First Session Presentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

First Session Presentation - Essay Example Firm and clear corporate legislation can do much, but so can the 'softer' principles that invest our understanding of ethical dealing, and enhance the quality of human relationships. Good governance enhances stakeholder value, company morale, and productivity. The overall significance of corporate governance is that ethics must start at the top, and be constantly fostered there. Without ethical leadership there will be no ethical following. Openness should be the main point in corporate governance. Secret deals, the 'old-boy' network, family collusion, and power broking are often seen to be inimical to good strategic management. That openness might breach commercial secrecy may be true but it is argued here that, apart from commercial secrecy or national security, the strategic plans and commercial tactics belong to all stakeholders. Openness is the long-term goal of commercial stability. A high-integrity ethical code also supports the reputation of WJI. The use of an ethical code goes beyond specifics, and addresses a broader range of conduct in that it shows a commitment to good citizenship (Schuler, 1998). There is agreement that values and beliefs greatly influence organizational attitudes and behavior which form organizational culture. To a significant degree, values, beliefs, and attitudes govern behavior and decision-making activity in organizations. It is through shared values and beliefs that organizational culture impacts organizational behavior and, hence, effectiveness (Cairns, 2003). The key issues of culture will include open and proper financial reward for work done. The notion of tipping for some special reason has been common, but not all that common. Among such are the notion of collective responsibility, attitudes to women, judgments about body shape, usury, secret commissions, and loyalty-to-family over loyalty-to-principle. Among the important themes on business ethics and culture are those of the need to resolve issues of values in relation to different cultures, and to try to find principles that transcend culture; and the need to find means of teaching, encouraging and enforcing an ethical code in business. Corporate ethics will shape culture and affords an opportunity to discuss and resolve these human values in a non-threatening frame of reference. In a world of increasing prospects of cross-cultural contact there is a perceived need for a guide to human behavior that is minimally culture bound (Robbins, 2002). Organizational Structure Culture and structure must both be appropriate to provide successful innovation. Structure is the easier to change, being relatively changeable in the short term of a decade or less while culture may take centuries to change. WJI is based on a matrix structure which better fits the consulting nature of the firm. The capture of the matrix and its conversion into a space of regulation is easily demonstrated by recourse to any contemporary use of the notion of a matrix as the ordering principle for ideas, locations, positions and so forth. The matrix structure helps WIJ to perform the main tasks quickly and effectively (Robbins, 2002). The most important is that the level of errors and faults are lower than before. WIJ first corrected the structure before the establishment of innovation has a chance to result in a prospering economy. It

Learning Experiences 1 (Personal Training) Essay

Learning Experiences 1 (Personal Training) - Essay Example Its insertion is olecranon process of ulna. Intended action is long head, and exercise is skull crushers. Fourth is Biceps Brachii. Origin is scapula. Its insertion is tuberosity of radius and bicipital aponeurosis. Intended action is flexion of elbow and dumbbell biceps curl as exercise. Fifth is Anterior Deltoid, with the origin as anterior lateral third of the clavicle. Insertion is deltoid tuberosity on lateral humerus, intended action is abduction and flexion and exercise is dumbbell anterior deltoid raise. Sixth is Medial Deltoid. Origin is scapula, insertion is deltoid tuberosity on lateral humerus, intended action is abduction of the shoulder joint, and exercise is dumbbell lateral raise. Seventh is Posterior Deltoid with the origin as scapula, insertion is deltoid tuberosity on lateral humerus, intended action is abduction, extension and rotation while exercise is dumbbell posterior deltoid raise (Alcamo & Bergdahl, 2003, p.68). The eighth muscle is Trapezius, origin is the base of skull, insertion is the base of the scapular spine, intended action is elevation and depression, exercise is barbell shrugs. The ninth is Rectus Abdominis, origin is superior surface of pubis, insertion is costal cartilages, and intended action is depresses ribs, and exercise is crunches. Tenth is the External Oblique, origin is ribs, insertion is linear alba and iliac crest, intended action is flexes and depresses ribs, exercise is standing side twists. Eleventh is Gluteus Maximus, origin is illium and sacrum, insertion is the oblique ridge of the greater trochanter, intended action is the extension and rotation of hip, exercise is standing. Twelfth muscle involves Rectus Femoris, origin is anterior iliac spine of the illeum, insertion is patella, intended action is the flexion of hip, and exercise is leg extensions. The thirteen is the Biceps Femoris, origin is ischial tuberosity, insertion is lateral condoyle of tibia, intende d action is flexion

What advantages does a herfindahl-type index have as a measure of Essay

What advantages does a herfindahl-type index have as a measure of industrial concentration over an n firm concentration ratio - Essay Example There are two main differences of the Herfindahl index with the concentration ratio. The Herfindahl index uses all the firms market shares rather than using any particular number of the largest firms and furthermore, it uses the squares of the values of the market shares to compute the extent of concentration. So,if we assume N firms in the industry, the Herfindahl index looks like: To identify the relative advantages of the Herfindahl type index it is pertinent to note the desirable properties such competitiveness indices should exhibit. First, any competitiveness index should exhibit a decreasing trend with a rising number of firms. This is simply a reflection of the fact that as the number of firms increases the competitiveness rises and hence any index that captures the extent of concentration in the industry should reduce in value (Tirole, 1988). Secondly, any index of concentration should also be non-increasing if not declining with an increase in the extent of symmetry in the market shares of the associated firms (Tirole, 1988). Thus, having perceived the basic features any adequate index of concentration should have, we now proceed to comparatively analyse the two aforementioned measures in the extents they meet up to these requirements. Evidently, the concentration ratio as well as the Herfindahl index both satisfies the first requirement. Both of the indices shall exhibit declining trends as the number of firms start rising since the individual market shares as a percentage of the total market output shall fall. However, the concentration ratio fails to satisfy the second requirement. If there was a redistribution of market shares among the considered firms with some of them gaining higher market shares while that of the others fell so that the total market share of these firms taken together remained the same, the concentration ratio would not change. However, in the Herfindahl index, the squared values of the individual market

