Small Business Start-Up Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Small Business Start-Up - Coursework Example 2. Jane and Michael have also prepared a break-even chart, showing fixed costs, total costs and total revenue. In doing this, they have assumed that the highest number of orders they could cope with is 2,500 a month. Your second task is to prepare this break-even chart. Michael and Jane plan to apply a wide range of marketing strategies for their business. Key among the strategies to be applied include but not limited to personal selling, fliers, posters, rack cards and signage. The entrepreneurs have decided to use the following promotional strategies owing to the fact that they are quite economical, easy to apply and the fact that their area operation is quite limited. For instance, the market niche for the business involves serving the wealthy homes of The entrepreneurs are interested in maintaining contact with their loyal customers. This is to ensure that the business does not lose their loyal customers to their competitors. Michael and Jane will employ techniques such as email to frequently contact their customers. Considering that Michael and Jane are still youths with limited skills in analyzing information relating to market patterns it is obvious that an individual will place a considerable low confidence level on the survey results of the young entrepreneurs.

Leadership style affect on employee work performance

Leadership style affect on employee work performance According to Khurana, R. (2002) leadership is essentially the secret to successfully fulfilling demanding roles in todays society. A leadership style encompasses a consistent combination of individual behaviors and attitudes towards group members in order to achieve goals. Effective leadership can be a fundamental tool in maximizing company performance and has elicited an abundance of research. Employee performance comprises of two components: performance on the job and withdrawal from the job (Brayfield, A.H. and Crockett, W.H., 1955). Performance on the job refers to factors such as efficiency and overall quantity and quality of output. Withdrawal from the job demonstrates adverse occurrences including absences, accidents and turnover. Subsequent definitions have marked performance as the ability to accomplish a purpose and produce the desired result (Chatman and Flynn, 2001). This essay seeks to outline types of leadership styles projected by various researchers. In a culture that has denoted the immense importance of effective leadership, it will then analyse the effects of leadership styles on employee work performance in accordance to the criteria above. To conclude, this essay will question the impact of leadership style, and finally debate whether it is crucial for adequate performance. During the twentieth century, it was thought that reaching goals were vital to success, leading to the development of classical theories such as Taylors theory of Scientific Management and Fords introduction of the Assembly Line. However, Mayos Hawthorne Studies exposed the importance of social factors in addition to economic motivators. Thus, the Human Relations Movement emerged resulting in a shifted focus onto social processes, and effectively the expansion of leadership theories. The Ohio State Studies highlighted two central factors to leadership: Initiating Structure and Consideration (Stogdill, 1974). Initiating structure addressed task behaviours which served to fulfill duties whereas consideration represented relationship behaviours which aided to build leader-follower links. Essentially, levels of each component would combine to signify the leadership style a particular leader would adopt (see Appendix 1 in Appendices). Likert (1961) went on to summarise leadership styles into four types: exploitative autocratic, benevolent autocratic, consultative and democratic. Leadership styles could be distinguished into four main types: autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire and human relations. An autocratic (or directive) leader would exude a sense of control and often outlining the means of how to achieve targets. Democratic leaders would alternatively consult group members and implement a vote before final decisions. Democratic leaders fall into a sub-group of participative leaders which involve group members in decision making. The laissez-faire approach encourages independence of followers and rarely contributes to the methods of output. Finally, a human relations style comprises of attributes similar a democratic leader, emphasizing the importance of consulting those involved before making a decision (Berkowitz, 1954). The Michigan Studies concluded that leadership styles could be formed on a basis of their employee orientation and production orientation, which consisted of behaviours similar to the Ohio State studies (Katz, D., Kahn, R.L., 1951). Originally, these constructs were seen as dependent variables; that is, if a leader was highly employee orientated their focus on product was compromised and vice versa. However, this principle was subsequently reconceptualised and viewed as independent constructs (Kahn, R.L., 1956). The development of assessment methods later materialized including the Managerial Grid which assigned leaders levels of task and people concern (Blake and Mouton, 1964, 1978 1985). The five central styles are exhibited in Appendix 2 in the Appendices. An authority-compliance leadership style would possess large focus on output and presuppose that followers would obey their orders. Conversely, a County club style leader would stress the importance of addressing peoples needs before output. Impoverished Management Style involves little input from the leader in both aspects, which could be associated