How Military Leavers Can Benefit the Private Industry

How Military Leavers Can Benefit the Private Industry ISSUE TO BE EXAMINED Each year British businesses clamour after the best and brightest coming out of business schools. However, these same businesses often overlook a body of potential employees not only with good or better training, but also with the experience to go with it. Given that military personnel provide a valuable and often taken for granted service to our country, often putting their own lives in danger to defend others, it seems more should be done to assist them in the transition back into civilian life. Such personnel also offer a viable resource for British business, leaving the military with some of the arguably best training in the world and often significantly more experience in a wide variety of areas than others their age who did not undertake military service. This research aims to examine the benefits of military leavers’, particularly officers’, experience and training to private industry. It is hoped findings from this study will aid both military leavers and industry in the UK in connecting, so as to encourage productive employment relationships between the two. Possible outcomes of this research may include some type of publication of findings, or recommendations for military leavers and employers, which would assist employers it taking advantage of this valuable resource and military leavers in finding suitable civilian employment. Specifically, this research undertakes four objectives: To examine the success of military officers in private industry, and how their military training contributed to their success. To identify what specific skills are readily transferable to private industry, and how these can best be articulated to those in hiring positions. To increase awareness amongst those in hiring positions of the often overlooked talent pool of military leavers available to their industry sectors. To consider what private industry must do, if anything, to ensure smooth transition for leavers moving into civilian positions. RELEVANT LITERATURE This project will include a review of literature relevant to the four objectives above. This will include reports and research in former military officers and how they have achieved successful employment in private industry. For example, Shuit (2003) describes the training, people skills, and self-discipline former junior officers bring to the corporate sector. Many others offer similar information (Abrashoff 2002; Anon 2004; Bowers 1996; Joinson 1997; Zicarelli 2000). Specific reports of success across a number of military leavers, rather than concentration on a few case-study type accounts, will be emphasised. Also considered will be the specific skills acquired by military officers that are readily transferable into the civilian workplace. As it is necessary to limit skills to a workable group for research purposes, basic management skills will be emphasised. All officers can be assumed to have received both training and experience in these skills, often much in excess of their civilian counterparts. For example, Questionline reports â€Å"service leavers have spent more time being trained than ninety-nine per cent of civilians†¦ They will be valued, if the employer is able to understand what they are† (Anon 2002). They also argue that British military training is among the best in the world, and has â€Å"considerable civilian value when stripped of its purely military elements and translated into the right language† (Anon 2002). Bowers (1996) similarly contends â€Å"business-management experts say the military builds skills th at can be as valuable in the office as in a war zone† (1). Identifying skills common between the military and private industry will assist both military leavers and HR managers in identifying transferable skills (Anon 2004; Joinson 1997; Zicarelli 2000). Examination of literature will document reasons private employers may overlook leaving military personnel as potential hires. This is undertaken to make recommendations on ways the placement of former military officers in private industry may be improved. For example, Zicarelli (2005) notes that HR positions are increasingly held by people without military experience or reference. As such, understanding and appreciate of military attributes can no longer be assumed. Additionally, many military leavers had to perservere in searching for civilian positions, often learning through turn-downs how to finally present their experience in a way understandable to the typical civilian HR manager (Shuit 2003; Investors Business Daily 2004). Methods employers or organisations have found successful in aiding military officers in transitioning into civilian employment will be analysed, with the purpose of developing broad recommendations for use in the private sector. These will include tactics employed by individual HR managers and company-wide programmes. For example, American companies such as Home Depot, Coors and General Motors have programmes specifically designed to recruit military leavers (ICFAI (2004; Zicarelli 2005). British employers with similar programmes, if any, will also be reviewed. It is anticipated that data in this section will included both information for the individual HR manager and concerning developing company-wide initiatives. Finally, the literature considered in this review will concentrate on those leaving the British military who seek and / or obtain employment in the UK. Supporting literature from countries with similar militaries and economies, such as Australia, Canada, and the United States will be additionally considered from a supportive standpoint. METHODOLOGY Data will be collected from two groups of people: former military officers who have successfully transitioned into civilian employment, and HR personnel in charge of hiring. Open-ended questions designed from issues arising through the review of relevant literature will be used. It is anticipated these open-ended questions will solicit a variety of responses, but will also allow documentation of actual perceptions and observations from interviewees, rather than reduce their experiences to a defined group of possible responses. It is anticipated that questions will be framed within the four stated objectives, however, this framework may be adapted if significant findings from the literature review warrant such change. The planned sample size is ten interviews for each group. While this is statistically too small a sample to make relevant statistical conclusions, the purpose of this research is to articulate transferable skills and raise awareness to the benefits in hiring military leavers, neither of which require the statistical justification of a large sample size. This is additionally a large enough group of interviews to allow broad generalisations