Essay Work-Life Balance

Question: Essay on Work-Life Balance. Answer: Introduction The author analyses the theories of work life balance, flexibility and human resource management and its effect on society and global environment. The author analyzes various theories on the work life balance and flexibility to solve the problems given in case study. The author identifies and discusses how work life and personal life can be balanced what are the things that managers should do during the recession. The essay also reflects the ill impacts of working for extra hours on health and the personal and work life. The main aim of the managers in an organization should be to satisfy employee along with the customers. For this the management unit should ensure that the employees get an equal opportunity to maintain their career and personal life. Work life balance means prioritizing the balance between work and lifestyle (Smeaton et al., 2015). Body Management of the employees and the human capital and assets of the organization is known as human resource management. The main responsibility of the human resource department in an organization is to recruit the right people for right job, training and development of employees, evaluating their performance, motivating the employees to achieve the goals of the firm and also solving the problems that employees face in the organization. The responsibility of human resource department is also to maintain and ensure that no employee in pressurized for work and the employees are able to maintain a balance between work life and personal life (Bratton Gold, 2015). Maintaining a balance between career and personal life is known as work-life balance. Since humans work to earn a standard of living the lifestyle of people often changes when they enter the corporate field. The time that they spend with their family reduces. So it is essential for the employees to maintain balances as it will not only benefit society but also the organization in which it is working. The research shows that working extra hour accounts for a total of seventy one billion dollar unpaid work each year. When the employees in an organization have to give an extra working hour in an organization they have to compromise the hour that they could have given to their family and leisure activities (Allen, et al., 2013). Flexibility is one of the elements of work life balance. Being flexible means choosing a career and office of its own choice and it also includes changing the shift timings and giving leave arrangements to the employees during the time of emergency. Flexible work arrangement is the situation or schedule that is different from the traditional schedule. Work life policy programs in Australia includes flexible hours, part time work, job sharing, work from home, employee assistance program, relocation service and granting casual laves so that employees can invest time for personal needs and family as well (Healey, 2008). According to Juliet Bourke, the work life balance suffers negativity than spreading positivity. However, the basic original paradigm of work-life balance approach is to enhance the profit maximization principle than cost minimization principle. Although, this paradigm is not able to prove flexibility because there is pressure given on the employees to perform better and for longer hours but only a fewer people are able to meet up to the capabilities of the work management (Cooney, et al., 2016). The work management is now focusing to reduce the weeks work to retain the employees. The pressure build up on good employees is more as extra workload is given to them. Therefore, this results in increase in the workload pressure on the employees by hampering their balanced life (Noon, Blyton Morrell, 2013). The work life balance not only hampers the social well-being but it also influences the personal well being because with increased workload will give more responsibility (Nayak Pandey, 2015). Although, this will become a never ending cycle of work that only deals with concerns and pressures. The work and time are inverse relationship as the work increases; the time will seem to be less. Nonetheless, it is not beneficial if employees are more stressed because this will result in more cost for the organization as well as the employees who are working from home. The teleconference will ultimately result in more cost, time and money wastage. However, to get maximum benefits, the organization needs to formulate a policy that deals with more out of less such that the efficient employees are not properly absorbed on the organization. As a result, flexibility has moved from the original paradigm making it unavoidable as well as necessary. As originally explained, should possess a proper coo rdination with efficient work-life balance approach (Jones, Burke Westman, 2013). The change makes it difficult for the organization to function properly, which not only results in conflicts between different working groups but also results in the challenges faced by time. However, there is a need to establish a proper policy system. Even more, if managers write policies then there will be extreme wastage of time, as the policies need to be re-written in correspondence with the employees demand in the organization. Todays work-life scenarios are inflexible in nature as there is too much pressure. Nevertheless, there should be more flexibility in the work life balance of work management. According to the recent study conducted by Janssen (2013), after analysing Net surveys database, only 28% of the working people have good work life balance rest 72% are not entirely happy with their work. However, to combat the the rising percentages, many organizations have adopted work-life flexibility working hours, starting with boosting the morale of the employees. The work-li fe flexibility is important