Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Repression of Women Exposed in The Yellow Wallpaper

Repression of Women Exposed in The Yellow Wallpaper The short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman gives a brilliant description of the plight of the Victorian woman, and the mental agony that her and many other women were put through as treatment for depression when they found that they were not satisfied by the life they had been given. In the late nineteenth century when the Yellow Wallpaper was written, the role of wife and mother, which women were expected to adopt, often led to depression or a so-called hysteria. Women of this period were living in a patriarchal society where they were expected to be demure and passive, supportive yet unquestioning of their husbands, and†¦show more content†¦Mitchells patients lost much of themselves as people (53). Gilman herself, after sinking into a deep depression, was sent to Mitchell in Philadelphia for his rest cure. After a month of treatment Mitchell concluded that there was nothing wrong with her and sent her home with these instructions: Live as domestic a life as possible. Have your child with you at all times. Lie down an hour after each meal. Have but two hours of intellectual life a day. And never touch pen, brush or pencil as long as you live. (Gilman, Autobiography 62). Gilman followed these instructions for several months until she came extremely close to losing her mind. Says Gilman of this time: I made a rag baby, hung it on the doorknob and played with it. I would crawl into remote closets and under beds to hide from the grinding pressure of that profound distress. (63). It is exactly this situation that lead Charlotte Perkins Gilman to write her eerily accurate tale of one womans forced regression into insanity. As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist. Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the hereditary estate (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the haunted house (170) as she would like it to be. She tells us of her husband, John, who scoffs (170) at her romantic sentiments and is practical to the extreme (170). However, in a timeShow MoreRelatedThe Yellow Wallpaper : The Story Behind Jane s Metamorphosis2033 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"‘The Yellow Wallpaper’: The story behind Jane’s metamorphosis† In her literary work â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, Charlotte Perkins Gilman portrays the nineteenth century women subjugation by setting the narrator to be diagnosed with a mental illness. The narrator is then taken to a country house where she develops a special interest with the yellow wallpaper in the room her husband places her. In spite of her social status as a woman of the nineteenth century, Jane faces a major metamorphosis that consistsRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Yellow Wallpaper 1332 Words   |  6 Pagesmoonlight makes the woman behind the wallpaper become clearer night by night. This personification describes the way insanity is creeping onto the narrator. For a very long time, the moon associates with early fertility-centered societies and female power. In â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† the contrast between daytime with its constant limitations and nighttime with its unpredictable freedoms are symbolized by the alternating effects of sun and moonlight on the wallpaper. During the daytime the freedom ofRead More`` The Yellow Wallpaper `` And `` It s A Girl ``1651 Words   |  7 Pagessecularization that women face even before they are born. Women of all ages, culture, and religion face this injustice. Every once in the while, in a field of trampled flowers, one robust plant stands and over time grows into a strong tree that protects the other mangled flowers, helping them flourish. In the 19th century, one of these strong plants was Charlotte Perkins Gilmans, who wrote â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† to challenge the ideals of society and their treatment towards women. Gilman, faced withRead MoreA Deeper Look At William Faulkner s `` A Rose For Emily `` And Charlotte Perkins Gilman `` Yellow Wall Paper2163 Words   |  9 PagesFaulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and Charlotte Perkins Gilman â€Å"Yellow Wall Paper† shows that the authors illustrate the isolation, repression and confinement of women in a male dominated and sexist society during the nineteenth century. The stories show the enormous effect repression has on the emotional and mental health of the opposite sex. Naomi Nkealah states that in patriarchal cultures, power is vested in the hands of men and therefore women s needs are classed as secondary (Nkealah). The protagonists

Monday, December 23, 2019

Nelson Mandela, A Brief History and Impact - 2207 Words

MEETING THE GREAT MAN Nelson Mandela 1918-2013 â€Å"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.† Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in a royal family of a tribe in a South African village in Mvezo, Thembu. Ever since he was a child, he would listen to the resistance war stories from his elders and dreamt with contributing to the cause of liberating his people. It was this way that he found the passion which, through the years, would†¦show more content†¦After a democratic poll, they began preparations for an armed fight, creating The Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the nation) also known as MK, a group of fighters that believed South Africa belonged to everyone who lived the re, and not just for a group of black and white people. Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people. With the name David Motsomayi, on January 11, 1962, Nelson Mandela left South Africa secretly. He traveled through Africa and United Kingdom to gain support for the armed battle, but he was detained by two guards from Howick on August 5 when he was returning from KwaZuu-Natal. He had to complete a 5 year sentence for leaving the country illegally and for promoting strikes among the people. Even when Mandela was incarcerated, his colleagues were giving the movement pushes; but on January 1963, the police found an ANC secret hideout in Rivona, where planning documents for the guerrilla were found; that’s why, on that year, Mandela and some colleagues faced a trial known as the Rivona trial where he was sentenced for the rest of his life. Before entering jail, he had the opportunity to transmit to their people the integrity behind his actions: â₠¬Å"I always expected my life would give me the opportunity to serve my people and make my humble contribution to the cause. This is what motivated me toShow MoreRelatedMahatma Gandhi And Nelson Mandela1447 Words   |  6 PagesIf Mahatma Gandhi never inspired Nelson Mandela to fulfill his vision for human rights, would Nelson Mandela have inspired Barack Obama to continue that legacy? Mahatma Gandhi practiced civil disobedience and lobbied for the rights of Indians in South Africa and India. Nelson Mandela hungered and fought for a South Africa, where all races were equal and unified as nationalists. Barack Obama sought to build a more tolerant United States through his historic presidency, immigration policies, andRead MoreNelson Mandela Is the Definition of a Legendary Leader Essay2580 Words   |  11 PagesNelson Mandela (1918-2013) is the definition of a legendary leader. He liberated South Africans from turmoil. He sacrificed his freedom, personal relationships, and suff ering to save the lives of many. And, he partnered with different countries to help make South Africa a better place. Nelson Mandela was seen as a statesman, celebrity, and legendary leader around the world. This paper will discuss Nelson Mandela’s background, training, and education as well as his accomplishments. This paperRead MoreJonathan Roghubir. Ethics Of Engagment. Professor Genzale...2085 Words   |  9 Pagesthe world would just on be the same people doing all the same things we would be boring. They put themselves accountable for fulfilling civic duty; so, that their actions impact and benefit a society. ​The main purpose of social justice is to advocate for those who have no voice. In history people like Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi all faced injustices but they all devoted their lives and their work to the pursuit of justice. They were all forces who saw that the world needed changeRead MoreEssay about Nelson Mandela’s Childhood Defined His Identity3002 Words   |  13 PagesThe life of Nelson Mandela is an interesting example of this ideology. In his case, the connection between childhood and life is special and goes even further than the first instinctive connections that often come to mind. When one examines the interesting details the childhood of Nelson Mandela, one is compelled to conclude that Nelson’s Mandela childhood environment fashioned his politics. In order to understand fully how the childhood environment of Nelson Mandela fashioned hisRead MoreAnalysis Of Nadine Gordimer s The Lying Days 2296 Words   |  10 Pagesthe society was a raid at their home, their black housekeeper suspected of brewing beer illegally. She also enjoyed dance and developed a low from writing early on. Gordimer published her first book at the age of fifteen, â€Å"The Lying Days†. After a brief illness, her mother removed her from school and dance classes to be home schooled. She taught herself by studying the masters of European fiction, such as Proust and Chekhov. Gordimer briefly attended the University of Witwatersrand where she madeRead MoreIs Sports Just A Proxy For Politics?1886 Words   |  8 Pagesdid not prevail. On the contrary, sports promoted a positive impact of racism for Nelson Mandela â€Å"Sport has the power to change the world, Nelson Mandela once said.†It has the power to inspire, he said. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers. â€Å"That last sentence was the closest Mandela came to referencing his own role in using sport to unify SouthRead MorePatriotism and People Who Commit Acts of Civil Disobedience Essay2107 Words   |  9 Pagesseems as if the citizens have no right to disobey laws that they know to be unjust. Yet by this measure, the heroes of the past such as the American colonists, abolitionists, women’s suffragists, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Junior, Rosa Parks, and Nelson Mandela would be little more than common criminals. All of these heroes broke the law in the name of a greater justice, and today all of them are revered as being the most patriotic of all people. The attribution o f patriotism to people who commit actsRead MoreEssay on Mississippis Freedom Summer1115 Words   |  5 Pagesthe blacks in the US during the Civil Rights Movement. My aspect type was racism, and I learned of its impact on life through our analysis in the class of The Color Purple (1982) by Alice Walker, an epistolary novel about the lives of black people in rural dominated white racist Georgia during the 1920’s-50’s. Furthermore, we discussed Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Speech in class, and how Mandela fought for Independence from the white racist government. With extra research of the Freedom Summer projectRead MoreDiamond Mines in South Africa5133 Words   |  21 Pagescountry has contributed too many immense and diverse things. Throughout the centuries Africa has produced innumerable cultural moments. The country has plenty of traditions and an incredible history that goes from the Monumental pyramids of ancient Egypt to the towering twentieth century figur es of Nelson Mandela. Stone Age cultures developed in Africa as they did throughout the world. Hunter-gathers societies flourished throughout the continent and found detailed documents of their lifestyles depictedRead MoreEducation and Distance Education in Apartheid South Africa2711 Words   |  11 Pagesthe practices and history of Apartheid, its challenges and impact on society sanctioned by laws that legalized a form of discrimination that denied non-whites access to education and equal standings as citizens. This paper is presented in four sections, an introduction, followed by a historical account to apartheid that covers the educational practices with an introduction to distance education—the many challenges and achievements in South Africa. It also provides a brief history of the distance

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Huckleberry Finn Best Intentions Free Essays

