Analysis Of Experience Organizational Change Management Essay

Analysis Of Experience Organizational Change Management Essay Todays organizations are facing a continually changing world, unpredictable and fast-paced environment that require constant restudying to change. For an organization to be successful in this modern world it is ultimately for organization to regularly evaluate the need for them to change to stay up to date. Organizational change enables a company to strive to stay competitive and profitable. In 2006, Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) had acquired Maxtor Corporation; Maxtor was an American manufacturer of computer conventional disk drives and the third largest in the world prior to acquisition. In 2008, some commentators argue that Solid-state drive (SSD) challenge may give threat to Seagate steady as a worlds largest manufacturer of conventional disk drives. Organizations likely to be struggling to survive if fail to meet the challenges and demands of both the external and internal environment factors. Today environment is erratic and does not stand still, so organizations cannot assu me that the future is stagnant, there is a need for organizations to continuously review their vision, strategies, technologies and goals based on changing environment and technological. As Charles Darwin quotes that It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. Jai B. P. Sinha (2008: 352) states that there is two-dimensional view of organizational change, where organizational change can be triggering by external and internal factors, either unplanned or planned. The unplanned change is usually reacting to ad hoc measures that company does not anticipate and it may cause distraction to operation. For examples, change of government policy, critical incidents due to lacking of skills, unscheduled tools maintenance due to lacking of preventive measurement, and missing standard operating procedures. The planned change is usually change of organization business plans and organization restructuring, such as offer competitive pricing in the market, redesign or align roles and responsibilities to improve productivity and employees morale. The effective outcome of unplanned and planned change both can be effective and ineffective; basically it depends on how efficient of the strategic plans that put into practical effect. There are many external triggers for organizational change. For example, in 2011, Europe solar industry sees hurt and affected with legal environment factor when UK government announced plans to introduce a cut to the Feed-In Tariff scheme (FIT) for large solar energy enterprises. Such legal constraints may have serious negative impact on an industry and would hurt organization budget and react unintentional, such as cease some of its operations and will cost jobs lost and low morale. Globalization is another key external factor in the world economy and could be a good or bad for organization. Globalization has brought in new opportunities to developing countries or third world countries. For example, international companies in Asia have big advantages with better government subsidies and lower labor costs. In order for developed countries companies to stay competitive they must be consistently review their strategic plans so be more innovative than overseas competitors, such as real locate their manufacturing business to overseas countries. Likewise, new technological advances make present company struggle to stay competitive. Nokia Corp profit has been suffered badly due to lacks of new technology or model to challenge smart phone, such as Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy. An organization has to continuously research and develop new technology in order having ability to challenge the threat from competitors and demanding customers. Internal triggers are the factors happening within the organization itself. For example, workplace abuse or high stress employees can lead to low morale and low performance; it will affect the productivity, staff turnover, or legal issue. For example, in 2012, China Company Foxconn Technology has reported several suicides cases at its factories in southern china, which is a major supplier to Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Some commentators revealed that the issue may due to poor management policies that workers have force to keep up with the machines speed and not allowed to talk to each other in the workshop. Therefore, it is an obligation that organization has to response to the incident and investigates to identify what are the factors caused the incident. Organization must decide and implement a strategic change to resolve the incident and prevent from reoccurring. Also the change has to include the plan how to calm, raise employees morale and motivate employees. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 565-566) discussed that one way to distinguish type of change is to consider how deeply they penetrate the organization. However it does not mean that all change must be deep change to be a good change. The depths of organization intervention are surface, shallow, penetrating, deep, and transformation. The surface or fine tuning is an appropriate to minor issue, where the deep change is appropriate when dealing with major change. For example, in 2009, the deep change will be appropriates for Chartered Semiconductor Company when the company acquired by the main stockholder of Global Foundries Inc, and it required to change to align and transform their corporate mission, vision and values. Kurt Lewin (1985) change theory contains three stage model of change, unfreezing->moving->refreezing. Based on Kurt Lewin unfreezing model, it can be comprehend that organization has to be aware to the changing world and willing to accept change when get trigger. The second step, moving, it is the period to identify appropriate strategic planning and ability to influence to implement the change. The third step, refreezing, it is a step to settle down the change and stabilization of behavior, and then get ready for next change. There is a potential failure to the change if the change does not settle down soon enough in the refreezing period, because the impact to human behavior may be considered risky if stabilization of behavior unable to execute promptly. Also, the ability for continuous of the change would be depends on how fast or how effective the organization to settle down the change, where the change must be accepted and practiced consistently by members of organization. Pennington Change Model (2006) suggests that proposed changes can be placed along two scales: radical incremental and core peripheral. Plotting the character of a proposed change along these scales can provide a sense of how difficult the introduction of any particular initiative might be and how much disturbance to the status quo it might generate. Radical change is generally is a dramatic change and require employees to move far apart or react very differently to a change. However incremental change does not necessary is better that radical change in term of resistance of change. It is still depends how well of organization mitigating resistance and encouraging people. Organizations have always met with resistance to change because human naturally tend to resist change. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 567) discussed that the Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969) model has addresses human reaction associated with change. The five stages in the Kubler-Ross coping cycle are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The five sets of emotional may not all experience by employee throughout the change process. However by understanding the response of people during change, organization will be better ready to promote the change. Huczynski and Buchanan also discussed the Yerkes-Dodson law, which first observed by Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson (1908). The Yerkes-Dodson law argues that human performance increases with arousal or stress increases, however it sees an inverted U-shaped function between arousal and performance. A certain amount of arousal can be a good motivator toward change such as employees may work and learn better with little pressur e. However too little arousal has a sluggish affect too and performance will be slow. When arousal reach an optimal level, the individual will has a hyperactive affect such as overloaded and exhausted and performance will start to drop. How organization response to resistance is very important, such as by force could increase resistance and turnover. The degree of readiness, understanding, commitment and compromise by employees can help to accelerate the change process. According to Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 567), Arthur Bedeian (1980) has states there are four reasons that certain people resist change are parochial self-interest (concerned), Misunderstanding, Low tolerance to change, and Different assessments of the situation. To manage or overcome the resistance to change, Kotter and Schlesinger (2008) have identify 6 methods for dealing with resistance of change. The methods are Education and commitment, Participation and involvement, Facilitation and support, Negotiation and agreement, Manipulation and co-optation, and Implicit and explicit coercion. These 6 methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, however this is a model that organization can use as guidance, and apply it wisely on right situation to prevent or minimize resistance to change in organizations. Jai B. P. Sinha (2008: 354) discussed that culture plays an important role in organizational change processes. Huczynski and Buchanan highlight that Edgar Schein (1985) model sees culture as a three levels: Surface manifestations (the visible aspects of an organizations culture: object and behaviors that can be seen, heard and felt), Values and beliefs (strategies, goals and philosophies), and Basic assumptions (unconscious, taken for granted beliefs, thoughts and perceptions). It is a challenge for culture change to support organizational change, such as what are the best approaches to change people belief and corporate values so that can align with both internal and external factors that resulting from organizational change. Additional, organizational climate and culture are go hand in hand. The culture and climate are both important aspects to organization and have the strong impact during organizational change. Organization change must be always focusing to seek balance between culture and climate throughout the change process. It is very difficult to implement and sustain the organizational change without a properly strategies to manage the climate. The reason is because climate or individual psychological climate such as attitudes, behavior and feelings in the organization are easier to be affected, especially during transformation change that affect organizational mission and strategy. However with a right strategic planning, thorough assessment of organizational human behavior, and the consistent commitment of organizational from both shareholders and top management, so the change may accomplishable and sustainable. For example, Micron Semiconductor Inc had open and respect climates: Managers in op en and respect climates are often look more pleasant and easier to work with, hence it will be much better performance that the managers in closed and contempt climates. With strong culture and right values, everyone in the organization will be having the common perspective in mind and working toward a common goal. As Frances Hesselbein quotes that, Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day. There are really no specific model is the best for organizational change. Organization should proactive continuously learning to identify better ways of develop the innovative strategic planning for driving effective change in organizations by the team members. The successful implementation of organizational change will be depends on how well the ability of leaders or management in choosing the right strategic planning, and implement it ethically. Although change in today fast-paced world is often essential to keep up, however managing organizational change requires skill. Organizational change can be sabotaged if key members refuse to align with the new strategies, because resistance to change is a natural human phenomenon. Hence, all members of organization have to involve and be aligned with the change process, and then integrate their efforts to the organizational change towards the achievement of ultimate organizational goal. The consistent commitment from both senior management and employees are the main key for organization change to succeed. As Jai B. P. Sinha (2008: 369) say that although changes are inevitable and only those who adjust with them survive, effective organizations plan changes for improving individual and organizational performance and well-being of the employees. ASSIGNMENT 1: REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Bradford University School of Management, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 20010, 2011, 2012. Managing People (MP) Study Book. David A. Buchanan and AndrzeJ A. Huczynski, Organizational Behavior. 7 Editions. 1985, 2010. Jai B. P. Sinha, Culture and Organizational Behavior, First Published in 2008 by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. Jeff Dooley, A holw-Person/Systemic Approach to organization Change Management, copyright 1998. Retrieved on July 1, 2012, from http://www.well.com/user/dooley/change.pdf Michael W. Durant, Durant, CCE, CPA. Managing Organ0izational Change. 1999. Retrieved on July 1, 2012, from http://www.crfonline.org/orc/pdf/ref4.pdf Charles Darwin quotes. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_darwin.html Running Head: Organizational Change. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http:///www.advanceessays.com/samples/Organizational_Change.pdf JISC InfoNet, Change Management. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/change-management/printable-version.pdf Sam Kogan, Gen3 Partners, October 10, 2006. How IT companies can stay competitive in a global market. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.zdnet.com/news/how-it-companies-can-stay-competitive-in-a-global-market/149830 20 Awesome Quotes on Change Management. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/20-awesome-quotes-on-change-management/ Michael Birnbaum and Anthony Faiola, Published: March 19. Solar industry faces subsidy cuts in Europe. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/solar-industry-faces-subsidy-cuts-in-europe/2012/03/10/gIQArkbXLS_story.html Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan, Impact of Globalisation on Developing Countries and India. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://economics.about.com/od/globalizationtrade/l/aaglobalization.htm By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai, 27 May 2010. Inside Foxconns suicide factory Retrieved July 1, 2012, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7773011/A-look-inside-the-Foxconn-suicide-factory.html ASSIGNMENT 2: ESSAY QUESTION Why have managers and researchers been so interested in leadership theories to develop effective work performance? Today, a lot of managers and researchers have gone into searching the perfect leadership solution and ideas to achieve organization effectiveness. Many different leadership theories have emerged; some of the popularly adopted leadership theories have evolved over time and have developed their own lines of thoughts and debates endlessly. The leadership theories may have understood and differentially by managers and researchers. And leaders applied these adopted leadership theories as guidance and generate new ideas to strive for their organizational effectiveness in today fast-pace environment. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 596) state that Leadership appears to be a critical determinant of organizational effectiveness. Yuki (2002: 7) defines that leadership as Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree what needs to be done and how to can be done effectively, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish the shared objecti ve. The preceding two arguments may reach an understanding that leadership in organizations is a critical process of influencing and facilitating others to develop effective work performance. The benchmark to measure how well the effective work performance may depends on how well the ability of leaders understand the adopted leadership theories as the conceptual template to demonstrate in actual life and business situations. The clearer a leader can comprehend or perceive it the more effective leader can get into the act. Hence we can argue that the better theory and models enables leader to act more effectively to develop effective work performance. Is boss or manager a leader? Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 598) discussed that Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (1985, P.21) observed that managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing. John Kotters (1990) contrast different functions between leaders and managers, such as Leader establish direction and aligning people, where Manager plans and budget, and Organizing and staffing. Managers have the authority and power in organization to do certain tasks but it does not simply mean the manager is a leader. Some leaders may not have any formal authority but have the ability to influence the behavior of group of people to achieve goal. Individuals can learn to lead and develop their leadership. Jai B. P. Sinha (2008: 354) discussed that Whether managers are developed into leaders depends first of all their own efforts to rise above their routine functions, expand their roles, and cultivate beliefs, dispositions, skills, and styles that make them stand out from others around them. Organizations also play a facilitating role by creating conditions and devising mechanisms transcend their managerial roles. There are many leadership theories that individuals or managers can stick at for learning and developing leadership skills. Apparently, managers interested in leadership theories to develop into leaders and ability to develop effective work performance. Theories of leadership tend to serve a guideline for organization to apply all factors and components of effective leadership into a framework and establishing a culture. Early leadership theories tend to focus upon the trait approach, style approach and contingency approach, where characteristics and behaviors affects leadership; the later new leadership theories tend to focus upon the organizational vision, transactional, transformational, role of followers, the contextual nature of leadership. Each leadership theories provides a personal models or concepts that given management a direction, however each theories does has their own advantages and problems. The next few paragraphs will provide more insight look of some typical theories of leadership: Great man theory, Trait theory, Style theory, Contingency theory, Transactional leader, and Transformational leader. In 19th century, the Great man theory was a popular idea which identifies leaders are born and not made. Great leaders will arise when there is a great need. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 599) explained that the theory as Great Man are born leaders, and emerge to take power, regardless of the social, organizational or history context. It can be said that history leaders were male and primary focus on man only, and great man are born with destined to lead. Next similar theory of leadership is a Trait theory. The Trait theory is the ideas which identify leaders are the people born with inherited leadership characteristic or traits that make these people suited to become leader. According to Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 599), Ralph Stoghill (1948, 1974) had reviewed hundreds of trait studies. Some of his typical characteristics list are strong drive for responsibilities, focus on completing the task, vigor and persistence in pursuit of goals, venturesomeness and originally in problem-solving, drive to exercise initiative in social setting, self-confidence, sense of personal identity, willingness to accept consequences of decisions and actions, readiness to absorb interpersonal stress, willingness to tolerate frustration and delay, ability to influence the behavior of others. However researchers argue that the research did not find a consistent set of leadership traits, those attributes could not be determined, and do not appear to be un ique to leaders. Later Shaw and Fraser (1976, 1978) identified the following skills as a traits leader: ability (intelligence, relevant knowledge, and verbal facility), sociability (participation, cooperativeness, popularity, motivation (initiative and persistence). Some commentators argue that this theory remains gender issues in leadership and a person without trait or some of the traits are not possible for him to be a leader. The Trait theory was abandoned after researchers switched attention to leadership behavior patterns. After the Trait theory, Style or Behavioral style theory has emerged and most commentators considered that this is a big jump from Trait theory. Researchers identified that Style theory is a theory look at what a leader actually do, the traits and the leadership capabilities and qualities are not inherited. It assumes that leaders are not born; leadership behavior and capability can be learned hence leaders can be made through training. Successful leadership is definable and learnable. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 606) discussed that in 1940s to early of 1950s, Survey Research Center in Michigan with Katz et al had identified two dimensions of leadership: employee-centered behavior and job-centered behavior. The style of leadership based on employee-centered behavior is focusing on relationship and employee needs. The leadership has a concern of people as priority, which always strives to solve the problems of followers, concerns the needs of followers, and development of followers. The style of leadership based on job-centered behavior is focusing on getting the job done. The leadership put the priority on achievement and meeting goals. In 1953a to 1951, Bureau of Business Research at Ohio State University also identified two types of leaderships behavior which are consideration and initiating structure. The style of leadership based on consideration behavior is focusing on relationships and needs oriented. The leadership allows followers to share ideas and make decisions together. The style of leadership based on initiating structure is focusing on job-centered, which structure tasks and assign works, and expect follower to follow instruction to act accordingly. However there are some concerns raised against Style theories, such as how well leader can fix to the given style of leadership behavior, and what if a person unwilling or unable to learn the given behavior. As Thompson and McHugh (2002) states that others have recognized that situational, environmen t and contextual factors all potentially influence and effectiveness of different leadership. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 610) identified that Contingency theory of leadership of Fred Fiedler (1967) as a perspective which argues that leader must adjust their style in a manner consistent with aspects of the context. This is a model describes the leadership effectiveness is depends on relationship between leader behavior or style and the favorable of the situation. The favorable of the situation can be influenced by three key factors, which are the degree of relationship and trust between leader and team members, the degree of task structure, and the positional power of leader. The theory can promote better relationships between leaders and workers. The theory also can help leader to familiar and not confuse with the tasks structure, hence achieve better effectiveness. Theoretically this theory judge the leader performance is depends on their abilities, not by gender or person background. However some commentators argue this theory is often fails when tested in real-life situ ation. And the approach should identify a leader not just by positional power, but should evaluate the person leadership competencies to deal with bad situation. Also this theory is difficult to assess the three key factors and not really identify the need of team members. In the late twentieth century, new leaderships have emerged. The new leader focuses on the key role of heroic, powerful, visionary, and charismatic. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 617) defined that New leader an inspirational visionary, concerned with building shared senses of purpose and mission, creating a culture in which everyone is aligned with the organizations goals and is skilled and empowered to achieve them. Later the new leadership was distinguished by McGregor Burns (1978) between transactional leader and transformational leader. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 618) suggest that Transactional leader a leader who treats relationships with followers in terms of an exchange, giving followers what they want in return for what the leader desires, following prescribed tasks to pursue established goals. This theory basically is a model that business agreement or exchange made between an employee and an organization or leader, where completion of tasks through reward or penalty. The benefits of this theory are people are easier to motivate through rewards or penalty. Also organization has the full authority, control and commitment from employee once employee agrees with the agreement. However this theory will limit the people development because people never has chance to learn to think because they are just require to follow instruction as per agreement. This leadership model may create a stressful work environment because upper level leaders hard to identify lower level leaders to help in managing people or tasks. So me commentators see that this leadership is unable to promote or creating an innovation culture within organization that encourage employees participation and contribution for improving organization effectiveness. Transformational leadership is an effective charismatic leadership theory. Huczynski and Buchanan (2010: 618) suggest that Transformation leader a leader who treats relationships with followers in terms of motivation and commitment, influencing and inspiring followers to give more than mere compliance to improve organizational performance. This leadership theory will improve organizational behavior and changing organizational climate. Hence people tend to improve effectiveness through self motivation and commitment to their work and organization. However this theory is highly depends on the ability of the organization leaders to influence, motivate and inspire people. There are numbers of leadership theories describe the processes of how a leader developed, influence, motivate, and empower people. Leaders have the flexibility in identifying right theories for them or their organization. These leadership theories and leadership principles are evolving over time. Undoubtedly, Leadership theories and strategic planning are going to enhance leaders capabilities to achieve organization effectiveness. However what happens if the theories or ideas are confuse or not effective at particular situation? Will the theories operate and suitable to organization culture? Will the committed theories fail to return expected outcome? Will the theories cause misunderstanding and impact to the operation or organization? How clear do we know the models? How accurate do we see the direction and outcome? This is a general rule that we must learn to get the concept of theories right first and then put into practical effect. This is a lifelong process that leader should c ontinuously learning and provide high level of commitment to understand leadership theories clearer so be more control and more effective of the outcome. Potentially leaders may cause fears and critical impacts if they are confuse or ambiguous about their action and outcome, especially leaders with great power. As Peter Parker quotes in his spider-man stories that With great power comes great responsibility. ASSIGNMENT 2: REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Bradford University School of Management, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 20010, 2011, 2012. Managing People (MP) Study Book. David A. Buchanan and AndrzeJ A. Huczynski, Organizational Behavior. 7 Editions. 1985, 2010. Jai B. P. Sinha, Culture and Organizational Behavior, First Published in 2008 by SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. Omkar Phatak, Pros and Cons of Leadership Theories. 6/20/2012. Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/leadership-theories-pros-and-cons.html Right Management Inc. Organizational Effectiveness, 2010. Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://right.com/thought-leadership/research/organizational-effectiveness-discovering-how-to-make-it-happen.pdf Bolden R. Gosling, J. Marturano, A. and Dennison, P. A review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks, June 2003. Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/cls/documents/mgmt_standards.pdf Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Leadership. Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership#Theories The High and the Mighty. Shelton, Ken. Leadership Excellence29. 5 (May 2012): 2. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brad.ac.uk/docview/1018673389/137BDADA9D5486776E9/2?accountid=17193 Successful Leaders. Halvorson, Heidi Grant. Leadership Excellence29. 5 (May 2012): 6. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brad.ac.uk/docview/1018673393/fulltext/137BDADA9D5486776E9/6?accountid=17193 Real Leaders. Fretwell, Peter. Leadership Excellence29. 5 (May 2012): 8. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.brad.ac.uk/docview/1018673589/fulltext/137BDADA9D5486776E9/8?accountid=17193

Kurt Vonnegut’s Experience of Time Travel, War, and Death in Slaughterh

Slaughterhouse-Five is a stirring science-fiction book, which contains many interesting themes such as, space and time travel, philosophy on death, war, and aliens. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, The main character, Billy Pilgrim, is not in the first chapter. The author of this book, Kurt Vonnegut is the main character in this chapter (Harris). This book is written in a rather random order because Billy Pilgrim lived his life that way. In the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, the author’s imagination helps him get through reality by giving him the illusion that he is traveling through time and cannot die (Westbrook). Billy was a prisoner-of-war, but he continues with his normal life; he also believes that he was kid napped by aliens called Talfamadores (Peebles). These so called trips occur all through his life. He continues his life after serving in World War II by the occupation of optometry. He becomes rather wealthy but eventually dies. Giannone explains that there are three t hemes in Slaughterhouse-Five, which include, victory wins over death, the idea of no death, and the reader’s thoughts on the events of the book (Giannone). Billy Pilgrim has gained the ability to become unstuck in time. Billy went to sleep one night as an old man, and has woken up the next day as a driven young engaged man (Vonnegut 23). He has no control over where he is going to stop next in his lifetime, these trips are rather frightening (Vonnegut 23). In Slaughterhouse-Five, Billy thinks he is able to escape the present and time travel, but really, he is going back in time and seeing the bombings and other experiences (Vees-Gulani). In this novel, time is not chronological order, the time lapsed in this novel is very large, the time is made up of sma... ...Vol. 152. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. Shear, Walter. "Kurt Vonnegut: The Comic Fate of the Sensibility." The Feeling of Being: Sensibility in Postwar American Fiction. New York: Peter Lang, 2002. 215-239. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 212. Detroit: Gale, 2006. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. Vees-Gulani, Susanne. "Diagnosing Billy Pilgrim: a psychiatric approach to Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five." CRITIQUE: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 44.2 (2003): 175+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Jan. 2014. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. New York, New York: Dell Publishing, 1991. Print. Westbrook, Perry D. "Kurt Vonnegut Jr.: Overview." Contemporary Novelists. Susan Windisch Brown. 6th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 17 Jan. 2014.

