Free College Essays - Hardships in Ordinary People :: Ordinary People

Ordinary People - Hardships The theme of Ordinary People can be said best in the words of Honi Werner, " Some things cannot be foreseen or understood or blamed on anyone- they can just be endured. Love, openly shared, is the only thing one can count on to give them strength for that endurance.†   Ordinary People gives a wonderful example of real life and addresses many internal conflicts. This story about a boy's recovery after his brother's death is extremely engrossing and captivating. Throughout the entire book the reader is gradually and constantly exposed to aspects of each character's personality.   Ã‚   The characters are extremely well developed and very enthralling.   Conrad is the most complex character. Guest did a wonderful job revealing that complexity clearly. I also enjoyed the various internal conflicts that were faced. Conrad was faced with many conflicts including; dealing with his parents and friends, forgiving himself as well as others for his brother's death, and allowing himself to express emotion. These conflicts made me look carefully at some of my own problems. This book is definitely made to make people think and not simply to entertain though it accomplishes both successfully. There were few aspects of the story that I disliked. At first I was not pleased with the ending because I felt that it had no resolution. Later, I realized that Ordinary People had quite a powerful ending. I do, however, think that Guest could have given a little more background on the family and written in a way that would make it easier to understand who was speaking. This book would no t be liked and appreciated by all. Most people, however, would enjoy it because it is realistic and relative to most people's lives. This book was definitely written for a mature audience that enjoys reading about real-life circumstances. This novel makes a wonderful movie that is both powerful and sorrowful. Timothy Hutton won an Oscar for his portrayal of Conrad Jarrett. I would certainly read this book again. There are so many hidden meanings and themes that I think one would discover new insights each reading. Ordinary People is humorous, entertaining, well written and very moving. Conrad is an accurate depiction of a teenager of that time. This story makes the reader appreciate life and realize that no matter how much he wants to escape his problems and feelings, he can not run away from himself.

Craft :: Art

Craft Art (à ¤rt)n.  · Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature. · The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium. Craft (kr ft)n.  · Skill in doing or making something, as in the arts; proficiency.  · To make by hand.  · To make or construct (something) in a manner suggesting great care or ingenuity. Craft, the word has been with man for ages. There are unique mysteries in life that are usually provoking the true nature of reality, as us humans become aware of it. The genealogy of a man is equal to the idea that the term "craft" has evolved so beyond the understanding of the human mind. A skill in the form of an advanced, detailed, or progressive (movement) in the ability to perform with great skill in one view of behavioral science cannot be determined by meaning alone. It is a difficult word to be defined. The term craft I would mainly determine to be defined as the assemblage of objects that has some sort of interconnection to art, but it depends on the complexity of what is being built. After doing the many projects in class I have many different views on how craft is defined. A good example that would sort of involves both, primitive art and art deco in a small sense. Some of the African statues that are carved would have some geometric designs, (which relates to the way in which the style of art deco slightly falls in) is that would sometimes mean something in its own way. A person who could be making it for any kind of reason would usually make these sculptures by hand. Using his or her tools to be cutting into the material so that they can successfully make something with such craftsmanship, worth looking at. That is craft. Something like a fireplace with a few different color tiles that make a minor design, I deeply hesitate to call art or craft because of the fact that it seems to be so simple and isn’t really hand crafted completely. That is just one example of art deco. When you look at the way some of the different buildings interior is made, in terms of the sculptures, paintings and furniture you may have a completely different view in what you think in your mind.