about issues outlined in the project objectives to be examined without the possible skewing of one person’s atypical experience that might occur with a sample of only two or three interviews. In addition, ten is a workable number of interviews for the researcher to conduct within the project time guidelines. Companies in a variety of civilian pursuits will be examined, with additionally at least two small, two medium, and two large organisations present in the sample of HR managers. A list of companies currently hiring for management positions will be gathered from Internet and newspaper advertisements. These companies will then be drawn at random to establish an order for contact, with each contacted by letter and follow-up phone calls. Interviews of approximately one hour will be requested, with an overview of the questions to be asked provided with the letter. Contact of companies will continue until ten interviews are secured. Former military officers will be identified through two means. First, the researcher will seek recommendations from those in private industry as to successful former military officers. If ten persons willing to participate in interviews are not acquired through this method, HR managers interviewed as part of the first group of this research will be asked to provide names in their companies or others of potential interviewees. Both groups of interviewees will be promised and supplied with a copy of the final research project. Data will be analysed to develop a skills set that is clearly identified as relevant, the benefits and drawbacks of hiring military leavers, and ways to increase companies’ awareness of potential post-military hires. This will be done first by thorough examination of the transcripts of each interview, followed by statistical gathering of the number of times and importance each item considered was provided by the interviewees. Similarities present in items identified in the interviews will be described and supported with relevant quotes from interview transcripts. A summary of the most relevant answers to each question will be included in an appendix to the report. Obviously, it is not possible to consider all types of military leavers with their myriad of training and experience, or all the needs of private industry that such personnel could fulfil. Therefore, this study will concentrate on the basic management skills typically acquired by all military personnel achieving a rank of at least junior officer. It will examine how this basic management acumen translates into successful civilian employment. Also, since a large number of military personnel go into the defense industry and it already typically recruits military leavers, only companies and positions outside the defense sector will be considered. REQUIRED RESOURCES It is anticipated the most significant resources this project will require are time and people. Twenty interviews of approximately one hour each will be conducted, not to mention the time required to arrange such interviews and analyse results. Getting busy workers to provide an hour of their day for an interview that do not immediately benefit them may not be so easy. It is important to line up persons to interview that can make contributions to the areas considered in the research. The project requires little capital outlay beyond letters, copying of the final report and postage. A small tape-recorder may be used to better document interviews, in which case this would be an additional expense. In addition, it may be necessary to interview some people over their lunch times, in which case politeness would require the researcher to foot the dining bill. PROJECT PLAN The literature review will be completed within thirty days of the project approval, and interview questions developed. These questions will then be submitted to the supervisor for feedback and recommendations. Towards the end of this period, a list of companies and individuals that may be potential interviewees will be developed. Interviews should be arranged within two weeks, and completed within the next two to three weeks. After that, data will be analysed and a project report draft written, which will be forwarded to the project supervisor for comments. Finally, the final report will be generated. Tentative Project Plan: Week 1 Begin literature review research. Week 2 Continue literature review research. Week 3 Continue literature review research. Week 4 Write literature review, create interview questions. Week 5 Begin compiling interview list, interview questions to supervisor. Week 6 Finish compiling interview list, write and send out letters. Week 7 Follow-up letters with phone calls, arrange interviews. Week 8 Continue arranging interviews, begin conducting interviews. Week 9 Continue conducting interviews. Week 10 Finish conducting interviews. Week 11 Analyse data, begin writing project report. Week 12 Finish draft of project report, draft to supervisor. Week 13 Make changes to draft as recommended by supervisor. Week 14 Make changes / rewrite draft. This project plan will both ensure the project is completed in a timely manner and is flexible enough to allow for contingencies. REFERENCES Abrashoff, D.M. (2002) It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, New York: Warner Books. Alkhafaji, A. (2003) Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control in a Dynamic Environment, Oxford: Haworth Press. Anon (2002) â€Å"Military skills in a civilian workplace,† Questionline website, October 2002. Available at http://www.questonline.co.uk/ magazine_sections/leaders/military_skills_in_a_civilian_workplace, accessed 21 May 2005. Anon (2004) â€Å"Army is major contributor to UK plc,† Personnel Today, May 4, 2004, p. 4. Bass, B. (1997) Transformational Leadership: Industrial, Military and Educational Impact, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Bowers, F. (1996) â€Å"Generals trade their army boots for wingtips in trek to civilian jobs,† Christian Science Monitor, December 2, 1996, Vol. 89, Issue 5, p1. ICFAI (2004) â€Å"Home Depot’s Cultural Evolution,† Case Study, ICFAI Center for Management Research. Available at www.icmrinda.org, accessed 21 May 2005. Investors Business Daily (2004) Military and Political Leaders and Success: 55 Top Military and Political Leaders and How They Achieved Greatness, Higher Education. Joinson, C. (1997) â€Å"What HR can learn from military veterans,† HR Magazine, June 1997, Vol. 42, Issue 6, pp. 116-119. Shuit, D.P. (2003) â€Å"Combat ready and business prepared,† Workforce Management, November 2003, Vol. 82, Issue 12, pp. 24-25. Wightman, S., McAleer, E. (1995) â€Å"Management development: the neglected domain,† Journal of European industrial Training, Vol. 19, No. 5, pp. 3-10. Zicarelli, R. (2000) â€Å"The Military Advantage,† Veteran’s Business Journal, January / February 2005, pp. 20-26.