The language paper -- essays research papers

Language is one of the most powerful mediums in the human world, and not only can language be expressed through words, but also visually and musically. Language is everything from words that are spoken and the silence that lies between one phrase and the next. I find out odd how in our culture, we try to label things black and white. It’s either this or it’s that, yet when there’s something lacking in language, we try to assign colors to it instead of letting things be how they are. I have two types of mediums that I feel shows the idea that things are visually and audibly black and white, but it’s difficult to leave it at that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first medium I chose is in fact a color picture, but what makes it similar to a black and white picture is that there’s mostly black in the picture. When my dad got the roll of film developed, I started looking through it and not even stopping to look closely at any pictures, but then I get to this one and I found myself just staring at it and looking for something that might not even be there. When I first glanced at it I just saw a person wearing black and their arm with her head not captured in the picture. When I looked at it again I saw myself in the background with a look of distress and sadness incorporated with the look of reality finally setting in. I think the reason that I didn’t quite look at myself in the background first was because I’m positioned off center in the picture. I look carefully to see body language, since I can’t tell what words are being spoken, and I see that my hands are by my mouth, almost seeming like I want to hide my emotions from the world, but at the same time I’m overwhelmed with the emotions that I feel that I can’t help but break down in silence. The second thing that my eyes seem to land on is the person to the right holding the other person’s hand. I somehow got a flash as to why I started crying again. It’s not because it was a funeral and that my lifeless grandmother’s body was right there in the open, but it’s that the person who is standing to the right of me (my aunt), is holding the other’s persons hand (her aunt, my grandmother’s sister). I remember taking one quick glance at her and just seeing my grandmother in front of me because of the close resemblance of the two. It was almost like a walking ghost was right in front of me. That’s when reality se... ... they have in front of them isn’t so bad. I guess this song is more directed to people who feel like they’re outside of the box or that they don’t really belong. The song has this meaning that says to embrace their differences because it is what makes them unique and to stay true to themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel that both genres that I chose were pretty much black and white, but for some odd reason, anytime I look and listen to both, I try to find deep hidden meanings from them. These meanings that I find might not even be there. The meanings I find might just be cultural influences that are programmed in my head. Maybe if someone from a different lifestyle or culture were to listen or hear these genres, they would get a different meaning from them, maybe something that I might have not even seen. I think as part of our society, we constantly try to look for hidden meanings or meanings that aren’t even there in something that is as simple as a black and white photo. No one could label something clearly black and white, nor can they determine the set meaning in a photo, song, advertisement, etc. because it all depends on the cultural background of the reader or l

Requirements Gathering

Requirements Gathering 101 By Duncan Haughey, PMP Requirements gathering is an essential part of any project and project management. Understanding fully what a project will deliver is critical to its success. This may sound like common sense, but surprisingly it's an area that is often given far too little attention. Many projects start with the barest headline list of requirements, only to find later the customers' needs have not been properly understood. One-way to avoid this problem is by producing a statement of requirements. This document is a guide to the main requirements of the project.It provides: A succinct requirement specification for management purposes. A statement of key objectives – a â€Å"cardinal points† specification. A description of the environment in which the system will work. Background information and references to other relevant material. Information on major design constraints. The contents of the statement of requirements should be stable or change relatively slowly. Once you have created your statement of requirements, ensure the customer and all other stakeholders sign-up to it and understand that this and only this will be delivered.Finally, ensure you have cross-referenced the requirements in the statement of requirements with those in the project definition report to ensure there is no mismatch. 10 Rules for Successful Requirements Gathering To be successful at requirements gathering and to give your project an increased likelihood of success follow these rules: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Don't assume you know what the customer wants, ask. Involve the users from the start. Define and agree the scope of the project. Ensure requirements are specific, realistic and measurable. Gain clarity if there is any doubt.Create a clear, concise and thorough requirements document and share it with the customer. Confirm your understanding of the requirements with the customer (play them back). Avoid talking technology or sol utions until the requirements are fully understood. Get the requirements agreed with the stakeholders before the project starts. Create a prototype if necessary to confirm or refine the customers' requirements. Common Mistakes Basing a solution on complex or cutting edge technology and then discovering that it cannot easily be rolled out to the ‘real world'.Not prioritising the User Requirements, for example ‘must have', ‘should have', ‘could have' and ‘would have,' known as the MoSCoW principle. Not enough consultation with real users and practitioners. Solving the ‘problem' before you know what it is. Lacking a clear understanding and making assumptions rather than asking. Requirements gathering is about creating a clear, concise and agreed set of customer requirements that allow you to provide exactly what they are looking for.  © Project Smart 2000-2011. All rights reserved. 1

Comparing and Contrasting Japan and Vietnam

Social division, politics, culture 1. Body Paragraph: Social division throughout Japan and Vietnam were both structured from Chinese past times. In Japan, there was no caste system at first but it later flourished. Women were allowed to participate in military actions, but not own property or money. Throughout this time period women lost power. Koreans inter-married between ethnic groups which provided characteristics of Southeast Asia. Both of these countries were very similar to the Chinese in their social divisions because of trade.Trade routes such as the Silk Road gave The Japanese and Vietnamese opportunities to â€Å"borrow† Chinese ideas. 2. Body Paragraph: State building, expansion, and conflict differed in Japan and Vietnam. The Vietnamese attended Chinese style schools and had a Chinese style military. Resistance to the Chinese influence led to division within Vietnam (North and South). Japan was ruled by an aristocracy. The Monks resisted the attempt to reconstruct imperial authorization.Once the military gained control, the feudal system began. A civil war broke out between the peasant and upper class in Japan. This led to Japan being divided into over three hundred smaller kingdoms. As I mentioned already, Japan did not start out with a caste system, but this social division is what led to the outbreak or civil war. Without the division, Japan may not have broken up into small kingdoms. 3. Body Paragraph: The culture of Japan and Vietnam were also influenced by the Chinese.The Japanese had a strict court system that was filled with gossip and emphasized the arts. The first novel was also developed. Power struggles within the country led to the establishment of the court system. In Vietnam, women enjoyed greater freedom and choice for dress. The architecture was very similar to the Chinese, and they enforced assimilation of people. The difference between Japan and Vietnam was that in Japan women never gained back the slight freedom they once had, whereas in Vietnam women gained more rights.

