Understanding Spesific Needs in Health and Social Care free essay sample

The aim of this essay is to analyse the concepts of health, disability, illness and behaviour and also investigate how health and social care services and systems support individuals with specific needs and look at different approaches and intervention strategies available to support individuals with specific needs, lastly will explain what challenging behaviour is and explain strategies available for those working with people with specific needs LO1. 1 Health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO, 1974). During the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986, the World Health Organisation said that health is â€Å"a source for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasising social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities†. Health is traditionally equated to the absence of disease. A lack of fundamental pathology was thought to define ones health as good, whereas biological driven pathogens and conditions would render an individual with poor health and labelled diseased. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Spesific Needs in Health and Social Care or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, Aggleton amp; Homans (1897), Ewles amp; Simnett (1999) argue that health is holistic and includes different dimensions and all needs to be considered. Bilingham (2010) explains health in two models which are the biomedical model and the socio-medical model. She said biomedical model is an approach to health and illness that identifies healthy as the ‘absence of disease’ and focuses on diagnosing and curing individuals with specific illnesses , the socio medial model is an approach to health and illness that focuses on the social and environmental factors that influence our health, including the impact of poverty and poor housing. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines a disabled person as anyone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect upon his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities. Disability can affect someone’s mobility, learning or understanding, and lack of understanding when it comes to danger. Disability covers a lot of impairments which include physical impairments, sensory impairments and communication difficulties. There are three models of disability which are the personal tragedy model, the medical model and the social model. In the past people with disabilities were discriminated by the families and the society. The language and terminology used were words such as imbeciles, handicapped and mental retarded. People with disabilities were called dangerous and scary and they were seen as not equal citizens, in need of special care. They were not seen as normal people. Behaviour is anything that a person does or does not do which has a negative effect on their lives or the lives of others. The negative effects can be emotional, physical and social. Also, one’s behaviour pleases and other’s infuriates. Some behaviour are socially acceptable here in the western world but not socially acceptable in African communities, for example kissing in public is not totally acceptable where I come from nevertheless, here in London (Europe) people can kiss in the public without any problem, people accept such behaviours in Europe . Illness is the partial experience of loss of health (Naidoo and Wills, 2000 p7). Illness is having poor health and is considered a synonym for disease; some have described it as a perception by a patient to define a disease. Illness indicates a condition causing harm and pain. Social constructionists argue that the following concepts illness, health, disease and behaviour are all relative concepts not universal but particular. Social concepts are learned and shared. Concepts often tell us more about the societies out of which they came than about the thing they are actually describing. LO1. 2 People’s perceptions on specific needs vary from cultures and societies. People’s perceptions Are also culturally and historically specific. Epilepsy in the Middle Ages was viewed as a violent possession by malevolent or even divine forces. Early part of the 20th century epilepsy was linked with insanity; people believed that the Holy Spirit was working them. In Third World cultures epilepsy continue to be defined in super natural terms. Recently a community study in Nigeria found that after heredity, witch craft was the cause of epilepsy amongst the lay populace (Awaritefe et al, 1985). Danesi (1984) has revealed that most Nigerians with epilepsy experience it as highly stigmatizing and something to be hidden from others but through medical discoveries and medical advances we know that epilepsy is caused by abnormal neurological activity that occurs as a result of damage or result to the brain. Epilepsy is now controlled by carbamazepine tablets and sodium valproate which controls the seizures however, what we all know is subject to reinterpretation. At any time new technological advances, new medical discoveries, new ways of looking at the structure and functioning of the body or brain could replace the current orthodoxy and epilepsy could come to be seen in a completely different light. Department of Health (1999) launched a strategy to ensure that doctors and nurses have the skills they need to use to make the best use of new technology introduced into the NHS. The right to freedom from discriminations for people with a range of disabilities, including those with a learning disability, has been enshrined in the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act which says employers should make reasonable adjustments to allow an individual with disability to gain employment and ramps to be provided so that wheel chair users can access t facilities in the facilities in the community. Also there is the Valuing People 2001 which state that support should be given to people with learning disabilities and their families and that people with disabilities should have control over their lives as much as possible (Department of Health, 2009). I have also done a small scale research and investigated the perceptions of people with specific needs which I carried at Shining Star Residential Care Home . LO1. 3 Social policy is the only one way of encouraging and promoting ethical practice. The functions of a regulatory body go much further than disseminating policies and code of ethics. Legislation acts have helped to set and enforce educational standards, which meet the needs of people, e. g. the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination (Rogers and Pilgrim, 1991). Legislation plays an important role in ways that services are made available for individuals with specific needs. Legislation modifies attitudes and practices. From the mid 1980’s some western countries e. g. Australia have enacted legislation which embraces a right based discourse rather than a custodial discourse and which seeks to address issue s of social justice and discrimination. The legislation also embraces the conceptual shift form disability being seen as individualised medical problem to rather being about community membership and participation and access to regular societal activities such as employment, education and recreation. Where access is inappropriate, inadequate, difficult or ignored, advocacy processes have been initiated to address situations and promote the people rights. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 an individual has the right to get the information about health services in a format that is accessible to them where it is reasonable for the service provider to provide in the format, a hospital will have to provide forms and any literature in braille or large print to assist any blind person or anyone who have a visual impairment. Most of The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 has been replaced by the Equality act, this was changed on the 1st of October 2010 and is aimed to protect disabled people and prevent disability discrimination. Disabled people are protected in areas of employment, education, access to goods, service and facilities including larger private clubs and land based transport services buying and renting land. The Data Protection Act 1998 is the key legislation that governs the protection of data , when records for service users are kept for the purpose of sharing information to provide a well informed care service the details are kept in the individual service user file , they will have access to it but the information will not be shared with others The Valuing People 2001 was designed to improve support for people with learning disabilities and their families; to make sure people with disabilities are in control of their lives and that they have the job they want. The Mental Capacity Act aims to protect people with learning disabilities and metal health conditions. It provides clear guidelines for carers and professional about who can take decisions in which situations. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 established the Care Quality Commission as the regulator of all health and adult social care services. It is a single Act of Parliament that contains the commission’s powers and duties, and represents the modernisation and integration of health and social care. It contains some new powers of enforcement that were not held by any of the predecessor organisations. LO2. 1 A Care plan is a document that articulates a plan of care for and individual with specific need or disability. It helps individuals achieve valued fulfilling lifestyles, because it is build around the needs of the person rather than expecting them to fit into existing provision (Ritchel et al, 2003). The care plan is for Mr RN , who has autism and has learning disabilities. He is Jewish and is non verbal and he understands little English and uses makaton, sign language and pictures as a mode of communication. To analyse his care needs I will use the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. See figure 1 for Maslow hierarchy of needs Figure 1 : Maslow hierarchy of needs Mr. RN had stroke and is unable to walk properly. He uses a walking stick to move around in the house and a wheel chair when out in the community. He does not hear properly and uses hearings aids. At the care home staff always checks if it is working properly, by changing the butteries and cleaning it for him. He also uses glasses to improve his vision. Mr RN’s care plan is person-centred to meet all his care needs at the same time he makes his own choices. His holistic needs are met according to his choice through assessment. He is from a Jewish background and sticks to his religious beliefs and culture seriously. RN is always supported to the synagogue every Friday to attend to his spiritual wellbeing. I respect his beliefs to avoid abuse, discrimination, oppression or prejudice. He is also provided with kosher meals. The organisation I work for has a Jewish calendar that recognises all the facts and festivals to highlight his religious rights. I relate this to Abraham Maslow’s (1908-1980) hierarchy of needs, ‘a theory of human Motivation’. It has five levels to it with the most basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid. I prepare meals for RN according to his cultural and religious needs. I ask him what he would like to eat from the variety of his kosher meal. I make sure RN’s safety and security or protection from harm and abuse according to Health and Safety Act 1974. I have to ensure that the environment around the care home is safe and welcoming for family members visiting. Socially, I support RN to visit family and friends. This gives him sense of belonging, love, friendship and trust. During the key working I encourage RN by reassuring him everything is fine. This builds his confidence thus leading to self actualisation growth. When these needs are successfully met chances are the service users feels more valued and respected, it also promotes independence. LO2. 