The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture Essay Example

The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture Essay Example The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture Essay The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture Essay The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organization’s Culture Describing and identifying the importance of abstract terms is a difficult task because their meaning rely more on substance than form. For this and other reasons, individuals as well as organizations tend to overlook or underestimate their importance for a successful career and for the effective functioning of an organization. Organizational Culture† is one of those terms, we can’t see it, but we can feel and experience it, and it has a profound impact in the way people behave in an organization. It denotes the attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values of the work group or team within the organization, which to an extent affect the organization as a whole. All employees whatever their grade is, and whether they are professionals or not, contribute to the culture of an organization by bringing their diverse talents, knowledge, skills, values, and beliefs to the entity. Employees may possess abilities and talents that might enable them to fit into the organization and empower it, partly as a result of socialization, but they might need assistance from others, such as Human Resource Development specialists and Union cooperative efforts, in order to learn the skills that will enable them to play their part in the team, group, or department. The culture of an organization is important not only to individuals but to the organization itself. This makes culture an important part of every organization and union leaders and management need to understand the central role it plays in forming an effective organization. Union understanding of the important role culture play for an organization is essential since the recognition of unions and the labor agreement usually means structural changes to an organization’s policies, practices, strategies, and the environment. According to Neal M. Ashkanasy, author of the book Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate, more and more practitioners are coming to realize that, despite the best-laid plans, organizational change must include not only changing structures and processes, but also changing the corporate culture as well. Unions can play a role in creating and changing an organization’s culture, since they are in a position to provide the workforce with information designed to influence decisions about work practices, rules, preferred behaviors and attitudes, etc. Management as well as staff developers need, therefore, to communicate frequently with trade union officers. Improving organizational culture has become a necessity in todays ever- changing business environment. However, it can be a big challenge for the organization and its members. Managing in a union environment can be frustrating and confusing. Managers in a unionized workplace are challenged to manage effectively within legal and contractual parameters. This make the decision-making process more difficult for managers who must count with the union approval for many decisions and changes that might conflict with the labor agreement. If managers are not flexible in outcome, or are too specialized, then the organization may become too narrowly focused and the motivation and creative thought, a necessary precursor for innovation may be stiffed. Also, although individual ideas are important, strategies for team-working are essential. One of the primary responsibilities of strategic leaders is to create and maintain the organizational characteristics that reward and encourage collective effort (Neal M. Ashkanasy, 10). Individuals should be motivated to work as part of a team sharing a common vision of the direction in which they would like the organization to develop. To this end, unions are one of the most effective institutions that can be used to bring people that share common interests, goals, and principles together and motivate them to work as a team, since the mechanism of the union itself encourages team participation. Today, organizational leaders are confronted with many complex issues during their attempts to generate organizational achievement. A leaders success will depend, to a great extent, upon understanding organizational culture. Paul Clark, author of the book Building More Effective Unions contends that â€Å"Many of the problems confronting leaders can be traced to their inability to analyze and evaluate organizational cultures. † Many leaders, when trying to implement new strategies or a strategic plan leading to a new vision, will discover that their strategies will fail if they are inconsistent with the organizations culture. For example, a CEO, SES, political appointee, or flag officer who comes into an organization prepared to shake the place up and institute sweeping changes, often experiences resistance to changes and failure. These difficulties with organizational transformations arise from failures to analyze an organizations existing culture. According to Franklin Ashby, author of the book Revitalize your Corporate Culture, â€Å"When an organization has a union, most of the culture of the organization is dictated by the union contract, and the on-going relationship with the union. Unless Union cooperation is obtained, little can be done to change the culture of an organization. However, Unions often resist change to protect the interests of their members. One of the strongest cultures in the United States is the United Automobile Workers. Over the years and through many negotiations, they have established work rules that workers and companies must follow. These are now an integral part of the organizational culture of the Big Three Automobile Makers. For example, when competition from Japanese car makers cause the Big Three U. S. utomobile firms a significant loss of market share, the organizational culture of American Auto manufacturers had to be changed. This could be accomplished only through negotiation with the union. Although some labor leaders oppose any change they feel may weaken the union’s position, more and more enlightened labor union leaders are moving from an adversarial to a more cooperative philosophy (Franklin Ashby, 3). According to Paul F. Clark, author of the book Building More Effective Unions, â€Å"Most efforts to change an organization’s culture will meet with some resistance. A