Will Computers Control Humans In The Future Essays (885 words)

Will Computers Control Humans In The Future? Will computers control humans in the future? People always tend to seek the easy way out looking for something that would make their lives easier. Machines and tools have given us the ability to do more in less time giving us, at the same time, more comfort. As the technology advances, computers become faster and more powerful. These new machines are enabling us to do more in less time making our lives easier. The increased use of computers in the future, however, might have negative results and impact on our lives. In the novel Nine Tomorrows Isaac Asimov often criticizes our reliance on computers by portraying a futuristic world where computers control humans. One of the images which Asimov describes in the book is that humans might become too dependent on computers. In one of the stories, Profession, Asimov writes about people being educated by computer programs designed to educate effortlessly a person. According to the Profession story people would no longer read books to learn and improve their knowledge. People would rely on the computers rather than try to memorize enough to match someone else who knows (Nine Tomorrows, Profession 55). People would not chose to study, they would only want to be educated by computer tapes. Putting in knowledge would take less time than reading books and memorizing something that would take almost no time using a computer in the futuristic world that Asimov describes. Humans might began to rely on computers and allow them to control themselves by letting computers educate people. Computers would start teaching humans what computers tell them without having any choice of creativity. Computers would star t to control humans' lives and make humans become too dependent on the computers. Another point that is criticized by Asimov is the fact that people might take their knowledge for granted allowing computers to take over and control their lives. In a story called The Feeling of Power, Asimov portrays how people started using computers to do even simple mathematical calculations. Over a long period of time people became so reliable on computers that they forgot the simplest multiplication and division rules. If someone wanted to calculate an answer they would simply use their pocket computer to do that (The Feeling of Power 77). People became too independent from the start making them forget what they have learned in the past. People in the story The Feeling of Power would take for granted what they have learned over centuries of learning and chose computers because of their ability to do their work faster. The lack of manual mathematics, which people chose to forget in the story, caused computers to be the ones to solve simple mathematic problems for the people tak ing control of the humans by doing the work for them (The Feeling of Power 81-82). The reliance of computers went to such an extent that even Humans began to use computers in all fields of study and work allowing computers to control their lives by taking over and doing everything for them. According to another story in the book, Asimov also describes how computers would be able to predict probabilities of an event, future. In the story All the Troubles of the World one big computer predicted crime before it even happened, allowing the police to take the person who was going to commit the crime and release him/her after the danger has passed (All The Troubles of The World 144-145). This computer, called Multivac, controlled humans by telling the authorities about who was going to commit a crime causing someone to be imprisoned until the danger has passed. It was the computer that made the decision of someone's freedom or imprisonment and that controlled others to arrest a person it suspected of committing a crime controlling his/her destiny. The decision of imprisoning someone for a crime a person did not commit was all in the hands of a computer. It was the computer that controlled humans and their destiny and controlling other humans who believed in everything that co mputer told them. Multivac could not only predict the future but it also could answer many questions that would normally embarrass people if they would have to

African History essays

African History essays 1. According to Henry Louis Gates, almost 50% of the Afro-American literary tradition was created when its authors and their black readers were either slaves or former slaves. 2. Slave narratives were produced for many reasons. One was to inform others of the hardships that slaves endured. Slaves wanted people to hear their stories, and learn from their experiences. It was believed that in literacy came true freedom for the black slave. This is another reason that so many narratives were written. The only way that slaves could truly be free was to express themselves in their writing. 3. Slave narratives were produced in two ways. One was through the printing press, in which they wrote their stories, and they were put into books or articles. Another was through oral traditions, where their stories were passed along through generations by word of mouth. 4. We teach slave narrative along with American and African-American autobiography because the first narratives laid the groundwork for autobiographies in the future. They set a pattern for first person narratives to come. Also, it gives two different view points for different situations that took place at the same time. It gives us a look at how differently Americans and slaves both reacted to slavery. ...

