Applying Marxism to contemporary issues of work and employment The WritePass Journal

Applying Marxism to contemporary issues of work and employment Introduction Applying Marxism to contemporary issues of work and employment IntroductionBibliography:Related Introduction Marx’s extensive writings about society, economics and politics, hold that all society progresses through class struggle. He was particularly critical of capitalism. Marx argued that current society is run by the wealthy middle and upper classes purely for their own benefit and predicted this would produce internal tensions (and eventually self-destruction and the rise of a new form of society, socialism). Marx’s ideas of ownership of production, alienation and power relationships may play a key role in explaining contemporary issues in work and employment such as lack of job security, having a voice within the workplace and discrimination. As stated in â€Å"The workplace and social democracy in the post-crisis age†, the financial crisis and recession have caused a change in attitudes towards employment relationships. More now than ever employees worry about job security. Marx belonged to a period of industrial society, whereby factories had thousands of employees all under one authoritative figure, the Boss or Manager. Job Security in this era was not a massive issue as it is now in contemporary times. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1999 published the results of Job Insecurity and Work Intensification survey and showed that job insecurity had steadily been rising since the second world war. The majority of job insecurity lay in the manufacturing industries and blue-collar workers during the 1970’s and 1980#s but at the beginning of the 1990’s professional and managerial workers had their first great exposure to job insecurity. The information age which we now live in has cost many civil servant s their jobs, due to streamlining of systems through computer technology. White collar workers were much less prepared for the changes affecting their occupation. Because redundancy had never occurred to these workers before, the idea of unemployment caused most to experience anxiety and insecurities. Some argue this is an overreaction when compared to the bigger issue of insecurity experienced by the working classes (Giddens, 2009). Anxieties from job insecurities can lead to â€Å"loss of control† and a link has been made between job insecurity and poor overall health (Burchell et al, 1996). This feeling of helplessness against impending unemployment can be explained by Marx’s theory of alienation. Blauner (1964) argued that the introduction of automation to factories has reduced worker alienation. Automation has helped to â€Å"integrate the workforce and gave workers a sense of control over their work that had been lacking with other forms of technology†.   Evidently having a sense of ownership towards your work and feeling part of a community diminishes alienation and in turn will diminish any sense of job insecurity: as workers will feel their role within the workplace is needed. Richard Sennett (1998) conducted a study of workers in a bakery which had an automated high-tech production line. Ironically none of the workers were actually bakers but workers trained in how to use the machinery, but only how to use the machinery. The â€Å"bakers† had no physical contact with the bread at any point. Computers decided every aspect of the baking process. However, despite the workers being skilled with computers, not one was trained in how to fix the computers when they broke, causing massive disruption amongst the production line. Sennett found that the workers wanted to be useful and fix the computers but did not because the automation had destroyed their autonomy. Computer technology within the workplace has not only led to an in crease in workers’ skills but also a group of clerical, service and production workers who lack autonomy in their jobs, are alienated from their work, and lack job security. Another issue concerning work and employment in the UK currently is the movement of work. In a bid for maximum profit, some companies have moved the work from its country of origin to developing countries, where the work is cheaper.   Now British companies such as Primark and Matalan have been accused of exploiting workers in these other countries because of their extremely low pricing. It is widely known that transnational factories in developing countries use sweatshop conditions, child labour and pay exploitative rates of pay. Any codes of conduct put in place are either sneakily avoided or completely disregarded altogether: â€Å"research consistently revealed an inadequate, if not poor, level of integration of CSR and Code compliance responsibilities in the internal structure of MNEs and suppliers† (ILO, 2003). However, as wrong as we may think this is, it could be argued that there has just been a shift in location of exploitation. Marx argued that the bourgeoisie, or the owners of production, exploited workers during the period of feudalism. Society was divided into peasants who worked on the land and