Happiness

The benefits of a happy staff are obvious and self-evident. Aside from the numerous studies that link employee happiness to greater productivity in the workplace — a fact that any disgruntled employee could have told you for free — an unhappy workforce simply makes for a miserable environment.

While misery may love company, companies do not reciprocate the feeling. A despondent staff can be exhausting to interact with and low energy in their output.

The good news is that keeping your employees happy is not an impossible feat. Aside from the common sense things, like growth opportunities, good benefits, clear communication and recognizing employee success, their are a few other moves you can make to keep your employees smiling and working hard. 

Existential appeasement

Clear objectives and vision for business — While in a perfect world everyone would work to his or her fullest capabilities everyday, life does not work this way. Often, the eternal recurrence of day-in day-out repetition traps employees in a Kafkaesque nightmare of meaningless drudgery.

that well-defined goals engender a more disciplined work ethic. Defined goals provide employees with a sense of purpose and allow them to understand how their work contributes to the final product or service.

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Work without context feels aimless and ultimately alienates the individual from the team and vision they should feel proud to be part of.

Transparency — Just as you should be upfront about the goals and vision of the company, you should also be transparent about the state of the company. According to an employee , transparency is the

Stressing over rumors of layoffs or fears of economic downturn only serve to disrupt an employee’s focus. Even if the only news you have to share is bad news, be honest. The result will be much better than the anxiety and passive aggression likely to arise from an uninformed and frightened staff.
 

Help employees define their professional narrative — Given the high mobility of younger employees, jumping from company to company, mentorship might seem like a relic of the distant past, but this is not true. If you work to build your employees, they will work harder for you. Loyalty breeds loyalty.

Help your employees see how the work they do benefits them. Whether this means asking them about their five-year plan over lunch or discussing with them possible next steps after they out-grow their current role, these discussions will alleviate any doubt about the meaning of their work in their own lives and the purpose they should feel doing it.

Flexibility

Allow employees to make their own schedule — The monotony of the 9 to 5 workday is unnecessary and old fashioned. Allowing your employees to make their own hours, and judging them not by time served but by productivity, will give your employees a rewarding sense of freedom.

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Many progressive companies, such as , have adopted make your own schedule policies and research shows that allowing employees to do so increases productivity.

Work from home option — With most office jobs being computer-based nowadays, offering a work from home option to your employees is a great way to boost happiness. The trick here is to make sure that all employees have the same benefit, as those who do not receive the option to work from home are sure to .

Also, keeping it an option is best, as some people (likely more extroverted people) will not like the isolation of working from home, while others (likely more introverted people) will thrive outside the office.

It’s the little things.

Cut back on meetings — While meetings are a vital part of any organization — facilitating communication and a free exchange of ideas — too many meetings, or meetings without structure, can bog down the workday and waste time.

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Take a good look at which meetings are essential and which ones are not. Perhaps make certain meetings optional. Maybe a simple memo or email update would suffice in certain cases.

Most important, remember that a meeting’s productivity is a function of its . Make sure that the loudest voice isn’t the only voice and that everyone gets a chance to contribute to the discussion. Meetings are by their very nature geared towards more extroverted personalities. Do what you can to pull in the introverted types and push them to share their ideas. Also, monitor the dialogue to make sure no one person or type dominates the conversation.

Instill a casual dress code — Lastly, a simple and inexpensive way to improve employee morale is to cut the jacket and tie requirement and instill a casual dress code. By allowing employees to dress casually they gain the ability to express themselves creatively, be comfortable, save money on dry cleaning bills and lose the stress from having to dress to impress.

The triggers that motivate people to achieve can vary. Money, power, purpose, the opportunity not just to make a living but to make a difference… When you wake up in the morning, what is the passion that fuels you to start your day? Are you living this in your work?  If others asked you to achieve, would the answer be obvious?  

Regardless of what motivates you and drives you to reach peak performance, it must be managed with a balanced approach. Too much motivation and attention in one area can weaken other parts of your game.

As you read through the following five words that motivate us to achieve, think of how you associate with each of them. Share your story and perspectives with others – and comment about it. The more we can discuss it, the more we can help one another become better leaders.

1. Trust

Trust is a powerful motivational tool and those leaders that are more transparent with their employees will find surprising results and new types of opportunities to develop talent. Leaders that have the backs of their people will win the trust of their employees who in turn will be more motivated to achieve.  I once had a department manager that always looked out for me. He was upfront in communicating his performance expectations and his feedback was direct.  He never treated me like a subordinate and looked for ways to include me in senior management meetings. This opened my eyes to what lied ahead in my career and thus motivated me to reach the next level and in the process exceed the expectations of my boss.

