Physican-Assisted Sucide Should be Legal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Physican-Assisted Sucide Should be Legal - Essay Example Persons who are for the legalization of assisted suicide believes personal autonomy, individual freedoms, which are expected during life should not abruptly and unnecessarily stop near the end of life. Another perspective is that since everyone agrees that terminally sick or severely injured animals are allowed a humane way to die peacefully. This rationale should be applied to humans too. A person’s sovereignty, their power to make decisions regarding their personal well-being, is stripped away by forbidding them the right to end their own life on their own terms. Self-determination, a right deemed indispensable during a person’s life, abruptly ends at the end of life, just at the time people needs it more than ever. What may be worse is the added indignation of forcible life-saving measures imposed on a dying person. People are kept technically alive while their bodies and minds are wasting away as their families watch and suffer along with the patient. Assisted suici de should be legal. It should not even be a topic that is debated anymore. American citizens are, according to the Declaration of Independence, â€Å"endowed with inalienable rights† but apparently the right to die with dignity is excluded somehow. The U.S. Constitution does not prohibit assisted suicide. It’s illegal mainly due to religious zealots who raise objections for ideological reasons. They think the practice is society â€Å"playing God† with end of life situations. However, they have no problem with society â€Å"playing God† by using extraordinary high-tech procedures to extend peoples life. Assisted suicide is also known by the term â€Å"mercy killing.† It is defined as a form of Euthanasia which means â€Å"good death.† All of these terms describe a circumstance when a terminally ill patient is administered a lethal dose of medicine or is allowed to die without anyone else actively involved in the process such as not resuscita ting the patient or the patient being removed from a life support system. A doctors’ involvement could be to use intravenous means to administer the lethal dose. The terminally ill patient then activates a switch, lever, etc. which dispenses the drug or the doctor could administer the drug(s) themselves. (Kure, 2011). Physicians, lawyers and philosophers have argued the idea of assisted suicide since the beginnings of civilization but the general public discussion pertaining to legalization is but a few decades old. The questions regarding assisted suicide have moved beyond the realm of who is allowed to speak for the unconscious patient and into that of the rights of the patient. According to common law found in the majority of, if not all, legal jurisdictions, incurably ill persons who exhibit mental competency are able to request that life-savings methods be withheld even when this choice will certainly result in their death. This right found in common law is based on the importance society places on self-determination. All agree that people should to be protected from unwanted, offensive and non-consensual touching by anyone else. These local common laws have their foundations in the U.S. Constitution at both the federal and state level. On the federal level personal rights stem from liberty provision within the Due Process Clause located in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. At the state level, New Hampshire’s state Constitution, as an example, individual rights

Brand management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Brand management - Assignment Example It is an international company with several sub-brands and a strong strategy in operation. In the United Kingdom, the company has a well-defined brand elements and architecture. Brand architecture acts as a powerful tool through which organizations can effectively organize the brands in their portfolio and focus on enhancing each and every brand in the market. In this regard, the choice of the brand architecture to be used is an important consideration which can greatly determine the performance of a brand in the market. In the case of Sony, the corporation has so many individual brands which create the need for effective brand architecture (Chernatony, 2008). In the United Kingdom, Sony uses the umbrella brand architecture in marketing its various brands across the country and beyond. This arises out of the fact that Sony has been a global brand over the years and the name has therefore become very synonymous with quality products. In this case, the umbrella or corporate brand offers an effective opportunity for the company to market its various sub-brands. Indeed, the nature of the products produced by Sony creates the need for a family name in order to limit much of the effort that would be used in promoting the individual brands. In this case, marketing can be done both for the individual sub-brands and by jointly marketing the family name. However, it should be realized that umbrella branding does not really imply that all the portfolio of the corporation falls under one name. Rather, the family name is just a unifying factor while each and every product has its different brand line. Across the United Kingdom, it is seen that Sony promotes its products effectively through the use of umbrella branding. Sony operates in the technology world where new products are constantly produced. For instance, when a new PlayStation is launched, promotion becomes much easy since the consumers are already acquainted with the bead name. In the

Approaches to Correction of Class III Skeletal Malocclusion