The criminal justice system in England and Wales Essay

The criminal justice system in England and Wales - Essay Example A comparative learn of two media forms such as newspapers is conducted by means of a simple systematic move toward.This approach occupied taking sections of the articles inside the newspaper and analysing them on a variety of factors such as images, context, lexis, syntax and linguistics. We appreciate images to be any form of graphical in order, context as the major story and the standard ideas it represents, lexis as the actual language used, grammar as the agreement of the lexis and linguistics as verbal communication devices such as influential or informative approaches. Looking at these variables within an piece of writing will enable a contrast to be drawn as it is the resemblances and dissimilarities which help to identify the form which expresses the correct communication and that which expresses the conflicting (Davies, 1998). It is not, debatably, until this procedure has been accepted that it can be said an organisation has urbanized a strategic move toward to commerce with their troubles. We will now go on to effort to show how this procedure has, or has not, been done inside the background of anti-fraud movement inside the Public Sector.To finally arrive at a phase anywhere an organisation can say, "This is our policy" takes a lot of hard labor, soul penetrating and not to talk about analysis. On top of this is the readiness of an organisation to believe the results of this procedure and have the strength to apply this enchantment policy. As mentioned above there is a immense deal of mistake over the idea of a policy and once it has been shaped it then becomes a holy grail, a universal remedy for all troubles. This is not the container. This magic policy is ghostly in nature, ever altering in line with mounting trends and if it is not extravagances so it can be oppose prolific. It is in this light that we will seem at first the Subdivision for Work and Pensions (DWP) and it's policy for contradicts fraud. There have been two chief reports/studies in fresh years, which have wrought the D.W.P.'s anti fraud policy. These are the Scampion Report, collected by John Scampion functioning in combination with Professor Michael Levi, Lecturer of Criminology at Cardiff University. (Scampion 2000) This account mostly deals with organised deception and how it is attempts, but he also looks at the association flanked by the two arms of the analytical process inside DWP, these life form Counter-Fraud Investigation Division, now recognized as Programme Protection Partition and Counter-Fraud Investigation Service and anywhere they sit in family member to one another and counter- fraud activities. The other report was that produced by Lord Grabiner Q.C. that dealt in the major with the relaxed financial system (Grabiner 2000). originally both these papers had a profound result on the approaches and practices of together the deception practioners on the earth and those tasked with created a fraud policy inside DWP. Here was an chance to build on the labor being done to get improved the professionalism of the investigators from side to side the P.I.N.S. programme. Grabiner's account extolled the qualities of "connected up Government", no longer would administration agencies work in separation of every other. He recognised that though it is tremendously hard, if not possible, to

RNCOA Mission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

RNCOA Mission - Essay Example Academy staff, faculty members, and Small Group Leaders are effective in managing, leading and changing our Signal students to adapt to an ever-changing technological world. Our highly educated and motivated Small Group Leaders, who embody the warrior ethos, must be confident, competent decision makers, prudent risk takers, effective communicators, innovative, adaptive, professionally educated, and dedicated to the life-long learning process of our Signal ALC/SLC students. The Signal Noncommissioned Officer Academy staff and faculty must be equipped with the technical adeptness to employ modern computer systems and training to World Class proficiency, capable of strategic responsiveness, and the ability to dominate various technologies across the full spectrum of operations. To Fulfill our Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦We are committed to a strong and comprehensive World Class educational program and learning environment which enhances self-esteem provides and develops positive community role models, optimize each Signal NCO’s potential, develops a lifelong love of learning, builds personal responsibility, and accentuates individual respect. Fundamental to our Mission†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Is a commitment to the of a competent and caring Academy staff, teamwork, shared leadership, effective management of resources, and a safe and orderly learning environment for our Signal NCOs. We pride ourselves on our dedication to our students, their families, our community, our professions, each other, and to continuous learning.  

