Management and Employment Relations

The history of management is being traced with difficulties and it is only seen as a modern conceptualization. This difficulty contributes to its ideally possiveness nature. In premodern past context it is traceable back to Sumerian traders and builders of the pyramids of ancient Egypt. Full exploitation and motivation of slaves faced problems. Many pre-industrial enterprises in their small-scale nature were never compelled to face issues of management. With increased scale of commercial operations devoid of mechanized record keeping and recording, management functions were unavailable. Management as an act involves the process of directing and controlling a group of people for purposes of achieving coordination and harmony of the group towards attaining a goal, which is far beyond the scope of individual efforts. Potential human resources, financial resources, technological resources and natural resources are deployed and manipulated through management[1]. The possibility of personifying the act of management also exists whereby the person or a team of persons performing this act is or are referred to as management and has to do with power by its nature and position. Functionally, management entails the art of getting things done through people: action of weighing a quantity on regular basis and adjusting the initial plan and the action taken to reach the overall intended goal. The functions and roles of management therefore entail planning, organizing, leading or motivating and controlling or coordinating all resources in the working place[2]. Management falls under the following categories: human resource management, operations or production management, strategic management, financial management and information technology management.   Human resource management carries the grater weight in employment relations. Its importance is seen in understanding and developing its context concept, to assess and explain its impact on organizational performance and employment well being and to contribute to the dissemination of good practice. The role of management in employment relations can be explained by the context of communication in the work place. Employees must be treated with applicable laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which it operates. Communications between management and employees is essential in conveying management policies to employees and encouraging employees to voice their options[3]. This impacts the active rather than passive agency role of the management being the representative of the employer. These concepts are of vital importance in employment cycle. Employment in this context refers to the contract between two parties one being the employer and the other one the employee. The employee refers to a person in the service of another. Under any contract of hirer express or applied, oral or written where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how the work is to be performed[4]. In a profit oriented setting the aim of the employer is creation of valued produces at reasonable cost, and providing rewarding employment opportunities for employees. In unprofit setting the ultimate goal is to keep faith of the donors. Other areas of employment include the public and household sectors. It is in view of this harmony that the active role of the management should be felt in any working environment. Communication between management as the employers’ representative and employees should show shared responsibilities called co-determinations. There are specific areas of concern and address during the discussion between the two parties they include; pay of wages, bonuses, the work environment, disputes, work schedules, grievances, health and safety, working hours and production targets. The aim of these discussions is an achievement of a more harmonious working relationship sometimes-major employment relations dispute may arise. Whenever problems start to arise in a company a successful management-employment relations involve striking a balance in nearly all situations. The employer has the right to manage that is the ability to plan for the future so that the company can continue moving to make profits and to keep employees motivated. Form the employees’ viewpoint best possible conditions must be secured and good living standards made not a dream. High labour turnover, bad time keeping, high levels of absenteeism, slackness of individuals, poor working, deliberate time working in similar practices are evident in situations where employees are unhappy with the working conditions[5]. Other evidences of discontent will be revealed in complain, friction, ignoring rules and apathy for unappropriate management system to gain the intended meaning must strive to attain the following qualifications: attraction of the most qualified employees and matching them to the jobs for which there are best suited since this is significant for the success of any organization[6]. However, there arises some technical problems in many large enterprises due to their size this aspect of too large size of an enterprise deter possible close contact between top management and employees this connection is otherwise provided for by human resource managers training managers and labour relations managers. In an effort to enhance immorality and productivity while limiting job turnover, helping organization increase performance and improve business results they are of vital help to the organization they also help the firms effectively in using employees skills, provide training and development opportunities, improve those skills and improve employees satisfaction with their jobs and working conditions. Dealing with people through physical interaction is an important part of the job although some jobs in the human resources field require only limited contact between the people outside the office. The importance of management in employment relations on an active capacity is further highlighted through creation of labour unions and its incorporation in the constitution in the name of labour laws. This has been evident in all regions countries and states all over the world for the purpose of improving the quality of working life for individuals and creates condition for business success. Employers, employees and unions must deal with one another in an honest and open atmosphere. This in essence bears results such as follows: promotion of good employment relation and cultivations of mutual respect and confidence between employers, employees and unions. It also sets the environment for individual and collective employment relationships. It also sets out requirements for the negotiation and content of collective and individual employment agreements. It also provides prompt and flexible options for resolving problems in employment relations. There are a number of undiresable trade union action such as withdrawal of good will, go slow, working strictly to the rules set out in work rule books and sticking rigidly to only doing tasks set out clearly in a job description, refusing to work overtime, going on a strike and many others[7]. All this actions reduce companies’ profitability and its ability and fulfill orders, they harm employment prospects, reduce wages of employees they lead to festering discontent and cause problems for customers and economy as a whole. This is a practical scenario in the current working places and it reflects negative picture of interaction in the working places. It is therefore, very important to create a harmonious working environment for the benefit all the concerned. Good practices and models of a harmonious working practice should be exhibited in a true structure of employment relation. In an effort in building trust as a manager it is paramount to display the following characteristics: keeping promises, have ethics, telling people the truth, being fair and honest, treating employees as adults while showing appreciation for their ideas and for the work they do, involve employees in planning and problems solving, give employees important work and support them to implement. In an effort to achieve a successful structure of management – employment relations’ labour or employment laws have been enacted. Labour laws Labors laws also known as employment laws refers elaborately to a body of administrative ruling and prescient which focuses to address the legal rights and restriction on the working people and their organizations and as such it mediates may aspects of the relationships between trade unions, employers and employees. They are in some countries restricted to ununionized work places, as is the case in Canada. But in most other countries no such restrictions is made. Two broad categories of labour laws exist; collective labour law which relates to tripartite relationship between employee employer and union. Individual labour law concerns employees’ rights at work and through the contract for work[8]. Employment laws include all areas of the employer employee relationship except the negotiation process covered by labour law and collective bargaining. It consists thousands of federal and state statues, administration regulation and judicial decision.   Most of these laws such as minimum wage regulation were enacted as protective labour legislation. The functioning and origins of labour laws is oriented towards strikes, pickets, boycotts, unofficial industrial action Labour laws in Australia The federal parliament in Australia is empowered by the constitution to make laws concerning conciliation and arbitration for the settlement and prevention of industrial disputes extending beyond the limit of any one state. The laws made with respect to trading and financial corporations fall within the limits of the commonwealth and foreign corporations. Industrial relations systems and wages setting have been enhanced by this system also known as work choice, which came into operation in 2006[9]. Work choices legislation act in Australia The most comprehensive shakeups of industrial relations since federation were the results of the successful introduction and passing of work choices legislation in Australia in December 2005[10]. The industrial and employment circulars underwent permanent and long-term changes. These changes are explained in the following dimension: federal systems of industrial relations were successful and completely replaced with the unitary system of industrial relations: an emphasis on Australian economy away from the wages and conditions; transitional arrangement and changes to Awards and Agreements; awards were reduced drastically, Australia Fair Pay Commission was set up with the main aim of determination of minimum wages and conditions of employees, the powers of Australian Industrial Relation Commission were greatly reduced to an extent of being rendered redundant, flexible work practices were introduced and the ability to cash out some benefits such as annual leave[11]. The consequences were some problems with work place health and safety application; new dismissal provision which were less straightforward as they may have been trumpeted. New transmission of business rules that is buying and selling business plus all the people incorporated in the business. Union restriction and the scrapping the no disadvantage test. All these changes brought about complexity and consequently bearing some effects on businesses along the following orientations. Small business holders were subjected to the understanding of the broader concepts of employer obligations to the employees applicable to their unique business situation.   The employers take great care before taking a step towards termination of an employee’s service. Great care, advice and consultation became a prerequisite since the work place legislations empowered the employees to claim compensation against unlawful dismissal and discrimination. These laws applied to the especially small business with as less as a hundred employees and therefore constitute the retail in Australia. The workforce legislation in Australia further favoured these minority employees in the retail industry in a sense that the cost of defending discrimination and dismissal claim by the employer is dramatically higher than the unfair dismissal itself. In conclusion; the changing of the awards and agreements provided for by the work choice legislation added a layer of complexity to the businesses which extended upto the end of the transitional face which extended up to five years. An investor intending to buy a business was supposed to be ready for the transmission of business changes and the business owner had to grapple to the new layer of complexity. References Catanzariti, J. & Baragwanath, M. 1997. Workplace Relations Act: A User-friendly Guide. Manly, NSW, Newsletter Information Services. Cranny, C., Smith, P. & Stone, E. 1992. Job Satisfaction. New York: Lexington. Creighton, B. & Stewart, A. 1994. Labour Law – An Introduction. 2nd Ed. Leichhardt, NSW. Federation Press. Guite, T. 1999. Strategic Human Resource Management. 3rd Ed. McMillan Publishers. London. Lee, M. & Sheldon, P. (eds.). 1997. Workplace Relations, Workplace Law & Employment Relations. Sidney. Botterworths. Mullins, L. 2005. Management and Organizational Behaviour. 7th Ed. Harlow. Prentice-Hall. Nilson, C. 2003. How to Manage Training: A Guide to Design and Delivery for High Performance. 3rd Ed. New York. Amacom. Pocock, Barbara & Masterman-Smith, Helen. 2005. Work Choices and Women Workers. Journal of Australian Political Economy No.56. Teicher, J., Lambert, R. & O’Rourke, A. (eds.). 2006. Work Choices: The New Industrial Relations Agenda. Sidney, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Walter, J. 2006. Strategic Management. Theory: An Integrated Approach. McMillan Publishing Ltd.          [1] Walter, J. 2006. Strategic Management. Theory: An Integrated Approach. McMillan Publishing Ltd. PP.70-73. [2] Nilson, C. 2003. How to Manage Training: A Guide to Design and Delivery for High Performance. 3rd Ed. New York. Amacom. PP.103. [3] Mullins, L. 2005. Management and Organizational Behaviour. 7th Ed. Harlow. Prentice-Hall. PP.51-58. [4] Catanzariti, J. & Baragwanath, M. 1997. Workplace Relations Act: A User-friendly Guide. Manly, NSW, Newsletter Information Services. PP.17. [5] Guite, T. 1999. Strategic Human Resource Management. 3rd Ed. McMillan Publishers. London. PP.41-43. [6] Cranny, C., Smith, P. & Stone, E. 1992. Job Satisfaction. New York: Lexington. PP.31-34. [7] Lee, M. & Sheldon, P. (eds.). 1997. Workplace Relations, Workplace Law & Employment Relations. Sidney. Botterworths. PP.27-37. [8] Creighton, B. & Stewart, A. 1994. Labour Law – An Introduction. 2nd Ed. Leichhardt, NSW. Federation Press. PP.9-16. [9] Teicher, J., Lambert, R. & O’Rourke, A. (e ds.). 2006. Work Choices: The New Industrial Relations Agenda. Sidney, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. PP.103-125. [10] Pocock, Barbara & Masterman-Smith, Helen. 2005. Work Choices and Women Workers. Journal of Australian Political Economy No.56. PP.124-143. [11] Teicher, J., Lambert, R. & O’Rourke, A. (eds.). 2006. Work Choices: The New Industrial Relations Agenda. Sidney, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. PP.103-125.   

