Point by Point comparison of Eva and Elizabeth Essay

Point by Point comparison of Eva and Elizabeth - Essay Example All these similarities and differences will be discussed in more details. Eva is a thirteen year old (13 years) European girl who has a polish origin. She is currently residing in the United States of America but as an immigrant because she was not born in the United States of America. Elizabeth on the other hand is younger than Eva by three years (she therefore is 10 years old) and was born in the United States of America which automatically makes her a US citizen. Even though she was born in the United States of America, she is an Asian. Unlike Eva who is proud of her Polish heritage and values it and its family from that country, Elizabeth hates and even rejects her Asian background. This hatred is even transferred to school where she has to attend a Chinese school which she totally hates and confesses to being happy when she does not have to go to school. She does not want any form of association with China and considers herself as all American. This is in contrast to Eva whose pride for her background makes her appreciative of her heritage and cultur e. Both Eva and Elizabeth are first born children in their families and have other siblings behind them. The siblings in both Eva’s and Elizabeth’s life are stubborn and give their parents especially their mothers a very hard time. It is as a result of this, the fact that they are the eldest and probably the fact that they are foreigners that makes both of the girls so protective over their mothers. They are educated and love their families and thus help them communicate with the world outside. Cultural identity is the personality or characteristics that an individual has about a particular culture which is similar with others of the same culture but contrasts with that of other individuals from a different culture. In this case, Eva who is from a Polish culture has a different culture from Elizabeth who has a Chinese background culture and hence different cultural identity. The two girls under

Personal Nursing Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Nursing Philosophy - Essay Example As I registered nurse, I have formulated a nursing philosophy that will guide me in my role. First, I have recognized that nursing is a profession that has its own set of rewards. To achieve this rewards I should act in a professional way, this entails a commitment to achieve excellence in patient care and ensuring that I upheld patient’s rights. I should also be ready to learn and accept corrections so that I can utilize the available resources to improve the patient’s health. As a nurse, I am committed in ensuring that the patient’s environment is conducive and will to lead to easy recovery. My philosophy also involves understanding the meta paradigm concepts of the nursing profession. These are areas of concern to the profession and these calls for proper understanding of the following concepts. First, what does nursing entail? What is my personal understanding of health? How do I maintain a good environment? And lastly how do I treat patients? As a nurse, I a m determined to integrate the required practice components in my role. Nursing also involves scientific and philosophical approach in caring for individuals who seek medical care. Nursing also involves disease prevention and management.... It is vital for patients to be consulted on various issues affecting them. Such issues include patient participation in their care, maintaining of dignity and self worth. I also believe that I have the authority to make independent decisions concerning patients care so long as it is with my scope of expertise (Daniels, 2006). This will enable me use creativity as well as knowledge to ensure that patients receive good health care. Understanding the anatomy and physiology of the human body is vital (Polifroni & Welch, 2007). Thirdly, there are two types of environments, the physical environment where health care is provided, and the internal environment, which refers to patient’s mental awareness (Fitzpatrick & Kazer, 2012). Both physical environment and mental awareness considerations are necessary for thorough patient assessment and treatment.   My philosophy as a nurse is that i should create a conducible environment to help in ensuring the patients quick recovery. I should show the patient that I care and entails connecting with the patient and forming a professional relationship. This helps in understanding the patient hence enabling me to choose things that can positively affect the patient quick recovery (Barker, 2009). As a nurse, I should be concerned about the client’s ability to handle the illness and the effect of diagnose on the client’s family (Fitzpatrick& Kazer, 2012). This will enable me to advice the patient and the immediate family on how to manage the situation. This gives the patient a good state of mind and this accelerates the patient’s recovery. Understanding the patient’s religious and cultural beliefs and their attitudes

