Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay Example for Free
Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay Depression or â€Å"Unipolar depression is another name for Major Depressive disorder. It is a mood disorder characterized by depressed mood, it often manifests in lack of interest in family, school and social life, changes in eating and sleeping habits, emotional and medical disregard for the self, difficulty in concentrating, and loss of interest in life†(Rush, 2007). Just like any other pathological disease, it has risk factors, signs and symptoms, and a natural course. Like any other disease it can be treated with proper medical and psychological therapy. Yet it is not perceived as such by the community.            There is remarkable lack of awareness about depression in the communities, in spite of the staggering statistics about the disorder. Unipolar depression affects 7-18% of the American population at least once before the age of 40 (Kassler, McGonagle Zhao, 1994). In the United States alone, the number of females are reported to be suffering from clinical depression (Murray, 1997). It has also been observed that 2.5 percent of children and 8.3 percent of adolescents are depressed at any given time. These rates are considerably higher than the figure of the past decades (Depression Statistics Information, Internet). Yet, it has been found that only 20 percent of depressed people undergo medical treatment (Depression Statistics Information). This is caused by numerous reasons with ignorance or lack of concern and awareness about the disorder considered as the biggest suspect. In fact, a United States surgeon general report in the Hispanic community states that less than 10 percent of the mentally ill people will ever approach a mental clinic (U.S. Department of Health, 2000). This is possibly the result of lack of concern on their part, or due to the fact that in the Hispanic communitys, non-medical methods of treatment for the depressed. It is imperative that we find out whether other communities also show a similar of lack of awareness and concern about depression.            Social Science medicine attempts to find cultural differences in the conceptual models of depression by an interviewed with North American immigrants and African Americans (Karasz, 2005) . His study demonstrated that Americans were more of the view that depression was a pathological disease of the body just like any other disease and required medical therapy. According to the author, the people from the African community were more likely to explain depression in terms of a social and moral problems and conformed to the belief that self management was the right way to deal with the issue of depression.            Different communities have different perceptions about the disease, people of certain cultures prefer going to spiritual healers rather than seek medical attention (Nayem, 2005). Some cultures prefer to treat this ailment with alternative therapies to allopathic ones. Depression, though a serious and debilitating disease, does not command the same attention as other medical disorders like heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, or even obesity. According to Pasacreta (2008) there has been little attention given to depression and its consequences when we compare it with other diseases. For example obesity has been associated with diabetes many times. Even though depression also has a similar association with type II diabetes, not many people are aware of this fact. Since public concern is lacking in communities, many depressed people fail to come forward, and receive proper treatment. If this trend continues prevalence of depression will continue to rise.            Though the attitudes of different cultures may vary toward the disease, it does not change the fact that â€Å"depression poses enormous costs for individual, family, and the society†(Nayem F, 2005). Depression is a severe disease with far reaching effects, starting from the patient, who may inflict self harm, leading to a family life, which cannot function in the same way as before (Scott, 2003). There has been research demonstrating depression as a burrden to people, communities, and health services as the treatment is long term and the patient has little or no productivity to society (Nayem, 2005). This research further highlights the need to conduct a survey to assess the perception of depression across various cultures.            People are unaware of the magnitude of the problem and its economic implications. In certain cultures, inability to diagnose the disease or disregard of its seriousness lead to delayed medical opinion and treatment. Through this study, we will try to substantiate the various levels of awareness that different cultures have about the disease. The severity of depression usually gets aggravated if it is not treated promptly after diagnosis. This leads to a greater burden on the country. Scott (2003) echoed this sentiment when he stated â€Å"In the National Health Service the cost of treating depression ( £887 million) exceeds the cost of treating both hypertension ( £439 million) and diabetes ( £300 million). However, here, the direct health care costs are dwarfed by the indirect costs (i.e. days lost from work owing to depression exceed all other disorders and the economic burden on family members and society is considerable).                                                                                          North American and African cultures both differ in there perceptions about depression as a disease. Different cultures may feel that depression is a problem but western cultures are more likely to view it as a disease which needs medical therapy just like any other, whereas the people from the non western culture will perceive depression as more of a social and moral problem which requires self-management. There will generally be a lack of knowledge about depression as a disease in the non western community. The false beliefs and stigmas will be more present in non western cultures as compared to their western counterparts.            How widespread is serious depression? According to Dr. Nathan S. Kline of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, â€Å"it has been estimated that 15 per cent of the adult population of the United States has some degree of depression which is serious enough to be in need of treatment. This amounts to about 20 million people, which makes it not only the most frequent psychological disorder but also one of the most common of all serious medical conditions.†Depression is so widespread that it has been called â€Å"the common cold of mental disturbances.†           Studies report that women outstrip men in suffering from depression by a ratio of about 2 to 1, though some claim that this is because women are more willing to admit that they are depressed. Depression afflicts all races and every social and economic level. While the malady is most common between the ages of sixty and seventy, it strikes all age groups and has been rising among persons in their twenties. Why do so many millions of persons suffer from depression?            