Labor Unions and Their Impact on the Economy Essay

Labor Unions and Their Impact on the Economy - Essay Example The state employees are not happy with the proposal of the governor that they would have to make a contribution of 5.8 % of their salary towards schemes of pension along with the payment of 12.6 % of their insurance premiums for health.In this section of the research paper, various arguments in support of the union’s protest will be presented. 2.1 â€Å"Wisconsin Governor is Against the Worker’s Rights†- Protest in MadisonOn February 15, 2011, the public employees, community supporters and union activists in a number of more than 15,000 jammed at the Capitol Square in Madison for protesting the governor’s plan to band the rights of the workers and demolish jobs of the middle-class community of the society. The governor denied making any changes in his plans and has mentioned that if the bill is not passed by the state legislature, he would compel massive layoffs along with hampering of state services and thus would cost several jobs.According to a highway worker and member of AFSCME, the attack on the worker’s rights is a part of the budget plan of the governor. The move of the governor has been demonstrated as a way of political business that is interested in taking the rights away from the people. The appeal of a few protestors is such that they are in complete support to the governor’s activities for balancing the budget but not at the sake of the worker’s rights, as evident from the views of a retired Communications Workers of America member. The protestors mentioned that the governor was imparting the bad effects of a budget bill by setting up such a policy that would take away the general rights of the people (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Operation management - Essay Example airlines, caterers, retailers, banks, etc). A good maintenance shop is a necessity for all major airports. Below is my diagram of what is needed for a fully equipped maintenance shop, from beginning to end. b. Prefabricated materials-these materials would include everything from light bulbs to mops. Bolts, screws, compressors, saws, hammers, nails, everything that is needed to fix things around the airport. Once again local suppliers need to be used whenever possible. 2) Imported materials- Craftsman tools, saws, drills, and other such items need to be imported from the United States. Trucks, bulldozers, and other vehicles need to be imported from Japan and the United States. 3) Finally a building, floor, or shop needs to be designated at the airport. All of the raw materials and imported materials need to able to fit in this area. This area also must consist of a concrete floor for easy maintenance. The area must consist of a large enough area to service airport vehicles, hold replacement parts, and work stations for the employees. 4) Customers Benefit-The customer will benefit from this service in numerous ways. From keeping the plumbing working, lights going, heat, air conditioning, to fixing anything that comes up, the customer benefits from a well working facility. 1(b). Imagine that you have been appointed as Director of Aircraft Maintenance at the new airport, responsible for all the aircraft maintenance facilities. You will not need detailed technical knowledge, as you will have a very well qualified staff of engineers and specialists, covering engines, avionics, instrumentation, heating and air conditioning, electrical and mechanical aspects and even specialists in cabin layout alterations. For about a dozen of the most popular aircraft types using the airport, the manufacturers of each aircraft type

The Competitive Advantages Of Effective Knowledge Management Commerce Essay

The Competitive Advantages Of Effective Knowledge Management Commerce Essay Today, the future and the value of a company depends on provide the new product and service quickly and timely in order to meet the needs that always change in the market. Thus, I believe that knowledge is the more importance factor than land or capitals to create a competitive advantage for enterprises. And now, this essay will discuss more about the value of managing knowledge and some competitive advantages that can be created through knowledge management in the company. Then, I would like to discuss about the In addition, this essay is also talk about the leadership and managerial skills in the organization by implementing successfully KM. DISCUSSION ABOUT THE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: Data, Information, Knowledge: Nowadays, we are living in an age of information that we can find easy through television, internet, magazines etc. But not all information is reliable. Transforming information into knowledge within the organization is an advantage. However, not all managers have able to do it. Thus, the first thing I want to discuss about the difference between data, information and knowledge in order to transform raw data into meaningful information. Data is the raw material. It can be a set of discrete facts and exist in any form such as number, symbols, imaging etc. Data represents unorganized and unprocessed facts. Data is transformed into information by adding value through context, sorting, calculating, analysis and evaluation. Information can be considered as a processed data. Data and information are everywhere but knowledge is hard to get. You need information in order to get knowledge. However, knowledge is not information. Information is only becomes knowledge when you have able to realize and understand specific purpose of it. Knowledge is usually come from learning, thinking or taking experiences in a particular area. Knowledge has two types: Explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is the visible knowledge. You can find them easily through book, documents, reports, films, magazines, etc. The explicit knowledge is easily transferable. In contrast, tacit knowledge is the knowledge that put in your mind. Simply, tacit knowledge is