National Health Care Expenditures Essay

Health care costs are much higher in the United States than anywhere else. It does not matter if it is measured in total dollars spent, a percentage of the economy, or per capita basis. The United States has the world’s largest health care market. Health care accounts for 40% of all health expenditures and the United States obligates to just 5% of the world’s population. Considerably higher health care costs do not seem to make U. S. citizen’s appreciably healthier (Getzen & Allen, 2007). U. S. health care costs continue to rise notably faster than any other segment of the economy or the population’s incomes for more than the last 40 years. Americans cannot endure this forever. The condition of health care economics is the United States’ gravest crisis, and this gridlock commands a solution. Finding one will not be simple or pleasant (The High Cost of Health Care, 2007). This means the government has to come up with plans that help contain costs while preparing for the future, and the population will likely continue to endure rising costs that place hardships on their household finances. In 2011 US health care spending grew 3. 9% to reach $2. trillion, marking the third consecutive year of relatively slow growth. Health care expenditures grew 3. 9% consecutively 2009 through 2011, indicating three years of slow growth. Health care spending reaching $2. 7 trillion in 2011, also shows in a share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remaining stable at 17. 9 % for the same period. Last year, 2012, finishes out with a little higher annual rate of 4. 3%. For 2012, national health expenditures grew at an estimated annual rate of 4. 3% in 2012, a bit higher than the 3. 9% experienced for each of the years 2009-2011. While this assessment is subject to adjustments, it foreshadows a fourth consecutive year of record-low growth encompassing the previous 50 years of statistics. The showing of slow spending at the national level does not denote the same regarding spending in the personal level. Personal health care in fact accelerated in 2011. This spending level went from 3. 7% to 4. 1% because of more growth in spending for prescription drugs, physician fees, and medical provisions. Personal spending grew because of slowing Medicare and Medicaid spending and the increasing rates of private insurance. With slow growth also reporting in the population’s incomes, new jobs, and the GDP, some are questioning if US health care will rally after this three-year decline (Hartman, Martin, Benson, & Catlin, 2013). Director of the Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending, Charles Roehrig, believes that the slower growth in health care spending incites by slower health care price growth, which follows the slower economy-wide inflation. Altarum’s research proposes that the recession continues to press on health care expenditures, reducing growth by a percentage point or further. And while the figures are clamorous, health care providers ultimately may be cutting back employment in light of reimbursement coerces (Altarum Institute, 2013). An average family in the United States with typical full coverage health insurance through their employer currently spends more on yearly health care than on a year of groceries. The specialists at Milliman Inc. , examined the costs of health care for a U. S. family of four and found that the yearly cost of employer sponsored benefits through an employer-sponsored insurance organization increased 6. 2% to $22,030, compared to $20,728 the previous year (Glynn, 2013). Government is running into a number of major difficulties in attempting to provide health care. One of these difficulties is how to efficiently earmark resources amid hospital-based services and preventative, community-based services. Government also considers what particular preventative measures to promote (Bedkober, 2012). In the long haul, government’s decision to promote healthy lifestyles may be the best choice. For example, if the population navigates toward healthier lifestyles and preventative measures, hospitals would not have the need to continuously fund for more beds. The question is can the citizens of the United States endure the price it will cost to get to a better place that is economically sounder and healthier? Healthier people would drive health care costs down, but it definitely will take some time. During the decades it would take to get people healthier, national spending would need restructuring. It is a known fact that poor people are generally not healthy people. Currently, the high cost of health care is making more people poorer. Costs must come down in order for people having difficulties gain better access to health care. In some instances, too much money is spent in some areas and not enough in others. One of the most profitable industries, according to Fortune magazine is the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry’s profitability in 2005 stands at 15. 7% of sales and stands as the fifth in most profitable U. S. industry. The costs in relation to high-technology treatment, for example in-patient treatment, leads government to believe that preventing the advent of diseases rather than simply treating it when it appear is the best financial strategy for the future. Rather than funding to increase hospital bed numbers, government should fund preventative health measures that will lead to a healthier and more cheaply serviced population (Bedkober, 2012). With this funding, many want to know who actually pays for health care. The U. S. Government drew in more than over 2. 16 trillion dollars in revenue in 2010. The American public supplies this revenue. The same year, 2010, signifies the Federal Government becoming the largest financer of health care with 29% of spending. One actually could say that the American public is the financer of health care. One could also say that the public uses various federal programs to distribute health care fundings. These programs are Managed Care Organization (MCO), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) or point-of-service plans (POS), Medicare, and Medicaid, takes a 24% share; National Defense, including Foreign Policy, Veteran’s Administration, and Foreign Aid, is 23% of spending; pensions and disability through Social Security, take a 24% share; and Welfare takes 12% of spending. All other spending, including interest on the national debt, takes 18% of federal spending. The chart below shows the Federal Government (29%) exceeding public households (28%) for the first time. Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of the Actuary, National Health Expenditure Data, 2012 release. Contributors finance the nation’s health care bill by paying insurance premiums, out-of-pocket expenses, and payroll taxes, or by directing general tax revenues to health care. The federal government and households contributed nearly equally. The following chart breaks down how each contributor directs their spending. Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of the Actuary, National Health Expenditure Data, 2012 release. Another perspective in answering the question of who genuinely pays for health care is to look at the bottom line to see where all funding actually comes from. All funding comes from taxes. Taxes comes from the citizens of the United States. The whole U. S. population pays for funding. When a patient does not pay cash out of his or her pocket for his or her medical care, every dollar spent on medical care is paid through taxes and insurance premiums everyone. The government and insurance companies do not â€Å"pay† for anything, the population does. The government distributes the money they receive form people’s taxes to other agency payors. This is why individual taxes rise and net wages are lower. Even when many individuals choose to opt out employee benefit deductions, called a tax advantage, individuals still pay. This tax is allocated from other places. Nothing is â€Å"free† when the bottom line starts with the population. When receiving less money from wage taxes, more money is necessary from other taxes such as fuel taxes, property taxes, income taxes, and Social Security taxes to make up from the shortcomings. One thing is certain, there is a future. The U. S. government agencies may be on the right track, time will only tell. Health care reform is on everyone’s mind as it will affect every part of the individual’s life. Other than costly, there are other population needs that require addressing now before it is too late. The United States is in the midst of an aged population explosion. These are people who have or will be leaving the workforce soon. Take into account that the government receives their money from individual taxes on wages. The revenue from these taxes will increase shortcomings that fund the agencies that take care of U. S. health care. This dilemma is a â€Å"catch 22. † Any reform plan must be an attempt to fix both. This may cause strategically proposed cuts in many areas. The U. S. government must decide on what is highest in priority. Some industries that receive government funding may need to decrease their profits to help the nation. Pharmaceutical companies are among the highest in profitability. It is this author’s opinion that dropping the company’s price of a bottle of medicine would not hurt them near as much as the current high cost of medicine hurts the population. Another area that could help reduce costs would be unnecessary grants to some research organizations. Again using the pharmaceutical industry as an example, this industry conducts much research only for its primary need – to fulfill its dominating obligation to shareholders to make a profit. The obligation to patients comes second. There are many researches that would not hurt progress if they were dissolved. However the United States plans to reform health care will not take overnight to accomplish. Reform should have been placed into action years ago, but it is hoped that it is not too late. The government’s spending of the population’s money must go through restructuring with the constant reminder of keeping the people first priority. The people must have protection and good access to health care or nothing else will matter if the United States is to remain the greatest nation.

Baking Brownies

What I am going to demonstrate today is the process of baking brownies. Before we begin, however, let us allow ourselves to look into its definition and a little history: Chocolate brownie or Boston brownie, as it is otherwise known is called â€Å"brownie† because its color is brown (Wikipedia, 2007). Though diminutive in size, it is rich and chocolaty, and is sometimes topped with chocolate chips or nuts (Wikipedia, 2007). History has it that it was in 1897 that brownies have been introduced for the first time in a â€Å"Sears and Roebuck† catalog (Wikipedia, 2007).There are stories, however, that states that there was once a cook who forgot to mix baking powder in the chocolate cake mixture (Wikipedia, 2007). Some historians also claim that Bertha Palmer asked that a dessert be placed in box lunches, thus, motivating Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel in Chicago to design what is to be known as a â€Å"Brownie† (Wikipedia, 2007). This paper entitled, â€Å"B aking Brownies† intends to briefly reintroduce the definition and history of brownies, as well as, provide the steps to baking it, starting from the gathering of ingredients until its cutting into bars. Baking UtensilsHowever, before we begin with the process of baking brownies; we should first make sure that we have all the baking utensils we will need. First of all, we will need one bowl (Collister, 2006). This will be used as a mixing container (Collister, 2006). Secondly, one glass baking pan is necessitated (Collister, 2006). This is where the brownie mixture will be placed, before it is baked in the oven (Collister, 2006). The third is to make sure that a dish towel or an oven mitt is available nearby (Collister, 2006). It will be used when the glass baking pan is placed and taken out of the oven (Collister, 2006).The fourth is to get a spatula which will be utilized in folding, mixing, scraping, smoothing batters, lifting, removing and turning the brownie to allow the o ther side to turn brown if desired (Collister, 2006). Last but not least is to get the mixing spoon, as well as, measuring cups and spoons (Collister, 2006). Baking Brownies the Easy Way Now that we know a little bit about its definition, we may proceed to the process on how it is actually prepared: First of all, we need to make sure that we have all the ingredients we will need (Collister, 2006).These include the following (Collister, 2006): 1) 1 cup or 250 ml butter 2) 4 oz or 115 g or 4 squares unsweetened chocolates 3) 2 cups or 500 ml sugar 4) 4 pieces eggs 5) 2 tsp or 10 ml vanilla 6) 1 ? cups or 375 ml sifted all-purpose flour 7) ? tsp or 2 ml salt 8) 1 ? cups or 375 ml pecan halves 9) icing sugar Secondly, we need to heat the oven to a hundred and ninety degrees Celsius or three hundred seventy five degrees Fahrenheit (Collister, 2006). Thirdly, after heating the oven, we grease the 13- x 9-in or 33- x 23- x 5-cm cake pan (Collister, 2006).The fourth step is to place the but ter and chocolate on top the double boiler and set over simmering water (Collister, 2006). Stir occasionally over the heat until the butter, as well as, the chocolate is melted (Collister, 2006). Fifth, the sugar should be placed in a medium mixing bowl, then after that, the chocolate mixture should be poured over before stirring it (Oliver, 1993). Immediately after, the unbeaten eggs should be added one at a time, beating lightly utilizing a wooden spoon (Oliver, 1993). The term â€Å"lightly† means just enough to blend (Oliver, 1993).Then the vanilla should be stirred next (Oliver, 1993). After which, the flour and salt should be sifted into the chocolate mixture making sure that it is stirred before stirring in the pecans (Oliver, 1993). The sixth step is to spread it in the prepared pan and bake it for twenty five to thirty minutes or until sides test done but an impression stays in the middle when touched lightly with the finger (Oliver, 1993). It is good to remember tho ugh that brownies are much better or even best when somewhat underdone (Oliver, 1993).The final step is to take it out from the oven and sift icing sugar thickly over the top and cut it into bars while it is still warm (Oliver, 1993). Conclusion Brownies are called so because of its rich, chocolaty, brown color (Wikipedia, 2007). Its history has not been confirmed though there are several interesting stories that may back it up (Wikipedia, 2007). Interestingly, it is easy to prepare. First the oven should be heated and cake pan should be greased (Collister, 2006). Secondly, the butter and chocolate should be melted (Collister, 2006).Third, the sugar, chocolate mixture, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt, and pecans should be mixed together (Oliver, 1993). Fourth, the mixture should be placed on the cake pan, and baked (Oliver, 1993). Then finally, it should be taken out and icing sugar be sifted over it and then sliced (Oliver, 1993). References Collister, L. (2006). Brownies. New York: Ryl and Peters & Small. Oliver, M. (1993). The Good Food Cookbook. Montreal: Optimum Publishing Company. Wikipedia. (2007). Brownies. Retrieved March 1, 2007 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Chocolate_brownie