The Rise and fall of Enron Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Rise and fall of Enron - Research Paper Example It turned out to be an empire every ambitious employee wanted to work for. With human resource demands, consumer demand and investor interest the empire cemented its position in the market as the best business empire ever created. The business empire was known as Enron Corp. Enron drew interest to all analysts and audit companies. Many analysts predicted a downfall of the Company. However, the downfall was long to come by as Enron made business contracts with many small organizations which reduced their risk exposure and increased asset worth. The predicted collapse of the company finally occurred. Form a market value share of $126 per share the share dropped to a record low below 30cents per share. The collapse was very big that no stakeholder in the company was spared. From employees, investors and partners all experienced the harsh conditions. The fall of the company drew criticism towards the government on its efforts to protect investors. The big fall formed the biggest debate i n the corporate world up to date. With the increasing profits of the company a good management will be the only key to keep the company in its successful status. The growth of a company will reflect on the depth of loss it may incur. In the case of Enron the management was up to the task. The company enrolled top educated professions in the industry. With such a talented workforce the status of Enron seemed to be improving. However this was not the real picture behind the profit making company. The management created an internal conflict in the organization. The management came up with a cruel way or ranking employee performance. The ranking was to decide whether an individual will be fired all retained. Mr. Skilling the then director of operations defended the move saying it would improve the performance. Although the performance levels increased, the conflicts between employees opened up a venue of secrecy within the company. The employees ceased to work as a team as each employee sought to impress Skilling. According to the management they ranking systems made employees work harder. To the employees, the ranking dictated their performance since it would determine their fate in the company. False Impression The secrecy culture in the organization infested even the management. The company had looses in its account books but they were not made public. With the profile of the company still protected, more investors and customers became interested in the company. At the first instant the company was able to contain the loss in the finances without the public being informed. The company continued to venture into high risks investment without the consideration of the investments in its stocks and assets. In the 1990s the U.S market was at its peak and investment opportunities were opening up. With the great profile Enron had in the market, it could not resist the urge to invest. The company had inexperienced staff which was not able to compete in the peak season o f the U.S market. The management again downplayed that fact and ventured into many investments in the period. Permitting organizational abuse After the resignation of the C.E.O Kennedy Lay, Skilling was appointed the C.E.O. From the change in the management of the company, games of personal interest took charge on the finances of the company. The share value dropped to $24 per share. In addition to these mistakes, the management still declined to release in public the financial report of the company. Mr. Skilling resigned as

My Favorite Place Essay Example for Free

My Favorite Place Essay Everyone has a special place, a place where people can find happiness, be themselves, and peace. This special place perhaps is a place where people have a dream to go for a vacation, honeymoon, or relax. A tense of mind in life force people to think about the place that they can truly relax. In many people’s lives, a travel is the best option for relaxation. Specially, middle class people who live in the bay area and be under high pressure of work, perhaps they need to have a vacation for relaxation at leisure. Sometime people cannot afford the luxury vacation such as going to cruise around Atlanta, eating fresh seafood in Japan, or enjoying the beauty of nature in Shangri-La Resort Skardu. The best vacation that I had in my country Vietnam was unforgettable. Vietnam is the place where people can have all the joys of traveling by cruise, eating fresh seafoods, and the view of beautiful nature with the low price of cost. People who have a vacation for only three weeks should pay a visit to Vinh Ha Long City in my country because the attractions of its scenery, the taste of the fresh seafoods, and the taste of its nature. Vinh Ha Long is one of the best sceneries in the world. I only can spend less than three thousand dollars for three weeks for the great vacation to Vietnam including the air-plan’s ticket. Everything cost cheaply in Vietnam compare to other countries such as Japan, Korea, or China. Thus, I can enjoy freely for viewing the beautiful of Vinh Ha Long’s City without the worry of expenses. Vinh Ha Long is known as the Descending Dragon where is the world’s eighth wonder. When I arrived to Vinh Ha Long City, I could see the beautiful beach was covered by the dark sand at â€Å"Bay Chay† or scorched beach. Then, I hired an inexpensive beautiful boat to go around the bay for taking pictures. The beautiful of its view created the mysterious scenery in my memory. Looking down from above, I could see Ha Long bay as a giant lively picture. When I walked at the middle of Ha Long Cities, I lost in a fairy world that turned into stone. I imaged that the island named â€Å"Hon Rong† was like a dragon which was hovering above the water. Arriving the island named â€Å"Hon Ong La Vong†, I could see the island as a picture of an old man was sitting and fishing. There were more beautiful islands around Vinh Ha Long City. All of these islands looked really real. The shape of the islands that make wonderful perspective of incalculable light of the day. In my life, I have never enjoyed such a beautiful scenery. It really was the castle of the midst of earthly creation. Vinh Ha Long is one of the cities that have the best seafoods in Vietnam. The City was surrounded by the beautiful beach. The supply of seafoods always new and fresh for visitors. The restaurant that I found the most delicious seafoods and great services with the cheapest prices that I ever have was called â€Å"Ha Long Restaurant†. It was located at seaside where I could eat and enjoy the beautiful view of the beach. I was surprised of how good the service it had. The waiters were so nice and thoughtful about what I needed. They offered and introduced a lot of popular seafoods. Moreover, the price was too cheap to be true. One hundred American dollars can transform its value to two millions vietnam dollars. So I could image how cheap of the food was that compared to America. If this food was served in United State, it could cost more than four hundreds US dollars per dinner of two people. Some of the best food I had eat, it called â€Å"Guava steamed squid dish†. The process of making squid dishes were delicious, cool and full of nutrients of the restaurant. The octopus, sea shrimp paste with the crispy, sweet, when processed into food attractively. Steamed squid were popular by Guava which was flavor characteristic blend with the sea. This â€Å"Guava steamed squid dish† was made by the chef of the restaurant. It was highly innovative and customer favorite. My favorite food was â€Å"Ha Long Lobster† in this â€Å"Ha Long Restaurant†. Lobsters have a variety of different weight, depending on the number of customers that can be served by restaurants. Prices were also relatively comfortable range from around one millions vietnam dollar per two pounds. In order words, I only spent for fifty US dollars for a perfect â€Å"Ha Long Lobster†. It had many kind of Lobsters such as Lobster roasted salted, Steamed Lobster, Lobster salad, and Lobster porridge. I cannot wait to go back and try its all again. People can enjoy the unique of its nature in Vinh Ha Long City. There were many beautiful cave