Friday, October 4, 2019

How did bay of pigs lead to cuban missle crisis Research Paper

How did bay of pigs lead to cuban missle crisis - Research Paper Example The situation that followed the Second World War was the period of Cold war that lasted up to early 1990s and when the Soviet republic disintegrated. During the period of the Cold War, many political and economic developments were realized ideologically. Thought there were no direct military combat in the Cold War, the period was characterized by many serious allegation of the two blocs; the US and USSR. Propaganda was one of the weapons used during this period, this made tension to build up within the two countries and at one point during the cold war, it almost sparked to a direct military confrontation but this never was. This was the Invasion of the Bays of Pig and the subsequent Cuban Missile crisis. Scholars and policy makers undoubtedly believe that the occurrence of the two scenarios in the 1961-62 constituted cold war peak since US and USSR almost faced one another in what could easily turn to be Third World War (Jones, 2008). Bay of Pigs is situated in the South Cost of Cuba; the development that took place in the coastal part of Cuba necessitated the missile crisis. A military revolution took place in Cuba in 1959 in which Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and developed very close ties with the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (Henriksen, 2006). During this time US was not in good books with USSR and the Cuban association with USSR alarmed US. The cause of the tension was all about the attempt of USSR to use Cuba as their proxy to propagate the socialism policy in the whole of Latin America. America was worried following this move and wanted to oust Fidel Castro in a military disguise. During the tenure of Eisenhower, a plan was hatched that accepted to train the Cuban exiles in the US to attack and overthrow Fidel’s administration through the support of the Cuban people that America thought were also anti the Fidel’ administration. The plan failed and Nikita having realized that his sympathizer was attacked,

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Going to Disney World Essay Example for Free

Going to Disney World Essay I had been planning our trip for three months for me and my five children to go to Disney World. I had gone and got book and done research on the computer, I wonted everything to be perfect and organized. We were going to go the week before Christmas and be there for a week. Has it got closer to the day before we would be leaving the excitement been building in all of us. Four days before we were going to leave I got the dreaded stomach flu. All I could think about was I had to get better before we would be leaving. Has the days went on I was feeling better and started packing and getting everything together for my first family trip since my divorce. I packed the car up the night before we were going to leave and it took hours, first the suitcase, then car seats and then checked the list so we would not forget anything that we might need for our adventure. The next morning woke the kids up at four am, with sleep still in their eyes, got all situated in the car and we were off to Disney World. The kids were so excited, they all was talking at one time about what they wanted to see and what the wonted to do. About lunch time they all settled down enough where I could understand what they were saying. I decided that we would take our nine hour drive and make a two day drive out of it so we were not in the car all day, so our first stop would be Birmingham, Alabama. I told the kids to look out the windows and the first hotel that they see that they would like to stay yell and we would go check it out. My oldest two at this time was tired of sitting in the car so it did not take long for them to really start looking for something nice and that would maybe have an indoor pool so they could get out of the car for at least for a while. We had passed two exits by now and I was thinking I hope one of them would yell soon, because I was getting tired of driving for the moment. Then out of Jackson’s mouth he yelled â€Å"There is one and it looks really nice Mom†, so off the next exit I went to check it out. Has we pulled up to the Hilton I knew this was going to cost me, but not saying a word I went through the front doors and ask if I could get a room for a night. Has we went to our rooms they kids was trying to get in the bags to get their bathing suit to go to the pool. That night we swam, played game in the arcade and ordered pizza for dinner. Knowing we had to get up early I started trying to settle the kids down for bed a nine o’clock, but they were so full of excitement and anticipation to get to Disney World none of them wonted to sleep. Midnight came and I looked around they all had fell asleep, Jackson on the floor where he had been watching television, Briar in the chair were he had been coloring , Summer had curled up in a ball in the bed, and the babies was safe in their travel cribs. At that moment I knew we were going to have a great and amazing time when we got to Disney World. Has the sun come up in the morning it was shining through the window right in my eyes and I could hear the kids already up and ready to leave. We loaded back into the car, four hours to go to we got to Florida. Has we arrived in Florida we had to find the house that my mother and rented us for the week, that was our entire Christmas gift. Finally, we found it and when I drove up it looked like a castle. Has the kids could not wait to jump out and check out the house I was overwhelmed that my mother would have rented us this house for a week, that was so gorgeous. Has we walked in the house it was like a house you would see in the movies, seven bedrooms, five baths and it had its own pool that was shaped like Nemo. The kids was running and yelling saying â€Å"This room is mine and I claim this one†. As we got all unpacked and settled in, we started making a plan for the morning, it would be our first day a Disney World. We got out our book of How To Do Everything You Wont To Do At Disney World In A Week. We had made reservations for breakfast with Mickey for in the morning; to start our first day and then we would be going to Magic Kingdom the rest of the day. The morning had arrived for us and we were all smiles and full of excitement. Has we rode through the gate at Disney World all the kids yelled â€Å"We made it†. I wanted to cry, because I knew I could never replace this memory. We could see the parks and some of the rides has we pulled close to where we would be eating breakfast. I had set it up where I could valet park, because I did have five kids by myself and I knew that it would not be easy trying to get everybody settled in strollers by myself. Breakfast was very hectic, feeding the babies, taking pictures and trying to eat all at the same time. The kids really enjoyed the waffles shaped like Mickey Mouse and loved to see all the charterers has they were eating. People was looking at me like I was crazy, but I did not care I was with the five most important people in my life and I was enjoying every minute of it. Jackson pulled out our map and planning book, he was our event planner for the day; he said it was time to go if we wanted to stay on a schedule for the day. Tickets were our first stop, and then here was the moment we had been waiting and planning for. It was a warm day in December, there was a feeling of mist in the air as the sun was coming up and we could already smell cotton candy in the air. Our first stop was going to be the Dumbo ride, they say that is the most popular ride for little kids, and our goal was to do all the baby rides first and when they took a nap for the day the big kids would be able to ride space mountain and many more big roller coasters that we have read about. We stood just 45 minutes in line to ride the Dumbo ride, It is flying elephants and they go up and down, the babies giggled the whole time we were on the ride and their eyes was shining like diamonds was in them. After hours of line waiting and ride the teacups, it is a small world and see all the princess, the babies had fell asleep in their stroller. Has we made our way to the big kids rides there was a parade and Jackson could not resist his self to get right in the middle of it, I could not get to my camera fast enough. He danced and sang as we stood on the side of the path of the parade and cheered him on. I could not how planned this most memorable moment if I would have tried. As the sun was setting, the park was lite up with a million Christmas lights and it was a beautiful sight. We were trying to make it to the fireworks, which are shot off Cinderella’s castle. As we were walking we went down a street that looked like a small town. Stores on both sides, vendors selling popcorn, and then we started to see it snow. They were blowing fake snow on the street. It was a feeling of Christmas, without it being cold and stressed. At the end of the street you could see the castle lite up and it changed colors with every firework that was shot off. As we are standing there watching fireworks my three oldest children put their arms around me and said â€Å"love you mom and thank you for being the best mom ever†. It was at that moment I knew Disney World was the place were dreams come true. As we got back in the car that night to go back to the house the kids ask† we are coming back tomorrow aren’t we mom.† I replied â€Å"Yes, and I cannot wait to see what memories we can make then.†

