Managerial Economics Resit Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managerial Economics Resit Assignment - Essay Example However, in a free market economy, price is highly influenced by the market forces of demand and supply and the utility or the value customers are expecting from a commodity is also influenced by these market forces. This paper addresses factors that determine the price of computers in a free market and explain why computer price has continued to fall even while the demand constantly increased. Price determinants of computer in free market Free market is a market system with few government restrictions on how a product or service can be produced and marketed or on how a factor of production can be employed (Kates, 2011). Government in all other market systems do intervene in matters regarding how a good or service can be produced and marketed and how factors of production such as land, labor, capital and organization can be employed more than in the case of free market. As there are relatively few government restrictions in countries like United States and Canada, their economies are said to be closer to free-market economy. In a free market economy, price is determined by the market forces of demand and supply. Consumers are willing to pay for a goods or service only if they are worth the price. Similarly, suppliers are ready to produce and market only if consumers are ready to pay for them. Market equilibrium occurs when market demand and supply are equal and this is how the price of a commodity is determined. Thus, value or utility of the commodity and willingness to pay are significant factors that determine the demand and supply forces in the market. In a free market mechanism, price is never affected by outside forces such as government restrictions. The resources are allocated by the spending decisions of millions of consumers and producers. As governments place no or relatively very less restrictions on what can be bought and sold, owners of factors of production and producers of goods and services have fuller right to buy and sell whatever they own thr ough the market system. When it comes to computers in a free-market, the price is determined according to the demand and supply forces. As depicted in the table and graph below, price of computers in a free market is determined in the equilibrium point where the demand for computers and its supply intersect. When price of the computers areas lower as 10,000 or 15,000, the demand may increase to 60 and 50 respectively and the supply will reduce to 20 and 30 respectively. As the table shows, there is only one price of shifts ($ 20,000) where the market is in equilibrium. Quantity demanded is equal to quantity supplied at 40, 000 computers. At all other states, the market price is in disequilibrium wherein supply of computers and demand for computers are in a state of imbalance. Disequilibrium occurs either when the demand exceeds supply or the supply exceeds the demand for computers. Price per computer $ Demand (000 computers) Supply (000 computers) Market position Effects on price 10 ,000 60 20 Shortage Rise 15,000 50 30 Shortage Rise 20,000 40 40 Equilibrium Stable 25,000 30 50 Surplus Fall 30,000 20 60 Surplus Fall 35,000 10 70 Surplus Fall As far as computers in free-market mechanism is considered, government will not intervene in resource allocation. In other economic systems, governments may choose to interfere in the price mechanism mainly because they want to control,

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 114

Case Study Example It specializes in the manufacturing of new glass products. This has contributed to the company’s outstanding reputation in the glass and ceramics markets over the years. This corporation has eight line divisions one of them being the Electronic Product Division (EPD) which focuses on the production of electronic resistors and capacitors. Under the leadership of Don Rogers, who is the Vice President and general manager of the division, EPD’s performance has steadily improved despite its decline in 1991 and 1992. One significant achievement of this unit is that it successfully managed to distribute its products to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) due to its research and development strength. This factor opened new opportunities for the division that contributed to its growth. The growing market of the telecommunications industry is another factor that has led to the division’s growth because it has provided a ready market for products. EPD has been able to maintain competitive advantage because of its ability to respond to customers’ needs by introducing new products that are of high quality. There are various risks the division has been forced to take due to the uncertain business environment (Robertson & Caldart, 2009). The division’s leadership has further steered it to a higher level. Joe Bennett, for instance, used his management style to influence positively organizational behavior. His leadership led to group effectiveness and inter-functional coordination. Rogers, on the other hand, made sure the organization employed professional employees. The company’s success has however not gone without challenges. For example, it reached a point when EPD experienced a lack of growth. Their dollar volume dropped because of price cuts. This forced the management to reduce costs so as to maintain the gross margin. Despite these efforts the gross margin still reduced. As a result, the sales and marketing departments were blamed. The

Aplastic Anemia Essay Example for Free

Aplastic Anemia Essay Aplasitc anemia is a very rare blood disorder. Sometimes, it is connected with leukemia; it could be a result from chemotherapy given to leukemia patients. In aplastic anemia, the bone marrow does not make the necessary blood cells needed in the blood; however, leukemia is when the blood cells are deformed and not working properly. Leukemia is a cancer where as aplastic anemia is not. Chemotherapy treatment for cancer can lead to the secondary condition of aplastic anemia that may cause slowing down of producing blood cells. What are the anatomical and physiological symptoms and causes for aplastic anemia? What is the diagnosis and what treatments are available for aplastic anemia? One symptom is fatigue from being anemic. Anemia is when the red blood cells are low in the blood. The red blood cells carry the oxygen from your lungs to all parts of the body (Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, Inc. ). This will cause fatigue when the body does not get enough oxygen. There is a little more than just low red blood count in cells in aplastic anemia. It is when the body doesn’t produce all three different blood cells that the body has: white blood cells, red blood cells, and the platelets termed pancytopenia (Wikipedia). In aplastic anemia, it is when the bone marrow stops producing or slows down in producing these new blood cells. The white ones or leukocytes are to fight infections in the body by attacking and killing bacteria and viruses (Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, Inc. ), so with out them patients easily catch viruses. A low white blood cell count is called neutropenia (Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, Inc. . The other is the platelets; they are for blood clots. A low platelet count is called thrombocytopenia (Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, Inc. ). A low