Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Cancer Sucks - Especially when it is your 12 year old daughter
August 18, 2011…..August 18, 2011 the worst day of my life. The day that began like any other day ended in such heartbreak it continuously loops in my memory over and over again. Like a dark plague of hurt that has no earthly cure. Up until that day I could not comprehend how anybody can think of suicide, chemical dependency, or depression as a way out of a bad situation. I could not comprehend how ones faith can be tested to actually want to make a deal with the devil if it meant you can erase that one awful day. All these thoughts and emotions ran through my head at such a fast and exasperated pace to what I can only describe as an emotional explosion of volatile hatred, remorse, and incomprehensible anger.
August 18, 2011, was the day I was told my 12 year-old daughter has cancer. Yes cancer. The big “C” and up until that day was a distance regularity I heard often but held no impact in my life. After all, I never thought it would happen to my family. Safe in our own little bubble of reality I created. This was such a fallacy and a naive disposition as a father. I remember the doctor explaining to my daughter her illness and remember both my wife and I were crying uncontrollably. It was the first time my daughter seen me cry. I was no longer that loving but stern father. When she saw this never before seen reaction is when she began to cry. At that point I felt my legs giving out as I was on the verge of collapsing. I hung on to a hook on the wall praying inside wanting to die than to see my own kid go through this.
From that point to what seemed to be an eternity which in reality was about three days was a carousel in my head of emotional rage. I never began to question as hard as I did my faith and purpose. Constant prayer took place as I quickly learned that is all I had left. In hindsight, prayer is actually what I had all along but did not utilize. My prayers were somewhat juvenile to what I think any father in my position would pray. Looking back and to this day I still pray the same options. Imagine that, me providing God options. I provided God several options if it was his will. The first option is to not let it be cancer but a simple oversight on the doctor’s part for a more common, less life threatening disease that was misdiagnosed. The second option is to give me the cancer and pain or better yet just take me now if that means sparing my precious daughter the pain and exposure to this disease. I remember driving from the hospital to my home alone and praying for God to just take me out of this world now any means he chooses in order to spare my daughter. Well, that didn’t work. My next option I offered was to allow her to go through the treatment pain free and provide me all the pain to bear. That had seemed somewhat manageable as my daughter tolerated the pain and sickness well. However, that was not God’s will. His will is what most fathers want. His will was simply for one of his children to speak with him and have a relationship with him on regular bases with a true and genuine relationship no matter of the circumstances.
It is hard to imagine having and holding onto faith when you cannot begin to understand what plan God can have on a 12 year old girl getting sick. Just didn’t make sense. At one point it seemed the more I prayed, the worst the prognosis. This was making me angrier in my pursuit to take matters in my own hand.
As my daughter went through her first round of chemotherapy, it ended up a rough night. She had her port placed the same day and she got sick that night. I remember waking up the next morning by the doctors (not sure exactly what day) explaining to me she needs a blood transfusion. My mind was shattering. Having absolutely no control and relying on doctors that looked like they just graduated high school was a strong reality. Eventually my daughter made it home to recover from her treatment. This provided us time as a family to bond even closer. My wife and I slept in my daughter’s room since she was diagnosed and through her treatment. I remember every morning waking up in pain due to the futon but was happy as my daughter was not in any pain.
After the first week of the first round of chemotherapy we returned to the hospital for her second dose of the first round. Sounds kind of complicated….. When we showed up at the oncologist clinic, my heart broke in a totally different way. I found myself in a large room with many families and their children waiting for treatment. Like a herd of cattle. It is sad when you hear of a friend or distant relative diagnosed with cancer. When it happens to your own child - it brings you to your knees. Sitting in a room full of children with this horrible disease was more than I could handle.
That night my daughter ran a fever from her treatment and we had to take her to the emergency room where the analogy of the herd of cattle took on an entire new meaning. That trip was an additional two day stay at the hospital. By this time, my body and mind felt like it aged about 10 years. I remember finding difficulties to make sense in my sentences. We wanted to sleep in the hospital room with my daughter and room was tight. Sometimes I was lucky and slept on a recliner as my wife slept on a small love seat. Several nights I slept on the hospital floor near my daughter’s bed.
The best part of the hospital visit is seeing the hospital in our rearview mirror. Don’t get me wrong, the doctors and staff were absolutely the best people I met, but I prefer not to be there and so does my daughter.
I am a creature of habit and wake up every morning by 5:00 a.m. and workout in my basement. For six months straight every morning I cried while working out. I cried so hard to a point where I had to stop what I was doing. I also rarely saw a St. Jude commercial as I worked out. For some reason, I began to see a commercial every morning. I got to a point I was crying for common commercials as well. I was also crying on the way home from work every day. Could be brought on from a certain song, thoughts, or people I saw walking. Pretty tough huh? I think I made up for 20 years of not shedding any tears. My insensitive disposition quickly took a 180 degree turn to an overly sensitive guy.
As the treatment continued, I began a men’s group meeting weekly with guys from my church. It was newly created by two very good men. The timing appeared to present itself at the right moment with the right amount of folks. I remember that first day I just laid it all on them. Got sort of quiet as I am not sure they were prepared for this. They helped me through a lot of this as the weeks progressed.
One known side effect of chemotherapy is hair loss. As a father with two beautiful daughters I rarely appreciated their hair as countless hours are spent brushing, braiding, and washing seemed to be such a waste of time and resources. So my daughter losing her hair didn’t seem like such a huge impact to me until the day I woke up and kissed my daughter goodbye as I left to work. Her hair was thinning by now but she had hair. My wife some time that afternoon informed me my daughter took a shower and most of her hair was gone. Again, it was hard for me to comprehend until I got home. When I saw my daughter 98% bald with a few strands here and there, I could not hold it in. I stayed strong in front of her and made it to my basement to let it all out. Fortunately, she looked really cute bald. She had a perfect round head…..She pulled it off well.
I slowly began to drink more and slept more than I have in the past. I wanted to crawl into a hole like a weak individual and not face this reality. In front of people I put on a good persona. But I felt convicted every time at church. It seemed my pastor had the messages carefully created to address my issues. He would even peer through all the folks and lock eyes to mine. Some may call this a coincidence, but my interpretation is the Lord was using him to get through to me and it slowly worked.
I learned a few things at this point. I learned no matter how much I prepare, it doesn’t matter. It was going to throw me such a large blow I mentally could not handle. I always prided myself on being such a tough guy. I was nothing. I was not tough. I was scared. I did not even have faith although I went to church and once in a while prayed when things were not going my way.
That is when I really learned a few things. I learned I cannot ask my Lord for help only when I need him and only in the areas I want him to help but keep Him out of other areas of my life. I had to submit and allow him in all areas of my life. When I submitted, it seemed I finally was listening to my Father. After all, I was asking Him to listen to me. I began to notice a change in my daughter’s prognosis. Things began to improve, her health stayed strong, and she was gaining weight.
