A comparative study of Omani employees’ perception toward managers’ leadership styles and management competences in public and private sectors.

Introduction Leaders are fast becoming recognised as the key to success for organisations across the globe and as such studies on how leaders are created and how leaders interact with others are becoming much more prevalent (Chemmers, 1997). That said, the area of leadership in the Oman context has been largely overlooked when it comes to academic study and it is here that the research is going to focus. Leaders within business are increasingly being perceived as those who are responsible for either the success or the failure of the organisation in question and therefore their role within the organisation and the perception that others have of them are likely to be critical to their actions. Leadership has both an extrinsic and an intrinsic role. Firstly, it could be argued that leadership reflects the way in which the public view the company or the perceptions that those outside of the organisation have of how the company manages its operations; secondly, leadership looks at the way in which the employees and those who work directly with the managers are inspired and encouraged to perform in a suitable manner to meet with the organisation’s goals (Chemmers, 1997). Merely defining what is meant by â€Å"leadership† and the various styles that are seen to be available for such leaders is an academic study in itself, with one of the most accepted definitions being that of Chemers (1997, p.1) who stated that leadership is seen as â€Å"a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task†. This type of collaborative approach will form the basic underlying concept of leadership, regardless of the jurisdiction in which it is operating. Following on from this background understanding the research will then go on to look at how leadership in Oman can be developed to achieve greater commercial success with reference to the distinction between public and private sector organisations. Background of the Study Although there has been a large amount of general literature in the area of leadership and the emergent theories of leadership that have come about in recent years, there has been a small level of understanding regarding the role of leadership within the developing region of Oman. It has been suggested by Dorfman in 2004 that one of the main difficulties is that organisations in Oman are typically not very transparent with their operations and this can make it harder to identify any form of business strategy, let alone one that is rooted in the perceptions of individual employees. Taking an internal view of the way in which an organisation works is a crucial element of then looking at the role of the leader and how they can influence the performance of employees. It is argued here that one of the key issues is, in fact, that the political context of the region has a real and direct impact on the organisation and the types of leadership that are likely to be effective. Crucially, it i s also necessary to look at the cultural and political factors that are at play within Oman and not to simply assume that Arab culture will prevail. As a further point, by way of background, it is also noted by Dorfman that in Oman (as is the case in many developing regions) the public sector is often the driving force with internal practices, such as leadership development emanating from public sector agendas. Finally, it is worth noting that Oman itself is a relatively small country when looking at population, with a total of 3.5 million. On the face of it, the country has many similar characteristics with its Arab neighbours and is also subject to rapid economic growth; however, it is suggested in this paper that Oman has a unique geographical and political scope which encourages the organisations, both public and private, to outperform other countries in the same region (Haligan, 2007). There are arguably multiple factors that are likely to impact on how leadership is dealt with in Oman and these will be considered in greater detail in the thesis when comparing the approaches in the public and private sectors. These are briefly identified by Haligan in 2007 and include the political development in the region and the British influence, in particular. Issues of religion and culture are also thought to be important in the region and these are arguably factors that remain prevalent, even where there are economic changes or there are factors that may otherwise impact on the operation of the business. Problem Statement The problem statement for this research paper is to look primarily at the comparison between the public sector and private sector leadership skills, with reference to the employees’ perceptions of their leaders. Although this is a relatively specific area of study, there are potential issues that need to be looked at surrounding the study, in order to ascertain the impact that the various leadership styles have on the perceptions of employees and therefore on their ultimate behaviour. Employee behaviours are arguably linked to the leadership style, but it is also expected that other underlying factors, such as religion, culture and politics will have an impact. A comparison between public and private sectors may provide a greater understanding of these issues and the ways in which leaders can improve their own behaviours, in the future, to influence the performance of their employees. Research Question and Objectives The question here is to undertake a comparative study of the role of the managers and their leadership styles, from the point of view of employee perspectives, in both the public and private sectors in Oman with a view to presenting overall findings. In order to be able to provide a balanced response to this research question, there are several other objectives that need to be looked at, so that the answer to the research question can then provide future guidance, which can add value to those involved in corporate Oman. Firstly, there is a requirement to understand the various leadership styles that may be employed by leaders and the way in which these are likely to develop within the workplace. Factors that may impact on the choice of leadership approach will also be looked at, with reference to the corporate climate in Oman. For example, it may be thought that the political context is relevant to the leadership style and that this will then be different in the public and private se ctors. Similarly, it may be argued that religion or culture plays a much greater role than whether or not the organisation is public or private sector orientated. Secondly, as well as the actual factors that influence leadership styles, the next part of the research is to look at the impact that leadership styles have on employee perceptions of the leaders themselves, or indeed the organisation. The ultimate aim of this research is for those involved in leadership to be able to understand how they can influence employee behaviours to the benefit of the organisation, in the future. With this in mind, the research question will need to be broken down, to understand the factors that are present but unchangeable and those which can be influenced, so as to create a more balanced view as to what leaders and managers can do to change the operation and the perceptions of their employees within the workplace. Background Literature Review Despite the fact that there is a large amount of literature available in terms of leadership styles, all of which will be looked at as part of the main research, the real essence of this research will be to look at leadership in the context of Oman and Omani culture. Over the years, it is argued that Omani culture and how it deals with politics, in particular, is that it has supported a participative leadership approach as being the dominant form of accepted leadership within the culture. This was the subject of the discussion in the paper of Eickleman, (1987) who found that the people of Oman, in general, operated by consultation, with leaders being largely selected based on merit, rather than on succession. This type of underlying culture is important as a means of understanding the prevailing culture and the likely employee perceptions of their leaders. Specific research in the area of Omani business has also taken place, identifying that the way in which leaders are selected by p riests within the community by merit from a religions context which offers an opportunity for further analysis within the commercial context. Arguably, this type of social selection was also seen to be prevalent when Al-Ghailani researched the area, in 2005, considering how this then influences human resources practices. It was found in this research that the use of social criteria was often seen as important when it came to recruitment and promotional decisions. This was evidenced in the 2005 research by the fact that it was found that many religious leaders were petitioning the public sector to recruit family members into certain roles. He found that there were essentially two different leadership structures in operation, the first looking at merit and the notion of recruiting to fill a need and the second based on family and cultural issues. This two fold approach suggests that leadership is unlikely to be a black and white scenario and perceptions are going to vary from person t o person not just from organisation to organisation. By looking at other areas of research into leadership and therefore the employee perceptions that emerge as a result of the leadership, it can be seen that there are very distinct opinions, with those such as Farazmand, (2006) noting that this social element in fact complements leadership and improves perceptions, rather than being a detriment to the European and Western approach. A specific research paper that looked at the leadership values in Oman was undertaken by Neal et al (2005), which found that positive leaders were seen as those displaying attributes of strong charisma, being largely interactive and also having a degree of authority inherent in their attitude. This indicated that those successful leaders in Oman were not actually far remote from the Western ideals. In particular, Neal et al. found that an effective leader in Oman needed to be concerned with the personal welfare of all of the employees and that a further level of respect is given to the use of legal authority, which is seemingly logical given the high level of bureaucracy within the region. Methodology The methodology that is going to be used in the research here is inductive in nature, as it will look at the observations and actions of the various different managers, before then attempting to produce an overall theory that could ultimately apply across both private and public sector organisations. The first step of this research, therefore, is to undertake a full literature review and analysis of the leadership approaches and those factors that theoretically have a means of determining the different perceptions which are going to emerge from employees in relation to the leadership skills displayed. From this general theoretical understanding, primary research in the form of case study interviews will then be undertaken, with the author looking specifically at two organisations, one in the public sector and one in the private sector. Although it is recognised that ideally several different organisations should be looked at, it is noted that the reality is such that focusing on two organisations will allow for sufficient depth of comparison between the styles of leadership. This will then be used to produce a theory and a set of suggestions as to how the information can then be applied to establishing a set of recommendations for managers across Oman and indeed across other similar jurisdictions. Limitations / Ethical Considerations A key limitation which has been identified is that the case study element will only look at one organisation from the public sector and one from the private sector. It would be desirable to look at a broader range of organisations and even to undertake such research over a period of time, to ascertain how these issues change and the long term impact of culture and politics, at that point in time. There may also be concerns that the employees will not be as open as they could be, due to concerns about what their manager will think; therefore, anonymity is crucial and is something that needs to be taken to the forefront when collecting data. References Al-Ghailani, R. (2005). Equal opportunity in public office in principle and practice: An empirical study of the Omani Civil Service. Doctoral dissertation, University of Hull, Hull. Al-Hamadi, A., Budhwar, P., & Shipton, H. (2007). Management of human resources in Oman. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(1), 100-113. London Chemers M. (1997). An integrative theory of leadership. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, CA, Publishers. Dorfman, P., & House, R. (2004). Cultural influences on organizational leadership. In R. House, P. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. Dorfman, & V. Gupta (Eds.), Culture, leadership and organizations, the GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Farazmand, A. (2006). Public sector reforms and transformation: Implications for development administration. In A. Huque & H. Zafarullah (Eds.), International development governance. Boca Raton, FL: CRC/Taylor and Francis. Halligan, J. (2007). Leadership and the senior service from a comparative perspective. In B. Peters & J. Pierre (Eds.), Handbook of public administration (pp. 63-74). London: Sage. Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Jabbra, J., & Jabbra, N. (2005). Administrative culture in the Middle East. In J. Jabbra & O. Dwivedi (Eds.), Administrative culture in a global context. Whitby, ON: de Sitter. Neal, M., Finlay, J., & Tansey, R. (2005). â€Å"My father knows the minister†: A comparative study of Arab women?s attitudes towards leadership authority. Women in Management Review, 20(7/8), 478-498. Riphenburg, C. (1998). Oman: Political development in a changing world. Westport, CT: Praeger. Winckler, O. (2000). Gulf monarchies as rentier states: The nationalization policies of the labor force. In J. Kostiner (Ed.), Middle East monarchies: The challenge of modernity (pp. 237-256). London: Lynne Rienner.

