GORE TEX Essay Example for Free

GORE TEX Essay Gore-Tex is a multinational textile company. It was first founded by Bill and Vieve Gore as W.L. Gore Associates in 1958. The company started with serving the electronic products market. In 1969, Bob Gore independently discovered expanded polytetrafluoroethylene and introduced in the market as Gore-Tex. In today’s date Gore-Tex is more focused on electronics, fabrics, industrial and medical products. It is a company that keeps on sustain its business with innovative design and improving the quality and service by understanding customer’s need and requirement. It is one of the 200 largest privately held U.S. companies. It has also been awarded as 21st best place to work in overall â€Å"100 best companies to work for in United States† in 2013. As it is a multinational company it has revenue of $ 3 billion and overall 10,000 employees working for the company all over the world. (Gore, 2013) As we look into the company they function in a very unique way. They follow the inversion of traditional management principal through which there are no manager, bosses and fixed assigned job. They only have leaders that they have to follow as per their wish and contribute their knowledge and skills to make the project successful. At Gore-Tex people are free to come up with their own ideas and innovation. As there is no position hierarchy they are all fair to each other. They also encourage each other to grow in knowledge and responsibility as they believe growth within the staff member will help in the growth of a company. Gore-Tex Company once has hired outsider to work on project which had a negative impact on the company, they had to bring their existing staff member from other branch to help them improve. When associates are hired, they are guided by sponsor, growing understanding of opportunities and team’s goal. This all happens in an environment that combines freedom w ith cooperation and autonomy with synergy. (Gore, 2013) So, Building trust and organizing team work with the  employees is the one of the key success factor of the company. Leader at Gore-Tex â€Å"Leadership is a process whereby an individual influence’s a group of individual to achieve a common goal’’ (Northouse, 2013). At Gore-Tex Company there is fairness among all the leaders and associates. The leaders in Gore-Tex consult with other associates within the company before undertaking any action that would impact the company’s reputation. They have different types of leader some are leaders of project, some are team leader. When an individual survey was done at Gore 50% of the associates said they are leaders. Leaders at Gore are followers as well. They believe to be a leader you need to be a follower as well. Leaders can’t be leader without having any followers. As a leader when they come up with their innovative design they share with the associates and convince them to follow them. The leader can only influence people to follow them if they have earned respect with their knowledge and skills. The company believes that one should be able to convince other associates if they want to come up a leader. In other word they should earn their position as a leader. Being a leader in Gore-Tex is hard as compared to other organisation. In other companies they have their positional power as a leader. When it comes to Gore-Tex they should be able to convince their follower to maintain their position (Hamel, 2010). We can see there is a very high level of trust within the leader and associates in the organization. As today they may be the leader but tomorrow they will another leader. The leader of the team is also elected from the team member itself. The leader is not chosen to command the team members, but to act as the representative of the team and to create coordination among them to achieve goal. Leaders in Gore-Tex are seemed to be transformational leadership as they are energetic, enthusiastic and passionate and they seemed to be concerned about the growth of their team members. (Cherry, 2013) They are also emergent leaders as they are emerged with respect to the respond they get from group of employees that work in Gore-Tex. â€Å"When others perceive an individual as the most influential member of group or an organization, regardless of the individual’s title, the person is exhibiting emergent leadership†. (Northhouse, 2013) As we looked into the case study we can identify that company operates in a very distinctive way. There are no  managers or bosses in the company but only leaders and associates. When an independent survey was done 50 % of Gore’s associates said that they all are leaders. In Gore Individual employee become leader by convincing other associates about their ideas. They create their own idea and share among the associates and the people who believe in the idea will support and follow them. There are different types of leadership styles and theories like Transactional and Transformational. When we look into transactional leaders there are usually rewarding and punishment. Although the performance is based on the followers, both leaders and associates maintain their relation as give and take. When someone performs well then they will be rewarded and if they are not performing properly they will be punished. (Cherry, 2013) â€Å"Transformational leadership is the process whereby a person engages with others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and mora lity in the leaders and the followers†.(Downton, 1973) The concept of Transformational leader was introduced by James Burns, he explained Transformational leader are those who come up with their own creative ideas and innovation which will help to lead the top level management of an organization to achieve similar goal. It is also a process that changes, transforms people, concerns with emotion, values ethics, standard and long-term goal (Northouse, 2013). As in Gore-Tex there is no layer of positioning among the staff members. They have different team and the team are led by team members. They all show the characteristics of transformational leadership. They come up with their own ideas and strategy which they put among their associates and convince them to follow. Not only ideas, but the contribution or effort they put will help them to show the direction through which they can achieve goal. Comparing with the case study we can see that Gore-Tex influence there associates to come up with their idea and lead the group. Unlike in other company, associates in Gore-Tex do what is beneficial for the overall company. There is no pressure or fixed job assigned to the associates. So, they have to be leader when they come with their own innovative ideas. There is high level of trust among the employees within the company, which will help the leader to convince their follower. It is also said to be a leader you need to be a follower as well. We can also see when an associate come with a new idea, they share with everyone so that other employee interested in the idea will support and contribute. As a leader in Gore-Tex you should understand that their job is to unite team member and organize them to accomplish the objective. As we look into the Managerial Grid it helps us to give the idea about how leaders will help an organization to achieve its goal. This model is based on two factors that are â€Å"Concern for production† and â€Å"Concern for the people†. This theory was introduced by Blake Mouton, where they stated that leaders are likely to be successful if there is a balance between concern for people and the common objective. It can also be taken as a graphical plot where leader should evaluate the importance of task and the employees. As shown in the above figure leader’s behaviour are separated in two dimension, concern of the production fall in x-axis and concern of people falls in y-axis. It helps us to show the different leadership style followed by the leaders. The managerial grid also helps us to rate the leaders according to their orientation towards the production and the people. The leaders who values the importance