Motivation In A Business Start Up Business Essay

Motivation In A Business Start Up Business Essay There are misconceptions on the meaning of motivation and the ways in which it influences organisations if at all. Motivation can be seen as the drive an individual has to achieve a set goal; however Laurie J. Mullins (2005) describes motivation as the direction and persistence of action. There has been a wide range of research concerning the topic of motivation; however there are still arguments on the extent to which it has an influence on existing businesses and if so how these businesses can use it to their advantage. I am quite intrigued by the idea of motivation, as my main aim at present is to become a Financial Manager. As a result of this main aim I have decided to broaden the ideas I have about individuals thinking and the factors that increase their performance during the course of this assignment for future use. Research and Observation Using books and online case studies I have found that it could be argued that motivation is quite a broad topic as there are many aspects to it; however I find that motivation is as simple as an individuals desire to achieve. Business analysts like Mullins (2007:251) have identified that motivation is not only brought about by the individual but also by the environment in which they are working in. Laurie J Mullins (2005) seems to believe that performance = function (ability * motivation) which seems to suggest that an individuals motivation to achieve is a factor of their performance (for example how well they get the job done). This then brings about the main question, how essential is motivation in a business setup? How can motivation be practised in a given business set up? The Volvo case study (Robbins, Judge, Campbell 2010); Volvo being a car manufacturing business, its goal was to motivate its employees to produce these quality cars which would in turn maximise its profits. In order to motivate its employees it decided to practice the strategies of a self-managed team, where the team members were responsible for producing the cars and had a supervisor to report to if any problems were to occur. Volvo genuinely believed that this autonomy would motivate employees to would harder, however it all went pear shaped as it turned out that the meetings with supervisors were now get-togethers where the team members criticised each others performances to the supervisor. Having observed this strategy we find that this was not a form of motivation, as the individuals felt they had to work in order to reduce complaints about them to the team supervisors, not because they genuinely wanted to perform better. Many companies like Volvo set out to motivate their emplo yees in various ways (such as the self-managed team), but I believe that the business should then be aware and monitor their strategies to make sure they go according to their plans. The way I see it is that the situation with Volvo may be seen as an ethical issue as the employee stress could have resulted due to the fact that they always had to watch their backs when working (due to the fact that they may have felt that their jobs were not secure). This thereby demonstrates that businesses have identified that their employees need to be motivated in order to perform on the job. This self-management strategy turned out to be a great strategy for the business product line, but the real question is was this strategy an incentive? Linstead, Fullop and Lilly (2004) point out McKenna (1999: 301) states that the topic of motivation has lost its relevance and needs to be replaced with concepts such as sense making, identity and diversity. He seems to believe that motivation is brought about by the individual; organisation intervention suggests that the organisations are influencing or manipulating the situation as we have identified with the Volvo case study. McKenna (1999)s theory being quite an interesting observation one is able to visualise what he was trying to put across (Volvo case study), but does this then mean that motivation can only be brought about by the individual, with it being essential to businesses? There are other researchers such as Roy Jacques (1996:160-1) who believe that, there are categories of workers who do not need motivation, who are more career and professionally oriented. However observing ourselves we find that each individual, not looking at whether they are career oriented or not, has days when they feel down or times when they do not feel like performing. There then has to be an incentive to encourage them to carry out their daily routines, such money or the need to socialise which we know as motivation incentives. Having acknowledged this observation, if an individual needs motivation to carry out their daily routines then we are reluctant to believe that (all the more) they will need them in order to perform at a high standard for the business to achieve its goals. Marchese (2003) As identified above, there are quite a number of theories different researchers have come up with, which now shape the way in which many individuals perceive motivation. All the theories above, in one way or another are stating that individuals need to be motivated in order to perform, thereby implying that the more motivated an individual is the higher their performance level will be. One of the well-known theories of motivation being Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs, Maslows theory argues that individuals have a hierarchy of needs, that motivation is attained by satisfying higher order needs, as identified below; Conclusion Siemens is an organisation that has based its motivational theories for employees on Maslows Hierarchy of needs. This was a result of the organisation acknowledging that not only do production levels increase when its employees are motivated but other factors too, such as the fact that employees who are motivated feel that their work is valued, which inspires them to take pride in the tasks they perform. Ultimately Siemens has identified that with as a set of demotivated staff; the organisation loses out on benefitting from factors that revolve around production maximisation. An example is that if staff do not feel valued (an incentive to motivation) then the organisation is more likely to suffer from staff absences or high staff turnover as no individual desires to be in an environment where they feel they are not required. This then brings the topic back to product/profit maximisation; the more absent the employees are the less the organisation will produce and the less profit the organisation will make. The higher the employee turnover (job satisfaction is low) a business has the more money it has to spend on recruitment which means the more the business loses money. This altogether brings down the level of efficiency the production level of the business is. Here we have only identified one aspect in which motivation increases performance, there are many more such as the fact that motivated individuals are more willing to work together as they feel they are all working towards the same goal, self-achievement. This is implying that the more employees feel that their needs are being met, the more they are willing to achieve the business needs, thereby stating that motivating employees in turn motivates the business. Work Cited Marchese M.C., 2003. Phycology applied to work; Concept Charts for Study and Review for Muchinskys, 12;24 Linstead S, Fulop L, Lilley S, 2004. Management and Organisation; a critical text, 9; 281-282 Robbins S.P., Judge T.A., Campbell T.T., 2010. Organisational Behaviour, 6;140-195 Mullins L.J., 2005, 2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour, 4; 471-503, 7;250-285 Mckenna E 1994. Business Psychology Organisation Behaviour; a student handbook, 2;63-107 The Siemens Case Study- http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/case-studymotivation-within-a-creative-environment89-405-2.php#ixzz13WeKNXsZ