Should Gay Adoption Be More Available

Imagine a child living in foster care waiting for months, even years, for a couple to come and adopt them and make them a part of their family. Then, finally, after a long time of heartbreak and loneliness, a family does come. Two people want to give the child a home. These two people have everything that any parent should such as: money, a stabilized job, no criminal records, plans for the future, domestic peace, and all the love anyone could ever give to a child. Yet, at the end of this day, they are turned down and the child is at loss for the opportunity of having a good, loving family. Why? Because the couple that wanted to adopt that child were two men. Does the situation above seem fair to you? Is it right that these two men are turned away from having a child just because they’re homosexuals? If they had terrible records with crimes and they were constantly being fired and other unhealthy activities it would have been right to turn them away, but for two people that were completely competent to adopt a child to be turned away like that is unfair. I believe that homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt children, so long as they are healthy and well-functioning. When you think of a child being raised in a gay community and being often surrounded with the familiarization of lesbians and gays, you may think the child will later in life turn homosexual. Some might, it’s is their choice and there’s nothing wrong with it. However, people that grew up with homosexual parents say that they have never pressured them to follow in their footsteps. Another reason why gays should be allowed to adopt a child is when they have a kid, they intentionally have to go get one, rather than a heterosexual couple can have a â€Å"surprise† child, which may lead to neglect later in the child’s life. When adopting both members of the relationship feel they are both mature and responsible enough to support a child. I’m not trying to state that homosexuals necessarily make better parents than heterosexual couples, but there is a lesser chance of the children being abused or neglected. In parenting, they’re just like you and me. The only thing that’s different is their social status. The only possible downside to a homosexual couple adopting a child that I can find is the child may have a missing father or mother figure. However, there are plenty of children that came from heterosexual parents that face this as well whether it be because of death, divorce, separation, or a night in Vegas. Missing a certain parental figure is not as tragic as you would think, for example, I grew up most of my years not being around my father and I believe I turned out very well rounded. Now I want you to think of a scenario with two parts to it. First is a financially stable, loving, mature, and educated gay couple trying to adopt a child. The other part is a fourteen year old girl that got pregnant and wants to keep her baby. Which one seems easier to do? Sadly, it is easier for a fourteen year old to keep her baby, than it is for the couple to keep theirs. So really, letting gay couples adopt wouldn’t hurt or hinder themselves, the child, or society. When choosing who to let take home a child, consider the two women that have taken interest. Let the fully committed men adopt so long as they pass the inspection. If you do I can almost guarantee that the child will grow up in a loving home with wonderful parents with less chance of abuse and neglect. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Delbert Mann and the development of television Essay

Delbert Mann and the development of television - Essay Example Delbert Mann is one of the people who helped shaped the roots of television, which was once a high-brow medium. Though born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1920, Mann grew up in Nashville, where his father taught at Scarritt College (Harwell). He got his first exposure to theater in Hume-Fogg High School and participated largely in the productions of the school's drama club (Gelman). Mann went on to study political science in Vanderbilt University, where he met his future wife. Mann was also actively involved in the Nashville Community Playhouse, where he worked closely with Fred Coe, the man who was to influence his career as a television director later on. During World War II, Mann was drafted in the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to missions in Europe. While in Europe, he immersed himself in the theater scene of London and watched as much theater as he can. His solid commitment to pursue directing in theater, however, only solidified when a man named Rupert Burns, also a pilot in the Air Force, died right after he spoke with Mann about becoming a poet after the war. Mann relayed in the interview with Gelman that the incident convinced him that life is short and that he ought to do what he wanted to do with it. After the war, Mann pursued an M.F.A. at Yale Drama School. ... It was with these television anthologies that Mann became most identified (Gibberman). Mann is also the director who helmed the first ever domestic situation comedy Mary Kay and Johnny (1949), and Marty, the first television drama ever to receive major press coverage and the most popular anthology of its time (Gibberman). There are quite a few things notable about Delbert Mann and his works in television. These are: 1) that Mann is very much one of the proponents of the live television telecast; 2) that Mann mainly drew the material that he used for his programs from historic and classical sources and that he is an expert in bringing out and highlighting small personal stories against the backdrop provided by overall history and events around which these small stories revolve; 3) that Mann's career was largely shaped and influenced by his association with Fred Coe; and 4) that Mann himself holds so much passion for his work, a passion that drove him to strive for excellence in his productions. Delbert Mann can be said to be one of the proponents of the live television telecast, but that is perhaps because the technology available to the television industry then called for nothing else but live telecasts. The tape was not yet invented then, so every episode of the early television anthologies and dramas that he directed were all done live. But this perhaps did not prove to be difficult for Mann, as all his cast and crew had extensive background in the theater, and early studio for television is somehow parallel to the atmosphere of the theater. Mann himself had broad experience with the theater, given his early exposure with that medium, his M.F.A. degree from the Yale Drama School and that

Atomic bonb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Atomic bonb - Essay Example They placed the onus on the prevention of apocalypse on mankind. This was then seen as a reclamation of agency on the part of a beleaguered species which felt that it was doomed as a result of the inexorable progress of science and technology. The world wars made it clear to man that science was something that could be used for causing unimaginable misery on mankind. The atomic bombs that were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved to even those who were not directly affected by the destruction the power of such bombs. There was thus, a fear of atomic power as something that could trigger off apocalypse or the end of mankind as a species. This fear was then expressed through movies such as The Day the Earth Caught Fire and The Day the Earth Stood Still. These movies were made in the wake of the world wars and the effect of these wars and the incredible human loss that they caused can be seen in them. The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a movie that was released in 1961 and it was dir ected by Val Guest. The movie narrated the story of a possible apocalypse and how the human race attempts to avert this crisis. The movie makes it very clear that the reason for the crisis to have happened in the first place was a series of nuclear explosions that were conducted by the Soviet Union and The United States of America. These explosions are then said to have an effect that is catastrophic and the future of the whole of mankind is then in jeopardy. This ability of science to affect the whole of mankind is something that arises out of mankind’s recognition of itself as a singular entity. This recognition came about in a major way as a result of the world wars where the world was united in war, with the whole of humanity fighting on one side or the other. Humanity then was seen as a whole. This however, also meant that nothing could be completely local ever again. The atomic bomb and its ability to wipe out the whole of humanity in a single strike was something that created a great deal of fear amongst the people of the world for whom even the unity of humanity and its future lay in the answer to certain questions. These questions centred on how to use science and the way in which it would progress. This was then seen in movies that were a part of the genre of science fiction. Science fiction could then be employed to articulate the fears of an entire generation of people who had no say in their own future where it would be decided by the ruling class of politicians. The dehumanizing ability of the bomb, where millions of people would be wiped out without leaving traces of individuals was also something that the people of this era was extremely fearful of. The movie’s depiction of individual human beings can then be seen to be a consolation of the desire on the part of the audience for individuality (Guest). Another aspect of the movie is its focus on the Cold War. Released in 1961, the movie talks of the nuclear explosions that were con ducted by the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The tussle between these major powers led to countries becoming a part of one power bloc or the other. However, it also led to fear among mankind as to what the ultimate outcome of such rivalry would be. It is significant that the arms race that took place between these two powers is referred to in this movie. It is thus, again the fear of science and the pace of its progress that leads to fear amongst the masses. It is this fear that movies of the

