Factors responsible for Industrial-Economic Revolution in America Essay Example for Free

Factors responsible for Industrial-Economic Revolution in America Essay The last decades of the nineteenth century saw tremendous development ion the industrial and economic sectors. The boundless economic expansion was triggered and augmented by the entrepreneurs like Carnegie, Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan etc. the innovations of the Thomas Edison. This scientific and technological adventures coupled with entrepreneurial risks and innovations introduced by great businessmen pushed America toward a new industrial era and helped it develop as an industrial-economic power. The history fabricated by many historians illustrates that late 19th century of American history is marked with the economic exploitations of robber barons† that deprived American citizens of the potential benefits of industrialization and collected huge profits for themselves. But some of the great industrialist and businessmen of the 19th century America like Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and Rockefeller helped America to establish itself on sound economic footings and constructed huge infrastructures of banks, railroads, steel mills and cities etc. Although these entrepreneurs were market oriented businessmen but whatever their ambitions and objectives were, they contributed in the industrial and business sector. Andrew Carnegie remained the greatest industrialist in American history. His entrepreneurial competencies and his business acumen were the foremost qualities that capacitated him to grasp every opportunity to build a well-advanced business empire. Livesays (1975) manifests that his ability â€Å"to recognize the potential of a new service or product and to seize upon an auspicious moment to associate himself with it. Time and again he manifested this acumen, shifting his talents from factory to telegraph, from telegraph to railroad, from railroad to iron and then steel, meanwhile investing his money in express companies, oil fields, sleeping cars, and telegraphs before he finally fused his energies and capital in Carnegie Steel† (19). Rockefeller and Morgan were the other businessmen who set an impetus for heavy industry; mass production and merger of small industries. They further capitalized on the new ideas, activities of scientist and technologists like Edison whose experimentation revolutionized the industrial world. Mergers and acquisitions were an important phenomenon that capacitated the American industry to grow by leaps and bounds. Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thompson-Houston Electric Company in 1892 and hence the great industrial conglomerate i. e. General Electric came into being. Morgan further established Federal Steel Company and later on merged it with Carnegie Steel Company. In 1901, he further assimilated many small steel and iron mills to establish the United States Steel Corporation. In this perspective, life of the laborers in this industrial domain was subject to long working hours and dangerous working settings. Several of the policies of the industries had only obligations for the workers but there rights were never recognized and granted. This resulted in the low production output as workers were not satisfied. This background led many labourers to try to institute the rights of the workers in the form of labor unions regardless of well-organized resistance from entrepreneurs and the courts. After the recognition of these labor unions, collective bargaining resulted in much improved wages and working conditions for the laborers as well the productivity. So the industrial development further progressed. So it is quite clear from the above-mentioned facts and supported arguments that American industrial and economic development in the last decades of the 19th century was primarily due to the endeavours of the great entrepreneurs, scientific and technological innovations and the emergence of labor unions.

Free

Free schools Essay Are an interesting idea but the government needs to be very careful to make sure that educational standards improve for all children and that the whole community benefits. The idealogy behind free Schools are that they are non-profit making, independent, state-funded schools. They are able to choose what subjects they choose for their pupils to study and have many less restrictions imposed on them on how they choose to allocate their finances. For this very reason free schools would be varied in their nature as they would not be forced to follow for example the national curriculum. They are not defined by size or location: there is not a single type of free school or a single reason for setting them up. Free schools could be either primary or secondary schools. They could be located in traditional school buildings or appropriate community spaces such as office buildings or church halls. They could be set up by a wide range of proposers including charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, visionary teachers or committed parents who want to make a difference to the educational landscape. They might be needed because there simply are not enough school places in a local area and children have to travel too far to the nearest school. Free schools are not academically selective and open to children of all abilities. School is a defining factor in our lives and also promote a shared sense of community which is important as cohesive communities are generally more happy and safe than uncohesive ones there is no discrimination or segregation and they nurture a shared set of beliefs and values and goals, living together in harmony and mutual respect. An example of a community that lacks this is Oldham in which the races, Asians and whites were segregated and this triggered violent race riots. This happened due to the immense divide between Asian and White communities and their inability to mix and appreciate one another. This event made me think that this was very bad for the community and did nothing but encourage racial segregation. Looking at the footage of the riots of 2001 it is clear that situation could have been easily avoided had everyone learnt to appreciate one another. Community cohesion is about ensuring that all people from different backgrounds and communities feel they belong to the place in which they live. We cannot realise our ambitions by living in isolation to one another, it must be as a united city, where the differences of race, colour, and religion are embraced. A sense of community cohesion as we grow up makes us happier in general and encourages us to be unprejudiced and non-racist. Our distinctive character is developed early on in life and to be encouraged to mix with other people with different beliefs and religions helps promote a safer and on the whole a more happier and strong community. We start school within the first few years of our lives and being mixed with different people at this institution endorses a stronger community. We spend a good part of a decade at school so there is no doubt that school will be largely responsible for our values and beliefs, as well as our personality. Depending on what school we go to we are thrust into a shared community and we learn to get along and share beliefs. As stated in the Source material, Being part of a community helps us develop an identity a sense of who we are. An uncohesive community has exactly the opposite effect, and children growing up in an uncohesive community can grow up to have negative views and not feel like