Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making Introduction This chapter introduces the reader to the broader context of the research area with an overview of decision making in cross cultural MA. The purpose is followed by the problem area and research question which will lead the readers through the thesis. Background Decision making is a process that managers face of diverging to explore the probable options and then converging on solutions. As Pratt points out, there is clearly a distinction between what an individual thinks(personality)and the way an individual thinks(cognitive style) (1980). The process is made even more complex when the companies are dealing in decision making in an arena of Merger and Acquisition. Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) have become the dominant mode of growth for firms seeking competitive advantage in an increasingly complex and global business economy(Adler, 1997).Cross-border merger and acquisition has continued to increase at a torrid pace during the last decade and half, to the point that it has become a major strategic tool for growth of multinational cormporations(Cartwright and Cooper,1993). Therefore it is essential for companies to pay attention to the analysis, strategy and planning behind its decision making. The management extent becomes much vast when it comes to different cultures both on the national and even greater on cross border level. The manager chances of successfully dealing with the rapid changes reduces to an extent. Multinational corporations require to hold a varied set of routines if they are to be renouned in a diverse world. Routines and repertotoires are often dependent on the multinational corporations unique institutional and cultural environment, and are therefore not imitated easily by other firms (Barney,1986). As multinational companies increasingly acquire targets in more culturally distant countries, they face new challenges in manageing their external environment (Moren,1980). Along side these encounters it is also important to understand the relation between national cultural distance and cross-border MA performance while devising strategic decisions. The difficulties in MAs are seen due to the lack of strategic decisions makingmade by organization. Managers end up having unrealistic expectations of probable synergies and fail to cope with multiple complexities. Companies now a days publish their cultural norms and values which might not be the real culture of the organization. Anthropoligists have researched that the undertaking of knowledge about a particular organisation culture does not always begin by inquiring the members themselves to identify the particular trait. In reality the cultural norms are recognised by understanding the profundity of cultural influences that are carried out in an interval within an organization. This necessitates to have an insightful long term observation and the foundation of norms,disciplines and new problem solving strategies. The decision-making paradigms have seen to occur in many fields, including management theory, psychology, information systems, management science, and operations research. It is also a fundamental activity of all management, and research and literature concerning decision-making processes.(Stewart, 2003) Problem Companies are equipped to make better decisions if they are more sensitive to cultural differences in a cross-cultural environment. Effective decision-making can enable smootherwork place relationship within and across the border MA, if managers are attuned to cross-culture management. Contextually how do organizations make decisions in a cross-cultural aquisiton is a critical research question in the study of administrative process. Researchers have paid little attention to complexities of decision making, in cross-cultural MAs. Previous research is more concentrated on routine operational decisions that are more available to quantitative analysis and particular descriptions.(Mintzberg, 1999) Additionally other important research questions, especially related to thinking or cognition are prevailing in the dynamic research of decision making, such as; how individuals get benefit from cultural diversity learning, and how do individuals think (Mitchell et al., 2002) and make different decisions. These emerging notions defined our research questions of this thesis. Consequently, we have formulated our research problem in the following questions: 1. What are the cross-cultural difficulties affecting decision-making in the aquired firm? 2. How does these cross-cultural difficulties influence the decision-making of acquired firm? Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to study the influence of cross-cultural implications of MAs on Decsion-Making. Delimitations The study is only concerned with the decision-making process in a cross-cultural acquisition and there is a less emphasis is on the cognitive factors of decision-making but the influence of cross-cultural implications on decision-making behavior in general. Due to time constraint, one case company is used for this analysis consequently the results limit to this Company A only. Moreover, the Company A has agreed to co-operate with an anonymous status of itself and its employees. This also set boundaries to the scope of our analysis and presentation. Further, this research has been conducted on a local Swedish company acquired by an Austiran firm, so analysis and conclusions will be restricted to information obtained locally. As a result, the analysis of Austrian work behavior is also subjective from Swedish employees perspective. Definitions To better understand the research, definitions are presented below to avoid misinterpretation of key concepts used in our study. Decision-making Cross-cultural Company A- It is a company based in Sweden. But has agreed to participate in our research on complete anonymity of itself and its participants and therefore will be refered to as Company A throughout the paper. Its formerly a Swedish organization which was acquired by an Austrian company in year 2000. (More information on Company A and its relevance to our study is mentioned in the Method) 1.6 Disposition