Single mothers and children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Single mothers and children - Essay Example The homeless women and their families are exposed to deplorable living standards that sometimes may be described as inhumane and unworthy of human habitation. Polakow, in her book, succinctly captures this view when she says that, â€Å"This necessitates the decoding of our own myths of democracy and enlightened progress as one out of four infants, one out of five children, and one out of four single mothers already live in destitution, and as thousands more stand on the edge of a landscape that condemns, like young Oliver Twists, to their proper stations† (Polakow, 1994, pp. 3-4). The question that then presents itself is; why single mothers and children? The population of homeless women continues to rise every year, particularly the number of single homeless women. Many scholars have been quick to point out that the rising numbers of homeless single women represents the feminization of poverty across the globe (Rosenheck, Bassuk, and Salomon, 2010, p. 1). Many of the exceptionally destitute women have limited, job skills, earning power and education, and are beleaguered by childcare duties. In families where the woman is the head of the family, it is quite common to find that they are poorer than two-parent families because of the existence of a single income and the cost of bringing up a child. These facts only serve to prove that poor women do not have a chance in the contemporary labor market, which is primarily planned to support two-parent families with male breadwinners (Rosenheck, Bassuk, & Salomon, 2010, p.1). This leaves the single mother with no option but to seek additional income, failure of which results in the inabilit y to provide. This ultimately has the effect of forcing such women to seek accommodations in shelters resulting to an increase in the number of homeless people. The increasing numbers of homeless children may be directed attributed to child abandonment either by parents who cannot be able to provide for their needs, or by death

Financial management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Financial management - Essay Example This presents that fact that the company has been able to maintain its cost of sales and made sure that it remains in constant proportion with the revenue. The company has been able to manage the impact of inflation in the cost of material and labor. The operating profit margin follows the same trend. Net profit margin, on the other hand analyzes the profitability of the company before deducting the taxation and finance charges from the earnings. The ratio is calculated by dividing the profit after interest and tax with the sales revenue of the current financial period. The ratio highlights how well the company is managing its selling and administrative expenses it also highlights the other income generated by the company during the course of its operations. The net profit increased significantly in the financial year 2012 as compared to the financial year 2011. ... ital employed (ROCE) is, according to the analyst, is considered to be the most significant ratio in order to evaluate a company’s performance from an investor’s point of view. ROCE measures a company’s ability to earn a return on all of the capital that is being employed by the company. The ratio is calculated as net income upon total capital employed, which is the sum of debt and equity financings. The return on capital employed is showing a fluctuating pattern as presented in the tabular representation. If we evaluate the tabular information, the ROCE increased sharply from the financial year 2010 to financial year 2011. The net profit of the company increased by a staggering ? 100 thousand during the financial year 2012 which resulted in an incline in the return on capital employed. Earnings per share (EPS) are considered one of the most important financial ratios from the investor’s point of view. The ratio highlights the average earnings from the sha res transacted and is calculated by dividing the profit attributable to the common share holders and multiplying them with the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period. The earnings per share trend follow the same pattern as that of the net profit margin. The liquidity ratio measures the company’s ability to pay its short term liabilities. The ratio illustrates that how quickly a company can convert its assets into cash and cash equivalent in order to pay off its short term liabilities. The most commonly used liquidity ratio, the current ratio, which is calculated by comparing the current assets and current liabilities. The strengthened the current ratio the more ability the company has to pay its debts and short term obligations over the next 12 months. As apparent from the above

McDonalds Essay Example for Free

McDonalds Essay Our assignment is to carry out investigations into two companies from two different sectors; these sectors are the private sector and the public/voluntary sector. The private sector are all about making profit rather than providing a service. The public/voluntary sector on the other hand want to concentrate on providing a good and efficient service for their customers such as the NHS, they provide a medical service for residents of this country, of course this isn’t to make a profit because their service is free, whereas companies in the private sector just want to make money to then develop further and release more products which they hope will make even more profit. The company from the private sector I have chosen is McDonalds. The company I have chosen from the public sector is Oxfam. About The Companies: McDonalds were founded in 1940 Richard and Maurice McDonald and Ray Kroc, they started off as one fast food branch on East street California, and over the last 70 years have rapidly become the most profitable and biggest fast food company in the world, competing against other fast food such as KFC, Burger King, Subway and Pizza Hut. No matter what these rivals threw at them they always have come right back with something new and better which is why McDonald’s have stayed at the top of the fast food chain. Oxfam are a non-profitable company, they are the UK’s largest charity which prides itself in helping 92 countries all over the world who are trying to fight extreme poverty including Ghana, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oxfam rely on donations by the public which is why the advertising campaigns have become stronger and more persuasive as the demand for help and support in countries around the world has rocketed they have