientists discovered that the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) threatens the ozone layer shielding the surface of our planet from the full force of the Sun 's ultraviolet radiation. Damage to that protective shield would cause cancer rates to rise sharply and could have other effects, for example, on the growth of algae. Getting rid of CFC's has turned out to be just the curtain raiser; the main event is climate change, or global warming. Climate change is a very different matter. The scientific evidence that human activities are changing the climate of our planet has been studied by a working group of the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPCC), an international scientific body intended to provide p olicymakers with an authoritative view of climate change and its causes. The Third IPCC report (2001) finds that our planet has shown clear signs of warming over the past century. The 1990's were the hottest decade, and 1998 the hottest year, recorded year the 140 years for which meteorological records have been kept. In fact, nine of the hottest years during this period have occurred since 1990, and temperatures are now rising at three times the rate of early 1900's ("This year was the 2nd Hottest, confirming a Trend, UN says", New York times, 19 December 2001,). Sea levels have risen by between 10 to 20 centimeters over the past century. Since 1960's snow and ice cover has decreased by about 10% Ad Mountain glaciers are in retreat everywhere except near the poles. Now due to climate change, lots of poor nations and their populations will face drastic situations. In 1991, a cyclone hit the coast of Bangladesh, coinciding with high tides that left 10 million people hopeless and kill ed 1, 39,000. Most of these people were living on mudflats in the deltas. As many as 70 million people could be affected in Bangladesh, and a similar number in china.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
To his Coy Mistress Poem Reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
To his Coy Mistress Poem Reflections - Essay Example Am I to sit here in a single room waiting to be graced by your presence? Shall I sit and wait for you to take me out or am I to be hidden away until you aren’t interested in me? I think not dear one. How am I to amuse myself as you live the other part of your life? Certainly visions of rolling about with you cannot be what you expect me to substitute for an honest relationship. As you aptly recognize death, you must also realize that life, before I become a rotting carcass, must be lived and enjoyed. Thus, in your next correspondence do write as passionately of my financial protection as you do of consummation and then you will find yourself in the garden of eden. I interpret this piece as rather typical. It is the basic mating dance that men engage in when they are trying to entice a woman to go to bed with them. It is clear that he is governed by lust which is understandable. Oftentimes, that which we cannot obtain becomes irresistible and we pine after it. It should be noted that it is not that he wants â€Å"her†. He merely wants her body. His desire is akin to the desire that anyone feel when they want something. This can apply to a sexual dalliance or obtaining a video game. One can play a video game for hours when they first obtain it. Likewise, one can enjoy sexual relations for hours at a time as well. This does not mean that there is an actual love exists. Any chance that the suitor has of getting his mistress to actually go to bed with him is substantially diminished by the fact that he explains to her that if she doesn’t, she will wind up old and unworshipped. It is actually amusing because in today’s society, he would not have made it past the second verse of his poem. The tone and diction of the speaker remind me of one who is spoiled and accustomed to having their way. I would presume that the speaker was rather unattractive because he only speaks of her beauty and with his arrogance would
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Ethnic Diversity at Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
Ethnic Diversity at Workplace - Research Paper Example Notably, the term ‘relational demography’ is often defined as the individual’s demographic similarity or dissimilarity observable in comparison to other members of the organization. It is in this context that the distribution of co-ethnic workers could have implications for the well-being of African American or Latino individuals. As stated by Kanter (1977), on the lower extreme of this distribution, one finds tokenism, a segregated work environment in which the minority group comprises less than 15% of the working group. These minority members would represent a â€Å"critical mass,†possibly reaching equal representation relative to the culturally dominant group (Henderson, 1998). The recent phenomenon depicts that the growing attention towards diverse population research has been increasing constantly and rapidly since the past few decades. However, guided by a philosophical and social point of view, insignificant number of diversity research focuses on t he impacts of workplace racial as well as ethnic diversity at workplace. With the passing time, diversity concerns have deepened instead of fading away as intended with the implementation of anti-discriminatory policies and various other equal opportunity initiatives. Simultaneously, complexities have also increased by a significant extent in relation to diversity, especially within an enclosed and structured workplace setting. It is in this context that there are a few significant factors relating to ethnic diversity such as the biological sex concept, which is the only defining characteristic between a male and a female populace within the modern day workplace setting. Some feminist researchers recognized the essence of evaluating the distinction as well as historical and cultural features within women populaces in workplace setting categorizing them as a proportion of diverse population (Shore, Chung-Herrera, Dean, Ehrhart, Jung, Randel & Singh, 2009). Personal reflection There a re many reasons behind choosing the diverse population at work place for performing this particular study. The underpinned philosophical context behind this study depicts that for the purpose of developing the public policy it is essential to recognize that workplace diversity is a critical variable to develop a stable, sound as well as progressive society. The significance of managing diverse workforce has been rapidly increasing since past few years owing to the diversification as well as the international expansion of the organizational boundaries. It is fundamentally due to this reason that a large variety of populace who differ in terms of gender, ethnicity, color and even race tends to be employed in a specific workplace setting. Simultaneously, with the increasing influence of globalization, customers groups are also emerging as widely diverse, which further increases the necessity of studying the issue of workplace diversity, especially in terms of ethnicity (Gandz, 2001). I t is in this context that diversity at workplace is increasingly being considered as an essential factor which can assist to interpret into product as well as services which are effectively and efficiently provided by the organization. Consequently, many organizations have been realizing the need of providing better services to diverse customers
Friday, July 26, 2019
Education. What issues can arise during 'transition' Essay
Education. What issues can arise during 'transition' - Essay Example The difficulties are based on mental growth development and educational curriculum demands which calls for young learners to make the transition, or else be left behind in the educational system. For most young learners, the transition difficulties are only seen during the first few days or weeks of the school year, however, for others, the difficulties may persist throughout the school year. There are different issues encountered during the period of transition for students and these issues shall be discussed in this paper. The transition focused on would mostly be on the transition from primary to secondary school in the UK. Possible suggestions on how the transition may be eased would also be discussed in this text in order to provide some clarity and recommendations based on the issues noted for transitioning learners. Body Transition, as was mentioned above refers to the child’s move and adjustment period from primary to secondary schools. The transition process here also includes not just the transition of students from primary to secondary school, but any other transitions these children may make which eventually causes a change in venue (change schools), including transfers to different schools due to family moving from one home to another. The transfers may also be attributed to a family death or parental divorce/separation. Various studies have been carried out on the issues encountered during the transition process (Graham and Hill, 2002; Galton, Gray and Ruddock, 2000). Reviewing studies on the subject matter has revealed various themes or issues during such transition period. Alston, Sammons, and Mortimore (1985) carried out a longitudinal study for children from 50 primary schools in the London area, assessing the transition experiences of the children. About 1600 students were evaluated for their study, evaluating their attitudes, behaviour, attendance before and during their transition period to secondary school. The study revealed that m ost of the students transitioned well into secondary school and had favourable attitudes towards secondary school (Alston, et.al., 1985). Most of them were also pleased with their work in their new school. Admittedly, most of the students initially had reservations about secondary school, however, most of them gradually settled well into their classes and were actually happier than was expected for transitioning students. This study however has contrasting results with the Fouracre (1993) study which indicates the presence of a discontinuity between primary and secondary school as teachers often underestimate the abilities of their pupils. There also seems to be a mismatch between the student’s expectations of the work in secondary school and their actual experiences in the classroom (Fouracre, 1993). One of the issues encountered during transition are elements relating to social class. Studies reveal that those belonging to the lower income communities are likely to have tro uble transitioning into the secondary school system (Keating and Hetzman, 1999). Socioeconomic status as well as parental social class has a huge role during the transition period as students with lower social status likely to have trouble transitioning and eventually leave the educational system early (Ferguson, Tilleczek, Boydell, Rummens, Cote, & Roth-Edney, 2005). As discussed by Keating and Hetzman (1999), there is less extracurricular participation among these students, as well as limited school personnel support for these students. Some of them also increasingly experience daily hassles from school personnel (Keating and Hetzman, 1999). It was also established by McGee, Ward, Gibbons, and Harlowe (2003) that children having higher socioeconomic status
