Karl Marx Essays (2205 words) - Philosophy, Culture, Politics

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in the city of Trier in Prussia, now, Germany. He was one of seven children of Jewish Parents. His father was fairly iberal, taking part in demonstrations for a constitution for Prussia and reading such authors as Voltaire and Kant, known for their social commentary. His mother, Henrietta, was originally from Holland and never became a German at heart, not even learning to speak the language properly. Shortly before Karl Marx was born, his father converted the family to the Evangelical Established Church, Karl being baptized at the age of six. Marx attended high school in his home town (1830-1835) where several teachers and pupils were under suspicion of harboring liberal ideals. Marx himself seemed to be a devoted Christian with a "longing for self-sacrifice on behalf of humanity." In October of 1835, he started attendance at the University of Bonn, enrolling in non-socialistic-related classes like Greek and Roman mythology and the history of art. During this time, he spent a day in jail for being "drunk and disorderly-the only imprisonment he suffered" in the course of his life. The student culture at Bonn included, as a major part, being politically rebellious and Marx was involved, presiding over the Tavern Club and joining a club for poets that included some politically active students. However, he left Bonn after a year and enrolled at the University of Berlin to study law and philosophy. Marx's experience in Berlin was crucial to his ntroduction to Hegel's philosophy and to his "adherence to the Young Hegelians." Hegel's philosophy was crucial to the development of his own ideas and theories. Upon his first introduction to Hegel's beliefs, Marx felt a repugnance and wrote his father that when he felt sick, it was partially "from intense vexation at having to make an idol of a view [he] detested." The Hegelian doctrines exerted considerable pressure in the "revolutionary student culture" that Marx was immersed in, however, and Marx eventually joined a society called the Doctor Club, involved mainly in the "new literary and philosophical movement" who's chief figure was Bruno Bauer, a lecturer in theology who thought that the Gospels were not a record of History but that they came from "human fantasies arising from man's emotional needs" and he also hypothesized that Jesus had not existed as a person. Bauer was later dismissed from his position by the Prussian government. By 1841, Marx's studies were lacking and, at the suggestion of a friend, he submitted a doctoral dissertation to the university at Jena, known for having lax acceptance requirements. Unsurprisingly, he got in, and finally received his degree in 1841. His thesis "analyzed in a Hegelian fashion the difference between the natural philosophies of Democritus and Epicurus" using his knowledge of mythology and the myth of Prometheus in his chains. In October of 1842, Marx became the editor of the paper Rheinische Zeitung, and, as the editor, wrote editorials on socio-economic issues such as poverty, etc. During this time, he found that his "Hegelian philosophy was of little use" and he separated himself from his young Hegelian friends who only shocked the bourgeois to make up their "social activity." Marx helped the paper to succeed and it almost became the leading journal in Prussia. However, the Prussian government suspended it because of "pressures from the goverment of Russia." So, Marx went to Paris to study "French Communism." In June of 1843, he was married to Jenny Von Westphalen, an attractive girl, four years older than Marx, who came from a prestigious family of both military and administrative distinction. Although many of the members of the Von Westphalen family were opposed to the marriage, Jenny's father favored Marx. In Paris, Marx became acquainted with the Communistic views of French workmen. Although he thought that the ideas of the workmen were "utterly crude and unintelligent," he admired their camaraderie. He later wrote an article entitled "Toward the Critique of the Hegelian Philosophy of Right" from which comes the famous quote that religion is the "opium of the people." Once again, the Prussian government interfered with Marx and he was expelled from France. He left for Brussels, Belgium, and , in 1845, renounced his Prussian nationality. During the next two years in Brussels, the lifelong collaboration with Engels deepened further. He and Marx, sharing the same views, pooled their "intellectual resources" and published The Holy Family, a criticism of the Hegelian idealism of Bruno Bauer. In their next work, they demonstrated their materialistic conception of history but the book found no publisher

Global Business Strategy United Parcel Services

Global Business Strategy United Parcel Services Introduction Globalisation has resulted to an increase in international trade; despite the collapse of Doha negotiations in 2008, trade among countries is increasing. Countries trade through economic policies of absolute and comparative advantage. For effectiveness and efficiency in the trade, transport and communication are important. There are international companies which have invested in global logistic service provision.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Global Business Strategy: United Parcel Services specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More United Parcel Service is an international logistic company which has been in the business for over a century. To venture in international market and remain competitive, there are strategic management decisions made by the company (Joshi, 2005). This paper looks into the company’s global business strategy, it will undertake a PESTLE analysis, use Michael Porters Five Forces an d Three Generic Strategies to evaluate the current strategies of the company. Aim of the report The report aims at using management tools to evaluate the effectiveness of current strategies adopted by United Parcel Services Company. It will evaluate internal and external conditions facing the company. Brief history of UPS UPS was founded as a messenger company in United States of America in 1907. Initially, it only targeted local markets. However the company has grown to a multi-billion company facilitating trade across the globe. Currently it enjoys a strong brand name with presence in all continents. It is respected for its efficiency. It focuses on two services; packaging and logistics services. Daily, the company is able to facilitate businesses in over 200 destinations daily. It uses the e-Commerce, supply chain management and frontiers of logistics to facilitate the transfer of technology, goods and funds (UPS corporate Website, 2010). Depending with the type of goods/services the company is transacting, it chooses the mode of transport to adopt. It ranges from sea, road, electronic transfer and air transport.