Much study has gone into uncovering the root causes of mental depression. Flaws in human society constitute one main source of the problem. Illustrating an aspect of this are comments by Dr. John Schwab, of the University of Florida College of Medicine: â€Å"We’re in an era of change right now. Old values such as the old work ethic are being rejected and people are caught in an ideological vacuum. Kids see that the fruits of four hundred years of scientific progress may be more bitter than sweetâ€â€but they don’t know what to put in its place, and consequently there is a sense of futility.†Because of this, many disillusioned youngsters seek â€Å"escape†through drugs and other means. â€Å"The search for highs among the young,†observes Dr. Schwab, â€Å"is often only a flight from the lows.†           Also contributing to the rise in depression is â€Å"supermobility.†Families that keep changing their places of residence, hopping about from house to house and city to city, do not stay in one place long enough to build solid relationships with other people. A psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center wrote: â€Å"Psychiatrists around Boston have been aware for some time of what is called ‘the Route 128 syndrome’ or in Florida ‘the Cape Kennedy syndrome.’ It is found in young families who have moved too much, and its components are a husband too centered in his career, a depressed wife and troubled children.†           Sometimes depression results when a person reaches a â€Å"plateau†in his life after many years of painstaking labor. A hard-driving business executive may finally achieve the top position in his company, only to realize that he no longer has a goal in life. Housewives in their forties and fifties often suffer from what psychiatrists call â€Å"empty nest syndrome.†By this time their children usually have grown up, their husbands are at work for most of each day and they must face lonely hours in houses devoid of people.            What about the feelings of inferiority that often accompany depression? Here too the responsibility may rest with human society. How so? Because it is often at a tender age that children are made to feel unattractive. Their peers may ridicule them if they are unable to do what the majority consider the â€Å"in†thing. If a youngster tends to be clumsy and uncoordinated, schoolmates and playmates can influence the child to believe that he â€Å"can’t do anything right.†Children of this type often combine the generalization: â€Å"I am weak,†with the value judgment: â€Å"It’s disgusting to be weak.†Such youths are likely candidates for depression. Method  Participants        Approximately 40 students (20 western, 20 international) students from a Midwest liberal arts college will participate in this study. All of them would be selected using randomized sampling. Participants will be offered candy for the completion of the survey. Materials  The survey questionnaire will consist of questions related to assessment of knowledge and attitudes towards depression and a demographic data form. The survey forms will contain closed ended questions only. It will consist of 3 parts. The first section will consist of demographic questions to gather information about the participants: How long have they lived here. Have they adopted the western culture of living or not. The second part will consist of closed questions. The participants will have to choose from the given options in the questionnaires. There will be questions that ask whether they consider depression to be a serious disease. Whether they believe it is a disease of the mind, body, or mind and body. Questions related to stigma would also be included for example do they believe mentally ill people are more aggressive than others? Do they believe mental illnesses are not as severe as physical ones? Do they believe depressed people can be cured with drugs only, or do they require social and community help? Moreover, to support the validation of the results of the survey, the review of literature to be utilized within the research shall show a specific scale of measure that is used by psychologists to identify the behavior of humans with regards to depression from different cultures all over the world. Procedure            It is imperative to find out exactly how different cultures perceive depression as a disease. The researcher plans on conducting this research. This research will deal with the perception of depression as a disease amongst western and non western cultures. The research will also look into the level of awareness in different cultures about the prevalence of disease in their societies. This research will try to substantiate if the perception of depression varies with different cultures. To complete the said aim, the research will be conducted on campus. Participants will be debriefed on the study being researched. The researcher would then have the participants sign a consent form before they participate in the study. After which, a survey kit would then be handed out to them and they would be given three days to return them back. Data analysis A one way ANOVA would be conducted to analyze the data. Since we have two independent sample populations and more than two variables. This will allow for the comparison of attitudes about depression for members of Western and non-Western cultures. Using the ANOVA we can calculate whether the stated answers have associations with either the western or non western societies.                                                  References Depression Information and Fact Statistics (2008), Depression statistics and information, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.add-adhd-help-center.com/Depression/statistics.htm Haasen C, Levit O, Gelbert A, Foroutan N, Norovjav A, Sinaa M, et.al, (2007), Relationship between mental distress and acculturation among migrants, psychrische praxis,  retrieved on February 13, 2008, from the NCBI database on    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez Karasz, A. (2005), Cultural differences in conceptual models of depression, Social Science medicine, 60, 1625-35, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15652693?dopt=Abstractholding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn Kessler, R., McGonagle K,, Zhao S, et al. (1994) Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch Gen Psychiatry;51:8-19. Murray, C., Lopez, A.D. (1997). Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet 349 Neem F, Ayub M., Izhar N, Javed Z, et al (2005). Stigma and knowledge of depression, Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 21(2) 155-158. Pasacreta. J, (2008), Depression: Is society taking the wrong approach? , retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://www.helium.com/tm/646939/novel-approach-managing-depression Scott, J. (2003), Global burden of depression: the intersection of culture and medicine, The British Journal of Psychiatry, 183: 92-94, retrieved on February 13, 2008, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/183/2/92 U.S. Department of Health Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. Mental Health: Culture, Race, Ethnicity Supplement, A Report of the Surgeon General 1999.from: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/default.asp.
