LAB8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LAB8 - Essay Example Take a walk of approximately one mile along a country road or walk at least 30 minutes in a city or town and record the trash that was improperly disposed of in the natural environment. (It’s a good way to get some extra exercise this week too). Use the same categories as in question #1 above, but be more specific (i.e., how many glass or metal cans, how many old tires, etc.) were found along your walk. Keep your eyes open for all sorts of waste, which could be defined as anything that is not natural in the environment. If you try to help the environment by picking up the refuse, please wear protective gloves. Recondition tires are retread tires; they are able to be repaired and can once again be used safely on a vehicle. Reprocessed tires are those tires that at are too damaged to be reconditioned or repaired are often reprocessed tires, can reappear and be repurposed for application as in asphalt and road ways. Firstly, coffee grounds can be added to compost when saved, they can purchase local fresh fruits and vegetables to serve at their cafà ©, they can use real cups, as opposed to paper or plastic, selling used and donated books is also a very helpful contribution that many coffee houses could make. Recycling the packaging and reusing shipping boxes can be both money saving and environmentally friendlier. Companies can also switch from traditional packing popcorn and switch to a new packing material that can be disintegrate with water when no longer needed, unlike Styrofoam. Motor Oil can be recycles and is very detrimental when simply dumped in the environment. CFCs, or Chlorofluorocarbons, found in cooling systems are environmentally damaging and should be collected. Finally, all of the cleaning solvents mechanics use to clean the working parts of vehicles, these should be collected. The Savemor’s reduce waste by maintaining household appliances and when they need replacing always invest in energy efficient

Video Project Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Video Project Reflection Paper - Essay Example In our case, the whole concept of professionalism boarded on respect, both for other members as well as for oneself. The task and the entire project were daunting, and it took a toll on everyone’s schedules; without self-respect, we would not manage to get everything going within the stipulated timeframe. Fortunately, most of us were extremely focused and aligned with the project’s requirements. As such, we exhibited a great deal of professionalism with respect to the expedition. However, a little lack of professionalism still surfaced, at some point some would not complete their duties in time, but with the help of others, they were successful in the end. On the same note, members were highly respectful and patience with regards to the opinions of other members. Each opinion, regardless of how wrong it may seem, was accepted and later isolated with facts, and in a way that left everyone satisfied. In any situation where more than one person is involved, conflicts of interest are bound to arise. Likewise, our team had to struggle with conflicts resulting from different points of view. Working in a team is never an easy task; everyone has their opinions, all which have to be harmonized and integrated with the overall objective of the project (Schon 9). On this note I found myself in a tight corner- most of the time having to deal with a mixture of feelings. From the onset of the project, I felt somewhat awkward; some members seemed to dislike the tasks they were allocated. Furthermore, the team had to evaluate all the different opinions given by the members. As is not enough, the introverted team members who rarely contributed to the discussions felt out of place, and somehow unrecognized. To contain the conflict that could probably blow out of proportion, everyone was required to contribute each time a motion popped up. The collectively, each proposal was evaluated in a more c omprehensive and inclusive

Managing Culture and Change Essay Example for Free

Managing Culture and Change Essay The present scenario has made the future of organizations uncertain. Companies that are excelling in their relevant industries right now may be pushed out in the near future by upstarts with better ideas and more versatility than them. It has happened so often in the past that the only certainty is that it will keep on happening in the future. The only long term sustainable competitive advantage that organizations can hope to create is through their people, and the behaviour of these people is largely determined by the corporate culture in which they are immersed. A successful corporate culture will see the organization through the near future, but unless the organization is proactive in its bid to keep on adapting to the changing business environment, that same corporate culture may sound the death knell for the organization in the future. CORPORATE CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE The question on every entrepreneur, every CEO, and on every member of the Board of Directors’ mind since before the inception of the concept of an organization as an institution has been: how to make more money? Once this fundamental urge has been recognized one can comprehend the reason behind the actions of the above-mentioned in ensuring the success of their respective organizations, as the evidence of past decades have proved that organizational success is the key determinant of greater financial reward for them; hence stemmed the need to identify the factors that would translate into success for an organization. The idea that an organizations culture would influence its performance is hardly new. ‘Search of Excellence’, published in 1982 and authored by Waterman and Peters made the concept famous, and in 1992 in ‘Corporate Culture and Performance’, Hesket and Kotter compared various organizations and the relation of their performance within a time period with their cultures. But with increasing research being conducted on the correlation between an organizations vision and the employees’ actions, doubt is cast on the efficacy of expecting that an organizations culture will determine its performance. Instead, consensus is being established that a few core values largely determine the success or failure of organizations. SUCCESS Success of an organization can be defined differently depending on the industry in which the organization operates. An organization in a high risk industry can view success as the ability to survive all these years. Another organization may view continuing growth over and above competitors as success, while still another might seek to become the market leader in its particular industry in order for it to be considered a success. Pyramid of Organizational Development Whatever the perception an organization has, in order to be successful an organization needs to follow six steps or tasks at each level of its growth in order for it to succeed at all of those stages. It needs to determine its market niche in which it will operate, develop the product/service accordingly, acquire the relevant resources be they land labour or capital, develops a system of standardized procedures for operations, and then the same for management, and finally, develop