Importance of employee satisfaction in an organization

Importance of employee satisfaction in an organization In the beginning, we are looking for the factor that influences job satisfaction among the workers/ front liner in SingTel. After that in the following chapter is about the review of the relevant literature. In chapter 3, we will looking for the method been use for this study and followed by chapter 4 is about the result and discussion from the analyses of data and findings of the research. And for the last chapter which is chapter 5, it summarized and recommend according to the finding and result. Job satisfaction is about the feeling of the nature of the job. In order for an organization to be successful, it must continuously ensure the satisfactorily of their employees (Berry, 1997). The happier the workers, the more satisfied they are. Besides, satisfied worker also a productive worker. Organization with more satisfied employees tends to be more effective (Robbins Judge, 2007). In todays world, organization realize that is it important to keep their worker satisfied as human recourse is the important assets for the organization to keep their business running. With satisfied workers, they will deliver the better quality service to the customer which indirectly will increase customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is important as it is essential in building long-term, profitable relationships ultimately leading to customer loyalty and repeat business. As for the workers, job satisfaction is important for the employees mental health (Smith, Kendall and Hulin, 1969). Upon study on job satisfaction, factor that influences the level of job satisfaction is vital to be addressed. They are many factors that influence level of job satisfaction such as the organization factor which may include working condition or anything that related to the working condition. For example: leadership style and pay. Besides working condition, personal factors such as health issue and family conflict. 1.2 Problem statement Human resources are the most valuable assets in an organization especially those high performing employees and it will be a trouble to company if those employees leaving or deliver bad service to their customer. One special issue is the low level of employee job satisfaction that brought difficulties in increasing service quality (Yi, 1993). Seta, Paulus and Baron (2000) pointed out that knowing the factors contributing to the employees satisfactions; the organization can plan properly and take appropriate step to increase positive behavior among employees. It means that organization or management need to prepare proper training or program such as reward, growth opportunities or job security in order to increase job satisfaction among the employees. According to malhotra Mukerjee (2004), Call centers facilitate flow of information and communication between firms and their remote customers via the telephone. According to Prahabkar, Sheehan, and Coppett (1997), call centers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.allow a company to build, maintain, and manage customer relationships by solving problems and resolving complaints quickly. Front liners who work in call centre have to answer call from customer 24 hour a day throughout 365 days in a year. As a front lines, this job full with challenge and stress. They need to manage their emotion very well in order to deliver good services to customer. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the workers are satisfied with their current job scope. Holman et al.s (2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.number of call center employees stood at 450,000. This is quite a huge amount in this communicating field. According to Zeithml Bitner (2000), since the customer contact employees or popularly known as the call center agents are the link between the entire organization and the external customer, so they are able to influence the perception of the customer to the organization. From the previous study, there was evidence in between job satisfaction and performance deliver by the front liners. Therefore, the research tries to find out the link between the job satisfaction and organization factors and also the personal factor. 1.3 Research Questions The research questions will be: 1.3.1 To what extent is the influence of work conditions on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.3.2 To what extent is the influence of promotion on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.3.3 To what extent is the influence of gender on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.3.4 To what extent is the influence of age on job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.4 Research Objectives Based on the above research questions, this study intends to achieve the specific research objectives: 1.4.1 To determine the influence of work conditions on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.4.2 To examine the influence of promotion on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.4.3 To investigate the influence of gender on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.4.4 To determine the influence of age on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.5 Significance of the study There are many studies revealed the factors that may affect job satisfaction but they are related to all aspect for the job satisfaction. The employee satisfaction theory (Vroom, 1964) and (Herzberg, 1966) employee satisfaction measurement tools, as well as Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (Abraham Maslow, 1943), but there are rarely study regarding factors that may contribute to job satisfaction in call centre in Malaysia. In Malaysia, call