that people cannot find it else where in the world. The most beautiful cave was â€Å"Tam Cung† cave. It located at the center in Ha Long Bay. People was hardly cannot see it. When I go to center of Ha Long, The Tam Cung cave attacked my eyes right away. Tam Cung cave had a stone shapes which created a natural life. It had three compartment. In the first compartment, I soundly stopped walking somewhere quite to hear echoes of sound of flute. From the first compartment to the second compartment through a small crack of the door, I was walking bumpy, I could see this place was as a living natural museum, which was a stone lions, seals, and the water of god made by stone. In the middle of the third compartment was a first stream of fresh water flowing forever. The two walls were the stone curtain that slender drooping from the ceiling which looked all the curtain stone were shaking. In the Tam Cung cave, I could see the magnificent carving which liked flowers, the natural stone curtain, and gentle elephants were sleeping. The cave was created by nature. I have ever seen anything like the Tam Cung cave in my life. Vinh Ha long City was my favorite place where I can see the beautiful scenery, taste of its nature, and fresh food. My Vietnam trip for three weeks created the best beautiful memory that I never have and forgot in my life. I did not need to spend huge money for this vacation due to the big different currency between the Vietnam and U. S dollars. First, its scenery helped me to relax and get lost in the fairy places. Second, its seafoods were fresh and the taste was delicious. Finally, the Tam Cung cave was created by nature bring me the unforgettable memory.

Diagnosing Depression In Ethnic Minority Groups Social Work Essay

Diagnosing Depression In Ethnic Minority Groups Social Work Essay The essay title is curious and could be interpreted in a number of ways. Firstly, it invites me to decide whether the essay should be from the perspective of a client, or the therapist, or both. I have chosen to present the essay from the point of view that it is the client who is a member of an ethnic minority group. Perhaps what drew me to this title over the others is of personal significance, being from a multicultural family and having lived and worked in countries in the Far East and West Africa where culture and society is vastly different to that of the UK. Essentially, I have experienced being an ethnic minority member in the opposite context and hence was eager to explore the essay from a clients perspective in the UK. I chose to focus on depression rather than psychosis, as I was less aware of current research linking ethnicity to depression and felt this would balance out my motivations and be beneficial for my development as a trainee. As for the content, I will begin with a discussion on what is meant by an ethnic minority group and by the term depression. I will then present my view of how ethnicity affects the diagnostic process, initiated with a brief health warning about the implications of racial stereotyping. Following this I will focus on presentation of symptoms and the formulation process of depression. The second half of the essay will be about the treatment process, looking closely at the influence of ethnicity on help-seeking behaviour and psychological treatments. Finally I will end the essay with a reflective account containing my thoughts about finishing the essay and a conclusion. What is an ethnic minority group? When translated literally, the term ethnicity means people or nation (i.e. ethnos; Franklin, 1983). Senior Bhopal (1994) highlight that is now used as a variable to describe health data. On closer inspection, the concept of ethnicity is not simple or easy to understand. Firstly, ethnic minority status does not account for changes over time and context. There are also many different terms used for groups. McKenzie Crowcroft (1996) highlight a good example of this: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a Black Baptist born in the UK whose parents were born in Jamaica might be called Afro-Caribbean, black British, of Caribbean origin UK born, West Indian, and of course, Jamaican. Furthermore, ethnic categorization does not inform us of whether the individual is of first or second generation descent, not to mention the migrant status of the individual. Given our multicultural climate, the meaning of ethnicity is a source of continuing debate and is also likely to change with national trends and politics. For example, the Irish have only recently be recognized as an ethnic minority in the UK. Although the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH, 2003) has advised that ethnicity should be self-identified, this does not always happen in the process of research. McKenzie Crowcroft (1996) point out that this leaves many researchers in the position of assigning membership of an ethnic minority group on an informal basis in order to have comparable data. Indeed, defining an ethnic minority group is problematic due to the lack of consensus. Despite these issues it was necessary for me to attach myself to a concrete definition for the purpose of this essay. Furthermore, I have selected a particular ethnic minority group (African-Caribbeans) when specific examples are needed. The definition I am following regarding an ethnic minority group is: Those with a cultural heritage distinct from the majority population (Manthorpe Hettiaratchy, 1993). What is Depression? Depression is a term used both clinically and in everyday discourse (Valente, 1994) to describe a host of unpleasant feelings which people experience, ranging from a low mood to describing a situational feeling (Keller Nesse, 2005). When depression is considered clinically significant is it quite different from the common experiences just narrated. A person may be diagnosed with clinical depression if they are experiencing depressed mood or loss of interest and pleasure plus at least five other adverse feelings during a two-week period or longer (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychological Association, 2000). When depression is at its worst, it can make people withdraw from ordinary pleasures and concentration may become very poor. Some people with depression report a sense of hopelessness and can experience suicidal feelings or ideations as a result (APA, 2000). Clinical depression can occur alongside different disorders and be multifaceted in its presentation (e.g. Akiskal et al., 2005). It is probably fair to say depression does not occur in every country across the world in the way we view it in the West. Other cultures may label it as something different. For example, Kleinman (1980, as cited in Bentall, 2003) found Western depression and a Chinese condition called Neurasthenia to be the same thing, although expressed in different ways. Given this, I question how useful our depression label is. This essay is however, directed by the title and the focus of this essay will therefore follow the DSM-IV-TR definition of depression. According to the Office for National Statistics clinical depression is experienced by 10% of the British Population at any one time. Depression is a diagnosis of increasing popularity, and was once referred to as the common cold of psychiatry (Seligman, 1975 as cited in Hawton et al., 2000). It is estimated that there are over 6 million people in England alone who are designated as from minority ethnic groups (Department of Health (DoH), 2003). Much of our current knowledge of depression in UK African-Caribbean people relies on limited research showing inconsistent results. I feel such statistics often lead to misdiagnosis, as clinicians are informed by research and policy. In order to avoid statistical discrimination I have therefore not included any data displaying suggested prevalence rates of depression in this population. Chakraborty McKenzie (2002) points out that early studies were criticized for methodological problems, but argues