systematic approach to change is most effective in meeting such resistance. Many of us are familiar with the slogans, songs, jackets, parades, banquets, and picnics of unions because they are all part of the labor movement. To some they are simply windows dressing, unconnected to the important things that build an effective union. But, in fact, these things are part of a potentially and powerful phenomenon called â€Å"organizational culture† (Paul F. Clark, 10). It is important that unions understand the central role that culture plays in an effective organization and work to build a strong culture consistent with the union as well as the organization’s values, beliefs, and objectives. This is essential to avoid conflict by having two different cultures with different organizational objectives in the same company. Although one general culture might be ideal and best for an organization, subcultures exist and they do not necessarily exist to hurt the overall culture of the organization as long as the culture that involves the common interest of most members is accepted and recognized. The existence of subcultures is normal. In an organization with a strong culture, subcultures created by union members do not cause problems because the overall values and beliefs of the group are well recognized and accepted. If the culture of an organization is week, however, subcultures can override and compete with the overall culture, which can be disruptive to the organization’s culture. In his analysis, Paul Clark mentions that the effectiveness of a culture can be measured by the degree to which that culture and its various elements and subcultures clearly communicate the values of the organization. One of the core values emphasized by unions is the welfare of the collective group. Towards this end unions emphasize the principles of solidarity, unity, and togetherness. One common aspect of union culture that helps to communicate these values is the use of the terms â€Å"brother† and â€Å"sister† to refer to union members (Paul F. Clark, 6). Other values held in great regard by unions are fairness, equity, and justice. Unions help improve an organization’s culture by enforcing these values whenever they are violated or necessary for the welfare of employees. For example, managers often complaint about the tendency of unions to challenge through the grievance procedure many of the disciplinary actions taken by management. However, such challenge simply reflects the value that unions and union members place on due process and the fairness it brings to the workplace. By challenging any questionable management decision, unions are forcing management to evaluate the fairness of every action they take, before they take it. The member-union contract has an impact not only on union attachment, attitudes, and behaviors, but also on how it affects organizational culture. In summarizing the findings of their widely cited book, What Do Unions Do? Freeman and Medoff conclude that â€Å"Unions alter nearly every aspect of an organization’s culture. † The authors suggest that unions exert effects on organizational culture through collective bargaining. The primary effects of collective bargaining are the gains that the union is able to realize at the bargaining table for the employees. For example, extrinsic benefits like wages, job security, and working conditions, are all concerns that have dominated the collective bargaining agenda of North American Unions. Gains in these areas are determined primarily by the union’s ability to acquire and use power in the bargaining relationship. For example, the union wage effect is largely dependent on the ability of the union to achieve monopoly power within an industry. It is important to note that the union effects on organizational culture are also outcomes that emerge though management’s reaction to collective bargaining provisions. Management’s adjustment to the conditions imposed by collective bargaining and the union’s counteraction to managerial action will determine the nature and extent of union effects on organizational culture. The ability of unions to achieve their goals in areas such as wages, job security, and working conditions have important ramifications for organization culture both within the union and within the organization. For example, unions have a direct effect on the level, form, structure, and system of compensation plans. Through effective bargaining unions can improve an organization’s culture by emphasizing and enforcing the values, principles, and beliefs the members of the organization consider important. For example, the union can achieve fairness and equity with wage increases and justice and dignity with provisions for job security and better working conditions. Although these effects wary across industry and individuals, some general conclusion may be drawn. First, and most important, unions raise wages. Estimates of union wage effect wary but in general wage levels in unionized industries are 10 to 20% higher than wages for comparable non-unionized industries (William Holley, 324). Similarly, unions have a positive impact on employee benefits with unionized industries spending more on fringe benefits than comparable non-unionized firms. Job security is another factor through which unions help improves an organization’s culture concern for layoffs. For example, collective agreements often contain clauses that directly influence individual’s job security such as provisions for layoffs, job transfers, and contracting out. The prevalence of such provisions indicates the high priority placed on job security by union members. Based on the Quality of Employment Survey data, union membership was the best predictor of whether individuals would trade a 10% increase in real wages in exchange for increased job security. Unions also increase the security of their members from arbitrary decision making though the provision of grievance systems. Through the implementation of grievance systems with provisions for third-party dispute resolution, unions substantially increase the costs of arbitrary management decisions. As mentioned by Julian Barling, Author of the book The Union its Members, One would expect, and empirical evidence confirms that â€Å"Management decision making in a unionized environment would be more regulated by formal procedures and based on more objective criteria. Other areas in which Union have helped to improve an organization’s culture is through their intensive efforts to improve occupational health and safety in the workplace by advocating for government