Is Sex Good for Our Health

When you're in the mood, it's a sure bet that the last thing on your mind is boosting your immune system or maintaining a healthy weight. Yet good sex offers those health benefits and more. That's a surprise to many people, says Joy Davidson, PhD, a New York psychologist and sex therapist. â€Å"Of course, sex is everywhere in the media,† she says. â€Å"But the idea that we are vital, sexual creatures is still looked at in some cases with disgust or in other cases a bit of embarrassment. So to really take a look at how our sexuality adds to our life and enhances our life and our health, both physical and psychological, is eye-opening for many people.† Sex does a body good in a number of ways, according to Davidson and other experts. The benefits aren't just anecdotal or hearsay — each of these 10 health benefits of sex is backed by scientific scrutiny. Among the benefits of healthy loving in a relationship: Sex-Drive Killers Slideshow 1. Sex Relieves Stress A big health benefit of sex is lower blood pressure and overall stress reduction, according to researchers from Scotland who reported their findings in the journal Biological Psychology. They studied 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. Then the researchers subjected them to stressful situations — such as speaking in public and doing verbal arithmetic — and noted their blood pressure response to stress. Those who had intercourse had better responses to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained. Another study published in the same journal found that frequent intercourse was associated with lower diastolic blood pressure in cohabiting participants. Yet other research found a link between partner hugs and lower blood pressure in women. 2. Sex Boosts Immunity Good sexual health may mean better physical health. Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had. Those in the â€Å"frequent† group — once or twice a week — had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups — who reported being abstinent, having sex less than once a week, or having it very often, three or more times weekly. 3. Sex Burns Calories Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: 42 half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions. â€Å"Sex is a great mode of exercise,† says Patti Britton, PhD, a Los Angeles sexologist and president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators and Therapists. It takes work, from both a physical and psychological perspective, to do it well, she says.