that more recent studies have attempted to advocate more rigorous methodology. More recent studies tend to suggest a high prevalence of depression in African-Caribbean populations (e.g. Nazroo, 1997 as cited in Chakraborty McKenzie, 2002). Interestingly, it is also thought that depression is underecognised and undertreated in African- Caribbeans, especially in primary care (Ahmed Bhugra, 2006). To what extent is membership of an ethnic minority group influential in the process of diagnosis of people experiencing depression? In the recent Inside Outside UK national initiative (Department of Health, 2003) a well-established link between health care disparities and ethnicity is claimed and structures are recommended which target this. I question the wider implications of producing such documents as it appears to suggest people should be viewed differently according to their ethnic status. As Lewis-Fernandez Diaz (2002) rightly point out, even people who share the same ethnic minority status can differ, as ethnic groups are culturally heterogeneous. As noted above, membership of an ethnic group is not a static thing and there are vast differences within an ethnic group as well as outside of it. I can relate to this as I often have difficulties when completing the ethnic status box on equal opportunities forms. Although I would class myself as white-British my father is Italian-American and my mother is Swiss, hence I have four passports. I normally choose to categorize myself as British however this someti mes changes to white-other or white-American depending on where I have been living. In my experience, I feel the desire to categorize people in society outweighs the usefulness of doing so. Given the increasingly multicultural climate of the UK it may not always be accurate to state that white people are of the dominant origin however statistically that is currently the case. This means that the relatively recent surge in interest and attention on differences of ethnic groups in mental health is often taken from an essentialist perspective (Giles Middleton, 1999), where differences are observed from my or our perspective. Claims made in research detailing differences between ethnic groups also encourage categorizing of individuals, which simply creates an othering between groups. Othering has been explained as a way to serve and mark those thought to be different from oneself (Weis, 1995 as cited in Grove Zwi, 2005). There is a concern for me that by focusing on the differences between African-Caribbeans and whites, or any other ethnic minority simply serves to reinforce the idea of racial differences and segregation. Institutional racism is a form of discrimination, which stems from the notion that groups should be treated differently according to phenotypic difference (McKenzie, 1999). It has been suggested that it is widespread in the UK (Modood et al., 1997). It seems to me that if we are to eliminate racial disparities in mental health care; concordant with the aims of the recent Department of Health initiative (2003), we all need to look at the way we are talking and presenting our ideas around this. For the reasons just discussed I will now attempt to present a view that is balanced and allows disparities of depression in African-Caribbean people to be seen in a relational context. Whilst I will describe potential areas of difference, the aim is not to stereotype people according to their ethnicity. Presentation The bodily styles of experiencing and expressing distress may be different for some people of African-Caribbean origin living in the UK than people from other ethnic backgrounds. Some studies suggest they experience and present more somatic symptoms of depression, e.g. headaches, achy limbs (Comino et al, 2001). Comino and colleagues also contend that idioms of distress differ linguistically and can take the form of cultural metaphors. If clinicians do not recognize these symptoms as signs of distress I imagine some clients may be left feeling quite frustrated. For us, as therapists, this does make the process of diagnosis more complex. An awareness of the possibility of somatic presentations, with a view to enquiring about the clients understanding of them seems helpful. A unique approach for the assessment and understanding of somatic symptoms of depression and idioms of distress has been developed (Lewis-Fernandez Diaz, 2002). There have also been attempts at identifying the core symptoms of depression across different ethnic groups, although the last one is most probably outdated now. In their large cross-cultural study, Jablensky et al., (1981 as cited in Bhugra Ayonrinde, 2004) found nine common international symptoms of depression; sadness, joylessness, anxiety, tension, lack of energy, loss of interest, poor concentration and ideas of insufficiency, inadequacy and worthlessness. Perhaps doing more studies like this could help in us developing a more universal approach to symptom recognition. Despite the evidence, I do believe that symptom presentation of depression can vary for a number of reasons completely unrelated to an individuals ethnic minority status. Children were once considered a difficult and under diagnosed population as they often present with somatic symptoms (e.g. failure to make expected weight gains in very young children; Carson Cantwell, 1980) which makes it difficult to diagnose. Subsequently, rating scales and measures have been devised which are appropriate for different age groups and enable a conventional diagnosis to be made (Goodyer, 2001). People living with HIV may also present somatic symptoms of depression. Kalichman et al., (2000) suggest available methods for distinguishing overlapping symptoms should be utilised when assessing such individuals. It seems obvious to me that we have to adapt standard methods of recognizing depressive symptoms when dealing with the diversity that naturally occurs in human beings. Language is also thought to be a potential barrier (e.g. Unutuzer, 2002) in the diagnostic process of depression. African-Caribbean people may not always speak clear English but speak multiple local languages or with an accent. Whilst I know this happens, I could not find any research investigating the percentages of African-Caribbean people in the UK and their language abilities. This so-called barrier could therefore be perceived rather than actual; however I will briefly discuss methods to work with this in the clinical context. As stated in the aforementioned Inside Outside document (2003) mental health services now aim to be culturally capable, which includes tackling difficulties with language. There is no doubt in my mind that communication is a key element in diagnosis, and I know from personal experience that not being able to communicate in a locally understood language can cause people to feel isolated. Thus, ensuring language access for people who speak a language other t han English through appropriate interpreting/translating services is crucial. However, I do feel that this parallels a need for people who have other difficulties with language. For example, I am sure it can be difficult to identify depression in individuals who have suffered severely dehabilitating strokes or physical injuries where speech is severely impaired. My point is that there are an array of factors which influence the way people talk about their difficulties and how they are understood by clinicians. Not being able to speak the English language in a clear English accent is simply one of those factors. I feel the issue raised here is more related to how we work with diversity rather than how we work with ethnicity. Formulation As a trainee clinical psychologist involved in the diagnostic process of depression I am also concerned with the formulation process and how this is affected. The beliefs people have about the nature and causes of depression do differ between cultures. For example, Bhugra et al., (1997) identified some African and