Entrepreneurship assignment 2 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Entrepreneurship 2 - Assignment Example According to the recent phenomenon of the cosmetic industry, a growing interest has been witnessed for the herbal skincare products. Majority of global customers seek to prefer herbal skincare products due to its better effectiveness accumulated with insignificant side-effects than the other derivatives and chemicals used in the cosmetic products (Gediya, Mistry, Patel, Blessy & Jain, 2011). Emphasizing upon the various concerning areas and growing interest of the global consumers towards herbal products, the primary purpose of this report is to prepare an effective business plan to attain advantages in terms of growing opportunities in the herbal cosmetic industry. The proposed business plan will further aim to reflect a clear depiction of the business including its manufacturing of products and/or services, selling and marketing strategies, constructing of management groups and their roles as well as predictions of financial forecasts for a few years that the organization will perf orm. Brief Description of the Venture The proposed business plan is significantly prepared on the basis of sole proprietorship which can enable the entrepreneur to effectively control and manage each function performed within the firm. Notably, the financial benefit is the core factor of sole proprietorship where the owner can enjoy a large amount of monetary benefit from the venture. A sole proprietorship venture can also facilitate the marketer to independently make decisions towards the improvement of the overall processes executed within the organization. In addition, the entrepreneur, as the sole proprietorship can also obtain greater amount of secrecy concerning the organization’s current performance enabling the entrepreneur to possess greater flexibility concerning the operations and other required changes for better effectiveness. Mission Statement of the Venture The mission statement is a long-term and essential attributes which depicts the main purpose of the busin ess. In relation to the proposed business plan, the mission statement of the venture will be focused on revealing the effectiveness of herbal products and its importance to nourish and serve the potential customers. In accordance to this mission statement, the organizational process will further attempt to integrate the quality and effectiveness of its products over the long run. Primary Objectives of the Venture The primary objective of the venture is to obtain recognition as the most preferred and reliable company in terms of offering a wide range of herbal cosmetic products. Moreover, the objective of the venture will further extent to achieve a minimum growth of 10% of its potential customers in each month in the respective market. In addition, attaining the desired sales goals of AUD 100,000 in the first year and augmenting its annual sales around 15% in the 2nd year of the venture have also been considered as its primary objectives. Start-up Summary of the Venture The initial stage of the proposed business plan is focused on procuring raw materials, manufacturing different types of herbal cosmetic products and distributing them in different target markets. The start-up cost of the herbal cosmetics requires a large amount of finance in terms of procuring machinery, raw materials along with various types of

Referencing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Referencing - Essay Example Secondly, points of view also vary greatly within a given piece of written work. While some points of view agree within a given subject matter, others disagree in one way or another. In this respect, referencing comes in to cite differences between points of view. The third reason why references are used in writing is to strengthen a study. Past research that leads up to current technical or academic writing enhances the topic of study. Here, referencing captures previous research findings or outcomes that are relevant to the insights the writer wants to present. Finally, referencing is used to direct readers to the original source of cited information. Readers may want to refer to the original source following the contents of technical or academic writing. Referencing, therefore, acts as the bridge between readers and the main source of cited information. Technical writing is critical to the success of an engineer. In technical writing, engineers reference in various areas and for different reasons. The first area where engineers use referencing in technical writing is in defining terms used in product descriptions. Products designed by engineers often carry terms that are difficult for the layman level of understanding. For this reason, engineers need to define all terms that are not commonly used in day-to-day language. In the process, they may need to reference the source of such definitions or acknowledge the original text from which information is derived. Technical reports constitute the second area where engineers use referencing. Before an engineering project is approved for implementation, series of tests could be conducted and the results computed. These tests and result computations are followed by a professional report to the relevant personnel. To prove the validity and the credibility of such reports, engineers need to cite the different methods, analysis, and procedures employed in the testing process. This may

Ethics and the Hiroshima Bomb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics and the Hiroshima Bomb - Essay Example Blackburn in Being Good (2001) would have us believe that there are times that we put aside our moral beliefs in order to accomplish something we believe in. There is the thought that we create a moral environment around us that affects everything we do. He feels that ethics are not futile or irrelevant but may be a hopeless pursuit. Only we can decide what is ethical as it is we that must live with the result (Blackburn, 2001). Was the bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ethical? This paper will attempt to support the belief of the writer which is no, it was not ethical. The loss of so many innocent lives and the long-term pain of the incident was too much for any reason. We must quickly define our belief here, just before we tell the story. Gradualist ethics is defined by going along with the policy even when we believe it is wrong. This happens a lot with those that work in the government and in other industries. The belief that we have to make a decision because that is what is expected as part of the gradualist’s beliefs and they are willing to do what is expected. The deontological ethic is one where the belief is that one must consider the basic duties and rights of individuals or groups and act in accordance. That decision is made on moral obligation as it is seen by the person making the decision and moral rules are applied. Using others as a means to your own desire to wrong thing to do. In the deontological point of view, it is difficult to support the idea that ethics works differently for the State than for the individual. This writer believes that everyone must do the right thing understated rules whether it is the State or an indi vidual. If this writer believed that the true reason for dropping the bomb was to save lives on both sides, then the decision would be that it was an ethical decision.

Events Management and Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Events Management and Operations - Essay Example These are described below: Bedfordshire University The company has a choice of consuming the university place for conducting the desired event which can also be very economical for the University due to the exclusion of space rent. However, the cost associated with developing breakout rooms and other extra facilities will be rented out by the company itself which will increase the overall cost for both the university and company. The University is situated in Luton, England. Strathmore Hotel The Strathmore Hotel can be considered as an event organizing place which is very near to the University of Bedfordshire. The hotel has the availability of providing necessary equipments and space for the desired amount of audiences. However, a huge cost is associated with the rent of the space of hotel but all the necessary equipments are offered by the Hotel itself. UK Centre for Carnival Arts This location is also considered ideal for conducting an event which is situated at the opposite side of the University of Bedfordshire. However, the conference rooms and other space are to be designed accordingly by the event director. Furthermore, the equipments will be outsourced from a different company for the purpose of rent for a single day. Event Business Plan Vision The vision of the company is to create a long lasting impression in the mind of consumers about the event organized by the company. The company understands the value of retaining their customers over a longer period so they shall become potential customers. In order to make the vision successful, the company communicates the vision along with the desired preferences of audiences of event. The key stakeholders of the company are its audiences and the management people who make the event successful. The various strengths of the company involves targeting VIP’s and have relevant experience in serving them according to their needs. However, the company is very particular about using venues events because the company considers that many requirements are dependent to location of the event. The other strength of the company is their presentation which is likely to gain attention of audience. Operations The program will start with an opening ceremony which shall be performed by the chief guest appointed by the University of Bedfordshire itself. Different ideas and learning experience will be shared by professionals, which will be decided with the collaboration of University. The guests will then be transferred to 4 different breakout rooms where breakfast and tea will be served. The program will be resumed after guest entering the main conference room to discuss further involvement in event operations and hospitality. At precisely 1 pm lunch will be served to audiences to which they will again be transferred to their separate breakout rooms. The idea for developing 4 breakout rooms is that different individuals from similar related fields could join and share their ideas. For example, indus try professionals can consume an entire breakout room, whereas, academic scholars can consume the other breakout room. The lunch will be followed by another session of conferences amongst audiences sharing their experiences and ideas on

Persuasive Paper Against Teenage Pregnancy Assignment

Persuasive Paper Against Teenage Pregnancy - Assignment Example For this reason, it is likely for teenagers who got themselves pregnant at a young age to face economic problems after giving birth. Aside from the socio-economic impact on mother, teenage pregnancy could also affect the health of the mother since unprotected sexual activity increases their risk of becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia (Manlove, Terry-Humen and Papillo). Almost all teenage women who become pregnant at an early age are not mentally, physically, psychologically, and financially prepared for this kind of responsibility. Because of mental and emotional stress associated with teenage pregnancy, the overall well-being of the child becomes affected. Other than having a higher tendency for premature and low birth weight (Martin, Hamilton and Sutton), children born out of wedlock are most likely to suffer from physical and emotional abuse as they grow older (Hoffman). Having a teen pregnancy at home can influence younger children. Since the family members had no other choice but to accept the situation as it is, incidence of teenage pregnancy would gradually become an accepted behavior and family pattern (East and Jacobson, The younger siblings of teenage mothers: a follow-up of their pregnancy risk; East). In line with this, the negative socio-economic and health consequences associated with teenage pregnancy become a long-term cycle. Since teenage pregnancy could negatively affect young women’s future socio-economic status, work opportunities, the mother’s health, the well-being of the child, and the psychological and emotional condition of the family members, teenage pregnancy should be prevented by providing the students with early sex education. By doing so, young women can protect themselves not only from getting infected with sexually transmitted diseases but also the health and socio-economic consequences of becoming

Discussion 4C Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discussion 4C - Assignment Example It is important for people working together to get along at their work places as they require each other at some point during work. When people get along in workplaces, it is easier and faster for them to help each other finish tasks and deal with deadlines. The video is about a talk on email etiquette and how the email works. It was good to learn the don’ts involved when sending a single mail to multiple people. I also learned that I can be in a position to prevent computer viruses spread through emails. An important lesson learnt from the video is that it is valuable to respect other workers whom you working with. The times when an individual does not feel like working should be spent outside the office rather than making noise for others. It is important for people working together to respect each other. Hacking into people’s machines and emails to get vital, and secretive message is one of the risks of electronic communication. Sensitive information meant for specific individuals could get into the wrong