The Monoamine Hypothesis, Placebos and Problems of Theory Construction in Psychology, Medicine, and Psychiatry :: Psychological Medical Psychiatric Essays

The Monoamine Hypothesis, Placebos and Problems of Theory Construction in Psychology, Medicine, and Psychiatry ABSTRACT: Can there be scientific theories in psychology, medicine or psychiatry? I approach this question through an in-depth analysis of a typical experiment for clinical depression involving the monoamine hypothesis, drug action, and placebos. I begin my discussion with a reconstruction of Adolph Grà ¼nbaum's conceptual analysis of 'placebo,' and then use his notion of "intentional placebo" to discuss a typical experiment using the monoamine hypothesis, two drugs and a placebo. I focus on the theoretical aspects of the experiment, especially on the notion of causal explanation. I then raise five conceptual and methodological problems for theory construction. These problems focus on questions of the causal efficacy of placebos and drugs; ad hoc versus ceteris paribus explanations in biomedicine and psychology; and the falsifiability of the monoamine hypothesis. I conclude by pointing out the need for further, rigorous philosophical analysis concerning the possibility of theory con struction in psychology, medicine, or psychiatry. I. Introduction Can there ever be scientific theories in psychology, medicine, or psychiatry? I argue that one approach to answering this question consists of investigating the nature of such purported theories and I focus on the monoamine hypothesis of clinical depression. (1) By a careful examination of a typical experiment involving the action of drugs and placebos for the cure of clinical depression-an experiment founded upon the monoamine hypothesis-I raise a number of methodological and conceptual problems that may lead one to conclude that rigorous scientific theories in these three disciplines may never be forthcoming, or at least that the state of scientific research in these areas is still in very rudimentary shape and in need of much logical and philosophical analysis. In addition, because no such biomedical theories may be forthcoming, I also undercut Adolf Grà ¼nbaum's analysis of the concept of a placebo, an analysis that makes the definition of "placebo" relative to a biomedical theo ry in the first place. I begin in section 2 by discussing Grà ¼nbaum's detailed analysis of what a placebo is. I then use his idea of a generic intentional Placebo and discuss one of many similar experiments concerning the phenomenon of clinical depression, experiments that use the monoamine hypothesis and the notion of a generic intentional placebo. This experiment is described in section 3. In section 4 I analyze the results of this study and in section 5 I offer concluding remarks.

Far Beyond Everyday Superstitions Essay -- Obseessive Compulsive Disor

Far Beyond Everyday Superstitions Each day my grandfather has an impulse to touch his shoulder, then his nose, and after these actions are accomplished he touches his ear. He does these actions each and every time he says hello to a human being. It is as if he is a coach on the third-base line signaling a runner to steal home. He doesn’t know why he does these actions; he just does. He has on obvious reason and trys not to do them, but each time they come back. My grandfather feels ashamed of his actions and does not want anyone to know of them. He has other impulses as well. He turns off light switches with his thumb, only his thumb. My grandfather was diagnosed with the Obsessive-Compulsive disorder twenty years ago. The Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a strange and frightening sickness of ritual. This disease is far more common than most people would ever imagine. About one in fifty Americans have this disorder, as many as five million (11/28, http://www.zoloft.com/index.asp?pageid=14&o=060110000000GO). It is most common between the ages of 18 through 54 to be diagnosed. Typically one third of adult cases however, begin at adolescence. It is cruel because the victims of this disease know of their strange behavior and try to make it stop, but cannot. It is as though their brain is stuck on a particular thought or urge and can not let it go. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is different from the everyday superstitions that most people seem to have. For instance, many people believe in lucky numbers, knocking on wood, or keeping umbrellas closed in the house. These habits are different from the disorder for these Kreftmeyer 2 patients cannot put these actions out of their minds (Rapoport, 2). This disorder should be... ...cans need to become more aware of how its effects to ones life, due to the surprisingly high number of people that have symptoms of it. Psychiatrists are still experimenting with different combinations of medications and therapies for which will eventually help the victims even more. It is a disorder that many need to be informed about. Works Cited Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1998. Dumont, Raeann. The Sky Is Falling. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1996. Pharmacotherapy. National Institute of Mental Health. 30 November 2001. Rapoport, Judith. The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing. New York: E.P. Dutton Inc. 1989. Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Obsessive- Compulsive Foundation. 28 November 2001. Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Zoloft. 28 November 2001.