Holiday Decision Making Processes Tourism Essay

Holiday Decision Making Processes Tourism Essay The following essay attempts to critically analyze the traditional problem solving approach to consumer decision making process with support of the study that the case study has discussed. The writing is done over nine steps. It begins with the introduction phase that discusses the importance of consumer behavior and the importance of decision making and in particular the importance of traditional consumer decision making in consumer behavior. The following subsection defines the detailed stages involved in traditional consumer decision making. Following this, is a comparative study done between traditional consumer decision making and holiday decision making based on the stages of traditional consumer decision making model. This is further, followed by a conclusion that summarizes the outcome of the study altogether. Consumer behavior is the study of the mental and emotional processes and observable behavior of consumers during searching, consumption and post purchase of a product or service. Assessing consumer behavior and understanding the same is vital and essential for the success of any marketing strategy. Consumer decision making process is the sequential stages of processes that a consumer goes through when opting to purchase a product or a service. Any consumer is assumed to go through five staged decision making process before attempting to make any purchase. This is referred to as the Traditional Decision making process. It is very necessary for the marketer to understand the decision making process that the consumer goes through in order to successfully market the product. III.TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING PROCESS The five important stages of the traditional consumer decision making process are: Need Recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase and Post-Purchase evaluation. Need Recognition Problem Awareness: Need recognition is when a consumer has identified a particular need or a problem that has been unmet and has to be immediately met. Two different styles of need/problem recognition styles exist within consumers. The categories of consumers are those who opt a product as the present product that they are using fails to function efficiently. These consumers are referred to as actual state type consumers. The second type of consumers are the desired state types, who need a product just because to desire to have one. So the desire becomes the trigger in their decision process. Altogether, a consumer at this stage can be referred to as an aroused consumer who is vulnerable to any stimulus of the marketers appeal. Information Search Information search is the search is the next subsequent stage wherein, the consumer has already identified a product that will cater to his/her need. There are two types of searches , the internal search and the external search. The internal search is when the consumer recollects his/her past experiences and makes that the base for his/her current decision making. An external search is when the consumer consults external environment factors for making his/her choice decision. This is because the consumer lacks sufficient experience. In many purchase decisions, a consumer conducts an internal search in combination with an external search as well. Normally, the consumers tend to involve themselves in extensive information search in products that involve high risk and are more costly than in case of products that involve low risk and are inexpensive. The search conducted before buying a shoes would differ from the search conducted before buying a car. Evaluation Of Alternatives In this corresponding stage, the consumer has identified a number of particular product/service that will satisfy his/her need. It is here that the consumer makes the decision between the available potential alternatives on the basis of brands and number of preferred criteria against which these products are assessed. The set of brands that comes in the consideration list of the consumer is called evoked set. Inept set is the set of brands that the product does not consider because it is looked upon by the consumer as unacceptable. Inert set is that set of brands that the consumer is indifferent towards because the consumer, does not consider the product to be having any particular advantages. Purchase This is the stage wherein the consumer actually purchases a particular product after identifying need, conducting search and evaluating possible alternatives. Consumers are normally identified to be making three types of purchases which are namely trial purchases, repeated purchases and long term commitment purchases. The trial purchase refers to the instance wherein a consumer tries to evaluate a product or brand by using it for the first time. Repeated purchase is a case of established brand loyalty wherein consumers repeat product purchases. Long term commitment is when consumers associate themselves in opting to purchase a particular brand of a product and over again in time. Post purchase Evaluation This is the stage wherein the consumer has bought and used a particular product, the consumers reflection on whether the product was satisfying or disappointing. In cases where the consumers needs are met or exceeded the consumer can be referred to as satisfied. If that does not happen, the consumer begins to experience cognitive dissonance which is an internal conflict that the consumer experiences because of having conflicting ideas. (Schiffman G.L, Kanuk L.L, Hansen.H , 2008) IV.IDENTIFYING THE NEED FOR A HOLIDAY DECISION MAKING When the holiday decision making plan of 27 Belgian households were analyzed, it was found that Holiday decision making model did not have any fixed sequential stages, unlike the traditional decision making model. It was observed that in the Holiday decision making model, the administrative factors played a vital role in deciding choice and time of holiday decision making. Apart from this, it was found that unlike in the traditional decision making model, while planning for a holiday, there was no sequential evolution of holiday plans. The typical factors that influence the need and the decision of holiday decision making process was found to be situational factors, levels of involvement, day dreaming nostalgia, anticipation. This is completely different from the Traditional Decision making process which has very well structured and sequentialized. The need for a particular product/service is identified, following which the information search and evaluation of alternatives is done. This further leads the consumer towards making a purchase and then post purchase evaluation. Unlike in the Holiday decision model the factors that influence the decision making process of a consumer in traditional consumer decision making is the need that is triggered due to the failure of a product that they are using or the desire to have a new product. Decision for choosing a product is done here. V.SEARCHING FOR AN IDEAL HOLIDAY DESTINATION . The information search in traditional consumer decision making is well structured, which is at times internal or external or a combination of both based on the value /risk of a product. The information search phase in the holiday decision model was found to be unstructured unlike the traditional decision making model .In holiday decision making, information collection was identified to be an ongoing process that still continues even after the holiday has been booked. Information is gathered during and after the holiday experience owing to cognitive dissonance, prolonged involvement/hedonic consumption. Moreover, the information search in holiday decision making is found to be more internal or memory based, than external or stimulus based. However, all the information collected were not always used. The holiday decision makers were also found to be low information searchers. Information accumulated naturally in a non purposive way and they become really important in the last days before a booking is made. There is a shift observed from internal to external source of information and from general to more specific information altogether. Hence in holiday decision making , information search information collection is not a direct predictor of actual choices but helps in strongly pointing out the preferences of a consumer. Whereas, in traditional consumer decision making the information search is mainly internal oriented (like past experience) for products with low risk and products that are less expensive, external (like person reference) for products those involve high risk and are expensive. The higher the past experience, the lesser the external search would be done. Information is considered very important and the information gathered becomes the driving force in the decision making of a consumer. The kind of shift from general to specific information hunt is not quite significant in traditional consumer decision making. In traditional consumer decision making, the search begins as internal and then proceeds to external and then a combination of both. It is also observed that unlike holiday decision making, traditional consumer decision making consumers are keen information searchers and conducts a thorough research before deciding on a particular product. And finally, in traditional consumer deci sion making, information collection strong points the preferences of consumer, and also is a vital predictor of the actual decision that the consumer tends to take. VI.EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE HOLIDAY DECISIONS When it came to the evaluation of alternatives in case of holiday decision making, the study conducted brought to light that holiday decision making was an ongoing circular process that began with the making of a decision. Ideally, as one holiday ended, the holidays decision makers involved themselves in making the next plan. It was also observed that the decision makers involved themselves in making a number of plans at the same time. So does the evaluation of alternatives. As they constantly keep gaining information they tend to keep switching their preference for alternatives. And each of the plans that the holiday maker made comprised of different time horizons, different formulas and different types of decision making processes. Another instance in the case , highlighted the fact that holiday decision making was mostly found to be adaptable and opportunistic. In these cases holiday decision makers , though had willingness to go to a particular place for a holiday , they were found to be going only when the opportunity struck. Hence, adaptability and opportunity were found to be the two major criterias on which a holiday decision maker was found to evaluating and deciding on the option of a holiday destination. Moreover, these strategies were found to be aligned with situation and to the type of decision making unit in which they were involved. So while evaluating the alternative, the alternative that is more favorable to adapt and to which there was a prevailing opportunity was given more importance than a on e which wasnt favorable and for which there w as no opportunity. Altogether, it was found that while evaluating alternatives and decision making, adaptability and the decision making unit to which a holiday decision maker belonged influenced to situations and decision making unit to which they belong. When it came to evaluation, preferences were more given to experience based techniques than pre-planned ones. Many holiday makers didnt use any well defined strategies while making their decisions. Needs and desires were directly connected to choice solutions because they are evoked at the same time. Finally, they prefer simple decision rules even if they are not accurate. Alongside, holiday makers decision strategies were characterized by factors like limited amount of processing, selective processing, qualitative reasoning, attribute based non compensatory rules and a lack for the evaluation of each alternative. In comparison to this, in the traditional consumer decision making model the consumer evaluates products based on brands and critetrias. Unlike in holiday decision making, in traditional consumer decision making consumers follow a method wherein initially, a evoked set is generated based on the list of brands from which they plan to make their selection following which criterias will be used to evaluate each brand separately. Based on the ranking of criterias, the final product choice is made. Evaluation of alternatives is not an ongoing process and it is done only when a particular product is recognized to be catering to a particular need/problem identified. Hence traditional consumer decision making is not in any manner not adaptable nor opportunistic rather its completely need/desire oriented. Also pre planned decisions were the one that was given more importance when it came to evaluation. Strategies are clearly made based on ranking of features of a particular product of a brand . In traditional consumer decision making, evaluation of alternatives is characterized by the knowledge of the brand, information gathered and the preference of criterias evaluated for each brand/product of the evoked set. VII.PURCHASE OF A HOLIDAY PLAN AND ITS POST PURCHASE EVALUATION: When analyzing the purchase stage of the holiday decision making, it was found that the final decision making was made by consumers in the last minutes. This was mainly done to reduce the risk involved, expectancy, availability, loyalty and personality. It is also found from the case that the purchase of the holiday decision making, is done instantaneously depending on momentary moods and emotions. Emotional factors in fact were identified to be a major factor based on which the holiday choices were made. The purchase is also done instantly as the holiday decision makers are consumers whose choices are made suddenly for sudden pleasure. This highlights the fact that affective choice mode is more relevant than traditional information processing mode in Holiday decision making model that in itself is a highly experiential product. Most of the holiday decision makers tend to be optimistic and idealistic in the starting but they become realistic only over time and final purchase is made only the last moment. The reason for this trend of shift was identified to be the objective intervention or subjective perception of contextual factors. However contextual factors like occupation, family, situation are first considered before contextual inhibitors like time, money and budget. The feeling of cognitive dissonance can be thoroughly noticed in case of holiday decision making. Because of this experience of cognitive dissonance that is a post purchase concern it was seen that the informants involved themselves in gathering information during and after the holiday experience altogether. The informants in many cases were found to be experiencing cognitive dissonance which continuously strived to reduce. In the traditional decision making model, model of feel-learn-do is observed to be important whereas the feel-learn-do and feel-do-learn sequence appear more important in the holiday decision making. Contrary to the holiday decision making, in traditional consumer decision making the consumer plans sequentially before making the purchase. They discover a need, conduct information search, evaluates the alternatives and decides to purchase a chosen product. Unlike in holiday decision making, in traditional consumer decision making the consumers are observed to be optimistic, idealistic and realistic right from the need recognition stage till this stage of purchase. Also, in case of traditional consumer decision making, the post purchase cognitive dissonance experienced by a consumer was found to be directly proportional to the risk or value involved with the product. VIII.CONCLUSION Based on the comparative study made it can be evidently summarized that holiday decision making processes evidently varies from the traditional consumer decision making. Right from the beginning stage of need recognition till the stage of post-purchase evaluation stage the disparities are evident and noticeable. holiday decision making is highly based on opportunities, adaptability and emotions to a very large extent. Unlike traditional consumer decision making holiday decision making is found out to be combination of many processes. Hence altogether holiday decision making, is identified to be a rational process and holiday decision making processes and considered to be quite important as they are vital in achieving higher order goals. IX.REFERENCESBIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Peter Robinson. (2008). Holiday decision making: the family perspective. Available: http://www.insights.org.uk/articleitem.aspx?title=Holiday+Decision+Making:+The+Family+Perspective. Last accessed 25th Jan 2. Michael Richarme. (2004). Consumer Decision Making Models, Strategies and Theories. Available: http://www.decisionanalyst.com/publ_art/decisionmaking.dai. Last accessed 23rd Jan 2010. 3. Lars Perner PhD . (1999). Consumer Behaviour: Psychology Of Marketing. Available: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/. Last accessed 26th Jan 2011 4. Hawkins, Delbert, Best, Roger, Coney, Kenneth (March 2003). Consumer Behaviour: Building Marketing Strategy. London: McGraw-Hill/Irwin .71-99. 5. Leon G.Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk, Havard Hansen (2008). Consumer Behaviour. England: Pearson Education Limited. 75-91. 6. Encyclopaedia of business 2nd edition. (2011). Consumer Behaviour. Available: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Comp-De/Consumer-Behavior.html. Last accessed 26th Jan 2011. 7. Kevin moore, clive smallman, jude Wilson, David simmons . (2010). Yield-Relevant Tourist Decision Making. Available: http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/PageFiles/6830/6197_YieldRelevantIn_s20222.pdf. Last accessed 26th Jan 2011 8. Murthi, B.P.S., and Kannan Srinivasan (1999). Consumers Extent of Evaluation in Brand Choice.. London: Journal of Business. 23-77. 9. Solomon, Michael R (2003). Consumer Behaviour. 6th ed. New York: Prentice Hall . 43-88. 10. Mantel, Susan Powell, and Frank R. Kardes (1999). The Role of Direction of Comparison, Attribute-Based Processing, and Attitude-Based Processing in Consumer Preference.. New York: Journal of Consumer Research. 30-54.

The Characters of Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights :: Wuthering Heights Essays

The Characters of Wuthering Heights At first glance, Wuthering Height shows us conflict between a landlord, Heathcliff, and Mr. Lockwood. Heathcliff, one of the novel's main characters, is portrayed as an uncompromising, sadistic bully, and produces a desire in Lockwood's character to find out more about his past. Bronte uses Lockwood's character to pull in her main narrator, Nelly Dean. Nelly was a first-hand witness to Heathcliff's story and so proceeds to relate the history, as she remembers it, to Lockwood. It appears very soon, after the start of the story, that Nelly Dean is the protagonist. She appears more than happy to stir the conflict, which goes a long way in keeping the story interesting and moving right along. Wuthering Heights is set in the "remote moors of Yorkshire" (680), on that "bleak hill-top" where "the earth was hard with a black frost" (686). Almost all the characters in this story have a very frosty, antagonistic side to them and Nelly introduces us to Catherine and Hindley, when they were children, on the eve of Heathcliff's entry into the family. Nelly appears to make this story-telling as straightforward as possible, but her feelings for Heathcliff are not disguisable.When she made the step from playmate to the children's nursemaid during the measles episode, her feelings toward Hindley and Catherine hardened and she softened so much toward Heathcliff that "Hindley lost his last ally." Heathcliff "was the quietest child that ever nurse watched over. The difference between him and the others forced me to be less partial. Cathy and her brother harassed me terribly, he was a uncomplaining as a lamb..." (702). Nelly developed alternate feelings for Catherine: "she put us all past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day." "She was much too fond of Heathcliff." "In play she liked, exceedingly to act the little mistress...but I would not bear slapping and ordering; and so I let her know" (704). The class distinction, after the measles, became a clear, hard line: Nelly, on the servant side with Joseph, and Catherine and Hindley on the side of the owners of servants. This further hastened Nelly's spiteful feelings toward Catherine when Mr. Earnshaw died. Hindley came home with a new bride, and Nelly was physically installed in the servants' quarters and Heathcliff was installed with the animals in the stables. In her story up to now Nelly has portrayed herself as a concerned member of the family that has finally been relegated to where she knew she would end up anyway, a servant.

