Organizational Change And Resistance To Change Essays - Management

Organizational Change And Resistance To Change Essays - Management organizational change and resistance to change Future generations, looking back on the last years of the twentieth century, will see a contradictory picture of great promise and equally at great uncertainty. The 1990's have all the symptoms of a "turning point" in world history, a moment when many of the structural "givens" of social development themselves become problematic and world society undergoes profound reorganization. These developments occur within a frame work of rapidly expanding social and economic interdependence on a global scale. Organizations evolve through periods of incremental or evolutionary change. The major work changes happening today are changes in organizational strategy, organizational structure and design, technology and human resources. A change in organizational strategy is an attempt to alter the organization's alignment with it's environment. Mercedes, for example, is going to introduce this year the new Classe A, which is more oriented to the new young generation who wants to own a Mercedes. Though Mercedes wants to keep its image of a high class car producer, it overtook this new strategy to reinforce its presence in the market. Organization change might also focus on any of the basic components of organization structure or on the organization whole design. Nobuhiko Kawamoto, president of Honda, recently reorganized the Japanese automaker's management hierarchy. He drew up a new organization chart, he created a planning board and he has taken steps to empower lower-level workers. All this in order to adapt better to the fierce market of car making. Because of the rapid rate of all technological innovation, technological changes are becoming increasingly important to many organizations. One major area of change involves equipment, thus a change in work processes or work activities maybe necessary. Timex, for example, 3-D design software from Toronto based software Alias Research Inc. to be able to turn out watches faster. Organization control systems may also be targets of such a change. Another area of organization change has to do with human resources. An organization might decide to change the skill-level of its work force and the level of performance of its workers. Perceptions and expectations, attitudes and values are also a common focus on organizational change. Organizational change is anticipated or triggered because of different changing circumstances, an organization might incur a change because of forces bending its environment. These forces might be either external or internal. The external forces derive from the organization's general or task environments. The general environment is parted into different dimensions: the international, the economic, the technological, the socio-cultural and the political-legal dimension. A good example is Russia's shift from a communist country to a capitalistic one. This shift affected organizations inside and outside Russia, on the economical and political-legal levels, organizations inside the country had to take on drastic changes to flow with the environment nationally and internationally. On an international level, international organizations saw in Russia an interesting potential market. As for the task environment it includes competitors, customers, suppliers, regulators and strategic allies. Pepsi Lebanon had always been the only cola producer in the country since the early 1970's, until lately Coca-Cola entered the market once more. Pepsi realizing the danger of its competitor launched a new marketing strategy to keep its customers. The internal forces are mainly related to the organization's internal environment but some internal forces might be reflections of external ones. All organizations will experience change at one time or another. Obviously, expanding the boundaries of exchange and cultural contact creates both opportunity and risk. The challenges for managers is to adapt properly the culture and the strategy of their organizations to its current environment. Unfortunately, management isn't working as it should: in a telling statistic, leading practitioners of radical corporate reengineering report that success rates are between 20% and 80%. Determined managers follow up with plans for process improvement. Managers look for enthusiasm, acceptance and commitment, but it gets something less. Hence, communication breaks down, implementation plans miss their mark and results fall short. This happens often enough that we have to ask why and how we can avoid these failures. Although each company's particular circumstances account for, some of the problems have common roots: n Managers and employees view change differently: top level management sees change as an opportunity to strengthen the business and to advance in their

Criminal justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Criminal justice - Essay Example It has often been confused that correctional facilities are intended to punish perpetrators of law. That said, the prison system plays a major role in removing criminals from the street thereby creating a safer haven for its citizens while providing opportunities for criminals to understand their offenses and change for the better. The rate of imprisonment in the United States has been on the increase in recent times and this has raised concern among public administrators and citizens in general. The prison administrators primarily are alarmed that in the near future the prisons may be insufficient to hold inmates convicted of felonies. Claims that the correctional facilities are not given enough attention as they ought to given their importance in ensuring security of its citizenry has lead to the recent debate on whether or not correctional facilities should be privatized or remain in the hands of federal and state government. Of course, each opposing side has reasons why they think things should be as they propose. Therefore, what are the pros and cons of privatization of correctional facilities specifically jails in the United States. The jail system is best left in the hands of the public because there are many aspects that would be negatively imparted if jails were privatized, for example employment. This is because underlying privatization of any state owned corporation is the issue of cost reduction. Therefore, in the arms of private companies, profit margins take precedence, meaning that most prison guards and staff would be laid off and the few left to work twice as hard in order that expenses are reduced. Moreover, the urge to cut corners in vital activities like recruiting staff, training and compensation among prison workers among others is high probability. The outcome increased rate of unemployment and by extension higher crime rate. In addition, privatized companies are notorious for bending standards of requirement. Employing of under