Literature Review on the Employer-Employee Relationship
Literature Review on the Employer-Employee Relationship BACKGROUND The Employer-Employee relations is no doubt an enormous topic in Human Resource Management that covers key areas of Employment relationship, Collective Bargaining, performance and reward management also Employee involvement which help to determine the nature of organisational commitment and performance. The employment relationship aspect deals with the role and influence of law which determines the rights and responsibilities/rules that govern the behaviour of both employer and employee which has an impact on how relationship works out. However in recent years newer concept have emerged in Human Resource Management that has considerable changed relationship that was formally dependent upon interaction of formal legal regulations.(Beardwell and Claydon 2007) Collective bargaining is a situation where representatives of both parties come together to negotiate on matters relating to pay, terms of employment and working conditions, in recent years there has been a shift from the traditional collective bargain to a more individualised method of bargaining.(Henderson 2008). Performance and reward management relates to the use of individualised pay, performance-related pay and performance management. This factors determines behaviour in terms of motivation, communication and level of commitment.(Beardwell and Claydon 2007) Employee involvement is a form of employer-employee relations that allows more participation of the employee in organisational decisions, this is when employees can influence decisions that are normally reserved for management(Marchington and Wilkinson 2008). Employee relations is characterised by both conflict and cooperation, Marchington and Wilkinson (2008) described the management of employee relations as being vital to the success or failure of an organisation and it is seen as central to Human resource management. (Dawson 1995)acknowledged that the achievement of organisational objectives depends upon employment relations, evidence from (Limerick 1992)suggests that individual empowering should be consistent in the event of strategic change. Considering the competitive nature of industries and technological advancement, the importance of employer-employee relationship becomes more critical, reason being that to meet constant changing needs of consumers, effective human resource management becomes very crucial in achieving business success. I am an MBA (General Management) Student and I am interested in this topic because as a future General Manager/business owner I want to have a better understanding on the effective ways developing positive employee relations, also to have an idea of the factors that motivates employees, how strategic objectives can be achieved through effective communication with employees? I am basing my research on a multinational company. The greatest asset of an organisation is considered to be the Human Resource and the greatest challenge of an organisation is how to manage these human resources efficiently and effectively so as to achieve set objectives of the organisation, my research objective will be to stress the importance of employer-employee relations, because in the UK the relationship is considered to be an employee to do a particular job in return for wage or salaries for the work they do and this goes beyond mere work for pay. PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE For the purpose of this research, my focus will be on the impact of employer-employee relations on key areas of Collective bargaining, performance and reward management which places emphasis on motivation and various reward systems, also emphasis will be placed on employee involvement and participation in the context of organisational commitment, all these variables constitute to the achievement of organisational objectives. The literature review will be divided into four parts A brief history and Definition Theoretical and Empirical literature Benefits of mutual employer-employee relations Employer-employee relations within the UK including Ford A brief history In the early 70s the relationship between employers and employees in work place was more of a collective relationship which involves collective bargaining where representatives of both employer and employees meet to negotiate on matters relating to pay, terms of employment and working conditions, representatives of employees are known as trade union(Henderson 2008). Organisations were encouraged to recognise and work with trade unions so as to improve the employment rights of workers through collective bargaining(Marchington and Wilkinson 2005). However, in the early 1990s, countries like UK where trade unionism were highly recognised witnessed a significant decline in trade unionism, employee relations changed from the traditional collective method of bargain to a more individualised method as a result of increase in sophisticated HRM style initiative in communication, participation and recognition(Henderson 2008) (Edwards 2003) described the relationship between employer and employee as a system where both parties have common and divergent interest, this is a situation where employer and employee communicate their requirement and views to one another in terms of agreement on work related issues. Theoretical literature (Newell and Scarbrough 2002) posed different dimension on how organisations handle issues of employee relation and on this basis four management style have been suggested: Sophisticated human relations: employees are viewed as the most valuable resource of the organisation, emphasis employees appraisal and extensive method of communication aimed at enhancing employee loyalty and commitment. Trade unionism is discouraged. Many US companies adopt this style. Consultative approach: this is similar to the first approach only those trade unions are recognised. This style is mostly found in the European countries such as Germany Traditional style: employees are seen as a mere factor of production, it represents the Taylors management approach. Unions are opposed. Constitutional style: this is similar to the traditional style only that unions are recognised and accepted. It limitation above theory is that different management styles can be used in the same organisation for example the sophisticated human relations style can be used when managing managers while the traditional style when managing other employee(Newell and Scarbrough 2002). Considering theories that relate to performance and reward management, motivation theories like the Maslows hierarchy of need, his theory identifies five levels of needs. Level 1- physiological needs like food, water and comfort. The organisation provides financial reward. Level 2-safety needs: the organisation provides this by benefits. Level 3- social needs: the organisation satisfies employees social need through social gathering. Level 4-esteem needs: the organisation helps to satisfy employee esteem needs by showing employees appreciation of work done. Level 5:self-actualisation needs: deal with self needs, discovering individuals full potential(Beardwell and Claydon 2007). Researchers have often criticised this theory following the proportion that there is no clear relationship between needs and behaviour. Alternatively Alderfers ERG theory suggested that needs could be classified into three instead of Maslows five; these types of needs are existence, relatedness and growth. He rzberg identified two factors based on his research namely motivators and hygiene factor(Beardwell and Claydon 2007).Several other theories of motivation will be examined in my dissertation. Besides motivation, modern theory in employee participation known as employee engagement was defined by CIPD 2007 as the combination of commitment to the organisation and its values that goes beyond job satisfaction and motivation. This can be linked to psychological contract which will be later discussed extensively, but this has to do with a stronger emotional attachment between employer and employee that helps in attracting and retaining employees(Henderson 2008) The concept of soft model HRM throws light to the positive attitude created from the use of appropriate HRM practices together with communication, motivation and leadership enhances commitment to the organisation and improved performance (Guest 2002). while the Hard HRM model emphasizes on the effective utilization of employees, ensuring that HRM strategy are driven by overall corporate strategy(Keenan 2005). Empirical literature In a research carried out by (Edgar and Alan 2005) they stated that effective HRM policies and practices