2 At my workplace we have a set of policies and procedures that we use when we work with clients with specific needs. Looking at Mr RN’s care plan I follow the Data Protection Act 1998 in maintaining his confidentiality and that only necessary people access his care plan. He has little awareness when it comes to safety and I follow the Health and Safety at Work 1974 to meet his safety needs, Mr RN cannot walk for long distance, he uses a wheelchair when out in the community and the wheel chair is checked every day before use to see if it’s not damaged. We have the dial a ride that comes to pick him up and take him to the day centre and he has the blue badge scheme that allows him to have free parking he goes to shopping malls. We use the visual communication systems such as Picture Exchange Communication to help him plan for activities; he is able to choose what he wants to eat with no problems. By doing this we are promoting independence as he is able to do things on his own. LO2. 3 The organisation I work for is located in the Redbridge Borough. The borough offers the Community Toilet Scheme which provides clean, safe and accessible public toilets in more convenient locations for residents. Disabled people can use the toilet free of charge during normal working hours. There is a Redbridge Institute of Adult Education that provides a range of courses for people with specific needs and offers pottery lesson, arts and crafts, music and dance lesson for people with learning disabilities . he college provides a range of specialised equipment or learning resources to meet specific needs for people with disability, this includes hearing loops and large print keyboards. Day care services provide  support  for  people living in the community, social inclusion and respite care  for carers. It offers  practical and emotional support by providing  a range of activities and facilities to  help  stay as independent as possible and improve and maintain  quality of life. Dial a ride provides offers door-to-door service for disabled people who cant use buses, trains or the London underground. It can be used for all sorts of journeys, making it easier to go shopping, visit friends and attend doctors appointments. Furthermore, there is London Taxi card, which provides subsidised door-to-door transport in taxis and private-hire vehicles for people who have serious mobility or visual impairment doo The Borough provides ambulances in case of emergencies. There is also Occupational Therapy Service which works with rehabilitation care workers to ensure carers practice safe manual handling. They carry our risk assessments and provide carers with specialised training to use a range of equipment. STAAR (supporting those with autism and Aspergers Redbridge) offers swimming for people with special needs. They organise activities to raise awareness and highlight the needs of children and adults with specific needs. LO3. 1 Autism has no cure and therefore there are a number of approaches and interventions available to help people with various difficulties they may have. Approaches vary in costs and availability in different areas. It also depends what suits an individual, the family, the multi –disciplinary team will decide what best intervention or approach is suitable for an individual. There are ten approaches /interventions for people to choose from, these are: the behavioural intervention, complementary therapies, diet and supplements, medical interventions, physiological intervention, relationship based intervention, service based intervention, and skills based intervention, standard therapies and technology. I will explain the two service based interventions and one standard therapy intervention because we use these at my workplace. TEACCH is a service based intervention/programme and stands for Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communications Handicapped Children/Adults. TEACCH is not a technique or a method. It is a complete programme based on the principle that the person with autism is the priority. It provides services for children and adults with autism and related developmental disorders. TEACCH works with people from all parts of the autistic spectrum and offers continuing support with the primary aim of enabling them to live as members of the community. TEACCH programme helps alleviate some possible frustrations associated with challenging behaviour for people who are non verbal or verbal and also assist in communication (Clements and Zarkowska 2000, Cumine at al 2000, Jordan and Jones 1999, Jordan and Powell 1998, Powell and Jordan 1997) SPELL approach is also a service based intervention and stands for : Structure: people with autism find change very frightening and they struggle to cope in new or unfamiliar situations. This safe, predictable and reassuring environments and activities give people with autism the opportunity to increase their independence, develop their communication skills and reduce their anxiety. Positive expectations and approaches: barriers of each person are identified and in this approach people work tom overcome these and achieve their goal and potential Empathy: people see and understand the world in the same way that a person with autism experiences it. They focus on individual interests and preferences, understanding what motivate distresses or preoccupies each person . sing these insights to help people deliver the best possible care and support. Low arousal: in this approach people respond to people’s sensory needs by providing surroundings and activities that are calm, focused and free from clutter and distraction. This approach helps to increase independence in all aspects of life Links: this is linking the family and the wider community and other support services and reducing the difficulties faced by people with autism, it is aimed to help them move together towards a world where they have the same opportunities Lastly the speech and language therapy is a standard intervention. It is aimed to understand the nature and extent of child/adults difficulties and facilitate better communication where possible. Through the speech and language therapy the service users I work with are able to have a say in the things they like to do. LO3. 2 The TEACCH approach has been very effective to the service users I work with. It has enhanced their lives and we have seen an increased improvement in self help skills, social skills and there is reduction in appropriate behaviour. Through skill enhancement one of the TEACCH seven key principles, CA one of the service users can make tea on his own and all staff encourage him to keep on doing that on a daily basis, the risk assessment also highlighted the risk associated with him making the tea and the benefit of him making the tea, the benefit are increased independency. Also a research conducted by Ulster University has shown that communication, concentration and independence has improved by 80% for people with autism. TEACCH has helped our service users to introduce routine and stability in cases where they are hyper sensitive and confused (Cumine et al 2000). The SPELL approach is also effective. , we have a sensory room (it is a quite simple room, for a person with special needs, it is a pleasant environment where the distractions of the outside world are completely absent, present them with, music and attention grabbing moving colours and shapes and then add the ability for the person to actually make things happen that are so dramatic that they cannot be missed and you have the building blocks of real progress. This is a low arousal technique and it really works as the service users have gained a lot of independence. The Speech and Language Therapy is the key part of the autism treatment. This therapy has been effective to the service users I work with because the speech therapist has assisted us in working with the service users through the speech therapy technique. We use makaton, signs, and pictures boards with words to communicate with the service users. This approach is effective because now we are able to communicate with them both verbally and non verbal. Service users are able to make choices and preferences about their day to day lives. JW is able to ask who is sleeping over by showing us this sign (it means sleep). Without the intervention of the speech therapist JW was only saying few words and never learned any news words, this was also said by (Koegel and Koegel 1998) However, some of the approaches cost a lot of money and there has been many service dilemmas and polices. It a service user’s right that they get support to meet their communication needs and we had to wait a long time before a speech language therapist was assigned to our home. Our priority is to make sure service users get the right support they need at all times. In addition, it is costly for Social Services because they have to pay professionals who support families with autistic members. To support residential and day care cost extremely high, for adults who require ongoing support. There is cost of education for individuals with autism who require more level of support. More hours and attention is need for carers who have to go through national training strategy for Autism, to meet the needs of service users. LO3. 3 There are a lot of developments emerging in today’s world to support people with specific needs. As I work with people with autism, there is an Autism Awareness Card and this card is used to educate the general public in challenging moments while in the community. One side of the card contains information specific to the individual and strategies that are helpful to use. The other side of the card is the general information about autism, the card are developed using the person centred approach so that specific information about the individual is used. There are approaches available to help treat autism and organisations that offer advice to parents and organisations. There are services offered to organisations and people working with, or supporting someone who has an autistic spectrum disorder there organisation provide autism specific expertise to advise/help with future service planning and people on mailing list so that they are kept informed of developments or training in the area, they help key people access to resources for people with autism . There are training available for staff to enable them to work with people with specific needs. LO4. 