Reseach Workoholics Essay Example for Free

Reseach Workoholics Essay Is a 40-hour work week too much? Should there be a mandatory cap on the number of hours a person can work? Should there be changes in employment laws to give Americans more relaxation time? A workaholic definition is a noun a person who compulsively works hard and long hours. But the definition in a workaholics eyes is a person who â€Å"values work over any other activity, according to careercast.com. Merriam-webster.com says its a compulsive worker (Productivity) The reasons for someone to become a workaholic are some people dont feel their lives are fulfilled unless theyre engaged in constructive activities. The more they work, the happier they are. Its addictive. Where in the world can they be productive and reap the rewards of their labor but at their job? Workaholics cant be idle. They need to be constantly working. Proving their value Children who were raised in dysfunctional families, or by perfectionist parents, and were made to feel like their best was never good enough can grow up to be workaholics. Spending their adult lives immersed in their work is a way for them to constantly prove themselves and their worth. Escaping problems and negative feelings another reason why people become workaholics is because they lack a sense of control in their lives. They have problems at home they cant fix, or they dont want to deal with, for example. Being at work all the time allows them to escape painful, negative feelings. It also gives them a sense of control they cant find otherwise. Adrenaline rush working non-stop provides an adrenaline rush to some people. Being extremely busy, rushing to meet unrealistic goals, and pushing themselves beyond their limits gives them that intense feeling they crave. That same adrenaline rush- the increased heart rate, the burst of energy, the heightening of their senses- comes from roller coaster rides and other thrilling activities. In 1965, a U.S. Senate subcommittee predicted that as a result of increasing labor productivity from automation and â€Å"cybernation† in other words, the computer revolution. Americans would be working only about 20 hours a week by the year 2000, while taking seven weeks or more of vacation a year. By the mid-1970s, and especially after 1980, median wages weren’t keeping pace with increases in our capacity to produce. But flattening incomes didn’t derail the consumption train. Americans continued to buy more, in part by going deeper into debt, by having more members of the family enter the workforce and by working additional overtime. By the boom times of the late 1990s, Americans worked more than the notoriously workaholic Japanese. To answer the question of limiting the number of hours you can work I think we would have a happier and healthier society if we worked a little less. As of right now, some jobs require a lot of time and energy. Legalizing mandating the number of hours worked is an interesting idea. It would see a drop in stress levels, more family time and participation and healthier workers. This probably wouldnt make too many people happy at first, though, and it would take some getting used to. It is a way to raise healthier families and having less levels of stress that are exhibited in really tough jobs, like ER doctors and nurses, and other highly stressful occupations. American work-life balance according to the Center for American Progress on the topic of work and family life balance, â€Å"in 1960, only 20 percent of mothers worked. Today, 70 percent of American children live in households where all adults are employed.† I don’t care who stays home and who works in terms of gender (work opportunity equality for all – it’s a family choice). Either way, when all adults are working (single or with a partner), that’s a huge hit to the American family and free-time in the American household. The U.S. is the ONLY country in the Americas without a national paid parental leave benefit. The average is over 12 weeks of paid leave anywhere other than Europe and over 20 weeks in Europe. Zero industrialized nations are without a mandatory option for new parents to take parental leave. That is, except for the United States. Lets say someone make $60k/year. Excluding benefits, employee taxes, etc., lets consider this equivalent to $30/hour. ($30/hour x 40 hours x 50 weeks = $60k). Now they want to figure out the hourly number that he/she use to decide if its worth it to do something. For example, if he/she owe a fine on something he/she dont think they should owe, but its only a $5 fine, its not worth spending an hour ($30) to contest it. BUT, its not clear to me if he/she should use $30/hour for this number, because Im only working 8 hours/day. Like, if someone is willing to pay me for 40 hours/week at $30/hour, presumably he/she could get one or two more such jobs. Or should she/he divide that by 3 to get $10/hour because really for every 24 hours, they’re only able to earn $30/hour for a third of them? Because some of these activities he/she would be doing in my off-hours (e.g., theyd have to dispute that fine after work). Or is it something in between?

