ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
As Thomas Brown Jr. said, there is more for us in life than the 8-9 hours that we engage ourselves to do work. Douglas McGregor, situated at the MIT Sloan School of Management, came up with two theories of how humans are motivated differently to perform tasks. McGregor Theory X stated that human beings are generally lazy and have no motivation to work. He also added given a chance they would avoid working. Thus, with this in mind, the managers in this school of thought believe that the workers should be supervised and coerced to work (Sapru 27). Theory Y states that human beings are self-motivated and have self-control. They enjoy work although it drains their physical and mental strength (Sapru 28-29). It states that the workers feel that they have a responsibility to work, and thus there is no need to force them to perform their duties. Lars Svenden associates work with boredom as it inconveniences an individual not to do what he or she loves. He envisions work as a burden, but he also acknowledges that it leads to a prolonged life which leads to better physical and mental health (Svenden 32). These two conflicting views have been extended from the work place to our homes. Generally, it is believed that after the working hours we go home to relax, and get ready for the next day in the office. Mostly this is not the case. Instead of coming home into a relaxed setting one is confronted by various house chores that include doing dishes, cooking dinner, cleaning the house and various other duties. This makes some individuals dread going home and it is amplified if one has kids as they are known to be playful, messy, noisy and destructive. The peaceful environment is suddenly changed into a playground. One has to keep vigilance to ensure everything is in place which also in extreme cases increases stress levels (Familylobby). The difference between the workplace and home is that, in the workplace one is paid to perform his duties, but at home there is no monetary reward to do the duties. These home tasks, which include doing dishes, making time for the kids, and house cleaning are recurrent and have to be performed daily. Hence, this may lead to employing a nanny or butler to take care of those duties which lead to extra expenses. Deadlines set by managers lead to employees doing all they can to meet them, and this leads them to transfer incomplete tasks to their homes. It is less rewarding since one works for extra hours to complete the tasks at home, but is not compensated for the amount of time spent. Some people have acknowledged the importance of a home office where they can do their work and beat deadlines. As Lars Svenden puts it, boredom kicks in, and one is not rested enough to efficiently work the next morning (Svenden 69). Hence the home becomes the second workplace whereby the work done is not quantified with the rewards leading to further stress and frustration. In conclusion, as McGregor’s theory X describes human beings as lazy beings, and need some motivation to work. This can be in the
Introduction Researchers agree that successful businesses depend on the effective management of corporate culture, employee motivation, and workforce diversities (Dipboye & Halverson 2004; Ackroyd & Crowdy 1990). This agreement stems from successive years of research, which have studied employee-company relations. For example, successive neo-liberal governments in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) have given a lot of freedom to companies and managers to redefine the working conditions and practices that affect employee-company relations (Ogbonna & Wilkinson 2003). Practically, governments have influenced employee-company relations by loosening the restrictions on labour union powers and limiting the extent that company employees could oppose managerial strategies. The same governments have achieved this objective by reducing competitive pressures on companies and eliminating widespread redundancies in the corporate space (Ogbonna & Wilkinson 2003). Through these legislative interventions, since the early eighties, many companies have enjoyed the freedom of adopting different managerial theories for improving employee-company relations. The adoption of the above governance frameworks requires the careful implementation of managerial strategies to meet company goals because the process of managing corporate culture, employee motivation, and workforce diversity is complex. Based on this analysis, this paper investigates different considerations that company managers need to be aware of when they manage corporate culture, employee motivation, and workforce diversity programs. To explore these issues, this paper divides into three sections that investigate corporate culture issues, employee motivation issues, and diversity issues. They outline below Managing Corporate Culture Influence of External Factors on Organisational Culture As organisational heads create distinct cultures that differentiate their organisations from others, they need to be aware of the influence of the societal culture in their organisations. Indeed, organisations cannot operate in isolation. They are, therefore, subject to external organisational factors that often influence employee perceptions and attitudes in the organisation. An experiment by Ackroyd & Crowdy (1990) to investigate the behaviours of employees of a Cincinnati slaughterhouse showed that most of the employees experienced social s