nobles who were paid in terms of both crops and labour in return for protection, during this period wages were practically unheard of. For Marx, owning land and being able to take food from peasants if fundamentally different from being a peasant working on the land. Peasants (according to Marx) were a group with shared interests and attitudes and nobles were another. This still applies to today’s world of transnational corporations (TNCs). TNCs open factories in developing countries where cheaper labour can be found. The motives between TNCs and nobles are not all that dissimilar. Although TNCs have the resources to choose where to place their factories, such as technology, money and power, whereas nobles were born into a position of power and had no desire to move as they were meant to serve a duty to protect the fundamental relationship b etween owner and producer are still the same. Nobles wanted to extract maximum surplus and gain power, peasants wanted to be free or at the very least have more to eat. The introduction of towns and technology created a possibility for â€Å"free† labour it actually only led to new classes such as bankers and guilders and thus created new conflicts. In modern day society Marx’s theory of class conflict and exploitation is still relevant. TNCs take the role of the nobles or the owner of production and sweatshop workers take the role of peasants, exploited for their cheap labour in order for the TNCs to gain maximum profit and inevitable more power. Increasing intensity of international competition, particularly from Far Eastern countries, where wages are lower, weakens unions’ bargaining power (Western, 1997). In the early development of modern industry, workers had little or no political rights and very little influence over the conditions of work in which they were employed. Unions were developed in order to restore this imbalance of power between workers and their employees. Through Unions workers influence within the workplace was considerably increased. Originally, unions were set up as defensive organizations; workers could stop any overwhelming power that employers enforced on workers’ daily lives. Now, workers have negotiating rights with employers (which means they can press for economic benefits and any problems within the workplace can be discussed). Unions have essentially enabled workers to have a voice within the workplace and in turn have helped the working classes battle through their struggle with the bourgeoisie, as Marx highlighted. â€Å"Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of modern industry, the proletariat is its special and essential product.† Marx depicted the working classes as in a constant resistance to acquire a voice/power and the introduction of Unions, especially the dramatic influence Unions gained after the second world war, has made this a possibility. However, alongside international competition, there are several other factors that have created a fall in union density within industries. High levels of unemployment due to recession in the world economic activity, particularly during the 1980s has weakened the bargaining power of labour and the introduction of right-wing governments such as Margaret Thatcher in 1979 led to an aggressive assault on unions throughout the 1980s. These attacks on unions can be seen replicated in the recent conservative coalition government as well. But possibly the most prominent of union failings was seen during the National Union of Minors strike in the UK in 1984-5. Marx believed that â€Å"the proletariat is a revolutionary class† and that at some point the working classes would rise against the owners of production. However, this is unlikely to occur any time soon. Union membership has declined considerably in industrialized countries and right-wing governments are not the only source of blame. High unemployment and more flexible production decrease the force of unionism (unionism works well when many people work together in large factories and there is a collective atmosphere). Having considered this though, Unions are highly unlikely to disappear. Workers individually have very little say or power when it comes to their employment and rely heavily on unions to provide this type of support.   The collective strength that unions give to wo rkers enables the proletariat to carry on with their struggle against the bourgeoisie and as long as unions continue to work hard in stabilizing their position within the economic and political sphere then trade unions are likely to be here to stay. However, the chances of their ever being an uprising as Marx has suggested in his writings is dubious. Dwindling memberships to unions suggest people are losing faith in union support and this implies that workers have almost given up in their â€Å"struggle†. One of the aims of unions is to eradicate discrimination within the workforce. Discrimination in the workplace has always been a recurring issue. Gender divisions within the workplace have never been eradicated, nor has ethnicity (not fully anyway). Divisions of labour between genders have been evident in humanity for thousands of