The Causes and Effects of Stress - 1901 Words

â€Å"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder†. This is a saying that carries the meaning that one’s beauty is perceived differently through different eyes or different individuals. What may seem beautiful to one person may not be beautiful to another. The same goes for the statement that â€Å"Stress is in the eyes of the beholder†. Stress from the perspective of poetry is the emphasis that falls on certain syllables and not others; the arrangement of stresses within a poem is the foundation of poetic rhythm. The process of working out which syllables in a poem are stressed is known as scansion; once a metrical poem has been scanned, it should be possible to see the matter. In psychology, stress is a feeling of strain and pressure. Stress in general is something that is always taken as a bad, negative or deadly issue. Just the word may be enough to set your nerves on edge. Stress is recognized as the number 1 proxy killer disease today. The American Medical Associ ation has noted that stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease. The truth is, it is something that can actually be altered into something positive. It is up to us whether we would allow stress to pull us down and pull us backwards or we could use stress as a trigger in pushing us forward and lifting us higher. Everyone feels stressed from time to time. Some people may cope with stress more effectively or recover from stressful events quicker than others. There are both healthy unhealthyShow MoreRelatedCause And Effect Of Stress1029 Words   |  5 Pagesthe day of the week? Why adults cannot be as happy as little kids? Why college or school students have a sleepless night before the exam? The answer is stress. Stress has become a normal part of our life and its negative effects are increasing with such a fast rate that after a few decades or so, it is going to be the leading cause of death. Stress as defined â€Å"is an internal state which can be caused by the physical demands of the body .e.g. disease conditions, exercise, and the like or by environmentalRead MoreCause And Effects Of Stress1349 Words   |  6 Pages Causes and Effects of Stress According to HeartMath LLC,â€Å"Stress is the basic cause of 60% of all human illness and disease†. Stress is a huge problem in the world today and effects many people. Everyone has different stress triggers. For example, work, school, and children are all parts of life that many people struggle with and cause them to go into overload. Stress take a toll on many people s bodies and can cause serious problems like high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and heart diseaseRead MoreStress : Causes, Effects, And Treatments1429 Words   |  6 PagesStress: Causes, Effects, and Treatments INTRODUCTION Stress is a major component of people’s lives at some point or another. Stress is a state of mental and/or emotional tension as a result of demanding circumstances and events. Stress has an impact on humans physically and psychologically. There are different types of stress including: acute, episodic acute, and chronic. Acute is the most common form of stress and it only has temporary effects, episodic is a more frequent form of acute stressRead MoreEssay on Stress: Causes And Effects797 Words   |  4 PagesStress: Causes and Effects   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, stress is defined as an unpleasant stateRead MoreStress : The Causes, Effects, And Remedies1755 Words   |  8 PagesStress: The Causes, Effects, and Remedies Stress is a common issue many people face today. Several studies have been done on various groups to explain their stress and the effect it has on their lives. Stress can have short-term and long-term effects which can impact physical and psychological health. Research shows that stress is connected to nearly 90 percent of health issues (Naseer, 2016). It is vital for stress to be managed and reduced for health purposes, but to do that, it must be fullyRead MoreCause and Effect of Stress in Young Children1162 Words   |  5 PagesDetermining Causes and Effects- Draft Version Jacqueline C. Winfield Professor Leverett Butts English Composition- ENG 115 Friday, November 22, 2012 Young children are not always the first people we think of when it comes to the stress factor. We tend to believe that they are living in their best years, however with changes in economic situations such as parents not remaining married, being exposed to violence, and even feeling the need to belong a child can become overwhelmed. AccordingRead MoreTeens : The Causes And Effects Of Teen Stress1309 Words   |  6 PagesEvery year, because of stress from exams, 40 students kill themselves (Singh). A 15 year-old student in India hung herself in her room, the day before an exam and left a note which tells how she ended her life because she was â€Å"... unable to secure first rank in examination†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Correspondent). This is one of the examples of how stress causes many health problems in teens from being overworked in school and too many responsibilities at home. Most teens today feel the pressure from juggling schoolworkRead MoreCauses And Effects Of Stress In College Students901 Words   |  4 Pagesor go a different route in life. There are many causes and effects due to the amount of stress college students go through daily. I know this because Ive been a college student for about 3 months and experience stress almost every day. Three main causes why college students experience stress is because of academic stressors, social stressors, and daily hassles. Which leads to dropouts, weight issues, and unhealthy habits. The first type of stress that college students experience is academicallyRead MoreCauses and Effects of Work Related Stress613 Words   |  3 Pagesrelated stress Introduction: Work related stress is response to the conflict between work demand and individual’s needs. According to world health organization (WHO; 1986) When people are presented with work demands and pressures that is contrast to their knowledge and skills and challenge their abilities, those work demands and pressures result in the response called work related stress. Work related stress could occur at any level of organization including managers and lower faculty. Causes: NormallyRead MoreCauses and Effects of Stress on Our Lives808 Words   |  3 Pages People have felt stress. Stress is scientifically defined as any stimulus or condition that threatens the bodys homeostasis. Stress could be a negative or positive. People believe that thinking too much about things will make it go or help vanish the situation. Sometimes when thinking about things it can suddenly lead to being angry, mad or start screaming. People feeling angry or mad meaning that stress has overcome their life. Nowadays, people are wondering, what is stress? and why does it

Organic Agriculture, As Defined By The National Organic...

Organic Agriculture, as defined by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB): â€Å"Is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony.† Which is very fancily put for agriculture with as little man made input as possible trying to farm, as they perceive at least, the most beneficial to the environment in the agricultural setting. To do this, all uses of pesticides, herbicides, chemical nutrients, genetically modified seed, and the list goes on and on. The producer relies more heavily upon the application of manure and in most cases is forced into higher tillage to control weed pests. Although there is some other natural pest control methods, but the choices are pretty limited. Organic production’s man principle is to return organic matter back to the soil, as well as fetch premium market prices for their production. As for the history of the term â€Å"organic† and its association with agriculture as far as anyone can tell, at least in this country was around the 1940’s.( Gegner, L, Kuepper, G, 2004) Until 1962 Organic Agriculture really wasn’t something the general population knew about or even cared, but in 1962 Rachel Carson’s Silent spring came into print. The publication was a graphic statement about the harms of pesticides on the environment. This one book had aShow MoreRelatedEssay on Organic vs. Sustainable Agriculture1357 Words   |  6 PagesOrganic vs. Sustainable Agriculture Agriculture, to many is just an industry of farmers and cows. Most people can’t even come close to fathom just how essential the continuance of agriculture is to not just our well being, but our very lives. People of the United States have been spoiled, they’ve never had to worry about the grocery stores running empty because, even to this day, there hasn’t been a problem growing enough to feed, not only the U.S. but a good part of the world too. The day thoughRead MoreOrganic Food : A Popular Trend Among Americans1342 Words   |  6 Pagesconsumers, we are faced with an endless amount of variety when it comes to product choices. Within the last several years the organic food market has become a popular trend among Americans. In today’s supermarkets, organic foods are everywhere, as they are no longer limited to only upscale retailers. Large corporations are jumping on the bandwagon and bringing the organic industry to the mainstream market, making the pr oducts readily available to the average consumer. The movie Food Inc. portraysRead MoreEthical Issues Concerning Organic Certification and Labeling of the Food We Eat.2809 Words   |  12 PagesAre we truly being ethical consumers by buying organic food products? Ethical issues concerning organic certification and labeling of the food we eat. Abstract This paper explores the ethical issues concerning the certification of organic food products. Consumers have a higher tendency to purchase food products labeled as organic due to their concern for the environment and other purposes intended by organic foods. As such, the organic food market has seen an increasing growth trend in salesRead MoreOrganic Of Organic Food Industry1943 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Organic foods are foods that are processed without the use of synthetic materials such as pesticides, antibiotics and chemical fertilizers. National Organic Standards Board defined organic agriculture as; â€Å"An ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony† (Organic Trade AssociationRead MoreThe Omnivore s Dilemma By Michael Pollan2402 Words   |  10 Pagesaccountable of what is consumed daily. In order to understand fully where our food comes from, we must follow it back to the very beginning. Pollan goes on to discuss three different modern food chains in which we get our food: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. By tracing our food back to the beginning, we can understand that most of the nutritional and health problems America is going through today can be found on the farms that make our food and the government that can decideRead MoreVision, Goals, Values1775 Words   |  8 Pages1. Strategy - Vision, Goals, Values Vision A Plus Company will be the first winery to produce real organic red wine by providing no additive- and preservative-free-â€Å"Pureissimo† in California State. A Plus will sell real organic red wines in California and export into Chinese market, and build reputation for â€Å"Pureissimo†. Value A Plus will provide healthy red wines, which are no additive- and preservative-free. The red wines will taste more pure than regular red wines that with chemical flavor. ARead MoreWater And Sanitation Of Canada1729 Words   |  7 Pages2012). As this hard to reach water reaches the cities or towns, municipal water supply only accounts for 12% of water use in Canada (Water Uses 2013). The larger user of this finite source come form cooling plants (64%), manufacturing (14%) and agriculture (9%) (Water Uses 2013). As the United States have set federal water and sanitation in Canada these are set in provincial/territorial jurisdiction (CWWA 2012). Within the Constitution Act, 1867, the provinces have the right to any water resourcesRead MoreBusiness Plan for Coffee Export Company3308 Words   |  14 PagesBurundi coffee is unknown at international market. This is not because coffee growers cannot produce a good quality; it is simply because the coffee produced is not processed to meet the market standards. Burundi coffee company will work with coffee growers to produce specialty coffee by using high quality standards in the processing of the coffee cherry then market it to roasters in the US and Europe. What is the market size? Statistics from the International coffee organization show that there isRead MoreSustainable Living3906 Words   |  16 PagesSustainability itself is expressed as meeting present ecological, societal, and economical needs without compromising these factors for future generations. Sustainable living can therefore be described as living within the innate carrying capacities defined by two factors namely; Sustainable design and sustainable development which are critical factors to sustainable living. Sustainable design encompasses the development of appropriate technology, which is a staple of sustainable living practicesRead MoreImportance of Recruitment and Selection8450 Words   |  34 Pagesestablished and a significant number of human resources are employed in the organizations. Though more than 70% of its total population is still involved in cultivation of land, but no remarkable attempt has been made to manage the agriculturists for the national purpose. That is why Bangladesh is still a poor country. In Bangladesh, many public and private businesses, non-business and industrial organization has been emerged. My report â€Å"The Methods of Recruitment and Selection: A Case Study on Palmal