Approaches to Correction of Class III Skeletal Malocclusion Combined Orthodontic and Surgical Approach in the Correction of Class III Skeletal Malocclusion Dr. Abdulaziz AlShahrani Astrac While growth modification and camouflage orthodontic treatment offers a limited solution in treating some skeletal Class III malocclusion depending on the age of the patient , Underlying skeletal severity, alignment of the teeth and the vertical facial proportions, a combination of surgical and Orthodontic therapy is the treatment of choice in all severe skeletal Class III malocclusion. In this case report I present a combination of surgical-orthodontic therapy for an adult female patient with skeletal class III malocclusion which resulted in good skeletal, dental and soft tissue relationship, with marked improvement in function and facial esthetics. Keywords:Class III malocclusion, Orthognathic Surgery, surgical orthodontics Introduction Class III malocclusion is considered to be one of the most difficult and complex orthodontic problems to treat. The prevalence of class III malocclusion has been reported to be as low as 3-5% in the Caucasian population, but is higher in the Chinese and Japanese population (4-13%) (Often associated with maxillary retrusion)[i],[ii],[iii]. The etiology of class III is complex and multifactorial. However, there is usually a strong genetic contribution. Genetic factor is one of the etiological factors where one third of children with severe Class III had a parent with the same problem and one-sixth had an affected sibling[iv]. Racial tendency may play a role as the blacks have shown higher incidence than white’s[v].Environmental factors appear to play an adaptiverole in the etiology of Class III malocclusion[vi].Class III malocclusion can be associated with other factors such as cleft palate[vii]. Individuals with class III malocclusion show combinations of skeletal and dentoalveolar components. Class III malocclusion may occur as a result of protrusive mandible, retrusive maxilla, combination of both[viii]. While the most commonly found Class III malocclusion (30%) showed a combination of mandibular protrusion and maxillary retrusion, Maxillary retrusion alone was found in 19.5% of the sample and Mandibular protrusion alone was found in 19.1% of the sample[ix].These complex nature of class III requirea careful planning, amultidisciplinary approach and patient cooperation[x]. CaseReport A 17-year-old caucasian girl presented for orthodontic treatment because of referral from her dentist with primary complaint of un-esthetic facial and dental appearance. She has a hyper-divergent Class III skeletal and dental relationship. This is characterized by retrognathic maxilla, retroclined lower anterior teeth, with maximum active opening of 47mm with 5mm negative overjet and lateral excursions of 7 mm to both right and left sides. The patient has an ovoid, relatively asymmetrical face with chin slightly deviated to the left. The lip line at rest displayed approximately 2 mm of upper incisor. At full animation there was 7mm of upper incisal display and 2 mm of lower incisal edge. She has a slightly concave profile, and competent lips[Figure1]. Pretreatment extra oral photos Intraorally, the oral mucosa was healthy. There were no periodontal pockets present. The gingival tissues were inflamed especially around the prosthetic crowns. There was no bleeding tendency except sometimes with brushing. Free gingival margins were near to the CEJ and attached gingiva was of normal width throughout the mouth. The frenal attachments in both arches were normal. The tongue was normal in size, function and appearance. Teeth # 26, 36 and 46 have been crowned. There was a lingual arch placed one year ago to maintain lower incisors position. Occlusion analysis, she was in the permanent dentition and the 3rd molars were un-erupted. She has good oral hygiene. Frontal view: Shows a dental midline discrepancy. The lower dental midline is coincident with the facial midline while the upper midline is not coincident with the facial midline it’s off to the left by 2.5mm, the occlusal planewas slightly canted to the left. A negative overjet of 5 mm reported.Right and left Lateral Views Shows the canines and molars in Class III relationships. The upper occlusal view shows a U-shaped arch with well aligned anterior segment. The lower occlusal view reveals a U-shaped arch with crowding of 3.9mmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹[Figure 2]. TREATMENT OBJECTIVES Our objective is to address compensated lower incisors by proclining them to the ideal position and inclination followed by increasing the horizontal projection of the maxilla to correct upper jaw retrognathism, concave profile, class III dental relationshipand negative overiet. Increased lower facial height and hyper-divergence will be corrected byautorotation of the mandible after the advancement of the maxilla and vertical reduction genioplasty.Mandibular asymmetry will be corrected by BSSO while maintaining lower incisor position. TREATMENT PROGRESS We started Pre-surgical orthodontics using self-ligation bracket system (Roth prescription, 022†slot). Leveling and alignment of maxillary and mandibular arches began with round 0.016 niti arch wires progressing to 0.0170.025 niti arch wires. Patient was referred to extract all 3rd molars at this stage. Coordinated 0.0190.025 Stainless steel then used for arch coordination before sending the patient for surgical procedure[Figures 67]. All the movement and prediction were planned on pre-surgical lateral cephalometric x-ray using Moorres mesh as a guide. A sheet of tracing paper over the original tracing and the outline of the mandible was drawn and trimmed making a