should be measured by their perceived quality, not simply by the number of practices introduced. Another important issue raised by (Mac Mahon 1996) is that, even in small firms where the need for improved productivity is very important, reward systems was rarely tied to productivity and performance, and also conflict between employer and employee tend to be rare rather conflict was apparent on a personal level. (Savolainen 2000)also linked employer-employee relations with the aspect of leadership and suggested three development strategies: 1)Trust building or participative strategy, 2)The entrepreneurial cooperative strategy, 3)Negotiative strategy. Findings also revealed how organisation change or move towards a new workplace and the role of line managers. Another research suggest that the effective communication of information and ideas to employees should be developed through practice and commitment, findings also revealed that organisation should assess current culture to desired objectives and as a result new attitude often needs to be acquired by both employer and employees(Owusu 1999). In the work of (Dawson 1995) evidence suggest that human resource strategy has shifted focus of job design to career development, skill development which enhanced employee involvement. From my findings I have discovered that most research on areas of employee relations have focused more on the impact of HRM practices on employee performance, however few researchers have worked on employee relations and how it affects organisational commitment and performance, the justification for this research is to shed more light on the impact of this relationship and how it can be improved to enhance organisational performance. I have decided to look at a car manufacturing company (Ford motor company). Benefits The mutual relationship between both parties increases motivation which in turn leads to increase productivity and profit maximization. Estenson (1999) describes employer-employee relations as a key ingredient in the implementation of quality improvement(Savolainen 2000). Furthermore, (Sadri and Lees 2001)said a positive relationship between both parties could lead to a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry and also provide enormous benefits to the organisation. Employee Relations within the UK and Ford Motor Company In the early 1990, the Workplace Industrial Relation Survey reported a decline in trade unionism in the UK, which was replaced by employee involvement in form of line managers who were responsible for HR activities(Henderson 2008). Thus some empirical research in Britain confirmed a key role of line manager in handling human resource activities notable in areas of employee relations(Redman and Wilkinson 2006). Finding of Hamill pointed out that a lower percentage of US owned plant in the UK recognized unions also that US owned company were more likely to have implemented individualized pay(Eric and Jonathan 1995). Ford is the biggest selling motor company in the UK with several large plants located in the UK. Ford Britain and its dealers employ around 35, 000 people in areas of product development, manufacturing, sales and marketing and service departments. However in recent times Ford launched a diversity strategy which has helped to them embrace the new employee relations in Employee engagement(FORD MOTORS COMPANY 2009). RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following question and objectives are based on findings from the background and literature review. Should employers embrace employee involvement and participation? Does mutual relations between employer and employee lead to organisational commitment? What is the relationship between organisational commitment and organisational success? Apart from pay, how else should employers reward performance? Should employees be involved in setting organisational objectives? RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To critically analyse how positive employer-employee relationship can impact on organisational success. To critically evaluate the benefits of employee involvement in setting organisational goals and objectives. To critically analyse how different management style can impact on employee behaviour in terms of motivation and commitment. To critically evaluate the relationship between employer and employee in Ford Motors company and how it affects their performance. To recommend ways of improving employer-employee relations to achieve higher productivity and profit maximization. RESEACH PLAN Research perspective According to (Jewell 2008)states that the positivist approach is based on the experiment and desire to establish causality between variables. However the positivism aspect of this research is to establish a relationship between employer-employee relations and the achievement of organisational objectives. There are two variables namely dependent and independent variables, the independent variable here is the employer-employee relation and the dependent variable is the achievement of organisational objectives. Both quantitative and qualitative research will be done through primary (from questionnaires) and secondary data. Both deductive and inductive reasoning will be used. Research Design My research design will be a case study design which entails an extensive analysis of a single case. This would be an analysis of Ford Motor Company. Data collection Method Data will be collected in dept from different sources; I will use two different sources of data collection methods: Secondary and Questionnaire. Secondary Data: This will be collected from existing sources such as textbooks, articles, internet, and journals. Access to these Data will be done through the universitys online databases such as Science Direct, Emerald and the Internet; this will address the first three research objectives. However secondary data will limit to fully address the fourth objective that is why primary data will used. Questionnaire The fourth and fifth objectives of this research is to seek information from mostly employees of Ford Motor Company on how they are being treated by employers and how it affects their performance, this will be best achieved by a the use questionnaire. Questionnaires will be distributed to over 300 people and I expect a rate of return of 30-40 %. My questionnaire will be brief so as to achieve this. However access to respondents will be achieved through a family friend in London whose friend is an employee in fords manufacturing plant in Dagenham, London. I have contacted him and he has decided to help with the distribution of the questionnaire bureaucracy Sample A Quota sampling method will be employed for my questionnaires because I wont be able to send questionnaires to all the employees of Ford, so the study will be based on a small percentage of employees mainly in the engineering department of the company and my findings will then be generalized. Analysis of Data For the questionnaire I will use excel to present a descriptive and presentational analysis for data collected. The level of analysis will be more bivariate which will allow me analyse two variables together. Limitations The first limitation will be the generalisabilty of my research because it is a single case study and I will focus on a small percentage of a large population of Ford employees in the UK. The second limitation will be the validity of my research work; I will make sure I go through the literature of my study frequently so as to guard against data not relevant to my research. The third limitation will be the response rate and collection of questionnaires; in order to keep the response rate high like 40% more questionnaires will be distributed. Concerning reliability to the research, I will try to ensure that a result of the research is replicable in future. Another limitation might be that employee might be reluctant to disclose some information about their employers which might affect the reliability of the research. Ethical Considerations Research ethics I have read and understood the BES ethics students handbook, and i will comply with the BES ethical guidelines and complete the ethics compliance and checklist forms. All documents regarding ethical approval will be submitted. Results from surveys will be kept confidential and safe. In addition I will seek approval of my questions for my questionnaire from my supervisor, also the reason and intended result for the research will be explained in front of the questionnaire. Plagiarism As for plagiarism, I understand what it means and the consequences, I will make sure I cite and acknowledge the work of others. REFERENCES Anon. (FORD MOTORS COMPANY 2009) Ford Motors Company [online] [NOV. 11, 2008] Beardwell, J. and Claydon, T. (2007) Human Resource Mnangement: A Contemporary Approach. Essex: Pearson Education Limited Dawson, P. (1995) Redefining Human Resources Management: Work Restructuring and Employee Relations at Mobil Adelaide Refinery. International journal of Manpower 16, (5/6) 47-55 EDGAR, F. and ALAN, G. (2005) Human Resource Management Practice and Employee Attitude: Different Measures- Different Results. PERSONAL REVIEW 34, (5) 534-549 Edwards, P. (2003) The Employement Relationship in the Field of Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice in Britain. Oxford: Blakwell Eric, L. and Jonathan, M. (1995) Multinational Corporation and Employee Relations. Glamorgan Business School, Glamorgan: MCB University Press Guest, D. (2002) Human Resource Management, Corporate Performance and Employee Well Being:Building the Worker in Human Resource Management. Industrial Relations 44, (3) HENDERSON, L. (2008) Human Resource Management for Mba Students. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development Jewell, S. (2008) How to Write a Research Proposal. Coventry Keenan, T. (2005) Human Resource Management. Edinburg: Edinburg Business School Limerick, D. (1992) The Shape of the New Organisation: Implication of Human Resource Management. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 30, (1) Mac Mahon, J. (1996) Employee Relations in Small Firms in Ireland: An Exploratory Study of Small Manufacturing Firms. Employee relations 18, (5) Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2005) Human Resource Management at Work. london: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2008) Human Resource Management at Work. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel Development Newell, H. and Scarbrough, H. (2002) Hrm in Context: A Case Study Approach. New York: Palgrave Owusu, Y. (1999) Importance of Employee Involvement in World Class Agile Management Systems. International journal of Agile Management systems (1/2) 107-118 Redman, T. and Wilkinson, A. (2006) Contemporary Human Resource Management. Pearson Education Sadri, G. and Lees, B. (2001) Developing Corporate Culture as a Competitive Advantage. Journal of management Development 20, (10) 853-859 Savolainen, T. (2000) Towards a New Workplace Culture:Development Strategies for Employer-Employee Relations. Journal of Workplace Learning 12, (8) 318-326
Monday, August 5, 2019
LOreal SWOT Analysis Essay
LOreal SWOT Analysis Essay Prior to the establishment facial cosmetics, LOreal can be identified as a hair-colour formula which has been introduced by a French chemist known as Eugene Schueller in 1907. At this time it was called Aureole. Schueller brought and idea of manufacturing it on its his own products which were later taken to Parisian markets hairdressers to be sold. It was only in 1909 that Schueller registered his company as Societal Franà §oise de Teintures Inoffensive pour Cheveus,the future LOreal. Scheuller started to export his products, which was then limited to hair-colouring products. There were 3 chemists employed in 1920. In 1950, the research teams increased to 100 and reached 1,000 by 1984. Today, research teams are numbered to 2,000 and are still expected to increase in the near future. Through agents and consignments, Scheuller further distributed his products in the United States of America, South America, Russia and the Far East. The LOreal Group is present worldwide through its subs idiaries and agents. LOreal started to expand its products from hair-colour to other cleansing and beauty products. The LOreal Group today markets over 500 brands and more than 2,000 products in the various sectors of the beauty business. Such includes hair colours, permanents, styling aids, body and skincare, cleansers and fragrances. Indeed, the LOreal Group have reached the peak that all cosmetic brands sought after and also identified many factors that can contribute to the success of the Company. In the early 1980s LOreal achieved high level of global of distribution which was barely in the sights of its senior managers. Since LOreal was known to be Frances leading beauty company, it was international presence was so limited that many believed and had a conception of Parisian beauty as being expensive and high culture. The image of LOreal brands at the time e.g. Lancà ´me in cosmetics and LOreal professional in hair care limited the company ability to expand into international markets. When a person is infected the infection could be coming from inside the body or outside, similar to the organization where by some of the decision/changes being made are being influenced by factors outside the company and sometimes its hard to resist them. Non exceptional LOreal is one of the organizations being subjected to these factors. The factors can be put in one word SWOT (Strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats factors) (http://loreal.exteen.com) Internal Influences (S)trengths The on going success of the LOreal Group is without if not for the ingenuity of the concept of their vision as a team. LOreal Chairman and CEO Lindsay Owen-Jones consider passion as the key to the well-renowned accomplishment of the said Company. The primary strength of the Company is the continuing research and innovation in the interest of beauty which assures that the LOreal Cosmetics offers the best to their consumers. Their dedication to their continuous research makes them the leader in the growing cosmetics industry despite the competition in the market. On the other hand the LOreal group also had of Strength of developing activities in the field of cosmetics as well as in the dermatological and pharmaceutical fields in order to enhance and put more concentration in their particular activities. The cosmetics activities of LOreal are divided in to three groups. First is the Consumer Product Division which encompasses all the brands distributed through mass-market channels, ensuring that LOreal quality is available to the maximum number of the consumers. The Luxury Products Division includes the prestigious international brands selectively distributed through perfumeries, department stores and duty-free shops. The Professional Products Division offers specific hair care products for use by professional hairdressers and products sold exclusively through hair salons. The Active Cosmetics Department creates and markets products for selective distribution through pharmacies and specialist health and beauty outlets. The LOreal Groups dermat ological activities are linked with Galderma, which is basically a dermatological firm that contributes to the innovation of the LOreal Groups products. The pharmaceutical activities of LOreal are also handled by Sanofi-Aventis. These divisions and subdivisions ensure the quality that the LOreal Group offers to its customers. To further add to the enumerated strengths of the company, LOreals advertising strategy also plays a major part to its growth. Through adapting to the culture of their target market as the main tool of their advertisement, the Company brought LOreal products within reach of other women from different parts of the world. (http://loreal.exteen.com) (W)eaknesses Perhaps one of the weaknesses that a big company faces is the decentralized organizational structure. This is also part of the difficulties that LOreal is facing. Due to the many subdivisions of the Company, there is also the difficulty in the control of LOreal. This slows down the production of the Company because of the need of giving reference to the other Board members and directors of the Company. LOreal will also have a difficulty in finding out what division is accountable for the possible pitfalls of the Company. Another weakness that LOreal faces is their profit. The profit margin of LOreal is comparably low than that of the other smaller rivals. While LOreal projects certain rise in digits as their profit, the result does not usually meet the expectations (Sang, 2003). Perhaps, this is also due to the high-end advertising and marketing as well as the width of the Company. Also the coordination and the control of the activities and image in the worldwide market are also view ed as a weakness in the part of LOreal. Due to its worldwide marketing strategy, there are also dissimilarities brought about in the campaign of LOreal products as to what iMac. (http://loreal.exteen.com) External Influences (O)pportunities The LOreal Company concentrates on cosmetic products that enhance women of all ages. The growing demand for beauty products gives LOreal the opportunity to focus in their field of specialization, particularly on hair styling and colour, skincare, cosmetics and perfumeries. Being the