A Case Study Analysis, Focusing Upon 360 Degree Performance Appraisal Essay

A Case Study Analysis, Focusing Upon 360 Degree Performance Appraisal within IKH ZASAG University of Mongolia - Essay Example They feel that owing to the obsolete nature of the appraisal system their performance appraisals would not be done in a perfect manner. Thus it is increasingly felt that a modern system of appraisal like the 360 degree appraisal systems should be put in place which would help in satisfying the needs of the employees.The context of the research was based on the employee circle of a state run University of Mongolia, The IKH ZASAG University. This University holds its pride in reflecting the ancient Mongolian culture as maintained by the Mongol Emperor, Kublai Khan. The 360 degree appraisal system is used in this context to understand the mindset of the superiors towards their employees and subordinate groups. Similarly the appraisal system also appraises the superior’s work and performance based on the views rendered by the subordinates. Another added feature of the 360 degree appraisal system is the conducting of the appraisal of the employees based on the views of the external stakeholders like customers. Herein, being an educational institution the academic and non-academic employees’ performances are appraised based on the views of students and their parents. Thus both the management and the employees feel satisfied by the overall process of appraisal conducted by the 360 degree appraisal systems. ... .....18-38 Analysis and Discussions............................................................................38-53 Conclusions and Recommendations...........................................................53-54 Appendices.................................................................................................55-71 Bibliography.................................................................................................72-76 LIST OF TABLES Table Pages 1 The Phases of The Research Investigation 15 2 Usage of 360 Degree Performance Appraisal System 33-34 LIST OF FIGURES 1 Graph Showing Subordinates’ Responses in Regards to Shouldering the Right Responsibility Page: 40 2 Graph Showing Subordinates’ Responses Received in regards to Frequency of Happening of Training and Induction Programs Page: 41 3 Graph Showing Percentage of Subordinates’ Responses Received in regards to the Frequency of receiving Rewards and Criticism Page 42 4 Graph Showing the Rate o f Subordinates’ Responses Received in regards to the Rate of Growth Opportunities Received by Employees Page 43 5 Graph Showing the Rate of Subordinates’ Responses in Regards to the Frequency of Appraisal Activities Conducted Based on 360 Degree Appraisal System Page 44 6 Graph Showing Superior’s Responses in Regards to Shouldering the Right Responsibility Page 45 7 Graph Showing Superior’s Responses Received in regards to Frequency of Happening of Training and Induction Programs Page 46 8 Graph Showing Percentage of Superior’s Responses Received in regards to the Frequency of receiving Rewards and Criticism Page 47 9 Graph Showing the Rate of Superior’s Responses in Regards to the Frequency of Appraisal Activities Conducted Based on 360 Degree Appraisal System Page 48 10 Graph Showing the

Ukraines Transition from Socialism to Capitalism Essay

Ukraines Transition from Socialism to Capitalism - Essay Example Following the revolt, the rulers of Ukraine turned to Russia for protection and hence laid down the path towards Russian imperialism. This colonialism made a new distinction among the workforce in Ukraine. A large-scale labor migration from Russia occurred which acquired high skill and better pay job opportunities while the domestic workers suffered from a low wage and bad working conditions. The protests against such unjust and exploitative attitude lead to the upheaval of the 1917-1920 and 1942-1947 revolution. The struggle weakened because of the withdrawal of the Bolshevik members of Ukraine. In October 1917, the revolutions of Russia and Ukraine fused but the leaders in the parliament, Rada, who were against the notion of a Russian workers’ republic, decelerated the progress towards a Ukrainian socialist uprising. The Rada had diverged so much from the objectives of the Ukrainian mass that during its disposition in 1918 (by the Red Army) it had already lost its ground of support. In this so-called defense of sovereignty, the incident that took place was that these Rada leaders gave Ukraine away to German, Austrian, and Polish occupations. The year 1920 saw another upsurge to dispose of Russian colonialism by the Ukrainian Communist protesters. However, with the strengthening of the powers of Stalin and Russia, the dynamics of centralism shattered the rest of the hopes of national equality. In the 1930’s, a mixture of rapid industrialization and enforced collectivization sowed the seeds of a mass aggression. Millions of people died in the false famine of 1932-33 and a considerable number were deported to Siberia. Those who thought to venerate, analyze, or dissent these tragic incidents were either imprisoned or tortured.

Easyinternetcafe Cafe Essay Example for Free

Easyinternetcafe Cafe Essay This case report addresses the challenges to implement a new logistic system that if well implemented it can improve operations and can convert easyinternetcafe into a profitable company. EasyInternetCafe (eIC)is a chain of Internet cafes with stores in the UK, the USA, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. eIC is part of the Easy Group, headed by the Greek entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The original business model is to build and operate on the principle of ‘economics of scale’ or Yield Management: most stores would be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and each has an average of 350 PC’s. In 2003, with losses continuing to mount, eIc management has decided to radically revamp their operations. In order to eliminate the need for future investments in new stores, the strategy was changed. It has been decided to appoint franchisees for the new stores and also, if possible, for the existing legacy stores. According to the new strategy, the franchisee would be required to bear the costs of the property and the hardware. It was also decided to move from large stores to smaller stores with 20 to 30 PCs. The current logistic situation represents a bottleneck and it is one of the major causes for the ongoing losses at easyinternetcafe. After reviewing different logistics scenarios and providers, I strongly recommend taking a closer look to support the logistic alternative that Ingram Micro is proposing. If we do that, we could benefit in the warehousing, accounting and transportation areas, through all this areas, it will help us reduce the logistics costs and labour per new store, from almost to  £2,000.00 to  £1,357.00, this and the benefits mentioned before, will help us to achieve our overall objective of being a profitable company. This; will be the strategic perspe ctive that will be demonstrated throughout the report. Issue(s) Identification: 1. Yield Management does not work for every company. eIC’s first store opened in June 1999 opposite in London. Soon afterwards, it was quickly recognized that eIC’s yield management had certain characteristics that later affected the business model: elC was offering a highly perishable product: 1 hour of Internet access time, cannot be put in inventory, once that hour is gone, there is no way of reselling that hour of internet access time. Although stores are large, capacity is limited; Internet access demand varies, not only by time of day, day of week, but also across other time and seasonal horizons. Incremental costs are next to nothing: it doesn’t matter whether there is one person or 500 in a store, the bandwidth is already there. By the time the second and third stores were opened, eIC had built yield management into its store management system. 2. Current Logistics System Logistics is not a core competency at elC, but it has become one of the integral activities. Logistics for elc means to supply the new stores with their initial assests, including all of the furniture and PCs. This system is a drag on scalability, efficiency and a bottleneck for growth and the main reason for spiraling high cost and ongoing losses. Environmental and Root Cause Analysis: Aggressive use of yield management is a recognized and admired business model of Stelios. EasyJet was a profitable company after just a few years of operation. However, with EasyInternetCafe profits seem a long way off, the assumption that offering very low prices would increase the demand significantly lead to losses of  £80m- £100m from 199 to 2002. Below are some root causes of the symptoms above: * The stores are too large; economies of scale dont materialize if occupancy is half empty. * Fixed costs were too high due to the quantity of Pcs per store. * Staff overheads were excessive. Assumptions: * Are there sufficient customers who want to use an internet cafe? To-day, most of the homes have internet access, and many others have (free) access at their place of work or at colleges or university. * Are the stores located in the right place to attract customers throughout the day and the whole week? Downtown cafes might attract business people needing to keep in touch, but many city centres are quiet in the evenings and at weekends. By mid-2001, with cash running out a drastic action was necessary: a franchising plan is being developed. It is important that every cafe looked the same, with common signage, furnishings and PCs. The time to sign a contract with a franchise is one week. If the franchisee did not already have space for the cafà ©, eIc would assist in recommendations with locations within 28 days. The broadband internet connection had to be installed by the local telecoms supplier within 28 days. Also they need to Desk installed within seven days. Server delivered and installed 2 days and PCs delivered and installed 2 days. CVM delivered and installed 1 day Signage delivered and installed 1 day. Chairs delivered and installed 1 day. Testing complete system 2 days and also Open for business within one day. So, how much time should it take to open the cafe once the contract is signed? From the predecessors plan we see that average duration of time for all activity. Under bellow we discuss about time of the contract are signed.