Macroeconomics Impact on Business Operations Free Essays

Macroeconomics is reflection of performance and structure of economics of a nation or a region. Gross Domestic Produce (GDP), consumption, unemployment, inflation, international trade etc come in ambit of Macroeconomics. Whereas, microeconomic is about actions of businesses (firms) and consumers in determining demand- supply/ prices at market place. We will write a custom essay sample on Macroeconomics Impact on Business Operations or any similar topic only for you Order Now A Business Operation is very much part of Macroeconomic activities cycle. Other than Business Operation or ‘Corporation’, other key elements of macroeconomic cycle are ‘household’, ‘workforce’, ‘government’ and ‘financial market’. For illustration, following aspect of macroeconomics directly impact a business function Increase in consumption: Positive macroeconomics indicates healthy economy which means high consumption or growing demand for products. High market demand for a product leads to opportunity for efficient business operations, and growth in top line of the business house. However there are industry specific business cycles which may have certain lead/ lag with the overall macroeconomic health of region/ country. International trade: Incase government promote imports by local industry, there is adverse impact on related business operation as increase in intensity of local competition asks for business to redefine their business strategy. Whereas any sop extended in macroeconomic policy for increasing exports would provide bigger market to the business, asking for increasing capacities and manpower. Monetary Policy: Monetary policy is an important lever with government to control supply of money in the system. Tightening of money supply by fed / apex bank impacts a corporate/ business considerably. For a business operation to raise debt at lower interest rates, macroeconomics of the country must be in healthy shape. Countries like Russia, Brazil etc have used monetary policy other macroeconomic measures to contain galloping inflation effectively. In nut shell each nation use macroeconomic measure to keep good economy health, efficient business operations and well being of public. References: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Olivier Blanchard (2000), Macroeconomics,. Prentice Hall 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Heijdra, B.J. and F. van der Ploeg (2002), Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, Oxford University Press    How to cite Macroeconomics Impact on Business Operations, Essay examples

Crew Resource Management (2056 words) Essay Example For Students

Crew Resource Management (2056 words) Essay Crew Resource ManagementCrew Resource Management : The majority of aircraft accidents are caused by human error and an accident or incident is linked together by a chain of errors. Most of these accidents could have been avoided by the crew if they would have been communicating to each other better. Some common errors that occur among the crew are poor task delegation, assertiveness, and distractions. Crew training in communication and teamwork will increase the crews performance level. Programs like Crew Resource Management (CRM) have been developed to try to help the crews work together and reduce the human factor in accidents. CRM includes training in leadership/followership, assertiveness, management, communication, teamwork, decision making and task delegation. Through programs like CRM crews learn to work together as a team and when they are working together it is less likely therell be an accident. INTORDUCTION : BackgroundThe cause for most aircraft accidents (65%) are by crew error (FAA News, 1996). When the Crews performance level is low due to poor teamwork and communication this is when accidents happen. How can crew error be reduced? Even though human error cant be reduced completely through constant training and effort by the crew performance will increase and accidents will be reduced.Purpose/AudienceThis report is intended for a general audience and will show how important it is for the flight and cabin crew to work together and communicate as a team. This report will also examine the CRM program.SourcesSources have been obtained for this report from the Internet and from the Waldo Library, Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo, Michigan.ScopeTeamwork and communication are a critical factor in the crews operation of aircraft. Accidents can be prevented when these two factors are considered. COLLECTED DATA : Importance of Communication among the CrewPeople communicate to each other every day. From a kids talking to their parents abouttheir report card, to doctors working in an operating room. In order for us to understand one another we must be clear in what we say. For instance, if a doctor tells a nurse to pull a certain plug on a machine, hed better be clear on what he says or the nurse might end up harming a patient. Likewise, the cabin and flight crew must work together. In a typical cockpit the flight crew is very busy and they need to be well organized to handle the many tasks they perform. They need to communicate properly and clearly for safe operations, if they dont their actions could result in a tragedy.Main Cause of Aircraft AccidentsMechanical problems and technical malfunctions do contribute to aircraft accidents, but human error is the main cause, accounting for 65% of the accidents (FAA News, 1996). This figure is quite high, and if it were possible to reduce human error the accident rate would drop significantly. Accidents that occur because of human error are not a direct result of just one error but of a chain of errors. The human error chain results when one bad decision leads to another which leads to the accident. The question is, how can we reduce human error in the cockpit? Studies have shown that most incidents could have been prevented if communication and leadership skills were improved. Duties of Crew MembersIn order to have a clear understanding of whos involved in the crew, these positions with their duties will be discussed. There are usually 2-3 flight crew members and 1-3 flight attendants aboard an airliner. In the flight deck are the Captain, Co-pilot and flight engineer. When there are only two flight crew members theres no flight engineer. (This is to reduce costs). The Captain is the Pilot in Command (PIC). He/she has the final authority of all decisions and all responsibility rest on his/her shoulders. The Co-pilot assists the Captain in his/her duties, like calculating fuel consumptions, weight and balance, navigation etc. He/she is Second in Command (SIC). The Flight Engineer helps reduce the work load of the Captain and Co-pilot. Some of his/her duties may include fuel consumption rate, weight and balance and communicating with the cabin crew. The cabin crew consists of the Flight Attendants. Dubliners (1330 words) Essay After all they too are a part of the team.Trusting the Crews JudgmentTrusting each others judgment is a necessity. Without it, how can the crew work together? The Captain must be able to trust that his/her crew is performing their duties properly and vise/versa. Besides having authority the Captain is also the leader. He/she is the one when emergency situations arise pulls the crew together to work as a team even when they dont know each other. A true leader is willing to listen to others, be respectful and be able to take command. Crew Resource Management (CRM)A program called Crew Resource Management (CRM) has been developed to help implement this leadership, communication and decision making skills in crew members. Since the main cause of accidents is due to human error it is hoped that through CRM training crew members will communicate and work together more effectively. CRM is not required by the FAA, but it is recommended. Many airlines are having their crews go through this training and they look highly on pilots who not only posse the technical skills but also the people skills.Outline of CRM TrainingIn years past emphasis was put on the technical, stick and rudder aspects of flying. In recent years it has become evident that these skills by themselves are not enough, but that training in people skills is needed. That is what CRM is about. It provides crews training in1. Communication2. Decision making3. Assertiveness4. Leadership/Followership5. Teamwork6. Task Delegation7. ManagingCrew members going through CRM training will attend classroom instruction, watch videos and participate in role playing on these subjects (FAA- AC, 1995).LOFT TrainingBecause crews rarely work together more than once and dont have time to build a commodity, using the Line Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) simulator crews practice managing a cockpit with members theyve never met (Chute Wiener I,1996). This simulator is like virtual reality. Pilots sit in a cockpit where the windows are where the video screen is, all the buttons and knobs work. (Pilot has come out of these LOFT simulators sweating, because what theyve just experienced seemed so real). In LOFT crews can fly routes and have emergency situations come up, like an engine failure, deteriorating weather, and navigation problems. The benefit about LOFT is that its a simulator, theres no danger involved and yet the crew still learns (Helm Reich, 1996). Crews going through LOFT training are evaluated on how well they handled the different situations, communication with each other and task delegation. These training sessions are videotaped so the crew can debrief afterwards how well they did and what they need to change.Organize Resources and PrioritiesCrew members are not only leaders but also managers. They must be able to use their time and resources wisely. Theres only so many tasks that one person can handle and be efficient at the same time. Thats why Captains need to know when to delegate duties and when to notice that another has too many. Also, they need to prioritize, know what duties are the most important and when they need to be done. This is all part of being a leader and manager.CONCLUSIONHuman error is the main cause of aircraft accidents, and its a chain of errors that sets the accident into motion. Poor flight and cabin crew communication does exist. A program called Crew Resource Management has been developed to improve teamwork, proper task delegation, communication and trust among the crew. Interpretation of the Findings the need for crew communication is evident. When crews dont work together their performance level is low and this is when they are vulnerable to accidents. Programs like CRM are very helpful in instilling these principles and breaking the bad habits. Poor attitudes and habits cant be changed overnight. Thats why there is a need for recurrent CRM training. Communication and teamwork is the key to safe and effective operations. Theres no I in CREW but there is WE

Reintroduction Essays - Wolf Reintroduction,

Reintroduction Of Wolves The Reintroduction of Wolves In my opinion, wolves should be able to live and survive in the wild. Ranchers do need to consider that wolves have a major influence in our eco system. Grizzly bears fed on elk carcass only in the spring. Now there is more carcasses available year round. A lot of animals have died due to lack of food. Recently the Mexican Gray wolf was brought into New Mexico from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Hopefully, they will survive and adapt. Since wolves have a strong natural instinct to return home, they should in time successfully establish new territories here. Wolves are very family orientated and feel safe living near their family. Man continues to be the wolves worst enemy. This is sad and unfortunate because wolves are already on the Endangered Species List. At one time gray wolves lived in forty-eight states and Mexico. Today gray wolves are mostly in Minnesota. The attempts at reestablishing wolves in Yellowstone is still undetermined. Many ranchers objected. Activities such as hunting, farming and logging have contributed to the wolves extinction. As Lorenz states in The Dove and The Wolf, "we did not receive our weapons from nature. We made them ourselves, of our own free will." (526) The list of endangered species is growing rapidly in much of the world and rates of extinction are likely to rise as human population rises. The fate of the wolf is up to us and our willingness to share the earth with wild animals. We can encourage young people to discover nature and explore and examine wild life. Such understanding will never replace what is lost but will insure what remains. The spirit and mystery seen in the eyes of a wolf should be all the incentive we need.

Industrialization essays

Industrialization essays a. Why were the Indians treated so unjustly? (12) The American settlers greed was the basis for the injustice forced upon the Indians. At first the Americans simply wanted the land that could be used to grow or create products. Then the Indians were viewed as hostile enemies. This was unfair because the Americans were too greedy to give the Indians the supplies they were promised; therefore, the Indians attacked. The Indians also attacked because the Americans put them on reservations so the settlers could have the rest of the land. The hunters of the West were also forced serious injustice on the Indians. They killed the buffalo by the millions for their hides. The buffalo were the Indians source of food, consequently the Indians were forced to move to reservations. b. Why was the evolving cattle industry so profitable? (10) The low cost and high output of the cattle industry made it extremely profitable. Buffalo grass, which grew year round and through droughts, grew on the Great Plains, which made it unnecessary for ranchers to buy food for the cattle. Cattle could be used as food or a labor force. They could also be sold to the Indians who had no choices for food because they were stuck on the reservations. Cattle could be raised cheaply in the Plains and sold to the railroad workers and the troops guarding the workers. c. Why did farmers and sheep ranchers create problems in the West? (12) d. Why was the railroad essential there? (10) The lack of natural resources, other than land, made railroads essential. There werent many trees in the West so would had to be sent by railroad to farmers and ranchers. Water was also a necessity for the settlers which could not be found easily. Railroads helped to supply them with this essential resource. Settlers could not find enough food during the winter, but the railroads could bring supplies for them. Farmers used the railroad to get their crops ...

