Michael Collins leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Michael Collins leadership - Assignment Example Michael Collin’s approach to leading the region is task oriented.   This means he prioritize and values the task or job more than his relationship with his people.   In his visit to the region, the orientation of his leadership is revealed where he cared less about the people and is more concern about tasks related concern such as the length of service, what they like about the company, areas of improvement and corporate culture.   In addition, Michael Collins also described himself as a Renaissance man who could do a lot of things but gets impatient with people.   I thought of Michael Collin’s leadership orientation as task oriented because he perceive the importance of job in terms of tasks and not of people.     If Michael Collin is a people oriented leader, he would have enjoyed his visit and interaction with his workers.  Ã‚   He would have differed in his assessment of his people where he would find the engagement more fruitful when his people truste d him enough to share frank information about the company and their job.   He would have asked how his people are feeling not only about their job but also with their coworkers and their boss.   I did not think Michael Collins as people oriented leader because he did not value much their opinion and suspected their motive.3.  How might an understanding of individualized leadership be useful to Collins with respect to his relationship with marketing versus store personnel?   Individualized leadership is a leadership whereby the leader has a strong interpersonal relationship.

Who or what is the main beneficiary of globalization Essay

Who or what is the main beneficiary of globalization - Essay Example These years have as well observed a complete alteration within the former centrally designed nations of Europe. At the same time, globalization has been connected with a number of other alterations, for instance, industrial growth, moderation and deregulation. It is rather impractical to divide the economic impacts of globalization, yet distinct, from those of the earlier issues. There is the additional complexity starting from the time period during which the analysis is completes. The instantaneous as well as interim impacts may become extremely different from those of the average as well as long-standing. Regardless of these requirements, it is essential to stress that the processes of globalization are likely to generate certain socio-economic effects (Boudreaux, p. 65, 2007). Focusing initially on the economic impacts, along with the key concerns are the outcomes of globalization on competence, development and circulation. It is apparent that globalization has supported competen ce benefits in a number of ways. Static benefits increase whenever market alterations are condensed or removed. Globalization has been linked with comprehensive lessening in obstacles to the movement of goods, services in addition to parts of production. The bigger competition caused by globalization has as well formed active competence benefits via enhancements in administration as well as technology. Similarly, the substitution of state ventures by private companies has resulted in competence benefits. The value of competence benefits is obviously bigger when they take place during times of complete use of resources than when they just increase unemployment and surplus capacity. The concurrence of globalization with financial catastrophe and stagnation has intended that in the majority of nations the competence benefits because of better resource distribution seem to have highlighted the issues of poverty, unemployment as well as discrimination (Scholte, p. 344, 2005). Increased c ompetition, nationwide, as well as worldwide, possibly works in the similar direction for the majority of nations. A raise in the pace as well as level of resource flows, development of trade as well as internationalization of manufacturing can be likely to have substantial effects on revenue distribution. Nations that are successful in drawing foreign resources, savings and technology, and in enhancing growth of output as well as exports, are likely to experience increasing employment and earnings, and perhaps lessening in discrimination. On the other extreme, less competitive plus more unsound nations may go through from outflows of resources, savings, expertise and free enterprise. They possibly get trapped in a descending spiral of manufacturing, employment as well as salaries, worsening both poverty as well as discrimination (Lechner & Boli, p. 391, 2003). The general impact of these alterations is expected to be harmful on the lower class in most nations. In the industrialized nations, employment as well as earnings is stressed from three sources: 1. Bigger competition internally and from a foreign country 2. Industrial development 3. Internationalization of production The fortune of the lower class in the industrialized nations would be even poor if there were no constraints on labour resettlement. Similarly, owners of several small and medium sized ventures may endure bigger nationwide as well as worldwide competition. The main beneficiaries from globalization are individual human beings. Every year, more or less 6 million new companies are being formed around the