Biography of Prof. Joseph Kahamba

Biography of Prof. Joseph Kahamba BIOGRAPHY OF Prof. JOSEPH KAHAMBA Dr. Joseph Kahamba is an Associate Professor in Neurosurgery at Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) in Dar es Salaam, a Consultant Neurosurgeon and acting Head of the Neurosurgical department at Muhimbili Orthopedics and Neurosurgical Institute. He holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD) of the University of Timisoara-Romania, a Master of Medicine (MMed) in General Surgery of the University of Dar es Salaam, a Master of Science (MSc) in Neurosurgery of the Universities of Zurich, Ulm and Dar es Salaam (a sandwich program), and FCS-ECSA (Fellow of the College of Surgeons of East, Central Southern Africa) and MBA (Master of Business Administration) program of the University of Dar es Salaam. CHILDWOOD Born September 1 1964 in Bukoba, Tanzania, Prof. Joseph Kahamba was raised in a hard working middle class family with Ten siblings–four brothers and six sister. His mother was a farmer and father a Secondary teacher. He grew up mainly in three kind of environment, Gangster, Quiet, Energetic and loud .During his childhood years his family lived first in Katoke and then shifted to Ishozi, Bukoba. When they were living in Katoke he had many friends. He liked making friends. He was with them all the time. They went to many places and parties together, and they even went to the Disco or play soccer together and he really enjoyed this these moments. His best friends ware Stanley, Mjuni, Peter, Ester and Salma. He really enjoy be with them, because they were so nice that sometimes talk about all in his life, and when he had a problem they always help him. Childhood influences: The first book He remember reading for fun was called ‘Maisha Yetu’. He probably read it three times a day. He also liked Greek mythology since he was in middle school. He used to read mostly fantasy and science fiction in high school, and then got interested in mysteries when He got to Universities. Since his father was a teacher. He grew up in a very artistic family. His Dad was an inspiration professionally and his Mum was always there to talk to. His Dad taught him many values that define who he is now — the values of honesty, integrity and sincerity. They were teachers to him and his mother was always scout him to school when he was very young. She used to read for him stories every night that he can remember many of the stories and have even got quite a few of the books she read to him. Her Mum had a sing-song voice that he once told her but she thought he was criticising her and she got a bit humpy with him. His dad read to them when we were older but he helped them a lot with writing and studying. When sitting together with his father, they spent long hours talking about the world, politics, books and football. His father was also very funny, very good at jokes and could speak several languages. All this influenced his carrier. EDUCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL He received his primary education at Katoke Primary School between 1970 and 1973; his middle school education at Kanyigo School from 1974 up to 1978. Durring his Primary education his favorite subject were Science (especially biology and chemistry!), He loved them and he was never horrible at any subject, but he definitely hated History because he never liked writing essays since he didnt find it interesting. His favorite teacher was his Math’s teacher Ms.Salome, when he was in the fifth grade. As he described her as being very loving, caring, inspiring and almost like a mother to them. SECONDARY AND A-LEVEL After graduating at Kanyigo School in (1978) he was selected among 50 best students and been transferred to a Seminary government Secondary School (Kashasha Seminary) which it was 56 Kilometers’ away from his virrage. In 1978, Prof.Kahamba enrolled to Kahororo Seminary Secondary School for (O A-level) education between 1978 to 1984. While there much had happened routinely in the Seminary, each day had its own rhythm and he also noted that the seminarians had a varied schedule. They used to begin each day in the chapel, with either Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours at 7:30 a.m. After breakfast,Which sometimes made him to sleep in class .But in class He was often knowing how to do complex math problems before the concept had even been introduced to his class. In his second year the young Prof.Kahamba participated in student body government as Sports Minister in my second year. In this time, He worked for 2 years as the Scout President at a School camp. He liked most about school were the after-school athletic activities and least were Mandatory attendance and Learning superfluous subjects. Also he often knew how to do complex math problems before the concept had even been introduced to his class. He also did some extracurricular activities by Participating in Gym, Sports and Society clubs. He engage in the social life with other students mostly in parties. In 1984 his family returned to Ishozi, and Prof.Kahamba within a short time graduated from high school in the first division. UNIVERSITY In 1984, He enrolled at the University of Timisoara-Romania for his undergraduate study in Medicine (MD).In his first year in medical school he had been participating in new types of medical research. Since arriving in April he was been able to participate in two different research projects – one qualitative and one quantitative. In University, He was also involved in few outside activities. While there, and to enhance his meager income, He organized a Helping Hand Club and even served as its Vice president. After a handful of jobs , He finally went for different Projects to work for a large investment films. There He continued the trend of just meeting his potential, only taking on new challenges when enything was brought to his attention that it could be perfect opportunity for him. After graduating and reserved the certificate in Doctor of Medicine (MD) of the University of Timisoara-Romania, He then went back to his hometown and worked as Pharmacist assistance for the village local Institute Dispensary and a few Pharmacies in and around his hometown. In the meantime, He spent 1 year before Master school as a Soldier at Kanyigo Military, Bukoba serving for his county. During his time there, they moved into different largest military in the county for training. They also moved into the new country military base of Lugalo. One of thing he learned was simple. It doesnt matter if you can [do something] or not, you will. Just get it done. Going Master school had always been in the back of his mind, and he finally headed again across the Ocean to enroll in a Master of Science (MSc) in Neurosurgery at the Universities of Zurich in (1990). Early in 1992, he was transferred as a medical student to Zurich Medical cumpus to gain greater clinical experience, were he become Senior Laboratory Assistance at the University. He began his career as an ICU fellow at the Katoke Hospital Center where he worked in a variety of critical care settings before coming to the Clinical Center in 1999. At the Clinical Center he began his career as a Senior Clinical Researcher in the Medical Intensive Care Unit. His clinical research specializations included health behavior and health disparities research with special emphasis on methodology and measurement in end-of-life care, integrative health and vulnerable populations. After that, His wife and him moved to Bugando, Mwanza. Were they lived there for two years and managed to teach Bugando Medical University for almost 1 year. Then they had two daughters, Eunice and Nelly, and we moved back home to Dar es salaam. were he enrolled for MBA (Master of Business Administration) program at the University of Dar es Salaam.While there he used his extra time to teach at Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences (Neurosurgery). Professional Recognition In November 2003, Prof. Kahamba was recognized by the Tanzanian Society of Orthopedics with the Dedicated Service Award. This award honors dedicated volunteer service to the Society marked by his outstanding performance. Between 2000 and 2006,He served as President of the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) at Muhimbili Orthopedics and Neurosurgical Institute. The Association that aimed to compliment the government efforts in reaching its desired objective of promoting the health and wellbeing of all Tanzanians. Marking the 45th Anniversary Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) in 2008.Professor Joseph.F. Kahamba was presented with MAT Fellowship certificates for their distinguished contributions to the promotion of the medical profession and nurturing of the Medical Association of Tanzania. FAMILY In 1990, He met a pretty woman at a Staff Board meeting. He could feel that she was the right one for his eternal life. In 1991, He married Dr. Godelive Kagashe,Lecture in College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) in Dar es Salaam when he was 27.The wedding took place in Church, one month from his 28th birthday, Gogelive was 25, who spent her childhood in Morogoro, Tanzania. They have four childrens,One boy, Innocent 21 and three Daughters, Eunice 23, Nelly 22 and Karen 17. Eunice lives in the Mikocheni area. Shee works for a Clothing business company. Whenever they visit each other, they have a great time and many laughs. She also guides, teaches , and has been a great role model.Nelly is a Postgraduate in Medicine at Bugando Hospital,Mwanza.While Innocent is undergraduate in Civil engineering at Arthi University. When he was young, He sometimes did something very horrible that he then regret doing. One at which he would get other children to laugh at someone. He made fun of that person and got others to join in. In the rare hours when he’s not at Work, He enjoy running, reading, watching news. He’s very excited about moving back to his village in next year’s. About his Haya and Christianity background he said â€Å"its important because its how and why my parents behaved in the way they did. If I try to break that down into exactly what, all I come up with is things like the particular way in which they told stories about their family and their childhoods. At age of 50, He honestly think that reading has been one of the pleasant constants in my life. Reading truly feeds his soul. Looking ahead 20-30 years, He will fear losing his eyesight more than any other senior ailment. What the heck, he could enjoy reading The Adventures. Among of the worst or most embarrassing experience of his career as had been to identify his younger brothers body at a local municipal morgue. Employment and Professional Activities 1986-1987 Research Laboratory , University of Timisoara-Romania. 1988-1990 Postdoctoral fellowship, Institute for Advanced Study, Mwanza. 1991-1992 Senior Laboratory Assistance, University of Zurich. 1996-1997 Assistant Professor, Bugando University, Mwanza. 1997-1998 Associate Professor, University of Dar-es-salaam. 1998- Professor, University of Muhimbili, Dar-es-salaam. 1997-1998 Staff of Katoke Hospital Laboratory,Bukoba. 1998-2000 Director of MOI Physical Laboratory 2002-2004 Head of the Neurosurgical department at Muhimbili Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical Institute. 2000-2006 President of the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT). 2007- Associate Professor in Neurosurgery at Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS),Dar-es-salaam

Impact of Occupational Health and Safety in Construction

Impact of Occupational Health and Safety in Construction Abstract The main aim of the research is to study the impact of occupational health and safety in construction industry. It will also aim at identifying the attitude of construction organisations as well as employees towards occupational health and safety in India. To support the research, survey questionnaire and a telephone interview was conducted. It helped it achieving objectives of the research. The construction industry is a very dangerous industry. The performance of the industry in occupational health and safety is very poor. The standard of occupational health and safety is even worse in developing countries. In Indian construction industry OHS has never been given prime importance. Even though in India construction industry is significantly booming, there are no proper initiatives undertaken by the government to implement OHS rules and regulations. There are several initiatives taken by Government of India but they are still in their initial stages and need to be enforced. The employers are concerned about completion of project rather than focussing on improving OHS of their employees. The industry has larger number of small and medium size firms and very few numbers of larger firms. Smaller firms lack resources to comply with proper OHS procedures. The workers are not provided with proper training and information about occupational health and safety hazards. Lack of awareness on OHS, sub-contracting system, use of traditional methods in construction, lack of proper personal protective equipments, low wages and labour-driven industry are some of the important factors that have their impact on occupational health and safety in Indian construction. The construction industry in developing as well as developed countries is one of the most significant industries in relation to the contribution to the GDP (Rantanen et al., 2004). Also it is having a significant impact on the health and safety of the people working in it. According to Haupt as cited in Rowlinson (2004), the construction industry has a poor record in relation to the health and safety of its worker. It is a known fact that workplace accidents are linked basically with unsafe behaviour. There is a positive correlation between safety climate on construction sites and workers safe behaviour. The attitudes of workers on construction sites toward health and safety are widely influenced by their perception towards risk, health and safety rules and procedures; management (Mohamed and Ali, 2005). According to Larcher and Sohail (1999), occupational health and safety is a highly important area of concern in developing countries where Acts related to safety rarely exist with we ak regulatory authorities that finds it difficult to implement it effectively. Also awareness towards occupational hazards is not at all or rarely perceived. The other factors that affect occupational health and safety in developing countries are lack of statutory regulations and legislations to protect workers in construction sector, standards maintained in corporate and government systems are low, inadequate infrastructure and high labour intensity (Mohamed and Ali, 2005). Every year hundreds of accidents take place on construction sites resulting in severe injuries or even deaths. It is matter of concern that the same type of work related deaths, injuries and illnesses occur in the construction industries all over the world. The working life of construction workers is curtailed by several years due to the exposure to occupational health and safety hazards. The process of construction involves many hazardous activities such as working at height, manual handling, exposure to hazardous materials, frame erection, lifting operations, scaffolding, demolition works and groundworks. Falls and manual handlings are the important risks associated with injuries and long term disability in the construction industry (Gillen et al.1997). 1.1 Background study According to study conducted by Holmes et al., (1999), that the occupational health and safety risks are mainly related to the nature of work, low standard of individual work practices, lack of knowledge, work pressure due to cost and time constraints. Rechenthin (2004) stated that, for a construction company to be consistently profitable, all its project must complete on time and within budget. But at the same time due to the nature of the high risk works undertaken by the construction companies results in high accident rates. Eakins (1992) stated that international research confirms that as compared to larger construction firms, smaller firms are poor in the implementation of occupational health and safety programmes. Henceforth, the rate of occupational injury is inversely proportional with the size of the organisation, i.e. smaller firm having higher injury frequency rates (McVitte et al. 1997). As per Lingard and Rowlinson (2005), the construction industry consists of several SMEs and small amount of large firms. These small and medium size firms lack professional occupational health and safety advisors in staff. They also lack knowledge and resources required to implement occupational health and safety management activities for example: training, performing risk assessments, routine inspections and audits. Moreover the expense due to involvement of expensive occupational health and safety advice and services may be considered as unnecessary. Due to high competitive construction industry with cost cutting pressures, the priorities related to occupational health and safety is likely to be low with small size construction firms. According to Rantanen et al., (2004), nearly 2.4 billion people in the developing countries have to bear employment conditions, that dont even meet the basic occupational health and safety standards. Furthermore due to lack of work safety, excessive amount of work pressures, exposure to occupational physical, biological and chemical environment results to occupational diseases and injuries to an extent of 1.2 million fatalities per year. 1.2 Rationale for Research This research studies the attitude of organisations in India, a developing country towards occupational health and safety. As per report of The Economic Times as cited in (Shenoy et al., 2000), size of the Indian construction industry is more than USD 25 billion. Due to large investment made in roads, railways, nuclear and other infrastructure areas, the construction sector of India is witnessing a high growth. After agriculture sector, construction sector is the largest employer in India, with more than 18 million people employed in it. In spite of all these advancement, the construction sector is still dependant largely on labour intensive operations as they are easily available at low cost. Also occupational health and safety of people working in construction are not given due attention by the organisations (Shenoy et al., 2005). According to a report published by Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) India (2010), safety in the construction industry is a matter of conc ern all over the world. With an unorganised workforce, issues related to construction safety become the most vulnerable segment in India. With 18 million people employed in the construction sector within India, the issues related to safety are considerably important. The industry is highly labour intensive with a large amount of workers exposed to the risks of occupational health and workplace safety problems. In construction industry the fatal accidents rate is comparatively four to five times higher than the manufacturing sector. In India 165 per 1,000 workers get injured while working on construction sites. Further the report states that the workers are exposed to several hazardous substances having the potential to cause serious occupational health diseases such as asbestosis, silicosis, poisoning etc. According to International Labour Organisation (2005), the rate of accident among industrial workers is highest with 4 per 1000 and the major contributor for this is the construction industry. International Labour Organisation (2005) report also estimated the number of deaths in India due to accidents at work as 40,000 in 2001 and 2,62,000 dying from work related diseases. Thus if construction is held responsible for one sixth of the total, then the death of the Indian construction workers can be estimated up to 60,000 each year. According to Damodaran (2006) safety in construction is in the bottom of list of priorities of builders, contractors and engineers. While the monetary loss heads the list, loss of man-hours and material progress are equally irreparable when scaffolding fails, a roof collapses or a fatal accident takes place at site of work, the human life is irreplaceable. The construction companies in India have experienced that when a worker loses his life due to an accident on the site, there is a sudden downturn in the morale of the working force. It affects the spirit of working and the progress of work. It is only after some accidents takes place, the company begins to take safeguards. As labour is very cheap and unorganised, having little or no knowledge of their rights, the companies find it convenient as well as profitable using manpower rather than machineries. Though getting a job in the construction industry helps poor labours to get out of poverty, due to presence of high occupational he alth and safety risk it can drive them back into insolvency. 1.3 Research aim and objectives 1.3.1 Aim of the research The aim of this research is to study the impact of occupational health and safety in construction industry, whilst exploring the attitude of organisations and employees toward occupational health and safety in Indian construction industry. 1.3.2 Objectives The above mentioned aim will be achieved with the help of the following objectives: 1. To explore the issues impacting health and safety with the focus on occupational health and safety in the construction industry. 2. To investigate occupational health and safety hazards and its impact in construction industry 3. To investigate the implementation of occupational health and safety in the Indian construction industry whilst; Exploring the attitude of employees and construction organisations toward occupational health and safety in India. Investigating the impact of existing occupational health and safety rules and regulations on the Indian construction industry. 1.4 Research methodology The adopted research methodology will be divided into primary and secondary research. In primary research, questionnaires survey and a telephone will be conducted. This will help in understanding and identifying the perception of the management and the employees toward occupational health and safety in Indian construction industry. In secondary research, literature review will be carried out in order to understand the factors affecting occupational health and safety such organisational culture, climate and government policies. It will also help in identifying different occupational health and safety hazards and its effect on construction projects. 1.4.1 Primary research Primary research such as questionnaires survey and telephone interview will help in achieving the main objectives of the research. Data will be collected from clients, contractors, managers, site engineers and supervisors who play an important role in the construction industry. The data collected through the telephone interview will help in supporting the findings from survey questionnaire. 1.4.2 Secondary research Secondary research will be carried out through literature review. The data will be collected through electronic databases, journals, websites, magazines, books and conference papers. These data will help in identifying the issues and factors influencing occupational health and safety in the construction industry. 1.5 Limitations of the research The most significant limitation to this research is the time constraint. Due to limited availability of time, the research cannot be conducted in depth. Provided more time, it could be possible to visit India and collect more data available on occupational health and safety in the Indian construction industry. As the research is carried out from United Kingdom, the collection of secondary data is limited to the information available on websites. Limited research has been carried out in India related to occupational health and safety in the construction industry. As such, there is less availability of data to support this research. The other constraints can be that some companies may not be reluctant in providing the right information. During telephone interview there may be possibilities that the interviewee give diplomatic or misleading answers. Also the size of the company can influence the answers of the interviewee. Also the answers provided by the respondents may be influenced by the size and location of the company. 1.6 Structure of dissertation The dissertation will be divided into various chapters. Chapter 2, 3 and 4 will be part of literature review. An overview of the chapters included in this research thesis is as shown below. Chapter 1 Background study and rationale for research This chapter will provide an overall of overview of the research. It will consist of background study, aim and objectives and also the rationale for the research. It will also give an overview of the research methodology to be conducted in order achieve the desired aim and objectives. Chapter 2 Factors affecting health and safety on construction sites This chapter narrates the factors influencing health and safety on construction such as sub-contracting systems, organisations structure, size, location, personnel and incentive factors. Chapter 3 Introduction to OHS and detail description of OHS hazards This chapter will provide detail description of occupational health and safety including safety culture, human behaviours and different OHS hazards. Chapter 4 OHS in the Indian construction industry This chapter will investigate the current scenario of OHS in the Indian construction industry. It will also explore the government rules and regulations related to OHS and their influence on the construction industry. Chapter 5 Research methodology This chapter will provide a brief outline of the different research methods available and the adopted research methodology. Chapter 6 Analysis and interpretation of the survey This chapter will include analysis of data collected through questionnaires survey and the telephone interview with help of charts, figures and tables. Chapter 7 Conclusion and recommendations This chapter will include the summary of the research findings as well as recommendations related to the research.

