Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Employment Responsibilities and Rights Essay

Learning Outcome 1. 1.1 List the aspects of employment covered by law. Aspects that are covered by law are as followed, anti-discrimination provisions to protect against gender, race, disability, age, working hours and holiday entitlements. Sickness absence and sick pay. Data protection for personal information. Health and safety. Criminal records Bureau (CRB) checks when starting work within a healthcare setting. 1.2 List the main features of current employment legislation. The main features are as followed, minimum wage, hours worked, Discrimination, health and safety, holiday entitlements, redundancy and dismissal, disciplinary procedures, training and union rights. Health and safety laws cover the work conditions, and minimum wage and other laws set basic compensation levels. There’s also the disability act, manual handling operations and regulations, data protection act, general social care council code 2001 and RIDDOR. 1.3 Outline why legislation relating to employment exists. Legislation relating to employment exists to stop exploitation of workers by their employers mainly to protect the rights of their employee’s and to make sure that they have everything they need such as safety standards, holiday entitlement, maternity leave, redundancy payments, discrimination laws, maximum working hours and age requirement. 1.4 Identify sources and types of information and advice available in relation to employment responsibilities and available in relation to employment responsibilities and rights. Sources of information and advice can be found in the HR department, from your line manager or your manager’s manager. The Citizens Advice Bureau, community legal advice, trade unions, additional learning support and from representative bodies. Read more:  Employer and Employee Statutory Rights and Responsibilities Learning Outcome 2. 2.1 Describe the terms and conditions of your own contract of employment. The terms and conditions of my contract of employment are the commencement date of which I started working for the organisation. Information about my probationary period where it explains that the first three months of my employment will be probationary so that I and the organisation can assess the suitability of this arrangement. My contract states my job title, which is care assistant. There’s information about the pay rate during the week  and a different rate of pay at weekends and bank holidays, along with how often we are paid. My normal hours of work each week and holiday entitlement are stated. Which explains that I’m entitled to 28 days holiday a year but only permitted to take a maximum of 10 days at any one time. Also listed is information about sick pay and how much notice to give when leaving the organisation. My contract explains about the uniform that is provided. There’s i nformation about the CRB checks that every member of staff has when starting. 2.2 Describe the information shown on your own pay statement. The information on my pay statement is my name, national insurance number, tax code and the dates of the four weeks that I have been paid for. It details the amount of hours worked for the four weeks with the rate of pay for weekdays, weekends and any bank holidays or holidays booked during that time and the value. There’s a list for tax deductions and national insurance deductions. The total amount of tax paid since working for the organisation. At the bottom of my pay statement there is the total gross pay which is the amount earned before tax deductions. Underneath there is the total amount of tax deductions for the four weeks. The net pay is the amount left over when tax deductions have been taken away from the total gross pay. 2.3 Describe the procedures to follow in an event of a grievance. The grievance should be raised verbally with your line manager or manager’s manager. It should be done in confidence giving full details and sufficient time to consider the facts of the case and where appropriate take remedial action. If your line manager not be able to satisfactorily resolve the grievance, the matter should be referred either verbally or in writing to the home manager whose decision will be final. An employee is entitled to have another person present at any stage of the procedure. 2.4 Identify the personal information that must be kept up to date with your own employer. Personal information that must be up dated is your change in marital status, address and telephone numbers. A change of next of kin details. National insurance number and tax code. Qualifications and work history. Any medical restrictions, absence details, training and data protection. 2.5 Explain agreed ways of working with employer. Agreed ways of working with your employer are following health and safety procedures, implement agreed ways to follow care plans. Following procedures  when someone needs to take time off either for personal reason or holiday. Giving your employer the correct time needed to organise shifts for sickness. Learning Outcome 3 3.1 Explain how our own role fits within the delivery of the service provider. My role fits within the delivery of the service provider because I am maintaining the organisations reputation and setting high standards. Following uniform policies by dressing smartly and wearing the correct uniform. Attending staff training and completing e-learning course so that I’m up to date with policies and procedures. Treating the service users with dignity and making sure they keep their independence. Also communication with other health care professionals, service users and their family on a regular basis. 3.2 Explain the effect of own role on service provision. Being a care assistant I support the unit managers and senior care assistants by communicating with them. I keep them up to date with any changes regarding the service users like their behaviour and any medical conditions which have either got worse or better. I follow all policies and procedures when undertaking tasks so that I’m complying with CQC standards. Working in a team we can support the service users to maintain their independence, individuality and basis rights. To ensure the safety of staff and service users all health and safety policies are followed. 3.3 Describe how own role links to the wider sector. Working as a care assistant we are linked to a variety of health care professionals such as doctors who come in once a week for check-ups on service users and possibly giving prescriptions so that we can monitor their condition. We also have district nurses and hospitals who require monthly check-ups and we have to update them on the service users condition from carers who work with them on a daily basis. 3.4 Describe the main roles and responsibilities of representative bodies that influence the wider sector. CQC go to a wide range of care settings to make sure essential standards of quality and safety are being met at all times. All staff that work within the health care industry follow all the appropriate policies and procedures to ensure the safety of the service user and staff. Learning Outcome 4 4.1 Explore different types of occupational opportunities. The different types of occupational opportunities are gaining a level 3 NVQ and working as a senior carer and eventually working towards becoming a unit manager. 4.2 Identify sources of information related to chosen career pathway. Information relating to a chosen career pathway could be to talk to your unit manager about progression to a senior care assistant and find out the relevant training and qualifications that are needed for the role. Another source is the NHS website for job similar to a care assistant such as a health care assistant which assistant the nurses. 4.3 Identify next steps in own career pathway. In order to become a senior care assistant I would need to complete my NVQ level 2 and medication course. Do the relevant training at work and then complete an NVQ level 3.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Radiance Reconstructive Surgery

