Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management

Some financial advisors are needlessly struggling with behavioral finance because they lack a systematic way to apply it to their client relationships. In my 2006 book, Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management, I outline a method of applying behavioral finance to private clients in a way that I now refer to as â€Å"bottom-up. † This means that for financial advisors to diagnose and treat behavioral biases, he or she must first test for all behavioral biases in a client, and then determine which ones a client has before being able to use bias information to create a customized investment plan. In my book I describe the most common behavioral biases an advisor is likely to encounter, explain how to diagnose these biases, show how to identify behavioral investor types, and finally show how to plot this information on a chart to create the client's â€Å"best practical allocation. † But some advisors may find this bottom-up approach too time-consuming or complex. So, I created a simpler, more efficient approach to bias identification that is â€Å"top-down,† a shortcut if you will, that can make bias identification much easier. I call it Behavioral Alpha, and the core of this process is four behavioral investor types. Over the next four articles, we will learn the four behavioral investor types and how to deal with each of these types of investors. For readers to understand behavioral investor types, they need to get a fundamental understanding of the 20 behavioral biases I outline in my book. In this article, we will review these biases that are encountered with actual clients, with a description of the bias and a classification of whether the bias is cognitive or emotional. Behavioral biases fall into two broad categories, cognitive and emotional, with both varieties yielding irrational judgments. A cognitive bias can be technically defined as a basic statistical, information processing, or memory error common to all human beings. They also can be thought of as â€Å"blind spots† or distortions in the human mind. Cognitive biases do not result from emotional or intellectual predisposition toward a certain judgments, but rather from subconscious mental procedures for processing information. On the opposite side of the spectrum from illogical or distorted reasoning we have emotional biases. Although emotion is a difficult word to describe and has no single universally accepted definition, an emotion is a mental state that arises spontaneously, rather than through conscious effort. Emotions are physical expressions, often involuntary, related to feelings, perceptions or beliefs about elements, objects or relations between them, in reality or in the imagination. Emotions can be undesired to the individual feeling them; he or she might wish to control their emotions but often cannot. Investors can be presented with emotionally based investment decisions, and may make suboptimal decisions by having emotions affect these decisions. Often, because emotional biases originate from impulse or intuition rather than conscious calculations they are difficult to correct. Emotional biases include endowment, loss aversion, and self-control. We will investigate both cognitive and emotional biases in the next section. The distinction between cognitive and emotional is an important one, because advisors will want to advise their clients differently based on which types of biases are being acted out. In the next four articles, we will use the biases described here a lot, so I encourage readers to get to know the biases presented here in concept. We will apply them to client situations in subsequent articles.