of their team and is also focused in the personal growth of their team members while moving forward towards the objective belongs to the concern for people. Similarly, the leaders who are more focused towards achieving the concrete objective falls in concern for the production. There are different types of leadership style shown by the Managerial Grid. They are as follows: 1) Country club leadership (1,9) :- In this leadership style, leaders are usually focused in the maintaining their relationship with their people. They are more concerned about the creating a friendly and pleasant working environment. In this leadership style the outcome level of production in low. 2) Produce or perish leadership (9,1):- In this leadership style, leaders basically focused on their work to be completed. There are less bother about the employees need and their personal development. Their main target is to achieve the objective. In this style the production will be high and the concern for the people will be less. 3) Impoverished leadership (1,1):- In this type of leadership, leader is neither much interested in maintaining relationship with people nor concerned about the production. This type of leadership style will lead towards less production and low satisfactory level of their people. It is likely to result in failure or dissatisfaction. 4) Middle of the Road Leadership (5,5):- In this leadership style, leader tries to balance both the relation with employees and production. These kinds of leaders are average performers as they tries to maintain and compromise both the concerning factors. 5) Team leadership (9,9):- The leaders are highly focused on maintaining both the production and satisfaction level of the people. This type of leadership will lead towards high production and satisfaction level. These leaders are also successful leader as they balances the both concerning factors to the maximum level. This kind of leadership will helps organization to achieve its objective. When we look into the case study we can see that leaders in Gore-Tex are highly focused in maintaining the outcome of production and the relation of their fellow employees. They also have a strong relationship between the company and the associates. The member of the team is also focused towards reaching their target. The team leader will balance everything thing in a very high level. They will increase the production as well as help their people in the personal growth. As we know the (9,9) managerial grid explains that the employees understand the value of the organizations objective and is determined to achieve it. So, these characteristics can prove that, leaders in Gore-Tex belong to the (9,9) Team management where leaders are highly concern about the production and their people. Motivation at Gore-Tex â€Å"Getting the best from people, achieving results through individuals and teams, maintaining consistent high performance, inspiring oneself and other into action is known as motivation† (Adair, 2004) In Gore-Tex motivation has been another key factor for the success of their business. They motivate their staff members by encouraging them to work in their own interested areas. The associates are allowed to choose their own work field. If you work at Gore-Tex you are not paid for your work but for the contribution you have made towards the project. In Gore-Tex the associates will evaluate the contribution made by their colleagues and hence the earning is determined. This will lead to self-motivation where all the associates will be satisfied and there won’t be any discrimination. If Gore-Tex makes more profit than the company’s expectancy, it is divided among the leader and the associate though which can motivate staff member to be more focused towards their work. Another motivating factor at Gore-Tex is there is no restriction for anything. The information freely flows within the organization and anyone can directly contact anyone and get what they needed to be successful. (Hamel, 2010)Bill Gore was influenced by the theory of Douglas McGregor, â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise†. It explained the theory X as the traditional view of direction and control and theory Y as the integration of individual and organizational goals. (Hamel, 2010) Douglas McGregor has developed the above theory X and theory Y based from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In this theory he explains that management should be aware of this given factors to motivate their employees. Both the theories have factors that belong to human behaviour, but if the management choose the theory Y rather than theory X then they will have a better result. (Adair,2004) This theory simply explains the human behaviour at their work place and towards their organization. Theory X:- Theory X explains that the human behaviour will try to ignore the work and will try to negotiate as much as possible. The reason for them to dislike or avoid the work is because they are controlled, pressurized, directed or used them to provide the adequate effort towards the organizational goal. As the employee is not willing to take the responsibility, a close supervision is required in form of supervisors and manager. When manager and supervisors take their action they mostly use directive style. In this way the employee will lose their working ambition. Theory Y:- This theory explains that supervision, punishment, control are not only the factors that will make people to add effort in their work to achieve the organizational goal. If people are committed to the work then they will be give their best without anyone supervision. It also says that average employee will not only accept the responsibility but they will look for more responsibilities. The people have their own style of creativity and understanding. Organization should be able to use people the creativity, skills as a means of resource and solve their problem. According to the case study, In Gore-Tex they are free to choose and work in their interested areas. There is no specific job assigned by their leader it’s only the contribution they make towards their work. They don’t have any form of close supervision to control them. There are only leaders and they help to guide them in moving forward towards their goal. The Gore-Tex follows theory Y as their motivating factor. People in Gore-Tex are highly motivated as there is independence in work and the environment within the company helps them to be responsible and to seek more responsibility. Groups, Teams and Team leaders at Gore-Tex â€Å"A group of individual who are united to achieve a common objective that is too large to achieve by single individual is known as team† (Boller, 2005). Team work is required in each and every business organisation. In Gore-Tex Team work Play a vital role in functioning and operating of the business. The team member in Gore-Tex plans own way of functioning, objectives and plans to achieve the goal. The team members are the ones who elect their leader. Although leaders will help them to facilitate the achievement of objective, the team member will have the knowledge of the product they are working on. In Gore- the team members will decide the earning of the colleagues according to the contribution they have made towards the project. If an employee is interested in a project and feels like they can contribute, the team members will discuss the commitment and decide their involvement in new team. The team members directly communicate between themselves easily and are aware of the changes happening in the company. Gore-Tex is a team based, Flat Lattice Organization where all team members are equally responsible to help each other to gain the objective. (Gore, 2013) Team work has always played a vital role in each and every organization. Team works helps the work to be more efficient, convenient, faster and easier. It also helps the work level to be divided among all the team members so that an individual alone will not be pressurized. An effective team work will lead an organization towards its goal. Now-a-days each and every