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Womans Triple Role Within The Family Sociology Essay

Womans Triple Role Within The Family Sociology Essay Work and family are central part of family life and society. All over the world, women and children are entering and staying in the workforce in greater numbers than before and Mauritius is no exception. Despite the cultural norms and traditions, most women work outside the family to maintain a certain quality of life. For some, work can be a source of employment and creative opportunity as well as income. For others it is a personal satisfaction, status and for integration. Traditional family structures have prevented women from enjoying meaningful work experiences. Their labour was mostly confined to their home and family rather than enjoying the rewards of paid employment. Thus, womens primary responsibilities were childcare, the preparation of food and clothing for the family and general household tasks. But nowadays, with the changing social and economic forces, there has been a dramatic increase in womens labour force participation rate. The factors which has lead a greater proportion of women in Mauritius in paid employment are due to educational opportunities and it has become socially acceptable for married women to work. Modern age womens tasks have been facilitated with the provisions of child-care services and labour saving electrical devices in the home. However, all these have not lessened the burden of inequality within the family. Even the World Bank (2001) report states that gender inequality in various forms is still prevalent around the world. 1.2 Womans triple role within the family Women play a very important role within the family and the society. They are the pillar of the house and they play a crucial role in sustaining the family. They have to take charge of the order, the matter and the health of all the family. Thus, Women are associated with the triple roles of reproductive, productive and community. In the same context, Dunscombe and Marsden (1995) parted that women in paid employment bear the burden of working a triple shift. In addition to their paid employment, they are engaged in domestic and emotion work and mother in a male dominated society. Even though they go out to work in order to contribute to the family budget, they still have to take care of the household which, most of time are inequitably shared. 1.3 Changing functions of the family Modernisation and industrialisation have brought about the breakdown of the extended family to the emergence of the nuclear family, where family are more independent and there is less contact with kins. Nowadays, another form of family which is becoming very popular with the rising rate of divorce is the single-parent family. The past two- decades have brought a great increase in the number of families with responsibilities both at work and at home. Nowadays, single-parents, working women and dual-earner couples are heavily involved in parenting (Carnier et al., 2004). Therefore, today families are stressed by the pressure of work, family and community demands. It is argued that the family in industrial society is losing many of its functions. Sociologist Ronald Fletcher (2000) claims that, the familys functions have increased in detail and importance. The role of the family has changed from a producer to a consumer. Goods and services are increasingly being bought and consumed houses, cars, furniture and education. Hence, the highly materialistic world demands that both husband and wife go out to work. The controversy is that women would then contribute to the family budget while men would not contribute to the household work. The result is that less time is spent in the family. At times, children are unattended and social problems crop up leading to instability and turbulence in the family. 1.4 Changing status of women across times There has been a gradual improvement in the status of women. They have achieved more political equality with men and they have equal rights in education. Most types of job are suitable for women today. Equal opportunity act has helped discard discrimination. The Economic Miracle of Mauritius is largely dependent on the growth of the manufacturing sector which was introduced in 1970s. It has been the main engine of economic development in Mauritius and has absorbed large numbers of unemployed labour. The traditional women who were uneducated represented an important pool of labour for the industrialists. The new economic leverage has welcomed the earning of second salary amidst the family. Everyone at all levels of society is becoming aware of the stress families face these days so as to struggle to balance their responsibilities at home and at work. Too often families have to choose between the demands of work and family, elderly parents and relatives. In Mauritius the two demographic trends in the increase participation rates for working mothers and dual-career couples have a profound effect on the spheres of work and family. It is generally recognized that the extensive pressure arising from work environment and from family environment can produce high-levels of work-family conflict for many employees. Development is good for any country but at the same time it has added extra burden on women particularly balancing the conflicting demands of family life and career. 1.5 Functionalist perspectives on work and family According to functionalist, family are living in a post modern way of living which is very good for the society as they prefer not to have children because of their career and some prefer to stay-single and they are going according to the needs of the society. P and B Bergers argue that the bourgeois family already teaches children what the society want that is, strict moral values and value economic success. E.Leach (1996) argues that the Nuclear family is stressed. They are exploited by the capitalist and they are alienated; they work because they have no choice. Family are nowadays privatized, they do not want people to know what is happening in their yard. Parents also inculcate fear and suspicious in children that they fear to revolt with the actual system. 1.6 Problem statement According to the Honourable   Ã‚  Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, in a workshop on A sensitisation programme on strengthening Family ties organised in 19 May 2007, the Mauritian society is being affected by the ageing population, changes in the structure of the family and the erosion of family values. She rightly pointed out that the family has an important role to play in terms of addressing the emotional, material, social and economic needs of its members. It is principally through the family that social values and knowledge are transmitted from generation to generation and hence this reinforces the social fabrics. Like any other country, the Mauritians Government is playing an important role in trying to maintain the balance between work and family life. If the family is stable, this will have a direct impact on the society and hence on the country. On one hand, the family life in Mauritius is being eroded in the face of the demands of work and increasingly long hours in at work. Practically, many members of the Mauritian family return home after work at different times and the traditional family meals that were customary in the past, are now reserved for weekends. Many parents strive to find time to spend with their children during the working week. The twin pressures of work and family life are raising stress levels within the home and creating much pressure. Parents are struggling to fit all their chores into shorter time frames because of lack of time. Due, to the constraint of time imposed by work schedule, various social problems have cropped up. There is increasing divorce rate (0.47 per 1000 people) and children are having recourse to drug, alcohol and cigarette smoking. On the other hand, despite the so called equality of sexes advocated by feminists, it is seen that the responsibility of looking after the family relies mostly on women. Hence, housework and looking after children remain predominantly womens work. Womens works have been marginalised throughout the history. Women are more likely to concentrate on their work than family. Therefore, family being an important institution it is very important to know what is causing the breakdown of the family, how children are able cope with it and its negative effects on children especially adolescents. 1.7 Research aim and objectives This project aims to make an assessment as to whether the impact of the relationship between work and the situation of children within the modern family really affects children and does work leads to the breakdown of the family. Thus, the objectives of this study are to: Probe into different occupational sectors in Mauritius to measure the impact of work on family life balance; To see whether women are able to handle their triple role within the modern family; To see whether the notion of family being functional in the society as advocated by functionalist really stand in the Mauritian society, To see whether children belonging the middle class family or upper class family who are more affected; Find out respondents views on does social problems like Juvenile Delinquencies are occurring due to lack of supervision of parents in the modern family; and Propose findings and solutions. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1.0 WOMEN AND THE FAMILY 2.1 Introduction This part opens up with: The family acts as a primary socialization of children whereby the child first learns the basic values and norms of the culture they will grow up in. A child needs to be carefully nurtured, cherished and moulded into responsible individuals with good values and strong ethics. Therefore, it is important to provide them the best childcare so that they grow up to be physically, mentally and emotionally strong individuals. 