Introduction
Excessive and long-term stress can harm one’s mental and physical health. Stress can manifest as bodily symptoms such as headaches, muscle tightness, and weariness, and mental symptoms such as anxiety, anger, and sadness (Gordon, 2001). As a result, effective stress management is critical for lowering the detrimental impact of stress on general well-being. To properly manage stress, it is necessary to recognize the underlying causes of stress and implement appropriate coping methods to lessen its effects.
Thesis statement
Effective stress management is critical for promoting the mental and physical well-being of F6 students in Hong Kong. It necessitates a multifaceted approach that includes stress prevention, awareness-raising, and coping strategies.
Description
Reflecting on stress management in Hong Kong F6 students, I recall various events and observations that underline the significance of this topic. I’ve seen firsthand how academic stress, worry for future careers, and COVID-19 may lead to considerable amounts of stress and anxiety (Pettinger, 2002). Through conversations with secondary school teachers and reading about the subject, I learned about the various stressors that F6 students face, such as academic pressure, concerns about the pandemic and its impact on their future, and the competitive nature of the university admissions process.
Reflecting on my experiences and facts, I understand the need for effective stress management measures to promote the well-being of F6 students in Hong Kong. I’ve struggled with finding strategies to cope with stress and worry, and I know many of my friends also have. I believe that raising stress awareness and offering resources and help for stress management will significantly improve the lives of F6 students. I hope that by writing my perspective, I may contribute to the discussion on stress management and push for more comprehensive efforts to address this issue in schools and the larger society.
Analysis
Three of the most common sources of stress among students are the COVID-19 pandemic, future careers, and academic stress. Many problems have arisen due to the epidemic, including social isolation, financial insecurity, and health concerns. These difficulties might aggravate pre-existing diseases and lead to mental health problems, including anxiety and sadness (Pardue et al., 2021). Aside from the epidemic, academic stress can substantially influence student stress levels.
Evaluation
Organizing health seminars, creating an Instagram page, producing posters, and distributing pamphlets are great ways to raise awareness and provide information on stress management among students. Students can benefit from health presentations by learning about stress management from experts, asking questions, and sharing their experiences with their peers. An Instagram page can be used to promote helpful resources, advice, and information about stress management and foster a feeling of community among students. Posters and pamphlets can be used as visual aids to provide practical stress management suggestions to persons who may not have access to other resources.
Conclusion
To summarize, stress among F6 students in Hong Kong is a complicated and persistent issue requiring extensive and multifaceted solutions. A successful stress management approach includes raising awareness, offering tools and support for stress management, and establishing a supportive and inclusive school climate (Gordon, 2001).
References
Anastasia A. Kiseleva, Mikhail Y. Kuzmin, Vladimir V. Kozlov. (2020) Features of Coping Strategies among Teachers with Various Teaching Experiences and Speciality. Integration of Education 24:4, pages 641-655.
Gordon, J. S. (2001). Stress management. Chelsea House Publishers.
Pardue, A., Aulisi, J., Davis, C., Duckett, K., Flowers, S., Hutchison, D., Murray, B., & Pardue, A. (2021). Covid 19.
Pettinger, R. (2002). Stress management. Capstone Pub.
Technological Transformation Among Corporations Free Writing Sample
Executive Summary
Technological transformation is becoming an inevitable issue among corporations in the contemporary business environment. Apart from the simplification of communication withing an organization, technology has also given the companies power to establish remote teams. Acme Technical Communication is one of the firms that are considering an operational transformation regarding virtual working. However, this is a major decision that will not only affect the operational procedures and the structure of the firm, but will also have a significant implication on the employees. To avoid disruptions of daily operations, Acme Technical Communication hired a team of experts to evaluate the feasibility of various alternatives regarding the business plans for remote operations. This report presents the findings and recommendations for this team to the firm.
Introduction
Remote teams have gained popularity among many firms with the rapidly developing information and communication technology (ICT) and many firms are currently adopting the approach for their human resources. Moreover, according to Ryder and Moon (2020), the covid-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions compelled many companies to adopt remote working strategies to ensure continued productivity amidst the pandemic. Considering the uncertainties exposed by the covid-19 pandemic, the changing working environment and the urge to adopt modern operation techniques, Acme Technical Communication is considering restructuring of its human resource management approach. Nevertheless, the company has not been able to settle on the best alternative to undertake since it has three options at its disposal. The alternatives include; complete remote working structure, mixed structure or retaining the traditional in the office culture. This report, provides a feasibility analysis of a fully remote system as an alternative to be considered by the company.
