An Online Business Expansion Proposal Essay Example for Free

An Online Business Expansion Proposal Essay Dancy’s Fancy Butter is a local, singly owned and operated butter/spread. This business is located in Jacksonville Michigan. The operation started out from a simple request from a friend who wanted to buy the Garlic butter for a party. It was then that Anna Dancy realized the family and friend’s favorite dinner addition was a possible money making venture. The actual business side was at first a bit taunting. Anna had never run her own business, nor had she worked in food service or distributing food. There was a lot to learn that went way beyond the product. She purchased a mobile kitchen unit, and started creating her butter spreads. It was not long before the Health inspector paid her a visit. She was fortunate that she was giving solid advice as to how to move forward with rules in running a food service business. The holdup was minimal and it gave her time to actually prepare for bring her product to a larger customer base then family and friends. Farmer’s markets are the primary selling place for Dancy Fancy Butter. The product is made and kept preserved in the mobile kitchen, and then Anna and family helpers travel thought out the Jacksonville region setting up at Farmers Markets. It has been a great success. Now that she has a year under her belt, and with family and friends living outside of Jacksonville and the state of Michigan Anna Dancy had decided that she wants to explore expanding her internet presences and move into selling and shipping her product to a wider market. The advantages in today’s market for placing access to your product and services online are numerous. For Dancy Fancy Butter being online will open up an opportunity for a larger population to see the products offered. There is an international customer base available into Canada with the location of the company in Michigan. The possible challenges to building an online presence for this company will be assuring there is up-keep for everything from the website through the social media outlets. The online presence is bound to bring in more clients, the significance will be made clear and the management of the online environment will align with the overall goal to be successful in this endeavor. Current Online Competition The online completers that come up in a basic search for butter, butter spread and organic are, Home Earth Balance (http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/), Melt Up! (http://www.meltdirectnow.com/), and Bryanna’s Vegan Butter (http://vegan.com/recipes/bryanna-clark-grogan/bryannas-vegan-butter/). Earth Balance is an off shoot of the Smart Balance products whose parent company is GFA Brands, Inc. so even though this is an natural butter spread, it is still a part of a large company. The website is well organized, and has several appealing features such as a Recipe section and Kitchen Tips. There is not a ecommerce or shopping cart, so the product is only available in stores. The next company Melt Up! is an organic butter spread. The website is very basic. It does have a shopping cart and ecommerce. The site offers a newsletter and runs and RSS syndication on its front page. This sight is a good set up if you are familiar with the product. The third website like or close as a competitor is Bryanna’s Vegan butter. This site is connected to Vegan.com (http://vegan.com). It is more of a blog site. If the site does allow you to buy products, however it takes you off to Amazon to complete your purchase. This websites do have similar products as Dancy Fancy butter, however they are not homegrown, home town products. The advantage to Dancy Fancy butter is it will carry a local feel to all who visit the website. Online Marketing Suggestions and Strategies Three online strategies that are planned for the rolling out Dancy Fancy Butter online expansion will be an email campaign, a Facebook group for the company and third will be content strategy of building Cooking Tips videos for the website.

Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users

Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION What is an Office? Offices are workspaces designed for regular use to achieve personal, group or organizational goals through the accomplishment of tasks. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) go on to state that these tasks can be grouped into cognitive, physical, social or procedural tasks. The office provides a location for contact and could also be a repository for tools, information and other resources required to meet business objectives. It is also a business resource, this a point most people fail to understand thus, the failure to properly design and evaluate work spaces. The work place or office is one of the places the modern man spends the bulk of his waking hours. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) say almost half of ones waking hours are spent in and around the office. This would provide explanation for research efforts into the design and utilization of offices. According to Myerson and Ross (2003) the office grew out of the factory and then followed the trend of bureaucratization of industry. Thus, offices have been viewed differently by users and companies. Some view it as an address, others as a necessary evil but to others it is considered to be an asset. Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) noted that the design of an office was mostly considered as a cost and done to support quiet work and also show peoples status. While the purpose of the â€Å"New office† is to be that of attracting and retaining staff as well as to revolutionalize corporate culture. Work places or offices have been described variously as; conventional, traditional, and closed or open plan offices. Some, group them as large or small, landscaped etc. (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). The general descriptions of workspaces fall under the categories of open plan and cellular offices and this is based on the architectural and functional features of the work spaces (Duffy, Laing and Crisp, 1992). Other descriptions and categorization of offices include the hive; which is suited to individual processes. The den; suited to group processes. The cell; designed for concentrated study while the club supports transactional knowledge (Sailer, Budgen, Lonsdale, Turner and Penn, 2009). There are other descriptions of office types for example, Myerson and Ross (2003) from an architectural point of view, showed that views of property and space as related to the office environment have been evolving and as such, they identify four thematic categories of offices namely: narrative which presents the â€Å"office as a brand experience.† Nodal where the â€Å"office as knowledge connector.† The neighborly theme sees the â€Å"office as a social landscape† and lastly nomadic â€Å"office as distributed work space† these grouping reflect more of necessity and corporate culture not necessarily a collection of generally practically replicable models. In another categorization of offices by Myerson and Ross (2006) is based on the fact that the offices evolved to suit knowledge workers, as such, the categories match each of the four â€Å"realms† of knowledge work namely: the academy â€Å"is likened to the corporate realm which is a more collegiate and collaborative approach to work†, guild â€Å"the professional realm in essence a professional cluster of peers sharing a skill or specialization†, agora â€Å"the public realm where the corporation is open to the city or the market place† and the lodge â€Å" the domestic or private realm more of the live and work setting†. In the general scheme of things offices are still broadly classified into open plan and private or cellular offices all other forms are variations of the two. Cellular Offices Also called closed offices, this type of offices are the traditional or conventional offices which are usually closed and private workspaces (Maher and von Hippel, 2005) i.e. they are designed with floor to ceiling walls, a door and dimensioned for a single user. This type of office is also called a cell-office and can be a shared room office, used by 2-3 persons (Danielsson, 2008). This has been the generally accepted, traditional or popular understanding of the place called an office. Open Plan Offices These are found to be a common workspace shared by a group of employees. The original concept of the open plan office has continued to evolve, but it is the absence of floor-to-ceiling walls that is said to be the primary characteristic of open-plan offices. The arrangements of office furniture, partitions, screens, office equipment, or plants mark out individual and functional work areas (Valesny and Farace, 1987). One of the strengths of the open plan office according to Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) is the openness and flexibility allowing one to move to where things are happening and allowing for â€Å"overhearing and over-seeing† (p. 207) thus enhancing peripheral participation. Other types of the open plan office include the bull pen office, action offices, landscaped offices (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). In the bull pen offices, the work desks are arranged in neat row as far as the eyes can see. In reality, most firms have a mix of office typologies ranging from cellular units designed for a single user to a small room office shared by a few people then the spaces shared with a large group with or without specifically assigned work places and with varying measures of visual and audio privacy. Recent Developments in Open Plan Offices It is safe to argue that, the open plan office has become increasingly popular (de Korte, Kuijt-Evers and Vink, 2007; Ding, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pejtersen, Allermann, Kristensen and Poulsen, 2006 etc.) and several reasons could be advanced to explain the widespread adoption and use of the open plan offices and its variations. There is also a move to wards a reduction in open plan office workspaces especially in the United States of America due to the understanding that smaller workstations are cheaper to maintain (Dykes, 2011) this according to Veitch, Charles, Farley and Newsham (2007) is because there is a failure in understanding the full value of the physical office environment and related issues in open plan offices in particular. Advantages of open plan offices Searches through literature (Danielsson, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pan and Micheal, 2007; Roper and Juneja, 2008; Valesny and Farace, 1987 etc.) present the following as reasons for the adoption of open plan offices. They include; Reduction in office space and cost decline: The price of real estate is predicated on the area rented and utilized. With organizations using rental spaces, it is cheaper to use the rented floor or floors as open plan offices. In most cases, the cost of partitioning is saved if an open plan set up is deployed fully or partly. Flexibility for organizational changes: The open plan office lends itself to easy restructuring of work areas. In most cases, it is easier to fit in one more members of staff (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). More efficient work flow and communication: Some jobs require continuous team work, face to face interaction and a relatively high level of routine procedures. For such work groups, the open plan office or variations thereof are usually recommended and deployed. The enhancement of some level of peripheral participation is one of the strengths of the open plan office. Possible enhancement of social facilitation: The enhancement of collaboration i.e. the fostering of a team spirit, where, work teams or task forces are close to one another and can quickly form a huddle to sort out problems without resorting to information technology provisions like the intercom, emails, phones, video conferencing or even the walk up to another office. Oldham and Brass, (1979) specifically examined interpersonal issues that included; intradepartmental and interdepartmental interaction, friendship opportunities, noting that supervisor and co worker feed back could be improved. Ease of supervision: There is an ease of supervision, in that, a look over the landscape of the office can give an idea as to who is present and what each member of staff is doing. Limitations of open plan offices. Regarding the limitations of open-plan office designs, Maher and von Hippel (2005) rightly point out the fact that in open plan office layouts â€Å"distractions and overstimulation are intrinsically linked to the design.