years. Inequality in modern day society is seen as wrong. From an economic view point not making use of everyone’s maximum potential regardless of their gender, class or ethnicity is wasteful. From a Marxist perspective, societies that have inequality will suffer. But for women, it can be questionable if women are in the job market at all? Women suffer from a dual burden (Young, 2000). In modern society women are expected to maintain a job whilst dealing with domestic chores and childcare. Because of these responsibilities thrust upon women, women are more likely to be found in certain job sectors which tend to be low in status. Women are more likely to be found in â€Å"poor quality† jobs (part time, temporary, low pay, long hours, unpleasant, few benefits). Again this seems unlikely to be choice (or not â€Å"free† choice) but some have argued that these jobs reflect women’s preference for jobs compatible with home life and child care. Marxist feminists argue that men benefit from family life at the expense of women. Women as mothers are pressured by culture to have children and to take time out of the labour market to bring them up. These children become the workforce of the future at little or no expense to the capitalist class. This also benefits men, because it means that women cannot compete on a level playing field for jobs or promotion opportunities if their first priority is looking after children. But this male dominance is not universal. Some men are even discriminated against in the workforce due to their class or ethnicity. Factors such as language skills intervene causing racial preferences w ithin the workplace. The â€Å"job application culture† we live in requires individuals to give off first impressions that dazzle, however many companies look for image or whether you would â€Å"fit† in to the company. Not having UK qualifications may make applications harder (if an employer does not recognise a level of qualification he is likely to disregard it). Ethnic minority groups come under discrimination, however not all the time and not everywhere. In some companies whereby international relations are crucial to their business, languages skills may come in useful. But still discrimination occurs, whether it is gendered or ethnic. Arguably not making full use of a persons’ skill is wasteful. Economically it should not matter who a person is or what a person looks like for a job to get done. And Marx, in this instance, is correct in stating that not making full potential of every worker will cause society to suffer. Not just at the level of the company, but also at the level of the individual. Bibliography: Blauner, R. (1964) Alienation and Freedom (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) Burchell, B. Et. al (1996) â€Å"Job Insecurity and Work intensification: Flexibility and the Changing boundaries of work† (York: YPS ILO (2003) â€Å"Business and code of conduct implementation: how firms use management systems for social performance† (Geneva: ILO), mimeo Jameson, H. 22 March 2011, â€Å"The Workplace and social democracy in the post-crisis age†, Policy Network, policy-network.net/articles/3981/The-workplace-and-social-democracy-in-the-post-crisis-age, Accessed 25th March 2011 Marx, K. Communist Manifesto. Sennett, R. (1998) The corrosion of character: The personal consequences of work in the new capitalism (London: Norton) Western, B. (1997) Between classes and market: Postwar Unionization in the Capitalist Democracies (Princeton: Princeton University Press) or put poshly appropriate the fruits of our labour but here is the problem according to marx in the evil capitalist system the capitalist (the factory owner) pay the exchange value of labour for an individuals service which is only enough to keep him alive but the capitalist gets the use value of his labour (the total value of the labour) or put poshly appropriate the fruits of our labour but here is the problem according to marx in the evil capitalist system the capitalist (the factory owner) pay the exchange value of labour for an individuals service which is only enough to keep him alive but the capitalist gets the use value of his labour (the total value of the labour)

White-Tailed Deer Facts (Odocoileus virginianus)

White-Tailed Deer Facts (Odocoileus virginianus) The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) gets its name for the white fur on the underside of its tail, which it flashes when it senses a threat. The species includes several subspecies, such as the tiny Florida Key deer and the large northern white-tailed deer. Fast Facts: White-Tailed Deer Scientific Name: Odocoileus virginianusCommon Names: White-tailed deer, whitetail, Virginia deerBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 6-8 feetWeight: 88-300 poundsLifespan: 6-14 yearsDiet: HerbivoreHabitat: North, Central, and northern South AmericaPopulation: 10 millionConservation Status: Least Concern Description The white-tailed deer has a reddish-brown coat in the spring and summer and a gray-brown coat in autumn and winter. The species is easily recognized by the white underside of its tail. Deer have horizontally-slit