template, another template for the maxilla was produced and placed in the post-surgical position. The mandibular autorotation then simulated accordingly. The soft tissue contours then drawn using the guidelines in literatures[xi],[xii],[xiii][Figure8]. Centric relationship of Upper and lower jaws was recorded and Face bow transfer and articulation of models on a semi-adjustable articulator was done. Model surgery then performed using Erickson model blockandacrylic inter occlusal wafer splint was produced. Le fort I osteotomywas performed to advance the maxilla for 7.1 mm and Bilateral sagittal split osteotomy was carried out to correct mandibular asymmetry while maintaining the A-P position of the mandible. Vertical reduction and advancement (4mm each) genioplastythen performed to address the increased lower facial height and achieve esthetically acceptable facial profile. Rigid type of fixations were used in both arches. The patient was followed closely and the post-surgical Orthodontic was resumed 3 weeks after surgery. 0.0190.025 stainless steel changed to 0.021 Ãâ€" 0.025stainless steel to express the torque. Finishing was performed with settling elastics[figures9-12]. Six months later, fixed appliances were removed and lower fixed retainer 3-3 was cemented along with upper and lower Hawley’s retainers [figures 13 14]. Cephalometric finding shows a good skeletal, dental and soft tissue relationship and improvement in the function and facial esthetics[Table 2, Figures15-17]. pre- and post-treatment cephalometrictracings Discussion This case report presents a combination of surgical and orthodontic therapy for an adult female patient with skeletal and dental class III malocclusion. The magnitude of the problem was so severe and lies outside the envelope of possible correction by orthodontics alone[xiv]. In growing patients, early treatment with maxillary expansion and protraction can result in straightening of profile after 6 months[xv]. It can also promote more favorable psychosocial development and greater compliance[xvi]. Delaying treatment can lead to development of posterior cross bite and the subsequent development of facial asymmetry[xvii].During adulthood, correction of the Class III malocclusion usually requires complex surgical procedures to achieve a good skeletal, dental and soft tissue relationship and improve the function and facial esthetics[xviii]. In this case, our objective were achieved. Compensated lower incisors were address by proclining them to the ideal position and inclination in pre-surgical orthodontic treatmentwhile in post-surgical orthodontic treatment teeth were brought into settledocclusion. Normal skeletal relationship was achieved byLe fort I osteotomyto advance the maxilla, Bilateral sagittal split osteotomy to correct mandibular asymmetry while maintaining the A-P position of the mandible and vertical reduction and advancementgenioplasty [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi] [vii] [viii] [ix] [x] [xi]. [xii]. [xiii] [xiv] [xv] [xvi] [xvii] [xviii]

Essays --

According to Mondy, Noe, & Gowan (2005), global dimensions such as variations in cultural practices imply that the success of organizations depend on management’s ability to market and manage in multicultural settings. To a greater extent, organizations that operate only within one country enjoy the benefits of dealing with a relatively homogenous set of cultural, legal, and economic variables. When a company operates multiple businesses in several countries, it is not blessed with such relative uniformity (Mondy, Noe, & Gowan, 2005). Consequently, the human resource management function in multinational companies such as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is significantly complicated by the need to adapt human resource management procedures and policies to the differences among the various countries in which the organization operates. With respect to the case of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, there are several issues that Kathleen Taylor (President, Worldwide Operations) should focus on so as to create a balance in concepts related to cultural awareness and control mechanisms. These issues include cultural factors, economic factors, labor cost factors, and industrial relations factors. In the case of cultural factors, it is a widely accepted fact that wide-ranging cultural variations in different countries demand corresponding variations in human resource practices among an organization’s foreign subsidiaries. For example, the cultural norms in a country like Japan or other Far East countries and the importance that people place on the patriarchal system has an effect on the typical Japanese worker’s perception of his/her relationship to the employee. Consequently, this has an influence on how that person works. Such cultural diff... ...es of each business unit. The president must have the experience and capacity to manage generational and cultural diversity in the complex global environment. The communication strategy employed by the company should transmit the values, image and objectives of the company as the finest home or destination away from home that meets and exceeds the needs of diverse clients and stress it from time to time. The president should orient the organization to administer a results-driven approach. This approach sets targets for each department and ensures that those goals are achieved through evaluation and control. She should be open-minded to allow views of other departments to form the basis of her decisions. Finally, the president should keep herself abreast with the happenings in the hotel industry and benchmark accordingly through expert advice and continuous learning.