Demographic of Essex County Essay

Essex County is located in the North eastern part of new jersey. The history of Essex county dates back to 1666 when 30 families from Connecticut established settlement along the banks of Passaic river. Essex County was officially established in 1682 by east jersey legislature. Essex County is 129.631 square miles. The Geopolitical communities are designed by natural or human made boundaries (Maurer and Smith, 2009). It holds community safer for the residents and the governing body. Essex County is bordered by human made boundaries. The weather of the community fluctuates according to the seasons. The usual temperature throughout winter stays within 24 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. In the summer, it hikes up, and ranges between at 68 to 85 Fahrenheit. Natural disasters like flood, blizzards, snowstorms, heavy rains hurricanes, power outrage, water shortage common here. Essex county is the second most densely populated county in new jersey As of 2010 census population was 783969. The coun ty is made up of 22 municipalities which are widely diverse encompassing large inner-city communities. Essex’s county’s economic wealth is not distributed uniformly across all residents, with large urban areas that include a large number of poor and minority populations with 11.7% county families had income below the poverty level. As of 2011, 10.8% residents were unemployed. Essex County is the first county in United States to create county wide park system. As of now 5,745 acres of green space which includes vast reservations developed parks 21 one of them. The community has big golf courses and tennis courts In addition to this, there are seasonal community fairs and other community events that provide an occasion for community interaction. And there is provision for bike lanes. Fire department and police  department renders excellent service. The waste disposal and pest control department maintains healthy and hygienic environment. There are community parks, swimming pools, sports clubs, and many other establishments providing amenities to support the physical and leisure activities of the residents. The community has a big golf clubs. In addition to this, there are seasonal community fairs and other community events that provide an occasion for community interaction. Interview with the Community health Nurse Melissa Garfield RN, BSN (telephone Interview) Conducted on 10/23/2014. Melissa works for Barnabas Health System at present she is a clinical supervisor who in charge of approximately 100 employees which includes registered nurses, respiratory therapist, occupational and physical therapist. They work very closely with the state and they are Medicare certified. What is your role in disease prevention, surveillance and health Promotion? What steps are you taking to alert the community to educate them? The role of community health has changed greatly over the years. We play a very important role in the community for prevention of disease and promotion of health. They help in preventing disease by community teaching and help early detection of a problem. The greatest challenges we face has nothing to do with the season of the year, it is with hospitals discharging patients more quickly to shorten the length of stay and the acuity of the patients in the community are much higher which necessitates the clinicians that are more skilled than ever. As of now they have to take care of patients with tracheostomy, peg tube feeding, long term chest tubes, nephrostomy tubes and ventilators and administer antibiotics. The job of the community health nurse is educate the family members how to take care of their loved one at home, and what to do when there is emergency there is always redundancy what to do when there is emergency. She gave the example of Hurricane sandy when they had to go visiting homes of patients who were oxygen dependent, ventilator patients and patients with special electronic beds and make sure they had electricity and if not they had to be moved to acute care center. For me that was the most  challenging thing I faced in the community. This transcends any season. At the moment it is season change and we have to make sure our homebound citizens and senior citizens for getting flu vaccines and get them ready for winter making sure they have access to heat and hot water. Now we are also educating the community about Ebola. What ethnic groups do you deal with? Essex County is made up of very diverse race and culture. There is no single dominant culture or race. We have African- American, White-Americans, Hispanic, and Asians. They visit all communities in the county; they have escorts who are from the community who helps her when she goes home visiting. The only home they are not allowed to go is if they see anyone actively doing drugs, or drinking for safety reasons. What spiritual resources are available? The community health nurse has to respect every religion, culture and their way of life and traditions as long it doesn’t cause any harm to the individual. Essex County has churches of every denomination, temples, synagogues and mosques which are easily accessible. What are the five biggest health issues pertaining to Essex County? What is being done to educate the community for its prevention? Heart Disease including congestive heart disease. Cancer Stroke Septicemia Diabetes There are non-health related issues like homicide, violent crimes deaths injuries and mortality rates related to this are high in the community. The community health nurses organize community teaching in churches, senior citizen homes and in adult day care center and churches where they teach about diet, exercise, compliance with medication and follow up with the physicians. They also check blood pressure and sugars during this  time. Making sure people in the community follow healthy diet is challenge as this county has very high rate of fast food joints. Are you adequately funded? What would you like to see more funding for? We are insurance and Medicare dependent and if the patient doesn’t have insurance then it is charity care. They organize fund raisers for cancer prevention. Every program is important to the community but more funding is needed for preventive care which in turn will promote health. What are some of the preventive programs organized Barnabas health comm unity services? The role of community health nurse involves educating the community in prevention of disease which in turn promotes health. Tobacco free living Preventing drug abuse and excessive alcohol use Healthy eating Injury and violence free living Reproductive and sexual health Mental and emotional well-being. They also have program called† what’s in your bag† where they collaborate with the pharmacist in the community check the prescription medications the patients are taking and make sure there is no duplications for example Norvasc and Amlodipine. They update the list of the medication they are taking which helps when they go to the doctors or hospital. They also assist in the community in proper disposable of unused and expired medicine. The nurse also teaches how to store medications especially narcotics. They also help in the immunizations of seniors especially flu and pneumonia and preschool children. The school nurse is in charge of making sure the school age kids are up-to-date with immunization. Are the health resources adequate in Essex County? She believes there are enough health providers; there are many hospitals, emergent day care centers and nurse practitioners all are very easily accessible. The problem is not enough resources  she believes people not making use of these resources. There are many individuals with no insurance but they are never denied care. Essex County also has discount prescription card which gives 20% on prescription medication. What is the role of a community health in regarding to mental health? She is not specialized in this field but they do have separate division who takes care of these individual this team consists of behavioral health nurses and therapist. They do assess the patients if they need these services and refer them accordingly. Essex County has a big psychiatry hospital whose mission is to provide evidence-based care to promote patient recovery and return to community. Diet and Exercise Obesity rates have doubled among children and tripled in adolescents and adults. Also our community has very high rate of fast food restaurant. The main of community health nurse is educating the community on healthy diet and the importance of exercise. Our community has lots of parks and open spaces, sports center which are well equipped but under used. There also community swimming pools. The community health nurses do not organize any activities in regarding to exercise, but the county has many such program which begin in spring with cherry blossom festival, they conduct marathons, bike riding competitions’ and hikes and camp outs during summer of which Barnabas health is a big sponsor. Are they any nutrition deficiency in the community? Does the community provide safe drinking water? Most common problem are Vitamin D deficiency. There are many communities which live below poverty and many are homeless. But there are many organizations which help them like soup kitchens, food stamps, meals on wheels for home bound citizens, churches and many communities. Schools provide subsidized rate or free in some cases breakfast and lunches to the children. Farmers markets and community garden where one can grow fresh vegetables and fruits in summer. Tap water is safe for  drinking which checked periodically and report of which is sent to all residents. 11. What is the role of a Community health nurse in relation to environmental issues such as heat assistance, cooling stations, pest control, waste disposal, and common air contaminants? Essex County has an environmental nurse that follows the Human Health Hazard Ordinance. This ordinance is for dealing with health hazards that are occurring on the outside of the home and could potentially affect other members of the community. They work closely with town and municipality workers. They inspect the homes for rats or any insect’s bed bugs. They also observe how the garbage is being disposed. Overall the nurse’s job is to see if the resident is safe in their home. She also checks if the patient is oxygen dependent there is nobody in the house smoking, from individual perspective she also checks if they have working fire alarms. They check to see if they have provision for heat in winter. There is very good waste management system in the county. They have garbage and recycle bins in all public spaces. The environments hazardous waste and electronic waste is being collected by the county once in three months from the community or it can be taken to the disposable center by the resident. The community nurse plays no role in this. 12. What kind of sexuality programs are available e.g. growth and development, STD and AIDS education, contraception options. Is there sufficient access to birth control, support groups for pregnant women and new parents? What are the statistics for birth rates, abortion and miscarriage? Essex County works with Planned Parenthood, the pregnancy crisis hot-line, the Family Resource Center and Early Head Start programs. There is disparity among child birth and teen pregnancy. Low and low birth weight among African-American babies born is higher than other racial/ ethnic group. Teen pregnancy is more in lower socio-economic groups. The school nurses provide sex education to the kids from  elementary. There are many programs for maternal and child health. They support them and get necessary help needed in caring the baby and themselves. 13. How do you assist in disaster management planning? Are there other agencies you work with? Essex County nurses work with police, fire and EMS from all the cities and towns in the county. The nurses participate in disaster management drill a few times a year. Our other role in disaster management is to keep a list of personnel that may be needed to help when a disaster occurs. The list is reviewed and updated yearly. This list includes: Long-term care facilities Veterinarian Clinics and hospital Schools Churches Summer camps Parish nurses Home care agencies Water and energy facilities such a Alliant Energy Power Station† 14. What are the Cognitive/ perceptual level of the community? The Essex County is home to large ethnic/ racial group. The main language is English but there is large number of residents about 20% of who don’t speak English. The community nurses use language line to communicate with the patient or somebody from the family who knows the language acts as the translator. Essex County is home to five public and five private colleges. There is a great push to change the education system and get the children back to school. The graduate rate is 64% for the county which is low comparing to other counties in the state. 15. What is the self-perception / self- concept in the community? Are the residents happy? I don’t know how to answer that. You know we both live in the same county there is big disparities how the economic wealth is distributed. There are large urban areas with poor and minority population, a nd some below poverty level. The county is doing a lot to make sure all  residents have equal opportunities. Like in the library they have activities for senior citizens; they also have activities for school age and preschoolers. They play a big role ]in summer reading program. The county also has free coaching in summer for sports activities like tennis and football. Each community in summer organizes movie night. There are equal opportunities for all. In certain communities in the county the violent crime rate and homicide rate is high compared to other counties in the state. There is also big problem with substance abuse. Due to which emergency room visits for substance abuse are high in the county. The families living in these areas face dangers which causes stress. Role and relationship The people of the community continue to maintain respectful and healthy relationships with neighbors. The children are cooperative with one another and maintain respect towards elders and higher authorities, such as teachers. Local residents aid the older residents, especially during snow storm. The local police and firefighters offer innumerable services for the community. We ended our interview by her saying there are many services available in the community which the residents are not aware of. They also need more skilled nursing staff as the acuity of patients in the community is high. References: The county of Essex New jersey. www. Essex-county nj.org Essex county quick facts from U S census bureau. Retrieved from quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/†¦/34013.