Privatisation On Life Insurance Corporation Of India Economics Essay

Privatisation On Life Insurance Corporation Of India Economics Essay With the advent of new players in the field of Life insurance sector, the degree of competition has increased multifold. The private insurance companies are launching new innovative insurance plans for their survival and growth. At the same time, Life Insurance Corporation of India has upgraded their quality of service to retain, maintain and attract new business. An attempt has been made to study the impact of privatization on LIC. The Development Officers were contacted to know their observations about the impact of privatization on their life insurance business and their views as how their life insurance business has been influenced by the opening of the sector. LIC has made a lot of changes in its operation and latest technology is being used to serve the customer. The customer grievances are properly attended and all maturity claims are settled to the entire satisfaction of the policyholders. The privatization of the sector has brought lot of opportunities for all the players. Under such situation, fittest of the fit will survive and the rest will vanish over a period of time. In the year 2000, when the insurance sector was privatized, many companies entered into the insurance sector and as a result competition has increased multifold. Initially, most of the private life insurance companies spent huge amount of money on advertisement. The purpose of the advertisement was to inform the public about their existence and the importance of life insurance policies in human life. With the rise in the degree of competition among the life insurance companies in India, the companies realized the need of developing new life insurance policy plans which can satisfy the multi needs of policyholders and as a result, the concept of riders were introduced. New channels of distributions have been introduced which have been economical and effective in serving the public. NEED FOR THE STUDY With the privatization of the insurance sector, efforts have been made by the government to regulate the business of insurance through Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority ( IRDA). IRDA has formulated various guidelines to bring transparency in the working and make the system customer friendly. As a result, most of the companies are practicing Customer Relationship strategies to keep their customers delighted. Keeping in view such changes in the insurance sector, a need is felt to find out as what is the change in the attitude of general public before and after the Privatization. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This study is an attempt to find out the impact of privatization on Life Insurance Corporation of India. The basic purpose of conducting this study includes: To find out the difference in the attitude of general public before and after the Privatization. To analyse the LIC business procurement in terms of First Premium Income (FPI) over the last 4 years. To study the attitude of Development Officers towards impact of privatization on their insurance business RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A descriptive study on the General Public and Development Officers have been undertaken to find out the answers to the objectives of the study. The study has been conducted in the selected cities of Haryana viz. Ambala Cantt, Ambala City, Kurukshetra Panipat, Karnal, Yamuna Nagar, Panchkula and Jagadhari. A structured questionnaire has been framed with multiple answers and their views have been noted and analysed to draw important conclusions. TYPE OF DATA COLLECTED Both primary and secondary data has been used to study the impact of privatization on Life Insurance Corporation of India. Primary data has been collected from General Public and Development Officers through structured questionnaire where as secondary data has been collected from the IRDA journal(s) pertaining to the FPI of life Insurance Corporation of India over the last 4 years. SAMPLING TECHNIQUES Stratified random sampling technique has been used in the study. Out of the eight cities selected for the study, 50 respondents from general public, representing different stratas of the society have been included. Similarly, 35 Development Officers from each city have been chosen on snow ball sampling basis. HYPOTHESIS H o Privatisation of the Insurance Sector has adversely affected the