Competitive Advantage theory Essay

The last decades there is a brand new term going around in the world of business. Its name is Competitive Advantage. As various extremely important executives claim this factor can be the missing key, which will lead eventually a company to success. Allow me to give a first description of what I have understood, so far, of the competitive advantage term. According to what I have read and heard in lectures of the course Business Economics, I consider the C. A. to be the difference a company has from the rest of the market, which will help her to obtain not only higher profits but also longevity. As Michael Porter in his 1985 text says that, it is about the distinct and ideally sustainable edge over the competitors. The competitive advantage is said to be based on monopoly profits and on/or the Ricardian Rents and is used to generate another important factor, the added value. The writer – expert in finance John Kay implies that the C. A. presents no stability and it is always relative for each one of the companies in all the markets of the world. It is also something measurable enough in order the executives to extract useful conclusions and plan the company strategies. The relevant benchmark is the marginal firm in the industry. The company with the least potentials and the smallest market power is used as the baseline against which the competitive advantage of all other firms can be set. Methods of building a Competitive Advantage A general but for most people questionable claim would be that all the existing firms in a market are able to create a competitive advantage. That on theoretical basis is correct. Significant economists have worked for ears in a row towards this goal and have elaborated strategies and methods a firm can use in order to obtain the competitive advantage. The Resource Based View of the Firm The Resource Based View of the Firm has its origins in four different significant experts of finance: Edith Penrose (1959), Birger Wernerfelt (1984), Jay Barney (1991) and last but the most important writer Margaret Peteraf (1993). M. Peteraf put together the existent elements of the work of the previous three writers and produced the well-known > in her article reprinted in Foss. The main idea of the above-mentioned methods is that all of them give considerable importance on the resources, those that a company already possesses or the ones it procures from the outside environment. These resources must exhibit a special characteristic in order that C. A. to be produced. That is the so-called Resource Heterogeneity, meaning that they need to be rare so as not the competitors to use them and valuable in order to increase the firms efficiency and effectiveness. For example rarity could a minor of diamonds have and valuable could software program of a computer company be. The Recourse Heterogeneity can be obtained through either Product Differentiation or Cost Advantages. As far the product is concerned when a company differ one of its products it instantly creates a heterogeneous resource and approaches the C. A. (as per Peteraf 1993). Then it can offer those products in the whole market or in some market segments. The differentiation can be on the quality and the market segments can be large, small or of special interest. The market selection must be done with extra care and attention. The firm is in position to choose either to offer its products following the Broad Coverage Strategies e. g. unisex cosmetics and obtain Economies of Scale or produce for a specific market e. g. anti – ageing serum for the athletes of running. At this point, it needs to be mentioned that the consumer preferences and the competitor products must be taken into seriously account. As far as the Cost Advantage is regarding a firm can benefit by the lower costs. That means that the quality must be lower in order the cost of the firm to stay on low levels or to benefit by the superior technology. Besanko in his work implies that a firm can benefit from both Cost and Benefit Advantages if and only if increased demand and output can be translated into economies of scale. Strategies of sustaining a competitive advantage The real difficulty, according the opinion of the experts of finance is not only creating an advantage over your competitors but also maintaining your economic outcome through time. The enormous effort in order to have that precious gap between your company and your rivals keep exist. There is a variety of threats in the long term like the easy entry of the companies that have depicted a chance for making profit, the perfect information the competitors can posses and the most important the access to the companies resources which means that profits are in danger. A good number of these threats are common to all markets no matter the size, the special interest or the type, even in monopoly or oligopoly, according the economist-writer Besanko, and greater becomes the more competitive the specific market gets. At this point, the well- known Resource Based View of the Firm and the Product Differentiation Strategies come to the rescue of the company’s competitive advantage. As it is clearly written in a good number of economic texts, firms can earn excess profits if and only if they have superior resources protected by some form of isolating mechanism like a kind of a patent. These resources in question must exhibit some characteristics such as to be valuable in order to increase the firms efficiency and effectiveness and rare so as not to be acquired by the competitors. In addition to the previous, they have to be imperfectly imitable plus not substitutable by resources easy to be found and imitable. The serious problem is that this type of resources is hard to find and use in the production process. The alternative strategy a company can follow in order to maintain its competitive advantage is the product itself. More specific, the constant change of an existing product in the market, called product innovation. In some firms, the rate of this attempt is highly rapid. As the economist Schumpeter argues, that is because the isolating mechanisms cannot be permanent as the new technologies arise and the tastes change or the government policy evolves. A logical consequence could be that the life of the product becomes shorter and the competitors obtain to imitate an outmoded product at the end. The continuous product innovation can be a solution but not in a permanent way for it can be relatively costly and inefficient. More, the firm must process to the Creative Destruction, in other words to destroy the existing resources of the advantage so that the rivals not to benefit by them. Margaret Peteraf , one more time, in her 1993 article argues that the solution to the above problem is included in The Four Basic Building Blocks to creating and sustaining competitive advantage. According to her text, there are four corner stones, which lead a firm to sustain its competitive advantage. In the first place is the already mentioned and quite analyzed Heterogeneity of the resources, secondly comes the term imperfect mobility, meaning that the resources that create value cannot be bought on the open market and if they do so not to function perfectly. Some examples can be the firm’s reputation, a highly experienced scientist, a special machine with a number of peripherals est. In the third and forth place there are the limits to competition. The economist Rumelt describe the limits as the forces which limit extends to the point an advantage can either be duplicated or neutralized. There are two types of isolating mechanisms, the early mover advantages and the impediments to imitation. The first one with its tools like the learning curve e. g. the scientific knowledge in the firm, the reputation and buyer uncertainty e. g. he willing to buy a very expensive wristwatch or a design outfit, the switching costs e. g. not to use the petroleum moving cars anymore and switch to the solar power ones and the network effects e. g. the hair – dryer device. The second one includes the barriers a company puts between its product and the rest of the group such as legal restrictions e. g. copyrights on the product or on the resource or on the distribution channel. The Relationship between the Competitive Advantage and the Banking – Finance sector. For the most part, the firms in the globe seek to find and maintain their competitive advantage in almost any cost. Among them are naturally the firms of the banking and finance sector. There is a plain but important difference between the firms that produce products and those producing services. The second group needs to put much more effort as regards the resources. On the one hand these firms offer a great variety of product services to their customers, from different loans and a great number of credit cards to services all over the world. On the other hand they try to benefit from the low cost prices and to use the knowledge they posses to their best.

Language is a loaded weapon Essay

Language is that knowledge held by native speakers which, combined with the use of expressive faculties, enables them to communicate in spoken and written forms. Language is creative it can create ambience i. e. harmony, strife and war depending on how we use it, and the intentions of the user. Man is a complex being – each individual made so by unique & common experiences, which colour not only our reception/perception and interpretation of data but also influence our delivery. The way people deliver a message can alter the way we think, our understanding, perception, or approach. Language can be used honestly or dishonestly. To convey truth or to pervert truth, to persuade, to convince, to control, to unite, disunite, to make something clear or to mystify. Language is the tool we use to communicate. Its not just words it includes N. V. C (Non Verbal Communication, signals that we give out in the way we stand and move our body). Some interpretation of language is done at a subconscious level, instinctively. When interpreting the encoder’s message we consider his/her motivation. What are they trying to achieve? i. e. The way in which someone is listening or watching can indicate to you whether or not they are interested, disliking or are bored with what you are saying. You notice this on a subconscious almost subliminal level. If you are the encoder you adjust the way in which you speak so as the receiver decodes your message properly and doesn’t misunderstand what you have said. For example if you shout at someone they may get the impression you are angry with them, however you may have raised your voice to ensure they can hear you. To decode successfully many other aspects have to be considered about the encoder’s background, culture, belief system etc, over and above their motivation. Tone, pitch, volume, intonation, speed, hesitation, accent, emotion, even hormones, all affect both delivery and reception. Hence language is not a neutral tool; it is inadvertently biased in thousands of ways. All mankind is guilty of this fault. A clear example of this is propaganda, mass media, political persuasion, even the way history is written. For example in The Mirror after the September 11th incident, they produced a front page with the heading â€Å"My son the hijacker†. The way this title is worded makes you sympathise with the Mother, and shows us that the hijackers where not just people that had nothing to live for and no family, but people that had families. The subheading to this title was â€Å"I did not bring up my son to hate†¦ he was a good, kind, young man not an evil killer. † This brings reality to the fact that you think you know who and what type of person your son/daughter is, but then a tragic thing like this happens and you find out that perhaps you don’t really know who and what your child is really like. Another example that language is a loaded weapon is in The Sun’s October 4th paper, on page 11 there was a heading â€Å"Scouts leader ‘let boy, 10, die on mountain. † Your first reactions and emotions to this title are anger, hatred and spite towards the scout leader for letting a 10-year old boy die on a mountain. You then read on, to find out that the leader left the boy unsupervised at the rear of the group as they descended Mount Snowdon. This headline favours the boy, where as if the paper were writing in the favour of the leader you would perhaps have a heading more along the lines of â€Å"A young boy strayed on the descent of mount Snowdon, slipped and fell 500ft to his death. † This is an excellent example to show that â€Å"Language is a loaded weapon† this shows us that by simply changing the way in which this title is worded, creates a whole different perspective to the article. It can persuade you to feel sorry for the family of the boy and hatred towards the scout leader or to show consideration to the leader that the boy may have strayed from the path himself, slipped and fallen. Therefore language can be used to manipulate what you feel and in some ways is used to control you. Newspapers tell you what they think you should know not what you would like to know. An example of this was in the Daily Mirror 13th January 1996 page 7. A heading and its article entitled â€Å"Gulp! † took up nearly the whole of the page compared with a little box in the left hand corner which had the heading â€Å"Girls-raped by gang of 14. † When a few years later a similar thing happens to a boy this gets front-page news with the title of â€Å"A gay gang rapes boy, 19† from The Sun. The way these articles have been positioned and the amount they have had written on them manipulates what the mass media wants us to know. The way the second article is written shows us that the media try to control what we think. The heading itself creates a lot of emotions even though his age is given as nineteen, the word ‘boy’ is what immediately grabs your attention and causes your imagination to see a small child rather than a young man. Therefore taking in to consideration all these examples you find that language is not only a loaded weapon but is also â€Å"one thousand ways biased. † It can be used to manipulate what we think and what we think we know. We are told what to think and not asked to think about what we are told.

