Computers Will Soon Replace Books Essay

There has been a lot of talk lately concerning the possibility of computers replacing the position of books in our life. I believe it is truly possible. Many years ago, people used books for everything related to education. In fact, the human’s best source of knowledge and education was the book. But computers have gained popularity in a very short amount of time and everyone at least has one somewhere around their house. We have the need to use computers for everything. All we have to do is give the computer instructions and it does all the hard work for us. I am going to discuss the benefits that computer has to offer to its users. Firstly, computers are much better than books because a modern computer can hold a billion times more information than the average 400-800-page book. If you want to do a research about anything, it would take you at least an hour just to find the right book but by using a computer, you can find the same information in less than 5 minutes. Many people including me use the internet as a dictionary, finding definitions, so this way only takes the time to type the word. A laptop computer equal to the size and weight of a book holds data about any topic you can think of. A book only covers a specific topic. A computer can hold much more types of data than a book. When you carry one computer, you are carrying a hundred thousand books. Secondly, everyone would agree that an e-books cost much less to produce and less to buy than an actual paper books. The information in a digital format can be shared easily by email or by copying the files onto someone else’s computer or simply by transferring it into your USB drive. It is also easier to edit the information. This makes it overall more convenient for students who might not be able to afford one copy of a book each and who don’t want to make notes and underline points. Free information means at least cheap education. Who would not like a cheaper education? There are numerous websites like Google (search free textbooks in your subject area) and Google books, permit students with a limited budget to get what they want without having to spend large amounts of cash. Free e-books make education accessible and cheap thus more widespread. Last but not least, the most obvious reason why computers are making our lives better is by reducing the number of trees that are cut down for the production of books. I agree that an eBook is not 100 percent green and is far from it. But if you are comparing eBooks to other paperback books, eBooks certainly take the lead. According to â€Å"The e-Book Apocalypse† article, twenty-four trees are required to produce a ton of paper for printing books, and twelve are needed for a ton of newsprint. Thirty-five percent of those books printed are destroyed before they are even read. In 2009, eBook readers took off and the latest reading trend began to grow. In 2010, these reading devices became more popular and started sparking the attention of people everywhere. Some of this attention came from the idea that this new was a huge breakthrough in an effort to save our planet, which I find most definitely possible. To conclude, I understand change, whether it is for the good or the bad, is always a difficult and uncomfortable thing. That is the only reason why the whole world has not yet made the shift from traditional books to e-books. Now, there might be few advantages to paper. But I see a lot more advantages to digital. The fact that I now carry about a hundred books with me, wherever I go, that I can read whenever I want, outweighs any advantage a paper book could give me. Digital books are here to stay and there is no doubt that within a few years we will look at paper books as something saved from the past.

Politics In Middle East Essay

Promotions of women’s rights and empowering women have been central components in the search for democracy in the Arab world. The participation of Arab women in the political and economic arena remains among the lowest in the world. This is evident from the low percentage of women in parliament, cabinet and the workforce. Many times the women have been portrayed as veiled, oppressed, and invisible (Sadiki, 2004, 253). This is true in reality though in most cases it is unconstitutional. Sadiki argues that women’s participation in political and economic issues in Arab countries is dependent on the socio-economic and political forces in the history of the country (Sadiki, 2004, 267). Thus the problem of women’s rights is not reflective of Islamic region rather it can be explained by the patriarchal nature of the society. Men have been the ones predominantly reading and interpreting the Quran. This has led to women not being allowed work or socialize publicly. (Sadaki, 2004, 285). The economic and social position of a family also influence the rights available to a woman; for instance in Iraq, a wealthy family is more likely to educate its daughters than a poor family. Islamic religion does not relegate the woman to a position below the man, rather it points out that she is a ‘twin’ to the man and promotes inclusiveness in all issues, economic, political and social (Sadiki, 2005, 266). In an interview with Lubabah-ul-Fadh, a Muslim woman activist, Lubahah states that because she is Muslim and Islamist she is free from injustice and despotism. She therefore supports democracy that empowers women economically and politically (Sadiki, 2004, 284). She however is of the view that Muslim women’s foremost role is that of being a moral educator for the younger generation to ensure Muslim culture and religion are adhered to. For her, giving up parliamentary positions so women can pursue this goal is worthwhile (Sadiki, 2004, 284). This illustrates the effect of certain Islamist movements in Arab countries. Different alliances among female Islamists has resulted in little consensus on women’s participation in the Islamic Action Front. Western influence has to some degree enhanced authoritarian form of government in Arab countries. The focus on oil in Arab countries has led to sidelining of the issues of women rights as governments try to meet demands for oil and amass wealth for the regime in power. This however has also been used to influence decisions made by Arab country governments for example by placing embargoes on their oil so that conflicts can be resolved (Sadiki 2004, 283). Western influence therefore has not been entirely negative. Positive outcomes of western influence include improvement of family status laws resulting from incumbent governments in Arab countries wanting to show their zeal for reform which has been influenced by international pressure. The women in Iraq during Saddam’s military dictatorship experienced more human rights freedoms than during the period of Bush’s Administration Democratic Iraq. The US led occupation therefore has not benefited the struggle for women’s rights especially because it favors an extremist interpretation of the constitution. Arab women have been moving forward in the struggle for empowerment. Some of the developments include the appointment of more women to parliament in Jordan and Egypt by the Arab government. The United States is working through the MEPI to provide training on political issues to female political candidates so as to raise the number of women legislators. The Beijing Fourth World Conference in women led to other conferences which aimed at canvassing the recommendations of Beijing conference of a 30 percent quota for women in parliamentary representation. These include the Egyptian women and Democratic transformation and the Jordanian woman and Electoral Law conferences. (Sadiki, 2004, 269). In Tunisia the rigorous push for gender equity in policies led to the creation of councils for women and development to advice government departments regarding policy formulation and also the creation of a Ministry of Women and the Family and a National Observatory for Women. (Sadiki, 2004, 283). Participation of women in political and economic so far has not had an effect of changing the policies that are made. It has however helped to improve children’s welfare, the personal lives and economic power of Arab women. It however has not had much impact on the political systems of the day in Arab countries and will most likely not have much effect since in most Arab countries the political structure is such that changes in the position of women can be absorbed. This is true for countries like Egypt, Jordan and Morocco where authoritarianism and limited democratic freedoms co-exist. Islamist movements have had a negative impact on the struggle for women empowerment; fundamentalist activists consider women’s rights issues and the participation of women in the public to be ‘western’ and aimed at degrading the morals and culture of traditional Islamic region. Some women activists see that the more important role of a woman is maintaining Islam tradition and so women can until this is achieved give up involvement in political issues (Sadiki, 2004, 285). Religion has had a significant role in shaping the beliefs, policies and behavior of people in the Middle East region. Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are important points of focus as far as religion is concerned, and also in the case of Jerusalem, a significant center of conflict. The Arab-Israel conflict is not the only source of instability in the region, as evidenced by a history of conflict long before the existence of the Jewish state, Israel and also presence of conflict not related to Israel clashes between Iraq and US (Cleveland, 2004, 222-224). The departure of Britain and France from the Middle East in the 1950s, the formation of the Israel state and the importance of the oil industry all contribute greatly to the conflict in the Middle East. As a result, the US became increasingly involved in Middle East issues becoming a great force in the oil industry and a source of stability. The Soviet Union sought to open new areas for the Cold War and formed alliances with Egypt (under Nasser) and Iraq. These regimes failed to deliver on their promises leading to Arabic despotism and embracing of Islamism among counties like Iraq and Egypt. With the fall of the Soviet Union these countries (Egypt, Algeria, Syria, and Iraq) embraced Arab nationalism. This later led to Iran-Iraq war invading Kuwait and in the 1990s and the US intervened by evicting Iraq from Kuwait with the help of allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia leading to US military occupation of the Persian Gulf, a source of great offence to Muslims. (Lewis, 2005, 2-5). The current situation is one that is of continued conflicts especially Arab-Israeli conflict. Anti western regimes in Arab countries seek to destroy Israel, and defeat the US. The portions of land given to the Jews after World War II are surrounded by Muslim countries, this land and other portions that have been taken over by Israel during wars against Arab countries have continued to fuel the conflict between Palestinians and Israeli. East Jerusalem is a part of Israel, considered holy for Muslims. Palestinians see Israelis as invaders of their nation; as such they have built a military network that attacks innocent Israeli civilians. Israelis protect themselves from these attacks by using military force to control Palestinians, these involves having checkpoints for Palestinians between cities. Most of the water supply is controlled by Israelis who give Palestinians little access to water compared to their needs increasing the humiliation and sense of abuse felt by the Palestinians. (Cleveland, 2004, 22-224). Attacks by Israeli soldiers has led to destruction of much of the Palestinian government because of destruction of records, equipment, electricity supplies, roads, electricity supplies and other infrastructure. The continued construction of settlements in Palestinian territory is seen as a reason for further increase in conflict between Israel and Palestine, ruining any chances of peace in the region. (Lewis, 2005, pp2, 3). Demands of Palestinians that Palestinian refugees be allowed to have their land back have not been solvable because if Palestinians reoccupy their land, Israel as a Jewish state will end because Israel then would have more Palestinians than Israelis. As such this is not an option Israelis want to consider. Both Palestinians and Jews have been forced to live in exile at some point in their histories. The Jews have faced much persecution wile many Palestinians are misused by depots of the Middle East who have their own narrow domestic agenda. Western foreign policy, a strong Israel state and a decline in the stabilities of nations with unfriendly regimes have maintained the conflict in the Middle East. The conflict in the region is likely to continue mainly because of the nature of leadership. Despotism and autocratic rule have become part of the system so much that this remains a major obstacle to development of democratic institutions that would be more inclined to control and stop the conflict (Lewis 2005, 2-3). The information revolution is also destined to affect the present situation in the Middle East. The availability of information from various media influences the security dynamics. Television programs have been known to propagate untrue information that leads to escalation of conflict, but television has also allowed the people of Middle East to see vibrant democracies in action (like in Israel) which is unheard of in most Arab countries. This increases the likelihood for people to push for and embrace democracy that allows uninhibited disagreement and argument of ideas in an orderly manner. Pressure from the international community for political reform is likely to increase stability in the region leading to more demands of equitable distribution of resources. Political reform is slow with a greater focus on liberalization rather than democratization since liberalization allows more openness and discussion while the government of the day retains power (Benched and Byman, 2003, pp55). Slow political reform is more likely to maintain stability compared to rapid political reform. However, if the reforms do not continue at a steady pace frustrations by the people are more likely to increase causing conflict that could even lead to regimes being overthrown (Bensahel and Byman, 2003, pp55). Works Cited Lewis B, 2005 Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East, council on Foreign Affairs retrieved from www.foreignaffirs.org/20050511faessay84305.p50/bernard-lewis/freedom-and-justice-in -the-modern-midle-east.html Cleveland WL 2004 A history of he Modern Middle East, 3rd Ed Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-4048-9 pp 222-255 Sadiki L 2005 The Search for Arab Democracy, Columbia University Press ISBN 023112581X Bensabel N and Byman D, 2003 The Future Security Environment In The Middle East: Conflict, Stability and Political Change, RAND Corporation ISBN 0-83303290-9