Inter Professional Essay

A reflective essay on the skills acquired from collaborative learning and how they may be applied in practice. According to Donald A.Schon (1983) reflective practice is a formation within which all health care professions can work and is a model framework or learning structure that represent the purposes of a profession and is very crucial to health related professions. Inter-professional education(IPE) module had a learning understanding that is universal to all health care professionals, that enables different professional groups to learn together for a particular reason with general contented of learning and achieving a goal (CAIPE, 2002). The module, however focuses on learning from each other to be able to improve teamwork and therefore provides the quality of care. My essay will analyse what I have learnt on this module which are: communication, safeguarding, ethics, professionalism, consent, reflection and equal opportunities. As a health care professional all these learning are important to me which I believe it will help me during my practice in my specified field as a Professional Mental Health Nursing .I will be using Rolfe et al (2001) reflective model using What ? , So what ? and Now What ? to guide my discussions and analysis. According to Barr (2002) Interprofessional education learning in health care is currently measured as a very importance aspect about patient safety. The module enhanced my confidence in working with other health professional discipline, it is a way I found very advantageous in improving my communication skills among the teams, building trust, respecting other member of team and learning from different culture background and other health care discipline which I find quite useful and forwarding because it is a good experience that I will be building on and working with throughout my professional career. The different health care professional discipline in my group such as: social work, adult nurse, pharmacy, midwife, diagnostic radiography and mental health nurse which gives me and my team a privilege to be able to interpret a variety of scenario which will need to cover in the tutorial class like the effectiveness of communication, ethics, consent, safeguarding, diversity, equal oppor tunities and professionalism within the health environment. My role in the group was to look at things in the aspect of psychological or behavioural pattern that is generally associated with distress or disability according to the scenario given and suggest a solution which might be of help and each member of the team gives their own contribution and the outcome was positive for me and my team when sharing it with the whole class. The NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (Department of Health, 2004) prompted a set of communication skills that individuals must develop before registration. This included effective communication with fellow professionals and other healthcare staff, having the ability to identify one’s own limitations in communication and being committed to personal development in such areas. In the NHS Plan (Department of Health, 2000) enquire that undergraduate must demonstrate the aptitude to proficiently communicate with their service users before qualifying. However, IPE has clarifies the effectiveness of communication, consent, professionalism safeguarding and equal opportunities which has many characteristics in health care professional career, it is a fundamental to practice and a skill that can be learned and continually improved. These developments require devoted observation, the motivation to be reflective, and the commitment to listen and learn. In nursing, communication is a sharing of health-related information between a patient and a nurse, with both participants as sources and receivers in which the information may be verbal or nonverbal, written or spoken, personal or impersonal, issue-specific, or even relationship-oriented (Sheldon 2004, p. 4). According to Hope el al (2008) ethics is based on how an individual must think and act. Ethics provides me with the tools to determine whether or not I should do a certain action and the extent to which a past action should have been done. However, Seale, C (2010) sees ethics that can be based on social, religious and cultural beliefs. The NMC Code of Conduct (2008) provides a directive to ethical decision making and the standards of professionalism that is essential by the nurses. The use of models of ethical decision making to reinforce codes of ethics is also part of the educational content for all health care professionals, and ability to conduct an evaluation and clarification of a variety of variables such as ethical principles, personal values or beliefs is essential when caring for patients and I believed the purpose of this is to prepared me to act and then review my behaviour in order to carry forward lessons learned in IPE. Referring to a scenario which was given in class about an elderly patient who has senile dementia, severe heart problems, immobile, is permanently in a nursing home and who has come into hospital for an operation to correct her current hip fracture. She has a current DNR order attached to her notes. A service user right to treatment is essential, but the right to decline treatment is much stronger. A patient always has the perfect motive to turn down treatment. RCN, (2011) states that consent to treatment is vital to the provision of healthcare service and patient or Service users have a fundamental, legal and ethical right to determine what happens to their own bodies. Legal consent to treatment is subsequently very fundamental in all areas of healthcare, from the delivering of personal care to undertaking major surgery. Seeking consent is also an issue of broad consideration between health professionals and service users. Furthermore, as health care professionals it is my responsibility to protect people whose circumstances make them particularly vulnerable to abuse, neglect or harm, this term simply refers to safeguarding them. Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. And as health care professionals contributing to these is a fundamental of creating a vision of high-quality in health and social care which must be treated in professional basis according to the code of conducts and confidentially must be respected at all times . (Mandelstam,M.2008). Additionally, It is my professional responsibility, roles and actions to contribute positively in protecting children and vulnerable adult by following the national safeguarding policies and making recommendations, getting involved in multi-agency children’s safeguarding inspections to get a picture people’s experiences and how well they are being safeguarded and consulting them about their views and experiences of care they are receiving and equal opportunities must be respected at all times when given care to patients. I have learnt the importance of communication skills to enhance patient care and improves patient outcomes and satisfaction which will prepare me for my professional practice which will be of help in my career to be actively involved in communication and use the principles of communication within the health care professional team . I have also learnt that it is a best practice as a health care professional to ask for consent before commencing treatment to a patient by describing to patients what treatment needs to be carried out and I must provide with sufficient information to ensure they understand the nature of the proposed treatment and any alternatives, risks, benefits and anticipated outcomes of treatment before they give their consent to it, and that the patient-clinician discussion and agreement is clearly documented. I have also learnt the importance of safeguarding and the risks that might be involve if a necessary action not taken and I have also learnt to explore the implication of the equality Act (2010) and how it promotes diversity equal opportunities and helps in prevent discrimination. Having good understanding about all I have learnt in IPE I will always applied it my practice and in my future career, I would make sure that I knew the ward protocol before commencing any care, especially when caring for patients. In any new circumstances I would try to learn as much as I could about particular field to gain confidence. I would use questioning to improve my knowledge in my learning area thereby improve my understanding. I would take into account other peoples weaknesses. I would restore confidence for my service users if I were not directly involved in the urgent situation. In accord with UKCC guidelines (1998) I would only take part in practices for which I had appropriate training. Overall, this module has been a rewarding ways of improving my framework in the aspect of health care professionals .Using Rolfe et.al (2001) for my reflective model allows me to reflect on communication, consent, professionalism, diversity and ethics has increased my understanding of necessary skills, and development needs which was required of me as health care professional which was delivered in the IPE module and also I have a foundation knowledge from the module that enthusiasm and commitment from me as a member of the team in the planning and delivering of an inter professional initiative are essentials component in practice and in my future career as mental health nursing.

Jewish Feminism

Jewish feminism has had a significant impact on the development and expression of Judaism. They have faced many obstacles and brought about much change in the Jewish tradition. Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious, legal and social role and contribution of women within Judaism. Feminism can be traced back to the early 1970s where women began to question their roles amongst society. For Jewish women, they wanted to focus on the composition of the minyan, the exemption from some mitzvot, exclusion of women as witnesses of Jewish law and the position of women in relation to divorce proceedings. Each variant has responded differently to feminism and the level of impact as differed amongst Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Jews. Judaism is known for being more patriarchal than many other organised religions. This has made it difficult for Jewish feminists to bring about equity and tzedakah. Jewish feminists have one main agenda and that is to challenge and fight sexism within Judaism. They see their work as part of their duty to tikkun olam and believe their actions bring tzedakah to their faith community. Jewish feminism created much controversy as many men thought that it would have a weakening effect on Jewish life, however many would argue that it has been strengthened. The Orthodox Jewish communities found the impact of Jewish feminism to be a significant issue for their interpretation of the halakah and how their religion is to be expressed. They seeked change in a manner that can be defended by Jewish law and always worked within the framework of traditional worship. However, amongst the Reform and Conservative Jews, their attitudes have been much greater. Reform Jews have accepted that a woman can perform any religious ritual that a man does. They were the first group to do away with the mehiztah, that separated men from woman in the synagogue, they felt the customs and practices should be more in keeping with modern society. This had a significant impact as it led to the change in service and synagogue, and the service was rewritten in English from Hebrew. Jewish Feminism called upon all variants of Judaism to reconsider its response to the mitzvot and other elements of the halakah. Jewish feminists challenged Judaism in areas such as the patriarchal interpretation of sacred texts, role of women in rituals, role of women in leadership eg: Rabbi and the general rights of women. In 1972, ten New York Jewish feminists calling themselves Ezrat Nashim presented a document, â€Å"Call For Change†, to the Conservative movements Rabbinical Assembly. This â€Å"Call for Change† demanded that women be considered to perform all mitzvot, allowed full participation in religious observances, be counted in the minyan, have equal rights in marriage and initiate divorce. Judaism was changed by this document in 1977 when Conservative Judaism introduced feminist rituals. Until the 1950s Jewish women traditionally took a back seat in communal worship. The synagogue was divided with a mehitzah as they felt that men could not concentrate and keep their thoughts purely on prayer and their individual connection with God. Jewish feminism's impact on this issue was significant as they changed the physical direction of the mehitzah in the synagogue so women could see the front and yet the men were still separated from them. This change of the direction symbolises the change of views. Jewish feminism had a strong impact on the religious observances, laws and services. The role of women amongst society was changed in 1973 when the first female Rabbi, Sally Priesland, was ordained. There were many objections to the allowance of female Rabbis and numerous questions were raised such as their abilty to raise families and cope with the religious demands and if they were able to interpret the Scriptures correctly. However, non feminists were able to see that these women brought intuitive perspectives that positively questioned the base of the Jewish beliefs. Therefore the extent of change in response to Jewish feminism varies across the differing expressions of Judaism. It has brought new and fresh perspectives to the nature of worship services. Women will continue to demand and receive equality in both the secular and religious worlds. Jewish feminism has brought to each of the variants a closer relationship and a stronger response to the call tikkun olam.

