The Relationship Between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth

The Relationship between Judged Attraction and Assumed Wealth A Psychological Study Whether a person is aware of it or not, everywhere they go, they are mentally judging people and creating an opinion about others without necessarily ever even meeting them. These judgments can be based off of simple appearance, or actions, or any other sort of visible aspect of a person. Simply put, humans are judgmental creatures. One of the most common aspects of a person’s life that is judged from outside appearance is wealth.Assumedly, if a person dresses well, they must have money to buy such a wardrobe. Though this is certainly not always the case, people generally assume that what is on the outside is reflected on the inside. In this study, people’s visual interpretation of a person and the person’s assumed wealth will be examined. The participants will be shown pictures of random people of various wealth and asked to judge their monetary net worth. The variables being stu died through this experiment are conceived attractiveness and monetary success.The goal of this experiment is to find a correlation between the two. Many studies concerning this phenomenon have been performed in the past and many books on the subject of attraction have been written. The relationship between physical attractiveness and monetary worth has been an interest for scientists for many years. As long as there has been social class, people through the ages have been judging other’s wealth by their appearance, whether people have been conscious of it or not.These studies have been important because these two variables (attractiveness and wealth) have also been linked to desire and favorability, two of the most unique and profound of human emotions, as will be discussed in the following In an experiment conducted at Georgia Southern University by researchers Dawson and McIntosh, the relationship between wealth, attractiveness, and desirability was examined (Dawson & McIn tosh, 2006). Dawson and McIntosh believed that men looked for physical attractiveness in women, whereas women looked for material resources (wealth) in men.Alternatively, the experimenters predicted that if men and women were less advantageous in these physical and monetary traits, they would compensate with other personal traits, such as personality. Participants to be judged for the experiment were randomly chosen from Yahoo Personals. Members of the opposite sex then rated the attractiveness of the participants and generated adjectives that were believed to describe the participant. For the male participants, it turned out that if they were considered less attractive or wealthy by the raters, their profile would emphasize of other positive personal characteristics.On the other hand, for the females, there was a trending phenomenon that if a profile emphasized greatly on the woman’s physical attractiveness, it concentrated little on other personal characteristics. However, there was no relation between how physically attractive the rater found the participant and what other positive characteristics were used to describe the participant. Dawson and McIntosh (2006) believed that their hypothesis was moderately supported. The judgments that people make on a person’s physical attractiveness can influence much more than the assumed size of his or hers wallet.These judgments can influence decisions as important as whom to vote for in government elections. This phenomenon was studied by Hart, Ottati, and Krumdick at the University of Alabama and Loyola University. They hypothesized that the more attractive a candidate was, the more memorable their campaign was (Hart, Ottati, & Krumdick, 2011). Hart et. al. (2011), explored this by showing participants photos of potential candidates (all Democrat) along with campaign policies.The photos and information was then removed and the participants were asked to recite all the information that they could rememb er about each candidate and answer various questions regarding their attitudes and standpoints about the candidate and his or her campaign. The results show that those who were considered novices on the subject matter, being those that were unable to remember the candidates’ specific campaign and policy points, seemed to favor those that they found more physically attractive. Alternatively, those that were considered experts on the campaign material seemed to favor the less attractive of the candidates (Hart et. l, 2011). One might ask, however, what exactly is it of a person physique that lead people the judge them as attractive? While most people look at a person’s overall appearance and make judgments based on that, there are much subtler cues that a person subconsciously picks up on. Each person’s tastes are unique, and different cues appeal to different people. Author Gordon L. Patzer Ph. D. described some of these cues in his book The Physical Attractivene ss Phenomena (1985). Overall Patzer believed that personality was the main contributing factor. While physical first impressions are important, personality is what a person really remembers.A good impressions is key. If a person makes a bad impression of themselves upon meeting someone, their negativity or foolishness will forever live on in he or she’s new acquaintance’s eyes. After personality, however, traits that spark attraction become much more minute and specific. First, Patzer believed that height was a key contributor. Women have a tendency to be attracted to a man taller than herself, though not towering. Men, on the other hand, are attracted to women who are shorter than himself, but not unproportionately so. Even if one does not consciously acknowledge it, they are taking note of everyone’s height that they meet.People also take notice of someone’s facial aspects, such as shape of the jaw, hairline, etc. (Patzer, 1985). Specific combinations o f all of these aspects, plus many more, determine how attractive a person finds another. Whereas none of these traits have an scientific relation to personal wealth, they do play a key role on how attractive someone is initially judged as. Whenever a person meets someone new, they subconsciously judge the stranger’s appearance and determine what level of attraction if had towards the stranger, even if there is no intent to pursue romantically.Other assumptions then stem off of this initial judgment of attraction. One of the most common is the attempt to judge a stranger’s wealth by their appearance and personal attraction. Scientists have been exploring the relationship between attractiveness and monetary value for years. The following study attempts to spread more light on the subject. Methods This study was designed to determine the correlation between ‘attractiveness’ and perceived wealth. Variables were defined as how personally attractive the surveyor s found the estranged participants pictured versus how monetarily wealthy the stranger was based on the surveyors’ attraction.The data was collected using a Likert Scale to represent attractiveness and a scale with different levels of wealth. The results from the experiment allowed for the ratings of ‘perceived wealth’ to be compared to the rating of ‘attractiveness’ and discover if a correlation did in fact exist between the two. Based on the results of the previous study, â€Å"Attributions of physical attractiveness† (Johnson, & MacEachern, 1985) ‘attractiveness’ should influence the perception of desirable traits, such as wealth.This may result for a multitude of reasons to be discussed in the future. Participants The participants sampled were the 10 females and 10 males pictured in the slide show. The participants varied all ages, ethnicities, and states of wealth in an attempt to make the sample’s characteristics repr esentative of the public and mildly random. All participants were retrieved off of Google with some strategy to make sure that characteristics were varied in an attempt to be representative, making it a stratified sample.Also participating were the surveyors who rated the sample of participants. The surveyors consisted of a cluster sample of the Flagler College PSY 253 class. The sample totaled 17: 12 females and 5 males. Considering that the sample consisted of college students, assumedly between the ages of 19 and 22, the surveyors were not necessarily representative of the public but rather of college students in general. The participating surveyors received no compensation other than class participation and attendance points, which were awarded simply for showing up to the class. MaterialsFor the experiment, a Powerpoint was used with 20 photos of participants, strangers to the surveyors, obtained off of Google: 10 pictures of females and 10 pictures of males, one per slide. Mat erials also included a paper survey handout on which the participants would record their responses. The survey consisted of two scales, one Likert scale rating attractiveness and one rating wealth. The Likert scale ran from 1-10 with one with the least attractive and ten the most and the scale for wealth ran from Poor($0-1000)-Average($1000-999,999)-Millionaire-Billionaire (See Appendix A).The participants provided their own writing utensils (pens and pencils). Procedure All participating surveyors were given a single handout survey (See Appendix A) by the administrators and then instructed to record their gender on the handout. Each surveyors’ gender determined whether they would be in Group A (Females) or Group B (Males). Both groups were instructed that they would be shown a slide show consisting of pictures of different individuals of the opposite sex and asked to record their opinions on attractiveness and wealth on the paper survey provided for each picture shown.Each p icture was shown for approximately ten seconds and a totally of ten pictures were shown for each group. Group A was administered the survey first. The surveys were then collected by the administrators and a slideshow with ten different pictures was shown to Group B and the participants were asked to fill out the same survey as the prior group. The surveys were then collected by the administrators, concluding the experiment. Results Data was collected using a between subjects design. This experiment examined the correlation between how a person perceives attractiveness and how wealthy the person is then assumed to be.The experiment had two variables: Variable 1, perceived attractiveness, and Variable 2, assumed wealth. Participants were administered a survey listing the two variables, Variable 1 was measured on a Likert Scale of 1-10, when Variable 2 was measured on a scale of 1 (Poor, $0=1,000), 2 (Average, $1,000-$999,999), 3 (Millionaire), and 4 (Billionaire). The mean value for V ariable 1 was M=4. 12 with a standard deviation of SD=1. 13314 and the mean value for Variable 2 was M=2. 36 with a standard deviation of SD=. 33066 (refer to Table 1).The median for Variable 2 was 3 and the mode is 2. The median and the mode for Variable 2 were both 2. The Pearson Correlation for the experiment was r=. 05 and the significance for each variable was p=. 891. This made the study’s finding significant and that there is a strong correlation between our variables. Discussion At the beginning of the experiment, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between how physically attractive someone was conceived as by a stranger and how wealthy they were assumed to be, judged on their rated attractiveness.At the end of the experiment, the results support this hypothesis. The significance of the variables was p=. 891, demonstrating that there is a high correlation between how attractive someone perceives a stranger and how wealthy the stranger is ass umed to be, confirming the hypothesis. The positive correlation of the results suggests that the more attractive a person finds a stranger, the more monetary value the stranger is assumed to have. The Pearson Correlation was r=. 05 which proves that these results were reliable.The fact that r=. 05 means that the results were very specific, with few outliers, and can be condensed to a confined ranged of results, which all fit in together to support the hypothesis. Also, the low standard deviations of SD=1. 12212 and SD=. 33066 show how little overall variation there is to the variable means among participants. The results of this study can be interestingly related to the results of other studies previously performed, while the studies themselves may not mirror each other.As discovered by Dawson and McIntosh (2006), men and women on dating websites, if considered less attractive, emphasis more of their personal traits (Dawson & McIntosh, 2006). Though it was not a component of the stu dy being examined, some participants in the photos, when less attractive, dressed better, in fancier clothing, while those who were deemed more attractive tended to wear less flashy clothes. Perhaps if a person does not consider themselves to be physically appealing, they will try to look nice in other ways in public, such as clothing.Previously discussed, an experiment by Hart, Ottati, and Krumdick (2011) revealed that voters are more likely influenced by and likely to remember candidates that are perceived as more physically attractive and tend to think higher said attractive candidates (Hart et. al, 2011). This could have a relation to the current experiment in the respects that the survey takers may have had higher expectations of the participants’ monetary value if considered more attractive. This could be because people have a tendency to hold high hopes and expectations for those they find desirable.The experiment at hand has no relation, however, to the third theory P reviously discussed by Patzer (1985). Patzer (1985) believed that there is a combination of specific attributes that causes a person to be attracted to another person. A specific feature that Patzer discussed was height, being that females prefer taller men and males vice versa (Patzer, 1985). However, there was no way for the surveyors to judge the participant’s height to their own through the pictures shown during the survey. For this experiment at least, height had nothing to do with personal attraction or attraction’s relation to wealth.There were very few flaws to this experiment that would have altered the results. The only obvious flaw was the issue of sexual orientation. For surveying ease, the experimenters divided the groups into male and female, rather than by sexual orientation because while attracted to males and attracted to females are two clear groups, there may have been bisexuals in the population and they would not have been able to take the survey t wice. So though some surveyors may have felt that they were in the wrong group and it may have had an effect on the results, it effects were nothing detrimental.If repeated in the future, perhaps the experiment would involve surveys more catering to sexual orientation rather than being limited to division of gender. On the other hand, while there may have been a flaw, there was no experimenter bias because each participants’ correct wealth was never hinted at until the end. Also, it was impossible for the surveyors to develop practice effects because the survey involved no technique or talent. Also, there was no difficulty level so there was no floor or ceiling effects. In conclusion, the original hypothesis was supported.There was a positive correlation between perceived attractiveness and assumed monetary wealth, this meaning the more attractive a person found a stranger, the person then tended to assume the stranger proportionately more wealthy. There may be more triggers behind this phenomenon but judging by the survey results, the correlation was at least fueled by the attractiveness variable. References Dawson, B. L. , & McIntosh, W. D. (2006). Sexual strategies theory and internet personal advertisements. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9 (5). Retrieved from http://research. flagler. du:9005/ehost/detail? vid=11&hid=110&sid=29028bce-cb55-42c1-b1e2-571b81dcc38f%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=22677445 Hart, W. , Ottati, V. C. , Krumdick, N. D. (2011). Physical attractiveness and candidate evaluation: a model of correction. Political Physology, 32 (2). Retrieved from http://research. flagler. edu:9005/ehost/detail? vid=5&hid=110&sid=29028bce-cb55-42c1-b1e2-571b81dcc38f%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=58702305 Patzer, G. L. (1985). The physical attractiveness phenomena. Los Angeles, CA: Plenum Press