center are growing in a rapidly rate. There are many communication company increases the intake of the call center agent or in the other ways knows as front-liners. From this point of view, it is important for us to study on the front-liners job satisfaction. Since the number of employed for the front-liners are growing, through the study, it help the organization to understand what is the need for the entire front-liners, what is their basic request. Through this study, it help organization to knowing better on what is the benefit that they can provide for them for satisfaction and at the same time organization can deliver a good services to the customer. Apart from that, this is a way to send out the messages for those who desire to work in this field. It is also information to the public who always complaining or disputing about the customer services staff without knowing their sacrifice. 1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study The scope of the study is to study the link between the job satisfaction and organization factors and also the personal factor in Sing Tel. These include work condition, leadership style, promotion, gender, personality and individual experience. The study limited only to the front-liners in Sing Tel. 1.7 Organization of the Research Project This study consists of five chapters which are introduction, literature review, methodology, result and discussion followed by conclusion and recommendation. Each chapter will discuss in depth later. In chapter 1, we are looking for the factor that influences job satisfaction among the workers/ front liner in SingTel. After that in the following chapter is about the review of the relevant literature. Chapter 3, we will look for the method been use for this study and followed by chapter 4 is about the result and discussion from the analyses of data and findings of the research. And for the last chapter which is chapter 5, it summarized and recommend according to the finding and result. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter will discuss about the job satisfaction in several perspectives. It is includes definition of job satisfaction, previous studies on job satisfaction and the factors that influence the job satisfaction. A part from this, it is also a brief discussion regarding the job satisfaction among the staff in call center. And it ends with a brief summary for this chapter. 2.2 Job Satisfaction According to Steyn Van Wyk (1999), job satisfaction can be formally defined as the degree to which individuals feel positively and/or negatively about their jobs. From this, when an employee meets their needs or expectation, then they will feel the accomplishment and from here the degree of satisfaction can be determine. Gordon (1999) claims that job satisfaction occurs when a job meets the expectations, values and standards of an individual and will influence their commitment and performance. So from here, it is how an organization gets satisfied their workers in order to get their commitment to performed well. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs was proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 from his paper A Theory of Human Motivation. According to Maslow, people are not satisfied with what they have and will always request for more. From the hierarchy, they are five level can be found in each individual which is physical, security, social, ego and self-actualization. Physical needs are the base from the hierarchy. It includes the basic human needs such as the need for air, water, food, exercise and freedom form diseases. It is commonly achieve by the human being. Once this basic is achieved, then they will go for the other level which is the security. This level includes the need of safety, shelter and stability. In term of the working environment, it means that an employee may demand for the job security, they can have a stabile job, being treated fairly and have a good pay for their job. The third phase is the social, it includes the need of being loves, and they experience the feeling of belonging and inclusion. In the work place, the employee need to feel the sense of belonging and acceptance, once they have this feeling, it helps them to achieve the satisfaction on this level. Let say ones cannot fulfill this level, for example maybe he or she facing problem in their marriage; it will lead to fail on this level. After fulfill this level, it comes to another level which is the ego or known as self-esteem and follow by the highest level which is the self-actualization. Figure1. Maslows Job Hierarchy of Needs Model 2.3 Work Condition According to Stallworth and Kleiner (1996) increasingly an organizations physical layout is designed around employee needs in order to maximize productivity and satisfaction. Employee would prefer to work in an organization which can provide better physical comfort and convenience. With a better environment, it can reduce the unsatisfied feeling of the employees. According to Robbins (2001), working conditions will influence job satisfaction, as employees are concerned with a comfortable physical work environment. 2.4 Promotion A study conduct by Ellickson and Logsdon (2002) claim that with municipal government workers where satisfaction with promotional opportunities was found to be positively and significantly related to job satisfaction. The chances to get promotion have a strong effect on the employee job satisfaction. From the study, the management can take notes that promotion can always be a motivation tools for them to ensure the employee can achieve their goals. 