The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the Essay

The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the genetic 'blueprint' of the human body. Consider the social, - Essay Example Ethical issues include balancing individual interests against the interests of others, and such considerations as potentially racist applications and unforeseen consequences of information which gene-related activities can produce. Some of the most critical issues such as privacy and the desire not to know are highlighted. Financial implications for society at large, private companies and for individuals are explored. Finally there is assessment of the extent to which the Frankenstein metaphor applies to this project. The paper concludes that the Human Genome Project is an extremely powerful resource which can be used for good or evil purposes, and that we have resolved some, but by no means all, of the major ethical issues that it brings. The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the genetic â€Å"blueprint† of the human body. Consider the social, ethical, and economic implications of this project for society, and the potential for applications of this rese arch. Genetic engineering is a relatively new science, which rests on the pioneering work of Gregor Mendel on the garden pea, leading to the formulation of Mendel’s laws in 1866. (Thomas, 2003 pp. 1-3). ... They were motivated by scientific curiosity and, as in so many laboratories, the focus was on the pure science, theories and explanations of what was going on at the tiniest possible levels of genes and chromosomes within the human body. At this stage there was very little concern for the ethical and moral implications of these new discoveries. The field of genetics made further progress with the invention of effective gene sequencing techniques in the mid 1970’s. At first only tiny viruses and bacteria were studied, but with advances in computing and automation, more complex organisms could be studied. Throughout the 1980s techniques improved so considerably that attention turned to the human genome. The Huntingdon’s disease gene was mapped to chromosome 4 in 1983 (Collins and McKusick: 2001, p. 541) but this was only a first step towards accurately locating the disease to its specific position there. There was no systematic way of sequencing all of the genes, and the scale of the task, encompassing some 3 billion base pairs, defeated even the best technology of the time. More resources were needed to tackle such a huge task. In 1989 both private and publicly funded organisations began to map the whole human genome. An international consortium was set up in 1990 and named the Human Genome Project. At this stage, finally, some of the more serious implications of the project were realised, and a portion the funding amounting to between 3% and 5% was set aside for exploration of the moral and ethical issues attached to the research. (Collins and McKusick, 2001, p. 540) Over a period of 13 years, the Human Genome Project was carried out in various locations,

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Review - Article Example Although the rates are low, the plan is continued to be criticized for its failure to maintain or raise the GDP and worsen the fiscal outcomes. The plan was only seen to raise the economic level at its initial stages of launch when the GDP increased by 8.3% in 2013-14 as compared to2010-11. It seems that the Prime Minister is trying to force this plan which not according to the opinions of the fiscal policy makers however much harm it might be causing to the economic development. The government should apply fiscal policy to come out of the economic problems it’s currently facing and the efforts to correct the situation without consideration of the fiscal policy will lead to the argument that discretionary fiscal policy is unnecessary. The fiscal policy is supposed to be sustainable and cyclic with adjustments to balance the economic situations. Like it had been experienced, criticism like those from Keynesians had brought back the economy to its recovery in the 1980 when the retail price inflation was seen to peak at 21.9%. This was reduced by the action of the bank which peaked its rate at 17%. By so doing, the rate of borrowing was raised hence only few people could afford to borrow funds. This reduces the money supply in the market which further raises the value of money thus reducing the inflation level. The prime minister should not expect monetary policy to achieve much since the debt of the country only changed from over-indebted banks to the over-indebted household borrowing. What the government should do is to use direct monetary financing of even larger fiscal deficits as this is seen to be more effective and less damaging than using looser monetary policy. The prime Minister however do not want to use the monetary and the fiscal policy to change the economy and this has made the UK economy by six times weaker th an it was

Muhammad Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Muhammad - Essay Example Muhammad used oneness of God as the main religious root since under one God and one religion, people of the world would be one. Muhammad as a person before He declared Himself the Prophet of Allah was respected in Arab. He was known to be the honest and respectful; He was kind to the ones younger than him and respected the one older. Muhammad used his previous reputation of being ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen’ (one who is true and trust worthy) to spread Islam (Goldschmidt, 2006). He went and talked to the leaders of different Arabian tribes and told them how Allah has revealed His messages upon Him through Allah’s Angels and asked Muhammad to spread Allah’s final and complete religion. He told the people of Arab that Allah has bestowed upon the world with the fortunes that are there for the people to use and but in the most righteous way. Muhammad Went to the poor to help them when they needed Him and asked the rich to give away their fortunes to the poor so that they could feed their families as nothing but their good deeds are going to help them in the Afterlife. Muhammad brou ght Unity in the people of Arab by making them brother and sisters to each other so that everyone is equal. Travelling to faraway lands and countries in an era when only horses and camels were the means of transport and spreading Islam was the most difficult task Muhammad and His Followers had to face. Muhammad had the task assigned to Him by Allah that He should take Allah’s Message in the form of Quran to all the parts of the world (Goldschmidt, 2006). He did so by sending His followers to the leaders and representatives of different countries and telling them how Allah has made Muhammad His Prophet to spread Allah’s message and now they should follow Muhammad and accept Allah as the only God and do not worship any other God. Also, one major thing that had a

Impact the German state on Europe economy Term Paper

