XYZ Corporation is a leading global solutions provider with over 120,000 employees. XYZ provides services, systems, products and solutions within five business sectors consisting of aerospace systems, electronics systems, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to both the U.S. government and commercial customers worldwide. The vision of the corporation is to become the leading provider of systems and technologies to their customers while establishing themselves as a top global defense and technology contractor.
XYZ divides its business units into sectors. These sectors consist of Aerospace Systems, Electronic Systems, Information Systems, Shipbuilding and Technical Services. The mission of the Aerospace Systems sector is to provide manned and unmanned aircraft, space technology systems, missile systems and advanced technologies to their customers. This sector contains projects valued at approximately billion dollars and is supported by a team of 24,000 employees. These employees develop and provide products including space satellites projects, space science projects, manned and unmanned aircraft systems, laser projects, and advanced technology projects for their customers.
The Aerospace Systems sector is organized in a project oriented environment that operates within a matrix organization to support the multiple projects that are concurrently in operation and within the various stages of the project life cycle. Each project requires a project manager and corresponding support staff to facilitate the technical, cost and schedule reporting requirements of each project.
Due to the absence of a formal project management selection program within the Aerospace Systems sector, there is an inconsistency in the quality of the developed skills and experience of the existing project managers currently assigned throughout the organization. This has contributed too many of the organization’s projects completing behind schedule and over budget which impacts the performance goals of the organization resulting in a loss of revenue for the company.
Evidence of the Problem:
Through conversations with various project team leaders and meetings and discussions held with some of the sector’s project managers over the past several months, issues emerged concerning the competence and abilities of the sectors project managers. Deficient characteristics and skills pertaining to project managers as expressed by employees from these discussions includes the selection process of the project managers, the communication skills of the project manager, and the lack of people and business skills pertained by current project managers.
Currently, only employees with engineering backgrounds can be considered for project managers. Within this pool of employees, new project managers are selected for the sector projects based upon their technical ability and on their prior job performance on previous projects. Also taken into consideration by the executive management is the employee’s ranking among the other employees within their classification. However, the employee ranking can tend to be subjective as the employee ratings are often biased towards manager’s favorites or personal relationships.
Also, by limiting the project manager selection to only those employees with engineering backgrounds, the organization is eliminating potentially very good project manager candidates from other areas of the business. This process reduces the overall growth and capabilities of the project management office. There are employees who are not part of the engineering discipline that have the technical aptitude and the ability to become project managers but will never be provided with the opportunity within the current system.
The current process has some limitations. Since project managers are selected based on their technical background within engineering, there are many assigned project managers who have not developed the necessary skills required to be a successful project manager. Some of the areas of concern that have occurred due to the absence of a formal project management selection process include:
Communication: Often, the project manager is very conscientious about communicating frequently with the customer to discuss the status and progress of the project. Unfortunately, many project managers forget to communicate regularly with the project team to keep them informed about any concerns and issues that the company and customer are focused on as they relate to the current phase of the project. These communication skills include oral, written and non-verbal. There was an issue a few years ago on one of our satellite programs where the customer and the project manager were discussing a new funding profile for the project for the next fiscal year. The project manager, though communicating with the customer, forgot to share this information with the project team. As a result, the project was slow to react to the new budget profile and was over target on the cost projections for the next fiscal year.
People: One of the strengths of a technically competent engineer is the ability to focus on acquiring solutions for/or solving a specific technical issue for the project. However, this focused attention can sometimes affect the engineer’s ability to work within the team environment and can interfere with the employee’s development of people skills. These include working with the team members to solve problems rather than working alone, the ability to actively listen to other team members, understanding and expressing your thoughts to the team, seeking advice and opinions from others, coaching other team members and learning how to identify and relate to each member of the team. We had a research and development project led by a new project manager who was a lead technical designer. This project was his first assignment as a project manager and it was evident from his first week on the job that he was overwhelmed. He had no idea how to talk to the team, what tasks to do first and how the work should get done. He managed the project team through anger and threats and operated a closed door policy for the team. His management style and direction led to team members withholding important project information to the project office that ultimately delayed the project completion date from the fear of how the project manager would react and treat the bearer of “bad news”.
Project Planning: Most project managers understand the need for a project schedule but few recognize the mechanics and value that the project schedule can provide. One of the areas of concern is the understanding and calculation of the project schedule’s total float or slack and the impact it has on the project’s critical path. One of our project managers did not understand the definition of “total float” nor had any knowledge of how it is applied to the project. Another project issue that affects the schedule is the project manager’s ability to control the volume of changes that occur during the project which often result in the restructuring and rescheduling of the project plan which could impact the project’s delivery. It is important to have a documented change control process for managing the changes that occur during the project’s life cycle.
Business Management: Some of the organization’s project managers do not fully comprehend the terminology and use of the earned value system. We had an engineering project that was led by a technical competent project manager. This project manager concealed his lack of business knowledge by saying he understood the financial data presented to him but he never questioned the validity of the data or what was behind the numbers. The completed project met the customers’ technical specifications but the project completed nearly a year behind schedule and vastly over budget. The ability of the project manager to understand the concepts and definitions of earned value management will better prepare them to access the team’s progress during each reporting period. Also, the project manager’s understanding of the earned value system will enable them to provide better insight on the project’s performance to the company and to the customer and will enhance the ability to access the impacts of any cost overruns that may have occurred on the project.
Subcontract Management: Many of the cost overruns that have occurred on previous projects in our company have been caused by the poor oversight of the project’s major subcontracts. This has created cost overruns on projects and schedule delays to key project deliverables. On a development contract for a new engine, the company issued a contract to a vendor to produce a critical piece of hardware for the project. The company, through the acceptance of the project manager, agreed with the cost, scope and schedule bid by the vendor. However, during the course of the project, the vendor suffered some delays in the manufacturing and assembly of the hardware resulting in a six month delay to the contract delivery. The project was unable to revise a plan to accommodate the hardware slip which resulted in the late delivery of the product to the customer. One factor contributing to the project’s late delivery was the project manager’s lack of subcontract management oversight of the vendor which could have provided early warning indicators that the vendor was having trouble.
Training: New project managers are assigned to projects without any training provided by the organization. All experiences are learned on the job and through consultation with other project managers. Many new project managers are over whelmed by the complexity, demands and responsibilities imposed by the project. Very few new project managers are able to complete their first assigned project and are either replaced or transferred to other projects or new proposals for the company.
Nature of the Problem of Leadership:
Leadership can be defined as the process where an individual attempts to influence a group of people to accomplish an objective or a set of goals while directing the group in a manner that makes them more cohesive as a unit. As one goal gets completed, additional goals are added thus creating a continuous process for the leader to manage. Leaders apply their knowledge, skills and personalities to this process. Leadership characteristics have been discussed and documented throughout history from Plato in Greece to Confucius in China. As early as 500 B.C., Confucius listed the virtues of effective leaders and identified four elements that were keys to his beliefs: Jen (love), Li (proper conduct), Xiao (piety) and Zhang rong (the doctrine of the mean). Notice that three of the virtues are emotional and only one (Li) is managerial. Confucius’s leadership theory has formed the basis of Chinese government for over 2,500 years (Turner; Muller, 2005).
