Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Housewives and Blue Collars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Housewives and Blue Collars - Essay Example Maduro wherein â€Å"E.S. Maduro tells the story of her mother and the typical "housewife" tale.    Her mother dated the same man her entire life, married right before college graduation, and stopped any working to pursue another career--motherhood.†(2) While the male of the household worked to support the family and did not contribute much to the running of the household. This social organization based on gender roles is vehemently attacked in the essay through the anger felt by the author: "I became angry at both of my parents: at my father that his chores (take apart and reassemble the kitchen sink, work in the garden, snow-blow the driveway) seemed interesting and challenging and were always impressive to friends and relatives, while my mothers endless chores seemed layered in routine and monotony."(3) The title of the essay itself is proof to this claim. The author wants to break away from the age-old concept that the woman should keep house, bear children and make ever yone happy. This is the reason why she continued to work and did not stay home when she settled in with her boyfriend. She chose a man who knew how to do chores at home with the view of sharing the household tasks between them. She had it all planned but the irony of it all that brings her great anger is that she eventually took on the role of her mother: â€Å"So there it is. In trying to avoid a life of an overworked housewife that I see my mother as having occupied for more than thirty years now.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Proposal for Obesity Management Programme

Proposal for Obesity Management Programme OBESITY PROGRAMEE: â€Å"FITNESS FOR FULFILMENT† Kathiravan Pillay Kumar Abstract The world has seen a rise in the issue of obesity and its effects on the biological, psychological and social wellbeing of individuals. This proposal reviews literature in relation to the causes as well as effects on obesity specifically targeted at children between the ages of 6 – 18 years old and evaluates current programs in place to curb the rise in obesity. Programs from both the United States as well as Singapore are used to analyse the western and Asian perspectives on tackling the issue of obesity. The proposed program would be aimed at reducing social stigma and increasing self-esteem that past or current programs do not address. The program will be made up of three phases which include implementation, motivation and feedback as well as evaluation of the entire program’s effectiveness. Feasibility and efficacy of instilling the program are also discussed. Introduction and Review on Obesity Obesity has been an issue present through various generations and is one faced by many nations worldwide. Recent years has seen a rise in the levels of obesity especially in western nations but is currently seen to be a growing issue even in Asian nations (Ramachandran Snehalatha, 2010). Based on recent findings by Ogden, Carroll, Kit and Flegal (2014) an estimated two third of the adult population in the United States are overweight or obese with about one third of school going children also falling under this category. A growing trend is also seen in Asia where findings in Singapore indicate that approximately one in nine Singaporean adults between the age ranges of 18 to 69 were considered to be obese in 2010 with obesity rates said to be increasing at an estimated 1 percent per year (â€Å"One in nine Singaporean†, 2014). Multiple factors have been suggested as causes to obesity, often focusing on mainly physical and psychological factors. General physical causes of obesity are often due to genetic factors that cause abnormalities in fat cell metabolism and metabolic defects or simply having a sedentary lifestyle (Bray, York DeLany, 1992). There are also various psychological conditions or disorders that have been suggested to lead to obesity however depression is considered to be the main cause of it as evidenced in Blaine’s (2008) study which indicated that individuals who were depressed were proven to be at significantly higher risk of becoming obese. Obesity is also often comorbid with depression and other eating disorders Blaine’s (2008). The key area of concern especially in recent times would be the effects of obesity on the individual as well as society as a whole. Numerous studies have been done to show the physical and psychological effects that obesity has on an individual. Physical aspects often include the risk of contracting illnesses such as heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (Sturm, 2002). Psychological effects tend to focus on an individual’s body dissatisfaction and self-image (Wardle Cooke, 2005) as well as well as psychosocial effects such as negative experiences through weight bias at home, in school, at work, through the media and even health and fitness areas (Amianto, Lavagnino, Abbate-Daga Fassino, 2011). Evaluation on Obesity Related Programmes Over the years there have been many programs put into place by governments and private agencies around the world that have been aimed to curb obesity. One key program introduced in the United States was the HEROES Initiative which targets tackling issues on childhood obesity (King et. al, 2014). The HEROES Initiative is a grant-funded intervention that targets schools to play a vital role in educating youth in obesity related behaviours (King et. al, 2014). The key aims of this this initiative would be to take a comprehensive school health approach that decreases childhood obesity that in turn promotes healthy lifestyle habits among students as well as their families and also the school staff (King et. al, 2014). Key features that make the intervention unique would be that it offers a supportive means for participating schools by providing regular oversight, significant funding and various implementation strategies that are catered to a particular needs for certain schools depending on the district and neighbourhood that they are located in (King et. al, 2014). This initiative also enables schools to have a sense of ownership over assessing the needs of their students and in turn coming out with a plan