Thursday, October 3, 2019
Comparative Analysis Of Inductivism And Falsificationism Environmental Sciences Essay
Comparative Analysis Of Inductivism And Falsificationism Environmental Sciences Essay There are two major concepts that tell us about the progress of science. Both have different views that how the science has progressed and is progressing. In this essay the introduction, detail comparison and advantages of one philosophy on the other is discussed. Falsifiability is a major concept. To prove any postulate as falsifiable, there should be any observation or there should be any experiment that disagrees with the postulate. For example, there is a common thinking of all that all crows are black. To violate this thinking we will have to show any crow that is not black and is of any other color. So, by showing the any example against the existing postulate that is proved by observation or experiment, the existing postulate can be rejected and this helps to progress in science. The school of thought that terms the falsifiability as a philosophical rule is known as Falsificationism. The approach of inductivism towards the science is that the progress of science is based on the empirical observations which are expressed in the form of theories. Moreover, the observations made should be large and should be repeated under the different conditions and any of the observation should not conflict with the results. Following these criteria, the final results are considered as true and are included in the science but there is a problem with this procedure because in some cases the number of observations can be made to a large number. For example, we cannot put our hand for the many time to conclude that fire burns. Due to the requirement of large number of observations and change of conditions, the process of inductivism contributes very slowly in the progress of science. Inductivist methodology assumes that the series of true statements yield a general universal statement. For example, if we say that this bull has four legs and then we say that bull has four legs and so on and concluding from this if we make a general and universal statement that all bull has four legs. But this universal statement can be falsified by showing a bull that is having less than four legs. Some scientists believe that science is developed by using the inductive approach. Falsificationists believe that science progresses by confronting with the problems and making the making the hypothesis or solution to the problem. If the proposed solution of the problem is correct one then it does not mean that theory itself is true but we can say it an improvement to the existing theory. We cannot say that the new theory is true but it is a improvement in the existing theories. Whenever a theory or hypothesis is falsified by observation or experiment and a new theory is proposed that replaces the existing one. Thus, falsification helps to make progress in science by violating the existing theories. It is very common and known to all that eyes are used to see the world. But if we consider this observation into our account then how bats are able see at night while they are having very small eyes. This was the little problem and for the search of the appropriate solution, bats were monitored in the close room that was full of obstacles while their eyes were covered by some way. But bats still flied well. The hypothesis that bats see with their eyes is rejected after the experiment and a new question rose how bats are flying in such environment. In response to this problem, the hypothesis proposed was that bats can use their ear to fly safely. For the verification of this proposed hypothesis, bats are again allowed to fly in the room which was full of obstacles. Again bats uses to fly perfectly. Hence again, the hypothesis that bats fly well by use of their ears was rejected and question was to search that how bats can fly and it was concluded finally that bats are sensing the echo es that are reflecting back after colliding with the obstacles. Based on the echoes, decisions are made to fly well. Hence the falsification of the problem and search for the new hypothesis is devoting in the progress of science. On the other hand the inductivistà ¢Ã¢â ¬Ã¢â ¢s approach is different than that of falsificationists. Inductivists believe that scientific knowledge is derived from given facts. They are giving a factual foundation to science. They also claim that there should be logical relationship between the theory and the observation statement that is confirming the theory and ignores the historical foundations. This result in an attitude of constantly seeking for the observations that confirms a theory more and more while in turn contributes less and less in the progress of science. Comparison of Falsificationiam and Inductivism Attribute Falsificationism Inductivism Facts and Results Recognizes that facts as well as theories are fallible. Uses Facts and results to give Science a factual and unproblematic Foundation. Seeks Only Constant Improvement in Science. For truths. Factual Basis Not a big problem Big problem Settle For progress For truth Advantages of falsificationism over inductivism : Indutivists believe that science is unproblematic but as we can see many cases where some facts after their experimental results are proved to be fallible. These facts are theory dependent. This approach where facts and theories are fallible is recognized by the falsificationists. The inductivist has to give the explanation of truth which can be a severe problem. On the other hand falsificationist works only for the constant improvement which is easy to do and does not create problem. There were no specific criteria for industivist that facts support the theories, so they had difficulty to explain such kind of circumstances. The falsificationists handle such kind of situation by conducting severe test which lead to support theories. The repetition of such test helps better to the falsificationist to support the theory which is not possible in the empirical approach where facts do not support the theory. If the experiment is carried out properly and the theory is proved to be right even after the successful performance of test, so the repetition of same experiment is not considered to be much severe. Falsificationist tests the unobservable knowledge and explores their novel consequences whereas the inductivist fails to explain that observable knowledge can ever be derived. On the whole, we can say that falsificationism has advantages over inductivism because testing a fact helps in improving a theory to its predecessor theory. Falsificationists believe that science is free of induction and in fact it is helping science for progress whereas inductivism works by seeking truth and is not contributing to progress in a rapid way.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Ghost Story of the Basement in a Haunted House :: Ghost Stories Urban Legends