a corporate culture that management perceives as being important to lead the firm. Before any further discussion can be carried out, corporate culture must be defined as, a structure of collective values and beliefs that work together with the systems, the organizational structure, and the employees to produce norms, which then turn into what is necessary to the organization, and the processes of getting things done – the how and the why. It is an intangible aspect of an organization that cannot be seen, touched, heard or smelt, but is present nonetheless and which ultimately determines whether that organization will succeed or not. It is the core values that were mentioned earlier, to produce the norms that determine the behaviour of the employees, which ultimately determines the productivity and thus success of the firm. The steps taken together are framed as a hierarchical model into a pyramid of organizational development that emphasizes the importance of each step for the organizations development depending on the stage of growth the organization is in at that point. The last three of the steps form the structure that will be the sustainable competitive advantage of the firm, inimitable by competitors, thus ensuring long term success for the firm. ROLES OF CORPORATE CULTURE Corporate culture by itself plays several roles in the organization. It develops a cultural identity in an employee by establishing a commitment of the employee to achieving the organizations goals and objectives. That identity serves to increase the devotion and involvement of the employee by making him/her reconcile the organizations success as his/her own. Corporate culture also uses a deductive approach to align an employee’s behaviour with acceptable norms that have been already determined by the organization so that it need not worry about policing the employee to do what is right according to the organization. Instead of the management having to interfere now the employee’s peers can bring a maverick back in line with acceptable behaviour as determined by the values of the organization. In addition to these, an organizations culture acts as a motivational tool that is more effective than managerial insistence. However, if the organization’s stated values are out of sync with the culture that is being promoted the employees will become disillusioned with the organization and its stated commitment to quality of work life as the rewards will be based on the stated values as opposed to what the prevailing organizational culture promotes. TYPES OF CORPORATE CULTURE Strong The desired roles that the culture of the organization is to play and reality may starkly differ depending on the type of culture that is prevalent in the organization. A Strong Culture is reminiscent of an organization that spends a significant amount of time and resources in communication and reinforcement by management of the values of the organization to the various employees. This is facilitated by having well-defined vision and mission statements that have been established with the help of both the top and bottom rung of the organization. In addition, these statements and their espoused values are adopted by top management and thus succeed in their task of influencing the employees by convincing them of their commitment to the organization and its value system. Weak On the other hand a Weak Culture is quite the opposite, in its lack of cultural identity and the divergence of employee behaviour and organizational goals. A weak culture also involuntarily imparts an image of punishing those employees that might be working towards organizational success, through the actions of their peers who have this weak corporate value system ingrained into them. Thus there is little allegiance to the organization and little unity inside it. Unhealthy An Unhealthy corporate culture rests on the basis that change is undesirable. In such an environment risk-taking and experimentation for the sake of innovation is frowned upon, and so the organization has to seek ideas outside the firm for better practices and approaches. This is a costly result of the politicized environment that prevails in such an organization, where decisions are made based on the power wielded by the participants and not on the value of their respective input. Adaptive The fourth type of culture in an organization is an Adaptive one which is contrary to the unhealthy culture in its regard for entrepreneurial activities. Such an organization is a proactive entity that actively seeks out innovative and experimental solutions to any issues that might have to be faced. Risk taking is encouraged to the extent that employees might be funded to bring their ideas to life, in the recognition that successful adaption to the environment through risky enterprises enable the organization to prosper over its competitors. CONFLICT IN CORPORATE CULTURE An organizations culture is influenced by the social power of relationships, more specifically, the potential loss of those relationships. This invokes cognitive dissonance in a person more than does any other action, and thus motivates us the most to make sure that such a situation does not arise. From this motivation an organizations culture is developed as a means to protect these relationships, leading to the theory of conflict resolution and culture development. Social influences in the form of formal and informal networks, family networks, relationships with leaders, and legal regulations are what determine the behaviour of a person in an organization with regards to conflict resolution. Although conflict invariably leads to closer bond in relationships than before, it can also lead to rejection or coercion by one or both party. The conflict can only be resolved when both parties either cooperate in or reject the relationship. The eventual conflict resolution results in a differing viewpoint held by the onlookers as either a matter of public discourse or of private thought, which viewpoints are shared with others depending on the closeness of their relationship. And while cooperative conflict resolutions foster greater trust and unity, competitive conflict resolution in hierarchically dominated organizations, where management often passes judgement rather than mediates, results in a chasm between formal and informal cultures that causes a drop in organizational performance. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGERS Human Resource Management has become an increasingly important function in organizations with the findings of several researches supporting the relation between high-performance and HR practices. The recognition through these researches that the only long term sustainable competitive advantage that an organization enjoys is the capabilities of its human resource has further caused organizations to reinvent this previously neglected function as well as resulted in an increase in the perceived advantages of a strategically-focused Human Resource Department. Amongst these, cultural management is an important benefit that pertains to the development, communication, reinforcement, and change of the corporate culture to the employees. SUCCESSFUL CORPORATE CULTURE An organization’s corporate culture can either hinder or contribute to the success of a firm by influencing the behaviours and attitudes of employees with respect to the overall organizational strategy. A corporate culture that promotes behaviours that are aligned with the company’s values provides guidance to the employees with respect to the accepted norms of the organization and reinforces those peer actions that support the desired culture. The HR as the manager of the corporate culture aligns its own practices in an effort to increase commitment amongst employees towards achieving the desired vision of the organization by reaching their performance targets, and by engaging in adaptive and innovative entrepreneurial activities. A successful corporate culture is one which supports the organizations execution of its strategy, with the help of HR managers, who align the desired values of the organization with the values that are actually prevalent. While some organizations seek to prescribe specific corporate values that will lead to greater performance, it has been discovered that instead it is the fit of these values to the internal and external realities of the organization – the employees’ behaviour and the business environment – that the HR must focus on as a culturally compatible management system. To do so, the practices of the HR Management, more specifically, the staffing, training and development, incentive and payment packages, performance appraisals and job design, all become areas where HR can influence the cultural communication strategy. As a company that dedicated its existence to the production and sale of coffee, Starbucks has experience phenomenal growth to reach its current market leadership position. From generating sales of $122 million in 1993, Starbuck’s has grown to such an extent that its competitors have less outlets in all of the United States than Starbucks has in California. And the stated reason by its CEO, Howard Schultz, for this success is its people. â€Å"The way we treat our people affects the way they treat our customers and, in turn, our financial performance. † In lieu of this statement Starbucks offers good quality of work life to its employees, adopts diversity as an integral part of doing business, maintains a high standard in its production processes, develops its customers, engages in Corporate Social Responsibility, and recognizes the importance of maintaining profitability as a means of continued success. NOT-SO-SUCCESSFUL CORPORATE CULTURE Unfortunately, discovering the right fit of values that an organization can use as a component of its successful corporate strategy can become ‘the winner’s curse’ if left unmonitored, for while it is difficult to change any culture in any organization, changing a seemingly successful culture is next to impossible. No one wants to mess with a winning formula, whether due to superstition, the belief that it will weather any competition, or due to inability to accept that the environment has changed. Whatever the reason, history is replete with examples of how successful companies were brought to their knees by a more versatile competitor. The US automobile industry was indifferent of the lower-costing, higher-quality Japanese cars until it was too late, believing that the Japanese cars were just a momentary novelty. In the same way, until sales started decreasing fast Sears remained ignorant of the changes brought to the organizations environment by Wal-Mart. The McDonnell Douglas Corporation is another example of a company that failed to adapt to the changing environment, and was acquired by Boeing. Core Rigidities Inducting the use of Standard Operating Procedures as a means to increase production by cutting down on wastage of time and resources, while beneficial in producing economies of scale can be harmful to the future success of the firm as well. These procedures and routines can serve as a source of suitable solutions to any problems that might be faced, but in doing so negate the possibility of searching for knowledge and innovation outside the organization. Consequently the core competency of the firm is transformed into the core rigidity as exploration is shelved for exploitation. In addition to which, the feedback from the use of SOPs is ignored due to selective filter of already existing procedures which siphon out any corrective measures that the feedback might have been trying to highlight. This is largely due to the fact that no firm can keep changing forever. There is an absorptive capacity for every organization beyond which it is incapable of adapting to any more change. Crisis The only way to break out of such a potentially hazardous ‘advantage’ is for there to be an existence of a crisis that jolts the organization out of its routine. Some companies even try to introduce the perception of a crisis in the organization in order to stimulate innovation, such as Hewlett Packard, following the story by Sturgeon, ‘Microcosmic God’ in which Sturgeon talks of a miniature world which is introduced to numerous difficulties such as earthquakes, and droughts, and whose inhabitants are forced to either evolve or die out. While such practices might seem unethical it is disputed whether it is more advisable to let a firm fail because the leader of the organization could not bring it upon himself/herself to fool the employees for their future benefit. CONCLUSION If an organization’s successful culture eventually ends up costing the organization in the future, can it really be deemed a ‘successful’ corporate culture? Up to the limit of an organization’s absorptive capacity, a successful corporate culture should be redefined as a culture that while maintains all the characteristics as mentioned previously, is also a culture that can recognize that no matter what the fit of the organization’s culture is at present, that fit can change, and the possibility of that change should not be ignored, rather it should be actively sought out. And while it is a difficult thing to change a culture at any point, the organization should be ready to do so if it is to maintain its competitive advantage and not be replaced by a more nimble and recent competitor like Sears was by Wal-Mart. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cummings, T. G. Worley, C. G. (2005) Organization Development and Change. USA. Thomson South-Western. Davenport, T. H. Prusak, L. (2000) Working Knowledge. Harvard Business Press Hassard, J. Pym, D.(1993) The Theory and Philosophy of Organizations. Routledge Hitt, M. A. , Hoskisson, R. E. Ireland, R. D. (1998) Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization. Cengage Learning Kono, T. Clegg, S. (1998) Transformations of Corporate Culture. Walter de Gruyter Kotter, J. (1992) Corporate Culture and Performance. Free Press. Thompson, A. A. Jr. , Strickland III, A. J. Gamble, J. E. (2006) Crafting and Executing Strategy. United States. McGraw-Hill Balkaran, L. (1995) Corporate Culture. Find Articles [Internet]. Available from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m4153/is_/ai_17365781 [December 19, 2008] Denison, D. How your corporate culture can impact your business performance. IMD Webletter [Internet]. Available from http://www01. imd. ch/webletter/pdf/LinkingCorporateCulture. pdf [December 19, 2008] Flamholtz, E. Hua, W. (2002) Strategic Organizational Development and the Bottom

Positive and Negative Affective Outcomes