regulations, negotiating health and safety provisions, and encouraging the formation of labor-management committees to deal with health and safety issues. In additional to the negotiation of clauses dealing with health and safety, unions may also negotiate compensating wage differentials for workers exposed to higher risks. By doing so, they increase the incentive for management to improve working conditions by increasing the cost of dangerous work. Overall, unions substantially increase awareness of health and safety issues in the workplace. In addition to safety and health issues, unions also negotiate contact provisions dealing with a variety of working condition (William Holley, 435). For instance, hours of work, scheduling of rest breaks, and, in some cases, and rate of production. To the extent that unions are successful in negotiating these gains, unionization may have an indirect effect on occupational health and safety. Provisions such as rest breaks, minimization of overtime, and shift scheduling may all affect the risk of on-the-job injury. According to Clive Fullagar, the Neo-Classical Economic Theory suggests that â€Å"Management may react to the increased costs associated with unionization by replacing labor with capital. However, an alternate theory suggests that unionization has â€Å"shock effect† on management, whereby management reacts to unionization by becoming more efficient. † Such increased efficiency may be evidenced by the introduction of centralized, professional human resources functions and increased reliance on formalized decision making. Union involvement in the formulation of management decisions may be seen as usurping the rights of management to run the workplace. On the other hand, collective bargaining maybe e viewed as a way of managing the workplace rather than an abandonment of traditional management prerogatives. In this regard, it should be noted that through their involvement in establishing work rules and organizational policies, unions may have both positive and negative effects on organizational culture. The impact of unions in managerial decision making is seen clearly in the development of personal policies. It is commonly recognized that unions influence the use of seniority as a criteria for promotions and job transfers. Unions also have an effect on hiring decisions. For example, one managerial response to wage premiums maybe to raise the hiring standards of the firm and in particular to place more emphasis on education as a hiring criteria. The presence of a union may result in the implementation of policies that are in the organization’s best interest. Thus, the presence of a union is associated with more efficient managerial decision making. In particular, this increased efficiency is attributable to the formalization of decision making and the substitution of policy for individual judgment as a basis for decision making. As the preceding discussion indicates, unions have substantial effects on organizational culture through the negotiation of specific provisions in the collective agreement. Additional union effects on organizational culture also accrue during the administration of the collective agreement as management and the union adjusts to the new environmental conditions mandated by the collective agreement. Unions improve organizational culture by supporting, developing, and enforcing values, beliefs, attitudes that are of importance to the members of the organization. As a result, this has a direct effect at increasing productivity and performance. Freeman and Medoff have concluded that unions substantially increase the productivity of organizations. That is, after controlling for various organizational characterizes, unionized firms are more productive than their non-unionized counterparts. However, nionized firms are found to be less profitable than non-unionized firms because the increase in productive do not seem to offset the increased costs of unionization. Freeman and Medoff point out that â€Å"The union impact on the firm’s productivity can be explained by two factors. † First, unionization leads to a more stable workforce by reducing voluntary turnover. A direct consequence of this increase stability is the firm’s investment in human resources management. Second, the union effect on productivity provides a conceptual basis for the hypothesis that unionization may have an effect on individual job performance. For example, through more rigorous selection, investment in employee training, and the institution of more professional management practices, an organization attempts to adjust to the cost of unionism by increasing individual job performance. While the end result of such strategies is an increase in firm productivity, the initial effect is plausibly an increase in individual job performance. It is imperative to note that the union’s effect on firm productivity is moderated by the quality of union-management relations. When the industrial relation climate is favorable, unionization is associated with higher firm productivity. Conversely, a poor quality of union-management relations is associated with decreased productivity in unionized firms. The quality of union-management relationships influences the motivation of employees. When the quality of union management relations is poor, the potential for increments in job performance maybe be offset by decreased individual motivation, work stoppages, and work-to-rule campaigns. Perhaps one of the most well documented effects of unions in organizational culture is the reduction in voluntary employee turnover in unionized industries. According to Clive Fullagar, unions help to reduce turnover in two different ways. First, unions increase wages and improve working conditions. These primary union effects make unionized jobs more attractive and conversely reduce the likelihood of finding an equivalent job. The union affects on benefits and particularly the increase in deferred compensation schemes that favor senior workers, contribute to the union effect on turnover. Similarly, benefits based on seniority also help to decrease the voluntary turnover rate. Second, unions reduce turnover by providing individuals with a voice. Through the provision of employee grievance systems, unions provide the individual an alternative to quitting, the opportunity to redress specific dissatisfactions through the grievance system. Unions provide mechanism for individual to express their dissatisfactions and influence their working conditions. The provision of such mechanism reduces the probability that an individual will