The Door in the Basement This story was told by a 19 year old Caucasian male. The story was related in an informal, one on one setting between classes at the University. The storyteller did not personally experience the events in the story, but he heard the story directly from the people involved in it. The telling of the story was recorded, and the following transcript is nearly verbatim, with only minor modifications for the sake of clarity: Ok, so I guess this story happened probably about fifteen years ago, maybe more than that. One of my parentsââ¬â¢ friends had just bought a house. He and my parentsââ¬â¢ other friend, names being Bill and Bernie, were going to the house to fix it up before Bill actually moved in. So, theyââ¬â¢re looking around this house, and they were working on it for probably a week or two, and during the week they had noticed that there was this black door in the basement. And it had a red X mark across it. They couldnââ¬â¢t open the door; it had never actually been opened before as far as they knew. But it was just sort of weird and creepy, just had a really bad feeling to it, and again the door never really opened, so they didnââ¬â¢t think too much of it. Well, one night while they were working in the basement where the door was, Mr. Bernie had to leave to go get some extra parts or extra tools or something, so he got up and left. Mr. Bill was still working down in the basement. Well, it was maybe fifteen or twenty minutes later, and Mr. Bill was working in the basement not paying much attention to whatââ¬â¢s going on, when he hears footsteps upstairs. So he thinks itââ¬â¢s Mr. Bernie coming back. Heââ¬â¢s waiting, and the footsteps are walking around. They go into the kitchen area, they go into the living room area, and theyââ¬â¢re just walking around. Eventually he yells up the stairs ââ¬ËBern, what are you doing? Get down here, help me out!ââ¬â¢ There was no reply. Mr. Bill waits for another minute or two, and still no reply, but he still hears the footsteps. So he starts to walk upstairs, ready to drag Mr. Bernie back downstairs and getting really mad at him that heââ¬â¢s walking around upstairs not helping hi m out while Mr. Billââ¬â¢s trying to do some work downstairs.
Comparing Relationships Between Gods and Men in Prometheus Bound and Job :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays
The Relationships Between Gods and Men in Prometheus Bound and Job à à à à The question of why bad things happen to good people has perplexed and angered humans throughout history. The most common remedy to ease the confusion is to discover the inflicter of the undeserved suffering and direct the anger at them: the horror felt about the Holocaust can be re-directed in the short term by transforming Adolf Hitler into Lucifer and vilifying him, and, in the long term, can be used as a healing device when it is turned into education to assure that such an atrocity is never repeated. What, however, can be done with the distasteful emotions felt about the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Surely the citizens of those two cities did not themselves directly provoke the government of the United States to deserve the horror of a nuclear attack. Can it be doubted that their sufferings were undeserved and should cause deep sorrow, regret, and anger? Yet for the citizens of the United States to confront these emotions they must also confront t he failings of their own government. A similar problem is found in two works of literature, Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the book of Job found in the Tanakh. In each of these works a good man is seen to be suffering at the hand of his god; Prometheus is chained to a rock by Zeus who then sends an eagle to daily eat Prometheus' liver while Job is made destitute and brought to endure physical pain through an agreement between God~ and Satan. To examine the travails of these two men is to discover two vastly different concepts of the relationship between god and man. à The first question which must be addressed is, "Why have these men been made to suffer?" To simply say that Zeus or God is displeased is not enough, and to say that Prometheus and Job have sinned is confusing. Most Western readers approach these works with a pre-conceived notion of sin which has been born out of the Judeo-Christian theological tradition a tradition which dictates that there are specific moral rules which must be followed, and to transgress them is to sin. While this interpretation of sin may be functional for a reading of Job, it is useless for understanding Prometheus Bound. Comparing Relationships Between Gods and Men in Prometheus Bound and Job :: Comparison Compare Contrast Essays The Relationships Between Gods and Men in Prometheus Bound and Job à à à à The question of why bad things happen to good people has perplexed and angered humans throughout history. The most common remedy to ease the confusion is to discover the inflicter of the undeserved suffering and direct the anger at them: the horror felt about the Holocaust can be re-directed in the short term by transforming Adolf Hitler into Lucifer and vilifying him, and, in the long term, can be used as a healing device when it is turned into education to assure that such an atrocity is never repeated. What, however, can be done with the distasteful emotions felt about the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Surely the citizens of those two cities did not themselves directly provoke the government of the United States to deserve the horror of a nuclear attack. Can it be doubted that their sufferings were undeserved and should cause deep sorrow, regret, and anger? Yet for the citizens of the United States to confront these emotions they must also confront t he failings of their own government. A similar problem is found in two works of literature, Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and the book of Job found in the Tanakh. In each of these works a good man is seen to be suffering at the hand of his god; Prometheus is chained to a rock by Zeus who then sends an eagle to daily eat Prometheus' liver while Job is made destitute and brought to endure physical pain through an agreement between God~ and Satan. To examine the travails of these two men is to discover two vastly different concepts of the relationship between god and man. à The first question which must be addressed is, "Why have these men been made to suffer?" To simply say that Zeus or God is displeased is not enough, and to say that Prometheus and Job have sinned is confusing. Most Western readers approach these works with a pre-conceived notion of sin which has been born out of the Judeo-Christian theological tradition a tradition which dictates that there are specific moral rules which must be followed, and to transgress them is to sin. While this interpretation of sin may be functional for a reading of Job, it is useless for understanding Prometheus Bound.
