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6 Ways You Can Have a Healthy Relationship

with Yourself
By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.
Associate Editor
~ 3 min read

There’s an assortment of articles about helping us build healthy relationships with our partners
and loved ones. But we don’t hear nearly as much about the most important relationship in our
lives: the one with ourselves.

As writer and photographer Susannah Conway said, “Your relationship with yourself is the
foundation of everything.”

Having a good relationship with yourself gives you important insights into your life. For
instance, years ago, John Duffy worked as an accountant. But he wasn’t happy with his career
path. “I had to look within to determine who I was and what I wanted,” said Duffy, Ph.D, now a
clinical psychologist and author of the popular book The Available Parent: Radical Optimism for
Raising Teens and Tweens.

“Were I not eager to get to know myself well, I would not have made the career change that
allowed for so much possibility and happiness in my life,” he said.

Having a good relationship with yourself improves your relationships with others. Conway
compared it to the safety instructions on airplanes: Put on your oxygen mask before putting it on
anyone else, even a child.

“I have learned, through experiences in and out of the therapy room, that if we are not connected
and emotionally available to ourselves, we cannot be connected and emotionally available for
others either,” Duffy said.

So what does a healthy relationship with yourself look like?

“A healthy self-relationship is the ability to value yourself as a person, and embrace your
strengths and weaknesses,” said Julie Hanks, LCSW, a therapist and blogger at Psych Central.
She’s realized that her strengths and weaknesses are two sides of the same coin. “I am a
passionate and creative person and with those strengths comes the tendency to be disorganized
and emotionally overwhelmed,” she said.

“It means simply considering yourself, every day,” Duffy said. That consideration includes self-
care, self-respect, goodwill and self-love, he said.

A healthy relationship looks like kindness, said Conway, also an e-course creator and author of
This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart. “We have unconditional love for our family and
loved ones — we need to extend that to ourselves, too,” she said.

Regardless of whether you’re used to extending love and kindness your way, you can build and
bolster that healthy bond. These are six ideas on cultivating a good relationship with yourself.

1. Care for your needs.

According to Hanks, “A great place to start cultivating a healthy relationship with yourself is by
caring for your basic physical needs.” That includes getting enough sleep and rest, eating
nutrients and exercising.

Conway agreed. She stressed the importance of giving yourself the space to discover and connect
to “what feeds you in mind, body and spirit.”

2. Joy is important.

“Prioritize the activities that bring you joy and fill your emotional reserves,” Hanks said.
Conway suggested giving yourself treats every day, such as “a walk in the park, a small bar of
chocolate, a long bath [or] a yoga class.”

3. Focus on your inner world.

According to Hanks, a healthy relationship with yourself also includes being aware of your
internal processes. She suggested simply asking yourself these questions on a regular basis:
“What am I feeling? What am I thinking?”

Also, consider the why behind your behavior, thoughts and feelings. For instance, Hanks
suggested asking: “I wonder why that’s bothering me? I wonder why I’m feeling more lonely
lately?”

Journaling and therapy are other vehicles for becoming more self-aware, she said.

Conway teaches several online courses and offers a free workbook, which also help readers tune
into their inner lives.
4. Regularly make time for yourself.

For instance, “Sit quietly for 10 minutes in the morning with your first cup of coffee,” Conway
said. “Find books that speak to your soul and steal moments to dig into them every day,” she
said.

5. Meditate.

“I find the most useful method to be the gift, to oneself, of a daily meditation,” Duffy said. “In
those moments between the thoughts, we allow ourselves peace of mind that can carry us
through even the most stressful days.” These are several suggestions on meditating:

 Meditation for Beginners

 How I Meditate
 How to Get Yourself to Meditate

6. Be your own best friend.

“Any time you hear the negative put-downs swirling around your head, think about what you’d
say to your best friend or sister or daughter, and then rewrite the script with love,” Conway said.

Again, cultivating a positive relationship with yourself is the building block for your whole
world. As Hanks said, “It’s crucial to have a great relationship with ourselves because it’s the
only relationship that you are guaranteed to have every day of your life!”