Biotic Components Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Biotic Components - Essay Example The beginner of the pond ecosystem is sun. Producers use sunlight and convert carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds and oxygen through a process called photosynthesis. Other most important nutrition for plants is nitrogen and phosphorus. Wandering plants or the phytoplankton (Volvox, Oscillatoria, Diatoms, Spirogyra, Zygnema, Hydrodictyon, Desmids, etc) go through the process of photosynthesis and release oxygen in the water which can be used by bacteria and animals in the pond. Likewise, the Periphytic algae (attached to the rocks and other substances) carry out photosynthesis and provide oxygen in the bottom of the pond so the decomposers can use it. The submerged plants and the Floating plants (Nelumbium, Nymphea, Blixa, Eicchornia, Pistia etc) provide oxygen to the pond and the emergent plants, to the environment outside the pond. This is the first level. Herbivores and carnivorous belong to the second level and are called consumers. Herbivores feed on plants and get en ergy whereas the carnivores feed on herbivorous and get energy. But whenever an animal or a plant is not consumed by any other animal, that matter is decomposed by decomposers, which are on the 3rd level. The tissues are broken down into much simpler compounds which are again used by the plants for nutrients. As energy is converter, some of it is released in the form of heat in the water to maintain the inner functions of the cells in every organism. Nutrient cycle Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen are really important for a cell. The process through which these substances pass from on organism to another or from on cell to the other is called nutrient cycle. Change over time The health of an ecosystem can be endangered by several changes over time. If specie is killed in the pond, it can be highly dangerous for other living in the pond as many animals might feed on that specie for nutrients and the whole system might crash. Due to the climate change, excessive heat in the environment, d rought can appear killing all the species living there. The growth of thick trees around the pond can block the passage of sunlight to the pond, resulting in death of plants and thus the animals. Besides this, natural succession can occur which can totally change the biotic community. It actually occurs due to the changes in the plants, animals or other a-biotic factors, and so a new eco cycle can begin How humans may have affected biogeochemical cycles in that ecosystem. There are many ways a human might affect the pond ecosystem. Nitrogen cycle affected: During transportation, ammonia is released in the atmosphere, which is absorbed in the pond. Fertilizers are highly harmful for the fishes as it contains nitrites and nitrates and thus can affect the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia is extremely toxic to fish and should be removed or converted into harmless matter. If the level of ammonia increases in the pond, fishes can die. New agricultural practices have highly disturbed the nitrogen c ycle of the pond. In order to fulfill the agricultural demands for food, there is an extensive usage of nitrogen gas in the green house which enters the pond through different means. Carbon cycle affected: Accumulation of Carbon dioxide in the pond is highly dangerous for the fish species living in it. If the carbon dioxide amount is high in the pond, it would be difficult for the fishes to remove their internal carbon dioxide in the water, resulting in accumulation in fish blood. This inhibits and endangers the ability of hemoglobin in the fish blood, and thus causes suffocation for fishes.

