Friday, May 31, 2019

FDA Evaluation of Medication Essay -- essays research papers

FDA Evaluation of MedicationIntroductionThe main nubble within the FDA for the evaluation of medication is known as the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The center evaluates all drugs before they be sold. It currently evaluates more than 10,000 drugs that be on the market to ensure that highest standards of those drugs. They also monitor media broadcasts to make sure that messages portrayed are truthful to consumers. Lastly, they provide health care professionals as considerably as consumers information pertaining safest and most effective ship canal to use drugs. There are three phases that the CDER uses when evaluating drug.The premiere phase pertains to the initial investigation of a new human drug. These studies are monitored very closely and are sometimes conducted in patients, and are usually conducted most frequently with healthy volunteers. They are designed to determine the metabolic and pharmacological reactions of the drug in humans, and possible side effect uate of the drug in proportion to dosage. Another reason for this phase is to gain some preliminary evidence on the effectiveness of the drug. During this phase of the research, there should be significant knowledge obtained with regard to the effects of the drug in order to have a plump for phase that is valid and more in depth. The first phase of study also evaluates the way the drug metabolizes and the potential of activity to affect the performance of the drug. When doing a phase one study of a drug, the snatch of subjects varies significantly. However, in most phase one studies the number of subjects participating in the study range from twenty to eighty. In the first phase of studies on a drug, the CDER can place a hold on the study for many reasons. Some of the reason may include safety reasons or ethical reasons pertaining to the subjects.The second phase includes the early controlled clinical studies conducted to obtain some preliminary data on the effectiveness of the dr ug for a particular indication or indications in patients with the disease or condition. This phase of testing also helps determine the common short-term side effects and risks associated with the drug. Phase two studies often the most well controlled, closely monitored, and conducted in a relatively small number of patients, usually involving several hundred people.The third phase of drug research is much expanded... ...s reason through the rulemaking process as followsCategory I - broadly recognized as safe and effective and not misbranded. Category II - not generally recognized as safe and effective or is misbranded. Category III - insufficient data available to permit classification. This category allows a manufacturer an probability to show that the ingredients in a product are effective, and, if they are not, to reformulate or appropriately re-label the product. CDER also oversees unlisted drug labeling because the safety and effectiveness of OTC drug products depend not only on the ingredients but also on clear and truthful labeling that can be understood by consumers. The CDER is ceaselessly responsible to inform the producer why the product did not meet the standards set forth by the FDA. If the producer questions or disagrees with the results of the CDER, there are ways in which to approach the issue to have it evaluated further. While the CDER is the final authority on whether or not a product is marketed, they are fair in their evaluation and decisions with regard to products.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Defying the Disney Image: The Testimony of Walt Disney Essay -- House

Walt Disney was born in 1890 to a woman named Seora Isabelle Zamora. His father, Elias, met Isabelle in California of that same year and the two carried on an affair that ended with the birth of Walt. Later, Elias brought the two back to Chicago, Illinois where Isabelle became a housekeeper for the Disney family. Walt was assimilated into the Disney household and treated as the biologic son of Elias and Flora Disney. Isabelle was with the family for years, being passed on from the Elias and Flora household to the Walt and Lillian family years later (Eliot 152-157). This account of Walt Disneys birth poses many questions about myths, legends, and rumours that encircled the action of the man behind the mouse. Biographies and documentaries attempt to give accurate chronicles of his life and delve into the mind of this genius. Even people who make a career of perusal the mans life can only make theories about his actions from oral descriptions given by those who knew Di sney personally. However, On Friday, October 24, 1947, Walt Disney testified in front of the House unpatriotic Activities Committee (HUAC) and left his legacy on record for the entire world. While the testimony was documented and cannot be questi one and only(a)d, Disneys motives for testifying, impact it had on his animated features, and how the ordeal affected his image are issues that are still scrutinised and debated. The strike of 1941 at the Disney Studios was one of the prime purposes for Disneys testimony in front of HUAC years later. The caper is that historians cannot agree on the exact specifics of the strike. Leonard Mosley and Marc Eliot are two biographers who have both written versions of Disneys life. The two biographies a... ... the animated feature film and brought entertainment to family audiences during the enceinte Depression and WWII, a dark time when American morale was low. This created an image of Disney that could never be ruined and to this day he still remains one of the most highly respected men in Hollywood. It is not common knowledge that Disney even played a part in the HUAC hearings, as it has been gigantic forgotten in the chaos of honours he has achieved. Leonard Mosley, an acclaimed historian, even left his cowardly testimony out of the biography. However, Disneys testimony is documented and will incessantly be available to critics searching for the truth about the man Disney really was. Works Cited Eliot, Marc. Walt Disney Hollywoods Dark Prince. Great Britain Andre Deutsch Limited, 1994.Mosley, Leonard. Disneys World. Lanham, MD Scarborough Press, 1985.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Coming Of Age In Mississippi Essay -- Anne Moody

Coming of Age in Mississippi is an eye-opening testimony to the racism that exemplified what it was standardised to be an African American living in the south before and after the civil rights movements in the 50s and 60s. African Americans had been given voting and citizen rights, but did not and to a certain(a) degree, still can not enjoy these rights. The southern economy that Anne Moody was born into in the 40s was one that was governed and ruled by a bunch of unobjectionables, umteen of which who very prejudice. This caused for a very hard up bringing for a youthful African American girl. Coming of Age in Mississippi broadened view of what it was like for African Americans to live during the 40s, 50, and 60s. There are many traces of slavery throughout this book. I think that one of the biggest examples is in the first pages of the book describing where she lives and what her parents do. She lived on a plantation with her parents in a two room wooden shack. Their hou se was on the top of the hill along with the Carters plantation. The other blacks that worked there alone lived at the bottom of the hill. Her parents were farmers for Mr. Cater, and grew corn and cotton. Another example of slavery is when Ann is beaten by her father for something that she did not even do. I think this is kind of like when slaves got beaten for things that they could not help such as getting tired or not working fast enough. Another instance is when Anne goes to the movies with two of her white neighbors and she has to sit in a different place than them. This does not exactly show slavery but it says that white people are better. Religion was a major role in the life of Anne Moody. It kind of just helped her get away for a little bit. I ... ... that at this point she realized how untoughened the men re eithery were.Coming of Age in Mississippi was a very eye-opening and detailed biography that detailed the harsh life of a young African American girl in t he south. I really enjoyed reading this book because it opened my eyes to what it was like to be an African American in the south on top of being a woman. I also think that this book is very important to many of todays and yesterdays African Americans because it basically outlines all of the harsh struggles that the African American people had to go through to get to where they are today. I also think that this book could be used as a guiding tool, not to just blacks but whites too, to people who are lost and feel as if they serve no purpose in the world. As one can tell from reading this book, even the smallest or meaningless person can make a difference.

Survival of the Thinnest :: Health Diet Weight Papers

Survival of the ThinnestIt all started with Eve. All she wanted to do was eat an apple and what happens? She gets kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Its such a shame that the world viewed Eves sin as losing grace. To make matters worse, during the Renaissance the word grace described beautiful women.i Along came graceful Barbie the archetype beautiful woman. She gave all the little girls (and boys) something to dream about. Fast forward to the present. Images of perfection fill television, magazines, and even advertisements. Images that force average young adults, who make up the majority, to indecision the way they look. Does this make me look fat? I could spare to loose a few pounds, 50 if Im lucky? Such thoughts take on the minds of millions. And its not just the girls remember Adam got kicked out too. Plus what little girl didnt think, Kens so dreamy? perpetually since the dawn of time, it seems society has punished those who just want to eat. Kudos to society for consequently spawning the emaciation fad. So we need a drastic solution in order to reverse humanitys negative body image crimes. Studies show there is alarming trend in extreme thinness ascribable to starvation amongst high school to college students. In schools around America, teens are obsessing over perfecting their physical bodies. Students are dropping their books in the hopes of dropping something else- pounds. To be a set about of the In Crowd they have to look the part right? In a study done by Denise Sloan, female college student participants from Florida and Pennsylvania finish a series of eating disorder questionnaires. Then the researchers measured and compared the girls body masses. The results? Brace yourselves folks, because what we are about to reveal is striking. Girls in cranker climates are at to a greater extent risk when it comes to developing eating disorders. They also weigh less than girls who live in colder climates. Compare this to animals, where animals who live in colder climate need more body mass to keep warm. Who would have ever thought? The surveys also revealed that Florida girls care more about body image than Pennsylvania girls. So, Sloan concluded that, The greater distortion of body image may result from the need to wear more revealing clothing. In other words, body image anxiety increases during warm weather. Of course, since we all have to fit into that bathing suit.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

The History of Thanksgiving :: essays research papers

THANKSGIVING The purpose of Thanks boastful in Canada is different from the Americans. But even though the reasons for giving thanks are different, many of the customs are the same. Canadian Thanksgiving was originally started to result thanks to God for a bountiful harvest. This was when there were often of farmers that grew crops. Now we give thanks for everything we appreciate. Some farming families still give thanks for a good crop. Harvest celebrations have been around a wide time. Ever since the very first harvest, about 2000 years ago, people have given thanks for a prosperous bounty. The first formal Thanksgiving was in the year 1578. A man named Martin Frobisher had given thanks for surviving his journey from England. He also gave thanks for a place that is now called Newfoundland.The celebration at Thanksgiving was also brought to Nova Scotia when Americans began to settle there. At the same time French settlers were arriving and were also having feasts of thanks. In 18 79, Canadian parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. The date of Thanksgiving has changed several times until January 31st, 1957, when parliament proclaimed that the second Monday in October be a day of universal Thanksgiving to the Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.A big part of Thanksgiving is a Thanksgiving feast. The feast usually consists of potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, peas, gravy, stuffing, salads, freighter and lots of other great food. The main part of the feast is usually the turkey. Other families might have ham, roast beef, duck or chicken. The dessert that is to the highest degree likely to follow the feast is pumpkin pie. Other people may choose different desserts and food depending on their customs and beliefs for which they choose to give thanks. allows not forget the biggest and most important reason for this holiday giving THANKS People usually give thanks for everything they hav e. Their jobs, health, families or bonnie being alive are just a few of the things that people give thanks for. Thanksgiving is a time when people can spend a penny their own customs and traditions because everyone is thankful for different things. The cornucopia has become a traditional symbol of this holiday because it is commonly shown filled with grain, vegetables and fruit, the staple food that settlers would give thanks for.During Thanksgiving, my family spends time together and we have fun.

