The Importance of Language and Culture

There are two forms of communications–verbal and non-verbal. Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Language is not the only source of communication, there are other means also. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch, by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact. Meaning can also be communicated through object or artifacts (such as clothing, hairstyles or architecture), symbols, and icons (or graphics). Speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, rate, pitch, volume, and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. Dance is also regarded as a form of nonverbal communication. Verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and interpersonal communications all play an important role in different languages and cultures. Sign languages and writing are generally understood as forms of verbal communication, as both make use of words — although like speech, both may contain paralinguistic elements and often occur alongside nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication can occur through any sensory channel — sight, sound, smell, touch or taste. Nonverbal communication is important as: â€Å"When we speak (or listen), our attention is focused on words rather than body language. But our judgment includes both. An audience is simultaneously processing both verbal and nonverbal cues. Body movements are not usually positive or negative in and of themselves; rather, the situation and the message will determine the appraisal† (Givens, 2000, p. 4). Hair color, gender, race, origin, clothing, appearance, and personality send nonverbal interactions during communication. Communication can be judged many different ways and that is why it is important to understand the different types of communication. Communication failures often result in lack of knowledge of communicating skills. A lot of people do not know or understand what kind of communication they are develop with their appearance. Verbal interactions are not used quite as frequently or not noticed as much. On average, to a moderate degree, women are better at nonverbal communication than are men (Hall, 1979). Verbal communications include body language, facial expressions, eye contact, paralanguage, environment, and the use of silence and time. Several thinks take part in the importance of communication. The world revolves because of communication. Without education to teach us how to communicate we would not be able to resolve important matters in everyday society and at home. Children learn culture through their parents, because they are the primary people in thier lives to teach them how to talk. That is why when children are born they speak and communicate like their family, environment, and origin. It is very important to teach children what communication means rather than just teaching them how to talk. The knowledge of understanding communication is important to be successful at communicating. Language and culture play a huge role in education. Without education the world would be very unorganized. We would not know how to even sign our name or manage our finances. It is important to learn different languages so you can communicate with other origins when needed. You may have to communicate with someone who speaks another language at your local grocer, the bank, the school, the courthouse. There are a wide range of languages in which people speak, and sometimes just because they live in the same country as you it does not mean they know how to speak the same language. When people encounter that can’t speak the same language, verbal communication is the only other way to communicate. Verbal communication often leads to failure to communicate between to origins, because they both communicate differently verbal as well. Language is more than just a means of communication. It influences our culture and even our thought processes. Language is arguably the most important component of culture because much of the rest of it is normally transmitted orally. It is impossible to understand the subtle nuances and deep meanings of another culture without knowing its language well. Different languages are easier to learn at a younger age before completely understanding a first language. Trying to learn a second language can be difficult for an adult, because the language they speak can confuse them while trying to learn. Different languages come from different backgrounds and when crossed can lead to great misunderstanding between the two languages. Anthropologists have found that learning about how people categorize things in their environment provides important insights into the interests, concerns, and values of their culture(Oneil, 2006). Language determines the way a person reviews the world. One’s culture determines the way one processes information and how one copes with reality. Concepts and objects have frames of reference that differ from culture to culture. The meaning of a word partly depends on the culture’s historical relation to the concept or object described. Different cultures see the world differently. Different cultures have different beliefs and values and these are expressed in their language, whether it be verbal or non-verbal. Many misunderstandings occur in intercultural communications because many are unaware of these differences. It is important for one to learn the differences of various cultures for one to understand one’s own identity. It is through knowing about others that one learns what is truly important to oneself. In our American culture, new skills are typically taught and learned through verbal instruction (Slobin, 1979). In some cultures, new skills are learned through nonverbal observation. A distinction has also been made between cultures that encourage independent learning and those that encourage cooperative learning (McLeod, 1994). The power of language to reflect culture and influence thinking was first proposed by an American linguist and anthropologist, Edward Sapir (1884–1939), and his student, Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941). The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis stated that the way we think and view the world is determined by our language (Anderson & Lightfoot, 2002; Crystal, 1987; Hayes, Ornstein, & Gage, 1987). Instances of cultural language differences are evidenced in that some languages have specific words for concepts whereas other languages use several words to represent a specific concept. For example, the Arabic language includes many specific words for designating a certain type of horse or camel (Crystal, 1987). To make such distinctions in English, where specific words do not exist, adjectives would be used preceding the concept label, such as quarter horse or dray horse. Cultural differences have also been noted in the ways in which language is used pragmatically. In our American culture, new skills are typically taught and learned through verbal instruction (Slobin, 1979). In some cultures, new skills are learned through nonverbal observation. A distinction has also been made between cultures that encourage independent learning and those that encourage cooperative learning (McLeod, 1994). Differences in the social roles of adults and children also influence how language is used. Home and school contexts may represent different cultures, subcultures, or both and may influence language acquisition in noticeable ways. Nonverbal cues (e. g. , facial expression) and contextual cues (e. g. , shared experience) have different communicative roles in different cultures (Kaiser & Rasminsky, 2003). People develop their language and culture as a child. It is important to understand different language and cultures to be able to communicate with different people from all around the world. Conflict is a part of most every interpersonal relationship. Managing conflict, then, is important if the relationship is to be long lasting and rewarding. Conflict is an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals. Two sides must communicate about a problem for there to be a conflict. They must also have different perceptions or ideas to create a conflict. The most important thing with an interpersonal relationship is to know how to handle the situation. Avoiding a conflict can cause communication damage and lead to greater problems. It is best that both individuals discuss their differences in a civilized manner. Conflicts can be resolved by trying to understand the other person’s point of view. Criticism and judgment of others only makes the conflict harder to resolve. Communicating openly and honest, asking for opinions, expressing interest, expressing a willingness to listen, and focusing attention on the task are ways to improve a personal conflict with someone. Emotional intelligence represents an ability to validly reason with emotions and to use emotions to enhance thought. Perceiving emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and managing emotions play a big role in emotional intelligence. Perceiving emotions is the ability to detect and decipher emotions in faces, pictures, voices, and cultural artifacts. Perceiving emotions represents a basic aspect of emotional intelligence, as it makes all other processing of emotional information possible (Salovey P and Grewal D, 2005). Using emotions is the bility to harness emotions to facilitate various cognitive activities, such as thinking and problem solving. The emotionally intelligent person can capitalize fully upon his or her changing moods in order to best fit the task at hand (Salovey P and Grewal D, 2005). Understanding emotions is the ability to comprehend emotion language and to appreciate complicated relationships among emotions. For example, understanding emotions encompasses the ability to be sensitive to slight variations between emotions, and the ability to recognize and describe how emotions evolve over time (Salovey P and Grewal D, 2005). Managing emotions is the ability to regulate emotions in both ourselves and in others. Therefore, the emotionally intelligent person can harness emotions, even negative ones, and manage them to achieve intended goals ( Salovey P and Grewal D, 2005). All these roles help form emotional intelligence and play a part in successful communication. Even though these aspects all play an important role in emotional intelligence, for most people, emotional intelligence (EQ) is more important than one’s intelligence (IQ) in attaining success in their lives and careers. As individuals our success and the success of the profession today depend on our ability to read other people’s signals and react appropriately to them. Therefore, each one of us must develop the mature emotional intelligence skills required to better understand, empathize and negotiate with other people — particularly as the economy has become more global. Otherwise, success will elude us in our lives and careers (Bressert S. , 2009). Five major categories of emotional intelligence skills are of value to professional accountants ( Bressert S, 2009). Self-awareness, self regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills are all part of the five major categories of emotional intelligence. Verbal and nonverbal communication, self perception, emotional intelligence, cultural differences, and conflicts are all very important in understand different languages and cultures. Being able to communicate effectively with different cultures has almost became a requirement in today’s society to be able to live successfully. Many different languages and cultures express themselves differently. The most important thing in understand the different cultures is knowing how to communicate with anyone and everyone whom you may come in contact with in your life. Understanding different people and the way they commincate, and all the different types of communication can make a huge difference in communication efforts. Language is obviously a vital tool. Not only is it a means of communicating thoughts and ideas, but it forges friendships, and economic relationships (Kilgour D, 1999). Language, of course, is knowledge, and in our world today knowledge is one of the key factors in competitiveness. Brains and knowledge are what create the prosperity and growth we tend to take for granted. In an advanced industrial society in an increasingly interdependent world, the knowledge of other languages becomes indispensable. Just think of how the advent of the Internet has changed our lives. For the last few years, millions of people across the world, who share common interests, are able to communicate with each other and exchange ideas. Not only are they able to do this due to the various technological advances, but also because they share a common language.

Effective Business Letter Essay

Did you know that in 1999 that two babies died after suffocating on plastic Pokemon balls that their parents got from Burger King? Furthermore, three children choked on â€Å"Scooter Bugs† that were given out at McDonalds. How would you feel if your child was injured due to the fact that your company had not pretested the safety of a toy? Many toys that are given out to toddlers are really meant for older children. In addition, many of these toys are produced cheaply overseas, and often small parts break off and they become serious choking hazards. According to statistics, Burger King distributes nearly 100 million toys annually to children; McDonald’s gives away 1.5 billion worldwide. This entire industry accounts for one-third of all toys distributed in the United States. Millions of them have been recalled after children were hurt. Industry leaders such as, Burger King and McDonald’s, now recognize that protecting child safety is to their advantage. Fortunately, Burger King now uses safety tests before, during, and after manufacturing to catch any hazards in advance. Furthermore, McDonalds’s has developed a testing doll with artificial lungs to check for suffocation risks called the â€Å"McBaby.† We want other fast food restaurants to follow their lead and start checking toys before distribution. McDonald’s has loaned the â€Å"McBaby† to our department so that other fast food vendors will participate in child protection. We would be more than happy to demonstrate how this baby works and how to invent a device similar to this. Please contact Melissa Gardner at 1-800-777-2233 to set up a time for us to come directly to your restaurant and do a presentation for you. Please help to keep our children safe. We look forward to hearing from you.   