in any organization as it involves a critical path management of the employees as well as employers. On the other hand, flexibility deems to be important for the employees because it reduces cost and provides employees to spend more time with their immediate close ones and family. Inflexibility is involves more working hours and many people avoid regular holidays even (Riley, 2012). As the saying goes, excess of everything is bad, highlights the proficiency that there is a negative impact on the managers and employees. Long working hours after the normal office working hours can prove to be detrimental for both the employees as well as the managers. Moreover, the immediate sufferers are the family of the employees and the managers that need to suffer along with them. It also proves detrimental on the ability of the performance, which creates unwanted deviations like health issues, sleeplessness and fatigue (Nitzsche, et al., 2013). Increased working hours has following impacts. Firstly, it causes an increased likelihood of illness and injury among the employees such as high prevalence of back disorders, hypertension, less physical and ultimately results in job dissatisfaction (Darcy, et al., 2012). However, there is extreme positioning of the fact that other than employees harmful effects, it also leads to increase in cost of the organization. Moreover, as the w orking hours increases, there is less of productivity and increase in risks of safety. However, there are various studies conducted, this study shows that more than 60 hours a week leads to decrease in productivity as well as dissatisfaction of the customers. A study was conducted on the workers who rode a truck, which revealed that the company had told them to work for more than 40 hours per week. As a result, the study states that with 60 more hours of work lead to indicators of productivity outcomes with injury rates and the moderate employee workers did not face any situation. The productivity outcomes laid two brief results, one followed physical, and the other followed to be non-physical presenters as in both the cases they were affected by the scenario (Golden, 2012). The other affect that highlights the cause is tiredness in which employees avoid doing any task such as their productivity falls and unproductive time increases. Working for longer durations also resulted in absenteeism, which not only hampered the productivity of the person as that of the organization. The silent sufferers had been the communities and the society in which the one person has born to live (Pencavel, 2015). The organization should give reward and recognition to the ones who give extra labour in their work by giving their valuable time and energy than required. On the other hand, time management is one factor that needs to be focused always (Lunau, et al., 2014). Conversely, some techniques should be applied that not only mitigates the effect of health and productivity but also studies the impact on the horizontal and vertical communication. If a job requires work, then the employee needs to be ready for the consequences ahead such that there is motivation for the extra hour one sits on the office and completes its work. However, the employees who work extra time will be rewarded with either cash or kind (Maalik, Ahmed Nazir, 2015). During the time of economic downturn or recession the working hour of people reduce due to reduction in the workload. This is the time where the employees get the maximum time to spend with their family. The salaries and wages depend on the performance of employees during the recession. But in organizations where the corporate culture is strong managers realize that firms will not benefit by reducing the working hours instead they lay off the workers that are unproductive and using the offices resources and wasting the time of organization. The main problem arises when the organizations are not able to handle the remaining workers in organization efficiently after the layoff (Perlow Kelly, 2014). The employees that are left in the organization are then pressurized due to which maintain the balance between work and life becomes difficult for the employees. Managers can ensure that the employees are able to maintain the work life balance by providing monetary benefits to the employees who have been laid off. Extra incentives should be given to ones who are putting in extra efforts and in form of compensation, insurance policy and retirement benefits. It is essential to ensure that the remaining employees in organization are happy because they are the ones who will help the firm come out of the recession. So it is essential to preserve the interests of the employees and keep them happy by not pressurizing them for work (Vandello et al., 2013). The managers should realize the positive impact of flexible work arrangement on productivity. The organization should form a proper financial strategy to help the firm come out of recession. Proper allocation of resources is also essential be it human or capital during economic downturn. Management unit should also realize that the workers that are laid off are important part of organization. So it is essential to ensure that during the boom period the employees dont refuse to work again with the organization. Management of time is the most essential factor to maintain work life balance. Flexibility work arrangement should be adopted in organizations so that the employees are satisfied and they can give time to their family along with work. Proper decision of work and strategy is essential for effective utilization of time and resources. Work life balance during the time of economic recession or downturn can be achieved by forming proper policies and strategies. The main responsibility of ensuring the work life balance and flexibility and flexible work arrangement is that of