Freud and psychoanalysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Freud and psychoanalysis - Research Paper Example No matter what level of education an individual might have, it is likely he or she is familiar with the name of Sigmund Freud. Freud’s name is now synonymous with the theory of psychoanalysis. It is a science he essentially invented near the beginning of the 19th century. Sigmund Freud began his career as a medical doctor. He worked in Vienna with mental patients and it is because of this work that he is today considered one of the founding fathers of modern day psychology. It was while working with these patients that Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory. Clearly, Freud’s original training was not in the field that he started. He originally worked as a neurologist, but the common method of treating patients was to use hypnosis, something Freud wasn’t very good at but which forced him to take a more imaginative approach to treating the mind that would revolutionize the way people thought about thought (Robbins, 1999). Although Freud was obviously not the fir st individual to study how the mind worked and he would obviously not be the last, Freud is given credit for making the first major break-through in treating the mind as an entity existing at least partially separate from the body. He identified that there were at least three different levels of thought and realized that these levels interacted and intertwined. Putting these pieces together led to his development of psychotherapy. Freud classified three major components as comprising an individual’s psyche. These were the id, the ego and the superego. This intuitive leap from biological function to mental processes did not occur by accident. To fully understand Freud’s theories, his theoretical model of the human mind and how these ideas translate into his theories regarding human culture, it is necessary to understand how these ideas developed as well as how Freud expressed

Research/analyze the contemporary globalization of one place Research Paper

/analyze the contemporary globalization of one place - Research Paper Example This paper will give detailed proofs of how shanghai has undergone globalization and expanded from being local to international levels. The main mission of this paper is to enhance a better contact with shanghai. The underlying premise depicts that Shanghai is a rich city for Globalization. Instead of viewing globalization as an external factor influencing Shanghai, this paper will show how globalization is inherent in the city of Shanghai and that the investigation of the distinctive features of Shanghai starting from the abandoned factories which are now viewed as creative clusters, to the Lilong architectures, luxury malls and street peddlers lights up the world globalization both in the past and the future. The main factors that have led to shanghai globalization are the tourism attractions, the Shanghai’s resurgence, competition of the Chinese cities and the tale of two cities (shanghai and Hong Kong). There are other unmentioned factors that have seen shanghai in to globalization. Shanghai is a global city which sees itself as the city of the future. This continued belief of the Shanghai globalization is driven by the history of the city. With this in mind, questions like can shanghai reanimate the cosmopolitanism of its past? Will its attempts of fostering a culture of creativity succeed? Can it bear an urban golden age that is energetic and innovative enough to influence the rest of the world just like New York or London arise. First shanghai will be viewed as a model of development and trading partner for India. (Liu, 786). Secondly, the city will be regarded as one of the important zones of economic opportunity within the larger Chinese world. Without the global business networks of the Taiwanese, Hong Kong and the Chinese American entrepreneurs, shanghai city would not have risen to higher levels. Additionally, the city will be viewed as a magnet for the migration within the country of China. Back in the old

Compare and contrast the theories

Compare and contrast the theories Part I 1. Compare and contrast the theories and basic treatment models of Albert Ellis and Aaron T. Beck. Include a discussion of the structure, theoretical/philosophical positions, therapist activity, demands on the client, and empirical support. Albert Elliss basic treatment model is rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). The theoretical basis of Elliss model is that individuals routinely cope with life issues by reconstructing their beliefs, affect, and behaviors in adaptation to the problem (Ellis, 2000). While this psychological process seems like a positive way to adapt in regards to an issue, many individuals inevitably construct poor beliefs and behave in a repetitive and maladaptive manner. Meaning, that not only does the problem still exist in one way or another, but that the behavior, or more specifically the schematic agenda, created by this poor cognitive process only adds to a schema that is poorly built. In this regard, the future result of the next problem will be dealt with poorly all over again due to a lack of introspection of the past consequences or possibly simply due to a lack of individual skills. Additionally, REBT considers that most individuals bring about problems for themselves by creating personal imperatives (Ellis, 2000). These personal imperatives involve internal statements that include: I will perform well to gain others approval, my life should be trouble-free and enjoyable, and everyone should treat me well (Ellis, 2005). In this manner, when these expectations (demands) are not met, individuals create their own affective misery. In response to this, therapists using REBT are expected to use a more directive manner than when using a psychodynamic approach, for example. Clients are shown how to acknowledge and then dispute within themselves their irrational beliefs. In addition, therapists not only give the clients unconditional acceptance, but the therapist must gives themself Unconditional Self-Acceptance (aka USA) (Ellis, 2005). Becks Cognitive therapy rests on the principle of collaborative empiricism (Hollon Beck, 2000). Cognitive therapy theorizes that clients have automatic thoughts and that these thoughts are incorrect beliefs, therefore, they create maladaptive behaviors (Wenzel, Brown, Beck, 2009). A cognitive therapist would teach their clients how to think more like a scientist by showing them that their beliefs are not necessarily facts. Meaning, client would collect data from their issues, their behaviors, and their consequences, and pseudo-empirically test their possibly irrational beliefs. Within this process, the hope is that the automatic thoughts will be addressed and corrected. Though, Becks Cog ­nitive therapy is somewhat different than Elliss Rational Emotive-Behavior Ther ­apy (REBT). While they both have their basis in the processes of cognition and how those thoughts motivate behavior, one could argue that REBT uses the influence of logic reasoning to change the clients schema (Hollon Beck, 2000). Also, Becks Cog ­nitive therapy differs from REBT because there is an emphasis in the testing of beliefs in-vivo from an empirical point of view. In either type of cognitive-based therapy, there are a large degree of empirical data that supports how effective CBT is. In fact, there are studies that suggest CBT is more effective than medication for depression (McGinn, 2000). 