Hope Wireless HR Proposal Essay

In support of launching a total reorganization of Hope Wireless, the third leading wireless company in the United States, the Human Resource Department will review and enhance several processes to include but not limited to staffing, performance appraisal, training and development, total rewards, and organizational behavior and processes. The goal is to transition Hope Wireless from good to great; from not only being an American company but a global company. The goal of this strategic organization proposal is to attract and retain the most qualified employees, improved company performance, customer satisfaction, prevent churn and increase revenue. Employees are Hope Wireless number one resource and a long term investment in employees is a long-term investment for the organization. Part I – Hope Wireless HR Proposal Plan Hope Wireless offers a broad range of wireless and wire line communications services encouraging mobile freedom to consumers, business and government users. By the end of the first quarter 2013, Hope Wireless had served more than 55 million customers with an employee base of approximately 60, 000 people. This is over 15 million more customer than one year ago. Hope Wireless is widely recognized for offering the most innovative technology and cutting edge devices and the most sophisticated network of all mobile carriers. Hope Wireless’s business objective is to position the organization to be the leading wireless company in the telecommunications industry. Hope Wireless is striving to offer world-class customer service, proactively identifying and meeting the wireless needs of customers and to offer benefits unlike any other organization. â€Å"Organizations in which people work affect their thoughts, feelings, and actions in the workplace and away from it. Likewise, people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions affect the  organizations in which they work† (Brief & Weiss, 2002). Over the past five years, Hope Wireless has progressively earned numerous customer service awards but most importantly the American Customer Satisfaction Index award. The American Customer Satisfaction Index group rated Hope Wireless No. 1 amongst all national carriers in most improved customer service particularly over the last four years. â€Å"Customer satisfaction is an important goal for providers of both services and products, and customer surveys are a commonly used instrument for evaluating that satisfaction† (Ammar, Moore & Wright, 2008). Approximately five years ago, Hope Wireless was failing customer service surveys miserably and the customer satisfaction rate was fluctuating between anywhere from 65% to Part I – Hope Wireless HR Proposal Plan 72%. The telecommunications industry customer satisfaction goal is 85% or better. It was obvious across sites, states and countries that employees were not satisfied with their work environment and conditions. A supervisor task force proposed ideas to incite change across the organization. â€Å"Operation Smile† became a nationwide Hope Wireless initiative in addition to the â€Å"Go Fish† campaign. Operation Smile all employees to smile whether it was towards another employee or customer. Everyone in the organization was presented 20 SMILE cards of which agreements were electronically signed that each employee would award any employee they â€Å"caught† smiling. The quality analyst were charge to give a SMILE cards to employees they heard SMILING through the phone. The Operation Smile initiative alone increased the overall customer satisfaction rate by 9%, sometimes higher. Any employee who accumulated increments of 10 or more cards could earn exciting gifts. This was a six-month initiative that cumulated with a grand-prize drawing that varied depending upon the site and locality. The next morale boosting initiative which would have a direct positive impact on organization effectiveness was implementing the â€Å"GO Fish† campaign. Seattle’s Pike Fish market was the source of this idea as they are a living example of the principles supported by this initiative†¦.†being present† and â€Å"making someone’s day†. If an employee was present for the  customer or peer, they were awarded a fish by their supervisor or manager. The receiving employee would solicit a fish for their peer from a supervisor or manager. The quality analyst would award the fish if they witness an employee â€Å"being present† and â€Å"making someone’s day† towards their customer. Part I – Hope Wireless HR Proposal Plan Each team was also given a stuffed fish to throw to the person who received a fish. Whenever the random bell tolled, the person holding the fish would receive an immediate reward, most often a gift card. Just as the SMILE initiative, any employee who accumulated increments of 10 or more fish could earn very exciting prizes. This was also a six month morale boosting plan. Customer satisfaction results have continually progressed and have been maintaining ratings of 85% or better on a monthly basis. Hope Wireless began and continues to see a decrease in churn, decrease in employee turnover, increase in employee relations and retention and a dramatic increase in customer satisfaction. The aforementioned action plans greatly influenced employee morale and encourage positive customer behavior while increasing the effectiveness of the organization. â€Å"The loss of employees is a disruptive event. Organizations often pursue innovative ways to reduce employee turnover, often with limited success† (Murphy & Taylor, 2006). In addition to random initiatives, Hope Wireless offers on-going employee relation and retention resources such as the manager, site director open door policy, human resource specialist, employee assistance hotline, anonymous corporate security hotline and email address and a on-line suggestion box is set up in each site. Hope Wireless needs to supports diversity management by â€Å"ensuring that factors are in place to provide for and encourage the continued development of a diverse workforce by melding these actual and perceived differences among workers to achieve maximum productivity† (Mondy & Mondy, 2008). Hope Wireless needs to offer various employee resource groups in support of sexual preference, gender, race, veteran status, etc. The employee Part I – Hope Wireless HR Proposal Plan resource groups will be voluntary, open to all employees with them not being limited to having access to only one group. The Employee Resource Groups (ERG) will offer many benefits to employees such as unique development and networking opportunities, acquisition of practical skills and mentoring programs. In addition, ERG offers connections with people and information not generally accessible. The aforementioned connections to aid employees in positively impacting the organization by become part of the solution. Association with ERG provides allows employees exposure to company leaders, to serve and volunteer in the community as a representative of the organization and most importantly exposure to and learning about different cultures. Hope Wireless has utilized both internal staffing processes and temporary staffing agencies. Research has suggested employees that were hired on a permanent basis out-performed temporary worker. The permanent workers demonstrated ownership and allegiance to the company coupled with documented higher customer satisfaction ratings. The recommendation is to maintain the internal hiring practice. Hope Wireless is successfully trending in the right direction. The aforementioned initiatives, processes and resources, customer service ratings and referenced awards have aided and proven that Hope Wireless is now offering world-class customer service. In addition, the number of net-adds in one year’s time, demonstrates Hope Wireless’s ability to meet and exceed the mobile needs of customer base. Hope Wireless continues to strive for on-going growth and success. REFERENCES Ammar, S., Moore, D., & Wright, R. (2008). Analyzing customer satisfaction surveys using a fuzzy rule-based decision support system: Enhancing customer relationship management. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 15(2), 91-105. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/dbm.2008.2 Brief, Arthur P., & Weiss Howard M., â€Å"Organizational Behavior: Affect in the Workplace†, (2002), pp. 279-307. Mondy, R. W., & Mondy, J. B. (200*) Human Resource Management (10th ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Taylor, Lloyd J., I., II, Murphy, B., & Price, W. (2006). Goldratt’s thinking process applied to employee retention. Business Process Management Journal, 12(5), 646-670. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/14637150610691055 Part II – Hope Wireless Performance Appraisal Hope Wireless offers a broad range of wireless and wire line communications services encouraging mobile freedom to consumers, business, and government users. Performance appraisal methods are essential in support of â€Å"Human Resource planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, career planning and development, compensation programs, internal employee relations and assessment of employee potential† (Mondy & Mondy, 2008). The appropriate performance appraisal method for Hope Wireless, considering the type of organization and the number of employees is the rating scales method. â€Å"The rating scales method is a performance appraisal method that rates employees according to defined factors† (Mondy & Mondy, 2008). â€Å"Performance management systems are effective when they are based on goals that are jointly set and are driven by an organization’s business strategy† (â€Å"What Makes Performance Appraisals Effective?† 2012). Performance appraisal imperatives for Hope Wireless will include: Do It Now (resolve); Delegate & Empower (engage appropriate resource/make a decision); Be Accountable (ownership); Focus on Customers (attentive); Teamwork & Camaraderie (work and win as a team); Compete like Winners (always strive for the top); Develop Yourself & Others (stay abreast of the business policies/procedures; peer-to-peer coaching); Acting with Integrity (adhere to code of conduct) and Have Fun (enjoy what you do). The advantage of the rating scales method is that the process is controlled and uniform. With the large number of individuals employed by Hope Wireless, the rating scales method allow for easy comparison and contrast. ‘The rating scales method allows each employee to be subjected to the same appraisal process and rating criteria, with the same range of responses. Part II – Hope Wireless Performance Appraisal Rating scale methods are easy to use and understand. The concept of the rating scale makes obvious sense; both appraisers and evaluated employees have an intuitive appreciation for the simple and efficient logic of the bipolar scale. The result is widespread acceptance and popularity for this approach† (â€Å"Appraisal Methods†, n.d.). â€Å"Organizational culture change is dynamic and depends on leadership and  management. The concepts of organizational change focusing on process, culture change and leadership, and organizational culture change and the learning organization are central to organizational transformation and will be addressed next† (ConceiÃÆ' §ÃƒÆ' £o & Altman, 2011). â€Å"Training and development is the heart of a continuous effort designed to improve employee competency and organizational performance† (Mondy & Mondy, 2008). The training and development program projected for Hope Wireless will be inclusive of intense focus on the position of the front line employee. The front-line employee is the customer-interfacing employee which directly impacts the organization’s bottom line revenue. While training for the management team and other integral positions is very important, it is the customer interaction of which the organization thrives and allows the other positions to be vital and necessary. Taking into consideration the organization’s mission, goals and corporate plan, the training and development will be created to support the company’s culture. It is also important for Hope Wireless’s training and development plan to support the various job description tasks to include both internal and external customers. The final attribute in the training and development process is each employee’s personal training needs. This can be assessed by compiling knowledge, skills and abilities checklist and having each supervisor/manager administer the survey. Establishing training goals specific to each Part II – Hope Wireless Performance Appraisal Position will ensure effective training in support of expected execution. Goals should include purpose and objectives. Hope Wireless offers 60% instructor led training and development while 40% of the training is via on-line classes for all level of employees. The management staff will also receive enhanced development via team builders, instructor led leadership courses and off-site leadership classes. Career pathing at Hope Wireless will be facilitated through Hope University (HU). Hope University’s goal is to improve business performance innovative tools and resource to ensure on-going learning and development in support organizational success and employee career enhancement. â€Å"As a leader in learning and development, HU creates support tools that effectively  facilitate performer tasks while on the job (such as desktop decision-making tools) and knowledge-management solutions which allow organizations to capture and share their collective knowledge (like discussion forums, blogs, pod casts and case studies). These less traditional solutions are in addition to its more than 3,000 skills and knowledge development offerings and over 2.5 million hours of training delivered annually†(â€Å"Sprint†, n.d.) At Hope Wireless each employee is ultimately responsible for their career plan, with their manager’s and leader’s support. With expertise in performance support, development, and delivery, the HR staff has the knowledge and hands-on experience to help each employee reach their full potential through innovative and engaging solutions. On-line job development courses and interactive training classes are optional and available to any employee to be scheduled at Part II – Hope Wireless Performance Appraisal their leisure. The HR staff will provide assistance in identifying the appropriate classes in support reaching one’s career goals. Effective succession planning is the reward of training and development and career pathing. Both training and development and career pathing should be developed and executed with succession planning in the blueprint. Hope Wireless succession plan would include promoting from within as the potential candidate will be prepared to transition into the open position fully armed with the organization’s mission, goals and expectations. It will be important to focus on those individual who demonstrate the ethics, value and integrity of which the Hope Wireless culture represents. Potential leaders will be identified, partnered with existing leadership and provided the resources to enhance strong skillsets and enhance areas of opportunity. Company career goals will be identified along with the potential candidate identifying their personal career goals. Hope Wireless will extend every effort to fill key positions from within to enhance employee morale, avoid negative business impact and ensure continual career advancement. Part II – REFERENCES Appraisal Methods. Retrieved from http://www.performance-appraisal.com/ratings.htm ConceiÃÆ' §ÃƒÆ' £o, S., C.O., & Altman, B. A. (2011). Training and development process and organizational culture change. Organization Development Journal, 29(1), 33-43. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/862094636?accountid=35812 http://linked2leadership.com/2013/04/01/10-steps-to-create-a-killer-succession-plan/ Mondy, R. W., & Mondy, J. B. (2008) Human Resource Management (10th ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Sprint. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sprint.com What Makes Performance Appraisals Effective? (2012, October). Sage Journals, 44(4), 191-200. Retrieved from http://cbr.sagepub.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/content/44/4/191 Part III – Hope Wireless Compensation Plan â€Å"Compensation is the total of all rewards provided employees in return for their services† (Mondy and Mondy, 2008). In support of meeting and exceeding Hope Wireless’ business objectives, a comprehensive compensation and incentive plan will be outlined as follows for the front line customer-interfacing employees. Hourly rate for customer service (CS) agents is $12.00 per hour based on the average industry hourly pay of $10 per hour. Overtime will be paid at one and one half hours for every hour worked over 40 hours. This does not include vacation hours, specifically worked hours. Bonus compensation will be paid when the criteria has been met as outlined in the bonus plan for each group. Paid time off (PTO) will accrue at the follow rate: tenure of one to three years will accrue two weeks of PTO; tenure of four to six years will accrue three weeks of PTO and tenure of six plus years will accrue five weeks of PTO. Each employee will only be able to carry-over 40 hours of PTO at the end of each calendar year. Every year each employee will accrue two eight hour floating holidays for personal use, which are not transferrable. CS agents will begin with a balance of 140 HAP (Hope Attendance Points) to be used for unscheduled absences. A five to eight hour unscheduled absence will result in deduction of 10 HAP. An unscheduled absence of four or less hours will result in a deduction of five HAP. Business impact days that are designated by Workforce, will have a double point deduction. Those days will be  identified at least two weeks prior to applicable timeframe. The aforementioned benefits and compensation are in support of employee satisfaction, retention and securing employees commitment to the organization. The CS agents will be Part III – Hope Wireless Compensation Plan provided a comprehensive outline of the PTO/HAP policies to include unacceptable HAP balances, the consequences of exhausting all balances including PTO and HAP, etc. The CS agents will also have the option of enrolling in medical insurance of which Hope Wireless will remit 70% of the premium. The CS agents will also have the option of dental and optical insurance where Hope Wireless will remit 70% of the premium. Employees will also have the option to participate in pre-tax flex-spending accounts. A self- initiated pre-tax monetary amount will be deducted from each paycheck and placed in a fund for medical/co-pay expenses for the employee and covered relations enrolled in the medical insurance program. This is a great savings and perks for the employees. Hope Wireless offers all employees an exciting 401K plan of which Hope Wireless matches dollar for dollar up to five dollars per pay period. Stock options are also available in addition to the 401K plan, both of which will be outline on the company’s intranet benefit site. Enrollment in 401K and stock options are available year-round. Tuition reimbursement is available for courses applicable to customer service/leadership/management and will be paid up to 90% for two courses annually after outlined criteria is met and approved by his/her manager. Criteria can be found on Hope Wireless’ intranet benefit site. Base pay increases are performance based and will be determined yearly once the employee has been rated by Supervisor via the annual performance review. The pay increases will be based on current rate per hour, performance rating and active corrective actions and performance action plans. Pay increases will be com mensurate with current industry standards at the time of the rating. Part III – Hope Wireless Compensation Plan The Human Resource team has rendered extensive research of surrounding call centers, conducted surveys of sister sites and concluded the outlined  compensation plan is inclusive of the most desired benefits of the most tenured employees who consistently exceed performance goals. The targeted employees also have consistently exceeded customer expectations per customer surveys. HR’s partnership with middle management is also a key element to successful operations and employee retention. HR will also outline a process of which middle management can execute separate and apart from the aforementioned proposal. â€Å"Practical strategies for supervisors include clearly identifying role responsibilities, implementing flexible scheduling, supporting role integration, applying job sharing principles, and remembering to reward and recognize employees†(Winterstein, Mazerolle & Pitney, 2011). Hope Wireless’ mission is to exceed the expectations of every customer who is in contact with the site. In order to enjoy such a reputation, every employee has to be engaged, empowered, committed, satisfied in their role and have allegiance to the organization and their team leads. Meeting performance expectations will allow each employee their hourly base pay. Surpassing performance expectations invites the opportunity to earn a bonus. WOWING every customer, owning the business, caring about your co-worker, volunteering in the community on behalf of the organization, etc. earns rewards and recognition. Recognizing employees for a job well done is more important than many leaders realize. Employees often times provide feedback via company surveys that their manager only meet with them to share/discuss poor performance. Being â€Å"caught in the act† of outstanding performance/behavior is a pay-off for the organization that is immeasurable. Great behavior Part III – Hope Wireless Compensation Plan breeds great behavior. Receipt of recognition in front of an employee’s peers not only enhances one self-esteem but often times deem an employee a subject matter expert. A go to person. â€Å"Since managers prefer to keep their good performers and employees that they like, it is important to understand their treatment of those individuals in promoting their desired continued personal development† (Adams, 2005). Hope Wireless will not only engage in  on the spot â€Å"Caught in the Act† positive feedback cards issued by an employee’s manager, the use of â€Å"Caught in the Act† certificates, posters and emails will also be initiated. Certificates will be presented in team meetings; posters will be posted in the team work area and emails will be sent to recognized employee with the entire team copied. Hope Wireless Trinkets will also be available to the management team in addition to the creation of the Hope Wireless Fun committee. The Hope Wireless Fun committee will be charged with engaging a mix of employees to create and execute fun activities for the site to reward and motivate employees such as team prizes for the best performers, best customer service surveys, etc. Hope Wireless is committed to working and winning as a team and to have the best team of employees in the wireless industry. REFERENCES Adams, S. M. (2005). Positive Affect and Feedback-Giving Behavior. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 20(1), 24-42. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview Mondy, R. W., & Mondy, J. B. (2008) Human Resource Management (10th ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall Winterstein, A. P., Mazerolle, S. M., & Pitney, W. A. (2011). Workplace environment: Strategies to promote and enhance the quality of life of an athletic trainer. Athletic Training & Sports Health Care, 3(2), 59-62. doi:http://dx.doi.org Part IV – The Cultural Change The senior leaders of Hope Wireless prides themselves on being one of the top three wireless leaders. Hope Wireless has won sundry service awards and achieve many honors for most improved customer service. In addition, Hope Wireless offers innovative and competitive wireless devices of which the other wireless providers have been unable to match. While many of Hope Wireless’s policies and procedures will be addressed and enhanced as a result of this proposal, the last enhancement proposal is in support of the internal culture of the organization. The previous site director allowed employees to dress down daily. Dressing down allows denim, flip-flops, shorts, hats, etc. Employees who are dressed down are more relaxed and come across as such when speaking to customers lending to an unprofessional  environment and poor customer service interactions. A recent event involving an employee who had placed their sweatshirt hood on and laid their head on the desk while waiting on a call is the final motivation for the proposed change. While sleep, several customers came onto the sleeping employee’s line and dropped when no one responded. This resulted in an impact in customer service and service level. The news of the termination of the employee was wide-spread amongst the agent’s peers. This was the first step towards awareness that the organization will take immediate reaction to negative impact caused by an employee. â€Å"When people in an organization realize and recognize that their current organizational culture needs to transform to support the organization’s success and progress, change can occur. But change is not pretty and change is not easy† (Heathfield, n.d.). Part IV – The Cultural Change The first cultural change proposal is to initiate a change to the current dress code policy from daily dress down to dress down Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays ONLY, unless otherwise specified. Currently, employees are only required to wear professional business attire when corporate visitors are expected on-site. The proposed normal day to day dress requirement will be business casual. Business casual dress guidelines will require men to wear collared shirts, khaki or dress pants and no tennis shoes or sandals. Business casual dress guidelines will require women to wear non- provocative, non-tight-fitting clothing void of denim and stretch material. Denim will not be allowed for either women or men. Women or men will not be permitted to wear shorts on business casual days. Women’s skirts and dresses must be knee length and the women’s shoe requirement will require dress shoes, no tennis shoes or flip flops. â€Å"Top-down attempts to change organization culture have a number of unintended consequences, amongst which is an emotional fall-out that becomes manifested in higher rates of absenteeism† (Carr, 2002). Human Resource has elected to release management of the task of owning and communicating this change. Employee focus groups will be formed to access to proactive strategize the most effective communication and reaction to opposition toavoid   negative impact to business. Agent dissatisfaction often translate to poor performance and reliability in call centers. Severe opposition is expected in response to this proposed change. The tentative initial communication to employees will be socialized to employees in team meetings by members of the employee focus group. Often times, peer buy-in lends to continued peer buy-in to change in an organization. In support of the opposition, Human Resources will also partner Part IV – The Cultural Change With the Communication team to begin sending out catchy, funny emails and launch internal television advertisements of the dress code change to occur in 30 days. The â€Å"why† documents will be drafted to include the goal of delivering superior, professional customer service. Anonymous pictures will be included of relaxed desk posture of agents who are dressed down versus those who are dressed business casual. Relaxed posture translate to relaxed conversations. Human Resources will also be prepared to hold optional brown bag meetings to share â€Å"relaxed† remote quality observations where unprofessional customer service was rendered versus calls observed on a professional dress day. Human Resources will set the expectation that the Management team will be held accountable to execute this change and maintain application and consistency of the policy change. All policy amendments are supported by 30 day adaptation grace period after which the following reaction will be instituted. Management will render a documented verbal warning for the 1st dress code violation. The 2nd dress code violation will result in the employee being sent home to change with an impact to pay for the time missed and documented warning. The 3rd dress violation will result in a 1st written warning and will continue to progress to termination. Human Resources will be open for feedback will be open to negotiate with employees holistically to encourage receptiveness to the dress code change. â€Å"Timing can be crucial. Conflict tends to develop through stages, from awareness that differences exist to a hardening of attitudes and, possibly,  open hostility† (â€Å"Abc of Conflict and Disaster: Approaches to Conflict Resolution,† 2005). The employee focus group will be the first reaction to conflict of which employees will be encouraged to provide open and honest feedback to and amongst their peers. Part IV – The Cultural Change This will provide an immediate forum for employees to react versus allowing dissatisfaction and conflict fester and result in unnecessary and avoidable conflict.  The aforementioned changes outlined in this proposal outline a cultural change that lends to effective start-up, encourage growth, prevent decline, encourage renewal and upward mobility and prevent death of the organization. CONCLUSION The Human Resource planning and partnership outlined in the aforementioned proposal will institute efficient, effective, consistent, and revenue impacting operations. The Human Resource team for Hope Wireless has prepared the blueprint to propel the organization to becoming the #1 wireless leader in the industry. REFERENCES Abc Of Conflict And Disaster: Approaches To Conflict Resolution. (2005, August). BMJ: British Medical Journal , 331(7512), 344-346. Retrieved from http://av4kc7fg4g.search.serialssolutions.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com Carr, A. (2002). Organisational culture: Organisational change? Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15(4), 425. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197601624?accountid=458 Heathfield, S. (n.d.). How to Change Your Culture: Organizational CultChange. About.com Guide, (), Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/organizationalculture/a/culture change.htm