Health Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

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Can educational inequalities be explained by children and young Essay

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Social and Behavioural Sciences for Nursing Essay

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Article review for managerial accounting Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Feminism and Homosexuality in Theater Essay Example for Free

Feminism and Homosexuality in Theater Essay Feminism in theater has a very close relationship with the depiction of homosexuality onstage. Playwrights and performance artists who advocate feminism have seen theater as a powerful tool to make the public understand their views. The work of artists such as Lillian Hellman, Holly Hughes, and Anna Deavere Smith shape the discussion of feminism and homosexuality in the theater. Lillian Hellman was a playwright who’s known for plays that discussed the psychological and social manifestations of evil. Her work was revolutionary because she created strong female characters at a time when men ruled American theater. On the subject of homosexuality, Hellman’s most relevant work was â€Å"The Children’s Hour† (Champion and Nelson 156). While â€Å"The Children’s Hour† sends a powerful message on the topic of homosexuality, Hellman herself wasn’t a homosexual and her work may have reflected her attitude toward the subject. Hellman described the play to a reporter as â€Å"not really a play about lesbianism, but a lie (Griffin and Thorsten 27). † According to Hellman, the bigger the lie, the better it gets. â€Å"The Children’s Hour,† which opened on Broadway on November 20, 1934, painted a grim but clear depiction of Hellman’s view. â€Å"The Children’s Hour† is about the lives of two young women who opened a school for girls. Eventually, their lives are gradually ruined when one of the students accuses them of lesbianism. The characters of Martha Dobie and Karen Wright were realistically rendered by Hellman, resulting in a Broadway hit that would have 691 performances. This was a milestone of an achievement since America at the time was very conservative and homosexuality was a taboo subject (Griffin and Thorsten 27). Homosexuality was so taboo a subject in the Western world that the play was banned in Chicago, Boston, and London. While the play earned critical success in France and New York, it wasn’t awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1935 because the subject matter was still thought to be too sensitive at the time. Critics from New York however, protested the refusal of conservative bodies in the theater industry by forming the Drama Critics’ Circle. The organization has since then presented its own awards for plays they thought were relevant to art and society (Griffin and Thorsten 27). Hellman’s guardedness toward the issue of homosexuality is reflected on the play’s morality, which though clearly controversial and shocking at the time, was nevertheless morally acceptable to the majority of audiences. One glaring example of this is the fact that in the play, the accusation that Martha Dobie and Karen Wright were engaged in a lesbian relationship was simply a lie. An archetypal malicious teenager named Mary Tilford who studied in the school for girls fabricated the story. In fact, Karen was engaged to Dr. Joe Cardin, whom she really loved. Martha may have really been a lesbian in the story, but fearing for her sexuality, she committed suicide after revealing her thoughts and feelings to Karen (Griffin and Thorsten 28). Despite her sensational plays often associated with left-wing politics and feminism, Hellman considered herself largely a â€Å"moral writer. † The issue of homosexuality was primarily just a tool in the story to illustrate Hellman’s view that good people sometimes bring about harm because of their unwillingness to challenge evil. Karen was clearly painted in the play as a heterosexual and Martha seemed to have paid for her crime (homosexuality) with her life. Aside from reaffirming the norms of American society at the time, the play also apparently satisfied the morality of the conservative audience (Griffin and Thorsten 28). â€Å"The Children’s Hour† may have shied away from directly defending homosexuality, but it nevertheless showed the gradual opening of society to the broader roles of women. Martha and Karen were women who earned their own money, thus sending a message that they were independent and had some sort of power to satisfy their desires. These female characters were different from another of Hellman’s characters named Regina in â€Å"The Little Foxes. † While Regina depended on others’ money and the things she got from her manipulation of men, Martha and Karen had the education and administrative skills which led to the success of the all girls’ school they founded. Joe, Karen’s partner, also symbolized the growing number of egalitarian men at the time. He was very supportive of his partner’s wish to continue her career after their marriage and he also respected her dedication to the school she co-founded. He even defended Karen and Martha to his aunt after Mary’s mother convinced other parents to take their children out of the school because of the lesbianism charge (Griffin and Thorsten 28). In effect, while the play was hesitant to probe the reality of homosexuality more deeply, it did affirm in the audience’s mind the expanding role and power of women in society. Hellman might have been too guarded about lesbianism, but performance artist Holly Hughes was definitely vocal about her views about homosexuality and homosexual relationships. Hughes was an openly homosexual performance artist and writer of various plays and books that center on the topic of homosexuality. Her work has both been debated and celebrated by artists and intellectuals. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) refused to fund Hughes’ work in the summer of 1990 because of its sensitive subject matter, which resulted in a fierce debate and controversy in the world of performance art. One of Hughes’ most controversial pieces is a play entitled â€Å"Well of Horniness. † Lynda Hart, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote that the â€Å"Well of Horniness† is both â€Å"transgressive and aggressive† because it dismantles the audience’s preconceived notions about lesbian homosexuality. The play is loosely based on a classic novel about lesbian homosexuality written by Radclyffe Hall. Hughes’ play became very successful and eventually inspired two sequels: â€Å"Part II: Victim Victoria† and â€Å"Part III: In the Realm of the Senseless (Hart and Phelan 60-61). † The play is mostly representational, with the plot repeatedly interrupted by mock commercials and commentaries (Hart and Phelan 60-61). The memorable characters of â€Å"Well of Horniness† include Georgette, Rod, and Vicki. Georgette is Rod’s sister and Vicki is Rod’s fiancee. Vicki and Georgette are members of a sorority called Tridelta Tribads. Georgette meets Rod and Vicki at a restaurant, and Georgette soon recognizes Vicki as someone she knows from her past sorority. Vicki instantly desires Georgette and stares at her longingly. While dining at the restaurant, Vicki drops her fork underneath the table. As she goes down to pick it up, she’s drawn instead to Georgette’s legs, which Hughes writes, were â€Å"two succulent rainbows leading to the same pot of gold (Hart and Phelan 61-62). † The aggressive affirmation of homosexual reality masked in comedy is performed in the play as Vicki continues to give Georgette cunnilingus while Rod delivers a monologue on honeymoon getaways. In productions of the play at East Village, Manhattan, this scene is performed explicitly with Georgette in a comedic manner to Vicki underneath the table. Vicki then gets up and says she’s feeling â€Å"a little too hot† and goes to the bathroom (Hart and Phelan 62). Rod tells Georgette that he senses