The disposition of this thesis will be as follows: This chapter critiques the study and makes suggestions for future research. To fulfill the purpose of this thesis this section answers the research questions. This chapter covers analysis of the empirical findings in connection with theory and results. This chapter present result from the qualitative interviews conducted in Company A. This chapter presents theories within the field of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisitions. This discusses the procedure of collecting data and interviews as our instrument. Reliability, validity and generalizability of the study are also discussed here. Frame of Reference The section will present the previous research and studies in the areas of decision making and Mergers and Acquisitions integration. Further in reference to existent literature this section will discuss the decision making process in MAs. A brief summary of the whole frame of reference is presented at the end of the section in order to make a link with our research questions and to provide a base and guidance for the creation of themes for our empirical data. Frame of Reference Recently, a considerable amount of management research has been developed that focuses on the cultural perspective of international acquisition performance. (Arikan,2004; Rottig and Reu,2005) Researchers argue that a lack of national cultural fit may lead to cultural clashes between the involved workforces (Larsson and Risberg,1998). This may lower employee commitment and cooperation (Cartwright and Cooper,1996), and complicate the post-acquisition integration process (Very and Schweiger,2001) Some studies exposed a negative impact of cultural distance on the performance of international acquisitions (Datta and Puia, 1995, Olie, 1994, Uhlenbruck, 2004), while others identified a positive relationship (Doukas and Travlos, 1988, Morosini, Shane and Singh, 1998). Still other studies indicate that cultural distance either has no direct effect on international acquisition performance (Markides and Ittner, 1994) or is one of the least significant variables affecting performance (Kanter and Corn, 1994). These contradicting views developed the interest in the knowing how much of the cultural differences involved in the decision making in MA. This paper provides a descriptive framework that addresses the complexity of the decision making process of consequences of culture for international acquisition performance. Decsion-making Cross-cultural MAs Methodology A way of gathering knowledge about the social world is the methodology notion refered to by Stauss and Corbin (1998). The specific research methodology we are inspired by for this research is the grounded theory which is consummated by qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. To study the implications that emerge out of a cross-cultural acquisition and its influence on decision making process, we want to take advantage of the theoretical fundamentals and researches that have already been done in the realm of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisition implications. We also want to take that knowledge further through this chosen method by taking into account the case of Company A which was acquired by an Austian firm and has realized decision-making differences between the two units after the cross border Acquisition . 3.2 Research Method Determining the why and how of decision-making in a cross cultural contxt of an acquired frm can be done by finding the first-hand experiences of employees in Company A. To serve the purpose of our study we chose interviews as the primary source of data collection. We felt that person-to-person interaction with semi structured questions will be best in acquiring information. Moreover, considering the characteristcs of our investigation and that all the employees could be reached within a close proximity and in a single premise, the interview schedule was chosen instead of a questionnaire. Since culture can be a sensitive topic and the interviewees could be reluctant in answering, we ensured anonymity at the start of the interview process to make them comfortable as also stated by Kumar, Ranjit (1996). Through primary data we know the reasons behind a certain management decision. Most appropriate way of learning about opinions and behavior that are relative to culture is by asking que stions directly to people involved. (Ghauri Gronhaug, 2010) Information on the Austrian acquisition of a Swedish firm, as Ghauri and Gronhaug also states can only be gathered by asking people who have been involved or have observed the process i.e. of acquisition. Research problems which are focused on uncovering a persons experience or behavior and understand a phenomenon which we know little about are an example of qualitative research(Ghauri, 2004; Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). Such is the nature of our decision-making and cross-cultural research which includes social and behavioral sciences. The Choice of Research Method The approach is to use use a qualitative research methodolgy of investigation, data collection and analysis. Decision-making is not a fixed and static state to measure and its a cognitive process, besides it is not a steady state phenomenon and changes erratically with time and environment as described by Mintzberg(1997). Quantitative research emphasizes on the quantification of data collection and analysis as argued by Bryman and Bell (2007) and observe social world as an external and objective reality. Holloway (1997) advocated of qualitative research for capturing the way the individuals experience, interpret and make sense of their environment. Bearing this in mind and our focus of discovering and understanding the role of cross-cultural factors in decision-making, we were convinced to use this method. Consequently the choice of our research method, is qualitative and the purpose of the research inquiry is behavioral and therefore interconnected, therefore provides a basis for quantitative analysis. The qualitative study Our approach is purely qualitative. Auerbach (2003) claims that qualitative research involves analyzing and interpreting texts