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1
Marketing - Essay Example The headquarters of the country is California United States, but HP operates its business around the world. HP was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and David Packard. HP offers wide range of products such as laptops, printers, inks, toners, PCs, etc. HP launched its first inkjet and laser printers in the year 1984. However, these printers were specifically designed for the desktops. In the 90s, HP decided to enter the printer market with range of high quality and innovative printers. Now HP is among the top players in the printer industry. Companies are coming forward to invest their earning in planting more trees, reducing pollution and chemical wastes and gases. They are also bringing out several new eco-friendly and technologically improved products by using 100 % recyclable materials. In this study we would recommend a new product idea HP to introduce an eco-friendly technology in the printer which involves reprinting of the same paper by erasing its ink. This would not only give HP an edge over its competitors, but also make it a market leader from a major player. New Product HP can introduce a green or eco-friendly printer which would reduce the wastage and usage of paper. In this manner it would also assist in saving natural resources like trees and water. A new technology would be integrated in the green printer through which the printer can reprint on the same paper for many times. Not only the individual customers but also business houses, companies or firms are willing to pay higher prices for using eco-friendly products. This would also help in reducing the carbon footprints. It would be one of the most appropriate and innovative technology in the printer industry, so HP should patent the idea and the technology to protect the product manufacturing rights and the product idea. This technology can be also called the reverse printing technology. Though this product would be priced higher than the general printers because of its unique selling propositi on, but it would reduce the cost of papers for the customers. Target Market Target market involves a group of customers for whom the company designs, and develops a product or service. The marketing strategies and mix are designed and prepared by the marketers to satisfy the target customers. Targeting can be differentiated and undifferentiated. Differentiated targeting signifies focusing a particular type of customers and leaving out the rest, but in undifferentiated targeting, the marketer focuses on the mass, so customized product is not developed in this case. The printer market can be segmented into three divisions, first is the personal or individual users, second is the business houses, firms or companies using for their official purposes, and third is the printing businesses that use printers to print for other companies (Atkielsk, 2001, p. 1). Since reverse printing technology is niche and obviously HP would set the price of green printer higher than that of general printer s. So the individuals building for personal usage might not afford it. Moreover, the company cannot launch it at a low price because of its high cost of production, promotional and other costs. Therefore in the initial stage the target customer groups would be the firms, companies and the printing businesses that use it for commercial purposes. Another reason is that the printing companies, firms or organizations print millions of pages every day, so level
Father and children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Father and children - Essay Example n fathers and children depicted in the novel goes far beyond family ties - it is a social dispute of the old nobility and aristocracy, and the young revolutionary-democratic intellectuals. In particular, the question of fathers and children’s comprehension is revealed in the novel through the relationship of a young nihilist Bazarov with a representative of the nobility Pavel Kirsanov, as well as with his parents, and within the family of Kirsanov. As we can see the central point of contradictory and colliding views of the characters becomes Bazarov’s denial of everything that seems to be essential for the â€Å"fathers†. He does not just refuse to accept the knowledge of another generation but insists that there is a need to clear some beliefs for flourishing of his contemporaries. This is the moment which does not allow the representatives of so-called old school to compose, for it gainsays all the postulates they have believed all their lives. So Turgenev shows efforts to defend a particular opinion of both sides of the conflict. The problem of fathers and children stimulates the constant thinking over the mentioned issue of non-compliance betw een generations. The writer persistently rises the burning for his time issue, and the whole story begins from the speaking title of the novel. So what is presented in the novel’s title in verbal terms? The expression â€Å"Fathers and Sons†in the context of the work is ambiguous. Bazarov and Arkady’s fathers participate in the plot. Direct family ties of other characters are also mentioned. However, the heading of the work is metaphoric, for the older generation can be understood under the â€Å"fathers†that is followed by the young one, that is, â€Å"sons†. The title has an important organizing feature. The theme of â€Å"fathers†and â€Å"children†literally permeates the entire narrative. At the very beginning Nikolai Kirsanov is presented to readers as a father waiting for his son Arkady. It is mentioned in
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Unit 3 DB Acct310 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Unit 3 DB Acct310 - Essay Example rder costing system is mainly used in service industries including hospitals, movie studios, law firms and even repair shops as well as in cases where individual non-homogeneous goods are produced by an organization. When it comes to this type of system, record keeping and cost problems can be very complex to handle especially where different products and services are available, compared to when dealing with single products and services. Since the products available are different, the cost will relatively be different hence a cost record for each product. Therefore, job order costing needs a lot of effort and concentration as compared to process costing system. Process costing involves tracing and accumulation of direct costs, and the allocation of indirect costs of manufacturing processes (Hansen & Mowen, 2006). Process costing is much applicable when the products in question are naturally homogeneous. Costs are in this case assigned to products which are produced en mass as noted by Hansen and Mowen (2006). This method is mostly suitable for industries such as chemical manufacturing companies since the process flow is continuous. In this system a production report is prepared to summarize the totals and cost of units. In the case of a company that deals with chemicals, cement, electrical parts, textiles and pharmaceuticals products, process costing method is advisable. This is because their production process is continuous and order costing method may not be appropriate for this kind of companies. Job order costing is applicable in companies that manufacture many different products for example clothing factory and service industries (Hansen & Mowen, 2006). Each product has its own price hence this system is appropriate to use and follow. Records of each and every order and its cost are stored separately for easy understanding and follow up. Records in a process order costing system are much easier to follow and less complicated as compared to job order
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Andrew Jackson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Andrew Jackson - Essay Example During his presidency, he familiarized the spoils structure to the state government, assigning persons to positions grounded on the political backing. This made support on the government level prevail on the nationwide level. In addition, he used the executive influence of rejection expansively. In his term, he rejected extra bills compared to all the preceding presidents combined, and he was the first president to use the pocket rejection (Wilson, Dilulio and Bose 367). He used his position in the party to augment his supremacy and the primacy of the presidency. In his era, Jackson did not familiarize with numerous new policies, but he removed the ones he loathed. He removed some policies when the electorate size was growing quickly, and other states were joining the union. Jackson and his counterparts in White House walked the political phase when unpleasant sectional battles over slavery and profitable policies were starting to separate the country. Because of this, he attempted t o return to the agrarian easiness of Jefferson’s time, but he was stopped by the influential civic government. He is also remembered by the party he prepared in the White House that was attended by anybody in the populace to sign him as a tribune of the people. In the history of American Presidents, Andrew Jackson marks some remarkable transition on the power of a president. He is well known for his unprecedented use of presidential power in his era, and he is the foundation of the modern president.