Today, modern leadership discussions and principles share concepts from the ancient discussions. According to the U.S. Army, there are four major factors effecting leadership: Leaders, Followers, Communication and Situation. A leader must understand who they are they must have the confidence to trust in their ability to lead others. They must also recognize that the followers are the ones who will determine if the leader is deemed successful. If the followers lack confidence in their leaders it is unlikely they will be inspired to perform on the job. Thus, a leader should get to know each member of their staff and understand the factors that influence them. Since there are many different types of people, there are different management styles the leader must engage in order to reach each person. Also, leaders lead through communication. Often, the leader communicates through two-way, non verbal methods. The ability of the leader to communicate can affect their relationship with the team members. Lastly, the leader should understand that all situations are different and what worked in one scenario may not necessarily work in another. The leader must use their judgment and knowledge to determine the best course of action for each situation. There are various forces at work (senior management, the skill levels of the project team, functional staff managers and the project organization) that will affect the leadership of the project manager (U.S. Army, 1983).
In my experiences I’ve found that anyone can take and use power and act like a leader. However, it takes skill to use leadership. Leadership inspires others to help achieve a goal while power forces others to complete a goal. I’ve worked with many managers who have led through power. One was compelled to complete an assignment because you had to, not because you wanted to. The teams under this type of leadership were not cohesive and were not supportive of one another or of the team’s goals. Many people operated out of self preservation and were unwilling to support the other team members. Consequently, the project managers that led through power were not very successful and the project manager was often replaced before the project was completed.
Research on leadership as it relates to project management has implied that successful project managers have the ability to multi-task and navigate the many competing demands placed on them during the life of the project. These demands include events that can affect the past, present and future activities of the project. The ability of the project manager to visualize the relationships between past, present and future project events can be characterized as temporal skills. Temporal skills are time related skills to specific past, present and future events and are abilities required by leaders in order to perform specific tasks. Temporal skills are not found in leadership books because it is generally assumed they are possessed by all leaders. However, since each individual has a different temporal chemistry, not all project managers are equipped with these skills. Those who lack these skills may not be able to perform some of the leadership tasks effectively (Thoms, Pinto, 1999).
Successful project managers have the ability to look forward in the project and help to create the future instead of reacting to it. An important feature of project leadership to consider is that due to the nature of the job, project managers are required to operate in each of the three time-oriented (past, present and future) modes (Table 1). Project leaders need the past orientation to engage in problem solving and team member evaluations. And the project leaders use present time orientation to manage the parallel tasks occurring in the project while controlling the project schedule. Lastly, it is vital for the project manager to possess the future time orientation skills to develop and maintain the project vision while developing contingency plans for future unseen problems (Thoms, Pinto, 1999).
Nature of Project Manager Selection:
XYZ specializes in large, complex and often unique projects which are highly technical and often feature newly developed innovations, components and assemblies. These high profile projects require mature and experienced project managers. Unfortunately, very few of the company’s project managers possess the skill set and well-rounded experience required to mange these complex engineering, manufacturing and development projects. As a result, the project manager is often replaced during the life cycle of the project either at the request of the customer or by the company itself for failure to meet the project’s requirements or customer expectations.
Since the Project Manager has the responsibility for the project’s cost, schedule and technical performance, the selection of new project managers should not be based solely upon the qualifications and experience of an individual’s engineering technical experience. The company should also proactively take into consideration the individuals experience and performance in working and interfacing with the business, procurement, manufacturing and quality assurance teams. Also, the executive management should empower the Project Manager to take the initiative to perform any actions necessary to complete the project successfully. These actions include the authority to make design decisions during the development phase of the project, and the ability to control the requirements, budget, schedule, resources, and product quality of the project.
Characteristics of Good Project Managers:
Through the development and implementation of a formal project manager selection process, the company can promote more balanced and experienced employees as project managers. The company can also develop an approach to standardize and distribute company acceptable and proven processes derived by current project managers from previous projects to all future project managers for implementation and use on their project. This formal selection process will help to provide process commonality across all sector projects. Also, training modules in various subjects can be made available for new project managers to provide information and consultation on the important characteristics required by the project.
A study was conducted of American project managers to determine what characteristics make an effective project manager. Some of the effective characteristics of a project manager defined by the study include: leading by example, having a vision for the project, being technically competent, being a good communicator, being a good motivator, and supporting the project team members (Zimmerer; Yasin, 1998). The most important characteristic found in the study was the willingness of the project manager to lead by example, while focusing on the project’s goals and being committed to the project’s challenges prior to asking the project team members to agree to the same (Pinto, 2007).
Increased studies and research examining the traits and abilities associated with effective project leadership skills have changed the perspective of leadership. While technical and organizational skills are still regarded as important, the concept of emotional intelligence has been suggested as the more meaningful measurement of a leader’s effectiveness. Emotional intelligence can be defined as the leaders’ ability to understand the effectiveness of the emotional and relational interactions between a leader and their staff.
Five elements have been identified that characterize emotional intelligence; self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill. A project manager who possesses these traits can develop relationships with the project team members that are critical to guiding an effective team. Self-awareness represents the understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, ego needs, drives and motives. One who is self-aware has a clear perspective of one’s self and being self-aware does not imply that one is excessively self-centered or self-involved. Self-regulation refers to a leaders’ willingness to keep themselves under control. This includes thinking before acting. Effective leaders are those who have developed self-regulation techniques (ability to reflect upon events, responding after thoughtful consideration, and avoiding impulsive reactions). Effective leaders are often highly motivated people that are self driven to achieve their potential. These people recognize that in order for them to be successful, they need to work with the project team members to help them generate their maximum performance. Two common traits regarding motivation among effective leaders include the identification of clear markers to monitor and demonstrate progress and the consistent strive for greater challenges. Empathy relates to a leaders’ wiliness to consider the feelings of other team members while making informed decisions. Lastly, social skill refers to a leaders’ ability to manage relationships with others. Having a good social skill is more than being friendly; it is about “friendliness with a purpose”. Social skill is the ability to move people in a desired direction. Thus emotional intelligence is a concept that reflects an important point. Most of the critical project management skills that define effective leadership are not related to either technical skills or analytical ability. More importantly, a greater emphasis is placed on the self-management skills as reflected in emotional intelligence. It has been stated that “project management is first and foremost a people management challenge” (Goleman, 1998).