Positive and Negative Affective Outcomes Work stress is a significant problem in the industry. This article explains stress as demands of the job and a person inability to meet those demands. Stress can be both positive and negative. This research has examined the positive and negative effects of stress. For positive stress term Eustress is used and for negative stress the term distress is used. This is a study of one hundred and forty four employees from three New Zealand organizations about stressful work-related events, its effect on performance and moral of the employees. Unlike other studies this research has also focused on positive outcomes of the stress if stress is effectively coped. Cognitive appraisal scale(CAS) was used for primary appraisal. The job related effective wellbeing scale ( jaws ) was used to measure the relation of the employees with their job. Factors which were identified as coping strategies for stress were systematic problem solving, social support, positive reappraisal, self-controlling, confro nted coping, escape-avoidance, accepting responsibility, and distancing. With respect to our research from this article we can identify that stress can be both positive eustress and negative distress. From this research we can identify some variables like Organizational and situational variables such as managerial style and support, work control, organizational culture and employment stability are likely to impact on employees stress. Individual difference variables such as anxiety personality type and optimism/pessimism also affect how an employee takes stress. Article: Positive and Negative Affective Outcomes of Occupational Stress Much research over the last decade has emphasised the negative consequences of excessive work-related demands on an individuals physical and psychological health and wellbeing. While there is as yet no single agreed-upon definition of stress, the present research defines it as a relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing and endangering his or her well-being (Lazarus Folkman, 1984, p19). Occupational stress arises from demands experienced in the working environment that affect how one functions at work or outside work. Past research has predominantly focused on the negative aspects of stress. This is not surprising given the documented impacts of stress on health, wellbeing and work-related performance. However the positive psychology movement proposes that, instead of focusing on human pathology, research attention should also be directed towards positive health, growth and wellbeing (Seligman Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). It has been argued that stress is a part of life and cannot be avoided, and that stress can result in beneficial outcomes as well as negative ones (Selye, 1973, 1974). If negotiated appropriately, stress can be energizing, stimulating and growth producing for the individual as abilities are extended and new accomplishments made (Quick, Nelson, Quick, 1990). There is increasing interest in the potential for positive outcomes from the stress process including stress-related growth and positive personal changes (Folkman Moskowitz, 2004; Somerfield McCrae, 2000). If a stressful situa tion is resolved successfully then positive, rather than negative, emotions may predominate but there is a need for further to identify the stress-related processes associated with positive and negative emotions (Folkman Moskowitz, 2004). Good health encompasses more than just avoiding disease: it also involves the attainment of positive wellness, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, occupational, social and physical (Nelson Simmons, 2003, p 98). Acknowledging the positive response to the stress process may impact on how stress in the workplace is managed. Distress and Eustress The term eustress was coined by Selye to denote the positive aspects of stress in contrast to distress representing the negative aspects (Selye, 1974). Other influential writers have also suggested that stress is not inherently maladaptive (Hart, 2003; Hart Cotton, 2002; Karasek, 1979; Lazarus, 1999; Lazarus Folkman, 1984; Tedeschi Calhoun, 2004). In the context of the workplace, stressful events can lead to perceptions of positive benefit (Campbell-Quick, Cooper, Nelson, Quick, Gavin, 2003; Nelson Simmons, 2003). However although many researchers have investigated distress, eustress has been neglected until recently. Eustress is defined as a positive psychological response to a stressor as indicated by the presence of positive psychological states. Distress (or stress in keeping with common terminology) is a negative psychological response to a stressor, as indicated by the presence of negative psychological states (Simmons Nelson, 2001). Simmons and Nelson (2001) found eustress and distress to be distinguishable by affective state. Hope, meaningfulness and positive affect were significant indicators of eustress (Nelson Simmons, 2003). Meaningfulness is the extent to which work appears to make sense emotionally and to be worth investing effort in. Hope is the belief that one has both the will and the way to succeed. State positive affect reflects a condition of pleasurable engagement, energy and enthusiasm. Eustress was also associated with task engagement or absorption (Campbell-Quick et al., 2003; Rose, 1987). Task engagement denotes being enthusiastically involved in and pleasurably occupied by the demands of the work at hand (Nelson Simmons, 2003, p 103). This is similar to the concept of flow (Campbell-Quick et al., 2003) in which people are so actively involved in the task that nothing else seems to matter (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Distress on the other hand is indicated by negative work attitudes and psycholo gical states such as negative affect, anger, job alienation and frustration (Simmons, Nelson, Neal, 2001). Eustress is similar to the concept of morale defined as the energy, enthusiasm, team spirit and pride that employees experience as a result of their work (Hart Cotton, 2002, p. 102). Distress and eustress/ morale are not mutually exclusive: they can occur simultaneously in response to the same demand and are likely to result from different processes (Hart, 2003; Hart Cotton, 2002). The stress process There is at least some consensus that stress should be seen as a process or interaction between demands and the individuals ability to deal with them (Sulsky Smith, 2005). One conceptualization of this process is the cognitive-transactional model (Lazarus, 1966). The focus of this model is on individual and situational factors that interact with the appraisal of demands to produce outcomes (McGowan, 2004; Sulsky Smith, 2005). Antecedents to Eustress The transactional model considers stress to be a process involving appraisals of threat or challenge (primary appraisal), coping (secondary appraisal) and reappraisal. Primary appraisal involves a decision as to whether a demand (potential stressor) is both relevant and stressful in that it is seen to represent a potential threat to the individuals goals, beliefs or expectations (Lazarus, 1966; Lazarus, 1999). Demands can also be appraised as irrelevant or relevant but benign. A demand appraised as irrelevant or as benign (offering the chance to preserve or enhance wellbeing) does not initiate the stress process as