Best Intentions? Can people’s best intentions be good enough for you? Is right for people to try to chose your path for you? In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, the main character Huck goes through a long journey, using his experience to mature and grow as a person. Huck travels with the African American former slave Jim all over the Mississippi river in hope to get to a anti-slavery state, but they go through a lot of problems heading the wrong way and deeper into the southern states. Throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there are characters who have the best intention to help Huck but it is not the best thing for him. We will write a custom essay sample on Huckleberry Finn Best Intentions or any similar topic only for you Order Now The widow tries to â€Å"sivilize† Huck, the new judge tries to improve Pap’s moral condition to better him for Huck, and the Phelps family tells Huck to â€Å"do the right thing† and return Jim to his owners. There are characters who have the best intentions for Huck but they are not the best thing for him. The widow wants to â€Å"sivilize† Huck, and she wants to teach him manners under a very religious view. Huck says, â€Å"The widow rung a bell for super, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them† (p. 1-2). The widow makes Huck come on time to eat supper and he has to wait after she says grace for the food they are about to eat. The widow tries to make Huck let go of bad habits, so he can fit into civilization. Huck says, â€Å"Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try to not do it anymore† (p. 2). The widow tells Huck that he shouldn’t smoke anymore because its a bad thing. The widow tries to â€Å"sivilize† Huck in a religious way and also by telling what is wrong and right. There are characters in the novel who have good intentions to help Huck but it isn’t the best thing for him. The new judge in town tries to fix Pap’s moral condition so he could be a better father to Huck. Huck says, â€Å"the new judge said he was going to make a man of him. So he took him to his own house, and dressed him up clean and nice, and had him to breakfast and dinner and supper with the family, and was just old pie to him, so to speak† (p. 6). The new judge didn’t know who Pap was at first and he decided to take him in, in order to make him a better man and to be ok with himself so he can be a better father to Huck. But that back fired on the judge, Pap just ended up back in the street and drinking once again. Huck says, â€Å"they tucked the old man i nto a beautiful room, which was the spare room, and in the night sometime he got powerful thirsty and clumb out into the porch-roof and slid down a stanchion and a good old time; and towards daylight he crawled out again, drunk as a fiddler† (p. 7). Pap sneaked out of the house just to go get drunk and would sneak back in. The new judge wanted to change Pap’s moral ways and he wanted Pap to improve in order to be a better person and a better father, but it did not work out. There are characters who try to do the best things for Huck but they never really are what he needs. Aunt Sally keeps Jim away from Huck. Aunt Sally says, â€Å"the runaway nigger†¦ they’ve got him back, safe and sound, and he’s in that cabin again, on bread and water, and loaded down with chains, till he is claimed or sold! (p. 217). Huck tries to steal Jim back from Aunt Sally but she captures him again and keeps him. Aunt Sally wants to adopt Huck in order to â€Å"sivilizeâ⠂¬  him. Huck says, â€Å"I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilze me and I can’t stand it. I been there before† (p. 220). Huck doesn’t want to be civilized, he went through a lot and experienced that civilization is just not good for him, so he can’t stand it. Huck is kept away from Jim when Jim is captured by Aunt Sally which makes it difficult for Huck to be on his own and Huck doesn’t want to get adopted by Aunt Sally. Throughout the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, there are characters who have the best intention to help Huck but it is not the best thing for him. The widow tries to â€Å"sivilize† Huck, the new judge tries to improve Pap’s moral condition to better him for Huck, and Aunt Sally keeps Jim away from Huck and she wants to adopt Huck. But none of those characters intentions helped or worked for Huck. It was up to Huck to chose his own path. How to cite Huckleberry Finn Best Intentions, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Learning and Teaching Competence

Questions: 1. What does unionization look like in health care? 2. What are the positive aspects of employee relations in a union versus a non-union? 3. What are benefits and drawbacks of having a union? 4. What is the future of unions in health care? 5. What is the role of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)? Answers: 1. The unionization is a new concept for healthcare sector where it is focussed to eliminate favouritism and discrimination from the working of the healthcare sector. The unionization in healthcare sector provides a picture of respect and dignity established between the administration, workforce and customers in hospitals. Unionization promotes welfare for both the service providers and service users in the healthcare sector (Kim et al. 2012). 2. Employee relation in a union allows health and safe working environment. Employee considers unionization as their right to put forward their views and needs directly in front of administration that leads to enhancing healthcare facilities and overcome on-going issues. Employee relation in union provides collaborative working which fails to establish in non-union working scenario (NLRB, 2016). 3. Benefits Provides right to accept or reject work Provides dignity and value to labour working in healthcare working Provides power and security to workforce Promotes welfare Help in getting better income, pension benefits and rewards Provides an opportunity to lower cadre workers to get involves in organization decision-making process (NLRB, 2016). Drawbacks Unionization complexs the healthcare working system Creates unpredictable situation in emergencies Fails to address critical nursing issues Fails to provide nursing concerns (Kim et al. 2012). 4. As this is a new approach in health care sector, unionization provides a promising establishment in the future working of health care sector due to exceptional benefits (Kim et al. 2012). 5. The NLRB is the organization in the USA that works to provide the rights and obligations for employees involved in Unionization. The National Labor Relations Act governs all the activities involved in unionization of employees. Some of the key roles are helping labour for good faith bargaining, develop rules for unions, provide the right to work with dignity, freedom to reject unionization, obligate unions and support unions to develop effective working in the healthcare sector (NLRB, 2016) References Journals Kim, I. H., Muntaner, C., Shahidi, F. V., Vives, A., Vanroelen, C., Benach, J. (2012). Welfare states, flexible employment, and health: a critical review.Health policy,104(2), 99-127. Websites NLRB (2016). Retrieved 29 June 2016, from https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/whats-law/unions

Monday, November 25, 2019

Content Marketing Strategy With CoSchedule And WordPress VIP

Content Marketing Strategy With And WordPress VIP Execute Your Enterprise Content Marketing Strategy With Ease Some of you have asked us if we would  integrate with WordPress.com VIP. Its now a reality. WordPress.com VIP is the leading WordPress solution for enterprises. Its essentially an all-in-one package for hosting and  support to help large brands rock with WordPress. will join the ranks of Facebook,  Getty Images, and Chartbeat  as one of only 22  technology partners for WordPress.com VIP users.  Technology partners like provide advanced integrations and partnerships to expand the capabilities of the core WordPress content management system. As a technology partner, will  provide the content marketing editorial calendar that combines blogging, social media, team workflow, and content marketing in a single tool. So, what does all of this mean? is available for WordPress.com VIP! Content marketing for enterprises just got easier.There is now a customized version of that integrates seamlessly with WordPress.com VIP. These special features  extend beyond the traditional editorial calendar to help WordPress.com VIP users  plan great content while saving a lot of time. Heres what you can expect from for WordPress.com VIP: 1. Use The Team Roles That Work For Your Business Every organization is different. You have your own unique names for the roles your team fills to execute your content marketing strategy. And every one of those roles has very specific responsibilities. Customize everyone’s role on your team to give them the permissions they need for their specific responsibilities. Help them use the features they need to do their work, and hide the ones that get in their way. You can even help certain team members only communicate with a few people. So if you have multiple departments or regions, theres a lot less confusion from too many conversations. This core ability will help your entire team communicate more clearly, focus the team on accomplishing their tasks, and gives you more security in your processes. 2. Customize Your Business Social Media Permissions For Advanced Security Sharing your content on social media can help you grow your traffic. Doing it right can help you  grow traffic by 31.5 times within a day of a post publishing. But you may not need every team member to have access to all of your business social media accounts. So give certain members of your team the rights to use specific social media profiles while restricting others access. When would this be extremely useful?  Imagine  teams in different countries managing different social accounts from the same blog. Or possibly different departments that each run separate social media accounts. You get help your team  focus on their own social media projects and protect them  from accidentally sharing content with  the wrong accounts. 3. Help Your Team Share Content With Their Private Social Profiles When your team creates content theyre proud of, theyll want to share it with their personal fans, followers, and friends. Your team can rock at social media with private social profiles and share your content with the best social sharing schedule that will get you even more  traffic. These accounts will never be accessible by other team members. 4. Know Who Published And Shared Your Content For Better Accountability Sometime, you may just have to know who published what. Its really helpful to have a full history log to know who  modified your blog and social media content. Imagine if someone sent an erroneous social media message. Now youll know exactly who did it. 5. Get  The Support You Need So You Can Focus Your Time On What Matters When your team spends time trouble-shooting, thats time they dont spend executing your content marketing strategy. Get the priority level support you need for any questions you have. Your support includes setup assistance, and full support for your entire experience with . Never hesitate to reach out for an extra hand from the people who made the tool youre using. 6. Get  A Lot More Traffic From Social Media and make it worth your time. Your team can schedule social media messages even before your content publishes. By combining social media scheduling with blogging, your team stays on the same page, plans ahead, and saves a ton of time from not having to use multiple tools. That means your team can move faster, be more productive, and work together in the same tool to see  what everyone is working on. 7. Make  Your Workflow Finally Work For You Even if your current workflow isnt going that well right now, it may not be that its wrong for your organization. Its totally possible that you just arent using the right tool to make your workflow work for your team. You just need a tool that helps you build your own task templates, name those tasks, and assign them to the right custom roles for   your team. And if you need to move things around on your calendar, the  due dates for your tasks should move accordingly. That helps you work smarter, not harder. 8. Prove (And Improve)  Your Content Simply By Knowing Whats Working You already know creating content just to create content wont help you achieve your strategic goals. You need to know how your content performs to prove your ROI and learn from what you created. A great way to know how your content is performing is through your social media shares. This is a great measurement for success because: People read what they know is popular. People share what they know is popular. People subscribe to what they know is popular. Use your social media analytics to prove your success and improve your future content. 9. Use  Your Editorial Calendar How It Works Best For You Everyone on your team fills different roles. Therefore, it makes sense that theyd all use an editorial calendar like differently. Every member of your team can choose how to use (and they can mix and match their preferences at any time). Your team can use : Right in the post-edit screen in WordPress as they actually write your blog content. As a plugin in WordPress. As a standalone Web app. That makes the switch to a new editorial calendar easier since everyone can choose how theyll use the tool- but youll all be using the same tool. 10. Get The Security  3,000  Content Marketers Rely On Your  IT department explores every marketing tool you use. Theyll love since it uses the same security technology most banks use to protect your information. And our up time is impeccable. Just check out our status log whenever youd like to see stats on our up times. We will always report our up-time status clearly. We strive for- and achieve- 99.9% up time. We have a full-time team dedicated to technical and front-end support. Youll always have access to at least two support techs during regular business hours, and at least one support tech is on call 24 hours a day. As a WordPress.com VIP user, youll get your own priority support, too. And that means your requests will always be at the top of our to-do list. Plan Awesome Content And Save A Ton Of Time You put a ton of time into planning the perfect content marketing strategy. You need an editorial calendar that will help you execute your strategy perfectly. and WordPress.com VIP  will make your strategy a reality.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Project Management and How it Relates to Purchasing and Supply Research Paper - 1

