The bad things about Obama’s economic plan in foreign policy

To say the economic state of America is the most pressing need on the minds of most Americans today, would certainly not be too far from the truth. This is perhaps why both candidates realize that they have to say something at least on this subject. It is sad however to note that Obama’s plans depict a gross lack of understanding of our economic travails. Indeed, a group of respected economists noted recently that â€Å"Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy†. Firstly, Obama proposes an overall increase in tax rates just as he admits that this proposal would not serve a weak economy. One wonders therefore how he thinks this would work in present day America. Or is this the strong economy Obama imagines for Americans? Increased tax rates would raise federal spending, bring about a slow in economic growth and of course result in massive job losses which of course heads us for another depression which we sure do not pray for. Again, Obama intends to end America’s trade ties the world over. Now, to decide against international trade is certainly not in our best interest, at least not in these times for the economists said â€Å"international trade is also a powerful source of strength in a weak economy†. Also, more jobs are created when we export our goods abroad and cheap products are also imported for the middle class and low income earners to especially to consume. It is this set of people that Obama’s plans would deprive of this veritable source of livelihood. As part of his plans, he also wishes to withdraw American forces from Iraq so as to free funds for the local economy. But we know that can not be true when an holistic view of the costs and benefits of the war would become after such rash withdrawal. In conclusion, Obama’s plans lack depth and appear destined to fail beyond redemption if allowed to run.

About Myself: Alone Together Essay

1)Specifically, which primary points do you both understand and agree or disagree with? In â€Å"Alone Together† Sherry Turkle explains the connection between people and technology. She talks about the excitement of talking to someone through a computer; you can become anyone you want, and it also gives you the courage to say anything you want. When you’re behind a computer, it’s easy to tell someone what you think. The same goes for texting. It’s so much easier when you are mad at someone about something to text it to them instead of calling them. You can still express your emotions, by using smiley face or other faces. You’re basically showing emotions through text messaging. It might be convenient to send a quick message to someone instead of having to call them. See more: Analysis of Starbucks coffee company employees essay I am one of the people that have given in so much to technology. I notice too that when my girlfriend and I will argue about something; we will just text each other back and forth and solve the problem that way. I think in that way texting is a good thing, because instead of shouting or saying things you do not mean, you are texting them so you have time to think about your words before you send the message. Most new phones allow someone to have their email and Facebook or other site, they use frequently linked to it. Every message would be sent to your computer now goes to your phone. So while that may be convenient in some ways, it can also be rude when you’re with someone. Children do not spend their free time playing a sport. They spend hours playing video games, surfing the Internet or using cell phones. She said, â€Å"kids are out, but they are on their phones†(Turkle 155). Facebook, Skype, and texts have all become our mainstream of communication, and that is this generation’s source of communication. She also explains how a lot of people now can’t imagine going without their devices, but few years ago, people were just fine. If technology advanced that much in the last couple of years, imagine how things will be in the future. I see some convenience in it all, but I also see constant technology use as a bad thing. So many people now interact through these devices instead of talking to someone. And as convenient as that might be to send a message, I don’t think it is a good thing. 2) Specifically, which major or minor points would you like to ask the author to clarify? I want to know more about how people would prefer a robot over a human relationship. Robots do not have feelings and how does having a robot change how people feel. Why people cannot resist using their phones? How does technology play a big part in our lives? What can talking to someone face to face that a text message cannot do? If technology is changing us, what are we becoming? Does Sherry Turkle spend countless hours on her cell-phone? 3) Generally, what potential essay topics or points of interest worthy of further discussion do you see in the reading? Potential essay topics I see in the readings are how technology plays a big part in our lives? Where would we be if technology did not exist? Without technology, how would education turn out to be? Why do people rely so much on technology?

Personally Identifiable Information and Ethics: Use of Cookies

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Ethics: Use of Cookies Cookie Trails In today’s era of technology, many people are concerned about internet privacy. Most concerns are usually sparked by misinformation. One piece of technology that is most misunderstood is the cookie and its uses. Many people believe that cookies are programs that can transfer viruses onto their computers. This is absolutely false. Cookies are typically harmless. Cookies are little text files left on your hard disk by some websites you visit (Williams & Stacy C. Sawyer, 2013, p. 05). These text files store information about the user like preferences, log-in name, and password. Cookies can be very beneficial for users who frequent many sites. It is very convenient to forgo having to remember every user name or password for every site you visit on a regular basis. Another convenience is using the shopping cart feature of a retail site. For instance, you have added items to your cart, and suddenly lo se internet connection. Once internet connection is restored and you return to the site, your shopping cart items are still listed there.Websites also benefit from using cookies. Sites can store user preferences with the purpose of having a unique appearance for each user. Sites can also use cookies to track how many visitors a site receives. This particular piece of information is vital for sites who offer free access. Lately, many consumers have been distressed over how websites are using tracking cookies. Tracking cookies could potentially amass a compilation of all your browsing habits. Marketing companies such as DoubleClick have taken tracking cookies a step further. The cookie it dispatches will come alive every time you visit another site that does business with DoubleClick† (Peneberg, 2005). DoubleClick can then take that information it has gathered and pair it with personally identifiable information like a phone number or email, and most troubling a home address. Do ubleClick was pummeled six years ago when it announced its intent to create a database of consumer profiles that would include names, addresses, and online purchase histories.After public outcry and a class-action suit (which was settled in 2002), DoubleClick did an about-face and said it had made a huge mistake (Peneberg, 2005). When cookies are used in this manner it definitely brings ethical issues to the forefront. It is an invasion of privacy to take, use and potentially sell information that was not knowingly shared. It is an abuse of privileges users innocently extend to websites. If this invasion of privacy is allowed to continue, one could only wonder what will await the unsuspecting user in future.It is quite plausible for large marketing and advertising firms to start tampering with cookies, eventually creating more evasive ways of snooping on users, and in the process obtaining more crucial information like social security numbers. Marketers don't fear that the governmen t will ban or restrict cookies someday. After heavy lobbying they managed to secure an amendment to the Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act that would exempt cookies from any spyware legislation that passes in the House (Peneberg, 2005).The people could rally together to band cookies, but that would make browsing the web difficult for all. It would make more sense to establish stricter regulations against tracking cookies. When companies start to dig too deep and go too far, the people will rebel. Cookies should remain just simple text files that mutually benefit the site and the user. There is no need to invade users’ privacy for profit. References Peneberg, A. L. (2005, November 7). Cookie Monsters: The innocuous Text Files that Web Surfers love to hate. Retrieved November 5, 2012, from Slate: http://www. late. com/articles/technology/technology/2005/11/cookie_monsters. html Williams, B. K. , ; Stacy C. Sawyer. (2013). USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A PRACTI CAL INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS ; COMMUNICATIONS (10th ed. ). Boston: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Text files are stored as name-value pairs. [ 2 ]. Tracking cookies are third-party cookies placed by a marketing or advertising company that is interested in tagging visitors. Often they make sure a user won't be hit with the same ad twice.

Asian Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Asian Business - Essay Example According to the Brewers' Association of Japan (2004), Syozaburo Shibutani started beer brewing and marketing in Osaka during 1872. Beer importation dates back to as early as the Meiji period through the foreigners who came for the development of the Hokkaido (Japanese Sake 2006) though it was only during 1886 when the quantity of domestically produced beer exceeded the level of imports. Nowadays, global brands of beer continue to target the Japanese market while local production is concentrated on breweries who are capable of manufacturing 60K1 of beer (Brewers' Association of Japan 2004). The Japanese beer industry is estimated to be 3.2 trillion yen in value (approximately US$27.3 billion, based on 2001 amounts) indicating the wide popularity of beer in the country. The large market for beer is also evidenced by the fact that beer consumption accounts for 50% of the total alcoholic beverages consumption in volume and 70% in value (The Japanese Beer Industry 2003). There is a huge market for beer in Japan as the country belongs to the biggest beer consumers in the world. During 2003, the country's annual per capita consumption reached 13.4 gallon, making Japan the fourth largest beer consumer worldwide (Impact Databank 2004). The Japanese beer industry is currently comprised of two subsectors namely, regular beer and low malt beer. The regular beer subsector constitutes beer products with 67% or more barley malt content. The low malt beer category is unique to the Japanese beer industry. The creation of this subsector is attributed to the lower tax levied on beer with lower malt content. Typically, products on the low malt subsector has a 25% or less barley malt content having a liquor tax rate which is lower by 40% and has a retail price which is cheaper by 35% relative to regular beer. The low malt subsector has captured a large market in Japan and has experienced double-digit growth since its establishment in 1994. It currently holds 44% of the total beer shipments while approximately 60% of it is consumed locally. Just recently (2003), the low malt subsector was faced with a 28% rise in taxes while regular beer's taxes remained unchanged. This together with product maturity is expected to pull demand for low malt beer (The Japanese Beer Industry 2003). The structure of the Japanese beer industry is oligopolistic in nature with the four major national brewers in Japan accounting for 97% share of the total market. There are still however, foreign brands and local microbrewers who battle for the remaining market share. The major producers of beer in the country are Asahi Breweries (38%), Kirin Brewery (36%), Sapporo Breweries (14%) and Suntory (11%). Asahi Breweries recently dislodged Kirin as market leader due to the wide popularity f its Asahi Super Dry beer. On the other hand, the second largest player Kirin is moving into the production and marketing of non-beer products and becoming an "all-round beverage player." Sapporo lacks competitive advantage while Suntory's beer business profitability is in question (The Japanese Beer Industry 2003). Problems Encountered Victoria Bitter's move of market diversification targeting Japan will surely be met by certain problems and difficulties. Some of the probable problems are cultural, while others are more business in nature. Japanese are known to be very loyal to their culture which keeps them from adopting Western ways. Instead, they maintain their own way of doing business