Monday, July 22, 2019
Critically review the situation at RestaurantCo Essay Example for Free
Critically review the situation at RestaurantCo Essay This essay analyses the case of RestaurantCo, a large non-unionised restaurant company with over 300 branches across the UK, and more than 7000 employed staff members (Suter Marchington 2011). According to Brad and Gold (2012, p.401) the term non-unionised is a ‘workplace, where managers have flexibility in designing work, selecting, promotion and training people, and determining rewards and other human resources (HR) practices.’ As briefly defined managers carry out many duties and responsibilities for the business. In order to have a better understanding of the role of line managers and employee relations at RestaurantCo it would be necessary to explore and outline the strengths and weaknesses of the company. To be more specific, this essay will explore and outline the main strengths and weaknesses in the working style of branch managers and the structural centralisation within the organisation, the formal and informal employee involvement and participation (EIP) practices, the working relationships between front line managers and employees, and the competitive effectiveness of the organisational HRM system and capability framework for branch managers. This case study of RestaurantCo focuses on the organisational problems that stems from the centralisation of corporate decision making and monitoring. The company regarded itself as a high quality restaurant business with a strong focus on positive employee relations thus reflected in their history of informal employment relations approach (Suter Marchington 2011). However, since the change in ownership the company had to implement new business strategies and HR practices as well as make further enhancements to the restaurant environment. For instance, the changes in the restaurant environment included refurbishments, expanded food and drinks menus, and cost savings by integrating the supply chain with other restaurants owned by the group (Suter Marchington 2011). Consequently, some of these changes were seen as quite extensive and problematic for restaurant managers. For instance, some of these organisational changes were somewhat inefficient and costly in terms of deliveries and that mistakes were frequently made in the order and supply of ingredients (Suter Marchington 2011). Managers were no longer able to order directly from suppliers but instead were instructed to direct their orders through the supply chain department, whose understanding of the needs of individual branches were seen as limited (Suter Marchington 2011). There were also additional changes in improving customer service such as the introduction to the ‘Mystery Customer’ initiative (Suter Marchington 2011, p.213). This program initiative was seen as a form of corporate centralised monitoring and control of service, which somewhat contradicts the supposed given autonomy to branch managers. This demonstrates senior management distrust in its branch managers’ abilities to meet or fulfil their duties and responsibilities. This form of control violates the ‘psychological contract’ between the branch managers and employers which is also known as a ‘two-way exchanged of perceived promises and obligations between employees and their employer’ (Bratton Gold, 2012, p. 12). In this case, senior management had infringed on the trust between its branch managers by having a ‘centralised monitoring system’ in placed to gather customer information and business performance, thus in turn violat ing their psychological contract (Suter Marchington 2011). Consequently, creating a negative ‘low-trust and low-commitment’ relationship compared to a ‘high-trust and high-commitment’ participatory relationship between senior management and branch managers (Bratton Gold, 2012, p. 160). Nevertheless, control is seen as somewhat necessary by senior management, but ‘too much control might be counterproductive’ (Dant Nasr, 1998, p. 7). Hence, ‘excessive levels of control’ should be carefully considered as it will ‘impact on business performance levels’ (Dant Nasr, 1998, p. 7). As stated in Dant and Nasr (1998, p.7) tight control is generally not perceived well by managers who are driven by a strong desire for ‘independence and autonomy’, they may withheld ‘authentic and helpful information’ from senior management or employers in order to preserve some indirect form of control as they might believe that their input would not be valued or validated. In th is particular case, tight control would lead to less cooperation between branch managers and senior management. Furthermore, feedback from mystery customers to senior management may not be as useful or informative compared to the managers’ vast degree of knowledge and experience regarding its local business restaurant market environment and business performance levels. Rather than just rewarding ‘performance related bonus’ to managers who receive an overall satisfactory rating from mystery customers there should also be incentives or reward schemes in placed for managers who actually provide ‘authentic and helpful information’ to senior management (Michael, 2002, p. 329). This sort of privileged information could further enhance the organisation’s productivity and performance. For instance, the organisation would have a greater competitive advantage through new strategic opportunities and awareness of new threats as mentioned by its’ branch managers (Michael, 2002, p. 329). This ‘upward’ flow of information decentralises the tight monitoring and control of senior management but more importantly strengthens the communication, commitment, trust and employee relations between senior management and its branch managers through reciprocal cooperation and reward schemes (Michael, 2002, p. 329). It is crucial in service industries that branch managers be given more autonomy to make operational decisions as their understanding of the business environment surrounding their individual branches is relatively more extensive compare to senior management and management support, who have limited understanding of the business environment. This process is referred to as ‘decentralisation’ (Dant Nasr, 1998). According to Suter and Marchington (2011), each restaurant establishment was usually run by a branch manager and two assistants. The role of supervisory responsibilities was shared between the branch manager and assistant manager due to the long operating hours and the shift system, hence, the manager on duty would take on the role of supervising employees (Suter Marchington 2011). The manager on duty dealt primarily with problems and issues in regards to employees, and that wider issues were assigned to the branch manager. The branch managers in addition carried out a number of HR functions such as employment appraisals, pay reviews, and personal development plans (Suter Marchington 2011). These branch managers had described their work as being more intensified and that the HR policies had become more sophisticated and formalised (Suter Marchington 2011). Branch managers were supposedly allowed a fair degree of autonomy in how they could manage the restaurant. A key element of the capability framework enabled branch managers to take charge of their own delivery and performance. However, managers experienced great difficulty in making operational decisions regarding their restaurant. Some of the reasons were due to the fact that the management support team were not always readily available to branch managers but also that company-wide operational decisions were being implemented at branch levels, in turn conflicting with branch managers’ operational decisions (Suter Marchington 2011). Branch managers should be provided with support throughout the restaurant operational hours from the management support office except, the restaurant support team operates on a 9-5 office-based workplace arrangement (Suter Marchington 2011). This would lead to significant problems when the restaurant requires assistance after the support office ends operation, therefore causing an inconvenience when decision and support is needed. It might also affect the organisation’s reputation if issues are not promptly resolved. Without proper support and facilitation from the support management team, branch managers are unable to perform their role efficiently. Under the influence of senior management, branch managers were pressured into implementing formal relationship practices with their employees (Suter Marchington 2011). However, one of the core components of a psychological contract is ‘workplace communication’ which will generally help to minimize the ‘false consensus effect,’ meaning that people assume that they share the same perceptions (Bratton