Human Cloning Essays - Cloning, Genetics, Developmental Biology

Human Cloning Biological Aspects True human cloning involves taking a somatic cell from a person and removing its nucleus. Then the nucleus of a fertilized egg cell is removed and placed in the somatic cell. This is impossible in humans right now because the somatic cells are specialized and there are many genes that have been switched off in them that we do not know how to turn them back on. This was done with frogs however. The eggs were implanted with the nuclei from the intestinal lining of tadpoles. Most of these frogs died or grew into monsters. Of the ones that did grow normally they were sterile. Embryo splitting or blastomere separation is what is most commonly referred to as human cloning. Embryos in the early stages of development start to divide into cells called blastomeres. The zona pellucida (a protective covering for the egg) is punctured or removed and the blastomeres are separated from each other. Each blastomere is then covered with an artificial zona pellucida. Then each of the blastomeres starts dividing and becomes an embryo. This was attempted by Hall and Stillman in 1993. They used embryos that contained too much genetic information and got as far as 32-cell divisions in some the embryos. At this stage the embryo can be implanted in the womb. Another technique is nuclear transplantation. In this process unspecialized embryonic cells are used and their nuclei are removed. An embryo in the 32-cell division stage has its blastomeres separated and then the blastomere is fused with an egg cell by using an electric current or another method. A possibility for human cloning that has been proposed is that of the embryos that were cloned and not implanted would be frozen for use in a catalog. The child that was born from a cloned embryo would have a picture taken of him/her and placed in a catalog along with a description of the child. Then prospective parents could choose the child that they want, order its embryo, and implant it into the woman's womb. Then after nine months the couple would have their dream child. Something else that has been proposed is that a black market for embryos would arise. In this situation infertile couples could buy a cloned embryo that was stolen or was to be discarded in order to have a child. Embryo splitting could also be used to rid the world of genetic diseases. One could clone their embryo and test one of the clones for a genetic disease. If the embryo tests positive then all of the clones would be destroyed. If the embryo tests negative for diseases then one of the clones could be implanted to produce a healthy child. Ethical Aspects There are many ethical questions that must be answered before cloning becomes a reality. Many of these questions are difficult to answer because all of the facts are still unknown because cloning itself is still in its early stages as a science. Is Human cloning playing God? "And god said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have domain over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every thing that moveth upon the earth... And God saw everything that he made, and, behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:26-28, 31 Well, alot of that depends on perspective religions. Many believe that it is tampering with the work of God, but others believe that it is a miracle of science that will help infirtile couples live the dream of having their own children. Would you be willing to have a cloned child? Even if you or your spouse were infertile, there are still options other than cloning. Why not adopt? With cloned children, it means that there will be other children exactly like the one you have scatered throughout the world. With adoption, the child you

The Panama Canal Essay

The Panama Canal Essay The Panama Canal Essay Example Essay on The Panama Canal: The Panama Canal is an international waterway that stretches up to 50 miles connecting two large water bodies namely the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The record of Panama Canal dates back in 16th century. The water way has since simplified the passage of ships between these two water bodies cutting across the Isthmus of Panama. Since 1819, the Panama Canal has been a property of Colombia until 1903. The United States of America successfully conducted the construction of the canal between 1904 and 1914 as a result of gold discovered in California in 1848. The construction of the canal was important to reduce time and distance traveled between Pacific and the Atlantic. The initial inhabitants of the canal were Indians and U.S citizens. History states that, in 1869, the French government had attempted to construct the canal after the Suez Canal’s construction was completed; that inspired them but failed. The French had first undertaken a project to create the Suez Canal; a pr oject that was successfully completed without much struggle. This motivated the French to rush into starting the construction of the Panama Canal. This canal was not as easy as Suez Canal because the French did not have appropriate procedures and equipments. Hence, France wasted millions of dollars, and still failed due to factors beyond their control. Before the Canal was built, ships used to travel double the distance through Cape Horn. This was the largest engineering project to be undertaken and successfully completed despite the failure by the French. In present day, the canal plays the role of a commercial venture as well as a link in world shipping (DuTemple 32). Ever since its completion, the canal has seen an increase in ship traffic from 1,000 ships in 1914 to 14,000 in 2008, and approximately 825,000 ships have traveled the canal. Civil engineers of the American society have termed it as one of the wonders of the present world. Although the Panama holds an economic advantage, it has a major disadvantage; large ships such as military battleships, large oil tankers and aircraft carriers cannot pass through the Canal due to its limited size. Fortunately, a 5.2 billion dollar project is underway to be completed in 2014 that aims at expanding the Panama Canal to accommodate much larger ships (Jeong Crittenden and Xu 4). The French failure to construct the canal was based on several challenges. The French had a faulty project that did not take care of basic issues such as the rivers that flooded the canal that would turn constructions difficult. In this project, the French engineers overestimated the time taken to complete as eight years as opposed to ten years for Suez Canal. At the end of the ten years, completion was not in sight, and in fact, abandonment was the decision being considered. Accidents and infirmities exemplified by malaria, as well as yellow fever, claimed approximately 20,000 lives of canal builders. The diseases were rampant because the canal runs through the Panamanian jungle that is infested with dangerous insects like mosquitoes (DuTemple 37). The role that the mosquitoes played in transmitting malaria was not known by then hence high death rate recorded. This was the most serious challenge that made the French quit the project. The mosquito elimination project included identifying and separating patients suffering from different diseases. Burning of sulphur and pyrethrum proved to be effective in eradicating mosquitoes. In addition, the French did not have the right equipment for the heavy-duty job, as the area is volcanic in nature having been constituted of rocky surfaces. The attempt by the French started in the year 1882 with 20,000 men at work and ended in 1892. In 1892, France hired another company to undertake the project but still failed although the second company had good strategies that assisted the U.S in completing the task. Consequently, the French endeavors went bankrupt as a result of loss of experienced people; thus, abandoning the project immediately after nine years of work. Other contributors of failur e include mismanagement of funds and political fraud. Surprisingly, the work completed assisted Americans in completing the task despite the fact that America had an upper hand due to the advancement of technology (Haskin 4). The construction of the canal was negatively influenced by insufficient skills in engineering, organization and sanitation problems. The Victorious Conclusion of the project was due to engineering skills of men like John F. Stephens and health solutions by William C. Gorgas. However, people with such knowledge were few; this slowed the procedures down as few men had knowledge of administration. Other engineering challenges encountered included the amount of digging required, constructing the biggest gates of the time and creating the biggest dam of the time (DuTemple 43). The French design of the Canal had shortcomings like failure to address flooding from river Chagres that restrained construction process. On the other hand, U.S engineers had studied these challenges and came up with a design that overcame most difficulties. Some of the solutions discovered included the construction of a large dam at the mouth of river Chagres. Mosquitoes spread diseases were nearly eliminated by proper sanitation tactics by the U.S (Joeng et al., 8). President Roosevelt was the acting president of the time who presided over appointments of engineers to carry on with the construction. A reservoir lake for the canal was constructed to curb the level of the water issue. The canal constitutes of artificial lakes, artificial channels and sets of locks. Despite all the setbacks involved in the construction of the Panama Canal, there are many advantages and benefits associated with the operation of the canal. The main reason why the canal was built is to ease transportation. Contrary, other effects on the immediate environment are noted. These effects included physical and social-economic impacts. Shipment transportation by road has not proven effective as compared to water transportation for bulk goods. The Panama Canal served a good role in faster transporting of bulk consignment. There were many benefits associated with the canal that still apply even today (Haskin 7). First, the canal provided water used for hydropower production, human utilization, industrial deployment and transportation for inhabitants and countries that bordered the canal. Some uneven sections of the canal provided perfect ground for hydropower production used in homes and industries. These industries also benefited from the readily and easily accessible water for their operations. In addition, Inhabitants of Panama used the water for agricultural purposes to support the industries with raw materials and resources (Cameron and Dodds 3). Microclimatic changes have also been experienced since the construction of the canal. These climatic changes have been positive and negative, as well. In some areas, improved climatic conditions like rainfall have been observed. Developments of forests around the area has also commenced in the area. On the other hand, emergence of industries led to depletion of forest cover to