Impact the German state on Europe economy - Term Paper Example   The world has taken a change in trend where countries form economic groups based on the regions in which they belong. The economic blocks in which countries are grouped are strategies through which they get advantage in terms of bargaining for the economic benefits of individual countries. The economic blocks open the trading frontier in these regions. The implication is that these countries when they come as regional blocks open up trading platforms in a bigger scale that they would individually. Germany is historically one of the most prominent countries that ring in the ears of many people. Of notable reference is its involvement in the great world wars that took place in two phases i.e. World War I and World War II. Its political structuring began from these two historic events which were fuelled by technological and other economics adjustments for survival. Fulbrook asserts, â€Å"From the period of the great world was, it has undergone a lot of political and economic reali gnments that place it among the most influential nations in the world today†. German’s place in the economic world has significantly been important. This draws relevance from previous occurrences as well as historical incidences. There are situations which warrant interceptions from economically superior countries. In the recent past, the world has experienced what could be described as tumultuous times. The uncertainty that rocked the zone within which Germany falls was indeed affected. Germany was not much affected by the times and crises that were felt globally. In analyzing the significance of Germany, it is imperative that its military as well as economic involvements on the global scene be brought into perspective. This is what the following discourse delves in. Politically, Germany has come from its dark past where it had been even been split up into two states with completely different economic ideologies in which one state which was the democratic west with capitalist economic ideology. The other state was the communist east with the communist economic system. According to Leininger, â€Å"Later the two factions brought down the Berlin wall and formed one nation with the same economic policies that has seen it rise to the list of the most developed countries in the world† (234). It is this level of economic prosperity that is making it of particular interest in this research paper. Aim of the study This paper focuses on establishing the factors that make Germany to be at the center of focus in establishment, management and performance of the European Union. It therefore targets all the observable economic aspects of this country in respect with its role and extent of influence in the European continent at large and European Union specifically. Significance of this study The current economic challenges are uphill task to many nations and therefore some critical approaches need to taken up by the

Robinson Crusoe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Robinson Crusoe - Essay Example Daniel Defoe had done a good job to bring Robinson to the wilderness of deserted island by a shipwreck, which was essential for the rebuilding of his own future. It was the only event which was a turning point in the life of Robinson Crusoe. It was the ending of his otherwise prolonged journey. The moments he spent there were teaching him new lessons. Slowly he recognized the environs, the features, the objects which were offered to him. In his own words, â€Å"the total nature itself fetch him essentials for his life†. The fear of solitude surrounded him there. This led to the construction of his shelter. It was necessary for him to become self sufficient in every matters like food, drink, animal husbandry, and plantations. When he noticed the miraculous growth of the corns he realized that these are the results of fate ,"for it was the work of Providence as to me, that should order or appoint, that the ten or twelve grains of corn should remain unspoiled, as if it had been d ropped down from Heaven" ( Defoe, 79). Man has such a particular nature to develop special qualities for the improvement in a totally alien surroundings. Defoe filled his hero with the power and strength. For this he uses his own religious believes also. It is Crusoe’s Christianity that helps him to attain richness both spiritually and financially. In that way he became a real colonizer. Thus Defoe represents the island as a symbol of the outside world. All the time Crusoe was trying to recreate his past life. There was surely a conflict arises in the mind of Crusoe, a conflict that of a civilized man and unsophisticated circumstances. Every actions of the hero were that of a civilized man. He learnt to meet all the necessities from the neighboring materials itself. The materials and the nature itself generated ideas in the mind of the hero. These ideas can be treated as intuitions or insights the primitive man was

Existentialism and Rebt Essay Example for Free

Existentialism and Rebt Essay During a lifetime, most individuals question the meaning of their existence at one point or another. Existential therapy aims to help individuals find purpose, have better defined goals, and live life to the fullest. Existential therapy takes into account cultural, social and political values of the client. It attempts to help the client live more deliberately, while accepting life’s unpredictable challenges and contradictions. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is complementary to existential therapy by providing techniques to help clients make changes once their awareness is increased through existential discovery. Existential therapy and REBT integrated approach to counseling can provide successful results by combining individual meaning with reasonable thinking. This empowers clients to take control of their lives. The first step in the therapy process is to help the client become aware of what changes need to be made in order to live a more fulfilling and satisfying life. This is achieved by examining one or more existential themes. In his book Existential Psychotherapy, Irwin Yalom describes four major themes that permeate existential psychotherapy: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. In the first theme, death, here are two major ideas that play key factors in therapy (Yalom, 1980). First of all, death and life coexist. Even though physically they are clearly separated, psychologically they exist simultaneously. Death is a natural part of the cycle of life, and as one dies, another is given an opportunity to experience life (Kaufmann, 1975). Death is a realistic threat and a part of our daily lives. Every day we are alive, we are closer to death. Frankl (2006) believes that â€Å"if there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete† (p. 67). Nothing in this world lasts forever. It is only natural for humans to see death as a part of life that is unavoidable. The awareness of death has a significant impact on life and â€Å"Although the physicality of death destroys man, the idea of death saves him† (Yalom, 1980, p. 30). Awareness of death allows individuals to live life more fully, authentically, and appreciate how truly precious life is. Authenticity is one of the main concepts of existentialism and is defined as being genuine, true to one’s feelings and beliefs, aware of self and surroundings, and ability to successfully deal with issues related to existence (Sharf, 2008). People come to appreciate life more, exist mindfully and purposefully. Nietzsche wrote: â€Å"He that consummates his life dies his death victoriously† (Kaufmann, 1975, p. 129). Those who live a complete and happy life are less likely to be afraid of death because they have experienced life to the fullest. A potential threat of life be taken away makes it more likely for people to appreciate and enjoy life. Without suffering how does one know pleasure? For example, someone with cancer who previously has taken life for