What Qualities Should an Effective Leader Possess free essay sample

What characteristics should a compelling pioneer have? l guess administration at one time implied muscles; yet today it implies coexisting with individuals. The pre-famous profound pioneer of India, Mohandas K. Gandhi, mentions to us what administration truly is being a social butterfly. Pioneers are not the individuals who make progress by underhand techniques, however they are the ones that comprehend his devotees before embraced the troublesome Job of administration. Certain characteristics are important to enable powerful pioneers to comprehend their adherents, for example, fair-mindedness, compelling ommunication and cooperation. One trademark that a genuinely viable pioneer ought to have is fairness. As a pioneer, acting in an unprejudiced and impartial way fundamentally implies being reasonable and equivalent in the treatment for all as far as remunerations. Indeed, what is so significant about being reasonable? Unbiasedness is the way to trust, and trust is the concrete which holds an association or nation together. Envision a CEO of an organization advancing just the truly ones, not on the grounds that they put in exertion, yet for their looks, forgetting about the individuals who may look progressively remarkable however buckled down. We will compose a custom exposition test on What Qualities Should an Effective Leader Possess? or then again any comparative point explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page How might the individuals who put in much exertion yet not getting advanced feel? Double-crossed, segregated and minimized. Many would in the long run quit and Join an alternate organization. Then again, being fair can work up increasingly positive emotions among supporters. Many would feel the harmony and straightforwardness placing all their trust into their pioneers hands. Be that as it may, being unprejudiced is harder than it appears on a superficial level. What we consider as acting in a reasonable way may not be seen by others as reasonable. This is the reason many can't turn into a successful pioneer. The second quality every single successful pioneer should have is compelling correspondence. There is a scarcely discernible difference among correspondence and directing. Correspondence is a two-way thing, while instructing is a do-it-or-leave-it thing. Numerous people hate getting directed for one straightforward explanation: they don't have a decision, in any case. Correspondence is the piece of machinery that breaks the boundary between a pioneer and his devotees. By comprehension and tuning in, a pioneer can assemble connections between a pioneer and his devotees and aybe help their certainty. With great working connections, a pioneer can progress in the direction of his objectives with his supporters considerably more without any problem. The last and most significant expertise successful pioneers ought to learn is to think collaboration. A pioneer can't make all out progress without anyone else. I accept that the notable pyramid model of an association, with its pioneer at the exceptionally top, is bogus. Everybody in that association is as far as anyone knows equivalent; they are Just doing various Jobs at various degrees of trouble, yet at the same time progressing in the direction of similar objectives. Viable pioneers ought to comprehend that collaboration is fundamental and begin getting included and in contact with his adherents. They should comprehend that l can't make due without them and the other way around. They should think as far as We and not l. Trust, connections and cooperation are for the most part basic for everything to function admirably. Every single viable pioneer should realize the fundamental and significant aptitudes to have the option to lead the association or nation. Without learning these aptitudes, pioneers can once in a while be esteemed powerful. Subsequently, learn constantly, and with these

Financial Statement Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Budget report Analysis - Research Paper Example It gives attention to the speculators in that control them in settling on significant venture choices. The examination of the firm will uncover its money related foundation, working productivity, liquidity position, and benefit, going concern, and capital structure and equipping position. Industry investigation encourages the comprehension of the working condition, recognizable proof of outer dangers and open doors for speculation, examination of patterns inside the business and the general execution of the business. The Yum! Brands Inc. is a drive-through eatery fused in 1927. The organization builds up, works, establishments and licenses a worldwide arrangement of eateries, which make, pack and sell a menu of valued food products. The organization has three ground-breaking brands, TACO Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, which has constantly supported its gainfulness throughout the years. Throughout the years, the organization has announced increment in turnover, benefits and comes back to investors. The income per portion of the organization has an upwards pattern for as far back as eight years except for 2013 when the profit dropped essentially (Morningstar Inc., 2014). The company’s development is driven by its ground-breaking brands, prevalent promoting systems, advancement advancements and contending values, and wandering into new markets (Yum! Brands Inc., 2014). The café business in the U.S is profoundly serious with major global organizations, for example, Yum! Brands, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Chipotle. Individual salary, socioeconomics and purchaser tastes and inclinations drive request in this industry. Singular elements in the business have changed productivity levels. Though the fast help eateries depend on high-volume turnover and productive tasks, the full-administration cafés depend on viable promoting and high-edge things. This industry is encountering an upward development pattern in deals, gainfulness and investors returns throughout the years

