The Digital Transformation Of Communication, Information...

New Media is the digital transformation of communication, information and entertainment media, including music (Giddings, 2). The way music is produced, distributed and consumed or listened to has developed due to new media, digital technologies.This essay will examine in depth the streaming service, Spotify through breaking down the various, both positive and negative effects that it has on the music industry. Overall, this essay will discuss the idea that however convenient streaming on Spotify may be for it’s users it inevitably has a number of issues. The reason for these issues all concern finding a balance between distribution/access, and ownership/control of music files as well as public and private rights and interests (Katz, 300). The key cause of these issues is money; copyright, licensing costs, artist’s not getting paid enough, ownership and the competitive marketplace all contribute to the ambivalent effects of using streaming services. Mark Katz discussion surrounding file-sharing extends to Spotify; one key point Katz makes is that two broad types of change are likely to occur: legal and economic. The future of listening to music and the music industry thus depends on how these things will play out (Katz, 300). The structure of this essay is in four parts, addressing these legal and economic issues. Part one will address briefly the history, and way in which Spotify fits into the ‘digital revolution’ and its key positive attributes. Part two will look atShow MoreRelatedThe Impact Of Digital Media On The Cinema Industry1284 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Internet and new media has changed the way people live, work and entertain. Long–time forms of entertainment, such as music, games or movies have been changed accordingly. Within the entertainment industry, the cinema sector is experiencing dramatic transformations. Consumers are now provided with a wide range of ways to access their products. Trad itional practices of enjoying movies, especially going to the cinema, are said to be diminished by the use of digital media. From this, there areRead MoreThe Impact Of Internet On The Music Industry1276 Words   |  6 Pagesother entertainment sectors, was headed for impending doom and catastrophic losses in sales. To some degree, and for the first few years, these predictions seemed to become a reality as record sales fell drastically at least partially due to piracy. However, as technological change continues at a rate never before seen, the impact of the Internet has been expanded well beyond illegal downloading to include fundamentally different ways of distributing, promoting and marketing music. Digital CapabilitiesRead MoreThe Internet And New Media1504 Words   |  7 PagesIn the new millennium, the communication channels have advanced at an amazing rate, making it possible for two people separated by thousands of kilometers to get in contact and socialize as if they were face to face. These possibilities of human interconnection have transformed the internet, as Bill Gates well says, into the meeting place of world population. The outer shell of the internet and all of its services encouraged over time the materialization of many computer programs, with featuresRead MoreHow Media Has Changed The Modern Landscape Of Communications And Media1901 Words   |  8 Pages modern mass media platforms have changed the way the audience receives information. It is established that over the last few decades, there has been a significant difference between traditional means of mass media such as print and mails and the modern mass media communication channels. With the introduction of the Internet, a variety of media companies have improved means of producing and transmitting news using various platforms. As a result, convergence has occurred in the media space as communicationRead MoreMass Medi The Spread Of Digital Media Communication1701 Words   |  7 Pagesthe mass media likely to survive the spread of digital media communication? The purpose of this essay is to explore if mass media is likely to survive the spread of digital media communication. Firstly, this essay discusses the definition of mass media, as well as when and where it originated in order to gain a better background understanding. It then goes on to discuss the growing popularity of digital media and how mass media communication still prevails despite the new digital media. In the conclusionRead MoreBuzzfeed : The Future Of News1076 Words   |  5 PagesWith this, the content produced by BuzzFeed news shifted from an entertainment-oriented online content aggregator to an original news content generator. Journalists see hard news as reporting that consists of newsworthy facts of events that are potentially open to analysis and interpretation, while soft news items are equal to human-interest stories. Soft news is generally considered to include â€Å"interesting† stories, that are entertainment-oriented, and of human interest. The increas e of hard news storiesRead MoreThe Emergence Of The Internet And Social Media1079 Words   |  5 PagesThe emergence of the Internet and social media has had a tremendous impact on the theory and practice of advertising, public relations and marketing disciplines. Advertising spending on the Internet has outpaced all other traditional media (Center for Media Research, 2004). In the last two years, the number of social networking tools and the number of people using those tools have exploded, thus the rules are constantly changing and there is considerable uncertainty on how to employ these tools fromRead MoreCause/Effect How Technology Influences Personal Relationships1095 Words   |  5 Pagesjust met on Facebook. A group of kids get in a fatal car accident because the driver was texting. All of these people are real life examples of the negative impacts of digital technology on society. Technology has been evolving for hundreds of years. As it has become more advanced, the more it has taken a hold of the community. Digital technology is universal and there is no way to avoid it, but people need to start using it more responsibly. Everything gets taken for granted now that there are so manyRead MoreThe Global Media Manager For Adidas International Essay968 Words   |  4 PagesThe global media manager for Adidas International is responsible for developing and campaigning a new marketing strategy at Adidas called brand in the hand that is based on the merging of cell phones and wireless internet. Presents company background information, data on the penetration of mobile de vices such as cell phones, the growth of global mobile marketing practices, and several mobile marketing communications campaigns that Adidas launched in 2004, such as a mobile news ticker for the 2004Read MoreAdidas International Global Media Manager Essay964 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Brand in the hand† is a new marketing strategy developed by Adidas International global media manager. This new campaign is based on the merging of cell phones and wireless internet. This campaign presents company background information, data on the penetration of mobile devices such as cell phones, the growth of global mobile marketing practices, and several mobile marketing communications campaigns that Adidas launched in 2004, such as a mobile news ticker for the 2004 European soccer championship

Schizophrenia Essay - 1139 Words