Managing relationship pressures

When you are in a sexual or romantic relationship, you might experience different kinds of
pressure. This can come from within the relationship, or from outside people or outside
factors.

Pressures can come from issues around money, health, study,

work, or friends.

At times they can be stressful and cause a lot of tension, especially when they challenge your
cultural, religious or personal ideas and beliefs.
Types of relationship pressures
 Religious – having different religious beliefs or customs
 Cultural or racial – feeling pressure to follow cultural or racial beliefs and traditions
 Age/maturity – a big age difference between you might raise differences in beliefs or
expectations
 Family – might put pressure on the relationship for a range of different reasons, such as
cultural, religious, age or racial differences, or feeling you are not old enough or mature
enough to have a healthy relationship
 Money/finance – working out who pays the bills can be difficult, particularly when
you’ve just moved in together or when one of you is earning more than the other
 Jealousy – to or from your boyfriend or girlfriend about relationships with other people
 Mental or physical disability or illness – there are many extra issues and pressures when
you, your boyfriend or girlfriend, or a family member suffers a mental or physical illness
or disability
 Friends – sometimes your friends might be annoyed that you have less time for them
 Sex – pressure to have sex, undertaking sexual acts or share sexual images, from your
boyfriend or girlfriend or friends when you’re not ready
 Moving in together – this causes another range of pressures. Read more about moving in
together.

Some hints on how to handle relationship pressures

Pressures on a relationship can be overwhelming and really stressful.

Communicate

Talk with your boyfriend or girlfriend about what you’re feeling and what your expectations are.
Read more about communication in relationships.

Spend time working on your relationship

Relationships don’t just happen. They are something to put time and energy into maintaining.
This might include doing fun things together like going to the movies

Talk to someone

Talk to those involved in your situation honestly and discuss their concerns about your
relationship. Acknowledge their feelings and also discuss your own feelings and where you are
coming from.

Talk to someone outside the situation, such as a counsellor or friend.

Inform yourself
Find out more information about your boyfriend or girlfriend’s illness if they have one; religion;
or things you don’t feel you understand well enough. This can help you respect differences,
expectations, and needs.

Or collect information about your own illness or religion and give it to your boyfriend or
girlfriend. They may not know where to look for information about you.

Respect your differences

Differences are often the things that make a relationship great.

Remember to regularly make time outside the relationship for your friends and yourself.

Workplace relationships help businesses foster creativity, boost morale and improve employee
retention.

Relationships between employees and management are of substantial value in any workplace.
Human relations is the process of training employees, addressing their needs, fostering a
workplace culture and resolving conflicts between different employees or between employees
and management. Understanding some of the the ways that human relations can impact the costs,
competitiveness and long-term economic sustainability of a business helps to underscore their
importance.

Working Together

Human relations in the workplace are a major part of what makes a business work. Employees
must frequently work together on projects, communicate ideas and provide motivation to get
things done. Without a stable and inviting workplace culture, difficult challenges can arise both
in the logistics of managing employees and in the bottom line. Businesses with engaging
workplaces and a well-trained workforce are more likely to retain and attract qualified
employees, foster loyalty with customers and more quickly adapt to meet the needs of a changing
marketplace.

Improving Retention

The quality of workplace relations is critical to employee retention. Employee retention may
seem trivial — especially in a workplace that is used to a high turnover — but managers must
remember that turnover is financially very costly. Every new employee requires a substantial
investment of time and energy in their recruitment and training. In addition, severing ties with
old employees can sometimes be challenging, especially if the circumstances are not particularly
amicable. Making sure quality employees remain interested and engaged in the business requires
patience, compassion and flexibility, but can actually make the business more financially sound.

Motivation and Productivity

Workplace relationships provide a source of employee motivation, which is important to
maintaining productivity. Employees who are interested in their work and in the well-being of
other employees tend to be more productive than those who are not. This productivity pays
obvious financial dividends to the company, as it can get more done in less time with fewer
costs. Building relationships, by both recognizing an employee's value to the company and a
concern for their needs, often goes a long way.