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Analysis of the Book of the Dun Cow
In Walter Wangerin Jr. ââ¬Ës beast fable, The Book of the Dun Cow, two roosters have the unusual distinction of being Lords of their own manor. Webster defines a Lord as a ââ¬Å"person having great powers and authority, a ruler or master,â⬠where as a manor is defined as ââ¬Å"the district over which a lord holds authority and domainâ⬠(Webster). Chauntecleer is introduced to the reader as the leader or Lord of the Coop and the ruler over the animals in the surrounding land. On the other hand, Cockatrice takes over as leader of his Coop and land after he kills his father, Senex. Chauntecleer and Cockatrice are two very different roosters who lead and rule their domain in stark contrast yet they are both labeled as Lords of the manor. Early on in the novel, Chauntecleer is portrayed as a short tempered, vain, and arrogant ruler who is not at all likeable. While he is proud and undoubtedly stubborn, he is also characterized as fair, compassionate, and just. With his noble bearing, Chauntecleer keeps a sense of order in his land and the animals' lives by crowing the canonical hours and occasional crows in his strong magnificent voice. His crows are compared to the clock of the community. Seven times a day, dutifully, with a deep sense of their importance, and by the immemorial command of the Divine, Chauntecleer crowed his canonical crowsâ⬠(page 12). Crowing is his job and when he leads by his crows, the hens in his coop and the animals in his land are happy and unafraid, he is even able to make wrong things right. While Chauntecleer may be flawed as a le ader, his harem of hens and other creatures like John, Wesley Weasel, and Mundo Cani Dog see him as their protector and ruler. He protects the lives of those around him and sees that justice is carried out. As Lord he supports and protects his land and unites all his creatures whether fowl, rodent, or insect; animals large or small, wild or domestic to come join together to fight evil. East and upriver from Chauntecleer's land is another land ruled by another Lord, Cockatrice. A half rooster half serpent conceived as a result of an unnatural union of his rooster father, Senex, and the evil serpent Wyrm. Cockatrice rules his manor with threats and fear. Unlike his father, Senex, who always remembered the canonical crows to help unite his animals, Cockatrice never crows the canon. ââ¬Å"So under him the day lost its meaning and its direction, and the animals lost any sense of time or purposeâ⬠¦ They were tired all the day long, and at night they did not sleepâ⬠(page 82). Under his evil rule, the creatures suffer from disunity, distrust, and dishonor. Cockatrice shows no concern for the animals of his land and resorts to having the Toad speak for him. He humiliates the animals a nd is an enemy to the creatures rather than a Lord. He rapes the hens and forces them to bear his children and suffer a cruel indignity. He swallows up thousands of children that hatch as Basilisk creatures and then vomits them back into the river. Rather than protect the creatures of his land, he orders his Basilisk children to kill everyone living until only he sits silently in his tree. Cockatrice leaves his land and flies west for he has no creatures to lord. By comparison, both Chauntecleer and Cockatrice are dominant roosters that command attention from the creatures in their communities. Likewise they are both offspring of past Lords of the Coop in their realm. Animals and creatures in their land and Coop hold a degree of fear of them. While both are able to gather their subjects together, the outcomes from these gatherings are fatally different. In contrast, the two Lords are as different as good and evil. While Chauntecleer is a strong postured, slightly scruffy, handsome rooster with noble bearing; Cockatrice is frightening and menacing with his serpent looking tail and bloody eyes. In return for his leadership and constant abiding, Chauntecleer asks only for good food, loyalty, sleep, a little color in his life, and a morning sunbath. On the other hand, Cockatrice demands total subservience from his creatures even though he shows them no respect or care. Chauntecleer rejoices and shares the pride of his three sons with his wife, Pertelote, with the creatures of the community while Cockatrice demands he have thousands of children by raping the hens to build an army of Basilisks who just by their touch cause death. As Lord of his land, Chauntecleer calls for all the creatures in his land to gather for a council so that he can prepare them for the upcoming battles with evil. In contrast, Cockatrice forbids the animals from gathering for meetings and even mere talking. Chauntecleer argues against revenge and hatred while Cockatrice is driven by this very evil. In Wangerin's novel, both Chauntecleer and Cockatrice have the gift of speech; however they each individually choose their own path of good or evil, order or chaos, and eventually life or death. Not only do all of the animal creatures from Cockatrice's land perish, he too dies because of his self destructive hatred. In the land of Chauntecleer, the creatures mourn the loss of their fellow animals killed in battle; however they look to their Lord of the manor to rebuild their land so they can serve their overall purpose to be the last protection against the almighty evil, Wyrm.