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It is a disease that makes it difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses to other, and to behave normally in social situations. People with schizophrenia may also have difficulty in remembering, talking, and behaving appropriately. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses. About 1% of the world population has schizophrenia. In the United States, there are about 2.5 million people with the disease. Schizophrenia is the cause of more hospitalizations than almost any other illness. Schizophrenia most commonly begins between the ages of 15 and†¦show more content†¦Even the experts are not sure exactly what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not be able to process information correctly. People without schizophrenia usually can filter out unneeded information: for example, the sound of a train whistle in the background or a dog barking next door. People with schizophrenia, however, cannot always filter out this extra information. One possible cause of schizophrenia may be heredity, or genetics. Experts think that some people inherit a tendency to schizophrenia. In fact, the disorder tends to â€Å"run† in families, but only among blood relatives. People who have family members with schizophrenia may be more likely to get the disease themselves. If both biologic parents have schizophrenia, there is nearly a 40% chance that their child will get it, too. This happens even if the child is adopted and raised by mentally healthy adults. In people who have an identical twin with schizophrenia, the chance of schizophrenia developing is almost 50%. In contrast, children whose biological parents are mentally healthy – even if their adoptive parents have schizophrenia – have about a 1% chance of getting the disease. That is about the same risk as for the general population of the United States. Some researchers believe that events in a person’s environment trigger schizophrenia. Some studies have shown that influenza infection or improper nutrition duringShow MoreRelatedSchizophrenia And Its Effects On Schizophrenia815 Words   |  4 Pagesand has schizophrenia. According to Mayo Clinic â€Å"Schizophrenia is a severe brain disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior. Contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia is not a split personality or multiple personality. The word schizophrenia does mean split mind, but it refers to a disruption of the usual balance of emotions and thinking. Schizophrenia is a chronicRead MoreSchizophrenia And Its Effects On The Development Of Schizophrenia Essay2173 Words   |  9 PagesSchizophrenia Schizophrenia is a life-long disorder that affects about one percent of the population (Mueser McGurk, 2004). The cause of this mental illness is still unclear. Studies have suggested that Schizophrenia does not arise from one factor but from a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors (Liddle, 1987). People diagnosed with Schizophrenia struggle to deal with a multitude of symptoms that make it difficult to function (Mueser McGurk, 2004). Antipsychotic medicationsRead MoreSchizophrenia Poster Research Topics : Schizophrenia1715 Words   |  7 PagesSchizophrenia Poster Research Topics K - What is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is chronic, severe, and a brain disabling disorder; that has affected people throughout history. It also interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others. People with the disorder may hear voices other people do not hear. They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illnessRead MoreSchizophrenia Essay949 Words   |  4 PagesSchizophrenia One of the major concerns of modern medicine is Schizophrenia. Frey defines schizophrenia as a group of disorders marked by severely impaired thinking, emotions, and behaviors (99). Straube and Oades incorporate more on its definition by saying this illness evokes a fundamental disturbance of personality (92). According to Gottesman, schizophrenia didn’t exist before the 19th century. He found many facts that lead to this hypothesis, finding no existence of this illness inRead MoreSchizophrenia Essay1411 Words   |  6 PagesSchizophrenia is affecting people more now than a few decades ago. This illness is across the US and is present in every culture. People are now aware and understand how the illness can be devastating to one’s life. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder of the brain but it is highly treatable. In the US the total amount of people affected with the illness is about 2.2 % of the adult population. The average number of people affected per 1000 total population is 7.2 % per 1000, which means a city thatRead MoreWhat Is Schizophrenia?1499 Words   |  6 PagesWhat is Schizophrenia? The study of schizophrenia dates back to the early 1800’s, when a guy by the name of John Haslam published a book called â€Å"Observations of Insanity†. In his book he goes into detail about the case studies or patents that show symptoms that we could categorize as schizophrenia disorder (John Haslam). By the end of the 19th Century the concept of schizophrenia was made known by a German psychiatrist by the name of Emil Krapelin. He basically took what he learned from HaslamRead More Schizophrenia Essay1017 Words   |  5 Pages Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects about one percent of the population. Generally if you have schizophrenia you cut out of contact with real world reality. The word Schizophrenia is Greek for â€Å"split mind†. It is common belief that a person with schizophrenia or a â€Å"schizo† has a split personality, but actually the person’s thinking, feelings, and behavior are so far from normal that they get to th e point where they interfere with their ability to function in everyday life. People whoRead MoreAbnormality and Schizophrenia1532 Words   |  7 PagesAccording to Mathers et al., (1996) â€Å"Schizophrenia ranks among the top ten causes of disability worldwide and affects one in one hundred people at some point in their lives.† (Cardwell and Flanagan, 2012). Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder which is commonly diagnosed in 15-30 year old individuals. It disrupts a person’s cognition, perceptions and emotions, making it extremely difficult to diagnose. Bleuler (1911) introduced the term schizophrenia, which translates as ‘split-mind’ or ‘dividedRead MoreSchizophrenia Essay1066 Words   |  5 Pagesis schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by irrational thought processes. A person dealing with this debilitating illness may think that people are going to kill them, or kidnap them. Some Schizophrenics often have â€Å"voices† in their heads telling them what to do. In some cases this has caused people to take their lives or try to. Schizophrenia is everywhere you look. Out of one hundred thousand people at least one hundred and fifty people have schizophrenia. LikeRead Moreschizophrenia abstract1053 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a severe and chronic brain disorder in which a person interprets actual reality abnormally. It is a mental disorder that makes it difficult to think clearly, have normal responses to emotions, act normal in a social setting, and tell the difference between their own interpretation of reality and actual reality. There are several types of Schizophrenia: paranoid, undifferentiated, disorganized, residual, and catatonic schizophrenia. The assumption is that

Does Sex Education Work Essay Example For Students