Installing 70/30 Copper-Nickel Pipe

Installing 70/30 copper nickel (cuni) pipe sometimes can be a test of human patients, mechanical knowledge, and dexterity. It is, however, well worth the effort, because once you complete the job whether you’re a novice or connoisseur of the art you gain a sense of pride for a job well done. Additionally, you will have confidence in knowing that your pipe will stand the test of time and vigorous challenges they’re used for. The only problem that comes with working with 70/30 cuni pipe is, having a concrete way to approach even the minutest step(s) when installing, cleaning, and inspecting your pipe.Initially, you should have gathered your tools that will you need for this job. Assuming that you have the proper tools for the job we will begin by taking the copper nickel pipe a prepping it for installation. To prep copper-nickel pipe you want to start by gathering your pipe and you’re fittings, so you can obtain the measurements for the length off your pipe, square it off, and then touch it up. By doing this it eliminates dirt and debris, and allows for cohesiveness between the mechanical joints when you’re mating them together.Too do this you’re going to measure out the proper length of your pipe by taking your ruler (which should be measured in inches) and mark on your pipe how much you’re going to need. Once you have done that you’re going to cut the pipe at its designated mark. At the same time, be careful not to cut too much off, because if you do then you will have to either buy more pipe or go through another process of adding the pipe back. You can cut copper pipe with a regular hacksaw or a copper tube cutter.Although both will make a satisfactory cut, the tube cutter ensures a square cut every time. Use a jig or miter box when you're cutting copper pipe with a hacksaw. This helps to ensure a square cut in the pipe. After making the cut, remove the burrs inside the pipe with a half-round file. A pipe cutte r usually leaves more burrs in the pipe than a hacksaw. When cutting pipe for a specific run, be sure to make allowances for the distance of pipe that fits into the fittings. Also, remember to add the extra length the fittings will give the entire run of pipe.Figure about 1/2†³ for each fitting. In addition to doing this your also simultaneously doing something else called chamfering (chamfering is the process of filing the tip of the inside of the pipe so that the flux and stick to the pipe). Now that your pipe is squared off your going to take a strip of emery cloth and clean the outside of the pipe a half-inch away from the tip of your pipe (doing this allows for proper flow of the soldering ring between the fitting and pipe) until you have a bright gold shade of pipe, which is the natural color of copper-nickel pipe.Now that your pipe is ready for mating, you know have to prep your fitting for mating as well. To do this you’re going to take another piece of emery clo th a clean the inside of your fitting up to a half-inch in diameter on both sides of the fittings. Once you’re done with that procedure use a different strip of emery cloth to clean your brazing rings, and then place them in the slots inside your fittings. Once you have prepped your pipe and fittings you’re ready to mate the pipe and fitting together. Apply a light coat of soldering paste or flux to the cleaned end of the copper pipe.Use a flux brush, an old toothbrush or a wooden paddle for spreading the flux. Flux or soldering paste ensures a firm bond between the copper and the solder. Also apply flux to the inside of the cleaned fittings. The flux or soldering paste will keep the copper from oxidizing when heated. Place the copper fitting on the pipe only after it is thoroughly cleaned and coated with soldering paste). When the fitting is firmly in place, rotate both the pipe and the fitting several times to spread the flux evenly. A propane torch is an ideal tool for mating copper pipe.If you look at the flame of a propane torch you will notice there is a lighter blue, well-defined flame in the middle of a darker blue flame. The tip of this light blue flame is the hottest part of the flame. Play (move) the flame along the fittings and the pipe to bring them up to soldering heat. Then concentrate the heat in the middle of the fitting. The light blue flame should be just touching the fitting. You can do both ends of the fitting at the same time by heating in the middle like this. Do not apply the heat directly to the solder or the area that has been fluxed.Do not overheat the copper pipe. If you look at the flame on the side of the pipe away from the torch, you may notice a green flame develop. This means the fitting is ready to solder. Another way to tell is to touch the solder to the hot pipe. If the solder melts and begins to run, the pipe is at soldering temperature. Remove the flame from the pipe and apply the solder to the pipe where it joins the fitting. The solder will flow into the fit. Keep melting the solder until it appears completely around the fitting.The old saying, â€Å"If a little is good, then a lot is better,† does not apply here. Excess solder can run down inside the pipe, causing a restriction or even a blockage. You can experiment with different tips on your propane torch until you find the one that spreads the heat evenly along the pipe you are using. After you have successfully measured, square-off, and used a propane torch to mate your pipe and fittings you’re ready to clean your pipe. Cleaning your pipe throughout this procedure is a nonstop evolution.After mating your pipe together cleaning it is extremely important, it’s the first step in recognizing any malfunctions. You should be able to notice the thin black film that’s coated around the pipe and the fitting. This black coat of film comes from the rise in temperature of the pipe after you have heated it properly . To clean your pipe now you are going to have to have a bucket of water and a wire brush. Take your wire brush and dip it in the water and start cleaning the pipe and fitting(s) where you brazed at. You should continue to do this until both the pipe and fitting(s) becomes bright gold.In the meantime, while you’re cleaning your pipe you should have adequate lighting available, so you’re able to spot check for insufficient mating around the radius of your pipe and fittings. If you have thoroughly cleaned your pipe and notice small holes around your pipe then you need to go back a re-heat your pipe and apply more solder using a soldering stick. Once you have reached the point where you have no pen holes between your pipe and fittings, then you have completed the installation and cleaning of your 70/30 cuni pipe job.You are now ready to perform a system and inspection check of your project. Now that you have successfully installed and cleaned your pipe it’s now tim e to inspect your pipe for mechanically cohesiveness and system performance. This process is very important, because your craft is successful only if it can pass inspection. It requires a great deal of attention to detail when inspecting the pipe and fittings, so that you’re careful to not miss any pen holes. To this inspection, you have to do is submerge the part of the pipe that you brazed in clean and clear water.After doing this, if you notice water pockets form in the water remove the pipe and clean it with a rag and try it again. When you have tried it again and you notice water pocket again then that means you have tiny pen hole between your fittings and pipe. To fix this problem you will have to locate where the water pockets are forming at and solder that part. Once you have done that submerge your pipe and check for water pockets. After you have successfully corrected the pen holes you can now begin to clean up your job and apply the finishing touches to your pipe.I n conclusion, installing pipe can be difficult if you don’t have a proper foundation of rules to follow. Having an easy to understand guide line for performing such a job can be cost effective, uncomplicated, and less time consuming. Learning how to install, clean, and inspect 70/30 copper-nickel pipe can prepare you for the rigorous challenges that comes with working with pipes and fittings of different sizes and materials. Whether you’re an apprentice or authority of the art of pipe fitting, this guide line for installation, cleaning, and inspect 70/30 cuni will be of great assistance to you.

American Revolutionary War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Revolutionary War - Essay Example With respect to this particular analysis, the author will consider the way in which the group â€Å"The Sons of Liberty† provided just such a catalyst with respect to the events that helped ultimately to lead to through such a unit of analysis, it is the hope of this author that this catalyzing factor will be understood and appreciated to a more full and nuanced degree so that the reader will come to a more complete form of appreciation for the way in which this particular group, as well as many other tangentially related and similar groups within the era, were ultimately the main factors in helping to prompt moderates and firebrands towards a general consensus with respect to exercising the right to self-determination and throwing off the bounds of British colonialism. Through understanding this group and the mechanisms by which it spread and sought to create a newfound colonial identity, the reader can come to a more informed understanding with regards to the way in which th e Sons of Liberty, and groups like it, were absolutely pivotal in determining the course of action that would take place leading up to and including the Revolutionary War period. Firstly, in seeking to understand the Sons of Liberty, it must be understood that this particular group of patriots was ultimately formed as a means of seeking to promote an understanding an integration with the concept of the rights of the colonist. As with many groups, the membership was from a wide array of stakeholders within the society of that time. Individuals who owned large businesses in the growing cities of the colonies along with stakeholders of society that had significantly less in terms of material wealth. This collection of individuals, fervently meeting and discussing aspects of independence and the means through which a further level of rights could be manifest ultimately began to protest the perceived abuses that the British colonials were meting out on them. As a form of this protest, th ese individuals organized street marches as well as planned and engaged in the Boston Tea Party. It is, of course, this Boston Tea Party that the group has become the most famous for in helping to engage the broader population of the colonies in an act of civil disobedience and seek to overthrow the ruling power of the British at that time. The hard-line tactics and level of anxiety and frustration that the Sons of Liberty were able to instill within the individuals they interacted. Naturally, the level of response for these activities was not muted; as the British responded with the Intolerable Acts and cracked down on the ways in which such groups were allowing for a vocal level of societal indignation over the perceived slights that the British government was performing.1 Yet, rather than stymieing their efforts, the success and visibility of the Sons of Liberty only encouraged the formation of further groups throughout the entire nation; spurred on by the rhetoric of liberty and the intense dislike of the way in which the colonies were being administered at that time.2 As a result of the groundswell of sympathy and support that the Sons of Liberty began to receive, they were able to encourage the formation of other revolutionary groups.  