to implement certain strategies for changes in the school’s health programs (King et. al, 2014). The key feature in maintaining the effectiveness of this program would be the strong emphasis on an annual cycle of evaluation and assessment on opportunities in enhancing the program to cater to the needs of the students which turn increases the intervention’s efficacy (King et. al, 2014). The evaluation process was broken down into 3 main areas. The process evaluation stage, school level outcome evaluation and student level outcome evaluation (King et. al, 2014). The process evaluation stage is carried out by site visits to schools to view their administrative processes in carrying out health promotion as well as inspection of the school’s general environment and conducting interviews with the staff to determine challenging areas (King et. al, 2014). Feedback on information obtained is given to the staff as a means to address these issues (King et. al, 2014). In the school level outcome evaluation, assessments are made to the systemic changes in promoting healthy behaviour and reducing obesity rates in the students. The school level outcome evaluation is based on domains relating to physical education/activity, nutrition education, food service, staff wellness, as well as family and community involvement (King et. al, 2014). The student level outcome evaluation , focuses on understanding the changes in behaviour and knowledge in relation to obesity and its effects (King et. al, 2014). This done through weight measurements as well as surveys and quizzes to identify student’s knowledge about obesity (King et. al, 2014). With regard to the effectiveness of this initiative, evaluation between the periods of 2011-2012 showed a significant amount of variability between schools. Based on results obtained from the process and school level evaluation outcomes, it was found that the school’s processes were well implemented however some schools found difficulties in coming up with new or improved health and wellness related policies (King et. al, 2014). Based on the student level outcome evaluation it was found that small but significant changes were made in terms of behaviour and mindset of the students (King et. al, 2014). Students were also more engaged in rigorous physical activities in comparison to the baseline from first 18 months of the intervention (King et. al, 2014). However a set back to the intervention was that changes to behaviour were mostly found in overweight students rather than students who were already obese. In relation to the Asian context, there have been various health related programs and promotions carried out in Singapore. The Singapore health promotion board has come up with various programs and initiatives to promote healthy lifestyle practices to prevent conditions such as obesity. Programs such as the 1 million kg challenge, aims to encourage individuals to lose weight by allowing them to set a weight loss target then setting a period for them to lose this weight. If individuals are able to lose the amount of weight within the given time frame they are rewarded with certain incentives and prizes (â€Å"1 million kg challenge†, 2014). In relation to health promotion in schools, a key program that was introduced in the early 90s was the National Physical Fitness Award Test (NAPFA) and the TAF (Trim and Fit) scheme which aimed to increase physical activity and reduce the weight of overweight and obese students in both the primary and secondary levels of education (Gupta et. al, 2010). The TAF program basically tasked students with physical activities before and after the school day (Gupta et. al, 2010). The initiative was a success in the 90s with obesity levels dropping between 10-17% in students (Gupta et. al, 2010). Success of the TAF scheme would later bring about a collaboration between the Singapore Health Promotion Board and the World Health Organisation to introduce a HPB-MOE bi-annual award aimed at targeting the healthy development of students and awarding schools for good health practices (Gupta et. al, 2010). Challenges faced in the TAF program as well as similar programs introduced in Korea as mentioned by Shin and Shin (2008) was that such programs bring about a sort of negative stigma to students involved. Student then tend to become highly self-conscious and develop body dissatisfaction which in turn effects their self-esteem (Shin Shin, 2008). This is often the result of segregation from their peers due to their weight and appearance and this segregation is further contributed by schools who single out overweight or obese individuals to be part of such programs (Shin Shin, 2008). This effect could in turn lead to depression which has been established as a cause for obesity and would hence defeat the whole purpose of having such health promotion programs. Proposed Health Program Having identified the causes and effects of obesity as well as certain health programs available both on the western and Asian context along with their strengths and weaknesses, an alternative health program could be developed. Through analysing the health programs available in both the United States and Singapore, a program catering specifically to the needs of students between the ages of 6 – 18 year olds could be proposed. The program will be entitled the â€Å"Fitness for Fulfilment Programme† (FFFP) catered specifically in the Singaporean context. The program is also given a name that does not infer or refer to obesity so as to prevent any form of social stigma relating to obesity. The main goals of the program would be to reduce the weight of overweight and obese students but to do so in a manner that will not cause stigmatization or embarrassment. The program would also further aim to instil a healthy mindset in these students and encourage them to maintain healt hy behaviour well into adulthood. The FFFP will mainly be broken down into three key phases. The first phase will be the implementation phase which will introduce rigorous exercise specifically catered to losing weight for obese children. These exercises will be done during school hours as part of an enhanced physical education program and these obese students will carry out their activities together with other students so as to limit any sense of being ostracised. The