they belong and the can feel like they do not have a stake in society and being able to join in and influence decisions that affect their lives. When David Cameron and Nick Clegg (leaders of the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrat party) were elected to form a coalition government in 2010, one of the Conservatives policies were the Big Society which was apparently based on a model of Balsall Heath A town with low levels of community cohesion. The idea of the Big Society was that people take greater control of their communities and not rely on the government and local authorities to provide services like schools, community centres, youth clubs. This town has now been transformed and the town is now clean and tidy and people of all different cultural backgrounds mix. The most positive effects of this were that community cohesion increased in a drastic way. There is no doubt that there are some beneficial aspects of free schools such as people of all different ethnicities mixing together as a free school is not academically selective. This discourages discrimination and community cohesion. Some people may argue that the current government is trying to distance themselves from responsibility and segregate society but I believe that David Cameron is good to encourage people to take action if they are deprived of something that will be a credit to the community. Further argument counteracting this is that some people think that such people in deprived areas are not skilled or have enough knowledge to undertake a difficult project of opening a school, particularly a secondary school. A quote from a recent article of the Telegraph states These kids will be left behind, because the second point is that, if you set up a market mechanism, then there are winners and losers, but, in this case the losers are children, left behind in a sink school. The endorsement of free schools is debatable, but interesting. Nick Clegg declared on the 5th September in his speech Free schools would not become the preserve of the privileged few' which outlines the fact that he thinks free schools would in effect privatize the education system and allow the new institutions to cream off the best pupils and resources. On the other hand the Education Secretary Michael Gove who wholeheartedly believes that free schools will end the rationing of good education. He believes that free schools to replace failing comprehensives will give all children access to the kind of education only the rich can afford. He outlines this in Source 1 as well as saying free schools will cut the achievement gap between rich and poor. However , free schools could lead to social segregation as middle class parents are likely to be very keen on them, leading to a situation where middle class and working class people do not mix. This could end up with middle class children going to good schools and working class children remaining in local authority schools where there is very little funding. Another group who are really keen on free schools are faith groups and this could lead to segregation on religious grounds. Standards for school would therefore not rise uniformly for everyone which would be a big disadvantage and there would also be low community cohesion which is explained above. I personally think it is unfair that some pupils dont have the opportunity to go to a high achieving school as I went through this whole school lottery trying for three high achieving schools but I failed to get into any of them, simply because I was out of the catchment area. It is worth setting up free schools in deprived areas where children are forced to go to a low achieving school, so they have the same opportunities that wealthier children have. Michael Gove planned to branch out free schools here after apparent success in America with free schools, where 99 free schools have been established. Evidence suggests that 83% of free schools in the USA are doing no better than their conventional counterparts which brings me to question whether the opening of free schools really are beneficial and whether the opening of them would cut the bridge between rich and poor. However in further research some students in these schools feel that they are in a better position in a free school where they apply rigorous discipline and are challenging. This again makes the idea of free schools questionable. In Source 3, a group of six hundred parents expressed their desire for their children to go to a school other than the local state school. This brings about the conclusion that if this many parents are unhappy with the type of provision of state schooling institutions, something must be done. This opinion is also met with Rachel Wolfs in Source 4 who argues that hundreds of parents have suffered too long from a two tier education system one in which the wealthy can get into the excellent local school by buying a house in the right catchment area or paying school fees, while less off parents are stuck. I believe this is an extremely unfair system and one in which the wealthy seem to have it all and working class citizens are stuck in a never ending rut. In Source 5 another parents view is expressed, where she expresses her desire for a school in which most of its students could walk to and not sending their children 4 miles away. Source 6 promotes the fact that some people are planning to profit from the governments initiative seeking to profit at the expense of the taxpayer states Ed Balls in Source 8. He continues with Since free schools introduced a free schools policy the countrys education standards in maths and scince have plummeted. This Source brings about more negativity on the topic of free schools and questions the beneficial aspects of free schools. Source 7, an extract adapted from the website of the National Union of Teachers promotes an opinion of high negativity towards free schools, of which 24 have opened this September. A quote of this source is This governments attack on state education has to be opposed. Laws to create many more academies and the new so called free schools are an attack on the very existence of free, state comprehensive education which is democratically accountable. It is privatisation on a grand scale and is unacceptable. From my research many people agree with the condemning of free schools with NASUWT stating The free schools programme will be anything but free. Free schools are an unnecessary and costly gamble in educating the countrys children. The Government is simply not acting responsibly by not making clear where the money will come from to fund the free schools policy. Major education programmes have in the last few weeks been cut or frozen. The public would be right to be concerned that money saved from other education programmes will be used to fund the free schools policy. There is yet more negativity on the introduction of free schools with ATL an education union saying Parents or teachers misguided enough to set up a free school will soon find out that running a school needs a lot more than knowing pupils names and an alternative vision of education. It needs knowledge of employment law, health and safety and the admissions code. And private companies are waiting in the wings to provide these services. ATL has produced a directory listing the major organisations which want to get involved in managing state schools Englands schools: not open for business. These all show there is much negativity on free schools. Also NASUWT outlines the fact that it is not clear where the money to fund free schools will come from