Looking At The Human Rights Policys In Australia Social Work Essay Essay Example

Looking At The Human Rights Policys In Australia Social Work Essay Essay This paper will research the human rights issue of Autochthonal disadvantage in Australia. In peculiar I am interested in Autochthonal Unemployment and stoping Autochthonal disadvantage through the GenerationOne societal motion. As portion of work for this paper I have actively participated in fall ining the motion every bit good as acquiring involved by directing my thoughts on farther publicity for this run. This paper will critically analyze the action which I have taken and mensurate it against a human rights based attack. Presently in the media there is an on-line run active which is called GenerationOne . It is the creative activity of billionaire excavation baron Andrew Forrest and is led by former Labor Party national run manager Tim Gartrell. It is financially supported by other extremely recognized concern leaders such as James Packer, Kerry Stokes and Lindsay Fox to call a few. It is aimed at eliminating the inequality and disadvantage of laden and marginalised Indigenous groups. The run is a response to a impression that there needs to be great alteration in this state to stop all Autochthonal disadvantages peculiarly environing the high rates of Autochthonal unemployment. It is foregrounding the fact that instruction can be a tool for stoping Autochthonal disadvantage. GenerationOne is the topographic point for Australians to let go of their passion, in three chief countries: instruction, occupations and job-ready preparation. We will write a custom essay sample on Looking At The Human Rights Policys In Australia Social Work Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Looking At The Human Rights Policys In Australia Social Work Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Looking At The Human Rights Policys In Australia Social Work Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This cause is personally relevant to me as I have worked extensively in the yesteryear with immature Indigenous Youth. I besides worked with ATSIC ( Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission ) before it was abolished. My work with Indigenous Youth in the interior metropolis of Sydney alerted me to high rate of Autochthonal unemployment. The young person that I worked closely with were unmotivated and felt suppressed by their disadvantage. In most instances it was generational with many of the Indigenous young person turning up with households who were reliant entirely on Government benefits. There was a high rate of high school dropouts and I ran several out of school plans with these young person to seek and promote them to remain at school and go on their instruction. GenerationOne promoted their cause through several mediums of the media. These included several advertizements on telecasting and wireless every bit good as a roadshow. The roadshow has been extended for one month due to the response from the populace. The roadshow has travelled all over Australia sing major metropoliss every bit good as towns with a high Autochthonal population. The purpose of this is to travel from community to community to raise consciousness and set frontward the chances that are at that place to work together to back up employment, to back up concern, to back up autochthonal Australians that have been disadvantaged. The run is being portrayed in a positive manner through different signifiers of media Nationwide. The group has set up a Youtube channel ( Generation One TVC ) every bit good as advertizements on the major webs on telecasting The merely negative thing I saw in relation to the human rights issue of stoping Autochthonal disadvantage was when I was watching the NRL on the 7th May, Channel Nine cut the Welcome to the state ceremonial being performed senior Joy Murphy. It made me inquiry this negative illustration of media in coming up against the work that GenerationOne is really seeking to accomplish. The response on the Facebook web site ( 2010 ) has been promoting with a batch of people seting themselves behind this grass roots motion. People both Indigenous and non-Indigenous are saying that they feel it is about clip to stop the disparity. There have been great argument and treatment on the Facebook page approximately ways in which instruction and preparation can assist eliminate this societal job. The most relevant human rights compact under which this issue falls is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights . In Australia, we have the Australian Human Rights Commission ( HREOC ) . The Human Rights Commission ( HREOC ) web site ( 2010 ) states that the The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ) besides prohibits favoritism before the jurisprudence on any land such as race, coloring material, sex, linguistic communication, faith, political or other sentiment, national or societal beginning, belongings, birth or other position ( article 26 ) . The United Nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Autochthonal Peoples. This declaration recognizes equality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and the rights of Autochthonal peoples. As being pertinent to the cause of stoping Autochthonal disadvantage it reaffirms that Autochthonal people can set up themselves in regard to political, economic and societal sweeteni ng in order to stop all favoritism and subjugation wherever it may happen. The UN besides affirms that nil in this declaration can take away from the rights to self-government of the Autochthonal people. As good we have the Convention Refering Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation ( International Labour Organisation Convention figure 111 ) . This compact was ratified in Australia on the 15th June, 1973 and is filed under: C111 Discrimination ( Employment and Occupation ) Convention, 1958. ( International Labour Organisation ( ILO ) ) . In Australia, we have the Australian Human Rights Commission ( HREOC ) . I foremost became cognizant of this run in March when I saw an advertizement on the telecasting and besides saw an article in the Sydney Morning by Gibson and Howard ( 2010 ) . The newspaper article was about the coming together of extremely influential people ( viz. James Packer, Andrew Twiggy Forrest and Kerry Stokes ) at the Opera House. They were doing a pledge to assist close the spread and stop the disparity between non-Indigenous and Autochthonal Aussies. I found this issue peculiarly relevant to me because of my background working with Autochthonal communities. I besides have two immature kids who will turn to see the disparity between the non-Indigenous and Autochthonal people if something is now done now. I want my kids to be taught that everyone is equal. History has non shown this to be true and I hope that instruction in our schools can include the history of the Autochthonal Australians. I believe that cooperation from all should be encouraged over the coming old ages to reconstruct equality and I will be explicating all sides to my kids. Harmonizing to Bennett all citizens of this state are every bit eligible to all awards, topographic points and employments, harmonizing to their different abilities, without other differentiation than that of their virtuousnesss and endowments ( 1999:7 ) Australian society can be responsible for doing this alteration and stoping the divide between non-Indigenous and Autochthonal people. It is a countrywide attack that is needed. GenerationOne is about traveling frontward as one state. Society on a whole can non be coherent without engagement of everyone in it. Australian society can come together and do the dreams of Autochthonal people to take part in instruction, preparation and employment. There has been a history of Autochthonal activism most notably that of the Mabo instance. Important surveies have documented facets of historical activism ( Attwood, 2003 ) . Yet there remains unusually small literature that explores the modern-day societal motion activism that is still trying to accomplish these rights. Histories have been recorded, alteration has been documented and rights articulated, but much remains to be done to enter the experiences and positions of autochthonal militants themselves. While political sentiment is divided refering both the causes of, and solutions to, this state of affairs, there is some consensus around the impression that any effectual solutions must be arrived at and delivered by autochthonal peoples themselves. Militants will be cardinal to accomplishing and presenting better results for Autochthonal peoples. Militants are unable to portion their cognition and positions with one other if they avoid struggle by staying isolated from one anot her in their several webs. A deficiency of connexion between militants with differing positions diminishes the motion as a whole. This is why GenerationOne, being a countrywide grassroots motion, can see militants from all parts of the Australia come together to advance one cause which is to stop Autochthonal disadvantage. The inquiry I asked myself was how is my engagement traveling to alter this state of affairs? I understand though that I can go on my action manner beyond what is the clip kingdom of this session. Therefore, the action that I have taken during the current session of survey to go involved in this issue has been to subscribe up and go an active member in the GenerationOne on-line motion. I have signed an on-line request to assist eliminate the disparity between non-Indigenous and Autochthonal Australians. I have besides joined their Facebook fan Page and have sent out an invitation to all of my contacts through Facebook to fall in the motion besides. Social working can be the fastest manner to link with people to acquire the word out and in this instance advance the run. The current coevals are technologically literate and so I think the on-line motion is a great manner to advance alteration. It is a fast and effectual manner to be active in your community both local and national. Another thought I had was to acquire in contact with the people behind GenerationOne and inquire them if they had promoted the cause through the Koori Mail. I thought that sing this run had been to a great extent covered in mainstream newspapers ( SMH, Telegraph ) that it would make good in the Koori Mail with the high population of Autochthonal readers. I wrote an electronic mail saying that I was a societal work pupil desiring to assist the cause. I let them cognize that I had had old experience working with Autochthonal Communities in Sydney particularly immature people as my function as a Youth Worker. I enquired as to whether they had promoted ( I had researched on the cyberspace and found no entries ) GenerationOne through the Koori Mail. I explained that I would wish to assist organize this if possible. This was their response via electronic mail: Hey Jodie, This is amazing. We have really been in contact with the Koori Mail and we will in future. This is a great thought. Have you besides signed up to the website www.generationone.org.au and you can travel to the media subdivision which will demo you all our articles. It would be great if you could subscribe up to the web site and promote your uni friends and all your other friends to subscribe up every bit good. Will maintain in touch. Cheers Gen1 My response to them was yes, that I had signed up to the motion and notified my friends to besides make the same and that I would appreciate if they let me cognize any farther development. I emailed them a twosome of hebdomads subsequently to inquire whether there had been any farther development on this. This is the response via electronic mail that I got: Hi Jodie, As I said below we are speaking to Koori mail and will be seting something in. We do nt desire to hotfoot it and desire to acquire a good narrative. We are making an interview with Tania Major this forenoon on Koori Radio 1030am and they will play out the Bob Geldof address from Brisbane. We are decidedly acquiring at that place the roadshow is extended for another month so we have some clip up our