What is lean production? The central idea of lean production is to maximize benefits using fewer resources. This concept sounds as simple as ‘get more from less’. Lean production centers on eliminating waste in order to decrease the volume of necessary labor, space, resources, materials, equipment, and time necessary for production and distribution. Therefore it focuses on reducing costs. In some cases, eliminated wastes and saved costs are passed to customers in the form of value for money, i.e. superior quality for lower than common market prices. List the efficiency concepts that underpin lean production Such efficiency concepts as continuous improvement, just-in-time production, time based management, and total quality management are the basics of lean production. Continuous improvement refers to establishing the working environment and creating culture motivating workers to constant self-development and building up new skills, which would benefit an organization improving the quality of its products. Just-in-time production implies the delivery of materials and equipment when they are required for production. That said, the waste is eliminated because there is no need to maintain large stocks as well as only the required amount of resources is used. Time-based management aims at reducing wastes pertaining to time by involving flexible and multi-skilled employees able to carry out several functions preserving the highest quality of work. Finally, total quality management refers to making all employees responsible for the superior quality of products and completing their tasks right from the first attempt. Explain why having a multi-skilled workforce helps increase Aldi’s efficiency Having a multi-skilled workforce is one of the determinants of lean production – time based management. It benefits Aldi because it is more efficient to invest in providing the employees with comprehensive training programs and making them flexible and multi-skilled as well as paying them market-leading salaries instead of involving those responsible for numerous different functions. That said, in Aldi, one person can be responsible for cashier operations, then switch to packing products or scanning them. The primary idea is that staff performs tasks needed throughout the working day and open hours instead of waiting for specially trained employees to come and finish the job. Analyze why lean production is particularly important for Aldi There are several arguments for proving that lean production is particularly important for Aldi. First of all, lean thinking is the foundation of the company’s business strategy because the reduced costs are passed to its customers in the form of lower prices and the same quality compared to those offered by competitors. Second, Aldi is involved in the grocery industry. Because fresh food products such as fruit and vegetable are among the firm’s assortment, Aldi is interested in finding the ways to reduce the time necessary for distributing and selling them in order to minimize the risks related to products freshness and shelf life expiration. In addition to it, Aldi’s open hours are not 24 hours. Even thou
Introduction This article by Telis Demos, in the Wall Street Journal, highlights how some companies are taking advantage of their positive performance in the stock market to source for more cash. These corporations are motivated to sell their shares to improve their performance. They use the cash obtained to invest more in their operations to take advantage of new market opportunities (Demos). This is a turnaround for many companies because they had experienced adverse effects of the financial crisis which impacted negatively on their operations. Increase in Value Of Stocks The Dow Jones Industrial Average went beyond its peak for two consecutive days recently. This has made many companies to position themselves to cash in on the interest by investors to purchase more shares. These investors are attracted by the high increase in the value of stocks being witnessed at the moment. Public firms have managed to obtain more than 35.1 billion dollars from secondary sales of stock since early 2013, according to Dealogic , a data research company (Demos). This trend has been caused by a bullish forecast of the market in the short term. The strong rally by the market offers investors an opportunity to contribute positively to the growth of these companies which may lead to an increase in their stock prices. More companies are able to access capital and this confirms there is a resurgence in economic performance in the country (Demos). Many firms have been encouraged by postive indicators in the stock market to raise more cash to enable them increase their rates of returns. Reasons for Selling KB Home, a home building firm, has obtained more than 115 million dollars from stocks it sold in January. This was the first time the company had offered stocks in the market since its IPO in 1986. The firm intends to seize opportunities which are opening up in an improving house market to increase its market share (Demos). The firm’s stock price has risen by more than 14% and this surpasses the previous mark at which its stocks were trading a year ago. Large corporations do not like selling stocks at a discount because it portrays them as weak. Their shareholders do not like such actions as they feel this weakens the value of their shares. However, companies which cannot access debt markets, prefer selling their stock to obtain more capital to boost their operations. For instance, Saw Seed Company which produces farm seeds, managed to obtain 11 million dollars from stocks it sold early this year
In The Dead (Royce 1-192), Gabriel Conroy as a nephew of his aunt that is known to handle every problem himself is presented as a character that is well cautious and possesses certain authority. However, his self-confidence is put into question as he encounters two women at the party. Gabriel reflects on his life and finds it controlled and lacking the passion of any kind. He then admits that people like Michael Furey have a large amount of passion and live more happily. More than that, Gabriel regrets that he never knew true love that leaves a mark on one’s heart. I find this reflection hard to disagree. Indeed, people that sacrifice all the human qualities to become reserved and serious may lose everything that these traits represent. There is no need to be reserved when there is no risk to say something that people would not like, for instance. Thus, Gabriel’s biggest issue is his lack of any goal or meaning of life. The problem presented in Likable (Unferth 1-3) is one that a lot of people experience. More precisely, a lot of individuals that did not have any extraordinary experience go through this. This is a problem of overthinking and overanalyzing. The