Does Sex Education Work Essay The question is no longer should sex education be taught, but rather how should it be taught. Over 93% of all public high schools currently offer courses on sexuality or HIV. More than 510 junior and senior high schools have school-linked health clinics, and more than 300 schools make condoms available on campus. The question now is, are these programs effective, and if not, how can we make them better? Kids need the right information to help protect them-selves. The US has more than double the teenagers pregnancy rate of any western industrialized country. Teenagers have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) of any age group, with one in four young people contracting an STD by the age of 21. STDs, including HIV, can damage teenagers health and reproductive ability. And there is still no cure for AIDS. HIV infection is increasing most rapidly among young people. One in four new infections in the US occurs in people younger than 22. In 1994, 417 new AIDS cases were diagnosed among 13-19 year olds, and 2,684 new cases among 20-24 year olds. Since infection may occurs up to 10 years before and AIDS diagnosis, most of those people were infected with HIV either as adolescents or pre-adolescents. Knowledge alone is not enough to change behaviors. Programs that rely mainly on conveying information about sex or moral precepts-how the bodys sexual system functions, what teens should and shouldnt do-have failed. However, programs that focuses on helping teenagers to change their behavior-using role-playing, games, and exercises that strengthen social skills-have shown signs of success. In the US, controversy over what message should be given to children has disadvantaged sex education programs in schools. Too often statements of values (my children should not have sex outside of marriage) come wrapped up in misstatements of fact (sex education doesnt work anyway). Should we do everything possible to suppress teenage sexual behavior, or should we acknowledge that many teens are sexually active, and prepare them against the negative consequences? Emotional arguments can get in the way of an unbiased assessment of the effects of sex education. Other countries have been much more successful than the US in addressing the problem of teen pregnancies. Age at first intercourse in similar in the US and five countries have teen pregnancy rates that are at least less than half the US rate. Sex education in these other countries is based on the following components: a policy explicitly favoring sex education; openness about sex, consistent messages throughout society, and access to contraception. Reducing the Risk, a program for high school students in urban and rural areas in California, used behavior theory-based activities to reduce unprotected intercourse, either by helping teens avoid sex or use protection. Ninth and 10th graders attended 15 sessions as part of their regular health education classes and participated in role-playing and experimental activities to build skills and self-efficacy. As a result, a greater proportion of students who were abstinent before the program successfully remained abstinent, and unprotected intercourse was significantly reduced for those students who became sexually active. Postponing Sexual Involvement, a program for African-American 8th graders in Atlanta, GA, used peers (11th and 12th graders) to help youth understand social and peer pressures to have sex, and to develop and apply resistance skills. A unit of the program also taught about human sexuality, decision-making, and contraceptives. This program successfully reduced the number of abstinent students who initiated intercourse after the program, and increased contraceptive use among sexually experienced females. Healthy Oakland Teens (HOT) targets all 7th graders attending a junior high school in Oakland, CA. Health educators teach basic sex and drug education, and 9th grade peer educators lead interactive exercises on values, decision-making, communication, and condom-use skills. .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .postImageUrl , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:hover , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:visited , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:active { border:0!important; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:active , .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337 .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ucf75d4d3b848e9fd765d3e7adc519337:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Chlamydia (714 words) Essay After one year, students in the program were much less likely to initiate sexual activities such as deep kissing, genital touching, and sexual intercourse. AIDS Prevention for Adolescents in School, a program for 9th and 11th graders in schools in New York City, NY, focused on correcting facts about AIDS, teaching cognitive skills to appraise risks of transmission, increasing knowledge of AIDS-prevention resources, clarifying personal values, understanding external influences, and teaching skills to delay intercourse and/or consistently use condoms. .

Work Life Balance Prioritizing

Question: Essay on Work-Life Balance. Answer: Abstract Work-life-balance is related properly prioritizing the work and the life of the employees by the employer of the organization. The leaders of the organization should assist the employees in understanding their job role properly accordingly prioritizing their jobs so that they can easily complete their jobs in time and make a space for their personal life. However, the concept of work-life-balance has been changed in some organizations due to their requirement of cost cutting of the organization. The study has been analyzed the statement of Juliet Bourke that states that the flexibility has been moved away from its original paradigm. It has been found that many organizations use the concept of work-life-balance as a way of redundancies in the organizations. The study also has been discussed the implication of excessive working hours on the performance of the employees as well as managers. Excessive working hours leads to health issues and personal life issues of the employees. Lastly, the study has been discussed the way in which the employers may bring flexibility in the organization during economic downturn of the organization. In this time, the employers have to properly allocate the human resources for the efficient productivity of the organizations. Key Word: Work-life balance, organization, managers, flexibility, performance Introduction Flexible working hours and work life balance are important factors for organization, as it increases the motivation of the employees that leads to high quality output (Purce, 2014). Many organizations are focused on reducing the cost of the organization through redesigning the organizational operation. They are focused on reducing the pay rolls, as it is the costliest things for the organization. On the other hand, many other organizations are interested in providing better work life balance to the employees for reducing redundancies (Storey, 2014). These kinds of organizations are providing flexible working hours to the employees for giving more space in their personal life. The meaning of work-life-balance is different in different organizations as per their needs. The study will discuss the justification of Juliet Bourke on her statement that flexibility has been moved away from its original paradigm. Apart from that, the study will also describe the implication of excessive worki ng hours on the performance of the employees and manager. The study will demonstrate the way the employers could facilitate work-life-balance on the time of economic downturn. Discussion In the previous era, talent acquisition was as kind of war for the employers, whereas now the employer seems to be reluctant in this area regarding their investment (Jiang et al., 