Discuss and research theories/ studies relating to the formation of relationships

There are many theories relating to formation of relationships. These include the filter theory, the matching hypotheses, social-biological theory and the reinforcement-affect theory. Kerckhoff and Davis came up with the filter model of attraction. They believed that we rely on social and personal factors to filter potential relationships from the field of eligibles. There are five criteria; proximity, similarity, physical attractiveness, complementarity of needs and competence. We narrow down the people whom we may form a relationship with, through a series of selection filters. The criteria tend to be used a different stages. In initial attraction, proximity is the obvious filter; we form relationships with those who live close by, this is how we may become aware of the person. Similarity is important because the people who we share the same ethnicity, background and occupation we are more likely to talk and come in contact with. Once this stage of filtering has taken place, people then consider weather we share the same attitudes as the other person. Duck and Gillmor believed if we do share similar attitudes then the relationship is more likely to be pursued. Caspi and Herbener carried out a survey which found that married couples who were more similar were more satisfied with their marriage. People may have been initially drawn together because of their similarity, but it may become apparent that one person has characteristics that the other lacks, for example someone who is domineering may be attracted to someone who is submissive. Physical attraction plays an important role when forming relationships. Many studies have supported this, for example in Walters computer dance study; couples where randomly selected and assigned to each other for an evening dance, Walster found that physical attractiveness was the single best predictor of how much person liked their assigned ‘date'. However this study has been criticised as it lacks relevance to real life relationships. In Initial attraction, physical attraction has been said to be important. However people are not attracted by the most attractive person. The Matching hypothesis said that we are more likely to form a relationship with some who has a similar level of attractiveness; a possible reason for this is a fear of rejection. The matching hypothesis has been supported by Murstien. In his study people were asked to rate photos of couples and rate them in terms of physical attractiveness. Murstien summarized his findings â€Å"individuals with equal market value for physical attractiveness are more likely to associate in an intimate relationship such as engagement, than individuals with disparate values.' However this is not always the case as some couples may be seen to be physically ‘miss matched'. It is argued though that those who are miss matched balance out in other areas problems can occur in miss matched couples, the less attractive person might feel insecure or jealous of the attention given to their partner, this could also effect the less attractive person self-esteem; which could threaten the long term success of the relationship. Another theory in formation of relationships is the socio-biological theory. Wilson argued that human sexual attraction and behaviour may be explained through an understanding of ‘survival efficiency.' The theory suggests that men like to impregnate many women as it increases there chances of there genes to be carried down to generations. However a woman's best chance of her genes surviving is to ensure that her offspring is healthy and caring for them. There are problems with this theory, it overemphasis on reproduction, not all couples want children and it also excludes homosexual couples. The theory raises an ethical concern as it can be seen to be supporting gender stereotypes, allowing men sexual ‘privileges' and freedoms which woman are denied. Another criticism of this theory is it lacks revalance in the modern world, the socio-biological theory may once have been relevant but not suit those today. The reinforcement-affect model suggest that we like people because we find them rewarding, we associate them with some pleasant. May and Hamilton carried out a study to support this theory; female student were asked to look at photographs of male's, some looked at the photos while pleasant music was played while other looked at the same photos while unpleasant music was played. A comparison also looked at the photos but no music was play. They found that students who looked at the photos while listening to the pleasant music rated and liked the males in the photos best. This study and many others have shown positive feeling can lead to attraction. A lot of the theories and studies in formation of relationships have been criticised. Much of the research is seen as artificial and ‘leaves out most of the things people do in everyday life' Duck 1999. Another reason they have been criticised is research focuses on romantic relationships and leaves platonic friendships. Theories and studies also have not taken into count the influence of others such as family and friends as they can have an affect on relationships we form. Also in polygynous cultures, a man may have several wives at the same time. No characteristics are absolute, all are relative. We may like a characteristic in someone attractive at some point in relationship but find it negative at another time, for example; as fall in love someone we may like someone's unpredictability but as well fall out of love with them we may see it as irresponsibility. Other questions have also been raised; does familiarity always lead to liking? Do we like people more because we spend time with them? Or do we spend we spend more time with them because we like them? Frequency of interaction does not always result to greater liking. It was demonstrated by Warr that it can produce more disliking.