which brings about the conclusion that the government are taking money from existing state schools which may not benefit the majority of children in the local area. In Source 9 a blogger wrote her opinion which depicts that instead of reducing segregation free schools would in fact increase it, by being highly selective especially for parents who are forcefully ambitious in their choice of school, leaving behind children, for whom there may not be a voice. In Source 10 we look at Sweden, which already has free schools implemented but a person called Per Thulberg who analysed this said schools had not led to better results and Michael Gove contradicted this stating that if parents had more choice then existing schools would be forced to improve, but Per Thurlberg said better results simply came from students with better backgrounds going into those schools. These statistics suggest that free schools may not bring about better results and will not determine that there are better quality schools for the public to choose from which was the point of free schools being created in the first place. Free schools may simply be taking money from the local comprehensive where students may inevitably end up. Another factor which questions the beneficial aspects of free schools are the growing popularity of faith schools demands to build more faith schools in the form of free schools are reportedly growing this is a feature which some say will segregate society further and not promote community cohesion. http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2046715/Richard-Dawkins-attacks-alien-rubbish-taught-Muslim-faith-schools. html http://www. guardian. co.uk/education/2011/oct/04/alarm-over-racial-segregation-london-schools. These articles especially the second depict the racial segregation that faith schools may cause. I think personally that large numbers of faith schools in Britain will not benefit the society as a whole. In conclusion and to be fair and in all honesty it is just too soon to say whether free schools are going to be a good thing and create a more fair educational society for all of us. It is very clear that the present system is not working and puts immense pressure on both parents and children to fulfill the need to attend a good school. Once parents were allowed to see the published national league tables of which schools perform well as opposed to which schools did not, it was only a matter of time before wealthy parents were able to move to a catchment area to secure the best school places for their children leaving behind the poorer child to accept whatever was on offer. This has caused a very great divide in good and average performing schools and caused a lot of low morale for many parents in this country. If free schools can address this major issue it can only be a good thing. However, it can be argued that the odds are stacked against them. In our present times with our bleak economic outlook any system that is trying to get on its feet will gobble a lot of financial resources and one has to look at where this money is coming from and whether our already existing state schools who do not join in will suffer as a result. Competition is whole heartedly healthy generally in a society but not an unfair one where competition takes place in schools where clever kids are already creamed off and able to go to better schools. This can be a major disadvantage and in itself causes segregation of a different sort. I feel that if people are inspired to take on the opportunity of setting up a free school then they probably have a vision of a better , alternative system they are aspiring to which is a good thing as the government has set up a lot of stringent conditions which have to be passed to set up a free school. In all, apathy and not doing anything to address the issues in our schools is a worse misdemeanor than at least trying to see whether free schools hold the answer to our problems and so we can only hope for our future generations that free schools work. As in everything in life only time will tell.

Importance Of Work Life Balance

Importance Of Work Life Balance It`s the idea that a persons life outside of work is as important as their working life`s and that the time a person spends working should be balanced by time spent doing things such as spending time with friends and family, keeping fit, doing hobbies, traveling etc. Work life balance is the state of equilibrium between an individuals work and personal life. Work life balance is achieved when an individual combination of work, family commitments and his personal life in an effective and efficiently way. If a worker is spending more time on work, he earned money but he unable to give quality time to his family and would also be neglected from his community. If a worker is working too little work, then he could not be able to provide his family a decent standard of living. A single individual work-life balance varies overtime. Work life balance for an individual worker is different from a single parent or a parent with school going children. Importance of work-life balance: The idea of WLB does bring attention to the fact that being a salve is detrimental to a persons physical and mental well-being; socializing, physical activity, and being with friends and family are all activities that contribute to being happier and healthier. Adopting WLB practices, the organization can also give a sense of social responsibility that organization is not only concerned with the profits earning activities but they are also concerned with the non-business activities like taking care of families of the workers. MERITS Spent more time with family. Healthier life Productivity increased Clear thinking. Better judgments. Enjoyment of work. Better social relationships. Broader perspective. Less stress DEMERITS Slower career advancement. Lower financial rewards. Moving out of the mainstream. Reduction in responsibility How important for employees and employers: All around the world, many companies realized that there is a connection between the work life balance and the impact it may have on their business. Much business believed on the theory that their employers must devote their work time to their work alone. Employees were not allowed to leave the work due to unexpected emergencies because many employers believed that their employees were hired only for work. As the world is changing, many employers become more flexible to balance the life situation with their employees. The most common problem for the employees is that they worked too much. They spent many hours in the office to complete their activities. For this reason a negative atmosphere may be created in the company. To combat that negative atmosphere or attitude there are many employers who are beginning to educate themselves and their employees on work-life balance. Employees who manage to balance their work with their life activity are more likely to be happy. This increased happiness can create positive work environments. Employers know that friendly work environments mean better results and better results often translate into profits. Developing Work-life balance is not only beneficial to employers. Employees, their family and friends can all from benefit from a positive work-life balance. Once a balance between life and work has been established a working parent may be able to spend more time with family. Benefit not Just for Those with Families: Many organization brought work-life balance in the workplace considering the families of employees, but work-life balance