organization is focused in creating effective teams. Teams are usually build with respect, trust, understanding and similar goals. A team can only be effective if each and every member of team contributes equally. There are different types of team according to its nature. They are as follows: 1) Functional teams 2) Cross functional teams 3) Self-directed teams 1) Functional teams: These are the teams that work on particular department with the vertical layers. These are the team that has a manager and his fellowship of a particular sector. For example, a team working on a marketing sector consists of a manager and the staff members who will be focused in marketing department only. Basically it is a layer of staff members from different hierarchy functioning together in particular sector to achieve a goal. 2) Cross-functional teams: The expertise of different department but will come and work together as a team to achieve the organization goal are known as Cross-functional team. The cross functional team are usually temporary. They have specialized skills and experience. They are bought together to achieve or complete a particular task. 3) Self-directed teams:- These are the team that works without any supervision. These team take relative action themselves to solve day to day problems. These team members also have access to information that helps them in making decision, operating day to day function and improving their operation. When we compare the different types of team with the case study we can see that the teams in Gore-Tex fall into self-managing team. They team member in Gore-Tex are self-responsible for the functioning and operating of the business. They don’t need any supervision and they are also allowed to access to all the information. The teams in Gore-Tex are also independent as they have greater flexibility. In Gore-Tex the team member has better response for their work done. It will help to increase more commitment towards their work and organization. We can also see that associates in Gore-Tex are self-motivated and they don’t depend on anyone. Recommendation Conclusion:- From the above study we can see that in Gore-Tex leaders are using transformational leadership style to lead their people. They have been successful in motivating their staff to meet the company’s objective. Although we can see that in Gore-Tex they don’t assign any particular work for their associates the company is still doing well. They believe there should be trust and understanding between the team members. The leader leading the team should be admired by their followers. The leaders also influence and help their associate in their personal development. The team members are self-motivated and help each other to function properly. We can also acknowledge that Gore-Tex has a very distinctive working environment. Although they are successful in running their business they should still maintain some rules and regulation within the organization. They should also create a hierarchy level because money is not only the motivating factor. Employee can get motivated by their job position. As there is no seniority level in the company and if they hire a new staff member they might have misunderstanding which may lead to divided teams within the organization. As Gore-Tex is multinational company and they have branches in different part of the world. So, they should adjust their company’s policy putting diversity factors in account. They should at least have a department head that should be responsible for running day- to day operation. Gore-Tex doesn’t assign any task to their associates which may lead into missing of the task that was supposed to be competed. As in Gore-Tex people get paid according to amount of contribution they make towards their work. This sometime may be demotivating as the associates may not be satisfied with the  money they received for they contribution they made to complete the task. In overall, Gore-Tex should have a layer of hierarchy. They should also maintain some regulation which should be followed by all the associates. They should also introduce some professionalism such as formal communication in their organization. They use transformational leadership which might not work in each and every situation. As they are free to choose their task, associates who doesn’t like challenges will always choose easier task. So, the task level should be equally divided. References:- Gore-Tex company information available at www. gore.co.uk Gore-Tex leadership Style available at www.gore.co.uk Peter G. Northouse, (2013) leadership: theory and practice. 6th edition, California; Sega publications Neil Thomas Ed, (2004) The John Adair handbook of Management and leadership. Thorogood Garry Hamel, (2010) Innovation Democracy: W.L Gore’s original management model available at www.managementexchange.com Kendra Cherry,(2013) transformational leaders available at www.psychology.about.com Leadership image available at www.google.co.uk

Similarities Between Judaism And Christianity Religion Essay

Similarities Between Judaism And Christianity Religion Essay The creation of the universe still remains a mystery to many of us. Almost all mankind is obsessed with trying to discover how the creation of everything that exists came about. Some are convinced about the divine existence of God while others are atheist. The religious people are also faced with many differences and disagreement about the existence and the nature of the real God. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast two specific characteristics that are evident in Christianity and Judaism. As much as there are differences between the two religious groupings, there are also similarities between them. This is because, Christianity emerged and protested from Judaism, but it is not a continuation of Judaism as some people would suppose it to .Therefore, there are various characteristics that makes the two different. The first characteristic is how they define sin and the second is how they define atonement and religious human intercession. Similarities Between Judaism and Christianity Both religions define sin as rebellion, and God has made his will to be known to all people through His word. Acting contrary to this set will against God is a sin. Although Wyschogrod states that Judaism doesnt take the consequences of sin seriously, Plantinga feels Christians should go back to their original religion so that they can understand the consequences of sin. Therefore, both believe that sin has its consequences. God is all powerful and supreme, the only thing he can do is to allow people to sin but he limits the freedom. One of the reasons for allowing the people to sin is so as He can demonstrate his will and achieve his objectives; which could be to demonstrate his love since his lover supersedes his hatred. Therefore both religions believe that God is a God of mercy. God has provided atonement in order to reconcile all his people with him. This shows that whenever people are engaged in sin and have a deep repentance for it, there is a way out for both religions. This cleanses and erases all the sins and the makes man right with God. They both believe that in order to be forgiven, faith must be incorporated with the atonement. Since there is a continuous behavior of rebellion, both religions believe that they live under two principles which include being loyal to God and being rebellious. Therefore, sin is a continuous process and cannot be avoided by any human being.Because of this repentance must be done regularly. Differences in Judaism and Christianity In regard to Sin, Christianitys center of attention is found on The Original Sin which is the sin that committed by Adam and Eve while they were in the Garden of Eden and continues on from that generation to this generation we are living today .While Judaisms center of attention on Sin which means the continuous sins committed after a person is born, thus proving that at birth a person is with no sin. Therefore, according to Judaism, repentance is done for disobedience done either intentionally