The History of Thanksgiving :: essays research papers

THANKSGIVING The purpose of grace of God in Canada is different from the Americans. But even though the reasons for giving thank atomic number 18 different, many of the customs are the akin. Canadian Thanksgiving was originally started to give thanks to God for a bountiful harvest-home. This was when there were lots of farmers that grew crops. Now we give thanks for everything we appreciate. Some body politic families still give thanks for a good crop. Harvest celebrations have been around a long time. Ever since the very first harvest, about 2000 days ago, people have given thanks for a prosperous bounty. The first formal Thanksgiving was in the year 1578. A man named Martin Frobisher had given thanks for surviving his journey from England. He also gave thanks for a place that is now called Newfoundland.The celebration at Thanksgiving was also brought to Nova Scotia when Americans began to settle there. At the same time French settlers were arriving and were also having feast s of thanks. In 1879, Canadian parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. The date of Thanksgiving has changed several times until January 31st, 1957, when parliament proclaimed that the second Monday in October be a day of general Thanksgiving to the Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.A big discontinue of Thanksgiving is a Thanksgiving feast. The feast usually consists of potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, peas, gravy, stuffing, salads, buns and lots of other great food. The main part of the feast is usually the turkey. former(a) families might have ham, roast beef, duck or chicken. The dessert that is most likely to follow the feast is pumpkin pie. Other people may choose different desserts and food depending on their customs and beliefs for which they choose to give thanks. Lets not forget the biggest and most burning(prenominal) reason for this holiday giving THANKS People usually give thanks for everythi ng they have. Their jobs, health, families or just being alive are just a few of the things that people give thanks for. Thanksgiving is a time when people can create their own customs and traditions because everyone is thankful for different things. The cornucopia has become a traditional symbol of this holiday because it is commonly shown filled with grain, vegetables and fruit, the staple food that settlers would give thanks for.During Thanksgiving, my family spends time together and we have fun.

Monday, May 27, 2019

Properties of Gases Essay

IntroductionBackgroundThis report covers Properties of Gases and leave allow me the opportunity to explore chemical and physical properties of gases. Collection and delectation of these gases will excessively be conducted in this lab.Statement ofProblemCollecting gases is a difficult process. Singling out a gas and obtaining only that gas is the challenge we nervus in this experiment.Purpose ofExperimentThe purpose of this experiment is use water, chemicals and metals along with collection tubes to extract a single gas and to store it. Then to use only that gas and see how it responds to other testing.HypothesisIf the gases are correctly singled out and collected properly. We should be able to observe changes when the gases are introduced to heat or fire.ExperimentTest tubes will be used to single out gases from two forms of metals along with an acid and hydrogen peroxide. Baking soda, vinegar, alka seltzer, bromthymol blue and limewater will also be used to observe the propertie s of gases.Data ChartsPage 2LabPaq Properties of gasesGeneral ChemistryAnalysisError andTrendsWhen attempting to mix the Hydrogen and Oxygen together. I whitethorn have lost a small amount of hydrogen as I lifted the bulb filled with 2/3 hydrogen from the 24-well plate. I did not receive a reaction when I squeezed the bulb of hydrogen oxygen onto the flame.HypothesisConclusionIt was challenging using my thumb to try and block the gases in their pipet bulbs. I repeated a few of the experiments to make sure I received the same results and feel fairly confident that I obtained the results that were expected.PracticalApplicationsParts of this experiment used household items to collect data from. Learning the gas properties these household items contain is invaluable.Page 3

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Behaviorist BF Skinner

sortist BF Skinners work with look analysis which take him to stop his theory surrounding operative conditioning methods have had a profound impact on todays educational system as it led him to research the method of political platformmed instruction its use in contemporary education has shaped the minds of countless students and offered an alternative method of teaching through its concept of nerve-racking to achieve errorless agreeing through swift feedback. BF Skinner, the ren experienceed psychologist was known for his controversial scientific approach to human way.(Pierce & Cheney, 2003, p.9) The 1938 publication The Behavior of Organisms An Experimental summary became Skinners first of altogether professional work and contained almost 400 pages of the behaviorists research. It has since been described as a significant volume in the history of the twentieth-century psychology. (Todd & Morris, 1995, p. 7) He wrote a number of books and essays focusing on his philosop hy of behaviorism however two of the most not open are Science and Behavior and Verbal Behavior. (Todd & Morris, 1995, p. xxi)His theories offered a contemporary definition to the study of behavior and were not well received by his peers. Skinner proposed a natural-science approach to human behavior (Pierce & Cheney, 2004, p. 9) and this contradicted other accepted theories. He believed that the behavior of an organism was determined and a result of genetic and environmental factors. His hypothesis alleged that behavior caused emotions and described them as additional activities of people that needed to be explained. (Pierce & Cheney, 2004, p.9)The opposition believed that human behavior was a product of self-determination a result of our feelings, thoughts and intentions. Skinners achievements were never-failing however hes most noted for his work with experimental behavior analysis, where he developed the theory surrounding Operant behavior. His theory consisted of operant cond itioning or learning by consequences as its major concept. As he was not the first to approach the subject of operant conditioning, he label his philosophy, radical behaviorism to separate him from the others who had approached the same topic.(Pierce & Cheney, 2004, p. 9) His analysis of behavior brought him to the conclusion that behavior was influenced by the environment and organisms responded in two fashions emotional response and by the involuntary response of the nervous system. In order to change an organisms behavior there must be a new stimulant drug introduced to the surrounding environment that influenced both areas of human nature. Operant behavior was learned via a series of reenforcements to strengthen the new response. (Staats, 1996, p. 40-41)Skinners approach was to offer reinforcer when the organism displayed the defined behavior over a period of time and on a number of occasions the process of operant conditioning. His theory verbalize that in order to curb the appropriate response the conditioning process must determine the strength of response. (Staats, 1996, p. 58) Though many of his peers advocated punishment as a deterrent to unwanted behavior Skinner did not agree. His negative response consisted of the simple process of deprivation. (Staats, 1996, p. 58) Through a series of animal experiments, Skinner move to validate his theory.The Skinner Box was his primary tool for his study of operational conditioning. He designed various versions of the tool to accommodate various species for example, pigeons could peck to obtain the reinforcement and a rat could not. If the animal performed the desired behavior, a confirmative reinforcement was automatically provided, if not it was withheld. The box allowed him to study operant conditioning and the contingencies of reinforcement. (Leonard, 2002, p. 98) In the 1950s Skinners behavior analysis research began to focus on teaching machines.In the 1958 oblige titled Teaching Machines Fro m the Experimental Study of education Comes Devices Which Arrange Optimal Conditions for Self-Instruction, Skinner stated that the motivation to obtain much education existed and in order to meet that demand we needed to do more than continue to build more schools and train more teachers. He believed that Education must become more efficient. (Skinner, 1958, p. 969) He created teaching devices that arranged specific contingencies of reinforcement that rewarded specific forms of behavior. (Skinner, 1958, p. 970)Once the desired behavior was exerted Skinner was convinced that the resulting behavior can be maintained in strength for long periods of time. (Skinner, 1958, p. 970) Later in the article he addressed specific subjects, Teaching spelling is mainly a process of shaping complex forms of behavior. In other subjects-for example, arithmetic- responses must be brought beneath the control of appropriate stimuli. (Skinner, 1958, p. 970) Skinners programmed instruction consists of three phases1) Small steps obtain small information in a step-by-step fashion.2) unmistakcapable responding provide a clear response to generate reinforcement.3) Self-pacing working through programmed activity at his or her own pace. (Leonard, 2002, p. 90)In 1958 Skinner incorporated his reinforcement methods into the first class of programmed instruction. (Lysaught & Williams, 1963, p. 10) In a speech titled Psychology in the year 2000 given in 1968 to the Department of Psychology of Wayne University, he not sole(prenominal) expressed his opinion of the school system prior to his studies, he addressed what he believed to be the future of Americas schools.He believed that prior to his research that educational psychology was primarily a matter of measurement. Mental tests dominated the field. Teaching was generally left to common sense. (Skinner, 2004, p. 210) He felt that the students studied because he feared the consequences of not studying. (Skinner, 2004, p. 210) He went on to conclude that students slow recognition was a result of teachers inappropriate approach to teaching. (Skinner, 2004, p. 210)He felt that, A good program is simply a reorganization of what is to be learned in such a way that the student is maximally reinforced for learning it in positive ways rather than as a means of escape from undesirable consequences. (Skinner, 2004, p. 210) Though primitive at the time of inception, over the years and combined with new technology our students are benefiting from his methods by way of computer-based teaching. Programs have been developed to teach spelling, reading, math, and a number of other subjects, as well as colleges and Universities offer certain Internet-based courses.The program models vary some programs will not allow the student to advance without giving the appropriate response, others will offer more information to doorkeeper students to the appropriate response and universities are creating virtual classrooms that stud ents have access to tools that perform a variety of functions. Though the approach has received mixed feedback, teachers are able to provide more of a one-on-one teaching, as well as further the efficiency of classroom procedure and in the case of universities, students are able to enjoy the convenience of online courses. (Programmed Instruction, 2004)In conclusion, Skinners controversial approach to psychology changed the approach to behavior modification and his methods have shaped the educational setting. Student behavior has improved as positive reinforcement is applied to the learning process builds confidence and a willingness to comply. Students of all ages are able to progress at their own pace, which provides and individualized education plan. College students report that they are able to attend college courses and maintain full time employment due to the convenience of online schooling.Skinners over all concern for providing an environment to influence behavior combined wi th technology creates a setting that is unique to each student and he or she can learn at a pace appropriate for the individual.ReferencesPierce, W. D. , & Cheney, C. D. (2003). Behavior Analysis and Learning. Mawwah, New Jersey Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Skinner, B. F. (1958). Teaching Machines From the experimental study of learning come devices which arrange optimal conditions for self-instruction. Science, 128, 969 977.Skinner, B. F. (2004). PSYCHOLOGY IN THE YEAR 2000 Harvard University. JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR, 81, 207 213.Programmed Instruction. (2004). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed. ). New York Columbia University Press. Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database http//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=101265989.Leonard, D. C. (2002). Learning Theories, A to Z. Westport, CT Oryx Press. Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database http//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=101313032Lysaught, J. P. , & Williams, C. A. (1963). A Guid e to Programmed Instruction. New York Wiley. Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database http//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=14538707.Pierce, W. D. , & Cheney, C. D. (2004). Behavior Analysis and Learning. Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database http//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=104826262.Skinner, B. F. (2003). Chapter 14 Radical Behaviorism. In An Introduction to Theories of Personality (pp. 311-339).Mahwah, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database http//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=104786837.Staats, A. W. (1996). Behavior and Personality Psychological Behaviorism. New York Springer. Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database http//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=101935859.Todd, J. T. & Morris, E. K. (Eds. ). (1995). Modern Perspectives on B. F. Skinner and Contemporary Behaviorism. Westport, CT Greenwood Press. Retrieved December 30, 2006, from Questia database h ttp//www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=24397049.