there is no potential threat to overcome (Lazarus, 1999). If a demand is appraised as relevant and stressful then further appraisal takes place. Stressful appraisals include an appraisal of threat or loss, where the individual perceives the demand as exceeding the resources available to cope with it; but also of challenge, when resources are high relative to the demand and there is potential for mastery and personal growth (Lazarus Folkman, 1984). Threat and challenge appraisals represent distinct constructs and are associated with diff erent patterns of physiological arousal (Quigley, Barrett, Weinstein, 2002; Tomaka, 1993; Tomaka, Blascovich, Kibler, Ernst, 1997); subjective experience of strain and affect (Maier, Waldstein, Synowski, 2003), coping expectancies and performance (Boswell, OlsonBuchanan, LePine, 2004; Skinner Brewer, 2002). Threat and challenge appraisals represent distinct constructs and can occur simultaneously (Lazarus Folkman, 1984). Whether a challenge or threat was initially appraised, in order to reduce the demand some form of coping action is taken (Lazarus Folkman, 1984). Coping responses are influenced by initial appraisals. Challenge appraisals have been associated with more use of problem-focused coping (Bjorck Cohen, 1993; McCrae, 1984) while threat appraisals were linked to more emotion-focused coping (McCrae, 1984). While some coping research has linked emotion focussed coping with an increase in distress, the effectiveness of any particular coping strategy depends on its appropriateness (Folkman Moskowitz, 2004; Lazarus Folkman, 1984). Hypothesis 1: Challenge appraisals will be positively associated with task-focused coping. Hypothesis 2: Threat appraisals will be positively associated with emotion-focused coping. Research has predominantly focussed on negative outcomes and has only recently acknowledged that positive emotion can arise in stressful situations as a result of effective coping. Coping responses such as relaxation, direct action/task focussed coping and positive reappraisal can lead to the experience of increased positive affect while inappropriate or maladaptive coping responses may lead to negative affective reactions (Folkman Moskowitz, 2004). Eustress is not simply the result of a positive experience with positive events. It arises from effective negotiation of the stress process rather than a process of passive savouring (Simmons, Nelson, Quick, 2003). Hypothesis 3: Eustress will be positively associated with task-focused coping. Hypothesis 4: Distress will be positively associated with emotion-focused coping. Outcomes of Eustress Eustress has been shown to have a positive impact on subjective as well as objective performance (Skinner Brewer, 2002; Tomaka, 1993), possibly as a result of the increased motivation provided by task engagement. Hypothesis 5: Eustress will be positively associated with satisfaction with the outcomes of the stress process. Hypothesis 6: Distress will be negatively associated with satisfaction with the outcomes of the stress process. Over the long term eustress may result in positive changes in wellbeing, growth, flexibility, adaptability and performance (Quick et al., 1990), while distress may give rise to the stress outcomes commonly discussed in everyday language, for example the negative effects on physical and psychological wellbeing. Simmons and Nelson (2001) found that eustress was related to positive perceptions of health among nurses. Edwards and Cooper (1988), in a review of research on the effects of positive psychological states on health, found that positive psychological states produced an improvement in health both directly through physiological processes and indirectly by facilitating coping with stress (Edwards Cooper, 1988). Although long-term outcomes are beyond the scope of the present study, an increase in motivation, work performance and positive work-related affective states may also increase long-term job satisfaction. Method Three New Zealand organizations participated in the study. These were a public sector organization where fulltime administrative, clerical and management roles predominated; a retail business with part-time and full-time roles and a University department including fulltime teaching, research and administrative roles. Response rates for the three organizations were 52% (85 responses), 44% (26 responses) and 34% (33 responses) respectively. Participants were 74 males (51%) and 67 females (47%). Ages ranged from 18 (11%) less than 21 years, 50 (35%) between 21 and 36 years, 54 (38%) between 37 and 55 years, and 21 (25%) above 55 years in age. Three respondents did not indicate age or gender. The mean time respondents had spent within their current organization was six and a half years (SD = 7.32). There were significant differences between the three organizations only on tenure (F(2,132)= 15.62, p Measures Before answering the questions on appraisals and coping, participants were asked to identify one specific stressful event they had recently experienced at work and to answer the questions in relation to that event. Primary appraisals were assessed by the eight-item Cognitive Appraisal Scale (CAS; Skinner Brewer, 2002). Four questions each related to threat and challenge appraisals. Question two was reworded to relate to a work setting (grade changed to outcome) and all questions were given in the past tense to indicate an event that had already been encountered. Although the CAS assesses both frequency and intensity for each item, no difference in responses were found between frequency and intensity measures (Skinner Brewer, 2002) and so were replaced by a six-point scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 6 = strongly agree. Questionnaire (WCQ) assessed coping strategies used by participants to manage their stressor event (Folkman Lazarus, 1988). The measure assesses actual coping (as opposed to trait coping) by focussing on how the recently experienced event was negotiated. The 66 items of this scale assess eight forms of coping: planful problem solving, positive reappraisal, seeking social support, confrontive coping, escape-avoidance, distancing, self-controlling and accepting responsibility. Coping data were recoded into task-focused and emotion-focused coping as reported below. The Job Related Affective Wellbeing Scale (JAWS) was used to assess participants emotional reactions to their work (van Katwyk, Fox, Spector, Kelloway, 2000). Participants were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 the degree to which they had experienced 30 different emotions over the past 30 days. As the scale focused on recent emotional experience, it tapped state affect and is a valid representative of immediate stress process responses. The emotional responses covered two dimensions: positive/negative affect and arousal. This provided four quadrants: negative affect/low arousal (e.g. My job made me feel bored), negative affect/high arousal (e.g. My job made me feel anxious), positive affect/low arousal (e.g. my job made me feel calm), and positive affect/high arousal (e.g. my job made me feel enthusiastic). Skinner and Brewer (2002) found an association between threat appraisal and negative active affect (e.g. anxiety) but not negative deactivated affect (e.g. boredom) and between challenge appraisals and positive-active