2. Validation

The need for validation has been heightened as of late from Millennials who seek to prove themselves faster amongst older generations in the workplace.  Employees never want to be stereotyped or marginalized, but for many younger professionals this serves as the trigger to awaken them from within. But this certainly is not just a generational issue as many of us have been questioned about our ability to achieve at a high-level. I learned this the hard way throughout my career.  For example, as a former C-level executive (in my early 30’s) and later as a successful entrepreneur, people began to envy and / or doubt me, thus igniting my hunger and drive to overachieve – and ultimately prove them wrong.

3. Self-Indulgence

People can be motivated for selfish reasons to achieve (money, attention, fame, etc.). As a leader, be aware of your employee’s motivations. Are they balanced and well-intentioned? Self-indulgence can bring tremendous short term benefits – but with longer term repercussions. Must we be reminded that greed and selfishness contributed greatly to America’s recent economic hardship? Motivation that satisfies our self-indulgence is can also be risky. To paraphrase Peter Drucker in his book, “The Effective Executive” every time you meet a person with great strengths, you are also meeting someone with great weaknesses.  

4. Impact

As employees reflect on their lives and careers – they want to contribute in ways that measure their achievements based upon the long-term benefits that the company they serve bears. As a leader, allow your employees to have sustainable impact in the work they perform. Allow them to make a mark toward significance.  Create the opportunity for their achievement to leave a long lasting legacy that rewards the organization they serve and for future generations to learn from.

5. Happiness

Happiness fuels one’s self-esteem and gives people hope for a better tomorrow.  We are all victims of taking our work too seriously.  Step back and enjoy the journey. Your motivation to achieve is ultimately based on earning a living that brings you tremendous joy and satisfaction. And then always strive be aware of whether your employees are satisfied in their work and that you are deliberate in having this type conversation with them. Never assume.  Employees will smile to save their jobs even if they aren’t content.  Assure your employee happiness and allow each of these motivational factors to influence the process organically.

As a leader, it is your responsibility to motivate employees to achieve even more than they thought possible. Encourage them to exceed expectations by taking responsible and timely risks. Embrace diverse thinking and measure each one’s ability to innovate. Never underestimate an employee’s ability to perform until you have properly evaluated and put their abilities and potential to the test.

Do you ever feel a pang of envy when you learn of colleague’s success?

Perhaps they landed that highly sought after client or were singled out by management for exceptional performance in front of the whole company. Maybe they were celebrated in the media.

You want to feel authentically happy for them, but part of you is also envious.

Envy is something all of us feel from time to time. Some of us are more aware of our envy than others and joke about it, saying,“I’m so envious!” or “I envy you…”

In the ’s Envy at Work, Tania Menon and Leigh Thomson write that if unchecked, envy can be harmful:

“Envy damages relationships, disrupts teams, and undermines organizational performance. Most of all, it harms the one who feels it. When you’re obsessed with someone else’s success, your self-respect suffers, and you may neglect or even sabotage your own performance and possibly your career. Envy is difficult to manage, in part because it’s hard to admit that we harbor such a socially unacceptable emotion. Our discomfort causes us to conceal and deny our feelings, and that makes things worse. Repressed envy inevitably resurfaces, stronger than ever.”

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Envy can kill opportunities for someone else and for you — so be careful to recognize it. Envy can be really good or really dangerous.

Instead of ignoring or repressing envy, you can make it work for you and your team.

Here are three ways that I’ve discovered:

1. Ask yourself what is your envy telling you?  

For example, your colleague got a promotion to a much higher position than you and you’re not 100 percent happy for her. What does that tell you?  Do you want more responsibility? Or respect? Or position?  

Gretchen Rubin, author of New York Times bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, tells of reading her Law School’s alumni magazine and realizing that she wasn’t envious of her friends who were rising in the legal profession; it was those who were becoming published authors that she envied. She used it as a datapoint for herself and listened to it. It motivated her to leave the legal profession and become an author, and a highly successful one at that.

Could your envy be telling you that you need to think differently or bigger about your possibilities? There may be something you learn from the example of the person you envy.

I’ve had to learn this lesson throughout my career. Recently, I realized that I envied someone and after some thought, recognized that a big part of her success is that she is not afraid to ask others to help her by introducing her to others who could help her business grow. Asking for that kind of help has never been easy for me to do and it is clear that it is a key part of her success.  