2.5 Gender Gender is one of the demographic characteristic that researchers always investigated the relationship with the job satisfaction. Shahri (2001) found that male managers were more satisfied with their jobs than female managers in upper level management. From the study of Tang and Talpade (1999), it found that men tend to have higher satisfaction with remuneration in relation to females, while females tended to have higher satisfaction with co-workers than males. From the previous study, it shows that the job satisfaction effected by the gender. 2.6 Age Most of the studies found the existing relationship between age and job satisfaction. According to the study done by Drafke and Kossen (2002), it shows that older employee with more working experience are more satisfied compare with younger employee, the study also claim that job satisfaction increase with age. Greenberg and Baron (1995) claims that generally older employees are more satisfied with their job compare with younger employee. From the reviews, it shows that age play a role in the employees job satisfaction. 2.7 Research Framework The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affect the job satisfaction in call center. This part is regarding the discussion that forming the theoretical framework. It is based on the previous studies that had been review. There are two independents variables, which consist of the personal factors and the organizational factors. The personal factors includes gender and age, meanwhile the organizational factors includes work condition and promotion. Figure 2 shows the theoretical framework for the study. Organizational Factors Work condition promotion Job satisfaction Personal Factors Gender Age Figure 2 Theoretical Framework 2.8 Summary This chapter has discussed about the factors that influence the job satisfaction. This was discussing clearly with different researchers and theorist. The Maslows Hierarchy of Needs also reviewed as this theory related with the research topic. It is good for management to understand the factors that influence the job satisfaction. It helps organization to indentify those factors and avoid the mistake. . CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Hypotheses statement Hypothesis 1 Ho: There is positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Hypothesis 2 Ho: There is positive relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Hypothesis 3 Ho: There is positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Hypothesis 4 Ho: There is positive relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 3.2 Research Design There are a lots of research method to use to analyze job satisfaction. There is no single method or the most appropriate on it. According to Punch (1998) each approach has it strength and weaknesses. When we understand each of the strength and weaknesses, we can select or combine the approach. This study used quantitative methods involving survey questionnaires to collect the quantitative data. The purpose is to determine whether there is a correlation between the personal and organizational factors with the job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was used to measure the level of job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. The Job in General (JIG) also used to measure the overall job satisfaction. 3.3 Research Sample The present number of all the front liners in Sing Tel consists of 210 employees. Therefore, the sample was selected randomly from a total of 50 respondents that able to facilitate the objectives of the study. This sample size was according to the Roscoes rule of thumb (cited in Sekaran, 2003) which is stated that sample larger than 30 and less than 500 is appropriate for most research. 3.4 Research Instrument The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General (JIG) were used to measure the job satisfaction. The job descriptive index (JDI), created by Smith, Kendall, Hulin(1989), is a specific questionnaire of job satisfaction that has been widely used. It measures ones satisfaction in five dimensions such as: pay, promotion and promotion opportunities, relationship with coworkers, supervision, and the work itself. The General Job Index is an overall measurement of job satisfaction. It was an improvement on the job descriptive index because the JDI focused too much on work 33 satisfaction. The questionnaire consists 3 parts. The first part related to the personal factors in Sing Tel, the second part is regarding the job satisfaction of the front liners in Sing Tel and last part is about the organizational factors that affect job satisfaction. 3.5 Data Collection Procedures As this is my previous company, so I will distribute the questionnaire to my ex-colleague. The questionnaires were answered by the respondents by following the instructions for each section. The questionnaire will be collected after all the respondents had answered it. 3.6 Data Analysis Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) computer software program (version 12) was use to analyzed all the data that collected from the respondents. Descriptive analysis was used to explore the data collected as well as summarizing and describing the data. For this study, it was use to describe the gender and age. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction This chapter reveals and reports the findings from the study of job satisfaction among workers/ front liner in SingTel. Fifty sets of questionnaire were distributed as mentioned in the research methodology. They were processed and analyzed using SPSS Package Program (Version 12) and the results are presented in tables. The first section will provide the background of the respondents. The second section will then provide the reliability of the variables. The third section will present the correlation analysis with regards to the relationship of the independent variables in influencing the dependent variable. 