Project Management and How it Relates to Purchasing and Supply Management - Research Paper Example As depicted in this paper, to ensure the success of a project, managers must ensure timely delivery of quality raw materials and other resources as well as proper planning. To ensure that vendors participate in the procurement process, firms are under obligation to issue request for proposal (RFP).Once the vendors receive the RFP, they should submit their proposals. The proposals are then reviewed by selection committee. This paper analyses two ways of improving the assessment of proposals. These include use of preliminary screening and professional review and assessment. Major stages applied during the selection of the most qualified vendor in a proposal include review of all proposal submitted by the vendors, recording the vendor and business requirements, assigning important value for each requirement, assigning performance value to each requirement, computation of total performance value and lastly selection of the successful vendor. In their efforts to create a strong relationsh ip with their clients and suppliers, it is imperative for firms to implement a contract that covers the delivery terms and conditions, duration of a contract and payment terms. Introduction Project management entails the processes that are undertaken by the project managers to ensure that the specific objectives of a project are attained. The key processes include securing, planning, organizing, and managing the available resources (Harold, 2003). On the other hand, purchasing and supply management encompasses the procurement, monitoring of goods while in transit, storage of raw material, the level and quality of supplies. Some of the major factors that determine the success of a project are the availability of raw materials at the required time and quality, the costs of transportation of the raw materials and effective communication between the project managers and the purchasing and supply manager. In this regard, it is clear that project management and purchasing and supply manag ement have a close link that firms cannot overlook. This paper analyses the crucial aspects that covers project management and how it relates to purchasing and supply management. Procurement management Procurement management entails the process of purchasing inputs and other economic resources from the vendors. Economic resources include capital, labor, technology and land that are vital in the production process of a company (Shaw and Felecia, 2010). One of the primary implications of procurement management is that it enables the organisations to negotiate with the suppliers so as to get the best quality inputs at a discounted price. In this way, firms are able to minimize their costs of production thus increasing their level of profitability. Due to limited business operations by smaller business entities, they do not maintain a specific procurement department. However, large companies who are fond of purchasing raw materials in bulk, emulates a comprehensive procurement managemen t process to avoid jeopardizing the production process. Contract management Contract management involves the administration of the contracts made between companies and the vendors, customers, employees and other partners. Major aspects that are covered by contract management include negotiating the terms of contracts, ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions outlined by a contract, as well as making the necessary changes during

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

International Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

International Business Strategy - Essay Example Productivity of the public sector is again less competent compared to that of the private sector (Bhatia and Drew, 2006). Hence, in order to improve service of the public sector, the authorities are now concentrating on a technique called â€Å"lean management† so as to achieve higher efficiency. This practice has been used extensively in the private sector over years and has shown positive results (Dixon, 2012). This technique is nowadays used in a large variety of public services like, income tax processing, health care systems and urban planning systems, to enhance quality of the service. The lean management system is particularly crucial for the public sector because this improves quality of the service as well as reduces cost of providing them (Panneerselvam, 2005). The concept of lean management has been used both in the field of services and manufacturing. The concept was originally derived from Japanese manufacturing plants. The basic concept behind the idea is that if any process in unable to create value in the process of production, then it must be eliminated. The working of lean management is based on four main principles of flow, value, value stream and pull (Feld, 2001). The first one relates to elimination of interruptions from the process of production; the second one relates to price that customers are willing to pay for the products; the third one relates to elimination of the non-value activities; and finally the fourth factor relates to streamlining the products and process, until final consumption is made (Fliedner, 2011). The use of lean production techniques was embraced by the public sector for a number of reasons, namely quality of service, cost and resolving customer issues. Proper implementation of lean management system has the capability of improving the entire operating system by altering

Monday, November 18, 2019

Offenders and Psychology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Offenders and Psychology - Coursework Example In the Table â€Å"Profile Characteristics of Disorganized Asocial Offenders† it is evident that there are a number of characteristics, which are appropriate in the process of offender personality’s studies. The status of the personalities in their communities is determined with respect to the following features: they have a limited intelligence, are involved in unskilled work and have a few contacts with other members of the community. These persons show the following types of post-offense behavior, such as turning to the place, where the crime was committed; having a visual collage of criminal events etc. After that, when the crime was committed, a disorganized criminal can hardly change a place of his residence, because he is used to his familiar environment. It is possible to differentiate a disorganized asocial offender from the organized nonsocial offender. The former offender would commit his crimes at night, as a rule. For this type of offenders, it is very impo rtant to be understood and supported. Establishment of positive relationship with this personality is very beneficial in the process of investigation. Moreover, the interviews are more effective with these offenders at night, when it is their â€Å"best time†. The features of the organized nonsocial offender can be interpreted in the following way: this type of the offender would be more organized in his daily life. They are lonely persons and they do not want anyone else around them. These persons have an average level of intelligence and they can be active members of the society. These offenders can have his personal relationship and he can even make a good impression (Interview with S. Milena Halterman, 2010). This type of offenders can go to many other places, which are far away from their neighborhood. Post-offense behavior of the organized nonsocial offenders is as follows: he is interested in the consequences of the crime, committed by him. Moreover, â€Å"organized  crime  scenes  reflect  a  high  level  of  control  by  the  offender  where restraints  are  used  and  the  body  is  disposed  of  in  a  thought out  manner, usually  transported  to  another  location  from  where  the  murder  took  place† (Holmes& Holmes, 2009). During the interview sessions, it is relevant to confront these offenders directly, because they are afraid of direct facts. A single-interview strategy is one of the most appropriate for them. These offenders can tell everything sincerely during the interviewing. Therefore, it is appropriate for the criminologists to focus on the peculiar personal features of the offenders in order to determine possible options of serial crime prevention and a proper investigation conduct of every particular case. Thus, the modern paradigm of criminology should be focused on researches and studies, which are concentrated on the peculiar aspects of offendersâ⠂¬â„¢ behaviors. Question 2 In the modern paradigm, it is very important to know that there is a strong relationship between social and psychological issues of the criminals and the actions committed by them. Psychological  profiling has been developing since 1940 and this field was developed for investigation of serial crimes (Schlesinger 2009). The basic points, outlined in this field of study are: characteristics of the  offender,  time factors, modus  operandi, offender’s  and  signature and  staging (Holmes & Holmes, 2009).  There is a great need to take into account organized vs.  disorganized

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Theories on Employee Satisfaction and Motivation