The American Dream in Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun :: A Raisin in the Sun

The American Dream in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry is about living the "American Dream". Hansberry wrote her story in 1959. The "American Dream" that she describes and the one that currently exists are vastly different. In 1959, the dream was to work hard and live a comfortable life. American’s believed that you would live a good life as long as you had your family and had food on the table. Let’s fast forward to 2003. The "American Dream" is to have two cars, a glamorous house, a pool, a 40 hour a week job, and oodles of "stuff". I define stuff as material possessions such as DVD’s, video games, and TV’s. When did the dream go from being happy to having tons of material possessions? I am devising a tipping point strategy to change the "American Dream" back to having a close relationship with your family, working hard, and being happy. By changing the dream, Americans will be happier and have less stress in their life. The new "American Dream" is strongly engraved into the minds of society. It will be difficult to "tip" back the other way. The change will not happen suddenly. It can only happen slowly, and over a long period of time. The change from Hansberry’s dream and the current dream also took years to change. The Law of the Few plays a huge role in changing the dream. To tip the dream in the better direction, some people that are influential in society need to adopt this dream as their own. If a man as successful as Bill Gates decided that he wanted a more laid back, it would do a great deal to attract others to do so as well. In retrospect, if I adopted this dream, no one would care. Bill Gates is considered a connector in our society. He has done much to improve our technology. That is why he would be more likely to cause a "social epidemic" than I would. The second factor that would have to be dealt with in changing the "American Dream" is the stickiness factor. Let’s use Bill Gates as the example again. If he went on TV proclaiming that he was a billionaire, no one would listen. Even if they did listen, they would not remember. If Gates went on TV and said he was only going to work part time and he was going to give most of his money to charity, people would listen.

gatlove Money, Love, and Aspiration in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Money, Love, and Aspiration in The Great Gatsby How do the members of such a rootless, mobile, indifferent society acquire a sense of who they are? Most of them don't. The Great Gatsby presents large numbers of them as comic, disembodied names of guests at dinner parties: the Chromes, the Backhyssons, and the Dennickers. Some, of course, have some measure of fame, but even Jordan Baker's reputation does not do much for her other than get her entrà ©e to more parties. A very few, such as Gatsby, stand out by their wealth; his hospitality secures him a hold on many peoples' memories, but Fitzgerald is quick to point up the emptiness of this, [...] In this connection, Fitzgerald's insistence on Gatsby as a man who "sprang from his own Platonic conception of himself" is important. Conceiving one's self would seem to be a final expression of rootlessness. And it has other consequences for love, money, and aspirations as well. When one's sense of self is selfcreated, when one is present at one's own creation, so to speak, one is in a paradoxical position. One knows everything about oneself that can be known, and yet the significance of such knowledge is unclear, for no outside contexts exist to create meaning. The result is that a self-created man turns to the past, for he can know that. It is an inescapable context. For Gatsby and for the novel, the past is crucial. His sense of the past as something that he not only knows but also thinks he can control sets Gatsby apart from Nick and gives him mythical, larger-than-life dimensions. When he tells Nick that "'of course"' the past can be repeated or that Tom's love for Daisy was "'just personal"', he may be compensating for his inability to recapture Daisy; but he must believe these things because the post-war world in which he, Gatsby, lives is meaningless and almost wholly loveless. A glance at the relationships in The Great Gatsby proves this latter point. Daisy and Tom's marriage has gone dead; they must cover their dissatisfactions with the distractions of the idle rich. Myrtle and Tom are using one another; Myrtle hates George, who is too dull to understand her; the McKees exist in frivolous and empty triviality. Even Nick seems unsure about his feelings for the tennis girl back in the Midwest. [...]

The Green Party Of Canada :: essays research papers fc

The Green Party of Canada   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Canada had nine registered political parties in the 1993 federal election. Each one of these parties was trying to place their candidates into Parliament as members. In this particular election there were the usual dominating parties that ran, the Liberals and Conservatives. Also vying for seats were seven minority parties which included the Green Party, the Christian Heritage Party, the National Party of Canada, the Abolitionist Party, the Commonwealth, The Canada Party, the Liberaltarian Party, the Marxist-Leninist Party, and the Natural Law Party. Each of these minority parties had then and still do have their own values, goals, and political expectations. Most minority parties try to guide themselves along on the basis of these beliefs, especially around election time when they work hardest to raise issues of policy alternatives trying to make a mark on the political scene in Canada despite their limited support and resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Green Party of Canada is one particular minority party that presented themselves to the political scene in Canada about 15 years ago, in the early 1980's (Darfler). The small group of individuals belonging to the Green Party is an interesting bunch. They're all ages and come from a wide variety of views and opinions. Even together as a party they vary in their individual values and beliefs compared to other political parties in Canada. The party faithful is unlike most other parties in many ways, the most noticeable difference is having tried to invert a system which is bottom-up, meaning that all the real power and responsibility are held at the level of the local chapters. This is unique to the Green Party because most political organizations operate on a top-down basis, with a middle group within the party hierarchy that is in charge of their own membership, income, policies and incentives (Darfler). They together as a united party hold their own political sights for the future. The Green Party members for the most part believe that it is time to take a more sensible approach to running the affairs of the people and to do that we must base our political and economic beliefs on fact. In Canada, the Green Party values such things as ecological wisdom, social justice, grass roots democracy, non- violence, decentralization, feminism, and future focus/sustainability (htp.//www.green.ca). If you agree that the government should focus its attention toward these values, then you yourself are probably Green. All of these values are joined by a common value system which is determined by a set of underlying theories about the nature of reality and the people placed in it. The Green Parties political thought will probably never become entirely known as