with the laissez-faire approach. Initially, autocratic leadership appeared to be idyllic in boosting performance. Before Fords Assembly Line was introduced the factory was producing two-hundred cars per day at a rate of ten days per car. The introduction of Fordism entailed ordering employees when and how to complete tasks. Consequently, productivity rose leading to a total increase of two-thousand-and-five hundred cars per day (Roberts, A., 2009). One cannot deny that autocratic leadership was effective in reaching, and even exceeding, performance targets. However, according to Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1975), the effectiveness of authority has diminished. It seems that as the human relations movement emerged, so did new preferential leadership styles: today, in an environment of vastly improved education many are rejecting traditional authority and trying to set up and act upon their own. Results from Blake and Moutons Managerial Grid found that most respondents score towards the 5, 5 middle-of-the-road style. This implies that most common leadership styles consist of a balance between people and task concern. The 9, 9 approach is acknowledged by managers as the soundest way to achieve excellence. This conclusion has been verified from studies throughout the U.S. and around the world. (Blake Mouton, 1975). It seems that nowadays attention to employees needs whilst maintaining performance targets is a must. Leadership styles that incorporate both concerns are vital to boosting employee performance. According to Lewin et. al (1939), variations of leadership styles influences performances. This study measured the consequence of leadership style on aggression, which could used to connote performance since aggression could be attributed to withdrawal from the job. Laissez-faire was the most common situation for provoking aggression followed by autocracy and democracy. This suggests leadership styles alternate aggression levels and possibly performance. However, it is difficult to generalise findings from a study of young children performing trivial tasks to large organisations where tasks are complex and aggression is not tolerated. Further findings concluded the boys agreed in a relative dislike for their autocratic leader whereas the majority of participants preferred their democratic leaders to their autocratic ones. Assuming that higher liking for a leader would result in preferential performance, this could infer that a democratic leadership style has a positive effect, thus supporting the argument that leadership style impacts performance. However, it would be reductionist to draw a finite conclusion on the practicality of leadership styles according to this piece. It fails to recognise the importance of upbringing which evidently affects the impact of leadership styles. The participant to dislike their democratic leader happened to be the son of an army officerand consciously put a high value upon strict discipline. Thus, it is not exclusively leadership style that affects behaviour but also the values and social norms an individual has acquired. If this concept were expanded onto organisational terms, it could be said that the culture of a business would contribute to whether leadership has a consequence. For instance, in the Ford factories a democratic approach may have been inappropriate in an environment where workers were unskilled and required guidance, hence why autocracy succeeded in boosting performance. An important factor to consider when assessing the usefulness of leadership style is situational variables that exist beyond the control of leaders. According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) these variables include: Type of Organisation; Group Effectiveness; The Problem Itself and The Pressure of Time These factors could determine the success of leadership styles, and leadership as a general instrument of performance. Participative leadership has been found to be more favourable for moderately structured problems while directive leadership was more compatible in situations facing fairly structured problems (Kahai, S. et. al, 1997). This most certainly has implications for the role of leadership styles within the workplace. It could infer that under circumstances where the problem comprises of routine and repetitive tasks a participative leadership style is complimentary in motivating employees to sustain performance. Conversely, problems which are more ambiguous may call for a directive leadership style to inspire followers and unite towards the same goal. Thus, in one respect, it could be argued that leadership styles are ineffective in promoting employee performance as situational variables will ultimately alter overall success. Nevertheless, it is not unreasonable to dispute th at, provided the right style is adopted, leadership style can be imperative in steering employees towards the right aims using the appropriate methods. Conducted research measured the effects of directive and participative leadership style on Heterogeneous teams (teams comprised of members deriving from varying backgrounds with dissimilar skills) and team reflection, and subsequently performance (Somech, A., 2006). Findings discovered that participative leadership lowered team in-role performance under the condition of high functional heterogeneity but found no effect on low functional heterogeneity. Directive leadership, however, had a positive impact on performance. Therefore, it could be debated that leadership style has a consequence on work performance. However, Somech has pointed out that an investigation by Kahai et al. (1997) found no difference in frequency of supportive remarks or of critical remarks in teams working with a participative and with a directive superior. Hence, suggesting