† These issues have consistently been themain down sides of open plan offices and some of them include: Increased workplace noise (Pan and Michael, 2007). Increased disturbances and distractions. Increased feelings of crowding and loss of privacy. There is a reduction in autonomy and task identity and a reduction in supervisor and co worker feedback in certain cases (Oldham and Brass, 1979). One point of agreement in open plan office research is that there is a generally low level of perceived privacy in open plan offices, as interruptions and distractions of the visual and acoustic kind occur frequently in open plan offices. (Pejtersen et al. 2006; Roper and Juneja, 2008) Furthermore, researchers have observed that these negative outcomes resulting from the adoption of the open plan office design tends to result in dissatisfaction with work and the workplace thus, reducing functional efficiency, decreasing performance, especially, for non routine tasks and also, reduced feedback from supervisors due to some complexity with the freedom of communication (de Korte et al. 2007; Pejtersen et al. 2006; Sundstrom et al. 1982; Vischer, 2007 ). This understanding has led some organizations to begin returning to the traditional private offices i.e. with floor to ceiling partitions assigned to an individual (Roper and Juneja 2008). Evolving nature of office work Also worthy of note, is the evolution of work patterns. An increasingly large number of persons work mainly at or from home and visit the office sparingly. This has given rise to the several types of offices one of which is the flex-office, which is dimensioned for less than 70% of the total company staff to be in at the same time. Another design is the combi-office; where a member of staff is not assigned to a specific desk but sharing of common facilities provides the spatial definition of such an individuals work space i.e. the task and personnel at hand may determine the sitting arrangement of persons in the office (Danielsson, 2008). Thesis Overview The thesis is organized in to 5 chapters; Chapter one provides an introduction the concept of an office, its major types and variations. It then focuses on the open plan office and then highlights the strengths and limitations of the open plan office. Chapter two provides a literature review of the concept of privacy perception; it reviews the perceived benefits of privacy and then traces the expectation that privacy perception could be influenced by culture. Significant studies related to dissatisfaction with open plan offices are examined for possible links to culture. The discussion then moves to culture, its definition and then the attempts made in the classification of culture. The Hofstede paradigm is then discussed and some studies employing the paradigm are reviewed. The research motivation and hypotheses are presented. Chapter three discusses the methodology of the study, the survey method, issues noted and the challenge expected. The source and design of the questionnaire was presented and the analysis methods proposed. The statistical analysis tool was briefly introduced. Chapter four shows the procedure of the survey, documents the responses received, analyzed the data collected from the general information part of the questionnaire and then chronicles the statistical analysis of the second part of the questionnaire designed to elicit privacy perception in open plan office environments. Chapter five provides a discussion of the results obtained in chapter five and then presents the limitations of the current study while providing directions for further work. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This part of the thesis discusses the links between privacy perceptions and culture. It also includes definitions and explanations of some related terms. Lastly, it includes a presentation of some ideas relevant to the work and results of related studies. The chapter concludes with the research question, research hypothesis and the motivation for the study. Privacy Perception In order to facilitate a better understanding, the term â€Å"privacy† is defined firstly then the concept called â€Å"perception. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2011), privacy is said to be â€Å"the quality or state of being apart from company or observation†. Wikipedia defines perception as â€Å"the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.† It goes on to say â€Å"what one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including one’s culture, and the interpretation of the perceived.† Privacy is a very difficult concept or construct to define not to talk of evaluating, it has commanded interest from the fields of anthropology, architecture, cultural geography, environmental design, ethology, history, law, philosophy, and sociology, as well as branches psychology such as; clinical, counseling, developmental, educational, environmental and social psychology (Newell, 1995; 1998). Newell (1995) in her extensive review of the concept of privacy divided the perspectives of privacy into, people centered, place centered and the person-environment or the person-place interaction with the primary interest on the place, people or equally on the person and place and or with the interaction itself. Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001 p. 664) in another review of literature on privacy noted that perspectives applied to the analysis of the concepts of privacy to be: The units experiencing privacy. They go on to note â€Å"the unit experiencing privacy can be either an individual or a group, or both.† Desired – Achieved privacy. This is explained by the understanding that the concept of privacy is either seen as a subjective state or studied as an achieved state (Newell, 1998). Reactive – Proactive privacy. This is to say the control of communication and also the control of knowledge. Furthermore, they describe the dimensions of privacy to include: physical, psychological, social and informational thus, suggesting privacy dimensions to be made up of four quadrants of the diagram as shown in figure 2.1 below.. Source: Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001) It would be seen that in an open plan office all the dimensions of privacy as enumerated Figure 2.1 above are impinged upon; First, physical accessibility to the person is unrestricted. Secondly, the cognitive intrusions abound due to audio and visual distractions. Thirdly, it is more difficult to control social contacts for example, the choice of participants for interaction, the interaction frequency, length and content of the said interaction. Then finally, the ease with which certain private pieces of information about the person is easily accessible is a problem in open plan offices, after all, most open plan offices do not have a single route of access or a door to the work space. So, it is difficult to mark and protect ones territory and as such protect some form of private information from would be trespassers (Anjum, Paul and Ashcroft, 2004). In the light of these perspectives, one of the definitions of privacy suggested is that â€Å"privacy is a voluntary and temporary condition of separation from the public domain† (Newell, 1998, p. 357). Oldham, Kulick and Stepina (1991) highlighted the fact that individuals reacted negatively to environments characterized by few enclosures, closeness and high density because such environments exposed individuals to too many unwanted or uncontrolled intrusions. It is also agreed that, the perception of the work environment leads to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the work and the work environment. Fischer, Tarquinio and Vischer (2004, p.132 ) posit that the there are three major categories of mediating influences on workplace satisfaction and these are, â€Å"individual differences like culture, age, professional or status, organizational context and environmental features.† All these issues could be further grouped into two; internal and external factors as relates to the individual. These two descriptions could be mapped to the two ingredients required for a need for privacy to exist i.e. a person or persons and a place. Sanders and McCormick (2002, p. 485) also point out that apart from the physical features of the built environment, â€Å"people are influenced by nonphysical features like social, cultural, technological, economic and political factors characteristic of the environment.