the human resource department (Campbell, 2015). Conclsion Work life balance and flexibility at work arrangement both has pros and cons. If it is managed properly then its result will benefit both the organization and employees. With the change in tradition, the work load is also increasing. There are many ill effects of working overtime and main hamper is on productivity of employees and organization. In order to increase profitability and productivity it is essential for the workers to maintain the family as well as career. The main role of human resource manager is to manage the employees and keep them motivated so that together they can work to achieve the goal of the firm. Both the employers and employees should work together to achieve one common goal set by the organization. References Allen, T. D., Johnson, R. C., Kiburz, K. M., Shockley, K. M. (2013). Workfamily conflict and flexible work arrangements: Deconstructing flexibility.Personnel Psychology,66(2), 345-376. B Nayak, A., Pandey, M. (2015). Work-Life Balance And Imbalance: A Conceptual Model. Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2015). Towards Critical Human Resource Management Education (CHRME): a sociological imagination approach.Work, Employment Society,29(3), 496-507. Campbell, K. M. (2015). Flexible Work Schedules, Virtual Work Programs, and Employee Productivity. Cooney, L.L., Tartar, J., Murphy Esq, S., Esq, M. Stephen, G. (2016). Video: The Balancing Act: Managing Work Life in a 24/7/365 World. Darcy, C., McCarthy, A., Hill, J., Grady, G. (2012). Worklife balance: One size fits all? An exploratory analysis of the differential effects of career stage.European Management Journal,30(2), 111-120. Golden, L. (2012). The Effects of Working Time on Productivity and Firm Performance, Research Synthesis Paper.International Labor Organization (ILO) Conditions of Work and Employment Series, (33). Healey, J. (2008).Work-life balance. Thirroul, N.S.W. : Spinney Press, 2008 Janssen, J. (2013).A poor work-life-balance is bad both for employees and employers - Netsurvey.Netsurvey. Retrieved 2 June 2016 Jones, F., Burke, R. J., Westman, M. (2013).Work-life balance: A psychological perspective. Psychology Press. Lunau, T., Bambra, C., Eikemo, T. A., van der Wel, K. A., Dragano, N. (2014). A balancing act? Worklife balance, health and well-being in European welfare states.The Euro Maalik, A., Ahmed, N., Nazir, I. (2015). Impact of Work Life Balance, Career Development and Reward on Employee. Performance in Petroleum Sector of Pakistan. Nitzsche, A., Pfaff, H., Jung, J. and Driller, E., 2013. Worklife balance culture, workhome interaction, and emotional exhaustion: A structural equation modeling approach.Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,55(1), pp.67-73. Noon, M., Blyton, P. Morrell, K. (2013).The realities of work: Experiencing work and employment in contemporary society. Palgrave Macmillan. Pencavel, J. (2015). The productivity of working hours.The Economic Journal,125(589), 2052-2076. Perlow, L. A., Kelly, E. L. (2014). Toward a model of work redesign for better work and better life.Work and Occupations,41(1), 111-134.. Riley, D. E. R. E. K. (2012).Work and family interface: Wellbeing and the role of resilience and work-life balance(Doctoral dissertation, PhD thesis). The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand).

Mongolian Effects on Russia and China free essay sample

AsiaIn the years between 1100 and 1400 the Mongol empire stretched the farthest of any empire throughout history. Within the massive land under Mongol rule laid the lands of China and Russia. The Mongols knew how to maintain their empire but had different ways of doing it in each part. This lead to the separate, divergent ways of governing the two lands. In China and Russia, the Mongol era brought an immense change in political and economical power. In China, political impact from the Mongols came off much stricter than it did in Russia. The leader of the Mongolians, Kublai Khan guided the Mongols to conquer the Southern Song dynasty. Even though the Mongols had ruled territories, which included modern day northern China for many years, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially accepted a traditional Chinese style. When Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty, he practically conquered all of China. The Chinese weren’t as politically free as the Russians. We will write a custom essay sample on Mongolian Effects on Russia and China or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For example Chinese were not allowed to inter-marry. He also banned Chinese scholars from learning Mongolian script and kept the two militaries separate. Mongol political control in Russia was different than China. One could argue that Mongolia was slightly â€Å"looser† with the Russian government. The Russians were aloud a grand prince to lead under Mongolian power but they were forced to pay tribute. Not only did the Mongol rule have a huge effect on the politics of China and Russia but the economy was affected as well. During the Mongolian rule, the China became a heart of trade for the Eastern world. This gave the Mongols complete control of the Silk Road. China had things that so many other places in the world wanted such as silk and porcelain. With a high demand for these Chinese goods the jobs were created, trade flourished, and the Mongolians highly benefited from the booming economy in China. The Mongols had a very different effect on the Russian economy than the Chinese economy. The Mongols caused the Russian economy to crash, which made Russia restart all of its agricultural affairs. This forced Russia to rely generally on peasant labor. Paper money was also being made which caused major inflation. Instead of becoming a hot spot for trade, Russia became weaker do to the economic Mongol torture.