needed more and more donations to support families in serious poverty, people who don’t even have access to running clean water. Ansoff Matrix The Ansoff Matrix is a marketing technique that all companies in the private sector use, without using the structure of the Ansoff Matrix a company like McDonalds would not be able to survive or expand their brand to a different market. If a company uses its existing products to sell to its existing markets this is called Market Penetration. If a company takes its existing products to a brand new market, to a new country for example, this is called Market Development. If a company decides they are going to release new products to their existing market, like the Big Tasty at McDonalds, this is called Product Development. But if a company wants to try something completely different by taking new products to a new market this is called Diversification. Growth Strategies: Oxfam The image of a pie chart below shows how every  £1 donated to Oxfam goes to different parts of the charity, 7p of every  £1 is invested into the company to generate future revenue. 36p goes towards the emergency response system to give aid to countries that need the help immediately, such as the victims of the Pakistan earthquake in the summer of 2010. Oxfam provide water and sanitation facilities for 2,000 families living in the camp. 40p goes towards development work in LEDC countries and other worldwide projects in countries such as Tanzania where they have set up a local jewellery business and a primary school. 7p goes towards campaigning for change, another 7p goes towards fundraising costs and the final 10p goes towards the support and running costs for transport etc. Survival Strategies: Oxfam Because of the recent recession the rate of unemployment has rocketed in the UK, Oxfam offer a wide range of voluntary work that of course doesn’t offer pay for their labour but by doing voluntary work it counts as work experience and this looks great on a CV so people will want to apply so in the future they get a better chance in their future job interviews etc. Also the 7p of every  £1 donated to Oxfam is invested into the company to generate future revenue in the charity. Advertising: Oxfam The main advertising campaign used by Oxfam is putting on television adverts that are shown all over the country on channels such as ITV1, C4 and FIVE. These adverts normally show families in LEDC’s like Kenya for example, that are in extreme poverty with barely and food or clean water, so they are struggling to survive, they show this normally at a time when families in the UK are sitting at home eating their family meal, so when they see this family with no food whatsoever they begin to have sympathy for them, and seeing that for just  £3 a month they could sponsor this charity so the family they can see on their television could eat a satisfactory meal or at least food to survive. Relationship Marketing: Oxfam One way Oxfam have used relationship marketing is great customer service, all Oxfam employees and volunteers go through a various amount of training courses before they qualify to work at a branch or travel around the world to give aid to people in poverty. This is good because if someone walks into an Oxfam branch to maybe give some of their belongings to the shop so they can sell them or if they go and sign up to sponsor them they will be greeted with a smile and a happy tone, which makes the customer feel comfortable straight away, and of course if someone feels comfortable in a place where they are receiving a service they will want will to come back again to support this cause further because they trust them. Growth Strategies: McDonalds McDonalds use a wide range of growth strategies, one of these are Franchises. A Franchise is where a company (McDonalds) sell a branch of their business to someone and give them the right to sell their products, but of course because it is still a McDonald’s branch it will still draw in more customers as more McDonald’s Franchises pop up around the world, because eventually there will be more McDonald’s branches to the square mile than ever before, which will increase the popularity of McDonald’s compared to its rival fast food outlets. Another growth strategy is introducing new products such as the McFlurry, the McFlurry has been sold for 14 years at McDonalds, throughout the 14 years they continuously release new flavours of the product an example of this is the McFlurry Flake, which has been released this year. This is a growth strategy as the company improving its flavour range so demand for the product will rise and therefore McDonalds will earn more profit. Survival Strategies: McDonalds One survival strategy that McDonald’s currently use is the 99p Saver Menu. The 99p Saver Menu is a special offer that McDonald’s promote in majority of their advertising campaigns, it consists of a selection of products which they have reduced the price to 99p such as the cheeseburger, the mayo chicken and the classic McFlurry, the menu also have other desserts such as the Apple Pie and donuts. This is a survival strategy because they want to increase sales, the want the demand of products to go up so they will earn more profit and the customers believe they are getting a good deal so they will buy food from the 99p Saver Menu again. Another survival strategy is the way that throughout the course of the year they rotate their menus, such as the introduction of different twists on the classic McFlurry, such as the Flake McFlurry and the Chocolate Fudge Brownie McFlurry, by doing this they are bringing new products into the market which will grab the eye of customers, if they see that a new McFlurry has been released they will more than likely want to try it to see what it is like, and of course if they like it they will want to buy it again and want to try the next one that comes out when the menu rotates once more. Eventually by doing this there will be a higher demand for the McFlurry so there will be a rise in sales and their profits will also increase. Another survival strategy currently enforced at McDonald’s is the removal of less profitable products, like the Angus Burger for example, this was released in 2006, for a short while there was a high demand for this product because it was new and exciting, but after a couple of months, less people bought the Angus Burger, which meant the demand for this product decreased, and so did McDonald’s profits. McDonald’s realised they had made a mistake with the Angus Burger so they removed it off their menu’s and stopped selling the product to prevent further loss in sales and a bigger decrease in profit. Advertising: McDonalds Because McDonald’s is a worldwide company they have advertising campaigns set up all around the globe, all year round. The advertising technique that most people will be able to relate to is their memorable â€Å"M† logo and their catchy slogan â€Å"I’m lovin’ it† because this advertising technique is so simple this makes it exceptionally effective because people remember it, if they are driving along and see a sign with the â€Å"M† on it they will know that there is a McDonald’s nearby, and if they are abroad where there are many McDonald franchises more people will want to eat there because they know they can get good fast food from a place they are used to eating at back home. Another advertising technique McDonalds used this year in particular is that alongside Coca Cola they were the main sponsors for the London 2012 Olympic Games, they have been a proud supporter of the Olympic movement for nearly 40 years, and this year have called themselves the â€Å"Official Restaurant Of The Olympic Games†. McDonalds commitment to the Olympic Movement began in 1968 when the company airlifted hamburgers to U.S. athletes competing in Grenoble, France. They first became an Official Sponsor of the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, and in 1984, McDonalds and their franchisees provided the funds to build the Olympic Swimming Stadium in Los Angeles. In 1998 they became a worldwide sponsor at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games and continued that commitment through the London 2012 Olympic Games. Relationship Marketing: McDonald’s At McDonald’s there are many perks than can be experienced just by sitting in their restaurant, free Wi-Fi is one of these, and modern comfortable seating is another, if someone would like to sit back comfortably and continue their work into their lunch break while eating a nice Big Mac meal then they can, internet access is installed into most McDonald’s franchises. Another way McDonalds use relationship marketing is the Happy Meal, with statistics showing that the amount of children and teenagers becoming clinically obese there is no wonder why this option on the menu is so popular, it is basically a small kid’s size meal, it comes in a nice card box with puzzles and colouring sides on it which to a child is attractive enough, but all year round they also include a toy inside the happy meal box, usually related with what is big at that specific time, like a new children’s movie being released for example, the toys in a Happy Meal will more than likely be characters from that movie, this is a great use of relationship marketing. Comparison: Both Companies In this task I have had to explore into the marketing techniques of one company in the private sector and one company in the public/voluntary sector, to see how effective their growth strategies, survival strategies, their advertising techniques and the way they use relationship marketing in store and in other parts of the company. After looking at both of their growth strategies I have noticed no similarities with the way they use them with the points I have stated due to the fact that McDonald’s use the Ansoff Matrix a lot in their growth strategies and Oxfam do not, they prefer to promote the fact that 84% of your money goes directly to giving aid to poverty stricken countries, 9% goes towards support costs such as transport and the remaining 7% is invested into the company to generate future revenue. After looking at the other aspects of the company I have discovered that although Oxfam has a very strong marketing technique with highly trained employees with their great cu stomer service, and their flawless advertising campaign, nothing can compare to the strength of the McDonald’s empire’s marketing techniques.

Concept Of Role And Role Episode Model

Concept Of Role And Role Episode Model Role stress is highly inevitable in nature and has become problem at workplace for employers and organization. The main purpose of this paper to study the concept of role, role stress, their biosocial variables as well as role episode model. . Number of studies found that there is difference in the impact of role stress across occupations..This paper also deals management of role stress with the help of mentoring and role episode model. Role episode model is a classical model used to measure role stress. Key words: Role episode model, Role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload, bio-social variables, job stress, job satisfaction, job performance. Introduction : The concept of stress was first proposed by Hans Selye (1936). Selyes well-known definition of stress, based on his research, is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it (Selye, 1974).Stress is broader in term and to define stress is very difficult. Due to its complex nature most of the researchers cannot agree on a single definition ( Kahn Boysiere ,1992). Stress can be a motivator and get the job done .Some stress researchers ( e.g Golembiewski, Munzernrider and Stewenson ,1986;Sharahan and Mortimer ,1996),distinguish between negative stress ,termed distress and positive stress, termed eustress. This good stress or eustress can be defined as is actually a positive and healthy form of stress and some people enjoy it .Eustress activates and motivates people to accomplish goal. The Distress is when the good stress becomes too much to bear or cope with. It is important to note that there are three levels of stress -low level, moderate or optimal level and high l evel. Moderate or Optimal level of stress may acts as a motivator. On the basis of literature survey it is clearly understood that too much stress is toxic to employees and too little stress can also lead unexpected problem.e.g too little stress can result in boredom apathy and can be accompanied by low performance and too much stress can cause depression, dissatisfaction, anxiety, tension and low performance. An optimal level of stress results in high energy, motivation and high performanceThe cause of stress is known as stressors stressors are conditions and events that evoke strain (Kahn Byosiere, 1992). According to Cooper Marshall (1978) sources of managerial stress can be categorized into six components -intrinsic to job , role in organization , career development ,organizational structure and climate, relationship within organization and organizational interface and outside .Matteson Ivancevic (1999) and Cook Hunsaker (2001) identified that stress can be caused by envir onmental, organizational, and individual variables. Role stressors belong to organizational variables. Role stressors are major antecedents of job stress among employees