The History Of Concrete In The Building Industry Construction Essay

Throughout history, the usage of concrete as a edifice stuff has contributed significantly to the built environment. Digesting illustrations of assorted signifiers of concrete can be found as far back as the early Egyptian civilization. Significant edifice leftovers still exist from the Roman civilisation, which used concretes made from of course happening volcanic ash pozzolans, assorted with H2O, sand and rock. Now concrete is being used in the building of lasting Bridgess, roads, H2O supply, infirmaries, churches, houses and commercial edifices, to give people a societal foundation, a booming economic system, and serviceable installations for many old ages. In the modern epoch, the belongingss of concrete were refined in the late 1800s, with the debut of a patented fabrication procedure for Portland cement. While it has ancient roots, concrete, as we know it today, is a modern and extremely advanced constructing stuff. In the last 150 old ages, concrete has become one of the most widely used edifice stuffs on Earth. Figure. Tranditional tools used for concrete commixture.Problem StatementConcrete is one of the most widely used building stuffs in the universe. However, the production of Portland cement, an indispensable stuff in concrete, leads to the release of important sum of CO2, a nursery gas. One ton of Portland cement cinder production is said to creates about one ton of CO2 and other nursery gases. Environmental issues are playing an of import function in the sustainable development of the cement and concrete industry. For illustration, if we run out of limestone, as it is predicted to go on in some topographic points, so we can non bring forth Portland cement ; and, hence, we can non bring forth concrete and all the employment associated with the concrete industry goes out-of-business. A sustainable concrete construction is one that is constructed so that the entire environmental impact during its full life rhythm is minimum. Concrete is a sustainable stuff because it has a really low built-in energy demand and is produced to order as needed with really small waste. It is made from some of the most plentiful resources on Earth and has a really high thermic mass. It can be made with recycled stuffs and is wholly reclaimable. Sustainable design and building of constructions have a little impact on the environment. Use of â€Å" green † stuffs embodies low energy costs. Their usage must hold high lastingness and low care taking to sustainable building stuffs. High public presentation cements and concrete can cut down the sum of cementitious stuffs and entire volume of concrete required. Concrete must maintain germinating to fulfill the increasing demands of all its users. Reuse of post-consumer wastes and industrial by-products in concrete is necessary to bring forth even â€Å" greener † concrete. â€Å" Greener † concrete besides improves air quality, minimizes solid wastes, and leads to sustainable cement and concrete industry.What is Sustainable Concrete?Concrete is a really environmentally friendly stuff. Concrete has been used for over 2,000 old ages. Concrete is best known for its durable and rel iable nature. However, extra ways that concrete contributes to societal advancement, economic growing, and environmental protection are frequently overlooked. Concrete constructions are superior in energy public presentation. They provide flexibleness in design every bit good as affordability, and are environmentally more responsible than steel or aluminium constructions. Entire geographical parts are running out of limestone resource to bring forth cement. Major metropolitan countries are running out of beginnings of sums for doing concrete. Sustainability requires that applied scientists consider a edifice ‘s â€Å" lifecycle † cost extended over the utile life-time. This includes the edifice building, care, destruction, and recycling [ ACI 2004 ] . A sustainable concrete construction is one that is constructed so that the entire social impact during its full life rhythm, including during its usage, is minimum. Planing for sustainability means accounting in the design and besides the short-run and long-run effects of the social impact. Therefore, lastingness is the cardinal issue. New coevals of admixtures/additives are needed to better lastingness. To construct in a sustainable mode and behavior scheduled & amp ; appropriate edifice care are the keys that represent the â€Å" new building political orientation † of this coevals. In peculiar, to construct in a sustainable mode means to concentrate attending on physical, environmental, and technological resources, jobs related to human wellness, energy preservation of new and existing edifices, and control of building engineerings and methods.Environmental Issues with ConcreteThe production of Portland cement releases CO2 and other nursery gases ( GHGs ) into the ambiance. Entire CO2 emanations worldwide were 21 billion dozenss in 2002, Table 1. Table. CO2 emanations by industrialised states in 2002 [ Malhorta 2004 ] . State Percentage CO2 Emissions USA 25 Europe 20 Soviet union 17 Japan 8 China & gt ; 15 India & gt ; 10 Environmental issues associated with the CO2 emanations from the production of Portland cement, energy demand ( six-million BTU of energy needed per ton of cement production ) , resource preservation consideration, and economic impact due to the high cost of Portland cement fabrication workss demand that auxiliary cementing stuffs in general and fly ash in peculiar be used in increasing measures to replace Portland cement in concrete [ Malhotra 1997, 2004 ] . Fly ash is a byproduct of the burning of powdered coal in thermic power workss. The dust aggregation system removes the fly ash, as a all right particulate residue from the burning gases before they are discharged in the ambiance. For each ton of Portland cement cinder, 3 to 20 pound. of NOx are released into the ambiance. In 2000, the world-wide cement cinder production was about 1.6 billion dozenss [ Malhotra 2004 ] . Longer enduring concrete constructions cut down energy demands for care and Reconstruction. Concrete is a loca lly available stuff ; hence, transit cost to the undertaking site is reduced. Light colored concrete walls cut down interior lighting demands. Permeable concrete paving and meshing concrete pavers can be used to cut down overflow and let H2O to return to the H2O tabular array. Therefore, concrete is, in many ways, environmentally friendly stuff. As good applied scientists, we must utilize more of it [ Malhotra 2004 ] . In position of the energy and nursery gas emanation concerns in the fabrication of Portland cement, it is imperative that either new environmentally friendly cement-manufacturing engineerings be developed or utility stuffs be found to replace a major portion of the Portland cement for usage in the concrete industry [ Malhotra 2004 ] . Energy ingestion is the biggest environmental concern with cement and concrete production. Cement production is one of the most energy intensifier of all industrial fabrication procedures. Including direct fuel usage for excavation and transporting natural stuffs, cement production takes about six million BTU ‘s for every ton of cement. The industry ‘s heavy trust on coal leads to particularly high emanation degrees of CO2, azotic oxide, and sulfurs, among other pollutants. A ample part of the electricity used is besides generated from coal.What types of stuffs are being used to do sustainable concrete?Coal burning merchandises ( CCPs ) It is of import to develop recycling engineering for high-volume applications of coal burning merchandises ( CCPs ) generated by utilizing both conventional and clean-coal engineerings. Many different types of CCPs are produced ; for illustration, wing ash, bottom ash, cyclone-boiler scoria, and clean coal ash. In general some of these CCPs can be used as a auxiliary cementitious stuffs and the usage of Portland cement, hence, can be reduced. The production of CCPs in USA is about 120 million dozenss per twelvemonth in 2004. Cyclone-boiler scoria is 100 % recycled. Overall recycling rate of all CCPs is approximately 40 % . Figure. Fly ash is a by-product of coal firing power workss. Today ‘s usage of other pozzolans, such as rice-husk ash, wood ash, GGBFS, silicon oxide smoke, and other similar pozzolanic stuffs such as volcanic ash, natural pozzolans, diatomaceous earth ( diatomaceous Earth ) , calcined clay/shale, metakaolin, really all right clean-coal ash ( microash ) , limestone pulverization, and all right glass can cut down the usage of manufactured Portland cement, and do concrete more lasting, every bit good as cut down GHG emanations. Chemical composing of ASTM Type I portland cement and selected pozzolans is given in Table 2. Table. Chemical compostion of CCPs. Oxides % Portland Cement St. Helen ‘s ash VPP Class F ash Columbia Unit # 1 fly ash P-4 Class C ash SiO2 20.1 62.2 48.2 44.8 32.9 Al2O3 4.4 17.6 26.3 22.8 19.4 CaO 57.5 5.7 2.7 17.0 28.9 MgO 1.6 2.2 1.1 5.1 4.8 Fe2O3 2.4 5.6 10.6 4.2 5.4 TiO2 0.3 0.8 1.2 1.0 1.6 K2O 0.7 1.2 2.3 0.4 0.3 Na2O 0.2 4.6 1.1 0.3 2.0 Moisture 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.8 LOI 1.1 0.6 7.9 0.3 0.7 Recycled- Aggregate Concrete Recycled-aggregate concrete ( RAC ) for structural usage can be prepared by wholly replacing natural sum, in order to accomplish the same strength category as the mention concrete, manufactured by utilizing merely natural sums. This is evidently a defeat, since a big watercourse of recycled sums to let for full permutation of natural sums is non available. However, it is utile to turn out that to fabricate structural concrete by partially replacing natural with recycled sums by up to fifty per centum is so executable. In any instance, if the acceptance of a really low H2O to cement ratio implies unsustainably high sums of cement in the concrete mixture, recycled-aggregate concrete may besides be manufactured by utilizing a water-reducing alloy in order to take down both H2O and cement dose, or even by adding fly ash as a partial all right sum replacing and by utilizing a ace plasticiser to accomplish the needed workability. High-volume fly ash recycled aggregative concrete ( HVFA-RAC ) can be manufactured with a H2O to cement ratio of 0.60, by at the same time adding to the mixture as much fly ash as cement, and replacing the all right sum fraction. Therefore, H2O to cementitious stuff ratio of 0.30 is obtained enabling the concrete to make the needed strength category ( Table 3 ) . This process is indispensable for planing an environmentally-friendly concrete. All the concretes can be prepared keeping the same fluid consistence by proper add-on of an appropriate category of a ace plasticiser. Table. Comparison of Recycled Aggregate Concrete and Virgin Aggregate.PropertyVirgin AggregateRACShape and Texture Well rounded, smooth ( crushed rocks ) to angular and unsmooth ( crushed stone ) . Angular with unsmooth surface. Absorption Capacity 0.8 – 3.7 per centum 3.7 – 8.7 per centum Specific Gravity 2.4 – 2.9 2.1 – 2.4 L. A. Abrasion Test Mass Loss 15 – 30 per centum 20 – 45 per centum Sodium Sulfate Soundness Test Mass Loss 7 – 21 per centum 18 – 59 per centum Magnesium Sulfate Soundness Mass Loss 4 – 7 per centum 1 – 9 per centum Chloride Content 0 – 1.2 kg/m3 0.6 – 7.1 kg/m3 SUSTAINABLE CONCRETE SOLUTIONS Concrete is a strong, lasting, low environmental impact, constructing stuff. It is the basis for edifice building and substructure that can set future coevalss on the route towards a sustainable hereafter [ Cement Association of Canada 2004 ] . Benefits of concrete building are many, for illustration [ Cement Association of Canada 2004 ] : concrete edifices – cut down care and energy usage ; concrete main roads – cut down fuel consumed by to a great extent loaded trucks ; insulating concrete places – cut down energy use by 40 % or more ; fly ash, cement kiln dust, or cement-based solidification/stabilization and unmoved intervention of waste for brownfield renovation ; and, agribusiness waste containment – reduces odor and prevents groundwater taint. The concrete industry must demo leading and decide, and do part to the sustainable development of the industry in the 21 century by following new engineerings to cut down emanation of the greenhousegases, and therefore lend towards run intoing the ends and aims set at the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The fabrication of Portland cement is one such industry [ Malhotra 2004 ] . 6 PORTLAND CEMENT Portland cement is non environmentally really friendly stuff. As good applied scientists, we must cut down its usage in concrete [ Malhotra 2004 ] ; and, we must utilize more blended cements, particularly with chemical alloies. Clinker production is the most energy-intensive phase in cement production, accounting for over 90 % of entire energy usage, and virtually all of the fuel usage. Processing of natural stuffs in big kilns produces portland cement cinder. These kiln systems evaporate the built-in H2O in the natural stuffs blended to fabricate the cinder, calcine the carbonate components ( calcinations ) , and organize cement minerals ( clinkerization ) [ Worrell & A ; Galtisky 2004 ] . 6.1 Blended cements The production of blended cements involves the intergrinding of cinder with one or more additives ; e.g. , fly ash, bnb granulated blast furnace scoria, silicon oxide smoke, volcanic ash, in assorted proportions. The usage of blended cements is a peculiarly attractive efficiency option since the intergrinding of cinder with other additives non merely allows for a decrease in the energy used ( and reduced GHG emanations ) in cinder production, but besides straight corresponds to a decrease in C dioxide emanations in calcinations every bit good. Blended cement has been used for many decennaries around the universe [ Worrell & A ; Galtisky 2004 ] . 6.2 Concrete and the usage of blended cements Although it is most common to do usage of auxiliary cementing stuffs ( SCM ) in the replacing of cement in the concrete mixture, blended cement is produced at the crunching phase of cement production where fly ash, blast furnace scoria, or silicon oxide smokes are added to the cement itself. The advantages include expanded production capacity, reduced CO2 emanations, reduced fuel ingestion and close monitoring of the quality of SCMs [ Cement Association of Canada 2004 ] . â€Å" Kyoto Protocol ( UN Pact of 1997, requires to cut down GHGs, including CO2 ) . † It is now ratified. USA has non ratified it. â€Å" The Russian Government blessing allowed it to come into force worldwide. † By 2012, emanations must be cut below 1990 degrees ( in Japan by 6.0 + 7.6 = 13.6 % by 2012 ) [ The Daily Yomiuri 2004 ] . In Japan â€Å" ( Per ) householdaˆÂ ¦5,000 hankering green revenue enhancement † per twelvemonth is planned ( get downing April 2005 ) . This includes †Å" 3,600 hankerings in revenue enhancement per ton of C. † â€Å" The gross would be used to implement policies to accomplish the demands of Kyoto Protocol. † A study released ( on Oct. 21, 2004 ) showed that 61 % of those polled are in favour of the environmental revenue enhancement. † [ The Japan Times 2004 ] . Rate of CO2 emanation and planetary heating is shown in Figure 1. In last 2 year. CO2 has increased at a higher rate than expected [ Corinaldesi & A ; Moriconi 2004b ] . 6.3 Foundry byproducts Foundry byproducts include foundry sand, nucleus butts, abradants, and cupola scoria. Cores are used in doing coveted cavity/shapes in a sand cast in which liquefied metal is cast/poured. Cores are chiefly composed of silicon oxide sand with little per centums of either organic or inorganic binders.DecisionsThe most of import decision drawn appears to be that the compressive strength of the recycled aggregative concrete can be improved to be or even exceed that of natural-aggregate concrete by adding fly ash to the mixture as a all right aggregative replacing. In this manner, a given strength category value, as required for a broad scope of common utilizations, can be reached through both natural-aggregate concrete and recycled-aggregate concrete with fly ash, by adequately diminishing the H2O to cement ratio with the assistance of a superplasticizer in order to keep the workability. Concrete manufactured by utilizing recycled sum and wing ash shows no hurtful consequence on the lastingness of strengthened concrete, with some betterment for some instances. From an economical point of position, if merely the traditional costs are taken into history, recycledaggregate concrete with fly ash could be less attractive than natural-aggregate concrete. However, if the eco-balanced costs are considered, the exact antonym would be valid. Furthermore, the all right fraction with atom size up to 5 millimeters, when reused as sum for howitzers, allowed first-class bond strengths between howitzer and bricks, in malice of a lower mechanical public presentation of the howitzer itself. Besides the masonry debris can be productively treated and reused for fixing howitzers. Even for the all right fraction produced during the recycling procedure, that is the concrete-rubble pulverization, an first-class reuse was found, as filler in self-compacting concrete. The effort to better the quality of the recycled sums for new concretes by recycling in different ways the most damaging fractions, i.e. , the stuff coming from masonry debris and the finest recycled stuffs, allowed to accomplish surprising and unexpected public presentations for howitzers and selfcompacting concretes. Other industrial wastes, such as GRP waste pulverization, can turn out utile to be re-used in cementitious merchandises, by bettering some lastingness facets. â€Å" The concrete industry will be called upon to function the two pressing demands of human society ; viz. , protection of the environment and run intoing the infrastructural demand for increasing industrialisation and urbanisation of the universe. Besides due to big size, the concrete industry is unimpeachably the ideal medium for the economic and safe usage of 1000000s of dozenss of industrial by-products such as fly ash and scoria due to their extremely pozzolanic and cementitious belongingss. It is obvious that large-scale cement replacing ( 60 – 70 % ) in concrete with these industrial byproducts will be advantageous from the point of view of cost economic system, energy efficiency, lastingness, and overall ecological profile of concrete. Therefore, in the hereafter, the usage of byproduct auxiliary cementing stuffs ought to be made compulsory † [ Malhotra 2004 ] .