† External Factors These are the place factors, usually described as the environmental or design issues which can lead to noise distractions, visual distractions, interruptions, crowding and accessibility issues (Ding, S. 2008). Due to the absence of internal walls, the low height of walls or partitions in open plan offices influences privacy; the more enclosures, the lower the people per given space and the higher the partitions, the higher the privacy perceived (Danielsson 2008; Oldham, G. R et al. 1991; Sundstrom, Herbert and Brown, 1982 etc.). Organizational context is also considered to be an external factor. This involves the type of industry involved by the organization. For example doctors consulting rooms should provide more audio privacy compared to an architectural firms offices or design studios. Internal Factors This grouping is based on the person factors or what goes on within the person, the suggestion that individual differences related to but not restricted to personality traits, gender, individual experience etc. affect ones perception of, and hence the evaluation of the work environment (external or place factors). Some studies have found that variations exist across gender in perception of privacy in the open plan office (Yildirim, Akalin-Baskaya and Celebi, 2007). Also, in a different cross cultural study of privacy, Newell (1998) found that privacy was more a condition of the person thus, the duration of the experience and the change on the person as a result of the experience leads to its suspected therapeutic effect. In general perceptions and attitudes to privacy, she found that gender also played a part especially within cultures. Maher and von Hippel (2005) and others before them showed that individual differences in the ability to handle overstimulation by the application stimulus screening and inhibitory abilities influenced the perceptions of the work environment. These inhibitory skills are cognitive in nature and such inhibitory skills are found to vary between individuals and even especially across cultures. For example, Hall (1966) points out that the Japanese are said to be content with paper walls as acoustic screens while the Dutch and Germans require thick walls and double doors to serve as acoustic screens. Benefits of Privacy in the work Environment Newell (1998, p. 359) relates the need for privacy to help in â€Å"maintaining healthy internal physiological and cognitive functioning subjectively described as ‘wellbeing’†. The study concluded that achieving the perceived privacy had some therapeutic effects. On the area of performance, especially for knowledge workers like engineers, accountants, software designers, decision makers etc., auditory and visual distraction have been found to be a cause of stress and even performance impairment (Roper and Juneja, 2008). Furthermore, Oommen, Knowles and Zhao (2008) point to the likelihood of aggression and increased instances of eye, nose and throat irritations while working in open plan environments. This in turn affects productivity. Culture Culture is said to be the way of life of a group of people. This, among other things covers their beliefs, values, norms and rituals. Specifically, Hofstede (2009 p. 1) points out that â€Å"culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from the others and it manifests itself in the form of symbols, heroes, rituals and values.† Earlier, an American anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his books, talked about language and especially modes of communication as a point of differentiating cultures (Hall E.T 1966; 1976). He even considered language to be the core of culture while, Geert Hofstede considers language as a part of the rituals of a particular culture (Hofstede, 2010). This goes to point out some of the existing disagreements about what culture is and even how it comes about. Culture is thus, studied as a means of understanding or shedding light into the behavior or reactions of individuals or people groups. Edward Hall in his book; the hidden dimension writes that â€Å"people from different cultures inhabit different sensory worlds, so that experience, as it is perceived through one set of culturally patterned sensory screens is quite different from experience perceived through another.† (1966, p. 2). This highlights and explains the link between culture and perception generally and in spatial terms especially. Classifying Cultures There have been several descriptions and models of culture (Matsumoto and Yoo, 2006; Hall, 1966; 1970), for example, Hall (1966) alludes to contact and non-contact groups or cultures in relation to spatial meanings and preferences within people groups . This is related to the social dimension of privacy (Leino-Kilpi et al. 2001), but he especially specifies high and low context cultures according to their ways of communicating. For the high context (HC) culture or communication for that matter, much of the information is implicit while, in the low context (LC) culture, nearly everything is explicit. He also wrote about the concept of time among cultures (Hall, 1976). Where there are polychronic (P-time) and monochronic (M-Time) cultures; the M-time society or culture would prefer to do only one thing at a time when serious i.e. for such persons, time is linear and segmented with each activity scheduled while, the individuals in a P-time culture can juggle several activities, they emphasize the involvement of people and the completion of tasks rather than schedules. Edward T. Hall coined the term â€Å"Proxemics† which he describes as â€Å"interrelated observations and theories of mans use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture† Hall (1966 p. 1). In explaining his observations in proxemic behavior (Hall, 1963 p. 1003) he notes that â€Å"what is close to an American may be distant to an Arab.† Many other researchers and individuals apart from Edward Hall had worked on other frameworks and dimensions of culture. Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006) lists some of these frameworks which are interestingly identified by the names of the researchers that discovered them and this list which is not exhaustive, includes; Hofstedes (1980) with subsequent revisions and dimensions added; Schwartz (2004) who presented seven universal value orientations, Smith, Dugan and Trompenaars (1996) had two universal value orientations; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman and Gupta (2003) came up with nine value orientations related to leadership; Inglehart (1997) had two attitude-belief-value orientations, Bond et al. (2004) is said to have reported two social axioms. All cited in Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006 p. 239). The listing above does not mention each of the dimensions. The dimensions of each framework listed are found in Table 2.1 below. Table 2.1 Six Theoretical Frameworks for Universal Dimensions of Cultural Variability Framework Dimensions Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions of  work-related values Individualism vs. collectivism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Masculinity vs. femininity Long- vs. short-term orientation Schwartz’s (2004) dimensions of  values Embeddedness Hierarchy Intellectual autonomy Affective autonomy Egalitarianism Mastery Harmony Smith, Dugan, and Trompenaars’s  (1996) dimensions of values Egalitarian commitment vs. conservatism Utilitarian involvement vs. loyal involvement House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, and  Gupta’s (2003) dimensions of  leadership values Performance orientation Assertiveness orientation Future orientation Human orientation Institutional collectivism Family collectivism Gender egalitarianism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Inglehart’s (1997) dimensions of  attitudes, values, and beliefs Traditional vs. secular-rational orientation Survival vs. self-expression values Bond et al.’s (2004) dimensions  of social axioms (beliefs) Dynamic externality Societal cynicism Source: (Matsumoto, D and Yoo, S. H, 2006 p. 240) National versus Organizational culture As a society has a culture, so do organizations and such organizations employ staff who come from a particular culture(s). The organizations then require these individuals to work in offices. Apart from the culture description related to national boundaries, there is a culture that seems to characterize workplaces or organizations and this is called organizational or corporate culture. Barney (1986) notes that like culture itself, organizational culture has many competing definitions and then goes on to suggest that a generally acceptable definition of organizational culture to be â€Å"as a complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts its business.† (p. 657). He goes on to point the pervasive nature of organizational culture in that, it helps to define the relationship of the firm to parties it comes in contact with through its business. This simply shows that culture within the work place especially geared towards profitability or the conferment of advantages could be termed organizational or corporate culture. Generally it will be assumed that the national culture will also play a part. Guidroz, Kotrba, and Denison (2009) from results of a study of multinational companies, claim that their study seems to point to organizational culture superseding national culture in diversity management practices. The issue in question in this thesis is not exactly a management matter but the individual perception of privacy in the open plan office environments and would suggest that both national and organizational cultures playing a part because according to (Brand, 2009) the design of the workspace or workplace communicates the corporate culture of the organization meaning, the adoption of the open plan environment can be tied to the organizations corporate culture. Hofstedes’ Cultural Dimensions This is a hugely popular cross-cultural model (Gerhart and Fang, 2005; Hofstede et al, 2010; Sivakumar, Nakata, 2001) currently in use, with its roots in industrial psychology (Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede, 2009) is called the Hofstedes model of culture named after Geert Hofstede a Dutch emeritus Professor of organizational anthropology and international management in the Netherlands. Hofstedes work highlighted the fact that culture is manifested through symbols, heroes, rituals and values. But, Hofstede argues that values form the core of culture as represented by the Hofstede culture â€Å"Onion† in Figure 2.2. Figure 2.2 shows the onion structure graphically illustrating the manifestation of culture at different levels and even the interactions therein. As seen from Figure 2.2 above symbols, heroes and rituals are by themselves visible to all observers. It is the cultural meanings of the practices that are open to interpretation by the observer while, values are unseen or embedded within the person but they still subtly determine choices and much more (Hofstede et al., 2010). Hofstedes research studied value survey responses of similar respondents from different countries as to their approach, as related to four basic problems prevalent in most societies (Meeuwesen et. al, 2009) these included; Handling social inequalities in the society. The approach to dealing with uncertainty in general. The structure of the relationship between an individual and the group. The emotional role division between the male and females in a society. The initial data for Hofstedes culture study came about through an analysis of International Business Machine Company (IBM) staff surveys at a time, the company was called Hermes. He utilized the responses from routine staff surveys about values and related matters to provide ratings for countries on each of what he then called the four dimensions of culture. This was achieved by examining correlations between mean scores of questionnaire items at the level of countries. Other approaches, like analysis at the individual level did not provide much useful information (Hofstede, 2009). Later, certain studies showed the