2.1.1 Definition of the Family According to Sociologists, the family is an intimate domestic group of people related to one another by bonds of blood, sexual mating, or legal ties. It has been a very resilient social unit that has survived and adapted through time. So, the element of time referred to above, is again present here. Similarly, The United States Census Bureau (2007) defines the family as a relatively permanent group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage or adoption and who live under the same roof. Stephen (1999) defines the family as a social arrangement based on marriage including recognition of rights and duties of parenthood, common residence for husband, wife and children are reciprocal economic obligations between husband and wife. Similarly, The United States Census Bureau (2007) defines the family as a relatively permanent group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage or adoption and who live under the same roof. The family is seen as the main pillar block of a community; family structure and upbringing influence the social character and personality of any given society. Family is where everybody learns to love, to care, to be compassionate, to be ethical, to be honest, to be fair, to have common sense, to use reasoning etc., values which are essential for living in a community. Yet, there are ongoing debates that families values are in decline. George Peter Murdock (1949) defines the family as a universal institution. According to him, the family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic corporation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children owned or adopted of the sexually cohabiting adults. However, K. Gough (1959) criticises Murdock definition and argues that the family is not universal. The critics were founded in the Nayar society. 2.1.2 Women and the Family The main role of women according to John Bowlby (1953) is particularly to act as mothers and as such their places are at home to take care of their children in their tender age. He states that juvenile delinquencies among young children are the result of psychological separation from mothers. The mental stability of children rests solely on their mothers. Therefore there is a need for a close and intimate mother and child relationship. However, Oakley (1974) uses the example of Alor, an island in Indonesia to refute Bowlby statement. In small-scale horticultural societies, women are not tied to their offspring, and there is no apparent side effect to it. Moreover, she does not see the intimate and close relationship necessary. Research has proved that mothers return to work after childbirth and that the children of working mothers are less likely to be delinquent than non-working mothers. Crouch (1999) describes the benefits gained by wives and mothers as the mid century social compromise. Duncan et al. (1998) argue that women who define themselves as primarily mothers are located at all points on the social spectrum. Patricia Day Hookoomsing (2002) states that, plans and projects are designed and implemented by men. It is assumed that if men as heads of the family will reap the benefit from projects designed, automatically women and children will benefit. 2.1.3 The Darker Side of the Family / Erosion of Family Life Earlier in this review of literature, it is shown that the family is warm and supportive. However, many writers have questioned the darker side of the family. The fact that women spend most of their time either at work or doing household chores can lead to emotional stress in the family. The twentieth century family is mostly nucleus and thus children at times feel isolated and lacking the support of their extended kins: grandparents, aunts, cousins etc. They become introvert and their stress level rise to such an extent that when explosion occurs, it can have dramatic results. This may lead to violence, psychological damage, mental illness, drug intake, crime etc. The breakdown of children may lead to quarrel between parents. In the long run, marriages may fail and consequently lead to divorce. Incidence that may appear trivial can blow out of proportions and cause drastic consequence within the family. The mass media is increasingly bringing to people attention the sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children through neglect. Similarly, The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (2000) parts that around 10% of children suffering from serious abuse or neglect at home by natural parents. 2.1.4 Conception about Family and Work Families and work have often been illustrated as separate entities, with women being linked to the home and men to the workplace. This separation unfortunately emanated by the sociology of the family being carried out as a separate domain from the sociology of work and occupations. However this assumption does not stand good in view of the increased participation of married women in the workplace. Early work by Rhona Raraport and Robert N. Raraport (1969) on dual-career families has talked about the benefits and strains of families with dual-earners. There are, however, many questions still to be answered concerning the interaction of family and work. Harkness and Waldfogel (1999) advocate that the formation of a family touches mostly female rather than male labour force behaviour. The withdrawal from labour after childbirth may lead to a depreciation of human capital. This may affect career commitment to employers and affect career progression. There are changes in family arrangements which prompt changes in production arrangements (Zaretsky 1976). Consumption was favoured to production within the household. Market relation became overruled by a capitalist market society and instead of economy being embedded in social relations, social relations are embedded in the economic system (Polanyi 1957). Dapne Johnson (1982) relates that the hours of work and schooling are organized at such time that it has become difficult to single-parent and dual-worker family. Moreover, school holidays add up to the problems of who will look after the child. Full-time married or cohabiting women generally have less time for leisure, as they are often expected to do two jobs their paid work and unpaid housework inside the family, Ken Brown (2008). 2.2.0 PART II WOMEN AND WORK 2.2.1 Definition of Work According to Ken Brown (2008), work is the production of goods and services that usually earns a wage or salary or provides other rewards. The work may be effected in the formal or informal economy. He argues that work is an important element in occupying, directing and structuring the individuals time the demands of working life involve a high degree of self discipline if jobs are to be kept. It is, for most people, the single biggest commitment of time in any week, and it is perhaps one of the most important experiences affecting peoples entire lives. Work affects the amount of time and money available for family life. Pauline Wilson and Allan Kidd (1998) refer to work as a distinctive and clear cut activity. Work refers to the job or occupation undertaken. Work is both the place where one goes in order to do ones job and the activity that ones does. Sociologies increasingly recognise however that it is not easy to define work. The definitions concentrate solely on paid employment and are too narrow. Keith Grint (1991) also states the same thing and even presents a number of definitions to prove what he says:- Work can be seen as that which ensures individual and societal survival by engaging in nature. The problem is that many activities which cannot be seen are often regarded as work. Work cannot be defined simply as employment. Activities in which people are employed are also performed by people who are not employed. Examples include washing, ironing. Work cannot be defined as something which can be done whether it is liked or not. Work can finally not be seen as non-leisure activities. Activities may be leisure for some but work for others. Work and leisure would be hard to separate if it goes together. The changing nature of workforce and the increasing proportion of employees with family responsibilities suggest that employees, especially working women might demand more family-friendly benefits or policies to assist them in dealing with family demand beyond their paid work (Hon 2002; Hin, 2001; Yu, 1999). The societal and economic changes brought about by womens increasing participation in the paid workforce have placed pressure on Governments to legislate on work-family benefits and organization to provide them. 2.2.2 Reasons for working in paid employment Women work in paid employment for a number of reasons. These are as follows: Job satisfaction Money Company and friendship Status and identity To get out of the home and feel free To be independent 2.2.3 The Impact of Development on women and their participation in different sectors Women account for an increasing proportion of the workforce and today more women are resuming work after having children than 2 decades ago. Despite various legislations in favour of women, womens and mens positions on the labour market remain different. Hakim (2000) stated that contemporary changes in womens employment arose mainly because of the difference which arose out of work choices. The author states that there are three categories of women: home/family centred, work centred and adaptive drifters. Home centred women give priority to their families, work centred women give priority to their employment careers, and adaptive women shift their priorities between family and career over their life cycles. Because the proportion of home centred and work centred individuals is higher amongst women than men, womens employment patterns are different. The EPZ sector has profound impacts upon the structure of the Mauritian Society. Industrialization has enable women to take a much active role in society. The traditional house wives were liberated to go out to work. Men were no more the sole breadwinners in the house. Thousands of women left their houses and took employment in factories. This new economic leverage of women had beneficial effect and raised their standard of living. The docile dependent housewife thus was transformed into an independent income earner. 