Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Essay -- ALS Medical Medicine Essays

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ABSTRACT At this time, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis(ALS) is a very confusing and elusive disorder. While the clinical presentation and diagnosis of ALS dates back to the early 1900’s, with Charcot being the first to scientifically report and document his findings, there simply has not been definitive evidence since that time for the etiology for ALS. This fundamental problem has befuddled the most qualified researchers and its ensuing answer has eluded the most clever experiments for some 80 years. This paper is being written to address some of the most plausible candidate causes which have come to the forefront of ALS research in the last few years. This paper will also try to tackle the formidable task of possibly uniting some of the findings and results of experiments from all over the world in the last 4 years. While an exact, definitive etiology, treatment, or answer is not possible at this time, there does seem to be a few underlying trends and findings that have reinforced their own importance. These are the findings that will be evaluated and will hopefully act as a genesis for, perhaps a premature, minimally complete conclusion of the available pool of knowledge that has been amassed on ALS. In addition to this, possible treatment, including pharmacological intervention, will be reviewed. INTRODUCTION ALS is a disease of the skeletal muscular motor neurons throughout the nervous system that usually affects both upper and lower motor neurons. The progressive wasting and weakness of muscles that have lost their nerve supply is a characteristic sign of lower motor neuron damage; signs of spasticity and exaggerated reflexes are indications of damage to the upper motor neur... ...0. Rowland. Babinski and the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurological Institute. 1993. Vol. 33, #1. 11. Hubert and Blanchard. Pertussis toxin Pretreatment abolishes the inhibitory effect of Riluzole and carbachol on D-(3H)aspartate release from cultured cerebellar Granule cells. Neuroscience Letters, 1992. Vol. 140, pp. 251--254. 12. Cheramy, Barbeito, Godeheu and Glowinski. Riluzole inhibits the release of Glutamate in the caudate nucleus of the cat in vivo. Neuroscience Letters, 1992. Vol. 147, pp. 209--212. 13. Benoit and Escande. Riluzole specifically blocks in-activated Na channels in myelinated nerve fibre. European Journal of Physiology, 1991. Vol. 419, pp. 603-609. 14.Drachman and Kuncl. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: An un-conventional autoimmune disease? Annals of Neurology, 1989. Vol. 26, pp. 269-274.(Outdated, but useful)

Chinese Immigrants :: essays research papers

Chinese Immigrants lived in really poor conditions. Small rooms were packed full of 20 to 30 immigrants. Rats and mice were everywhere, and catching diseases were often and deadly. Since there were no good vaccinations, many died from diseases caught from their workers. Sometimes the dirt would be inches high. Living in these conditions would be very harsh, yet still more and more immigrants from China came to mine and work on the railroad. The Chinese played a very important, yet dangerous job building the railroads. They would be lowered in small buckets down cliff faces to stick explosives in the side of the cliff, then be brought back up. Many people died from either galling off ledges or being blown up, and it was sick and sad to watch your friend being blown up. The Chinese were willing to do this because it was basically the only thing that they could do. Discrimination against them was high, so they wanted to do something that they would not be made fun of doing. They were willing to work for low pay, since even as low as their salary would be, it would still be more than they got paid in China, because of overcrowding and the Civil War. I think that Chinese railroad workers were definitely exploited by the owners. With very low wages, and poor working conditions, I don’t see why the Chinese put up with that. The owners didn’t really care for them like they did for white people. Also, the owners convinced the Chinese that work would be safe, saying that nobody would get hurt. This made them feel better about dangerous jobs, but after many deaths, the immigrants found out that it was not safe at all. "Whereas,...California and pacific coast having proved that...The Chinese and their competition with free white labor is one of the greatest evils...Therefore be it Resolved, that we rid this monstrous evil by urging the United States congress the necessity of... prohibiting the immigration of Chinese.

Impact of Free Newspapers in China Essay

With the development of technology and economy in major cities in China, the city’s RRT(Rail rapid transit) is experiencing an unprecedented growth and progress. Metro as the city’s RRT, is playing a significant role in the development of urban transportation. At the same time, Metro also plays a unique role in culture development as the culture carrier in the city. It is obvious that in modern cities, the number of metro passengers are surging, which indicates that the power of spreading can provide a good opportunity for the growth of media. The rapid growth of RRT creates a great potential and vast development for the city’s business and culture. In the age of timeliness and demand for information, the media plays a crucial role in informing the public. Against the background, the free circulation tabloid makes its first appearance in China. These tabloids are advertising vehicles that contains news. The content is easy to read in minutes. Metro Express came onto the scene on March 16, 2004, published by journalism group of Liberation Daily, marks the birth of China’s free newspaper. In 2006, Oct.8th, The tabloid Guangzhou Metro Daily, published by Guangzhou Daily Press Group and Guangzhou Metro Corp, carries 24 colour pages with news, consumption information and supplements. In 2010, Dec.8th, the signing ceremony was held by Shenzhen Press Group and Shenzhen Metro Gorp, it means that the first free newspaper in Shenzhen-8 in the morning is born. Besides, Until 2011, Hong Kong has its 5th free newspaper-Sharp Daily on the market,, the other four are Metro Daily, Headline Daily, am730 and Skypost. The Sharp Daily, First day issue 0.8 million copies with plans to reach 1 million readers daily, is planning to excel Headline Daily. The development of free newspaper in China ushered a new era in newspaper industry. It has a vast market space and adapts to today’s publishing environment. Free newspaper has an unparalleled advantage in attracting the young readers. According to the research by Institute of Public Opinion, People’s university of China, In Beijing the newspaper readers’ average age is over 41, the situation is similar in Shanghai and Guangzhou, the newspaper readers are now becoming an aging population. The main reason for why young adults unwilling to read newspaper is â€Å" it costs money† They can  get the free information from other sources. Another research conducted by CTR and CNRS shows that in 36 major cities in China, the reading time for each person has declined from 40 minutes to 38 minutes. The report also reveals that the young people do not want to waste a lot of time in reading newspaper. The free newspaper enjoys its advantages in today’s newspaper industry. Firstly it meets the readers’ demand of getting informed in short time. When people are on the way to work, they don’t have much time to buy the newspaper, or they will feel boring when waiting the subway. So the free newspaper becomes their perfect choice. It can provide the information instantly, quickly and easily. People will choose the free newspaper for its convenience and for the effectiveness. The free newspaper usually distributed at most of the city’s metro stations, it is easy for people to get and read. What’s more, the free newspaper usually printed less pages than traditional newspaper, which means that it lessens that time of reading. People who are hurrying to work will prefer some short news rather than long, serious news. Another advantage for the development of free newspaper is that it can arrest the young reader’s attention. That will encourage the advertisers to buy more and more space for the purpose of reaching the young people, which will make the free newspaper profitable. Take Guangzhou as an example, the average age of Guangzhou metro passengers is 35.6, with white-collar workers accounting for 41 per cent of the total. The free newspaper is targeting these people by providing information about recreation such as places to go or date, affairs about the movie stars, music concerts, art exhibitions. From this perspective, advertisers are more convinced by the free newspaper because their readers are of relatively high purchasing power. Although the free newspaper is prospering in major cities, every coin has two sides. The obstacles are also noteworthy. From the perspective of newspaper industry, the falling competitiveness of newspaper is obvious. The mobile media and the network media are challenging the newspaper industry since it has fast speed of delivering message and directness to person. The CTR   shows that a person’s online time is increasing from 88.5 minutes in 2002 to 137.8 minutes in 2006. Its growth reaches about 56%. The mobile media is also threatening the development of free newspaper since it can not only displays text and graphics but also play both audio and video clips. From the perspective of readers, people with higher education will consider the free newspaper is not providing useful and high quality contents. As a new way of promulgation, the influence of free newspaper is also worth discussing and analyzing. On the one hand, the most noticeable influence can be seen from the growing belligerent atmosphere between traditional newspaper and free newspaper. The free newspaper is getting more advertisers and splitting advertising revenue which causes traditional newspaper a huge loss of money. So the launch of free newspaper forced the paid newspaper to lower their price in order to minimizing loss. Apart from the conflict of interests, the free newspaper is bound to give an impact on traditional editorial theory. Traditionally, the editor will select the source of news carefully can verify the authenticity. However, it is not the case for free newspaper. The free newspaper insists on providing quick information, the authenticity is not their top concern. But if we take a comprehensive view of general situation, we will find that the free newspaper is promoting the whole newspaper industry. On the other hand, the free newspaper has a positive influence on the society’s literacy. Suyuji, professor and dean, school of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong, says that in 2009, they had a research on the readership among the adults in Hong Kong and the results show that 50% of the adults always read free newspaper while 60% of them will actually pay for newspaper. The percentage for both newspapers is similar, but the tendency is predictable that the readership of free newspaper is going to exceed the traditional newspaper. Another research conducted by GroupM, the global leading media investment management group, gives a more convincing result. This research had interviewed 303 people age from 15 to 49, 86%of them have the interests to read free newspaper. It also shows that some people who seldom read newspaper is also willing to have free newspaper to read.2/3 of the