House of Usher Essay

The fall of the House of Usher is a menacing story filled with fantastic imagery. Edgar Allen Poe is a genius at the craft and it is no surprise that this story is considered one of his masterpieces. Poe carefully chooses his vocabulary, making each word create a dark and spooky image. Through exposition, Poe spends a great deal at describing the surroundings through the narrator. Also, Poe uses symbolism to his advantage by creating a house that mirrors a main character, Roderick Usher. Edgar Allen Poe uses imagery to further the plot, of The Fall of the House of Usher by utilizing these three avenues; vocabulary, exposition, and symbolism. In the first paragraph alone, the reader has entered a world full of doom and despair. Poe uses words to paint a picture such as in the first sentence, â€Å"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in autumn†¦Ã¢â‚¬  paints a portrait of cold and despair as indicated by the cold of autumn and using the word â€Å"soundless† indicates that he is alone. While some may think that Poe’s word choice may seem too overdone and cartoon-like, Maurice Beebe of the University of California Press talks about how this vocabulary is needed to create a classic Poe universe. J. O.  Baily of the University of North Carolina writes, â€Å"Poe intended the story to do what it does, to arouse a sense of unearthly terror that springs from a vague source, hinted and mysterious. † This is all found within Poe’s vocabulary. Poe uses dark words such as â€Å"phantasmagoric† meaning a shifting series of phantasms, illusions, or deceptive appearances, as in a dream or as created by the imagination, and not found in everyday language. Poe spends a great deal of time describing the House of Usher, but does he spend too much time? The answer is no if you are thinking in terms of him building exposition. Exposition is defined by DiYanni as â€Å"where plot begins and provides background information we need to make sense of the action, that describes the setting, and that introduces major characters. † Poe does just this, in extensive detail. Poe spends what may seem as an absurd amount of time describing the house and the tarn in the beginning of the story but you later can see how it all relates. The description of the house is in all actuality is a description of the main character, Roderick Usher. Poe writes carefully about coming upon the House of Usher, about the tarn located near he house, and even about the letter that was written to the narrator so we know many things upon the beginning of the story. As stated before, Poe wrote of the House of Usher relating to the character, Roderick Usher. This is a grand use of symbolism, for example, Poe writes about the big, dark windows of the house and this can be related to the big empty eyes of Usher. Not only does the house symbolize Roderick but Baily of Duke University Press claims that if Poe was written into the story he would not be the narrator; he would Roderick Usher himself. Knowing this is the biggest symbol of all, for Roderick Usher is a symbol of the one and only Edgar Allen Poe. Kendall goes even further to explain that Roderick and his sister are actually vampires. That both brother and sister are suffering from anemia and are both very sickly symbolizes a vampirism theme to the story. â€Å"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Poe wrote a massive story that invoked many dark themes. Together through vocabulary, exposition, and symbolism, Edgar Allen Poe creates a wonderful scene of gloomy imagery and uses it to further his plot. Reference http://www.poedecoder.com/essays/usher/

Print Media Versus Electronic Media Relations Essay

Print media today is still considered to be the number one medium for public relations practitioners, despite the recent progress were seeing in electronic media and especially the Internet. Public relations practitioners channel any pertinent information through the media in order to send it to its target audiences or shareholders in the company. Public relations professionals mostly deal with print media. Print media is considered an important function for public relations professionals because many newspaper and magazine agencies use new releases. Before the terrible attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001 newspaper readership had been steadily declining in the United States and the rest of the world. After September 11, 2001 newspapers readership had improved as well the media’s image. Americans suddenly wanted to know to be informed about world affairs, specifically the war on terror and protecting our nation. From â€Å"The Practice of Public Relations† book: 49% considered the media â€Å"highly professional,† compared to 73% after 9/11, 59% considered the media â€Å"politically biased,† compared to 47% after 9/11, and 35% believed the news media â€Å"don’t care† about the people they report on, while 47% found them compassionate. Based on a study done by the U.S. Industry & Market Outlook there are 30,700 printing companies in the United States. As for magazines 17,321 are published in the United States according to the National Directory of Magazines. Furthermore magazine readership has seen an increase in its readership. Now I will begin discussing publicity and its relevance. First, off publicity is known as the conscious attempt to manage the public’s perception of a subject. Publicity is achieved by directly working with media. In addition, publicity is understood a more powerful method than advertising. Advertising cost a lot of money. Think about it a full-page ad in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal could cost a company or an individual thousands of dollars. Publicity cost compared to advertising are very low, it merely  costs a company their time and effort to create. Publicity is considered to be more credible than advertising because it’s similar to a third-party endorsement. Its thought of as â€Å"news† so most people will trust it. There are six reasons why publicity works well for an organization. First one is when announcing a new product or service. Like I said earlier publicity is deemed as news so utilizing publicity before advertising is crucial. Second, publicity can be advantageous when recognizing an old product. Third reason is when explaining a complicated product. This means its tough to explain a multifaceted product in an advertisement because advertisements are limited. Companies cannot possibly fit everything they want into a brief advertisement so they devise a publicity stunt such as a staged event to discuss complex products or services. Fourth value of publicity for any organization is little or no budget. This suggests that companies with small budgets cannot afford to devote there time to advertising, so they turn to publicity, which is rather inexpensive and exceptionally effective. The fifth value of publicity is enhancing the organization’s reputation. This in my opinion is very important job for public relations practitioners. The best way to promote or enhance an organization’s reputation is through publicity and not through advertising because it is self-serving and very ineffective. The last reason why publicity makes good sense for any organization is during a crisis. According to our textbook publicity techniques are the fastest and most credible means of response during a crisis. This is also known as damage control, companies frequently choose this route when a crisis occurs. Now I will discuss another form of public relations that’s taken part of print media, propaganda. First off the purpose of propaganda is to influence people’s opinion and manipulate people to change their behavior, rather than to communicate the facts about something. The early uses of propaganda can be traced all the way back in 1600’s. The Catholic Church used propaganda to inform and persuade the public. Back during those days the term propaganda did not have the same negative connotation like it has today. Propaganda also was used during the days that led to the American Revolution. Thomas Paine, Samuel Adams and many others participated in propagating anti-British  information to the rest of the colonies. Common examples where propaganda can be easily found in newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, government reports, news reports, books, posters, and even art work. Next topic that I will discuss is how to pitch publicity successfully. The public relations textbook outlines 10 rules or tips on how to achieve publicity after writing a release. First tip is to know deadlines. Time means everything especially for newspapers. They need stories sent to them at a precise time so they can follow up on the story to make sure its not phony. Second tip is to write to them directly, do not call. Reporters have a great deal deadlines to make, they don’t need another person calling following up on there release. Therefore, writing them a letter is preferable and considered proper etiquette. The third is to direct the release to a specific person or editor. It would behoove any person sending releases to a newspaper to write which department or specific editor needs to see your release. The reason to direct your release to a specific person is because newspapers consist of many departments and even more reporters and writers. Next one is similar to the last one, which is to determine how the reporter wants to be contacted. This shows the reporter that you care about his or her preferences. Something not to do is to badger an editor to get your story to be published. This is a wrong tactic and it wont further your cause. Badgering could only lead to worse results in the future. The next two are to use exclusives but be careful and make sure you do your own calling. Making your own calls instead of letting an assistant to it is a sign of respect. The next suggestions are to not send clips of other stories about your client and to develop a relationship. Developing a good professional relationship is key to accomplishing things. The better you know a reporter the more successful your company will be. The last rule and in my opinion the most important job for a public relations practitioner is to never lie. Once they lose trust in you the relationship is severed and pretty much over. All in all print media is still regarded as the strongest medium for public relations professionals. Print media can be achieved through publicity and advertising. Organizations should always consider publicity before  advertising because it offers some positive benefits. Furthermore propaganda is the spreading of ideas and information for the purposes of inducing or manipulating behavior. For the most part people believe propaganda is usually false, which isn’t necessary true. The last topic I wrote about was how to pitch publicity effectively to reporters; these rules were outlined in our textbook. Electronic media has become king in the twenty-first century. Fifty percent of the nation gets their news from television. Today there are more then the big three networks. Cable television has become a monster itself with many channels devoted to news twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week such as CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. The internet is also a very fast growing media for people to get their news, especially for teenagers and people in their twenties. Radio also falls under electronic media. Talk radio is also big in today’s nation with many popular radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger. But what makes news media so popular? Is it the right here and right now mindset that the people of today have? There are many things that contribute to this. These next couple of paragraphs is going to explore electronic media and public relations of public media. People love to watch TV. I believe I mentioned earlier that fifty percent of the nation gets their news from television. The fact is that most people get their news from the television. The reason this is that there is non-stop bombardment of news and talk shows on at all times. There are even specific news series and channels that specialize in a certain part of the news such as ESPN for sports coverage, Bloomberg TV for stock market coverage, and Entertainment Tonight for the latest celebrity gossip. These specialty television shows have grown together with the growth of cable television. There are so many different news agencies out there now trying to break the big story that public relations representatives for companies are working over time to make sure that their company is not under attack from a nosey reporter trying to rise in the ranks. It is a recurring nightmare for the public relations department of many big corporations. Katie Couric has a great quote on the subject that sums it all up very nicely: â€Å"Some news  coverage has become more salacious, more sensationalistic, less intelligent, more giving people what they want to hear or what you think they want to hear, rather than what you think they need to or should ideally hear.† Because of news shows being on all the time, there is one very important thing that every public relations people should know how to do and that is handle a television interview. If a public relations person does not know what they are doing when being interviewed, they can potentially hurt the company that they are supposed to be representing. There are many different do’s and don’ts that should be remembered when participating in an interview but I am going to skip right down to the most important part. The biggest two things you need to remember when being interviewed is be honest and be prepared. Television publicity is not always a bad thing. Since most people get their news from television, companies usually will want to take advantage of this phenomenon and go to the general public through television. The way companies do this is through the video news release. The people in public relations most often use the video news release for breaking news. Breaking news video releases are sent by satellite directly to a news agency. There is also another type of video news release that is not for breaking news, which is called evergreen video news releases. Evergreen video news releases are often sent to broadcasters on a cassette. This is the case because of the fact that an evergreen video news release is not necessarily as important so time is usually not an issue. Video news releases are very important for the person who works in public relations. There are many important guidelines to video news releases that should be kept in mind while one is being produced. One of the most important things about producing a video news release is localizing it. A VNR will more likely be used if it can be tailored for specific areas. Another thing that should be remembered about VNRs is that a good VNR tells a story. It does need to be a story tailored to the television viewer. This means that the VNR should be short and to the point with sound bites and graphics. It should appear as if the VNR is just like any other piece of  news on the station. A VNR should not be produced if there is nothing to see. If there is no video or no pictures, then it is a waste of time and money. People will not watch it so broadcasting corporations will not even bother to pick it up. There are some downsides and risks to VNRs. I say risks because just like movies at the movie theater, there are going to be some flops. And also just like movies, VNR producers can lose large amounts of money. A public relations person should make sure that a VNR is needed before producing one. The VNR should also be expensive. Do not cheapen the VNR and cut corners because the broadcasting corporations will recognize this and not waste their airtime. Public relations people should also realize that there are other ways to get the news out to the public. Just because something needs to be reported to the public does not mean that a VNR should be used. Some analysis needs to be taken into consideration to make sure that the VNR is actually the right way to distribute the information. There are some controversies on whether VNRs are an accurate and undeceiving form of news yet overall the VNR is an effective way to get an important message to millions of people. Another form of electronic media that is important for all people that practice public relations is the public service announcements. A public service announcement is basically just a long commercial that is played for no cost. The organizations that use these most often are the ones of the non-profit sort or of corporations that are doing non-profit activities to better their public image. Although public service announcements are on television, they are not seen by many except for the night owls. Most, but not all, of the public service announcements are run between midnight and 6:00AM. This is due to the fact that companies need commercials that bring in revenue and since public service announcements do not do that, they often do not get the prime time spots. Most public service announcements are like commercials that try to get the viewer to take a specific course of action. They are not nearly as significant as the video news release from a public relations standpoint. The radio is the last electronic media that will be talked about. Talk radio has become huge in the United States. Twenty-two percent of Americans listen to talk radio according to Scarborough Research. The growth of talk radio can be pinpointed to two reasons. The first is that many more people now work at home. This is because of the rapid growth of technology. People no longer need to go to the office because they can finish all their work at home. The second reason that talk radio has grown is the fact that people drive all the time. Since it is very dangerous to watch television while driving, most people listen to the radio while getting from point A to point B. There are now talk shows on just about any subject you could possibly be interested in from sports to hypnotism to conspiracy theories. People like to listen to talk radio because it is â€Å"real†. Talk show hosts say what they want to say and are paid to have an opinion. Talk shows are also interactive. It gives the people that listen to the show a voice. You can call in and give your opinion on the matter as well. AM talk radio is dominated by conservative viewpoints such as Rush Limbaugh, a pioneer in talk radio. Talk radio can also be very controversial so media directors need to be very selective, careful, and prepared if planning to be on a talk radio program. Because television and radio have become such a big part of everyday life in the United States, public relations people need to be aware of it and use it to the fullest potential. News on electronic media is a here and now type of media. News needs to be short and pointed to make sure that the viewer does not lose interest. Electronic media is the future so public relations people should be exploring the opportunities now.