in organization .According to Ivancevich Matteson (1980) and French Caplan Harrison (1982) ,role ambiguity and role conflict have been identified as a major source of stress and job tension. Work overload both quantitatively and qualitatively has been empirically linked to a variety of physiological ,psychological and behaviour strain symptoms(Beehr Newman, 1978; Roberts et al., 1997; Miller Ellis, 1990).It was found that role stress variables are associated with job dissatisfaction, lower performance ,increased stress , lower commitment and intention to leave the organization .According to various researchers ( Fisher and Gitelson, 1983; Jackson and Schuler, 1985;Van Sell et al., 1981; Lee, 1997; Jones, 1993),role stress is responsibile for individual as well as organizational outcomes ,such as job tension ,job dissatisfaction , employee turnover and employee burnout and low organizational commitment and performan ce (Johnston et al., 1990; Jackson and Schuler, 1985). Concept of Role Role episode model The term role can be defined as a expected mode of behaviour. There are three types of roles (I) the expected role, (ii) the perceived role and (iii) the actual role. The expected role is what other people expect from an individual. The perceived role is how the individual thinks he or she should behave to fulfil the expected role and the actual role is the way the person actually behaves in the organization. Linton (1936) defined role from culture perspective . Role episode model is known as interactional management tool between Role Set Members Role Incumbent given by Katz and Kahn ( 1978) . In order to examine and integrate the research on role conflict and ambiguity, Khan et al. role episode model is very useful. The model depicts transactional relationship between role senders and focal person. Focal person or role incumbent occupies a particular position (social location) within organization. Individuals who send role expectation to the focal person regarding his or her activities in the role compromise role set ( Merton 1957) .They are called role senders or Role Set Members. When Role Set Members communicated their expectations are called sent role carries role pressure .The set of expectations a role incumbent or focal person receive from Role Set Members is the received role. The role episode model consists of a cyclic series of communications between Role Set Member and the Role Incumbent. This process continues until the role ep isode finishes, creates shared expectations or postpone negotiations. Fig 1 suggests that there are organizational, personal, and interpersonal factors which affect the role episode model. The organizational factors consist structure, level in the organization, role requirements, task characteristics, physical setting, and organizational practices. The personal factors (which can be applied to both the role senders and focal person) refer to such variables age, sex, and tenure in the organization. The interpersonal factors in the relationship between role senders and focal person include frequency of their interactions, mode of communication, importance of senders to focal person, physical location, visibility, feedback and participation. The role senders can be the focal persons supervisors, clients, co-workers, or subordinates. Role sender focal person relationship have generally been investigated by gathering perceptual data on role conflict and ambiguity from the objective responses. Affective responses include job satisfaction, job involvement, tension, threat, anxiety, and propensity to leave the organization. Interpersonal Process Focal Person Experience Response Role Sender Expectations Sent Role Inter Interpersonal Factors Personal Factors Organizational Factors Structure Status Mode of Communication Level Needs Frequency of Interaction Role requirements Values Importance of sender Task Education Mode of Interaction Physical Setting Ability Physical location Practices Age Visibility Sex Feedback Tenure Participation [Source Van Sell et al (1981)] Fig:1 Literature Review Role stress/Role stressors and Bio-social Variables: Role stressors can be defined as anything about an organizational role that produces adverse consequences for the individual ( Kahn and Quinn,1970). Role related stress are concerned with how individuals perceive the expectations others have of them and includes role ambiguity and role conflict ( Alexandros -Stamatios et. al.,2003) .According to Schafer (1998) role stressors are associated with social roles, which are social positions with clustered expectations .Role problems that may cause occupational stress include role overload, role insufficiency, role ambiguity and role conflict (Greenberg, 2009).S ( Kahn,1980; Scbauberock ,Cotton and Jenning,1989;Kellaway and Barling,1990) role stressors are made-up of three variables but related constructs :role conflict ,role ambiguity role overload.The major role stress variables are -role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload/work overload . Role conflict Role conflict takes place when individuals simultaneously perform multiple roles and they conflict each other. Drafte (1998) defined role conflict job roles that interfere with on another and Schafer (1998) defined incompatible expectations associated with a social position, such as student, employee, or mother. Kahn et al (1964) have defined role conflict existence of two or more roles such that to manage with one would make difficult to manage with other.Kahn et al. identify five major forms of roleconflict: 1. Intra-sender conflict:- 2. Inter-sender conflict:- 3. Inter-role conflict:-4.Person-role conflict:- 5. Role-overload: -conflicting prescriptions/proscriptions from the same sender.conflicting prescriptions/proscriptions from different senders.conflict between roles in situations where an individual holdsmore than one role.where an individuals role requirements are incompatible withhis/her own beliefs, values, and norms.reasonable expectations may have been received from rolesenders, but he/she may not have enough time to address them all. Role ambiguity occurs when an individual does not .possess requisite information to enable effectiveexecution of his/her role. The type of infmmation normally required by the role incumbent includes[Kahn et al., 1964]: 1. relevant expectations relating to the role such as rights, duties, and responsibilities; They identified five major forms of role i) Intrasender Conflict -This type of conflict occurs when a Role Set Member requires the Focal person to perform contradictory .For example a Role Sender may request the Role incumbent to perform task and task cannot be completed