pupils with dichromatic blue and yellow vision. They cannot readily distinguish between orange and red colors. Deer size depends on sex and habitat. On average, mature specimens range from 6 to 8 feet in length, with a shoulder height around 2 to 4 feet. Deer in colder climates are larger than those found closer to the equator. Mature males, called bucks, weigh 150 to 300 pounds, on average. Mature females, called hinds or does, range from 88 to 200 pounds. Bucks regrow antlers each year in spring and shed them after the breeding season in winter. Antler size and branching is determined by age, nutrition, and genetics. Habitat and Distribution White-tailed deer range from the Yukon in Canada through the United States (except Hawaii and Alaska) and Central America south to Brazil and Bolivia. In the United States, the black-tailed or mule deer displaces the white-tailed deer west of the Rocky Mountains. Climate change has allowed the white-tailed deer to expand its presence in Canada in recent years. White-tailed deer have been introduced into Europe and the Caribbean and are farmed in New Zealand. Deer have adapted to a variety of habitats, including urban environments. Diet Although sometimes seen during the day, deer primarily browse before dawn and after dusk. White-tailed deer eat plants, including grasses, legumes, leaves, shoots, cacti, corn, fruit, and acorns. They can eat mushrooms and poison ivy with no ill effects. Deer are ruminants, with a four-chambered stomach. The animal needs time to develop gut microbes to digest new food as its diet changes, so feeding deer a food that is not found in the wild may harm it. While white-tailed deer are primarily herbivores, they are also opportunistic predators that will take mice and birds. White-tailed deer flagging its tail. Jà ©rà ©mie LeBlond-Fontaine, Getty Images Behavior When threatened, a white-tailed deer stomps, snorts, and raises its tail or flags to show the white underside. This signals predator detection and alerts other deer. In addition to sound and body language, deer communicate by marking their territory with urine and scents produced by glands found on their head and legs. A typical deer range is less than a square mile. Females form family groups with a mother and her fawns. Males group with other males, but are solitary during mating season. Reproduction and Offspring The white-tailed deer breeding season, called the rut, occurs in autumn in October or November. Males spar with their antlers to compete for females. Females give birth to one to three spotted fawns in spring. The mother hides her fawns in vegetation, returning to nurse them four or five times a day. Young are weaned around 8 to 10 weeks of age. Bucks leave their mothers and mature at about 1.5 years of age. Does may become sexually mature at 6 months of age, but typically do not leave their mother or breed until their second year. The life expectancy of a white-tailed deer ranges from 6 to 14 years. White-tailed doe and her fawn. Daniel J. Cox, Getty Images Conservation Status The IUCN classifies the conservation status of the white-tailed deer as least concern. The overall population is stable, although some subspecies are threatened. The Florida Key deer and Colombian white-tailed deer are both listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Deer are preyed upon by wolves, pumas, American alligators, bears, coyotes, lynx, bobcats, wolverines, and feral dogs. Eagles and crows may take fawns. However, the greatest threats come from habitat loss, overhunting, and motor vehicle collision. White-Tailed Deer and Humans Deer cause economic damage to farmers and pose a threat to motorists. They are hunted for game and sport and farmed for meat, pelts, and antlers. In some places, it is legal to keep white-tailed deer as pets. While captive deer are intelligent and affectionate, bucks may become aggressive and can cause serious injury. Sources Bildstein, Keith L. Why White-Tailed Deer Flag Their Tails. The American Naturalist. 121 (5): 709–715, May, 1983. doi:10.1086/284096Fulbright, Timothy Edward and J. Alfonso Ortega-S. White-tailed deer habitat: ecology and management on rangelands. Texas AM University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58544-499-1.Gallina, S. and Arevalo, H. Lopez. Odocoileus virginianus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T42394A22162580. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T42394A22162580.enPost, Eric and Nils Stenseth. Large-Scale Climatic Fluctuation and Population Dynamics of Moose and White-Tailed Deer. Journal of Animal Ecology. 67 (4): 537–543, July, 1998. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1998.00216.x