platelet count leads to another symptom that would be uncontrolled bleeding because the body does not have the platelets to stop the bleeding. You can also causes bruising and petechiae (Wikipedia). Some of the other symptoms include shortness of breath, headache, pallor and, ultimately tachycardia and heart failure (Lippincott 508). Bone tenderness should not be present (Mc Phee 454). The cause for aplastic anemia develops when the bone marrow is damaged or in some cases is unknown. About 75 out of 100 cases of acquired aplastic anemia are idiopathic (Aplastic Anemia MDS International Foundation, Inc. ). This means they have no known cause. Sometimes, the case can be from radiation and chemotherapy treatment used for cancer. This can destroy the healthy cells in the bone marrow leading to the secondary condition. Some other causes for secondary condition of aplastic anemia are toxic chemicals and certain drugs, such as the chemical benzene that is found in gasoline, or with the use of certain drugs, including chloramphenicol[-0], carbamazepine[-1], felbamate[-2], phenytoin[-3], quinine[-4], and phenylbutazone[-5] (Wikipedia). Chloramphenicol treatment is followed by aplasia in less than 1 in 40,000 treatment courses, and carbamazepine aplasia is even more rare (Wikipedia). The medication for rheumatoid arthritis is connected to ones getting aplastic anemia; this would be called also a secondary condition when aplastic anemia appears. Likewise Lupus, an autoimmune disorder, can attack the healthy stem cells. This would cause the slowing down or stopping of making the blood cells the body needs. The rest may result from immunologic factors (unconfirmed), severe disease (especially hepatitis), viral infection (especially children), or preleukemic and neoplastic infiltration of bone marrow (Lippincott 397). Therefore, to confirm a diagnosis for aplastic anemia they first take a blood sample to see if the blood count is low. If that shows up low in all the blood cells, the next step is to take a bone marrow sample or biopsy. The bone marrow is usually taken from the large hip bone by a needle. The sample is looked at in a microscope to rule out leukemia, which the blood cells would look abnormal and would be the reason the blood cells are not working properly. However, aplastic anemia would show very little red and white blood cells in the blood stream. Some options of treatment given to patients are medications, bone marrow transplant, and blood transfusion (MayoClinic). Just recently, they have stem cell transplants. The medications are immunosuppressive combine with cyclosporine. Maybe one of the causes is the immune system is attacking its own good blood cells, and these drugs will slow down the process. This medication treatment is usually given until the patient can get a stem cell transplant. The other medication can be used with the immunosuppressive is the growth factor. The new genetically engineered growth factor drugs help with making new white blood cells. That is really important, since the body makes a blood cell that only last for awhile, so the body is always generating new blood cells. However, aplastic anemia patients body for some reason stops this process. The other medicines used are antibiotics either to help prevent infections or already established infection, since the immune system is weak and would not be unable to fight of a common cold. Most likely the doctor will administer them before an infection appears, so that the patient will not get an infection. Those are the medications used and if the condition doesn’t improve, the patient would await for a bone marrow transplant. The bone marrow transplant might have been the first choice, which the medication is administered until the patient can find a match donor. The bone marrow transplant is usually a successful treatment to cure aplastic anemia in people under 55 years old (Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, Inc. ). Bone marrow transplantation from a related, matched donor can treat aplastic anemia – without recurrence- in about four out of five cases (MayoClinic). Up to half the people with matched, but unrelated, donors can expect to have successful bone marrow transplants (MayoClinic). There’s a chance that your body may reject the transplant, leading to life-threatening complications (MayoClinic). The bone marrow transplant uses a matched blood type. When found, the donor will have surgically removed some of his or her healthy bone marrow. It is then injected intravenously in the blood to the patient. The donated bone marrow will collect to the patient’s bone marrow and help with making new blood cells; it may take two to four weeks to show the new blood cells are producing. Before they even give the aplastic patient the donated marrow, they give them chemo to get rid of the diseased marrow, and will also be administered drugs to help prevent rejection of the bone marrow. Another precaution a doctor may limit the number of blood transfusions before the operation to avoid complications. Technology is advancing that they can use stem cells now instead of bone marrow transplant. The new stem cell transplant is taken from the bone marrow, umbilical cord, or the blood stream of the donor. They just get the stem cell from either of those places, and again like the bone marrow transplant, place the stem cell into the blood stream of the patient. The patient will be given chemo before the procedure as in the bone marrow transplant. This time the complication of the new stem cells will create an immune system that attacks the body of the donor, instead of the body rejecting as in the bone marrow transplant. If this does occur, they also have drugs that will help combat this. The treatment of blood transfusion is not usually used because it is a treatment for fatigue. Fatigue is not a medical emergency. First, use rest to see if it alleviates the symptom. White blood cells only last a day because that is how long they last in the body. That is why the bone marrow is important in making the new cells the body needs. The other complication that blood transfusions may cause is hemorrhaging. For long term recovery, they usually need other treatment along with this procedure. Aplastic anemia is a very rare disease and affects very few people. It is not contagious. It is more commonly diagnosed in young adults and children. It can affect any age group anytime in life and the illness might be brief, also it can come on suddenly or slowly. The symptoms vary depending on the blood cells that they are low in. The patient could have a slight case that might just be observed or to a severe case that needs treatment. A doctor should be the one to make the diagnoses and treatments. Doctors estimate that there are about 900 new cases of aplastic anemia diagnosed in the United States each year (Aplastic Anemia MDS International Foundation, Inc. . Patients need to be extra careful not to get an infection because the body having low white blood cell count would have a hard time combating against viruses. Steps are also taken to prevent hemorrhage: avoiding parenteral injections, suggesting the use of an electric razor, humidifying oxygen to prevent dry mucous membranes, and promoting regular bowel movement (Venes 116). Mortality for aplastic anemias with severe pancytopenia is 80% to 90% (Lippincott 507). In advancing technology today, why not consider to be a bone marrow donor that could save lives of others.