Outline and critique the subjective interpretation of probability Essay

Outline and critique the subjective interpretation of probability - Essay Example In normal conversations, one might say â€Å"the storm will hit the city†, usually, the person does not imply that the storm hitting the or not hitting the city is a random factor and that the odds presently favour, such a person in normal conversation qualifies the statement to a degree of confidence. When in a newspaper it is written â€Å"the most probable explanation† of the Mother Gaston Boulevard Street in Brooklyn, New York is that it was named after Mother Rosetta Gaston. The statement does not imply that Mother Rosetta Gatson is not favoured by a random factor, but it is pretty much the most plausible reason that can be given to the evidence, which disputes others that are less likely. Subjectivist Probability This category implies a situation in which an argument may be allocated whatever the circumstance, even when no random process is involved, in a bid to show the subjective plausibility, or the level to which the argument is aided by the existing evidence. In a number of situations, subjectivist probabilities are taken to imply the degrees of belief, defined in the manner in which an individual is capable of gambling at certain odds. ... Mathematically, this can be defined as P (A) = NA N The mathematical definition has its limits, which was not taken into account, the theory failed to consider numbers that could run to infinity and merely considered finite number of possible outcomes. There are some random games for instance as tossing of a coin-like object until it gives a tail might run into endless set of outcome- infinite outcomes. Additionally, one may need to determine beforehand all the likely outcomes are equally plausible without depending on the concept of probability to avoid circularity for example by symmetry concerns. The frequensists suggests that the likelihood of an occurrence is the relative frequency over given number of times, which is the relative frequency of happenings after repetition of a process over considerable amount of time, given similar conditions. The occurrences of events are presumed to be under certain random physical phenomenon which is basically not knowable. Outsides the confin es of theory and into the real world, tossing of a dice and spinning of roulette wheel can be examples of such. Other scientist suggests that the radioactive decay might be included as a possible example under the frequency probability. Frequency theorists argue that when one is tossing a coin, the probability of getting a tail is 1/2, they don’t rely on the simple explanation of chance, but rather on the expectation that a repeated series of numerous trials show that the empirical frequency will ultimately converge to the limit ? as the number of tossing goes to infinity. The mathematical definition hence becomes, therefore P (A) = P. this approach is not without its set back, infinity is assumed

Economics and Business of the Asia Pacific Region Essay

Economics and Business of the Asia Pacific Region - Essay Example The country focused on enhancing its economic situation by introducing positive alterations in its income, output along with employment. The reform also aimed at altering the economic structure of China fostering foreign trade to a large extent from. It can be stated that the post-Mao reforms in China were more focused on the reorganizing the economic structure which tends to restrict sustainable development. Thus, the purposes and objectives relevant to the restructuring can be observed as strongly associated with the economic expansion and progress during the late 1970s (Liou, 1998). On the other hand, the strategy of open door was intended to lure the foreign investors, highly developed technology along with management expertise to the cities of China as well as the coastal regions. This restructuring policy implemented in the post-Mao reform had a significant influence and contribution towards the overall economic growth of China, its economic composition and the distribution of the economic actions in the national stage as well as in the local stage. It is worth mentioning that the contribution of this policy was more apparent in a few specific local regions that that in the overall national environment (Weng, 1998). These development policies contributed greatly towards the enhancement of the macroeconomic functions and the living standards of the residents in China. For instance during 1978 to 1995, the Chinese economy was observed to attain rapid growth which was recorded in majority of the facets of the different economic indicators such as, gross national product by 9.8 percent, boost in per capita GNP by 8.3 percent, boost in the total production value in terms of agriculture by 6.6 percent and boost in the industries total production value by 15.0 percent. This entailed an annual boost of the overall economic performance and thus played a key role in enhancing the living standards as well as macroeconomic functions within the country (Mauri, 2008; L iou, 2000). In addition, the post-Mao economic restructures not only had a positive effect on the Chinese economy but also had a direct as well as an indirect consequence on the other facets that formed the part of the Chinese society including the state-society relations.  

Industrial Relations Negotiations and Commercial Negotiations Research Paper

Industrial Relations Negotiations and Commercial Negotiations - Research Paper Example A negotiation process cannot be successful if both parties only look after their own benefits and do not come towards a win-win situation in which both the parties benefit from the negotiation process. Negotiation, in general, is of two types that are industrial negotiation and commercial negotiation. These two types of negotiation are different from each other in terms of their focus and the parties to the negotiation. Negotiation as a process also differs in different cultures. In the course of this essay first negotiation as a concept is defined and then the process involved in negotiation are taken into account. After this part differences of the negotiation in two types of a setting are discussed. In the end, the effect of culture and other elements that are specific to countries on the negotiation process is discussed. The effect of culture on negotiation is important to note in view of the concept that when people of different cultures sit to negotiation this is the most impor tant factor that has to be taken into consideration. According to the authors, Frow, Marginson and Ogden negotiation means discussion or agreements between two parties for making an acceptable and joint decision. Sometimes in this process, legal documents and rules are involved. In this process, people settle their differences. The authors say that the interests of parties are solved by making effective negotiation. The conflict also arises in the process of negotiating any matter. Two main elements are involved in the negotiation. One is constructive compromise and another one is purposeful persuasion. The main purpose of negotiation is to make an agreement by solving debates. Various factors of the parties are taken into consideration for establishing an agreement. Effective negotiation provides several advantages to all the parties involved in the process. As per these authors by discussing and solving different issues, best possible

Policy discussion paper (social work course) Essay

Policy discussion paper (social work course) - Essay Example those with disabilities, and their guardians, or helpers in assisting them to continue living independently at home, and ensuring their daily basic needs have been met (Government of Western Australia, 2012). Therefore, HACC support services include assistance with daily household activities, assistance in ensuring nutrition independence, strength and safety of these individuals, support to participate in either one-to one or group activities, assistance and support to ensure independent self care such as dressing, and assistance in carrying out essential activities such as banking, shopping, and maintaining in their social contacts (Government of Western Australia, 2012). The Home and Community Care (HACC) program is the main funded of home based care services in Australia. The program provides several services to the old people, the disabled people, and their guardians (Municipal Association of Victoria 2010, 15). HACC program was initiated in 1984 through an agreement with Commonwealth , State and Territories, and the Home and Community Care Act of 1985, in response to a report by the House of Representatives Standing Committee and Expenditure in 1982 (MAV 2010, 15). This program consolidated a number of separately funded State and Commonwealth programs, which include the Home Nursing Subsidy Act of 1957, the State Grants (Home care) Act of 1969, the Delivered Meals Subsidy Act of 1970, and the States Grants (paramedical Service) Act of 1969 (MAV 2010, 15). The program, however, started back in 1885 as the Royal District Nursing Services (RDNS) with a single nurse pertaining visits to homes of the sick poor, providing care to mothers with new born babies, and the frail aged,. Though HACC has a long history, there are two important aspects defining the program. Though HACC is a national program, each state is obligated to have a scope in building and developing their own programs to meet the needs of the state. For example, the Victorian government

Confidentiality in Relation to Nursing Practice Essay

Confidentiality in Relation to Nursing Practice - Essay Example One of the major ethical aspects that nurses should adopt is confidentiality. In relations to nursing practice, confidentiality depicts that any information about the health situation of the patient should be shared with other nurses and third parties only after the approval of the person under care. However, if the nurses perceive that the information is vital in preserving life and needs to be released to third parties, they are still allowed to release it without necessarily seeking the permission of the patients. This paper seeks to discuss the aspect of confidentiality in relation to nursing practice. Confidentiality in relation to nursing practice As indicated in the introduction part, the consent of a patient is vital as far as releasing of information that relates to his or her health is concerned. This means that nurses should take adequate precaution to ensure that information related to their patients is safeguarded. One of the key issues that nurses should not ignore is r espect of the right of each individual to the privacy of the information. This means that a person should be allowed to have a significant control over the use of the information. In the same way, patients should be allowed to disclose and access all the information that relates to their health. ... In this regard, nurses should adhere to such laws so at to propagate professional relationship that is vital in the provision of effective health care. Another fundamental aspect that is covered by the confidentiality is that if other individuals who are involved in the provision of health care do not maintain confidentiality during their duties, nurses especially those who directly deal with the patients should intervene (Armstrong, 2007). It is important to note that lack of team work among the providers of health care is a major factor that is detrimental to maintenance of confidentiality in the nursing profession. Thus, it is imperative for hospital nurses to train their colleagues on the importance of safeguarding the information that relates to individuals under care. Legislation relating to confidentiality in the nursing practice The section below discusses some of the major legislations that guides hospital nurses during the duties. Data Protection Act of 1998 Data Protection Act of 1998 regulates the processing of the information that relates to patients who are alive. The Act, that covers all types of media including the electronics forms and paper records, governs processing, recording, obtaining, and disclosing of the information by the nurses (Tuckett, 2004). Embryology and Human Fertilization Act of 1990 This legislation seeks to control the provision of reproductive services using the modern technology. For example, nurses are banned from disclosing the information relating to gamete donors to the third parties (McHale & Gallagher, 2003). According to International Council of Nurses (2000), nurses should not disclose the identity of the individuals who are using the technology reproductive services.