Living la vida lab rat

Living la vida lab rat A few entries back, Lena asked How did you get the job in the lab and are the experiments you do designed by yourself or postdocs, professors, and grad students? The easiest question there to answer is how I got my job. The summer before my sophomore year, I emailed about ten professors whose work looked interesting, including my resume and a short cover letter. I got responses from two faculty members, interviewed with one, and took the job. Ive been in that lab for two and a half years now; I work about 12-15 hours a week during term and 40 a week during summer and IAP. I have my name on a poster that was presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting and on a paper thats being revised for publication in Cell. When I declared biology as my second major, I picked my UROP supervisor to be my biology advisor (if you have two majors, you get two advisors too), and he (apparently) wrote an absolutely stunning letter of recommendation for my graduate school applications. In the first project I worked on in the lab, the experiments were designed almost exclusively by the postdoc with whom I work directly, Albert. I was still learning how to do all the different lab protocols, and since I didnt know how to do most of them, I couldnt very well design my own experiments. Although I wasnt in charge of experimental design for this project, its not like Albert was hanging over my shoulder watching me do the experiments he usually doesnt bother me unless I ask for help. Alberts an MD/PhD, and works one day a week at Massachusetts General Hospital curing the sick, so even when I wasnt designing the experiments I had a lot of freedom and when Alberts not in the lab, I get to take over his desk! The project Ive been working on for the past year is my baby, and Ive done all of the technical work on it. Albert still helps me with experimental design, but I have a strong enough understanding of both the project and the technical options available to me that I have most of the control. Alberts always there to help me if I get confused or hit a dead end. I read all the literature regarding my proteins, and when we meet with Morgan (the professor in charge of our lab), its my job to prepare a short powerpoint presentation and explain our results to him. Albert says that if I finish the project by the time I graduate, I get to write the first draft of and be first author on the paper describing it. In some sort of larger sense, what I work on is constrained by what Morgan finds interesting if I woke up one day and wanted to start a totally new project unrelated to anything Morgans interested in, that probably wouldnt fly. Generally, youll get more freedom as you work longer in the lab and prove your competence to a greater degree, so good luck just walking into the office of a professor youve never worked for and proposing some crazy research project unrelated to their research goals. You dont generally get to do that as an undergrad hell, you dont generally get to do that as a grad student. You might get to do it as a postdoc. This is because science is run by the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rules. In a proximal sense, the person with the gold is the professor (also called principal investigator or PI; in my case, Morgan) who runs the lab and gets NIH grants; in an ultimate sense, the government is the one with all the gold making all the rules. Science is overwhelmingly funded by grants from government agencies like the NIH, NSF, DOD, or DOE, and the research a given lab does is largely constrained by the optimization of what that lab finds interesting and what their favorite government agency is likely to fund. Until we get more rich friends like Howard Hughes (who started a foundation that lavishly funds the most promising 300 scientists in the US, twelve of whom are at MIT, including Morgan), thats the way things are going to be. This focus on doing research thats likely to be funded leads to what I like to call last sentence syndrome. The last sentence of every labs research description goes something like and this research will lend insight into the process by which [choose one: cells become cancerous, brains get Alzheimers, hearts get heart disease]. This is because the NIH is devoted to funding biomedical research, and likes to see that its buckets of money are being used to find cures. So when they see that last sentence, the NIH is all yayyyy! and the scientist getting the funding is all yayyyy! and the public reads about it in the newspaper and is all yayyyyy! and the people with life-threatening illnesses are all so that cure for my life-threatening illness that you said was going to happen with gene-transfer therapy ten years ago and with stem cells last year did you send that by FedEx? Because I HAVENT GOTTEN IT and maybe FedEx has the wrong address. kthxbye. So the moral of the story is that freedom is relative in science. And that we all need more rich friends. My week, and my weekend. I worked in the lab 30 hours this week. This was, of course, in addition to taking three classes, cheerleading, and answering an absurd number of questions on CC. And fun stuff, like walking home from work with Jessie, eating pizza in Bens office with the other bloggers, interviewing five GRT candidates for my living group, and stopping by Bens office and talking for an hour, resulting in me being late to cook dinner for Adam and Ben writing me an excuse note. So it was a good week, just extraordinarily exhausting. And Adam and I decided we needed to get off-campus and go out to dinner and see a movie. I wanted to see V for Vendetta because Id heard it was a gripping dystopic view of a totalitarian society; Adam wanted to see it because he heard that lots of stuff got blown up. Well, at least we both wanted to see it. We hopped on the T and got off at Kenmore Square, where we ate dinner at the Pizzeria Uno next to Fenway Park. (One of the best things about going to school next to a major city is that its really easy to get off-campus and eat at restaurants and do fun stuff. One of the best things about going to school next to Boston is that there are so many college students in town that you can do those things on a budget.) After that, we went to the movie (which was amazing) at the Fenway AMC, where I had to eat my apple pie from the restaurant with a straw because there were no plastic forks. It actually worked pretty well I slurped up the ice cream, then scooped the pie crust and speared the apples. Necessity is the mother of invention. Again. After the show ended, we hopped back on the T and got back to campus around 11. It was a nice little night on the town. Short answers to questions. 