My philosophy for advanced practice nursing Essay

My philosophy for advanced practice nursing (APN) is an extension of the philosophy of my nursing practice. I plan to form a partnership with my patients in which compassionate, holistic, evidence based care will lead to the patient maintaining optimal health and wellness. Advance Practice Nurses focus entirely on the patient by compassionately addressing every aspect of the patient’s needs. My goal is to educate and encourage the patient to become responsible for his/her health by working diligently with the healthcare team. An APN’s primary focus should be to address and remove the underlying cause of illness rather than to merely alleviate the presenting symptoms. This can be done by addressing underlying issues that can hinder the healing process and establish a plan to remove these obstacles in order to promote holistic healing. I value treating the whole patient (emotional, genetic, environmental, social, physical, spiritual, and other factors) and offering means of wellness in conjunction with traditional options (Nightingale, 1954). Nurse Practitioners provide the patient with a holistic care that includes not only exercise, nutrition, environment, and stressors, but also considers the client’s cultural world view (Dossey, 2010). When this approach is taken, each patient is able to experience an individualized plan of treatment. As I step out of the role of bedside nurse and embrace the role of an APN, I look forward to the additional responsibilities of diagnosing and treating patients which will afford me a greater role in the improvement of my patient’s health. This advanced role in designing and implementing plans of treatment empowers the APN to provide complete patient care. The APN role also allows me the opportunity to educate my patients, their families and the community on measures to improve health and prevent future illnesses. I look forward to advancing as a professional because, as I do so, I can make a difference by implementing and improving patient care and teaching others. References Dossey, B. (2010). Holistic nursing: from Florence Nightingale’s historical legacy to 21st-century global nursing. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 16(5), 14-16. Nightingale, F. (1954). Notes on nursing: What it is and what it is not. In L.R. Seymer (Ed.), selected writings of Florence Nightingale (p.123-220). New York: Macmillan. (Original work published 1859).

Qualitative Research Methods Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Qualitative Research Methods Assignment - Essay Example Meanwhile, Cox (2003) discovered that intrapersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflict have negative impacts on work satisfaction and team effectiveness. On the other hand, Gilson, et al. (2005) found out that standardization is capable of influencing the relationship between creativity and team effectiveness. Research Question and Setting Cognizant of the differences in perceptions of team effectiveness, this qualitative study will attempt to address the research question: Do the perceptions of team effectiveness of selected members of virtual teams in INT Corporation EMEA closely approximate the theoretical components of team effectiveness? A qualitative research is deemed most appropriate for this study because the study intends to explore attitude and behaviours by obtaining in-depth opinions from the respondents of the study (Dawson, 2004). Needless to say, therefore, that the setting will be INT Corporation EMEA. Sampling and Data Gathering Since interviews will take much lon ger than a questionnaire survey, a qualitative research can not accommodate as many respondents as a survey. Sample size was determined using randomised parameters: (1) margin of error of 7%; (2) confidence level of 90% (3) company population of 60,000; and (4) response distribution of 10%. The minimum required sample size is 50. However, selection of respondents will not anymore be randomised, but through purposive sampling. Dane (2011) describes purposive sampling as the selection of sampling elements grounded on characteristics of interest for the study, which in this case is, membership in a virtual team. Purposive sampling does not involve probability sampling, but combining sampling procedures in this regard are allowed and practiced according to Teddlie and Tashakkori (2009). Data for the study will be collected using one of the most common methods of qualitative research – a semi-structured interview using an interview guide as the main instrument of the study. A semi -structured interview may be described as one which â€Å"consists of predetermined questions related to the domains of interest, administered to a representative sample of respondents to confirm study domains and identify factors, variables or attributes of variables for analysis or use in a survey† (Schensul, et al., 1999, p. 149). The study can benefit from semi-structured interviews since this data gathering procedure harmonises the flexibility of unstructured or open-ended interviews and the directionality of the survey questionnaire, capable of generating focused qualitative data. The best thing about a semi-structured interview is that the questions are formulated before the actual interview, but the answers are open-ended and may be expanded based on the discretion of the interviewer. The main limitation of interview as a data-gathering technique is the time required to conduct the interview. This is usually offset by using a smaller number of respondents. Hence, in-d epth information can be gathered from the respondents or interviewees. In this study, perceptions of team effectiveness will be categorised into five areas, namely: atmosphere, relationships, communication, direction and objectives. Five main questions corresponding to the five categories named will be included in the interview guide. These questions are: 1. How will you describe the

Customer Service Interview Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Customer Service Interview - Coursework Example Once the customers are given excellent service, they will be happy to do another transaction with the company and even recommend it to their friends and colleagues (Zemke & Woods, 1998). Still it is already assumed that every once in a while customers will ask or complain about something that is obviously the reason why companies have customer care services. To have an idea on how customer complaints are handled, an interview with Ms. V. Siva, a customer service representative of Dish Network was conducted. According to her, customer service representatives play a vital role in an organization. As a part of the customer service team, it is their responsibility to provide outstanding customer service and help the management obtains ideas for product innovation from the given customers feedback and recommendation. Ms. Siva often receives calls from customers who wish to cancel their subscription. Other customers complain about their bills, while some are just asking for information reg arding their services and packages (personal communication, July 8, 2011). Those are the common day-to-day dilemma of the Dish Network subscribers. It shows that there are really no exemptions when it comes to customer service complaints, no matter how big a company is, because customer complaints cannot be avoided although it can be lessened. ... Its major competitor is DirecTV Group, Inc. (â€Å"Profile: Dish Network Corp,† 2011). Last April 2011, the company was able to purchase Blockbuster a home video and video game rental services company (Henry, 2011) and just recently, the company acquired ownership of Terrestar Network, a mobile communications company (Avery, 2011). Dish Network’s consecutive acquisition of bankrupt companies allows them to venture into other forms of home video and television services, attracting more and more subscribers in the country. As the people of this modern era seek for convenience and entertainment in the comforts of their home, Dish Network is able to give them the many available options for home entertainment. Even though the company has undergone major developments, it does not mean that they are exempted from receiving customer complaints. Customer complaints are part of the business cycle. The interview proves that like any other company Dish Network also has issues with their customer services. It is the common perception of most companies that when they are able to earn a profit that is more than enough to sustain the overall operation of their organization, their marketing strategy is effective. Actually it is true, their marketing strategy is effective but what is overlooked in this situation is in the area of customer service. Well it is good to focus on how to increase profit but it would not be good to set aside the concerns of the customers. If the company is serious with its intention to fully satisfy the customers, it must be able to provide outstanding customer services. On a positive note, one can say that the complaints encountered by the company are not