leading cosmetic brand gives them the edge for their well-known image. Opportunity also emanates from their growing market that ranges from the affluent, the aging and also the masses of the developed countries. Another opportunity that LOreal must take advantage of is their greater market share because of the numerous patents registered by the Company. This enables them to have the top of the line products only to their name and therefore would lead costumers only to them for they could not find any of the said cosmetics in other brands. (http://loreal.exteen.com) (T)hreat A threat to the LOreal group is also the growing competition within the field of cosmetic brands. Due to the on going addition to the field of cosmetics, there is still the danger that other brands could surpass the profit of LOreal. Another threat to the Company is the economic downturn that is quite evident in other countries. Such could thus hurt the possibility of higher profit for the company. Most products of LOreal are within the reach of the citizens of developed countries, but LOreal may have problems reaching out even to the average people from the underdeveloped countries. Also a threat to the LOreal Group is the spending habits of consumer and the economic crunch that most countries are experiencing as of present. While the LOreal Group may be producing the best of its line, people may find that their products are not of their basic needs and would skip buying LOreal products. However, with the growth of the market, the damage could be far from taking place. Another signi ficant threat that LOreal faced was competing against leading U.S beauty makers. In the professional division, Clairol was the leading U.S hair colour brand, with 70% share of the U.S market. Although hair colouring was LOreals strength, it was the firms original and most profitable product line. Hair colour was the really the business they were fighting to get in, but Clairol seemed unbeatable. (http://loreal.exteen.com) Task 2 How globalisation influences policies and decisions making in LOreal When the Red ken managers initially launched new products independently of LOreals corporate headquarters in New York city, several of these post acquisition launches were unsuccessful. The Red ken brand management was later relocated to LOreal U.S corporate headquarters in New York City where it was rebranded Red ken 5th Avenue NYC. The Red ken acquisition triggered a reassement of LOreal entire hair care division where the senior managers realized that they needed a division focused entirely on sales to salons and hairdressers because the U.S professional market was unlike the professional market in Europe where a mid luxury hair care products were sold in department stores. By contrast, most of the mid to luxury hair care sales products in the U.S were sold in salons and other American speciality beauty supply stores. Since Salon sales had a larger profit margin than mass market hair care products, the sales eventually in professional division made up a third of all LOreal hair ca re sales. And the managers realized that Red ken had a global potential as an American brand of American origin. Since every country has its own way of lifestyle on how they perceive things, the LOreal management team has to consider some issues on their policies before making their decisions. Like in the case above , the Red ken is American brand that has it own way of selling in the market unlike in Europe , the LOreal managers therefore , has to do how the products is perceived in making American market compared to European . Its here that we find how the senior managers changed their policy and make a decision to suit how the product is liked in that particular market. Evaluating the effectiveness of LOreal response to globalisation. While LOreal was enjoying its 19th consecutive year of double digit growth in 2004, it had become an international beauty products that was focusing almost exclusively on the manufacturing , developing and sale nine of French , six American one Italian ( Giorgio Armani perfume) , one Chinese( Yue-sai acquired in 2004) and one Japanese brand ( Shu Uemera acquired in 2001) . Its organizational structure, marketing, strategy, and culture were all oriented to the fast growing global personal care market. According to Owen Jones , LOreal s U.S brands were a significant component of the whole orientation and they recognized that they wanted to be a truly global company that they would like to promote around the world American brands because it was the other great alternative in the beauty industry. However , the did something that was basically unthinkable for most multinational companies since they didnt just stopped having local brands rather they tried to put their brand everywhere as s ell United States to Americans , the United States to Chinese, Italian elegance to the Japanese , French beauty to Africans , and Japanese chic to Brazilians and many others. At the time when the Maybelline was acquiring the market, it had lost the focus as many of the analysts and watchers said. Two years before the acquisition, Maybelline branched out into the lucrative anti-aging cosmetics market with its Revitalizing brand. Revlon quickly responded with aggressive and well capitalized advertising campaign for its age -defying brand, overwhelming Maybellines poorly preforming revitalizing. It is here that the brand managers decided to drop for a brief time one of Maybellines most famous tagline when they realized the Maybelline is losing focus again. During the research, they found that the other competing brands had unique positions within the market place but consumers were unable to define what Maybelline was. It was sort of sleepy almost a stale brand because it seems most the consumers get confused about the brand and start putting it and mentioning in a different way. Maybelline to some individuals meant mothers pink nail polish, since the mangers got some comments about pink and green Great Lash mascara which they wanted to point out that they were proud of that day because its leading mascara in the world. The international potential of Maybelline was perhaps just as compelling as its domestic potential which has incredibly powerful value as its an American brand which corresponded to the idea that in America girls are so well made up, and therefore, the idea of perfection coming from America. This had a big appeal with young people all over the world. LOreal promoted close relationship between Research and development and international brand teams when the Garnier managers decided that the brand needed a fruit based shampoo for the European consumer market and they worked closely with LOreal European scientists , who realized that fructose , a type of sugar common in fruit , strengthens hair Japans fast growing wet lipstick market . Not only these but also the Maybelline global brand team built on water shines success in Japan creating water shine Diamonds a lipstick that contained small microscopic glass beads coated with silver and the international brand teams were responsible for not only developing new products but also ensuring the integrity of a given brands positioning . With international brand teams based in the brands home country, the teams global product plans were skewed toward the needs of the country. In the U.S market are sometimes easily influenced by the fact that the U.S market is so large that the managers hav e to put some extra cautious to ensure that global plans are compatible wit other markets a cross the world and not just U.S but also when creating the plans of the other regional offices execute and by sustaining a consistent brand positioning in a far-flung markets was at times a challenge that they had a U.S brand in Japan that allowed to get away from the global marketing plan where the advertisement and promotions were oriented more to Japanese market rather than the brands global message which involved democracy, independence and freedom . They had too much local adaptation and maintaining the brand message in every country. LOreals strategy focused on internal growth, disciplined global marketing continuous product innovation, creating a strong presence in every distribution channel of each product division all over the world and acquiring an important role in expanding LOreals product portfolio and generating revenue growth.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay: Gender Roles and Feminism -- Feminism Fem