Promoting Positive Health Behaviors Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Promoting Positive Health Behaviors - Article Example Summary of Every Woman Matters Program The Every Woman Matters Program (EWM) was designed to promote preventive healthcare service to females. The specific preventive healthcare strategies aimed at were improved screening of breast and cervical cancer. To this end, the program targeted healthcare providers with an aim of promoting practice change in their operations. Consequently, the EWM program utilized the GAPS model procedure to device interventions within the healthcare provider practice (Backer et al. 2005). These interventions would be targeted at removing obstacles towards preventive breast and cervical cancer. As a result, the achievable goals set were; to increase public awareness pertaining to the risk of breast and cervical cancer. Moreover, it aimed to increase awareness on the benefits of screening. Furthermore, the program aimed at reducing the cost of screening to low income females. The practice based interventions employed were based on case studies conducted with s even individual practices. The core aims of the practice intervention were to; aid the practices identify obstacles pertaining to the delivery of screening services. Second, was to aid the practices in creating plans for mitigation of the barriers. Third was to promote the services of the EWM program to females from low incomes. Despite these well articulated goals, the EWM program fell short of achieving its core objective. Reasons for Ineffectiveness of the EWM Program The overall aim of the EWM program was to increase the level of breast and cervical cancer screening among healthcare practices. However, the program was not effective in achieving its objective due to myriad of reasons. Foremost, the practice change method for promoting EWM program lacked the sufficient support and leadership role by the leaders in the healthcare providers. The successful implementation of the goals for promoting preventive healthcare for women requires the motivational factor and sense of leadersh ip from heads of practices. Consequently, the program was ineffective since the momentum for promoting the program was not spearheaded by some of the leaders across the practices. A second plausible reason for the failure of the program was the insufficient level of teamwork between support staff and leader of the respective practices. Consequently, the lack of synergy in implementing the EWM program resulted in the over burdening of either the support staff or leaders. Third pertains to the issue of disparities in resources among the various healthcare practices. The healthcare practices all had different amounts of resources available to them based on their organizational capacities. Furthermore, the health care practices were operating within the limits of their resources. Consequently, additional resources for the EWM program were not sufficiently explored within the action plans for each healthcare practice. The fourth reason for the ineffectiveness of the EWM program was the i nsufficient public awareness creation mechanism pertaining to the need for screening. The need for successful increase in screening of breast and cervical cancer requires sufficient and mandatory public awareness. Consequently, the program was ineffective owing to insufficient efforts aimed at promoting community outreach through a variety of media such as increased free testing clinics and radio programs. Characteristics of

Seed predation in exotic and native legumes Lab Report

Seed predation in exotic and native legumes - Lab Report Example This way the exotic species reproduce fast and form dense populations thereby eliminating the native species that had initially thrived in the ecosystem freely. These are referred to as invasive exotic species. Exotic species are also referred to as non-indigenous species in many books. According to Keane and Crawley 2012, the most straightforward and appealing explanation for the rapid establishment and proliferation of non-indigenous species is that they are produced from the effects of their common foes and pathogens. The enemy release hypothesis explains that the abundance or impact of some non-indigenous species is related to the scarcity of natural enemies in the introduced range compared with the native range. This experiment is aimed at evaluating the effect of invasive exotic species in the ecosystem. Pods of A. lebbeck and L. latisiquum will be used to show the damage by our predator which in our case is the Bruchid beetles. The frequency of the holes made in the pods of the two different species will help us to generate our hypothesis with the two variables being used to generate the hypothesis being the origin of the species and the damage caused. The Chi-square test which will be done at the end of the practical session will be used to determine whether or not the damage caused on the seed pods was independent of the origin of the species. Our chi-square results will provide evidence of the dependence of damage on the origin of the species that we used. According to Siemann and Rogers 2003, the existence of exotic species could be enhanced by better adaptation methods and faster growth rate in the prevailing conditions. Further with time the native species could have generated many enemies and so its survival is further limited, Blossey & NÃ ¶tzold 1995. If the exotic species has developed a resistance to the Bruchid beetles then it

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.