Monday, September 30, 2019
Dr Pepper Analysis
Individuals, companies, schools, restaurants Bargaining power: low, since Coke supplies a numerous variety of products buyers do to have a huge impact on pricing and quantity. Also, customers develop brand loyalty to Coke, thereby making it difficult for buyers to affect prices and quantities as well. Suppliers: fasted restaurants, vending machines, school campuses. Bargaining power: very high, since companies can easily provide Pepsi products which serve as excellent substitutes.Compliments: pizza, burgers, hot dogs, chips, etc SOOT Strengths Weaknesses Concentrated in North America (US, Canada, Mexico where almost 70% of revenues come from Health Craze will hurt soft drink sales Opportunities Acquisitions & alliances Bottled water growth Hispanic growth in the US and Pepsin's ability to meet their tastes with current product lines (I. E. , Substrata chips) Growth In emerging markets Growing consumer health consciousness will help Pepsi as It Is already a leader In non-carbonated dr inks with brands Storage, Aquifer, Lipton; and also with healthy food brands such as Quaker oats.Threats Declining economy/recession Sluggish growth of carbonated drinks Coca-Cola ; other smaller, more nimble operators Commodity price increases, fluctuating oil prices effect production and distribution gas, plastic) IV) SOOT annals;s of PEPSICO Soot consists of examining the current activities of the organization: its strengths and weaknesses, and then using this and external research data to set out the opportunities and threats that exist. A. Internal Strong market position PepsiCo NAS a tremendous presence on ten snack Ana sort rural market.Inane, TN company owns 25% of the non-alcoholic drinks market and 39% of the snack market. * Good economic situation In 2008, PepsiCo was ranked 26th on the top 100 of the global brands ranking in 2008. The same brand value company has raised PepsiCo as an example during the recession: ââ¬Å"Amazon, Pepsi, Audio, Panasonic, and Campbell have all prospered during a challenging year for marketing executives. â⬠PepsiCo most famous brands are all very famous and successful. Thanks to this notoriety, PepsiCo annual sales reach $35 billion. Rand's Popularity of Pepsi has a wide range of brands. These brands are more famous than the Coca Cola Company's ones. For example: people know what Lipton Teas, Tropical beverages or Traitors Tortilla Chips refer to, whereas: who has heard of Pike, Chino r Spur? On this point, PepsiCo is inexorably in a strong position. * Presence PepsiCo has spread its presence in over 200 countries. Products from this brand are sold all over the world. * Diversification PepsiCo brands include drinks and snacks such as ready-to-drink refreshments, bottled water, cereals, crisps or school-snacks.This wide range of product enables the brand to settle down in any place of the world. Lack of capital constraints (availability of large free cash flow) Strong market position Solid brand portfolio Strong r evenue growth Economies of scale Broader product line Popular brand of pop * Geographical concentration PepsiCo tends to focus its activity in North America (US, Canada, Mexico). Almost 70% of revenues come from this region. * Dependence on important clients A big part of PepsiCo sales (12%) are made to Wall-Mart, which creates a dependence supplier-client.Consequently, Wall-Mart's strategy influences PepsiCo actions, especially on lowering prices. * Bad remunerations PepsiCo employees are less paid than the competitors' ones. It may alter the employees' excellence or productivity: they might want to work for a company that revives higher salaries for the same Job. * High recall I en product recalls are Deterrent. I en problem nerve Is Tanat ten return causes are internal: the defects come from the production, they don't come from transports or storage.For example: the salmonella case forced PepsiCo to recall $200,000 worth of pistachios in the US in 2009. Product recalls decrease t he final customers' confidence in the brand. It inevitably alters the company's image. B. External Threats * New measures for health Many occidental governments are creating new regulations and campaigns in order to change people's eating behavior. Snacks and soft drinks are the first ââ¬Å"victimsâ⬠of this ideological renewal. Coca-Cola is the worst competitor for DRP Pepper because it is more powerful in terms of image and notoriety.In this sector, competition is so sharp that it has a direct influence on prices and sales. * Many successful brands DRP Pepper brands are successful, well-known and they have a good reputation. The products sold by the company are still very popular to the public. A good marketing activity maintains the company in a good situation and confers it a good image. * Quest of other markets If the fact to be concentrated on North America is a weakness, let's say that this is also an interesting challenge of market conquest, for example in Russia or As ia.PepsiCo is powerful; it has enough resources to develop all around the world. * Customer's well-being An important value, which growth is correlated to new regulations on health, is the customer's well-being. It has become the guideline of a marketing operation in the soft drinks market. This notion gives PepsiCo the opportunity to increase innovation for soft drinks. Indeed, the more original and creative you are, the more successful your product will be.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
British Airways- Case Study Essay