Genetic Drift and the Founder Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genetic Drift and the Founder Effect - Essay Example This reduces variation in genetic characteristics with reduction in population size but retains the developed genetic frequencies as the population grows (Shulka, 2009). An example of the bottleneck effect is the case of white elephants that were protected from extinction. The resultant thousands of the species that originated from about 20 animals exhibits â€Å"no variations in 24 proteins† that significantly varied in the originally large population (Russel, Hertz and McMillan, 2011, p. 440). The founder effect, however, is characterized by movement of a small section of a population to a different locality. The reduced population leads to convergent traits that are retained within an internally growing population (Jurmain, Kilgore and Trevathan, 2008). An example is the â€Å"Old Order Amish of Lancaster County,† a small community that originated from a trio of immigrants. The emergent community however developed a convergent high frequency of â€Å"Ellis-van Creveld syndrome† leading to higher frequency and more significant dwarfism as compared to the original population (Russel, Hertz and McMillan, 2011, p.

Properrty Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Properrty Market - Essay Example The costly credit and impact of inflation made retail suffer badly in 1990. In the major UK cities low income people hindered from entering into property market due to high interest rates.. As a result there was overall slowdown in the activity. There was decrease in institutional property investment and returns reduced on retail investments. Schemes for new large stores were shelved or even cancelled while existing store outlets were scaled down or closed in a bid to attract larger customer share from competitors. The picture was total contrast from the 1980s when companies invited the big names in retail developers to design unique themed malls on latest retail and leisure ideas (Jacobs 1992:93). Thus the slump of property and construction industry provided an example as to how fast the market led growth falls. The recession affected even the most promising construction schemes as their ratings were down and billions were wiped off the share portfolios. It was a blow to Thatcher's vision of a Homeowner's nation. (Jacobs 1992:94). Jenkins (1991 as in cited in Jacobs 1992) finds a cyclical nature of UK property industry. He studied the property market from 1960 and found that there was increased involvement of banks and pension funds with the property market. ... The property was then presented by developers as security to obtain bank loans (Jacobs 1992:95). The multinational companies have integrated the economies of different countries and changes of one nation are transmitted to other. At the same time there are more stable interest rates and low economic volatility. But the low inflation puts the lender at a risk of default while borrower may have some advantage ( Forest and Lee 2003: 163). The property companies were also helped by the bull market which increased their funds needed for development. By 1991, the overseas banks had 43% funding of property industries. The property slump occurred as a result of entry of foreign capital which made this sector vulnerable as it was dependent on borrowing (Jacobs 1992). The current slump in economy has affected the construction industry as can be assessed by a comparative account of construction and GDP. The latter is the most important indicator of a nation's economic health but likely to decline by 2.9 per cent in real terms over the 2009 (The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR)). It will be the biggest annual fall since 1946 when the country faced mass de-mobilisation after the Second World War. It is forecast that industrial investments may decline by more than 15 per cent in 2009 and pose the biggest risk to the economy while household expenditure is expected to come down by 1.8 per cent in the Year. Theme 2: Factors currently influencing housing sector: Was fall in prices long overdue: The issue is that house prices started to fall even before growth started to slow down. In other words there are many microeconomic factors reducing house prices. Therefore, the fall in economic output has aggravated these other factors that are

Answer this question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer this question - Assignment Example Those who earned more contributed more and hence will receive more. Those in the public sector either rely on their pensions or the 403(b) which is available for the church ministers, certain tax-exempt organizations as well as public school employees. The retirement money is provided through an insurance company, invested in mutual funds or a retirement account set up. The public employees’ retirement system is common in the state of Nebraska making it stand out from the other states such as Kansas as the retired public employees live comfortably on their retirement savings plan paid monthly (Fenge, De Menil and Pestieau 172). Americans have moved from the corporate sponsored retirement plan where the corporates were offering pensions. With the increase of people in this sector, the plan was simply too much to sustain and the employers moved towards the defined benefit (DB). The DB plan is sponsored by the employer in addition to employee contributions. The money is then pooled together with the available funding from government and other sponsors of the plan. Employees under this plan are therefore able to receive certain benefits based on their number of years in service as well as their average salary. The DB plan can also offer payment monthly for as long as the annuitants live instead of a lump-sum distribution option (Slesnick and Suttle, 115). There is also the retirement plan of defined contribution pension plan (DC) which works similarly like a regular insurance. The employer specifies the amount of money needed for the plan to be contributed on a regular basis. The money in invested and the performance of the investment over time as well as amount contributed will determine how much they will get in their retirement funds. Even though the plan provides more flexibility in payment, the investment risks are shouldered by the employee (Slesnick and Suttle,

Discuss how security requirements can be linked to business Essay

Discuss how security requirements can be linked to business requirements - Essay Example The battle is on for finding out the efficient ways and design methodologies that can analyze the security risks and implement the appropriate mitigation solutions. As, every event or technique has a better impact and a worse impact, the technologies that speed up the business processes are also prone to increase risks of computer intrusion, fraud, disruption and many more. A successful organization not only relies on finding innovative solutions or products but also on the effective implementation of those solutions. Here, technology plays a major role as these technological developments can make the implementations simpler, providing a wide range of choice. But the question arises so as to which is the right choice This can only be answered by thorough research on the cost, stability and reliability of the technology to be used (WALSHAM, 1993). The Information System of the firm should be able to process this task by taking the external (technology functionality) and internal (business environment) entities into account. Thus, the understanding and integration of technological innovations plays a key role in the modeling of any Information System to support the business goals and strategies. ... The organization has to analyze all the possibilities and provide the solution that is technological stable and cost-effective, to implement, maintain and modify in future. Security Management and Responsibilities Data Owner Each Line Department of the company, with its own computing facilities will appoint a senior member of the staff as Data Owner. The responsibilities of the Data Owner include: Data subject enquiry procedures. To ensure that all licenses to use systems and software is accurate, available and purchased according to financial regulations. Preparing details of who can access what information, how and when, according to the particular classification of staff and information. Ensuring that all systems are maintained in effective and controlled manner. Ensure appropriate training of staff in systems and applications use. Those systems which are operated throughout the company should also have a designated Data Owner. Data Owners across the company will be advised by the Head of ead HeadInformation Compliance and Policy. With the existing systems, advice is available to help data owners meet their responsibility in complying with the Information Security Policy. Systems Development All systems must comply with the main IT strategy developed for the company by the IT team. Mark Walker, a senior systems analyst, states that an IT strategy is the single most crucial factor for the success of an organization dependent on IT for its operations (Walker, 2000). All system developments must include security issues in their consideration of new developments, seeking guidance from the Head of Information Technology. Management Responsibilities The management plays the most important part in building a successful