4.2 Frequency Analysis 4.2.1 Gender Statistics Gender N Valid 50 Missing 0 Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid male 24 48.0 48.0 48.0 female 26 52.0 52.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 Table 4.2.1: Gender Table 4.2.1 shows the frequency distribution for gender composition. As stated previously, the total respondents for this study was 50. From the total respondents, 26 (52%) respondents were female while 24 (48%) of the respondents were male. 4.2.2 Age Age N Valid 50 Missing 0 Age Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 19-29 14 28.0 28.0 28.0 30-39 21 42.0 42.0 70.0 40-49 12 24.0 24.0 94.0 50-60 3 6.0 6.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 Table 4.2.2 Age By referring to the table 4.2.2 above, the majority of the respondents were between 30 to 39 years old (42%), the second highest of the respondents were in the range of 19 to 29 years old (14%) followed by the respondents in the range 40 to 49 years old (12%) and finally the least was 50 to 60 years old group with 6%. 4.2.3 Overall Satisfaction Overall Satisfaction N Valid 50 Missing 0 Overall Satisfaction Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Not Satisfied Slightly 0 0 0 0 Satisfied 12 24.0 24.0 24.0 Moderately Satisfied 32 64.0 64.0 88.0 Satisfied 6 12.0 12.0 100.0 Very satisfied 0 0 0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 Table 4.2.3 Overall Satisfaction From the result of table 4.2.3, there are 32 respondent out of 50 is moderately satisfied with the overall satisfaction (64%), there are 12 respondents who are slightly satisfied with the overall satisfaction (24%) and only 6 respondents are satisfied with the overall satisfaction (12%). From this result, it concludes that most of the Sing Tel Front-liner only moderately satisfied with their current condition. 4.3 Level of Job Satisfaction Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job In General (JIG) are used to measure job satisfaction in this research. The level of JDI and JIG and also others variable are measured by using the mean. The levels of perception to all variable are group into two categories as per below: Mean Std. Deviation JDI JIG 3.67 0.48 Work Condition 3.51 0.69 Promotion 3.21 0.69 Table 4.3 Level of Job Satisfaction, Work Condition and Promotion Table 4.3 shows that the level of job satisfaction of the respondents is high with mean=3.67 and sd=0.48. Respondents also perceived that their level of work condition is also high with a mean=3.51 and sd=0.69. However, there was a moderate level of perception towards promotion with a mean=3.21 and sd=0.69. 4.4 Relationship between Job Satisfaction, Age and Gender Pearson correlation (r) was used to test the relationship between job satisfaction, age and gender. The results are shown in table 4.3 below. Correlations tjs gender age tjs Pearson Correlation 1 .138 -.152 Sig. (2-tailed) . .338 .292 N 50 50 50 gender Pearson Correlation .138 1 -.004 Sig. (2-tailed) .338 . .980 N 50 50 50 age Pearson Correlation -.152 -.004 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .292 .980 . N 50 50 50 Table 4.4 It can be seen in the table 4.4, there is a positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction. but it is not significantly related to job satisfaction (r=0.138, p for gender is 0.138). Based on the result, it can be seen a negative relationship between age and job satisfaction at r=-0.152 but again it is not significantly related to job satisfaction (p for age is 0.292). 4.5 Relationship between Job Satisfaction, Work Condition and Promotion Table 4.5 shows the correlation matrix output of job satisfaction, work condition and promotion. Correlations tjs twc tp tjs Pearson Correlation 1 -.137 -.499(**) Sig. (2-tailed) . .343 .000 N 50 50 50 twc Pearson Correlation -.137 1 .620(**) Sig. (2-tailed) .343 . .000 N 50 50 50 tp Pearson Correlation -.499(**) .620(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 . N 50 50 50 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Table 4.5 It is found that job satisfaction is not significantly related to work condition but with a negative relationship(r=-0.137, p for work condition is 0.343). While for the promotion, the result shows that promotion is significantly related to job satisfaction and with a negative relationship(r=-0.499, p for promotion is 0.000). 4.6 Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Gender T-test was used in the analyses of statistically significant gender. Group Statistics gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean tjs male 24 3.7262 .28546 .05827 female 26 3.7692 .27724 .05437 Independent Samples Test Levenes Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower tjs Equal variances assumed .157 .694 -.541 48 .591 -.04304 .07960 -.20309 Equal variances not assumed -.540 47.417 .592 -.04304 .07970 -.20333 Table 4.6 There were no statistically differences in the overall perception between the respondents group according to gender as for male, mean=3.72 and for female, mean=3.77. From the result, it shows that gender is not statistically significant in the perception of affecting front-liners in Sing tel. Regression Analysis Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Correlations Collinearity Statistics B Std. Error Beta Zero-order Partial Part Tolerance 1 (Constant) 4.622 .422 10.965 .000 twc .199 .135 .232 1.473 .148 -.137 .214 .178 .591 tp -.443 .104 -.677 -4.283 .000 -.499 -.538 -.518 .586 tgender .012 .068 .021 .172 .864 .138 .026 .021 .953 tage -.068 .039 -.217 -1.743 .088 -.152 -.251 -.211 .944 a Dependent Variable: tjs Table 4.6.1 Based on the result from table 4.6.1, it shows: Job Satisfaction= 4.622+0.199(twc)-0.443(tp) +0.012(tgender)-0.068(tage) From this equation, it shows there is a positive relationship between work condition, gender and job satisfaction but not significant while relationship between age and job satisfaction is negative and significant. Only promotion is significantly related to job satisfaction with negative relationship. 