Leadership and Organizational Behavior

Breast Cancer Society of America Funds? Mary Clayborne [email  protected] com Leadership and Organizational Behavior MGMT -591-19138 Instructor: Jacci Christopher September 21, 2012 At one point in time, I’ve thought that every one including myself knew themselves whether it was their character, personality, what they like and do not like. I figured that once you knew of these things than that means that you were going to be just fine and that you now have the knowledge and tools needed to get by in life it self.After taking this life styles inventory test, I realized that what you have thought about in regards to ones own self may not always be true. While taking this inventory, my primary results were that I scored a 99 for being affiliate, needing approval, conventional, being dependent, and also avoidance. One word that I did not understand was affiliate. So when I did my research on the word the definition that came about was from businessdictionary. com states that an affiliate leader is one that promotes harmony among his or her followers and helps to solve any conflict.They also make it where their followers feel connected to each other. This sounds like me. I love to be in a place where there is peace, love, harmony, unity as well. This particular inventory amazes me even from the start of it. My backup personal thinking styles as shown in my circumplex are oppositional, self-actualizing, and humanistic-Encouraging. Its funny how one of my second highest percentiles was humanistic-encouraging. At my church, my talent and gift and being an encourager.So this thinking style I most certainly agree with due to the fact that I find myself encouraging people all the time on a regular basis. Even when I’m at work, at church, at school or just daily doing activities and it might perhaps cause me to interact with someone. Most times I catch myself asking that particular person if they are alright or if there is anything that I can do for them. I t feels like when I say those words it feels so natural to ask them that and not like any struggles as it may feel to others. In this case I totally agree with me being a humanistic-encourager.However, I would have thought that humanistic-encouraging would have been one of the styles that gotten a high percentage, so that kind-of puzzles me. In my mind being a dependent type of person means that you rely on people for certain things. Now that I think about it I guess it’s true to a certain extent. The style that I think might be reducing my over all effectiveness would be oppositional. I don’t think that I critic everything and seems to be a negative person. I try to be as positive as I can towards any situation. If an employer sees that one of my styles were oppositional, I don’t think they would want to hire me.However, I’m willing to be more open minded about the situation of course and to gain more knowledge and wisdom as to how to handle different si tuations that may come my way. One thing that I’ve noticed is that when you are a manager or a CEO of a particular company, hearing the voice from your staff should be very vital. At my job one of the biggest issues that everyone is having is with parking. I work literally right outside of down town and so the area in which everyone parks at is for free which means that everyone including the people you work with will get there as early as possible to get a park.However, there is a paid parking lot that located right behind our building where a lot of people do not park at because of the pricing. So us as a staff, we asked the owner of the company if he could rent the parking lot out for his staff and we all would pay a monthly fee. We all should have known what the response would be, (it was no). Due to this matter trying to get to work at 6:00am and do not have to see client’s until 9:30am is quite a bother. Some times it effects my work ethics and behavior because i m at work so early and don’t have to see anyone until hours later.So when the time come, I feel tired and drained because all of my energy was used so when I got to work. When you are working with a diverse group of people, you will notice that you have to be a multitasked and able to be opened minded with new ideas that might come about. My LSI style affects my personal and professional life style. I have 8 brothers and sister. Majority of them are girls, so there would always be some types of competitiveness going on in the house. Who has the longest hair, which can clean up the best for mother’s approval, who can dance better, who can do a lot of other things better than the other.My LSI style has contributed to my child hood. It makes you think and wonder, when we were children we started to develop into our character and personality not knowing it would create our own unique self. Being a perfectionist is a style that I thought I carried very strongly. I’m assuming that its not based on the LSI inventory. I could remember times where I would get highly upset if a particular task that I was to complete was not done the way that I wanted it to be. If so, I would stop completely and never return to it.Not knowing that that style is being a perfectionist person. Did this make me different from the other children or not was a question that I wondered for years. One of the things I would like to learn while being in MGMT591 is that I’m able to learn how to blend my primary and backup styles together or balance them out so that I can become emotionally stable while on the job or in my personal life. While doing so, this would improve who I am as an employee and as a person in general. Name:  Ã‚  D01595657 |Date Survey Taken:  Ã‚   | Your LSI Styles Profile The raw and percentile scores in the table below and the extensions on the circumplex shown below depict your perceptions of how you think and behave. The CONSTRUCTIVE Styles ( 11, 12, 1, and 2 o'clock positions) reflect self-enhancing thinking and behavior that contribute to one's level of satisfaction, ability to develop healthy relationships and work effectively with people, and proficiency at accomplishing tasks.The PASSIVE/DEFENSIVE Styles (3, 4, 5, and 6 o'clock positions) represent self-protecting thinking and behavior that promote the fulfillment of security needs through interaction with people. The AGGRESSIVE/DEFENSIVE Styles (7, 8, 9, and 10 o'clock positions) describe self-promoting thinking and behavior used to maintain status/position and fulfill security needs through task-related activities. |Position |Style Score |Percentile | |1 |Humanistic-Encouraging |39 |96 | |2 |Affiliative |40 |99 | |3 |Approval |33 |99 | |4 |Conventional |36 |99 | |5 |Dependent |36 |99 | |6 |Avoidance |21 |99 | |7 |Oppositional |9 |63 | |8 |Power |2 |10 | |9 |Competitive |7 |15 | |10 |Perfectionistic |15 |20 | |11 |Achievement |25 |25 | |12 |Self-Actualizing |32 |70 | The raw scores potentially range from 0 to 40. The percentile scores represent your results compared to those of 9,207 individuals who previously completed the Life Styles Inventory.For example, a percentile score of 75 means that you scored higher along a particular position than 75% of the other respondents in the sample and, in turn, indicates that the style represented by that position is strongly descriptive of you. In contrast, a score of 25 means that you scored higher than only about 25% of the other respondents and therefore indicates that the style represented by that position is not very descriptive of you. Your LSI Styles Circumplex For detailed descriptions of each of these 12 styles, click on the circumplex graphic in each of the 12 sections. [pic] Examining your Circumplex To accurately interpret your LSI results, it is important for you to consider your score on each style in terms of its range (high, medium, or low) on the profile. The three ranges correspond to the percentile points in the circumplex and in the table above. [pic] Leadership and Organizational Behavior Assignment 1, Briefing sheet, January 2013 Jeffrey P. Bezos : An entrepreneur leader Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and from an early age he showed his mechanical attitude developing intense and varied scientific interests. Considering this fact, his parents sent him to a special program for gifted children, where Jeff could develop his love for gadgets (Byers, 2006). When his family moved to Florida, he discovered his ‘great passion’, computers, so he abandoned his studies in Physics and got a degree on Computer science and Electrical engineering (Sherman, 2001).After his studies, Jeff Bezos started working for Bankers Trust, and at the age of 26 he became the youngest Vice President of the company (Byers, 2006). When he noticed in 1994 that internet usage was increasing by 2300% a year (Hamalainen & Saarinen, 2007), he started planning his next step, which was Amazon. com. Amazon made his appearance in 1995 with 3 micro stations in Bezos’ garage (Robinson, 2009) and its activity was to sell books. Today Amazon. com is one of the most preferable internet retail platform, where customers can find DVD’s, CD’s, MP3 downloads, books and toys. According to Economist (2000), Amazon. om is the most visited internet retail platform in USA and one of the top 3 in Germany, UK, France and Japan. The impact of Amazon. com Amazon. com is today the largest electronic retail worldwide (Anon. , 2012). According to J. Bezos (Wired Magazine, December, 2011), Amazon is a cultural pioneer which lives to disrupt even its own business. It is recognized by 55% of conscious population, and it is part of today’s Western culture (Spector, 2002). The company spends almost 40% of its income on brand building (Margolis, 1999), and that is why Amazon. com is a trustable and a well-known brand name (Economist, 2000, Marketing, 1999). 