Leadership - Self Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership - Self Analysis - Coursework Example Leading aims at bringing change in an organization. It also involves giving inspiration to people. In leadership there is a lot of motivation that is carried out. In any job, there comes a time when one feels like giving up, the drive to work is not there. At such moments employees need to be motivated to work. What is important to know is that my motivation within the leadership premise should stem from what the results are and what kind of challenges I need to face over a period of time. This would mean that I remain in line with achieving these results through the challenges that I have to face every now and then. Leadership is dependent a great deal on how different situations are handled and what kind of authority the people enjoy when they are assumed as leaders. This would mean that they have to undertake difficult and easy assignments both with a sense of doing something right for not only their own selves but also the organizational under contexts. Leadership is an important entity in this day and age because it extracts the best possible mileage out of the related equations and gives the people what they direly require in terms of management, control and power that are exercised by the leader. I opine that these characteristics of leadership find out the exact basis of strengths that remain hidden within a person and thus derive where he is making the best use of the same and where he is lacking on the same front. Leadership always derives its basis from doing things when they matter the most and performing them in a regular manner so as to achieve sound results consistently. I would like to be a leader who could respond to others to provide them with direct answers and replies, and then stick to the subject under consideration. I would also like to stress on logic and provide emphasis on the related point under discussion. This would allow freedom for achieving personal milestones and goals (Zaleznik, 1989). However, what I appreciate about leadershi p is that it gives one the freedom to explore the nuances of business and handling people, and in telling the leader where and how he can move about to achieve solid results and goals at the end of the day. The aspect of learning cannot be denied its due role within the understanding of leadership. If the leaders stop gaining insights, it would be difficult for them to pace ahead with the changing times, and it would make their lives very difficult. As far as the concentration is on leadership, I believe at different stages of one’s career, an individual has to exhibit certain set of skills and qualities, which make him stand out like nobody else. He has to portray the best of his character and bring out what is not present in the rest of the populace. He has to lead by example, a thing which people of present times usually lack and which is not that easily found in our society. Similarly, at the top level, it is very significant to have a clear mind whereby the person can th ink way beyond his understanding as well as ask of his subordinates to carry out his instructions with accuracy and wisdom. Needless to say, a leader at a senior position has to understand that he/she is the ultimate boss and without his proper vision and goals, there can be no other person to fill the void which would be created if his thinking and mindset are just not prompt and in the right place. A leader is a person who aims to bring out his best in relationships with the people around him as he constantly asks of

SIOP Lesson Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SIOP Lesson Plan - Essay Example 3. Handout of comprehension passages. 4. A leaflet containing a list of difficult vocabulary and their meaning. 5. A history kit or a worksheet (please see appendix 1). Motivation: A documentary or transparencies on one of the battles is shown to the students before beginning the activity. A transparency can be shown having the chronology of the battles. Simple and straight questions that can be connected to the content in the passages. The students are allowed to interact before answering the questions. Let the three groups have an interactive discussion about the outcome of battles. Presentation: Try to present the students how the past wars can be related to the present wars. How wars are started and the positive and negative effects of a war. An equation between quantum of loss incurred and misery caused to the population due to wars as against the benefits and allow the students to analyse. The students are allowed to exchange notes and do peer evaluation so that they will understand each other's writing styles and at the same time are encouraged to question each other about the answer they chose and discuss. A discussion about the present wars in comparison to the past makes them understand how content can be useful in learning language skills. Exchanging notes and interaction between the groups leads to the integration of language skills. The teacher first explains the sequence of the activity with examples. Practice: An information gap activity is presented to all the three groups. The three groups are given a passage with fill in the blanks on three different battles. Since all the members in the group are aware of the events the groups are allowed to interact and seek answers... The students are allowed to exchange notes and do peer evaluation so that they will understand each other's writing styles and at the same time are encouraged to question each other about the answer they chose and discuss. A discussion about the present wars in comparison to the past makes them understand how content can be useful in learning language skills. Exchanging notes and interaction between the groups leads to the integration of language skills. An information gap activity is presented to all the three groups. The three groups are given a passage with fill in the blanks on three different battles. Since all the members in the group are aware of the events the groups are allowed to interact and seek answers and fill in the blanks with right answers. Each student from the group is asked to select one battle and make a very short oral presentation before the class. The content of the presentation need not be entirely based on the true text but can relate to the other aspects of the war. (The students are given time to make notes before the presentation).

The Prairie Dog Essay Example for Free

The Prairie Dog Essay Cynomys ludovicianus, known more commonly as the prairie dog, has more traditionally been viewed as the pariah of the prairie. However within the last year, attention has been drawn to these furry little rodents. They are extremely unpopular- so much so that for decades the Federal Government has tried desperately to eliminate them. What the government doesnt know is that these creatures are vital to the survival and thriving of several species, and are in fact an asset to our world. Prairie dogs are rodents, closely related to their predator, the black-footed ferret. They live in complicated underground systems, or communities sometimes called dog towns. These dog towns are scattered across the prairie from Canada to Mexico. They graze, run rampant, and dart from one opening to another in continuous action. This action attracts several other plains animals including bison, burrowing owls, golden eagles, ferruginous hawks, antelope, coyotes, and others. The prairie dog is the center of the Great Plains animal community. There are only a handful of sites in the entire West where the species is not under eradication. It is speculated that the species has declined 98 percent across its habitat. In national parks, prairie dogs colonies are fragmented, isolated, and downright tiny. Today only seven parks hold prairie dog populations. Four places- Bens Old Fort National Historic Site, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Devils Tower National Monument, and Fort Laramie National Historic Site- active dog towns are no more than 20 acres. The other three- Badlands, Wind Cave, and Theodore Roosevelt National park- are larger. But the biggest, the Badlands, is barely 4,200 acres. The total area occupied by prairie dogs isnt more than 6,000 acres. At the turn of the century, one Texas prairie dog town measured 100 by 250 miles almost the size of Maine. About 400 million animals lived there. In the 1920s, it was estimated that the population of North American prairie dogs exceeded 500 billion. As much as twenty percent of the plains may have held these animals. Of all major biomes in North America, the plains have suffered the most, and dog towns have been destroyed for plowing. Systematic poisoning has grown into a fatal threat to the prairie dogs, as well as gopher hunting, dollar-a-dog contests, and red mist destruction. Some rural towns hold contests for cash prizes for the individual who shoots the most dogs in one day, hence dollar-a-dog. In addition to the target practice is a new killer- sylvatic plague. It is spread by fleas, gradually diffused across the West, and to make matters worse, the little critters have little or no immunity. Once the disease enters a colony, the entire town is usually lost. There are no reserve colonies to repopulate towns that are lost due to hunting, plague, poisoning, or natural events. To tell the truth, the prairie dog ecosystems are as at much risk as the old-growth forests and salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. The Biodiversity Legal Foundation in Colorado filed a petition in October of 1994 to list the prairie dog as a Category 2 under the Endangered Species Act. This states that federal agencies must be alerted that a species may be in jeopardy unless changes occur. Prairie dogs are considered by scientists to be a keystone species, which means that they are what a recorded 170 other wildlife species depend on. For example, they are the prime source of food for the black-footed ferret and the swift fox. Their abandoned colonies are later inhabited by anything form burrowing owls to rattlesnakes. Without the prairie dog, many dependent species will not survive. Their ecosystems support higher numbers of small mammals , more terrestrial predators, and higher densities, and greater diversity of bird species than grasslands without these rodents. Whats the greatest irony in the decline of the prairie dog is that it cannot be justified. Even the livestock industrys claims that prairie dogs compete with their cattle for forage appear vacuous. Studies have shown that prairie dogs actually improve forage quality for livestock. One study in South Dakota documented that livestock grazing near dog towns suffered neither weight loss nor a reduction in weight gain. And, prairie dogs thrive where trampling and grazing by livestock reduce grass height. Parks are very frightened at the idea of human visitors contracting plagues from prairie dogs. They often conduct spot treatments with poisoned oats, gas, and more. This destruction is hypocritical of the National Parks philosophy to protect native species. Poisoning of the rodents continued in the Badlands up until 1993, one year before the reintroduction of black-footed ferrets. On public and private lands, the poison of choice is zinc phosphate. Oats and other grains are laced with the chemical and then sprinkled around the colony. The death is slow and painful, taking up to twelve hours, and causing them to go into convulsions and seizures. The most disgusting method, however, is a backpackable flamethrower. Combustible gas is thrown into the burrows, is ignited, and burns the rodents alive. A change in attitude towards prairie dogs is gaining momentum. Several policy changes are in line, including a colony monitoring system to help us learn more about the natural habitat and behavior of the furry mammals. In pre-settlement days, Great Plains ecosystems were characterized by a dynamic shifting puzzle of intense disturbance created by heavy bison grazing, wildfire, prairie dog colonization, expansion, and decline. Today, few places exist where all three major disturbance factorsbison, wildfire, and prairie dogs- occur on any acreage. Such rigid boundaries that the colonies are in may not provide room for expansion. As the human population dwindles in the rural plains, room for a buffalo-prairie dog commons is highly plausible. We spent 100 years what has taken thousands of years to evolve. Now we should be asking what role they play in prairie ecosystems and providing them the space and respect they need to evolve to their potential.

Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care Essay Example for Free

Principles for implementing duty of care in health, social care Essay Describe how to respond to complaints Responding to complaints, whether made by a parent or a staff colleague, you should always keep professional and listen to what the person has to say. You should keep calm and by being respectful and apologising when necessary which helps to diffuse potential conflict. Complaints need to be resolved as quickly as possible and constructively to avoid creating a bad atmosphere for all those involved. When responding to a complaint, it is important to listen to the other person’s point of view. You should avoid making personal comments and focus on the facts throughout. Always apologise if you are wrong and explain how you will resolve the situation. Explain the main points of agreed procedures for handing complaints If a member of staff or a parent wishes to make a complaint they should discuss their complaint with the setting leader first where most complaints can be resolved quickly. If the parent or member of staff is not happy with the outcome they should then put their complaint in writing to the setting leader who can then pass the details onto the owner or chairperson of a committee run setting. The setting will look into the complaint and once they have come to a conclusion the setting leader can arrange a meeting with the person who made the complaint to discuss the outcome. If the person is still not happy with the outcome they can ask for a further meeting with the setting leader and the owner or chairperson where they can also invite a representative. They can then all meet up to try and come to a conclusion. Everything at this meeting will be noted and recorded. If the complaint can still not be resolved at this meeting then a further meeting can be made where an external mediator is invited. The external mediator will then investigate the complaint and then arrange a meeting for all parties to settle the complaint. A record of the meeting will be made which will discuss any decisions that have been made. Everyone that attends the meeting will need to sign the record and will get a copy of all the notes. This signed record should conclude the complaint. Parents are entitled to contact Ofsted throughout any stage of the complaints procedure. The telephone number of Ofsted will be on the settings complaints procedure.