The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow - Essay Example This research tells that one of Marquez seminal short story collections is Strange Pilgrims. While this collection contains an array of stories, one of the most indelible is ‘The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow’. This essay examines this story in terms of Marquez’s authorial techniques. One prominent consideration is Marquez’s implementation of syntax and diction. While authors such as Ernest Hemingway heralded a minimalist writing style, Marquez implements complex sentence structures. In the opening segment of the story, Marquez writes, â€Å"The Civil Guardsman, a rough wool blanket covering his patent-leather tricorn hat, examined their passports in the light of a carbide lantern as he struggled to keep his footing in the fierce wind blowing out of the Pyrenees†. This sentence is indicative of the richly-textured and descriptive sentences that are thematic throughout the story. While Marquez at-times contrasts these sentences with short and choppy statements, this remains the most dominant form of diction. Throughout the story, Marquez implements a number of notable literary elements. One such technique is the use of metaphor. In one instance, Marquez writes, â€Å"her adolescent dream pierced for the first time by lightning flashes of uncertainty†. In this instance lightning functions as a metaphor on the uncertainty that had suddenly overtaken Nena Daconte. In another instance, Marquez makes use of symbolism in the form of a saxophone. Throughout the story, Nena Daconte is characterized as having been a proficient tenor saxophone player. This character description is repeated in a number of instances and woven into the fabric of the text such that it becomes symbolic of her sexual prowess. Still, perhaps the most prominent authorial technique implemented in the story is the use of allegory. During the story, Nena pricks her finger and must enter a hospital. Billy Sanchez must then face the absurd levels of hyper-rat ionality and bureaucracy in the hospital. In this way, Marquez implements the hospital as an allegorical comment on bureaucratic structures. Eventually, Nena dies and because of this hyper-rationality, Billy is unable to be there or even be discovered.

Feminist Analysis of the Window by Deborah Eisenberg Essay

Feminist Analysis of the Window by Deborah Eisenberg - Essay Example The â€Å"Window† is one of the most challenging stories in the collection "Twilight of the Superheroes." This story sketches the quest of a clueless young woman, Kristina, who flees her hometown after her year out of high school. She seeks material security and starts working as a waitress in an Eden resort town with â€Å"white houses and gentle hills,† a â€Å"tender, miniature world.† She moves in with a couple, who after a few months wants Kristina to move out, to accommodate their new baby. To continue to be a part of the community, Kristina marries Eli who occasionally comes into town andtakes her to hisisolated cabin deep in the woods. Though the marriage gets off to a fine start, Kristina finds challenge in rearing Eli’s toddler son. Being isolated in the cabin, Kristina slowly realizes that Eli’s first wife eloped due to suffering due to domestic violence. Though Eli repents to for his abusive behavior, Kristina decides to run out of Eliâ €™s life, ‘kidnapping’ his son with her. She ends up with her estranged half-sister, from where she had originally fled in the beginning. The story is unfold in the mood of depressive reminiscence with its beginning and ending frames are fixed in Kristina’s half-sister’s home. These frames focused on the current situation of Kristina, where she is on a run low on money, and caring for Eli’s son, who has contracted an illness. ... We can see that Kristina is very confused and afraid while on the run and she expects and fears Eli’s anger and its impact on her future. In this story, Eisenberg is actively implying that there will be risk behind every decision, whether we will be able to see it or not. While providing us a detailed account of Kristina’s fall from youth and emergence into adulthood, Eisenberg also opens out a window in to her psyche, to reveal the fury of conflicting emotionssuppressed within her heart, bordering her on the verge of explosions. But Eisenberg’s character is neither too weak to go numb before the looming danger, nor is she rebellious enough to stand up and assert her individuality. Instead, she is a woman in conflict with her own demons, her emotions and she is trying to run away from her husband and the danger of being kept in captivity and abused all her life. But, we can find that Kristina is far more courageous than Eli’s first wife, who deserted her c hild with Eli for â€Å"unknown reasons†, as Kristina chooses to take the child with her, pretending to avoid the probability of Eli hunting her down. In the opening scene of "Window", we find Kristina and Alma drinking coffee engaged in small talks, while the toddler is playing. The tension in the story starts to surface only when we come to know that Kristina and Alma are the estranged sisters who are trying to move on from their reminiscent and depressing past by forcefully engaging themselves in small talks. The tension felt in the scene forces us to delve deeper in to the story, which then, slowly opens a window to the past life of Kristina. The rendering of the story goes smooth but it get its power from those things that are kept untold and hidden. Eisenberg unwinds her story

The misconceptions of distance learning education Essay

The misconceptions of distance learning education - Essay Example The two main misconceptions associated with this type of learning is schools offering distance education do not implement a program of study at is as challenging as in a traditional school and achieving a college degree online involves less commitment and effort than an on-campus college diploma. Moreover, it is usually thought that all online schools are a scam. Inopportunely, diploma mills are present — they modestly sell grades to whomever is agreeable to fee for them, and it is from time to time startling who's eager to invest the money. There are numerous stories in the news bulletin about public bureaucrats who are found to have sham degrees. Such colleges advertise that they award "life experience" grades — likewise, the student can get a degree without quite doing any real effort. Those who acquire degrees in this style are endangering their occupation and their repute by getting involved in such things (Myths and Misconceptions about Distance Learning). Another misconception is that students usually miss out on the real interaction with the students and instructors. They lack the confidence which otherwise they could have gained if they were studying on campus studies. All over again, this hinge on upon the package and the university. Countless distance learning institutes hold "sessions" by the use of webcams and discussion rooms, allowing students to pin thier ears back to course talks by teachers and interrelate with other pupils. Indeed, some distance knowledge schools obligate that students post to a note board for their lecture a convinced number of times a week. If they do not do so, they endanger their grades. Group work concerning a number of undergraduates is also put up into the set of courses of a number of distance learning programs, and the undergraduates are graded on their group task. Degrees gotten through distance learning are achieving extensive recognition by employers all the while. Lots of employers bargain tuition r epayment to their workforces knowing full well that the grades are being received virtually or over other distance learning approaches. These consist of some of the major businesses in the United States. Bestowing to a 2004 study by the Sloan Consortium, approximately one-third of business teaching compensations went to online or amalgamated packages. Companies’ receive advantage from these packages in terms of more accomplished workers while their workforces do not have to resign work to follow higher education plans. A 2005 study directed by Vault.com exposed that 86 percent of firms would be eager to agree to take a job interviewee with an online gradation. (United States Distance Learning Programs, n.d. ) Brick-and-Mortar schools which also deal with distance learning packages use the identical prospectus and charges criterions whether a student is book learning at a distance or not. When delivering degrees or records, those universities don't insist on whether the course s were taken over the internet or on campus, for they are alike courses. Schools that are endorsed are predictable to abide by to assured education standards. If courses or tutors are not up to same level, schools danger being put on trial or even worse-losing their authorization completely. What is more, organizations like Harvard and Cornell bid distance learning sequences, and these are academies distinguished for the excellence of the schooling they be responsible for. (King, 2010) Distance learning is

Television Habits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Television Habits - Essay Example There are some advantages to allowing children to view television programming. Educational programming like Barney, Sesame Street, and Dora the Explorer are designed to promote growth and learning. Educational programming teaches valuable skills like spelling, reading, and math. Some programming teaches values, life lessons, and proper dietary habits. Commercials are beginning to educate children about the negative effects of drugs, alcohol and smoking encouraging families to spend time together. When viewed properly, television can be a strong educational tool and a means for families to spend some quality time with each other. Television viewing should lead to discussions to reinforce learning and to answer questions about the content of the program which was confusing or unclear. Although there are some advantages to allowing children to watch television, there are many more advantages to limiting television. Limiting television can create more time for family gathering and activities. Interaction with family provides opportunity for children to imitate and learn values and skills from parents. Children who are encouraged to play instead of watching television benefit from exercise and social interaction with adults and children and this helps develop appropriate social skills and healthy children. Television is not interactive and can only teach through devices like repetition and music, which does not reinforce learning. Teaching a child without the use of television or as a secondary educational source can provide reinforced learning. Hands-on activities and social interaction on topics related to the television learning will ensure that the children have learned necessary skills. Many television programs teach violence and sex while smoking, alcohol, or drugs are often depicted as fun party activities or cool to do with friends. Watching television for lengthy periods often leads to an inactive lifestyle creating obesity among children. Children become less responsive to surroundings when set in front of the television and attention spans become shorter. Watching educational programs can promote learning and if parents watch with children learning can be reinforced and questions can be answered. Viewing appropriate programming with children offers time for family and a better understanding of television content; however, lengthy viewing times are harmful for both parents and children. Television viewing can lead to long periods of inactivity and the lack of exercise can lead to obesity. Childhood obesity can lead to a negative impact on necessary social skills. "The most widespread consequences of childhood obesity are psychosocial. Obese children become targ ets of early and systematic discrimination and as they mature, the effects of discrimination become more culture-bound and insidious (Dietz, 1998, 518)." Childhood obesity can also lead to adulthood disease like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. The advantages of limiting children's television viewing habits outweigh the advantages of increasing viewing habits toward educational programming. Quality family time away from the television should be reason enough to turn off the television. Healthy children who eat right and exercise will create a healthier and happier society. Children

Obama Health Care Bill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obama Health Care Bill - Essay Example This paper seeks to prove the constitutionality of the bill, which is that it contravenes the Unite States constitution. In his ruling dated December 13th 2010, Judge Henry E. Hudson of Virginia ruled that this particular bill was unconstitutional. He went on to cite the requirement that seeks to make all Americans get insurance as having exceeded the authority to regulate commerce granted to congress by the commerce clause. In his words, it â€Å"would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers† (Johnson et al 415). This bill is especially confusing since there is no regulation requiring everybody to possess a car, only that they procure insurance as a condition for owning one. The law requires that one obtains health insurance just because this insurance exists (Johnson et al 415). While the law is without doubt well meaning and popular, with insurers putting forward the argument that healthy people taking out these policies would aid those with expensive conditions, some of the other provisions could be severed legally. As Judge Hudson stated in his ruling, â€Å"Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit of appeals have extended commerce powers, which compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market† (Johnson et al 414). The bill tramples on an individual’s right of choice, that is, whether to participate in the scheme or not. While noting its noble intentions, it is also worth noting that the claim on its un-constitutionality has nothing to do with health care but rather on liberty and a right to choose (Johnson et al 416). Article 1 section 8 clause three of the United States constitution states that â€Å"the congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties and excises †¦for the common defense and general welfare of the

The Walt Disney Method Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Walt Disney Method - Research Paper Example He is achievements are evidenced by the creation of a successful business empire that holds its basis on the creativity he developed together with ideas. Disney’s innovative method of working remains relevant until the date and a majority of organizations still emulate the process referred to as Disney approach although it took a further development from Robert Dilts. The paper, therefore, examines Walt Disney approach as well as its usage in professional practice. The method is based on creativity with the aim directed at achieving a result that borrows from the best ideas through the elimination of the unimportant ones in the creativity process. The technique is based on Disney’s success where he managed in turning what appears as fantasies into ideas. Robert Dilts further developed the creativity technique of Disney to achieve the heights of a national language processing tool where companies across the American population perceived the method as essential in enhanci ng in achievement of organizational goals and strategies (Unamuno et al., 2007, pg 67). Organizations borrowed and still continue to borrow from the method, to enhance in presented well revised and coordinated set of ideas before embarking on any project. The most important point from Disney towards the development of the method relates looking at an issue from a different perspective as well as including all those ideas in the conclusion. Whenever Disney developed an idea for a film prepared for the public.  