1. Anonymous asked Does anyone know how the proportion of women to men breaks down by department? Ask and ye shall receive. 2. A course 7 prospective wrote I was wondering if you could direct me to an entry that talks about the grad school application process. Im currently a freshie at MIT and was just curious about the grad school application process. My GPA is not looking too hot right now and I was wondering what a typical or range of GPAs would be for admission into a grad school (like the ones that you were admitted into; and congrats very much on ur successes! :)) and how much it matters that you attend a HYPMS/MIT vs. say a state school. (like will they even factor that inthat you went to a school w/ very little grade inflation?) First, heres my entry on grad school admissions. Second, yes, grad schools will most definitely consider the fact that you went to MIT. I had a 4.4(/5.0) when I applied, and I got into more (and better) programs than friends of mine from other schools who had 3.9(/4.0) or 4.0(/4.0) averages. At UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvards recruitment weekends, a little over 10% of the prospective students were from MIT. Think about how unlikely that is just from a sheer numbers perspective many, many students from state schools with 4.0s were passed over in favor of the MIT kids with imperfect grades. We have stellar research experience, and thats what graduate schools care about. If you shoot for an overall GPA of between 4.2 and 4.5 at MIT, you should be fine as long as you have plenty of research under your belt. Finally, I will note that your GPA will almost certainly go up from what it is freshman year. First term freshman year, I got a 3.25(/5.0) or would have, if first term werent pass/no record! and second term I got a 4.0/5.0, with a C in 8.02. Ive pulled two straight 4.8s in the last two terms, and now have a solid 4.5.

College Athletes Deserve to Be Paid Essay - 1002 Words

Sports were created for the enjoyment of beings and friendly competition. Today society has shifted the friendly competition to more of a money based system rather than fun and games. The typical athletes’ road to success is starting from a young age, playing in high school, and then receiving a scholarship for College and all athletes overall objective is to constantly get better and play professionally. Universities have really manipulated athletes in the world today giving them â€Å"free education† for the exchange of their blood, sweet, and tears, while they receive revenue that athletes bring in yearly. It is very evident that College athletes deserve to be paid, and universities need to find a way to pay them a reasonably amount because†¦show more content†¦Although the athletes receive scholarship offers they are also cheated out of income that the universities receive for all of the hard work that the athletes do. Bringing up Alabama again they earned total revenue of $124.5 million in the year of 2013 before New Year’s Day. Alabama’s tuition is about 14,000 dollars. This is a major difference and truly explains how College universities â€Å"Give Athletes Free Education† is not remotely equal at all. â€Å"Being a College athlete is a full time Job† (Lynn OShaughnessy) .So when recruits pick the College of their choice and continuously pursue the road to professionalism the sport that they are playing, it is equivalent to them signing an un-read contract where the offeror receives 100% of the Income. 42.1 hours a week is what Division I baseball players on average spend on their sport. Excluding classes and having a social life on campus this is truly sucking the life and energy out of the College athletes’ bodies and they receive little to nothing in return for all of their hard work. This is more like a full-time intern job. Money is just not given to athletes and they unfairly have to pay for everything that they need. There is no way possible to earn money because of how much time a week they spend on average participating in the sport they â€Å"earned a right to play†. It is not fair to the College athletes who do everything in their powerShow MoreRelatedShould College Athletes Be Paid?1130 Words   |  5 PagesWhat college athlete would not want to be paid to play the sport that he or she loves? The real question is, though, should college athletes be paid for their roles in a college’s athletics? They are many points to each side of this recent controversial topic, which is why this has been made into such a hot debate in the past couple of years. As of right now, these athletes are not getting paid, but many of them truly believe that they should. Others believe that they already are being paid throughRead Morewhy college athletes should be paid1388 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ Why Collegiate Athletes Should be Paid In our world, people who bring in money with their talents are usually compensated for their efforts. It makes complete sense right? Well for college athletes, they bring in billions of dollars worth of revenue for their school, but do not get compensated for their talents whatsoever. Most people argue that only professional athletes should be paid because