without disturbing rules. But Role Sender attempts to enforce the rule. ii)Intersender Conflict -The Focal person experiences this type of conflict , if the role behaviour demanded by one Role Set Members incompatible with the role behaviour demanded by another Role Set Members. iii) Interrole Conflict -This type of conflict occurs when the Focal person receives two or more role at a time which are incongruence in nature. iv) Intrarole conflict ( Person-Role) Conflict Intrarole conflict occurs when the role requirements are incongruent with the focal persons attitudes , values and profession behaviour. v) Role Overload Role overload occurs when the Focal person is required to number of tasks by different Role Set Members . Gender Women experienced more role conflict than men ( Frone et al. (1992); Gutek et al. 1991 and Duxbury et al. (1994).Working women face more inter-role conflict role overload as compare to men /or non-working women ( Kapur,1974).Cooper and Davidson ( 1982) reported that the female executives have more role conflict and role overload because of dual responsibilities. According to Sangamitra, Buddhapriya and Preetham Khandewal (1995),female executives face conflict between job demands and family obligations than the male mangers. Age There is contradictory findings were obtained between age and role conflict .Most of the studies support negative relationship between age role conflict (Peltit,1973: Simpson, 1979:Schwab,1981 Parasuraman Alutto, 1984) and some studies which prove the opposite (Redfeck,1973; and Flora 1977, Madhu Harigopal, 1980 Marital status (Married / Unmarried) It was found that married person experience more role conflict than unmarried person Married working women have to perform dual role and child bearing could be one reason. Number of Children- According to Itshree Padhi,1999 working mothers with more number of children experience high -level of conflict than those who have fewer children.Kala Rani (1976) also found a similar correlation pattern in her study. On the basis of above literature review of role conflict conceptual framework can be designed Role Ambiguity Role ambiguity arises when focal persons do not have clear authority or knowledge about how to perform the assigned jobs (Rizzo, House Lirtzman, 1970; Ivancevich Matteson, 1980; Ashforth Lee, 1990;Kahn et al ,1964) .Individuals having unclear plans and objective ,lack of clarity of ones duty and uncertainty about the amount of authority to perform assignment ( Rizzo et al ,1970) . Role ambiguity occurs when employees perceive a lack of clarity in the behavioural requirements of their job (Kahn et al., 1964; Rizzo et al., 1970). The focal person is likely to experience two types of role ambiguity. One, concerning the task and the related adivities; the other concerning the feedback regarding his performance of the task.RoleFor e.g in case of academics, lack of regular feedback about how well academics were doing was the highest source of stress ( Dua;1994 Sharpley et al.1996). Feedback is important to enable the academics to evaluate their performance on the job and how they are p rogressing in their effort toward task accomplishment. Since positive feedback may serve as higher performance and less stress, academics who do not receive regular feedback may experience considerable uncertainty about their role performance (Bandura Locke, 2003). Higher ambiguity may also arise due to lack of clarity regarding how to prioritize different academic activities of teaching, research and professional services that are necessary for the successful accomplishment of academic role. Regular feedback from a supervisor may acerbate role ambiguity, which in turn reduces stress. Bio-social Variables that are associated with role ambiguity. a) Gender- b) Age- Peltit (1973) reported a negative relationship between role conflict and role ambiguity and age. Similar findings were obtained in an educational setting (Elsenhauer, 1977; Simpson, 1979; Schwab, 1981) but this was not supported by Redfck (1973) and Flora (1977) who conducted studies in a similar background.Pandia (1991) reported that there is no relation between role ambiguity and age.Increasing age was associated with ambiguity ,according to Sreelatha ( 1991) finds a positive relationship between age and job ambiguity .But contradictory findings was obtained by Peltit (1971),he found negative relationship between age and job ambiguity.Increasing age was associated with role ambiguity ,Sreelatha ( 1991) finds a positive relationship between age and job ambiguity . Studies reported that role ambiguity is maximum at lower age group. It has been established that females experience more role ambiguity at lower age group because of the adjustments they have to make at the beginni ng of their married life and the presence of infants in the house etc. c) Length of service / Tenure -According to Madhu ( 1982) Nath ( 1980) there is negative relationship between length of service role ambiguity . Malhan, Agarwal Krishna (1983) reported that managers with relatively less number of years of service might experience role ambiguity detrimental to their performance. There found to be a negative correlation existing between role ambiguity and length of service. Pandia (1991) reported that there is no relation between role ambiguity and age. Role Overload /Work Overload Work overload also known as role overload role overload is a complex form of role conflict. According to Kahn et al ( 1964) role overload is a kind of person-role conflict and it is combining aspects of intersender and person-role conflicts .It occurs simply when employees have more task than he or she can handle. Role overload occurs when role expectations are higher than the focal persons capabilities ( terms taken from Kahn et al ,role episode model) .It can be either qualitative quantitative .Quantitative task can be defined as the person has too many tasks to perform or too little time to perform them and Qualitative occurs when person lacks ability to perform task . Workload stress can be defined as reluctance to come to work and a feeling of constant pressure (i.e. no effort is enough) accompanied by the general physiological, psychological, and behavioural stress symptoms (Division of Human Resource, 2000). a) Gender-Cooper and Davidson ( 1982) reported that the female executives have role conflict and role overload because of their dual roles in the family and the office. Mehta ,Chandwani Mehta were of the opinion women face more workload as compare to men. Coverman (1989)) found that the role overload scores of women were higher than men .But men have higher overall satisfaction than women .Role overload could be one of the major reason of womens psychological stress. Pleck (1985) has suggested that women complain of role overload not because of exhaustion or doing too much, rather her husband is doing too little. b) Age or Length of service span of control Researchers( Philip C Koshy ,1994 ,Gupta Pratap,1987 ;Pestonjee ,1992 ; Sen ,1981) explored that there is negative relation between work load and length of service ,age span of control . Managers who are younger and those having lesser tenure of service experience more role overload. But contradictions finding was obtained For example Johnson et al .