Entering Grooming Business in Hong Kong Pest Analysis

Personal management and human resource management (HRM) basically brings very similar meaning. The personnel who work for a company represent that company’s human resource. Human resource management (HRM) department didn’t actually exist until 1940s, the activities performed by these departments were not all brand new but in fact, quite a number of the human resource practices and programs that we see today top derivation in the earlier times. Human resource management (HRM) is historically known as personal management which deals with official system for the management of the people within the organization. Many renowned companies want to achieve the transformation of their workforce into a foundation of completive advantage. HR manager inevitably has concerns for their workers. These concerns consists of how to manage layoffs, address deduction of employee loyalty, generate a well trained highly motivated work force that can deliver HR mangers have many concerns regarding their workers. These concerns include how to mange layoffs, address reduced employee loyalty, generate a well trained highly motivated work force that can deliver higher quality and productivity. Mange and increase diverse workforce and contain health care cost. HRM has been undergoing transformation. In 1970s, the job of the HR manger was to keep their companies out of court and in compliance with the increasing number of regulations governing the work place. In the 1980s HR mangers had to address staffing costs related to mergers and acquisitions and downsizing. The economic issues related to an increasingly global and completive workplace characterize the 1990s. Beside these concerns Firms are also facing some other challenges regarding workforce before we take up the HR challenges that face managers, we need to define manager and say a word about where human resources fit into the organization. Managers are people who are in charge of others and are responsible for the timely and correct execution of actions that promote their units' successful performance. B. History of Personnel Management A group of people becomes an organization when they cooperate with each other to achieve common goals. Communication among them is therefore important. But people have individual motivations, which often differ, from the corporate goals. An effective organization is one which succeeds in getting people to accept that cooperating to achieve organizational goals also helps them to achieve their own goals provided they are adequately rewarded through extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. This is achieved primarily through leadership and motivation. Employers therefore increasingly view human resource management from a strategic perspective, and as an appropriate means through which the chasm between organizational and individual goals can be narrowed. As it has been aptly observed: â€Å"Part of the problem is that we have split off human resource management from the general management problem, as if there were some other kind of management other than human resource management. As long as organizations are based upon the coordinated action of two or more people, management is by definition human resource management. Despite the proliferation of writings and studies on HRM, there is a wide gap between the rhetoric and the reality, though the gap has been narrowing in the 1990s. There is as yet inadequate research to ascertain the extent to which practice matches corporate policy statements, and the impact of HRM policies and practices Page # 29 on employee behavior and morale. To have a major impact on enterprises, HRM has to be diffused across an economy, rather than remain islands of excellence. Nevertheless, promoting excellent models of HRM stimulates interest in better people management. HRM has three basic goals, which contribute to achieving management objectives. The first is integration of HRM in two senses: integrating HRM into an organization's corporate strategy, and ensuring an HRM view in the decisions and actions of line managers. Integration in the first sense involves selecting the HRM options consistent with (and which promote) the particular corporate strategy. The option is determined by the type of employee behavior expected (e. g. innovation) needed to further the corporate strategy. For instance, the HRM policies in relation to recruitment, appraisal, compensation, training, etc. iffer according to whether the business strategy is one of innovation, quality enhancement or cost reduction. A strategy of innovation may require a pay system less influenced by market rates but which rewards creativity, and the pay rates would even be low so long as there are ways of making up the earnings package. A cost reduction strategy may lead to pay rates being strongly influenced by market levels. Similarly, training and development would rec eive less emphasis in a cost reduction strategy than in one where the objective is innovation or quality. But such integration is difficult without securing the inclusion of a HRM view in the decisions and practices of line managers. This requires that HRM should not be a centralized function. A second goal of HRM is securing commitment through building strong cultures. This involves promoting organizational goals by uniting employees through a shared set of values (quality, service, innovation, etc. ) based on a convergence of employee and enterprise interests, which the larger Japanese enterprises have been particularly adept at. A third goal of HRM is to achieve flexibility and adaptability to manage change and innovation in response to rapid changes consequent upon globalization. Relevant to HRM policies in this regard are training and multi-skilling, re-organization of work and removal of narrow job classifications. Appropriate HRM policies are designed, for instance, to recruit, develop and retain quality staff, to formulate and implement agreed performance goals and measures, and to build a unified organizational culture. C. Shifting from Personnel Management to HRM The transformation is reflected by raising important role of HRM from the personal management purpose from one of focussing on employee welfare to one of managing people in a way, which matches organizational goal and individual goals and providing employees with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Therefore Therefore, today Human Resource Management (HRM), historically known as personal management, deals with formal system for the management of the people within the organization. Many well-known companies report that they are trying to transform their workforce into a source of completive advantage. Stages of shifting of Personnel Management to HRM: First, HRM earlier reacted piece-meal to problems as they arose. Effective HRM seeks to link HRM issues to the overall strategy of the organization, with the most effective HRM policies and practices integrated into such corporate policies and strategies to reinforce or change an organization's culture. Integration is needed in two senses – integrating HRM issues in an organization's strategic plans and securing the acceptance and inclusion of a HRM view in the decisions of line managers. The HRM policies in respect of the