Write a detailed report on a song using key musical terms Essay

Write a detailed report on a song using key musical terms - Essay Example The first verse and the corresponding chorus is sung by   Paisley and it mainly focuses on the male traits whilst the second verse and corresponding chorus is sung   by Krauss, which mainly talks about the female counterpart. The song commences with elucidating the underlying way in regard to the promise of true love was washed away by the womans infidelity because the man went away to fight for his country. The man, however, does not easily forget about her and, therefore, turns to alcoholism to try and wash the memories away to no avail. The middle of the song clearly relates with the start as it shows the regret the woman felt because of what she did. She blames herself and turns to alcoholism too. The last part of the song thereby summarizes the middle and the beginning when the woman finally kills herself. The meter or the number of lines in the verse is the same in the chorus and the two main verses. The verses have five lines while the chorus is composed of eight lines. The prevailing  lyrics of the song  are described as additive going by the increased number of lines from five in the verses to eight in the chorus. The instruments used in the song included: the light drum that keeps the beat and the guitar that sets up the melody. There is also the use of Dobro that entails a brand of acoustic guitar and commonly by the singers on their lap with raised bridge and metal resonator cone. The voice of both Brad and Krauss are quite appealing and they sing in a manner that brings out the melodious nature of the guitars used. The melody of the song first comes across as sad, but close analysis brings out the melody as not happy, but more of a bittersweet sound that is relevant to the lyrics of the song. However, the song can be described as predominantly of one melodic voice (homophony) as there are no simultaneous lines of independent melody. The melody also invokes a sense of heaviness or solemnity due to the Aeolian

Psychology of language learning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychology of language learning - Assignment Example Language Acquisition A great deal of a child’s acquisition of linguistic structure occurs during the first five years of life. This is the period when he is most active in discerning a set of underlying organizational principles of language from the expression that surrounds him. It is amazing how at a very young age, he is capable of abstracting meaning from direct experience with other language users depending on his own context. Beaty (2009) explains that even at an infant stage, the baby’s early nonverbal communication helps in preparing her for the spoken and written language to follow and at 6 months, she has become a language specialist, based on the sounds she hears most frequently. At 20 months, she may possess a sizable vocabulary if she hears adults around her talk to one another and to her all the time. Of course good hearing and sensitive listening are paramount to language development. According to Lightbrown & Spada (1999), like the first language,  "learner’s age is one of the characteristics which determine the way in which an individual approaches second language learning† (p. 68). Lindfors (1987) notes that the child’s language environment includes a set of specific sentences, however, it is not this set of sentences that he acquires, but deduces from these an underlying set of organizational principles and sound-meaning relationships. To illustrate, children as young as two do not talk by simply using the specific sentences they hear, but rather, they construct sentences according to their own early version of organized principles underlying the specific sentences they have heard. Perhaps due also to limited language and motor skills, the child’s early linguistic system is different from the adult’s and results in telegraphic and grammatically erratic sentences like â€Å"He no want to sit me.†, â€Å"I not like it†, and â€Å"He gived it to me.† Over time, his langu age system will be revised in many different situations, and his sentences will become more adult-like. For his own purpose, he builds his own rule-governed constructions as he has deduced from his environment and from interactions with others (Lindfors, 1987). Language has four elements, and these elements have related skills necessary to develop a proficiency in language. According to Larsen-Freeman (1986), the natural order that children follow when learning their native language in terms of skill acquisition is: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Crucial to the development of teaching approaches is an understanding of such processes involved in language use. Socio-cultural Theory of Language Learning According to Lev Vygotsky (1962), social interaction stimulated by speech is essential for language development. He also mentions that a supportive interactive environment can help the child to reach a higher level of knowledge and performance compared to what might be reache d through his or her ability to improve independently (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). To this socio-cultural perspective, Lightbrown & Spada (2006) contend that people obtain control and reorganize

Summarize Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Summarize - Essay Example The researcher must follow the content pattern in every chapter. Nevertheless, your chair might approve another pattern in a manner, which captures the reader. General-to-specific might be adequate through giving results initially and then proof afterwards, but the researcher does not have to show the details discussed in an earlier chapter. Discussing the premise of a research is the most essential section in the final chapter. Looking at the findings offers a fast answer to the study question, which aims at unearthing the significance of the study rather than the details. Tentative answers to research questions offer an answer in determining the content of the chapter. Finally, the researcher must a proper comprehension of the software utilized in analyzing data like Excel spreadsheets or Word documents. Software is significant in data analysis, as well as presentation. The final paper must be a winning dissertation. It must tackle all research problems, as well as offer recommendations for future study areas. A good or perfect research builds on present knowledge to develop innovative