is not just for individuals with family. It is true that the employees who benefit the most from a work life balance policy are those with families; however, others do as well. When work-life balance incorporated in to the business structure it must applies to all employees not certain one. This means that everyone, including unmarried individuals or those without children, can reap the benefits of WLB. Many employers offer work alternatives to their employees to create positive work environment. All of these alternatives are likely to decrease the amount of time that an employee has to spend in the workplace when they already have prior engagements. Some of the alternatives are flexible hours, working at home, or job sharing. There are many individual who have multiple hobbies. A hobby is an activity to participate during your free time. Some of the activities are stamp collecting, photography, writing, reading story books, playing sports and other outdoor activities. Since work-life balance reduces the amount of time you are giving to your job, so an employee can utilize his/her time for doing such activity. There are many individuals who (when not working) volunteer in or around their local community. Volunteering is most commonly done at not profit charities, play groups, schools, and homeless shelters. Having a healthy balance between work and life is what enables many employees to volunteer during their traditional work hours. Impact of working long hours: Working eight hours is considered to be as the standard time for employees in many areas of the world. But an employee often works for more than eight hours a day because employer requires it. Regardless of the reason for doing so; it has been proven that long hours can have a negative impact on an employee and their family. Some health issues are associated with working long hours. Stress is more likely to occur when you are working long hours more than the standard. It has been known a sleep deprivation that is cause by stress. Individuals who suffer from a lack of sleep and a large amount of stress are likely to have a weak immune system. In order to prevent from these employees need to get a proper amount of rest and relaxation. The most important affects of working long hours is the amount of time you spend with your family. Your relationship with your family is depending of how much time you spend with them. It is not uncommon for tension to be present in a household where one or more of the home occupants are working long hours. Stress is more likely to occur when a household hold more than one duty and give extra time to her outside work. When an employee has regularly been putting in long hours at their workplace it is often difficult to stop. It is not uncommon for a worker to fear asking their employer for a reduction in hours in fear of losting their job. So If a job was accepted on the terms that workdays would be longer than most traditional ones it may be difficult for you to find a solution to your long lasting hours. If you agreed to the work arrangement your only alternative may be finding an organization that values the balance between working and life. How work-life balance should be implemented in the workplace: Earning profits is not the only goal that the organization is looking for. Nowadays getting employees loyalty is another important challenge that organization want to achieve to success in the business. In order to do that employer should satisfy their employees. This satisfaction is most often obtained by coming to the realization that all employees have a life outside of work that is just as important, if less, than their career. Pleasing every employee is a difficult task but most of the successful organization accomplished that task by incorporating work-life balance into their organization. One research indicated that employees are satisfied when the policies of work life balance are in accordance to their needs. Some of the individuals needs are sick leaves, lunch breaks, vacations leaves, pleasant amount of time with family and friends etc. Therefore there is a need for the organizations to develop a work-life policy that respects customer, individual and organizational needs. Same set of WLB facilities available at the organizations will help the management of the organizations to retain their employees with higher satisfaction levels. One important fact that organization should clearly defined the concept of work life balance to the employees so that they can balance their life. Some major policies of WLB all over the world: Long hours and overworked employees is the main problem in the organization. So in order to prevent that there are certain policies (flexible work practice) developed by the organization:- Hiring two employees to fill one job; this practices known as job sharing. Job sharing means works by dividing work time vacations, benefits, and pay between two workers. It is now becoming standard practice for an employer to offer their employees flexible hours. Working hours are predetermined during the hiring process and employees are allowed to pick hours that they work each week. Working at home is another alternative work arrangement that enables more employees to be at home with their family. Provided medical leave programs to employees. This program enables the employee to take time off from work if they or one of their family members becomes injured or ill. Provided vacation leaves for some period of time if employees feel that they are not giving proper time to their families. For parents the most popular way that work-life balance is brought into the workplace is through onsite childcare. It is located at the same building which allows parents to visit whenever they want to. Provide part time work arrangement for those who want to work for fewer hours. Affects of flexible work practice: Studies have indicated that introducing flexible work practices has a number of advantages for employers, such as an improved ability to attract existing employees as well as people not currently in the workforce. Research has shown the provision of flexible work practices (that help workers achieve work-life balance) positively impact Recruitment and selection Reduced stress and working environment Job satisfaction employee morale Labour turnover Motivation and productivity Absenteeism Return on training investment and staff loyalty Finding organization that values Work-Life Balance: There are number of things that an employee must take into account before seeking an organization where he wants to work. Employee should determine before joining the organization that whether they value the work-life balance or not. The two most common ways to gather information on a particular organization is before you being the application process or during the interview. While interviewing there are many individual who may ask an employer if they believe in the balance of work and life. This is a best way to get an answer to your questions, but it should also work to your demerits. Some employers, especially those who have not adopted the popular WLB theory, are likely to feel that you will not be a good job candidate. If you really want to know about the employer feeling on work-life balance then asks him directly in the middle or end of the interview. This shall make it appear as if that is not the only reason why you are seeking employment with them. In addition, to sharing t he same values, most of companies want to hear that you have faith in their products being sold or services being offered. To determine