The scenario upon which this paper is based relates to the British Airways Swipe Card Debacle case study from the textbook, Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspective Approach (Akin, Dunford, & Palmer, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the organizational change associated to the implementation of a new swipe card system that led to strike of over 250 British Airways check-in staff, losing 40 million pounds and negatively effecting the companyââ¬â¢s reputation. Additionally, this paper will relate the case study to several change approaches (organizational development, sense-making, change management, contingency, and processual) and identify key issues. Additionally, this paper will examine the case study from my perspective, as if I were a hired change consultant for British Airways responsible for providing advise and recommendations on how to avoid this type of situation. Additionally, as a change consultant, I provide my recommendation as t o what possible change approach or combinations of a change approach would have been best to use for the swipe card change initiative. Change Perspective and Key Issues Prior to going into being able to effectively provide advise and recommendations on this case study, it is first important to discuss aspects of different change approaches. Additionally, relate key issues of the swipe card debacle to these change approaches. With that, this section paper will focus on identify specific aspects of the following change approaches and how these aspects relate to the case study: organizational development, sense-making, change management, contingency, and processual. Organizational Development Approach The organizational development change approach is a well thought through and thoroughly planned change approach that focuses on staff development. Additionally, one of the key aspects to the organizational development approach is the importance placed on the need to form groups and teams, which work together to form the key focus for change (Akin, Dunford, & Palmer, 2009). Unfortunately, this very important characteristic of organizational development approach was truly not used as part of the change approach for the swipe card implementation. For instance, if groups andà teams were created to form the key focus for the change, none of the 250 check-in staff were invited to participate. Sense-making Approach The sense-making approach is very similar to Kurt Lewinââ¬â¢s organizational change model. At a high-level, this model has three primary stages known as Unfreeze (identifying where the company is at, in relation to environmental change and organizational structure), Change (period of time where the change is being made), and Refreeze (change is complete and the organization has embedded the change within its culture) (Levasseur, 2001). However, there is one slight difference with the sense-making approach, in that the second stage is more the about rebalance where the organization balances the external environment with its internal environment. An example of a key issue associated to this from the case study is the fact that it appears those responsible for the Future Size and Shape recovery program, did not take the first stage into consideration. More specifically, the group did not factor in how the company was still recovering from environmental changes such as, 9/11, Iraqi wa r, and SARS. Additionally, did not consider if this was the right time for this type of change. Change Management Approach There are several different change management approaches but the one focused on within this paper is the change management approach Ten Commandments approach, developed by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Barry A. Stein, and Todd D. Jick. In the book, The Challenges of Organizational Change, Kanter, Stein, and Jick elaborate on what they believe to be the necessary steps to effectively implement change within an organization. One of these steps, which is something that was not executed in the swipe card debacle, is the step to create a shared vision. While the Future Size and Shape project team may have had a shared vision of the swipe card change, this same vision was definitely not shared by the 250 check-in staff. Contingency Approach Similar to the change management approach, the contingency approach has many different variations. For instance, one of these approaches is categorized into the following four ideal types: commanding (change intervention, directed by leadership and is typically driven by the need to implementà quickly and abruptly), engineering (change agent, who also acts as an analyst implements the change along with those who designing the change to process and systems), teaching (third party consultants work with internal staff to assist with identify new ways of operation and is change intervention that is a long-term plan), and socializing (democratic approach that is a gradual change process approach) (Huy, 2001). Each of these approaches are acceptable but may not all work in every type of situation. For instance, within the British Airways case study, it seems as though the project team chose to utilize the commanding approach for the implementation of the swipe cards. The check-in staff w ere completely resistant to not only the swipe card change but were also resistant to the actual approach taken to implement that change. Processual Approach Similar to the sense-making approach, the processual approach also looks at the relationship of external and internal environments. However, with the processual approach, it focuses on the constraints and opportunities of both environments. Within the case study, the project team did not take into consideration how the external environment impacts the internal environment and how the internal environment also effects the staff. For instance, the staff being on edge and untrusting of change was a