Association between departmental stewardship, role stressors and distress among executives

Association between departmental stewardship, role stressors and distress among executives In the past few decades, major evolutions in globalization, technology and social collaboration have transformed the nature of work in all sectors. As work becomes increasingly complex and interdependent, employees are expected to take on many new roles and responsibilities. According to Kahn et al. (1964) it is quite common for employees in complex organizations to experience stress regarding their role, which can lead to negative individual and organizational outcomes. Recently, the field of occupational health has recognized that psychosocial factors inherent in the work environment can have considerable influence on the physical and mental well-being of employees, and studies have begun to model contextual moderators in the process of organizational stress. In this article we introduce organizational stewardship as a contextual factor that may build employee resilience to role demands and protect against adverse symptoms of mental health. Stewardship is defined here as an organizational approach in which communication, collaboration and adaptability between organizational actors and stakeholders is used to generate trust, a shared understanding and a sense of purpose. Using multi-level analysis, this study investigates whether departmental stewardship moderates the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress among public service executives. Role Stress and Mental Health The shift to a more knowledge-based society has resulted in many changes to the design, organization and management of factors within the work environment. As workplaces become more complex and multifaceted, employees are expected to take on multiple roles and responsibilities, and thus, it has become more important than ever to examine the impact of role stressors on employee well-being. Role conflict refers to the occurrence of divergent expectations or when role requirements are incompatible with an employee’s value system, making it difficult to perform their work. Role ambiguity refers to a lack of information or unclear information regarding employee’s roles, such that they are unsure as to what is expected of them. According to Cavanaugh, Boswell, Roehling and Boudreau (2000) role demands are considered hindrance stressors, meaning they are viewed as obstacles to personal growth or demands that can hinder an employee’s ability to achieve work goals. As a result, the presence of these stressors can prompt negative emotions (e.g., anxiety or fear) and a passive or emotional coping method (e.g., withdrawing from the work). Because role demands are perceived as uncontrollable and threatening to one’s work they are unlikely to be met with increased effort, instead employees may emotionally and cognitively withdraw from their work. While the process of organizational stress has been implicated in a wide range of physical health ailments, mental health disorders are considered to be the most common outcomes. Stress-related mental health disorders like anxiety and depression place a heavy financial burden on organizations. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), about 30% of short- and long-term disability claims in Canada are attributed to mental health problems. Moreover, mental health problems and illnesses among Canadian employees cost organizations more than $6 billion in lost productivity (MHCC, n.d). A recent meta-analysis by Schmidt et al., (2014) documented the link between role stressors and depression across a variety of work settings. These authors acknowledged that it is important to examine mental health as a continuous construct since even minor symptoms can lead to impaired health and organizational outcomes. In light of this, psychological distress is an important concept to measure in the context of employee well-being, since it can capture a lower threshold of mental health problems and may be a crucial to reducing illness or disability caused by work stress. Distress refers to â€Å"a set of psychophysiological and behavioral symptoms that are not specific to a given pathology† (e.g., anxious or depressive responses, irritability, trouble sleeping, absenteeism) that can cause impairment in day-to-day functions and one’s ability to carry out normal tasks. From Leadership to Stewardship Worldwide societal and economic changes have challenged organizational scholars to question deeply rooted assumptions about leadership strategies and to re-examine organizational approaches that can more adequately respond to the demands faced by present-day organizations. As a result, scholars have begun to recognize that interdependent and global work can counteract the potential power of leadership, making it challenging for those in positions of authority to have an impact on the work environment regardless of their leadership style or the fit between the leader and situation. Recently, scholars have proposed the notion of stewardship as an organizational approach to guide the collective process in organizations. While leadership has been traditionally examined with a focus on interpersonal exchanges, stewardship can be viewed as a meta-phenomenon, reflected in organizational structures and collaborative processes. In this study, organizational stewardship is positioned as a pote ntial moderator in the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress. Stewardship Historically, stewardship came from the notion of managing or taking care of something that was entrusted to you. This concept is finding renewed resonance in current organizational literature and has been described as an alternative approach to governance models of mandate and force (Block, 1993). Stewardship has also been defined as an organizational approach that emphasizes a sense of purpose through the sharing of power, resources and information across networks to serve the public interest. According to Hubbard and Paquet (2016) stewardship is believed to foster a sense of community through building partnerships and networks, and generate the trust and dialogue necessary to work through complex issues. Furthermore, they argue that stewardship practices connect employees to the larger purpose of their work, fostering their sense of meaning. Based on these conceptualizations, an empirical study by Simpkins and Lemyre (2018) has reframed organizational stewardship as a system featu re through the application of a socio-ecological framework. An Ecological Model of Stewardship Taking a systemic approach inspired by Brofenbrenner’s (1979, 1999) systems theory framework, the Socio-Ecological Model, the social environment is