It is now April and my daughter has a full head of hair. After eight months of four rounds of chemotherapy and 14 rounds of radiation, my daughter’s stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is in remission. She got to ring the bell symbolizing end of treatment!
I cannot even begin to describe my thankfulness of the family members who helped me through this, friends at my work who helped me through this and especially my church providing me a strong foundation to pull through this.
I do not know what the future holds for me and my family. I know one thing; they are the most important part of my life and will always place them first. I also see no sense of getting angry these days. Life is short, sweet, and precious. There will always be scenarios and people that can make life unpleasant. These days I spend more time with the family and in the Word. I spend less time worrying about materialistic things and status quo. I want to help others and get involved in my community. I want both my daughters to be an inspiration to others – Most of all I want to make a difference and an impact while I am on this earth.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The Delusional Pressure
Every day the same routine of waking up too early to perform exercises I would rather not do so I am able to each junk food that I should not be eating, and then spending a third of my day at a job where I only wish capital punishment was at times legal. My day is then spent wishing and praying for Friday while hoping I can keep my mouth shut and not get in any trouble at work before Friday. I get home and spend some time with my kids jumping on a trampoline and making every attempt to not break my neck. My dogs keep bugging me to take them for a walk but I choose not to as every dog in the neighborhood will bark. Not sure why my neighbors cannot have obedient dogs like mine. Again I think about the capital punishment thoughts racing through my head. For the most part the days begin to blend as each day becomes routine. Weekends are spent with my wife and kids doing the typical family weekend stuff such as grocery shopping, recycle garbage, and the ever fun house cleaning chores. Living with a teenager I deal with for some reason my house is the hangout and apparently my refrigerator is now the community refrigerator. I have kids everywhere and all I can think about is how I can put them to work around my house where only then they are useful to me.
Sounds like a drag of repeated dullness that often times creates a need of crazy thoughts that tells the most grounded man that a change is required. After all, change is part of our life correct? We see it at work, in our neighborhood, and the items we buy. Style changes, trends change, and if we are not changing then we are out-of-date. However, unnecessary change causes unnecessary pressure. Change is good but change is also bad as well. Not all change is good. It is funny how you want the change as you are living in the moment but once the moment changes, the actual change is empty. For instance, my kids are with the in-laws for several weeks. My daily routine is no longer intact. This is what I have thought about for so long the freedom to do what I want and to make changes to provide a little more “me time.” Without all the chaos in the house my home is no longer my sanctuary. It is an abandon building I am occupying with my wife. Then the obvious happens, I actually miss the routine I once thought was a repeated dullness that plagued me. I realized it is a blessing in disguise as I have to create noise and chaos in my home. Since my kids are not around to aggravate and play with I project all that on my wife who appreciates my attention but not my adolescent pranks that my kids and their friends find funny.
What a relief once you remove the pressure self-created due to your own delusions. I actually have an awesome life as many out there. My daydreaming of saving the world will continue, my wild dreams of owning a home right on a river where I fish and hike all day will continue to fill my head, my creativity and things that make me laugh like playing pranks on the kids will continue to happen, but I know now the only pressure I have is the one I create that will keep me oppressed if I let it, and once again I think about capital punishment but this time for me now…
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Laws and Ethics
Just because a notion or initiative is unethical does not necessarily mean it is illegal. Should laws and ethics be co-dependent? Are they a separate entity? To explore how laws and ethics are dissimilar, let’s first examine the definition of a law and the term ethics. Laws are dynamic and are attempted to be clear. Laws are indicative to our society and “provides a set of rules for our behavior” (Halbert & Ingulli, 2009, p.1). Laws are punishable when disobeyed by society. How laws are made, enforced, and interpreted can sometimes be controversial, but we are all aware of the underlining principles of laws. Laws exist to perpetuate a system where compliance and behavioral standards are established within our society (Halbert & Ingulli, 2009, p.1).
Ethics are considered subjective in nature to the user. Notions measured unethical to one maybe ethical to others based on their own personal belief system. Davies (2009) contends ethics has “to do with an inherent sense of right and wrong, an inbuilt conscience that all humans possess, influenced by the very large background of tradition and culture” (4). To be unethical in some actions can be illegal, such as stealing. However, being unethical does not mean you are necessarily breaking the law such as an individual who views pornography. The act of viewing pornography is legal, but to many individuals it is considered unethical. “While a law concerns what we must do, ethics concerns what we should do” (Halbert & Ingulli, 2009, p. 1).
One case exemplifying the gap between laws and ethics is the Massachusetts case of Conley v. Romeri. Both the plaintiff and the defendant were in their 40s and in a relationship. The plaintiff, who was childless, told the defendant she desired to have a family before it is too late. The defendant advised the plaintiff to not worry because he has seen a fortuneteller, and the fortuneteller advised the defendant that he would increase the number of children. After seven months of attempting to conceive a child, the defendant advised the plaintiff he had a vasectomy years ago (Ethics Scoreboard, 2004, 1-5). The plaintiff sued the defendant stating he mislead her and threw her into emotional distress and depression. The defendant, even having a vasectomy, claims to believe the fortuneteller. “The Massachusetts Appeals Court, however, found that while Mr. Romeri may have behaved abominably, it was not the place of the law to punish him” (Ethics Scoreboard, 2004, 1-5). The case clearly displays poor ethical and immoral decisions made, but not illegal. One last powerful statement by the Ethics Scoreboard (2004) sums up the dichotomy between laws and ethics by stating “the law will never succeed in making people be honest, caring, and fair. Only we can do that, by creating a society in which boys grow to manhood knowing that behavior like Mr. Romeri's is wrong” (8).
As diverse as our cultural society exists, there needs to be synergetic efforts and collaboration to find common ground to coexist with both legal and ethical dilemmas to compromise on the right way to live our lives in harmony. Understanding cultural clashes and traditions shapes ethical thought processes; the need to establish common agreement on what is acceptable behavior within the confines of our laws is clearly visible so our society can be prolific for years to come.
Davies, J. (2009). Laws and ethics: unrelated. Strike the root. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from http://www.strike-the-root.com/91/davies/davies3.html
Ethics Scoreboard. (2004). The difference between law and ethics. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from http://www.ethicsscoreboard.com/list/romeri.html
Halbert, T, & Ingulli, E. (2009). Laws & Ethics in the Business Environments (5th ed). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning
Ethics are considered subjective in nature to the user. Notions measured unethical to one maybe ethical to others based on their own personal belief system. Davies (2009) contends ethics has “to do with an inherent sense of right and wrong, an inbuilt conscience that all humans possess, influenced by the very large background of tradition and culture” (4). To be unethical in some actions can be illegal, such as stealing. However, being unethical does not mean you are necessarily breaking the law such as an individual who views pornography. The act of viewing pornography is legal, but to many individuals it is considered unethical. “While a law concerns what we must do, ethics concerns what we should do” (Halbert & Ingulli, 2009, p. 1).