Trace Hamlet's growth throughout his major soliloquies, giving special Essay

Trace Hamlet's growth throughout his major soliloquies, giving special attention to how his decisions are influenced by conflicts with the Great Chain of Being - Essay Example The concept of the Great Chain of Being was an order in Shakespeare’s time and it’s also very much evident in his play Hamlet. With reference to Hamlet’s first soliloquy it is evident that Shakespeare believes that a woman is supposed to be loyal to her relations and to flirt or marry soon after being widowed is â€Å"unrighteous† or â€Å"wicked†. Also, she can be seen as representing the less human form, in that with the loss of her loving husband and with little she can turn to her son but she chooses to act lunatic rather than to cope with her loss. Hamlet cannot utter a word against his mother as he is bound in a chain of being according to which he cannot challenge or object to his mother. He is extremely disappointed with his mother for marrying his uncle so soon, and he repudiates his lover Ophelia in the harshest terms. His words often indicate his disgust with his mother and distrust of women in general. Ophelia is not higher to him and th at is why he is expressing his anguish to her, rather than to his mother. The concept of the Great chain plays a major role in this play, especially when Hamlet is indecisive about murdering his uncle, as Hamlet is pondering over the fact that whether he should risk position on the chain or play it safe. He thinks that if he pursues to avenge his father by murdering Claudius, he is faced with the dilemma that his act will take him to hell. Here, he fears to lose his position in the chain. But, in the other way, he is the only heir to his father and the responsibility falls on him. Furthermore, his father’s spirit has ordered him to take revenge, which he cannot deny as he is bound in the chain of being subordinate to his father. The most important of his soliloquies named as â€Å"to be or not to be† is the best example and explanation for the great chain of being. Here, Hamlet ponders whether it is nobler to stay alive and avenge his

Anthropology Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Anthropology Final - Essay Example It aims at creating a concrete feeling of enjoyment for an audience, most commonly manifested in a physical display consisting of displays of pleasure including smiles and laughter.† 1 Another definition of humour, â€Å"is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement† 2 Not all people are talented enough to be humorous. Someone needs to be creative and imaginative. In this case, there is what we call â€Å"humour formula† Root components of humour are being reflective of or imitative of reality and surprise/misdirection, contradiction/paradox, ambiguity. Therefore, methods to create humour include hyperbole, metaphor, farce, reframing and timing. 3 Our society has evolved in different angles. We have learned from our parents, siblings and friends knowing which laughable jokes are and which are not. Sometimes when people are stressed from their work, when they laugh at jokes, it gives them a relaxing feeling, releasing stress. It is therefore healthy to laugh at jokes. But that is not the focus of my paper. I just want to make this paper an informative material to others who may be reading this in the future. I laughed and I learned humour. In our subject Anthropology 2040-1, I thought we will just study how to create jokes and learn the tricks of being a stand-up comedian. It was more of a deep understanding about the origins of humour and how Jewish people are important in the anthropological study of humour. But why did our forefathers like Plato, Socrates and others became curious about the elements of Humour. Who doesn’t want to hear jokes? Of course everyone does. But sometimes people became abusive of their sense of humour. Having a sense of humour is a great talent. It means that you can make everyone laugh, and sometimes people make money for this ability. In some television shows, competition is always present. So, instead of naming the person or show, they use jokes against thei r competitors. Especially if one T.V. show claimed they are number 1 in the ratings, others react and use other means to prove to people they are number 1 too. Humour is sometimes used by people who think they are more superior to the others. Like in schools, the usual scenes are some rich kids prank over poor kids, good looking students prank on not so good looking students. But how far is too far when it comes to humour? Honestly, we are influenced by our society when it comes to humour verbals and visuals. We selectively and consciously laugh at areas we found defects or we found out of the ordinary. Anything that is not perfect in our subconscious is not ordinary and therefore we can say, we laugh about it sometimes because it is not how we expect it should appear. According to Ted Cohen, when a joke involves logic running wild, the joke will present an absurdity – an absurdity in itself or an absurd response to a normal overture or a kind of doubling of absurdity. 4 Reli gious humour is by far the most controversial part of our modern society. Most of the readings about this concept points towards Jewish people. But before we go to Jewish people, let’s first understand why religion entails humour by defining religious

Process of Heating the Water Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Process of Heating the Water - Assignment Example The heater design is made on certain assumptions being – (1) steady state rate of heat transfer (or that heat transfer rate is constant with time); (2) the cylindrical structure allows thermal symmetry so that the transfer of heat occurs merely on one dimension and varies not along the axial direction; (3) the metallic composition of the water tank (having thin metal sheet of stainless steel) on the inside possesses negligible thermal resistance; (4) thermal conductivities are uniform throughout the heating process; and that (5) very negligible heat losses take place on surfaces at the top and at the bottom.Among the available insulating materials in the market, the ‘foam’ is chosen for its affordability and low cost of installation. Compared to the other prospected insulators, its thermal conductivity appears to have given the most reasonable values for the length and surface area of the heater via R-equation, while others came out with lengths that converge to t he value of the corresponding outer radius which is not likely in the actual. During the process of heating the water, every 500-W increment is dissipated through the insulated tank wall so the increase of power input ought to be compensated with the addition of foam with relative thickness so as to prevent unnecessary heat loss until the water has achieved the desired temperature at 65Â °C. Stainless steel is preferred to carbon steel or some other steel alloys due to the fact that it potentially resists corrosion over considerable time period.

Using an extended example critically examine whether the sector matrix Essay - 1

Using an extended example critically examine whether the sector matrix framework gives a better strategic understanding of product markets than the concepts of product or comodity chains - Essay Example een dominant concept within theoretical framework of economics as well as strategy studies as different theoretical frameworks such as BCG and Porter’s ideas gave rise to the overall concept of the value chain. However, on a much bigger scale, the idea of value chain encompasses a much larger significance because it interconnects different industries either within the borders or outside the borders of the company. This therefore also means that the global supply chain management is not just a mere concept but a social as well as economic phenomenon. The concept of global commodity chains emphasized on the spatial and territorial dimensions of doing business and is based on the concepts of global chains. A new and more innovative concept is the concept of sector matrix which outlines the interplay of demand and supply forces. By emphasizing the demand distribution and supply interaction, the sector matrix increases the field for visible as it attempts to define much more complicated activities and put more focus on redefining competition not from the perspective of the competing manufacturing systems but from really divergent prospective. Globalization of economic resources of the world have given rise to a new phenomenon where products are hardly produced in the domestic markets as there are innumerable linkages between different players which collectively contribute towards the development of chains which regulate the whole process of manufacturing activity. For example, NIKE outsources almost all of its manufacturing facilities and goods sold in US are made in various countries of the world. Porter’s ideas on the five forces indicate how the firm in a particular industry can gain the competitive advantage. The Porter’s five forces discuss the impact of buyer and suppliers on the given firm as the interaction of both the entities on the firm defines the overall competitive advantage of the firm. What is also however, critical to note that the existing

Changing the Minimun Legal Drinking Age in the United States Essay Example for Free