Gender Roles and Feminism in To Kill a Mockingbird When the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written by Harper Lee, the Southern United States was still clinging tightly to traditional values. Southern societies pressured men to behave as gentlemen, and women were expected to be polite and wear dresses. These stringent gender roles were adhered to in small southern towns because they were isolated from the more progressive attitudes in other areas of the United States. Harper Lee documents the life of one young girl growing up in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Jean Louise Finch, also known as "Scout," is a young girl searching for her identity. Scout, a young tomboy, is pressured by adults who insist she should conform to the traditional role of a southern lady. Harper Lee establishes and promotes Jean’s masculinity through the use of nicknames, fighting, and masculine clothing, while contrasting her with women that fit the stereotypical female model.  In traditional society, parents name children according to their gender. Common names for boys include John, Robert and James, whereas Elizabeth, Sarah, and Cathy represent standard names for girls. The author gives her main character two common female titles, Jean Louise. Many southern females have two first names which reinforces their role in society as a Southern Belle, or a traditional southern lady. Lee contrasts this extremely feminine name with her masculine label, Scout. "'Scout, I'm [Jem] tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home - I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day'" (52). It seems interesting Lee assigns Jean Louise such a manly name. Although the nickname accurately describes her personality, it does not seem a... ...she describes the pompous women. The author uses the women's conversations to emphasize the reasons Scout remains a tomboy and refuses the traits of Maycomb females. Harper Lee provides the reader with several examples of typical Maycomb females. She establishes Scout's masculinity with fighting and explains her demeanor by contrasting it with the typical female adults of the novel. The author also allows Jean Louise to wear masculine clothing and gives her a manly nickname. Therefore, the author favors Scout's unique personality and implies women do not have to act in a stereotypical manner. The book might inspire young girls to become independent and create their own unique personalities. To Kill a Mockingbird emerges as an important novel that contradicts female society and suggests that girls should not feel pressure to act in scripted "womanly" roles. Â
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Madness in College Athletics Isnt Confined to March :: Sports Basketball Essays
The basketball arena is packed with a sellout crowd of over 13,000 cheering fans. The television cameras capture the game for the entire nation. A horn blares, and the game, which was supposed to be a blowout, is now in overtime. The pressure is huge, because if the underdog wins, it would make history. Both teams are anxious, but focused, knowing that one misstep, misjudgment, or misfire could make or break the season, and everything they have worked for all year. Such was the scene during the recent ‘March Madness†game, between #4 seeded Syracuse, and #13 seeded Vermont, a.k.a. the ‘Cinderella Story,’ of this year’s NCAA tourney. The Catamounts, who were not expected to make much noise during the tournament, opened it with a bang, after securing a win over powerhouse Syracuse in the final seconds of overtime. Now imagine, a player on Vermont’s super squad. He has spent the past few years working nonstop to get to this point in his basketball career, and it has finally arrived. However, after the cheering, congratulations, and celebrations, he must go back to school, and finish studying for midterms, which happens to coincide with the post-season schedule. When fans watch March Madness, or any other college sporting event, it is safe to say that most don’t look at their TVs, and think about how the athletes will spend the bus ride home trying to catch up on the schoolwork they missed so they could compete in the away game. However, this is the reality of a college student-athlete. There are constant obligations to fulfill, and expectations to be met, on every level, and most of the time, the reality is stressful. â€Å"Athletes have additional time constraints, and pressure to perform not only academically, but athletically†¦.and then there’s the stress that their body undergoes,†said Lauren Haas, director of student-athlete support services at Northeastern University. Haas also pointed out that student-athletes face a strain to try and lead the life of a normal college student, even though they have additional requirements. Student-athletes often have similar obligations to the average student, in the classroom, and in the workforce. Academically, athletes must complete the same amount of schoolwork as their peers, although they have less time to complete it, and they miss classes to participate in scheduled competitions. Most professors do not offer an extension on the workload. Financially, many athletes have jobs to offset tuition costs, which they must juggle into a busy schedule.
Friday, August 2, 2019
American History X Essay -- essays research papers
Theory Assignment on American History X This movie tells the story of a young man, from Southern California, that is the product of several unfortunate incidents, and his misguided search trying to answer the question why his life is the way it is. I. Daniel appeared to be dealing with the adolescent stage. Daniel seems to have developed his sense of self worth by mimicking his older brother. Daniels significant relationships, since his brothers incarceration has been derricks old friends (the skin head group). The scene in the principle’s office shows that Daniel is trying to live up to what he believes are his older brother’s ideals, which he believes are following in the foot steps of Nazis. Hate anyone that is not white and protestant. His own self image is one of an up and coming skin head; so he believes his identity is that of a racially intolerant neo-Nazi. Daniel’s search for that identity terminates when Derrick tells him about the experience of his prison time. This scene played out after Derrick confronted Conner at the skin head party and had to flee from his former admirers because he beat up their leader. Daniel followed Derrick and questioned him as to why he was behaving like a â€Å"Nigge r lover.†Daniels since of loyalty was shaken, and the explanation Derrick gave appeared to have turned Daniels beliefs around. Stacey is derrick’s girl friend at the beginning of the film. Stacey’s conscious and sexual identity seems to have been developed somewhat askew to the norms of middle class America, but she shows her comfort in her self during the dinner scene where the school teacher is discussing oppression of minorities with Derrick. Stacy voices an opinion that states blacks and Hispanics are a bane on society. She is a yes man to all of Derricks opinions, and during the same scene she shows her sexuality when she sensuously caresses Derrick after the altercation with Derrick’s family and his mother’s date. This scene showed that Stacey’s role models were other racist, and her beliefs were based on the rhetoric that is espoused at hate monger meetings. Stacey’s young adult stage is shown when she refuses to listen to Derrick during the skin head party scene. She had completely immersed herself in the â€Å"Derrick†persona. The idea of what she pe rceived Derrick would be like when he returned from prison. Stacey told Derrick, during the party scene t... ...s that Daniel took the same psychological ride as Derrick. The other characters remained at on a level psychological playing field. The skin heads may have become more radical, but that appeared to be because of the strength in numbers. The social view of aging in the film seemed to encompass the hatred of the time between two factions in a community in flux.The the presentation of community leaders trying to heal the community, the police captain and principal bob trying to enlist Derrick to help quell the possible uprising in the final scenes, also showed some social aging. 17. The roles of men in the film were depicted at the beginning by Derrick and his father as dominant figures in their household. Principal Bob was another strong male figure. The main female characters differed only in that Stacy seemed to bedcome independent of Derrick at the end of the film. Derricks mother and sister seemed to be typical obedient females. Derricks mom Derricks mom was â€Å"just†a housewife, and when her husband died Derrick filled the head of household role. Derricks oldest sister remained a liberal democrat throughout the movie, but showed no real interest in taking charge of her life.