Reconstructive surgery, a trend that has been developed over the years has reached a new level; radiance reconstructive surgery. This new trend in reconstructive surgery is literally what the name suggests, radioactive. Radioactive waves are used to perform and complete the reconstruction process. There are various methods which can be used to achieve the objective of popularizing the method; campaigns to educate and inform the public as well as helping them understand the process and a question and answer session to give any further information needed.As well as procuring new clients, it will also help the company reassure and build confidence in the current clients. Lifestyle, sponsorship and even marketing are what Radiance should focus on; these are extremely important aspects to any company. These areas help to ensure a firm not only care about the community but garnering profit as well. The venues would include such places as training facilities and gyms.However, they should pl ace their marketing wisely as to not encourage children to believe their bodies are anything less than what they should be given the amount of influence that any type of media has on the perception of young people. Melissa should employ a number of damage control techniques to help change the perception of the company by its stakeholders.The steps to take would be; make absolutely certain the public relations are dealt with, build a campaign that show empathy but tell the story as the company sees it, take steps that will improve the image of the company. While waiting for time to pass would seem like the reasonable solution, â€Å"waiting for time to pass would be a bad idea (Kang & Sakai, 2000); the damage is done and the company has let it slide which gives the public the idea that the company is culpable. Radiance would see either positive or negative changes in as little as a few months by taking these steps.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Analysis for Buzzard Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Analysis for Buzzard Ltd - Essay Example 1998) Supplier firms play a very important role in the development and performance of automobile industry world over. Analysts observed that there had been drastic shift in the organization of automobile production across firms in the automobile industry. This shift has further increased the role and importance of supplier firms. The importance at lower levels of the supply chain required many firms to meet new standards of product quality. Buzzard Ltd is also a first-tier supplier automobile industry. Keeping in view the demands of market Buzzard made investment in R&D and technology in 1990s. Because of its investment in R&D Buzzard is regarded as one of the World's leaders in design, manufacture and supply of innovative automotive systems. Buzzard is passing through a transition phase. After planning and implementation of new business strategy company needs some time to start functioning at its full capacity. During this transitional phase company needs to be careful as it is facing various internal and external threats or risks. Some of the threats have been discussed above some internal and external risks faced by the company during its transitional phase are given as under: 1. As discussed earlier company is little over burdened because of the loan taken by the company for its needs. It is quite likely that burden of this loan may de-stabilize the company. It is therefore quite necessary that management of company should consider all the aspects related to loan matter. 2.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Phonics Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Phonics Practice - Essay Example They are learning to solve and decode the mystery of stringed words. Learning phonics is the key to learning to read print. "Research directly points to the direct relationship between phonic instruction and success in acquiring the skill to read print. In short, evidence on the importance of phonics is incontrovertible." (Savage, ). The practice of phonics everyday is the key to mastery in reading fluently. This should be practiced with music, where songs based on phonics can be reinforced. A video approach is even more effective, as it stimulates the auditory as well as the visual concept. And it is easy for the child to remember and decode information both using their auditory and visual stimulus. Flashcards can also be used for further practice. "The English writing system is based on alphabetic principle: that is the individual speech sounds (called phonemes) are represented in writing by individual alphabet sounds (called graphemes). Children need to understand the alphabetic principle as they learn to read. Mastering these sound symbol relationships is what phonics is all about." (Savage, ). Phonemic awareness - the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken words is crucial to success in beginning reading. It is in-fact a better predictor of learning to read than listening ability, IQ and several other factors. Lack of phonemic awareness puts children at risk of failure to learning to read. Phonics should begin with rhyme recognition and rhyme production and continue with segmentation, isolation, deletion, substitution and blending of phonemes throughout the learning program. Emphasis should be on the five essential elements phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary. . (Savage ). Motivation should also be the key factor in reinforcing the concepts. Children should be exposed to a variety of folk tales, fairy tales, rhymes and stories from diverse cultures which can encourage them at their level of learning to code and decode the symbols and decipher the hidden meaning. This journey of exploration of literature should be rewarded by more challenging books, materials and rewards. (Savage ). Although phonics remains an essential factor in the word recognition, other strategies should also be taught in helping children identify words and unlock the meaning of words they encounter in print. Children use multiple clues in identifying words, including sight recognition, and context clues all these need to be integrated with the study of phonics to nurture a fluent reader. This lesson should begin from home before Kindergarten years and should be fully mastered by third grade. The appropriate level of challenge should be maintained throughout. These skills should be taught to help children become productive and fluent readers. "Through critical attention to relevant research and careful observation of children in the reading-writing process, we teachers can intelligently decide how to teach phonics. . . . I prefer to teach phonics strategically, in the meaningful context of the predictable stories children read and write every day. In the context of written language, phonics instruction facilitates meaning making and independence."-Regie Routman, 1991(Weaver, 1996) Comparative and naturalistic research indicates that encouraging children in phonics not through drill but integrated natural approach is more effective.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Psychology of Exercise & Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychology of Exercise & Health - Essay Example Approximately 2 million deaths every year are attributable to physical inactivity; and preliminary findings from a WHO study on risk factors suggest that sedentary lifestyle is one of the ten leading causes of death and disability in the world. Physical inactivity increases all causes mortality, doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and obesity. It also increases the risks of colon and breast cancer, high blood pressure, lipid disorders, osteoporosis, depression and anxiety." (World Health Organization 2002) The transtheoretical model (TTM) of behaviour change, developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, is a model of intentional behaviour change which focuses on the decision making of the individual. Originally designed to describe changes in addictive behaviour, the TTM has expanded to include the adoption of preventive health behaviours and the use of medical services (Burkholder & Evers, 2002). In the early 1990s, Marcus and others applied the TTM to exercise behaviour (Marcus, Selby et al., 1992). Since then, several researchers have used the TTM to develop exercise interventions. The TTM suggests that people do not change all at once, rather they move through a series of five stages toward behaviour change. There are three pre-action stages and two action stages, each defined by a temporal component related to the behaviour change. People in the first stage of pre-contemplation are not exercising and have no intention to exercise. In contemplation, people intend to exercise in the distant future, beginning sometime in the next 6 months. Preparation is the third stage where people intend to begin to exercise sometime in the next 30 days. The next stage, action, occurs when the person begins to exercise for at least 1 day to 6 months. In the stage of maintenance, the person has been exercising consistently for at least 6 months. The transtheoretical model proposes a set of constructs that are thought to influence movement through stages of change. These constructs include self-efficacy, decisional balance, and the processes of change. Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capability to engage successfully in a specific behaviour. Decisional balance is the evaluation of the pros and cons of engaging in the target behaviour. The processes of change are the cognitive and behavioural strategies used for changing behaviour and moving through the five identified stages: consciousness raising; dramatic relief; environmental re-evaluation; self re-evaluation and social liberation. Decisional balance, an analysis of the pros and cons of the behaviour change, is believed to influence exercise behaviour. Based on the work of Janis and Mann (1977), perceived costs and benefits to oneself and significant others influence behaviour change. Pros tend to increase to action and level off, while cons decrease with movement to each subsequent stage. Most of the evidence for exercise indicates that the crossover occurs during the preparation stage, which is consistent with several other behaviours. Prochaska and DiClemente identified 10 basic processes or strategies people

Illegal Immigrants and Their Impact on Jobs in the United States Research Paper

Illegal Immigrants and Their Impact on Jobs in the United States - Research Paper Example Rising costs Injustice Increase in other criminal activities If these issues are addressed in an appropriate manner, it will help us to overcome these problems and the country will be stabilized economically. Problem Recognition: Illegal immigration is itself a grave problem that causes a lot of internal damage to a country. In United States, illegal immigration has reduced employment opportunities for the local citizens of the Unites States. Due to this injustice, the citizens are left with limited or no job opportunities, which increases their frustration with illegal immigrants and the entire social structure of a certain place can be damaged. These illegal immigrants are being paid by their employers or even if they are being paid undercover, we will find the other citizens of the United States of America looking for employment opportunity. It is unethical for the employers to pay the illegal immigrants under the table and even employers are also aware of their unlawful actions. This action also raises discrimination and violation of rights against citizens. As the illegal immigrants are paid under the cover by their employers; they receive more money, they get better employment opportunities than the citizens and then they compete with the other citizens in acquiring the better jobs which gives rise to competition, discrimination, violence and hatred in the society. Also, illegal immigrants do not pay tax because of their illegal status which causes a lot of damage to the economic infrastructure of the country. Therefore it is highly important for the U.S Government to strategize a proper policy to take strong action against employers who hire illegal immigrants and take away the ‘right’ of employment from the citizens. This step will help the economy to recover itself, stabilize the job market condition and equal distribution of rights and opportunities will become available to every citizen. Analysis of the Problem: United States is the only country that is faced with the largest number of illegal immigrants. The rise of illegal immigration is gradually contributing to the increase in U.S population every year. For illegal immigrants, the United States of America is a place with better living conditions and unlimited employment opportunities. Many of the illegal immigrants consider the country as a â€Å"dreamland† where they can make better money and live a high quality life. As a result, every year the country’s population increases due to influx of a large number of illegal immigrants to the United States. It should be remembered that an increase in population is not a worrisome condition. However, it may become such, where a large number of illegal immigrants benefit themselves from the programs created by the government, that are intended to help and facilitate people who do not have affordability or access to benefit themselves for better healthcare facilities, food, medicines and other essential da ily life amenities. These facilities are funded by the tax payers. As the population and the need for these benefits increase, the tax payers are required to pay more tax in order to facilitate the less privileged people on a large scale (Adam David). Hence, we can say that due to large population of illegal immigrants, the less privileged people fail to receive their rights and the tax payers pay more

Friday, July 26, 2019

DCPS_ Short essay answers Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

DCPS_ Short answers - Essay Example Adult learners have a myriad of needs that have to be met in the learning process. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the educator to structure the learning environment in such a way that the learners will find it trouble-free to accomplish the aims and objectives of learning. According to Wagner, adult learning has to integrate the hard work of both the adult learners and the educators. Collaborative efforts between the two parties have been credited for its ability to create retention in the adult learners, an aspect that reduces the adults to a change- referred to as learning. To achieve the goals of learning in the learning setting, it is only possible, with an inclusion of the strategies of goal achievement. First, the ability of the learners to achieve their goals and objectives, allowing the learners set their own goals has been beneficial. Giving the learners an opportunity to set their own goals allows them to be part of the learning process. The adult learners are also in a better position to deal with barriers in the learning process that relate to overestimation and underestimation of their abilities to perform. With the learners being part of the learning process, the educators have an easier time in handling the adult learners. Secondly, continuous and consistent monitoring of the goals and objectives set by the learners is yet another strategy that has seen the attainance of goals by the adult learners.... Collaborative efforts between the two parties have been credited for its ability to create retention in the adult learners, an aspect that reduces the adults to a change- referred to as learning. To achieve the goals of learning in the learning setting, it is only possible, with an inclusion of the strategies of goal achievement. First, the ability of the learners to achieve their goals and objectives, allowing the learners set their own goals has been beneficial. Giving the learners an opportunity to set their own goals allows them to be part of the learning process. The adult learners are also in a better position to deal with barriers in the learning process that relate to overestimation and underestimation of their abilities to perform. With the learners being part of the learning process, the educators have an easier time in handling the adult learners. Secondly, continuous and consistent monitoring of the goals and objectives set by the learners is yet another strategy that has seen the attainance of goals by the adult learners. This is an interpretation of the fact that the educators must always be there to help the learners reflect on their abilities, and help them design the best approach towards attaining their goals and objectives. On another point of view, this allows the educators design the instructional programs in such a way that they will be directed towards attaining the goals and objectives of the learners. The goals set by the learners are indeed, the foundation in which the instruction should be formulated; thus, implementation of the teaching objectives. Soricone, Comings & Parrella (2000) indicate that, retention in the adult learning can only be successful if the

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Market Failure and Government Failure Assignment