enhanced physical education program will target the specific needs of each student be it normal weight students or overweight or obese students by focusing on their weak physical areas that are limiting them from passing or getting a good grade on their NAPFA test. The fitness program will be one that gradually increases in rigorousness so as to allow the students time to condition themselves to its requirements. Another key feature of the implementation phase would be the enforcement of strict diet practices during the school day. Since schools are al ready given guidelines by the Health Promotion Board on the type of food to be served, there must be a form of enforcement that ensures that students are getting the appropriate meals. Therefore there should be two to three staff on canteen duty to ensure that proper meals are being served to the students and that obese children are getting sufficient food but maintained at healthy levels. The second phase of the FFFP would the feedback and motivation phase. This would be a key feature of the program as it caters to the psychological well-being of the students involved. This phase will be implemented during the first and last session of the enhanced physical education program. During these sessions, time will be set aside for instructors to carry out one on one interviews or feedback sessions with the students which will aim to understand the challenges that they face with physical exercise as well as issues they have with motivating themselves to indulge in physical exercise. With knowledge of the challenges that individual students face, instructors can cater their physical education session to better accommodate to both the strengths and the weaknesses of the students. This will facilitate a more positive outlook in carrying out physical exercise and encourage students to put in a greater effort and hence may lead better physical results and lower obesity levels. An other aspect of this phase would be educating other students in the challenges that overweight and obese students. Students will be taught to encourage and motivate rather than stigmatize or humiliate their overweight or obese peers. The final phase of this program will be the evaluation phase. Ideally a review council should be formed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program at national level. This phase will be similar to the HEROES initiative evaluation process used in the United States, but will comprise of two instead of three key parts of the evaluation process of the effectiveness of the program. The process and school level evaluation will be combined into one. This part of the evaluation process will seek to understand the challenges that the staff have with the FFFP through means of interviews as well as on site assessments of the program in action. Availability of proper equipment and exercise facilities in the school will be key points at this level of evaluation. The next part of the evaluation will be at the student level, the review council will assess data relating to changes in weight as well as NAPFA standards and also find out the level of knowledge that students have with regard to healthy behaviour through surveys and quizzes which can be done through the internet. The evaluation process should be done annually and aim to identify problem areas so that newer and improved implementation could be introduced in the following years. The feasibility and efficacy of the FFFP would depend on the amount support through funding from private agencies or the government as well as having instructors who are trained in not only physical aspects of exercise and healthy lifestyle but also with the psychological capability to deal and understand the needs and challenges for individual students to overcome obesity. References Amianto, F., Lavagnino, L., Abbate-Daga, G., Fassino, S. (2011). The forgotten psychosocial dimension of the obesity epidemic.The Lancet, 378(9805), e8 Blaine, B. (2008). Does depression cause obesity? A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies of depression and weight control.Journal of health psychology,13(8), 1190-1197. Bray, G. A., York, B., DeLany, J. (1992). A survey of the opinions of obesity experts on the causes and treatment of obesity.The American journal of clinical nutrition,55(1 Suppl), 151S-154S. Gupta, N., Chin, M. K., Yang, J., Balasekaran, G., Chia, M., Girandola, R. N., Mok, M. M. C. (2010). Obesity prevention in Singapore: Collaborative efforts among government, health professionals and the community. King, M. H., Lederer, A. M., Sovinski, D., Knoblock, H. M., Meade, R. K., Seo, D. C., Kim, N. (2014). Implementation and Evaluation of the HEROES Initiative A Tri-State Coordinated School Health Program to Reduce Childhood Obesity.Health promotion practice,15(3), 395-405. Ogden C. L., Carroll, M. D., Kit, B.K., Flegal K. M. (2014). Prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the United States, 2011-2012.Journal of the American Medical Association,311(8), 806-814. One in nine Singaporean adults were obese in 2010: Survey (2014, January 17).Today.Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/daily-focus/health/one-nine- singaporean-adults-were-obese-2010-survey One million kg challenge. (2014). Retrieved August 21, 2014, from http://www.hpb.gov.sg/ References Ramachandran, A., Snehalatha, C. (2010). Rising burden of obesity in Asia.Journal of obesity,2010. Shin, N. Y., Shin, M. S. (2008). Body dissatisfaction, self-esteem, and depression in obese Korean children.The Journal of pediatrics,152(4), 502-506 Sturm, R. (2002). The effects of obesity, smoking, and drinking on medical problems and costs.Health Affairs,21(2), 245-253. Wardle, J., Cooke, L. (2005). The impact of obesity on psychological well-being.Best Practice Research Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism,19(3), 421-440.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Lean Management :: Business, Manufacturing

