When writing any information relative to cause and effect, there has to be clarity with a specified purpose in mind to include the audience who will be addressed, the subject matter, and finally the cause and effect relationship that will be discussed. The presenter of the information must be able to identify the cause and effect relationship and how it exists. But before beginning to write the essay, report, or memorandum, the writer must know what the definition of cause and effect.
A cause is what causes something to happen and an effect is what happens because of the cause (Ferc, 2014). There are different types of effects and causes that might be considered. Let us discuss a few examples to gain clarity.
The retail industry must ensure that they find methods to gain the attention and loyalty of the customers. Brands must align with causes because it is at this point that the battle for trust begins. The consumer will only buy their retail items from a store that they trust. This trust is built by the retailer selling a good quality product that brings satisfaction to the client (Schmelzer, 2006). Companies that understand their part of this role in business create opportunities for people to become engaged with their products. The cause – selling a quality product - The effect – loyal customers who will consistently buy from the retailer - The end result – increased revenue.
Cause and effect can also be reviewed for business process management. A cause and effect model can be used to explain the sustaining of cross functional integration. A case research approach was used to find the relationships between various fundamentals of integration to understand the ‘how’ or ‘why’ of their presence and how that presence could influence the success of sustaining integration. After examination of several companies doing business within the US Aerospace Defense industry, it was found that a cause and effect model could be used based upon the Theory of Constraints thereby identifying prerequisite constraints. Understanding what caused issues within the work systems could create a positive effect via the theory of constraints (Emery, 2009).
Within the business environment as well as an individual’s personal life, there will be many occasions that will occur where it will be necessary to view cause and effect scenarios. These scenarios will require an individual to understand why certain things have happened and the effects that occur based on those happenings. To be successful in the process it is important to establish a clear relationship between the effects as well as the causes of the topic that is to be discussed. Let us examine how an academic essay could be effectively written to demonstrate a cause and effect scenario.
The Sample Situation: Your health and wellness professor asks you to explain the possible causes of eating disorders in college age female students. Let us begin by examining an important issue in detail to determine cause. One point is to research what can cause eating disorders.
When students leave home for college, they soon realize that there is a huge difference between high school and college. There is an academic and personal transition to include experiencing the dormitory culture. Many students experience anxiety and frustration and have problems dealing with these issues. Some of these students become so overwhelmed that they begin to look for ways to cope with the change. One of the coping mechanisms can be food consumption (Someah, 2012). In combination with the frustrations and feelings of being overwhelmed, there is the pressure to maintain good grades and sometimes added pressure of fulfilling what is perceived as a physical ideal. Freshman students are also exposed to such things as social circles and sorority considerations. While this may be viewed by some as routine, other students may feel even more pressure to perform thereby eating more. This information shows the situations that can cause eating disorders (stress, frustration, feelings of being overwhelmed). This is also substantial supporting evidence relative to the cause of eating disorders among college female students.
The effect is these female students becoming even more frustrated due to weight gain. There are health risks that are associated with being overweight to include heart disease, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea just to name a few. The solution appears to be a simple one and that is to change eating habits to gain control of the weight issue and to replace the eating disorder with physical exercise thereby bringing weight under control.
Conclusion
The above example demonstrates a clear relationship between the effect and the cause relative to possible causes of eating disorders in college age female students. An outline was created to show how the cause begins – frustrations, feelings of being overwhelmed, etc. because of being in college for the first time. This information was revealed via an introduction that was clear thereby enabling the reader to understand the process.
Strong arguments were also listed to back up the information within the content of the essay with each paragraph being descriptive thereby allowing the reader to understand the cause followed by the effect. The last paragraph not only discussed the effect but also presented informative information that could be used to show that there was a solution that could be presented to assist the college female students in overcoming the challenge of an eating disorder. This is a strong example of an effective explanation of cause and effect within a college essay.
References
Emery, Charles R. "A Cause-Effect-Cause Model for Sustaining Cross-Functional Integration." Business Process Management Journal 15.1 (2009): 93-108. ProQuest. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
Ferc, Jenni. "How to Write A Cause and Effect Essay That Gets You An A." 27 May 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <https://blog.udemy.com/how-to-write-a-cause-and-effect-essay/>.
Schmelzer, Randi. "Cause and Effect." PRweek Oct 23 2006: 18-22. ProQuest. Web. 26 Apr. 2016 .
Someah, Kathleen. "Why Are College Students Vulnerable to Eating Disorders." 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. <http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/programs/colleges-and-universities/why-are-college-students-vulnerable-to-eating-disorders>.