voluntarily resign his or her position. If unions reduce voluntary turnover by providing voice mechanisms to individuals then these effects may be logically extended to other forms of individual withdrawal from work such as absenteeism. However, unionized firms experience higher absenteeism rates. Therefore, in this sense unions hurt organizational culture. For example, increased sick-leave benefits negotiated during collective bargaining are associated with higher rates of absenteeism. Another ways in which a union can hurt an organizational culture is by causing strain and stress. While not widely researched, there are conceptual reasons to suggest that unions and the practice of industrial relations have consequences in terms of individual stress and strain. First unions negotiate contract provisions that directly affect working conditions. Management may react by implementing more formal policies and standardized job descriptions. The result of such increased formalization may be experienced as a reduction in role ambiguity and increase in role conflict, which are two components of roles stress. The consequences of worker participation in union activities also have an impact on organization performance and various behavioral outputs. Unions provide discontented workers with a participatory forum and a collective voice at the workplace by means of which they may articulate their feelings rather than exiting temporarily through absenteeism or permanently through turnover. Unions encourage member participation making employees feel valuable to the organization. Union organizations have mechanisms such as a written constitution and bylaws that ensure an opportunity for members to participate in the governance of the organization, hold office, attend meetings, vote in elections, or express dissatisfaction with the leadership. Unions help improve an organization’s culture by maintaining some balance between employer and employee’s rights and responsibilities. Although employers and employees share some common interest, each group is motivated by self-interest. The inherent conflict of interest between employers and employees inevitably creates conflict within any employment relationship, which must be managed effectively. Unions rather than an individual are more effective in managing this conflict of interest and creating an enjoyable working environment. The presence of the union formalizes the employee representation activities because employees may file a grievance if they believe the company has violated the terms of the negotiated agreement. If the company employs an accommodation and labor management cooperation strategy, unions can help by cooperating with management rather than the parties having an adversarial relationship. Management and the unions can actively work together to create an organizational climate and a way of operating that will allow employees to participate directly in decisions in their work areas as members of task teams and as members of problem-solving groups. Unions can contribute to companies’ strategic planning and implementation activities which directly affect the organization’s culture. For example, a union can provide input from a clearly defined group of employees, as well as transfer information about corporate plans and direction to those represented employees. The union leaders can help the rank-and-file employees better understand the business plan and lend credibility to the plan. According to our textbook, The Labor Relations Process, â€Å"Unions can help improve an organization’s culture by reducing the employees feeling of alienation which have resulted from the extensive use of machinery in manufacturing operations. Employees might feel alienated because they have lost contact with their own labor when the product they created were taken away from them, thereby reducing their spirit and status or when they became estranged from fellow employees when their work made them too tired and competitive that they were incapable of having authentic relationships. Unions can and do address a possible aspect of employee alienation, namely the employees’ desire to speak their minds without fear of management reprisal. For example, a union typically indicates to its potential members that the employee’s rights to voice their opinions regarding a managerial action are protected by negotiated grievance procedures and disciplinary polices. In conclusion, Unions play a crucial role in improving an organization’s culture. Therefore the union’s members understanding of organizational culture as well as management recognition of the union as a key player in improving organizational culture is imperative. The above examples indicate that failure to achieve organizational change when necessary can be accredited to the lack of management’s understanding about the important role culture plays for an organization. The most important point of this is that such as an organizational culture is made of members that might be union’s members in a unionized firm, and their approval, understanding, and acceptance of any change in their inherent or traditional culture is essential for an organization to operate effectively. Although, the majority of examples and research suggests that unions have more positive impacts in improving an organization’s culture, they can also hurt it if they don’t develop the skills needed for mutual union-management cooperation such as understanding the business and the problem-solving process. They can hurt the organization’s culture if they don’t maintain contact with the membership to better represent members’ interests. Also, if management doesn’t take steps to reorient its view from seeing unions and labor agreements as constrains to recognizing a more cooperative union-management relationship and provides the union with a secure position as the legitimate, permanent representative of the bargaining unit employees. Bibliography Ashby Franklin C. Revitalize Your Corporate Culture: Powerful Ways to Transform your Company. Golf Professional Publishing. Burlington: MA, 1999. Ashkanasy M. Neal, Wilderon Celeste, and Peterson Mark. Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate. London: New Delhi, 2004. Clark F. Paul. Building More Effective Unions. Cornell University Press. New York: Ithaca, 2000. Julian Barling, Fullagar Clive, and Kelloway Kevin. The Union Its Members: A Psychological Approach. Oxford University Press. New York: Oxford, 1992. Holley William, Jennings Kenneth, and Wolters Rogers. The Labor Relations Process. South-Western. Ohio: Mason, 2005.