or unintentionally after the person is born while for Christianity, repentance is done for an entire persons life since his birth even to the extend of repenting the sins of a former generation. While reviewing the Holy Bible in Genesis chapter 3, the two religions interpret this differently. According to the Christian perspective, when Adam and Eve sinned, the glory of God in them was taken away, thus making the whole creation perverted. While in Judaism, when Adam and Eve sinned, God made them to suffer the consequences by only chasing them out of the Garden of Eden but never meant that sin will follow their forthcoming generation. Christianitys element of redemption that is meant to return the glory of God which was lost after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden is only through Jesus Christ who is claimed to be God in the flesh and a part of the Holy trinity, cleanses the sins of the whole world for those who accept this redemption. The Judaism element of redemption is done through is through prayer which cleanses the sin impartially, and full cleansing is done after they ask for forgiveness from the people. According to Judaism Jesus was just a good man and was not reincarnation of God into mankind, he has no powers to save souls as Christianity perceives and believes it to be, and he never resurrected from the dead. Since piece has never reigned in this world. Judaism has never approved Jesus as the Prince of Peace and the Messiah. They claim that the Prince of Peace shall rule the world later and peace shall dominate this whole world. But Christianity believes Jesus as the Prince of peace and the promised Messiah and all them that accept this divinity have peace in their minds and souls. Furthermore, Judaism continues to state that God is one. God cannot be made of three parts which are termed as the Holy trinity, even though Christianity claims it to be a mystery. They claim that this can be compared to pagans who worship many god and that the capacity of claiming that God is in three parts diminishes the preeminence of his power. Therefore, it has no room for Jesus having a position of being God the Son. This is opposed by Christianity since according to the Bible in the Book of John 1:1, 14 which claims that In the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us in this world. As much as there are differences and similarities, only time can tell since Christianity is based on faith. There is no religion that can be placed above the other. Its hard for worshipers also to judge themselves since they can not identify and accept easily their shortcomings since it may be to their disadvantage. Therefore, judgment is left to God alone.

The Primary Method Of Maintaining Organizational Culture Commerce Essay

The Primary Method Of Maintaining Organizational Culture Commerce Essay Explain the primary methods of maintaining organizational culture. What can management do to create a more ethical culture? Organizational Culture refers to the shared values, beliefs and assumptions of how members of an organization are expected to behave The values that characterize an organisation. In essence, how an organization functions and gives meaning to its way of doing things is the purpose and function of culture, and this helps to foster internal integration, bring staff members from all levels of the organization much closer together, and enhances their performance. It is sometimes argued that an organizations current customs, traditions and general way of doing things can be due to what it has done before and the successes experienced. Culture is believed to always mainly go through a three way creation process, which starts with the recruitment stage, where management employs individuals who think and feel the way they do. The recruits are then indoctrinated and soci alized according to the way of thinking and feeling of the organization. And the third stage is where managements own behaviors act as a role model that encourages employees to identify with them thereby internalizing their beliefs, values and assumptions. This is why the founders of an organization traditionally have a major impact on that organizations early culture. Also, as much as culture-creation is important, much of the work usually lie with managements strategies in place to maintain the existing culture. 2.0 Methods of maintaining organizational culture As already mentioned, culture creation is one thing and its maintenance is another. Once the culture has been established and recognized in an organization, there are certain practices within the organization that should act to support and maintain it. These practices are deemed crucial to the maintenance of culture and they include the selection practices of management, actions of the top management team, and socialization methods. The selection process includes identifying and hiring individuals who have the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the jobs within the organization successfully. This process provides information to applicants about the organization. With the information available, candidates will be able to learn about the organization and, if they perceive a conflict between their values and those of the organization they can quit out of the selected pool. Also, actions of the executive management team have a major impact on the organizations culture. Most times an organizations executive management team establishes norms that filter down through the organization through what they say, as to whether risk taking is desirable; how much freedom managers should give their employees; what is considered an appropriate dress; what actions will pay off in terms of pay rises, promotions and other rewards. But no matter how good a job the organization does in recruiting and selecting new employees, th ese employees will always find it difficult to be fully indoctrinated in the organizations culture if there is no appropriate socialization and this has to do with the third aspect. In essence, the organization would want new employees to adapt to its culture. Socialization involving adaptation is when the organization tries to mold an outsider into an employee. This action further contributes towards the maintenance of an organizational culture. 3.0 How Management can create a more Ethical Culture The culture-creation stage is very important to any organization. How management create a more ethical culture is crucial to the sustainability of the organizational culture. Like I mentioned earlier, the process of culture-creation is believed to happen in three ways. But in all of these, management plays a leading role. Most times employees behaviors are primarily influenced by the behaviors of an organizations management team. From the onset, management can reduce ethical ambiguities through appropriate communications to the employees, the organizations code of ethics and ethical expectations. This code of ethics is expected to include the organizations primary values and the ethical rules that employees are expected to follow. Additionally, management can provide training on ethical issues which can be used to reinforce the organizations standards of conduct, to make certain clarifications on the does and donts and to address possible ethical dilemmas. It is important that management consider rewards to employees for good ethical acts and likewise punish for nonconformance. These actions of management most times prove successful in helping to create a more ethical culture in organization. Question 2: Define the merits of the Mckinsey 7-S Framework for use as an assessment tool and discuss what you think is missing in the basic 7-S Framework. Answer 1.0 Introduction The Mckinsey 7-S framework is an assessment tool developed to diagnose the causes of organizational problems and to formulate programs for improvement. What this model is saying is that for an organization to perform well, there are seven elements that needs to be aligned and mutually reinforced. The model helps to identify what needs to be realigned to improve performance. This 