Fashion from the sixteenth to nineteenth century

Fashion from the sixteenth to nineteenth century Fashion, which was a norm only used to describe upper class people between 13th Century and 16th Century, was dominated by court and aristocracy. At the beginning of 17th Century, which is also known as the end of European Renaissance, clothing represented the social standing of the wearer. The dressing code could be used to distinguish classes. It is believed that during the Renaissance, fashion was experiencing a lot of transformation in terms of colour, clothes and accessories (Jones 2000). Some people argued that Renaissance is the turning point of fashion since it reflected changes in self-esteem, erotic appeal or social advancement (Rublack 2011). In the meantime, lower class started to acquire status by adopting the clothing styles of the upper class, fashion became widely interested. Therefore, it is important to understand the fashion development since 17th Century. This paper first discusses the fashion plate, which is considered to be the first fashion magazine and early f orm of fashion. Secondly, it discusses the development of printing technology and its effects on fashion dissemination. Then it illustrates modern fashion disseminations including Internet, television and other social media and their influences. Fashion plate is defined as illustrations of clothing fashion or style, originated as early as 16th Century (Nevinson 1967). The original fashion plate was in a form of either drawing or engraving of clothes, accessories and shoes on metal plates (Holland 1955). Initially, it was used in portraiture of nobility and aristocracy (Nevinson 1967). Loyal families drew portraits and clothes on the fashion plates and sent them away to other loyal families as display of marriageable members (Nevinson 1967). With the development of fashion plate and fashion, at the beginning of 17th Century, fashion plate becomes the most effective way to promote fashion workshops in Europe (Steele 2005). People distributed fashion plate to convey fashionable information around Europe. Shop owners sent fashion plates by messengers to potential clients while friends and relatives sent each other fashion plate for comparisons and communications. Fashion plate is also regarded as the earliest form of fashion mag azine since the popularity of fashion plates led some publishers to use fashion plates as their publications materials to demonstrate trends and clothes instead of using plain text (Holland, 1955). However, fashion plate did not occur at a systematic level until 18th Century when weekly publications such as the Lady’s Magazine, La Belle Assemblee, and Les Modes Parisiennes became widespread and publications became massive. At the beginning, fashion plates only depicted fashion information and predicted fashion to those who could afford. With the development of economy and technology, fashion plates soon became popular even within lower class people. Although fashion plates were pricy, people showed strong interest in them. It was the mainstream medium of fashion dissemination until the early 20th Century when printing became dominant. Fashion plate remained on fashion stage for another significant period of time until late 20th Century when other social media such as television and Internet became popular. Today it is regarded as fine art collection and most of them have the value of research study. Another development of fashion dissemination is the invention of printing. Fashion information was delivered by printed paper ever since the invention of printing press. However, formal publication started only in 17th Century when the French publication Mercure de France was published. Mercure de France was a significant development since it was considered the first gazette and literary magazine (DeJean 2005). It played an important role in the dissemination of fashion news, fashion stories, and reviews of the latest fashion. But due to relatively slow improvement in fashion itself, weekly publication seems to be too fast and unnecessary. Fashion plates, which could be preserved over a significant time and transported multiple times, were easier to accepted by the social perception (Nevinson 1967). The real improvement in print production started in the nineteenth century when steam power press became available. The magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book quickly became a large circulation in the country (Nevinson 1967). Massive fashion production by printing press flourished the second time after the transition to rolled paper, which significantly improve the paper feeding speed and printing speed. The invention of lithography, which is regarded as another important improvement, enabled artists and designers to print their drawings and illustration any smooth surface. Since lithograph can print on all surfaces, fashion plates started to die off from the market simply because it was too pricy for most of the people. For textile and clothing fashion, under the impulse of evolution in printing technology, the printing became an industrial process which significantly decreased the price of textile and clothes. In contemporary fashion, variety of prints could be identified. It b ecame the trademark of a diversity of designers such as handbags and clothes. The printing technology started with simple printing press, has experience uncountable developments, today, it is still the mainstream platform of fashion dissemination. But the biggest step forward happened when half tone printing technology was invented. The invention of half tone printing allowed people printed photographs together with text without affecting their quality. This new technology gave birth of the modern fashion magazine. In the 1820s, the first photography was developed (Hirsch 2000). Fashion photography appeared first time in a French magazine. In 1909, Vogue magazine was took over by Condà © Nast, which contributed significantly to the era of fashion photography (Angeletti 2012). In 1911, photographer Edward Steichen promote fashion as fine art by the collection of photography (Niven 1997). Paris was the centre of the fashion photography at that time. Fashion photograph has generated some of the most influential materials. Although fashion was developing slowly during World War I and World War II, there continuous to be growing numbers of women increased in fashion information. Magazines and newspapers, which contained a lot of p hotographs, began to cater to the lower classes in cheaper, specialise and accessible manners. By the 1960s, fashion magazines became more specialised while photography became the ideal medium for recording and disseminating the fashion information. Changes in the fashion dissemination in the 20th century were facilitated by new methods and approaches, mainly because of the evolution in technologies. More people were seeking more convenient ways to follow the trend. These new mediums such as Internet and TV created new access to fashion information and changed the ways people create fashions. Film, as another mainstream presentation of fashion, became popular during the Great Depression (Barthes 2010). However, due to the limitation of technology, film did not improve a lot until late 20th Century. The fashion elements in film include clothes, make-ups, accessories, bags, and even cars. While films are representing themes in virtual world, most of the elements can be used to predict fashions once a particular film becomes popular (McNeil 2009). In the late 20th century movie stars began to establish their role as the fashion elite by stapling fashion design labels in their daily life. For instance, Audrey Hepburn fashion icons include fitted pants, oversized sunglasses and little black dress affected women wear still today. Another example is the car collections in James Bond’s movie series had lead car collection fashion over decades. Victoria Beckham, who had transformed herself from singer to fashion designer and businesswoman, is leading the women fashion in di fferent fields. Another important fashion dissemination tool, television, began to compete with film as a medium of fashion from the mid-20th Century (McNeil 2009). The advent of the video clips had introduced another approach for fashion. Since film is much longer than video clip or music video clip, it is hard for people to find a particular piece of information throughout the whole film, and it is obviously impossible to repeat the film over and over again, TV has its own advantages than film. Commercials and advertisement can be broadcasted on TV repeatedly with a reasonable cost. With the invention of cable and digital networks, today traditional media have been assigned with different meanings. The improvement of Internet provided increasing amounts of information to people. Internet TV could reach all levels of society and more fashion information than conventional way. A variety of formats including news, magazines and other forms of fashion dissemination are transforming into digital way. The social networking has enabled a faster fashion diffuseness. Celebrities, fashion designers and other fashion related parties started using social media as their primary dissemination tool. With the impacts of new technology, fashion is experiencing faster evolution than ever. In conclusion, the development of fashion between 17th Century and 19th Century was slow due to the limitation of technology. Fashion plate was the mainstream dissemination tool from 17th to 19th century. With the industry revolution, fashion dissemination had extended magazines and newspaper. The development of technology had empowered fashion dissemination a cheaper and convenient approach. However, it was until the invention of film and photography could fashion become widely spread. Throughout the 20th century, the social media’s role in the fashion dissemination process has become more and more important. The concept and understanding of fashion became integrated with digital technology. Reference Angeletti, N. O. A. W. A. 2012, In Vogue : the illustrated history of the worlds most famous fashion magazine, Rizzoli : Distributed in the U.S. trade by Random House, New York. Barthes, R. 2010, The fashion system, Vintage Classic, London. DeJean, J. E. 2005, The essence of style : how the French invented high fashion, fine food, chic cafà ©s, style, sophistication, and glamour, Free Press, New York. Hirsch, R. 2000, Seizing the light : a history of photography, McGraw-Hill, Boston. Holland, V. B. 1955, Hand coloured fashion plates, 1770 to 1899, Batsford, London. Jones, A. R. S. P. 2000, Renaissance clothing and the materials of memory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge [England]; New York. McNeil, P. K. V. C. C. 2009, Fashion in fiction : text and clothing in literature, film, and television, Berg, Oxford, UK; New York. Nevinson, J. L. 1967, Origin and early history of the fashion plate, Smithsonian Press, Washington, D.C. Niven, P. 1997, Steichen : a biography, Clarkson Potter, New York. Rublack, U. 2011, Renaissance fashion: The birth of power dressing, History Today, vol. 61, no.1. Steele, V. 2005, Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion, Charles Scribners Sons, Farmington Hills, MI.