Market Failure and Government Failure - Assignment Example The governance failure under these circumstances best describes the law studied for my policy. This is based on the fact that the government is destined to always respond in two ways to market failure and that can be through action or inaction. Both the two approaches can always succeed or fail. Market failure as identified with negative externalities b) Negative externalities occur when the action from one player in the market is harmful to the other. For instance, the factory owners in most instances concentrate on their production than the likely harm that the emissions from their plants are causing to the general public. The pollution secondary thus become secondary to them at the expense of the environment and health of the people. c) Public good and its framing within market failure Public goods have two outstanding features: nonrivalrous and non-excludability consumption. Under non-excludability, it amounts to being prohibitive the cost of non-payers enjoying benefits of certa in goods or services. For example, in the case of a show of fireworks, other people are likely to watch this show from either their backyards or windows. For this reason and on the basis that the one staging the show is not in a position to charge rates for consumption by the observers, then the show is likely to be dismissed. This would happen no matter how strong the demand aspect of the show. The underlying factor, therefore, is that there exists an assumption of free markets determining prices, which prevents market failures. This is entirely false in the sense that situations may arise where those who pollute the environment do not pay for whatever they produce and this already is a market failure. On the same precept, the failures can emanate from the government through actions such as distortion of market prices like when they subsidize production. This has been particularly witnessed in the aerospace as done by most states in Europe. The various policies and the theories dic tating market failure and government failure are blended in such a way that the two are interdependent on one another.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 24

Discussion - Essay Example Human beings respond to fire cues differently depending upon the situation and previous exposure. Most of the time the immediate response is failure to recognize the cue. Cues can come in different forms; visual, audio and olfactory cues. These cues instigate different behavioural response. There are also other cues in the form of surround energy, change in the atmospheric temperature and the like that also compete for human response. Exploring human response in terms of visual cues shows that people underestimate the implication of visual cues like flashing of light through various visual notification appliances. The first reaction is ignorance and the second is confusion because in case of too much smoke the human movement is paralysed. ‘The importance of smoke as a serious cue to be attended and the menace to survival from which one has to stay out as much as possible needs to be reinforced in the general public.’ (Ploug, Hasle & Oinas-kukkonen, 2010) In terms of the olfactory cues, the human response to the sense of smell is quicker in the case of fire. The olfactory cues include all smells associated with fire from smoke to the burning objects. However the audible cues take precedence over the visual and olfactory cues as in most part of the world people are familiarize with the alarm system to get them all hyped up to fight danger. Other cues also trigger human behaviour which includes the increased temperature of the surrounding and changes in the air pressure as the burning fire uses up oxygen leaving less for human consumption. The pre-movement delays also know as the evacuation initiation delays are caused due to various factors. Poor fire drills and insufficient planning to fight fire are one of the major reasons causing delay. People are not aware of the fire exists and the buildings are not efficiently designed to minimize the chaos brought about by the fire thus increasing delay and damage. ‘Stairway geometry, another configuration

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Is Randle McMurphy a hero in the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Essay

Is Randle McMurphy a hero in the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Essay Example He does not debate medical decision since he finds being in the hospital better than being in the farm. This creates an opportunity for him to be the hero of the movie. Bromden is the first character to be presented to the viewer, and one expects that he might be a star in the book due to him noticeable height. He has been a patient for over ten years at the Oregon Psychiatric, and he experiences frequent hallucinations and delusions. He however pretends to be deaf and dumb and tries to go un-noticed. At the hospital, the patients are divided into two groups; Chronic and those who can be cured. McMurphy arrives into the hospital and is taken into acute of the non-chronic. Bromden finds McMurphy quite different and it sets the start of their relationship. The patients are under the care of Ratched, and she constantly encourages them to fight one another. McMurphy is not pleased with the situation of the patients at the hospital. His introduction as a gamble and a man of women and cards is eminent, and everyone gets to know him. At this point, the attention of the reader is on Mainly on McMurphy since his character is comical and attractive. McMurphy is not pleased with the actions of the nurse, and he makes a decision to insight the patents against the actions of nurse Ratched. In his first meeting with the other patients, he says, â€Å"Ratched is a ball-cutter.†(Kesey 98) The patients have developed an attitude that nurse Ratched is all powerful, and hence they do not support McMurphy. McMurphy vows to confront Ratchet since he considers her actions as inhuman. Murphy says that â€Å"Except the sun, on these three strangers, is all of a sudden way the hell brighter than usual and I can see the...† (Kesey 108). This statement shows that he is determined to bring change to the place McMurphy finally confronts Nurse Ratched and at first the other patients

Monday, July 22, 2019

Truth and the characters in this act Essay Example for Free

Truth and the characters in this act Essay Arthur Miller wrote this play in accordance and reference to the persecution placed upon him and many others by the committee of un-American activities. He was persecuted for his way of thinking, and this inspired him to write the book The Crucible to make people realise that history is repeating. In his mind, the way he and the other communists were treated bared a great likeness to that of the witches of Salem and the way the Jews were treated during the holocaust. This, I think, is why the book and then the play had such a large effect on the country and the way the un-American activities committee treated the so called Comunists. In the sixteen hundreds Salem was ruled by a theocracy so their ideas of truth and justice would have varied from ours. The puritans ideology was that if the bible says its so, its so. Most of us are now aware that most of the bible is not to be taken literally, but symbolically. With relevance to the witch-hunt the puritans believed that no one would lie about something of such importance as witchcraft, after all god damns all liars and what puritan in their right mind would wish damnation upon themselves. Of course we know that the girls had no fear about lying to ensure they get their own way. So if anyone was accused they had to be guilty, and the only way they could save their lives would be to confess to witchery. If they did not confess they would be hung or killed by other means. This to me is a queer justice, as I should hope it is to you or any other fellow human. This however was not the case and many people died, these people can thank a foolish ideology for their death. In my mind the way and personality of the people of Salem did nothing to help the matter, in particular John Procter and Abigail Williams. Again the matter truth and honesty arises. John and Abigail, having had an affair were both adulterers, if they were to confess this their name would be blackened. However if the truth was to arise John and Elizabeths names would be cleared of the crime of witchery and Abigails true motives would have been made clear. So if John and Elizabeth had been entirely truthful with the court they both would have survived. On the other hand if Abigail and the other girls had been truthful from the outset, the only punishment that would have been administered was a public flogging. But we must not overlook the fact that regardless of the previous lies one more lie would have saved them all. If they had confessed to the crime they would have been free. It seems that the epiphany of honesty struck at the wrong time. As the maid to the Proctors, an official of the court and one of the accusing girls, Mary Warren had the power to stop all this foolishness. In act III Mary, with a little encouragement from Procter, does confess and tells the judges that it is all a false but she soon withdraws that claim when she herself is accused. There is a great change in Marys character from acts I and II through III and IV. I think this is probably due to her supreme maturity to the other girls, she realises exactly how foolish she had been and what problems her lies were causing. Proctors behaviour affected the people of Salem in a great many ways. Primarily he was considered somewhat of a heretic due to the fact that he very rarely attended Holy Communion. He put this down to his dislike of Paris and his preaching of bloody hellfire and damnation I dont know how many believed this excuse. Secondly Proctor was not afraid to stand up to the court and tell them how ludicrous they were being about the witch-hunt and trials. He was also the first to admit false confession. In general I believe he was a big influence on the people of Salem. If proctor had confessed to his adultery earlier as his wife Elizabeth beckoned him to, things would have been very different, he would have been a sinner but he would be free. In my eyes there is no justice in Salem. I put this down to mostly one person and that persons judgement and ideology, Head judge Danforth. This is the main interrogator throughout the whole trial. He does his job very well, too well. He has a talent at getting somebody to say something and then he twists this into a confession or accusation. He is very manipulative. Towards the end of the book it starts to show how hell bent he is on killing people. The other judges notice this and when they attempt to prove him wrong or attempt to show him how foolish he is being, he interrupts them. He believes everything Abby says simply because he wants to kill people. He is obsessed with the pain, death and social rejection of others. Of course he is going to snap up every inkling of a hint of witchcraft. Perhaps he is mentally retarded or just I psycho. Another very manipulative character is Abigail. She is very successful, perhaps even more so than Danforth, at changing the way people think and even getting them to see things that arent there or Hallucinate. There are many examples of this. A good example of her mind-manipulation skills is in act III when Mary confesses the false of the accusations. She manages to get the other girls to think that the devil is present and that Mary is bewitching them. This convinces the Judges and Mary is accused of witchcraft and the confession falls through. Abigails methods are very cleaver she is a very good actor. She knows many sure ways of getting people to believe her. When she is trying to make out that Mary Warren is bewitching her, she knows exactly how to convince the judges. She is able to convince herself things are actually happening when they are not. This is why the look in her eyes, her screaming and her cowering etc. are so convincing, because she believes that the devil is there. In the final moments of the last scene the whole truth is revealed and the audience are manipulated to fell sorry for the Proctors and hate Abigail. And ultimately loose faith in goodness and perhaps even God. The scene is one of great emotion. Another very dramatic scene in the play is when Mary warren confronts the court to confess that the whole thing had been a lie. Not only does the sheer idea of the court finding out that they had convicted so many innocent people make it dramatic. In a desperate attempt to save themselves Abigail and the other girls claim that they can see Mary warren with the devil beside her. They start screaming and fainting and pretending to be cold, of course this is all a false but it makes the scene very dramatic.