(2005) conducted comparative studies of 26 occupations(2005) concluded that teaching is one of the most stressful occupations. The most stressful aspects of the job perceived by teachers include workload, time pressures and no guidance pertaining to various teacher roles (Hui Chan,1996). There was a national survey on occupational stress in Australian universities, research shows that employees at senior level face more workloads and more role-overload (Dua, 1994; Lease, 1999; Winter et al., 2000). Consequences of Role stress: Researchers had proved that role stress affects individual and organization both .Kahn et al , concluded from their study role incumbent experiences low job satisfaction ,lower confidence in organization ,high degree of tension intention to quit organization. Role ambiguity was found to be prevalent as role conflict and the consequences are similar. Netemeyer , Johnston and Burton (1990) , role conflict and role ambiguity may responsible to leave job indirectly through other factors such as job dissatisfaction and low organizational commitment. According to Division of Human Resource, (2000) Workload stress is responsible for physiological, psychological, and behavioural stress symptoms. A number of studies by various researchers ( Behrman Perrault ,1984;Brief and Aldag ,1976;Fisher Gitelson ,1983;House Rizzo ,1972) Relationship between Role stress Job Stress A number of studies proved that role stress are positively associated with anxiety, tension ,low performance and job dissatisfaction. RHL ( Rizzo ,House and Lirtzman ,1970) identified that role ambiguity responsible for job dissatisfaction , anxiety , tension and poor performance. Rosenheim (1976) found that anxiety is directly related to role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload. A number of studies by various researchers ( Behrman Perrault ,1984; Brief and Aldag ,1976; Fisher Gitelson ,1983;House Rizzo 1972;Jackson Schuler ,1985;Johnson Stinson ,1975;Miles,1975;Miles and Perrault 1976; Rizzo at al ,1976;Sohi ,1996) found that role conflict is associated with low job involvement organizational commitment , tension , anxiety intention to leave organization.According to Caplan Jones (1975) role ambiguity was positively associated with anxiety, depression, and resentment. Keenan and McBain (1979) found positive relationship between tension and role overload Similarly, mos t studies report a positive relationship between role ambiguity and tension or anxiety. But two studies report no relationship (Tosi, 1971: Tosi Tosi,1970). Relationship between Role stress Job Satisfaction According to Miles ( 1974 ) that role stress ( role sonflict role ambiguity ) were related to job dissatisfaction . Rosenheim (1976),Organ Greene (1974), Bemardin (1981), Coldwell (1981), Keenan (1981) and Madhu (1982) found same thing .Jackson and Schuler, 1985; Brown and Peterson, 1993; Tubre and Collins, 2000; and Ortqvist and Wincent, 2006 ,they revealed that both role conflict and ambiguity have negative influences on job satisfaction. It has been found that the higher the role conflict, the lower the job satisfaction.( Srilatha ;1991,Keller ;1975,Krant ;1966,Senatra ;1977,Carter ;1878,Singh ;1983, Coldwell ;1984.Jagdish and Srivastava; 1984. Libby, 1978; Simpson, 1979; Price, 1971; Flora, 1977; Wilson,1980; Miller 1979; Riggling, 1979; Yarworth, 1979; Monnelt, 1980; Ahrens, 1977) . But according to Hamner and Tosi (1974) reported no relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction in a study among a sample of managers. Christopher Orpen John Bernath (1987) report that correlation between role conflict and job satisfaction is not significant. Miles (1974) ,Roseenheim( 1976) ,Organ Greene ( 1974),Bemardin ( 1981) .Coldwell ( 1981) , Keenan ( 1981) and Madhu ( 1982) concluded that both role conflict and role ambiguity were negatively related with Job satisfaction Batesman (1981) in his study, reported that role overload resulted in poor job satisfaction. Note-On the basis of various literature reviews I came to know that relationship between role conflict role ambiguity with job satisfaction varies among a variety of occupation. Occupation Job satisfaction. The major outcomes of role conflict are job dissatisfaction and job related tension, which have been isolated among a variety of occupational groups (Beehr, Walsh Taber, 1976; Brief Aldag, 1976; Brief, Aldag, Van Sell Melone,1979; Gross et al., 1958; House Rizzo, 1972;: Miles, 1976; Oliver Brief, 1977-78). According to Hamner and Tosi (1974) reported no relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction in a study among a sample of managers.They reported a positive correlation between role conflict and job threat among a sample of managers.Tosi and Tosi (1970) found a negative relationship between role conflict and job related threat and anxiety. Keller (1975) observed negative relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction among research and development professionals but no such negative. The observation suggests the effects of role conflict vary with various occupations. There are number of studies shown a difference in the impact of role ambiguity across occupations. According to Beehr et al. 1976; Caplan et al. 1975; Greene 1972; Hamner Tosi, 1974; Johnson Stinson 1975; Paul 1974;: Rizzo et al. 1970 role ambiguity to be associated with job dissatisfaction, studies among nurses aides (Brief Aldag, 1976) managers (Tosi, 1971) teachers (Tosi Tosi, 1970) and supervisors and operating employees (Ivancevich Dobbelly, 1974) found no relationship. Relationship between Role stress Job Performance Shrtom , Fried and Cooper (2008) reported that the negative relation between job performance and role overload was higher for managers and non-managers.According to Kahn Boysiera 1992;Mc Grath ,1976 Sahi ,1996 ,there is deleterious effects of role conflict and role ambiguity on Job performance . On the basis of above literature review conceptual framework can be designed : Major Consequences Job Stress Job dissatisfaction Job