All newly selected project managers provide some levels of knowledge, skills and abilities they have acquired through their career. However, competencies within the various disciplines are the result of years of experience built up over time through on the job work experience and lessons learned. When someone switches from a project team position to a project manager position they are often faced with a sufficient amount of change. Their special technical qualifications decrease in importance and management skills, including interpersonal skills, become more critical (Strohmeier, 1992).
Competency Characteristics:
Common competency characteristics found among project managers include knowledge and skill. Knowledge includes the information an individual contains within a specific area or discipline and skill represents the ability to perform any required task. Knowledge and skill are competencies that are developed and assessed through training and experience. A competency model (Fig. 1) or an attribute based framework for project managers was developed to reconcile the performance based approaches to competency and to provide a means to identify and measure various aspects of competence against standards. The model acknowledges that competence can be inferred from attributes (including knowledge, skills, experience, personality traits, attitudes and behaviors). This is represented in the model by the input competencies knowledge, skill and core personality. The performance based competence input relies on the use of practices performed in the workplace (Crawford, 2005).
Competence can be defined as the combination of skills, abilities and knowledge applied to adequately perform a specific task. The competency model shown if Figure 1 contains attribute based and performance based inferences of competence. The attribute based competencies include knowledge, skills and core personality characteristics. The knowledge and skills boxes pertain to the knowledge, training, skills, experience and abilities that a project manager brings to the project and are identified as input competencies. The core personality characteristics box, identified as personal competencies, provides the human performance skills and represents the factors affecting the project manager’s capability to manage the project. The performance based competency is represented by the demonstrable performance box and relates to the technical skills possessed by the project manager to perform the project management duties and activities to the performance level required by the project. Demonstrable performance is identified as output competencies in the model. The input, personal and output competencies combine to define the competence of a project manager.
The competency model addresses the various aspects of competence (input, personal and output) that are discussed in literature and presented in project management standards. Measurements regarding competencies require identified standards from which one can measure against. As identified in the model, only knowledge and demonstrable performance have identified standards. These include the APM Body of Knowledge and the PMBOK for knowledge and the Australian National Competency Standards for Project Management and the United Kingdom’s National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) framework for demonstrable performance (Crawford, 2005).
Project Manager Human Skills:
Many of Northrop’s projects are classified as research and development contracts and contain areas of high technical complexity, high schedule and cost risk, high probabilities for unknown occurrences and a high degree of uncertainty. Project managers work with a large staff do get the work accomplished even though they have little management control them. A study conducted by Katz suggested that the effective programmatic skills required to be a successful project manager can be split into three developable skills. These are the human skill, the conceptual skill and the technical skill (El-Sabaa, 2001).
The Human Skill is used to define the project manager’s ability to work effectively as a group leader and to foster a cooperative work effort within the project team he leads. This skill can be demonstrated by observing the manner which the project manager perceives, recognizes and behaves toward the attitudes of his superiors, equals and subordinates. In effect, the human skill can be considered the people skill. It has identified that people management is an important skill for a project manager since much of the project manager’s time is spent communicating with different parties (Wateridge, 1997). A project manager who has highly developed human skill is one who is sensitive to the needs and motivations of the people within his project team and is skillful in communicating with others in their own context.
One of the human skills, interpersonal skill, can be defined as the feelings and behaviors that exist within an individual that affect and influence the interactions with others. Project managers are often challenged by the task of motivating others during difficult circumstances. The project team members maybe stressed, overworked, frustrated and overwhelmed by the steady flow of deadlines and changes that occur during the phases of the project. The project manager must rely on his interpersonal skill to inspire the project team to stay focused on the current project goals and expectations. The project manager must utilize his experience and have confidence in his own abilities and of the abilities of the project team to successfully complete the project (Jeffery, 1985).
Another important human skill for a project manager is the ability to maintain a positive attitude and optimistic outlook for the project team. Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania has made a career of studying optimism and reasons that negative thinking in a work environment is a predictor of task failure. The belief that optimism can be learned creates an opportunity to provide training to project managers (Dolfi; Andrews, 2007). Many projects go through periods where budget constraints, technical problems, late supplier deliveries, resource shortages or compressed schedules have impacted the performance and attitude of the project team. The ability of the project manager to maintain a positive outlook and slant towards the given situation helps to lessen the added stress absorbed by the project team. However, the project manager should remember that being optimistic about a situation still requires some type of action rather than doing nothing.
Leadership Skills:
A learned human skill valuable to all project managers is leadership. Leadership abilities inherent or obtained through experiences are vital to the selection of the project manager. These leadership competencies should be factored into the selection and assignment of project managers. The selection board should select the candidate whose competencies best fits the type of project being assigned (Muller; Turner, 2009).
Important leadership skills include vision, communication, integrity and passion. Vision represents the ability of the project manager to visualize what he wants from the project and the projection of how to accomplish the near term goals of the project. The project manager must be able to convey the project view to the entire project team. The ability of the project manager to gain the involvement of the team members towards his vision is when the entire project team begins to operate as a unit. An effective project manger recognizes that decisions made without participation from top management can significantly affect the likelihood of their vision becoming reality (Morton, 1983).
Communication Skills:
Communication is probably the most important skill of a project manager. Since communication is an integral part of the leadership skills, the project manager loses his ability to lead without it. A project manager needs to communicate with various people at different levels and should be able to articulate and be concise, fair and able to be understood. They also need to be good listeners and to be able to read both verbal and nonverbal messages (Pettersen, 1991).
Good communication skills for project managers to learn include negotiation and persuasion techniques. These qualities help to provide openness and relativity for the project. The project manager is involved with many negotiations that occur throughout the project life cycle. Some situations that can arise which require the skills of the project manager include changes or issues to the project scope, cost or schedule; those involving the contract terms and conditions; or involving resource availability and utilization (Edum-Fotwe; McCaffer, 2000).
Also, a project manager must have integrity to be successful. The actions of the project manager set an example for the rest of the project team to follow. The project manager is responsible for setting the standards (ethically and morally) for the project team and must lead by example. The project manager should have the ability to apply communication skills relating to the understanding of emotions that can affect the project team. This ability is important in leadership contexts for knowing how and when to use it can help to stimulate the creativity, optimism and excitement among the project team (Clarke, 2009).
Lastly, a project manager needs to have a passion for the job. A project manager without passion is one that lacks dedication. The project manager has to be passionate about the project and he should be enthusiastic about it and possess a positive attitude. Only by portraying these traits will the project team follow and respect the decisions of the project manager. It is important for the project manager to remember that not all project team members contributing to the project share a common objective for the project and some may believe the project manager is not engaged in the day-to-day problems (Wearne, 2008). A project manager without passion will lose the trust and respect of the project team. The project manager needs to engage in the project and present a feeling of commitment and optimism to the project team. Kendra and Taplin state that ‘‘for organizations to be successful with the adoption of project management, they need to establish a shared set of values and beliefs (a project management culture) that aligns with the social and technical aspects of project management to achieve the organization’s business objectives” (Thomas; Mengal, 2008).