respondents said that they are satisfied with the content and they will  continue to read free newspaper. From the above researches we can see that the introduction of free newspaper in China plays an important role in dissemination of culture to people. Politically, the free newspaper can also serve as the correspondent for the government and people. The case in America is usual especially on campaigns and elections. Sometimes the media even helps influence what issues voters should care about in elections and what criteria they should use to evaluate candidates. In China, the content of free newspaper seldom concerns about political issues. The potential for political promulgation of free newspaper is huge. The government can have influence on shaping the public opinion and political value especially among the young adults. The free newspaper is an ideal tool for government to spread their ideas, inform the policies and communicate with their people. Ecologically, the free newspaper may result in a number of adverse effects on environment. Because the free newspaper is distributed randomly, the possibilities of people litter the ground with free newspaper is higher than other newspaper. This problem can be solved by putting a recycling box in subway stations, encouraging people to recycle the papers. Socially, the opportunities of increasing literacy through free newspaper is great, the reader’s social awareness will increase. Nowadays people read free newspaper for three major reasons: get informed, kill time and relax. However, since the free newspaper’s major income is from advertising, they will give more spaces for advertisements, thus the rights for reading the news will be neglected. In the future, more emphasis should be put on the quality of free newspaper, since some criticizes now blame free newspaper on false news and vulgar taste. In conclusion, Free newspaper in China has just start its development, it is going to spend years to become mature in the newspaper market. The advantages of developing free newspaper outnumber its disadvantage , it can be assumed that the newspaper industry will experience a deep and profound revolution. References [1]Free Newspaper Launched in Guangzhou China Daily October 2, 2006 [2]City’s sixth free newspaper hits the street China Daily (HK Edition) September 20, 2011 [3]The Dynamics of Mass Communication: Media in the digital age Joseph R.Dominick [4]Free newspaper focus on the new generation Wangying Media Observer , 2006 [5]Free newspaper made profound changes in newspaper industry Yanyu Bianjizhiyou ,2006 [6]Master thesis on analysis of Chinese free newspaper Huazhong University of Science and Technology [7]This year, Next year: China Media forecasts Groupm 2011 Autumn [8]Free newspaper influence on Hong Kong readers Suyuji, professor, dean, school of Journalism and Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong [9]The New Trend of Urban Grassroots Political Promulgationï ¼Å¡The Recent Development of Free Newspapers and its Potential Political Impact Journal of Fujian School of Administration and Fujian Institute of Economics and Management

Busi 3103 Notes

ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY – STUDY LIST – KEY CONCEPTS PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONS CHAPTER ONE – ORGANIZATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY Administrative principles: closed system management perspective that focuses on the total organization and grows from the insight of practitioners – Bureaucratic organizations: organization design based on clearly defined authority and responsibility, formal record keeping and uniform application if standard rules – Change strategy: a plan to guide an organizational change – Chaos Theory: a scientific theory that suggests that relationships in complex, adaptive systems are made up of numerous interconnections that create unintentional effects and render the environment unpredictable – Closed system: autonomous, enclosed and not dependent on the external environment – Contextual dimensions: the characteristics of an organization, including size, technology, environment and goals. – Contingency: the applicable management approach to deal with unforeseen events – Effectiveness: the degree to which an organization achieves its goals – Efficiency: the amount of resources used to produce a unit of output – Hawthorne studies: studies worker productivity.Managers who treat their employees well facilitate increased employee output – Learning organization: everyone is engaged in finding and solving problems enable continuous improvement and capabilities of its own employees – Level of analysis: in systems theory, the subsystem on which the primary focus is placed; four levels of analysis characterize the organization – Meso theory: combines micro and macro levels of analysis – Open System: interacts with the environment for survival – Organization: social entities that are goal directed, deliberately structured and linked to the external environment – OB: micro approach to organizations with focus on indiv iduals in the organization – OT: macro approach to organizations that analyses the whole organization as a unit – Role: allows an employee to use their abilities to achieve outcomes and meet goals – Scientific management: claims decisions about organization and job design should be based on precise, scientific procedures – Stakeholder: any group within or outside an organization that has a stake in the rganizations performance – Stakeholder approach: (constituency approach) stakeholder satisfaction indicates the performance of the organization – Structural dimensions: describes the internal characteristics of an organization – Subsystems: divisions of an organization that perform specific functions for the survival of the organization. Functions include boundary spanning, production, maintenance, adaptation and management – System: set of interacting elements of inputs, transformation and output to the environment – Task : narrowly defined piece of work assigned to a person PART TWO: ORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSE AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN CHAPTER TWO – STRATEGY, ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN, AND EFFECTIVENESS – Analyzer (62) Competing values model: perspective on organizational effectiveness that combines diverse indictors of performance that represent competing management values – Defender: business strategy that seeks stability or retrenchment rather than innovation or growth – Differentiation strategy: used to distinguish an organization’s products or services from others in the industry – Focus strategy: concentrates on a specific regional market or buyer group Goal approach: concerned with output and whether the organization achieves its output goals – Human relations emphasis: competing-values model that incorporates the values of an internal focus and a flexible structure – Internal-process approach: looks at internal activities and assesses effectiveness by indicators of internal health and efficiency – Internal-process emphasis: competing-values model that looks at the values of internal focus and structural control – Low-cost leadership strategy: tries to increase market share by emphasizing low cost compared to competitors – Mission: organization reason for existence – Official Goals: formally stated definitions of business scope and outcomes the organization strives to achieve (also called mission) – Open-systems emphasis: competing-values model that looks at the combination of external focus and flexible structure – Operative goals: explain what the organization is trying to achieve, with focus on the actual operating procedures – Organizational goals: desired state the organization attempts to reach – Prospector: business strategy characterized by innovation, risk aking, seeking new opportunities and growth – Rational-goal emphasis: competing-values model that foc uses on structural control and external focus – Reactor strategy: business strategy in which environmental threats and opportunities are responded to in an ad hoc fashion – Resource-based approach: organizational perspective that assesses effectiveness based on how organizations successfully obtains, integrates and manages valued resources – Strategy: set of plans, decisions and objectives that have been adopted to achieve the organizations goals – Structure: formal reporting relationships, groupings and systems of an organization CHAPTER THREE – FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Centralized: level of hierarchy with authority to make decisions – Chain of command: formal line of authority to make decisions Decentralized: decision making and communication that is spread out across the company – Departmental grouping: structure where employees share a common supervisor and resources, are jointly responsible for performance, and te nd to identify and collaborate with each other – Divisional grouping: people are organized according to what the organization produces – Divisional structure: structuring based on individual products, services, product groups, major projects, or profit centers (also called product structure or strategic business units) – Functional grouping: grouping of employees who perform similar functions or work processes or who bring similar knowledge and skills to bear on a task – Functional matrix: structure in which functional bosses have primary authority, and product or project managers simply coordinate product services – Functional structure: grouping of activities by common function – Horizontal grouping: organizing of employees around core work processes rather than by function, product or geography – Horizontal linkage: amount of communication and coordination that occurs horizontally across organizational departments – Horizont al structure: structure that eliminates both the vertical hierarchy and departmental boundaries by organizing teams of employees around the core work processes, the end to end work, information, and material flow that provide value directly to customers – Hybrid structure: combines various structural approaches (functional, divisional, geographical, and horizontal) tailored to specific strategic needs – Integrator: a position or department that is reated to coordinate several departments – Liaison role: person that is responsible to communicating and achieving coordination with another department – Matrix structure: strong form of horizontal linkage in which both product and functional structures (horizontal and vertical) are implemented simultaneously – Multifocused grouping: a structure in which an organization embraces structural grouping alternatives simultaneously – Organizational structure: designates formal reporting relationships, in cluding the number of levels in the hierarchy and the span of control of managers and supervisors; identifies the grouping together of individuals into departments and of departments into the total organization; and includes the design of systems to ensure effective communication, coordination and integration of efforts across departments – Outsourcing: contracting out certain functions, e. g. anufacturing,IT†¦to other organization – Process: organized group of related tasks and activities that work together to transform inputs into outputs that create value for customers – Product matrix: a variation of the matrix structure in which project or product managers have primary authority, and functional managers simply assign technical personnel to projects and provide advisory expertise – Re-engineering: redesigning a vertical organization along