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So, I’m taking steps to do this more often and it is a revelation. People like to help and it builds relationships. I no longer envy my acquaintance, because I found admirable traits in her — our friendship has grown and is now mutually beneficial because of this.

2. Remember and affirm all the good in yourself.

It’s a fact and it’s true. Often, when we “compare and despair,” which is the kernel of envy, we forget about all of the progress and positive things that have already happened recently, and over time. Think of five aspects of your work and career where you have achieved or exceeded your goals or received positive feedback.

I save and print out exceptionally glowing emails from customers or colleagues and refer to them from time to time to renew my perspective — success builds on success.

Focus on the good and be thankful; what you focus on, grows.

In HBR’s leadership expert Ron Ashkenas writes:

“Don’t focus on other people; focus on yourself. Comparing yourself with others is natural and can be motivational. However, too much of it leads to envy, especially if you’re ungenerous toward yourself. Instead, try measuring your present self against your past self.”

Recently when I was feeling unproductive, I spent a few moments looking back on the past nine months and realized I’d launched a website, mobile app, written 100 articles and guest-blogged in Entrepreneur.com among others.

It reminded me that I’ve been more productive than I realized. It also affirmed that the simple act of quantifying achievements can transform how you think — especially when you encounter envy.

Ashkenas writes, “Though recognizing your emotional triggers and your own accomplishments can help you check envy, you still might not rejoice in others’ successes. If you feel threatened every time a perceived rival does well, you can squelch your knee-jerk resentment by doing one simple thing: reminding yourself of your own strengths and successes.”

3. Take the high road.

It’s tempting to diminish the person you envy, to discredit their success at the water cooler, or gossip among friends. But it harms them and you. You will not if you do it. And you need your better self to achieve all you aspire to. This is a radical thought because many people openly criticize and diminish the person they envy. It hurts them, it will stall your progress and diminish your reputation.  

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“When people have qualities we envy but cannot easily acquire, like beauty or charm, we tend to dismiss the value of those qualities and even treat them with scorn. We make ourselves feel better by belittling the accomplishments of the person we resent…by saying things like ‘Well, he was just lucky,’ or ‘He just got the plum assignment because he plays politics.’” — .

Using this language calls into question the fairness of managers and, by extension, the legitimacy of the organization as a whole, which impacts you and the organization negatively and diminishes your ability to succeed as a leader.

Envy is not a particularly pleasant emotion and some of us automatically deny or repress it. By putting it out in the open and considering it, you remove its power to harm you and your relationships and you can put it to work for you — benefiting you, your team and your entire organization.

For a couple of years now, I have been helping put together thanksgiving dinners for disadvantaged people and families in our community.

I started doing this in my sophomore year of high school with one of my classes, Job’s For Maine Graduates. This program or class is all about helping people in need. When I started this class my teacher asked me to be the vice president and help out a little more. When thanksgiving came around he asked me to help out with this event.A lot of people come to help out, even our principal and Tom Saviello one of our town representatives; always show up to lend a hand. This thanksgiving dinner is held at the Mt. Blue High School Cafeteria, on Thanksgiving Day, it’s free of charge but we do accept donations to help fund more projects we do.

We put this together by having students and teachers from our whole school bring in thanksgiving foods like vegetables and pie’s sort of like a food drive, but the grade that brings in the most food gets to pick a teacher that has to kiss a pig.To get the turkeys a few of our local stores donate them and other produce that can be expensive. One of the fun parts is cooking the food, a bunch of highly trained high schoolers ; a few other volunteers and the brains, a group of mom’s and grandmothers come in early to start the cooking . Once we get the food ready we set up the cafeteria with a bunch of decorations and try to make it feel like home as possible My job this year was to serve the food, I think this was the best job I’ve ever had at this event.I liked it because I could see the smiles on every ones face. I loved watching the kids; it’s hard because some of them look like they haven’t eaten in a months. But when they are in line, they say please and thank you and always smile.

They also got really excited when reminded that we were serving dessert. This year I felt like there were more people then usual, but everyone was really nice and people treated strangers like family.Usually when we do this event we see a lot of elderly people; it’s not necessarily because they don’t have the money, but more that if they were to make a big meal like this most of it would go to waste or they don’t have them family around because there kids have left home. One family the Allen’s comes every year. They have donated a ton of money but two of their kids have moved out of state and one out of the country, so they save their money and fly them all home for Christmas. I met them the first year I did this, and have seen them every year since.A noticeable difference this year was the amount of younger families that were there.