working of LIC. H a Privatisation of the Insurance Sector has favourably affected the working of LIC Ho After the privatisation, whether your business as Development Officer has been adversely affected? H a After the privatisation, whether your business as Development Officer has been favorably affected? DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS PERFORMANCE OF LIC IN TERMS OF FIRST PREMIUM INCOME (FPI) Table 1.1: Comparative Analysis of Business Performance of LIC in terms of FPI Name of LIC ZONE with FPI IN 2006-2007 FPI IN 2007-2008 Growth Rate in %age 2007-2008 FPI IN 2008-2009 Growth Rate in%age 2008-2009 FPI IN 2009-2010 Growth rate in %age 2009-2010 North Zone 862124.66 808943.20 -6.17 637302.71 -21.22 767438.31 20.42 North Central 463995.25 481078.84 3.68 384078.36 -20.16 493495.89 28.49 Central Zone 251776.58 210294.93 -16.48 183249.12 -12.86 226104.41 23.39 East Central Zone 261215.49 296291.15 13.43 262577.04 -11.38 310326.43 18.18 Eastern Zone 342181.75 410185.77 19.87 391795.29 -4.48 526284.19 34.33 South Central 596867.00 581365.08 -2.60 448089.37 -22.92 532827.32 18.91 Southern Zone 586241.87 855150.87 45.87 453414.89 -46.98 553047.49 21.97 Western Zone 589755.23 737975.93 25.13 771614.08 4.56 886520.29 14.89 TOTAL FIGURE 3954157.83 4381285.77 10.80 3532120.86 -19.38 4296044.33 21.63 Table 1.1 clearly shows that there was increase and decrease in most of the zones of LIC except the Western zone which made a consistent increase in the business from 2006-2007 to 2009-2010. The performance of all the zones were better during the financial year 2009-2010 as all the Eight zones have shown a positive growth rate. The maximum business in terms of FPI from the Western Zone followed by North zone and Southern zone. Eastern zone made the maximum growth rate of 34.33 % during the financial year 2009-2010. QUESTION-1: A question was asked to the General public ( 50 IN EACH CITY) about their future intentions to buy any life insurance plan and which insurance company will they prefer Table1.2: Interest of the General Public to purchase insurance Respondents interested to insure LIC Other Companies City Ambala Cantt. Count 18 4 % within City 81.8% 18.2% Ambala City Count 13 3 % within City 81.3% 18.8% Kurukshetra Count 14 0 % within City 100.0% .0% Panipat Count 14 3 % within City 82.4% 17.6% Karnal Count 10 2 % within City 83.3% 16.7% Yamuna Nagar Count 9 3 % within City 75.0% 25.0% Panchkula Count 11 5 % within City 68.8% 31.3% Jagadhari Count 9 3 % within City 75.0% 25.0% Total Count 98 23 % within City 81.0% 19.0% Chi-Square Tests Value df Pearson Chi-Square 5.477a 7 Likelihood Ratio 7.866 7 Linear-by-Linear Association 2.124 1 N of Valid Cases 280 a. 8 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.63. 81% respondents like to get insured by having LIC policy, Chi square significance is .001, which suggests that data is significantly related. QUESTION-2: After the privatisation of the insurance sector, whether your business ( Development Officer) has been affected? Table 1.3: Effect of privatization on the business Business has increased or decreased Increase Stable City Ambala Cantt. Count 33 2 % within City 94.3% 5.7% Ambala City Count 31 4 % within City 88.6% 11.4% Kurukshetra Count 34 1 % within City 97.1% 2.9% Panipat Count 33 2 % within City 94.3% 5.7% Karnal Count 34 1 % within City 97.1% 2.9% Yamuna Nagar Count 33 2 % within City 94.3% 5.7% Panchkula Count 35 0 % within City 100.0% .0% Jagadhari Count 34 1 % within City 97.1% 2.9% Total Count 267 13 % within City 95.4% 4.6% Chi-Square Tests Value df Pearson Chi-Square 6.373a 7 Likelihood Ratio 7.084 7 Linear-by-Linear Association 2.392 1 N of Valid Cases 280 a. 8 cells (50.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.63. From the above table it is clear that business of the LIC has increased (95.4%). Chi square significance is .003, which suggests that data is significantly related. QUESTION-3: Do you think that privatization of Insurance sector is a sign of growth for You as Development Officer and for LIC as a whole? Table1.4: Relationship between privatization and growth for LIC privatization of business sector is a sign of growth for LIC Yes No No Comments City Ambala Cantt. Count 33 2 0 % within City 94.3% 5.7% .0% Ambala City Count 32 1 2 % within City 91.4% 2.9% 5.7% Kurukshetra Count 29 2 4 % within City 82.9% 5.7% 11.4% Panipat Count 34 1 0 % within City 97.1% 2.9% .0% Karnal Count 34 0 1 % within City 97.1% .0% 2.9% Yamuna Nagar Count 33 2 0 % within City 94.3% 5.7% .0% Panchkula Count 35 0 0 % within City 100.0% .0% .0% Jagadhari Count 32 2 1 % within City 91.4% 5.7% 2.9% Total Count 262 10 8 % within City 93.6% 3.6% 2.9% Chi-Square Tests Value df Pearson Chi-Square 19.118a 14 Likelihood Ratio 21.221 14 Linear-by-Linear Association 1.386 1 N of Valid Cases 280 a. 16 cells (66.7%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 1.00. According to 