result situations and changes both internally (one forth reduction in staff) and externally (environmental jolts like inroads on its markets from budget competitors). The combination of these situations, led to the staff being fearful and overreacting to the possibility that the new swipe card process could lead to another reduction in staff. Change Consultant As a change consultant for British Airways, I would provide the following list of lessons learned from the swipe card debacle: lack in including those directly affected by change can lead to staff being uncomfortable and uncertain about a change; lack of taking internal and external environments into consideration is not fully understanding the cumulative effect that these have on the staff; taking a commanding approach to implement change can lead to staff disagreeing with the way a change is being managed; and lack of communication and gaining buy-in on change can led staff to believe that the change could have negative downstream impact. In order to prevent this in the future, I would advise them to take a different approach by having staff be more involved with projects and include them as part of the project teams. Additionally, allowing the staff time to absorb the fact that there will be changes in the future and giving them a platform to be able to ask questions. In addition to providing the staff a platform, leadership also needs to encourage the staff to ask questions and ensure them that there will not be any backlash for those who do have questions about the change. Lastly, as a change consultant, I would emphasis the importance viewing the organization from a birds-eye view (meaning that leadership the context of the situation from an internal and external perspective). If they would have stepped back and looked all the external and internal factors prior to implementing the swipe card change, they may have seen that implementing change over a holiday weekend might not be the best time, they might have iden tify staff moral being low due to internal reduction in force, and the fact that the company was struggling to recover from other external environmental jolts. While there are many change approaches that may be suitable for this type of change initiative, it is my opinion that the best approach for this change would have been to use the Ten Commandments change management process. The reason for this is that it would have resolved and possibly prevented the reaction that staff had towards the implementation of swipe card because this change approach includes creating a shared vision, involving staff, having the support of leadership and political sponsorship, and developing an implementation plan (Barry, Kanter, & Jick, 1992). Conclusion Based on the information provided in the case study about the swipe card debacle at British Airways and comparing key issues to various change approaches, it can be seen that there are many areas where management taken a different approach to the change. If a different approach was taken, it could have easily lead to a successful swipe card implementation versus the outcome that lead to the 250-check in staff, losing 40 million pounds and negatively effecting the companyââ¬â¢s reputation. References Akin, G., Dunford, R., & Palmer, I. (2009). Managing organizational change: a multiple perspective approach (2nd. Ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Huy, Q. N. 2001. Time, temporal capability, and planned change. Academy of Management Review 26(4):601ââ¬â23 Kanter, R. M., Stein, B. A., & Jick, T. D. (1992). The challenge of organizational change. New York, NY: Free Press. Levasseur, R. E. (2001). People Skills:Change Management Toolsââ¬âLewinââ¬â¢s Change Model. Interfaces, 31(4), 71.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Organizational behavior and development Essay
Organizational change or development has evolved overall meaning of business. The set of market-driven, financial and technical changes which, in the eighties, faced better-informed consumers demanded the best and cheapest products accessible worldwide; producing these goods requisite the assimilation of both resources and knowledge on a global scale; at the same time, it became probable to transport information around the world at immensely reduced costs. s multinational organizations had leaned to pursue one of the three basic strategies attaining economies of scale through the centralized management of resources, having a strong (decentralized) national presence, and sharing universal a central pool of skills and experience the predicament for the new ââ¬Ëtransnationalââ¬â¢ corporations was to unite these three, often conflicting, approaches into a single strategy: ââ¬Å"To participate effectively, a company had to develop global competitiveness, international flexibility, and worldwide learning competence simultaneouslyâ⬠. Freivalds, J. 1995, 24-28) All these changes need a consummate degree of language interdependence and individual communication something which the usual structure of a multinational (the head office hub surrounded by satellite subsidiaries) is not intended to accommodate. Control has to give way to synchronization, and corporate culture becomes an issue of central significance. But, so as to understand how language functions in an organization, we require going beyond the framework. We also require understanding the points at which management myths stop working or cease to be useful; we require to look for discontinuities and uncertainties (Halcrow, A. 1999, 42-47). To turn language into a really competitive weapon in practical business, we require to start being more conscious of the language we, our colleagues and our competitors use and see