Relationship importance and Factors of Marital Adjustment

Relationship importance and Factors of Marital Adjustment Over the course of life, people learn to establish different relationships, with different values, expectations and commitments. One of those relationships is the marital relationship. For A good marital relationship marital adjustment is essential. Sinha Mukerjee (1990) defines marital adjustment as The state in which there is an overall feeling in husband and wife of happiness and satisfaction with their marriage and with each other. Locke Wallace (1959) defines marital adjustment as: accommodation of husband and wife to each other at a given time According to Spanier and Cole (1976), marital adjustment is a process, the outcome of which is determined by the degree of: a) troublesome marital differences, b) interpersonal tensions and personal anxiety, c) marital satisfaction d) dyadic cohesion, e) consensus on matters of importance to marital functioning. There are a number of factors that define a healthy marital adjustment. Some of these factors are Factors involved in Marital Adjustment: Wife employment and Marital Adjustment: Blumstein and Schwartz (1983) had earlier found that individuals, particularly wives, reported increased levels of self-esteem, self-concept, and self-worth were positively correlated with employment. Previous research on the relationship be- tween wife employment and marital adjust- ment has produced conflicting results: some investigations report a positive relationship between wife employment and marital adjust- ment (Burke Weir, 1976; Hartley, 1978); others suggest a negative relationship (Bean, Curtis, Marcum, 1977; Gover, 1963); other studies show no relationship (Bahr Day, 1978; Blood Wolfe, 1960). Nathawat and Mathur (1993) did a study in India about marital adjustment and subjective well-being in Indian-educated housewives and working women. Their results indicated that working women had better marital adjustment and subjective well-being. Working women reported high scores on general health, life satisfaction and self-esteem measures lower scores on hopelessness, insecurity and anxiety whereas the housewives had lower scores on negative affect than the working women. Trust and marital adjustment: Relationships are composed of trust, and sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings. They are built upon trust and sharing and they get stronger from these things (Finkenauer, Kerkhof, Righetti, Branje, 2009). According to Regan, Kocan, and Whitlock (1998) Trust is one of the most important component of a loving relationship. Also international studies have found trust to be a critical factor in the success of long-term marriages (Roizblatt et al. 1999; Sharlin 1996). In a longitudinal study, Kristina Moeller and Hakan Stattin (2001) report that adolescents with trustful parental relationships experienced greater satisfaction with their partner relationships in midlife. Quality of life and marital adjustment Psychological Factors: Depression stress (psychological well being) Lower psychological well-being is a major risk factor for relationship distress. Higher rates of relationship problems have been consistently linked to persons suffering from severe psychiatric disorders, including depression, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders (Bradbury, 1998). Many studies link marital conflict to depression (Beach, Arias, OLeary, 1987; OLeary and Beach, 1990). Although the authors propose a bidirectional causal relationship between marital conflict and depression, they suggest that marital conflict is typically a more powerful contributing factor to depression. Marital satisfaction appears to be an important factor of psychological well being. Marital distress has been linked with many psychological difficulties especially depression. (KAUSAR ANSARI.. thesis) . Belongingness and Marital Adjustment: According to Baumeister Leary (1995) Belongingness might have multiple and strong effects on emotional patterns and on cognitive processes. Lack of belongingness or attachments is linked to a variety of ill effects on health, adjustment, and well-being. In a close relationship there is a need to belong and if that need isnt fulfilled then problems may occur. One of the universal institutions is marriage which is accepted to satisfy the need for belongingness. Economics and Marital Adjustment Education and income have also been linked to marital satisfaction and marital conflict, with greater levels of education and income predicting greater marital satisfaction and less conflict. Economic stress has a negative effect on marital satisfaction and a positive influence on relationship dissolution (Johnson Booth, 1990). Economic strain is directly linked to increased couple disagreements and has direct impact on marital adjustment (Kinnunen and Feldt, 2004). Many researches haves been conducted on economic factor in relation to marital adjustment e.g Zedlewski (2002) studied economic factor in relation to family well-being , he found that low family income and limited benefits have negative influences on child and family well-being. Voyandoff (1990) studied economic distress and family relations.   Ross Mirowsky (1992) and Yadollahi (2009) studied that employment of spouses  and the sense of control in various types of stressors of marital life. Diener and Diener (2001) investigated that wealth is related to many positive outcomes in life. Gudmunson, Beutler, Israelsen, McCoy Hill (2007) found that financial problems significantly contributed to lower reported marital satisfaction among married couples. In a study in Finland conducted by Kinnunen and Feldt (2004) concluded that husbands unempl oyment is strongly associated with his marital adjustment. Couples with better economic resources are martially adjusted as compared to those who have limited economic resources. Economic hard times increased rate of martial distress.   (Blekesaunes   2008)   Personality and Marital Adjustment In a study by Bouchard, Sabourin, Lussier, Y. (1999) the relationship of various personality traits with marital adjustment was studied. Personality traits studied were neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The scale used to measure marital adjustment was dyadic adjustment scale. The results showed that women high in agreeableness and openness were more adjusted. Also males that were high on openness and agreeableness were more martially adjusted. Husbands openness was positively related to their wives marital adjustment. Open individuals may tolerate and respect differences in behavior and thought of partner which would reduce the number of conflicts and increase the consensus between spouses. Kim, Martin, and Martin (1989) and Levine and Henessy (1990) found that personality factors differentiated stable from unstable marriages. Stable marriages were more similar in intelligence, protension, radicalism, tender-mindedness, mutual trust, acceptance, enthusiasm, and genuineness. Personality factors that reduce the likelihood of stability and satisfaction have included the lack of warmth and extraversion (Levine Henessy); passive-aggression (Slavik, Carlson, Sperry, 1998); borderline pathologies (Paris Braverman, 1995); bipolar disorders (Peven Schulman, 1998); feelings of insecurity, unfairness, depreciation, and powerlessness (Begin, Sabourin, Lussier, Wright, 1997); disagreeableness, emotional instability, inconsiderateness, and physical abuse (Botwin et al., 1997; Kosek, 1996; Shackelford Buss, 1997); depression (Cohan Bradbury, 1997; Davila Bradbury, 1997; Fals-Stewart, Birchler, Schafer, Lucente, 1994); neuroticism (Karney Bradbury, 1997; Russell Wells, 1994a ; Russell Wells, 1994b); tension, anxiety, worry, and suspicion (Craig Olson, 1995); hostility, defensiveness, and aggression (Heyman, OLeary, Jouriles, 1995; OLeary, Malone, Tyree, 1994; Newton, Kiecolt-Glaser, Glaser, Malarkey, 1995); and negative affectivity leading to negative attributions (Huston Vangelistic, 1991; Karney, Bradbury, Fincham, OSullivan, 1994). Individual personality traits have also been linked to couples relationship functioning for both men and women. Personality traits of neuroticism, anxiety, and emotional instability have been shown to impair relationship functioning and reduce relationship satisfaction (Watson Clark, 1984). Additionally, personality characteristics of agreeableness and expressiveness have been referred to as individual protective factors, which may enhance marital satisfaction (Bradbury, Campbell, Fincham, 1995). Communication and Marital Adjustment: Communication is necessary for human growth and development also it serves as the essential foundation for marital success and is the facilitating process for an enduring marriage that is satisfying (Robinson Blanton, 1993). Communication within relationships is an important factor, if there isnt communication the relationship suffers. The relationship between marital communication and adjustment is a strong one (Murphy Mendelson 2004). Gottman (1995) in his book indicated that communication could be both productive and destructive to relationships as unhappy couples tend to criticize, disagree, complain, put down, and use excuses and sarcasm. Unrewarding communication patterns lead to the development of relationship distress (Markman, 1979). In contrast, happy couples with marital stability and satisfaction are more likely to use active listening skills, agree, approve, assent, use laughter and humor (Fisher, Giblin, Hoopes, 1982) and possess character virtues of self-restraint, courage, and friendship (Fowers Olson, 1986). Gottman (1995) has suggested that satisfied couples maintain a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative exchanges in interactions Gender also plays an important role in couple communication as there are gender differences in verbal and nonverbal communication with men tending to be more dominant in their interactions and women being more submissive (Tannen, 1990). Emmers-Sommer (2004) studied the effect of communication quality and quantity indicators on satisfaction in relationships. A key term in the study was quality time; this refers to focused, uninterrupted time spent with children, partners, friends, and significant others. Another key term used in the study was quantity time; this refers to frequency of communication or contact. For individuals to reach relationship satisfaction they have to examine the quantity and quality of their disclosures with their partners. Emmers-Sommer (2004) found that quality of communication predicts both relationship satisfaction and intimacy. The quantity of communication, however, was not a predictor for relationship satisfaction. Concealment/Non- disclosure and marital adjustment: Disclosure  as a phenomenon was first investigated by Sidney Jourard (1971). The process was originally defined as telling others about the self. Rosenfeld (1979) explained self-disclosure as the personal information of self that is only available from himself and is not available from other sources. Jorgensen Gaudy (1980) defines self disclosure as: A process by which a marriage partner ex- presses feelings, perceptions, fears, and doubts of the inner self to the other partner, allowing relatively private and personal information to surface in the relationship that normally would not be revealed in the course of day-to-day interaction. The word conceal has been originated from the Latin work Concelare , celare means to hide. Merriam Webster defines concealment as  to prevent disclosure or recognition. Concealment is the activity of hiding information and keeping secrets from other people. Larson and Chastain (1990) explained self concealed personal information as firstly, a subset of private personal information, secondly, it is accessible only to the individual and thirdly it is actively kept from the awareness of others. Thus, self-concealment involves the conscious concealment of private information like feelings, thoughts, actions or events that one perceives as highly intimate, distressing or negative. Even though concealment and disclosure seem the same, there is some difference between self-disclosure and self-concealment. According to Larson and Chastain 1990 the act of revealing personal information is self- disclosure whereas the act of concealing personal information is self-concealment. They argued that self-concealment and self-disclosure are two separate and distinct constructs even though they are related. Effects of concealment/non-disclosure on marital adjustment Feelings of Exclusion People usually resent it when they perceive that another person is keeping secrets from them. The general reaction towards concealment is that of exclusion since in that persons view his right to know is being violated. This level or degree of exclusion felt by a person is higher when these persons are in a close and intimate relationship (Finkenauer, Kerkhof, Righetti, Branje, 2009). Marital relationships are composed of trust, and sharing of intimate thoughts and feelings. They are built upon trust and sharing and they get stronger from these things. Therefore the quality of relationship is influenced adversely when there is a perception of concealment from partner. The perception of concealment effects on relationship quality, the person feels rejected or excluded (Finkenauer, Kerkhof, Righetti, Branje, 2009). The exclusion that is communicated by concealment can be assumed to violate almost all features and values commonly associated with close relationships, including trust, caring, honesty, friendship, companionship, unconditional acceptance, and respect (Finkenauer, Kerkhof, Righetti, Branje, 2009). Psychological effects To keep secrets or deliberately conceal information from others seems to be part of normal development. Even though every person has secrets they can sometimes be a burden. There are different types of secrets people keep like having cheated on an exam, having a disease, sexual orientation or having been sexually molested as a child. Most of these secrets involve stigmatizing or negative information that usually involves the secret keepers themselves. People who conceal negative or distressing information of self from others as compared to the ones who do not, are more depressed, anxious, shy and have low self-esteem.