2012). Nowadays, employers are highly focused on arranging the work, reducing the week of the work and initiating part time work with enhanced flexibility so that the organization could retain their employees for a longer time. Therefore, some employers are now doing foreseeable reduction in the staff of the organization, which is leading to an opportunity for redesigning the job roles and making the criteria of the job in such as way that simultaneously make the work life and personal life of the employees balanced. Juliet Bourke is not entirely satisfied with the reshaping of flexibility of the work. Juliet Bourke has argued that though workplace flexibility could minimize the overhead of the employees, the motive of workplace flexibility has been shifted and it is not in favor of betterment. As per Julie t Bourke, flexibility in todays organization is all about extracting more from fewer employees and it is very different from previous paradigm. The employer of organization may use economic crisis as the best opportunity for using work flexibility in a vicious way. The employers may reduce the time of work for some employees who are not needed at that time and put additional workload to some other employees that increases working time on those employees leading to overload of work (Alfes et al., 2013). Therefore, workplace flexibility is not ensuring win-win situation for the employees as well as employers in most cases. The intension of workplace flexibility is to benefit the people of the organization both horizontally and vertically, some organizations still need to develop sustainable solutions towards workplace flexibility and redesigning of work. While considering downturn, a situation might happen, where demand for client could be decreased (Buller McEvoy, 2012). Because of this downturn, the working hours for the employees might be reduced with flexible work environment and making work life balance of the employees. The prime element of this approach involves inclusive program of employee assistance and employees flexibility that assists in developing the adaptive, diverse and high performing workforce. These kinds of employees assist in meeting the existing and future needs of the organization. Leave options and voluntary lithe work provided by the organization may lead to reduced redundancy (Jiang et al., 2012). The organization may provide salary and wage according to the leave attended by the employees. Irrespective of strong culture in work life balance, some organizations inescapably need redundancy in workplace. However, the executive and high-level management has identified the benefit of work-life-balance strategi es and thus they have explored many new ways for balancing the work life and personal life of the employees minimizing the cost of the organization as well as redundancies. On the other hand, work-life-balance is related to provide effective working ways to the employees of all types of employees in terms of part time and full time. Frequent redundancies come in flexible working condition, natural attrition and redeployment when there is downturn in the organizations. In such cases, the employees have to stay sprightly in their working areas. In future days, the economy might pick up and the demand of the employees might be increased by increasing the urge of talent acquisition. According to Kehoe and Wright, (2013), the employees of the organization have concept that they have to work very hard in downturn situation. On the other hand, Armstrong, (2014) opined that overload in work may influence the employee engagement of the organization. This may in turn negatively affect the discretionary effort and productivity of the employees. The intension of organizations in getting more output from fewer employees may not always be effective and productive of the organization due to lack of engagement of the employees. According to Waiganjo et al., (2012), in order for increasing the sales volume and saving the cost of the organization towards increasing the profitability, it is expected that the employees would do according to needs of the organization for acquiring the set outcome. On the other hand, Nyberg et al., (2012) opined that forcing employees to do job as per the ser ways of organization may disengaged the employees and increases the time of required for actually completing the task. Unless and until the organization brings structural efficiencies in the workplace against the redundancy program, they may restrict themselves in getting more output from fewer employees. Therefore, it can be said that workplace flexibility has been moved away from its original paradigm that is foreseeable. Advantages and disadvantages are associated with it but if this situation is properly handled by the organization it may provide effective work-life-balance to the workforce. In order to complete the task and maintain their responsibility, employees work in different way in the organization. According to the requirement of the organization, excessive work of the organization can be categorized into different ways namely overtime, extended commute time, stretched hour per day and overtime hours. According to Al Ariss et al., (2014), excessive working hours may have negative influence on the employees and even the people associated with the employees like their family, community and employers. On the other hand, Park and Shaw, (2013) opined that long working hours have complicated connection with risk, as long working hour strongly influenced through employee control, job, non-work responsibilities and social life abnormalities. The implication of excessive working hours may lead to high level of stress, sleeplessness, limited time for families and other associated personal responsibilities. Excessive working hours may also harmfully affect the human body, disorder, exhaustion, uncomfortable and negative attitude of the employees towards their job role. According to Pierce and Aguinis, (2013), the managers of the organizations may also be negatively affected by the excessive working hours of the employees. Due to long working hours, attrition rate of the employees may be increased and thus, it may lead to delay in production process. When there is delay in production process, the production cost of the organization is increased and therefore, it hampers the actual profitability of the organization. On the other hand, Campbell et al., (2012) opined that the manger also negative influenced by the long working hours of the employees. Due to excessive working hour, employees do not work in the organization eagerly and do not give their best for producing high quality products. In such a situation, lethargy of employees towards their job role lead to cheap and low quality products and services produced in the organization by the employees. The community also influenced by the stunted approach of the employees towards their life in terms of medical errors, industrial mishap and automobile accidents. According to Langley et al., (2013), excessive working hours for the employees, who works for 24 hours at a stretch, may lead to decline in attention, continuous attention and alertness that results in poor diagnosis of diseases. On the other hand, Vaiman et al., (2012) opined that excessive working hours and pressure causes stress of the employees and their neck nerves to be strained due to long sitting in their working areas. According to Purce, (2014), if the employees have to work for long hours at a stretch, it can negatively affect the health of the employees. On the other hand, Storey, (2014) opined that due to long working hours, the employees may feel demotivated in the