Lean management is a thought process and a philosophy, not a tool, used to look at a business weather it is manufacturing, service or any other activity with a supplier and a customer relation with the goal of eliminating non-value added tasks (Womack, Jones, Ross, 1990). The principles of lean production include teamwork, communication, efficient use of resources and continuous improvement (Kaizen). It can be said that they pioneered the idea of applying the concepts outside of manufacturing environments. The objective of lean production is a system for organising and managing product development, operations, suppliers, and customer relation that requires less human effort, less space, less capital, less material and less time to make products with fewer defects to precise customer desires, compared with the previous system of mass production (Marchwinski & Shook, 2004). The concepts of both Ohno (1988) and Womack and Jones (2003) search for ways to reduce lead time by eliminating w aste it can be said that the terms â€Å"Lean† and â€Å"Toyota Production System† are synonymous. Lean management is not restricted to the actions that take place in the manufacturing function of a company, rather it relates to activities range from product development, procurement and manufacturing over to distribution. Together these areas create the lean enterprise. The ultimate goal of implementing lean production in an organization is to have the customer in focus when improving productivity, enhancing quality, shortening lead times, reducing costs etc. These are factors representing the performance of a lean production system. The determinants of a lean production system are the actions taken, the principles implemented and the changes made to the organization to achieve the desired performance (Karlsson & Ahlstrom, 1996) There are multiple ways to combine the individual practices to represent the multi-dimensional nature of lean manufacturing. In combining these practices, the researcher has to compete with the technique used to combine and the actual content of the combinations. The dominant method in operations management literature has been to use exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis to combine individual practices in a multiplicative function to form orthogonal and unidimensional factors (Flynn et al., 1995; Cua et al., 2001; Shah & Goldstein, 2006). A review of research from organization theory, and labour and human resource management shows less reliance on factor analysis and offers multiple ways for combining individual practices and creating an index. One such method is the additive index used by Osterman (1994) and MacDuffie (1995) in developing â€Å"bundles† of interrelated human-resource management practices.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Importance of Motivation in Rention Essay

Employees are the most important factor in the success and failure of any organization. In service industry, employees are in direct contact with the customer, hence they should be motivated. Firstly, this paper focuses on importance of employee motivation on Staff retention, by studying the concepts of staff retention, employee turnover and employee motivation. Further discussing about the major motivational theories, followed by the factors which help to increase motivation and backed up with some latest examples. Secondly, it takes a case study of Heathrow Windsor Marriott, a leading 4 star Airport Hotel, it reflects my observations about the good and bad practises followed by the management of hotel. And at the end, this paper tries to give some recommendations for future practice. 1. Introduction Managing Human Resource has become an inescapable and prominent approach to the management in service industries (Watson 2003).In simple terms, Human means labour/employee, Resource points out employees are valued assets and Management refers to managing personnel of an organization. The objective of Human resources is short term and it mainly focuses on employee relations. However, due to globalization, this approach was fruitless, hence its focus adopted the aspect of strategy. Strategic Human Resource Management means combing Human resources with strategic goals and objectives to improve and develop organization (Regis 2008). According to Banfield and Kay (2012), Human resource management is the ‘glue’ which ensures business success through consistent practises and adapting local conditions. In an organization, employees are the primal force, whose never ending efforts converts the organization’s decision into action with the aim of achieving common goal. Hence, employees should be motivated (Hossain and Hossain 2012). The fast changing competitive business environment has presented challenges for Human Resource professionals for adopting new methods of production and organizing of work. This situation has accelerated the rate of employee turnover. Employee resourcing, employee development, employee relations, productivity are the emerging issues faced by management (Banfield and Kay 2012).The problem of Employee Motivation has become inseparable from Human Resource Management because, employees acts as a major source of organization. This paper is divided into two major parts, literature and reflection. The aim of this paper is on how employee motivation contributes to staff retention. The first part on literature covers topics like Staff retention, turnover & motivation and demonstrate a relationship between employee motivation and staff retention. The second part reflects the practises carried out Heathrow Windsor Marriott Hotel, followed by recommendations for future. 2. Staff Retention Staff retention refers to the techniques employed by the management to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time (Management Study Guide 2013). Every organization puts efforts to transform a raw material to corporate ready material by giving necessary trainings at regular interval to achieve the common goal. Job satisfaction is a vital component of staff retention which can be achieved by making the employee feel comfortable physically and psychologically. Staff retention is crucial for many reasons such as, longer time spent by the employees have an opportunity to perform better, it increases their loyalty towards organization, on the other hand, recruiting the right candidate for the right position is not easy, when an employee leaves an organization, he may join competitors and may share some confidential information. When a trained employee leaves their job, the organization is at a complete loss, as a loyal, efficient and stable staff is one of the keys to competitive success (Taylor and Walsh 2005). This loss of staff has to be replaced which is termed as Employee turnover. This is one of the greatest challenges faced by management. Retention is not only important to reduce the turnover costs but to retain talented employees. According to Ramlall (2004), when every 10 managerial level employee leaves an organization, a company experiences approximately loss of $ 1 million. 