Glass Ceiling Topic

INTRODUCTION: The research team has selected the topic of â€Å"Glass ceiling† for the research project. It has been observed that during the last few years a lot of women are going in management field but not a lot of them are getting an opportunity to get into the top management positions. This has got nothing to do with their abilities and dedication to their work, it is clear that glass ceiling is affecting and stopping the women from reaching the top management positions. The problem of glass ceiling persists in the other countries of the world as is clear from the previous researches but this problem is more evident in Pakistan. This is because despite the boom in education sector, the society still remains conservative and negative feelings and stereotypes do exist against women employees. As a result of the glass ceiling, the performance of women employees is also being affected. This is a cause of concern and it is happening because women managers feel that they are not being treated equally. They develop the feelings that their efforts are not being properly rewarded. Due to the presence of pre-defined rules and regulation for promotions women working in public sector are not being affected a great deal by glass ceiling. Thus it is the private sector where the women are facing glass ceiling the most. The significance of this study is that the research team looked into the main problems which are prohibiting the women from going into the top management positions. By identifying the factors causing the problems, the team will be able to judge the reasons and help eradicate them. It is important to look in the organizational factors that would help the women to reach to top management positions as early as they deserve. This study is an effort to not only identify the factors responsible for affecting the performance of women managers through glass ceiling but also to give solutions to over come from this problems. LITERATURE REVIEW The term ‘glass ceiling’ refers to the transparent but real and strong barrier which prevents women from moving up in the management hierarchy in an organization (Morrison & Glinow, 1990). The minority of women in senior management has led many researchers to investigate whether glass ceiling barriers such as sexual discrimination, gender wage gap, gender stereotype, harassment and lack of family-friendly workplace policies in the organizations are at play and how these barriers affect the performance of female employees in the organizations (Jeavons & Sevastos, 2002). The existence of glass ceiling in different organizations, cultures and time span has been confirmed by many researchers. In 1997, Tokunaga & Graham looked at employees in the technical division at one large Fortune 500 corporation and found that female engineers could not advance as far up the corporate hierarchy as did the male engineers, thereby providing evidence for the existence of a â€Å"glass ceiling† against women. A research conducted by Veale & Gold (1998) in Metropolitan District Council situated in Yorkshire, UK also confirmed that a glass ceiling did exist within the council and this inhibited women’s progression into senior management. This existence of a strong glass ceiling effect prevents women to progress in the organizations. A study controlled for previous job experience, education, age, tenure, initial job level and gender showed that even levels of promotions existed for men and women. However, qualitative data showed that women were employed by the organization at a level that was lower than their qualifications, or lower than men doing the same job. Therefore, even with equal rates of promotion, women will not progress as far as men (Jeavons & Sevastos, 2002). There a number of factors that keeps the glass ceiling in effect. One of them is the gender stereotype. Over the last three decades, Schein (2007) found that gender stereotyping of the managerial position has continued to be the major barrier to women’s progress in management, worldwide. He also shown that on international level, the view of women as less likely than men to possess requisite management characteristics is a commonly held belief among male management students in the USA, the UK, Germany, China and Japan. Apart from gender stereotyping, gender wage gap also plays its role in the organizations. Across a sample of eleven European Union countries in 1995–2001 Booth & Bryan (2007) found that women were paid less than men and this wage gap typically widened toward the top of the wage distribution (the â€Å"glass ceiling† effect), and in a few cases it also widened at the bottom (the â€Å"sticky floor† effect). In recent studies of promotion to partner process, Kumra & Vinnicombe (2008) concluded that the disadvantages women face in organizations in relation to the promotion to partner process arise from a combination of firm-based and societal based factors. Discussing the relationship between discrimination, harassment and glass ceiling (Bell, McLaughlin & Sequeira, 2002), glass ceiling was referred as one of the form of sex discrimination. In the study it was concluded that because all three have some common antecedents, steps to reduce one of them will likely affect the