Theories on Employee Satisfaction and Motivation This chapter first reviews the HR practices followed in the manufacturing firms in India. Secondly it has a closer examination on the employee satisfaction, motivation, theories on motivation and finally on the factors influencing employee satisfaction. Employees are the important assets of an organization. Many organizations fail to succeed due to employees. Employee motivation is one of the major aspects responsible for organizations prosperity. The motivated employees have the better performance than the unmotivated employees do. Employees performance varies depending upon the motivational level of the employees. Human management practices Human resource management plays a vital role in an organization to achieve the organizational objectives. Each individual possess different skills, abilities and background. Therefore, the organization has to employ the appropriate programs to develop the employees effectively. HRM systems responsible in the successful implementation of employee participation will likely enhance the value of the organization (Arthur, 1994). The authors (Huselid, 1995; Wright, Dunford, Snell, 2001) of strategic human resource management have said that employees behaviors and motivation can effectively be improved through HR practices. The activities of Human resource management are achieved through organization goals. The human resource management (HRM) practices influence the satisfaction of employees in meeting the expectations of the employees. The HRM practices such as involvement programs, performance based compensation , career management practices, performance management , open job -listing and job transfer practices plays a critical role in enhancing the level of motivation. However the response in the Indian manufacturing firms to these critical factors are insufficient towards employee motivation (The Indian express Ltd, 2009). The activities of human resource are human resource policies and human resource planning which involves the recruitment and selection, job design, training and development, wage and welfare management, employee health care benefits, labour relation assistance(photanan,2004). Guest (2002) examined that effect of HRM on Employee performance depends upon the attitude of the Employee towards HRM Practices; hence, the HRM Practices in an organization will be followed depending on the Employees Perception. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) has focused that the employee commitment and competence is responsible for the successful implementation of Business Strategy. Cooke (2000) has argued that individuals efficiency and effectiveness are more significant than the competitiveness and productivity hence the HR practices such training plays a vital role to increase the individual performance through increased knowledge and skills. The improved productivity of an organization is due to the increased commitment of an employee. The Incentives scheme apart from the associated cost benefits the organization (summers Hyman, 2005). The use of HR practices shows the stronger relationship with the firms productivity in the High growth industry (Datta Et al, 2003). The employee will show an adaptable effort if proper performance management is linked with the compensation system. Qureshi M Tahir and Ramay (2006) have defined Job as a combination of set of activities such as duties, responsibilities, working conditions and expected skills of individual performing the job. Many researchers have proved that employee outcomes have direct relationship with the HR Practices (Sels, et al 2006). These researchers (Collins, Ericksen, Allen, 2005) have examined that the small business units have found that the HR practices has significant relationship with the outcomes of an Employee. In this study, the motivation is found to be the most important activity of HR activities. The HR manager must overlook on the motivational program to different levels of employees in an organization. HRM PRACTICES Employee Satisfaction Organization and structure Mission and Values Company Leadership Opportunity Job satisfaction Pay and benefits Rewards and Recognition Relation between HRM practices and Organization performance OToole and Meier (2008) have examined the relationship between the organization performance and the employees attraction and development of their abilities. However, the previous research has focused the relationship between the HRM outcomes like job satisfaction and the performance of the public organizations. Ostroff (1992), Kim (2005) and Meier Hicklin (2007) have given the relationship between the factors such as job satisfaction, employee turnover and organizational performance. Since the early 1980s, the studies on the HRM in the firms which are privately owned have stressed on the HRM principles. Research has proved that studies have an increased focus in the HRM. (Boselie, 2002). Several authors (Paauwe, 2004 ; Bowen Ostroff , 2004 ; Pfeffer 1995 ; Wall Wood, 2005 ; Boselie et al ., 2005) have supported the assumption that the higher quality of HRM principles that are followed in an organization would lead to the better performance of the employees in the organization. Alt hough many results have found the relationship between the HRM and the performance, there is no clear existence of such relation discovered (Bowen ostroff, 2004). Several authors (Beer, Lawrence, Mill and Walton, 1984) have examined the relation between the HRM practices. For example, the relation between HRM practices such as selection, rewards, training and performance of both individual and organization Relation between the Employee satisfaction and HRM practices Bowen and ostroff (2004) has proposed that employee perceptions play an important role in translating HR practices into desired outcomes in an organization. Furthermore they put on theory by arguing that the employee perceptions of HRM practice are significantly important in an organization .However they have focused not only on the HR practices with respect to the employees behavior that are supported and rewarded by management but rather than HR practices of employees attributions. Thus, the climates for safety-focused behaviors are expected and rewarded. (Zohar, 1980).Schuler Jackson ( 1987) have examined that several authors in the research studies have proposed that every organization establishes the HR strategy in which employees are considered as the assets to exert high quality products and services. The firm likely to have made investments for the continuous development of employee skills, the management also motivates the employees to work hard to achieve the goals moreove r the management focuses on the benefits of the employees in terms of compensation, performance pay above revenues and profits of the organization. In contrast, some firms also adopts the strategy towards the low cost ion theories such as considering employees as cost to control, focused more on the rules and regulations of the organization, quantifies the employee output.(Bamberger Meshoulam ,2000). Schuler Jackson (1987) have proposed that employees are seen as the replaceable workers based on low costs, In contrast Osterman (1994) argued that the firm should possess the responsibility to adopt the innovative work practices such as enhancing skills, commitment and motivation rather than reducing costs. According to the underlying managerial philosophy of employee welfare if employees perceive that the HR practices are motivated towards well-being then employees feel satisfied rather than the management cares less about the well-being of the employees. Importance of motivation Motivation is generally driven for the unmet needs of the employees that help to satisfy the employees through their efforts. The needs of the employees could be the emotional and economic expectations that are influenced by both external and internal environment of the firm. The economic expectations have risen significantly in the last decades. However, the firms in the manufacturing sector face difficulty to meet the rising expectations whereas the emotional expectations have proved to be reasonably fair (The Indian express Ltd, 2009). Every individual has motives that are influenced certain factors to achieve better performance (Kressler 2003). The word motivation is derived from the Latin word Movere which means to move (Kressler 1998). These Researchers (Higgins 1994, as cited by Linder, 1998) has defined Motivation as the internal drive of every individual to satisfy the unmet needs. To achieve the specific unmet needs the individual behave in a purposeful manner (Linder 1998). Jones and George (2004) has stated that the motivation drives the psychological forces of the individual that determines the persons level of effort, the direction of persons behaviour in an organization and persons level of determination in face of the obstacles. The concept of motivation is directly linked to the concept of morale, which states that employee feels positive or negative about the work in the organization. Thus from the above definitions of motivation it is understood that motivated work force or the creating an environment for maintaining high levels of motivation remains a challenge for todays management. Motivation theories Motivation theories help managers with the methods to increase the productivity of the organizations. The Motivation theories, industry and society are linked by the motivation factors and the relationship between is diagrammatically represented as follows Motivation Factors Motivation theories Industry Society Source: Bhatti et al (2008) Many researchers have proposed theories based on the concept of employee motivation and its role in enhancing employees performance in every organization. In this research discussion on some of the motivational theories will include Maslow (Need theory), Hertzberg ( two factor theory) , Mc Gregor ( theory X and Y), Vrooms( Expectancy theory ) are as follows. Maslows hierarchy of needs Maslow conducted an investigation into the human behavior between 1939, and 1943. After his investigation, he suggested that the human needs were classified into five categories that are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. These include Physiological needs Safety needs Belongings needs Esteem needs. Self-actualization needs. According to him, a person is motivated primarily to satisfy his physiological needs. As long as the employees remain unsatisfied, they turn to be motivated only to fulfill them. When the physiological needs are satisfied, they cease to act as primary motivational factors and the individual moves up the hierarchy and seek to satisfy the security needs. This process continues until finally self-actualization needs are satisfied. Source: Chapman (2004) Physiological needs Physiological needs are the most basic needs in the Maslows hierarchy and these needs are required to satisfy the minimum survival of the person, which includes food, water, oxygen, sleep, sex and sensory satisfaction. Some of the organizational factors are required to satisfy the needs include the minimum pay necessary for survival and working conditions. Flexible work schedule allowing opportunities for leisure time, vacation, medical leave etc. Good working conditions are provided to all employees of the organization they must not feel any physical strain. Providing a sufficient salary to fulfill their necessities such as shelter, medicine, clothing and food. Once the satisfactory salary is made available to the employee, then he will in a position to fulfill his needs, salary becomes less important and security needs comes in front such as savings plan. In Maslows hierarchy of needs, the money is directly related to physiological needs since money ensures a safety and comfortable environment. Moreover, pay should prove motivational especially to the employees who have strong low level needs. Suppose if the employees receive a healthy pay raise, doubtless, the raise will not only give them prestige among family and friends but also sign their competence as a worker. Thus pay can also function to satisfy the social, esteem and self -actualization needs. If pay has this ability to fulfill a variety of needs, then it should have especially good potential as a motivator (John, 1996). Safety and security needs Once the physiological needs of the employee are satisfied, safety and security needs would come forth. Needs for safety and security includes financial security, stability, dependency and freedom from fear and anxiety. Under organizational conditions the needs include are safe working conditions, fair and sensible rules and regulations, job security, pension and pension plans and freedom to unionize. According to Maslow, these needs must be minimally satisfied before an employee is concerned with social and belonging needs at work. Social needs According to Maslow, this need is also known as belongingness and love. Social needs include love, affection and friendship with people, especially with spouse, children and friends. Organizational factors that might meet the needs include the opportunity to interact with others on the job, friendly and supportive supervision, teamwork and finally to develop new relationship. According to Maslows theory employees in the organization gain to attain things such as salary, benefit and safe working conditions naturally prior to accepting a job. Esteem needs Once the employees feel satisfied with their pay and benefits at work, they are likely feel to distinguish and be recognized. The need for esteem includes self-respect, self -esteem and esteem for others, which are focused internally and externally. Internally the esteem needs includes a desire for strength, achievement, mastery, confidence, independence and freedom. Externally the esteem needs include desire for reputation or prestige, status, fame, dominance, attention etc. organizational factors that might satisfy these needs include the opportunity to master task leading to feelings of achievement, responsibility, awards, promotions, prestigious job titles and professional recognition. Although all employees does not get the opportunity to get responsibility and status , but generally every employee like to be praised and appreciated for doing a good job. Self-actualization The self-actualization is the highest need in Maslows hierarchy includes the need for self-actualization, continuous self-development and finally becoming the best one among all. Organizational conditions that might meet these needs include Providing challenging and rewarding work. Opportunities to be innovative and creative. Certain degree of autonomy is provided in the challenging environment. Steers (1991) has proposed that higher level of needs are not so important until the low level of needs are satisfied. Thus, it is likely to achieve a higher-level need to attain before a lower level need is completely satisfied. Thus, Maslow examined that working adults are satisfied about 85 percent of physiological needs, 70 percent of safety needs, 50 percent of their social needs, and 10 percent of their self -actualization needs. Herzbergs motivation-hygiene theory According to Herzberg, the theory is also known as two-factor theory. He stated that their will certain satisfiers and dissatisfiers for employees at work. Intrinsic factors are related to Job satisfaction and extrinsic factors are associated with dissatisfaction. Herzberg, Mausner and snyderman (1959) referred to factors that influence job satisfaction as motivators because these factors motivate the employees to performance the work better. Conversely, the factors that cause dissatisfaction are referred to as hygiene factors. According to them, the motivational factors include Sense of achievement, Recognition by others, and Responsibility within the job, Advancement and personal growth, Work itself. The Hygiene factors include Pay, Job security, working conditions, Company policy and administration, Level and quality of supervision ,Interpersonal relationship (Naylor, 1999). Those factors that are related to dissatisfaction are called hygiene or nonsatisfiers, maintenance factors, or events. These factors are related to the work environment of the job, which is also referred to as Extrinsic factors (Peretomode, 1991; Ukeje Okorie Nwagbara, 1992; Whawo, 1993). Herzbergs has been faced several important criticisms. King (1970) has proposed that the model has five different theoretical interpretations. Second, a number of scholars believe that that the model that the model does not give sufficient attention to individual differences are , in fact, important moderators of the effect of job enrichment. People commonly argue that money is a primary motivator, but surveys show that other factors motivate more. For example, a survey by development dimensions international published in the UK times newspaper in 2004 interviewed 1,000 staff from companies employing more than 500 workers, and found more than 500 workers, and found many to be bored, lacking commitment and looking for a new job. Pay actually came fifth in the reasons people gave for leaving their jobs. The main reasons were lack of stimulus jobs. Moreover, no opportunity for advancement-classic Herzberg motivators-43 percent left for better promotion chances, 28 percent for more challenging work, 23 percent for a more exciting place to work, 21 percent and more varied work (Chapman, 2004). It is interesting that, despite the number of criticisms against Herzberg model, Herzbergs motivation -hygiene theory is still popular among corporate managers. Source: From Management (p. 545), by J. Naylor, 1999, Harlow, England: Prentice Hall. McGregors theory This theory was proposed by Douglas Mc Gregor in 1960. He has underpinned assumptions about the approaches taken by managers towards the Employees. Theory X assumptions Individuals especially dislike work. Individuals should be committed to do work to achieve the objectives. Individuals expect the supervisors to direct the work. Theory Y assumptions Individuals view the work to be natural. Individuals learn to accept and seek responsibility. The abilities such as imagination, creativity, ingenuity can be used to solve work problems in the organization. In modern organizations, the intellectual potential of the employees are only partially utilized. McClellands theory of needs This theory was proposed by David C McClelland in 1985. This theory focuses on the following three needs: Achievement, Power and Affiliation which are as follows: Need for Achievement An individual feels the need to outrival to achieve and to succeed. Thus the employees who are in need of achievement do not contribute any challenging work to the organization, and then the motivation will not be seen in them. Need for Power An individual with the high need for power are interested in monitoring others activities rather than self-performance. Thus the employees who are in the need of power will take personal responsibility, provide feedback and they take high risks. Need for Affiliation An individual with the need for affiliation will like to perform the tasks individually rather than work with others. Thus the employees who are in high need to affiliation prefer to spend more in maintain social responsibilities. Vrooms Expectancy (VIE) Theory Vroom has developed the Valence, Instrumentality and Expectancy (VIE) in 1964. The expectancy theory is one of the accepted theories of motivation. It tells about the relationship between expectation and outcome and then motivating individuals come down into three important variables that include effort, performance and outcome (The Certified Accountant, 2008) and the relationship is illustrated below Vroom has proposed the mathematical function for motivation, which involves three cognitions. The equation is as follows. Motivation = expectancy X à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (valences X Instrumentalities) Motivation = expectancy X à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (valences X Instrumentalities) Gregoriou (2008) has suggested that the employee is motivated to show a maximum level of effort when he /she believe that their effort leads to good performance appraisal. The personal goals of the employee will be satisfied when he/she is rewarded by the organization. In other words the theory focuses on the following three relationships such as Effort-performance relationship, Performance-reward relationship and rewards- personal goals relationship. The above relationships are shown in the figure Ability Environment Personal Goals Individual Performance Individual Effort Organization Rewards Source: Gregoriou (2008) The above figure explains that the majority of employees offer minimum outcome are not motivated towards their jobs. The workers do not show much commitment towards the production when their effort are not recognized by their employers, when they are not rewarded by the organization and when the expected reward is not attractive personally. In simple words, the expectancy theory concentrates on the understanding of the target of the individual and the relationship that exists between his/her effort, performance, reward and satisfaction. Theories of job satisfaction Three theories of job satisfaction will be briefly discussed below: Affect Theory, Dispositional Theory, and Job Characteristics Theory: Affect Theory Edwin A. Locke developed the Affect Theory in 1976. According to this theory, the differentially weighted work is closely related to the expected pay. The decision has a greater positive effect on his or her overall assessment of job satisfaction. Satisfaction is determined by a disagreement between what one wishes in a job and what one has to do in a job. Employees become satisfied or unsatisfied depending on the expectations faced by him at the work place. When the expectations are met, the person feels satisfied and values the work he carries out and finally shows a higher positive impact on his performance. When expectations are not met , the impact on job satisfaction is negative. Dispositional Theory Timothy A. Judge proposed the Dispositional theory in 1998, a well-known job -satisfaction theory. This theory states that employees at the work place have intrinsic dispositions that cause them to have tendencies towards a certain level of satisfaction. This theory explains that job satisfaction tends to be steady overtime across careers and jobs. The basic idea is that satisfaction is directly related with the need and that implies something to be satisfied. He has proposed four core self- evaluations such as self-efficacy, general self- efficacy, locus of control and neuroticism that determine ones disposition towards job satisfaction. In this model, Higher levels of self-esteem and general self -efficacy lead to higher job satisfaction. Focus on Internal locus of control leads to higher job satisfaction. Finally, lower levels of neuroticism leads to higher job satisfaction Job Characteristics Theory Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham have proposed the Job characteristics theory in 1976. This theory is based on five core job characteristics such as skill variety, Task significance, autonomy and feedback. These five job characteristics are further related to these critical psychological states such as experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes and knowledge of the actual results. These, in turn, influence work outcomes such as job satisfaction, absenteeism and work motivation. Therefore, if employees are allowed to complete the task by fully utilizing a variety of skills, it is likely that they perceive their job as meaningful that leads to high job performance and high intrinsic motivation. Therefore, if employees are able to accomplished the work completely then they fell satisfied with what they have accomplished which in turn leads to low absenteeism and high turnover. Core Job Dimensions Critical psychological states Personal and work outcomes Skill variety Task identity Task significance Experienced Meaningfulness of the work Experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work Knowledge of the actual results of work activities Feedback Autonomy High satisfaction with the work High quality work High internal work motivation Low Absenteeism and Turnover Employee Growth and strength Source: Celik (1999) Employee Satisfaction Armstrong (2000) has proposed that the HRM is the strategic management where the members of the organization are responsible for the achievement of organizational objectives. According to SHRM, employees are considered as important assets in the organization. These Researchers (Wallale, Eagleson Waldersee 2000) have argued that the HR strategy of an organization should be focused more on developing skills and ensuring motivation and commitment. According to Hunter (1997), Employees are loyal and productive when they are satisfied, and these satisfied employees influence the customer satisfaction as well as organizational productivity (Porterfield 1999).These Researchers (Cranny , Smith Stone 1992) has defined Employee satisfaction as the combination of affective reactions to the discrepancy perceptions of what he/ she wants to receive. The satisfied employees will work more willingly and contribute to the effectiveness of the organization. Good working conditions, Training and Educ ation, Good Relationships with the colleagues, High salary, opportunities, career developments and other benefits may be related with the employee satisfaction. These researchers (Moyes, Shao Newsome 2008) has investigated that employee satisfaction differs from one employee to other employee, that is, an employee may be more satisfied by a satisfying item whereas the other employee may be less satisfied with the same item . This shows that Employee satisfaction should be analyzed from a larger perspective. To investigate the factors responsible for employee satisfaction and measuring the employee satisfaction at the work place is important for the success and profitability of the organization is gaining the competitive advantage in the market scenario (Kelley 2005). Therefore, various factors responsible for employee satisfaction on different areas (such as manufacturing industry, service industry etc) will enrich the literature. Factors affecting Employee satisfaction Several factors determine an individual motivation level. There are two forms of motivation namely intrinsic motivations and extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivation results from satisfying an individual belief and values whereas, extrinsic motivation are based on tangible good or service to the individual (Kreps 1990). Deci and Ryan (1985) have proposed that every organization should determine intrinsic and extrinsic factors that motivate employees. In addition, an individual shows his or her satisfaction of an activity depending upon the reward value of the organization. Deci (1971) found a relationship between the external rewards and internal motivation. The intrinsic motivation decreases when the employee receives an extrinsic reward and intrinsic motivation increases when the individual receives the positive verbal reininforcement and positive nonverbal feedback. Therefore, Immediacy is viewed as a reward that enhances intrinsic motivation. Among several factors Communication, Learning and Growth, Working conditions and Employee Engagement are considered as the most significant factors influencing Employee satisfaction from company point of view. Learning and Development These researchers (Delaney Huselid 1996, Huselid 1995, Koch Mc Grath 1996, Mac Duffie 1995) have examined Employee development as the most important determinant of Company performance. Most of the HRM practices related to the development of the human resources of the firm. The development of knowledge or skills of the employee depend upon the technical and non- technical training offered by the company. This shows that the company investments for training have a greater positive effect towards achieving the performance of the employee in the firm. Francesco and Gold (2005) argue that the training and development focus on planning, individual learning, career development and organization development. Molander (1996) has defined Training and Development as the systematic process focused on acquisition of skills, knowledge and attitudes that lead to organizational performance. In addition, the low training in organizations may tend to lose their attractive to the present and potential labour. Harzing and Van Ruysseveld (1995) have stated that there are certain areas to be focused in the training which, are developing the knowledge of the person towards organizational objectives, specific job and task skills, knowledge about understanding the local situation such as social, legal and cultural issues of the environment .Therefore developing the specific personal skills of the employees to perform well in that environment. Training is the most important factor for the employee retention. Employees who receive extensive training will realize about the company investment and show their commitment towards achieving the goals of the organization (Butler 1999). Clark (2001) has pointed out that the care and concern for employees and opportunities for growth are the most significant drivers in establishing the employee loyalty. Moreover, he argued that care and concern for employees could be delivered through employee training. When the employees are trained, specialized and educated, opportunities for growth on the personnel level as well as within the organization will come into existence. The need for Employee training and development is determined by the Employee performance deficiency, which is given as follows Training and Development Needs = Standard Performance Actual Performance Arondhekar et al (n.d) has proposed that any training and development contain certain inputs that enable the employee to gain skills, learn the theoretical inputs that help them to look into the distant vision. The inputs of training and development are as follows Skills Education Development Ethics Attitudinal changes Decision-making and Problem solving skills. Importance of Training and Development in the organization Arondhekar et al (n.d) has stated there are many benefits of Training and Development to the organization as well as to the employee which are categorized as under Benefits for the organization. Benefits for the Employee. Benefits for the organization Enhances communication between the group and individual. Assist in orientation of new employee especially those who take new job through transfer or Promotion Provides information in equal opportunities and affirmative action. Provides information on administration policies and other Government laws. Improves Interpersonal skills Make