construct the industries. This has seen the area experience long dry spells that are not appropriate for the canal’s water levels. Geographically, this waterway has contributed to cool climate for the surrounding environment hence low evapotranspiration for water conservation while industries have brought dryness. Loss of the ability to capture carbon is another negative impact on the climate. Other effects include exposed soil surfaces, shrubs and lack of pastures (Cameron and Dodds 11). Availability of water has encouraged cattle ranching and exclusive profit-making agricultural practices for residents. This further provides meat industries with raw materials for processing. Support dams and manmade lakes have been built to reinforce water scarcity problem that may arise from prolonged droughts. This has in turn provided further ground to practice agricultural profitable business adding to the economy (Cameron and Dodds 16). The Canal has provoked economic advancement for Panamanians. Income from agriculture and fishing practiced in the surrounding areas has contributed up to 7%of Gross Domestic Product of Panamanian economy. Additionally, 120,000 express and non-express jobs have been created in different sectors. Such sectors include the tourism industry, field of agriculture, fishing and processing industries constructed (Mann 5). Different ideas have been suggested for an efficient construction and expansion of the canal for better presentation. Building of two lock complexes, one on the Pacific side and another on the Atlantic side each constituting three chambers. These chambers should in turn contain three water saving basins. Access channels should be excavated to these new locks and extension of existing channels so that large ships can navigate on them. Suggestions indicate that navigation channels ought to be deepened to provide maximum operating depth. The purpose of expanding the Panama Canal is to preserve and uphold competitiveness of the canal, maintain the importance of the Canal course by making superior benefits for the vast population of Panama. Another objective of expanding the canal is to boost its potential to meet the increasing requirements for transit while working at maximum levels of productivity possible. The key aim in consideration is the ability to allow large ships to transit through the canal as this would enhance the canal output. Maintenance tasks on the ships and other water vessels require adequate space, so that relevant servicing services can be performed. The expansion of the canal would increase room for these tasks and eliminating congestion of ships (Mann 13). Despite of the advantages involved with the expansion of the waterway, there are negative effects to it. Increased ship traffic and building activities would most likely lead to air and noise pollution. Alteration to the current geological features and formation of the canal can lead to landslides and soil movements that in turn cause deaths. Other possible impacts include loss of forestry ability, impact on fauna, and commotion to wild animals, wildlife road kill impact and influence on protected areas. Positive impacts likely to be observed embrace motivation to the economy by improving exports by 10%, fiscal revenues improve by 32%. Job creation is the major challenge facing young people all over the world. Expansion of the canal would call for more work forces hence creation of jobs for citizens and natives. Relocation of people from other areas to Panama would increase due to the advancement in economy aspects. The project is projected to have an impact on infrastructure that includes improvement I the sewerage systems and construction of new roads to cater for inland transit services. Establishment of processing plants would call for the establishment of high voltage power cables to supply enough power to meet Panama’s demands. An increased necessitation to transport goods, vehicle traffic would increase (DuTemple 17). Eviction from industrial areas would be a major issue affecting the minority living in Panama, as business owners would evict residents from their homes to provide ground to build the plant. Before residents get used to new working conditions, accidents related to work would be prone. As experience advanced, accidents reduced by up to half. Experience was enhanced by the busyness of the Canal that called for extra working hours. Advancement of economy goes hand in hand with crime. Crime rate reduces due to availability of employment for all willing citizens. Tourists are a major influence on a country’s economy by contributing to the revenue. Isthmus has steep slopes that are good sites of tourist attraction in Panama. Industrialization always attracts tourists who pay for visiting the country; hence, increase in revenue. Competition between canals has also been analyzed concerning transit numbers. Transit goods are increasing every day; these being the case researchers are viewing the Suez Canal as a proper alternative (Jeong et al 10). Fortunately, disadvantages involved can be solved by having a citizen participation program, risk prevention program and environmental education. For a successful and a sustainable development, interrelations, citizen participation and environmental conservations should be observed. If a persistent problem were found, an alternative to that would be a wise decision. You can easily buy a high-quality essay online on The Panama Canal at . All custom essays are written from scratch. High quality and plagiarism free guarantee!