0,000 people work today for Amazon, and the company turnover is 48 billion a year (Warman, 2012). Amaz on. com launched in November 2007 Kindle E-book reader and as Bezos notes â€Å"Millions of people own now Kindles† (Gonsalves, 2010)). According to Gonsalves (2010), Amazon sells 6 Kindles titles for every 10 hard books, and this strategic move increased profits up to 71%. Jeff Bezos vision about Amazon. com is to be the most customer-centric company in the world (Mellahi & Johnson, 2000). According to Mellahi and Johnson (2000) the success key of the company is†¦ innovation-innovation & innovation. J.Bezos’ approach to leading Amazon and his key factors which have contributed to his success. He was named â€Å"Man of the year 1999† (Ramo, 2011) and â€Å"Business person of the year† (Fortune Magazine, 2012). Jeff Bezos is a visionary entrepreneur leader ( (Dyer, et al. , 2009)). According to Moment (2004) the essential traits of an effective entrepreneur are to be singular focus, self-driven, ambitious, achievement oriented, imaginative, independen t and versatile. According to Quittner (1999) â€Å"Bezos, naturally enough is unmoved by the nay saying†. He asserts some instinctive characteristics, which make him distinctive from other leaders.Can he be described as a â€Å"Great Man/ Great leader†? As Huczynski and Buchanan put it (2007) â€Å"Great man are born leaders and emerge to take power regardless of social, organizational or historical context†. Other researches on trait theories tried to specify the traits of a great leader and found hundreds of them. However, according to Kilpatrick and Locke (1991) the typical leadership traits are: drive to archive, motivation to lead, self-confidence, ability to withstand setbacks, honesty and integrity, standing firm, cognitive ability, knowledge of business, emotional resilient.When Bezos decided to quit from his work on Wall Street, he had a strong feeling that his new business plan for an internet based retail platform would be his chance to move his idea s one step further (Academy of achievement interview, 2001). According to Stogdill (1948, 1974) a great man is confident, and he has a strong ego. A great man also has traits as honesty and integrity (Kilpatrick and Locke, 1991) and Jeff Bezos believe that one of the principal key of a leader is the courage â€Å"to tell the hard truth†.His collaborators and people who spend time working with him, subscribe Bezos as â€Å"immensely likable man† (Eskenazi, 2005). All this shows to us his excellent social skills. Subordinates are surprised by his brainpower and the way he inspires and leads his subordinates . These are signs of his intelligence and his motivation to lead. Examine the style, approach and content of the leadership demonstrated by specific examples Daft (2009) subscribes Bezos as a strong charismatic and also a visionary entrepreneur leader (Dyer, et al. , 2009).According to Schlooser and Todorovic (2006) there are commonalities between entrepreneurs and ch arismatic leaders. Subordinates usually are attracted by the way an entrepreneur and charismatic leader shows his great passion on achieving goals, taking risks, adding value in the organization and the way to control the business (Schlooser and Todorovic, 2006). According to Daft (2009) in an organization like Amazon where growth increases and the leader (Bezos) provide his major goal for continued growth, subordinates are exited and fully committed.Bezos has also a great ability to adapt to changes. He believes that engaging only to practices which will surely be successful, will prevent from exploring new opportunities (The business journals, May, 2008) Amazon. com’s motto is â€Å"Work hard, have fun and write history†. According to Adair (1979) in order to increase the effectiveness of the group, leaders (managers) must find ways to cover three basic needs of their subordinates: task needs (work hard), individual needs (have fun) and team maintance needs (write hi story).This approach is called Action-Centred Leadership and is part of Functional Approach. According to this approach, attention is focused on the content of leadership and how the group of the subordinates is affected by the leaders’ behavior. Bezos is also a situational leader, when Amazon had 2,9 million dollars in loses, he changed his strategy from â€Å"getting Amazon bigger and faster† to â€Å"look inside the house† (Anon. , 2012). Situational approach (Hersey and Blanchard, 1979) focuses on the situation where characteristics of an effective leadership are depending on the situation.Furthermore, Bezos is a transformational leader. Researchers in leadership argue that visionary and charisma are some of the characteristics of a transformational leader (Mullins, 2010). A transformational leader inspires and gives vision for the next day of the organization and knows how to connect the achievements of the subordinates with the organization’s goals (Kark, et al. , 2003). Shares are offered for bonuses to Amazon. com employees, in order to motivate them to see the big picture of the business and to feel their participation within the organization’s vision.Evaluate whether Jeff Bezos could have been as effective in a different context or organization, giving a credible argument for this supported by referenced theory Jeff Bezos has showed he can lead Amazon. com through change via his ability to make it the most costumer centric company in the world (Sherman, 2001). His visionary entrepreneur leadership style (Dyer, et al. , 2009) offers the ability to fit in change. His transformational leadership style (Burns, 1978) also indicates his charismatic way on leading his organization under different situations.Also, Jeff Bezos and Amazon surprised by launching the new Kindle Fire HD tablets (Spencer, 2012). Kindle Fire Hd is now one of the most hi-tech tablet gadgets in the world and Apple’s iPad finally found a real c ompetitor. According to Charles(2012), Bezos and Amazon are preparing another big surprise for their competitors: The new Kindle phone. These show us that Bezos could be effective if the context of the company was different. Jeffrey Bezos is an entrepreneur, and like other entrepreneurs he is known for having started his own business. It is unknown whether he could lead an established organization.It can be said that he would not be effective leading companies which are out of his ’area’ (computing & internet), but he also founded ‘’Blue Origin’’, a human spaceflight company (Boyle, 2006). According to these transferable skills and his traits (charisma, creativity, energy-drive, strong ego, honesty and integrity, social sills) he could lead different context companies in various situations. Conclusion We showed that Jeff Bezos is a strong visionary and charismatic entrepreneur leader with the traits of a great man. He is also a situational an d transformational leader with a great ability to inspire his suborders.They admire his brainpower and his successful decision-making. He can easily adapt to change, and his transferable skills make him a great leader under any circumstances. References Anon. , 2006. Click to download. [Online] Available at: http://www. economist. com/node/7791530 [Accessed 28 December 2012]. Anon. , 2012. A Retail Revolution Turns 10. [Online] Available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2005/07/10/business/yourmoney/10amazon. html? pagewanted=all&_r=0 [Accessed 28 December 2012]. Boyle, A. , 2012. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spaceship company aces pad-escape test. [Online] Available at: http://cosmiclog. nbcnews. om/_news/2012/10/22/14623551-jeff-bezos-blue-origin-spaceship-company-aces-pad-escape-test? lite [Accessed 28 December 2012]. Byers, A. ; Byers, A. , 2006. Jeff Bezos: The Founder of Amazon. com. New York: Rosen Publishing Group . Dyer, J. H. , Gregersen, H. B. ; Clayton, M. , 2009. The Innovatorâ €™s DNA. [Online] Available at: http://hbr. org/2009/12/the-innovators-dna/sb2 [Accessed December 2012]. Edgecliffe-Johnson, A. , 2011. Amazon leads holiday online retailers poll. [Online] Available at: http://www. ft. com/intl/cms/s/0/65aef080-30a8-11e1-9436-00144feabdc0. html#axzz2JBnkxnU0 [Accessed 2 January 2013]. Gonsalves, A. , 2010.Amazon Kindle Sales Push Profits Up 71%. [Online] Available at: http://www. informationweek. com/telecom/business/amazon-kindle-sales-push-profits-up-71/222600622 [Accessed 28 December 2012]. Gonsalves, A. , 2010. Color Kindle Deep On Amazon Horizon. [Online] Available at: http://www. informationweek. com/storage/portable/color-kindle-deep-on-amazon-horizon/225200291 [Accessed 28 December 2012]. Halliday, J. ; Arthur, C. , 2012. New Kindle Fire set for launch following first version sales of 6m. [Online] Available at: http://www. guardian. co. uk/technology/2012/aug/31/kindle-fire-tablet-launch-amazon [Accessed 28 December 2012].Hamalainen, R. H. P. ; Saarinen, E. , 2007. Systems Intelligence in Leadership and Everyday Life. Helsinki: Systems Analysis Laboratory. Hersey, P. ; Blanchard, K. , 1996. Management of organizational behaviour. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Huczynski, A. ; Buchanan, D. , 2001. Organizational Behaviour. s. l. :Prentice Hall. Kark, R. , Shamir, B. ; Chen, G. , 2003. The two faces of transformational leadership: Empowerment and dependency. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), pp. 246-255. Levy, S. , 2011. Jeff Bezos Owns the Web in More Ways Than You Think. Wired Magazine, 13 November.Margolis, B. , 1999. An Amazon. com storey lessons learned. Direct Marketing, 62(761), p. 243. Mellahi, K. ; Johnson, M. , 2000. Does it pay to be a first mover in e. commerce? The case of Amazon. com. Management Decision, 38(7), pp. 445-452. Mullins, L. , 2009. Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Ramo, J. C. , 1999. Jeffrey Preston Bezos: 1999 Peson of the year. Time Magazi ne, 27 December. Robinson, T. , 2009. Jeff Bezos: Amazon. com Architect. Minneapolis: Abdo Publishing Company. Sherman, J. , 2001. Jeff Bezos:King Of Amazon. Com. New York: 21st Century.Spector, R. , 2002. Amazon. com: Get Big Fast. New York: Harper Collins Publishers . Todorovic, Z. W. ; Schlosser, F. K. , 2007. An entrepreneur and a leader! : A framework conceptualizing the influence of leader style on a firm's entrepreneurial orientation—Performance relationship. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2o(3), pp. 289-308. 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A Current Event Essay