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The name UPS was rebranded in 2003 with the aim of showing the world its intentions to be the world largest and most efficient supply logistic service provider in the world. Currently the company employs approximately 4,606 employees distributed in different countries. According to a report by Zemanta on July 26th, 2008, Ups is facing systematic problems. This causes unreasonable delay in delivery of services which lead to un-satisfied customers. The failure has been occasioned by system failures resulting to un-updated system. With such a system, there have been times that goods were thought to have been un-transported from their country/destination of origin but after a thorough check, they are f ound in UPS warehouses in the intended destination or other destinations. This has caused unreasonable delay and customers lose confidence with the company. The company maintains alliances with companies situated in different parts of the world where parcels can be dropped or collected by a customer. There are some dropping points which results to loss to the company because of their low flow of customers. Despite this, the company have maintained the outlets. The company has also been facing situations of lost packages. This may be from theft, or ignorance from the staffs (UPS corporate Website, 2010). UPS PESTEL analysis PESTEL is the stands of Political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal analysis. It is a management tool that is used to analyse the external environment that a company is operation in. UPS is operating as an international company and thus its external environment goes further than an analysis of a single countries external environment. The wo rld is facing a rapid increase in international trade. This has been facilitated by globalisation and interdependency that countries have developed. When one part of the world having an absolute /comparative advantage over another, there is a tendency to concentrate on production of such goods and importing those goods and services which it cannot produce efficiently.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Global Business Strategy: United Parcel Services specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More An increase in international trade is an increase in business for UPS as it facilitated the flow of goods and services (Kermally, 2003). Political factors The world is recovering from world economic crisis which started in 2007. It is believed that the crisis started in United States of America after a collapse of financial institutions. It is in the same country that UPS has a strong market. The effects of the crisis are reduced internati onal trade where countries have placed trade barrier, tariffs and non tariffs, to protect their economies from effects of the crisis. This has resulted to reduced business in UPS. World countries were specifically more careful when trading with United States and this affected the company sales. In 2008, there was the collapse of Doha negotiations which were aimed at facilitating international trade without trade barriers (free trade). This could have been a good political decision to the company as it would have seen an increase in trade and thus a demand for supply logistic services from the company (Kotler Lane, 2009). Economic factors The world is recovering from world financial crisis. The crisis had affected international business negatively as trade among countries reduced. This acted to the disadvantage of UPS. One of the ways that the world has used to recover from the crisis is increasing consumer consumption preferences. This is through reducing lending rate of interests. UPS has benefited in such policies and is using the low cost loans to invest in different countries. For example in 2003, UPS acquired Purchasing Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, a company that increased the company’s capacity in air cargo handling. The next year, 2005, the company acquired Overnite company to increase the company’s access in Northern America. During the period, the company also made other acquisition in United Kingdom and Poland. These acquisitions were made possible by deteriorated businesses in these companies which lead to their disposal and availability of affordable capital financing loans. The trend in international business thus has negative effects on UPS but comes with opportunities that the company has utilized for its benefit (Nersesian, 2000)Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Technological factors The world is facing an increased technology improvement. There are new systems developed to facilitate international trade among countries. Other than trade facilitation, there have an increase in technological transfer where UPS services are contracted. To align its services with the new trend, the company have also adopted technology. For example it has introduced cargo tracking systems where it can trace the direction of its tracks or other modes of transport. Technological development has also posed some challenges to the company. This is mostly in electronic money transfer, mobile money transfer and internet fund transfers. This has resulted to reduced business. For example, Safaricom, a Kenyan mobile service provider invented mobile transfer service via phone, in April 2010, the services were exported to United Kingdom and are proving to be more efficient than UPS fund transfer services. UPS has embarked on technological improvement. It has gained a numbe r of awards as the best in technology. For example in 2009, it was given a present by InformationWeek in 500 Most Innovative Business Technology Organizations. The company has a centralised information and technology department. The chief execute officer of IS/IT department is called David Barnes Social factors The world is increasing in population and literacy level. Increased population has lead to demand for better ways of resource management which is facilitated by international trade. From thing angle the company is benefiting as it transport goods and services