Into Thin Air Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Into Thin Air - Essay Example From this standpoint, Mount Everest as conquered by him belongs to him exclusively, and each step of the conquest is his special property. I give full marks to him for his creditability as a reporter, writer and a journalist. He is all these three molded into one. For producing such a book he has done lots of research, which is the hallmark of a good reporter and journalist, and he writes well and evokes intense curiosity with the reader about his adventurous journey. Those who know about Mount Everest expeditions also know that descent is more difficult than the ascent. On May 10, 1996 Krakauer was on the top of the world having reached the summit at 29,028 ft. He was the conqueror. He could not celebrate his pride and satisfaction for long; he was not at the cricket ground at Lords or in the Disneyland. He was on the edgy summit, where each moment’s delay in the ascent invited perils. The well-studied Krakauer was fully aware of the situation. Reaching the top is a great emo tional experience. For Krakauer, it was the realization of a childhood dream. Each step or each breath at such a height is life or death situation, which has zero tolerance for mistakes. If you are the leader and the decision-making authority of the expedition, you owe responsibility to the lives of the members involved in the adventure, apart from your own precious life. As Krakauer began the descent, a severe storm was forming and he had not slept for the last fifty-two hours. He felt so weak; he rested after each step to recoup the energy. He had missed the turnaround time for the descent, as the ambition to conquer the summit was too strong with him and with other members of the expedition. This is a good adventure book and a true story. The details of the expeditions, the trials and tribulations have been given in detail and are helpful for a research student, as well for an aspiring mountaineer. The detailed background information is immensely useful, as it introduces the char acters of the expedition, like the importance of the experienced guides to the inexperienced but ambitious climbers. Mountaineering expeditions have strange combinations. Certainly Krakauer’s expedition was one of them. Summit of Mount Everest is a terrible attraction. So far so good, if all goes well. But when tragedies strike expeditions and valuable lives are lost, the decision makers are questioned. Serious doubts arise in the minds of the family members why the dying man was not saved. The leader of the team is grilled and asked inconvenient questions. In all fairness, no leader would want any member of his team be buried in the snow. As stated above, when more than one individual write their experiences and books are published, there are bound to be differences of opinions and controversies. Anatoli Boukreev’s version of the expedition, especially relating to saving members of the expedition, varies with that of Krakauer. Krakauaer may be less daring and might no t have exhibited the same courage in taking the risk to save the life of fellow-mountaineers. But no one can pass summary judgment that Krakauer did not live up to the situation. Remember, each step at that perilous weather at such a height, is a step between life and death. He has his own limitations as a mountaineer and has to take into account his own

Ethical issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Ethical issues - Essay Example On the other hand, the victims of the burglary want to see justice by the burglar being convicted. This seems fair because they were subjected to psychological torture and maybe physical when the burglary took place and, hence, deserves justice to be accorded to them, as this is their constitutional right. Convicting the burglar with no clear and conclusive evidence that the individual committed the act is not only unfair but also an abuse of the freedom of movement of that individual because the person may not have committed the burglary. If the person is wrongfully convicted, he can sue the D.A (Pollock2011). The most ethical decision for the D.A to make in this case is to let the said burglar serve probation in the community. This is not only moral and ethically justified but it will be a win-win situation for both parties and especially if they told of the repercussions of taking the case to trial (the victims may lose the case due to lack of conclusive evidence or the burglar may be convicted of a crime he did not

Scavenger Hunt Worksheet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scavenger Hunt Worksheet - Essay Example 1. Datamonitor Business Information Center provides detailed coverage of companies, industries, and countries. Included are over 10,000 country profiles, over 2000 industry profiles, and over 50 country profiles. 2. Investext Plus provides complete images in PDF format of analysts’ reports on a variety of industries and publicly traded companies. The reports found in Investext Plus can be used for access to detailed information about earnings, growth, market share, and other aspects of company and industry performance. 3. EIU ® Viewswire ® provides current coverage of political and economic trends in 195 countries. Risk analysis and economic forecasts are provided for virtually all nations. This resource is recommended for courses in economics and international business. 4. Business Insights, formerly known as Reuters Business Insight offers in-depth research reports regarding industries, marketing, and technologies. This database is recommended for courses in business and technology management. 1. Did you know that the University of Phoenix Library has librarians available to help you with your Master’s Level research? An electronic form sends the librarian a request on a topic, a journal, or any other library resource. Our Ask a Librarian service is your pathway to obtaining professional guidance and recommendations regarding your research. For those challenging topics, ask a librarian for his or her professional research assistance. 2. The Center for Writing Excellence is another fabulous tool made available to you by the University of Phoenix. Not only can you submit a paper to the grammar checker and get a corrected paper back within minutes, but you can also check your paper automatically for plagiarism to make sure you cited all of your research correctly. Along with these valuable reviewing tools are several tutorials and guides to assist you in producing the finest work possible.

Memory Cost Essay Example for Free

Memory Cost Essay Over the past 30 years the cost of Electronics has steadily decreased. The cost of electronic storage has decreased greatly over the past 30 years as well. In this paper I will be talking about the decrease in the cost of RAM and Hard Drive Storage, how much will a 100TB HDD will cost when it becomes widely available in the future, and how much memory I will be able to buy with $100 in 10 years. In 1956, IBM created the first commercial Hard Drive called the IBM 305 RAMAC which held 5MB and cost a whopping 50 thousand dollars! Electronic storage started being more widespread during the early 1980’s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that RAM and Hard Drive Storage begin to be cheap enough for the average person. Back in 1981 the price for one MB of Hard Drive storage space was $340! Most people couldn’t afford a computer back in the 1980’s because of the huge cost. Through the 1980’s the cost per MB fell from around $340 during 1981 then to $40 per MB in 1988, and finally to $9 per MB in 1990. The cost of one Bit of ram in 1981 was 0.000425 cents, in 1988 it was 0.000005 cents, in 1995 it was 0.000000158 cents, in 2000 the cost per Bit was 0.000000063, and in 2013 the cost per Bit was 7.910^-10 cents. To get an understanding of how much memory will cost in the future and when 100TB hard drives will become commercially available, we have to take a look at how the price for memory has gotten cheaper over the past 10-30 years, the ever increasing amount of storage space that can be squeezed onto a hard drive platter, and take in to account the rapid growth in the technology field. According to Chris Mellor in his article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/01/hp_memristor_2018/) technology giant HP announced that 100TB hard drives could be available as early as 2018. I firmly believe that in 4 years by 2018 there will be 100TB drives for sale to the public but they will probably be very expensive till they go into mass production. In 10 years, we will be able to buy a hard drive with a phenomenal amount of storage space. From 1990 to  2014 the price has gone down exponentially from $9 per MB to under 150 MB per Cent! If we follow that exponential trend we are looking at hard drives that can hold over 100TB that cost fewer than 100 dollars, while the RAM will decrease in price slower. In conclusion, the cost of Storage such as RAM and Hard Drives has gotten very cheap, from over $500 per MB to 5 cents per GB! We will see a continual decrease in the cost of electronic storage and an increase in the amount of storage in smaller packages. Picture Citation: http://www.aei.org/publication/chart-of-the-day-the-falling-price-of-memory/ Citations http://ns1758.ca/winch/winchest.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/01/hp_memristor_2018/ http://www.jcmit.com/memoryprice.htm