Equality and Diversity Essay Example for Free

Equality and Diversity Essay In this module I am going to discuss about the aspect of equality and diversity within the health sector, about Act and legislations and the role official bodies (CQC and OFSED). Moreover, I am going to define the terminology of equality and diversity. The example of the policies and procedure that I am using is the one from the company that I am currently working for; Positive Community Care (PCC) and the names of the service users has not been mentioned because of data protection Act1998. Equality means being in the same in quantity, size, degree, value or status, evenly or fairly balanced. A good example is two football teams were playing a game and the pitch was slanted in one direction, thus making it an unfair situation for one of the team. It will be unfair for them and they won’t have an equal opportunity of winning. Equal means to have the same value but it does not mean that thing have to be identical, for example one kilogram of rice and one kilogram of flour in weight is the same., but they don’t have the same â€Å" physical characteristics†. In the UK equality means that everyone is valued as individuals. It also means that everyone has equal rights and that there is a balance of power in the county. One good example is democracy where all the citizens living in the UK have the liberty to vote. Furthermore, Health care in the UK is unequally distributed because it is linked to other life factors, namely socio-economic groups. Poverty is one of the major contributions to ill health; the government is trying to implement changes like clean water supplies, efficient sewage works, less overcrowded housing, improved diet in order to minimise inequality among people. Besides, people and children from lower income families are more likely to suffer from infectious and parasitic diseases, poisonings, accidents, respiratory diseases and cancer than those with a higher income groups. â€Å"Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status (Esty, et al., 1995).† http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hr022 (accessed on 21.04.12) The National Health Service (NHS) was set up to help to eliminate the worst excesses of ill- Health when people could not afford to seek medical attention but this does not give people the right to health care. The homeless and travellers were not able to have access to General Practitioners (GP) as they didn’t have a permanent address. As hospitals, NHS, GPs and primary care trusts are public organisations; they are required to operate within the law set by the Equality Act 2010, which means they have a duty to promote equal opportunity and not to discriminate on the grounds of protected characteristics. In every study or work place, they are required to have policies and procedures relating to equality and diversity. Codes of conduct are also very important. These are the statements about how an organisation intends to implement the laws that exist and prevent any type of discrimination. In order to protect and maintain equality at work, laws are in place to make sure people is not discriminate on the grounds of race, age, sex (including maternity and pregnancy), Marital status (including civil partnership status), Gender reassignment, Sexual orientation (gay or lesbian), Disability, Religion/ belief, Trade union membership or being a non-member and Employment statues (full-time, part-time or bank). Policies and procedures and codes of conduct are aimed to encourage values and manage diversity and thus, provide equality for all. Moreover, it also creates a work force that is representative of the communities from which employers are recruited and say what is expected of employees regarding equality and diversity. Finally, it is to set out legal rights and responsibilities of employees in relation to equality and diversity. Thompsons PCS Model According to Neil Thompson (2009): It is a model that has been developed by in his work place to enables and guide us to have a better understanding of how discrimination works in society. It explains the features of the model clearly as it help to demonstrate how discrimination is much wider and difficult than the views, attitude and behaviors of the person. Furthermore, it helps us to distinguish how prejudice, stereotyping, labelling and discrimination are surrounded in different part of our society. How does the PCS Model work? P Refers to the personal or psychological level (thoughts, feelings, views, attitudes and actions of the person involved in the decision or case). C Refers to the cultural level, which focuses on shared ways of seeing, thinking and doing (Thompson, 2009). He also defines it as ‘an assumed consensus about what is right and what is normal producing conformity to social norms. For example â€Å"Children should be bought up by mother and father† or â€Å"men are better with manual work than women†. S Refers to the structural level, which Thompson defines as being associated to the network of social divisions that make up society. He argues that oppression and discrimination are institutionalized and thus sewn in to the fabric of society (2009). It is also worth considering how institutions such as the health service, the education sector and other public services might be prone to structural influences, and what impact this may have on certain groups within society. Here is an example of that has been broken down using the Thompsons PCS Model: A severely disabled woman who is confined to her wheelchair and needs help with eating and drinking goes on day out with staff at a theme park. At the restaurant, the manager asks if she would mind eating in a separate room as it is putting the other guests off their food. P Personal: The disabled woman who is witnessing the situation is being subject to direct discrimination due to her disability. It is linked to her thoughts, feeling and the negative attitude of the hotel owner. C Cultural: In our modern society it unbelievable of where do his views come from? What are his assumptions about disability? That disabled people are worthless and has no right to sit down with other people in the dining room (e.g. their right to eat where they want doesnt count)? S Structural: What part do the media play in this? Do the media include the voice of people with a disability? How many disabled people do we commonly see on the television? This means that disabled people remain invisible and â€Å"dehumanized†. On a more positive note the DDA 2005 puts a duty on organizations to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people the DDA would have given the disabled woman who suffered a discrimination redress. The Thompson’s PCS Model is explained using Acts and Legislations: In 1975 and 1976 the Sex Discrimination Act and Race Relations Act came into force. Thirty years later, it was recognized and reinforced because of the inequalities and abuses in societies that continued to occur. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Equality Act 2006 came into force in order to strengthen the Act as inequalities and discrimination continues to prevail on gender and ethnicity. The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (following previous legislation in 1995) was amended. â€Å"An advocate should be free from conflicts of interest with those providing services to the person they are working with and should represent the other persons interest as if they were the Advocates own.† http://www.devon.gov.uk/advocacy.htm (accessed 30.04.2012). It helps people to voice their opinion and to be understood. It also gives them support, information, backing, and a service to help them and to make choices. Furthermore, it is cost effective as it is free and is a confidential service which is easily available to everyone.

A Description of Cultural Patterns Essay Example for Free

A Description of Cultural Patterns Essay Cultural patterns are described as the preferred set of responses to different life situations. According to Kluckhohn and Strodbeck’s description of cultural patterns there are 5 dimensions or elements that address the manner in which a culture orients itself to activities, social relations, the self, the world and the passage of time. In the following reflection I will identify each one of these dimensions with the cultural patterns shown in my country. Starting with the activity orientation, which defines how the people of a culture view human actions and the expression of self through activities, we can identify the Puerto Rican culture as a â€Å"becoming† one. A â€Å"becoming† orientation refers to people who are predisposed to think of ways to change themselves as a means of changing the world. Although I do not fully agree on this identifying the Puerto Rican culture, I do agree on other views that the â€Å"becoming† cultures have toward work and play. For example Puerto Ricans do not have a â€Å"clear-cut† separation between work and their social lives. Often you can go into an office and find employees chatting with each other, talking with relatives over the phone or talking about their private lives in a business meeting. The Puerto Rican culture is more relaxed in terms of work compared to the Mexican, Colombian or European American culture, we specifically work for a means to an end and appreciate every second of our leisure time. The social relations dimension describes how the people in a culture organize themselves and refer to one another. In Puerto Rico the degree of importance we place on formality has changed through the years as different generations modify the way we address people. For example teenagers often refer to their elders as â€Å"you† instead of â€Å"sir† or they will say to someone who is serving them â€Å"give me† instead of â€Å"may I have†. The Puerto Rican culture generally does not give much importance to tittles, as they believe that relationships best develop when those involved can address informally to one another. Another thing that cultural patterns prescribe are the social interactions people have between them. In the Puerto Rican culture we have African heritage so it’s no surprise when both our cultures prefer indirectness in conversations with other people of our country but do not require an intermediary to do so. Generally, people in Puerto Rico will â€Å"sugar coat† demands or favors in conversations as a way to ask for something but in a indirect approach so the person won’t perceive us as rude or ill mannered. The self-orientation of cultural patterns describes how people’s identities are formed, whether the culture views the self as changeable, what motivates individual actions, and the kinds people who are valued and respected. Puerto Ricans can easily associate with each other, as our individual self-definition is very similar. On the contrary of the European American culture, Puerto Ricans make decisions for their children based on traditions, values and what they believe to be best for them. Although individuals make their own decisions as they mature and grow up when we evaluate from a group perspective it can be said that there is a heightened sense of interdependence and what happens to the group happens to the person. An example of this can be shown in cultural linguistic tendencies, as individuals modify their usual language others do so as well; also the fact that when national catastrophes occur everyone feels identified with the loss or the pain of the others. Because Puerto Rico is such a small island it is almost predictable that individuals can associate their identity with others from the same country even if there is a social status, age, town etc. aspect that differs between them. One of the most interesting dimensions is the world orientation, which tells people how to allocate themselves in relation to the spiritual world, nature and other living things. As we know Puerto Rico has different heritages because of the cultures that have influenced us trough the colonizing process, so it is not strange that our spirituality relates mostly to the European American beliefs. The general belief in our culture is that human beings can prevent, postpone or overcome natural events such as earthquakes by making buildings stronger, finding cures for illnesses and prolonging the time of death of a sick person. As technology constantly â€Å"improves† individuals believe they have the power to control nature instead of nature controlling them. Despite the fact that we are most influenced by this belief we still have the Latino influence which leads us to believe that we will be measured by our actions in the spiritual world where our souls will rest. The final approach of these cultural patterns is the time orientation, which can be defined as the way individuals conceptualize time. The cultural frame to which the Puerto Ricans relate is the Latino; even though we do not think time is endless we don’t take time as seriously. That is the reason why people are constantly late for everything, from a birthday party to work and even to Sunday mass. Time is mostly seen as ongoing and useful to maintain order, but not of the utmost importance. Analyzing these cultural patterns one can have a more accurate sense of how culture determines the identity of a country and how things like the importance of work and social time can influence so deeply the way a whole culture behaves. Also it gives you the opportunity to compare and contrast with other countries and learn how other people can have a completely different share of values and see life in such a contrasting way. Most importantly I believe that by studying these cultural patterns one can be more sensible to other people’s needs and have more respect for their culture instead of wanting to impose ours.