93.6% respondents, privatization is a growth sign for LIC. Chi square significance is .002, which suggests that data is significantly related. From the above analysis it is seen that there is hardly any impact of privatization on the business of LIC. Hence hypothesis H0 is Rejected, which shows that the business of LIC has been affected by privatization but it has positive impact on the business of LIC, hence we accept the alternate Hypothesis.. FINDINGS On the basis of the study undertaken on General Public and Development Officers, some important observations are appended below Corporate Active Data Warehouse (CADW): LICs CADW is one of the largest life insurance customer database in the world. The project has enabled LIC to launch Customer focused campaign like Customer Contact Program and Global Club Customer Campaigns launched in the various A Class cities during the year 2009-2010. The major achievement has been to send a single notice for the premium falling due in the same month for the various policies of an individual policyholder. All these initiatives launched have made the brand of LIC more visible in the eyes of the policyholders and public in general. New channels for premium payment: More channels have been added to facilitate the renewal premium payment by the policyholders. Major addition is in the form of creating PREMIUM POINTS where policyholders can deposit the premium 24*7 and can get a final receipt from the office of the empowered LIC agents who are spread across the country. More than 5000 such empowered agents are authorized to provide this service to policyholders. Apart from this, 350 satellite offices have been opened in various cities to give the feel of physical presence of LIC. Enterprise Document Management System: LIC has implemented EDMS in its offices to digitize the customers an Office records. EDMS has been done to get the advantage in terms of Enabling the concept of anywhere-anytime service through electronic files. To make documents and files available to multiple users simultaneously. To eliminate the need to transfer paper records from one branch to another branch. Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment (EBPP): Premium can be paid through various banks like City Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Corporation Bank, Axis Bank and other service providers-Bill Desk and Tech Process which cover almost all other banks throughout the country. Premium can be paid through credit card also. Premium can also be made through ATM card and EBPP. Premium can be deposited for the in force policies only and which are not with monthly or salary saving schemes. Customer Grievance Redressal Management: LIC has grievance redressal officers at Branch/Divisional/Zonal/Central office to redress the grievances of policyholders and for bringing transparency in the operations. IT enabled support system have been operationalised to reduce manual intervention and to minimize the grievances. For quick redressal of grievances, LIC has introduced a customer friendly Complaint Management System through customer portal where the policyholder can directly register any complaint/ grievance/quarry and track its status anytime without going anywhere. CONCLUSION The performance of LIC during the year 2006 to 2010 indicates that there has been tremendous amount of potential in the insurance business. It is hoped that the spark ignited by the leading insurance company shall be carried forward by all the players and they will generate phenomenal business and fulfills the social obligation to the society. With the privatization of the insurance sector, the degree of competition has increased and as a result, the service standard of insurance companies has improved beyond imagination. In the present set up of life insurance organisations, Development Officer is the most important functionary of the organisation. The major life insurance business is procured through agents who are supervised by their respective DOs. An agent is the representative of the company who has the maximum interaction with the General public and persuades the prospects to purchase insurance policy. The agents should be well trained so that the general public can be made aw are about the importance of the concept of life insurance. In the recent past, most of the agents of the life insurance companies are offered lucrative incentives so that the sales force can be always be set in high spirit. In India, insurance market is open, only fittest of the fit will survive.LIC is an old trusted brand, it has to launch new policy plans which can satisfy the multi needs of the public. At the same time, LIC has to train and develop its employees so that they can serve the customer with full commitment and dedication. In short, privatization has favorably affected the LIC organization which has resulted into the improvement in the overall operations of LIC.