arms. We will draw something together as asap Respects Kate My hope is that they give me the chance to demo my support to the cause by leting me to assist organize this media coverage. I await their response. I believe that by my being cognizant of this human rights issue and subsequent run is action in itself. It makes me believe about this issue on a day-to-day footing which so affects my ideas when I may read something or come across something on the telecasting By definition the function of societal workers is a human rights worker. Social workers help to gain person s rights every twenty-four hours. Autochthonal communities are really frequently social work clients . Calma ( 2008 ) recognises that as societal workers we will necessitate to travel towards a rights based pattern to develop single capacity. The values and rules of human self-respect and self worth in the Social Workers Code of Ethics, already seem to construct a base for a human rights based societal work pattern. The human rights based attack can be seen as most of import when working with the Indigenous community. It is critical for us as societal workers to perpetrate to the cardinal rules of societal work to help Autochthonal people to make their human rights. Elsewhere I have stated that I chose to research Autochthonal disadvantage as a human rights issue because of my history of working with the Indigenous community. The disparity that is apparent and that I have witnessed firsthand has led me to go really passionate about seeking to set an terminal to it. When I found the GenerationOne run I was interested that a adult male from a non-Indigenous background had performed such a undertaking as doing a connexion with both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of this state. By conveying people together no affair what their background is to organize a corporate voice can be one of the most powerful signifiers of activism. I understand that everything is non evident at surface degree and that that merely after turn overing up my arms and acquiring genuinely involved in a human rights motion will I appreciate the results and the sense of fulfilment that comes with engagement. Having cognition of the political, societal and theoretical for ces that influence such human rights issue such as Autochthonal disadvantage, will let me to understand the work and gimmick nuances which may be overlooked. Unfortunately clip in this instance has non allowed me to to the full dig into this issue to my full extent. I will follow up with the action I have taken and seek to my best ability see it through if allowed to. Working with Indigenous people/communities allows me to research my anti-oppressive work. Thompson ( 2003 ) defines the results of favoritism to be subjugation. Autochthonal people have been discriminated against for old ages. This entrenched favoritism becomes of import when we look at the current coevals of Indigenous young person fighting to go on their instruction and finally acquire a occupation. I believe that the societal work profession must work towards eliminating subjugation ( Domenilli, 2002 ) . I agree that anti-oppressive pattern is an effectual societal work pattern tool for deriving a better apprehension of the Autochthonal people and the marginalization and exclusion from mainstream society. I say this in respects to employment and preparation and holding the same entree to instruction so as to be able to take part in society by deriving meaningful employment. It can besides maximise the potency of societal work to advance societal justness. I do nt believe I have done plenty in respects to affecting myself in this peculiar issue. I feel I could hold gone one measure further and involved myself with a local young person group and possibly put up a workshop or talk with a outstanding Indigenous concern individual or sportsperson to take part in mentoring these immature people. If I had were non time-bound I could hold organised this and I feel that my state of affairs at place hindered me in go oning farther. When nearing this issue I was cognizant that coming from a rights-based attack was manner in which I needed to see it. Bing cognizant of the fact that working from a human rights position required a praxis preparation ( Ife, 2008 ) . Knowing the history behind this cause has given me adequate information to set the theory into my pattern. Although theory and pattern has for some clip been seen as two separate entities, over the old ages it is seen more and more to be good for societal work pattern to develop in this manner. I agree with Ife when he states that we learn by making and we do by larning ( 2008, p160 ) . I have learned a batch through the action I have taken in respects to this human rights issue. I have discovered that it is an ethically disputing subject which I have confronted but have non felt out of my deepness. By working through any ethical quandary which I may hold had has helped me place privileges every bit good as unseeable ways in which I comply with dominant political orientation. Through self contemplation of my feelings, values, and beliefs it has allowed me to face subjugation and back up my life-long learning/professional development. By affecting myself in this grass motion I feel that I have challenged myself as a societal work pupil and have seen merely what I am capable of in respects to activism. It is non about being afraid to set myself out at that place but about being passionate for the cause with I support and acquiring the most out it that I can. I believe this will assist me farther in my calling. Decision In decision, Autochthonal people have faced jobs with their battle for equality of chance. They have faced a life-time of exclusion from mainstream society. With GenerationOne the hope is that this will be the coevals to stop all disparity and work towards assisting the Autochthonal people to be self-determinate. I have gained a batch of knowing experience by fall ining this human rights run and I hope to go on my work with them.

Schizophrenia and Dopamine Hypothesis Essay Example

Schizophrenia and Dopamine Hypothesis Essay Example Schizophrenia and Dopamine Hypothesis Essay Schizophrenia and Dopamine Hypothesis Essay Yale Alexia Abnormal Psychology 2013FA-PSY-241-1 Tuesday/Thursday 9a. m. 10/9/13 Schizophrenia And the Dopamine Hypothesis INTRO Men will always be mad and those who think the can cure them are the maddest of all. (Volaire, 1759) Schizophrenia, aka the cancer of psychology, has become a vast mystery for psychologist. It accounts for 80% of long-term hospital stays. Even with the conveniences of modern technology we still have yet to be able to discover the true cure for the disorder. There are several unique biological, environmental, and developmental factors that help influence the likelihood of obtaining Schizophrenia. One major influence making its way into spotlight is Dopamine. Multiple studies have shown that an abnormal level of the neurotransmitter Dopamine can indeed be related back to a significant increase in ones likelihood of being diagnosed with Schizophrenia (Creese, Burt, Snyder, 1976). Thus creating the dopamine hypothesis. There are numerous facts that help support the dopamine hypothesis as a significant cause to being diagnosed with Schizophrenia. The main supporting factors for the dopamine hypothesis include evidence from illicit drug use, neuroimaging, and a roup of drugs called phenothiazines. DEFINED Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which your personal, social, and occupational lives deteriorate as a result from its characteristics that lead to a breakdown of cognitive, emotional, and motor responses. Symptoms of Schizophrenia usually begin to appear during young childhood. The most common symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking/speech, social withdrawal, and loss of motivation and Judgment. There are three different categories that symptoms can be classified into: positive symptoms symptoms that appear to be in excess of ehavior, emotion, and/or bizarre additions to normal thoughts; negative symptoms symptoms that are in deficit when compared to normal thoughts, behaviors, and emotions; and lastly psychomotor symptoms symptoms dealing with unusual movements or gesturers. Both positive and negative symptoms are typically common, however, one or the other types will typically dominate patients (Keefe Eesley, 2012). ETIOLOGY The etiology of Schizophrenia is commonly attributed to genetics, but environmental factors such as, developmental complications and drug use, that also influence the occurrence rate. Finding an individuals main cause of the disorder can often prove challenging because of the difficulty in telling the separation between the effects of genetics and the environment (Picchioni, Murray, 2007). Having a first- degree relative will set you at a 6. 5% chance of being diagnosed with the disorder. It is thought that there is most likely numerous genes that go into play when it comes to Schizophrenia. There are no known major affecting genes that cause this disorder, but more likely a number of genes with their own small effect and unknown expression. This creates much difficulty when trying to pinpoint the specific related enes (McLaren, Silins, and Hutchingson, 2010). It is believed that people with Schizophrenia are more likely to be born during the winter or spring, if they live in the northern hemisphere. This is thought to be because, while pregnant, Mothers are put at an increased risk of viral exposure to the womb, by things such as infections and hypoxia. Stress and malnutrition can also lead to a slight increase in the risk of the development of Schizophrenia later on in life. As either a child or an adult living in an urban environment, especially when living in poverty, has been found to largely increase your chances of being diagnosed ith this disorder. Having a positive social life and living with supportive parents has been shown to increase the overall well being of the patient (Picchioni, Murray, 2007). The last major factor that influences the diagnosis of Schizophrenia is drug use. Around half of the people who are diagnosed with Schizophrenia also use and abuse drugs and or alcohol. Amphetamines, cocaine, and marijuana are thought to be the major contributors (Picchioni, Murray, 2007; McLaren, Silins, and Hutchingson, 2010). These drugs especially, are associated with the dopamine hypothesis, which will be iscussed later on in greater depth. Other drugs, such as alcohol, may possibly be used as Just a way to cope with the depression, boredom, and loneliness that often follow along with the disorder. RATE/INCIDENCE Approximately 1% of the worlds population is affected by this disorder. That means over 24 million people worldwide have had Schizophrenia at some point in their lives (Van Os J Kapur S, 2009). However, this rate can vary up to threefold according to geographical location. It is 1. 