Fostering Creativity

The modern business environment often rewards businesses that are able to quickly develop
products that meet changing consumer needs. In some industries — such as technology, for
example — employees' ability to come up with effective new ideas is often the difference
between the entire company's success and failure. Employees' creativity is often dependent on
their ability to communicate with other employees and share ideas. Without quality workplace
relationships, employees are less likely to be able to develop and share the solutions that a
business needs to survive.

Employee relations is the manner in which management addresses and interacts with the staff.
Maintaining good employee relations helps reduce workplace conflict, raise staff morale and
increase overall productivity. There are ways that your company can improve employee relations
and help to make your workplace more efficient and constructive.

Improve Communication
Sending out a memo or email to inform employees of important company information is
inefficient and impersonal. Workers can start to think that they are an afterthought to the overall
running of the company. Your employees are among the most important resources in your
organization, so you should work to improve communication with the staff. Have regular
company meetings to introduce important information to employees, and allow employees to ask
questions as well.

Career Development
To decrease employee turnover, the company needs to take an active role in staff career
development. Encourage your managers to work closely with employees on improving staff
skills and answering any questions. Use annual performance appraisals to set up a development
plan for the coming year that will help employees reach their career goals. The company also
should consider a tuition reimbursement program that will assist employees in furthering their
education while working for the company. It creates a smarter workforce and increases employee
morale.

Share the Vision

To make employees feel better about the company, it is important to share the company's plans
with the staff. Hold meetings to explain the company's plans for growth and expansion, and get
the entire staff to understand and take pride in the company's future. Seek input from employees
on ways to improve company productivity going forward, and reward employees who offer ideas
that make company growth more efficient. The rewards can be cash or paid time off. When
management makes the effort to keep employees updated on plans and incorporates employee
suggestions to improve those plans, the staff feels more personally invested in the company's
success.

Challenge Employees
When employees fall into a routine, it can be difficult to motivate them. Spend time finding ways
to challenge employees and make their work interesting and rewarding. You can use incentive
plans such as profit sharing to entice employees to find ways to make the company more
productive and profitable. Set production goals for each department, and give rewards such as
paid days off or quarterly bonuses to the groups that exceed their goals.

The Differences Between Concepts, Theories

& Paradigms
By David Sarokin; Updated April 25, 2017

Scientists work within an elaborate framework of ideas that are subject to testing, evaluation and
refinement. Some ideas are discarded when evidence demonstrates that they are untenable,
whereas others are supported and gain widespread acceptance. Scientists refer to various types of
ideas with different terms—including concepts, theories and paradigms—to distinguish the role
the ideas have in the scientific process.

Concepts
'Concept' is a term that is widely used in everyday English to mean an idea. It has the same
general meaning in a scientific context and is often used to refer to an abstract idea. A concept
can be exceptionally broad or very specific. For example, 'plants' and 'animals' are both concepts
that help scientists, and everyone else, distinguish objects meaningfully in the natural world.
'Mammal' is a conceptual term that refers to a particular type of animal. A concept can be based
in experience or may be entirely imaginary; 'music' is an experience-based concept, whereas a
'dragon' is a concept that exists only in the mind.

Theories
A theory is a well-established scientific principle that is supported by convincing experimental
and observational evidence. A theory has strong explanatory power that helps scientists
understand and describe the universe and make predictions about future events. The theory of
natural selection, advanced by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, is one of the central
organizing principles of evolutionary biology. Einstein's special theory of relativity
revolutionized physics in the early 20th century. Other well-known theories in modern science
include the geological theory of plate tectonics and the germ theory of disease in medicine.

Paradigms
A paradigm is a central conceptual framework for how you can view the world around you. A
paradigm can be so pervasive and broadly accepted as to be almost unnoticed, much the way you
don't usually notice the air you breathe. For example, early observers of the heavens assumed
that human beings were at the center of the solar system, with other planets and the sun revolving
around Earth. That paradigm was eventually overturned by a new view of the solar system that
placed the sun at the center. The term 'paradigm' was brought to prominence by the 1962
publication of Thomas Kuhn's influential book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." Kuhn
argued that science, unlike other disciplines, progressed by broad paradigm shifts in which the
entire scientific community comes to accept a new way of thinking about the world.