Explication of William Blakes Poem London Essay -- essays papers

Explication of William Blakes Poem London William Blake’s poem â€Å"London† takes a complex look at life in London, England during the late seventeen hundreds into the early eighteen hundreds as he lived and experienced it. Blake’s use of ambiguous and double meaning words makes this poem both complex and interesting. Through the following explication I will unravel these complexities to show how this is an interesting poem. To better understand this poem some history about London during the time the poem was written is helpful. London was the â€Å". . . undisputed cultural, economic, religious, educational, and political center† of England in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. It was a city of â€Å"warehouses, docks, factories, prisons, palaces and slums, of beggars, laborers, shopkeepers, and bankers† (History). The industrial revolution was in full swing and the streets were filthy, the water and air were polluted, and there were rats everywhere. The famous â€Å"London fogs† were created from the burning of coal. The average Londoner lived until age 29, and as many as 1 in 8 drank themselves to death. While there were wealthy merchant and professional classes, the members of the poor grew and were crowded into filthy slums of the city (History). Keeping this history in mind lets take a look at the poem. Repetition and rhyme are an integral part of Blake’s â€Å"London.† The first stanza of the poem shows this repetition and rhyme. I wander through each chartered street, Near where the chartered Thames does flow, And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. (1-4) This repetition is a type of rhythm in the poem. According to John Nims and David Mason rhythm is â€Å"something that happens... ...Chart.† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Chartered.† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Cry.† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Forged† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Hapless† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Manacle† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Mark† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. Nims, John Fredrick and David Mason. Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000 â€Å"Syphilis.† National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease. 30 March 2000 http://www.naid.nih.gov/factsheets/stdysph.htm â€Å"Weakness.† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998. â€Å"Woe.† Merriam Webster’s Dictionary: Home and Office Ed. 1998.