Managerial Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managerial Economics - Assignment Example 4) the content of MBA programs available in colleges or universities in the Kansas City area (With my limited resources and time, are there MBA programs that can take me in?). Q2: I bought an iPod, a tube of toothpaste and a branded pair of shoes. Elasticity measures the change in demand with a change in price. I bought the iPod (as did four friends) because prices went down, so the demand for iPods is elastic. I bought toothpaste because I ran out of it, even if the price went up by a few cents, so demand is perfectly inelastic because I had no choice unless I wanted my social life to suffer. I bought the shoes because I liked the brand, so this purchase is relatively inelastic. I bought it as the price seemed just right. These reasons – price discount, need and brand desire – made demand elastic (iPod) or inelastic (toothpaste and shoes). Q3: Price discrimination is the practice of charging customers different prices for the same product because of factors like capacity to pay, geography or order size. Some universities practice price discrimination with financial aid, allowing them to charge rich kids higher fees and extending scholarships or tuition discounts to students from poorer families. If a theater showing Avatar charges less if they watch before 6:00 p.m., then it practices price discrimination to encourage more viewers on off-peak hours. Would I watch before 6:00 p.m.? It would depend on whether I am available, how much I can save, and what entertainment substitutes there are. The benefits of the lower price must be equal to or exceed the costs of my availing it. 1. List four factors that affect the demand for MBA degrees in the greater Kansas city area and How those factors affect the demand for MBA. Not that I am not asking about company hiring a person who has a MBA degree, I am asking about a person like you who is pursing a MBA degree. 2. List three things you purchased in past two weeks and tell whether your demand for goods or

Foreign direct investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Foreign direct investment - Essay Example Foreign direct investment refers to a direct investment into production or business within a country by an entity in another country, either by purchasing a company within a target country, or by broadening operations of a present business within that country. The reasons that may make exporting unfeasible include cheaper producing abroad, reducing transportation costs, lack of domestic capacity such as when demand exceeds the capacity, the need to alter products and services, trade restrictions, and country of origin effects (OECD 57). There are three critical reasons for entities to seek a controlling interest; internalization theory (self-handling of operations), appropriation theory (denying rivals or potential rivals access to resources such as trademarks, capital, patents, and management know-how), and freedom to seek global objectives (participate in global or transnational strategy) (Nicholls 42). Reasons for buying existing operations entail avoiding start-up problems, getti ng an immediate cash flow instead of tying up capital, and gaining easier financing. Overall, the motives for collaborative arrangements entail to spread and reduce costs, specialize within distinct competencies, avoiding or counter competition, learning from other companies (gain knowledge), and securing vertical and/or horizontal linkages. The international motives for undertaking collaborative arrangements encompass aspects such as gaining location-specific assets, diversifying geographically, overcoming governmental constraints, and minimizing exposure in risky environments (Nicholls 44). Companies utilize equity and non-equity arrangements that can range from wholly owned subsidiaries, equity alliances, licensing, franchising, management contracts, turnkey operations, and joint ventures. Foreign direct investment is perceived as a means of enhancing the efficiency with which the world’s scarce resources are employed. Foreign direct investment

Nurse Led Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Nurse Led - Essay Example -led clinics also conduct home visits with the patient and their family in order to evaluate their medications and to secure adequate follow-up and verify patient’s stability (Schader, et.al., 2008). They also maintain contact with family to address ongoing health issues and care transitions. The nurses in the nurse-led clinics coordinate patient care with physicians, ensuring that they would receive adequate and timely care appropriate to their condition and their related physical attributes (Rydeman and Tornkvist, 2005). For the more specific management of diseases, nurses in nurse led clinics assist in the patient’s self-management. These nurses support patient’s efforts in self-managing diabetes by engaging with the emotional context within which the patients live with their condition (Furler, 2008). They work with patients in a way which is consistent with how they incorporate self-care into their daily lives. These nurses also go through critical self-reflection while they are managing their patient’s condition in order to prevent the devaluation of the other support structures for diabetes. As implied from the above discussion, nurse-led clinics can be seen in the community and out-patient setting. They are often based in the rural areas or isolated areas which cannot easily access medical or hospital care. In the community setting, they provide support for hospital and doctor services. D. (2008). The emotional context of self-management in chronic illness: A qualitative study of the role of health professional support in the self-management of type 2 diabetes. BMC Health Services Research, volume 8