Differences Between Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine

Differences Between Allopathic and Osteopathic Medicine There are two basic types of medical training: allopathic and osteopathic. The traditional medical degree, the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), requires training in allopathic medicine while osteopathic medical schools award the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree. Students hoping to achieve either degree attend medical schools and receive substantial training (4 years, not including residency), and other than the osteopathic students ability to administer osteopathic medicine, there is no real marked difference between the two programs. Training The curricula of both schools are similar. State licensing agencies and most hospitals and residency programs recognize the degrees as equivalent. In other words, osteopathic doctors are legally and professionally equivalent to allopathic doctors. The important difference between the two types of schools of training is that osteopathic medical schools take a holistic perspective on the practice of medicine based on a belief in treating the whole patient (mind-body-spirit) and the primacy of the musculoskeletal system in human health and the utility of osteopathic manipulative treatment. D.O. recipients emphasize prevention, a historical distinction which is less relevant as all of the medicine increasingly emphasizes prevention. Biomedical and clinical sciences take the forefront of both degrees training programs, requiring students of both fields to complete relatively the same course load (anatomy, microbiology, pathology, etc), but the osteopathic student additionally takes courses focused on hands-on manual medicine, including an additional 300-500 hours of study in manipulating the musculoskeletal system, a practice referred to as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). Admissions and Enrollment There are fewer D.O. programs than M.D. programs in the United States with about 20% of medical students entering D.O. programs each year. As compared with traditional medical school, osteopathic medical schools have a reputation for looking at the applicant, not just his or her statistics, and therefore likely to admit nontraditional applicants who are older, non-science majors or seeking a second career. The average GPA and MCAT scores for incoming students are slightly lower in osteopathic programs, but the difference is rapidly falling. The average age of entering osteopathic students is about 26 years (versus allopathic medical schools 24). Both require an undergraduate degree and basic science coursework before applying. Practicing osteopathic physicians make up seven percent of the United States medical physicians with over 96,000 practicing currently in the country. With enrollment in D.O. programs increasing steadily since 2007, though, it is expected that these numbers will climb in the coming years and more private practices will open that focus on this field of medicine.   The Real Difference The main disadvantage of choosing osteopathic medicine is that that you may find yourself educating patients and colleagues about your degree and credentials (i.e., that a D.O. is the equivalent of an M.D.). Otherwise, both receive the same level of legal benefits and are fully accredited to practice in the United States. Essentially, if you are hoping to choose between the two fields of study, you really just need to evaluate whether or not you believe in a more holistic, hands-on approach to medicine or the more traditional route of becoming a Doctor of Medicine. Either way, though, youll be a physician after completing your medical school degree and residency programs.

How to Cancel Your ACT Scores

How to Cancel Your ACT Scores SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Think you did horribly on the ACT? Need to cancel your scores? Or are you just wondering what you would do if you ran into an emergency on test day? In this guide, we'll cover three actions you can take to deal with a bad ACT score: canceling scores, stopping college score reports, and deleting existing scores. Likely you would only need to use one or two of these methods if you run into trouble, but we will cover all three to make sure you know all of your options. Option 1: Canceling ACT Scores If you don't think you did well on the ACT, your first option is to cancel your scores. It's the most drastic option you can take if you think you did poorly on the ACT, and it stops your exam from even being graded. What Does Canceling Your Scores Do? If you cancel your scores, this means your test won't be graded and you won't get a score report. Students usually do this if something unexpected happens during the test– for example they get suddenly sick or an emergency pops up. Canceling your scores does not come with a refund, so we only recommend doing this in an extreme situation. You should only cancel your scores if you can't finish the test. Don’t cancel your scores just because you feel bad about your performance. Why not? Since you already paid for the test, if you were able to finish it, you might as well wait and see your test scores.Lots of students walk out of the test center feeling like they bombed the ACT, but they're often pleasantly surprised by their scores. You might be one of them. Plus you can learn about your performance from the score report, which is helpful if you decide to retake the ACT. And if your scores really are terrible, you can delete them later on (a process we'll explain later in this post). Finally, know that most schools do not require you to send all your ACT scores. In fact, you will need to send individual score reports