The Problem Of Elderly People - 2891 Words

There are a number of population groups vulnerable to loneliness. However, elderly people are often more so targeted by loneliness which is owed to ‘loss of friends and family, loss of mobility or loss of income’.(Saito) Because of this, there has been an increased public concern on the issue of loneliness in senior populations. The statistics on population aging in developed countries are well known. Those aged 60 and above currently account for approximately 20 percent of the population in developed countries and this proportion is expected to rise to 24 percent by 2030. In the next 20 years, the population of those aged over 80 will triple and those over 90 will double.(aging statistics) As the population of the elderly in these†¦show more content†¦Not surprisingly, loneliness has been shown to have a significant negative impact on quality of life and health. Being lonely has a strong and lasting effect on blood pressure, with studies revealing that lonely i ndividuals have higher blood pressure than their less lonely peers. Luanaigh and Lawlor, members of the Mercer’s Institute of Research in Aging located at St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, have found this to be true in individuals regardless numerous factors, which include age, gender, race, cardiovascular risk factors, medications, health conditions and the effects of depressive symptoms.(Luanaigh and Lawlor) Loneliness may also affect a person’s mental state and mortality. In Pitkala et al’s research, done from Helsinki University Central Hospital at University of Helsinki, Finland, loneliness is associated with depression and higher rates of mortality(Pitkala). Amazingly, the inï ¬â€šuence of social relationships on the risk of death is shown to be comparable with other well-established risk factors for mortality such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Additionally, this negative impact on an individual’s health may lead them to require a