7-S framework model was first mentioned in a publication titled, Art of Japanese Management by Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos in 1981 whiles they were investigating how Japanese industries had been successful. Around this same time, two leading management consultants, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman of the Mckinsey Company Consulting Firm were also exploring what made a company excellent. Out of the works of these four scholars, the 7-S model was eventually born. After it reappeared in Peters and Watermans famous publication, In Search of Excellence, it was taken up as a basic tool by the Global Management Consultancy Company Mckinsey. Ever since then, it became the famous Mckinsey 7-S Model. This model involves the seven interdependent factors outlined below. Shared Values (also known as superordinate goals) The shared values element refers to the central beliefs and attitudes of the organization what the organization stands for, its core values and its corporate/team culture. Shared values or superordinate goal are the core values of the company that are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work ethic. These goals are the fundamental ideas around which a business is built. They can also be seen as the blood notions for future directions of the organization. Placing superordinate goals at the center of the model indicates that these values crucial to the elements of all the other critical elements. The companys structure, strategy, staff, styles and skills all stem from why the organization was originally created and what it stands for. This is because the initial vision of the company was formed from the values of the creator and as the values change it affects the other elements also. Structure (how the organization is structured) This element explains how the company/team is divided, how the team members organize and align themselves, the communication lines, and the organizational hierarchy. In such, the structure element refers to the way in which the organizations units relate to each other. It has to do primarily with arrangements about report relationships, line of communication, rules and procedures which exist to guide the various activities performed by various hierarchical position in the organizational structure. It more or less refers to the formal relationship among various positions and activities performed in the organization. Strategy How an organization intends to achieve its objective is very important. Also, how its strategies are adjusted for environmental issues and to deal with competitive pressure is equally important. Strategy here refers to plans for the allocation of a firms scarce resources over time to reach desired goals. Strategies are long-term objectives of the organization devised to maintain and build competitive advantage over the competition. Style (style of leadership adopted in an organization) The style of leadership in any organization is also crucial to the success of that organization. This specifically refers to the cultural style of the organization and how key managers behave to achieving the organizational goals. It is the pattern of the management team and the tool they use to bring about organizational changes. Staff (employees and their general capabilities) Also important is the staffing issue. This refers to the number and type of personnel used by the organization. Staffing is the process of acquiring human resources for the organization and assuring that they have the potential to contribute to the achievement of the organizational goals. It involves the selection, placement, training and development of appropriate and qualified employees. Systems It is always important to consider the systems that run an organization as vital in the 7-S model. This shows the procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work is done in the organization. Every organization has a system of operation. It refers to the rules, regulations, procedures that compliment the organization structure. Depending on the size and type of organization, there could be financial system, recruitment, promotion and performance appraisal system, capital budgeting system, training and development system, information system, etc. Skills Skills specifically points out to the distinctive capability of the personnel or the organization as a whole. The strongest skills represented within the company can make a difference in its success. It is important to know whether the current employees/team members have the ability to do the job as expected and how are the skills monitored and assessed to determine whether there are gaps. 2.0 The Seven Elements Categorized As already stated above, the Mckinsey 7-S Model involves seven interdependent factors, which can be categorized as either Hard or Soft elements (see table below). Hard Elements Soft Elements Systems Staff Strategy Shared Values Structure Skills Style 2.0 What is missing in the 7-S Model A careful study of the Mckinsey 7-S Model reveals that it only provides an internal analysis of an organization. That means, the external environment is not mentioned in the 7-S model. Question 3: How can you personally reduce prejudice in this world? Discuss the problems of prejudice in the work place and provide one example of how you can change this. Answer 1.0 Introduction Prejudice refers to a situation where one makes a basic facts are available. It is a discriminatory attitude that keeps people from dealing with a person or a situation objectively. That is, it blocks your objectivity and causes you to see things not as they are. Today, prejudice in any form, racial or social, is destructive and costly to society and hence every effort must be made to reduce it if not eliminate it. 2.0 How we can personally reduce Prejudice in this world There are many ways we can direct efforts to reducing prejudice in the world. Each of us personally have a responsibility to confront prejudice wherever we sense it and do in our own little way to reduce the level of discrimination in our societies. From the above definition, we can start the job by asking certain questions about ourselves, and quiet literally creating a checklist to challenge our own values and views. Whenever we are tempted with this vice, we must pause to ask ourselves the following questions: Is this true? Area all the facts available? Am I over generalizing? Am I focusing on one or two negative aspects instead of considering the whole picture? Am I labeling this group or person unfairly? One will realize at the end of it all that by just making the first step of looking at and questioning the common sense views we hold about people, groups and cultures would be a major step forward in opening our eyes to our own levels of prejudice and challenging the pre-conceptions we hold. There are many other methods of approaching the reduction of prejudicial behavior. One of these has to do with tolerance, which more or less is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live and let others live. Tolerance refers to our ability to exercise a fair and objective attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, nationality and so on differ from ones own. The approach here is that as individuals, we must continually focus on being tolerant of others in their daily lives. Individuals with religious beliefs can reduce prejudice if they stop following intolerant teachings of religious texts. One example of how we can reduce prejudice in this regard is by reducing our own prejudices thereby reducing prejudice in our communities. Also, our exposure to other cultures, or rather our lack of it, greatly influences our understanding of what is normal behavior and what is not. The fact is that people who strongly identify with their group and have limited exposure to different cultures, people and culture are more likely to consider the values of other groups as alien and therefore be prejudice against them. As an example of how we can help reduce prejudice in this world, we must endeavor to tolerate other cultures that are alien to ours. Others believe that we must try to live as compassionate as possible without sacrificing our principles. 