Background
Traditionally, Acme Technical Communication has operated a physical work environment for decades. However, just like a significant majority of firms in the contemporary business environment Acme Technical Communication has learnt that it can shutter the walls of its offices and allow the employees to abandon daily trips to and instead work from the comfort of their homes through a virtual arrangement. This reasoning emanate from the recent findings by Messenger (2019), that have shown that adopting virtual teams is not only convenient but is also cost effective to both the employer and employees. Nonetheless, one of the major challenge to embracing this shift in paradigm lies in identifying an appropriate model to suite all the functions of an organization in the remote operations. Ryder and Moon (2020) opined that, functions such as manufacturing and operations are more company specific and cannot be moved from the plant. However, general and administrative functions can be conducted remotely. To understand the feasibility of the remote operations considered by Acme Technical Communication, it is imperative to conduct investigation regarding the available alternatives to the firm and make recommendations on the most viable options.
Purpose
The purpose of this research report is to determine the current state of remote working adoption by Acme Technical Communication, and to assess whether or not it is likely that the firm will continue to adopt remote working in the future. Firms have been embracing remote working for years, but the practice has recently gained popularity as more and more employees have come to expect it. Remote working allows workers to work from anywhere they want, while still being paid a salary, which can help firms save money on office space, supplies and equipment.
Options Available For Acme Technical Communication
There are three options available for the firm on remote working. The first option is for the firm to require that all workers work in the office. This will ensure that everyone on the team is contributing more effectively, as well as making sure that no one is left behind or without support from their coworkers. It also ensures consistency across all departments and partners, which is important for any business. The second option is to allow some workers to work remotely, but require that others do not have this option available to them. This way coworkers can still interact with each other and share information even if they are not physically in the same place at the same time. The final option would be to allow all workers to work remotely, provided they are able to provide enough documentation that their work can still be done effectively and efficiently when they are not physically present.
Research
The operational, structural and economic feasibility of physical operation for workers at Acme Technical Communication might be considerably low since there are already existing structure. The alternative will have an operational feasibility because it is the same as the current system. The cost of implementing this alternative would be negligible since it can be done with a few modifications to the current operating procedures. The only additional cost incurred will be the change in management style that might need to occur if they are used to working under a different set of rules. Consequently, the structural feasibility of this option will not be involving as there are no changes required to the building or equipment used within the business premises. This observation means that any costs associated with modifying these items can be avoided by simply not making any changes at all. Finally, the economic feasibility of this alternative will be negligible because there are no new expenses incurred; instead, all expenses associated with maintaining these systems continue to be paid for out of current income streams. Overall, therefore, this alternative offers a good balance between costs and benefits for both businesses and workers alike.
The second alternative was to adopt a hybrid of remote and physical working environment. According to Messenger (2019), a hybrid of remote and physical working environment is proven to be more effective than either method individually. In fact, studies (Ryder and Moon 2020; Oba, Kagiwada and Kamada, 2022) have shown that combining both types of working environments results in higher productivity and engagement levels among employees. The cost to implement such an approach varies depending on the size of your company; however, Norton (2020) estimated that it typically costs between $1 million and $10 million per year to implement a hybrid approach; depending on how many employees the business has. For case of Acme Technical Communication , this cost may be higher since, the firm will have to establish new infrastructure for connectivity. Once implemented, it is important for businesses to evaluate whether or not their hybrid model is actually working effectively before making any major changes to their operations. There are many ways to measure success such as employee satisfaction surveys or customer satisfaction surveys where customers rate their experience while using the company’s product or service.
The operational, structural and economic feasibility of a pure remote and working environment is very high. It is possible to implement this alternative in many industries, including the financial industry. The first step for implementing a pure remote and working environment is to create an organizational structure that supports it. The next step is to identify all employees who can be replaced by technology and therefore may show resistant to the changes. This process can be difficult because there are many factors that affect a person’s performance at work, such as personality traits, strengths, weaknesses and personal history. It is important to determine which employees have the potential to be replaced by technology so that they do not feel threatened by this change(Oba, Kagiwada and Kamada, 2022).. Once this has been done, it will be easier for them to accept the new way of working because they will know exactly what their role consists of and how their tasks contribute towards achieving company goals. The cost of implementing this model is considerably high in the short-run but will also decline significantly in the long-run. Additionally, if well monitored, workers who work from home can be very effective because they have to manage their schedule to suit them and the goals of the firm. However, it is imperative to note that pure remote operations are not easy to supervise and therefore may lead to lack of accountability from the employees who are working from home.