Why Do We Need To Eat Healthy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Why Do We Need To Eat Healthy - Essay Example Healthy eating does not in any way mean any sort of diet; it actually refers to the proper intake of healthy foods like meat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, whole grains etc in balanced proportions. All these will provide us with the required amount of carbohydrates, fats and vitamins and minerals and never induce any health problem when taken moderately. Firstly, there is a need to eat healthy to avoid serious diseases. Regardless of the age, healthy eating habits have a crucial impact on our health. Long standing studies have established a definite link between diet and cardiovascular diseases. Cases of coronary heart disease are on the rise and the cardiovascular morbidity figures are staggering. Studies have made it clear the high amount of fat intake, particularly LDL or low density lipoprotein and triglycerides, increases the chances of developing coronary diseases like atherosclerosis. On the other hand a diet that provides you with a good amount of HDL can help decrease the ch olesterol levels in the body. High fiber grains can help lower chances of heart disease and type 2 diabetes ( F.B Hu and Willet, 2002).Decrease in cholesterol levels itself has a lot of good impact on the body- chances of CVD (cardio vascular diseases) are lowered, blood sugar and hyper tension problems are also controlled. Dietary fat also increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer like breast cancer, esophageal, stomach and prostate cancer and has been supported by animal studies too. Most forms of cancers, have been linked to obesity and lack of proper nutrition and according to the National Cancer Institute, most of these cancer forms are preventable. Immunity is one of the basic tools for survival. Humans are immune to many pathogens simply because of the presence of white blood cells like NK cells in the body, which engulf the antigen and protect the body from harm. In case human did not have this immunity barrier, they would become vulnerable to all diseases and may even die owing to even small and minor infections. The key to a strong immune system is an intake of healthy diet. Colas, pizzas, burgers do not increase immunity in anyway. But intake of healthy foods like vegetables and fruits provides beta-carotene which in turn strengthens the body. In recent studies cancer experts have also found out that healthy eating and strong immunity also prevent development of certain cancers. There are a number of diseases that are caused due to nutritional deficiencies. Nutritional deficiencies occur when proper balanced food is not ingested. Beriberi, pellagra, scurvy, rickets, Ariboflavinosis, Skin diseases, Hypocobalaminemia, Paraesthesia and night blindness are some of the diseases related to vitamin deficiency. Painful chronic Gouty arthritis is another dreadful disease caused by bad eating habits. Deficiency of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium etc leads to diseases. If proper healthy habits are not developed a person will from health problems Scientific studies have shown that our mental health also depends on dietary factors. Minor depression, major depression, psychotic depression, traumatic disorders, stress disorders, compulsive behaviors, and anxiety are some of the mental problems that haunt a person. Though most of these diseases depend on genetic, biological and psychological factors but studies have determined that foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids ,release serotonins in the brain which in turn elevates mood.

Jewish holiday( Hanukkah ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jewish holiday( Hanukkah ) - Essay Example Each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, Jewish children receive gifts and one candle is lit on the eight-candle Menorah which is placed in a window so others can be reminded of the holiday. Jews say three blessings on the first night then two blessings the other seven nights as they light the candles. The light from the candles cannot be used for any purpose other than to display the light. For instance you can’t light a cigarette off one or even read by the light. Besides the lighting of the menorah, traditions include spinning a dreidel, a toy that looks like spinning top and eating foods, particularly fried foods. The dreidel is generally wooden and has four sides, each with a Hebrew symbol. Chocolate coins called â€Å"gelt† is given as a reward during the game. The lighting of the Menorah commemorates the miracle of the oil that kept lamps burning for seven days longer than they should have after a temple was liberated from oppressors who had stolen all of Jew’s oil. The oil in fried foods such as Latkes (potato pancakes) and Sufaniyot (jelly donuts topped with powdered sugar) also commemorate the oil miracle. Hanukkah is Hebrew for â€Å"dedicate† because the temple was being rededicated following a

Cloning Essay Example for Free

Cloning Essay This paper seeks to explore the scientific concept of cloning. The focus is on the origin of cloning, its meaning, and human cloning as well as the moral, ethical and legal issues surrounding human cloning. The paper goes further on folk wisdom and pregnancy. Cloning in general refers to developing an identical copy of something. According to Morrison E. Eileen, John F. Monagle (2008, p. 103), cloning in organism biology refers to the creation of an organism that is an exact genetic copy of another organism. This involves developing exactly similar DNA make up between the two organisms. Cloning may be categorized into recombinant DNA technology cloning, reproductive cloning or therapeutic cloning. The first organism to be clone was a tadpole in the year 1952 through nuclear transfer technology; this was a product of several researches by scientist which were both published and unpublished. DNA cloning has a substantial contribution towards gene therapy, genetic engineering of organisms, and sequencing genomes. Gene therapy can be used to treat certain genetic conditions by introducing virus vectors that carry corrected copies of faulty genes into the cells of a host organism. Genes from different organism can be used to develop pest and disease resistant animals and plants. Through cloning, desired qualities in an organism can be retained. For instance, genetically engineered food crops are targeted at improved tastes and nutritional value and 2001 cloning of baby mouflon in Italy. Several factors have made scientists to believe that human cloning is impossible. There has been inefficiency in animal cloning with approximately 1-2 viable off springs in 100 attempts by researchers (Human Gerome Project, 2008). The few successful cloning are also prone to infections hence premature deaths are common with clones. A part from being considered unethical, scientists are afraid of the impact of cloning on human mental development. However, Australian House of Representatives passed a bill in 2006 legalizing therapeutic cloning and the creation of human embryos. Researchers believe therapeutic cloning could result in cures for diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimers. Human cloning could also help resolve infertility problems by allowing those unable to pass genes to future generations to do so in a way that is at least analogous to the familial linkage of twins. (Cass R. Sunstein, Craven N. Martha, 1998, p. 71). Human cloning however faces some challenges as some people believe it is unethical to use a human clone to save the life of another. Other critics emphasize that interpersonal relationships and personal histories of people should be allowed to transfer between generations naturally as they believe cloning is interference in this process. Many religious organizations like the Catholic Church oppose all forms of cloning based on the belief that life begins at conception. Critics also say that clones tend to have more compromised immune function and higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders which has a major health implication. Most troubling is the legal concerns regarding the protection of the identity of the individual and the right to protect ones genetic identity. There is still no consensus on parenthood of a human clone and whether a clone child will have an open future. (Human Gerome Project, 2008) During pregnancy, the mother and the child are all and the same thing hence a lot of caution should be exercised on food and any substance consumed by the mother. Pregnant mothers should particularly refrain from smoking as this affects the mental and motor development of the child. Smoking constricts blood vessels hence limiting nutrients and oxygen supply to the foetus. This can result in mental disability or less brain weight. Their can also be developmental disability as well as poor coordination of motor skills when born.