2.3.0 PART II- WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT 2.3.1 Defining work-family conflict Work and family represent two spheres in adults social life. Howard (2008) in summarizing the definition put forth by prior scholars (Greenhaus Beutell, 1985; Boyar, Maertz, Pearson, Keough, 2003) conceptualized work-family conflict as a type of interrole conflict where both work and family issues exert pressures on individual. Greenhaus and Beutell (1985, as cited in Dealen Willemsen Sanders, 2006) also define WFC as conflict in which the role pressure from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect. Just like (Greenhaus, 2002) has said that WFC is bio-directional it thus, create conflict where compliance with family matters the difficulty of complying with work matters. Conflict is understood to arise when an individual has to perform multiple roles such as worker, spouse and parents. Each of these roles imposes demands of their incumbents, requiring time, energy and commitment. Conflict occurs when the demands from one of these domains (home, work, personal and family) interferes with each other and causes imbalance (Frone et al.,1992, 1997). In todays hectic society, home and work are two colliding forces (Greenhaus and Powell, 2003) that has often lead to an imbalance, where women lives to achieve fulfillment and satisfaction (Auster, 2001,Chalofsky,2003). Moreover, (Zedeck,1992) also suggests that a persons work experience influence his or her behavior at home, influencing basic behaviors towards self and family members. WFC has also been shown to be related to negative work outcomes such as job dissatisfaction, job burnout and turnover (Greenhaus, Parasuraman Collins, 2001,Howard, Donofrio Boles, 2004), as well as to outcomes related to psychological distress and marital dissatisfaction (Kinnuen Mauno 1998,Aryee et al.,1999) 2.3.2 Types of work-family conflict Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) identified three major types of work-family conflict: Time-based, Strain-based and Behavior-based conflict Time-based conflict occurs when time devoted to one role makes it difficult to participate in another for example, when mothers have to do overtime at work with little notice might make it difficult for them to meet family obligations, like picking up children from school. Time-based conflict, is also the most common types of work-family conflict when multiple roles reduce the time energy available to meet all role demands, thus creating strain (Goode,1960) and WFC (Marks,1977). Strain-based conflict arises when strain or fatigue is experienced in one role and therefore, hinders performance or exploits resources which would be otherwise available for another role (Bryon,2005; Carlson,1999 as cited in Mauno, Kinnunen Ruokolainen,2006). For instance, negative emotional reactions to workplace stresses may lead to expression of irritability towards family members or withdrawal from family interaction in order to recuperate (ODriscall,1999 as cited in Jones, Burke Westman,2006) Behavior-based conflict occurs when specific behaviors required in one role are incompatible with behavior expectations in another role (Carlson et al., 2000). It has been suggested for example, that the male managerial stereotype emphasize self-reliance, emotional stability, aggressiveness and objectivity (Schein, 1973). Family members may thus, expect a person to be warm, nurturing and vulnerable in his interaction with them. (Carlson et al., 2000) also argue that another form of work/ family conflict is the Worry-based conflict in modern industrial society. On the other hand, increasing living cost, marital distress and parental stress may erode the stability of the family life (Lu, in press), causing worries which interfere with work. (Carlson et al., 2000) thus, defined worry-based conflict in terms of pervasive and generalized worries experienced in one role into and interfering with participation in another role. In a study, Fu and Shaffer (2001) identified several family and work specific determinants of FWC and WFC conflict, respectively. Testing these across the three forms of conflict-time, strain, behavior-based they found that the family- specific variables were only effective in predicting time-based FWC conflict. As a group, the work-specific variables had much stronger effects and role conflict, role overload and hours spent on paid work were especially influential in explaining both time-based and strain-based forms of WFC conflict. Family conflicts were to be strong risk factor for the onset of elevated need for necessary need for recovery from work and fatigue. 2.4.0 CAUSES OF WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT 2.4.1 Hours of work Time is an important aspect that has been associated with work-family. As time is a limited resource (Frone et al., 1997b) argues that working more hours means that the employee is at work for more hours and may have more work duties and has less time for other activities. Hence, work hours have been consistently, linked to difficulties in balancing work and personal lives (Mohen andYu, 2000; Guerts et al., 1999; Batt and Valcour, 2003; Tausing and Fenwick, 2001). Time pressure can be measured by the number of hours worked. Arora et als,.1990 study (cited by Kim Ling, 2001) examined the effect of the time pressure on WFC of women entrepreneur and the majority of the women entrepreneurs agreed that their long hours deprived them of the time they would have liked t spend with their families. Long hours of work may also relate to parents feelings of time inadequacy with children. However, regardless of hours spent or the kinds of activities engaged in with children, because of the intense conflict or spillover between worker and parent roles. Employment makes parent less able to be spontaneously available and make them miss certain events that are scheduled during work times (Milkie Peltola, 1999). Moreover, children may also notice when parents bring conflict work conflicts home, and may feel that parents pre-occupation ith work makes them less psychologically accessible (Galinsky, 1999). Reynolds and Aletraris (2005) conducted a research on work hours and work-family issues by examining whether WFC is associated with a desire for more or fewer hours of work and whether the relationship is moderated by age of children is the home. Their survey revealed that family-to-work conflict doesnot makes people to change their work hours. Work-to-family conflict however, is associated with a desire to fewer hours of work. They also find out that work-to-family conflict is more likely to make women want fewer hours when there is a young child at home. Moreover, Barnett (2004) in a study of work hours as predictor of stress outcomes, it was mentioned that long hours of work is associated with: High experienced job demand, High emotional exhaustion, High marital tension and High work-family conflict In a research published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (vol.5,No,1,2002), Gerzywacz and Nadine Marks found that employees who work more than 45 hours a week report more work-to-family conflict. However, participants who work less than 20 hours per week were less likely to report that their work benefited their family life. On the contrary Ganster and Bates (2003) conducted a study on the effect of the number of hours worked on WFC and general well-being. They found that work hours had no significant associations with job stress and WFC. Similarly the findings of Haar (2001) indicate that the number of hours worked, as a conflict source, may not be the current work demands of organizations, families are now more forgiving of the time burden associated with working long hours. 2.4.2 Dual-earner family The dual-career phenomenon has become increasingly prevalent worldwide. For couples juggling multiple demands, this lifestyle often generates stressors and strains at home and at work, which can have negative consequences for organizations (Elloy Smith, 2004). On one hand, in dual-earner families husband are more likely to care for children when their wives are at work during non regular shifts (Presser, 1988). On the other hand women who earn more are likely to hire domestic help, since their time is more valuable (Goldscheider and waite, 1991). (Elloy and smith 2004) study, based on data from an Australian sample of 62 Lawyers and accountants, analyzed the antecedents of WFC among dual-earner couples. The results confirm that overload, role conflict significantly effect WFC. Similarly Flosehan and Gillbert, 1979 study (cited in Kim Ling, 2001) on dual career couples found a positive relationship between the number of hours worked and job spouse conflict as well as job-parent conflict. Moreover, Voydanoff (1994) interviewed married dual-earner parents of children age 10-17 from the 1992-1997 National Survey Children of Families and Households to examine relationships between work and community resources and family demands. In this study, marital quality was conceptualized in three dimensions: activities with spouse, marital disagreements and marital happiness. The problem is therefore, one of overworked couples rather than overworked individuals. 2.4.3 Work overload Major et al., (2002) suggest that overload occurs when the perceived magnitude of work overwhelms an individuals perceived ability to cope. An empirical evidence suggests that the growing sense of overwork in the United States is relates to the increases in the working hours of couples (Clarkberg and Mohen, 2001; Jacobs and Gerson, 2000). Since, women perform a larger share of household labour than men (Coltrane, 2000), family responsibilities should be more likely to create a desire for fewer hours among women than men. On one hand, Godbey (1977) argued that Americans had not increased the amount of time devoted to work, but that the pace of their lives had quickened, with the results that many felt overworked. On the other hand, Hochschild (1977) argued that for many workers, work had become home and home had become work with the result that worker were putting in increasingly long hours in the workplace as a way to avoid family time. Lu, Gilmour Kao and Huang (2006) have conducted a cross-cultural study of work/family demands, work/family conflict and well-being outcomes and to contrast employees from individualistic (UK) and a collectivist (Taiwan) society. Their findings show that work demands such as hours of work and work load were positively related to WFC, whereas family demands were positively related to family work conflict. Both WFC and FWC were negatively related to well being (job satisfaction and life satisfaction) for employees in the two countries. More important findings was that for British, there was a stronger positive relation between workload and WFC,