2. The First Wave was behavior therapy. The Second Wave was Cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapy. The Third Wave includes the works of Hayes and Linehan. Is the Third Wave a wave, a tsunami, or just a gentle lapping at the shore? How are these waves different? The first wave, Behavior therapy, is based upon the theories of classical conditioning and operant conditioning developed by B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov. Behavior-based therapy considers the behaviors antecedent and reaction, then viewing how the consequence is processed to influence the occurrence and the repetition of the same behavior (Skinner, 1969). The second wave involves the addition of the cognitive model. This model is based on how interpretations or misinterpretations are created and how they eventually relate to the individuals affective experiences and the behavior that is manifested. (Wenzel, Brown, Beck, 2009). The combination of behavioral and cognitive aspects in this wave is the use of reinforcers that are directly related to personal experiences. Meaning, that the exposure of thoughts, reinforcers, and behaviors to the client will help in the realization of negative thought patterns in relation to their situation. Thus, in the true essence of CBT, they will be ab le to scrutinize themselves, the world, and the future. The hope is that the client will work, with the therapist, towards beneficial life changes. The third wave is its own wave. This wave of Cognitive therapy was developed as a consequence of the restructuring process of the second wave of Cognitive Therapy. As described by Linehan Dimeff (2001), Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT) was created due to the failures of standard Cognitive and/or Behavioral therapy. It is suggested that too much emphasis was put on change the of individual which resulted in an invalidation of the client; an invalidation of the ability of the client to succeed when they have, in their perception, failed so much already. Therefore, a large conceptual part of DBT is skills training of emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, mindfulness, and distress tolerance (Linehan Dimeff, 2001, p. 1). DBT purposefully takes into account not only the change that needs to occur cognitively, but also the in the moment affect of the client. Concurrently with DBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was created by Steven Hayes as a psychological intervention that also uses mindfulness but has a spotlight on personal acceptance (Hayes, 2009). Hayes coins a term called psychological flexibility, in where an individual is able to fully connect to themselves in spite of the changing situations and personal mood. With this flexibility in mind, the third wave CBT and the mindfulness concept differs from traditional second wave CBT due to highly dynamic approach that is expected from the therapist towards the client. Maybe too simply put, 2nd wave CBT focuses highly on »Ã‚ ¿ cognition while DBT focuses more on behavior and skills (or lack of). Therefore, the central aspect of the new third wave CBT is helping clients review and accept their thoughts in order to alter the maladaptive automatic reactions they have been using to cope. CBT is not just how your cognitions effect your behavior, but an attempt to understand the complex interconnection of schemas that produce reactions in all areas of functioning including: affect, physiology, and behavior (Claessens, 2010). 3. From your reading and research what would be the main points of agreement and difference between: 1) CBT, 2) psychodynamic therapy, and 3) family systems therapy. While psychodynamic therapy and family systems therapy agree that human development is largely determined by significant interpersonal relationships, and that this understanding is crucial to treatment, CBT places greater emphasis on the individual. The main focus of CBT is placed only on the person in therapy, their schemas, automatic thoughts, and cognitive distortions (Freeman Eig, n.d.). Conversely, psychodynamic theory revolves around feelings and behavior being determined by interactions with others. Transference plays a key role in understanding present patterns of behavior which originated in previous attachment-based relationships (Leichsenring, Hiller, Weissberg, Leibing, 2006). Psychodynamic psychotherapy aims to identify problematic relationships from the past and to provide the client with a safe, therapeutic relationship, as well as helping them build additional positive relationships. While family systems therapy also works within the context of attachment-based rela tionships, the focus is on the relational dynamics taking place in the moment. Family and couples therapists work with all affected people, together and separately, in order to address intrapersonal and interpersonal dysfunction (Liddle, 2010). CBT and psychodynamic therapy both address the clients core beliefs, though how these beliefs were formed is not necessarily crucial to CBT based treatment. Family systems puts the focus on developing positive interactions between family members. Meanwhile, relationships in family systems therapy are already established and occurring in the present (Liddle, 2010). Psychodynamic therapy focuses on harmful relationships of the past and understanding them, but not always focusing on building positive relationships in the future. While both the CBT and Psychodynamic approach attempt to diminish psychopathological symptoms and grief, a very central difference between CBT and psychodynamic therapy is that psychodynamic therapy attempts to determine at why you feel or behave the way you do. Specifically, psychodynamic therapy concentrates on trying to uncover the deep and often unconscious motivations for feelings and behavior whereas CBT does not necessarily consider this a priority you cant see whats ahead of you when youre looking over your shoulder (Freeman, 1993, 2011). In practice, CBT attempts to lessen the clients suffering as quickly as possible training their mind to replace maladaptive thought patterns, perceptions, and conduct with helpful ones in order to modify behavior and affect. Part II 1. How is structure used in CBT? What is the purpose of structuring the sessions? What techniques would be used to achieve the structure for the therapy and for the sessions? Structure in therapy can have several meanings. Structure could mean the format of the therapy as a whole, whether it would be very brief, short-term, or long-term. Structure could mean the environment of where therapy takes place, such as in a hospital or in a private office. However, the most relevant and crucial meaning of structure within CBT is the structure of the session. 45-50 minutes a week is not a great length of time, so the structure of CBT in practice should be designed to be as efficient as possible. Each session should be a meaningful exchange between therapist and client. The therapists and clients collaborative goals should always be center stage, but the set agenda needs to take precedence. As Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon (1990) notes, spending a few minutes each session is an asset to the therapeutic milieu and is possibly the most valuable technique in creating a environment of progression instead of digression. A typical structure of a session as described by Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon (1990) involves: agenda setting, a review of clients current status, consideration of events of the past week, requesting feedback regarding previous session, review any homework from the previous session, a focus on main agenda issues, develop any new homework, and once again looking for feedback regarding current session (p.17). Taking into consideration how the client and therapist envision the sessions while creating a agenda allows redirection of the client when the discussion goes off the expect path, but also reduces the likelihood that the client will feel pushed around or invalidated (Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon, 1990). Additionally, a client who is defensive, aggressive, or always in crisis may make the progression of the weekly session unstable when a joint program is not set (Persons, Davidson, Tompkins 2001). Therefore, the collaboration between client and therapist when setting the main agenda is essential. If this teamwork does not occur, in where the therapist decides completely the topic of the session, the client may not effectively grasp the meaningfulness of the session due to a lack of motivation because they do not feel involved. Additionally, a lack of review of the agenda with the client may also put the inexperienced therapist unsure of where to go next in the session (Persons, Davidson, Tompkins 2001). The termination of a session should not be an unexpected and sudden event for the client. A therapist must bring some sort of closure in relation to goals of the session while allowing sufficient time to address the ending of therapy and any issues the client still has. (Joyce, Piper, Ogrodniczuk, Klein (2007). Therefore, even with an opportunity for feedback about the previous session toward the beginning of a session, there should be a set time for feedback about the curren t session at the end of the therapy. In both instances, this time allows for a discussion of problems that may have occurred, such as errors in communication, misunderstandings, or general feedback from the client (Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon, 1990). 