Influence of the Spanish on Puerto Rican Society :: Puerto Rico History Historical Essays

Influence of the Spanish on Puerto Rican Society In the histories of Colonial Latin America there is one common aspect and that is the importation of slaves as a labor force. The resulting consequences for the territory are vital if we are to understand the development of the society. In Puerto Rico these consequences deal mainly with African influence on the peasantry, the corrective measures taken thereafter to negate the African influence, and the results of these corrective measures. The Tainos, the natives of Puerto Rico, were extensive agriculturalists as well as a highly organized people. They developed techniques, such as irrigation, which was new to agriculture and at the same time increased the productivity of their crops, like the yuca their main staple. Another unique feature to the Taino society was the relationship between man and woman. The Taino’s gender roles were markedly different from those of the European nations. For example the matrilineal arrangements allowed both men and women to become the chiefs of their respective villages. Spanish settlers were critical, upon arrival, of the Taino lifestyle. Unfortunately Taino influence is rarely felt due to their rapid demise. Although the natives of Borikà ©n were Taino, it is argued that the first Puerto Ricans were black Puerto Ricans. Spanish occupation virtually eliminated Native influences by the way of the decimation of the people as a result of disease brought across the atlantic by the Spanish settlers. In this way the Taino were minimally influential in forming a new cultural identity. â€Å"The descendants of the first African slaves had already become black Puerto Ricans†(Gonzà ¡lez 10) when Spaniards from the canary islands arrived to replace those who had left in search of riches in Peru and Mexico. For this reason it is feasible to accept the notion â€Å"that the Puerto Ricans were in fact black Puerto Ricans.† (Gonzà ¡lez 10) The African presence was more of a factor in the formation process of the Puerto Rican identity. Of the massive numbers of slaves who survived the voyage there were those who were fortunate enough to escape into the hinterland. Here they found refuge from the hardship of plantation labor along with the opportunity to join the peasantry that also searched for refuge. The jà ­baros â€Å"used the broken topography of the interior as an ally in its struggle with the expanding sugar plantations† (Scarano 6) This intermixing of the two cultures forged several similarities.