4 times more likely to occur in males than females and usually appears earlier in life for men. People who have biological elatives are at a heightened risk of obtaining Schizophrenia (Coon Mitterer, 2007). Having an identical twin or being the child of two parents with the disorder puts you at an 46%/48% chance of developing the disorder. DIANOSIS Observing ones behavior, as well as listening to the patients past reported experiences, is the most common method of diagnosis. According to the DSM-Vto be diagnosed with Schizophrenia, over a one-month period, you have to experience at least two separate symptoms long enough to become abnormal. At least one of these symptoms has to be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speec h. In the evelopment of Schizophrenia there are three different stages: acute, residual, and prodromal stage (Barnett, 2009). The first stage of Schizophrenia is the prodromal stage. This stage refers to the year before the illness appears in which people start showing signs of the disorder. Often they start to isolate themselves from friends and family and have decreased motivation or bunted emotions. The second stage is the acute stage. In this stage someone will start experiencing psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, or overly disorganized behavior. This stage shows that the person has fully development the disorder. The third and final stage is the residual stage. This stage is very similar to the prodromal stage. People who are in this stage do not appear psychotic but they may still have strange beliefs and or other negative symptoms such as low energy or lack of emotions (American Medical Network, 2009). TREATMENT To help manage Schizophrenia patients are most often prescribed antipsychotic medications, usually along with psychological help and social support groups (Van Os J, Kapur S, 2009). Since the 1950s, when deinstitutionalization came about, long hospital stays have largely become a thing of the past, although sometimes they do till occur; which depending on the severity of the disorder, can be either voluntary or involuntary. Most antipsychotics reduce the positive symptoms in around 1-2 weeks. So that will get rid, or at least help control, all of the extra crazy sights and sounds. However, there is no significant improvement when it comes to the negative symptoms as well as most of the cognitive dysfunctions (Tandon, Keshavan, Nasrallah, 2008). As long as the patient stays on the medication they should have a largely decreased chance of relapse. Beyond 2-3 years research shows that the antipsychotics may become inconsistent with the significance of the benefits. Based on the costs, benefits, and risks of the medication, a person diagnosed with Schizophrenia would be prescribed with one of two different classes of antipsychotics; either typical, or atypical antipsychotics. Both classes have an equal dropout and relapse rate so it is very debatable as to which class is better than the other. As with many major medications there are separate negative side effects that are associated with the two classes. Antipsychotics in the typical class, such as Haldol, Thorazine, and Prolizin, often have a high rate of extrapyramidal side effects; he major one being tardive dyskinesia (TD)- causing involuntary movements most often affecting the facial region. Patients may not even notice these movements. The newer medications in the atypical class, such as Abilify, Risperdal, and Seroquel, have a much lower risk of TD, but patients will often have a significant increase in body weight gain. Also, if given at too high of a dosage, patients may experience social withdrawal as well as have body tremors/movements that get very close to resembling Parkinsons disease (National Institute Of Mental Health, 2006). PREVENTION Schizophrenia is a disorder with no reliable distinctions for the development of the disease (Cannon, Comblatt, Mcgorry, 2007). This creates an issue for early detection and prevention. There is indecisive evidence as to the effectiveness of early interventions to prevent Schizophrenia (Marshall, Rathbone, 2006). While still in the prodromal phase, it is uncertain that attempting to prevent Schizophrenia is of any benefit and therefore as of 2009 is not recommended. After a year, cognitive behavioral therapy is able to decrease the chance of psychosis in those patients that re of high risk of obtaining the disorder (Stafford MR, Jackson H, Mayo-Wilson E, Morrison AP, Kendall T, 2013). Another preventive measure, that is widely accepted, is staying away from drugs that are thought to be able to cause the disorder, such as meth, coke, and marijuana. This preventive method is also known as the Hugs Not Drugs method (Hugsnotdrugs. com, 2013). PROGNOSIS Schizophrenia can become extremely disabling. Being ranked as the 3rd highest disabling condition in the world, placing Schizophrenia higher up on the list than blindness and paraplegia (Ustun, 1999). Studies have shown that people who are iagnosed more at risk to commit suicide. However, this higher risk of suicide is not significant being as low as only 4. % most likely; most commonly occurring at the beginning of facilitation when they are undergoing extreme stress (Hor k, Taylor M, 2010). Although life expectancy has increased in recent decades, people with Schizophrenia on average have a 12-15 year decrease in life expectancy compared to the normal population. There are three major factors that contribute to the lo wer life expectancy: a lazy/low activity life style, obesity, and smoking cigarettes (Van Os J, Kapur, 2009). Of people diagnosed with Schizophrenia, about % have a continuing disability and problems with relapses. About 17 million people in the world are living with a moderate or severe disability from the disorder. However there are patients that do recover completely and many others are still able to function well in everyday society. Very often people with Schizophrenia are also heavy smokers. Anywhere from 80-90% of Schizophrenic people smoke cigarettes. This is very significant compared to the 20% of people who smoke from the general population. When Schizophrenic people smoke, they tend to smoke very heavy and hard as well as ypically only smoking cigarettes with high nicotine content (APA, 2002, pg. 304). Excess tobacco smoking will of course lead to a higher health risk that contributes to the lower life expectancy. There has yet to be an exact solid answer as to why Schizophrenic people more commonly smoke cigarettes. DOPAMINE D2 The Dopamine hypothesis is a model that states that certain factors, which of whom have been known to create abnormally excessive levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, have been linked to a significantly increased risk of being diagnosed with Schizophrenia. These abnormal levels of dopamine result from eurons firing too often that make use of dopamine as a neurotransmitter. This causes an uneven shift in the two-way communication within the brain, and sends too many messages at once, in turn producing symptoms that are common to Schizophrenia (Grace, Abi-Dargham, 2011). As more and more studies are being completed, this hypothesis is continuing to provide an evolving basis to help psychologists understand as to how this disorder originates, and how to create better treatments for patients. This theory however, does not solely hold excessive dopamine levels as an absolute and complete explanation for Schizophrenia. The ver activation of the D2 receptors seem to also be a widespread effect of abnormal chemical synapsis. This theory obtained further support during the mid-1970s when Creese made the connection that antipsychotic drugs had a significant ability to block dopamine D2 receptors (creese, Burt, snyder, 1976). METHAMPHETAMINES In recent decades Amphetamines, especially crystal meth, have become widely popular with the more deviant of our societies. There are of course many negative repercussions that affect ones health with the abuse of methamphetamines. The worst of which, is methamphetamines highly addictive properties. When dministered Methamphetamine at significant dosages, the drug becomes neurotoxic specifically to dopamine neurons (Cruickshank, Dyer, 2009). The connection wasnt made until 1966 when Rossum proposed that the hyperactivity of dopamine transmission could responsible for the disorder of Schizophrenia (Rossum, 1966). Rossum also looked back a few years and used Carlsson and Lindqvists research on mice, finding that dopamine plays an important role in the functioning of the extrapyramidal motor system (Carlsson, Lindqvist, 1963). In a study that reviewed hospital records of patients, that were diagnosed with drug dependence/abuse, and dmitted between 1990-2000, they found that people who were hospitalized for methamphetamines had 1. 5-3x more likely chance of being diagnosed at the end of the study with Schizophrenia (Wood, 2011). This statistic of diagnosis being up to 3x more likely to occur with meth use should alone be able to make the effects very noticeable. Since methamphetamines create an influx of dopamine levels, you can easily make the connection that dopamine and Schizophrenia are closely related. During an interview in 2004, Dr. Heather Keizer, a psychiatrist, referred to methamphetamine as the on switch for Schizophrenia (Cudworth, 2005). She also described how even after they (the clinicians) could get the patient cleaned up, and eliminate the drugs from their system but theyd still be psychotic. Often within the year she would diagnose them with Schizophrenia. Again this provides substantial evidence that methamphetamines effect on dopamine is responsible for numerous diagnosis of Schizophrenia. CANNABIS Cannabis has a similar affect on dopamine levels, in turn making it plausible to relate the use of the drug to Schizophrenia. The percentage of people who have been diagnosed Schizophrenia and make use of cannabis is higher than that of the eneral population (Lynch, Rabin, and George, 2012). A whopping 25% of patients with Schizophrenia can be diagnosed with either cannabis abuse or dependence. Information from several cohort studies provided addition evidence of dopamines link to Schizophrenia. Their findings showed that when compared to nonusers, people who used cannabis had a 40% more likely chance of psychosis. This risk was also dose-related, showing that psychotic symptoms had up to a 200% increased chance of appearing in users who made use of cannabis on the regular (Lynch, Rabin, and George, 2012). Again this goes to show that drugs affecting dopamine levels have a significantly obvious relation to an increase in diagnosis of Schizophrenia. If we look at the classical study, started in 1969 of a little more than 50,000 Swedish conscripts, we can have a glimpse at some of the more extreme links cannabis has to Schizophrenia. They found that if you used cannabis more than 50 times, you were nearly SEVEN times more likely to eventually develop Schizophrenia (Andreasson, Allebeck, and Rydberg, 1987). This statistic shows how even a small cannabis consumption can have adverse effects and has more than enough power to shock ny associate of mine that regularly uses cannabis; as well as making them prone to question thetr sanity. PHENOTHIAZINES Phenothiazines are the largest of the five 5 major classes of neuroleptic antipsychotic drugs. Theyre known for their antipsychotic properties and are often associated with severe side effects. These antipsychotics have been found to antagonize dopamine binding, specifically at the D2 dopamine receptors (Creese, Burt, and Snyder, 1976). This effect causes a reduction in the positive psychotic symptoms that people with Schizophrenia experience. So yet again you have a substance influencing Schizophrenia by affecting the brains dopamine receptors. These findings lead to the eventual usage of other antipsychotic classes that included drugs such as Haloperidol. Patients with Schizophrenia are almost always treated with a prescription of antipsychotics, and why is that? Because they work; and the reason they have been proven effective at combating the symptoms of Schizophrenia is because they influence and block dopamine receptors. Which of course helps support the legitimacy of the dopamine hypothesis. NEUROIMAGING Neuroimaging is used as a research tool to measure certain aspects of the brain nd specific mental functions. This comes in use when observing the effects of drugs on the brain. This method came about in the early 1980s and made many improvements on our knowledge of how substances affect our body. This came in use in providing evidence for the dopamine hypothesis, when it was used during a study done in 1986. By comparing neuroimages of a normalized control group to that of people diagnosed with Schizophrenia, they were able to indicate to effects of amphetamines on the brain. They found that people diagnosed with Schizophrenia had increased levels of dopamine, especially in the striatum, when compared to non- sychotic individuals Oacobs, Silverstone, 1986). These images prove that over activity of dopamine is directly linked to being diagnosed with Schizophrenia. CONCLUSION Schizophrenia is an extremely damaging disorder, in which psychologists still have much to learn about the etiology and treatments. In the United States alone, the disorder cost the country nearly $63 billion in 2002 (Wu Eq, 2002). In recent decades studies have conclusively shown that excessive activity in D2 receptors is definitely associated with the onset of Schizophrenia. Support for the dopamine hypothesis is idely shown and proved by studies done on illicit drug use, and the class of drugs called phenothiazines, as well as the development of neuroimaging help provide substantial evidence. With this vast amount of factual information, it is hard to argue against the legitimacy of the dopamine hypothesis. Lastly, the reoccurring motif that you should take home if you want to avoid becoming Schizophrenic is: Dont do drugs. WORKS CITED Cudworth, Laura. Crystal Meth and Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia. com. Schizophrenia Daily News Blog, 6 July 2005. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Wood, Janice. Heavvy Meth Use May Up Risk of Schizophrenia I Psych Central News. Psych Central. com. PsychCentral, 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Freeman, David. Methamphetamine Tied to Schizophrenia. Cbsnews. com. CBS News, 8 Nov. 011. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Comer, Ronald J. Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology. New York: Worth, 2014. Print. Keefe Eesly, 2012, Neurocognitive Impairments. J. A. Lieberman, T. S. Stroup, D. O. Perkins, Essentials of Schizophrenia. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5. 5th ed. Washington, D. C. : American Psyc hiatric Association, 2013. Print. Van Os, J. , and S. Kapur. Schizophrenia. NCBI. U. S. National Library of Medicine, 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Voltaire. Goodreads. com. Goodreads, n. d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Coon, D. Mitterer, 1. 0. (2007). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior (1 lth ed. ). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Stages of Schizophrenia. Health. am. American Medical Network, 11 May 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. Cannon TD, Cornblatt B, McGorry P. The empirical status of the ultra high-risk (prodromal) research paradigm. Schizophrenia Bulletin. 2007 Marshall M, Rathbone J. Early intervention for psychosis. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2006 Stafford MR, Jackson H, Mayo-Wilson E, Morrison AP, Kendall T. 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Dextroamphetamine-induced Arousal in Human Subjects as a Model for Mania. Psychological Medicine 16. 02 (1986): 323. Print.

Overview 25 Years in the Technology Industry Essay

Overview 25 Years in the Technology Industry - Essay Example While technological change is an ongoing process, there are periods during which technological progress is especially rapid, resulting in new products and falling prices of existing products that have widespread uses in the rest of the economy. Such periods are generally identified with all-purpose technological revolutions. Earlier examples include textiles production and steam power in the industrial revolution, railroads in the nineteenth century, and electricity in the early twentieth century (the automobile could also be included, but its development was relatively gradual). The effects of such revolutions have generally occurred in three (often overlapping) main stages. First, technological change raises productivity growth in the innovating sector; second, falling prices encourage capital deepening; and, finally, there can be significant reorganization of production around the capital goods that embody the new technology. The growth of the information technology sector (IT) in the 1980s was an important development for the economy, but it spurred relatively little policy or media interest. True, IT was recognized as a driver of comparative advantage for the US and there were a few initiatives involving industrial policy and military preparedness, IT was of interest primarily to specialists. In the 1990's, however, things changed dramatically when the Internet became a topic of intense public discussion. Suddenly computers were not only a way to manipulate information, but also a way to communicate information. This led to a dramatic rise in the public and political awareness of the importance of information policy issues such as intellectual property, privacy, and security. A unique confluence of forces certainly came together in the 1990s: rapid technological advances in the information technology sector; widespread recognition that computers could be used to communicate information as well as process it; the rapid spread of a simple, inexpensive, and powerful wide-area computer network based on non-proprietary standards; and financial institutions ready to fund investment in advanced technology. These forces led to very rapid growth of the Internet. As firms and consumers flocked to the Internet in large numbers, it became evident that information policy issues, including importantly intellectual property, security, and privacy, required serious attention. Employment Statistics From 1993 to 2000 the number of workers in IT industries in the U.S. increased by close to 50 percent, almost two and a half times as fast as employment in non-IT producing industries. By 2000 there were some 5.4 million IT workers in the U.S., representing 4.9 percent of private sector employment. Number of Technology Firms Created The major companies that commenced operations during the boom period are listed below: Venture Capital The United States has the oldest and most developed venture capital industry in the OECD. Several successful high-technology companies in computers and communications, as well as in health-related sectors and services, were venture backed. Young high-growth firms also benefit from a continuum of complementary finance from business angels,

International operation individual 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International operation individual 1 - Essay Example Currently it has a membership of one hundred and fifty nine countries. This paper focuses on the functions of world trade organization and how it was establishment. It also looks at how the international organization handled a trade dispute. Objectives of World Trade Organization The world trade organization was formed to achieve various objectives. Promotion of global trade is one of the aims for its formation. The trade organization ensures that all countries benefit from business operations in the international market (Sinha, 2012). For example, Content Cow Dairy Inc Company can realize better returns from its milk sales globally from this objective. Additionally, increase in the level of production among trading countries is another objective of world trade organization. To achieve this objective, the trade organization ensures that member countries enlarge their productivity through utilization of world resources. Another objective of world trade organization is implementation o f global trading systems. This is done by ensuring member countries adhere to the set regulations of world trade among its members. Functions of World Trade organization The world trade organization was established to carry out various business functions globally. Implementation of its objectives and trade agreements among its member countries is one of the core functions of world trade organization. The global organization provides a framework to ensure the smooth flow of business operations internationally. It also administers multilateral trade agreements among countries as a way to implement its objectives (Sinha, 2012). This trade organization can be beneficial to Mr. Swanson of Content Cow Dairy Company because of one main reason. Firstly, his milk product business will flow smoothly between different countries globally because of the framework provided by the trade organization. Eventually, the Dairy Cow Company will be able to reach more markets internationally with the pres ence of a well defined business agreement. From the above explanations, the world trade organization provides a favorable environment to conduct business activities. World Trade organization provides a platform for negotiations (Sinha, 2012). It provides a forum where its members can debate on the issues affecting them. This organization offers its member countries opportunities to discuss trade relation matters. Seeking new markets could be one issue that affects operations of businesses among different countries. This organization offers its members with different options of accessing new markets. For example, Content Dairy Cow president is seeking fresh markets overseas to promote his company’s products. Through world trade organization, the president can find new markets. This is achieved through the negotiation forums offered by the trade organization (Ahearn, 2010). Additionally, the trade organizations offer its members the best markets to sell their products and servi ces internationally. For example, Egypt is Content Dairy Company’s major market. The world trade organization can propose better plans for the company maximize profits from this prime market. Use of consulting firms or agencies to give advice on business operations is also another function of the world trade organization. The organization uses legally established trade consulting agencies

Multilateralism and Regionalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Multilateralism and Regionalism - Essay Example Most of these regional agreements remained within the concept of free trade areas and most of them were based on a multilateralization of bilateral agreements or unions. The mushrooming of initiatives gave birth too many treaties and institutions of economic integration which still exist, but never were a success, because regional areas were conceived as likelier sites for import-substituting industrialization than small national markets. Few of these regional groupings were successful in furthering freer trade or deeper economic integration between partners. In the developing world regional agreements were seen as a means of reducing dependence on economic ties with the capitalist core region. The theory of comparative advantage, certainly, argues that unobstructed exchange between countries will augment the total amount of world output if every country tends to focus in those goods that it can generate at a comparatively lower cost compared to possible trading partners. Every country then will trade several of those lower-cost goods with other nations for goods that can be formed elsewhere more economically than at home. In the end, with free trade amongst nations, all countries will discover that their consumption potential recline outside their domestic production potential. Comparative advantage and its expansions from a theoretical perspective have not resulted in any considerable weakening of the general strength of this body of theory nor of its consequence, a free trade system. The rationale for free trade is thus quite old. Building his case on the gains from trade to be had from specialization reflecting the division of labor, Smith had the essence of the argument right. But it was left to David Ricardo (building on James Mill) to clinch the case formally. Ricardo used a stripped-down model- only one factor of production with constant productivity of labor in two goods, but with relative productivity between the goods different across two countries-to show that both countries could gain from trade via specialization. The Ricardian analysis implied that this "technical possibility" of gaining from trade would be realized if a policy of free trade were adopted in an institutional setting where prices guided resource allocation. But the analytically satisfactory proofs of trade's benefits that we modern economists demand are the handiwork of theorists working in the twentieth century. David Ricardo armed advocate of free trade with the theorem of comparative advantage. His basic assumption was that every economic value was created by labor (the labor theory of value) and a belief that the three basic factors of production (land, labor, and capital) could not move across national boundaries. Ricardo and other economists, however, were interested in learning what law governs the distribution of national income among the factors production, and what the determinants of international trade patterns are. Heckscher - Ohlin approach The classical Ricardo assumed, literally or in effect, a single factor of production. Obviously, that assumption precluded considerations such as the consequences of varying input proportions and of changes in trade on the distribution

Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management

Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management Introduction As globalization takes place, rapid development and increasingly competitive market have become the immediate challenges for organizations. Surrounded by such environment, organizations should create business strategies to survive the challenges and sustain the competitive advantage. Beside developing on new products, new processes and expanding business to larger market, the investment on the biggest potential that most organizations recognize, human resource, has received more and more attentions. Nowadays, the most valuable resource in a organization is suggested to be the human resource. Human capital, the knowledge, experience and skills that individuals possessed are pivotal for the successful performance of the federal government’s missions (J.L. Perry, 1993). Similarly, other types of organizations have no exception, also treasure the values that individuals bring to the companies. Thus, the management of human resource is closely related to the success of organization al performances. in fact, as argued by many management scholars, human resource management is currently an important, perhaps the most important factor that determines the effectiveness of organization (Devanna, Fombrun, and Tichy, 1984; Schuler,1990). Strategic human resource management (SHRM), as a term first given from the USA, is of more interest recently. It is defined as the pattern through planning human resource deployments and activities such to enable an organization to achieve its goals (J.L. Perry, 1993). SHRM creates a link between the overall strategic business objectives and the human resource strategy and implementation (E. N. Caliskan, 2010). Thus, it is important to understand that how the organization manages its human resource and link to its business strategies have a significant impact on the improved organization’s performance. Impact of human resource management In order to explain the importance of SHRM to the success of organizational performance, the impact that human resource management has on the organizations should be examined first. There has been growing number of studies that indicated a positive relationship between human resource management and organizational performance (E.N. Caliskan, 2010). A research reported by Arthur in 1990 (M. Armstrong, 2006) gave data from 30 US strip mills used to assess how high-commitment strategy or a control strategy influenced labour efficiency and scrap rate. The results showed that firms with a high-commitment strategy was higher in both productivity and quality as comparing to those with a control strategy. In 1995, Huselid (M. Armstrong, 2006) did an analysis of the responses of 968 US firms regarding the use of high performance work practices, the development of synergies between them and alignment of these practices with the competitive strategy. The results showed that the impact of employe e motivation is significant on productivity, and the impact of employee skills, motivation and organizational structures is also significant on the financial performance. Later Patterson et al. in 1997 (M. Armstrong, 2006) did a research to examine the link between business performance and organization culture as well as the use of some human resource practices. The results showed that human resource practices gave explanations to significant variations in profitability and productivity. Two of the practices were particularly important: (1) the acquisition and development of employee skills (2) job design which includes flexibility, responsibility, variety and the use of formal teams. The workplace employee relations survey conducted in 1998 also suggested a strong association existed between HRM and employee attitudes as well as workplace performance through the sample survey of 2000 workplaces and views of 28000 employees (E.N. Caliskan, 2010). Purcell et al. in 2003 (M. Armstrong , 2006) did a longitudinal study of 12 companies to establish the impacts of people management on organizational performance. As indicated, the most successful companies all had a clear vision and a set of integrated values such as embedded, enduring, collective, measured and managed. It was clearly evidenced that positive attitudes towards HR policies and practices, levels of satisfaction, motivation and commitment influenced operational performance. From the research results, we can easily conclude that effective HR practices have positive impacts on the overall performance of organizations. For suitable HR policies and processes to be applied, the firm’s performance will be substantial and sustainable. Regardless of what type of industry the organization is aiming at, the ultimate strategic goal of the chief is to maximize wealth of the shareholders. Financial performance depends largely on operational performance. This can be accounted as a function of its people, process and technology. Effective combination of such function requires people in the organization to be competent enough with adequate knowledge, skill and abilities. Such requirement is closed linked to certain HRM practices such as hiring selection, training of staff, work environment and performance assessment. These practices may enhance the competence of employees, thus improve the performance of organizations. Impact of Strategic human resource management The strategic base of HR practices has a great impact on improved performance. Firstly, in the strategy of hiring employees, HRM tends to attract, develop and retain high-quality people. By matching employees to the strategic and operational needs of the company, can improve the working efficiency. In addition, the talent management also has effective measures. Winning ‘war for talent’ is achieved by making sure that both present and future needs of talented and well-motivated people required by the organization are met. Baring in mind the most important strategy which is to create happiness within the workplace and make the organization a great place to work. This can inspire people to be more innovative and energetic in their work. As the employees’ happiness increases, their performance also improves, thus enhance the overall organizational performance. The job design, as mentioned in the past research, plays an important role in productivity. It is necessary t o provide employees with stimulating and interesting work and give them autonomy and flexibility to complete their jobs. This can enhance job satisfaction of the employees, thus encourage higher performance and productivity (E.N. Caliskan, 2010). Training and initiating a learning culture within the organization can develop the level of competence of the workforce. Encouraging discretionary learning when individuals actively seek to acquire knowledge and skills that match with the objectives of the organizations. By creating a learning atmosphere in the workplace, employees would be more motivated and more competent to face the fast-paced and global challenges. From the case of Snowden, we noticed the importance of building cooperation trust among the employees. Adopting the strategy of increasing motivation, commitment and role engagement to encourage people to identify themselves with the core values of the organizations and to make them willingly contribute to achieve organizatio nal goals. Last but not least, for high-performance management, a positive performance culture should be built to deliver the desired values from the shareholders. For more contribution made, the people should be awarded, in order to encourage him to keep it up and also motivate other employees to devote themselves strive for better performance. As we discuss on how various HR strategies can be implemented to collaborate with business strategies to achieve higher performance of organizations, it is not hard to conclude that SHRM is the driver to improve organizational performance. Human resource, as a source of sustained competitive advantage, is worth being invested to increase the potential of an organization. So long as the people in the organizations are improved in both performance and attitude, the ultimate goal of the shareholder is approachable. The present linkage has given HR managers a clue on how to adopt various strategies onto HRM. These strategies do not only improve the human resource performance, most importantly, also directly affect the overall performance of the organization, thus, determine if or not the organization can achieve its goals. Case study of Google Inc. Backgroud In order to understand the importance of SHRM in practical situation, we introduce the unique and outstanding organization : Google inc. in the following part. Certain SHRM practices within Google would be discussed to show how actively it is focused on managing its people and how this helps Google to achieve its goals. Google inc., the biggest search engine known to the whole world has gained its success largely by the people, the googlers they have. This is a technological organization. Engineers are the main workforce of the organization. However, the HR department, or the POPS as themselves called, is the key factor which determines their past and present success, also perhaps the future as well. Under the lead of Bock, the POPS has helped Google to become the best employer in the US. It has been rated as the best place where people want to work for in the States. Let us see how Google succeeded over the years. Successful examples of SHRM Several years ago, there was a problem noticed by the POPS, that many female employees left the company. Although this IT based organization has mainly male employees, the role of female employees is as important as males. The problem was not about gender equality, but it has affected the bottom line. Regardless of gender, the market of the talents is very thin, fighting for the talented people determines the competence of Google with other organizations such as Apple, Facebook and so on. In addition, the departure of every employee will be inefficient because it will involve a costly and time-consuming recruiting process. Thus, the POPS investigated and researched until they realized it was a problem of happiness. At that time, the company offered an industry-standard maternity leave plan. As long as a female worker gave birth, she would have 12 weeks of paid time off, and only for those new parents in California offices. Those outside the state only got paid time off of 7 weeks. Af ter they figured out the problem, in 2007, Bock announced new policy. New mothers would get 5 months off at full pay and full benefits, also they are allowed to manage the time on their own wish. If she likes, the mother could return as part time after her birth, and then take the balance back when the baby grows older. In addition, Google offered 7 weeks new-parent leave to every worker around the world. It may sound overly generous that this investment outweighs the benefits it brings to the organization. However, this policy was actually a win for the company that after it was carried out, the departures of new mothers had dropped down quickly by 50%. Being compensated by the savings in recruitment costs, the new policy does not cost Google any more money (F. Manjoo, 2013). Google’s POPS does not only solve problems for new mothers. They concern about every little detail that the employees are involved. Surveys about the best way to manage a large firm were done a lot of times to the employees. The questions were such as do successful middle managers have certain skills in common- and can you teach those skills to unsuccessful managers? And