We weren’t sure why, but a lot of the senior citizens like it because it was nice to have kids running around and playing. My teacher thought that it could be due to all the mill closures around us and the lay-offs. This year we had a total of 189 people come, not including our 23 volunteers that helped out. It was one of our biggest turn outs ever. I especially liked this year because of all the kids that were there.It made it feel like one of my thanksgiving dinners were everyone was close and we could play games for hours. My teacher tells my class that we do this to help feed the community but I feel that it’s more than that; I mean I do think that this is great but I also feel that it is to help teach students and the community that by coming together we can accomplish so much more.

But after doing this for four years I have realized a few things, one if I ever needed help I would want people to try and do something about it, and two as long as I have what I need to survive I should try and give my extra away.

Introduction

Human beings are created in a unique way. The qualities we engage differentiate us from one another, as we are gifted with unlimited blessings. We have almost full control over our actions and behaviour, which is the reason why we sometimes struggle to innovate new methodologies for our well-being.

Going back in history we started our lives from caves until being part of this Global village. The question we ask, that are these changes such as measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as Gross National happiness (GNH) really for the best?

Within this assignment, in the light of Economics we will be discussing the way Nations/States manage their lives (well being). The main focus will be on explaining the differences between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and what the state of Bhutan in the Himalayas call ‘Gross Nation Happiness’ (GNH). The assignment will then move onto discussing the main problems of measuring both GDP and GNH.

GDP formally known as Gross National Income (GNI) has been elaborated from a Russian-born, American educated, and “Father of National Income Accounting”. Dr Simon Kuznet introduced the method of calculating National Income, although concept of National Income has existed for hundreds of years. Consistent measure of National Income remained invisible or nonexistent before Kuznet’s work. Byrns, R T. While the GDP and the rest of the national income accounts may seem to be arcane concepts, they are truly among the great inventions of the twentieth century. (Paul A. Samuelson and William D. Nordhaus)

Like any other process, the method National Income (NI) has crossed many stages to become GDP. At this day and age we have a barometer to gauge the financial health of a Nation and yes, money plays a vital role to fulfil the necessities of life, but it has been proven that stress levels are much higher within the wealthier communities. The question, which arises here, is what is it that’s lacking, despite of having fair and good financial health, especially in developed countries, as the majority are still not living a happy life. Crabtree, S. (Oct 2009)

However, GDP was intended to be a measure of economic growth. GDP was never planned to be a measure of overall social well-being. This western economic theory makes the statement that economic growth will enhance social well-being. Research has indicated that in most cases this statement is true, for example when basic human needs are better met. However, GDP is seen to be an imperfect measure, as it does not account for the environmental and social degradations that often accompany economic development.

“Although gross domestic product (GDP) is not intended to be a measure of societal welfare, it is often used as such. One shortcoming as a welfare measure is that it fails to account for the non-marketed value of natural resource flows.” Turner, P. Tschirhart, J. (1999)

Moreover, GDP was intended to help politicians with the circumstances of World War II. (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2000). It was a guide to post-war economic policy and it is hard to underestimate its success. William M. Daley, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, stated that:

“Since the end of World War II, when the GDP accounts were more fully developed and in wider use, the boom and bust swings are much less severe. They have had a very positive effect on America’s economic well-being, by providing a steady stream of very useful economic data.”

The success of the GDP can be seen in its ubiquity, it has become the pre-eminent measure of economic and, to a large extent, social well-being.

Gross National Happiness (GHN) on the other hand, which has been attributed to the former king of Bhutan, is seen more important than ‘Gross Domestic Product’ The former monarch is said to have made GNH the guiding philosophy of Bhutan’s development process, soon after his enthronement in 1972 (Thinley 2007). However, it was not until the late 1980s, that the king began to use the GNH concept openly in an attempt to ensure that economic development was in harmony with Bhutan’s culture, institutions and spiritual values (Ura and Galay 2004).

Introducing Bhutan and GNH to outside ideas and institutions began in the early 1960s, and apparently picked up pace in the 1970s (Ura and Galay 2004). In that context, the GNH concept probably evolved as good-humoured play on words to make the point that the development process ought not be directed toward increasing GNP if this is at the expense of traditional values.

Some critics have had difficulty in accepting the GNH concept. This is mainly due to the word ‘Gross’ as in GNH this does not appear to have any meaning, where in GNP it does, it also does not have a meaning corresponding to that in national income accounting.

However, this has not prevented the GNH concept from becoming a national objective in Bhutan. Article 9 of the Constitution of this new democracy states:

‘The State shall strive to promote those conditions that will enable the pursuit of Gross National Happiness’.

