The Emerging Trends or Challenges in the Management of Organizations

The Emerging Trends or Challenges in the Management of Organizations The Emerging Trends or Challenges in the Management of Organizations INTRODUCTION Organizational Behavior studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple viewpoints, methods, and levels of analysis. Whenever people interact in organizations, many factors come into play. Modern organizational studies attempt to understand and model these factors. Like all modernist social sciences, organizational studies seek to control, predict, and explain. There is some controversy over the ethics of controlling workers' behavior.As such, organizational behavior has at times been accused of being the scientific tool of the powerful. Those accusations notwithstanding, Organizational behavior can play a major role in organizational development and success. One of the main goals of organizational theorists is, according to Simms (1994) â€Å"to revitalize organizational theory and develop a better conceptualization of org anizational life. † An organizational theorist should carefully consider levels assumptions being made in theory, and is concerned to help managers and administrators. [1] Organizational behavior is currently a growing field.Organizational studies departments generally form part of business schools, although many universities also have industrial psychology and industrial economics programs. The field is highly influential in the business world. Organizational behavior is becoming more important in the global economy as people with diverse backgrounds and cultural values have to work together effectively and efficiently. It is also under increasing criticism as a field for its ethnocentric and pro-capitalist assumptions. Views on management have changed substantially over the past century – particularly in the past few decades.Organizations have entered a new era characterized by rapid, dramatic and turbulent changes. The accelerated pace of change has transformed how w ork is performed by employees in diverse organizations. Change has truly become an inherent and integral part of organizational life. Several emerging trends are impacting organizational life. Of these emerging trends, five will be examined in this paper: globalization, diversity, flexibility, flat, and networks. These five emerging trends create tensions for organizational leaders and employees as they go through waves of changes in their organizations.These tensions present opportunities as well as threats, and if these tensions are not managed well, they will result in dysfunctional and dire organizational outcomes at the end of any change process. CHALLENGES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATIONS GLOBALIZATION Organizations operate in a global economy that is characterized by greater and more intense competition, and at the same time, greater economic interdependence and collaboration. More products and services are being consumed outside of their country of origin than ever before as globalization brings about greater convergence in terms of consumer tastes and preferences.Yet at the same time, in the midst of greater convergence, there is the opposite force of divergence at work where companies have to adapt corporate and business strategies, marketing plans, and production efforts to local domestic markets. To stay competitive, more organizations are embracing offshore outsourcing. Many functions are being shifted to India, the Philippines, Malaysia, and other countries for their low labor costs, high levels of workforce education, and technological advantages.According to the 2002-2003 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Workplace Forecast, companies such as Ford, General Motors, and Nestle employ more people outside of their headquarters countries than within those countries. [1] Almost any company, whether in manufacturing or services, can find some part of its work that can be done off site. Communication and information sharing are occurring a cross the globe in multiple languages and multiple cultures. Global competition and global cooperation coexist in the new world economy.One major consequence of globalization is greater mobility in international capital and labor markets. This creates a global marketplace where there is more opportunity, because there are more potential customers. However, there is also more competition, as local companies have to compete with foreign companies for customers. According to Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the processes associated with the global integration of markets for goods, services, and capital have created two sources of tensions. 1] First, reduced barriers to trade and investment accentuate the asymmetries between groups that can cross international borders, and those that cannot. In the first category are owners of capital, highly skilled workers, and many professionals. Unskilled and semiskilled workers and most middle managers belong in the second category. [1] Second, globalization engenders conflicts within and between nations over domestic norms and the social institutions that embody them.As the technology for manufactured goods becomes standardized and diffused internationally, nations with very different sets of values, norms, institutions, and collective preferences begin to compete head on in markets for similar goods. Trade becomes contentious when it unleashes forces that undermine the norms implicit in local or domestic workplace practices. [1] Professor Rodrik concluded that â€Å"the most serious challenge for the world economy in the years ahead lies in making globalization compatible with domestic social and political stability† (Rodrik 1997, p. 2).This implies ensuring that international economic integration does not lead to domestic social disintegration. Organizations that are confronted with this challenge will have to manage the tension created by the globa l integration versus local disintegration dilemma. The overall picture as a consequence of globalization is one of turbulence and uncertainty, in which a variety of contradictory processes present a wide range of both opportunities and threats that defy established ways of doing business and working in organizations. Integration and exclusion coexist uneasily side-by-side in organizations.For example, many apparent dichotomies or paradoxes—competitions versus collaboration, market forces versus state intervention, global actions versus local solutions—are losing their sharp edges as contradictory forces appear to converge and reinforce each other in organizations across the globe. Companies that compete fiercely in some markets form strategic alliances in others; government guidance and regulation are required to make markets work effectively; and â€Å"think globally, act locally† has been adopted as business strategy (or as a mantra) to deal with the challenge s of doing business in the globalize economy.As organizations transform themselves to stay competitive, they will need to confront and resolve some, if not all, of these dichotomies or paradoxes. [1] On another level, because of globalization, the fates of people living and working in different parts of the world are becoming intertwined. Global events may have significant local impact. September 11, 2001 has been called the â€Å"day that changed the world†. Heightened security concerns are changing expectations for people in organizations, and the role of organizations themselves.The threat of terrorism continues to be an ongoing concern worldwide. It has created a renewed focus on workplace security as employees experience a heightened sense of vulnerability in the workplace. Employee monitoring and screening are occurring more frequently. Concern over travel for business purposes is resulting in the increased use of alternate forms of communication such as teleconferencin g and videoconferencing. [1] DIVERSITY Globalization is impacting how organizations compete with each other.In combination with changing demographics, globalization is causing a rapid increase in diversity in organizations. Never before have people been required to work together with colleagues and customers from so many different cultures and countries. Diversity is moving American society away from â€Å"mass society† to â€Å"mosaic society†. Organizations reflect this â€Å"mosaic society† in their more diverse workforce (in terms of not only race, ethnic or culture but also in terms of age, sexual orientation, and other demographic variables).More than ever, people have to interact and communicate with others who come from diverse backgrounds. This in turn has meant that employees need new relational skills to succeed. An emerging stream of research in international management has called these new relational skills â€Å"cultural intelligence†. Cultu ral intelligence is defined as the capability to adapt effectively across different national, organizational and professional cultures (Earley, Ang and Tan, 2005). More managers take up global work assignments in industries around the world.They learn how to work with people who not only think and communicate differently but also do things differently. Managers will need to develop their cultural intelligence to manage greater diversity in organizations. [1] Diversity in organizations will continue to increase. The world population is growing at a high rate in developing countries, while remaining stable or decreasing in the developed world. The result will be income inequities and economic opportunity leading to increased immigration and migration within and between nations.More temporary workers will be used for specific tasks, and there will be a greater demand for highly skilled workers. People of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds possess different attitudes, values, and norms. Increasing cultural diversity in both public and private sector organizations focuses attention on the distinctions between ethnic and cultural groups in their attitudes and performance at work. This greater focus can result in the tension between finding similarities and accentuating differences in the face of greater diversity in organizations.There is an on-going debate between the heterogenists and the homogenists concerning the impact of greater diversity in organizations. The heterogenists contend that diverse or heterogeneous groups in organizations have performance advantages over homogeneous groups while the homogenists take the opposing view—that homogeneous groups are more advantageous than heterogeneous or diverse groups in organizations. [2] According to the heterogenists, organizations with greater diversity have an advantage in attracting and retaining the best available human talent.The exceptional capabilities of women and minorities offer a rich labo r pool for organizations to tap. When organizations attract, retain, and promote maximum utilization of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, they gain competitive advantage and sustain the highest quality of human resources. [2] Organizations with greater diversity can understand and penetrate wider and enhanced markets. Not only do these organizations embrace a diverse workforce internally, they are better suited to serve a diverse external clientele.Organizations with greater diversity also display higher creativity and innovation. Especially in research-oriented and high technology organizations, the array of talents provided by a gender- and ethnic-diverse organization becomes invaluable. Heterogeneous or diverse groups display better problem solving ability as they are more capable of avoiding the consequences of groupthink, compared to highly cohesive and homogeneous groups that are more susceptible to conformity. [2] On the other hand, greater organizational diversity ha s its drawbacks.With the benefits of diversity come organizational costs. Too much diversity can lead to dysfunctional outcomes. Diversity increases ambiguity, complexity, and confusion. Organizations with greater diversity may have difficulty reaching consensus and implementing solutions. In many organizations, diversity can produce negative dynamics such as ethnocentrism, stereotyping and cultural clashes. [2] The homogenists argue that homogeneous groups often outperform culturally diverse groups, especially where there is a serious communication problem.Cross-cultural training is necessary to enable culturally diverse groups to live up to their potential and overcome communication difficulties. The diversity movement, according to the homogenists, has the potential to polarize different social groups and harm productivity while breeding cynicism and resentment, heightening intergroup frictions and tensions, and lowering productivity, just the opposite of what managing diversity is intended to accomplish. 2] The challenge therefore is for management to manage the tension produced by heterogeneity versus homogeneity. If properly managed, organizations can reap the benefits of greater diversity. Aside from proper management, organizations need to learn to appreciate and value diversity before the benefits of diversity can be fully realized. To achieve this, diversity training programs may help people in organizations understand and value diversity. FLEXIBILITY Globalization and diversity trends are forcing organizations to become more flexible and adaptable.To be able to function globally and to embrace diversity, leaders and employees in organizations have to become more flexible and develop a wider repertoire of skills and strategies in working with diverse groups of people in the workplace as well as in the marketplace. The response to increased diversity has, in many cases, been increased organizational flexibility. Some organizations allow workers to hav e very different work arrangements (e. g. flex-time) and payment schedules. Some organizations (and workers) have found it convenient to treat some workers as independent consultants rather than employees.In certain occupations, advances in communication and information technologies have enabled telecommuting —working at home via computer. One consequence of this is the blurring of boundaries between work and home, and where and when work occurs. The benefits of greater flexibility may be countered by the negative consequences of working 24/7 including higher stress and burnout. The response to increased competition, however, has resulted in a tension generated by the demands to be flexible and yet maintain some stability as changes are implemented in organizations.To stay competitive, organizations are constantly changing and restructuring to increase flexibility and decrease costs. Business process reengineering, business process out-sourcing, job redesign, and other approa ches to optimize business processes have been implemented to increase operational and process efficiency while reducing the costs of doing business. Changes in business and operational processes need time to stabilize for employees to learn the new processes, become familiar with them, and be able to operate effectively and efficiently.Yet, competitive pressures can cause organizations to go through a series of changes without giving employees adequate time for learning and training, and for the benefits of the change to be fully realized in the organization. FLAT In a greater competitive marketplace, speed or response time is critical. How organizations response to customers and other stakeholders or be the first to market may make a significant difference as time is at a premium. Organizations that can develop new technologies faster or can adapt to changes in the market faster are the ones that will survive the competition.To maximize response time, organizations have been flatte ning their hierarchies and structures, in addition to other initiatives such as downsizing and networking. Flat organizations make decisions more quickly because each person is closer to the ultimate decision-makers. There are fewer levels of management, and workers are empowered to make decisions. Decision-making becomes decentralized. However, flat organizations create a new tension between decentralization and centralization. Among the drivers of decentralization are communications technologies that allow companies to push decision-making away from the core.Proponents of decentralization emphasize the idea that less hierarchical organizations mirror the efficiencies of the networks that enable them: they are faster, more resilient, more responsive, more flexible and more innovative. Also, they argue, people who work within decentralized organizations feel empowered and energized. They do not need to focus on the chain of command and they do not feel constrained by it. Organizatio ns are caught between the opposing forces of centralization and decentralization.They want to leverage the opportunities offered by decentralization and create more nimble and forceful organizations, but they cannot always do so because the forces of centralization come into play. There are obvious benefits to centralization as control is comparatively tighter and accountability is clearer compared to a flatter, more decentralized organizational structure. Take the example of IT operations. The key to a centralized organization's success is its responsiveness. If the centralized operation can be responsive to the needs of the business, then that approach can make sense.Several companies, such as DaimlerChrysler and PepsiCo, have migrated back to centralizing IT operations after attempts at decentralization. [3] The debate over the centralization versus decentralization of operations in organizations is an enduring one. It is an age-old battle of standardization versus autonomy, corp orate efficiency versus local effectiveness and pressure on costs and resources versus accommodation of specific local needs. [4] Vacillation between centralization and decentralization is both non-productive and unnecessary.Organizations, as they desire to become flatter, will need to be clear about how they need to respond to the tension between centralization and decentralization. [4] NETWORKS Organizations that flatten tend to encourage horizontal communication among workers. Rather than working through the organizational hierarchy, it is often faster for workers who need to coordinate with each other simply to communicate directly. Such organizations are highly networked. Another meaning of networked organizations refers to their relations to other organizations.Organizations that have downsized to just their core competencies must then outsource all the functions that used to be done in-house. To avoid losing time and effort managing contracts with suppliers, organizations hav e learned to develop close ties to their suppliers so that social mechanisms of coordination replace legal mechanisms, which are slow and costly. Networked organizations are particularly important in industries with complex products where technologies and customer needs change rapidly, such as in high technology industries.Close ties among a set of companies enables them to work with each other in ways that are faster than arms-length contracts would permit, and yet retains the flexibility of being able to drop the relationship if needed (as opposed to performing the function in-house). The trend towards networked organizations and structures create a new tension between interdependence and independence. The forces of aggregation and disaggregation throw up new challenges for organizations, for example, the use of independent contractors, joint ventures, strategic partnerships and alliances even with competitors. 1] One advantage of networks is that organizations have greater flexib ility and thus they can become more competitive in the global marketplace. Another advantage is that organizations do not require that many resources such as employee benefits, office space, and financing for new business ventures. [1] On the other hand, networks have distinct disadvantages. Organizations may find it more difficult to control quality of goods or services as they now have to depend on their partners in the networks to deliver the quality that is desired.Legal and contracting expertise as well as negotiation expertise will also be important for networks. Alternative forms of control may need to be developed to control quality. Alternative mechanisms for coordination may also need to be developed to manage the growing constellation and sometimes tenuous nature of other partner organizations in the network. [1] CONCLUSION All the five trends – Globalization, Diversity, Flexibility, Flat, and Network and the tensions they produce result in greater organizational o r system complexity for both leaders and employees in organizations. The tensions produced by these trends cannot be solved.They have to be managed. Effective approaches in organizational change will involve not one strategy but many alternatives and will require leaders and employees to develop greater resilience in confronting these tensions. Change–Trends and Tensions in Organizations |Trends |Tensions | |1. Globalization |Global versus Local | |2. Diversity |Heterogeneity versus Homogeneity | |3.Flexibility |Flexibility versus Stability | |4. Flat |Centralization versus Decentralization | |5. Networks |Interdependence versus Independence | Planning and managing change, both cultural and technological, is one of the most challenging elements of a leader in an organization. Obviously, the more a leader can plan in anticipation of a change, the better he/she serves her subordinates or employees and the organization.Diagnosing the causes of change and structuring a program to promote a smooth transition to the new process, structure, and so on, is critical to the leader as well as the management’s success.BIBLIOGRAPHY [1] -No Author– â€Å"Trends in Organizational Change†. Available at http://www. referenceforbusiness. com/management/Tr-Z/Trends-in-Organizational-Change. html