affect (e.g. excitement) but not positive deactivated affect (e.g. calm). Emotions should be considered in terms of both valence and level of activation (Skinner Brewer, 2002). High-activation affective responses are consistent with the meaning of threat and challenge, or the need to act to avoid failure and its negative consequences on one hand or to achieve success and its benefits on the other. For the present research eustress was conceptualised as the positive affect/ high arousal quadrant and distress was conceptualised as the negative affect/ high arousal quadrant of the JAWS. The outcome measure for this study was a single item that asked respondents to rate their level of agreement with the statement I felt positive about the outcomes of the situation. Responses were coded so that 1 = strongly disagree and 6 = strongly agree. The limitations of this measure were recognised and addressed as far as possible during the data analysis. Performance and other outcome data were not available for this study. To correct for the unreliability of the single outcome indicator the error term was fixed at a specific value (Bollen, 1989). The fixed value was determined by multiplying the proportion of error variance (1 [rho]) of the indicator by, the variance of the indicator, where [rho] =.80. Statistical Analyses A two stage approach was adopted for the data analysis using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM; see Anderson Gerbing, 1988; Schumacker Lomax, 1996). Stage one involved the building of measurement models for each of the measures used in this study. The rationale for building measurement models is that it allows for the best indicators of a construct to be identified and thus provides evidence for validity of the measure. Given the current sample size it was decided that for the final structural model at least four items for each construct would be used. In essence, this not only increased the subject-variable ratio but also served to identify the most unidimensional set of items to specify a construct. Unidimensionality is an important aspect when exploring structural relationship between various constructs as clear unambiguous measures allow for better predictive validity (Anderson Gerbing, 1988; Schumacker Lomax, 1996). For the CAS a two factor model, challenge and threat, was tested with the final model being specified with the strongest loadings in each subscale. For the JAWS only two factors were tested, high-pleasure high-arousal, and low-pleasure high-arousal, again using the best indicators for these hypothesized constructs. For the WCQ a second order measurement model was tested with eight factors: planful problem solving (PPS), positive reappraisal (PR), seeking social support (SS) self-controlling (SC), confrontive coping (C), distancing (D), accepting responsibility (AR) and escape avoidance (EA). The four best fitting items were used to specify each factor (Anderson Gerbing, 1988). For the full structural model two higher-order factors (task-focused and emotion-focused coping) were specified using subscale scores as observed indicators. Task-focused coping strategies were planful problem solving, positive reappraisal, seeking social support and self-controlling. Emotion-focused coping strategies were confrontive coping, distancing, accepting responsibility and escape avoidance. Having identified the measurement models for each factor a structural model was specified using the hypotheses stated above (see Figure 1). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Model Fit For all CFA and SEMs both absolute and incremental goodness-of-fit indexes were used. Absolute fit was assessed using the chi-square statistic. Incremental goodness-of-fit measures were the comparative fit index (CFI; Bentler, 1992), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA; Steiger Lind, 1980). The CFI and TLI indexes have coefficient values ranging from zero to 1.00, with values of .90 and higher being traditionally viewed as representing good fit (Bender, 1992). Fit values for the RMSEA suggest adequate fit where values fall between .08 and .10 and acceptable fit where RMSEAs are below .08 (Byrne, 2001; MacCallum, Browne, Sugawara, 1996); Hu and Bentler (1999) suggest that a RMSEA less than or equal to .06 indicates good model fit (Hu Bentler, 1999). Results The results for the measurement models are presented in Table 1. For the CAS the model fit was good and suggested a reasonable approximation to the data. The reliabilities were .78 and .72 for the challenge and the threat scales respectively. For the WCQ model fit was again reasonable. For each of the lower order factors the reliability estimates were: planful problem solving =.66, social support = .66, positive reappraisal = .79 self-controlling = .63, confrontive coping = .69; escape-avoidance = .77, accepting responsibility = .60, and distancing = .56. For the higher order factors, task-focused and emotion-focused coping, the reliability estimates were .74 and .65 respectively. Results for the JAWS again suggested that the specified two factors were reasonably approximated with reliability estimates of .90 for the positive affect high-arousal (eustress) and .81 for negative affect high-arousal (distress). Correlations, means and standard deviations are presented in Table 2. As expected, challenge appraisal was associated positively with task-focused coping, with eustress and with subjective performance. Although threat appraisal was positively associated with emotion-focused coping it was not associated with distress or subjective performance. Task-focused coping was associated with emotion-focused coping, suggesting that respondents who used more task-focused strategies also used more emotion-focused strategies. Emotion-focused coping was positively associated with distress and negatively associated with subjective performance. Eustress and distress were, respectively, positively and negatively associated with subjective performance. All results for the final structural model were standardized. For the final model the goodness-of-fit was reasonable ([chi square] = 734.1; df = 294: TLI =.92; CFI = .93; RMSEA = .10). All specified paths in the model were statistically significant and in the hypothesized direction (see Figure 1). Hypotheses 1 and 2, that challenge appraisals would be associated with task-focused coping and threat appraisals would be associated with emotion-focused coping, were supported. Hypotheses 3 and 4 that linked eustress and distress to task and emotion-focused coping respectively were also supported. With regard to subjective perceptions of performance in the stress situation, hypotheses 5 and 6 were supported. Eustress was positively associated and distress was negatively associated with subjective performance. Overall the results support the hypothesised model. Discussion The aim of this study was to investigate the antecedents and outcomes of the stress process and to include positive (eustress) and negative (distress) affective outcomes. The research showed support for the hypothesised structural model. The relationships between primary appraisal and coping support one of the key propositions of the cognitive-appraisal model of stress: the choice of coping strategy is affected by appraisals as to whether a demand represents a threat or a