its horizontal workflows and processes – Symptoms of structural deficiency: signs of the organization structure being out of alignment, including delayed or poor quality decision making, failure to respond innovatively to environmental changes, and too much conflict – Task force: temporary committee composed of representatives from each department affected by a problem Teams: permanents task forces often used in conjunction with a full time integrator – Vertical information system: periodic reports, written information and computer based communications distributed to managers – Vertical linkages: communication and coordination activities connecting the top and bottom of an organization – Virtual cross-functional teams: teams comprising individuals from different functions who are separated in space and time as well – Virtual network grouping: organization that is loosely connected cluster of separate components – Virtual network structure: the firm subcontracts many or most of its major processes to separate companies and coordinates their a ctivities from a small headquarters or organization – Virtual team: made up of organizationally or geographically dispersed members who are linked through advanced information and communications technologies. Members frequently use the internet and collaborative software to work together, rather than meeting face to face SLIDES ONLY – BCG matrix (10): Consider market share and growth for product portfolios PART THREE: OPEN-SYSTEM DESIGN ELEMENTS CHAPTER FOUR – EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT – Boundary spanning roles: activities that link and coordinate an organization with key elements in the external environment – Boundary scanning roles (Slide only) Buffering roles: activities that absorb uncertainty from the environment – Cooptation: when leaders from important sectors in the environment are made part of an organization – Differentiation: the differences (cognitive and emotional) among managers in various functional departments of an organiz ation and formal structure differences among these departments – Direct interlock: occurs when a member of the board of directors of one company sits on the board of another – Domain: an organizations chosen environmental field of activity – General environment: sectors that may not directly affect the daily operations of a firm but will indirectly influence it – Green environment: natural environment Indirect interlock: occurs when a director of one company and a director of another are both directors of third company – Integration: the quality of collaboration between departments of an organization – Interlocking directorate: formal linkage that occurs when a member of the board of directors of one company sits on the board of another company – Mechanistic: an organization system marked by rules, procedures, a clear hierarchy of authority, and centralized decision making – Organic: free flowing, adaptive processes an unclear hierarchy of authority, and decentralized decision making – Organizational environment: all elements that exist outside the boundary of the organization and have potential to affect all or part of the organization – Resource dependence: a situation in which organization depends on the environment, but strive to acquire control over resources to minimize their dependence – Sectors: subdivisions of the external environment that contain similar elements – Simple-complex dimension: the number and dissimilarity of external elements relevant to an organizations operations – Stable-unstable dimension: the state of an organization’s environmental elements – Task environment: sectors with which the organization interacts directly and that have a direct effect on the organization’s ability to achieve its goals – Uncertainty: occurs when decision makers do not have sufficient information about the environmental factors and have a d ifficult time predicting external changes CHAPTER FIVE – INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Coercive forces: external pressures such as legal requirements exerted on an organization to adopt structures, techniques, or behaviors similar to other organizations – Collaborative networks: an emerging perspective whereby organizations allow themselves to become dependent on other organizations to increase value and productivity for all – Generalist: an organization that offers a broad range of products or services and serves a broad market – Institutional environment: norms and values from stakeholders that organizations try to follow in order to please stakeholders – Institutional perspective: under high uncertainty, organizations imitate others in the same institutional environment – Institutional similarity: common structures, management approaches and behaviors established by organizations in the same field. Interorganizational relationships: r esource transactions, flows and linkages that occur among two or more organizations – Legitimacy: an organizations actions are desirable, proper and appropriate within the environment’s systems of norms, values and beliefs – Mimetic forces: under uncertainty, this is the pressure to copy or model other organizations that appear to be successful in the environment – Niche: domain of unique environmental resources and needs – Normative forces: pressures to adopt structures, techniques or management processes because they are considered by the community to be up to date and effective – Organizational ecosystem: system formed by the interaction of a community of organizations and their environment, usually cutting across traditional industry lines – Organizational form: an organization’s specific technology, structure, products, goals, and personnel – Population: set of organizations engaged in similar activities with simila r resources and utcomes – Population-ecology perspective: the focus is on organizational diversity and adaptation within a community or population or organizations – Retention: The preservation and institutionalization of selected organizational forms – Selection: process by which organizational variations are determined to fit the external environment, variations that fail to fit the needs if the environment are selected out and fail – Specialist: an organization with a narrow range of goods or services or serves a narrow market – Struggle for existence: principle of the population ecology model that states that organizations are engaged in a competitive struggle for resources and fighting to survive – Variation: new organizational forms that respond to the needs of the external environment (mutations in biology) SLIDES ONLY – Agency theory (9-13): The relationship between Shareholders and Managers is dominated by this question, How can the Agent shareholder/owner make sure that the managers are acting in their best interest? – Transaction cost theory (21-25): The inclusion of all costs are considered when  making  a  decision  and not just the  market prices. CHAPTER SIX – DESIGNING ORGANIZATIONS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT Consortia: groups of firms that venture into new products and technologies – Domestic stage: first stage of international development in which a company is domestically orientated while managers are aware of the global environment – Economies of scale: achieving lower costs through large volume production, often made possible by global expansion – Economies of scope: achieving economies by having a presence in many product lines, technologies or geographic areas – Factors of production: supplies necessary for production e. g. raw materials, land, labor – Global companies: no longer thinks of itself as having a home country â⠂¬â€œ Global geographic structure: an organization divides its operation into world regions, each of which reports to the CEO – Global matrix structure: A horizontal linkage in an international organization in which both product and geographical structures are implemented simultaneously to achieve a balance between standardization and globalization. – Global product structure: product divisions take responsibility for global operations in their specific product areas –Global stage: stage in international development in which the company transcends any one country – Global teams: work groups comprising MNC members whose activities span in different countries (transnational teams) – Globalization strategy: standardization of product design and advertising strategy throughout the world – International division: equal in status to other major departments within the company and has its own hierarchy to handle business in various countries  œ International stage: 2nd stage of international development where company takes exports seriously and is multidomestic – Joint venture: separate entity of sharing developments and production costs and penetrating into a new market between two or more firms – Multidomestic: company that responds to local customers and competition in each country independent of other countries – Multidomestic strategy: competition in each country is handled independently of competition in other countries – Multinational stage: stage of international development where a company has marketing and production facilities in many countries and more than one third of its sales outside its home country – Power distance: level of inequality people are willing to accept within an organization – Standardization: all branches of the company at all locations operate in the same way – Transnational model: horizontal organization with multiple centers, subsidiary ma nagers who initiate strategy and innovations for the company as a whole, and unit and coordination achieved through corporate culture and shared vision and values – Uncertainty avoidance: level of tolerance for and comfort within, uncertainty and individualism within a culture SLIDES ONLY – Core competency (5,6) – Diversification (7-11) PART FOUR: INTERNAL DESIGN ELEMENTS CHAPTER SEVEN – MANUFACTURING AND SERVICE TECHNOLOGIES Analyzability: a dimension of technology in which work activities can be reduced to mechanical steps and participants can follow an objective, computational procedure to solve problems – Continuous process production: completely mechanized manufacturing process with no sorting or stopping – Core technology: work process directly related to the organization mission – Craft technology: technology used for stable stream of activities where the conversion process is not well understood or analyzable – Engineer ing technologies: technology used when there is a substantial variety in the tasks performed, but activities are handled on the basis of established formulas, procedures, and techniques – Flexible manufacturing systems: using computers to link manufacturing components e. g. obots, machines, product design and engineering analysis to enable fast switching from one product to another – Intensive technologies: variety of products or services provided in combination to a client – Interdependence: the extent to which departments depend on each other for resources or materials to accomplish their tasks – Job design: the assignment of goals and tasks to be completed my employees – Job enlargement: the designing of jobs to expand the number of different tasks performed by an employee – Job enrichment: the designing of jobs to increase responsibility, recognition and opportunities for growth and achievement – Job rotation: moving employees fro m job to job to give them a greater variety of tasks and alleviate boredom – Job simplification: the reduction of the number and difficulty of tasks performed by a single person – Joint optimization: the goal of the