4. How is Narcissistic Personality Disorder defined, assessed, conceptualized, and treated? How does a therapist deal with this resistant patient? Narcissistic Personality Disorder is defined by cognitive processes that involve selective attention of the meaning of events and dichotomous thinking (Freeman, n.d.). This dysfunctional internal thought arrangement is due to the postulation that the individual considers themselves as special, or just better than others. However, from a psychodynamic perspective, the definition of the disorder changes a bit. Ledermann (1982), describes the disorder as something of an opposite of an individual who considers themselves as special or has a proclivity to engage in self-worship, it is the inability to love oneself and hence the inability to love another personThey are fixated on an early defense structure which springs into being in infancy-when, for whatever reasons, there is a catastrophically bad fit between the baby and the mother, frequently compounded by the lack of an adequate father and by other inimical experiences in childhood. Babies, thus deprived, grow into persons who lack t rust in other peopleThey experience their lives as futile and empty, and their feelings as being frozen or split off (p.303). This psychodynamic perspective is a bit extremist and obviously over-analyzed. To say that the narcissistic individual is unable to love is akin to calling an individual with low self esteem a sociopath. On second thought, it has been noted that a narcissistic individuals is very similar to a sociopath due to a lack of empathy for others and no desire to do what is right (Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon, 1990). Regardless, one could argue that the narcissistic individual really does suffer from low esteem. That maybe they are grasping at the straws of the world looking for someone to approve of them. The more likely reality is that on a day by day, second to second process, the narcissistic individual is looking for aspects of their lives and environment that feed or fit into their own schema of how great they are. This could also entail an ignoring of any evidence that goes contrary to their belief structure. Therefore, the treatment and the goal of therapy for the narcissistic individual is not to necessarily expose the cognitive flaws and the interpersonal manipulations that have occurred. Doing so would go against the foundation of the narcissistic individuals schematic structure and probably prematurely end therapy (Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon, 1990). First, a realization of the difficulty that lies ahead must occur for the client and the therapist. There must be a observed equalization of power between the therapeutic alliance because preventing a power struggle is generally the first step that must be taken. Freeman, Pretzer, Fleming, Simon, (1990) allude to the idea that homework assignments may not be the best approach with these individuals due to the likelihood of noncompliance because of the patients belief that they are special. Instead the therapist must present the therapy to the client as something of great value to them instead of a type of humiliation (Freeman, n.d .). A resistant patient such as this is not only opposing to feedback or questioning, they see it as a fundamental aggressive criticism that attacks their very existence. Due to their innate response to invalidate a therapists statement or view, a therapist must be dynamic and hold an absolute positive regard towards the individual and appear to appreciate deeply what is stated by the client.

Linear Programming Essay -- Computer Science

Linear Programming Part A Introduction â€Å"Linear programming was developed by George B. Dantzig in 1947 as a technique for planning the diversified activities of the U.S Air Force.† Linear programming is a powerful mathematical technique that can be used to deal with the problem of allocating limited facilities and resources among many alternative uses in order to find out the optimal benefits. The main objective of the linear programming problem in management is to maximize profit or minimize cost. Linear programming has a wide variety of applications. It is used by oil companies to determine the best mixture of ingredients for blending gasoline. It is also plays an important part in making the optimal schedules for transportation, production, and construction. In addition, linear programming is a flexible problem-solving tool for portfolio selection in finance, budgeting advertising expenditures in marketing, assigning personnel in human resources management. Applications One of the most important applications of linear programming is the formulation of blends. Blending problems appear whenever a manager must decide how to blend tow or more recourse in order to produce one or more products. In these situations, the recourses often contains one or more essential components that must be mixed in a given pattern and the final product will contains specific percentage of the essential components. In most of these applications management then has to decide how much of each recourse to purchase in order to satisfy product specification and produce demand at minimum cost. Blending problems occur frequently in the petroleum industry( such as blending crude oil to produce different octane gasoline), chemical industry( such as blending chemicals to produce fertilizers, week killers, and so on), and food industry( such as blending input ingredients to product soft drinks, soups, and so on). Linear programming is also a very useful tool that can be used to deal with problems in manufacturing industry, such as the product-mix problem. In this situation, the objective of the manager is to determine the production levels that will allow the company to meet the product demand requirements, given limitations on labor capacity, machine hour’s capacity and so on, at the same time, to make the cost of production to minimum. The... ...simultaneously, we get X=2/3, Y=7, plug them into objective function 40X+20Y we get a profit of  £166.67. The difference between this profit and the original max-profit is 166.67-160= £6.67, which means the dual price for increasing/decreasing in purchasing 1 pig, is  £6.67. Economic meaning for shadow price The economics meaning of shadow price is the improvement in the optimal value of the objective function per unit increase in the right-hand side of the constraint. In a profit maximization problem, the dual price is the same as the shadow price. Managers could get information from the performance of each constraint and therefore make decisions on any changes in a particular input factor or resource in order to increase profit. In this case, to get more profit, the farmer is recommended to increase the number of bushels rather than increase the amount of pigs. Reference: ‘The Quantitative methods for business decision with casesÂ’, Lawrence L. Lapim, 6th Edition, Dryden, Chapter 9. ‘An introduction to management science-quantitative approaches to decision makingÂ’, David R.Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, Thomas A. Williams. . 6Th Edition, West, Chapter 4.