How Will Ethical Issues Affect Leadership in a Business

Contemporary and Pervasive Issues â€Å"How will ethical issues affect leadership in a business? † Word Count: 5671 In this essay I am going to discuss how ethical issues can affect leadership in a business. In order to answer this question the essay will start by giving a brief introduction into the two topics; leadership and business ethics. I will then aim to successfully link them by considering the argument of whether leaders should concern themselves with ethical issues or whether making as much money as possible should be their main consideration. Leadership has many different meanings and there have been numerous different classification systems used to define the dimensions of leadership. Infact as Stogdill (1974) pointed out, â€Å"there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. † One popular definition used for this subject is that â€Å"leadership may be considered as the process (act) of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement†(Stogdill, 1974). This definition suggests that it is not a characteristic but is an event that takes place between a leader and his or her followers and that there are three aspects to leadership. Firstly, it involves influence in that leaders induce their followers to behave in a certain way. The second aspect is that leadership occurs in a group context and finally that leadership includes attention to goals, which a leader must direct their followers to achieve. Over the years there have been many studies and theories formed on leadership. The first, which dominated until the late 1940’s, was the Trait Approach, which focused on leaders and not followers. It assumed that leaders had certain traits, such as intelligence and integrity and that they are born and not made. However, this approach failed to take situations into account and recent research has proven that traits alone cannot account for effectiveness. Following this was the style approach, which focuses on what leaders do and how they act towards subordinates rather than characteristics. This era defines leadership styles as either Autocratic, democratic or laissez faire. However, this approach fails to find which of these leadership styles is most effective in every situation. Following this was the situational and contingency theories, which assume that different situations demand different types of leadership. However it assumes that people can learn to become effective leaders and does not adequately explain the link between styles and situation. The Situational theory ‘relates four leadership styles; Directing, Coaching, Supporting and delegating to followers readiness for them† (Gill, 2006:48). However, the model assumes both flexibility of style and the ability to diagnose the situation and the style that is needed. In 1980’s the New Leadership approach was introduced, which compromises visionary, charismatic and transformational leadership theories. â€Å"Transformational leadership occurs when leaders raise peoples motivation to act and create a sense of higher purpose† (Gill, 2006:36). Similarly and published around the same time was the theory of Charismatic leadership, who act in unique ways that have specific charismatic effects on their followers. This stage provides a broader view of leadership that augments other models and places a strong emphasis on leaders needs, values and morals. However, â€Å"due to the wide range that it covers it lacks conceptual clarity and it is difficult to define the parameters of transformational leadership† (Northouse, 2004:185). Finally, in the late 1990’s Post-charismatic and Post-transformational theories emerged, which focuses on leadership as a community and both leaders and followers working together. Leadership is a process that is similar to management in many ways and many of the functions of management are included in the definition of leadership. This was argued by Yukl (1989), who said â€Å"when managers are involved in influencing a group to meet its goals, they are involved in leadership. When leaders are involved in planning, organizing, staffing and controlling, they re involved in management. Both processes involve influencing a group of individuals toward a goal attainment. † Both management and leadership involve influence, working with people, meeting goals and many other similar functions. However, there is a distinct difference between leadership and management and the main functions of the two are quite dissimilar. It was argued by Kotter (1990) that the â€Å"function of management is to provide order and consistency to organizations, whereas the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement. † Whilst managers plan and budget, a leader creates a vision and sets strategies, instead of controlling and problem solving a leader motivates and inspires his followers. In addition to this, Bennis and Nanus (1985) made the distinction very clear, â€Å"managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right things. † Although it argued that the two are very different it is for this reason that both are needed for an organization to be a success. Without management outcomes can be meaningless or misdirected and without leadership the outcome can be stifling and bureaucratic. This was the opinion of Warner Burke (1986:68), who said that â€Å"For clarity of goals and direction, managers need leaders. For indispensable help in reaching goals, leaders need managers. † A further question that is often raised on the topic of leadership is whether leaders are born or made? Whilst some would argue that â€Å"It is not a matter of whether leaders are born or made. † They are born and made† (Conger 2004), it is a topic that has caused great debate. Many would argue that leadership is innate (inborn) and that the character, style and competence needed to be a leader is infact genetic and it cannot be developed. However, others have argued that leadership is not down to genetics alone but that it can infact be developed over a period of time through environment and experiences. This is the opinion argued by Winston (Winston 2003), who says that â€Å"we are not merely the product of our genes: environment has a huge impact but in a mysterious way. † A further aspect to this question is whether leadership can be taught. There are many opinions on this matter but the â€Å"tendency is towards agreeing that, while little if anything can be taught, it can be learnt through development, growth and practise† (Gill, 2006:272). A business operates according to the vision and values of its leader. A leader has many roles within an organization, which can be key to its long-term success. The first of these is to provide an overall direction by â€Å"defining and communicating a meaningful and attractive vision of the future and a mission through which the organization will pursue it† (Gill, 2006:96). This direction which may stem a long way into the future will need to consider competitors, changes in tastes and current standing in the market. In relation to this it is a leader's responsibility to create a strong and positive organizational culture with its followers having shared vision and values, which can result in an effective organization. A further role of a leader is to â€Å"develop, get commitment to and ensure the successful implementation of strategies† (Gill, 2006:176). This is one of the most important roles for a leader and involves them planning where they want to be in the future and how they are going to get there, for example by acquisitions or moving into new geographical markets. Another role of a leader in business is to empower employees to be able to do what needs to be done. In order to do this a leader must give them the knowledge, skills, authority and freedom to manage themselves and be accountable for their behavior. If a leader successfully empowers his employs it can lead to both job satisfaction and enhanced organizational performance in many ways. Similarly it is an important role of a leader to influence, motivate and inspire employees to reach the companies goals. One of the key factors that will determines whether it is achieved or falters will be the ability of the leader in these three areas. Finally if an organization is to continue to prosper, people development must be high on a leader's agenda, by identifying the most talented people coming through and making sure that they are developed for major roles in the future. Ensuring that there is a continued stream of talent developed is a key factor in sustainable progress and achievement. An effective leader has the ability to successfully carry out all of these roles. The second topic that this essay involves is business ethics, which has been described by some as ‘a passing fashion which will come and go and can therefore be safely ignored or dismissed† (Vallance, 1995: 4) However, business scandals of the late 1980’s such as Guiness and Blue Arrow and the results of these have made businesses aware of the importance of their reputation and the need to think seriously about ethical issues. There have been numerous definitions of ethics, which involves systemizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behaviour and includes principles and values of what is fair or unfair and proper or improper. It has been argued that â€Å"there is only one ethics, one set of rules of morality, one code that of individual behaviour in which the same rules apply to everyone alike† (Drucker 2007). A popular definitions is that â€Å"Ethics deals with values, with good and bad with right and wrong, we cannot avoid involvement in ethics, for what we do-and what we don’t do- is always a possible subject of ethical evaluation† (Singer, 1993: v). There are various theories and approaches to ethics and ethical decision-making but the two major view points that appear are consequentailism and non-consequentialism. Consequentialism is where â€Å"ethical decisions are based primarily on calculating the good in terms of consequences† (Preston, 2007: 36). The most widely accepted form of this is Utilitarianism, which was introduced by Jeremy Bentham in the late 19th century. This theory emphasises happiness or utility as a desirable goal for human choice or action and argues that moral rules should seek to secure â€Å"the greatest good for the greatest number of people† (Preston, 2007: 36). However, there have been some objections to this theory and the question as to how happiness and utility can be measured. It also works against the interests of â€Å"minorities and groups that do not measure up to the criteria of usefulness and can justify the violation of human rights† (Preston, 2007: 36). An example of this is the exclusion of a disabled child from a school as they are disruptive. This would be justified on utilitarian grounds as to leave such a disruptive child in the class would not be beneficial to the majority of students. The second of these points that occurs in ethical theory is non-consequential. This â€Å"enjoins us to do the right thing, simply because it is the right thing, intrinsically† (Preston, 2007: 40). The most influential figure promoting this view was Immanuel Kant. He argued that as â€Å"individuals we intuitively know what is right or wrong, through the categorical imperatives, which are: Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always as an end and never as a means only †¢ Act only on the maxim through which you can at the same time will that it be a universal law. †¢ Act only so that the will through its maxims could regard itself at the same time as universally law giving – refer ence† (Preston 2007:41) This Kantian theory has been very influential, especially concerning the debate of rights and justice due to the importance that it places on every individual and because it is not open to persuasion by pragmatic considerations. However, there have been some criticisms to Kants approach as he places too much reliance on human rationality. Furthermore, it does not provide an answer to the problem of how to decide between two conflicting duties and how to obey different bur equally absolute rules. For example, ‘do not break promises’ and ‘do not kill’ are absolute rules, however it is possible for a situation to occur where these rules conflict and that by not breaking a promise, someone is killed. The focus of this essay is on Business ethics in particular. Though the theories that have been mentioned are relevant, they are â€Å"concerned primarily with personal ethics and do not address directly the kind of ethical problems that arise within a business context† (Vallance, 1995:4). Within an organisation, ethics is seen as everyone’s business and can be complex and have more than one meaning. Firstly, it is the application of general ethical rules to business behaviour and secondly, it can be the rules of business by which business activities are judged. Business Ethics can be defined as â€Å"coming to know what is right or wrong in the workplace and doing what is right – this is in regards to effects of products/services and in