An Analysis of the Depiction of Horaces Philosophy of Life in Gather Ye Rosebuds, A Quiet Life, and Rustic Joys

An Analysis of the Depiction of Horace's Philosophy of Life in Gather Ye Rosebuds, A Quiet Life, and Rustic Joys Horace’s philosophy of life, I believe, can be summed up quite effectively by this line on his poem Gather Ye Rosebuds, addressed to Leuconoe: â€Å"This day’s thine own, the next may be denied†. Horace is all about finding fulfilment in life through enjoyment of â€Å"the present hour†, and living a life worth living. He finds no joy in wars or worries, but says that life is only worth living if you can enjoy it as much as possible. Gather Ye Rosebuds is the first poem in which Horace attests to this philosophy of life. He tells Leuconoe that he does not care what astrologers predict, or whatever may befall him, he believes that we are powerless to act in opposition to the fate of the world, so one should drink a lot, be happy, don’t think about the future, and generally enjoy each day as it comes. While we debate politics or future uncertainties, time that you could be enjoying slips away. I think this shows Horace’s philosophy of life most strongly. Horace also tells us that deciding to save and be stringent with money is a waste. â€Å"Enjoy your possessions while they are yours† is a poem that describes death, and the inevitability of it, but also contrasts it with the beauty of life that you could be enjoying right now. He describes a beautiful villa on the banks of the river Tiber, that you worked long and hard to purchase, just for your heirs to swoop in and grab up all your hoarded gold, then presumably go and waste it. Horace wants us to enjoy the use of our money now, and not worry about leaving it to anyone, because you’ll be dead, and they’ll squander it anyway. He also mentions this in â€Å"We all must die†, saying that death is inevitable, and your heirs will quickly forget about you once you’re dead, so there’s no use giving them everything you made. The philosophy of Horace also includes his wish to escape from ‘all this’, in â€Å"A Quiet Life†, he talks at length about the fact that humans fight, humans struggle, humans live to find a calm and quiet life after the fact. Soldiers endure their hunger, cold and marches because they want to return home to peace. Money and power doesn’t calm the chaos inside of one’s mind, nor does being king. Horace preaches that one is with few means, but is perfectly happy with this means, and does not seek constantly more, more, more. All the happiest man wants, is peace and quiet. You can’t escape your fate, no bodyguards will let you outrun fear, so one should laugh and be merry to drown all of those negative feelings, and aim to live a quiet, peaceful life. In â€Å"Enjoy the Present Hour†, Horace again shows his philosophy of living life to the fullest. He talks about a depressingly cold mountainside outside, but revels in the warmth of his hearth, the wine, and a bit of light conversation to pass the time. He says that the future is the gods’ domain, let them worry about the weather and the seasons, life and death, â€Å"Lay hold upon the present hour†, and live in the moment. He says that one day we will all see death coming for us, at some point, and old age will wrack our bodies, but one has to love their youth before these things, to live a fulfilled life. The best times are now, and only the gods need worry about tomorrow. Horace embraces his own philosophy in Rustic Joys, here talks about how blessed it is to be free from debts, from work, from creditors and other stresses of city life. Horace writes about the beauty of nature, and his love of just being in the countryside, living a quiet life of small pleasures. The man described is a skilled worker, and has skilful hands, Horace respects his skill at work, and the beauty of it. He says the pleasure of a simple life such as this would remove all troubles from the world, such as a lover lost. He romanticises a life in the countryside in the peace and quiet as something with no worries or preoccupations, and that all should strive to life like the man who works on the farm.