(Kelly, Klusas, Weiss Kenny, 2001) Effects of Disclosure on marital adjustment Self-disclosure and liking The earliest work done on the relationship between disclosure and liking was by Jourard (1959) who found a positive association between liking the other person and disclosing to that person in a sample of nursing students and faculty. A number of studies have been done on this relationship and confirmed that we disclose more to people whom we like. (e.g., Certner,1973, Fitzgerald, 1963; Worthy, Gary, Kahn, 1969) and also we tend to like the people who disclose personal information to us (e.g., Archer, Berg, Runge, 1980; Daher Banikiotes, 1976;Taylor, Gould, Brounstein, 1981). Self-Disclosure and psychological well-being Most of the studies done on the relationship between concealment and psychological well-being have shown the same results which are that higher levels of disclosure are associated with psychological wellbeing and lower levels of disclosure are associated with poorer mental health. Disclosing distressing information helps with the psychological well-being and not disclosing leads to poorer mental health. It is thought that disclosing distressing information helps psychological well-being by reducing the stress of keeping the information to oneself (Ichiyama et al 1993; Cramer, 1999; Barry and Mizrahi, 2005; Hook and Andrews, 2005; Kahn et al 2002). Gender differences and concealment: Concealment is behavior that is more common in males. On the other hand previous studies indicate that females are usually more willing to disclose distressing or personal information. Traditionally, discussing personal problems is a behavior that is considered more appropriate for females than for males (Kahn and Hessling, 2001). Among men, asking for help when faced with psychological problems is often perceived as a weakness (Jourard and Lasakow, 1958; West, 1970; Jourard, 1971; Cozby, 1973; Kelly and Achter, 1995; Kahn and Hessling, 2001). Moreover, traditional sex-role stereotypes suggest that females are more skillful in communicating and also are more concerned with issues of intimacy than are men. So an intimate disclosure by a man may be seen as less appropriate than a similar disclosure by a woman (Collins Miller 1994). All in all men who disclose are generally viewed as maladjusted whereas women who do not disclose may be viewed as maladjusted. (Collins Miller 1994). Age and tendencies towards disclosure/ non-concealment and in terms of age it has been found that young people are more likely to disclose than older people. (Jourard, 1971; Hook and Andrews, 2005). Literature Review: Labels such as satisfaction, adjustment, success, happiness, and quality have all been used in describing the quality of marriage (Fincham, Beach, Kemp-Fincham, 1997) Theories on marital adjustment and disclosure Social penetration theory: Many studies have dealt with self disclosure. One main theory that was a framework for the study is Social Penetration Theory (Altman Taylor, 1987). This theory was a model for the study because it looks at self disclosure as both the depth and the breadth. In this study the depth of self disclosure is an important factor when reaching satisfaction in relationships. Altman and Taylor use an onion as a metaphor for relationship development. They suggest that the onion represents the breadth and depth of self disclosures. On the outer layer of the onion individuals have the breadth of disclosures: a broad aspect of a person such as their tastes, worldview, and studies. As individuals go deeper into the onion, they get to the depth of disclosures meaning they get more detail on aspects of an individual. This represents the degree of a persons disclosure. The main route to deep social penetration is through individuals disclosures. The depth of penetration would represent the degree of personal disclosure. Altman and Taylor (1987) suggest the depth of penetration into the onion model is the degree of intimacy. This study examines the depth of penetration, breadth is equally important in relationships. This theory supports the idea that people who have a high level of depth in their disclosure will be more satisfied in romantic relationships. This theory does not examine the amount of self disclosure as it does the depth of self disclosure. Three competing models of marital disclosure and satisfaction Jorgensen Gaudy (1980) gave models for marital disclosure and satisfaction and according to Spanier (1976) marital satisfaction is a sub category of marital adjustment. According to the linear model of marital relationship, there exists a positive, linear relationship between marital disclosure and marital satisfaction. Marital relationship is characterized by factors like intimacy, trust and caring. Marital disclosure positively impacts these factors and therefore presence of these factors in a marital relationship systematically increase the level of marital satisfaction. Therefore, this model suggests that higher the level of marital disclosure greater will be the marital satisfaction and vice versa. The curvilinear model as opposed to the linear model suggests that a satisfying marital relationship exists only with medium levels of self disclosure. When self disclosure falls on the high or low end of the continuum of self disclosure, marital satisfaction will decrease. This means that too lack of self disclosure is not the only factor that results in low marital satisfaction. Extensive self disclosure might be perceived as nagging or too much complaining which might raise negative feelings of hostility in the spouse which in turn will decrease the marital satisfaction. Hence, according to this model moderate levels of self disclosure are characterized as a key factor in achieving high marital satisfaction. John Gottmans (1999) scientifically validated theory of marriage, based on 25 years of longitudinal research, is one of the leading theories in the study of marital satisfaction. Gottmans theory (1999) states that positive interaction and friendship is the key to marital satisfaction and the prediction of marital stability over time. According to Gottman (1999), a ratio of 5:1 positive to negative interactions is necessary for marital stability. Gottman defines marital stability as a satisfying marital relationship that is not disrupted by separation or divorce. He states, The most important finding was that more positive affect was the only variable that predicted both marital stability and happiness (p. 21). In Gottmans theory (1999), there is a process of what he calls sentiment override in couples. He states, Sentiment override can be either positive or negative. Negative sentiment override means that people have a chip on their shoulder. These types of partners are hypervigilant, looking for slights or attacks by their partner. Positive sentiment override means that even negativity by the partner is interpreted as informative rather than as a personal attack (p. 164). Positive sentiment override creates a milieu in which the partners are more tolerant and accepting of each other, while negative sentiment override creates a set of expectations that ones spouse will behave negatively. Similarly, OLeary and Smith (1991) refer to this phenomenon as cognitive attributional correlates of marital satisfaction. These authors state that distressed couples are less likely to objectively interpret positive behaviors from their spouses as positive and more likely to interpret the intent of their spouses statements more negatively than they were meant to be. Compared to non-distressed couples, dissatisfied spouses make attributions that cast their partners behavior in a negative light and these attributions in turn negatively influence marital satisfaction (Bradbury Fincham, 1990). In summary, according to Gottman (1999) as well as OLeary and Smith (1991) it is not what happens in the marriage, but how the partners perceive and define what has happened that is critical. Gottman posits that 69% of couples problems will be what he calls, perpetual problems, meaning largely unresolvable. He has found that in the case of the perpetual problems, it is important for couples to establish a dialogue, as opposed to a solution in these instances. When couples cannot dialogue about these issues, they often become gridlocked, where each partner becomes frustrated and eventually emotionally disengaged. The role of communication therefore plays an important role in marital satisfaction. Studies examining marital satisfaction vary in design, measurement, and outcomes, leading to a number of explanations accounting for marital satisfaction (Gottman, 1999). Perception of concealment has an adverse effect on marital relationships. Some researches have been carried out related to this issue. In a longitudinal study it was studied how perceiving concealment in close relationships influences marital well-being. The research showed that people in marital relationships who perceive their partner to be concealing information from them had poor relationships, mistrust and conflict between them. In the study it was also discussed that people who conceal information also perceive that the other person is concealing information from them. Perceiving concealment may give the other partner the impression that he/she is not desirable or cannot be trusted; it gives the other person the feelings of being excluded. And the feeling of exclusion may result in feelings of separation or estrangement which may result in marital conflict (Finkenauer et al., 2009). Another study conducted in Belgium has investigated disclosure and secrecy in close, long-term relationships. It showed in the study that secrecy contributed a lot to marital dissatisfaction. The study explains how a person who has a secret avoids a difficult topic rather than facing it to avoid conflict, while the other partner perceives the secrecy as a sign of suspicion, which contributes negatively to marital satisfaction. Another point in the study was that people trying to hide something on the way feel that they have to put on a mask for the other person so he/she doesnt get to know their secret; they have to pretend which may lead to less intimacy and closeness. People who felt comfortable with sharing their emotions and were able to talk about matters were more satisfied with their relationship. One of the questionnaires used to test their study was the Larson and Chastains (1990) Self- Concealment Scale (Finkenauer Hazam, 2000). Low expressiveness leads to dissatisfaction in a marital relationship. Miller et al. (2003) argued that expressive people are less likely to suffer decline in marital satisfaction. They found that spouses expressiveness was positively related to their own and partners affectionate behaviors and this affectionate behavior was in turn related with marital satisfaction. Expressiveness is positively associated with peoples perception of their partners responsiveness. Davidson, Balswick Halverson (1983) did a study on the Affective Self-Disclosure and Marital Adjustment. It was based upon 162 married couples. The study explains that the greater is the discrepancy in partners affective self-disclosure, the lesser is the individuals marital adjustment. READ WHOLE PAPER AND WRITE. Sprecher and Hendrick (2004) examined the relationship between self-disclosure and relationship quality and found a positive relationship between disclosure and relationship quality. Self-disclosure is an indicator of satisfaction in romantic relationships. Levesque, Steciuk, and Ledley (2002) studied how self-disclosure relates to the development of personal relationships, relational intimacy, and relationship dissolution. The results showed that perceived intimacy was strongly associated with level of self-disclosure. Self-disclosure was found to be strongly reciprocal. Levesque et al. 2002 found that the level of self-disclosure strongly influences individual differences between disclosers. HANSEN E.J SCHULDT J.W (1984) did a study on marital self-disclosure and marital satisfaction. The sample for the study was on a sample of 50 married couples of mean age 25 years and mean length of marriage was 3.18 years and mean education was 15 years. Scales used for measuring the variables were Jourards self disclosure questionnaire( jourard and Lasakow, 1958) and Spaniers (1976) Dyadic Adjustment Scale. the results of the study showed that wifes disclosure to husband was positively related to husbands marital satisfaction and husbands disclosure to wife was also positively related to husbands marital satisfaction. One predictor that may have particular importance to marital satisfaction is gender roles. According to Kurdek (2005) there are two classes of theories that explain the position about how men and women experience close relationships in different ways. the first class, that is the biological, posits that males and females in a relationship process events differently at the cardiovascular, endocrinological, immunological, neurosensory, and neurophysiological levels. For example Kiecolt-Glaser Newton (2001) in their research reviewed evidence showing that men are more physiologically sensitive to acute stressors than women and women showed stronger and more durable physiological changes than men in marital conflict. The other class that is the class of social psychological theories posits that both genders differ in ways that are directly relevant to relationship functioning like the structure and content of how the self is constructed, personality traits and socialized roles. The other class that is the class of social psychological theories posits that both genders differ in ways that are directly relevant to relationship functioning like the structure and content of how the self is constructed, personality traits and socialized roles. Other research has also substantiated that marriage disproportionately benefits men, with husbands reporting higher levels of marital satisfaction and well-being than their wives (Bird Fremont, 1991; McRae Brody, 1989; Schumm, Webb, Bollman, 1998). Gender is defined as the socially determined role of an individual that is ascribed as a result of his or her sex (Juni Grimm, 1994). Gender roles influence men and women in every aspect of their lives and relationships (Knox Schacht, 2000). Demographic characteristics including age, race, income, education, length of marriage, and religiosity, have been linked to marital satisfaction and marital conflict (Knox Schacht, 2000). Based on Gottmans (1999) research, length of marriage is also a significant predictor for marital satisfaction and marital conflict. He identifies two critical time periods of vulnerability in the marital trajectory, with the majority of couples divorcing within the first seven years of marriage. Couples who divorce within the first seven years of marriage have relationships characterized by having high levels of marital conflict. Conversely, a second vulnerable time period for the marital trajectory is 16 to 24 years of marriage. This is the next most likely time frame for couples to divorce. These relationships are characterized by spending little time together, lack of communication, and a lack of conflict expression. Gottman (1999) refers to these couples as two ships passing in the night.