Wal-Mart and Class Inequalities Essay -- increasing class inequality

Wal-Mart has become a staple company in many communities. It is a place where individuals can find most of their needs, and many of their wants. The appeal of Wal-Mart can be found in its slogan, â€Å"Always Low Prices.† It is the appeal of low prices during a time of economic recession that entices consumers. What many consumers do not recognize are the means by which Wal-Mart ensures these low prices. The media coverage of Wal-Mart during the recent months has not been favorable towards the company, and with lawsuits pending regarding issues such as low wages, anti-union practices, and sexual discrimination, Wal-Mart provides an avenue for examining media and alternative media depictions of the issues. This analysis will determine the extent to which media sources provide information on Wal-Mart and the allegations, and how this corporation is working to reduce class inequality. The focus will more broadly develop an argument which claims that superclass interes ts are the driving force behind our media, and therefore our exposure to critique of the system is limited. There are three articles that will be referenced during this analysis. The first article is taken from the mainstream media publication USA Today. â€Å"Wal-Mart takes hits on worker treatment: Lawsuits, unions slam megaretailer†(Armour, 2003) argues that Wal-Mart is coming under attack from critics who argue workers are underpaid, women are discriminate against, and illegal tactics are being deployed to kill unionization efforts. Armour (2003) states, â€Å"company officials say they don’t know why the attacks are coming now, and they also say the allegations are unfounded.† The next statement made during the article states that Wal-Mart employees agree with the statement. The author continues reporting on the issues at stake, but focuses mostly on how unions may be less relevant in today’s world. The article makes mention of both sides of the argument, but the rhetoric and terminology used leans towards the portrayal of Wal-Mart as a victim o f biased attacks to further union interests in the market. Perucci and Wysong (1999) would argue that this article is a perfect example of selective reporting, â€Å"unstated but routine news reporting policies and practices that produce a preponderance of flattering news media coverage of superclass-favored issues† (1999:160). It ... ...tive media portrayals of an issue. Ultimately this assignment was beneficial to my perspective on class issues. It exposed me to multitudes of informational sources ranging from mainstream to alternative. It was also interesting to see the ways in which issues are portrayed differently, and as I mentioned other the lack of blaming the system is extremely interesting. The various sources opened my eyes to the reality of media impact and control over our lives and opinions. It is difficult to see beyond the obvious appeal of corporations such as Wal-Mart, but this should be apparent to me after all these years of sociology. I think this assignment really helped me to think outside the box, and really analyze who has control; it isn’t me or you. That’s for sure. Works Cited Armour, Stephanie. 2003. â€Å"Wal-Mart Takes Hits on Worker Treatment.† USA Today. Hellerman, Caleb. 2004. â€Å"The Wal-Martization of Everywhere† & â€Å"Low Road/High Road.† Retrieved March 6, 2004 from: www.inequality.org. Olsson, Karen. 2003. â€Å"Up Against Wal-Mart.† Mother Jones. 28:2. Perrucci, Robert and Earl Wysong. 1999. The New Class Society. Lantham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

child development :: essays research papers

Video Reflection Play v Importance v Indoors Play v Levels of Play v Social Skills v Intellectual Play q Importance: Growing up my mother encouraged her four children to play hard. We were allowed the space to work off or steam by playing dirty in the mud. Or being allowed to jump into a pile of leaves. Her basic motivates and comments to us were always; that the clothing could be washed, we could take a bath but enjoy be a child. In the video â€Å"Play†, it is discussed as a way for children to be allowed to let go of their emotions. In chapter 15, Enhancing Creativity, Play is described a crucial stage in the development of the child. It allows the child to develop their sensor motor skills. q Indoor Play When a child plays indoor, they are in the process of developing a greater since of their physical skills. They can learn hand eye coordination; also, problems solving skills will be enhanced. In chapter 15, Enhancing Creativity, it is important for the children have the ability and space to gain a deeper understand of who they are how they can function indoors. q Levels of Play To watch a child play is to watch a world being created before your eyes. Children have the ability to experience freedom and love at its best. Yet, even the nature has laws and different levels of interaction. There are different forms of play associated with how children will interact. Functional play is when children can explore using sense’s to figure out what they can do. Constructive play is used by children of all ages. In chapter 15, Enhancing Creativity, the different levels of play allow the child to develop a sense of there own personality. q Social Skills As children learn how to play and interact with each other, they learn social skills. They learn how to cooperate with each other, in order to accomplish what they need. Play allows them the ability to release a lot of so cial tension. In chapter 15, Enhancing Creativity, learned social skills are important in the development of the child. These are the first steps that the child will need to take to eventually take their place in the society.