across borders. There are campaigns urging people , governments and international bodies to respect human rights. With such advocacy, people are moving from one country to another for education, settlement and leisure. This has facilitated the need for service and goods transfers across borders. For example there have been an increased number of students from Africa studying in Australia. This number has created an incre ase in transfer of funds from home country to Australia and forth. With such changes in social trends business in the country have increased (Neumann, Ringbeck Schwegmann, 2000) Environmental factors There is an increase in environmental conservation campaigns all over the world. Different countries are taking different measures to ensure that they protect their environment. International bodies are also playing an important part in ensuring that the different countries adopt different policies aimed at conserving the environment. on 11 December 1997, 37 industrialised countries and the European Union, signed the Kyoto protocol in Japan. The protocol was target to have been fully implemented by 16 February 2005. It was developed by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The main aim of the protocol was to ensure that emission of green house gasses was reduced by 5% below their level in 1990 by the end of 2010. The protocol targeted the major greenhouse emitters and developed measures to be implemented. The protocol has though not been fully honoured but has offered some guidelines on how governments should reduce green house emission. Of late in 2010, there were talks in Copenhagen aimed at devising measures to protect the environment. The talks failed as countries took strong stands against the recommended ways of conservation (Roberts, 2008). UPS does not ignore environmental conservations. It protects the environment by adopting technological measures that reduces pollution. Right from its incorporation it has continuously improved its process. In 1930s, the company was depending on electric vehicles to transport products in new York, at the time, this was a high environmental friendly means of transport instead of using vehicles which used fossil fuel. The company’s vehicles commonly known as â€Å"brown cars† are well serviced to ensure that there is minimal emission from them. The company enjoys as the world’s larges t company with vehicles operating under compressed natural gas (CNG). These vehicles are highly fuel efficient and emit minimal green house gasses to the environment. The company whether in United States or abroad recognises the need to conserve the environment. It is a signatory of responsible business models which gives a mechanism that a company should adopt when undertaking its business (UPS corporate Website, 2010). Legal factors Different countries have different business laws which it requires followed in their country. When UPS gets into a company, it seeks legal advice from legal experts in the country to ensure that it abides by the laws of the country. Where there are international laws, then it abides to them accordingly. UPS Current strategy To evaluate the company’s current strategy, this report will take use porters five forces and three genetic strategies. Porters five forces Porter in 1985, came up with five forces that can be used in analysis current positio n in a company. They are; Suppliers power The company’s suppliers have an influence on the market share that a company is likely to enjoy. If an industry has limited suppliers but a high demand of supplies, then goods are likely to be expensive. To have product differentiation, a company need to have reliable suppliers. UPS being in the service industry has its inputs more skewed to services. Customers requesting for services from the company are seen as the suppliers of to the company. There other supporting materials like packaging bags, vehicles and airplanes. The company has attained a differentiation of its vehicles by their colour. Customers, in this case doubles as suppliers, they supply the company with parcels, cash, and goods of various nature to transport. Companies doing the same business include FedEx, DHL and United States Postal Service. Barriers to entry Companies in an industry place certain barriers to entry in the market. These barriers include economies of scales, low production cost and input access strategy. UPS has been favoured by its strong brand name in the world. It is able to venture into a market and through the strength of its brand able to successfully launch and enter in that country. Access to raw materials is not a problem since the main materials are from customers which the company has entertained through its strong brand name. Because of its size, it enjoys economies of scale and this is can venture into a country and produce at a reduced cost. One of the main strategies that UPS uses to venture in international markets is acquisitions. In 2001, when it wanted to venture in retail mail delivery service business, it acquired Mail Boxes Etc. The company has tapped into the fast growing Asian market and it deepened it service in 2005 when it started a direct route of transfer between U.S. and Guangzhou, China. Threats of substitutes The company is threatened by companies in the same industries and technology. The major companies which threaten the company are FedEx and DHL. They are doing the same business and have a wide customer base. Mobile and internet use has created a threat to the company. This is because the number of letters that were previously sent through the company has been largely replaced by telephone and email communication. Mobile and internet fund transfer has offered a different route to customers to transfer money across borders, this was a business that UPS had invested in. Such seems include PayPal, wire transfer and Mpesa. Buyer power The company targets customers placed in different parts of the world. It offers services that a customer contracts form the company using the internet, sales offices and authorised dealers. The industry is highly competitive and these customers have a choice among similar providers to use. The choice of a company to the other is dependent on how reliable a company is. UPS benefits from a strong brand name and its reliability. This has made the company enjoy increased customer royalty. Rivalry International supply logistic business is highly competitive. to maintain competitive in such an industry, the company require offering consumer oriented