â€Å"something fishy† but he can’t â€Å"put his finger† on it (Hart and Phelan 62). Georgette then replies, â€Å"I’m working on it. † The comedic conversation happens in the context of a play that is filled with references to fish, eager beavers, muff-divers, and other terms associated with lesbianism (Hart and Phelan 62). In contrast to â€Å"The Children’s Hour†, â€Å"Well of Horniness† certainly drives home its message on homosexuality in a more direct, striking manner. Hughes’ play doesn’t hide behind other issues or concerns such as the â€Å"lie† or â€Å"evil† in Hellman’s play, and instead hits audiences with the reality of homosexuality right away. It is this controversial nature of Hughes work that has made her notorious for conservative critics and even lesbians and other homosexuals who review her work. Hart though, thinks that Hughes’ play effectively challenges heterosexual hegemony. Its borderline messages and controversial nature opens up a â€Å"hopeful new space of visibility† for feminism and its supporters (Hart and Phelan 62). The popular scene from â€Å"Well of Horniness† is even more notable because it shatters lesbian stereotypes. Lesbians at the time were thought of as homosexuals who generally assumed male identities. Vicki though, was already engaged to Rod and yet still desired other women. Vicki’s performance of oral sex for Georgette in close proximity to her fiance destroys any notions the audiences might have regarding lesbianism and the sexuality of women. Since the play is representational, Rod’s character mainly stands for heterosexual hegemony, which explains why the character is named â€Å"Rod† to refer to male phallic symbol. Hughes shows that homosexual realities are happening throughout society despite the blind functioning of heterosexual institutions, such as marriage, as the play points out. Unlike Hellman, Hughes seems more concerned with homosexuality than feminism, although the empowerment of women might also be addressed by her aggressive plays. Through the clear depiction of women as freely desiring beings, Hughes is able to free women from societal stereotypes. â€Å"Women† isn’t a category of human beings who can only desire men. Instead, it’s a fuzzy category that mostly refers to female human beings who may desire any sex and express that desire in different ways. Overarching Hellman and Hughes’ work may be the amazing work of Anna Deavere Smith, performance artist, playwright, writer, and professor. Smith has received numerous awards and is widely known for her performances which have her assuming the identities of more than twenty people. Smith employs few props, such as chairs and tables to differentiate identities in her performances. All the identities she plays are real people who are interviewed beforehand about a social issue. The result of her lengthy monologues is a stunning commentary on the differences that fracture a community. One of Smith’s most popular acts is called â€Å"On the Road,† which she has been performing since 1982. In one of her performances, Smith interviewed twenty-five men and women from Princeton University on subjects such as the university’s eating clubs which are exclusive to men, assault against women, and the condition of black students among others. The fifty-minute dialogue that results from this research entertains and delights audiences at the same time. Smith usually invites her subjects to attend her performances and their reaction is usually positive. Many of them even laugh out loud when they recognize their own selves in the numerous identities performed. Some of them though, get unsettled when they see their views juxtaposed with others from the community (Hart and Phelan 35). This unsettling of the self may be one of the main goals of Smith in structuring her acts through such a unique manner. According to Smith, her goal is â€Å"to find American character in the ways that people speak (Cohen-Cruz 148). † She said that the spirit, imagination, and the challenges of the time can then be captured by inhabiting the words of the people in the community. Unlike other actors who try to project realistic characters on the stage, Smith’s emphasis is more on the filtering of the self through a single actor. She doesn’t assume that she has all the experiences of her subjects, but that she can learn many things from these experiences (Cohen-Cruz 148). Feminism has been one of the subjects of Smith’s performances for a very long time. In one Princeton performance entitled â€Å"Gender Bending,† Smith reminisced how women from Seven Sisters colleges had been imported to Princeton throughout history to provide weekend entertainment for members of fraternities. Feminist definitions of the body, the AIDS crisis, and modern literary representations of homosexuality are also discussed in the show. Smith tackled all these issues by impersonating the subjects she interviewed and playing them onstage (Hart and Phelan 37). In a way, Smith’s work is closer to reality than both Hellman and Hughes’ work because it merely projects the voice of real people onstage. What makes Smith’s performance more striking though than a simple video recording of interviews is that only one face speaks for all of the subjects. Through this technique, Smith is able to erase the immediate symbols of color, gender, and other characteristics of her subjects. Without the physical characteristics that differentiate one subject from another, audiences are forced to consider each subject’s view as a part of a unity that is the community. Stereotypes are then magnified as audiences realize that differences are oftentimes imaginary and unjust. Instead of masking the call for the empowerment of women through discussions about â€Å"evil† such as what Hellman did, or aggressively attacking the audience with controversial representations of lesbians such as what Hughes demonstrated, Smith is able to give voice to real women by simply putting their views side by side with others from the community. Smith puts real context in her performances, which makes the issue more immediate to viewers. Her acts send the message that gender discrimination is really happening right now and many people are unconsciously participating in it. They call for an immediate response to pressing social issues while entertaining audiences at the same time. For ordinary citizens, norms in society are always difficult to challenge, let alone break. Revolutionary works by Hellman, Hughes, and Smith are very valuable in that they help people to cross the bridge, so they can see the other side. While some audiences may dislike the oftentimes crude and vulgar images in their work, their act of watching alone is enough to gradually bend the norms of society. Norms always have to be challenged so that society’s morality and humanity doesn’t remain oppressively stagnant. Once taboo subjects are discussed, they cease to haunt the people concerned and become an issue for everyone. As modernity pushes people to think more about the effects of gender on society and the self, feminism and homosexuality will continue to be relevant topics in theater and other forms of art in the future. Hellman, Hughes, and Smith’s work will also continue to shape the discussions on these topics. These three brilliant writers represent different sides of the spectrum and their work should be read by anyone interested in exploring the relationship between feminism, homosexuality and theater arts. Works Cited Champion, Laurie and Emmanuel Sampath Nelson. American Women Writers, 1900-1945: a Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. Cohen-Cruz, Jan. Local Acts: Community-based Performance in the United States. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Griffin, Alice and Geraldine Thorsten. Understanding Lillian Herman. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999. Hart, Lynda and Peggy Phelan. Acting Out: Feminist Performances. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999.