relationship with stakeholders’’ (McNamara, 2006:7) and can cover a wide range of aspects from quality and treatment of employees to pricing. When it comes to business having an ethical responsibility, many would argue that this is not the case. Indeed Milton Friedman (Friedman, 1970) said â€Å"only people can have responsibilities. A corporation is an artificial person and in this sense may have artificial responsibilities, but â€Å"business† as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense†. With this in mind, it would also be argued that it is of little importance for leaders to consider ethical issues when making decisions. Infact, leaders who have ethical consciences have been described as â€Å"unwitting puppets of the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society these past decades† (Friedman, 1970). This argument is that a business and therefore its leaders have one purpose, and that is to make as much profit as possible, with everything else being secondary. Freidman said, â€Å"He (the executive) is an employee of the owners of the business. He has direct responsibility to his employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Friedman, 1970). He believed that this was the case for all businesses with the only exceptions being schools and hospitals where a leader's objective would be the rendering of services. One of the beliefs of this argument is that â€Å"ethical responsibility as preached and practised by many marks an acceptance and endorsement of views and demands mostly presented by anti business groups that are hostile to the market economy and are far from representing the general view of the average consumer† (Andersen, 2004: 22). In addition to this fact a further problem is that in order for a leader to have an ethical conscience it usually comes at some cost to the business and therefore is not in the interest of the owners of the organization. An example of this is that a leader would refrain from increasing the price of the product in order to contribute to the social objective of preventing inflation, even though a price increase would benefit both the corporation and its owners. A similar example is that ay leaders use great amounts of money and resources to reduce pollution beyond the amount that is required by law in order to meet its responsibility to the environment and gain a reputation as being an environmentally friendly company. This was a measure taken by Satellite broadcaster BSkyB who have been carbon neutral since May 2006 through a combination of using renewable energy and offsetting its remaining emissions, but at a cost to the company. In each of these examples and in the case of other et hical activities a great amount of money is either spent or compromised. Many would argue that by doing this a leader is spending other people’s money for a general social interest, which could be viewed as extremely unethical. For example, carrying out an ethical activity that would have a high cost, such as reducing emission would reduce profits and therefore stockholder would see a reduce in their returns on investments. In addition to this if a leaders ethical actions raise the price to customers, he is spending the customers' money and if the cost of the leader's actions have to result in lowering the wages of some employees, he is spending their money. In these cases it would be fair to say that not only would it be having a detrimental effect on the company profits but would also have a negative and unethical effect on both internal and external stakeholders, who may desert the company for a competitor that less scrupulous in exercising their social responsibilities. In addition to this it means that a leader in effect becomes a public employee even though he remains in reality an employee of a private company. There is a further problem with leaders deciding that a company is to become more ethically aware as it involves great change in the way a company practices, its values and its organizational culture. Many of these actions that need to be taken to implement an ethical practice can incur increased costs that may not be recouped through increased sales and have no guarantee of returns. Furthermore, some decisions and choices made with an ethical conscience can result in short term negative impacts such as a decrease in sales, revenue and profit, increased cost for employee welfare and a decrease in stock prices. Moreover, â€Å"the vast majority of companies are still failing to get their message across† (The Guardian, 2004). With these costs in mind, especially in the current economic climate, the importance of a leader implementing an ethical culture to a business could be questioned. In addition to this leading a business ethically may involve â€Å"compromising short term wins for the sake of a more long term view† (Andersen, 2004: 22). This is not beneficial for a leader who is responsible for immediate results, particularly if the short-term wins that are compromised due to ethical issues risk financial loss or even immediate failure. This may mean that a leader may have to accept higher prices on goods, parts and manufacturing in order to remain ethical. An example of this is that Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket was using an Indian sweatshop to produce its clothes, which was paying its workers just 16p an hour. This supplier was changed in order for the company to appear more ethical and inturn cost Tesco money. This can be particularly hard in a market where there is a large amount of competition at both a national and international level. In order to compete a company needs to be able to offer the lowest price possible to its consumers but in order to keep its ethical stance a company can not compromise on its quality of suppliers and raw materials and therefore sees increased costs. Another consideration is that â€Å"when the corporation grows beyond the direct influence of its leader, we must reckon with the ethical consequence of size and geographical deployment. The control and employment of all policies, but especially that established for corporate ethics, becomes difficult† (Andrews, 1989: 7). This demonstrates that as long as an organisation remains small enough to be directly influenced by the chief executives leadership, certain results, such as ethical approach can be traced to his determination that they occur. However, as the â€Å"organisation grows and becomes decentralised with worldwide operations the power and influence that the Chief Executive has is reinterpreted and diffused† (Andrews, 1989: 260). As a result leaders of have to be appointed in each location and these persons may not share the determination and beliefs of their chief executive on ethical matters. As a result it is hard to standardise a whole company's ethical approach. In relation to this cultural differences and different business practices around the world can present challenges for businesses that are trying to be ethical. Having considered the above argument there are some flaws to Friedman’s approach. He suggests that a leader should concentrate on profit alone as long as it is within the law. However, the law does not define what is morally right and what is legal may be unethical. Many people would argue that this is an important point as ‘good business ethics promotes good business. This was the findings of some well-known authorities such as Baumhart, Brener and Molander, who believed that only those businesses that conduct activities on ethical grounds can develop on a long-term basis. This is also the stakeholder view that businesses will not make money if they do not take heed of their stakeholders; CSR is looking after your stake holders and is good business practice. This is the reason why it is important that leaders are not merely concerned with profit but also with promoting an ethical practise. Firstly, â€Å"leaders who follow the principles of ethics in the conduct of business, motivates others also to follow the same principles† (Paliwal, 2006: 10). This can improve both employees and the organizations motivation and morale, which was discussed earlier as one of the main roles of a leader. This is because conducting business in an ethical manner can produce a feeling of ‘doing things right’ and this can â€Å"become an almost tangible positive ambience within the organisation and can create a culture with a sense of community and belonging for employees,† (Andersen, 2004: 7). The result of this is increased loyalty and productivity, which can result in an improved in competitive advantage. An example of a company that treats its employees well and is benefited in return is John Lewis. All 69,000 employees of the company have a share in it and despite seeing pre tax profits fall by 26% this year they still paid their employees bonuses worth 13% of their salaries. In addition to this if a leader and a company demonstrates that it is unwilling to compromise its ethical values then they are regarded as trustworthy by both customers and their employees and this can promote productivity, innovation, employee development and increase employee attraction, which are again some of the main roles of a leader. This is vital to leaders as a study by Covey discovered that â€Å"the average corporation loses half its employees within four years, and the cost of recruiting, training and getting new ones up to speed can be detrimental to an organisation. (Andersen, 2004: 9). Also it is the â€Å"leaders of a company that are responsible for its conduct and it is their actions that determine the company's ethical standards† (Andrews, 1989: 72). If a leader's strategy is to define and communicate ethical position then it can act as a competitive advantage as it is an effective way of ensuring customer loyalty and also the company’s ability to at tract new customers. Customers are now more discerning and better educated than ever and want a product that not only serves its purpose but also is produced by an environmentally responsible company. If a consumer understands and sees tangible evidence that they are contributing to something beyond the profits a company and its owner, it is a strong motivator for both their custom and their loyalty. An example of a leader who understood the importance of an ethical company and an ethical product was Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals, promote fair trade and also channelled a share of the cost of the product back to the original producer of the raw material. By doing this she created a unique selling point as an ethical company and therefore a company that consumers are proud to buy from. Furthermore, if an organisation is known to be ethical it gives the impression to the customer that they too will be fairly treated as â€Å"when ethical conduct is displayed it puts some kind of trust and confidence in relationship† (Paliwal, 2006: 9). An example of this is that prices reflect the real value of what is being bought. As previously mention, being ethical can also help to attract new customer, who will hopefully become loyal in time. This is because customers are exposed to so many marketing campaigns that they are wary of which they should trust. However, if a leader has successfully managed to position an organisation with having ethical values and integrity then customers uncertainty is reduced, they are more trusting of the company and less afraid of purchasing its products, which meets leaders objectives. This was proved in a survey conducted in New York in 1995, which indicated, â€Å"when quality, service and price are equal, 90% claimed that the best reputation for social responsibility would determine their decision to buy. † (Andersen, 2004: 12). Therefore an ethical company should see an increase in sales, which is always part of a leader's strategy. A further factor for leaders to consider is that studies have shown a â€Å"positive link between being ethical and improved financial performance (Maignan, 1987)†, which is ultimately the main aim of an organisation. Ethics in business can be related to quality of management, quality of products, innovativeness and good responsibility towards the community, all of which lead to admiration, good will and a good reputation for the company. An example of leaders who saw the importance of a good ethical reputation are Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry's, who set up the sustainable Caring Dairy initiative to helps farmers and also took measures to reduce energy use. According to Ferrell, Maignan and Loe â€Å"companies that are perceived positively in the market place perform better than others. † (Andersen, 2004: 13). Although this statement and other studies could be questioned as to what extent admiration is due to ethics, it can be said that an ethical approach to business is what contributes to a positive perception and reputation and can therefore be linked with financial improvements. A further example of this is that IAG (Insurance Australia Group Ltd), who work with neighborhoods to improve their facilities and reduce crime. This not only gives them