Psychological Perspectives in the Workplace

Psychological Perspectives in the Workplace It has been said the goal of psychology is to predict and influence behavior. Though very broad, this definition seems to somehow hold despite the far reaches of psychological inquiries which ranges from the diagnosing and treating various pathologies in people to training animals to perform complex tasks to improving relationships between people to seeking to facilitate the answers to life’s questions. It is in regards to these last two that the realm of organizational psychology is concerned about as its aims are to advance both people and profits through the application of psychological principles. Organizations as People The methods of applying the principles of psychology to organizations are, in large measure, the same as applications involving individuals. The reasoning for this is two-fold: firstly, an organization is comprised of and achieves results through people; secondly, in many respects, an organization is a person. By that, it is not meant to say that there is a heart or brain but that the body politique is recognized by law as a separate bodily, aka â€Å"corporate†, entity that is culpable for its actions and to some extent, possesses the cumulative psyche and will of the people that employed by its objectives. This being the case, many of the same rules as apply to individuals should be considered for en masse application to the firm as one is merely contending with a group of individuals. Though the case may be well made for the appropriateness of a psychological perspective in the workplace, as a field of study, psychology is not without its competing factions, each of which asserts either â€Å"truth† or some portion of it. Three such perspectives that figuratively represent the three corners of an equilateral triangle are cognitive, behavioral and humanist (Purcell 1967, p. 231). Each of these, in its pure form, offers a distinct approach, sometimes to the extent to which other approaches are ignored. Despite this, each makes a significant contribution to issues and actors in the workplace. It is with this idea in mind that each will be sequentially examined for the specific contributions and applications while seeking for reconciliation in reality. The Cognitive Approach The cognitive approach is currently a clinically dominant perspective for good reason. It is logical and rational and has many applications. This perspective is grounded on the idea that man is a very clever creature and will seek to make sense of the world around them. As the world presents an vast, literally incalculable amount of information, people are at least somewhat constrained by the concept of bounded rationality which simply acknowledges this state of affairs and the fact that we fail to process (or process correctly) all of this information. As a result, people employ active and passive strategies to reduce the amount of information that they feel needs to be processed by adopting such courses of action as forming pre-conceived notions, assigning stereotypes or labels to people or actions, and adopting patterns of reasoning that are based only on some self-selected information. These simplified constructs or beliefs are then employed as actions to achieve some relief from this processing burden (Hodgkinson 2003, p. 3). This approach is perhaps especially relevant as today’s workplace is widely characterized by information processing and analysis. The information that is captured in the workplace easily exceeds the capacity of the brain so additional tools are utilized such as computers and information management systems. Even so, given the nature of the work and its scale and scope, people often experience anxiety and difficulty at work due to the failure of the person to adapt or implement cognitive information-reducing strategies successfully. Consider the example of the following workplace scenario: Your supervisor assigns a project in which you must demonstrate your ability to manage others efforts against a timeline. One employee is carrying their load. You brief your supervisor on this and, as a result, the employee works late and completes the assignment (Daniels, Harris Briner, 2004, p. 344). In this situation, you likely weighed the potential signal of an inability to manage others by consulting your supervisor against the possibility of failure and the fact that failure would give assurance that you did not have this ability. This example is one in which there is partial information in a situation in which full information would be highly advantageous. It is the cognitive interpretations which lead one conclude the potential of unpleasant personal outcomes that trigger an â€Å"unpleasant affect of work† often manifested as some degree of anxiety (Daniels, Harris, Briner 2004, p. 345). The Behavioral Perspective Prior to elaboration of the behaviorist perspective, it merits noting that psychology, as an endeavor, while interesting, compelling and even useful at times, has perennially been dogged by the issue that it is not a verifiable, quantifiable subject of inquiry (Kimble 2000, p. 208). This is likely due to an overexposure to Freud’s answer to all issues, sexual conflict, as well as simply to the fact psychology is not something that always lends itself to a classical scientific laboratory. This bias against psychology has been overcome by two key factors: statistical rigor and behaviorism. In short, behaviorism posits that all behavior is the consequence of an observable stimulus for which an organism is predisposed to or conditioned to respond. These stimuli can be used to shape and mold behavior and belong to one of four categories below: Reward the application of a positive stimulus to increase response rates Punishment – the application of a negative stimulus to decrease response rates Time Out – the removal of a positive stimulus to decrease response rates Other Reinforcer – the removal of a negative stimulus to increase response rates (Bolles 1979, pp. 121-122). In this paradigm, behaviorism assert that people are rational animals that, for the most part, seek pleasure and avoid pain though, in doing so, frequently consider time horizons in the case that short term pleasures are forsaken. Additionally, beyond the simplified â€Å"stimulus-response† (S-R) paradigm, there exists