1 Emerson (1995) defines challenging behaviour as â€Å"culturally abnormal behaviour(s) of such intensity , frequency or duration that the physical safety of that person or others is likely to be placed in serious jeopardy , or behaviour which is likely to seriously limit use of, or result in the person being denied access to , ordinary community facilities. Challenging behaviour is a social label and a person is not a challenge, the behaviour may challenge us in terms of our understanding and response Challenging behaviour can ‘result in the person being denied to access, to ordinary community facilities’ (Emerson, 1995). At my workplace service user TB has been banned from five pubs because he was spitting on other customers and urinating on the floor. Customers complained about his behaviour and pub managers had to ban him. Research has shown that males are more likely to display challenging behaviour than females and their behaviours tend to be more aggressive. Challenging behaviour tends to reach a peak between the ages of 15 and 34 years of age and is particularly over represented in the 14-24 year old age group. The service users I work with have autism and present a lot of challenging behaviour. They present a lot of challenging behaviour as an act of communication, environmental factors sometimes causes challenging behaviour for example JW exhibits challenging behaviour when we go to crowded noisy places. Also JW cry when he listens to certain music this is contributed by historical / emotional factors. Some service users self harm by lip and hand biting. Furthermore, challenging behaviour is caused by mental health factors for example a service user with dual diagnosis (Down syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder); they develop repetitive behaviour and don’t like to be touched and loud noises. 4. 2. When dealing with challenging behaviour health care organisations need intervention plans, policies and procedures to follow as this is best practice. At my workplace we follow the BILD (British Institute of Learning Disabilities) policy framework for physical interventions which sets out three broad categories of physical intervention and the DoH Dfes guidance on restrictive physical intervention. My manager makes sure staff get proper induction when they start their employment and clear guidelines are written in the employees handbook, all staff attend training to deal with challenging behaviour and this include training challenging behaviour, managing violence and aggression, self harm and Caring for People on the Autistic Spectrum. Also the manager makes sure that policies and procedures are written and all times followed under the BILD policy framework. As professionals in the health care sector we have a duty of care towards the vulnerable people we look after, we need to avoid action that will or may harm others and we should always work in the best interest of the service user. At my workplace we follow the General Social Care Council, Codes of Practice for Social Care Workers (Code 4) which states that as a social worker you must respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not harm themselves or other people. This includes: * Recognising that service users have the right to take risks and helping them to identify and manage potential and actual risks to themselves and others * Following risks assessments , policies and procedures to access whether the behaviour of service users presents a risk of harm to themselves or others * Taking necessary steps to minimise the risks of service user from doing actual or potential harm to themselves or others and * Ensuring that relevant colleagues and agencies are informed about the outcomes and implications of risk assessment. My organisation’s policy is to make sure all staffs are trained in managing challenging behaviours without causing any harm to individuals. This is done in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which states that: someone is using restraint if they: use force – or threaten to use force – to make someone do something they are resisting, or restrict a person’s freedom of movement, whether they are resisting or not’. At my care home we use safe practices like the team teach training. LO4. 3 â€Å"Each person is different and each behaviour needs to be considered in its own right. In addition the reasons behind one’s behaviour may not be the same as the reasons behind another behaviour which the person shows. A person may shout because this makes others do as he asks. He may hit because this makes others leave him alone. There is therefore a need to build a detailed understanding of why a particular person is engaging in a particular behaviour and why he is likely to engage in that behaviour more under some circumstances than under others. † (Clement and Zarkowska 2000) p. 38 The NICE (2006) states that non-phamalogical interventions should be used first before medication in cases of challenging behaviours. Some of the challenging behaviours are caused when service users are expressing their unmet needs . At my workplace all staff have been trained in communication as effective communication plays important role managing behaviours. We use body language, signs and pictures to communicate with service users who are non verbal. At my workplace we use different strategies to deal with challenging behaviour for service users. We try to use positive, preventative, calming, defusing and problems solving skills instead of holding, restraining and breakaway when dealing with challenging behaviour and in most cases it works well. For example service user JW likes to know who is sleeping over at the end of the shift, when he is presenting challenging behaviour staff calm him down by saying ‘JW do you want me to do sleep over tonight,’ he answers yes and staff will tell him that what he is doing in not nice and because of that no one is sleeping over ,we encourage him to do something like emptying the dishwasher , and remind him that someone will sleep over if he continues to be good, JW calms downs apologises to staff and the other service user for his behaviour . He continues to sign sleep in makaton to show that he is happy. Also we always try to remind JW of his behaviour at calm moments of the day (Attwood 1998, Clements and Zarkowska 2000, Gray 1995). Also we have a change in setting strategy to manage DC’s challenging behaviour. DC has Autistic Spectrum Disorder and finds any change difficult to tolerate. We support DC to the day centre every Monday we do group activities and DC is disruptive at all times. An assessment was done and it showed that DC did not like crowds and noisy environment. He is encouraged to work in a small quiet room with few other people and once she is settled we give her a small task which means she only visits the larger room for a short time and return. After sometime we reintroduced her to the larger group but we seated her at a table near the door with only two people near her. To manage her behaviour she is asked to deliver things to different rooms. This strategy has worked well and it means DC does not have to spend the whole day in the larger room and the gradual reintroduction resulted in significant reduction of disruptive behaviour.

Describing The Situation Essays

Describing The Situation Essays Describing The Situation Paper Describing The Situation Paper The company that will be used as a case study in this paper is Beverly Health And Rehabilitation Center located in Jacksonville, Arkansas (Bates 11). Describing The Situation Kimberly Holdford stops by the Beverly Health in June of 1997 to pay a visit to her grandmother (Bates 11). Her grandmother is Jewel Elizabeth Forester (Bates 11). Forester has been at the center for a month already (Bates 11). She was admitted to the center due to a bout with a flu which has been causing her to become excessively dehydrated (Bates 11). Forester does not like the center (Bates 11). The aides at the center refuse to aid Forester when taking a bath, do not take her to the bathroom, and cause her to get soaked in feces and to cry endlessly (Bates 11). Holdford have no choice but to let her grandmother remain in Beverly (Bates 11). Beverly is the only nursing home with an available patient slot at that time (Bates 11).   An employee tells Holdford that her grandmother has been treated this way because the center is lacking employees or what is called, â€Å"understaffed,† (Bates 11). Forester is still active and sharp at her age of eighty years old (Bates 11). Before Holdford left for the camping trip in June of 1997,   Holdford noticed that her grandmother has been groggy and disoriented and would not wake up (Bates 11). However, Holdford thought then that the competent doctors at the center would come to her grandmother’s aid immediately, so Holdford had a peace of mind to leave the center in order to go on to went on a camping trip with her husband and twin daughters (Bates 11). But, no doctor attended to Forester that day (Bates 11).   On Monday, Forester was found almost comatose (Bates 11).   When brought to the hospital, the doctors discovered That Forester has been suffering a three time overdose of the therapeutic medicine Digoxin (Bates 11). Beverly staff had given Forester an overdose intake of the medication (Bates 11). This mistake has then caused the untimely death of Forester (Bates 11). How The Management Handles The Situation A vice president of Beverly, Dan Springer, has acknowledged their mistake (Bates 11). He has admitted that center has been having dilemmas when the nursing home has finally ceased operation as required by the state (Bates 11). Numerous patients at Beverly also suffered some disastrous situations. The management team of the nursing home has constantly been unable to resolve other similar problems such as this that it has gotten so worse that the state needed to require it to cease operation. The Outcome Federal officials have required their staff to conduct thorough investigation on the operation of nursing homes all over the United States (Bates 11). President Clinton has ordered that repeated offenders be penalized, the justice department investigates fraud and abuse in the nursing homes, and Congress has been willing to revise medical benefit programs policy in order to be able to shoulder long-term care expenses (Bates 11). But, these efforts focus more on cutting down on expenses in nursing home operations than in providing good quality nursing care (Bates 11).   As long as government officials are not able to realize this, the dilemma would not be resolved. How The Case Affected The Organization The case is just one of the mishaps that have occurred at Beverly. It sparked the start of mishap events that occurred further thereafter within the center. These mishaps in turn, caused the center to be forced by the state to stop its operations. Bates, Eric. â€Å"The Shame Of Our Nursing Homes.† The Nation 29 March 1999:11.