the personal experience, skills and hard to transferable. For example: Each pastry cook can made Tiramisu cake with different flavors, although all of them use with the same Tiramisu Cake recipe. Some cake are delicious, some cake are bad. Because skilled pastry cook has not shown own experiences in recipe. May be, they can add some special ingredients to make their cakes with good flavorful. This is the tacit knowledge. They did not share their experiences as well as knowledge for everyone. I think this is the importance aspect in the organization. The managers must look for ways to employees can share tacit knowledge together in a particular sector. Tha ts also the objective of knowledge management. Knowledge management: Knowledge Management (KM) can be defined as the logical process that helps people to use knowledge effectively and efficiently. Knowledge management is the process the company uses to measure the value of the intellectual value of each employee in the company. Moreover, it is the process used to evaluate and track key metrics associated with the organization of intellectual property can be used to create better services, products and value to shareholders of the corporation. There are many different knowledge management life cycles. They are made by Wiig (Wiig Knoeldge management cycle 1993), Zack (Zack Knowledge Management Cycle 1996), Nickols (Nickols Knowledge Management Cycle 1999), McElroy (McElroy Knowledge Management Cycle 1999), Rollet (Rollet Knowledge Management Cycle 2003), Bukowitz Williams (BW Knowledge management cycle 20003). Actually, they have some common steps and meaning. However, each cycle has its own characteristic. Look at the table below for comparison. Nickols (1999) Wigg (1993) McElroy (1999) Rollet (2003) Bukowitz Williams (2003) Zack (1996) Acquisition Creation Individual and group learning Planning Get Acquisition Organization Sourcing Knowledge claim validation Creation Use Refinement Specialization Complication Information acquisition Integrating Learn Distribution Store/ access Transformation Knowledge validation Organizing Contribute Presentation Retrieve Dissemination Knowledge Integration Transferring Assess Distribution Application Maintaining Build/ sustain Conservation Value realization Assessing Divest Source: Adapted from Kimiz Dalkir, Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice (Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth, 2005), pp. 27. Competitive advantages: Although there are many different perspectives on knowledge management, however the general objective of knowledge management is look for ways to employees share and learn knowledge as well as experiences together. Thats not only help employees improve the expertise knowledge, but also the knowledge management can create the competitive advantages and enhance value for enterprises. As you know, human resource is the valuable asset in organization. If the organization can use this resource effectively, organization will become very strong. Knowledge management can give all the employees in organization many opportunities to show ideas and innovation. Therefore, organization can have more opportunities and advantages than competitors. The employees can share expertise knowledge, experiences or passion together. Thats also make all of the employees in organization more closer and understand  each other  better In addition, transforming from tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge is not only help improve expertise knowledge of employees, but also help the organization have enough capable of responding promptly to the change in personnel. And now, I would like to give you a reality example as well as an incident by not applying knowledge management in organization.   It occurred in my familys restaurant in three years ago. When my manager intends to open a restaurant of his own, he has left the restaurant. The important thing, he has taken away all the experience, the trade secret and a lot of good employees and the relationships. Then he became a competitor with my restaurant. During that period, my restaurant encountered a lot of trouble and business performance decreased seriously. Another example, at Tam Viet Group in 2007, a vice president has left the company and he established an own company to direct competitive with the Tam Viet. By applying knowledge management, all these knowle dge such as customer relationships, unfinished projects, etc. were acquired and stored by all other employees. Therefore, Tam Vietnamese were not affected. Additionally, Knowledge management can also give to the enterprise with high adaptability in the rapidly changing marketplace. The competitors are always updates their products and services better to meet the demand of customer. Therefore, most of the successful enterprises are always catch information and transfer them rapidly. By applying the knowledge management, the enterprises can easily compete with other competitors. The organization can launch new products with the higher quality than competitors at the same cost. The employees can save time through making decision or solving the problems quickly and exactly. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ON SUPPORTING MANAGERIAL PRACTICES: Similar to those competitive advantages that I mentioned above, knowledge management can help manager so much in practices. Firstly, the employees have a freely environment to performance themselves. The employees can share and learn knowledge, experiences, idea together. Therefore, the manager can collects and exploits tacit knowledge or innovation in order to enhance competitor advantage for the organization. Additionally, KM can help manager make decision timely and exactly by capturing,  analyzing  and  conversing  of information logically. In addition, the manager will have enough response to device with changing of the marketplace as well as the human resources. Leadership and managerial skills: A manager needs to have a good leadership to change products, systems and people efficiency. A good leader must have capacity to accelerate the process to decide a matter and to make process work effectively and quickly. It is a difficult problem. A good manager should have more diverse skills in order to have enough capable of handling all of problems in the organization. The first skill is the information technology (IT) skill. I think this is the key For example: in my first internship at ACB bank, I can get information of customer trading history via CIC.org.vn website. You will save more time for get information of customer. Thats progress of technology. Thats also the reason the manager should have a good IT skill to support the management easier and faster. In the high technology age, a good manager should know to take advantage of technology to support for the management and sharing knowledge in the organization. If so, companies will have more competitive advantages than competitors. In addition, a manager should also build a trust and respect relationship with employees. Listening skill is also important. As a manager, you should build an open structure. I mean that you should gap of discrimination between superiors and subordinates. The subordinate can easily meet and express freely their opinions to you. Listening will help you clearly understand about your staffs in order to make decisions fairer and more accurate. Lets change the last skill that I want to discuss is the communication skill. In my opinion, communication is the most difficult and complicates skill of the manager. According to John Quincy Adams If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. Its a great statement. A manager has to know create motivation for employees in order to they have enthusiasm and try their best to work. The motivation is not only based on the high salary, but also based on the workplace. A manager can adapts communities of practice (COP) program in the company. COP is considered as a group of people hold together by sharing the knowledge, experiences, ideas or something like that. COP program can provide a place for employees in particular areas or require employees work in team to share methods or tacit knowledge and mutual support. Thus, the employees can improve their knowledge; learn more about the experiences and more closer. Besides that, manager s hould also consider one of the challenges of communication, the different cultures. Especially is the multinational company. this is a new step to the understanding by employing individuals from various backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles. Perceptual, Cultural and language barriers are a challenge to be overcome when a company work in the global orientated environment. It affects team spirit, work efficiency, directly affect the business situation of the company. Moreover, it is the cause of lack of teamwork, morale low. The different culture can affect a company and its success in variety of ways. CONCLUTION: In conclusion, the knowledge management is a new way to develop your company in the future. From the very beginning, the essay discussed some basic concept of the knowledge management for you. As you can see the next part talked about the competitive advantages that the company can take from KM. There are so many, for example: using human resource effectively, transferring from tacit knowledge to deficit knowledge, etc. Moreover, the knowledge management will help the managers in many ways. And, of course, the managers have to learn and develop his/her skills to managing knowledge. There are some basic skills that a manager should have are listening skills, IT skills, etc. In the knowledge economy, knowledge management has more impacts on organizations. Applying knowledge management is considered as a key for success organization. The strong organization always has a good knowledge management. 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Tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¥t nhià ªn, Ãƒâ€žÃ¢â‚¬Ë œÃƒ ¢y là   mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢t khà ¡i nià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡m cà ²n mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi nhÆ °ng mà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ i tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ chà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c cà ¡Ã‚ ºn phà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £i chà ¡Ã‚ » Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â€ž ¢ng nghià ªn cà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©u và   và ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ­n dà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¥ng sà ¡ng tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡o. Quà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n là ½ tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Ëœt tri thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c là   hià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™u rà µ Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £n thà ¢n, bià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t Ä‘Æ °Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ £c Ä‘ià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™m mà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¡nh và   Ä‘ià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™m yà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿u cà ¡Ã‚ »a mà ¬nh Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™ tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « Ä‘Ã ³ Ä‘Ã ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚  ra nhà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ng bià ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ¡n phà ¡p gà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ·t hà ¡i thà  nh cà ´ng trong nà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ n kinh tà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿ tri thà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ©c.