a good reputation as a company that cares about the environment but also benefits them in a second way as it reduces insurance claims and therefore reduces their payouts and equally benefits both the community and the company. Finally, leaders need to consider being a company with ethical values because investor’s and shareholders are now using a company’s ethical stance as criteria to evaluate investments and stocks. An example of this is the â€Å"specifically designed sub index of the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE4Good (FTSE – Financial Times Stock Exchange). † (Andersen, 2004: 19). To be included in this index, constituents must be screened according to the criteria of the FTSE4Good, which covers environmental sustainability, social issues and stakeholder relations and human rights. Therefore having a favourable ethical profile can attract investors and not having one can deter them. In addition to this, for the government ethical standards of a business are now a key factor in the procurement of grants and influence. Having looked at these benefits, a leader also needs to consider the strength of being ethical by looking at the dangers and probable penalties of unethical business behaviour. As a society we have access to a wide variety of information on organisations. As a result, there are constantly court cases against companies for unethical behaviour, for example in 2007 cruise company Carnival was being sued over several cases of mistreatment of workers and the covering up of environmental damage. Settling these claims can cost billions of pounds, can lead to bankruptcy and the damage to reputation can be irreparable. A further example of this is that if a customer is treated unfairly then this bad reputation will be passed on by word of mouth. In relation to this a further factor that leaders need to consider when creating a business strategy is that unethical behaviour in manufacturing can lead to bad reputation. An example of this is the recent case with Primark, who were discovered to be using suppliers in Southern India who were using child labour. Although they claimed that they were unaware of this situation it still created a great deal of bad publicity for the company. Negative publicity can equate to decreased competitive advantage, increased costs as companies have to increase public relations and advertising. It can also have effects on sales, profits, morale and the day to day running of the business. In addition to this a bad reputation cannot be easily changed and it consumers suspicion of a company’s intentions and future actions. In relation to this â€Å"journalists writing about companies tend to fall victim of the so called Halo effect† (Andersen, 2004: 19), which means that a company that has a bad reputation tend to be seen negatively whatever they do. As the media have the power to make or break companies it is essential that leaders ensure that they are ethical and that there reputations remain intact. In this sense ethical behavior can be seen as a form of insurance against regulatory acts. An example of a company that have taken this on board is Mark’s and Spencer, who have recently launched a new Per Una lingerie range that is â€Å"carbon neutral† and is produced in an eco-factory as they become more successful in listening to what their customers want. A final problem to leaders of having an unethical approach is that there are always pressure groups and special interest group such as Greenpeace waiting to launch global campaigns against companies that act unethically, which can affect both the organisation and its chances of survival. An example of this is that in 2003 the Barclay twins, who were the two new leaders of Littlewoods mail order and clothing store, withdrew the companies membership of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), which was put in place to stop companies from using child or forced labor. This not only resulted in the sacking employees but was also provoked large volumes of criticism for charities, unions and government ministers all of which impacted on the company's reputation. This increased government interest can also lead to regulations that create rigid trade and less freedom. Having looked at the two topics: leadership and business ethics in some detail, it is clear to see that there is an important link between the two. A business operates according to the visions and values of its leader and whilst some may see business ethics as a fad leaders need to be aware that there is a high demand for ethical behaviour in our society today. It is fair to say that the objective of most companies, as Friedman said is to earn as much money as possible. Therefore, as a leader, that person is an employee of the owners of the business and so has a primary responsibility to them to conduct the business in line with their wishes. In addition to this there is a strong argument as to why a leader should not consider ethical issues as a vital part of their job. Many people share the skepticisms of Milton Friedman and Adam Smith's about the benefits that can be expected from â€Å"those who affected to trade for the public good. † This is a fact that has been discussed in the essay and the implementing a practicing ethical business can cost a company, for example, spending money on reducing pollution costs and choosing more expensive but ethical suppliers. In Friedman’s book Capitalism and Freedom, he sums up this argument by saying that â€Å"there is one and only one ethical responsibility of business–to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud† (Friedman, 1970). However, the other side of this argument is that in order for organization to survive in a competitive and changing environment, leaders must develop strong ethical standards and successfully implement them throughout the company. By trading in an ethical manner a leader will see a wide variety of benefits and effects on business practices, such as increasing sales, retaining employees, reducing litigation and in some cases increasing a company's profit. In addition to this, another â€Å"testament to its viability is that despite being describes as a passing phase, business ethics which emerged in the 1970’s has constantly gained more and more awareness and support, making it one of the longest surviving management fads† (Andersen, 2004: 24). Having considered this fact and all of the benefits, it is a hard for a leader to argue against the merits of an ethical approach to business. Overall, I believe that in order to remain competitive and to insure the survival of a business an organization must respect and regard their social and ethical responsibility as well as maintaining profitability as a central goal. It is fair to say that good ethics is good business since nowadays it can be directly linked to the company's success. Moreover, good ethics is good business because business partners, suppliers and customers expect and presevere business relationships that are upright and responsible. This is a factor that is going to become increasingly more important as consumers become more aware of ethical issues and the need for them to be considered, e. g. the increase in consumer awareness of carbon footprint. Therefore an ethical reputation will be important to the success of a company and it is a leader's job to ensure that ethics is part of a companies strategy and is successfully implemented. References †¢ K. R. Andrews, 1989, Ethics in Practice: Managing the Moral Corporation, Harvard Business School Publishing Division, pg 7, 71, 72, 260 †¢ R Gill, 2006, Theory and practice of Leadership, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg. 36, 48, 96, 176, 272 †¢ Stogdill, R. M (1974), Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of Theory and Research. New York Free Press: quoted in P. G Northouse, 2004, Leadership Theory and Practice, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg 2 †¢ P. G Northouse, 2004, Leadership Theory and Practice, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg 185 †¢ P. F. Drucker, 2007, The Practise of Management, Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd; 2Rev Ed edition: quoted in M. Paliwal, 2006, Business Ethics; New Age International Ltd, pg 4 †¢ Kotter J. P (1990) A force for change: How leadership differs from management. New York: Free Press: quoted in P. G Northouse, 2004, Leadership Theory and Practice, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg 8 †¢ Bennis, W. G & Nanus, B (1985) Leaders: The strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper & Row: quoted in P. G Northouse, 2004, Leadership Theory and Practice, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg 8 †¢ Burke, W. W (1986) Leadership as empowering others. San Francisco, CA:Jossey –Bass, pg 68: quoted in R Gill, 2006, Theory and practice of Leadership, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg 27 †¢ Conger, J. A (2004) Developing leadership capability: What’s inside the black box. Academy of management executive, 18 (3), pg 136 †¢ Winston, R 2003, Human Instinct Paper presented at the sixth Annual Leadership conference, Ross – on – Wye, 23rd-24th September: quoted in R Gill, 2006, Theory and practice of Leadership, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg. 73 †¢ P. Singer, 1993, A Companion to Ethics, Blackwell, p, v. N. Preston, 2007, Understanding Ethics, Federation Press; 3rd Revised edition, pg 36, 40, 41, 42 †¢ E. Vallance, 1995, Business Ethics at Work, Cambridge university Press, pg 4 †¢ Milton Freidman (1970) ‘The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits’ quoted in T. Beauchamp and N. Bowie, 2004, Ethical Theory and Business, 7th ed . , London, Pearson, p. 51. †¢ M. Paliwal, 2006, Business Ethics; New Age International Ltd, pg 7, 9, 10 †¢ McNamara, 2006: quoted in M. Paliwal, 2006, Business Ethics; New Age International Ltd, pg 7 †¢ T. Donaldson, Ethics in Business: A New Look: quoted in M Paliwal, 2006, Business Ethics; New Age International Ltd, pg 9 †¢ Yukl, G. A (1989), Leadership in organisations, (2nd ed), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall: quoted in P. G Northouse, 2004, Leadership Theory and Practice, SAGE Publications Ltd, pg 10 †¢ B. Andersen, ASQ Mission, Bringing Business Ethics to Life: Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility, Pg 7, 9, 12, 13, 19, 22,24 †¢ Maignin, 1987: quoted in B. Andersen, ASQ Mission, Bringing Business Ethics to Life: Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility, Pg 13 †¢ www. FTSE4Good. com http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2004/nov/02/ethicalbusiness. money, â€Å"Companies ethical reports branded ineffective†, Tuesday 2nd November 2004, Oliver Balch †¢ http://www. cityam. com/index. php? news=16306, â€Å"Tesco in sweatshop scandal. † 26/6/08 †¢ http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2008/jun/24/primark. retail, â€Å"Is this the end for Primark†, The Guardian, Tuesday 24th June 2008, Leo Hickman †¢ http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2003/feb/01/ethicalshopping. globalisationâ€Å"Littlewood’s drops ethical trading code†, The Guardian, Saturday 1st February 2003, Simon Bowers and Julia Finch http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2007/sep/02/5, â€Å"Named and shames, cities ethical dunces†, The Observer, Sunday 2nd September 2007, Heather Stewart and Zoe Wood †¢ http://www. guardian. co. uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/25/ethicalfashion, â€Å"Can fashion play fair? †, The Guardian, Friday 25th July 2008, Leo Hickman Bibliography †¢ K. R. Andrews, 1989, Ethics in Practice: Managing the Moral Corporation, Harvard Business School Publishing Division †¢ Simon Blackburn, 2001, Ethics: a very short introduction, Oxford press Inc New York †¢ R Gill, 2006, Theory and practice of Leadership, SAGE Publications Ltd P. G Northouse, 2004, Leadership Theory and Prac tice, SAGE Publications Ltd, †¢ Conger, J. A (2004) Developing leadership capability: What’s inside the black box. Academy of management executive, 18 (3) †¢ E. Vallance, 1995, Business Ethics at Work, Cambridge university Press †¢ M Paliwal, 2006, Business Ethics; New Age International Ltd †¢ P. Singer, 1993, A Companion to Ethics, Blackwell †¢ B. Andersen, 2004, Bringing Business Ethics to Life: Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility, ASQ Mission †¢ J. Gallos, 2008, Business Leadership, Jossey –Bass, A Wiley Imprint K Grint, 2005, Leadership: Limits and Possibilities, Palgrave Macmillan †¢ R. N Kanungo, M Mendonca, 1996, Ethical Dimensions of Leadership, SAGE Publications Ltd †¢ B. Harvey, 1994, Business Ethics: A European Approach, Prentice Hall International UK Ltd †¢ P. Griseri, 1998, Managing Values: Ethical Change in Organisations, Macmillan Business †¢ J. N. Behrman, 1988, Essays on Ethics in Business and the Professions, Prentice Hall †¢ V. E. Henderson, 1992, What’s Ethical in Business? , McGraw – Hill Inc †¢ P. Wright, Managerial Leadership, Routledge †¢ N. Preston, 2007, Understanding Ethics, Federation Press; 3rd Revised edition.