3.0 The problems of prejudice in the work places There are many problems associated with prejudice in our work places. These problems range from racial discrimination to other social issues. In the case of social prejudice, it kills motivation and raises overhead cost of a business. This could be in different forms such as, I am better than them, I come from a better neighborhood, I have a better education and authority and therefore I must make all the decisions, etc. Racial or social prejudice carries a heavy price, lowers efficiency and increases overhead cost. Racial prejudice is more prominent in western countries. In mot cases prejudice create barriers between white-collar and blue-collar employees. One of the harmful things about prejudice in work places is that it kills communications, innovations and many other good attributes that drives a business to success. For instance, departments will limit communication with other departments; craftsmen will consider production workers of low intelligence to name two. At each level, people believe lower levels have low capabilities and this becomes the mindset of the organization. Self-fulfilling prophecy proves everyone right. 3.1 Example of how we can change the problem of prejudice in our work places Lets consider and incident that occurs in one of the outlets of the organization I am working for. It is a health service provider unit that supports health insurance scheme operating in a division within my organization. A patients chart was labeled High Risk in respect of HIV infection and made clearly visible to other patients and other members of staff, an action that the management of our company actually frowned at. On further investigation, we found out that the information had only been put on display because the man was known to be homosexual and so thought of as being at risk from HIV. Everybody, including the nurses started behaving strangely to the patient and in a discriminatory way even before we realized the truth about the matter. I publicly reached out and started encouraging the patient even before I knew the facts. I engaged the patients and it was through this I came to realize that the man was a homosexual and with such information I decided to push for investiga tion on the matter. With this effort the truth was revealed. In another instance, one of our frontline staff at the customer service department had refused to give one of our customers an appropriate attention whilst the man was requesting for his pension payment. Upon inquiry the staff replied to me that he knows the man and that he is a drunker who does not deserve to be treated seriously. Questioning the man, we realized that he knows what he wants and his rights as a customer. After I witnessed a repetition of such behaviors from our frontline staff, I requested Management to design a comprehensive customer service training program for our frontline staff which includes a teaching on how we can reduce prejudice in discharging our official duties. Another effort I am making to change the prejudicial behaviors in our workplaces is through a deliberate effort to encourage colleagues from other religions and tribes. In the case of tribal prejudice, it is so evident in our company but I am making enough effort to reduce it through the making of close friend from other tribes.

Being My Own Advocate :: English Literature Essays

Being My Own Advocate â€Å"Oh my, Lauren, I can’t believe my eyes!† This is all I could hear ringing in my ears when my parents opened my report card. You see, growing up dyslexic, I always needed to work harder, and I did so successfully until I began high school. I never really knew how to be my own advocate; my parents were always there for me. I grew up with private tutors and learning programs throughout my whole life. Being gifted, I was able to compensate until high school. I know we were both overwhelmed when I received my first C on a report card. I kept asking myself over and over again, how could this happen? I knew I learned differently, but for some reason, now things were not going well for me academically. Being accepted into the four year, signature Honors Magnet Global Ecology Program was quite an accomplishment. I thought my strengths in both math and science would help carry me through this rigorous academic curriculum. I was wrong! I hit a brick wall and I hit it hard. Having a parent who was a special educator and dyslexic as well kept me afloat; however, I needed to use the resources available both inside and outside of the school to begin my journey to academic success. It took me until my junior year of high school to understand just how and what I needed to do to be all I could. I learned this the hard way on my own; it cost me admission in to the National Honor Society, being recommended to AP Biology and AP US History. I needed to begin to take charge of my life and set the goals necessary to get back on my feet. I needed to prove to myself that wanting to go on to a pre-med major in college was a possible dream. Junior year, I began listening to those who loved and cared about me first by getting organized, communicating with my teachers, using all the accommodations I was entitled to and, for the first time, attending a resource class. The last step was the hardest for me, I just did not know what to think; what would the other kids say, â€Å"Oh you’re in the stupid class.† â€Å" Why are you in there?† After being in resource class, I realized that it would help become more organized, both in school and out it would help me to find the needed balance between all my classes and all my extra curricular activities. Being My Own Advocate :: English Literature Essays Being My Own Advocate â€Å"Oh my, Lauren, I can’t believe my eyes!† This is all I could hear ringing in my ears when my parents opened my report card. You see, growing up dyslexic, I always needed to work harder, and I did so successfully until I began high school. I never really knew how to be my own advocate; my parents were always there for me. I grew up with private tutors and learning programs throughout my whole life. Being gifted, I was able to compensate until high school. I know we were both overwhelmed when I received my first C on a report card. I kept asking myself over and over again, how could this happen? I knew I learned differently, but for some reason, now things were not going well for me academically. Being accepted into the four year, signature Honors Magnet Global Ecology Program was quite an accomplishment. I thought my strengths in both math and science would help carry me through this rigorous academic curriculum. I was wrong! I hit a brick wall and I hit it hard. Having a parent who was a special educator and dyslexic as well kept me afloat; however, I needed to use the resources available both inside and outside of the school to begin my journey to academic success. It took me until my junior year of high school to understand just how and what I needed to do to be all I could. I learned this the hard way on my own; it cost me admission in to the National Honor Society, being recommended to AP Biology and AP US History. I needed to begin to take charge of my life and set the goals necessary to get back on my feet. I needed to prove to myself that wanting to go on to a pre-med major in college was a possible dream. Junior year, I began listening to those who loved and cared about me first by getting organized, communicating with my teachers, using all the accommodations I was entitled to and, for the first time, attending a resource class. The last step was the hardest for me, I just did not know what to think; what would the other kids say, â€Å"Oh you’re in the stupid class.† â€Å" Why are you in there?† After being in resource class, I realized that it would help become more organized, both in school and out it would help me to find the needed balance between all my classes and all my extra curricular activities.