Mountain Man Brewing Company Essay

Problem Definition Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC) has enjoyed being in top position in premium beer segment for the past fifty years and are now facing a 2% decline in revenue whilst a change in leadership infuses new energy to bring a change in their product line. Chris Prangel, son of the retired president and owner of MMBC faces the challenge of successfully implementing a marketing strategy to introduce a ‘light’ beer; in a growing beer segment, as maintaining status-quo would no more be an option to sustain their existing position in marketplace in the next five years. Analysis Strengths Mountain Man Brewing Company was known as the â€Å"Best Beer in West Virginia† because of its flavor and distinctive bitter taste; additionally, it was selected as â€Å"America’s Championship Lager† at the American Beer Championship in 2005. Also, it had held the top market position in the lager market in West Virginia for almost 50 years. As a result, Mountain Man succeeded at the beer market by earning over $50 million and selling over 520,000 barrels of Mountain Man Lager beer within the West Central region. Mountain Man had high brand awareness, and it was especially recognizable among working-class males in the East Central region because of its product quality, positioning, and brand equity. In order to keep favorable relationship with its customers, Mountain Man had many branding activities. Hence, Mountain Man Brewing Company remained strongly in the beer market due to its strong brand loyalty as they capitalised on the ‘local’ factor. Weaknesses Mountain Man Brewing Company produced only one product, Mountain Man Lager, and distributed to only the West Central region with limited distributions. Moreover, Mountain Man targeted on only one segment, the blue-collar men who are mid-age and above. Although its core consumers love Mountain Man Lager, the market product preference had changed to light beer instead of traditional beer; therefore, Mountain Man Lager was rated very low as a purchasing preference. Unlike many other major beer producers, Mountain Man did not have any advertisement; in fact, it relied only on word of mouth. Mountain Man might not have enough money to launch Mountain Man Light that follows the modern trend. Opportunity Mountain Man can consider three possible opportunities, which increases potential consumers and gain revenues. Firstly, number of younger beer drinkers has been consistently increased and expected to positively influence the growth of the profits. Secondly, If Mountain Man launches light beer category, it may reach younger drinkers who both show positive attitudes towards light beer and brand awareness of Mountain Man itself. The likability of younger drinkers toward the light beer will optimistically affect the MMBC’s revenue ( Exhibit 1). Lastly, by expending product lines, product and distributors may build stronger beneficial relationship with brewers. Threats One of the threats Mountain Man Brewing Company faced was the declining overall beer consumption per capita by 2.3% since 2001 in United States of America. According to the case, the declining consumption is attributed to the competition from wine and spirit-based drinks, an increase in federal excise tax, initiatives encouraging moderation and personal responsibility, and increasing health concerns. Furthermore, categorising Distributors might also be a threat to this company because they became more cautious as they could refuse to work with small brands that have low margins and turnover. The increasing number of large breweries is also a challenge the company in the market to remain profitable; smaller companies are put on pressure to stay in the beer market. Alternatives 1. Introducing Mountain Man ‘Light’: If Chris goes ahead and launches a beer less strong than the premium lager beer using Mountain Man’s brand name as ‘Mountain Man Light’, it would result in increase in revenues as they would be entering into a growing light beer market segment and the existing brand image might help them reduce advertising costs. However, this move will make them lose their existing customer’s loyalty, along with product cannibalization, brand erosion and might not be perceived well by the existing customers as well their target customers. 2. Introducing Light Beer by some other name: Choosing a new brand name for the light beer has a slight edge over choosing Mountain Man Light. As discussed in the case, there is a chance of the company losing its identity when they are in midst of other light beers such as Coors Light. Creating a brand identity would be difficult as customers might not find it easy to recognize yet another beer which ends with ‘Light’. In addition to the benefits in the first alternative, creating a new brand name for the light beer would make sure there is no brand dilution or cannibalization. However there could be additional advertising costs and they cannot leverage the existing strong brand name. Recommendations I would recommend to go ahead with the second alternative of not naming the light beer as Mountain Man Light and to give a different name as it targets a younger population who look for healthier beer drinking by consuming fewer calories while maintaining the same level of alcohol intake. Brand Identity: Creating a brand identity for a new product would be challenging. However, a growing market segment would always be on the lookout of new products and this might work in favor to MMBC. To distinguish the light beer from other competitors they will have to come up with a creative tag line for their beer. Target Market: Based on the given statistics it appears that customers of the age group between 21 and 27 are the highest percentage of people who would favor light beer. They should amend their marketing campaigns to suit this new target market. Promotion: MMBC should concentrate on making their promotion campaigns more effective. They must promote light beer in pubs, discos and night clubs. The light beer segment is in growth stage of the product life cycle which indicates soaring sales, increasing revenues, and growing consumers. To make full use of it an effective marketing campaign spanning across different media must be undertaken.

A Critical Examination Of The Factors Behind The...

A Critical Examination of the Factors behind the Resilience of Human Trafficking in the World Today Abstract This study set-out to examine the factors behind the resilience of human trafficking in the world today; with specific reference to the experience of the United States. The study was informed by the key assumption that the US cannot fight human trafficking human trafficking in isolation of the rest of the world, and that there is a need to for governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to work together towards addressing the vice. Many international legal instruments have been out in place to address the vice but factors such as profitability, incapacity of many states to police the vice and worldwide†¦show more content†¦Nonetheless, the 19th century brought with it many changes that challenged some of these older practices and increasingly criminalizing them. The Anti-Slavery Act in the United Kingdom in the 1830s; the Emancipation of Slaves in the United States in the 1860s; and the campaign against the Slave Trade in parts of Africa by the in-comin g colonial powers in the late 1800s- all introduced phenomenal changes in as far as these old practices were concerned and began to put an end to the ‘older forms’ or classical setting (so to say) of what is today known as human trafficking’ (Louise, 2010). Further, the many important phenomenal changes came with the 20th Century. The International Labour Organization Convention (also known as the ILO Convention) of 1919 did handle the questions of forced labor, servitude and under-age work among other areas. In similar fashion, the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) as well as the Convention Against Torture and All Forms of Inhumane and Degrading Punishment (CAT of 1984) is yet another instrument that in one way or another (at least indirectly) touched on the issue of human trafficking as it is known today. Nonetheless it was only