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Curriculum and Cultural Capital relating to Social Justice and Educatio

Education is the process of skills, the acquisition of knowledge and understanding that all children acquire through learning in an institute of education, every individual has an equal right to an education and as a result, an entitlement is provided to all children. However, there are a proportion of children that are at a disadvantaged due to cultural and social indifferences, consequently, for all pupils, education can be seen as the means of a socialising process, which generates a set of principles that may affect many of its learners, Thus the National Curriculum was initiated as an opportunity of equality in addition to an inclusive education, which would provide all its pupils regardless of socio economic backgrounds. However, for a few of the heterogeneous group, the National Curriculum, on the grounds of fairness and opportunities created a socialisation process, which simultaneously is the possibility of why some children achieve, in addition to those who do not. Thus, th e entirety of its pupils has its advantages together with its disadvantages by dividing numerous children into a catalogue of academically able, with the addition of the view being reversed given that this is achieved through the process of social reproduction. Each class has its own cultural background, knowledge, dispositions, and tastes that are transmitted through the family (Bourdieu 1984) which is the predispositions of each student achieving in education. Thus, this essay will consider the ways into which, and how the extent of social justice and education is influenced through cultural capital and the National Curriculum. Cultural capital to some degree is whom you know and what you know. To characterize cultural capital, it is indicated thro... ...al and Cultural Development. London: Continuum. Carr, W. and Hartnett, A. (1996) Education and the Struggle for Democracy. Buckingham: Open University Press. Matheson, D. and Grosvenor, I. (1999) An Introduction to the study of Education. London: David Fulton Publishers. Bartlett, S. and Burton, D. (2007) Introduction to Education Studies. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications Ayers, W. Quinn, T. and Stovall, D. (2009) Handbook of Social Justice in Education. New York: Routledge. Bates, I and Riseborough, G. (eds). (1993) Youth and Inequality. Buckingham: Open University Press, pp. 142-43. Selfe, P. (2000) Education, Training and Policy. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Payne, G (ed.) (2000) Social Divisions. London: Macmillan. p. 160. BBC NEWS(2001) School test results 'useless' say critics. [online].[ Available] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1684247.stm

Monday, November 11, 2019

Ar Rahman Awards

Rahman was the 1995 recipient of the Mauritius National Award and the Malaysian Award for contributions to music. [90] He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his first West-End production. A four-time National Film Award winner and recipient of six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South for his music and scores. [1] He has been conferred Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu for excellence in the field of music, special music achievement awards from the Government of Uttar Pradesh and Government of Madhya Pradesh and thePadma Shri from the Government of India. 91] In 2006, he received an honorary award from Stanford University for contributions to global music. [92] In 2007, Rahman was entered into the Limca Book of Records as â€Å"Indian of the Year for Contribution to Popular Music†. [93] He is the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from the Rotary Club of Madras. [94] In 2009, for his score of Slum dog Millionaire, Rahman won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score,[95] the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards.Rahman has received honorary doctorates from Middlesex University and Aligarh Muslim University. [96][97] Later the year Rahman was conferred the honorary doctorate from Anna University in Chennai. [98] He has also won two Grammy Awards, for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for a Visual Media. [99] Rahman was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honor, in 2010. 100] Rahman's work for the film 127 Hours garnered him Golden Globe, BAFTA, and two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song in 2011. [101][102][103] He is an Honorary Fellow of the Trinity College of Music, presented to him by Trinity College London. [104] On 7 May 2012, he was confe rred Honorary Doctorate from the Miami University, Ohio. During the acceptance speech, he mentioned that he received a Christmas card from the US President's family and an invitation for the dinner at White House. [105]