One case exemplifying the gap between laws and ethics is the Massachusetts case of Conley v. Romeri. Both the plaintiff and the defendant were in their 40s and in a relationship. The plaintiff, who was childless, told the defendant she desired to have a family before it is too late. The defendant advised the plaintiff to not worry because he has seen a fortuneteller, and the fortuneteller advised the defendant that he would increase the number of children. After seven months of attempting to conceive a child, the defendant advised the plaintiff he had a vasectomy years ago (Ethics Scoreboard, 2004, 1-5). The plaintiff sued the defendant stating he mislead her and threw her into emotional distress and depression. The defendant, even having a vasectomy, claims to believe the fortuneteller. “The Massachusetts Appeals Court, however, found that while Mr. Romeri may have behaved abominably, it was not the place of the law to punish him” (Ethics Scoreboard, 2004, 1-5). The case clearly displays poor ethical and immoral decisions made, but not illegal. One last powerful statement by the Ethics Scoreboard (2004) sums up the dichotomy between laws and ethics by stating “the law will never succeed in making people be honest, caring, and fair. Only we can do that, by creating a society in which boys grow to manhood knowing that behavior like Mr. Romeri's is wrong” (8).
As diverse as our cultural society exists, there needs to be synergetic efforts and collaboration to find common ground to coexist with both legal and ethical dilemmas to compromise on the right way to live our lives in harmony. Understanding cultural clashes and traditions shapes ethical thought processes; the need to establish common agreement on what is acceptable behavior within the confines of our laws is clearly visible so our society can be prolific for years to come.
Davies, J. (2009). Laws and ethics: unrelated. Strike the root. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from http://www.strike-the-root.com/91/davies/davies3.html
Ethics Scoreboard. (2004). The difference between law and ethics. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from http://www.ethicsscoreboard.com/list/romeri.html
Halbert, T, & Ingulli, E. (2009). Laws & Ethics in the Business Environments (5th ed). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning
Cultural Impact of Multinational Corporations
Multinational Corporations (MNCS) are corporations that operate in more than one country. The model of a MNCS is dynamic offering both benefits and detriment factors to our society.
A common model experienced with MNCS is a center of operations is in one country with manufacturing facilities in other countries where the company can benefit from producing goods and services where cost of production is lower due to labor costs (Tatum, 2003, 2). The benefit to produce at a lower cost provides a competitive advantage and a greater margin in the product sold producing increased capital for the company and shareholders. Other benefits are to provide work in other countries that maybe limited in the area providing financial infrastructure and social development (Wyans, 2008, 2) in developing countries. Some possible detriments to this MNCS model is displacement of jobs from one country, the quality of the product may not be to standard, and workers may not possess or have equal worker’s rights laws as we do where exploitation can occur.
However, the MNCS model can produce high-quality, low-priced products. MNCS create competition, and in return “delivers mutually beneficial gains from exchange and sparks the collaborative effort of all nations to produce commodities efficiently” (Quinlivan, 2009, 6). Foreign investments have increased due to MNCS. However, increasing foreign investments does not necessarily equate to increasing domestic investments. In other words, due to MNCS, there have been some signs of decreased domestic investments (Quinlivan, 2009, 8). Decreased domestic investments may help the financial infrastructure in developing countries, but can damage the financial infrastructure in the domestic country.
With the increased awareness of human rights in other countries and the need to decrease environmental issues by making environmental friendly products, attracts great apprehension with the functionality of MNCS. One example of an environmental issue is the drive to extract oil from Nigeria triggered protest. The military was used to harass and kill protesters (Anup, 2002, 4). MNCS must be aware and conscience of their actions when operating in other countries. However Quinlivan (2009) argues that MNCS are the driving force to spread green technologies and creating the market for green products (14). Both examples of the impact and the increased awareness MNCS brings to the environment and human rights provide substance. There must be a balance to ensure MNCS are socially responsible as it pertains to each country.
Some argue MNCS sparked a cultural phenomenon where three distinct metaphors are occurring including cultural homogenization, cultural polarization, and hybridization. The influence by the MNCS and the product trusted upon diverse cultures is alleged by some to be a western standardization known as homogenization (Holton, 2000). The impact on cultures can cultivate cultural hatred towards a specific country where resistance against western culture creates cultural polarization.
There are many MNCS operating today benefiting society and the economy. One example is the conglomerate Wal-Mart. The chain of stores is doing exceedingly well during our current economic downturn due to their ability to offer the customer what they want and that is affordable merchandise. There is a paradigm shift in spending where consumers are trading down, and that is where Wal-Mart capitalizes with their brand image of saving people money (Gross, 2008, 4). Wal-Mart operates in other countries helping their overall profitability where the U.S. market is at idle, other countries are thriving well which contributes to Wal-Mart’s success (Gross, 2008, 4).
There are also arguments against Wal-Mart where doing business is hurting our society. Wal-Mart’s ability to purchase product from suppliers at such a low cost hurts the suppliers to the point where they must lay-off employees to make up the loss. Wal-Mart’s purchasing of foreign products accelerates the need to move jobs overseas to compete which are contributing to increasing MNCS (Fishman, 2007, 7-8).
To conclude, there are many contributing factors of MNCS that can benefit and can be a detriment to society. MNCS are very popular while gaining traction for years. However, the increasing of MNCS requires oversight to ensure the pros outweigh the cons. There must be a balance for MNCS to ensure human rights, culture, financial infrastructure, the environment, the product is of quality, and ethical practices is the foundation rather than just being considered in the decision making process.
Anup, S. (2002). Corporations and the environment. Global Issues. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/55/corporations-and-the-environment
Fishman, C. (2007). The wal-mart you don’t know. Fast Company. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
Gross, D. (2008). The wal-mart puzzle. Slate. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.slate.com/id/2185221/
Holton, R. (2000). Globalization cultural consequences. The Annals. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/570/1/140
Quinlivan, M. G. (2009). Multinational corporations: myths and facts. Action Institute. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.acton.org/publications/randl/rl_article_364.php
Tatum, M. (2003). What is a multinational corporation? Wise Geek. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-multinational-corporation.htm
Wyans, J. (2008). Multinational Corporations – benefits and drawbacks. Associated Content. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1062818/multinational_corporations_benefits.html?cat=4
A common model experienced with MNCS is a center of operations is in one country with manufacturing facilities in other countries where the company can benefit from producing goods and services where cost of production is lower due to labor costs (Tatum, 2003, 2). The benefit to produce at a lower cost provides a competitive advantage and a greater margin in the product sold producing increased capital for the company and shareholders. Other benefits are to provide work in other countries that maybe limited in the area providing financial infrastructure and social development (Wyans, 2008, 2) in developing countries. Some possible detriments to this MNCS model is displacement of jobs from one country, the quality of the product may not be to standard, and workers may not possess or have equal worker’s rights laws as we do where exploitation can occur.