say you want to give someone a rise-how should you do it in a way that maximizes his happiness? Should you give him a cash bonus? Stock? A raise? More time off? (F. Manjoo, 2013) Although some may argue that Google’s HR practices may not apply to all companies. Some of their findings such as how to improve interviews, will still be applicable to most of the firms. In the hiring process of Google, within the first few years, it required its candidates to endure many interviews. The interviewer was also played by all the staff currently in the company. The HR department thought this approach would help bo th current employees and prospective ones to be more competent and more capable. However, it slowed down the hiring process and became more and more ineffective on examining candidates’ true values. Later, they realized the problem and studied about the optimal number of interview times. It was found that 4 times interviews will yield the most effective hiring process. After fourth one, the results begin to turn negative. Google was able to correct their HR practices to demonstrate the most strategic HRM. Besides these two major examples, Google POPS did way more. They investigated the way to increase employees’ paying. Whether paying a bonus of more or giving rise to monthly salary with less amount makes no difference to the firm, but the latter one can largely increases the level of happiness of the employees, thus encourage them more to work their best for the company. Even for cafeterias, besides providing free food, drinks and snacks, the size of the table was also concerned. The tables are long, so that workers who do not know each other will have to sit together to interact. The social coherence will improve teamwork spirit. In such a competitive and globalized environment, teamwork is especially important as diversity and combination of different powerful minds can create miracles and successes. In addition, the size of the plates were also considered to change to smaller size, so that the employees would have more healthy portions of food. In such ways, the employees d o not just feel happy about the free services that they receive, they are also satisfied and motivated by the cares that the company shows to them. The learning atmosphere is also maintained well in Google. Googlers can enjoy free classes of dancing, training sessions and choose their interested projects. Such free and encouraging environment inspires the googlers to create more values to the company. It does not only improve the overall performance, but also brings benefits to the entire world as their internet business has already changed people’s life and will continue this mission. Discussion on Google’s SHRM practices Google’s POPS head Bock has revealed that the ultimate goal is to use Google’s experience to answer some important questions about workplace such as: are leaders born or made? Can individuals sustain high performance over their lifetimes? Google would eventually be able to figure out the answers and they believe that the unique luxury that they have as being a date-driven company with people who can do the math will assist them to achieve the goals. So far, Google has set many good examples for all other companies. Their successes in SHRM lead to greatly improved performance. Through the example of Google, other companies are able to see the importance of taking care of the human resource. The strategic management of people does not only enable better alignment of jobs, but also increases people’s happiness. As working professionals are happy about their jobs and workplaces, the development and civilization of the entire society will go to a higher level. The wor ld would not only be economic based, but also more utilitarian and more humanitarians. Conclusion The report has illustrated the importance of HRM to organizational performance. Then SHRM, as a link to connect HRM to business strategies to achieve final organizational objectives can improve overall performance of the organization. Through the example of Google inc., we see how actively Google focused on SHRM. They also gained success in SHRM and also become the most successful search engine in the history. Their ultimate goal is not merely helping Google to achieve business goals through SHRM, but also collecting experience for other organizations on how to improve their employees’ happiness and welfare as well as achieve their business goals. Reference Devanna, M.A.,C. Fombrun, and N. Tichy. A Framework for Strategic Human Resource Management. Human Resource Management. New York: John Wiley. 1984. E. N. Caliskan. The Impact of Strategic Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance. Journal of Naval Science and Engineering, 2010, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp 100-116. F. Manjoo. The Happiness Machine, How Google became such a great place to work, 2013,retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/01/google_people_operations_the_secrets_of_the_world_s_most_scientific_human.2.html J. L. Perry. Strategic Human Resource Management. Transforming Federal Civil Service. Fall 1993. p 59-71. M. Armstrong. Strategic Human Research Management: A Guide to Action. Kogan Page. London. p 73-74. Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management The business that I have chosen to study as part of this assignment is TESCO. TESCO is a public limited company, which is very successful and renowned in all over the world. I am always interested about TESCO and do my shopping very regularly from there. So I chosen to do my study about this particular business and it will help me to get information quite effectively and efficiently than any other organisation or business. Definition: Human resource management is the organisational function which is focused on recruitment, management, and providing direction for the employees of an organization. Strategic human resource management is linking of human resources with objectives and strategic goal in order to develop business culture and performance with flexibly, innovative. In an organisation SHRM means involving the HR function and implementing companys strategies through recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. 1.1-Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management: Strategic human resource management is a part of human resource management. Rather than focusing on internal issues of HR, SHRM focus on addressing and solving problems what effect people management related issues in the long run globally. So the main importance of strategic human resources is to increase employee skills by focusing on business problems that happens outside of human resources. The actions that needed to be taken at first for a strategic human resource manager is to identify key HR areas ,where strategies will be implemented in the future to improve employees productivity, motivation and skill. Human Resource managers are facing with some issues such as performance management, employee participation, human resource flow, reward systems and high commitment work systems in the context of globalization. These are some of the major issues that HR management involved in SHRM that implemented in the first decade of the 21st century: Internationalization of market integration. Significant technological change. New concepts of general management. Cross-cultural factors The economic trend transferring from developed to developing countries in the world. SHRM also reflects some of the contemporary challenges faced by Human Resource Management. Such as aligning HR with core business strategy, demographic trends on employment and the labour market, integrating soft skills in HRD and finally Knowledge Management. 1.2-The Purpose of Strategic Human Resource Management: The purpose of SHRM is to stimulate interest in the field of Human Resources by inviting HR professionals to speak about different aspects of their job and other HR issues. SHRM was created to provide assistance for development of its members, to provide leadership opportunities, and establish and support standards of excellence in Human Resource Management. SHRM aims to provide a sense of direction in an often turbulent environment so that organizational and business needs can be translated into coherent and practical policies and programmes. SHRM should provide guidelines for successful action, and the ultimate test of the reality of strategic HRM is the extent to which it has stimulated such action. There is an overall corporate purpose and that the human resource dimensions of that purpose are evident. A process of developing strategy within the organization exists and is understood, and that there is explicit consideration of human resource dimensions. The organization at all levels establishes responsibility and accountability for human resource management. It includes the responsibility to identify and interact in the social, political, technological and economic environments in which the organization is and will be doing business. 1.3-Contribution of SHRM to the achievement of TESCOs objectives: SHRM is normally helps us to achieve knowledge about strategic goals in different ways. The main thing of using this strategic advance is maintain the level of the organization for the organizational goals. Different HR policies are providing some good replies that are very necessary for the organizational strategy. HRM task helps us to achieve corporate goals such as growth and development by recruiting, training and orientating, and put them in new job role. The growth plan of an organization requires staffs and recruitment is the only functions that make sure that employees got sufficient skill. The retention policy enable to differentiation through retaining best of the ability force. Retaining appropriately of the employees enables to provide quality works, customer pleasure, and higher proficiency. The strategic approaches boost its performance management of the whole organization. The training and development process enables employees to know that they have proper skills that are required to achieve the whole tasks. The training plans are structured to train the human resources for particular skills that will enable them to achieve the essential goals. So that the organization is benefited as in there appropriate utilization of financial resources available to accomplish the training and development process. This process also maintains the growth of the organization through career improvement of the staffs. Tesco is the UKs largest supermarket. It has more than 240000 employees, and is making constant profit over the last few years. During the last few years Tesco used participative management which helped the organization for its development. The organization tried to apply of competitive circumstances by developing the technique how they can relate with the customers. Tesco used constant improvement, customer relation, welfare management in combination with the HRM strategies to achieve this reputable place in the UK supermarket industry. It makes employees champions and makes them able to make decisions. It also enables to increase employee pleasure, motivation, work proficiency and make able to adopt in any change. Overall the development of the organizational employees is the most important strength of Tesco. It is mainly focus on proper accomplishment and utilization of HR strategies that help it to do well in the market. In Tesco Human Resource policies perform with marketing str ategies that is placed into the operation. The management practice and its participation helped Tesco to improve its employees and the whole company. These steps enable them to obtain appropriate performance through their participation and engagement. The strategic human resource practice enables to produce competencies that distinguish product and service. Task 2: In this part of my assignment I am going to explain about Marks and Spencer 2.1-Internal and external business factors that underpin human resource planning: At this time of year lots of companies are thinking a strategic plan for the coming period. There are some external and internal business factors that effecting Mark and Spencer business policy. Some of them are in below: Labor cost control Increase efficiency and productivity Employee development Business decline Business growth Business change Marks and Spencer is one of the leading companies in UK. Internal business factor like as business growth can strengthen human resource plan on Marks and Spencer. When the whole companys business is growing then definitely management make different human resource plan for the organizational success. It can include recruitment of new personnel or making the existed personnel more efficient through a better training. Similarly when Marks and Spencer business is going through a bad time Marks and Spencer management make a different HR plan, like as redundancies of staff or other HR related expenses. Sometimes for other changes in business its Marks and Spencer Company make some change on the HR planning. Control of labor cost is one of the important factors on Marks and Spencer business policy. Computing a labour cost percentage in addition to other used way of labour efficiency. Justifying labour productivity Maintaining a Productive Workforce Measuring Current Labour Productivity Managing Payroll Costs Dropping Labour-Related Costs Now a days IT is making a huge change in the field of industrial, agricultural and human resources of Marks and Spencer. In this present 21st century IT has been playing a very important role on human resource planning. Due to technological advancemans its been taking some changes on the basis of HR planning in Marks and Spencer. 