Saturday, November 9, 2019

4 Tips for Job-Seeking Grads

4 Tips for Job-Seeking Grads Approximately 3.3 million high school students are graduating in 2015, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Additionally, 1.85 million students will receive their bachelor’s degrees this year. While some of these will go onto further education and others will enter the military or explore volunteerships, many will be pounding the pavement in search of jobs. Unfortunately, the job market remains intensely competitive for new grads, but the good news is that there are some things you can do to position yourself for success. Read on to learn four top tips for today’s job-seeking grads. 1. Narrow Your SearchSending out hundreds of resumes and hoping one will stick is not only a giant waste of time, but is also unlikely to produce meaningful results. Instead, apply only to those jobs which are a match for your background, skills and interests.This will also give you the time to customize each resume and cover letter for the job, increasing your chances of getting hired.2. Use Social Media to Your AdvantageAccording to a recent Wall Street Journal article, as many as two out of five companies use social media to screen candidates.While cleaning up your Facebook and Twitter accounts is the bare minimum, it also pays to go the extra mile and create a professional profile on LinkedIn. Or, consider building a personal website amassing all of your social media into one central, easily accessible place.Social media also offers the invaluable opportunity to network. By joining Facebook groups and â€Å"liking† various industry organizations, you can keep up with the latest news and trends.But don’t forget the power of face-to-face networking, which can also help you make important connections.3. Be Pitch PerfectIn an era of instant gratification, it’s critical to be able to express yourself. Practice a pitch that’s concise yet compelling, conveying who you are, what you do, and why it’s important. Try to keep it to 30 seconds or less.Not sure where to get started? Your high school or college career center can offer valuable insight into crafting the perfect pitch, in addition to offering other helpful job search-related advice.4. Refine Your ResumeThink your resume is perfect? Think again. Rather than viewing your resume as a necessary evil, consider it a tool to help you get a dream job.Spend time going over your resume looking for everything from grammatical mistakes to skills gaps. If and when you identify any issues, take swift corrective measures to ensure that your resume makes the best possible impression.One great way to fill a skills gap? Volunteer or intern. This offers the opportunity to try your hand at something new while strengthening your resume. For example, if you’re interested in marketing but lack marketing training, these skills can be acquired through a volunteering or internship opportunity.While finding a job takes time, finding the right job involves an even greater investment for today’s freshly minted grads. These four tips can help you improve your marketability and make a positive impression on hiring managers.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Shakesperes History essays

Shakesperes History essays William Shakespeare-An Introduction to His Life, Times, and Theatre Many factors went into Shakespeares and formed his writings. Including the English Renaissance, and the Elizabethan Theatre. Each played a significant role in plays that he has written and we will explore what roles they have played in this paper. The English Renaissance began around 1485 with the accession of King Henry VII. At the time the Renaissance was closely associated with the arts were all but dying due to the War of the Roses. Once King Henry VIII granddaughter Queen Elizabeth reined the arts flourished some saying that the arts hit their highest peak at this time. I feel that much of the renaissance centers on nature, the universe, church and state, morals, laws, and politics. Medieval philosophers believed god created heaven and earth and that the chaotic world we know was created by mans original sin. The only goal in human life was to live a virtuous Christian life and this would lead to salvation. The universe was believed to be created from a system of hierarchies. Every form of life was arranged on a scale. This extended from the lowest form of algae to God. You can see where some of our philosophies come from and how some still exist. Royalty ruled states in Shakespeares time. The Church of England had its beginnings under Edward the VI. Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary attempted to return England towards the Catholic faith but failed to do so. The king had governed by the laws that God created. God created three orders the law of Nature, the Law of Nations, and Civil Law. Niccolo Machiavelli however had his own views on these laws. He argued that the Christian religion was harmful to a sated because it taught humility, and this was a quality that was destructive to a ruler. Shakespeares plays revel an awareness of Machiavelli ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Tourism of Valais,Switzerland Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism of Valais,Switzerland - Research Paper Example Every tourist area undergoes a life cycle that mainly consists of the exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and rejuvenation or decline stages. The involvement stage saw the establishment of a few hotels and the significant growth in the number of tourist arrivals in the destination. The domestic and German markets were the most popular at this time. The development stage saw the involvement of government and private developers in the establishment of infrastructures such as roads, airports and railway networks and expensive facilities for the expansion of the tourism sector. The consolidation stage was characterized by the improvement of infrastructure and tourist facilities so as to boost the tourism economy of the area. Over the last six years, the tourism sector has been on the decline stage with tourist arrivals reducing almost every year and the balance of payment only slightly improving.Valais has gone through most of the stages of the TALC model. A t the exploration stage, locals especially enjoyed the natural environment the number of tourist arrivals being quite low. Considering domestic tourist arrivals as shown in table one, it is evident that for the last six years beginning 2005 and ending in 2010, the popularity of Valais has been on the steady decline. This state of events is mainly as a result of the destination having reached a point of unsustainable development. The destination generally seems to be congested with little room for development.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Causal Arument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Causal Arument - Essay Example Some states legally allowed the use of marijuana for some diseases for which the doctors prescribed it as a medicine whereas some other states are still not allowing even the patients to use or keep marijuana under their possession. However, according to medical experts, marijuana use should not be encouraged because of the side effects it can generate later in the user’s life. â€Å"To date, marijuana is still classified as an illegal Schedule 1 drug by the Controlled Substances Act. It is defined as having "no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" (Roth). American Federal courts are still convinced about the usefulness of marijuana. For them, marijuana is still an addictive and dangerous substance which can damage a person physically and psychologically. Spice, a herbal smoking mixture, is sold on the internet and in some shops in America labeled as legal and nicotine-free smoke. Many people in America are using Spice at present as a substitute to Marijuan a. However, scientific studies shown that Spice is also harmful to human health. Professor Leslie Iversen, chairman of the technical committee of the Advisory Council, said: â€Å"It is a very clever product, sold as a herbal smoking mixture from China, but containing chemicals which can be a lot more potent than cannabis† (Ford). This paper analyses the Spice as legal alternative to marijuana. Cannabis has been used for relaxation and meditation purposes for many thousands of years, and studies carried out today tell us the number of users is rising. Young people especially seem to be attracted to experimenting with mind-altering drugs, such as cannabis, and this can result in abuse, addiction, mental health problems, and prosecution. While cannabis itself is not physically addictive it can be dangerous for those with mental health issues and is often supplied by dealers who also have access to harder, highly addictive drugs (Casundara) â€Å"Herbs or blends of herbs that o ne can smoke as alternatives to marijuana or tobacco- The term marijuana alternatives mean just that. It does not mean we are offering legal marijuana or a marijuana substitute† (Legal Alternatives To Marijuana And Tobacco). Many people who are using Spice like alternate products instead of Marijuana have feeling that these products are less harmful than marijuana and it is legal to use these products in America. In fact Spice like substitute products for marijuana has not been prohibited in America yet and hence no criminal cases can be charged against such users. However, it doesn’t mean that these substitute products are less harmful or superior to marijuana. The only advantage of using spice like alternate product is that the user can escape from any kind of legal formalities in using it. According to a shop owner, â€Å"the demand for spice has doubled each month, and its sales now represent a third of his revenue. On some Fridays, his two District stores can brin g in $10,000 from the sale of spice alone†(Savage). The growing popularity of Spice over marijuana can be attributed mainly to the fewer barriers in getting it in America. No drug screening tests can detect Spice which made it one of the favorite substitutes for marijuana. Many of the Spice users believe that it is less harmful. However, â€Å"Nationwide, the American Association of Poison Control Centers logged 567 cases across 41 states in which people had suffered a bad reaction to spice during the first half of 2010. Just 13 cases were reported in 2009†

Thursday, October 31, 2019

(Continuous Uncertainty) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

(Continuous Uncertainty) - Assignment Example However, some idealistic assumptions with some faith are also incorporated while formulating forecasted cash flows as the future is unpredictable and things can move onto the right desired track as well. In the current Dhahran Roads project, while formulating the assumptions, special care has been taken in respect of the assumptions on which the cash flows are forecasted. However, in the following paragraphs, the rationales for setting out these assumptions are outlined. Negotiations with the Transportation Ministry of the municipality of Dhahran have been finalized. According to the terms and conditions set out with the Ministry, 80% of the billing amount would be paid by the ministry as soon as the bill received by the ministry. So the element of potential delay in the payment schedule is kept minimized. Still there is a risk involved if delays come across in the payments made by the government resulting in adverse movement in the forecasted Net Present Value. So far as likelihood of overrun cost is concerned, it has been assured that the best possible estimates of overheads and other expenses are maintained. Since there seems to be â€Å"no unusual challenges† to be faced during the project life, therefore the possibility of cost overrun will likely to be at its minimum. Loss of retention looks to be one of the most critical assumption as there is exactly no surety whether the accumulated retention fund payments would be made at the end of 1997 and 1998 respectively into two equal installments by the ministry or not. The reason behind this uncertainty is that after the completion of the project, if the ministry is not satisfied with quality of project, this accumulated retention fund can be revoked by the ministry. This is kind of a negative reinforcement measure that can be taken against SADE in order to maintain the minimum requirement for quality assurance of the project. In case if the loss of retention arises, it would certainly