challenge. Previous research has found threat appraisals to be associated with greater use of emotion-focused coping (Lowe Bennett, 2003) and this was supported by the present study. Emotion-focused coping was in turn associated with distress and dissatisfaction with outcomes. Challenge appraisals were not related to emotion-focused coping but were related to greater use of task-focused coping strategies. The implications of these findings for stress management in organisations are considered below. As predicted, challenge appraisals were associated with eustress and perceptions that the stress processes had been effectively managed. The choice of coping strategies was also an important influence on affective outcomes: task-focused strategies which focused on addressing the demand were associated with eustress while emotion-focused strategies which failed to address the demand were associated with distress. This suggests that, as proposed by Lazarus and Folkman, when people face a demand it is not the demand in itself but the ways in which the demand is managed that impact upon outcomes. Implications for research The outcome measure in this study was limited to self-reported satisfaction with the outcome of the stress process. Further investigation should examine a broader range of outcomes including objective measures of performance and long term variables including physical and psychological health, both of which have been shown to be affected by work-related stressors. Further research is also needed to address several other issues including the precursors to threat and challenge appraisals and mediators of the stress process. A range of factors may affect primary and secondary appraisal processes. Individual difference variables such as anxiety (Skinner Brewer, 2002), personality (Penley Tomaka, 2002) and optimism/pessimism (Riolli Savicki, 2003) have been linked to differences in appraisals, coping and outcomes. Organisational and situational variables such as managerial style and support, work control, organizational culture and employment stability are also likely to impact upon the stress process. Further research into these factors is important to help build effective strategies for managing workplace demands. Implications for practice Work-related stress is a major problem with serious implications for health and wellbeing but managing it is far from straightforward. This may account for the documented ineffectiveness of stress management interventions(Beehr ODriscoll, 2002; Sulsky Smith, 2005). In managing the stressors at work, it is important to identify, assess and control stressors, but also to avoid removing the rewarding aspects of the job. Distress is not the inevitable consequence of occupational stressors: when demands are managed appropriately growth and positive change can occur as challenges are faced and overcome. Although distress has become a major concern, it is often not feasible to remove all stressors from work and this may not in fact be desirable. Recognition of the potential for positive outcomes of the stress process raises the possibility of identifying ways to increase the task-focused management of work-related demands to increase enjoyment, satisfaction and performance. The challenge lies with providing the tools required to increase the effective management of workplace demands. Any suggestion that cognitive-appraisal models of stress imply that stress is an individual problem, best addressed by teaching positive appraisal and coping, is flawed. Primary appraisal includes a subjective assessment of the balance between demands and resources. Increasing resources or reducing demands is more appropriate and more consistent with legal requirements than attempting to retrain individuals to appraise demands positively, and training in effective coping has been shown to have only limited impact(Folkman Lazarus, 1988). Coping strategies are rarely used singly, and no one strategy or combination of strategies is always effective. The ability to use a repertoire of coping strategies flexibly is important. One component of stress management could be to encourage the use of task-focused and flexible coping behaviour and to promote learning that can be generalised to new situations, but stress management begins with consideration of organisational issues. Leadership, pe er support, organisational culture and policies, work design and reporting arrangements are important as are job analysis, staff selection and training to enhance role clarity and the fit between the person and the work environment. Effective systems for motivation and performance management are essential.

Ballad of Pearl May Lee in Gwendolyn Brooks Street in Bronzeville Essa

Ballad of Pearl May Lee in Gwendolyn Brook's Street in Bronzeville Gwendolyn Brook’s â€Å"Ballad of Pearl May Lee† came from her book called Street in Bronzeville. This book exemplifies Brook’s â€Å"dual place in American literature† (Smith, 2). It is associated with Modernist poetry, as well as the Harlem Renaissance. This book is known for its theme of victimizing the poor, black woman. â€Å"Ballad of Pearl May Lee† is a poem that uses tone to represent the complex mood of the ballad. While tone and mood are often used interchangeably, there are differences even though they often work together in a poem. A poem’s mood refers to the atmosphere or state of mind that the poem takes on. This is often conveyed through the tone, which is the style or manner of expression through writing. In this poem, Brooks uses tone to enhance the mood. This paper will shed light on the idea that the mood of the poem is affected by the tone in several ways in order to make the mood inconsistent. Some of the ways t hat tone does this is by several episodic shifts in the scene of the poem, the repetition of stanzas at the end of the poem, the use of diction, and the change in the speaker’s stance throughout the poem. These poetic techniques enhance the speaker’s current feeling of self-pity and revengeful satisfaction by her mixed emotions associated with this reflection. To begin, the episodic shifts in scenes in this ballad enhance the speaker’s emotional confusion. Almost every stanza has its own time and place in the speaker’s memory, which sparks different emotions with each. For example, the first stanza is her memory of herself at her house and it has a mocking, carefree mood. She says, â€Å"I cut my lungs with laughter,† meaning that... ... was meant to serve as insight as to how Brooks used the tone to create a mood that was inconsistent with an overlying theme of self-pity. She has a way with words, and I feel that this ballad is very representative of her skill as a writer. Works Cited Mootry, Maria K. â€Å" ‘Chocolate Mabbie’ and ‘Pearl May Lee’: Gwendolyn Brooks and the Ballad Tradition. Vale – Rutgers Univerisity Libraries. http://galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?vrsn=3&OP=contains&locID=rutgers&srchtp.html Smith, Gary. â€Å"Gwendolyn Brook’s ‘A Street in Bronzeville’, the Harlem Renaissance and the Mythologies of Black Women. Vale – Rutgers University Libraries. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=rutgers&frmhyp=1&srchtp=athr&c=2&.html Sollors, Werner. An Anthology of Interracial Literature. â€Å"Ballad of Pearl May Lee.† New York University Press. 2004. p. 577-580.