Warehouse Management Essay Example for Free

Warehouse Management Essay Abstract: The study presented here considers arrangement and management policies to improve the order picking procedure in the existing company warehouse. The study was conducted in a timber goods production and trading company. The main objective was to reduce the overall picking time that is quite high due to the lack of proper management and the nature of the stored items. The first stage was to register the situation in the warehouse. The second stage involved the analysis of the obtained data, to identify promising modifications and quantify the benefits of adopting them. The proposed modifications were based on policies and methodologies suggested in the literature. After the company approved and implemented (some of) the proposed modifications, the final stage was to measure and analyse the achieved improvements. Keywords: warehousing, case study, facility layout, order picking time 1. INTRODUCTION Order picking (OP) appears as one of the most significant activities in a warehouse. The picking tasks may contribute by over 65% in the warehouse operating costs. In fact, the retrieval cost exceeds by far the storage cost of any given item (Coyle et al., 1996). The factors affecting the efficiency of OP typically include the product demand, the warehouse layout, the location of the items, the picking method in combination with the routing methods, the experience of the employees, and the extent of automation (Gattorna, 1997). Note that the high cost associated with the automation of the procedure forces the majority of companies to use manual operation, usually at the expense of efficiency and time. The case study is carried out in a timber goods production and trading company. We consider one of the existing warehouse facilities and we attempt to improve its performance. The performance measure is the total picking time, so our objective is to find ways to reduce it as much as it is practically possible and desirable. At the first stage involves the collection of time data, to target the improvement that may be accomplished from the transition from a totally disorderly situation to an organized and controlled warehouse environment. The second stage suggests, implements and studies alternative storage, picking and routing schemes, according to observations made during the first stage. During the third stage, a second series of time measurements is carried out to investigate the achieved benefits. 2. REVIEW OF WAREHOUSE POLICIES RELATED TO ORDER PICKING There is a variety of studies on methods, policies, principles and/or techniques developed to improve the overall OP procedure. The decisions usually concern policies for the picking of the product items, the routing of the pickers in the warehouse, and the storage schemes for the products in the warehouse. The research scope has been to investigate the effect of changes in these policies on the reduction of the overall OP costs and the increase of percent savings. Petersen and Gerald (2003) was the first to attempt a simultaneous evaluation of all the three policies, whereas the usual practice is to consider them separately. 2.1. Picking policies In terms of the picking policies, Ackerman (1990) divided OP into strict, batch and zone picking and proposed policies tailored to each case. In strict picking, a single order is assigned during a picking tour, leading to lower service times and higher customer satisfaction. The policy is ideal when the group of the picking products is quite small and easy to be found. Drawbacks of the policy include an increase in the overall transportation time and a cost penalty. Alternatively, the batch picking policy assigns to a picker more than one orders during a picking tour (Gibson and Sharp, 1992; De Coster et al., 1999; Petersen, 2000). The batch scheme may bring significant reduction on the total picking time, but introduces an additional cost for monitoring and separating the orders at a later stage. Zone picking assigns a picker to a designated picking zone, where the picker is responsible for those products that are in his/her zone of the warehouse. This scheme decreases the chances for destructions and mistakes, but a possible delay in a zone is a threshold for the entire picking procedure for a big order. Frazelle and Apple (1994) further divided zone picking into: sequential zone, batch zone and wave OP. Petersen (2000) suggested that in the sequential zone scheme the order integrity is maintained, in batch zone the orders are batched together and each picker collects the products within a zone, and in wave picking a group of orders is programmed in precise time period. 2.2. Routing policies Routing policies suggest the route for a picking tour and the picking sequence of the items on the pick list. The suggestions are based on decision-making technologies that range from simple heuristics to mathematical optimization procedures. Using mathematical programming tools Ratliff and Rosenthal (1983) found that optimal routing reduced the travel time, but the optimal routes were quite confusing routes and difficult to implement in practice. Hall (1993) and Petersen and Schmenner (1999) examined the efficiency of heuristic routing in minimizing the distance traveled by the picker. In practice, many warehouses use the traversal policy, where the picker must pass through the entire aisle and in order to collect the items. Petersen (1997) and Roodbergen and Koster (2001) examined the possibility of combined traversal and return routes to reduce further the travel distance. 2.3 Storage policies Storage policies remain the least investigated among the three policy categories. Random storage is the most widely used option, and Schwarz et al. (1978) examined its performance. Petersen and Aase (2003) claimed that random storage is by far the simplest option and requires less space compared to the more sophisticated storage policies. The simplest structured-storage schemes apply class-based and/or demandbased policies in the arrangement of the products. In class-based storage the products are classified, and items of each class are placed within the same area of the warehouse. In demand (or volume) –based storage the products are stored according to their demand (or their size) near the Pick-up / Drop-off point (P/D). Jarvis and Mc Dowell (1991) suggested that the optimal storage strategy is to place the items with great demand in the aisle, thus reduce the travel time. Gibson and Sharp (1992) and Gray et al. (1992) stated that locating high volume items near to the P/D point increased the picking efficiency. Petersen and Schmenner (1999) examined the volume-based storage policies and concluded that the method resulted to less time compared to other storage policies. Eynan and Rosenblatt (1994) claimed that the class-based storage required less data processing and yielded similar saving with volume-based storage. Tompkins and Smith (1998) suggested that the overall picking time could be reduced applying the Pareto principle on the storage arrangement. In a warehouse, a relatively small number of products constitutes the largest part of the stock and accounts for the largest part of the dispatches of the warehouse. Consequently, if high demand items are placed in near distance and grouped into classes, then picking time can be significantly reduced. The former is easy to apply by allocating a number of the front area piles to items of high demand or leftovers. In terms of more sophisticated storage options, Ven den Berg (1999) suggested a separation of the warehouse into a forward and a reserve area. The forward area was for order picking, while the reserve area was used for replenishing the forward area. The variety of different methods and techniques makes it difficult to identify the most appropriate policy to increase the overall performance of the picking activity. The decision on the appropriate principles and policies to be applied depends on the characteristics of the particular system, i.e. product and warehouse. By reducing the non-productive elements during OP, Gattorna (1997) presented a set of basic and general productivity improvement principles. 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDIED WAREHOUSE – INITIAL SITUATION The company considered here deals with wood production and trading, and uses 6 warehouses for the finished products. Each warehouse is further divided into individual sections where different categories of products are stored. Panels, i.e. sheets of compressed wood (chipboard) account for 80% of the total product sales of the company. The panels are covered with coloured melamine to imitate the appearance of various types of wood. The panel warehouse has over 6000 codes of stored products, distributed into 4 individual sections. The study considers one of these sections, where the number of codes is around 1000. The most frequent values for the size of the panels is 3.66Ãâ€"1.83m, and the thickness is between 6cm and 25cm. Instead of using shelves, the products are piled one on top of the other using small chocks between the packages. Great attention is paid to the alignment of the items in each pile, to avoid sheet warping. Warping can easily occur due to the small thickness of the packages and the large load they take. The studied warehouse section consists of three parts: two of them have 12 front piles each and the third part has 6 front piles (Figure 1). The piles are 7m high and the products are stored in up to 4 depths of pile levels. The main aisle is used by the clarks to gain access to the front piles. The aisle is wide enough to allow the clarks to remove the items of the front piles and to retrieve items stored in the deeper levels. Each part of the section contains different groups of products. Customer orders are collected by the Sales Department and sent to the Traffic Office on daily basis. The loading plans contain information on the ordered items and their quantities, the customer placing the order, and the requested mode of loading on the lorry. In the course of a day, the Traffic Office prepares over 25 order plans. The plans are usually collected and loaded at the same time. Initially, the warehouse suffered from many problems that mainly affected the search and retrieval times. The picking followed the strict OP policy. Each pair of pickers (an operator and an assistant) undertook a single order-plan at the time. Orders from other plans were collected once the pickers completed their current plan, even if this required revisiting the same areas of the warehouse. There was no automated or optimal routing system used here, and the choice of an efficient route remained on the experience of the picker. The grouping of the products in the section parts was based on the type of their surface (e.g. porous or smooth), regardless of the kind of wood. This was the only storage rule, and then the items were stored randomly in the section parts. Tracing a product was relying on the experience of the warehouse managers and the memory of the pickers. From the point of management the process depended on the experience of the personnel, while even a simple WMS version was certain to improve the situation. Once the location of an item was specified, the retrieval time was affected by the size/weight of the products, and the mode of storage. For instance, if the ordered product was located on the second, third or fourth depth of pile levels, many items had to be removed until the product was finally retrieved. Then, the removed items had to be placed back to their original locations. 