various functions (e. g. recruitment, training, etc. ) should be internally consistent. They must also be consistent with the business strategies and should reflect the organization's core values. The problem of integrating HRM view business strategy arises, for example, in a diversified enterprise with different products and markets. In such cases it is difficult to match HRM policies with strategies that could vary among different business activities, each of which may call for different HRM policies. Second, building strong cultures is a way of promoting particular organizational goals, in that â€Å"a ‘strong culture' is aimed at uniting employees through a shared set of managerially sanctioned values (‘quality', ‘service', ‘innovation' etc. ) that assume an identification of employee and employer interests. However, there can be tension between a strong organizational culture and the need to adapt to changed Page # 30 ircumstances and to be flexible, particularly in the highly competitive and rapidly changing environment in which employers have to operate today. Rapid change demanded by the market is sometimes difficult in an organization with a strong culture. IBM has been cited as a case in point. Its firmly-held beliefs about products and services made it difficult for it to effect changes in time, i. e. when the market required a radical change in product and service (from mainframe, customized systems, salesmen as management consultants to customer-as-end-user, seeking quality of product and service) o personal computers (standardized product, cost competition, dealer as customer). Nevertheless, in the long term a strong organizational culture is preferable to a weak one. Third, the attitude that people are a variable cost is, in effective HRM, replaced by the view that people are a resource and that as social capital can be developed and can contribute to competitive advantage. Increasingly, it is accepted that competitive advantage is gained through well-educated and trained, motivated and committed employees at all levels. This recognition is now almost universal, and accounts for the plausible argument that training and development are, or will be, the central pillar of HRM. Fourth, the view that the interests of employees and management or shareholders are divergent and confliction – though substantially true in the past – is giving way to the view that this need not necessarily be so. As organization, which practices, effective HRM seeks to identify and promote a commonality of interests. Significant examples are training which enhances employment security and higher earning capacity for employees while at the same time increasing the employee's value to the enterprise's goals of better productivity and performance; pay systems which increase earnings without significant labor cost increases, and which at the same time promote higher performance levels; goal-setting through two-way communication which establishes unified goals and objectives and which provides intrinsic rewards to the employee through a participatory process. Fifth, top-down communication coupled with controlled information flow to keep power within the control of management giving way to a sharing of information and knowledge. This change facilitates the creation of trust and commitment and makes knowledge more productive. Control from the top is in effective HRM being replaced by increasing employee participation and policies, which foster commitment and flexibility that help organizations to change when necessary. The ways in which the larger Japanese enterprises have installed participatory schemes and introduced information-sharing and two-way communication systems are instructive in this regard. In enterprises that tend to have corporate philosophies or missions, and where there are underlying values that shape their corporate culture, HRM becomes a part of the strategy to achieve their objectives. In some types of enterprises such as ones in which continuous technological change takes place, the goal of successfully managing change at short intervals often requires employee cooperation through emphasis on communication and involvement. As this type of unit grows, â€Å"If there is strategic thinking in human resource management these units are likely to wish to develop employee-relations policies based on high individualism paying above market rates to recruit and retain the best labor, careful selection and recruitment systems to ensure high quality and skill potential, emphasis on internal training schemes to develop potential for further growth, payment system designed to reward individual performance and cooperation, performance and appraisal reviews, and strong emphasis on team work and communication †¦ In short, technical and capital investment is matched by human resource investments, at times reaching near the ideals of human resource management. Shift of personnel management to HRM took place in three stages: Records and 1. Records and Administration 2. Accountability Regulations 3. Competitive Advantage 1. Records and Administration In first stage the primary activities, which were carried out by personnel department, were, Planning Company picnics Scheduling vacations, Enrolling workers for health-are coverage, Planning retirement parties These concerns include how to mange layoffs, address reduced employee loyalty, create a well trained highly motivated work force that can deliver higher quality and productivity, mange and increase diverse workforce and contain health care cost. 2. Accountability Regulations During this stage primary framework of rules and regulations started emerging tin the organization. In 1970s, the job of the HR manger was to keep their companies out of court and in compliance with the increasing number of regulations governing the work place. In the 1980s HR mangers had to address staffing costs related to mergers and acquisitions and downsizing. The economic issues related to an increasingly global and completive workplace characterize the 1990s. Beside these concerns 3. Competitive Advantage The aim of this shift stage is from merely securing compliance to the more ambitious one of winning commitment. The employee resource, therefore, becomes worth investing in, and training and development thus assume a higher profile. These initiatives are associated with, and maybe are even predicated upon, a tendency to shift from a collective orientation to the management of the workforce to an individualistic one. Accordingly management looks for ‘flexibility' and seeks to reward differential performance in a differential way. Communication of managerial objectives and aspirations takes on a whole new importance. What separates or distinguishes HRM from the traditional personnel function is the integration of HRM into strategic management and the pre-occupation of HRM with utilizing the human resource to achieve strategic management objectives. HRM â€Å"seeks to eliminate the mediation role and adopts a generally unitary perspective. It emphasizes strategy and planning rather than problem solving and mediation, so that employee cooperation is delivered by programme of corporate culture, remuneration packaging, and team building and management development for core employees, while peripheral employees are kept at arm's