The Great Gatsby : The American Dream Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perception and reality do not always align. Is true love really true love, or is it a farce, a self-created mythical re-interpretation of the thing we hold so dear? In The Great Gatsby, is Gatsby really in love with Daisy, or his vision of her? Does she feel the same way for him, or does she truly love him? And what does the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock mean to Gatsby?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Gatsby falls in love with Daisy, Nick is slightly intrigued by this almost improbable match. How can a determined, wealthy man fall in love with a woman so shallow that she wishes her daughter to â€Å"be a fool †¦ a beautiful little fool.† (p. 17)? To everyone else, it’s obvious that Daisy is extremely shallow, but to Gatsby, she’s the most beautiful woman with the perfect personality: the American Dream, so to speak. So what is he in love with? The Dream, or ‘the Daisy?’ The Dream, of course. The ‘Daisy’ he sees is a complete figment of his imagination, a part of his own personal American Dream, one that he’s striving to have a little piece of.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of chapter one, we are shown a Gatsby in the middle of one of his weakest moments, when his guard is completely let down and his game face is off. He is looking out across the sea, and had â€Å"stretched his arms toward the †¦ water †¦ I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light †¦ far away †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 21) Obviously, the green light is Dai... The Great Gatsby : The American Dream Essay -- essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Perception and reality do not always align. Is true love really true love, or is it a farce, a self-created mythical re-interpretation of the thing we hold so dear? In The Great Gatsby, is Gatsby really in love with Daisy, or his vision of her? Does she feel the same way for him, or does she truly love him? And what does the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock mean to Gatsby?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Gatsby falls in love with Daisy, Nick is slightly intrigued by this almost improbable match. How can a determined, wealthy man fall in love with a woman so shallow that she wishes her daughter to â€Å"be a fool †¦ a beautiful little fool.† (p. 17)? To everyone else, it’s obvious that Daisy is extremely shallow, but to Gatsby, she’s the most beautiful woman with the perfect personality: the American Dream, so to speak. So what is he in love with? The Dream, or ‘the Daisy?’ The Dream, of course. The ‘Daisy’ he sees is a complete figment of his imagination, a part of his own personal American Dream, one that he’s striving to have a little piece of.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of chapter one, we are shown a Gatsby in the middle of one of his weakest moments, when his guard is completely let down and his game face is off. He is looking out across the sea, and had â€Å"stretched his arms toward the †¦ water †¦ I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light †¦ far away †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 21) Obviously, the green light is Dai...

Understand and Meet the Nutrition Requirements of Individuals with Dementia

1. 1 Describe how cognitive, functional and emotional changes associated with dementia can affect eating, drinking and nutrition? Cognitive: depending on the type of dementia a person has they may have trouble in recognising the food in front of them or not understand that the food provided is for them, they may even view the food in front of them as food. This can be caused by their minds not recognising what is in front of them. Functional: depending on the type of dementia a person has they may struggle to use their knife, fork and spoon, they may even struggle to chew or swallow. This can be caused by the mind forgetting how to do something, or making that task become more difficult to perform. Emotional: depending on the type of dementia a person has they refuse to eat all together, this could be caused by the mind simply telling them they are not hungry or thirsty when they actually are, this can happen quite often and is usually caused by a problem causing them to get upset or angry. 1. 2 Explain how poor nutrition can contribute to an individual’s experience of dementia? Poor nutrition can actually worsen the symptoms of dementia for people. A report states that people with dementia who are undernourished may end up worsening their condition. But poor nutrition can also cause individuals with dementia to need specialised help more often as well. 1. 3 outline how other health and emotional conditions may affect the nutritional needs of an individual with dementia? Dementia can be effected by other conditions that may prevent the individual from eating or drinking: Health – it is quite often for individuals with dementia to end up with Urinary Tract Infection or UTI for short, and while having a UTI the individuals may get more confused or angry causing them to not wanting to eat. Emotional – quite a few dementia suffers end up with depression because of the drastic changes in their life, such as being taken away from your home and your family. Having depression may cause the individuals to not want to eat. 1. 4 Explain the important of recognising and meeting an individual’s personal and cultural preferences of food and drink? Some people have curtain dietary requirements such as being vegetarian or vegan, some religions require you not to eat pork or only eating meet if it’s halal. Even though the individual has dementia they still have these beliefs and it is important to respect that person’s beliefs and choice. . 5 Explain why it is important to include a variety of food and drink in the diet of an individual with dementia? A balanced diet is important to people with dementia because if they do not have a nutritional diet then it can worsen their condition. Weight loss, nutritional deficiencies and inadequate fluid intake can a ll have a negative effect on a person’s dementia. It is the care assistances job to make sure that the individuals get the correct diet they each need. 2. 1 describe how mealtime cultures and environments can be a barrier to meeting the nutritional needs of an individual with dementia? In some cultures, people have strict meal time and meal size restrictions. People who are of Muslim religion fast once a year where they cannot eat when the sun is up, but for someone with Dementia they may think they are fasting when they don’t need to, so end up refusing all meals offered and provided to them. Another example would be that someone with dementia may not see or understand why they have to eat in a particular way, for example, starter, main, dessert. For someone with dementia, their tastes may have changed and might not want to eat meals that are set out for them in a particular way. By sticking to a regular meal time, this can be a barrier to the nutrition they need, because they may not want to eat at the same time as everyone else. 2. 2 describe how mealtime environments and food presentation can be designed to help an individual to eat and drink? Food presentation is very important to people with dementia, because their view on things are different, even though its meal time and other people around them are eating. If it doesn’t look like food they won’t eat it. Make sure that the table cloth is a bright colour and that the plate is a completely different colour, as well as different colour food on the plate. Even though to us there is something clearly on the table for someone with dementia, if there was a red table cloth with a red bowl and tomato soup inside, even though there is something there in front of them, they may not be able to see it. 2. 3 describe how a person centred approach can support an individual, with dementia at different levels of ability, to eat and drink? Treating everyone individually and offering them choices with their day to day life are the best ways to support someone with dementia. Many people with dementia are capable of making choices for themselves. So it is important to offer them different meal choices so they can pick which they prefer. If someone has progressed further with their dementia and are unable to communicate to tell us what they want, then we may need to show them the different options or check their care plans to see what they prefer eating. If none of this is available then you could observe them, If they eat what you provide then you should take a note that they liked it, if they don’t then try them with something else.