Saturday, May 25, 2019

French and Indian War Essay

The French and Indian war has altered the relationship between Britain and its American colonies in some ways. The three main ways their relationship had been altered were politically, ideologically and economically. After the French and Indian War the British passed a series of laws and taxes that the settler didnt agree with. As a result of these laws and taxes being passed the colonist began to rebel a improverst British rule. This rebellion would counterbalancetually lead to the Revolutionary War which would allow Americans to gain independence.Ideology is the combination of ideas that affects goals, actions or expectations. After the French and Indian war American ideology greatly alterd. Before and during the war Britain had a lot of certify from the American colonies. This is shown through put down B as George Washington a typical colonist at the time was willing to support Britain in the war. As the war continued the ideals that the colonist lived by began to change. The colonist started to feel that Britain wasnt doing enough to help them out. This is seen in document D, where colonist began to feel that they were debarred denied English liberties even though they were English citizens. This causes the British to begin to lose the support of the American colonist.Economics is the effects of money on a country. At this point in time the colonies were still under control of British rule and their money went mostly to the British government. During the war Britain went into debt and expected the colonist to repay the debt. Britain would make the colonist pay through taxes like the stamp act. The colonist strongly voiced their opinion on the stamp act even though they remained loyal to the British government, as seen in documents G and H. Although the colonists were against the taxes forced on them the British government continued to find different ways to raise taxes against them, as shown in document F.The French and Indian war was greatly influence d by political involvement. All of the groups involved felt they had rights to conglutination American state of matter. The first of these groups that felt that they should control the land were the Native Americans this is shown through document B as a native chief arguedthe natives rights to the land. After the war the British had overwhelming control over North America as shown in document A. Even though the war was over there were still conflicts west of the Appalachian Mountains that led to the proclamation of 1763 which ban the colonist to settle on the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonist did not support this they felt they deserved it after they helped defeat the French and Indians in the French and Indian war. This is shown in document E.During and after the French and Indian war ideological, political and economic views between the colonist and the British would greatly change. This change would eventually cause the colonist to rebel against British laws and taxes. The British would try to take control of the colonist and to make sure the colonist listened Britain passed the intolerable acts. This brought more anger among the colonist and would eventually lead to the revolutionary war only 12 years after the French and Indian war ended.

Friday, May 24, 2019

What Is the Difference Between Being Educated and Being Trained?

This Months Q&A Technology Tips What is the difference between being educated and being trained? What is so important rough education? The difference is huge, and education is hugely important. TRiO is every(prenominal) about setting the foundation to get the best education you can get. Let us realize at just a couple of points. One obvious point is that education is the door to opportunity. It is said that success happens at the inter member of education and opportunity. A person who has credentials (i. e. a college degree) is able to seize the moment whenever an opportunity presents itself.This actually allows additional opportunities to flourish. Furthermore, with a degree, all sorts of opportunities somehow engender available. The world perceives an educated person as being complete therefore, he or she is exitn as much more likely to be a trusty employee or partner in any given endeavor. Two Education informs everything else a person does in heart. The quality of the wor k of an educated person ever so gets noticed. That person is thus much more likely to get ahead in all aspects of life and c arer.Take for example a painter or a poet, two professions normally not thought of as being tied to college degrees. Many people can draw or paint, and many like to comport deep thoughts through poetry. Without an education, an artist will not be able to achieve the credibility of any piece proclaiming to represent certain political, or historical, or philosophical truths. Such an artist will likely not achieve much respect or success stock-still if his work shows talent. America is the take down of opportunity, but you nurture to seize that opportunity.TRiO, too, is a program of educational opportunity in education, but you have to embrace the TRiO mission and your dreams. You can be trained at any number of skills like doing hair, and that will earn you a aliment, but you should want more. Make it your everyday resolution that you will be an educated p erson no matter what it takes, and then seize every opportunity to be that student. The best way to win is to subtlety what you start. Winners start a project and then keep working until the task is completed, even if the task becomes difficult.They start, they work, they ac experience mistakes and celebrate small victories, and they finish. When you think about it, getting to the finish dividing line is the only thing that really counts. It is not possible to get anywhere if we consistently allow every obstacle that presents itself to allow us to fail to finish what we start. A half-hearted effort rarely paves the way to the winners circle. When a winner starts a project, he or she sees it through to completion. Hello students I am Rubina Khan, and I am delighted to be your new College Success Coordinator.I shall be reaching out to all students to offer my best support and encouragement so each one of you are able to stay in school and earn your degrees. TRIO is a simple and dire ct road map for brook success. Houston Community College, plays an essential role in transforming the lives of its students and making our community work. It is a fact that with TRIO programs, students are given the resources, preparation, and support to succeed both professionally and personally in their academic goals. Earning a college degree is a challenge, but it doesnt have to be a struggle.I am here to equip all of you to overcome any challenges and obstacles of an academic or social-that may pull you off the path to graduation. As the famous saying of Benjamin Franklin goes An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. When students pursue and experience a post- secondary education, they have the opportunity to read books and listen to the lectures of top experts in their fields. College graduates definitely have an edge in the job market over those who have not experienced a higher education. Without doubt, a higher education serves as the access for better op tions in life.I congratulate all students who are pursuing their goals to become graduates and anticipate them being rewarded for all their dedication and hard work. My best wishes to all students. Rumi, the Sufi Poet of love and the great Persian Philosopher and Mystic, said, Let the beauty you love be what you do, so when you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. I deal everyone has a purpose in life and finding out what that purpose is one of the greatest achievements because only then can you truly start living your own life and achieve the inner peace.As a member of the TRiO Program whos enjoy working as a science tutor, I have some tips for my TRiO students to stay motivated in college, school, life, etc. I have studied and enjoyed various cultures and schools of thought, and I have always comprehended the cultured and intelligent ones. Many years ago, it became evident to me that not only did I find what was important in my life, but also what pu rpose my life holds. Then, I became mastered the mind over matter philosophy and decided to explore more of the world. Its a breath of fresh air to see people like myself achieving the dream In the Land Of Free, and it is a great comforting.I believe that remaining motivated and focused are two of the most mighty assets to have, especially for one in school such as me. It would be naive to say that dental school is a complete breeze and that every step along the way poses no difficulty. As a student I would like to share what I feel keeps me most focused, determined, and motivated. I am a firm believer that if you have something to live for, such as purpose, desire, or a lifetime dream, your motivation and determination will invariably make new doors for you.So if there is one thing I want to share with all my TRiO students today, it is find your purpose, your desire, your dream and move forward. Dont look back. Dont lose your focus. You can and will achieve what you set your mind on. Believe in yourself, and stand firmly for your beliefs. And remember that there are two great days in our life first the day we are born and the day we discover why. We chose the Phoenix as the name of this newssheet because of legendary bird is said to have had the power to rise out of ashes and live again.Symbolically student support service wants to be that force that makes you thrive even when you feel like a fallen Phoenix Houston Community College seeks to provide equal educational opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or disability. This policy extends to employment, admissions, and all programs and activities supported by the College. The information in this publication will be made available in large print, taped or computer-based format upon request

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Georges Trains A Conservative Approach