tragoed Metamorphosis of the Tragedy in Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Desir

Metamorphosis of the Tragedy in Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Desire Under the Elms Tragedy is considered by many to be the greatest of the genres. Often something goes wrong and exposes something great. Characters generally have more depth as evidenced by Hamlet. Tragedy shows up in the great periods of history: Classical Greece, Renaissance, and the early 20th century. It is a far more complex genre than comedy or romance. It teaches people to think since the storylines never have a simple answer or resolution. We see this in Desire Under the Elms. Family relationships and inheritances are complicated and even when Abbie kills the baby, Eben decides to join her in her guilty plea when he is clearly not a participant in the murder. Unlike comedy, there is less spectacle onstage. Iokaste hangs herself offstage, King Hamlet's murder is only reenacted but not seen directly, and the audience doesn't see Abbie murder her baby. This forces or allows the audience members to use their imaginations to envision these crucial scenes, adding a layer of complexity t o the play. Hamlet we are reminded of fate by the line, "There's a divinity that shapes our ends." Then in Desire, Cabot consistently looked to God for direction. These situations don't allow us to remain passive and simply be entertained when we view tragedy. We must grapple with the tough issues of life. Â   Plot is considered significant in tragedy for many reasons. . Plot examines the limits of human greatness. It is the most examined area in the study of literature probably because it is unique to humans. It can be both edifying for an audience and, at the same time, allow for a catharsis. Plot allows characters to play out their fate. Freud believe... ...e less class conscious, the need for high status of one man disappears. In Desire the hero(es) were farmers. Â   Another way that tragedy has evolved is through more comedy being added to the tragedy. Oedipus has no real comic scenes. Hamlet had a few, but Desire had evidence of comedy sprinkled throughout by way of the brothers, the dance, food and drink, and animal references. Tragedy also had evolved to the point of having more romance. Again romance was missing from Oedipus, we saw a bit more in Hamlet between Claudius and Gertrude and Hamlet and Ophelia. But then in the modern tragedy romance is at the center of the play, albeit an uncomfortable, complicated romance. Some example in the play Desire include: the sexual advances, the kiss and walk away together, the reuniting at the end, stage directions that describe the physical appearance. Â  

Ptlls Assessment 1

Describe what your role, responsibilities and boundaries as a teacher would be in terms of teaching/training cycle. What is the teaching/training cycle? How is it relevant to what teachers do? What are teachers’ responsibilities to their learners? I. e. keeping up to date in subject area, awareness of codes of conduct, preparing sessions, keep records etc. An awareness of how not doing this might affect your learners What is a teacher role? What are teachers’ contractual obligations? Understanding of IFL’s code of practice What are boundaries of what teachers can do and can’t do? I. e. ersonal boundaries with leaners, management demands, professionalism, deadlines etc.? The teaching/training cycle is a process, which identifies needs, planning, delivery, assessments and evaluation in each the responsibilities, role, and boundaries; all have an element of the training cycle, each works hand in hand, I am going to give a definition of each, and how each has an element of the training cycle. The responsibilities of a teacher to be a member of the institute of learning (ifl), have had carried out a CRB check, an understanding of organisational policies and procedures. Understanding issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. It’s a teacher duty to be a source of information regarding accessing grants and funding opportunities, and in full support and promotion of the programme they are teaching. Always making sure that the student/learner is on the right learning path, to be able to advise and give guidance, and referring to other organisations or agencies if the need arises. Or talk, to other professionals, on the behalf of their leaners. Keeping accurate records of everything that is agreed between them and the student. And being able to maintain confidentiality at all times. The role of a teacher is to always think of their learners as ‘all different but all equal’. (Kenny Fredrick’s George Green Annual Report 1997) To create a simulating environment for the leaner, offering an advancement of progress. To assess leaners either by oral or written testing, one to one or within a group learning, this also enables the teacher to plan the lessons, and preparing any teaching materials, and any differentiation that needs to be added to any scheme of work, to the level of their learners. The teacher has a duty of care to their learners and have the responsibility to follow the organisations polices and ethics, and to introduce to their learner to this information, a teacher should be in full support of the organisation, by attending meetings, complying to all administrative tasks such as schemes of marking, attendance records and maintaining records of learners progress, (of interviews, tutorials, assessments, exams etc. ) To act appropriately at all times. A teacher is to always evaluate themselves and their delivery of the subject. You will have professional boundaries within which to work and it’s important not to overstep these. ’ (Gravells, 2010: 11) As a teacher there are boundaries of course, because of working with people, people begin to think as you a friend and not just a teacher, boundaries should not be crossed, always make sure the student knows where he stands with you, ground rules are a must, always giving clear objectives and achievabl e aims. A teacher is to act professionally at all times, and maintain absolute confidentiality at all times. References Kenny Fredrick’s – George Green’s – Annual Report 1997 Gravells, 2010: 11