Fiction Analysis of a&P and the Lesson

The theme of desire has been portrayed in many novels and stories. Perhaps the most well-known depiction of desire can be found in the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, a snake tempts Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge after he convinces them that they will gain God’s knowledge of good and evil and be protected from death. Despite God’s word to not eat of the fruit, Adam and Eve did so anyway. Surely, this story portrays temptation; however, beyond the theme of temptation lays the theme of desire.Knowing it was wrong, Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they had the desire for what the snake promised them. Similarly, Toni Cade Bambara and John Updike also display the theme of desire in their short stories. In â€Å"The Lesson† by Bambara and â€Å"A&P† by Updike, character, setting, and point of view are utilized to project the theme of desire. Though â€Å"The Lesson† and â€Å"A&P† take place in vastly different en vironments, a ghetto in New York and a quaint New England sea-side town, respectively, little separates the symbolic meaning of the setting.The protagonists of both short stories really have no yearn to be in their current surroundings. Sylvia in â€Å"The Lesson† describes her neighborhood as foul smelling. It was so bad â€Å"you couldn't halfway play hide-and-seek without a goddamn gas mask† (Bambara 1). Likewise, Sammy in â€Å"A;P† compares the costumer at his checkout lane to a witch. Within the first few paragraphs of both stories, one can tell that both Sylvia’s and Sammy’s atmospheres are not what they wish. Both the ghetto in which Sylvia lives and the grocery store in which Sammy works symbolize misery.Through the tone of the characters, one can gather that neither is happy and they wish for something greater. Without these particular settings that Bambara and Updike chose, the stories would have no meaning. For instance, if Bambara set Sylvia in a prestigious and wealthy neighborhood, there would be no narrative. â€Å"The Lesson† then would be a useless tale of a girl’s trip to a toy store. No underlying themes or symbols would be present. The setting is very important in both stories in that it defines not only the plot, but the characters themselves.Sylvia and Sammy are products of their environments. Being in an unpleasant environment would definitely put any individual on edge. Because both characters are unhappy with their surroundings, both are quite cynical. Aside from comparing one customer to a witch, Sammy also refers to others as â€Å"sheep† and points out â€Å"house-slaves in pin curlers† (Updike 3). Sylvia is also cynical in the way she talks of Miss Moore. At a point, Sylvia states that she is a â€Å"nappy-head[ed] bitch†, which in no means is a proper way for anyone, let alone a child, to speak (Bambara 1).Despite being so cynical, the reader finds that both ch aracters have another side as well. When faced with desire, Sylvia’s and Sammy’s mannerism changes. The reader sees Sylvia in a whole new way when she sets eyes on the fiberglass sailboat. In fact, Sylvia’s entire persona changes. Not only is she dumbfounded by the price of the sailboat, but she is awestruck by its greatness. She grows quite mad about the price; nonetheless, this is the beginning of the change of her character and train of thought. This is where she realizes the economic imbalance of the world.Similarly to how Sylvia was taken by the sailboat, Sammy is captivated by the girls’ physical appearance, especially Queenie. This is made evident by the imagery of the text from his physical description of them. Bambara and Updike especially, quite effectively use the characters’ point of view to further engage the reader to explore for theme. In â€Å"A;P† and â€Å"The Lesson†, both protagonists narrate the story in first per son. This is especially important because the reader better connects with the character. One can better relate when they feel as if they are part of the plot.With Updike’s combination of first person point of view and powerful imagery, one not only feels like they are there, but they can picture it as well. The reader can visualize the girls walking through the maze of isles in the store. Every detail Updike sketches is important, even the â€Å"two smoothest scoops of vanilla† Sammy sees in Queenie’s top-piece (Updike 6). This tells the reader that Sammy is not an experienced lover. He is running wild with his thoughts and can barely control himself. Sammy is enthralled by Queenie and the other girls.So much, in fact, that he quits his job after Lengel, the manager, ridicules the girls about wearing proper attire when entering a grocery store. This particular event shows the true desire Sammy has for these girls and their attention. Likewise, Sylvia has a true desire to change her ascribed status. The reader sees this when Sylvia states â€Å"ain't nobody gonna beat me at nuthin† at the end of the story (Bambara 6). Sylvia becomes a dynamic character with this statement. Influenced by her desire for the Fifth Avenue world, like purchasing the sailboat, Sylvia makes a vow that she is going to change.She has the desire to leave the ghetto, to be something greater than the ghetto. She is going to strive for the rewards of Fifth Avenue she so much desires. Although the central theme of â€Å"The Lesson† and â€Å"A&P† may be something more than desire, Updike and Bambara definitely portray it through setting, character, and point of view. Perhaps even more interesting are the characters themselves. They seem almost life-like because of their relatability. It is conceivable that the protagonists in these stories by Updike and Bambara are the authors themselves.Toni Cade Bambara grew up in Harlem, a setting very close to th at found in â€Å"The Lesson† (Schirack) and John Updike lived in a seaside-town in Massachusetts, eerily similar to the setting of â€Å"A&P† (Moyer). It is very possible that these short stories contain characters based off the authors. It is also quite possible that these stories are actual life events that occurred while the two were still living. It is certainly very interesting to think about the fact that the characters could be linked to the authors in some way and what other influences life events may have had on other pieces by the authors.Works Cited Bambara, Toni Cade. â€Å"The Lesson. † Blackboard. ed. ENG 102-329. Ed. Gina Yanuzzi. Mount Laurel: BCC, Spring 2013. 