Making Invisible Work Visible by Andrew Parker, Rob Cross- Article Essay

Making Invisible Work Visible by Andrew Parker, Rob Cross- Article Analysis - Essay Example The researchers strive to present the recommendations for the firms through which they can attain better support work occurring in informal network of employees. The recommendations are based upon the research work conducted among a consortium Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. The researchers assessed collaboration and work in almost 40 information networks created within 23 different entities. The provided strategic and operational values are studies to find out their role in allowing the employees to collaborate and integrate their expertise with the organization. The article basically assesses and supports the information network and examines their significance for the organizations. The author believes that the informal social networks allow the employees to deeply understand and reflect the working patterns of the organization in much better way than the employees working in formal structure. The informal special networks however remain invisible and sometimes the m anagers fail to understand the problems developing within the firms. The authors also describe the background of the evaluation of the social networking techniques and inform that the idea sociogram is credited to Dr. J.T. Moreno who has been regarded as the inventor of social networks. He paved the way towards new approach of social structure and presents the concept of role and position. The article also stresses upon the importance of informal social network in the context of management challenges in globalization era. The informal networks are influenced from the information design of the organization whereas physical proximity and nature of the work also determine the structure of informal social networks maintained by the organization. The researchers also identified three specific areas where they believe that social network analysis is uniquely effective. These areas include "promoting effective collaboration within a strategically important group; supporting critical junctu res in networks that cross functional, hierarchical, or geographic boundaries; and ensuring integration within groups following strategic restructuring initiatives† (p28). The researchers found that social network analysis is a powerful and effective managerial tool that perform wide array of functions for the organizations. The patterns of information sharing within and across the networks also became visible through the social network analysis (SNA). Moreover, SNA allows identifying and solving the issues and problems being faced by the group of people within the organization. The specific behaviours of the employees could also be studies better and all this understanding allows taking the appropriate steps for improvement of group efficiency and effectiveness. There is wide variety of benefits of social network analysis identified by the researchers. They explain that information networks also support the employees' job satisfaction and performance that ultimately benefit t he overall productivity of the firms. It is very important for the management to understand the importance of social network because it the highly competitive market place they cannot rely upon the traditional networks and require the support of information social network to foster the process of communication with the employees and to avail wide range of benefits of informal social networks. The authors conclude that the present era is marked with

Is Religion Opposed to Change?

