Leadership and Managment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Leadership and Managment - Assignment Example This paper approves that the manager sees the existence of the conflict but deliberately tries to avoid it. The manager tries to ignore the sentiments raised by the team members. In as far as the aspect of accommodating is concerned, it can be seen that the other party tries to appease others through placing their priorities on top of his. The other aspect is related to compromising where each party tries to give up something as a way of resolving the conflict. this stage deals with behaviour where it can be seen that the conflict becomes visible in the organisation. In this case, the behaviour of the team members has negatively changed since there is low morale in the organization after the encounter described above. Communication involves the exchange of information between parties involved in a certain conflict. In order to solve group conflicts, there are certain steps that can be taken by the leaders. There are three ways of solving inter-group conflict namely: peaceful coexiste nce, compromise and problem solving. This essay makes a conclusion that in an organisation, it can be noted that conflict is inevitable but it can be solved amicably depending on the leader’s capability and interpersonal skills towards finding ways of resolving conflicts. In the scenario described above, it has been noted that the leader is too authoritarian hence he could not listen to the views of the members of the team. This created the conflict described above. Therefore, it is recommended that the leader should implement the following measures in order to avoid a similar situation in the future.

Critically review the situation at RestaurantCo and identify the Essay

Critically review the situation at RestaurantCo and identify the strengths and weaknesses of its approach to managing human reso - Essay Example Theoretically, the dimension of Human Resource Management (HRM) helps in linking the functions of human resource with the determined organisational objectives in order to improve the performance of the organisation on the whole. Apart from linking the human resource functions with the strategic objectives of the firm, it further assists the organization in establishing a proper understanding amidst the superiors and the supervisors working within it. HRM further helps in maintaining a coordinated relation between the external factors that contribute substantially to the organizational development and success (Bratton, n.d.). With the continually growing significance and complexities in the HRM dimension, the adaption of Employees Involvement and Participation (EIP) is often argued to contribute in differentiating a company’s internal strengths by enhancing the flexibility of the workforce to adjust with the external business environmental changes. The notion behind the concept of EIP concentrates on the fact that effective involvement and participation of the workforce would lead towards the achievement of the organizational goals and efficiencies. The concept of measuring the formal and informal EIP link further can be regarded as an important part of any organization, as it helps in evaluating the employees performances over a certain standard of time, in comparison with pre-set standards or goals. Formal EIP is further considered to be those practises, where the managers of a department consult with the employees before implementing a new work practice within the set working environment; whereas, informal EIP signifies that decision-making process, where the managers do not follow any formal procedure to gather suggestions from the subordinates (Storey, 2007). In this essay, the discussion henceforth will intend to critically evaluate the situation of RestaurantCo and to identify the strengths and weakness of its approaches thereon. The discussion wil l further aim at assessing links between corporate strategies, culture, HR policy and management practices at the workplace level of RestaurantCo with EIP. Corporate Strategies and Culture In corporate strategies, authority is considered to be highly important to practice an effective decision making procedure. Authority is generally considered as an obligation to act on behalf of a department or agency or any higher level of authority within an organization. Furthermore, authority is the key to the managerial job; they endure the right of indulging into the decision-making process being in the top level management. Delegation of authority is basically the process of allocating the work and transferring the rights from the higher authority to the lower level employees within an organizational context that inculcates EIP related aspects to a considerable extent. This form of strategy is usually adapted by the top level management when there is an over load of work or is viewed in lar ge industries where assigning managers for a single department is very essential maintaining a linkage between the organisation’s short-term or long-term objectives and the workforce performances. Correspondingly, it has been viewed that today’

The Watergate Scandal and Its Aftermath Essay Example for Free