Critical Analysis of Organisational Change Development and Management

Critical Analysis of Organisational Change Development and Management INTRODUCTION Sometime in the 5th century BC, Heraclitus of Ephesus philosophised the only constant is change. (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heraclitus). All organisations go through change as they develop and evolve, whether to success or to failure. This essay will look at two companies as they go they go through change, planned and unplanned, their approach and the extent to which they succeeded and applying organisation development and change theory to these two case studies. Organisational change is a recurring theme in the study of organisational development there are several factors, internally and externally, that will influence the development of the organisation, initiating a change which may, or may not, lead to success and sustainability. How the change is implemented is essential to its success as it often impacts one, if not all, areas of the organisation. Early change management theorists include: Kurt Lewin (1951). Doug Stace and Dexter Dunphy (2001) identify organisations which they describe as prudent mechanistics, which retain traditional structures, avoid the organisational fashion show, and perform well. (Buchanen, p566). Harold Leavitt (2003) argues that, while rigid beaurocratic structures encourage authoritarianism, distrust, dishonest, territoriality, toadying, and fear, they also provide ways of handling complexity, give us structure and predictability, and offer psychological rewards by fulfilling needs for order and security. It is argued that the study of change is paradoxical (Buchanan, 565) as the reasons for organisational change are many and complex and because change is a process not a static moment in time, hence can be only understood in relation to continuity. Not all change needs to be deep change it can be a fine tuning to an appropriate response. Transformational change of the Australian Defence Force. The companies were chosen because other their organisational similarities. Company A Company B Similarities Large > 20,000 Reactive International Public Sector Strong corporate culture Founded 1921 Large >20,000 Reactive International Public Sector Strong corporate culture Founded 1922 Differences Australia 90s Organisational structure Approach to change England 00s Organisational structure Approach to change Scope: PESTEL Organisational behaviour terrain. Study this at the organisational level. This essay is not going to examine the group or individual level. Australia has maintained military forces since federation as a nation in January 1901. Upon Federation, the Australian Government established the  Australian Army  and Commonwealth Naval Force. In 1909, the Government established the  Royal Australian Navy, which absorbed the Commonwealth Naval Force. The Army established the Australian Flying Corps in 1912 although this separated to form the  Royal Australian Air Force  in 1921. The services were not linked by a single chain of command, as they each reported to their own separate Minister and had separate administrative arrangements. The three services saw action around the world during  World War I  and  World War II. The importance of  joint warfare  was made clear to the Australian Military during World War II when Australian naval, ground and air units frequently served as part of single commands. Following the war, several senior officers lobbied for the appointment of a  commander in chief  of the three services. The government rejected this proposal and the three services remained fully independent.[13]  The absence of a central authority resulted in poor coordination between the services with each service organising and operating on the basis of a different  military doctrine.[14] The need for an integrated command structured received more emphasis during  the Australian militarys experiences in the Vietnam War.[14]  In 1973, the Secretary of the  Department of Defence,  Arthur Tange, submitted a report to the  Government  that recommended the unification of the separate departments supporting each service into a single Department of Defence and the creation of the post of Chief of the Defence Force Staff. The government accepted these recommendations and the Australian Defence Force was established on 9 February 1976.[15] The  British Broadcasting Corporation  (BBC) is the principal  public service broadcaster  in the United Kingdom. It is the largest broadcaster in the world with about 23,000 staff.[1][2][3]  Its global headquarters are located in London, and its main responsibility is to provide  public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom,  Channel Islands  and  Isle of Man. The BBC is an autonomous public service broadcaster[3]  that operates under a  Royal Charter.[4]  Within the United Kingdom its work is funded principally by an annual  television licence fee,[5]  which is charged to all United Kingdom households, companies and organisations using any type of equipment to record and/or receive live television broadcasts;[6]  the level of the fee is set annually by the  British Government  and agreed by  Parliament.[7] he BBC was the worlds first national broadcasting organisation[8]  and was founded on 18 October 1922 as the  British Broadcasting Co mpany Ltd. The original company was founded in 1922[9]  by a group of six telecommunications companies-Marconi, Radio Communication Company,  Metropolitan-Vickers,  General Electric,  Western Electric, and  British Thomson-Houston[10]-to broadcast experimental radio services. The first transmission was on 14 November of that year, from station  2LO, located at Marconi House, London.[11] Outside the UK, the  BBC World Service  has provided services by direct broadcasting and re-transmission contracts by sound radio since the inauguration of the BBC Empire Service in December 1932, and more recently by television and online. Though sharing some of the facilities of the domestic services, particularly for news and current affairs output, the World Service has a separate Managing Director, and its operating costs are funded mainly by direct grants from the UK government. These grants are determined independently of the domestic licence fee. How do organisations change why do they change. How change is implemented, their impact and their success factors? Two organisations will be compared and contrasted against the various theories, their similarities being that they are both large and complex organisations whose purpose is to serve the public. Initition What are the triggers for change? Why did the organisation have to change. Organisational life cycle (Greiner L) Mintzberg types of change possible step change (company 1) Elements of change : Whipp, Rosenfeld and Pellige The Change Kaleidescope Bolgrum, Barly Whitepaper 1986 Organisational behaviour terrain. Types of change planned and unplanned Strategy Safari Punctuated equilibrium Organisational structure Cultural Era Implementation Strategic Elements of change (Whipp) Levels of change Change Kaleidescope Factors faciliting change Levels of change Wilson, D Forces for change, Lewin K (disagree in co1 cas but potentially for co 2) Total quality management nstep process : c1 y c2 elements of Resistance to change bellelan co1 n long terms, c2 yes short-term bursts Managing resistance : Kotter Co1 yes, co2 no The coping cycle Kublar-Rosser co2 yes ; n/a to company 1 Factors facilitating change Yes co1 2 but co2 fainlied in mid-implementation Unless structure follows strategy, inefficiency results. (Chandler 1962: 314) Impact Contingency approaches Dunphy and Stacy : Yes can be applied to both Effectiveness of change strategy The change kaleidoscope (culture leadership) Time Preservation Capability Scope diversity Organisational structure- tie into first part (initiation) Organisational culture- tie into first part (initiation) Efficiency Resistance 5 types of organisational structure : Mintzberg Divisional Form, mechanistic 1982 : Peters and Waterman in search of excellence Mckinney 7 steps Elements of change context : Economic Political ? Organisational effiveness/ development maturity? Transformational Political and economic forces Restructure of organisation Culture Organisational design IT communciation Conclusion: Bluprint for change One must consider the culture re: effectiveness and how deep it is to go Contigiency Approach Lawrence and lorsh structure depends on factors from the environment. Contingencey Theories : imprecise specification of factors such as environment Ashridge leadership and management BPR radical decentralisation BBC petal. The management of innovation burns stalk mechanistic Æ’Â   organic The Australian Defence Organisation (ADO) has an enduring strategic priority is to keep Australia and the Australian people safe from attack or the threat of attack, and from economic or political coercion. To meet this requirement, the Defence Department employs a full time workforce of over 92,000 personnel consisting of both uniformed Australian Defence Force (ADF) members and civilian Australian Public Service (APS) personnel. The Defence Environmental Scan 2025, identified that the Defence Organisations workforce consists of an ADF with 50,600 full time members and 20,600 Defence Public Servants. In addition, the ADF has 21,000 Active Reserve members.2 2. As a whole, the Defence workforce is responsible for delivering the range of defence outcomes required by Government. While the military and civilian components of the Defence Organisation are required to contribute collectively to the achievement of these Government objectives, the management of the Defence workforce is currently stovepiped along ADF and APS lines, with limited consideration of the workforce as a total resource. Scope. This essay will examine the theories current Defence workforce structure across the ADF and APS. It will consider the potential disadvantages of the current stovepiped separation of ADF and APS personnel management, and examine the merits of moving towards an integrated and total Defence workforce. It will explore the potential benefits of increasing the number of contested positions available to ADF and APS members, particularly in middle and senior management. ONE DEPARTMENT TWO WORKFORCE COMPONENTS Experience and Opportunity 7. The Department of Defence is consistently praised for its success in the planning and conduct of military operations, while also being criticised for failings in its corporate and strategic management. This somewhat paradoxical situation is in part a result of the Defence Departments personnel management processes, where on one hand significant effort and resources are applied to ensure that ADF personnel are adequately educated, trained and prepared for roles they are likely to undertake within the Defence Organisation, while within the APS, individuals are expected to undertake any task without subject matter expertise or professional qualification.6 8. The structured and formalised ADF approach underpins a culture where the importance of experience and professional development are valued and built into career pathways. The APS personnel management approach is not supported by the appropriate personnel structures or management mechanisms required to enable this development. While ADF senior commanders understand and expect ADF personnel to be released from mainstream responsibilities at certain times during their career to meet professional development milestones, the APS management framework does not offer senior managers this flexibility. The APS workforce structure provides limited ability to backfill APS staff undertaking formalised professional development and as such, it is very difficult for senior APS managers to release personnel for extended periods professional development and education. 9. The lack of opportunities for professional development in the APS is compounded by the relative inexperience of the APS workforce when compared to their ADF counterparts. This inexperience has been exacerbated by the accelerated promotion of individuals in recent years as a byà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ product of the rapid growth in civilian numbers.7 A comparison of the relative experience levels of senior and middle management in the Defence Organisation shows that 27 %of all APS Senior Executive Service (SES) staff are under the age of 45 and 26 %of Executive Level 2 (EL 2) staff are below the age of 40.8 For ADF members, the minimum period of commissioned service for promotion to one star rank is approximately 23 years, with a minimum of 20 years service required before being eligible for promotion to colonel equivalent rank. The accelerated progression to middle and senior management in the APS limits the time and opportunity for staff to pursue professional development and education for civilian personnel is very much an exception rather than a rule. A TOTAL AND INTEGRATED WORKFORCE Workforce Integration 11. The Chief of the Defence Force and Secretary are currently focussed on moving the Defence Departments people management in a more strategic direction so we [Defence] can better recruit and retain the talent we need to meet the security challenges of the future.11 To meet these challenges, the Defence Department will require a people management framework that draws together the capabilities of the current personnel resources available to the Department more effectively. Key to this approach is breaking down the culture of stovepiped management of ADF and APS personnel. A move to a more integrated workforce management framework, that selects the most experienced and qualified candidate from across the Defence Organisation for particular appointments, would provide significant benefits to the Department. 12. While acknowledging that certain areas of the Defence business requires a degree of specialisation, particularly in the ADF for the planning and conduct of operations and the APS in the delivery of specialist services, there is a great deal of scope for a more integrated approach to personnel management across large sectors of the Department. This is particularly the case across middle and senior management within the Department at the EL 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ lieutenant colonel (05) equivalent level and above, where the requirement for specialisation is often not as important as a sound knowledge of the broader functioning of Defence. 14. In relation to the ADF, an integrated workforce would significantly improve the capacity of the Defence Organisation to better leverage the experience and skills of ADF members. ADF members detailed knowledge and skills gained through experience in a variety of operational and nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ operational appointments, and structured professional development, can be applied in a range of areas within Defence. For ADF members, an integrated approach would provide increased career opportunities for the large majority of ADF officers who currently find themselves with limited options midà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ career. Achieving Improved Effectiveness and Efficiency 15. An integrated personnel management framework and the corresponding improvement in experience and professional development across middle management within the Department would provide considerable scope and opportunity for senior management to consider delegating additional responsibility to a more capable middle management group. This would assist in focussing the decision space of senior management on the strategic direction of the Defence Organisation as opposed to the more routine issues currently consuming their limited time. The empowerment of middle management would also provide increased job satisfaction, leading to improved productivity and retention. This is a significant benefit in an environment where the Defence Organisation is aggressively competing to recruit and retain the best. 16. The introduction of an integrated workforce will require cultural change within both the ADF and APS. There will need to be an acceptance that the lines of accountability for personnel issues to the Secretary for APS members and CDF for ADF personnel will become less clear. The personnel management framework will need to move away from a differing model for the APS and ADF to a more integrated management system, particularly in the area of middle and senior management. The recent appointment of a human resource management professional into the role of Deputy Secretary People Strategies and Policy, provides a real opportunity to realign personnel management across Defence. 17. To assist in this process, a review of all middle and senior management positions from EL 1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 05 equivalent and above is required. The review should focus on identifying which positions are suitable to be classified as contestable between APS and ADF members. With an understanding of the nature and scale of these contestable positions, an overarching management structure that incorporates both APS and ADF senior and middle managers can be developed. This overarching approach requires Defence senior and middle management personnel to be centrally managed to best meet Defenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ wide requirements. For this approach to be successful, the Departments personnel numbers would need to be managed in a more flexible manner, with a move away from separate ADF and APS caps, towards an overarching cap on total Defence employees. 18. There are many examples within industry and other Government agencies where personnel with diverse skills and backgrounds are managed as a total resource. Studies of these approaches would be of benefit when developing a revised framework for the Defence Organisation. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has addressed these issues very effectively and achieved a wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ integrated workforce incorporating both sworn and unsworn officers. Defence should consider using the AFP experience as a case study on how to integrate differing elements into a total workforce. CONCLUSION (Substantial conclusions are drawn about the implications of the analysis for theory and practice) 19. The Defence Department can no longer afford a stovepiped approach to workforce management and must move towards greater integration between the ADF and APS components where the total personnel resources of the Department can be applied to achieve best affect. A move to a more integrated workforce, particularly in the areas of middle and senior management would have significant benefits for the individual APS and ADF members and the Department as a whole. It would provide opportunities to build mechanisms and flexibility into APS personnel management to enable increased professional development and enhanced experience levels. This will improve the job satisfaction and overall employability of APS members both within the Defence Department and the wider APS. For ADF members, greater workforce integration will provide improved career opportunities for the majority of experienced and qualified personnel who, under the current construct have limited career options once they reach the mid career point. This will have significant benefit for ADF retention. 20. A more integrated workforce would provide a framework that ensures the most qualified and experienced personnel from across the entire Department are identified for appointments at the middle and senior management level. Increased integrated can only improve overall workforce effectiveness and efficiency as the Defence Organisation confronts the complex security challenges of the future. RECOMMENDATIONS (Detailed, relevant and considered recommendations for practice are offered).In developing a total and integrated Defence workforce the following is recommended: TQM-What Is It?   If you are reading this book, it is likely that you already know what we mean when we use the term Total Quality Management. Still, its a good idea to define the term, and provide a brief overview.   Certainly TQM can be defined in a number of ways, and the details of different approaches can vary somewhat. However, a good starting definition, drawn from Capezio Morehouse is:   Total Quality management refers to a management process and set of disciplines that are coordinated to ensure that the organization consistently meets and exceeds customer requirements. TQM engages all divisions, departments and levels of the organization. Top management organizes all of its strategy and operations around customer needs and develops a culture with high employee participation. TQM companies are focused on the systematic management of data of all processes and practices to eliminate waste and pursue continuous improvement.    Perhaps a better way of understanding TQM is to compare a TQM organization with what we might call a traditional organizations. tets look at a number of differences.   1. Customer-Driven vs. Company-Driven   Traditional organizations tend to make their decisions based on what is most convenient for them, rather than what is wanted and expected by their customers. Being customer-based means gatf7ering information from customers/clients and modifying services and processes to meet those needs as well as possible. In government, this is not always easy, due to the conflicting responsibilities of a department, and the multiple customers/stakeholders involved in government situations. However, in many cases moving to a customer-driven organization can yield many positive results for government departments.   2. Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation   Traditional organizations tend to think and plan with respect to short term outcomes, white TQM organizations tend to think in much larger time spans. A typical example might be that a TQM organization would look at downsizing as having effects over a decade or two, while a traditional organization would look only at the immediate budgetary issues, letting future chips fall where they may.   Also, successful TQM organizations make a long term commitment to the principles of TQM, rather than looking at TQM as a program; something with a beginning and end. This means patience.     3. Data-Driven vs. Opinion-Driven   Traditional organizations tend to be managed by gut feel, or by opinion. They guess at what their customers want, and guess at the costs of waste, etc. TQM organizations base their decisions on data they collect; on customer needs, on waste, on costs, and on the sources of problems. While judgment is always involved in any decision, TQM organizations begin with the data, not with the solution.   4. Elimination of Waste vs. Tolerance of Waste   Most organizations operate with a high degree of waste and inefficiency. Traditional organizations consider waste, whether it be in time, materials, etc, as a normal part of their operation. TQM organizations are very active in identifying wasteful activities, and eliminating them.   5. Continuous Improvement vs, Fire Fighting   Traditional organizations tend to address problems with the way they do things only when there is a major problem or crisis. The watchword in traditional organizations is: if it aint broke, dont fix it, except that often it IS broke, but nobody is paying any attention .   TQM organizations are always looking for improvement, and are constantly engaged in problem-solving to make things better.   6. Prevention vs, Inspection   Traditional organizations tend to fix problems after the fact. Rather than trying to prevent problems, they catch them after the fact, which is very costly. TQM organizations work to prevent problems and errors, rather than simply fixing them.   7. Cross-Function Teams vs. Fortressed Departments   Traditional organizations tend to have sub-units that work autonomously and with little communication or involvement with other units. For example, personnel may have only limited interaction with other departments. Or, on a local level, administrative staff may have little communication with other staff in a government branch, and have a different reporting structure.   In TQM organizations, there is more use of cross-functional teams; teams convened for a particular purpose or purposes, with representation from a number of units or levels in the organization. The use of cross-functional teams means that input is gained from parts of the organization that need to be involved.   8. High Employee Participation vs. Top-Down Hierarchy   Traditional organizations tend to have very restricted communication and decision- making patterns. Employees are told what to do, rather than being inctuded in figuring out what to do. Information tends to flow from top to bottom.   In TQM organizations, employees are much more actively involved in both the decision-making and communication processes. Information flows both top to bottom and bottom to top. For that matter, information also flows sideways.   9. Problem-Solving vs, Blame   Traditional organizations tend to look to affix blame for things that go wrong. TQM organizations attack the problems in their organizations rather than the people. They fix things.   10. Systems Thinking Vs. Isolation   Traditiona~ organizations tend to see the parts and processes of their organization as single things, unretated to other part of the organization. TQM organizations tend to recognize that most often, probtems arise as a result of multiple causes, and that sub- units are interdependent. TQM organizations tend to see problems as a result of the entire system.   11. Leadership vs. Management   Traditional organizations tend to see people as objects to be managed; told what to do, disciplined, tracked, etc. TQM organizations exhibit more confidence in staff and more trust, and expect MORE from them, not less.   Thats a good starting point. There are probably a number of other comparisons to be made, but that gives us some common ground for discussion.   The Three Quality Gurus   While TQM may seem to be a new development to many, it has been around since the 1940s. One of the reasons why TQM seems to be the newest fad was that it was not embraced by North Americans, but it did find a home in post-WWII Japan.   The most well-known advocate of TQM was W. Edwards Deming, a statistician who, while largely ignored in North America, was actively involved in the 40 in the rebuilding of Japan. Deming passed away recently, and was in his 90s.   Two other gurus are Philip Crosby and Joseph Juran. Both are a bit younger than Deming, but have been influential in the field. It is worthy of note that the three gurus do not always agree, probably due to differences in terms of what each thinks is important, rather than in basic principles.   For those interested in learning more about TQM, it might be a good idea to read material from each of these experts.   TQM As Organizational Change Overview Moving to TQM is like any other organizational change. It must be managed effectively, and leaders of the change must take into account aspects of the organizations current culture. In fact, although TQM brings a number of benefits to those in the organization, you can expect some people to be cynical and resistant to change. Lets face it. Everyone in government has seen management fads come and go. Thankfully, a well managed TQM organizational change is likely to bring most if not all people on side over time. Organizational Change Principles 1) Time Any change (and its attached benefits) will take longer to realize than you expect. Typically, it may take as long as two or three years to have TQM working at its peak. 2 Resistance Regardless of the objective nature of the change, some (even many) people will resist it because it is unfamiliar. TQM must be introduced so that it maximizes peoples enthusiasm and minimizes resistance. 3. Leadership Any change will succeed or fail based on the ability of the change leaders to lead. People will take their cues about TQM from the management. If management show that they are committed, employees will become so. If management waffles, hedges, and backs off, then employees will see this as just more rhetoric of little importance. 4. Persistence Nobody is telling you that this process is easy. The worst thing a manager can do is start the process, and when it gets difficult, stop it. That breeds contempt for both the process and the manager. Managers need to commit over the long haul and realize they must be persistent while the rest of the organizations works at getting it. 5. Consistency The primary mistake managers make is that they become inconsistent. Perhaps most of the time, their thinking and actions reflect the principles of TQM. However, not all the time. This tells employees that the manager is not serious. As soon as a manager suggests that a poor product or service be delivered, the game is up. Instant lack of credibility. Consistency also means including employees in the planning of TQM activities, treating employees as the managers customers, and a number of other things. 6.Incentive People will embrace changes that they see are in their own self-interest. When presenting or deal ing with TQM changes it is important that managers highlight and focus on the benefits to the other people in tt7e organization. 7. Communication Change will be accepted or rejected based on the effectiveness of the communication about it. Communication must be frequent, of a two-way nature, and balanced (both positives and negatives). It must begin as early as possible in the process. http://work911.com/articles/tqm2.htm accessed 23102010 Impact Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day. Frances Hesselbein The Key to Cultural Transformation, Leader to Leader (Spring 1999) Implementation Ten years ago, Peter Senge introduced the idea of the learning organization Now he says that for big companies to change, we need to stop thinking like mechanics and to start acting like gardeners. Alan M. Webber, Learning for a Change Vision without action is merely a dream Action without vision just passes the time Vision with action can change the world Joel A. Barker The Power of Vision In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy. J. Paul Getty Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change. Confucius