Hypotheses
In addition to concepts, theories and paradigms, scientists also generate ideas known as
hypotheses. A hypothesis is a testable idea; it is subject to experimental observation to help
determine its validity. Benjamin Franklin's famous kite-flying experiment was a test of his
hypothesis that lightning is a form of electrical discharge. A hypothetical idea that is repeatedly
tested and found to be reliable may eventually become established as a scientific theory.

What is the Difference Between the

Theoretical and the Conceptual Framework?

Patrick Regoniel
FOLLOW
Many students, both in the undergraduate and graduate levels, have difficulty discriminating the
theoretical from the conceptual framework. This requires a good understanding of both
frameworks in order to conduct a good investigation. This article explains the two concepts in
easily understandable language. Read on to find out.

Many graduating college students and even graduate students have difficulty coming up with the
conceptual framework and the theoretical framework of their thesis, a required section in thesis
writing that serves as the students' map on their first venture into research. The conceptual
framework is almost always confused with the theoretical framework of the study.

What is the difference between the conceptual and the theoretical framework?
A conceptual framework is the researcher’s idea on how the research problem will have to be
explored. This is founded on the theoretical framework, which lies on a much broader scale of
resolution. The theoretical framework dwells on time tested theories that embody the findings of
numerous investigations on how phenomena occur.

The theoretical framework provides a general representation of relationships between things in a

given phenomenon. The conceptual framework, on the other hand, embodies the specific
direction by which the research will have to be undertaken. Statistically speaking, the conceptual
framework describes the relationship between specific variables identified in the study. It also
outlines the input, process and output of the whole investigation. The conceptual framework is
also called the research paradigm.

Examples of the Theoretical and the Conceptual Framework

The difference between theoretical framework and conceptual framework can be further clarified
by the following examples on both concepts:

 Theoretical Framework: Stimulus elicits response.

 Conceptual Framework: New teaching method improves students’ academic
performance.

Notice in the illustrative example that the theoretical framework basically differs from the
conceptual framework in terms of scope. The theoretical framework describes a broader
relationship between things. When stimulus is applied, response is expected. The conceptual
framework is much more specific in defining this relationship. The conceptual framework
specifies the variables that will have to be explored in the investigation. In this example, the
variable “teaching method” represents stimulus while the “students’ academic performance”
represents the response. The variables make clear the kind of statistical treatment that will have
to be used to analyze the relationship.

Image Source

How can students come up with their theoretical and conceptual framework?
In order to come up with their own set of theoretical and conceptual framework that will guide
the conduct of the research, students have to review literature pertaining to their chosen research
topic. Students need to read a lot and find out what has been studied so far in their respective
fields and come up with their own synthesis of the literature. They should look for gaps in
knowledge and identify what questions need to be answered or what problems need to be given
solutions. Thus, they will be able to formulate their own conceptual framework to serve as guide
in their research venture.

For more information on examples of variables, visit simplyeducate.me, a free website devoted
to research and statistics topics.

©Patrick Regoniel 29 August 2010 The Theoretical Framework | The Conceptual

Framework

. Manage relationships

Key ideas
 The use of good interpersonal skills (by everybody) will assist in establishing
more constructive behaviours and provide the social glue for people to work
together. However interpersonal skills have limited value in a workplace
and/or a working relationship which is otherwise flawed in its design or is
subject to ineffective leadership.

Overview
Strong working relationships are grounded on a foundation of mutual trust. Trust in the
workplace is defined as 'the ability to rely upon others to be truthful, to do as they say and to
follow established rules, procedures, custom and practice'. This trust is felt, not agreed or
consciously judged. It is not brought about by everybody being friendly or getting on. It arises
from the nature of the social and physical context within which people relate and is system-
based.

People want and need to work together. However the work environment ie its structure, systems
of work, definition of role relationships, or lack thereof, critically influence people's ability to do
their best work.

To build and maintain desired working relationships requires setting the right workplace
conditions to enable productive work. This includes but is not limited to, the need for each
relationship and its context to be defined and understood by the parties concerned.
Managing relationships at work is about:

 setting the right workplace conditions for productive work

 understanding people differences and how to harness these to fully utilised all of a
person's capability
 appropriately engage and openly resolve issues that may otherwise impede effective
working
 making sense of workplace issues that will impact team members by engaging face to
face and interpreting for individual meaning
 understanding yourself and your impact on others.