it for what it actually is visionary myths, power struggles, group limits, discontinuities, auguries of changes to come or vestiges of changes past. And, when we recognize more about the limitations of organizational language, we will be better located to develop its potential. Discourse is variously used in the gender and language field. It maybe used in a linguistic sense to refer to language beyond that of words. Or it may be used in a post-structural sense to refer to broad systems of meaning discourse is not restricted to spoken language but also refers to written language (Weatherall, 2002, pp. 76ââ¬â7) Available At: www. palgrave. com/pdfs/023000167X. df What does it mean for an organization to communicate in a particular, national language? A company might and most do have the corresponding of dialects, but a common native language has significant implications which supersede ââ¬Ëregionalââ¬â¢ differences such as these. To appreciate such implications, we require looking first at the role which communication and language particularly, plays in an organization. At the most simple level, communication provides two functions gathering and disseminating information. As, the eventual purpose of both functions is to precipitate action: a head office might act in response to feedback from customers channeled via its field sales force; workers on an assembly line might transform their working practices in accordance with new guiding principle from the operations management. Such actions are not limited to those formally sanctioned by the organization: information, and the actions which consequence from its transmission, can be official or unofficial. Indeed, every organization consists of subgroups who have diverse information needs and channels, and whose reactions to the similar set of stimuli differ. Language is not just the means by which people converse (that is, the medium in which items of information are spoken); it is also the purveyor of meaning. Data is simply information while it has meaning, and data without meaning cannot impetuous action. Language therefore provides a means by which we understand the relative implication of any information and decide how we will respond. Within an organization, the role of language is consequently analogous to other and more well-known aspects of cultural behaviour such as myths, practices and stories. They all offer a context from which we can conjecture meaning; they therefore mainly determine how we interpret information, and this in turn determines how we act. Take for instance the manager who comes in and strangely closes his or her office door. How people interpret this will depend on, amongst other factors, the representation of a closed door in that particular environment (problems? privacy? and myths (ââ¬ËSmith did that just after being firedââ¬â¢). Just as with myths and stories, individuals in an organization (or organizations as a whole) might seek to persuade the way in which both conversion processes take place by managing the meaning of the language used: the greater the vagueness of the language, the less convenient or conventional the resulting action (Korn, L. B. 1990, May 22, 157-161). Starting with the similar basis of meaning which sharing a common language gives is obviously fundamental to this process, though the success with which this can be attained also depends on many other factors. Anthropologists and philosophers have argued that a national language characterized a ââ¬Ëcontractââ¬â¢ within society which underpins its common culture. Though, some countries are reluctant to have contact with other cultures due to cultural and religious conflicts. It is the lack of understanding that is at the root of all exclusiveness or prejudice, distrust or hatred (Allan, G. 1993, pp. 1-25). There are many examples of countries that are unenthusiastic to have contact with other cultures. For instance, relationship between Israel and Islamic countries, Pakistan and India etc The disparity between the diverse cultures in the world today on reflection is seen to be one of language or appearance more than anything else. The entire of mankind forms a single species; and external diversities of feature and color, stature and deportment, behavior and customs notwithstanding, man ubiquitously is but man, a certain human quality supplying the relation of unity in the middle of all diversity. Humanity is one, and human culture as the appearance of an aspiration, an Endeavour and an attainment, is also one. The countries that are unwilling to contact with other cultures are losing permutations and combinations of the same or similar basic elements of human culture. Basically, the physical urge for getting and begetting, for living and spreading, is everywhere present, as also is the aspiration for a state of permanent happiness for ââ¬Å"all this, and heaven tooâ⬠. This desire, which is roughly as forceful as the physical urge, is shared by the entire of mankind and has raised men above the level of the simply animal. Religion, with its Janus-face of fear and hope, attempts to untangle the mystery of life and being. These attempts, leading to science and philosophy and nurturing of the emotions (opening up the limitless joys of art and mysticism), are general to mankind in all ages and climes, and they spring all over from the pursuit of what the sages of India regarded as the only end for which man is actually striving cessation of suffering and achievement of an definitive and abiding happiness. And in this common striving, there has never been any segregation of a particular people or group of men from other peoples or groups, whenever contact between them either direct or indirect was made probable (Lane, H.