hera and Zeus :: essays research papers

Throughout the Greek mythology, Zeus has been involved with many women and has faced many resistances from them. Zeus has faced many hurdles not only on his way to become the "king of olympians" but also after that with his relationships with women. Hera, Zeus's last wife , has been directly or indirectly involved in placing most of these hurdles. Of Zeus's seven wives, Hera, also known as Judo, has been the most quarrelsome and mistrustful of her hurband. She was frequently angry and jealous of Zeus's other relationships. In many instances , she has been the source of hurdles in Zeus's relationships with other women.Although described as a sacred marriage, one which was intended to symbolize and promote fertility of crops on earth, since the sky, represented as male, must fertilize the earth through rain in order for life to begin there, thier marriage has never been a smooth one and they have had some bitter fights. In one instance, Zeus hung her out of Olympus with two great weights attached to her feet,and her arms bound by golden chains,as punishment for her having plotted against Hercules.Homer, the author has potrayed the relationship of Zeus and Hera very much like that between a man and a woman. Homer shows how like men and women, even God's lie and decieve and are gullable. In one instance, he shows how , in order to borrow sexual allure from Aphrodite, Hera lies to Aphrodite about going to visit Oceanus and mother Tethys, not telling her original plan of seducing Zeus and making him fall asleep during the war. Then Hera goes to Sleep and asks her for his help and in return of her daughter Pasithea. Since Sleep has always been in love with Pesithea, the greed makes him give in to Hera's request. In this episode, Homer has shown that like humans, greed makes the immortals do things they would not have otherwise done. When Hera finally reaches Olympos, she lies to Zeus too and Zeus gets duped and falls into the trap of her seduction, this epi sode shows how the king of olympians gets decieved and is not able to foresee Hera's plan. In one potrait which shows Zeus's paranoia towards Hera, Zeus is worried about the quarrel with his wife Hera and tries to resist Thetis's plea to help son Archillis and aid Trojans in the war against the greeks.

Relationship between Science and Religion Essay

The article â€Å"Relationship between Science and Religion† outlined the different relationships that the said two domains have had over the years. Historically, religion and science were viewed as strictly separate fields that could not be unified. This view is more popularly known as the conflict thesis . On the other hand, Stephen Jay Gould (1999, quoted in Wikipedia 2007) stated that the two fields could â€Å"co-exist peacefully† if they do not intervene with each other’s business. The article also enumerated different kinds of interactions between the two as presented by Polkinghorne (1998, quoted in Wikipedia 2007). Aside from the constant opposing views regarding the natural world or reality, Polkinghorne illustrated that religion and science may reach a common ground or may even be united with regard to a particular occurrence. After this, the article then went on discussing the early efforts of some religious groups to complement their doctrines with scientific facts. But of course, there were groups, particularly Islam that resisted the proliferation of science in what they believe as sectarian-dominated world. Inevitably, with the advancement of science and fast modernization of societies, there were new groups formed embodying beliefs apart from the fundamentalist view of religion. These groups range from the liberal Enlightenment advocates to non-fundamentalist sects such as Protestant Christian. There were even organizations formed that are not religiously affiliated but perform functions congruent to what religion usually does. Though there were new groups organized, some religion, which date back to ancient times claim that their dogma is capable in adjusting with scientific advancement and this has been actually used by them to explain their own theories toward the strengthening of their own beliefs. The last parts of the article list the varied point of views of scientists toward religion. Some view that religion and science are distinct from each other while others believe that the two could be unified. Others simply believe that the two fields share the same objectives in trying to provide explanation of the happenings in the environment they live in. And also, since religious beliefs are part of cosmos, they can be scientifically tested. Lastly, the article presented studies and findings on relevant issues being tackled. Since the article is not argumentative in nature, it is difficult to determine fallacious statements. The article did not clearly propose or suggest anything nor did it draw any conclusion. It was presented in a seemingly objective manner. I used the words â€Å"seemingly objective† because if one read the paper, it would be observed that the relationship between religion and science were clearly outlined without favoring any of the items. However, as one analyzed the pattern on how the article was written, the biases would be realized. The article enumerated four kinds of interaction between religion and science. However, as the article progresses, only the CONFLICT and INDEPENDENCE kinds of interaction were substantiated. The paper presented early efforts and manifestations of well-established, if not ancient, religious denominations to reconcile the two fields but it failed to elaborate on this matter. The article could have cited instances, findings or any on-going research wherein the two subject matters were integrated. Instead, the article highlighted some points in history when scientific advancements were sanctioned by religious authorities. Moreover, as if strengthening the idea that religion and science are irreconcilable, the article pointed out the formation of non-religious organizations. Though the article presented the â€Å"non-fundamentalist relationship views†, it fell short in showing that the sectarian side is attempting to make a world where they are both accommodated. For example, aside from mentioning the non-sectarian groups, it could have also stated some religious institutions that support scientific and technological development. The second bias that allude to the favoring of the separation of the two domains are the surveys showing that a higher percentage of scientists do not believe in any religious systems. How about presenting data on spiritual leaders who also uphold basic principles of science? Lastly, towards the end of the article, it showed findings on the â€Å"correlation between religiosity and intelligence†. Though this study didn’t categorically stated that those who observe holy practices and those who are strict believers of religious doctrines have low serotonin levels, it seems to create the stigma. If this line of thinking were continuously propagated, many would be discouraged to associate themselves with any religious beliefs. All the biases lean towards the implication that efforts to settle the differences between religion and science should be abandoned. This is what makes the article problematic. At first, the writing tried to present the relationship between the two in an objective way. But it failed because biases were evident. If the author had really wanted his output to be presented objectively, he should have shown the two sides of the coin. For example, he asserted the aggressive progression of science but mentioned only historic accounts on the side of religion. Also, he