Heidi Roizen’s Profile Essay

Perhaps, what might have invigorated Roizen to climb up the corporate ladder and eventually made her to successfully settle up there were her frustrations over a series of unfortunate events, as brought about by the divorce of her parents, financial juncture during her high school and early college years and the accident which claimed her then boyfriend’s life. Although, each event did not occur immediately after the other, her perspective towards self-sufficiency had already been molded. Nonetheless, what have had intensified her drive to pursue a career of her own and for her own was her boyfriend’s death. As noted in Roizen’s profile, that event has been the turning point for her to never again depend on another person’s fate. This realization has indeed placed her in the annals of well-respected figures in the business arena. However, the causality of her success in the corporate world could not be attributed alone to inauspicious events in her life. In fact, those events had just been a trigger that brought her to what she does best. A success’ extent could not be measured as this is relative and depends on the values of the one aiming for it and because there’s no one best way in achieving it, which could be the main criteria for gauging success. Yet given the right network, exceptional skills and appropriate resources, and the ability to converge them creatively, success will surely come knocking on the door. As for Roizen’s case, she has not only been equipped with the drive, skills and the head for business but as well as the ability to thread a web of prospective business associates. Not a few times that Heidi has proven her influence in the business scene. For the new investors, entrepreneurs and/or capitalists, it is she they turn to for advice and assistance. For those who are experiencing a career shift, it is Heidi who they turn to for the opportunity of being introduced to the right people and company. And for companies which are at the verge of or are experiencing juncture, Roizen will surely be chosen as one of those who would be chosen to maneuver the company back on track. Her skills in strategic planning, network everaging, marketing and giving off advice helped her to gain other’s confidence in her. Not only that, her credibility is well-established that everyone respects her opinion, and with this, tapping her network to back-up other people’s favor is easy for her. She uses every resource (i. e. good connections) to influence others in their businesses or career plans. As evident in the case of Apple, having a celebrity-like status and having been able to position her self in different organizations in IT industry, easing Apple’s way back in the game became a success. This she did by getting favors from well-respected executives and aggressive publicity. Her infectious determination, enthusiasm and guts are motivation enough to co-workers to persevere. Heidi’s success in building up a network of business colleagues could be attributed to this rule-of-thumb: 1) having the right access; 2) performance; and 3) consistency. Being a graduate of one of the best universities in the US1 and in the world2, access to the right network is not impossible. With the use of access readily available to her, albeit few at first, she plunged into the challenges of the business world and built her way up restlessly and with sheer determination, never missing the opportunity to brush shoulders with the sought-after figures in business and to establish a good rapport with her. The nexus of business, pleasure, socialization and family life seems impossible to achieve, but Roizen was able to master the art of marrying these four aspects of her life with ease. For her, it is a must to build a life-long relationship with each member of the network she has. Upon meeting new prospective people to include in her list of connections, she made it a point to send them an email informing them that she really had a wonderful time meeting up with them, while looking forward to doing business with them in the future. Being adept in the workaround of business, even the minute details of what is to be written in the correspondences she has to send to a colleague, may it be a thank-you letter or a business plan, up to introducing a neophyte to business gurus has to be convenient to and in benefit of all parties involved. She knows too well that in the realm she belongs, a 24-hour’s work will not suffice to accomplish all transactions, and so to efficiently grant the favors of people asking for her aid, she sees to it that no one will go home a loser. What is more interesting about Heidi is her attitude towards creating a web of network. When she was just starting her career, she would rather establish her own circle of business associates with people who may just be newbie like her yet smart, creative and knowledgeable in their crafts, rather than with those who are already in the upper crust. According to her, it is easier, nay, better to do such for when those people became successful; you know that you already have a good kinship with them. Since â€Å"networking† is not just a business for her but a lifestyle as well, she prefers throwing out parties in her very own yard. She cooks rather than calls for a catering service, encourages other invitees to share their specialty, and creates an ambience of intimacy so making each guest comfortable. Also, she would not throw a party without a purpose. Her invitees would always include those who she thinks will benefit from each other. Roizen knows that corporate world is not big enough to not meet the same people in many instances. Sooner or later, she has to have a deal with the same people she has dealt with before and so it is a must to make a very good impression the very first time she works with them. This is what she calls performance. Being responsive to your colleagues needs and doing one’s job well and accordingly will surely help gain people’s trust and respect, thus Heidi makes it a point to deliver the best possible result to her clients or associates. Apart from performance, what is equally important for Roizen is the consistency in performance. What she meant by consistency is the attitude of doing an excellent job in all circumstances – without exception. If one did a great job for the first time, then it is to be expected that she would do the same for each task given to her. Her rule-of-thumb and strategies in applying these rules has indeed made her successful in building up, maintaining and leveraging a network. For Roizen, while having the right connections is quite important, consistency and performance are just as very effective tools to maintain a relationship with people in her network. A team player, Roizen’s ability to optimize efficiently and effectively all resources she has copes up with the caliber of the network she maintains. One perceived strength of her associates is that each is a master of his craft and is a well-respected executive. Apart from this, while in her own circle of associates she is the mediator or the catalyst, some members of her network are also the nuclei of their respective connections. Hence, her very own network expands through these nuclei. On the other hand, as her circle of connections continuously expanding, it is inevitable to having to deal with competing industry leaders. In situations wherein she has to represent one to the other, it is of prime importance to maintain neutrality and confidentiality – as in the case when she has to make a deal with Microsoft in behalf of Macintosh. However, doing this part is not very easy, more so comfortable. Also, one of the weaknesses of her network (which is perhaps, also a weakness of others network) is that some puts forward his or her favors but does not know how to pay the favor back. As she related, some people she dealt with before would just pick up the phone and ask favors without realizing that the relationship they have had was a bad one. As she shifted career from being a mentor capitalist to venture capitalist, her perspective towards leveraging and granting favors has definitely changed. It is understandable that she would always attend to the needs that will benefit, first and foremost, her company. But of course, this must not cause the breaking of connections she tried to build up through the years. While she puts her company’s interests in the frontline, it will not be a threat if she would still concede to others requests, given that no clash of interests between their respective organizations. Since she has the faculties to connect other people to the other, I personally believe she could still play the role as avenue where entities with similar interests could meet. This way, she would still be able to maintain her network while focusing herself to the directions of her company’s interests. Looking at her profile, it could be established that she is indeed a quite accomplished woman. As compared to her network, mine is still comparable to a portion of the web she created. Same with other newbies, I try to establish my very own network by grabbing the opportunity to brush shoulders with those who are already at the top — always basking on personal interests. For me, it is a lesson to imitate her ways on establishing and maintaining close associates. Her rule of thumb and attitude towards mingling with people are surely a hit. She proves herself that one need not to reach out to those who are already in the position; rather networking may still be effective by socializing with driven and interesting people. Equally important in reaching one’s goal is the ability to consistently perform well. Lastly, to effectively manage my own links, I believe being able to identify my interests and the right people who could help me bring them out to reality and who I would be capable of helping back in return would be much of a help.