High Feeding Costs Limit Dive Time Essay

Despite their massive appearance, the largest whales (and also the largest predators) have shorter dive time compared to other smaller fishes. Our hypothesis is that ‘lunge-feeding’ (the whales’ feeding behavior), is energetically expensive resulting to inability to dive at lower depths and at longer time intervals. This study is aimed at determining how and why the largest whales exhibit shorter dives by examining how lunge-feeding affects their behavior and dive duration. Methods In order to determine how and why the largest whales exhibit shorter dive times compared to other fishes, we have to study how its lunge-feeding behavior affects whales’ overall behavior and their dive time limit. In gathering data, we used remote sensing techniques. In this experiment, we used the TDR â€Å"time/depth recorders† technique since it is the most applicable method considering that the subjects were not in a controlled environment. The TDRs actually recorded the oxygen level of each tagged whale. After some time, the TDRs were collected and the results were analyzed through specialized software that translates the data from the TDRs. Results showed that the whales move faster when at the ascent (or climbing) portion of the dive while it showed that whales move significantly slower during descent. Recovery time spent at the surface was also viewed as an important factor in determining the effect of lunge-feeding. Our tests showed that there is a correlation between the number of lunges and the time spent recovering at the surface. Finally, using optimality models, we were able to compare the results of the actual study to the predicted outcome. The result was a common cost for lunge dives which indicated the high energy cost during lunge dives resulting to shorter dive duration. Results and Discussion Results of this experiment showed that there is a relationship between the number of lunges and the surface recovery intervals. The TDR analysis showed that whales move faster during ascent and move significantly slower when at descent. This indicated that lunge-feeding is energetically expensive. We were able to measure the high energy cost of lunge-feeding using the remote sensing technique. Whales usually recover at the surface after each dive and the length of stay at the surface is relative to the number of lunges it makes during the dive. The more lunges the whales make during feeding, the more time it spent at the surface for recovery. The optimality models showed the relative differences between the lunging-costly model versus the no-cost model. In the lunging-costly model, observed forage depths, vertical speed, number of lunges, time spent recovering at the surface, are some of the variables that were examined to provide an outright solution. Conclusion Based on the results of this experiment, it has been found out that lunge-feeding in large whales is an energetically expensive activity. Using the TDR technique to record the energy cost of lunge, we were able to deduce that the more lunges a whale makes, the more time it spends recovering at the surface, usually regaining oxygen levels. Therefore, the high energy requirements of lunge-feeding limit the dive time and depth of dive in large whales. Reference: Acevedo-Gutierrez, A. , Croll, D. A. , and Tershy, B. R. (2002). â€Å"High Feeding Costs Limit Dive Time in the Largest Whales†. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 205, 1747-1753.

Chemical Composition of Black Powder or Gunpowder

Black powder is the name given to the earliest known chemical explosive. It is used as a blasting powder and a propellant for firearms, rockets, and fireworks. The composition of black powder or gunpowder is not set. In fact, several different compositions have been used throughout history. Heres a look at some of the most notable or common compositions, plus the composition of modern black powder. Black Powder Basics Theres nothing complicated about the formulation of black powder. It consists of charcoal (carbon), saltpeter (potassium nitrate or sometimes sodium nitrate), and sulfur. Charcoal and sulfur act as the fuel for the explosion, while saltpeter acts as an oxidizer. Sulfur also lowers the ignition temperature, which increases the combustion rate. Charcoal is used instead of pure carbon because it contains incompletely decomposed cellulose. It has a much lower autoignition temperature. Black powder made using pure carbon will ignite, but it wont explode. In commercial black powder preparation, potassium nitrate or another nitrate (e.g., sodium nitrate) usually is coated with graphite (a form of carbon). This helps prevent electrostatic charge build-up, reducing the chance a stray spark will prematurely ignite the mixture. Sometimes black powder is tumbled with graphite dust after it is mixed to coat the grains. In addition to reducing static, the graphite reduces moisture absorption, which could prevent gunpowder from igniting. Notable Black Powder Compositions Typical modern gunpowder consists of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur in a 6:1:1 or 6:1.2:0.8 ratio. Historically significant formulations have been calculated on a percentage basis: Formula Saltpeter Charcoal Sulfur Bishop Watson, 1781 75.0 15.0 10.0 British Government, 1635 75.0 12.5 12.5 Bruxelles studies, 1560 75.0 15.62 9.38 Whitehorne, 1560 50.0 33.3 16.6 Arderne lab, 1350 66.6 22.2 11.1 Roger Bacon, c. 1252 37.50 31.25 31.25 Marcus Graecus, 8th century 69.22 23.07 7.69 Marcus Graecus, 8th century 66.66 22.22 11.11 Source: The Chemistry of Gun Powder and Explosives