Managing relationships is not about:

 being charismatic, using charm or trading favours

 building or sustaining personal friendships or social relationships. This is an individual's
private business and nothing to do with an organisation.
 liking each other
 relying on working the politics within an organisation.

Member downloads
Access member downloads for Manage relationships including:

 Setting conditions for constructive working relationships

 Building trust and a strong manager-employee relationship
 Understanding yourself
 Working constructively with your own manager
 Working constructively with specialists and cross functional roles
 Working constructively with peers
 Managing conflict
 Tools and resources - Short guide to managing relationships

How to Maintain Effective Working

Relationships Within a Team
by Luke Arthur; Updated September 26, 2017

In the business world, employees are often expected to work on projects together and work
efficiently as a group. Because of this, maintaining positive team relationships is critical to
business success. If you are in charge of a team of people, fostering positive interactions and
long-term relationships should be one of your top priorities. Once your team members start
developing relationships with one another, everyone will start to work together as a unit and
objectives can be reached more easily.
Encourage feedback and communication with the members of the team. If you are the manager
of the team, asking for feedback regularly can help team members realize that their opinions are
important. When employees feel like they are valued, they will enjoy being in the team more.

Empower your team members to make decisions on their own and to get projects done. Instead
of micromanaging every little detail of the group, allow each person to handle her own part of a
project. When employees can work freely without having to worry about someone looking over
their shoulders all the time, they will usually perform better and will respect each member of the
team.

Host group activities outside of work. While you want everyone to get along with each other at
work, it is also important to have activities outside of work. For example, taking your team out
for lunch once a month can be a good way to let everyone get to know each other. Celebrate
birthdays, holidays and other special events with each other.

Have regular group meetings for your team. For instance, having a morning meeting to make
sure that everyone is on the same page can be an effective strategy to develop relationships with
your team. If you spend time together every day, it will create a feel of camaraderie within the
group.

Tips

 Spend time getting to know everyone else in your team. Group meetings are not always
the best way to get to know someone.

Warnings

 While you want to allow your employees some freedom, do not give them too much
freedom. You still need to set deadlines and objectives for your team members to keep
them on task.

Employee relationship management – 5 Tips

on how to do it right!

by Raneen Jamaledine Published on March 31, 2017

Employee Relationship Management is essential in today’s competitive business world. Building
and maintaining healthy employee relations is a key requirement for your business to succeed.
No one can succeed alone without great teamwork.

But how do we do so?

Enhancing communication channels and motivation in employees is a great base for healthy
employee relationship management.

In addition to this, creating a uniformed vision, embracing equality and being a great leader is a
must.

Building better employee relations requires a sound balance between:

 employee’s needs are being met and

 the company is producing profitable and on-going business.

As you can imagine, fostering great employee relationships holds many advantages for an
organizations success.

Here are some advantages of employee relationships are

managed well:
 Sound employee relationship management maintains a harmonious atmosphere at the
workplace: one that is healthy among and between all levels of employees.

 Happy employees are more confident and productive. They take on increased
responsibilities more efficiently.

 A stronger employee relationship leads to better employee morale and job satisfaction.
This creates lower stress levels and increased enthusiasm, in turn, enhances their abilities
to better meet the company’s goals and objectives. This fosters a building of trust and
loyalty towards the company.
  Improved communication channels lead to conflict reduction, reduced staff turnover
rates, and absenteeism levels. This reduces unnecessary costs associated with re-hiring
and re-training new employees. It allows misunderstood situations to be clarified and put
in place quick solutions to rectify the issue effectively.

 Companies that nurture employee relations enhance an employee’s motivation to be

creative. This encourages a culture of innovative thinkers and cultivates a teamwork type
ambiance.

See also: 5 Tips to Reduce and manage your employees’ emotions under pressure

You may be asking:

How do we develop better employee relationships?

Here are few ideas about how you can achieve that.