if a company you are interested in applying to shares this concept you can ask about family medical leave, job sharing, alternative work arrangements, and onsite childcare. Each features are typically found in a workplace that values life and family just as much as it does work. LITERATURE REVIEW: Employee work satisfaction and work life balance in Pakistani perspective As the wave of globalization captured the Pakistani markets the job became more demanding and the working hours also increases. The fast pace economical development in the country has demanded more efforts from its employees. Now organizations in Pakistan are paying off good salary packages, compensation and benefits but the nature of the work is more demanding. The work related stress, work pressure, long working hours leads to job dissatisfaction which is one of the main hinder in the factors related to work/family interferences The researchers made their efforts to highlight the issues of job satisfaction and work life balance in one of the developing countries, Pakistan. From the Pakistan perspective the researchers identified that the employee is said to be satisfied from his/her work when he/she feels comfort while working in the organization. Whereas work life balance means that an employee is comfortably accomplishing his/her work and non work responsibilities. Nadeem and Abbas (2009) tested a relationship of work life conflict and job satisfaction in a sample of Pakistani employees and revealed a negative relationship of the variables and suggested that the supportive management can be a medicine to minimize the conflict and enhance satisfaction among employees. However, the correlation of workload is positive and insignificant which shows that workload does not affect the job satisfaction of the employees in Pakistan. One of the researchers while examining the impact of rewards and recognition on job satisfaction and motivation of in a sample of Pakistani sample employees defines employee work satisfaction (job satisfaction) as a pleasurable positive emotional state as a result of work appraisal from ones job experiences (Gruneberg, 1979; Danish Usman, 2010). Malik, Zaheer, Khan and Ahmad, (2010) examined a relationship of work life balance/ work life conflict and job satisfaction in a sample of MBBS doctors in Pakistan and revealed no significant effect of work life balance on job satisfaction. Another research (ijcrb.webs.com) examines the relationship of employee work satisfaction and work life balance practices in Pakistan. A sample of 450 are gathered via stratified sampling from the two big organization operating in Pakistan i.e Pakistan telecommunication limited (PTCL) and Habib bank limited (HBL) . The results of this study show no significant difference with respect to employee work satisfaction and work life balance at all the management levels .Moreover, the result of regression analysis poses a strong positive relationship between the variables which means employee satisfaction has a strong impact on work life balance. The data which collected in this study clearly indicated that HBL provide more work-life facilities than the PTCL by ensuring better education facilities, child facilities, social support, flexi time facilities and more sick and education leaves. It means that HBL has the policies related to their people that support the concept of work-life balanc e. After going through several studies it is obvious that the term work life balance has been defined in different by different authors. Survey: We conduct a survey of Pakistan Steel Mills to identify that whether organization has HR policies in respect of work life balance and whether it is rightly implemented in the workplace. We taken interview of Mr. Iftikahr A. Barakzai , General Manager (MTC and human recourse department) and ask questions about HR polices related to work life balance that exist in Pak Steel Mills. We also distribute questionnaire to 40 employees of different department. HR Polices in respect of WLB: Weekly hours: No employee shall be allowed or required to work in a mills for more than forty-five hours in any week. Provided that an employee worker in mills engaged in work which for technical reasons must be continuous throughout the day may work for forty-eight hours in any week. Weekly holiday: No employee worker shall be allowed or required to work in a mills on a Saturday and Sunday. Compensatory holidays: Every employee should be allowed for a compensatory holidays, If worker works on Saturday and Sunday. Daily hours: Technical worker shall not be allowed or required to work in a mills for more than 12 hours in any day. Non-technical worker shall not be allowed or required to work in a mills for more than 9 hours in any day. Intervals for rest: The periods of work of employee workers in mills during each day shall be fixed either Each non-technical worker gets 45 min. launch and namaz break and two 15 min. tea break. Each technical worker gets two 45 min. launch and namaz break and two 15 min. tea break. Annual holidays: Every worker who has completed a period of twelve months continuous service in mills shall be allowed, during the subsequent period of twelve months holidays for a period of thirty three consecutive days, inclusive of the day or days, if any, on which he is entitled to a holiday. Casual leave: Every employee shall be entitled to casual leave with full pay for twenty days in a year. Sick leave: Every employee shall be entitled to ten days sick leave on pay in a year. Gazetted holidays: Every employee should get leave of 14 aug, 23 march, 25dec, 1 may, 9 nov, 11 sep, 5 feb. Festival Holidays: Every employee shall be allowed holidays with pay on all days declared by the federal Government to be festival holidays, e.g. (EID-UL-AZHA). Transportation facility: All employees shall be facilitating with free transportation. Health programs: Each worker can get free medical facilities and also for his or her family. Questionnaire: We distribute questionnaire to 40 employees to different department to determine the work life balance affect on employee satisfaction. Our findings are; Apply Correlation: Interpretation: After applying correlation analysis in spss and considering work life balance as our objective variable we determined that there is no significant relation between Work-life balance and job satisfaction, working hours working days. It means that job satisfaction have no affect on the work life balance. Conclusion: The results of the current study are based on the sample of 40 employees of different department of Pakistan steel mills. The result shows no significant relation are found in employee job satisfaction and work life balance. The study that we conducted in steel mills also determine that organization has certain policies which support individual to balance their life but there is no separate policy related to work life balance that exist in the organization and it is not properly defined to the employees. So there is needed to develop the concept of separate work life balance policies that will help the organization to retain the employees within the organization with higher job satisfaction level. The studies conducted so far in Pakistani organizational environment are unable to highlight the work life balance and work life balance practices in concrete terms except for some big organization like unilever,PG who has a separate well defined policies related to work life balance. So there is needed to make this concept clearly examine its effect on other human and organizational factors.