Gold, 2012, p. 433). For instance, branch managers perceived the restaurant and its employment relations as informal whereas head office had expressed the need for more professional management and more importantly had over-rated the formality of policy implementation at branch level (Suter Marchington 2011). Notably, communication is a significant component of a psychological contrast as it is quite evident that branch managers and senior management had conflicting views on how the restaurant business needed to be operated. Alternatively, It would be beneficial for senior management and branch managers to effectively communicate their views across to one another in order to minimize the ‘false consensus effect’ (Bratton Gold, 2012, p. 433). Again, to ensure that this can actually happen, senior management would need to be more readily available to branch managers and vice versa in order to strengthen the psychological contract between them. According to the branch managers the organisational change brought about more job responsibilities, intensified workload and more expectations from senior management (Suter Marchington 2011). Whilst handling their ‘supervisory responsibilities’, the day–to-day HR functions and operational responsibilities such as ordering and control of stock/supplies, forecasting labour budgets and marketing initiatives were devolved into the roles of branch managers (Suter Marchington 2011). This devolvement of HR functions into the role of branch managers goes beyond the parameters of what is required of branch managers. Despite this, senior management have not provided their branch manager with further additional training in their new responsibilities and duties neither has it been outlined in their legal binding contract. Even though the assistant managers and branch managers shared the same responsibilities of supervising the employees, employees still reported directly to the branch managers (Suter Marchington 2011). Instead of sharing this supervisory responsibility of employees, it would be more efficient and productive to delegate this responsibility to the assistant manager so that branch managers can focus more on the operational responsibilities and HR functions. Another obstacle branch managers had identified was their inability to make operational decisions regarding the day-to-day running of the branch due to the lack of coordination or collaboration in the senior management company-wide operational decision-making process (Suter Marchington 2011). This in effect reinforces senior management distrust in its branch managers’ ability to fulfil their role and therefore, causing resentment and animosity towards senior management from its branch managers. According to Dant and Gundlach (1998, p.37) ‘excessive controls aimed at monitoring’ employees can be costly as it can generate ‘motivational and morale problems’ among employees. It is important from a management perspective to ‘balance the forces of dependence and autonomy’ within the business in order to maintain ‘the long run viability’ of the business organisation (Dant Gundlach, 1998, p. 37). In terms of achieving overall effectiveness senior management need to contribute to a more productive relationship between branch managers and employees in their organisation. Another important aspect to consider is that the company and branch units have ‘contrasting economic and managerial characteristics’ (Bradach, 1997, p. 276) whereby, the senior management of the company must meet two key management challenges: ‘maintaining uniformity and system-wide adaptability’ (Bradach, 1997, p. 277). With reference to RestaurantCo, units in a chain share a common identity by operating under the RestaurantCo trademark (Bradach, 1997, p. 277). There are five underlying categories of uniformity in an organisation and they are, ‘the line manager, organisational systems, learning culture, role and responsibility and HR department and professionalism’ (Harrison, 2011, p. 921). In order to ‘preserve the integrity and value’, the company must enforce uniformity across these five underlying categories through bureaucratic control and standardisation (Bradach, 1997, p. 277). Furthermore, in order to ensure the sustainability of the company, it must be able to adapt to the ‘opportunities and threats’ (Bradach, 1997, p. 282). In addition, senior managers must identify and implement system-wide adaptation processes and practices that will fit to some extent across all of the individual branches, except the main challenge of this is to ensure that all the branches move in the same direction. The ‘plural form’ model of management proposed by Bradach (1997) can be used to effectively a ddress the uniformity and system-wide adaptability problems. The ‘plural form’ consists of four processes which are as followed: ‘modelling process, ratcheting process, socialisation process and mutual learning process’ (Bradach, 1997, p. 283). Through these processes the company can pursue greater uniformity and improve system-wide adaptation across the restaurant chains (Bradach, 1997, p. 283). The modelling process is focused on the structural element of the management by increasing the use of common practices across the organisation and the restaurant chains (Bradach, 1997, p. 283). The ratcheting process is part of the control system of management which enables both branch managers and senior managers to influence each other as well as increase the level of uniformity and performance of the chain overall (Bradach, 1997, p. 283). The socialisation process reflects the career path aspect of management, which essentially helps to create a shared understanding of what is required to operate a restaurant, thus will increase the uniformity across the chain (Bradach, 1997, p. 283). Lastly, the mutual learning process is also referred to as the strategy making process, which focuses on improving the system-wide adaptability by providing ‘performance data and demonstrating new ideas to help persuade branch managers to adopt the proposed system-wide adaptations’ (Bradach, 1997, p. 283). Overall the ‘plural form’ is used to overcome some of the control problems associated with managing restaurant branches and maintaining uniformity across the chain (Bradach, 1997). Another important key issue highlighted from this case study is how formal and informal employee involvement and participation (EIP) practices are implemented by management. According to the RestaurantCo capability framework which consisted of eight capabilities, four related specifically to informal EIP (Suter Marchington 2011). EIP is influenced or shaped by four dimensional factors which are, the two type of ‘forms of EIP’ (formal and informal EIP), ‘degree of involvement of the employees’ (ranged from very little to a considerable amount), ‘different levels of EIP within the organisation’ (head office to branch level) and ‘scope of subject matter’ (long term plans that are central to the organisation and short term issues regarding the restaurant) (Marchington Kynighou, 2012, p. 3338). RestaurantCo depend heavily on their employees’ interaction with customers, for this reason it is noticeably best to implement informal EIP because their engagement with customers is instrumental to the organisational performance levels and profitability. By using informal EIP branch managers are able to gain employees’ affective commitment to the organisation (Rodrigues, 1994). Although, branch managers must take into consideration the contextual circumstances in relation to the restaurant and the four contingencies outlined above to assist in determining the appropriate EIP to implement for their given work situation (Rodrigues, 1994). More specifically, formal EIP was utilised in the larger and busier restaurant branches as branch managers had less time to involve employees informally and formal EIP was the most effective way of bringing staff members up to date with important information and news (Suter Marchington 2011). On the other hand, informal EIP was utilised or practised more predominately in the smaller branch restaurants (Suter Marchington 2011). However, effective co-existence of formal and informal EIP is essential for the organisation’s long term sustainability (Denton, 1994). Informality at RestaurantCo is an effective instrument of recognising and managing employee voice (Denton, 1994). The role of informality is to give employees an open channel for informal communications with managers, so that they can address their concerns and to give informative feedback on work related issues (Beattie, 2006). The constant changeability and flexibility of the workplace environment, illustrates the need for informal day-to-day communications in comparison to official formalised meetings with employees, which