What Really Makes Factories Flexible

Introduction: In this literature, â€Å"What really makes factories flexible? † the writer brought out the topic for factory flexibility, which defines as a production  facility  organized  to  respond to customer orders quickly in order to provide  a  full  and varied range  of  operations  or  services, across many  product lines with very short  changeover times and may introduce new products of similar range fairly easy. For example, most modern  automobile plants  are designed as  flexible  factories to build various models. Having acknowledged the importance of flexibility, how would manufacturing managers in a broad array of industries find pathways to improve the process? What are the difficulties of defining flexibility of a plant and how do they measure flexibility in terms of plant productivity? What measurements are needed to show improvement of the process? The author performed a research in a study of sixty-one factories in North America that manufacture fine paper to find out the answer. Define the problem: Unlike most other industries in which different plants make different products, the paper industry's products are more comparable across plants since paper are produced by very similar process. There are a few characteristics for the paper industries to be the right candidate. In paper industry, the qualities of products by grades are straightforward numbers which can be able to be measured by the author. These numbers enabled the author to develop both the range of paper a plant could produce and how much time it needed for a plant to switch from making one kind of paper to making another. By using these numbers the author was be able to define the operational flexibility for manufacturing plants needed to measure and find the ways to improve the processes. Defining the problem is the first thing needed by each manager. â€Å"What is flexibility? † Managers are having hard times to define as the term may mean very different for different people. At plant level, it is about the ability to change over or adapt new system, however, specifying and characterizing this ability is not an easy task. As one manager may talk about the flexibility to produce the types of production from up and down depending on what the market needs; another manager may talks about the flexibility to change over from making one type of paper to another with less time and money. In the author's point of view, flexibility should be emphasized in determining by its competitive environment. The measurement of flexibility can be based on a) product range in different things as a plant can have the ability to produce a small number of products that are very different from one another b) mobility for a plant to change over from making one product to another and c) uniformity of performance as a flexible plant can perform comparably well to make any product within a specified range. Once managers have defined the different kinds of flexibility they are trying to develop, another set of issues had come up as how to measure the flexibility and improvement of flexibility. Also it is often unclear in which general features of a plant must be changed in order to make its operations flexible. The depth and wisdom of experience managers have to be carefully assessing their strategies to define what kind of flexibility they are looking for before embarking on a flexibility program, or otherwise the results can be disastrous. Implication and analysis to select best alternatives: By collecting production data, the author was able to measure the breadth of paper grades that each plant was capable of producing and the changeover time that each plant required to switch between grades. There were additional measurements of flexibility such as workforce by length of service, the level of computer integration (CIM), the change and break frequency, etc. Each plant may emphasize in a whole range of factors from different quality and types of flexibility based on the managers, so end up there are large differences across plants. One major issue covered in this literature is that the degree of computer integration (CIM) does not really help on plant flexibility by increasing range of products produced or improving change over time even though large money was invested in it. Managers often have difficulty justifying CIM projects on the basis of cost savings or quality improvements therefore justify them on basis of improved flexibility CIM will provide. In this case, only the engineers or a few trained employees understand how the system works; most of the plant operators are not trained to operate which create problems. Operators instead decide to perform manual-change over, which in a surprising findings the best manual change system operate much faster than computer. This result shows the serious problem from operators as they have no interest to adapt the change to operate CIM. It hit hard on the managers with thoughts being reluctant that they are doing something right, but actually they are wrong. Implement decision to change the system: For successful manager to figure out the issues of CIM before implementing it in a plant, they should consider building up skills for their operators. As the author denoted, â€Å"Plants become more flexible when managers stress to workers the importance of flexibility. For example, a plant that wants to excel at customizing products will need to develop the capabilities to carry out large range of jobs in the plant. Managers then need to determine what type of workforce or equipment (ex CIM) needs to enhance flexibility. After that managers need to figure out different ways to measure the type of flexibility sought and emphasize the importance of the measures to the employees. Trainings should be added in th e process to build up experienced workforce and eventually to see improvement in flexibility. For example, continuous learning problem such as operational excellence may help management team in different level to control and maintain a flexible manufacturing plant. Evaluate the outcome: By integrating the appropriate steps to a) defining the problem of flexibility, b) implication and analysis to select best alternatives and c) implement decision to change the system, the next step is to evaluate the outcome to see if there is any improvement or if not, further alterations will need to be made. Outcomes that need to be evaluated are not limited to employee training in different level. Employees training based on experience are critical for a manufacturing plant to increase flexibility. More experience workers are not willing to adapting the new systems such as CIM comparing to less experience workers who are more willing to change. Conclusion: A good manufacturing management team designs what is best way for its plant to run, and plants that are flexible in terms of mobility (in terms of change over time) and range (in terms of various productivity) tended to have a clear measures of what flexibility should be developed. Managers have to decide what benefits the plant, how the plant operate, what kind of flexibility they are looking for, select the right decision making tools such as CIM, training for the employees based on different levels of experience, analyzing the data and provide surveys for customers. Managers should provide people the support needed in order to achieve the goal for lower the cost, decreasing change over time, increasing throughput and eventually make more money. Manager should never put too much faith in depending on CIM to complete the tasks in ease. CIM provides critical advantages to improve factory flexibility only if it can be implemented in the right way to fit the system. CIM generally needs experienced operators to control so trainings are critical for employees in different level. CIM could only be one of the alternative tools for managers to use. The flexibility of a plant depends much more on people (manager, field-supervisors, engineers and operators) than on any technical factor (automation, CIM). Managers should never only embraced in CIM as the solution to the growing need to forge new capabilities, instead managers should put more faith in the day to day management of people. Extended Research: I read two other articles which were written within the last three years. It is obvious that both articles talk about how computer integration both software and hardware can help to improve process flow and flexibility of a plant. This is because a more mature CIM system has been established through studies from field experts and universities. In general, employees nowadays understand that continuous learning is the keys to maintain competitiveness in the job market. This doesn’t mean that managers’ job are easier to do, but flexibilities in all level from a plant, a team, or just individual are critical in order to maintain a competitive advantage. Reference: 1. Manufacturing Flexibility – Synchronizing the Shop Floor and Supply Chain by Aberdeen Group 2. Improving Plant Performance and Flexibility in Batch Process Manufacturing: With an Example from the Food and Beverage Industry by Filippo Focacci