sociotechnical system approach, which states that organization will function best only if its social and technical systems are designed to fit the needs of each other – Large-batch production: manufacturing process with long production runs of standardized parts – Lean manufacturing: uses highly trained employees at every stage of the production process who take painstaking approach to details and continuous problem solving to cut waste and improve quality – Long-linked technology: the combination, within one organization, of successive stages of production, with each stage using as its inputs the production of the preceding stage – Mass customization: the use of computer integrated systems and flexible work processes to enable c ompanies to mass produce a variety of products or services designed to exact customer specification – Meditating technology: the provision of products or services that mediate or link clients from the external environment and allow each department to work independently – Noncore technology: a department work process that is important to the organization but is not directly related to the central mission – Nonroutine technologies: there is high tasks variety and the conversion process is not analyzable or well understood – Pooled interdependence: the lowest form of interdependence among departments in which work does not flow between units – Reciprocal interdependence: the highest level of interdependence in which the output of one operation is the input of the second, and then the output of the second operation is the input of the first. Routine technologies: technology that’s characterized by little task variety and the use of objective, co mputational procedures – Sequential interdependence: serial form of interdependence in which the output of one operation becomes the input of another operation – Service technology: characterized by simultaneous production and consumption, customized output, customer participation, intangible output and being labour intensive – Small-batch production: manufacturing process, often custom work that is not highly mechanized and relies heavily on the human operation – Sociotechnical systems approach: combines the needs of people with the need for technical efficiency – Task variety: the frequency of unexpected and novel events that occur in the conversion process – Technical complexity: the extent of mechanization in the manufacturing process Technology: tools, techniques and actions used to transform organizational inputs into outputs SLIDES ONLY – History of commercial technology (7) – Historical context of technology – Wo odward, Perrow, and Thompson (10-30) CHAPTER NINE – ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE, LIFE CYCLE, AND DECLINE bureaucracy| An organizational framework marked by rules and procedures, specialization and division of labour, hierarchy of authority, technically qualified personnel, separation of position and person, and written communications and records (p. 30)| bureaucratic control| The use of rules, policies, hierarchy of authority, written documentation, standardization, and other bureaucratic mechanisms to standardize behaviour and assess performance (p. 336)| centralization| Level of hierarchy with authority to make decisions (p. 332)| charismatic authority| Based in devotion to the exemplary character or heroism of an individual and the order defined by him or her (p. 337)| clan control| The use of social characteristics, such as culture, shared values, commitments, traditions, and beliefs, to control behaviour (p. 338)| collectivity stage| The life-cycle phase in which an organization has strong leadership and begins to develop clear goals and direction (p. 24)| downsizing| Intentionally reducing the size of a company’s workforce by laying off employees (p. 343)| elaboration stage| The organizational life-cycle phase in which the red-tape crisis is resolved through the development of a new sense of teamwork and collaboration (p. 326)| entrepreneurial stage| The life-cycle phase in which an organization is born and its emphasis is on creating a product and surviving in the marketplace (p. 324)| Formalization| The degree to which an organization has rules, procedures, and written documentation (p. 332)| formalization stage| The phase in an organization’s life cycle involving the installation and use of rules, procedures, and control systems (p. 26)| incident command sytem| Developed to maintain the efficiency and control benefits of bureaucracy yet prevent the problems of slow response to crises (p. 334)| life cycle| A perspective on organizational g rowth and change that suggests that organizations are born, grow older, and eventually die (p. 323)| market control| A situation that occurs when price competition is used to evaluate the output and productivity of an organization (p. 337)| organizational decline| A condition in which a substantial, absolute decrease in an organization’s resource base occurs over a period of time (p. 340)| personnel ratios| The proportions of administrative, clerical, and professional support staff (p. 32)| rational-legal authority| Based on employees’ belief in the legality of rules and the right of those in authority to issue commands (p. 337)| self-control| A person’s values are brought into line with the organization’s values to control behaviour (p. 339)| traditional authority| Based in the belief in traditions and the legitimacy of the status of people exercising authority through those traditions| SLIDES ONLY – Organizational birth and early life (4,5) †“ Nandy’s Model (6-9) – Genier’s Model (10, 11,18,19) PART FIVE: MANAGING DYNAMIC PROCESSES CHAPTER TEN – ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND ETHICAL VALUES adaptability culture| A culture characterized by strategic focus on the external environment through flexibility and change to meet customer needs (p. 60)| bureaucratic culture| A culture that has an internal focus and a consistency orientation for a stable environment (p. 363)| chief ethics officer| High-level executive who oversees all aspects of ethics, including establishing and broadly communicating ethical standards, setting up ethics training programs, supervising the investigation of ethical problems, and advising managers in the ethical aspects of decisions (p. 379)| clan culture| A culture that focuses primarily on the involvement and participation of the organization’s members and on rapidly changing expectations from the external environment (p. 362)| code of ethics| A formal statement of the company’s values concerning ethics and social responsibility (p. 80)| culture| The set of values, guiding beliefs, understandings, and ways of thinking that are shared by members of an organization and are taught to new members as correct (p. 356)| culture strength| The degree of agreement among members of an organization about the importance of specific values (p. 364)| ethical dilemma| When each alternative choice or behaviour seems undesirable because of a potentially negative ethical consequence (p. 372)| ethics| The code of moral principles and values that governs the behaviour of a person or group with respect to what is right or wrong (p. 369)| ethics committee| A group of executives appointed to oversee company ethics (p. 378)| ethics hotline| A telephone number that employees can call to seek guidance and to report questionable behaviour (p. 79)| external adaptation| The manner in which an organization meets goals and deals with outsiders (p. 357)| heroes| Organi zational members who serve as models or ideals for serving cultural norms and values (p. 359)| internal integration| A state in which organization members develop a collective identity and know how to work together effectively (p. 357)| language| Slogans, sayings, metaphors, or other expressions that convey a special meaning to employees (p. 359)| legends| Stories of events based in history that may have been embellished with fictional details (p. 359)| managerial ethics| Principles that guide the decisions and behaviours of managers with regard to whether they are morally right or wrong (p. 72)| mission culture| A culture that places emphasis on a clear vision of the organization’s purpose and on the achievement of specific goals (p. 361)| myths| Stories that are consistent with the values and beliefs of the organization but are not supported by facts (p. 359)| rites and ceremonies| The elaborate, planned activities that make up a special event and often are conducted for th e benefit of an audience (p. 357)| rule of law| That which arises from a set of codified principles and regulations that describe how people are required to act, are generally accepted in society, and are enforceable in the courts (p. 371)| social audit| Measures and reports the ethical, social, and environmental impact of an organization’s operations (p. 83)| social capital| The quality of interactions among people, affected by whether they share a common perspective (p. 355)| social responsibility| Management’s obligation to make choices and take action so that the organization contributes to the welfare and interest of society as well as itself (p. 372)| stories| Narratives based on true events that are frequently shared among organizational employees and told to new employees to inform them about an organization (p. 359)| subcultures| Cultures that develop within an organization to reflect the common problems, goals, and experiences that members of a team, departme nt, or other unit share (p. 365)| symbol| Something that represents another thing (p. 59)| values-based leadership| A relationship between a leader and followers that is based on strongly shared values that are advocated and acted upon by the leader (p. 377)| whistle-blowing| Employee disclosure of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices on the part of the organization’s officers and employees| SLIDES ONLY – Deal and Kennedy – Popular Typology of Organizational Culture (12,13) – Utilitarian ethics model (27) – Moral rights ethics model (28) – Justice ethics model (29) – Forces acting on manager’s ethics moment (30) CHAPTER ELEVEN – INNOVATION AND CHANGE ambidextrous approach| A characteristic of an organization that can behave in both an organic and a mechanistic way (p. 402)| change process| The way in which planned changes occur in an organization (p. 99)| creative departments| Organizational departments that initi ate change, such as research and development, engineering, design, and systems analysis (p. 403)| creativity| The generation of novel ideas that may meet perceived needs or respond to opportunities (p. 399)| culture changes| Changes in the values, attitudes, expectations, beliefs, abilities, and behaviour of employees (p. 397)| dual-core approach| An organizational change perspective that identifies the unique processes associated with administrative change compared to those associated with technical change (p. 411)| horizontal coordination model| A model of the three components of organizational design needed to achieve new product innovation: departmental specialization, boundary spanning, and horizontal linkages (p. 07)| idea champions| Organizational members who provide the time and energy to make things happen; sometimes called advocates, intrapreneurs, and change agents (p. 404)| idea incubator| Safe harbour where ideas from employees throughout the organization can be develop ed without interference from bureaucracy or politics (p. 403)| incremental change| A series of continual progressions that maintains an organization’s general equilibrium and often affects only one organizational part (p. 394)| large group intervention| An