Asian cultures view depression as part of lifes ups and downs, rather than a treatable condition. From this perspective, many psychological models which aid us in understanding depression can account for the differing beliefs and experiences of people. For example, the Cognitive model of depression (Beck, 1967, 1976) suggests that peoples early experiences lead people to form beliefs or schemata about themselves and the world. These assumptions are thought to cause negative automatic thoughts which perpetuate symptoms of depression on five different levels; behavioural, motivational, affective, cognitive and somatic. Despite this model being quite flexible at face value, ho wever, the negative cognitive triad (Beck, 1976) is directed by the beliefs and experiences of the individual. This may not fit in with those from more collectivist cultures. Indeed, we know that social networks often play an important part in the belief systems of ethnic minority members (Bhugra Ayonrinde, 2004). Therefore, thinking more systemically may be particularly useful when considering individuals from ethnic minority groups. However, we do need to be cautious in making assumptions about what beliefs people from ethnic minorities have. There is a danger that in doing so, we may be able to formulate quicker but may also cause considerable distress to the client. I recently attended a mental health awareness course as part of my placement where an African Caribbean service user came to talk to us about her experiences of being in the mental health system. She described her first traumatic admission to hospital after a close suicide attempt at the age of nineteen. She told us it was persistently assumed by mental health staff that she had attempted suicide because she did not understand or fit in with the predominantly white community in her area. She told us how upset and misunderstood this made her feel, as this was not the case at all. On reflection, this highlights the importance of service-user feedback in clinical practice. The question I see appearing with regards is how we as clinicians in the UK can best explore the beliefs, experiences and background of the multicultural population we are working with in order to diagnose appropriately. As Fernandez Diaz rightly point out, to do this we need a systematic method for eliciting and evaluating cultural information in the clinical encounter (Lewis-Fernandez Diaz, 2002). There is a paucity of information debating ways to take this forward and models to encapsulate these ideas are currently being developed and tested in the USA. One such model is the Cultural Formulation model (Lewis-Fernandez Diaz, 2002), which is an expansion on the depression guidelines, published in the DSM-IV-TR. This innovative model consists of five components; assessing cultural identity, cultural explanations of the illness, cultural factors related to the psychosocial environment and levels of functioning, cultural elements of the clinician-client relationship and the overall impact of culture on diagnosis and care. I find this model very inclusive as it can still elicit very useful information about culturally-based norms, values and behaviours even when there is no ethnic difference between the clinician and the client. Whilst cultural differences exist within an ethnic group, they are not necessarily ethnicity-bound. For example, they can equally be associated with an individuals age, gender, socioeconomic status, educational background, family status and wider social network (Ahmed Bhugra, 2006). If this is the case, then I would say that it is important for clinicians to have a very exploratory and curious approach when assessing and diagnosing an individual in a mental health service, whether they are from an ethnic minority or not. To what extent is membership of an ethnic minority group influential in the process of treatment of people experiencing depression? Some people with depression get better without any treatment. However, living with depression can be challenging as it impacts many areas of an individuals life including relationships, employment, and their physical health. Therefore, many people with depression do try some form of treatment. This process usually begins at primary care level and then a collaborative decision is made between the patient and the clinician as to what treatment suits them best. It has been suggested that Africa-Caribbean people are less tolerant to antidepressant medication than whites (Cooper et al., 1993). Therefore this section of this essay will focus on the process of psychological treatments of depression. Treatments vary and have altered radically with the growing use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which is based on the scientist-practitioner model and routinely offers outcome data (Whitfield Whitefield, 2003). In CBT, and in the majority of other talking therapies, treatment usually involves seeing a therapist for a number of sessions on a regular basis. Seeking help There appear to be two main potential barriers when it comes to the treatment of depressed clients from ethnic minorities. Firstly, the help-seeking behaviours of African-Caribbean and other ethnic minority groups have attracted considerable attention in the research domain. Members of the African-Caribbean population are thought to be less likely to seek professional treatment for psychological distress (e.g. Bhui et al., 2003). Whilst reading a mountain of papers listing reasons why the help-seeking behaviour of people from ethnic minorities is so different, a few ideas sprung to my mind. From my own experience when people are very depressed they may struggle to get motivated and make less use of the support available to them. Moreover, I wonder whether one it is a possibility that African-Caribbeans do not approach services as much because of negative experiences of the UK mental health system. I recall seeing an elderly Jamaican gentleman for an assessment last year whilst working as an Assistant in a Clinical Health department. Following the very limited referral information I had, I elicited his ideas about what brought him to our service. He told me that he had felt unable to cope with his low mood and intrusive thoughts for some while, however he did not feel able to seek help because a family member of his had been treated unfairly by mental health staff before. Perhaps the reasons for people not acc essing treatment are simpler than we think. In their study of reasons for exclusion of African-Caribbean people in mental health services, Mclean et al., (2003) found the types of interactions between staff and patients strongly associated with disparities in treatment. They encourage positive, non-judgmental interactions as the first step on the path to social inclusion of mental health services (Mclean et al., 2003). Their study reminded me of a report I read recently on placement about the Circles of Fear (Salisbury Centre for Mental Health, 2002). Essentially, this report stipulates that people from ethnic minorities tend to have a more negative experience of the mental health system. People may then fear the consequences of becoming involved with it and avoid contact. This leads me to believe that we (the health service) are very much part of the reason why such individuals may not seek help. Geography may also be a reason for varying help-seeking behaviour. People living in rural areas are thought to be at risk of facing isolation and discrimination in mental health treatment (Barry et al., 2000). I do think there is something valuable about looking at populations which services are not reaching. However, it has just struck me that writing about the help-seeking behaviour of people can come across as quite blaming and puts the responsibility very much with the individual. Whatever the reason, if minority members are less likely to get appropriate care, I feel the focus should be on how to engage different members of society in effective