Personal Illness Narratives: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Personal Illness Narratives: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Introduction This essay employs excerpts from the narrative of a 38 year old woman named Francesca, a lady who has been given a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to illustrate key concepts form the sociological, and psychological literature. This approach will illustrate the writers ability to critically appraise the literature, its relevance to the narrative in question, and using narrative, places these concepts within a real life clinical situation. This in turn provides insight into the value of narrative as a methodological approach in the 21st Century and how it intertwines with the rich tapestry of sociological theories and concepts that are available to the researcher studying the current sociological evidence base. For the purpose of this assignment, peer reviewed articles and textbooks were searched within the past 10 years. The work introduces RA as a clinical entity (pivotal to understanding the comments of Francesca) and goes on to outline the use of narrative, particularly its utility in the study of chronic disease. The essay then goes on to cover some key important issues, namely: The biomedical versus the sociological approach of illness management The Study of Personal Illness Narratives Sociological perspectives on depression Chronic Illness and Disability Social construction of medical knowledge and the Politics of Disability Labelling Stigma. For each of the above, concepts are presented and mapped against selected statements from the narrative of Francesca (written in italics for clarity). These statements illustrate real world data gleaned from Francesca; valuable comments that are grounded in the experiences of a person living with a chronic disease. The work also contains an appendix comprising a reflective postscript which outlines the way that the work evolved from earliest outline, to the finished product. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects not only the synovial joints but multiple body systems (Goodacre 2008). The exact cause of RA remains unknown; it is a disease that affects more women than men, often of a young or middle age demographic unlike osteoarthritis which affects predominately older people. RA follows a somewhat unpredictable course of exacerbations and remissions. RA carries huge psychological problems in view of its unknown aetiology, uncertain prognosis, and loss of function. Additional symptoms include early morning stiffness, pain, limitation of activities of daily living, and socio- economic problems inasmuch as it may have a severe impact upon a persons ability to work and function in society (Kojima et al 2009). The discussion now begins with a section on models of illness. Biomedical and biopsychosocial models of disease The biomedical model of health takes the reductionist view that people are biological entities (Lewis 2009 p745). In the clinical management of RA there is some merit in this biomedical approach, for example the monitoring of inflammatory mediators in the blood as a marker of disease activity or responses to drug intervention is well established in the literature (Lee Kim 2009). This biomedical approach is reinforced by the GP comments from the narrative, i.e. That there was no cure and that the tablets were the key to preserving normal function. This approach may contribute to Francescas frustration, as it ignores the wider psychological and sociological ramifications of living with a chronic debilitating disease such as RA. It is unclear form the narrative whether the GP tempered his comments by adding that there are means by which the signs and symptoms of RA can be successfully managed. Critical appraisal of the literature reveals that biopsychosocial models advocate a more holistic view of illness, for example according to Smith (2002) the biopsychosocial model seeks to address not only the client and his or her illness but also their capacity to deal with being ill. The value of adopting the narrative approach as part of the biomedical model is effectively illustrated at the point where Francesca states I just burst into tears At the perceived effect that this illness will have upon her loss of function in the future. So whereas the biomedical model will operationalise function using objective outcome measures, here the use of narrative permits a biopsychosocial approach that provides rich client centred data on how it feels to be diagnosed with chronic and currently incurable disease. This in turn can help to inform our understanding of Rheumatoid arthritis as a disease thereby influencing the social construction of medical knowledge by giving voice to service users (Balen et al 2009). The Study of Personal Illness Narratives. Illness narratives concern a persons views and beliefs about their illnesses and the effect on their lives (HydÃÆ'Â ©n 2007). There is increasing acceptance and recognition of the valuable role that such grounded narratives play in understanding the journeys that people with chronic diseases such as RA have to embark upon if they are to manage their illness on a day to day basis. For example Haidet et al (2006) found in a narrative study of people with diabetes that people narrated four illness-management strategies whose story elements were in dynamic interplay, each with unique variations for each individual revealing a level of complexity that had not been previously described. As a method, narrative provides rich data (Furman Cavers 2005; Poindexter 2002) and in this case gives a voice to Francesca that would otherwise remain unheard (Grills 1998).Much can be gleaned from studying Francescas narrative, for example Francesca begins to paint a picture of her hopes and fears upon being given a diagnosis of RA combined with an insight into her past and thoughts about the future. Francescas narrative provides us valuable insight into her views of the self- a key component of narrative (Voilmer 2005), her relationships to others, and how these relationships have changed or may change in the future. In her narrative Francesca gives us some insight into the pain of living with rheumatoid arthritis, in her comments we can detect also a stark dichotomy in that she notes how healthy she had been in the past then uses the term Excruciating to describe her current pain, thus Francescas narrative hints at the loss of self in that she will no longer be a dancer or even a valid spouse as exemplified by the narrative quote. I wont be the woman he fell in love with Here she literally describes herself as becoming another person. Here Francesca is able to provide the reader or researcher with valuable information on the loss of the self, which resonates with other narrative research (Roe Davidson 2005; Doba et al 2007). Francesca goes further and also hints at the change in her illness self concept (ISC) that is to say the extent to which a person is defined or consumed by their disease or disability (Morea et al 2008). Francesca also hints at the concept of disease as a biographical disruption, described by Bury, this is said to occur when a persons planned future cannot unfold as planned. (Bury 1982); will he even want to marry me? Im too young to have this. What makes Francescas narrative particularly interesting is the fact that she is a twin; this may emphasise any change in self since she has in essence an unchanging control (her twin sibling) to against which to compare herself as her disease, her self identity (and possibly disability) progresses. The next section outlines sociological perspectives on depression. Sociological perspectives on depression. Francescas depression is likely to be multifactorial; for example there is evidence that the disease RA itself causes depression (Kojima et al 2009) as will living with pain. From a sociological perspective Francescas strained personal relationships may contribute to depression, for example her fear of being rejected as a potential spouse (Waite Gallagher 2001), see below. will he even want to marry me? This feeds in to the earlier section on biomedical versus biopsychosocial models of health and illness and the different paradigms or world views in which they are situated. A biomedical explanation of depression is likely to focus on the biochemical aspects of the person whilst a more sociological approach would acknowledge the impact of socio economics, personal relationships and so on (Covic et al 2003). Caution is needed however here since the short excerpt of narrative that we have provides no direct evidence that Francesca is in fact depressed, indeed a review of the literature suggests that there is a tendency to over diagnose depression (Parker 2007). Chronic Illness and Disability. A chronic incurable disease such as RA would require Francesca to make significant adjustments to her life over time. The sociological literature now provides increasingly refined conceptualisations of these adjustments, acknowledging that the experience of chronic disease necessitates adaptations in multiple domains of the persons life. This adjustment is often referred to as a trajectory (Stanton et al. 2007). This concept, introduced by the sociologist Strauss in an attempt to capture experiences and behaviours occurring in response to chronic illness (Strauss Corbin 1998), goes beyond depicting the physiologic unfolding of disease and encompasses the total organisation of work done over the course of the illness (Strauss et al 1984). Francescas narrative hints at this changing trajectory tracing the commencement of her life changes to a time six months ago when she was much more active and defined herself as a dancer. Furthermore Francesca looks to her future and wonders about h er ability to fulfil the stereotype of a perfect spouse. It is important to engage with how Francesca and her fiancÃÆ'Â © will make sense of the illness. The term illness cognition has been defined as a patients own implicit common sense beliefs about their illness (Leventhal and Nerernz 1985, p. 517). When people experience symptoms, they embark upon a cognitive search which enables them to interpret and make sense of the symptoms they are experiencing. Typically a critical review of the literature distils out into five categories: Identity, including the description of symptoms experienced and their meaning (e.g. pain, fatigue).In the narrative Francesca describes her pain as Excruciating for example. Belief about causes (e.g. accident, genetics or stress). People like to have a label for their symptoms for legitimisation although, once given, people are likely to interpret diverse symptoms as evidence of the label. Francesca has problems with causality and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future since there is no established medical cause for RA. Timeline (beliefs about duration and time for recovery), namely is it acute or chronic? These beliefs will be re-evaluated as time progresses. Consequences (e.g. loss of lifestyle, goals in life). These representations may only develop into more realistic beliefs over time. Francesca uses the narrative to discuss the change in her life from active dancer to unappealing spouse within the space of six months. Beliefs about controllability. (Furnham, 1989; Landrine and Klonoff 1992, 1994) These categories are pivotal to understanding how people make sense of, and decisions about managing a changeable chronic disease such as RA. Evidence of Francesca attempting to make sense of her symptoms by embarking upon a cognitive search may be seen in the example below: I couldnt understand it Im the healthiest person I know. Ive never had problems with my health never had a day off sick in my life. I never go to the doctor, no matter what, Ive always been fit as a flea. From the narrative provided we also have limited information concerning Francescas partners views, for example (although not from Dave himself) Dave wore me down, telling me Ive got to see a doctor This may be interpreted in various ways, not least that Dave was keen for Francesca to obtain a diagnosis and thereby a label to legitimise the illness, whether such labelling is disabling or enabling is not fully resolved in literature (Huibers Wessley 2006). Francescas comment does however open up the interesting issue of how partners cope with chronic disease, in RA in particular there is evidence that a strong marital relationship correlates with the couples psychological adjustment to the illness (Mann Zautra 1990). These authors go on to claim that in RA, partners are most affected by their perceived vulnerability to disease and coping ability, whereas the wives who have RA were more affected by pain itself and how they will cope with the effects of the disease- reflected in Francescas comments below; I started having excruciating pains in my feet when I woke in the morning To further corroborate the findings of Manne Zautra (1990) concerning male worries about coping at a more abstract level see the example below: Dave has been great but he has his own worries hes just been laid off from his job and hes worrying about paying for the wedding Mann Dieppe (2006) have also more recently acknowledged coping differences between males and females in RA, (n = eight women with RA ages 31-60 years and their partners, and 4 men with RA ages 43-75 years) although methodologically their sampling may be flawed in that those couples currently experiencing severe martial problems are unlikely to submit to the type of phenomenological interviews that they undertook. The social construction of medical knowledge and politics of disability It is not possible in an essay of this length to provide a full account of the politics of disability, primarily since the topic is multi-factorial, fluid and indeed is covered to an extent in the other sub sections of this work, furthermore we have insufficient data from the narrative to comment in depth. Kitchen and Wilton (2003) comment that our views of disability as a medical entity viewed in paternalistic terms have changed in favour or equality and empowerment. However Francesca can expect to experience a host of politically related issues, for example social exclusion and poverty (Foley Chowdhury 2007). Francesca has already stated in her narrative; Ive got to work- we need the money. In terms of medicines social construction, as far back as 1982, Wright Treacher (1982) claimed that medical knowledge inevitably contains a social component incorporating moral values and prejudices, and that diagnosis ascribes a certain meaning. We still see this thirty years later where the GP abruptly (allegedly) advocates of drugs to preserve normal function. This reinforces the paternalistic medical approach. RA in its early stages does not present with any obvious physical deformity and affects the young demographic, it is conceivable that she may experience disbelief from her peers; this may in turn make her life difficult in an era of financial unease, Government budgetary cuts and political uncertainty. Labelling. Labelling theory (social reaction theory) has its roots in the work of sociologist Howard Becker (Becker 1997). It centres on peoples tendency to negatively label those who are different from ourselves. As a person with chronic arthritis Francesca will not be immune to this labelling, for example being labelled as disabled or arthritic are all real possibilities. Arthritis organisations and acts such as the Disability Discrimination Act ( DDA) are at great pains to encourage activity and maintenance of full function and contribution to society, however all this may be negated by her GPs comments that there is; no cure and I had to take tablets everyday to be able to function normally. Labels can however be positive, Francesca describing herself as glamorous for example on two occasions in the narrative, and her previous label of salsa dance teacher is something that defines her in a positive way. Yes, Im a salsa dance teacher Stigma Stigma has recently been defined by Scambler (2009) as a social process, experienced or anticipated by exclusion, rejection, blame or devaluation that results from experience, perception or reasonable anticipation of an adverse social judgement about a person or group(p441) Francesca may feel stigmatised by all of the factors previously discussed, attitude of her GP, loss of self, worry about the future, inability to act out the role of spouse. Factors such as depression, the lack of a cause for her RA and her inability to teach salsa dancing may amplify her feelings of being stigmatised, it is also important form the wider perspective to acknowledge that stigma may affect Francescas partner. Struening et al (2001) for example reported that 43-92% of caregivers (to people with mental health problems) reported feeling stigmatised, again this suggests that living with this disease does not only affect Francesca but also her partner. Conclusion This essay has employed extracts from the narrative of a 38 year old lady with Rheumatoid arthritis, to illustrate some key sociological concepts. The essay has provided a valuable opportunity to map some key concepts from the literature onto a narrative excerpt. Whilst the essay has not been able to enter the field in great depth; It is a testament to the thick description provided by patient narratives that such a wealth of information can be generated form a relatively short piece of description. References Balen,R., Rhodes, C., Ward,L., (2009) The Power of Stories: Using Narrative for Interdisciplinary Learning in Health and Social CareSocial Work Education: The International Journal, pp1470-1227. Becker, H., (1997) Outsiders. New York, NY. Free Press. Covic, T., Adamson,B., Spencer,D., Howe,G., (2003) A biopsychosocial model of pain and depression in rheumatoid arthritis: a 12-month longitudinal study Rheumatology, Vol 42 1287-1294. Doba, K., Nandrino, J.L., Lesne, L., Humez, L., C.(2008) Organization of the narrative components in autobiographical speech of anorexic adolescents: A statistical and non-linear dynamical analysis New Ideas in Psycholog,y Vol 26 (2) pp 295-308. Foley,D .,Chowdhury, J., (2007) Poverty, Social Exclusion and the Politics of Disability: Care as a Social Good and the Expenditure of Social Capital in Chuadanga, Bangladesh Social Policy Administration, Vol 41 (4)pp372-385. Furman, R. ,Cavers, A., (2005) Narrative poem as a source of qualitative data The Arts in Psychotherapy Vol 32 (4) pp313-317. Furnham, A., (1989). Overcoming psychosomatic illness: lay attributions of cure for five possible psychosomatic illnesses. Social Science and Medicine, Vol 29 pp61-67. Goodacre,J., (2008) Common chronic inflammatory arthropathies. in Porter,S (eds) Tidys Physiotherapy 14th edition. Churchill Livinsgtone Elsevier. Grills, S..(1998). Doing ethnographic research; fieldwork settings Thousand Oaks. Sage Publishers. Hahn, H., (1985)Toward a Politics of Disability: Definitions, Disciplines, and Policies Social Science Journal, 1985 Vol. 22(4) pp87-105. Haidet, P., Kroll,T.L., Sharf, B.F., (2006) The complexity of patient participation: Lessons learned from patients illness narratives Patient Education and Counselling, Vol 62 (3) pp323-329. Huibers,M.J.H., Wessely ,S., (2006) The act of diagnosis: pros and cons of labelling chronic fatigue syndrome Psychological Medicine, Vol 36, pp895-900. Cambridge University Press. Kitchin, R. ,Wilton, R., (2003) Disability Activism and the Politics of Scale. The Canadian Geographer, Vol 47, 2003. Kojima ,M., Kojima, T., Ishiguro, N., Oguchi, T., Oba, M., Tsuchiya, H., Sugiura, F., Furukawa, T.A., Suzuki, S., (2009) Psychosocial factors, disease status, and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. S.J Psychosom Res , Vol 67(5) pp425-31. Epub 2009 Mar 5. Lee, W.S. Kim, T.Y.,(2009) Measuring of ESR with test 1 is more useful than the Westergren method in rheumatoid arthritis. Am J Clin Pathol, 2009 Nov;Vol 132(5) pp805. Leventhal, H., Nerenz, D.R., Steele, D.J., (1984). Illness representations and coping with health threats. In: Baum A, Singer J, eds. Handbook of Psychology and Health, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. pp219-252. Morea, J.M., Friend, R., Bennett, R.M., (2008) Conceptualizing and measuring illness self-concept: A comparison with self-esteem and optimism in predicting fibromyalgia adjustment Research in Nursing Health, Vol 31 (6),pp563-575 Published Online: 21Jul2008. Mann,C., Dieppe, P.,(2006) Different patterns of illness-related interaction in couples coping with rheumatoid arthritis Arthritis Care Research, Vol 55, (2), pp 279-286. Mann, S. L., Zautra, A. J., (1990). Couples coping with chronic illness: Women with rheumatoid arthritis and their healthy husbands. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Vol 13 pp327-342. Parker, G., (2007) Is depression overdiagnosed? Yes. BMJ. Vol 335 (7615), p328. Poindexter, C.C.,(2002) Meaning from methods; Re-presenting Narratives of an HIV affected caregiver Qualitative Social Work, Vol 1 pp 59. Roe,D., Davidson, J., (2005) Self and narrative in schizophrenia: time to author a new story Med Humanities,Vol 31 pp89-94. Scambler, G., (2009) Health-related stigma. Sociology of Health Illness, Vol 31 Issue 3 pp 441-455 Published Online: 1 Apr 2009. Smith, R., (2002) The biopsychosocial revolution. J Gen Intern Med, Vol 17(4) pp309-311. Stanton, A.L., Revenson, T.A., ÂÂ ­Tennen, H., (2007). Health Psychology: Psychological Adjustment to Chronic Disease. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 58 pp565-592. Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J.M., Fagerhaugh, B.G., (1984). Chronic illness and the quality of life, 2 Ed. St. Louis: Mosby. Strauss, A., Corbin, J.M., (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publishers. Struening, E.L., Perlick, D.A., Link, B.G., Hellman,F., Herman, D., Sirey, J.,(2001) Stigma as a Barrier to Recovery: The Extent to Which Caregivers Believe Most People Devalue Consumers and Their Families Psychiatr Serv,Vol 52 pp1633-1638, December 2001. Vollmer, F., (2005) The Narrative Self. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, Vol 35,(2), pp189-205(17) Blackwell Publishing. Waite L,J., Gallagher, M.,(2001).The case for marriage: why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially. New York, NY: Broadway Books. Wehowsky, A., (2000) Diagnosis as care diagnosis as politics International Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol 5, (3), pages pp241 255. Wright, P., Treacher, A. eds., (1982) The Problem of Medical Knowledge: Examining the Social Construction of Medicine (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Appendix Reflective postscript This is written in the first person since it is a reflective piece of writing This was a challenging yet fascinating project to complete. I was unsure how to approach the topic and how much weight to attach to the various theories available and the comments of Francesca , once it became clear that I was actually trying to explain what was going on with Francesca by using academic theory to illustrate her comments the task became rather enjoyable. Tight word count restrictions as always meant that I had to do some brutal editing, but the positive side to this is that it makes one more selective in ones writing. For example my earliest version was heavy on sociological theory and light on mapping this theory to the comments of Francesca, whereas the final version makes more explicit links between what Francesca says and the theory behind why she says it. The fact that I had some real comments to sink my academic teeth into made the process of literature searching interesting and relevant since I was able to think about Francescas comments and her personal situation for each search that I undertook. The areas that gave me most difficulty were the political aspects of disability since they seemed so wide ranging and actually intertwined with everything that I was writing about. All in all I have learned a great deal about the usefulness of narrative form this project.