Leadership and Employee Turnover in Hotel Industry

Leadership and Employee Turnover in Hotel Industry With the highest employee turnover rate, the hospitality industry need to encourage employees to voice their opinions, ideas, and any of their other concerns for improving performance and reducing employee turnover. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of different types of organizational culture and different leadership styles on employee voice in the hospitality industry. Hospitality human resource practitioners could modify their organizational culture and leadership style according to the results of the study, in order to encourage their employee voice. The results of this study could also contribute to the literature about factors that influence employee voice. Introduction As according to www.skagitwatershed.org Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills. Leadership is a process of getting things done through people. Leadership is not a science. So being a leader is an adventure because we can never be sure whether we will reach our goal at least this time. The touchdown drive may end in a fumble. The troop may have a bad weekend during the camporee. Or the citys citizens may not be convinced that the mayors policies are right. So these leaders have to try again, using other methods. But they still use the same process the process of good leadership (Orans, 1997). Employee Turnover As according to Wood (1992), defines employee turnover as the rate of change in the number of employees of a concern during a definite period commonly a month. In some other ways it is defined as a measure of the extent to which old employees leaves and new employees enter the service of the concern. Whereas in its sociological context employee turnover implies to a process of change in the size of the work force and this signifies the reasons, which cause this phenomenon to occur in any industrial unit. Employee turnover is in fact movement of employees in and out of firms and the main reasons could be voluntary or involuntary. Rationale Through the ages we have learnt that the only way to put the customer first in the hospitality industry is by putting the employee first. The rationale may not be very obvious, but it is certainly compelling. Satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers. Worldwide researches have suggested that employee turnover is among the highest in the hospitality industry. Studies have shown that average annual employee turnover range from around 60 to 300 % (Mehta, 2005). Hotels spend thousands every year for each new employee they must train to replace a seasoned worker who leaves. It is no longer a startling fact that the cost of losing an employee is between half and one-and-a-half times their annual salary. Background There are studies that support the fact that employees leave an organisation for many reasons, but two common causes are the quality of the selection system and the quality of leadership (Mehta, 2005). Arguably hotels support a culture that fosters dependence and relies on the traditional chain of command, and not all supervisors are good managers and good team leaders that leads high employee turnover. In the light of this proposition, the proposed research plans to examine as whether leadership leads to high employee turnover. The research will be conducted with reference to Delhi based hotels. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The proposed research aims to examine as whether leadership leads to high employee turnover. The research is to be conducted with reference to Delhi based five star hotels. The research will attempt to accomplish following objectives: To examine the degree of employee turnover problem in hotels To identify and evaluate the foremost causes employee turnover in hotels To examine leadership role as causing employee turnover in hotels To investigate what are the causes for the high employee turnover in the hotels. To examine are what the consequences of the high employee turnover in hotels. To study how the reduce turnover and increase employee retention in hotels. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Are qualities of leadership foremost reasons of employee turnover in hotels? Is wrong leadership causes high degree of employee turnover in hotels? Structure of dissertation Author has divided the dissertation in five chapters, in the first chapter author has discuss about the aims and objectives of the report, research mythology in which he has used primary and secondary research. He has discussed about the limitations and background of the dissertation in this chapter. In the second chapter author has given a literature review discussing the meaning of employee turnover and its importance in todays world. Author has also explained leadership and employee turnover and how it can make a difference in successful and not so successful businesses. Also the author has shown different ways to measure employee turnover. Finally, the author has explained how employee turnover is making a difference in a hotel industry and their employee. In the third chapter author has done a research mythology discussing sampling techniques and sample size which is been used for a completion of the report. In the forth chapter author has done findings and analysis based on a q uestionnaire prepared by the author. And finally in the last chapter author has done his conclusion on the report. Literature Review This section presents the theoretical concepts in the context of above mentioned research aims objectives and research questions. Employee turnover is the rotation of workers around the labour market; between firms, jobs and occupations; and between the states of employment and unemployment (Abassi et al., 2000). The term turnover is defined by Price (1977) as: the ratio of the number of organizational members who have left during the period being considered divided by the average number of people in that organization during the period. Frequently, managers refer to turnover as the entire process associated with filling a vacancy: Each time a position is vacated, either voluntarily or involuntarily, a new employee must be hired and trained. This replacement cycle is known as turnover (Woods, 2002). Most researchers (Kalliath and Beck, 2001; Kramer et al., 1995; Saks, 1996) have attempted to answer the question of what determines peoples intention to quit by investigating possible antecedents of employees intentions to quit. To date, there has been little consistency in findings, which is partly due to the diversity of employed included by the researchers and the lack of consistency in their findings. Therefore, there are several reasons why people quit from one organization to another or why people leave organisation. The experience of job related stress (job stress), the range factors that lead to job related stress (stressors), lack of commitment in the organization; and job dissatisfaction make employees to quit (Firth et al., 2004). This clearly indicates that these are individual decisions, which make one to quit. They are other factors like personal agency refers to concepts such as a sense of powerlessness, locus of control and personal control. Locus control refers to t he extent to which people believe that the external factors such as chance and powerful others are in control of the events which influence their lives (Firth et al., 2004). Manu et al. (2004) argue that employees quit from organization due economic reasons. Using economic model they showed that people quit from organization due to economic reasons and these can be used to predict the labour turnover in the market. Organizational instability has been shown to have a high degree of high turnover. Indications are that employees are more likely to stay when there is a predictable work environment and vice versa (Zuber, 2001). In organizations where there was a high level of inefficiency there was also a high level of staff turnover (Alexander et al., 1994). Therefore, in situations where organizations are not stable employees tend to quit and look for stable organisations because with stable organizations they would be able to predict their career advancement. The imposition of a quantitative approach to managing the employees led to disenchantment of staff and hence it leads to employee turnover. Therefore management should not use quantitative approach in managing its employees. Adopting a cost oriented approach to employment costs increases employee turnover (Simon et al., 2007). All these approaches should be avoided if managers want to minimize employee turnover an increase organizational com petitiveness in this environment of globalization. Organizations valuable assets are its high performing employees; and when they start leaving, its an indication that the organization is in trouble.   It appears that organizational management does not care much when low performing employees leave the organization.   In other words, the employers have to understand the damages resulting from high performance employees leaving, and the benefits resulting from poor performance employees leaving. (Hong and Chao 2007, p. 216).Employees may stay longer in an organization if they are motivated and rewarded.   Studies show that a motivated employee is a productive employee; therefore, it is the responsibility of organizational leadership to ensure that all employees are productive.   To be productive means supporting the mission and vision of the organization. Employees may stay longer with organizations if they are well paid and motivated.   Management and leadership motivate and reward high performance e mployees in order to prevent them from leaving. Organizational management and leadership pay particular attention to high performance employees and the attention given them has made them less likely to leave.   The negative relationship between performance and turnover appears to be the major conclusive finding, indicating that high performance employees would be less likely to leave than lower performance ones. (Hong and Chao, 2007 p.217).   Losing high performance employees means higher costs of human resources in form of rehiring, training, and placement.   Management action may cause some low performing employees to leave an organization; this is due to the fact that such employees are viewed as liabilities and may not be contributing to the accomplishment of the organizational mission and vision.   In SLT, leadership effectiveness is thought to be enhanced if a manager uses the style of leadership that best matches the readiness, ability and willingness of subordinates and that a good match between leadership style and subordinate readiness leads to a higher level of subordinate satisfaction and performance. The four quadrants in SLT represent four basic leadership styles: high task and low relationship ; high task and high relationship; low task and high relationship; low task and low relationship, The central precept is that as the level of follower readiness increases, effective leader behavior will involve less structure and less socio-emotional support, A leaders task and relationship behaviors interact with subordinate readiness to significantly influence leader effectiveness, which is defined as the extent to which a follower demonstrates the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. According to Hersey et al. (1996), at the lower levels of readiness, the le ader needs to provide direction but with higher levels of readiness, followers become responsible for task direction. There is no one best way to influence people and leaders need to assess the readiness level and then use the appropriate leadership style. Thus, it is the follower who dictates the most appropriate leader behavior. In the high tech hotel industry, a work environment with proper implementation and management of technology is vitally important. Any great manager will agree that human resources still plays the most important role in any successful high tech hotel venture. Employees are the backbone of hotel industry, and they need effective leadership so that they will be motivated to do the best jobs they can do. Today, the high tech industry is beset by several factors that make it difficult to hire and retain good employees. The economy is down and the national unemployment rate is high. Good leadership, however, can inspire employees