After the United States bombed Japan in World War Two, Korea was divided into two countries: North and South Korea. The economy in each country had different outcomes, which prevented and complicated these two countries coming back together. The US and five other countries, including North and South Korea, were involved in the Six Party Talks to try to combine the two conflicting countries. In 2005, North Korea was afraid it was giving away to much information about their nuclear weapons and they withdrew from the Six Party Talk. Although the United States has participated in talks with North Korea before, the US should engage in talks with them because they need to make a decision that will affect the country by preventing starvation or saving their nuclear weapons program. As stated in the New York Times, â€Å"Almost one out of two children is chronically malnourished North Korea runs a shortage of one million tons of food a year† (Sang-Hun). The United States should engage in talks with North Korea because their people are the ones suffering due to lack of nutrition. The government should understand that the future of North Korea wouldn’t look too bright with a smaller population and residents that are more angered than today. Also, since this country is under a dictatorship, the people have no input on topics, such as this one, that can help the bulk of their people. If the government were to continue to go against the people, an uprising should be expected and to other countries this wouldn’t come as a shock. With the help of the United States, the US can compromise with the North Korean government and supply aid for the deprived people. Not only is it in the best interest for the North Koreans, but for their government to negotiate to keep themselves in power. Another worry for the United States is North Korea has possession of nuclear weapons. As stated in the New York Times, â€Å"Since six-party talks ended, North Korea has detonated a nuclear device and tested a long-range rocket that may one day be able to carry nuclear warheads â€Å" (Knowlton and Sang-Hun). With having this as a â€Å"safety† or backup, Kim Jung IL is believed to have sold nuclear parts to Iran and Syria. What’s even worse is North Korea has the choice to sell their nuclear materials to Al Qaeda. The United States is concerned that if Al Qaeda were to possess these materials, they could create nuclear weapons and use this to hurt other countries, such as the US and Israel. Al Qaeda has no guilt for hurting large masses of people, so firing these VERY dangerous weapons, and killing people, wouldn’t be on their conscious. If the United States were to engage in talks with North Korea, they could compromise on dismantling their nuclear weapons, and could prevent nuclear materials from getting into the wrong hands. In conclusion, the United States would be making the right decision to engage in talks with North Korea for the sake of their starving people and from keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of Al Qaeda. This would help secure our safety and could potentially give the United States another ally in Asia. North Koreans are starving and with out the nuclear weapons they receive aid, if North Korea were to keep their nuclear weapons the civilians continue to starve. Brian Knowlton and Choe Sang-Hun, New U. S. Envoy to Talk With North Koreans, New York Times, October 19, 2011. Choe Sang-Hun, Head of U. N. Humanitarian Aid Paints Dire Scene in North Korea, New York Times, October 24, 2011