Systems of Association Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Systems of Association - Assignment Example The company’s failure is believed to have been caused by the continued reliance on glory achieved during its years of success and the way in which the company responded to the new competition (Sull 352). Sull argues that failure to respond effectively to the new technology and competition caused the company’s failure. Firestone began experiencing rivalry in the mid 1960s, whereby its competitors had an ambition to restructure the tire market industry. They joined the market by introducing radial tires and achieved positive response. Statistics show that one million units were sold each year for almost five years (Olson and Levi 391). Their accomplishment is attributed to their mode of advertising whereby they ensured the right information reached their target markets. Their marketing policy involved promotions and presenting that the innovated tires had a longer life, improved safety and were considerably cheap. On the other hand, Firestone decided to restructure their tires into radial ones (Sull 360). Their decision was based on that complete transfer to the new technology would result to enormous investment. This decision resulted to accelerating activities in their past success. According to Professor Sull, the history of success acquired in the late 1960s turned out to be its greatest enemy, hence, its downfall. The article â€Å"Battles in the Seattle† aimed at clarifying the important nature of political expression that creates success in trans-nationalization of social movements. It also verified that protests do not always bring forth the expected results. In fact, strikes can provoke contradicting measures. According to the article, workers in Seattle have demonstrated thrice striking in 1919, 1934, and 1999. In 1919, a strike in the Seattle city caused a five-day shutdown of the city (Olson and Levi 389). In 1934, a group of protesters caused the closure of several cities among them Seattle and Tacoma (Olson and Levi 392). These battles had similar objectives, which revolved around better conditions for workers in the Seattle region. It is essential to note that the workers involved in the 1999 strike meant for a peaceful demonstration. However, intervention from an unknown group of people caused the government to turn the Seattle streets into police war grounds. The police demanded peace by using teargas, rubber bullets, pepper sprays and other items like grenades (Olson and Levi 399). In all the battles, a group of people demonstrated against the World Trade Organizations. Nevertheless, the strike was considered a failure and a waste of time since the workers did not achieve their goals. The strike ended without recognition of their demands that included bargains for salaries, improved work conditions, and benefits. According to a number of critics, the strike planners and leaders lacked an objective and an identifiable program for the five-day strikes. The leaders in all the strikes embarked on using sim ilar ways as used in the previous ones. Just like the failure experienced by the Firestone Company, the workers strike failed. Their failure can be attributed to the dependence of already used strategies. Firestone had experienced continued success with their methods of marketing and were not willing to adapt new ones. In my opinion, remaining with the already successful

Analyze how Beth and Calvins own family backgrounds influence and Essay

Analyze how Beth and Calvins own family backgrounds influence and affect them within their family and their relationship with Conrad in Ordinary People - Essay Example Calvin Jarrett, father of Conrad Jarrett is working as a Tax Attorney. His family background is pathetic because he spent his childhood in an orphanage. So he is well aware of his status and responsibilities as a father. He tried his best to be a good father but consider himself as a failure in relationship with his wife and son. The words: â€Å"Responsibility. That is fatherhood.† (Guest 9) makes clear that Calvin consider fatherhood as a serious matter and responsibility towards his son. But his problem was that he did not have any role model to follow because he spent his childhood in an orphanage. But his life at the orphanage deeply influences his family relation. He was ready to give up his affair with Molly Davis for the well being of his family. Beth shows keen interest to keep a balanced relation with his son who is too close to him. But his good character and keen interest to maintain cordial relation with his family members does not help him to maintain his family in a proper manner. Eventually, his wife decided to leave him amidst of problems. So, one can see that Beth’s family background as an orphan influence him to maintain affectionate relation with his son but it badly affect his relation with his wife and his lover. At the same time, Beth Jarrett, mother of Conrad is from a different family background which forces her to keep herself away from real life situations. She is so obsessed with imaginary vacations and wishes to keep away herself from family matters. The words of the speaker in the novel make clear that: â€Å"Self-possessed is what she is; he emphatically does not own her, nor does not have control over her, nor can he understand or even predict with reliability her moods, her attitudes.† (Guest 25) Beth was self-possessed personality and her husband did not have any control over her

Cooperative system Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cooperative system - Assignment Example Unless employees are satisfied, they can not display competence in their work, and this in turn, hinders their performance. Hence, they can not play their respective roles in achieving organizational objectives, thus lowering the effectiveness. Therefore, the two terms are relational. The statement of Bernard is extremely relevant to the contemporary business scenario. In the modern age of increased competition, business entrepreneurs are looking for ways to gain competitive advantage over their parallels in the market. In these circumstances, it is imperative that they understand the relation between effectiveness and efficiency, because unless they improve their efficiency, they can be outshined by more efficient competitors. The statement of Bernard is also, quite useful for a manager given it is fundamentally a manager’s responsibility to take measures to improve the efficiency of workers in an organization. In order to achieve the ultimate organizational goals, managers n eed to address the problem at the grass root level and improve the employees’ efficiency by addressing their individualistic concerns.

Privacy Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Privacy Policy - Essay Example Facebook collects more information than the other websites since it is an interactive website. Information regarding your friends, family relationship, and views on matters like religion, politics, music and various events also appear on Facebook. However, all the information given on Facebook is voluntary and the user is in control of the amount of information they put on the website. The websites automatically collect information when users interact with the websites’ tools, services, application or advertising. Information on geographical location, device type, IP address, URL referral and page view statistics is automatically sent by the users’ computer or cell phone. The privacy policy outlines the personal information that might be shared and with whom. The three websites indicate that only with users’ consent would they share information with a third party. However, the policy does not apply to law enforcement, authorized third parties and governmental agencies. Subpoenas and court orders from jurisdictions within the United States and outside are adhered to by the websites. Information is also shared with lawyers, companies, and courts in order to protect the website and its users from violators of the websites statement of rights and responsibilities. The websites also share information with companies in order to offer joint services. The websites share information with domain administrators allowing them to conduct maintenance of the users’ accounts. The websites clearly state that privacy policy is subject to change. In the case of Facebook, the changes apply to all the users’ information and account. A fan of the Facebook Site Governance page receives the notice directly while others only find the notice on the site. Google privacy policy does not reduce the users’ rights without explicit consent. Any privacy

Management Consulting Assignment Research Proposal

Management Consulting Assignment - Research Proposal Example Each type of their product has a specific focus. This paper is intends to provide a clear understanding of what Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups brand is, why and how it is managed, and what are the dynamics involved in managing brands in the present context of competitive market. Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups is a privately owned company, incorporated in April 2007. All of their product processing is done at their plant in Maple Heights, Ohio. They own the real estate, building etc, and all of the manufacturing equipment are a debt free, profitable operation. Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups is inspected, and approved, by the Federal FDA, State Agricultural Department and local Health Department. The company's primary business is the manufacturing of concentrated fruit juices, cocktail mixes and beverage syrups sold to the Food Service market and to national restaurant chains, hospitals, and nursing homes. They are constantly researching and developing new products that fulfil the customers' requirements. TAYLERSON'S MALMESBURY SYRUPS are flavoured syrups, using the finest ingredients including pure Madagascan Vanilla or natural Apple & Cinnamon. The company makes it a point to use only the finest ingredient of purely natural components as raw materials in production. Another salient features of their products is that these are very easy to prepare, and are healthy for human consumption. TAYLERSON'S MALMESBURY SYRUPS Products Taylersons Malmesbury Syrups produce a wide range of flavours of Malmesbury Syrup, including: Amaretto flavouring for coffee, on ice cream, as a white wine mixer or Frappes' (Ice, milk and flavour) or fruit desserts. Apple & Cinnamon makes great coffee or flavours hot water, tea, or can be used as a dessert topping. Caramel for flavouring coffee, Frappes', ice cream, pancakes, or hot milk. Cinnamon puts a zing in apple pie and it tastes great in coffee and hot milk too. Espresso for coffees, cakes, ice cream, Frappes' Fine Vanilla on