The Watergate Scandal and Its Aftermath Essay On January 21, 1969, Richard Milhous Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States and re-elected in January 3, 1973. On August 8, 1974, Nixon became the first US President to resign after impeachment proceedings were initiated against him over what has become known as â€Å"The Watergate Scandal.† (Watergate Chronology) The term Watergate has become synonymous with political cover-up, lies, crime skullduggery and scandal in the United States and worldwide.   The fact that a simple botched burglary opened a prodigious can of worms makes it all the more mind-boggling. As people began to realize that they were in the midst of a conspiracy that reached all the way to the top, they began to wonder just how deep, and how widespread, the rot went. Nixon himself has denied any complicity in the matter, until evidence that this was not so become too compelling to ignore, hence the subsequent impeachment articles and resignation. However, his motivations, aside from the mandatory â€Å"for the good of the nation†, was never satisfactorily explained. Regardless of the why, the effect of Watergate on the political status of Nixon is unexpected. It, of course, killed his Presidency, and although successor President Gerald Ford extended him a full pardon and he did not go to jail, many believed that he embodied the essence of all that was wrong in American politics of that era. Watergate colors any good he may have done during his term of office. However, he was far from quietly fading into the good night. After his resignation and pardon, Nixon proceeded to quietly regain respectability in the eye of the American public.   By the time of his death, he had managed to author nine books and served as adviser to US Presidents Bush Senior and Reagan. Whenever he spoke about American foreign policy before a crowd, people listened because he had made it his business to travel and get a political feel of the various countries he toured and the mindset of the political leaders he visited. In fact, his last book, Beyond Peace, was a less than flattering summation of American foreign policy that was timely in the face of the political crises such as in Bosnia and Korea after the Cold War. (Stacks, 1994) Nixon failed in the midst of his success, and succeeded in the midst of his failure. Ruthless in his pursuit and determined in his endeavors, he managed to rise above the ashes of the Watergate Scandal that destroyed the careers of at least 30 of the most prominent men of his time and died in 1997 regarded by many as an elderly statesman. What of the country he had, as many people still firmly believe, betrayed to further his own interests and control? What has his abuse of power done to affect American policy? The Watergate incident succeeded in opening an Aegean stables of graft and corruption, throwing into sharp relief the special interest groups that had bought their way into favor and prompted a US President to stake all.   The cleansing tide of public opinion and media criticism enabled the disheveled American government to rally around and expose the core of the problem. But the aftermath was more complicated than what was anticipated. People started to lose confidence in their political leaders, seeing them as untrustworthy and vulnerable to large corporations with deep pockets. Conspiracy theories cropped up that seemed increasingly probable, and suspicion of the â€Å"men in black† such as the FBI, CIA etc., agencies that served the will of people in power and not the American people increased. This may have been due to the fact of the FBI’s involvement in the attempted cover-up. (Watergate) The belt was tightening around campaign finance, and at first the measures were stringent. Campaign contributions could neither be from questionable sources nor more than $1,000.00. A federal commission on elections was formed to watch over the general election between Ford and Jimmy Carter. However, these measures could not last with clever politicians and court interpretations of the law backing the claim that campaign contributions were covered under the First Amendment. (Jackson, 1999) Soon, the amount of contributions from special interest groups and large corporations to both the Democratic and Republican parties reached epic proportions, undreamed off during Nixon’s time. Tighter media vigilance also succeeded in promoting transparency and accountability among the politicians. However, the unfailing skepticism of the spoken and written word became an integral part of this vigilance, lending material for many a stand-up comedy act that nevertheless undermine the efforts of politicians and statesmen to effect positive and progressive change in American policies, never mind if they be honest and morally upright. The media coverage of the Watergate hearings became the focal point of interest for at least 85% of the population at any given time in the initial proceedings, at one time dominating airtime with 13 hours of coverage in the six days following the first hearing on July 24, 1974. (Garay) While this kept people informed of what was happening, a change in the American psyche also resulted. The people post-Watergate lost their confidence in their elected officials and had adopted a passive, if not overtly hostile, attitude towards the whole process. This has filtered down to later generations and now less than 50% of the voting population actually bothers to vote. The general opinion is that all politicians and people in power are liars, or are not telling the whole truth, in pursuit of their own advancement and self-interests. This belief has translated into an overzealous, almost paranoid, eye for political corruption. Ethics committees and procedures, independent counsel law, public integrity sections and other such agencies are devoted solely to having a weather eye cocked for the smallest misstep. What was once acceptable political give-and-take, such as free football tickets, is looked at askance as a symptom of much bigger largesse. (Jackson, 1999) This has not stopped any chicanery, however. There are many ways around a committee, and around the law, if one has enough resources to pull it off. Many use this vigilance to discredit a rival or to gain favor in the public eye, most probably while doing the same thing or something else equally or more unethical or even illegal. The important thing is, from a political point of view, is not to get caught, as Nixon so very openly was. All this reform, disclosure and transparency has given way to two very significant results: One, those in politics bent on serving their own interests has become very good at fooling the watch dogs down paths that they want to expose while covering their own tracks; and two, those who have the nation’s interest at heart has an uphill climb in gaining the trust and confidence of the people. And what of the media? Many forget that