2.1. Employee Turnover Rotation of workers around the labour market between the status of employment and unemployment is called as Employee turnover (Abassi and Hollman 2000). Labour turnover has become a critical problem for service industries as it depends on human factor. Employees do not leave the organization without any significant reason. Taris et al. (2004), divided two motives for turnover i.e. the push and pull factors. The pull factors include inequity in compensation, availability of opportunities for future development over the external market and the employees who would resign to go into private business. The push factors have relationship with the dissatisfaction of work situation, lack of democratic managerial pattern and job stress. On the other hand, Griffieth (2000), viewed remuneration and remuneration related variables have intense effect on turnover. Griffieth demonstrated a relationship between remuneration, employee’s performance and turnover and concluded that when an employee performs extremely well expects a high pay and when they are paid low they quit. There are various costs associated with turnover, according to Society for Human Resource Management, it costs 30-50% of the annual salary of entry level employees, 150% of middle level employees and up to 400% costs of the high level employees (Blake 2004). The various costs includes, exist costs, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, orientation, benefits while training, lost productivity, administrative costs, customer dissatisfaction etc (Susan 2011). Considering the case of Oberoi Hotels. The Oberoi group is one of Asia’s leading multinational companies, the Oberoi hotel named Windsor Hotel in Melbourne, had witnessed an average annual employee turnover rate of approximately 40 percent. The Human resource professionals were under pressure due to increasing costs, hence they decided to an employee attitude survey for three consecutive years and analysed the issues faced by the staff. The most common reasons for attrition were job profile and personal profile does not match, least growth opportunities, lack of appreciation, lack of trust, lack of co-ordination between the colleagues, stress from work, imbalance between personal and professional life. The Hotel executive group and the managers improved the retention programmes and motivated their employees by engagement which helped them to reduce their turnover rate to 20 per cent (Watson et al. 2002). Hence it can be said that, employee turnover can be controlled by proper employee motivation which would help the companies to reduce costs associated with turnover. 3. Employee Motivation According to Butkus and Green, ‘motivation is derived from the word ‘motivate’ which means to move, push or influence to proceed for fulfilling a want’ (Kamalian et al. 2010). One of the important functions of management is to create willingness among the employees to perform. Motivation can be termed as a process in which a person stimulates an individual to full fill some want or expectation (Mullins 2007). Motivation is complex because of human behaviour as it changes from an individual to individual, resulting different motives for motivation (Kressler 2003). Employee motivation influences productivity, because company’s performance depends on employee performance. Hence it is very important for managers to realize what propels employees to reach the peak performance. Through employee motivation, the employer can encourage the employees by enhancing their skills and by improving their morale. Motivation is important for both individual and business. In case of individual, motivation helps to achieve personal goals, job satisfaction, self development and in case of business, motivation helps to achieve the organizational goals, to build a friendly relationship and the most important it bring stability in workforce. Overall, it cans help to achieve competitive advantage in competition by retaining talented employees (Hiltrop 1996). 3.1. Motivation Theories Motivation theories are based upon the understanding of employees and work. There are two main approaches to motivation theories, i.e. Content Theory and Process Theory. Content Theories of motivation explains what causes individuals to act in a definite way based on the general agreement that all human beings have needs, which engage them to satisfy these needs lead to motivation. Process Theories of motivation explains on how employee’s needs influence their own behaviour (Hossain and Hossain 2012). 3.1.1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs In 1943, Abraham Maslow presented need based theory. His theory was based upon the assumption of hierarchy of needs. He categoriesed needs into five types, i.e. Physiological needs ( basic needs of life, example, air water, food etc.), Safety needs (physical and environmental safety), Social needs (need for love, affection), Esteem needs (needs for self-respect or recognition and Self-actualization (based on grwoth and self-contentment). Maslow assumed that motivation decreases as one level of need is met and motivation increases as another need comes in. He potraid that lower level of needs should met before the higher level needs. Maslow felt that if these needs were not met then a person would fail to develop into a heathly individual (Hellreigel 2004). Implications by Britannic Assurance Britannic Assurance is a financial services company, facing issues of employee motivation and retention. Hence, their management adopted the Maslow’s theory to overcome their issue. The management motivated their employees by considering each level of needs: Physiological Needs – Management gave their employees suitable salary, in odrer to meet the basic needs of life and at workplace they gave proper meal breaks, so that phsciological needs are meet. Safety Needs – Management