Changes in Gender Inequality in Canada in Sports Essay

Society expects males and females to fulfill specific gender roles – â€Å"attitudes and activities that society links to each sex†. Males are expected to be ambitious, strong, independent and competitive, which â€Å"encourages males to seek out positions of leadership and play team sports†. And females are expected to be deferential, emotional, attractive, quiet and obedient, â€Å"supportive helpers and quick to show their feelings† (Macionis and Gerber, 2011:300). These traditional stereotypes have been challenged and confronted by many women and feminists, and in this paper we are going to look specifically in sports and physical activities. My thesis statement will be that gender inequality has been decreasing over the last 100 years. Women were slowly starting to participate in all sports which were considered to be masculine, and were only available for men to enjoy. One of the first factors which could be linked to the emancipation of women in sport in late 1800 – early 1900s is the safety bicycle. It not only caused a revolution in women’s fashions: women’s sportswear was finally being designed to accommodate more vigorous activity, but â€Å"was also a â€Å"vehicle† through which women broke with traditions and asserted their independence† (Hall and Richardson, 1982: 32-33). Slowly more organizations, sports clubs and tournaments were opening up for women. In the early 1900s, women started to participate in most forms of sport, but were still prohibited from activities there body contact was possible. Period after the World War I and throughout the 1920s was really exciting for sportswomen in Canada and their fans. â€Å"This often called the â€Å"golden age† of women’s sports, it was time when popular team sports like basketball, ice hockey, and softball became sufficiently organized to hold provincial and Dominion championships; when the best athletes, especially in track in field, began to complete internationally and eventually at the Olympic Games; and when women leaders and administrators took control of women’s sports, claiming they knew what was the best for girls and women, although the advice of the man was still needed† (Hall, 2002: 42). In the 1928 Canadian women have joined Olympics in Amsterdam for the first time for the track and field competition. In the mid 1930s â€Å"depression tightened its grip on Canada and the were signs that the Golden Age was over. Reactionary attitudes towards athletic competition for females was taking hold; commercialized professional sport for men was on the rise, meaning that men’s sports were given priority of access to public facilities. Spectators were drawn away from the women’s games to the exclusively male professional sports like ice hockey, football, baseball; it became increasingly difficult to find sponsors for women’s amateur sport† (Hall and Richardson, 1982: 36). World War II took its toll on both men’s and women’s sports. Although many of leagues continued to exist, nobody took athletics seriously. Olympic Games did not start again till 1948. † Post war conservatism has been described by Betty Friedan: women should desire â€Å"no great destiny than to glory in their own femininity†. Careers or commitments outside of their home were unnecessary for their personal fulfillment and undesirable for the satisfactory performance of the housewife role† (Lenskyj, 1986: 83) For the duration of war women were occupying men’s jobs and were laid off as soon as men returned home to resume the rightful place. It was still alright for women to participate in â€Å"beauty producing† sports like figure skating, synchronized swimming, or gymnastics and as long as they looked pretty and feminine on the tennis, badminton courts, golf courses, and ski hills, they were not criticized. But women athletes which were â€Å"sweating on the basketball courts, softball pitches, ice hockey rinks, and the cinder tracks were suspect, their femininity continually questioned† (Hall, 2002: 109). Participation in school, university and community sporting programs however, was hardly likely to pose a threat to femininity. Basketball continued for the most part to be played by girl’s rules. Softball, an already simplified version of baseball, was in some cases was modified further for girls and women. In the 1960s not only women’s femininity was being questions but also their sexuality. In the 1966 the first official â€Å"sex tests† were introduced, with three gynecologists visual examination to confirm that athletes genital sex was, in fact female. â€Å"The introduction of sex tests coincided with significant advances for women in terms of their participation at the Olympic Games, with number of them increasing dramatically throughout the 1960s and 1970s.† For example at the summer Olympics, the 800 meter running was reintroduced in the 1960s. Women’s volleyball, the first team event for women was introduced in1964, along with pentathlon and 400 meter individual medley, swimming event. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City six more swimming events were introduced and in the 1972 at Munich, the 1500 – meter run, 4Ãâ€"400 meter track relay, and kayak slalom were introduced. So the number of women on Canada’s Olympic team has increased from 11.30 to 22.6 per cent for the Summer Olympic between 1960 and 1972, and from 21.4 to 38.3 per cent for the Winter Olympic Games during the same period. Sex testing at the Olympics originally was called â€Å"femininity control† and was trying to determine who was genetically female, because prior to that where has been a lot of men who were trying to pose as women, which was only found out after the fact and also women athletes were becoming more â€Å"masculine†, therefore it had to be proved that they were actually females (Hall, 2002: 153 -159).The sex testing did not stop until the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano. By the mid-1970 all across Canada parents started noticing that their daughters were not being treated the same way as their sons when it came to recreational and sporting opportunities by the late 1970s there has been a lot of sports related complaints of sex discrimination. The majority of these cases were involving young girls who wished to play on all male sports teams. The main value of these human rights cases was to bring public interest, concern and â€Å"pressure to bear on eliminating unequal, sex discriminatory sport and recreation programs† (Hall, 2002: 163) In March 1981 Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport(CAAWS) was established. It started providing women athletes with funding and support. And finally â€Å"in 1982 women were granted equal protection and equal benefit of the law in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms† (Macionis and Gerber, 2011: 305). Beginning of the 1990s in the most areas of organizational life including sports, has been a subtle shift from â€Å"equality† to â€Å"equity†. â€Å"Gender equity is the principle and practice of fair and equitable allocation of resources and opportunities for both females and males. This eliminates discriminatory practices that prevent the full participation of either gender† (Larkin and Baxter, 1993: 4) In the past decade Canadian women are participating almost in all sports on competitive levels. â€Å" In 1998, in Nagano, Japan, women’s hockey was an official Olympic sport for the first time, and world of Canadian women’s hockey changed forever. The game that originated in Canada had become part of our collective identity, continues to be our most popular sport and it is now played by women – legitimately!