Leadership In Ancient Civilizations Essay -- essays research papers

During the period of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, different leaders exhibited different styles of leadership and employed different political strategies. In addition, these leaders came to power and maintained their control in their own unique ways. Each leader seemed to have his own agenda, which set the tone for that era. Five prominent leaders of this time period were Agricola, Augustus, Julius Caesar, and the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. The point to be made with respect to these particular men is related to the obvious correlation between the nature of a leader’s agenda and the impact of his reign. In the end, a ruler’s fate was dependent not on his agenda, but on style and strategy with which he pushed his agenda. Those leaders whose methods were completely altruistic were heralded as great leaders, while those with devious and/or unethical methods of pushing their agendas were hastily assassinated. First consider Tiberius Gracchus. It is imperative to analyze his style of leadership and his political strategies. During his term as tribune, Tiberius’ major goal was to pass a land reform bill. This bill was biased toward the masses. Tiberius tried fairly and squarely to gain the support of the Roman senate, but this effort was to no avail. Tiberius then resorted to unfavorable tactics when he impeached another tribune, Octavius, the major opponent of Tiberius’ bill. Thus Tiberius willingly destroyed the long-held and quite favored notion of an immune tribune. However, this is what the common people wanted. Tiberius’ big mistake was blatantly opposing, thus disrespecting the Roman senate. As a result, the senate assassinated Tiberius. The lesson to be learned here is not that Tiberius’ agenda was constructed out of self-interest or greed. Tiberius simply wanted to help the common people. However, Tiberius’ methods were not proper for that time in that place. And it is probable that Tiberius could easily have been persuaded to compromise. Thus, Tiberius’ downfall was not his agenda, but his style and political strategy. A different example of the same principle is summed up with the story of Tiberius’ younger brother, Gaius Gracchus. Gaius worked not to appease the senate, but to appease the people. Although this seems quite noble of him, it was still a mistake to oppose the senate. Granted, this notion is counter-intuitive. One wo... ...in accordance with the main point we have been discussing, he did so with a particular style and political strategy, so as not to offset social order. He ruled very subtly. He saw to it that he got what he wanted, yet he did so with such caution that it was disguised as interest in providing for the good of the citizens. Therefore, Augustus’ reign supports the theory that a ruler can drive a selfish agenda, yet as long as the style and political strategy of the leader in question is favored by the people, then the leader can still be considered a good ruler.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Therefore, upon considering the lives of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, Julius Caesar, Agricola, and Augustus Caesar, it is clear that people in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire considered a leader’s particular actions more that his agenda when deciding whether or not a leader is worthy of being called â€Å"great† or being assassinated. Obviously, a leader’s agenda and accomplishments are important factors, but we have seen with these five particular leaders that sometimes accomplishments do not matter. What matters greatly are the steps taken by a leader to obtain goals or satisfy certain needs.

Making Them Feel Like a Natural Woman: Constructing Gender Performances on The Maury Povich Show :: Free Essays Online

Making Them Feel Like a Natural Woman: Constructing Gender Performances on The Maury Povich Show Goth teems drenched in black become teeny-bopper darlings in pink dresses and platform sneakers. Male couch potatoes in flannel shirts become debonair gentlemen in tuxedos. Scantily clad women popping out of halter tops and leather mini-skirts become responsible women in business suits and subtle make-up. The make-over is a popular talk show tool used by everyone from Oprah to Jenny Jones. These transformations embody Lancaster's argument in "Guto's Performance" by demonstrating how we are all participating in one big drag show, presenting our gender through our dress, our play. We construct our genders, moment by moment, through our performance, fluidly moving from one to the next. On "Oprah," an over-worked single mom in sweat pants who devotes all her time to working outside the home and raising her children (in a combination of constructed masculine and feminine gender roles) sits slumped in her chair. Soon, lipstick and sequins transform her into a confident, sensual woman, stru tting across the stage ready to take the arm of the handsome, well-dressed man chosen to take her out for an evening on the town (she now takes on a different, more feminine, gender role). But there is underlying tension in Lancaster's argument and make-overs on talk shows. Instead of made-over guests choosing their type of dress and performance, they are usually shuffled into these roles by a team of television producers, make-up artists, stylists, family and friends, and audience members. Often, talk show make-overs reinforce our rigidly constructed ideas of what is "masculine" and "feminine" by highlighting the taboo of stepping out of these roles and re-constructing a person's performance to fit the correct social mold. A recent episode of "The Maury Povitch Show" featured make-overs of women who worked in "manly" professions. There was a tow-truck driver, a car mechanic, a bike messenger, an electrical repairperson, a firefighter, a "pooper-scooper," a zoo-keeper, and a lumberjack. Each of the guests made there entrance dressed in their working clothes, some with appropriate props, strutting to the tune of "She Works Hard for the Money." After each guest had the opportunity to talk about her job, she was whisked away by stylists with makes-up brushes and blow-dryers only to be returned in fancy ball gowns to work the runway for the approving audience, pausing for a brief moment to pose beside their "before" photo.