A History Of The World In Six Glasses

That includes not mixing beer with water. The Greeks always drank wine mixed with water to not become drunk so easily. They also did that to clean the water because wine contained natural antibacterial agents made during fermentation. 3. Describe what is meant by the following quote and provide evidence. â€Å"Wine was Wee Tit' â€Å"Wine was wealth† means that wine was an accurate representation of ones wealth and status. For example, property-owning classes in Athens were categorized based on their vineyard holdings. Also, wine made Greece and people rich. One of Grace's major exports included wine.Another example is that farmers could earn xx more cultivating vines opposed to growing grain. Finally, wine was portrayed on coins in Greece. 4. Describe the symposium a. What was it? The symposium was a formal drinking party in Greece. They were venues for playful but adversarial discussion. Having this reminded the Greeks on how civilized they were. B. How was it ritualistic? The symposium was ritualistic. One example of that was sometimes after the symposium was the Samos. It was a ritual where members of a drinking group (hetaeras) would go onto the streets to show how strong and tightly ended the group was. C.How did it illustrate Greek culture? The symposium illustrated Greek culture because it was a place where they could show off one's intelligence. This shows how Greeks regarded themselves as civilized and everyone else was not. It was also just a place where friends would go to hang out and drink. 5. To what extent was the symposium a suitable venue for getting at the truth? Explain Wine makes people less conscious and aware of surroundings. This means that people will more likely speak the truth because many times people will lie to not get in trouble. The Greeks knew this and therefore many debates happened while they were drinking wine. . Compare and Contrast the use of wine in Greece and Rome. (Provide any combination of three similarities an d differences) The use of wine in Greece and Rome were similar in some ways. First, wine was an important part of life for both people; it was a universal staple drink. They both believed in drinking wine in a civilized manner. Both included mixing wine with water. Also, wine was a factor in determining wealth. The rich in both places drank wine that was very limited. The final similarity in the SE of wine shared by Greece and Rome was where they drank it.Although the Symposium (Greece) and the Conniving (Rome) were different in the specifics that went on, they were both places where people went to hang out and drink some wine. The use of wine in Greece and Rome were different in some ways. For example, in Greece wine was a luxury. However, in Rome it was a necessity. The way Romans differentiated the rich and the poor was by the content of their goblets and their ability to name fine wines. The ability to name fine wines showed that they were able to afford those wines. Finally, th e Karate, which was a large vase used to mix water and wine, was rarely used in Rome.The Karate was used often during Greek symposiums. The man in Rome would mix it himself So the need for the Karate was unnecessary. 7. How was wine associated with Christianity? Provide evidence. Wine was associated with Christianity for a few reasons. First of all, a Roman soldier offered Jesus Christ a sponge dipped in wine during his crucifixion. Also according to the bible, Chrism's first miracle was the transformation of 6 jars of water into wine. Christ also offered wine to his disciples at the last upper, which led to the role of wine in Eucharist.Eucharist was a Christian ritual where bread & wine symbolizes Jesus Chrism's body and blood. 8. Explain and analyze change and continuity in the use Of wine from the classical Mediterranean world to today. Even today, there is still much continuity in the use of wine from the classical Mediterranean world. One example is that wine contain uses to b e regarded as vote most civilized drink. The symposium and conniving has now evolved into the modern suburban dinner party. A similarity in what goes on in a symposium and a modern dinner party sis they both fuel intelligent concussion.This includes science, politics, math etc. Even now, the host chooses the wine and how expensive it is due to the importance of the occasion and social standing. There are some changes in the use of wine from the classical Mediterranean world to today. Countries that drink the most wine in the world would have been regarded as barbarians by Greece and Rome. These countries include Germany, Austria, and Belgium etc. Another change is the accessibility of wine. Wine is extremely abundant nowadays and today every one of every social standing can easily obtain wine.