According to Katz, an effective administrator must develop his own personal point of view toward human activity, so that he would: (a) recognize the feelings and sentiments which he brings into a situation; (b) have an attitude about his own experiences which will enable him to re-evaluate and learn from them; (c) develop ability in understanding what others, by their actions and words (explicitly or implicitly), are trying to communicate to him; and (d) develop ability in successfully communicating his ideas and attitudes to others (El-Sabaa, 2001).
Research has identified and/or described the importance of communication by a project manager to their project team, including discussions relating to the project goals and the monitoring and feedback of the project data. Also, the results of research studies confirmed the overall value of communication in managing projects. Pinto also found that project performance on task outcomes, budget, schedule, level of performance, and likelihood of usage by clients, improves with project managers who actively communicate with team members (Henderson, 2004).
Project Manager Conceptual Skills:
The conceptual skill can be defined as the project manager’s ability to obtain a global perspective on the entire project. It includes the recognition by the project manager of how the various functions and pieces of the project depend upon one another and how changes in any one section could affect all of the other areas of the project. Thus, the conceptual skill can be referred to as the organizational skill. The conceptual skill also contains the visualization of the relationship between the project and the goals and objectives defined by the company. Project leadership encompasses the ability to manage a team. Skills in managing relationships are critical for the project manager to achieve stakeholder satisfaction for all phases of the project (Pant; Baroudi, 2006).
Another important conceptual skill for a project manager to have concerns the ability to think logically. Logical thinking is a leaned skill. There are many situations for a project manager where the ability to think logically is an important asset. Logical thinking is the ability to think in terms of causes and effects. This implies that logical thinking is sequential thinking and therefore means following a train of thought. It is based on the analysis and interpretation of a set of events and then predicting what will happen if the same conditions or events continue to occur. This skill enables the project manager to proactively respond to potential problems before they can impact the project and plan for contingencies to help mitigate their impact if the problems are realized.
Project Manager Organizational Skills:
One of the organizational skills that is important for a project manager to understand and recognize relates to the needs and perceptions of the project stakeholders. The stakeholders play an important role in the success of the project. The communication plan developed by the project manager needs to include the expectations and perceptions of the project’s stakeholders. Unfortunately, stakeholder perceptions of project management are based on prior experience with other projects, other project managers and different organizations. There is a general understanding for the need and importance for the project manager to possess a good communication skill. The communication skill is used to gain agreements from all stakeholders on the project success criteria and to establish effective communication channels between the project manager, organization and the customer (Stevenson; Starkweather, 2009). Therefore, the project manager should develop a communication plan that relies on open communication channels, reminds the stakeholders that this not the old project but a new and different project with a different set of requirements and to provide accurate and timely information to the stakeholders that meet their expectations and needs.
Project Manager Business and Technical Skills:
The technical skill implies that the project manager has an understanding and proficiency in a specific area involving methods, processes, procedures or techniques. To be successful, the project manager should possess the knowledge and experience required by the project they are to be managing. The technical skill involves the knowledge and experience in the use of the required tools and techniques of a specific discipline including engineering, business, planning and management.
Business skills include accounting, finance, budgeting, forecasting and contracts. Since the project manager is ultimately responsible for the development, control and management of the project’s budgets and cost estimates, the project manager should possess some basic knowledge of finance and accounting principles, forecasting techniques and contract management.
It is common for project managers to work within compressed timelines, adhere to locked delivery dates, work with tight schedule margins, manage multiple resources across the organization and meet the project deliverables on time and within budget. As a result, planning is often acknowledged as the most important activity for the project manager to get engaged with. In order to meet the needs, requirements and customer expectations of the project, the project manager should possess some experience in the use and applications of schedule management.
The duties of the project manager are vast and all project managers must be able to simultaneously manage the project’s work scope, budget, schedule and resources in support of the project requirements and the needs of the customer. The project manager should have the technical skills required as the project team leader to provide solutions to the difficult issues and technical problems that will occur during the project. It is therefore recommended that the project manager is diligent in building a project staff that best compliments his own skills and expertise to mange for project success. A project manager should try to create an “atmosphere conducive to achievement”. In other words, create an environment where the project team can successfully perform the work (Lynne Thomas; Buckle-Henning, 2007).
Project Manager Selection – Bibliography
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The brain comprises of billions of nerve cells that are arranged in patterns. The nerve cells coordinate sensation, movement, behavior, emotion and thought. The complicate highway system of nerves is connects the brain to the rest of the body enhancing communication between the brain and body in split seconds. The brain performs different functions. However, it takes different processes and different parts of the brain to execute these functions. Therefore, to understand the role of the brain, it is important to establish how it functions. Therefore, this essay is going to explicate how the brain works.
Understanding and Managing Reckless Behavior in Adolescents
The brain is comprised of different parts, which work together, but either part is responsible for a specific function. Three main parts make up the brain, the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the brain stem. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. The cerebral cortex forms the outermost section of the cerebellum and is referred to as the gray matter of the brain. The gray matter has deep fold and wrinkles, which increases its surface, are making it able on process the information more. The cerebrum is separated into two parts, which make the hemispheres by a deep fissure. Communication occurs between the two brains parts through the usage of a thick tract of nerves referred to as corpus callosum. The tract of nerves is located at the base of the fissure. The opposite side of the brain takes care of the messages to and from one side of the body (Pandya, 2011). The brain’s hemispheres are categorized into four lobes. The frontal lobes are in charge of movement, short-term memory, problem solving, organizing, planning and control thinking. The parietal lobes perform the function of interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature and taste. The occipital lobes process the images from the eyes and connect that information with the images stored in the memory. The temporal lobes on the other hand process information from sound, taste and senses of smell. These lobes also take part in memory storage (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2013).
The other part of the brain is the cerebellum. It is a wrinkled ball of tissue, which is located behind the rest of the brain. It functions through combining sensory information from the muscles, ears and eyes to help in coordination of movement. The brainstem connects the brain to the spinal cord and controls many vital functions including breathing, blood pressure and heart rate. This area also plays a vital role in sleep. There are different structures located deep in the brain that are used to control emotions and memories. These structures come in pairs and are referred to as the limbic system. Each part of the limbic system is a duplicate of the opposite half of the brain. They include the thalamus, which acts as the gatekeeper for messages to be transmitted between the spinal cord and the cerebral hemispheres (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2013). Another part of this system is the hypothalamus, which controls emotions, and controls crucial urges like sleeping and eating and, regulates the temperature of the body. The last part of the limbic system is the hippocampus, which sends memories to be stored in the right sections of the cerebrum. Additionally, this part also recalls the memories when need be (MIller, 2010).