It will recommend areas of improvement to endure supremacy. Lastly, this paper revised conclusion on the overall capital budgeting analysis Of Georges Trains. Key lyric working capital, investing conservatively, pitfalls Working Capital Practices of Georges Trains Georges of Georges Trains started his business as a conservative investor. He understood and applied this practice properly as a low-risk, low-return strategy. As an investor, George understood the two definitions by which to invest conservatively.First, a conservative investment is one that carries the greatest likelihood of preserving the purchasing power of ones capital with the to the lowest degree amount of risk. Second, George knew what a conservative investment was, and then followed the course of action needed to properly determine whether particular investments are indeed conservative investments (Gad, 2014). George did non have the background as an entrepreneur so he needed to have a safety factor to be able t o weather grocery storms better than his competitors is.With this, he needs to have a low cost of production (Gad, 2014). When a bad year hits Georges Trains, the chance of still churning go forth a profit or reporting a smaller net loss is achievable. A company that cannot compete by staying abreast of market hanged and trends is blame in the end. George realized this and moved to expanding his product line outside of a one-man band trains Finally, management should possess financial skill (Gad, 2014). George relied on his slang and trending past years as well as utilizing the books from the previous owner.In doing this, George is able to maximize his return on investment capital, and other important components of business success (Gad, 2014). Beware Of Potential Pitfalls George realizes that model trains are seasonal. With that in mind, George orders inventory based on demand and utilizes past reports on trends. When business is slow, he decreases his inventory so he is not t ying up his capital. When he sells an item, he makes sure that the replacement is ordered before the shelf is empty. This ensure maximum cash run in his business.Managing working capital is the operational side of budgeting. When businesses put a budget together, they anticipate future cash flow and the timing of that cash flow. This cooking is critical, especially in small businesses and practices (Kelly, 2014). Another pitfall that George realized was The people Factor (Moody, 2014). He realized that in order to be successful he added to cultivate his loyal customers that used to come to his home business, as well as building a broader base.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Analysis of “Ave Maria”

Bethany Thompson Professor Breese English 266 3 February 2009 Analysis of Ave Maria Frank OHaras poem, Ave Maria, encourages overprotective mothers to let their children experience life. The poem begins with the command, Mothers of America / let your kids go to the movies He proposes a series of rationales for following this advice, including the conditional love of children who wont hate you if they are permitted to do what they want.The true reason behind this directive, however, is made clear in lines 13 16 they may even be satisfying to you / for their first internal experience / which only cost you a quarter / and didnt upset the peaceful home. The idea that a parent could provide a childs first sexual experience may be shocking to parents, but OHaras poem implies that by allowing them this experience, you open readied them for adulthood. Also, the word picture of sexuality macrocosm priced like popcorn, a quarter, is amusing its the pleasures of adulthood at quite a bar gain.OHara initially contrasts the peaceful home a room, a yard, mothers, and little tykes with the movie theatre, embossed by silvery images. He then contrasts the parents overprotective instruction with that of a pleasant stranger who offers the equivalent they volition know where candy bars come from and gratuitous bags of popcorn as gratuitous as leaving the movie before its over with a pleasant stranger whose byment is in the Heaven on Earth Bldg near the Williamsburg BridgeThese children will learn almost adulthood through gaining sexual knowledge. OHara paints a win / win situation. If nobody picks them up in the movies/ they wont know the difference / and if somebody does itll be sheer gravy. He suggests that if they dont get their first sexual experience, they will at least have seen a movie, instead of staying in their room hating you. OHara concludes his poetic admonition with a warning. He cautions mothers not to blame him if they dont take his advice and their f amilies fall apart.The connection between keeping kids home from the movies and families falling apart may seem far-fetched, but the movies are symbolizing all the things a child is forbidden to do. Too much restriction will push them away. The final image is that of children growing old and blind in front of a TV set watching the films they werent allowed to see when they were small. This gives the impression that no takings how much a mother tries to shelter her children, they will eventually do all the things that were forbidden them.There are several things that draw attention to the mothers, the first being the title of the poem. Perhaps it is an ironic statement on the imperfection of mothers in comparison to the Holy Mother. There are two lines that suggest the mothers might have ulterior motives for sending their children to the movies. Lines 3 and 4 suggest mothers get them out of the house so they wont know what / youre up to, which implies the mothers in addition have something to hide.These motives are not the main focus of the poem and are undisclosed by the author. We are left to guess what the mothers are really up to. In short, OHara recommends that parents let their children experience life on their own terms. Parents are told that preventing their children from making their own choices will cause resentment and leave the children fantasizing about the experiences they wish they had. A wise parent allows their children to grow into experienced adults by letting them to go out and explore, not coddling by them.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Dissertation on Career Planning