services. It should be offer reliable services and aims at developing customer royalty (Hitt, Hoskisson Ireland, 2003). Three Generic Strategies Differentiation UPS has two kind of service that it offers; packaging services and transporting services. To serve its customer right, the company ensures that it makes it packages affordable and available to all classes of people. Those people who are using freight have their special package and those parcels on road have a different rate. Those using water has their package, small and large scale customers are incorporated. To remain competitive the company aims at improving its service to attain more customer satisfaction and loyalty. Lately it invented computer cargo tracking system which is one such development (Hitt, Hoskisson Irel and, 2003). Overall cost leadership The company’s prices are dictated by the bulkiness and the weight that a customer products has. This ensure that there is equality and those customers who are transporting small portions of goods are charged proportionately to these products. The payment system which is electronic facilitate for quick payment for service given. Focus The company has concentrated in one area and dominated. The company has physical station is some countries however in those countries that it does not have offices there are brokers or the website assists customers to get services from the company. When venturing other countries, it tends to follow the trend in the market. Where there are increased business is where the company is investing (Harris, Dennis, 2008). Urgent issues in UPS that need to be addressed Modern service industry is drastically changing. There is a move to a more customer focuses services. customers on the other hand have learnt and unders tood their rights. UPS has evolved over time and its offering consumer satisfactory services however there has been incidences where some cargo already transported or those which have arrived in UPS offices are not recorded. This is ignorance which should be addressed by the management. Where there is ignorance, there is customer dissatisfaction. Thus the company should invest in its human resources management. If there are inadequate staffs, then they should recruit and put on effective motivational measures. System failures are also other issues of urgency in the company. The company should ensure that its computers are working well so as they can serve their customers well. If a customer want to know how far his cargo is, the system should be able to tell (Dann Dann, 2004). Recommendations to improve the services of UPS UPS can be applauded for adopting an E-marketing strategy but more need to be done to ensure that it remains competitive in the changing logistics industry. Some of the areas that it needs to improve are in online businesses. UPS’s website has limited information this discouraging since customer has to wait for a long period of time before he gets a response from customer care desk. The reason for this is that the call centres are only in the head office. What the company need to do is to decentralize this service and make it available to its brokers and local offices. This improve customer’s satisfaction and increasing loyalty. Computers are not always reliable and sometimes they have failed the company. This is when servers are down or under repair. This has hindered the delivery of services by the company. An upgraded technology should be adopted to ensure that there is a backup when a case of system failure occurs (Bocij, 2005). There is a customer care service method that DHL has adopted but UPS has not attained it yet; this is door to door delivery. The company’s service mostly ends up at warehouses or at the port of destination. To ensure more customer satisfaction, there is need to adopt a door to door strategy where it can deliver products right to the consumers. This will assist the company command a more customer base and be the preferred choice of Logistics’ Company. Although it has adopted a cargo tracking system, the system has taken long to mature. It is faced with technological failure and is inefficient to certain countries. The system is monitored from the head office and faces challenges of adequate monitoring. It should be decentralized and customers assured that they will get information about their cargo with precision. Today’s marketing strategy has taken a different approach, this is where alongside computerized marketing, customer-company relation are developed to ensure that it benefits from repeat customers. Although the company has a strong brand name, strategies to retain customers should be put in place (Champy Wang, 2000) Conclusion UPS is an internati onally recognised logistic company with its headquarters in United States. It has been in logistic and supply chain management business for more than a century and enjoys a strong brand name. UPS Business is affected by the environment it’s operating in. There has been a reduced business resulting from global financial crisis, technological innovations and globalisation. To remain competitive in the changing global market, the company has invested in giving its customer good services although it is failed sometimes by computer systems and ignorance of employees and products handlers. References Bocij, Ch.et al. 2005. Business Information Systems: Technology, Development and Management for the E-business. Harlow. Prentice Hall. Champy, J. Wang, A. 2000 Accelerated Logistics: Streamlining the Armys Supply Chain. Santa Monica. CA. Dann, S. Dann, S. 2004. â€Å"Strategic Internet Marketing 2.0†. New York. John Wiley Sons. Harris, L. Dennis, C. 2008. â€Å"Marketing th e e-Business†, 2nd edition. New York. Routledge. Hitt, M, Hoskisson, R Ireland. 2003. Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization. South Western. Thomson Learning. Joshi, R. 2005. International Marketing. New delhi. Oxford University Press. Kermally, S. 2003. Gurus on Marketing. London. Thorogood. Kotler, P Lane K.2009. A Framework for Marketing Management (4th ed.). New Jersey. Pearson Prentice Hall. Nersesian, R. 2000. Trends and Tools for Operations Management: An Updated Guide for Executives and Managers. Westport. Quorum Books. Neumann, C, Ringbeck, J Schwegmann, V.2000. â€Å"Best Practice in Logistics†, The McKinsey Quarterly, p. 19. Roberts, M.L. 2008. Internet Marketing: Integrating online and offline strategies. Melbourne. Thomson. UPS corporate Website.2010. Web. Zemanta, Z. 2008. â€Å"Does UPS have Deep Systematic Problem?†Web.