Pathophysiology of Malabsorption Syndrome (at the cellullar, tissue Research Paper

Pathophysiology of Malabsorption Syndrome (at the cellullar, tissue and organ level) - Research Paper Example And lastly the transport system of these necessary elements can be affected because of which these nutrients would not be going inside. At the cellular level the malabsorption syndrome can occur due to destruction of cells of pancreas or liver which would produce the necessary juices for the digestion of nutrients. The primary mucosal cell abnormalities can cause deficiency in the transport system of the nutrients. Bacteria can overgrow in these mucosal cells which can cause deficiency of the necessary nutrients. Individuals with Malabsorption syndrome would commonly show signs of diarrhoea, flatus and pain in abdomen. This would be generally seen in individuals who have excessive secretion of intestinal juices. Similarly the hematopoetic system of that individual would also be affected because of the lack of nutrients. Lack of red blood cells and bleeding can occur at such instances. The endocrine system can also be affected of the individual through lack of the nutrients required for hormones. Calcium levels can be affected because of lack of Vitamin D and this can further lead to hyperparathyroidism. Individuals with Malabsorption syndromes show problems with their epidermis and skin because of lack of nutrients required for the development of skin. Nervous system is also affected in this syndrome such as in the deficiency of Vitamin A and B12. The treatment for malabsorption Syndrome depends on the exact cause of the disease. That is if the intraluminal digestion is affected then the exact cause of that defect should be discovered first. If a nutrient is deficient in the body it would be given orally or intravenously to the patient. Enzyme deficiencies can be tackled with treatment from oral or injected enzymes. Similarly the growth of bacteria in the cells can also be stopped by giving antibiotics. Some examples of Malabsorption syndrome are pancreatitis,

Market Report on Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Report on Australia - Essay Example Vast resource endowment and strong export sector allows the economy to be one of the influential participants in international trade. After the occurrence of the global financial crisis, all financial activities within the economy are strictly supervised that eliminates any chance of unscrupulous financial transaction. However, there are risks associated with this economy due to the easy monetary and fiscal policy implementations. This paper presents a study on the economic prospects of Australia and their effects on the country’s financial market. 2. Economic prospects 2.1 Recent developments and the present situation Australia is the 13th largest economies in the world in terms of GDP measure. In the Asia Pacific region the country ranks third in terms of GDP after China and Japan. Australia boasts of having one of the most robust national political frameworks among the developed countries in the world. Over the last five decades, the country has developed strong economic in stitutions in the world and has a very competitive business sector operating internationally. Recently Australia has been recognised as a continent with a wide reserve of natural resources and it is currently enjoying the position of one of the largest supplier of natural resources and raw materials in the world, such as, coal and iron ore. Steady economic growth in the continent has been aided by this resource boom. Trade in such abundant resource sector accounts for approximately 9.6 per cent of the total economy of Australia. The remainder of the economy is comprised of the construction sector (7.7%), manufacturing sector (9.1%), and financial services sector (11.0%). This distribution depicts that the major sectors in the equity market in Australia are financial services sector with 32% share and natural resources sector with 31% share (Treasury, 2012). At present Australia enjoys a concrete positive international standing. The largest trade partners of the continent are the Uni ted States, Japan and China. Although China is still a developing economy, it is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and competes strongly with the other developed nations. The countries that make the largest amount of investment in Australia are the United Kingdom and the United States. These two countries are also the leading capital markets in the world. The financial services industry in Australian is well developed and highly-regarded due to its innovativeness. This stems from the fact that the country has one of the world’s most developed capital market. According to the data published by the World Economic Forum, Australia ranks 5th among the countries having most modern financial systems and advanced capital markets in the world. Currently Australia’s equity market has A$1.2 trillion market capitalization (on the basis of free-float market capitalization). On a daily basis, the average secondary trading extends upto A$5 billion in a normal day. Th e Australian dollar is one of the most traded currencies in the international market. This shows that the country’s foreign exchange market is quite strong and has high global turnover in this market. 2.2 Economic growth prospects The economy of Australia has experienced high and uninterrupted rate of economic growth over the period of the past ten years. This growth rate has been facilitated by a number of factors, such as, low level of inflation, low unemployment rate, significantly low public debt and most importantly stability in the