However, the MNCS model can produce high-quality, low-priced products. MNCS create competition, and in return “delivers mutually beneficial gains from exchange and sparks the collaborative effort of all nations to produce commodities efficiently” (Quinlivan, 2009, 6). Foreign investments have increased due to MNCS. However, increasing foreign investments does not necessarily equate to increasing domestic investments. In other words, due to MNCS, there have been some signs of decreased domestic investments (Quinlivan, 2009, 8). Decreased domestic investments may help the financial infrastructure in developing countries, but can damage the financial infrastructure in the domestic country.
With the increased awareness of human rights in other countries and the need to decrease environmental issues by making environmental friendly products, attracts great apprehension with the functionality of MNCS. One example of an environmental issue is the drive to extract oil from Nigeria triggered protest. The military was used to harass and kill protesters (Anup, 2002, 4). MNCS must be aware and conscience of their actions when operating in other countries. However Quinlivan (2009) argues that MNCS are the driving force to spread green technologies and creating the market for green products (14). Both examples of the impact and the increased awareness MNCS brings to the environment and human rights provide substance. There must be a balance to ensure MNCS are socially responsible as it pertains to each country.
Some argue MNCS sparked a cultural phenomenon where three distinct metaphors are occurring including cultural homogenization, cultural polarization, and hybridization. The influence by the MNCS and the product trusted upon diverse cultures is alleged by some to be a western standardization known as homogenization (Holton, 2000). The impact on cultures can cultivate cultural hatred towards a specific country where resistance against western culture creates cultural polarization.
There are many MNCS operating today benefiting society and the economy. One example is the conglomerate Wal-Mart. The chain of stores is doing exceedingly well during our current economic downturn due to their ability to offer the customer what they want and that is affordable merchandise. There is a paradigm shift in spending where consumers are trading down, and that is where Wal-Mart capitalizes with their brand image of saving people money (Gross, 2008, 4). Wal-Mart operates in other countries helping their overall profitability where the U.S. market is at idle, other countries are thriving well which contributes to Wal-Mart’s success (Gross, 2008, 4).
There are also arguments against Wal-Mart where doing business is hurting our society. Wal-Mart’s ability to purchase product from suppliers at such a low cost hurts the suppliers to the point where they must lay-off employees to make up the loss. Wal-Mart’s purchasing of foreign products accelerates the need to move jobs overseas to compete which are contributing to increasing MNCS (Fishman, 2007, 7-8).
To conclude, there are many contributing factors of MNCS that can benefit and can be a detriment to society. MNCS are very popular while gaining traction for years. However, the increasing of MNCS requires oversight to ensure the pros outweigh the cons. There must be a balance for MNCS to ensure human rights, culture, financial infrastructure, the environment, the product is of quality, and ethical practices is the foundation rather than just being considered in the decision making process.
Anup, S. (2002). Corporations and the environment. Global Issues. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/55/corporations-and-the-environment
Fishman, C. (2007). The wal-mart you don’t know. Fast Company. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html
Gross, D. (2008). The wal-mart puzzle. Slate. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.slate.com/id/2185221/
Holton, R. (2000). Globalization cultural consequences. The Annals. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://ann.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/570/1/140
Quinlivan, M. G. (2009). Multinational corporations: myths and facts. Action Institute. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.acton.org/publications/randl/rl_article_364.php
Tatum, M. (2003). What is a multinational corporation? Wise Geek. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-multinational-corporation.htm
Wyans, J. (2008). Multinational Corporations – benefits and drawbacks. Associated Content. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1062818/multinational_corporations_benefits.html?cat=4
To Be Socially Responsible: A Company's Responsibility
Social responsibility, in short, is the proactive approach a company takes to make decisions that best serves the society and the company. Social responsibility can easily be defined, but the concept of social responsibility needs to be explained in detail. Businesses do not operate just to please the stockholders. There is a certain amount of responsibility to society when a business is formed; a building's impacting on the surrounding area. Those responsibilities include, but are not limited to increased traffic from parking lots, pollutants, garbage accumulations, and other activities which may impact the community. There are many issues that must be considered. According to Pearce and Robinson (2009) “corporate responsibility is the idea that a business has a duty to serve society in general as well as the financial interest of its stockholders" (p.55).
Social responsibilities can be segmented into four categories of social commitment. The categories are economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary social responsibilities (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p.56). Each category must appropriately be strategically planned and implemented by management to ensure a company is socially responsible.
Economic responsibility is also considered the obligation to be profitable to the stakeholders, stockholders, employees, and customers. Economic responsibilities have four basic areas which are profitability, transparency, nondiscrimination, and sustainability (Pnet, 2008, p.1). A company must be profitable to satisfy the stockholders, and provide incentives for the employee to continue to support the company. A company must be transparent in their actions so everyone is aware of the end result. Nondiscrimination is the act of consistency to the financial criteria of a company’s employees, customers, and suppliers (Pnet, 2008, p.1). A company must be sustainable and have long-term plans in place. A company must continue to improve their processes to adapt to the customer to ensure sustainability.
The legal responsibility is the responsibility of a company to obey laws and regulations. The laws range from federal, state, local, and government laws. Another definition of legal responsibilities by Carroll (1991) is “legal responsibilities reflect a view of "codified ethics" in the sense that they embody basic notions of fair operations as established by our lawmakers” (p.1).
Ethical responsibilities may not be covered by the law. In fact, a company can sell a legal product, but the product may be considered unethical to society. Carroll (1991) states “ethical responsibilities embody those standards, norms, or expectations that reflect a concern for what consumers, employees, shareholders, and the community regard as fair, just, or in keeping with the respect or protection of stakeholders' moral rights” (p.1). Ethical responsibilities address a company’s ability to do what is right and to reflect proper business behavior (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p.58).
Discretionary responsibility is the responsibility of a company to be involved in public relations, and to be involved with the community on a voluntary basis. Many companies today participate in a wide variety of social events and some even host the events as well. Companies today understand the basic foundation of community involvement, its impact on the company as well as the community by creating a strategic partnership.
One type of company that comes to mind as possibly being a market segment that is legal but not ethical are the payday loan companies (predatory lending). Yes we live in a free market society, and if a customer is willing to apply for a loan with an outrageous annual percentage rate, then there is nothing illegal about it within the established laws. According to Churchman and Korb (2006) “payday lenders offer high cost, short-term loans that often result in annual percentage rates of more than 400%” (p.1). When you look at it from this perspective, is there anything unethical about this? The issue is that they sometimes target military members and low income families struggling to just make ends meet. Sometimes the family has no option but to apply for the loan and accept the terms. Personally, predatory lenders are feeding off of our weak and poor. We enable this behavior by many times blaming the users of the loans. They do have a stake in it, but if you have a family you must take care of, you will do anything you can to take care of them. If payday loans were socially responsible and made decisions that were in the best interest of society, then their annual percentage rate would not be 400%. Their rates would be competitive with financial institutions, and they could position themselves as an alternative to financial institutions. Because the law allows predatory lenders to charge the outrageous annual percentage rates they do just that, while feeding off of the less fortunate in our society. When the military was my full-time career I saw a lot of good people turn to these lending institutions as their last hope. These soldiers were doing everything right, but could not sustain their family with the salary the military offered at the time. It was sad watching these companies take advantage of my brothers-at-arms.