Validity and Reliability of the Job Content Questionnaire

52 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Validity and reliableness of the agate line subjectedness questionnaire in lump and in egg chew overs in brazil by Tania Maria de Araujo, PhD,1 Robert Karasek, PhD 2 de Araujo TM, Karasek R. Validity and reliableness of the telephone circuit fill questionnaire in semi- glob and in noble tricks in Brazil. SJWEH Suppl. 2008(6)5259. Objectives This culture esteemd the none gist questionnaire (JCQ) in bar act as mental science aspects with respect to dress and e genuinelyday telephone lines in Brazilian occupational groups.Methods A cross-sectional vignette was carried pop in a random sample of 1311 ? 15-year-old residents in the urban bea of the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. The Portuguese JCQ transformation admitd the recommended 49- compass point of the original variance. The JCQ ope dimensionn military rank included descriptive analysis, discriminant analysis, home(a) consonance, and produce asperity. Results Ave rages of the JCQ racing shells were same for the dinner dress and loose pissers, overlook for determination federal agency ( orb railway line c=31. free-and-easy troubles c=34. 5). The averages of the Portuguese JCQ weighing machines did non differ substantially from those obtained in opposite European, North American, and lacquerese studies, albeit they were slimly disgrace in the Brazilian case. In command, Cronbachs central coefficients revealed mathematical operation homogeneous to oppositewisewise large-sample studies, showing congenial familiar conformity. The coefficients were congenerly moldingized for full-dress and easy mulls. operator analysis revealed mellowed dead body with the conjectural copy.Conclusions This is the initiative rent to evaluate JCQ surgical procedure canvas formal and light stocks in a create country. The business organisation core questionnaire presented a good global feat, and it did non differ subs tantially from those notice in other studies. These findings suggest that the crease fill questionnaire can be oblige in studies carried out in exploitation countries and in situations in which daily excogitates atomic number 18 common. tell terms determination parallel ingest hold example occupational filter out mental pauperization mental h limb. wellness Department, put up University of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. 2 Department of turn Environment, University of milliampere at menialell, Lowell, mammy, United States. reproduce requests to Dr TM de Araujo, KM 03, BR 116 Campus Universitario, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil, 40110 180. E-mail araujo. emailprotected br There is a nitty-gritty(a) totality of scientific writings on the psycho fond aspects of flow in essential countries. However, interrogation addressing the measure of these aspects in ontogenesis countries is recent and scarce.In developing countries, exploit organization aspects ar ordinarily considered to be a less pertinent problem than other crucial problems, practically(prenominal) as unemployment, accidents, and other occupational fortunes that venture life and put thespians somatogenetic wellness at try. Moreover, at that place is an assumption that performers used to measure psycho neighborly aspects in developed countries are not applicable in developing countries because of unlike heathen contexts. However, these arguments return been criticized because f, at least, the following tether pointors (i) the globalization helpmany multinational companies have been operating in developing countries under capriole tireds and technologies that are similar to those used in developed countries (1), (ii) social and frugal structural heterogeneity in developing societieswhich include, in the same region, areas with a gamy aim of development (industrialized areas) and in truth sufferinging areas, and (iii) the increasing judge of occupatio nal diseases and disabilities tie in to conk organization conditions sh deliver by roughly developing countries.These iii a scarcees, acting to piddleher, reveal that psychosocial aspects at pop off are a germane(predicate) problem in varied social and stinting contexts. The impacts on genial and personal health are already visible in developing contexts (2, 3), and they indicate the importance of investigating endure psychology aspects in some(prenominal) developed and developing countries. Some puzzles have aimed at evaluating psychosocial characteristics at lend and their effects on dissembleer health.The command project model has worldwide use and is a unshakable influence on this research survey (4, 5). It focuses on both(prenominal) crucial work dimensions, finale parallel of analogue and psychological reads. determination line of latitude SJWEH Suppl 2008(6)5259 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 53 de Araujo & Karasek refers to the ability to describe conc lusions about ones work and the possibility of being creative and apply or developing advanced expertnesss. It includes 2 dimensions, learning politeness (opportunity to use acquirements) and determination license (opportunity to crystallise ratiocinations).psychological want refers to work unfold, noetic requirements, organizational con even offts put on the worker, and unlike beseechs. The reflect limit questionnaire (JCQ) is a standardisedise performer proposed to measure the dimensions of the affectcontrol model (6). In the last cardinal decades, the handicraft matter questionnaire has been intensively used in developed countries, and its motion has been well-tried in macrocosms from these countries (715). However, carrying out on the theorize gist questionnaire in developing countries system a less canvass issue.In our literature review we identified all trio studies conducted in developing countries to evaluate performance on the melodic lin e meaning questionnaire, carried out in Mexico (16), Taiwan (17) and China (18). specialized occupational groups were studied in Taiwan, workers from intravenous feeding companies, including men and women in Mexico only women from 2 maquiladora microelectronic plants in China, male and feminine health care workers. In Brazil, the Swedish reading of the problem limit questionnaire (17 questions) was condemnation-tested in a sample of the technological and administrative staff of a Brazilian university.The global performance of the subdues for decision latitude, psychological guide, and social sanction was good (3). The master(prenominal) objective of this sphere was to assess the concentratedihood and reliability of the put-on content questionnaire in measuring work psychosocial characteristics for workers in formal and everyday jobs in Brazil. Study commonwealth and methods Study design A cross-sectional theatre of operations was carried out in a random sample of workers 15 days or older from the city of Feira de Santana in 2002.It is the second largest city in the State of Bahia, in the atomic number 10 region of Brazil, with close to half a million inhabitants. commentary of formal and cosy jobs In Brazil, the crunch Ministry has adopted an instrument to define formal and everyday jobs the line of business Card (Carteira de Trabalho). This eyeshade establishes the job contract surrounded by employees and employers. It is correct by national laws and provides all kinds of benefits, including placing the worker in a social gage system. The job card establishes a formal job for the worker. inner jobs are not correct by law in that respect is no social security system, nor any other kind of social or economic rights. Among opposite kinds of sluttish jobs, selling products in the street is the most common type. another(prenominal)(prenominal) type that has summationd, as a contri notwithstandinge of the unemployment situa tion, is the family store (stores that are constructed in the keep up room of a soulfulnesss own home). Study population The study areas were selected victimization random procedures, ground on population selective teaching from the national census.The sampling procedures were conducted using the following steps (i) extract of the celestial spheres in spite of appearance each subdistrict, by a random procedure, (ii) random selection of streets within each selected sector, (iii) visitation of all houses on the selected streets, and (iv) interview of all quite a little 15 years or older by well-trained interviewers using standard procedures. The use of a field manual helped to standardize procedures in the interview and avoid biases in the data collection. Up to three visits were made to a persons residence, in an case to perform an interview.We visited 1479 residences and interviewed 3190 populate. To evaluate JCQ performance, we analyzed information only from mountain w ho were operable at the time of the interview. Altogether 1311 workers were included in this study. Sixty-six percent of the target population worked in an escaped job. The percentage of formal and cozy jobs was similar match to grammatical gender (49. 1% for the women and 50. 4% for the men). No germane(predicate) inconsistencys were effectuate across the age groups in the unaffixed jobs.However, in the formal jobs, the property of workers increased from the beginning of worklife to the middle of it, but it decreased sharply after 40 years of age (from 46. 7% among the workers 2634 years of age to 25. 5% among the workers ? 41 years of age). The workers in formal jobs had a high education than those in informal jobs. rickers at the graduate level were 3. 1 times to a greater extent probably to be in formal jobs than in informal jobs. Commercial employment (retail sales) employ the highest number of workers (38. 8%), followed by run in command (27. %), private thea tre go (11. 2%), education (6. 9%), manufacturing (6. 6%), transportation (4. 3%), and kink (4. 1%). The com point according to formal and informal jobs showed clear job risk in some specific sectors. Among the workers employ in the gimmick sector, 87. 0% had an informal job for private sign of the zodiac go the proportion was 86. 5% and it was 70% for mercantile natural action, 64. 2% for transportation workers, and 62% for the workers in general dish ups. On the other hand, 67. % of the people working in education and 57. 1% of those in manufacturing had formal jobs. 54 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 work content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil Considering the place where people worked, we spy much(prenominal) florilegium for informal jobs. The highest proportion of informal workers was ground for working on the street (23. 6%), followed by troupe (22. 8%), another persons home (20. 8%), and in their own house (18. 3%). Among the formal workers, 66. 8% worked in companies (private enterprise), and 21. 9% were sedulous in public buildings.Portuguese reading process for the job content questionnaire The translation process took into account aspects like abstract equivalence, level equivalence, semantic equivalence, operational equivalence, measurement equivalence, and functional equivalence (19) . The recommended procedures to build a cross-cultural translation of the job content questionnaire were followed. First, the questionnaire was translated singly into Portuguese by two Brazilian translators. Specific instructions were clarified to travel by the translation process.According to these instructions, the emphasis in the translation was given to the meaning of the terms quite a than to literal translation, reinforcing the point in time meaning in the Brazilian occupational context. The translation, produced in this first step, was discussed in meetings with the research team and translators until a consensual variance was drawn up. This co nsensual Portuguese recital was translated stomach into incline (back translation) by two other translators, who were inhering English speakers and as well as fluent in Portuguese. The Portuguese edition of the job content questionnaire and the back translation ere sent to the JCQ concern to be evaluated by the Center researchers. aft(prenominal) this military rating, some modifications were suggested for the first translation, and they were promptly accounted for. A pretest was conducted to test the clarity of question formulation, problems found in answering specific questions, and conceptual equivalence amidst both languages (English and Portuguese). establish on the pretest results, a new version was clarified (including a new back translation). The JCQ Center approved the final version in December 2001. cases and subscales of the job content questionnaireThe Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire included the following recommended format (6) 49 questions ( scales of decision latitude accomplishment courtesy and decision say-so, psychological posit, physical indigence, social patronagesupervisor and coworker support, and job risk). In order to build indicators, for each scale of the questionnaire, a sum of the w eight-spoted specific score was calculated according to the substance abusers guide of the job content questionnaire (6). Statistical analysis All of the analyses were conducted one after another for the formal and informal workers. nasty set and standard deviations were calculated for each scale and subscale. The performance analysis included a discriminant analysis, informal consistency (reliability indicators), and construct rigour (factor analysis). Discriminant analysis. This study included workers from disparate job sectors. Discriminant rigorousness was analyzed by comparing the operator of the scales and subscales of the job content questionnaires gathered from workers in each sector. An analysis of varian ce (ANOVA) was performed to examine the ascertained differences. Internal consistency.Cronbachs of import coefficient was calculated to assess the internal consistency or homogeneity of the questions aimed at measuring the same construct. Alpha values higher up 0. 65 were considered unimpeachable (12, 14). micturate validity (factor analysis). The analysis was developed in three steps. First, an exploratory analysis using a correlation matrix for all of the variables was computed. In the second step, a question grammatical constituent method was used to extract the factors (eigenvalues ? 1 criterion). A revolution varimax (orthogonal) was conducted to marque the factors more interpretable (20).Factors loading values of 40 were considered indicators of probatory factorial contribution (10). Measurement of mental health outcome. To evaluate performance on the job content questionnaire in tell aparting work conditions involving a risk to mental health, we evaluated the prepo nderance of psychological inconvenience according to the collectcontrol model. The self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20), a structure instrument designed by the World wellness Organization to measure psychological distress in developing countries, was used. The scales for decision latitude and psychological consume were dichotomized.The mean values were used to dichotomize both scales. establish on the combination amid the levels of use up and control, four categories were established for the demandcontrol model. A multiple logistic retrogression was performed to adjust for potential confounders. Results The pith and standard deviations of the scales of the job content questionnaire were similar for the formal and SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 55 de Araujo & Karasek informal jobs (table 1). The most important difference was observed for decision authority in that there was a higher mean for informal jobs (34. 6) than for formal jobs (31. 99). The Cronbachs important coefficients w ere relatively similar for the formal and informal jobs, tied(p) though the coefficients were higher for the formal jobsthe coefficients ranged from 0. 65 to 0. 79. The internal consistency for psychological demand was low for the informal jobs (0. 55). The subscale counterpoint demands presented poor consistency with the other subscales its correlation coefficient was overturn than 0. 10. For skill judgement, the internal consistency was to a fault relatively low for informal jobs (0. 6029).The subscale variety showed low consistency with the other subscales, the correlation coefficient with the other items being 0. 19. For the job insecurity scale, the performance was poor for both types of jobs (but improve for informal jobs). The analysis of the promoter of the scales of the job content questionnaire according to sector of military action showed some significant differences. put back 2 shows the subscale means of the questionnaire according to sectors. The mean for skill discretion was lower for private household services (formal jobs c=29. 18 informal jobs c=32. 12) than for education (formal jobs c=35. 3 informal jobs c=34. 08). changeible differences were observed for decision authority (note the high means for education for both formal and informal jobs). psychological demand revealed a similar pattern across all of the sectors. The means for physical demand were higher for social structure (formal jobs c=12. 50 informal jobs c=14. 30) and manufacturing (formal jobs c=13. 45 informal jobs c=12. 66) and lower for education (formal jobs c=11. 