it is their profession, but people do not take in account for all the hard work and effort these studentRead MoreWhy College Athletes Should Get Paid1309 Words   |  6 PagesAustin Ebeling English 115 Why College Athletes Should Get Paid And Why They Shouldn’t November 18, 2014 Ebeling 2 Intro: How much harder would athletes work if they were paid for their performance on the field, track, or court? College athletes are put to the test each and everyday, they risk their health to entertain millions day in and day out. College athletes deserve part of the money due to the revenue they bring in for their schools and for the NCAA, they deserve the money because they doRead MorePaying College Athletes1455 Words   |  6 PagesWhen it comes to college athletics, there always will be a problem that arises. It is one of the most controversial topics there is. One of the main issues within athletics is the idea of whether to pay college athletes or not. Several studies have been done along with articles from various sources. This has been on the rise especially since â€Å"March Madness† is coming up. â€Å"March Madness† may only consist of three weekends, however, an 11 billion dollar deal is made to televise the games (Wilbon).Read MoreCollege Athletes Should Be P aid For Their Participation1056 Words   |  5 PagesThere is a big debate whether college athletes should get paid for their participation in a sport. I believe that college athlete should get paid. College athletes are taken advantage of in college athletics and deserve to be paid for their time, hard work, and dedication in a sport. College athletics are growing very fast and they are beginning to bring in more money. The highest revenue by a college right now is $196,030,398 by the University of Oregon. College athletes are not seeing any of thisRead MoreCollege Athletics Is A Major Part Of PeopleS Lives Around1364 Words   |  6 PagesCollege athletics is a major part of people s lives around the world. From the athletes playing the various sports to the fans watching from their televisions it has become a huge thing. A portion of these people seem to think that the athletes deserve more then what is already given to them. A question has been brought up and debated on whether or not these athletes should be paid to play. College athletes are hard working young adults trying to earn a degree at whichever school they have chosenRead MoreIt’s Time to Pay College Athletes Essay1704 Words   |  7 PagesCollege athletes should be paid because of the huge amount of money being made off of the use of their athletic ability. The college basketball and football games that everyone watches on TV is no longer just a game, it is a business. The colleges and arenas hosting such events are not doing it solely for the love of sport, they are doing it for the money that will flow generously into their banking accounts. The coaches also, they are not volunteers, they are not there just for their love of theRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1537 Words   |  7 Pagesface is the fact that college athletes are not paid, although they perform in a multibillion dollar industry. The NCAA basically has a monopoly on college athletics, and generate about one bi llion dollars a year. College sports are extremely demanding both in and out of season, and these athletes put their future on the line. The NCAA should be legally obligated to compensate athletes, based solely on the fact that the money made, is from their performance. The National College Athletic AssociationRead MoreToday more than ever, college sports are not just a game but instead a billion dollar business. The1100 Words   |  5 Pagesever, college sports are not just a game but instead a billion dollar business. The NCAA likes to refer to student athletes as amateurs and believes they shouldn’t be compensated while many others can argue that the players are being manipulated and exploited and deserve to be paid for play. Those who support the NCAA’s decision not to pay the players agree that there is no payment system that would fairly pay all students of all sports. They also believe that students are already being paid throughRead MoreShould College Athletes Have the Right to Be Paid? Research Paper1643 Words   |  7 PagesShould college athletes have the right to get paid? The debate has been going on for a while, even more so in the past few years. Many different sports experts and reporters have put in their opinion and there are many different ideas out there. There are numerous ideas of why or why not, and countless different ways that have been suggested. A lot of big name school such as University of Miami and University of Ohio to name a few have been in the news lately for all the discipline they have been

Meitnerium Facts - Mt or Element 109

Meitnerium (Mt) is element 109 on the periodic table. Its one of the few elements that suffered no dispute concerning its discovery or name. Here is a collection of interesting Mt facts, including the elements history, properties, uses, and atomic data. Interesting Meitnerium Element Facts Meitnerium is a solid, radioactive metal at room temperature. Very little is known about its physical and chemical properties, but based on trends in the periodic table, it is believed to behave as a transition metal, like the other actinide elements. Meitnerium is expected to possess properties similar to its lighter homologous element, iridium. It should also share some common properties with cobalt and rhodium.Meitnerium is a man-made element that does not occur in nature. It was first synthesized by a German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Munzenberg in 1982 at the Institute for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt. A single atom of the isotope meitnerium-266 was observed from bombardment of a bismuth-209 target with accelerated iron-58 nuclei. Not only did this process create a new element, but it was the first successful demonstration of the use of fusion to synthesize