(any topic) but I choose to talk about a violence scene that happened Essay

(any topic) but I choose to talk about a violence scene that happened while I was at a place somewhere - Essay Example At the Jomo Kenyatta Airport, we were received by my father’s friend, Mr. Robert Rickaby, who works in the central part of Kenya. Mr. Rickaby is the director of USAID programs in the central part of Kenya, i.e. in Meru. From the Jomo Kenyatta Airport, we went directly to Meru, where Mr. Rickaby works. In Meru, Mr. Rickaby works at a village called Chiakariga, so we stayed at the Chiakariga village for a week before we started visiting the major tourist centres in Kenya. It was while I was at the Chiakariga village that I witnessed a bizarre incident of violence. In the central part of Kenya, as I came to learn later, the predominant religions are Christianity and the traditional African Religions (Religions of Kenya, web). Christianity and the traditional African religions, however, coexist peacefully in Kenya, although in some instances the worldview of the two religions crash. My witness of the bizarre act of violence took place on Monday, 22nd September 2013. On this day, Mr. Rickaby had taken us to Chiakariga Market to visit the people there and to have an experience of the culture of the people. In the trip to Chiakariga market, we had two tour guides, Mr. Mutegi and Mr. Mwenda, both friends of Mr. Rickaby. Shortly after arriving at the Chiakariga market, we saw a crowd of people curiously gathering somewhere. The gathering was rapidly enlarging. Out of curiosity, I asked our tour guides to take us there so that we could have a glimpse of what was happening. Our tour guides agreed to take us there but cautioned us to be wary because violence could easily erupt from the gathering. When we finally got there, I saw two men and two women; all in white robes. When we inquired from our tour guides whom the people in white robes were, our tour guides told us that the people in the white robes were pastors. The pastors were so charismatic and they were charging the crowd with good music;

Risk Management and Investment (Portfolio E) Essay

Risk Management and Investment (Portfolio E) - Essay Example The recommendations I made are with the aim to cover the long term and short term goals having analyzed the market and economy trends as at present and the likely trends of the future. With the adoption of these recommendations, the firm is expected to reap maximally from the market (Accounting Education Change Commission, 1993). Introduction Investment management field involves decision making by considering the market in terms of whether to sell or invest. The fact that it involves predictions and analysis makes it a risky venture hence the need for professionals specialized in the area to provide good advice on how better to have good investment. However, it may not really imply that the market trends will turn out as they predicted. It entails three major pillars, analysis of economic factors, industrial factors and the company factors before making the decision on whether or not to invest. Investments are made with knowledge of market expectations and fluctuations (Best Invest, 2013). The current portfolio is facing quite a number of challenges which expose it to risks in the market such that despite the higher levels of investment the return in terms of interest is too low. The fact that it has diversified the investments to a number of sectors is an attempt to avoid the risks. It has invested in oil, travel and leisure, telecommunication, commodity, shares, banks and bonds. The main challenge is the fact that some sectors are giving very little income compared to the investment which is in turn affecting the portfolio negatively therefore the need to change on the same (Bhattacharyya, 2011). History of the Portfolio The portfolio at its inception had a value of ?12,712,642 a value that has steadily depreciated to ?11,784,648 a net loss of ?927,995 a 7.3% loss a negative return which is not good for the portfolio. This could be attributed to a number of issues which include lack of growth and poor investment choices. This hence necessitates the need for a nalysis for prevent the accelerated rate of depreciation in the values of the Company (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). The investments we placed at inception have all different levels of funds placed in them but to date the highest growing has been TUI Travel which was at its inception having an investment of value of ?196.960 which bought us 80,000 shares. It has since grown by a margin of 32.25% increasing its value to ?260,480, a one third increase. The positive growth reported in the investment has earned dividends worth ?18,000these dividends have significantly been utilized by being re invested in other more business ventures the Company is endeavoring in (Clinton & Van, 2006). The down fall is that even though this is our most promising investment at cut of date in the portfolio it is weighted unevenly and different investments hold a different weighting depending on how much money was invested in them. The weighting for TUI travel was only 1.55% at inception and has now increased t o 2.00% which shows growth in weighting but shows that it only accounts for a minute section of the portfolio. Showing that the substantial growth of 33.25% is shadowed by the fraction of weighting it holds. The volatility has been an issue to as over period of the investment the share price valuation has dropped to maximum of -9.00% and the highest gain being around 6% but since May 2012 the share price has been steadily rising this

My Leadership experiences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

My Leadership experiences - Essay Example As a student in a graduate school, I have maintained my position as a group leader. As a result, I have learnt to appreciate and deal with individuals who have different cultural backgrounds and ethnicity. There were also times when conflicts of interests are present within the group that I handle. By establishing an open communication line with the team members, I was able to successfully resolve the misunderstandings and arguments within the group. In the process of calming down the increasing tension, I have taught my group mates the importance of Tai Chi as a relaxation technique wherein the group members have decided to individually write down their frustrations, anger and discouragement in a piece of paper and place them in the ‘garbage basket.’ As a result, I was able to successfully reduce the negative pressure that exists among the team members. In general, the practice of a weak leadership is likely to contribute to the organizational failure and inefficient operations within the Navy. In line with the inefficiency in the Navy’s operational system, there is a higher chance of having a decreased working attitude and morale of the leaders as well as his or her subordinates. In the end, it becomes more difficult to create and maintain a healthy and peaceful working environment for the team members. Based on my previous leadership experiences when implementing an important organizational change, ‘resistance to change’ among the team members is one of the most common loop-hole or bottleneck that could impede the planning of developmental stage in the Navy. Basically, the three major factors that could promote resistance to change include: (1) the fact that people may feel that they have no control over the sudden changes; (2) the workers may see change as a threat to their current positions of

Testing Speaking Skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Testing Speaking Skills - Assignment Example Speaking skills comprise the ability to understand the content of what is taught or spoken by the second person and providing the right response in terms of language and grammar. The difficulty in testing speaking skills is when large number of students needs to be addressed and tested. Test speaking is an arduous task. There is no question about that. And when the number of students to be tested is large, the problem is compounded both in terms of the content of the test and the time to devote to each student. It is well nigh impossible to test a large number of students by one or a handful of teachers. It may not be possible to hire a large number of teachers for the purpose if certain techniques, such as the computer, are adopted that could mitigate the problem to a good measure. (Oral Skills). There are certain dos and don'ts for testing. Testing must be planned in advance. There must be a good time gap between planning the test and carrying out the testing of speaking. In the meantime, there must be time for modifications or corrections. There must be a method for testing. The method must be selected keeping the students and the syllabus in mind. Then the person conducting the test must bear in mind that no testing is without anxiety. There must be some room for the tested to face and overcome anxiety. These are the dos. The don'ts are: never add any question outside the syllabus. If there are some tricky questions, keep the students informed that certain questions are bound to be testy, but they are within the syllabus. Do not ask more questions than the time set for answers (Functional Testing). Use the Computer The computer era has firmly set its grip over every individual and organization. The time has come when large number of students can be tested for speaking skills based on the use of the computer. However, the computer is just a machine. It is up to the teachers to use software with the questionnaire and audio receptivity to perform tests successfully on the large number of students. The computer can be effectively used for testing speaking skills. It is one medium that can be used in effectively teaching large number of students, and also testing large number of students. And this can be done in comparatively short duration of time. The content must be planned and drawn up appropriately so that students are able to get it on screen with a few