approach that brings together participants from all parts of the organization (and may include outside stakeholders as well) to discuss problems or opportunities and plan for change (p. 15)| management champion| A manager who acts as a supporter and sponsor of a technical champion to shield and promote an idea within the organization (p. 405)| new-venture fund| A fund that provides financial resources to employees to develop new ideas, products, or businesses (p. 404)| organization development| A behavioural science field devoted to improving performance through trust, open confrontation of problems, employee empowerment and participation, the design of meaningful work, cooperation between groups, and the full use of human potential (p. 415)| organizational change| The adoption of a new idea or behaviour by an organization (p. 98)| organizational innovation| The adoption of an idea or behaviour that is new to an organization’s industry, market, or general environment (p. 398)| product and service changes| Changes in an organization’s product or service outputs (p. 396)| radical change| A breaking of the frame of reference for an organization, often creating a new equilibrium because the entire organization is transformed (p. 394)| skunkworks| Separate, small, informal, highly autonomous, and often secretive group that focuses on breakthrough ideas for the business (p. 404)| strategy and structure changes| Changes in the administrative domain of an organization, including structure, policies, reward systems, labour relations, coordination devices, anagement information control systems, and accounting and budgeting (p. 396)| switching structures| An organization creates an organic structur e when such a structure is needed for the initiation of new ideas (p. 403)| team building| Activities that promote the idea that people who work together can work together as a team (p. 416)| technical champion| A person who generates or adopts and develops an idea for a technological innovation and is devoted to it, even to the extent of risking position or prestige; also called product champion (p. 405)| technology changes| Changes in an organization’s production process, including its knowledge and skills base, that enable distinctive competence (p. 97)| time-based competition| Delivering products and services faster than competitors, giving companies a competitive edge (p. 409)| venture teams| A technique to foster creativity within organizations in which a small team is set up as its own company to pursue innovations  | SLIDES ONLY – Four P’s (10) – Leavitt’s diamond (11) – Triggers for change (12) – Forces against change (13) – Lewin’s three step change management (14) – Change management five action steps (15-24) CHAPTER TWLEVE – DECISION MAKING PROCESSES bounded rationality perspective| How decisions are made when time is limited, a large number of internal and external factors affect a decision, and the problem is ill-defined (p. 34)| Carnegie model| Organizational decision making involving many managers and a final choice based on a coalition among those managers (p. 445)| coalition| An alliance among several managers who agree through bargaining about organizational goals and problem priorities (p. 445)| contingency decision-making framework| A perspective that brings together the two organizational dimensions of problem consensus and technical knowledge about solutions (p. 458)| decision learning| A process of recognizing and admitting mistakes that allows managers and organizations to acquire the experience and knowledge to perform more effectively in the future (p. 62) | escalating commitment| Persisting in a course of action when it is failing; occurs because managers block or distort negative information and because consistency and persistence are valued in contemporary society (p. 463)| garbage can model| Model that describes the pattern or flow of multiple decisions within an organization (p. 453)| high-velocity environments| Industries in which competitive and technological change is so extreme that market data are either unavailable or obsolete, strategic windows open and shut quickly, and the cost of a decision error is company failure (p. 461)| imitation| The adoption of a decision tried elsewhere in the hope that it will work in the present situation (p. 60)| incremental decision process model| A model that describes the structured sequence of activities undertaken from the discovery of a problem to its solution (p. 447)| inspiration| An innovative, creative solution that is not reached by logical means (p. 460)| intuitive decision making | The use of experience and judgment, rather than sequential logic or explicit reasoning, to solve a problem (p. 439)| management science approach| Organizational decision making that is the analog to the rational approach by individual managers (p. 443)| nonprogrammed decisions| Novel and poorly defined, these are made when no procedure exists for solving the problem (p. 433)| organizational decision making| The organizational process of identifying and solving problems (p. 33)| organized anarchy| Extremely organic organizations characterized by highly uncertain conditions (p. 453)| point–counterpoint| A decision-making technique that divides decision makers into two groups and assigns them different, often competing, responsibilities (p. 462)| problem consensus| The agreement among managers about the nature of problems or opportunities and about which goals and outcomes to pursue (p. 457)| problem identification| The decision-making stage in which information about environm ental and organizational conditions is monitored to determine if performance is satisfactory and to diagnose the cause of shortcomings (p. 33)| problem solution| The decision-making stage in which alternative courses of action are considered and one alternative is selected and implemented (p. 433)| problemistic search| When managers look around in the immediate environment for a solution to resolve a problem quickly (p. 446)| programmed decisions| Repetitive and well-defined procedures that exist for resolving problems (p. 433)| rational approach| A process of decision making that stresses the need for systematic analysis of a problem followed by choice and implementation in a logical sequence (p. 434)| satisficing| The acceptance by organizations of a satisfactory rather than a maximum level of performance (p. 46)| technical knowledge| Understanding and agreement about how to solve problems and reach organizational goals (p. 458)| – Organizational Learning: Single and Double -Loop Learning (Slide only) CHAPTER THIRTEEN – CONFLICT, POWER, AND POLITICS authority| A force for achieving desired outcomes that is prescribed by the formal hierarchy and reporting relationships (p. 481)| centrality| A trait of a department whose role is in the primary activity of an organization (p. 488)| collective bargaining| The negotiation of an agreement between management and workers (p. 498)| competition| Rivalry between groups in the pursuit of a common prize (p. 75)| confrontation| A situation in which parties in conflict directly engage one another and try to work out their differences (p. 498)| coping with uncertainty| A source of power for a department that reduces uncertainty for other departments by obtaining prior information, prevention, and absorption (p. 489)| decision premises| Constraining frames of reference and guidelines placed by top managers on decisions made at lower levels (p. 483)| dependency| One aspect of horizontal power: when one department is dependent on another, the latter is in a position of greater power (p. 487)| domains of political activity| Areas in which politics plays a role.Three domains in organizations are structural change, management succession, and resource allocation (p. 491)| financial resources| Control over money is an important source of power within an organization (p. 488)| intergroup conflict| Behaviour that occurs between organizational groups when participants identify with one group and perceive that other groups may block their group’s goal achievements or expectations (p. 475)| labour-management teams| Teams designed to increase worker participation and to provide a cooperative model for addressing union–management issues (p. 498)| negotiation| The bargaining process that often occurs during confrontation and enables the parties to systematically reach a solution (p. 98)| network centrality| Top managers increase their power by locating themselves centrally in an organizatio n and surrounding themselves with loyal subordinates (p. 484)| nonsubstitutability| A trait of a department whose function cannot be performed by other readily available resources (p. 489)| organizational politics| Activities to acquire, develop, and use power and other resources to obtain a preferred outcome when there is uncertainty or disagreement about choices (p. 490)| political model| A definition of an organization as being made up of groups that have separate interests, goals, and values in which power and influence are needed to reach decisions (p. 79)| political tactics for using power| These include building coalitions, expanding networks, controlling decision premises, enhancing legitimacy and expertise, and making a direct appeal (p. 494)| power| The ability of one person or department in an organization to influence others to bring about desired outcomes (p. 480)| power sources| There are five sources of horizontal power in organizations: dependency, financial resource s, centrality, nonsubstitutability, and the ability to cope with uncertainty (p. 487)| rational model| A description of an organization characterized by a rational approach to decision making, extensive and reliable information systems, central power, a norm of optimization, uniform values across groups, little conflict, and an efficiency orientation (p. 79)| sources of intergroup conflict| Factors that generate conflict, including goal incompatibility, differentiation, task interdependence, and limited resources (p. 476)| strategic contingencies| Events and activities inside and outside an organization that are essential for attaining organizational goals (p. 486)| tactics for enhancing collaboration| Techniques such as integration devices, confrontation and negotiation, intergroup consultation, member rotation, and shared mission and superordinate goals that enable groups to overcome differences and work together (p. 497)| tactics for increasing power| These include entering areas of high uncertainty, creating dependencies, providing resources, and satisfying strategic contingencies  |

Organizational Development Essay

