Theoretical Models Essay Example for Free

Theoretical Models Essay Theoretical Models Colleen M. OLeary HCS/587 March 18, 2013 Theoretical Models The benefits of a motivated staff should prove an impetus to managers to use motivation as a driving force to obtain a high degree of functioning by employees. According to Musselwhite (2011) â€Å"managers who are effective at motivating their direct reports reap the reward of employees who can handle a variety of assignments, work more autonomously, report higher levels of job satisfaction, and contribute more to the success of the department, the organization, and in return, to the success of their manager† (p. 46). This in turn may motivate the manager to work harder and look at ways to improve and increase departmental functioning in the future. In health care managers have diverse staff to motivate. Employees may be of varied ages, experience, educational levels, and job descriptions. Staff ranges from minimally educated secretarial staff to professionals such as licensed professional nurses, physicians, and physician extenders (Borkowski, 2005). The manager who takes the time to get to know the employees he or she is responsible for will know the individual positive or negative attributes of each employee. This will assist in determining how best to motivate everyone for the good of the department. Many motivational theories exist but only equity and goal-setting theories will be discussed here. Equity Theory Theory Description Equity theory basis relies on the comparison of inputs to outcomes. In the work setting an employee’s education, skill set, and anything else he or she brings to the job position provides the input. The salary, promotion, bonus or anything else attributed to the inputs provides the employee’s outcomes. Equity exists when the ration of inputs to outcomes of one employee equates to those of another employee (Borkowski, 2005). Equity Theory in the Workplace In the work setting equity theory exists as the comparison of inputs to  outcomes of employees. According to Sweeney (1990) â€Å"Inequity can result from getting fewer outcomes or more outcomes than relevant others† (p. 329). Equity gives employees the sense of fairness in the workplace. A perceived inequity may result in decreased productivity and a sense of dissatisfaction in the workplace. An equitable workplace shows increased productivity, decreased absenteeism, and less staff turnover. Equity theory in the workplace shows greatly in matters of wages (Sweeney, 1990). Goal-Setting Theory Theory Description Goal-setting theory developed in the 1960s and 1970s by Gary Latham and Edwin Locke promotes the notion that if a manager provides an employee with specific, challenging goals the worker tended to outperform a worker assigned a vague, non-specific goal such as â€Å"do the best you can.† This theory relies on the manager’s awareness of the skill level and abilities of all employees (Borkowski, 2005). Goal-Setting Theory in the Workplace The concept of the goal-setting theory necessitates planning in advance by management after a thorough thought process of the goal needing to be met and the resources, including employees, available to assist in the goal achievement. The three steps required by the goal-setting theory, goal setting, goal commitment, and support elements, need careful consideration by the manager (Borkowski, 2005). Goals need the characteristics of specificity and measurability. As employees perform the different levels of self-confidence, the goals set by management must show attainability by the employee in accordance with the ability to attain the specific goal. Employees unable to attain a goal may develop a feeling of frustration leading to distrust of management (Borkowski, 2005). Commitment to the goal requires acceptance of the objective by the employee. The employee needs to identify his or her ability to achieve the goal and realize the benefit in attaining the objective. Providing support elements necessitates management ensuring the availability of adequate resources such  as equipment, staff, and assistance to the employee. Goal-setting shows the most success with adequate and frequent employee feedback by management (Locke Latham, 1990). Conclusion When managers work to create a culture of motivation the resulting workplace tends to be more productive, workers tend to feel more valued, and the organization and the staff benefit. Motivation theories provide management with guidelines to follow in an attempt to have staff reach full potential and have the department operate at its most productive. Employees need frequent feedback from management no matter which theory so they may receive direction and feel valued by the organization. Motivation theories, of which equity theory and goal-setting theory are just two, assist management in realizing and using the full potential of staff. Reference Borkowski, N. (2005). Organizational behavior in health care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Locke, E. A., Latham, G. P. (2006). New directions in goal-setting theory. Current Directions In Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell), 15(5), 265-268. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00449.x Musselwhite, C. (2011). Creating a culture of motivation. T+D, 65(9), 46-49. Sweeney, P. D. (1990). Distributive justice and pay satisfaction: A field test of an equity theory prediction. Journal of Business Psychology, 4(3), 329-341.