Changing the Minimun Legal Drinking Age in the United States Essay Over the past twenty years the minimum legal drinking age has been twenty-one in all US states, but that has not stopped citizens of the United Sates from attempting to lower the age. Following the end of prohibition in the United Sates during the Great Depression, all states agreed on a set of twenty-one to be the legal drinking age. For almost forty years there was no change in the drinking age until a decrease in the age for voting occurred. This led to the gradual decrease of the minimum legal drinking age to somewhere between the ages of eighteen and twenty among twenty-one states. Recent data collected by Henry Wechsler and Toben F. Nelson, both of which obtain either a PhD/ScD, show that over many efforts from legislation have been presented with bills that argue to lower the minimum age, but none have been passed (986). This subject has and always will be a well discussed issue among Americans, youth, and adults until they are satisfied with the outcome. Legislation should lower the minimum legal drinking age to eighteen in the United States due to the fact that it should be consistent with all other legal rights that one acquires at age eighteen. As supporters of lowering the minimum legal drinking age argue that the age of drinking should be persistent with other legal rights such as voting, buying tobacco products, and serving their country. Statistics say the youth of today have had their first taste of alcohol by the time they are twenty-one, so that can only mean that they have participated in underage drinking (Barnett 8). This is considered breaking the law and one would go to jail if reported or if discovered by authorities unless there was an exception. That brings me to the amount of exceptions to the minimum legal drinking age in the United States. Over eight different exceptions are active in the States this year that excuse the act of underage drinking such as religious purposes, medical purposes, educational purposes, and with parental consent (40 States 468). These exceptions let anyone under parental consent or on private property legally drink without questioning them. Other people may see these exceptions as a sufficient way to only let minors drink under the careful eye of adults, but these adults that are supposed to be carefully watching these minors could easily slip up. I believe that the exceptions of minors drinking on private property with or without parental consent should not be excused. Does drinking at home mean you are not able to climb into a car and drive under the influence? These exceptions also lead to the thought of the Zero Tolerance Law not being enforced vigorously which leads to teenagers taking the Law as a joke. Many people that oppose the lowering of the minimum legal drinking age do not realize the effectiveness of the age being lowered to eighteen. These viewers see the youth as forever irresponsible and should not be trusted with anything. If the youth was taught to drink in moderation and not binge drink, changing the minimum legal drinking age would not be so risky. Barnett, a professor at Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, suggests that if the youth is aware of the risks of alcohol they may drink with more caution (8). Prohibiting teens from drinking in public location such as bars, restaurants, and clubs has forced them to drink in unsupervised places. Fraternity/sorority houses, friend’s houses, and other secret locations are places that teens turn to to be able to drink without getting in trouble. If the drinking age was lowered then teens would be allowed to drink in healthy and supervised environments that in turn teach them to be cautious of the am ount of alcohol obtained. When the age eighteen comes along it is assumed to be the year of adulthood which means taking on many responsibilities such as the right to vote, getting married, and joining the military. Joining the military includes taking the risk of losing your life. I believe making the decision to fight for your country entitles you to the right of being able to make any life decision on your own, even the decision about alcohol consumption. If one is charged with a crime then the eighteen year old is no longer tried in juvenile court; he is tried as an adult. In reality, an eighteen, nineteen, and twenty year old can do just about everything that a twenty-one year old can do, except legally consume alcohol. Who is to say that en eighteen, nineteen, or twenty-year old is not mature enough to properly consume alcohol? Previous research suggests that when there is a more strenuous alcohol policy there will be lower alcohol abuse and consumption among teens (Grube, Kypri, and Paschall 1850). This actually causes teens to feel the need to rebel instead of the thought of teens abusing the privilege. This is a rather immature personality trait to have as a teenager, but there might actually be a reduction in drinking because teens are no longer being rebellious and breaking the law. The whole point of â€Å"becoming an adult† is to give them the ability to take responsibility for their own actions, so why should we not let them? In the United Sates, statistics show that the consumption of alcohol by minors has decreased in the last twenty years, but the consumption of alcohol by adults ages twenty-one through twenty-four have increased (Wechsler and Nelson 987). Waiting until you are twenty-one to legally drink is causing adults to binge drink without thinking of the consequences. With decreasing the minimum legal drinking age in the United States, adults (age eighteen) will be able to pace themselves and learn at a younger age the risks of drinking uncontrollably. By the time that age twenty-one rolls around for an adult, the dangers of binge drinking may have already harmed them. It is all about learning early and discovering the consequences, dangers, and limits to drinking so that bad habits will not be formed during later adulthood years. Henry Wechsler and Toben F. Nelson state that seventy-nine studies were conducted to relate the drinking age and traffic fatalities (988). Although, none of the studies conducted related fewer crashes with a lower minimum drinking age, but related a higher drinking age with fewer traffic fatalities, â€Å"the minimum legal drinking age does not save lives† (Wechsler and Toben 988). The choice to save lives relies on the person being held accountable. Underage drinking going on at a house party has more guests committing the crime of drunk driving rather than going out to the bar to have a drink. These eighteen year old adults have to turn to secretly drinking and risking getting arrested because they have not reached the age of twenty-one yet. If an eighteen year old was able to go out with his family to a restaurant and consume alcohol, then he would not be committing two crimes-underage drinking and drinking while driving. I do not believe that being able to legally drink and traffic fatalities correspond any more than illegal drinking and traffic fatalities because anyone, no matter the age, can get into a car under the influence without thinking twice. The minimum legal drinking age is just another cause for breaking the law and possibly putting someone’s life in danger besides your own. Being at the age of eighteen one is not permitted to legally purchase alcohol and according to Wechsler and Nelson’s article in American Journal, evidence supports that by lowering the minimum legal drinking age there will be an increase in the consumption of alcohol (990). Few would say that giving eighteen year olds the ability to purchase alcohol will lead to the increase in drinking which in turn would cause danger and harm to others. If that was to be true, then would there not be an increase in consumption at age twenty-one now? Should that cause for a raise in the legal drinking age? If one is able to purchase and consume alcohol that is their right. No one should be in control of someone else’s life or their life choices. Whatever the minimum legal drinking age may be, there will always be an increase in the purchase of alcohol because before that time they are unable to buy it. Just because there is an increase does not mean that there will be an increase in ha rm or negative consequences. In conclusion, many points of the support to keep the minimum legal drinking age of twenty-one are understandable, but I cannot agree with the overall argument. Adults, teens, youth, and seniors will drink at whatever age they may want to whether it is illegal or not. The minimum legal drinking age is one of the only things that adults at the age of eighteen are unable to do simply because they are seen as not mature enough to handle the responsibility. If one is capable of deciding who they want to lead our country, serve for our country, and get married and begin a life with another person, then I believe there should be no reason that they are not able to make responsible decisions about the consumption of alcohol. America can only protect the youth so much until they start to rebel and take things into their control. Work Cited Barnett, Nancy P. â€Å"The Minimum Drinking Age Debate.† Date: The Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory Application 27.11 (2008): 8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2012. Print. Paschall, Mallie J., Joel W. Grude, and Kypros Kypri. â€Å"Alcohol Control Policies And Alcohol Consumption By Youth: A Multi-National Study.† Addiction 104.11 (2009): 1844-1855. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. Print. ProCon.org. 40 States That Allow Underage (under 21) Alcohol Consumption. DrinkingAge.ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 3 Aug. 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. Saylor, Drew K. â€Å"Heavy Drinking On College Campuses: No Reason To Change Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21.† Journal of American College Health 59.4 (2011): 330-333. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov 2012. Print. Wechsler, Henry, and Toben F. Nelson. â€Å"Will Increasing Alcohol Availablity By Lowering The Minimum Legal Drinking Age Decrease Drinking And Related Consequences Among Youths?† American Journal of Public Health 100.6 (2010): 986-992. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov 2012. Print.