Are Young People More Materialistic In Modern Society Philosophy Essay

Are Young People More Materialistic In Modern Society Philosophy Essay Materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought. Certain periods in history, usually those associated with scientific advance, are marked by strong materialistic tendencies. The doctrine was formulated as early as the 4th cent. B.C. by Democritus, in whose system of atomism all phenomena are explained by atoms and their motions in space. Other early Greek teaching, such as that of Epicurus and Stoicism, also conceived of reality as material in its nature. The theory was later renewed in the 17th cent. by Pierre Gassendi and Thomas Hobbes, who believed that the sphere of consciousness essentially belongs to the corporeal world, or the senses. The investigations of John Locke were adapted to materialist positions by David Hartley and Joseph Priestley. They were a part of the materialist development of the 18th cent., strongly manifest ed in France, where the most extreme thought was that of Julien de La Mettrie. The culminating expression of materialist thought in this period was the Systà ¨me de la nature (1770), for which Baron d’Holbach is considered chiefly responsible. A reaction against materialism was felt in the later years of the 18th cent., but the middle of the 19th cent. brought a new movement, largely psychological in interpretation. Two of the modern developments of materialism are dialectical materialism and physicalism, a position formulated by some members of the Logical Positivist movement. Closely related to materialism in origin are naturalism and sensualist. Materialism is sometimes allied with the methodological principle of reductionism, according to which the objects or phenomena individuated at one level of description, if they are genuine, must be explicable in terms of the objects or phenomena at some other level of description — typically, a more general level than the r educed one. Non-reductive materialism explicitly rejects this notion, however, taking the material constitution of all particulars to be consistent with the existence of real objects, properties, or phenomena not explicable in the terms canonically used for the basic material constituents. Jerry Fodor influentially argues this view, according to which empirical laws and explanations in â€Å"special sciences† like psychology or geology are invisible from the perspective of, say, basic physics. A vigorous literature has grown up around the relation between these views. â€Å"Materialism† has also frequently been understood to designate an entire scientific, â€Å"rationalistic† world view, particularly by religious thinkers opposed to it and also by Marxists. It typically contrasts with dualism, phenomenalism, idealism, and vitalism. For Marxism, materialism is central to the â€Å"materialist conception of history†, which centers on the empirical world of actual human activity (practice, including labor) and institutions created, reproduced, or destroyed by that activity. In today’s society, materialism takes part in every person’s life, no matter what social class they are. The idea of being materialistic can be considered immoral, but there is a fine line between morality and personal interests. It is safe to say that everybody is materialistic to a certain extent, whether it be from buying the same brand of jeans because they fit nice, to purchasing a wide variety of hot rods. It is obvious that the latter of the two is the one which can be considered to cross the line. Buying some nice clothes here and there is normal for people and everybody does it once in a while. While on the other hand, buying 5 or 6 sports cars can be considered somewhat pretentious.

Breaking bad news Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Breaking bad news - Essay Example However, older people exhibit diseases and shorter life span because of bad treatment. In other words, the society and its communication to these people play a large part in health care services. A health care professional always thinks of a way on how to break bad news to patients. For these people, it is essential, difficult and often the most critical part of healthcare communication. For some, breaking bad news to patients is an innate skill. Patients have a hard time disclosing their feelings or find it necessary to establish a relationship of trust to be able to more easily accept the disclosure of such news. Presenting bad news to patients may give a negative result that may in turn lead to serious harm. All of these beliefs are made with a strong sense of suspicion; breaking bad news to patients is a skill learned rather than a talent. Medical doctors, for example, have in their education an area of learning good communication skills that entails a long period of learning (Back, 1999). Preparations – in ethical terms, the atmosphere provided should be private on both the part of the patient and the medical professional. In general, patients have varying needs; hence, it is appropriate to discuss with the patient who he/she wants to be the recipients of the information and major decisions like how much should be the information. Statements such as â€Å"How are you feeling right now?† would help the patient prepare himself for a two-way affair. Finding out how much the patient knows – in such aspect asking a question such as â€Å"What have already been told about your illness?† may be essential. This approach would likely measure the patient’s knowledge about his/her illness. It is also appropriate to ask patients how much they have understood on the information given, the patient’s level of technical comprehension and most of all is his/her emotional status. Finding out how much the patient’s capacity of accepting

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Project management - Essay Example According to results of Belbin profiles, each member is allocated within different teams by an adviser. In terms of our team, it had a rudimentary knowledge of function through the team balance sheet. There were nine kinds of roles in the Belbin profiles. Our team covered eight of these roles. Most of our members tended to be teamworkers. Coordinators, monitors evaluators, implementers, completer finishers and specialists totaled two individuals. The plant and resource investigator both were represented by a single team member. There was no shaper in our team. In fact, there was a good group atmosphere in our team in the initial stage. Specifically, there were no conflicts. Each member was more likely to agree with other member’s idea and keep his/her own idea from becoming contentious. Each member was more likely to be a yes man in initial stage. There were two reasons which made our team better in the situation. One was the allocation role within the group. This affected mem bers cooperation. Belbin (1989) gave some pointers on this issue when he stated that the shaper and teamworker were an unlikely combination; but he implied that the chairman and teamworker were a combination which would, probably, be found together. Another interesting aspect is the relationships that were exhibited between team members. Because each member had met each other, members were more likely to make a good impression on one another in subsequent meetings. However, too warm of a group atmosphere can bring some negative influences on the team. We found that although we had a good group atmosphere, performance of our team was inefficient in the initial stage. This was because our team lacked a shaper and most of members were teamworkers; this led to our team sometimes being indecisive and the pressure and dynamic of our team was not enough. Therefore, some members had to make some change in order to enhance

Business Excellence Following The Example of Dell Inc Essay

Business Excellence Following The Example of Dell Inc - Essay Example After successfully doing business in the global markets for almost a decade, Dell began facing challenges in terms of competition, rapidly losing its market share and witnessing a reduction in its customer bases (Paul & et. al., 2007). Furthermore, the company was losing its market share in all the segments, namely, desktops, servers and notebooks during the same year to its major competitors. Notably, the major factors that led to the declining market share of Dell from all segments can be identified as the company’s emphasis on its traditional business model lacking in terms of innovation and transformation. Due to the company’s resistance to change in the global competitive market, other players in this industry such as HP and Lenovo emerged as the new leaders. They focussed on the emerging markets and segments such as Laptops, whereas Dell with a market share of 4.2% ranked eighth among other manufacturers (Paul & et. al., 2007). In today’s modern era, the processor rather the conception of change is attributed to the only continuous and inevitable phenomenon of the business world. Due to the incessant changes occurring in the external business environment, businesses are becoming increasingly swayed to implement strategic changes in their business processes. It is in this context that due to the ongoing changes in the global business environment, business entities are forced to alter their operational vision, goals and methodologies too often causing the risk of unplanned and chaotic changes in the working process which in turn are quite likely to give rise to perplexity within the human resources and thus lead towards a greater disruption in the overall operational functions of the organisation.

Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase - Essay Example (57 percent), Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (21 percent), Asia and the Pacific (13 percent), and Latin America (7 percent). Citibank is a major force in international finance, its consumer segment offers banking, lending, insurance, and investment services through a network of 8,110 branches, approximately 18,800 automated teller machines, 809 automated lending machines, and the Internet. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment provides various investment and commercial banking services and products, which comprise investment banking and advisory services, debt and equity trading, institutional brokerage, foreign exchange, structured products, derivatives, and lending. It also offers cash management and trade finance for corporations and financial institutions; custody and fund services to insurance companies and pension funds; clearing services to intermediaries; and depository and agency/trust services to multinational corporations and government. The Global Wealth Management of Citigroup provides investment advisory services, financial planning, and brokerage services to wealthy individuals, companies, and non-profits organizations. Other services include investment management, such as investment funds management, capital markets solutions, trust, fiduciary, and custody services; investment finance that comprises credit services, such as real estate financing, commitments, and letters of credit; and banking services that consist of deposit, checking, and savings accounts, as well as cash management and other banking services. Today Citigroup is the finest financial services company, with approximately 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries. In a news report / press release issued by the Citigroup that it has completed the purchase of Egg Banking plc (Egg), the world's largest pure online bank and one of the UK's leading online financial services providers, from Prudential PLC. In another press release, Citigroup on April 26th 2007 announced its successful completion of tender offer to become the majority shareholder of Nikko Cordial Corporation. Citigroup will own in excess of 60% ownership in Nikko Cordial. Nikko Cordial is a premier Japanese financial institution based out of Tokyo. J. P Morgan Chase A constituent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase has its corporate headquarters in New York and its U.S. retail financial services and commercial banking headquarters in Chicago. Under its JPMorgan and Chase brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. The company operates through six segments: Investment Bank, Retail Financial Services, Card Services, Commercial Banking, Treasury and Securities Services, and Asset Management. The Investment Bank segment offers investment banking products and services, such as advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and research. It also serves corporations, financial institutions, governments, and institutional investors. The Retail Financial Services provides regional banking services, including co nsumer and business banking, home equity lending, and education lending, as well as offers mortgage banking and auto finance services. The Card