Course Work Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Course Work - Coursework Example The moral hazard problem occurred as a result of asymmetric information after transaction happens and prompts dispute of interests. It is the hazard that borrower in a monetary contract has the motivating forces to participate in hazardous activities that are making it more difficult that the loan amount will be paid back. On the off chance that there is no asymmetry in the data that a lender and a borrower had, which implies the lender can keep enlightened about the borrower whereabouts and screen borrower to follow the terms of the transaction they agreed upon. There should not have the problem of moral hazard. Yet, as a general rule, if financial intermediaries proceed as a lender, to set up a refined and frequently monitor system for every individual borrowers may cause a tremendous cost for financial organizations, or significantly bigger than the loss from the expected default hazard (Dionne and Lasserre). Moreover, if a monetary organization works as a borrower, the administration can limit the trading on insider trading on the biggest stockholders, yet different representatives in the organizations, for example, directors and senior managers might additionally increase profit from the special data which could influence the offer value when unveiled, and trades generate profit or evade losses before the public be informed of the data. Since these data are internal and confidential, therefore, it is hard for potential investors to get knowledge from this and cannot evade the hazard issue from it. Consequently, the problem will still exist (Dionne and Lasserre). In 2008, as a financial crisis began to unfold in the United States, the FDIC raised the limit on insured losses to bank depositors from $100,000 per account to $250,000 per account. How would this help stabilize the financial system? As the 2008 financial crises occurred due to the failure of financial institutions like Lehman Brothers

Psychological Contract And Motivational Problems Management Essay

Psychological Contract And Motivational Problems Management Essay The recent change of management at Wingos incorporating the new mission statements has seen a lot of changes with employees both the managers and non-managers. This report will analyse the current issues at Wingos (Reading Store), what as gone wrong, why it has gone wrong and how to make it better. The acquisition of Wingos by Melrose Plc has brought about a drastic change which has seen a change in the management style. Staffs have embraced this change with resentment and resistance which will be outlined in the report. Some staffs have become disillusioned and left while some had decided to stay and resist the changes and this as seen a great rise in lateness and absenteeism as well as low productivity. The fundamental areas addresses are the psychological contract, motivation and the management problems. This report has been structured in the following way. The first part addressed the issues with the use of relevant theories and research. The second part draw up conclusions on the findings and analysis and finally, the third part of the report suggested some attainable recommendations. One major problem identified with Wingos is the psychological contract. The psychological contract has been broken on both the management and the employees side. According to Robinson, Kraatz, Rosseaus(1994) the psychological contract is an unwritten agreement that exist between employers and their employees, meaning what employers expects from it employees and what the employees expect of their employers (Mullins, 2005). As well as the managers expectation of the staffs such as displaying a positive attitude, be responsive to leadership influence and working diligently, the employees also expects the management to be fair, trustworthy and create opportunities for development (Boddy, 2008). Before the new management started, the staffs dwell on the old psychological contact which is I will work hard for and act with loyalty towards my employer. In return I expect to be retained as an employee provided I do not act against the interests of the organisation. I also expect to be given opportunities for development and promotion should circumstances make this possible. (Torrington et al, 2008). The new Wingos management have broken this psychological contract. Staffs who had joined straight from school and having the impression for a job for life, hoping to stay until retirement and get promoted according to their length of service has seen all of this taken away from them. This has resulted to lack of commitment from staffs as well has lack of motivation. Some of the staffs believe the new management has broken the psychological contract and this can be supported by Parks Kidder (1994) who suggest that when the psychological contract is broken, staff reduce their commitment to the organisation and some of them are less willing than ever to give their all for the good of their organisation. (Cited in www.internationalmta.org). Some staff playing by the old psychological contract became disillusioned and left the organisation whilst some staff decided to stay and resist the changes. This action can be supported by Herriot and Pemberton (1995) where they describe a typical reaction to breach of the psychological contract as to leave to stay or keep your head below parapet, or to stay and take your revenge. Some of the staffs that decided to stay and resist the change can be seen as taking revenge against the management and by doing this, it could lead to