Challenges Faced By Working Couple

Challenges Faced By Working Couple The overarching purpose of the study was to know the impact of working hours on the work-life balance challenges faced by working couple. WLB from an employee perspective is the most important strategy of organisation. This article reports that the working hours have a significant relationship with the challenges faced by working couple. Data was collected from various countries like USA, India, Australia, and Canada. A total of 70-80 participants (working couples) indicated that long and odd working hours make their work-life imbalanced. Due to which they are unable to spend time with family and negatively effecting their organisation commitment. Also, these time constraints create more stressful conditions to work and giving unproductive results to organisations. We therefore, recommend all the organisations to implement work-life balance strategies which are family friendly policies and simultaneously, reaping benefits for the organisations too. Keywords: working couples, work-Life Balance, Flexible working hours, flexibility. Introduction What is Work-life balance? For companies to remain competitive there is a need to attract and retain valued employees with regard to human resource policies and practices that address work-life balance. Therefore Work- life Balance is an important area of concern for Employers. Work life balance is about individual choices that enable employers and employees to manage the interaction between work and the demands of life that affect health, families and communities. Work/Life Balance: n. A state of equilibrium in which the demands of both a persons job and personal life are equal. According to Maryln Walton of Herman Millers Future Insight Group, The participants rated work-life balance as the most important of the propositions in the future. It also was rated lowest for the amount of attention being paid to it through the workplace. Therefore in todays organizational settings WLB strategies are being implemented like policies of flexible work and leave arrangements, child and dependant care, compressed work week, job sharing, etc. Review of Literature Working Hours and Dynamics Interplay between Work and Family Challenges A work/life balance survey conducted in 2002 by TrueCareers states that 70% of more than 1,500 respondents said they dont have a healthy balance between their personal and work lives. As organisations move towards more participative and flat structures where fewer employees are expected to manage increase workloads (Hall Ritcher, 1988), the demands of the environment increase, and maintaining the balance between the demands of a career and life responsibilities become more difficult. Hence an increasing level of stress can rapidly lead to low employee morale, poor productivity, and decreasing job satisfaction. Some of the specific problems that relate directly to productivity in the work environment are abuse of sick time, cheating, chronic absenteeism, distrust, embezzlement, organizational sabotage, tardiness, task avoidance, and violence in the workplace. Other serious repercussions are depression, alcohol and drug abuse, marital and financial problems, compulsive eating disorder s, and employee burnout. With ever increasing work overload there is always negative spillover of stress from office to home and from home to office. Working late hours, bringing work to home, less time for lunch at office hours are the common problems faced by working couple. Moreover, if the working environment is not supportive it may lead to more turnover as before. Employees tend to experience work-family conflict when demands from work and family are both high and difficult to satisfy. Work-family conflict is a form of interrole conflict in which incompatible demands emanating from work and family domains make it difficult or impossible to satisfy both sets. Employees from dual-earner families (the subjects of our study) are particularly likely to experience conflict between work and family. Whereas most research has focused on individuals and the work-family conflict they personally report, a growing number of studies suggest that work-life issues must be understood in the context of both spouses employment conditions. Employees tend to experience work-family conflict when demands from work and family are both high and difficult to satisfy. Work-family conflict is a form of interrole conflict in which incompatible demands arising from work and family domains make it difficult to satisfy both sets. Working couples are particularly likely to experience conflict between work and family. Whereas most research has focused on individuals and the work-family conflict they personally report, a growing number of studies suggest that work-life issues must be understood in the context of both spouses employment conditions. This study though examines the spousal support and his indulgence in work, being at priority. A 1991 study finds relationships among employees job security, income, and weekly work hours and their spouses job involvement and satisfaction. Longer working hours are considered as the biggest work-family conflict reason giving more challenges to be faced by working couple. Late working hours, night shifts, work at home, no flexible scheduling and rigid corporate timings all these are demanding flex time work strategies. In the last decade ( Health Canada 2001, National Work Life Conflict Study), declared that high job stress has doubled, high job satisfaction and employee loyalty has doubled, the percentage of Canadian working more than 50 hours a week has grown from 10% to 25% , most Canadian lives in dual-income families and have dependents, whether children, aging parents or both. Also Canadian employers has reported that work life conflict has resulted in increased absenteeism and employee turnover, reduced productivity increased