Health, Disability and Long Term Care Insurance Essay

Health, Disability and Long Term Care Insurance - Essay Example This crisis is a fact and statistics are good enough to prove its validity. USA spends twice more on its annual healthcare then does 19 of the developed countries in North America and Europe. The percentage of GDP allotted to health seems to be at a rise since 1997 when it reached to 15.7% in the year 2005, and as projected by the agencies of Medicare and Mediaid this percentage would further increase in the next 10 years to a figure of almost 17.5% of the GDP. Yet 15.6% of the American population is still uninsured. (services, april,2005) For a country that has the highest expenditure rates on healthcare, it is quite shocking that the public gets to face the crisis of high rising prices for healthcare. The two major problems faced by the healthcare system of USA include rapid increase in the expenditures made on health and disabilities and high costs for administration of health care issues which account for at least 26% of the total money in healthcare. The reasons for the rising c osts are many including the dependence on the high costs of new medical technologies, drugs and tests, the rising population of the elderly, the rising frequencies of road traffic accidence and criminal activities requiring medical attention, intensive work hours and rising pays of health care professionals and doctors, high awareness of medical problems requiring immediate and most of the times unnecessary medical attention, untoward issues like fraud and issues causing waste of administrative money, the internal situation and inflation rates of the health care system and many more reasons. TYPES OF MEDICAL COVERAGE Broadly speaking, health insurance can be of two types. First is the group health insurance in which an employee and his immediate family are covered by an insurance company that is either partially or mostly paid by the employer. This type of insurance comprises as high as 90% of the total insurance issued by the insurance companies. (DeNavas-Walt, 2008) Sometimes this type of insurance may not provide the necessary protection that an individual requires; in that case an additional aid with the help of individual insurance can be purchased. Second type is the individual insurance plan. This type of plan, as the name suggests, is individually tailored to anyone’s needs. This type of insurance is usually acquired when the group insurance is not enough or requires certain addition. In that case one can choose their own preference of insurance company and select as much coverage as they require. This means an extensive browsing of the options available in the market as the mark ups and premiums on different plans by different companies vary to a great extent. The group and individual insurance plans provide different types of coverage. These policies further include the following types of coverage: 1) MAJOR MEDICAL EXPENSE INSURANCE Major medical expense insurance is a type of insurance which covers the excess medical expenses incurred due to sudden accidents, injuries or severe illnesses. It is usually in relation to the basic individual or group insurance that would provide the baseline insurance for the regular medical expenses. This type of insurance only covers the excess and high bills that are often faced after an accidental situation or a severe illness. Usually the amount that can be paid through this type of insurance is quite high which requires the premium to be covered by the individual through various ways.

Record Keeping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Record Keeping - Essay Example may require the students to display a number of skills that may include but are not limited to the skills of understanding and learning the lessons; operating upon the customers like cutting their hair, fixing their eyebrows, and plucking excess hair off the forehead; and also their knowledge and expertise in such functional skills as English, Math, and ICT. When the records of assessment of students of a health and beauty course needs to be kept, the teacher should maintain the records of their assignments, tests, quizzes, projects, viva, and exams. When the records of assessment of workers of a health and beauty salon are to be maintained by the salon owner, the records of the workers’ attendance; worker’s record of sick leave, emergency leaves, and other leaves; and customer reviews for and against the worker need to be maintained. All of these records need to be maintained in order to keep track of the progress and quality of work of each worker. Also, the salaries of the individual workers are established based on a variety of factors including these. The teacher needs to maintain these records of assessment in order to distinguish between students that are exceptional from the average students and also from the students that are low achievers in the class. â€Å"Teachers make judgments about student progress based on information gathered through a variety of assessment strategies† (k12.gov.sk.ca, n.d.). Maintaining these records is essential in order to keep the students motivated to work hard and invest time, effort, and resources in gaining the knowledge and developing the skills. The teacher needs these records of assessment because in the final result, each of these factors including assignments, tests, quizzes, viva, and exams are graded according to a certain percentage. The final result reflects the students’ achievement in each of these areas rather than just the final exam. Likewise, an employer of a health and beauty salon needs to maintain

Economic Benefits Of Daylight Saving Time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic Benefits Of Daylight Saving Time - Essay Example Daylight Saving Time also has the added benefit of an extra hour or so of daylight after work hours for people to get home safely and to engage in social and recreational activities. Regardless of what one decides to do, whether go home and spend time with the family or go out and spend time with friends, DST can also save energy. The combination of these advantages of DST – working when there is sunlight, finishing work and safely getting home (or going out with friends) when there is still light, spending time with people one cares about and saving energy while doing so – will help the world get out of its economic crisis if DST is extended the whole year round. The reasons are easy to understand. First, finishing work early allows everyone to do many things while there is still light. It is these â€Å"many things† that one cannot do in the dark that has the power to help solve the economic crisis. One can decide to do things on one’s own that would save money and increase savings, like clean the car, mow the lawn, or paint the roof. One could also decide to do things to spend money and keep the economy running, like go bowling, visit friends, or have a beer. As mentioned in several portions of his book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time, David Prerau enumerated many proofs of the beneficial economic effects that DST has had on many sectors of the economy, such as candy manufacturers, amusement parks, restaurants and shops, movie houses and theaters, and the sporting goods industry. While there are objections that the cost of air-conditioning warm rooms and spending on outdoor activities may increase, the overall benefits to the economy were proven by DST’s role in bringing America out of Depression.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Essay Example for Free

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Essay Is there a difference between paraphrasing and summarizing? What is it? How do you know when it is most appropriate to use one or the other in an academic paper? In academic writing there are many do not’s to refrain from in writing academically. Two of the do not’s that relates to paraphrasing and summarizing are * Do not copy from other people’s work * Do not simply copy words and phrases from the question paper; try to use your own words at all times by paraphrasing the question. These points explain there is a difference between paraphrasing and summarizing. Paraphrasing is selecting the author or writer works and referencing the ideas that are used. As well as using your own words in a length that will capture the audience attention. Summarizing is related to your ideas and thoughts of what the writer or author discuss. Plotnick (2012),†Paraphrase and summary are indispensable tools in essay writing because they allow you to include other peoples ideas without cluttering up your essay with quotations. They help you take greater control of your essay. Consider relying on either tool when an idea from one of your sources is important to your essay but the wording is not. You should be guided in your choice of which tool to use by considerations of space. But above all, think about how much of the detail from your source is relevant to your argument. If all your reader needs to know is the bare bones, then summarize. Ultimately, be sure not to rely too heavily on either paraphrase or summary. Your ideas are what matter most. Allow yourself the space to develop those ideas. † (para. How do I paraphrase? ).

District Sales Manager Essay Example for Free

District Sales Manager Essay The principle error Maureen made was underestimating how significant company culture could impact decision-making at every responsibility level. Even though Quaker had strict functional reporting lines, the organization supported an informal culture based on friendliness and openness. Most importantly, Quaker’s ethos required a high degree of influence by persuasion and charisma—not formal authority. Secondly, the communication vehicle that Maureen chose to carry and deliver her proposed plan was ill suited for interconnecting the plan and expectations. Instead of going with the organization’s pattern of utilizing personal relationships, teamwork, and the openness to express opinions and feedback, Maureen sent a memo directly to the titanium extrusion sales representatives. In the memo, she simply gave a rationale for making the change. In response, a District Sales Manager (DSM) called Maureen to ask for a more detailed explanation for the change due to its arbitrary nature. Therefore, Maureen presented her findings to the DSMs in a yearly sales meeting in the presence of the VP of Marketing. †¢Lack of empowerment from authority: Although Maureen’s plan obtained approval from her boss, Hugh Salk, there was never a statement from the VP of Sales to his subordinates (district sales managers and sales representatives) supporting the proposal. As seen in Exhibit 2, Lawrence Israel, the VP of Sales has direct power over DSMs. †¢Company’s hiring practices: Maureen was hired at a managerial position because she had a very attractive professional background that made her a highly desirable candidate for her role. However, this was not in line with the company culture that encouraged internal promotions rather than external hiring at a managerial level (‘Typically, managers who joined Quaker from other steel or metal producers found the company a confusing and frustrating place in which to work. For this and this other reasons, most of Quaker’s managerial positions were filled from within’, p2). †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Responsibility lines† structure: Due to the company’s growth, many managers and at times whole divisions were responsible to other departments even though there was not a preset hierarchy that linked them. This situation complicated to a certain extent the relationship between the product management groups and the sales force as can be inferred from the fact that the titanium DSM in Chicago had to report to two bosses (p5). †¢Sales force’s lack of adaptation: Sales representatives were assigned to accounts based on experience and usually had tough time cracking big accounts. This was in part due to lack of backing from the technical support services and sometimes from the RD labs as the larger accounts were more technically complex. It was also because there were no additional economical benefits to work on bigger accounts, thus harder work was not compensated in any manner (‘The Chicago DSM explained that a modest cash bonus existed, but that he did not use it, believing it had little effect’, p6). Hence, the only motivation for the sales people was closing a successful deal and working directly with customers which was frequent with small accounts. †¢Lack of relationship and communication: Maureen spent so much time analyzing the sales time simulations; therefore, she did not spend enough time getting to know other team members on the field. These circumstances did not favor building â€Å"trust† with the sales personnel and this lack of participation within the decision-making process hindered effective results (‘In response to the memo, one of the titanium DSMs called her to say that he had received several complaints from his salespeople about its arbitrary nature’, p8).