† (Macionis and Gerber, 2011:320) Canadian women Hockey team has won Olympic gold medal 3 times in a row: 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, 2006 Olympics in Turin, and 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. Their achievements have been absolutely amazing. They have showed that they force to be reckoned with. They actually have done better than Canadian male Olympic team. In this 2012 Olympics Games in London, England for the first time women’s boxing is going to be introduced. And there has been controversy of women should wear shorts or skirts. The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) requested that female boxers wear skirts so that would make them more elegant – on the trial basis – at the European Championships and for permanent use in the Olympics. One of Canadian boxers Elizabeth Plank, told Teddy Katz of CBC radio sports news this January: â€Å"Forcing women to wear skirts, I think, it’s sexism†. Eventually AIBA have decided to have optional for female athletes to decide if they want to wear skirts or shorts. (CBC Sports) As we are able to see gender stereotypes and discrimination in sports still exists. Women still do not get as much Media coverage as men do. They are still making smaller salaries than their male counterparts. Women athletes still have to look beautiful and attractive or they might be stereotyped as being lesbian, butch or masculine, if there are not. What about the future? It seems that future for Canadian women athletes seems bright. There are much more opportunities that are coming up for women in sports, for example in the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014, Russia – the addition of women’s ski jumping has been approved. Women are going to keep fighting for the equal rights to participate in sports events without being criticized to be unfeminine. Daniels (2009) argues that femininity –masculinity divide still prevents women athletes to be taken seriously in their sports. And the best would be to embrace the polygendered way of being, which emphasizes the similarities between women and men, and that way female athletes will be given the chance to achieve their full sporting potential and be judged for performance, rather than their appearance. References 1. Baxter, Betty and Larkin, Jackie.1993. Towards Gender Equity for Women in Sport. ON: CAAWS. 2. CBC Sports, Feb 19, 2002 (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2012/02/19/sp-aiba-boxing-skirts.html) 3. Daniels, Dayna B. 2009. Polygendered and Ponytailed. Toronto: Women’s Press. 4. Hall, Ann M. 2002. The Girl and the Game†. ON: Broadview Press Ltd. 5. Hall, Ann M and Richardson, Dorothy A. 1982. Fair Ball. Ottawa: The Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. 6. Lenskyj, Helen.1986. Women, Sport and Sexuality. Toronto: Women’s Press. 7. Macionis, John J and Gerber, Linda, M. 2011. Sociology.7th ed. Toronto: Pearson Canada Inc.

Human Resources

Q. 1 Write down the difference between Personnel management and Human Resource management. Ans. Distinction between Personnel management & Human Resources management The history of Human Resources management traces its roots to the erstwhile Personnel management that was prevalent in the companies of a few decades ago. Though the two terms ‘Personnel Management’ and ‘Human Resources Management’ are interchangeably used by most of the authors, there are key differentiators that make Personnel Management (PM) different from Human Resources Management (HRM). HRM is clearly based on the foundation of behavioural science knowledge relating to the handling of employees to motivate organizational goals. The focus is more proactive approach and pays attention to employee satisfaction and delight. Business goals and objectives and the strategies that will enable this to happen are the foundation for HRM. The basic philosophy is driven by the Theory Y approach where the belief is that people like to work and do not prefer t be supervised and made to perform. The employee becomes a champion for the organization and its product/service. PM is that management style that deals with the control and reactive problem solving approach to resolve employee issues in a organizations. The philosophy for the PM approach relied on the Theory X approach that believed that people do not naturally like to work and need to be coerced to work and often need to be driven to work. Is more the ‘stick’ approach rather than ‘carrot’ approach. Rigid rules of do’s and dont’s exist and these provide the framework for employee’s behaviour at the workplace. Employee welfare and formal grievance systems play a significant role here and thereby managing industrial relations with high amount of trade union activity are highlighted. Very few organizations today practice this style to people management, as the benefits and the long term gains from a HRM approach, impact business results far more. HRM emphasizes on training, as an important area of people management, which covers the following aspects: 1. Increasing productivity 2. Improving quality 3. Improving organizational climate 4. Ensuring personnel growth etc. Q. Write a note on scope of HR in India. Ans. Scope of HR in India Contrary to these forces, in India the owner manager/government/public sector manager was an industry icon and a national hero of sorts. The Personnel Management practices were dominant of the ‘brick-and-motor’ industry. Though the approach was largely welfare oriented and reactive in nature it served effectively for the large PSU organizations that built the country’s foundation. Its only in the past 10-12 years with the immense growth on account of the IT industry that winds of change began to blow. It was largely the advent of the Information Technology era in India that brought with it the western management practices. MNC’s (multinational companies) started up their operations in India. The FDI (foreign direct investment) went up steeply as the world saw the potential in the country’s human resources. India became a preferred location for MNC’s primarily from the USA, followed by other developed countries. The gave birth to a new generation of management as well as HRM practices. New hiring methods, new ways of paying salaries, new employment terms and most importantly increased focus on individual performance and outcomes. There was emphasis on deliverables and linking individual and team performance to business results and success. Given the highly educated workforce there was a de-emphasis in the role of the trade unions. The era of the trade union dominance gave way to the new order of individual negotiated salaries and terms and clearly performance linked assessment systems. Another transformation that the Indian workplace witnessed was the focus on ethics and ethical practices in doing business. It was only fair to expect that with the weak legal system, it needed the support of the government policies and the corporate policies to beat the corruption that existed. This has significantly contributed to India emerging as a preferred destination for doing business. All of this has yielded to give way to the birth of the ‘professional manager’ Professional managers today are a critical and essential part of the Indian corporate. The professional manager brought about a shift in the culture from a highly authoritarian approach of getting work done, to a more collaborative and participative approach. The entrepreneurs who earlier operated in a secure, sheltered market and hardly face challenges, were challenged by the globalization that swept in with the liberalization policies and measure brought in by the Indian government late 1995 and onwards. Despite the challenges, the Indian employee and his manager evolved. Together they stepped up to face the challenge head-on and to win not only in India but also globally. The levers of (a) low cost, (b) highly skilled, and (c) English as the medium of education and it being the