Furthermore, GNH has been debated around the world for many years. Nevertheless, it has received overwhelming support and encouragement from all over the world, be it scholars, educationists, politicians, researchers alike. In addition, GNH is widely discussed internationally. At least four international conferences have been held specifically on GNH, attracting participation by scholars from different disciplines and different parts of the world. (Ongmo, S Dec 2009)

b)

The reason for the overwhelming support and sympathy that the GNH concept is receiving worldwide is that the citizens everywhere are dissatisfied with the way societies are progressing currently in the world. They are increasingly concerned with their quality of life where GDP is the sole yardstick used for measuring social progress prompted by globalisation. Now people are demanding for more sustainable and complete approach to development taking into account dimensions such as social, environment and culture into policy framework. Comments such as the below have been made which is making GNH the next phenomenon. ‘Our industry should be boosting gross national happiness’’ (Pollard, I 2008)

In this context, GNH challenges the one sided measure of social progress using GDP as the only indicator. The Bhutanese government refuses to consider GDP as a good indicator enough to measure development. It argues that GDP is simply a measure of the currency that switches hands and it doesn’t take care of the growing social problems and deteriorating natural resources of a nation. (Sonam Jamtsho, Principal, Peljorling MSS, Samtse )

In today’s age, we have mentioned GNH is a potential substitute for GDP. (Ray, Debraj (1998): Development Economics, New Delhi 1998.) As we have found that GDP has failed to measure on whether it has benefited the nation or not as its only focus has been on the on economy. Factors such as natural disasters haven’t been considered which could contribute to the GDP growth as it stimulates economic activities such as increasing demands for construction. Also I have fund that the measure of GDP isn’t accurate as there is fear that statistic errors along with pollution factors aren’t being included, which would affect the overall performance. GDP also fails to measure things like quality improvement, this is due to the fact GDP can only measure the price as value, but not the quality of goods being produced. Saturday, January 31, 2009, 17:19 Also when assessing the performance of nations, GDP is often the policy used to measure wealth. However, it fails to measure more delecate forms of wealth, which are maybe more important to the average persons well being. Harrell, E Sep 2009. Nevertheless, I have found that changes or adbating to different policies will be a real challenge as for example swapping our UK standard of living for that of an average Bhutanese citizen would be very hard to adabt . By Eben Harrell Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2009

In contrast, GNH has become a more complete indicator as it draws upon a broader set of social, environmental and health measurement. One of the GNH creators Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley states:

“We have to think of human well-being in boarder terms. Material well-being is only one component. That does not ensure that you are at peace with your environment and in harmony with each other.”

GNH aims to evaluate sustainability, wellbeing and quality of life. There are nine index variables and many different metrics, which it uses to measure GNH. For example some on the key measurements include total household income, the highest level of education, the value of voluntary work and unpaid housework, natural capital such as energy, air and water quality, sustainable transportation, levels of health and education, crime, pollution and recycling levels. However, GNH faces its own limitations. Certain elements which make GNH become possible such as happiness from love is in fact hard to be measured by a rare method as people have different perceptions towards what happiness really means to them. In addition, GNH is only an indication and does not solve the real problems. For example, after releasing GNH in Bhutan, the country still faces challenges such as poverty and alcoholism.

It will be argued here that the happiness revolution might, instead of bringing about the return of “utility,” ultimately condemn this concept for being simplistic, and reveal that subjective well-being cannot serve as a metric for social evaluation without serious precautions. Fleurbaey, Marc(2009)

However, no measure has yet be proven to be perfect as the concept of GDP has risen concern of why the world measuring its development, progress and even sense of success by the GDP, if it does not properly account for the things that are beneficial or destructive to society. After all, the economy is just the exchange of goods and services that are meant to enhance the standard of living. Economist Alan Greenp, and even the inventor of GDP, Simon Kuznets, warned about using GDP to measure well-being and prosperity (Haggart, 2000).

Policy makers and Nations such as the U.S have intended to make positive changes to improve the structure. U.S have requested the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to revise the way it measure’s GDP levels and growth. One of the changes consisted of switching to a chain-weighted method of computing aggregate growth which depends on the current price information. This allowed BEA to measure GDP growth more accurately by using a new, “chain-weighted” procedure which would eventually eliminate upward biases in the incoming data. This indicates that challenges have been reconised when gathering accurate data for GDP and that policymakers are to some extent trying to make changes to enhance the method. However, study has shown that there are drawbacks which aren’t allowing the new measure to work as swiftly as it was intended to, as there has only been a small impact on the analysis of the macro economy. The new data, however, showed that the economy has been growing a bit less rapidly over the last few years than they had expected. The new policy also didn’t alter any estimates of the effects of monetary and fiscal policy on inflation, employment, and the budget and trade deficits. Key data on inflation, such as the consumer and producer price indexes, will not be changed, nor will the data on employment or the budget and trade deficits. On the whole, the most significant consequences of the revised GDP measurement system may be that growth in recent years will be marked down and the chronic upward bias to ongoing estimates of aggregate growth eliminated.