John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying â€Å"Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.† The world is in a constant state of motion. No one should expect things to always stay the same. Organizations require technologies and human resources in order to operate. A business needs to operate by learning from the past and planning for the future. Since, the economic collapse of 2008, the idea that any company is ‘too big to fail’ has been thrown out the proverbial ‘business window’. Business is now practiced in a global market and technologies have made the world a smaller place. â€Å"Managers and their organizations must anticipate the future and become proactive players.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, part 1.) Consider companies like Blockbuster Video. The demise of Blockbuster proves that leadership did not look to the future. This company considered itself to be the standard. Where is Blockbuster now? Instead of being an industry leader, it is trying to regain its footing in a marketplace it once dominated. Why? Blockbuster failed to take its competitors seriously. It did not consider technology surpassing the company’s own perception of practicing business. â€Å"In 2002 (Blockbuster) had 8,000 stores and a market value of $3 billion. Today, movie-by-mail Netflix is worth nearly three times that much. And Blockbuster is broke.† (Gandell, S., 2010, paragraph 19.) Successful companies are looking to the future as they learn from the past and present. Organizations that are successful will operate without ego, effectively communicate throughout the organization, and constantly reinvent themselves. Organizations need to be in constant development in order to move forward with any success. In this paper, I intend to define the importance of organizational development as it relates to my own company’s recent sale to a new group of owners. I intend to define organizational development as it relates to organizational trust, a strong practitioner-client relationship, the imperative nature of the diagnostic phase, effective communication between ownership and employees, and the importance of strategy as it relates to a successful transfer of ownership and culture to an organization. Organizations need to know when organizational development is necessary. I am a Managing Partner in the restaurant business. I currently have about 50 employees that I am responsible for. Recently, the restaurant I am running was sold to a South African group of owners. The owners actually bought two restaurants from the local restaurant group I was working for. After studying the Charlotte market and other markets throughout this great country of ours, the South African owners decided that Charlotte, NC would give them the best opportunity to grow a restaurant chain. The owners currently have over 150 restaurants in South Africa and this is their first venture into the United States. Once the sale became final, the owners began to evaluate all the current systems and business practices of the restaurants. The new owners began to re-develop the organization by defining its existing and future organizational identity. The owners sat down with staff and management to get an understanding of what the restaurants meant to each staff member. â€Å"The identity will provide an advantage if it is well aligned with the organizational strategy and well suited to the market niche, because identities tend to be socially complex and path dependent, and therefore difficult to imitate.† (Salgado, S.R., 2003, page 65.) The owners became the practitioners of change by purchasing the restaurants. After the sale became final, it was time to develop a sense of trust from the existing staff and management. One way of gaining that trust is to value the opinions of the current members of the organization. The new owners showed that they valued staff opinion of organizational identity. This process helped to develop the fundamental need to build a positive practitioner-client relationship. The new owners need an employee landscape that is friendly, not hostile. There is no way the new organization can move forward with a negative culture. Once trust was established, the new owners were able to begin to identify issues, problems, and opportunities each restaurant was having. The five fundamental stages of organizational development are: â€Å"anticipate the need for change, develop the practitioner-client relationship, the diagnostic phase, action plans, strategies, and techniques, and self-renewal, monitor, and stabilize.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 18). Ownership has followed the principles of organizational change and development in a very smart way. The new owners worked on building a strong practitioner-client relationship while gathering information about the businesses. They remained very approachable and worked hard to assist with the agreed upon change lists. Ownership made everyone feel as though they were not there to change what was not broken. Employees were made to feel proud about the restaurants they worked in. By developing such a good and trusting relationship, change has come easier. Once trust was established, new ownership quickly moved to the third fundamental of organizational development, the diagnostic phase. â€Å"Organizational diagnostic models and surveys have often been demonstrated by practitioners to be very effective in supporting organizational development   programs.† (Goldstein, L. and Burke, W. (1991), Vol. 19, page 5.) Diagnostic models are designed to help organizational development practitioners to â€Å"categorize data about the organization, enhance understanding about organizational problems, interpret data systematically, (and) provide appropriate change strategies.† (Lok, P., Crawford, J., 2000, page 108.) The practitioners have been reviewing every facet of the restaurant’s business practices. Ownership is constantly evaluating the effectiveness of each system. Technologies, equipment, and managerial functions are all reviewed and measured to the new standards and goals set forth by the owners. The ownership designed a â€Å"team approach to setting and reviewing targets, real participation by subordinates in setting goals, with an emphasis on mutually agreed upon goals, mutual trust between subordinate and manager, and a real concern for personal career goals as well as for organizational goals.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 327.) Ownership felt that the technologies were not tied in together very well. Ownership felt that the current gathering of data was cumbersome and inaccurate. The practitioners felt that the clients needed to stream-line the ways in which data was collected. By reviewing every program and system of accounting, the new owners were able to determine that updating would be necessary in order to move the two concepts forward. Looking to future growth was not going to happen for the organization until both concepts were able to produce accurate information about the actual business. Ownership also determined that it wanted its managers out in the restaurant more. There was simply too much to do in the office while running the restaurants. The practitioners asked current upper management to clearly define the responsibilities of each manager and chef position. At this point, the culture of the new organization had begun to take shape. Clearly defined roles and a change in managerial philosophies have started to grow. I have witnessed what I believe is a very successful transformation of culture. Responsibilities are clearly communicated. Accountability has improved. By creating clearly defined roles, the effectiveness of each manager is much easier to measure. At times, however, communication has been inconsistent. The massive restructuring of all current systems has taken a toll on some people in the organization. Missed deadlines and unforeseen problems have occurred. The way in which the new ownership has responded to the unforeseen issues has been impressive. I feel that new ownership has shown an unwavering amount of dedication to the new organizational vision it has set in place. Considering the amount of change, the owners have been very clear and approachable throughout the transformation. I respect and support their efforts in remaining approachable and supportive. They exude an understanding of what each existing member or employee is going through.   Ownership has been very aware of the ego state of the organization. â€Å"Every interaction between people involves a transaction between their ego states. When one person converses with a second person, the first person is in a distinct ego state and can direct the message to an y of the three ego states in the second individual.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 230.) Ownership has made every effort to have open and complementary transactions with groups and individuals throughout the organization. At the same time, they have also shown that the organization will move forward with or without its current members. Holding people accountable has been extremely important. â€Å"In today’s changing environment, organizations that encourage individual ability and hold employees accountable for achieving goals are more likely to succeed.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 381.) The practitioners have been able to accentuate individual strengths and weaknesses within its existing employee body. This approach has brought on a spirit of contribution to the cause of the new vision presented to the ‘old guards’ of the organization. This is a very clever approach to affecting change. Also, the new leaders of the organization have discovered some hidden talents within its current team-members. Finding an existing and in-place pool of needed skills has helped the new leaders keep an aggressive time-line for the development of change. New owners did not have to look completely outside the organization for skills that will enable change. Instead, new owners were able to motivate change by looking for solutions internally. Looking for hidden talents helped to reaffirm the positive culture of opportunity and renewed perceptions of the employee skillset. An internal approach to solving or rectifying identified issues has also kept the cost of change down. Existing members already have a sense of where the shared vision of the company is going. Existing staff has a greater stake in the organization’s success. Because of shareholder accountability, ownership is smart to look internally for as many talents as possible. Ownership believed by stream-lining technologies and accounting systems, it could improve the quality of the guest experience and profitability of its organization. Ownership started this process by surveying all existing management to try and determine what each manager actually knew about the existing programs and technologies. A methodical and measured approach to re-designing office systems will enable the organization to become more consistent in gathering data and measuring the performance of both restaurants. Their  vision of the future of the organization has been effectively shared with everyone involved . The deadlines for improvements have been followed-up effectively. A weekly meeting between ownership and upper management takes place. In these meetings, organizational effectiveness is measured by how well goals and objectives are accomplished. At first, goals were very broad and basic. Managers were asked to evaluate their knowledge of existing point of sale programs, invoicing programs, and budgetary knowledge. Once ownership felt it had acquired enough knowledge about existing systems, the project or ‘goal’ chart was updated and tasks became more narrow and specialized in focus. Managers were held accountable to their goals based on their strengths or expertise. For example, one manager is very adept with computers. This has become his area of focus for the remainder of the re-development of the organization. â€Å"The collection of data is an important activity providing the organization and the practitioner with a better understanding of client system problems: the diagnosis.