Facebook: Motives for Use and Effects on Personality

Facebook: Motives for Use and Effects on Personality The current study investigated the motives for using Facebook from the uses and gratifications perspectives and personality as predictors of Facebook addiction among the Mauritian university students. It also explored the relationship of motives and personality with attitudinal/ behavioral outcomes of the participants’ Facebook use. It was found that certain prevalent motives and extraversion trait were strongly associated with the Facebook variables studied and significantly predicted addiction to the site as expected. Relationship between Facebook and motives The study found 8 motives for Mauritian youths for using Facebook, the most popular social networking site. These motives include passing time, education, political, social interaction, entertainment, network surveillance, information seeking and relationship maintenance. Preceding studies found similar motives for using the site. For instance Dhaha et al (2014) found that entertainment, social interaction, political and education motivated Somali youths to use Facebook. Hart (2011) found that four motives for using the site among undergraduates, namely information seeking, passing time, relationship maintenance and entertainment significantly predicted amount of Facebook use, frequency of Facebook use and number of Facebook friends. Zhang et al (2011) found that network surveillance significantly predicted time spent on Facebook per day and number of Facebook friends. In this study a bivariate correlation has revealed that there was a moderate and significant positive relationship o f amount of time spent per day, number of friends and login frequency with all the motives except education and political which showed no relationship with these Facebook usage variables. The study enquired the intensity of Facebook addiction among Mauritian youths. The Facebook addiction instrument was divided into 4 dimensions namely salience, loss of control, mood modification and conflict. The results confirmed addictive tendencies among 27.2% of the sample as they rated high on overall Facebook addiction scale. It was found that the site was incorporated in their daily lives (salience), many spend more than 3 hours per day on it (38.2%), they often lose sleep due to late night logins, have a constant urge to check Facebook (loss of control), neglect responsibilities such as academic performance (conflict) and often use Facebook to reduce feelings of anxiety (mood modification). These findings corroborate with previous studies. For instance Zaremohzzabieh et al (2014) and Balakrishinan Shamim (2013) found similar outcomes of addictive behaviors towards the use of Facebook, namely salience, loss of control, mood modification, withdrawal and conflict. In terms of the relationship between Facebook motives and Facebook addiction, the study shown a significant positive correlation between Facebook addiction and the 8 motives components studied. Facebook addiction was more closely related to passing time motive followed by entertainment, social interaction and relationship maintenance. These findings are consistent with previous studies of Facebook addiction from uses gratifications perspectives. For instance Dhaha et al. (2014) and Kavitha (2013) found that entertainment, communication, passing time, social interaction and companionship were correlated with Facebook addiction. The study also investigated specific motives as predictors of Facebook addiction to test the hypotheses. The analysis of the multiple regression revealed that the four motives namely passing time, entertainment, social interaction and relationship maintenance significantly predicted Facebook addiction. Passing time motive emerged as the best predictor of Facebook addiction, followed by entertainment and relationship maintenance. These findings are supported by previous studies. For instance (Kavitha, 2013) also identified passing time as the best predictor of Facebook addiction. In the same line a systematic review that examined Facebook addiction and motives has revealed that for 14 out of 16 studies, the components explaining the majority of the variance relate to either passing time or relationship maintenance (Ryan et al, 2014). With regard to the prevalent gratification of passing time, findings seem to reflect the usual use of Facebook to occupy time when bored, to procrastinat e from other activities or task avoidance (Foregger, 2008; Sheldon, 2008). The researchers also found that entertainment (e.g. playing games) was a popular motive for engaging in Facebook appearing across 15 studies (Ryan et al, 2014). It is associated with pleasure seeking. Dhaha et al (2014) and Sofiah et al (2011) also found that entertainment, social interaction (e.g. making new friends) and communication significantly predicted Facebook addiction. These findings are consistent with those of Ryan et al, (2014) which reported that motives can be related to Facebook addiction through use that is habitual, excessive or a desire for mood modification. The findings reflect both the benefits and downside of Facebook use. The uses and gratifications of Facebook use operate to satisfy the social and psychological needs of a large number of internet users but at the same contributing to addiction to the site (Ryan et al, 2014). As the findings indicate, excessive use result in negative life outcomes such as neglecting significant activities e.g. school and significant relationships. For instance this paradox can be illustrated in terms of the Stimulation Hypothesis and Displacement Hypothesis since findings of this study have revealed that social interaction is related to Facebook addiction. The former supports the positive effects of social interaction via Facebook. It argues that online interaction complements existing social interact ion and can extend new cyber relationships to offline interaction thereby improving social relationships and relieved from loneliness (Valkenburg, 2007). But paradoxically the displacement hypothesis suggests that the time and psychic energy spent on Facebook with weak ties or virtual characters replaces real world interaction and is harming significant relationships (Valkenburg, 2007). Similarly (Sheldon et al, 2011) found that spending a lot of time on Facebook correlated with both high levels of feeling connected to other people and with high levels of disconnection. Moreover Facebook addiction is found to be with associated depression, anxiety disorders, aggressive tendencies and decreased productivity (Rosen et al, 2014) Relationship between Facebook and personality This study analyzed the attitudinal and behavioral outcomes of the respondents’ Facebook use from a personality trait approach involving extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability and narcissism. The study also posits that certain of these personality traits predict Facebook addiction. Results indicate that extraversion significantly and positively correlated with amount of time spent on Facebook per day, login frequency, number of friends and Facebook addiction. Regression analysis has revealed that extraversion significantly predicts Facebook addiction. These findings are in line with other studies. For instance Amichai-Hamburger et al (2010) and Kosinski et al 2013 found that Extroversion was positively related with amount of time spend on Facebook and number of friends. Wilson et al (2010) reported that extraversion was related to higher levels of Facebook use and predicts addictive tendencies to the site. The researchersâ⠂¬â„¢ findings suggest that extroverts are over reliant on SNSs as they require a higher level of stimulation and a large social network. In the same line the current study found that there was a positive significant correlation between extraversion and social interaction motive consistent with the rich-get-richer approach which claims that extraverts gain more benefits through SNSs as they can enlarge their social relationships (Kuss Griffiths, 2011). This is to contrast with Moore McElroy, (2012) who found that those who score low on extraversion i.e. introverts positively correlated with Facebook use to stay in touch with friends. With respect to narcissism this study found that narcissism significantly and positively correlated with amount of time spent on Facebook per day, login frequency, number of friends and Facebook addiction. Carpenter et al (2012) and Rosen (2014) also found that users who score high on narcissism spend a lot of time on Facebook; they depict addictive symptoms to the site and have many Facebook friends. Moreover the current study revealed there was a high and positive significant correlation of narcissism with the frequency of posting updates and changing profile pictures. Similarly Alloway et al (2014) found that frequency of posting status updates was related to narcissism. Individuals scoring high on narcissism are more active on social network sites as these sites represent an opportunity to present themselves in a self-promoting way which is in line with their ideal self by frequently posting glorifying pictures and updates about them (C. S. Andreassen, et al, 2012). On the other hand this study revealed that conscientiousness was negatively related to amount of time spent on Facebook and login frequency and low scores on conscientiousness predicted Facebook addiction. These findings are consistent with Wilson et al (2010) which showed low scores on conscientiousness was related to higher levels of SNSs use and significantly predicted addictive tendencies to SNSs. It was hypothesized that unconscientious young adults exhibit addictive tendencies towards the use of SNSs as they lack self-discipline and tend to use these sites as way of procrastinating (Wilson et al 2010). However these findings differ from that of Marcus et al (2006) who found that conscientiousness was positively related to self-monitoring and presentation, suggesting that those who rated high on conscientiousness engage on social-networking sites to gain social appreciation. Alternatively this study found there was no relationship of openness to experience with amount time spends per day, number of friends and login frequency. Openness to experience did not predict Facebook addiction. These findings are supported by Wilson et al (2010) which also revealed that openness trait has no impact on SNSs use. The researchers believe that this is due to the fact that Facebook is no longer being a new creation and thus has lost some of its appeal for those with openness characteristic who are keen to experience newer activities (Wilson et al, 2010). However this study’s finding do not link with those of Ross et al (2009) which showed that higher levels of openness to experience was associated with greater online sociability. Conversely this study found that there was no relationship between openness to experience and social interaction motive for using Facebook. This study revealed that there was no relationship of agreeableness personality trait with amount of time spends per day on Facebook, how often participants login to Facebook, number of Facebook friends and Facebook addiction. These results correspond with those of Wilson et al (2010) which showed that the agreeableness trait has no influence on SNS use. This is also in line with Duff (2012) which found that there was no significant relationship between agreeableness and frequency of Facebook use. Neuroticism was negatively related to amount of time spend on Facebook per day, login frequency and Facebook addiction. These results indicate that participants scoring low on neuroticism spend more time on Facebook and depict addictive tendencies to the site. Conversely high scores on neuroticism is associated with less time spend on Facebook. These findings are in contrast with those of Wilson et al (2010) who found that neuroticism was not associated with addictive tendencies to SNS. Likewise Duff (20..) found that neuroticism was not related to frequency of Facebook use. The current findings do not link also with other studies which reported that high scores on neuroticism was positively associated with social media use where it was assumed that neurotics use social media as a way of seeking support. Moreover another plausible reason reported for this positive relationship was that online social networks give those who are high on neuroticism more time for scrutiny before acting unlike face-to-face interactions (C. S. Andreassen, et al, 2012). However this study’s findings are indirectly supported by those of Marcus et al (2006), which indicated a significant negative correlation between neuroticism and self-monitoring (Duff..). Marcus et al (2006) argued that these results indicated that those higher in neuroticism show a lack of ability in changing their behavior to gain social approval from others. Thus this may indirectly explain why neurotics spend less time on Facebook. In the same line the current study has revealed that neuroticism is negatively related to social interaction implying that those who are high on neuroticism are less likely to engage in social interactions. Relationship between self-esteem and Facebook This study reported a significant negative correlation between self-esteem and amount of time spent on Facebook per day. This indicates that those who score low on self-esteem spend more time on Facebook. These findings are supported by previous studies. For instance Kalpidou et al 2011 found there was a negative correlation between self-esteem and time spent on Facebook. In the same line Mehdizadeh’s (2010) findings revealed that lower levels of self-esteem correlated with greater amount of time spent on Facebook. The current study also revealed that self-esteem was negatively related to number of friends suggesting that low self-esteem participants have more friends. These findings are consistent with Zywica Danowski’s (2008) findings which reported that low self-esteem users have many Facebook friends as they strived more to increase their Facebook popularity to compensate for inadequate offline popularity, consistent with the social compensation hypothesis. Moreover having many Facebook friends implies performing for a bigger audience which is associated with enhancing in self-esteem. Another plausible explanation for these results interlink with Ellison et al, 2007 study which stated that low self-esteem users reap more benefits from Facebook than their high self-esteem counterparts as Facebook affordances mitigate fear of rejection and enable them to enlarge their social capital in a way more rewarding for them than face to face interaction. Since low self-esteem involves poor self-perception, social anxiety and shyness, features such as wall posting, messaging, poking, tagging and display of users’ personal information encouraged low self-esteem users to improve social relationships. (Steinfield et al, 2008). Hence as Facebook is related to bounding and bridging of social capital it can be deduced that those with low self-esteem spend more time on Facebook to boost their self-esteem (Steinfield et al, 2008). Furthermore, viewing one’s own Facebook profile, editing Facebook profile and receiving positive feedback from others were found to enhance self-esteem (Gonzales Hancock 2011; Valkenburg et al, 2006). Gonzales Hancock 2011 stated that Facebook is related to self-presentation. Thus it can be said that those with low self-esteem spend more time on Facebook than those with high self-esteem in order to optimize their self-presentation such as posting information about themselves so as to gain more popularity and altogether boost their social self-esteem. The present findings indicate that low self-esteem users may be over reliant on Facebook to reap these benefits. Indeed this study has revealed a significant correlation between self-esteem and Facebook addiction. Correspondingly Denti et al (2012) also found that low self-esteem was associated with Facebook addiction. The researcher found that Women Facebook addicts with low self-esteem use Facebook more to report negative information about their lives (Denti et al 2012). However the results do not link with those of Wilson et al (2010) which indicated that there was no relationship between self-esteem and social networking sites. Correlation Between Crime and Poverty: Sociological Critique Correlation Between Crime and Poverty: Sociological Critique Introduction Jock Young once said: â€Å"At heart, the extent of crime is a political as well [1]as a behavioural matter †¦ The figures for crime †¦ are not hard facts in the sense that this is true of the height and weight of physical bodies. They are moral not physical statistics†. It is apparent from this statement that there are inherent flaws in all types of theories of crime causation whether these derive form the sociological, psychological or biological traditions. Nevertheless, crime causation theories form a significant part of modern criminology and have been used extensively to form policy and legislation. Bearing in mind the limitation of these theories, this essay will try to address the question why sociological theories of criminality suggest that social deprivation and poverty are two of the most significant factors that lead to criminality when two of the most poverty stricken groups, women and the elderly, have low rates of crime. Crime and poverty: A sociological approach There are many schools of thought that deal with crime causation. Sociological theories of crime focus on the social dimension of criminality, trying to analyse the sociological reasons that push individuals to commit crime e.g. poverty, shaming, social deprivation, fear etc. Sociology, in general is â€Å"the study of social organisation and institutions and of collective behaviour and interaction, including the individual’s relationship to the group†[2]. As early as 1893, criminologists such as Durkheim asserted that social deprivation and the division of labour in society puts disadvantaged groups in need, often leaving them with no other option but to resort to crime[3]. Very close to this analysis is the approach of Radical Criminology. This uses Marx’s ideas of capitalist society and social classes claiming that â€Å"much proletarian offending could be redefined as a form of redistributive class justice or as a sign of the possessive individualism which resided in the core values of capitalist society†[4]. Radical Criminology went a step further by arguing that individuals from working classes who resort to crime are in reality victims of a false consciousness that turns proletarian against proletarian. The ultimate goal is to preserve unequal class relations, masking the real nature of crime and repression in capitalist society[5]. Irrespective of whether we adopt the sociological explanation of the Traditional or Radical Criminology, there is still a paradox that both theories seem to overlook. If crime is closely related to class, social deprivation and poverty – regardless of whether this is a construct of capitalism or simply a means to survival – there is still not an adequate explanation as to why the female and older groups that form great part of poor classes render very low criminality rates. The correlation between, crime, poverty and gender/age The two most powerful demographic features that discriminate between offenders and non-offenders but at same time provide a good explanation of criminal behaviour are gender and age. At one time there was so little criminality from female and older groups that criminologists turned their attention to it. John Hagan justified the low crime levels within female groups by saying that male groups often see crime as a source of fun and excitement, which is not often the case with female groups which are more family-oriented due to the maternity role they carry[6]. Moreover, daughters are believed to be more frequently subject to intense, continual and diffuse family control in the private and domestic environments and this gradually develops among female groups a stronger feeling of emotional sanctions than physical or custodial controls. Therefore, shaming methodologies and the withdrawn of love and affection have greater impact on female groups than incapacitation. This system does not need the intervention of the criminal justice system but of close family guidance. Finally, this close family control also encourages female groups to stay away from the â€Å"purview of agents of formal social control†[7]. Carlen’s findings reinforce this theory as he collected evidence that showed â€Å"female criminals were most likely to emerge when domestic family controls were removed altogether†[8]. With minor exceptions the crimes of the elderly have not been in the focus of criminological attention[9]. Stephens argues that older people who belong to poor classes are more concerned with survival issues and do not feel empowered to resort to crime apart from occasional petty offences. They also lack the physical and psychological motivation to commit serious crimes such as murder or robbery. However, this is not the case with older people from wealthy classes as these groups are most often characterised by power, greed. They also carry the advantage of experience. However, again, they lack the physical energy to commit violent crimes and that is why they tend to focus on financial offences. Conclusion It is apparent from the above analysis that sociological theories that use poverty and social deprivation to explain crime do not clash with the low levels of criminality within female and older groups. Male groups from poor classes render higher rates because they do not experience the same control mechanisms that female and older groups receive. When these mechanisms are lifted (e.g. because there is no close family control or because the feeling of survival is not that evident), then the risk is the same. Bibliography Box S (1983) Power, Crime and Mystification, London: Tavistock. Carlen P (1988) Women, Crime and Poverty, Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Durkheim E (1953) The Division of Labour in Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press Rock P (1997) â€Å"Sociological Theories of Crime† The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haggan J (1979) â€Å"The Sexual Stratification of Social Control† 30 British Journal of Sociology. Stephens J (1976) Loners, Losers and Lovers. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington. Young J (1988) â€Å"Radical Criminology in Britain: The Emergence of a Competing Paradigm† 28 British Journal of Criminology 1 Footnotes [1] Young J (1988) â€Å"Radical Criminology in Britain: The Emergence of a Competing Paradigm† 28 British Journal of Criminology, page 175. [2] The Oxford English Dictionary [3] Durkheim E (1893) The Division of Labour in Society, later reprinted as Durkheim E (1953) The Division of Labour in Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press [4] Rock P (1997) â€Å"Sociological Theories of Crime† The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford: Oxford University Press. [5] Box S (1983) Power, Crime and Mystification, London: Tavistock. [6] Haggan J (1979) â€Å"The Sexual Stratification of Social Control† 30 British Journal of Sociology. [7] Loc cit supra note 4 page 243. [8] Carlen P (1988) Women, Crime and Poverty, Milton Keynes: Open University Press. [9] One exception is Stephens J (1976) Loners, Losers and Lovers. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington.