Outline how legislation, policies and procedures relating to heath Essay

The Health and Safety at work act is a piece of legislation that is responsible for convering all health and safety in britain. However, the health and safety manager at individual establishments are responsible for carrying out the act and making sure everything is in cohearance with the piece of legislation. HASAWA influences health and social care in many different ways such as the protection it now gives to employers and employees, before this piece of legislation was made people had no legal protection whilst they were at work. HASAWA influences health and social as it tells the owner of a business, or establishment, what they need to be doing to make sure they are working in accordance to the legislation. Everyone has the duty to comply with the act, this includes employers, employees, trainees, self employed, manufacturers, suppliers ect. This legislation keeps people safe as it provides people with the instuctions to make their establishments safe for themselves and their emp loyees. HASAWA tells owners to carry out a risk assessment which points out the hazards that need to be changed and/or fixed. An example of legislation influencing a health and care setting is The Manual Handling Operations regualtion. MHOR is always thought to be the last resort, and only if there is a possibility of injury. Legislation tells emplyers and employees how to move and handle things appropriately and when it is and isn’t appropriate to move and handle things. Employers must carry out risk assessments before opening a business to find if there are any faults or dangers to the customers or employees. There must be a health and safety policy written specifically for that setting and someone must be employed to be in charge of health and safety. Everything in the establishment must be insured incase accidents occur. Employees must take responsibility of your own and other peoples health and  safety and not do anything that could cause someones health and safety to be put at risk. This influences the setting as it keeps people working or entering the setting safe and gives them the appropri ate instructions to keep them as safe as possible. It keeps people safe as it provides instructions and regulations that must be followed to keep everyone safe, and if everyone follows these regulations and instructions then their safety and health will be safe. Food Safety Act 1990 The Food Safety Act 1990 is a frame for all food legislation in Britain. Responsibilities for food businesses include: Ensuring you do not include anything in food or remove anything from food making it a hazard to the health of people consuming it. Advertising food in a way that isn’t misleading or false. The food safety act influences health in many different ways, it gives environmental health the right to inspect the quality of food, the place it is prepared and the place it is served and if it is not up to standard they have the power to close the establishment, in extreme cases. Before the establishment is closed down they are served a notice of improvement or be temporaraly closed until the standards are back up. Without the Food Safety Act food would be able to be served to you in any conditon, and if you became ill from that food you could not retain any form of compensation because there is no legislation telling the establishment how to cook, prepare and serve food safely. Employers and employees must make sure food is safe to eat, make sure they don’t add, remove or treat food in a way that makes it harmful to eat, make sure the quality of the food is the same as it is advertised or expected by the customer, Keep track of where the food was bought, if unsafe food is discovered it needs to be recorded and removed and tell people why the food has been recalled. There must be hand wash at all sinks and hands must be washed before touching food, after touching food, after using the toilet, after touching animals, after touching your own skin and hair, after sneezing or coughing and after touching raw food. Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 RIDDOR is the piece of legislation that states all injuries, diseases, illnesses need to be reported to either the health and safety executive or  the local council. RIDDOR is put in place so that health and safety executives can look at where the risks occur and can take steps to prevent them. There are of course only certain injuries and dangerous occuurences that need to be reported, things such as violence at work, gas leaks, injuries that have occured during work or in the work place. RIDDOR also benefits people who have been injured at work and want compensation, health and safety executives follow up on the case and evaluate if the acdicent was because of the employee being put at risk or if they didnt follow procedure. The employers responsibility is to maintain the safety of their employees customers and they have the responsibility to report if an employee or customer has been injured whilst at wor k or in the establishment. Without RIDDOR, injuries caused in the workplace could not be claimed upon and the hazard could not be found and removed, if the hazard isn’t removed then people will be continuously be getting injured. The incidents need to be written in an accident book and should inlude the date and time of injury, the name of the worker, a description of the accident, action taken and the result. Slips, Trips, Falls Slips, trips and falls are the most common causes of major injuries in the work place. Most trips are caused by uneven or un-maintained floors, and slips are usually cased by wet floors. However, slips, trips and falls can be prevented if the right preventions and procedures are put into place and followed. The employers responsibilities are to make sure the floors serface is even and maintained, decreasing the risk of trips, all obstructions in hallways and on floors are removed and stored properly, this also decreases the risk of trips. All spillages should be immediately cleaned up using the appropriate method, usually a cloth or mop, and a wet floor sign should be appointed if needed, this decreases the risk of slips. Staffs responsibilities are to wear safe and sensible footwear which have good grip, and they must also keep their work stations clear and tidy, also both staff and service users have the responsibility to report obstructions and spillages if not recognised. The pol icy put in place ifluences health and care as it prevents the risks of slips, trips and falls, without it there would be no procedures to influence staff to remove the risks, such as obsticles that may cause trips. If staff, employees and the service users don’t follow the policies put in place then the risks of accidents will be raised, and if an accident does occur and they haven’t followed the procedures they were responsible to follow then they can’t claim any form of compensation.

Tells us about a time when you took a risk, including what the risk Essay

Tells us about a time when you took a risk, including what the risk was, what happened, and how the experience change you - ( 400 to 600 Words) - Essay Example This implies that the incoming manager had to be equipped with exemplary skills in restaurant management. Mr, Smith, knew me personally. Furthermore, he knew my future ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. Having been raised in Brazil, he felt my experience from a foreign country would enrich the business through integrating new ideas with the traditional English culture. After thorough scrutiny, Mr. Smith decided I was best suited to take up this risky opportunity. At first, I thought I was not up to the task but then I decided to take up the risk after realizing it was the only way I would gain experience. Thoughts of what a disappointment I would be if I did not deliver or if the business failed to flourish kept crossing my mind. Despite this, I did not give up. Since most of my life I had lived in Brazil, I was not proficient in the English language. This situation made the assignment even more challenging considering the business was in an English setting. I had the task of proving to myself as well as to others that being a foreigner was not an impediment to success. I had no substantial knowledge of the English culture and how to prepare English food. As result, I decided to dedicate my fist day to work on making myself acquainted with these aspects. I also came up with a concept on how to deliver the best services and the kind of foods that would be more appealing. Nonetheless, I developed some marketing strategies that I would incorporate into the business so as to increase sales and achieve set goals. Not to forget how I would train those under my supervision. I decided I would be dedicated to my new job through hard work and commitment. Applying these concepts made the business a success. In a couple of months, the flow of customers had increased. The trend continued as more people brought their friends and families to the traditional English restaurant due to the good services they were receiving. More traffic was

South African News Reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

South African News Reports - Essay Example Rens recalled an incident in which Oscar thought that a burglar had entered his house only to realize that it was nothing more than a tumbler dryer. This was not a particular incident since the prosecution cited a tweeter update in November 2012 when Pistorius talked about going into ‘core-red’ mode after entering his house but later realized that he had left the washing machine on. Additionally, the defense supported their claims about his trigger-happy nature by citing 10 visits to the shooting range.The primary witness on Monday clarified that Oscar understood private gun ownership laws in the land. All purchasers are required to fill a questionnaire that tests their knowledge of these laws. Some of the questions seek to find out if the buyer understands conditions for use of the guns. When asked whether one should shoot buglers stealing a TV, Oscar replied negatively because no life was in danger. Additionally, he selected an ideal shooting incident as a condition wh ere burglars were pursuing the gun owner, were armed and no barrier existed between them. The questionnaire ended with a final question in which the gun owner is always expected to know their target as well as what lies beyond. 18th March, Tuesday was police captain Chris Magena’s day. He explained how he reconstructed the scene in order to establish how the crime occurred.It came to light that he was not wearing his prosthetics since the bullet trajectories supported this conclusion. The chief investigator measured the athlete.

Nutrition Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nutrition Questions - Essay Example ure of the nutrient breakdown often results in a lack of energy, excessive sleepiness, or similar problems that would otherwise act to counter weight loss gains. As a result of these limitations one’s overall perception of fad diets and drugs is highly suspicious. Adolescence has been defined as a developmental stage distinguishing childhood from adulthood. While the age of 18 is the legal definition of adulthood, the actual developmental transition is determined by psychological and physiological factors. One of the predominant developmental stages associated with adolescence is puberty. As adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage there are a number of nutrition-related problems associated with it. One of the most prominent nutrition-related problems of adolescence is that of malnutrition, particularly its effect on weight gain. While the high numbers of adolescents that are overweight is in great part due to a lack of exercise, a nearly equal problem is overeating, or eating the wrong foods. Another issue is that of under nutrition. Particularly in the cases of anorexia, adolescents are particularly apt to these as they face the challenges of the teenage years. As this is a critical growth period proper nutrition is important as it has been shown to affect health in later life. Specific health problems from poor adolescent nutrition include osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes. Other potential problems related to nutrition include stomach and kidney pains brought on by bulimia that, like anorexia, is another frequent disorder related to the adolescent development stage. In addition to these noted nutrition-related problems adolescents in this development stage are susceptible to many of the same nutrition related problems of regular adults; over consumption of daily vitamins can cause a series of health related problems. Ultimately, because of these issues it’s highly important for adolescents to pay particular attention to their nutrition and

Starting Cookie Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Starting Cookie Business - Assignment Example Debbi’s cookies were hugely popular amongst her relatives, friends and Randy’s clients and therefore could easily start a cookie business. Randy, as an economist was able to calculate the start-up cost and could contribute to the management of the business. Hence their skills were complimentary which was hugely beneficial for their future business. It was the popularity of Debbi’s cookies amongst Randy’s clients that gave birth to the idea of starting a cookie business. Her cookies were in great demand and Debbie believed that she could exploit her expertise in making cookies. Debbi’s goals were to bake great cookies and provide customers with a unique experience. Ensuring customer satisfaction through quality goods and caring and make them feel special was important for Debbi. Randy’s goals for the business was to make it successful by using technology to enhance information flow for effective decision making regarding operational efficiency, administration, and management of its various stores. He primarily believed that mechanistic work should be delegated to machines and people should use their creativity and skills to augment business productivity through direct input like interacting with customers directly. Debbi faced a huge dilemma while opening her second store of Mrs. Fields’ Cookies because she believed to be proactive in business and loved baking cookies and serving to customers. She believed that she should be involved in the business and with the second store, she would not be able to be in two places at the same time. She was not comfortable with delegation as she preferred to being hands-on! Her management style fundamentally relied on developing unique customer relationship based on trust and caring.  Thus providing customers with quality cookies and making them feel important were key ingredients.