and motivate them to work harder at their jobs. The question is how. Leadership is not a random event. Rather, it is a dynamic process continually adjusted to an ever-changing environment. A great leader is able to influence the behavior of individuals and groups. Harry Truman once said, Leadership is getting people to do what they dont want to do, and like it. In the past, a leaders personality or charisma was considered key. Leadership effectiveness also was defined in terms of attitudes. The most effective leaders were deemed to be those who placed the greatest emphasis on people and production. Today, this view has been modified. Now the leader needs to vary his style to fit the readiness of his subordinates. A leaders attitude is based on his concern for both his people and their productivity. Leadership behavior also is based on two dimensions: task behavior and relationship behavior. In attempting to lead, an individual always engages in each of these behaviors to some extent. Task behavior involves directing others telling or showing them exactly what to do and how to do it correctly. Typically, direction is characterized by unilateral communication, which may take the form of oral or written instructions expected to be carried out as dictated. Instructions to employees may be explained by saying, This is how you would do this. By contrast, relationship behavior is characterized by more supportive, facilitating actions and by bilateral communication among individuals. Here, direction typically involves dialogue between a manager and his subordinates or between co-workers. The number one reason an employee leaves a company is because of their manager. The leader that employees work for determine who sticks around and who hits the road. Employee turnover costs are substantial ranging from 150% to 250% of an employees annual compensation. That means to replace an employee that makes 100,000 it will cost the company 150,000 to 250,000. If you can reduce your employee turnover then clearly you will reduce your bottom line. Extraordinary leaders make a substantial impact on employee turnover and therefore, the bottom line. How to reduce employee turnover Few things in business are as costly and disruptive as unknowingly having the proverbial revolving door for employees to exit from. While there are many secondary and tertiary items that can influence an employees decision to leave, in this weeks column Ill address the one single factor which constitutes the overarching reason that drives a persons decision to leave their employer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Leadership Continuity: Great companies have a clear vision, mission, and strategy, which are evangelized by a cohesive leadership team. A crisply articulated vision, and continuity of leadership creates an engaged workforce that understands the business model and key objectives of the enterprise. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A Planned Transition: Outstanding leadership teams set employees up for success and not for failure. They have an established on boarding process which puts forth an initial roadmap for a successful transition by clearly defining key performance indicators, business objectives, and other key metrics. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Compensation: Great leadership teams understand the value of tier-one talent, and are not afraid to pay-up in order to attract it and retain it. While todays column was a bit of an extemporaneous highlight covering only a few critical issues, I hope it clearly portrayed the value of leadership in employee retention and development. Now that so much is being done by organizations to retain its employees, why is retention so important? Is it just to reduce the turnover costs? Well, the answer is a definite no. Its not only the cost incurred by a company that emphasizes the need of retaining employees but also the need to retain talented employees from getting poached. The process of  employee retention  will benefit an organization in the following ways: Interruption of Customer Service:  Customers and clients do business with a company in part because of the people. Relationships are developed that encourage continued sponsorship of the business. When an employee leaves, the relationships that employee built for the company are severed, which could lead to potential customer loss. Turnover leads to more turnovers:  When an employee terminates, the effect is felt throughout the organization. Co-workers are often required to pick up the slack. The unspoken negativity often intensifies for the remaining staff. Goodwill of the company:  The goodwill of a company is maintained when the attrition rates are low. Higher retention rates motivate potential employees to join the organization. http://retention.naukrihub.com/importance-of-employee-retention.html A career in the hospitality industry can be both challenging and rewarding. The hospitality industry includes restaurant, hotel, and resort positions that cater to serving guests with a smile. However, the staff turnover is high in the hospitality industry, and anyone considering a management position within this segment should understand the reasons people leave their jobs. Common reasons for high turnover include: 1. Seasonality- Many hospitality positions are seasonal in nature. While lay-offs are a necessity for business survival, they are hard for workers who will receive minimal unemployment benefits. It can lead to understaffing during off-peak seasons which has a negative impact on employee morale. 2. Organizational culture Leadership If an organization does not possess a positive culture, the work environment will be unpleasant. With other considerations, this adds to the reasons why employees quit. 3. Labor Pool -The labor pool for the hospitality industry is often untrained, unskilled workers. Higher skilled workers are harder to find, and even those workers are vulnerable as they seek better opportunities. Many employees are young, students, or using hospitality jobs as a fallback or stepping stone to other careers. This increases the chances of turnover. http://www.helium.com/items/1912987-staff-turnover-in-hospitality Five Leadership Fundamentals He then realized that his job as manager became very simple. To motivate high performance and, at the same time, ensure employee satisfaction within his group, he just needed to:   Provide employees with a clear sense of where were going and why. Make sure they have the necessary resources to get their job done. Be attuned to their professional needs and try to provide them with assignments that meet these needs (not always easy but still attainable). Regularly meet with them both formally and informally to give and get feedback on whats going on. Get out of their way and, at the same time, be available when needed. What are the leadership qualities that make all this possible? First and foremost the leadership qualities that build and create a change readiness culture are totally focused on understanding and reverse-engineering the critical disconnects between organizational leadership and management, and the rest of the non-management employees. These disconnects can be summarized as an organizational management and leadership that is detached from direct feedback from the frontline and the human consequences of their decisions. This is all about moving away from the prevalent transactional leadership style with its reward and punishment mechanisms to gain compliance, and moving towards facilitative leadership that engages directly with the informal networks and aspects of the organization. This isnt so hard for organizational leadership to take on board and enact once they realize that in so doing they are dealing directly with the crustacean rock bottom root causes of resistance to change whilst simultaneously unleashing a flood of new innovations and solutions. Implicit or Informal Theories of Employee Turnover Employers and employees share some common causes of employee turnover in India. Among demographic factors, the majority of Singaporeans hold the view that the young and more educated change jobs more often than the old and less educated. Labour shortage (or perceived alternative employment opportunities) and job-hopping among the uncontrollable factors stand out in the perceptions of most people as important factors causing turnover (Debrah, 1993;1994). Further, most Indians consider satisfaction with pay, a controllable factor, one of the most important causes of turnover intention (Debrah, 1994; Koh Goh, 1995). We do not propose any hypotheses on implicit theories of employee turnover. However, we would like to explore to what extent these implicit theories are valid. Specifically, how much of the variance in the turnover model do age, level of education, perceived alternative employment opportunities, job-hopping, and satisfaction with pay explain? If these factors explain a lot of unique variance, we can say that there is a lot of truth in implicit theories on employee turnover held by Indians. METHODS Sampling and Data Collection Data were collected using a questionnaire that contained measures of job satisfaction (satisfaction with pay, satisfaction with nature of work, and satisfaction with supervision), organizational commitment, organizational justice (distributive and procedural), job-hopping, perceived alternative employment opportunities, and turnover intention. In addition, the questionnaire included questions on demographic characteristics of the respondents. The Ministry of Labour, India, publishes quarterly resignation rates by occupations and industries. These quarterly resignation reports provided us the starting point. Both manufacturing and services sectors are important for the Singapore economy. Consequently, we included industries from both manufacturing and services in our sample. Within each sector, we selected one industry with the highest resignation rates and the other with the lowest resignation rates over the last four years. In the manufacturing sector, the food and beverage industry had the highest resignation rates and the marine and shipping the lowest. On the other hand, in the services sector, the retail industry had the highest resignations and the banking the lowest. Employee turnover in hotels has received substantial attention from both academics and managers. Much of this attention has been focused on understanding its causes. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that turnover is driven by certain identifiable characteristics of workers, tasks, firms, and markets, and that, by developing policies to address these characteristics, managers might reduce the occurrence of turnover in their respective organizations. Moreover, Van Vianen, Feij, Krausz, and Taris (2004) distinguished between two motives for turnover; push and pull. Push motives are related to dissatisfaction with ones current work situation, whereas pull refer to available opportunities to improve ones career opportunities on the external labour market. Nevertheless, the job satisfaction-turnover relationship is not stable across different organizations, or that satisfaction may relate more closely to immediate or short term variables such as daily effort, rather than longer term variables such as turnover intention (Ajzen Fishbein, 1977). The research may point out that there are some problems in the hotels in recent years on the employee turnover; generally speaking, employees leave the hotels for some common reasons, such as they are not satisfied with their positions of salary. Pavesic and Brymer (1990) confirmed dissatisfaction with income, mainly in relation to the number of hours worked, to be a primary reason for managers with hospitality administration degrees leaving the hospitality industry. Although the most significant reason is that they want to seize more space for position and trainings. There is unsuitable for the promotion and management system in hotels. Hotels have taken the employee satisfaction system in order to catch up with large scales. While hotels are not marketable enough to compete with other larger scales because of some systematically reasons. In this study, hotels are very cooperative with us, and the management complies with our requirements. Therefore, this research is for the managem ent of the hotel to find out the problems and to solve the problem.