de-motivation and can result in low productivity and high absenteeism. B. MOTIVATIONAL PROBLEMS Motivation is one of the major problems Wingos is facing currently. De-motivation has been made obvious by the attitude and behaviours of the staff after the change in management. Motivation is very important to Wingos because there are a lot of potential gain from it such as high productivity, low labour turnover and low absenteeism. It is obvious from the staffs that they are de-motivated seeing from their performance as well as the stores performance. There is evidence that staff had low morale and according to Herzberg 2 factor theory (1959) the staffs wants to have a sense of achievement, and chance of improvement (Mullins, 2005). Staffs come in whenever they want, the shop floor looks generally untidy which reduces productivity and staff are not in agreement. 1. Low Productivity: Less motivated staffs tend to have low productivity. It is evident that the traditional Wingos and the new Wingos have productivity issues. With the traditional Wingos profit had fallen drastically which lead to the new system but despite productivity did not improve. The lack of motivation has resulted in some staff delivering reduced level of productivity. Low productivity could be as a result of various factors. Such factors includes competency (www.team buildinginc.com) that is the staffs from the traditional Wingos had fairly routine work and not particularly challenging, which means they were not really interested in the root of how to carry out their work. And in the new Wingos, conversations with various staffs have made it clear that staffs find it difficult to do their job properly because of general lack of training. Taylor (1911) motivation theory describes how the application of scientific methods to the management of workers could improve productivi ty. (www.netmba.com). He also went ahead to argue that workers need close supervision and control to enjoy there work and they should be given the necessary training in other for them to work efficiently. McGregors (1960) Theory X supports this reaction that workers are viewed as lazy and wish to avoid responsibility (www.tutor2.net). Another factor which can cause low productivity is the productivity standard (www.teambuildinginc.com). It is evident at Wingos that there has been lack of communication between the staff and their line managers and the line managers with their district manager. There are no set standards or clear definition of the standard performance and this could result to de-motivation amongst staff. Locke (1975) supports this reaction to identify this motivation behaviour. According to Lockes goal- setting theory Wingos staffs have been de-motivated because there is no clear goals on what they need to achieve to increase productivity and there is no appropriate f eedback on why there has been decrease in their productivity (Mullins, 2005). 2. Lateness and Absenteeism: Following the acquisition by Melrose Plc and the introduction of new ways of doing things and also the break in the psychological contract, there has been a marked increase in lateness and absenteeism. This lateness and absenteeism increase could be as a result of various factors such as stress. Mitch McCrimmon in his article on How to Manage Absenteeism states that Motivated employees overcome obstacles to make it to work. The key to reducing employee absenteeism is to create a culture where employees want to come to work. (www.suite101.com). He also mentioned that factors such as stress keep staffs away from work because they are not motivated enough to be at work in the first place. Signs and Symptoms of stress within Wingos staffs includes low morale, absenteeism, performance (levels of produce wastage were high), relationship at work (tension and conflict between colleagues) etc. According to Vroom (1964) motivation theory, he believes that all three core concept of his expectancy theory must be met for staffs to be motivated. Currently, staffs at Wingos are not getting the intrinsic rewards they expect such as caring managers. All of this could lead to stress and as a result lateness and absenteeism is common. 3. Lack of Team Spirit: Another problem identified was the lack of team spirit. Staff are not seen to be productive because they are seen working on their own and there was less practiced of team working. The lack of team spirit as seen, as resulted to staff feeling de-motivated and lacking direction. One staff cannot do a teams work and if the team is not working together, individual will become stress which could lead to de-motivation and the task will not be achieved. This can be supported by Adairs model of leadership function that a task needs to be achieved by not one person but a team, the team needs should be met because if not met, an individual will be dissatisfied which could lead to de-motivation and the performance of the task will be impaired (www.teambuilding.co.uk). This therefore suggests that, management has set up teams and has not directed in the right way and therefore leaving the staffs de-motivated. 