1-6. Electronic. Moyer, Steve. â€Å"John Updike Biography. †Ã‚  Neh. gov. N. p. , n. d. Web. 07 Mar. 2013. Schirack, Maureen. â€Å"Toni Cade Bambara. †Ã‚  Voices From the Gaps, University of Minnesota. Ed. Lauren Curtright. N. p. , 11 Aug. 2004. Web. 07 Mar. 2013. Updike, John. â€Å"A&P. † Blackboard. ed. ENG 102-329. Ed. Gina Yanuzzi. Mount Laurel: BCC, Spring 2013. 1-8. Electronic.

Organizational Behaviour – Case Study

Consider the case: â€Å"Job satisfaction at Omega Technical Services Ltd† by D. Adam-Smith and L. Littlewood. In Adam-Smith, D. and Peacock, A. (Eds), Cases in organisational behaviour (pp. 151-162). London: Pitman and Prepare a report that addresses (i. e. , explains) the situation in the case (i. e. , high job turnover among professional staff) taking the perspective of work motivation and employee attitudes. Word count: 3000 Module: Organizational Behavior Introduction to Omega Technical Services Ltd. A labor intensive medium sized firm â€Å"Omega Technical Services Ltd† was established in mid 1950s. The main focus of Omega was to provide technical services to the different clients mostly from engineering sector. Omega consists of 180 full time staff which is dispersed in eight different regional offices. Main services provided by Omega were to provide documentation service in the form of manuals for operations and maintenance. In 1984 as a result of increased competition and falling profit margins in the field the company planned a cost reduction plan and changes to its management style to improve the efficiency of the organisation and to remain competitive in the business sector. But at the same time board of directors were concerned about the low morale of the employees and its impact over the performance of the company. There were increased incidences of low quality work followed by high turnover i. e. 33% over the last full year. After going through the provided case study and the relevant study materials, it is established that Directors of the Omega was trying to find out the main reason for low morale within the organisation and to find the recommendation which will improve the job satisfaction of employees which will ultimately improve the productivity of the staff and create new knowledge. To full fill this objective a formal attitude survey was conducted by the personnel manager of the Omega ltd. with the help of anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed by using both open ended questions and closed questions. The final questionnaire was consists of 83 questions, out of which 68 were closed questions and 12 were open ended. Closed questionnaires were conducted to address five main areas including, general satisfaction, communication, fairness/supervision, and involvement/identification. Matters relating to other jobs and companies which included some pay issues. KEY CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGES The overall response rate of the survey was 42%. Based on that analysis of the result of the questionnaire and supportive reading from the available literature, now we will look at some of the most important current and future challenges which Omega is facing, and which can affect the overall performance of the group in the near future in the strong competitive and innovative market. The key challenges facing Omega can be summarized as follows: 1. Understanding Culture and Employees Management Relationship 2. Lack of Communication within the Organisation 3. Creating Organizational Knowledge ( lack of investment in Research and Development) 4. Attracting, Motivating and Retaining workers in Omega 5. Rewards system Creating a Knowledge Sharing Culture Gordon (1996) defines an organisation’s culture as the part of its interior atmosphere that includes a set of postulations, values and principles that organisational associates share and use to direct their execution. Omega also has the need to create a strong culture to build relationship among organizational levels. Hence one key challenge for Omega is the need to build a knowledge culture that facilitates and inspires people to generate, split, and exploit knowledge for the advantages and lasting accomplishment of the organization (Oliver and Kandadi, as cited in King, 2007). Organisational culture is argued as powerful input for effective and efficient management and organizational learning (Janz and Prasamphanich, as cited in King, 2007). In Omega the idea of knowledge sharing needs to be implemented into its organizational culture. The following facts highlighted in Table 1 below by Gurteen, (1999) illustrate why sharing knowledge is important. Table 1: Why knowledge sharing is essential to the survival of almost all businesses Intangible products| Ideas, processes, information are taking a growing share of global trade from the traditional, tangible goods of the manufacturing economy. | Sustainable competitive advantage| Increasingly the only sustainable competitive advantage is continuous innovation is the application of new knowledge| Increasing turnover of staff| People don’t take a job for life any more. When someone leaves an organization their knowledge walks out of the door with them. | Accelerating