and interviews among others, in order to investigate specific patterns, i.e. examining decision-making amidst cross-cultural challenges in an acquisition. Interviews Interviewing is the most widely utilized method in qualitative approach of investigation, as stated by Bryman and Bell (2007) and this instrument suits appropriately to find answers to our research questions, .i.e. decision-making under the implications of a cross-cultural acquisition. The technique and construction is very important in the formulation of interviews. The interviews can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured (Saunders et al. 2007). As we were more interested in theory of a particular reality Wengraf (2001) instead of the numerical data, we chose to settle on semi-structured interviews. We were very particular in formulating the questions as two cover both aspects of cross-cultural implications and decision-making. On request by the contact person at Company A, we got interview questions reviewed for improvement from our tutor before presenting it to the company. The interview questions were then sent out to the contact person to be distributed to the interviewees in advance. Sampling The choice of subjects that were needed to be investigated for our research questions was crucial. Collins, Onwuegbuzie and Jiao (2006) stated that researchers should decide sample size in both quantitative and qualitative studies. In the sample from Company A, we were looking for all the people cooperating with Austrian counterpart and are making some forms of decisions. It was kind of our contact person at the company, after explaining our research necessity, he arranged ten people from mangers to engineers who were in some way cooperating with their cross border counterpart. Considering this we used purposive sampling technique which as mentioned by Maxell(1997) is used in qualitative studies to select e.g., individuals or institutions based on specific purpose. Data Collection The research design directed us on the empirical data. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews using open ended questions. This permitted us to probe relevant issues which emerged during the interview. We aimed at making the data reliable, to ensure this we recorded the interviews upon permission and also took notes to reduce the chance of misinterpretation. In an attempt to motivate the respondents to co-operate with us and obtain factual data with their trust we ensured the anonymity and confidentiality of responses. We skipped a few questions in two interviews due to shortage of time. We completed a total of ten interviews in a session of three days with an allotted time of thirty minutes each. Reliability and Credibility A reliable and credible data is vital for an authentic research. Throughout our study we took measures to ensure this. During the interviews we did not rely on perceptions which affects the accuracy of our observations and used constant probing to have clear answers. We remained unprejudiced and flexible to have reliable working data. Respondents sometimes perceive risks and may believe interviews to be jeopardizing their emotions and privacy as accounted by McCracken (1988). Knowing this, we assured the interviewees about the privacy and academic purpose of interviews. So they were at comfort in providing information conveniently. To avoid potential bias of our preconceived notions and theories we transcribed only what the interviews said, which we stored in the form of recordings and written notes taken at the time of the interview. We calim to have a plausible study, considering all the measures we took responsibly in terms of organizing and conducting the interviews. Qualitative Data Analysis Our analysis was exploratory as asserted by Creswell et al. (2003) with a focus on understanding the influence of cross-cultural difficulties on decision-making by employees in an acquired firm. Like in most of the qualitative analysis we refer to the inductive approach, as claimed by Bryman and Burgess (1994). Raw data was in the form of interview recordings and our notes taken during the interviews. We read the data vigilantly too derive concepts, themes, or a model which is common in qualitative data analyses, especially grounded theory (Strauss Corbin, 1990). In consistency with Strauss and Corbins (1990), our inductive analysis began with an area of study, which was to investigate the influence of cross-cultural factors on decision-making, and let the theory to develop from data. The analysis was organized as follows: Interview description: To begin with, we recorded all the interviews and took notes during the interview. We read the transcripts many times to get familiar with descriptions. Identifying discourses and theme generation: After identifying the accounts from the data, we recognized relevant discourses from the transcribed interviews, and excluded other irrelevant description. Following this we observed the core information and concluded some patterns of behavior/ theme. Later, formed categories with summary of data sets as behavioral, structural and interaction and communication to do a quality analysis and conclusion. Discussion: In this section we explored the meanings explicitly or implicitly included in our empirical findings and looked for links of cross-cultural difficulties and decision-making. We also put forward suggestions of future research in this clause. Empirical Data The Interviewees Total number of ten interviews that conducted, ee found that from technical engineers to line managers including logistics, project and bid manager everyone is cooperating with Austrian counterpart in one way or another after the acquisition. Consequently, employees at different levels of the organization are all involved in some kind of decision-making that accounts for the cross-cultural differences after the acquisition. Following are some themes that we identified that will be of assistance in developing the analysis. Employees organizational behavioural Swedes in an organization generally work in groups and are independent individuals at the same time. They also have a freedom to express views, owing to a less heirarchical system. Mutual