disability costs and health cost, increased managerial stress, and impaired family/social relationships. Jacobs and Gerson (2001) proposed that total family work hours, or the combined work hours of both spouses, would be a stronger predictor of negative outcomes, especially among parents, than the work hours of the individual spouses. Total family work hours is a concept with considerable face validity; as Jacobs and Gerson (2001) note, married individuals have less time to spend at home, because they devote more joint time to work (p. 50). More recently, Voydanoff (2004b) argued that long work hours reduce the resources that couples have for managing home demands, with likely negative effects on marital quality that vary with gender. For example, long work hours have been associated with high work_family conflict (Grzywacz Marks, 2000) as well as with good physical health (Bird Fremont, 1991). In contrast, there was no significant relationship between long work hours and intention to turnover or life satisfaction (Barnett Gareis, 2000a,b). Therefore todays company need various work-life strategies to be implemented that are helpful for working couple. They will be able to maintain a balance between much needed personal and professional life. The workplace based strategy could be flexi-time and flexi hours, part time, job sharing, job redesign, compressed work schedule; and flexi-place strategy could be telecommuting. Leave arrangements could be compassionate care leave, extended leave, maternity leave, parental leave, personal leave, self-funded leave, sick leave. A review of more than 30 surveys regarding work/life balance published from 1997 to 2003 reveals that the number of employers who offer family-friendly benefits has dramatically increased. According to the SHRMÂ ® 2003 Benefits Survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org /surveys-available late June 2003), the percentage of employers offering family-friendly benefits continues to increase.21 The survey documents that the top five family-friendly benefits offered are: Dependent care flexible spending accounts (71% of respondents). Flextime (55% of respondents). Family leave above required leave of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (39% of respondents). Telecommuting on a part-time basis (34% of respondents). Compressed workweeks (31% of respondents). Research Methodology Data Collection A sample of 70-80 working couples was taken from various countries including USA, Canada, Australia and India to measure the effect of working hours on working couples and the challenges they face. Diverse type of corporate sector including service sector, medical sectors, NGOs, manufacturing sectors, educational sectors etc. were included A structured questionnaire was drafted containing various statement on Work-Life Balance and challenges. Giving a Chronback Aplha of .80 ( reliability and validity of questionnaire). Measurement Individual working hours effect was assessed on the lives of working couple. 12-items from the dual career couple challenge scale were used to assess the challenges experienced by them. Responses were gauged on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). For example items including, Do you work late hours at office everyday?; Do you miss out on quality time with your family and friends because of work pressure? A higher response rate of 85% was recorded. Therefore, for measuring the effect of working hours on the challenges faced by dual career couple a simple regression analysis technique was applied with the help of SPSS 18 (PASW). Taking challenges as independent factors and working hours as dependent factors. Simple regression analysis was used to test the hypothetical relations between the challenges and working hours, in table 1. We can see the variables entered as independent. To address the challenge of analyzing data where its being proved by our results that as p Conclusion This study therefore suggests that dual-career couples may have different needs from those of the more traditional single-career couple. There is, therefore, a need for organisations to develop policies and practices that provide support for the demands of both work and family. In the work environment, dual-career employee status implies the need for greater employer sensitivity and awareness of the conflicting demands of simultaneous careers, so that employees may become more effective both at work and at home. What is needed is policies and programmes to help employees reduce the amount of conflict and the resulting stress they experience when they try to juggle the demands of work and home responsibilities (Thomas Ganster, 1995). Higgins, Duxbury and Irving (1992) for example, found that conflict between work and family roles reduce employees perceptions of quality of work life and the quality of family life which, in turn, can impact productivity, absenteeism and turnover. Suppo rtive work practices like flexible work options (e.g. flexitime, compressed work weeks, home telecommuting) as well as assistance with child and dependent care, employee support programme (e.g. counselling) and career path alternatives (Bardoel, Tharenou and Moss, 1998) are therefore vital to minimise stress, maximize employees sense of control over their lives, sustain manageable career progression, and at the same time balance career and family demands. (Elloy F David, 2004). Limitation of Study The study presented here is not without limitations. Lack of time was also a big constraint. Respondents situated out of India (home country) having problem while filling up the questionnaire were not able to discuss the doubts regarding the questionnaire because of distance and lack of time. Wrong information like telling wrong age or wrong spouse information cannot be avoided. An additional limitation based on the characteristics of the sample may be bias associated with nonresponse.