Recommendations
Based on the research findings, the report recommends the adoption of a hybrid alternative which integrates both physical and remote working environments for Acme Technical Communication company. In order to provide a hybrid of remote and physical working environment for a technology communication firm, the following practices should be implemented.
- Establish a centralized location where all employees can access the internet and collaborate on projects, without having to move between different offices or locations.
- Establish an online portal where team members can view task lists, receive updates, and access resources. This will also enable continuous interaction among staffs operating from home and those in the office.
- Employee training on how to use technology effectively. This initiative will encourage workers who may be reluctant to change.
Conclusion
From the findings of this report, it can be concluded that, despite the high costs associated with adopting remote operations at Acme Technical Communication, the idea of incorporating the virtual working environment is not only effective in the long-rum but will also give the organization a face-lift in the modern technological dispensation. However, the firm has to monitor the progress of this alternative closely before transiting to full-fledged remote operations. The first step in adopting a hybrid of remote and physical working environments is to determine the right mix of work styles. The firm should consider the type of work being done, how it is being done, and whether or not it would be better suited to be done in a virtual environment. For example, if a certain type of work requires collaboration between multiple people, then it makes sense to have those individuals physically present at the same time. However, if one person can do all of their work remotely while others do theirs remotely, then that might just be the best method for keeping costs down while still doing what needs to get done. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the business to decide if it can adopt the provided recommendations or not.
References
Messenger, Jon C. (ed.). (2019). Telework in the 21st Century, an Evolutionary Perspective, ILO Future of Work series (Edward Elgar and ILO).
Norton Rose Fulbright. (2020). “COVID-19: Working from home and employer reimbursement of remote-work expenses in California and beyond”.
Oba, K., Kagiwada, Y., Kamada, M. et al. (2022). Evaluating the feasibility of a remote-based training program supported by information and communications technology in the older adults living at home. BMC Geriatr 22, 574 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03273-3
Ryder, L. and Moon, L. (2020). How To Embrace Remote Work. [ebook] Atlassian. www.info.trello.com/hubfs/Trello-Embrace-Remote-Work-Ultimate-Guide.pdf
The Concept Of Orientalism Free Essay
Academic research and development have led to the development of both the contemporary and renaissance concepts and lexicon, which can be used to describe life situations or explain other nested concepts or situations. The academic discipline has churned a lot of important concepts that are highly applicable in everyday human life. One of these concepts is ‘orientalism” which has a deeply entrenched meaning and relevance in human life. In this essay, the meaning of orientalism will be broadly covered, with a critical focus on its origin, application to human life, levels of critiques that have been advanced against the concept, and the various limitations associated with orientalism as both a concept and a school of thought. The last part of the essay will tackle the relevance and application of the concept in human life, on overarching human matters like global politics among others.
Origin and Etimology of Orientalism
Orientalism was first fully described in postcolonial studies by Edward Said, who conceptualized the idea as a hybrid between theory and practice, and the concept primarily orients shapes how the East used to see the West during the colonial times and vise vasa. The post-colonial period was characterized by attitudes that were anchored upon social classification and stratification (Osterhammel, 1999). The West was the oppressing side, which viewed the East as hunger and famine-stricken, weak, susceptible to environmental and natural vulnerabilities, weak, non-integrated, and locked out of progressive development. On the other hand, the West viewed itself as rational, powerful, and ahead of the pack in the human race. It viewed itself as more industrialized, technologically and policy-wise advanced, productive, and wise. These conceptualizations would reflect across all frontiers of human life, across customs, language, norms, and even religion. While the West was concerned with impacting the world with religion or the “new way of the world” as it was often referred to, the East was trying to solidify its culture, cement its norms and protect its integrity and moral fabric from being plundered by the western influence through alienation.
In his seminal works of literature published in 1978, Said noted that there was a special way that the West viewed their East counterparts, and similarly, there was a special way that the East understood and perceived their colleagues from the West, leading to massive profiling of humanity along geographic and ethnic lines. According to Mishra (2013), the Western powers were after remaking the East, and Asia was one of their lucrative targets. Therefore, the origin of the concept of Orientalism was deeply entrenched in the interactions between the East and the West, which spread a long way in history. The ideology was strongly grounded in racial differences, which said lightly generalize as imperialism (Said, 1978). Additionally, the existence of this concept was much aided by historically relevant events that earmarked the 19th century such as the great Egypt expedition by Napoleon, and the defeat and capture of Algiers territory by the French forces (Said, 1978). These events were witnessed by various people, including scholars, scribes, and Renaissance-era writers, who conducted maiden journeys to Africa to witness and document these word-changing historical events.