Understanding Vocabulary Words in Context

Understanding Vocabulary Words in Context Reading comprehension is one of the most difficult things to master on a standardized test. The test-makers evaluate skills like finding the main idea, making  inferences, determining  the authors purpose, and understanding vocabulary words, some of which you may have never been introduced to you before. The good news? You can understand vocabulary words based on the context of the passage - the words, clauses, and phrases around the unknown vocabulary word. You don’t have to memorize all the vocabulary words in the dictionary! Vocabulary Words in Context Example You might not understand the word, acerbity, by itself, but this sentence, â€Å"The acerbity of the lemon caused the little girl to spit out the bite she had just taken† helps you understand that the general meaning of acerbity must be â€Å"bitter or sour†. The context clues lemon and spitting out the bite, which provide more information in the sentence, help you understand what the vocabulary word means. Vocabulary Words In Context on a Test A question on a standardized test may look something like this: After the first day on the job, the bank’s new manager realized he would be busier than he had been led to believe. Not only was he assisting the bank tellers with their work, but his new boss had decided to inundate him with other tasks like creating security systems, managing the bank’s deposits and refunds, securing loans, and maintaining the daily operations. The new manager was exhausted as he locked the bank up for the night. The word â€Å"inundate† from the passage is closest in meaning to: overloadprovideassaultunderwhelm Hint: A way to figure out if your choice is correct is by putting the answer choice in the sentence in place of the vocabulary word. Which one fits the intended meaning the best? Youre right. Its overload. The first choice is the best pick, although assault is a close second. The only way that one would work is if the tone of the passage had been more negative. Understanding Vocabulary Words in Context Exercise Try to determine the meanings of the following italicized vocabulary words, based on the context clues in the sentences.Skill level: Easy Pablo always showed animosity toward his teachers by throwing spitballs and mouthing off, but his sister Mary was kind and sweet.The little girl was showing signs of ocular problems - she squinted to read the blackboard and complained of headaches after working on the computer for too long.The crowd rewarded the singer with plaudits, or extreme praise, by clapping and cheering during a standing ovation.Elena’s repudiation of Jerry’s bad table manners was obvious to everyone at dinner as she dropped her napkin and left the table.From the far past to the present day, the moon has been thought to cause lunacy. Some studies have shown that this momentary insanity does have some association to the moons phases.The old man’s hair was sparse rather than thick and full like it was when he was young.Janie was as devout as the Pope himself.My sister Kimmy shows a great abhorrence for crowds, whereas my little brother Michael loves to be the center of attention.When you adm onish someone, you point out his or her errors; an example would be scolding a child for misbehaving. The sorcerer’s minions, or devoted followers, were willing to perform any sorcery he could conjure.Ninety-seven pairs is a superfluous number of shoes.The spy was hung at the gallows of his homeland for his perfidious deeds.â€Å"Busy as a bee† and â€Å"quiet as a mouse† are hackneyed phrases – they’re used all the time.Amelia was as pretentious as a princess when she arrived at the party. She tossed her coat to the hostess and grabbed a drink out of a nearby guest’s hand.We always listen to my great-aunt because she is venerable, but we ignore my niece’s advice because she’s only six. Understanding Vocabulary Words in Context Answers hatred; extreme dislikerelated to the eyeextreme praise (the definition was right in the sentence)denial; refutation; negationinsanity; madness; psychosisthin; spare; light; meagerpious; religious; sincerehatred; loathing; disgustreprove; caution; reprimandcrony; underling; followerextra; surplus; redundantdisloyal; treacherous; deceitfultrite; clichà ©d; worn outshowy; pompous; exaggeratedrespected; esteemed; revered

What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not try and make others accept their position Essays

What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not try and make others accept their position Essays What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not try and make others accept their position Essay What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not try and make others accept their position Essay What Christians believe about life is up to them. They should not try and make others accept their position He said to them, Go throughout the world and preach the gospel to the whole human race The last commandment that jesus gave his disciples in marks gospel was this one which answers the above statement, and happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what god requires. There are many arguments for and against this issue, this essay will attempt to reach a conclusion on the central issues. The bible is the origin of the christian belief, when in doubt of any situation christians will refer to the bibles advice because they follow jesus the one who died to save them and therefore respect and obey every commandment he gives. So if Jesus told us to go and preach and save the world like he did we must follow in his footsteps to perfection. The main belief he urged upon us was to love one another. If we really did love the world we should be keen to help everyone enter heaven. Christians have a duty to work towards the completion of the kingdom of heaven. Some christians also believe that its the meaning of life that they must continue to finish what god started. They believe that themselves are very lucky to know christ and help the unfortunate who dont know him. To call upon the sinners did and to baptise them like jesus wants us to do. Jesus himself stood upto injustice throughout his whole stay on earth. For example in the temple when he became actively involved in displaying our faith publicly. We should feel the need to pass our belief because jesus did. Christians have always influenced society to the extent that our laws nowadays are based on the christian principles and traditions. However another christian may argue that jesus performance in the temple was unncessary and unloving, however in contradiction i can say that we believe that jesus is perfection and did everything correctly on earth, if he was to set an example for us this story is necessary to express the need of preaching actively or inactively. But some Christians go through so much to help others accept their position like Jeremiah who was lowered down a well even then he continued to preach like fire in my bone as he quotes. John the baptist was never afraid to speak out loud against whoever it may be, he even scolded the king for marrying his brothers wife. And risked and lost his head for his strong faith in displaying the rights and pointing out what was wrong in the kings actions. Fundamentalist are christians which hold strong beliefs they are prepared to do anything to reflect their views on others. Other Christians however think fundamentalists take life and enforce beliefs of their faith using violence which is unloving and cruel and undermines a persons value. But other christians believe that if some people dont believe in god/christianity then christians shouldnt interfere in how they love their life because we live in a pluralist world in which all views should be equal. Everyone is born free to choose what they want to believe they argue and christians shouldnt try and dictate to others what to believe. And if we risk to express our beliefs christians have to live in the real world because you could be in danger of being insensitive. Therefore the main conclusion is that we shouldnt make others accept our position however we shouldnt sit here and do nothing, we should like jesus said preach out loud and try and influence other people. However to use force breaks several other laws in the bible so theres no point obeying one if youre going to break a lot more at the same time. We have to do what love demands but there are limits to our actions, we have got to remember that the other person is also human with feeling and opinions and has exactly the same rights to try and influence you, so like in a challenge its how we portray our arguement that counts and may the best man win. Dont force people, influence them!

Steel Properties and History

Steel Properties and History Steel is an alloy of iron that contains carbon. Typically the carbon content ranges from  0.002% and 2.1%  by weight. Carbon makes steel harder than pure iron. The carbon atoms make it more difficult for dislocations in the iron crystal lattice to slide past each other. There are many different types of steel.  Steel contains additional elements, either as impurities or added to confer desirable properties. Most steel contains  manganese,  phosphorus,  sulfur,  silicon, and trace amounts of aluminum,  oxygen, and nitrogen. Intentionally addition of nickel, chromium, manganese, titanium,  molybdenum,  boron, niobium and other metals influence the hardness, ductility, strength, and other properties of steel. Steel History The oldest piece of steel is a piece of ironware that was recovered from an archaeological site in Anatolia, dating back to about 2000 BC. Steel from ancient Africa dates back to 1400 BC. How Steel Is Made Steel contains iron and carbon, but when iron ore is smelted, it contains too much carbon to confer desirable properties for steel. Iron ore pellets are remelted and processed to reduce the amount of carbon. Then, additional elements are added and the steel is either continuously cast or made into ingots. Modern steel is made from pig iron  using one of two processes. About 40% of steel is made using the  basic oxygen furnace (BOF) process. In this process, pure oxygen is blown into melted iron, reducing the amounts of carbon, manganese, silicon, and phosphorus. Chemicals called fluxes further reduce levels of  sulfur and phosphorus in the metal.  In the United States, the BOF process recycles  25-35%  scrap steel to make new steel. In the U.S., the  electric arc furnace (EAF) process is used to make about 60% of steel, consisting nearly entirely of recycled scrap steel. Learn More List of Iron AlloysWhy Stainless Steel Is StainlessDamascus SteelGalvanized Steel

Production Department With the HR Department for More Human Resources Essay - 5

Production Department With the HR Department for More Human Resources - Essay Example The finance department is the one most likely to have suggested an increase in production. They are the only department that is likely to be affected negatively by an increase in production. For HR, this will mean an increased strain on staff, or the need to restructure their HR. For production, sales and also the marketing departments, this will mean more work for them. However, with an increase in the production department, the finance department knows that they will not necessarily have any increase in workload but will be produced to report better figures to the CEO. As the HR head, what is likely to (Pink 58)to mind with this kind of announcement from the CEO is the fact that the HR department will need to work harder and may have increased burden. When the CEO says that he needs production to increase, he does not necessarily mean that the human resources will be increased. In this case, the HR department is likely to have to deal with the extra workload with the available huma n resources and will be a challenge to the human resources department. Even if the HR department is able to get financial support to hire more workers, this is still a problem because the process of recruiting is a difficult one. However, given the situation that the firm has been going through, it is unlikely that the HR department will be given more funding to hire more staff and this means that they will have to push the available resources to meet the new production threshold. In this case, as an HR manager, one has to expect to be dealing with increased squabbles with the workers who may resist the new directive to work more without increased pay.

Sport coaching Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sport coaching - Essay Example By considering athletics as the multi-skill sport, the key target audience will be young sportspersons within the age group of 12 to 25 years. Development of psychology and discipline as a part of sport coaching would be the key result areas for the coaches with regard to this group of athletes. The relevance of the coaching sessions and its importance will be evaluated through the essay. Coaching is an important aspect in the field of sports as it assists the athletes in developing their skills and leading a disciplined life. Quality coaching aids in enhancing the safety, health and self-esteem of the sports person. It promotes fair play, social unity among the players, teamwork and assists in developing a quality life with enjoyment (The National Coaching Foundation, 2008). The process of coaching includes three major elements i.e. planning, conducting and evaluating. The planning is to develop a proper training schedule to assist the athletes belonging to the age group of 12-25 years in achieving their goals. Conducting refers to the applicability of the training sessions as planned prior by the coach. Evaluation of coaching refers to determining the progress of the athletes in the games of athletics which is a multi-skilled sport discipline (BrianMac Sports Coach, 2014). The Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model is a part of the coaching regiment for the phy sical development of the athlete with regard to the sports such as track and field, long jump and high jump. LTAD model facilitates in the development of proper physical activity, balance, coordination and agility of the athletes which in turn will aid to channel the energy of the athletes in the right direction (SCCU, 2011). Warm Up is a significant part for the athletes at the beginning of the session as it will help them in gaining the rhythm along with energising them for the training. Warm up signifies

Roger Williams Quotation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Roger Williams Quotation - Essay Example This letter, which was written in 1655, explains fully his views of religious freedom. He also elaborates on how religious corruption in government, creates difficulties in religion. According to him, all people should have equal rights to be associated with the religion they choose, and their rights should be protected by the law. The government should, therefore, have no control over whether one is a church follower or not. God did not love some people more than others and, people should live together as a community according to Williams’ belief. The ship used in this quote symbolizes the society that existed at that time. This, therefore, showed that all different religions should be able to live without separation or disagreement in a society. It is assumed by different theologians and scholars that William used the ship as a symbol because he used a ship to travel to the Western Hemisphere, where he was able to attain the freedom of religion. William was very strong in what he had believed and therefore, he was able to launch the First Baptist church in Providence. He also initiated a colony of religious minorities; which was, by then, known as Providence Plantation. William’s idea of religious freedom has a great impact on the society today. Every person should have freedom of choice on which religion he or she should follow. The intervention of the state and the government, as William states, brings more problem than what people should experience in religion. This means that belief of an individual should not be dependent on rules of the state and should, therefore, be protected by the law. I, to a great extent, support his idea of the ship, which symbolizes living together as a community of different religions despite the fact that they have different beliefs. This is Christian value that should be emulated by every person.  