to each school. You can take the ACT up to six times, and you don't need to send your lower ACT scores to schools. Our advice if you think you did poorly would be to wait for your score report but delete your college score recipients, which we will explain below. How Do You Cancel Your ACT Scores? You can only cancel your ACT score on the day of the exam, while you're still at the test center. In order to do this, tell the exam proctor to void your scores before you leave the test center. This will stop your test from being graded, and you won’t get a score. Again, only do this in extreme or unusual circumstances.If you don't tell the proctor to void your score before you leave, there is nothing you can doto stop your test from being graded. Once you’ve broken the seal on your test booklet, that test is yours and you either need to complete it or cancel the score. If an emergency comes up right before the test, just don’t break the seal and you will be able to move your registration to a different date. You can also do this if you can't make it to the test center the day of the ACT. (You can switch your test date online using your ACT student account. You will have to pay the test date change fee, but that's cheaper than a whole new registration.) Option 2: Getting Rid of Your College Score Recipients Once the reports are in the mail, it's too late. One thing you absolutely should do if you feel shaky about your ACT performance is to get rid of your college score recipients. This is different than canceling your score reports. While your ACT will still be graded, you can make sure no colleges see your scores. You can always send the score reports later if it turns out you did well (although you'll need to pay for those score reports). The ACT will send up to four score reports out to colleges of your choice for free as part of your test registration. You can cancel these reports up to the Thursday after your test. If you’re worried that your performance was bad, simply log onto your ACT Student account and delete those college score recipients. This guarantees no scores will be sent to anyone, unless you choose to send the scores later on. You have until the Thursday after the ACT to edit or delete colleges from that list. After that, the score reports will be sent no matter what. So if you complete the ACT but think you did poorly, simply delete the colleges off your score sending list so they won’t see your score. Option 3: Deleting Test Records If you end up with an ACT score you’re not happy with, aside from making sure it’s not sent to colleges, you can also delete the scores from the ACT’s records. You can do this by submitting a written request to ACT. Send a letter with your name and address, and state that you want to delete a test date record. Mail the letter here: ACT Institutional Services P.O. Box 168 Iowa City, IA 52243-0168 USA The ACT will then send you back a form that you can use to delete the test record. This can permanently remove a bad test score from your record. However, if you took the ACT as part of state or district testing, it can’t be deleted. This only applies for testing you signed up for and paid for yourself. Bottom Line If you’re feeling really sick or an emergency pops up the morning of the ACT, the smartest thing to do is to no-show and use your test registration for a later test date. If you start your test but are unable to finish, void your scores before you leave the test center to make sure a score report isn’t created. If you don’t void your scores, make sure to delete your college score recipientsby the Thursday after the ACT to make sure your score isn’t sent to colleges. And finally, if you get your score and decide you don’t like it, it can be deleted from ACT’s records. As long as you're aware of these options, you can make sure colleges only see the scores you want them to. What’s Next? Need to prep for the ACT, ASAP? Read our guide to making massive point improvements in just 10 days. Need more help on the ACT? Get a guide to must-know ACT Vocab and learn how to write an ACT essay, step-by-step. Also read a guide to each section on the ACT: English, Math, Reading, and Science. So there's no guessing penalty on the ACT, but that doesn't mean you should guess wildly and without a strategy. Read our guide to guessing wisely on the ACT to maximize your score. Disappointed with your ACT scores? Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Knowledge Management Processes & Tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Knowledge Management Processes & Tools - Essay Example Under these terms, a wide range of knowledge sharing tools has been developed aiming to respond to the needs of all relevant cases. The forms and the implications of knowledge sharing, in the context of knowledge management, are examined in this paper. Two specific knowledge sharing tools, blogs and intranets, are examined and evaluated – at the level that they can help to understand the contribution of knowledge sharing in the development of knowledge management. The key aspects of knowledge management, as the framework in which knowledge sharing operates, are also examined; particular emphasis is given on the fact that the forms of knowledge sharing tools used for serving the relevant needs of individuals and organizations are many, a fact indicating the lack of an integrated tool for knowledge sharing in both the social and the business context. 