Effects of gangsterism Essay

Effect of gangsterism towards individual Gangsterisms are the social phenomenon which occurs widely among teenagers in our country. With the rapid increase of this problem, gangsterisms can give a lot of negative impact towards individual, family, and society. In term of individual, student who involves themselves with gangsterism will face bad consequences in their life including having a dark future. Thus, their future might be threatened due to the result of their behavior. Most probably they will be detained because somehow they able to create chaotic scene in their surroundings. This will also affect their life as they unable to perform their study in higher level and they might spend their teenage years in juvenile school or rehabilitation centre. On the contrary, those with a bright future able to continue their study while they had wasting their precious life in prison. Effect of gangsterism towards parents In the context of family, parents need to receive the bad treatment as the result of their children behavior. Most probably, parents might be insulted or becoming the subject of hatred from people in their surrounding. They might be blame for what their children had done and through other people eyes they had to be responsible. Somehow, there are parents who try so hard, in order to guide their children back to the right path. However, some children are too stubborn and ignore the advice of their respectful parents. In addition, parents need to face with reality that their children are not turn into a good person and turn out differently from what they had expected. Effect of gangsterism towards society As for society, they will feel insecure and threatened over this matter because they felt that the surrounding is not the safe place anymore due to the violent act of gangster. The behavior of gangster might endanger their life because at some point, gangster can turn out to be a killer and some of them also fight among each other to show their power. In addition, this kind of phenomenon also spread widely in school. Johnson and Johnson (2005) stated that the researchers determined that the alarm about rampant violence in school is not justified, but concern about the frequency with which adolescents victimize each other is, even though the victimizations are more  bothersome than injurious. In addition, it had come to the stage where school compound cannot be considered as a safe place anymore due to the gangsterism activities that take place in school area. Middleton-Moz and Zawadski (2002) argue that our own lack of awareness often causes us to be both deaf and blind to the pain experienced by our nation’s youth and, as a result, our young people too often become the prisoners of their sadness and depression, seeing little possibility for change and no way. Therefore, it show that our own lack of concern over what had happened make the matter of gangsterism getting worst until the victim of gangsterism are being abuse physically and emotionally. Society is no longer felt peace and harmony in the country which they had resided. Statistical figure The statistical figure was brought out by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin during the Parliamentary session on June 9, 2010 portrays the number of students who involved with gangsterism. From the figure , it stated that the number of students nearly doubled since 2005. It begins with 32 cases recorded and the numbers reach its high peak on 2008 with the value of 81. Although, the number had slightly decreased to 60 cases in 2009 but the number still considered high compared to the earlier cases recorded in 2005. As for figure which provided by ACP Amar Singh Sidhu on his journal title Journal of the Kuala Lumpur Royal Malaysia Police College, No.4 on 2005, it reveal that majority of delinquents detained in the rehabilitation centre was from Indian races with the number of 316 people. On the other hand, both Malay and Chinese represent the similar number with 111 people for each race to be detained. Who should be blamed? Teenager nowadays lack of focus. We mean that they do not know where they are heading, whether in the academic or social sense. Therefore, this gives rise to several problems, mostly gangsterism happens among the teenagers who involved in sosial ills such as drug addicts, smoking, and gambling. These teenagers are not bothered about their studies and it is evident that they are involved in gangsterism. So, who should be blamed for gangsterism? Do we  have to put the blame on the parents, teachers or anyone else? We strongly believe that the one that should be blamed for gangsterism among teenagers is the individual himself or in the other word is we. We are the ones to be blamed for gangsterism because we are the ones who decide on how we want to live our life. We are responsible to manage ourselves. If we discipline ourselves towards the positive behavior, then we will behave well. We are the one to choose how we manage our life. In any decision or action that we made, we have to take full responsibilities of whatever the consequences that we will have to face due to the decision making. For example, if friends offer us a drug and if we have a firm standpoint, then we’ll kindly say no to the friend. Next, we think one of the factors that cause gangsterism among teenagers is the parents. Nowadays, parents are so busy and they focus more on earning more money. They are so busy with their job and rarely have time to be with their children at home. They become workaholic and they are not concerned about their children needs. They assume that providing their children with materialism is more than enough but the fact is their children actually need more attention from their parents. For instance, parents give money and provide cars for their children but the children feel lonely. So, they will do anything to fill in the emptiness they feel inside. They might be involved in gangsterism to overcome the loneliness they felt. Then, we personally think peer pressure is the one to be blamed for gangsterism among teenagers. The teenagers are easily influenced by their friends. When they mix with the wrong friends, they might be involved in crimes. As friends are among the closest people to the teenagers, they will eventually be influenced by their friends. For example, if their friends are a gangster, soon they’ll become one. This is because, their friends might attract them to try something new for them like gang fights. The teenagers are too young and they have a strong instinct of wanting to try something new. So, they will follow their friends. We strongly suggest that perhaps it is time that parents, teachers and  non-government body’s work together to direct and counsel our teenagers. Parents should play their role to educate their children and spend more time communicating with their teenage children. Teachers should try establishing a closer rapport with students. Everyone must work together to find the correct mechanism in order to overcome gangsterism among teenagers. Who should be responsible for the increase of this problem in the recent years? We are trying to find who are responsible for the increase of gangsterism cases in the recent years. Here, firstly parents are responsible due to their important role in teenagers’ life. The parents must play their role and provide their children with a good spiritual and moral background. Then, teenagers themselves should be responsible of what they have done in their life. Teenagers have their own brain, so they should be supposed to think carefully before they do something. Besides that, authorities also should be responsible because only they can make the strict enforcement and to punish the teenagers who involved themselves in gangsterism. Finally, the society is also responsible for the increase of this problem in the recent years because we live in a society so, if they do not play their role and cannot be aware of the problem occur in their resident and place, they should be responsible of this increasing of number of the gangsterism cases. The reasons of gangsterism cases among teenagers First of all, influences by the peer group can create gangsterism cases. As we all know, peer group plays an important role in moulding one’s characters because they will be able to lead their friends in doing something whether to do good things or bad things. In the fact of teenagers who usually have the urge to do something new, they will slightly done bad things without thinking of the effects of that action in their life. Challenges from their peer group will make them not to feel frightened anymore in doing bad things especially in school, while they are involved themselves in gangsterism. Peer group is the main reason of the gangsterism happened among teenagers because usually teenagers tend to share their problems with their friends rather than discussing it with their family. For them, only their friends will understand better their feelings so, whatever their friends do, they will follow it even though they realize it is a wrong action. Another reason  leads to gangsterism is the teenagers nowadays are always lack of parental love from their parents who are busy twenty-four hours to find money until they do not realize that their children are neglected by them. They also do not play their role as parents who are the people that are responsible to provide their children with a good spiritual and moral background. Besides that, the environment of the teenagers will also create gangsterism to be happened. Teenagers who have a good environment such as the conducive