4. MEASUREMENTS AND PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS The time measurements were carried out twice. The first measurement (stage 1) presented the initial anarchous situation of the system (see Section 3). The second measurement (stage 3) showed the effect of the improvements suggested by the authors and adopted by the company. The picking procedure is divided into four phases, and the time measurements concern the: 1. the travel time required for the picker to reach the pick point, 2. the search time required for the products to be found, 3. the retrieval time required for the products to be retrieved, and 4. the return time required for the picker to transport the products to the order point. Each time measurement considered 15 order plans selected by the Traffic Office of the company in collaboration with the authors. The selected plans were representative and included a large number of products, so that the analysis of the obtained time schedules yields reasonable and reliable conclusions. The number of orders in the studied plans ranged from 5 to 17 per plan. To allow comparison between the picking times measured for items of different size, the results are presented as the measured time over the volume of the respective item, namely in minutes per cubic meter. 4.1. Stage 1: Results of the 1ST measurement series The results of the 1st measurement series are reported on Table 1. The time required to complete the picking cycle is 5.69 min/m3. In terms of the itemized times for travel, search, retrieval and return, we observe that finding and retrieving the products are the most time-consuming procedures. The search time is around 36% (2.05 min/m3) of the total OP time. The percentage is quite high and reveals the need for an automated system to control and monitor the placement of the stock. Tracing the products becomes an extremely difficult and demanding procedure relaying mainly on the experience of the operator and the assistant. Many years of work in this particular position and the ability to locate the items using visual contact are decisive factors. In many cases, finding an item quickly is merely a matter of coincidence or luck. Our results include cases where locating a stocked product took over 45 minutes of searching and the product eventually failed to reach the customer on time. Table 1: Final results obtained during the 1st and the 2nd measurements Phases Travel time Search time Retrieval time Return time Travel return times Total 1ST measurement before modifications t1 (minutes) % total 0.51 9.0 2.05 36.0 2.50 43.9 0.63 11.1 1.14 5.69 20.0 100. 2ST measurement after modifications t2 (minutes) % total 0.33 11.5 0.37 12.9 1.73 60.5 0.43 15.0 0.76 2.86 26.6 100. Relative time reduction (t1-t2) / t1 % 35.3 82.0 30.8 31.7 33.3 49.7 The retrieval time is around 44% (2.50 min/m3) of the total OP time. Most of this time is spent on removing products in the front levels until the desired item comes to surface. The multiple storage depths combined with the surface type-based storage makes retrieval the most time-consuming procedure. Note that the initial choice of storage policies was based upon empirical criteria since, without a systematic measurement and consideration of the real system. Typically, the travel and return times account for over half of the total OP time (Tompkins, 1998), and most of the research work in increasing the efficiency of OP has focussed on the assumption. This does not apply to the problem considered here, where the retrieval times are considerably higher due to the nature of the products. Supported by the results of Stage 1, the retrieval times can be reduced by rearranging the warehouse and applying storage principles as discussed in Section 2. 4.2. Stage 2: Proposed and implemented mo difications The scope here is to reduce the time spent to reach the picking area and the packaging point. Based on the analysis of the first measurements the following were suggested to the company. Introduction of a Warehouse Management System (WMS): The use of a WMS can facilitate and speed up the tracing of the products. This is expected to reduce significantly the search time that is over a third of the total OP time. Improvement of the picking policies: After introducing a WMS, it is advisable to change the method of OP from strict to zone picking. Application of optimal routing policies: In total, the travel and return time is only around 20% of the total OP time. A techno-economical feasibility study (in the form of an ABC analysis) can quantify how much of this can really be reduced by the choice of routing policies, and provide incentives to carry out the necessary modifications. Changing the location of fast moving products in the warehouse, to reduce the retrieval time for small orders. The number of the wood panels ordered is usually other than those contained in the panel lots. The initial policy was to leave the remaining items in their original locations until they were again in demand. The result was to have many broken lots of the same product stored randomly in various places and levels within the warehouse. The remainders of the product lots can be placed in easily accessible front piles assigned for this purpose. Extending the storage space to reduce the storage depths from four to two, to reduce the retrieval time. This however increases the fraction of the void over the total space in the warehouse, and creates a trade off between the time needed to access the products and the cost of extending the warehouse area. The company adopted some of the above suggestions, namely the installation of a simple WMS and a change in the location of its products, following an ABC analysis. The storage mode changed to demandbased, hence the fast moving products were placed closer to the section entrance to reduce the travel and return times. Also, two piles were allocated on each side section, where the remainders under 20 sheets would be placed (see the broken lot piles in Figure 1). The company did not switch to zone picking, because separating the items of the different order packs needs extra space. Also, the company could not consider our suggestion to reduce the storage depth levels, since this requ ired building an additional warehouse. 4.3. Stage 3: Results of the 2ND measurement series Once our suggestions were implemented, the second measurement series was conducted to evaluate the subsequent reductions on the total OP time. The results and the differences between the first and the second measurements are presented on the Table 1. The total time to complete the picking cycle is now 2.86 min/m3, thus a reduction of nearly 50% was achieved. More specifically, the search time is down by over 80% and is now nearly 13% (0.37 min/m3) of the total. This is because the item locations are registered and given to pickers along with the order plan. Further reductions could be achieved if the employed WMS specified the height along with the depth of the product location. The demand-based storage and the use of the two piles for the broken lots reduced the retrieval time by 30.8%, to 1.73 min/m3. There is also significant reduction (33.3% on average) in the travel time to and from the picking points, due to the new storage policies adopted. Despite the significant overall reduction on the OP time, the problem of item retrieval remains unresolved. In effect, the current retrieval time is 60% of the total OP time. Redu cing the storage depths is not considered presently, as it requires expansion of the warehousing establishments. 5. CONCLUSIONS This work presents a real case study to improve the performance of order picking in an existing company warehouse. The main objective is the reduction of the overall picking time. The work is divided into three stages. The first stage is to register the situation in the warehouse with regard to the required order picking times. The total time is divided into travel, search, retrieval and return time to allow a more detailed analysis of the situation. The analysis of the obtained data identifies promising modifications and quantifies the benefits of adopting them. In effect, the measurements indicated the need for more systematic management, storage and arrangement of the products in the warehouse, and more efficient routing. After the company approved and implemented (some of) the proposed modifications, the time measurements were repeated to see the benefits. Finally, a mean 50% reduction in the total picking times was achieved. There is still space for improvement, even given the reluctance of the company to carry out expensive modifications. Our future research considers the development of a simple warehouse simulation tool to apply different arrangement options and evaluate their performance, using the time data collected in this work. REFERENCES Ackerman, K. B., 1990. â€Å"Practical Handbook of Warehousing†, Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY. Coyle, J.J., Bardi, E.J., Langley, C.J., 1996. â€Å"The Management of Business Logistics†, 6th ed., West Publishing, St Paul, MN. De Koster, M.B.M., Van der Poort, E.S., Wolters, M., 1999. â€Å"Efficient order batching methods in warehouses†, International Journal of Production Research, vol. 37, no. 7, pp. 1479-1504. Eynan, A., Rosenblatt, M.J., 1994. â€Å"Establishing zones in single-command class-based rectangular AS/RS†, IIE Transactions, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 38-46. Frazelle, E.H., Apple, J.M., 1994. â€Å"Warehouse Operations†, in J.A. Tompkins and D.A. Harmelink (Eds), The Distribution Management Handbook, McGraw-Hill, NY, pp. 22.1-22.36. Gibson, D.R., Sharp, G.P., 1992. â€Å"Order batching procedures†, European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 58, pp. 57-67. Gray, A.E., Karmarkar, U.S., Seidmann, A., 1992. â€Å"Design and operation of an order-consolidation warehouse: Models and application†, European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 58, pp. 3-13. Hall, R.W., 1993. â€Å"Distance approximations for routing manual pickers in a warehouse†, IIE Transactions, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 76-87. Jarvis, J.M., McDowell, E.D., 1991. â€Å"Optimal product layout in an order picking warehouse†, IIE Transactions, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 93-102. Gattorna, J., 1997. Handbook of Logistics and Distribution management, 4th ed., Gower Publisher Company. Petersen, C.G., 1997. â€Å"An evaluation of order picking routing policies†, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1096-1111. Petersen, C.G., 2000. â€Å"An evaluation of order picking policies for mail order companies†, Production and Operations Management, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 319-335. Petersen, C.G., Aase, G., 2003. â€Å"A comparison of picking, storage and routing policies in manual order picking†, International Journal of Production Economics, in press. Petersen, C.G., Schmenner, R.W., 1998. â €Å"An evaluation of routing and volume-based storage policies in an order picking operation†, Decision Sciences, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 481-501. Ratliff, H.D., Rosenthal, A.S., 1983. â€Å"Order-picking in a rectangular warehouse: A solvable case of the traveling salesman problem†, Operations Research, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 507-521. Roodbergen, K.J., Koster, R., 2001. â€Å"Routing methods for warehouses with multiple cross aisles†, International Journal of Production Research, vol. 39, no. 9, pp. 1865-1883. Schwarz, L.B., Graves, S.C., Hausman, W.H., 1978. â€Å"Scheduling policies for automatic warehousing systems: simulation results†, AIIE Transactions, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 260-270. Tompkins, J.A., Smith, J.D., 1998. The Warehouse Management Handbook, 2nd ed., Tompkins Press, Raleigh. Van den Berg, J.P., Zijm, W.H.M., 1999. â€Å"Models for warehouse management: Classification and examples†, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 59, pp. 519-528.