granted may have a greater appreciation for life after beating the illness. In such cases, people feel the urgency to take pleasure in life’s every unique moment and relish the simple joys while they still can. Very often people do not value things until they are taken away or are threatened to be taken away. The second idea is that death anxiety constantly affects the way people experience their life. In addition, most anxiety comes from issues related to death and decreasing anxiety is one the major goals of psychotherapy. Anxiety can stem from many issues, such as control or fear. Fear of death is one of the significant motivators in our society. We constantly come up with new ways to avoid death by building safer vehicles, wearing protective gear, inventing new medical treatments and procedures. Self preservation is a natural instinct and anxiety related to the end of our life is an unavoidable reality. There are many reasons why individuals are afraid of death: inability to take care of dependents, pain and sadness that loved ones will feel, or fear of the afterlife. But one of the most common reasons is the fear of nothingness and loss of self (Yalom, 1980). Death anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways (Yalom, 1980). One’s feeling of missing exciting events or the desire to control the surrounding world, demonstrate this manifestation. These unhealthy thoughts help individuals ease fear of death by dealing not with the real and terrifying source of anxiety, but indirectly, through more socially acceptable actions. Many people protect themselves from death anxiety by denying it. Yalom (1980) discussed two ways that accomplish this goal: the ultimate rescuer and personal specialness. Both ideas lead people to feel that they will not be affected by misfortune like others might be. The ultimate rescuer is a type of defense mechanism leading people to believe that someone will come into their life and save them from their problems. An example of this would be a person with severe financial problems needing money to take care of health problems believing that someone or something will bring the needed money and the situation will work itself out. Personal specialness involves the belief that one is in a way different from others and therefore immune from the hardships of life. Personal specialness can be seen all around us: a healthy woman thinking cancer will never happen to her, couples believing there is no way they can have an autistic child, or a teenager driving recklessly believing that there is no way he will get in an accident and die. The awareness of finiteness enables people to appreciate the surrounding world at a much deeper level and find what it is they are meant to contribute to the world. The second theme of existential psychotherapy is freedom. Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand. Individuals who are responsible are conscious of the fact that the world is not working against them. They come to realize that their experiences are the outcomes of their own decisions. Some people may feel that their environment, their unconscious mind, or genetic make up is working against them. Existential theory takes into consideration that these sometimes uncontrollable factors have an effect on events, but do not completely determine them. Frankl (2006) wrote regarding his experiences in a concentration camp: Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstances, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate (p. 66). In extreme situations as this, freedom represents psychological separation from a difficult situation. In this case, a person has inner freedom to choose how he feels and what he thinks. His physical freedom and material possessions can be taken away, but his thoughts, feelings, his self, cannot. People have the freedom to make any decision they choose, are responsible for these decisions and have to be able to face the outcomes. Yalom (1980) wrote that â€Å"To be aware of responsibility is to be aware of creating one’s own self, destiny, life predicament, feelings, and if such be the case, one’s own suffering† (p. 218). Having the freedom to control one’s own destiny and â€Å"own the insight that you and only you construct your own life design† can be a heavy burden to bear, but once individuals become aware of their power and accept the challenge, they can make significant improvements and live more authentically (Yalom, 1989, p. 38). Simple awareness may not be enough for change to take place. One must be willing and committed to address the negative aspects of life and become responsible for adopting new behaviors. People must accept responsibility for their lives and decisions they have made; otherwise, growth and positive change cannot take place. The third theme of existential therapy is isolation. Yalom (1980) discusses three types of isolation: interpersonal, intrapersonal, and existential. Interpersonal isolation involves separation of self from others. Many factors can contribute to such isolation, such as personality, culture, or physical location. In this case the person does not have a social support network, is not involved in healthy relationships and may feel cut off from other people. Intrapersonal isolation takes place when a person represses certain events, separates part/parts of the psyche or no longer has pronounced personal opinions and beliefs. Yalom (1980) sums up intrapersonal isolation by saying that it â€Å"results whenever one stifles one’s own feelings or desires, accepts â€Å"oughts† or â€Å"shoulds† as one’s own wishes, distrusts one’s own judgment, or buries one’s own potential†. Lastly, existential isolation refers to the feeling of being alone in the world. Regardless of how many friends or family members one has and how closely they are involved together, the person is still isolated and has distinctive experiences of the surrounding world. This may be considered a pessimistic view of life, but it is hard to deny that each person is one of a kind, whose true feeling and experience only they can know. Isolation can be seen as a representation of individuals’ uniqueness. Even though isolation is a part of life, intimate relationships are vital to a fulfilling life. Frankl (2006) wrote â€Å"†¦love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire†¦The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may find bliss†¦in the contemplation of his beloved† (p. 37). Genuine and loving relationships, where both individuals are actively involved, provide means to deal with existential isolation and help people find a sense of self. The final theme of existential therapy is meaninglessness. Many people struggle with the idea of what the meaning of their life is. People need a reason to wake up every day, go to work, do their chores, and repeat the cycle over and over again. Lack of goals, hope and purpose, can lead to stress, depression, and even suicide. It is a natural human desire to search for order, patterns, and explanations in the world. This need for organization raises the ultimate question of why and for what one lives. The quest for the meaning of life is divided into two groups of thought: man creates meaning and man is in search of meaning. The first idea is non spiritual and is based on the fact that there is no prearranged meaning and people create their own reason to live. The second way of thought regarding meaning of life is spiritual. It states that meaning is predetermined by a higher power and is something