the media is also a special interest group, but instead of currying favor from politicians to get special treatment by giving campaign contributions and other donations, the media uses politics and politicians to exploit whatever the issue of the moment is and sell. While many are legitimate publications with reliable sources or well-formed opinions, the great influence they have on public opinion are not always used judiciously. Their motivation is to sell. The bigger the scandal, the better, never mind if it is not always in the public interest to know all. Bad news sells better than good news, and many times the public focuses only on who’s doing what to whom rather than what good some have been doing, or trying to do. In the case of Watergate, media fed on the thirst of the public to know, but failed to provide a complete picture of what actually happened that 30 years down the line has provided to some extent. The damage has been done, the people no longer trust government, and are ready to believe the worst without giving benefit to doubt. What was most interesting to those who analyze the raison d’etre of the scandal was that it seemed almost pointless, as Nixon at the time was at the top of his form, having just been re-elected with a landslide victory, and popular with the nation. Many asked what could be his reason for wanting to bug the offices of the Democratic Party’s National Committee, housed then at the plush Watergate Hotel. Political spying and sabotage seemed to be the most obvious reason, as FBI investigators established in 1972, and it appeared reasonable what with the coming elections. However, the popularity he had gathered with his delivery of the â€Å"Silent Majority† speech on the Vietnam War seemed to make these efforts superfluous. (Watergate.info) To this day there has been no satisfactory answer as to the why as many closely involved with the scandal have died, and have taken the mystery with them. What is not a mystery today is the ripple-effect of Watergate on American politics and policy, and the establishment of Richard Nixon as a public figure. Political bashing and mud-slinging has become the order of the day, and the media has run true to form in exploiting the dollar value of a good scandal. Campaign financing has become big business, reaching astronomic levels, with the added bonus of being legitimate, thanks to slick interpretation and manipulation of the law by clever legal counsels. Political ingenuity has plotted an indictment-free zone so that money can talk in government policy. And despite skepticism, the American public relies heavily on the media to form their opinion regarding whom and what to believe, especially since Watergate when there were no holds barred as to what the media could put out.   People believe that the printed and televised words is inviolate, but more often than not the voices of the ones who have truly pure motives get drowned out with all the noise the ones with the deep pockets make. And where is Nixon in all this, that focus of Watergate? He lives on in the memory of the Americans as the President who authored the mother of all scandals (and was unfortunate enough to get caught) and the man who afterwards stood back up and brushed himself off to exert his influence in the political arena in spite of it. As he reportedly put to Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoi following Rutskoi’s release from prison after his failed takeover against Boris Yeltsin, â€Å"that, for some, there can be life after hell.† (Stacks, 1994) References Watergate Chronology Washington Post retrieved December 28, 2006 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/watergate/chronology.htm Watergate: The Scandal That Brought Down Richard Nixon Watergate.info retrieved December 28, 2006 from   http://www.watergate.info/ Garay, R. WATERGATE   The Museum of Broadcast Communications retrieved December 28, 2006 from http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/watergate/watergate.htm Jackson, B. 1999. A Watergate Legacy: More Public Skepticism, Ambivalence All Politics: CNN Time retrieved December 28, 2006 from http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/watergate/watergate.jackson/index.alt.html Stacks, J. 1994. Victory in Defeat All Politics: CNN Time retrieved December 28, 2006 from http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/gen/resources/watergate/watergate.stacks/index.alt.html Watergate Case Closed retrieved December 28, 2006 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/caseclosed/watergate.shtml

Assignment on Human Trafficking and Prostitution

Assignment on Human Trafficking and Prostitution Human trafficking and prostitution both are not new issues to get noticed. In south Asian countries, human trafficking and prostitution are getting out of focus as if there is no right called human right. Bangladesh is one of the south asian countries where human rights are not developed yet. Human trafficking, especially in children and women, has been increasing in Bangladesh. This criminal business is linked with the globalization and this business is growing across the world. Human trafficking, in fact, is a trade in human flesh, particularly when girls fall prey to it.  [1]  After the trafficking part, prostitution comes in second. Most of the time it has been seen that trafficked women or children works as prostitution in other countries. Some over 25,000 women and children are trafficked out of the Bangladesh to other countries every year, which is very alarming for Bangladesh.  [2]  In terms for human trafficking and prostitution women and children are the most common victims than men. Bangladesh is called a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾sourceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ country as men, women and children from poorer and vulnerable families are collected and smuggled out of India, Pakistan, UAE, Europe, America etc.  [3]   As a developing country Bangladesh is not aware of the Human Right (trafficking or prostitution) which is mandatory for a civilized nation. Bangladeshi government is not taking effective steps to get rid of human trafficking and prostitution problems. In Bangladesh mainly poor people are getting involved into that problem. Lack of proper monitoring, controlling and effective implementation of law against human trafficking and prostitution are the root causes of that problem. There are enough laws in Bangladesh on human rights but most of them are inactive that is why criminals are getting chances to do more crime. Because of poor execution of laws most the victims are not getting right justice. If Bangladesh government takes efficient steps to minimize that problem then the human rights will be survived otherwise proper civilization can not be made for Bangladeshi people. HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND PROSTITUTION IN BANGLADESH Human trafficking involves transporting people away from the communities in which they live by the threat or use of violence, deception or coercion so that they can be exploited as forced or enslaved workers for sex or labor. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved, it is merely the act of transporting them into exploitative work constitutes trafficking.  [4]  The Constitution states that each individual is entitled to choose her own profession/occupation or trade. Taking advantage of the vulnerability of the poverty-stricken or opportunity seeking people, unscrupulous persons (flesh traders) force, entice, lure or sell minors and other gullible persons into prostitution. They make them execute affidavits in front of false magistrates/impersonators stating that they have gone into prostitution of their own volition and they are over 18 years old. Most reports emphasize that, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of children and women being trafficked from Bangladesh into India and other countries. The causes of trafficking and the factors leading to this apparent increases in recent years are multiple and complicated. These factors are embedded within the socioeconomic structure of the country and require an in-depth analysis. According to the trafficking record it has been seen that there are some group which are becoming victims, those groups can be categorized as poor women and children, abandoned women, widows and separated women, girls of broken families, migrants, ethnic minorities.  [5]  Those trafficked victims are used for forced labor (domestic work, farm work, and factory work), forced sexual service (prostitution, barmaids, work in sex tourism industry and pornography), begging, smuggling, organ sale, camel jockeying. In Bangladesh there are some approaches of human trafficking some of those are selling a person by family members, neighbor, and friends, luring out a person with a promise of job or marriage, kidnapping a person. Most of the cases women and children are generally recruited from rural areas or small towns. In the transshipment process they are handed over and taken over by numerous procurers, brokers and intermediaries, usually not known to authorities as ones with criminal. Traffickers usually take help of local people and villagers to identify poor families. Traffickers operate in an internal network having agents make contracts with unsuspecting women and children around bus and train stations. Prostitution is legal in Bangladesh but according to our culture and community system that does not go with Bangladesh. According to the law Female prostitution with minimum age 18 is legal. Male prostitution is illegal. Female prostitution is legal, Male prostitution is illegal, although local NGOs claimed it is common in the major cities. The authorities generally ignored the minimum age of 18, often circumvented by false statements of age, for legal female prostitution. The government rarely prosecuted procurers of minors, and large numbers of underage girls in prostitution worked in brothels. Local NGOs estimated the total number of female prostitutes was as many as 100,000. The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) estimated in 2004 that there were 10,000 underage girls used in commercial sexual exploitation in the country, but other estimates placed the figure as high as 29,000. Trafficking of women internally and internationally remained a problem 6. As many as 10,000 children were used in brothels for commercial sexual exploitation, and procurers of minors were rarely prosecuted. Government corruption greatly facilitated the process of trafficking. Police and local government officials often ignored trafficking in women and children for commercial sexual exploitation and were easily bribed by brothel owners and pimps. Trafficking and Prostitutions Routes in Bangladesh: 6 US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2008 Human Rights Report: Bangladesh, 7 Rahman Mahfuzur , Human Trafficking: Children and Women are the worst victims. (Bangladesh: News Network, 2004). P. 25 Bangladesh and India have 4,222 km of common borders stretching over 28 districts of Bangladesh. According to sources, Brahmanbaria, Chittagong, Chuadanga, Comilla, Coxà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s Bazar, Dinajpur, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Joypurhat, Jushtia, Lalmonirhat, Meherpur, Chapainawabganj, Nilpahar, Panchagarh, Rajshahi and Satkhira are the districts through which children and women are frequently smuggled out of the country. Now this trafficking and prostitution are not included in just India, now speeded in other countries as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan 7. Purposes of Human Trafficking and Prostitution in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is not a developed country so many sufferings are here for people. Poor people suffer a lot as food problem, health problem, sanitation, cloth problem, education problem and some other sufferings, there is no end. From these problems those people get involved in unethical works. Some part of the people take chances of suffered people and use them for trafficking or