subdivided into various systems and takes into account the cumulative effect of multiple factors of the physical and social environment, as well as situational and personal factors, on employee well-being (Stokols, 1996). Beyond the individual, the microsystem includes close interpersonal relations. Then, the mesosystem is composed of various organizations or services. The most overarching concept in this framework is the macrosystem, which includes the overall patterns of the social context such as economy, laws and political events. While the idea that stewardship can contribute to positive organizational outcomes has been implied, empirical evidence supporting this relationship remains quite limited. A qualitative case study of the Edmonton Public School system by Segal (2012) asked employees to describe organizational processes inherent in the control and reward systems. This study concluded that an organizational culture associated with stewardship theory helped to instil integrity among employees, contributing to organizational efficiency. According to Simpkins Lemyre (2018), the examination of stewardship within a workplace stress framework broadens our understanding of the work environment and has important implications for individuals, organizations and society. This role can be operationalized as an organization level resource contributing to employee well-being examined through the Job-Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. The Job Demands-Resources Model As outlined in the JD-R model, employee health and well-being can result from a balance between psychosocial work factors categorized as either demands or resources. Physical, social or organizational job characteristics that require sustained effort are labeled as job demands. Job characteristics that contribute to meeting organizational objectives, reduce job demands and their accompanying physiological and psychological costs, or that stimulate employee growth and learning are labeled as job resources. Demands and resources are linked to health and well-being outcomes through two underlying psychological processes. An excess in job demands coupled with a lack of resources can deplete an employee’s energy resources in the health impairment process, while job resources can contribute to positive organizational outcomes through the motivational process. Likewise, the JD-R model assumes that job resources can buffer the impact of various demands on stress outcomes. While individual-level resources have been valuable components in the study of stress, Demerouti Bakker (2011) have suggested an expansion of the JD-R model to include multi-level constructs in order to capture the different structural, functional or hierarchical levels of organizational research. Taking a Multi-Level Approach When direct indicators of environmental context are not available, contextual variables can be measured using group averages of individuals’ perceptions, at a cluster level. This is believed to reliably account for non-independence among employees exposed to similar environmental factors, which can influence how they perceive or respond to stress in the workplace. As a result, researchers can more accurately examine how organizational level processes affect individual-level processes and outcomes. Moreover, modeling group-level moderators of stress is particularly important, given its implications for prevention. From a practical perspective, a multi-level approach to stress may result in more effective interventions, as organizations may wish to employ different strategies at each level. Moreover, stress interventions based on group-level moderators can be much easier to implement over individual-based interventions. Thus, identifying contextual factors that can mitigate the stress process, and understanding how they influence this relationship, can contribute to more systemic approach to organizational stress research. Stewardship as a Moderator of Work Stressors As reviewed above, job resources can buffer the negative effects of work demands on perceived job strain through different mechanisms. While stewardship is not anticipated to reduce work demands themselves, the work conditions provided through a context of stewardship may alter employee perceptions and cognitions evoked by work stressors, and moderate the responses that follow. This can potentially reduce the health-damaging consequences of stress. A mission-focused stewardship approach is believed to help employees put their work in a larger context, providing them with a sense of purpose. The alignment between employee demands and the organizational mission may contribute to a sense of coherence among employees, where they perceive their demands as understandable, manageable and meaningful, a strong determinant of successful coping. Moreover, the sharing of information, power and resources can help to develop a common frame of reference, facilitating communication and reducing misunderstandings with regard to work tasks. In this way, stewardship organizations, through the collaboration and the instrumental support of other organizations, may be more resilient to increasingly complex work demands. Thus, a context of stewardship may temper the negative influence of work stressors by repositioning work demands as challenges that can be accomplished collectively, and task completion may seem more achievable in this setting. Stewardship in the Canadian Public Service Canada’s public service is the non-partisan, executive branch of the Canadian government composed of various units, which include departments, agencies, commissions, Crown corporations and other federal organizations. In a typical governmental department there are several levels of leadership at the Executive level (EX position classification). Stewardship as an organizational approach may be especially important in the context of public service work, where many different levels of hierarchy must operate collaboratively and rely on the combined efforts of various departments, agencies, commissions, crown corporations and other federal organizations to deliver quality service to citizens. In summary, there is strong theoretical and empirical basis to consider and formally test organizational stewardship as a potential moderator in the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress among executives. To our knowledge, stewardship has never been tested as a contextual variable using multi-level analysis. This raises the research question: Does a context of stewardship moderate the relationship between role stressors and psychological distress among public service executives? Study Model This study proposes that a context of stewardship reflects the degree to which a department engages