heavy, new atomic nuclei.Placeholder names for the element, before its formal discovery, includ ed eka-iridium and unnilennium (symbol Une). However, most people simply referred to it as element 109. The only name proposed for the discovered element was meitnerium (Mt), in honor of Austrian physicist Lise Meitner, who was one of the discoverers of nuclear fission and the co-discoverer of the element protactinium (together with Otto Hahn). The name was recommended to the IUPAC in 1994 and formally adopted in 1997. Meitnerium and curium are the only elements named for non-mythological women (although Curium is named in honor of both Pierre and Marie Curie). Meitnerium Atomic Data Symbol: Mt Atomic Number: 109 Atomic Mass: [278] Group: d-block of Group 9 (Transition Metals) Period: Period 7 (Actinides) Electron Configuration:  [Rn] 5f146d77s2   Melting Point: unknown Boiling Point: unknown Density:  The density of Mt metal is calculated to be 37.4 g/cm3 at room temperature. This would give the element the second-highest density of the known elements, after neighboring element hassium, which has a predicted density of 41 g/cm3. Oxidation States: predicted to be 9. 8. 6. 4. 3. 1 with the 3 state as the most stable in aqueous solution Magnetic Ordering: predicted to be paramagnetic Crystal Structure: predicted to be face-centered cubic Discovered: 1982 Isotopes: There are 15 isotopes of meitnerium, which are all radioactive. Eight isotopes have known half-lives with mass numbers ranging from 266 to 279. The most stable isotope is meitnerium-278, which has a half-life of approximately 8 seconds. Mt-237 decays into bohrium-274 via alpha decay. The heavier isotopes are more stable than the lighter ones. Most meitnerium isotopes undergo alpha decay, although a few undergo spontaneous fission into lighter nuclei. Researchers suspected Mt-271 would be a relatively stable isotope because it would have 162 neutrons (a magic number), yet attempts by Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory to synthesize this isotope in 2002-2003 were unsuccessful. Sources of Meitnerium: Meitnerium may be produced either by fusion two atomic nuclei together or via the decay of heavier elements. Uses of Meitnerium: Meitneriums primary use is for scientific research, since only minute amounts of this element have ever been produced. The element plays no biological role and is expected to be toxic due to its inherent radioactivity. Its chemical properties are expected to be similar to noble metals, so if enough of the element is ever produced, it might be relatively safe to handle. Sources Emsley, John (2011).  Natures building blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. Oxford University Press. pp. 492–98. ISBN 978-0-19-960563-7.Greenwood, Norman N.; Earnshaw, Alan (1997).  Chemistry of the Elements  (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-08-037941-8.Hammond, C. R. (2004). The Elements, in  Handbook of Chemistry and Physics  (81st ed.). CRC press. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9.Rife, Patricia (2003). Meitnerium. Chemical Engineering News. 81 (36): 186. doi:10.1021/cen-v081n036.p186Weast, Robert (1984).  CRC, Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Boca Raton, Florida: Chemical Rubber Company Publishing. pp. E110. ISBN 0-8493-0464-4.

The Catcher in The Rye Depression Catcher Free Essays

American Lit 12, March 2012 Depression Catcher Do you have helpless outlook on your life? One minute it’s an outburst of anger. The next you’re crying uncontrollably. Do you need help? The Catcher In The Rye is a novel based of the main character’s point of view, his name is Holden Caulfield. We will write a custom essay sample on The Catcher in The Rye: Depression Catcher or any similar topic only for you Order Now Set in 1950s New York and California, where Holden is a mental hospital telling us, the readers, about his few days after leaving Pency. The movie Ferris’ Bullers Day Off , also set in Chicago, is a movie based in the 1980s. Ferris makes his friends skip school and run all around town trying to make Cameron have fun. In both the film and novel, you see many examples of depression and suicidal thoughts from both Holden and Cameron. Teenagers face a lot of pressures, from puberty to questions about who they are and where they fit in. In The Catcher In The Rye, Holden runs away from his fancy high school, Pency, 3 days before break begins. He felt isolated with no friends. â€Å"I almost wished I was dead† (48). Holden had just gotten in a fight with his roommate, Stradlater. Now Ackley was trying to have a conversation about the fight with Holden but he keeps talking nonsense to Ackley. In Ferris’ Buellers Day Off, Cameron, Ferris’ best friend always seems to be sick. His family isn’t really in his life and when they are, they seems to only bring him down. In the beging scene of Cameron, he is in bed acting like he’s dying. Holden says: â€Å".. she wouldn’t’ve been the ones that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones. So that was out† (pg. 59). He doesn’t seem to have a great relationship with his parents either. Holden wants to talk to his little sister Pheobe or anyone for that matter. He feels isolated within himself which makes him depressed. Cameron is the same in that he is very awkward and no one really seems to want to be friends with him. Towards the end of the book, Holden takes a visit to see Pheope but is unable to find her. He looks in the park and museum. â€Å"The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be just finished catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deer would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers and their pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom ould still be weaving that same blanket† (pg. 121). Therefore, Holden would love to live in a world where everything stays frozen, where nothing changes. This way, Holden can never grow up to be an adult. Cameron is very mad after they got the car back because of all the