The study of c beer charter, passage reading programmes and trade gratification trains of R&D staff office the case of Taiwan Tser-Yieth Chen, Pao-Long Chang and Ching-Wen Yeh Abstract This study sets turn up to explore the relative feast amongst disembodied spirit history phylogenesis programmes and flight accepts, and its subsequent causal effect on line of descent delight directs among research and maturement (R&D) effect.The study reveals that R&D military unit micturate diverse c arr needfully at various peaks of their biography, and that antic delight takes among this group be curiously soak uped by the bedspread surrounded by course take and life story festering programmes depending upon which exemplify of their biography they have reached. It is besides clear, for R&D violence in special(a), that non only is the gap betwixt calling organic evolution programmes and biography require an important determinant of blood line sa tisfaction, but that in that location are considerably higher(prenominal) turnover levels among researchers in the high tech indus picture in Taiwan than the average level for industry as a whole.Thus, from a pragmatical perspective, it is of particular vastness to propose strong passage development programmes aimed at pleasurable the race necessitate of R&D force in modulate to improve the level of byplay satisfaction in this group. Keywords passage call for life history development programmes job satisfaction. Introduction It was highlighted in the empirical study by Garden (1990) that research and development (R&D) mortalnel demonstrated signifi rear endtly higher turnover levels than the general industry average progress more(prenominal), one of the findings of the study was that public life development opportunities were a key factor.Leavitt (1996) recognized that, even with come extinct of the closet purporting high salaries, those companies which adopted su itable move development programmes were capable of enhancing internal job satisfaction levels. In Scheins (1978) study, it was argued that calling development programmes help to raise productivity, creativity and long-term organizational effectiveness. Indeed, a truly effective locomote development programme for touch on dispense with staff to explore developmental opportunities according to their own abilities, leading to considerable personal satisfaction that their abilities are creation fully utilized at a personal level.Tser-Yieth Chen, Professor, Institute of focusing Science, Ming-chuan University, No. 250, Chung-shan North Road, Section 5, Taipei, 111, Taiwan, ROC (tel ? 886 2 2882 4564 ext. 2401 fax ? 886 2 2880 9764 e-mail emailprotected edu. tw). Pao-Long Chang, Professor, Department of Business Administration, Feng Chia University. Ching-Wen Yeh, Institute of focussing Science, Ming-chuan University. The International Journal of Human Re bloodline Management ISSN 0958-5192 print/ISSN 1466-4399 online q 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd http//www. tandf. co. k/journals DOI 10. 1080/0958519032000106182 1002 The International Journal of Human resourcefulness Management From an alternative perspective, life story development programmes can overly help to funk the very hearty costs that are directly incurred by means of high turnover levels eyepatch fortune to prevent the deterioration of staff capabilities as a whole. Throughout the process of an individuals ongoing life story development, personal development twines the choice of profession, the adoption of that choice and its subsequent implementation.Hence, personal take forget differ at assorted presents of a career and in response to changes in living circumstances, era the degree of importance and motivation assigned to such ineluctably impart to a fault change according to the person, the circumstances and the clip (Schein, 1980). It is clear, therefore, that individuals have unique need at various bes of their career, and, as such, organizations have to begin to appreciate the ineluctably of their staff at different career wooden legs, providing them with opportunities to satisfy their expectations and creating the optimal symbiosis among personal of necessity and organizational inclinations.In this way, an organization can succeed in enhancing job satisfaction levels and raising organizational bring to the highest degreeance. According to research by the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), Executive Yuan, ROC (2001), the administration in Taiwan has placed significant emphasis on the development of the islands high-tech industries, leading to continual growth in exports of electronic and telecommunications products.Therefore, under the governments official programme of cultivating high-tech industries, the effective recruitment and retention of go across managers and R&D passe-partouts has been recognized as a key issue. However, retention is a growing problem for human resources managers, legitimately in spite of appearance the high-tech industry, and curiously at the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP) where the incumbent high turnover of staff is a major concern (Ma, 1998). The lack of career development opportunities is one overriding factor in the high turnover of R&D personnel (Leavitt, 1996 Garden, 1990 Dalton et al. , 1986).Adequate career development programmes can help personnel to meet their career expectations, nurture their ideals and aspirations, and enhance independent R&D noesis. Personnel are thereby motivated to prepare themselves for the next career development opportunity, enhancing their productivity and increase job satisfaction. Hence, from a pragmatic perspective, it is of particular importance to propose effective career development programmes aimed at satisfying the career necessarily of R&D personnel in order to improve the level of job satisfac tion among this particular group. Literature review and hypothesis development public life ineluctably and career development programmes Research and development (R&D) activities are widely recognized as an important means of creating a sustainable competitive advantage in the worldwide marketplace indeed, expenditure on R&D activities is invariably utilize these days as a measure of an organizations attempts to stay forrader of the competition. As organizations become more dependent on technology, the ability to attract and retain competent R&D professionals becomes increasingly important, as does the pursuit of the effective circumspection of these highly valued employees (Aryee and Leong, 1991 Petroni, 2000).Arguably, therefore, great effort should be placed into satisfying the ineluctably of this particular group of professionals since they represent the organizations future tense potential competitive advantage, and, if organizations are to gain an savvy of the factors influencing the functioning and bat attitudes of these employees, then the design of an effective career precaution system capable of satisfying their career values and aspirations is Chen et al. calling take, career development programmes and job satisfaction1003 clearly an important element of their management (Aryee and Leong, 1991 Greenhaus and Callanan, 1994). within most organizations nowadays, but particularly those that are heavily involved in R&D activities, effective human resource management strategies are specifically targeted at fostering sophisticated and creative capabilities in four major directions human resource think, performance appraisal, reward systems and career management (Gupta and Singhal, 1993). Of these specific requirements, the need for appropriate career management systems for industrial researchers has been much debated in both industrial and academic circles (e. . Allen and Katz, 1986 Aryee and Leong, 1991 Bailyn, 1991 Tampoe, 1993). Discus sion of the findings of these scholars provides the starting point for the research reported in this paper. This study sets out to analyse the career needs and appropriate career development programmes for R&D professionals, since we recognize that there have been few studies which have focuse specifically on identifying the career needs of this particular group of employees during the different coiffures of their careers.In an exploratory attempt to develop this area of research, this study examines empirically the career needs of R&D personnel in Taiwan, hypothesizing that a causal kin exists among such career needs, at different career dots, and overall job satisfaction levels. Various needs of a personal nature bequeath change with each developmental stage of a persons career and, at given stages of their careers, in addition to clean-cutive mental needs, individuals lead have unique areer concerns, developmental jobs that need to be undertaken and personal challenges that bequeath need to be overcome (Schein, 1980 Cron, 1984). At certain career stages, each individual entrust undoubtedly have diverse career developmental duties and intents, depending upon the specific function that they perform (Schein, 1987), but we argue that, in Taiwan in particular, it is necessary to identify non only the career deaths of R&D professionals, but also the inherent value systems and needs structures of these employees (Kim and Cha, 2000).We believe that this research is of particular importance to Taiwan because we recognize that organizational development here has yet to move to a stage where employees feel sufficiently confident to voice these needs directly to line managers, and as such, there is still a significant lack of understanding of what it is that drives R&D professionals in Taiwan.Organizations everywhere have to be able to respond more efficaciously to the career development needs of all their employees because, through innovation, they ar e able to differentiate themselves from their competitors however, the knowledge capital necessary for such innovation resides with their employees, not with the organization itself (Hoon, 2000 Petroni, 2000).Although individuals are initially engaged by a lodge ostensibly to enrich the potential of the comp any, they nevertheless enter with their own distinctive career plans in mind, and, as such, can be attracted to a company, and retained within it, on the basis of whether or not the company adopts specific practices capable of satisfying their individual career needs (Chang, 1999).This implies that personal career attitudes can affect the overall attitudes of individuals towards a company, and we can extrapolate from this that any company which places effort into satisfying the personal career needs of individuals will in turn reduce its staff turnover levels. We believe, therefore, that it is important, indeed crucial, for companies to address the issue of individual career ne eds.As a result of employees changing attitudes towards their own careers, there is a need to focus attention on their perceptions of the career management practices offered by their organizations, with such perceptions arguably being more relevant to individual career outcomes than the actual career management practices themselves (Crabtree, 1999). 1004 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Organizations will have to begin to realize that career development programmes that are eminently suit to one particular group of R&D professionals may be inappropriate, or even irrelevant, to another group.We argue, therefore, that human resource managers must recognize that there are a number of diverse groups within the R&D profession, and hence the career development programmes that are developed for these employees must be elastic enough to accommodate this diversity. Our proposed concept is based on the following setting in line with the changes in roles and job content at different stages of their careers, the psychological needs of this particular group of employees will also change (Cron, 1984).What is watched as an appropriate adjustment will naturally vary according to the career development programmes adopted by different organizations, and they will therefore have varying levels of influence on the level of satisfaction that employees have with such programmes. Given the changes that will inevitably take place from a career start point and through the various career stages, along with the personnel maturation of an individual, various career needs will subsequently begin to emerge and pass on evolve.We contend that R&D personnel will inevitably encounter career planning problems at various stages of their careers and argue that their single career needs will come as a result of their own self-understanding, personal interests, values, professional roles and responsibilities and, moreover, the greater responsibilities that are a hallmark o f the particular stage of their career that they have reached.If we fail to consider the specific needs of R&D personnel at various career stages, then there is an increasing likelihood that the design of career development programmes will be inappropriate, and hence un in all probability to have the desire effect of attracting and retaining the most valuable R&D personnel. Thus, it would be clearly inappropriate for an organization to adopt the same programmes in the hope that they will effectively satisfy the needs of all R&D personnel at different stages of their careers, since it is also clear that different career development programmes will be necessary to meet these different career needs.Our study attempts to bridge the current gap by examining such career needs and the career development programmes before long being adopted to meet them. Based on the preceding discussion, we first of all examine the career needs of R&D personnel act the following hypothesis Hypothesis 1 R&D personnel have different perspectives on the nature of career needs, and of their conditional relation, at different stages of their careers.Within this study, career needs are mostly defined as the changing career tendencys, tasks and challenges that arise due to shifts in personal career stages. A career goal may be a particular landmark to be achieved during a career, which provides the necessary direction and motivation for advancement. The motivational goals involve the determination of the important career tasks to be completed and, during the implementation of these career tasks, opportunities are continually evaluated for future potential career development, bottlenecks or challenges.We propose that career goals will generally focus on existing career needs and the determination of the direction of an individuals current efforts, darn career tasks are more clever to those career needs that emerge in pursuit of the achievement of these overall career goals. We also c ontend that career challenges relate to the future career needs that arise from subsequent opportunities for career development.We examine these triple career needs dimensions at various stages of the careers of R&D personnel, and then consider suitable career development programmes capable of catering to such needs. Chen et al. biography needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1005 public life goal needs In the exploration stage of a researchers career, the central focus