Pay for Performance Free Essays

Pay for Performance Park University Overview Incentive pay, also known as â€Å"pay for performance† is generally given for specific performance results rather than simply for time worked. While incentives are not the answer to all personnel challenges, they can do much to increase worker performance. (Billikopf) Performance pay has various names: merit pay, pay for performance, knowledge-and-skill- based pay, or individual or group incentive pay. We will write a custom essay sample on Pay for Performance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Delisio) Pay for performance systems have further been proven to have two advantages for organizations: attracting more high-quality employees and motivating employees to exert more effort at their jobs. (Gordon, Kaswin) This paper will show the positive benefits of performance pay as well as some steps to implement the pay for performance program. Productivity Implications Companies that have switched from salaries to individual incentives have increased productivity dramatically—some by as much as 44 percent. Linking pay to performance not only motivates but also helps to recruit and retain the most talented employees. New graduates seek to join organizations that make use of performance-related rewards, and they have long-term loyalty to these organizations. The use of performance pay has also grown in popularity, as 67 percent of companies offer some form of performance pay to employees below the executive level. Likewise, the practice of compensating managers below the senior executive level with stock options and other forms of long-term incentives has risen dramatically. This is because performance-sensitive pay aligns the interest of all levels of employees with the interests of shareholders. (Gordon, Kaswin) Implementing a pay for performance system has been shown to resolve organizational problems because it aligns the preferences of firms and employees. In addition, creating a pay for performance system serves as a sorting mechanism to identify and attract the most capable employees. Gordon, Kaswin) The economic downturn has accentuated the need to contain compensation costs by holding down fixed-based salary expenses. To maintain competitive pay plans, an increasing number of companies are giving more employees across different job functions the opportunity to earn variable, performance-driven incentives for achieving individual and organizational goals. (Gordon, Kaswin) Pay for Performance Objectives Developing a pay for performance philosophy and strategy is easier when we understand what such an approach is intended to achieve. If effectively constructed, pay for performance compensation plans should help a company fulfill the following objectives: * Recruit and retain the highest quality employees * Communicate and reinforce the values, goals and objectives of the company * Engage employees in the organization’s success * Reward contributors for successful achievements (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Line of Sight Ultimately, the combination of rewards strategies that a company institutes should help to raw a correlation in the mind of the employees between interdependent elements: * Vision – where is this company going? * Strategy – how is it going to get there? * Roles and Expectations – what role does each key person have in that strategy and what is expected of him or her in that role? * Rewards – how will each employee be financially rewarded for the achievement of the expectations associated with his or her role    Pay for performance is the mechanism that is used to create this â€Å"line of sight† between related elements of company culture and purpose. In the final analysis, compensation needs to reinforce the behaviors that are desired within the strategy framework of the company in a way that is compelling enough to produce the desired performance. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) In adopting a rewards philosophy for how people will be remunerated for their contributions within an organization, a company has to determine what the right balance should be between short and long-term compensation and guaranteed versus performance compensation. Pivotal in that philosophy development is how and to what extent pay will be tied to specific types of performance. This issue will not be treated the same in every organization. However, every business should be able to identify certain performance objectives it wants its workforce to fulfill and the financial outcome that will be achieved if that result is attained. Such a projection can be translated into an increased shareholder value figure. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Features of Effective Plans Top Management Support Supervisors must understand the incentive pay process in order to support and administer it. Oftentimes, a lack of understanding causes managers to ignore or adapt the process as they see fit. Moreover, if supervisors are not trained on how to measure performance, the process will not be standardized across the company. (Gordon, Kaswin) Having buy-in from key stakeholders is crucial for the success of an incentive pay system. For example, if top management does not support such a program, lower-level managers will place little importance on effectively administering the program. Hence, a lack of top management support often leads to a lack of accountability. (Gordon, Kaswin) Communication Consistent and methodical communication is necessary when implementing an incentive pay plan. It will ensure employees understand what is expected of them while decreasing the likelihood of morale problems that result from misinterpretations of how incentives are awarded. Gordon, Kaswin) Performance Management Oftentimes, a flawed performance management system is the main reason an incentive pay system in not successful. When designing a performance management process that will be linked with pay, it is imperative that both employees and managers know what the individual goals are, how they will be measured, and how they will be compensated when achieved. Managers must also be careful to ensure that there is adequate dif ferentiation between high and low performers. If mediocre employees are given an average merit increase, hey will perceive that their performance is adequate. Conversely, if excellent performers only receive a little more in incentive pay than average performers, they will perceive that the company does not value their performance. (Gordon, Kaswin) Appropriate Rewards The amount of incentive a company should offer to an individual depends on current income, amount of effort needed to invest, likelihood of obtaining the reward, acceptance of risk, equity of reward and contribution, and industry standards. A minimum for incentive pay is considered to be 5 to 15 percent of an individual’s base pay. (Gordon, Kaswin) Considerations before Implementing a Plan The best compensation plans take into account several key considerations. Before instituting a pay for performance system, companies should define which employees should be eligible for the program. Furthermore, it is important for companies to determine the role of equity in a total rewards framework from the perspectives of the employee and employer, as well as in terms of cost. Steps should be taken to (1) review the current objectives and purpose of the equity plan; (2) identify alternative rewards; (3) develop a communication plan for how the effectiveness of the program will be measured; (4) gather employees’ perspectives via surveys, focus groups, or internal research; (5) gather external market information; (6) determine the costs; (7) develop recommendations for design change; and (8) create the communication plan. The communication strategy for the program should encompass the value employees place on various rewards and how the changes will be perceived by employees. It should then monitor and manage employees’ reactions to the changes in their compensation structure. (Gordon, Kaswin) Objectives of a Broad-Based Incentive Plan When creating an incentive plan, the organization has to determine and clearly define the goals for the program. The objectives should be aligned with the business strategy. These goals should be utilized to shape the incentive plan as well as the expectations and objectives of individual employees. A main reason why incentive plans fail is because they are introduced as an inflexible process. The incentive plan should be first implemented on a small group of employees in order to determine the flaws and rectify them before implementing them across the enterprise. Once the plan is implemented, it should be regularly adapted. (Gordon, Kaswin) If companies want a pay for performance system, the firm should define the desired performance and establish methods of measuring it first. Then, connect goals for individuals, for business units, and for the company. Meanwhile, track everyone’s progress and periodically give back the data to raise everyone’s awareness of the program. Sixty-two percent of compensation professionals report that their organizations did not attempt to measure the return on investment of their compensation program. (Gordon, Kaswin) Conclusion Research indicates that broad-based incentive plans can be utilized as a means to encourage both employee performance and productivity. When implementing an incentive plan, several considerations are needed to ensure the plan is successful. However, it is important to note that incentive plans cannot ensure employee productivity by themselves. They must be coupled with effective human resources practices in order to ensure a successful work environment. These include determining the appropriate rewards, instituting comprehensive performance management systems, widespread and effective communication, as well as buy-in from top management to support the compensation plan. Over the past decade and increasingly in the past year, performance pay has become the standard as companies reward strong performance and lower overhead costs. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years. (Gordon, Kaswin) Like most things in business, compensation is something that requires evaluation, study, assessment, strategy, modeling and integration. Achieving a pay for performance culture does not happen without paying attention to the behaviors, activities, rewards and motivations that have to be linked and reinforced through a well-engineered and effectively executed process. And if that process does not tie rewards to shareholder financial objectives, employ the proper mix of compensation elements, result in meaningful dollars, embrace performance that employees can impact and are effectively communicated and reinforced, then the results it produces will likely fall short. (The VisionLink Advisory Group) Pay for performance systems need ngoing attention to keep them functioning properly. Organizational goals will change; performance goals and measures will become obsolete; performance may improve or decline; managers may make errors in evaluating performance or allocating rewards. For all these reasons and more, agencies need to monitor the operation and effectiveness of their pay for performance systems and modify them accor dingly. Only by giving the pay systems and related organizational requirements the ongoing attention that they warrant will agencies be able to obtain optimal results from their pay for performance systems. U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board) Works Cited Billikopf, Gregoria. (2001) Incentive Pay (Pay for Performance). The Regents of the University of California, retrieved from http://www. cnr. berkeley. edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7labor/08. htm The VisionLink Advisory Group, The Five Essentials of Pay for Performance, retrieved from http://www. vladvisors. com/images/PDF/VisionLink_Five-Essentials-Pay-For-Performance. pdf Gordon, A. A. , Kaswin, J. L. , Effective Employee Incentive Plans: Features and Implementation  Processes, Cornell HR Review, 2010, retrieved from http://cornellhrreview. rg/2010/05/31/effective-employee-incentive-plans-features-and-implementation-processes/ U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board, (2006) Designing an Effective Pay for Performance Compensation System. R etrieved from http://www. mspb. gov/netsearch/viewdocs. aspx? docnumber=224104;version=224323;application=ACROBAT Delisio, E. R. , Pay for Performance: What Are the Issues? , retrieved from http://www. educationworld. com/a_issues/issues/issues374a. shtml How to cite Pay for Performance, Essay examples