Definition of Dramaturgical Perspective

Definition of Dramaturgical Perspective When William Shakespeare declared All the worlds a stage and all the men and women merely  players, he may have been on to something. The dramaturgical perspective was developed primarily by Erving Goffman, who used a theatrical metaphor of stage, actors, and audience to observe and analyze the intricacies of social interaction. From this perspective, the self is made up of the various parts that people play, and a key goal of social actors is to present their various selves in ways that create and sustain particular impressions to their different audiences. This perspective isnt meant to analyze the cause of behavior just its context.   Impression Management Dramaturgical perspective is sometimes called impression management because part of playing a role for others is to control the impression they have of you. Each persons performance has a specific goal in mind. This is true no matter what stage the person or actor is on at any given time. Each actor prepares for their roles. Stages   The dramaturgical perspective assumes that our personalities are not static but change to suit the situation we are in. Goffman applied the language of the theater to this sociological perspective in order for it to be more easily understood. An important example of this is the concept of front and back stage when it comes to personality. Front stage refers to actions that are observed by others. An actor on a stage is playing a certain role and expected to act in a certain way but backstage the actor becomes someone else. An example of a front stage would be the difference between how one would behave in a business meeting versus how one behaves at home with family. When Goffman refers to backstage means is how people act when they are relaxed or unobserved.   Goffman uses the term off stage or outside to mean situations where the actor is, or assume their actions are, unobserved. A moment alone would be considered outside.   Applying the Perspective The study of social justice movements is a good place to apply the dramaturgical perspective. People generally have somewhat defined roles and there is a central goal. There are clear protagonist and antagonist roles in all social justice movements. Characters further their plot. There is a clear difference between the front and backstage. Many customer service roles share similarities to social justice moments. People are all working within defined roles to complete  a task. The perspective can be applied to how groups like activists and hospitality employees. Criticism of Dramaturgical Perspective   Some have argued that the Dramaturgical perspective should only be applied to institutions rather than individuals. The perspective wasnt tested on individuals and some feel that testing must be done before the perspective  can be applied.   Others feel the perspective lacks merit because it doesnt further sociologies goal of understanding behavior. Its seen as more of a description of interaction than an explanation of it.

Critical Anaysis of The Stranger by Albert Camus Essay

Critical Anaysis of The Stranger by Albert Camus - Essay Example The sun is the motif of the novel, where it affects the personality of Meursault and his reaction to his setting and conditions in life. The sun represents the existentialist philosophy of Meursault, where the natural absurdity of the setting and its plot are designed to illustrate that detachment is a natural response to the meaninglessness of human existence. The sun stands for the existentialist philosophy of Meursault, a philosophy that Camus himself believes in. Christian argues that Camus believes in an existentialist philosophy of â€Å"the Absurd† (92). He stresses that for Camus, the world and man per se are not absurd, and instead, the relationship of man with his environment is absurd (92). He maintains that people demand things from a world that cannot fulfill them, and so to exist with true hope for the fulfillment of dreams is â€Å"absurd† (92). Meursault lives life like a sun, where to exist is to accept whatever happens without any attachment to them. H e has an extremely disconnected attitude towards his mother’s death, for instance. He says at the beginning of the novel: â€Å"MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure† (Camus 4). He does not care for details when it comes to death. He values his mother enough to attend her funeral, but he does it out of duty, as a son. He does not even peek into his mother’s coffin, which people in the funeral find troubling. Strangers cry for her, while her own son does not even shed a tear. In addition, Meursault is not overly concerned of the prospect of dying himself. Death is not something that can stir him from his realization that nothing in life is worth pouring his passion over. His existence has come from nothing and will end up as nothing and that is the way life is. The sun heats up the setting and melts away any possible meaning in human action and agenda. The sun is a natural element of life’s natural cycle. The blackness of the fune ral of Meursault’s mother is distinguished because of the sun. Meursault, nevertheless, finds no meaning in these rituals and beliefs about the dead. The black colors of the hearse and horse and the noxious scents of the environment only serve to dull Meursault’s senses. In short, the funeral makes him want to sleep it away. Blackness means nothing, while sleeping is something that is more directly experienced. Furthermore, the sun also increases the temperature enough to make people live without concern for their actions. Meursault tumbles in his life in a state of coma and existence, because he always feels hot and uncomfortable. He wants to hurry up the funeral, because he feels the physical discomfort of standing under the sun. The Marengo landscape is illustrated as â€Å"something inhuman, discouraging† (Camus 11). Camus indicates that Meursault cannot be completely blamed for his absurdist approach to life, because his environment is disconcerting too. Vo n Dehsen calls it the â€Å"unreasonable silence of the world† to people who want to find meaning in life (39). Meursault realizes that his boss dislikes the fact that he will have several days off. His boss is only after making more money from his employees and is not truly concerned for him to attend his mother’s funeral and go over his grief. The society is not concerned of meaningful human existence too. Meursault’s relationships are important events in his life, as the plot reveals, but he

Construction management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Construction management - Essay Example 324). The Site Waste Management Plan regulations were introduced in the United Kingdom and particularly in England (legislation.gov.uk, 2008), due to the huge amounts of construction wastes that were abandoned at construction sites. According to the SWMP regulations, all construction projects in England with a value of  £300,000 must have a Site Waste Management Plan (Gov.uk, 9 January 2013). The regulations were passed in February 2008; however, they came into full force in April 2008. Therefore, â€Å"the regulations do not apply to any project planned before 6 April, if construction work commenced before 1 July 2008†¦apply to all projects with a value of  £300,000 or more,....additional...requirements for projects with a value of  £500,000 or more† (Hughes and Ferrett, 2011, p. 640). Through the Site Waste Management Plan regulations, a plan for managing the disposal of waste during the whole of a construction project is provided (Wrap, 2013). Using information based on the design of a building at the preconstruction stage, estimated quantities of waste that a site can produce are identified using the Site Waste Management Plan. Consequently, the best decisions on the most economical ways to manage construction waste are also identified. Therefore, the reason behind the introduction of the Site Waste Management Plan regulations 2008, â€Å"is to ensure that the element of waste generation is thought about right from the design and specification stage and facilitate the selection of the construction methods and materials that would effectively minimise waste generation† (Chartered Institute of Building , 2010, p. 199). Other objectives of the Site Waste Management plans 2008 are also to boost the amount of construction waste that is found, reused, and recycled, and improve the efficiency of construction materials. Prevention of illegal waste action is another objective of the

Definition Of Motivation Business Essay

Definition Of Motivation Business Essay One of the oldest, and most difficult, areas in psychology is the fundamental problem of why people are motivated to do anything at all, and if they do something, why that and not something else. The issue is really two fold; the nature of the driving force (where it comes from: what are its properties) and the direction and maintenance of the drive (what affects does it have on individual behavior). For Westwood (1992:288), motivation, as a concept, has certain specific features: Motivation is an internal state experienced by the individual. Whilst external factors including other people, can affect a persons motivational state, it develops within the individual and is unique to that individual. The individual experiences a motivational state in a way that gives rise to a desire, intention and pressure to act. Motivation has an element of choice, intention or willingness. That is, the individual experiencing a state of arousal (externally or internally generated), responds by choosing to act in a way and at a level of intensity that they determine. Action and performance are a function, at least in part, of motivation. It is therefore important in our ability to predict and understand actions and performance. Motivation is multi-faceted. It is a complex process with several elements and the possibility of multiple determinants, options and outcomes. Individuals differ in terms of their motivational state and the factors that affect it. Furthermore, the motivational state of an individual is variable; it is different across time and across situations. (John Arnold et al, 1995) There are two types of motivation as originally identified by Hertzberg et al (1957): Intrinsic motivation-The self generated factors that influence people to behave in a particular direction. These factors include responsibility, autonomy (freedom to act), scope to use and develop skills and abilities, interesting and challenging work and opportunities for advancement. Extrinsic motivation-what is done to or for people to motivate them. This includes rewards, such as increased pay, praise, or promotion, and punishments, such as disciplinary action, withholding pay, or criticisms. 