Psychology Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychology Project - Essay Example There have been many studies done in order to determine these. The first article was entitled â€Å"Further Refining the Stress-Coping Model of Alcohol Awareness†. In this article, it was shown that coping measures as far as alcohol consumption and stress differ in regards to the type of stress that is encountered. It was hypothesized based on previous experimentation that men are more likely to encounter heavy drinking as a coping mechanism than females due to their limited coping abilities. There have also been inconsistencies in trying to diagnose whether specific people are more prone to this kind of coping measure than others. The first deals with the variability, which is experienced across the board when people deal with stress. This being that coping measures are not just maladaptive or adaptive, but each are tailored to deal with a certain type of stressor. The second is that there has not been substantial evidence and consistency in showing that gender factors play a role in coping and drinking. The experimental design for this study was a short-term design, which was based on self-reporting measures. In particular, three variables were hypothesized that could take into account for gender differences. The first is coping using the support of others. It has been shown that students that are experiencing a stressor in regards to a relationship or social situation are less likely to turn to alcohol if their coping mechanisms are more guided towards the support of others. In particular, it has been shown in women that experience an interpersonal stressor that they are less likely to drink as a coping measure due to greater social support seeking. The second hypothesis shows that the more in control of the external stressors that a person is experiencing, the less likely they are to turn to alcohol as a coping measure. The third hypothesis is based on previous research which states that men are more likely to use active seeking coping strategies and women are more likely to seek social supporting strategies for coping. Thus the use of alcohol was found to be higher in males than in females. The population had a sample size of 83 participants from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. These participants were tested using many different types of surveys and testing batteries. They were prescreened with the Michigan Alcohol Screening Tests and the College Students’ Recent Life Experiences test. These stressful factors were then broken down into four core areas: life management, social relationships, school, and general social adjustment. Then, they returned for three weeks and were asked how many times they engaged in heavy drinking, which was defined as five or more alcoholic drinks. The final survey that had to take was the COPE to assess their skills in active coping, avoidant coping, and social support seeking coping. The statistics were analyzed using mixed modeling interactions and this took into account correlation coefficients and t-test values. Men that had higher scores in active coping and social support seeking coping were less likely to engage in dangerous activities involving alcohol. If men using avoidant coping measures, they were more likely to engage in the use of alcohol. For women, the same statistical data was also recorded. There is some validity to the measures that were

English 101 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English 101 - Essay Example The current American white family is an excellent example of the modern nuclear family with least dependence on the extended family; and the Africans, Latinos and Hispanics residing in America still depend on their extended families for emotional, financial and child care support (He, Sengupta, Velkoff & DeBarros 27). Contrary to general belief that modern nuclear families tend to be the most supportive, Gerstel and Sarkisian in ‘The colour of family ties’, try to portray a different picture; exerting that colored families signify a better representation of family support. The authors in ‘color of family ties’ found that ‘Social class rather than cultures is the key to understanding the differences in extending family ties and behaviors between whites and ethnic minorities’ (Gerstel and Sarkisian 450). Gary Soto in ‘Looking for work’ also presents its readers with a brilliant example of family support and cooperation among colored f amilies. ‘Looking for work’ depicts a family that is far more financially supportive than the white nuclear families or the family depicted in ‘An Indian Story’ by Roger Jack. Sotto depicts a family that is living day-in and day-out through the same financial conditions. The life is seen though the eyes of a Mexican child, who gets his ideas of a perfect life from watching the program ‘Father knows best’ and ‘Leave it to beaver’. Believing that money can solve all their problems and make them happy and accepted by the society like in the TV program (rpr190); he does jobs for people, cleaning their gardens and flower beds, in the hope to earn that extra ‘dime that would end the day right’ (Soto 4). The child also has a limited view of being wealthy due to his circumstances as the child says that ‘I decided to become wealthy, and right away! After downing a bowl of cereal, I took a rake from the garage and started up the block to look for work’ (Soto 1). He believes that by working hard doing petty jobs he can change the circumstances of his family and that too quickly. The father in ‘an Indian story’ ‘makes good money’ (Jack 453) due to which the author is not worried about any financial problems and does not address the financial condition further. The family in ‘Looking for work’ supports each other through rough and lonely times. The mother of the three children does not marry and prefers taking care of the children herself, so that they may not suffer any trauma. The father in an Indian story remarries despite the fact that his new wife has a son and both the step brothers fight a lot. The writer says that ‘he married a half-breed Indian and this made me feel very uncomfortable’ (Jack 454). The child although is disturbed by his mother’s death, the father remarries thinking only of himself, and the child is also not happy with his father’s remarriage. The lack of understanding and consideration on the part of his father makes the boy run away from his home. The family in ‘looking for work’, have come to celebrate each day and every meal they get, although it is the same meal. They are not bothered about the heat and dismal conditions in which they live, they celebrate the family being together at meal times. As the child says that, ‘we sat to eat our beans and tortillas in the stifling heat of our kitchen. We all gleamed like

Egypt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Egypt - Essay Example The Giza Pyramids are a symbol of Egyptian beauty and charm and tourists remember Egypt with the picture of the great pyramids in mind. Indeed these pyramids are one of the wonders of the world. (Rosalie, 1997) Around 8000 BC, the Sahara Desert was formed due to the desiccation of the pastoral lands within the country. By about 6000 BC, the Neolithic culture started to have its roots within the Nile valley. There have existed a number of different dynasties within Egypt since time immemorial. As far as the geography of Egypt is concerned, it is the world’s 38th largest country and its size is comparable to that of Tanzania. Most of the population within Egypt lives around the Nile valley and Delta since the climate is conducive enough for populations to settle around these areas only. Around 99% of the total population uses only 5.5% of the Egyptian land area. Its borders are shared by Libya on the west, Gaza strip and Israel on the East and Sudan on the south. Egypt’s strategic location makes it a very dominant player within the geopolitical scenario and its transcontinental location asks for significance in terms of forming a bridge between Asia and Africa. The climate of Egypt is usually dry and the country receives showers only in the winter months. The rainfall averages south of Cairo are 2 - 5 mm each year and sometimes frequent after quite a few years in essence. The temperatures within Egypt range between 80o F and 90 o F in summer while goes up to 109 o F in the area of the Red Sea coast. Thus the temperatures usually average within 55 o F and 70 o F in the winter season. There is a steady wind which blows from the northwestern region which makes the weather pleasant near the Mediterranean coast. The global warming regimes hamper Egypt’s densely populated coastal strip and the same could have ramifications for the country’s economy,

English 101 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English 101 - Essay Example The current American white family is an excellent example of the modern nuclear family with least dependence on the extended family; and the Africans, Latinos and Hispanics residing in America still depend on their extended families for emotional, financial and child care support (He, Sengupta, Velkoff & DeBarros 27). Contrary to general belief that modern nuclear families tend to be the most supportive, Gerstel and Sarkisian in ‘The colour of family ties’, try to portray a different picture; exerting that colored families signify a better representation of family support. The authors in ‘color of family ties’ found that ‘Social class rather than cultures is the key to understanding the differences in extending family ties and behaviors between whites and ethnic minorities’ (Gerstel and Sarkisian 450). Gary Soto in ‘Looking for work’ also presents its readers with a brilliant example of family support and cooperation among colored f amilies. ‘Looking for work’ depicts a family that is far more financially supportive than the white nuclear families or the family depicted in ‘An Indian Story’ by Roger Jack. Sotto depicts a family that is living day-in and day-out through the same financial conditions. The life is seen though the eyes of a Mexican child, who gets his ideas of a perfect life from watching the program ‘Father knows best’ and ‘Leave it to beaver’. Believing that money can solve all their problems and make them happy and accepted by the society like in the TV program (rpr190); he does jobs for people, cleaning their gardens and flower beds, in the hope to earn that extra ‘dime that would end the day right’ (Soto 4). The child also has a limited view of being wealthy due to his circumstances as the child says that ‘I decided to become wealthy, and right away! After downing a bowl of cereal, I took a rake from the garage and started up the block to look for work’ (Soto 1). He believes that by working hard doing petty jobs he can change the circumstances of his family and that too quickly. The father in ‘an Indian story’ ‘makes good money’ (Jack 453) due to which the author is not worried about any financial problems and does not address the financial condition further. The family in ‘Looking for work’ supports each other through rough and lonely times. The mother of the three children does not marry and prefers taking care of the children herself, so that they may not suffer any trauma. The father in an Indian story remarries despite the fact that his new wife has a son and both the step brothers fight a lot. The writer says that ‘he married a half-breed Indian and this made me feel very uncomfortable’ (Jack 454). The child although is disturbed by his mother’s death, the father remarries thinking only of himself, and the child is also not happy with his father’s remarriage. The lack of understanding and consideration on the part of his father makes the boy run away from his home. The family in ‘looking for work’, have come to celebrate each day and every meal they get, although it is the same meal. They are not bothered about the heat and dismal conditions in which they live, they celebrate the family being together at meal times. As the child says that, ‘we sat to eat our beans and tortillas in the stifling heat of our kitchen. We all gleamed like