4.7 Summary of Hypotheses Test Hypothesis 1 Ho: There is positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, accept Ho reject H1. Hypothesis 2 Ho: There is positive relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, reject Ho accept H1. Hypothesis 3 Ho: There is positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, accept Ho reject H1. Hypothesis 4 Ho: There is positive relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, reject Ho accept H1. 4.8 Conclusion This chapter presents the results of the statistical analysis of the hypotheses. Correlation analysis was used to test the relationship among the variables of interest provided in the study. This study revealed that: There is positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. There is negative relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. There is positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. There is negative relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 INTRODUCTION In order for an organization to be successful, it must continuously ensure the satisfactorily of their employees (Berry, 1997). In todays world, organization realize that is it important to keep their worker satisfied as human recourse is the important assets for the organization to keep their business running. In this study, employee satisfaction is pivotal to Sing Tel in order to deliver good services to their customer and also become more competitive. From the finding of this study, it is revealed that the job satisfaction of the employer is high. Promotion is the most influence factors compared to others. It is also revealed that the relationship between gender and job satisfaction is no significant. 5.2 Discussion of the Research Findings This study is about factors that influence job satisfaction in Sing Tel front-liner. A satisfied employee will deliver good service to the customer and increase company image. Based on the results, it shows that work condition and promotion are the key factors that influence a employee satisfaction. 5.2.1 Research Question One The first research question of this study was to identify what is the relationship for the organizational factors such as work condition and promotion influence the employee job satisfaction. Based on the results, it shows a positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction. Arnold and Feldman (1996) promoted factors such as temperature, lighting, ventilation, noise, working hours, and resources from all types of working conditions. Since their job is mentally demanding, so a poor working condition will influence Sing Tel front-liner to perform their job. Besides, the physical design of the work place also has certain impact on job satisfaction. A better working environment and work condition can increase employee job

Disease Caused by Environmental Exposure Essay

Environmental Diseases In epidemiology, environmental disease is disease caused by environmental factors that are not transmitted genetically or by infection. Apart from the true monogenic genetic disorders, environmental diseases may determine the development of disease in those genetically predisposed to a particular condition. Stress, physical and mental abuse, diet, exposure to toxins, pathogens, radiation, and chemicals found in almost all personal care products and household cleaners are possible causes of a large segment of non-hereditary disease. If a disease process is concluded to be the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factor influences, its etiological origin can be referred to as having a multifactorial pattern. There are many different types of environmental disease including: * Lifestyle disease such as cardiovascular disease, diseases caused by substance abuse such as alcoholism, and smoking-related disease * Disease caused by physical factors in the environment, such as skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight * Disease caused by exposure to chemicals in the environment such as toxic metals * These diseases can also be mutated and can thrive in the unnatural environment through rubbish that isn’t discarded and no sewerage systems. These factors can hurt a nation or an individual quite easily. ————————————————- Categories of environmental disease * First, there are those caused by the ancient metals: lead and mercury. * Then there are those caused by the other metals: arsenic, phosphorus, and zinc. * The newer metals can also cause environmental disease: beryllium, cadmium, chromium, manganese, nickel, cobalt, osmium, platinum, selenium, tellurium, thallium, uranium, and vanadium. * Additionally, there are environmental diseases caused by the aromatic carbon compounds including : benzene, hexachlorocyclohexane, toluene diisocyanate, phenol, pentachlorophenol,quinone and hydroquinone. Also included are the aromatic nitro-, amino-, and pyridilium-deratives: nitrobenzene, dinitrobenzene, trinitrotoluene, paramethylaminophenol sulfate (Metol), dinitro-ortho-cresol, aniline,trinitrophenylmethylnitramine (tetryl), hexanitrodiphenylamine (aurantia), phenylenediamine[disambiguation needed], and parquet. The aliphatic carbon compounds can also cause environmental disease. Included in these are methanol, nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose, dimethylnitrosamine, and the halogenated hydrocarbons: methyl, methyl bromide, trichloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, and the chlorinated naphthalene. Also included are