that workers cease to notify a difference between these leadership styles and are able to respond to both forms, which subsequently casts d oubt over the value of leadership styles. The relevance of leadership styles is challenged by several theories including the trait approach. It proposes that successful leadership is derived from the possession of certain characteristics such as drive, honesty and integrity and self-confidence rather than styles (Kirkpatrick, S.A. and Locke, E.A., 1991). Supporting research for this approach is plentiful in comparison to the style approach (Stogdill, R.M, 1948 1974; Mann, R.D., 1959; Kirkpatrick, S.A. Locke, E.A., 1991). However, it is yet to generate a definite list of traits and there is less clear evidence to support certain traits such as charisma. In reality, despite its enticing facade, the possession of charisma can often lead to corporations hiring inappropriate candidates. The detrimental effects of charisma were exposed in the case of Enron; the hiring of Jeff Skilling as CEO contributed to their fatal downfall as he was able to justify unethical activities through his charismatic traits, such as allowing top exe cutives to participate in the off-balance-sheet partnerships, (Khurana, R., 2002). However, this approach has failed to produce substantial research linking it to performance outcomes (Yukl, G., 1994). The issues addressed in this essay relate to the introduction of leadership styles and examines the value on employee performance. The profusion of research in this area infers that leadership style has a consequence on employees in the workplace. Nonetheless, research has failed to depict an adequate association between leadership style and work performance, with many results proving contradictory and inconclusive (Yukl, 1994). The lack of conclusive evidence for any approach to explaining leadership could have implications for the concept itself. There is reason to suggest that leadership is not critical with studies finding that forty-seven percent of executives rated their companies overall leadership capacity as poor/fair while a minor eight percent ranked it as excellent (Csoka, L.S., 1998). The reliance of leadership in enhancing performance has largely been questioned with some arguing it as a romanticized conception (Meindl, J.R., et. al, 1985) and others speculating the concept as a social myth which symbolically represents a regressive wish to return to the symbiotic environment of the womb (Gemmill, G. and Oakley, J., 1992). In other words, leadership is a necessity that society has created itself in order to disillusion individuals with the belief that another should be responsible for creating the visions and responsibilities that they could merely accept themselves. In addition, researchers ha ve argued that leadership is not vital if substitutes are available such as individual job expertise and intrinsic task satisfaction (Kerr, S. and Jermier, J.M., 1978). Thus, it brings it into question that if leadership is not a stabilized concept, then perhaps all theories based on leadership could be brought into interrogation, including the principle of leadership styles. The usefulness of leadership styles is undermined by the lack of an optimal style in all situations. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that leaders have back-up strategies if the usual style of accomplishing tasks fail (Blake, R.R Mouton, J.S, 1975). As oppose to debating which style is superlative, it may be sensible to advocate the notion that styles could compliment one another (Sagie, A., 1997). This proposal reinforces the usefulness of leadership style providing that the appropriate style is employed according to varying circumstances. The extent of research conducted, regardless of its substantiality, generates implications that leadership styles do matter(Somech, A., 2006). It would be ignorant to deny the magnitude of leadership in organisations, but that is not to say it should not be considered with caution. It would be reductionist to claim leadership is purely the reason for performance variations. Situational variables, such as culture, will inevitably influence leadership success. Rather than arguing a prime style, an appropriate approach to delegating leadership style would be the Path-Goal Theory which states that leadership styles should be allocated according to the characteristics of the subordinates and the nature of the task (House, R.J. Mitchell, R.R., 1974). Leadership style as a reputable concept clearly imposes an effect on efficacy but companies cannot place full reliance on this tool; leadership style is merely a stimulant and not the sole foundation of employee performance. Appendices Appendix 1 Classic descriptors of leaders decision behaviours diagram taken from Roberts, A. and Corbett, M. (2009) Understanding Organisational Behaviour IB1230. Warwick Business School; McGraw Hill Custom Publishing, p. 197. SHOWING CONSIDERATION High Human Relations Democratic Low Lassez-faire Autocratic Low High INITIATING STRUCTURE Appendix 2 Blake Moutons Managerial Grid. (Blake, R.R and Mouton, J.S. 1975) Bibliography Berkowitz, L. (1954) Group Standards, Cohesiveness, and Productivity, Human Relations 7, pp. 509-514. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1964) The managerial grid. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1975) An Overview of the Grid, Training and Development Journal, 29 (5), May, p. 29-36. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1978) The new managerial grid. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company. Blake, R.R. and Mouton, J.S. (1985) The managerial grid III. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing Company. Brayfield, A.H., and Crockett, W.H. (1955) Employee Attitudes and Employee Performance, Psychological Bulletin, 52 (5), pp. 396-424 Chatman, J.A., and Flynn, F.J. (2001) The Influence of Demographic Heterogeneity on the Emergence and Consequences of Cooperative Norms in Work Teams, The Academy of Management Journal, 44, p. 956-974. Corbett, M. (2009) Understanding Organizational Behaviour (IB1230) Martin Corbett Lecture Slides: Leadership. Warwick Business School; University of Warwick. Csoka, L.S. (1998) Bridging the Leadership Gap. New York: Conference Board. Dubrin, A.J., 2007, Leadership: Research Findings, Practice and Skills. Fifth Edition. Boston, New York. Houghton Mifflin Company. Gemmill, G. and Oakley, J. (1992) Leadership: An Alienating Social Myth? Human Relations, 45 (2), February, p. 113-129. House, R.J. Mitchell, R.R. (1974) Path-goal theory of Leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, pp. 81-97. Kahai, S., Sosik, J. and Avolio, B.J. (1997) The effects of leadership style and problem structure on work group process and outcomes in an electronic meeting system environment, Personnel Psychology, 50 (1), March, p. 121-146. Kahn, R.L. (1956) The Prediction of Productivity. Journal of Social Issues, 12, pp. 41-49. Katz, D., Kahn, R.L. (1951) Human Organization and worker motivation. In L.R. Tripp (ed), Industrial productivity (pp. 146-171). Madison, WI: Industrial Relations Research Association. Kerr, S. and Jermier, J.M. (1978) Substitutes for Leadership: Their Meaning and Measurement, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 22, December, pp. 375-403. Khurana, R. (2002) The Curse of the Superstar CEO. Harvard Business Review, 80 (9), September, p. 60-66. Kirkpatrick, S.A. and Locke, E.A. (1991) Leadership: do traits matter?, Academy of Management Executive, 5 (2), May, p. 48-60. Likert, R. (1961) New patterns of management. New York; McGraw-Hill. Lewin, K., Lippitt, R. and White, R. (1939) Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10 (2), May,   p. 271-299. Mann, R.D. (1959). A Review of the Relationship between Personality and Performance in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56, pp. 241-270. Meindl, J.R., Ehrlich, S.B. and Dukerich, J.M. (1985) The Romance of Leadership, Administrative Science Quarterly, 30 (1), March, p. 78-102. Northouse, P.G., 2007, Leadership: Theory and Practice. Fourth Edition. California; London; New Delhi. Sage Publications, Inc. Roberts, A. (2009) Understanding Organizational Behaviour (IB1230) Ashley Roberts Lecture Slides: Lecture 3, Classical Theories (2): Ford and The Assembly Line. Slide 8. Warwick Business School; University of Warwick. Roberts, A. and Corbett, M. (2009) Understanding Organisational Behaviour IB1230. Warwick Business School; McGraw Hill Custom Publishing. Sagie, A. (1997) Leader direction and employee participation in decision making: Contradictory or compatible practices? Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46. p. 387-452. Somech, A. (2006) The Effects of Leadership Style and Team Process of Performance and Innovation in Functionally Heterogeneous Teams, Journal of Management, 32 (1), February, p. 132-157. Stogdill, R.M. (1948). Personal factors associated with Leadership: A survey of the literature, Journal of Psychology, 25, pp. 35-71. Stogdill, R.M. (1974). Handbook of leadership: A survey of theory and research. New York: Free Press. Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. (1958) How to Choose a Leadership Pattern, Harvard Business Review, 36 (2), March/April, p. 95-101. Yukl, G. (1994). Leadership in organizations. Third edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Page 1 of 11

Personal Narrative On Being Teased and Accepting Yourself :: essays research papers

I had always been comfortable in myself, it never really bothered me how I looked, nor did it seem to bother others, the people who I called friends. As I walked through the door somehow it was as if, overnight I was expected to wear clothes that I felt awkward in (but still looked cute), shoes that hurt my feet, and makeup that clogged my already full pores. I was met with grins and giggles from others. I caught tidbits of what they were saying. ?Look at her shoes! Why is she wearing those? They have holes and don?t even match what she has on.? said anonymous person number 1. I looked down, sure my Chucks were a little faded (okay a lot faded), but they were comfortable and isn?t that what mattered I thought. ?God does she even wash her face anymore, its like erupted, I can?t even see a smooth patch of skin? chimed in anonymous person number two. Its genetic, who are these people, and why are they making me feel bad about myself, I thought. Okay, now as I think back, I will admit that it being the first day of middle school I should have put a little effort in my appearance but, who did I have to impress? Weren?t we coming here to learn? If I was going to sit in a classroom for 8 hours a day I needed to be comfortable. By now I?m sure you have already gathered I was a tomboy. The kind of girl who would rather play with the boys than sit on the sidelines and talk about how ?oh so cute they looked when they caught the football?. Now I think my mother is to blame for this, she never really did give into that girly stereotype that most mothers did. Where I was only going to do cheerleading ?because I?m a delicate flower and all that yadda yadda yadda ya?. She always let me make my own choices and never forced things upon me. Boy did she really mess me up, I mean being so understanding and all. And so my morning went, being verbally assaulted by people who I didn?t even know, scrutinizing every aspect of my wardrobe, being so blunt and uncaring to the fact that I could hear them, I was on the verge of tears. Somewhere in between hearing them trying to figure out why ?