cited a list of studies disputing the validity of religious co-existence with science, but he again failed to mention the side of religion. Is religion also trying to draw a clear line against science or is it accepting the recent wonders of the latter? Since the author failed to be impartial in writing the article, he should have instead taken a clear-cut position on the issue so readers would be guided in the direction he’s driving at. Bibliography Greene, Perry (1997) Logical Fallacies [Internet], Available from: [Accessed 24 March 2007]. Johnson, George (1998) Science and Religion: Bridging the Great Divide. The New York Times Archives, [Internet], June 30, 1998 Available from: [Accessed 24 March 2007]. Raymo, Chet (1998) Skeptics and True Believers: The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion. New York, Walker and Company. Relationship Between Religion and Science (2007) [Internet]. Available from: < http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Relationship_between_religion_and_science#_note-3> [Accessed 24 March 2007]. Shelp, Earl Edward ed. (1985) Theology & Bioethics Exploring the Foundations & Frontiers II Series. Holland, D. Reidel Publishing Company.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm

In the allegorical novel â€Å"Animal Farm†, author George Orwell reminds us how power can corrupt an individual. â€Å"Animal Farm† tells us about the rebellion of animals against humans. The rebellion is a great success and pigs, being the most intelligent animals, take control. However, as time goes on, life for the other animals becomes worse while the pigs prosper. Orwell based this book on Russian communism and used Stalin as prototype for Napoleon. He also tries to demonstrate that once a person has complete power, that individual will become corrupt and will do anything in order to maintain it. Orwell wanted this novel to be a warning for future societies. An example of that is seen in the character Napoleon who slaughters any animal who openly opposes him. He also uses different methods of psychological manipulation and physical threats to maintain his hierarchy of leadership. Napoleon attempts to maintain his power by threatening animals physically, even slaughtering them. For instance, he slaughtered four pigs that opposed him when he abolished the Sunday Meetings. Napoleon killed them using his dogs because they questioning and criticizing his decisions and leadership. If that continued, other animals would start to analyse the situation and come to the conclusion that Napoleon was in fact a poor and corrupted leader. Napoleon could not let this happen, so he murdered the pigs because they confessed that they had been secretly in touch with Snowball ever since the expulsion, that they had collaborated with him in destroying the windmill, and that they had entered into an agreement with him to hand over Animal Farm to Mr Frederick†. Napoleon also murdered three hens (that had been the ringleaders in the attempted rebellion over the eggs) after they stated that Snowball had appeared to them in a dream and incited them to disobey Napoleon's orders†. However, it is obvious that Napoleon simply decided to get rid of all opposition. Mass murder was not the only physical threat used by Napoleon. At one point in the novel, hens did not wish to give up their eggs to Napoleon, so he cut off their food supply. Napoleon starved the hens because they opposed him, just like the pigs. Orwell tries to show us that once a dictator gains power, he will not accept any criticism or opposition and will simply murder whoever questions his leadership. For example, a Chilean dictator called Augusto Pinochet murdered over forty thousand people during his first month of power simply because they questioned his decisions. But, Napoleon could not always go to extreme measures such as executing the opposition so he employed Squealor to persuade animals through rhetoric. For example, Squealer, Napoleon's right hand, made up a statistic that animals had more oats, more hay and more turnips than they had had in Jones's day. They also worked shorter hours, had better quality drinking water, lived longer, saw an increased number of their young ones survive infancy, had more straw in their stalls and suffered less from fleas†. In combination with complete isolation from other farms, other animals could not prove Squealer wrong so they believed that they actually had a much better life than other farms. In reality, the animals had even lower food rations than those living on other farms. Napoleon also encourages other animals to use Boxer's slogans such as â€Å"Napoleon is Always Right† and â€Å"I Will Work Harder†Ã¢â‚¬ . Boxer is very loyal to Napoleon due to his low intelligence but he is respected by other animals because of his strength and stubbornness. Napoleon knows that animals will listen to Boxer and try to work as hard as Boxer. In this case, Orwell tries to show that dictators carefully control the flow of information and simply block anything that could potentially harm them (a contemporary example is the Chinese government blocking web-sites such as YouTube because they sometimes contain information that the government deems to be inappropriate). However, making up statistics would not be enough to control the animals so Napoleon used patriotic songs and the seven commandments in order to manipulate the animals. He attempted to make the other animals believe that he was the wisest, kindest leader they had. He did it by replacing â€Å"Beasts of England† â€Å"with â€Å"Comrade Napoleon†Ã¢â‚¬ , a song that contains lyrics such as â€Å"Full belly twice a day, clean straw to roll upon; Every beast big and small sleeps at peace in his stall, thou watchest over all, Comrade Napoleon! This song helps Napoleon maintain his leadership as the animals believe every word it says. Another example of biasing the truth is when Squealer explains why pigs take apples and milk. He justifies it by saying â€Å"Milk and apples contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brain-workers. The whole management and organization of this farm depends on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for YOUR sake that we drink that milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! â€Å"† Squealer confuses animals with words such as â€Å"substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig † and then acts on the fear of the fact that Jones may come back, although in reality Jones was on the other end of the country. Dictators such as Stalin justified their actions using reasons similar to Squealer's. These reasons were similar in a way that they acted on people's fears, causing them to believe everything Stalin said. Orwell's novel is based on Russian communism and it criticizes the decisions and methods used by Stalin using Napoleon as a representation of him. However, Orwell also tries to warn future generations. Orwell wanted to show what the future would look like if nobody ever questioned their leaders. He wanted to show that once a person obtained great power, he could become corrupt and a many people would suffer because of it. People need to speak their mind, criticize and question everything their government says, otherwise leaders will not care about their people. But, at some point, people may get tired of totalitarianism and they will rebel against their leaders, just like people did in Egypt. One last thing that Orwell wanted to show is how much propaganda can influence people and how hard it can be to regain freedom of speech using examples of the mass executions of animals and the fact that nobody â€Å"dared to speak his mind â€Å"after this mass slaughter. â€Å"