Assume Equal Responsibility In Raising Children Children And Young People Essay

Assume Equal Responsibility In Raising Children Children And Young People Essay Naturally, family is made up of mother, father, and children. Children are supposed to be raised by both parents, and we all accept that father and mother have vital roles in upbringing their children into potential and useful people to contribute to social development. However, it is quite challenging if we want to compare whether mother or father is more important. What if mother is more important, is she has to assume more responsibility, or what if father is, ought he to assume more? On my point of view, in no account should parents assume unequal responsibility due to children development sake, the difficulty of raising children, and family happiness. Whether or not children are nurtured with equal responsibility from mother and father has effect on childrens development throughout their lives. With both cares, children get full experience of live from both mother and father because what father can give to children is different from that of the mother, but it doesnt mean one is less important than the other. Mother can teach children how to cook, how to sew, or how to deal with household chore while father can teach them how to fish, to be strong, or to protect oneself from any danger. And some circumstances children need advice from father and other circumstances, only mother is more suitable to give advice. On top of that it is also known that with both parents care, children benefit in their braveness. Children will feel confident around the house, at school, or elsewhere because they think they are equal to other, and they have both parents supporting them. Oppositely, if one side fails to care their children, it means that ha lf of knowledge is leak sine rarely can either a mother or father completely function as both roles. Not only does their knowledge is affected, but also children are more likely to have gone to wrong path as Peiitea in his article had quoted You need both eyes to see the clear path. Without one, it becomes blurry and you may be sidetracked from the path and may not be able to find your way again (peiitea, 2011). Imagine when a child who is fatherless or motherless walking on the street and sees other children with their mother and father, how would they feel? It would upset the children, and improper behavior will occur as the result of this upset feeling. The National Fatherhood Initiative, U.S. Bureau of Census for the FBI researched and gathered statistics related to children who were raised in a household without a father. Individuals who were father deprived make up 72% of all teenager murderers. 60% of the rapists in society also did not have an active father figure in their life. 70% of young people who are incarcerated today suffer from father  deprivation as well. Children who lack a father growing up are twice as likely to quit school and eleven times more likely to have violent behavior. Three out of four teenage suicides also have the common factor of an absentee father. 80% of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals do not have a father figure in their lives as well as 90% of all run-aways (Watergrl76, 2012). Moreover children also face confidence leaking problem with the absence of one side. Biologically, father is the one who give his daughter emotion confident, protection, and affection. According to an article online, women without fathers tend to have low self-confidence around men. They are weak and hide what their boundaries are (Paul, 2008). In all, It is precise that children without or less care from father do ruin their lives. The absence or unequal responsibility may upset their development. Secondly, raising children is not easy task. When they were babies, from milk, food, cloth, cleaning, learning to walk, or sleep is all stressful. They are twenty four hours needed to be taken care of. What if the baby gets sick, not only money that you have to pay but also the nervousness you encounter. As they grow up and go to school, more thing parents need to concern whether they study well, make friend with gangster, play school truant, or eat something unhealthy. Furthermore, every children is different, using old way to teach children will not work to your own children. You need more time to observe them and choose the best way. In an article I read online, mentions taking care children is extremely hard, and wrong way of teaching children is frustrating for you as well as the child. Raising the child alone is even tougher. (TOSSER, 2009). Mother or father alone cant handle those stresses. Remember besides your children who need care, you yourself also need to rest. You need a partner who can give encouragement and warm. Nevertheless, with both parents share responsibility, thing is solved. Last but not least, that both parent share equal responsibility increases family happiness. The more time you are with each other, the more understanding you have for each other. Everyone in the family feel close and warm. It brings peaceful environment to children as well the whole family. In an online article also proves that when both parents have a collaboration and fantastic agreement in adopting children, family makes less argument (Both Parents should Assume Equal Responsibility in Raising Children , 2011). In contrast, without one side care, both the children and the member family feel they are neglected. Children feel they dont receive love from father, and mother feel father dont willing to help her. Nothing is worse than parent care only working and dont have time for family. My counterpart might say that parents cant share equal responsibility because father is busier at work to own for the living. He doesnt have time to take care of their children. Mother needs to be responsible for it. This argument has some merit on the surface. Remember marriage is not all our sharing task to do, but love. Work at house, taking care of the baby and household, is much more stressful then the job outside. In addition, everyone is busy; it is just the matter of how you manage your time, and what if mother unfortunately passes away, who will take care of our children? How could you support to take care of them when you and they are almost stranger? If father dont have time for his children, it will reduce the family happiness. To sum up, because of the interest of childrens development, the stress of raising children, and the family satisfaction, sharing equal responsibility is a must. Every parent should take this into consideration because children are weak and innocent they need both cares and support to help them accept new thing, learn the social value, and meet with the social expectation.

Employers and Employees rights :: Business and Management Studies

Employers and Employees rights INTRODUCTION: In this piece of course work I am going to describe, using examples from Shropshire county council, the rights of the employer and its employees. I am also going to explain using examples of how the they resolve the disagreements with its employees over rights of employment or working conditions. Then I am going to evaluate the extent to which Shropshire ensures that a good working relationship exist between the employers and employees. 1. Describe the employer and employee rights of the business you have investigated in detail and give examples. We as employers and employees at Shropshire county council are protected by numerous amount of laws Some of these laws are: Equal pay act 1963 This allows us as employees to get a fair share in pay. This act will enable us to take legal action against Shropshire if we feel and have proof of not getting the right amount of pay that should be permitted. Not only does this act helps us as employees it also helps our employers. The directors of Shropshire county council employ the employers that employ us, so they too are considered to be employees. Race relation act 1976 This act allows us both as employees and employers to be treated fairly. This act has to do with the discrimination against our race or religion. It enables us to take legal actions against Shropshire if we feel and have proof of unfair treatment of our race and religion. Pregnancy and Discrimination act This act is here for both the employees and employers if we are fired or discriminated because of being pregnant. This will allow us to get compensation. If fired this will also allow us to also get our job back at Shropshire. Health and Safety act This is there for both we the employees and our employers. Not only are we protected by this act we are also responsible for the health and safety for the other members of staff. E.g. in the computer rooms we must act responsible for not permitted to smoke in non-smoking areas, if done this could affect other members of staff. 2. State how the business resolves its disagreements with employees in connection with employment and working conditions. When disputes occur at Shropshire the management will try to follow the correct procedure. Wherever possible the issue is dealt with by managers within the council. There are clear procedures to follow, which will be carefully followed. E.g. if a member of staff was discriminated by one of his or her co-workers with proof the staff member could bring it to a union representative

F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

In his novel The Great Gatsby (1925) F. S. Fitzgerald introduces the reader to a set of characters that stand on the different levels of socioeconomic ladder and by destiny's will share each other's lives. Reading the novel one can see that Fitzgerald puts a huge emphasis on money: its presence or absence is the deciding factor in shaping the lives and personalities of the characters. The novel takes place in New York, in the early 1920s. One might notice that the financial situation with the East and West Eggs bears an uncanny resemblance to the situation with the East and West Sides in the city. The narrator himself introduces the reader to this idea: 'I lived at West Egg, the -- well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them'; (9). In the city families who have been wealthy for several generations occupy the sophisticated East Side; in order to buy an apartment there one must provi de good recommendations. West Side is less sophisticated and therefore less desirable for it is open to the 'new money.'; By creating this setting Fitzgerald is trying to make the reader understand that a character like Gatsby needs a certain environment to exist. Although Gatsby's persona is surrounded by different rumors, and 'contemporary legends such as the 'underground pipe-line to Canada' attached themselves to his name,'; people come to his parties. Money can buy one popularity and friends, at least temporarily. Most likely many of Gatsby's 'friends'; knew where the money came from, yet it did not seem to be a good enough reason for them to stop socializing with him. Money can also buy tolerance for breaking the law. In order for Gatsby to be able to have his lavish parties where 'in the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten'; (44), he had to have the entire police department on the payroll. Th e 1920s were the years of Prohibition – the sale and purchase of alcohol was forbidden in the United States. Gatsby's money bought him an unspoken permission to have those parties. Gatsby acknowledges his friendly relationship with the commissioner to Nick. He says that he 'was able to do the commissioner a favor once, and he sends me a Christmas card every year. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers In his novel The Great Gatsby (1925) F. S. Fitzgerald introduces the reader to a set of characters that stand on the different levels of socioeconomic ladder and by destiny's will share each other's lives. Reading the novel one can see that Fitzgerald puts a huge emphasis on money: its presence or absence is the deciding factor in shaping the lives and personalities of the characters. The novel takes place in New York, in the early 1920s. One might notice that the financial situation with the East and West Eggs bears an uncanny resemblance to the situation with the East and West Sides in the city. The narrator himself introduces the reader to this idea: 'I lived at West Egg, the -- well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them'; (9). In the city families who have been wealthy for several generations occupy the sophisticated East Side; in order to buy an apartment there one must provi de good recommendations. West Side is less sophisticated and therefore less desirable for it is open to the 'new money.'; By creating this setting Fitzgerald is trying to make the reader understand that a character like Gatsby needs a certain environment to exist. Although Gatsby's persona is surrounded by different rumors, and 'contemporary legends such as the 'underground pipe-line to Canada' attached themselves to his name,'; people come to his parties. Money can buy one popularity and friends, at least temporarily. Most likely many of Gatsby's 'friends'; knew where the money came from, yet it did not seem to be a good enough reason for them to stop socializing with him. Money can also buy tolerance for breaking the law. In order for Gatsby to be able to have his lavish parties where 'in the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten'; (44), he had to have the entire police department on the payroll. Th e 1920s were the years of Prohibition – the sale and purchase of alcohol was forbidden in the United States. Gatsby's money bought him an unspoken permission to have those parties. Gatsby acknowledges his friendly relationship with the commissioner to Nick. He says that he 'was able to do the commissioner a favor once, and he sends me a Christmas card every year.