According to Said who is the originator of this concept, the West profiled the East out of contempt and attitude, and it was not based on any tangible empirical conviction or evidence. It was a way for the West to justify their colonial suppression, the plundering of rights, alienation, and nullification of African freedom. Therefore, orientalism was a vehicle that was used to promote imperial policies by the colonialists. The attitudes were biased and majorly driven by deeply entrenched stereotypes, prejudicial articulations, and mindsets as well as fantasy, that were prefabricated to condemn and paint the Eastern way of life in a rather retrogressive light, hence making it less appealing to the Easterners. These stereotypes were motivated by many interconnected factors such as biased literature, artistic ideologies, and impressions skewed against the East, anthropology, and the social-political ravages that had been created by the discipline of political science.
Critique and Limitations of Orientalism
Said’s work on orientalism has been praised as one of its kind in understanding the etimology of the rift that formed between the East and the West, and the sponsor conditions that surrounded this ideological and attitudinal separation. However, his work has attracted both applause and criticism in equal proportions, and there are mixed reactions concerning Said’s findings. The critique of Said’s work was based on other seminal works by Bickers (2016) who focuses on an expanded horizon beyond Africa and deeply explores the Chinese post and pre-colonial cultural and leadership architecture One limitation associated with Said’s orientalism is that the ideology is too simple, general and essential, covering only a small portion of the interaction between the east and the western powers. Said’s works are majorly based on the occurrences of the great historical events of colonialization and imperialism in the African country, while other works by prominent political science scholars like Bickers (2016) focused on how eastern countries like China interacted with British and European powers, leading to the weakening of the Qing empire. In the eyes of most analysts, orientalism is a simply predictable concept.’
Another limitation associated with this concept was how Said depicted the West, as an immovable entity which was not a true assertion. The idea also neglected the social and community diversities associated with Western societies. Said missed important aspects of Western societies such as complexity, diversity, and social integration. Therefore, orientalism, as painted by Said, was rather an outdated conceptualization of the world, which was somewhat outdated and did not account for the social-cultural aspects of the West. Said perceived the entire world in a rather Eurocentric view, which is a weak perspective when it comes to the real-time visualization of the complexity, organization, and diversity of Western communities (Hein, 1990). Critics argue that by taking this approach, Said, through his concept, missed capturing the actual rationality of the Westerners and his viewpoints were not well informed. The basic facts were too obvious and generalizable, which meant that Said was less exposed to the two cultures simultaneously. He did not have a common meeting point for articulating the two cultures and some thinkers were convinced that Said relied on speculative cultural estimations and pooled together facts about the Western world, but ideally, he was under-exposed to the Western way of life. For instance, at no point does Said mention the guilt of horror experienced by the Western communities living in Asia and Africa, due to the pain they inflicted upon Africans and Asians in the colonial period (Mishra, 2013). Neither does Said critique or compliment the contemporary way of life followed by Indians and Africans after escaping from the Western stronghold.
Relevance of the Concept in the Contemporary World
Orientalism has caused a tussle of war between scholars, with some arguing that Said’s conceptual understanding of the interactions between the West and the East needs to be relooked in a more ethical and contemporary overview, and if it helps, redefine and reshape the application environment of the concept. Another school of thought has suggested that there was much that Said could do since the definition and understanding of the concept all rest upon the accuracy of historical events, and as a political scholar, there is nothing he could do to alter history. So his ideological frameworks supporting orientalism should be taken at historical value and when need be, the concepts will be reshaped and restructured in further works by other contemporary scholars in the field of political science to incorporate new insights associated with both the Western and the Eastern communities, which developed much after the concept was first defined and documented. Orientalism has a great bearing on the modern world, as it is considered the very first attempt to demystify the colonial and imperialist doctrines propagated to brainwash Eastern society and rally them towards alienation.