need for another dimension and this lead to the inclusion of a fifth dimension called, long term orientation. Each dimension of culture score for a country is calculated using a scale of roughly 0 to 100 for each dimension. A dimension of culture is an aspect of culture that can be measured relative to other cultures (Hofstede, 2009 p. 6) and the higher the score of a dimension, the more that dimension is exhibited in the society or nation in question while for lower scores the opposite pole of the dimension is more pronounced. Thus, the scores are therefore bipolar (Jones, 2007) In a 2010 book, Greet Hofstede, his son Gert Jan Hofstede and a research collaborator Micheal Minkov reviewed earlier works, alongside their recent studies and added a sixth dimension called indulgence versus restraint (IVR) to the previously known Hofstedes five dimensions of culture. The sixth dimension was largely as a result of the work of Micheal Minkov (Hofstede et al., 2010). The six dimensions of Hofstedes cultural model now include power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), long term orientation (LTO), and the recently added indulgence (IVR). Power distance (PDI). This indicates the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among the persons with and without power i.e. the leadership versus the followership respectively as normal and legitimate in any given society. If the power distance scores are high, it indicates a pyramidal or hierarchical system where the power is resident at the top while, lower scores indicate greater equality suggesting power is shared and spread within the group. Individualism (IDV). This is related to the se Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users Analysis of Privacy Perception Among Open Plan Office Users CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION What is an Office? Offices are workspaces designed for regular use to achieve personal, group or organizational goals through the accomplishment of tasks. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) go on to state that these tasks can be grouped into cognitive, physical, social or procedural tasks. The office provides a location for contact and could also be a repository for tools, information and other resources required to meet business objectives. It is also a business resource, this a point most people fail to understand thus, the failure to properly design and evaluate work spaces. The work place or office is one of the places the modern man spends the bulk of his waking hours. Sanders and McCormick, (2002) say almost half of ones waking hours are spent in and around the office. This would provide explanation for research efforts into the design and utilization of offices. According to Myerson and Ross (2003) the office grew out of the factory and then followed the trend of bureaucratization of industry. Thus, offices have been viewed differently by users and companies. Some view it as an address, others as a necessary evil but to others it is considered to be an asset. Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) noted that the design of an office was mostly considered as a cost and done to support quiet work and also show peoples status. While the purpose of the â€Å"New office† is to be that of attracting and retaining staff as well as to revolutionalize corporate culture. Work places or offices have been described variously as; conventional, traditional, and closed or open plan offices. Some, group them as large or small, landscaped etc. (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). The general descriptions of workspaces fall under the categories of open plan and cellular offices and this is based on the architectural and functional features of the work spaces (Duffy, Laing and Crisp, 1992). Other descriptions and categorization of offices include the hive; which is suited to individual processes. The den; suited to group processes. The cell; designed for concentrated study while the club supports transactional knowledge (Sailer, Budgen, Lonsdale, Turner and Penn, 2009). There are other descriptions of office types for example, Myerson and Ross (2003) from an architectural point of view, showed that views of property and space as related to the office environment have been evolving and as such, they identify four thematic categories of offices namely: narrative which presents the â€Å"office as a brand experience.† Nodal where the â€Å"office as knowledge connector.† The neighborly theme sees the â€Å"office as a social landscape† and lastly nomadic â€Å"office as distributed work space† these grouping reflect more of necessity and corporate culture not necessarily a collection of generally practically replicable models. In another categorization of offices by Myerson and Ross (2006) is based on the fact that the offices evolved to suit knowledge workers, as such, the categories match each of the four â€Å"realms† of knowledge work namely: the academy â€Å"is likened to the corporate realm which is a more collegiate and collaborative approach to work†, guild â€Å"the professional realm in essence a professional cluster of peers sharing a skill or specialization†, agora â€Å"the public realm where the corporation is open to the city or the market place† and the lodge â€Å" the domestic or private realm more of the live and work setting†. In the general scheme of things offices are still broadly classified into open plan and private or cellular offices all other forms are variations of the two. Cellular Offices Also called closed offices, this type of offices are the traditional or conventional offices which are usually closed and private workspaces (Maher and von Hippel, 2005) i.e. they are designed with floor to ceiling walls, a door and dimensioned for a single user. This type of office is also called a cell-office and can be a shared room office, used by 2-3 persons (Danielsson, 2008). This has been the generally accepted, traditional or popular understanding of the place called an office. Open Plan Offices These are found to be a common workspace shared by a group of employees. The original concept of the open plan office has continued to evolve, but it is the absence of floor-to-ceiling walls that is said to be the primary characteristic of open-plan offices. The arrangements of office furniture, partitions, screens, office equipment, or plants mark out individual and functional work areas (Valesny and Farace, 1987). One of the strengths of the open plan office according to Bjerrum and Bà ¸dker (2003) is the openness and flexibility allowing one to move to where things are happening and allowing for â€Å"overhearing and over-seeing† (p. 207) thus enhancing peripheral participation. Other types of the open plan office include the bull pen office, action offices, landscaped offices (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). In the bull pen offices, the work desks are arranged in neat row as far as the eyes can see. In reality, most firms have a mix of office typologies ranging from cellular units designed for a single user to a small room office shared by a few people then the spaces shared with a large group with or without specifically assigned work places and with varying measures of visual and audio privacy. Recent Developments in Open Plan Offices It is safe to argue that, the open plan office has become increasingly popular (de Korte, Kuijt-Evers and Vink, 2007; Ding, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pejtersen, Allermann, Kristensen and Poulsen, 2006 etc.) and several reasons could be advanced to explain the widespread adoption and use of the open plan offices and its variations. There is also a move to wards a reduction in open plan office workspaces especially in the United States of America due to the understanding that smaller workstations are cheaper to maintain (Dykes, 2011) this according to Veitch, Charles, Farley and Newsham (2007) is because there is a failure in understanding the full value of the physical office environment and related issues in open plan offices in particular. Advantages of open plan offices Searches through literature (Danielsson, 2008; Oldham and Brass, 1979; Pan and Micheal, 2007; Roper and Juneja, 2008; Valesny and Farace, 1987 etc.) present the following as reasons for the adoption of open plan offices. They include; Reduction in office space and cost decline: The price of real estate is predicated on the area rented and utilized. With organizations using rental spaces, it is cheaper to use the rented floor or floors as open plan offices. In most cases, the cost of partitioning is saved if an open plan set up is deployed fully or partly. Flexibility for organizational changes: The open plan office lends itself to easy restructuring of work areas. In most cases, it is easier to fit in one more members of staff (Sanders and McCormick, 2002). More efficient work flow and communication: Some jobs require continuous team work, face to face interaction and a relatively high level of routine procedures. For such work groups, the open plan office or variations thereof are usually recommended and deployed. The enhancement of some level of peripheral participation is one of the strengths of the open plan office. Possible enhancement of social facilitation: The enhancement of collaboration i.e. the fostering of a team spirit, where, work teams or task forces are close to one another and can quickly form a huddle to sort out problems without resorting to information technology provisions like the intercom, emails, phones, video conferencing or even the walk up to another office. Oldham and Brass, (1979) specifically examined interpersonal issues that included; intradepartmental and interdepartmental interaction, friendship opportunities, noting that supervisor and co worker feed back could be improved. Ease of supervision: There is an ease of supervision, in that, a look over the landscape of the office can give an idea as to who is present and what each member of staff is doing. Limitations of open plan offices. Regarding the limitations of open-plan office designs, Maher and von Hippel (2005) rightly point out the fact that in open plan office layouts â€Å"distractions and overstimulation are intrinsically linked to the design.