All About the Genre of Character Writing

All About the Genre of Character Writing A brief descriptive sketch of a class or type of person (such as a city slicker, a country bumpkin, or a grumpy old man) rather than of an individual personality. Character-writing became a popular literary form in England following the publication in 1592 of a Latin translation of Theophrastus, an ancient Greek writer of similar sketches. Characters eventually became more individualized and were integrated with the essay and the novel. Also Known As: character sketch Examples of Character Writing The Character of the Man in Black, by Oliver GoldsmithA Definition of a Gentleman, by John Henry NewmanGood Souls, by Dorothy ParkerThe Landlord, by Henry David ThoreauMr. Barlow, by Charles DickensThe Plumber, by Anthony TrollopeThe Satirist, by Robert Louis StevensonStatus Details in Tom Wolfes DescriptionsThree Characters by John EarleThe True Friend, by Joseph Hall Etymology From the Latin (mark, distinctive quality) from the Greek (scratch, engrave) Observations and Examples: The 17th of a Character: The AnchormanHe graduated from drama school and looked for parts in television. Because he had prognathous jaws like a cowboys and every cilium of his light-brown hair seemed to be nailed into his skull for keeps, he was steered into the news department. At first, like all beginning newscasters, he had to leave the building...He would stand in front of the building and hold a microphone covered in black styrofoam and recite AP or UPI copy about [an] event. He could do this without skipping a beat, and he maintained his head of hair nearly intact, and soon he did not have to leave the building anymore. He was promoted to the anchor desk of the stations six oclock news broadcast, where he reads the AP and UPI copy from the Teleprompter. Only two things stand in the way of his goal of reaching the network news desk. One is the Anchorwoman, a fireproof blonde who is so aggressive, such a nutcracker, that she terrifies him. His on-air Happy Hour Chitchat with her sounds as if it is being extracted by water torture. The other is the ever-so-imperceptibly widening part in his hair.(Tom Wolfe, Success Stories: The Anchorman. In Our Time, Farrar, 1980) The Theophrastian CharacterTheophrastus (c. 371 of a Character: The Penurious ManThe Penurious man is one who, while the month is current, will come to ones house and ask for a half-obol [a silver coin]. When he is at the table with others he will count how many cups each of them has drunk; and will pour a smaller libation to Artemis than any of the company. Whenever a person has made a good bargain for him and charges him with it, he will say that it is too dear. When a servant has broken a jug or a plate he will take the value out of his rations; or, if his wife has dropped a three-farthing piece, he is capable of moving the furniture and the sofas and the wardrobes, and of rummaging in the curtains. If he has anything to sell he will dispose of it at such a price that the buyer shall have no profit. He is not likely to let one eat a fig from his garden, or walk through his land, or pick up one of the olives or dates that lie on the ground, and he will inspect his boundaries day by day to see if they remain the same. He is apt, also, to enforce the right of distraining, and to exact compound interest. When he feasts the men of his parish, the cutlets set before them will be small: when he markets, he will come in having bought nothing. And he will forbid his wife to lend salt, or a lamp-wick, or cummin, or verjuice, or meal for sacrifice, or garlands, or cakes; saying that these trifles come to much in the year. Then, in general, it may be noticed that the moneyboxes of the penurious are mouldy, and the keys rusty; that they themselves wear their cloaks scarcely reaching to the thigh; that they anoint themselves from very small oil-flasks; that they have their hair cut close; that they take off their shoes in the middle of the day; and that they are urgent with the fuller to let their cloak have plenty of earth, in order that it may not soon be soiled.(The Characters of Theophrastus, edited and translated by R.C. Jebb. Macmillan, 1870)

A visit to a museum or art gallery exhibit Essay

A visit to a museum or art gallery exhibit - Essay Example Within these periods there was further designation based on the regions of their creation. Ultimately, the vases acted as a powerful example of artistry and ancient Greek history. Another thing I witnessed at the gallery exhibition was Marcia Gygli King’s "Cantilever, 1980". This exhibit was a mixed-media work. The work itself is part painting and part sculpture. In terms of art history this work is notable as it is demonstrative of a period of expression where artists began to experiment with the deconstruction of categories and produce hybrid works. Another prominent work I witnessed was Richard Dieben Korn’s "Ocean Park". This painting was a large landscape type work, except it was composed of figurative and abstract forms. While one thinks of abstract expressionism in terms of the messy Jackson Pollack type work, â€Å"Ocean Park† is a much more orderly work. In these respects one notes that the work is almost a hybrid of such artists that make great use of b locks of color, along with the abstract expressionist creation of emotion through figurative means of expression. The work is ultimately highly notable within art history as a unique piece of mid-20th century work.

Can Crusher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Can Crusher - Essay Example This essay discusses about the uses, design and feature of different can crushers available. â€Å"Use of can crushers help food and beverage or other organizations to crush the cans for several peruses, such as easy to recycle, reducing business operation cost, saving space and maintain environmental sustainability†. The main use of a can crusher is to recycle used cans in a proper way so that there can be less pollution and expenses of manufacture of cans can be lowered. A can crusher is a simple device that is used for crushing of cans (Wisegeek 1). It is used widely because it saves time and helps in lowering costs that are required for production of fresh cans available in market. Industries prefer large hydraulic can crushers because it can easily crush many cans in a short period of time which in turn can be melted so that there could be large production of fresh cans with lesser purchase of raw materials. The time saving feature is the most important fact and because of this feature its use in the industries is up to an optimum level. Moreover for industrial purposes the can crushers that are appreciated should consist less space. Now a days there are many crushers available in the market that are technologically advanced and they work efficiently with minimum space possible. Most of the can crushers used in the modern world are self-loading (Stewart 699). These crushers consists of a basket which are placed at the top of the crusher, it also consists of a lever that is pulled so that the device can start crushing the cans. There is also a stopper placed at the bottom of the basket which allows cans to drop automatically up to a certain level that the device can intake for working. For lowering down the friction that is caused by the device lubricant is used so that the shape of the cans can be changed properly. The first crusher was invented and built by Jesse Wright