glycols: ethylene chlorohydrins and diethylene dioxide as well as carbon, acrylonitrile, acryl amide, and vinyl chloride. * Other important chemical causes of environmental diseases are the noxious gases which can be categorized as: Simple asphyxiates, chemical asphyxiates, and irritant gases. The simple asphixiants are nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. The chemical asphyxiates are carbon monoxide, sulfuretted hydrogen and hydrogen cyanide. The irritant gases are sulfur dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, chlorine, phosgene, and fluorine and its compounds, which include luroine and hydrofluoric acid, fluorspar, fluorapatite, cryolite, and organic fluorine compounds. While many infectious diseases are caused by human-to-human transmission, others are caused by microorganisms that exist in the outside environment. Scientists from a variety of fields, including medicine and the environment, must work together to address the challenges posed by these environmental pathogens, according to a new report, From Outside to Inside: Environmental Microorganisms as Human Pathogens, released today by the American Academy of Microbiology. â€Å"The key difference between environmental pathogens and other human pathogens is their ability to survive and thrive outside the host. Their widespread occurrence in the environment makes them difficult to monitor and control,† says Gerard Cangelosi of theSeattle Biomedical Research Institute at the University of Washington, one of the authors of the report. â€Å"The fields of medical and environmental microbiology need to be better integrated to stimulate the type of work that is required to combat environmenta l pathogens effectively, and the development and improvement of surveillance and reporting strategies should be a top priority.† Environmental pathogens are defined as microorganisms that normally spend a substantial part of their lifecycle outside human hosts, but when introduced to humans cause disease with measurable frequency. They are carried in the water, soil, air, food and other parts of the environment and can affect almost every individual on the planet. Some examples of environmental pathogens include Legionella pneumophila (the cause of Legionnaires disease, often found in air conditioning systems), West Nile virus, and Cryptosporidium parvum (a parasite that can be found in food, drinking water and recreational waters). In addition to better integration of medical and environmental research, the report recommends more effective monitoring of pathogens in the environment to allow researchers to better understand the incidence and persistence of pathogens in areas that are considered to be at risk for harboring these organisms. Multidisciplinary research must also be fostered to better predict how changes in the environment may affect the frequency of environmental diseases. â€Å"These threats to human health can only be assessed in a comprehensive multidisciplinary context in which ecology, epidemiology, and emerging areas in environmental engineering and microbiology are integrated. This combined approach can yield immediate and long-term health benefits by mitigating established environmental risks, identifying risky situations for disease emerging and finding the causes of diseases of unknown etiology,† says Cangelosi. The report is the result of a colloquium convened by the Academy in February 2004 to discuss environmental pathogens and the current state of research on these organisms. Scientists with expertise in infectious diseases, food microbiology, bacteriology, molecular, microbial ecology, pathogenic mycology and other areas in the microbiological sciences participated. Participants considered the knowledge gaps related to the incidence and epidemiology of environmental infectious diseases, dynamics of human pathogens in the environment, ways to alleviate environmental infectious diseases, research needs in the field and education and communication issues. ————————————————- Causes of Environmental diseases Environmental diseases are caused by chemical agents, radiation, and physical hazards. The effects of exposure, in both natural and work settings, are greatly influenced by the exposure routes: primarily air pollution and water pollution, contaminated food, and direct contact with toxins. Synergistic affects—two or more toxic exposures acting together—are also important, as illustrated by the greatly increased risk of lung cancer in asbestos workers who smoke cigarettes. The potential interaction of multiple hazardous chemicals at toxic waste dumps poses a current public health problem that is of unknown dimensions. Industrial society has introduced or increased human exposure to thousands of chemicals in the environment. Examples are inorganic materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and asbestos, and organic substances such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), vinyl chloride, and the pesticide DDT. Of particular concern is the delayed potential for these chemicals to produce cancer, as in the cases of lung cancer and mesothelioma caused by asbestos, liver cancer caused by vinyl chloride, and leukemia caused by benzene. Minamata disease, caused by food contaminated with mercury, and Yusho disease, from food contaminated with chlorinated furans, are examples of acute toxic illnesses occurring in nonoccupational settings. The full toxic potential of most environmental chemicals has not been completely tested. The extent and frequency of an illness are related to the dose of toxin, in degrees depending on the toxin. For chronic or delayed effects such as cancer or adverse reproductive effects, no â€Å"safe† dose threshold may exist below which disease is not produced.