environment in their home will be able to keep a distance with this social problem, while teenagers who have bad environment will involved themselves in gangsterism easily because only this way, they will feel more released. Why I’m saying like this? Broken family background always creates a bad environment right? So, it is parents’ responsibilities to prevent their marriage problem become one of the main reasons why their children involved th emselves in gangsterism. Furthermore, the fourth reason why teenagers involved themselves in gangsterism is because mass media’s influences. Of course in the television, there are so many advertisements, films or dramas, even cartoons always publish for everyone. The violent action in those things will influence the teenagers to follow whatever action played by the author. Last but not least, the reason of gangsterism cases among teenagers might be also because there are no specific rules and strict enforcement from the authorities. The teenagers seem like do not have any feeling of frighten to do gangsterism because they know the rules and strict enforcement are not exist anymore to punish them when do something wrong especially in gangsterism cases. Cooperation by the society When you say ‘society’, what is comes to your mind? Of course society is a group of people who are close to you besides your family and relatives, right? Society also plays an important role in order to solve this crucial problem. As we discussed earlier, peer group, parents, school counselors, authorities and mass media are the people who have responsibility to solve this problem, but society also plays an important role too. The society has to work hand-in-hand to help government combat this problem. In order to do that, the development of positive values in the society through various programs that can be generating long-term benefits must be conducted. Programs like ‘gotong-royong’ and campaign like ‘Belia Benci Dadah’ will generate long term benefits to the teenagers in the sense of responsibility as a citizen and also a future leader for next generation. This will increase their spirit on developing themselves with good personality and try to prepare themselves with many types of knowledge. As a result, they will totally think that gangsterism will cause bad effects to their loving country and also their respective society. To conclude, if society plays their part in solving the gangsterism cases that happen in their society, the gangsterism cases will not occur anymore in their neighborhood. Mass media’s responsibility Mass media always influenced people. Do you all agree with me? Think about it. Especially kids and teenagers who have the urge to learn something new and want to try it, they always being trap with the film they just watched in the television. Influence by mass media should be taken into consideration. Mass media must know their limits in publishing something. They must be aware of whatever programs they want to publish have bad effects or not to the audience especially teenagers who usually like to imitate the violent action in the television. Mass media also can help to solve this gangsterism cases by publishing advertisements on bad effects of gangsterism activities among teenagers. As a result of this action, I’m sure teenagers will keep a far distance from gangsterism activities and they will totally not have any feelings to be involved themselves in that bad activities. They will choose to involve themselves in participating in such a good and beneficial activities like watching a debate or other programs that beneficial for their studies organized by the mass media. In short, we can conclude that mass media’s responsibility is important in order to solve this crucial problem among teenagers nowadays. Strict enforcement by the authorities Strict enforcement by the authorities also can solve this gangsterism problem among teenagers. Nowadays, teenagers seem not to have any feeling and are frightened of what they are going to do. So, if the authorities let them know that there are some strict enforcement will be taken towards the guilt of gangsterism cases, teenagers will think twice when they want to be  involved in gangsterism because they know if they are caught by the authorities, there will be punishment and strict enforcement waiting for them. In brief, only strict enforcement by the authorities will make the teenagers feel frightened be involved in gangsterism. Thus, authorities must play their role in solving this problem before it gets worse day by day Advice and guidance by the school’s counselors School counselors also play an important role to solve gangsterism problems among teenagers. As we know, teenagers spend their time almost half of their days in school, so that, if school counselors are playing their role as instructor, facilitator and also counselor to their students by giving and organizing some proper and suitable programs, their students will be more knowledgeable and have views on bad effects in doing gangsterism activities. They will be more aware that gangsterism will make them suffer and life as a student will become worse if they are punished to be expelled from school. In other words, only school counselors have a big role and carry the responsibility in creating a good personality in their students’ characteristics. The school counselors must keep in touch with their students who are involved themselves in disciplinary problems because most probably these students might bring themselves in gangsterism cases too. Besides that, the school counselors must try to find ways to avoid gangsterism activities to be happen in their school. To summarize, if the school counselors are always aware about their students’ activities, the number of teenagers involved in gangsterism will be decrease day by day and gangsterism cases can be solved by the advice and guidance by the school counselors. Parental love and responsibility given by the parents Do you all agree that parents play an important role in solving this problem? I want to convince all of you about the truth of this statement. I totally agree with this statement because of some reasons I had discovered .First and foremost, parents play a part in helping their children to choose the right friends. This is due to the fact that friends play the important role in moulding one’s characters especially among teenagers. A group of good friends can guide and lead the youth to a better future in their life. Thus, parents should always keep an eye on which their children’s friends are. It should be better if parents are close to their children too. Another reason is I agree that parents play an important role as it is because parents nowadays are too occupied with their jobs until they forget to think about their children’s needs and feeling. They tend to have no time to spend with their children. For them, finding money is an important thing. But to think it carefully, what is the use of your billions of money if your children are neglected and do not get parental love from you as their parents? Besides that, the third reason why parents play an important role to solve this problem is the family background. Broken family background always gives bad effects to the teenagers nowadays who involve themselves in gangsterism. They love to release their tension by being involved in gangsterism with their friends. They will feel more comfortable and release tension outside with their friends doing gangsterism rather than in the house by looking at their mother and father quarreling all the time because of marriage problems. Last but not least, the reasons I have discovered are parents play an important role to solve this problem, that is parents who are the people that are responsible to provide their children with a good spirit ual and moral background. In brief, with enough education of this two aspects, I’m sure this problem can be solved because their children will think twice if they want to involve themselves in gangsterism activities because they know by doing that, their parents will be ashamed to have children like them and their children know that gansterism will bring bad effects to them. I think it is enough of my evidences to convince you all that this problem can be solved if parents play their role in helping their children avoid being involved in the gangsterism. Conclusion Based on our research we had done, it can be conclude that there is a great necessity to give more attention towards cases that related with young delinquents who involve themselves in gangsterism. This problem had to be wisely handled to ensure that their future will not be ruined due to their involvement in gangsterism. Thus, parents, government, and society have to play their roles effectively in order to curb the spreading of gangsterism among school student. In addition, need to realize the consequence by each  action or behavior which taken by them. They have to aware that each behavior that deviant and forbidden to the law will cause them to be punished. Therefore, government need to strict and regulate the available law, so teenager will be afraid to involve with gangsterism. As for parents, they need to give full attention to their children and guide them to the right path before things getting worst and difficult to handle. Society also is one of the important elements to curb this matter. By providing information to the police, they automatically help the enforcer task to deal with gangsterism. With the cooperation from each member in the country, there is a high possibility that this social illness will finally found its remedy.