can be more costly and time consuming. Above all, the flexibility and diversity of organisational arrangements in the service industry reinforces the need for the implementation of informal EIP practices (Beattie, 2006). In summary, the RestaurantCo case study illustrated some important strengths and weaknesses in the HR management practices and organisational frameworks. Overall, several weaknesses were identified such as the need for informal relations between line managers and employees, the importance of decentralisation to enable cooperation and collaboration between branch managers and senior management through the ‘plural form’ model. Furthermore, it was exemplified that there should be a co-existence and implementation of both formal and informal EIP in the workplace. Evidently, business performance levels can be improved by balancing the dependency and autonomy of branch managers, so that they can efficiently perform to their capabilities. In conclusion, this essay highlighted some positive and negative issues regarding operational responsibilities of senior management and branch managers. References Beattie, RS 2006, Line Managers and Workplace Learning: Learning from the voluntary sector,Human Resource Developmental International, vol.9, no.1, pp. 99-119, viewed 2 Setptember 2013, Ebsco database. Bradach, JL 1997, Using the plural form in the management of restaurant chains, Administrativ.e Science Quarterly, vol.42, no.2, pp. 276-303 viewed 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Bratton, J Gold, J 2012 Human Resource Management: theory and practice, 5th edn, Palgrave Macmillan, London. Dant, RP Gundlach, GT 1998, Dependence in Franchised Channels of Distribution, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 14, pp. 35-67 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Dant, RP Nasr, NI 1998, Control techniques and upward flow of information in franchising in distant markets:conceptualisation and preliminary evidence, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol.13, pp. 3-28 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Denton, DK 1994, Empowerment through Employee Involvement and Participation: Fords Development and Training Programs, Empowerment in Organisations: An International Journal,vol. , no.2, pp. 22-28 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Harrison, P 2011, Perspective on Practice: Learning culture, line managers and HR professional practice,Journal of European Indutrial Training ,vol. 35, no.9, pp. 914-928 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Marchington, M Kynighou, A 2012, The dynamics of employee involvement and participation during turbulent times, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol.23, no.16, pp. 3336-3354 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Michael, S C 2002, Can a franchise chain coordinate?, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol.17, pp. 325-341 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Rodrigues, CA 1994, Employee Participation and Empowerment Programs: Problems of definition and implementation,Empowerment in Organisations,vol. 2, no.2, pp. 29-40 viewed on 2 September 2013, Ebsco database. Suter, J Marchington, M 2011, ‘The role of line managers and employee voice in the restaurant industry’, in T Dundon and A Wilkinson (eds), Case studies in global management: Strategy, innovation and people management, Tilde Press, pp. 212-220
Sunday, July 21, 2019
The Concept Of Social Exclusion Social Work Essay
The Concept Of Social Exclusion Social Work Essay This essay will discuss the origins of social exclusion, explain its meaning and the impact that it can have on groups and individuals in society. It will also describe the significance of social exclusion on people who may experience mental health problems; how government reform has been focusing on raising awareness and also why poverty is very much attached to people who experience social exclusion. It will discuss the greater divide that is being created between the rich and Poor and will also highlight the three discourses and the serious implications and consequences that people who experience these have to live with on a daily basis. It will talk about community care and how the system in which the NHS operates frequently seems to pay little attention to people with disabilities or mental health disorders and how the media should have a large part to play in emphasising the negative attention given to mental health issues. (Pearson, 2010) Believed that social exclusion often had different meanings to various people and was a controversial subject which usually provoked extensive debate and widespread discussion. There were two different meanings to social exclusion. The first referred to was when an individual isolated and detached themselves from society, the second, how society treated people differently and made decisions that affected the lives of individuals, creating feelings of, powerlessness, injustice and inequality. Social Exclusion first originated in France during the 1970s. It arose from groups in society being subjected to rejection or being marginalised and cut off from society. It meant that people, who were disabled, in receipt of benefits or those who may have been asylum seekers, frequently lacked any rights or access to any organisations that could represent or support their needs. The Labour government (December 1997) first introduced the (SETF) The Social Exclusion Task force when they realised that there was a significant need to focus on families which were identified as being either excluded, dysfunctional or both. According to (Jack, 2000) In 1998 a report led by the social exclusion unit revealed that residents who lived in deprived and run down areas often disliked their estates due to the lack of amenities, crime, vandalism, and the fear of violence and drug dealers. (Sheppard, 2006) stated that People who lived in poverty and hardship were socially excluded which caused concern for social workers. However people who struggled to fit in or suffered dispossession were not the only ones excluded from society as other groups within society were marginalised as well. During 1999 the Labour government set up the National Service Framework (NSF) for mental health in order to improve services for people who suffered with mental health problems. The Seven standards service policy was implemented to promote wellbeing and to eliminate social exclusion. In addition the service wanted to deliver intervention to reduce hospital admissions whilst also being cost effective. Mental Health has been viewed poorly in the terms of acknowledgement and given less priority and little recognition in relation to policy makers and the general public because of the lack understanding, ignorance and fear. Mental health was deemed as the Cinderella service of The National Health Service. This is why the government made the decision to develop the (NSF) (Wilson, et al., 2008) (Lanyard, 2005) stated that NHS resources were limited. Service users frequently complained of the lack of services, only 8% had ever seen a Psychiatrist and 3% a Psychologist, which was also combined with a long waiting list. People who were depressed often tended to spend little time with their GP and when they did have the courage to see them were usually only offered anti-depressants as a solution. However in comparison a person with other medical needs such as heart problems or cancer sufferers were automatically referred to a specialist. According to research, the numbers of people now experiencing mental health disorders had grown dramatically in recent years and included people who came from a range of backgrounds and classes. Christians (Pantazis, et al., 2006) pg. 285/286 believed that Policies from central government had identified issues surrounding mental health and taken into consideration the difficulties and adversity in relation to individuals who experienced mental health issues, and on that basis how mental health could suffer and deteriorate as a result of social exclusion. The government had attempted to eradicate exclusion. There was substantial evidence to believe that social exclusion and poverty were characteristics that contributed to mental health problems and it also became abundantly clear that health and poverty were very much related and were difficult and challenging issues to combat. (Gough, et al., 2006, p. 3) Stated that variations of household income and poor health and education did impact on individuals causing communities to breakdown. (Kirby, et al., 2000) Stated that one of the criticisms of the welfare state was intuitionalism of people who suffered from mental health issues; therefore a framework of community care was developed resulting in care being