Electronic Text Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Electronic Text Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example The game is a combination of community features and role playing elements, just like in other MMORPGs, such as item trading, guilds, and chat. The game gives the player a chance to select different skills as the person levels up. This game, like other games, has various purposes expected of the player to experience (Elswrod). Rhetoric analysis means making arguments or claims about the video game. Video games features in procedural representations of material, social, and cultural aspects of human experience (Bogost 123). Elsword is an example of a videogame representing the entertainment aspect of human experience. A lot of action movies are characterised by the villain and the good heroes who sacrifice a lot to eliminate the villains. The heroes always have exceptional skills which they acquire through training and experience. Like real action movies, this video game has heroes with unique skills, and missions to accomplish. The video game also provides an opportunity for the players to test their skills, and know more about their personality. Different characters have different skills, and selecting one can enable one understand himself better when in combat. Also, there are various individuals with different characters such as a swordsman, an archer, a witch among others. One can enjoy the imaginatio n of being a witch and what he or she can do with being a witch. It is a skill simulator. Elsword provides very good entertaining content like the boss rush modes, the costumes, the pets, and the gear that unleashes the gamers’ skills and actions in an imaginary action movie world (Elswrod). It is argued that video games symbolize certain processes and the characters in the game are used to enact the processes (King). In Elsword, symbolizes several human experiences. It symbolizes the fantasy world full of heroes that humans always want. The characters are provided with

Use an example of your choice to discuss how corporate restructuring Essay

Use an example of your choice to discuss how corporate restructuring transformed market, productive and financial performance - Essay Example At such a point, the effectiveness of a company’s old structure (original structure) has reduced to an extent of not being able to cater for the output and the larger interests (which includes the future interests) of the company. Corporate restructuring is where a company restructures or changes one or several of its aspects. It has been defined as changes in ownership, changes in assets or even alliances in a bid to improve and increase the shareholders wealth, meet consumer demands among others (Aden, 2014). The restructuring may be in form of divisions and departments combinations, production focus laying back, asset restructuring, employee scale back among others (Arocena, Blasquez and Grifell, 2011). This work shall analyse on how corporate restructuring transformed the market, the productive and the financial performance of a named company. The named company (case study) shall be Caterpillar, a public limited company which survived a harsh economic climate, thanks to corporate restructuring. In the first part of the work, the company shall be introduced and its main competitors analysed. The market it operates on currently and on which it operated on in the early 80’s shall also be discussed. Thereafter, there shall be a discussion on how Caterpillar embraced and applied corporate restructuring and analysis on how successful this was. The main aims of restructuring include creating a decentralised approach, increasing the level of responsiveness and expanding the customer focus for matured markets. There are many businesses that have adopted corporate restructuring in order to maximize their profits and their chances of survival. Caterpillar, a public limited company is one such company that has a successful experience with the adoption of corporate restructuring (Vartan, 1987). It specialises in three operational segments which are power systems, construction

Pride and Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Pride and Prejudice Essay The novel Pride and Prejudice was written during the middle of the Romantic period in western literature, but it is itself rather uncharacteristic of other fictional works of the period. Unlike the great Romantic novels and poems of the period, which usually praised youthful passions, Austens work minimizes them. Austens works are models of restraint. Instead of the wild force of nature, Austen concentrates on family life in small English towns. Instead of rampant emotionalism Austen emphasizes a balance between reason and emotion. Instead of suicide and unrequited love, Austen offers elopement and marriage. â€Å"Austen’s prime theme of marriage is far from trivial† (Walder 1996, p. 52) as it is considered today as marriage was an important issue in Austen’s time and it was the only time when a woman had the freedom to get upward socio-economic mobility [though some critics thinks that she considers that considering money as the criterion for marriage is highly terrible. (Collins p. 161)] This extract explains this correlation between socio-economic status and marriage. Irony or the contrast between the expected and the actual is the chief literary device Austen uses to comment on the manners of English gentry in Pride and Prejudice. Her irony takes different forms for different. Another stylistic feature that one can observe in this extract in general and throughout novel in particular is her formal style. Perhaps the first thing about Jane Austens style that strikes the reader is its formality by modern standards. This is a characteristic of her time, and of the outlook she shared. The decorum of her prose represents a disciplined habit of mind and a disciplined attitude towards life. But the formality has about it nothing of the pomp us or verbose. On the contrary one of the chief qualities of her narrative style is precision, lucidity, and economy. With these is combined a habitual tone of irony. The irony is the cutting edge, as it was an instrument of moral perception which was Jane Austens sensibility. Mr. Collins speaks about his conception of a true marriage. He takes the conventional notions about marriage of true minds where partners have similar dispositions and ideas about life in general. Mr. Collins philosophy of marriage reminds Charlotte’s reminds Charlotte’s matrimonial ideology as she also consider the harmony of characters and minds as the ultimate source of matrimonial bliss and place no importance to money or fortune. She says in Chapter 6; â€Å"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always contrive to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life. Mr. Collins also suffers from the same fictitious idealism like Charlotte. That’s the reason he says; â€Å"My dear Charlotte and I have but one mind and one way of thinking. There is in everything a most remarkable resemblance of character and ideas between us. We seem to have been designed for each other. † (Chapter XXXV) Furthermore, he longs for same matrimonial felicity for Elizabeth in her married life without knowing what is her ideals of marriage and what she wants to be come out of marriage. Jane Austin has beautifully employed irony as Mr. Collins wishes something for Elizabeth that she does not like. Furthermore, Jane Austin juxtaposes this conception of matrimonial bliss with his own conception of marriage and its preconditions that prevail throughout the novel. Jane Austin has Marxian conception of marriage and she considers wealth and socio-economic well-being as the foremost pre-condition of marriage. For the author, in the persona of Mr. Bennets daughter Elizabeth, however, irony is potent toy and a defensive weapon in the war against stupidity. The author uses Elizabeth to skewer self-important characters such as Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet. Yet Elizabeth is also blind to her own character faults, and her very blindness is another example of Austens use of irony. In her misunderstandings with Darcy, she (who is blind to her own pride in her ability to read character) accuses him false and excessive pride, while he (who is prejudiced against people with less money than he has) accuses her of prejudice. The rest of the episode shows the haughtiness and pomposity of Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins is a type of character that Jane Austin uses to highlight the posing and pretensions of English society of the time and the vain self-importance of an individual. His acquisition of fortune by chance to get an approval of Lady Catherine de Bourgh has made him to think of himself in higher terms and opinion. All his haughtiness and snobbery in the extract is a manifestation of this high opinion of his own self. His high opinion of Charlotte is also a product of this imagined high placement in society. He earns a handsome income and owns a house, so he requires a wife at this stage that can enrich his own fortune. Here Jane Austin elaborates the interrelation of marriage and money. If Mr. Collins would not have owned a house and would not have made a good fortune by chance, he would never think of having marriage. So he imagined conception of marriage as a bond between tow souls that are alike in their dispositions and character, seems only a caprice of imagination only. Establishing a correlation between marriage and social status is an important theme of Austen in this extract. Jane Austen also makes her reader see the correlation in the light of her contemporary social conventions. Earlier in the novel, when Elizabeth refuses the proposal of Mr Collins, he is unwilling to accept it. It was highly improbable that a woman of Elizabeth’ social status would reject the proposal of a well-off person. His self-importance is another factor that contributes toward his un-acceptance if her refusal. He disapprove of Elizabeth’s social status in these words that Elizabeth’s portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of [her] loveliness and amiable qualifications†. His social status reassures himself by saying that; â€Å"you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall chuse to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females. There is a dichotomy of Elizabeth’s refusal to Mr. Collin and her manifestation as an ideal woman of Austen who thinks marriage in terms of money. Walder (1996) has rightly pointed out; â€Å"In a social world where only possibility of movement in a women’s life was through marriage, choice of partner was as serious a business as choice of career was for a man. † Seen in this light, Elizabeth’s refusal of Mr. Collins is as brave an act as that of a young man who refuses to enter the family firm. † (Walder, 52) Jane Austen used Elizabeth as her mouth-piece to ridicule the fictitious idealism of various characters throughout the novel. In this case, Elizabeth does not directly say any word about Mr. Collins viewpoints but only show her contempt by feeling sorry for â€Å"Poor Charlotte† but she revisits her thought about her and says that she is not innocent as she herself has decided to marry Collins and choose a pretentious society. Jane Austen reflects here that if someone is placed in this situation, then it is tragic but someone has consciously decided to go for a vain marriage proposal, he ore she should be fully responsible for it. So it was Charlotte own disposition rather than chance that her placed her in that situation. But when Elizabeth herself refuses the proposal of Mr. Collins, she was also caught in fictitious idealism. She is of the view that as her father is a gentleman; she is on equal terms with Darcy and Bingleys. (Brooke, 1999. p. 158) Jane Austen beautifully shows her fictitious idealism as well. Jane Elizabeth also shows, through the character of Maria, the vainglory of English gentry. Unlike Elizabeth, Maria is amazed and amused by the social decorum. She was still startled at the nine dinners at Rosings and several teas. This extract further another aspect of Jane Austens art i. e. handling of dialogue. She had a remarkable ear, and must have been a shrewd observer of mannerism in speech. The speech of her characters is always consonant with their personalities yet it never approaches caricature. In the extract, Mr. Collins dialogues are true reflection of his personality yet it does not portray him as a caricature. Maria’s dialogues are equally expressive of her self and her tender age. So this extract and other textual examples from Pride and Prejudice clearly manifest that Jane Austen has skillfully conveyed her basic theme of money and marriage through her subtle style. She does not waste her words and there is uncommon clarity with economy in her art. References Austen, Hane. (2006). Pride and Orejudice. New York: Poenguin Classic. Brooke, C. (1999). Jane Austen: Illusion and reality. Rochester, NY: D. S. Brewer. Walder, D. (1996). The realist novel. Approaching literature. London: Routledge.

