Wednesday, October 30, 2019

To what extent may several common mental disorders, as identified by Essay

To what extent may several common mental disorders, as identified by the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing - Essay Example This is because, it is clear that the thoughtless attitude that leaders of organisations adopt towards mental health has continuously compounded the effects of mental disorders, with stigma, dismissal from work, aloofness and ignorance being some of the commonest manifestations of this same attitude. Contrariwise, the need to tamper the quest for performance target with human dignity, corporate social responsibility and fairness compels a relook into organisational culture, as it relates to employees who may suffer from mental disorders, as shall be seen forthwith. Introduction According to the report that the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing released, there is a great extent to which several common mental disorders impact a person's performance at work. It follows logically that any mental disorder affects the brain and its function, with the brain being the central nervous system [CNS]. This means that it is important for the rest of the body to function well , if the CNS or a compartment of the CNS is not properly functioning. The same is also underscored by the fact that work, however manual it may seem, is seriously a mental affair. As a product of the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing report summarised and pointed out that the three chief mental disorder groups are: affective disorders [such as depression]; anxiety disorder [such as social phobia] and substance ab/use disorders [such as the harmful use of alcohol, marijuana and other forms of stimulants]. This report also divulged on the level of mental impairment, the accompanying physical conditions, the health services that are to be used to treat mental health complications, accompanying demographic and socio-economic characteristics and relating demographic conditions. These categories of mental illnesses and the prevailing conditions of mental health illnesses provide an insight into the manner in which common men tal disorders impact a person's performance at work. Substance abuse, affective and anxiety mental disorders are known to have the potency to undermine interpersonal relationships, yet interpersonal relationships are vital for the realisation of an organisation's performance target. Particularly, complications emanating from the use of marijuana as a form of substance abuse may manifest through withdrawal symptoms, violent or aggressive behaviour, or behavioural excesses. These manifestations frustrate interpersonal communication and thereby undermining intra-organisational relations. Anxiety mental disorders such as extreme shyness and affective disorders such as depression equally frustrate interpersonal communication at work, by hampering the flow of ideas, the channeling of operational command and personal confidence which is important. The place of interpersonal relations and intra-organisational communication is important in the attainment of both long-term and short-term perf ormance target since supervision, the induction of new employees and aspects of talent management such as training and workshop programmes are heavily reliant upon interpersonal relations within an organisation. Conversely, in the event that some of mental disorders persisting at the workplace, the organisation

Monday, October 28, 2019

Contingency Tables Essay Example for Free

Contingency Tables Essay The two nominal level variables are respondent’s sex and marital status. The independent variable is respondent’s sex and dependent variable is respondent’s marital status. The null and alternate hypotheses are Null hypothesis, H0: Marital status is independent of sex. Alternate Hypothesis, H1: Marital status is dependent on sex. The variable sex measures respondent’s gender. The valid categories of measurement for the variable sex are ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ and they are coded as 1 and 2, respectively. The variable is a good example for the nominal level of measurement, as it merely identifies a category. The variable marital status measures respondent marital status. The valid categories of measurement for the variable marital status are ‘Married’, ‘Widowed’, ‘Divorced’, ‘Separated’ and ‘Never married’ and they are coded as 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The variable is a good example for the nominal level of measurement, as it merely identifies a category. Majority (57. 3%) of the respondent’s were male. Majority (53. 0%) of the respondent’s were married. The percentage of respondents widowed, divorced, separated and never married were 11. 0%, 14. 2%, 2. 7% and 19. 1%, respectively. Table 1 shows the cross-tabulation of respondent’s marital status by sex. The distribution of male respondent’s for married, widowed, divorced, separated and never married were 59. 8%, 4. 8%, 11. 7, 1. 4% and 22. 2%, respectively. The distribution of female respondent’s for married, widowed, divorced, separated and never married were 48. 0%, 15. 6%, 16. 1, 3. 6% and 16. 8%, respectively. The table provides an evidence of correlation (association) between respondent’s sex and marital status in the sample. There appears a weak association between respondent’s sex and marital status. In general, the information summarized in the table 1 seems to provide evidence supporting research (alternate) hypothesis, as the distribution of male and females respondent’s for marital stratus are not similar. The value of nominal directional measure of association lambda is 0. This indicates no relationship between respondent’s sex and marital status that is knowing the respondent’s sex does not increase the ability to predict his or her marital status. This statistics (lambda) does not improve upon the use of column percentages to evaluate the given correlation.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Women Voicing Their Pain Essay -- Racism Writing Literature Papers