How does J.B Priestley use dramatic devices in An Inspector Calls? Essa

Coursework How does J.B Priestley use dramatic devices in An Inspector Calls to convey his concerns and ideas to the members of the audience as well as interest and involve them in his play? 23rd, February 2005 The main theme of â€Å"An Inspector Calls† is responsibility. J.B Priestley wants to show the Birlings’ and the audience that we all share responsibility for other people’s welfare, and that wealthy people have obligations to look after those less fortunate than themselves. Priestley uses Inspector Goole to put across his views on society by portraying himself as a character. Through Inspector Goole Priestley is able to emphasize that with privileges come responsibilities to help others. In the 1930’s Priestley’s main concern was the social inequality in Britain. Priestly set up The Commonwealth Party in 1942. Their main arguments were public land ownership, greater democracy, and a new "morality" in politics. In 1945 Priestley’s party joined the labour party. Priestley was particularly influential in developing the idea of the Welfare State, this finally took place at the end of World War Two. The play is set in 1912 but was written and performed in 1945. This is significant as it allows J.B Priestley to make Mr. Birling seem even more ridiculous and naà ¯ve. For example, he mentions how there is not going to be a war, however by 1945 when the play was first performed the audience know that there were two wars between 1914 and 1945, World War One and World War Two, which began in 1939. Mr. Birling also mentions how the ship Titanic will not sink, ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’. Again in 1945 the audience know that Titanic did sink, consequently the things that Mr. Birling says, the audienc... ...stley is also conveying his ideas here. The audience would realise that everyone is responsible for each other. Priestley interests and involves the audience by having a lot of tension in the play â€Å"An Inspector Calls†. Priestley also interests them by having an exciting plot and a wide range of characters. He involves the audience by using dramatic irony very early on in the play and using characters to put across his concerns, such as the inspector in his speech tells the Birling’s "each of you helped to kill her." This is not only aimed at the characters on stage but at the audience too. Priestley’s message in â€Å"An Inspector Calls† is responsibility and how everyone is responsible for other people, we are all linked in society. This message is still relevant today because we still have responsibilities for other people and our actions do affect others.

Educating Patients on Using Computer for Information

Patient Guide Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 361: Informatics Systems for Nursing Patient Guide to WWW A 28 year old male, college graduate, was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. He was very concerned with his diagnosis but anxious to know everything about this disease process. He wanted to be knowledgeable on Diabetes and take responsibility for his health. Knowing the Internet could offer him a wealth of information he just needed guidance on how to go about it. He was computer savvy but was not sure what sites would offer him the best information on his diagnosis. With the abundance of information on the Internet, it is very important to develop evaluation skills to assist in identifying quality Webb pages (Hanson & Hoss, 2008). A credible health site will contain information that is based on current scientific fact. The patient was directed to the site, http://www. diabetes. org. This site is associated with a reputable organization, the American Diabetes Association. The site provides contact information at the bottom of the page so you can verify validity of the organization. The site is well organized and maintained, a sign of inherent quality. The sources are listed and can be verified in other sources. The goals and purpose of the sponsoring organization is in the, â€Å"About Us† link. There are dates on the pages indicating, when it was created and updated keeping the information current, which is important with health information. This site has high quality and clinically relevant evidence. A search for Diabetes on Google brought up a site www. everydayh ealth. com/diabetes/index. aspx. This is a commercial site and the information lacked scientific quality. Most of the information given was opinion based. The site states that the information is not for treatment or diagnosis. There is also no contact information given. This site is maintained by a company that supports the consumer and advertising companies. The page had multiple advertisements that didn’t pertain to Diabetes. This would be a site that should raise concern and suspicion. The Internet can offer valuable information around the clock. However, the right tools to evaluate the information are the key to obtaining information that is correct for you (Anderson & Klemm, 2008). References Anderson,A. & Klemm,P. (2008) The Internet: Friend or Foe When Providing Patient Education?. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 12 (1), 55-63. Hanson,D. & Hoss,B. (2008) Evaluating the Evidence : Web Sites. Aorn Journal, 87 (1), 124-141.