Human Resource Management Master Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Resource Management Master - Assignment Example Another aspect of the selection that may raise expectations is an unintended consequence of its recruitment process. A rigorous recruitment process can have two unintended outcomes. If the recruitment is competitive, it can create a feeling that those who are selected are truly terrific and valued. It can help build a positive self-image if the on-the-job experiences confirm that feeling. It can set the recruits up for disillusionment, however, if their on-the-job experiences do not confirm the self-image created through the recruitment process; it can make them feel that they are not valued. Similarly, by focusing on expectations as a key component in the decision to join a particular organizational workplace, we come to know that when a person chooses between alternative jobs, the choice is affected by the degree to which desired outcomes are likely to be realised. These desired outcomes may be interesting and challenging work, autonomy, responsibility, importance of work, competent boss, and a certain level of salary. The Program creates expectations by advertising training opportunities, rotational assignments, career planning, quick promotions, access to high-level officials, and opportunities for networking as features of the internship. In addition, they are believed to have expectations about the amount of challenge, responsibility, participation, meaningfulness of work, and opportunities to make a difference. Conversely, they are more likely to leave if their expectations are not met. Expectations may be influenced by prior work experiences. Those who have littl e prior work experience may have a more idealized view of what work will be like, and therefore have more unrealistic expectations than those who have at least some work experience. The good point is that expectations may be more implicit than explicit. The interviews reveal vagueness about expectations; it seems not a frame of reference for many of the interviewees. They possess goals, hopes, or desires about what they want from their work experience but it they are not framed in terms of expectations. Expectancy theory may work best for those who clearly thought about what they wanted and weighed their alternatives and the probabilities of having the experiences they desired. The expectancy model also assumes that people behave rationally in situations where their expectations are not met. When confronted with unmet expectations, the rational response, according to the theory, is to seek new employment that will more likely meet their expectations. However, it appears that not all people seek new employment under those circumstances. None of the interviewees who expressed great dissatisfaction with their current jobs are actively seeking other employment. So, at this point the best HR department does is the analysis of expectations and make decisions of recruitment while analyse candidate's intentions and future plans. While critically analysing the do's and don'ts of a human resource in any organisation, assessment is aimed at determining what are working and what is not working and identifying resource gaps and redundancies. (2006a) Finding employees Recruiting today is taken a lot more seriously

Response to Classmates Week 11 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response to Classmates Week 11 - Coursework Example When workers determine the significance of the others, they will work as a team to improve patient care. The Head Nurse may be helped by other parties who are neutral to this case so that the nurses and their assistants may pay attention to the training. This is because if Michelle clarifies the issue alone, some of the workers may fail to listen to her because she is one of their own (Xerri, 2013). As Brenda states, the supervisor may help by giving all the employees the workplace code of conduct. However, the supervisor should do this after investigating the case and understanding the root cause of the hostility. This is because if the supervisor highlights only the code of conduct, the problems among the workers may remain unsolved and this will worsen the case (Woska, 2013). Therefore, I suppose that after investigating the cause of the hostility, the supervisor should work with Michelle to solve the case and remind the employees of the healthcare rules by providing them with the code of conduct. I do not agree with James’s idea that the head nurse should document the wrongdoings of the employees because this may create the feeling of job insecurity among the workers. This is because employees may think that they records of their wrongdoings may cost their job in future and they may become nervous. Documenting the mistakes of the workers may also waste the time that Michelle would use to solve the problem (Valsecchi, Wise, Mueller, & Smith, 2012). The documentation is also unethical because the information may trickle to other parties who may use it to threaten the workers in future. I concur with James that teamwork and partnering may improve the workers relations and the quality of services that patients receive. This is because these strategies may increase the employees’ understanding of one another. Shearer and Maes (2014) argue that the understanding

African American Studies-Introduction to the Art of Africa Essay

African American Studies-Introduction to the Art of Africa - Essay Example Adult men in African wear most masks. Nevertheless, there are there is one mask that is not worn by men. The main purpose of this paper is to describe which mask is not worn by men. In addition, there will be an analysis of when the mask is worn as well as who wear the masks. Majority of masks are worn by men as they are the only people in the society who are permitted to conduct ritual activities. Most masks are worn in ceremonial dances, initiation ceremonies, during the war as a sign of being brave among other occasions. On the contrary, the Mende mask is worn exclusively by women (Foster 1). The Mende mask is worn by the Sande societies who are geographically located in the sub-Saharan Africa. To be precise, the Sande society is situated in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Mende people are approximated to be around two million, and their primary economic activity is farming. In the Sande society, women used to perform rituals that required the appearance of the masked figure of the Mende helmet mask. Although there were many variations in carving styles and local practices due to their large population, their significance in performing the rituals was still felt by the Sande society (Schulze 1). In the Sande society, when women reached puberty, the initiation process begun. The goal of the initiation process was to teach young women some of the responsibilities of an adult Mende woman. These Mende girls are taught to be modest in behavior as well as being hardworking. During initiation ceremonies, The Mende women used to wear masks as a show of courage and determination. This was also to demonstrate to the young girls that they are entirely welcome into adulthood. The already initiated girl is then given a unique mask just for her that is carved from a section of a trunk of a tree. In most cases, the carving was made from cotton tree. Before the mask is carved, the woodcarver is let wait until he hears a scream from the girl as she undergoes