provided clean and hygienic workplace, safety, job security and beniftis program with a purpose of retention. Social Needs – Management supported their employees by encouraing team work, and developing a friendly relationship. Esteem Needs – In order to acheive esteem needs, management put extra efforts by rewarding and recognizing employees at every level. Self-Actualization Needs – Management gave their employees challenging jobs so that they can use and develo their knowledge and skills, and grow big, by benefiting the company (The Time 100 Business Case Studies, 2013). Criticisms According to Lazarus (1971), the hieraracy suggested by Maslow not valid if cross-cultural differences are taken into consideration. McLeod (2012) said, it is difficult to predcit when a need will arise, as ther is no relationship between needs and behaviour and different individual may be pushed by differnet needs at same time. He also states that maslow’s theory lacks empirical support. While Rilley (2012) came with a view that this model aviod the usual behaviour of employees who tolerate low wages for future benefits and mentioned that maslow research was based on middle class workers in UK and USA. Inspite of having some critics, Maslow’s thinking remains inflential to management deliberations in respect of job design, pay and reward structres and helps to motivate employees and retain them (Huczynski and Buchanan 2001). 3.1.2. Expectancy Theory Victor Vroom in 1964, came up with expectancy theory which was based upon Valence, Instrumentality and Expectancy. The Individual perfrence for a precise end result is termed as Valence (V), Instrumentality (I), is the anticipation of good performance will lead to valued benfit and Expectancy (E), is the anticipation of effort will lead to good performance. The Force (F) or want of your motivation to take action will result the product of three variables through multiplication. If any one of the variable is zero the final product will be zero, as it is co-related (Fudge and Schlacter 1999). F = Vx I x E In orther words, Efforts, Performance and Rewards have a direct relationship. Vroom said that employee’s deliberately decide whether to perform or not, their decision is entirely depended on level of motivation. This theory expalins individual differences in motivation and behaviour, it measures the force of the motivation to behave, it assumes that behaviour is rational and emphasis on rewards and pay offs (Sanders and Pritchard 1973). Implications by Management The management should try to link effort, performance and rewards through their support. Suport in terms of adequate trainings, availability of resources and clear rewards to have desired motivational effect (Fudge and Schlacter 1999). Clear rewards should have value in the eyes of emloyees so that they can be influenced. Performance standards should be clearly instructed. Finally, the motivation level should be continousuly assessed which results can inidicate problems and changes required. This will help to retain employees (Virgil et al. 2008) Criticisms The application of this theory is limited as reward is not direclty related to performance, it has ignored the parameters such as education, position etc. It concentrated majorly on financial rewards and ignore other intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. According to Latham (2007), it also lacked the principle of equality with relation to rewards. This theory predicts the choice of efffort, it does not give specific meaning of efforts, it also lacks to specify the outcomes relevent to a particular individual (Management Study Guide 2013). 3.2. Types of Motivation There are two types of Motivation, developed by Herzberg, i.e. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. The factors which are intrinsic to the job such as recognition, work itself, growth is called as Intrinsic Motivation and the factors which are extrinsic to the job such as pay, company policy, security etc. are called as Extrinsic Motivation (Armstrong 2007). Intrinsic factors create satisfaction and extrinsic factors do not create satisfaction but if preventive action is not taken then it may lead to dissatisfaction(Ryan and Deci 2000). Intrinsic factors are likely to have deeper and long term effect while extrinsic factors are likely to have immediate and powerful effect but it won’t last long. Both Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors concentrate more on satisfaction and not on productivity (ibid). 3.3. Motivation Factors All employees are motivated when their needs or desire are satisfied, these needs vary from person to person, situation, experiences, etc. These factors affects the motivation level in employees. Let us understand the practical implications of various factors: 3.3.1. Motivation through Rewards Employees who work hard to achieve the business goals, expect to receive rewards for their contribution. According to Perry (2009), rewards play a crucial role in motivating employees to work harder. He categorised rewards into two types: Extrinsic and Intrinsic. Extrinsic rewards are provided by the organisation group such as money, benefits, promotions etc. while Intrinsic rewards come from individual such as self-esteem, personal development and feeling of competency. The most critical thing for this approach that rewards must be equal, it should be partial (ibid). Let us take a case study of Royal Bank of Scotland, The employees at RBS are not only motivated through money but also through Total reward benefits. Total reward benefits includes not just money, but it includes motivational motives such as personal choice in working hours, security, health and benefits package, shopping vouchers personal loans at special price etc., This kind of extra benefits will help a company to retain an employee (The Time 100 Business Case Studies 2013). 