Manage Resistance to Change Proactively Essay Example for Free

Manage Resistance to Change Proactively Essay Register for this journal is available at http://www. emeraldinsight. com/researchregister The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www. emeraldinsight. com/0262-1711. htm Managing diversity using a strategic planned change approach Earnest Friday Management in the College of Business Administration, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, and Managing diversity 863 Received October 2002 Revised February 2003 Accepted February 2003 Shawnta S. Friday School of Business and Industry at Florida AM University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA Keywords Diversity management, Strategic management, Change management Abstract Many organizations have implemented various types of initiatives within the last few decades in an effort to deal with diversity. A possible missing vinculum (link) between how an organization deals with diversity and its impact on the bottomline is a corporate diversity strategy that is executed using a planned change approach to systemically manage diversity. While many organizations have implemented a corporate diversity strategy, most have not used a â€Å"planned change-corporate diversity strategy†. The lack of a â€Å"planned change-corporate diversity strategy† is quite likely to inhibit managing diversity from becoming systemic to an organization’s culture and its way of doing business, thus tending to disallow the potential bene? ts of diversity to be maximized. Hence, this paper offers a framework for using a â€Å"planned change-corporate diversity strategy† to: progress along the â€Å"diversity continuum† starting with acknowledging to valuing, and ultimately to managing diversity; and systemically managing diversity using a eight-step â€Å"managing diversity process†. Introduction Over the past few decades, academicians, practitioners and organizational researchers have recognized that diversity is a phenomenon that has a wide array of affects within the workplace, and society in general (Koonce, 2001; Stark, 2001; Williams and O’Reilly, 1997). In this paper, diversity refers to any attribute that happens to be salient to an individual that makes him/her perceive that he/she is different from another individual (Williams and O’Reilly, 1997). Some widely accepted differentiating attributes include racioethnicity (which encompasses race and ethnicity), gender, nationality, religion, functional expertise, and age. Even though racioethnic and gender diversity tend to receive the majority of the attention in the organizational diversity literature (Stark, 2001; Williams and O’Reilly, 1997), this de? ition allows for the frameworks offered to be applied to any type of organizational diversity salient to members. Diversity programs have been implemented in many multinational organizations, primarily, in an effort to improve working relationships Journal of Management Development Vol. 22 No. 10, 2003 pp. 863-880 q MCB UP Limited 0262-1711 DOI 10. 1108/02621710310505467 JMD 22,10 864 between white males, whose relative numbers continue to decrease, and demographically different individuals, whose numbers continue to increase in the workplace (Friedman and DiTomaso, 1996). While many multinational organizations have a corporate diversity strategy, most have not implemented it using the suggested planned changed approach posited in this paper. Given the intensifying â€Å"war for talent† in today’s competitive, global business environment, it is imperative that the execution and evaluation of a corporate diversity strategy use a planned changed approach to not only acknowledge and value diversity, but to also systemically manage and inculcate diversity into an organization’s corporate culture. This type of approach can contribute immensely to an organization’s ability to use all of its human capital as a strategic means to gain and maintain a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic, global marketplace (Richard, 2000). It has been purported that if diversity can be effectively managed in an organization, some potential bene? ts to the organization include greater creativity and innovation, and improved decision-making (Cox, 1991). Conversely, if diversity is not managed effectively, some potential major costs to the organization include, at a minimum, breakdowns in communication, interpersonal con? ict, and higher turnover (Cox, 1991). While there may not be much empirical evidence to substantiate claims that effectively managed diversity directly leads to bottomline increases (Chatman et al. , 1998; Richard, 2000; Stark, 2001), there is real-world evidence (e. g. Coca-Cola, Denny’s, Publix, and Texaco settlements) to suggest that not effectively managing gender and racioethnic diversity has been, and can be, detrimental to organizations and their bottomlines. Thus, it is a logical extrapolation that an organization’s ability or inability to create a culture in which diversity is systemically acknowledged, valued, and effectively managed is more likely to determine the affects diversity will have on it’s bottomline. Many organizations have implemented various diversity initiatives as a part of their corporate diversity strategy (Koonce, 2001), but most have not used a planned change approach to strategically align their initiatives with their long-term objectives and strategic positioning. It is highly probable that this lack of planned strategic alignment contributes immensely to the purported ineffectiveness of many diversity initiatives (Stark, 2001). Consequently, an organization that seeks to maximize the potential bene? s of diversity should devise a â€Å"planned change-corporate diversity strategy† prior to implementing diversity initiatives. The purpose of the planned change-corporate diversity strategy is to align the organization’s diversity initiatives (designed to manage diversity) with the organization’s strategic goals, and ultimately make managing diversity an integral part of the organization’s culture. An aligned planned change-corporate diversity st rategy will contribute immensely to the long-term effectiveness of diversity initiatives aimed at better managing all of he organization’s human resources. This is especially signi? cant for organizations with a highly diversi? ed workforce. With a planned change-corporate diversity strategy, diversity initiatives are aligned with organizational policies, procedures, and systems. Such alignment is desired to systemically reinforce an organizational culture that encourages the effective management of all employees in order to garner diversity’s purported bene? ts, including the end goal of increasing the bottomline. Thus, frameworks are presented for using a planned change-corporate diversity strategy to: advance from the initial passive states of acknowledging and valuing diversity to the ? nal active state of managing diversity on the â€Å"diversity continuum†; and systemically manage diversity using the speci? c eight-step â€Å"managing diversity process†. The diversity continuum and the planned change approach Valuing diversity and managing diversity as distinct phenomena Over the last few decades, a myriad of articles have been written on the subjects of valuing diversity and managing diversity (Wanguri, 1996). In some cases, valuing diversity and managing diversity have been considered, and sometimes used, interchangeable when, in fact, they are two different phenomena (Jenner, 1994). By the very nature of their de? nitions, valuing and managing diversity are distinctly different. Valuing refers to the relative worth, importance, or signi? cance of something, whereas managing refers to taking charge or coordinating and supervising situations. Given these de? nitions, valuing diversity should be considered a more passive phenomenon, where importance or signi? ance is given to individuals’ differences, which does not automatically lead to visible actions or reactions on the part of the individuals valuing the diversity or differences. Managing diversity, on the other hand, should be considered an active phenomenon, which involves supervising or coordinating and directing the diversity or differences individuals bring to the organization to ensure the organization’s strategic go als are being fully and effectively met. In other words, it refers to successfully organizing the organizational inputs of individuals with diverse backgrounds. This de? nition is consistent with the managing diversity de? nition given by Thomas’ (1991): â€Å"a ‘way of thinking’ toward the objective of creating an environment that will enable all employees to reach their full potential in pursuit of organizational objectives†. The diversity continuum As a result of the confusion in the literature between the two phenomena, valuing diversity and managing diversity, it is not dif? cult to understand why consensus does not exist on the claims of bottomline bene? s as a result of the attempts organizations have made to value and/or manage diversity. In addition to the confusion, lack of consensus could also be a function of the Managing diversity 865 JMD 22,10 866 complexity of the diversity concept in the organizational context. Given the complexity of diversity within an organizational setting, it is possible that perceiving it in terms of a set of three elements that delineates what to do with diversity may serve t o simplify or clarify the confusion in the diversity literature. Therefore, a diversity continuum is offered to guide researchers and practitioners in moving from the more passive states of acknowledging diversity and valuing diversity, on through to the more active state of managing diversity. As individuals ? nd themselves in situations with diverse individuals, they are likely to take one of two courses of action: avoid dealing with the diversity, or recognize that the diversity exists. In the case where individuals avoid diversity, they do not face the fact that diversity is an issue. It is likely that these individuals do not accept the idea that they are likely to be biased in their interactions with others that they perceive to be different from themselves. Although avoiding diversity is viewed as a possible response to diversity, it is not included in the diversity continuum. The diversity continuum is based on the assumption that individuals take the second course of action and recognize diversity. Once diversity is recognized, as previously stated, the diversity continuum serves as a framework to delineate the three potential states of dealing with diversity: acknowledging, valuing, and managing diversity. The three sequential components of the diversity continuum are: acknowledging diversity; valuing diversity; and managing diversity (see Figure 1). Acknowledging diversity, the ? rst component, refers to recognizing the existence of diversity or the individual differences individuals bring with them to a particular setting. In order for individuals to truly acknowledge diversity, they must be exposed to it, experience it, acquire knowledge about it, and they must develop an understanding of diversity. The second component of the diversity continuum is valuing diversity. Valuing diversity, as de? ed above, refers to the signi? cance or importance being given to the diversity or differences individuals bring with them to a particular setting. Having an appreciation for, as well as respect for, the differences that diverse individuals bring with them to the work setting can lead to the last component. The last component of the diversity continuum is managing diversity. As stated above, m anaging diversity refers to the planning, organizing, leading of individuals with differences or diversity in a particular setting, such that their inputs are used to accomplish the organization’s strategic goals. Even in racioethnically homogeneous organizational settings, organizations make large investments to ensure an appropriate organizational culture is fostered. An appropriate organizational culture is desirous, such that individuals are systemically managed to perform and accomplish its goals, not just hoping that their performance will somehow lead to the accomplishment of the organizations’ desired goals. Thus, similar systemic efforts are necessary in order to manage Managing diversity 867 Figure 1. The strategic management process emographically diverse individuals such that the organization can gain the maximum synergistic bene? ts from their contributions as well. The planned change approach Rather than being reactive and waiting for a â€Å"diversity crisis† to take place before a change is made (i. e. Coca-Cola, Denny’s, Publix, and Texaco settlements), an organization should be proactive in systemically Managing Diversity. Hence, an organization and its m embers should make the necessary changes to proactively move from just settling for the ? rst stage of acknowledging diversity to the ? al stage of managing diversity. The Lewin-Schein change model is offered as the theoretical framework to proactively and systemically facilitate the management of diversity in organizations. This planned change model is based on the premise that the organizational forces propelling change must subdue the forces resisting change for