Despite the heavy criticism, the concept has great relation to the contemporary world. It has been used to explain great movements like the rise of the Korean civilization and islamophobia, which is a straight manifestation (Hwang, 2010). In world history, the Muslim faith has come under backlash for various crimes and atrocities against humanity like terrorism and misogynists. The Muslim backlash and profiling by other denominations have been fueled by Orientalist tropes, which were used in the past to promote and justify the perpetration of social and communal injustices by Western imperialists. In the same way, Westerners used culture to target and annihilate the Eastern social and political structures, the West is again using terror extremism and Muslim radicalization to propagate islamophobia. In many Western countries, there is low religious and social tolerance against Muslim citizens, who are often associated with jihadists and propaganda. Many of them have been illegally arrested, tortured, and detained without trial. Since the 911 attack in the United States, the country picked a different attitude against Muslims and they were at the receiving end of all terror suspicions. This scenario shows orientalism, by indicating how stereotypes conceived and perpetrated by Western powers can be used to destabilize and disorient the peace of minority selections, like the fractions of Muslims, Africans, and Asians living in the West.
Furthermore, there is a great geopolitical tussle between the East and the West in the current international space, as each strives to become a kingpin and a world superpower. Geopolitical tensions between China and the United States are mounting, with frequent military and policy agitations that have made the atmosphere between the two states charged (Fenby, 2019). China is one of the most advanced and developed countries in Asia representing the Eastern power while the US is the, most advanced country in the West. The two countries are now locked in a mighty clash of powers with each trying to weigh down against the other and reign as the world superpower (Mitter, 2005). While the US has been at the top of the global charts since the 19th century, China is an upcoming country whose economy has been extensively built through industrialization and modern technology. The rapid upcoming of China into the global common table was interpreted as a threat by the US, leading to an orientalist discourse where the rise of China has been misinterpreted as a challenge to Western global dominance.
Another relevance of orientalism in the modern world can be seen in the actions of non-west societies against the social, religious, and political intimidations by the West. Post-colonial researchers have concluded that the targeted East societies have evolved a counter-discourse to revoke and challenge the perceived orientalist portrayal of the East by their Western rivals. The counter ideology is also known as “Orientalism with a difference” and its main intention is to set records straight and recover the plundered dignity of the Western communities, which has been spoilt by the malicious Orientalist discourse propagated by the Westerners. Also, the counter-discourse intends to fully match the west orientalist speculations, hence fully challenging the Western hegemonic influences in the current global frontier. The pro-east discourse intends to provide a cushioning counter strategy to protect the cultural identity and heritage of the East against plunder and stereotyping by assuming a rather defensive and intimidating stance against the West.
Political Implications of Orientalism
Orientalism is one concept that has shaped the international political arena in many ways, especially in terms of international relations. Orientalism is used to explain the balance of power dynamics between the Western and the Eastern worlds, and how the West has propagated Orientalist notions to justify its assertion and domination in the world. The concept also underscores the essence of both cultural as well as linguist diversity as they apply to the diversity of global politics. From the prevailing orientalist insights, there is a need to rally respect for the non-western social identities as well as the people. Also, there is a need for western countries to adopt independent modes of governance, that are not affiliated with and controlled by their Western colonial masters. Western-centric models have proven to be biased in the East, since the colonial masters still have a huge influence on the governance of their former subjects, leading to manipulation. Orientalism also has an implication in shaping the cultural, economic, social, and political transactions between Western and non-western systems of governance, as it helps both sides to identify and set holistically inclusive ground rules for engagement.
Conclusion
Orientalism is a hotly contested concept among scholars and political science researchers alike and it has been subjected to various schools of thought and understanding. The concept has been criticized and appreciated in equal measures partly due to its non-inclusivity of all the insights from the East and also due to its heavy emphasis on essentialism and Eurocentric model of governance that does not allow full autonomy to former colonial slaves, making it somehow autocratic. A complete understanding of the concept from its first principles is integral for a more nuanced conceptualization of the modern world in terms of social cultural relationships and politics.
Reference List
Bickers, R., 2016. The Scramble for China: Foreign devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914. Penguin UK.
Fenby, J. (2019). The penguin history of modern China: The fall and rise of a great power, 1850 to the present (3rd ed.). National Geographic Books.
Hein, L.E., 1990. The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 6: The Twentieth Century. Edited by PETER DUUS. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. xx, 866 pp. $89.50. The Journal of Asian Studies, 49(4), pp.933-935.
Hwang, K. (2010). A history of Korea. Palgrave Macmillan.
Mishra, A., 2013. From the ruins of empire: The revolt against the West and the remaking of Asia.
Mitter, R. (2005). A bitter revolution: China’s struggle with the modern world. Oxford University Press on Demand.
Osterhammel, J. (1999). ‘China’, in, Brown, Judith, M., & Louis, William, Roger, eds., The Oxford History of the British Empire: vol. 4: The Twentieth Century. Oxford, O.U.P.
Said, E. (1978) Orientalism. London: Pantheon.