Green Stone :: essays research papers

During the opening years of the seventeenth century, Europe was gripped by Reformation and Counter-Reformation, when Catholics and Protestants persecuted one another with equal fervour. England was ruled by a Protestant regime, and in 1605 a group of oppressed Catholic landowners hatched a plot to kill the king, James I, during the state opening of parliament on 5 November. The plan, conceived by the Midland Catholics Robert Catesby and Thomas Wyntour, was to blow up the Houses of Parliament with dozens of barrels of gunpowder. Known as the Gunpowder Plot, it was thwarted at the last moment when conspirator Guy Fawkes was discovered nervously waiting to light the fuse. When Fawkes was tortured into revealing the names of the other plotters, the small band of conspirators fled to the Wyntour family home at Huddington Court in Worcestershire. Here they spent their last night, fleeing only a few miles the next day before being surrounded by the militia. But this was not the end of the affair. The king's chief minister, Robert Cecil, had given strict instructions that Robert Catesby should be taken alive. The reason being, that he possessed a sacred relic - a green, jade gemstone called the Meonia Stone. Tradition held that it had once been set in King Arthur's sword Excalibur. Historically, it had belonged to Mary Queen of Scots, the last legitimate Catholic heir to the English throne. Following her death in 1587, a legend had developed that the Catholic who would finally secure the English throne would need to possess the sacred stone. Fearing that the Meonia Stone would act as a rallying symbol for the English Catholics, Cecil was determined that it should be destroyed. He was furious, however, to discover that Robert Catesby had been shot dead and the knowledge of the stone's whereabouts had died with him. Despite months of frantic searching and intense interrogation of the surviving conspirators, the stone was never found. Three centuries later, in 1979, Graham Phillip's and fellow researcher Andrew Collins decided to go in search of the lost Meonia Stone. The Green Stone, co-authored by Martin Keatman, is the remarkable true story of this fascinating quest. Following a trail of historical clues, Graham and Andrew finally discovered the identity of the person to whom the stone was given. During their interrogation, the surviving Gunpowder Plotters had stated that Robert Catesby still had the stone with him the night before his death.

Definitions of Attitudes Essay

Classical conditioning is the process of learning by association, which involves the pairing of stimuli; when one (1) stimulus regularly precedes another, the one that occurs first is a signal for the other to occur. If an individual eats spicy cuisine, which constantly gives them heartburn, they associate the spicy food with heartburn. The individual recognizes that once spicy food is ingested, heartburn will follow next. Hence the attitude towards spicy foods may not be positive. Instrumental conditioning is the process by which the individual learns the difference between rewards and punishments and actions with these consequences as the end result. If a child knows that his/her parent(s) will spank them for breaking a glass, then the attitude towards such an action will be negative, in order to deter punishment, but if he/she recognizes that doing well at school reaps rewards, then the attitude towards studying and excelling will be positive. Observational conditioning is simply developing an attitude from example learning. An attitude is observed and influences and individual’s own attitude towards the subject in question. In a parent-child relationship, children observer their parent’s attitude and often times adopt them. If a child hears their parent making negative comments about an issue, they may possibly develop a negative attitude towards the same issue. Comparing our views to those of others, to see if our social reality is or is not correct, can form attitudes. We often change our attitudes to fit in with everyone else’s so that we do not feel ‘left out’. Political views are an example of this. An individual may hold a particular view on the current political administration, however, while in a group discussion, the general consensus may not be the same as that of the individual, who may then sway his/her attitude, towards that of the groups’ in order to be a part of the discussion and use their views to second guess his/her views. Genetics play a small role in attitude formation. Studies conducted with identical twins suggest that attitudes may be influenced by genetic factors. Daniel Katz proposed a functional theory of attitudes. He thought that attitudes are determined by the functions they serve as they help the individual to achieve their goals. The four (4) functions are the instrumental, knowledge, value-expressive and ego-defensive. Katz’s theory also says that our attitudes change, once they no longer serve its functions and the individual feels frustrated. The instrumental function helps individuals to form negative and positive attitudes by adopting favorable attitudes to maximize rewards and shunning unsavory ones to minimize punishments and help us to realise specific goals. The knowledge function helps us to evaluate surroundings and seeks to give clarity about ideas, objects and persons. The value-expressive function serves to publicly express ourselves. From the way we dress to our religious convictions, this function helps to adopt attitudes consistent with our views.

Bill Gates Essays - Microsoft, Bill Gates, Windows XP, Management

Bill Gates Essays - Microsoft, Bill Gates, Windows XP, Management Bill Gates In its 23-year lifetime, Microsoft has had three distinct phases. The first, from 1975 to 1989, was characterized by both bold thrusts into new businesses. Among their many successes were MS-DOS, Word, Excel, Macintosh software and Windows. The company relied on the success of Windows, banking every penny they had on its success, which paid off in Microsoft's second phase from 1990, when Windows 3.0 was released, to 1994. Customer driven change also marked phase two. Customers wanted operating systems that blended the best of Windows, UNIX, and NetWare, this was the beginning of Windows NT. Customers wanted the best of Microsofts productivity tools to work better together, so Microsoft Office was created to integrate the software. Recognizing the need to develop fundamental advances in software, Microsoft created Microsoft research. In 1995 Microsoft entered phase three, taking advantage of tremendous opportunities offered by the Internet. Since 1995 Microsoft has reinvented itself s o that, today, everything Microsoft creates or updates leverages with the Internet. In the beginning Gates' was mainly concerned and involved with technical development of new products in order to attract consumers. Since Microsoft controls the largest percentage of the market than any of its competitors Gates' puts more focus on the organization itself and its employees. Microsoft's mission is to continually advance and improve software technology and to make it easier, more cost effective and more enjoyable for people to use computers. In order for Microsoft to continue on its fruitful path the development of intelligent decision makers, otherwise known as managers, must be trained. Gates' realizes the ROI of his creation relies on every single individual, which makes up the organization called Microsoft. He also knows he cannot be at the table to make ever single day-to-day decision, instead of trying to be in a hundred place at oncece Gates' attempts to train well oiled managers. He has even published articles that reveal his expectations and qualities he attemp ts to instill into Microsoft managers. Here are Bill's ten qualities of a good employee: 1. Choose a field thoughtfully. By choosing a field one enjoys it makes it easier to generate enthusiasm towards one's work. This is true for both a manager and an employee. 2. Hire carefully and be willing to fire. A strong team is vital, because a mediocre team provides mediocre results, no matter how well it is managed. 3. Create a productive environment. This is a particular challenge because it requires different approaches depending on the environment. Sometimes productivity is maximized by providing everybody his or her own office and other times by moving everybody into open space. Sometimes financial incentives stimulates productivity and motivation. Usually a mixture of approaches is necessary to reach desired productivity. 4. Define success. This is done by providing employees with a clear definition of success and how they should measure their achievements. Goals must be realistic. For example, project schedules must be set those who actually do the work. People will accept a bottom-up deadline they helped set, but maybe overwhelmed by a schedule imposed from upper management that doesn't map reality. Unachievable goals undermine an organization. 5. To be a good manager, you have to like people and be good at communicating. This quality is generally impossible to fake. If an individual doesn't genuinely enjoy interacting with people it will be hard to manage well. 6. Develop your people to do their jobs better than you can. Transfer your skills to them. This is an exciting goal, but it can be threatening to a manger that is worried about training his replacement. Many managers like to see their employees increase their responsibility because it frees them up to tackle new or undone tasks. 7. Build morale. It should be made clear there's plenty of good will to go around and that there is not just one hotshot manager getting all the credit. Explain to employees the importance of their work to the company and customers. Giving people a sense of importance increases motivation to complete the task to the best of their ability and provides the feeling of satisfaction after completion. 8. Take on projects yourself. Managers need to do more than communicate. Nobody wants to work for a boss who just delegates tasks. It

Rise and Fall of Enron Essays

Rise and Fall of Enron Essays Rise and Fall of Enron Paper Rise and Fall of Enron Paper The rise and fall of Enron is a company that was lead to its own demise by it’s own leadership and ill business decisions. The motivational theories explained from the readings of Organization Behavior can correlate with the failure of Enron’s internal organization. Even though a company may appear to display successful business practices, the influence of leadership through management can ultimately lead the company to fail. Enron’s code of ethics prided itself on four key values; respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Codes of ethics should be a reflection of what the owners, investors, and employees work towards as an organization. Executives overlooked those values as they deliberately corrupted Enron by engaging in money laundering, accounting fraud, falsifying income, and other conspiracies. Employees continued to work their scheduled routine hours and showed loyalty by working through lunches and doing overtime, unaware that their invincible company would soon go under leaving them scrambling for answers. As the company struggled and faced financial ruin, executives betrayed their dedicated employees by informing them that Enron’s foundation was solid and continue to be profitable and had not allowed them to sell their stock in the company. At the same time, executives sold their share of the company and received millions of dollars before filing for bankruptcy and being investigated by the United States Justice Department. The unfortunate employees believed that they helped Enron develop into a successful company that it was and saw everyone as family. A combination of motivation and influential theories can explain Enron’s ultimate failure. Enron’s failure as an organization can be described in the theories of motivation. Employees need somewhat of an inspiration to lead their efforts to attaining a solid goal. Edwin Locke’s goal-setting theory and self-concordance can both be brought to explain Enron’s failure. Edwin Locke’s goal-setting theory links motivation to meeting specific and challenging goals to contribute to higher and better task performance and receiving positive feedback would be a reward of pride and triumph. Motivational goals may come from promotions, raises, long term careers, or working for a great company. Self-concordance reflects in the way people reason in practicing goals that are in line with their interests and values. Enron offered those goals to their employees and in returned hired the most qualified, experienced, and self driven people to attain those goals. Working for a very prominent and successful company gave employees the sense of comfort and dependability that breathed prosperity. However, it was those goals that had false hopes. Enron had high aspirations that joint ventures in trading energy with investors in the new virtual market place would be successful but failed and lost millions of dollars. Enron continued to press forward and kept all employees on track but if they were not able to obtain their goals, for the sake of keeping the company above water, they were let go. Once employees dedicate and committed themselves to a strictly structured organized culture, they have a tendency of enduring ethical judgement that is later rationalized in one form or another. Strong leadership, management and organizational structure is what every business should be governed around. The neglect and abuse of that leadership, management, and organizational structure was the ultimate contribution to the failure of Enron. The executives displayed leadership in shaping and exhibiting Enron as a prominent and innovative company that discovered new ways of doing business. Under the leadership of Jeffrey Skilling, he exercised a highly strict culture that included the recruitment of top intelligent and assertive candidates from prestigious universities who were trained to produce deals rapidly. Management encouraged and required a high level of performance by each employee to any means necessary, which lead to breaking ethical business practices. As those ventures failed, executives continued unethical behavior which led to accounting fraud, falsifying income, and a number of other malpractices and abuses of power. Enron maintained to administer a series of appropriate management control which included a performance review system, risk assessment and control group, followed by a code of ethics. These groups worked on behalf of Skilling’s organizational structure and assured the employees protection. The levels of communication between management were evidently clear of doubt in regards to any questionable actions dealing with projects. Enron’s organizational structure proved to ruin the integrity of the company with corruption, influence, and manipulation. Influential leadership can carry power to others in ethical or unethical ways to serve a single purpose. Enron used those powers to create a culture that demanded excellence. Skilling’s leadership role at Enron influenced unethical behavior and directed the organizational culture to discredit the morals and values of the company. While motivation of rank, greed, and power provided management to successfully control the process in which loyal employees worked until the end. References Robbins, S. P. , Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. The Organization | July / August 2007 by Clinton Free, Mitchell Stein, and Norman Macintosh MANAGEMENT CONTROLS: THE ORGANIZATIONAL FRAUD TRIANGLE OF LEADERSHIP, CULTURE AND CONTROL IN ENRON iveybusinessjournal. com/topics/the-organization/management-controls-the-organizational-fraud-triangle-of-leadership-culture-and-control-in-enron