change| Technology, business and social. As things change so does our knowledge base erode – in some businesses, as much of 50% of what you knew 5 years ago is probably obsolete today| Source: adapted from Gurteen, G, (Feb 1999) Creating a Knowledge Sharing Culture, Knowledge Management Magazine, 2(5), www. gurteen. com/gurteen/gurteen. nsf/id/ksculture Culture is important in shaping assumptions about what knowledge is worth exchanging; when we are creating an environment for the knowledge sharing in Omega, making it means that knowledge sharing the norm and it also motivates the people to work in the team, provides such sort of knowledge which will be fruitful for the organization and employees. Hansen and Oetinger (2001) explain a new T shaped management where a new kind of executives operates breaking away from the conventional chain of command to split knowledge without stinting across the organization. While the systems are good at transferring explicit knowledge direct personal contact is needed for effective transfer of implicit knowledge which is needed for business solutions and is crucial for innovation. Hence implementing a open structure in Omega the company can apprehend the reimbursement of multi department learning and teamwork without having to establishment top down looms that could undermine the liberty and answerability needed to create exceptional entity unit performance. Trust As the result of the questionnaire concluded that employees have very little trust on their leaders as they feel that favoritism play a significant role for the growth in the company. Lack of trust on the upper management also plays a vital role on the motivation and commitment of the employees towards organization, which can further results into more people leaving their jobs and increased number of absenteeism. For a sharing culture Omega need to build an environment of trust so that it will establish customs about cross-functional associations and communication. For example, Gold et al. as cited in King 2007) concluded that organizations with open and supportive value orientations are predisposed toward constructive knowledge behaviors. Interpersonal trust in the workplace has been shown to have a strong and robust influence on a variety of organizational phenomena including job satisfaction, stress, organizational commitment, productivity and mostly to knowledge sharing (Mooradia n, et al, 2006). Hence Omega needs to create a culture that facilitates the willingness of people to participate meaningfully in its development and trust of the organisation. Attracting, Motivating and Retaining knowledge workers in Omega In Omega the turnover for the company is 33% over the last full year which means roughly one out of every three employees. Omega faces the vital challenge of retaining and motivating their knowledge worker. From the results of questionnaire we can establish that inequality and favoritism at the work place is one of the main reasons for high turnover, as approximately 70% of the respondents mentioned that they have applied for other jobs with in the last year time period. The main reason for this because employees at Omega feels that they were not treated fairly and their was lack of respect from their managers. Employees also mentioned that they feel that due to the current economic situation they felt underpaid as compared to the skills, knowledge and value they are generating for the company It is evident from the case that the traditional employment contracts may no longer be effective in bonding knowledge workers and retain their loyalty. Furthermore, still practicing de-centralized management system, clearly there is lack of any formal communication policy with in the Omega Technical Services ltd. According to Thompson and Heron as cited in (Horwitz, at al 2003) the employment relationship between the worker has changed to a new psychological contract where individuals are seeking market sustainable employability and organization require high work commitment rather than job security and loyalty. Research carried by Horwitz, et al( 2003) supports that that turnover is usually higher in knowledge workers than non knowledge workers as they try to seek new challenges from more progressive companies. Motivation is argued to be a very individual phenomenon where what motives one doesn’t necessarily motivate the other worker. Understanding individual needs at work helps management to better match rewards with motivation. Much of the motivation theories try to explain what (needs) and how (process) to motivate employees (Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, Hertzberg Two factor theory, Equity theory and Goal theory). And most of these theories identify generally that extrinsic (satisfied externally, physical objects) and intrinsic reward (satisfied internally like status and recognition) as the basis of motivating employees. Hertzberg’s two factor theory of motivation in the year (1959) distinguishes between hygienic factors and motivators; the hygienic factors have only the potential to eliminate dissatisfaction, while only motivators have the potential to increase satisfaction. In the case of Omega they were lacking both the hygiene factors and motivators. For example, employee of the Omega were not very satisfied with the working condition with in the company and also reported that they were not treated fairly on work place and showing their concerns about lack of respect from their managers at work. Horwitz et al (2003) proposes a diagram for attracting; inspiring and keeping of personnel which can be a useful framework that Omega (refer to diagram 2 in Appendix). Most favored retention strategies are those that are focused on portfolio of practices where top management support and leadership is important. While to motivation includes