is on establishing a suitable professional field and, through self-assessment, gaining an understanding of their own interests and ability in that field.Thus, they will evaluate their own level of interest, and then seek information on the working(a) environment to determine the roles and responsibilities that an organization will want and allow them to take. Employees will generally wish to devote themselves to a particular field of interest, but will also wish to interact with their superior s and peers to satisfy their social tolerate needs (Hall, 1976).If career development programmes are to be effective at meeting the career goal needs of R&D personnel, we propose that at the exploration stage of their careers, these programmes should accommodate helping employees to understand their professional interests, providing appropriate job descriptions for each position, adequate support from their more have gotd colleagues and discussions amongst employees and superiors with regard to job content.During the establishment stage, employees are keen to experience success and the respect of their co-workers they are ambitious and industrious, eager to improve their knowledge and very open about their pursuit of professional goals. Since they will place significant value on their on-the-job performance and promotion, they will also be keen to keep pursue of their personal performance status, as well as external opportunities and threats, to determine their distinct competi tive advantage. Self-directed learning and external learning are also essential elements of career development at this stage.At the establishment stage of their careers, if such programmes are to continue to meet the career goal needs of R&D personnel, they should include the adoption of stand out assignments as a means of facilitating on-the-job training, supporting(a) personnel to participate in seminars where they can present their project findings and offering tuition fee assistance for continuing professional development. During the guardianship stage of their careers, the career concerns of R&D personnel are retention of their earlier accomplishments and re-evaluation of their career direction.At this stage, they should already have achieved a certain level of on-the-job status and will be keen to retain this status while re-evaluating their future career prospects, create on their earlier achievements and seeking out motivators to encourage even greater efforts. They shou ld also have gained a considerable level of knowledge, and have become rich in job experience, so they should be adequately qualified to direct others. Organizations should be looking to these R&D workers to take the less experienced ersonnel within their core team under their wing and thus help to consolidate the organization. In order to meet the career goal needs of R&D personnel at the fear stage, we suggest that appropriate career development programmes should include careful consideration of employees career paths within the organization, the possibility of offering dual-career programmes, which would enable personnel to select their own future career direction without jeopardizing their promotion prospects, and cultivating personnel to become professional consultants or change lecturers.Employees at the disengagement stage will be concerned only with successful completion of their career (Cron, 1984). We assert that, as R&D personnel come close to retirement, they place les s emphasis on their current job and focus instead on other roles, in order to adapt to increasing age and waning vigour. They will be hoping to round off their professional life and arranging activities with greater relevance to retirement.At the same time, their roles will be changing, from accepting and training themselves, to handing over the job, providing direction and consultation and passing on their experience to less experienced personnel. Their major hope at this stage will be to have 1006 The International Journal of Human Resource Management gained a reputation within their field, and their only real desire will be that their loyalty will be compensated admirably by a good pension package.They will have accumulated extensive experience and research knowledge, with a wealth of experience in research direction and counselling. In order to meet the career goal needs of R&D personnel at the disengagement stage, we suggest that appropriate career development programmes shoul d include establishing succession planning, the training of replacements, providing retirement planning and counselling and consideration of establishing honorary consultancy positions for those who merit such positions.Career task needs During the exploration stage, employees need continually to upgrade their skills and knowledge according to the requirements of the job and so gain a complete understanding of what is required of them thus career tasks involve obtaining the necessary knowledge to enable successful job performance.Employees must know how to perform a specific job, and how to create a meaningful link betwixt their own personal perspective and the overall output of the organization, ensuring that their personal job performance achieves the standards of goodness required to make an effective contribution to the company (Kerry, 1998). In order to meet the career task needs of R&D personnel at the exploration stage of their careers, appropriate career development progra mmes should include the provision of on-the-job training and implementation of professional development training.During the establishment stage, career development tasks will involve raising professional knowledge and the level of autonomy to boost job performance, creative development and innovative skills. R&D personnel can continue to develop their professional ability to innovate, to become more intellectually mature, gain wider job experience and become much more voluntary to take on additional responsibilities one of their greatest desires will be that their superiors will fully empower them, thus allowing them greater levels of autonomy.At the establishment stage of their careers, if such programmes are to continue to meet the career task needs of R&D personnel, they should include individual assignments involving periods of engagement in foreign training, the unveiling of job rotation in order expand fields of expertise and the provision of opportunities for job enrichment . During the criminal maintenance stage, an important personal task is to ensure that the antecedently established ground is retained (Super, 1984). A personal development task will be to seek out wider job and organizational perspectives while honouring current performance (Cron, 1984).Promotional opportunities will be limited, since a certain status will have already been achieved within the company and, thus, effort must be placed into their decision-planning and directive roles. During this phase, employees should be adopting parallel, cross-functional means to integrate their work and widening their professional horizons in order continually to make work more interesting. The more zealous R&D personnel within an organization, those not content with limited promotional prospects, ill attempt to extend their reach outside the company, extending their career channels and attempting to get over higher career peaks. In order to meet the career task needs of R&D personnel at the m aintenance stage of their careers, appropriate career development programmes should include setting up objective performance appraisals as a means of assessing overall management performance and future development, encouraging personnel to learn additional interpersonal skills, counselling skills and so on and assisting employees to jointly formulate a development plan that would involve more demanding roles.Chen et al. Career needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1007 During the disengagement stage, as retirement age nears and responsibilities begin to decline, most employees will choose to maintain acceptable levels of performance while preparing for retirement (Cron, 1984). An important developmental task at this stage is to maintain an acceptable level of performance while building a stronger sense of self-identity outside work and attempting to adjust schedules in order to shift time and energy towards other pursuits (such as family life, friendships, religi on and so on).In order to meet the career task needs of R&D personnel at the disengagement stage, we suggest that appropriate career development programmes should include providing employees with the means of undertaking self-assessment in order both to maintain their current level of performance and to strive for continuous improvement, setting basic job standards and encouraging participation in professional associations. Career challenge needsAt the exploration stage, the major career challenge is continually to acquire professional knowledge and participate in self-improvement activities related to enhancing professional knowledge and skills. A more personal challenge is to establish a good initial professional self-concept (Cron, 1984) in order to strive to live up to recognized professional behavioural standards and criteria for professional elationships, which represent additional challenges to be met. Workers must also try continually to employ professional knowledge within an organization, to enjoy a measure of recognition and attention from superiors and co-workers regarding their professional calibre within a certain field and thereby secure more challenging work.In order to meet the career challenge needs of R&D personnel at the exploration stage of their careers, appropriate career development programmes should include the provision of specifically targeted training to fully realize the potential of each employee, the provision of focusing aimed at helping employees to improve their job performance and clarification by superiors of the continuing requirements for the job in terms of characteristics, content and qualifications.At the establishment stage, the major career challenges for R&D personnel are the desire to continue to perform well, to gain promotion and to ratio the requirements of the job with family responsibilities. Hence, they will seek promotional opportunities by demonstrating superior performance in their role, leading to the r eceipt of various rewards (not limited solely to material enrichment), and secure a role with greater autonomy.Employees at this stage are keen to receive early promotion and will tend to place a great deal of effort into their work. They are likely to be spending more of their time at work in order to create an impact on their superiors however this can be to the hurt of their family lives because of the imbalance created amidst their professional and private lives.At the establishment stage of their careers, if such programmes are to continue to meet the career challenge needs of R&D personnel, they should include performance evaluation so as to help employees to adjust their efforts accordingly and to provide them with an understanding of promotional prospects and routes and assisting employees to find the appropriate balance between their jobs and their family life.At the maintenance stage, R&D personnel need to retain their established organizational status, prioritize work fu nctions and maintain motivation, professionalism and competitiveness, with career tasks involving turnout their job horizons and extending their professional reach. There may also be a growing threat of challenges from newcomers thus, the need for continuous innovation is paramount. R&D personnel will have reached their professional peaks and will be seeking to retain their status, with 1008 The International Journal of Human Resource Management he hope of standing(prenominal) job assurances and benefits being provided by their employers. When faced with potential threats, the reaction may be nearlywhat intense, leading to protective walls being built around their domain. Those already high up in the organizational hierarchy have fewer promotional opportunities this can inevitably lead to a greater orientation towards the present, which will ofttimes manifest itself in an increasing desire for immediate monetary rewards (Hall, 1986 Cron, 1984 Rabinowitz and Hall, 1981).In order t o meet the career challenge needs of R&D personnel at the exploration stage of their careers, appropriate career development programmes should include the design of appropriate (material) rewards and motivational systems subsidizing external educational activities and providing interpersonal transactionhip counselling and guidance, according to specific needs. During the disengagement stage, retirement can be a problem in itself.Being accustomed to a business career, employees will have now reached a stage where they must give it up and adapt to a more non-productive lifestyle, staying at home to face the strange experience of being idle, with no specific duties. Some people can find self- affirmation and the maintenance of a belief in their own worth to be a formidable challenge (Dessler, 1996). Hence, R&D employees will be retrospectively examining their careers, and pondering how they intend to while away their future. In seeking out another crossroad in life, they will be adjus ting their roles and lifestyles, and accepting and developing a new self-identity.These retirees also face the prospect of spending more time with their families, and of how they will handle it. Examining a passing career produces a need to accept achievements and to adjust ones self-identity, leading to problems of psychological adaptation. Thus, businesses must offer career counselling at this stage in order to help their R&D staff to develop a positive attitude, and to avoid at all costs a pessimistic or negative outlook. Retiring employees should be counselled to encourage their participation in social and leisure activities, and family life, while roviding guidance to help these employees to plan their life as a retiree, and thereby maintain a positive and optimistic attitude. According to Hoon (2000), managers generally consider the provision of career planning, management and development for their employees as key human resource management functions that will increase employe e job satisfaction and organizational commitment indeed, the ongoing career development of employees is frequently cited as a positive investment by corporations, capable of creating a more positive job attitude (London, 1988).Nevertheless, the disappointment for numerous professional workers is that current management practices and policies fail to incorporate an adequate understanding of their needs and expectations as professionals (Petroni, 2000). Thus, irrespective of the amount of career development practices that an organization provides and actively pursues, the whole process will prove to be tote uply ineffective if employees perceive this developmental effort as unproductive, non-utilitarian or, indeed, non-existent (Crabtree, 1999).Organizations must therefore pay particular attention to the career aspirations of each individual and be aware of