Monday, September 30, 2019

Negotiation in Management Decision Making Essay

Having been approached by The Director of the Cowley Council Council (CCC) regarding an industrial dispute with their refuse collectors, a report has been prepared to give insight into the field of negotiation and aid the council in their talks with the refuse collectors. The dispute is primarily concerned with CCC’s plans to change working practices but there are also a number of other issues regarding pay, shift patterns and recent cuts in the training budget and expenses. The refuse collectors are threatening to go on strike if their demands are not met, an action that the council would undoubtedly like to avoid. According to Rubin and Brown (1975), negotiation refers to a process in which individuals work together to formulate agreements regarding an issue or issues in dispute. An agreement will only occur if the offers made are accepted by both of the parties (Neale & Northcraft 1991) and should lead to order and stability, foster social harmony, increase feelings of self-efficacy, reduce the probability of future conflict, and stimulate economic prosperity (Rubin et al 1994). Getting the negotiation game right is ever important for managers â€Å"as the global economy expands, as the service sector grows, as corporate restructuring continues and as employees continue to be concerned with managing their own careers† (Neale and Bazerman 1992: 3). The initial stages of the report will cover theory and research on the decision-analytic approach to negotiation and discuss its relevance and potential use for CCC regarding its dispute with the Cowley refuse collectors. I will then identify potential biases and pitfalls that can act as barriers to effective negotiation that CCC should try to avoid. Finally I will conclude and outline suggested proposals for CCC to consider with the aim of assisting and improving their negotiations with the refuse collectors. The decision-analytic approach to decision making is a more pragmatic alternative to the dominant psychological and economic perspectives, which contain a number of limitations. The individual-attribute literature fails to measure dispositions adequately, the situational literature does not consider the importance of the negotiator’s perceptions in interpreting situational characteristics (Neale and Bazerman 1991: 20) and the game theory unrealistically assumes â€Å"impeccably rational, supersmart people† (Raiffa 1982, 2001). What differentiates the decision-analytic approach is its focus on â€Å"how erring folks like you and me actually behave† rather than on how we would behave if we were â€Å"smarter, thought harder, were more consistent, were all knowing† (Raiffa, 1982: 21). Previous psychological and economic approaches have focused on describing how people make decisions or prescribing how to improve decision making. However, â€Å"very little interaction has occurred between the descriptive and prescriptive camps† (Neale and Bazerman 1991: 20), and it is Raiffa’s (1982) avocation of an â€Å"asymmetrical† prescriptive/descriptive relationship that makes the decision-analytic approach stand out, â€Å"creating a prescriptive need to descriptively understand how negotiators actually make decisions† (Bazerman et al 2001). Many scholars hold the view that the prescriptions gained from this model are more valuable than those offered by more traditional approaches (Lax and Sebenius 1986). Raiffa’s framework for approaching effective negotiations distinguishes three sets of information, a combination of which determines the structure of the negotiation game: each parties alternative to a negotiated agreement, each parties set of interests, and the relative importance of each parties interests. â€Å"To develop agreement, people need to get a good understanding of their own preferences and priorities, to communicate those to their counterpart, and to integrate information about other’s preferences and priorities into their own understanding of the problem at hand† (De Dreu et al 2000). Before CCC enter into any negotiations with the refuse collectors, it is imperative to determine a Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), â€Å"the standard against which any proposed agreement should be  measured† (Fisher, and Ury 1981). Negotiations can be greatly improved by identifying a BATNA and â€Å"carefully evaluating the negotiated agreement against that alternative† (Ertel 1999). This helps negotiators fix a reservation point, a lower bound, which is crucial to monitor throughout the negotiation. Agreements that provide more value than the BATNA are preferred over impasse; likewise any agreements that provide less than the BATNA should be rejected. A potential BATNA for CCC would be to look into other refuse collection companies opening up the possibility of privatisation. The privatisation of refuse collection is a serious consideration in many areas of the UK and a â€Å"major debating point for the city council† (Birmingham Mail 2013) in Birmingham. Waste Concern, a private refuse collection company, claims that 17% of council tax goes towards refuse collection and that privatisation would lead to a cheaper, more frequent collection service, and a more efficient recycling system (edieWaste 2010). If CCC values the current refuse collectors, despite the current dispute, and they are reluctant to consider such an ultimatum, they could consider a more strategic change by introducing the proposed changes incrementally, or by altering the amount of changes being made. It is crucial for negotiators to understand each party’s key interests and how they align (Reardon 2005 : 28). Fisher and Ury (1981) emphasize the importance of the distinction between a parties’ position, and their interests, with a position being the stated requirement that a party demands from the other side, whist an interest is the underlying desire of the negotiator and the motives for their position. It can however be difficult to understand ones interests and those of the other party. CCC’s primary interests are increasing productivity and decreasing costs, whilst the refuse collectors’ interests are concerned with their financial rewards. It is however important to try and understand all of the parties’ interests. The Personnel Director may be under pressure to cut costs in order to stick to a budget so her personal interests may have more focus on performing her job in order to maintain it. The interests of the refuse collectors also concern HR aspects such as, work life balance and training and development. These interests are motives behind the position of their threat of strike, and further scrutiny may offer CCC potential areas to focus on during negotiation. Focussing on deeper interests can provide a more reasonable bargaining platform and a creative and practical solution to a negotiation. Once the interests of each party have been established, it is important for negotiators to try and value the relative importance of each party’s interests. This then allows the parties to effectively trade-off less important issues to gain more important issues. If CCC can establish that, for example, the refuse collectors desire a better work life balance as well as sufficient financial benefits, there may be potential for a medium ground to be reached offering a certain amount of each. The importance of interests often comes down to economic factors, thus job security is frequent consideration. In this instance the job security of the refuse collectors is at risk as there is a chance of redundancies if they do not cooperate. This information provides â€Å"the building blocks for thinking analytically about a negotiation† (Bazerman and Moore 2009:154) and prepares the parties for the two primary tasks of negotiation: creating and claiming value (Lax and Sebenius 1986). It is crucial for negotiators to establish the reservation points of both parties. That is the worst possible outcome they will accept before a negotiation is impasse. With both reservation points established, a positive bargaining zone is created, which allows negotiators to â€Å"aim for a resolution that is barely acceptable to the other party† (Bazerman and Moore 2009: 156) by getting as close to their reservation point as possible. It is however, also vital for both parties to try and cooperate in creating value in the negotiation, as there is often â€Å"opportunity to considerably enlarge the pie before cutting it into shares for each side to enjoy† (Raiffa 2002: 91). Lax and Sebenius (1986) stress that differences must be seen as opportunities, as opposed to barriers, that can be explored to find the most efficient solution rather than just ‘satisficing’ (Simon 1956). According to Schmidt and Tannenbaum (1960) â€Å"differences can help to increase the range and variety of alternatives suggested† and even potentially â€Å"enrich ones own goals, ideas, and methods. † So CCC must capitalise on the differences in the party preferences (Pruitt 1983) by evaluating the  position of the refuse collectors, and looking into finer detail at the interests behind these positions, before attempting to develop â€Å"novel alternatives† through â€Å"creative problem solving† (Neale and Bazerman 1991: 24). Negotiation then depends fundamentally on parties’ ability to trade issues against each other (Froman & Cohen 1970) and â€Å"place demands and formulate concessions to foster agreements that meet their own goals, while avoiding that the counterpart leaves the situation† (De Dreu et al 2000). CCC could for example offer certain alternative benefits to the refuse collectors if the changes are implemented. Perhaps an investment in more efficient equipment and machinery would be appealing. There are certain tools that negotiators can use in order to aid their efforts in collecting information and subsequently increase the probability of creating value. It is certainly the case that deception is often used in negotiation (Schweitzer 1997) and can be an effective strategy for increasing one’s own outcomes (O’Connor and Carnevale 1997). However in this instance, both parties must also note that building trust and initiating a â€Å"free flow of information is critical to finding and integrative agreement† (Johns and Saks 2011)). In heated negotiations this is far easier said than done, as neither side wants to give away too much information on their stance on particular issues. However, CCC is in the position to try and create a trustworthy relationship in order to improve their informational position. The director could inform the refuse collectors of the councils’ pressures and financial limitations that are the driving factor behind the need to change the working practices and make cuts. If no suitable solution is agreed upon, then there may have to be redundancies, as the council cannot overspend. Another tactic could be to strategically disclose some information. As behaviours in negotiation are often reciprocated (Lewicki and Litterer 1985), this may prompt the refuse collectors to open up and start revealing information which may facilitate the negotiation process. CCC must also ask a lot of questions to increase the chances of ascertaining critical information. According to Bazerman and Moore (2009: 162) â€Å"asking questions and listening actively are the keys to collecting important new information from the other side† but it also important for negotiators to remember that information can be gained from what is not said, as well as  what is said. An alternative to trading issues would be for CCC to arrange some kind of contingency contract to verify weather their plans to change working practices is fair or weather it is being rightly disputed by the refuse collectors. CCC could assess a weeks worth of collection rounds and together with the refuse collectors, formulate weekly targets in terms of time and productivity. A weeks trial on this type of contingency contract could easily establish weather CCC’s planned changes are justifiable or not. There are a number of ways in which contingent contracts can benefit the outcomes to negotiations as outlined by Bazerman and Gillespie (1999). Firstly organising the implementation of a contingency contract can identify bluffs by insincere parties. This will aid CCC initially with regard to their uncertainties over issues such as the number of staff needed on each collection round, shift patterns and pay. Contingency contracts are also a useful tool in incentivising performance. It may provide more motivation for the refuse collectors to start working at or above the levels specified in the contract.