a scheme of behaviorism labeled â€Å"response-response† (R-R) learning in which the anticipated response is predicted from an early response to a different stimulus (Kimble 2000, p. 208). To illustrate an example of behaviorism in the workplace, consider the following example: You have been with a new department or company for a few months with your previous two positions with a supervisor whose chosen method of performance coaching to belittle someone in department-wide meetings by yelling and other demeaning actions. A department meeting is coming up and you are behind on a project. As the staff meeting approaches you begin to dread it and get a headache and have feelings of worthlessness and incompetence despite being knowing that you can meet or exceeds the projects specifications (Daniels, Harris Briner 2004, p. 344). In this example, it would seem as though you have been conditioned to feel this way. In much that same way that Pavlov’s dogs came to salivate at just the dinner bell as a consequence of learning by the pairing of stimulus and response, your feelings, symptoms and eventual behavior is a result of the anticipation of a punishment-type reinforcer (Bolles 1979, pp. 24-26). The Humanist Paradigm In the way that humanism accepts individual differences, it resembles cognitive theory; in the way that if focuses almost solely on subjective experiences, it is the arch-enemy of behaviorism (Kimble 2000, p. 9). Within the realm of what might be labeled a â€Å"humanist† approach are those perspectives advocated by Freud, Erikson, Adler, Maslow, Frankl and others. Each of these theorists focuses on either the resolution of conflict or the achievement of meaning. Going so far as be labeled â€Å"industrial theology† with regards to the application of this perspective to the work environment, they seek to understand how a person perceives themselves within the situations that work presents. These conflicts often center on values or self-actualization and meaning. As there are several distinct approaches within the broader notion of a humanistic approach, reviewing at least a few major angles is likely to be useful. One such theorist, Erikson, a student of Freud, postulated that individuals develop and progress through various lifestages, each one ideally characterized by the successful resolution of inner conflict of that age. Examples would be the middle-age conflict of â€Å"growth vs. stagnation† and a key childhood stage of â€Å"trust vs. mistrust† (Kets de Vries 1995, p. 9; Gleitman 1986, p. 562). In the same way that a parent is an authority figure, so to is the â€Å"corporation† or its representative and it is reasonable to assume that some of these conflict issues will be need to be reworked as they resurface in the work family. Adler is another theorist in the humanist vein whose work emphasizes the social context of the human condition. In a manner analogous to Erikson’s lifestages, Adler proposed eight levels of social interest ranging from the â€Å"mother-child† relationship to â€Å"God† with the levels of one’s â€Å"community† and â€Å"society† in the middle (Hale 1999, pp. 68-76). By using this methodology, Adler seeks to emphasize that one cannot emphasize the self at the expense of the world and vice-versa, that acceptance and success in life is a achieved by a balance of ego and society and a reconciliation of one’s strength’s and one’s weaknesses (Page 2003, pp. 88, 92). As an example of this, consider the study, though somewhat dated, that a majority of people find their work meaningless (Purcell 1967, p. 232). If it is indeed the cases that what they do is meaningless then, perhaps one can find redeeming value in why they do it: to provide for their family, to â€Å"get ahead† or some other deferment of pleasure or perhaps the acceptance of an imposed position in life. As a segue way from the meaningless of work is the perspective of the humanism are the ideas of theorists such as Maslow and Frankl which both seek to address the issue of values and meaningfulness in work and life. Maslow’s ubiquitous hierarchy of needs positions self-actualization as the highest type of need to be satisfied, being given attention only after lower needs such as food and security are considered (Coles 2001; Hansen 2000, p. 22). In similar vein, Frankl, a concentration camp survivor, indicates that people seek meaning through hardship and that purpose validates the self and your activities (Frankl 1946). Also related to this is Herzberg’s theory of motivation in which he postulate many choices are comprised of two-factors. One category of factor is labeled as â€Å"satisfiers† and are factors that drive positive feelings and beliefs while the other category is labeled â€Å"hygiene† factors in that they are necessary but not sufficient (Pur cell 1967, p. 238). As an example, consider that salary is a satisfier yet â€Å"travel less than 25%† may be a hygiene factor for a certain individual. By this, it is meant that virtually any reasonable sum of money would not be enough to motivate this individual if they must travel approximately 50% of the time. Similarly, by not traveling at all, this person could be not â€Å"dissatisfied† but their low wage prevents real satisfaction also. All together, these provide a rich view of the aims of the humanist perspective and are very salient to understanding behavior and motive in the workplace as in life. Corporate Therapy and Organizational Interventions One of the initial metaphors utilized earlier is that in some ways, an organization is a person. Complimentary if not a substitute line of reasoning is that organizations are of people. If at first psychology was not relevant, it is now. In consideration of the application of each of these approaches, there are number of areas such as selection and hiring practices and performance consulting in which each approach is distinct and unique yet still appropriate. Selection Processes Cognitive – Cognitive ability and intelligence is among the most reliable and validated predictors of job performance (Hodgkinson 2003, p. 10; Dreher Dougherty 2002, pp. 109-110). Behavioral – One method that takes advantage of the R-R learning method the use of behavioral interview techniques that focus on achievement or the ability to do the current job based on the belief of a correlation of past demonstrated ability to the task at