With specific reference to the UK economy over the past 20 years, Essay

With specific reference to the UK economy over the past 20 years, critically discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of operating a floating exchange rate regime - Essay Example In a floating exchange rate system, the market forces determine the value of the currency; that is, by the interactions of several of banks, firms and other institutions seeking to sell and buy currency for the purposes of clearing transactions, arbitrage, hedging, and speculation. In October 1990, the UK joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), where the Sterling Pound was fixed against other currencies. In September 1992, UK left the ERM when the pound experienced sustained selling pressure, and the monetary authorities could no longer justify extremely high interest rates to maintain the value of the pound, when the domestic economy was under a deep recession. Since 1992, UK has adopted a flexible exchange rate system; there is no official intervention by the Bank of England to the currency markets to attain the desired level of exchange rate (Roderick & Paul 2004, p.143). The following are the key arguments in favor of a flexible exchange rate. First, reduced necessity for currency reserves; there is no target for an exchange rate level meaning there is little necessity for the Bank of England to hold large scale reserves of foreign currency and gold to use in possible official intervention, in the currency markets. However, in the real world, for example, in UK, the government always has some currency reserves, in case of balance of payments crisis, or the sentiment that the Sterling Pound is getting a bit too low or too high (Karl 2010, p.182). Second, useful tool of macroeconomic adjustment; a floating exchange rate may act as a useful instrument of macroeconomic adjustment. For example, depreciation of the currency should provide a boost in demand of net exports and thereby stimulate growth. This assumes that the higher wage claims or export prices do not dissolve the achievements from a low exchange rate as noted

Analysis of Mills Utilitarian Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Mills Utilitarian Theory - Essay Example If all persons yearn for happiness, then morality will be first rated in the society.Of essence, Mill brings out the view that utilitarianism is based on happiness, and happiness comes from justice and existence of rights in the society. In summary, Mill argues that though controversies on wrong or right overtake the theory, especially in terms of morality, the theory hold a lot of significance. A discovery of the basics of wrong and right would create a situation whereby they would be applied with a lot of ease. The ends of the actions by persons also determine what is good and what is wrong. Drawing a line between wrong and right creates a society which has some sense, since all actions are directed towards the good of the society. Of essence, Mill’s utilitarian theory is out to bring systems into place that will allow the society function not only in a just manner, but also in the fairness that it deserves. If these rules and foundations are adhered to, it is possible that the society function in an orderly manner. The views brought forward by Mill can be justified, as he bases foundations of morals throughout the work. This interprets that all actions, according to Arthur, must be analyzed in terms of their good and evil. This means the moral nature of actions determine reasoning of right or wrong. Culture and stability of the society has also been analyzed. Mill is of the opinion that morality is special in the society since it shapes the actions portrayed by individuals. This has been termed as the concept of utility