Polymers

It is possible to modify the properties of many polymers by 3 generating crosslink such as these. You will experiment with crosslink the polymer in Elm's glue. A number of different processes are used to turn synthetic and natural polymers into useful objects. These include molding, extrusion, foaming and casting. In this experiment, you will use the technique of extrusion-blow molding in which a tube of polymer is blown up while in the molten state inside of a hollow mold. Almost all Throughout the experiment, you will test the various properties of the polymers that you synthesize and modify.Some polymers have exceptional properties and capabilities that can make them extremely useful to us. You will observe the property of one such polymer, sodium polymerase (the sodium salt of polysaccharide). CHI An NH O NH This polymer can absorb up to 800 times its own weight of water. The ionic portion of the macromolecule is directed toward the center of the structure. When water is added to dry sodium polymerase, the water molecules are drawn into the center of the polymer in an attempt to dilute the salt, and the polymer expands.It is very important that you record careful observations throughout the experiment. You will be asked to describe the appearances and properties of the various polymers in your lab report. 4 Procedure Record detailed observations throughout the experiment. Polymer synthesis Addition polymer?polystyrene Place 20 drops of styrene into a disposable 13 x 100 mm test tube (provided by your TA). Caution! Styrene is a flammable liquid! Keep styrene away from all Bunsen burner flames. It is also a suspected carcinogen. Wear gloves!Using a wooden or plastic utensil, add a few grains of defensibly peroxide and shake the tube to mix. Caution! Defensibly peroxide is explosive when heated. Use only a few grains! Label the test tube with your name, and place it in a sand bath that has been set up by your instructor. Allow the solution to heat for 90 minut es. You may proceed with the rest of the experiment as it heats. When the material in the test tube has turned slightly yellow, remove the test tube from the sand bath and cool it on ice. Try to shake the polymer out of the test tube.If it has not separated from the glass sufficiently to do this, you may wrap the test tube in a cloth towel and carefully break it so that the polymer can be removed. Wear gloves when doing this! Describe the appearance and properties of your polymer. Test the solubility of the polymer by grinding a few chunks in a mortar and pestle and placing the powder in two test tubes. Add water to one of the test tubes and acetone to the other test tube. Record your observations. Dispose of the acetone mixture in the appropriate Laboratory Byproducts Jar. Discard the polystyrene in the appropriate Laboratory Byproducts Jar.Condensation Polymer?Glottal Resin The following procedure must be carried out in a fume hood! Obtain a paper cup. Place 5 Goff ophthalmic anhy dride and 0. 25 g of sodium acetate in a disposable 18 x 150 mm test tube (provided by your TA). Add 2 ml of glycerol. Using our test tube clamp, carefully heat the mixture over a Bunsen burner flame (see TECH I. D). Heat the top of the contents first and work toward the bottom as the mixture melts. Move the test tube in and out of the flame as you do this. Note when the mixture begins to boil and then continue to heat for 3 to 4 minutes.The solution Pour the solution into the paper cup. Allow the solution to thoroughly cool, then tear off the cup to recover your polymer. Dispose of the test tube in glass waste. Describe the appearance and properties of your polymer. Test the solubility of the polymer as you did for polystyrene. 5 Modification of polymers Experiment on crosslink with Glue It is recommended that gloves not be worn when working with Elm's glue. It is easier to remove glue residue from your skin than from the gloves. Obtain a plastic cup and pour 15 ml of Elm's white g lue into it.Add 15 ml of water and stir well. Next, add 10 ml of saturated borax solution (sodium borate, Nabbing) and stir well. Remove the solid material and pull it off the stirrer. The material will be sticky for about one or two minutes. Pour any excess liquid left in the cup into the appropriate Laboratory Byproducts Jar. Rinse the cup with warm water. Perform another crosslink experiment using 1 5 L of glue and different amounts of water and borax (from 5 to 15 ml of borax and from O to 30 ml of water). Compare the properties of the two polymers (strength, bounce, stretchiness, etc. ).Observe the properties of at least two other students' polymers who used different amounts of water and borax in their second preparation. Record these observations. Polymer fabrication Polyethylene bottle Heat one end of a 10-15 CM piece of polyethylene tubing in a Bunsen burner flame. When the polymer is in the molten state, crimp the end with crucible tongs to seal it off?allow it to cool som ewhat before opening the tongs. Re-heat the tubing at the loosed end by passing it in and out of the flame until 1-2 inches of the tubing is in the molten state (looks transparent instead of opaque).Place the molten tubing into a small wide-mouth Jar or vial. Blow air into the open end of the tube so that it expands within the Jar. Let the expanded tubing cool in the Jar for about 2 minutes. Because the polymer is flexible, you should now be able to easily remove it from the â€Å"mold†. Show your polyethylene bottle to your TA. Polymer properties Supersaturates Weigh 1 Goff sodium polymerase and place it in a 150 ml beaker. Add 50 ml of water to the beaker from a graduated cylinder. Record your observations. Add another 50 ml of water to the beaker. Record your observations.