hGH’s Effects on AIDS Wasting Syndrome :: Biology Biological Research Papers

hGH’s Effects on AIDS Wasting Syndrome "As for the fact that the disease tends to produce death, this is a matter of small significance. Life itself tends to produce death; living is a sort of gradual dying. All that distinguishes what is known is known as a healthy man from what is known as a diseased man is that the latter promises to die sooner – and even this probability is not always borne out by the event." H.L. Mencken What is Human Growth Hormone?. When asked to think about the human growth hormone (hGH) and its uses, many would envision an abnormally short man or woman who needs the hormone in order to grow to an average height. And in fact, this is one of the hGH’s most vital functions, yet there are many more uses for the hormone, unknown to much of the general public. Human growth hormone is a protein consisting of one hundred and ninety one amino acids and possessing a molecular weight of 21,700 (http://www.eng.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/FUNDAMNT/human.htm). It is produced in the pituitary gland of humans, where if functioning normally, it is secreted continuously throughout a person’s lifetime. The hormone promotes growth throughout adolescence and has a major role in the metabolism of adults (http://www.novo.dk/backgrou/backgrou/bahghuk.htm). hGH has many uses including the treatment of hypopituitary dwarfism, bone fractures, burns, and bleeding ulcers. In fact, until 1988 hGH was only used to tr eat those with growth hormone insufficiency, caused by a limited supply of the hormone (http://www.novo.dk/backgrou/backgrou/bahghuk.htm). However, with the widespread infection of the HIV virus, hGH has experimentally and effectively been found to benefit those suffering from AIDS wasting syndrome. What is AIDS Wasting Syndrome?. Often nicknamed "slim disease" in parts of Africa, wasting syndrome, in which there is intense loss of lean body mass, is killing people with AIDS. It is now the "second most frequently reported AIDS-related clinical condition in the United States, second only to Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (Weinroth, 1995). In wasting syndrome, the body begins to burn lean body mass and fat instead of the normal energy, making the body more susceptible to deadly infections. (http://www.critpath.org/newsletter/wtp/0496/growth.htm). The weight loss is very often associated with chronic weakness, constant diarrhea, and/or prolonged, unexplained fever (Weinroth, 1995).AIDS wasting arises in about 15-40% of late-stage AIDS cases (http://www.critpath.org/newsletter/wtp/0496/growth.htm). There is, however, a higher occurrence among women, Hispanics, and intravenous drug users. hGH’s Effects on AIDS Wasting Syndrome :: Biology Biological Research Papers hGH’s Effects on AIDS Wasting Syndrome "As for the fact that the disease tends to produce death, this is a matter of small significance. Life itself tends to produce death; living is a sort of gradual dying. All that distinguishes what is known is known as a healthy man from what is known as a diseased man is that the latter promises to die sooner – and even this probability is not always borne out by the event." H.L. Mencken What is Human Growth Hormone?. When asked to think about the human growth hormone (hGH) and its uses, many would envision an abnormally short man or woman who needs the hormone in order to grow to an average height. And in fact, this is one of the hGH’s most vital functions, yet there are many more uses for the hormone, unknown to much of the general public. Human growth hormone is a protein consisting of one hundred and ninety one amino acids and possessing a molecular weight of 21,700 (http://www.eng.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/FUNDAMNT/human.htm). It is produced in the pituitary gland of humans, where if functioning normally, it is secreted continuously throughout a person’s lifetime. The hormone promotes growth throughout adolescence and has a major role in the metabolism of adults (http://www.novo.dk/backgrou/backgrou/bahghuk.htm). hGH has many uses including the treatment of hypopituitary dwarfism, bone fractures, burns, and bleeding ulcers. In fact, until 1988 hGH was only used to tr eat those with growth hormone insufficiency, caused by a limited supply of the hormone (http://www.novo.dk/backgrou/backgrou/bahghuk.htm). However, with the widespread infection of the HIV virus, hGH has experimentally and effectively been found to benefit those suffering from AIDS wasting syndrome. What is AIDS Wasting Syndrome?. Often nicknamed "slim disease" in parts of Africa, wasting syndrome, in which there is intense loss of lean body mass, is killing people with AIDS. It is now the "second most frequently reported AIDS-related clinical condition in the United States, second only to Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (Weinroth, 1995). In wasting syndrome, the body begins to burn lean body mass and fat instead of the normal energy, making the body more susceptible to deadly infections. (http://www.critpath.org/newsletter/wtp/0496/growth.htm). The weight loss is very often associated with chronic weakness, constant diarrhea, and/or prolonged, unexplained fever (Weinroth, 1995).AIDS wasting arises in about 15-40% of late-stage AIDS cases (http://www.critpath.org/newsletter/wtp/0496/growth.htm). There is, however, a higher occurrence among women, Hispanics, and intravenous drug users.

Why Foreign Language Should Be a Core Subject

Silvana Domaz Professor Hussein ENG108: Writing Project #4 22 April 2012 Why Foreign Language Should be a Core Subject in Public Elementary School The benefits of learning a foreign language go beyond learning a different culture or being able to communicate with people of different backgrounds. It is essential that Americans speak languages other than English in order to compete internationally, keep the country safe, and prepare children to be world citizens.Several language organizations, educators, and policy makers have recommended the introduction of a second language at the elementary school level as a way of assuring a high level of language proficiency (Pufahl and Rhodes 273). However, the reality of foreign language education in the United States is far from that goal.The Center for Applied Linguistics conducted a nationwide survey of public and private schools in 2008 and discovered that â€Å"since 1997, the percentage of elementary and middle schools that offer foreign language courses has fallen significantly, from 31 percent to 25 percent at the elementary level and from 75 percent to 58 percent at the middle school level† (Pufahl and Rhodes 261). One of the reasons for the decline could be attributed to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 signed by President George W. Bush.The NCLB act is a framework aimed at improving the performance of America's elementary and secondary schools, with a stronger emphasis on reading. About one third of all public schools with foreign language programs reported being affected by NCLB (Pufahl and Rhodes 270). Educators and politicians see the need for improving students’ achievement in reading and math and for a better score on standardized tests (Stewart 11). For that reason schools are under pressure to allocate time and resources