† These issues have consistently been themain down sides of open plan offices and some of them include: Increased workplace noise (Pan and Michael, 2007). Increased disturbances and distractions. Increased feelings of crowding and loss of privacy. There is a reduction in autonomy and task identity and a reduction in supervisor and co worker feedback in certain cases (Oldham and Brass, 1979). One point of agreement in open plan office research is that there is a generally low level of perceived privacy in open plan offices, as interruptions and distractions of the visual and acoustic kind occur frequently in open plan offices. (Pejtersen et al. 2006; Roper and Juneja, 2008) Furthermore, researchers have observed that these negative outcomes resulting from the adoption of the open plan office design tends to result in dissatisfaction with work and the workplace thus, reducing functional efficiency, decreasing performance, especially, for non routine tasks and also, reduced feedback from supervisors due to some complexity with the freedom of communication (de Korte et al. 2007; Pejtersen et al. 2006; Sundstrom et al. 1982; Vischer, 2007 ). This understanding has led some organizations to begin returning to the traditional private offices i.e. with floor to ceiling partitions assigned to an individual (Roper and Juneja 2008). Evolving nature of office work Also worthy of note, is the evolution of work patterns. An increasingly large number of persons work mainly at or from home and visit the office sparingly. This has given rise to the several types of offices one of which is the flex-office, which is dimensioned for less than 70% of the total company staff to be in at the same time. Another design is the combi-office; where a member of staff is not assigned to a specific desk but sharing of common facilities provides the spatial definition of such an individuals work space i.e. the task and personnel at hand may determine the sitting arrangement of persons in the office (Danielsson, 2008). Thesis Overview The thesis is organized in to 5 chapters; Chapter one provides an introduction the concept of an office, its major types and variations. It then focuses on the open plan office and then highlights the strengths and limitations of the open plan office. Chapter two provides a literature review of the concept of privacy perception; it reviews the perceived benefits of privacy and then traces the expectation that privacy perception could be influenced by culture. Significant studies related to dissatisfaction with open plan offices are examined for possible links to culture. The discussion then moves to culture, its definition and then the attempts made in the classification of culture. The Hofstede paradigm is then discussed and some studies employing the paradigm are reviewed. The research motivation and hypotheses are presented. Chapter three discusses the methodology of the study, the survey method, issues noted and the challenge expected. The source and design of the questionnaire was presented and the analysis methods proposed. The statistical analysis tool was briefly introduced. Chapter four shows the procedure of the survey, documents the responses received, analyzed the data collected from the general information part of the questionnaire and then chronicles the statistical analysis of the second part of the questionnaire designed to elicit privacy perception in open plan office environments. Chapter five provides a discussion of the results obtained in chapter five and then presents the limitations of the current study while providing directions for further work. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This part of the thesis discusses the links between privacy perceptions and culture. It also includes definitions and explanations of some related terms. Lastly, it includes a presentation of some ideas relevant to the work and results of related studies. The chapter concludes with the research question, research hypothesis and the motivation for the study. Privacy Perception In order to facilitate a better understanding, the term â€Å"privacy† is defined firstly then the concept called â€Å"perception. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2011), privacy is said to be â€Å"the quality or state of being apart from company or observation†. Wikipedia defines perception as â€Å"the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.† It goes on to say â€Å"what one perceives is a result of interplays between past experiences, including one’s culture, and the interpretation of the perceived.† Privacy is a very difficult concept or construct to define not to talk of evaluating, it has commanded interest from the fields of anthropology, architecture, cultural geography, environmental design, ethology, history, law, philosophy, and sociology, as well as branches psychology such as; clinical, counseling, developmental, educational, environmental and social psychology (Newell, 1995; 1998). Newell (1995) in her extensive review of the concept of privacy divided the perspectives of privacy into, people centered, place centered and the person-environment or the person-place interaction with the primary interest on the place, people or equally on the person and place and or with the interaction itself. Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001 p. 664) in another review of literature on privacy noted that perspectives applied to the analysis of the concepts of privacy to be: The units experiencing privacy. They go on to note â€Å"the unit experiencing privacy can be either an individual or a group, or both.† Desired – Achieved privacy. This is explained by the understanding that the concept of privacy is either seen as a subjective state or studied as an achieved state (Newell, 1998). Reactive – Proactive privacy. This is to say the control of communication and also the control of knowledge. Furthermore, they describe the dimensions of privacy to include: physical, psychological, social and informational thus, suggesting privacy dimensions to be made up of four quadrants of the diagram as shown in figure 2.1 below.. Source: Leino-Kilpi et al. (2001) It would be seen that in an open plan office all the dimensions of privacy as enumerated Figure 2.1 above are impinged upon; First, physical accessibility to the person is unrestricted. Secondly, the cognitive intrusions abound due to audio and visual distractions. Thirdly, it is more difficult to control social contacts for example, the choice of participants for interaction, the interaction frequency, length and content of the said interaction. Then finally, the ease with which certain private pieces of information about the person is easily accessible is a problem in open plan offices, after all, most open plan offices do not have a single route of access or a door to the work space. So, it is difficult to mark and protect ones territory and as such protect some form of private information from would be trespassers (Anjum, Paul and Ashcroft, 2004). In the light of these perspectives, one of the definitions of privacy suggested is that â€Å"privacy is a voluntary and temporary condition of separation from the public domain† (Newell, 1998, p. 357). Oldham, Kulick and Stepina (1991) highlighted the fact that individuals reacted negatively to environments characterized by few enclosures, closeness and high density because such environments exposed individuals to too many unwanted or uncontrolled intrusions. It is also agreed that, the perception of the work environment leads to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the work and the work environment. Fischer, Tarquinio and Vischer (2004, p.132 ) posit that the there are three major categories of mediating influences on workplace satisfaction and these are, â€Å"individual differences like culture, age, professional or status, organizational context and environmental features.† All these issues could be further grouped into two; internal and external factors as relates to the individual. These two descriptions could be mapped to the two ingredients required for a need for privacy to exist i.e. a person or persons and a place. Sanders and McCormick (2002, p. 485) also point out that apart from the physical features of the built environment, â€Å"people are influenced by nonphysical features like social, cultural, technological, economic and political factors characteristic of the environment.† External Factors These are the place factors, usually described as the environmental or design issues which can lead to noise distractions, visual distractions, interruptions, crowding and accessibility issues (Ding, S. 2008). Due to the absence of internal walls, the low height of walls or partitions in open plan offices influences privacy; the more enclosures, the lower the people per given space and the higher the partitions, the higher the privacy perceived (Danielsson 2008; Oldham, G. R et al. 1991; Sundstrom, Herbert and Brown, 1982 etc.). Organizational context is also considered to be an external factor. This involves the type of industry involved by the organization. For example doctors consulting rooms should provide more audio privacy compared to an architectural firms offices or design studios. Internal Factors This grouping is based on the person factors or what goes on within the person, the suggestion that individual differences related to but not restricted to personality traits, gender, individual experience etc. affect ones perception of, and hence the evaluation of the work environment (external or place factors). Some studies have found that variations exist across gender in perception of privacy in the open plan office (Yildirim, Akalin-Baskaya and Celebi, 2007). Also, in a different cross cultural study of privacy, Newell (1998) found that privacy was more a condition of the person thus, the duration of the experience and the change on the person as a result of the experience leads to its suspected therapeutic effect. In general perceptions and attitudes to privacy, she found that gender also played a part especially within cultures. Maher and von Hippel (2005) and others before them showed that individual differences in the ability to handle overstimulation by the application stimulus screening and inhibitory abilities influenced the perceptions of the work environment. These inhibitory skills are cognitive in nature and such inhibitory skills are found to vary between individuals and even especially across cultures. For example, Hall (1966) points out that the Japanese are said to be content with paper walls as acoustic screens while the Dutch and Germans require thick walls and double doors to serve as acoustic screens. Benefits of Privacy in the work Environment Newell (1998, p. 359) relates the need for privacy to help in â€Å"maintaining healthy internal physiological and cognitive functioning subjectively described as ‘wellbeing’†. The study concluded that achieving the perceived privacy had some therapeutic effects. On the area of performance, especially for knowledge workers like engineers, accountants, software designers, decision makers etc., auditory and visual distraction have been found to be a cause of stress and even performance impairment (Roper and Juneja, 2008). Furthermore, Oommen, Knowles and Zhao (2008) point to the likelihood of aggression and increased instances of eye, nose and throat irritations while working in open plan environments. This in turn affects productivity. Culture Culture is said to be the way of life of a group of people. This, among other things covers their beliefs, values, norms and rituals. Specifically, Hofstede (2009 p. 1) points out that â€Å"culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from the others and it manifests itself in the form of symbols, heroes, rituals and values.