Limitations of change management models

Limitations of change management models Using the case as a basis for analysis, discuss the potential limitations of current change management models and processes in organisations with which you are. This assignment is based on the case study organisations change. Change is an organizational reality. External forces for change include the marketplace, government laws and regulations, technology, labour markets, and economic changes. Internal forces of change include organizational strategy, equipment, the workforce, and employee attitudes. Change is generally a response to some significant threat or opportunity arising outside of the organisation. According to Pettigrew (1999) Changes within an organisation take place both in response to business and economic events and to processes of managerial perception, choice and actions. Managers in this sense see events taking place that, to them, signal the need for change. The change faced by Power Co at the start of the project was because of the fact that it did not had any related experience in the design and implementation of similar projects (which involves a processing technology). This state could have cause difficulties of changing from the status quo as transformational and disorientation etc. This change was caused by the unfamiliarity and alienation of the new technology to the investment delivery team and operations. As the case studies civil engineers; electrical engineers appear not to have enjoyed quite the same status had to have substantial amount of information to take the investment decision which was of strategic importance. Power Co tackled the above problem by recognizing the fact that the disorientation from the current technology can be eliminated by exploiting the knowledge base residing in the supply base Power Co developed a number of characteristics which eventually become its weakness. This was to have two tiers affect; firstly, it finds the solution of lack of prior knowledge of the change, secondly, it helps in making technologies were increasingly cost-competitive. According to Kellow (1996) described as a dam building organisation guilty of reverse adaptation, Power Co in a precarious in some work areas through loss of expertise and corporate knowledge the identification and the administration of knowledge within the Power Co business environment can be appropriately planned only if the characteristics and the needs of each particular firm are taken into consideration. In this context, the prior exploration of the business and the market environment is necessary in order to develop appropr iate plans of action regarding the retrieval, the process and the distribution of knowledge within any modern organization. At a first level, it is necessary to identify the type of knowledge required for a specific firm. Towards this direction, it was noticed by Anand (2003, p15) that the knowledge possessed by an organization and its members can be classified as explicit or tacit; explicit knowledge can be codified and communicated without much difficulty while tacit knowledge such as the manner of operating sensitive equipment or interpersonal skills-is not so easily articulated, as the case study power Co among the managerial class many were told that there was no position for them and they therefore elected to take a voluntary redundancy. Bunker (2005, p12) the reasons for the development of the above phenomenon have not been identified yet. It seems that firms managers do not have the necessary learning in order to. Moreover, the study of Bunker (2005, p12) showed that much of that failure stems from not understanding how to manage the structural side of change and the human dynamic of transition. On the other hand, Katzenbach (1996, p149) noticed that change efforts are often conceived as waves of initiatives that sweep through an organization from the top down, or the bottom up, or both, and flow across functions. In other words, change initiatives as most of the organizational plans are not accepted by employees at least for a specific period. The specific issue was also highlighted by Huy (2002, p31) who supported that fundamental change in personnel, strategy, organizational identity, or established work roles and interests often triggers intense emotions. For this reason, it is necessary that firms managers m ake the necessary preparations before attempt any change within the organizational environment (preparation in this case could include the organizational audit, the identification of the position and the advantages of the competitors and the choice of the most cost-effective plans identification of plans that are appropriate for the achievement of the various organizational targets but within a budget that will be set in advance by the firms managers. These problems stem from employee perceptions about how they are treated at work and the match between individual and organization needs and desires. Dissatisfaction is a symptom of an underlying employee problem that should be addressed. Unusual or high levels of absenteeism and turnover also represent forces for change. Power Co Management problem for those who genuinely embraced change and those who merely sought promotion and also there was a strategy of consultation and participation, individual examples emerged of staff feeling that, due to the end of building dams, a reduction in the workforce. Organizations might respond to these problems by using the various approaches to job design, by implementing realistic job previews, by reducing employees role conflict, overload, and ambiguity, and by removing the different stressors. Prospects for positive change stem from employee participation and suggestions. The results revealed through most of the relevant studies reveal that change is not welcomed by employees in most organizations internationally as the case study there is strong feeling by Power Co that the changes of commercialisation were forced on the organisation and that staff had few alternatives other than to accept their fate, whenever the attempted changes have the consent of the employees i.e. when they progress through the employees active participation, then their implementation is very likely to be successful. The specific issue was examined by Eoyang (2001,p5) who supported that many organization change initiatives start at the top and deal strongly with any resistance from system agents that blocks progress; common ways of responding to resistance include downsizing, restructuring, and re-engineering. Other methods for dealing with resistance developed within modern organizations regarding specific plans of change are also available to modern organizations. The choice of the method employed at each particular case belongs to the firms managers who will also identify the risks and the advantages related with the implementation of each relevant change. At was on the change to come, which omitted the historical context. The program was sophisticated, involving as it did newsletters, visits by the CEO, briefings for subordinate leaders and even a telephone hotline. Moreover, The change faced by Power Co at the start of the shifted from civil engineering projects of building dams and power stations, to that of a business entity charged with the responsibility of providing to the government, as nominal owner, a return on investment was because of the fact that it did not had any related experience in the design and in the implementation of similar projects (which involves a competition from other electricity suppliers). This state could have cause difficulties of changing from the status quo as barrier and disorientation etc. This change was caused by the unfamiliarity and alienation of the new technology to the investment delivery team and the operations. Power Co had to have substantial amount of the information to take the investment decision which was of strategic importance in terms of its volume. Even if the policies applied on various organizational activities are appropriate regarding the targets set by the firms managers, in practice man y of these policies have to be rejected as inappropriate if being evaluated regarding the resources required for their realization. It is for this reason that Greve (1998, p59) noticed that change initiatives could be characterized as an outcome jointly determined by motivation to change, opportunity to change, and capability to change. For this reason, before the implementation of any plan of change within a particular organization it is necessary that the entire organizational context is carefully reviewed taking into account the fact that the conditions in the market (as well as within the organization) can change at any time creating new terms regarding the success of any attempted change. The sector of organizational activities influenced by the specific plans cannot be precisely identified; it is very likely that different organizational sectors are targeted by each specific plan of change; the needs of the organization and the trends of the market are the main criteria for th e relevant choice (plan of change applied on a specific organization). Towards this direction, it is noticed by Poole (1998, p45) that when change is needed in an organization it is likely the learning or identity of the organization will be targeted for change; the transformed organization, whether it be minor (first-order change) or major (second-order change), will not be the same as its predecessor. In other words, one of the most important consequences of plans of organizational change is that their effects on the various aspects of the organizational activities are likely to be permanent and extensive. By the attempted change, a new organizational environment is created; new organizational plans are then very likely to be implemented in accordance with the firms culture and characteristics and the market trends. It should be noticed that the implementation of plans of change within modern organizations is a challenging task usually requiring an extensive net of reforms within the organizational body. Modern literature on organizational learning and change offers to the firms managers a series of theoretical models that can effectively support the relevant organizational initiatives. We could refer primarily to the models suggested by Fennell (1993, p90): a) The strategic choice model (which is the one based in the changes happened to particular variables like the board composition and structure), b) The population dynamics (which is influenced by the population level changes) and c) The change in technical and institutional environments (which are mainly refer to the regulatory change related with the operation of modern organizations). Another model is the Collison and Parcell have developed their own model of organizational learning through which the knowledge management method that can be used for change, Capturing, sharing and exploiting knowledge, experience and good practices. Also Lewins (1958) change model, a systems model of change, and organization development. Exhibited, positive reinforcement is used to reinforce the desired. Additional coaching and modelling also are used at this point to reinforce the stability of the change. Lewin`s model will be used in this paper in order to examine the organizational change. The identification of the potential weaknesses of the firms organizational change- using this model will help towards the development of an appropriate plan of change if considered as necessary regarding the various activities of the specific firm The change at this level could have been a lack of flow of information to the organizational high level officials. Another issue was the absence of other electricity suppliers. The absence of competition produced a surreal climate of merely preparing for a possibility rather than a reality in the organization. Still another was the identification of the integration issues between the other parts of the organization and the management e.g. changes in the company wide operating procedures, as the case study that restructuring was seen as necessary by both senior management various consultants the pre-existing structure were never Cleary identified or ar ticulated. The higher level management did not considered the project to be of strategic importance in the sense that it does not intend to operate similar projects in the future. So they decided only to be concerned with business level issues and operational problems were left to the ad-hoc local solution (e.g. the external environment dos not remain stationary during the period of implementing change and the internal re-configuration may impact upon the style and context of change being pursued by the organization itself ). Unfreezing The focus of this stage is to create the motivation to change. In so doing, individuals are encouraged to replace old behaviours and attitudes with those desired by management. Managers can begin the unfreezing process by disconfirming the usefulness or appropriateness of employees present behaviours or attitudes. Due to the nature of industry, in which Power Co is operating, the initial teething problems are very significant and change tends to have substantial inefficiencies in the start. The reason being obviously the complexity of the system this change can cause project failure economically if not managed properly and change is not improved as early as possible. Power Co made a less than successful attempt at this when senior management realised that there were some dysfunctional consequences of the commercialisation structure of 1992. The Solution adopted solution to this problem was the establishment of change teams were the focal point of commercialisation but enthusiasm faded as their work fell into disarray in some areas which was to facilitate a joint effort at change through identification of operational problems and developing solutions to them. Changing Because change involves learning, this stage entails providing employees with new information, new behavioural models, or new ways of looking at things. The purpose is to help employees learn new concepts or points of view. Role models, mentors, experts, benchmarking the company against worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Ëœclass organizations, and training are useful mechanisms to facilitate change. Appointing a person called Project sponsor having knowledge about the operations to oversee the project from the feasibility to the implementation. They were treated operationally as separate mutterers. After dam construction ceased, the workfares was decimated, many were forced redundancies due to the winding-down of dam construction, but others left as a matter of choice. This makes the project more stable operationally in the long run as the operational aspects of the system are conveyed to the delivery team during change stage. Failure to perform organizational impact analysis the organizational impact analysis studies the way a proposed transformational change the organization will be dominated by its civil engineering and the electrical engineers appear not to have enjoyed quite the same statues. This was due to the fact that the engineering problems were civil rather than electrical would affect organization structure, attitudes, decision making and operations. The analysis ai ms to ensure the change best to ensure integration with the organization. Refreezing Change is stabilized during refreezing by helping employees integrate the changed behaviour or attitude into their normal way of doing things. This is accomplished by first giving employees the chance to exhibit the new behaviours or attitudes. This would have triggered the collaboration process. A flexible management approach was adopted to improve collaboration by giving the staff shifts, autonomy in their work practices. Afterwards staff rotation was made which motivated the employees to share their experiences. The resultant best practices were accumulated and formally documented after reasonable time by the operations managers Power Co moved through a damaging period of controversy over the natural environment and excessive reiteration of past problems could have had a negative impact on moral. Issues to relate to refreezing failed to arise because of the continuing state of flux after commercialisation and the rapid replacement of staff who left. The above directly fulfilled project objectives of being manageable in the long run (as issues being managed efficiently) and flexibility by providing the different views through joint learning. It also indirectly helped in achieving the project objective of being economic by reducing project risk. The above directly could have fulfilled project objectives of being safe and secure (by providing the staff the required help needed for the operations). It also indirectly helped in achieving the project objective of being economic (by increasing the staff efficiency). Conclusions The presentation of all the above issues proves that the knowledge management systems implemented by the particular organization have been carefully chosen in order to ensure the achievement of the organizational aims. The divorce of the business commitment to embracing the all issues of the project acted as a change for complete integration of technology into the organization. Commitment to the change must be universal including all involved. Senior management must demonstrate commitment in the allocation of resources required (people, money, time etc) to achieve change. The argument given was that the management did not intend to operate similar projects organizational impact analysis studies the way a proposed transformational change the organization will be dominated by its civil engineering and the electrical engineers appear not to have enjoyed quite the same statues other than this one in the future might not have sufficed as it could have render the change ineffective in term s of achieving its objectives of being economic and manageable over the planning. By doing so some issues might have come to the management attention so late that the project failure could have occurred This lack of commitment might have been caused by the inherent characteristics of the capital goods industry which view the knowledge management as hamstrung due to structural fragmentation inherent in the organization, the one-off nature of the projects, the presences of the culturally disparate professions and the low level of trust.