2.2-Human resource requirements: Marks and Spencer is always looking for particular amount of skills from the employees of different department. Among of these department specific skills is generally required by the employers. Similarly experience and other qualifications also required from the employees. These skills are related with their ability. Depends on the making plan, organize, design, implementation. It also helps his goal-setting. Some of them are in below: Honesty, integrity and morality. Adaptability, Flexibility. Dedication and hard working. Dependability/Reliability/Responsibility. Loyalty. Positive Attitude/Motivation/Energy/Passion. Professionalism. Self-Confidence. Self-Motivated/Ability to Work with Little or No Supervision. Willingness to Learn. In the specific areas whoever is weak can develop these skills by better training, acquiring knowledge on specific field, professional development from the people who possess these skills. Internal factors e.g. (labour requirements, Skill requirements, Workforce profiles etc): Marks and Spencer consider skill requirement, labour requirement and workforce profile. HR planning ensures that Marks and Spencer has suitable access to talent and ensure future business success. Talent means the knowledge, skills and ability to assume some activities like as decision making. HR resource plan consider some iterative discipline. External factors e.g. demand for labour, Supply of labour: Sector Skills Councils, government departments, professional bodies or dedicated employer or trade associations are likely to produce specific labour market studies. Specialist recruitment agencies and local further and higher education establishments will have useful insights into the labour markets they serve. Government polices e.g. employment, Education, Training, Industrial, Regional: Government role and activity can have a good role on the basis of human resource requirements. If government keep a good look on how peoples can develop their skills and requirement. The answers definitely indicate a few things, one of them is education. This is the key factors for the development of a nation. So the developments of Marks and Spencer, even a countrys development mainly depend on educational development. Government need to analyse every single point and focus on that point after that must be taken step by step action to reach the success, the another key point is employment. Government should have developed the opportunity in the job market, need to think about how to make job market better. Must need to try the best how to create vacancies according to the peoples interest and skill. For this reason employees must be skilled, and to be a skilled worker he must be properly trained in both practically and theoretically. Government can support that directly or indirectl y. It can be regional basis or industrial basis. 2.3-Human resource planning: HR planning is the process by which a company can ensure that it got right personnel. To fulfil organisational requirement MS make some HR planning for the development of human resource these are: Recruitment Retention Employee development Re-skilling Up-skilling Succession planning Fulfil recruitment requirement: an organised process of recruitment can avoid the problem of unpredicted wastage, shortage, blockages in the promotion flow, redundancies and so on. Determining training needs: It is very important to have a planning training programme. And in the term of skills requirement these programmes are improving not only quantity but also in quality in Marks and Spencer. Management development: One of the main purposes of HR planning is management development. Because a well trained and experienced manager is very important for the effectiveness of Marks and Spencer Industry. This thing depends on accurate information for both present and future requirement. Setting Smart: To engage SMART objectives in Mark and Spencer is focus on all the SMART criteria to meet with every objective. The full abbreviation of SMART is Specific, Measurable, Achievable or Agreed, Realistic and Time phased. These criteria can help MS to achieve the goal on the basis of HR management. Specific: The goal must be specific. It can be done by drafting a goal statement. For an example MS aimed to make sure this year that they will make a specific amount of profit this year, to reach that goal they planned to make the HR department more skilled. That plan must be specific. Measurable: MS aim must be measurable so that the benchmark of the metrics will be used and it can be tricky. Strategic goals of MS are basically measured making earning or profit. So that it must be careful that it may find that employees use unethical behaviours to achieve the specific goal. Achievable: The goal must be achievable. If the mission is then it will be easier to fix that the goal is whether achievable or not. An awareness campaign or a meeting can ensure that how it can be achieved. Realistic: There is no point of making a goal that necessitates the resources which are unavailable. A tactful session might help to make that realistic. To help and find new alternative MS use empowering staff if its resources are considered. Time based: The goals must have deadline. If the deadline is not affix properly the whole SMART will be useless. Every year MS got an agenda on HR management, which means it plan, its agenda on the basis of a time limitation. That specific deadline allows it to create a benchmark to ensure the goals achievement is on the plan. Outcomes: The purposes of HR planning are to enable organizations to anticipate their future HRM needs and to identify practices that will help them to meet those needs. HR planning may be done on a short- or long-term basis. Its aim is to ensure that people will be available with the appropriate characteristics and skills when and where the organization needs them. The use of HR planning enables companies to gain control of their future by preparing for likely events. When failing to properly plan for their human resources, employers are forced to respond to events after they occur, rather than before; they become reactive, rather than proactive. When this outcome occurs, an organization may be unable to correctly anticipate an increase in its future demand for personnel. At best, such a company would be forced to recruit personnel at the last minute and may fail to find the best candidates. At worst, the company may become seriously understaffed. Resources required: In spite of of the size of the human resources department it is essential to have the necessary personnel in position to develop, apply and monitor a suitable written human resources plan. 2.4-how a human resource plan contributes to the meeting of organisational objectives: A comprehensive Human Resource plan plays a very important role on the achievement of organisational objectives. Human resource plan support some strategic objectives related with marketing, financial, technological and operational departments. HR strategy is aim to explain about the people element, what an organisation is expecting to achieve in medium to long term, which ensure that: The organisation has right people It got perfect mix of skills Employees present good attitudes and behaviours Staffs are improving in the proper way. Fundamental issues which are addressed by the organisation. It identified if employees are motivated, committed and operate successfully. In MS these fundamental issues are: Employees planning issues Employees skills and equity plans Motivation and fair treatment issues Keep level on the basis of payment, recruit and motivate people. A career development framework which is normally focusing on the development of organisation, organising the staffs with employability so they can adopt with regular changes in the employment pattern. HR plan is showing a careful planning of the people issues that make it quite easier for the achievement of the organisation. HR plan have major impact on the changes in the wider market environment which are: Changes in the overall market. Cultural changes that will effect on the future employment pattern. Changes in the legal framework Providing and implementing practical idea on HR planning and making it stronger an organisational performance can be developed such as focusing on good management practice. 3.1-Purpose of human resource management policies: Human resource management policies include different type of activities such as deciding about staffing need that M S Company got. To fulfill these requirements MS Company do recruiting and selecting employees then training for making them better skilled, ensuring their good performance, monitoring the performance issues. Activities also include managing the approach to employees benefits and compensation, employees personal policies and records. During the period of recruiting company must show the balance of equality on the basis of sex, culture, religion or cast. Employers should: Pay workers according to the agreement. The agreement will maintain some areas such as work period, amount of paid holidays etc. The employment contract is the important legal document between the employer and staff. Pay men and women equally for doing the equal values of work, should not be discriminate between men and woman. Make sure they fulfil the requirements of Minimum Wage Act 1998 and pay at least the national minimum wage to appropriate the employees Benefit and expenses: Benefits are forms of value, other than payment, that are provided to the employee in return for their contribution to the organization, that is, for doing their job. Some benefits, such as unemployment and workers compensation, are federally required. Employee benefits typically refers to retirement plans, health life insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, employee stock ownership plans, etc. Benefits are increasingly expensive for businesses to provide to employees, so the range and options of benefits are changing rapidly to include, for example, flexible benefit plans. Training and development All managers at Mark Spencer are making a career planning profile that helps them to think about next target. Then they can develop their career. Identifying staff, specific training such as technical skill and business competencies needs for the specific role. The profile highlighted what kind of training program Mark and Spencer need to take. There are two forms of training are: On the job training: while employees are on the work then this training form take place. Off the job training: when employees are away from the work then it take place. On-the-job training takes place while employees are carrying out an activity in their place of work. Involving a range of project and training can improve business competencies and technical skills. The purpose of the training is to make the enjoyable to their work, and make them feel that have all the skill that is needed for the role. Off-the-job training, as its names suggests, takes place away from the workplace. For example, within MS there is internet and staff finds required learning materials to develop their technical skills and business competencies. 