3.3.2. Motivation through Job Deign When a potential employee looks for job, he has basic two attractions, i.e. money and feeling of pursuing a challenging and interesting job. Job Design is an internal approach of motivating employees. There are two ways in which a manager motivates its employees i.e. fitting people to jobs and fitting jobs to people (Hackman and Oldham 1975). Considering the first aspect of fitting people to jobs, managers can strengthen motivation by Job Rotation, Job Rotation helps to bring a change in daily routine, it helps to increase the area of expertise at work by moving from one specialization to another, this would not only lead to personal development but also will develop a team with wide range of skills (Perry 2009). Considering the second aspect of fitting jobs to people, managers can energise motivation by Job Enlargement and Job Enrichment. Job Enlargement is a process in which an employees are indulged with more challenging task, this will reduce the humdrum of work and increase the skills of employees. However, Job Enlargement has one criticism, if an employee is working on two or more challenging tasks and paid for only one task, then there will be a barrier of not being paid well (Saleem et al. 2012). Job Enrichment is a process in which an employees is given more control over the work by giving more authority and responsibility, which would increase the productivity. However, this was also criticised with a point of that an employee should possess certain skill in order to perform at high level, if the employee lacks necessary skill, then it would decrease productivity (Janson et al. 1975) 3.3.3. Motivation through Work Environment Work environment nearly cause 27% of job satisfaction (Tyilana 2005), Management should create a type of work environment in which the employees are respected and treated equally. Management should provide job security and proper logistic support and create a friendly environment. If any one of them is lacking, then the motivation level would not stand still. However, Lin (2007) said that good working conditions can determine employees performance and productivity but cannot motivate them directly. Considering case of An Enterprise Rent-A- Car, management accented on creating an affirmative work environment. In which they concentrated on six points, i.e. good relationship between all the employees, follow clear communication so that each individual can understand and act as per their role, provision of adequate resources to perform the necessary tasks, encourage employees to get things right, if any frustration is experienced then acknowledged and try to keep their focus on achieving goals and last but not the least, try to recognise the effort of individual and reward the good performance. Along with the points discussed above Enterprise Rent-A-Car used Herzberg theory of motivation to motivate and retain their employees (The Time 100 Business Case Studies 2013). 3.3.4. Motivation through Training and Development Training and Development is one of the most effectual factor of motivation (Lai 2009). Training can be termed as a process in which an individual get a chance to develop their knowledge, qualities, skills and personality (Khan 2012). Training and development helps to increase morale of employees, better interpersonal relationships, better position to adapt changes and finally improved productivity and efficiency (Seward 2011). As rightly said by Marcus Tait, the Director of Human Resources of IHG Australia, training and nurturing talent shares an equal weight age along operational performance, guest experience and corporate responsibility. He trained his employees to be multi-focused, empathetic and preventive of guest needs (Eime). Whenever, an employee is recruited, he should empowered with all kinds of basic training, his performance has to be measured and accordingly he should be trained by considering his skills and ability. Concentrating Training at McDonald’s Restaurant Limited, The success of McDonald’s business is high standards of quality and service delivered to customers, Well-trained staff and line managers are the first step towards achieving these standards. Welcome Meeting, was the first step taken by the company to inform the standards and expectations, followed by structured development programme which provides training in all areas of business. McDonald’s concentrated on floor based training and expected that their employee would perform any task with relation to operations. After the practical training, McDonald’s used to do classroom-based training where they can concentrate on quality, service and cleanliness. After this training, employees are marked as per the check list and if they qualify then they can get promotion by clearing an entrance exam. In this way McDonald’s used to train their staff (The Time 100 Business Case Studies 2013).

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

2011 National Patient Safety Goals

2011 National Patient Safety Goals Core Competency Pre-Test Reading Material Identify patient/residents correctly Use at least two ways to identify patient/residents. For example, use the patient/resident’s name and date of birth. This is done to make sure that each patient/resident gets the medicine and treatment meant for them. Make sure that the correct patient/resident gets the correct blood type when they get a blood transfusion. Improve staff communication Quickly get important test results to the right staff person.When taking orders from a physician you must read back and verify orders received and document as such. Shift report must be given to oncoming care givers and after procedures. Standardize abbreviations, acronyms and symbols that are not to be used throughout the organization. Use medicines safely Label all medicines that are not already labeled. For example, medicines in syringes, cups and basins. Take extra care with patient/residents who take medicines to thin their blood. Blood thinners such as Coumadin, Lovenox and Heparin have many drug and food interactions.Prevent infection Hand washing is the most important step in preventing infection. Indications for hand washing o o o o o When hands are visibly dirty or visibly soiled with blood or other body fluids, wash hands with either a soap and water If hands are not visibly soiled, use an alcohol-based hand rub for routinely decontaminating hands Wash hands before having direct contact with patients Wash hands before donning gloves for all procedures Wash hands after contact with a patient Page 1 of 3 Â ©2008- 2010 API Healthcare Corporation.All rights reserved. o o o o Wash hands after contact with inanimate objects (including medical equipment) in the immediate vicinity