What are groups? Essay -- Communication Skills, Team Work

Groups are collections of people with similar qualities and shared aims coming together to share knowledge and to learn from each other through discussion (Jaques and Salmon, 2007). Through group work (GW) students acquire effective collaborative, problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills. These are key skills required in employment where graduates will often need to work in teams to discuss solutions to problems / tasks. According to Race (2007) the above transferable skills can only be learnt from, and with, other people. Humans are social beings, thus individual learning is seen as a cultural process of participation as a group member interacting and socialising with each other (Maiden and Perry, 2011). Learners were tasked to design a module in groups of five or six in LTM113. Tuckman’s Model (TM) of group development will be used to discuss how GW is employed as a means to achieve the development of a module. TM is used by behaviourist scientist to analyse individual and group behaviour in the workplace, but the realm for Higher Education is that by recognising where a group is in the process, teachers can help steer the group to the desired stage. A brief synopsis of each stage is outlined below, reflecting on my experience in GW. The first stage of TM is Forming where members comes together to form a group, which involves testing limits to identify boundaries of both interpersonal and task behaviours (Tuckman, 1965). My group consists of a heterogenous mix of five lecturers from different faculty, providing mixed academic ability and experience to benefit GW. Participating in self-selection into groups promotes a sense of ownership, but self-selected groups can be subjective to discrimination by... ...eeping a focus on the task enabled the group to effectively reallocate roles, and collective effort helps towards the building of the module. A criticism of TM is that it is linear and observations are qualitative, subjective to bias. Findings cannot be generalised as there is a lack of control of independent variables and inequality in representation (Tuckman, 1965). An argument is that development of groups is not straightforward because human processes are complex. There may be overlap between different stages in TM as when group conflict is fading, feelings of cohesion may be rising. These changes do not occur in a discontinuous, staged-like sequence. Furthermore, groups are constantly forming and changing and they can move to a different stage. For example, when the group was performing, unexpected problems could force the group back to storming.

Free Narrative Essays - Drag Racing Dreams -- Personal Narrative Essay

Drag Racing Dreams      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The heat was unbearable as I pulled up to the starting line.   The smell of exhaust gases and burned rubber filled the air.   The starting light received my fullest attention, zoning everything out of my conscience.   3...2...1...green light!   I stomped my foot on the accelerator as I side stepped my clutch.   Shifting into second gear, I flipped the switch to my nitrous oxide system.   Instantaneously I was thrown back into my seat.   All of a sudden a loud pop disturbed the smooth roar of my engine.   Halfway down the track my engine shut off and forced me to coast the car to the finish line. My teammates were already waiting at the end of the drag strip.   Unable to restart my car, we pushed it back to our pit area.   My hopes were crushed as I went over the fact that my day of racing was already over.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Drag racing is a big part of my life.   All of my spare time is spent working on my 1996 Honda Accord.   With a big import drag racing approaching quickly, I spent most of my waking hours for a week tuning my car.   Sweat and hours of hard work finally prepared my car for racing.   The interior was stripped down to the sheet metal and contained only the driver's seat to reduce weight.   The whole exhaust system was removed to gain that little edge of power, which is essential for racing.   My car was finally race ready, waiting to tear up the track.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The following day, our race team met up at the track.   In the pit area, we changed out our street tires for high per... ...p;  Ã‚   Even though I made it to the final rounds of elimination I lost the final and most important race.   However, I didn't care about the loss because I knew that instead of making it this far, I could have been standing on the sideline with a broken car instead of racing.   I realized that any obstacle would be overcome if you pursued it hard enough.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pursuit of happiness and achieving goals is an important part of life.   Difficulties and a lack of results should not discourage one's strive for happiness.   If the desire to accomplish something is great enough dreams can be achieved no matter what the hardships or the time it takes.   Difficulties will make the achievement of a goal much more sweet because of the rewards of overcoming the little kinks and knots of life.

Denial in A Separate Peace Essay

In A Separate Peace, John Knowles enlightens readers on human existence by displaying how denial allows a person to stray from reality. Numerous cases of denial overwhelm and test characters’ assurances of their own presence. Characters such as Gene Forrester and Phineas (Finny) fail to acknowledge denial, so that their naivetà © prohibits them from identifying the truth. Eventually, fate causes each to face his own guilt, embarrassment, and disbelief. As the novel progresses Gene Forrester, the main character, continuously rejects the idea of being a â€Å"savage underneath†. Gene has a somewhat dark streak in his nature, which triggers him to lash out at innocent people. He intentionally jounces the limb of a tree while Finny, his â€Å"best† friend, is standing at the edge; causing Finny to plummet and break his leg. This vicious act permanently damages Finny, yet Gene refuses the contemplation of being malicious. You always were a savage underneath. I always knew that only I never  admitted it. But in the last few weeks†¦I admitted a hell of a lot to myself†¦ It’s you we happen to be talking about now. Like a savage underneath†¦Ã‚  like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree†¦Like that time you  crippled him for life. pg. 137 Elwin â€Å"Leper† Lepellier, another main character, attempts to inform Gene of his inner malevolence, however, he never is able to come to terms with this, not even fifteen years later. A controversy between mind and compassion prevents Gene from confessing his hatred, guilt, and envy towards Phineas. His mind could not comprehend how his heart could ruin such an important, yet remarkable companionship. It wasn’t my neck, but my understanding which was menaced. [Finny] had  Never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was  and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same  quality as he. pg. 51 Gene considers that he is â€Å"not of the same quality as he [Finny]’. He feels he cannot live up to the supremeness of Phineas. Finny never attempts to hurt Gene; instead bears in mind how to assist Gene. He somewhat regrets his previous actions, causing him to begin denying such wickedness. Gene finally comes to terms with his resentment at the trial. He confesses to Finny that his prior negations where false. Although not completely, Gene Forrester at last concedes his denial and works attentively to discover and repair his unwanted characteristic. The benevolent Phineas experiences a great deal of denial as the novel proceeds. He refuses to believe two facts: Gene, his â€Å"best† friend, causing his accident and the presence of the war. Finny is a loyal, trustworthy, caring companion and considers to be the same; he feels all people are innately good. He cannot believe that Gene caused him to fall from the tree. All the events surrounding his accident lead Finny into denial. He does not want to perceive this issue as being true so he ignores it until Brinker’s Trial prohibits him to deny the matter any longer. Once Brinker begins to question Finny about that day of his accident, he scuttles from the room instead of acknowledging the truth. The other manifestation of denial of reality is Finny’s inability to admit that the war exists. Finny infers a fabrication of fat old men that keeps young people from enjoying themselves. This assertion provides a convenient excuse since he is incapable to participate in the controversy of the world. Phineas, unfortunately, could not face the truth after being in denial for so long, he dies attempting to run away from the truth. Phineas, reluctantly confronts his own denial. Incapable to withstand such trauma, he flees only to undertake his catastrophic demise. After avoiding such principles as denial, Gene and Phineas endure a rude awakening to life transitions. These demonstrations of denial prove how both exploit denial to construct their own fantasy-world, which prevents each from notifying the truth.