that a person needs to find. Frankl (2006) wrote â€Å"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it† (p. 109). Regardless of the origin of meaning, it helps people truly live and keep going. As discussed earlier, the themes of death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness are used to build self-awareness in clients. Following the point when the client is committed to modify behavior, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) concepts and techniques are incorporated to make lasting changes in the client’s life. REBT therapists’ goal is to â€Å"help clients to give up their demands for perfection and to strive to develop constructive self-acceptance as well as acceptance of others† (Walen, DiGiuseppe, Dryden, 1992, p. 14) by overcoming their irrational beliefs. Irrational beliefs are unreasonable, do not represent actual events, commonly involve â€Å"black and white† thinking, lead to anxiety and prevent people from achieving their goals (Walen et al. ,1992). Within an existential theme of death, a client who has severe death anxiety and constantly avoids participating in various activities in order to avoid potential dangers, would first be guided to examine the reasons for death anxiety, and the irrational belief of death threat would be challenged by the therapist. There are six principles of REBT (Walen et al. , 1992). The core idea of the theory is that â€Å"we feel what we think† (Walen et al., 1992, p. 15). External factors do not cause people to feel a certain way, but rather people’s internal perceptions and interpretations contribute to the destructive emotional and behavioral reactions. The next principle is that irrational thinking causes the majority of emotional distress. Irrational thought patterns such as â€Å"musts†, â€Å"shoulds† and exaggerations can create extreme anxiety in individuals and make them feel out of control. The third principle states that by changing thinking patterns, the person can overcome anxiety causing feelings. Another principle discusses various factors that affect ways of thinking. According to Sharf (2008), Albert Ellis took into account biological and social factors that affect human development and susceptibility to develop irrational beliefs. Ellis believed that people have inborn drives to think irrationally and react to the environment in certain way. People are also strongly affected by their interpersonal relationships. Ellis found that if others perceive the person as worthy, the person is more likely to perceive himself as worthy, too. Our society as a whole contributes to this way of thinking by telling us that we â€Å"must† and â€Å"have to† do things a certain way. For example, parents telling kids to eat everything on their plate. This promotes the belief in children that if they do not finish a meal, they have failed. In adulthood, this can lead to obesity and other health problems, as well as irrational patterns of thought related to food. The fifth principle encourages clients to focus on the present. People may become â€Å"stuck† in the past and previously used thinking and coping patterns. By doing so, they are not able to leave behind destructive habits and move towards healthier ways of dealing with issues. Finally, REBT has an optimistic view and promotes that people can change. With hard work and determination, irrational and self-defeating thoughts can be reduced and lead to a more satisfying life. REBT uses a three part model to help clients overcome their issues: ‘A’ as activating event or adversities, ‘B’ as belief and ‘C’ as consequences. ‘A’ is the perceived unfortunate event in the person’s life which spurs self-defeating reactions. ‘B’ primarily includes believing, thinking, and also emoting and behaving in relation to ‘A’. C is characterized as the destructive consequences of ‘B’. According to Ellis (2002), many clients find it difficult to understand the ABC model as they wrongfully believe that ‘A’ directly causes ‘C’. It is important for clients to understand that their beliefs contribute significantly to the emotionally destructive consequences. It is important for individuals to focus on the adverse event and experience the entire range of emotions that occur as a result. Clients are encouraged to focus on specific thoughts that caused negative emotions, such as perceived ‘musts’ and ‘shoulds’. Then, they are instructed to replace damaging thoughts with healthier ones and work to pinpoint which thoughts contribute to positive versus negative emotions. This technique allows the client to better control their thoughts, leading to more functional emotions and behaviors. It is important to help clients understand that thinking, emoting and behaving frequently happens simultaneously rather than individually. If a client is upset with a loved one, he might be feeling hurt, thinking that he is being ignored, and behaving angrily by raising his voice all at the same time (Ellis, 2002). Clients are encouraged to honestly and openly experience feelings, accept their existence and how they influence clients’ lives (Ellis, 1997). Sharf (2008) discusses Ellis’ belief in the importance of concentrating on the long-term goals, which he calls responsible hedonism. REBT believes that enjoyment is a significant part of life, but that many individuals focus on short-term pleasure, such as substance abuse, rather than concentrating on the long-term enjoyment of living a healthy life. Humanism is another core concept of REBT. Each person is viewed as a whole and goal-oriented being. Clients are encouraged to have Unconditional Self Acceptance, which includes assets and flaws. They are taught to value themselves because they are alive, regardless of the mistakes they have made, their socioeconomic status, intellectual abilities or the type of feelings they experience. Existentialism and REBT concepts have several common characteristics, which can make the use of these two therapies together more effective than individual use. This integrated approach provides an â€Å"existential framework that balances the appeal to reason with the unique human tendency to discover individual meaning† (Hutchinson Chapman, 2005, p. 146). According to Ellis (2002), there are seven main ways in which existential therapy and REBT practices are similar and therefore complement each other in achieving change in clients. First of all, both theories accept the fact that anxiety is a normal part of life. Moderate existential anxiety is what keeps people alive. The problem occurs when humans become overly concerned with certain life events and become neurotic. Second, existential theory believes that people are able to rise above potential and existing unfortunate situations. REBT also believes that people can choose to think about difficult events in such ways that do not cause distress. The third similarity is that both theories agree that it is vital to â€Å"directly and firmly show†¦clients the error in their ways† (Ellis, 2002, p. 253). Clients need to be taught skills in order to make changes to destructive thoughts and behaviors. Clients are ‘free’ to change, but might be unable to do so without concrete techniques. Another similarity is that both theories incorporate the idea that individuals have the freedom and power to be in control of their destiny. Ellis (1997) wrote: â€Å"[choice]†¦is one of the main advantages of being human: you can choose, usually, to think one thing or another† (p. 38). People have the ability to decide and control how they think, and