hand. This type of interview can be an oral interview, work samples or practices in order to stimulate a response (Dreher Dougherty 2002, pp. 105-107). Humanistic – The use of personality profiles to help assess the fit of the person to the team or company is a frequently utilized humanistic technique (Wasylyshyn 2001, pp. 12, 14-15). Performance Management Cognitive – The distribution, through training, of successful heuristics for handling certain complex tasks can be a means by which new employees are oriented to â€Å"best† methods (Hodgkinson 2003, p. 11). In addition, the use of the Expectancy Theory approach understanding and influencing motivation can be very applicable to creating systems that incentivize performance while Equity theory concerns the rationalization of worker inputs and corresponding outputs. (Dreher Dougherty 2002, pp. 34-35, 42). Behavioral – Behavioral theory, if anything, is straightforward with regards to motivation stating only that one need find the correct reinforcement schedule to achieve the desired results. Humanistic – Programs such as job coaching and consulting as well as job enrichment can both motivate and address performance concerns (Page 2003; Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright 2000, p. 367). Three into One: Towards an Integrated Approach In consideration of each of these approaches, one approach may clearly be the best paradigm to utilize in any specific situation. Despite this, the diversity of experiences to be found in the workplace in conjunction with the diversity of the individuals calls for an approach with a â€Å"back-up† plan if not an outright approach in which all three schools are actively utilized. As an example of a complex workplace situation in which many elements are present in such quantities so as to be readily observable, consider the following adapted and condensed version of real-life organizational drama at B.F. Goodrich (Vandivier 1972): When presented with the opportunity to get the bid on a project to build a aircraft brake assemblies as part of a government contract for a company for which Goodrich has utterly failed with a decade earlier, Goodrich bid to win, hoping to restore trust and capture the profits ‘on the back end’ through subsequent orders and miscellaneous complimentary parts. After winning the bid, the job was assigned to Warren, an experienced brake assembly engineer and graduate of a top engineering program who was notably difficult to approach with anything remotely resembling criticism. Under Warren was Lawson, a young engineer with much less of a pedigree and only one year of work experience. Despite this, he quickly saw the design for this particular project possessed critical flaws that would not only fail to function but in doing so could potentially or perhaps even likely be considered a threat to those in the plane and on the ground. Knowing a flaw to be present and seeking to save the company time and money later though unwilling to approach Warren without more data, Lawson began testing the components at the earliest possible opportunity. These tests confirmed his suspicions and, though Warren began to become aware of the issues, he insisted that the problem lay in the material selection rather that the design. Finding Warrne unwilling to consider the root cause, Lawson took his case to Sink, â€Å"a short, chubby, bald man†, who had worked his was up to a position supervising all engineers from a â€Å"lowly† draftsman position. As such, he was not an engineer yet supervised engineers and despite not being formally so trained, as Lawson presented his case, the truth was likely quite obvious. Also obvious was that if Lawson was correct, then by default, Warren was wrong. If this were the case, then this meant that Sink made an error in trusting Warren and allowing this to occur. Sink’s response was to â€Å"keep testing†¦ it’ll work just fine†. With less than seventy days to flight testing, the mandatory certification of the assembly began to loom. Vandivier, a instrumentation engineer, analyst and technical writer, was called to perform final qualification testing and then to issue the recommendation for certification. Upon noting many â€Å"irregularities† Vanivier consulted Gretzinger, the lab supervisor, who indicated that he had been directed to miscalibrate testing instruments by Lawson who reported that Sink had directed him to do so. Vandivier soon spoke with Lawson who informed him that he would â€Å"soon figure it out† that it went even higher than Sink who had been directed by his supervisor, Van Horn, Manager of Design Engineering. Van Horn had indicated, â€Å"regardless†¦ it will be qualified†. Eventually, it was â€Å"qualified† and failed miserably in flight tests. This began the chain of events that could be termed the â€Å"beginning of the end† in which the final outcome was a major loss of corporate reputation, the redesign of the assembly, a formal inquiry, court proceedings and other predictable consequences. As one considers this tale, though we may not all design aircraft brake assemblies, be engineers or employees of a huge corporation or have millions of dollars or lives riding on our decisions, most of the elements are likely quite familiar. This familiarity comes from the fact that, even though we may not even be employed, the chords that were struck in this tale echo in our lives. Issues such as trust vs. mistrust, conditioned responses and fear of reprisals (aka punishment) and the questioning of what is the meaning of life and what ethics and values are represented in your head, heart and behaviors. The issues that play in our private lives go with us to work†¦ the problem is us, work and home are merely the contexts in which the drama unfolds. In tale of B.F. Goodrich, the issues and conflicts named by each of the three distinct approaches are evident. Cognitive – Sink had the opportunity to stop the issue cold by simply going to Warren and directing him to redesign to the part. A frequent initial intervention in cognitive therapy is to being to question one’s assumptions (Henry 2002, p. 39). Key to this are Sink’s assumptions in which he felt that his discovery and action would reflect poorly on him. Objectively, this is faulty reasoning yet such as strategy was adopted by Sink in an effort to reduce the cognitive demands placed on him. Behavioral – Consider the actions of Gretzinger to miscalibrate the testing instruments in which he is faced with the lesser of two punishments: one certain and immediate, the other deferred and potentially avoidable. Perhaps he had witnessed such a â€Å"test† on others and learned by association. In doing so, Gretzinger’s survival instincts were likely triggered and he simply behaved accordingly. Humanistic – This case is ripe with issues of subjective values and ethics interpretations. In addition, from a psychodynamic perspective, it is certainly implied that Sink perhaps had a bit of an inferiority complex which was reinforced by the overall situation and he had adopted the anecdotal strategy of â€Å"one must go along to get along†. While it seems clear, consider the insight achieved by integrated model that adds richness and understanding as to the how and why events occurred as they did. For example, in the Gretzinger’s instinctual survival behavior, it is quite likely that he also had psychodynamic issues such as inferiority complex in which he felt irrational guilt were he to disobey his corporate â€Å"parent’s† (Gleitman 1986, p. 420-421). Also, consider Sink’s cognitive assumptions and that his behavior could also be understood in the context of behaviorism’s â€Å"learned helplessness† or social learning theory’s deferment of responsibility, aptly illustrated by Milgram’s classis experiments in which â€Å"ordinary† people carried out what they thought were hurtful experiments on another human under the direction of external authority figure (Gleitman 1986, pp. 114-115, 398-401). By the simultaneous consideration of each theoretical perspective, events can be understood with greater clarity but, most importantly, future behavior can be shaped for the benefit of all involved. In this way, processes and policies can be enacted that reduce the psychological conflict in the choices that people feel compelled to make. For example, as the case clearly involved ethical issues, one system that is common is today’s post-Enron society is the establishment of reprisal-free ethics violations hotlines (Behr 2002). Additionally, from a behaviorist perspective, increasing the severity of punishment for ethical violations likely forces the cognitive questioning of one’s â€Å"payoff matrix†. The implementation of modern business process methods ranging from zero-based budgeting to activity-based costing and six-sigma methodology creates a forum in which assumptions are questioned and possible outcomes quantified. Such efforts get at the some of the fruit s of cognitive theory intervention strategies as more information is actively considered, roles and processes are clarified and desired outcomes explicitly stated. Thus, the workplace occurs as a factory, an office, a car, a crowded city of a wide open field. People occur in all varieties, each shaped by both unique and common elements. With the merger of these diversities, psychological perspectives cannot be applied in isolation. Rather, each must be considered and weighed in light of the situational and temporal context of the moment. Thus, in reality, it is not truly unified theory that is desired but an integrated or multidimensional perspective. Without this, the situation is akin the slightly exaggerated anecdote of the person who went to a psychiatrist only to find out that he has mental issues, a visit to a chiropractor to be informed that therapy was recommended and finally a visit to the dentist only to find that he has dental issues as well. The point is that one often is compelled to find what one is looking for and that unless a multidimensional approach is utilized, the potential outcomes are at least partially mitigated by the f ailure to consider life in situ. Works Consulted Behr, P. and A. Witt. (2002, July 28). [Enron]. Accessed online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/business/specials/energy/enron/. Bolles, R. (1979). Learning Theory, 2nd edition. Harcout Brace Jovanovich College Publishers: Fort Worth, TX. Coles, S. ( 2001, October). â€Å"Satisfying Basic Needs†. Employee Benefits, 4p. Daniels, K., C. Harris, and R. Briner. (2004). â€Å"Linking Work Conditions to Unpleasant Affect: Cognition, Categorization, and Goals†. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (77), pp. 343-363. Dreher, G. and T. Dougherty. (2002). Human Resource Strategy: A Behavioral Reference for the General Manager. McGraw-Hill Irwin: New York, New York. Frankl, V. (1946). Mans Search for Meaning. Washington Square Press: New York, New York. Gleitman, H.(1986). Psychology, 2nd Edition. W.W. Norton Company: New York, New York.Hale, C. (1999, Fall). â€Å"Eight Levels of Social Interest: Adult Development From an Adlerian Paradigm†. AdultSpan Journal (1), 2, pp. 66-78. Hansen, J. (2000, Winter). â€Å"Psychoanalysis and Humanism: A Review and Critical Examination of Integrationist Effort With Some Proposed Resolutions†. Journal of Consulting Development(78), pp. 21-28. Henry, J. (2002). â€Å"Cognitive Science and Individual Development† in in Pearn, M., ed. (2002). Individual Differences and Development in Organizations. John Wiley Sons: West Sussex, UK. Hodgkinson, G. (2003). â€Å"The Interface of Cognitive and Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychology†. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (76), pp. 1-25. Kets de Vries, M. (1995). Organizational Paradoxes: Clinical Approaches to Management, 2nd edition. Routledge: London, UK. Kimble, G. (2000, November December). â€Å"Behaviorism and Unity in Psychology†. Current Directions in Psychological Science (9), 6, pp. 208-212. Noe, R., J. Hollenbeck, B. Gerhart, and P. Wright. (2000). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill Irwin: Boston, Massachusetts. Page, L. (2003, Spring). â€Å"Adler and the Profession of Coaching†. The Journal of Individual Psychology (59), 1, pp. 86-93. Purcell, T. (1967). â€Å"Work Psychology and Business Values: A Triad Theory of Work Motivation†. Personnel Psychology (20), 3, , pp. 231-257. Vandivier, K. (1972). â€Å"Why Should My Conscience Bother Me?† in Moss Kanter, R. B. Stein, eds. (1978). Life in Organizations: Workplaces as People Experience Them. Basic Publishers: New York, NY. Wasylyshyn, K. (2001). â€Å"On the Full Actualization of Psychology in Business†. Consulting Psychology: Practice and Research (53), 1, pp. 10-21.