provided within the home and community setting or separate institutions. The main problems with community care was that there was often little funding and community support, which subsequently resulted in increased suicide rates and homelessness therefore this raised concerns regarding the overall effectiveness of community care. (Minister, 2004) stated that Research had shown that discrimination and attitudes towards people who suffered from mental health problems still remained poor and inappropriate. Most employers would not employ someone with a mental health problem. People in the community struggled to access resources and in addition were excluded from the law in relation to jury service. (Thornicroft, 2006) stated that over the last 50 years employment statistics showed that people who suffered from mental health problems had declined within the workforce. Employers tended to discriminate against individuals with long term mental health problems especially people who had Schizophrenia. Therefore finding work could be difficult for people who experienced mental health problems. (Golightley, 2011) Felt that there was little research in the area of groups of people who had profound needs or disabilities, including the deaf, those with special needs or learning disabilities or even those with mental health issues. Mental health services often adopted the preconception that most people who used the service could hear and were White British. It was fundamentally important for professionals not to pigeonhole people and to understand why there may have been changes in behaviour. It was important to remember that challenging behaviour could be linked to the mental health of the individual and not necessarily be due to the disability that they were suffering from. Young people who were from asylum seeker families and refugees who had suffered trauma and experienced racism felt socially excluded from society. Experience informed us that stress brought on mental disorders; however there was no existing proof that this was the case. Families and children who experienced emotional abuse may have felt isolated resulting in mental health problems. (Watkins, 2009) Stated that attempts had been made to try and change peoples perception towards mental illness; unfortunately with little effect. Poor views still remained strong towards mental illness with the opinion that people who were mentally ill behaved irrationally and displayed aggressive behaviour. The media was a very negative force and exacerbated stereotypical views. (Cutcliffe, 2001) Also believed the media increased poor representation of mental illness and portrayed people suffering with mental illness as violent and dangerous, therefore promoting stigma and further ostracism from the public. The tabloids helped develop hysteria and could be a very powerful resource that influenced poor perception of mental illness and ignited outrageous high levels of public ignorance. (Anderson, 2003) Stated that views are similar, in that films have been produced and have often used destructive language. For example Psycho and the One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest are both films that have had an impact and lasting effect on individuals and influenced and formed peoples perception of what mental illness was seen to be. Loneliness and feelings of despair encompassed the lives of the individuals with mental health disorders, even when there was contact with family or friends, the feelings of isolation could still remain. Deeper depression and low self-esteem tended to increase due to a lack of activity and structure within their lives. In the long term this could result in the individual developing feelings of self-worthlessness and forming a poor view of themselves with a feeling that they were not contributing anything to society. This could eventually result in the individual removing themselves from any form of social contact or interaction. (Granerud Severinsson, 2006) (Levitas, 2005) discussed the three discourses in relation to social exclusion. In British Politics the main objective was to reveal the three versions of account to social exclusion. RED the redistributionist discourse is primarily related to poverty and lack of materials and access to resources and inequality. The lack of provisions appeared to be the underlying cause, some people would say that through redistribution of wealth and taxation poverty would be eliminated. (MUD) The Moral Underclass Discourse applied to attitudes towards moral obligations in relation to neighbourhoods and communities and the belief that people who resided in poor neighbourhoods and who were in receipt of low incomes were more likely to experience criminal behaviours or be unemployed. It was very much aimed at gender such as fathers who failed to pay child support and young males who chose crime as part of life or single unmarried mothers. A society that held these values could often believe this behaviour was acceptable. (Hills, et al., 2002) Stated that both Upper and lower classes were similar in many ways, and had more in common than it may have been thought. People who experienced deprivation and resided in poor ghetto areas were more likely to have had little police protection. However, in contrast the wealthy of gated communities would usually have their own security. In addition the poor tended not to vote, whereas the wealthy did not need to as they usually had connections to political parties by funding organisations. (SID) Social Integration Discourse was emphasised on the labour market and influenced by the Labour Government, it featured some of the RED but felt exclusion came from the labour market. (Berns, 2007) stated that People who suffered mental disorders experienced poverty and economic pressure which impacted on their self-esteem. Consequently they could struggle to either sustain jobs, or take up training and education because of feelings of hopelessness, therefore making it impossible to alleviate poverty and improve life chances. Through evidence and research my conclusion is that there is much more to be done for people who experience mental health problems. I have discovered that peoples attitudes, ignorance and biased views towards mental health are formed by opinion rather than understanding. Throughout this essay I have confirmed that social exclusion exists within services and society. The NHS budget on mental health is limited and substantially small in comparison to other medical conditions and as a consequence many medical staff and professionals still carry the preconception that medication is the only answer to the problem. There is little intervention in relation to therapy, counselling or alternative approaches which in turn could be more productive and rewarding. With small amounts of money spent on resources and little effort being put into care and rehabilitation, there is less chance to enhance the lives of the most socially excluded. Equally people with mental health often suffer within the workplace and can experience further prejudice and discrimination, coupled with feelings of guilt and hopelessness for not fully participating in the work force. Sufferers of mental health can also often feel rejected by society and feel ostracised for having what they feel is a mind that is broken. However in comparison to this, physical conditions are frequently met with sympathy, warmth and understanding. The media can be responsible for reinforcing negative public views and in promoting stigma and fear towards mental illness. Leitvats discussed the three discourses and looked at the holistic features that impacted on the socially excluded. I feel all three categories relate to people who are suffering with mental health problems. The government needs to do more to eradicate discrimination and aim to highlight positive attention and awareness to change peoples perception. (Commission, 2012) Stated that to encourage a quality of life and wellbeing and opportunities for people with mental disorders there needs to be radical changes in order to prosper and gain employment and to feel part of the community. To feel included would be the ultimate freedom but what a massive task it will be in order for this to be fulfilled. There is hope however, with new and innovative campaigns being introduced such as The Time to Change campaign, which is funded by the (DOH) and which is being supported by many celebrities, such as Gary Lineker and Stephen Fry. This is a positive step forward as many celebrities are now opening up and being prepared to speak out about their own experiences with mental health problems. In the long term this can only benefit society in raising awareness and changing attitudes towards the stigma that mental health carries. Word Count ,2193.