Importance of Community Health Workers

Importance of Community Health Workers DEFINING THE PROBLEM Community Health Workers have been used in several countries dating back about 60 years ago, to address the gap experienced by the underserved members of these communities, with issues of access to health care. More importantly in Low and middle-income countries, Community Health Workers have particularly been helpful in reducing the impact of the shortage of skilled health workers. Community Health Workers can make valuable contributions to healthcare especially in the delivery of basic health care; however, across countries and individual programs there are varying and inconsistently established approaches on how they are recruited, trained, monitored, incentivized, as well as the roles and activities they perform. The lack of a standard structure globally and in CMMB countries creates several divisions of Community Health Workers, which may lead to poor monitoring, increased attrition, poor planning, budgeting and sustainable financing. The Effect on Women and Children Several programs have reported a high attrition rate which has led to the breakdown of the programs and is mostly due to problems with how these Programmes are structured or maintained. The initial purpose for which the CHW was set up was to link the communities with the formal health system, if the system fails, the underserved especially the vulnerable populations (women and children), in absence of quality health care are at risk of poorer health outcomes. BACKGROUND. Community health workers are adjunct health workers with a myriad of appellations across countries. According to WHO, they should be members of the community, selected by the community, trained and work within the community, answerable to the community, they should be supported by the health system but not necessary being a part of it, and have a shorter course of training than other professional workers. Although they function more at the peripheral of the health system, and their duties widely vary across countries and programs, their roles in the delivery of basic health care can not be overemphasized. In some countries, they also perform the role of record keeping. Over the years, the use of CHWs has gained prominence, with several countries adopting the trend to mitigate the growing proportion of infectious diseases and a shortage of health workers, migrating for green pasture, however, not all CHW programs follow the WHOs definition of CHW. In CMMB countries, the approach is also different across the in the individual countries. RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND INCENTIVES In Peru, the Ministry of health has specific regulations on how the CHWs program should be structured. CHWs in Peru are usually volunteers, they could receive incentives but they do not have contracts or salaries. They are appointed by the community organization at the general assembly or the social grassroots organization to which the community health agent belongs. There is variation in the duration of training the CHWs to receive in Peru. In South Sudan, there are no specific regulations in terms of services, CHW could receive incentives and could also be employed. They are trained in Basic health care service for 6 months whereas, in Zambia, the Implementing partners have different policies for training, recruitment, remuneration, and incentives for CHWs. Programs funded and managed by implementing partners are typically on contracts of two-to-five year but their remuneration and incentives vary across programs. The training also varies between 2-11 weeks depending on if it is af filiated with government health facility or an NGO and the Ministry of healths CHW handbook, 2005 is used as a guideline. ROLES AND ACTIVITIES Several kinds of literature have grouped the CHWs as being either generalist or specialist in the way they are trained or work. Generalist perform a wide range of functions while the specialist has a program specific focus. In the CMMB countries, the CHWs are more generalist than they are a specialist or obscured in between. They are generally involved in implementing promotive and preventive health activities especially in providing family planning and immunization. In south Sudan, CHWs perform addition roles of supporting primary health care units as health staff to clerk patients and also work in the pharmacy. They follow up pregnant women receiving ART while in Zambia, CHWS, also provide basic curative services and refer cases if complicated, they performfollow-up care including home visits for patients with TB, AIDS, pregnant and postnatal mothers, tracing for malnourished children. Most literature about CHWs and what they do, agree that they are important in improving access to care especially in areas where they are most needed. However, it is important to consider the local context where the CHW program will operate(culture, language, social norms, and values etc.) for the program to excel. The mode of selection of the CHWs, duration of training as well as the roles the CHWs would be performing should also be considered and possibly be unified across programs. In order to extrinsically motivate CHWs, it is important to also Incentivize them and a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating their activities would help assess problems in the program and health care delivery. APPROACHES AND METHODOLOGIES In order to encourage behavioral change and improve the quality of health care using CHWs, CMMB will be focusing on theses 3 approaches which have been applied in public health and have improved health outcomes: Positive deviance approach, Integrated community case management approach and make me a change agent approach. Positive Deviance: This is an approach based on the belief that unusual behavioral practices in communities among few members of the community who are called the positive deviants, help them find a better solution to problems and improve their outcomes compared other members of the same community that share similar exposures and resources, but poorer outcomes. The positive deviance is based on the principles that: (Pascale, Sternin, Sternin ,2010) Communities possess the solutions and expertise to solve their own problems. Communities are self-organizing and possess the human resources with necessary assets to solve community problems. communities have a Collective intelligence which is evenly distributed and is not dependent on the leadership of a community alone or in external experts.This collective intelligence is what the approach aim to draw out and capitalize on to solve community problems. The bedrock of the approach is sustainability. The community is encouraged to observe and develop sustainable solutions based on observed positive deviants within the community. Practicing encourages behavior change. This approach has been used successfully in communities in the management of malnutrition and has contributed immensely to reducing the burden of malnutrition in communities where it is being practiced. The community health and families after an observation made by a positive deviant inquiry, practice better ways to cook their food with a particular interest in quality, feeding, and hygiene when managing malnourished children using local resources and technologies. It