Globalization in the World Today Essay examples -- essays research pap

Globalization is changing the way of doing business in the world today. It is the new era of business opportunity. For many major companies, going global is a matter of survival, and it means radically changing the way they work. Economic globalization changes both spatial dimension of MNE’s (Multinational Enterprises) and creates a need for more flexible production of marketing systems and new forms of organization. Firms trying to position themselves as global players face problems such as the cost of building a simultaneous presence in several product areas and foreign markets. They must also be able to manage cultural difference and be able to carry out effective cross-cultural communication. Global skills must be an integral part of an enterprise; these skills must be integrated throughout all operations of the company. Managements handling of diversity will be the most significant factor affecting MNE’s success in the global marketplace. Whether a company is conce rned about the supervisors of minority employees, world trade, joint ventures or global economic cooperation, culture will have a great impact on the relationships and the operations. Edward H. Schein states it perfectly: Consider any complex, potentially volatile issue-Arab relations, the problems between Serbs, Croats, and Bosnians, corporate decision-making, getting control of U.S. deficit or health care coasts, labor/management relations, and so on. At the root of the issue we are likely to find communication failures and cultural misunderstandings that prevent the parties from framing the problem in a common way, and thus make it impossible to deal with the problem constructively (Schein 40). Every company that becomes global should have global leadership. Culturally skilled leaders are essential for the effective management of emerging global corporations. They should have persons in management that are capable of operating effectively in a global environment and they must be respectful of cultural diversity. In China, the conflict in management has been addressed as a major problem for the global-player, such as US and Chinese joint ventures. Joint ventures are designed to improve and eliminate misunderstanding of global-culture differences in management. Some Chinese and American companies try to adapt to one another, but it is not easy. Both sides have found that cultural diff... ...nt issue, such as how will they serve customer, finding local business partner and geographic concern. For example, " Henkel has several join venture across China manufacturing cosmetics, detergents and other product" (Tse, 13.Works Cited Http://www.Chinatoday.com [accessed] 1/08/00 Czinkota, Michael R. The Global Marketing Imperative. Lincolnwood ILL, NTC Business books, c1995 Daniels John L. Global Vision: building models for the corporation of the future. New York: McGraw-Hill, c1993 Dunning, John H. The Globalization of Business. Routeledge Press, New York. c, 1993 Harris, Phillip R. Moran, Robert T. Managing Cultural Differences. Gulf Publishing. Houston TX, c1996 Itoh, Fumio. China in the twenty-first century: politics, economy, and society. Toyko, New York. United Nations University Press. C1997 Maddox, Robert C. Cross Cultural Problems in International Business. Greenwood Publishing. Westport Ct, c1993 Schein, EH. â€Å"on dialogue, culture and organizational learning† Organization Dynamics, Fall 1993. Vol 32 pp, 40-51 Tse, Edward. Strategy and Business & and the right way to achieve profitable growth In the Chinese market. London Press, c1994

How To Find A Writing Topic Problem-solution Essays :: essays research papers

How to Find A Writing Topic Problem-Solution Essays Have you ever received a problem-solution essay where you cannot think of anything to write? Although many of the forty million students in America go through this at one time or another, don't despair! There are several systematic ways to find a writing topic. Some topics take no research at all. Let's look at a few of them. First, the local newspaper may contain some interesting articles. The newspaper can be used as a utility to the writing process. Problems will present themselves in many newspaper articles. Articles will most likely contain many facts and quotations about a certain problem making the subject easily researchable in a short time. People must be careful, though, when using the newspaper. Many other people may use it as a source and you may find yourself writing about the same thing as someone else. Another solution might be to write in regard to your own past experiences that have involved problems and solutions. They may be problems you have had with your parents or siblings. A problem could be that you cannot decide on something and have to make a tough decision. Writing about a decision that you made about clothes will suffice. But in the view of someone else, the problem may seem insignificant. Both previous solutions may in some cases fail. If so, writing about not knowing what to write and how to solve that may lead to the best alternative. It may look as if the assignment was quickly jotted down due to the fact that there is no research to do, but if it is well written it can turn out to be a very good essay. When specific information is needed there are many things that could be doctored to suit the needs of the article.