How the emotion affects the person Essay Example for Free

How the emotion affects the person Essay In the modern world, emotions play such a large role in almost everything people do, it is hard to make a decision which will get the most desirable results. It is true, however it is looked upon, that decisions and choices are mainly made by the emotion that the person is feeling towards the topic. A kind person will go join the Peace Corps and help aide the poor and starving, while a person with no pity towards much of anything will not care enough to do something of that nature. Pity is one of the key emotions in making decisions. If someone feels sorry for another individual, they are much more likely to go out of their way to help this person. Whether it is from dropping a few coins into a beggars cup, or just helping out a friend, people have to go out of their way because of pity. Pity is more than a simple emotion which can lead people do to things for others, however. It can bring upon new feelings within an individual and help them to achieve a higher level of consciousness. Decisions are intertwined with everyone in the worlds lives, and if they do not begin to see the reasons behind their decisions, it could have devastating results. Pity towards an individual can have an effect on almost everything in the world. Whether it is bargaining for the price of clothing, to giving money to a poor person, there can be all kinds of changes depending on a persons circumstance. This, however, is not a good thing because there are always people in the world who do not care about others and can con someone and take advantage of them. Although pity can be good or bad, it is mainly shown as a sign of weakness in a person. It can make someone decide to do irrational things for another and bring them in danger. People say that having a ruthless leader would be bad, but they are wrong because being ruthless does not mean being evil or mean, it just means knowing that feelings cannot get in the way of decisions. Emotions are much more than influences in our decisions, however. They play a key role is almost everything in the world. If there was no emotion in any novels or movies or anything of that nature, how would we be able to enjoy life? Music is basically an extension from our own human emotions, and that is why music can be integrated in much of our situations of life. In movies, it would not sound right if a swinging beat was used in a war scene, or vice  versa. Thus, it is simple to say that emotions do play a role in our lives. The effects of emotions in our lives can vary from person to person, but no matter how hard someone tries, they cannot escape having and feeling these things. Whether it is good or bad, choices are made depending on the emotions involved in the consequences. Pity is one of the major feelings dealt with when faced with a decision about another individual. Are they poor? In need of help? These are both basic questions that are asked to oneself when deciding on what to do in a situation. Although it is impossible to stay out of the grasp of emotions, it is very possible to realize the effects of them, and make decisions based upon the knowledge at hand.

Study On Gandhis Leadership Styles History Essay

Study On Gandhis Leadership Styles History Essay This essay gives an overview of various leadership types and its main focuson the situational leadership. It attempts to explain the situational leadership process with an example of Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi as a situational leader. It further explores the attributes that Mahatma Gandhi as a situational leader possesses. The essay also tries to find out various effects of situational leadership. While mentioning the positive effects of the situational leadership, it also investigates the dark side of the situational leadership. After reading the essay the readers are expected to have gained enough familiarity with this kind of leadership and at the end of the essay. Any type of organisation, country or political party runs successfully when it is piloted by a skillful and influential leader. While leaders motivate their followers, it is not the only thing leaders can do. A good leader can structure the organisation in the way he wants. He represents the culture of the organization and most importantly, it has been observed that effective leaders posses a capacity to increase the productivity of the organization. Various scholars categorize leadership styles in a different way. Lewin (1939) classifies leadership styles in three categories: Autocratic Leadership, Democratic Leadership and Delegative (Laissez-Faire) Leadership. Mohandas Gandhi was born in the western part of British-ruled India on October 2, 1869. A timid child, he was married at thirteen to a girl of the same age, Kasturbai. Following the death of his father, Gandhis family sent him to England in 1888 to study law. There, he became interested in the philosophy of nonviolence, as expressed in the Bhagavad-Gita, Hindu sacred scripture, and in Jesus Christs Sermon on the Mount in the Christian Bible. He returned to India in 1891, having passed the bar, but found little success in his attempts to practice law. Seeking a change of scenery, he accepted a position in South Africa for a year, where he assisted on a lawsuit. In South Africa, he became involved in efforts to end discrimination against the Indian minority there, which were oppressed both by the British and by the Boers, descendants of the original Dutch settlers of the region. Having intended to stay a year, he ended up remaining until 1914 (his wife and children had joined him, meanwhile, in 1896). He founded the Natal Indian Congress, which worked to further Indian interests, and commanded an Indian medical corps that fought on the British side in the Boer War (1899-1901), in which the British conquered the last independent Boer republics. After the war, Gandhis reputation as a leader grew. He became even more adamant in his personal principles, practicing sexual abstinence, renouncing modern technology, and developing satyagraha-literally, soul- force. Satyagraha was a method of non-violent resistance, often called non-cooperation, that he and his allies used to great effect against the white governments in South Africa. Their willingness to endure punishment and jail earned the admiration of people in Gandhis native India, and eventually won concessions from the Boer and British rulers. By 1914, when Gandhi left South Africa and returned to India, he was known as a holy man: people called him a Mahatma, or great soul. At this point, he was still loyal to the British Empire, but when the British cracked down on Indian civil liberties after World War I, Gandhi began to organize nonviolent protests. The Amritsar Massacre, in which British troops gunned down peaceful Indian protestors, convinced Gandhi and India of the need for self-rule, and in the early 20s Gandhi organized large-scale campaigns of non-cooperation that paralyzed the subcontinents administration-and led to his imprisonment, from 1922 to 1924. After his release, he withdrew from politics for a time, preferring to travel India, working among the peasantry. But in 1930, he wrote the Declaration of Independence of India, and then led the Salt March in protest against the British monopoly on salt. This touched off acts of civil disobedience across India, and the British were forced to invite Gandhi to London for a Round-Table Conference. Although Gandhi received a warm welcome in England, the Conference foundered on the issue of how an independent India would deal with its Muslim minority, and Gandhi withdrew from public life again. But independence could not be long delayed. The Government of India Act (1935) surrendered significant amounts of power to Indians, and the Indian National Congress clamored for more. When World War II broke out, India erupted into violence, and many nationalist leaders, including Gandhi, went to prison. After the war, the new British government wanted to get India off its hands quickly. But Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the head of the Muslim League, demanded that a separate state be created for Indias Muslims, and to Gandhis great distress, the Congress leaders and the harried British agreed. August of 1947 saw Indias attainment of independence-as well as its partition into two countries, India and Pakistan. However, neither measure served to solve Indias problems, nor the country immediately fe ll apart: Hindus and Muslims killed each other in alarming numbers while refugees fled toward the borders. Heartbroken, Gandhi tried to calm the country, but to no avail. He was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist in Delhi on January 30, 1948, and India mourned the loss of its greatest hero. Gandhis leadership style is being termed as follower-centric and that took into account existing conditions before determining the strategy. Gandhi advocated having leadership styles that were dependent on the circumstances. When Gandhi was in South Africa, he launched his protests in a suit and a tie. But when he came back to India, he thought of khadi and launched non-violent protests on a greater scale; it shows that Gandhijis leadership style was situational leadership style. (http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/gandhi/summary.html) What is Leadership? Harry S. Truman, (2003) describes leadership as the ability to get men to do what they dont like to do and like it. John Gardner, (2003) describes leadership as the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or a leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers. The reciprocal process of mobilizing, by persons with certain motives and values, various economic, political and other resources, in a context of competition and conflict, in order to realize goals independently or mutually held by both leaders and followers. (James McGregor Burns, 2003). What is Situational Leadership? Hersey and Blanchard (1988) developed a particular form of contingency theory which has become well known as situational leadership. Making the point that the appropriateness of a leadership style is a function of the situation, they focused attention on subordinate maturity as a contingent variable, by which they meant the ability and willingness of a subordinate to work without direction. Where subordinate maturity is high, a relationship-oriented style is appropriate, but where maturity is lacking a more task-oriented style will prove more effective. Situational leadership theory is one of the type of leadership theory, leadership model and leadership style that believes that different leadership style suit different situations. That is as per the situation, you should apply leadership style. Situational leadership theory assumes that the best action to be taken by a leader depends on the situation. As the situation changes, you (leader) should also quickly change the leadership style. Depending on the situation, you (leader) should adopt leadership style. A situational leadership model is also associated with situational leadership theory. The basic idea of this model is that leadership flexibility is necessary for effective leadership. It also believes that different leadership approaches are required for different situations. This model defines four leadership styles. These styles are based on how much guidance or direction the leader can give to his or her followers. Situational Leadership Model : (Ollhoff.com) The above situational leadership model is applied on the Mahatma Gandhi in order to prove that he was a situational leader. In the following passages different action, reactions and incident from the life of the Gandhi are chosen that proves him a situational leader. Leadership developed by Robert House (1971) which defines that leaders make a clear and easy path for their followers and to fulfill the goals encourage and supports them to take it. The leaders clarify the path for followers and remove the roadblocks that might stop them from attaining the goal. For laying the path for followers a leader can follow any of the given leadership behavior. First the directive leader in which the leader lets the follower know what is expected of them, schedules work to be done and give specific guidance as to how to accomplish task. When Mahatma Gandhi called up all the community who were not being treated equally and made a speech to them asking all the non Europeans to burn their passes which showed their symbol of status. By doing so he was asking government for the right to claim them as equal citizens of the empire. We can see that he was making sure the followers know what is expected from them and he gave specific guidance what and how it would be accomplished. And for scheduling he made sure there is enough public gathered so he asks his wife to encourage some female along with her. The second kind of behavior is coaching leader who tries to promote good friendly relation within the group and shows concern for the welfare of the followers. In this way during Salt march from Ahmadabad to Dandi, Gandhi had gone there quietly; it would just not have made an impact. He knew he had to create an event to make an impact and so he took his followers on a march that stirred popular imagination of the time. He had a total understanding of the human psychology and used it along with his public relation skills. By doing this Gandhi coached his followers The third kind of behavior is supportive leader who tries to promote good friendly relation within the group and shows concern for the welfare of the followers. This kind of leadership depicted takes the help of followers for day-to-day decision. Decisions include processes and task allocation. The leader facilitates decisions but the final decision is taken by the follower. The Non-cooperation movement was a significant phase of the Indian struggle for freedom from British rule. This movement, which lasted from 1920 to 1922, was led by Gandhi, and supported by the Indian National Congress. It aimed to resist British occupation of India through non-violent means. Protestors would refuse to buy British goods, adopt the use of local handicrafts, picket liquor shops, and try to uphold the values of Indian honor and integrity. The Gandhian ideals of ahisma or non-violence, and his ability to rally hundreds of thousands of common citizens towards the cause of Indian independence, were fir st seen on a large scale in this movement. Gandhiji while working for independence of India used to consult other leaders like Pandit Nehru, Gokhale, Maulana Azad who were his followers as well. The last kind of leadership behaviour according to the Path-Goal theory is achievement-oriented leader where the leader sets a challenging goal both for self improvement and work. The leader shows and expects high demonstration and has faith in the capabilities of the followers to succeed.