Is Religion Opposed to Change? Religions are often presented as if they are opposed to choice and change. To what extent do the controversial futures examined in Book 4 support or challenge this view? Controversies surrounding religious futures rely on a premise of religions either remaining true to their origins to retain authenticity or adapting to change to accommodate an increasingly spiritual and consumeristic world. The tensions that arise stem from assertions that religion, in an unaltered state cannot remain relevant to modern adherents and therefore will eventually die, alongside a view that a religion that adapts loses the essence of its original message to the pressures of consumerism and therefore its integrity is depleted. Proponents of the latter view argue that when an adopted message become too far removed from the revealed religion a cut flower culture (Herberg, cited in Mercadante, 2014) is created where the moral and spiritual messages of the root religion withers and dies; in other words, they lack the moral depth and social cohesiveness of more traditional religions (Gauthier et al., 201, p. 292) The choice between stasis and change is not binary, however, as there is a continuity between sacred scriptures and the most eclectic, free-spirited spirituality of today (Gottlieb, 2012). This continuity has become increasingly important as the terms religion and spirituality become less synonymous than they have previously been, highlighting a shift from a static, structured and institutional view of religion to a more individualistic pick and mix (King cited in Harvey, 2013, p. 20) approach to spiritual futures. This transition has witnessed approximately 40% of Americans unchurched with no connection with organized religion who claim to be strongly religious or spiritual on a personal level (Fuller, 2001, p. 1), exemplifying the balancing act that religions must take in charge to maintain identity against a maelstrom of modern demands whilst adapting to attract or retain the consumers needed to exist in the competitive spiritual marketplace. The change of emphasis from institutional to individual has been in discussion for many years, indeed the definition of religion varies from the personal and psychologized versions of spirituality (Harvey, 2013, p.19) where the individual feelings and experiences are of supreme importance or the feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude (James, cited in Harvey, 2013, p.9) to the institutional view of a religion where the church is central and essential to a faith, or as Durkheim suggests the idea of religion is inseparable from that of the Church (Durkheim, cited in Harvey, 2013, p.9). Durkheims view could be considered to represent a view of religion that is resistant to change, placing emphasis on the continuity of the Church and the sacred things therein (Durkheim, cited in Harvey, 2013, p.9), whereas James view of religion, being more individualistic in nature is infinitely more susceptible to change because the very nature of the individualism adapts spi rituality to the person who perceives it, a situation in which a spiritual seeker creates or rec-creates his or her own private system of symbolic meanings and values (Hanegraaff, 2009, cited in Harvey, 2013, p.25). Such individualism allows for exploration of spirituality outside of the constraints of church mores, spirituality then, can be seen as the positive aspects of the ancient religious traditions, unencumbered by the dead hand of the church; (Carrette King, 2005, p.2), with a strict emphasis on the self and on spiritual experience not a concept of God, but, rather, of the higher self (Hanegraaff, cited in Houtman et al., 2009, p.170). Such contrasting viewpoints highlight a definition of religion as a being concerned with external dogmatic authority set over the individual and spirituality being concerned with the deepest experiences of the individual (Vincett and Woodhead, cited in Woodhead and Catto, 2013, p.158). The individualistic element of spirituality has often bee n labeled as New Age, although this is an all-encompassing label for a multiform hypersyncretic splicing of ideas (Sutcliffe, 2000, cited in Harvey, 2013, p.23) that is hardly satisfactory. Such is the diversity of human spiritual need and options available to the seeker that a consistent formula for spiritual satisfaction cannot be achieved, in which case a label such as New Age can only be used as a contrast to traditional religions under the assumption that traditional religions do not undergo any form of borrowing from other faiths; as Hanegraaff suggests the term New Age is a label attached indiscriminately to whatever seems to fit it and as a result, the New Age means very different things to different people (Hanegraaff, 1996, p.1, emphasis in original). However, New Age belief invariably stems from traditions as there has been a mutation of traditional religions for a New Age believer to accommodate, in this sense New Age religion unquestionably emerged from esoteric traditi ons in Western culture (Hanegraaff, 1996, p.383). Such variation means that New Age believers, with such an infinite matrix of needs become ready consumers and, as their spiritual needs change so do their material wants, a phenomenon borne out at Glastonbury in the South West of England; which is a keen example of the mutation, adaptation and commercialisation found within religion and spirituality. Glastonburys past is steeped in claims made for it on behalf of goddess worship, paganism, Christianity and new age spirituality. These claims range from Glastonbury being the site of Avalon; the site where Joseph of Arimathea washed and buried the Holy Grail and a venue that Jesus himself visited; it is therefore a popular pilgrimage site for Christians and non-believing pilgrims as pilgrimage is not clearly distinguishable from acts such as tourism (Hedges, 2017). Such a diverse pedigree in one venue has the potential for conflict and controversy between groups of believers, as well as between believers and local residents; however, Gl astonbury, as a religious site, has successfully incorporated all of these claims in such a way that, not only do different belief groups co-exist but they do so symbiotically, with each group benefiting, often financially, from the lure of diversity for spiritual consumers keen to sample all that beliefs that Glastonbury has to offer; this has created a spiritual marketplace of significant