Description of the Monument Stonehenge “refers to a stone monument in Salisbury, England” (Pearson, Pollard, Richards, Thomas, & Welhams, 2008, p. 154). The massive monument presents a unique site for many tourists. Archeologists and historians believe strongly that the site has been evolving within the past 100 centuries. Studies have shown that this complex structure was constructed in 3,000 BC. The biggest stones are approximately 9 meters tall. Such “big stones are called sarsens while the small ones are bluestones” (Pearson et al., 2008, p. 159). These sarsens weigh over 22 metric tons. The “bluestones weigh between 4 and 6 tons” (Jarus, 2014, p. 1). Stonehenge is treated as a heritage site today. The mysteries surrounding the origin of this monument are still unknown. This gap explains why different researchers have been examining the facts surrounding the structure. Comparison with Other Works This “prehistoric stone site is unique and spectacular” (Till, 2010, p. 4). This “stone site is one of the earthworks produced by different communities during the famous Neolithic Age” (Jarus, 2014, p. 2). During the period, many people constructed different monuments across Europe. The people also produced different burial mounds during the period. Most of these earthworks emerged from 3000 BC to 1500 BC. This artwork is one of the Neolithic Age monuments (Till, 2010). The location of Stonehenge made it easier for more people to work together. This effort led to the construction of one of the biggest structures. Contrasting with Other Works of Art Stonehenge revolutionized the nature of burial mounds and stone monuments in Europe. Many researchers believe that Salisbury Plain “was a favorite destination for many hunters and worshippers” (Pearson et al., 2008, p. 162). Many races visited the plain in order to undertake their religious practices. These practices led to the construction of a huge monument. The people carried “huge stones for many miles to this site” (Pearson et al., 2008, p. 162). Although Stonehenge is similar to the structures erected during the period, it still remains the hugest and most amazing Neolithic earthwork. Evaluation According to Jarus (2014, p. 2), “Stonehenge is significant and unique to its age”. Several reasons explain why Stonehenge became a popular site for many people during the Neolithic period. To begin with, Salisbury Plain was a sacred place for many centuries. The erection of an enormous monument gave the site a greater religious significance. The number of “people visiting the monument continued to rise” (Jarus, 2014, p. 3). Many historians believe strongly that more people worked together in order to construct this revolutionary structure. The Neolithic period was associated with “numerous occasions, rituals, celebrations, and events” (Till, 2010, p. 13). These celebrations and rituals brought individuals from various backgrounds together. These occasions encouraged more people to develop a deep attachment with this sacred site. That being the case, Stonehenge remained a sacred monument to many people. This fact also explains why “Stonehenge has remained popular for very many years” (
Introduction Recent analysis of international affairs paints the picture that the world is embroiled in age-old ethnic conflicts. Proponents of this notion contend that people from different ethnic groups harbor deep hatred for one another, and are only restrained by modern civilizations. They predict that, in the future, either the modern states will break up into smaller ethnic groupings or great civilizations will rise against each other (Gurr 43). However, the general agreement is that modern regional conflicts can be attributed to cultural differences and affective ties of tribal groupings. This notion does not foresee a situation where diverse people can coexist. In fact, most ethnic conflicts do not result from ethnic diversity; rather, these conflicts are often fueled by the struggle for power and scarce resources such as land. This implies that in talking about ethnic conflicts, the assumption that ethnic identities are age-old and unchanging may be misleading. In other words, contrary to this assumption, ethnicity or race is a creation of contemporary politics that denies some people opportunities and gives others access to resources and power (Gurr 44). Cultural or religious differences have not, by themselves, resulted in ethnic conflict. Moreover, in modern times, culturally different people have learned one another’s cultural behaviors and have even intermarried, hence blurring contrasts between ethnic groupings. Contemporary Situation of Ethnic Conflicts In modern times, there is a common notion that ethnicity is age-old and often presents itself as ethnocentricism particularly in governance. In Eastern Europe, the current conflicts portray various ethnic groups as having strong nationalistic tendencies, which can only be suppressed by an autocratic government. In contrast, in the Western world, the American ‘melting pot’ suggests ethnicities are fast disintegrating while Eastern ethnicities must be suppressed by the autocratic leadership (Gurr 118). In former Yugoslavia, the Bosnians, Croats, and Serbs are different ethnic groupings, which, historically clashed from time to time over resources. However, due to intermarriages, the differences between these currently warring communities are actually so small. The Bosnians, Croats, and Serbs all speak Italian language and have coexisted in peace for a long time. Although these ethnic groups profess different religions-Serbs being mainly Orthodox, Croats being Roman Catholic and Bosnians being predominantly Muslim-still, each ethnic group comprises of considerable numbers of each religion. This, coupled with high rates of intermarriages, has blurred the differences between these groups. Therefore, it is clear that the cause of the current Balkan wars is not fueled by ancient religious and ethnic differences, but rather by the contemporary politics, which rally individuals around nationalistic ideologies. In this regard, ‘ethnicity’ is packaged as ‘nationalism’ in the pretext of gaining access to resources, land, and power. The Serb and C