The brain communicates with the rest of the body through nerve cells otherwise referred to as neurons. Nerve cells have two main types of branches, which generate from their cell bodies. The dendrites receive incoming messages from other nerve cells. An axon on the other hand is the nerve cell tasked with carrying the outgoing signals to other cells from the cell body. Neurons are interconnected with each other hence able to provide fast and efficient communication. Neurons communicate with other cells using electrical impulses generated by the stimulation of the nerve cell. The impulse is transmitted to the axon’s tip and subsequently releases neurotransmitters within a neuron. Neurotransmitters are chemicals, which act as messengers. They pass through the synapse. The synapse is the gap that exists between two nerve cells and attach to the receptor of the receiving cell (MIller, 2010). This process takes place repeatedly from one neuron to another as the impulse moves to its destination. This web communication allows a person to communicate, feel, think and move. Accordingly, if the neurotransmitters do not relay the message correctly and if the entire process is not executed well, it leads to mental illnesses like depression (MIller, 2010). As stipulated earlier, communication between neurons can also be electrical, like in areas of the brain, which play the role of controlling movement. When the electrical signals are abnormal, they can lead to the symptoms and tremors found in Parkinson’s disease (Pandya, 2011).
Consequently, for the brain to function, it uses the neurotransmitters. These chemicals can affect weight, mood, concentration, sleep and can lead to detrimental symptoms when they are out of balance. Excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters are the two types of neurotransmitters. The brain is stimulated by the excitatory neurotransmitters while calming of the brain and help in the restoration of balance inhibitory neurotransmitters. They balance mood are easily depleted in situations when the excitatory neurotransmitters are overactive. Inhibitory neurotransmitters include serotonin, GABA and dopamine. Sufficient amounts of serotonin are necessary for stability in mood (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2013). Serotonin also balances any excessive excitatory neurotransmitter firing in the brain. Serotonin also plays other functions including regulation of appropriate digestions, pain control, appetite and sleep cycle, and carbohydrate cravings. Low levels of serotonin are aligned with a reduction in the immune system’s functionality of (MIller, 2010). Moreover, lower than normal levels of serotonin is associated with depression. Subsequently, the medications used for the treatment of depressions act by blocking the re-uptake and recycling of serotonin through neuron transmission. Thus, a number of serotonin stays in the synapse so that the receiving neuron can bind onto it leading to normal mood functioning (Pandya, 2011).
GABA is also an inhibitory neurotransmitter, which is usually referred to as “nature’s VALIUM-like substance”. If GABA is out of balance, either in high or low excretion values, this could be because of excitatory neurotransmitters firing too often in the brain. The brain sends GABA to attempt to counter the stimulating over-firing hence restore balance. Dopamine on the other hand is a special neurotransmitter for the reason that it is considered both excitatory and inhibitory. It helps with depression. Moreover, it is mainly involved in controlling movement and facilitating information flow from the frontal part of the brain that is linked to emotion and thought (MIller, 2010). Examples of excitatory neurotransmitters include dopamine, glutamate, norepinephrine and epinephrine. In high or low values, dopamine impedes memory. Dopamine is also responsible for desire and drive thus; dopamine is linked to the reward system of the brain. Problems in the production of dopamine can lead to Parkinson’s disease, a disorder that affects the movement ability of an individual. This leads to stiffness, shaking or tremors. Lower than normal level of dopamine or problems allied with the use of dopamine in the feeling and thinking regions of the brain play a role in disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or schizophrenia (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2013). Consequently, medications used for patients with (ADHD) and caffeine cause dopamine to be pushed to the synapse leading to enhancement in focus. Conversely, if dopamine is stimulated from time to time, this can lead to its depletion over time. Norepinephrine facilitates stimulatory processes in the body. This neurotransmitter is used to make epinephrine. It causes anxiety are escalated excretion levels. It is also associated with mood dampening effects (Pandya, 2011). On the other hand, low levels of norepinephrine are allied with sleep cycle problems, a decrease in the ability to focus and low energy.
Epinephrine is also an excitatory neurotransmitter, which is reflected in stress. The values for this neurotransmitter are usually elevated in the presence of ADHD like symptoms. Long-term insomnia and stress lead to the depletion of the levels of epinephrine. Regulation of blood pressure and heart rate is also carried out by the excitatory neurotransmitter (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2013). Another excitatory transmitter is glutamate. When released, it increased the probability that the neuron will fire. This leads to an enhancement in the electrical flow among the brain cells, which are required for normal functionality. This neurotransmitter also facilitates brain development. Moreover, it assists in memory and learning. Problems pertaining to the use or production of glutamate are allied with depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive and autism (Pandya, 2011).
The brain is complex. However, it has different components which work collaboratively to enhance the functionality of the brain. Understanding how the brain works is important as t helps in the comprehension of the role of the brain in mental disorders.
References
MIller, D. (2010). How our brain works: the construction and functionality of your brain presented and Explained . S.I: IUniverse, Inc.
Pandya, S. (2011). Understanding Brain, Mind and Soul: Contributions from Neurology and Neurosurgery. Mens Sana Monagr, 9(1), 129–149.
Plotnik, R. & Kouyoumdjian, H. (2013). Introduction to Psychology. Belmont , CA: Cengage Learning.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
Employees are the most important and in fact the highest valued asset for your company. Many times their productivity and output are affected by continued sickness, mental fatigue, and generally poor health. The employee wellness program is designed to ensure the highest productivity and a healthy workforce throughout the production year. According to Volpp et al. (389) a health and wellness program works in the same way as continued maintenance of machines. Without proper maintenance, machines slow down productivity and in some cases completely shut down any form of production thus affecting the company output. It is to be remembered that if machines shut down, it becomes difficult and expensive for the company to bring back the machine to running. Constant maintenance is the key to mitigating a complete shutdown. In the same way, employees need constant check-ups and immediate access to proper healthcare and treatment which in turn ensures that they are up and running, and energized for work rather than shutting down.
With the increased costs of healthcare, one of the best ways of ensuring a healthy workforce is providing an onsite health and wellness center. This ensures that employees have access to low cost, highly personalized healthcare at all times. A wellness center focuses not just on the care of the injured and sick, but also on encouraging employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle so that the company develops a general overall state of wellness which allows the employees to live and function their absolute best.
Gebhardt and Crump (262) suggest that majority of the companies have failed and often felt no need for the employee wellness programs, simply because they provide insurance for the same employees. The companies often view the program as a benefit to the employees only, and a cost to the company. However, a clear stakeholder analysis shows that there are several other beneficiaries and stakeholders to be involved in this system.
Company and management: the first and most crucial beneficiary of the program will be the company. Continued absenteeism due to sickness as well as decreased output per employee because of poor health is one of the issues that human resource managers have to deal with. Sick employees mean that the company is not operating at its highest capacity. In some cases even though the employees are present they are also operating at minimum productivity. Despite several efforts to motivate them, they continue bringing out low outputs. A health and wellness center works together with the management to ensure that employees not only receive adequate emergency care in case of injury or sickness at the workplace thus reducing absenteeism but also to provide wellness and general wellbeing advice to employees ensuring they are happy at the workplace and motivated to work.