Social Determinants of Health

Social Determinants of Health Q1. The Social determinants of health is the observed social, economic, mental and environmental health factors that affect the quality of life of society or its people. The basic formation of these factors have been separated and placed into 10 different categories social gradients, stress, early life, social exclusion, work, unemployment, social support, addiction, food and transport (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). One example of a social determinant of health is the social gradient. The social gradient is a socio-political theory that places people on a social ladder and categorises them based on their overall financial, social and hierarchical standing in society (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). The social gradient demonstrates that life expectancy is shorter and affliction of disease is higher if you reside further down the social ladder (Marmot Wilkinson, 2006). The social gradient demonstrates the effect of social standing on people and how it effects quality o f life, therefore making it a Social Determinant of Health. Q2. Causes of the causes is a term used to describe the social determinants of health for each category and how it may impact upon the other categories. For example Marmot and Wilkinson state that it is not an accident that people regularly consume food with high saturated fat and salt content. What causes this to occur is food availability, culture, affordability and culture as well as many other possible external influences (Marmot Wilkinson, 2006). Then if healthy food prices were to escalate, poorer citizens would struggle to purchase healthy food. The poorer citizens then resort to purchasing cheaper and unhealthier food which contain unhealthy amounts of sugar and fats. These sugar and fats then cause obesity, heart problems and many other diseases and illnesses that effect these people of lower socio-economic status (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). This demonstrates that one category caused an effect in another. In Fig. 8. in the book EN: Social determinants of health it shows the mortality rate from coronary heart disease in comparison to fruit and vegetable supply in selected European countries. (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010) This graph demonstrates that a decrease in health food supplies in kg/per person/per year causes an increase in standardised death rates aged 35-74. There is a direct effect of food prices going up as lack of supply, these items would become less affordable as well as vice versa. A good diet and adequate food supply are main areas of health promotion and overall well-being of a person. (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010) These cause and effect issues are the main issues in dealing with health problems as one change could drastically effect the lives of Australian citizens, particularly those who are in a lower socio-economic standings. (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010) Q3. Barbara is a 52 year old unemployed, single mother who has fallen on hard times. She receives inadequate payments from the government via the Newstart allowance scheme, and struggles to pay off her car loan and rent. Barbara has many problems, however the main focus of this question will be on her social support, her ability to cope with the mental and physical stresses of her life and her health issues involving her current unemployment. Barbara describes her social life as being ‘non-existent’ as a result of her financial difficulties and doesn’t normally get to see her friends, now simple socialising events such as grabbing a coffee with her friends is seen as a luxurious expenditure (Thompson Ramsay, 2013). Socialising is an important experience within our lives, without the help and support and friendship of others, maintaining quality of life would be near impossible. Lack of a social life can even lead to physical problems as explained in the book ‘Social Determinants of Health the Solid Facts’ on the graph Fig. 6 (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). The graph shows results gathered of both male and females in America, Where the age-adjusted mortality rates are compared with level of social integration. The graph demonstrates a correlation of when there is a decrease of social integration, it results in an increase of age-adjusted mortality rate (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). This highlights that we are a social species, isolation can be very damaging and could cause a variety of mental anguish and mentals issues such as depression or even physical problems like an increase of disability from chronic diseases (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). As evident in Fig. 6, lack of social integration can cause physical harm to our bodies and is a quintessential in maintaining our physical health (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). Therefore, Barbara’s lack of social behaviour increases her risk of dying slightly, as small as the increase is, these small Health factors can easily pile up and cause large changes in quality of life. Barbara’s stress mainly forms from her recent unemployment and her increasing debt of her car loan, which escalated to be more than the actual car is worth (Thompson Ramsay, 2013). This emotional strain can be observed on Barbara’s face as she received a Coles gift card for 60 dollars from the Spiers Centre employee (Thompson Ramsay, 2013). Barbara becomes emotional and continually thanks the Spiers centre employee for helping her with her current situation, she highlighted that she would for once be able to pay for her own groceries and toiletries instead of resorting to borrowing them. Barbara’s Stress could also can activate the flight or fight response in the body, resulting increase in heart rate and alertness by stored energy from diverging blood to the muscles, this is known as the stress response (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). Turning on this stress response â€Å"diverts energy and resources away from physiological processes important to long -term health maintenance† (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). Therefore, during periods of long durations of continued stress can lead to increase vulnerability of a wide range of conditions and diseases such as â€Å"diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, depression and aggression† (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010). The major cause of the Barbara’s other two