Death Penalty Essay -- Capital Punishment Judicial Essays Papers

The Death Penalty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Death Penalty can be considered one of the most debated issues in the United States. The death penalty is a judicially ordered execution of a prisoner for a serious crime, often called a capital crime (Capital). There are many people that oppose the death penalty and then there are many people who are for the death penalty. People who oppose the death penalty feel that it is not humane or it might be too expensive. The people who are for the death penalty feel that it gives a chance for individuals to be accused for their wrong acts. Most convicted murderers face the possibility of execution. The nature of the case is what decides whether or not the convict qualifies for the death penalty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People who oppose the death penalty take the side that is too much money. They feel that it is far more expensive to execute the convict than keeping them in prison. In Texas, the cost of each execution case is roughly three times greater than detaining an inmate for forty years with the tightest security. Other states have similar statistics on how the death penalty is more expensive than imprisonment. One poll, "The Budgetary Repercussions of Capital Convictions" states that the cost of capital trials from 1982-1997 was $1.6 billion (Costs). Part of the taxpayers money goes to the cost of executing a criminal. Many feel that the money can be used for education or medicare. Also, many people opposing the death penalty feel that many convicts are inn...

Educating Rita - Love Story :: Free Essay Writer

Educating Rita - Love Story To answer the question whether or not Willy Russell actually wrote a love story as he intended to do, I consider certain aspects. I find two totally different main characters in Frank and Rita and therefore will be dealing with completely different ways of behaviour and reaction. By interpreting their statements and actions it might be possible to find some kind of conclusion. To begin with it is possible to say that Educating Rita does not seem to be a love story in a common sense. Nevertheless there are signs that Frank becomes more and more interested in Rita and her fate. She has got a refreshing effect on him, which is caused by her naivety, enthusiasm and very own way of talking about and experiencing literature. In act 1, scene 2 he tells her how much he wished she had walked in twenty years before. Especially at the beginning of their acquaintance Rita is used to telling him almost everything about her life, very much so about private matters. But as she becomes more "educated" and changes her feelings towards literature, which becomes less important for her, Frank almost starts insisting on knowing everything about her situation. In scene 8 she is late for the lesson, because she has just been thrown out by her husband, and Frank is very much concerned about her and her situation. But Rita is much more concerned about her Macbeth essay and is rather interested in Frank ´s opinion on it than in anything else. What she expects from Frank is criticism and support, whereas he wants to be allowed in taking part in her life. This scene already shows how different their intentions are. Other signs of Frank ´s feelings towards Rita are given in scene 2 of act . She has been late for the lesson and Frank realizes that she changed her way of talking, is trying to talk and act in a more sophisticated manner. He is shocked by this development. There is also a touch of jealousy in this scene. Rita has been telling him about her conversation with other students particularly with one of them named Tyson/Tiger. Frank: "Is there any point in working towards an examination if you are going to fall in love. (...) All right, but please stop burbling on about Mr Tyson." Another time he is deeply hurt when he finds out that Rita had changed her job without having told him anything about it (Act 2, Scene 4).