providing more extrinsic rewards like challenging work, creative working culture with autonomy, celebration of success and developing intelligence of purpose, course and enthusiasm. To attract workers the cultural fit is seen as important in Horwitz et al’s schema. Selective employing put into practicing have constructive effects on learning and in relative to organizational learning is the staffing and preservation of esteemed employees (Davenport, as cited in Lopez, et al, 2006). Omega is a service industry business that runs on the ideas, knowledge and knows how of the people who are working in it. Because of the people focused business this is the demand for the Omega that every individual working in the company should be educated, well motivated and inspire to deliver high performance. But due to the limiting budget for research and development and freeze on the benefits package at Omega, there was very limited opportunities for managers to invest in the research and development and to creat new knowledge for the organisation. Davenport et al. have acknowledged eight data management success features such as (1) technology infrastructure; (2) organizational infrastructure; (3) balance of lexibility, evolution and ease-of-accessibility to knowledge; (4) shared knowledge; (5) knowledge-friendly culture; (6) motivated workers who develop, share and use knowledge; (7) means of knowledge transfer using various information technology infrastructure; and (8) senior management support and commitment (Davenport et al. (1998) sited by Chong (2005) Overall knowledge management has become a people-centric because it is the network of the competent peoples which makes an organization successful. So, now the question is, what are the sources of motivation for these individuals within the company and also outside of the organization, and is individual motivation is aligned with the overall organizational goals and objectives? Omega needs to develop a reward system which is based on the performance and quality contribution of the employees. First, company has to identify that what are the motivation factors which effect different levels of their employees with in the company. The motivation factor that attracts and engages the young employees, For example, moving to the top of the hierarchy level was very important for the previous years but this is not the case today, and definitely there will be some resistance to these motivational factors from the different levels of the company. But it does not mean that it shows the absence of motivation in that particular level, but rather the presence of inappropriate will or motivation (Smith and McLaughlin, 2003). Every organization has some sources from where employee motivation sprouts (Amar and Hall, 2004). So, now it depends upon the management of the Omega that how they loads these sources with the factors that motivate, energize and direct the employees towards the achievement of the organizational goals. These factors may be intrinsic and extrinsic and in contrast to aiming at fulfillment of employees cognitive needs, these factors connect with their psyches (Amar and Hall, 2004). Reward and Recognition System Omega must design a reward and recognition system in such a way that it encourages and motivate the workers to the sharing of vision and task. The purpose of this system should be made very clear and visible to employees. In addition it is important for Omega to involve and encourage employee participation into the reward system and must measure the level of employee satisfaction with the system in order to design the correct program. Hence one of the key challenges for managers in Omega is to understand what actually motivates individuals to excel in their work and more importantly how to influence what others are motivated to do. According to Kerr (1995) it is of utmost importance that managers or the senior management recognize the type of activity they are rewarding because the reward and recognition scheme may be ineffective if they are rewarding an activity that they are trying to discourage. Also Cameron and Pierce (1997 cited by Milne, P. , 2007) suggested that verbal and tangible rewards do help in increasing efficiency among the employees, higher level of job satisfaction and overall enhancing motivation. Praising people personally and sincerely for their hard work can actually help create a sense of belongingness. Employees would feel that their work is being recognized, valued and appreciated. This way employee’s maybe intrinsically motivated to perform and be admired by other colleagues for their contribution. I believe that the partners or the senior management in Omega should not only praise perfection but also praise employees who are showing signs of improvement in their work. Moss Kanter (1987) pointed out that these reward systems can actually motivate individuals to perform effectively only for themselves and not for the organisation. According to Moss Kanter the amount of reward one gets depends on the position or status in the organisation. Higher the status, higher the rewards. Hence individuals will try their level best to get promoted quickly in order to get higher rewards. Omega must try to develop a reward programme were the reward itself is not the main driver for contributing and sharing knowledge but could be used as a tool for giving directions and purpose to what employees do. Money is normally considered to be the major motivation factor in the organizations, but this is not the only case in the Omega. In management industry money can be a good source of motivation if it is designed properly and establish a clear linkage what management wants and what its employees can do in their jobs that is with in their control (CEO Sounds-off, 1997) As Omega is facing problems in motivation