care for depression. Fortunately, depressed people who fail to seek help for treatment can often be identified and treated in general medical settings (Shulberg et al., 1999). One study also suggests that the majority of people who are depressed do want help, regardless of their ethnicity (Dwight-Johnson et al., 1997). What I find particu larly interesting is that the desire for help seems to be related to the severity of the depression in precedence of their ethnic minority status. Thus it appears that ethnicity, severity of depression, geographical location, previous experiences with the mental health system and beliefs about what help is available all influence help-seeking behaviour. Psychological Treatment The second claimed difficulty in the treatment of African-Caribbean people who are depressed is poor attendance rates and incompletion of treatment (Bhugra Ayonrinde, 2004). There are also claims that African-Caribbean people are more likely to experience a poorer outcome from treatment. Given that the search for a biological cause for disparities in treatment success rates has not been fruitful we must turn our focus to other explanations. For example, we now know that the relationship between the therapist and client is a key component of treatment outcome (Hovarth Greenberg, 1994). As such, I am going to focus on those explanations which link to the therapeutic alliance. There are few empirical studies which explore how ethnic differences affect the therapeutic alliance and these have consisted mostly of client preferences. Cultural unfamiliarity may act as interference to some African-Caribbean people staying in psychological treatment (Davidson, 1987). In their study of secondary school students, Uhlemann et al., (2004) looked at how being an ethnic minority therapist affected relationships in a counselling setting. They found ethnic minority counsellors were perceived more favorably than white-Caucasian counsellors. Most students believed therapists were less able to understand or empathize with them if the therapist was ethnically different. In another study Coleman et al., (1995) surveyed studies comparing ethnic minority clients preferences of therapists, being ethnically similar or ethnically dissimilar. They found that in most cases clients preferred therapists of similar ethnic background, particularly those with strong cultural attachments. I acknowledge that this may be something to be aware of as a therapist; however I do not think this in itself would put people off psychological treatment. It might be useful for us as therapists to address this issue and to do so early on in the treatment process. One way of doing this could be to address any obvious ethnic differences and explore together how it may affect the given relationship. This may also help the process of understanding which is deemed very important in strengthening the therapeutic alliance. Whilst this is something I will try and be aware of in my practice, I also feel it is important to present this discussion in a realistic and in context. From my experience as a trainee, the age and amount of experience a therapist is far more valuable and influential than the ethnic status of a therapist. One lady I saw recently had difficulty accepting me as her therapist for the simple fact that she worried about how much I would be able to help her in comparison to a qualified clinical psychologist. There was also an ethnic difference between us but this was did not cause her concern. Similarly, Coleman et al., (1995) asked clients individuals in their study to list the characteristics of a competent therapist in order of importance. Sure enough, they found that people placed ethnic similarity below that of other characteristics such as educational ability, maturity, gender, personality and attitude. I think this illuminates just how important it is for us to tailor the treatment process to the individual needs and concerns of the client. Is a more holistic approach to psychological treatment of depression the answer? I do wonder whether CBT, the current preferred model of treatment, will soon lose its popularity. The somewhat prescriptive nature of CBT for depression may mean the varying needs of people in our multicultural climate are not being met. Rather than creating new and separate treatment models or services for ethnic minority clients, perhaps we should be embracing ones which encourage clients to lead the treatment. One model I find demonstrates this is the Recovery model. Recovery from mental illness is seen as a personal journey and the unique experiences of each individual are valued and explored (Jacobson Greenley, 2001). Treatment using this model works around helping the client gain hope, a secure base, supportive relationships, empowerment, social inclusion, coping skills, and finding meaning to their experiences. Although used more with individuals experiencing major mental health problems, I think the principles are very inclusive and useful for the treatment of any mental health problem, including depression. Of course, I have only touched upon one model and there are many more which embrace individual differences. Reflective statement As a current trainee on my adult mental health placement, I cannot pretend that I am able to provide an objective nor extensively experienced view. I am also aware that I am at the beginning of my first placement, in a service which very much promotes recovery from mental illness through understanding the individual rather than categorically through their psychiatric label. Whilst this may have had an influence over my stance towards the essay topic, I have witnessed the positive effects in my clinical work of not categorizing people and feel that this has indicated some valid concerns. Upon finishing this essay it came to mind that that the buoyancy of the essay may be a reflection of the ideas and questions I have been grappling with as part of my practice on placement. However, these ideas are by no means a closed deal and I continue to work with them in an applied context. Furthermore, I acknowledge that had I chosen to present this essay assuming that it was the therapist who was a member of an ethnic minority, my essay and conclusions may be very different. How will writing this essay affect my practice as a Trainee Clinical psychologist? I do feel we are in a contentious situation. If we treat people differently according to any issue of diversity we run the risk of perpetuating institutional racism. On the other side of the coin, if we work with everybody in exactly the same way and try and fit people in to Eurocentric systems then we run the risk of ignoring important cultural differences. What I will take from this is the importance of being sensitive to peoples backgrounds and experiences and investigation of what makes them who they are. I will definitely attempt to bring more flexibility, curiosity and receptiveness to my practice and acknowledge when there is a noticeable difference between myself and the client in the therapeutic setting. Conclusion In conclusion, membership of an ethnic minority group may influence the diagnosis and treatment process in how people experience depression, present to services and possibly how they proceed with psychological treatments. If we are to diagnose and treat depression through a Euro centric lens, we should be embracing the use of models which allow for cultural diversity in the diagnosis and treatment of depression. However, as I hope I have demonstrated in my writing, no two people in a therapeutic setting will ever be exactly the same. So how useful is it to continually focus on ethnic differences when they are just one drop in the ocean of diversity? Perhaps instead we need a shift in the dominant discourses surrounding ethnic differences in mental health? The real challenge I think we face is understanding how the identity of the individual contributes to the diagnosis and treatment of depression.