workplace if the working hours is not compensated by incentives. In order to decrease the demotivation of the employees towards their job role, the higher authority of the organization should properly define the responsibilities of the employees and accordingly provide incentives on the accomplishment of the job. Therefore, if the employers want to make the employees for working for long hours, then the employees should be motivated well through catering their psychological matter and provided with incentives on extra works. In absence of this things, the employees may lose their effectivity and may not perform their job role efficiently through not maintaining their responsibility. According to Jiang et al., (2012), at the time of economic downturn, employers need to facilitate suitable exploitation of resources so that none of the asset is predominantly overburdened. For example, if an organization thinks of retaining only its core employees, then it will be able to restore its financial resources. On the other hand, if an organization tries to reduce its optional expenditures then it will be able to retrain capital for compensating its human resource. This is because if an organization fails to retain its employees at the time of economic downturn, then it will surely fail to allocate best experienced candidates at the time of economic boom. On the other hand, Jiang et al., (2012) argued that for work-life balance, an organization needs to diversify its earning capabilities, so that the effect of national economic doom does not affect the revenue pattern. Therefore, it can be said that the concerned organization needs to ensure international business so that exchange rate increases the earning capability. Finally, it can be said that if an organization is able to retain its revenue at the time of economic downturn, then it will be able to maintain work-life balance. According to Waiganjo et al., (2012), at the time of economic downturn, the unemployment rate increases, as organizations fail to pay a huge human resource. Organizations only try to retain best and experienced candidates so that amount of performance is not reduced with ineffective workers. On the other hand, Park and Shaw, (2013) pointed out that at the time of economic downturn, some multinational organizations try to ensure training and development of its existing employees so that at the time of economic boom, human resource deliver the optimum outcome. Therefore, from the argument it can be said that organizations need to train and develop its human resource at the time of economic downturn, which will in turn ensure how to maintain work-life balance. Employees will get ample training regarding how to maintain work pressure, which will help the organization to retain such human resource during economic boom. According to Nyberg et al., (2014), the main focus for the employers at the time of economic downturn must be employee retention. For such motive, employers need to ensure effective working hours, flexible shift timing and allowance for work-from-home. Campbell et al., (2012) added that employers need not to ensure monetary recognition or financial benefits, but rather needs to give flexibility to its employees. Armstrong, (2014) pointed out that work-life balance at the time economic doom certainly leads to negative business impact, but if the business units are increased, then the amount of collective revenue will remain unaltered. This will lead to work-life balance. Therefore, from the views of the authors it can be said that employers need to entertain employees by good relationship, flexible working hours and special shift timing. It has been quite sure that the most important factor that conceives employers at the time of economic doom is finance. Therefore, if the organizatio ns are able to reduce the financial benefits and focus on work-file balance by flexibility, then it will surely able to retain enormous employees. Conclusion While concluding the study, it can be said that in todays organization, the time and hours of the employees is changing and this quick changes requires flexibility in the work environment for ensuring customer expectation through better product and service produced by the employees. In order to meet the business requirement, individual expectation of the employees should also be met through providing better work life balance. However, it has been found that some organizations are not providing better work-life-balance to the employees and making the employees work for excessive hours. Excessive working hours may have harmful effect on the health and personal life of the employees. Long working hours of employees may also negatively influence the employees through getting cheap and low quality products and service produced by the employees. In case of economic downturn of the organization, the managers of the organization should properly utilize human resources and consider the grieva nces of the employees so that effective and efficient productivity of the employees is maintained. References Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W. F., Paauwe, J. (2014). Talent management: Current theories and future research directions.Journal of World Business,49(2), 173-179. Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model.The international journal of human resource management,24(2), 330-351. Armstrong, P. (2014). Limits and possibilities for HRM in an age of management accountancy.New Perspectives On Human Resource Management op. cit. at, 154-166. Buller, P. F., McEvoy, G. M. (2012). Strategy, human resource management and performance: Sharpening line of sight.Human resource management review,22(1), 43-56. Campbell, B. A., Coff, R., Kryscynski, D. (2012). Rethinking sustained competitive advantage from human capital.Academy of Management Review,37(3), 376-395. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Han, K., Hong, Y., Kim, A., Winkler, A. L. (2012). Clarifying the construct of human resource systems: Relating human resource management to employee performance.Human Resource Management Review,22(2), 73-85. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Hu, J., Baer, J. C. (2012). How does human resource management influence organizational outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms.Academy of management Journal,55(6), 1264-1294. Kehoe, R. R., Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of Management,39(2), 366-391. Langley, A. N. N., Smallman, C., Tsoukas, H., Van de Ven, A. H. (2013). Process studies of change in organization and management: unveiling temporality, activity, and flow.Academy of Management Journal,56(1), 1-13. Nyberg, A. J., Moliterno, T. P., Hale, D., Lepak, D. P. (2014). Resource-based perspectives on unit-level human capital a review and integration.Journal of Management,40(1), 316-346. Park, T. Y., Shaw, J. D. (2013). Turnover rates and organizational performance: A meta-analysis.Journal of Applied Psychology,98(2), 268. Pierce, J. R., Aguinis, H. (2013). The too-much-of-a-good-thing effect in management.Journal of Management,39(2), 313-338. Purce, J. (2014). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management.New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals),67. Storey, J. (2014).New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Vaiman, V., Scullion, H., Collings, D. (2012). Talent management decision making.Management Decision,50(5), 925-941. Waiganjo, E. W., Mukulu, E., Kahiri, J. (2012). Relationship between strategic human resource management and firm performance of Kenyas corporate Organizations.International Journal of Humanities and Social Science,2(10), 62-70.