Sophocles Antigone and Bill Clinton :: Antigone essays

Antigone and Bill Clinton Antigone, in Greek legend, was the daughter of Oedipus. When her brothers Eteocles and Polynices killed one another, Creon, king of Thebes, forbade the rebel Polynices’ burial. Antigone disobeyed him, performed the rites, and was condemned to death for what she had done. Now the question arises, "Did Antigone take proper action?". Was it just to go against her Uncle Creon’s wishes and go ahead and bury the brother that was to be left out for the vultures? Would it be better to leave the situation how they are? Could she go on about life trying not to think of how she left her own blood out in the open? Could Antigone act as if she did not care? Afterlife to the Greeks back then was far more important and sacred than living life itself. Everything they did while they were alive was to please the many gods they worshipped. They built temples for their Gods, made statues to symbolize their Gods, and had a different God to explain things that we now say are an act of mother nature. It may seem rather foolish to us when we study their beliefs and compare them to modern day beliefs. I am sure the Greeks would have considered us to be heathens and put us to death for our ways and beliefs. I think Antigone thought her act was courageous and valid. I myself would not have risked my life to ensure a proper burial for anyone, whether it was in modern times or back then. To go against authority and break the laws given by the monarch was a plain senseless act. When someone is dead we now know there is nothing else anyone or anything can do for them at that point. It is too bad the Greeks did not believe that. As I stated before, afterlife to the Greeks was more important than living life itself. The Greeks seemed to spend most if not all of their lives preparing in some way for their afterlives. The lives they led back then were consecutive to please the Gods. I feel that she deserved her punishment because of the fact that she knew what fate was to come of her actions. Just because Antigone thought she was doing the right thing does not mean it was right.

American reform movements of 1825-1850 Essay

In the period from 1825-1850, a majority of the reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. However, some did so indirectly and unintentionally. The reform movements were spurred by the Second Great Awakening, which began in New England in the late 1790’s, and would eventually spread throughout the country. The Second GA differed from the First in that people were now believed to be able to choose whether or not to believe in God, as opposed to previous ideals based on calvinism and predestination. According to Charles G. Finney, the role of the church is to reform society. In 1834, he said, â€Å"When the churches are†¦awakened and reformed, the reformation and salvation of sinners will follow.† Finney had been influenced by Second Great Awakening ideals. He goes on to say that â€Å"drunkards, harlots, and infidels† would also be converted do to reform by the church. In this sense, the Second Great Awakening helped expand democratic ideals by bettering the moral standards of the common man. In 1835, Patrick Reason created an engraving depicting a black female slave in chains. Above her is the quote, â€Å"Am I not a woman and a sister† This reflects how the abolition and women’s movements often tied into one another. Both of these movements helped expand democratic ideals in that they desired increased rights (specifically suffrage) for minorities. However, women and blacks were simply trying to increase their own influence in society, and were not otherwise looking to expand democratic ideals for the benefit of everyone (Native Americans, Irish immigrants, etc.). The Grimke sisters (Angelina & Sarah) were southern abolitionists who also played a role in the Women’s Movement. Susan B. Anthony, a Quaker, and therefore opposed to slavery on moral grounds, also played a role in both movements. Anthony was a disciple of Eliizabeth Cady Stanton. Nativism was also an important reform movement of this time period. Nativism was the belief that only white Anglo-Saxon Protestants should be allowed suffrage and other rights. People believed this partly from fear of a  Catholic takeover, and partly because they did not want foreign immigrants competing with them for jobs. Samuel Morse was a key supporter of nativism. In his Imminent Dangers to the Free Institutions of the United States, written in 1835, he stated â€Å"that no foreigner who comes into the country after the law is passed shall ever be allowed the right of suffrage.† The law he referred to was a proposed law to replace the current Naturalization Law of the time. This movement did not seek to expand democratic ideals. Education reform was also an important movement of this period. Universal manhood suffrage created the need for education reform. The common laborer began to demand education for his children. This movement sought to expand democratic ideals in that more educated people meant more people would be able to be productive members of society. Emma Willard played a role in this movement as well as the Women’s Movement. She opened the Troy Female Seminary in 1821, which trained women to be members of the clergy. William H. McGuffey invented the â€Å"McGuffey Reader.† This was a standard reader that all children read based on their grade. In a passage from a McGuffey Reader from 1836, a poor young boy discusses how his parents are â€Å"very good to save some of their money in order that I may learn to read and write.† He is referring to tax-supported public schools, which were a result of the education reform movement. Alcohol abuse was becoming widespread throughout the early 1800’s. This was due in part to Elijah Craig’s invention of bourbon in 1789. Alcohol abuse led to decreased efficiency of labor, which was a problem for businessmen and consumers alike. The Temperance Movement began in an effort to end alcohol abuse. The American Temperance Society was formed in Boston in 1826, and urged people to give up alcohol. Neal Dow supported prohibition, and is considered the â€Å"Father of Prohibition.† He supported the Maine Law of 1851, which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. William Lloyd Garrison was an abolitionist who also supported temperance. An 1846 cartoon entitled â€Å"The Drunkards Progress. From The First Glass To The Grave† shows what a detrimental effect alcohol had on the life of the common laborer. The Temperance Movement sought to expand democratic ideals in that it protected the common man from himself. It improved the common man’s productivity as well as his well-being by discouraging him from the evils of alcohol. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 sought to expand democratic ideals more vigilently and radically than perhaps any other event of any movement. Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton both played important roles in the convention. They produced a â€Å"Declaration of Sentiments† which stated that â€Å"all men and women are created equal.† They also produced a resolution formally demanding women’s suffrage. In an excerpt from the Seneca Falls Declaration (August 2, 1848), Stanton states that the women are â€Å"assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed–to declare our right to be free as man is free.† Here she refers to the government-by-social contract philosophy of John Locke. She goes on to declare that â€Å"strange as it may seem, we now demand our right to vote according to the declaration of the government under which we live.† Here she refers to the Declaration of Independence of 1776, which stated that â€Å"all men are created equal.† Dorothia Dix travelled over 60,000 miles touring asylums across America. Her journals would help spread the idea that crazy people were actually mentally ill, and did not simply choose to be crazy. Her work led to 15 new hospitals and improved conditions in current hospitals of the time. While she did not seek to expand democratic ideals, she did improve the conditions in asylums, which is an indirect increase in the rights of the mentally ill. In the period from 1825-1850, a majority of the reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. However, some did so indirectly and unintentionally.

Renting and Price

Corey Allen BA504 February 19,2013 Abstract In 1997, Netflix became the first online movie by mail Rental Company. Hastings and Randolph co-founded the company. By 1999, they had come up with a $19. 99 per month price plan for customer to rent as many movies that they wanted with no late fees. In 2011, Netflix shocked their customers with their new price plan by splitting the streamlining of movies to one price and DVD by mail with another price. With the change, Netflix lost one million customers. Pertinent facts in the caseThe pertinent facts in this case study are that in 1997, Reed Hastings and Marc Randalph co-founded Netflix. Hastings was upset due to late fee’s he received when he went to return movies that he had rented six weeks earlier. At first, when Hastings came up with the idea, VHS tapes were used for rental, so the cost to ship VHS tapes was too expensive. Then one of Hastings friends advised him of the new DVD technology. With the new DVD technology, Hastings packages the DVD’s in a single envelope and shipped it to himself to see if the DVD would be damaged.When he received the DVD and found that it was undamaged, he began to create mail-order movie rental business. When Netflix first started, the price to rent a movie was $4 with a $2 shipping fee. With this new service, customers were able to have movies mailed to them, but they had to be back by a certain date or they would be charged late fees. In 1999, Netflix launched a new subscription service, which gave their customers unlimited rentals for a monthly fee of $15. 95 per month. With the subscription, subscribers were able to rent four movies per month.Within a year, Netflix improved the unlimited movies subscription plan and changed the price to $19. 99 per month. With the new plan, customers were able to rent as many movies as they desire and they could keep them as long as they wanted, but they could only keep four movies at a time. By 2007, Netflix had him a major miles tone by hitting one billion movie rental deliveries. That same year, Netflix introduced streamlining of movies directly to either the customer’s home computer. By 2008, customers were able to stream movies through their game consoles.With customers now able to stream movies directly to their computer or game consoles, Netflix came out with a price plan of $9. 99 per month for streamlining and DVD rental by mail. What is the situation? In 2011, Netflix announced that they would be separating the streamlining of videos and DVD by mail into two subscription prices. The price for streamlining would be $7. 99 per month and DVD by mail would be $7. 99 per month, so if you wanted to both stream movies and rent movies by mail, you would have to pay two different subscription fees.Netflix also announced that the movie by mail service would be run through qwikster. com. With the price increase of 60% and the announcement of the new website, Netflix lost one million subscribers, taking there subscription total of 25 million, down to 24 million subscribers. Along with the loss of subscribers, Netflix’s stock price dropped from a value of $298 to $169, which is a 40% loss in value. Who is involved? Reed Hastings was who was involved with the price change and he released a statement on September 18, 2011 stating that he had messed up with the way the price change took place.He went on to try and explain why the price change took place. What are the pertinent issues? The pertinent issues are that when Netflix announced the price change, they made the change fast and did not give their subscriber a chance to decide what they wanted to do. Basically Netflix announced the price change and made the change. By not giving their subscribers a chance to think about the new price change, they just went with it. By doing this, Netflix lost one million subscribers. These price changes not only affected the subscribers, it also affected their stock price.If Netflix would h ave gave more of a notice and the reasoning behind the price change, maybe they would not have lost as many subscribers. Recommendations for Netflix The actions that I would recommend for Netflix to recover from a marketing misdirection are that they should have eased into the new price plan or offer a promotional price to their current subscriber. For example, Netflix could have announced the new price plan and at the same time with the new price plan, they could have given their current customer a free trial so that they had the option of either paying the $7. 99 for either the stream lining or the DVD by mail.By allowing their customers the free trial, Netflix would be showing their customers that they appreciate their business, but they needed to make the price change to fit all customers need. I believe the theory break from reality for Netflix hit hard when they lost so many subscribers. With the price change and loss in subscribers, it opened the doors for Amazon to retain so me of the Netflix subscribers. How the arrived to their decision? Netflix arrived to the decision to split the membership in two when they realized that even with the streamlining of movies; customers were still renting movies by mail.Netflix also realized that not all there subscriber were taking advantage of the streamlining and the subscribers were only renting movies by mail. So by splitting the subscription into two price plans, customers had the choice of streamlining, renting by mail, or both. Conclusion I think the price change was necessary for Netflix, but I think they approached it the wrong way. I was one of the million subscribers who canceled their subscription due to the price change. But even with that said, after about two year, I’m now back with Netflix and I’m subscribing to the streamlining of videos.