agreement, consensus, structure and logical reasoning is very important to them for which they have a lot of meetings and discsussions. This also refers ot the notion of collective decision-making as explained by Melaville, Blank, and Asayesh (1993). Swedes are solution-oriented and are usually calm. The essence of usual Swedes vs. Austrian behavior was narrated by Interviewee 5 as: There is a great difference in the decision-making process. In Sweden everyone should agree and we ask a lot of people of what everyone think. Then we make decision after hearing all the opinions. And its opposite in Austira, you do not ask the employees if you are working as a manager. I think you are seen as a weak leader if you ask people of what they think. Its positive and negative in both ways I think Swedish way is better for working in a team and but in Austira you really make the decision and you come forward. Austrians on the other hand dont have much freedom of expression due to a heirarchical system in the acquired firm view. Another common view observed was that Managers in Austria alone make decisions and value of consensus is less there. Austrains are social and build relationships. A lot more emotion is involed than facts in their reasoning. Moreover, Austrians are problem-oriented and get usually stressed under a problem. This observation can be futher emphasized by few statements of the interviewees. They have a lot more emotions and we like to base our decisions on facts. , Interviewee 2 said. They have much hierarchy. More power distance. There is a very large distance between the manger and the individual member in the group. Interview 4 affirmed. Decision-making process structure The decision-making process depends on the type of decision. If its a higher stake decision, the process is followed through formal procedures of contracts and agreements compared to daily operational level decisions which are simple. In Swedish unit agreement has to be reached through consensus whereas in Austrian unit, managers give a decision which is to be followed. More decision-making authority lies with managers in Austria than Swedish ones who work more as asupport function. Interaction Communication between units Cooperation at the technical or the lower level works well. At the management level cooperation is difficult where decision making takes longer. Some employees expressed that even with electronic facilities available communication across the border is difficult. Employees cooperating for a longer period developed relationships of trust which helps in cooperation amidst the cross-cultutral differences It doesnt work well when we cant sit together and discuss, makes harder to communicate over cross borders even though facilities are provided like skype ,video conferences, but it kills the team spirit as its not the same as for sitting together Interviewee 5 recalled. On a practical point, the interaction between units is informal. But it depends on the type of decision aswell, i.e. starting a project, would follow a formal procedure of interaction. Project mangers have a closer contact compared to the rest. Informal day to day technical decisions are handled on a daily basis. Its is also hard to predict a response to an interaction from across the border, some interviewees responded. Through data it was also understood that is easier to agree on factual information, which all can straightforwardly agree to. Language barrier has seem to affect the agreeability due to misinterpretations sometime. The technical side of the decisions are easier to agree on, compared to the decisions made at management level i.e. commercial issues. This can be analysed from the figure  [1]  below. The tactical decisions have been observed to have most complications whereas operational decisions are easier. decisionmaking_intro.gif Additionally, we comprehended from suggestions put forward by the respondents that, early in the process of post-acquisition integration, communication on the differences in national and company culture can facilitate decision-making. Understanding of adapting to a culture is important. Performace indicators and clarity on who makes which decisions will also assist. Additionally, diversity courses and communication on how to work together has helped in the past and can also facilitate later on. An interesting point observed by an interviewee during a diversity course; One thing I learned from that cultural diversity course is that people is Austria are more problem oriented and here in Sweden we are soultuion oriented and that affects how we are able to communicate and cooperate. Analysis Analysis Unfortunately a lot of merger and acquisitions fail to achieve their hoped objectives. Solutions are of course complex. MA are different along a number of dimensions. Companies fail to realize a blind spot, by keeping their focus mainly on costs, they minimize or defer until too late the human and cultural dimensions of blending two entities into unified growth-oriented business. In any case organization is generally a collection of people sharing a common vision, one or more location and resources such as money, equipment, and similar processes. Still much of the business management persists in believing that the latter is the most important issue, while people are only sort of the less important side of the scenario. The Challenge of Urgent Realization Clearly there is an urgent need to realize, rationalize, restructure and eliminated duplication the first weeks and months of post-merger integration. Nonetheless rationalization only escalates of the new organization making it a greater value to its shareholders. It is one thing to design a new structure and relationship on paper and quite another to bring them to life. No matter how visionary and driven the leaders are the financier, quickly learns that the synergy cannot be generated merely from above or realize and reacting by reducing headcount or vice versa. Synergy requires the commitment and involvement of the entire organizations. That is the most challenging part. Most mergers are seen of confusion, panic, uncertainty, distraction, limitation and dehumanization. The process is painful