Organizational Politics free essay sample

The word politics is taken in a negative sense in most of the situations. Despite of this widely held belief, politics can be found everywhere right from home to the organization or the country level. Politics exists in every place where there are more than one person seeking same resources which are limited. Intentionally or unintentionally, everybody plays politics in one or the other way to serve their purpose and it proves to be helpful for someone while considered as â€Å"dirty† by others who are not benefitted by it. But probably it cannot be avoided as the politics comes in various forms and is present in every field of work in one or the other form. However, we are here to discuss about the politics present in the organizations in various levels and its affect on the work and people there. This presence of politics in the organization is called the organizational politics. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Politics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to Brandon and Seldman (2004), â€Å"Organizational politics are informal, unofficial, and sometimes behind-the-scenes efforts to sell ideas, influence an organization, increase power, or achieve other targeted objectives†. Extending the same note, Organizational politics refers to behaviours â€Å"that occur on an informal basis within an organization and involve intentional acts of influence that are designed to protect or enhance individuals’ professional careers when conflicting courses of action are possible† (Drory, 1993; Porter, Allen, Angle, 1981). Many studies have shown that organizational politics cannot be always considered to be a bad practice. In many cases, it proves to be beneficial for the organizations. Kotter, in his article â€Å"Power and influence†, says â€Å"Without political awareness and skill, we face the inevitable prospect of becoming immersed in bureaucratic infighting, parochial politics and destructive power struggles, which greatly retard organizational initiative, innovation, morale, and performance. † The concept is also supported by Randolph(1985) where he states that â€Å"Organizational Politics is not necessarily bad. It is another tool that employees and managers have for promoting goals that cannot be achieved in other ways†. Thus, in various articles, it has been stated that organizational politics is one of the major parts of business and it also has positive affects on the success of the organizations. To understand the concept of organizational politics, I would like to share a very common example of organizational politics. An employee asking for a salary hike in general terms would not probably be considered as an organizational politics, but as we see generally in the construction companies or other government organizations where labour unions are present, major strikes take place when the workers stop working and go on strike to force the organization for a salary hike. This may be considered as a major example of organizational politics. This example is having a very broad and visible scope but there are many other ways in which politics take place in the organizations. Sometimes they are visible to everyone but in most cases, it is played like a strategy game and it becomes tough to know where politics is happening. Politics take place in the organizations in every level, right from the junior level of workers for impressing their seniors and climbing up the corporate ladder, to the highest level of employees where they play politics for power and status. Sometimes, when the politics reaches a very high level in the organizations, it affects the organization in an adverse way and can be harmful for the organization’s future. Looking back to the article on â€Å"The Social Identity Theory†, I could relate the theory to the reasons behind the politics in the organizations. The social identity theory dealt with the human behaviours in different social gatherings. The strategies of organizational politics grow gradually in the employee’s behaviour. The way an experienced person joins the organization is very different from the fresher who joins his first organization. An experienced person is aware of the politics in the organizations and hence when he joins a new organization, he is very focussed about what he has to do. He quickly sets his target people whom he has to impress and whom he can rule. Moving further, he works on his strategies to achieve his pre-planned goal. However, when a fresher joins an organization, he is not aware of the politics in the organization and he still behaves in his high school ways doing friendships with the like ones and avoiding the unmatched people. But slowly, being in the organization, he smells the need of relationships with the right people and make his initial strategies to reach the intended person. Hence his identity changes in the organizational setup, and he learns the applicability of the old proverb that who you know matters as much as what you know. Many times, the same behaviour of a person is said to be wrong in terms of ethical behaviours but when the profitability of playing politics are sighted by the fellow members, they adopt the same political behaviour and tries to play the same ‘dirty politics’ to serve their purpose. When I was working in the organization, I have seen many cases like this, where people have played politics and have gained from it. In a very general scenario, an employee whether loves or hates his manager, he is always polite and sweet to him. This love and affection may not be because of the respect for the manager but it is also a type of organizational politics. We know with whom we have to keep good relation to grow in the organization. We know that keeping good relation with the manager will help us get promoted so however he is, we try to overlook it and behave in a very nice and polite way with him. A very general example of organizational politics can be seen in every small or large project. Every team member pretends to work for the whole team and care for each other but a very obvious fact is that he always try to over show him in the eyes of the seniors but showing the unintentional means. He never let other team members know that he is promoting himself in front of others but he tries to do that in some or the other way. This can be seen mostly in the Team Leader behaviours. He is regarded as a representative of the whole team and is generally responsible for answering for the whole team. While representing the team, he generally tries to hide the negative points or the mistakes done by the team members and try to over highlight the small achievements done by the team. His direct motive is the team but the indirect motive is always he. He knows that he can grow only when the team grows. Other say it as dirty tricks but no body can escape from it. According to King(1989), â€Å"Could it be that by refusing to play, we are able to avoid conflict that might compromise our principles and integrity? This is akin to taking our ball and going home! We gain a temporary reprieve, but the challenge still remains. Play or not play, the game still goes on! † Hence happily or forcefully, everybody has to enter the dirty game in order to save their chance in the game. Increasing social networking in the organizations is also a type of organizational politics. According to Dwyer in his article â€Å"How to win at Office Politics†, says ‘Successful politics starts with relationships: You’ll need your coworkers’ support — or at minimum their respect — to accomplish anything’. Social networking plays a very important role in the organizations. It is said that it’s worthless to count the enemies in your organization, but making more friends than the enemies always counts. It is evident that the more connections you have in your organization, the more powerful you are. All the negative impacts from the enemies can be counterbalanced by the positive impacts of friends. The main intention is to cover the area of enemies by friends. The affect of power is more visible in the higher level of hierarchy in the organizations. According to Farrell and Peterson (1982), â€Å"the successful practice of organizational politics is perceived to lead to a higher level of power, and once a higher level of power is attained, there is more opportunity to engage in political behaviour†. In a leadership position, the leader has more opportunity and need to play politics either for its own personal motive or for the sake of the organization. In a higher level, the leaders have the opportunity to highlight their contribution whenever needed. Due to the power they have, it is easier for them to manipulate things and show it in a more attractive