Carroll, A. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders - balancing economic, legal, and social responsibilities. Businesses Services Industries. Retrieved July, 17, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n4_v34/ai_11000639/pg_2/
Churchman, J., & Korb, J. L. (2006). Defend all from payday loans. Center of American Progress. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/07/b1859861.html
Pearce, A. J., & Robinson, B. R. (2009). Strategic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Pnet, (2008). Four basic responsibilities of a business. Spice Mentor. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://spicementor.blogspot.com/2008/04/four-basic-economic-responsibilities-of.html
Social responsibilities can be segmented into four categories of social commitment. The categories are economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary social responsibilities (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p.56). Each category must appropriately be strategically planned and implemented by management to ensure a company is socially responsible.
Economic responsibility is also considered the obligation to be profitable to the stakeholders, stockholders, employees, and customers. Economic responsibilities have four basic areas which are profitability, transparency, nondiscrimination, and sustainability (Pnet, 2008, p.1). A company must be profitable to satisfy the stockholders, and provide incentives for the employee to continue to support the company. A company must be transparent in their actions so everyone is aware of the end result. Nondiscrimination is the act of consistency to the financial criteria of a company’s employees, customers, and suppliers (Pnet, 2008, p.1). A company must be sustainable and have long-term plans in place. A company must continue to improve their processes to adapt to the customer to ensure sustainability.
The legal responsibility is the responsibility of a company to obey laws and regulations. The laws range from federal, state, local, and government laws. Another definition of legal responsibilities by Carroll (1991) is “legal responsibilities reflect a view of "codified ethics" in the sense that they embody basic notions of fair operations as established by our lawmakers” (p.1).
Ethical responsibilities may not be covered by the law. In fact, a company can sell a legal product, but the product may be considered unethical to society. Carroll (1991) states “ethical responsibilities embody those standards, norms, or expectations that reflect a concern for what consumers, employees, shareholders, and the community regard as fair, just, or in keeping with the respect or protection of stakeholders' moral rights” (p.1). Ethical responsibilities address a company’s ability to do what is right and to reflect proper business behavior (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p.58).
Discretionary responsibility is the responsibility of a company to be involved in public relations, and to be involved with the community on a voluntary basis. Many companies today participate in a wide variety of social events and some even host the events as well. Companies today understand the basic foundation of community involvement, its impact on the company as well as the community by creating a strategic partnership.
One type of company that comes to mind as possibly being a market segment that is legal but not ethical are the payday loan companies (predatory lending). Yes we live in a free market society, and if a customer is willing to apply for a loan with an outrageous annual percentage rate, then there is nothing illegal about it within the established laws. According to Churchman and Korb (2006) “payday lenders offer high cost, short-term loans that often result in annual percentage rates of more than 400%” (p.1). When you look at it from this perspective, is there anything unethical about this? The issue is that they sometimes target military members and low income families struggling to just make ends meet. Sometimes the family has no option but to apply for the loan and accept the terms. Personally, predatory lenders are feeding off of our weak and poor. We enable this behavior by many times blaming the users of the loans. They do have a stake in it, but if you have a family you must take care of, you will do anything you can to take care of them. If payday loans were socially responsible and made decisions that were in the best interest of society, then their annual percentage rate would not be 400%. Their rates would be competitive with financial institutions, and they could position themselves as an alternative to financial institutions. Because the law allows predatory lenders to charge the outrageous annual percentage rates they do just that, while feeding off of the less fortunate in our society. When the military was my full-time career I saw a lot of good people turn to these lending institutions as their last hope. These soldiers were doing everything right, but could not sustain their family with the salary the military offered at the time. It was sad watching these companies take advantage of my brothers-at-arms.
Carroll, A. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders - balancing economic, legal, and social responsibilities. Businesses Services Industries. Retrieved July, 17, 2009, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n4_v34/ai_11000639/pg_2/
Churchman, J., & Korb, J. L. (2006). Defend all from payday loans. Center of American Progress. Retrieved July 17, 2009, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/07/b1859861.html
Pearce, A. J., & Robinson, B. R. (2009). Strategic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Pnet, (2008). Four basic responsibilities of a business. Spice Mentor. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://spicementor.blogspot.com/2008/04/four-basic-economic-responsibilities-of.html
Customer Service Core Competencies
Creating and promoting a superior customer service team is an art beginning with the right people displaying the necessary soft skill sets to include but not limited to displaying passion, communicative techniques, flexibility, ownership, knowledge, enthusiasm, and dedication. Often times a new customer service team is not created but molded within an existing organization. The customer service team is already in place challenging a transformation of service rather than a creation of service. Superior customer service is determined and defined by the customer. What exactly do your customers expect from you? How do you achieve to meet the expectations?
Transforming a good customer service team into a superior customer service team begins with fostering a culture based on core competencies and a clear understanding of the corporate strategy. Core competencies are the key skills a business encompasses to provide a service to the customer that is not easily reproduced by others. Core competencies provide a direct benefit to the customer that is not considered a tangible service and is not exclusive to one department, but inclusive to all departments. It is a continuous improvement strategy to provide a competitive advantage.
There are five major core competencies every customer service representative should possess as a foundation to achieve superior service. The five major core competencies are:
Close-loop Communication
Empowerment
Knowledge
Ownership
Change Management (People)
Close-Loop Communication
Core competencies begin with the communication process. Every encounter with the customer begins with communication. The ability to send the right message the first time while projecting an enthusiastic attitude, is the differentiation of superior customer service vs. run of the mill customer service. The communication process creates brand image. As technology advances, so does the way we communicate. Communicating electronically is a paradigm shift we will continue to move towards. When communicating by e-mail, the message should project passion on how you service and care for your customers (internal and external). Even the signature section in the e-mail is a valuable section in the communication process. The signature section creates brand image, and should project a positive contact welcoming the customer to provide feedback. The signature section can be used as a powerful tool for providing customers your philosophy and corporate culture. A powerful statement on your signature section outlining expectations you strive to meet creates the ownership of communication. Take pride and believe in your core concepts by stating customer expectations on your signature section. One example is to state "we pride ourselves on proactively meeting and exceeding customer expectations while delivering an exceptional service experience.” What a powerful statement! The next step is to perform to the level of expectations you strive to meet and state.
Communicating over the telephone requires specific skills. The ability to understand, assess the situation, and provide a solution requires knowledge, empathy, personal touch, enthusiasm, and the undivided attention of a customer service representative to effectively manage the call to deliver a superior service experience. Projecting a “can do” attitude up front by comforting the customer will reinforce to him or her they called the correct individual to manage the issue to completion will set the tone of the conversation. One warning – do not promise something you are not able to deliver on and always state what you “can do” not what you “can’t do.”