Chinese family businesses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese family businesses - Essay Example As a direct consequence of Confucianism, Chinese culture therefore places collective interests over individual interests. Their "socialistic philosophy teaches that the good of all is everyone's concern" (Ralston, Holt, and Terpstra, 1997, p.7). This is in contrast with the Western concept of individual achievement and self-worth. This collective orientation is also evident in the manner that Confucian ideals place emphasis on the importance of family, such that most Chinese businesses are also family businesses. This collective orientation, however, is rooted not on the basis of emotional attachment to a group, but rather on "the web of reciprocal or moral relations in which one finds oneself, [and] defines oneself", apart from which "one can have no real identity" (De Bary, 1991, p.3). Thus, for the Chinese, "the virtue of humanity is meaningless unless it is involved in actual human relationships" (Chan, 1963, p.104). This focus on collective interests, bound by interpersonal relationships, is a crucial focal point businessmen must take into consideration for a successful business relationship with the Chinese. It implies that the collective group given emphasis is not exclusive, such that non-Chinese can penetrate it, provided that they build good interpersonal relationships, or 'guanxi'.

Industrial Economics, Industrial Organization How can game theory help Essay

Industrial Economics, Industrial Organization How can game theory help us to understand firm's interactions Discuss the differe - Essay Example A game theory is composed of a series of elements including: players or partners, rules which imply the possible decisions that one is capable of making given another party’s decisions, and the facts that a player could have knowledge of before moving or making a decision. Other elements include the consequences or outcomes of certain moves and the payoffs of each possible outcome. Payoffs imply the money got from a given decision (Durlauf, 2010). Game theories In arriving at the solutions given the game theories, it is important that industries understand certain tools. These tools include dominated and dominant strategies and the Nash equilibrium. A dominant strategy is a tactic that gives higher payoffs no matter what the opponent does, while a dominated strategy is an approach that is lower than another strategy; this implies that for a dominated strategy, there is a dominant strategy that is in existence over it. On the other hand, in Nash equilibrium, no industry or indi vidual is in preference of a different choice. This means that each player chooses the best strategy given the approaches taken by the other players in the market (Durlauf, 2010). In an effort to understanding how firms and industries react, it is vital that the different types of game theories are understood. Firms’ interactions are mainly guided by certain game theories. There is a myriad of game theories. Simultaneous game is one of the game theories. As the name suggests, the players in the market make decisions independent of the other player’s decisions. This means that no party is aware of the other party’s choices or decisions. This kind of scenario forms what is known as a Cournot model. In such a case, each firm or industry tries to make a forecast of what the other player in the market will be so as to arrive at a reasonable decision itself (Durlauf, 2010). In Cournot models, firms predicts the other industry’s output choice and then based on t he forecasts, each firm goes ahead to choosing a profit maximizing output for itself. In cournot, prices as at Nash equilibrium are above the perfect competitive prices. In this case it is clear that the Cournot game model influence the market price as firms try to control their levels of production. Thus, through Cournot model, it is possible for firms to come up with best reaction functions in their production in cases where the industries have completely no clue on what the other players in the market are up to achieving (Mukherjee, 2004). Sequential game is another game theory whereby an industry or firm makes a decision on price or quantity, when it already has knowledge on what another player or partner has decided on. The kind of strategic interaction depicted in such a scenario gives rise to a Stackleberg’s model. In this model, one industry makes a choice before another. It is frequently used to depict industries in which there is a dominant firm. In the Stacklebergà ¢â‚¬â„¢s model, an industry that is a leader chooses output to maximize profits depending on how a follower will react to its choice. Given the choices by a leader, a follower will try as much as possible to make profits given the quantity the leader produces. A leader makes decisions on its own production considering the

Things That Garbage Can Reveal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Things That Garbage Can Reveal - Essay Example The garbage from the trash bin depicts variety and the corresponding quantity of materials in regard to distinct socioeconomic discrepancy amidst the underlying activities and prevailing eating habits of every property(Pellow, 34-156).Cheap and widely available foods such as grains, fruits, nuts, local fish, chicken eggs and corresponding lentils depict relatively lower socioeconomic class since they are of minimal cost. Conversely, expensive meat and corresponding remains of salted fish depict the high socioeconomic class of household. Moreover, the waste from the neighboring drains that turned up less of a diversity of foods depicted immersed socioeconomic discrepancy amidst neighbors. Garbage also reveals the economic status of the household in regard to the quantity packages they buy that is relatively lower income families purchase products in smaller packages whilst corresponding upper-income families purchase massive economy-size substances. A larger packet of pizza, sausages, burger, crisps, ice cream and soft drinks reveals that the underlying family had relatively higher income(Pellow, 34-156). Larger quantities also reveal that the families were large whilst few packets depict relatively smaller family. In sum, the kind of garbage normally depicts the socioeconomic class of the underlying household, the number of persons within the household, economic welfare and culture. Moreover, archaeologists largely depend on garbage in determining of the culture of a family and consequently neighborhood.

Analysis of data handling Essay Example for Free

Analysis of data handling Essay To get an improved understanding of the problems faced in an online retail data handling system I am going to conduct a questionnaire and gain data from some data capture forms. After gaining information from my questionnaire and data capture forms I now have a clear understanding of how a data handling system is implemented for an online retail store. I now know what information will be kept and which will only be temporary. The products and the customer information will be kept permanently. The customer information is kept permanent but can be changed at any point i. e. a change of address, phone no. etc. When purchases are made little data is added to that which is already stored. The invoice brings together customer information and pairs it with product information. The information added to the invoice would be date of purchase; this information would then automatically create an expected date of arrival and the delivery process, transport, dispatch etc. When customer information is gained it is not input by a member of staff. The information is fed automatically from the websites data capture form which is filled out by the customer. The only information input by staff is the stock information as prices calculation delivery date etc is done automatically by the system. They had a WAN, wide area network. Each of the computer terminals could access the same data so that invoices and other information can be viewed at the same time on different computers. They were also able to check credit card details with banks through their WAN. The data system can produce information for both staff and online customers. Customers can view their past orders or there current account details whilst all data can be viewed by staff. They use standard input devices, keyboard and mouse, as there is no need for particular input devices, for example bar code reader, scanner.