Working Hours of Construction Employees in Hong Kong

Working Hours of Construction Employees in Hong Kong This study examines whether the local construction workers satisfied with the length of their working hours and whether there is necessary for the Government to constrain the working hours of the labours by imposing regulations or similar control measures. For your background of this study, this chapter outlined (1) background of this study; (2) the aim and objectives of this study; (3) methodology adopted and (4) overview of the study scope. Background Construction industry significantly contributes to Hong Kongs economic. The long working hours as the negative impression of the construction industry causes aging problems and lack of fresh blood in the industry. According to the Working Time Directive from Europe (Directive, 2003), weekly working hours of at least 48 hours or more should be regarded as long. Therefore, more than 48 hours could be regarded as long working hours which makes consistency among studies. Alongside with that there are voices that the workers in Hong Kong are currently required to work excessively long hours some suggested that the average workers have to work for a range of 60 to 70 hours per week. This is long if it is compared to the average working hours of labour in the U.S., the European countries, Japan or other developed countries. The nature of Hong Kong construction industry is using long working hours to cope with the tight construction schedules. Normally, the workers in the mentioned regions generally work less than 44 hours per week (OECD, 2004). In Hong Kong, the employers of the contractors are complaining that they currently suffer from labour shortage and problem of an aging labour force. Therefore, there are two significances of this study. First, the reduction in the length of the working hours shall help to make building construction a more attractive industry for young men and women and shortage and aging problems. The youth may be encouraged to join the building construction industry. Second, people may suffer from fatigue after repeatedly working for long hours, such fatigues may lead to personal and/or family problems, occupational diseases and safety hazards. Thus, the situation on labours working hours must be revealed and studied. Research Aim and Objectives This research aims investigate of there is a need for the Government to constrain the working hours of the local construction workers to a designated limit by imposing regulations or similar control measures. The study covers understandings of the weekly length of working hour of the labour and their satisfaction of the length. And it also investigates the reasons of the longer working hours compared to the counterparts in the other advanced countries, examines if there are alternative ways to implement building construction works without the need of the workers to work for more than 44 hours per week. It is expected that this study can make contributions to reveal these mentions if actions shall be taken by the legislators to control the maximum working hours of labour serving the building construction industry. The objectives of this study are as followed: To identify the situation of working hours faced by the local workers. To examine the possible impacts due to excessively long working hours of the workers in the building construction industry. To identify the concept of work life balance. To examine the leading international practice on controlling the maximum number of working hours of individual workers per week. To conduct a questionnaire survey to the workers in the building construction industry for the situation. To conduct interviews with site agents or project managers of the building general contractors for the situation. To conduct interviews with the leaders of the local labour unions for any improvements. To discuss the issues identified and make conclusions and necessary recommendations (for further studies). 1.4 Methodology The objectives of this study can be achieved through the following methods: Literature review on books, journals and websites were carried out to summarize exiting knowledge on related topics. Data collection was carried out by conducting a questionnaire survey to front-line workers in the industry. Data collection was carried out by interviewing project managers and leaders of the local labour unions in the industry. Data analysis was conducted by using SPSS16.0 for window. The reliability assessments, descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted. 1.5 Scope of Study In order to achieve the objectives, this study is divided in the following main chapters: Chapter 1 Give a brief introduction of the backgrounds, aim and objectives, methodology and scope of this study. Chapter 2 Give an overview of construction industry in Hong Kong; Investigate the impacts of long working hours; Investigate the concept of work life balance; and Elaborate the concept of work life balance Chapter 3 Describe methodology adopted for this study. Chapter 4 Conduct analysis on the collected data by using statistics techniques; Discuss on the findings of study. Chapter 5 Give conclusions and recommendations; Give limitations of this study; Provide suggestions for further research. CHAPTER 2:  LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of Construction Industry In Hong Kong, the construction industry plays an important role in the economy of Hong Kong. The Government announced in the 2011-2012 Budget that HK$58 billion would be spent on infrastructures, which is nearly HK$10 billion more than within 2010-2011. According to the Quarterly Report of Employment and Vacancies at Construction Sites, was published by the Census and Statistics Department, the industrys employees were accounted for 56,502 of the labour force in 2010. Also, the Government plans to invest continuously in infrastructure to promote growth, that the estimated capital works expenditure will exceed HK$60 billion for each of the next few years. In additional 600 thousands square meters land for commercial or business use will be available to enhance the self competitiveness among advanced countries. The Government expects there are 60,000 additional job vacancies will be created in this year. 2.1.1 Long Working Hours The long working hours should be divided by genders, for the male employees, long hours should be regarded as over 60 hours per week; for the female employees, it should be regarded as over 40 hours per week (Dex et al., 1995). In these recent years, Messenger (2004) had compared the working hours of employees in various countries, and found that the advanced countries like Japan, in which a high proportion of employees have to work 50 or more hours per week. According to the Working Time Directive (Directive, 2003), 48 hours per week was defined as long hours and which was used as the indicator in this study. As stated in The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong 2010 survey conducted by Community Business, 48.7 hours was the average working hours to the employees in different industries. The Government announced in the 2010 Report on Annual Earnings and Hours Survey that there are more than 60% of employees in construction industry have to work more than 48 hours per week, and also the median weekly working hours increased 1.6% from 2009 to 2010. As stated in the overseas literatures review, the ideal length of working hours should be about 7 to 9 hours per day or 48 to 50 hours a week. 2.1.2 Factors for Long Working Hours The study (New Zealand Census, 2006) found that requirements of jobs, income, the culture of workplaces, and the job satisfactions provided motivate people work longer time. First, the requirements of the job include completion of the tasks appointed, even high workload and respond to the clients demands; Second, the need for more income should be driven by both maintaining basic needs of life and consuming luxury goods; Third, the culture of the construction site should be always under tight schedule, no matter due to inappropriate management or unexpected weather or accidents; Forth, the satisfaction of the workers should be intangible rewards of works (Lindy, 2009; Raphael and Itzhak, 2006; Weston et al. 2002). As the construction industry in Hong Kong is very competitive in the previous years, the number of projects is not enough for the workers due to the economic recession. Since the construction period of each contract is limited, contractors would like to compress the period of construction as possible for their own profit. Therefore, the workers have to complete their works as soon as possible to prevent delay of schedule and shorten the construction period by days. Otherwise, workers may not able to get further job opportunities. 2.2 Impacts for excessively long working hours There are many researches focus on the relationships between long working hours and fatigue, which could be associated with physical and psychological health of human. For this characteristic, Dex et al. (1995) believed that it brought both positive and negative impacts. At the positive side, the long hour working man could be regarded as a responsible, hardworking and motivated person to his/ her work, family and society. He/ she could earn more income to the family and be served as a role model. At the negative side, fatigue and stress come along with the deprivation of rest. Those feelings are not good for individual social network and family, and may damage to physical and mental health. Insufficient rest could also damage performance and cause safety problems, most accidents were due to unconsciousness (Lindy, 2009; Johanna and Joanne, 2003; Fox and Dwyer, 1999). 2.2.1 Fatigue Fatigue is not easy to be defined, which could be acute and cumulative. Konz (1998) believed that long daily work hours and long weekly work hours would make people being fatigue, especially if there is a lack of rest. Those effects of fatigue should be divided into direct and indirect outcomes, while the indirect outcome is in term of performance of work or health problems. His approach was to avoid overtime of work, that the working hour over 12 hours per day and 55 hours per week should be regarded as overtime. For the mechanisms which contributed to fatigue, Rogers et al. (1999) pointed that age, health status, quality and quantity of sleep, length of working hours, work experience, work motivation and home or family life should be used for measuring degree of fatigue. In the Asian countries liked as Japan and South Korea, researches showed that workers complained of physical and mental fatigue after excessively long working hours, such fatigue could not be escaped and be kept into the next day. The chronic fatigue brought harmful to cardiac health and decreases the cardiovascular functions (Park et al., 2001; Shimonitsu and Levi, 1992). There are evidences that the degree of fatigue is in positive relationship with the length of working time and negative relationship with the length of recovery time. 2.2.2 Physical Health A Japanese term Karoshi means people die from a syndrome of cardiovascular attacks liked strokes, myocardial infarction or acute cardiac failure after excessively overwork (Spurgeon et al., 1997). For a more biological explanation, Liu et al. (2002) conducted a research to investigate the relationship between heart diseases and length of working hours by comparing the workers who have to work more than 61 hours per week and who have to work less than 40 hours per week. The study reflected that overtime work increases blood pressure and heart rate, which induces cardiac symptoms such as chest pain. Presence of abnormal heart rate and blood pressure increases the risk of acute myocardial infarction (abbr.: AMI). Also, insufficient rest increases the rate of AMI; the risk of AMI should be induced by the combination of working hours and the quantity and quality of sleep. Besides heart diseases, Yasuda et al. (2001) pointed out that long hours working may damage the self immunity, chronic headache and irritable bowel problems might be induced by working overtime (CIPD ,2001). 2.2.3 Psychological Health In Hong Kong, the number of construction site workers in September 2010 was in total 56,503 people, in which published by the Census and Statistics Department, the ratio of male and female was approximately 12:1. The female site workers are minority in the construction industry. Shields (2000) noted that women who used to work longer hours are more likely to develop depression compared to their colleagues working normal hours. Depression could be a measure in considering stress, which the term Stress is difficult to be defined. Spark et al. (1997) concluded that there were outcome measures when defining stress. The outcome measures should include depression, anxiety, frustration, mood symptoms, poor sleep quality, role strain, irritability/ tension, problems with relationships and general mental stress amongst other things. All these diverse indicators are used to define stress in different bases. There is a small but significant correlation between psychological health symptoms and length of working hours, it should be contrast relationship. However, it was not easy to provide evidences to access the actual association with long working hours and poor mental health outcomes (Kodz et al., 2001). 2.2.4 Performance Most of the available evidences support that poor performance is related to longer working hours, but the relationship should be complicated and not conclusive. By measuring the performance effects, productivity outcomes and, speed and accuracy tests are the direct and indirect measurements respectively. A report showed that the productivity reduced for 2-4% whiles the length of working time increased by 10% (Shepard and Clifton, 2000). By conducting survey with management level, Worrall and Cooper (1999) showed that 68% of managers felt that there was an adverse effect on their productivity after working for long period of time. Kodz et al. (2001) pointed out a poll result that 62% of the managers believed that shorter working hours gives workers more incentive in production. Fatigue induced by long working hours could be regarded as a stressor, and excessive stressors will lead to decrease the performance of workers, suggested by Proctor et al. (1996). However, an appropriate level of stressors will increase arousal and enhance performance. Some researches tried to find the relationship between work performance and the weekly working days and the daily working hours, those researches had tested the employees by adjusting the different combination of working time. Shepard and Clifton (2000) noted that the length of workweek possibly affects the productivity through effects on individual motivation, effort and satisfaction, physical well-being, stress and fatigue, and absenteeism. The result showed that there are many variables in considering the correlation of working hours and performance. 