Building A World Class Hr Organization Management Essay

Building A World Class Hr Organization Management Essay The situation facing Sonoco is that the company has grown rapidly over a period of several years, largely through acquisitions in a growing packaging industry. This has led to the development of a large number of silo based HR systems for each of the companys divisions, which are largely influenced by the specific demands of the divisions and by the acquired businesses, and hence are divergent in nature without a strong level of strategic direction. This is causing issues for the company, as HR is now an expensive function that is not providing significant strategic value. As a result of this, the company has appointed a new senior vice president of Human Resources, Cindy Hartley, with a mandate to develop new organisational structures for HR in order to save costs; improve talent management; develop more effective performance management systems; and provide customised strategic support to the overall business. Hartley has already implemented a number of new systems and process chang es, and has seen some benefits, but still needs to overcome issues related to ineffective talent management and a lack of alignment between performance management and company strategies (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 5). This essay will critically reflect on your own personal learning by drawing upon various academic themes and concepts around managing human resources in order to offer and propose interventions on the case study, as well as to assess the actions already taken and their effectiveness. Diagnosis As noted above, the core issue in the case study appears to be the fact that the company has grown by acquisition with a relatively rapid pace of growth, including making over 60 acquisitions in just a single decade (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 1). When a company grows through such an acquisition focused approach, it is almost inevitable that the HR resourcing and development functions will not be perfectly aligned, and this will hence create silos of HR functionality, with each individual silo only considering their own specific role and function rather than the strategic goals of the organisation (Alberg, 2007, p. 9). This form of silo based approach to HR can be very damaging for a company, as it will create an HR function which is aligned to the requirements of each individual division or department, rather than to the requirements of the business as a whole. The negative impacts of this can be seen in the case of Sonoco, where HR is focused primarily on day to day employee relations issues rather than strategic concerns, and where there are high levels of non cooperative competition between the individual divisions (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 3). The other major crucial HR problem that exists in the company is that there has been a lack of effort to develop a strategic and proactive HR culture in Sonoco. This has resulted in the emergence of an HR culture which is highly reactionary, with the HR function viewed primarily as a watchdog to head off legal and employee relations problem, as well as to assist managers with specific employee issues such as helping managers tell employees they are being terminated even when they have excellent performance evaluations (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 3). The reactionary nature of the HR culture also sees the company being broadly unable to hold underperformers accountable. This has resulted partly in poorly performing employees being able to free ride through the company, and partly in compensation being viewed as an entitlement rather than a reward, and hence failing to improve performance levels. This has led to employees generally being paid at or near the midpoint for all indiv iduals and jobs, which has prevented the creation of any form of meritocracy on the company. According to Weinberger (2003, p. 29), this creates the peanut butter issue where wages are simply spread evenly to avoid any discontent that can come from rewarded highly performing employees and penalising others. This is again evidence of the reactionary culture that avoids conflict and thus fails to boost performance. These two main issues can be seen to be responsible for the majority of HR problems encountered by Sonoco. Specifically, the company is failing to achieve good talent management due to a lack of a coherent HR approach across the company and a lack of desire to identify the best individuals out of all employees. The silo based approach to HR also prevents effective performance management leading to the peanut butter issue identified above. These silos and the reactionary culture also mean that HR is not able to provide strategic support to the business as a whole. Finally, the lack of a mechanism for identifying and disciplining or terminating poorly performing employees has prevented the company from eliminating poor performance, thus hindering cost control as the company cannot effectively save costs by removing the poorest employees. Analysis This section of the work will focus on appraising the environmental and organisational context of the case to identify the main issues these contexts create for the company and the strengths and weaknesses of the HR policies, practices, and systems in light of these issues. The analysis will also consider Cindy Hartleys objectives for changes at Sonoco and the drivers of these objectives. The primary environmental issues at the time of the case came from the changes in the packaging industry. In particular, the industry was going through a period of stagnation and change, with volume now less likely to increase and revenues under threat from low cost foreign competition whilst the industry as a whole began to consolidate (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 2). These trends highlighted the major weakness in Sonocos silo based approach to HR and the resulting disparate systems they created. Specifically, Sonocos HR practices tended to make it difficult for the company to control costs, and hence made it difficult for the company to respond to market changes in a manner as aggressively as its rivals. This can be seen in the fact that the companys stock price significantly trailed the SP 50 between 1995 and 2000, despite the company increasing net income at this time (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 1). This indicates that investors felt the company was underperforming r elative to the market, implying that costs could be cut in a more effective manner. The other main change in the packaging industry was that customers were becoming more demanding, with more variations in packaging and higher levels of segmentation of many markets. As a result of this, clients expected the packaging companies they purchased from to be able to supply them with competitively priced packaging that was highly responsive to industry trends, and to be able to apply new technologies and innovative tools to provide higher levels of customised service (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 2). This is another area in which Sonocos reactionary policies and practices made it difficult for the company to compete, and hence acted as a strong weakness. Specifically, the company lacked a strategic and proactive approach to HR, which reduced its overall ability to respond to trends in the marketplace. This meant Sonoco was restricted to developing new approaches as they were required, thus slowing the packaging concept to market delivery cycle. The company hence had fa iled to align its HR function with the demands of the market, which is a key weakness in any HR system (Aswathappa, 2005). In light of these two issues, it can be seen that Cindy Hartleys objectives for changes at Sonoco are not simply those addressed in the case. The case states that the objectives were to increase accountability for talent management; to distribute HR talent and make systems and processes more consistent; and to provide strategic support to the individual business units. However, in light of the environmental issues identified, her objectives can also be seen as being to improve talent management and performance management in order to increase overall performance; to improve performance management in order to facilitate cost control by allowing the company to terminate underperforming employees; and to provide strategic support to enable the company to be more proactive when responding to the demands of the market. Evaluation This section will consider the success of the HR changes at Sonoco, as well as the extent to which they are in line with state of the art HR policies, practices, and systems, and how they could be improved through the