Fiancé executives: like all other services offered within the company, the wellness center includes costs. Often finance executives have to measure the cost of maintaining the center against that of paying for the care of employees outside the company. The main advantage of course in terms of cost is that with an onsite wellness program, it is much easier to control the costs thus ensuring that budgets are not overwhelmed. Also, with increased productivity, the finance department has more resources to work with and enjoy and in the same way to spend on extra products.
The union representing the workers: the main mandate of the union is to ensure that workers enjoy high-quality services from the company. The unions are always working to ensure that the general wellbeing of the employee is made the priority. By setting up a flawless program, the company is indeed stating and clearly showing that their employees come first and that their health and wellbeing is not only their concern, it is their absolute priority. This makes the work of the union representative easy, as employees are kept happy and the quality of the care they receive is easily guaranteed.
Spouses and the community: whenever employees are unwell, and unable to access immediate care and attention, their families and spouses become involved in the process. In fact, the spouses may face a bigger mental and psychological burden as they attempt to ensure that their loved ones get the care they are looking for and that they deserve. For this reason, a wellness center ensures that the spouse’s concern is also taken care of. Also, communities may benefit where employees are happy and productive ensuring they earn more and thus spend more which in turn maintains the development of the community easily.
Finally, there may be otter stakeholders who although not benefiting directly from the program still enjoy some crucial benefits, they include customers who will have access to employees at all times, employees who are happy and motivated to ensure their satisfaction. Others include distributors and suppliers who are ensured of an uninterrupted flow of work because all employees are present and healthy, willing, and ready to work to ensure the satisfaction of everyone.
Research Methodology
To set u the right system and program, research must be conducted to ensure that the employees need the program in the first solace and turn will benefit from the program that is set up. The researcher will make use of both primary and secondary sources of information.
Primary sources of information
Workers
Managers of the company
Interviews and questionnaires
The researcher will conduct interviews with the managers and hand out questionnaires to the workers.
Secondary methods
Literature review
From academics and previous researchers who have focused on identifying and studying the value of wellness programs for the workers and the company
Observation
Of other companies which have introduced wellness center. In specific, Care Xpress urgent care and La Porte physicians urgent care for employees.
Key informant interviews
The managers of the above already set up employee programs. To highlight some of the challenges and problems they have encountered in setting up the programs.
Management interviews: interviews have been selected for this cohort of respondents because they provide the most ideal foundation from which to build the needs of the company. The managers are few, but understand both sides of the coin. On the one hand, they have experienced and seen the cost of employee absenteeism, sickness, and a general lack of wellness to the company. On the other hand, they know what the company objectives are and what resources are available to the management to complete this task. They are therefore in the best position to explain and show the researcher the most ideal form of a wellness program that would be suitable.
Employee questionnaires: the wellness program is to be designed for the employees, therefore their input is vital as it includes what they desire the program to include and what services they feel are urgent to them. Because of the number of employees involved, even though a sample will be selected questionnaires have been selected to ensure speed of response since interviews are likely to take much longer. Further, questionnaires ensure employee anonymity so that they are more willing to not only participate but also indicate the truth, not subjective responses based on what management or the researcher may want to hear.
Secondary methods: to support the data gathered from primary methods the researcher will conduct a thorough review of literature focusing mainly on research on employee wellness programs. Also, the researcher will consider a benchmarking practice that will borrow from already established employee programs. Thus, the researcher will gain insight into the working structures and the general systems that are beneficial when working with employees, key informant interviews will provide the majority of the data to be gathered at this stage. This is because they will focus not on what is expected, but what managers have previously experienced with wellness programs. This will include the challenges that they have encountered with such programs and the benefits that they have accrued from the same. Also, there will be a comparison of the different structures of programs and thus which one works best when employed at the workplace and which has more costs and challenges. The key is to use the informant interviews as a map to guide the researcher in setting up the most ideal program.
Data Analysis
Why have a wellness program
As can be seen from the graph above, as unhealthy habits increased the more the company experienced absenteeism. This easily leads to the conclusion that employees may not necessarily become sick due to biological viruses and bacteria but rather through lifestyle habits. Therefore to curb the increase in absenteeism, workers need programs that are structured to educate and advise them constantly on general wellbeing. Whereas providing insurance ensures that workers are treated, problems such as poor diet and lack of exercise can only be addressed through personalized care which allows constant follow-up to ensure that the individual has to only out to practice what they were advised but is also generally healthy. This can only be done through a wellness program.
Wellness programs offered by employers
From the above graph, the majority of the employers relied on simple screening to provide a form of a wellness program for employees. According to Goetzel et al. (927), health screening though important provides no substantial follow-up for the employee to ensure their proper healthcare. It does not give a proper footing for employees to become healthier and improve their general wellbeing. As such, health screening is often ignored by employees because it is imagined to be a waste of time. Health screening focuses on what is wrong with the employees and not what can be done to improve their general wellbeing. Even with incentives, it is clear that employees often attend health screening for the very wrong reasons focusing more on the incentive rather than what can be accrued in terms of lessons from the health screening. Only 8% of the employers provide onsite wellness programs and these employers enjoy a stronger, more committed workforce with little absenteeism and employee turnover issues.
Benefits of a wellness program
Benefits to the employer
Reason
Accumulated parentage (%)
Improves overall wellbeing of the workers
56%
Empowers employees to change their behavior and become more productive
35%
Minimizes poor motivation at the workplace
43%
Improves productivity
54%
Minimizes time spent on personal issues
16%
Creates a peaceful workplace environment
3%
Minimizes time off
10%
Employers indicated that one of the most crucial benefits of introducing an employee wellness program is that it ensures that the employees enjoy overall health and wellbeing. This means that not only are employees not sick and suffering from physical ailments, but they are also at a place where they enjoy general health in their body, mind, and spirit. This means they are more relaxed and thus more willing to commit time to meet the company goals and objectives. On the same length, 43% of the employers felt that wellness programs minimize poor motivation. According to Osilla et al. (74), motivation gives birth to increased productivity. Without motivation, companies have to endure increased turnover and continued wastage as employees do not seek to do more than is required of them. Motivation allows the company to reach their goals faster. You cannot motivate employees who are suffering from unhealthy habits and under the heavy burden of poor health. Motivation begins with ensuring that physically and mentally, employees are well enough o participate and take part in the workplace duties and activities. 16% of employers felt that workplace wellness programs have a way of reducing the time that employees spend away from work catering to personal problems and issues.
Benefits to employees
Employees interviewed indicated that the following were some of the benefits to be expected or they expected to enjoy from the wellness program.