2.2.5 Safety and Accident People after working for long hours would like to lose their attention and would to take risks, work-related accidents might then happen. Fatigue due to long working hours might cause man-made disasters. Wellens (2001) noted that Chernobyl or the Exxon Valdez oil spill were contributed by such fatigue. Besides the fatigue, losing attention while working might bring harms to the workers in certain working environments which are exposure to toxic chemical or hazards. Ong et al. (1982) said that the prevalence of hand injuries should be related to lack of training, supervision, inexperience and time of day. The time of day when is most likely to have accidents should be around the 8th to  ­9th hour at work (Hanecke et al., 1998). The Labour Department announced the number of accidents of the construction industry was 7.1% among the major economic activities, which about 2,755 accidents within 2009-2010. According to the statistics published by Labour Department, the top five types of accidents were (1) Injured whilst lifting or carrying, (2) Slip, trip or fall on same level, (3) Striking against or struck by moving object, (4) Striking against fixed or stationary object and (5) Contact with moving machinery or object being machined. The above types of accidents should be man-made, which could be prevented or avoided by great attention, good supervision and training. There are clearly showed that long working hours could be related to safety and accidents in particular working environments. 2.3 Work-life Balance Work-life balance (abbr.: WLB) has been being concerned in Hong Kong few years ago. As began at 2004, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Asia carried out a survey on the topic of work-life balance among the local employees, which was a questionnaire based survey. In that research, there were some benchmarks related to the situation in Hong Kong, they were length of working hours, general reasons for working overtime, effects on health, availability of sick leaves and annual leaves, and loyalty to company of the employees. In 2006, Community Business started to conducted a similar survey called The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong, which published annually. The local situation about WLB is reviewed by this survey per year. And the objectives of the surveys are different by each year, the newest report published in 2010 studying the role of flexible work arrangements in improving the WLB of employees and reviewing the previous results since 2006. 2.3.1 Definition Until present, the concept of work-life balance is not well defined, but all the definitions are related to the work hours. If the hours of day are not measured, the concept of work- life balance should be intangible. The different combination of working hours and non-working hours in a day could provide a clear picture on the balance. Some people say WLB concerns flexibility of schedules, while the others say it is a reduction in working hours (Kodz et al., 2001; Dow-Clarke, 2000; Major et al., 2001; Fox and Dwyer, 1999; Wallace, 1999; ODriscoll et al., 1992). Also, the term of work-life balance is not the one used to describe the same issues around the world. Different researchers gave different terms to the issue in their own studies. For example, ODriscoll et al. (1992) preferred the term inter-role conflict to describe the conflicts within an individuals roles; work-family conflict brought up by Major et al. (2001) and Fox and Dwyer (1999); work-to-nonwork conflict proposed by W allace (1999). Dow-Clarke (2002) defined WLB with respect to family life, income and the life cycle of her selected employees. The work hours in WLB represent as short as achieving or maintaining individuals desired balance between work and family life. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in UK have made some practices of WLB in 2001, which are flexi-time, staggered hours, time off in lieu, compressed working weeks, shift swapping, self-rostering, working from home and etc. However, most of the practices are not practical to the workers in construction industry, especially in this study. Flexible working hours have been proposed in Hong Kong for several years, but it is not very popular; the practice has been only supported by large business companies and the Government. To narrow down the literatures review of WLB, the effects of working long hours on WLB would be focused. 2.3.2 Effects of long working hours on Work-Life Balance There are so many long hours standards in the various researches, some interviewed the employees working for 42 hours per week and some recorded the employees working more than 50 hours per week (Galambos and Walters, 1992; Wallace, 1999). It is not easy to compare the effects on long works. This review would aim to the effects on WLB only. As it is hard to measure the impacts of work on home, Kodz et al. (2001) concluded that most of the researches took off attitudinal survey or case study approaches. The survey released by DTI and Management Today in 2002, showing that the UK employees would prefer shorter working hours rather than winning the lottery and most of the workers admitted the low accessibility of any flexible working practices. For the effects on family life, there are three associations due to working long hours, (1) Disruption to family activities, (2) Dissatisfaction with the involvement and the amount of time spent in child care, and (3) Dissatisfaction with the amount of time spent with couples (La Valle et al., 2002). For the effects on personal life, they are relevant to depression and anxiety, stress, work life and role strain (Dow-Clarke, 2000; Galambos and Walters, 1992). In addition, Wallace (1999) concluded that the work life of individuals was the invader to the family life. 2.3.3 Influence of Work-Life Balance Besides the negative effects of working long hours on WLB, there are some practices like compressed workweek schedule and flexi-time schedule would be positive for working performance, job satisfaction and satisfaction with work schedule (Baltes et al. 1999). As mentioned before, there are some practices for improving WLB, which are all related to the work hours. Flexible time schedule, staggered hours, compressed workweek, shift swapping, self-rostering, annual hours, job sharing, working from home, and etc (DTI, 2001). All of them are the mechanisms to enhance the employees attitudes to work. Invancevich (1974) carried out a work performance comparison between workers worked for compressed workweek and workers worked for normal schedule; and Baltes et al. (1999) evaluated the work performance of workers under flex-time and compressed workweek, both of the studies showed the positive outcomes in shorter workweek. The latter study reflected job satisfaction and satisfaction with work schedule too. Baltes et al. (1999) pointed that the positive effects of compressed workweek would not diminish over time, and there was no disruption to the productivity of absenteeism too. The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey (2010) showed the problems resulting from poor WLB, there were the responses from employees. About 60% of respondents felt fatigue level, sleepiness and extreme tiredness prolonged by the poor work-life balance. Third of them complained the loss of amount of time to spend with family. Over a quarter of employees believed that their work hours invaded to their social life and decreased their job productivity. The results should be approximately same as the Work Life Balance Survey of Hong Kong Working Population published by HKU in 2009. To make a conclusion, the poor work-life balance affects the time arrangement of the employees throughout a day, functions as a stressor to the workers and harms the health of the workers. 2.4 Hypotheses of Study Long working hours is recognized as an element in the local construction industry. The factors for long working hours of each individual are various, most of them could be classified as four dimensions, requirements of jobs, income, cultures of workplaces and work satisfaction provided (Lindy,2009; Raphael and Itzhak, 2006; Weston et al., 2002). Impacts due to long working hours have been discussed for many years, which could be personal, family and social related. At the positive side, the employee could be served as a hardworking, motivated person, who should be a role model in a family (Dex et al., 1995). At the negative side, the physical and psychological health, family life, social network and safety problems are being affected by the long working hours (Lindy, 2009; Johanna and Joanne, 2003; Fox and Dwyer, 1999). Work-life balance is an important concept in a living person, but it is just mentioned for years in Hong Kong. There are many practices used to improve the balance, to reduce the proportion of work hours within the whole life. Such as flexible time schedule, staggered hours, compressed workweek, shift swapping, self-rostering, annual hours, job sharing, working from home, and etc are the ways used over the world (DTI, 2001; Baltes et al., 1999; Invancevich, 1974). For the consequences due to unbalanced work-life, there are loss of the involvement in family activities and child care, the amount of time with couples and full of stress and anxiety (La Valle et al., 2002; Dow-Clarke, 2000; Wallace, 1999; Galambos and Walters, 1992). Hypothesis 1- As suggested by the previous literatures, long working hours really affect the employee by different dimensions (Fox and Dwyer, 1999; Galambos and Walters, 1992). The workers are driven to work for longer hours by their own motivations (Lindy, 2009; Raphael and Itzhak, 2006). Since the degree of satisfaction in working long hours is different by people, it hypothesizes that the attitudes towards motivations that can enhance workers satisfaction in long working hours. Hypothesis 2- As mentioned before, people with unbalanced work-life will diminish their time in participating activities other than works (La Valle et al., 2002; Wallace 1999; Baltes et al. 1999), and make the life not well developed and healthy. It hypothesizes that flexible work arrangement can help work-life balance in all aspects like personal life, family life and productivity of work. CHAPTER 3:  Methodology 3.1 Introduction In the previous chapter, the background of the work hour problems faced by the workers in the construction industry was reviewed. Besides, the problems induced by long working hours and influences of Work-Life Balance were introduced in the literature review. The objectives of this study are (1) to identify the drawbacks of working hours to the local workers; (2) to examine the possible impacts due to excessively long working hours of the workers in the building construction industry; (3) to identify the concept of work-life balance; (4) to examine the leading international practice on controlling the maximum number of working hours of individual workers per week. In order to achieve the research objectives, a questionnaire survey had been conducted to collect data from construction workers, and a questions set with cover letter for interviews was designed to collect opinions from the union leaders and project managers in building general contractor firms. This chapter outlines the design of questionnaires, questions design of the interviews, data collection method and method of analysis undertaken in the next chapter. 3.2 Questionnaire Design In order to achieve the research objectives, a 10 questions questionnaire was designed (see Appendix 1). Part I required the respondents to provide their basic information such as gender, age, experience in the construction industry and form of employment. Part II required the respondents to provide their normal daily working hours and weekly work days, overall working hours per week, normal daily rest time and evaluate the current length of working hours. Part III listed the possible reasons for overtime work arrangement from practical cases (see Table 3.1). The respondents were asked to tick the top five reasons faced and sort the chosen reasons with numbers (1=most common, 5=least common). Shortage of Labours There are not enough labours and too many works remained. Poor arrangement of materials and/ or equipments The arrangement of materials and/ or equipments is not satisfied to the construction processes on site. Poor site management Planning is not practical enough and/ or the schedules of work are not up-to-date or poor leadership of supervisor. Reworks needed There are construction mistakes due to unclear instructions, lack of supervisions, poor quality control, careless mistakes made by workers and/ or inappropriate installations. Equipments damaged Equipments are damaged and/ or mal-function under normal operations. Changes of design Temporary scheduling caused by changes of design, preparation and construction of work have to be revised. Period of Contract Period of contract is too short for normal construction process. Unexpected weather Construction processes could not be operated caused by poor or unexpected weather, and then there is a delay. Others There are reasons not mentioned but happen in practical construction site. 3.3 Data Collection The targeted respondents of the questionnaire are the front-line workers who work in construction site. Two pages questionnaire was sent to the contractor firms and distributed to the targeted respondents. And some of the collected questionnaires were interviewed by face-to-face. The targeted interviewees were the project managers or site agents who are working in building general contractor firms and the leaders of the local labour unions. The questions set was sent to the targeted interviewees, email reply and phone interviews were conducted. 3.4 Data Analysis Method In this research, the data analysis was carried out by SPSS 17.0 for windows, including Enjoyment à ¤Ã‚ ½Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ °Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ

Jim Abbott :: essays research papers

Jim Abbott It is a clear summer night at Fenway Park in Boston. The Boston Red Sox and the California Angels are in a hot pennant race. The Boston Red Sox are the best hitting team in the American League. The Angels need a win and are counting on their rookie pitcher. The old green stadium is overflowing with die-hard Red Sox fans as the rookie takes the mound. He has to concentrate on tonight's game and ignore the crowd. The game advanced with no trouble for the rookie. In the end, he gave up four harmless hits and, most importantly, no runs. When he got the final man out, giving his team a 4-0 victory, he starts to walk off the mound. All over Fenway Park, not only Angel fans, but Red Sox fans stood and applauded, cheering the rookie off the field. Everyone knew that they had seen someone very special. This person was Jim Abbott. Jim Abbott has led an eventfully life. He brought his college team to the championship in 1985, brought Team USA to gold in 1988, and threw a no hitter against the Cleveland Indians in 1993. These achievements are not what make him so special; what makes Jim Abbott even more remarkable is that he only has one hand. As a child Jim's parents always told him that he could do anything he wanted to do. They knew that their son loved sports. They hoped that Jim would play soccer, which didn't require the use of hands, but right from the very beginning, Jim loved baseball. So, Jim's parents bought him a baseball glove. However, Jim was not just involved in baseball. He was the top scorer in his school's intramural basketball league, and played two years of varsity football. Jim's various athletic exploits resulted in press attention. When Jim got to college, he picked up right where he had left off in high school. His two main goals were to get an education and to become the best possible pitcher he could be. At this point, his fastball was close to ninety miles per hour. Jim to worked hard on a straight change-up and a better curveball. In the fall of 1987, Jim Abbott was given the United States Baseball Federation's coveted Golden Spikes Award. This award is given yearly to the best amateur baseball player in the country. That wasn't his only award. He also received the Academy Award for Sports Award for Courage in 1987 and was chosen as the March of Dimes Amateur Athlete of the

Dance brazil :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dance Brazil Dance Brazil performs with flexibility and power, which is evident throughout its entirety. Whether the company is lying on the floor or leaping through the air, they command their space. However, throughout the production they also incorporate one important factor, their culture. In the introduction of the show, the dancers demonstrate their religious ways by presenting the sign of the cross to the people. Throughout the scene, the costumes that were being worn were all directly related to the colors of various gods. Throughout one scene, the dancers become possessed, one man loses control of his emotions, and lands into another man’s arms. One could possible interpret that this man is landing into the arms of god. The following scene featured a woman dressed in blue. I appreciated the way their movements resembled water that recedes after the tide; movements that matched the full and vibrant sound of the band. I also valued the bleak positioning, woman facing forward, man facing away, with their backs against each other. The man repeatedly placed his hand on the woman, only to have her definitively push him away. This control at the beginning contrasted with a kind of compliance at the end, as the woman was carried off on the back of the man. The music pulled their bodies. They were elegant yet powerful at the same time. They had a superior blend of a partnership ,they danced like a partnership without it being a partnership dance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, I took pleasure in the production â€Å"Dance Brazil†. My first thoughts were negative, I did not expect this dance to be as exciting and interesting as it truly was.

The Impact of Destruction Essay -- Japanese Internment Camps, Pearl H

Some tremendous features in the history of mankind have been when one group of people were forcibly relocated to satisfy the needs of a more powerful one. This would encompass the Japanese internment camps in America during the World War II. The Japanese internment camps were overcrowded and provided poor living conditions. Likewise, every person had a unique story to this event, â€Å"A true story, involving an extraordinary episode in American history† (Houston x). In the novel Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, is a traumatizing story Jeanne experienced and wrote down, to be remembered in the future of a historical context. Manzanar represented different areas of Ko Wakatsuki (Papa) and Jeanne Wakatsuki's unique personalities to bring about both destruction and growth, and simultaneously offer influence in each other's characters. The impact of destruction affected the Wakatsuki family's perspective of life and Manzanar itself, b ecause Papa was separated from the Wakatsuki family, arrived home as a changed man, and tore his family members apart. Papa has lived his life with achievement, until the day he was separated from his family after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Papa was falsely charged by the FBI men and was sent to Fort Lincoln with suspicions of supplying oil to Japanese submarines offshore. Because of Papa's destruction, he burned all remaining items such as documents, papers and the Japanese flag that reminded him of the attack. The narrator describes Papa as a â€Å"dark, bitter, brooding presence† (Houston 65). Prior to the internment, Papa's self-esteem was not destroyed. Papa was very enthusiastic and proud for his dignity and attitude. He was seventeen years old when he move... ... would get us past the heat, and the rattlers, and a great deal more† (Houston 202). With confidence, Jeanne took a last look, left Manzanar behind forever, and continued her precious life. Living in the internment camp slowly ended the closeness of the Wakatsuki family; mainly Jeanne's since she was a seven year old girl, who now is an adult. The internment camp and Papa's capture destroyed the unique personalities of Papa and Jeanne. Throughout Farewell to Manzanar, Papa's identity diminished with his family and it was hard for him to live with happiness. Jeanne made a final decision to start a new beginning of her life, after she had visited the old camp with her new family. It was to convince herself that there is a life outside of the camp that Papa created for the Wakatsuki family and that she had to eventually leave her past and begin a new stable life.