Choosing The Sex Of a Baby Essay -- Science Ethics Genetics Engineerin

Choosing The Sex Of a Baby With new technologies available everyday, it seems almost as if we can customize our children. Reproduction is no longer an outcome of random and inherited genes, but now it’s a process of creating the child that we want to have. Fertility clinics are in debate as to whether or not it is ethical to be able to determine the sex of our children. Some view this as a valid option, while others see it as another step down the road to designer babies. But how far is too far? That is a question that we can only answer for ourselves. While this article remains unbiased, we are able to form our own opinion after seeing the pros and cons of both sides. Virginia Blackburn is in support of the choice to choose. She claims that this is an acceptable action and that â€Å"if there’s no discarding of fetuses that have already been created or risk of harm to the baby, the only real question is: why on earth should anybody try to stop them?† (1). Another argument that supports this choice is the fact that sometimes choosing the sex of the baby can lead to prevention of certain genetic diseases. Since hemophilia occurs mostly in males, parents might be a bit concerned about having children. So, if they had a boy, and decided to resort to abortion, we can see how choosing the sex of the baby would prevent choices of abortion and the potential of genetic disease. It kills two birds with one stone. In addition, there are some parents who covet the idea of having a boy or girl. Some just prefer a certain gender. Results of parents trying for a certain gender end up with them having huge families. There is also the low self esteem and frustration of not being able to conceive the sought after gender. Imagine being th... ...be taking the needed steps toward avoiding and curing certain diseases. But when we go through challenges like that, it makes us better. We become better people, and there is justification for why things like that happen. I feel that it’s truly best to just stay out of it. In the Bible, David the psalmist says in Psalm 139: 13-16, â€Å"For you created me in my inmost being, you kit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes say my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.† God’s character goes into every person that he creates and there is no reason for us to be dissatisfied with that.

Malaria Essay -- essays research papers fc

Malaria Malaria parasites have been with us since the beginning of time, and fossils of mosquitoes up to thirty million years old show that malaria’s vector has existed for just as long. The parasites causing malaria are highly specific, with man as the only host and mosquitoes as the only vector. Every year, 300,000,000 people are affected by malaria, and while less than one percent of these people die, there are still an estimated 1,500,000 deaths per year. While Malaria was one of the first infectious diseases to be treated successfully with a drug, scientist are still looking for a cure or at least a vaccination today (Cann, 1996). Though many people are aware that malaria is a disease, they are unaware that it is life threatening, kills over a million people each year, and is a very elusive target for antimalarial drugs (Treatment of Malaria, 1996). Being a very specific disease, malaria is caused by only four protozoal parasites: Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium malariae. Not only is the disease specific, but the parasites are too, with only 60 of 380 species of female Anopheles mosquitoes as vectors. With the exception of Plasmodia Malariae which may affect other primates, all parasites of malaria have only one host, Homo sapiens. Because some mosquitoes contain substances toxic to Plasmodium in their cells, not all species of mosquitoes are vectors of Plasmodium. Although very specific, malaria still causes disruption of over three hundred million people worldwide each year (Cann, 1996). The life cycle of the parasite causing malaria exists between two organisms, humans and the Anopheles mosquito. When a female mosquito bites a human, she injects an anticoagulant saliva which keeps the human bleeding and ensures an even flowing meal for her. When the vector injects her saliva into the human, it also injects ten percent of her sporozoite load. Once in the bloodstream, the Plasmodium travel to the liver and reproduce by asexual reproduction. These liver cells then burst releasing the parasites back into the bloodstream where they then enter red blood cells. Here, the Plasmodium feed on hemoglobin and reproduce again by asexual reproduction. Afterwards, the red blood cells burst and release the parasites. Some of the para... ...ion people annually. As the Plasmodium parasites mutate more and more to resist the effect of antimalarials, it becomes harder for scientist to find a cure (Treatment of Malaria, 1996). Over forty percent of the world’s population still at risk from this deadly disease, is yearning for a cheap, effective vaccine (Cann, 1996). Bibliography Dr. Cann, Alan J. PhD., "The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Malaria Database", 1996, http://www.wehi.edu.au/biology/malaria/who.html. Graham, David, "Malaria-Proof Mosquitoes," Technology Review, October 1996, Vol. 99, Issue 7, p20-22, MAS FullTEXT ELITE, Nancy Guinn Library. Herman, Robert, "Malaria," New Groliers Multimedia Encyclopedia, Copywrite 1996. "Atovaquone and Proguanil for Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria," Lancet, June 1, 1996, Vol. 347, Issue 9014, p1511-1515, MAS FullTEXT ELITE, Nancy Guinn Library. "Limited Imagination," Economist, September 28, 1996, Vol. 340, Issue 7985, p80- 82, MAS FullTEXT ELITE, Nance Guinn Library. "Treatment of Malaria," New England Journal of Medicine, September 12, 1996, Vol. 335, Issue 11, p800-807, MAS FullTEXT ELITE, Nancy Guinn Library.