Post-operative Psychological Adjustment to Stoma
Post-operative Psychological Adjustment to Stoma The essay is based on a patient who had surgery to have an ileostomy formed. This essay will attempt to define support and identify what the patients specific support needs may be within the context of the patients post-operative psychological adjustment to her new stoma with special focus on the issue of flatus and odour on the patients recovery. Black (2001) states that for the patient with a newly formed stoma, thoughts of talking to others, eating, working, sleeping or making love while bowel motion and flatus fill the appliance is horrific. A literature review will identify the most recommended suggestions for support of the person anxious about odour and flatus and the information will be considered within the context of the support that was given to Jane*. In accordance with the Nursing Midwifery Council Code of Professional Conduct (2008), the name and any identifying details of my patient on which this study is based will be withheld. Jane* is a 44 years old mother of three, including 16 years old Adam* who lives with her at home. Jane is in a long term relationship with Peter* and they have been planning to move in together. She is a teacher of Economics in the local secondary school. Jane was diagnosed with Ulcerative colitis about 18 years ago. Ulcerative colitis is a disease that causes inflammation of the large intestine or colon (Colitis UK, 2008). This is the last meter or so of the intestine closest to the anus. Symptoms are vary in severity from pain and discomfort, through mucous in the stools is in the most severe cases blood in the stools. It is generally diagnosed by inspection of the colon by the procedure colonoscopy by uses an endoscope. Porrett and McGrath (2005) suggest, ileostomies are formed to treat conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular disease, carcinoma of the bladder, carcinoma of the bowel, traumatic injury to the abdominal area, and inadequate blood flow to the bowel, incontinence and obstruction. An ileostomy is a surgically created abdominal opening from the terminal small intestine (ileum), made because the entire colon has been removed or must be bypassed. An ileostomy stoma is usually on the lower-right abdomen. Its output has passed through all or most of the small intestine, but none of the large intestine; consistency of this output may vary from very liquid to a semi-solid paste (Porrett and McGrath, 2005). Simmons K et al (2007) state that more than 13,000 patients have stoma surgery yearly in the United Kingdom and reports psychological and social dysfunction in patients whose surgery end with stoma. Patients undergoing stoma surgery face a number of stress related circumstances leading to threats to body integrity, alerted body image, loss of autonomy, and loss of function and control (Williams, 2005). Annells (2006), suggests that fear of rejection by friends and family as well as being ostracized by society is constant for this group of patients and that support, guidance and information can assist them in adapting to their new way of life. Patients were reported to have feelings of loneliness, low self-esteem, thoughts of suicide and depression are higher in stoma patients compared with patients without a stoma (Norton, 2004). Patients who have had ileostomies, often have a distorted body image which has a knock on impact on the patients’ physical integrity and self-concept (Black and Hyde, 2004). When I was talking to Jane, before and after surgery, one of her major anxieties was flatus and odour – common concern for those with a new established stoma is flatus and odour which can result in psychological distress, stigma and embarrassment (Annells, 2006). She was also anxious about how Peter would react to the stoma and whether he would still find her beautiful and attractive. But mostly, she was concerned that people would smell her and she was worried, that she would be unable to control her flatus and being stigmatized by Peter and people who found out that she had stoma. Coping with stigma involves a variety of strategies, and Jane was at the stage where she was deciding whether to disclose the condition and suffer further stigma or attempt to conceal the condition or aspects of the condition and pass for normal (Joachim and Acorn, 2000), but felt certain that there was no way she could conceal the odour or the involuntary flatus. Flatus and odour that cannot be co ntrolled by the individual for medical reasons affect how these individuals feel about their bodies (Black, 2001). A stoma does not have a sphincter muscle; and so persons with stomas are unable to control the elimination of faeces or flatus via the stoma (Breckman, 2005). Rozmovits and Ziebland (2004), in a compilation of narratives from new stoma patients cited many as expressing difficulties in returning to work following surgery due to the â€Å"uncontrollable and unpredictable bowel movements and foul-smelling gas†. Simmons K et al (2007) state social aspect has a major impact on patients. A background study reported a decrease in social and leisure activities, increase in marital problems and less contact with relatives and friends. Mosby (2006), defines support as â€Å"to sustain, hold up, or maintain in a desired position or condition, as in physically supporting the abdominal muscles with a binder or emotionally supporting a client under stress†. There are several definitions for support. The Cambridge Advanced, Learners Dictionary (2008), define support as â€Å"to encourage someone because you want them to succeed†, â€Å"to help someone emotionally or practically†, or â€Å"a group of people who provide emotional and practical help to someone in serious difficulty†. Gale (2001) tells us social support consist of friends, family members, co-workers who provide assistance to the individual in need. Support found from friends, family and co-workers has a beneficial effect on physical and psychological well-being. Jane has had counselling from the stoma care nurse and assessed before surgery. Janes partner, Peter was not included initially in her pre-operative period as she did not wish to have him there. Peter was aware about the operation but she had not told many of her family and friends. Myers (1996) state psychological preparation and counselling of patients in the pre-operative period is of great importance. Myers (1996) further states the stoma nurse together with the patients partners and other health professionals help to rehabilitate the patient. The nurse and healthcare professionals must look at the patient and the patients needs holistically to include all aspects: physical, emotional, mental, social and economical. Faulkner and Davies (2005) state, that there is a range of definitions of the concept of support. It implies it is the exchange of resources between at least two people, intending to enhance the well-being of the person receiving. Faulkner and Davies (2005) illustrate the four broad support mechanisms they are emotional, informational, appraisal and instrumental support. Emotional support is about improving self-esteem, encouraging the person and aiming to have a feeling of belonging, accepted, loved and needed. Informational support provides information for individuals which enables them to be involved in dealing with their problems and problem solving. It can involve suggestions of where they can acquire further advice. Instrumental support involves tangible resources to remove, or significantly reduce, the stressful situation experienced by an individual. This also may include the provision of financial aid or services. Appraisal support helps the person to evaluate the impact of their circumstance, and level the threat posed by the stressful event or availability of personal coping resources. Post-operatively, Jane