Analysis of SDB

This report aims to provide an analysis of a proposed investment in Sheen Development Bank (SAD) by Unabridged in 2002 and assess whether the P/B ratio of 1. 6 for Unabridged to pay for its 18% stake in SAD is appropriate. The analysis of Newbie's acquisition of Sad's stocks Is based on several aspects of Sad's asset quality, earnings capability and capital adequacy. According to price-to-book ratio of SOB's Industry peers and some acquisition precedents by foreign Investors, Unabridged made a correct decision that It paid 1. Times book value of Sad's stake on basis of SOB's performance. This Is because of Sad's high P/B ratio and low ROE Indicating that SOB's share price was overvalued; therefore, Unabridged acquisition of Sad's stocks was appropriate with a P/B ratio of 1. 6. Finally, this report provide a reasonable recommendation for Investors to make a correct occultation decision In terms of real profitability of occultation targets. Table of contents: Four Chinese banks had be gun to accept investments from foreign banks or financial investors since 1999.As a listed bank with huge developing potentials, SAD was snagged by government officers and encumbered by massive low-quality loans which resulted in high Naps, an under-capitalized balance sheet and disappointing profitability. In order to bring to SAD the best management practices and expertise in banking, the Sheen government was primarily seeking long-term foreign strategic investors. Therefore, SAD decided to sell its four Joint shareholders' 18% non-traceable legal person stake of SAD.At the same time, Newbie's successful experience in South Korean bank and its strong expertise in financial institution significantly enhanced the quality of its loan portfolio and its operating performance. Then, Unabridged was actively acquiring Sad's 18% stake in order to improve Sad's bad performance. This report will analyze how Sad's ratios in its balance sheet influence Newbie's acquisition decision as to Sad's price-to-book ratio. The paper also Justifies that Unabridged pays 18% Sad's shares with a reasonable P/B ratio. 3. 0 Main Body 3. Asset quality Difficulties in cash flows in a bank are always caused by a high NAP ratio. NAP ratio is a crucial tool to assess a banks performance, which is calculated as net non- reforming loans divided by total gross loans. Banks often report their NAP ratio as a measure of the quality of their outstanding loans. The higher the NAP ratio, the more possibility such returns will be lost and vice versa. As is shown in the Appendix 2, the NAP ratio decreased from 22. 7% to 1 1. 6% during the period from 2000 to 2002 Compared with Sad's industry peers, Sad's NAP ratio is higher than the average amount of its peers.The NAP ratio of SAD was only below Bosom's, but far higher than other Joint-stock banks in 2002. Sad's NAP ratio was 1 1. 6% in 2002, to some extents, this ratio means that Sad's cash flows were falling into much more troubles and difficulties than other Joint-stock banks. On the other hand, Loan Loss Reserves by Gross Loans determines the quality of loans of a bank. LARK is a percentage that reflects accumulated provision expenses and gives an indication of the management's expectation of future loan losses. The higher the ratio, the more suspicious the loans are and vice versa.The LARK ratio of SAD declined from 7. 1% to 3. 9% from 2000 to 2002, which was approximately the them. Although the LARK ratio of SAD decreased by nearly 3% during these three ears, Sad's loan loss reserves increased almost 100 million. By comparison with its industry peers, Sad's LARK/NAP was largely lower than the average level. Hence, Sad's high NAP ratio led to a low asset quality in 2002. 3. 