2.2 The process of motivation Motivating other people is about getting them to move in the direction you want them to go in order to achieve a result. Motivating yourself is about setting the direction independently and then taking a course of action, which will ensure that you get there. Motivation can be described as goal -directed behavior. People are motivated when they expect that a course of action is likely to lead to the attainment of a goal and a valued reward-one that satisfies their needs. But managers still have a major part to play in using their motivating skills to get people to give of their best, and to make good use of motivational processes provided by the organization. To do this it is necessary to understand the process of motivation-how it works and the different types of motivations that exist. A need -related model of the process of motivation is shown in the figure below. This suggests that motivation is initiated by the conscious or unconscious recognition of unsatisfied needs. These nee ds create wants, which are desires to achieve or obtain something. Goals are then established which is believed will satisfy these needs and wants and a behaviour pathway is selected which is expected will achieve the goal. If the goal is achieved, the need will be satisfied and the behaviour is likely to be repeated, the next time a similar need emerges. If the goal is not achieved, the action is less likely to be repeated. This process of repeating successful behaviour or actions is called reinforcement or the law of effect (Hull, 1951). It has, however, been criticized by Allport (1954) as ignoring the influence of expectations and therefore constituting hedonism of the past. (Michael Armstrong, 2001: 155). Attain Goal Need Take Action Establish Goal Figure2.1: The motivation process (Source: Michael Armstrong, 2001:155). 2.3 Approaches to motivation 2.3.1 Theory X and Theory Y Douglas Mc Gregor proposed two distinct views of human beings: one basically negative, labeled theory X, and the other basically positive, labeled theory Y. Under Theory X, the 4 assumptions held by managers are: Employees inherently dislike work, whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it. Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals. Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible. Most workers place security above all other factors associated with work and display little ambitions. In contrast to these negative views the nature of human being, Mc Gregor listed 4 positive assumptions that he called Theory Y: Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play. People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives. The average person can learn to accept, even seek responsibility. The ability to make innovative decision is widely dispersed throughout the population and is not necessarily the sole province of those in management position. Mc Gregor himself held to the being that Theory Y assumptions were more valid than Theory X. Therefore, he proposed such idea as participate in decision making, responsible and challenging jobs, and good go up relation as approaches that would maximize an employees job motivation. Critics of the theory: Unfortunately, there is no evidence to confirm that either set of assumptions is valid or that accepting theory y assumptions and altering ones acknowledgment will lead to more motivated workers. (Stephen P. Robins, 1993: 208) 2. 3.2 Human Relation Approach The main emphasis of the classical approach was on structure and the formal organization as the basic for achieving high levels of work performance. But during the 1920s greater attention began to be given to the social factors at work and to the behaviour of people in the organization that is human relations. The major impetus to the human relations approach came with the famous Hawthorne studies at the Western Electric company in America (1924 1932). The Hawthorne Studies have been subject to criticize and to a number of different interpretation. But however, the results are regarded; the studies have important implications for organizational structures. They generated new ideas on social interaction, output restrictions and individuals within work groups. The human relations approach marked a change in emphasis away from the precision of scientific management and led to ideas on increasing productivity by humanizing the work organization with the human relations approach, recognition was given to the importance of the informal organization which will always be seen as individuals and members of a social group, with their behaviour and attitude as the key effectiveness. (Laurie J. Mullins, 1992:59) 2.3.3 Scientific Management Approach The scientific management movement was pioneered by the American, Frederic W. Taylor. He saw workers who do manual work to be motivated by money, the greedy robot, and to be too stupid to develop the one best way of doing the task. The role of management was to analyze scientifically all the tasks to be done and then to design jobs to eliminate wasted time and motion. The application of scientific management resulted in significant productivity increases. However, the emphasis on specialization was to become one of the targets of critics of scientific management. They argued, that specialization was ultimately inefficient but, more importantly; it did not allow people to achieve their full potential at work. (Henry L. Tosi et al, 1994:9) Scientific management is often referred to as a machine theory model. It adopts an instrumental view of human behaviour together with the application of specialization and standard procedures of work. Workers were viewed less as isolated individuals and more as units of production to handle in much the same way as machines. The scientific study of work can lead to jobs becoming repetitive, boring and requiring little skills. The ideas behind scientific management have been largely discredited by subsequent management writers. There has been strong criticism of scientific as representing close management control over workers. By removing decisions about their work is cairned out, by division of labour, and by dictating precise stages and methods for every aspect of work performance, management could gain control of the actual process of work. The rationalization of production processes and division of labour tends to result in de-skilling of work, and thus may be a main strategy of ma nagement. (Laurie J. Mullins, 1992:56) 2.4 The motivation theories 2.4.1 Content theory 2.4.1.1 Maslow theory Without doubt the best-known theory is of Maslow (1954). Maslow supposed that people have 5 types of needs that are activated in a hierarchical manner, and are then aroused in a specific order such that a lower order need must be satisfied before the next higher order- need is activated. Once need is met, the next highest need is the hierarchy is triggered and and so forth. Higher Order order of progression Self-actualisation needs Self-esteem needs Social needs Safety needs Psychological needs Lower Order Figure2.2: Maslows need hierarchy Source: A.H.Maslow, Motivation and Personality, 2nd edition, New York: Harper Row, 1976) Psychological needs Psychological needs are the lowest-order most basic needs and refer to satisfying fundamental biological drives such as the need for food, air, water and shelter. To satisfy these positive needs, organizations must provide employees with a salary that allows them to afford adequate living conditions e.g. food and shelter. Employees need sufficient rest breaks to allow them to meet their psychological needs. Organizations may provide exercise and physical fitness facilities for their employees, because providing such facilities may also be recognized as an attempt to help employees stay healthy by gratifying their psychological needs. Safety needs Safety needs are activated only after physiological needs are met. Safety need refer to needs for a secure, predictable, habitable, non-threatening environment free from threats of either physical or psychological harm. Organizations may provide employees with life and health insurance plans, opportunity for savings, pensions, and safety equipment and secure contracts that enable work to be performed without fear and harm. Social needs Social needs are activated after both physiological and safety needs. They refer to the need to be affiliative-to have friends, to be liked, included and accepted by other people. Friends, relations and work colleagues help meet social needs, and organizations may encourage participation in social events such as office parties, sports days, competitions which provide an opportunity for meeting these needs. Many organizations spend vast sums of money on facilitate for out-of-work hours activities for their staff so that people in the same organization, but different sections or departments, may meet, chat and affiliate. Esteem needs Esteem needs refer to a persons desire to develop self-respect and to gain the approval of others. The desires to achieve success have personal prestige and are recognized by others all fall into this category. Companies may have awards, prizes or banquets to recognize distinguished achievements. Printing articles in company newsletters describing an employees success, assigning private parking spaces, and posting signs identifying the employee of the month are all examples of things that can be done to satisfy esteem. The inflation of job titles could also be seen as an organizational attempt to boost employees self-esteem. Self-actualizations needs Self-actualization needs refer to the need for self-fulfillment-the desire to become all that one is capable of being, developing ones potential and fully realizing ones abilities. By working to their maximum creative potential, employees who are self-actualised can be an extremely valuable asset to their organizations. Individuals who have become self-actualised supposedly work at their peak, and represent the most effective use of an organizations human resources. Critics of the theory: The theory has enthusiascally applied to the world of work. However, few have been able to find evidence of the five-(or two-) their system (Mitchell Nowdgill 1976), and there is precious little evidence that needs are activated in the same order. Furthermore, it is not certain how, when or why the gratification of one stimulates or activates the next highest category (John Arnold et al, 1995). 