History of mordern political thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of mordern political thought - Essay Example ..But mostly he wrote about politics. He was mad about politics. He says in one of his letters that he had to talk about it; he could talk of nothing else...The Prince is scarcely more than a pamphlet, a very minor fraction of its author's work, but it overshadows all the rest...Everyone recognizes "Machiavellian" as an adjective for political conduct that combines diabolical cunning with a ruthless disregard for moral standards...The Prince contradicts everything else Machiavelli ever wrote and everything we know about his life.... The notion that The Prince is what it pretends to be, a scientific manual for tyrants, has to contend not only against Machiavelli's life but against his writings... The standard explanation has been that in the corrupt conditions of sixteenth-century Italy only a prince could create a strong state capable of expansion. The trouble with this is that it was chiefly because they widened their boundaries that Machiavelli preferred republics. In the Discorsi he wrote, "We know by experience that states have never signally increased either in territory or in riches except under a free government. The cause is not far to seek, since it is the well-being not of the individuals but of the community which makes the state great, and without question this universal well-being is nowhere secured save in a republic.... Popular rule is always better than the rule of princes." (1958) Machiavelli was a nationalist, a political scientist, a scholar and a staunch republican. About the most pro-monarchic view that could possibly be ascribed to him is that a Prince might be the best way to unify Italy. Machiavelli began by writing satire of the corrupt leaders of Italy such as the Medicis, making bare their horrible and destructive ambitions, but he also created modern political science simultaneously. This paper will analyze precisely how The Prince is in fact brilliant political science. Modern political science takes something for granted that class ical analyses of politics and law would have found preposterous: Analyses of what governments actually do and how to efficently carry out objectives are just as valuable as analyses of what governments should do. The Prince describes how princes actually behave and how they should behave if they want to be effective, not if they want to be moral. The Prince opens up in a rather startling way for a philosophy book about politics and law: It describes what principalities there are (Chapter I). He goes on to distinguish separate types of rule for hereditary and mixed principalities (Chapter II and III). The Prince is proceeding with simple, clear analyses, breakdowns and categories. Filling The Prince is distinct analysis of history of the Greeks and Romans, what a modern political scientist would call a case study, providing support for his claims. Take his analysis of Nabis in Chapter IX. â€Å"Nabis, Prince of the Spartans, sustained the attack of all Greece, and of a victorious Ro man army, and against them he defended his country and his government; and for the overcoming of this peril it was only necessary for him to make himself secure against a few, but this would not have been sufficient if the people had been hostile...[G]ranted a prince who has established himself as above, who can command, and is a man of courage, undismayed in adversity, who does not fail in other qualifications, and who, by his resolution and energy, keeps the whole people encouraged — such a one will never find himself deceived in them, and it will be shown that

Canada Employment Labor & Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Canada Employment Labor & Law - Essay Example Canadian labor laws require every employer to implement programs that are helpful to employees, the employer, the dependents of the employee and the community (the Canadian Charter for Occupational Health and Safety Act). This act obliges employers to provide a safe work place from sexual harassment and discrimination. On the employee and his dependents, occupational health programs should facilitate low personal health care costs, sustained earnings and increased productivity. It is the duty of the employer to offer safe work place from incidents such as discrimination and sexual harassment. The employer needs to probe incidents and take relevant actions to prevent similar event from happening in future. For instance, in this case, the employer should terminate work contract with Marcus Marques because his behaviors are dangerous and might lead to injury of other employees at the work place. The position of other nurses should not make the employer reinstate Marcus since they did not complain to the management. The situation would not be different if the Union was supporting Marcus reinstatement because his work relationship with nurses has proved futile. Marcus has violated the law by sexually harassing the two nurses at work. Even if the Union defended him, it would be hard for him to positively relate with fellow workers. The union needs to represent the interests of all employees including the two nurses; they should not be discriminated against. However, based on collective bargaining agreement between Marcus and Lester William hospital, his firing was not justified. Therefore, the union needs to step in and represent the grievances of the worker against the employer for failure to honor the collective bargaining agreement. Despite the fact that the two nurses are against Marcus reinstatement, it is the duty of the union not discriminate against him until the case is heard and

Mental Illnesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mental Illnesses - Essay Example Physiological Process The physiological process of schizophrenia is not clearly defined. However, experts link chemical abnormality to be associated with the signs and symptoms of the illness. The imbalance of dopamine and glutamate affects the way a person’s brain reacts to the stimuli making the schizoid person overwhelmed by sensory stimulation in which other people without such condition may easily handle. The study of Dalya and company ( 2007) supported such claim in explaining that changes in the neural circuits as a result of neurotransmitter abnormality may cause patient to experience auditory hallucinations. Other studies have also shown that abnormalities in brain structures and death of tissues in the brain may cause changes in its cells and that relay of sensory information is altered. Symptom Manifestations Manifestation involves hallucinations in the form of hearing voices, delusions which are persecutory in nature, and disorganization in speech and thinking. The individual when communicating to others may present lose of thoughts and sentences are incoherent with its meaning or it is a combination of loose ideas that it becomes word salad. Schizoids do not pay attention to how they project themselves thus they dress poorly. They do not have the motivation for themselves and have project poor judgment as well. Others may have problems of responsiveness and social cognition.

Mental Health Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mental Health Promotion - Essay Example CONCEPT OF MENTAL HEALTH There has been various concepts and approaches to mental health. According to the Department of Health, some of the factors that greatly influenced mental health are family traditions, beliefs, and cultural practices. The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health, as a state of being physically, mentally and socially fit. Being healthy does not just mean the absence of sickness or physical incapacity. Mental health is therefore a fundamental indicator of the overall health and well being of a person. However, many other sources simply view mental health merely as the absence of disease or illness. This view is supported in the biomedical model of health as mentioned by Seedhouse (2002). On the other hand, Seeker (2005) indicated in his study that to get the best result from caregiver’s intervention approach, there is a need to focus on the diagnosis and interpretations of a disease in pathological terms. There is a big disparity between one who is diagnosed with mental illness in contrast to another condition where there is no medical diagnosis, in terms of access to medical care and health services. Persons diagnosed of mental illness that gets access to healthcare and social services developed some sense of emotional security from the support and should cope better with the challenge. In contrast, a person who is not diagnosed of being mentally ill may not get the needed support and attention from caregivers resulting to negative feelings of being neglected. A more comprehensive definition of mental health was coined by the Health Education Authority (HEA) in 1997. The agency’s definition of mental health put emphasis on the spiritual and emotional ability of the person to endure and recover from painful experiences or sufferings in life. This resilience will enable a mentally healthy person to move on and enjoy life after a suffering some form of pain (Squire 2002, Wagnild & Collins 2009). In 2004, the World Health Organization pronounced an insightful definition of mental health giving emphasis to normal aspects of living. It is a state of well-being in which the individual is conscious of his social ties and can cope up with the day to day stresses of life. A mentally healthy person should therefore be able to work productively and to offer something positive to their community. Such productivity and positive contribution promotes inner satisfaction and greatly reinforces overall health. Nations all over the globe are looking into mental health promotion with renewed interest. Mental health is essentially the condition that dictates the total well-being and productivity of a person. Intervention through health promotion is far more effective in safeguarding mental health than treatments and medicinal therapies at the on stage of a fully diagnosed mental illness. This latter approach is rather expensive and yet less effective as presented in the following research and studies. CONCEPT OF MEN TAL HEALTH PROMOTION Activities that promote the mental health of individuals has a positive effect in preventing and reducing mental illness (Barry & Jenkins 2007) and in the fast recovery of mentally afflicted individuals (Friedli 2009). In 2001, the Department of Health introduced mental health promotion as any action or activity that enhances or supports the mental well-being of a person, family,