Overview of the Data Protection Act

Overview of the Data Protection Act Task 2 For the purpose of this task. I am going to do the following: I am going to discuss the Data Protection Act. I am going to discuss what the data protection is. I am going to discuss the rights to a persons personal protection. I am going to look at the aims to their rights. I will identify the rights of people in relation to the data protection, and give eight samples. I will look at when these rights do not apply. I will discuss how a person can have access to their details. I will discuss the role of the Data Commissioner. I will also discuss the role of the Data Receiver. The role of the Data Controller will also be discussed. I will give two examples of breach of data legislation relating to healthcare. 1. What is Legislation? Legislation governs communication in Ireland concerned with communication freedom of information act. It was amended in 2003 and is called the Data Protection Act. What is the Data Protection When you give personal details to an organisation or individual, they have a duty to keep these details private and safe. This process is known as Data Protection. They refer to organisations or individuals who control the contents and use of a persons details as data controllers. Most people give information about themselves to groups such as Government bodies, i.e, banks, insurance companies, medical professionals and telephone companies to use their service or meet a certain source. Under data Protection Law, you have the rights regarding the use of these personal details and data controllers have certain responsibilities in how that handle this information. Identify the rights of people in relation to Data Protection: The right to have your details used in line with Data Protection Regulations. The right to information about your personal details. Thee right to prevent the use of your personal details. The right to change or remove your personal details. The right to remove your details from a direct marketing list. The right to refuse direct marketing calls or mail. The right to object. The right to freedom from automated decision making. When have you the right to Data Protection? You Have the right to Data Protection when your details are: Held on a computer. Held on paper or other manual form as part of a filling system. Made up a photograph or video recordings of your image or recordings of your voice. What are the aims of these rights? Data Protection rights will help you make sure that the information stored about you is Factually correct. Only available to those who should have it. Only used for stated purposes. When do Rights not Apply? The rights does not apply, however, in a small number of cases, where it could harm certain interests for example, when someone ids investigating an offence. How do I request access to my details? You can ask for a copy of all your personal details by writing to any organisation or any You can also ask the Data Controller to inform you of any opinions given about you, unless the Data Controller considers that the opinions are confidential. Even in such cases, your rights to such information will usually be greater than the right of the person who gave this information will usually be greater than the right of the person who gave this opinion in private. 8. What is the Role of the Data Commissioner? The role of the Data Commissioner aims to make sure that those rights are being upheld and that Data Controllers respect data protection rules. Summary proceedings for an offence under the Data Protection Act may be brought and prosecuted by the data Protection Commissioner. The Role of the Data Controller: A Data Controller is the individual or the legal person who controls and is responsible for the keeping and use of personal information on a computer or in structured manual files. Will keep or process any information about living people. They are responsible for the personal data which it holds. They decide what personal information is going to be kept. They decide the use to which the information will be put. The Role of the Data Receiver. A Data Receiver is a person who provides personal information about themselves to a variety of organisations for a whole range of purposes i.e, when you go to the doctor you give him/her information about yourself, name, address, date of birth, if you have children, and your phone number. Give two examples of Data Legislation: Sample One: The office received a complaint from a solicitor acting on behalf of a data subject concerning the alleged further proceedings of the complaints personal data contained in medical records held by her General Practitioner (G.P.). It was alleged that medical records relating to the complaint were released to an Insurance Company by her G. P, following a request made to her G.P. The complaint stated that the G.P, had received a request from an Insurance Company, seeking the complainant medical records, relating to a knee injury she had suffered. It was alleged that, in replying to this request, the G.P, not only realised data relevant to the knee injury, but also disclosed other sensitive medical information including cervical smear test results, colposcopy, correspondence regarding lesions and records relating to Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, none of which were related to the knee injury. We wrote to the G.P, and we asked that he provide an explanation as to what had occurred in this case. He responded stating that an Insurance Company had requested relevant information with respect to the patient concerned and her knee injury. He informed us that the request received, stated that it required copies of clinical consultations/surgery notes, investigations and associated results, treatments, referrals, out-patients appointments and repeat prescriptions from 18 02 2009 to the present date. He stated that, inadvertently, copies of the patient records were supplied to the Insurance Company with some details which were not relevant to her knee injury and that this was obviously an oversight. He stated that he was deeply sorry that he has caused any distress or upset to his patient, whom he has known for thirty-five-years. The G.P, stated that the company knew he always endeavoured to keep high standards in the practice and that she should understand his disappointment that the system used in releasing this information fell below that standard expected by the complainant and himself. He further stated that he hoped that she would accept his unreserved apology for the inadvertent disclosure of her records to the Insurance Company and that he completely understood how upset and appointed she must be. He said that since this unpleasant and unfortunate error he had overhauled his practice procedures. We wrote to tell the solicitor for the complainant outlining the G.Ps response and also conveying the G.Ps apologies. We stated that this offices approach to complaints is to try to seek an amicable resolution to the matter which is the subject of the complaint and we asked if his client would like to try to reach an amicable resolution of the complaint. They responded stating that their client wished for a formal decision of the commissioner on the matter. In considering this case, the key issues from a Data Protection perspective was the issue of consent. It was noted from the material provided that the complainant had completed and signed an insurance claim form which contained the following consent clause: I authorise Financial Insurance Company Limited (the underwriters) to make any enquires and get any information they consider relevant from my doctor, employers or elsewhere. I understand that I must provide evidence to Financial Insurance Company Limited to prove my claim form. On the same claim form, the complainant supplied details of her accident and explained as follows, Why it prevented her from walking? left knee injury, tore ligaments, recovery time unknown, waiting for knee surgery, on waiting list. The Insurance Company concerned had sought the complainants medical records, supplied the relevant consent form and used the following terms in its request to the G.P.: Can you please provide us with copies of the claimants medical records relevant to this claim. This includes all records relating to the medical conditions and associated symptoms which are subject of this claim. It was clear from the Insurance Companies request for medical records that it sought medical records relevant to the claim only. As the claim related to the complainants knee injury, the medical records sought related to that injury and the request did not extend beyond that. Equally the complainants consent authorised the Insurance Company to make injuries and to get any information concerned relevant from her doctor and others. The consent was clearly limited to relevant information and it could not be interpreted as extending to all medical records held by the G.P. This office issued a decision on this complaint which stated that the commissioner was of the opinion, following the investigation of this complaint, that section 2 (1) (C) (ii) of the Data Protection Acts, 1988 2003 had been contravened by the G.P, by the further processing of the complainants sensitive Personal Data in the form of medical records unrelated to her knee injury. The contravention occurred when the G.P, in responding to a request from and Insurance Company, disclosed to that Insurance Company certain medical records of the complainant without her consent.