2.4.1.2 Adelfers ERG theory Growth needs Existence needs Relate dress needs Least concrete Most concrete Figure 2.3: Adelfers continuum of ERG needs. (Paul M.Muchinsky, 1993) Adelfers ERG theory is much simpler than Maslows theory, in that Adelfer specifies that there are only 3 types of needs, but that they are not necessarily activated in any specific order. Further, according to this theory any need may be activated at any time. The 3 needs specified by ERG theory are existence, relatedness, and growth. Existence needs These are material and are satisfied by environmental factors such as food, water, pay, fringe benefits, and working conditions. Relatedness needs These involve relationship with significant others, such as co-workers, superiors, subordinates, family and friends. Growth needs These involve the desire for unique personal development. They are met by developing whatever abilities and capabilities are important to the individual. Critics of the theory: ERG theory suggests that, although basic categories of need do exist, they are not exactly as specified by Maslow. The theory has not attracted as much attention as Maslow theory, but seems a reasonable modification of it. However, like Maslow theory it is potentially rather difficult to test (Furnham, 1992). 2.4.1.3 Hertzbergs two-factor theory According to the two factors theory, people have two major types of needs. The first of these Hertzberg called hygiene needs, which are influenced by the physical and psychological conditions in which people work. Hertzberg called the second set of needs motivator needs, and described them as being very similar to the higher order needs in Maslows (1954) need hierarchy theory. Hertzberg at al. (1959) claimed that different types of outcomes or rewards satisfied these two types of needs. Hygiene needs were said to be satisfied by hygiene factors or dissatisfiers, such as supervision, interpersonal relation, physical working conditions, salary, company policies and administrative practices, benefits and job security. When these factors are unfavorable, the job dissatisfaction is the result. Conversely, when hygiene factors are positive, such as when worker perceive that their pay is fair and that their working conditions are good, than barriers to job satisfaction are removed. However, the fulfillment of hygiene needs cannot by itself result in job satisfaction. Unlike hygiene needs, motivation needs are fulfilled by what Hertzberg et al. (1959) called motivator factors or satisfiers such as achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility and advancement. According to the theory, the factors that lead to job satisfaction are those that satisfy an individuals need for self-actualization (self-fulfillment) in their work, and it is only from the performance of their task that individuals can enjoy the reward that will reinforce their aspirations. Compared to hygiene factors, which results in a neutral state (neither satisfied nor dissatisfied) when present, positive motivator factors result in job satisfaction. Critics of the theory: Attractive though the theory is, it has little empirical support. There is no doubt attributable to the fact that various methodological errors were introduced in the early theory-testing work. These included the real possibility that all the results were the result of classic attribution errors, such that personal failure is attributed externally (to hygiene factors) and success internally (to motivator factors). Secondly, the theory testing work was nearly all done on white-collar workers (accountants and engineers) who are hardly representive of the working population. 2.4.1.4 McClellands Achievement Motivation Theory The need for achievement underlies the higher levels of Maslows hierarchy and also one of Hertzbergs motivating factors. The importance of achievement is emphasised by Mc Lellands, who has developed a theory of motivation which is noted in culture. The work of Mc Lelland is based on the concept of 3 main sets of needs and socially developed motives: The need for Affiliation The need for Power; and The need for Achievement People possess all 3 needs but the relative intensity of affiliation, power and achievement varies among individuals and different occupations. (Laurie J. Mullins, 1992: 206) Those most interested in power seeks positions of control and influence, those for whom affiliation is most important seek pleasant relationship and enjoy helping others; achievement seekers want success, fear failure, are task oriented and self-reliant. These 3 needs are not mutually exclusive. Many people are well motivated by all 3, but invariably one area is predominant. The implication of the theory in practice are that managers can identify employees who are self-motivated, those who rely more on internal incentives and those who could increase their achievement drive through training. (Shaun Tyson et al, 2000: 15) Critics of the theory: Mc Lellands theory implies an individualistic approach to the motivation of staff. The behaviour and performance of work group is as important as for individual motivation. (Laurie J. Mullins, 1992:207) 2.4.2 Process theories 2.4.2.1 Equity theory Equity theories, borrowed by psychologists from economics (Adams 1965), views motivation from the perspective of the comparisons people make among themselves. It proposes that employees are motivated to maintain fair, or equitable, relationships among themselves and to change those relationships that are unfair or inequitable. Equity theory suggests that people make social comparison between themselves and others with respect to two variables-outcomes (benefits, rewards) and inputs (effort, ability). Outcomes refer to the things workers believe they and others get out of their jobs, including pay, fringe benefits or prestige. Inputs refer to the contribution employees believe they and others make to their jobs, including the amount of time worked, the amount of effort expended, the number of units produced, or the qualifications brought to the job. Not surprisingly, therefore workers may disagree about constitutes equity and inequity in the job. Equity is therefore a subjective, not objective, experience, which makes it more susceptible to being influenced by personality factors (Furnham 1992:139). Equity theory states that people compare their outcomes and inputs to those of others in the form of ratio. Specifically, they compare the ratio of their own outcomes and inputs to the ratio of other peoples outcomes and inputs, which can result in any of the 3 states: overpayment, underpayment, or equitable payment. Implication for managers: The management implications are two-fold: firstly that comparative pay and benefits between different groups, sections and levels in an organization, are a major source of motivation and demotivation; secondly, employees need to feel they are fairly dealt with -that they and their colleagues are rewarded equitably for their efforts. Critics of the theory: As one might expect, equity theory has its problems: how to deal with the concept of negative inputs; the point at which equity becomes inequity, and the belief that people prefer and value equity equality. Moreover, the theory is too individualistic. (John Arnold et al, 1995). 2.4.2.2 Reinforcement theory These theories, for there are many, specify how a history of past benefits (or punishments), or reinforcements, modify behaviour so that future benefits will be secured. The direct application of behavioral modification principles to the work situation claims to provide procedures by which human performance can be shaped and altered. At the centre of behaviour modification is the concept of reinforcement contingency: the rate of performance will increase when valued outcomes (reinforcers) are made contingent on the performance. It makes no difference to the theory what the person needs, expects, values or wants, although these factors may impact on the differential power or effect of each reward (and punishment). Furthermore, people perform certain work-related acts that are subject to reinforcement (or punishment and extinction) contingencies. People work with a certain degree of effectiveness, and when a particular behavior result in a reward (there is reinforcement contingency bet ween, say, payment and work efficiency), performance improves. Learning theorists assert that all behaviour is shaped and sustained through the action of contingent reinforcement; work-related behaviours are simply special examples of this more universal phenomenon. (Furnham, 1992). Reinforcement and learning theories are among the oldest in psychology. There has long been a debate concerning the usefulness or otherwise of punishment as a strategy. Problems such as resentment and sabotage may accompany a managers use of punishment (negative reinforcement) is usually not effective, since it suppresses rather than eliminate undesirable responses. They also noted the more quickly reinforcement is given after the response, the more effective it becomes. Implication for managers: Jablonsky and De Vries (1972) have suggested the following guidelines for applying operant conditioning as a motivating technique: Avoid using punishment as a primary means of obtaining desired performance Positively reinforce desired behaviour and ignore undesired behaviour if possible. Minimize the time-lag between response and reinforcement Apply positive reinforcement frequently on a variable ratio schedule Determine environmental factors that are considered positive and negative by individual Critics of the theory: Being very practically oriented, it is very unclear what managers should do to motivate their staff if they are followers of learning theory. Sensitively, subtly and discretely applied, it works well, but sophisticated workforce is sometimes hostile to it. (John Arnold et al, 1995). 