others. Apart from that they suggested that measures designed to increase numbers of women in higher level positions will reduce sexual harassment. As a result of this glass ceiling there is an inclination of women to entrepreneurship as a result of barriers to women’s advancements in corporation (Mattis, 2004). Mattis showed that lack of flexibility continued to be a feature of the corporate culture that lead to the attrition of high potential women and contributed to the dramatic increase in entrepreneurship among women in the US Glass ceiling affects the performance of women at managerial posts. Some of the â€Å"masculine† organizational barriers that severely hinder women’s ability to be effective in their role as strategic decision makers include reluctance of male subordinates towards female managers; isolation by male colleagues; exclusion from male-dominated informal networks and the lack of mentorship (Okanlawon, 1994). Exploration of a model of decision making (Large & Saunders, 1995) explains how a combination of both individual choices (employees’ own perceptions, requirements and priorities like family, social life) and organizational blockages (organizational structure, policies and culture) maintains the glass ceiling. Gender related attributes also play their role. An appropriate theoretical foundation for explaining differences between male and female service providers originates in the sociology literature and is referred to as feminist theory. This theory proffers two perspectives regarding gender-related differences in performance. One argues that there are a wide variety of issues that are impacted by society’s attitudes towards women (Hooks, 2000). These attitudes are based in the history and institutional structure of society. As a result, women are treated differently than men, so that the performance of businesses owned by women suffers. Another stream of literature argues that there are innate differences between male and female approaches to issues. These differences lead women to take different actions than males in similar situations (Buttner, 2001; Fletcher, 1998). There is an alternative theoretical perspective that would not accept the arguments advanced by feminist theory. The foundation for most of this research is the rational economic model (Ferber & Nelson, 1993). This theory argues that individuals make rational economic choices and seek to maximize economic benefit to themselves or the firm. Most of these models assume that customers are economically rational and will make their choices based on the benefits gained from the transaction, and not the gender of the service provider. Prior research on whether gender as an impact on the financial performance of professional service providers has not provided clear insights on whether feminist theory or the rational economic model is more valid. Some researchers find that women achieve lower financial performance than men (Hisrich & Brush, 1984; Loscocco, Robinson, Hall, & Allen, 1991; Lustgarten, 1995; Chaganti & Prasuraman, 1997; Fasci & Valdez, 1998), while others argue that there is no performance difference between male & female owned enterprises (Fischer, Reuber & Dyke, 1993; Kalleberg & Leicht, 1991). Davidson & Cooper (1983) found that managerial women experience greater strain and feel more isolated at work than males which in turn affect their performance. There is gender difference in leadership because of negative perception and evaluation of women in leadership (Stelter 2002). Sex role orientation and the stereotype of manager role as masculine construct, along with lack of career planning among women are predominant theme that explains why so few women progress to leadership position (Chugh & Sehgal 2007). Women are not advancing in work place because they did not receive training to perform job moreover manager do not appreciate achievements of their women employee as compare to men (Asplund 1988). RESEARCH QUESTION How glass ceiling affect the job performance of managerial women? THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK There are three variables which are under study. Job performance is dependent variable and it is the variable of primary interest and changes or variations in job performance will be explained by two independent variables (1) gender stereotyping (2) cooperation among colleagues. Gender stereotyping has negative relation with job performance i. e. if there is less gender stereotyping among the members of organization then greater will be the job performance. Cooperation has positive relation with job performance i. e. if there is more cooperation among the employees the greater will be the job performance. Review of past researches shows if there is gender stereotyping female manager can not get the equal opportunities, males are only favoring the males so ultimately it affect the job performance of female employees that’s why there is a negative relation between job performance and gender stereotype. Past researches also shows that the cooperation plays a very important role in increasing the job performance because if there is a cooperation among employees then they can motivate each other and it leads towards increase in job performance. Independent Variable