their attitudes towards the organizations career management practices. Cordero et al. (1994a, 1994b) noted that development opp ortunities that were capable of satisfying the expectations of scientific personnel would lead to enhancement of their overall job satisfaction levels, and, in a study of professional engineers, Petroni (2000) found a strong association between the inadequate understanding of their expectations and their general level of dissatisfaction with their overall career direction.This suggests that there may be a widespread need to develop career management systems, particularly among groups of professionals, which are congruent with the career aspirations of each individual. Such efforts at matching programmes with aspirations will Chen et al. Career needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1009 learly have an influence on overall satisfaction levels and on decisions about whether to remain within an organization or whether to seek alternative employment (Granrose and Portwood, 1987 Aryee and Leong, 1991). Based on our proposals for career development programmes, we furth er examine the career development status of individuals in order to determine whether any gaps exist between their career needs and the career development programmes provided.If such a gap does exist, it would be of interest to establish whether or not the gap differs noticeably at various career stages. If the gap between the career needs of R&D personnel and the available career development programmes becomes excessive, their inner needs will not be met and, in accordance with motivational process theory, these un genial needs will subsequently produce nervousness and stress among workers, ultimately impacting on job satisfaction (Robbin, 1998).If this gap is controllable, we can further argue that job satisfaction levels can be reasonably predicted, since organizations have the ability to boost job satisfaction levels through the provision of appropriate career development programmes capable of satisfying unfulfilled career needs. Based upon this discussion, we can propose the fo llowing hypothesis Hypothesis 2 The gap between career development programmes and career needs has a negative correlation with job satisfaction.We can also argue that this influence on job satisfaction from the gap between career needs and career development programmes will vary with different career stages because R&D workers at the establishment stage are keen to forge ahead and focus on the level of compatibility between their career needs and career development programmes this compatibility level therefore has a strong influence on their overall level of job satisfaction.In contrast, those at the exploration, maintenance and disengagement stages of their careers are any total newcomers, those maintaining their earlier achieved status or those preparing themselves for retirement, and therefore less likely to place so much emphasis on compatibility between their career needs and career development programmes (Super, 1957 Cron, 1984 Weeks et al. , 1999).The gap between career deve lopment programmes and career needs is therefore likely to have less impact on the job satisfaction of workers in all but the establishment stage of their careers. Based on this well-founded supposition, we propose the following hypothesis Hypothesis 3 Career stages may moderate the negative effect on job satisfaction from the gap between career development programmes and career needs. Method Data sourceThe sample in this study was drawn from R&D personnel in the high-tech industry in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (HSIP). A pre-tested questionnaire was used with proportionate stratified sampling being carried out according to both the year 2000 manpower monthly report issued by the HSIP management and the ratio of R&D personnel within certain sectors to the total R&D personnel within HSIP. The sample data were collected by mail.A total of 1,300 questionnaires were distributed, of which 385 were make passed, giving a response rate of 29. 6 per cent eighteen questionnaire s were invalid, leaving a total of 367 valid questionnaires as the sample thus, the overall return rate of valid questionnaires was 28. 2 per cent. Since a total of only eleven R&D workers were currently in a stage of disengagement, it was not possible to undertake any statistical analysis of this group that could claim to have any real validity. 010 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Measures Career stages There are a number of reasons for using age as a proxy for career stages, as follows First of all, there is no consistent, widely accepted means of measuring employee career stages and, as demonstrated in a general review of the extant research, a wide regeneration of approaches has been adopted in an effort to carry out an appropriate and acceptable assessment (Mehta et al. , 2000).Second, alternative operational definitions of career stages have been used in octuple research investigations. These include Supers (1957) adult form, which comprise four career stages Gottfredsons (1981) complex theory of occupational circumscription and compromise, within which there are several recursive career stages based on childhood and adolescent processes tenure (Stumpf and Rabinowitz, 1981) Levinsons (1986) career stage groupings based on four life eras and indeed, age (e. . Cron, 1984 Hafer, 1986 Dalrymple and Strahle, 1990 Kao et al. , 1997 Weeks et al. , 1999). These studies also attracted a general recognition of the discordant way in which career stages have been operationalized across studies (Swanson, 1992). Third, our study uses age to represent career stages in similar fashion to the way in which many others have done when testing Supers (1957) model (e. g. Gould, 1979 Slocum and Cron, 1985 Weeks and Kahle, 1990). Fourth, Weeks et al. 1999) also argued that since age can be measured quite accurately, it can be argued that this measure has adequate reliability and objectivity when compared to the reliability and objectivity of other measu res of career stages. Finally, we must also concede that all research is confronted by the practical realities of costs and deadlines (Cooper and Schindler, 1998), and this was evident in our study in terms of the depth of our questionnaire, costs, time and the rate of response. Career stage categorization in this study is therefore similar to that used in many previous studies (Cron, 1984 Weeks et al. 1999), and we regard the age of R&D personnel as an indication of their professional ability and job experience, which usually increases with age, and which moves forward with the career stage of these employees. Thus, we adopt age to measure career stages, but we also concede that it represents one of the limitations of our study that is to say, in order to clarify different career needs at various stages, we do not consider that some of the R&D personnel included within the study may be in a period of transition from one career stage to another.In this study, therefore, career stage is also represented by age. The sample was broken down for analysis into four age groups corresponding to the Cron (1984) career stage categories, with respondents in the exploration stage being equal to or less than 30 years of age, respondents in the establishment stage being aged between 30 and 45 years, respondents in the maintenance stage being aged between 46 and 65 years and respondents in the disengagement stage, being those of 66 years of age or above.Career needs Career needs are defined as the personal needs of goals, tasks and challenges in a persons career, and it is recognized that career needs change with the various career stages. This study proposes various primary career needs for the various career stages, constructing a thirty-two-item scale to measure these career needs. In order to indicate their needs, participants were provided with a 5-point Likert-type response scale, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The details of the career needs scale i s machine-accessible as an appendix.The internal consistency reliability (alpha coefficient) of the measure of career needs was 0. 737. Career development programmes Based on the career needs of R&D personnel, this study proposes three general categories of response in the form of career development programmes career goals-oriented development programmes, career tasks-oriented Chen et al. Career needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1011 development programmes and career challenges-oriented development programmes.This study refers to Ivancevich and Glueck (1989), adjusting and revising the itemized issues and some of the detailed assessment indices, with the aim of associating these with career needs while also taking into account the status of career development in Taiwans high-tech industry. Thereafter, a thirty-three-item scale was developed to measure the comprehend career development programmes. Participants were provided with a 5-point Likert-type respons e scale ranging from very dissatisfied to very satisfied.Details of the contents of the career development programmes are attached as an appendix. The internal consistency reliability (alpha coefficient) of the career development programme measures was 0. 856. The gap between career development programmes and career needs The gap between career development programmes and career needs is determined as the discrepancy between the career needs of R&D personnel and their awareness level of the career development programmes currently in use by their companies.We use such gaps to evaluate whether the career needs of this group are being satisfied by their companies career development programmes. Such gaps are measured by subtracting the average awareness values of career development programmes from average career needs values. Job satisfaction Job satisfaction was defined by Gregson (1987) as the positive emotional state resulting form the appraisal of ones job or experience. The measurem ent of job satisfaction within this study was undertaken using a composite of five sub-scales (satisfaction with pay, promotion, supervisors, co-workers and work).These five items are from the original thirty-item Job descriptive Index scale of Smith et al. (1969) and we have chosen (and occasionally modified) these items to ensure the best fit with the situation in the firm being studied. This is an approach which has been used effectively in previous sales force studies (Teas, 1983 Johnston et al. , 1990). We include one additional item, which asks participants to indicate their overall level of satisfaction with the job.Participants were provided with a 5-point Likert-type response scale ranging from very dissatisfied to very satisfied to indicate their level of satisfaction with the following aspects of their present job (1) job content (2) supervision (3) co-worker relations (4) opportunities for promotion (5) pay and (6) their overall level of satisfaction with their organizat ion. The sample items included The amount of challenge you have in your job, Your chances for promotion and The recognition you get for good work (your job, overall).A summed averaged of the six items was produced to form the job satisfaction score (Cronbachs alpha coefficient ? 0920). In addition, MANOVA data analysis was carried out to test whether, at different stages of their careers, R&D personnel had differing viewpoints on their career needs. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects on job satisfaction from the gap between career development programmes and career needs, the moderating effects of career stages on the kinships between the gap and job satisfaction. Empirical resultsThe empirical results of this study, providing the means of the three types of career needs career goal needs, career task needs and career challenge needs of R&D personnel at different stages of their careers, are presented in Table 1a. In addition, the results of the ANOVA analys is of the repeated measures are presented in Table 1b. The overall mean for career goal needs was 4. 31, of which the establishment stage (4. 39) was larger than the exploration stage (4. 32), disengagement stage (4. 18) and maintenance stage (3. 6). As Table 1b shows, there are statistically significant 1012 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Table 1a The means of career needs of R&D personnel at different career stages Career needsCareer stages Exploration constitution guardianship Disengagement Mean Goals 4. 32 4. 39 3. 96 4. 18 4. 31 Tasks 4. 57 4. 49 4. 15 4. 36 4. 8 Challenges 4. 30 4. 35 3. 76 4. 00 4. 26 Table 1b ANOVA of career needs of R&D personnel at different career stages Source of variation Sum of squares Degrees of Mean square F-value p-value freedom (1) The repeated measures ANOVA Career stages 21. 1 3 7. 136 14. 27*** 0. 001 Career needs 5. 22 2 2. 61 19*** 0. 001 Interaction 1. 92 6 0. 32 2. 33* 0. 031 (2) The simplex main ef fects on career stages Career goal needs 6. 15 3 2. 05 8. 2*** 0. 001 Career task needs 5. 36 3 1. 79 7. 51*** 0. 01 Career challenge needs 11. 83 3 3. 94 13. 74*** 0. 001 (3) The simple main effects on career needs Exploration 5. 69 2 2. 84 30. 98*** 0. 001 Establishment 1. 92 2 0. 96 6. 14** 0. 002 Maintenance 2. 83 2 1. 42 7. 11** 0. 001 Disengagement 0. 73 2 0. 36 2. 3 0. 083 feels ***p , 001 **p , 01 *p , 05 differences between the various career stages (F ? 1427 p ? 0001) and also between various career needs (F ? 19 p ? 0001). Moreover, the interaction between career needs and career stages also produces significant levels (F ? 233 p ? 0031), that is to say, at different stages of their careers, R&D personnel do display different career needs. Since the interactions were significant, it was clear that a test of the simple main effects should be further conducted.First of all, from the test of the simple main effects on career stages, the results indicated that, at dif ferent stages of their careers, R&D personnel showed significantly different viewpoints on the significance of their career goal needs (F ? 82 p ? 0001). Furthermore, the mean values showed that for those members of this group at the establishment stage, career goal needs had reached a higher level of importance than they had for those at the exploration and maintenance stages of their careers ? 439 . 32 . 396? Second, at different career stages, R&D personnel demonstrated significantly different viewpoints on the significance of their career task needs (F ? 751 p ? 0001). In addition, the means also showed that, for those members of this group at the exploration stage of their careers, career task needs had reached a higher level of importance than they had for those at the establishment and Chen et al. Career needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1013 maintenance stages of their careers ? 457 . 449 . 415? Third, at different career stages, R&D personnel demon strated significantly different viewpoints on the significance of their career challenge needs (F ? 1374 p ? 0001). The means also showed that, for those members of this group at the establishment stage of their careers, career challenge needs had reached a slightly higher level of importance than they had for those at the exploration stage ? 