protection. So the number of trafficked and prostitute are increasing in Bangladesh day by day. Poverty is certainly driving rural young women to cities. They take job in the garment factories or work as housemaids or in any other sectors. Their employers sexually abuse and harass them and finally drive them thus loosing chastity to the profession of prostitution. Prostitution is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. Religion although does not permit prostitution, its law does not prevent a woman from becoming a prostitute if she likes to be. This oldest institution having enrooted deep in the society can not be a bolished overnight. None can, however, define human prostitution simply as the use of sexual responses for an ulterior purpose. This would include a great portion of all social behavior, especially that of women. It would include marriage, for example, wherein women trade their sexual favors for an economic and social status supplied by men. Being repressed under growing economic crises, women and minor girls are forced to engage in prostitution for survival. More and more children are joining this profession. While most of them initiate this profession under the repression of economic hardship they are exposed to several vulnerabilities. They are forced to share their hard-earned money with a third party. Guardian such as elder sisters, brothers, parents are accepting this profession. It is difficult to have the statistics of floating and hotel sex workers since they neither have any particular locations nor do they maintain any registration. It is important to ensure proper implem entation of the laws regarding the rights of the sex workers and to ensure their total liberty so that they can take as many clients as their bodies permit. However, Hotel sex working is an emerging dynamics of sex working in Bangladesh in terms of the rate and volumes with the declining trend of brothel sex with the subsequent eviction of the oldest and biggest brothels in Bangladesh. Law against Human Trafficking and Prostitution: Laws and rules are available in Bangladesh but problem is the execution of law is the main problem. We do not practice what is according to the law and rules. The power of law is bit low here that is why the crime and corruption rates are increasing in Bangladesh day by day. In the case of trafficker and business of prostitution, laws are not becoming very effective against that. Under Bangladeshà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s Suppression of Violence Against Women and Children act (2000) trafficking of women and children is illegal. Harsh penalties are prescribed for traffickers. However, this law is frequently not implemented and fails to safeguard the rights of people who have been trafficked.  [6]   Most of the trafficked women in Bangladesh end up as young prostitutes. Young girls from poor families, lures by offers of jobs, marriage, invariably land into brothels on both sides of the border. According to the suppression of immoral Trafficking Act 1933, provides for punishment for forcing a girl into prostitution. In Section 11 of the Act provides a penalty of maximum three years of imprisonment or fine or both9. RECOMMENDATION Human Trafficking and Prostitution is not a local problem but global problem. Bangladesh government is aware of the problem of trafficking and has taken up measures to prevent it. One such measure is the strengthening of border posts. However, the sheer length of Bangladeshs border with India and Burma makes it impossible to prevent people crossing the borders. Another measure is the strengthening of legislation and increasing punishments for trafficking. There are some steps which can help to minimize the social problem of Human trafficking and Prostitution which are mentioned below: Strengthening laws against unethical works (trafficking, smuggling etc.) Increasing Government monitoring system and controlling system. Permitting more NGOs and social agents to increase awareness (A uniform plan of action on the issue of trafficking of women and children involving the governments and NGOs of the region needs to be developed, so that a coordinated approach toward the conviction of traffickers is possible) Minimizing the rate of corruption and fulfilling the basic rights of human being. Increasing media exposure and social awareness activities.(for example medias reporting and social activities on creation of awareness have been effective in making people aware of the deceptive mechanisms adopted by the agents of trafficking.) Government can take measures by which people have complete control over food and livelihood. Increasing the Awareness-raising Program, Monitoring and Support Services to victims. CONCLUSION The trafficking issue is closely linked with the human rights issue with important ramifications in the area of health, law-enforcing, and socioeconomic development in general. Poverty, attitudes toward women and deeply-entrenched gender discrimination, unemployment, cultural norms about marriage, well-organized national and international networks of traffickers, and weak law-enforcing agencies are few critical factors relating to trafficking of women and children in Bangladesh. This criminal activity cannot be addressed through tougher laws alone. Several legislations, including the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, 2000, already provide penalties for violence against women and children, including trafficking and kidnapping. Yet, implementation of these legislations remains a formidable challenge. In Bangladesh social and economic vulnerability of women and children have left them with only a few options to eke out a livelihood. For that reason crimes are incr easing as well as Environmental degradation, ecological erosion all these systems further accelerate the process. So the traffickers are taking advantages of that situation also prostitution business is getting higher. The government must take effective measures to defeat the rising problem of human trafficking and prostitution.