China, India, and Wal-Mart: Issues of Price, Quality, and Sourcing Essay

1. What are the ethical issues associated with Wal-Mart’s extensive sourcing of low-cost products from China? Wal-Mart pricing is too low. As the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart leverages its huge orders to convince factories to sell goods at low prices that are not sustainable. This puts pressure on other brands to pay less, thereby setting a dangerous industry precedent. According to Correspondent Hedrick Smith: â€Å"We heard that story again and again from American manufacturers in sectors as diverse as electronics, apparel, bicycles, furniture, and textiles. They expressed private dismay at the relentless pressure from the likes of Wal-Mart and Target to cut costs to the bone in America and then, when that did not satisfy the mass retailers, more pressure to move production to China or elsewhere offshore. But most did not dare to go on camera and tell their story publicly for fear of jeopardizing their remaining sales to Wal-Mart.† (Smith) Another ethical issue is safety of the products we receive and the working conditions of the outsourced employees. From the Wal-Mart routinely turns a blind eye to poor conditions in supplier factories unless investigations are made public. â€Å"Retailer admits fire safety aspects are not adequately covered in ethical sourcing audits†. (Yardley) Wal-Mart needs more transparent ethical sourcing efforts. â€Å"Wal-Mart buys more than $1 billion in garments from Bangladesh each year, attracted by the country’s $37-a-month minimum wage, the lowest in the world.†(Yardley) 2. Based on your experience, does Wal-Mart sacrifice product quality in order to offer customers low prices  ¾ always? Yes. I don’t really shop at Wal-Mart anymore. I don’t believe the price you pay is for a quality product. I would rather save up my money and buy it from another retailer with a good reputation. I believe in the saying â€Å"You get what you pay for†. I have a problem with how they treat employees and when you go in the stores these days there are definite operation issues: Customers and analysts have noticed the operational problems in the stores, Wal-Mart associates have felt the impact most acutely. In the first national independent poll of Wal-Mart associates, conducted by Lake Research Partners in May and June of 2011, concerns about staffing levels were broadly cited by associates among top three things they would change with the company, after higher pay and more respect on the job. Among the other findings: * Nearly  ¾ say understaffing has created problems such as stock-outs, messy stores and poor customer service; * In contrast to company statements regarding high levels of employee satisfaction, 84% say they would take a better job if they could find one *  ½ say they are living paycheck to paycheck; only 14% describe their household as living comfortably. Across the country the reductions in staffing have translated into significantly increased workloads. A few examples convey the scale of the changes: * An associate in the electronics department in Southern California: â€Å"There used to be four or five people in consumer electronics at any given time, now it’s one or two;† * An associate in overnight stocking in Southern California: â€Å"I used to do five pallets a night, now they say I have to do 12;† * A former assistant manager in Seattle: â€Å"Our store used to have about 600 employees, now it’s about 350.† (Marshall) What advice would you give to critics of Wal-Mart in order to enhance their impact on the company? To enhance their impact on governmental and regulatory agencies? To enhance their impact on society in general? I can’t seem to think of anything or in my research, it has all been negative. I would love to hear what others in our class had to say on this subject and the problem lies that I am not a fan either.

Analysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter - 1961 Words

Vital to the â€Å"A† The Scarlet Letter is a book complete of secrets and deceptions. The book teaches you about the difference about telling the truth or keeping it a secret. It shows you the challenges of both telling the truth and keeping a secret from everyone. There are many vital scenes throughout the book. With many of the scenes, if they weren’t in the book it would have had a completely different ending. The Scarlet Letter is a book full of eventful scenes that keep the book both exciting and interesting. One of many vital scenes in the book is when Hester is accused of adultery and sentenced to wear the scarlet â€Å"A† on her chest. This crucial scene takes place on the scaffold, Hester is holding Pearl awaiting to hear what her punishment for committing adultery. After hearing both Governor Bellingham and Reverend Dimmesdale discuss her and the mistakes, Hester was ready to obtain her punishment for not reviling the name of Pearl’s father. Because of this Dimmesdale decl ared that Hester must wear a scarlet â€Å"A† on the center of her chest. Hester was relived and disheartened. This was the scene that established the remainder of book. The usual punishment during the Puritans time for adultery was execution. So if Hester had been given the usual punishment for her crime, she would have died. This would have certainly changed the entire book, maybe there would even be a book! The book is about Hester living her life with the â€Å"A†. So if she died what would the book beShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 2314 Words   |  10 PagesKatya Flaska American Literature Period 5 10 August 2014 The Scarlet Letter Book Analysis 1. The book is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The genre of the novel is historical fiction. 