highly effective change to occur. Therefore, it is posited in this paper that the Lewin-Schein change model is a framework that can assist organizations and individuals in moving through the sequential elements of the diversity continuum. It is also posited that this model can be applicable at JMD 22,10 868 both the organizational and individual level for managing diversity. While Allen and Montgomery (2001) offered the Lewin-Schein change model as a framework for creating diversity, the model is offered in this paper as a framework for Managing Diversity. The Lewin-Schein change model involves three stages: unfreezing, change (moving), and refreezing (Lewin, 1951; Schein, 1992). For the organization or individual to experience successful change, the three stages need to be addressed in succession. Unfreezing using a planned change-corporate diversity strategy In the unfreezing stage, the organization’s or individual’s present culture (which includes perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors) toward diversity, needs to be unfrozen. This means there needs to be enough motivation within the organization or individual to want to change from its present state to the new desired state. Thus, in moving from one end of the diversity continuum to the other end, with managing diversity being the desired outcome, management must desire that its members move from just acknowledging and valuing diversity to managing diversity. As presented previously, managing diversity refers to systemically organizing and directing the inputs of all organizational members (including diverse individuals) to ensure the organization’s strategic goals are met. Likewise, the individual must want to move from just acknowledging and/or valuing diversity to the ? nal phase of managing diversity. At the individual level, this movement involves governing one’s actions toward diverse individuals in a way that allows for healthy, productive interaction with those diverse others. Therefore, to unfreeze the organization’s culture and its members’ current state of mind toward diversity, a planned change-corporate diversity strategy should be devised and aligned with the organization’s strategic positioning to reduce the forces that are striving to maintain the status quo (Dobbs, 1998). A ? rm’s strategic positioning The strategic management process is employed by many organizations in order to distinguish themselves from their competitors in the marketplace (David, 2001; Porter, 1985; Steiner, 1997). Although there are several schools of thought in the strategic management ? ld, the generally accepted components of the strategic management process are: strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation as explained in Figure 2 (David, 2001; Hill and Jones, 1998). Strategy formulation is comprised of developing or reviewing the organization’s mission, vision, and long-term goals; conducting internal and exte rnal assessments to identify the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT); setting selection criteria and selecting the strategies that will afford the organization the best strategic positioning relative to its competitors (David, 2001; Steiner, 1997). Strategy implementation entails allocating the appropriate resources to ensure the Managing diversity 869 Figure 2. The three levels of organizational strategy selected strategies are properly executed (David, 2001; Steiner, 1997). Strategy evaluation involves setting control processes to continuously review, evaluate, and provide feedback concerning the implemented strategies to determine if the desired results are being accomplished, such that corrective measures may be taken if warranted (Hill and Jones, 1998; Steiner, 1997). As illustrated in Figure 3, there are usually three levels of strategy associated with large-scale organizations. The corporate level strategy de? nes the organization’s purpose and the lines of businesses in which it plans to operate, thereby providing the overarching direction for the organization. If an organization only operates in one line of business, its corporate level strategy and business level strategy are effectively one in the same (David, 2001; Hill and Jones, 1998). A business level strategy is the blueprint that should enable an organization to leverage its resources in order to differentiate itself from the competition within a particular line of business (David, 2001; Hill and Jones, 1998). The functional-level strategies serve to support the organization’s business-level strategy by providing direction for the appropriate short-term activities required by each functional area to meet the goals established in the business-level strategy (David, 2001; Hill and Jones, 1998). Consequently, having properly aligned corporate, business, and functional level strategies aid an organization in its efforts to accomplish its goals, thereby strategically positioning itself to successfully compete within the marketplace (David, 2001; Hill and Jones, 1998; Porter, 1985). Combining highly differentiated and ef? cient human capital with clearly delineated corporate, business, and functional level strategies can prove to be a competitive advantage for an organization (Barney, 1991, 1997; Wright et al. , 1995). An organization must view strategies for developing and managing its employees JMD 22,10 870 Figure 3. Alignment between corporate strategy and planned change-corporate diversity strategy as a part of its overarching corporate level strategy if it desires to have highly differentiated and ef? ient human capital in today’s competitive, global environment. Therefore, one argument of this paper is that any organization seeking to realize the maximum bene? t from having a diversi? ed workforce should have a planned change-corporate diversity strategy that is aligned with the organization’s overall strategic positioning. Developing a planned change-corporate diversity strategy The organization â€Å"wishing to create an environment that enables all employees to reach their full potential will have to . . . change organizational practices as necessary† (Thomas, 1991). However, prior to changing any organizational practice, a comprehensive strategy for how to accomplish that change should be devised based on an in-depth understanding of relevant organizational dynamics (i. e. culture, structure, ? nancial position, strategic initiatives, etc). Theoretically, a strategy should precede the structure of an organization. Consequently, a planned change-corporate diversity strategy should be devised to align with the organization’s corporate strategy before structuring diversity initiatives (as illustrated in Figure 4), and reinforced using a planned change approach. Organizations that have elevated their diversity strategist to executive-level management are likely to have an overarching corporate diversity strategy in place. But, it is not as likely that the diversity strategist is using a corporate-wide planned change approach to systemically reinforce the proposed changes in the corporate diversity strategy throughout all of the Managing diversity 871 Figure 4. The diversity continuum organization’s policies, procedures, and systems. Regardless of whether an organization has a corporate diversity strategy or not, it may be necessary to superimpose a planned change-corporate diversity strategy over existing disjointed diversity strategies and initiatives. At the onset of such an endeavor or superimposition, corporate diversity mission statement, vision, and goals must be formulated to articulate the purpose diversity initiatives will serve within the organization and the desired outcomes to be achieved from such initiatives. The delineated desired outcome should be designed to systemically manage diversity. Conducting internal and external assessments are essential steps in devising a planned change-corporate diversity strategy. An internal assessment will allow the diversity strategist to decide how to position diversity strategies and initiatives within the organization’s structure, and to align them with all of the organization’s policies, procedures, and systems. To assess the external environment, the diversity strategist should use environmental scanning tools to extract best practices based on benchmarked diversity strategies and initiatives at other leading organizations. Through the internal assessment, the diversity strategist should become intimately familiar with the organization’s values, vision, mission, strategies, goals, and initiatives, all of which constitute a sound basis for understanding the organization’s culture, policies, procedures, systems, and overall strategic positioning. The diversity strategist must become equally familiar with the bene? ts and shortfalls of various diversity initiatives. The strategist must conduct an analysis to determine the most appropriate linkages between the organization’s overall strategic positioning, policies, procedures, systems, and its diversity initiatives. Before proceeding, the diversity strategist must recognize and effectively articulate a clear strategic ? t and alignment amongst the organization’s overall strategic positioning, policies, procedures, systems, JMD 22,10 872 and diversity. Both strategic ? t and strategic alignment are necessary to strengthen the business case for allocating resources to support the planned change-corporate diversity strategy. In order to realize the maximum bene? ts from diversity, the planned change-corporate diversity strategy needs to be properly executed, evaluated and refrozen to ensure that the stated goals are being met, and that the organization’s culture and members are moving toward and sustaining the desired state of systemically managing diversity. Moving to systemically managing diversity Once the present state is unfrozen, the move that will allow the organization’s culture and members to advance to the desired state should be put in place. In this case, the move is to culturally reengineer the organization and its members to the true state of managing diversity by implementing the managing diversity process. The social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) is offered as the theoretical framework for the managing diversity process. It has also been offered as the theoretical framework for developing training programs in the cross-cultural and expatriate literature (Black and Mendenhall, 1989; Harrison, 1994). There are four major tenets of social learning theory: motivation, attention, retention, and reproduction (Bandura, 1977). These tenets are re? ected in the eight steps of the managing diversity process. In an effort to truly manage diversity, a change in the attitudes and behaviors of individuals, and in organizations’ systemic and institutional ways of doing business is required. Therefore, it is posited that utilizing the tenets of social learning theory can aid in the acquisition of the learning that is necessary for organizations to maximize the inputs of all of its diverse members. The planned change-corporate diversity strategy serves as the motivation for the learning of new behaviors and attitudes. Hence, once the planned change-corporate diversity strategy is articulated, the move through the eight steps of the managing diversity process should be instituted to assist individuals and organizations in culturally reengineering and moving to the desired state of managing diversity. The eight sequential steps of the managing diversity process include: (1) exposure; (2) experience; (3) knowledge; (4) understanding; (5) appreciate; (6) respect; (7) modify attitudes and behavior; and (8) healthy interaction. All of these are undergirded by tolerance (see Figure 5). The acknowledging diversity component of the diversity continuum is composed of steps (1)-(4), and they re? ect the â€Å"attention tenet† of social learning theory. The valuing diversity component of the diversity continuum is comprised of steps (5) and (6), and is re? ective of the â€Å"retention tenet† of social learning theory. Steps (7) and (8) constitute the managing diversity component of the diversity continuum and the â€Å"reproduction tenet† of social learning theory. The movement through each of the eight steps requires individuals to progressively develop appropriate skills to enable them to manage how they deal with individuals whom they consider different from themselves. Therefore, executing the eight steps in the managing diversity process serve as the necessary movement required to progress from acknowledging and valuing diversity to managing diversity. The true movement through the eight steps from acknowledging diversity to managing diversity is a paradigm shift, in that it entails a change in the treatment of diverse individuals (Fitzpatrick, 1997). Managing diversity 873 Diversity training In order for an organization to realize the potential bene? ts that can be afforded by employing diverse individuals, there needs to be a paradigm shift in which the inputs of diverse individuals are systemically managed within an organization to enable the successful accomplishment of its strategic goals. Training of individuals is viewed as a necessary tool to facilitate the organization in achieving its goals. Diversity training should be viewed no differently than