Rhythmic Contractions And Relaxation Of Isolated Gut

Rhythmic Contractions And Relaxation Of Isolated Gut The isolated gut has a spontaneous activity with rhythmic contractions and relaxation of its smooth muscles. Various drugs that affect the smooth muscles by either direct or indirect stimulation were used (Day Vane 1963). These drugs were acetylcholine, atropine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and d-tubocurarine. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter (Martini 2009, p. 304) that is released by a neuron and acts directly on the plasma membrane of another cell, in this case smooth muscles. It affects both the muscarinic and nicotinic receptors located on the smooth muscle membrane (Broadley Kelly 2001). The effects of acetylcholine on the muscarinic receptors can be identified by another drug, atropine (Broadley Kelly 2001). Atropine is an alkaloid found in several plants (Broadley Kelly 2001) and inhibits binding of acetylcholine to post synaptic membrane of smooth muscle cells (Martini 2009, p. 425). Adrenaline and noradrenaline are hormones released from the suprarenal glands and induce relaxation of the smooth muscles by binding to the adrenergic receptors. They are called catecholamines because of their structure (shown in figure 1). D-tubocurarine is an alkaloid drug derived from curare and is a neuromuscular nicotinic receptor antagonist1. It prevents acetylcholine from binding to the postsynaptic membrane of muscle fibres (martini 2009, p. 425). AIM The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effects of acetylcholine, atropine, adrenaline, noradrenaline and d-tubocurarine on the smooth muscles of the gut. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials Transducer Heater Heat exchanger chart recorder experimental tissue (rat intestine) organ bath with carbogen-bubbled Krebs Henseleit solution at 37ËÅ ¡C drugs used in the experiment were: 1 mg/mL acetylcholine 1 mg/mL atropine 1 g/mL adrenaline 1mg/mL noradrenaline 1 mg/mL d-tubocurarine Methods At the start of the experiment, the transducer was calibrated using weights to allow conversion of the amount of displacement of the intestine into electrical signals which are then recorded. The amount of movement measured corresponds to the type of drug added. The experimental rat tissue that was dissected previously was supported in a 100 mL organ bath containing carbogen-bubbled Krebs Henseleit solution at 37ËÅ ¡C aerated with a mixture of 95% oxygen and 5% carbon dioxide. The tissue was anchored to the device that applied force to stretch the muscle until a steady rate of contraction was obtained. The force of contraction was then measured and converted to electrical signals which were recorded by the chart recorder. Some equilibration time was allowed for the preparation to stabilise its activity in the organ bath before starting the experiment. The smooth muscles of the tissue had spontaneous activity before the administration of any drug. The exact concentration and volu me of the drugs administered were then calculated to obtain the right concentration. A volume of 0.1ml of 1mg/mL of acetylcholine was first administered to the muscles and its effects were recorded. The organ bath was drained and refilled so as to resume its baseline activity. Three increments of 0.025 ml of 1mg/mL atropine were added to the organ bath periodically to see its effect on the smooth muscles. Another dose of 0.5 mL of 1mg/mL acetylcholine was added into the organ bath without draining and refilling. The effects were then observed on the chart recorder. The organ bath was drained and refilled again. 0.1mL of 1gm/mL adrenaline was added to the water bath. The organ bath was again drained and refilled. 0.1mL of 1mg/ml noradrenaline was added to the organ bath. The organ bath was again drained and refilled. 0.5mL of 1mg/mL acetylcholine was added and the effects were observed. The organ bath was again drained and refilled. 0.025 mL of 1 mg/mL d-tubocurarine was added to the water bath and the effects were recorded. Lastly without draining the organ bath, two increments of 0.5ml of 1mg/mL of acetylcholine was added at regular intervals and its effect was recorded. RESULTS Calculation of the volume of the drugs used: acetylcholine Original concentration C:Documents and Settings7168241Local SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.Word22032011079.jpg Figure 1: Experiment setup Table 1: Effect of the drugs administered on the smooth muscles of the gut Drug administered Effect on smooth muscle observed. Acetylcholine Increase in contraction rate Conductance and amplitude increased Atropine Decrease in contraction rate- muscle relaxes Decrease in amplitude, tone and frequency Adrenaline Large decrease in amplitude Effect was very strong ( alpha and beta receptors on smooth muscles) Noradrenaline Small decrease in amplitude ( it has alpha receptors) Acetylcholine Increase in contraction rate Conductance and amplitude increased D-tubocurarine No effect as the muscle tone remained constant Acetylcholine Increase in contraction rate Conductance and large increase in amplitude when first dose was added and slight decrease in the amplitude when second dose was added DISCUSSION The muscle had spontaneous activity before the addition of the drugs. They were self excitatory and depolarized without the addition of any drugs. WHY As observed in table 1, acetylcholine increased the rate of contraction in the smooth muscles. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter released at the neurojunction of the nerve and the smooth muscles. Contraction of the smooth muscle achieved is due to acetylcholines effect on membrane permeability via the second messengers since it cant enter the cells interior. Acetylcholine binds to the muscarinic receptors and causes GTP binding to the alpha subunit of the G-protein. The GTP-bound alpha subunit activates the production of the second messengers by activating phosphoinosidase C (PIC). PIC hydrolyses phosphatidylinositol 4, 5-biphosphate which then forms inositol 1, 4, 5-triphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG). IP3 and DAG bind to the receptors on the sarcoplasm reticulum and cause the release of calcium ions into the intracellular f luid to initiate contraction of the muscle (Broadley Kelly 2001). Acetylcholine also causes the contraction of the smooth muscles by depolarizing the membrane directly via the nicotinic receptors. As seen in the table 1, adding atropine to the water bath caused decrease in the amplitude of the stimulus. This is due to the fact that atropine is a reversible competitive antagonist for acetylcholine at the muscarinic receptors. It has no effect on its binding on nicotinic receptors (Evers Maze 2004). It prevents acetylcholine that has built up at the neuromuscular junction from binding to the receptors and depolarizing the post synaptic membrane thus preventing the generation of an impulse in the cell. Acetylcholine produces a response when it binds to the receptors whereas atropine binds to the same receptors as acetylcholine without producing a response. It just makes the receptors unavailable for acetylcholine (Abel 1974, p.106). When another dose of acetylcholine was added to the water bath, the amplitude is seen increasing to a lower intensity than before atropine was added and transmission is restored and the muscle begins to contract. This is due to the fact that this new dose of acetylcholine displaces atropine from the receptors since it is a reversible antagonist. When adrenaline was added to the organ bath, the amplitude dropped by a large amount due to its combination with alpha and beta receptors on the smooth muscle. When noradrenaline was administered, the amplitude decreased was a small amount compared to the large drop in adrenaline. This small response obtained due to addition of noradrenaline is due to its sensitivity to alpha receptors only. Combination of noradrenaline with alpha receptors increases the K efflux and influx in depolarized smooth muscle (Bulbring 1970, p.286). This increase in K conductance caused an increase in membrane permeability and inhibited depolarization. Adrenaline caused the relaxation of the smooth muscles coupled with hyperpolarization of the membrane as a result of increase of potassium ions. The action of the sympathetic transmitters; adrenaline and noradrenaline involved direct action via the alpha and bet a receptors (Paton Vizi 1969). Acetylcholine added again resulted in high increase in the amplitude, which decreased gradually. D-tubocurarine added to the organ bath had no effect on the contraction of the muscle as it maintained a constant tone. Lastly the acetylcholine added resulted in an increase in the amplitude. This observation agreed with the expected result. It was expected for the amplitude to be constant since there wasnt any acetylcholine in the organ bath for d-tubocurarine to replace. A spike in the amplitude was observed when acetylcholine was added. Acetylcholine replaced d-tubocurarine from the nicotinic receptors and restores the transmission of the stimulus2. This shows that the neuromuscular transmission block produced by d-tubocurarine is abolished when acetylcholine is added (Bradley 1989, p.47). CONCLUSION It was found that both adrenaline and noradrenaline affect the smooth muscles via alpha and beta receptors and produce a similar effect that is relaxation. Adrenaline is more potent than noradrenaline since it utilizes both alpha and beta receptors while the other one only affects beta receptors. Acetylcholine is an excitatory neurotransmitter that causes contraction of smooth muscles via both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors. Atropine is a competitive antagonist of acetylcholine on the muscarinic receptors. D-tubocurarine is a mu

Ghost Story of the Sacrament Dog Essay -- Ghost Stories Urban Legends

The Sacrament Dog The modern ghost story has become a sort of rite of passage in American culture. At the youngest age, children are scared by their older siblings’ renditions of a ghoulish tale. Teenagers nationwide think it is their duty to investigate their town’s local haunting at least once before graduating high school. Once these teens transition into adulthood, they begin to scoff at the stories they once embraced, criticizing the irrational content and telling their children that they are silly for believing in such blasphemy. Finally, such disbelief is somewhat removed when people reach an elderly state, and they begin to relish in the joy of passing on ghostly stories to younger generations, not necessarily with the intention to scare, but with a desire to preserve a history and tradition unique to their personal life experience. Ghost stories are thus an integral part of the human life, not only reflecting the â€Å"hopes, fears, and anxieties† of various societies and cultures (Brunvand 2), but also making up a great portion of how humans define themselves and their lives. It is not surprising, then, that when I interviewed various members of the University of Maryland community, I was able to find many students with a ghost story (or two or three) on hand to share. One tale that I found particularly interesting and in-depth, and which will be discussed here, was told to me on one ironically-appropriate stormy night in a dorm room full of college students. The storyteller was a nineteen-year old, male freshman from Narstown, PA, majoring in English and Government and Politics. His mother is a nurse and his father is a telecommunications analyst. The story was about his Catholic college-preparatory high school in Penn... ...g the latter element, the anxiety of the Catholic faith to keep its young followers intact by instilling in them a fear of wondering astray or a hope for salvation is reflected in the story’s pro-Catholic sentiment, unnecessary for the general spookiness of the story, but fitting in the Catholic school setting. Thus, ghost stories are note intended to be merely spooky. Works Cited Brunvand, Jan Harold. The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings. New York: W.W. Norton, 1981. Maryland Ghost and Spirit Association. Ed. Beverly Litsinger. 2006. 8 April 2006 http://marylandghosts.com/. Shadowlands Haunted Places Index - Pennsylvania. Ed. Dave Juliano. 2005. 8 April 2006 http://theshadowlands.net/places/pennsylvania.htm. UMD Legends Index. Ed. David Schlossman. 2005. 7 April 2006 http://www.wam.umd.edu/~dschloss/Legends/index.htm.