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Globalisation and Free

Globalisation and Free Trade Essay Globalisation, also referred to as global integration is an important economic concept used to understand the economic, structural, political and cultural changes that have occurred in the world today. Globalisation is argued to have shaped the post-war world. Globalisation can be defined as the increase of interconnectedness between countries through international trade. The reduced policy barriers to trade and investment in the public sector and the reduced communication and transportation costs in the private sector are believed to be the main driving force behind globalisation (Frankel, 2006). Due to globalisation, the concept of free trade operates. Free trade is a policy where countries are able to trade freely with each other as there are no tariffs applied to imports and no quotas or subsidies applied to exports. According to the law of comparative advantage, the free trade policy allows both countries to gain mutually from trade – increasing economic growth. The increase in inequality and job losses which is occurring around the world is argued to be as a result of global logic of competitive profit-making management techniques of outsourcing and corporate migrations, atomisation, downsizing and widespread technological progress which all came about as a result of globalisation and free trade (Ukpere and Slabbert, 2007) Due to some consequences of globalisation, movements were formed against it (Krugman et al, 2012). The anti-globalisation movements argue that although globalisation increases the overall income of a country however the benefits are not equally distributed between the citizens. This widens income disparities which brings up social and welfare issues and could also limit the forces which drive economic growth as opportunities brought about as a result of globalisation may not be fully taken advantage of. Maintaining citizens support is important in order to sustain globalisation, however support shown by citizens could largely be influenced by the rising level of inequality (Subir Lall et al, 2012). The Ricardian Model of comparative advantage states that goods are produced competitively using one factor of production; labour, utilising constant-returns-to-scale technologies that vary across countries and goods (Deardorff,2007) . The Ricardian model puts forward that countries would export the good in which they have comparative advantage which is determined by opportunity cost, labour cost and labour productivity. A country has a comparative advantage in the production of a good if the opportunity cost of producing that good in terms of other goods is lower in that country than it is in other countries (Krugman et al, 2012). The Ricardian model illustrates a world with two countries, A and B which both utilise a single factor of production labour in producing good X and Y respectively. Assuming country A has comparative advantage in producing good X, then country A should specialise in the production of good X and would export it to country B. Since it is more cost effective for country B to import good X , Production of good X would decline in country B leading to a reduction in the demand for labour. As a result workers would lose their jobs leaving them with less disposable income – increasing inequality. As a result of globalisation, the cost of communication between countries is low, reducing the cost of controlling the geographically dispersed parts of an organisation. This allows organisations identify countries which have low production costs and set up branches in such countries in order to exploit the low production costs. This is referred to as outsourcing. Through this fragmentation of industry, the host countries are able to pursue their comparative advantage and maximise the use of their resources. However due to outsourcing, the movement of production to the host country causes people in the foreign country to be laid off their jobs as there is a decline in the demand for labour, increasing job losses and also the inequality gap. The factor-proportions theory stresses the importance of the interaction between the proportions of the factors of production that are utilised by countries in production and the proportion of the factors of production the country possesses (Krugman et al, 2012). The Hecksher- Ohlin model is a version of the factor-proportions theory . The model assumes that the country that is abundant in a factor exports the good whose production is intensive in that factor and can be referred to as â€Å"2 by 2 by 2†: Two factors of production, two goods, two countries (Krugman et al, 2012). Assuming we have two countries, country A and B which utilise two factors of production; labour and land to produce goods X(labour intensive) and Y(land intensive) respectively. The Hecksher-Ohlin model states that If country A has abundance of Labour and country B has abundance of land then country A would be effective in the production of good X and country B would be effective in the production of good Y. The Hecksher-Ohlin model purports that owners of abundant factors benefit from international trade and owners of scarce factor would lose from trade. Owners of the scarce factor would then be forced to lay off some workers – leading to disparities in the distribution of income which increases inequality (Krugman et al, 2012). The Stopler- Samuelson theory describes an interaction between relative factor rewards and the relative prices of goods. The theory purports that under some economic conditions (perfect competition, constant returns, equal number of goods produced to equal number of factors) the rise in market price of a good would result in an rise in the return to that factor that is most intensively utilised in producing that good whereas a reduction in the return to the other factor occurs. Due to free trade, there are reduced tariffs on imports and as a result, there is a decrease in the price of imported goods that are high skill-intensive reducing compensation of limited high-skilled workers. Also, there in as increase in the price of exported goods which the country has abundant factor, that are low skill-intensive and the compensation of low-skilled workers. In a developed country with relatively abundant high-skill factors the opposite would occur with a rise in openness resulting in higher inequality. Inequality is argued to be rising amongst countries. The differences between the global poor and global rich continues to increase (Haines, 2001). The income share of the richest quintile is increasing whilst the income share of the rest of the quintiles is decreasing. Although globalisation is argued to be largely responsible for the increase in job losses and inequality, we can also argue that technological progress has contributed to some extent. Technological progress is responsible for the increasing gap between the skilled and unskilled workforce as it puts greater importance on worker skills. As a result of this, in most countries skilled workers are paid significantly higher wages than unskilled workers as a result leading to differences in income distribution. Also, in most households nowadays, we’ll find that most people use telephones and computers, making it possible for individuals to purchase a wide range of goods and services from a global supply chain. Countries that sell goods and services at a lower price compared to other countries tend to have comparative advantage in producing the good according to the Ricardian Model. As individuals we tend to then purchase goods from the country which sells it at the lowest price when compared to other countries. These current patterns have led to a large section of the labour market withering away, increasing inequality and job losses amongst countries (Martin and Schumann, 1997). Samuelson (2004) indicated that using the Ricardian model, with two goods and two countries with different levels of productivity, technological progress in the lagging country would benefit the latter and the more developed country would end up losing from international trade. This reduces the mutual benefits from international trade – increasing inequality. In order to decrease the rising inequality and job losses the government should make providing easy and free access to education a matter of high importance. This gives unskilled and low income groups an opportunity to take advantage of opportunities which arise from globalisation as a result they would be able to lessen the disparities in income distribution and have more job opportunities (Subir Lall et al, 2012). Globalisation is believed to have significantly contributed to the increase in the overall wealth amongst countries however it has a disequalizing effect as access to wealth between the rich and poor segments of the population is unequal. Government should put in place policy reforms which are aimed at opening up access to finance, developing institutions that encourage lending to the low income groups in order to enhance the general distribution of income, which in turn helps to support the overall growth of the economy.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Health Improvement And Innovation Health And Social Care Essay