2.4.2.3 Expectancy theory Expectancy theory asserts that people are mostly motivated to work when they expect they will be able to achieve and obtain the things they want from their jobs. Expectancy theory characterizes people as rational, logical and cognitive beings, who think about what they have to do to be rewarded and how much the reward means to them before they perform their jobs. Expectancy theory specifies that motivation is the result of 3 different types of beliefs cognitions that people have. These are known as: Expectancy- The belief that ones effort will result in performance Instrumentality The belief that ones performance will be rewarded Valence- The perceived value of the rewards to the recipient Employee may believe that a great deal of efforts will result in getting much accomplished, whereas others believe there are other occasions in which hard work will have little effects on how much gets done. It is possible that even if an employee works hard and performs at a high level, motivation may falter if that performance is not suitably rewarded by the organization-that is if the performance was not perceived as instrumental in bringing about the rewards. If behaviour is not explicitly rewarded, people are unlikely to repeat it. Furthermore, even if employees receive rewards based on their performance, they may be poorly motivated if those so-called rewards have a low valence to them. Porter and Lawler Over the years, Porter and Lawler (1968) adapted and expanded the theory. According to this model, job performance is a multiple combination of abilities and skills, effort and role perceptions. If individuals have clear role perceptions, if they possess the necessary skills and abilities, and if they are motivated to exert sufficient effort, the model suggests that they will perform well. Abilities and skills refer to both physical and psychological characteristics. Role perceptions refer to the clarity of the job description and to whether individuals know how to direct their efforts towards effectively completing the task. Those who have clear perceptions of their role perceptions apply their efforts where they will count, and perform correct behaviours. Those who have incorrect role perceptions tend to spend much of their time in unproductive efforts that do not contribute to effective job performance. Expectancy Expectancy Instrumentality Extrinsic outcome / reward Outcome / Reward Satisfaction Performance Effort Intrinsic outcome / reward Perceived equity of outcomes / rewards Job design, Organizational policies and practice Ability and traits, Role clarity organizational supports, etc Figure 2.4: Porter and Lawlers expanded expectancy model Source: Adapted from Porter and Lawler (1968) Implication for managers: Arnold et al. (1991:176) argues that, if expectancy theory were correct it would have important implications for managers wishing to ensure that employees were motivated to perform their work duties: They would need to ensure that all 3 of the following conditions were satisfied: Employees perceived that they possessed the necessary skills to do their jobs at least adequately (expectancy) Employees perceived that if they performed their jobs well, or at least adequately, they would be rewarded (instrumentality). Employees found the rewards offered for successful job performance attractive (valence). Critics of the theory: Although some specific aspects of the Expectancy theory have been supported (particularly the impact of expectancy and instrumentality on motivation), others have not (such as the contribution of valence to motivation, and the assumption that expectancy, instrumentality and valence are multiplied.) Arnold et al. (1991) note how little attention the theory pays in explaining why an individual values or does not value particular outcomes: no concept of need is involved to address this question. The theory proposes that people should ask someone how much they value something, but not bother about why they value it. (John Arnold et al, 1995) 2.4.2.4 Goal Setting Theory This approach to motivation was pioneered by Ed Loche and his associate, starting in the 1960s and continuing with increasing strength and sophistication ever since. The above figure represents goal setting theory, and shows that the characteristics of a goal and attitudes towards it are thought to be influences by incentives, self-perceptions and the manner in which goals are set. In turn, those goals characteristics and attitudes are thought to determine behavioural strategies, which lead to performance within the constraints of ability knowledge of results (also called feedback) is thought to be essential to further refinement of behavioural strategies. Goal Setting Theory Participation in goal setting (Self-perceived) ability Financial incentive Goal commitment Goal acceptance Goal difficulty Goal specification Direction Intensity Persistence Strategies Knowledge of results Ability Performance Figure 2.5 Goal Setting Theory Source: Adapted from Psychology of work Behaviour by F. Landy. Copyright  © 1989, 1985, 1980, 1976. Brooks / Cole Publishing Company, a division of International Thomson Publishing Inc. By permission of the publisher. What does research say about goal setting? Some further comments can be made on the basis of research evidence first financial incentives can indeed enhance performance. Loche et al. (1981) report that this occurs either through raising goal level, or through increasing commitment to a goal. Second, and unsurprisingly, ability also affects performance. Third, research on goal setting has been carried out in a range of context and fourth, goal setting is magnificently deal about how managers can enhance the performance of their employees. Some other research has directly investigated specific potential limitations of goal setting. Earley et al. (1989) suggested that goal setting may be harmful where a task in novel and where a considerable numbers of possible strategies are available to tackle it. It seems that when people are tackling unfamiliar and complex tasks, goal setting can induce them to pay much attention to task strategy and not enough to task performance itself. Goal setting could be criticized in its early days for being a technology rather than a theory. It successfully described how goal focus behaviour, without really addressing why or through what process goals influenced behaviour. Furthermore, goal setting, suggests that people are most motivated by difficult tasks where success is (presumably) not certain. A continuing issue in goal setting concerns participation. Locke et al. (1981) concluded that there was no evidence from published research that participation in goal setting by the person attempting to achieve the goal produced better performance than if the goal was assigned to him or her by someone else. Kanfer et al. (1994) got students to attempt a simulated air traffic control task and repeated the findings that goal setting can harm performance of unfamiliar complex tasks. But they also found that giving people time to reflect on their performance between repeated attempts at similar tasks eliminate that effect. The breaks enabled them to devote intentional resources to their strategies without having simultaneously to tackle the task itself. (John Arnold et al, 1998) 2.5 Job satisfaction and motivation Locke (1976) defined job satisfaction as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experience. The concept generally ref

Redbox Essay

I. Executive Summary Redbox Automated Retail LLC was started in 2002. It started out being an experiment, funded by McDonalds, with grocery style kiosks and DVD rental kiosks. Within the first year Redbox dropped the grocery side and capitalized fully on the automated DVD vending machine rental. In 2009, Redbox became a fully owned subsidiary of Coinstar. A strategic evaluation of Redbox’s internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and potential threats are the bases of this marketing plan. While Redbox exhibits non-traditional marketing venues, they have proved to be successful marketing channels. A strong focus is put upon Redbox in contracting with Verizon for the implementation of streaming movies, maintaining the low price for rentals, and the convenience of the kiosks for the busy consumer. II. Environmental Analysis Since Redbox was originally tried as a grocery and DVD rental kiosk, the transition into only the DVD rental market was relatively easy. Redbox is not only its business name; it is also its aesthetic view. It is a fully automated video and gaming rental venue that is all contained within a 12 foot square red box, hence the name. Redbox positions its kiosks in high-traffic areas like gas stations, grocery stores, and pharmacies. These are strategically placed for their intended target markets to have a one-stop shop on their way home from work. The idea behind it was to entice the customer to rent a movie at a store that they are frequently shopping at, without having to make another stop. A. The Marketing Environment 1. Competitive forces. Redbox is in a highly competitive market. They face competitors such as Netflix and Blockbuster. Redbox leads in a competitive stand out by offering quick, convenient and affordable movie rentals. A Blu-Ray movie rents for $1.50 per day and a regular DVD movie rental is $1.20 per day. The Redbox network is nationwide and offers more than 30,000 convenient locations. (4) Blockbuster Express recently joined the kiosk movie rental market which led them to be a direct competitor to Redbox. They also have a leg up on Netflix as Redbox doesn’t require monthly contracts, which is highly appealing to the casual movie viewer. 2. Economic forces. With the present state of the economy, Redbox flourished when the demand for cheaper movie rentals increased. When the Blockbuster brick-and-mortar stores were forced to close, Redbox rentals jumped up 28% from 2010 to 2011. (1) 3. Political forces. There are no foreseen political forces that can alter Redbox’s operations. 4. Legal and regulatory forces. There are several laws and regulations that Redbox should abide by. But with Redbox being in a self-serve kiosk, it can make some of these laws and regulations harder to enforce. The Motion Picture Association of America sets the ratings on movies, and no one under the age of 17 can rent a rated R movie. Redbox does require age verification before renting the R-rated movie(s). The Federal Copyright Act â€Å"governs how the copyrighted material, such as movies, may be used†. (2) A rented or purchased movie doesn’t issue the right to show the movie outside one’s home unless that site carries a license for public exhibition. The Video Privacy Protection Act â€Å"prevents disclosure of personally identifiable rental records† without the written consent of the consumer. (3) The Entertainment Merchants Association regulates the industry for renting DVD’s and/or video games. â€Å"They protect the right to sell, rent, and /or promote the sale and rental of entertainment products and content†. (5) 5. Technological forces. With technology always increasing and new products are always being introduced, Redbox will undoubtedly be affected by technological advances. Consumers’ interest in renting physical movies will be on a decline with companies like XFinity offering the ability to stream movies online and watch them on any screen. Hollywood studios are also putting tighter reigns on places like Redbox. They are trying to delay the rental time frame from when DVDs are released to when they are available for rental. By trying to do so, they believe that it allows the consumer a chance to buy the movie before it becomes available for rent. And the studios receive a higher cut off of sales verses rentals. 