2. The preamble describes how the book came to be written. The narrator was a surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, where he discovered documents he used to write the story. He uncovered a manuscript with a scarlet â€Å"A†, which contained the events recorded by a previous surveyor in the 1600s. When the narratorRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1120 Words   |  5 Pages From the very first chapter, the Scarlet Letter guides readers on a journey that explores the darkness of the human heart and redemption from sin. It is in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that we introduced to a trio of characters interconnected by their sins: an adulteress, a minister and a physician. The adulteress is a woman named Hester Prynne who, as punishment for her transgressions, must wear a scarlet A on chest and is shunned by her community. Yet, Hester s eventual acceptance of herRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1141 Words   |  5 PagesBlake Allison P#1 AP NOVEL FORM 1. Title: The Scarlet Letter 2. Author and date of first publication: Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850 3. List four main characters with a one-sentence description of each. a. Hester Prynne- Hester Prynne, the protagonist and wearer of the scarlet letter, is a very independent, loving, intelligent, and at times depressed woman who is the mother of Pearl. b. Arthur Dimmesdale- Arthur Dimmesdale, the father of Pearl, is a reverend in town who is greatly honored forRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1563 Words   |  7 PagesReading The Scarlet Letter again, I imagine Hester Prynne as she steps out of the Boston jail. She carries her out-of-wedlock baby in her arms but does not hide the A she wears on her breast. Her crime, though it will never be named in the book by more than an initial, is placed on exhibition. Yet she has converted the letter into her own statement by fantastic flourishes of gold embroidery. She is a mystery beyond the reach not only of her fellow Bostonians but also of the readerRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1628 Words   |  7 PagesThe book, The Scarlet Letter, is about the struggle three people face while trying to live their lives and find happiness. In the early 1640s, Hester has come to the small town of Boston, Massachusetts, while her husband, Chillingworth, w as back in Great Britain. Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale, the town s priest, engage in the act of adultery and have a baby girl named Pearl, though only Hester knows that Dimmesdale is the father. She has promised Dimmesdale not to give up his identity. HesterRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1404 Words   |  6 Pageswhere the scarlet letter, A, is an extended metaphor that symbolizes a multitude of things: adultery, sin, charity, righteousness, grace, and the danger of merely thinking symbolically. It also compares and contrasts the current states of Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Arthur Chillingworth. With this, it has a logical progression to the book’s ultimate conclusion. This section can be done in a bulleted format with brief (2-3 sentences) summaries by chapter if that works for the book. Chapter 1:Read MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1143 Words   |  5 PagesIn the book,The Scarlet Letter, there are many questions that grab the reader’s attention. One of the most intriguing and thought ­provoking question is, â€Å"Is Hester Prynne a good mother and should she be allowed to keep Pearl?† This question does not have a simple yes or no answer, the reader must take into account many things the author mentions in the book. However, after careful consideration, one might find that Hester is not, in fact, a good mother, but should be allowed to keep Pearl. ThereRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1184 Words   |  5 PagesAs I began my summer reading assignment I wasn’t too amused at the beginning chapters of the â€Å"Scarlet Letter,† With Hawthorne throwing around words like â€Å"quietude† I wasn’t sure if it was truly the difference in his old English speech, or if he was tossing in obscure words just to send people looking through their dictionaries to find out if he had, in fact, made the word up, or not. But, as I delved deeper into Hawthorn’s work I found a brilliant story with some of the richest charactersRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter Essay1022 Words   |  5 Pagesand women was even more prominent and obvious during the antebellum era. In The Scarlet Letter By Nathanial Hawthorne there was Hester Prynne and in The Two Offers By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, there was Janette Alston. Both of these women, rose above the rest, through adversity, hardship, and against all odds still came out on top, even during a time period that didn’t appreciate a strong woman. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, Hester Prynne, was thrown in jail and forced to wear a symbol of her sin andRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 2029 Words   |  9 PagesThe Evolution of the A in The Scarlet Letter â€Å"So, in the course of the novel, the ‘A’ seems to encompass the entire range of human beingness, from the earthly and passionate ‘adulteress’ to the pure and spiritual ‘angel,’ taking into account everything in between,† begins Claudia Durst Johnson (128). Many believe the A in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter possesses only one meaning - adulterer; however, Hawthorne imbues the symbolic letter with diverse definitions. In the novel, Hawthorne