Performance Role conflict + Role ambiguity + Role overload Fig:2 On the basis of above literature review of role conflict conceptual framework can be designed Management of Role stress in Organization Mentoring -Mentoring can be one effective tool to manage role stress at workplace .According to Hunt Michael, (1983) mentors are highly experienced person in organization who is interested in guiding and promoting individuals career and also members of that Role Set. In addition mentors can provide role clarifying information to focal person and alternatives for dealing with role demands including role expectation that may create conflict. According to Griffin ( 1992) suggest that role ambiguity occurs because a person is not clear about her or his role. Role ambiguity occurs when there is non-existent of information or there is no proper communication between Role Set Members and Role incumbent .Mentors can provide information that can clarify role expectation. Sawyer, 1992 found that quality feedback from Role Set Members or supervisors and co-workers is responsible to minimize role ambiguity. According to Major, Kozilowski ,Chao Gardner (1995 ) ,intentions to leave organization can be minimized by high quality exchange between leaders and sub-ordinates. Role sender / Role Set Members / Mentors Clear Role expectations Quality feedback Focal Person /Role Incumbent Experienced less Role conflict / Role ambiguity Feedback loop Note- Adapted from Role Episode Model , Mentors can be treated as a Role Set Members . Fig :3 Role Episode Model classical tools to minimize level of role conflict and role ambiguity Role Episode Model ( Kahn et al ,1964) ,which is most suitable model to explain variables related to role conflict and role ambiguity and is widely used by researchers to study role stress variables among workers (Schuler, 1975; Fisher Gitelson ;1973) According to Doughtery and Pitchard ,1985 ,the role conflict and role ambiguity measurement captured somewhat global perception of role stress and can be used with any job. Role conflict occurs in organization with the conflicting demands from There are various factors related to role stress such as organizational factors, interpersonal factors and attributes of person ( Role Set Member Focal Person both) . For Examples:Faridah Ibrahim ( Predictors of Role Stress Among Malaysian Journalist in Newsroom Decision Making Process ,Journal Komunikasi 2001 )conducted research on journalist to identify the predictor variables involved in role stress( Role conflict Role ambiguity) and he adopted Role Episode model which consists of organizatio nal variables , interpersonal variables personal variables. According to Kahn et al ( 1964) role stress occurs as enacted by role behaviours could be associated with these factors. Researcher taken 12 independent variables ( organizational variables are participation in task decision ,participation in decision making ,leadership behaviour supportive ,task characteristics ,leadership structure deadline pressure .Interpersonal variables are communication relationship and Interpersonal relationship .Personal variables are age ,years in formal education ,salary years of working) for investigation and out of the 12 variables four variables ( working experience beta =-.29;deadline pressure ,beta=-.25 ,task characteristics beta=-.20 and participation in task decision, beta=.13) were found to be good predictors of role conflict and for role ambiguity ,out of the 12 variables four variables ( interpersonal relationship ,Beta= -.39;;participation in decision making ,Beta = -.17, task chara cteristics ,beta= -.17 and years of experience ,beta = -.11) were found to be good predictors. it can be said that working experience is the strongest predictor for role conflict . Conclusion : There are independent biosocial variables are responsible in contributing stress in role stressors.in role ambiguity. .Biosocial variables are independent variables which interact with role stressors to produce negative consequences such as job stress, job dissatisfaction and low performance .Researchers found that there is positive relationship between role stressors and job stress, job dissatisfaction and role performance. Contradictory findings were obtained by some researchers in relationship between role stress and job dissatisfaction. It was found that difference in the impact of role ambiguity and role conflict across various occupations. Studies found that role ambiguity to be associated with job dissatisfaction, but studies among nurses aides, managers, teachers and supervisors and operating employees found no such relationship. Number of researchers explored that there is negative relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction but in case of research and developmen t professionals but no such negative relationship had been found.Role stress can be managed by mentoring as well as role episode model .Role Episode model is one the classical tool to identify significant predictors associated with role stress and predictors can be analysed to minimize role stress. In mentoring role sender can play role of mentor ,who can communicate clear role expectations as well as expectations that match the focal persons expectation . In addition quality feedback from role sender to the focal person can monimize the effects of role stress on individual as well as organization. Intrapersonal conflict involves diagnosis of and intervention in ,conflict . Diagnosis Intrapersonal conflict can be diagnosed by self report ,observation and interview method .Rizzo et al designed questionnaire to measure role conflict and role ambiguity and is frequentely used in organization studies. Conclusion: Role conflict , role ambiguity and role overload are associated with biosocial variables such as age , gender , years of experience , marital status and number of children .Biosocial variables are independent variables which interact with role stressors to produce http://htmlimg1.scribdassets.com/4lk2zrg8e8y8jki/images/27-9e40fbd968.jpg

Freeganism: An Eco-friendliness Way of Living Essay -- Culture SubCul