Ethnic and Religious Conflict in Nigeria Essay

Basically, Nigeria is a plural society and heterogeneous in virtually all the facet of life. The custom and tradition of Nigerians is so diverse to the extent that Nigeria as a country is now confronted with the problem of religion and ethnicity towards their political stability. The origin and history of ethnic conflict (societal wars and violence) can be traced from eternal (internal) state rivalry to external (physical). And its root cause is not very far from power competition and decision making over economic resources and other important human factor, like position. The implementation process has always involved more than one or two persons. In general concept, the author of this work traces conflict back to the first and early Patriarchal of human history and ever since then, there has been an increase (in various dimensions) of Conflict in the face of human world. Some are personal (internal) conflict, family, community, and group, intellectual, state, national and international in nature, to mention but few. In conforming to this idea, Badawi (2006) in his statement titled â€Å"World Apart† stated thus, â€Å"indeed the greatest discord today is among the descendants of Abraham. These are the people of the book, the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, who had in fact shared a common beginning in the religion of Abraham†. In shedding more light in the above statement, Badawi statement goes far beyond religion, rather, he was tracing one of the earliest source of conflict which Badawi mentioned the off-springs of the said Abraham. Even before Abraham, there had been conflict, so it is as old as human history down to the Abrahamic period, to ancient kingdoms, Dukes, and Kings. In about 88 B. C. , King Mithriadates VI of Pontus invaded Roman territory in Asian Minor. He advised Asian debtors to kill their Roman creditors. Happy to reduce their credit card bills, the Asians massacred 80,000 Romans. Ethno-political conflicts have greatly shaped our present world and of course have its structural phenomenon, (William Easterly, 2001). For instances, the conflict we now call Israeli and Palestinian war, has been an ever-lengthening sort. The Assyrian, Babylonian war, by King Nebuchadnezzar of the hanging Garden in history, the Persia war, Alexander the Great (the Macedonian mad man in history), the German war of Adolf’s. Hitler, the Roman wars, narrowing all these down, we came to the horn of African continent which seem to be an epidemic field of conflicts of diverse kinds till date. The giant-lion of African continent, just like the origin of conflict is said to have stated very old in human history, even so in the case of Nigeria, which can be traced to the colonial period of history. Conflict takes different sizes and shapes with diverse reasons and purposes. Majority of the conflicts takes time before their escalation and at such, could have been transformed right at their respective early stages. The history of ethnicity and ethnic conflicts in Nigeria is also traced back to the colonial transgressions that forced the ethnic groups of the northern and southern provinces to become an entity called Nigeria in 1914. In the case of Nigeria situation, disturbing history of colonialism, this generated hatred and conflict among different ethnic groups. The task of addressing this seed of conflict planted by the British has been a complex one. After weakening the former diverse kingdoms, Emperors, etc now called Nigeria and reordering the groups’ politics, the colonial powers failed in nation building and providing for the people’s basic needs. Hence, unemployment, poverty increase, and due to these, conflict over scarce resources ensue. The Southern and Northern protectorates were also being amalgamated into a nation. Thereafter, the merging of different colonies into one country called Nigeria was forcefully done without the people’s consent. This was a major seed of conflict that is still troubling Nigeria today. This article is focused on the historical incidents of ethnic conflicts in within Nigeria societies, the cause of the conflicts and perhaps, the government actions towards ethnic conflict in the country. In conclusion, this paper will explore into decision-making (by the elites and those in authority) process has contributed immensely in generating the syndromes of conflict in the said state. The Nigerian political situation has witnessed more breaking of heads, than counting them. In fact, even when it has been convenient for heads to be counted, the outcome has always been the breaking of heads instead. Conflict in Nigeria is so intense because of lack of democratic behaviour. The head of the individual in the democratic context signifies citizenship. So when heads are broken in the Nigerian political community, the issue in respect of broken heads is citizenship. If conflict in Nigeria means the absence of democratic behaviour, it follows, therefore, that conflict in Nigeria is interwoven with the absence of democratic governance. Gurr (2000): has also shown that the incidence of conflicts at the global level declined in recent years with the deepening of democratisation. Nation-states where conflicts persist are those where what obtains is the democratisation of disempowerment (Ake 1996). Beyond the veneer of elections, the state remains ambushed, privatised, repressive and unpopular. The people who were tantalised by the prospect of a democratic revolution that would terminate decades of alienation and pauperisation have been short changed and given a ‘choice less democracy’ (Mkandawire 1999). The ‘credibility gap’ which fostered the De-linkage of the people from the state, and ignited social forces to struggle for democracy, is not being bridged (Rothchild 1995: 58). African peoples out of clear rational calculations sans atavistic attachments have turned their backs on the state ‘and given their loyalty to sub-national social formations such as the community, the sub nationality or ethnic groups’ (Ake 2000: 114). It is against this backdrop that the proliferation and exacerbation of violent ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria in the post-transition period can be appreciated. This article adopts an analytical framework that holds that The interface between ethnicity and democratisation is found in absence of effective citizenship and good governance in post-transition societies. In the circumstance that democracy does not go beyond the conduct of multiparty elections to include improvement in the quality of life of the people, there is frustration, and people who already feel alienated from the state are vulnerable and likely to be mobilised around counter-elites who exploit extant popular alienation from the state by whipping up sectarian sentiments. This has been the case in Nigeria and several multi-ethnic states of Africa (Osaghae 1994). Although the foregoing theoretical discussion has focused on ethnicity, the term ethno-religious is adopted because some of the recent violent conflicts to be examined were triggered by religious issues. The relevance of religion is also underlined by the fact that in Nigeria ethnic boundaries tend to coincide with religion, with the exception of the Yoruba ethnic group (Ibrahim 1999). The Nigeria state was amalgamated in the year 1914 by lord lugard. The various geographical areas or territory which was amalgamated to form Nigeria by the colonialist comprises of various cleavages, clans, towns even there were kingdoms and chiefdoms with diverse culture, language, religion, norms values, customs and political structures etc. The focus of the research monogram is to examine the role of religion and ethnicity in Nigeria nascent democracy. In Nigeria especially, religion plays a very vital and influential role in the society that has manifested itself as a potent force in the political development of the Nigerian state from pre-independence to post-independence. Hardly can the Nigerian state be talked about without reference to religion (Kukah, 1994; Falola, 1990; Kenny, 2006; International IDEA, 2000; Suberu, 2009). However, religion in Nigeria, at different levels, is mostly mentioned in negative terms. Or rather, historical events linked to religion tilts more towards its negative than its positive contribution to the Nigerian state. The Jihad, the civil war propaganda, the Sharia law controversy, the tensions provoked by the Nigerian accession to the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and the incessant religious crises that have engulfed the Northern part mainly indicate that religion cannot be ignored or wished away in the Nigerian political development. Several religious crises have occurred in Nigeria. They have been documented as academic dissertations for some of them. This piece of work does not intend to start the discourse on religious violence anew but only recognizes the fact that as a recurrent phenomenon it is worth being explored further. Thus â€Å"Boko Haram† menace which gained global recognition and even press support ranging from July 2009 till date is a the central focus of this study together with other riots which has engulfed the Nigeria state from 1999 till date which most Nigeria educated elite believed that religion and ethnicity were the basic causes. The educated elite have conducted series of research on what the causes of this violent riots maybe. Most have concluded that it can be traced and linked to the failure of governance in Nigeria. 1. 2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS The mistake of 1914 has polarised the Nigeria society together with its citizens in which loyalty to the State is a mirage instead people pay loyalty to their various families and ethnic groups the effect of this can be traced to 1967 civil-war which disintegrate the country or in the political system which almost lead to secession of the country with the easterner believed to be the aggrieved ethnic in the war. Similarly Nigeria has a long history of religious crisis which has affected the political instability of Nigeria. The maintasine riot of 1980 can be said to be the first major religious riot in Nigerian history, claiming about 800 lives. The Boko Haram insurgence in the northern part of the country which has been directed mainly against the Christians, they have suffered a lot both physically, psychologically, economically, spiritually and even politically in the far North which has led political writers and pundits to affirm that Boko Haram conflict has its roots in Religion. The thrust of this work will be to examine the underlying reasons behind political instability in Nigeria using religion and ethnicity as a paradigm. 1. 3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY. The study will cover the impacts of religion and ethnicity towards the stabilization or in- stabilization of the Nigeria political system it will cover how religion and ethnicity have impacted on the political stability of Nigeria. Furthermore the study will emphasize more on the role the government is playing in stabilizing the un-stabilized country. 1. 4OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The following can be regarded as the aims and objective of the study 1. To know the meaning of religion, ethnicity, political stability, and political instability 2. To know how religion and ethnicity have negatively impacted on Nigerian political development 3. To develop possible solutions and panaceas to the problems of religions and ethnicity to Nigerian political in-stability 1. 5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1 What meaning does religion, ethnicity and political instability carries 2 How has religion and ethnicity impacted on the political stability of Nigeria 3 what are the possible solutions to the problem of religion and ethnicity in Nigeria political system 1. 6 JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY Many a developing countries of the world are currently experiencing the problems which ethnicity and religion have caused. The ethnic problem which led to the apartheid era in South Africa is also the same ethnicity and religion problem which has almost disintegrated the Nigerian State. Recalling back to what happen during the civil war in the late sixties and early seventies which led to the introduction of the national youth service corp. by the then military president General Yakubu Gowon which aim at integrating back the almost disintegrated country. Books, Journals, Magazines, Pamphlets, and lot of researches have been written and carried out respectively on the issue of ethnicity and religion, and its impact on the Nigeria political stability. This research work will serve as an additional material to the issue on ethnicity and religion to political instability in Nigeria, this work will focus more on ethnicity and religion and its impact on Nigerian politics 1. 7RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology will be based on secondary data collections ranging from books, Journals Newspapers, News Magazines, Pamphlets and even the Internet. In conducting any research basically there are two methodologies employed by researchers which are the primary and the secondary methods. This research work will be basically conducted using the secondary methodology as earlier mentioned. 1. 8DEFINITION OF TERMS Ethnicity: According to the oxford advance learners dictionary ethnicity can simply mean â€Å"the fact of belonging to a particular race† from the dictionary meaning we can deduced the fact that Humans believed in race and they have passion for race which leads to humans ethnocentrism i. e. highly ethnocentric in nature. Ethnicity has a strategic interaction of persons and other actors, who have different beliefs, attitude’s, values and goals as they decide particular conflict the distribution of resource’s and general issues of political rules within a context of norms, expectations and institutions. Any of the rule, expectation and institutions may be reversed, maintained or inverted by the individual who win the right to control them, in the course of those political negotiations that are sometimes called cooperation, and sometimes called war, and are usually somewhere between the two. In another sense, ethnic identity are political resources just like money or vote. Instrumentalist like Micheal Banton and Micheal Hecthtar, argue that ethnic identity are not inherent in group or socio-formation of people. They see ethnic identity as socio-capital brought to bear on the political negotiation table by different groups and at different times. Hutchinson and Smith also argue that ethnic identity are an important resource that political Elite employ in securing the support of the masses as a strategy for gaining a desired good. These goods and or goals are â€Å"measured in terms of wealth, power, and status and†¦ joining or national communities helps to secure these ends either by influencing the state, or in certain situations, through secession. Religion: religion on its own part can be regarded as the belief in the existence of God or gods and the activity that are connected in the worship of them. Religion can also be stress further by meaning one of the system of faith that are based on the belief in the existence of a particular God or gods. For example the Jewish religion, Christianity Islam and other world religion. Furthermore in the classical and ancient ages religion has achieved a lot in their politics for example the doctrine of Islam was used in many Arab nations has their constitution even up till the present age. The Ancient Romans, also, during the time of Constantine accepted Christianity as a religion and a mode of life which also affected their political terrain. Religion in the 21 century is now used narrowly towards Christianity and Islam even though other religion still exist but the former two religion have elevated to prominence that other religion are now beneath them. For instance about Political stability: can depict the mean of a system of politics in which the government of that State is experiencing a stable government and peaceful existence in the State or in otherworld’s a legitimately accepted government by the people. Democratically governed States are believed to be stable. In the global sense every political entity must be ruled democratically without internal oppression or external aggression. Any country of the world that is free from the aforementioned point are regarded as stable political system in other words internal oppression has cause a lot of havoc to many democracies of the world which has infringed on their stability as noted by Ojo 2002. Descent Rule: These covers a larger set of cases that we commonly understand to be ethnic than the rules that ethnic groups must have a myth of common ancestry or common origin. But it excludes several cases in which individuals routinely consider themselves, and are considered as members, of a group that we classify as ethnic even when their parents were not coded as members of this group. Take for example the category â€Å"Yoruba† when it was invented in Nigeria in the nineteenth century. At this time period, the parents of those who were classified as Yoruba were not themselves classified as Yoruba for the reason that this category did not exist during their lifetimes. According to Descent Rule, then, the category Yoruba in the nineteenth century would not be coded as ethnic. But the category Yoruba is universally coded as an ethnic category by all comparative political scientists, without making a distinction between time periods. As another example, consider the category â€Å"Backward Caste† in India, which included as members individuals who possessed a given set of last names and/or ancestral occupations. The category was introduced by the Indian Central Government in 1990. Within a few years, 52% of the Indian population classified itself and was classified as backward. Yet the parents of those who termed themselves â€Å"Backward Caste† were not coded by themselves or by others as â€Å"Backward Caste† because, as in the case of the first generation of Yoruba’s, this category did not exist during their lifetimes Democracy: According to Abraham Lincoln he defines democracy as the government of the people by the people and for the people. In this wise democracy connotes a system of government in which all the people in a country will have the outright say on the government of their country although in a representative manner meaning that they will elect representatives that will represent their interest in the government. Advanced countries if the world where democracy is practiced completely they have national identity as opposed to the developing world where they have ethnic identity. Advanced democracies always believe in secularism in which every religion is accepted and embraced not a system in which part will have cognisance to a religion and the other will believe in other religion causing serious tension in such states like Nigeria. Federalism : Elasar (cited in Akande, 1996:1)† the formation of European union (EU) which simply begun as a trading partnership for coal and steel is now moving towards a more integrated political union founded upon federal principle of governance†. The African union (AU) which is the federation of African counties where a central government intended to be created with sharing or division of power among the federating unit, even the world highest organization body united Nation have in some little degree, evolved the principle of federalism. Federalism is a system of government which embraces unity in diversity. Federalism as a system of government is one in which there will be central and regional governments each one autonomous of each other.