any other type of training in which an organization invests. Therefore, it should also be viewed as a necessary tool to manage members’ behaviors and their ability to work productively with diverse individuals. After canvassing the literature, it has been noted that most diversity training programs merely raise individuals’ awareness of or sensitivity to diversity (Grubb, 1995; Jenner, 1994). Some few diversity training programs go as far as attempting to change individuals’ perceptions of diversity and how they communicate with people different from themselves (Grubb, 1995). However, these programs tend to be offered to only select employees, and they tend to be short in duration, ranging from a one-hour session to a series of one-day sessions several times a year (Koonce, 2001). The major drawbacks to most existing diversity training programs are that: . they do not build skills to facilitate individuals’ ability to actually manage their interactions with individuals different from themselves; . they are not rigorous nor time-intensive enough to create a paradigm shift in individuals’ treatment toward individuals different from themselves; and JMD 22,10 874 Figure 5. The continuous managing diversity process . there are no enduring reinforcement mechanisms embedded in the organization’s culture to ensure all individuals’ inputs are successfully managed to met the organization’s strategic goals. Managing diversity As a result, most (if not all) existing diversity programs have not been successful in creating enduring change in the way individuals interact with individuals different from themselves, nor have they been successful in changing their organization’s culture to one that systemically manages diversity. In order to create enduring change in individuals and the organization’s culture, members of the organization at all levels need to participate in diversity training that encapsulates the comprehensive managing diversity process. The outcomes that should be expected from participation include, but are not limited to, skill building in the following areas: the ability to clearly articulate their ideas and feelings; con? ict management skills; effective giving and receiving of feedback; effective listening; group observation skills; and group decision-making skills, all of which will facilitate modi? d attitudes and behaviors, and healthy interaction with diverse individuals. Individuals have to come to grips with their feelings, thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors toward diversity and others with whom they are different. In the ? rst step of Exposure, individuals provide public notice of where they are at that point. They do this by: laying open who they are; divulging where the y are; unmasking themselves; and receiving others’ culture. Step (2), experience, involves gathering information through personal involvement, encountering, seeing ? rst-hand, and living through events. In the third step of Knowledge, individuals become well informed, thus able to be conversant because they become familiar or acquainted with the culture of others. Knowledge serves as the basis for step (4), understanding. Because of their grasp of cultural realities, individuals are able to comprehend (understanding) relevant cultural dynamics, which leads them to be sensitive, and enables them to share unique insights and perceptions. In step (5), appreciate, individuals’ acceptance of the worth of a person’s culture and values makes it easier for them to welcome and â€Å"justly† estimate diverse individuals. Resultantly, individuals are able to respect (step (6)) diverse individuals; thus, they are able to pay attention, pay deference, and pay tribute to the values, worth, and culture of diverse others, as well as give personal consideration to the diverse individuals. Successful movement through the ? rst six steps, along with tolerance underpinning each step, should lead to modi? cations in individuals’ attitudes and behaviors toward diverse individuals, which is step (7), modify attitudes and behaviors. This change in attitudes and behaviors, again, along with tolerance should lead to healthy interaction (step (8)) with and amongst diverse individuals. Step (8) is a function of continuous acceptance and execution of steps (1)-(7). Therefore, this is a ? uid (not static) process that must be recognized for its ever-changing and 875 JMD 22,10 876 evolving nature. The requirements for successful execution of the managing diversity process are strenuous and time intensive because it requires individuals to modify their attitudes and behaviors. Thus, they must modify the way they interact with individuals different from themselves, and not just expect that they either avoid, acknowledge, or value those individuals that are different. Given that all individuals in today’s global business environment are likely to encounter others that are different from themselves on a frequent basis, the managing diversity process should be viewed as analogous to the open systems approach – it is a continuous process that maintains a constant reciprocal relationship with the environment. Refreezing the systemic management of diversity Successful movement through the managing diversity process requires individuals to change. Resistance to change is inherent in any change process, and it will be no different in this process (Harrison, 1994). Therefore, the managing diversity process is a ? uid, continuous process that needs to be systematically reinforced and embedded in the organization’s culture and individuals’ interactions, such that the organization’s culture and its members do not revert back to just acknowledging or valuing diversity. Hence, refreezing the desired state of managing diversity requires reinforcing the new perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors with emphasis on the modi? ed behaviors and healthy interactions individuals have adopted as a result of going through the managing diversity process. In order for individuals and organizations not to revert back to their previous states, the new desired state must go through the refreezing stage to be institutionalized. This should be accomplished through systemic, on-going training and daily interactions at the individual level, and through revised policies, procedures, and systems at the organizational level. At the individual level, the systemic, on-going training should not be just periodic training that merely exposes individuals to diversity. A great deal of time is necessary to cement these newly adopted attitudes, behaviors, and skills for healthy interaction. This kind of cementation is required for these newly acquired attitudes, behaviors, and skills to become totally embedded in the individuals’ natural way of interacting with diverse individuals. The systemic, on-going training needs to be skill-based and experiential in nature to promote long-term changes in the way individuals work with individuals different from themselves. This type of reinforcement at the individual level will contribute to the cultural reengineering that also must take place at the organizational level. To reinforce the desired state of managing diversity at the organizational level, revised recruiting, appraisal, development, and reward systems, as well as an enforceable diversity policy need to be implemented (Allen and Montgomery, 2001; Hemphill and Haines, 1998; Miller, 1998). The revised policies, procedures, and recruiting, appraisal, development, and reward systems need to re? ct the organization’s position on how the inputs of diverse individuals will be managed, such that their contributions fully aid the organization in meeting its strategic goals. A written, enforceable diversity policy, stating the systemic action steps and behaviors expected by all employees is a must as it relates to effectively managing the organizational inputs of all individuals. Everyone’s inputs should be effectively managed to contri bute to the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals. The revised policies, procedures, and systems should also align with the planned change-corporate diversity strategy. Given the resources and time required to revise and initiate implementation of the revised organizational policies, procedures, and systems, individuals are likely to resist these changes initially. Therefore, it is quite likely to be a dif? cult and time-consuming process to make the appropriate and necessary revisions to the organization’s policies, procedures, and systems. This is an essential and critical step necessary to ensure the organization and its members do not revert back to their previous attitudinal and behavioral states. It is paramount that revised policies, procedures, systems, and planned change-corporate diversity strategy are clearly communicated to all members of the organization to ensure that it can be appropriately recognized, executed, evaluated, and reinforced. To reinforce this cultural reengineering effort, management needs to initiate and actively participate in the refreezing stage, the same as they must genuinely participate at the unfreezing and moving stages. Potential limitations As with any theoretical model, there are limitations. One potential limitation of this notional model is that no matter how well it is implemented, there are likely to be some individuals whose attitudes may never change or they may continue to consciously or unconsciously show favoritism toward those whom they consider to be similar to themselves (Gilbert and Ivancevich, 2000; Miller, 1998). Another potential limitation is that subtle forms of biases against diverse individuals may still exist informally within the organization and/or outside of the work environment; thus, highly impacting individuals within the organization. Backlash is also a potential limitation; members of the majority are likely to perceived that they are being excluded at the expense of including diverse individuals (Hemphill and Haines, 1998). Additionally, if the training initiated to implement the managing diversity process is perceived as a bad experience, the organization’s leadership may abandon the initial implementation, hence dooming all future diversity efforts. However, by using the suggested planned change approach along with well enforced diversity policies and disciplinary procedures for violations of the diversity policy, it is more likely that individuals’ behaviors can be altered to be more tolerant of others whom they consider to be Managing diversity 877 JMD 22,10 different (Gilbert and Ivancevich, 2000). This will allow the talents, skills, and abilities of all individuals in the work setting to be used to meet organizational objectives. Conclusion Given that individuals are less willing to leave their differences outside the doors of the workplace (Thomas, 1991), an organization’s ability to systemically manage diversity will become more important, in years yet to come, if it wants to ensure its ability to compete successfully in the global marketplace. This paper suggests that, ? rst, a planned change approach should be used to systemically manage diversity, by developing and implementing a planned change-corporate diversity strategy. Second, organizations should execute their cultural reengineering efforts to move individuals and the organizational culture along the diversity continuum from the states of acknowledging and valuing diversity to the desired state of managing diversity. Movement to the desired state of managing diversity can be achieved by using the managing diversity process. It is also suggested that the organization needs to provide on-going training, and needs to institute new policies and procedures. Additionally, it must engage in appropriately different recruiting, appraisal, development, and reward systems that systemically reinforce the cultural reengineering of moving to the state of managing diversity. These new undertakings will ensure that the newly reengineered culture of managing diversity is inculcated into the organization’s culture, and its way of conducting business domestically and abroad. By adopting and executing the frameworks offered in this paper for ystemically managing diversity through a strategic planned change approach, managers will have created an organizational environment where they will be able to enjoy healthy, innovative, and productive interactions amongst diverse members of the organization. The following is a list of other potential bene? ts that may be derived from using the offered frameworks: . in general, individuals will develop an increased knowledge of and appreciation for other cultures; . individuals will learn to value and respect the cultural norms, behaviors, and attitudes of others; . here is likely to be a greater receptivity to necessary organizational changes; . there is likely to be a lessening of workplace anxieties; . a reduction in organizational con? ict; . a more pleasant work environment; and . increased performance and productivity. 878 In conclusion, the proactive management of diverse human resources will aid organizations in gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage in today’s dynamic global marketplace.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Organizational Change And Innovation