Samsung Group Essay Example for Free

Samsung Group Essay The name â€Å"Samsung† according to the founder of the group Lee Byung Chull a migrant of a large land owning family in Uiryeong county to a city called Daegu where he founded Samsung Sanghoe explained that it means â€Å"tristars† or â€Å"three stars†; the word â€Å"three† represents something big, numerous and powerful. The â€Å"stars† represent â€Å"eternity†. Samsung has undergone lots transformation before being the giant Samsung it is today and it has proven to withstand the test of time where most Asian companies have dissolved during the Asian financial crisis. Its first product was a black-and-white television set. In the 50’s, when the Korean War broke out; Lee was forced to leave Seoul and start a sugar refinery in Busan[-gt;1] named Cheil Jedang[-gt;2]. After the war, in 1954, Lee founded Cheil Mojik and built the plant in Chimsan-dong, Daegu. It was the largest woollen mill ever in the country and the company took on the aspect of a major company. After the founders death in 1987, Samsung Group was separated into four business groups – Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group and Hansol Group. Shinsegae (discount store, department store) was originally part of Samsung Group, separated in the 1990s from the Samsung Group along with CJ Group (Food/Chemicals/Entertainment/logistics) and the Hansol Group (Paper/Telecom). Today these separated groups are independent and they are not part of or connected to the Samsung Group. In the 1980s, Samsung Electronics began to invest heavily in research and development, investments that were pivotal in pushing the company to the forefront of the global electronics industry. Our main purpose in this section is to declare what kind of tools we are going to use to analyze the competitive advantage of one of Samsung Group’s subsidiaries – Samsung Electronics. Any company in the business world would want to maintain and achieve competitive advantage if it intends to really survive the scheme of its rivals. One of these ways is to conduct a strategic analysis of the company. This enables us to adjust and monitor the position of the company, exploit new opportunities, and prepare for rainy days. There is one way of doing that- conducting a strategic evaluation of the company. According to Peter Drucker â€Å"unless strategy evaluation is performed seriously and systematically, and unless strategists are willing to act on the results, energy will be used up defending yesterday. No one will have the time, resources, or will to work on exploiting today, let alone to work on making tomorrow†. In other words, strategic evaluation gives the company a feel of or connection to the business environment it is operating in. Strategic evaluation is vital to the organization’s well being. Strategic evaluation includes three basic activities: examining the underlying basis of a firm’s strategy, comparing expected results with actual results, and taking corrective actions to ensure that performance conforms to plans. Samsung Electronics is the worlds largest mobile phone maker[-gt;8] by 2011 unit sales and worlds second-largest semiconductor chip maker[-;gt;9] by 2011 revenues (after Intel Corporation[-;gt;10]). It has been the worlds largest television manufacturer[-gt;11] since 2006 and the worlds largest maker of LCD panels for eight consecutive years. It has the largest market share worldwide in memory chips[-;gt;12]. The company is the worlds largest vendor of smart phones[-gt;13] since 2011. Samsung has also established a prominent position in the tablet computer[-gt;14] market, with the release of the Android[-gt;15]-powered Samsung Galaxy Tab[-gt;16]. This section of the paper is meant to access and assess the strategies they have been applying since their existence and to advise them on the strategic options available to them now and in the future. In this paper we would use the following analyses: SWOT analyses, PEST analyses, Porter’s Five Forces, Strategic Group and the VRIO model analyses. SWOT is the acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats surrounding the business in its environment. In other words, it guides you to identify the positives and negatives inside and outside your organization. SWOT analysis is the most renowned tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic position of the business and its environment. Its key purpose is to identify the strategies that will create a firm specific business model that will best align an organization’s resources and capabilities to the requirements of the environment in which the firm operates. In other words, it is the foundation for evaluating the internal potential and limitations and the likely opportunities and threats from the external environment. The strength and weaknesses give you an insight of your internal advantages relative to other companies and disadvantages relative to other companies, in other words, it measures the competitive advantage. They are usually the factors that you have control over. The opportunities and threats are considered to be the external factors that you have no control over; it could be technological change, legislation, socio-cultural change, etc. The opportunities and threats give you an insight of the factors that the organization can exploit to it advantages and the factors that could cause trouble for the business. Pestel is an acronym for political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal analysis. It describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management.  ·Political factors are basically to what degree the government intervenes in the economy.

Pact Analysis And Prototype Design Information Technology Essay

Pact Analysis And Prototype Design Information Technology Essay The given report is based on the PACT analysis and prototype design for an interactive system. In respect to this, the paper introduces an initial non-functioning prototype interface for the interactive system for the selected design problem. The design problem selected for this interactive system is scenario 2. This problem is related with getting information about visiting places and eating, as in this city, Emily has faced problem in accessing expert knowledge and using Google maps mainly because of unavailability no local leaflets, paid advertising links, etc. As such, the design report reflects the PACT analysis and includes observations supporting this analysis. Further, it also includes secondary research as well as reflects feedback for initial design. All in all, an interactive system design for this design problem will be helpful in giving effective and relevant knowledge to the visitors about visiting and eating. PACT analysis is defined as a user requirement document that is used for a more detailed design brief. This analysis is a way of reflecting about people, activities, content and lastly technology (PACT Analysis). Each and every element of this analysis would be quite helpful in developing an effective interactive system that supports the users in accessing the local map. People reflect cognitive with physical characteristics, language, culture, etc. and other aspects. Activities indicate about actions and tasks including activities that support the new design. The third aspect is the context to use focuses on information about environment with acceptability of new design in relation to social, legal and ecological. Lastly, technology focuses on current technology and future technology to asses the problem in existing technology and type of technology, which will be used to solve out this technical issue. In relation to the given design problem, PACT analysis is conducted to make the information accessible to visitors. People: In this activity, people involved are senior team members, IT engineers having a good knowledge about hardware and software technical areas, graphic and interactive design experts and research team. There is a special requirement for IT experts and research team as both affect the designing of the interactive system. The special requirement for Information Technology (IT) expert is due to the reason that they have possessed a practical technical knowledge about software and hardware. Research team members have great domains in programming, visual design and cognitive psychology. The age range for each and every person involved is different. For the senior team members, the age range is in between 35-50 years. They can play a decisive role in building an interactive environment through solving behavioural issues. All in all, senior members can build up a good coordination among the members to effectively communicate ideas. Further, team members between 20 and 30 include those, who have innovative ideas and support in completing the tasks. IT engineer, graphic engineers and research team members are between the age range 30 and 45. In developing an interactive system, they can support in the designing of prototype and non-functioning prototype interface. In the current scenario, language is a great issue as visitors have faced problems in assessing the local knowledge due to unfamiliar language. Activities: To design an interactive system, the users have to perform activities that furnish long and in-depth information to the visitors. Additionally, they have to design a system in such an effective way that not only supports the visitors in searching local knowledge about the worth visiting and eating through providing database, but also works as a tool that freely intercommunicates knowledge to the visitors. Those activities must possess special characteristics like system should be easy to use, fast, and efficient. The new design will support in completing the activities like designing of interface, which is self teaching and also assists in gaining access to relevant and worthwhile information. Context to use: The features of the current context are that the presentation of local knowledge was not good in this city. Besides that, the system is not quite fast and effective with which it could be easy to assess the information. The environment would be stressful as the existing system was not responsive to the needs of the users. The new system needs to be used quickly through providing training in relation to the technical issues and ways to implement and maintain. In the designing of an interactive system, it is a must to focus on the needs of society, so that the society can be able to accept this system. For the new design, ecological and social acceptability affects the system at a great extent as both play a vital role in making the system user centric. Current technology: Technology is one of the determinative areas of concern as it directly affects the system design. Currently, notice and language are used as technology to respond to the needs of the users in a fast and efficient way without focusing on its ease to use. All in all, the current technology to serve local knowledge is mainly based on the systems functionality instead of visitors needs. This is a major problem in the current technology. Besides that, the current technology does not reflect the local attraction in the station and thus; visitors have faced a great problem in knowing places for visiting and eating without any guide. Future Technology: To solve this problem, the technology that could be used must focus on the users needs and also possess the characteristics of easy to use. Furthermore, books and signs are an effective technology that could be applied to cope with this problem as this will be helpful for the users in accessing knowledge about the local attractions of the particular city. Hardware helps the visitors that are looking for new attractions through informing and assisting in searching worth visiting places, whereas; software helps in making the database of local attractions in a city and also maintaining the speed and efficiency. This technology might provide opportunities like easy to access information within few minutes. Besides that, this technology might also give information about local attractions on mobile phone at low costs. For offering more functionality in the new system, new technology like books and signs might give an opportunity to attract number of visitors and also mee t visitors needs by assisting in keeping away the problems related to access expert knowledge. Observations supporting the PACT analysis Based on the above discussion about PACT analysis, it is inferred that this analysis is a quite effective tool with which it could be easy to assess information in a more detailed form. Besides that, it is also reflected that PACT analysis not only focuses on the specific requirements, but also indicates key point that are quite essential for evaluation. For instance: information about people helps in knowing people involved in the tasks. Furthermore, I have learned that for designing an interactive system, this analysis is highly effective as this helps in realizing the current situation and also reflects the areas for improvement, so that the new system can easily cope with the perceived problem. All in all, it is realized that PACT analysis is an effective tool to understand the users needs and amend the system according to the users acceptability. From the observations supporting the PACT analysis, it is learned that in this rapidly changing technological world, it is a must for an interactive system design that each and every aspect including people, activities, context and technology is properly assessed. With this, it would be easy to design a system that gives local knowledge of what is worth eating and visiting in a particular state. In addition to this, these observations will support in assessing the required changes that make the user interface effective in respect to functionality and users needs. Overall, PACT analysis is a tool for cooperative research, which acts as computer-aid-engineering for sharing and developing design model automatically. In the same concern, it is also observed that PACT analysis for an interactive system should also consider the communication as this meets out the issues like speed and bandwidth. In addition to this, observations will greatly assist the web designers in knowing about the users context, goals and tasks that directly lead in supporting the PACT analysis. With the observations, it could also be easy to assess whether the design prototype assists the goals and tasks in an effective way (Sharp, Rogers and Preece 2008). All the given observations in relation to the support of the PACT analysis were quite useful as they helped in getting relevant information about activities, context and technology. In response to the observations, the design visualization will add such a technology that gives a full and clear picture of area for improvement and also focuses on usability that makes visualisation easy to understand. Besides that, I will add more pictures, maps, signs, etc. as well as apply design strategies related to user interface. To make design visualisation effective, we will add all types of analyses including users, requirements and tasks. Thus, it is inferred that PACT analysis for an interactive system must be human centric, so that the required information can be easily extracted by the users. Secondary research Secondary research is one of the effective researches with which it could be easy to find out the solutions in context to the chosen scenario. This is because potential solutions linking with such issues are already reflected by other researchers. In helping the design of an interactive system, secondary research is quit useful as this research gives detailed information about the tourism and environment in context to the ecological, cultural, economic and language issues. Besides that, in design/visualization, secondary research will help in finding out the user requirements that are essential to design interactive system. In this context, Jones and Greene (2000) state that in the interactive system design, it is a must to foster creative perception, users and use context. The interesting idea that helps in developing the design is We view good system design as a three-legged stool. The legs are: 1) Understanding of technology, 2) Understanding of the users and the context in which the system will be used, and 3) A creative insight (Jones and Greene 2000). This means that a good system design is highly based on the proper knowledge and understanding of the users and technology as this is the only means to provide local attraction information to the visitors. It is also assessed from secondary research that for an effective design/visualisation to provide a guide to the tourists, it is a must to focus on the computing technologies with wireless infrastructure in order to provide the required information about the worth visiting sites. In support to this, Cheverst et.al state that The system combines mobile computing technologies with a wireless infrastructure to present the city visitors with the information tailored to both their personal and environmental contexts (Cheverst et.al). With this, it is analysed that for developing an interactive system, technology should be related with the users requirements. To make the design effective, another interesting idea proposed by Wober (2003) is that the designing of interactive system has to be supported with a marketing decision support system to assess the information about the prevailing users demand and current technology (Wober 2003). . Based on the above reflected potential solutions for the selected scenario, it is inferred that secondary research is good means as this research refers to the information that has been collected and properly analyzed by other researchers in context to the same issue. Feedback on the Design Visualisation In respect to the design visualisation, most of the users have reflected that this is a good system through which users can easily access the information of local destinations as this not only provides them with the database, but also helps them communicate in relation to various issues related to environment. This system would help in getting information about the worth visiting and eating sites, so that visitors can spend their time and money in an efficient way. As per their feedback, they would expect to see mobile networking with which they can access information on global maps on their mobiles at a lower cost. After looking at visualisation, most of them have the same question that whether this system is easy to use and will be helpful in fulfilling their needs. In response to the feedback, I would like to focus on all key dimensions such as technology, context and users. In addition to this, I would like to change the technology such as books, pens, notices, etc. to make the s ystem easy to use for the visitor. Besides that, I will implement mobile networking to change the design as most of the potential users highly require this technology in the interactive system.