2 Earnings capability Obviously, Sad's net interest margin declined by 1% from 2000 to 2002; compared with its industry peers, Sad's net interest margin was 0. % higher than the average ratio of other five Joint-stock banks in 2002. This indicates that S ad's ability of making profits is stronger than the average level. Meanwhile, Sad's non-interest income level ND operating expense were above the average level in 2002. Nevertheless, Sad's ROAR was 0. 9% in 2000 and was only 0. 3% in 2002. This ratio was merely half of the average ROAR of other five Joint-stock banks in 2002 indicating that Sad's profitability of the assets was relatively weak as well as its ROAR at the same time. Sad's ROAR was only one-third of the average ROAR of five Joint-stock banks.Therefore, Sad's performance was not good compared with its industry peers; the reason of Sad's bad performance is that an increasing assets generating low net income. 3. 3 Capital adequacy In commercial banking, capital adequacy ratio (CAR) is used to monitor a banks situation of capitalization by regulators and managers. CAR is calculated as the sum of tier 1 capital (equity and retained earnings) and tier 2 capital (subordinated debt and reserves) and dividing it by its risk-wei ghted assets. Sad's CAR decreased from 10. 6% in December 2001 to 9. % in December in 2002, but still above the Chinese regulatory floor of 8%. It is particularly worth mentioning here that Sob's CAR was 0. 7% higher than the average CAR of other five Joint-stock banks in 2002. Not all the mime the CAR is good if high; a high CAR means that a banks large amount of money is stuck in provisions or risk management, and there would be fewer money left for investment or for the continuation of some activities. Therefore, from the situation of Sob's declining CAR, SAD suffered in substantial loan quality troubles caused by its poor credit management. . 4 Price-to-book ratio It would be appropriate for Unabridged to pay 1. 6 times book value to get 18% stocks of SAD. There were some precedent that foreign banks and financial investors acquired domestic banks' minority-stake from 1999 to 2001. For example, AFC acquired Bank of Shanghai 5% stake at a price-to-book ratio of 1. 5 in September of 1999; and acquired 15% stake of Nanjing City Commercial Bank at a price-to-book ratio of 1. 2 in November 2001. Even if Newbie's acquisition of Sad's stake at the price-to-book ratio of 1. Is higher than If's; however, it was still lower than the average ratio of other three domestic listed banks. Significantly, the price-to-book ratio of SAD was around 5. 5 to 5. 9 from 2002 to 2003; and at the same, the other three banks average price-to-book ratio was 3. 1 to 2. 2. Hence, the appropriate ululation range should be below 2. 2 for Newbie's acquisition. As we can calculate that the ROE of SAD was decreasing from 12. 07% to 9. 02% from 2000 to 2002. P/B provides a valuable reality inspection for investors seeking growth at a reasonable price.Large differences between P/B and ROE, a key growth indicator could sometimes send up a red flag on companies. As a result. Sad's low ROE and high P/B ratio indicate that Sad's shares were overvalued at that time. If a company's ROE is Unabridg ed pays 1. 6 times book value that is far lower than Sad's price-to-book ratio, it would be an appropriate decision. . 0 Conclusion By way of conclusion, this report introduces the background of Chinese banks' stocks acquired by foreign financial investors and analyzes lots of ratios in Sad's balance sheet.The report also proves that Unabridged paying 1. 6 times book value through assessing Sad's asset quality, earning capability, capital adequacy and comparing its industry peers' P/B ratio and analyzing the relationship between P/B ratio and ROE ratio is appropriate. In addition, this report provides a considerable recommendation for investors to acknowledge a banks real performance. 5. 0 Recommendations However, much attention should be paid to comparing a banks key ratios analysis before acquisition its stocks for foreign investors.