corporate-language: were the key drivers that enabled the flow of global business to India. There was exponential growth in employment both directly (jobs in the international and domestic companies) as well as indirectly (as support industries like transport, catering and ancillary industries). The simultaneous investment of the government in building the necessary infrastructure did its share of providing impetus towards creating more jobs for the people of the country. Hence, human relations movement in India has evolved very differently as compared to what we see in the developed economies of the USA and the UK. What is currently acting as a limitation is the enhanced awareness on the need for research based HRM practices. While there is a lot of work happening in the Indian education system to promote this, it is going to take a while before it can create a distinct body of knowledge that is referenceable. For now the industry relies on emulating westerns HR practices and customizing on a as-needed basis for the Indian corporation. For the rest the industry forums and consortiums like the NASSCOM act as a hub bringing together organizations on a regular basis to discuss challenges and share best practices and identify ways and means o overcome them together. So far this has been successful and working to the advantage of the Indian corporate. Leading MNC research and consulting firms like Mercer and Hewitt too contribute to the industry through carrying out research and sharing reports on a regular basis. The approach however remains analytical and less prescriptive. Q. 3 Explain the critical steps in Human Resource Planning system. Ans. We will attempt to discuss in details the critical steps that are part of the above system. A. Purpose of Human Resource Planning: Human Resource Planning fulfils individual as well as organizational goals. What it essentially amounts to is â€Å"striking a balance† between the future human resources needs and the future enterprise needs. And this is done with the clear objective of maximizing the future return on investment in human resources. And this objective may be laid down for a short-term (i. e. for one year). B. Estimating/Forecasting the future Manpower Requirements: the first step in the process is to arrive at the desired organizational structure at a given point in time. Mapping this structure with the existing structure helps in identifying the gap in resources requirement. The number and type of employees needed have to be determined. In addition to the structure there are a number of external factors that affect this determination. They include business forecasts, competitor strategy, expansion plans, product/skills mix changes, profit/revenue growth projections, in addition to management philosophy and government policies. This step also includes an analysis of the external labour/talent environment, its demographics, demand/supply of the required talent, and cost considerations. C. Auditing Human Resources: Once the future human resource needs are estimated, the next step is to determine the present supply of manpower resources. This is done through what is called â€Å"Skills Inventory†. A skills inventory contains data about each employee’s skills, abilities, work preferences and other items of information which indicate his worth to the company. Skills inventory are also referred to as competency dictionaries. This information is us ually retained as part of the performance management system with the HR department. This step in the HRP system helps identify the existing profile of the manpower and its efficiency. It helps highlight where the organization is vs. where it ought to be. The step concludes with identifying clear gaps in the skills/ manpower mix required to meet the upcoming business objectives. D. Job Analysis: After having decided how many persons would be needed, it is necessary to prepare a job analysis. The recorded details of training, skills, qualification, abilities, experience and responsibilities, etc. as needed for a job are studied. Job analysis includes the preparation of job descriptions and job specifications. E. Developing a Human Resource Plan: This step refers t the development and implementation of the human resource plan, which consists in finding out the sources of labour supply with a view to making an effective use of these sources. Some important considerations at this point are: †¢ Specific roles/disciplines being hired for, of them which roles are pivotal for the business †¢ Competencies and capabilities needed †¢ Manager vs. employee hiring †¢ Hire internally vs. External sourcing †¢ Planning for new skills through training existing staff vs. hiring new teams †¢ In case of surpluses, planning for redeployment/ reduction in orkforce as required †¢ Succession planning for key positions in the company. Q. 4 With reference to the compensation and salary system what are the systems that are helpful to raise the effectiveness of employees Ans. Compensation/ salary systems are designed to ensure that employees are rewarded appropriately depending on what they do and the skills and knowledge (intellect) required for doing a specific job. It must therefore provide for the following key factors in order to be effective: The following factors may be helpful to raise the effectiveness employees Signal to the employee the major objectives of the organizations- therefore it must link to the overall goals and objectives of the company. For example if doing a quality job is critical for the company its compensation system has to ensure that this is adequately rewarded. On the other hand if a company values productivity and units produces, the compensation system would be designed such that productivity is rewarded. †¢ Attract and retain the talent an organization needs – the need to benchmark salaries to the prevalent market standard for that job / skill so that the company is able to attract the right talent. If a enterprises pays a salary lower that what the market does for that job/responsibilities, the probability that suitable candidates would take the job offer and join the company. Even if they do join subsequently when they find that the market pays more for that job they would quickly find a more remunerative job and leave the company. †¢ Motivate employees to perform effectively – as discussed at the outset, money is a key motivator and it often might be the only motivator for most employees, therefore ensuring that compensation is appropriately disbursed need to be taken care of while designing the compensation system. Jobs in the brick and motor, production setups would focus on higher incentive policies that would motivate the employee to produce more while the base-salary would be low. †¢ Create the type of culture the company seeks to engender – compensation systems play a critical role as sponsors for the organizations culture. A performance driven culture would build compensation policies that clearly and significantly reward performance. A company that rewards loyalty would reward employees who stay longer in the company with significantly better incentive programs. Hence we see how compensation systems are reflective of the organizations over all philosophy of what its goals and objectives are and how this can be linked to salary payout. Q. 6 â€Å"Dynamic Learning† is an organization that wants to revise the HR policies. It has conducted a survey and the results of survey indicated that r=there is employee unrest, tardiness, absenteeism, more grievances. This all clearly indicates low morale. Suggest the measures that can be taken to improve employee morale. Ans. Employee Morale Boosters. Morale boosters can take the form of recognition, eompensation, special perks or simply terminating employees. Here are 11 low cost morale boosters: Welcome ideas: Employee morale improves when staff feel they are valued. Share and implement their innovations and ideas. Keep Score: Mount a large score board in the office to recognize top performers and to motivate those on the bottom of the list. Inspect: The old management adage, inspect what you expect is true. Companies with a lack of focus can confuse staff and lead to less morale. Thank You Notes: Send a special thank you letter to you staff’s family or spouse, praising their good work and efforts. Huddle: Have a daily morning huddle to highlights tasks for the day and to cheer yesterday’s wins. Open Up: Provide an open forum or one-on-one time to allow employees to express their concerns and feelings can be an easy means to boost morale. Have Fun: Special events and outside work activities can take the pressure off the day-to-day grind in the office. Show Charity: Get your staff involved in a bigger cause to help them see there is more to life than work. Add Perks: Use low cost perks such as a Foosball table in the lunch room. Fire Staff: Sometimes the root cause of low employee morale can be a staff member whose negativity brings down the group. Even a top performer can bring down staff behind your back. Measure it: Keep tabs on the levels of morale in your business by regularly measuring employee satisfaction. The backbone of business success resides in the productivity and output of your employees. Those companies who remain vigilant to the signs of low morale and who focus on improving morale can thwart off the impact of a low morale workplace. Human Resources 1 â€Å"If you are working in a company that is not enthusiastic energetic, creative, clever, curious, and just plain fun, you’ve got trouble, serious troubles† (Tom Peters. Indeed, the success of any organization depends on several issues amongst them, organizational culture, teamwork, management style and the level of motivation amongst the employees. Leadership The whole organizational momentum is decided by the top management, the style they adopt determines how decisions are going to be made, what kind of decisions the business is likely to make, the nature of policies which the company is going to adopt as well as how the organization will respond to management issues such as competitor activity, industrial attractiveness employee relations, public relations as well as corporate social responsibilities. The strategic fit of the organization is determined by whether the leaders are visionary or non-visionary whether these exercise foresight and how they balance risk taking and the drive for initiative. According to (Stacey, 1992p. 31-39), the momentum of a company is generated from the top management and perfected in bottom level, the success of an organization squarely rests on reach and every single employee irregardless of the role and position held in the organization. Therefore, to achieve a well coordinated and motivated team, the leadership and in essence, every single employee must be able to play their role so as to achieve a synergetic effect. The company which succeeds is that which handles all departments’ issues in regard to solving problems which arise and keep on arising. The challenges can serve as the source of de-motivating an otherwise motivated staff, if issues are not well attended to, while on the other hand, the challenges can afford an organization the opportunity to bond its workforce and reassure unity of purpose in the organization positive organizational behavior leads to organizational success while a negative corporate behavior leads to loss of profits and therefore organizational failure 2. You have been hired as the H. R director of the Schapiro Inn & out Motel. What are some of the key issues you should address the First day of work? Do you want to make your presence known the first day, or would you ease into the job slowly? What . R. management philosophies do you plan to adopt to make sure that you have the best workforce possible? Although take over calls for moderation, definitely there are some things that a new H. R manager would need be familiar with the first day of reporting to work. This is mainly because of the fact that on the fist day of work, one has already signed an agreement letter, and a letter of agreement. Probably they have been oriented and all relevant hand over details completed. This therefore implies that one is responsible for all happenings and is mandated to execute the relevant tasks as though that day was his/her 1000th day. Since not any board of directors would take the excuse that the H. R. M is new and therefore the reason for the numerous mistakes. But for the fact that different organizations have different needs, all HRM functions are similar and the rest calls for understanding of a company dynamics. On assuming office, an HRM manager has an obligation to execute normally all relevant duties such as pay issues, employee complaints, recruitment and staffing issues as well as formulate HR policies in collaboration with the administration. Where applicable, the HRM is supposed to solve any pending issues. The above is undertaken in the understanding that in an organization, smooth running is of utmost importance and a breakdown should never be experienced, for this may affect operations of the whole organization and therefore result into losses and interruptions to normal functioning of the organization. The best workforce can be achieved only by adopting suitable policies notably, pay related policies as well as employee motivation issues. The appraisal method adopted, problem solving and disciplinary issues as well as equality and equity policies at the place are of importance to an organisation. If the above are practiced, motivation results and staff often give their best. 3 â€Å"Call it what you will, incentives are what get people to work harder. † (Nikita Khrushchev) Research findings on the impact of pay and incentives on performance and output have overwhelmingly supported the above contention. Most employees work to satisfy their basic needs as opposed to achieving other goals. Although other factors such as job environment, tools and machinery, job policies as well as terms of contract are relevant to. All of the above play important roles in ensuring that employees and well equipped to perform at their best. Incentives basically refer to salaries and all other benefits which allow employees to function with minimum constraints. Incentives as a motivator should be administered carefully and uniformly. Job grading should be predictable and done in guidelines of a clear and open policy whereby employees are aware of what they need to do in order to move to the next level or to move to a higher job group. In a situation where by the issue of incentives is handled unprofessionally, conflicts arise and output and performance are negatively affected. 