issues stated can be linked back to her unemployment. Due to her lack of income, she has resorted to many desperate attempts to keep herself afloat financially. This includes buying items based on budget instead of necessity. The fact that she lost her job as a result of poor health indicates that she was having health issues even before finance and employment were specific problems in her life (Thompson Ramsay, 2013). Therefore, the current events would only aggravate her situation of stress and social isolation she currently is experiencing. Q4. The basic fundamentals of stress can be outlined by what are the causes of stress in the first place and what can be done to remedy these stress factors? According to the Australian Psychological Society, â€Å"Australians aged 18-25 and 46-55 reported the lowest levels of wellbeing† (The Australian Psychological Society, 2014). Stress is caused by many factors, majority of these factors are the result of financial and family issues which is the leading cause of stress amongst Australian citizens (The Australian Psychological Society, 2014). Similar to all previous surveys conducted, issues involving health concerns are frequently rated as sources of stress to people who experience personal health issues, problems with maintaining their healthy and active lifestyle and also issues where a close person’s health has been compromised (The Australian Psychological Society, 2014). With this information you can easily target particular age groups that are experiencing the se issues more than others, and try to involve not just informative ways of creating prevention and improvement but also with the use of practical techniques. Stresses in life come from expectations we have for ourselves, as well as expectation from others for us. In a radio interview with Terence Cheng a researcher from the University of Melbourne’s Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, studied and identified statistics that proved the existence of a midlife crisis, Ashley Hall a reporter for the ABC asked about his findings into. Terence Cheng’s study shows that after the age of 18 there is a gradual decline in happiness until the age of around 40 to 42 years old (Hall, 2014). The stresses in life occur where many events can cause huge outcomes in the happiness of a person, events such as marriage, losing one’s job, illness and death of a close loved one can cause major swings in the happiness and stress of the person experiencing these life events (Hall, 2014). Alan Oster the National Australia Bank’s chief economist conducted a survey that had similar results from the National Australia Bankâ₠¬â„¢s Quarterly Australian Wellbeing Index. Alan Oster states that â€Å"what weve had is that the lowest tended to be in the 18 to 29 year olds, where I think there was a lot of stress in terms of unemployment† (Hall, 2014). These ages indicate where stress is becoming most of a problem, The Australian Psychological Society and Alan Oster both state that slumps in happiness as well as wellbeing occur around the age of 18 to mid-20s because of unemployment. Australia has an unemployment rate of 6.1% which is 115th in the world (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015; Trading Economics, 2015). We could attribute this to our aging population where there is a total increase of one person every 1 minute and 21 seconds (Australian Bureau of Statistics , 2015). Jobs are drying up as a result of this population increase and therefore my project proposal is to decrease unemployment rates in Australia through funding small and large business, as well as implementing a bonus stimulus for people who have one child or less, in an attempt to slow population growth. The small and large business proposal will be funding small and large businesses for use only allowed on expansion amongst city and urban areas of Australia . This is hoped to create more venues for jobs, allow expansion of companies creating new section for workers, and thus decrease the unemployment rate in Australia.

Thematic Essay on Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of A Young Girl, written over a two-year period, tells about the life of a young girl named Anne Frank who is also the author, while she and her family are in hiding in Holland. They are staying in a secret attic of the office building where Mr. Frank used to work in order to escape from the Nazis during World War II. During their stay in the annex, they are supported by several people in the office building, who risk their own lives to insure the secrecy of the Jewish hideout and to provide them with food and basic supplies. Throughout the time Anne spends hiding in the annex she develops maturity and gains respect from the people around her. I would say that the theme of this book is adolescence. I think the theme of this book is adolescence because Anne writes in her diary about how she has become more of a women since moving into the annex. She also develops adolescence by being able to see what she did not see in a person before. For example she is asked by Mrs. Van Daan if she could ever picture Peter as a brother, instantly she reacts with disgust like a child. Later on in the book though she begins to develop feelings for Peter, stronger than a brother. She begins to confide in him, and ask him questions about sex. She also writes her father a letter describing her feelings for Peter. Throughout the 2 years Anne spends hiding in the Annex her child self, develops into a mature being, but not yet an adult making the theme of this story adolescence. In The Diary of A Young Girl, Anne Frank, who is our author of the diary writes many entries describing the relationship between her and her Mother. She feels that she does not fit in with her mother, who she thinks is very sentimental. On a diary entry dated October 3, 1942 (page 51) Anne writes â€Å"I simply can’t stand mother, and I have to force myself not to snap at her all the time, and to stay calm, when I’d rather slap her across the face, I don’t love her, I can imagine mother dying some day. † This diary entry written by Anne clearly shows the strong dislike she had towards her mother. Because Anne is a child and not mature enough she feels that when her mother tells her she did not do something right, and to do it again, Anne takes it personal and gets very frustrated. Her mom constantly does this and it makes Anne furious causing her to hate her mother at an unbelievable level. Later on in Anne’s diary though the theme adolescence is developed when Anne reads through her diary and is shocked at how negatively she wrote of her mother in past entries. On Page 155 in her entry of December 24, 1943 she wrote â€Å"Do you know what I’ve come up with? In order to give me the feeling of calling my mother something that sounds like â€Å"Mom,† I often call her â€Å"Momsy. Sometimes I wish I could honor her by removing the â€Å"s. † In this entry it clearly shows us Anne has more respect towards her mother now and has matured significantly. She regrets all