† Earlier, an American anthropologist Edward T. Hall in his books, talked about language and especially modes of communication as a point of differentiating cultures (Hall E.T 1966; 1976). He even considered language to be the core of culture while, Geert Hofstede considers language as a part of the rituals of a particular culture (Hofstede, 2010). This goes to point out some of the existing disagreements about what culture is and even how it comes about. Culture is thus, studied as a means of understanding or shedding light into the behavior or reactions of individuals or people groups. Edward Hall in his book; the hidden dimension writes that â€Å"people from different cultures inhabit different sensory worlds, so that experience, as it is perceived through one set of culturally patterned sensory screens is quite different from experience perceived through another.† (1966, p. 2). This highlights and explains the link between culture and perception generally and in spatial terms especially. Classifying Cultures There have been several descriptions and models of culture (Matsumoto and Yoo, 2006; Hall, 1966; 1970), for example, Hall (1966) alludes to contact and non-contact groups or cultures in relation to spatial meanings and preferences within people groups . This is related to the social dimension of privacy (Leino-Kilpi et al. 2001), but he especially specifies high and low context cultures according to their ways of communicating. For the high context (HC) culture or communication for that matter, much of the information is implicit while, in the low context (LC) culture, nearly everything is explicit. He also wrote about the concept of time among cultures (Hall, 1976). Where there are polychronic (P-time) and monochronic (M-Time) cultures; the M-time society or culture would prefer to do only one thing at a time when serious i.e. for such persons, time is linear and segmented with each activity scheduled while, the individuals in a P-time culture can juggle several activities, they emphasize the involvement of people and the completion of tasks rather than schedules. Edward T. Hall coined the term â€Å"Proxemics† which he describes as â€Å"interrelated observations and theories of mans use of space as a specialized elaboration of culture† Hall (1966 p. 1). In explaining his observations in proxemic behavior (Hall, 1963 p. 1003) he notes that â€Å"what is close to an American may be distant to an Arab.† Many other researchers and individuals apart from Edward Hall had worked on other frameworks and dimensions of culture. Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006) lists some of these frameworks which are interestingly identified by the names of the researchers that discovered them and this list which is not exhaustive, includes; Hofstedes (1980) with subsequent revisions and dimensions added; Schwartz (2004) who presented seven universal value orientations, Smith, Dugan and Trompenaars (1996) had two universal value orientations; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman and Gupta (2003) came up with nine value orientations related to leadership; Inglehart (1997) had two attitude-belief-value orientations, Bond et al. (2004) is said to have reported two social axioms. All cited in Matsumoto and Yoo, (2006 p. 239). The listing above does not mention each of the dimensions. The dimensions of each framework listed are found in Table 2.1 below. Table 2.1 Six Theoretical Frameworks for Universal Dimensions of Cultural Variability Framework Dimensions Hofstede’s (2001) dimensions of  work-related values Individualism vs. collectivism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Masculinity vs. femininity Long- vs. short-term orientation Schwartz’s (2004) dimensions of  values Embeddedness Hierarchy Intellectual autonomy Affective autonomy Egalitarianism Mastery Harmony Smith, Dugan, and Trompenaars’s  (1996) dimensions of values Egalitarian commitment vs. conservatism Utilitarian involvement vs. loyal involvement House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, and  Gupta’s (2003) dimensions of  leadership values Performance orientation Assertiveness orientation Future orientation Human orientation Institutional collectivism Family collectivism Gender egalitarianism Power distance Uncertainty avoidance Inglehart’s (1997) dimensions of  attitudes, values, and beliefs Traditional vs. secular-rational orientation Survival vs. self-expression values Bond et al.’s (2004) dimensions  of social axioms (beliefs) Dynamic externality Societal cynicism Source: (Matsumoto, D and Yoo, S. H, 2006 p. 240) National versus Organizational culture As a society has a culture, so do organizations and such organizations employ staff who come from a particular culture(s). The organizations then require these individuals to work in offices. Apart from the culture description related to national boundaries, there is a culture that seems to characterize workplaces or organizations and this is called organizational or corporate culture. Barney (1986) notes that like culture itself, organizational culture has many competing definitions and then goes on to suggest that a generally acceptable definition of organizational culture to be â€Å"as a complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts its business.† (p. 657). He goes on to point the pervasive nature of organizational culture in that, it helps to define the relationship of the firm to parties it comes in contact with through its business. This simply shows that culture within the work place especially geared towards profitability or the conferment of advantages could be termed organizational or corporate culture. Generally it will be assumed that the national culture will also play a part. Guidroz, Kotrba, and Denison (2009) from results of a study of multinational companies, claim that their study seems to point to organizational culture superseding national culture in diversity management practices. The issue in question in this thesis is not exactly a management matter but the individual perception of privacy in the open plan office environments and would suggest that both national and organizational cultures playing a part because according to (Brand, 2009) the design of the workspace or workplace communicates the corporate culture of the organization meaning, the adoption of the open plan environment can be tied to the organizations corporate culture. Hofstedes’ Cultural Dimensions This is a hugely popular cross-cultural model (Gerhart and Fang, 2005; Hofstede et al, 2010; Sivakumar, Nakata, 2001) currently in use, with its roots in industrial psychology (Meeuwesen, van den Brink-Muinen and Hofstede, 2009) is called the Hofstedes model of culture named after Geert Hofstede a Dutch emeritus Professor of organizational anthropology and international management in the Netherlands. Hofstedes work highlighted the fact that culture is manifested through symbols, heroes, rituals and values. But, Hofstede argues that values form the core of culture as represented by the Hofstede culture â€Å"Onion† in Figure 2.2. Figure 2.2 shows the onion structure graphically illustrating the manifestation of culture at different levels and even the interactions therein. As seen from Figure 2.2 above symbols, heroes and rituals are by themselves visible to all observers. It is the cultural meanings of the practices that are open to interpretation by the observer while, values are unseen or embedded within the person but they still subtly determine choices and much more (Hofstede et al., 2010). Hofstedes research studied value survey responses of similar respondents from different countries as to their approach, as related to four basic problems prevalent in most societies (Meeuwesen et. al, 2009) these included; Handling social inequalities in the society. The approach to dealing with uncertainty in general. The structure of the relationship between an individual and the group. The emotional role division between the male and females in a society. The initial data for Hofstedes culture study came about through an analysis of International Business Machine Company (IBM) staff surveys at a time, the company was called Hermes. He utilized the responses from routine staff surveys about values and related matters to provide ratings for countries on each of what he then called the four dimensions of culture. This was achieved by examining correlations between mean scores of questionnaire items at the level of countries. Other approaches, like analysis at the individual level did not provide much useful information (Hofstede, 2009). Later, certain studies showed the need for another dimension and this lead to the inclusion of a fifth dimension called, long term orientation. Each dimension of culture score for a country is calculated using a scale of roughly 0 to 100 for each dimension. A dimension of culture is an aspect of culture that can be measured relative to other cultures (Hofstede, 2009 p. 6) and the higher the score of a dimension, the more that dimension is exhibited in the society or nation in question while for lower scores the opposite pole of the dimension is more pronounced. Thus, the scores are therefore bipolar (Jones, 2007) In a 2010 book, Greet Hofstede, his son Gert Jan Hofstede and a research collaborator Micheal Minkov reviewed earlier works, alongside their recent studies and added a sixth dimension called indulgence versus restraint (IVR) to the previously known Hofstedes five dimensions of culture. The sixth dimension was largely as a result of the work of Micheal Minkov (Hofstede et al., 2010). The six dimensions of Hofstedes cultural model now include power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), long term orientation (LTO), and the recently added indulgence (IVR). Power distance (PDI). This indicates the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among the persons with and without power i.e. the leadership versus the followership respectively as normal and legitimate in any given society. If the power distance scores are high, it indicates a pyramidal or hierarchical system where the power is resident at the top while, lower scores indicate greater equality suggesting power is shared and spread within the group. Individualism (IDV). This is related to the se

Patrick Eshun Reviewing Arthritis Rheumatoid Thesis Nursing Essay