miles that were added. He goes in to shock and is unable to m ove. Ferris and Sloan try their best to get him out of it but he won’t budge. While at the pool, Cameron falls in, almost committing suicide. Ferris jumps in to save. Cameron starts to laugh saying â€Å"I got you good†. Holden goes home to find Pheobe. Phoebe is the only person Holden seems to actually like and have a stable friendship throughout the novel. She is the only one who tries to push him to do better: â€Å"You don’t like any schools. You don’t like a million things† (pg. 169). When Holden hears this, he becomes upset and states: â€Å"`I do! That’s where you’re wrong-that’s exactly where you’re wrong! Why the hell do you have to say that†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ I said. Boy, was she depressing me. Holden and Cameron are depressed teenagers who have suicidal thoughts because of depression. Depression: severe despondency and dejection, accompanied by feeling of hopelessness and inadequacy, a condition of mental disturbance, typicaly with lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life. People who are depressed don’t look for a way out. They have zero mot ivation and are always second guessing stuff. They think the only way out is death; suicide. Just like what Holden and Cameron seem to feel. How to cite The Catcher in The Rye: Depression Catcher, Essay examples

The Quality of Work Life Is More Important Than Ever

Table of Contents Introduction Work Life: A Brief History How Work Life Affects Organizational performance How to Improve Work Life Balance Discussion Conclusion Works Cited Introduction Quality of Work Life has become an extremely important issue in organizations today. This is because it has been recognized that work-life balance has a direct bearing on the productivity of employees. While organizations could afford to disregard work-life issues in the past with little consequences, they cannot afford to do that today since the business environment is characterized by many competing demands between work and home.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Quality of Work Life Is More Important Than Ever specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These demands have been increased further by demographic changes in the workplace, an ageing population, and the presence of sophisticated communications technologies. As a result, there is a significant increase in the conflict between work and non-work responsibilities for the employee today. When these conflicts are not resolved, the productivity of the employee reduces significantly. To counter these changes and the conflict they bring about, organizations have had to come up with strategies that are aimed at facilitating the employee’s effort to perform optimally at they job while at the same time fulfilling their personal responsibilities. This paper will set out to discuss quality of work life programs provided by organizations. A brief history of work life and how work life affects the corporation’s performance will be given. The paper will also discuss ways through which work-life balance can be improved for the benefit of the employee and the entire organization. Work Life: A Brief History While work-life balance issues have become increasingly important for executive and human resource professionals today, these issues have be en in existent for decades. Work-life began to be given relevance by organizations as far back as the 1960s. However, the focus in these early years was on working mothers who were struggling to balance their work demands with those of raising children (Bird 2). By the 1980s, major organizations had begun to make changes to their internal workplace policies so as to address the family needs of women. These changes included maternity leaves, flexible work hours, home-based work programs, and child-care services. By the end of the decade, men also began to voice concerns over their work-life issues. This resulted in work-life balance became viewed as an issue that affected both genders and not only women. Bird declares that in the 1990s, there was unanimous recognition that work-life balance was a vital issue for all employees regardless of their gender, marital status or parenthood (2). The growing awareness of the importance of the issue led to many attempts being made to come up wi th work-life solutions.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Numerous studies were carried out and it was discovered that prospective workers were making job decisions based on work-life issues (Perry-Smith and Blum 1113). Bird notes that despite the adoption of family-friendly policies by organizations, employees and managers were not implementing them and many people continued to report feeling overworked and out of touch with their non-work lives (2). A general consensus on work-life balance strategies at the beginning of the twenty-first century was that work-life programs had not achieved their intended effects. Stress and overwork were becoming even more prevalent among workers with negative impact on productivity being experienced as a result of this (Bird 3). Today’s organizations are characterized by increased pressure to achieve profitability which trans lates to greater demands being made of the workforce. These pressures, if not properly dealt with, can have a detrimental effect on the life of the individual. It is therefore imperative that the steps be undertaken to ensure that work-life balance is maintained. How Work Life Affects Organizational performance Conflicts between work and non-work responsibilities result in many negative outcomes for both the employee and the organization. Work-life conflicts have been associated with an increase in stress and burnout which results in cognitive difficulties such as staying awake, decreased concentration, and reduced alertness (Anderson et al. 791). Stress and burnout result in decreased performance from the employee which will translate to less productivity for the organization. It is a well established fact that high levels of stress also result in lower job satisfaction by the employee and he/she is therefore less likely to work towards achieving organizational goals. Organizations aim to achieve a cohesive culture which helps to focus the organization’s workforce on the goals and objectives that are important. This focus results in higher performance in the areas that interest the organization (Matthew 690). The number of conflicts is also reduced in a cohesive environment since the employees share objectives. Work-life conflicts may result in weak organizational cultures which are characterized by a lack of a common culture throughout the organization. Matthew asserts that such a culture results in employee’s exhibiting reduced levels of commitment to the organization (679).