implementation of best HR practices relevant to the case. The fundamental change at Sonoco has been the introduction of a top down approach to performance management, with goal setting and targets being implemented at corporate level and trickled down to individual performance goals through negotiation. This practice has the benefit of attending to employee development needs and career development, as well as linking to the financial rewards system. The system as it stands appears to delegate significant authority to the divisions to set their own goals, and lacks the crucial control and assessment techniques such as business intelligent and analytics to ensure that the performance management system provides strong support to the goals of the business (Elbashir et al, 2011, p. 155). On the other hand, the system has the benefit of being relatively simple and easy to implement, which Muras et al (2008, p. 65) argue is more important that using complex processes which often confuse employees and managers. The system also implements 360 degree feedback for managers, which is vital in ensuring strong managerial development (Carson, 2006). One of the main issues that can be identified with the new performance management system is that it is focused on the value added by the individual. Whilst individual performance important, and will help overcome the problem of employees free riding, it is not in line with best practice performance measurement techniques. These techniques generally focus on the combination of individual and team performance, in order to ensure a balance between the individual and team levels of performance (Addison and Haig, 2012, p. 37). In particular, a failure to incorporate team performance into the performance measurement approach risks harming team identification levels as employees see themselves as individuals rather than members of a team. As Solansky (2011, p. 247) notes, team identification is a vital driver of performance, and hence by failing to attend to this there is the risk the new performance measurement system will hamper levels of team work. This is thus something that needs to be addressed through the implementation of best practice in the future. Design This section will focus on identifying ways of improving the existing HR policies, practices, and systems and how they can become state of the art or best practices. It will hence focus on making recommendations for improving the HR practices and addressing the problems identified in the case, as well as determining the right HR structure for Sonoco: either centralisation or hybrid. As noted above, one of the key methods that can be used to improve existing HR practices is to improve the performance management system to measure team work and individual contributions to team performance. According to Levasseur (2011, p. 204), contemporary organisation development theories hold that this needs to be achieved through consideration of various issues such as team development, conflict management and change management in the team context in order to create high performing teams. Hartley should thus look to include these factors in the new performance measurement framework to ensure high quality outcomes. The other primary issues to be resolved are how to ensure effective talent management, how to be responsive to industry and market requirements, and how to save costs. All of these issues are linked to the fundamental question of which HR model to implement: the centralised model or the hybrid structure. Of these, each option has its own specific focus on different aspects of the organisation. The centralised model will offer greater cost savings as well as improved talent management across the entire organisation, as HR will be able to identify talented employees on an organisation wide basis and move or promote them as necessary. In contrast, the hybrid model will allow for greater responsiveness to industry and market requirements due to the support provided to the general managers. The hybrid model also offers improved talent management at the divisional level as managers are encouraged to invest in their own people and staff them accordingly, although there are concerns over the level of companywide coordination and change management under a hybrid model (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 6). In general, the hybrid model appears to be more desirable as it improves market responsiveness and proactive behaviour due to the support offers to the general managers. Whilst it saves $400,000 less in costs, it still comes close to meeting the $2,800,000 cost saving target, and the improved revenue is likely to be much more important for a business with revenues of around $2.5 billion (Sonoco Products Company, 2012, p. 1). In general, current HR best practice is that the HR function and HR metrics should be focused on strategic alignment ahead off cost saving, as this will allow for higher levels of performance and a more positive HR strategy (Gates and Langevin, 2010, p. 111). The main question is hence which approach to talent management and change management is more appropriate. In this regard, it is important to note that, according to Martà ­n-Alcà ¡zar et al (2008, p. 103), best practice HR is moving away from universalistic and centralised approaches, and towards the acceptance of more contingent approaches. This provides further support to the hybrid model, as a model which is more contingent on divisional requirements and hence better able to adapt to specific organisational requirements, including providing the general managers with the specific intelligence, support and responsiveness they need in order to deal with the more competitive industry environment. At the same time, it is important to note that organisational strategy itself has an impact on the most effective HR practices, and hence the company should consider a more universal and centralised approach if its strategy will better lend itself to such an approach. Determining the most e ffective approach to support the organisational strategy should thus be what Cindy Hartley should attend to next. 5. Implementation This aspect of the essay will consider how the changes should be sustained and the schedule and resources required in order to effectively bring about the suggested changes, as well as how the company will you know that the changes are effective. The first aspect of the implementation should be to implement the hybrid model, once this has been formally selected and adapted as necessary to fit the organisational strategy. This will require the concerted effort of all the HR resources, with the specific implementation strategy depending on the availability of these resources and the ability of the company to organise them to obtain the necessary capabilities (Wright et al, 2001, p. 701). The relative success of these implementation efforts should be measured by considering the levels of support provided to the managers, as reported by the managers, as well as the achievement of the cost savings projected from the implementation of the new model (Becker and Gerhart, 1996) A similar appr oach can then be used to adapt the performance management approach in the company to the new organisational realities in order to improve team work, with levels of team performance used as a way to know these changes are effective (Armstrong and Baron, 2011). Reflection The learning activities undertaken in this module and during the analysis and completion of this case study have provided significant abilities with regards to my ability to provide solutions to the case. In particular, whilst studying this module I have learnt how to apply theoretical techniques and models from organisation development and human resources to specific cases and examples. This can be seen in my ability to apply theoretical concepts such as universalistic and contingent HR practices, as well as team work and performance management to the case of Sonoco. This will also assist me in my future managerial career, as I will be able to apply these concepts to the companies I work for. The other primary way in which the learning activities on this module have contributed to my ability to provide solutions to the case is that they have helped me to analyse a practical situation and determine the root causes of the situation from the symptoms. For example, in this case I was able to use the literature to link the acquisition based nature of the companys growth to the development of its HR silos, and use this to make recommendations to address this issue. I was also able to identify and analyse the implications of the hybrid and centralised models using theory, and hence make appropriate recommendations in this area, something which will be useful if I face a similar situation later in my career.