Life Span Perspectives Essay

There are many beginnings to the study of human development. The study of human developments is a science that strives to discern how people change over time (Berger, 2011). To do this, developmentalists study all types of people from different age groups, ethnicity, culture, background, nationality, income, and sexual orientation, among many other factors. To begin to understand this science, one must start by looking at what is being studied, some of the major theories that shape and guide these studies, and the interaction of heredity and the environment on human development (Berger, 2011). Developmentalists seek to tackle the challenge of defining humans in a way that simultaneously describes the universalities of humans as well as their differences. Because development is not limited, the person is the result of interactions among all the systems known as microsystems, macrosystems, and exosystems (Berger, 2011). Another aspect of development is that it encompasses the changes and uniformities of people. A visionary in the study of development was Urie Bronfenbrenner, who introduced an ecological-systems approach to the study of development (Berger, 2011). The ecological-systems approach recommends that human development should be studied by looking at the interactions and contexts that make up a person’s life. There are three levels that Bronfenbrenner proposes each person is affected by: microsystems, exosystems, and macrosystems (Berger, 2011). Microsystems are described as foundations of the person’s nearby surroundings, while an exosystem is described as the person’s local institutions. For example, a person’s family would constitute a person’s microsystem and their place of work would be their exosystem. A person’s macrosystem is their greater social settings, such as their cultural values and economy (Berger, 2011). Bronfenbrenner understood that development changes over time and, therefore, included two other systems that interact with the original three; the chronosystem and the mesosystem. The chronosystem encompasses the  historical conditions that affect the other systems and the mesosystem consists of the correlations between the three systems or parts of an individual system. In other words, the mesosystem refers to the connections between home and school, communication processes, and macrosystem factors that affect the microsystem (Berger, 2011). Understanding the shared connections between one area of life to another led developmentalists to form five standards that are beneficial for understanding human life at any age. These five characteristics are multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plasticity (Berger, 2011). Development is multidirectional, meaning that change occurs in every direction, with gains and losses, predictable growth, and unexpected transformations being apparent. Every aspect of life, including, intellectual growth, social interactions, and physical health are multidirectional (up, down, constant, or irregular). Additionally, in late adulthood, during old age, people tend to center on the declines rather than the gains, placing a particularly important emphasis on multidirectional change (Berger, 2011). Human lives are multicontextual, meaning life is made up of many situations, including past circumstances, economical limitations, family patterns, and physical surroundings (Berger, 2011). To put it another way, every context has an impact on the person. For example, the paths available to the individual are dependent on the historical and socioeconomic conditions. Developmentalists note that the socioeconomic status of a person greatly affects their opportunities and limitations, advantages and disadvantages, and past history and future prospects, which affect the person’s habits, knowledge, housing, and nutrition (Berger, 2011). The development of humans is influenced by many cultures. The multicultural principle understand that cognition and behavior are affected by the cultural environment, which includes the person’s social group, ethnicity, race, heritage, and even income (Berger, 2011). It is important to note that culture is dynamic, and people are capable of accepting or rejecting culture values. The study of life span and human development is  multidisciplinary; it is interrelated with various fields of academia. While psychology, biology, sociology, and education are major players, other fields such as neuroscience, anthropology, history, and economics play a role as well. (Berger, 2011) Multidisciplinary is important to the study of development because people grow in mind, body, and spirit simultaneously. The final characteristic is plasticity. Plasticity plays a role in the other four characteristics of development. It is an important characteristic because it represents two corresponding aspects of development (Berger, 2011). Plasticity understands that humans are capable of being molded, like plastic, while still maintaining a sturdy identity. Plasticity is affected by both culture and upbringing, as well as genes and other biological influences. The five characteristics led developmentalists to one conclusion: humans are individuals, whether or not they come from the same cohort, culture, or economy (Berger, 2011). Even though scientists have concluded that every person is an individual, there are still many questions about human development left to answer, which led to five major theories of development. Developmental theories offer structure for clarifying the patterns and problems of development. There are several theories of life span development such as the three grand theories: psychoanalytic, behaviorist, and cognitive (Berger, 2011). The grand theories of human development, which explain the collective development and processes throughout the entire life span, began in the field of psychology; observations and clarifications deriving in history, biology, sociology, and anthropology led to the emergent theories. The two