1. Introduction In modern market, the need for communication is intensive; effective communication is a prerequisite for the succe ss of various projects, personal or business. In this context, the sharing of knowledge has been considered as of crucial importance in order for various social and economic targets to be achieved. For this reason, a series of theoretical frameworks has been established aiming to help people to understand the value of communication and to choose the tools that would best help them to communicate and share knowledge with other people in the same or different social context. Current paper focused on the various aspects of knowledge management as a key prerequisite of communication in different environments; the most important knowledge management processes and tools are examined and evaluated. Reference is made to knowledge management as part both of social life and organizational activity. Emphasis is given on a particular aspect of knowledge management: the knowledge sharing. The literature published in the specific field has been reviewed aiming to show the role and the challenges of knowledge sharing as a key organizational activity, referring to the main role of knowledge management, as an organizational process; at the same time, two different knowledge management tools are presented and analysed: blogs and intranets. Both of them are likely to operate in different environments, i.e. both at workplace or at home. It is concluded that knowledge management, as part of a specific social or business activity is a significant prerequisite of effective communication. However, the following issue appears: can knowledge sharing tools, as described in this paper, have a standardized form or they are likely to be continuously changed – in order to meet the requirements of specific organizational or social context? The examination of the characteristics and the requirements of knowledge sharing tools has led to the assumption that these tools may change in terms of their operational characteristics and requirements; however, their key form and role remains the same. Moreover, their involvement in communication and knowledge sharing is also likely to be differentiated – under the influence of the local, economic and political conditions. 2. Knowledge management – overview, role In order to understand the potential value and the challeng

Sunk Costs and Organizational Decision Making Research Paper

Sunk Costs and Organizational Decision Making - Research Paper Example The $100,000 the company expends to buy the license is a sunk cost. Thus, sunk cost is one that when once it has been incurred, it could not be transformed or changed by a present decision. Thus, the company cannot rectify what was done by going back into the past and undo the decision made in the past. Further, it cannot be refunded or recovered as the government will neither permit the same to be resold or to will buy back the same. (Arnold, 2008, p184). Clark and Wrigley (1995) recognise three varieties of sunk costs which can efficiently produce a lesser or greater magnitude of such locational inaction. In the first type of sunk cost, for instance, for training costs of inward investors , whenever there is a requirement of significant skills to be harnessed , but on the assumption that lion’s share of such inward remittance based on low-skilled jobs and in such cases , sunk costs are particularly so significant. According to Peck (1996), the second type of sunk cost may be the cost of leasing or acquiring local property and land. Poignantly, a considerable quantum of such setup sunk costs may be met by subsidy from either central or state governments or shared by both by way of regional developments of grants and the leveling and provision of premises and sites. As per Gold (1981), there is a technical sense where the economies of scale is associated with the physical capacity which is notionally regarded as set-up sunk costs but none can be important in assessing industries and firms to specific places and the best illustration, here would be the location of chemical industries and petrochemical industries. Lastly, Clark and Wrigley recognise â€Å"exit† sunk costs, which become perceptible when a factory winds up its operations or a business exit from industry or a market. The best example here is the cost associated with pension provisions and severance pay. (Phelps, 2002, p 61-62). 2) Statement of the Problem- â€Å"Sunk cost† is a term borrowed from accounting and economics, referring to those costs that have been incurred and are therefore no longer relevant to future decision-making (Hirschey, 2009; Taylor, 2010). However, despite it irrelevance in terms of monetary reckoning, the psychological effect of â€Å"sunk cost† on the human decision making process remains evident. The effect of sunk costs on decision making in general has been a topic of interest in diverse areas such as human development (Kelly, 2004; Arkes, 1999) and education (Rover, et al., 2009). In business likewise, they figure unintentionally in managerial decision making. 3) Significance of the problem- Without realizing it, investors and managers are prone to the â€Å"sunk cost effect.† The disproportionate consideration of sunk costs constitutes a trap to decision making; positions are sometimes taken or products pushed too long in the hope that they may still turn profitable, because the investor or manager refuses to ad mit that it was a bad investment to the point of abandoning it (A to Z of Management Concepts & Models, 2005). In the interest of avoiding mistakes in decision making that will eventually affect firm profitability, studies should continue on

Marriage Imprisons Essay Example for Free