Patrick Eshun Reviewing Arthritis Rheumatoid Thesis Nursing Essay The title of the research was Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Education and Self-Efficacy. The main objective of this research was to describe the prevailing rheumatoid arthritis patient education offered by specialized rheumatology health care professional including nurse in the various healthcare settings in Finland. It achieves this aim by describing the level of knowledge rheumatoid patient have about the disease, treatment regime and what various types of self-efficacy care they employed in addition to the educational interventions. The major goal of this research is the applicability of the results achieved. The main goals identified included helping develop and improve patient education with people affected with rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, it can also be utilized in nursing training programs to better the contents of the curriculum and additional courses in rheumatologic specialized nursing. Patient education is an important health promotion tool comprising a multi-level learning system. Patient accessibility to information regarding arthritis rheumatoid has mostly been through patient education program. The main aim and priority of rheumatoid arthritis education is to help patients improve self-care by increasing knowledge levels and to take absolute control of their health behaviors. After the provision of requisite information, the researchers expects people suffering arthritis rheumatoid would exhibit efficient assessment and monitoring qualities in determining the progress of the disease and appropriately manage it (Schrieber Colley 2004). The multi-professional team in caring for arthritis rheumatoid is numerous and each has a role to play during the process. For instance the physician or medical doctor makes the medical diagnosis, in charge of prescribing medications and manages the rheumatoid patients medical treatment and follow up care. The nurses in the multi-professional team play a crucial part in the education and health promotion in the lives of the rheumatoid arthritis patients. Their role is also to educate patients by advising and assist with concerns in managing their medication. They also offer nursing support, evaluates the well-being of the clients and offer emotional support for improved compliance to care and treatment plan. The pharmacist supplies the medication upon the orders of the physician or medical. They also have the duty to analyze patients other medication. In maintaining the musculoskeletal functions and ability by exercising with patients affected with arthritis rheumatoid is supported b y the physiotherapist. They help patient with light training helping improve the joint movement and functions. They also recommend and support usage of support devices and appropriate sitting, lying and lifting up techniques. Physiotherapist employs physical therapy to facilitate reduction patients arthritis pain and preserve their functioning capabilities (Working group established by the Finnish Society for Rheumatology in 2003). The role of Occupational therapist is to help in maintaining the functional working abilities by giving directives which supports skeletal joint protection and saving energy. This helps arthritis patient to return to active work life. The role of the social worker in the life of the arthritis patient is confined to domestic, economic and social issues. They seek assistance to support arthritis rheumatoid patient at home for instance shopping, household work, and so on. The social worker is aware and makes available to the patients to all social amenities and support including type of social government support and to explain the social and fundamental rights of patient with arthritis rheumatoid. The emotional well-being and mental stability of arthritis rheumatoid patients is handled by the psychologist or psychologist nurse. They offer different coping mechanisms and strategies to people with arthritis to accept and adapt well to the disease. According to Paula (2009), rheumatoid arthritis is defined as a progressive, long term, multi-systemic disease without known cause. It generally starts in smaller joint for instance joint in the hands and feet, then spread to bigger and larger joints usually resulting in disfigurement and physical disability. It causes pain, skeletal joint swelling, tiredness, malaise and morning stiffness. However, this may result in functional impairment and may lead to challenges at home and work The incidence rate in 2000 was 29people out of every 100000people was having rheumatoid arthritis in Finland, the trend decreased from the 1980 (Kaipiainen-Seppà ¤nen Kautiainen 2006.). The prevalence increases with ageing especially in the older population. It is much higher in prevalence in women compared to men with a sex ratio of 2.5:1. This means within a given population there are approximately 3women more with the disease compared one male. Hormonal reasons may explain this trend but however it i s however actual cause remains unclear. There is no precise cure for rheumatoid arthritis and as a result patient needs to rely on regular treatment to relieve the pain and to correct deformities. The treatment thus is aimed at relieving symptoms of the disease and any physical changes induced by the disease. The treatment also helps to retard the progression of the disease using both medical and alternative forms of treatments. In the early years, gold and cortisone were employed as a medical form of treatments. Currently, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication and anti-rheumatic drugs in addition to gold and cortisone which helps to decrease inflammation and pain due to arthritis. When skeletal joints are significantly damaged the only medical procedure to repair is surgical treatments (Working group established by the Finnish Society for Rheumatology in 2003.). There are several phase of life rheumatoid possess limitations. These include social functions and life, daily tasks and activities, physical contact (hugging, lifting, holding and so forth), personal and social relationships. The pain as a result of the arthritis may even cause to abandon activities such writing or scribbling, holding a book to read or even stand upright for a period of time (Whalley et al. 1997.). The psychological or mental well-being of arthritis rheumatoid patient is basically about adapting or coping to the disease and controlling the stress as a result of it. Most arthritis patient described bad emotional characteristics such as anger, frustration, depression, shame, irritation, depression, sadness, guilt, anxiety and future uncertainty as their main threats. The cause of depression is more common in arthritis patient and has no specific cause. Self-respect and adapting to the disease is widely considered to be linked to their psychological well-being. The capability of the patient to cope with the symptoms in daily life activities are very critical and numerous coping mechanisms are employed to reduce the stress related to the disease.(Melanson Downe-Wamboldt 2003.). One of the commonly used coping strategies was by spiritual or religious coping method which helped considerably in reducing joint pain, negative moods and increasing positive emotions (Keefe et al. 2001.). Basically, in the research there were two main types of education for rheumatoid arthritis patients. They are the one-to-one and group education. In the one-to-one education it offers more flexibility. In addition, information and teaching is tailored out to fit an individuals perceived needs. The patient also can influence the duration of teaching. One-to-one education maybe suitable for rheumatoid arthritis patients requiring individualized training or joint protection plans or information regarding new medication. On the contrary, group education facilitates social interaction and best for delivering information to groups of people or peers about general issues such as the disease development, treatments, exercise therapy, diet and so forth. One of the benefit of the group education could be some patients can be role models for others to learn from each other. Trust building and trusty atmosphere motivates patients to express their emotions and views about the disease and to enqui re information (Kyngà ¤s 2003, Haugli et al. 2004.). According to Bandura (1977) defined: Self-efficacy as a judgment of ones ability to organize and execute given types of performances, whereas an outcome expectation is a judgment of the likely consequence such performances will produce. It is basically ones ability and competence to complete a specific given task in order to achieve a specific goal. It basically places more emphasis on their capabilities or competencies but not concerned with the skills one possesses. In conclusion, arthritis rheumatoid is a very serious disease and is a life-long progressive disease. Currently, no cure for it has been discovered yet but however treatment to relieve symptom is available. Education to equip patient with self-care is also recommended to complement the treatment care. REFLECTION I learnt quite a great deal especially when it comes to the education and the role of the multiprofessional team in the care process. It was a great experience trying to review an article because I believe would be helpful also in my thesis.

Acid Rain :: essays research papers fc

Acid Rain and its Effects On Our Aquatic Ecosystems In the past century, one of the greatest threats to North America's aquatic ecosystem has been the widespread acidification of hundreds of thousands of waterways. Acid rain has effected plant and animal life within aquatic ecosystems, as well as microbiologic activity by affecting the rates of decomposition and the accumulation of organic matter. What causes this poisonous rain, and what can be done to improve North America's water quality and prevent future catastrophes? To answer these questions, we must first examine the cause and formation of acid rain, as well as understand ways to decrease or prevent its formation. Formation of acid rain. Acid deposition, more commonly known as acid rain, occurs when emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and oxidants to form acidic compounds. This mixture forms a mild solution of sulfuric and nitric acid which then falls to the earth in either wet (rain, snow, sleet or fog) or dry (gas and particles) form. Approximately one-half of the atmosphere's acidity falls back to earth through dry deposition in the form of particles and gases, and are then spread hundreds of miles by winds where they settle on surfaces of buildings, cars, homes, and trees. When acid rain falls, the dry deposited gases and particles are sometimes washed from buildings, trees and other surfaces making the runoff water combine with the acid rain more acidic than the falling acid rain alone. This new combination is referred to as acid deposition. The runoff water is then transported by strong prevailing winds and public sewer systems into lakes and s treams. Although some natural sources such as volcanic eruptions, fire and lightening contribute to the emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere, more than 90% is the result of human activities such as coal burning, smelting of metals such as zinc, nickel and copper, and the burning of oil, coal and gas in power plants and automobiles. When does rain become acidic? Scientists determine whether rain or lake water is acidic by measuring its pH (the measure of acidity or alkalinity of a solution on a scale of 0 to 14). A value of 7 is considered neutral, whereas values less than 7 are acidic and values over 7 are alkaline or basic. A change of one unit on the pH scale represents a factor of ten in acidity; for example, a solution with a pH of five is ten times as acid as one with a pH of six .