the horrible things she ever said about her mother, and is able to see that it was not her mother that was really the problem but her maturity, and she realizes this because of her adolescence. Anne thinks she has grown wiser since then and now understands her mother bette r. She sees herself as an adolescent now. Another way the theme is developed in this is story is how Anne’s feelings change towards Peter, a boy who is also staying in the annex with his family and the Frank family. In Anne’s diary she writes an entry on September 25, 1942 (page 40) describing Peter’s personality, â€Å"They asked me in a typically grown-up way whether I could ever learn to love peter like a brother, since he loves me like a sister. â€Å"Oh, no! † I said, but what I was thinking was, â€Å"Oh, ugh! † Just imagine! I added that Peter’s a bit stiff, perhaps because he’s shy. Boys who aren’t used to being around girls are like that. In this entry she writes about Peter in a childish way, she says with disgust that she could never see Peter as a brother, and of course she would say it that way because her personality and attitude is still like one of a child. The theme adolescence is developed because her feelings towards Peter change. Earlier in her diar y entries she wrote how Peter is nervous around girls because he is not used to being around them, and she goes on about how immature and foolish he is. But they soon begin to talk like adults and open up to each other. Anne soon then confides in him, and begins to see he is not who she thought he was. She is more mature around him, and treats him with great respect because she likes the personality she gets from him. She transitions from a child to a mature teenager, her maturity is greatly because of the time she spends with Peter. Anne’s adolescence is also due to appreciating what she has in life. In a diary entry on November 27, 1943 (page 149) Anne writes about a dream she has about an old school mate, Hanneli. She writes about the dream and how it akes her thankful for what she has. In the dream Anne pictures Hanneli dressed in rags, her face thin and, worn, and she is begging Anne to rescue her, in the dream Hanneli is at a concentration camp. In this dream Anne can not help Hanneli, she can only stand by and watch while other people suffer and die. Anne realizes that there are millions of Jews who do not have the advantages she has, she could be at a concentration camp starving and d oing hard labor work, or even dead. But instead she is safe and warm with her family, who she before could not get along with. Anne greatly matures after all of this, she is able to see that she was such a child before who thought greatly of herself. She hated doing work around the house, and complained constantly about her mother. But after this dream she knows that she should have worried about other things, like the war. Anne leaves her childish acts and complaints behind and becomes a mature young adult! The best theme for this book is clearly adolescence. A young girl hiding in an Annex writing in her diary for 2 years can definitely develop a sense of maturity even with no contact of the outside world what so ever. Just because Anne is stuck hiding in an Annex and not able to go outside, she has plenty to do, to pass the time. She writes her feelings and thoughts in her diary, and writes meaningful events that talk about her adolescence. Her adolescence is greatly due to her appreciating what she has in life, because it makes her realize that not everyone has the advantages she has and that her complaints and hate towards many things are things that are less to even think about, she should not think about herself too much. Also changing her thoughts and opinions develops her maturity as well. She does not get along well with her mother or Peter, but she soon is able to confide in them and love and appreciate them. I think that Anne’s adolescence throughout the book is a very good thing. She is still very young when she does mature, and not many people at that age have the maturity that she gains. I appreciate the fact that Anne is able to mend the relationship with her and her mother. I know how it feels to have someone constantly nag at you and it is very hard to forgive someone, and I respect and honor that Anne was able to love her mom in the end of it all. I think everyone has a little bit of Anne in them, people regret things they do and say in life, and although it is a mistake it helps them to look back and learn from it, and gain a sense of maturity. It is a very good thing, and although Anne did not survive the war we can all learn from this book and appreciate life as it is now!

The Solution to World Poverty - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 1 Words: 344 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2019/04/16 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Poverty Essay Did you like this example? In addition to the struggle and suffering the Americans face due to poverty, and the right to spend their hard-earned money, another factor that Singer did not consider is how the economy depends on the Americans expenses, so if people dont spend money on expenses, the economy will crash. In his essay, the author is convincing people not to spend money on the not so essential items in everyday life. The idea he has to end poverty is to have the developed nations save money in order to donate to the less fortunate. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Solution to World Poverty" essay for you Create order He describes the bad habits that most Americans have like going frequently to restaurants, buying new clothes, or doing activities that require spending extra money as a few examples of how people spend their income on things that are considered necessities to them. However the issue comes to light when attempting to execute or enforce this solution when there is an unknown borderline between a luxury and necessity and to how it is decided. One example is a television set, if it is considered a luxury, there is a possibility that many television manufacturers can go out of business. A large percentage of these companies and factories are dedicated to manufacturing luxurious items, however, if people no longer continue to buy these items and donate it all to the poor, this would cost the factories its workers jobs that, therefore, create a cynical effect and can intensify the already global issue of world poverty. If people follow these criteria, the economy will not sustain itself and will probably crash. So in order to circulate money, the supply and demand need to be carefully incorporated because as demand increases for the products, more supply is generated, therefore more people will need work to reach the equilibrium. This will push the ec onomy to create more jobs, can lower unemployment and allows the financial institution to operate efficiently. So when the economy is moving forward, everybody would have jobs, and more jobs will be in demand, more people will have the power to help.