1930-1940 Essay -- Essays Papers

1930-1940 The 1930s brought a very turbulent time to the United States. As a result of the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the nation was experiencing a severe depression. There were hard class divisions dividing the nation. People were either extremely rich or extremely poor. The middle class simply did not exist (Bondi 97). On March 4, 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office with the promise of hope and relief for struggling Americans. Roosevelt followed up his promise for help with the New Deal, his plan to combat the depression. The New Deal involved the three R’s: relief, recovery and reform. It included measures concerning banking, securities, industry, and agriculture (Bondi 97). Roosevelt won reelection in 1936 and the economy was on an upswing thanks to the New Deal. However, in 1937-1938, the economy began to waver again. At the end of the decade, employment rates went up thanks to federal jobs. These federal jobs included workers building roads, bridges, and public buildings (Bondi 97). In addition, the rise of unemployment and the lack of job security brought on the rise of organized labor. When the Great Depression struck, only five percent of the workforce was unionized. However, when the decade ended that number nearly tripled and over ten million workers in the United States belonged to a labor union (Brittanica). During the 1930s the world experienced many hardships just as the United States. The Great Depression was not only a problem in the United States, but it was a global problem. In nineteen thirty-two, six million people were unemployed in Germany and three million in Britain (Freeman 3). These depressions may have led to the increase in dictatorships. Both Hitler and Stalin came into power in the 1... ...measures to ensure that women and men sat on opposite sides of the classroom while attending class together. Again, the mingling of men and women was a great concern to the University (Schweikart 9-10). Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever shows the perception of women in the 1930s. Women had just gained the right to vote, but in society the role of the woman had not changed much since the late eighteen hundreds. Women were still expected to be proper and remain pure and innocent. Roman Fever portrays these feminine qualities. Roman Fever has many of the same qualities as Henry James’ short story, "Daisy Miller." Both are written about women who ignore the rules that society has placed on them. It seems Edith Wharton was commenting on women who sinned and the consequences that they will face. In the nineteen thirties, women were to be proper and stay away from such dangers.

Willa Cathers Death Comes for the Archbishop :: Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop - A Powerful Non-Novel Responding to the criticism that Death Comes for the Archbishop is not a novel, Willa Cather proposed that the work was a narrative. Her choice of the word narrative signifies that the structure of Death Comes for the Archbishop is closer to that of a biography. A narrative is a type of composition used to recount events over a period of time and can incorporate description as well plot, but it does not necessarily have to. Death Comes for the Archbishop follows the guidelines of a narrative in that it recounts the events of Father Latour's life, beginning when he is appointed to New Mexico and ending with his death. Cather incorporates description into her narration, but does not offer dramatic plot structure. A novel utilizes the elements of narration, specifically including description and plot. Novels also incorporate a climax to the story along with denouement. Plot is unfolded by the actions, speech and thoughts of a character. It is these actions that lead to the climax and the resolution of the story. Based upon the guidelines used to classify a novel, Death Comes for the Archbishop does not meet the requirements and is therefore not a novel. Her work tells a story, but does not offer plot, climax or resolution. The events that are recounted in Cather's work do not build upon each other in order to offer a climax. Each event is no more significant than the one before it; for example, Cather places just as much emphasis on Latour's relationship with Olivares as he does with helping Sade pray (p 175, 213). While the events themselves do not add up to create the dramatic plot structure necessary to call Death Comes for the Archbishop a novel, each individual event experienced by Latour, is in itself a story that includes both climax and resolution. An example of this is Father Latour's death. It begins with him getting sick and living his last days, building up to his final moments and culminating in his death. The resolution to this individual event is the bell tolling and Latour being placed in the church he built. Each event in Latour's life does have plot and resolution, creating difficulty in not calling it a novel. However, if the work is examined as a whole piece, from beginning to end, it is evident that while it fits the boundaries of narration, it does not meet the qualifications of a novel.