Empowerment
Having a customer service representative available to take your call or answer your email is the first step to creating a rudimentary approach to service. The ability for the customer service representative to proactively manage the call requires empowerment to make decisions best for the customer while managing a fine line to ensure you are not “giving away the farm.” Make no mistake; superior customer service is codependent of empowerment. Companies often times have difficulty understanding and implementing techniques to empower their staff. True empowerment is the ability to provide your frontline support an approach to make nimble decisions even in contrast of company policies to satisfy a customer’s need. Many service leaders understand the importance of empowerment and the phenomenal results this key initiative has on keeping customers coming back.
Knowledge
Let’s face it; anybody who has worked in a customer service related position knows a customer service representative is one of the most multifaceted employees within a company. Customer service representatives work in different industries, with different customers, products, and internal dynamics of operations. The customer service representative, besides knowing the fundamentals of customer service, must understand the industry, products, corporate systems, customer requirements, departmental structures, and a vast amount of other entities to be successful (Figure 1.). Customer service is very dynamic and abstract in nature. Some customer service representatives may fill their day with answering routine calls where other customer service representatives are providing solutions to unique customer issues. The responsibility of a customer service representative is essentially any issue a customer is requiring assistance with and should not be limited.
Transforming a good customer service team into a superior customer service team begins with fostering a culture based on core competencies and a clear understanding of the corporate strategy. Core competencies are the key skills a business encompasses to provide a service to the customer that is not easily reproduced by others. Core competencies provide a direct benefit to the customer that is not considered a tangible service and is not exclusive to one department, but inclusive to all departments. It is a continuous improvement strategy to provide a competitive advantage.
There are five major core competencies every customer service representative should possess as a foundation to achieve superior service. The five major core competencies are:
Close-loop Communication
Empowerment
Knowledge
Ownership
Change Management (People)
Close-Loop Communication
Core competencies begin with the communication process. Every encounter with the customer begins with communication. The ability to send the right message the first time while projecting an enthusiastic attitude, is the differentiation of superior customer service vs. run of the mill customer service. The communication process creates brand image. As technology advances, so does the way we communicate. Communicating electronically is a paradigm shift we will continue to move towards. When communicating by e-mail, the message should project passion on how you service and care for your customers (internal and external). Even the signature section in the e-mail is a valuable section in the communication process. The signature section creates brand image, and should project a positive contact welcoming the customer to provide feedback. The signature section can be used as a powerful tool for providing customers your philosophy and corporate culture. A powerful statement on your signature section outlining expectations you strive to meet creates the ownership of communication. Take pride and believe in your core concepts by stating customer expectations on your signature section. One example is to state "we pride ourselves on proactively meeting and exceeding customer expectations while delivering an exceptional service experience.” What a powerful statement! The next step is to perform to the level of expectations you strive to meet and state.
Communicating over the telephone requires specific skills. The ability to understand, assess the situation, and provide a solution requires knowledge, empathy, personal touch, enthusiasm, and the undivided attention of a customer service representative to effectively manage the call to deliver a superior service experience. Projecting a “can do” attitude up front by comforting the customer will reinforce to him or her they called the correct individual to manage the issue to completion will set the tone of the conversation. One warning – do not promise something you are not able to deliver on and always state what you “can do” not what you “can’t do.”
Empowerment
Having a customer service representative available to take your call or answer your email is the first step to creating a rudimentary approach to service. The ability for the customer service representative to proactively manage the call requires empowerment to make decisions best for the customer while managing a fine line to ensure you are not “giving away the farm.” Make no mistake; superior customer service is codependent of empowerment. Companies often times have difficulty understanding and implementing techniques to empower their staff. True empowerment is the ability to provide your frontline support an approach to make nimble decisions even in contrast of company policies to satisfy a customer’s need. Many service leaders understand the importance of empowerment and the phenomenal results this key initiative has on keeping customers coming back.
Knowledge
Let’s face it; anybody who has worked in a customer service related position knows a customer service representative is one of the most multifaceted employees within a company. Customer service representatives work in different industries, with different customers, products, and internal dynamics of operations. The customer service representative, besides knowing the fundamentals of customer service, must understand the industry, products, corporate systems, customer requirements, departmental structures, and a vast amount of other entities to be successful (Figure 1.). Customer service is very dynamic and abstract in nature. Some customer service representatives may fill their day with answering routine calls where other customer service representatives are providing solutions to unique customer issues. The responsibility of a customer service representative is essentially any issue a customer is requiring assistance with and should not be limited.
Ownership
Ownership is a word overused and underperformed many times within a corporation. True ownership within customer service is the relentless pursuit to drive to completion any issue a customer is currently requesting assistance to help resolve. The customer is truly asking for resolution to an issue. Not for an employee to recite company policy or forward the call to another department. We all understand there is a time and place to advise of company policies and to get the customer the right department for help. However, the ability to seize the opportunity to satisfy a customer request in the quickest way possible is the prize. Creating an environment where customer service representatives are encouraged to take a leadership role will increase the notion of ownership. Employees will respond in a positive way as increased responsibility brings increased personal pride.
Change Management (People)
Where hear the word “flexibility” thrown at us so many times in the workplace. Customer service is sometimes the epitome of flexibility. Changing culture is one of the hardest initiatives to pursue within a corporation. For change to be successful requires the people to be involved in the process. Building a team to be flexible in our culture of change requires buy-in. To achieve buy-in requires a clear vision of the corporate strategy. The corporate strategy is dynamic and employees must be able to adapt to change to meet corporate goals. A clear vision of change must be overly communicated and must not be oversimplified.
Continuous Improvement
Creating core competencies requires customer feedback. Customer feedback is vital so a clear understanding of what your customers expect from you is quantified and achieved. There are several continuous improvement tools available to lead an organization to success. A Cause and Effect Diagrams is a continuous improvement tool developed to correlate an “effect” to all possible “causes.” A Reverse Cause and Effect Diagram is used to identify a future “effect” and all the “causes” that will contribute to move in the direction of the “effect.” A Reverse Cause and Effect Diagram for core competencies begin with the “effect” you are achieving to meet which is to provide a superior customer experience. Once the “effect” is identified, you want to formulate all the “causes” that will contribute to your “effect.” This includes processes, systems, environment, frontline support, and expectations. A sample Reverse Cause and Effect Diagram to create superior customer service e
xemplifying required core competencies may look like:
Ownership is a word overused and underperformed many times within a corporation. True ownership within customer service is the relentless pursuit to drive to completion any issue a customer is currently requesting assistance to help resolve. The customer is truly asking for resolution to an issue. Not for an employee to recite company policy or forward the call to another department. We all understand there is a time and place to advise of company policies and to get the customer the right department for help. However, the ability to seize the opportunity to satisfy a customer request in the quickest way possible is the prize. Creating an environment where customer service representatives are encouraged to take a leadership role will increase the notion of ownership. Employees will respond in a positive way as increased responsibility brings increased personal pride.
Change Management (People)
Where hear the word “flexibility” thrown at us so many times in the workplace. Customer service is sometimes the epitome of flexibility. Changing culture is one of the hardest initiatives to pursue within a corporation. For change to be successful requires the people to be involved in the process. Building a team to be flexible in our culture of change requires buy-in. To achieve buy-in requires a clear vision of the corporate strategy. The corporate strategy is dynamic and employees must be able to adapt to change to meet corporate goals. A clear vision of change must be overly communicated and must not be oversimplified.