Spain :: essays research papers

Population The Spanish people are essentially a mixture of the indigenous peoples of the Iberian Peninsula with the successive peoples who conquered the peninsula and occupied it for extended periods. These added ethnologic elements include the Romans, a Mediterranean people, and the Suevi, Vandals, and Visigoths (see GOTHS), Teutonic peoples. Semitic elements are also present. Several ethnic groups in Spain have kept a separate identity, culturally and linguistically. These include the Basques (Euskal-dun), who number about 2.5 million and live chiefly around the Bay of Biscay; the Galicians, numbering about 2.5 million, who live in northwestern Spain; and the nomadic Spanish Gypsies (Gitanos; see GYPSIES). Population Characteristics The population of Spain (1991) was 38,872,268. The estimate for 1993 was 39,207,159; the overall density was about 78 people per sq km (about 201 per sq mi). Spain in increasingly urban with more than three-fourths of the population in towns and cities. "Spain," Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1994 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation. Forestry and Fishing The cork-oak tree is the principal forest resource of Spain, and the annual production of cork, more than 110,000 metric tons in the mid-1980s, is second only to that of Portugal. The yield of Spain's forests is insufficient for the country's wood-pulp and timber needs. The fishing industry is important to the Spanish economy. The annual catch was about 1.5 million metric tons in 1990 and consisted primarily of tuna, squid, octopus, hake, sardines, anchovies, mackerel, blue whiting, and mussels. Mining The mineral wealth of Spain is considerable. In 1990 annual production included about 36 million metric tons of coal and lignite, 1.5 million tons of iron ore, 255,000 tons of zinc concentrates, 58,400 tons of lead, 5 million tons of gypsum, and 795,000 tons of crude petroleum. The principal coal mines are in the northwest, near Oviedo; the chief iron-ore deposits are in the same area, around Santander and Bilbao; large mercury reserves are located in Almadà ©n, in southwestern Spain, and copper and lead are mined in Andalusia. Other minerals produced are potash, manganese, fluorite, tin, tungsten, wolfram, bismuth, antimony, cobalt, and rock salt. Manufacturing Among the leading goods manufactured in Spain are textiles, iron and steel, motor vehicles, chemicals, clothing, footwear, ships, refined petroleum, and cement. Spain is one of the world's leading wine producers, and the annual output in the late 1980s was about 2.3 million metric tons. The iron and steel industry, centered in Bilbao, Santander, Oviedo, and Avilà ©s, produced about 13.

Cultural Environment :: Televisions Technology Culture Essays

Cultural Environment The invention of the television and its advancement through technology in our world has affected the cultural environment significantly. It has affected the way we act, perceive things, and even changed our lives as a whole. The cultural environment in today’s society is totally different from the time period before the invention of the television. First, the television has affected the pre-existing cultural institutions. Before the television was invented most of the children all over the world would play outside with their friends after school. Children would be playing ball in the streets, buying candy at the convenience store, and so on. Ever since the television was invented, more and more children are watching television rather than playing outside after school. In today’s society, it’s even worse since children are usually glued to the television all day. This eliminates their chance for some exercise and to meet new people. The invention of the television also has changed the meaning of family night. Back before the television, families used to come together one night a week to play board games and to socialize. Ever since the television was invented, less and less families come together to play games. If they do come together, it is usually in front of the television. This changes th e meaning of family night because now families don’t socialize as much because they watch television. This technology has also affected the way people see themselves and their place in the universe. Television has become such an integral part of society that people are confusing fantasy with reality. Violence seems to be in almost every television show in today’s society. This excessive violence makes society accustom to it and therefore people don’t believe violence is as bad as it is when it happens. â€Å"Although few anti-television activists would agree that excessive television viewing can exculpate a murderer, a huge body of evidence -- including 3,000 studies before 1971 alone -- suggests a strong connection between television watching and aggression† (Stossel 3). This is concrete proof that the television has changed people’s attitudes and the way they see themselves in society.