Health Improvement And Innovation Health And Social Care Essay In the past the health service has been overly focused on commissioning for price and volume rather than quality and outcome. There was too much emphasis on treating illness rather than its prevention. Health inequalities have also been worsening and in England the rich can still expect to live for longer than the poor. Now is a new era for public health. The government is committed to closing the gap between the most advantaged and the least advantaged parts of society (GBDH, 2010a; GBDH, 2010b; GBDH 2010c; GBDH, 2010d). Health needs assessment (HNA) is a vital tool in this process because it targets services and support towards the most disadvantaged. It is a method for examining the health needs of a population leading to agreed priorities and resource allocation in order to improve public health (Hooper and Longworth, 1998). The purpose of this assignment is to undertake an HNA for the community that I currently work in as part of my Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) qualification in health visiting. In fact HNA is a standard of proficiency in order to gain professional registration (NMC, 2004). Recent evidence has increasingly demonstrated that the first few years of life greatly influence future health, wealth and happiness (Tickle, 2011; Field, 2010; Marmot, 2010). The involvement of health visitors during this period is vital as they are experts in public health. The Health Visitor Implementation Plan (2011) aims to expand the health visiting service with an extra 4,200 health visitors to be in post by 2015. This will support the Governments commitment to improve health outcomes by developing an understanding of the health needs of children, families and communities enabling the commission of services that are based on need. The five-step approach to HNA developed by Cavanagh and Chadwick (HDA, 2005) will be used as a framework for this assignment because it is simple, robust, flexible, and has been tested over several years. This five step process is based on the model outlined by Hooper and Longworth (2002). Due to time constraints and lack of resources only steps one to three of the five steps of HNA will be undertaken: step 1 (my community), step 2 (identifying health priorities) and step 3 (assessing a health priority for action). All of the data used within this assignment is within the public domain however effort has been made to protect identity. Step 1 My Community According to Cavanagh and Chadwick (2005) the community for HNA can be identified as those sharing: a geographic location like a housing estate; a setting such as a school, prison or workplace; a social experience like ethnicity or sexuality; or an experience of a particular condition for example mental illness or diabetes. The community has also been defined as a group of people who share an interest, a neighbourhood, or a common set of circumstances. They may or may not acknowledge membership of a particular community (Smithies and Adams, 1990). It is the common interest of people that is particularly significant for public health. This is because even though people operate as individuals, they may share characteristics or needs that can be assessed at a community level (Brocklehurst, 2004). However Naidoo and Wills (2000) state that individuals may be a part of different communities at various points in their lives rather than belonging to a single community. The community which i s the focus of this HNA is a geographical area. It has been chosen because it is attached to a GP practice from which a team of health visitors are based and most work is with clients within this community. It consists of two wards in the borough of North Tyneside. They will be referred to as ward A and ward B and will be compared to regional and national data available. Step 2 Identifying Health Priorities This section will focus on the identification of the health priorities of my community by considering the factors which may affect health conditions. These factors can be grouped into five categories: biological, social, economic, environmental and lifestyle. Biological The population of wards A and B are shown in appendix 1.1 using data from the census of 2001. Census data can be extremely useful however it has significant limitations. Its data rapidly goes out of date and only provides a picture of the UK population decennially. For example, wards A and B have experienced population change within the past ten years due to new housing developments therefore the 2001 census data may now be unrepresentative. For this reason a population estimate (appendix 1.2) based on expected births and deaths is often a valuable tool but must be used with caution as it is only a guide to what may happen if past trends continue. From the data it is clear that this borough has an ageing population but it is also notable that the percentage of the population under 5 years in both wards A and B is significantly higher than the regional and national percentages. This perhaps underlines the importance of the role of the health visitor in these wards. Appendix 1.3 illustrates that the combined male and female life expectancy for wards A and B are significantly lower than the North Tyneside and national figures. It is particularly alarming to note that some of those in ward A could potentially expect to live for seven years less than some living merely a few miles away in other parts of North Tyneside. The poor life expectancy of wards A and B may be due to the condition of their general health. These wards have worse general health than North Tyneside and England (appendix 1.4). That is, a greater percentage of those in wards A and B report poor health compared with locally and nationally. However Sen (2002) argues that there are complications in the self assessment of health because a persons own understanding of their health may differ from that of the healthcare professional. Therefore additional statistics should be used to assess health status. The prevalence of long-term health conditions in wards A and B as reported by the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF) is also shown in appendix 1.5. Ward A has a higher prevalence of conditions such as coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer all of which contribute to lower life expectancy. Indeed CHD is the biggest cause of preventable death in England (British Heart Foundation, 2010). In contrast ward B has a similar prevalence of long-term conditions to that of the national. However data from within the QOF has several limitations. For example QOF was not originally designed as a research tool and its data is not externally validated. It has also been suggested that QOF data may be more favourably presented with the aim of maximising practice income (Ashworth et al., 2008) yet Doran et al. (2011) found that financial incentives had little impact upon the data. Further limitations include that prevalence data is not standardised for age and sex and that many patients appear simultaneously on more than one disease register (Ashworth et al., 2008). Mental health was seen as having equal importance to physical health for the first time in 2010 (GBDH 2010c). It was recognised that inequality contributes to mental health and in turn mental health can cause further inequality. Consequently tackling mental health is now a key priority for the Government (GBDH, 2011b). It is difficult to determine the exact prevalence of mental health disorders but there are indicators to reflect the situation in North Tyneside (appendix 1.6). For example benefit claims for mental health disorders along with hospital admissions due to self harm and mortality rates due to suicide are significantly greater in North Tyneside than England. Social The Marmot Review (2010) emphasised the correlation between lower social position and poor health. The social grade of those living in wards A and B is shown in appendix 2.1. Almost a quarter of those living in these wards are of lowest social grade compared with just 16% of people nationally. Marmot called for action to reduce social gradients in order to improve the health of communities like those living in wards A and B. Appendix 2.2 shows the measure of deprivation for wards A and B from the 2001 census. It is clear that both wards rank as some of most deprived in the country but as discussed earlier the census data is extremely out of date. After the 2001 census local super output areas (LSOAs) were created to improve reporting of small area statistics as it was thought that wards vary too much in size (ONS, 2011). The English Indices of Deprivation 2010 ranked LSOAs according to their deprivation level. It has undergone a range of procedures to assure its quality as well as being externally validated. According to the index North Tyneside is ranked as 113 out of 326 boroughs in England and is one of the least deprived areas in the North East. However within the borough there are pockets of extreme deprivation which fall into the 10% most deprived areas in England (ONS, 2011). It is difficult to determine ward level deprivation using LSOAs because they do not fit exactly into ward boundaries. Never theless appendix 2.3 shows estimates of the deprivation levels of wards A and B using a best fit geographical alignment combined with averaging the LSOA scores. It shows that these wards have been ranked as the most deprived wards in North Tyneside (North Tyneside Council, 2011). It has long been known that there is a relationship between deprivation and poor health (Marmot, 2010). In a social context this may be because a more deprived community is more likely to offer health risks such as higher crime rates (appendix 2.4) and poor housing. Research has shown that poor housing is associated with greater risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and mental health conditions. The poorest communities are often made up from estates of mostly socially rented housing (Marmot, 2010). Indeed appendix 2.5 shows that wards A and B have a significantly higher percentage of people living in socially rented accommodation than regionally and nationally. Those who live in social housing have been found to have increased unemployment rates, poor health and disability than the rest of the population (Clarke et al., 2008). There is also evidence to suggest that children living in social housing have a greater risk of disadvantage in adult life (Feinstein et al., 2008, Harker, 2006). Further, poor housing conditions like overcrowding can influence health. Appendix 2.6 illustrates the increased problem of overcrowding in wards A and B relative to North Tyneside and England. Economic Social gradient in communities is also affected by patterns of employment. Appendix 3.1 shows employment levels in wards A and B and it is clear that the percentage unemployed is significantly higher in these wards than in the rest of North Tyneside and England. Evidence suggests that the unemployed have considerably increased health risks including higher incidence of limiting long term conditions and mental health problems (Thomas et al., 2005; Gallo et al., 2006). In addition Jin et al. (1997) demonstrated a relationship between unemployment and decreased life expectancy although this research is dated. Perhaps it could be said that the poorer health and decreased life expectancy of wards A and B previously discussed may be linked to their high levels of unemployment. Physical and mental health is also affected by low paid, poor quality employment. Appendix 3.2 illustrates that the percentage of those in elementary, low level employment is greater in wards A and B than regionally and nationally. There are also less people working in managerial and professional roles in these wards. Further, those with few or no qualifications have the highest rates of unemployment and poor quality employment (Marmot, 2010). Appendix 3.3 clearly shows that wards A and B have a significantly greater proportion of people with no formal qualifications than figures for North Tyneside, North East and England. There is a well established link between income and poor health because those with lower incomes cannot buy items that maintain health and have to buy cheaper goods that could elevate health risks (Marmot, 2010). Appendix 3.4 shows that the average weekly income is less in wards A and B than the average for the North East. Unfortunately there is no data available for North Tyneside or England to enable comparison. The data discussed above forms a picture of the economic factors that influence health in my community. The data is from the census 2001 and as previously stated it is ten years out of date. Consequently a greatly significant limitation of the data is that it will not reflect changes caused by the recent economic downturn. Therefore wards A and B could currently have worsened levels of unemployment and income however this cannot be confirmed until the results of the 2011 census are published. Environmental An important factor in reducing health inequality is creating an environment where people can live healthily. Those who live near areas of green space such as parks can have improved health and wellbeing (Croucher et al., 2007). Green space may also encourage social integration, physical activity and improve quality of air. Appendix 4.1 shows a decreased percentage of green space areas in wards A and B compared to the borough. Another contributing factor to the creation of a healthy living environment is reducing cold housing. The cold is thought to be the main cause of extra deaths each year during the winter (Marmot, 2010). It is clear that the ability to afford to keep a warm home is crucial in the prevention of these deaths. Appendix 4.2 shows the percentage of households with central heating in wards A and B. Ward B has a significantly lower percentage of households with central heating than regionally and nationally. This data is again out of date and will not reflect recent rises in fuel costs. In November 2008 the increased price of fuel caused fuel poverty in more than half of single pensioners and two thirds of workless households (Bradshaw et al., 2008). This is important to note considering the ageing population of North Tyneside and the high unemployment levels of wards A and B. Finally appendix 4.3 shows information regarding car ownership. Wards A and B have a lower percentage of households without a car than North Tyneside and England. In fact the percentage of those with no car in these wards is double that of England. Transport is vital because it enables access to employment, education, services and social networks (GBDT, 2004). Transport also has an impact on health inequalities when considering deaths from road traffic accidents (RTAs). RTAs are thought to be particularly high among children who live in the most deprived areas in England (GBDT, 2009). However appendix 4.4 shows that the rate of injuries and deaths from RTAs is much lower in North Tyneside compared with England although data at ward level is unavailable. Lifestyle Lifestyle choices have a huge impact on health. England has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe (WHO, 2012). It is linked with increased risk of conditions such as diabetes, cancer and mental health problems (GBDH 2011c). The percentage of obese adults in North Tyneside is significantly higher than the national average and there are less healthy eating adults locally than nationally (appendix 5.1). This data is from the Health Survey for England (HSE) and is based on a sample of the population therefore estimates are subject to sampling error. In contrast to the findings above the Active People Survey found that the percentage of physically active adults in North Tyneside is greater than that of England (appendix 5.1) but this data also has several limitations. Firstly it is not age standardised and it is likely that those who are younger undertake the recommended levels of physical activity. Secondly the survey is self reported so may be subject to responder bias. Finally the data does not include active recreation such as housework or active transport. There is great concern over the trends for childhood obesity in England and more than 20% of children are overweight or obese by the age of 3 (Rudolph, 2009). Appendix 5.2 contains data from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) which shows that wards A and B have higher percentages of obese children in year 6 than nationally. But the NCMP has a considerably low participation level therefore it is likely that some prevalence of childhood obesity figures are underestimated. Indeed there were a much lower number of children measured in the North East than any other region. There may also be an element of selection bias particularly with the year 6s where those who do not participate are those most likely to be obese. These limitations must be addressed in order to improve accuracy of the data. Smoking is the single greatest preventable cause of illness and premature death in England (GBDH 2011) but 1 in 5 adults remain smokers (Robinson and Bugler 2010). Appendix 5.3 shows that the prevalence of smokers is greater in North Tyneside than England. This data could be affected by responder bias as it is self reported and therefore lead to underestimation of the prevalence of smoking. Regular heavy drinking has caused a huge increase in liver disease and is currently the fifth biggest cause of death in England (GBDH 2011). Appendix 5.4 illustrates that the rate of alcohol related hospital admissions in North Tyneside is much higher than the national average. It also shows that the rate of alcohol specific hospital stays for those under 18 in the borough is double that of England. In addition 33% of people were found to binge drink in North Tyneside compared with just 20% in England. Clearly harm from alcohol is a huge concern for the borough. Appendix 5.5 demonstrates the higher rate of under 18 conceptions in North Tyneside than England. Teenage pregnancy is a major social concern as teenage mothers are at increased risk of poverty, poor health and lower educational attainment. They are also considerably less likely to breastfeed and access services (DfE, 2006). The evidence also shows that children born to teenagers have greater chance of experiencing a range of negative outcomes later in life (GBDH, 2008). Breastfeeding has a huge positive impact on the health of both mother and baby (Wilson et al., 1998; Horta et al., 2007; Quigley et al., 2012). But for the past fifty years the UK has had some of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world (WHO, 2010) even though UK policy clearly promotes breastfeeding (GBDH, 2003; NICE, 2008; GBDH, 2012). Breastfeeding is a huge factor in promoting public health and reducing health inequalities as there is increasing recognition that women from lower socio-economic groups have decreased rates of breastfeeding. Indeed appendix 5.6 shows breastfeeding statistics for North Tyneside and it is evident that both breastfeeding initiation and prevalence at 6-8 weeks are significantly decreased in the borough compared with nationally. It would be interesting to compare with ward level data however this is currently unavailable. The data is considered accurate however there remain some limitations. For example the initiation data is susceptible to observe r and measurement bias because it based on observation by the midwives or nurses who record the data and interpret whether or not breastfeeding has been initiated. Similarly the number of infants who are totally or partially breastfed at the 6-8 week check is also based on observation so the same bias may arise. The method of data collection also assumes that all infants whose breastfeeding status is unknown are not breastfed resulting in underestimation of its prevalence. Even so it is obvious that low breastfeeding rates are of significant concern for the borough. Step 3 This section will focus on the identification of a health need for action. The concept of need in relation to HNA can be discussed using the frequently quoted taxonomy of need by Bradshaw (1972) which considers: Normative need perceptions of what professionals, experts or commissioners define as need based on available data. Felt need perceptions of what the profiled population feel that they need. Expressed need demand of the profiled population or felt need turned into action. Comparative need the need found by those who receive a service. When selecting a priority for action HNA should balance these different needs (Thurtle, 2008; Cavanagh and Chadwick 2005). Therefore a significant limitation of this HNA is that only normative need is taken into account as only quantitative research is used. The incorporation of qualitative research would address felt, expressed and comparative need and greatly strengthen this HNA. It is evident from step 2 that North Tyneside has many health needs. Those of highest priority appear to be mental health, adult and childhood obesity, smoking, alcohol intake, teenage conceptions and breastfeeding. As an aspiring health visitor the priority that if addressed could have the greatest impact and changeability in my community is breastfeeding. As discussed previously breastfeeding is supported by much evidence for the short and long term health benefits for both mother and baby (UNICEF, 2012). The government recognises the importance of improving initiation and prevalence of breastfeeding and it has been included in the Public Health Outcomes Framework 2013-2015 to encourage the prioritisation of local breastfeeding support. Yet as illustrated in step 2 North Tyneside has extremely poor rates of breastfeeding. There are also more teenage mothers in the borough and wards A and B are areas of extreme deprivation. Research has found that females under 20 demonstrate the lowest incidence of breastfeeding (Infant Feeding Survey, 2010) and that there is a relationship between low rates of breastfeeding and socioeconomic deprivation (Dyson et al., 2010). Current services to promote breastfeeding in North Tyneside include breastfeeding support groups and a breastfeeding coordinator who visits the homes of breastfeeding mothers to provide one on one support. However the support groups are based mainly in more affluent areas and the coordinator has a massive caseload often failing to see many struggling mothers. Perhaps the supporting and influencing of disadvantaged younger mothers would be easier if the NHS embraced the technology that these people use on a daily basis. The proposed action of this HNA is to use social media to engage with hard to reach mothers to provide breastfeeding information and support. Social media is a modern, convenient and cost effective method of communication. Research from OFCOM (2012) showed that in the past year 50% of adults used the internet to access social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. In addition social networking has now overtaken text messaging as the most used method of communication among 16-24 year olds in the last two years. A study for the NHS Confederation (2012) recommended that health organisations should act immediately to avoid falling behind and to use social media to become communitarians that is, to engage, listen, respond and support communities. There is a significant lack of literature concerning social media and the N HS but Hawker (2010) suggests that some health organisations are starting to become more digitally connected. Still it is clear that a vast amount of further research in this area must be undertaken. In conclusion this HNA has identified breastfeeding as an urgent priority for intervention in my community. The proposed action is to take advantage of social media opportunities in order to engage with young or disadvantaged mothers who require breastfeeding support and advice. Indeed the Health Visitor Implementation Plan (2011) called for more innovative approaches to the profession. Incorporating such a change into health visiting practice would of course be a huge challenge that would require planning, funding and training of staff. But now is the time to develop a new service vision and to embrace these opportunities. This will establish health visiting as a central part of community health, working with families to improve health equity and life chances.