Cell Division Mitosis And Meiosis Biology Essay

Cell Division Mitosis And Meiosis Biology Essay The cell cycle describes the sequence of events that occurs during the life of most eukaryotic cells. It spans through mitosis and cytokinesis,( together referred to as the M phase), then through interphase (G1, S, and G2.) Cell division involves the distribution of identical genetic material, DNA, to two daughter cells. It consists of two phases, nuclear division followed by cytokinesis. Nuclear division divides the genetic material in the nucleus, while cytokinesis divides the cytoplasm.There are two kinds of nuclear division-mitosis and meiosis. Mitosis divides the nucleus so that both daughter cells are genetically identical. In contrast, meiosis is a reduction division, producing genetically variable daughter cells that contain half the genetic information of the parent cell. In either mitosis or meiosis, the whole process begins with the condensation(shortening and thickening) of the genetic material, chromatin, into tightly coiled bodies, the chromosomes. Each chromosome is made of two identical halves called sister chromatids joined at the centromere. Each chromatid consists of a single, tightly coiled molecule of DNA, the genetic material of the cell. In diploid cells, there are two copies of every chromosome, forming a pair, called homologous chromosomes. In a homologous pair of chromosomes, one homologue originated from the maternal parent, the other from the paternal parent. Mitosis There are four phases in mitosis prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Prophase The nucleoli disappear and the chromatin condenses into chromosomes → the nuclear envelope is degraded → the mitotic spindle is assembled. The development of the mitotic spindle begins as the centrosomes move apart to opposite ends (or poles) of the nucleus. As they move apart, microtubules develop from each centrosome. Microtubules from each centrosome connect to a specialized region in the centromere called a kinetochore. Metaphase The chromosomes are distributed across the metaphase plate, an imaginary plane lying at the equator, between the two poles of the spindle. Metaphase ends when the microtubules, still attached to the kinetochores, pull each chromosome apart into two chromatids. Each chromatid is complete with a centromere and a kinetochore. Once separated from its sister chromatid, each chromatid is called a chromosome. Anaphase Begins after the chromosomes are separated into sister chromatids. The microtubules connected to the chromatids shorten, thus, pulling the chromosomes to opposite poles. The microtubules shorten due to uncoupling of tubulin units at their chromosome ends. At the end of anaphase, each pole has a complete set of chromosomes, the same number of chromosomes as the original cell. Since they consist of only one chromatid, each chromosome contains only a single copy of the DNA molecule. Telophase The process of nuclear division is completed here. A nuclear envelope develops around each pole, forming two nuclei. The chromosomes within each of these nuclei disperse into chromatin, and the nucleoli reappear. A constitutive part of the Telophase called Cytokinesis (in my opinion)creates two daughter cells by a process known as cytoplasmic cleavage. Whereas conventional mitosis is all about nuclear division into two daughter nuclei, cytokinesis embodies cytoplasmic division to form two cells. Interphase Sequel to completion of mitosis (cytokinesis, inclusive), interphase begins. It is the resting period (The cell is not actively dividing) , and arguably the growth period of the cell cycle. This growth period is divided into three phases, designated G1, S, and G2 based of their inherent activities. Although the labels G1 and G2 are associated with growth and S with synthesis, it is worth noting that growth takes place during all three phases. However, S phase marks the time during which the second DNA molecule for each chromosome is synthesized. As a result of this DNA replication, each chromosome that appears at the beginning of the next mitotic division will appear as two sister chromatids. During the G2 period of growth, materials for the next mitotic division are prepared. Meiosis Meiosis is very similar to mitosis, however, major distinction is that meiosis consists of two groups of divisions, meiosis I and meiosis II (both consisting of 4 sub-stages) and occurs only in sexually reproducing organisms. In meiosis I homologous chromosomes pair at the metaphase plate, and then the homologues migrate to opposite poles, while, in meiosis II, chromosomes spread across the metaphase plate and sister chromatids separate and migrate to opposite poles. Thus, meiosis II is analogous to mitosis. A summary of each meiotic stage follows: Meiosis I Prophase I Starts like prophase of mitosis. The nucleolus disappears → chromatin condenses into chromosomes→ the nuclear envelope dissolves→ the spindle apparatus develops. Unlike mitosis, however, once the chromosomes are condensed, homologous chromosomes pair, a process called synapsis. These pairs of homologous chromosomes are called tetrads (a group of four chromatids) or bivalents (two pairs). During synapsis, corresponding regions along non-sister chromatids form close associations called chiasmata sites where genetic material is exchanged between non-sister homologous chromatids, a process called crossing over. Metaphase I Homologous pairs of chromosomes are spread across the metaphase plate. Microtubules extending from one pole are attached to the kinetochore of one member of each homologous pair. Microtubules from the other pole are connected to the second member of each homologous pair. Anaphase I Commences when homologues within tetrads uncouple as they are pulled to opposite poles. Telophase I Chromosomes are located at their respective poles, and a nuclear membrane develops around them. Each pole forms a new nucleus that will have half the number of chromosomes, but each chromosome will contain two chromatids. Since daughter nuclei will have half the number of chromosomes, cells that they eventually form will be haploid. As part of telophase I, the cells begin cytokinesis and form cleavage furrows or cell plates. In other species, cytokinesis is delayed until after meiosis II. Also, a short interphase II may begin. No replication of chromosomes occurs during this period. Instead, part II of meiosis begins in both daughter nuclei. Meiosis II Prophase II The nuclear envelope disappears and the spindle develops. There are no chiasmata and no crossing over of genetic material as in prophase I. Metaphase II Chromosomes align singly on the metaphase plate (not in tetrads as in metaphase I). Single alignment of chromosomes is exactly what happens in mitosis except that now there is only half the number of chromosomes. Anaphase II Each chromosome is pulled apart into two chromatids by the microtubules of the spindle apparatus. The chromatids (now chromosomes) migrate to their respective poles. Similar to what happens in mitosis except that now there is only half the number of chromosomes. Telophase II The nuclear envelope reappears at each pole and cytokinesis occurs. The end result of meiosis is four haploid cells (chromosome makeup of each daughter cell designated by n). Each cell contains half the number of chromosomes, and each chromosome consists of only one chromatid. Later in interphase, a second chromatid in each chromosome is replicated, but the cell will still have only half the number of chromosomes. Consequence of Meiotic Error Sometimes, a set of chromosomes has an extra or a missing chromosome. This occurs because of non-disjunction -the chromosomes failed to separate properly during meiosis. This error, which produces the wrong number of chromosomes in a cell, results in severe genetic defects. For example, humans typically have 23 pairs of chromosomes, but individuals with Downs syndrome have three-instead of two-copies of the 21st chromosome. A condition known as trisomy and designated as 2n+1 Chromosomal abnormalities also occur if one or more segments of a chromosome break. The most common example is translocation (a segment of a chromosome moves to another chromosome). Translocation involves transposons, DNA segments that have the ability to move around the genome. Sometimes when they move, they leave behind mutations, and they can cause mutations by inserting into a gene. Fortunately, in most cases, damaged DNA can usually be repaired with special repair enzymes. A Comparison between Mitosis and Meiosis Regulation of the Cell Cycle The cell-cycle control system triggers the events of the cell cycle and ensures that these events are properly timed and occur in the correct order. The control system responds to various intracellular and extracellular signals and arrests the cycle when the cell either fails to complete an essential cell-cycle process or encounters unfavourable environmental or intracellular conditions. This control system comprises of several checkpoints a critical control point in the cell cycle. Major checkpoints include G1, G2, and M checkpoints G1 checkpoint the Restriction Point. It ensures that the cell is large enough to divide, and that enough nutrients are available to support the resulting daughter cells. G2 checkpoint ensures that DNA replication in S phase has been completed successfully Metaphase checkpoint ensures that all of the chromosomes are attached to the mitotic spindle by a kinetochore. Cyclin-dependent protein kinases (Cdks) as the name implies, depend on cyclin for their activity. Oscillations in the activities of various cyclin-Cdk complexes control various cell-cycle events. Thus, actuation of S-phase cyclin-Cdk complexes (S-Cdk) initiates S phase, while activation of M-phase cyclin-Cdk complexes (M-Cdk) triggers mitosis. The mechanisms that control the activities of cyclin-Cdk complexes include phosphorylation of the Cdk subunit, binding of Cdk inhibitor proteins (CIPs), proteolysis of cyclins, and changes in the transcription of genes encoding Cdk regulators. The cell-cycle control system also depends crucially on two additional enzyme complexes, the anaphase promoting complex (APC) and SCF ubiquitin ligases, which catalyze the ubiquitylation and consequent destruction of specific regulatory proteins that control critical events in the cycle. Growth factors Cellular plasma membranes have receptors for external molecules, or growth factors, that stimulate a cell to divide. One such growth factor is produced by damaged cells, stimulating other cells to divide. More than 50 different growth factors are known. Density-dependent inhibition Conventionally, cells stop dividing when the surrounding cell density reaches a certain maximum. Anchorage dependence Some cells cannot divide except they are attached to an external surface, such as the flat surface of a neighbouring cell (or the side of a culture dish). Cells Which No Longer Respond to Cell-Cycle Controls Cancer Cells Cancer is characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and division. Transformed/Mutated cells, cells that have become cancerous, proliferate without regard to cell cycle checkpoints (Cancer cells do not exhibit contact inhibition), density-dependent inhibition (If cultured, they continue to grow on top of each other when the total area of the petri dish has been covered ), anchorage dependence, and other regulatory mechanisms (or possess abnormal signal transduction sequences which falsely convey growth signals thereby bypassing normal growth checks). Thus, cancer is a disease of the cell cycle. Acknowledgement All diagrams/tables were got from http://www.uic.edu/classes/bios/bios100/f05pm/lect13.htm

Setting in the Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy Essay -- Papers

Setting in the Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy The Mayor of Casterbridge is set in Dorchester, according to its geographical location, and many significant events occur in the public houses of the town and its historical earthwork - the Ring. It is easily visible that each of these places has the purpose that Hardy indicates. The Ring is called the Maumbury Ring; it was used locally as an amphitheatre and an execution ground. It is ridges and ditches of earthwork; Hardy describes, 'The amphitheatre was a huge circular enclosure, with a notch at opposite extremities of its diameter north and south', which is referred to abruptly as 'spittoon of Jotuns'. A reference book on Dorchester's Ring says, 'The site of the town gallows, giving huge crowds a good view of hangings from its circular banks.' Another ruthless description of the ambiance around the Ring is 'The sun was resting on the hill like a drop of blood on an eyelid...' Here two important meetings of Henchard took place - with Susan and Lucetta. They end happily; yet they are the onset of tragedies: the ones responsible for further progression of the novel. The description of its rigidity seems like a prediction into the future. Hardy chooses this location for these meetings because they are tentative meetings; so its solemnity is almost as if eerie spirits are watching over them - that's why the fact that it is an amphitheatre and an execution ground. From these meetings, all Henchard's intentions go wrong. Elizabeth-Jane is not his genuine daughter and his letters from Lucetta are not successfully delivered - all resolved to doom, hypercritically. ... ... here.' 'I say - what a good foundation for a skimmity-ride!' This is the only time that this public house is mentioned in the novel, yet it has beckoned forth another turning point of the novel - from this pagan, underworld place by the mistake of Jopp who failed to deliver the love letters unharmed. Hardy has selectively used the available places in Dorchester to his advantage as it can be seen categorized throughout the novel. This obscured device rouses different reactions as he guides through the whole progression. They are all real locations, despite the fact that there is not evidence for the existence of Peter's Finger, and that has also added another tint to the sense of discovery in this novel. He has cleverly used all the places to maximum efficiency regarding their authentic profile in real world.