is a proactive measure; harnessing the strength, knowledge, human resources locally available within the community to solve their community health problems. This approach ensures fast, sustainable, affordable, culturally acceptable solutions to solve community health problems and it also encourages local participation. Integrated community case management: This approach was adopted by WHO and UNICEF. The ICCM has been piloted in many underserved countries, where there is a major gap in access to care. The aim is to bring health care closer to the doorstep of these population and strategically increasing coverage of treatment using Community health workers who are appropriately trained, supervised and monitored. The CHWs are adequately supported with medical supplies. They are trained to identify, promptly and correctly manage or refer cases of common community diseases like malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and malnutrition in children under 5 years. ICCM uses interventions that are evidence based and it focuses on diagnosis, the community health workers are trained to make a quick diagnosis using portable diagnostic tools and appropriate treatment. common interventions used are antibiotics for dysentery and pneumonia, ORT for diarrheal diseases, antimalaria for malaria, nutritional rehabilitation for malnutrition. The approach employs the use of CHWs who are members of the community and perform their duties either from their homes or selected community building, which is easily accessible to members of the community. Using CHWs from the community encourages trust and sustainability. Make me a change agent: To effectively improve the quality of health by encouraging behavior change, this approach which is used multi-sectorally will help the CHWs to become an effective change agent by developing their skills of effective communication, showing empathy, individual counseling. It also teaches the approach of using their individual testimonies and storytelling ability to encourage health behavioral change. CHWs after acquiring skills from health training, have to effectively communicate their training to the community which is critically important in encouraging the patient to adhere to treatment and adopt preventive health behaviors. The CHWs are engaged in several activities that include role playing to help them understand the importance of respecting patient, good communication, active listening during conversations. There are several barriers that mitigate against behavioral change, the ability to circumvent these barriers would help the CHWs reach their target population and help them make them make the right behavior change. In order to effectively do this, the CHWs needs to be able to put themselves in the perspective of their audience, sharing their experiences which help foster a personal relationship and makes the change easier to communicate. The approach also emphasizes the importance of storytelling and the use of individual testimonies to promote a particular health behavior by changing preformed misperceptions about the particular health behavior. The testimonials offer the audience the chance to appreciate changes made by someone else who is not different from them, who has had a positive result. These approach as a skill for encouraging behavioral change is easily remembered, the audience can relate to the story and have a pictural understanding of what the change is about. Moreso, it can be a source of external motivation to encourage change. INTERVENTIONS: The growing adoption of community health workers as part of the health system as a means to reach the underserved communities is met with the need to understand how to implement a sustainable CHW program in different countries across different programs. As field workers in underserved communities, we would also be employing the services of the CHWs in executing our goals. An effective process for managing (recruitment, training, supervision and support, Incentives) community health workers will help sustain the program. RECRUITMENT: Recruiting community health workers is dependent on the proposed health need they are supposed to meet. Some ministries of health have an established protocol for recruiting health workers. It is important to note that to sustain the program, several papers as well as WHO has suggested that community health workers should be selected by and from the community they are to work in. However, the primary criteria in selecting CHWs is that they should be members of the community they serve. This to harness the establish connections within the individual members of the community and the individual interest of the health worker towards the community. The recruitment process may require the use of different social structures or organization within the communities like the clinics, community-based organizations e.g market women association, religious organizations, the ruling council, other CHWs etc. as sources of referral for the appointment of community members into several CHWs position. Recruitment should be formal, individuals should follow a process of recommendation, interview, and screening. General characteristics of CHWs vary across countries and programs. Literacy is an important criterion for recruiting a CHW. Although not all programs require their CHWs to have any form of education, most programs require a primary level of education while some require a higher level of education. The least literacy level should be required; however, the higher the level of education the more preferable the CHW. The gender of the CHW should meet the cultural norm especially in places where there are limited interactions between males and females. The age of CHWs differ across programs but ranges from 20 45years. Finally, marriage status is an encouraging criterion for selection. CHWs with a married status are more likely to remain in the society for a longer period of time than those that are single. TRAINING The Success and quality of a CHWs program also depend on the process of training and continuous assessment of training. Training program varies across programs which depend on the length, depth, element, approach and authority. In some countries, a manual for training of CHWs have been developed; where necessary, it should be employed. The length of training varies across programs and it is based on the services the community health worker would be rendering. It could be from days to weeks to years; however, it is important to space the training so that the CHW can have time in between training to have an in-depth review of the material. A process of a continuous training after the initial training can help improve the performance of CHWs through supervision and adding additional knowledge to the CHW. The use of an interactive, skilled based setting that encourages participation should be employed as a style for training considering the varying educational background among the CHWs. The training material could be categorized into three major topics: skilled- based knowledge, relevant health knowledge, and research implementation knowledge. Training authority may vary, although WHO prefers the government of the countries to be involved in the training but more experienced CHWs, nurses and doctors can be part of the training team. SUPERVISION AND SUPPORT Long term sustainability of health programs involves active