emergent theories are not yet as coherent as the grand theories, but they draw on more academic disciplines providing a broader framework than the customary grand theories that rely only on psychology (Berger, 2011). Discussed here are the two emergent theories: sociocultural and epigenetic. The main concept of sociocultural theory is that human development is the result of a dynamic interaction between a person and their society. This concept is based on the idea that the tools and principles for development  are provided by not only customs, but society as a whole (Berger, 2011). The pioneer of the sociocultural perspective was a man named Lev Vygotsky. By studying the cognitive competency of his diverse society, he developed a theory of guided participation. Guided participation is a technique in which novices learn through shared involvement of an activity with instruction and the participation of a skilled mentor (Berger, 2011). Sociocultural theory places an emphasis on social interaction in learning. Gauvain (1998) stated, â€Å"cognitive development occurs in, and emerges from, social situations† (p.191). Another concept of learning in sociocultural theory is the zone of proximal development (Berger, 2011). The zone of proximal development is the metaphorical zone encompassing a learner that contains all the concepts, skills, and knowledge that the individual is proximal to attaining but cannot yet master without assistance (Berger, 2011). By extension, whether a person is learning a language, social custom, or manual skill, people always learn in the same way, according to sociocultural theory. Although it is true that people do learn in social settings, sociocultural theorists have been criticized for neglecting developmental processes that are not predominantly social (Berger, 2011). Epigenetic theory is centered on the notion that development is influenced by the interaction between genes and the environment. To develop this theory, researchers incorporated many disciplines including biology, chemistry, and genetics (Berger, 2011). Half of epigenetic theory looks at the genetics, referring to the entire genome, and looks at the specific genes that make each person unique and the genes that distinguish humans from other species as well as the genes that all species share. Genes influence all psychological traits as well as mood, metabolism, voice tone, blood type, and much more (Berger, 2011). The other half of epigenetic theory looks at the influence of surrounding factors on genetic expression. These factors are what gives some genes extensive influence while others have no effect (Berger, 2011). As development continues, each person continues along the path established by earlier genetic-environmental interactions, which influences outcomes. According to epigenetic theorists, genes never function alone, their latent  is not realized unless certain epi-factors transpire (Berger, 2011). Furthermore, epigenetic factors also influence groups of people and entire species. One way this happens is through selective adaptation, which is the progression by which humans and other organisms slowly adjust to their environment (Berger, 2011). In other words, over generations, a certain genetic trait in a population will increase or decrease. This depends on whether or not the trait promotes the survival and reproductive capability of that population. The particular environment is what determines which genes are harmful, neutral, or beneficial. According to epigenetic theory, adaptation occurs for all living organisms, regardless of the environment. Unlike sociocultural theory, many facets of epigenetic theory are generally accepted (Berger, 2011). To further explain the interaction of heredity and the environment on human development, one must look further at the role genes play in the development of a person. There are two major contributors to development: the genotype and the phenotype. The genotype is comprised of all the genes of a developing person. The genotype is responsible for the formation of the body and the brain (Berger, 2011). The phenotype is the appearance and behavior manifested in a person. The phenotype is dependent on many genes and the environment, with most traits being polygenic (affected by many genes) and multifactorial (influenced by many factors). Other contributors that influence the phenotype are additive alleles, which can affect height and skin color. Other additive alleles, called epistasis, produce traits that were not previously found in their ancestors (Berger, 2011). Every aspect of human behavior is affected by genes, this includes cognitive and social behavior. Personality and cognitive abilities are affected by many genetic combinations, with the genes relying on the environment for expression. No behavior could exist without genes and without the environment, no gene could be expressed (Berger, 2011). In conclusion, the study of human developments is a science that attempts to understand how people change over time. Developmentalists formed five characteristics that are beneficial for understanding human life at any age:  multidirectional, multicontextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plasticity (Berger, 2011). Additionally, theories of development present introduce organization for understanding the patterns and problems of development. Sociocultural theory suggests that human development is the result of a dynamic interaction between a person and their society, while epigenetic theory is centered on the idea that development is shaped by the interaction between genes and the environment. Every aspect of human behavior is affected by genes and without the environment, no gene could be expressed (Berger, 2011). References Berger, K. S. (2011). The developing person through the life span (8th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. Gauvain, Mary. (1998). Cognitive development in social and cultural context. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7, 188-192.