of the patient Wash hands after removing gloves Before eating and after using a restroom, wash hands soap and water Wash hands with soap and warm water if exposed to C-Diff Use proven guidelines to prevent infection s that are difficult to treat. Treatment of Multi Drug Resistant Organisms (MDROs) may require one or more antibiotics. VRE and MRSA are two of most prevalent MDROs.Ensure cultures and sensitivities are done and patient treated accordingly. Use proven guidelines to prevent infection of the blood from central lines. Ensure cultures and sensitivities are done and patient treated accordingly. Use safe practices to treat the part of the body where surgery was done. Properly clean and disinfect all equipment between patient use to reduce chance of spreading infection. Check patient/resident medicines Find out what medicines each patient/resident is taking at home.Make sure that it is OK for the patient/resident to take any new medicines with their current medicines. Give a list of the patient/resident’s medicines to their next caregiver or to their regular doctor before the patient/resident goes home. Give a list of the patient/resident’s medicines to the patient/resident a nd their family before they go home. Explain the list. Some patient/residents may get medicine in small amounts or for a short time. Make sure that it is OK for those patient/residents to take those medicines with their current medicines.Identify patient/resident safety risks Find out which patient/residents are most likely to try to kill themselves. Find out if there are any risks for patient/residents who are getting oxygen. For example, fires in the patient/resident’s home. (Home Care) Page 2 of 3 Â ©2008- 2010 API Healthcare Corporation. All rights reserved. Prevent patient/residents from falling Find out which patient/residents are most likely to fall. For example, is the patient/resident making any medicines that might make them weak, dizzy or sleepy?Take action to prevent for these patient/residents. Hourly rounds by the staff have shown to reduce the number of falls. Prevent bed sores (Long Term Care) Find out which residents are most likely to have bed sores. Take a ction to prevent bed sores in these patient/residents. From time to time, re-check residents for bed sores. * Obtained from Joint Commission. Com 2010 Easy to Read Patient Safety Goals Page 3 of 3 Â ©2008- 2010 API Healthcare Corporation. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Sodium Thosulphate essays

Sodium Thosulphate essays Plan an investigation into the rate of reaction between Sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid. The equation for the rate of reaction is 1/time. The rate of reaction measures the speed of reaction. It is a measure of the loss of reactants and gain of products. The faster a reaction takes place, the shorter the time needed for the reaction to finish. An example of a slow reaction is rusting An example of a fast reaction is sodium and water. This predicts what will happen to the speed of a reaction if a variable like surface area, concentration and temperature. This theory says that when particles collide a reaction occurs. With a greater surface area a solid, particles collide far more frequently and as a result the reaction rate is greater. If there is a higher concentration the particles are closer and they have a greater chance of colliding. The more collisions, the faster the reaction. The higher the temperature the faster the particles are going to move. This means that there are many energetic collisions that will speed up the reaction. The word and chemical equation, for this reaction, which takes place in a solution: The variables you can change in this experiment are: The variables that we will be keeping constant are: I predict that the rate of reaction would get faster, if the volume of sodium thiosulphate was increased. This is because a higher concentration of sodium thiosulphate would mean that the particles would be closer together and as a result there would be more collisions, which would make the reaction faster. This can be scientifically proven using the collision theory. For my investigation I will use 1/time for the rate of reaction. I decided to do a preliminary experiment to investi ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Basis of Commerce in Al-Andalus essays

The Basis of Commerce in Al-Andalus essays Al-Andalus served as a shining star of Muslim commerce. Strict moral codes governed the operation of the marketplace. These codes were overseen and administered by a qadi (judge), also referred to as a muhtasib. Ibn Abduns Hisba Manual examines market regulations in Muslim Seville . The selected document is from a larger work by Ibn Abdun, Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople. The reader learns from the introduction that the author of the document was most likely a qadi (judge) or what is also referred to as a muhtasib. The document briefly defines the role of a muhtasib as a market inspector. This definition fails in many details that would aid the reader in placing the document in a clear context. Contrary to the authors description of the hisba (text spelling) as a genre, within an Islamic text the meaning has a larger definition. Within the Islamic sphere the Hisbah is a religious institution under the authority of the state that appoints people to c arry out the responsibility of enjoining what is right, whenever people start to neglect it, and forbidding what is wrong, whenever people start to engage in it . Within the institution of the Hisbah the position of muhtasib exists, his position is not only one based on commerce (market inspector) but also one of a moral and religious nature. Al-Muhtasib is a judge (Qadi) who makes decisions on the spot, at any place and at any time, as long a he protects the interests of the public. His responsibilities are almost limitless in order to implement the following principle: commanding the good and forbidding the evil of wrongdoing. Al-Muhtasib as full judge must possess high qualifications of being wise, mature, pious, well-poised, sane, free, just, empathic, and learned scholar. He has the ability to ascertain right from wrong, and the capability to distinguish the permissible from the non- permissible . Placing the docume...