Marine Protected Areas: Are They Generally Effective

Whether coral reef marine protected areas actually protect at risk species is an important issue to consider. Knowing the answer could lead to a better ability to answer other questions about marine environments. For example, a more defined correlation could be made between the increasing number of shark attacks in coastal areas and the overfishing of marine populations on which sharks subsist. The effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) is of key importance in assessing whether certain efforts to protect at risk species actually work. Given that 70% of the planet is covered in ocean, species in terrestrial habitats are certainly affected by the biological status of marine environments. The growing degradation of biodiversity and biomass in earths’ marine ecosystem could be driving sharks to find more fulfilling meals in non-traditional feeding areas – coastal areas that humans use for recreation. The topic therefore deserves research because the very actions of terrestrial species, like humans, may generate harmful long-term effects. In essence, users of marine resources are demonstrably interested in the relative short-tem gains from marine ecosystems while ignoring long-term effects of over-usage. Yet, setting aside areas to protect after or from over-usage does not necessarily mean all marine species are protected. More important, the enforcement of marine protected areas (MPAs) conflicts with socio-economic issues in communities that currently fish them or did so in the past. The mainstream article â€Å"Marine-protected Areas: It Takes a Village, Study Says,† looks at just how much society may assume about the extent of protection at risk species receive. When told an area is protected it is logically assumed that no fishing takes place in an MPA. To that end and by way of explanation, this article posits that the issue of protection actually depends on the consideration of at least three factors. The factors are as follows: (1) how affective is the management of a MPA; (2) whether management takes into account socio-economic effects on local communities; and (3) whether the socio-economic effects will complicate enforcement of an MPA. In essence, the article attempts to tell the audience that MPAs are made more effective for the consideration given local socio-economic issues. The article implies that on average MPAs are not as effective as hoped and even hazards and explanation. For example, government controlled MPAs, invisible to a community; propose two immediate dangers to the MPA by reason of invisibility. The community is both unaware of the benefits of avoiding overfishing and equally ignorant of methods of MPA enforcement. The article ultimately surmises that on a large scale, consideration being given to all marine protected areas, the most effective means of preserving species diversity, number and size would involve applying both the methods of traditionally managed systems (MPAs for small areas) and permanent marine protected areas (usually large). In such a scenario permanent MPAs would benefit species with slow overfishing recovery times while rewarding small communities for their efforts at conservation and allowing them to see its direct benefits. The source for the mainstream article was a study published in Current Biology, entitled â€Å"A Comparison of Marine Protected Areas and Alternative Approaches to Coral-Reef Management.† This article naturally takes a more scientific approach in making its argument. Therefore, it is unsuitable for a mainstream audience reading at different levels of comfort with scientific and statistical terminology. It looks at four types of MPAs in addition to four reasons why the areas presumably offer ineffective protection for certain species. Its use of graphs and tables, largely meant to reify the study’s argument for a scientific audience, all support the argument that the success of MPA enforcement decides its effectiveness. The mainstream article apparently makes use of the summary and conclusion in the scientific article’s content but glosses over its conclusions. The scientific article never implicitly states, as does the mainstream, that a combination of traditionally managed systems and permanent MPAs are important to protecting biodiversity. Rather, the mainstream article calls for a more simplified approach to what the scientific article implies is quite complicated. The institution of effective MPAs are complicated by how enforcement will be carried out in the face of the social, economic, and cultural context of communities in the center of areas designated as important to the maintenance of coral reef biodiversity. To some extent the mainstream article captures the essential points of the scientific article. For example it accurately conveys to readers that enforcement of MPAs is more complicated than designating an MPA. The mainstream article, despite its brevity, also manages to inform readers that there are different kinds of MPAs and that they work differently to solve problems. Take permanent MPAs which protect species at risk from overfishing. However, the mainstream article is guilty of minor sensationalism. The research this article is based upon looks at solutions for small, isolated communities as well as the benefits of permanent MPAs. It does not, as the mainstream article erroneously extrapolates, propose a combination of methods of traditionally managed systems and permanent MPAs, toward achieving biodiversity. A possible improvement upon the essentially good summarization, provided by the mainstream article, would include a definition of an MPA at its beginning. A more satisfactory conclusion would include a reminder that the findings of the study it summarized, applied to small, economically isolated communities. The conclusion could also inform readers of the larger implications of the study by referencing the fact that California is enjoying moderate success in its establishment of MPAs along its entire coast (â€Å"Transforming Ocean Policy,† 2006). The above would then provide supporting evidence for the highly probable tendency of mainstream readers to assume findings in the study are applicable outside of the small communities it examines. With regard to California’s efforts to establish MPAs along its coast only time will indicate success, hence, the importance of routinely researching the effectiveness of any efforts in wildlife conservation. It is particularly important to assess the enforcement of MPAs in the effort to maintain coral reef biodiversity as terrestrial and marine species do not operate in mutual exclusivity of each other. To that end, enriching one’s understanding of the interdependence of terrestrial and marine ecosystems requires a measure of caution. Mainstream readers may get a fairly accurate but slightly sensationalized view of a scientific finding. In essence, readers are tempted to consider findings applicable beyond the parameters of the experiment for which they exist. In my experience, media representations of science deserve a measure of skepticism and any findings consideration only within the parameters of the study they relate to. References McClanahan, Timothy R., Marnane, Michael J., Cinner, Joshua E., & Kiene, William E. (2006). A comparison of marine-protected areas and alternative approaches to coral-reef management. Current Biology, 16, 1408-1413. â€Å"Marine protected areas: it takes a village, study says.† (2006). Wildlife Conservation Society. Retrieved October 4, 2006 â€Å"Transforming ocean policy: doing for oceans what Teddy Roosevelt did for the land. (2006). The Ocean Conservancy. Retrieved October 4, 2006 from http://www.oceanconservancy .org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8731&news_iv_ctrl=0&abbr=issues_&JServSessionIdr007=hg383i2kx3.app7b.

Format for a Business Report Essay

There are few standard rules for writing business reports that dictate what information should come in which section of the report. This format is followed in most of the business report examples, that one may refer to. The most widely used format consists of the following standard sections: Title Section: In a short report, this could be the first page bearing the title of the report, author name and date. The reason of making such a report could also be included in this section, so that the reader can establish an instant connection with the information in subsequent sections. In case of long reports, include the Table of Contents, Terms of References and so on. Summary: As the name suggests, this is the summary of the whole report. Then why include it in the beginning of the report itself? It is because this is the section that most of the senior personnel, who do not have enough time to go through the whole report, will read through. Hence, give a very clear and precise information about the problem/aspect of business that the report is analyzing. Also, include the main points, conclusions, recommendations and important results. Although, this section contains a lot of information, ensure that it is a small one. Treat the summary as a separate report and use bullets and numbered lists to highlight important points. Methodology: List the methodologies used in your research, like if you interviewed focus groups or consulted research firms. Also, give the reason why you resorted to using a particular methodology. Introduction: This is the first part of a proper report. Use this section to provide the background of the report. Highlight the reasons why the report is important for the readers. Include information about what is covered in the main body and the order in which the details are covered in the report. In case, the Terms of Reference has not been mentioned in the Title Section, Introduction is the section to include it. Main Body: This is the heart of the report. Arrange all the information in order of priority, so that this section follows a logical sequence. Divide this section further into subsections. Lend greater order to the Main Body using sub-titles within each subsection. A paragraph about the relevance of the findings of the report can also be included in this section. Data Tabulation: Another important factor when writing format of business report is data tabulation. Presenting your data in lists or tables can help in readily understanding the report. Also, data tabulation or listing, makes the report look professional and neat. So, accompany necessary lists or tables in your report whenever required. Make sure you use neutral colors to make tables and keep the list and tables looking neat and crisp. Conclusion: Present logical conclusions for the topic investigated in the report. One can also suggest an option for the way forward. In case, discussion has not been included in the Main Body, include it in the conclusion. Otherwise keep this section small. Recommendations: Since you have worked on the report, no one would have a better understanding of the topic than you. There may be a few solutions or actions that you think would be effective in dealing with the problem, investigated in the report. Include those solutions in this section. List them in bullets and numbered lists for easier comprehension. Appendix: Although very few people read the Appendix, the information in this section gives support to the arguments used in the report. It is the Appendix where the author includes all the sources and research information, in detail. Although it is not about creative writing, good writing skills are important in business information reports, as one needs to give comprehensive information using precise words. It is advisable to keep the language simple and lucid in a business report, specially in the Summary and the Recommendations, as these are the sections most commonly read by senior level managers. However, some technical jargon can be used in the Main Body, as this is the section that is mostly read by experts. In the world of business, time is money. Following a standard business report format is what senior level managers and busy businessmen look for, as it reflects what they value the most, that is effective utilization of time. You can find many such examples online and use them as a reference for designing a suitable report format.