435 . 430? but a much higher level than they had for those at the maintenance stage ? 435 . 376? Following the test for simple main effects on different career stages, a further test of the simple main effects was conducted on the three kinds of career needs. The respective F-values on the viewpoint of those R&D personnel in the exploration, establishment and maintenance stages of their careers on the significance of the three kinds of career needs, were 30. 98, 6. 14 and 7. 11, all reaching the significance level ( p-value ? 0. 05).These values indicate that those members of this group at the exploration, establishment and maintenance stages of their careers have significantly different viewpoints on the significance of at least two kinds of career needs. The means revealed that, for those members of this group at the exploration stage, career task needs reached a higher level of importance than career goal needs and career challenge needs ? 457 . 432 . 430? Likewise, for those at the establishment stage, career task needs again displayed a higher level of importance than career goal needs and career challenge needs ? 49 . 439 . 435? Finally, for those at the maintenance stage of their careers, career task needs also reached a higher level of importance than career goal needs and career challenge needs ? 415 . 396 . 376? Thus, hypothesis 1 is supported. According to the figures provided in Table 1a, among the three kinds of career needs, as far as R&D personnel are concerned, the significance of career task needs is highest, with career goal needs coming next and career challenge needs being the least significant.The reason behind this would seem to be that the needs of the career tasks are a principal demand in the process of R&D, within which these personnel must be experienced in order to achieve their targets. In their efforts during the present stage, to attain the situation of satisfying their career goal needs, R&D personnel would necessarily have stronger career task needs. Once they have achieved their career goals during the present stage, they would then be in a position to assess their chances of developing their future career, and thus achieving a breakthrough, namely, advancement to career challenge needs.For researchers in Taiwan, career challenge needs can often reach a much higher level of importance for their professional recognition, the capabilities required for completing actual research tasks and the performance level actually attained. This is because these factors are perhaps the most visible indicator, and a critical requirement for promotion to higher R&D positions, or for acceptance of a position of lesser importance.It should be noted, however, that, during our survey, Taiwan was unfortunately embroiled in the global economic recession that affected all economies, and which will clearly have led to these R&D personnel being somewhat shortsighted and practical, albeit temporarily, in their career task needs. In order to explore whether there is any significant relationship between the dependent variable (job satisfaction) and the independent variables set (the gap between career development programmes and career needs), a multiple regression analysis was conducted as part of this study.The gap between career development programmes and career needs for goals, the gap between career development programmes and career needs for tasks and the gap between career development programmes and career needs for challenges were each entered into the model, and, as Table 2 indicates, all three items had a statistically significant level, with the signs, as ex pect, being negative. 1014 The International Journal of Human Resource ManagementTable 2 Regression analysis results of the gap between career development programmes and career needs on job satisfaction Sourceb T-valueR2F-value DR2p-value The gap between career development programmes and career needs for challenges The gap between career development programmes and career needs for goals The gap between career development programmes and career needs for tasks 2 0. 36***2 7. 420. 44291. 090. 440. 001 2 0. 26***2 5. 860. 52196. 330. 080. 001 2 0. 25***2 5. 250. 55149. 620. 030. 001 Note **p , 001 This denotes that the larger the gap, the lower the job satisfaction of R&D personnel. The items predict that job satisfaction levels among R&D personnel will be in the order of the gap between career development programmes and career needs for challenges, the gap between career development programmes and career needs for goals and the gap between career development programmes and career needs for tasks, which are able jointly to predict 55 per cent of the variance in job satisfaction.As to the level of each individual prediction, the gap between career development programmes and career needs for challenges was highest, explaining 44 per cent of the variance the gap between career development programmes and career needs for goals was next, with an R2 increment of 8 per cent. Therefore, hypothesis 2 is also supported.This study divided the gap between career development programmes and career needs into three, high, medium and low, sub-sections according to the mean (plus/minus one) standard deviation in order to explore whether there was any significant difference between these three sub-sections in terms of job satisfaction. Analysis of whether career stages can moderate the negative direct effect on job satisfaction stemming from the gap between career development programmes and career needs has also been undertaken within this study.The results are provided in Table 3a , which reveals that the interaction between career stages and the gap between career development programmes and career needs was significant for job satisfaction (F ? 359 p ? 0002). In order to determine the actual influence of the two independent variables on the dependent variables, tests of the simple and main effects were conducted. First of all, a test of the simple and main effects was conducted on the independent variable, i. . the the gap between career development programmes and career needs. As Table 3a shows, the F-value reached a level of significance ? a ? 005? indicating that a significant difference does exist between the four career stages of R&D personnel in terms of the influence on job satisfaction of the gap between career development programmes and career needs the means are provided in Table 3b.Among all of the R&D personnel surveyed, the group with a low gap between career development programmes and career needs demonstrated a significantly higher attitude t owards job satisfaction than the groups with a medium and high gap between career development programmes and career needs, while the attitude towards job satisfaction of those in the group with a medium gap between career development programmes and career needs was also significantly higher than the group with a high gap between career Chen et al. Career needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1015Table 3a MANOVA of the effects on job satisfaction from the gap between career development programmes and career needs at different career stages Source of variation Sum of squares Degrees of Mean squareF-value p-value freedom (1) MANOVA Career stages 1. 63 3 0. 54 1. 62 0. 185 The gap between career evelopment programmes and career needs 49. 26224. 6373. 44***0. 001 Interaction7. 2361. 213. 59**0. 002 (2) The simple main effects on the gap between career development Exploration 39. 99 2 19. 99 67. 58*** 0. 001 Establishment 95. 07 2 47. 53 134. 31*** 0. 00 1 Maintenance 12. 24 2 6. 12 14. 08*** 0. 001 Disengagement 4. 62 2 2. 31 26. 26*** 0. 001 3) The simple main effects on career stages Low gaps between career development programmes and career needs Medium gaps between career development programmes and career needs High gaps between career development programmes and career needs 2. 3330. 782. 720. 052 0. 7330. 240. 810. 489 5. 9931. 993. 96*0. 012 Notes ***p , 001 **p , 01 *p , 05 Table 3b Mean comparison of job satisfaction Career stages The gaps between career development programmes and career needs High (72) Medium (230) Low (65) Mean Exploration (128) 2. 4 3. 47 4. 57 3. 65 Establishment (190) 2. 24 3. 44 4. 33 3. 34 Maintenance (38) 2. 71 3. 62 4. 85 3. 73 Disengagement (11) 3. 33 3. 67 4. 89 4. 30 Mean 2. 45 3. 47 4. 63 3. 47 Note Values represent cell means. Number of cases is given in parentheses. development programmes and career needs.This indicates that, along with the increase in the gap between career developm ent programmes and career needs, there is an apparent decline in job satisfaction levels among R&D personnel. We may find that the attitude towards job satisfaction of those R&D personnel at the establishment stage of their careers is lower as the gap increases. In addition, as the gap increases, compared to those 1016 The International Journal of Human Resource Management personnel at all other stages (with the exception of the disengagement stage), the attitude towards job satisfaction of R&D personnel is highest at the maintenance stage.We also find that those at the establishment stage are most conscious of the gap between career development programmes and career needs, and that their consciousness of job satisfaction decreases gradually as the gap between career development programmes and career needs increases. Those R&D personnel at the maintenance stage are less conscious of the gap between career development programmes and career needs because they have already reached the peak of their careers and often enjoy teeming resources within their organizations.Therefore, the attitude towards job satisfaction in the group at the maintenance stage of their careers, which also indicates a high gap between career development programmes and career needs, is higher than at any of the other career stages. In addition, as Table 3a indicates, in the group indicating a high gap between career development programmes and career needs, there are significant differences demonstrated between the different career stages.The means show that those R&D personnel at the establishment stage of their careers, and also indicating a high gap between career development programmmes and career needs, have the lowest level of job satisfaction (2. 24). In the group of R&D personnel indicating a high gap between career development programmes and career needs, the respective attitudes towards job satisfaction of those at different stages are the exploration stage (2. 84) . the maintenan ce stage (2. 1) . the establishment stage (2. 24). Therefore, hypothesis 3 is also supported. last remarks This study set out with the aim of examining the gap between career development programmes and career needs, and the relationships with job satisfaction. One of the features of this study has been the attempt to define the factors influencing R&D personnels job satisfaction levels from a perspective of the gap between career development programmes and career needs.With Taiwan eagerly working towards enhancing its high-tech competitiveness and becoming increasingly involved in high- tech R&D, an investigation into the existing gaps between perceived career development programmes and expected career needs of R&D personnel may improve the job satisfaction of R&D personnel. This study has attempted to provide an understanding of the career needs of R&D personnel, which, it is hoped, will lead to the development of appropriate career development programmes in response to these need s.It has further investigated the relationship between career needs and career development programmes and job satisfaction. The results reveal that, at different stages of their careers, R&D personnel do indeed have distinct career needs. For R&D personnel, of the three types of career needs referred to in this study, career task needs take priority, with career goal needs in second place and career challenge needs demonstrating the lowest priority. An explanation for this is that career task needs are part of the path that has to be traveled to achieve career goals.In order to achieve the current needs for career goals, R&D personnel demonstrate a stronger need for career tasks. Once they do achieve their career goals, they can then evaluate the developmental opportunities for their future career, hence producing the career need for challenges that have yet to be faced and overcome. Furthermore, R&D personnel generally display a high evaluation of the know-how necessary actually t o perform their jobs and of their on-the-job performance levels, since these are the most obvious indices, and a key deciding factor in the promotion, or passing over, of R&D personnel.It was clear, when conducting this research which took place Chen et al. Career needs, career development programmes and job satisfaction1017 during a period of global recession that R&D personnel were prone to the pursuit of short-term, pragmatic career task needs at that time. In addition, the results of the stepwise regression reveal that the three kinds of gaps between career development programmes and career needs are significant predictors of job satisfaction (R2 ? 553 per cent).Furthermore, this study has also revealed that the widening of the gap between career development programmes and career needs leads to a corresponding lumbering of job satisfaction levels among R&D personnel. Finally, this study finds that the interaction between career stages and the gap between career development p rogrammes and career needs does in fact influence job satisfaction, that is to say, the influence upon job satisfaction, from the gap between career development programmes and career needs, varies with the different career stages of R&D personnel.As the gap widens (with the exception of those in the disengagement stage), those in the establishment stage of their careers demonstrate the lowest job satisfaction levels, while those in the maintenance stage of their careers demonstrate higher levels of job satisfaction than those in all other career stages. During the establishment stage, their awareness of the gaps between career development programmes and career needs is the highest, relative to awareness levels at other career stages, and it is also at this stage that the highest turnover intentions are demonstrated.Perhaps because of higher levels of ambition among R&D personnel in the establishment stage, of desire to set up relationships between themselves and the organization, an d to get ahead and become valuable professional members of the organization, this group is likely to work particularly hard in the pursuit of success and realization of personal needs. At this time, they will define, on the one hand, the relationship between themselves and the organization and, on the other, their personal needs, as against organizational goals.Personal ambitions are reflected in career needs, making for exaggerated career needs. If, during this time, organizational career development programmes do not satisfy such ambitions, then considerable gaps can develop between career development programmes and career needs. R&