and the results are costly. When knowledge capital is vanished due to the turnover of key individuals during an MA, when pride in the company and pride in ones work is not appreciated through ill treatment at the hands of merger managers, when innovations are abandoned in favor of outdated practices just because one group is considered the boss and the new one reasoned expendable, the network that make the organization work break down and fall apart. When employees stop caring, they lose interest and motivation in improving the business processes. If they are not asked for their opinions, they have no means or enthusiasm to inform the new system designers the unrevealed secrets of success. When selection processes do not seem to be reasonable and rational, dynamic management does not step into position they take on new challenges elsewhere. These are not the circ umstances which synergistic growth is likely. Fortunately, the situation can be turned around. The MA can become an opportunity for people to learn, grow and have a voice. Shared visioning activities and cross company MA project teams can provide opportunities to meet new people and gain new perspectives and skills. The problem with the acquired organization is that the managers must rearrange strategy, organizational structure, work on staffing of employees, make changes to systems and culture, all on top of the day to day business performances. They feel the pressure to quickly perform and harmonize the decisions by reaching the performance in the changed worked environment. So they do this by restructuring to create economies of scale, streamlining operations, focusing on product and market synergies while eliminating noncore businesses. During the same time they might be looking for the next merger or acquisition opportunity. This does not allow them the time and effort to ensure a synergistic and sustainable basis of people and operations to support the growth. However for continued growth, building a foundation is the key to sustainable success because it defines how the work of creating the new organization will be continued. Regrettably most post MA implementation plans seems to assume that if the financial priorities are comprehensively addressed the human foundation will take care of itself. The synergy created by a successful MA Conclusions Discussion References Auerbach, Carl F. (2003). Qualitative Data : An Introduction to Coding and Analysis; New York, NY, USA: New York University Press. Bryman A., and Bell E. (2007). Business Research Methods Oxford University Press. Denzin, Norman K., and Lincoln, Yvonna S.(2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Second Edition. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. Holloway, I. (1997). Basic concepts for qualitative research. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Kumar, Ranjit (1999). Research Methodolgy: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage publications. Regnà ©r, P., (1999). Strategy Creation and Change in Complexity Adaptive and Creative Learning Dynamics in the Firm. Stockholm: Gotab. Richards, Lyn and Morse, Janice, M. (2007). Users Guide to Qualitative Methods.(Second Edition). Sage publications. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, (2007). Research Methods for Business Students, UK, Prentice Hall. Smith, J.A., and Osborn M. (2008). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. In Smith J. A. (Eds.) Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods (2nd Edition). Sage Publication. Strauss, A. L.,and Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. (2nd Eds.). SAGE Publikation. Thomas, Susan, J. (1999). Designing surveys that work Sage Publication. Wengraf, Tom, (2001). Qualitative research interviewing. Sage Publication. Yin, R. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). CA: Sage Publications Reference: Pratt, J. 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Abnormal Psychology in the Media Essay

The film â€Å"A Beautiful Mind† (Grazer, 2001) tells of the true life of John Nash, a Nobel Prize winner who has struggled the majority of his life with paranoid schizophrenia. This essay will evaluate John Nash’s exhibited behaviors, and how therapists from the 5 perspectives of abnormal psychology would have treated his illness. At the beginning of the movie â€Å"A beautiful Mind† (Grazer, 2001), John Nash is moving into a dorm room at Princeton University in 1947. John Nash appears slightly strange by exhibiting social withdrawal by avoiding people, along with a drop in school performance as he does not attend his classes. Soon visual hallucinations become apparent as Charles; his roommate makes appearances with his niece Marcie throughout the movie, along with Parcher, the head of the Department of Defense, who appears later in the movie as John Nash’s hallucinations become worse. John Nash begins to believe that he is employed by the Department of Defense, deciphering secret codes from the Soviets. As John’s hallucinations peak, he is admitted to a mental hospital under the care of Dr. Rosen, who diagnoses him with advanced schizophrenia. During the hospital stay, John received Thorazine injections, rendering him unconscious. John is seen during his stay at the hospital restrained to a chair, as well as a bed. During the time that he is restrained to a bed, Doctor Rosen is seen administering insulin injections, resulting in seizure activity as John’s wife is viewing the procedure through a window. Doctor Rosen tells Johns wife, Alicia that John must have insulin therapy several times a week in order to get well. Once John has returned home, he is seen taking two pink tablets several times a day. John appears to be keeping to himself while  trying to deal with the effects of his medication; he decides to stop taking it without anyone knowing. Soon Alicia discovers that John is again having hallucinations of working for the department of defense requiring John to return to Doctor Rosen. After John resumes his medications, he begins to realize that Charles, Marcie and Parcher are not real. John goes to his friend Martin, who is in charge of the math department at Princeton University, asking for permission to