Assisted Suicide: The End of Suffering :: Euthanasia, Physician Assisted Suicide

Huge purple, grape-like masses are what a man named Richard Chinn saw under a patient's chin when he went to work for a hospital. This patient was diagnosed with cancer, and those huge masses were the cancerous tumor. When this man would eat, the cancerous growth would start collecting food, of whatever he didn't swallow quickly. When it would start growing to about grapefruit size, or larger, the doctors would amputate it. However, this did not do much justice, because the growth would just come back. Amputation after amputation made the patient very uneasy and want to end his life. He and his family numerously asked doctors to put him out of his misery, and even went to court, but he was still told "no." There was no more point to this man's life, he was suffering miserably and the cancer would never go away. Eventually he came down with ammonia, and instead of trying to revive him, they finally let him have his peace (Chinn). If Euthanasia was legal, then this suffering m an could have ended his pain early, but due to complications in the legal system, his life was drug out too long. Euthanasia is defined as a painless, happy and easy death, which is derived from the Greek words Eu Thanatos. Looking back to ancient Greece and Rome, Euthanasia was practiced regularly. If they saw a person suffering miserably and they could do nothing for them, they would end their life early by feeding them poison. However, throughout time religion was increased, and the life of a human being was viewed as sacred. Because of this, euthanasia was slowly portrayed as wrong ("The Controversy"). There are two main types of euthanasia- passive and active. Although both are illegal in all states but Oregon, passive euthanasia is easier for people to accept. Passive involves taking a person off of their life support, and letting them die naturally, while active is ending a suffering persons life prematurely, by helping them die, with an overdose of medication (A Euthanasia Glossary). Although Euthanasia is not widely accepted, nor legal, there are people who try to break the rules. Jack Kevorkian, a retired pathologist, was convicted of first-degree murder, in March of 1999, and will spend 10-25 years in prison. He injected a man named Thomas Youk with a deadly level of medicine and killed him.

Executive Summary of Proctor and Gamble :: Bounty Toilet Paper Marketing Essays

Executive Summary of Proctor and Gamble Proctor & Gamble will introduce the new Bounty Toilet Paper during the first week of December 1999. This brand of toilet paper will take the already established idea used with Bounty Paper Towels, and modify to the toilet paper world. Bounty has always stressed the idea of taking the least amount of the product, but still getting the job done while at same time consisting of a strong durability. Never before has such attributes of durability and effectiveness been used in a toilet paper brand, therefore P&G hopes to establish Bounty Toilet Paper as a leader in the industry. Proctor & Gamble understands the high competition that already exists in the toilet paper industry, but feel that new Bounty Toilet Paper will change how this industry is geared. In recent times, toilet paper producers have stressed comfort and style in the production of their products, but as the times have changed, the American public is now more interested in getting the job done in the shortest amount of time with the smallest amount of the product. P&G have produced Bounty Toilet Paper because of this change in the lifestyle of Americans. With this focus on effectiveness and durability, Bounty will go into the new Millennium leading the toilet paper world. Company Background Proctor and Gamble was founded in Cincinnati, OH, by William Proctor and James Gamble in 1837. Initially the company was started to compete with the 14 other soap and candle makers already established in Cincinnati, but around the end of the century, Proctor and Gamble dropped candle manufacturing altogether to focus on soap production. By 1890, Proctor and Gamble had increased their production to over 30 different types of soap. During 1911, Proctor and Gamble introduced Crisco, the first all-vegetable shortening, beginning what would be the first in a long line of different unrelated products the company would develop in the future. Such products include Tide washing detergent, Crest toothpaste, Charmin toilet paper, Pampers baby diapers, Folgers coffee, Bounce fabric softener, Pert Plus shampoo, and Bounty paper towels, just to name a few. With these products, and the more than thousand others, Proctor and Gamble leads the world in sales in almost all categories of household products. Sales hit the one million mark by 1859, roughly 22 years after the company was formed.

Dreaming of Time Travel Essay

The reading â€Å"Dreaming of Time Travel† discusses applications of time machine, whether time travel is possible and how time travel can be explained in terms of physics and quantum mechanics. The author highlights such issues as meeting yourself in the past, time as fourth dimension, many-world theory, self-consistency, concepts of wormhole and star trek. It is a matter of fact that human imagination has been always captured by opportunities of time travel as it would give an excellent opportunity to see own past and perspectives for future. Science is interested in time travels the most as it would help to solve historical and scientific conflicts and controversial points. Of course, if people had time machine, they would definitely visit twenty-third century to look for technological advances and to find effective ways of cancer treatment. Nevertheless, time travels may change the past and, consequently, future would be changed as well. You may seven slip out of existence as a result of change. It would be possible to kill Hitler preventing, in such a way, World War II and save millions of innocent deaths. People would be able to participate in historical events shaping them. Moreover, it would be possible to meet historical figures as, for example, Buddha, Moses, Cleopatra or Shakespeare. Actually, there is no limitation of possibilities. Time travel makes people feel free to move around the world, but they may be helpless as they are not acquainted with cosmic order. Nowadays the issue of time travel has become a matter of interest for physicists, not only for fiction writers. For example, when Wells wrote his famous â€Å"The time Machine† many believed that it was impossible to travel through time and space. It is Einstein’s Universe that makes time travel possible and understandable. Therefore, many physicists are actively investigation time travel to the past. In his ideas Einstein uses the concept of time as fourth dimension. This idea is used to show that time can be measured by moving and stationary observers. Therefore, Einstein argues that our universe is four-dimensional. The idea of many-world theory is also very interesting as it offers radical alternative of viewing our world. Many-world theory is based primarily on quantum mechanics developed in the beginning of the 20th century. Quantum mechanics was used to explain the behavior of molecules, atoms and other micro-particles. Quantum mechanics proved that particles had wave nature. It is assumed that people won’t change the pass if they travel because they are a part of it. However, Einstein viewed it as paradox. Therefore, the concept of self-consistency was introduced to explain the possibility of historical changes. It seems that self-consistency is rather controversial to the common sense of free choice and free will. Therefore, time travelers are likely to be constrained being deprived of essential human ability. For example, David Lewis argues that free will never allows people to do logically impossible things. Four-dimensional world doesn’t change as it is viewed as fixed sculpture. Time-travel stories are also based on self-consistency system. In time travel the particles have world line meaning that there is a circle with no ends. Such particles are called jinn. They are claimed to arrive by wizardry as in Aladdin’s story. Often fiction literature involves scientific investigation of time travel. For example, â€Å"Star Trek† fiction encourages further time-travel investigation from scientific perspective. It stresses that it is possible to use warp-drive to ravel in past. Fiction often stimulates scientific thinking. Physicists are the most interested in time travel as they want to test the boundaries and opportunities of physical laws, as well as to patent a time machine. The author concludes that time travel seems so strange for people simple because they aren’t accustomed to meet time travelers in our everyday life. If people meet them everyday, they won’t be surprised. If time travel can occur in principle, scientists will receive new insights about the universal order. Works Cited Gott, J. Richard. Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time. NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. 3-32.