Dependent variable [pic] Independent Variable HYPOTHESES ? If cooperation among the colleagues at work place is increased then the job performance of managerial women will be increased. ? If gender stereotyping is reduced at work place then the job performance of managerial women will be increased. METHODOLOGY Study design In this cross-sectional co-relational field study data on two independent variables (gender stereotype, cooperation among colleagues) and dependent variable(job performance) were collected from both males and females at management level working in private organizations( PIFRA(Project to Improve Financial Reporting and Auditing) World bank, Ittehad airlines,IBM Pakistan) in Islamabad through personally administered questionnaires. Population and Sample Population for the study comprised all men and women at managerial level working in private organizations in Islamabad. Quota sampling method was used to draw sample out of population because it was deemed fit by the researchers on the basis of cost and time considerations. Subjects were chosen in predetermined numbers. The total sample size was n=34 which comprised 14 (41. 2%) males and 20(58. 8%) females. 40 questionnaires were given to both gender and they all were received back within a time period of 2 weeks, resulting in 100% response rate because questionnaires were personally administered and researchers clarify research topic, doubts and assist some of the respondents in understanding some questions. The units of analysis were individuals who responded to the survey. Out of females 8 (40 %) were at low and 12 (60 %) were at middle level management. Out of males 8 (57. 1 %) were at low and 6 (42. 9 %) were at middle level management. During data filtration patterns were observed in 6 out of 40 questionnaires of which 3 were filled by males and rest by females, such questionnaires were set a side and remaining 34 were used for analysis. 7 questionnaires include missing items ranging from 1 to 2 so middle value on the interval scale i. e. 3(unsure) was assigned to them. Variables and Measures Questionnaires include two demographic variables (gender & managerial level), they were tapped by direct single questions. ? Job performance: This dependent variable indicates the extent to which employees of the organization are expected to acquire job knowledge, achieve assigned goals and maintain better work related relations with members of organization at workplace. Researchers develop 5 point interval scale containing 6 items to measure the relationship of this variable with cooperation among colleagues (independent variable). An example item is â€Å"A friendly atmosphere among colleagues at work place leads to better job performance† Reliability of these items checked via SPSS SOFTWARE gave alpha= . 56 Means reliable. Researchers used 8 items scale to measure the relationship of job performance with gender stereotype (independent variable). An example item is â€Å"I feel additional pressure to perform because I am women†. Reliability of these items checked via SPSS SOFTWARE gave alpha= . 6334 ? Gender stereotype: Stereotypes of men and women commonly reflect the distinction made in implicit personality theory between agency and communion (e. . , Rosenberg, Nelson, & Vivekananthan, 1968). This independent variable was measured using 5 point interval scale containing 14 items. An example item is â€Å"a woman’s place is in home† Reliability of these items checked via SPSS SOFTWARE gave alpha= . 636 ? Cooperation among colleagues: †cooperation is a process by which individ uals, groups and organizations come together, interact and form psychological relationships for mutual gain or benefit (Smith et al. , 1995)†. This independent variable was measured using 5 point interval scale containing 10 items. An example item is â€Å"open communication of relevant information occurs between male and female colleagues† Reliability of these items checked via SPSS SOFTWARE gave alpha= . 634 Data collection method Data was collected through personally administered questionnaires because the survey was confined to local area i. e. Islamabad. Moreover, this method was deemed fit in Pakistan as compared to mailed and electronic questionnaires. Method of personally administered questionnaires was adopted to introduce research topic, clarify doubts of respondents and collect all the completed responses within a short span of time. All questionnaires were received back within 2 weeks. 5 point interval scale was used for data collection containing range from â€Å"strongly disagree to strongly agree† RESULTS In order to test the formulated hypotheses, statistical analysis of the responses of the questionnaires was done. The reliability of the four scales is given below: Reliability of Cooperation among colleagues (CAC) scale Table 1 Alpha Reliability Coefficient of CAC for the Main Study (N=34) Scale No. of items Alpha coefficient CAC 10 0. 34 Table 1 shows the alpha reliability (r=0. 634) for the CAC scale. The results in table 1 show that scale has satisfactory reliability. Reliability of Gender stereotyping (GS) scale Table 2 Alpha Reliability Coefficient of SRS for the Main Study (N=34) Scale No. of items Alpha coefficient GS 14 0. 