required all the identified types of support in dealing with her anxiety about her flatus and odour. Sirota (2006) states that support is important at all levels of care of the stoma patient and is especially critical in the early postoperative stages following stoma surgery when patients are experiencing grief reactions to loss. Emotionally, the support had already begun with the pre-operative chats that involved not only Jane, but her partner, Peter as well. The nurse, in offering support to the patient following a stoma formation must be conscious of the fact that even though the patient is extremely self-conscious about odours related to the newly-formed stoma, odours from the stoma should never be smelled by anyone but the patient (Williams, 2005). Emotional support to Jane was provided by developing a rapport with her which helped to alleviate her anxiety and embarrassment by putting the issue of flatulence and odour into context and teaching the patient techniques that could help control the issues e.g. deodorants, diets (Williams, 2005). Informational support was given to Jane about the types of food that will reduce odours and flatulence. Information such as which foods and fluids will produce flatus and which are likely to cause odour; how to manage a noticeable bulge created by flatus and how to remove flatus from appliance without causing unnecessary embarrassment in terms of odour or spillage are crucial to developing the patients confidence in managing his/her stoma (Breckman, 2005). In addition, leaflets obtained from the Ileostomy Internal Pouch Support Group gave a list of foods that increase and decrease flatulence and faecal odour as well as hints on reducing flatus. Instrumental support for Jane took the form of the deodorants that were provided to her to deal with the odours from her stoma. Cottam and Porrett (2005) recommend that in instances where odour is a problem, such as when changing the appliance, deodorants can be used to mask faecal odours and these are available in atomizers, drops or powders that can be sprayed into the atmosphere or placed inside the appliance. Jane was given the opportunity to try different samples of different fragrances by the stoma care nurse and then advised how she could order them in the future. She was also able to examine the different costs so that she could order deodorants that suited her budgets. She also advised to use the silicon-based adhesive remover which was proven to be gentler on the skin (Cutting, 2006). The final aspect of support that was provided to Jane in alleviating her anxiety about flatus and odour was appraisal support. Any disruption to the workings of the persons body is bound to cause concern and in Western society the pressures placed on us by media and peers mean that the patient that has to live with a stoma has to live with a stigma and all the anxieties associated with this (Williams, 2005). With the informational, emotional and instrumental support that was given to Jane, the rest of support needed by her can only be identified and accessed by her. Support groups and their contact details were provided to Jane, so that she can access a group or forum, if she determined that she needed further support of more specific, or even generic, type. The success of Janes adjustment will now be dependent on her own coping strategies and her own support networks (Williams, 2005). Salter (1997) stated that the support a nurse needs to give the patient with newly formed stoma is emotional, informational and practical. Jane received all of the above during her immediate post-operative period. Price (1993) says that how Jane copes now will be affected by the opinions and attitudes of the people with whom she has close relationships. Informational and appraisal support will continue via support group and forums and emotional support will come from family and friends. In the end, Jane will increase her self-confidence and become more independent with dealing with her stoma and stoma care. But in the end, as with everyone, even those without a stoma, support of all kinds will always be needed in some degree, form or fashion.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Conformity Essay -- essays research papers
According to Leon Mann, conformity means ‘yielding to group pressures’. Everyone is a member of one group or another and everyone expects members of these groups to behave in certain ways. If you are a member of an identifiable group you are expected to behave appropriately to it. If you don’t confirm and behave appropriately you are likely to be rejected by the group. Like stereotypes, conforming and expecting others to conform maintains cognitive balance. There are several kinds of conformity. Many studies of conformity took place in the 1950’s which led Kelman to distinguish between compliance, internalisation and identification. Compliance is the type of conformity where the subject goes along with the group view, but privately disagrees with it. Internalisation is where the subject comes to accept, and eventually believes in the group view. Identification is where the subject accepts and believes the group view, because he or she wants to become associated with the group. Leon Mann identifies normative conformity which occurs when direct group pressure forces the individual to yield under the threat of rejection or the promise of reward. This can occur only if someone wants to be a member of the group or the groups attitudes or behaviour are important to the individual in some way. Apart from normative conformity there is informational conformity which occurs where the situation is vague or ambiguous and because the person is uncertain he or she turns to others for evidence of the appropriate response. Thirdly, Mann identifies ingratiational conformity which occurs where a person tries to do whatever he or she thinks the others will approve in order to gain acceptance (if you make yourself appear to be similar to someone else, they might come to like you). The first major research into conformity was conducted in 1935 by Sherif who used a visual illusion, known as the auto-kinetic effect. Sherif told his subjects that a spot of light which they were about to see in a darkened room was going to move, and he wanted them to say the direction and distance of the movement. In the first experimental condition the subjects were tested individually. Some said the distance of movement wasn’t very far in any directio, others said it was several inches. Sherif recorded each subjects response. In the second experimental condition, Sherif gathered his subject... ... and Willis give some criticisms of the early research into conformity. Firstly the studies do not identify the motive or type of conformity. Do the subjects conform in order to gain social approval? Are they simply complying? Do they really believe that their response is correct? Secondly Hollander and Willis claim that the experiments do not identify whether the subjects are complying because they judge that it’s not worth appearing to be different, or because the actually start to believe that the groups judgement is correct. Hollander and Willis also claim that the studies cannot show whether those who do not conform do so because they are independant thinkers or because they are anti-conformists. And Lastly, they claim that the studies seem to assume that independance has to be good and conformity has to be bad. However conformity is often benificial. Sherif and Asch have each conducted fairly artificial laboritory experiments which showed that about 30% of responses can be explained by the need or desire of the subjects to conform. These experiments may not accurately reflect real life when conformity might be benificial and sometimes contribute to psychological well-being.
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