consequently how they feel or behave in various, sometimes extremely difficult situations. They can choose to feel depressed, helpless and hopeless or take charge of a situation and focus on what they can control. The goal of purposeful living contributing to a more meaningful and fulfilling life can be seen in existential therapy and REBT. A meaningful life helps individuals become more self-actualized and increase personal awareness. With increased awareness and meaning, people can better control self-defeating thoughts and overcome existential conflicts. The next idea that existential therapy and REBT share is that there is no absolute truth. Each person’s experiences are subjective and unique occurrences. Every individual knows what is true for him only and it is difficult for people to come to an agreement regarding what is true (Kaufmann, 1975). Additionally, both theories focus on the present. It is important to work on problematic behaviors that are happening today. Past and future affect the person, but do not determine the reality. REBT techniques of staying calm and rational can help clients work logically on the issues of meaninglessness, isolation a nd death. The final similarity relates to the therapist client relationship. Existential and REBT therapists aim to be fully present with the client. They strive to empathize, relate and experience the world through the client’s eyes. Psychological health is subjective and depends on the person’s life style, culture and many other factors. However, there are a number of characteristics that can be used to define psychological health. In regard to existential theory, Sharf (2008) considers that â€Å"to be truly human, individuals must be aware of their own being-in-the-world†, which involves realization of one’s personal value, destiny, and responsibility (p. 151). Considering existential theory and REBT, a psychologically healthy person lives rationally, authentically, purposefully and accepts the uncontrollable life events. Authenticity is one of the main characteristics of a psychologically healthy person. Authenticity includes meaningful existence which allows individuals to feel alive, genuine, aware and fully present in the moment. Healthy individuals are honest with themselves and are able to accept their freedom to make positive choices, accept the outcomes of their decisions, and successfully cope with unanswered questions of their existence. Genuine and meaningful relationships with others are a significant part of the person’s life and one is able to maintain a healthy relationship without losing a sense of self. Avoidance of feelings that one ‘has to’ or ‘must’ do certain things is also vital. Psychologically healthy individuals do not overreact, overgeneralize and otherwise examine situations logically and rationally. These individuals are tolerant of difficult or undesirable situations, exhibit low frustration levels, focus on long-term goals, live purposeful and meaningful lives. The increased state of psychological health can take a long time and requires commitment and patience from the therapist and the client. According to Yalom (1989), the first step to increased psychological health is assumption of responsibility. In order for the client to change behavior patters, he must first accept that his current position is due to his own actions. For the client to change, therapist and client must find specific issues and tensions that play into the client’s life. A significant part of the therapeutic process is to facilitate the client to accept the contradictions and challenges of human existence. Therapist assists the client to set goals and find purpose in life, while accepting and rationally dealing with the obstacles that the client might have to face in the process. The main goal is to empower the client to realize his full potential, accept personal freedom, and be more aware of thinking, emoting, and behaving patterns. Clients increase personal awareness and start living authentically, with an ability to communicate effectively with others and understand the true self. In addition, clients explore what is important to them and how they can achieve what they want in life. In the process of working through life’s everyday challenges and experiences, clients explore deeper issues having to do with humanity in general, such as death, isolation, and meaning. Clients learn to better control self-defeating emotions, thoughts and behaviors. They start thinking more lucidly and rationally, which gives them the ability to experience life to the fullest. There are a number of methods and techniques to help clients improve psychological health, authenticity, and life satisfaction. Existential therapy and REBT agree that each person has a unique perception of reality. In existential therapy, an important strategy is to accept the world through the client’s eyes and allow the client to guide the course of therapy. Once the path of questioning is determined, the therapist uses Socratic dialog to help the client come to his own conclusions and decisions. This technique is a component of both existential therapy and REBT. It involves questions that help the client come to an understanding of a problem or situation or make a decision. Socratic dialog is used â€Å"to prompt the discovery of life purpose and meaning at a spiritual level†¦[as well as] challenge the inflexible shoulds and musts, absolutistic demands, self-downing, and catastrophic beliefs† (Hutchinson Chapman, 2005, p. 151). Such ways of questioning also contribute to a ‘buy-in’ from the client and improves self-discovery information retention (Walen et al. , 1992). Existential therapy and REBT take into consideration the past and future, but therapeutic change takes place in the present. By focusing on the present, the client is helped to continually self-actualize, experience his personal existence, and work through the issues preventing authentic existence. The main goal of REBT is to dispute the client’s irrational beliefs. The ABC model discussed earlier is the tool used to change the client’s dysfunctional thinking, but in the actual therapeutic process two more elements are added: ‘D’ as Disputation and ‘E’ as new effect. Once the activating event is clearly outlined, the therapist points out to the client his irrational beliefs which led to the undesirable consequence. Disputing involves detecting, discriminating and debating irrational beliefs. The therapist outlines and questions the client’s irrational beliefs, helping the client understand the destructive thinking patterns. Now the client is ready to adopt a more functional way of thinking, by replacing irrational beliefs with appropriate thoughts, therefore reducing unpleasant feelings about self and others and start living a more fulfilling life. Existential discussions can help clients discover personal freedom to change their state of existence and find more pleasure in life. Such self-awareness can make the disputing process easier by providing the client with the power and freedom to overcome self-defeating thoughts (Hutchinson Chapman, 1992). A genuine therapeutic relationship is a vital factor in existential therapy. The therapist strives to be authentically caring and validate the client’s feelings, thoughts and experiences. The client must feel comfortable expressing himself and allowing the therapist into his innermost thoughts and feelings. In order for this to happen, the therapist must communicate to the client that the client and