Policy makers have recognized that GDP successfully measures the national åconomic strångth, however, as discussed above ,GDP fails to measure things that ‘make life meaningful’. Morgan Housel – January 1, 2011. Collaborating GDP and GNH has been discussed in many states such as the U.S and the UK. Concepts of measuring both happiness and Gross are in talks, but research suggests that there is a lot of work involved, however, there are signs that they are working in the right direction.

A strategy in the U.K which many of us are aware of, track trends that affect the communities well being by using data from the census surveys where government agencies that track health, the environment, the economy and other societal barometers.

U.S on the other hand, are working with a research team at Princeton who are working with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to incorporate this kind of charting (census) into its new “time use” survey, which began last year and is given to 4,000 Americans each month. Dr. Alan B. Krueger, a Princeton economist working on the survey stated that:

“The idea is to start with life as we experience it and then try to understand what helps people feel fulfilled and create conditions that generate that,”

This method is intended to equip and educate the American quest for ever more income. But that benefit would have to be balanced against the problems that come with the increased stress imposed by additional testing.

“We should not be hoping to construct a utopia,” Professor Krueger said. “What we should be talking about is piecemeal movement in the direction of things that make for a better life.”

http://www.paradise-engineering.com/happiness/gnh.html

China on the other hand, started using, what is known to be a complex index called Human Development Index (HDI), that was established by Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen, which was then replaced by Gross National Product in 1990. China, who is another nation which is attracted to the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as they found it an urgent necessity to move away from the GDP-led approach to a more human-centred style of government. The difficulties that many nations are facing that happiness cannot be measured.

The IEA, quite fairly argue that the satisfaction levels have not really gone up or down since records began in the 1950s might simply show that measuring happiness is a very imprecise science. As the authors point out, many happiness measurements are based on a three-point scale, with people asked if they feel unhappy, happy, or very happy.

“Basing government policy on such an imprecise measurement would be like the Bank of England’s monetary policy board basing its policy decisions on whether people say they are feeling poor, rich or very rich”, they write.

It’s not just rising income levels that don’t appear to affect happiness levels. Rising levels of violent crime also don’t appear to affect it. The high unemployment of the 1980s don’t seem to affect it. Nothing seems to affect it. It just continues in a straight, boring line. So what policy conclusions can we draw from thisNone, it would be fair to suggest.

The main problems identified were indicators such as the service input as defining and measuring has become very complex as Some business have mixed service departments in which trying to differentia could be a hard task. Also measuring non market goods such as housework and raising a family is also a challenge. GDP figures also exclude the making of goods and services that are not sold within markets. This component includes housework, meals cooked at home, and child care provided by parents, as well as services volunteered for charities and other groups. For example, when parents care for their own children, the value of their care does not appear in GDP. However, when parents pay for child care, those services appear in GDP.

GDP also includes only a very imperfect estimate of production of goods and services sold on the underground economy (or black market). This activity includes production of illegal goods and services (such as drugs and prostitution). It also includes production of legal goods that goes unreported to avoid taxes. Many estimates suggest that the underground economy in the United States amounts to between 5 and 10 percent of GDP; this figure is even larger in many other countries.

Conclusion

Also when renting a property the expenses appear in GDP as payments towards housing services, where on the other hand if you own the property GDP includes the government’s estimate of the rent that you would pay if you were renting. Also pricing of goods isn’t accurate as these are measured using old, higher prices, overstating the increase in the value of production. Research has also shown that double counting is also a major problem.

Course: Moral Issues in Business Date: October 19, 2010 Export Capital for Production Abroad The export of goods and services is a common business which takes place all over the world, and at the same time it raises many ethical and moral issues.

Exporting capital for production abroad raises many ethical issues and moral dilemma that would dictate whether limitations or constraints should be placed on this freedom business. In answering the question on should any constrains be placed on the freedom to export capital for production abroad, I personally will answer that there should not be.As an example I would take the case of an individual or corporation exporting capital for the purpose of increasing return on investment by seeking lower labor cost abroad or other beneficial skills. Based on utilitarian theory, there would be no ethical objection to capital export. Based on what we have studied on the book utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined by the total outcome it produces in the society or in the business environment it is applied.It is also seen as a theory that produces the greatest overall utility for everyone that is directly or indirectly affected by the action. In the case of capital export for production abroad the greatest degree of happiness would be gained by a cheaper product, resulting in more sales and a more beneficial company as well as more jobs available for workers in the production country which would meet utilitarian criteria.