of employees from different level of employees, it should announce certain goals and targets for the improvement of performance and then relate it with the different rewards for completing these goals and target. This kind of rewards will give the employees a sense of achievement. Incentives As we discussed above that money is not the only motivating factor in the firms, so the rewards should be expanded to the non-financial incentives, like introduction of some work benefits, promotion and further training opportunities for the personal development. In Omega, these kinds of incentive will be helpful for the future growth of the company, because in case of further training and personal development, it will leads towards the better and improved performance from that employee in the future and will keep him /her motivated to play his/her part. This behavior is supported by the Maslows theory of â€Å"hierarchy of Needs† in which Maslow talks about the need of the self actualization. According to Maslow, if all of these needs are satisfied, we can still expect that there will be development of another need, â€Å"unless the individual is doing, what he, individually fitted for† (Mahesh 1993 sited by Amar and Hall 2004). Training Strategic training is a fundamental tool that facilitates communication among employees, by providing a common language and shared vision and is argued to be one of the most significant HR practices for the organizational learning process (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995, Ulrich et al 1993 as cited in Lopez et al, 2006). In the case of Omega, questionnaire results shows a clear amount of respondents shows their interest in learning new knowledge and shows their willingness for further training by which they can improve their effiecincy. A clear understanding of Omega’s missions and values will help to ensure the right direction for the learning processes. Training should be orientation towards developing culture of commitment to learning and should demonstrate to employees and management framework link to the company strategy. Training should be practical support for organizational goals and work related technologies (Bassi and McMurrer, 2007). The training programs should also favour the sharing of ideas and best practices improving the level of openness to new ideas thus promoting flexibility in acquiring critical skills needed for effectively responding to competitive challenges ( Lopez, et al 2006). There is empirical evidence to indicate (DiBella et al, 1996; McGill and Slocum, 1993 Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Ulrich et al 1993 as cited in Lopez) the idea that training plays a critical role in maintaining and developing the capabilities both individual and rganizational and also substantially contributes toward the process of organizational change. Job Description In Omega, it is recommended that job should be the first motivating factor for the employees. Company need to redesign the job descriptions of the employees, so that they can attract and retain the best people. While designing a job responsibility, company can include the factors that attract and motivate the employee’s interest and mind and glue them t o put effort in their respective jobs towards the achievement of the organizational objectives. This will leads towards the improved loyalty with the firm and motivate people to do their best and it will also reduce the loss of knowledge by people leaving the Omega. In case of young employees this approach frees their minds, which allows them to engage them in the activities which brings innovations to the company, which is very important for the Omega. According to Amar and Hall, companies should allow the people to think innovative ideas while managers patrolling the boundaries (Amar and Hall, 2004). Another important point which also needs to be considered is family-friendly working schedule. Employees prefer those jobs and job schedules, where they can adjust their family and social life with out any significant impact on their job responsibilities. CONCLUSION In this assignment we discuss about the different challenges to Omega and what are the possible recommendations to address those challenges both for the current and future time. Clearly there is struggle by Omega management to keep staff motivated and there is no actual implementation of motivational theories. Due to the shortage of funds as 80% of the company’s funds are already allocated to employee’s wages, management needs to consider non-monetary incentives and rewards as we discussed in the main body of the assignment. It is concluded that in a knowledge intensive service firm, individuals are the most valuable asset and technology can only provide the relevant support for the creation and management of the business. So it is the peoples who need to be motivated to give maximum output for the company. We have looked at the different motivation factors and how to create the work environment that’s helps to achieve the rganizational goal. Based on the observations and the supported study material it is recognized that there are different sources for the motivation for the Omega employee, like how to define the job description, rewards, incentives and use of the technology to support individuals. So the combination of these factors will result in the working environ ment where every individual is performing his duties up to the best of his potential with the sense of responsibility and putting his/her share in the progress of the company. REFERANCES: Alton C, Ngee A, Polytechnic, (20001), â€Å"Relationship between the Types of Knowledge Shared and Types of Communication Channels Used†, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, October 2001 Amar A. 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