photo plan Essays -- essays research papers

1.0: Executive Summary 2.0: Company Overview Market Opportunity Explanation Legal Form of the Business Company Location History Growth and Financial Objectives Manager Information 3.0: Market Analysis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Analysis of the Industry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Target Market/Customer Profile   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competition 4.0: Service Offering   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Uniqueness   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competitive Comparison 5.0: Marketing Plan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customer creation and retention   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pricing Positioning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Delivery   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Promotion 6.0: Financial Plan and Analysis 7.0: Cost Assumptions  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.0 Executive Summary Lifetime Memories Photography is a small business that provides photography services (with a focus on weddings) to clients looking for high quality, fair price, and great service. Lifetime Memories is organized as a sole proprietorship, with Mike ______ as the owner and sole employee. He does all the photography for the events as well as taking reservations, purchasing equipment, and doing the business? books. Mike ______ will be contributing his own capital to the business for start-up costs, and has secured financing from several other sources, but will still need $10,000 in start-up costs. This business will be run from Leicester MA.. To start, Lifetime Memories marketing plan will focus on advertising in local areas like Worcester, Auburn, Shrewsbury and other surrounding towns. The advertising will emphasize the company?s lower price, its quality, and its high value to people who need event photography done, such as wedding planners and birthday party organizers. There are several competitors in the local area that will be targeted, but these competitors, being better established and having retail locations, will charge more than Lifetime Memories plans on charging. There is an opportunity to enter the market and succeed where these other competitors are lacking, this mainly being low price and a guaranteed high quality, professional service. Lifetime Memories vision is to provide the best photography se... ...02 2003 2004 Beginning Cash Balance $4,500.00 $10,758.00 19,086.00 Cash from Operations 11,240.00 13,455.00 15,670.00 Total Available Cash 15,740.00 24,213.00 34,756.00 Less: Capital Expenditures 0 0 0 Operating Expenses 4,780.00 5,015.00 5,170.00 Interest 112.00 112.00 112.00 Dividends 0 0 0 Debt Retirement 0 0 0 Other 0 0 0 Total Disbursements 4,982.00 5,127.00 5,170.00 Cash Surplus 10,758.00 19,086.00 29,586.00 Add: Short Term Loans 0 0 0 Long Term Loans 0 0 0 Capital Stock Issues 0 0 0 Total Additions 0 0 0 Ending Cash Balance 10,758.00 19,086.00 29,586.00 Cost List: Location Utility costs (electricity, gas, phone, etc.): $250/month Transportation Maintenance: $30/month Insurance: $75.00/month Supplies/Delivery/Development Film: $10.00 per 96 exposures Photo Albums: $20.00 Website maintenance: $200.00/year Development solutions/chemicals: $50.00/wedding (increases with II and III type weddings) Photo paper: $50.00/wedding (increases with II and III type weddings) Miscellaneous costs (food on way to wedding, lodging if overnight accommodations necessary): $60.00/wedding Advertising Brochures: $200.00 Business Cards: $45.00 Newspapers: $100.00/year

Health Promotion Essay

In today’s society, individuals do not recognize that every phase of their life is influenced by their health. People cannot accomplish their goals in society to their full advantage when they are unhealthy. In order to help the population improve their overall health, health promotion is essential. Health promotion and its objective will be discussed in this paper. In addition, it will further examine what our responsibilities are as nurses in the structure of health promotion. Furthermore, health promotion is separated into three levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention, all benefitting the individual. The U.S. Public Health Service identifies health promotion as â€Å"the process of advocating health in order to enhance the probability that personal, private, and public support of positive health practices will become a societal norm† (Edelman & Mandle, 2010, p. 14). In addition to offering information to patients regarding their health, health promotion incorporates supporting patients to enhance their general well-being and recognize their individual health potential (Skybo & Polivka, 2007). Health promotion provides patients with the understanding of the different elements that can alter their health and inspires them to obtain control of it (Bennett, Perry, & Lawrence, 2009). As well as enhancing patient outcomes, health promotion assists in reducing costs, which are consistently rising in health care (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). According to Edelman & Mandel, health promotion can be used on a public level, community level, or personal level (2010). For instance, on the public level, health promotion could include granting assistance or low-income housing programs by the government. The community level might incorporate Habitat for Humanity, which is a great advantage for that particular population. Lastly, the personal level would include individuals who vote to favor programs that assist the community (Hoyle, Bartee, & Allensworth, 2010). Health promotion, a frequently used phrase, is especially critical to the nursing career. It encompasses many concepts that nurses encounter daily. Because education is crucial to succeed, nurses are an essential part in health promotion. Every day, nurses provide education to their patients. To assist them in maintaining and enhancing their well-being, nursing interventions benefit individuals by expanding their resources (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). Since there are various settings in nursing, this is the ideal opportunity to educate individuals. With the help of nurses, healthy communities, homes, and schools can exist with proper education. Regardless of the specialty, all nurses need to educate patients on how to remain fit so they can live a longer, healthier life. Currently, collaboration occurs with an interdisciplinary team, which all assist in improving patients’ lives. Team members may include physicians, therapists, social workers, and dietitians. By working together to create a diverse educational background, this team helps patients overcome their illnesses or helps them manage the disease affecting their life (Bennett et al., 2009). Since health promotion is employed entirely across nursing, nurses are accountable for facilitating the best outcome for each individual patient. Health promotion includes three levels; primary, secondary and tertiary (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). Primary prevention includes delivering strategies and education to help patients avoid illnesses (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). For example, when a nurse delivers an immunization to a patient, she educates them about the potential risks of the disease and how the immunization will help prevent them from contracting the disease. In addition to the community, primary education is also applied in schools as an informative tool, to educate students about harmful diseases such as those taught in sex education classes. This offers support to students, enabling them to make informed decisions about protecting their health from such diseases. Secondary prevention is the next level of health promotion. This includes timely diagnosis of an illness and immediate therapy (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). This level aids in reducing occurrences of illness and inhibiting development between patients (Bennett et al., 2009). By offering community screenings for diabetes or hypertension, nurses are applying secondary prevention. Public health screenings allow nurses to identify potential diseases at an early stage, as well as provide the patient with beneficial information to slow the progression of the illness. Lastly, the tertiary level consists of helping the patient with rehabilitation and recovery (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). This stage identifies the disease and makes the patient cognizant of their health challenges. The nurse’s role in this level is to deliver education to help reduce complications. If a patient is admitted to the hospital with a stroke, physical and occupational rehabilitation may be initiated to retain the maximum stage of function and to avoid another stroke from transpiring (Skybo & Polivka, 2007). The three levels of health promotion are utilized every day and positively assist patients with improving themselves. Nursing will continually incorporate health promotion and the prevention of illnesses. To help support the best outcome for all patients, it is essential that nurses adapt to change. Primary, secondary, and tertiary are the principle levels of health promotion in the nursing profession. These three levels will contribute to patients living longer, healthier lives. References Bennett, C., Perry, J., & Lawrence, Z. (2009). Promoting health in primary care. Nursing Standard, 23(47), 48-56. Retrieved from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2010367201&site=ehost-live&scope=site Edelman, C., & Mandle, C. L. (2010). Health promotions throughout the life span (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby. Hoyle, T., Bartee, R., & Allensworth, D. (2010). Applying the process of health promotion in schools: A commentary. Journal Of School Health, 80(4), 163-166. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2009.00483.x. Retrieved from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2010582507&site=ehost-live&scope=site Skybo, T., & Polivka, B. (2007). Health promotion model for childhood violence prevention and exposure. Journal Of Clinical Nursing, 16(1), 38-45. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01621.x. Retrieved from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login .aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2009481108&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Impact of Global Financial Crisis

The effect of the global financial crisis on Australia has been considerably less, compared to the other affected countries. The Australian economy has revealed better outcomes than most other developed economies, which experienced recessions and rises in unemployment. Also the Australia banks have managed to be profitable without requiring any capital injection from the Government.The noticeable collision of the financial crisis on most Australian households was the large decline in equity prices, â€Å"which reduced the wealth of Australian households by nearly 10% by March 2009. However, since the trough In equity markets In March 2009, the local market had recovered half of Its decline by the end of November 2009. † The Australian dollar also depreciated rapidly and sizeably as the crisis intensified, declining by over 30 per cent from its July 2008 peak.Around the time of the Lehman ankruptcy, conditions in the foreign exchange market were particularly illiquid, prompting the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to Intervene In the market to enhance liquidity. Since March 2009, as fears abated, the Australian dollar largely recovered, reflecting the relative strength of the Australian economy. The credit and money markets in Australia have also proven to be more resilient than in many other countries, necessitating considerably less intervention by the RBA than occurred in many other countries.In large part this reflected the health of the Australian banking system. The Australian banks had almost no holdings of the â€Å"toxic† securities that severely affected other global banks. The health of the Australian banking system facilitated the effectiveness of the monetary and fiscal response, particularly by allowing much of the large easing in monetary policy to be passed through to interest rates on loans to households and businesses, in stark contrast to the outcome in other developed economies.