Cloning is Ethically and Morally Wrong Essay Example For Students

Cloning is Ethically and Morally Wrong Essay The question shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces them all to question the very concepts of right and wrong that make them all human. The cloning of any species, whether they be human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong. Scientists and ethicists alike have debated the implications of human and non-human cloning extensively since 1997 when scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland produced Dolly. No direct conclusions have been drawn, but compelling arguments state that cloning of both human and non-human species results in harmful physical and psychological effects on both groups. The following issues dealing with cloning and its ethical and moral implications will be addressed: cloning of human beings would result in severe psychological effects in the cloned child, and that the cloning of non-human species subjects them to unethical or moral treatment for human needs. The possible physical damage that could be done if human cloning became a reality is obvious when one looks at the sheer loss of life that occurred before the birth of Dolly. Less than ten percent of the initial transfers survive to be healthy creatures. There were 277 trial implants of nuclei. Nineteen of those 277 were deemed healthy while the others were discarded. Five of those nineteen survived, but four of them died within ten days of birth of sever abnormalities. Dolly was the only one to survive (Fact: Adler 1996). If those nuclei were human, the cellular body count would look like sheer carnage (Logic: Kluger 1997). Even Ian Wilmut, one of the scientists accredited with the cloning phenomenon at the Roslin Institute agrees, the more you interfere with reproduction, the more danger there is of things going wrong (Expert Opinion). The psychological effects of cloning are less obvious, but none the less, very plausible. In addition to physical harms, there! are worries about the psychological harms on cloned human children. One of those harms is the loss of identity, or sense of uniqueness and individuality. Many argue that cloning crates serious issues of identity and individuality and forces humans to consider the definition of self. Gilbert Meilaender commented on the importance of genetic uniqueness not only to the child but to the parent as well when he appeared before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission on March 13, 1997. He states that children begin with a kind of genetic independence of the parent. They replicate neither their father nor their mother. That is a reminder of the independence that the parent must eventually grant them.. .To lose even in principle this sense of the child as a gift will not be good for the children (Expert Opinion). Others look souly at the child, like philosopher Hans Jonas. He suggests that humans have an inherent right to ignorance or a quality of separateness. Hum! an cloning, in which there is a time gap between the beginning of the lives of the earlier and later twin, is fundamentally different from homozygous twins that are born at the same time and have a simultaneous beginning of their lives. Ignorance of the effect of ones genes on ones future is necessary for the spontaneous construction of life and self (Jonas 1974). Human cloning is obviously damaging to both the family of and the cloned child. It is harder to convince that non-human cloning is wrong and unethical, but it is just the same. The cloning of a non-human species subjects them to unethical treatment purely for human needs (Expert Opinion: Price 97). Western culture and tradition has long held the belief that the treatment of animals should be guided by different ethical standards than the treatment of humans. Animals have been seen as non feeling and savage beasts since time began. Humans in general have no problem with seeing animals as objects to be used whenever it becomes necessary. .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 , .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .postImageUrl , .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 , .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:hover , .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:visited , .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:active { border:0!important; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:active , .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21 .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uef3da6721cba99fa6ea9936bbb99ff21:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Manuscript for experimental ps Essay But what would happen if humans started to use animals as body for growing human organs? Where is the line drawn between human and non human? If a primate was cloned so that it grew human lungs, liver, kidneys, and heart., what would it then be? What if we were to learn how to clone functioning brains and have them grow inside of chimps? Would non-human primates, such as a chimpanzee, who carried one or more human genes via transgenic technology, be defined as still a chimp, a human, a subhuman, or something else? If defined as human, would we have to give it rights of citizenship? And if humans were to carry non-human transgenic genes, would that alter our definitions and treatment of them(Deductive Logic: Kluger 1997)? Also, if the technology were to be so that scientists could transfer human genes into animals and vice-versa, that would heighten the danger of developing zoonoses, diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans. It could create a world wide catastrophe that no one would be able to stop (Potential Risks). In conclusion, the ethical and moral implications of cloning are such that it would be wrong for the human race to support or advocate it. The sheer loss of life in both humans and non-humans is enough to prove that cloning would be a foolish endeavor, whatever the cause. Works CitedKluger, Jeffery. Will we Follow the Sheep? Time Magazine. March 10, 1997 Vol. 149 No.10 The Cloning Controversy. Online Available http://www.sican. com/explorations. September 23, 1998. Ethics on Cloning: The issue at hand. Online Available http://www. time.com/cloning. September 24, 1998. National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Cloning Human Beings. Online Available http://bioethics.gov/pubs.html. September 24, 1998. Price, Joyce. Before There was Dolly, There Were Disasters: Scientists failed to disclose abnormalities. The Washington Times. March 11, 1997.