The Importance of Employee Engagement

Change is a constant in today? s modern business activity. As Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter wrote in Fujitsu? s `Fit for Change? report, â€Å"the current rate of change within businesses is faster than the rate at which organisations are improving†¦many organisations just can't keep up with the speed of change. † (www. theinformationdaily. com, 2012). This more and more complex and competitive environment inflicts a greater pressure on the employees; given that the employees are the heart of organisations not approaching them appropriately is one of the main reasons of corporate failure (Argenti, 2009).Although there is not a lot of research done in this field as it is a relatively new concept (Saks, 2006), understanding the importance of employee engagement and implementing a well-developed internal communications plan is crucial for success, especially during change (Dolphin, 1999). The organisation should be guided by experts through all this complexit y if it wants to overcome all the tension that originates from the dynamics of change and survive. THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Many authors claim that an organisation? accomplishments, financial performance and employee outcomes may be predicted by the levels of employee engagement. However, it is surprising that even if it is a logical assumption, it appears that employee engagement is waning and that disengagement among the majority of today? s workforce is costing huge amounts of money to organisations in productivity loss (Saks, 2006). At present, workers are well educated, have greater expectations than those of past generations, and aspire to have a better understanding of the company they work for (Argenti, 2009).According to Argenti (2009), most companies? senior managers exclude lower-level employees from taking part in most decision-making. According to Dolphin (1999), employee communication is too often conducted by in-experienced and junior personnel. Therefore , it could be said that organisations do acknowledge the importance of employee engagement to some degree but are not following an appropriate and effective two-way communication strategy that will engage their staff. ORDER AND CHANGEEvery organisation has a culture and identity of its own and these should be consistent, coherent, and clear. When an organisation suffers a big change, it might have the need to acquire a new identity and/or alter or even create a whole new corporate culture (Dolphin, 1999); to be able to direct this change effectively, there must be a well-defined vision. Most of the definitions of vision in this context make reference to an ideal or a future to which the organisational change should lead to (Palmer, Dunfard ; Akin, 2006).Without a firm vision and effective internal communications, the â€Å"changes introduced by managers may seem arbitrary and unneeded†¦ vision helps to motivate staff in working towards the change and engaging in what may appea r to be daunting or risky actions† (For Kanter et al. , as cited in Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 245). Sutton and Khan (1986 as cited in Jimmieson et al. , 2004, p. 12) argue that when a deep change is about to happen, workers â€Å"go through a process of sense-making in which they need information to help them establish a sense of prediction and understanding of the situation†.Palmer, Dunfard and Akin (2006) insist in the importance of having their employees well informed about the situation and about what is expected from them, To the extent that the strategic intent is not complemented by clarity as to expected actions, the chances increase employees will fail to convert a change initiative into supporting action at their level of organisation. The Key point here is that the lack of supporting action is not due to overt resistance or even apathy; it is due to the lack of clear understanding of what such supportive action would â€Å"look like. (Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 149) Organisations must therefore aim to achieve a balance between order and change. For instance, they can only operate efficiently if members execute their roles consistently, perform everyday operations, and uphold ordered structures, but they also need to stay open and agile enough to react to and anticipate the fluctuating stresses of today? s changing commercial environment. (Jacobs, 2004, p. 382). Carl Weick (1979, as cited in Jacobs, 2004, p. 82) highlights in his relational perspective the role of communication when dealing with the tension that arouses between these two elements and suggests that organisations are in essence the outcome of communication collaborations. Lewin? s Three Stage Model of Change (Carnall,2007, p. 70) can be used to help the organisation better understand this process. It consists of three stages: 1. Unfreezing. It is related to cultural change.Identifying both present behaviours and required behaviours necessary to achieve the organisation? s mi ssion and common goals and analysing the differences, with the participation of the company? s members, is the first step of â€Å"unfreezing† actual change. 2. Changing/Moving. Identifying the procedures and changes in the structure that will enable the execution of the new behaviours and the implementation and examination of accomplishments. 3. Refreezing. Instilling the new behaviours, attitudes, and values in the group.This is usually done by rewarding new behaviours, carrying out policies, implementing an effective communication, and educating members in order to support the new culture and behavioural principles; commitment to change is attained in this stage. However, as organisations and their environments are ever more uncertain and dynamic, many changes may occur at once and when one area is refreezing another might be unfreezing or moving. This has led Clark and Clegg to believe that `successful management in the future must be based on intelligence and creativity and the capacity to question and learn? â€Å"executives must learn how to combine continual change with the ability to sustain `business as usual? † (1998, as cited in Carnall, 2007, p. 78-79). An organisation is dynamic, it is persistently reinventing itself, and therefore must be monitored constantly. THE RISKS OF CHANGE AND THE IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT A possible reason for failure could be that organisations simply do not dedicate enough time or attention to understand the psychology of change. Employees? xperience is a critical factor that should be considered; it is how people adapt and react to change that makes a difference. Firstly, changes in an organisation are not linear by nature and thus uncertainty is the most common psychological condition that emerges as a result (Callan et al. , 2004); â€Å"much of what we refer to as resistance to change? is really ‘resistance to uncertainty’ meaning that the resistance originates from the proces s of dealing and handling change, not from the change itself (Carnall, 2007, p. 3). Secondly, Palmer, Dunfard and Akin (2006) argue that people? perceptions of how they believe that change will affect their personal interests will influence their readiness for it. People have a tendency to support changes that do not seem threatening to their interests and resist those that appear to be harmful. (Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 149). Managers should understand the potential risks of letting employees face changes on their own without a consistent support on behalf of the organisation. Doubt and uncertainty should be dissipated and substituted by safety, and mutual interests should be addressed to avoid feelings of threat.According to Argenti (2009) effective internal communications not only requires facilitating employees with relevant and sincere information but it should also reinforce their belief that they are significant assets to the company and that subsequently their matters are to o. Listening to them and allowing their participation in conversations regarding organisational change will keep them â€Å"excited about their work, connected to the company? s vision, and in a position to further goals of the organisation† (Argenti, 2009, p. 84). An example that describes poor attention to how stakeholders react to change (whether they are predisposed to welcome it or reject it from the beginning) is Kodak? s announcement of its reduction in workforce to its staff, and of its dividend cut to its investors. They ignored the importance of setting an adequate strategy to promote a positive response prior to change and this basically resulted in resistance to change from both groups which led the merger with Compaq Computers a failure (Palmer et al. , 2006, p. 1) REASSURING EFFECTIVENESS IN COMMUNICATION Before any action is taken, the organisation must have a sense of the present effectiveness of its internal communications. Argenti (2009) reveals that an exce llent way to measure the effectiveness of its actions is by executing communication audits and systematic temperature checks to discover the employees? attitudes towards the organisation itself, their opinion about the quality of the communications they are getting, and whether the messages are being understood.Once this is done, an internal communication framework can be implemented to work on solutions to any communication deficiencies and satisfy those requests. The Strategic Employee Communication Model and Best-practice Definitions (Appendix A) can be used in a change programme as â€Å"benchmarks against which to measure a company? s employee communication strengths and weaknesses as well as a model of effective change†. According to Barrett (2004), both the model and its different elements were inspired by research done in numerous Fortune 500 companies on what actually works in employee communication.The best companies integrated many of these definitions in their pra ctice scheme. This model links all principal factors involved in employee communication between them and to the company? s manoeuvres and strategy; it analytically breaks down communication into distinguishable and manageable portions and illustrates how interconnected and inter-reliant each portion is when employee communication is placed strategically within the organisation, a must in order to make change feasible. What moves this model from a tactical level to a strategic one is the direct connection to the firm? â€Å"strategic objectives and business planning process plus the overlay of supportive management with on-going assessment of individual and company communication. † (Barrett, 2004, p. 22). An example of a good communication in practice is what CEO Gordon Bethune did in Continental airlines. Every month, he held an open-house in his own office where employees were welcome to go and talk to him about any issues, suggestions, or complaints, and in numerous occasio ns he would go himself to meet the employees at their workplace.This platform for open, informal, and sincere discussion was his trait of leadership. He has been recognised for having significantly improved employee spirit and productivity as well as enhancing the global culture of the firm. This is illustrative of what should be done to have the organisation prepared in the eventuality of change. THE LEARNING ORGANISATION. FROM INDIVIDUALS TO A TEAM In order for the organisation to move as a whole it should behave and act as one.Organisations should provide the ground for individuals to move out of their sense of self, be flexible, and connect with and contribute to the group consciousness. Many authors emphasise the need of creating learning cultures within organisations in order to achieve success during change. â€Å"Teams, not single individuals, are the key to successful organizations of the future and†¦ individuals have to learn in the context of the team† (Append ix B). Hurst (1995, as cited in Carnall,2007, p. 65) for instance exposes that a performance organisation should evolve into a learning organisation when it faces complexity; â€Å"tightly defined tasks, control systems and rigid structures† should be replaced by â€Å"recognition, networks and teams†. His ecocycle model of eight stages points toward renewal through which the company reinvents itself, more explicitly, â€Å"in which people rethink what they seek to achieve, with whom and how, and thereby recreate the organisation†¦ it is certainly a learning process†. The complexity theory can throw some light on this perspective.As Darwin, Johnson and McAuley (2002, cited in Carnall,2007, p. 84) note, the basic idea that lies beneath the relevance of the complexity theory within the literature regarding organisational behaviour is that of a multifaceted adaptive organism described as a coherent network of agents interacting in parallel with no ? command an d control framework? and who are ? adaptively intelligent? (Appendix C). This view links to the idea of ? self-organisation? (Carnall,2007, p. 84). Emery (2004, as cited in Carnall, 2007,p. 85) also presents â€Å"an analysis of open-systems theory-based action research as an enabler of learning and change†.She starts off by stating that learning is fundamental for viable change and then argues that practitioners must deal with all individuals at every level of the corporation and all practical areas must be implicated in some kind of practise that will enable them to take part in this learning process. However, she highlights that there are certain obstacles that might get in the way such as certain attitudes of the elite members, fail to use a common language throughout the organisation, and diverse framework and priority schemes.Another issue to tackle is the fact that individuals have different learning rates and they learn in different ways (Carnall, 2007). That is where the role of internal communications plays a significant role. Professional practitioners should be able to identify where communications fail and target unlike audiences with different techniques to be able to engage them appropriately. We therefore can determine that the objective of education in the long-run would be to create a â€Å"strong sense of listening and of responsiveness [that will] permeate(s) the organisation† (Macleod, p. 9) by: -Forming engaging managers that will know how to communicate cultures and values and treat their personnel with respect. As MacLeod ((Macleod, p. 79) ) states in his report, managers who engage â€Å"facilitate and empower rather than control or restrict their staff; they treat their staff with appreciation and respect and show commitment to developing, increasing and rewarding the capabilities of those they manage. †. -Giving employees a voice and tools to address management with their concerns.They must feel â€Å"they are l istened to and see that their opinions count and make a difference†¦ [And that they are able to] speak out and challenge when appropriate† (Macleod, p. 79) CONCLUSION Employee engagement levels can predict an organisation? s accomplishments and performance as it is claimed by many authors. However, due to today? s complex environment it is more than necessary to build up a strong internal communications strategy. Employees should not be isolated from the organisation as a whole and should be informed and involved in it. The corporate culture should be coherent and the vision should be clear.If organisations fail to communicate all this properly and engage its employees into believing that change is not synonym of threat, resistance will appear. Resistance may lead to a break in the internal homeostasis and the consequences will show up as a failure when trying to move the organisation forward. REFERENCES Argenti, P. (2009) Corporate Communication. 5th ed. Singapore: Mc Gr aw Hill. Carnall, C. (2007) Managing Change in Organisations. 5th ed. Essex: Prentice-Hall. Dolphin, R. (1999) The Fundamentals of Corporate Communications. Butterworth-Heinemann. Jimmieson, N. t al. (2004) A Longitudinal Study of Employee Adaptation to Organizational Change: The Role of Change-Related Information and Change-Related Self-Ef? cacy. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology , 9 (1), p. 11-27. MacLeod, D. and Clarke, N. (2009) Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement. [report] Department for Business Palmer, I. et al. (2006) Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspectives Approach. s. l. : Mc Graw-Hill Saks, A. (2006) Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21 (7), p. 00-619. www. theinformationdaily. com (2012) Making your organisation fit to change. [online] Available at: http://www. theinformationdaily. com/2012/12/21/making-your-organisation-fit-to-change [Accessed: 4 Mar 2013]. J acobs, G. (2004) Corporate creative thinking. In: Oliver, S. M. ed. Handbook of corporate communications and public relations. London: Routledge, pp. 382-384. Barrett, D. J. (2004) A best-practice approach to change communication. In: Oliver, S. M. ed. Handbook of corporate communications and public relations. London: Routledge, pp. 22-24. . APPENDICES Appendix A. Figure 2. 1 Strategic employee communication model (Barrett, 2004, p. 23) *Appendix B. Senge? s five disciplines: 1. Systems thinking: everyone must learn how to view things as a whole and that one set of events has impact on others 2. Personal mastery: ? the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening†¦ personal vision, of focusing†¦ energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.? 3. Mental models: ? learning to unearth†¦ internal pictures of the world, to bring them to surface and hold them rigorously to scrutiny? 4.Build a share vision: leadership is the key to creating and co mmunicating the vision†¦ the leader creates vision but is prepared to have it reshaped by others 5. Team learning: teams, not single individuals, are the key to successful organizations of the future and individuals have to learn in the context of the team (Senge, 1990, as cited in Carnall, p. 164) *Appendix C. Darwin, Johnson and McAuley (2002, Carnall, p. 84) describe a multifaceted adaptive organism: 1. It is a network of ? agents? acting in parallel, often interconnected, ways but without any ? ommand and control? framework 2. These agents are ? adaptively intelligent? ; constantly seeking and making sense of patterns, testing ideas, evolving and learning. 3. Change is achieved through learning, evolution and adaptation. 4. Control of the system is dispersed throughout the system. 5. Coherence within the system arises out of competition and cooperation among the agents as they see advantage in alliances and other arrangements for mutual support. This view links to the idea of ? self-organisation?. (Darwin et al, 2002, as cited in Carnall, p. 84)