Thursday, August 1, 2019
A considerate of contemporary management function Essay
A considerate of contemporary management function of the employer-employee relationship The six journal articles that have been looked at stem from the original Locke, (1982) article. Frederick W. Taylor popularised of scientific management. The essay will discuss 5 aspects of Taylor’s ideas about scientific management and show how understandings of contemporary management functions and the employer-employee relationship have been developed from Taylor’s ideas. What was Taylor’s idea about the management? Management involves coordinating and overseeing the work activities of others so that their activities are completed efficiently and effectively. The ideas about the relationship between employer and employee have been developed from a nother. Retain critical employees is important and necessary. According to the Fitz-enz(1997), the company average losses 1 million with every 10 people who is the managerial and professional employees. In addition, the total cost of least a former employee at least a year of wages and benefits, up to two years of unpaid salary and benefits. This is a huge economic loss with a company loses a number of critical employees. As a manager, we must give employees adequate physiological, safety, love, esteem. One of the advice is managers should look into a way to motivate employees to achieve a satisfactory and unmet needs through activities and exercises. Managers have a responsibility to create a suitable environment to inspire employees to their fullest potential. If no such right environment, will lead to a big difference such as lower job satisfaction, lower productivity, lower profit with a company. How to effectively improve the relationship between managers and employees? Taylor given 4 methods. (a) Scientific management: In Principles of Scientific Management (1911)Fredrick Winslow Taylor, the â€Å"Father†of scientific management utilises scientific methods to define th e â€Å"one best way†for a job to be done (b) Scientific selections. Taylor advocated selecting only â€Å"first class†(i.e., high aptitude) men for a given job because their productivity would be several times greater than that of the average man. (c) Money bonus. Taylor claimed that the money is what employees want most, he thinks employees should be paid from 30% to 100% higher wages for to do his job. (d) Management responsibility for training. Taylor thought that most contemporary managers should fully accept the notion that training new employees is their responsibility. My understanding about the employer-employee relationship has also been shaped by these articles. I have learnt that (1) Scientific management can focus speed of production, low cost production and availability of an unskilled workforce. In addition, today’s use of scientific management can use time and motion studies to increase productivity, hire the best qualified employees and design incentive systems based on output. Equity theory is a theory of social comp arison effect on employees. This theory appears to be very common, but it is very important. Equity theory refers to the rate of employees with their work output and input compared with others. Time input includes the time of the work, work habits, work experience, work attitude, and so on. When they found unfair, they usually can’t change the rate of others, can’t change their input, so employees will find ways to change their output. This may mean that they will reduce their work time or effort to work. Then, the manager can use the equity theory to motivate employees. Managers can use a more open system of remuneration paid for employees to understand each position and every effort should position relative to how much salary can be get. (2) Scientific selections: Everybody have their own good aspects, based on each person strengths and rational allocation of work. As a result, not only can bring effectively produce but also can make person enjoy their work. According to the Wren (1979) notes that Taylor focuses on scientific selection can promote the develop ment of industrial psychology and personnel management and other areas. (3) Money bonus: How to influence people? The most common method is money bonus. Such as up wages, bonuses, benefits. These things are the most effective way to influence the work of passion and power of a work. Through the Vroom’s (1946) expectancy theory, we can find that an employee will play his better efforts when he is convinced that his efforts would be better evaluated. And these evaluations will bring him more rewards such as bonuses, salary increases. These rewards will meet staff personal goals. Individual employee attitudes and enthusiasm in their work will determine to a large extent a company’s performance. According to the Porter (1968) and Lawler’s expectancy model of motivation, this model proposes two factors that determine spending on a number of tasks energy. The first is the personal rewards from work to get. These returns will be the psychological perception of employees is their own work to be sure. The second is that these returns will be formed job satisfaction. (4) Management responsibility for training: The staff training is an essential element of human resource management. Managers can’t ignore their training responsibilities. Understanding management system in staff training in this area can help you build an effective training system to help you prepare new employees for their work To sum up, from the six articles considered, scientific management can not only getting the most output from the least amount of inputs but also focus on those work activities that will help the company reach its goals. Taylor’s idea has shaped modern employer-employee relationships. Work is still specialised, personal are still trained. The quality of work is still rewarded in bonuses, as well as other. Reference: 1.Three chapters in The Ideas of Frederick W Taylor: An Evaluation’. 2.Wren, D. A. The evolution of management thought (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley, 1979. 3.Towards a unified model of employee motivation / Darren J. Elding, Andrew M. Tobias and David S. Walk [Chichester, West Sussex, England] : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2006 4.Kotter, John P. What effective general managers really do / John P. Kotter Boston [etc.] : Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, 1982 5.Managing in the new millennium : understanding the manager’s motivational tool bag / Patricia M. Buhl Burlington, Iowa, etc., National Research Bureau, etc.], 2003 6.A review of employee motivation theories and their implications for employee retention within organiz Hollywood, FL : Journal of American Academy of Business, 2004
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