supervision and mentorship of the CHWs.The supervisors also provide support to CHWs. In most cases, the supervisor will be provided by the programs main authority. They are usually of different professional backgrounds but have an understanding of the program, the roles of the CHWs and the aim of the program. They evaluate the performance of the CHWs, define their roles and expectations and also answer questions raised by the CHWs. The frequency of supervision which is variable across programs depends on the target goal of the program, the available funds e.tc. Supervision as a general term could be practice in different styles and approaches. Group supervision involves a group of CHWs with a supervisor and has been implemented in many programs. Community supervision is another approach for CHWs. The innovative approach involves communitys participation by providing feedback and guidance to CHWs and their supervisors. Other methods that can be used are the peer supervision, clinical mentoring and mobile electronic devices. It is also important to note that the supervisors also needs to be actively supported by the programs main authority by providing material support e.g medical supplies, transportation etc. supporting the supervisors will help them perform their functions regularly. INCENTIVES The incentives for CHWs is one of the most controversial topics but it plays a significant role as it has been shown to be associated with CHWs performance, motivation and retention. many studies have debated on how compensations should be structured for the most effective way to incentivize CHWs. There are two categories of CHWs: the Volunteers and Full-time employees. Some countries have a process for how the community health workers should be paid based on the type of appointment and who employs them. CHWs employed by the government on a full-time basis are on paid salaries while most, especially the volunteers are given either monetary or non-monetary incentive; however, it is important to recognize that an opportunity for career advancement in this field can be an incentive. Full-time CHWS are comparatively rare to the part-time CHWs because of the financial implication on programs. A small amount of incentive is more commonly implemented in community-based programs. common monetary incentives are small monetary compensation for their time and transportation subsidies. How much monetary incentive is enough is unknown but it is important to give the CHWs some monetary incentives. The non-monetary incentive is also common. CHWs could get meals during training, bicycles for transportation, umbrellas etc. like the monetary incentive, there are no rules on how the authorities should incentivize their CHWs, or what item will effectively attract CHWs and motivate them. ROLES AND ACTIVITIES IN MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH The CHWs globally have been very effective in improving maternal and child health as well as reducing mortality especially in low-income countries. Their function varies across countries and programs; while in some countries, it is just preventive, in others it also involves diagnosis and treatment. The table below highlights how and areas where CHWs can work effectively to promote maternal and child health. PREVENTION DIAGNOSIS TREATMENT OBSTETRIC CARE Anemia *Nutrition Supplement, *Routine Haematinics Nutrition Supplement HIV *HIV Counseling *Distribution of condom Routine Followup on PMTCT Malaria *Distribution of Insecticide-treated net *Prevent therapy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine Rapid Diagnostic kit Antimalaria Obstetric Care Routine Tetanus toxiod Routine ANC Visit Post partum care PPH *Breast feeding counselling *Distribution of misoprostol at home births. GYNAECOLOGICAL CARE Family planning *Use of contraceptive PEDIATRIC CARE Diarrhea *Health education on handwashing, food preparation and packaging ORS Zinc supplement Malaria *Distribution of Insecticide-treated net Rapid Diagnostic kit Anitmalaria Antipyretics Pneumonia Antibiotics Malnutrition *Breast feeding Education *Growth monitoring Nutrition supplement Routine Immunization of Children INFECTIOUS DISEASES Tuberculosis Direct observation of tuberculosis treatment CHWs roles and activites are not limited to the above, there are also actively involved in diseases surveillance, home visits, record keeping, community health education, monitoring people with chronic diseases e.g hypertension , diabeties. INTEGRATION INTO CMMB PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS References: Pascale, Sternin, Sternin. (2010) The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the Worlds Toughest Problems. Harvard Business Press. Print.

The Girl with The Silver Eyes Essay -- Literary Analysis, Dashiell Ham

Hard-boiled detective fiction sets the scene for a cold and harsh reality. Dashiell Hammett’s, â€Å"The Girl with The Silver Eyes† is no exception to this rule. In this short story Hammett paints a picture of a brutally realistic urban center filled with characters that not many people would want to call friends. The realistic qualities of Hammett’s story are drawn from his own life’s experience working as a Pinkerton detective. The detective in â€Å"The Girl With The Silver Eyes† works for the Continental Detective Agency and is, therefore, known simply as the Continental Op. In the beginning of the story the Op professes, â€Å"a detective, if he is wise, takes pains to make and keep as many friends as possible among transfer company, express company and railroad employees† (27). This paper will examine this philosophy of the Continental Op, how he employs this approach to detective work and uncover if this approach is beneficial or disa dvantageous. The Continental Op is an unsympathetic character with a stickler attitude to his work. The Op believes that the case he is about to take is legitimate but states that, â€Å"I am only a hired man and have to go by the rules† (23). At the core of this statement is a man that is unwilling to bend the rules outlined by his company. People who always follow the rules are often seen as trust worthy and at the same time difficult to get along with. When you know a person is always going to go by the book, like the Op, it makes their actions predictably frustrating. Things could go a lot faster if a person were to cut a corner or two and help out. By doing this the detective might have made himself more likable to his new client. The Op shows no desire to perform this way to have friends on his side. T... ... even if this means that he has to pay a few people to be his friends. Without the help of the girl at the Marquis Hotel the Op would not have been given that lead. If it were not for the help of Porky Grout over the past three years that the detective had employed him, who knows how many cases would have gone unsolved. Even though in the end things do not workout between Porky and the Continental Op and Porky meets his fate. It is clear that the Op’s philosophy about what it means to make and keep friends is different then what other people would describe. It is the strong moral code that the P.I. is constantly reinforcing that allows the case to come to a resolution. People may not like the Op and fortunately for the general public most people to not have the personality of the Continental Op. Fact is the detective solves the case and gets his women in the end.