buy custom Asthma Guideline essay

buy custom Asthma Guideline essay Asthma refers to a disorder that causes the airways of the lungs to narrow because of swelling, which leads to shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness, use of accessory muscle, and wheezing (Clark, 2011). The walls of the airways become extremely sensitive and, thus, they may react strongly to those substances the victim finds irritating. Inflammations of the airways occur after the allergic reactions. The airways may become narrow to the extent of developing difficulties with breathing, especially at night or early in the morning, because of low temperatures (Levy Weller, 2006). When the feelings become worse than normal, the victims experience an asthma attack, which can lead to death, because the vital organs may fail to function due to insufficient oxygen supply (Clark, 2011). This paper will consider the causes, symptoms, epidemiology and treatment of asthma. Causes of Asthma The cause of asthma is not apparent, but there is evidence that a number of factors may play a part (Clark, 2011). They include genetic factors, environmental factors, dietary changes, lack of exercise, and occupational exposure. However, the causes of asthma vary from an individual to another. Research has shown that many victims of asthma inherit the disorder from their parents. Many asthmatics also possess other allergic conditions like rhinitis, which is the inflammation of the nose lining (Clark, 2011). A number of children in hygienic Western nations tend to develop astha because they lack exposure to bacterial infections that induce the immune system early in life (Levy Weller, 2006). Earlier exposure to bacterial infections may be significant in directing the immune system away from allergic reactions. Such children grow up in well-furnished, carpeted, warm homes that do not allow sufficient ventilation, which accelerates the breeding of house dust mites in carpets, furnishings, and beddings. When children spend most of their time indoors, they may develop dust mite sensitization (Crockett, A. 2003). Other environmental factors include exposure to tobacco smoke, especially in early childhood or during pregnancy (Levy Weller, 2006). Changes in diet, such as a higher salt intake, high proportions of processed foods, lack of fresh oily fish, and lower antioxidant intake may put individuals at a risk of developing asthmatic symptoms (Clark, 2011). Reduced exercises may also lead to asthma because the muscles in the airway walls tend to undergo abnormal contraction due to exposure to minor irritants (Levy Weller, 2006). Many adults develop asthma because of occupational exposure. The irritants in the workplace may include dusts, chemicals, pollens, and moulds, which individuals can encounter in industries such as farming, woodworking, baking, spray painting of cars, and chemical production (Clark, 2011). Symptoms of Asthma The common symptoms that asthmatics develop include shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness, use of accessory muscle, andd wheezing (Clark, 2011). These symptoms are usually serious in the early morning and at night, or in response to cold air and exercises. Some asthmatics rarely experience serious symptoms of asthma, whereas others may have pronounced continued airflow obstruction (Levy Weller, 2006). Epidemiology of Asthma Research has shown that in childhood, asthma commonly affects male children younger than five years of age (Clark, 2011). Incidences of asthma among individuals during adulthood do not depend on sex. The preference of asthma appears to differ by socioeconomic status and between certain races. For instance, the prevalence of asthma is greater in African Americans than it is in Caucasians, but this is not significant (Clark, 2011). Individuals living below poverty level tend to experience more asthma as compared to those individuals living above this level (Clark, 2011). Treatment of Asthma The main treatments for asthma include preventers and relievers (Levy Weller, 2006). This is due to the fact that asthma is incurable. These treatments can either be long-term medications or quick-relief. Quick-relief medications are useful in reversing the acute asthma by relaxing the bronchial smooth muscle. The long-term medications enable asthmatics to maintain control of persistent symptoms. Asthmatics inhale the medication through the mouth, directly into the lungs (Levy Weller, 2006). Buy custom Asthma Guideline essay