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 19.) Ownership has been very diligent about data accuracy. Every number and system has been reviewed for accuracy and consistency. In order for the company to move forward, ownership has to determine what is and what is not vital to the new organizational vision. Ownership has already picked two new sites for additional restaurants. It is important that both restaurants operate in the same way as the business grows. This is why organizational effectiveness has to be optimized and not hap-hazard. â€Å"Organizational practitioners need to assess the influence of variables in diagnostic models on organizational outcomes, and effectiveness has often been used as the primary outcome measurement. (Handy, 1985, p. 85; Burke and Litwin, 1992). The new owners have done an excellent job moving the new organization through a surprising change of ownership. I have enjoyed watching how these new owners have handled the organizational development of the restaurant. Organizational change and development is certainly not easy. Leadership from the owners to the managers has to stay on course with the changes. Total commitment and a positive attitude are necessary. Negativity spreads like wildfire when redeveloping an organization. The owners have worked hard to cope and shape their environments, through the way they organize and operate their organization. The history of organizational development has to be an interesting one. As I watch these new owners re-tool both establishments, I wonder if they are taking the same course in organizational development that I am. The owners have to pass forward their beliefs or values as to what the restaurants should be. Things that worked before might be tossed. New things are   introduced. The style of service and the menu, the technology, are all things the owners have to push forward to current and new employees. All the while, business is ongoing. The doors are open. Customers are hearing of the sale and are passionate about the changes. Some changes are subtle. Some changes are extreme. How does the ownership remain familiar to what the concept once was? The entire process is exhausting. The public’s resistance to change is fierce at times. One very popular item on the menu was discontinued when the new menu was rolled out. Granted, the menu had not changed in four years. Servers and cooks were tired of doing the same thing every day. The item that was discontinued was actually a very bland and tasteless item. Servers and cooks hated selling it. There was excitement and concern when the new ownership wanted to get rid of it. We all knew we were in for it when the new menu came out. Sure enough, customers have missed not having this item on the menu. Customers have been very vocal about this one item. Ownership feels that quality ingredients, perfect preparation, and impeccable service will build sales. There is a determination that the new regime can move past this one dish and convince the fickle public that there are a lot of other good reasons to dine at our restaurants. We are doing more than trying to keep our existing clientele. We are building a new clientele. Whatever perceptions the public had of us before does not matter. It is interesting to hear the complaints about some of our changes. All the while, most of the same staff works at the restaurant. The only real changes the public see are dress codes and menu changes. Otherwise, most change is behind the scenes. Because of the intense scrutiny mistakes in service or execution of the shift has to be perfect. We cannot afford to be less than perfect right now. Complacency has no place in the restaurant business. To be successful, we should always be looking ahead and learning from our past mistakes. We should always challenge ourselves to be better than we were yesterday. We are always training and learning. Managers should be acting as coaches and mentors to the staff. Management at all levels should not only ‘talk the talk’, they should ‘walk the walk’. However, the complaints are not always fair. The new menu is terrific. Quality and service are actually better than ever. The new owners spent a lot of money to help update and fix equipment that was vital to running the restaurant. Ownership has brought in more management and has improved the morale of the restaurant, not to mention the quality of life for all salaried people like myself. There has been a certain camaraderie resulting from moving toward common goals with other people. There is now a belief that we are a better place today because of our efforts. The best interventions from a   values point of view are those that help clients prepare their place in the future, whether its creation or adaptation. I am sure as we move forward that we will come in to our own again. The once faithful group of regulars will either go their own way or forgive us. Organizational development is a change strategy. â€Å"OD principles and techniques are experiencing a renaissance, thanks to the growth of the field of change management.† (Worren, N.A.M., Ruddle, K., & Moore, K.,1999, paragraph 3.) Organizational development requires a change in behaviors. These behaviors, good or bad, become the organizational culture. The organizational beliefs and values start at the top of the food chain, the owners. What is important to the owner should be important to the worker in that organization. It is imperative that the owner or any organization find a way to keep his people motivated and passionate about his organization’s products. Therefore, the leadership of any organization has to ‘connect’ to develop change and organizational success. Leadership has to be viewed as the change master. An organization that wants to remain vital, must be able to deal with change. A restaurant is an excellent example of a business in a constant state of change. For some restaurants the menu can stay the same. Maybe that is what people like about the place. However, what goes on outside the restaurant can cause a need for change inside the restaurant. Roads are closed, the economy is shrinking, parking is now too difficult to bother, these are all worrisome real-life issues that any organization or restaurant might have to deal with. The restaurant cannot afford to maintain the status quo, change is simply that critical. Kurt Lewin developed the concept of force-field analysis. This philosophy is â€Å"deceptively simple and can be used to help plan and manage organizational change.† (Cumming, T.G., & Huse, E.R. 1989, page 3.) Lewin believed that an organizational behavior was affected by the balance of two opposing forces. When these opposing forces are at odds, change happens. According to Lewin, there are driving forces and restraining forces. Driving forces affect and assist in the desired change. Restraining forces do quite the opposite. Restraining forces represent obstacles to the change. â€Å"If the weights of the driving and restraining forces are relatively equal, then the organization will remain static.†(Cumming, T.G., & Huse, E.R. 1989, page 3.) Ownership has to remain aware of the balance of power these two forces represent for the organization. Change has to appear to always be for the good of the whole organization. People are wary of change and must be made to feel a part of its success in order to help embrace the new mindset. Lewin’s force-field analysis works as a method of environmental scanning and as a way for creating an empowering environment to the culture of the organization. The new owners have done an excellent job moving the organization forward. The efforts made to gather data and technical knowledge have been diligent. The new owners have moved forward by doing their homework. After reviewing all the necessary information, ownership has been able to assimilate all the necessary funds, materials, staff and time. As the organizational development process has moved forward, it has become obvious that the owners plan on giving their newly acquired business the tools it needs to accomplish the shared vision. This, of course, has led to the owners’ final phase of organizational development, the support of their people. At first, ownership had to tread lightly. In the beginning, it was as if the new owners wrapped their arms around us all and said â€Å"everything will be alright, just stick with us.† As the new team moved forward, some upper management was asked to leave. Time has been a good indicator of the ownerships’ dedication to the new vision and culture of the organization. Their efforts have been unwavering and very consistent. In this paper, I have detailed the importance of organizational development as it relates to my own company’s recent sale to a new group of owners. The process of organizational development has been fascinating to watch. Although the constant evaluation of all systems and actions throughout the organization has been exhausting, I believe ownership has succeeded in redeveloping a once tired and inefficient culture. Employees and managers have felt a greater sense of purpose towards the new organization. New ownership has successfully relayed a positive sense of urgency and purpose towards its existing staff and team members. The revamping of the organizational culture has brought forth a better quality employee and better quality experience for the organization’s customers. The organizational development techniques applied by the new ownership has helped to improve the profitability of both restaurants. New ownership had once touted that two additional restaurants would be opening within twelve months. Because of the success in developing organizational change, new ownership has now determined a new restaurant can be opened in only six months instead of twelve. This fast organizational growth is to be celebrated because it is a direct result of the diligent efforts of ownership and all staff involved after the transfer of ownership became official. Trust, a positive practitioner-client relationship, a successful diagnostic evaluation and change, effective communication between ownership and employees, and the importance of strategy has allowed this organization to become stronger and advance its number of concepts. In short, growth happens if organizational development is applied effectively. References: Brown, D.R., (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organizational Development (8th ed). Upper Saddle River Pearson Prentice Hall. Retrieved from: http://onlinevitalsource.com/#books/9780558857257/pages/31616081. Cumming, T.G., & Huse, E.F. (1989), Organizational Development and Change (4th ed.) St Paul, MN: West Publishing. Retrieved from: http://jeritt.msu.edu/documents/TallmanWithoutAttachment.pc. Gandell, S., 2010, How Blockbuster Failed at Failing, Time Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/magazine/article/0,9171,2022624-2,00.html. Goldstein, L. and Burke, W. (1991), Creating successful organizational change, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 19, page 5-17. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/215864273?accountid=32521 Handy, C. (1985), Understanding Organizations, Penguin, London. Retreived from: http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/215864273/13901F6FOC3249E4570/1?accountid=32521 Lok, P., & Crawford, J., (2000). The application of a diagnostic model and s urveys in organizational development. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15(2), 108-124. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215864273?accountid=32521.) Salgado, S.R. (2003), Fine Restaurants: Creating inimitable advantages in a competitive industry. New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 161 p. retrieved from: http://www.search.proquest.com/docview/305261479?accountid=32521305261479. Worren, N.A.M., Ruddle, K., & Moore, K. (1999.) From organizational development to change management: the emergence of a new profession. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35(3), 273-286. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/236248857?accountid=32521.