4 Discuss the term â€Å"turnover† in the hospitality industry. What does it mean? How can it be controlled? What are some of the causes? What does it mean to you? Turnover can be defined as the situation whereby employees keep on quitting job in unusually high rates. This could either be due to natural attrition, unfavorable working conditions as well as due to service termination. Turnover is a very common occurrence in the hospitality industry mainly due to the nature of the industry. Since many businesses in the hospitality sector peg their staff needs on seasons, low or high seasons call for flexible employment and contract terms in which organisations increase or retrench staff to reflect on market activity, this in turn results into un-usually high staff turnover occasioned by unpredictability of demand forces. â€Å"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction† (Anne Frank) Job satisfaction refers to a state whereby one is able to work hard and in turn receive self assurance from the job upon being contented with the results of the work. Job satisfaction is good for employees in that it lead to high level of concentration and therefore high output. Lack of satisfaction leads to lack of concentration, something which a ffects performance. Laziness is a leading cause of job dissatisfaction in that for one to be truly satisfied with their work hard work and effort is needed. One needs to concentrate and exercise a lot of patience for that leads to satisfaction. Therefore, laziness hinders performance and this prevents job satisfaction. Employees should derive job satisfaction from the tasks allocated to them. This in turn leads to high profitability of the organization and a healthy work force. Human Resources 1 â€Å"If you are working in a company that is not enthusiastic energetic, creative, clever, curious, and just plain fun, you’ve got trouble, serious troubles† (Tom Peters. Indeed, the success of any organization depends on several issues amongst them, organizational culture, teamwork, management style and the level of motivation amongst the employees. Leadership The whole organizational momentum is decided by the top management, the style they adopt determines how decisions are going to be made, what kind of decisions the business is likely to make, the nature of policies which the company is going to adopt as well as how the organization will respond to management issues such as competitor activity, industrial attractiveness employee relations, public relations as well as corporate social responsibilities. The strategic fit of the organization is determined by whether the leaders are visionary or non-visionary whether these exercise foresight and how they balance risk taking and the drive for initiative. According to (Stacey, 1992p. 31-39), the momentum of a company is generated from the top management and perfected in bottom level, the success of an organization squarely rests on reach and every single employee irregardless of the role and position held in the organization. Therefore, to achieve a well coordinated and motivated team, the leadership and in essence, every single employee must be able to play their role so as to achieve a synergetic effect. The company which succeeds is that which handles all departments’ issues in regard to solving problems which arise and keep on arising. The challenges can serve as the source of de-motivating an otherwise motivated staff, if issues are not well attended to, while on the other hand, the challenges can afford an organization the opportunity to bond its workforce and reassure unity of purpose in the organization positive organizational behavior leads to organizational success while a negative corporate behavior leads to loss of profits and therefore organizational failure 2. You have been hired as the H. R director of the Schapiro Inn & out Motel. What are some of the key issues you should address the First day of work? Do you want to make your presence known the first day, or would you ease into the job slowly? What . R. management philosophies do you plan to adopt to make sure that you have the best workforce possible? Although take over calls for moderation, definitely there are some things that a new H. R manager would need be familiar with the first day of reporting to work. This is mainly because of the fact that on the fist day of work, one has already signed an agreement letter, and a letter of agreement. Probably they have been oriented and all relevant hand over details completed. This therefore implies that one is responsible for all happenings and is mandated to execute the relevant tasks as though that day was his/her 1000th day. Since not any board of directors would take the excuse that the H. R. M is new and therefore the reason for the numerous mistakes. But for the fact that different organizations have different needs, all HRM functions are similar and the rest calls for understanding of a company dynamics. On assuming office, an HRM manager has an obligation to execute normally all relevant duties such as pay issues, employee complaints, recruitment and staffing issues as well as formulate HR policies in collaboration with the administration. Where applicable, the HRM is supposed to solve any pending issues. The above is undertaken in the understanding that in an organization, smooth running is of utmost importance and a breakdown should never be experienced, for this may affect operations of the whole organization and therefore result into losses and interruptions to normal functioning of the organization. The best workforce can be achieved only by adopting suitable policies notably, pay related policies as well as employee motivation issues. The appraisal method adopted, problem solving and disciplinary issues as well as equality and equity policies at the place are of importance to an organisation. If the above are practiced, motivation results and staff often give their best. 3 â€Å"Call it what you will, incentives are what get people to work harder. † (Nikita Khrushchev) Research findings on the impact of pay and incentives on performance and output have overwhelmingly supported the above contention. Most employees work to satisfy their basic needs as opposed to achieving other goals. Although other factors such as job environment, tools and machinery, job policies as well as terms of contract are relevant to. All of the above play important roles in ensuring that employees and well equipped to perform at their best. Incentives basically refer to salaries and all other benefits which allow employees to function with minimum constraints. Incentives as a motivator should be administered carefully and uniformly. Job grading should be predictable and done in guidelines of a clear and open policy whereby employees are aware of what they need to do in order to move to the next level or to move to a higher job group. In a situation where by the issue of incentives is handled unprofessionally, conflicts arise and output and performance are negatively affected. 4 Discuss the term â€Å"turnover† in the hospitality industry. What does it mean? How can it be controlled? What are some of the causes? What does it mean to you? Turnover can be defined as the situation whereby employees keep on quitting job in unusually high rates. This could either be due to natural attrition, unfavorable working conditions as well as due to service termination. Turnover is a very common occurrence in the hospitality industry mainly due to the nature of the industry. Since many businesses in the hospitality sector peg their staff needs on seasons, low or high seasons call for flexible employment and contract terms in which organisations increase or retrench staff to reflect on market activity, this in turn results into un-usually high staff turnover occasioned by unpredictability of demand forces. â€Å"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction† (Anne Frank) Job satisfaction refers to a state whereby one is able to work hard and in turn receive self assurance from the job upon being contented with the results of the work. Job satisfaction is good for employees in that it lead to high level of concentration and therefore high output. Lack of satisfaction leads to lack of concentration, something which a ffects performance. Laziness is a leading cause of job dissatisfaction in that for one to be truly satisfied with their work hard work and effort is needed. One needs to concentrate and exercise a lot of patience for that leads to satisfaction. Therefore, laziness hinders performance and this prevents job satisfaction. Employees should derive job satisfaction from the tasks allocated to them. This in turn leads to high profitability of the organization and a healthy work force.