Continuous Improvement
Creating core competencies requires customer feedback. Customer feedback is vital so a clear understanding of what your customers expect from you is quantified and achieved. There are several continuous improvement tools available to lead an organization to success. A Cause and Effect Diagrams is a continuous improvement tool developed to correlate an “effect” to all possible “causes.” A Reverse Cause and Effect Diagram is used to identify a future “effect” and all the “causes” that will contribute to move in the direction of the “effect.” A Reverse Cause and Effect Diagram for core competencies begin with the “effect” you are achieving to meet which is to provide a superior customer experience. Once the “effect” is identified, you want to formulate all the “causes” that will contribute to your “effect.” This includes processes, systems, environment, frontline support, and expectations. A sample Reverse Cause and Effect Diagram to create superior customer service e
xemplifying required core competencies may look like:Continuous improvement is the driving factor of core competencies. A customer service representative’s ability is a continuum and philosophical evolution that serves one main purpose and that is to satisfy the customer and make them want to come back for more.
It is amazing to witness the support and zeal from a customer service team as a program is created and training completed to build a foundation based on core competencies. The transformation will begin once the need is indentified with the understanding the first step is to equip the frontline support with the knowledge and empowerment so they feel accomplished in their actions. This is the first step in the transformation as you continue to travel on a journey to stay on the frontend of continuously providing exceptional customer service.
The Balanced Employee
Abstract
A balanced work-life in theory is the ultimate achievement goal for many workers. The definition of a balanced work-life can be subjective to the individual. Balanced work-life can represent and impact many areas of an individual whose ultimate goal is to achieve such a state. As the broad definition of a balanced work-life is being defined in the article, a need for individual responsibility to obtain his or her own balanced work-life will be a driving factor to determine the success in obtaining the adequate amount of balance for the individual. Many surveys and labor statistics suggest work-life balance is dissimilar per family count and income to debt ratio per household.
The Balanced Employee
Introduction
The term “work-life balance” is used quite frequently to tie productivity to a workers ability to manage their workload and life’s little surprises. To the worker it is a means to balance their life in conjunction with the necessity of work. When we think of the term “work-life balance” there tends to be this universal thought process perceived to be some equal balance to achieve for the general population and it is up to the company to place into action. The article “Work-Life Balance defined – What it really means” Bird (2003) provides a reasonable definition to work-life balance as, “there is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving for. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives” (p.1).
Individual work-life balance is dynamic and consistently changing in ones life. What was once a balanced work-life for one individual can completely be altered over a specific time period. Work-life balance could be considered a tactical approach of each day to ensure you are achieving the “in the moment fulfillment.” Bird (2003) explains that “life will deliver the value and balance we desire when we are achieving and enjoying something every single day in all the important areas that make up our lives” (p.1).
Creating the Individual Work-Life Balance
Reaching the individual work-life balance can be determined by the individual’s current situation and their long-term plan. The purpose of work is to provide the basic necessity of needs such as housing and food. However, there are other reasons people work and chose to work in specific fields such as to achieve self-gratification in what they do, to help others, gain assets, and etc. Many times work-life balance is not achieved because normal people place themselves in extraordinary situations. Let’s take for instance the credit dilemma. Many Americans own credit cards and some have better control than others over their spending habits. After reading the article “U.S. Consumer Debt Reaches Record Level” it is noticeable there is a crisis right now with credit spending. From October 2000 to October 2003 there has been a 22% increase in consumer debt which translates into $18,700 per US household representing both credit card and car loan debt. ( Laurier, 2004).
The creation of debt burden on the normal household begins to shape a particular work-life you must attain in order to keep up with the decisions being made. Laurier (2004) contends that “there are already indications that the debt burden has become unmanageable for many families and individuals” (p.1). This debt burden contributes to the stress leading into job insecurity, longer hours, and additional jobs to maintain with the spending habits created. In 2003 the average household card debt of individuals who carried a balance was estimated at $12,000. (Laurier, 2004).
Reducing the amount of debt verses income ratio per household could provide a clearer goal to creating the work-life balance for some individuals. Other individuals who do not mind credit card debt or working long hours to pay off the debt due to the products purchased on the credit cards are content with the work-life balance they created.
Work and family
Mark Lino from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (1994) estimates that “single-parent families are increasing proportion of all family groups with children.” Mark also details the dichotomy of single-family household income and married household income, and the economic status of the two separate classes of households. Increased household expenditure for a single parent is quite different from a household with two working parents, and very dissimilar from a single individual in the workforce. The balance work-life for each household segment is significantly different in nature.
Employer support to create a work-life balance
Although work-life balance varies per household and situation, employers are making great strides in creating work-life balance within their corporations. Although employers have the pick in the employee pool during this economical crisis, they do understand the importance of linking productivity to a worker who is content in their position. One company named Arapahoe/Douglas Works! Created several programs to help facilitate a work-life balance without impacting their customer base by offering the opportunity for “staff to work a few longer days so they can take every fifth or 10th day off, work at home one day a week, or start work anytime between 6 and 9 a.m. as long as the core customer hours of the workforce center is adequately covered” (US Fed News Service, 2008).
Another unique feature is that A/D Works! Allows 2 hours per week to be used to accommodate unexpected issues and can be made up during the week as necessary (U.S. Fed News, 2008). Many companies recognize the benefits of work-life balance and are very creative in implementing basic designs to satisfy the majority of workers in their efforts.
Integrating Work and Life
There have been many studies in regards to the integration of work and life and how one facet of the equation interacts with other facets. The journal article “Intersecting work and family: The influence of relational beliefs and behaviors on work family integration” uses a multiple regression to test the hypothesis presented in the article. The hypothesis is essentially stating how these two dichotomies have both positive and negative impacts to a household. Polk (2008) contends that “Strategies to integrate work and family have caught the attention of organizations, institutions, academics and families, and many people are motivated to find ways to blend these two domains.” This is something that is part of our culture and corporations in today’s environment. By achieving collaboration between these two domains there can be a universal benefit for all involved to not only gain productivity but a satisfaction of an employee’s ability to manage both work and life.
Conclusion
The work-life balance achievement and satisfaction is in the eyes of the beholder. What one perceives to be the perfect work-life balance may not be sufficient for the other. Household members, demographics, debt to income ratio, and other domains shape the work-life culture for each individual. Although some corporations integrate different initiatives to obtain some sort of flexibility with work-life balance for productivity gains or incentives, there is only so much a corporation can achieve to benefit the majority due to everybody’s work-life balance is diverse. It is up to the individual to determine what makes them satisfied daily in the goals they would like to achieve, and what they enjoy daily coupled by determining their household needs to determine what type of work-life balance they would like to achieve.