Describe What Your Role, Responsibilities and Boundaries Would Be as a Teacher or Trainer in Terms of the Teaching and Learning Cycle. How Might “Equality”, “Diversity” and “Inclusion” Impact on a Learner’s Experience?

PTLLS Assessment Describe what your role, responsibilities and boundaries would be as a teacher or trainer in terms of the teaching and learning cycle. How might â€Å"equality†, â€Å"diversity† and â€Å"inclusion† impact on a learner’s experience? Give examples from your own experience and research to support your assertions. â€Å"This submission is entirely my own work unless I have used quotation marks to indicate my reference to the work of others† As a teacher or trainer, there are a variety of roles and responsibilities that are important to consider. The main role of a teacher is to create a relaxed, comfortable learning environment for students to meet their learning needs. In many cases, the teacher’s role also involves delivery of specific content as defined by a curriculum, in order to prepare students for passing examination. As such one of the main responsibilities of the teacher is to be aware of any curriculum and examination requirements of a course. Another role of the teacher is to ensure that the lesson is inclusive of all learners and they are therefore responsible for recognising diversity within the group. This may include disabilities; language barriers and cultural differences. These roles and responsibilities would fall under the ‘identification of learners needs’ aspect of the teaching and learning cycle. This is a continual process and would necessarily be affected by other aspects of the cycle, particularly assessment and evaluation of the learning and teaching. This evaluation will constantly inform the teacher and will include such varied mediums as end of course evaluation sheets as well as simple observation of candidates demonstrating their knowledge and/or skills. It may be appropriate for candidates to meet certain assessment criteria or competencies throughout a course as part of this evaluation process. In my experience of teaching manual handling, I would expect leaners to be able to demonstrate specific manual handling, lifting, pushing and pulling skills during the course. Evaluation of previous courses and of the evolving requirements of students also helps to inform the planning and designing of lessons. In addition, the teacher is responsible for researching the subject area to ensure a wide, current knowledge base that will help when establishing credibility and professionalism, and then to develop a variety of interesting ways to deliver the content whilst ensuring a safe working environment for students. The teacher’s role is then to deliver the lesson content in a manner consistent with the learning styles and requirements of the delegates. These might include lecturing, large group discussion or case studies. In the past I have taught legislative considerations in regard to health and safety aspects of manual handling and use of display screen equipment and have used role play; small group work and case studies to try to accommodate different learning styles. Within all this, it is essential that the teacher establishes and maintains professional boundaries. These can be varied and quite different, depending on the context, the environment and the group or individual being taught, for example, a teacher teaching young children would have a different set of boundaries than a football coach coaching an adult football team. However, the teacher should always consider relevant legislation. This includes health and safety legislation such as the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974; the Equality Act, 2010 and most relevant to the above example, child protection guidelines. On a more general level, establishing ground rules such as timekeeping and use of mobile phones is important in minimising disruption and allowing optimal delivery of course content. Promoting equality, embracing diversity and ensuring inclusion are essential components of an effective teaching strategy, if the goal of that strategy is to provide a positive, rewarding learning experience for all learners. â€Å"Equality is about the rights of learners to attend and participate, regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation and age†1. If a teacher fails to actively promote equality, they run the risk of excluding individuals from the learning process. For example a failure to acknowledge that English may not be the first language of some or all of the delegates and to adapt the teaching session accordingly would be detrimental. Once, when teaching a manual handling training session to porters and housekeepers working in a hospital, the majority of the candidates spoke Portuguese as their first language. I acknowledged this prior to starting the course and altered the course structure to enhance the learning process. One of the strategies I used was to include more small group work, ensuring a mix of people with difficulty understanding English, and those who were bilingual. â€Å"Diversity is about valuing the differences in people, whether that relates to gender, race, age, disability or any other individual characteristics they may have† 1. Just like promotion of equality, the importance of embracing diversity lies in recognising differences within any given group and using this to enhance, rather than detract from the learning experience. Diversity within a group will allow a variety of different perspectives on any given topic, thereby promoting wider understanding in the group as a whole. Johnson and Romanello2 examined teaching and learning considerations when teaching generationally diverse nurses. They opined that when presenting health problems to nurses from different generations it â€Å"leads student to share insights that can be applied to patient care with multiple groups of patients across generations†. 2 â€Å"Inclusivity is about involving all learners in relevant activities rather than excluding them for any reason† 1. In many ways, failure to acknowledge diversity and/or promote equality will inevitably lead to exclusion. In order to effectively ensure inclusion, planning of the teaching process, utilising a variety of teaching methods is essential. Moreover, the ability to adapt course content and delivery methods following recognition of diversity within a group is paramount to ensuring equality and inclusion. Even something as basic as starting and finishing a lesson on time will help with inclusion as a failure to do this might exclude learners who have commitments outside of the lesson times such as childcare. With regards to the learning cycle, the assessing and planning stages: assessing the requirements of the group and planning the format of the lessons accordingly are essential to ensuring inclusion. References 1 GRAVELLS, A, Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector, Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow, 2008, p. 18. 2 JOHNSON, S and ROMANELLO, A. Generational Diversity. Teaching and Learning Approaches, Nurse Educator, 30(5): Sept-Oct. 2005: 212-216.

Next order mult. papers and PPT. they need to build on each other too Essay

Next order mult. papers and PPT. they need to build on each other too - Essay Example The customer has added to the complaint that after a period of three months the cylinder head had started to show leaks and he had to get repairs done. After a period of five months the engine had started showing problems that were repaired and by that time the warranty had expired so a new engine had to be bought. I have noticed similar complaints in the case of the 1997 as well as the 2000 models of Ford Expedition. In addition to the oil cylinder and the engine problems the one point that has been raised very aggressively by the customers is that the company has not been too helpful in paying the repairs for the losses. It has been mentioned by one of the customers that her expedition had been reporting errors in the gasket and she asked our organization for the repairs that was under warranty. But for unknown reasons our organization had been unable to pay for the losses and had not paid for the repairs either. All the complaints can be summarized by saying that there are problems in the case of the head gasket as well as the oil cylinder. The engine might be in need of being rechecked in a detailed manner so that the newer Expedition do not show such problems as these are the problems in the Expedition models that have become, sadly, well known among the people. The organization’s reputation is the most important to me and the other clients. Any kind of issues that might be harmful to the company’s reputation have to be dealt with in a strategic manner so the future clients can be made to trust the organization. The issues that we might face in the future, as I might say, need to be dealt with at this very point so that they are resolved at an earlier stage rather than being delayed. The customers are the main stake holders for the organization and we, at Ford Motors respect this relationship in the business. The customers need to be heard regarding their complaints so all the trust is regained in order that they