à W. , DiStephano, J. J. , & Maznevski, M. L. 1997). The mainsprings of human culture are thus the same, they are common; and assured ideals, values, attitudes or behaviors, whether good or bad from absolute or relative points of view, have constantly been found to be transmissible. These ideals, values, attitudes or behaviors form patterns comparable to languages. All provide to meet the minimum needs of man, but those which state most adequately and most skillfully the aspirations, the endeavors and the achievements of man naturally have a predominant place in the affairs of men. Certain patterns of culture thus stand out pre-eminent; and, becoming feeders and sustainers of weaker or less complete ones, they attain an international and comprehensive status (Beck, U. and Beck-Gernsheim, E. 1995). This play of action and communication in the cultural sphere is going on for ever. The opposing forces of centrifuge and centripetence are also constantly operating and strife with infrequent violent modification of one pattern by another, or harmony deliberately or instinctively brought about is also in evidence (Allan, G. 998). With the hope of one world, one mankind and one happiness for all inspiring our men of learning and wisdom to find a path that can be followed by all, this contemplative readiness for a single world culture was never greater than now. We leave aside, of course, men of narrow viewpoint whose intransigent support of one particular prototype is merely an unconscious expression of a blind selfishness which has its roots in both ignorance and a ye arning for domination. The time is certainly ripe, and the stage is set, for a correct understanding of the diverse patterns of culture and for exploring the methods for their harmonizing, taking our stand on the essentials and not on the accidentals, on the agreements and not on the divergences. While this is achieved, and mankind everywhere is trained to recognize the fundamental agreement based on the individuality of human aspirations, a new period in the history of humanity will instigate. Besides, as every global organization has its own language for talking concerning strategy: certainly it is possible to track the way in which the organization is developing by the words it uses to illustrate its strategy. If the language of strategy has any single source, it perhaps lies in classical warfare: our plans for expansion and competition remain heavily if unconsciously influenced by ideas of winning wars, beating our enemies, securing our position. However, management strategy first evolved a characteristic language of its own in the sixties and was focused on the decisions taken by management and the types of analysis requisite to ease them: decision-making was the essential activity of management, as decisions led to actions (Hays, R. D. 1974; 25-37). By the mid eighties, the analogies were architectural: strategies were the infrastructure, people the consumable building blocks. The respect principally since the late 1980s that the perimeters of organizations were no longer strong walls has given us a rather diverse vocabulary, drawn from biology and evolutionary theory: our strategic vocabulary is more and more drawn from the natural, rather than the man-made, world: ââ¬Ëwebsââ¬â¢, ââ¬Ëporous boundariesââ¬â¢, business ââ¬Ëecosystemsââ¬â¢, and those words which disguised a rigid framework or clear demarcation are starting to fall from favor. Linked to this trend is the idea that thriving organizations efficiently go beyond language they do not need to communicative their strategy because everyone already knows it. However, if we believe that strategy has its own, distinctive language, then this trend is just the most modern development in its evolution: rather than being precise and analytical, the language of strategy is becoming less specific qualitative instead of quantitative. What matters most is that the language is diverse. If the language is different, then the organization can do something different: if the language is that which the organization already uses, then the strategy cannot transform the status quo (Lester, T. 1994, 42-45). The richest sources of new language frequently lie within an organization, but among those people hardly ever asked to put in to its strategy, such as people on the customer front line, new recruits, and many more. Who these people are specifically varies from organization to organization and is a function of the way in which an individual organization manages language. Thus, to recognize ways in which you can incorporate a new language into your own organizationââ¬â¢s strategy, you first require understanding how language is managed across your organization as a whole. Language plays a key role in this process: when we think of an organization, the model we tend to have in our minds is one in which those at the top talk, as those at the bottom do. Flatter organizations and the empowerment of those who work in them can mean that the sharing of talking and doing has changed, but I think most of us would still have difficulties in finding a company where this division has totally disappeared, particularly when it is applied to internal processes such as developing a strategy (Nurden, R. 997). Taking the words from the bottom of your organization, rather than from the top, reverses this state: it means that the doers start talking. The effect is less suspicion about language (from the doers) and a diverse way of using language (for the talkers): both ways, it moves the goalposts in terms of what the strategy sounds like, making it more likely that the organization as a whole will listen more efficiently.
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