Reason for the program (benefit)
Accumulated percentage
Improve overall wellbeing
31%
Improve awareness of health situations
49%
Empower to change behavior and health attitudes
25%
Minimize stress
30%
Improve productivity
34%
Reduce time spent on personal issues
11%
For the employees, the wellness program would be of great benefit in creating awareness. The majority of the employees are not aware they are suffering from certain medical issues, such as high blood pressure and high sugar saturation. Such problems are only made known when the symptoms are overwhelming and management becomes a burden to the employee. Having beforehand knowledge on the same would allow the employees to generate counteractive measures and in turn, enjoy a much healthier outlook to life in general. Secondly, 30% of the employees felt that the program would reduce the stress that they encounter daily. The presence of physicians and someone to generate advice on how to manage life healthily means that the employee has less to worry about especially in terms of his own health which is always a major concern among people. 34% of the respondents felt that they were less productive not because of a lack of desire but simply because they were strained by their physical and psychological unwellness and challenges. A wellness program would help the said employees navigate through their challenges with less time and costs to themselves and the company and thus improve their own productivity. Also, 11% felt that the same program would cut on the time that they spent on personal issues.
Conclusion
Health and wellness program is one that allows the company to enjoy a healthier workforce it is the most ideal way of caring for and supporting the most influential asset of the company. With a healthy workforce, the company will not only enjoy high productivity, but it also allows the company to reduce employee turnover since employees are generally happy, well cared for, and always in a positive state of wellbeing.
Both employers and employees agree that workplace health programs have a way of reducing the challenges encountered in healthcare. It improves the overall health of the employee which reduces the stress and strain they may encounter from seeking healthcare on their own and managing the doctor’s advice n their own. Instead, they can receive personalized care and follow you to determine what is working for them and what is not working.
Employee health programs of the same length reduce the time spent off work. Employees are more willing to engage in the workplace where they receive maximum care and support from the employers. Also, they do not need the time they spend looking for healthcare advice and treatment options.
The employee health program is the responsibility of the human resource manager and the CFO. Both work together to find a proper setup, of either including the work program workers in the payroll or outsourcing the services to an affordable healthcare giver. The human resource manager also designs the incentives that will be applied to entice employees to take advantage of the healthcare programs at work.
Goetzel, Ron Z., et al. ” Do workplace health promotion (wellness) programs work?.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 56.9 (2014): 927-934.
Osilla, Karen Chan, et al. “Systematic review of the impact of worksite wellness programs.” The American journal of managed care 18.2 (2012): e68-81.
Volpp, Kevin G., et al. “Redesigning employee health incentives—lessons from behavioral economics.” New England Journal of Medicine 365.5 (2011): 388-390.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
The world has radically felt the impact of skyrocketing technology, which does not seem to halt soon particularly in employment marched since 20thcentury up to date. For ages, technologies have been known for altering lives for the better and making the work process simpler for individuals, however, this definition has recently changed. This paper will examine the effects of technology both positive and negative making main considerations on changes in labor, workers’ inability to adapt to the changes in technology, and the drastic speed of technological changes that the people are unable to keep track of. On the other hand, technology has positively created skilled jobs, has advanced communication, and has improved accuracy and performance.
Changes in labor due to technological advancements have resulted in the loss of employment, to both skilled and unskilled workforce. Notably, the machines that everyone is aware of are taking jobs in all sectors that could be given to individuals. For example, “the Artificial Intelligence takes care of the insurance claims and does official research, manages portfolios investment as well as performing basic task of the Human Resource” (Falk, 282). Thus, human labor is deprived of any chance against these machines, only leaving the task for those employers with spectacular capabilities and the robots’ owners to thrive. Generally, these results in mass unemployment, with workers’ positions being taken by robots.
Regardless of the changes in labor, advancement in technology has resulted in the organizations have employed labor on fixed term contracts. The organizations are, in effect, achieving flexibility by adjusting the nature and size of their workforce being unable to adapt to the changes that come with technology. For example, recently, “the internet-demand-enabled on the economy is a new change”, with its possible impact yet to be proven (Bonanno, 400). The main issue with the new economy that is subjective to technology is that the management roles. IS execution involves evaluation of workforce is supposed to monitor the trend of the economy by ensuring that legal statistics and other forms of data are available for comparison anytime they are required(Bonanno, 470). Undeniably, this is a difficult task because in any case, a human being cannot work at the same speed as a machine. Thus, if the individuals are not able to adapt to these changes then an equal chance exists for them to lose their job since unemployment and technology are two sides of a similar path.
Additionally, the speed of technological development is very fast which makes the employees unable to keep the pace of it. In fact, “every new day is awake to new technology” (Falk, 350). These new technologies come with different development, instructions, and manuals from what was there previously (Falk, 362). This leaves the workers unable to learn the new changes and keep track of every new development since the human mind cannot be programmed similarly as a machine. Unfortunately, those unable to mark every change with everyday technological advancement find themselves jobless because the present world, especially the employment sector works with individuals ready to learn and practice the new technological changes.
However, despite the technological advancement bringing negative impacts due to unemployment, it has resulted in employment opportunities through the creation of skilled jobs. This is something the skilled labor must be happy about because, through the technological advancements, more jobs are created making the skilled labor overcome the fear of competition on the available jobs. For instance, according to a study conducted on more than 1,000 companies, the results showed that Artificial Intelligence developed fresh jobs in around 80 percent of the firms they were created in. Accordingly, a Granet 2017 report predicted that “Artificial Intelligence will develop more than 500,000 new jobs compared to how it will displace existing workers in the coming three years” (Boone 589). Overall, this job creation will usher several job opportunities for high and medium-skilled workers.
Furthermore, as a result of the new technological advancement, communication among the staff and the managers have been made easy. This is because fax and telephone have been currently replaced by laptops and tablets for purposes of communication in the workplace (Falk, 456). Thus, Risk Manager, Integrated Projected Team, the risk owners and other key stakeholders. Furthermore, there is an efficient communication has been made a one-minute activity, saving time, and ensuring that responses and actions are taken immediately when needed. Thus, the people inventing the laptops, tablets, and websites for easy funds to achieve their proposal ideas. The campaign has determined the communication have been employed.
Finally, technological advancements have led to improved accuracy and performance by making all the work computerized, which reduces the error and risk as it improves performance. Markedly, the earlier long and tedious procedures that were manual no longer exist. These procedures were prone to many errors, which today is a thing of the past (Boone, 876). Through technological advancement machines for checking on accuracy and improving performance have been put in place. These create new employment for the person making the machines and those operating them hence developing the entire employment sector.
Succinctly, technological advancements in the employment sector have many impacts both positive and negative such as the drastic changes to the workforce, the changes in labor, the creation of skilled labor, and improvement of performance and accuracy. A human being cannot stop technological advancements after the discussion about the positive and negative side in regards to unemployment; however, a suitable balance should be made between the two sides to avoid adverse effects on any side.