A Definition of Organizational Culture Essay

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. Seven primary characteristics seem to capture the essence of an organization’s culture 1.Innovation and risk taking The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks. 2.Attention to detail The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis and attention to detail. 3.Outcome orientation The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them. 4.People orientation The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization. 5.Team orientation The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. 6.Aggressiveness The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing. 7.Stability The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth. Creating and Sustaining Culture An organization’s current customs, traditions, and general way of doing things are largely due to what it has done before and how successful it was in doing it. This leads us to the ultimate source of an organization’s culture: its founders. Free of previous customs or ideologies, founders have a vision of what the organization should be, and the firm’s small size makes it easy to impose that vision on all members. Culture creation occurs in three ways. First, founders hire and keep only employees who think and feel the same way they do. Second, they indoctrinate and socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling. And finally, the founders’ own behavior encourages employees to identify with them and internalize their beliefs, values, and assumptions. When the organization succeeds, the founders’ personality becomes embedded in the culture. Keeping a Culture Alive Once a culture is in place, practices within the organization maintain it by giving employees a set of similar experiences. The selection process, performance evaluation criteria, training and development activities, and promotion procedures ensure those hired fit in with the culture, reward those who support it, and penalize those who challenge it. Three forces play a particularly important part in sustaining a culture: selection practices, the actions of top management, and socialization methods. 1.Selection The explicit goal of the selection process is to identify and hire individuals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully. The final decision, because it’s significantly influenced by the decision maker’s judgment of how well the candidates will fit into the organization, identifies people whose values are essentially consistent with at least a good portion of the organizations. 2.Top Management The actions of top management also have a major impact on the organization’s culture. Through words and behavior, senior executives establish norms that filter through the organization about, for instance, whether risk taking is desirable, how much freedom managers give employees, what is appropriate dress, and what actions earn pay raises, promotions, and other rewards. 3.Socialization No matter how good a job the organization does in recruiting and selection, new employee’s need help adapting to the prevailing culture. That help is socialization. For example, all Marines must go through boot camp, where they prove their commitment and learn the â€Å"Marine way.† New recruits go to an internal Web portal to learn about the company and engage in some activities that help them understand the culture of the organization. After they start work, they continue to learn about the organization through an ongoing social networking application that links new workers with more established members of the firm and helps ensure that culture is transmitted over time. Why is culture important? Culture can affect business outcomes in a number of ways, both positive and negative. For example, cultures that are not aligned with corporate strategy can lead to decreased loyalty, a lack of motivation, and high employee turnover. Healthy cultures, however, impart pride and a sense of purpose to employees, leading to increased productivity and a greater understanding of corporate goals, as with the employee at the car manufacturing plant. Strategy, operational performance, and culture are all strongly related. High-performing companies often view culture as an enabler of strategy and performance, and want to create a culture that will support and enable employees in achieving those goals. Define and Establish Cultural Diversity A typical organization has an extensive range of people who have cultural and personal differences. A small business interested in fostering cultural diversity among its employees endeavors to create mutual respect for the different cultures, along with enabling personnel to reach their full potential. Acknowledging diverse cultures enables the organization to positively influence the organizational behavior that, in turn, enhances the performance and image of the organization. The business should portray the cultural diversity aspect of the organization in the mission statement. The Positive Influence of Cultural Diversity in Organizational Behavior Cultural diversity involves the differences in the composition of members of an organization in terms of nationality, race, color, gender, creed, religion or age, in other words, an array of culture found among people from diverse backgrounds. Organizational behavior refers to the nature of interactions among people and groups within an organization. The positive influence of cultural diversity facilitates members of the organization to build relationships and acknowledge each other regardless of their differences of origin and background. Transforming Organizational Behavior The patterns of behavior in the organization are influenced by the nature of interactions and degree of diversity within the organization. The business,  therefore, should seek to create an organizational culture that not only enhances the diversity of its workforce composition but also boosts individual performance. The positive influences of cultural diversity not only enable the organization to increase the scope of its reach the business also receives favorable exposure from every sector of the population due to its multicultural approach. Sustaining Positive Influence Programs Programs for positive influence should always be adjusted to suit the dynamic nature of interactions among people. Establish regular forums and educational programs in which participants are trained to be sensitive to and appreciate cultural diversity, as well as in maintaining desirable organizational behavior. Regularly post motivational quotes and messages of cultural diversity on public bulletin boards. Concentrate on creating programs that internalize cultural diversity into the organization’s behavior.