Legalization of Abortion in the Philippines Essay

There are numerous issues that divide the population. Abortion, a long-standing issue, is one of these. Even in ancient and medieval times, people have engaged in such act. In ancient China and Egypt, different methods have been developed to induce abortion such as the use of herbs. The medieval period saw developments in techniques such as the use of forceps and anaesthesia. As expected, with the development of the methods of abortion also comes strong opposition, primarily from religious bodies. The issue of abortion is a controversial topic in the Philippines, despite being a Catholic country. This is because liberal ideas such as feminism, have reached our shores, I see that, at present, there are some women rights group in the Philippines that are pushing for the legalization of abortion. They point out that abortion is already rampant in the Philippines, although unbeknown to the general public. These abortions are usually done in make-shift clinics by people who often have no professional medical background. This puts the mother in a dangerous and life-threatening situation, with 8 out of 10 of these women develop complications. With these findings, pro-choice groups believe that if abortion would be legalized, abortion will now take place in medical settings, ensuring the safety of the mother. They also emphasize that victims of rape, incest, and sexual trafficking who become pregnant because of the abuse should be given the right for abortion since they did not plan on having a baby in the first place. On the other, it is clear that the Catholic Church, a big institution in the country, and pro-life groups abhor abortion since it is synonymous to murder, a mortal sin. For them, life starts in conception, and aborting the fetus even in its earliest stage, ends a life. Abortion deprives the unborn of the life and experiences it should have undergone if it were delivered alive. They suggest that if the baby is unwanted, why not give it up for adoption. I feel conflicted about this issue since I am both a Catholic and a woman. It is easy to say no to abortion because it is wrong according to my religion. As a woman, I, too, believe that I should be given the right to my own body. Nonetheless, taking these all side, regardless of me being a Catholic and a woman, I am a firm believer of the sanctity of life. Life, in all its forms, must be respected and protected. Everyone must be given an opportunity to experience life. In an emotional sense, every pregnancy is different from each other. Some women have planned it for years while others get pregnant by â€Å"accident†. In sad cases though, pregnancy can occur from rape, incest, and sexual trafficking. Since the perpetrator is the father of the fetus, it is hard for the mother to develop love and affection towards it. For many, they believe that getting an abortion can solve this problem. Maybe I am not to judge their actions since I have not experienced the pain and suffering that these women must have undergone. However, I can say that if there is someone that must be punished because of the abuse, it must be the perpetrators. The unborn child must not be harmed since it did not choose to be made. It never inflicted pain towards its mother. It is just a product of an unfortunate event. If the mother does not want to keep the baby, she should just give it up for adoption where the child is given a chance to live and experience life. I think that abortion should not be legalized in the Philippines. In Article 11, Section 12 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the state must protect the life of the mother and the unborn. Abortion, therefore, is unconstitutional. If ever, but unlikely, a new constitution will be drafted and will legalize abortion in the country, this will pave the way for new ethical issues to arise. People then will argue that if abortion is legal, then why not legalize this or that. In the years to come, the Philippines will be a country that only values the wants and comforts of its citizenry, and not the sanctity of life. I believe that the government should strengthen their campaign against abortion. It should put sharper teeth to the law in order to eliminate such  practice in the country. It should also provide comprehensive assistance to victims of sexual abuse in order to help them overcome psychological stress to avoid opting for abortion, and guide them on how to raise their children.