Group Behavior in the Workplace

Group Behavior in the Workplace Antoinette T Harris Organizational Behavior, MGT 412 Instructor: Nikki Follis December 7, 2010 Group Behavior in the Workplace Introduction Group Behavior is well defined as, situations that allows people to interact in large or small groups. These individuals working together may begin to coordinate their behavior by acting in a certain way to achieve a goal that differs from what each person would do if acting alone. Group dynamics, combined with great leadership or management, can achieve goals that are set for organizational success.The organizations social systems are made up of many complex sets of human behavior and relationships that interact in many ways within the workplace and also in the businesses world they face every day. These working groups can be comprised of like-minded individuals, a diverse group of individuals, or a group of specialized skilled individuals who are developed by management to achieve one common goal in the organizat ion or project at hand. Balancing the rights of each individual in the workplace is sometimes difficult for the employer since most organizational goals are set to be achieved through group effort.People become dependent on established cultural systems that gives each individual stability, understanding, security, and the ability to respond to any given situation. Working Groups impose certain expectations and rules on each individual member of the team which can expose the weaker member’s lack of shared responsibilities. This can affect the working teams set goals that must be met by everyone involved in the group’s effort to get every detail finished and accomplished. Employer’s views on Group BehaviorQuality Management Systems within the workplace will become the key element that will measure the success or failure of an organization. Individual attitudes within the workplace can reflect a person’s likes/dislikes toward other co-workers and management within his or her working environment. Supervisors and managers must understand how workplace group behavior can be inspired to increase productivity, motivation and product quality by establishing a secure and stable group environment that can be managed effectively and minimally.The Manager – Worker relationship is usually influenced by management’s egoistic needs that are mainly governed by two types: the needs that relate to the leader’s reputation, such as recognition, status, respect of associates, and appreciation; and those that relate to self-confidence, achievement, decision making, self-esteem and knowledge. Management is not usually designed to help employees satisfy their human needs in a manner that will create healthy working environments.If management and high level leadership in the corporate world will develop more like minded, working group environments; employee’s will experience fewer frustrations and will devote more time and commitm ent to their production processes. These motivating factors I have listed would be aimed to benefit the organization as a whole and not slow down productivity through dis-satisfied and non-productive employees. 1. Altruism – is concerned with being of help to other people. Help of a practical nature can be a psychological or emotional kind. . Productivity – Efficiency managed by a productive management team will help minimize the working relationship gap that will usually exist between average employees and productive employees. 3. Self-Development – This motive can show concern by helping to develop individual skills and abilities that can be used as a plus in the working group. 4. Team Building Events – Managers who schedule team building events will see more productivity and motivation in their groups efforts to achieve its goals. 5.Staff morale – This motivator will help management build their teams and groups effectively, if they practice boos ting morale within the working group environments. High morale is one of the major components in the workforce. Traditional Management is no longer practiced within today’s workforce. This style of management focuses on using the majority of the time working with and through people. The working individual now has to become a skillful psychologist, since most of what people do on a daily basis, is shaping the behavior of others.Whether you are a manger or subordinate, you are only successful as a group effort if each individual has skills at motivation, interpersonal influence, working together with peers, good communication with individuals and superiors. Managers are reflections on each working individual and their style of leadership will determine the quality of groups they orchestrate to build organizational power, growth and success. New management styles tend to base their success on feedback from individuals bottom line performance.Management believes that everyoneâ₠¬â„¢s performance is important and should be aligned with the organization’s values, vision, and strategic priorities. The Employees View Today’s corporate world calls for effective and efficient working professionals that will go beyond their comfort zones to build good working interpersonal relationships at work that help all workers understand their role and target goals that contributes to the strategic vision of the organization.Healthy interpersonal relationships in team members will enhance favorable working environments and keep morale strong as teamwork progress toward one common goal. The culture of an organization is a very important and powerful element when that shapes working relationships, work enjoyment, and teamwork progress. Not every working individual has the psychological make-up that enhances the workplace and makes way for an enjoyable teamwork environment. Some employee’s feel that working in a team group causes blurred vision between the self and others which causes a mixture of anxiety and false self.Working in close-knit work relationships can be positive or negative depending on the culture of the organization and how management governs the project or goal at hand. Each individual adopts a role on behalf of the working group which functions as a team looking to achieve one common goal. If a certain team member is not using his or hers interpersonal relationship skills, then the goal of the team can be hindered and unprogressive, leaving a negative impact on the team’s functionality and creativity.Several issues emerged as a result of the employee’s lack of fulfillment in the teamwork environment. Employees who are not prone to building interpersonal relationships can assume a particularly negative team role, or scapegoat role, where the team member can take on the entire responsibility or guilt of the working group if they chose not to produce as required by the working group and management. Interp ersonal relationships are very important when it comes to teamwork and effective production levels within the organization.Management should be aware of certain individuals that do not possess the interpersonal or relational skills it takes to be a good and effective team member. Team building events can be very effective when it comes to helping individuals achieve certain career goals and team building skills. Each individual brings diversity and creativity to the total work group, and should therefore be treated fairly and carefully, to bring a positive outcome to all working groups that are looking to achieve a common product or goal. Developing Group NormsEach employer has an obligation to ensure all of his or her employees are working toward achieving a common goal. This is to include any and all of the relationally challenged individuals in workplace. Some of these employees may not already be recognized as interpersonally challenged workers, and may need a personal assessmen t performed to calculate the degree of his or hers developmental needs. As the culture of the organization is important for productivity, the development of group norms should also be at the top of management’s organizational goals.Successful communication between managers and employees can be critical components of group interaction and functioning. Some steps that an organization can take to adopt group norms can be very effective in managing group efforts that will produce one common goal. First, a session or team building event should be scheduled for all group members to attend. This should be fun, exciting, motivating and positive in order for each individual to learn their particular roles and effectiveness they will bring to the common production goal at hand.Once this team building session is scheduled and established, the facilitator builds on each team member’s creativity and abilities to begin a common working environment for all to build reliance, trust an d self-confidence. A brainstorming session is vital to this team building process. This allows each individual to bring their personal thought processes and skills to the table of production. The more ideals generated the better. Recording these ideas on a large white flip chart or white board where everyone can see, will build upon the common goal management has tasked the working group with.Ensuring positive and effective communication and keeping commitments are very essential to teamwork efforts. Each member of the group is committed to living the guidelines that is set in motion. The team should commit to confiding in each other if they think a group member is in violation of the agreed upon â€Å"group norm†. A list of all group norms should be distributed to each team member and posted in a common area like the team’s meeting room. These group norms that were established should be periodically reevaluated and implemented to ensure the effectiveness of the groups common goals and achievements.Keeping management updated and informed of the groups progress can be a big plus to each individual as evaluation time rolls around to show the team members how effective and productive they were in achieving the common goal that was tasked as a group effort. Conclusion Today, the major task within the working groups is communication and team building sessions that will bring everyone together to build interpersonal relationship skills with other coworkers, to show each individual the importance and effectiveness of working together as a team. One of the ost important things to remember when it comes to team development and team building is to consider that effective teams are developing organisms. Each team goes through stages of development the same way plants and animals do. The Wheelen’s Integrated Model of group development describes the evolution the group evolves through. The model shows the groups progression from immaturity to maturity in four stages. The first stage is modeled after a toddler or young child. These newly created members of the working team are insecure and unsure of themselves, the group and its structure.This new group will need instruction, guidance and direction to establish a routine that will help each member gain security and stability in their individual roles that will enable them to move toward their next stage. The groups’ second stage is similar to middle school. These easy to recognize issues are prone to rear its ugly head. Lots of disagreements; subgroups and cliques emerge where some of the members will show discontent and resentment toward the leader. This makes the leader frustrated with the group of workers since no matter what he or she tries to do, will always add up to â€Å"wrong†.Stage two can be compared to teen years. For leadership or management, this stage is critical in the team building adventure. This is the time to give each member the opportunity to ta ke on a larger role, and not the time to relinquish authority or rewrite the script on power. As the group matures into stage three, it will soon learn what it takes to accomplish the group’s task at hand. At stage three, each working individual will have to give equal weight to what and how they will work within the group’s efforts. This stage allows for individuals to fine-tune their roles and form positive partnerships and coalitions.Each member masters this part of the stage and the group can now move effortlessly into stage four. It is great to see working groups progress into stage four. They are focused on the process it takes to carry out the work. This stage characterizes the independence of the leader and trickles down to each individual that is working toward the goal of completion. The team learns delegation skills from the leader and this relationship now resembles that of the adult-child or older parent relationship. The leader is dedicated and consulted as needed, for clarification and feedback that results in the final decision of the group.As working groups learn what it takes to work together effectively, this integrated model of group development will help organizations to achieve effective teams that are armed with knowledge, interpersonal skills, individual creativity that allows everyone to work together. Working as a team will help build effective products and services that will show a quality that cannot be produced by one person, but built upon by an effective group of individuals who learned how to come together to achieve one common organizational goal.Works Cited†Group Behavior and Psychoanalysis. Changing Minds and Persuasion — How We Change What Others Think, Believe, Feel and Do. Syque 2002-2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2010. http://changingminds.org/disciplines/psychoanalysis/articles/group_psychoanalysis. htm.