sit in classes in order for him to get back into society which results in John gaining a teaching position after learning to deal with his illness by ignoring his hallucinations. The five perspectives of abnormal psychology are: biological, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, and sociocultural. The biological model of abnormal psychology â€Å"focuses on genetics, neurotransmitters, brain changes, and other physical factors† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012 Pg. 23). Treatment through this model would begin with a â€Å"diagnostic interview along with images of the brain structure from an MRI† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 25). After these evaluations, a therapist would decide on the treatment necessary to treat the disorder such as therapy, social training skills, vocational rehabilitation, and medications. John Nash would possibly be given dopamine which â€Å"generally has antipsychotic effects easing the symptoms of schizophrenia† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 25) and therapy. According to Saul McLeod (2007) the biological approach believes that most behavior is inherited and has an adaptive function. Biological factors such as hormones, chromosomes, and the brain have significant influence on behavior, in the case of John Hall having schizophrenia; biological psychologists believe that levels of dopamine are the cause (Pg. 6). The psychodynamic model of abnormal psychology â€Å"focuses on internal personality characteristics† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 25). Treatments from this perspective would begin with a â€Å"therapist exploring the patients past for unresolved conflicts† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 30). â€Å"Other treatments would be the use of free association, or dream analysis† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 31). In John Nash’s circumstance, the psychodynamic model therapist would be looking into his past for the answer to his hallucinations. According to Laura Saunders (2011) the goal of the psychodynamic model therapist is to enable the patient to gain access to their repressed ideas and conflicts encouraging them to face up to whatever  emerges from their unconscious (Pg. 1). The humanistic model of abnormal psychology â€Å"focuses on personal growth, choice, and responsibility† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 23), that â€Å"Assumes the person’s behavior is determined by perceptions of themselves and others† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 33). The humanistic models treatment begins with â€Å"qualitative assessments to find out the unique characteristics of the client, and their perceptions of the world. The therapist will then engage the client in conversations so that the client can develop solutions to their problems† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 34). Treating John Nash with this type of therapy would include conversations about his hallucinations in order for him to develop his own solutions. According to Kendra Cherry (2013) therapists from the humanistic model of abnormal psychology are focused on the individual’s potential and stress the importance of growth and self-actualization. The fundamental belief of the humanistic model is that people are innately good and that mental and social problems result from deviations from natural tendency (Pg. 1). The cognitive-behavioral model of abnormal psychology â€Å"focuses on specific thoughts and learning experiences† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 23). Treatment from the cognitive-behavioral model would include a â€Å"functional analysis, evaluating antecedents and consequences of behavior, followed by cognitive-behavioral therapy to change patterns of thinking and behaviors that are contributing to the patients problems† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 38), and â€Å"exposure treatment, which involves directly confronting the patients problem, or token economy, which reinforces certain behaviors with rewards† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 39), which John Nash, would possible be involved in, earning points for positive behaviors, and attending therapy. According to Jean Galica (2013), the cognitive behavioral model is an approach designed to change mental images, thoughts and thought patterns in order to help the patient overcome emotional and behavioral problems. This model is based upon a theory that behaviors and emotions are caused in part by cognitions and cognitive processes that the patient can learn to change (Pg. 3). The sociocultural model of abnormal psychology focuses on â€Å"external environmental events and includes the family systems perspective† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 23). Therapy within this model would consist of an â€Å"assessment of the patient’s culture, family  structure, dynamics, and environment in order to understand the person’s mental health† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 44). As therapists from this model focus on addressing the patients problems in order to decrease or prevent stress, along with having family and couples therapy in order to include multiple family members into the therapy† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 44). Within this model, John Hall would have attended both individual therapy as well as couples therapy with his wife. According to Sheila Grant (N.D.) therapists from the sociocultural model believe that abnormal behavior may be found in the failures of society rather than from within the person, and that psychological problems can be rooted in requiring the therapist to look deep within the person’s relationships and social life (Pg. 7). This writer feels that the biological method of abnormal psychology is the best to treat John Nash’s schizophrenia since it â€Å"focuses on genetics, neurotransmitters, brain changes, and other physical factors† (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 23). Along with the fact that treatment begins with a diagnostic interview containing MRI brain images (Kearney, C., & Trull, T., 2012, Pg. 25) before a treatment plan for schizophrenia