Different Approaches To Management

Management was influenced by various disciplines like sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, psychology, and even literature. Due to such multidisciplinary influences, even authors like Harold Koontz (1961) referred to management as a ‘jungle’. Even then, differences exist in the classification of approaches. Although one of the ways to classify management approaches is from the analysis of John G.Hutchinson (1971), which considers the development of management from five different perspectives, the history of management can be broadly classified into three groups: (1) the classical approach, (2) the neo-classical approach, and (3) the modern approach. The classical approach has conventionally implied traditionally accepted views. This approach emphasizes organizational efficiency to increase organizational success. It believes in functional interrelationships, following of certain principles based on experience, a bureaucratic structure, and a reward-puni shment nexus.The classical school of thought developed in three different directions: the scientific management approach, the administrative approach, and the bureaucratic approach, which also falls under the administrative school of thought. The bureaucratic approach was pioneered by Weber (1920), the scientific management approach by Taylor (1903), and the concept of administrative theory by Fayol (1949). The neo-classical approach /Behavioral approach emphasized human relations, the importance of the person behind the machine, individual as well as group relationships, and social aspects.This approach was pioneered by Mayo and his associates (1933). It was further extended to the behavioral sciences approach, pioneered by Abraham Maslow (1968, 1971), Chris Argyris (1957), Douglas McGregor (1960), and Rensis Likert (1961). The quantitative approach (which developed during World War II and believes in economic effectiveness to solve business problems) and the contingency approach ( which discards the concept of universality and determines managerial decisions by considering situational factors) also form a part of the neo-classical approach.Modern management thought combines concepts of the classical school with social and natural sciences. It basically emerged from systems analysis. Even though most discussions on the evolution of management thought start with the classical approach, a brief acknowledgement of the contributions of the pre-classical theorists is useful to appreciate the process of development in management thought. A list of the contributions by pre-classical theorists has been provided in Table 1. 1. Table 1. 1 Contributions of Pre-classical Theorists Contributor Pioneering ideas Robert Owen (1771–1858)He is considered to be a pioneer of the human resource management process. He advocated the necessity of concern for the welfare of workers. Charles Babbage (1792–1871) As an inventor and a management scientist, he built the pract ical mechanical calculator, which is considered to be the basis of the modern computer. He also advocated the idea of specialization of mental work and suggested the necessity of profit sharing. Andrew Ure and Charles Duplin (1778–1857) They emphasized the necessity of management education, which further paved the way to professionalize management functions.Henry Robinson Towne (1844–1924) He emphasized the significance of skills in running a business. Reviewing the contributions of the pre-classical theorists, it is clear that their focus was more on developing some specific techniques to solve some identified problems. Due to their obvious technical background, they could not think of management as a separate field. By and large, they integrated management with their respective areas of specialization. Andrew Ure, Charles Duplin, and Henry Robinson Towne largely laid the foundation of management theory, which has ultimately shaped modern management thought.Classical School of Thought This school of thought is divided into two approaches—the scientific school and the administrative school. The theorists of this school laid down the foundation of managing an organization in accordance with certain principles. In Table 1. 2, the contributions of each theorist have been highlighted. Scientific management Scientific management is a classical approach that emphasizes the Scientific study of work methods to improve efficiency of workers. Among all the contributors to this school of thought, the contribution of Taylor is thought to be the most important.Regarded as the father of Scientific management, Taylor developed specific principles for this field in 1911. He started his experiments with the concept of Scientific management in 1878 at Midvale Steel Co. During his days at Midvale, he saw that employees were ‘soldiering’, that is, deliberately working at a pace slower than one's capabilities. He concluded that workers indulged in ‘soldiering’ primarily for three reasons: (1) fear of losing their jobs if they increase their output, (2) faulty wage systems, and (3) outdated methods of working. Table 1. 2 Contributions of Classical Theorists Scientific managementFrederick W. Taylor (1856–1915) Development of Scientific management Frank B. and Lillian M. Gilbreth (1868–1972) Time and motion studies Henry L. Gantt (1861–1919) The Gantt chart Administrative theory Henri Fayol (1841–1925) General theory of management Max Weber (1864–1920) Rules of management For eliminating this problem, Taylor developed the principles of Scientific management, emphasizing five important issues: 1. Emphasize organized knowledge rather than rely on rule of thumb 2. Obtain harmony in group action 3. Achieve cooperation 4. Work for maximum output rather than restricted output 5.Develop the potential of the workers both for their self-development and organizational prosperity In essence, Taylor emphasized the following points to achieve organizational efficiency: Develop a Scientific way of performing jobs Train and develop the potential of the workers to perform the job Establish harmonious relations between management and workers In order to ensure that such objectives are achieved, Taylor suggested two important managerial practices: the piece-rate incentive system and time and motion study. The piece-rate incentive system rewards the worker who produces maximum output.Such an incentive system will motivate workers to work more to maximize their earnings. This system requires workers to perform at some pre-decided standard rate to earn their base wages. Standards are decided using time and motion study. If workers are able to produce more, then in addition to their base rate they get incentives on the number of excess units produced over and above the standard units. This serves the interest of workers as well as management—workers feel motivated to maxim ize their earnings, while management gets the benefit of increased productivity.Time and motion study, as already pointed out, facilitates the determination of the standard time required for performing a job. Time study helps in the determination of time required, duly defining the art of recording, analyzing, and synthesizing the time elements of each operation. Motion study, on the other hand, involves study of movements in doing a job in parts. It eliminates wasteful movements and retains only the necessary ones. Thus, it makes a job simple, easier, and better. Taylor developed the time and motion study concepts in association with Frank and Lillian Gilbreth.Like Taylor, Frank Gilbreth is also known as the father of motion study. Lillian Gilbreth conducted research on motion studies. Both of them explored ways of reducing fatigue. They had classified seventeen basic hand motions including search, select, position, and hold, which they called ‘therbligs’ (Gilbreth spe lled backward with ‘th’ treated as one letter). Their approach helps us to analyze the exact elements of a worker's hand movements. A simple modification of a brick-laying approach, following the Gilbreths’ studies, helped to increase hourly output from 120 bricks to 350.Henry Laurence Gantt also worked as a close associate of Taylor at Midvale and subsequently at Bethlehem Steel. His contributions to the Scientific management school of thought are the task and bonus system and a chart commonly known as the Gantt chart, developed in the years 1910–1915. As per his incentive plan, workers receive their day wages even when they do not perform their complete job. On the other hand, they get a bonus when they take less than the normal standard time to complete the work. It was further recommended that there be payment of bonus to foremen as well, based on the incremental performance of workers.The Gantt chart is used for production planning to compare actual a nd planned performances. It is a visual device for production control, indicating progress of production in terms of time rather than quantity. In fact, the programme evaluation and review technique (PERT) concept was subsequently developed based on the Gantt chart. In Chapter 7, the Gantt chart has been illustrated in detail. Some of the drawbacks of scientific management are: The basic principles of scientific management revolve around operations problems and do not focus on managerial issues, essential for managing an organization.That is why it is often said that it is more focused on engineering than on management. The assumptions of this theory about people in general are that they are rational and primarily driven by their desire to fulfill material gains. Only the economic and physical needs of people are emphasized, to the exclusion of their social needs. This theory also ignores the human desire for job satisfaction. Administrative theory Administrative theory, another par t of the classical school of thought, focuses on principles to coordinate the internal activities in an organization.General theory of management The French industrialist Fayol, through his pioneering work General and Industrial Management published in English in 1949, explained that satisfactory results can be achieved with scientific forecasting and proper methods of management. At the outset, Fayol classified the business operations of an organization into six activities and then outlined 14 principles of management. The six activities are: 1. Technical: It is concerned with production and manufacturing. 2. Commercial: It includes all activities related to buying, selling, and exchange. 3. Financial: It ensures optimal use of capital.4. Security: It ensures the protection of employees and property. 5. Accounting: It is concerned with costs, profits and liabilities, maintaining balance sheets, and compiling statistics. 6. Managerial: It is a functional approach to management and i s concerned with planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. After detailing all these activities, Fayol primarily focused on the managerial activities and outlined 14 principles to achieve efficiency. These 14 principles are as follows: 1. Division of labor: If people are specialized at their work, they can perform their task better.This principle recommends grouping of people as per their area of specialization. The modern assembly-line concept is an outcome of division of labor. 2. Authority: Managers must have authority to get things done. Yet, formal authority alone may not help to compel obedience from subordinates; managers must have the expertise to exert personal authority. 3. Discipline: People working in an organization need to comply with rules and agreements that govern the organization. Without discipline, results cannot be achieved. Strong discipline and leadership are inter-connected and these can together create an environment of positive work c ulture.4. Unity of command: Members in an organization must receive instructions from only one person. Conflict will arise when one receives orders and instructions from multiple managers. Therefore, the reporting relationship of one subordinate should be with one superior. 5. Unity of direction: All operations in an organization need to be directed towards one objective. Without this, achievement of goals cannot be ensured. 6. Subordination of individual interest to the common good: The interests of an individual employee should not take precedence over the interests of the organization as a whole. 7.Remuneration: It should be fair to both employees and employers. 8. Centralization: Centralization reduces the role of the subordinates in decision making, while decentralization enhances it. Managers should retain responsibility through centralization but at the same time give their subordinates enough authority to do their jobs properly. 9. Hierarchy: There should be a line of author ity, illustrated in the form of an organization chart clearly showing the structure of authority from the top management to employees down the line. 10. Order: People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.Job allocation to people should be made in a way that suits them. 11. Equity: Managers should be fair to their subordinates. 12. Stability of staff: Employee turnover should be less to ensure efficiency of an organization. 13. Initiative: Subordinates should have the freedom to conceive new ideas and do their task, even though they may commit mistakes. 14. Esprit de corps: Team spirit should be promoted to develop a culture of unity in the organization. Use of verbal communication instead of formal written communication, wherever possible, may help in developing the team spirit in an organization.Bureaucratic theory The bureaucratic theory pioneered by Weber (1920), which falls under the administrative school of thought, emphasizes authority structures and de scription of an organization based on the authority relations. According to Weber, ‘a bureaucracy is highly structured, formalized, and impersonal organization’. In fact, he has advocated the necessity of a formal organization structure with set rules and regulations. The characteristics of a bureaucratic organization as described by Weber are shown in Table 1. 3.Bureaucracy is often misunderstood as being a web of red tape and too many rules. However, Weber's concept is intended to remove ambiguity, inefficiencies, and patronage. Criticism of the classical school of thought Behavioral theorists criticized the classical theorists on a number of grounds. First of all, management principles are not universally applicable in today's complex business situation. Some principles of Fayol are also contradictory, for example, the principle of specialization contradicts the principle of unity of command.Similarly, Weber's bureaucracy also takes away the individual's creativity a nd flexibility, and dissuades them from responding to a complex situation in a global environment. Further, classical theorists also ignored the important aspects of organizational behaviour. These theories do not deal with the problems of leadership, motivation, power, or informal relations. They also fail to consider the internal and external environmental forces affecting an organization. These stress the necessity of achieving productivity, more than anything else. Neo-classical School of ThoughtThis school of thought, which was a transitional phase, basically emphasized human relations. Table 1. 