Fast Food Nation By Eric Schlosser - 848 Words

â€Å"OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society†, Schlosser writes. Fast Food Nation, written by Eric Schlosser, includes topics about fast food chains impact on the community, jobs relating to fast food, and health issues. Fast Food Nation uses logic to appeal to the aspects of fast food chains by giving relatable examples from the devastating effects on the communities to the millions of jobs offered for our country. Moreover, fast food chains have contributed positivity to society, but with dire consequences. Are fast food chains always the best choice? Eric Schlosser presents us with some ways in which the fast food industry changes communities for the worse. He provides examples like the town of Greeley, Colorado, as well as other places, whose communities have been irrevocably changed by the fast food industry when slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants set up shop there. The fast food chains vast purchasing power and their demand for a uniform product have encouraged fundamental changes in how cattle are raised, slaughtered, and processed into ground beef. These changes have made meatpacking -- once a highly skilled, highly paid occupation -- into the most dangerous job in the United States, performed by armies of poor, transient immigrants whose injuries often go unrecorded and uncompensated. And the same meat industry practices that endanger these workers have facilitated the introduction of deadly pathogens,Show MoreRelatedFast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser957 Words   |  4 PagesFast Food Nation Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser was overall an alarmingly convincing tale. Schlosser’s ability to subtly drop facts regarding the negative aspects of the fast food industry that so profoundly swayed the reader wa extremely effective. Schlosser did not come out and state his opinion bluntly at any time throughout the novel. 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The Instituition of Marriage - 748 Words

Institution of Marriage In the story â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, I will discuss how women were oppressed by the institution of marriage in the nineteenth century while making comparative references to â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin. Women were treated as second class citizens during the 1800’s, which under rule of their husband weren’t allowed to be a person of their own, but live in the shadow of their husband. The narrator in â€Å"The yellow Wallpaper† is diagnosed with a nervous disorder by her husband John and her brother, whom are both doctors, and given a resting cure. Living up to the ideals of nineteenth century women, the narrator is expected to be passive, forbidden to exercise her†¦show more content†¦The wallpaper is a symbol of the domestic lift that traps women. The narrator states, â€Å"Sometimes I think there are great women behind. Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and in the very sha dy spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard. And she is all the time trying to climb through. But nobody could climb through that pattern-it strangles so† (311).She wants to continue to peel off the paper in order to free the women trapped inside, while at the same time free herself from the world in which she is trapped and only she can see. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour† Louise is an oppressed woman living in her husband’s footsteps, when she learns that her husband is on the deceased list at work she feels a sense of newfound freedom and joy. She begins the recognition of selfhood and no longer feels as though she is owned and dominated by a man. After learning of her awakening she states, â€Å"Free, free, fee† (124). The women in both of these stories begin to feel free from the dominance and constraints of marriage when they realize their possession of self assertion. By abandoning their husbands, both of the women in these stories are given a chance to live without the burdens that have oppressed them in the institution of marriage. By relating the two women characters in the stories, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† and â€Å"The Story of anShow MoreRelatedPlato Communism1302 Words   |  6 Pages-Plato says that private property and family are interdependant . So if only communism of property is adopted only half the goal will be acheived . Attachment to property cannot be given up untill family is there , this is only possible when the instituition of familty is abolished . It is the family for which one acquires property . So if the scheme of communism of property is to acheived then family has to be abolished . Plato gave an elaborate treatment to his scheme . He says that it is theRead MoreNo Religion Teaches Hatred1559 Words   |  7 PagesTags being, muslim, unfortable, amidst, hindu, normal, remove When Christian and Muslim schools can teach Bible and Quran, . Why Hindus cannot teach Gita or Ramayan in our schools? about Ramayan and the Mahabharat there.lets not target learning instituitions unless they teach hatred about other religion.We need to live in harmony with eah other and respect each other....yes , we religions in this world but others think that some day their religion will be in danger so they never prefer to teach thingsRead MoreAnita Desai : An Indian Novelist2023 Words   |  9 Pageshis wife Sarla, is an obstacle, because Deven’s marriage was against his choice. Sarla used to live in the same locality. Deven’s mother and aunts had observed Sarla for years and found her suitable in every way. Deven was more a poet than a professor when he married Sarla. Sarla was also a person of high aspirations. She had wanted to be rich and to be surrounded by luxurious atmosphere. Sarla’s dreams were not fulfilled with her marriage with Deven because they had to leave Deven’s townRead MoreJean Toomer s Literary Masterpiece Cane3302 Words   |  14 Pageswrites: â€Å"Carma’s tale is the crudest melodrama,† and it concerns a woman’s adultery (Toomer 15). Essentially, much like the blacks, Carma is for all intents and purpose owned by her domineering husband; and likewise, she desires more to life than her marriage can offer. For this, Carma’s tale might be considered a symbolic â€Å"call to arms† of sorts by Toomer to have African American’s reject their prescribed placement in society and begin pursuing their own true identity, one that is far removed from the