Organizational change Essay

Organizational change is an ongoing process with important implications for organizational effectiveness. An organization and its members must be constantly on the alert for changes from within the organization and from the outside environment, and they must learn how to adjust to change quickly and effectively. Organizational change is the movement of an organization away from its present state and toward some future state to increase its effectiveness. Forces for organizational change include competitive forces; economic, political, and global forces; demographic and social forces; and ethical forces. Organizations are often reluctant to change because resistance to change at the organization, group, and individual levels has given rise to organizational inertia. Sources of organization-level resistance to change include power and conflict, differences in functional orientation, mechanistic structure, and organizational culture. Sources of group-level resistance to change include group norms, group cohesiveness, and groupthink and escalation of commitment. Sources of individual-level resistance to change include uncertainty and insecurity, selective perception and retention, and habit. According to Lewin’s force-field theory of change, organizations are balanced between forces pushing for change and forces resistant to change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously. Types of change fall into two broad categories: evolutionary and revolutionary. The main instruments of evolutionary change are sociotechnical systems theory, total quality management, and the development of flexible workers and work teams. The main instruments of revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation. Often, the revolutionary types of change that result from restructuring and reengineering are necessary only because an organization and its managers ignored or were unaware of changes in the environment and did not make incremental changes as needed. Action research is a strategy that managers can use to plan the change process. The main steps in action research are (a) diagnosis and analysis of the organization, (b) determining the desired future state, (c) implementing action, (d) evaluating the action, and (e) institutionalizing action research. Organizational development (OD) is a series of techniques and methods to increase the adaptability of organizations. OD techniques can be used to overcome resistance to change and to help the organization to change itself. OD techniques for dealing with resistance to change include education and communication, participation and empowerment, facilitation, bargaining and negotiation, manipulation, and coercion. OD techniques for promoting change include, at the individual level, counseling, sensitivity training, and process consultation; at the group level, team building and intergroup training; and at the organizational level, organizational confrontation meetings. CHAPTER OUTLINE 10. 1 What Is Organizational Change? Organizational change is the process by which organizations move from their current or present state to some desired future state to increase their effectiveness. An organization in decline may need to restructure its competences and resources to improve its fit with a changing environment. Even thriving, high-performing organizations such as Google, Apple, and Facebook need to continuously change the way they operate over time to meet ongoing challenges. Targets of Change Organizational change includes changes in four areas: 1. Human resources are an organization’s most important asset. Because these skills and abilities give an organization a competitive advantage, organizations must continually monitor their structures to find the most effective way of motivating and organizing human resources to acquire and use their skills. Changes made in human resources include investment in training, socializing employees, changing norms to motivate a diverse workforce, monitoring promotion and reward systems, and changing top management. 2. Each organizational function needs to develop procedures that allow it to manage the particular environment it faces. Crucial functions grow in importance while those whose usefulness is declining shrink. Thus, key functions grow in importance. Organizations can change structure, culture, and technology to improve the value created by functions. 3 Organizational change often involves changing the relationships between people and functions to increase their ability to create value. 10. 2 Forces for and Resistance to Organizational Change Forces for Change If managers are slow to respond to the forces of change, the organization will lag behind its competitors and its effectiveness will be compromised. (Refer to Figure 10. 1) Competitive forces spur change, because unless an organization matches or surpasses its competitors it will not survive. Managing change is crucial when competing for customers. To lead on the dimensions of efficiency or quality, an organization must constantly adopt the latest technology as it becomes available. To lead on the dimension of innovation and obtain a technological advantage over competitors, a company must possess skills in managing the process of innovation. Economic, political, and global forces, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or other economic unions, are significant forces of change. The European Union (EU) includes over 27 members eager to take advantage of a large protected market. Global challenges facing organizations include the need to change an organizational structure to allow expansion into foreign markets, the need to adapt to a variety of national cultures, and the need to help expatriate managers adapt to the economic, political, and cultural values of the countries in which they are located. Demographic and social forces include an increasingly diverse workforce. Changes in the demographic characteristics of the workforce require managers to change their styles of managing all employees and to learn how to understand, supervise, and motivate diverse members effectively. Many workers want to balance work and leisure. Managers need to abandon stereotypes and accept the importance of equity in the recruitment and promotion of new hires. Ethical forces such as increasing government, political, and social demands for more responsible and honest corporate behavior are compelling organizations to promote ethical behavior. Many companies have created the position of ethics officer. If organizations operate in countries that pay little attention to human rights or to the well-being of organizational members, they have to learn how to change these standards and to protect their overseas employees. Resistances to Change Resistance to change lowers an organization’s effectiveness and reduces its chances of survival. Resistances or impediments to change that cause inertia are found at the organization, group, and individual levels. (Refer to Figure 10. 1) Organization-Level Resistance to Change Power and conflict: When change causes power struggles and organizational conflict, an organization is likely to resist it. If change benefits one function at the expense of another, conflict impedes the change process. In the old IBM, for example, managers of its mainframe computer division fought off attempts to redirect IBM’s resources to produce the PCs that customers wanted in order to preserve their own power. Differences in functional orientation: This means that different functions and divisions often see the source of a problem differently because they see an issue or problem primarily from their own viewpoint. This tunnel vision increases organizational inertia. Mechanistic structure: Mechanistic structures are more resistant to change. People who work within a mechanistic structure are expected to act in certain ways and do not develop the capacity to adjust their behavior to changing conditions. A mechanistic structure typically develops as an organization grows and is a principal source of inertia, especially in large organizations. The extensive use of mutual adjustment and decentralized authority in an organic structure makes it less resistant to change. Organizational culture: Organizational culture, values, and norms cause resistance to change. If organizational change disrupts taken-for-granted values and norms and forces people to change what they do and how they do it, an organization’s culture will cause resistance to change. Group-Level Resistance to Change Many groups develop strong informal norms that specify appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and govern the interactions between group members. Often, change alters task and role relationships in a group; when it does, it disrupts group norms and the informal expectations that group members have of one another. As a result, members of a group may resist change because a new set of norms must be developed to meet the needs of the new situation. Group cohesiveness, the attractiveness of a group to its members, also affects group performance. A highly cohesive group may resist attempts by management to change what it does or even who is a member of the group. Groupthink and escalation of commitment also make changing a group’s behavior very difficult. Individual-Level Resistance to Change People tend to resist change because they feel uncertain and insecure about what its outcome will be. Selective perception and retention suggest that people perceive information consistent with their views. If change doesn’t benefit them, they do not endorse it. People’s preference for familiar actions and events is a further impediment to change. Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change Force-field theory is a theory of organizational change that argues that two sets of opposing forces within an organization determine how change will take place. When the forces are evenly balanced, the organization is in a state of inertia and does not change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously. Any of these strategies will overcome inertia and cause an organization to change. (Refer to Figure 10. 2) Managerial Implications Managers must continuously monitor the environment to identify the forces for change. They must analyze how the change will affect the organization and determine which type of change to pursue. 10. 3 Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change in Organizations Evolutionary change refers to change that is gradual, incremental, and specifically focused. It adds small adjustments to strategy and structure to handle environmental changes. Sociotechnical systems theory, total quality management, and the creation of empowered, flexible work groups are three instruments of evolutionary change that organizations use in their attempt to make incremental improvements in the way work gets done. Revolutionary change refers to change that is sudden, drastic, and organization-wide. It has repercussions at all levels in the organization—corporate, divisional, functional, group, and individual. Three ways to implement revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation. Developments in Evolutionary Change: Sociotechnical Systems Theory Sociotechnical systems theory is a theory that proposes the importance of changing role and task or technical relationships to increase organizational effectiveness. It emerged from a study of changing work practices in the British coal-mining industry. The socio-technical systems theory argues that managers need to fit or jointly optimize the workings of the technical and social systems. A poor fit between an organization’s technology and social system leads to failure, but a close fit leads to success. When managers change task and role relationships, they must recognize the need to adjust the technical and social systems gradually so group norms and cohesiveness are not disrupted. By taking this gradual approach, an organization can avoid the group-level resistance to change. Researchers suggest that a team-oriented system promotes values that enhance efficiency and product quality. Total quality management uses sociotechnical systems theory. Total Quality Management Total quality management (TQM) is a technique developed by W. Edwards Deming to continuously improve the effectiveness of flexible work teams. It was embraced by Japanese companies after World War II. Changes frequently inspired by TQM include altering the design or type of machines used to assemble products and reorganizing the sequence of activities—either within or between functions—necessary to provide a service to a customer. Changing cross-functional relationships to help improve quality is important in TQM. The changes associated with TQM are changes in task, role, and group relationships. Implementing a TQM program is not always easy because it requires workers and managers to adopt new ways of viewing their roles in an organization. Managers must be willing to decentralize control of decision making, empower workers, and assume the role of facilitator rather than supervisor. The â€Å"command and control† model gives way to an â€Å"advise and support† model. Flexible Workers and Flexible Work Teams In implementing socio-technical systems theory and TQM, many organizations are finding it easier to achieve their goals by using flexible workers and teams. Flexible workers can be transferred between departments and functions as demand changes. The advantages of flexible workers include quick response to environmental changes; reduced boredom and increased incentives for quality; better understanding by learning one another’s tasks; and combining tasks to increase efficiency and reduce costs. A flexible work team is a group of workers who assume responsibility for performing all the operations necessary for completing a specified stage in the manufacturing process. A flexible work team is self-managed; members jointly assign tasks and transfer from one task to another. In a flexible work team, separate teams assemble different components and turn those components over to the final-product work team, which assembles the final product. Each team’s activities are driven by demands that have their origins in customer demands for the final product. (Refer to Figure 10. 3) Developments in Revolutionary Change: Reengineering The term â€Å"reengineering† has been used to refer to the process by which managers redesign how tasks are bundled into roles and functions to improve organizational effectiveness. It involves rethinking business processes, activities that cross functional boundaries. Instead of focusing on an organization’s functions in isolation from one another, managers make business processes the focus of attention. A business process is an activity that cuts across functional boundaries and is vital to the quick delivery of goods and services or that promotes high quality or low costs. Because reengineering focuses on business processes and not functions, an organization must rethink the way it approaches organizing its activities. A good example of how to use reengineering to increase functional integration comes from attempts to redesign the materials management function to improve its effectiveness. In the traditional functional design the three main components of materials management—purchasing, production control, and distribution—were typically in separate functions and had little to do with one another. Thus coordinating their activities is difficult. Each function has its own hierarchy, and there are problems in both vertical and horizontal communication. Today, most organizations put all three of the functional activities involved in the materials management process inside one function. Three guidelines for performing reengineering successfully are as follows: Organize around outcomes, not tasks. 2. Have those who use the output of the process perform the process. 3. Decentralize decision making to the point where the decision is made. Reengineering and TQM are highly interrelated and complementary. E-Engineering This is a term used to refer to companies’ attempts to use all kinds of information systems to improve performance. The importance of e-engineering is increasing as it changes the way a company organizes its value-creation functions and links them to improve its performance. Restructuring Restructuring is a process by which managers change task and authority relationships and redesign organizational structure and culture to improve organizational effectiveness. Downsizing is the process by which managers streamline the organizational hierarchy and lay off managers and workers to reduce bureaucratic costs. The drive to decrease bureaucratic costs results from competitive pressures. Mergers and acquisitions in many industries, such as banking, have led to downsizing because fewer managers are needed. Other companies have reduced staff to match competitors. The negative effects of downsizing include overworked managers and lost opportunities. Companies that fail to control growth must downsize to remain competitive. The terms anorexic or hollow are used to refer to organizations that downsized too much and have too few managers to help them grow when conditions change. Restructuring, like other change strategies, generates resistance to change. Often, the decision to downsize requires the establishment of new task and role relationships. Because this change may threaten the jobs of some workers, they resist the changes taking place. Innovation Innovation refers to the process by which organizations use their skills and resources to develop new goods and services or to develop new production and operating systems so they can better respond to the needs of their customers. 10. 4 Managing Change: Action Research In Lewin’s view, implementing change is a three-step process: (1) unfreezing the organization from its present state, (2) making the change, and (3) refreezing the organization in the new, desired state so its members do not revert to their previous work attitudes and role behavior. Action research is a strategy for generating and acquiring knowledge that managers can use to define an organization’s desired future state and to plan a change program that allows the organization to reach that state. Figure 10. 6 highlights the steps in action research. Diagnosis of the Organization The first step in action research requires managers to recognize the existence of a problem that needs to be solved and acknowledge that some type of change is needed to solve it. In general, recognition of the need for change arises because somebody in the organization perceives a gap between desired performance and actual performance. Determining the Desired Future State This step also involves a difficult planning process as managers work out various alternative courses of action that could move the organization to where they would like it to be and determine what type of change to implement. Implementing Action 1. First, managers identify possible impediments to change at all levels. The second step is deciding who will be responsible for actually making the changes and controlling the change process. The choices are to employ either external change agents or internal change agents or use some combination of both. 3. The third step is deciding which specific change strategy will most effectively unfreeze, change, and refreeze the organization. The types of change that these techniques give rise to fall into two categories: Top-down change is implemented by managers at a high level in the organization, knowing that the change will reverberate at all organizational levels. Bottom-up change is implemented by employees at low levels in the organization that gradually rises until it is felt throughout the organization. Evaluating the Action The fourth step in action research is evaluating the action that has been taken and assessing the degree to which the changes have accomplished the desired objectives. The best way to evaluate the change process is to develop measures or criteria that allow managers to assess whether the organization has reached its desired objectives. Institutionalizing Action Research Organizations need to institutionalize action research—that is, make it a required habit or a norm adopted by every member of an organization. The institutionalization of action research is as necessary at the top of the organization as it is on the shop floor. Managerial Implications Managers must develop criteria to evaluate whether a change is necessary, and carefully design a plan that minimizes resistance. 10. 5 Organizational Development Organizational development (OD) is a series of techniques and methods that managers can use in their action research program to increase the adaptability of their organization. The goal of OD is to improve organizational effectiveness and to help people in organizations reach their potential and realize their goals and objectives. OD Techniques to Deal with Resistance to Change Education and Communication: One impediment to change is that participants are uncertain about what is going to happen. Through education and communication, internal and external agents of change can provide organizational members with information about the change and how it will affect them. Participation and Empowerment: Inviting workers to participate in the change process is a popular method of reducing resistance to change. Participation complements empowerment, increases workers’ involvement in decision making, and gives them greater autonomy to change work procedures to improve organizational performance. These are key elements of most TQM programs. People that are involved in the change and decision-making process are more likely to embrace rather than resist. Facilitation: Both managers and workers find change stressful. There are several ways in which organizations can help their members to manage stress: providing them with training to help them learn how to perform new tasks, providing them with time off from work to recuperate from the stressful effects of change, or even giving senior members sabbaticals. Bargaining and Negotiation: Bargaining and negotiation are important tools that help managers manage conflict. Because change causes conflict, bargaining is an important tool in overcoming resistance to change. Manipulation: Sometimes senior managers need to intervene, as politics shows that powerful managers have considerable ability to resist change. Coercion: The ultimate way to eliminate resistance to change is to coerce the key players into accepting change and threaten dire consequences if they choose to resist. The disadvantage is that it can leave people angry and disenchanted and can make the refreezing process difficult. OD Techniques to Promote Change Counseling, Sensitivity Training, and Process Consultation: Recognizing that each individual is different also requires them to be treated or managed differently. Sometimes, counseling will help individuals understand that their own perceptions of a situation may be incorrect. Sensitivity training is an OD technique that consists of intense counseling in which group members, aided by a facilitator, learn how others perceive them and may learn how to deal more sensitively with others. Process consultation is an OD technique in which a facilitator works closely with a manager on the job to help the manager improve his or her interactions with other group members. Team building is an OD technique in which a facilitator first observes the interactions of group members and then helps them become aware of ways to improve their work interactions. The goal of team building is to improve group processes to achieve process gains and reduce process losses that are occurring because of shirking and freeriding. Intergroup training is an OD technique that uses team building to improve the work interactions of different functions or divisions. Its goal is to improve organizational performance by focusing on a function’s or division’s joint activities and output. Organizational mirroring is an OD technique in which a facilitator helps two interdependent groups explore their perceptions and relations in order to improve their work interactions. This technique is designed to get both interdependent groups to see the perspective of the other side. Appreciating others’ perspectives allows the groups to work together more effectively. Total Organizational Interventions: A variety of OD techniques can be used at the organization level to promote organization-wide change. Organizational confrontation meeting is an OD technique that brings together all of the managers of an organization at a meeting to confront the issue of whether the organization is meeting its goals effectively.