Lumiere Brothers :: essays papers

Lumiere Brothers A documentary usually captures the truth on camera. Louis and Auguste Lumiere projected the first film for a paying audience in March 1895 called Workers leaving the factory. Then later on the brothers screened ten films. Their films showed events in their everyday life and of their children. Throughout the filming of this documentary the voice over of Bertard Travanier is heard. At the beginning the film looks similar to a slide show, a series of photographs with smooth transitions dissolves and fade-ins show a smoother presentation than a slide show. As Bertard speaks of the brothers and the effects of editing you are able to see there is no editing, just scenes of people walking. Since the cinematographe could only film 50 seconds after being cranked up every time that the 50 seconds is up you are able to actually see it the break in the film. I think the Lumiere films are so interesting because you witness the Lumiere’s home life but in a way that exposes the different aspects of film they were trying to explore. My favorite was when the little girl was learning to walk and you are able to see this big crack in the sidewalk ahead of her. They called it the first suspense movie and it is so humorous because it is true. As the little girl is walking I am wondering if she is going to fall or if the person behind her will catch her, SUSPENSE. In the end she falls. One of the so-called â€Å"masterpieces† was first shown, the pulling up of the train at the train station. The train is coming at a diagonal so it looks as if the train is going to speed right through the screen. It was rumored that people were scared and ran( Martin Nov5). Nowadays, that would seem ridiculous but back then I could see how it could scare them. In one segment where the Lumiere Brothers are knocking down a wall they accidently discovered what would occur if the film was rewound and Louis decided to use this in his movie.

Comparing Individuality and Transcendence in Wordsworth, Tennyson, and

Individuality and Transcendence in Wordsworth, Tennyson, and Joyce      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The development of the scientific method started a revolution in thought   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   that changed how people viewed the world. Scientists tested theories by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   creating experiments and carefully observing the results. The importance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of scientific discoveries raised questions about the role of the observer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     According to Ralph Koster, the importance of observation in science led to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the rise of the individual and an awareness of subjectivity. Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   realized that the individual could determine the outcome of an experiment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and that people could interpret events differently depending on prior   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   experience.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition to changing the role of the individual, science also changed   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   people's views on religion. By contemplating experimental results,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   scientists created rules for how the universe operated. Nature became a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   knowable force that scientists described in a logical collection of laws.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, science took away much of the world's mystery and changed how people   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   viewed God. If the universe operated by rules, it wasn't necessary for God   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   to be involved every moment. God became a clockmaker who started the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   universe and sat back to let it run.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The rise of individuality and changing views on religion resulted in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   insecurity and isolation. Before the Romantic era, achieving oneness was   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   often thought of as an act of grace given in mysterious moments. God was   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ineffable, but just. Because science encouraged the clockmaker view of ... ...nity. He embraces it all in a unique   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   vision. Amazingly, in this total embrace, he recovers mystery lost in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   modern civilization.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Joyce, James. "The Dead." The Norton Anthology English Literature. Ed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     M.H. Abrams. New York: WW Norton, 2000. 2240-68.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Koster, Ralph. "Seeking the Beyond" 29 March 3003.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.legendmud.org/Ralph/papers/transcendence.html      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wordsworth, William. "Preface to Lyrical Ballads." The Norton Anthology   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: WW Norton, 2000. 238-50      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wordsworth, William. "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey." The   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Norton Anthology English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: WW Norton,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2000. 235-237.               

Money Laundering : Global Problem Case Presentation Essay

MONEY LAUNDERING : GLOBAL PROBLEM CASE PRESENTATION AS PART OF LEGAL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS , MBA Money laundering is the process of concealing illicit sources of money or in simple language it is the process of washing dirty money (money earned through illegal activities) to make it appear to be legitimate. Now question arises that who launders the money? No doubt, it is always launder by criminals. And who helps the criminals to launders the money is also a money launder. Money laundering is the dynamic that enables criminal activity of all descriptions to grow and expand. INTRODUCTION Money laundering is the process of concealing illicit sources of money or in simple language it is the process of washing dirty money (money earned through illegal activities) to make it appear to be legitimate. Now question arises that who launders the money? No doubt, it is always launder by criminals. And who helps the criminals to launders the money is also a money launder. Money laundering is the dynamic that enables criminal activity of all descriptions to grow and expand. As per Cambridge Dictionary, definition of money laundering is â€Å"The crime of moving money that has been obtained illegally through banks and other businesses to make it seem as if the money has been obtained legally.† If we look at historical aspect of money laundering it is not a new concept. There are historical evidences that in China, merchants would hide their wealth from rulers (4000 BC). Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount of money laundered, either worldwide or within their national economy. In 1996, the International Monetary Fund estimated that two to five percent of the worldwide global economy involved laundered money. However, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), an intergovernmental body set up to combat money laundering, stated that â€Å"overall it is absolutely impossible to produce a reliable estimate of the amount of money laundered and therefore the FATF does not publish any figures in this regard†. Academic commentators have likewise been unable to estimate the volume of money with any degree of assurance. Mechanism of Money Laundering: There are 3 stages of money laundering: 1. Placement Stage: At this stage launderer introduces the illegal money into the legal financial system. It could be done to deposit money into financial institutions by various methods. 2. Layering stage: At this stage launderer engages in movements of funds to distance them from their source. Various financial instruments are purchased and resale many times especially through Shell companies and financial institutions. 3. The Integration Stage: At this stage, the funds re-enter the legitimate economy. Then launderer may choose to invest the funds into real estate, luxury assets, or business ventures. Methods of money laundering: The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication 1. Hawala 2. Shell Corporation and co. 3. Structuring 4. Bulk cash smuggling 5. Trade based laundering 6. Round tripping 7. Bank capture 8. Casinos 9. Real estate 10. Black salaries 11. Fictional loans 12. Tax amnesties REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: premble: The prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) was enacted in 2003 and brought in to force with effect from 1st July 2005 to prevent money laundering and to provide for attachment, seizure and confiscation of property obtained or derived, directly or indirectly, from or involved in money laundering and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Necessary Notifications/Rules under the said Act were published in the Gazette of India on July 01, 2005. Pursuant to the recommendations made the Financial Action Task Force on anti- money laundering standards, SEBI has issued a master circular No. CIR/ISD/AML/3/2010 dated December 31, 2010 on anti-money laundering/ Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) in line with the FATF recommendations and PMLA Act, 2002. As per the Guidelines on Anti Money Laundering standards notified by SEBI, All registered intermediaries have been advised to ensure that proper policy frameworks are put in place. The objective is to ensure that we identify and discourage any money laundering or terrorist financing activities and that the measures taken by us are adequate enough to follow the spirit of the Act and guidelines As per the provisions of the PMLA, Intermediary includes a stockbroker, sub-broker, share transfer Agent, banker to an issue, trustee to a trust deed, registrar to an issue, asset management company, depository participant, merchant banker, underwriter, portfolio manager, investment adviser and any other intermediary associated with the Securities market and registered under section 12 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act,1992(SEBI Act) shall have to adhere to client account opening procedures and maintain records of such transactions as prescribed by the PMLA and Rules notified there under. SEBI has issued necessary directives vide circulars from time to time, covering issues related to Know your Client (KYC) norms, Anti- Money Laundering(AML), Client Due Diligence(CDD) and combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT). The directives lay down the minimum requirements and it is emphasized that the intermediaries may, according to their requirements, specify additional disclosures to be made by clients to address concerns of money laundering and suspicious transactions undertaken by clients. Obligations under Prevention of Money Laundering [PML] Act 2002 Section 12 of PML Act 2002 places certain obligations on every Financial Institution/Intermediary/ banking company which include: (i) Maintaining a record of prescribed transactions. (ii) Furnishing information of prescribed transactions to the specified Authority (iii) Verifying and maintaining records of the identity of the investors/customers (iv) Preserving records in respect of (i), (ii), (iii) above for a period of 10 years from the date of cessation of transactions i.e, the date of termination of account or business relationship between the client/ investor and the intermediary Legal highlights of PML Act 2002: * Special courts: The trial for the offences mentioned in the act are conducted by a special court, also called â€Å"PMLA Court†. The Central Government (in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court), designates a Sessions Court as Special Court. Any appeal against order passed by PMLA court can directly be filed in the High Court. * Punishment: Punishable with rigorous imprisonment from three years to seven years. He could also be liable to fine of upto 5 lakh. * Burden of proof: A person, who is accused of having committed the offence of money laundering, has to prove that alleged proceeds of crime are in fact lawful property OBJECTIVE OF PML Act 2002: The main objectives of the PMLA are as follows: 1. To have a proper Customer Due Diligence (CDD) process before registering clients. 2. To monitor/maintain records of all cash transactions of the value of more than Rs.10 lakhs. 3. To maintain records of all series of integrally connected cash transactions within one calendar month. 4. To monitor and report suspicious transactions. 5. To discourage and identify money laundering or terrorist financing activities. 6. To take adequate and appropriate measures to follow the spirit of the PMLAct 2002. Current Issue of money laundering by Indian banks: The on-camera sting carried out by website cobrapost.com has not only brought into focusthe presence of black money in our economy but also the methods used to convert it into white. Estimates of black money circulating in the system range between 10-30% of the actual size of the economy: Rs 88 lakh crore. As holding large chunks of cash is cumbersome, the search is always on for ways to convert it into mainstream assets. From the expose carried by cobrapost, it looks like even Indian banks are being used to launder cash of their prospective clients, taking advantage of the lax know-your-client(KYC) procedures. Video-clippings showed some employees of select branches of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank offering full support to bringing cash into the mainstream. Analysis: A person with black money is told by the customer relations executives to deposit cash in any bank and prepare demand draft (DD) in favor of single-premium insurance products. KYC norms are generally flouted while making DDs. Or clients were advised to make deposits in small amounts, generally below Rs 50000, for which KYC norms are less stringent or the compliance is ignored. Then this investment is routed in products with a horizon of seven or more years as tax authorities have statute limitations of asking assesses to produce documents going back beyond six years. The insuranceproducts chosen are such that the proceeds are tax-free in the hands of the investor. Thus, a person can easily get away without paying any tax on his black moneyand convert it into white. Second, investors can also use the recent window of investing an amount of Rs 20000 per fund house per year. On the face of it, Rs 20000 may look small. But considering there are 40 asset management companies (AMCs) in India, an investor can put in as much as Rs 8 lakh a year in mutual funds and hold the investment beyond six years to escape the tax authorities. A family with five heads can invest Rs 40 lakh in mutual funds in bits of Rs 20000 to conveniently convert the cash into white seven years down the line. As the amount per investment is low, the transaction may skip the taxman’s lenses. Also, those investing up to Rs 50000 per year through the systematic investment plan have been kept out of the KYC net. Such loopholes are being used for money laundering. Current norms state that investors can become KYC-compliant while making investment. The investment is accepted even if the KYC information is incomplete. Thus, a person can deliberately give wrong information so that the application is rejected. But this does not affect his investment. The form will have the remark ‘KYC not OK’, which hardly matters as he can still redeem the proceeds. An investor can repeat the procedure by submitting wrong KYC for each of his investment. Bank officials are interested in such clients as these investors have few options and tend to invest in insurance products where banks earn hefty commissions. Also, a large portion of the commissions come back to the employees as performance incentives. The staff are under constant pressure to meet sales quotas as their jobs and career growth are at stake. Thus, they resort to mis-selling and money laundering to achieve their internal targets. Many private banks are also focusing on non-core areas like sales of financial instruments to boost their non-core banking income. Very often a bank’s strength is judged by the fee-based income as it is unaffected by the interest-rate cycle. On the face of it, the KYC rules for transactions in financial instruments put in place by regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) may look quite stringent. But the cobrapost investigation has revealed the loopholes. Thus, Sebi and the RBI should take the incident seriously and see how KYC can be made leak-proof. Punishment for flouting norms should be stricter for all financial intermediaries. References: 1. Dirty Dealing, the untold truth about global money laundering: Peter Lilley 2. Money laundering, An insight into the dark world of financial frauds :BuhreLal 3. Capital Market : April 1-14 2013 4. PML Act 2002 5. Cambridge dictionary