4. Personality Issues: Huczynski and Buchana(2007) defines personality has The psychological qualities that influence an individuals characteristic behaviour patterns in a stable and distinctive manner. (cited in Armstrong,2009) The differences in an individual can determine what motivates them. Every person is different from every other person in some respects but similar in other respects. As it can be seen with the staffs, some staffs left the company because the psychological contract of promotion was broken while some staff stayed behind to resist the change. C. MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS 1. Leadership Style/Management Structure: One major issue identified is the leadership and management style. About.com 18/11/09 defines leadership as the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal (www.about.com). The current situation in Wingos suggests that there is a fault with the leadership because, rather than the employees getting motivated, they have been de-motivated. According to Carnall (2007) when problems such as low motivation and low morale of employees, conflict between departments as seen amongst full-time and the weekenders and lack of capacity to adapt to changing circumstances as seen with the staffs generally occurs then there is a reason to conclude that the structure of the organisation is poor (Carnall, 2007). It has become obvious that most of the staff in regardless of their working time or days have found the top-down management style oppressive. According to Kotter (1990) Management is more to do with planning, controlling and putting appropriate structures and systems in place while leadership is more to do with anticipating change, coping with change and adopting a visionary stance. (McKenna, E 2001). Before February 2008, the management style that exists was the Laissez- Faire style. Managers provided little or no direction and gives staffs as much freedom as possible. After March 2008, the management adopted the autocratic leadership style. Manages retain as much power and decision making and did not consult staffs or allowed them to give any input. Herzbergs (1966) two factor theory supports this behaviour that before the change, staffs were motivated by the motivators (satisfier) such as chance of promotion, sense of achievement, interest in the job etc. While after the change, with the hygiene factors such as pay, company policy, the kind of supervision etc do not lead to higher levels of motivation but without them there is dissatisfaction (www.accel-team.com). Scholl (1981) claims that pay alone will not motivate an individual (Mullins, 2005). 2. Performance Management System (PMS): The critical factor of bringing this change in to place is to have the right number well trained staff and motivated. As a result of this change, the opposite of the aim was evident. Staffs were easily de-motivated and lost their morale which can be seen as a result of the managers behaviours. The managers assume according to McGregor Theory X (1960) that employees must be threatened with punishment to get them to put in adequate effort at work (Thomson, 2002). The staffs felt the system is unfair and this is as a result of improper use by the managers. This is an evidence of the autocratic leadership style. The managers can be seen not consulting the staffs or allowing them to give any inputs. The system that has been put in place to benefits the company, the managers and the staffs by seeing to the needs and development of staffs has been used improperly. Some studies over the past years shows that this type of leadership could see organisati on having high turnover and absenteeism and this is evident at Wingos. (www.essortment.com) 3. Lack of communication: Wingos has introduced a drastic change following being part of Melrose Plc. The management style had change. There is no evident to suggest that staff were fully enlightened about the new changes introduced. One main complaint identified was that there is lack of communication between employees and the management and even within the managers and the next level up. 4. Lack of training: Staffs had not been properly trained on the new changes and this has reduced their output and not able to do their jobs properly. CONCLUSION The analysis and findings concludes that staffs have become de-motivated as a result of the drastic change in the management and leadership style. The change has caused insecurity amongst the staffs such as staffs leaving and some staying back to resist the change. Psychological contract as been broken and which has seen some staff left the company and there has been low productivity. This is supported by Parks Kidder (1994). Managers had used tools such as Performance Management System which is supposed to motivate staff to de-motivate them. There has been lack of communication which has resulted to staffs being resentful and resisting change. All this issues needs to be addressed for the company to be successful. If not resolved, there could be a further decrease in productivity, increase in absenteeism and staff loss to competitors. In other for all of this to be resolved, there are key areas that need to be addressed, such as the psychological contract, motivation of staffs and the management style. RECOMMENDATION Psychological Contract Due to the fact that, the psychological contract is perceived to have been broken, a new contract should therefore be established. Rousseau and Greller (1994) describe the psychological contract as a contract that encompasses the actions employees believe are expected of them and what response they expect in return from the employer.'