Phineas Gage Essay Example for Free

Phineas Gage Essay Perhaps one of the most well known cases in cognitive psychology is that of Phineas Gage. A man who suffered from an injury to his prefrontal lobes thirty years before the field of Psychology even began (Moulin, 2006). However, psychologists’ continue to study his brain and the effects of his injury and its role in cognitive functions years later. Phineas Gage was a foreman at a railroad who suffered damage to his prefrontal lobes as a result of an accidental explosion in the year 1848. This explosion caused an iron bar about a meter long to be launched completely through Gage’s head and supposedly land about nine meters away. As a result of this accident Gage suffered severe brain damage to his prefrontal lobes, with the left side being almost completely destroyed (Moulin, 2006). There is not documentation of what Gage’s personality was like before the accident and few reports of the changes after the incident, many believed to be exaggerated. Two of the reports that do exist regarding Gage are written by John Martyn Harlow. Harlow was the physician who treated Gage and followed his case (â€Å"III. The Damage to Gage’s Skull and Brain†, 2002). Following his recovery of the accident there were no reports of apparent loss of interllectial function, yet his personality changed drastically. In fact Gage behaved so different that he while he went back to work for the railroad he never was given his job back as foreman (â€Å"II. The Sequelae of the accident, 1848-1868,† 2002). In fact, when asked his friends and acquaintances said he was â€Å"no longer Gage† (Moulin, 2006). Gage lived about eleven years after his accident before dying in 1860 which left people in the medical field curious about him and his condition (Moulin, 2006). In fact the changes in his behavior that were described was the first time that it was revealed that complex functions might be located in the brain. During the time and the immediate time after Gage lived there is not much medical documentation. Therefore it was years later when the exact parts of Gage’s brain that were damaged due to the iron bar were determined (â€Å"II. The sequelae of the accident, 1848-1868,† 2002). When Harlow learned of the passing of Gage, he sought out and received permission from his family to have the body exhumated in December of 1867 (â€Å"II. The sequelae of the accident, 1848-1868,† 2002). He did so in order to study the brain and learn from the injury of the skull and the result that the damages had on Gage’s personality. From the study he was able to determine that Gage suffered damage to three locations; the area under the zygomatic arch, the base of the skull where the iron rod had entered behind the eye, and at the top of the head where the iron rod emerged (â€Å"III. The damage to Gage’s Skull and Brain†, 2002). After studies of Gage’s skull where complete, psychologists’ have been able to take the measurements from the skull and use modern technology to determine the approximate location of the legion. Damage was caused to both the left and right prefrontal cortices in a pattern that caused a defect in rational decision making and the processing of emotion (Damasio, 1994). Studies that have been done since the case of Gage have determined that higher cognitive functions take place in the prefrontal lobes. Some of these functions include working memory, mental imagery, and willed actions that are associated with consciousness (Frith Dolan, 1998). Psychologists’ have been able to learn from this famous case of Phineas Gage. A man who took no part in experiments and whose injuries were sustained thirty years before the start of Psychology. From this case it has been determined that cognitive functions that can become impaired by prefrontal brain damage are abilities like planning, reasoning, and problem solving. It has also been shown that frontal lobe damage can affect a person’s memory in a subtle manner. While there can be no apparent loss of intellectual function as a result of prefrontal brain lesions it is can still be tragic to the lives of those involved (Gerhand, 1999).