3 Characteristics of Bureaucratic Theory Characteristics Description Specialization of labor Jobs are broken down into routine, well-defined tasks so that members of the organization know what is expected from them and they can become competent enough to do a particular subset of tasks. Formal rules and procedures Written rules and procedures should specify the desired behaviors from me mbers of the organization, facilitate coordination, and ensure uniformity. ImpersonalityRules, procedures, and sanctions should be applied uniformly regardless of individuals. Well-defined hierarchy Multiple levels of positions must be designed carefully keeping in mind the reporting relationships among levels. This should provide for supervision, handling of exceptions, and ability to establish accountability of actions. Career advancement based on merit Selection and promotions should be based on the qualifications and performance of members. Behavioral theories The behavioral school of management emphasizes the human element in an organization, duly recognizing its importance.It puts more stress on individual attitudes and behaviors and on group processes. The major contributors to this school of thought are named inTable 1. 4. Mary Parker Follet was the pioneer of the behavioural approach to management. She recognized the significance of the human element and attributed greater significance to the functioning of groups in the workplace. According to Follet, the critical role of managers should be to bring constructive change in the organization, following the principle of ‘power with’ rather than ‘power over’.She clarified that power should not be based on hierarchical levels but should be collectively developed, fostering a cooperative concept, involving superiors and subordinates, and finally working together as a team. Hence, the need is for more power sharing. Organizations need to become democratic to accommodate employees and managers. People will work harder when the organization recognizes the individual's motivating desires. Table 1. 4 Major Contributors to the Behavioral School Contributors Contributions Mary Parker Follet (1868–1933)Elton Mayo (1880–1949) Abraham Maslow (1808–1970) Douglas McGregor (1906–64) Group influences in the workplace Effect of human motivation on productivity and outp ut Relates human motivation to a hierarchy of needs Emphasizes human characteristics—theory X and theory Y—and the corresponding style of leadership Chris Argyris (1923–present) Human and organizational development—model I and model II While Follet was the pioneer of the behavioural approach to management, it is Elton Mayo who is recognized as the father of the human relations approach.Mayo and his associates conducted their study at Western Electric's Hawthorne Plant between 1927 and 1932, to evaluate the attitudes and psychological reactions of workers in on-the-job situations. Their experiments were carried out in four phases: (1) illumination experiments (2) relay assembly test room experiments, (3) interview phase, and (4) bank wiring observation room experiment. Illumination experiments These experiments took place initially between 1924 and 1927, in Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric Company and involved industrial engineers of the same company.Th e experiments involved manipulation of illumination for one group of workers (test group) and comparing their performance and productivity with another group for whom illumination was not manipulated (control group). In the first spell of experiment, for the test group (for whom the illumination was manipulated) performance and productivity improved. However, this did not last long. In fact, the control group's performance also rose in between with the alteration in lighting conditions for the test group, even though for the control group there was no change in the lighting conditions.With such contradictory results, researchers concluded that intensity of illumination was not related to productivity of workers. There had to be something besides illumination which influenced the performance of workers in Western Electric Company. Elton Mayo and his associates from Harvard University were involved at this point in conducting the subsequent phase of experiments. Relay assembly test ro om experiments This set of experiments was conducted under the guidance of Elton Mayo between 1927 and 1933. At this stage too, researchers were concerned about factors like working hours, working conditions, refreshments, and temperatures.To start with, the researchers selected six women employees of the relay assembly test room. Their jobs were to assemble relay (a small device) using thirty-five spare parts. Selected women employees (samples) were put in a separate room and briefed about the experiments. In the test room, a number of variables were altered, for example, increased wages and rest period, shortened workday and workweek, etc. In addition, the sample workers were given the freedom to leave their workstation without permission and were also given special attention. Productivity increased over the study period.Such results led the researchers to believe that better treatment of subordinates made them more productive. They highlighted the significance of social relations . Finally, the researchers were convinced that workers would perform better if management looked after their welfare and supervisors paid special attention to them. This condition was later labelled as the Hawthorne effect. Interview phase In this phase of the experiments, about 21,000 people were interviewed over three years between 1928 and 1930. The purpose of the interviews was to explore the attitudes of workers in depth.The conclusions that emerged were: A complaint is not necessarily an objective recital of facts; it may also reflect personal disturbance, the cause of which may be deep-rooted. All objects, persons, and events carry some social meaning. They relate to employees’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Workers’ personal situations are results of configurations of relationships, involving sentiments, desires, and interests. Such relational variables, when related to the worker's own past and present interpersonal relations, result in their personal situat ion.Workers assign meaning to their status in the organization and give value to events, objects, and specific features of their environment (hours of work, wages, etc. ). Workers derive satisfaction or dissatisfaction from the social status of an organization. This means that they also look for social rewards, associating them with an organization. Workers’ social demands are influenced by social experiences in groups, both inside and outside the workplace. Bank wiring observation room experiment This part of the Hawthorne experiments was conducted to test some of the ideas that the researchers formed during the interview phase.It was conducted between 1931 and 1932. In this experiment, there were fourteen participants (samples) including wire-men, solder men, and inspectors. There was no change in the physical working conditions. Sample workers were paid based on an incentive pay plan, relating their pay to output. They had the opportunity to earn more by increasing the out put. However, as the researchers observed, the output was constant at a certain level. Analysis of the results showed that the group encourages neither too much nor too little work. They enforce ‘a fair day's work’ on their own.Group norms, therefore, are more important to the worker than money. The study, thus, provided some insights into informal social relations within groups. The Hawthorne experiments, by focusing on the importance of human relations, contributed immensely to management theory. In the behavioural school of thought, other contributors like Abraham Maslow, Douglas McGregor, and Chris Argyris also left a significant impact. While Maslow focused on the importance of human needs, which are major driving forces for human motivation, McGregor made certain assumptions about people, categorizing them under theory X and theory Y.Theory X essentially represents a negative view about people, that is, people are lazy by nature, have little ambition, dislike work , avoid responsibility, and require direction to work. Theory Y, on the contrary, assumes that people are more positive, capable of self-control, innovative and creative, and they do not inherently dislike work. These theories have been further discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Chris Argyris's contributions to the behavioral school of thought are extremely important.His contributions comprise the maturity–immaturity theory, the integration of individual and organizational goals, and the patterns of model I and model II. According to the maturity–immaturity theory, people progress from a stage of immaturity and dependence to a state of maturity and independence. If organizations keep their employees in a dependent state, they allow them to remain immature and thereby prevent them from achieving their potential. Argyris further contended that a formal organization develops a rigid structure, compelling people to behave in an immature way. This leads to incongruencebetwee n the individual and organizational goals, hinders organizational development, leads to failure, and fosters frustration and conflict. People end up showing their aggression, regression, and suppression in various ways. Model I and model II patterns are two different assumptions. Workers in the model I type of organization are motivated by the desire to manipulate others and protect themselves from others. Workers in the model II type of organization are less manipulative and more willing to learn and take risks. Argyris, therefore, suggested that managers try to create a model II type of organization.Likert and Drucker have also contributed significantly to this school of thought. Likert attributes low productivity and poor morale of employees to a typical job-centred supervision technique. He has suggested some typical leadership styles to ensure better productivity and improved morale of workers. These have been discussed in detail in Chapter 6. Drucker, on the other hand, pionee red several modern management concepts in the fields of innovation, creativity, problem solving, organization design, and management by objectives (MBO).All his principles have been acknowledged and are referred to throughout this book. Criticism of the neo-classical school of thought Despite the brilliant contributions by the behavioral school of thought to the theories of management, it was criticized on the following grounds: It is believed that the procedures and analysis of the findings and the conclusions drawn thereon have little relevance. In fact, the conclusions are not supported by adequate evidence.The relationship between satisfaction of workers and productivity was established with simplistic assumptions, while in reality the situation is more complex due to behavioral phenomena. Further, all these studies failed to focus on the attitudes of workers, although attitudes play a crucial role in influencing workers’ performance and productivity. Modern Approaches So me modern approaches have played a significant role in the evolution of management theories, such as the quantitative school, the systems theory, and the contingency theory. The quantitative school of thought emerged during World War II.During the war, managers, government officials, and scientists were brought together to help the army to effectively utilize resources. These experts, using some earlier mathematical approaches to the concepts advocated by Taylor and Gantt, solved many logistic problems in the war. Subsequent to the war, such techniques were applied by many organizations to solve their business problems. This school of thought extensively utilizes statistics, optimization models, information models, and computer simulations for decision making and economic effectiveness to solve business problems.It has various branches, such as management science, operations management, and management information systems. The management science approach visualizes management as a lo gical entity, expressing management in terms of mathematical symbols, relationships, and measurement data. Also known as the operations research approach, it is applied in areas like capital budgeting and cash-flow management, production scheduling, product strategy development, human resource planning, and inventory management.Various mathematical tools like queuing theory, linear programming, PERT, CPM, decision theory, simulation, replacement, probability theory and sampling, time-series analysis, and index numbers are used to minimize the error in management decisions. The operations management approach is primarily concerned with production management and its related areas. In fact, it is difficult to draw a line between management science and operations management. Most of the mathematical tools mentioned earlier are used in operations management.Moreover, this approach also helps in decision making in other functional areas like finance, marketing, and human resource manageme nt. The management information systems approach focuses on designing and implementing computer-based information systems for use by management. It converts raw data into information inputs, which are subsequently used by management for decision making. Modern management information systems help in enterprise-wide decision making, integrating all functions of management.Enterprise-wide decision support systems (such as human resource information systems) are used for critical or strategically important decisions, as these provide valuable information inputs. An extension of the quantitative school of thought is the systems theory approach. This approach considers the organization as a whole because of the interdependent nature of activities, requiring the organization to interact with external environmental factors. In this competitive scenario,organizations cannot function in isolation. It has to operate in open systems, interacting with the environment.Whether it is new-product dev elopment or employee selection, the organization has to consider them as open systems, as its decisions are interrelated and interdependent with the environmental situation. Synergy is the phenomenon of open systems of management by which the total system is more than a simple sum of its parts. It means that if a manager effectively coordinates the efforts of related sub-systems, the result will be greater than the sum total of such independent efforts, that is, 2 + 2 will be greater than 4. The systems approach to management is also important because it helps in avoiding entropy.Entropy is a syndrome wherein systems and processes eventually decay. By relating the organization to the environment, following a systems approach, such a situation can be averted. The contingency theory approach discards the concept of universality in management principles and determines managerial decisions considering situational factors. The task of a manager, as per this theory, is to identify which t echniques will—in a particular situation, under particular circumstances, at a particular point of time—best contribute to achieving organizational goals.The theory contends that organizational phenomena exist in a logical pattern, which managers can understand gradually by interpreting various situations. They can thereby frame their managerial styles, which vary from situation to situation. The contingency theory and the systems theory are together classified as the integrative school of management thought because these two theories integrate the classical, behavioral, and quantitative theories into a framework that uses only the best of each approach in a given situation.