to math and English-language arts instruction.Educators and school administrators are left with no budget, resources or time to use for foreign language education (Pufahl and Rhodes 273). In contrast, in June 2004, the Department of Defense and the University of Maryland joined for a summit on National Language Policy. It became very clear that â€Å"there is an immediate need for governmental personnel who can function at the advanced proficiency level in foreign languages† (Byrnes 247). The government needs people who are able to communicate in other languages, people who can understand different cultures and analyze critical content and ideas from other countries.Projections for the total numbers of speakers of various languages for the year 2050 indicate that Mandarin will surpass English (Byrnes 254). Thus, it is likely that trade and diplomacy will be increasingly conducted with those who speak languages other than English, such as Mandarin. In 2000, the Center for Applied Linguistics conducted a study to collect data from 19 countries on their foreign language programs and methodologies so that the results could help improve la nguage teaching in the U. S.Those countries were Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Spain, and Thailand. Some of the recommendations drawn from the study results are: 1) start language education early; 2) push for stronger federal leadership in language teaching; 3) improve teacher education; and 4) take advantage of the rich sociolinguistic context in the United States (Pufahl and Rhodes and Christian 3).Starting language education at an early age will lead to higher levels of language proficiency not only in one language but also in multiple languages. Based on the survey, most countries begin foreign language instruction in the elementary grades, while most schools in the U. S start at age 14. In Arizona, foreign language courses are not a requirement. According to Jill Campos, World Language Academic Coach for the Scottsdale School District, â€Å"f oreign language is introduced for a semester at 6th and 7th grades as an exploratory course.Eight graders can take the first year of a world language for high school credit and continue, if they so choose, through the 5th year†. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) report that â€Å"the language areas of the brain seem to go through the most dynamic period of growth between the ages of 6 and 13† (qtd. in Talukder 3). The UCLA study instead suggests that â€Å"the elementary and middle school years are the biologically most advantageous times for acquisition of a second language† (qtd. in Talukder 3).It is during the first years of life that â€Å"the foundations for thinking, language, vision, attitudes, aptitudes, and other characteristics are laid down,† says Ronald Kotulak, author of Inside the Brain (qtd. in Dryden and Voss 266). Studies of the brain show that a second language is stored in the same part of the brain as a fir st language when learned by age 8. After that age, a second language is stored in a different part of the brain. However, simply introducing a program at the elementary level is not enough.The second recommendation is that a successful language program has to be consistent and coherent among all organizations and educational sectors. The federal government can provide leadership in developing long term policies for enhanced teacher training, incentives for school districts to offer early language instruction, and conduct long term research on language education (Pufahl and Rhodes and Christian 16). Effective teaching strategies must be implemented such as foreign language as a medium of subject instruction, immersion or dual-language programs.Foreign languages should have the same status as other core subjects such as math and reading and they should be carried through elementary to college (Pufahl and Rhodes and Christian 17). The third recommendation is enhanced teacher training. Based on the survey results, teacher training that integrates academic subject studies with pedagogical studies and teaching practice, was one of the most successful aspects of foreign language education in their respective countries (Pufahl and Rhodes and Christian 10).The fourth recommendation is that educators need to take advantage of our ethnic diversity by promoting the learning of heritage languages. The United States is one of the world’s largest Spanish-speaking countries; however, we don’t capitalize on this powerful human resource or in any other heritage languages. The majority of public schools don’t offer programs for immigrant students to build on their home languages even when there’s a large group in the community who speaks the same language.Promoting strong bilingual programs such as dual-immersion where half the students speak another language than English and both groups study together and become bilingual in both languages of instruc tion (Pufahl and Rhodes and Christian 19). A major change needs to happen in the United States in regards to foreign language education, from the national to local level. Besides personal and academic achievement, being proficient in foreign languages is extremely important for international trade, diplomacy, and national security.It is important that the federal government creates a sizable budget for language education and establishes foreign language as a core subject. Educators and teachers should benefit from the country’s sociolinguistic context and promote bilingual programs that capitalize on heritage languages. Schools should create long term programs so that students can continue their foreign language education all the way to college if they so choose. Works Cited Campos, Jill. â€Å"Re: foreign languages in elementary schools. Message to the author. 04 Feb. 2012. Email. Hines, Marion E. â€Å"Foreign Language Curriculum Concerns in Times of Conflict. † Del ta Kappa Gamma Bulletin 70. 1 (2003): 15-21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Larew, Leonor. â€Å"The Optimum Age for Beginning a foreign Language. † Modern Language Journal 45. 5 (1961): 203. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. Meyers-Scotton, Carol. â€Å"Why Bilingualism Matters. † American Speech 75. 3 (2000): 290-292. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 012. Pufahl, Ingrid, and Nancy Rhodes. â€Å"Foreign Language Instruction in U. S. Schools: Results of a National Survey of Elementary and Secondary Schools. † Foreign Language Annals 44. 2 (2011): 258-288. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Pufahl, Ingrid, Christian Donna, and Nancy Rhodes. â€Å"Foreign Language Teaching: What the United States Can Learn from Other Countries. † ERIC Clearing House on Languages and Linguistics (2000):1-35. Eric Digest. Web 18 Apr. 2012 (2011): 258-288.Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Schick, Jo-Anne E. , and Paul B. Nelson. à ¢â‚¬Å"Language Teacher Education: The Challenge for the Twenty-First Century. † Clearing House 74. 6 (2001): 301-304. Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Talukder, Gargi. How the Brain Learns a Second Language. 2001 Brain Connection. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. Zehr, Mary Ann. â€Å"Elementary Foreign Language Instruction on Descent. † Education Week 28. 23 (2009):8-8. Academic Search Premier. Web. 27 Mar. 2012.