But the other side of the coin of this discussion is that there would also be unhappiness for the people who lose their jobs in the home country.The capital export would develop new trading partners, and will increase a country’s standing in the world’s economy. And I can say that these two considerations are in the best interest of the receiving country, which would fall under egoism theory. As a conclusion I can say that the greater degree of happiness would be achieved by the whole society, as the unrestricted flow of investments would increase the overall economy for both countries. Export Commodities which have been banned from Sales in the US I think that this topic should be analyzed based on different case studies. Just because commodity has been banned in the US does not mean that it is necessarily unsafe, and on the other hand because the product is approved for use in the US does not mean that it is safe. Let’s take in consideration the use of tobacco, everyone knows that its use will damage our health and in the long term it can also kill people.

Tobacco is legal in US, and also tobacco industry is trying to create new tobacco laws that favor their business without considering the health of people. My point is that each country should make its own decision based on what products best serve their interest.In the tobacco example the utilitarian would probably feel that the export of American cigarettes would bring the most total happiness because cigarette manufacturers would benefit from international trade as would American economy as a whole. In the same way international consumers would benefit from the higher quality of cigarettes and also they will have more tobacco products available to choose. So, in this case the export of cigarettes would bring more happiness as compared to the unhappiness that the health effects would bring.So, act utilitarian would be in favor of exporting this product, while rule utilitarian would consider the export of cigarettes as a wrong action. Rule Utilitarianism considers the law and the moral codes as being the only one to promote the greatest happiness and pleasure to people.

They would take in consideration the effects of the society as a whole and the health risk tobacco has. For them, based on the rules, tobacco could actually hurt more people than they help. I believe that this type of argument could be made for all other products exported, and each case should be studied individually.But, just because US bans a product does not mean that it is morally wrong to export it. Downsize in the Face of Economic Difficulty The economic difficulty has driven many companies to choose between reducing jobs, force retirements and layoffs and many other downsize actions in effort to bring operating expenses back into balance. I don’t think that this is a good idea for companies to increase their profits, I believe that downsize in the face of economic difficulty will influence more negatively on companies.A company that provides no jobs and no benefits for the current employees has a net worth of absolutely nothing at best, and is harmful at worst, as people have invested their lives and knowledge in the firm, and will have to seek employment elsewhere and give their knowledge and experience to the new company.

Sometimes downsize is a waste of time and money for the company and the best solution is to make reductions without affecting the organization’s capabilities and productivity. Based on Nozick theory, the downsize in the face of economic difficulty would not be allowed, as he considers it as an action that violates people’s rights.Nozick’s theory states that “people are entitled to their holdings (that is, goods, money, and property) as long as they have acquired them fairly. ” (Barry&Shaw, pg. 110) So, we see that violating people’s rights and living them without a job will be considered as not being ethically. Companies should find other better ways in order recover from their economic problems, without touching employees’ life. Break Union Contracts in the Face of Economic Difficulty I think that form the level of braking union contracts in the face of economic difficulty is not accepted from the ethical point of view.

We know that union contracts are used for the rights in order for every employee to be treated equally. Based on Rawls theory of distributive justice, liberty, fairness and the moral equality of people are the main principles when considering on distributing assets. Rawls has looks the society as a cooperative group, and he thinks that members of a society should be treated equally, no matter if they are rich or poor. Breaking union contracts means to also break Rawls ethical theory. Braking union contracts is in the negative side of employees and it violates the rules presumably set forth for the greatest benefit of all.Bibliography: Barry V. & Shaw W.

(2004) Moral Issues in Business. (9th Edition). “The Ford Pinto Case Study” pg. 84. Wadsworth: Holly J. Allen ? An interesting moral analysis of the exportation of capital for production abroad, would be to apply Kant’s ethics. To take this approach, it is necessary to look at the reasoning for the export and the motives of the companies who do the exporting.