The Nature of Construction Problems: Past and Present

The Nature of Construction Problems: Past and Present ABSTRACT: This paper aims at deriving a comprehensive understanding pertaining to the different construction difficulties that have been faced in the past and are being faced now in the present also. It provides a vivid analysis of why the problems were faced, the nature of the problems and how they were dealt with. It has been a long time since the first inception of architectural ideas that had crept into our ancestors’ minds. Right from the Stone Age, man has actually been into this act of constructing stuff for making his life easy. At the very juncture of the Metal Age, he got a further boost with the advent of new materials and construction techniques. Furthermore, came the times when architecture was at its peak. Everywhere in the world there was zeal to construct structures that not only made life comfortable for man, but also soothed his eyes. The classical orders of the Greeks packed the punch of serving as better structural members along with being a visual treat. The Romans had been articulate in constructing an efficient system of water supply in the form of a series of arches together being called as aquaducts. It still stands as an example people look up to design urban spaces. Egyptians were no less. They were meticulously constructing pyramids and mortuary tombs that were way beyond the human scale. They had designed the first forms of conveyor systems in building construction. Similarly, India saw the construction of a lot of architectural wonders. Right from the construction of the monolithic stone structures of the Ajanta-Ellora caves and the temples of Mahabalipuram to the Islamic structures of Taj Mahal and the Humayun’s tomb it had been a marvellous leap in the form of architectural progress. Finally came the times of controversies about architecture when Gustav Eiffel proposed the construction of an all metal structure now called the Eiffel tower. There was a lot of noise about the fact that how it would finally look when it was constructed in Paris. Many people said that it might turn out to be a scar on the face of the city. But, now fortunately it is known as the first thing that helps us identify the city of Paris. There have also been controversies about Zaha Hadid’s designs. She is one of the pioneer architects as far as t he use of fluidic forms is concerned. Her designs have almost always been at the helm of criticism by the senior architects of her times. But, she has been articulate in executing her own designs. Similarly, in the recent times Frank O’ Gehry had faced a lot of challenges in bringing up his work called Bilbao museum. He has been criticised like hell up to the level of being called the mad architect. Now as we come up to the fact of such progress in the field of construction, can we deny that there have been no difficulties in the construction of these age old structures? No will be the answer. As we go back to the times when the monolithic stone structures of the Kailasa temple was constructed, we get to know that no good technology was available at that time. However, they have managed to actually make it possible to form a massive temple out of a single rock. Imagine that how the person who started the construction, actually just used a chisel and a hammer to build such a huge temple. It is said that he started from the top and kept on chiselling till the bottom. It is evident that this wonderful construction must have taken a long time to come up. But, it has not been constructed by a single sculptor. Imagine the difficulty in passing on the same knowledge about the structure to so many artisans over the ages. There might have been several changes made to this temple structure during the construction. This must have made it even more difficult for the sculptors. Now raises the question of managing the waste that was generated in this process. How were all the cut out st ones used? Yes, they were used to make roads and for pety constructions. But wasn’t it really difficult to manage these heavy masses? Yes, it must have been tedious. A similar structure had come up previously. The Konark temple in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa had a huge contribution in raising the architectural taste of the people of the country. In this construction, they used the method of constructing sand ramps as it was being constructed towards the top end. This had actually ensured that the structure didn’t get decayed during the construction process. However, this structure had made use of a huge pole at the centre in the form of a magnet that gave the massive stone structure all its strength. This had been acquired by the British during their reign in our country. But, later on what it was used for nobody knows. Just imagine how that huge magnet was made to stand just by the use of very basic tools. This speaks of the difficulty in constructing structures belonging to the typology of stone temples. Now, when the importance of Constantinople came into existence, there was a sudden need for the construction of several public buildings. At that time there was a huge recession in the field of construction in Europe. There was a shortage of resources, funds, architects and even labourers. This thing gave rise to a new form of architecture. This form of architecture came to be known as Polymath Architecture. In this form of architecture the existing buildings were used to build several other buildings. The Roman basilicas were used to build the Basilican churches that formed the basis of Christianity. The columns of the condemned buildings were actually truncated to get a uniform size. As a result, the buildings were having a size very close to the human scale. Explicitly or purposely, this form of architecture happened to be more close to people. Even the foundations of several buildings were used to meet the needs of the times. The rotunda buildings were used to used to build bapti steries when the question of child baptism came into existence. These spaces required a kind of radiating building plan in order to accommodate the required activity. So, the unavailability of resources at that time was addressed in such a way. Now, when we come to construction of buildings that are built with the on public money, the question of minimalism comes into existence. The usage of minimum amount of resource and funds comes into existence. Taking the example of a case, when an architect is given task of designing a public building, he has to make sure that he does not raise the cost of the building to the height of making it unfeasible. Nowadays, in case of construction of public buildings, the factor of tender pops up. The person coming up with the most apt design within the least of cost frame usually gets the project. Such a case can be taken up when it comes to the Bilbao museum. It was designed by Frank O’ Gehry. He had gone through the criticism of the entire world because of his design. His design was so complex that it made use of aircraft design software. He had actually gone to the point of overusing resources. The frames of the building were made using thick steel sections. A large layer of fabri c was used to cover the building. Above this a layer of titanium sheets were used. Around twenty four thousand square meters of such were used. As a result of this, he was criticised over the fact that a similar functionality and aesthetics was achievable with lesser use of resources. But, he had paid no heed to what the people said. He has a concept of a fish just because he had memories of going to a fish market with his grandma. This vague justification brought about a lot of talks throughout the world. Luckily, the titanium prices had gone down at that point of time. So, he had the privilege of not getting the project cancelled. When residential projects are taken into consideration, there are several pety issues that come up. Funds remain limited in most cases. There have been cases when construction of a single house has gone through a ceasework period of more than a year just due to the lack of funds. Other religious issues play a vital role in our country when it comes to construction of residences specially. Several people actually back out when the architect is reluctant to listen to his specifications about how the building should be. Industrial buildings have challenges that are totally different as compared to other buildings. They should have the ability to actually justify all the government norms regarding the minute points like waste generation and hazard safety factors. They should have special anthropometric specifications but they should not use too much of space. So, as we come to conclude this, we can actually see that several issues are getting solved in this context. Several architects are coming up with innovative ideas to actually cater to the ideas of the government and the environmental impact assessment bodies to make a statement regarding this matter. So let us hope for a hassle free and green future ahead!!! References: History Of Architecture by Sir Bannister Fletcher Construction Delays: Extension Of time and prolongation claims by Roger Gibson