Works cited
Boone, Jan. “Technological progress, downsizing, and unemployment.” The Economic Journal 110.465 (2000): 581-600.
Bonanno, Graziella. “ICT and R&D as inputs or efficiency determinants? Analyzing Italian manufacturing firms (2007–2009).” Eurasian Business Review 6.3 (2016): 383-404.
Falk, Martin. “Employment effects of technological and organizational innovations: evidence based on linked firm-level data for Austria.” Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik 235.3 (2015): 268-285.
With a student-centered approach, I create engaging and informative blog posts that tackle relevant topics for students. My content aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed academically and beyond.
Premature birth can be described as a birth that occurs before the estimated due date, this could take place three weeks earlier or more. In general, any birth that takes place before the onset of the 37th week of pregnancy (Howson et al., 2013). Previously, the definition of premature babies was 5.5 pounds or 2500 grams or less at birth. Preterm births are further divided into late or preterm if this occurs between 32nd and the 37th week of gestation, very preterm if this takes place between 28th and 32nd week, and extremely preterm if it occurs earlier than the 23rd week of the gestation period. Babies born prematurely are typically predisposed to medical complications although this varies depending on the complications of prematurity.
The percentage of premature births in the U.S has consistently decreased from12.8% in the year 2006 to 9.57% in 2014 (Statista.com).
However, the percentage increased to 9.63% in the year 2015 and 9.85% in 2016.
The states with higher rates of preterm births include Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky.
As shown in the diagram below, the rate of preterm births is higher among the Blacks at 13.3%.
American Indian/Alaska Natives and Hispanics closely follow at 10.4% and 9.1% respectively (Marchofdimes.org).
How the problem affects developing infants
Health Problems/Development complication
Short-term complications
According to research, preterm babies have an immature immune system as well as other underdeveloped systems. These eventually dispose of premature babies to complications such as
Breathing challenges
Heart problems
Immune system problems
Metabolism problems
Gastrointestinal problems
Long-term complications
Impaired learning- as compared to their full-term counterparts, preterm babies are likely to lag on several developmental milestones. In school, the preterm babies may have learning disabilities
Cerebral palsy- preterm infants are at a higher risk of cerebral palsy, a disorder of muscle tone, movement, and posture
Vision problems- preterm babies are likely to develop visual problems, especially after developing retinopathy. This visual disease arises after the blood vessels overgrow, pulling the retina out of its position. This condition may lead to impaired vision or total blindness.
Hearing problems- preterm infants are at a higher risk of developing hearing problems leading to hearing loss.
Behavioral/Psychological problems- preterm babies are more likely to develop certain psychological problems and behavioral problems as compared to full-term babies. Their developmental milestones may also significantly delay.
Dental problems- premature infants may have delayed eruption of the tooth, improperly aligned teeth as well as to discoloration
How the research findings have influenced both social thinking and social policies about the problem
The current qualitative and quantitative research has an enlightened society that pregnancy is not only a physical process but also a psychosocial process with many social and emotional changes, demands, and challenges (Kuipers, 2016).
Research on preterm births has prompted social policies such as discouragement of elective and early-term deliveries
Different states have adopted intensive prenatal case management for pregnant mothers
Pregnant mothers are now aware and increasingly being urged against the use of drugs during their pregnancy terms
At the workplace, pregnant women are now discouraged from engaging in strenuous activities or working overtime.
Intervention
According to Alderdice & Redshaw (2015), the use of a biopsychosocial model reveals that one of the major causes of preterm births is as a result of maternal stress.
Maternal stress can be described as the discrepancy between a mother’s social, psychological, and biological resources and environmental demands.
According to Newnham et al. (2014), high levels of social or psychological stress increase the risk of premature births as demonstrated by different randomized controlled studies.
By adequately addressing maternal stress, the rate of premature births is likely to considerably reduce.
For pregnant mothers, some recommended stress intervention programs include relaxation exercises, lifestyle changes, and emotion-focused coping techniques (Fontein-Kuipers, 2015).
Research methods
In this particular study, the secondary research method was utilized. Secondary research consists of the collation, summarizing as well as synthesizing of research that is already existing.
Utilization of both categories of secondary research was undertaken; thus utilization of two different types of data;
Internal data refers to the gathered information within the institution and health facilities. For instance; the reports derived from the previous primary research as well as customer databases
External data describes the gathered information from the external environment of the institution as well as the facility. Particularly the media sourced information as well as the government reported statistics.
The secondary research methods have various strengths as well as weaknesses. Building on the strengths however will motivate good quantity data. The strengths of this research method include;
Easy accessibility to the various secondary data sources. One could access the sources in libraries or the archived reports. Moreover, internet availability enhances the ease of the process of accessing information for the research. Thus, secondary research is significantly convenient.
Acquirement costs are minimal and affordable; thus one could acquire highly valuable information with very minimal cost. One could even access information with no cost charges at all. Therefore, without the use of a team, a researcher could save on costs by researching by themselves.
Research questions are vividly clarified with the utilization of secondary research. Furthermore, secondary research is more often than not utilized in clarification in primary research in the process of determining the focus of the research.
The utilization of research data enables a researcher to effectively retrieve the answer to the research question. Focused on the secondary research process, one may discover the particular information they were working to determine.
Identifies the obstacles in primary research by analyzing and effectively detailing the primary source.
The utilization of secondary research method holds several weaknesses as well, these include;
Secondary research has its quality determined by the quality of the sources which are more often than not acquired from previous researches. If the original research was not carried out to produce quality data and information the quality of the research might be compromised. Therefore, it is critical to carry out a thorough evaluation of the reliability as well as the validity of all the information that has been provided.
More often than not, secondary data tends not to present information in the manner the researcher requires. Thus, a researcher is required to depend on the presented secondary data that is classified to suit the requirements of the researcher.
It is rare to find data that presents an entire version of the research. Therefore, secondary research has access to relatively limited information. Furthermore, suppliers of research tend to offer free research portions, but give an unreasonable charge to access the entire report of their studies.
As carrying out secondary research it is vital to maintain a constant caution noting the date aged many years back.
In a clear conclusion, the utilization of secondary research brings forth significant strengths as well as weaknesses. However, to attain quality data it is vital for a researcher to effectively identify, then efficiently manage and reduce the effects of the weaknesses brought about by secondary research.
References
Fontein-Kuipers, Y. (2015). Reducing maternal anxiety and stress in pregnancy: what is the best approach?. Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 27(2), 128-132.
Howson, C. P., Kinney, M. V., McDougall, L., & Lawn, J. E. (2013). Born too soon: preterm birth matters. Reproductive health, 10(1), S1.
Kuipers (2016) An Intervention to Prevent and Reduce Maternal Distress in the Netherlands – Its Development from Start to Finish. role in their general health. For instance, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, and childbirth only affect Women Heal Int 2(1): 115. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.19104/whi.2016.115
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