3.2-Impact of regulatory requirements on human resource policies: Regulatory requirements: Employment legislation include different types of regulatory requirements which is related with business structure, pay, data protection, health and safety, discrimination, equality, employment right and responsibility, contractual terms and condition and data protection. Employment relation act 2004: This act is generally concerned with collective labour law and trade union rights. This is the reviewed one of Employment Relations Act 1999 that was announced on July 2002. The act 1999 was conducted with connecting of interested parties, after that it included a public consultation. Government reviewed that and provides a detailed analysis that is known as Employment Relations Act 2004. Equal Pay Acts 1970 and 1983 This act was came to force on 1975. Its intention was to remove discrimination between men and women in pay. This act allows someone to claim equal amount of payment for both of the gender. approximating work Work rate as equal under a job estimation scheme Work of Equal Value in terms of weight made under such headings as attempt, skill and decision-making Claims to be pursue on the basis of the Employment Tribunal system. Disability Discrimination Act 1995 This act came to force on 2nd of December 1996. This act works like as Sex Discrimination Act and Race relation act. It also put the duty on the employer to make a reasonable adjustment in the premises to the disable people. Disable means physical disable, visual or hearing disable, mental problem such as Multiple Sclerosis and Aid, learning problem. Data protection Act 1998: The Data Protection Act 1998 requires every data controller who is processing personal data to notify the Information Commissioner unless they are exempt. Failure to notify is a criminal offence. The Information Commissioner maintains a public register of data controllers. Each register entry includes the name and address of the data controller and a general description of the processing of personal data by a data controller. Individuals can consult the register to find out what processing of personal data is being carried out by a particular data controller. There is no requirement to notify manual records which come within the scope of the Data Protection Act 1998. However, it can be chosen to notify them voluntary to notify them voluntarily. If notification is needed, there are two ways to notify: By internet notification form can be completed on the internet, printing it and send the form by post with the notification fee or direct debit instruction By telephone it can be telephone the notification help line and a draft notification form will be sent to which is based on the information that is been asked to provide on the telephone. Further guidance and other publications can be accessed from the website of the Information Commissioner http://www.dataprotection.gov.uk/dpr/dpdoc.nsf Task 3: In this task of my assignment i am going to discuss about ACI Company Ltd Bangladesh. 4.1- Impact of organisational structure on the management of HR: Role of HR department on the development of ACI: On the development of ACI Company Ltd Bangladesh, HR department got a huge role. Organisational development of ACI is based on some personnel assessment and HR audit. Its also depending on the basis of how personnel departments are being observed and evaluated. On the viewpoint of a HR consultant here I am going to describe some of them: Recruiting, interviewing and hiring New employee related factors Performance assessment Wages or compensation issues Staff benefit issues HR plan and policies Job categorization Training and interviewing Decision-making skills 4.2- Impact of organisational culture on the management of HR: Organisational culture: organisational culture can be defined as thorough concept of knowledge, belief and thoughts of mind and customs in where peoples are expressing their organisational conditioning. Aci organisation have different shared belief and values which sometimes convert into policies and practice. Aci organisational culture has some impact on the HR management that are: Decision making that can centralised of decentralised Freedom of different level of staff and management Frankness on communication Different leadership styles that is conducted by managers Educational involve and intelligence of employees Attitude of team then if needed training and development. Attitude to change specially with the technology. Commitment on the quality and service. 4.3- How the effectiveness of HRM is being monitored: ACI Companys HRM effectiveness depends on some major components which are mentioned bellow and these components are being monitored by ACI regularly for the organizational development. These are: HRM strategy: Human resource strategy is indicating some objectives like as training and developing, motivation and control workers. ACI Company is one of the most successful organizations in Bangladesh, it achieving its success through business strategy and HRM strategy and company believe that the more successful it is likely to be in terms of achieving the organizational outcomes. So if the whole companys effectiveness is mostly depend on its HRM strategy. HRM operations There are lots of responsibility and functions required for running a business. Performance, productivity, each and every department must be monitored constantly and HR department is responsible for achieving these. These things ensure the overall success of ACI Company. Using human resource properly: Some people might think that HR department is not a most important factor in a company. It is totally a wrong concept. ACI Companys HR department basically focuses on hiring the people and which would build up the workforce of the company. If this department is not performing well then whole process of hiring and recruiting will be on the question for any company. So for the effectiveness of the ACI Company proper using of HR is very important. Efficiencies and inefficiencies: An organizational effectiveness mostly depends on having right people on the right post to fulfill organizational requirements on the appropriate time. Right people can only be obtained by measuring efficiencies. The more efficient the employee will, the more effective the company will be. On the other hand an inefficient employee is a great obstacle for the whole company. So making him efficient the companys development can be obtained. So monitor efficiencies and inefficiencies must be considered on the effectiveness of human resource management. Overall monitoring the above few section ACI Company is performing its organizational success. 4.4- Recommendation to improve the effectiveness of human resource management in ACI: To improve the effectiveness of human resource management in ACI Company, there must be a list of recommendation. The following few factors can be implemented for the improvements of its effectiveness. Benchmarking HR performance: Benchmarking provides an organization with a detail analysis of national and employees satisfaction. It also provides HR effectiveness based on in detail feedback form and the whole companys surveys. ACI Companys benchmarking reports let it to compare the organization with the current and future industry norms. Thats how the management can determine whether the present HR practices are fulfilling the companys need and the needs of employees. Employees attitude survey: Employee attitude survey provides information to improve efficiency and commitment on ACI industry. Finding out the root issues of attitude in the organization ACI Company must take the direct action to broaden its overall job satisfaction. Involving the information that was gathered from the survey will improve the productivity. Improving the attitude of the employees will lead to better cooperation and communication throughout the whole company. So employees attitude must be considered for the future improvement of the effectiveness of HRM in ACI Company. Employee retention: Employee retention is helping an organization to encourage employees to remain in the organization for a long time. Now a days so many companies are facing a lot of problem in employees retention. Hiring skilled and knowledgeable people for the job is very necessary for any company. But retention is more important than hiring. ACI Company is always looking for such a kind of talent employees. If an employee is not satisfied on his present job then he might try to find a better one, as a result it can be a huge lose for the company. So employee retention should be followed for the future development of the company.

Poverty and Low Birth Weights :: Essays on Poverty

Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There exist some evidence that poverty can result in low birth weight in newborn infants. On Prince Edward Island, low birth weights are currently the lowest as compared to the national average according to Statistics Canada. However, the link that exist between poverty and low birth weights leaves unanswered questions as to what can be done to reduce these low birth weights in newborn infants. The effect of Poverty on Low Birth Weight in Newborns   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Receiving good prenatal care is extremely important for an expecting mother. The prenatal period has a great impact on the newborn’s health. Low birth weight is a problem among a certain population of newborns. It is crucial to understand the conditions in poverty and its affects on birth weights in infants. â€Å"Several communities characteristics associated with poverty are negatively associated with low birth weight† (Roberts, 1997)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 2000, the PEI Reproductive Care Program, reported that Prince Edward Island had the lowest percentage of low birth weight infant at 4.3% compared to the National average of 5.6%, however there is much taught about the link of low birth weight and poverty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to the 2000 study, mothers living in West Prince were the youngest with the highest percentage of birth rates (11.3%), these being women under 20 years of age. This can also be a contributor since young women may not have finished school or post secondary educational therefore resulting in jobs with less income. This weighs on their health care and ability to have the best prenatal care available.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Diet factors can also play a major factor in low birth weights. In a study done comparing Latina women both in the United States and Mexico, showed that Latino women born in Mexico consumed diets richer in calcium, folate, protein, vitamin A and ascorbic acid than Latino women born in the United States who instead ate diets consisting more of high fat foods, sugars and cereals, associated with low birth weights (Pearl, 2001). Poverty decreases the chances of expecting mothers to be able to buy all the proper foods available in order to eat a properly balanced diet high in all the nutrients needed for her and her baby. This paper describes the incidence of low birth weight in newborns in relation to the level of poverty among women on Prince Edward Island. Method Apparatus and/or Materials   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The source of the data was found using Statistics Canada database CANSIM. Incidence of low birth weight from 1991 to 2001 on Prince Edward Island, v5939746 Table 102-4005.