his feeling and thoughts are fully accepted. A strong relationship also makes the client more likely to follow the therapist’s advice and trust the REBT disputing process. Although existential therapy and REBT are complementary in many ways, the integration has a number of limitations. The process counts on the client to be fairly insightful and self aware. Someone, whose intellectual abilities are not as strong, may not benefit as much from therapy. Past experiences of the client are taken into consideration, but are not actively explored. This may limit the insight achieved by the therapist and client, therefore slowing down improvement. Additionally, this integrated approach is more targeted towards individual therapy, so family systems techniques would need to be incorporated in order to accommodate families and couples. Existential therapy and REBT have many common objectives and share a number of underlying concepts. Although this integrated approach to counseling is somewhat directive, the client’s concerns and personal goals are in the center of the therapeutic process. Therapy is based on leading the client to self-discovery, authentic and rational existence. By combining themes and techniques of existential theory and REBT, clients gain the benefit of examining multifaceted existential themes with the addition of empirically supported REBT techniques. My interest in the integration of existential therapy and REBT originally came from personal beliefs and experiences. Congruent with existential theory, I have often questioned the purpose of my life and whether human beings are interconnected or isolated. I relate to the spiritually oriented existentialism and have always believed that every person has a certain calling; the difficulty only lies in finding what it is. Consistent with the ideas of REBT, I many times find myself and people around me overreacting, overgeneralizing, and otherwise making inappropriate statements and having irrational thoughts. By becoming more aware of my own existence, thoughts, beliefs and actions, I will be able to help my clients come to similar understandings and lead more fulfilling, purposeful, and authentic lives. My philosophical inclination, my strive to understand other people’s points of view and my focus on the present will provide a healthy and successful environment for clients to achieve their therapeutic goals. References Ellis, A. , Harper, R. (1997). A Guide to Rational Living. Chatsworth: Melvin Powers Wilshire Book Company. Ellis, A. (2002). Overcoming Resistance: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Integrated Apporach. New York: Springer Publishing Company Inc. Frankl, V. (2006). Man’s Search For Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press. Hutchinson, G. T. Chapman, B. P. Logotherapy-Enhanced REBT: An Integration of Discovery and Reason. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, Vol. 35, No. 2, 145-155 Kierkegaard: Dread and Freedom. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp83-120). New York: The New American Library Inc. Kierkegaard: Authority. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp83-120). New York: The New American Library Inc. Kierkegaard: Truth is Subjectivity. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp83-120). New York: The New American Library Inc. Nietzsche: The Portable Neitzche. In Kaufmann, Walter (Eds) (1975). Existentialism from Dostoevsky to Sarte (pp121-133). New York: The New American Library Inc. Sharf, R. S. (2008). Theories of Psychotherapy and Counseling: Concepts and Cases. Belmont: University of Delaware, Thomson Brooks/Cole. Walen, S. , DiGiuseppe, R. , Dryden, W. (1992). A Practitioner’s Guide to Rational- Emotive Therapy. New York: Oxford University Press. Yalom, I. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books. Yalom, I. (1989). Love’s Executioner: Other Tails of Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.

How motivation theories help elicit effort from employees

How motivation theories help elicit effort from employees For a company to successfully run, company should come up with creative ideas and high efficiency of the work, and to do that, a firm should be able to motivate each worker of the firm to elicit each of their discretionary effort. It is because, it directly links with the total wage spending of the company which should be linked to outcome and cost of monitoring effort and considering all of those making employees willing to work will result in greater efficiency of the company. Employees are the core or the main body of all the production of product and service. So how can a company which does not even satisfy their own workers will possibly satisfy the customers with high quality product and service?() Therefore, there is an idea weighing on the management style of of the workers, by the workers, for the workers'(). Following to above management style, manager of big companies are developing or considering variety motivating techniques and motivation theories. So firms not only needs deal fast with each of their own fast-changing environment but also concentrate to create best working condition for the workers to maximize motivation. Like firms mentioned above with motivation, they are nimble to listen to the claims of the employees. They apply techniques like project team-work, performance-linked pay and incentives to reach perfect inner-service to the workers. So, like above, there is gaining importance of giving motivation to workers. In this essay, I will search and study theories of motivation and look in to detail of successful firm Nokia and analyze this firm by doing it so, I would like to find out the meaning of motivation and how well those managers of Nokia have elicited discretionary effort from workers for the company. Theory Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory Most famous is Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs theory. He believed that there is 5 level of hierarchy of needs exist within human nature. (A.H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943):370-96) Physiological Needs It is simply most basic needs for human to survive. Things like needs of oxygen for breathe, fulfillment of hunger, thirst, sex and sleep. They are the biological needs which are most essential, it comes front of all the desires that human would want. Safety Needs When physiological needs are fulfilled, the needs of security are followed. Human should fill sense of safety of their own health, employment, property and resources. Those factors make them feeling safe. Needs of Love/Belonging Human is social animal, when the front two needs are filled, third need can become dominant. Human nature always seeks for the sense of belonging and love/friendship. Maslow describes people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation (Maslow, Abraham (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper). Needs for Esteem When the first three needs reach to satisfactory level, the needs for esteem can become next. It is like self-esteem and respect from others. When these self-esteem and respect is gratified, the person feels confident and valuable as a part of person in a society. Deficiency of those needs would make a person feels weak, inferior and nothing. Needs for Self-Actualization When each level of foregoing needs is fully satisfied, then the last level of needs self-actualization is activated. According to Maslow, self-actualization is what a persons need to be what they are born to do. There is a famous quote by Maslow, Abraham H. A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if they are to be ultimately at peace with themselves. These needs make people to feel progressing, reach-potential and self-fulfillment. (Psychology The Search for Understanding by Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien West Publishing Company, New York, 1987) By observing hierarchy of needs, each level tends to be satisfied to progress on next level of hierarchy. However, from the point of giving motivation view, none of those desires or needs could not been perfectly satisfied. Maslow theory describes that somehow-satisfied need could not stimulate the people any longer. >> How hierarchy of needs Theory could be used in management According to Maslow, if someone wants to motivate somebody, there is a need of understanding what that specific person wants and find out where his or her need is located in hierarchy of needs and provide the upper level of hierarchy. Adamss Equity Theory Adams, J.S. 1965. Inequity in social exchange. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. An individual always do compare himself to others. Lets say, an individual got offer of 2500 pound per month and he thinks it is very good deal and took the job, he will do his job with passion and he will be satisfied with his work. However, if someone else or his acquaintance gets the same job with 3000 pounds with same as his ability/work time/contribution, probably he will not be happy about his earning and job. Even if he was satisfied with his earnings in the beginning, as soon as he feels that its not fair or equal treatment, the matter that he gets good paid it will not consider him much, but rather obsessed with others payment. The problem is that individual starts to think comparatively and starts to believe it is not fair. An individual always compare within his mind and think about the effort he put in and the reward. By doing so, if an individual thinks that he is not fairly treated, the input effort will be directly affected (demotivated). Above examples idea is called Equity Theory and it was developed by Stacey Adams in 1965. It is simply, an individual comparing his input-reward and others input-reward proportion. For an employee to compare himself in equity theory, the referent is important variable. There are three types of referent system, self and other. For system, the referent is the system of individuals belonged organization. Individual will take wage structures, wage policy and decision-making process into the consideration. Also, organization will need to make important decision with organizations system to an individual as a comparison to others. Putting self as a comparison referent, result ration of input will be referenced to individual. This is reflected by ones experience or standard wage or family maintenance-need allowance. Equity theory is not only interested in absolute reward, it also has interest in others reward. An individual do compare others input-reward, founding on effort, experience, education, and ability over their wage level, promotion and recognition. If an individual feels unfair and inequitable over reward ration of input, this feeling will make him/her to experience tension. This tension will continually provide motivation until he/she is treated in equity to him. >> How Equity Theory could be used in management Monthly paid employees will enhance quality and quantity to feel the fairness with tension and increase input factor for fair wage proportion. When compensation is made with Production quantity, over-rewarded worker will have lower quality but higher quantity just to increase their income. However, an individual who receive payment founding on price ratio will increase in effort to accomplish fairness and this will lead to increase in quantity and quality. But, this might result in excess payment and unfairness. Therefore, managers should direct employees to enhancing in quality rather than quantity. Also motivation is influenced by not only absolute reward but also relative reward. Each time when employee feels that s/he is unfairly treated, it will follow an action to fix about that inequity, like improved or diminished productivity or quality, absence and turnover. Therefore, it is most important factor to make employees to feel in equity in equity theory. >> Vrooms expectancy theory Most comprehensive explanation about motivation is performed within Victer Vrooms Expectancy Theory. Expectancy theory is well described by Montana (Montana Patrick J; Charnov, Bruce H, Management 4th edition; (2008) Barrons Educational Series, Inc.), This theory emphasizes the needs for organizations to relate rewards directly to performance and to ensure that the rewards provided are those rewards deserved and wanted by the recipients. The expectancy theory suggest that action is followed the expectation from the result and the amount of effort is decided by how attractive the result is to an individual himself. Below, there are three linkages with this theory. Effort-performance linkage: Possibility of reward expected by putting certain amount of effort. Performance-reward linkage: Beliefs which expect right reward will be given by doing certain level of performance. Attractiveness: a persons target and desire of potential result or reward which could be obtained by doing his job successfully. All explanations seem similar, but simply there are three points. First, how much an individual should work for certain level of outcome and whether that outcome is possibly achieved. Second, what will be the reward for doing such work? Third, how attractive the reward is from the effort of doing such work and how does this job help with goal achievement? à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ « Applying Expectancy Theory How Expectancy Theory could be applied? For to link with motivation, I will example myself and try to find out how this theory used. Most of students have preference on professors or lecturer expecting for something that they would like to learn from the course unit. They would like to know when the exam will be, what kind of assignment they need to do and how much percentage will be taken to get maximum grade or how much amount of time will going to be needed, and think logically about whether this course is linked with what they need. Lets say that I feel in the way above. I liked this course unit and worked really hard to get good mark on this essay. I have prepared for long time for this and believed that this will be helpful when I graduate and get good job or get into master course. Then, result came out, my average score of all the course units were 72 percent, however, this specific course was 41 percent. And I got angry and frustrated. Like other assignments, I prepared exact amount of time and put effort, but how could only this specific unit gets such a low score? From here there will be some interesting facts will be coming out. Suddenly, he (I, from others perspective from now on) will be constantly missing this unit course lecture and do not revise. Even if he attends the lecture concentration for this course is hugely dropped. So, we could say that his motivation is lacking with the related subject. Why did he change? To explain this using motivation theory term; At the beginning, the merit of good grade (Effort-performance linkage) was high. However, the result was not good (Performance-reward linkage). In other words, if the assignment