A workplace that promotes great employee relationship

management usually demonstrates:
 Equality

• Equality prohibits favoritism and promotes a fair and uniform working environment. It
creates an atmosphere in which employees feel relaxed and comfortable, knowing that
they are commended and promoted based on their contributed efforts and goal
achievements. When employees feel a genuine sense of equality they are more likely to
be more productive and work harder.

• Make certain that your employees are knowledgeable of policies and recognize their
limits and boundaries among their co-workers and management personnel.

 Effective and open communication

• Given that your employees are the assets and backbone of your company’s operational
success, improved communication is essential.

• Encompassing a work environment with an effective communication approach starts

with keeping your door open to all employees and management personnel. An open door
policy reinforces that you are always there to listen and take on concerns and questions.
This leads to a workplace that is able to empathize with grievances, resolve
misunderstandings and reduce internal conflict in an effective and quick manner.
 • A secretive business owner can lead employees to mistrust their leadership and reduce
employee morale, thereby damaging communication channels. Successful business
owners effectively communicate and engage their employees in the businesses operation.
This entails a positive interaction of management’s developments and plans as well as
employee’s communicating their own feedback and judgments.

 Effective employee relationship management requires a Shared vision

• Policies, goals, and objectives of a company should be clearly articulated and

uninformed with all employees. This allows employees to work towards the same vision
and drive the company forward.

• Sharing the company’s vision also means that employee’s opinions are taken on board.
A collaborated vision instills an employee’s desire to improve the company’s image,
brand, and position in the industry. A good employee relation culture encourages
employees to share their ideas and input. When an employee feels their input is highly
regarded, this enhances an employee’s determination to further excel in attaining a
company’s set goals and objectives. Consider conducting monthly update meetings of the
businesses short-term and future aspirations and goals.

 Motivate employees

• Motivating employees is fundamental to enhancing overall productivity and attaining

set goals. However, for this to be effective you must ensure that expectations are clearly
defined and feedback is understood. The absence of this can produce major conflict and
be detrimental to your company’s operation. Therefore, ensure that you are proficient in
creating an environment where positive employee relations are present.

• Implement programs that encourage health and wellness. Managing your employees’
stress and improving their sense of well-being allows them to feel appreciated and cared
about. When your employees are happy and well, their motivation to do well takes over.
• Respect and value your employees. Provide incentives and rewards, such as Employee
of the Month programs, flextime and movie vouchers. Also, consider career development
opportunities where warranted.
• Employee relations help you to understand what motivates and drives your employees
to be more productive.

 Inspirational leadership is essential for effective employee relationship

management

Being the boss doesn’t entail telling people what to do and how to do it. Conversely, a
successful employer is one that drives their employees to achieve results, reach targets
and demands excellence.

They are not forceful in their demands; however, they are effective in how they
communicate and motivate employee achievement. Being likeable, yet a respected leader
 should be a must skill to achieve. This talent facilitates the ability to cooperate, instil trust
and effectively coach and mentor your employees. A positive connection energizes your
employees to excel. You don’t want your employees to feel scared or nervous in their
own shoes; productivity decreases and so does your relationship.

Adopting these steps effectively to enhance your employee’s relationships at the workplace
stimulates employees to achieve and strive for a more outstanding level of performance. This in
turn reels in new business opportunities, improves customer relations and attracts new clients.

A dynamic work culture is therefore crucial to the growing success and sustainability of your
business. So, start improving your workplace employee relationships today, and watch the
rewards roll in!

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discount code: potentialblog when you get to the checkout. Click here to enroll.

Null hypothesis and Alternative Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an approximate explanation that relates to the set of facts that can be tested by
certain further investigations. There are basically two types, namely, null hypothesis and
alternative hypothesis. A research generally starts with a problem. Next, these hypotheses
provide the researcher with some specific restatements and clarifications of the research
problem.

Statistics Solutions is the country’s leader in dissertation statistics. Contact Statistics Solutions
today for a free 30-minute consultation.

The criteria of the research problem in the form of null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis
should be expressed as a relationship between two or more variables. The criteria is that the
statements should be the one that expresses the relationship between the two or more measurable
variables. The null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis should carry clear implications for
testing and stating relations.

The major differences between the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis and the research
problems are that the research problems are simple questions that cannot be tested. These two
hypotheses can be tested, though.