Discuss About Intravenous Urography Health And Social Care Essay

I would wish to discourse approximately endovenous Urography in this paper. Intravenous Urography or merely known as IVU is a process to analyze the urinary system by utilizing contrast media. It had been start utilizing in twelvemonth 1930 to analyze the upsets of urinary system. It is performed to diagnosed nephritic map and investigates the anatomy of the kidneys, ureters and urinary vesica. The indicants for executing a IVU scrutiny are suspected urinary piece of land pathology, repeated harm, haematuria, injury and probe of hypotension in immature grownup. Urography may besides utilize to execute the pre- or post-therapeutic evalution of rock disease. The urography imaging sequence is design to supply diagnostic. The contrast media is brought to the kidneys through blood circulation, filtered in the glomeruli and concentrated in the nephritic tubules. Then the contrast media will delivered to the pelvic girdle, ureter and vesica where radio-opaque show on X-ray movies. Normally this scrutiny will be performed by the physician to avoid unfortunate incidences. The intent of IVU is the primary probe for urinary disease such as urinary rock, urinary rednesss, urinary injury and obstructor, assorted and contraindications. Some necessary safeguards are taken to avoid the allergic reactions. This safeguards include ask whether patient is allergic to any medical specialty or nutrient, is patient ( adult females ) pregnant or have any opportunity to pregnancy within a hebdomad and any diseases that may do patient to hold anaphylactic daze during scrutiny. Equipments that are needed during Intravenous Urography are exigency cart to the full equipped and handily placed, instrument for injection is arranged on a little, movable tabular array or on a tray, often used unfertile points must be readily available, disposable acerate leafs and panpipes are widely used in this process, nonsterile points such as compression bandage, little waste bin, vomit basin, disposable rub, contrast media that is required, and dressing for puncture site must be required. Besides that, a pillow or folded tower that can be place under patient ‘s cubitus during the injection of contrast media to diminish force per unit area. The equipment for endovenous disposal equipment are 50ml syringe, make fulling needle, skin homework, gluey tape, choice of acerate leafs, straight/'Butterfly ‘ 16,19,21,23 gage and compression bandage or blood force per unit area turnup. Emergency drugs and equipment such as steroid injection, adrenaline injection, antihistami ne injection, endovenous dextrose trickle and O for inspiration must be checked every twenty-four hours and easy to get during IVU scrutiny. Basically, we are utilizing 3 types of contrast media during IVU scrutiny. They are Niopam 300, Omnipaque 350 and Urograffin 370. Doses of contrast media that injected into a 70 kilogram, normal blood urea grownup are 50 milliliters through endovenous. Before injected the contrast media to patient, the contrast media must be warmed to personify temperature. To shoot the contrast media into the vena, a 19 gage acerate leaf must be punctured into the average cubital vena. Then the contrast media that been warmed to about 36-37 grade Celsius will be injected. This process is ever performed by the Radiologists or physician. Then movies are taken at intervals will show whole nephritic system. At the twenty-four hours of scrutiny, patient is necessitating to alter to hospital gown. Make certain patient had emptying the vesica to forestall dilution of contrast media with urine. Patient is placed on the tabular array with supine place in the X-ray room, the MSP of the patient perpendicular to the midplane of the grid. Support patient ‘s articulatio genus by utilizing a pillow to cut down dipped curvature of lumbar spinal column. This can supply a more comfy place to patient. Compression devices must be prepared before the scrutiny, so that it will be ready to application in a specific clip. Obtain a preliminary radiogram of the venters. Then fix for the first post-injection before the contrast medium is injected. A cassette with movie is placed in the bucky tabular array, place the cassette and set on markers on the cassette. Changes are made on focus and exposure factors based on the prelim movie. Contrast media for injection intent is prepared utilizing sterile techn ique. Administration of contrast media into patient ‘s organic structure is normally done by the physician harmonizing to the patient ‘s organic structure size, ages and weight. Several radiogram will be taken at specified intervals get downing from the clip the contrast media is wholly emits into patient ‘s organic structure. In approximately 2 to 8 proceedingss the contrast media will get down to look in the pelvicaliceal system. Patient demand to empty their vesica as the scrutiny is over and a radiogram will be taken to guarantee that contrast media is wholly removed from the organic structure. The typical exposure values for IVU are 65-75kVp, 50-70mAs, 100cm of Film Focusing Distance ( FFD ) , used grid to diminish spread radiation and utilize regular film/screen. 5 X-ray movies will be taken during this scrutiny. The first X ray besides known as preliminary movie is a normal abdomen X ray. The movie should include most of the venters and pelvic girdle ( kidneys, ureters and vesica ) . If the movie is demoing unsatisfactory component such as gases and a tonss of fecal matters inside the patient venters, we might hold to prorogue the scrutiny. This is cause by the patient that did non follow the direction right. This is usually go on on the out-of-door patient. This scrutiny will be go on when patient have achieved proper readying. The 2nd movie ( immediate movie ) is after the patient is injected with the contrast media. The intent of this movie is to show AP nephritic disease by demoing nephrogram, examples the nephritic parenchyma. The 3rd movie or merely known as 5 proceedingss movie is taken to find whether farther dosage of contrast media is required or non. We might use compaction to dilate pelvicalyceal system so that it can clearly sho w make fulling defects in the 3rd movie ( 15 proceedingss movie ) . The Forth movie ( 25 proceedingss movie ) is taken to show the distended vesica. This can be done by concentrating 15 degree caudal angulations and the upper boundary line of the symphysis pubic bone is centered. The last movie ( station urination movie ) will show the emptying success of vesica and the antecedently distend lower terminals of ureters had been returned to normal. There are besides some extra projections required such as inspiratory, expiratory and oblique projection so that relationship of opacities and make fulling defects to the nephritic piece of land is demonstrated. Purpose of imaging is to show lineations nephritic and overcome darkening from the gastro enteric piece of land. An immediate station injection radiogram should show the kidneys addition in denseness because of the contrast within the uriniferous tubules. Different denseness nephrograms may bespeak nephritic nephritic arteria stricture, if this is suspected a series of movies at 1, 2, and 3 proceedingss after injection can convey more accurate visual image. The kidney lineations should be smooth and does non concentrating contrast media. If it is concentrating the medium, it is likely cause by tumours. The calyces, nephritic pelvic girdle and portion of ureter should be seeable in the 5 or 10 proceedingss movie. Both kidneys should hold the same denseness as the nephrogram is reduced. If we see 1 of the kidney denseness is lower, it might be cause by ureteric diseases such as urinary obstructor. To find site of obstructor, a delayed movie is required after 45 to 60 proceedingss after injection. 15 proceedingss movie shall demo the cause of urinary obstructor. Urinary obstructor might be caused by stne, coagulum or tumor near the ureteric opening. If the ureters are dilated, the cause is likely in the vesica or urethra. The intent of taking vesica movie is to name the unnatural size of vesica that might be cause urinary diseases. Examples of the diseases are prostate expansion, urethral obstructor, neurogenic vesica, TB, Schisotosomiasis, rocks, calcification, tumor and gas in the vesica. It is the duty of a Radiographer to use to patient and radiographer to diminish the radiation doses that receive. Guidelines refering radiation protection are using gonad shield to patient if it does non overlap the part of involvement. Collimation need to be applied so that lone part of involvement merely will have radiation. Do non reiterate the scrutiny so that patient will non have external radiation. Male patient shall be shield for all scrutinies. Some patient might shown some symptoms such as sickness, minor urticarial roseolas, on occasion terrible laryngeal hydrops, anaphylactic daze and cardiac apprehension. As the marks of these symptoms appear on patient, injection of contrast media must be stopped instantly. Emergency drugs such as antihistamines and steroids are given to patient. Decision is IVU is a safe scrutiny with all the set up in the X-ray room and it gives detail information to physician for diagnose intent.