way. In any case of brawl, they are capable to use any available resource such as experts, consultants, experienced persons, and administrative person etc. to put their point across and solve the problem. Moreover, they can ensure the help from the top management in case of difficult initiatives or discussions. Power is of no use if it cannot be used in the adverse situations. In a negative note, he can put the burden on others without letting them know in case of any unfavourable situation to save their position or work. Power can be used easily to remove any resistance in the work but using the power in a right way so that everybody is satisfied and happy is called the right politics. Moreover, the leaders do have the capability to exploit the political climate in the organization and maximize the organizational output and the satisfaction of the employees working under them. Giving appreciations, rewards and importance to the employees gives them a confidence to work and make them feel that they are important for the organization. This increases their loyalty towards the organization and commitment towards their work. This in turn increases the productivity and profitability for the organization as a whole. Thus, the employees are the main stakeholders of an organization and hence any politics in the organization should not break their trust or confidence and hence using the politics in a right way is very necessary in any level of the organization. Contrarily, sometimes when the manager intentionally or unintentionally avoids an employee or his good work or gives more importance to somebody else in front of him, then the employee feels isolated and avoided. Such repeated action results in lowering the employee’s confidence level and finally leads to frustration and mistrust. He eventually starts thinking that his hard work is not valued by the organization and he looses interest in his work. Because of this, his performance in the work decreases and leads him towards failure. Hence the behaviour of the leaders towards their employee plays a very important part in the overall progress of the employee. The satisfaction an employee feels at work leads him to maintain the status quo, while the lack of it may lead him to act in order to influence and change decisions in the organization. The politics in organizations changes the behaviour of an individual drastically. Once faced the politics in his work, he tends to evaluate every act of others in a political way. He starts evaluating the things in a more focused way and starts questioning every act of others. Due to this, he forces himself to make strategies to win against others. Sometimes, the level of competition reaches such a high level that it starts taking a wrong way and proving bad for the organizational culture. At this time, he starts caring less about the team work and concentrates only on his work. According to Dattner and Dunn, â€Å"In overly political organizations, there is a focus in individual self-interest and silos rather than on the good of the organization. Also there are clearly defined in-groups and out-groups, and a preoccupation with who is in each category. † This leads to a weak team building and differences among the team members. At this point of time, the real work of a leader comes into act. It becomes necessary for the leader to make some strategies so that he can heal the relational differences among the team members and get them back to the quality and united work rather han competing among themselves. Patience and the right politics play a very important role in such circumstances. Hence, organizational politics cannot be considered as negative all the time as it is generally important in the organizations in order to remove the hurdles in the work and maximize the output. However, Organizational Politics sometimes can be regarded as bad for the o rganizations and the employees. Sometimes, it lays a very bad affect on the employees with results in job resignation, job anxiety, dissatisfaction, frustration etc. Sometimes, employees who are dedicated towards their work to a more extent than others fail to get promoted and others having a political excellence win the battle. In such cases, the moral of the hardworking employees get affected and they do not get the actual worth of their hard work and dedication. Such reasons result in job dissatisfaction and they leave the company in search of a better environment but finally fail to find one. This is because one cannot get rid of the politics in the environment. The only option left with them is to change their own nature and behaviour and follow the political path. The hard work starts getting converted to smart work which can be beneficial for the individuals but probably is not good for the organizations. Moreover, a proper communication is very important in the organization. Mai and Akerson in their article ‘Building a better organization through effective communication’ says that Above all, leadership communication entails nurturing and maintaining a workplace environment in which communication flows freely and quickly in all directions with minimal distortion or lag time†. But when people get power, they sometimes hide the truth or share the necessary information with a limited number of people or probably share it very late with others. Sometimes, they alter the information and frame it in a misleading way for their own personal motives. The information starts with a different motive and intention in the higher level and by the time it reaches the lower level employees, the motive and meaning of the information changes. The intent of the information gradually changes in every level down, according to his or her political inclinations. Later on, when the truth unfolds, it puts a negative impact on other employees. The few negative impacts of politics on individuals as stated by Dattner and Dunn in their article â€Å"Organizational Politics† are decreasing loyalty and increasing focus on self interest, hoarding of information and control, stress and anxiety, paranoia and perceptual distortions, excessive worrying about status and perceived slights, defensiveness about errors and mistakes, mistrust of the validity of feedback, acting out and regressive behaviours etc. Moreover, when a person comes into power, sometimes he tends to create a ‘One Man Rule’ in the organization level or in the project level, which creates a lot of difficulties for the employees under him. He starts taking the problem in a more personal way and tends to take revenge with people he doesn’t like. In such situations, the intent of the politics goes beyond the organizational scope and reaches a personal arena. In such situations, during the time of electing people for promotions, he gets very biased resulting in the selection of people who are efficient in impressing him through their politics and the hard working and the work centric people lags behind in this game. According to Kacmar Ferris (1991), â€Å"In highly political organizations, rewards are not necessarily related to work performance, but may instead be tied to relationships, power, and other less objective factors. Due to this, the power and authority is not adequately distributed which leads to other problems. According to Zivnuska et al, in their article ‘Journal of Organizational Behaviour’, ‘If organizational behaviour is not governed by a clear set of rules or expectations and behaviour is enacted with the sole purpose of personal gain, it is difficult for employees to predict behaviour of colleagues, managers, or the executive team. ’ Conclusively, like it or not, every work place is a politi cal environment. But politics not always mean playing a dirty game. In its purest form, the organizational politics simply mean removing hurdles in your way and moving from here to there; by securing the job, securing a promotion, gaining support from other team mates or precisely getting the work done in an easier way. Getting success in the life is everybody’s main intention of life and for achieving it we have to go through many tough ways. Clearing the tough ways and making it easier for us is our motive and doing so by finding a way out in a strategic and probably ethical way is never wrong. However, excess of anything proves to be harmful and thus a proper mix of politics and work can serve the organization and the people in a better way. Politics and power are interrelated and both of it should be used in an appropriate way to avoid imbalance in work and ethics. Moreover, avoiding the organizational politics can never be the solution for an individual but trying to learn to be in such a political environment and win over it is the main essence of the work experience.