636 Table 2 shows the alpha reliability (r=0. 636) for the SRS scale. The results in table 2 show that scale has satisfactory reliability. Reliability of Cooperation effect on Performance (CEP) scale Table 3 Alpha Reliability Coefficient of CEP for the Main Study (N=34) Scale No. of items Alpha coefficient CEP 6 0. 56 Table 3 shows the alpha reliability (r=0. 56) for the PER scale. The results in table 3 show that scale has satisfactory reliability. Reliability of Stereotyping effect on Performance (SEP) scale Table 4 Alpha Reliability Coefficient of SEP for the Main Study (N=34) Scale No. of items Alpha coefficient SEP 6 0. 633 Table 4 shows the alpha reliability (r=0. 633) for the PER scale. The results in table 4 show that scale has satisfactory reliability. The results are organized under five main headings: 1) Cooperation among colleagues 2) Sex-role stereotype 3) Perception about female managers 4) Effect of cooperation on performance of female managers 5) Effect of stereotyping on performance of female managers Cooperation among colleagues Table 5 GenderMeanNSD Male 3. 45140. 63 Female 3. 39200. 43 Note: Scale: strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) The male respondents think that cooperation does exist in private organizations among male and female colleagues (3. 45). Female respondents also think that cooperation exist between male and female colleagues (3. 39). Sex-role stereotype Table 6 GenderMeanNSD Male 3. 10140. 92 Female 2. 76200. 813 Note: Scale: strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) Sex role stereotyping does exist in male respondents but its very less (3. 1). However it does not exist in female respondents (2. 76). Perception about female managers Table 7 GenderMeanNSD Male 2. 67140. 83 Female 3. 51200. 51 Note: Scale: strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) The male respondents do not think that female managers have to be more competent than males and behave in a typically ‘masculine way’ in order to be noticed and promoted (2. 67). However female respondents think that they are required to be more competent in order to be taken seriously (3. 39). Effect of cooperation on performance of female managers Table 8 Correlation between Cooperation among colleagues and performance of female managers (N=34) Correlation r Correlation between . 286 cooperation among colleagues nd performance of female managers ____________________________________________________________ ____________ p=0. 101 Table 8 shows that the hypothesis assuming that there is a relationship between cooperation among colleagues and performance of female managers is accepted as there is non-significant relationship between these two. Results indicate a weak relationship between cooperation among colleagues a nd performance of female managers. Results also show that only 8% of job performance of female managers is affected by cooperation among colleagues. Effect of stereotyping on performance of female managers Table 9 Correlation between stereotyping and performance of female managers (N=34) Correlation r Correlation between . 117 stereotyping and performance of female managers ____________________________________________________________ ____________ p=0. 510 Table 9 shows that the hypothesis assuming that there is a relationship between stereotyping and performance of female managers is rejected as there is non-significant relationship between these two. Results indicate a weak relationship between stereotyping and performance of female managers. Results also show that only 1% of job performance of female managers is affected by stereotyping. DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to see the level of cooperation among colleagues and the gender stereotyping in private organizations and then to determine the impact of these two on the performance of female managers in the private organizations. The statistical analysis of the data acquired from the filled questionnaires revealed that both male and female managers at the low and middle level of organization think that there exists a friendly atmosphere among male and female colleagues at work place. They help each other in time of need and in performing work related tasks. Though both male and female agree that cooperation does exist but the interesting finding is that male employees perceive that there is cooperation among colleagues more then female employees do. Another interesting finding is that male employees think that a woman’s place is in home and they are not suited for work outside of the home. According to their point of view traditional husband/wife roles are the best and that it is the job of women to manage the home and men to go out to work. Also, they think that women lack the skills and abilities needed at work. This finding is supported by a study conducted by Schein (2007) who found that on international level, the view of women as less likely than men to possess requisite management characteristics is a commonly held belief among male management students in the USA, the UK, Germany, China and Japan. However, female employees do not think that women lack the managerial skills and that they are not suited for work outside the home. Female employees think that compared to male