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Quality of Work Life Is More Important Than Ever specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Provision of work-life practices has the potential to generate positive attitudes towards the organization by the employee. Social exchange theory explains why the presence of work-life practices results in favorable organization outcomes. When the employees are treated favorably by their organization, they feel obligated to respond in a similar manner by adopting a positive attitude and engaging in behavior that benefits the source of this good treatment (Allen 429). This improved attitudinal and behavioral outcome will result with greater willingness of the employee to achieve set organizational goals. By offering work-life balance practices, the organization is able to attract new members while at the same time reducing the levels of work-life conflict among its current workforce. This results in an enhanced organizational effectiveness. Organizations which offer career paths which include family supportive policies and allow the employee to balance career and family are perceived as significantly more attractive that those that only offer traditional career paths (Carless and Wintle 400). This is because people are today keen to integrate their work l ives with their family lives (Secret 410). Work-life practices give an organization a competitive advantage in an environment where such practices are limited. Yeandle et al associate the presence of voluntary reduced hours to an increase in recruitment and retention by an organization (34). For example, the presence of onsite childcare centers is associated with lower turnover rates among employees. A qualitative study by McDonald et al on employed women with dependent children found out that many of the participants would not continue working it they did not have access to flexible working hours and family-responsive policies (480). How to Improve Work Life Balance Bearing in mind that a quality work-life balance results in increased organizational effectiveness, it makes sense for an organization to seek ways to improve work-life balance among its employees. Work-life balance practices are presumed to assist the employee to balance their work and family demands which in turn brin gs about enhanced employee productivity and hence higher business performance.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There are a number of strategies which can be implemented to ensure that a work-family balance is achieved in his life. One approach is the boundary-spanning strategy which involves an individual taking action to reduce the forces that interfere with their plans at home or at work (Vydanoff 135). This approach requires the worker to reduce the stressors in their life so as to enhance productivity as well as social capabilities. The employee is required to set guard limits (boundaries) to ensure that his schedule is protected against any interfering forces. Undoubtedly, this strategy can only work with the support of the organization since if the organization does not respect the employee’s boundaries; it is unlikely that the employee can effectively carry out this strategy. Another strategy that can be adopted is fostering an open environment where the employees are allowed to discuss their non-work lives with their colleagues. A survey by Poelmans revealed that employees who discussed their family situations with their co-workers were more satisfied and exhibited superior performance compared to those who kept their home issues compartmentalized (67). Talking about home life is beneficial to work-life balance since the employee can be assisted to fulfill his work goals by the other employees if they understand his/her home responsibilities. The work demands and the resources available in an organization affect the ability of an individual to maintain a healthy work-family balance. Crane explains what then the work demands are great and the resources available are limited, the employee is forced to put in extra effort so as to meet the set organizational goals (159). Such conditions directly influence the work-life balance by escalating conflicts through an over commitment to work at the expense of the family. Research indicates that the use of flexible working hours is associated with lower levels of work-to-life conflicts (Hill et al. 54). The reason for this is that flexible working hours give the employee a sense of control. This perceived control serves as a mediating mechanism for family supportive policies (Rogier and Padgett 94) When the worker is satisfied with work schedule flexibility, there will be a positive job attitude which will bring about increased organizational commitment. A major concern for employees with families is the welfare of their children. The organization can assist to reduce this concern by offering facilities such as childcare centers, referral services and other family-supportive practices that will reduce the inconvenience that the parents might face while at the same time reducing their financial burden (Lewis 19). A study by Grover and Crooker demonstrated that these supportive practices had the