Free Essays on The Conflict Between Miss Y And Mrs. X

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MISS Y AND MRS. X â€Å"When two women, with a past like ours, who loathe each other the way we do things tend to get ugly when they get together.† This was said in â€Å"made-for-T.V. movie, but it perfectly explains the relationship between Missy and Mrs. X. The two women in this play, â€Å"The Stronger† by August Strindberg, (Miss Y, Amelia, and Mrs. X) are two women who were not necessarily friends, but more along the lines of acquaintances at one point in their relationship. However, something happened along the way that caused them to be angry with one another. In the beginning of this play Mrs. X was tiring to be friends with Miss Y, but Miss Y wanted nothing to do with Mrs. X. Nonetheless, Mrs. X sat at Miss Y’s table and began to speak to her about topics such as family, children, and the way Mrs. X â€Å"got in Miss Y’s way† and got her kicked out of the theater company they both worked for. Completely disregarding any hint from Miss Y that she was not necessarily welcomed at her table. Doing so caused Mrs. X to put together pieces of a rather large puzzle in which the end result was the affair that Miss Y had With Mrs. X’s husband. Miss Y is a quiet timid woman, who does absolutely no talking (verbally) in this story, but only expresses her self by facial jesters and a few sinkers and giggles now and then. Mrs. X: Why, Millie my dear, how are you? Sitting hear all alone on Christmas Eve like some Bachelor. Miss Y looks up from her magazine, nods and continues to read. (121) She does not seem to find it very important to discuss the topics that Mrs. X is bringing up because all it will do is end up hurting Mrs. X. She shows a lot of self-control because no matter how many hurtful things Mrs. X says, Miss Y still remains silent and hesitant, even when Mrs. x asks her to speak. It could also be that she is possibly lacking the strength to bring up this past that we find to be so very vivid. Sh... Free Essays on The Conflict Between Miss Y And Mrs. X Free Essays on The Conflict Between Miss Y And Mrs. X THE CONFLICT BETWEEN MISS Y AND MRS. X â€Å"When two women, with a past like ours, who loathe each other the way we do things tend to get ugly when they get together.† This was said in â€Å"made-for-T.V. movie, but it perfectly explains the relationship between Missy and Mrs. X. The two women in this play, â€Å"The Stronger† by August Strindberg, (Miss Y, Amelia, and Mrs. X) are two women who were not necessarily friends, but more along the lines of acquaintances at one point in their relationship. However, something happened along the way that caused them to be angry with one another. In the beginning of this play Mrs. X was tiring to be friends with Miss Y, but Miss Y wanted nothing to do with Mrs. X. Nonetheless, Mrs. X sat at Miss Y’s table and began to speak to her about topics such as family, children, and the way Mrs. X â€Å"got in Miss Y’s way† and got her kicked out of the theater company they both worked for. Completely disregarding any hint from Miss Y that she was not necessarily welcomed at her table. Doing so caused Mrs. X to put together pieces of a rather large puzzle in which the end result was the affair that Miss Y had With Mrs. X’s husband. Miss Y is a quiet timid woman, who does absolutely no talking (verbally) in this story, but only expresses her self by facial jesters and a few sinkers and giggles now and then. Mrs. X: Why, Millie my dear, how are you? Sitting hear all alone on Christmas Eve like some Bachelor. Miss Y looks up from her magazine, nods and continues to read. (121) She does not seem to find it very important to discuss the topics that Mrs. X is bringing up because all it will do is end up hurting Mrs. X. She shows a lot of self-control because no matter how many hurtful things Mrs. X says, Miss Y still remains silent and hesitant, even when Mrs. x asks her to speak. It could also be that she is possibly lacking the strength to bring up this past that we find to be so very vivid. Sh...

Competitiveness of HK Cruise Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Competitiveness of HK Cruise Tourism - Essay Example I identified that I will have to improve my confidence level which will in turn improve my communication and socialization skills. I am reserved and introvert in nature which makes it difficult for me to socialize with people and open up easily. To establish a successful career as a hotel manager in the cruise tourism industry I will have to possess excellent communication skills and a pleasant personality. I believe I have a positive personality but my inability to communicate smoothly makes it difficult for me to express my personality in my behaviour. To work in the position of a hotel manager and ensure the future development of my career, I will focus on enhancing my communication abilities and the ability to understand and respond to what other people have to say. This will help me in the future to manage the customers in the cruise where I would work as a hotel manager. The position of a hotel manager would, call for a friendly, outgoing, pleasing and helpful personality. Thus I will have to improve on these skills. Also, I will have to improve on my ability to communicate with other team members and to manage a team as I will have to manage a group of people working under me in my work. I will have to communicate wi th the customers, teammates and personnel in other departments. Therefore, I will have to install more confidence in my speaking and communicating abilities. A considerable level of empathy and ability to establish rapport with the customers and fellow workers would help me in the future development of my career. The essay is aimed at studying and evaluating the different aspects of the Hong Kong cruise tourism industry. The study is prepared by providing a suitable background to the Hong Kong tourism industry encompassing the different aspects of the tourism and hospitality sector in Hong Kong and the evolvement of the Hong Kong cruise industry through the establishment of terminals and other infrastructures. I have