Women Voicing Their Pain During the recent international anti-racism meeting, the World Conference Against Racism that was held in Durban, South Africa, the voices of victims of racism and its consequences were heard from around the world. These voices came in various forms, both written and verbal, and were communicated both directly and indirectly. The way that pain is voiced around the world, such as the variety and method of communicating pain, can affect how the audience understands the author’s â€Å"wound†. It can affect how genuinely pain is conveyed and also how the pain applies to other victims. One of the voices heard during the World Conference was that of Diya Muliah, an Indonesian woman working as a maid in Malaysia. Diya’s story is a moving account about how poverty combined with immigration policies can create a negative situation for women not only in Malaysia, but all around the world. But is Diya’s writing meant to be a source of healing for her or others, and to what extent is her writing actually considered healing? Diya is working as a maid for a Chinese Malaysian woman to support her family in Indonesia. After working for a while in Malaysia, Diya’s boss asks for her passport. Not knowing any better, Diya hands it over, not knowing the potential ramifications of not having her documents with her at all times. After a while, Diya’s boss begins to abuse her both verbally and physically. â€Å"She screamed at me constantly, grabbed me by my blouse and shoved me around roughly†, recalls Diya. She withholds Diya’s wages and claims that she will be paid bi-annually, which is an obvious lie. Diya describes these abuses vividly in an effort to describe the â€Å"wound† she is trying to show the world. The fact that Diya... ... context in which her pain is voiced (the World Conference Against Racism, in South Africa) puts a lot at stake for her writing. Whether she conveys her wound effectively could possibly determine whether legislation to help her and others would be enacted. Aside from the global repercussions of her text (however weighty they may be), it is also important to analyze Diya’s attempts to heal herself and others through her writing. While she does effectively communicate her pain, she does not show that this communication will lead to the healing of her wounds. The audience is left feeling that her wounds are as open and fresh as before she began writing. Diya situates this â€Å"woundedness† in a global setting in which changes could possibly be enacted to help her and other female victims of racism, but she fails to heal her own emotional scars and arguably those of others.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Essays on Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard Essay

At first filled with shame, his officious father soon realizes just how profitable his son’s supposed spirituality can be. His mother, meanwhile, finds in the orchard relief from traditional Indian family life and middle-class respectability by devoting herself to creating increasingly exotic curries. All goes well until the local monkeys start to drink. Plans to rid the orchard of their unwanted hullabaloo multiply and eventually go completely awry, but not before Sampath is released from the endless cycle of demands. Transformed into a guava, he is last seen being carried towards the sacred Himalayas by the hungry monkeys. This story, by the daughter of novelist Anita Desai, works best when the pacing is as fast as the author’s touch is light, as it surely is in the final thirty or so pages. When it drags, stylistic tics become annoyingly apparent, the narrative too slender to support even a novel this short, and this talented author’s indebtedness to other writers, from Narayan and Salman Rushdie to Italo Calvino, Jerzy Kosinski and Gabriel Garcia Marquez the sign not of postmodern play but of youthful derivativeness.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Introduction to Michael Porters Five Forces

Michael E. Porter's five forces framework is used to evaluate the competitiveness, and hence the attractiveness and profitability of different markets and market segments. It is important for business managers to realize that a 5 forces analysis should be conducted at the level of strategic business units (SBUs), and not at the level of the whole organization. Many larger companies have several SBUs conducting business in different markets that serve many different customer segments. Likewise, these SBUs may have completely different suppliers, competitors and substituting products. Every SBU should therefore conduct its own analysis, and try to evaluate the attractiveness and profitability of its own markets and market segments. The five forces are shortly described below: Competitive Rivalry The evaluation of the rivalry between competitors helps to examine the degree of head-to-head competition in an industry. In Porter's â€Å"five forces† framework this issue is of course included, but is only seen as one of several forces that determine industry attractiveness. Commen reasons for high rivalry are depicted below:  § Low industry growth rates  § High exit barriers Undifferentiated supply of products  § Price wars to cover high fixed costs Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is usually based on the market entry barriers, which can be said to provide obstacles for newcomers to gain a foothold in any given industry. These barriers can take many different forms. Briefly, it can be said that entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically feasible for an outsider to copy or imitate the existing players' competitive capabilities. Common forms of entry barriers are depicted below:  § Economies of scale  § Capital requirement of entry Access to supplies and distribution channels  § Customer or supplier loyalty  § Lack of experience in industry  § Legal restrains such as trade barriers Threat of Substitute Products The threat of substitute products, depends on the relative price difference between different products that can equally satisfy the same basic customer needs. Switching costs also affect the threat of substitution – which can be defined as the costs found by buyers in switching to a rivals product or service.  § Product for products substitution (e. g. e-mail instead of postal service) New products make older products obsolete (e. g. better cars require fewer automobile services) Bargaining Power of Buyers Important determinants of buyer power are the size and the concen tration of customers. Other factors are the extent to which the buyers are informed about other vendors and suppliers, and to the extent to which buyers can quickly identify other sources of supply. Common reasons for great bargaining power of buyers are depicted below.  § Great concentration of buyers – few buyers  § The cost of switching supplier is low  § Many equally competent suppliers  § Backward integration Bargaining Power of Suppliers If there are few suppliers of e. g. raw materials, these suppliers may eventually be very strong, and able to put pressure on the buying company. Likewise, if the switching costs related to switching supplier are high, the respective supplier may be very strong, and thus be able to put pressure on the buying partner concerning e. g. prices, quantities and quality. Common reasons for great bargaining power of suppliers are depicted below.  § Great concentration of suppliers – few suppliers  § Great switching costs related to changing supplier  § Forward integration The competition and attractiveness in an industry is strongly affected by these suggested forces. The stronger the power of buyers and suppliers, and the stronger the threats of entry and substitution, the more intense competition is likely to be within the industry, where less competitive industries are seen as more attractive and profitable. Using the 5 forces framework, business managers may conduct an analysis of the attractiveness and profitability of different markets, so that business managers can evaluate different courses of strategic action, and evaluate which forces may be most important for current and future business success.