The null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis are required to be fragmented properly before the
data collection and interpretation phase in the research. Well fragmented hypotheses indicate that
the researcher has adequate knowledge in that particular area and is thus able to take the
investigation further because they can use a much more systematic system. It gives direction to
the researcher on his/her collection and interpretation of data.

The null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis are useful only if they state the expected
relationship between the variables or if they are consistent with the existing body of knowledge.
They should be expressed as simply and concisely as possible. They are useful if they have
explanatory power.

The purpose and importance of the null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis are that they
provide an approximate description of the phenomena. The purpose is to provide the researcher
or an investigator with a relational statement that is directly tested in a research study. The
purpose is to provide the framework for reporting the inferences of the study. The purpose is to
behave as a working instrument of the theory. The purpose is to prove whether or not the test is
supported, which is separated from the investigator’s own values and decisions. They also
provide direction to the research.

The null hypothesis is generally denoted as H0. It states the exact opposite of what an
investigator or an experimenter predicts or expects. It basically defines the statement which
states that there is no exact or actual relationship between the variables.

The alternative hypothesis is generally denoted as H1. It makes a statement that suggests or
advises a potential result or an outcome that an investigator or the researcher may expect. It has
been categorized into two categories: directional alternative hypothesis and non directional
alternative hypothesis.

The directional hypothesis is a kind that explains the direction of the expected findings.
Sometimes this type of alternative hypothesis is developed to examine the relationship among
the variables rather than a comparison between the groups.

The non directional hypothesis is a kind that has no definite direction of the expected findings
being specified.

The management of a business relies on both a solid hard skill set and the effective use of soft
skills. The strategic decisions an organization makes concerning its operations and its framework
of goals combine both hard and soft skills. Two management theories -- operational level
strategy and functional level strategy -- have emerged to explain the ways organizations make
decisions. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Operational Level Strategy: Advantages

Famed management consultant Peter Drucker first proposed a focus on operational level strategy
in the mid-20th century. He noted that most organizations have many levels of management.
This is true even in businesses where tasks might be delegated across a small number of
employees or outsourced to third parties. The strategic decisions a business must make about its
current and future plans are, in Drucker's view, decisions about the operations of the company:
They deal with scheduling activities, paying invoices, supply chain management and the use of
assets and resources. Focusing on operations has its advantages. It allows the business to harvest
the worth of the asset or resource for many different purposes. An employee can be seen as an
asset, for instance, that generates income, performs a vital business function and helps produce
goods and services. The same could be said of technology, such as a computer, which serves the
business' operations in many ways.

Operational Level Strategy: Disadvantages

Despite the benefits of seeing all strategy decisions as essentially operational level decisions,
there are some drawbacks to this approach. Such a strategy has the tendency to reduce all assets
and resources to numerical quantities. While viewing employees as vital resources to the
company can be a good approach, there is the risk that employees eventually are seen as just a
means to an end of profit. Businesses also might be too quick to discard resources when they
don't have an immediate value or worth. This can be dangerous in an era where technology is
rapidly changing.

Functional Level Strategy: Advantages

Functional level strategy is a response to operational level strategy. It advocates for the business
to see its management decisions as specific to a functional area of the organization, such as
marketing, human resources, finance, information management and public relations. The
advantages of this are that employees and resources can be assigned to the tasks that best suit
their skills and interests. If you have an employee with expertise in HR, for instance, it makes
logical sense to assign her to the human resources function instead of the finance division.
Functional level strategy aims to see people and resources as an end in themselves, not a means
to an end.

Functional Level Strategy: Disadvantages

Functional level strategy is quite useful from the standpoint of valuing the innate worth of the
people and resources with an organization, but there are some disadvantages that are particularly
evident in smaller businesses. Oftentimes, small businesses combine several functions into one
or a few departments. A business might not have enough staff or resources to separate HR,
technology, finance and other departments from one another. All of these functions might be
performed by a few or even just one person. In these cases, functional level strategy is more
difficult to employ because the tasks and strategies a business undertakes begin to look more like
operations than they do functions. A good business manager can employ operational level
strategy where it is a appropriate and use functional level strategies where they fit in best.