Team and Small Group Experience

There have a few experiences that I have had, where I have been a member of both a team and a group. There are many similarities as well as differences among a team and a group. One of the biggest and most common similarity is that both of them want to be able to reach a particular goal. The team that I am currently a member of is a women’s basketball team. I am also part of a small group. I met a few local girls through Facebook that have been wanting to loose weight just like me. My team was started up by some friends that wanted to form a league to play for the city. They put some ads on Craigslist and Facebook to see if anyone wanted to try out for the team. After doing the try outs and deciding who was actually going to be on the team, we got together twice per week for a period of one month for practice basketball games. Currently, we are in the â€Å"tournament period† and we play every Tuesday at 7:00 pm with other teams that are also playing with the city. We have three games left before we know how we placed and if we go to finals. After every game we get together for a few minutes and discuss how we did and what we can do to do things better and to strategize. Communication among the team has really made us improved the way that we play and make us better in every game. The group I belong is made up of six girls including myself. We all chat online and make plans, we state our goals and what we want to achieve with them. Each week one of us will make an exercising plan for the entire week and then at the end of the week we meet up somewhere to talk about how we did with our exercise plan. It is not all about work, we also get together to have some fun, like go to the movies, eat dinner or take out our kids to the park. Most of us have lost at least 10 lbs since we started our little group. We just support each other when we are lacking motivation. There are some differences that I noticed between the team and the group. For example, we had to try out for the basketball team. Then we were chosen and assigned to a position by the organizers of the team. We have all been working together to make our team better and become a good and strong team. The group that I am currently was actually made up by a group of friends that just wanted to have a support system to lose weight. We have made sure to always have something going on to help us stay fit or keep helping us lose weight. The team used practice basketball games twice a week and a little get together that we had at the beginning of the season to motivate us and help us to get to know each other. This helped us feel more relaxed at the actual games and to know how each team player was used to playing in the court. The coach and the assistant coach wanted to do these two things to ensure that there was a healthy relationship among the players because in the past not knowing each other had cause much tension in the games, causing many looses. Getting the basketball team together virtually would have not been a good idea. Practices needed to get done and there was no possible way that it could have been done over a computer, The best method of communication for the basketball team was in person, by phone or by text messaging. This methods were used to communicate with each and to be updated on times and location for basketball practices or actual games. My group of fitness pals, is able to interact virtually. We were able to chat via skype, email and use sites such as Facebook to stay in touch with each other. We were also able to interact with each other virtually to make actual plans to meet with each other on a weekly basis in person. Whenever the teams or groups meet exclusive using virtual communications, there is no physical contact, for that reason, the relationship would be more impersonal rather than personal. This is not the case with either the team that I am involved with or the group that I am involved in, since in both cases we do see each other face to face. The team and the group work well the way that they have been communicating and meeting, exclusive virtual communication would not be an option for either of them. Each player on the times played on assigned position, depending on the tryouts and what the coaches thought they would be best at. In the group, every week, a different person would take leadership and make a fitness plan for all of us, she would also plan a day during the week where we could all meet, talk or just hang out in person. It worked out better that way because that way we would not run in to reoccurring exercises or activities. Everyone in the basketball team did the same thing. We all showed up for our practice games and we would also show up 30 minutes before an actual game, just to make sure that we had a complete team. We got sponsored by my husband’s place of employment, so with the sponsorship they also gave us red uniforms for all the girls. Every week our coach assigned one of the team members to bring bottled water for all of the team players. Most of the time all of the players play fairly but in some instances things would get out of hand and the team member would either get benched or even suspended for a game. For the fitness group, there were not many rules. The only thing is that everyone had to participate in some way. Everyone had to take initiative at least once every two months two make plans and set goals on how to lose weight. That same person also had to plan something fun for us to do so that we could meet in person. Status and differences for the team was each individual team player, they had different positions and they each were in charge of covering it on the games. The coach and the assistant coach decided who would start in each position after they held the tryouts and saw us play. In rare occasions the players were change from positions, but mostly we always held our own position. In our fitness group, every week we had someone doing all the planning for our fitness goals and weight loss progress. A certain person would plan and then all of us would follow the plan and at the end of the week meet somewhere and discuss our progress. So basically the only thing that would change is that every week we had a different leader and different fitness plans and weight loss goals. According to the Maslow theory, the team’s belongingness depended on the power of the team players in that position that they were given by the coach and assistant coach to play in. Good self esteem was built because the team players feel that they are doing a good job with their position and in their own way feel that they are helping the team win the games. Safety in the basketball team was very important. All of team players needed to feel protected by one another when playing the game. The small group worked very close and well together. According to Maslow’s belongingness theory, the group worked well because they worked together to achieve a goal that they all had. Esteem was built by the group because we would talk to a daily basis and get together with each other once a week making us have some sort of bond. Each member of the group felt safe with each other because we were all working for the same urpose and we didn’t feel the need to hide anything from each other. In conclusion, I think that the main purpose of working with a team and having specific roles in it is to accomplish a goal. In this case the one goal that the basketball has is to win as many games possible. Working with a does not have many differences from a team, but in my group in particular we all have the same goal, which is too lose weight and get fit. A small difference is that on the group we are all working for ourselves instead of for a victory that belongs to everyone else.