Marriage Imprisons Essay Lectric Law Library defines marriage as, A contract made in due form of law, by which a free man and a free woman reciprocally engage to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife. By the terms freeman and freewoman in this definition are meant, not only that they are free and not slaves, but also that they are clear of all bars to a lawful marriage (Marriage). Unfortunately, this written definition doesnt always seem to be working in everyday life. In the short stories, The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, An Adventure in Paris by Guy de Maupassant and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber, a reader may find many examples that demonstrate how marriage imprisons people. In the vey first sentence in The Story of an Hour a reader finds out that the main character, Louise has heart trouble and may not be able to handle shock or surprise. At the same time, her heart problems symbolize her heartbreak over her role in life. From almost the beginning, the reader is given a clue that Louise has wanted to free herself from her marriage. Mrs. Mallard reacts to the news about her husbands death with sudden, wild abandonment and locks herself in her bedroom (Chopin 123). The narrator notes that her reaction is not usual for a woman who has just lost her husband. She does not feel paralyzed or unable to accept his fate. She is able to quickly abandon her role as a wife. Ironically, her husbands death makes Louise to feel alive for the first time. The author describes the beautiful change from winter to spring. The new season is a symbol of the transformation of Louises character. The open widow symbolizes all the possibilities that are now available to her. The storys springtime setting also symbolizes her rebirth as an independent person. Now that her husband is dead, she will be free to assert herself in ways she never before dreamed while she was married. She states that she had loved her husband sometimes, but that now she would be Free! Body and soul free! (Chopin 124). The major irony of the story comes with the surprise at the end. Louise thought her freedom would come from her husbands death. Instead, she gains freedom from his domination only in her own death after she finds out hes alive. Unfortunately, long fee life she imagined lasted just for an hour. Another great example of imprisoned by marriage woman is the main character of An Adventure in Paris by Guy De Maupassant. In the story the author reveals a story of a married woman who has spent a great portion of her life at home raising her two children. Obviously, she neither had the chance to experience much excitement nor adventure through these years. Thus, she felt that she was growing old without having known life (De Maupassant 512). She often thought of the exciting life of Paris, wishing to free herself from the dull life she led, and to get the chance to experience some pleasure on her own. One day, she finds a pretext to get out of the house and goes for a journey to Paris (De Maupassant 512). She meets a well-know man, Jean Varin who shows her the way he lives in Paris. They go together for a walk, for a dinner, she even stays at his house for the night. Unfortunately, all she experiences next to his side is nothing comparing to what she dreamed of. She realizes that those well-known men in Paris arent any different than her own husband. Just like her husband Varin snores and sleeps on his back. Lying next to Varin in bed, she was heartbroken (De Maupassant 515). Surprisingly through out the story a narrator never reveals the womans name, she is referred to the reader as a she (De Maupassant 512). This is not an accident of a narrative. De Maupassant shows that while the woman is married, she cease to exist as her own person. The woman is simply controlled and imprisoned by her family and all the responsibilities as a mother and wife. In contrast, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber illustrates that not only women may experience a feeling of being imprisoned by marriage. The main character in the story, Walter Mitty is fully controlled by his wife and seems to be unable to stand up for himself. Mitty is trapped in a world that is full of dull responsibilities and offers few possibilities for adventure. He spends much of his time escaping into fantasies in which it is him who is in control, and in which his life is full of excitement and adventure. Mitty dreams of flying planes in hazardous conditions and causing scenes in courtrooms, but his life consists of buying overshoes and waiting for his wife to have her hair done. His wife obviously worries about Walters health and welfare; she observes that he is nervous, suggests a visit to a doctor, notes that she intends to check his temperature when they return home, and reminds him to wear his gloves and buy overshoes. Unfortunately, at the same time she is breaking the spirit of the man in his life which makes him feel imprisoned. Mitty keeps escaping into fantasies to forget at least for few minutes about his miserable life. Many people recognize marriage with happiness and joyful life. Unfortunately, as we learn from the three stories above, married people often find their life more dull than enjoyable. Lack of excitement and pleasures in marriage, make spouses life unhappy and thats why they often look for a way to escape from it. Thus, in reality marriage differs from its written definition and in fact imprisons people. Works Cited Baush, Richard and R.V. Cassill, eds. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York: Norton, 2006. Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Baush and Cassil123- 125. De Maupassant, Guy. An Adventure in Paris. Baush and Cassil 511- 516. Marriage. The Lectric Law Librarys Lexicon On. 2007. Lectric Law Library.15 Nov 2007. http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/m087.htm Thurber, James. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Baush and Cassill 720- 724.