What Are the Gnomic Present Tense Verbs

In English grammar, the gnomic present is a verb in the present tense used  to express a general truth without reference to time. The gnomic present is also called gnomic aspect and generic aspect. The gnomic present can often be found in  maxims, proverbs,  and  aphorisms. The word gnomic comes from the Greek for thought, judgment. There is a difference between the gnomic present and the historical present. Karen Raber, Ashgate Critical Essays on Women Writers in England The  gnomic present  reassures the reader that the history does not depart from received wisdom while the historic present suggests to the listener that its significance is relevant to the moment in which the story is told.   Examples and Observations A fool and his money are soon parted.A penny saved is a penny earned.A rising tide lifts all boats.A rolling stone gathers no moss.The secret of happiness is  not to do what you like to do but to learn to like what you have to do.The earth rotates  on its axis every 24 hours  and revolves around the sun once every year. Quotes About the Gnomic Present Tense Joan Bybee, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca, The Evolution of Grammar Another use that Present Tenses sometimes have is...in timeless or generic statements, such as elephants have trunks. Such statements are true in the past, present, and future — as long as elephants exist. The usual term for this meaning is gnomic present. Gnomic: the situation described in the proposition is generic; the predicate has held, holds, and will hold for the class of entities named by the subject. Deirdre N. McCloskey, The Rhetoric of Economics Economic style appeals in various ways to an ethos worthy of belief. For example, a test claiming authority uses the gnomic present, as in the sentence you are reading now, or in the Bible, or repeatedly in the historian David Landess well-known book on modern economic growth, The Unbound Prometheus. Thus, in one paragraph on p. 562, large-scale, mechanized manufacture requires not only machines and buildings...but...social capital...These are costly because the investment required is lumpy...The return on such investment is often long deferred. Only the last sentences of the paragraph connect the rest to the narrative past: the burden has tended to grow.The advantage of the gnomic present is its claim to the authority of General Truth, which is another of its names in grammar...The disadvantage is that it sidesteps whether it is asserting a historical fact...or a general truth...or perhaps merely a tautology. H. Tsoukas and C. Knudsen, The Oxford Handbook of Organization Theory What are the advantages of the use of the gnomic present?...Partly, it has to do with ethos: both [the] Bible and folklore wisdom favor the gnomic present. Partly, it is a matter of [a] special kind of logos. There is no base on which to contest a statement in gnomic present. Any sentence situated in real time and place can be contested as to its validity: there are other witnesses, or at least there are counter-examples from different places and times. Not so with the gnomic present, which is situated no-place in no-time. Quote Using Gnomic Present Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge A mob  is  usually a creature of very mysterious existence, particularly in a large city. Where it  comes  from, or  whither  it  goes, few men can tell. Assembling and dispersing with equal suddenness, it  is  as difficult to follow to its various sources  as  the sea itself. Sheldon Cooper, The Lizard-Spock Expansion, The Big Bang Theory Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, rock crushes scissors. Sources Bybee, Joan, et al. The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, November 15, 1994.Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge. Kindle edition, Amazon Digital Services LLC, May 12, 2012.Landes, D.S. The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, July 14, 2003.McCloskey, Deirdre N. The Rhetoric of Economics (Rhetoric of the Human Sciences). 2nd Edition, University of Wisconsin Press, April 15, 1998.Raber, Karen. Ashgate Critical Essays on Women Writers in England, 1550-1700: Volume 6: Elizabeth Cary. 1st Edition, Routledge, May 15, 2017.The Lizard-Spock Expansion. The Big Bang Theory. CBS, 2008. Television.Tsoukas, Haridimos (Editor). The Oxford Handbook of Organization Theory: Meta-theoretical Perspectives (Oxford Handbooks). Christian Knudsen (Editor), 1st Edition, Oxford University Press, May 29, 2003.

An Examination Of The Colonist s Retaliation Against...

An Examination of the Colonist’s Retaliation against British Crown’s Taxation The American colonies were justified in their response to the taxes King George III and Parliament applied on the colonist as Britain allowed this new world to form its own reality and sense of independence by refusing to financially support the colonies and ignoring the large gap that developed over time between the colonies and Britain. For years Britain’s economy reaped the rewards of financial gain through the laws of the Navigation Acts which forced the use of only British vessels for trade between the Britain and its colonies and the Triangle Trade which Britain and its colonies and Africa traded between themselves for slaves, raw goods and manufactured products. During this time Britain’s concern for a relationship with its colonies diminished and as time passed so did the colonists sense of being British. As more immigrants from other nations settled in the colonies and children born in this new land became adults, being British lessened. This new blended generation romanced new religious ideas and explored theories on free will and democracy during the Enlightenment period, which led to the disenchantment of the colonies with a monarch led government. Britain struggled with control and power over the colonies as it became unclear who was governing the colonies and Britain focused only on its law s over shipping and British ports to maintain funds for the crown and soon neglected