Family And Kinship In India

India offers astounding variety in virtually every aspect of social life. Diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and caste groups crosscut Indian society, which is also permeated with immense urban-rural differences and gender distinctions. Differences between north India and south India are particularly significant, especially in systems of kinship and marriage. Indian society is multifaceted to an extent perhaps unknown in any other of the world’s great civilizations—it is more like an area as varied as Europe than any other single nation-state.Adding further variety to contemporary Indian culture are rapidly occurring changes affecting various regions and socioeconomic groups in disparate ways. Yet, amid the complexities of Indian life, widely accepted cultural themes enhance social harmony and order. Many Indian societies were organized around principles of kinship. Kinship ties based on bloodlines or marriage formed the basis of th e political, economic, and religious system. Succession to political office and religious positions, ownership and inheritance of property, and even whom one could or could not marry were determined on the basis of membership in a kin group.Social bonds with relatives must be reinforced at family events or at rites crucial to the religious community. Indian Society Hierarchy India is a hierarchical society. Whether in north India or south India, Hindu or Muslim, urban or village, virtually all things, people, and social groups are ranked according to various essential qualities. Although India is a political democracy, notions of complete equality are seldom evident in daily life. Societal hierarchy is evident in caste groups, amongst individuals, and in family and kinship groups.Castes are primarily associated with Hinduism, but caste-like groups also exist among Muslims, Indian, Christians, and other religious communities. Within most villages or towns, everyone knows the relative rankings of each locally represented caste, and behavior is constantly shaped by this knowledge. Individuals are also ranked according to their wealth and power. For example, some powerful people, or â€Å"big men,† sit confidently on chairs, while â€Å"little men† come before them to make requests, either standing or squatting not presuming to sit beside a man of high status as an equal.Hierarchy plays an important role within families and kinship groupings also, where men outrank women of similar age, and senior relatives outrank junior relatives. Formal respect is accorded family members—for example, in northern India, a daughter-in-law shows deference to her husband, to all senior in-laws, and to all daughters of the household. Siblings, too, recognize age differences, with younger siblings addressing older siblings by respectful terms rather than by name. Social Interdependence One of the great themes pervading Indian life is social interdependence.People are born into groups–families, clans, sub castes, castes, and religious communities–and live with a constant sense of being part of and inseparable from these groups. A corollary is the notion that everything a person does properly involves interaction with other people. A person's greatest dread, perhaps, is the possibility of being left alone, without social support, to face the necessary challenges of life. This sense of interdependence is extended into the theological realm: the very shape of a person's life is seen as being greatly influenced by divine beings with whom an ongoing relationship must be maintained.Psychologically, family members typically experience intense emotional interdependence. Economic activities, too, are deeply imbedded in a social nexus. Through a multitude of kinship ties, each person is linked with kin in villages and towns near and far. Almost everywhere a person goes; he can find a relative from whom he can expect moral and practical s upport. In every activity, social ties can help a person and the absence of them can bring failure. Seldom do people carry out even the simplest tasks on their own. When a small child eats, his mother puts the food into his mouth with her own hand.When a girl brings water home from the well in pots on her head, someone helps her unload the pots. A student hopes that an influential relative or friend can facilitate his college admission. A young person anticipates that parents will arrange his or her marriage. Finally, a person facing death expects that relatives will conduct the proper funeral rites ensuring his own smooth passage to the next stage of existence and reaffirming social ties among mourners. This sense of interdependence extends into the theological realm.From birth onward, a child learns that his â€Å"fate† has been â€Å"written† by divine forces and that his life is shaped by powerful deities with whom an ongoing relationship must be maintained. Social interaction is regarded as being of the highest priority, and social bonds are expected to be long lasting. Even economic activities that might in Western culture involve impersonal interactions are in India deeply imbedded in a social nexus. All social interaction involves constant attention to hierarchy, respect, honor, the feelings of others, rights and obligations, hospitality, and gifts of food, clothing, and other desirable items.Finely tuned rules of etiquette help facilitate each individual's many social relationships. . Indian Family structure . Indian family structure is believed to be the unit that teaches the values and worth of an honest living that have been carried down across generations. Since the puranic ages, Indian family structure was that of a joint family indicating every person of the same clan living together. However, this idea of elaborate living had been disintintegrated in smaller family units. The essential themes of Indian cultural life are learned wi thin the bosom of a family.The joint family is highly valued, ideally  consisting of several generations residing, working, eating, and worshiping together. Such families include men related through the male line, along with their wives, children, and unmarried daughters. A wife usually lives with her husband’s relatives, although she retains important bonds with her natal family. Even in rapidly modernizing India, the traditional joint household remains for most Indians the primary social force, in both ideal and practice. Large families tend to be flexible and well suited to modern Indian life, especially for the more than two-thirds of Indians who are involved in agriculture.As in most primarily agricultural societies, cooperating kin help provide mutual economic security. The joint family is also common in cities, where kinship ties are often crucial to obtaining employment or financial assistance. Many prominent families, such as the Tatas, Birlas, and Sarabhais, retai n joint family arrangements as they cooperate in controlling major financial empires The ancient ideal of the joint family retains its power, but today actual living arrangements vary widely. Many Indians live in nuclear families—-a couple with their unmarried children—-but belong to strong networks of beneficial kinship ties.Often, clusters of relatives live as neighbors, responding readily to their kinship obligations. As they expand, joint families typically divide into smaller units, which gradually grow into new joint families, continuing a perpetual cycle. Today, some family members may move about to take advantage of job opportunities, typically sending money home to the larger family. FAMILY TRANSFORMATION An Analytical look on various studies: by different sociologist point of views The Study of family in India centers on the debate of joint family versus nuclear family.The first authentic study on family comes from the writings of Sir Henry Maine, who was law adviser to the colonial government of India. He developed intellectual interest in family studies. He indicated that joint family is characterized by: †¢ Common property holding. †¢ Absolute authority of ‘Karta’. He considered that joint family is corporate unit where people make contribution differently but share rewards on the basis of their needs. He said that joint family sustains in India because it is considered as moral institution with the members are obliged to perform rituals for common dead ancestorsGS Ghurye considered that ‘joint family is a product of Indian culture that glorified classical values. There is universal presence of joint family cutting across caste, religion which promoted unity among people in Indian society. PN Prabhu in his analysis of family and kinship in India considers that individual association with joint family is driven by moralist, therefore when morals is replaced by individualism (when tradition is replaced by m odernity) then joint family is transformed into nuclear family.Irawati Karve offered an exhaustive definition of joint family. She writes that joint family refers to a social group where people belonging to 3 – 4 generations organically related to each other, hold property in common, share common residence, eat food prepared in common kitchen, participate in common rituals and ceremonies and they have, obligations towards the head of the family known as ‘Karta’. She considers that joint family is a product of culture and therefore despite economic transformation joint family system persists in India.It sustains itself as it is driven by cultural ideology rather than driven by economic interest. During 1960s two group of sociologist took considerable interest in the field of family study. One group conforming to modern theory looked into complete integration of joint family system whereas the other group went for empirical studies to examine regional variations in family transformation under the various process of modernity. These two theories cannot be considered as qualitatively different because there position stand vary only on the question of the degree of changes in family.MN Srinivas, SC Dubay find out that there is a strong linkage between caste and joint family. Empirical study indicates that higher castes go for joint family system and lower castes go for nuclear family. Therefore joint family is driven by economic logic rather than cultural moralist. It is also noticed that joint family is not breaking down completely under the influence of urban living. Alan Rose in a study of Bangalore finds out that around 70% of families manifest either structural joint ness of functional joint ness or a mixture of both.MS Gore in his study of Agarwals of Delhi finds out that how mother – son relationship precedes over husband – wife relationship and family operates as a strong support base to its members in matters related to se lection of occupation, financial assistance and selection of mates. TN Madan indicates how residential separation has not given way to break down of joint family. In his theory of â€Å"money order economy† he indicates that family joint ness has always been enduring in case of India. Thus these scholars concluded by saying that family transformation in India is not a replica of family transformation in the West.Therefore social change in India is Indian in character and so Western theories and models cannot explain family transformation in Indian society Household dimensions of the Family Family transformation in India has puts a fundamental question that, whether in India joint household is disintegrating or joint family is disintegrating. He finds out that proportion of joint household is more today in comparison to past. He points out the reasons for the same i. e. due to rising population; construction of house has become costly, migration in search of employment etc. Bi gger joint