Family Planning Program In Ethiopia Health And Social Care Essay

Family Planning Program In Ethiopia Health And Social Care Essay Access to basic services such as water and sanitation is limited and its distribution is biased towards urban areas. Thirty percent of Ethiopians (80.5% urban and 21.5% rural) have access to improved sanitation, while access to clean drinking water is slightly higher at 35 percent (90% urban and 25% rural). Sixty four percent of the adult population is illiterate; with higher rate of illiteracy among women than men. The overall current contraceptives prevalence rate among married women in Ethiopia is 14.7%, and among all women of reproductive age group is 10.3%. Thirty four percent of currently married women of reproductive age group have an unmet need for family planning (WHO, 2010). Family planning (FP) services are delivered through facility-based reproductive health (RH) services including government health facilities and health services run by NGOs and private for profit organizations including pharmacies selling socially marketed pills, condoms and Depo-Provera; and by community based reproductive health (CBRH) agents supported by a variety of international and national NGOs. Family planning services can significantly contribute to limiting the family size efforts. Strengthening contraceptive services has been shown to be effective in reducing maternal mortality. Specifically there is a role for increased access to long term and permanent contraceptive methods. Although 60% of the methods used in Ethiopia are injectables, 32% of users of injectables discontinue in the first year of use, usually because of health concerns or other issues with the method. Also 42% of women want to limit childbearing, thus they are potential clients for LTPMs. Efforts are needed to increase access to LTPM for women who do not want any more children (DHS, 2005). The Ethiopian government has been undertaking various policy reform measures and making substantial progresses towards achieving the millennium development goals. Improved policy environment and shift in government priorities towards the social sector have significantly improved access to and quality of health services. Potential health service coverage has increased from 45% in 1997 to 90 percent in 2010 (FMOH, 2010). The health policy gives primary focus on preventive and promotive health care to address the major health problems and to provide access to health services for the majority of Ethiopians. In this regard, the health service extension program (HEP) is the biggest venture of the government and flagship program of the ministry by which two female health extension workers who are government paid are being assigned at kebele level ( the lowest administrative level with 5000 population). The government has been engaged into improving health service delivery through enhancing coverage, quality and equity aiming at improving the overall health status of citizens. The various studies and routine information sources showed that the health outcomes are exhibiting encouraging results in terms of reducing child and maternal mortality. Background Increasingly, the government of Ethiopia is giving greater attention to address the issue of rapid population growth and associated demographic factors in designing and implementing different development strategies, and has recognised the rapid population growth and high fertility rate as one of the main challenges to poverty reduction. different strategic documents were formulated and being implemented like accelerated and sustained development to end poverty (PASDEP), which includes reducing the total fertility rate (TFR) and closing the gap between boys and girls education and also the health sector development program. Overview of the health sector Health status and access The government with continues support and collaboration from the development partners as well as the effort of the general public on its health has achieved a lot towards improving the health status of its citizens. However the health status of Ethiopians still remains low compared to worldwide benchmarks. In 2010, life expectancy was 58 years, maternal mortality ratio was 673 per 100, 000 live births, infant mortality rate was 69 per 1000 live births and the under-five mortality rate was 109 per 1000 live births (WHO, 2010). Ethiopias health problems are largely attributed to preventable infections ailments and nutritional deficiencies (FMOH, 2010). Health Service delivery The public sector is the major health service provider for Ethiopians. As a result of significant decentralization reforms, Ethiopias federal structure is comprised of nine regional states and two city administrations, each responsible for managing its own public health sector services. To promote decentralization and meaningful participation of the population in local development activities, decision making process in the development and implementation of the health system are shared between the federal ministry of health (FMOH) (policy guidance), the regional health bureau (RHB) policy and technical support, and the woreda or district health services (coordination of primary health care services). In order to realize the goals of the health sector strategic plan, the health service delivery was introduced in a four-tier referral system, characterised by a first line primary health care unit (PHCU), comprised of one health centre and five satellite health posts, and then the second line district hospital and specialised hospital. A PHCU is designed to serve 25, 000 people, while a district and a zonal hospital are each expected to serve 250, 000 and 1, 000, 000 people respectively. The public sector remains the major provider of health services accounting for about 67% of total health services, followed by the private sector which provides 31% of the services, and facilities owned by business enterprises accounts for the remaining 2%. The increasing number of private for profit health sector and not-for-profit, offers an opportunity to enhance health service coverage (FMOH, 2010). The policy framework Global reproductive health policy context In 1994 the world came together to create a consensus on what had previously been a deeply divisive issue: the relationship between population growth and other areas of development and was considered a groundbreaking effort for shifting population policy discussions away from simply slowing population growth to enhancing individual health and rights while focusing on social development (ICPD 1994). Since then remarkable achievements has been registered. To move the sexual and reproductive agenda forward, progressive international and regional instruments has been developed among which the most important one include the 1995 Beijing declaration and platform of action, the 2004 ICPD ten review, the 2006 Maputo plan of action on sexual and reproductive health and rights (AU, 2006), and the 2009 UN convection for elimination of all form of discrimination against women. The 2000 millennium summit adopted the United Nations millennium declaration committing their nations to a new global pa rtnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a serious of time bound targets with a deadline of 2015-the millennium development goals. To achieve this, UN organizations, governments, associations, private foundations, and other non governmental organizations expressed their commitments (Farina et al. 2008). National Health policy The health policy of the country was formulated in 1993 after careful assessment of the nature, magnitude and root causes of the existing health problem of Ethiopia and awareness of newly emerging health problems. Democratization and decentralization of the existing health service system were emphasised stressing on development and prioritization of the preventive and promotive components of health care, development of an equitable and acceptable standard of health service system that will reach all segments of the population maximizing the effective and efficient utilization of existing internal and external resources, promoting and strengthening of multi-sectoral and intersectoral activities, promotion of attitudes and practices conducive to the strengthening of health system development, ascertaining the accessibility of health care for all segments of the population, enriching the concept and intensifying the practice of family planning for optimal family health and planned popul ation dynamics, and intensifying family planning for the optimal health of the mother, child and family (TGE, 1993). National Population policy (1993) This major goal of the policy is harmonization of the rate of population growth and the capacity of the country for the development and rational utilization of natural resources thereby creating conditions conducive to the improvement of the level of welfare of the population. The general objective of the policy include: closing the gap between high population growth and low economic productivity through planned reduction of population growth and increasing economic returns; expediting economic and social development process through holistic integrated development programmes designed to expedite the structural differentiation of the economy and employment; reducing the rate to urban migration; maintaining/improving the carrying capacity of the environment by taking appropriate environmental protection/conservation measures; raising the economic and social status of women by freeing them from the restrictions and drudgeries of traditional life and making it possible for them to partic ipate productively in the larger community; and significantly improving the social and economic status of vulnerable groups (women, youth, children and the elderly). The specific objectives include: reducing the total fertility rate to 4.0 children per women by the year 2015; reducing maternal, infant and child morbidity and mortality rates as well as promoting the level of general welfare of the population; significantly increasing female participation at all levels of the education system; removing all legal customary practices militating against the full enjoyment of economic and social rights by women including the full enjoyment of property rights and access to gainful employment; ensuring spatially balanced population distribution patterns with a view to maintaining environmental productivity in agriculture and introducing off-farm non agricultural activities for the purpose of employment diversification; and mounting an effective country wide population information and educat ion program addressing issues pertaining to family size and its relationship with human welfare and environmental security. Some of the major areas requiring priority attentions were improving the quality and scope of service delivery: expanding the diversity and coverage of family planning service delivery through clinical and community based outreach services; encouraging and supporting the participation of non-governmental organizations in the delivery of population and family planning and related services; and creating conditions that will permit users the widest possible choice of contraceptives by diversifying the method mix available in the country (TGE, 1993). Health sector development plan Ethiopia has been health sector development (HSDP) plan since 1997, every five years it has been evaluated and revised until now. The current HSDP IV is the extension of the previous plans and aims to improve the health status of Ethiopians people through provision of adequate and optimum quality promotive, preventive, basic curative and rehabilitative health services to all segments of the population. The major goals include improving the health of mothers and children by reducing maternal mortality ratio, reducing child mortality rate and reduction of total fertility rate. (FMOH, HSDP III, 2005). National reproductive health strategy, 2006-2015 The national reproductive health strategy was developed in 2006 after comprehensive consultation process with all relevant stakeholders including various government agencies, at federal and regional level, local and international partners, and community representatives. The strategy reaffirms the commitment of the government by setting forth a targeted and measurable agenda for the coming decade. It builds upon notable initiatives undertaken like the population policy, followed by the formulation of comprehensive health sector development program (HSDP) in 1998 and the recent health extension program and the current plan for accelerated and sustainable development to end poverty which gives priority to reproductive health and family planning. The goal of the strategy is built on the momentum occasioned by the millennium development goals to garner the multicultural support needed to support the reproductive and sexual health needs of the culturally diverse population (FMOH, 2006). Adolescent and youth reproductive health strategy (AYRH) In Ethiopia people less than 15 year age group constitute about 40 percent of the general population. Most of these adolescents are less informed, less experienced and less comfortable to seek access for sexual and reproductive health information and services. Access of reproductive health care information and services targeted for young people contributes to prevent and improve many of their reproductive health problems. To address this issue Ethiopia has launched a national strategy on adolescent and reproductive health that aims to tackle the problems of early marriages and pregnancies, female circumcision, abduction and rape, and poor access to health care for 10 to 24 year olds that will be implemented for eight years (FMOH, 2007). The health extension program Health Extension Program Packages Family health Maternal and child health Family planning Immunization Nutrition Adolescent RH health Disease prevention and control HIV/AIDS TB prevention and control Malaria prevention and control First aid Hygiene and Environmental health Excreta disposal Solid and liquid waste management Water supply and safety measures Food hygiene and safety measures Healthy home environment Control of insects and rodents Personal hygiene Health Education and communication In order to expand health service coverage and improve the delivery of primary health care services to the rural population, the government has introduced an innovative health service delivery system through the implementation of the health extension program (HEP) as part of the 2002-2005 health sector development program II. The HEP moves services out of facilities to the household and village level, and involves 16 packages to be provided at grass roots level focusing on sustained prevention actions and increased awareness. Accelerated expansion of primary health services coverage has also been endorsed as part of facilitating the implementation of the HEP. The HEP empowers communities to collaborate with the government health sector at the kebele level (the lowest administrate level in a woreda [district]), to identify health problems and root causes, seek solutions, set priorities and formulate local plans of action at the grass roots level. The HEP consists of promotive and preventive health care services made accessible to all rural kebeles at a kebele health post, the lowest level of the FMOHs health system. The program includes a cadre of health extension workers (HEW), with each health post staffed by two female health extension workers. Each health post serves a catchment area of approximately 5, 000 people and refers clients to the health centre. The health extension workers have completed schooling to grade ten or higher and originally come from the communities in which they work and live. Recruiting HEWs from their community ensures a more rapid acceptance of the HEW: she speaks the local language, is respected by the community and in turn respects the local traditions and culture of the community. All HEWs receive training in the essential health promotive and preventive health care services that make up 16 health care packages identified in the HSDP. HEWs work closely with and supervise the efforts of volunteer community health workers (VCHWs), including community based reproductive health agents (CBRHAs) and community health promoters. VCHWs conduct house to house visits to provide information on family planning, exclusive breast feeding, nutrition and immunization, and refer individuals to the health post. This coordination between the HEWs and VCHWs maximizes the opportunity to obtain the desired outcomes of the HEP, as well as of the HSDP and the millennium development goals (FMOH, 2003). Problem Statement Population growth The World Bank (WBG 2004) has benchmarked a population growth rate of 2 percent per year as a level beyond which it is difficult for a countries institutions and technologies to keep up with expanding population pressures on all sectors, from water, sanitation, and agriculture to health, housing, and education. Ethiopia adds 2 million people every year, and it is the pace and imbalanced distribution of this population growth, rather than the ultimate size of the population, that most give rise to concerns. These concerns are aggravated by degradation of the environment and natural resources, increased climate variability, and market vulnerability. With 83% rural population, population growth in the rural areas adds to the growing number of rural residents who are land-short and landless. In 2009, 4.9 million beneficiaries were identified as requiring emergency food and non food assistance; another 7.5 million with chronic food insecurity receive assistance (DMFSS/MoARD, 2009). The population trends reported in the nationally representative National NFFS (1990) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) 2000 and 2005 reveal a dynamic society in the early stages of demographic transitions, in which mortality has fallen but fertility remains high (DHS, 2005). With the present imbalance in births and deaths, Ethiopias population could double in size in less than 30 years. Figure 1, Population Growth in Ethiopia, 1990 to 2020, Past, Present Future Demographic Dividend When there are more working-age adults relative to children under age 15 and the elderly, those in the working ages (generally ages 15-59) have a lower dependency burden- fewer people to support with the same income and assets. Under the right conditions, this can lead to a short term but substantial economic bonus. This demographic bonus is a window of opportunity to increase economic output because of the larger workforce; save money on health care and other social services; improve the quality of education; invest more in technology and skills to strengthen the economy; and create the wealth needed to cope with the future aging of the population. As much as one-third of the rapid economic growth among the East Asian tigers can be explained by the growth in the labour force as fertility declined and by the increase in savings and accumulation that accompanied this growth. A demographic dividend will not be realised without prior investment. An educated and unskilled youth populatio n can threaten rather than enhance national stability and economic security (Ringheim et al. 2009). Ethiopia has a great likelihood of capturing a demographic bonus or dividend if manage to slow population growth, if women have fewer children, the altered age structure of the population produces a more favourable ratio of adults in their economically productive years to dependent children and the elderly. With fewer children requiring education and health services, the government has great discretion to invest resources in other critical areas. Greater investment and increased savings create a one time, age structure-related economic growth spurt that is either captured or forever lost. Fertility Determinants In Ethiopia, the proportion of all women who are married has declined as a result of a rising age of marriage and an increase in the proportion of women remaining single. This change is responsible for most of the modest decline in fertility in the last decade. While contraceptive use has not yet played a major role, Ethiopia has among highest levels of unmet need for contraception in Africa (Ahmed J and Mengistu G, 2002). Patterns of family formation are intricately related to the social and cultural norms and practices of society. Marriage is the result of an often extended social process involving the couples, their families and the wider community. The right to found a family is paralleled by the right not to be coerced in marriage. Although information is not readily available about the degree to which this rights are realised in Ethiopia, questions arise in relation to early marriage and limiting number of children a family should have. In Ethiopia, marriage is the destiny of nearly all people. 97% of women in Ethiopia are married at least once in their life (DHS 2000/05). The social pressure to have large families is very strong. The reproductive carrier of women starts early, and one pregnancy follows another with little thought of child spacing. The male oriented structure of the family and the expectation that the women is in charge of all household chores, absorbs her energy, and limits her participation in economic and political activities in the country. Figure 2, Determinants of High Fertility in Ethiopia Family planning CPR 15% Age of Marriage 16.5 years Education of Women 30.9% Tradition Family Structure Womens Role Empowerment Employment 45% Economy BPL 40% Infant mortality 77/1000 LB High fertility rate 5.4 Education discourages high fertility through economic factors in ways that it reduces the economic utility of children. It creates aspirations for upward social mobility and the accumulation of wealth. It also increases the opportunity cost of womens time and enhances the likelihood of their employment outside home. However the education level women particularly girls education is low (40%) in Ethiopia. Another strong factor underlying large family size preference in Ethiopia is parents dependence on children for social security. Children provide economic support in old age and help in emergencies or time of adversity, and take care of their parents by taking them to their homes. This expectation declines with level of increasing education (UNFPA 2008, Desta K and Seyoum G, 1998) According to the in-depth analysis of the DHS 2005 data, low lifetime fertility is observed among urban residents, those achieving secondary and above education, women who have frequent access to media, employed in the modern sector of the economy, and are getting married after the age of 18. High fertility on the other hand prevailed among those experiencing child loss, and women residing in the regions where values of children are supposed to be high. High fertility is also observed among women experiencing child mortality. Death of a child tends to increase lifetime fertility by 25 percent while the death of two or more children increases it by 45 percent among all women of reproductive age. Getting married at age 18 and later is also demonstrated to reduce fertility by 24 percent when compared to those entered marital life early. In countries like Ethiopia where contraceptive prevalence rate is low, increasing age at first marriage could reduce lifetime fertility by minimizing the exposure time to the risks of pregnancy (UNFPA 2008). A survey done in southern Ethiopia also showed important socio demographic determinants of fertility like poor educational status, absence of income, rural place of birth, early marriage, history of child death to be significantly associated with high fertility rate (Geberemdhin and Betre 2009). Low coverage of family planning service The service coverage and uptake of modern contraceptives is very low in Ethiopia. The majority of Ethiopian women (78 %) and men (76%) prefer to space or limit the number of their children they have. and have a potential need for family planning, 34% of currently married women have an unmet need for family planning (DHS 2005). If all currently married women who say they want to space or limit the number of children were to use family planning, the contraceptives prevalence rate of Ethiopia would increase from the current 15 to 49 percent. The family planning service was limited to urban facilities for a long time with limited access and coverage. It was practiced as a vertical program and mainly supported by external funding. Long term and permanent methods were limited to hospitals and health centres where trained and skilled health workers are practicing. Currently the contraceptive prevalence rate is 15 percent. Figure 2, Trend in CPR modern methods, married women: 1990-2005-Ethiopia Most methods used are injectables (61%) followed by the pill (25%). The use of long term and permanent methods is nearly absent: use of Implant among married women is 0.2 % while IUCD use with same group is 0.1% (DHS, 2005). Causes of low coverage of family planning service The causes for the low coverage of the service can be seen from two directions: organizational/institutional and community level causes. From the health service organizations the major factors include limited service outlets (failure to expand), lack of skilled human resources in the facilities which is due to shortage, lack of training, lack of motivation. Erratic supply of contraceptive due to inadequate and inefficient procurement and poor distribution system also needs attention. With respect to service delivery organization causes include lack of integration of family planning service, permanent assignment of staffs, poor coordination between public and private for profit and for non profit including lack of referral mechanism and inefficient use of available resources. From the community side, the diversified cultural and traditional practices in the different segments of the population plays role in hindering the use of contraceptives. Cultural barriers, partners and peer influence lack of adequate knowledge of the contraceptives, accessibility and acceptability, affordability, and perceived attitudes of service providers and rumours about contraceptives also important factors to be addressed for successful program implementation. Figure 5, Causes of low coverage and uptake of FP depicted in systems framework Consequences of high fertility The consequences of high fertility include unwanted pregnancy often leads to unsafe abortion attributable to contraceptive non-use, incorrect use, or method failure. High fertility also affects the well-being of mothers and their children. Maternal mortality and morbidity are strongly associated with high parity and early childbearing. High population growth will lead to increasing number of children who need schooling which the education sector cant satisfy. High parity restricts womens educational and economical opportunities, thereby limiting their potential for empowerment broadly, as well as their ability to safeguard the health and economic well-being of the family and community at large. Low educational attainment further perpetuates high fertility, as these women tend to have less knowledge of and access to family planning options. Environmental degradation and impact on health is also one of the long term effects of rapid population growth. It is also seen to strain the capacity of the government and non-governmental organizations to provide important social services such as schools, health care, clean water and sanitation. The growing population demand for land redistribution cant be satisfied and there will be rural urban migration, household food insecurity, high unemployment rate and other associated problems. Rapid and unhindered population growth is a significant factor in exacerbating food shortages in Ethiopia. Of the total population an estimated 12 million are facing serious threats from food insecurity and famine. More than the half of the countries under five children are stunted and some 45 percent are underweight (PAI 2005). Role of health extension workers in family planning service scale up Analysis of the DHS data Knowledge of family planning Adequate Knowledge about contraception among women and men is a major determinant of the use of contraceptive methods. The analysis of the data from the two demographic and health surveys shows that the percentage of women with knowledge of any family planning method showed an increased by 39 percent during the last 15 years, from 62 to 86 percent in 1990 and in 2005 consecutively. As shown in table 1, although knowledge of modern methods of contraceptives increased from 2000 to 2005, knowledge about injectables and condom has increased substantially among both women and men over the same period (MII 2007). As one of the important task of the health extension workers, they are playing a major role in transmitting knowledge in their specific community abut the different contraceptive methods use, side effect, and other important information. Even though there is no data currently on contraceptive knowledge, in the last five years between 2005 and 2010, there is much progress and increase through the expansion of primary health care coverage and access through health extension workers. Table 1, Knowledge of specific contraceptive methods among women age 15-49 and men age 15-59 Method Percentage of Women Percentage of Men 2000 2005 2000 2005 Any method 81.5 86.1 86.1 91.0 Any modern method 80.8 86.0 84.7 90.7 Female sterilization 23.1 18.4 32.6 26.4 Male sterilization 4.8 6.6 12.6 15.3 Pill 77.5 82.6 78.1 81.2 IUD 11.1 14.8 11.7 14.3 Injectables 65.3 80.9 62.2 79.0 Implants 13.6 22.4 13.9 23.0 Condom 33.0 46.1 64.7 84.2 Diaphragm 4.4 5.9 7.5 8.8 Any traditional method 24.3 20.6 48.0 39.2 Source: DHS data, Ethiopia trend report Current use of family planning Trend analysis of current use of contraceptive, provide insight into measuring determinants of fertility and helps to assess the success of family planning program. As shown in figure 6, current use of contraceptive methods among currently married women tripled in the 15 years between 1990 and 2005 from 5 percent to 15 percent. The increase is especially marked for modern methods. Current use of modern methods doubled during the first 10-year period and more than doubled during the last five years from 6 percent in 2000 to