Essay on Weimar Germany Essay Example for Free

Essay on Weimar Germany Essay Weimar: Destined for Failure by a Weak Constitution and Poor Popular Support? A thread that runs throughout many analyses of the legacy of theWeimar Republic contains the idea that the fledgling German democracy was somehow doomed from the start. With a constitution that contained items such as Article 48 – a constitutional provision that permitted the Weimar President to rule by decree without the consent of the Reichstag – and a clause that allowed the Reichskanzler to assume office in the event of the death of the President, there were certainly structural inadequacies that, in hindsight, may not have been the wisest choices by the framers of the Weimar Constitution. Craig took aim at the consttutional inclusion of proportional representation (Verhaltniswahlrecht) in elections to the Reichstag, arguing that the resultant plethora of German political parties â€Å"made for an inherent instability that manifested itself in what appeared to the bemused spectator to be a continuous game of musical chairs† in the near-constant shuffling of Weimar coalitions and ministries. Eyck described the enormous number of political parties under proportional representation as â€Å"these many cooks [who] brought forth a broth which was neither consistent nor clear. † Mommsen, however, disagreed that proportional representation was a root cause of Weimar political instability, calling Verhaltniswahlrecht â€Å"at most a symptom† of the problems, and adding that the â€Å"reluctance to assume political responsibility† by Weimar political parties was the source of instability. Left: Weimar President Friedrich Ebert Other historians have pointed to the seeming lack of enthusiasm many Germans felt for the new government as contributing to a â€Å"doomed† Weimar. Erdmann argued that Germans faced a difficult dilemma in 1918-1919, faced with the choices of â€Å"social revolution in alliance with the forces pressing for a proletarian dictatorship,† or â€Å"a parliamentary republic in alliance with conservative elements such as the old officer corps. McKenzie, while acknowledging that the new Republic did not have broad support, nonetheless maintained that the motivations of most Germans remained simply â€Å"the restoration of law and order and return to peacetime conditions. † Fritzsche, arguing against the idea that Germans were anti-democratic, argued that â€Å"the hostile defamations of the president of the republic were as indicative of democratization as the presidency of the good-willed Fritz Ebert himself. Brecht disputed the notion that Germans, as a people, have somehow always been totalitarian, and cautioned against such the creation of such simplistic stereotypes to exlain the failure of Weimar democracy: †¦nothing can be more devious than the opinion that the Germans have always been totalitaran and that the democratic regime served only as a camouflage to conceal this fundamental fact. The overwhelming majority of the people at the end of the imperial period and during the democratic regime were distinctly anti-totalitarian and anti-fascist in both their ideas and principles. The rise of a culture of political violence in Weimar Germany should certainly be considered as a contributory factor in the Republic’s political instability. Beginning with the emergence of the Freikorps units immediately after the declaration of the Republic, this tendency toward violence became entrenched in Weimar politics after the 1919 assassinations of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Evans argued that â€Å"gun battles, assassinations, riots, massacres, and civil unrest† prevented Germans from possessing the â€Å"stability in which a new democratic order could flourish. Moreover, noted Evans, all major political parties employed groups of armed loyalists whose purposes were to protect their political compatriots and to contribute to the waging of low-grade civil war: Before long, political parties associated themselves with armed and uniformed squads, paramilitary troops whose task it was to provide guards at meetings, impress the public by marching in military parades, and to intimidate, beat up, and on occasion kill members of the paramilitary units associated with other political parties. Thus, the rise of militant extremists such as the NSDAP should viewed within the context of the Weimar history of political paramilitary forces as a â€Å"normal† phenomenon. Groups such as the Stahlhelm, the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold, and the Rotfrontkampferbund had memberships much higher than did the Ordnertruppen in the early to mid-1920s, and the rise of the Sturmabteilung as the muscle behind the NSDAP reflects the recognition by the Nazis of the unwritten rules of politics in Weimar Germany. Weimar Culture and Challenges to Tradition The personal freedoms often associated with Weimar culture – whether seen as an inevitable, pendulum-like reaction after decades of Wilhelmine authoritarianism, or as a flowering of postwar expression – led to a period of unparalleled vibrancy in literature, the arts, architecture, and philosophy. Kolb described the period as â€Å"the eruption of a new vitality, the liberation of creative forces in a short decade of unbounded intellectual and artistic freedom. Moreover, the Weimar period witnessed significant leaps forward in the emancipation of women, and it is not without considerable merit that many pundits have described Weimar Germany as the first modern culture. Left: Image of cabaret production of the Haller Revue in Berlin Yet these sudden cultural changes were far from being universally accepted by the average German, and groups on the right as well as the left decried what was perceived by many as the power of destructive internal forces. Leftists tended to focus on the bourgeois infatuation with base materialism, while many conservatives believed that republican Germany was becoming a morally decrepit nation. Hitler himself played off such sentiments in his speeches, using widespread perceptions of decadence and disaffection with modernity as springboards for his anti-Marxist and anti-Semitic philosophies. In his first public speech after accepting the post of Reichskanzler, Hitler blasted those whom he believed to have quickly led Germany to moral decay: Communism with its method of madness is making a powerful and insidious attack upon our dismayed and shattered nation. It seeks to poison and disrupt in order to hurl us into an epoch of chaos. This negative, destroying spirit spared nothing of all that is highest and most valuable. Beginning with the family, it has undermined the very foundations of morality and faith and scoffs at culture and business, nation and Fatherland, justice and honor. Fourteen years of Marxism have ruined Germany; one year of bolshevism would destroy her. Chief among the evidence for the supposed moral decline cited by contemprary critics of Weimar culture was the open sexual freedom proclaimed by many younger Germans, especially in the larger cities. Berlin, in particular, became something of an international destination for people seeking its wide variety of sexual subcultures. Henig argued that the â€Å"bright lights and avant-garde cultural attraction of Berlin incurred the hostility of traditional communities in rural areas. † The Weimar era, maintained Mommsen, was a period â€Å"that was characterized by the tension between extreme modernity in a few cultural centers and the relatve backwardness of life in the provinces. † Kolb noted that â€Å"confrontation in cultural matters still further exacerbated the basic political discord among Germans in the Weimar period. Lacqueur observed that many German artists were seemingly clueless of just how far removed their work was from the sensibilities of the average German citizen: Strange as it may appear in retrospect, they were genuinely unaware of the fact that the distance between the avant-garde and popular taste had grown immeasurably and that the dctrines preached by the right were much more in line with popular taste. Those who emphasize the cultural decadence of Weimar Germany, of course, run the risk of sounding prudish, or even worse, as apologists for the fascist regime that followed the demise of the Weimar Republic. Still, it is important to note that the perception of moral decay by many comtemporary Germans – on both the political right and left – was a contributing factor in the moving away from mainstream political parties by German voters and toward extremist factions such as the NSDAP and KDP. Combined with political instability and – most importantly – deleterious economic conditions, the concerns of many Germans about moral decline and social decay began to be expressed in the electoral results of 1930-32 and the eventual collapse of the republic-supporting Weimar Coalition. Hyperinflation, Depression, and Politcial Opportunity One of the consistent themes that underscores the period of Weimar Germany is that of economic instability, and the economic calamities that occurred throughout the history of the Republic mirror periods of political upheaval. The Weimar government, at various times, faced food shortages, hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and an unprecedented economic depression, and any analysis of the failures of democracy in Weimar Germany needs to take into account these inherently disruptive economic phenomena. Craig succinctly summed up the economic problems facing the new republic with this comment: â€Å"Its normal state was crisis. † Left: German children playing with worthless banknotes in 1923 The debts incurred by the German government during the war and the economic downturn that followed the transition away from a wartime economy weighed down the fledgling Weimar Republic. Industrial production in 1919, noted Evans, was only 42 percent of what it had been in 1913, and grain production had fallen by over 50 percent from prewar figures. These economic factors, however, paled in comparison with the effects of the reparations demanded and received by the Allies in the Versailles negotiations. In addition, Germany suffered significant territorial losses as a result of Versailles, including Alsace-Lorraine, West Prussia, Posen, Upper Silesia, and the Saar. The terms of the Treaty called for the new German government to make an initial payment of 20 billion gold marks to the Allies by May, 1921, and the Reparations Commission eventually settled on a total reparations bill to Germany of 132 billion gold marks. John Maynard Keynes – a participant in the Versailles negotiations – accurately predicted that the onerous terms of the Treaty of Versailles were far beyond the means of the new republic: The policy of reducing Germany to servitude for a generation, of degrading the lives of millions of human beings, and of depriving a whole nation of happiness should be abhorrent and detestable,—abhorrent and detestable, even if it were possible, even if it enriched ourselves, even if it did not sow the decay of the whole civilized life of Europe. The initial German economic losses due to the Treaty of Versailles were staggering. Germany lost about 13. 5 percent of its territory, approximately 13 percent of its industrial productivity, and slightly more than 10 percent of its population. In addition, the loss of important mining areas such as the Saar and Upper Silesia resulted in a loss of 74 percent of German iron ore, 41 percent of the country’s pig iron supplies, and approximately 25 percent of its coal reserves. Historians and economists have long debated the actual effects of the Treaty of Versailles on economic conditions in Weimar Germany. Fraser argued that the Treaty â€Å"was in no sense the unjust and cynical imposition that the propagandists alleged it to have been. † Eyck held that many Germans believed â€Å"that they had been duped by the armistice,† and that the effect of the heavy reparations served mostly to reinforce the Dolchsto? legende. Craig argued that the economic conditions that followed the burden of the reparations bills resulted in ordinary Germans suffering â€Å"deprivations that shattered their faith in the democratic process and left them cynical and alienated. Kolb noted that most of the reparations that were paid ultimately were sent by the debtor nations of Britain and France to the United States, which in turn reinvested this capital in the German economy. Webb called into question the very process of analyzing post-Treaty German economics, arguing that the effects of inflation in the early 1920s make calculations especially difficult, as inflation â€Å"altered the real va lue of all financial flows and confounded their measurement. † Yet it would be naive to dismiss the idea that reparations payments were a heavy burden on the new Weimar government. With a sputtering economy, high unemployment, and weak tax revenues, the government of Ebert found itself trying to balance the needs of German citizens with the additional debt load from the reparations bills. Moreover, to a German population that was experiencing widespread poverty and food shortages – not to mention the wartime sacrifices – reparations that were being sent to recent wartime enemies came as a shock.