was fairly graded based on what he did and got good score, the Performance-reward linkage is satisfied and it would have motivated him more. However, if he is demotivated, it is from his belief that his knowledge was not incongruous with fair grading system. >> How Expectancy Theory could be used in management First, Expectancy Theory emphasizes on pay and reward. As a result, organization should believe that employees also want the same reward and compensate. This kind of perspective is from egoism that an employee pursuit expected-satisfaction to be maximized. So that manager needs to try to fulfill that expected-satisfaction wisely. Second, theory points up understanding of attractiveness by the workers. Employees will want to be treated reasonably with positive result/target/outcome they expected. Therefore, the firm should try to satisfy employees attractiveness. Third, theory highlights on expected performance. Does an individual understands what is expected on s/he and how could it be compensated. If workers do not grasp the point of this relation, the ultimate goal of organization will be never met. So, this is essential to make both manager and workers to understand clear of performance-reward relation. Last, theory relates with perception. No matter what actually happens, a persons perception decides level of effort according from not objective result but from performance, reward and goal achievement. Therefore, there is a need for continuous feedback to match the reality and perception of workers. Case Study  ¿Ã‚ ­ What is Nokia? Nokia is a Finnish multinational network corporation is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo (Nokia in brief (2007) (PDF). Nokia Corporation. March 2008.) Nokias main industry is in the manufacturing of mobile devices and in converging Internet and communications industries, with 128,445 employees in 120 countries, sales in more than 150 countries and global annual revenue of EUR 50.7 billion and operating profit of 5.0 billion in 2008. It is the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile phones: its global device market share is approximately 38% in 2009, (Q3 2009: Quarterly and annual information. Nokia Corporation. 2009-10-15) The Nokia brand, valued at $34.9 billion, is listed as the fifth most valuable global brand in the BusinessWeek, Best Global Brands list of 2009 (first in non-US Company). It is the number one brand in Asia (as of 2007) and Europe. Also Nokia is the 42nd most admirable company worldwide in Fortunes Worlds Most Admired Companies list of 2009, and the worlds 85th largest company as measured by revenue in Fortune Global 500 list of 2009. (Fortune Global 500 2009. Fortune. 2009-07-14.) Nokias Case study for motivation Incentive Program  ¿Ã‚ ­ Monetary Incentives: work performance wage structure, Global bonus plan (when profit exceeded 20%, 5% cash payback), production and researchers incentives.  ¿Ã‚ ­ Non-monetary performance bonus system and Complete and Fair Assessment Nokia motivates employees by providing rewards according to their performance. However, its hard to see that they only motivated people with monetary returns, Non-monetary performance bonus system also help to motivate workers. Things like promotions and possibility to self-development will help and also a clear and fair system for this is needed. Nokia is not in seniority system, there was a case 34 years old man became vice president by his ability. Nokia tried to achieve highest level of work satisfaction. 2. Empowerment organization  ¿Ã‚ ­ Allowing autonomy, leads to motivation Bureaucratic chain of command provides high efficiency, but this has disadvantage of blocking creative ideas coming up from bottom line of workers. And this is one of the factors blocking motivation. Exampling Nokia, they allow significant amount of autonomous decision to workers. This provides sense of belonging to a company and people feel that they are taking part for companys profit. This leads to motivation of workers due to Maslows hierarchy of needs theory (sense of belonging). Case: Nokia immediately supported 6,000,000 dollars for the marketing for Pacific-Asia market as they received idea of competition going harsh in China. 3. Project manager system Technology, marketing, production and salesman unites as one team and work for 1-2 years for specific project and managers for the project are empowered like chairman in that specific project; this stimulates workers as it has venture business attributes. Nokia has number of small projects teams. Those groups decide everything like estimated budgets too. This gives power to agilely response to market changes. 4. Human resource development program Providing self-developing opportunities to employees / Maximizing self-development and self-actualization at work Human resource is crucial factor for economical production in industry f like Nokia with high knowledge and technology. Competitive power is human resources. Modern employees tend to think a company as not only place for earning-money but also as place for self-actualization. Therefore, a company with no self-development lacks power to attract more human resources (Attractiveness, Vrooms expectancy theory). So, firms should provide more opportunities and sense of duty of the company like Nokias human resource development program.(In Nokia, they value employees through 180 inspections list, helps to find out each workers adaptation-skill and decision-making skills in five levels. By doing so, it tells what that employee needs in specific details and gives job according to it and provide staff training service) and they also provided for experience improvement program by going around world branches. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ » Based on Nokias motivation system, 19% of market share in mobile technology in 1999, increased up to 35% in 2001. Also, total sales were increased 48% leaving total profit 56% higher. Matthew J. (1996), à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…’Future management (à «Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ «Ã… ¾Ã‹Å"à ªÃ‚ ²Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¬Ã‹Å" ) 11à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , Dae-kyung publishing company. Nokia homepage http://www.nokia.com à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…’Analyzing Nokias successà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  From www.hunet.co.kr Conclusion Managers tend to think that talented-employees turnover is cause by higher financial reward from other company. However, many of employees turnover reasons are like vision-realization, challenging to new work, harmony of both life and work, higher opportunity of recognition and flexibility of culture and organization. These kinds of reasons suggest that motivation is not only from financial issues but also from Non-monetary issues like mentioned above. I believe what employees consider most is winning recognition from their bosses about work-performance. If this is not done, its evitable to demotivate workers. In this contrast, Nokia has well understood workers, with fair assessment; they have suggested sense of duty to their workers for the company and made them feel as important part of Nokia. As conclusion Nokia got grater profit and it can be said that Nokia has successfully motivated their employees. Those kinds of techniques of motivation are all founded from the theories of Ma slow, Adams and Vroom and Nokia successfully adopted in reality.