The United States Vs. The European Union: An Ethical Analysis of Software Patents :: Patents Compare Contrast Essays

The United States Vs. The European Union: An Ethical Analysis of Software Patents Introduction Patents have become a major part of technology in our society. The overall purpose of patents is to promote the disclosure of innovations so that others may make improvements based on those new technologies, while at the same time rewarding those who came up with the invention. They give the inventor of an innovation a monopoly of their innovation for a limited amount of time. After the time period has expired, anyone is free to use the innovation as they wish. Patents have worked well over the past century, enabling innovators to make technological improvements that would have been impossible without the help of prior inventions. Software Engineering is an engineering field that is very new relative to the other areas of science and engineering. Software Engineering is very different from any other kind of engineering. Ethically it is unreasonable to be able to apply the old patent laws to this new field of Software Engineering, without making any modifications to the laws. Software patents are not wrong entirely, in that it is still good to provide rewards to those who innovate. According the United States patent system, ideas are not patentable, while innovations are patentable. Software engineering blurs the line between ideas and innovation, in that software can be viewed as both an idea in the sense that it is a series of mathematical expressions, or it can be viewed as an innovation in that it can be delivered as an executable product. If patents are to be issued for software, a different system of laws governing software innovations needs to be established. The discrepancy on how to treat patents in software is illustrated by the opposing stances of the United States (who issues software patents) and the European Union (who does not issue software patents). History of Patents The main idea behind patents is to promote technological innovations. For there to be technological innovation for society as a whole, two things must happen. First, people must be able to study other people's innovations in order to further technology in society, because they can use the ideas of others to make even greater innovations. Second, people must have incentive to innovate. The most obvious solution to the first idea would be to make all innovations public, so that as soon as someone invents something, others are free to build off of it to further technology.