Organizational Change And Innovation Organizational change and innovation are essential for an organizations growth and development. Upon understanding the importance organizational change and innovation, many researchers have formulated theories related to change management. Theories have critically analysed with an example of British Airways. Compare strategies with the external and internal environment. The changes taking place in British Airways explores the understanding of change management is implemented in organizations. The case study explains the dimensions of business travel and tourism and its social, economic and environmental consequences. The case study elaborates the easier approach of organizational change in right method with mutual trust and obligation between the employee and employer. Strategy: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging business environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. Johnson and Scholes (Exploring Corporate Strategy) Organizational Strategic planning process: According to the todays high rivalry in business environment, the large corporations not only follow the budged-oriented planning and forecast-based planning methods to survive and prosperity, but also engage in strategic planning which clearly describes objectives and assess the both internal and external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustments to make necessary to stay on track. Mission Objectives: The organizations mission is expressed in the form of a mission statement that projects the organization image to the consumers. Organizational leaders can define measurable financial and strategic objectives guided by the business vision. Environmental Scan: Scanning of the internal and external environment of an organisation is known as environmental scanning. The internal analysis reveals strengths and weaknesses and the external analysis reveals opportunities and threats of an organisation. Strategy formulation: Once the clear representation of an organisation has been achieved, specific strategy can be devised. Michael Porter identified cost leadership, differentiation and focus as three generic strategies can be used while formulating strategy. Strategy Implementation: For effective implementation, high level intangible terms and priority of strategy needs to be translated into more detailed policies for clear understanding at functional level of organization. Evaluation Control: After implantation, the results need to be measured and evaluated, with necessary changes made as required to keep on track. SWOT Analysis: SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method, which helps organizations in identifying and understanding their strengths and weaknesses, explore opportunities and minimise threats. It is helpful in identifying areas of development in any business. Strengths: Organizational strengths are skills and capabilities which makes possible to conceive of and implement its strategies. Examples include strong tie-ups with the suppliers, healthy relations with the customers, reputed brand name, etc. Weaknesses: Organizational weakness is deemed as an opposite of strength, which is important to overcome their weaknesses as it is highest importance to strive in the market. Examples include weak tie-ups with the suppliers and distributors, poor reputation among customers, weak brand name, etc. Opportunities: Opportunities are favourable circumstances, an area or duration in which an organization can work towards higher performance and profits. Examples include unfulfilled customer needs, up to date with new technologies, favourable changes in the international trading regulations, etc. Threats: Threats are unfavourable changes in the internal and external environment. Examples include new regulations, not able to manage the new technologies; products are not able to reach the customer satisfaction level, trade barriers, etc. By utilizing the SWOT analysis in strategic planning towards the organizational growth, a matrix can be developed which provides an accurate understanding of organizations strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities S-O strategies W-O strategies Threats S-T strategies W-T strategies In conclusion, SWOT analysis is the most important method in analysing and formulating strategy. With this, the managers can assess the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats for overall development of the organization. (Ricky Griffin, 2008) (http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/) Micro Macro Environment: PESTEL Analysis: PESTEL analysis means analysing the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors, which may play a big role in an organisation processes. Using these key factors organizations can identify the attractiveness of a particular industry for investment, customers expectations, recognise the strategic gap and opportunities in the market. Political factors include political stability, taxation policies, legislation and regulation, government grants and fiscal incentives, and environmental regulations, and etc. Economic factors include interest rates, inflation rate, currency exchange rates, globalization, economic growth, and etc. Social factors include demographic change, emphasis on safety, lifestyle development, healthy management, and etc. Technological factors include research and development activity, communication technologies, automation, operation technologies, and etc. Environmental factors include climate, weather, and etc. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, employment law, health and safety law, and etc. In conclusion, PESTEL analysis is a method of understanding external environment in which an organization operates and this is very important for overall development and success of an organisation. (Ricky W. Griffin, 2007) Change Management: Change management is an organized, systematic application of the knowledge, tools and resources of change that provides organizations with as key process to achieve their business strategy. (http://www.lamarsh.com/approach/managed) Michael E. Porter developed a five forces tool called porters five forces to understand the industry in which a firm operates. According to the Michael E. Porter, competition is often looked at too narrowly by managers and the five forces say that competing with direct competitors. The five forces give a holistic way of looking any industry and understanding the structural underlining drivers of profitability and drivers. With clear understanding of this model, an organisation can develop the competitive edge over its rivals and identify whether new products or businesses have the potential to be benefit or not. The five forces are supplier power, buyer power, competitive rivalry, threat of substitution, and threat of new entry. These five competitive forces give a frame work for identifying the most important industry developments and for foreseeing their impact on industry attractiveness. Michael E. Porter (On Competition) Source (http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/pix/porter-five-forces.png) Framework for Change: The job role of senior managers is to take decisions in favour of achieving the goals and make sure that the formulating strategies are implemented in the appropriate manner. The above-mentioned theories help the senior managers to approach change in a more structured way. Nevertheless, rather than sticking of organisational theories, managers have a broad range of choice and prudence. Resistance in Change: Change tends to be resisted when it affects interpersonal and job relations, but the manner of change is often important than the change itself. Change will not be effective unless the affected areas are committed to change. By creating supportive atmosphere, close working with affected areas by the change must work out a new value system we can reach the goal of successful change. According to the Lewins model, change means three stages: unfreezing, transition and refreezing. Unfreeze supporting people to replace the old behaviour with new one, which provides a sense of psychological safety and motivated to change. Transition people start looking at things in a different way and may learn new concepts or behavioural models in this stage. Refreeze stabilization of change via integration of changed behaviour into the normal way of doing things. Change will fall back to prior level unless the change is internalized and institutionalized after execution. Some of the organisational resistance factors are inactive structure, inactive group, threat to expertise, poor power relations, and limited forces of change. (http://www.consultpivotal.com/lewins.htm) There are number of organizations in the world in which there has been constant change and innovation. British Airways is one such organisation that has constantly changes in its strategy, structure, culture, management and technology. It has also employed various techniques to deal with such changes. Case Study: Background Information: In 1919, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (ATT) launched worlds first daily international air service. In 1924, four major airline companies in Britain Handley Page, Instone, ATT and British Air Marine Navigation merged together into a single airlines company called Imperial Airways. This airline grew in size and gained rapid reputation. The airlines not only dominated the operations in Britain, but also dominated across the different parts in the world encircling routes to Australia and Canada. In 1935, British Airways Ltd was formed with the merger of three airlines and extremely competed with the Imperial Airways. However, in 1939, British government nationalised the two airlines and formed British Overseas Airways Corporation. The BOAC separated into two entities as British European Airways (operates within Europe) and BOAC (operates rest of the world). With the rising oil prices and industrial concerns, BOAC and British European Airways decided to m erge into British Airways in 1976 and a Concord was introduced. This was referred as to as the new supersonic era. In April 1984, British Airways was made into British Airways Plc by shares offered to public. Now, British Airways is the United Kingdoms largest international scheduled airlines and operates more than 550 destinations across the world. British Airways has more than 280 aircrafts and has more than 40,000 employees. The corporate headquarter is located in London and its main hubs are Heathrow and Gatwick. British Airways has owned around 240,000 shareholders including 50% of shares owned by the BAs existing employees. (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history) Strategies of British Airways: New strategies were adopted at each level of the organisation. British Airways top managers are certainly reviewing their strategies to identify the areas of improvement. Functional strategies aim at providing British Airways products with competitive advantages in terms of superior quality, innovation, efficiency and customer responsiveness. In airline industry, formal corporate strategy was that of vertical integration with lack of independent providers for specialized activities brought about the creation of in-house services with secure markets, therefore lacking up-to-date technology or cost efficiency. With the new corporate strategy, outsourcing activities to reduce costs and elevate competitiveness, and on developing partnerships with major airlines to increase the use of each partners assets and better serve customers. SWOT Analysis of British Airways: Strengths: British Airways strength includes purchased fast-rate new fleet of aircrafts to praise comfortable travelling of customers. British Airways operational research declared that level of knowledge and analytical skills performed by the organization and employees becomes it strength. Strong focus in customer areas while in purchasing high-end technology for air service strengthens the business orientation. Weaknesses: Lacking marketing strategy is one of many weaknesses on organizations business and service. Even though the great infrastructure hosted British Airways need to attract more customers with better market schemes. Furthermore limited knowledge of simulation technology, knowledge lost through internal staff moves, and difficulty to enhance specialist airline technology are the weaknesses. Threats: Threats are seen in centralized management, bureaucratic system and poor decision making. Rapid changes on technology and customer behaviour can also be a threat if not interpreted quickly. Major threats are trade union strikes. Opportunities: Availability of vast services and products create an opportunity to utilize them properly. In British Airways virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, getting network software and sharing knowledge through special groups are opportunities, which can be utilized further enhance the companys growth. Online check-in for families with Fast Bag Drop facility, introducing baggage policies by standardizing the size of baggage to reduce queue time in airports are some of opportunities for British Airways. (http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/companies/british-airways) Porters five forces model applied to British Airways external environment High Risk of Entry Considerable start-up capital High financial risks Large economies of scale Control through Airport slots Low Power of Supplies BA sets terms and conditions, e.g. takes 130 days to pay suppliers High Rivalry Rises with Industry stakeout and operators will complete on cost and differentiation High Power of Buyers Due to a weaker demand while the number of operator stabilises Substitute Products Eurostar, new communication means, e.g. teleconferencing Political-legal Technological Macro-economic socio-cultural Source: Adapted from Michael Porters model. Change Management British Airways By signing the joint business agreement in revenue and cost sharing and with Iberia British Airways spread the choice of air timings, better connections and short journey timings for customers travelling between London and Spain. British Airways has changed the uniform for more than 25000 staff and the new uniform will cost 30% less than the previous one, which continues to generate long term cost savings while bringing a new smart look to the staff. Expanding the operations through launching BA CityFlyer and operating from the Docklands to six UK and European destinations in 2007. In 2008, introduced Online Boarding Pass (OBP) along with technology enabled PDF with e-fax and mail services to customers convenience and time saving. Formerly, passengers would need to have access to a printer at the time of online check-in to produce their boarding pass. The Online Boarding Pass facility helped the customers in a great way as they did not have to wait in queue. Now they can take advantage of the freedom of online check-in. British Airways also aims on cutting down 95% of energy consumption on air handling by installing in-flight stimulator cells at its training centre in Heathrow Airport and new technology equipment also being used to reduce the noise emission. Cost cutting on staff pay Nearly 7,000 British Airways staff have taken an early opportunity to apply for voluntary pay cuts in support of the airlines cost reduction programme. Of the 40,000-strong workforce, 6,940 employees had volunteered for unpaid leave, part-time working or unpaid work by June 24. Their actions will save the company up to  £10 million. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said: This is a fantastic first response. I want to thank everyone who has volunteered to help us pull through this difficult period. This response clearly shows the significant difference individuals can make. Options were made available for staff to volunteer for between one and four weeks unpaid leave or unpaid work, with the pay deduction spread over three or six months. The options also included switches to part-time working or longer periods of unpaid leave. Staff will have further opportunities to take part in the programme later in the year. Contingency plan British Airways is to increase its flying schedule for the period of Unites strikes as larger volumes of cabin crew call the airline to offer to work in support of the companys contingency operation. Following Unites decision to call strikes for March 20, 21 and 22, the airline published its flying schedules for the affected period on Monday, aiming to fly 60 per cent of its customers as planned. Since Monday, the number of cabin crew offering to work as normal has increased significantly and is expected to grow further. British Airways is also pleased that the number of other airlines offering their help for the strike period through charters or provision of spare seats has increased from 50 on Monday to more than 60. These developments have enabled the airline to reinstate some previously cancelled flights and provide extra capacity for both longhaul and shorthaul destinations. For example, this will allow the airline to fly home more competitors and supporters from the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said: The determination of our colleagues across the whole business to keep the flag flying this weekend is increasing. I am delighted by the numbers of cabin crew who have been getting in touch with us to express their disillusion with Unites position. Our crews just want to work as normal, do their usual terrific job and look after our customers. We will now have the potential to fly more than 4,000 additional customers per day and serve more destinations. We believe this is a helpful move at a time when customers are facing rising fares with alternative carriers. Morale among our operations teams is high. Yesterday was our most punctual day at Heathrow for months, thanks to the efforts of all parts of the airline. Technological changes and innovation have been witnessed in British Airways from the past five years. British Airways has invested large amounts in new technology and terminal facilities. Exploring the knowledge and facilitation commencements in British Airways supported the decisions and management process. Another major technological change introduced by British Airways was implementation of management solutions from Calidris in 2007, which helped to create industrys first Order Data Stores (ODS), which stores the customers information in improving the level of customer service and minimising the duplicate bookings. Conclusion:

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein ABSTRACT: Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to an empirical-verifiability criterion of mental or linguistic meaning. The acceptance of this criterion confronted them with the same problem: how to understand the Other as a subject with his own experience, if the existence and nature of the Other's experiences cannot be verified. Husserl tackled this problem in the Cartesian Meditations, but he could not reconcile the verifiability criterion with understanding the Other's feelings and sensations. Carnap's solution was to embrace behaviorism and eliminate the idea of private sensations, but behaviorism has well-known difficulties. Heidegger broke this impasse by suggesting that each person's being included being-with, an innate capacity for understanding the Other. To be human is to be "hard-wired" to make sense of the Other without having to verify the Other's private sensations. I suggest that being-with emerged from an evolutionary imperative for conspecific animal s to recognize each other and to coordinate their activities. Wittgenstein also rejected the verifiability criterion. He theorized that the meaning of a term is its usage and that terms about private sensations were meaningful because they have functions in our language-games. For example, "I'm in pain," like a cry of pain, functions to get the attention of others and motivate others to help. Wittgenstein's theory shows how Dasein's being-with includes "primitive" adaptive behavior such as cries, smiles, and threatening or playful gesture. As Dasein is acculturated, these behaviors are partially superseded by functionally equivalent linguistic expressions. I. Introduction There are obvious and important ways in which analytic and continental philosophy differ, but this should not make us overlook their thematic and historical similarities. Both traditions had their roots in phenomenalistic theories that attempted to reduce all meaning to the immediately given. Even though phenomenology was more generous in construing what was immediately given, neither phenomenology nor logical positivism could do justice to our understanding of the subjectivity of other people. Heidegger and Wittgenstein each dealt with this problem in unique but complementary ways. Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to the verifiability criterion for meaning ('verificationism' for short). Logical positivists emphasized linguistic meaning, and in their most antimetaphysical stage asserted that a synthetic sentence is meaningful for a person only if that person could use experience to discover the sentence's truth-value. Husserl was more interested in thoughts about the existence and nature of phenomena and believed that they gained meaning only through acts of verification. Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein ABSTRACT: Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to an empirical-verifiability criterion of mental or linguistic meaning. The acceptance of this criterion confronted them with the same problem: how to understand the Other as a subject with his own experience, if the existence and nature of the Other's experiences cannot be verified. Husserl tackled this problem in the Cartesian Meditations, but he could not reconcile the verifiability criterion with understanding the Other's feelings and sensations. Carnap's solution was to embrace behaviorism and eliminate the idea of private sensations, but behaviorism has well-known difficulties. Heidegger broke this impasse by suggesting that each person's being included being-with, an innate capacity for understanding the Other. To be human is to be "hard-wired" to make sense of the Other without having to verify the Other's private sensations. I suggest that being-with emerged from an evolutionary imperative for conspecific animal s to recognize each other and to coordinate their activities. Wittgenstein also rejected the verifiability criterion. He theorized that the meaning of a term is its usage and that terms about private sensations were meaningful because they have functions in our language-games. For example, "I'm in pain," like a cry of pain, functions to get the attention of others and motivate others to help. Wittgenstein's theory shows how Dasein's being-with includes "primitive" adaptive behavior such as cries, smiles, and threatening or playful gesture. As Dasein is acculturated, these behaviors are partially superseded by functionally equivalent linguistic expressions. I. Introduction There are obvious and important ways in which analytic and continental philosophy differ, but this should not make us overlook their thematic and historical similarities. Both traditions had their roots in phenomenalistic theories that attempted to reduce all meaning to the immediately given. Even though phenomenology was more generous in construing what was immediately given, neither phenomenology nor logical positivism could do justice to our understanding of the subjectivity of other people. Heidegger and Wittgenstein each dealt with this problem in unique but complementary ways. Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to the verifiability criterion for meaning ('verificationism' for short). Logical positivists emphasized linguistic meaning, and in their most antimetaphysical stage asserted that a synthetic sentence is meaningful for a person only if that person could use experience to discover the sentence's truth-value. Husserl was more interested in thoughts about the existence and nature of phenomena and believed that they gained meaning only through acts of verification.