Reference
Denise M Polk, DMP. (2008). Intersecting work and family: The influence of rational beliefs and behaviors on work-family integration. Journal of Management and Organization, 14(4), 22. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=1608721221&sid=7&Fmt=3&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Jim Bird, JB. (2003). Work-Life Balance Defined - What is really means. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www.worklifebalance.com/worklifebalancedefined.html
Joanne Laurier, JL. (2004). US consumer debt reaches record level. 3. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jan2004/debt-j15.shtml
Mark Lino, ML. (1994). Income spending patterns and single-mother families. 117(5), 1. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1994/05/art5exc.htm
US Fed News Service, Including US State News. (2008). LOCAL WORKFORCE CENTER SUPPORTS EMPLOYEES' WORK/LIFE BALANCE. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=1620197761&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
A balanced work-life in theory is the ultimate achievement goal for many workers. The definition of a balanced work-life can be subjective to the individual. Balanced work-life can represent and impact many areas of an individual whose ultimate goal is to achieve such a state. As the broad definition of a balanced work-life is being defined in the article, a need for individual responsibility to obtain his or her own balanced work-life will be a driving factor to determine the success in obtaining the adequate amount of balance for the individual. Many surveys and labor statistics suggest work-life balance is dissimilar per family count and income to debt ratio per household.
The Balanced Employee
Introduction
The term “work-life balance” is used quite frequently to tie productivity to a workers ability to manage their workload and life’s little surprises. To the worker it is a means to balance their life in conjunction with the necessity of work. When we think of the term “work-life balance” there tends to be this universal thought process perceived to be some equal balance to achieve for the general population and it is up to the company to place into action. The article “Work-Life Balance defined – What it really means” Bird (2003) provides a reasonable definition to work-life balance as, “there is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving for. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives” (p.1).
Individual work-life balance is dynamic and consistently changing in ones life. What was once a balanced work-life for one individual can completely be altered over a specific time period. Work-life balance could be considered a tactical approach of each day to ensure you are achieving the “in the moment fulfillment.” Bird (2003) explains that “life will deliver the value and balance we desire when we are achieving and enjoying something every single day in all the important areas that make up our lives” (p.1).
Creating the Individual Work-Life Balance
Reaching the individual work-life balance can be determined by the individual’s current situation and their long-term plan. The purpose of work is to provide the basic necessity of needs such as housing and food. However, there are other reasons people work and chose to work in specific fields such as to achieve self-gratification in what they do, to help others, gain assets, and etc. Many times work-life balance is not achieved because normal people place themselves in extraordinary situations. Let’s take for instance the credit dilemma. Many Americans own credit cards and some have better control than others over their spending habits. After reading the article “U.S. Consumer Debt Reaches Record Level” it is noticeable there is a crisis right now with credit spending. From October 2000 to October 2003 there has been a 22% increase in consumer debt which translates into $18,700 per US household representing both credit card and car loan debt. ( Laurier, 2004).
The creation of debt burden on the normal household begins to shape a particular work-life you must attain in order to keep up with the decisions being made. Laurier (2004) contends that “there are already indications that the debt burden has become unmanageable for many families and individuals” (p.1). This debt burden contributes to the stress leading into job insecurity, longer hours, and additional jobs to maintain with the spending habits created. In 2003 the average household card debt of individuals who carried a balance was estimated at $12,000. (Laurier, 2004).
Reducing the amount of debt verses income ratio per household could provide a clearer goal to creating the work-life balance for some individuals. Other individuals who do not mind credit card debt or working long hours to pay off the debt due to the products purchased on the credit cards are content with the work-life balance they created.
Work and family
Mark Lino from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (1994) estimates that “single-parent families are increasing proportion of all family groups with children.” Mark also details the dichotomy of single-family household income and married household income, and the economic status of the two separate classes of households. Increased household expenditure for a single parent is quite different from a household with two working parents, and very dissimilar from a single individual in the workforce. The balance work-life for each household segment is significantly different in nature.
Employer support to create a work-life balance
Although work-life balance varies per household and situation, employers are making great strides in creating work-life balance within their corporations. Although employers have the pick in the employee pool during this economical crisis, they do understand the importance of linking productivity to a worker who is content in their position. One company named Arapahoe/Douglas Works! Created several programs to help facilitate a work-life balance without impacting their customer base by offering the opportunity for “staff to work a few longer days so they can take every fifth or 10th day off, work at home one day a week, or start work anytime between 6 and 9 a.m. as long as the core customer hours of the workforce center is adequately covered” (US Fed News Service, 2008).
Another unique feature is that A/D Works! Allows 2 hours per week to be used to accommodate unexpected issues and can be made up during the week as necessary (U.S. Fed News, 2008). Many companies recognize the benefits of work-life balance and are very creative in implementing basic designs to satisfy the majority of workers in their efforts.
Integrating Work and Life
There have been many studies in regards to the integration of work and life and how one facet of the equation interacts with other facets. The journal article “Intersecting work and family: The influence of relational beliefs and behaviors on work family integration” uses a multiple regression to test the hypothesis presented in the article. The hypothesis is essentially stating how these two dichotomies have both positive and negative impacts to a household. Polk (2008) contends that “Strategies to integrate work and family have caught the attention of organizations, institutions, academics and families, and many people are motivated to find ways to blend these two domains.” This is something that is part of our culture and corporations in today’s environment. By achieving collaboration between these two domains there can be a universal benefit for all involved to not only gain productivity but a satisfaction of an employee’s ability to manage both work and life.
Conclusion
The work-life balance achievement and satisfaction is in the eyes of the beholder. What one perceives to be the perfect work-life balance may not be sufficient for the other. Household members, demographics, debt to income ratio, and other domains shape the work-life culture for each individual. Although some corporations integrate different initiatives to obtain some sort of flexibility with work-life balance for productivity gains or incentives, there is only so much a corporation can achieve to benefit the majority due to everybody’s work-life balance is diverse. It is up to the individual to determine what makes them satisfied daily in the goals they would like to achieve, and what they enjoy daily coupled by determining their household needs to determine what type of work-life balance they would like to achieve.
Reference
Denise M Polk, DMP. (2008). Intersecting work and family: The influence of rational beliefs and behaviors on work-family integration. Journal of Management and Organization, 14(4), 22. Retrieved March 9, 2009, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=1608721221&sid=7&Fmt=3&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
Jim Bird, JB. (2003). Work-Life Balance Defined - What is really means. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www.worklifebalance.com/worklifebalancedefined.html
Joanne Laurier, JL. (2004). US consumer debt reaches record level. 3. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jan2004/debt-j15.shtml
Mark Lino, ML. (1994). Income spending patterns and single-mother families. 117(5), 1. Retrieved March 13, 2009, from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1994/05/art5exc.htm
US Fed News Service, Including US State News. (2008). LOCAL WORKFORCE CENTER SUPPORTS EMPLOYEES' WORK/LIFE BALANCE. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apus.edu/pqdweb?did=1620197761&sid=4&Fmt=3&clientId=62546&RQT=309&VName=PQD
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