would begin. According to NIMA.Gov (2013) it has been long known that schizophrenia can be inherited, that there are several genes associated with the disease (Pg. 1) resulting in treatments being based upon eliminating the patients symptoms by using medications such as: â€Å"antipsychotic medications to help normalize the biochemical imbalances, controlling hallucinations, delusions and confusion, along with supportive therapies† (Grohol, J., 2011, Pg. 1). References Cherry, K. (2013). Humanistic Psychology. Retrieved 2/19/2013, from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/hist_humanistic.htm?p=1 Galica, J. (2013). Behavioral/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved 2/19/2013, from http://www.theravive.com/research/Cognitive-Behavioral_Therapy Grant, S. (n.d.). Introduction and Methods of Research. Retrieved 2/19/2013, from http://www.csun.edu/~hcpsy002/psy310_Nevid_cho1_Lecture_Handout.pdf Grazer, B. (Producer) & Howard, R. (Director). (2001). A Beautiful Mind [Motion picture]. United States: Universal. Grohol, J. (2011). Psych Central: schizophrenia Treatment. Retrieved 2/19/2013, from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx31t.htm Kearney, C., & Trull, T. (2012). Abnormal Psychology and Life A Dimensional Approach. Belmont, California: Wadsworth. McLeod, S. (2007). Psychology Perspectives. Retrieved 2/18/2013, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html Saunders, L. (2011). The Psychodynamic Model of Abnormality. Retrieved 2/19/2013, from http://alevelpsychology.co.uk/as-psychology-aqa-a/psychology/the-psychodynamic nimh.gov (2013). What Causes Schizophrenia?. Retrieved 2/19/2013, from http://www.nimh.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/what-causes-schizophrenia.sht

Heres What I Know About Operant Conditioning Essay Samples

Here's What I Know About Operant Conditioning Essay Samples Reinforcement and punishment take place almost daily in natural settings along with in more structured settings like the classroom or therapy sessions. Students normally have a tendency to be notorious by not completing their assignments punctually. In the same way, they may also start to develop a dislike for particular subjects if they are punished by their teachers. They actively participate over the entire duration until they break for the day. All About Operant Conditioning Essay Samples Operant conditioning is utilized in social sciences to escribe the process where a person learns and modifies behavior because of stimulus. Once a person responds to a conditional stimulus in a predicable fashion, it usually means that they've learned. Possessing no change in response is called extinction and can lead to decreasing frequency of behavior. The class needs to be in a position to find the response. Get the Scoop on Operant Conditioning Essay Samples Before You're Too Late Secondary reinforcers involve developing a conditioned link between the topic and their biological principal reinforcer so as to elicit a desired behavior. Teaching animals to do silly tasks a human can perform is quite possible. There are three primary categories reinforcement factors. As a way to be self actualized. Operant conditioning is something which you may immediately recognize in your life, whether it's in your approach to teaching your children good behavior or in training the family dog to quit chewing on your favourite slippers. A good example of employing a continuous schedule of reinforcement may be an endeavor to train a dog to stop barking at people who come to the front door of a house through using a bark collar, which initiates a mild electric shock every time he or she started to bark. Once a youngster starts to cry while obtaining a shot, the majority of the kids standing in queue also begin crying. Both kids and adults learn a good deal through observation and imitation. Examples of operant conditioning that may help control OCD can be located in psychology journals. Everyone will be able to train animals they really like, but we will need to be sure that the animals' needs come before our requirements. Operant conditioning is quite a helpful tool in regards to treating OCD. While it explains the cause of OCD symptoms, it is also behavioral therapy. How to Choose Operant Conditioning Essay Samples Studies have revealed that operant conditioning is the most appropriate learning model which can be utilized to change behavior in both humans and animals. The discovery of classical conditioning had a great influence on the school of thought called behaviorism. It is a key concept used in behaviorism. Operant conditioning may be used to explain broad range of behaviors, from the practice of learning, to addiction and language acquisition. Second, the generaliza tion is a critical tool whereby a manufacturer is in a position to sell generic goods employing a brand name like a popular trusted brand name. The manufacturers utilize the derivations from the well-known brands' names. The two kinds of conditioning apply appropriately to marketing within this maximization endeavor. In marketing, operant conditioning was made to attain customer satisfaction. What is Actually Going on with Operant Conditioning Essay Samples Luckily, there are a number of handy tricks for remembering and identifying each form of conditioning procedure. Also, the idea of cognitive maps provides researchers with support for the usage of cognition in the conditioning practice. Learning the skills of routine life can be difficult, but they might be helped with application of a tiny operant conditioning. Reinforcement isn't necessarily a straightforward procedure and there are lots of factors that could influence how quickly and how well new things are learned. Get the Scoop on Operant Conditioning Essay Samples Before You're Too Late In the same style, individuals are less inclined to repeat behaviors with negative outcomes. It's recommended that the consequences must be connected to the behavior immediately and clearly so that association can occur. In the same manner, there's also positive and negative punishment. Conversely, excessive punishment and hindering progress is likely to make players frustrated and less