length. HRM strategies may be influenced by the decisions taken on strategy (the nature of the business currently and in the future) and by the structure of the enterprise (the manner in which the enterprise is structured or organized to meet is objectives). In an enterprise with effective HRM polices and practices, the decisions on HRM are also strategic decisions influenced by strategy and structure, and by external factors such as trade unions, the labor market situation and the legal system. In reality most firms do not have such a well thought out sequential HRM model. But we are considering here is also effective HRM, and thus a model where HRM decisions are as strategic as the decisions on the type of business and structure. At conceptual level the interpretations of HRM indicate different emphases, which lead to concentration on different contents of the discipline. The various distinctions or interpretations indicate that HRM â€Å"Can be used in a restricted sense so reserving it as a label only for that approach to labor management which treats labor as a valued asset rather than a variable cost and which accordingly counsels investment in the labor resource through training and development and through measures designed to at tract and retain a committed workforce. Alternatively it is sometimes used in an extended way so as to refer to a whole array of recent managerial initiatives including measures to increase the flexible utilization of the labor resource and other measures, which are largely directed at the individual employee. But another distinction can also be drawn. This directs attention to the ‘hard' and ‘soft' versions of HRM. The ‘hard' one emphasizes the quantitative, calculative and business-strategic aspects of managing the headcounts resource in as ‘rational' a way as for any other economic factor. By contrast, the ‘soft' version traces its roots to the human-relations school; it emphasizes communication, motivation, and leadership. There are several ways in which HRM has changed earlier attitudes and assumptions of personnel management about managing people. The new model of HRM includes many elements vital to the basic management goal of achieving and maintaining

Professional School Counselor: Personal Experience

Maria's professional school counselor, how would you assist her with issues that have personal, emotional, developmental, cultural, and spiritual/religious ramifications? 0 Specifically identify strategies, programs, and practices that advocate for social Justice and academic success for Maria. 0 Identify how you would use collaboration and consultation to work with students, teachers, parent's, and community agencies to reduce the recent increase in teenage pregnancy at your school. Briefly, compare and contrast the three models of consultation presented n the Reform text , and identify the model that you would apply it to address the issue of teenage pregnancy in your school and why? 0 What are the ethical and legal considerations in this case? As Maria's professional school counselor, I would assist her with her issues with various ramifications by having one-on-one counseling sessions to learn more about her, her culture, her worldview, and her current decision making process.I u nderstand that she may be having a hard time dealing with the obstacles life has put in her path by being pregnant, losing her parent's, being new to the U. S. And school, and not knowing what decisions she will make. After getting to know Maria better, I would counsel based on the information I gathered from her, along with the help of various resources to help her deal with the issues we addressed. A strategy that could advocate for social Justice and academic success for Maria would be using a scientific approach as proposed by Sue (1998).I would start by forming a hypothesis about Maria. I would then do dynamic sizing, which in this situation I definitely would want to exclusively work with Maria. This is important because it helps me to not stereotype Maria and embrace her culture at the same time. Lastly, I would do research on Maria's culture and consult with a colleague who may have the same culture, or is bilingual to help make the process smoother. I would look into gettin g her into and SSL class as soon as possible to ensure I am advocating for the successful completion of high school against the odds that Maria face.The recent increase in teenage pregnancy is definitely an issue I would like to address. Through elaboration and consultation with parent's, teachers, and the community, I would propose having assemblies twice a year on teenage pregnancy and premarital sex and the risks the student is taking. I would get with the health department and see if I could get a nurse to lead the program and become the guest speaker as well provide alternate meaner of protection when it comes to sex.I am aware that I would not be able to change the decision of whether or not the students have sex, but I would be sure that they are well educated on the consequences and repercussions f the act. The assembly would be scheduled where the female and male students attended separately so there would not be any discomfort. The assembly would be mandatory. The three mo dels of consultation in the Reform text is triadic-dependent model, the collaborative-dependent model, and the collaborative-interdependent focus of concern, which is the client.In this model, the consultant provides services indirectly to the client through the consultant's work with the consulate. The counselor works in direct contact with the student (223). The collaborative- pendent model is the consultant engages the knowledge and expertise of the consulate regarding the student's and the system's strengths and weaknesses, the contextual factors that influence the student, and the student's reactions to previous interventions (p. 227).The collaborative-interdependent model emphasizes an interdependent problem-solving process in which family members, educators, counselors, youth, and members of the broader community contribute as equal participants (p. 228). Triadic-dependent and collaborative-dependent consultation oodles are helpful when seeking change for an individual client or family or for a single organizational system related to normal development problems. The collaborative-interdependent is used for problems that are more complex.I would use the collaborative-interdependent model when it comes to addressing the teenage pregnancy in my school because this gives the students a wealth of professional and community members that they are able to seek help from that goes beyond the schoolhouse and home. Ethic and legal considerations for this case with Maria would definitely be confidentiality. I would have to find who her legal guardian is because I would try to get her to let them know she is pregnant if she had not already.I would also need to make sure she is getting the correct medical attention and vitamins that she needs while she is pregnant. I would not push the issue of citizenship, but if she addresses it, we would look into the situation to ensure that there are no issues when it comes to delivering her child. Reference Reform, B. (2011). T ransforming the school counseling profession. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.