The world is inhabited by numerous cultures consisting of different lifestyles. Freeganism is a subculture that is ordinarily unheard of. The characteristics are impressively diverse from those most would associate with everyday life. The capitalistic culture incorporates commodified food, organized structure, ‘hygienically clean’, easier accessible foods, and more individualization. On the other hand, a freegan culture is comprised of free food, a less organized structure, ‘dirty’ foods with a chance of being raw or rotten, slower food and lifestyle, and is more socially connected (Edwards and Mercer). Those living this standard of life are scavengers of the developed world, living off consumer waste in an effort to minimize their support of corporations and their impact on the planet. Grace Hutchins, a passionate supporter of this form of life, depicts it as dumpster diving to use resources that would go to waste, voluntary work that includes sharing huma n resources, such as time and skills, and finding ways to limit consumption and materialism in our own lives and those of others. A variety of reasons people choose to participate in the freegan lifestyle are more diverse than one would think. Uninformed bystanders may initially imagine the homeless scavenging bins to survive, but many members of the subculture dumpster dive with economic, political and environmental condition in mind. The primary purpose for most is to positively impact the environment by minimizing the amount of wasted food (Kurutz 3). By some, this act could be viewed as a symbolic, political act against capitalist overproduction and waste. Acquiring food from dumpsters can be for both individual consumption and the benefit of the surrounding community.... ...pollute the Earth with massive waste. Society has the choice between wasting life on working in order to purchase good which contribute to the destruction of the environment or living a ‘full satisfying life’, occasionally scavenging or working your self-sufficiency skills to obtain the necessities for contentment, eliminating waste, and boycotting everything. Works Cited Edwards, Ferne, and David Mercer. "Gleaning from Gluttony: An Australian Youth Subculture Confronts the Ethics of Waste." Australian Geographer Nov. 2007: 279-82. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. Einem, Eric. Personal interview. 19 Nov. . Hutchins, Grace. Personal interview. 21 Nov. . Kurutz, Steven. "Not Buying It." The New York Times 27 June 2009: 1-4. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. Thomas, Sean. "Do Freegans Commit Theft?" Legal Studies 30.1 (2010). Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Data Mining and Privacy-an ethical look Essay -- Data Mining Technolog

Data Mining and Privacy-an ethical look I. Introduction In 2001, the MIT Technology Review listed data mining as one of the top 10 technologies that will change the world.[i] So, what is data mining? For many people, the simple answer is that data mining is the collecting of people’s information when logged onto the Internet. But Webopedia emphasizes that data mining is not the collection of data itself, but the statistical interpretation of it – allowing people to obtain new information or find hidden patterns within that collected data.[ii] It is the combination of these, collection and analysis, which are cause for concern. People want to know: What information is being collected about me? Who has access to that information? What decisions are people making about me based upon that information? This paper looks at how data mining is currently being used on the Internet. It examines whether our privacy rights are vulnerable. Ways in which our privacy can be protected are explored. Finally, an ethical question is considered: ‘Are we maintaining our privacy with the current usage of data mining on the Internet?’ This question is looked at from several ethical points of view. II. Examples of Data Mining Use In general, nearly every time you surf or make a purchase online, information is collected on your actions. Then targeted advertising can be presented online, emailed, snail-mailed or even phoned to you. The business concept behind this is â€Å"best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior† (ala Dr. Phil). One company claims that retailers can increase their return on data mining investment by 1,000 percent.[i] The first step in understanding data mining is to look at the various ways t... ...www.acm.org/sigs/sigkdd/explorations/issue4-2/thuraisingham.pdf [x] Sara Baase, A Gift of Fire (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003)44, 46, 55, 85, 86 [xi] American Civil Liberties Union, MATRIX: Myths and Reality, 10 Feb 2004, 17 Feb 2004, http://www.aclu.org/news/NewsPrint.cfm?ID=14894&c=130 [xii] Dan Verton, Senate Kills Data Mining Program, 18 Jul 2003, Computerworld, 17 Mar 2004, http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0%2Caid%2C111626%2C00.asp [xiii] Martin S Olivier, Database Privacy - Balancing Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability, SIGKDD Explorations 4:2 (December 2002): 20-27, 29 Feb 2004, http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigkdd/explorations/issue4-2/olivier.pdf [xiv] Patricia Ellen Freed, Thinking Ethically about Policy Issues, Jewish College of Nursing and Allied Health, 13 Mar 2004, http://www.icss.net/~freedos/Pages/Debate/Review.html

Anti-Gay Attitude in Schools

The article I read was on anti-gay comments in Canadian schools. Two university professors of Manitoba conducted a national survey of both homosexual and heterosexual teens. Out of 3,700 students across Canada, hear insulting comments on a daily basis. The survey found that seventy per cent of students heard phrases like â€Å"that’s so gay† and forty eight per cent heard derogatory terms like â€Å"faggot,† â€Å"lezbo† and â€Å"dyke† every day. The article recommends that school boards should apply gay-straight alliances such as the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer) groups which are common in high school and a broad education as well as better teacher training. People who are insulted for being gay are simply harassed. Everyone has the right to life and security as guaranteed by our constitution. We have many bullies at school and comments such as those as I listed and are just another form of a put down and should not be allowed anywhere, including school. Students who do this are just ignorant and immature but adults who ignore it are the real problem. This relates to psychology because if you examine the percentage of people who get harassed in school; could have mental health issues in the future such as stress for being discriminated in schools, suffering from anxiety and depression, or addictive behaviour because of their sexual orientation. This could also lead to eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. The likelihood of suicides happening are people who probably can’t cope with discrimination, isolation, and loneliness. In conclusion, the researchers said that there is a lot of ground to help push for an improved school climate which is true because high school is tough for everyone. And even after high school it doesn't stop being tough.