Discharge Planning And Processing Nursing Care Nursing Essay

Discharge Planning And Processing Nursing Care Nursing Essay Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health care providers by their approach to patient care, training, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in a wide diversity of practice areas with a different scope of practice and level of prescriber authority in each. Many nurses provide care within the ordering scope of physicians, and this traditional role has come to shape the historic public image of nurses as care providers. However, nurses are permitted by most jurisdictions to practice independently in a variety of settings depending on training level. In the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing. Nursing care is understood as being particularly crucial during patients recovery from serious illness or injury. Classically, it was thought that people requiring these services were probably people who were bed ridden. The objective of health services delivery is not only to care for bed ridden people but also anybody else that have a condition that is reducing their quality of life. It is known that some diseases significantly reduce the quality of life led by individuals and not by necessarily sending them to bed. The aim of healthcare today is to assist any person with any disease, ailment or any form of suffering to recover and have a joyous and creative life. Another factor that makes a nurse to be specifically suited to their job is because they are trained about community care. They deliver care in the context of the whole community. They are able to reach the society or community and teach or assist them on the best way to care for various people needing care in a society. Psoriasis is a non-contagious disease that affects a peoples skin. It is found in a class of diseases that are described as immune mediated. It occurs when a persons body starts sensing the skin cells that are foreign cells of disease causing microorganisms hence reacting against them. For this reason, the body responds to this faulty signal by producing more skin cells. The patients skin cells in the affected places divide up to 10 times faster and lead to accumulation of dead cells on the surface. The skin of the patient appears to have a red plaque that is covered with white rashes. This disease is particularly acutely irritating and is probably the most frustrating and unpredictable skin disorder. This disorder is also the most inexplicable and continual skin illnesses. Some parts of the body are more affected by this disease than others. These include the scalp, elbows, and knees. Some other parts are affected but on rare instances. They include the soles, the palms, and the fee t. Commons symptoms of psoriasis include reddening of the skin with white or silvery scales occurring at the top. These areas can be exceedingly sore and may crack and bleed occasionally. In most cases, the affected patches expand and coalesce forming large and continuous patches. In other instances, this disease may affect the nails where nails become rough, crumbled or even detached from their bed. Another symptom that health care providers look for in diagnosing psoriasis is crusts, scales or plaques on a persons scalp. There are various aspects of care that a nurse considers during care delivery. These are sometimes utilized by professional nurses as a checklist to ensure that the care is all inclusive, and the process of recovery is holistic. The main aim of this assignment is to address the nursing care of a patient with psoriasis based on two aspects of care which include patient education and discharge planning and process. Patients Education of Psoriasis Patient It is essential in the nursing care process of a patient with psoriasis to be educated and advised on how to live with the society, to avoid psychological torture and lastly to meet the prescribed medical instruction. The Patients are reported to face stigma and antagonism by such other people in the society. They become less indispensable resource to the society and hence said to experience negative attitude for the firsthand. They have seen how a single look on them initiates talks among people among other forms of stigmatization. Nurses teach patients to become ambassadors of truth. The society mistreats its members through stigmatization because of ignorance. The nurses also educate patients on how to protect friends, relatives and other members of the community (Smith et al, 2002). Moreover in Medical care, the nurse give educational care techniques including assistance on the application of the medicine, monitoring the progress of the patient and advising the patients on the fa ctors that aggravate psoriasis. Secondly, the nurses have noticed that the patients due to stress are currently suffering from psychological disorders such as post traumatic stress disorders and anxiety. They feel neglected and thus they need psychological education. Some of the nurses collaborate with psychologists to educate both the society and the psoriasis patients. In most case, nurses find themselves in a situation where the psychological health of the patient is crucial. Some patient feel like their image has been dented after they suffer from a psoriasis attack. The nurse has to respond to this by educating the patient on how to deal with these psychological problems. Sometimes, the patient is so psychologically affected that the nurse has to refer the patient for specialized counseling among other interventions. Bearing in mind the wide spread nature of psoriasis nurses come up with a way of assisting the society. The challenge that nurses face is lack of an elaborate system of reaching the society in order to educate them. The patients are advised on how to live healthy and boost their self-esteem. Nurses take this opportunity to educate parents and guardians how to handle the case and enhance the recovery of the patient. These educational programs are currently found to improve the health of the patient and to reduce stigmatization directed to the skin infections victims. Also in some cases, nurses organize members of the public into groups which have initiated some sports or even meditation. Other benefits of these sports are they help to deal with behaviors such as scratching. Furthermore other patients educational campaigns carried out by the nurse are to educate the patients and the society on the symptoms and origin of the disease thus clearing misconceptions in peoples mind. For example, some people believe that psoriasis is a sign of a curse, due to this they fail to take the medication and the advice seriously. It jeopardizes the process of treatment exceedingly and seriously. It may even increase stigma; people do not want to get close or in contact with a cursed person. Even when such people should be giving care, they stay away due to unreasonable fear. It becomes the responsibilities of nurses to shed more light on psoriasis. Friends, family, and people living with the affected individuals are educated to provide the necessary support for the patient. Lastly, the nurses are currently educating the patients who ignorantly fear to access the medical services due to been noticed that medical services will save them a lot from the disease. In some cases, it may disappear, in others it does not; thus, medical help is required. Additionally, it may leave an individual with extraordinarily large psychological problems that require specialized assistance. In most cases, nurses know specialists who can counsel and help the patient to fully recover. Nurses offer their advice regarding medical care and refer the patient for further counseling and peer support. In home care, the nurses are also educating the patients on how to handle stress. Medically, it is known that the careless and irresponsible behaviors that people develop during the stress cause psoriasis. Such behavior may include rubbing of hands and face. Stressed people have destructive tendencies of holding into anything and bringing things in contact with their faces. During care of a patient or other members of the community, the nurses shed more light on these issues so that people can lead a more informed life. They are also advised to protect themselves against excessive exposure to sunshine that can aggravate psoriasis especially during the summer periods. It is a method of illnesses prevention in a community, as observation of such basic rules can keep psoriasis at bay, at least for some people for some time (Walji et al, 1994). Thus in summary, the nurse has been carrying out the patients education across the medical services, stigmatizations and stress from other people, misconceptions and myths about the origin of the disease, treatment methods, society approach to psoriasis victims and lastly on how to handle psychological perception found to affect them adversely. Discharge Planning and Processing of Nursing Care Acute based care hospital discharge planning and process starts immediately upon admission in the hospitals. In most cases it is found to ensure that the nurses follow the right psoriasis disease medical guidelines and system (Fabian et al, 2011). It is defined as a multi-disciplinary nursing approach by the nurses and other medical practitioners to the patients signs, treatment process and discharging means. It involves several planning process, as described below. Immediately after admission of the patient, the first step in the nursing care designing planning and process is to examine the skin in general circumstances. The nurse should contact this within three hours. At the same time the patient is prepared for discharging through contacting the Medicare organizations such as insurance. At the same time the nurse should interview the patients about the problems linked to the disease, when did it start, what are some of the medications the patient accessed before and lastly, whether they have any hereditary problem of the disease across their family lineage. The next planning process is the nurse to describe the information given in line to the prevailing psoriasis diagnosis where the patient is taken for laboratory medical examination. At this process, the patients are instructed not to scratch themselves even if they are itching and home cares prepared for discharging process .This help to reduce more infections and complications. Moreover, in this stage, the patients are instructed to isolate themselves from other people in the society, utilize their own clothing and even take bath using bath oils. Moreover, the patient should avoid any skin injury that is going to complicate the medical process (Walji .Kingston, 1994) Third step in the discharge of nursing care planning method include keeping the skin moist. The nurses are trained to apply epidemiological prescription to ensure the patient skin is moist and thus not to itch. This involves reducing the scales by applying the necessary medical bath oils and staying in a cool place free from any dust and high temperature. The patients are also provided with some injections and clothing necessary to reduce itching, smell and pain. In the next stage, the patients are nursed in a manner as to keep the wounds clean and to apply the necessary antibiotics carefully and skillfully. This ensures that the patients do not have pain and itching is reduced. The nurses take this opportunity to educate the family members on how to prescribe the medical drugs to the psoriasis patients and thus improved services. At this moment, the nurses must monitor the risk of infections, outcomes of the disease and lastly the implication of the bath oil to the skin (Papadopoulo s Walker, 2003). Lastly, some of the patients found to be stressed, stigmatized and psychologically affected are provided with advices or even referred to psychologists for guidance and counseling. The nurses have a goal to improve the mind perceptions of the patients and to positively impact on their health. The nurses consider some numerous patients factors in the process of discharging the duties. They have to make necessary recommendations in line to the Medicare guideline so as to ensure that psoriasis patients enjoy the best Medicare services (Braverman, 1998). In the process, they must have insurance and Medicare eligibility so as to ensure that the psoriasis patient has in-patient services and hospitalized for at least three consecutive calendar years for observation purposes. Secondly, they must observe the cognitive status and especially their safety awareness while in the discharging process. This helps in reducing unnecessary infections to both the nurses and other patients. The clothing and bed sheets of the psoriasis infections must be handled with a lot of care (Camisa, 1994). Lastly, the nurses should observe the illness history and the future falls of the patient. Moreover, other factors that should be observed in the planning and discharge of psoriasis patients includes; age, living situation and lastly the daily nutrition and activities of the patients. Conclusion The nursing process of any psoriasis patient does not just require observation of the two aspects discussed above. Rather than that, it require all the nurses and medical practitioners to maintain people medical services to the patients, educate them and plan for the discharge process well. This will help to improve the health of this skin condition victim and reduce society misconception about the disease.