in effective collaboration across networks, generating trust, a sense of purpose, and a shared sense of responsibility. We posit that a context of stewardship can help executives manage their perceived role stressors such that when a high degree of stewardship is perceived within one’s department, executives are more likely to experience their work as meaningful, interesting and something to which they wish to devote effort, regardless of stressful demands. In this way, departmental stewardship may help to alleviate the effects of stressors before they become damaging (i.e., psychological distress). Thus, we propose that department-level stewardship moderates the relationship between role stressors (i.e., role conflict and role ambiguity) and distress symptoms. Goal and Objectives The aim in the present study is to investigate the association between departmental stewardship, role stressors and distress among executives. The research goal is to test that there is variance in these relationships that relates to the organizational level above and beyond the idiosyncratic individual perspective. To test the moderation effect, there are two pre-conditions: Condition 1: Executives who report higher role stressors will also report higher distress; and Condition 2 (ecological multi-level effect): Departments with high levels of aggregated stewardship will have a negative relationship with reported distress. Main Hypothesis (Cross-Level Interaction) Moderation effect of the multi-level construct: The relationship between role stressors and distress is moderated by departmental stewardship such that the relationship between role stressors and distress is stronger for departments with low aggregated stewardship, and this relationship is buffered in departments with high aggregated stewardship. Participants and Procedure Data used for this study comes from the pan-Canadian national survey on Work and Health conducted in 2012 in partnership with the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX). This survey represents the fourth cycle of a multi-phase research project examining the health status of executives, from Director (EX-1) to Deputy Minister (EX-5), in the federal Public Service of Canada. A total of 6688 self-administered anonymous questionnaires were distributed via e-mail to senior-management executives in the Canadian federal public service. Over two thousand respondents returned the questionnaires (N=2314), representing a response rate of 35%. After removing missing data and performing data screening for multi-level analysis the final data set included responses from 1996 executives nested within 59 departments/agencies. Departments, on average, had 34 respondents (range, 2 to 177). The sample comprised 51% male and 49% female executives and maintained fully proportional representation of the actual distribution of executives by gender, executive level, region and age. The average age of participants was 50.2 years. The majority of participants had either a post-grad education (52%) or university education (39%). Participants had been working at the executive level for 7.3 years, on average. While just over half (56%) of executives in this sample worked at the EX-1 level, 24% worked at the EX-2 level, and 20% at the EX-3, EX-4 or EX-5 level.

Structure and Framework of the Federal Courts Research Paper

Structure and Framework of the Federal Courts - Research Paper Example It is also out of the recognition that the constitution has for the broad nature of legal enforcement and the need to ensure that administration of justice and the enforcement of rule of law goes to the grassroots that there exists different parts and ranks of the court system, which is specifically assigned to interpret the constitution. This paper shall therefore visit the court system as the major framework that embodies the legal system and bring out the structure and role of the federal courts. Purpose and Function of the Topic One key aspect of the legal system in the United States and most other democratic states like United Kingdom and France is the court and the structure of it. In the United States, there is what is known as the Federal Court system, which has been vested with the power of interpretation of the law at the local level2. In essence therefore, the present topic, which is stated as â€Å"the structure and framework of the federal courts† seeks to achieve three major functions and purposes. The first purpose and function of the topic is to aid in the categorization of the federal court system. From a Congress viewpoint, the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land3. This Supreme court is overseen by a Chief Justice and eight other associate justices. But even within the Supreme Court, there are two constitutes of courts, which are the Appellate Court and Trail Courts. These bring the categorization down to smaller courts, which are made up of District Courts and Circuit Courts. In order to ensure that there is not at any point in time overburden on the courts in the jurisdiction of justice, there are as many minor courts as possible, all of whom have been assigned special duties, cases and roles to oversee and hear. Some of these include bankruptcy courts, magistrate courts, the U.S. Court of Claims, the U.S. Court of Veterans' Appeals, the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of International Trade. The second purpose and function of the topic is to clearly outline what the differences between a State Court and a Federal Court are. This is an important purpose to achieve with the topic because in a bid to educating the ordinary citizen of the legal system, it is very important for the citizen to have an idea of where to turn to in the event of different cases of legal concern. To this end, it would be said that unlike Federal Courts, most State Courts have very limited jurisdictions. From a legal perspective, this means that State Courts do not have as much power to trail wider range of cases as Federal Courts do4. Because of this, most judges in State Courts are appointed or elected only over a specified time frame and not for life as it is with Federal Courts. Some of the cases that a typical State Court would trail is reflective in the name of the court. Examples are probate court, family court, traffic court, municipal court, small claims court and juvenile court. F inally, this topic seeks to expatiate on the effectiveness of the sovereignty of the various levels of the Federal Court in the legal system and structure of the country. Indeed, one of the main principles on which the legal system works is the principle of independence. This means that every court must be given maximum room to operate without any form of interference from