Now by the exporting of capital for production abroad, I would define this as American investment into manufacturing facilities in Mexico and abroad including Third world countries.The Categorical Imperative here tells us that if we are going to offer employment, utilize resources, export goods and the host of other factors involved, we must do it in a way that our actions (as the investor) could be recognized as following a strain of a universal law. To rephrase, our actions should be done only if we can imagine the way they are done creates a moral, universal law. Inherent in this way of thinking is a form of the golden rule, for the law which you chose to set in your actions regarding the investment, would apply to you were you the foreign worker, displaced American worker or expatriate.The theory here begins to sound a bit like Rawl’s “veil of ignorance” in the original position, but Kant went on to include that doing something in one fashion be done in a morally correct way, for the sake of morality alone. In other words, offering health insurance to manufacturing workers in another country if done, should be done because it is morally correct, not because it will make your company “look good” to host governments or other countries. The main reason I chose to examine this case according to Kant’s ethics is the way he theorized treating humans as the “end” rather than the “means.

Business is about humans as means in most ways of thinking with the customer at the end of the chain. So many other humans comprise the chain of business however, and treating them as a method or factor of production is to treat them as a means. If American investors were to treat the workers in plants in other countries as an end, that is to come into a region and genuinely improve the area economically and bring up the standard of life, would this be morally right?Certainly, but on the other side of the coin, the displaced American workers who lose jobs to foreign direct investment must also be treated as an end, rather than a means. In no situation should a company pick up and leave the employees behind without retraining, relocation options and other programs that treat humans as humans and not merely “factors of production. ” Export capital then, should not be limited then where it improves the way of life for some identifiable group of workers, and improves the economy for a region that is to receive the new business.If a company does not look at potential employees as solely a means for profit, but as a block of workers that will truly benefit from investment, by all means constraints should not be used. If however, a company decides to “pick up and move,” leaving hundreds or thousands jobless only to enter into an underdeveloped region and wreak havoc on the ecosystem and treat the locals as a cheaper “mean” to the almighty profit factor, then the most stringent constraints to the export of such capital should be enacted.

Without education, there can never be true freedom.

Although your body may be free, your mind will remain confined by ignorance. Education frees your mind to the wonders of the world and allows you to think for yourself. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, Douglass realizes that he needs to be educated. In order to be totally free, one must first educate him or herself. In Frederick Douglass’s narrative, he first realizes that in order to gain freedom, he needs to educate himself.When Hugh Auld forbids Sophia Auld from educating Douglass, he realizes that in order to gain his freedom, he must have knowledge. Hugh Auld says that if a slave educated, he will never be satisfied with being a slave and will rebel against his master.

By keeping slaves uneducated, they remain ignorant and will not question why the slaveholders have the right to own people and use them as slaves. Auld reveals that a slave will become corrupted if given knowledge.If a slave is given a tiny bit of information, the slave will then become curious and keep digging to gain more information, until the slave is satisfied. Then, the slave will start to question the master and loathe him. Because of Auld, Douglass comes to understand that slaveholders maintain their power over slaves by keeping them uneducated and ignorant. With education comes literacy, the ability to read and write. If a slave is able to read, he/she can then read what others have written, including works by abolitionists.

By reading, the slave will gain knowledge of the true cruelty of slavery through the eyes of another. Slaves may then feel that they will be supported if they try to escape. By reading the works of abolitionists, slaves become aware of people who are willing to help them escape. Slaves would then know that if they try to escape, they will have others who support them and will help them. This would give them a sense of security, a bit of confidence to escape. Frederick Douglass also gained confidence and a bigger drive to escape after reading The Columbian Orator.When a slave is able to write, he/she can articulate the details of slavery through written means.

Without knowing how to write, the slave can only speak. If he/she can write, he/she can publish books on their experiences in slavery to expose the cruelty of slavery to more quickly and efficiently than public speaking. If a slave cannot write, he/she cannot tell their side of the story. When a slave learns to read and write, he/she will gain a sense of confidence. With the ability to write, slaves may feel as if they are or should be equal to white men.They gain a sense of capability, self sufficiency, and independence. Slaves are not allowed to know basic facts like their birthday and their parents, things that white children take for granted.

This withholding of information robs the slaves of their sense of individuality. By learning to read and write, the slave starts to think more, giving him or herself their individuality. The slave then frees his mind from the restrictions of ignorance, giving room for new ideas and questions to settle. The slave will start to question the injustice of slavery and come to loathe the master.Many slaves lived without ever being educated, and then they die without experiencing freedom. Frederick Douglass refused to be one of these slaves. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, he relates education to freedom, stating that education is needed in order to obtain freedom.

Without education, one cannot fully experience freedom. After learning how to read and write, Frederick Douglass starts to gain more knowledge and individuality. He later reads more and more works by others who are against slavery, opening his mind to the meaning of freedom and human rights.