advantage of increasing the levels of commitment to the organization by the employee (280). Work life can be improved by adopting an organizational culture that is accommodating and which does not victi mize the employee for wanting to spend time with his/her family. Kodz et al. reveal that many workers are de-motivated by the perception that using work-life balance practices will impact negatively on their career prospects (34). This perception is valid in organizations which have cultures that are unsupportive of work-life balance such as deeply entrenched long-hours culture and an unaccommodating attitude among managers and co-workers. Managers should know that time spent at the workplace is not necessarily an indicator of an employee’s contribution and commitment to the organization. Discussion There is no universal approach to achieving a work-life balance and no one solution can work for every employee. Work-life balance programs should therefore be viewed as on-going process which requires the commitment of the individual and the organization. Workers have different preferences and as such, certain work-life balance strategies may reduce conflict for some while increa sing it in others. For example, arrangements to work from home through telework may benefit some workers while others may resent it since it may appear to blur the boundary between work and home. Bird denotes work-life balance as an â€Å"individual issue that affects the organization than it is an organizational issue that affects the individual† (3). The individual should therefore be involved when coming up with a work-life program for him/her. Organizations should ensure that work-life practices are not only present but are also used. Research indicates that while organizational acknowledge the importance of work-life balance and the impact it has on productivity, most of them do not come up with measures to help employees cope with work-life conflicts (Halpern and Murphy 33). In other cases, employees remain unaware of their work-life entitlements. This situation results in work-life practices failing to achieve their intended aims in the organization. Conclusion This pa per set out to discuss quality of work life programs in organizations and show how work life programs affect organizational performance. From the discussions contained herein, it is evident that the quality of work life is today more important than it was in the past. It has been demonstrated that work-life conflicts have negative repercussions for employee performance which translates to decreased organizational productivity. Organizations should therefore ensure that they have effective work-life programs in place and that these programs are utilized. By doing this, the organization will nurture satisfied employees who will bring about increased productivity. Works Cited Allen, Tammy. â€Å"Family-supportive work environments: The role of organizational perceptions.† Journal of Vocational Behavior 58.1 (2001): 414-435. Anderson, Stella, Coffey Betty, and Byerly Robin. â€Å"Formal organizational initiatives and informal workplace practices: Links to work-life conflict and job-related outcomes.† Journal of Management 28.6 (2002): 787-810. Bird, Jim. â€Å"Work-life balance doing it right and avoiding the pitfalls.† Employment Relations Today 33.3 (2006) 1-9. Carless, Sally, and Wintle Josephine. â€Å"Applicant attraction: The role of recruiter function, work-life balance policies and career salience.† International Journal of Selection and Assessment 15.4 (2007): 394-404. Crane, Russell. Handbook of families and work: interdisciplinary perspectives. USA: University Press of America, 2009. Print. Grover, Samantha and Crooker Jake. â€Å"Who appreciates family-responsive human resource policies: The impact of family-friendly policies on the organizational attachment of parents and non-parents.† Personnel Psychology 48.1 (1995): 271-288. Halpern, Diane and Susan Murphy. From work-family balance to work-family interaction: changing the metaphor. Sydney: Routledge, 2005. Print. Hill, Edward, Hawkins Adams, Ferris, Mill, and Weit zman Morris. â€Å"Finding an extra day a week: The positive influence of perceived job flexibility on work and family life balance.† Family Relations 50.1 (2001): 49-58. Kodz, James, Harper Henry, and Dench Susan. Work-life balance: Beyond the rhetoric. Institute for Employment Studies Report 384. London: IES. Lewis, Sandra. â€Å"‘Family Friendly’ employment policies: A route to changing organizational culture or playing about at the margins?† Gender, Work and Organization 4.1 (1997): 13-24. Matthew, Jack. â€Å"The relationship of organizational culture with productivity and quality.† Employee Relations 29.6 (2007): 677-695. McDonald, Paula, Guthrie Diane, Bradley Lisa, and Shakespeare-Finch Jane. â€Å"Investigating work-family policy aims and employee experiences.† Employee Relations 27.5 (2005): 478-494. Perry-Smith, Jill, and Blum Terry. â€Å"Work-life human resource bundles and perceived organizational performance.† Academy of Management Journal 43.6 (2000): 1107-1117. Poelmans, Steven. Work and family: an international research perspective. Sidney: Routledge, 2005. Print. Rogier, Sarah, and Padgett Marie. â€Å"The impact of utilizing a flexible work schedule on the perceived career advancement potential of women.† Human Resource Development Quarterly 15.1 (2004): 89-106. Secret, Morris. â€Å"Integrating paid work and family work.† Community, Work and Family 9.4 (2006): 407-427. Voydanoff, Patricia. Work, family, and community: exploring interconnections. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print. Yeandle, Silas, Crompton Rein, Wigfield Andrea, and Dennett Jean. Employed careers and family-friendly employment policies. London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation Policy Press, 2002. Print. This research paper on The Quality of Work Life Is More Important Than Ever was written and submitted by user Yusuf Robinson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.