6. Sociocultural forces. Today’s fast-paced society allows for less leisure time. Consumers are looking for convenience and easy to use products. Redbox offers a convenient service that allows renters to be able to rent-and-return anywhere at any kiosk. Customers can also reserve a movie online or via mobile apps and pick up at the nearest Redbox location (4). B. Target Market(s) Redbox has three main target market segments, the casual viewer, the family viewer, and the non-web savvy person. For first target market segment, Redbox markets towards the casual viewer. They have a policy of no monthly contract fees unlike their competitor, Netflix, who enforces a monthly fee. The casual viewer doesn’t rent enough movies or games to justify the fee. The casual viewer appreciates the ease and convenience of the locations of the Redbox. While Blockbuster also targets the casual viewer, Redbox is more appealing due to the inexpensive cost to rent a movie. The second target segment is the family viewer. Redbox positions itself in convenient locations for the ease of renting for the busy mom or dad. They can stop off at the grocery store or gas station on the way home from work and also pick up entertainment for the whole family, without having to make another stop. And the third target segment is the non-web savvy person. Netflix requires the use of the Internet to be able to rent movies. For those who either don’t have the technology available or those who are insecure of using a bank account or credit card number online, Netflix is not appealing. And with the focus Netflix on streaming movies online, they are pushing aside the lower income bracket who can’t afford the technology or those who don’t understand the technological lingo required for the streaming usage. That is where Redbox steps in and will capitalize on such consumers. Consumers are being forced to move from the brick-and-mortar stores to another venue of renting movies. With Redbox’s kiosks being user friendly and convenient, many of those consumers are trending towards the use of kiosks. Also the opportunity is becoming available for Redbox to take those valued consumers who are technologically savvy and offer them the option to stream videos online. C. Current Marketing Objectives and Performance Redbox’s current marketing objectives are to drive performance. They want to continue to drive customer loyalty, continue to engage their customers and grow profitability. By engaging their customers, Redbox is always looking to make the rental process more efficient and effective. They have installed several technology upgrades into the kiosks that will shorten the rental time frame by 20-30 seconds. They are continuously working on the most convenient locations and placements of the kiosks to drive their performance and grow profitability. Since 2002, Redbox has at least doubled, if not tripled, their revenue for seven years in a row. They distribute over 37 million disks to their field employees to install in the kiosks per year. Thousands of kiosks are installed every year. They have been able to build the infrastructure of the business to grow with the changing times, to keep up with the customer demands, and to grow their customer base into loyal customers. III. SWOT Analysis A. Strengths 1. Over 30,000 convenient locations nationwide 2. No monthly membership fees 3. Rent-and-return anywhere policy 4. Offers cheaper rental prices, $1.20/night, than its competitors 5. Largest DVD-rental kiosks operator B. Weaknesses 1. Limited access to titles, mostly new releases, and the schedule of release date depends upon the studio, not Redbox 2. Increased costs for DVD acquisitions due to Warner’s discontinued relationship with Redbox (9) 3. Marketing communication channels rarely used 4. Only accepts Debit or Credit Cards for methods of payment 5. Lacking web management in monitoring code sharing websites that allows for free rentals C. Opportunities 1. Tap into the market of streaming movies online 2. Now offers video game rentals at a relatively cheap price, $2/night 3. Mobile applications for IPhone and Droid for yet another ease of renting 4. $7 billion industry, in 2011, according to IBIS World D. Threats 1. Stiff competition with Netflix, Blockbuster Express, and Amazon 2. Websites like Hulu offering movies free of charge via the internet 3. Strained relationship with Warner Brothers by not accepting their terms of a 56 day waiting period to release new releases, resulting in increased costs for Redbox acquiring Warner Brother films (9) 4. Movie studio lawsuits stating they were only making 60 cents on new release movie rentals from Redbox, whereas they make $17 per sale of DVD at Wal-Mart. (9) IV. Marketing Objectives Unlike their major competitor Netflix, Redbox is not a big advertiser. Redbox mainly uses its internet website, in store cross-promotions, and their strategic placement of their red kiosks. On www.redbox.com, they showcase their movie and video game inventory and all their locations of their kiosks. One can also reserve the movies or games on the website and pick it up at the nearest kiosk location. It is a very simple, yet effective website. Redbox uses the placement of their eye-catching, red colored box as part of their marketing campaigns. They are strategically placed in high traffic areas and four wall stores. CFO Scott Di Valerio states that â€Å"Coinstar wants to be the leader of automated retail†. (14) Redbox also uses in store cross-promotions. Take the Orville Redenbacher’s promo, for example, on special marked popcorn boxes; there is a promo code for two free Redbox rentals, a coupon for a free 2-liter bottle of soda and a coupon for Orville’s poppycock popcorn. (15) Everyone associates movies and popcorn together so by running this cross-promotion, it brings new customers to Redbox and be able to experience the ease and convenience of usage. It has made family movie night just a little better. V. Marketing Strategies A. Target Market(s) Redbox uses the strategy â€Å"Think big, start small, scale fast.† All of the opportunities that Redbox reviews and pursues are in big spaces. They also look at new ventures who can realistically reach $100million in revenue in an allotted time frame. But before those big opportunities can be obtained, they need to start small. They believe in the right environment, which includes a small team, a few resources and time to hash over the details, so they can get to a point to accurately scale each venture. When that point is reached, Gregg Kaplan, Constar’s COO, says â€Å"It’s like unleashing the wonderful benefit that Redbox and Coinstar teams and the full organization can take against these opportunities.† (6) Redbox are placing more kiosks in more convenient places in hoping to increase more brand awareness, which is especially critical since they don’t spend much on advertising means. Mobile applications for iPhone and Droid are becoming intensely popular. The application will display a map of all the kiosks available in the area and also allows the viewing of what DVDs that kiosk has available. One can also reserve the movie via the mobile application and pick up at the nearest kiosk. B. Marketing Mix 1. Product. Redbox is the leader in DVD rentals, renting more than 1.5 billion discs to date, in over 30,000 locations. They boast on the fact that Redbox kiosks are available, within a five minute drive, to more than 68% of Americans. (4) And their rent-and-return anywhere policy makes Redbox an undisputable convenient place to rent moves. It is also possible to purchase the DVD at the kiosks or online at Redbox.com. 2. Price. The price to rent a DVD from a Redbox kiosk is astronomically cheap. It costs $1.20 to rent movies, including new releases, and $2.00 for video games. The rental period lasts until 9pm the night following the rental purchase. For each additional day you keep the movie, you are charged the rental fee plus tax per day. If you happen to hold the DVD for 20 days, you are charged $24 plus tax, $34.50 for Blu-Rays, or $60 for video games and the disc becomes yours. (4) These cheap prices have caused a strained relationship with the movie studios in Hollywood. They only earn $.60 per movie rental, where as they earn $17 per DVD sale, no matter the selling price. 3. Distribution. Redbox installs their kiosks in convenient, easy to access places, such as grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, convenience stores, and large retailers like Wal-Mart. According to Coinstar’s 2011 10-K report, they have 35,400 kiosks available nationwide, each holding about 630 disks. (11) They are available in every state, including Puerto Rico. The kiosk is like the traditional brick-and-mortar video rental store, but only occupies up 12 square feet. Consumers access the movie database via a touch screen, make their selection(s), swipe their credit/debit card, and receive the DVD or video game(s). It is meant to be a quick, efficient and fully automated rental process. The kiosk scans the bar codes of the movies or games to keep track of its inventory. Bar code scanning allows them to track the rentals and the returns easily, especially when they offer the rent-and-return anywhere policy. 4. Promotion. Redbox sends promo codes to individuals who have signed up to receive emails. They also send promo codes via text messages. Those test messages results in a free rental once per month. Another promo Redbox offers are gift cards via email that gives the recipient a code for a free rental. In 2009, Redbox added a free mobile application for iPhone users and in 2011 they made the application available for Android users. The application allows users to sort through the available titles, find a kiosk location, and reserve a movie all from a smartphone.