Introduction UPS is one of the largest messenger companies In the United States with is valued at approximately USD 42.6 billion. The company was founded by a 19-year-old boy named James E in 1907. It quickly grew to become one of the biggest companies with its excellent service. As a result, the company expanded and opened up various warehouses to store their goods as they send parcels to more than 200 countries worldwide. Therefore, the huge warehouse may involve certain risks for its staff who are working there. The most dangerous jobs With most of their staff placed as workers in a warehouse, there can be several risks involved. One of the risks involved in fire. In 1998, there are an estimated 36,000 fires that had occurred in storage places like warehouses. Thus, this is one of the riskiest issues that could happen at a warehouse. Apart from that, there is also a risk of store arrangement whereby the order of the hazardous substances and flammable materials are stored in a safe, dry place and away from the staff. Apart from that, there is also a risk of palletized storage whereby the storages mount to the ceiling. This could also be a risky element in a warehouse. One of the most dangerous jobs in UPS maybe it’s warehouse workers who have to store the products they receive daily. This is dangerous as they are the most exposed to the dangerous elements above. Accordingly, upon hiring staff in the warehouse, UPS does inform the staff that they would need to go for certain training and get thru all of that to work in the UPS. Even with all the training and safety measures taken, the job still involves a huge element of risk. The risk involved for the staff above is not acceptable or reasonable in any way. However, there is always an element of risk wherever we work, whether we are in an office or some warehouse. Consequently, the important issue is to know whether the company takes sufficient precautions to ensure that during an emergency, their staff’s safety would be their most top priority. This is done by the UPS; they ensure that all their staff hired go for the fire training and other job-related training to ensure that their staff is aware of the risks involved as well as what to do during an emergency. The company also ensures that all the safety equipment is within reachable points for the staff and also that the safety equipment functions all the time. Apart from that, they also appoint certain staff to take on the role of emergency leaders, thus upon an emergency, the other staff could follow these people. Fire drill sessions Apart from the above, UPS also has fire drill sessions to make their staff familiarize with the safe routes and so that they would know what they should do in case of a fire. Besides that, another measure to be taken will be to ensure that all the liquid substances are stored at
The project manager plays the most crucial role in the successful completion of projects as he/she monitors, controls, directs, and decides the change in the organization. According to Waxman (2017), the planning stage of the DNP project requires the manager to prepare schedules and budgets allocating needed resources, including HR. During this stage, the nursing expertise helps to forecast the necessary time, efforts, proper activities, and possible outcomes for the planned purpose. The DNP manager should possess excellent leadership skills to enhance and encourage appropriate communication in the project team and within the organization. It helps to spread the purpose, vision, positive attitude, and increase integrity, which in turn leads to the further successful implementation of the project. My project team will include a DNP scholar mentor and me as a project leader. The project team is essential because it is responsible for guiding and critiquing the project proposal, helping to plan the project, mentoring the manager throughout the implementation and evaluation stages. The scholar mentor will shape and correct the project during team meetings (Waxman, 2017). The DNP project should reserve the ability to be flexible because of some practical evidence during implementation, which can change the focus. Organizational culture, which is a unique psychological and social environment of an organization, always influences not only the outcomes of the projects but also the methods of its implementation. It consists of shared values, visions, social norms, authority relations, and work ethic. In other words, it is a social system that determines the interactions between employees and their codes of conduct. Theoretically, my quality improvement project to decrease the rate of mortality caused by maternal hemorrhage can face critique and reluctance to be applied in everyday clinical practice from organizations’ practitioners. It could be triggered by inadequate project management, lack of proper planning, or leadership skills (Waxman, 2017). However, NYC Health and Hospitals is a very progressive public health care system, where staff consists of medical professionals open to evidence-based innovations. The Levi three stages model should be applied to convince the staff and ensure the successful implementation of the change. The new practice might also influence the financial aspects of the organization. According to Waxman (2017), the good patient-reported experience of care is highly associated with the strong financial performance of the hospital. It means that hospitals are better off being able to constant quality improvement in terms of financial stability. In the beginning, this initiative will lead to more costs related to equipment and staff management to make the hospital ready for the new practice introduction. However, in the long run, it is expected to contribute to the health care organization’s financial stability. The pr