84 informal jobs c=11. 71), as expected. The highest job insecurity means were observed for the construction sector (formal jobs c=7. 0 informal jobs c=9. 78). Correlation coefficient by sector No correlation was found betwixt decision latitude and psychological demand (formal workers 0. 057 informal workers 0. 010). This finding supports the hypothesis of relative independence amongst these two factors , as theoretically postulated. For nearly all of the scales of the job content questionnaire, the correlation coefficients showed a similar pattern for the sectors. The pattern was similar by sector with respect to the formal and informal jobs, following the predicted direction, as proposed by Karaseks demandcontrol model.Some small differences were observed in the coefficient magnitude, but not in the direction of the coefficients. However, a substantial difference was observed between the two dimensions of decision latitude. In the sectors of education, manufacturing, private household services, construction, and general services, a positive correlation between skill discretion (SD) and decision authority (DA) was observedas expected. For the sectors of commercial military action and transportation, we observed no correlation between skill discretion and decision authority, 0. 068 and 0. 077, respectively.Construct validity The factor analysis pissed off eight factors for forma l and informal jobs (tables 3 and 4). Similar patterns were observed for both types of jobs. There was high Table 1. delegacy, standard deviations (SD), and Cronbachs alpha reliability coefficients for the scales and subscales of the job content questionnaire according to formal and informal jobs. Scales Range imposing jobs Informal jobs Mean SD a Mean SD a conclusiveness latitude 2496 64. 76 8. 44 0. 6576 65. 91 7. 84 0. 6211 Skill discretion 1248 32. 76 4. 25 0. 6500 31. 39 4. 06 0. 6029 Decision authority 1248 31. 9 6. 20 0. 6869 34. 46 6. 01 0. 7194 Psychological demand 1248 30. 07 3. 63 0. 6627 29. 89 3. 29 0. 5588 Social support 832 23. 07 2. 09 0. 7103 23. 20 2. 01 0. 6588 Coworker support 416 11. 75 1. 16 0. 6901 11. 97 1. 25 0. 7009 supervisory support 416 11. 28 1. 47 0. 7900 11. 38 1. 30 0. 6515 sensual demand 520 12. 30 2. 14 0. 7584 12. 53 2. 25 0. 7615 business enterprise insecurity a 312 5. 25 1. 15 0. 3613 5. 90 1. 83 0. 5540 sequence 1582 33. 93 11. 59 34. 9 4 13. 93 a Means for job insecurity (4 items) formal jobs 6. 47 (SD 1. 44) informal jobs 7. 44 (SD 2. 47). Table 2.Means of the subscales of the job content questionnaire according to sector of military action for the formal and informal jobs. (SD = skill discretion, DA = decision authority, DL = decision latitude, PD = psychological demand, PhyD = physical demand, JI = job insecurity) Sector SD DA DL PD PhyD JI Formal jobs Construction 31. 67 33. 84 65. 71 28. 67 12. 50 7. 00 Manufacturing 33. 09 31. 91 65. 07 31. 45 13. 45 6. 32 Commerce (retail activity) 32. 80 31. 54 64. 28 30. 47 12. 45 6. 23 conveyancing 31. 78 29. 68 61. 33 29. 28 12. 74 6. 20 Education 35. 06 35. 33 70. 56 30. 02 11. 4 4. 87 ecumenic services 32. 13 32. 44 64. 79 30. 11 12. 29 5. 44 personal household services 30. 47 29. 18 59. 65 29. 50 12. 13 5. 50 Informal jobs Construction 31. 40 32. 41 63. 95 30. 78 14. 30 9. 78 Manufacturing 33. 10 33. 25 66. 26 31. 03 12. 66 7. 61 Commerce (retail activity) 31. 4 0 35. 66 67. 13 30. 01 12. 36 7. 00 Transportation 30. 94 36. 25 67. 25 31. 03 13. 35 6. 38 Education 35. 28 34. 08 69. 36 29. 44 11. 71 6. 30 General serve 31. 94 34. 60 66. 64 29. 66 12. 50 7. 07 Private household services 29. 12 32. 12 61. 34 28. 98 12. 07 6. 58 56 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 hypothesize content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil consistency with the theoretical model for the scales for supervisory support, coworker support, skill discretion, decision authority, and physical demand. The subscales cerebrate to psychological demand laden on contrary factors. The subscale conflicting demands did not load on the psychological demand scale, as expected. For both the formal and informal jobs, it loaded on one part factor (factor 8). For the skill discretion scale, the subscale variety loaded on the factor cerebrate to the psychological demand Table 4.Factor (F) analysis using the wind component extraction method and varimax rotary motion with the informal jobs. Scale I nformal job (N=780) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Skill discretion Learn new things 0. 661 Repetitive work a 0. 480 Requires creativity 0. 587 mettlesome skill level 0. 644 mixed bag b 0. 502 Develop own abilities 0. 724 Decision authority Allows own decisions 0. 809 Little decision exemption a 0. 822 Opinions influential 0. 690 Psychological demand put to work fast 0. 430 Work hard 0. 479 Excessive work a 0. 686 poor time a 0. 599 counterpoint demands a 0. 774 Social support Supervisor is pertain 0. 760 Supervisor pays attention 0. 718 useful supervisor 0. 417 Supervisor good personal digital assistant 0. 774 Coworker support Coworkers competent 0. 722 Coworker interest in me 0. 710 Friendly coworkers 0. 652 Coworkers helpful 0. 714 Physical demand Much physical effort 0. 706 bunco unplumbed loads 0. 59 rapid physical activity 0. 756 Awkward corpse position b 0. 874 Awkward arm toss position b 0. 855 division explained (after rotation) (%) 12. 3 10. 3 7. 39 7. 06 6. 17 4. 90 4. 23 3. 89 make out variance explained (%) 56. 3 a level formulated in a invalidating direction the score was reversed earlier the factor analysis. b incident loaded on a different factor. Table 3. Factor (F) analysis using the principal component extraction method and varimax rotation with the formal jobs. Scale Formal job (N=403) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Skill discretionLearn new things 0. 639 Repetitive work a b 0. 481 Requires creativity 0. 687 High skill level 0. 650 Variety 0. 577 b Develop own abilities 0. 653 Decision authority Allows own decisions 0. 780 Little decision freedom a 0. 674 Opinions influential 0. 737 Psychological demand Work fast 0. 477 Work hard 0. 687 Excessive work a 0. 614 Insufficient time a 0. 673 Conflicting demands a 0. 802 Social support Supervisor is concerned 0. 16 Supervisor pays attention 0. 674 stabilising supervisor 0. 744 Supervisor good organiser 0. 717 Coworker support Coworkers competent 0. 432 Coworker interest in me 0. 757 Friendly coworkers 0. 746 Coworkers helpful 0. 730 Physical demand Much physical effort 0. 747 creep heavy loads 0. 482 Rapid physical activity 0. 837 Awkward embody position b 0. 891 Awkward arm dubiousness position b 0. 881 Variance explained (after rotation)(%) 8. 43 8. 19 7. 1 7. 79 7. 54 6. 96 6. 37 4. 48 summate variance explained (%) 62. 4 a Item formulated in a damaging direction the score was reversed forrader the factor analysis. b Item loaded on a different factor. SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 57 de Araujo & Karasek scale, and it was not related to the scale for skill discretion, as expected. Physical demand loaded o n two different factors, revealing two different types of physical workloads, type 1 including much physical effort, lift heavy loads, and rapid physical activity and type 2 including awkward body position and awkward arm and head positions.Capability of the job content questionnaire to identify different work situations as risks to mental health Relevant differences in the prevalence of psychological distress were observed according to the job tense quadrants. The high-strain quadrant had the highest psychological distress prevalence (table 5). Similar results were found for the formal and informal jobs. The low-strain situation had the final psychological distress prevalence. A difference was found in the quadrants of diagonal B (passive and active). In formal jobs, the prevalence of psychological distress was higher for the active job quadrant.For the informal jobs, the prevalence of psychological distress was higher in the passive job quadrant (1. 4 higher than in the low-str ain situation). banter This is the first study to evaluate performance of the job content questionnaire by comparing formal and informal jobs in a developing country. Performance of the questionnaire was tested in a poor region of northeast Brazil, where general living conditions are unsteady and the educational level is low the workers qualification levels were, in general, very low. Despite the cultural nd economic differences from developed country contexts, the job content questionnaire has good global performance. Our means and standard deviations were similar to results from the job stress absenteeism and coronary heart disease European conjunct study (the JACE study) (9), including eight samples from 5 European countries. Some differences occurred as expected, such as higher means for physical demand and job insecurity in our study (formal and informal jobs) and higher decision latitude for the JACE study. It is notable that, for decision authority, the means for the info rmal jobs and the JACE study were similar.This similarity indicates a significant freedom for the workers to decide how to do their own work in informal jobs but also pointed out that, among these workers, the possibility to make decisions was not combined with the use or development of skills. For example, in the sectors of commercial activity and transportation, the workers seemed to be free to decide how to do their work, but the same did not apply to the development of new skills and abilities. The means for decision authority were higher than the means for skill discretion in these sectors.Within these sectors, the proportion of people working on the streets was high, a fact that could partially explain this result In general, the Cronbachs alpha coefficients revealed a performance similar to that found with other large-sample studies, conducted in developed countries, even though they were slightly lower in our study. The estimated coefficients indicated acceptable levels of i nternal consistency for almost all of the scales of the job content questionnaire. The psychological demand scale, with five questions, showed poor internal consistency.The reliability was acceptable for the formal jobs but low for the informal jobs. This finding has been observed also in other studies. For example, in the JACE study, the Cronbachs alpha coefficient was relatively low for the men (Netherlands 0. 57, CanadaQuebec 0. 59, Japan 0. 61) and for the women (Netherlands 0. 51 and USQES 0. 62). These results revealed a general imprecision of the job content questionnaire in measuring psychological demand. Karasek et al (9) have argued that different meanings of psychological demand by population groups could explain part of these results.These differences in meaning are related to the positive stage of area development. Until now, there has been no agreement about the exact meaning of psychological Table 5. Prevalence rates for psychological distressthe prevalence ratio (PR ) and the respective confidence intervals (95% CI) according to the job strain model for formal and informal jobs adjusted for age, educational level, gender, social support, time in this position (results from the multiple logistic regression analysis). Job strain model a Prevalence PR b 95% CI (%) Formal jobs Low strain ( decision latitude v psychological demand) 11. 5 motionless job (v decision latitude v psychological demand) 15. 5 1. 35 0. 642. 84 Active job ( decision latitude psychological demand) 23. 8 2. 07 1. 054. 08 High strain ( decision latitude psychological demand) 26. 7 2. 32 1. 184. 56 Informal jobs Low strain ( decision latitude v psychological demand) 20. 0 Passive job (v decision latitude v psychological demand) 24. 5 1. 23 0. 911. 66 Active job ( decision latitude psychological demand) 24. 1 1. 20 0. 901. 61 High strain (v decision latitude psychological demand) 33. 1 1. 65 1. 262. 18 a Reference group decision latitude and psychological demand. The delta method was used to convert odds ratios to prevalence ratios. 58 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Job content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil demand in our social and cultural contexts. It remains an important question for future day studies. In addition, to make this concept and correspondent scale more reliable, a clear distinction between qualitative and quantitative psychological demands has been proposed. Suggestions to include emotional demand as a job dimension has also been note in the literature (21). High internal consistency was observed for decision authority among the formal and informal workers.The items used to evaluate the measure of worker opportunity to make decisions in both highly structured and unstructured settings performed well, as indicated by Cronbachs alpha. It is important to note that, when these two job-control subscales are taken as a one scaledecision latitudethe reliability is acceptable for both formal and informal jobs. The subscales for coworker support and supervisory support showed the highest consistency with the demandcontrol model theory. The high consistency of these scales had been observed earlier in other studies of the validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire (14, 17) .The physical demand scale also showed good reliability for groups in formal and informal jobs. This scale has also been observed to perform well in other studies (9, 12). The factor analysis showed a structure that is consistent with the theoretical presumptions of the job strain model. Our study produced eight factors, almost all of them in an expected way. The scales for decision authority, supervisory support, coworker support, physical demand, and skill discretion were consistent with the proposed scales of the job content questionnaire, as observed in other studies (22).However, some findings of our study need to be more carefully analyzed. For example, aspects related to the physical demand scale loaded on two types of factors, showin g that the job content questionnaire measurable two different physical workloads. Although the questionnaire establishes only a scale for physical demand, Karasek & Theorell (23) false that two specific types of physical demand were involved in job tasks (physical execution and physical isometric load). In fact, it is acceptable that the questionnaire includes at least two different kinds of physical demands, as observed in our study.Indeed, this result reinforces the ability of the questionnaire to measure and identify specific characteristics of the work environment. With this perspective, future improvements in the questionnaire should consider the evaluation of these two dimensions separately, quite of only one, as currently suggested. matchless item of the skill discretion scale was also captious. The subscale variety (I get to do a variety of different things in my job), in both the formal and informal groups, was more related to psychological demand aspects than to the skill discretion scale, as expected.The data suggested that doing different things was not related to job enrichment in the studied population in Brazil. In fact, it represents an increase in workload. Moreover, translation difficulties could be considered a potential explanation for these specific results (cultural differences). mavin item related to psychological demand, conflicting demands, loaded on a separate factor for both the formal and informal jobs. It revealed a low correlation of this subscale with other subscales related to psychological demand, which duplicated rather exactly a problem found in studies in other countries (8, 9, 12) for this question.Our results also showed relevant problems with this subscale, reinforcing the hypothesis that changes in this item structure are needed to improve the performance of the psychological demand measurement. For the formal jobs, the item repetitive work did not load on the skill discretion factor, as expected. Similar results were found in studies in other countries (7, 12, 24, 25). The low consistency of this item with the skill discretion subscale could be related to a nonnormal distribution of this aspect. Usually, repetitive work is much more frequent for the lowest skill (9) . The Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire howed a high potency to identify risk to mental health. As predicted by the controldemand model, work with high strain consistently has the highest ostracise effect on mental health for both formal and informal jobs, albeit more strongly for formal jobs. It supports an association between psychological distress and job strain, as pointed out in other studies on mental health (25). In conclusion, the validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire is good, and it is performed similarly among workers with formal or informal jobs in Brazil. Future research should address a detailed evaluation f the decision-latitude dimensions in inform al jobs, in particular in relation to skill discretion, which performed on a regular basis among informal workers and in new investigations of psychological demand indicators and their performance. Gender differences form another important aspect to be explored in future studies. 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