(Cited in www.gowerpublishing.com). The only way for staffs to be aware of the actions expected of them by the management and what response they expect in return from the management is by undertaking a staff survey, to be completed by both staffs and managers. This should help identify the expectation from both staff and could help understand the new contract. Effective Change For an organisation to be successful when carrying out changes, there are three necessary conditions to be met which includes awareness, capability and inclusion (Carnall, C). It is important for staff to be aware of the changes that are going to take place in any organisation because according to Mayo (1949), he concluded that workers are best motivated when there is better communication between them and their managers. (www.tutor2u.net). As well as communicating with staffs, if they are included in the decision making, they are more likely to accept change. Staffs also need to be capable and be sure they know what is required of them and this can only be effective if staffs are given adequate training. Therefore, it is recommended that staffs should be well informed by having regular meetings with their line managers (this can bridge the gap between the full-time staffs and the weekenders and also create good team spirit), staffs should be well trained in other for them to do their jobs accurately and should be involved with decision making by creating suggestion boxes and implementing some of the suggestions. And if a suggestion is used, the staff should be rewarded. Employee Appraisal It is recommended that, the management re-visit the PMS which is to see to employee appraisal rather than punishment. Staffs needs to understand why the PMS has been put into place and what benefits are available for them in it. Staffs have different personality and are diverse in their own way and managers needs to understand the individual needs of their staffs. Following a staff appraisal, knowing that the managers are aware of their personal needs and goals, they will tend to be more motivated, and in return there will be high productivity, high labour turnover and staff retention. Relationship The managers should develop an interest in their staffs by getting to know them, their way of life and their families. According to a CIPD survey, a good relationship between employees and line manager is the most important factor for motivating staff and establishing a positive psychological contract (Thomson, 2002). The staff appraisal can also build the relation between the staff and their managers. One of the benefits of appraisals is that, staffs experience improved relationship with their managers and vice versa (Thompson, 2002). This recommendation can help build the gap between the workforce by creating a good team spirit. Monitoring Absence Staffs sickness absence should be monitored. It is recommended that line managers should interview staffs when they return back to work to identify the reason for their sickness. And if the sickness is work related, managers should ensure that the situation is dealt with appropriately. Management Training The type of leadership style recommended at Wingos is the Democratic style. Before February 2008, the type of leadership practiced was the Lassie Faize style which saw the company going down. After March 2008, the new management introduce the autocratic style which saw staff de-motivated and some staff left the company. Introducing the democratic leadership style, will increase motivation amongst staff and staffs will support the vision of the company and the company generally will see growth. Therefore, all managers should be trained on how to motivate their staffs and learn the approach of the democratic or participative leadership style. Although this is a good recommendation as it will see increase in staff inputs towards Wingos, however cost of training should be considered. Exit Interviews Retention of employees should be addressed by interviewing staffs before they leave to identify why they are leaving. If the reason for leaving is given, it should be dealt with in a positive way and it should be treated discreetly. Although some staffs may choose not to disclose their actual reason of leaving, it is highly recommended that manager doing the exit interview should not be well known to the staff leaving. This is because staffs tend to open up more when they are in a neutral environment.

Ellen Foster :: Free Essays

Kaye Gibbons, the author of the novel Ellen Foster, believes that a quote from the Emerson’s â€Å"Self Reliance† is connected with Ellen’s struggle to survive and find her way in the world. The first line of this quote says, â€Å"Cast the bantling on the rocks† is related to Ellen herself. A bantling is an abandoned child. Ellen is a bantling even though she was not abandoned, she was deprived of a normal childhood. Her life as a child was extremely hard, physically and emotionally. She never had a mother or father take care of her through her entire youth. You could say that her childhood was â€Å"cast on the rocks†. The last line reads, â€Å"Power and speed be hands and feet†. This reminds me of how Ellen ran from her problems at home and stayed away from her house as much as possible. The line also represents strength and Ellen was a strong person. She dealt with losing a mother, father and grandmother within one year. She never even h ad a good relationship with her father or grandmother. The short inscription to â€Å"Self Reliance† is almost a short summary of Ellen’s character. In it, a child without parents is raised by someone that is a lot different than she is. After Ellen’s mother died, she is unwillingly left with her alcoholic father who mistreats her. Ellen spent a lot of time at her friend, Starletta’s house and at the house of her grandmother. Life with her grandmother was no better than life with her father. She did not want to be in either situation. After living with her grandmother, Ellen’s struggle to find a suitable, comforting home comes to an end. For the second time in her life, a family member has died right next to her, basically in her arms. Ellen is able to overcome this, even as a