Flann OBrien, Dickens and Joyce: Form, Identity and Colonial Influence

Flann O'Brien, Dickens and Joyce: Form, Identity and Colonial Influences All quotations from The Third Policeman are taken from the 1993 Flamingo Modern Classic edition. In this essay I intend to examine Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman in the context of the time of its writing, 1940, its relation to certain English novelistic traditions and also the broader Irish literary tradition in which it belongs. Seamus Deane refers to Ireland as a "Strange Country" and indeed O'Brien's own narrator recalls the words of his father: " . . . he would mention Parnell with the customers and say that Ireland was a queer country." (7) Such a concurrence indicates to a degree the peculiar nature of the Irish situation with regard to theoretical post-colonial models. There is a temptation to see all Irish work since the revival in terms of decolonization. Cahalan, in The Irish Novel, traces the tendency of Irish writers such as Swift, Edgeworth and Maturin to employ fantastic elements and non-realism in direct opposition to English colonial models and in affirmation of certain Irish traditions. Mercier, in The Irish Comic Tradition, points also to the presence of exaggeration, absurdity and scatological detail in Gaelic heroic cycles and poetry. In Flann O'Brien, Bakhtin, and Menippean Satire, M. Keith Booker begins by saying; "It has now become commonplace to think of Flann O'Brien along with James Joyce and Samuel Beckett as the three great Irish fiction writers...

Tour-Guide: Providing Location-Based Tourist Information on Mobile Phones

Nowadays, people’s consumption structure is improving steadily. There has been a large increase in the number of people out on tours, for the sake of recreation and entertainment. Tourism is the strongest and largest industry in the global economy. It has played a significant role in boosting the city's economy and social employment. In the traditional tourism industry, tourist information is obtained mainly through newspaper, magazines, radio and other simple ways. It can not update and utilize timely. The poor situation of the real-time performance failed to meet people’s growing demand. The emergence of the Internet makes up for this shortfall. Detailed texts, pictures, videos and other guidance information are provided, so people can better understand the tourist attractions and make decision objectively. However, this approach also has some drawbacks. Since most people use personal computer to access Internet, they can not get information anywhere and anytime. People need intelligent, professional and personalized user-centric mobile information services. The integration of the Internet and mobile communication is the main tend of the information industry. With the development of the mobile communication technology, mobile telephone has been used not only as communication tool, but also as entertainment and office tools, providing ubiquitous information access, leisure and entertainment, helping people keep in contact with their friends and so on. With portable, wireless mobile devices to access Internet has become a new requirement. To use information technology to publicize and manage tourism, fully making use of mobile telephone to provide guidance information for people’s tour is becoming imperative equirement of modern tour. The prevalence of mobile phones and the pervasiveness of the wireless networks make mobile a promising platform for personal ubiquitous computing. Current mobile services are enhanced with location-aware features, providing the user with better use experience. A great number of mobile phone applications appeared recently, many of which are location-related [1, 2, 3]. Location-dependent services, which answer location-related queries, are an important class of context-aware applications. With kinds of promising pplications, like local information obtain (traffic condition, navigation messages and so on) and neighboring environment queries, such as finding the nearest restaurant, location-dependent query service will soon become an necessary part of our daily lives. We will describe the design, implementation and deployment of a location-based application, named Tour- Guide, with the mobile phone as a platform. This application permitted users to get tour guidance information they need anytime and anywhere. In particular, the tourist data could be browsed or queried through an Internet map service such as Google Maps

Commonly Confused Words Adapt and Adopt

The  words adapt and adopt may sound similar, but their meanings are different. The verb adapt means to change  something to make  it suitable for a particular use or situation; to  change something (such as a novel) so that it can be presented in another form (such as a movie);  or  (for a person)  to change ones  ideas or  behavior so that its  easier to deal with a  particular place or situation. The verb adopt means to take something and make it ones own; to legally take a child into ones family to raise as ones own; or  to formally accept something (such as a proposal) and put it into effect. In The Dirty Thirty (2003), D. Hatcher and L. Goddard offer this mnemonic:  To adopt something is to make it your own; to  adapt  something is to change it.  Also see the usage notes below. Examples AnonymousThe key to success is often the ability to adapt.Tennesse WilliamsMy  sister had been magically suited  to the wild country of childhood but it remained to be seen how she would adapt herself to the uniform and yet more complex world that grown girls enter.Vanessa HuaBefore Id become a parent, Id been so  certain, self-righteous about how I’d raise my children, how they’d eat, sleep and learn, but I’d been humbled. We had to  adapt, to be flexible and creative, not only for their development, but for mine, too.David Barnett[Neil]  Gaiman is the author of several novels and short stories currently being adapted for TV and cinema. His debut novel, American Gods, is being turned into a TV series by the US channel Starz.Ralph Waldo EmersonLeave this military hurry and  adopt the pace of Nature. Her secret is patience.Harold Brookfield and Helen ParsonsIt was a common practice in Japan for a family without male heirs to  adopt a son-in-law who w ould then inherit whatever the family owned, and its debts. Usage Notes Paul BriansYou can adopt a child or a custom or a law; in these cases you are making the object of the adoption your own, accepting it. If you adapt something, however, you are changing it.Theodore M. BernsteinAdapted takes the preposition to (a use); for (a purpose); or from. Practice (a) We need to  _____ to changing circumstances.(b) My sister and her husband plan to _____ a child from another country. Answers to Practice Exercises (a) We need to  adapt to changing circumstances.(b)  My sister and her husband plan to adopt a child from another country.