inclined to continue. According to Lee (2005), another weakness is related to the assumption that positive reinforcement will result in higher frequency of occurrence of the specific behavior, and that negative reinforcement will result in the decrease in frequency of occurrence of the specific behavior. It is crucial to be aware that operant behavior isn't forced, and is directed and voluntary. For each behavior, there's a consequence. In CC it's the results of the behaviour that bring about stimulus substitution. Skinner identified three kinds of responses, or operant, that may follow behavior. The behavior was extinguished. Introducing Operant Conditioning Essay Samples A superb illustration is when a parent agrees with her or his child that should they don't acquire excellent grades they will pay the parent a specific sum of money. For instance, a youngster could possibly be told they'll drop recess privileges should they talk out of turn in class. If he or she cleans her room and her parents give her a treat as a reward, she will become more likely to clean her room in the future. He or she is likely to perform better by working hard to get good grades. The 5-Minute Rule for Operant Conditioning Essay Samples The significant advertising businesses become paid billions of American dollars to modify your minds. Therefore, such individuals will always be ready to do good things. To begin with, it's vital that marketers teach consumers about the item. Such folks will probably contin ue with the undesirable behavior in case they're punished for it. Operant conditioning, the key focus of Skinner's research, is conditioning behaviors dependent on the results of the behavior. Within conditioning a string of primary and secondary reinforcers are employed to be able to condition a subject to finish the desired behavior. In this sort of conditioning, a response is followed by some kind of reinforcement. There are various sorts of positive reinforcements. Positive reinforcers are for the most part applied by trainers since they are the simplest and most effectual outcome for a trainer to manage. Obviously, there'll be occasions when their behavior isn't conducive to your desired approximations. At precisely the same time the trainer drops to a knee. The animal trainers usually create a unique secondary reinforcer known as a bridge that is a stimulus that's been linked with a main reinforcer by classical conditioning.

Main Aspects Of Wellness Should Be Promoted For Sally

Nowadays, increased number of people suffering from type 2 diabetes may develop several significant complications. These complications can be classified as microvascular disease like retinopathy, nephronpathy, neuropathy and macrovasular disease, such as severe cardiovascular disease. (Forbes Cooper, 2013). According to Sally’s condition, her health has been affected by neuropathy, which is leg ulcer. This essay will be focused on one symptom which is leg ulcers that had very serious impacts to Sally’s and her husband’s life. For example decreased mobility, increased pain when walking, affected relationship between them. Five aspects related to leg ulcers will be discussed: firstly, primary health care in relation to leg ulcers; secondly, the reasons of why two main principles of wellness should be promoted for Sally will be explained; thirdly, the morbidity and pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes will be stated; additionallyï ¼Å'learning program for sally will be introducedï ¼â€ºlastlyï ¼Å'grief and bereavement process will be explained to support her husband. Primary health care (PHC) has been defined by the Australia Primary Health Care Nursing Association (APNA) as an initial level of health care related to individuals, families and communities. In Australia, personal careï ¼Å' health promotion, illness prevention and the development of community all included in primary health care. According to APNA (2012), there are five principles also should be interrelated, these are â€Å"equity,Show MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pageswritten permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, website www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, (201)748-6011, fax (201)748-6008, website http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. To order books or for customer service please, c all 1-800-CALLRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesHall Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Editorial Director: Sally Yagan Editor in Chief: Eric Svendsen Acquisitions Editor: Kim Norbuta Editorial Project Manager: Claudia Fernandes Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Marketing Manager: Nikki Ayana Jones Senior Marketing Assistant: Ian Gold Senior ManagingRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Editorial Director: Sally Yagan Director of Editorial Services: Ashley Santora Acquisitions Editor: Brian Mickelson Editorial Project Manager: Sarah Holle Editorial Assistant: Ashlee Bradbury VP Director of Marketing: Patrice Lumumba Jones Senior Marketing Manager: Nikki AyanaRead MoreHbr When Your Core Business Is Dying74686 Words   |  299 Pages ©2006 Chevron Corporation A l rights reserved APRIL 2007 Features 58 What Your Leader Expects of You Larry Bossidy A longtime CEO reveals the behaviors that leaders should look for in their subordinates – behaviors that drive individual as well as corporate performance and growth – and what those subordinates should expect in return. 58 66 Finding Your Next Core Business Chris Zook It may be hidden right under your nose. Here’s how to evaluate your current core and where to lookRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pageslicense. Library of Congress Control Number: 2006933904 Student Edition: ISBN-13: 978-0-495-11873-2 ISBN-10: 0-495-11873-7 ââ€"   To my nephews, Jesse and Luke Smidt, who bet I wouldn’t put their names in this book. R. P. ââ€"   To my wife, Sally, and my daughter, Anna C. O. ââ€"   To Carol, Allie, and Teri. J. D. ââ€"   About the Authors puter Teacher of the Year award in 1988 and received the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement in mathematics in 1999. Chris is a frequent contributor