managers, female managers must continually prove themselves in order to be taken seriously and get promoted. Whereas male managers think that male and female managers are treated equally and in the same fashion as those of male managers. These results are supported by (Jeavons & Sevastos, 2002) who found out that the existence of a strong glass ceiling effect prevents women to progress in the organizations. The researchers also showed that women were employed by the organization at a level that was lower than their qualifications, or lower than men doing the same job It was hypothesized that if the cooperation among colleagues is increased then the performance of female managers will be enhanced. The study results show that there exist a relationship between cooperation among colleagues and the performance of female managers. So the study results show that if the cooperation among colleagues is increased there will be an improvement in the performance of female managers. This finding is also proved by a previous study conducted by (Okanlawon, 1994) that glass ceiling affects the performance of women at managerial posts and a friendly atmosphere among male and female colleagues contributes in the better and improved performance of female managers. Another hypothesis that was formulated was that the reduction in gender stereotyping will result in an improved performance of female managers. This hypothesis has been proved wrong. The study shows that there is a very weak relationship between stereotyping and the performance of female managers. Also these two are weakly correlated in a positive way. The conclusion drawn is that in the private organizations of Pakistan, female employees do not bother about what male think of females as managers. Female managers do not feel discouraged due to stereotyping. Their work activities, abilities and morale is not affected by the stereotyping of male colleagues. CONCLUSION The study aimed at finding either male and female colleagues in organizations cooperate with each other and either gender stereotyping exists among male and female managers. The findings show that both male and female employees at managerial posts of private organizations agree that cooperation does exist but the degree of agreement is higher in male then in female managers. The study was also aimed to see if there exist a relationship between cooperation among colleagues and job performance of female managers. A moderate relationship does exist between cooperation and female managers’ job performance. Hence if the level of comfort and cooperation among male and female colleagues at work is enhanced, female managers’ performance will improve. It is evident from the findings of the study that female managers’ performance is not affected by the gender stereotyping of their male peers. RECOMMENDATIONS Since it has been found that a friendly atmosphere among male and female employees at workplace plays a vital role in the better performance of female managers, the private organizations in Pakistan should figure out ways and make policies to make sure that female employees feel at ease with their male peers and both male and female employees work together and coordinate with each other in order to enhance employees’ performance. LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH The generalizability of the results of this study is low since a non-probability sampling technique was used due to lack of time and resources. The sample size is also very small (n=34) which is not suitable for such kind of research. For future research, work which look more directly at these issues taking a larger sample size will be encouraged. Also it is required to see that though gender stereotyping is not affecting the performance of female managers but it is probable that gender stereotyping that is being found in Pakistani organization might be affecting the hiring or/and promotion criterion of female managers. REFERENCES Virginia E. Schein (2007). Women in management: reflections and projections. Women in Management Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 6-18. Camilla Veale, & Jeff Gold (1998). Smashing into the glass ceiling for women managers. Journal of Management Development, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 17-26. Author, Howard Tokunaga & Tracy Graham (1997). The â€Å"glass ceiling† [On-line] Avaialble http://www. Simone Jeavons, & Peter Sevastos (2002). Glass Ceiling Effect or Sticky Floors? [On- line] Avaialble http://www. W iji Arulampalam, Alison L. Booth, & Mark L. Bryan (2007). Is There A Glass Ceiling Over Europe? Exploring The Gender Pay Gap Across The Wage Distribution. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 60, No. 2. Myrtle P. Bell, Mary E. McLaughlin, & Jennifer M. Sequeira (2002). Discrimination, Harassment, and the Glass Ceiling: Women Executives as Change Agents. Journal of Business Ethics, 37, 65–76. Savita Kumra & Susan Vinnicombe (2008). A Study of the Promotion to Partner Process in a Professional Services Firm: How Women are Disadvantaged. British Journal of Management, Vol. 19, S65–S74. Mary C. Mattis (2004). Women entrepreneurs: out from under the glass ceiling. Women in Management Review, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 154-163. Martin Large & Mark N. K. Saunders (1995). A decision-making model for analyzing ow the glass ceiling is maintained: unblocking equal promotion opportunities. The International Journal of Career Management, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 21–28 Gus Okanlawon (1994). Women as Strategic Decision Makers: A Reflection on Organizational Barriers. Women in Management Review, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 25-32 Fletcher, J. 1998. Relational practice: A feminist Reconstruction of work. Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(2): 163-186. Buttner, E. H. 2001. Examining female entrepreneurs’ management style: An application of a relational frame, Journal of Business Ethics, 29: 253-269. Hisrich, R. D. , & Brush, C. G. 1984. The women entrepreneur: Implications of family, educational and occupational experience. Journal of Small Business Management, 22(1), 30-37. Loscocco, K. A. , Robinson, J. , Hall, R. H. , & Allen, J. K. 1991. Gender and small business: An inquiry into women’s relative disadvantage. Social Forces 70, 65-85. Fasci, M. and Valdez, J. 1998. A performance contrast of male- and female-owned small accounting practices. Journal of Small Business Management, Fischer, E. M. , Reuber, A. R. , & Dyke, L. S. 1993. A theoretical overview and extension of research on sex, gender and entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 8, 151-168. Davidson, M. & Cooper, C. (1983). Stress and the Women Manager. Nicole, Z. S. 2002. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LEADERSHIP. Journal of leadership and organizational studies. Chugh, s. & sahgal, P. (2007) . why do few womens advance to leadership position. Global business review 2007. Asplund, G. (1988). Women managers:Changing organizational cultures, Morrison, A. M. and M. A. Von Glinow (1990). ‘women and minorities in management’, American Psychologist, 45 , pp. 200-208. ———————– Gender Stereotyping Cooperation among colleagues Job Performance

Case Vignettes in Acid-Base Balance Essay

Choose three of the four vignettes and BRIEFLY answer the questions that follow. Normal Levels of Substances in the Arterial Blood: pH 7.40 + 0.05 pCO2 (partial pressure of carbon dioxide) 40 mm Hg pO2 (partial pressure of oxygen) 90 – 100 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 94 – 100 % [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Vignette #1: A 14-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis has complained of an increased cough productive of green sputum over the last week. She also complained of being increasingly short of breath, and she is noticeably wheezing on physical examination. Arterial blood was drawn and sampled, revealing the following values: pH 7.30 pCO2 50 mm Hg pO2 55 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 45 % [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Questions: 1. How would you classify this girl’s acid-base status? 2. How does cystic fibrosis cause this acid-base imbalance? 3. How would the kidneys try to compensate for the girl’s acid-base imbalance? 4. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance. Vignette #2:  A 76-year-old man complained to his wife of severe sub-sternal chest pains that radiated down the inside of his left arm. Shortly afterward, he collapsed on the living room floor. Paramedics arriving at his house just minutes later found him unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse. CPR and electroconvulsive shock were required to start his heart beating  again. Upon arrival at the Emergency Room, the man started to regain consciousness, complaining of severe shortness of breath (dyspnea) and continued chest pain. On physical examination, his vital signs were as follows: Systemic blood 85 mm Hg / 50 mm pressure Hg Heart rate 175 beats / minute Respiratory rate 32 breaths / minute Temperature 99.2o F His breathing was labored, his pulses were rapid and weak everywhere, and his skin was cold and clammy. An ECG was done, revealing significant â€Å"Q† waves in most of the leads. Blood testing revealed markedly elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels of cardiac muscle origin. Arterial blood was sampled and revealed the following: pH 7.22 pCO2 30 mm Hg pO2 70 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 88 % [HCO3-] 2 meq / liter Questions: 5. What is the diagnosis? What evidence supports your diagnosis? 6. How would you classify his acid-base status? What specifically caused this acidbase disturbance? 7. How has his body started to compensate for this acid-base disturbance? 8. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance. Vignette #3: An elderly gentleman is in a coma after suffering a severe stroke. He is in the intensive care unit and has been placed on a ventilator. Arterial blood gas measurements from the patient reveal the following: pH 7.50 pCO2 30 mm Hg pO2 100 mm Hg Hemoglobin – O2 saturation 98% [HCO3-] 24 meq / liter Questions: 9. How would you classify this patient’s acid-base status? 10. How does this patient’s hyperventilation pattern raise the pH of the blood? 11. How might the kidneys respond to this acid-base disturbance? 12. List some other causes of this type of acid-base disturbance.

Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Business strategy - Essay Example of these components in one software program was instrumental in facilitating a rapidly expanding enterprise with the capability of enabling businesses to realize a marked improvement in its underlying environmental management without any detrimental fiscal effects. In order to accomplish this, Entropy International utilized a unique business strategy. At the heart of this strategy is the notion that there is a singular vision throughout the organization. This vision serves as a guiding force for strategic planning and incorporates the necessary components for the systematic expansion of Entropy’s customer base and its quest for the lion’s share of the market. One of the most significant focal points of Entropy’s business strategy is a dedication to addressing the needs of the customers. In so doing, the management of Entropy ensured that in developing their product, the customer was consulted first and foremost. As a direct result of consulting with the customer and obtaining feedback, Entropy was able to develop a product which satisfied the current needs of its customers and the up-and-coming needs of the market. Secondary to its focus on product development was its commitment to sales and marketing. Entropy was able to realize a great deal of success by expanding its marketing and sales force. In so doing, the company went from one full-time sales person in 2002 to a complete sales and marketing force consisting of three dedicated marketing and five sales managers. The marketing and sales managers worked to procure contracts with new organizations by utilizing an in-house software product which coordinates the sales process. Th is software has been very effective in that it has been responsible for a 40% sales conversion rate for leads and a 60% rate for proposals. These figures far exceed the current market rates. An integral part of Entropy International’s business strategy is its relationship with governmental bodies. In 2002 Entropy

India as Emerging Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

India as Emerging Market - Essay Example The preamble of Indian Constitution declares India as sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic and importantly promises social, economic and political justice. Therefore, India is constitutionally a modern social democratic state with a strong emphasis given to ‘socialistic pattern of development’ (Basu, 1994). The Directive Principles of State Policy delineated in part IV of the Indian constitution upholds the notion of an active welfare state which could intervene in the social, religious, and cultural affairs of the country in order to ensure progress. Indian federalism is of a mixed type in which states and the centre effectively wield power distinct areas. However, the centre has supreme power in many areas including the power to dismiss the elected governments at the state level in terms of article 356. For Basu (1994), although the federal system is the basic structure of the government of the country, a strong mixture of unitary bias is apparent. The Panchayati Raj system is a unique characteristic of Indian polity. Kashyap (2002) is the view that â€Å"the seventy-third and seventy-fourth constitutional amendments have made some fundamental changes in our political structure and in the status of local institutions†. Thereafter, governance has been considerably decentralised through panchayats and other institutions of local governance. Although India has a strong economy and an young, vibrant work force, it is still long behind in terms of human development. Health remains an unresolved issue, over half of the children in the country are malnourished. One third of the population still faces chronic hunger. Majority of the population lives with less than a dollar per day. In literacy rate, India is even behind some of the poverty-ridden sub-Saharan countries. And, the gender and regional gap in terms of

Dollar pegging and curreny basket Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Dollar pegging and curreny basket - Essay Example As the oil producing countries are getting more capital due to rising oil prices, people have more spending power and the relative commodity prices increase in the domestic economy. Table 1 shows the inflation rates in gulf countries over three different periods: 1980-81 (high inflation), 1986-2003 (low but volatile inflation) and 2006-07 ( current inflation situation). As chart 1 and Table 1 show falling dollar contributes to high oil prices that in turn lead to high inflation. On the other hand when the state of dollar is normal the oil prices remain average and hence the result is low inflation (Garriga and Armesto, â€Å"A Falling Dollar Raises Inflation in the Gulf†). After de-pegging from dollar, new exchange rate was governed by the basket of currencies that helped to stabilize the effect of depreciating dollar on the exchange rate of Kuwaiti Dinar in the world market. Due to this basket of currencies which included a good proportion of Euro allowed checking rising import rates due to depreciation of dollar against Euro. This further helped in controlling inflation which was rising due to increase in imports from European and exports to Asian countries. â€Å"Since 1980 the Bahraini dinar and the Qatar riyal have been pegged to US dollar at the rate of 0.37 per $ and 3.64 per $, respectively. Likewise, since the 1980s the Saudi riyal (1986) and UAE dirham (1981) are fixed at a rate of 3.75 per $ and 3.67 per $, respectively† (Hebous â€Å"On the Monetary Union of the Gulf States†). The exchange rate of a currency is determined by the â€Å"purchasing power parity†. For eg. If 10 gms of 24 carat gold can be bought with 1 USD and same amount of gold can be purchased with 4 Qatar riyal then 1$ equals to 4 Qatar riyal. This is how the exchange rate of every currency is determined in the world market (Saville â€Å"How are currency exchange rates determined†). â€Å"The value of a currency is usually determined by the demand for and supply of that currency.† For