households are now splitting into smaller households.People living in different households have strong emotional ties therefore joint household is disintegrating but not joint family and so family should be studied from household perspective and changes in household and family patterns must be investigated to examine actual nature of family transformation in India. Classical sociologists were greatly committed to family study either by considering family as cornerstone of human society or by looking into changing nature of society. With the advent of modernity it was perceived that household is a residential space but family is a social institution.However, with the rise of feminism both as an ideology and as social movement, women's approach towards marriage has gone through a series of transformation. AM Shah in his book â€Å"household dimension of the family in India† indicate that even in traditional context, household and family do not mean similar things. Ci ting the case of India he considers that family and household were absolutely different but family studies in India immensely focused attention on the transformation of joint family into nuclear family. Household refers to residential space where people living together may or may not constitute family.Looking at household pattern one could effectively study nature and form of transformation taking place in Indian society. In recent analysis of global migration and family pattern, it has been found out that in countries like Philippines and India a large chunk of women in search of employment go out to advanced countries of the world. Though most of them are married they don't stay with their family. As a result they constitute independent household. These households may constitute many friends living together or a person living with working partner to whom he/she is not married or a person living all alone.It is generally perceived in case of India that household is less durable an alternative to family system, which gives more importance to friendship than kinship. Household offer immense individual liberty, sexual freedom, limited or no liability towards the other members of the household. Thus it can be concluded that household is evolving into a replacement for family in many developing countries including India. Therefore sociology of kinship is shifting its focus from the study of marriage and family to the study of friendship and household.Sexual Division of Labour Feminist sociologists are of the opinion that whether it’s joint family or nuclear family, in no way family transformation is affecting to the status of women in India. Therefore reproduction, sexuality, division of labour are all determined by the values of patriarchy than by principles of equality. Talcott Parson indicates that industrialisation, urbanization, migration have contributed for occupational mobility, empowerment of women and gender gap within and outside family has suffi ciently been reduced.The modernist theory also indicates that in case of India relationship between husband and wife is now proceeding over parent-child relationship. Conjugal relationship is considered as more important than obligation towards kinship. Irrespective of gender every child inherits the property from parents, selection of mates is no longer family’s responsibility and childbirth is greatly a matter of economics and mutual agreement between spouse. Therefore modernity has broken down traditional form of marriage, hierarchical form of relationship.Traditionally, males have controlled key family resources, such as land or businesses, especially in high-status groups. Following traditional Hindu law, women did not inherit real estate and were thus beholden to their male kin who controlled land and buildings. Under Muslim customary law, women can—and do—inherit real estate, but their shares have typically been smaller than those of males. Modern legisla tion allows all Indian women to inherit real estate. Traditionally, for those families who could afford it, women have controlled some wealth in the form of precious jewelry.In the Indian household, lines of hierarchy and authority are clearly drawn, and ideals of conduct help maintain family harmony. [i] All family members are socialized to accept the authority of those above them in the hierarchy. The eldest male acts as family head, and his wife supervises her daughters-in-law, among whom the youngest has the least authority. Reciprocally, those in authority accept responsibility for meeting the needs of other family members. Systems of Kinship in India Kinship is considered as the heart and soul of Indian social life. DespiteIndia's exposure to technological and industrial modernity, descent plays a significant role in the life of people. GS Ghurye writes in detail about various descent groups living together in different regions of the country carrying different names and ident ities. These different lineage groups bringing together a multi-civilization thereby making India a land of pluralism. However, all these descent groups imbibe common rules of marriage, common food behavior, common cultural, religious ideology radiating from Hinduism and that made Indian society a land of diversity.Indologists look into the role of descent in defining marriage, family and kinship in India. The people belonging to similar descent group are located in a given region where they worship to their common ancestors, follow common way of life and when the size of descent group expands, they migrate to different areas but still carry their identity. Therefore caste is nothing but an expanded descent system that maintains its boundary, distinguishing itself from the other caste.Andre Beteille indicates association of man and kinship is so strong in India that voting behavior is driven by kinship rather than on the basis of merit. In all the political parties of India kinship is the primary source of political recruitment. Thus democratic polity in India is engaged in social and cultural reproduction. In case of India family/kinship offers ideological, economic, infrastructural support to individual to determine the nature of occupation.In conclusion it can be said that the role of descent and kinship not only determines the private sphere of an individual’s life like marriage, family, household, gender role, rituals but also has great influence over his public life like occupational selection, political participation and identity formation. Therefore the role of descent and kinship has changed very little under the influence of modernity in India and so while studying social transformation one cannot afford to ignore the same.Lineage system can be divided into two parts in India i.e. †¢ Unilineal systems: a system of determining descent groups in which one belongs to one's father's or mother's lineage. Both patrilineality and matrilineality are types of unilineal descent. †¢ Non-Unilineal systems: a system where there exists multiple forms of relationship. Classical anthropologists divide descent groups into two fundamental types such as: †¢ Patrilineal : inheriting or determining descent through the male line. †¢ Matrilineal : inheriting or determining descent through the female line. Types of kinship systemsKinship is a relationship between any entity that share a genealogical origin (related to family, lineage, history), through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. The first sociologist to study kinship systems in India is Irawati Karve, she divided India into four different kinship zones such as: †¢ North Indian kinship systems. †¢ South Indian kinship systems. †¢ Central Indian kinship systems. †¢ Eastern Indian kinship systems. North Indian kinship systems This kinship system is present in Hindi speaking belt and also in areas where Aryan culture influence is subs tantive.It includes West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. In North India kinship systems, the rules of marriage is highly exhaustive because a large body of people are excluded from alliance relationship. One cannot receive women from his mother’s group or mother's mother group, father’s mother group and from within his own village. Hence exogamy is quite exhaustive and marriage involves not intra-family ties but inter-village ties. Residential system is very Virilocal (bride lives with husband's father’s group) type . In North Indian kinship father – son relationship precedes over husband – wife relationship.South Indian kinship systems This type of relationship system is largely present in all southern states and some of its influence is also largely noticed in pockets of Maharashtra and Orissa. In southern India kinship systems, no distinction is made between patrilineal or matrilineal. In case of South India cross cousins marriage take place and so ex ogamy is not exhaustive like in North India. The relationship between husband and wife is not subdued to father – son relationship as in case of North India. Hostility of relationship between the in laws driven by suspicion is also weak in South India.Central Indian kinship systems This system is practised in case of Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP which is a mixture of elements of North and South India. In case of Rajputs marriage is greatly determined on the basis of family status of girl. Rajputs are permitted to marry any girl on the basis of their choice rather than simply follow the rules of caste. Marathas are divided into 32 clans which are put into primary, secondary and tertiary divisions and so the rules of marriage are determined accordingly between various divisions.In case of â€Å"Kumbi† of Gujarat one is not supposed to marry women belonging to first-generation from father's side and three generations from mother's side. In case of Rajasthan on the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiyamassive marriages take place involving people belonging to different age groups and their rules of marriage is sufficiently relaxed. Eastern India kinship systems It largely includes kinship patterns followed by different tribal groups like Munda of Orissa, Manipuri of Manipur, Nagas, Kukis and Khasi. These kinship systems don't follow specific patterns .A daughter carries the name of patrilineal grandmother and son carries the name of patrilineal grandfather, divorce is common among them In conclusion these regional variations in kinship largely speaks about differential residential patterns, entitlement on the basis of gender, social status of men, women and children bringing the point back home that Indian culture is largely pluralistic in character. Therefore unity in India should not be seen as destruction of the process of diversity but rather it should respect the process of diversity.CONCLUSIONGradual changes have been ushered in by religious, social, a nd cultural reforms. Industrialization, urbanization, and technological advances have been instrumental in changing family structures, values, and lifestyles. Ganeswar Misra (1995) emphasized that middle- and upper-class families in urban areas were undergoing a dramatic transformation because the younger generation is questioning power issues, traditional roles, hierarchical relationships, obligations, loyalty, and deference for kinsmen and elderly.With changing times, Indian family structure, functions, traditional division of labor, and authority patterns have altered, favoring more egalitarian relations between the husband and the wife and also a move toward more shared decision-making patterns between parents and children. Despite these changes, the fact remains that most individuals continue to value and give top priority to the family, and families continue to maintain strong kinship bonds and ties.