proportions. The attraction of Glastonbury for the spiritual seeker is evident in the windows of the shops which display a plethora of spiritual material culture catering for a wide variety of spiritual interests within one shop. This enables the spiritual seeker to purchase containers of the sacred (Colman and Elsner, cited in Bowman, 2013, p.55) from one or many religions to suit their particular needs; this example of vernacular religion in which consumers either produce ritual objects themselves, re-purpose traditional religious props, or shop off the shelf from other religious traditions to use for their own inventive, often empowering, spiritual practices (Twitchell, cited in Scott and Maclaran, 2009, p.60). Such commercial opportunity creates a level of competition with each religion vying for custom and therefore creating a spiritual economy which is leading to the establishment of an appropriate, sustainable and new Glastonbury economy (Ivakhiv, 2001, p.124), an economy fed by competition which traditional religions are not immune to. The consumer spiritual market place has encouraged the Abbey at Glastonbury to retain and recruit new adherents by marketing their own brand of religion that resonates with dominant social values of individualism, empowerment and aspiration to affluence (Yip and Ainsworth, 2010, p. 702) indeed, the Glastonbury Abbey website not only describes the history of the Abbey but also displays a level of commercialism as it advertises entrance to the Abbey at  £8.25 as well as an array of gifts including Celtic designs, the Green Man, and ch urch mice among other gift ideas (Glastonbury Abbey, 2017), many of which are not directly Christian in nature but are available as a commodity for tourists, spiritual or otherwise, thus demonstrating a recognition and an acceptance of change within a traditional religious setting. The commercialization of Glastonbury Abbey is not new, historically it has been a land owner and wool trader and as such played a major part in developing market capitalism in Glastonbury (Bowman, 2012, p.15); however, the Abbeys economic influence is no longer restricted to the physical world as the Abbey has adopted technology to create a website capitalises on e-commerce, trading on the provenance of Glastonbury as a sacred space, to allow people who may not have attended Glastonbury to purchase items in order to support the upkeep on the Abbey stating that All profits from the shop are used to help to care for the abbey ruins as well as enhancing the experience for our visitors and that Shop and ticke t sales and donations are the abbeys main source of income'(Glastonbury Abbey, 2017). Glastonbury therefore is an example of religious change in which a traditional religion has recognised that competition within the market and has adapted its offerings to retain custom. Glastonbury Abbey is by no means unique in its willingness to adapt to the demands of its consumers; Luss Church in Scotland boasts fifteen hundred years of continuous Christian presence and, despite a small population, and a smaller local congregation, attracts seven hundred and fifty thousand visitors to Luss many of them to our Church and Pilgrimage Centre (lusschurch.com, 2017) This represents a significant change from the churchs past in which a financially struggling church has adopted the availability of the internet in which New technology has opened up alternative ways of making relationships with visitors real and profitable and our small congregation is enjoying discovering new ways of being the Church in a new century (Luss Church, 2017). This is clearly a development that has been embraced by a worldwide congregation of people who regularly access online services streamed over the internet, this technology also allows friends and relative to view the weddings of people f rom over 40 countries (Bowman, 2013, p.79) express a desire to marry at the church. The exposure that Luss has received from the internet has enabled them to tap into a lucrative wedding industry, removing market share from local hotels who previously would have enjoyed the income from overseas couples wanting to marry in the picturesque setting of Luss. In return, the church adds to the local tourist economy as many friends and relatives will stay for prolonged periods after the wedding at local hotels. The adoption of new technologies has allowed Christianity to reach a larger audience of potential customers, as Pope John Paul II states With the advent of computer telecommunications and what are known as computer participation systems, the Church is offered further means for fulfilling her mission (Pope John Paul II, cited in OLeary, 1996, p.782), a sentiment that has been taken up in many churches. A survey by Elena Larson finds that the Internet is being used being used by congr egations to strengthen the faith and spiritual growth of their members, evangelize and perform missions in their communities and around the world (Larson, 2001, p.2) with the main use of technology being to encourage people to visit the church and become part of the local congregation. Regardless of the success of this mission religions are embracing the opportunity that change brings, indeed Larsons survey suggests that 83% of those responding to our survey say that their use of the Internet has helped congregational life (Larson, 2001, p.2). The spirit of change lies not just with the church but also with by the congregation who, according to a job to vacancy for a new Minister are looking for someone not bound to the past, who are open to change (Luss Church, 2017). In conclusion, traditional religions are not averse to change, indeed, the adoption of different practices and ideas has long been part of religious traditions and a need to adapt to accommodate modernity is essential for a religions survival. Modernisation, and a shift from religiosity to spirituality, is not necessarily a prelude of the death of religion, or its social extinction, but its continuing relevance has required a change in and transformation of its social forms (Adogame, 2014, p215). The continuation of traditional religion within an individualized spiritual market proves it to be a constantly moving target (Beaman, 2016, p. 185) that consistently displays the elements of individualism, mutation and commercialism that enable it not only to survive, but in its manifold manifestations thrives (Bainbridge, 2004). Indeed, the arrival of competition within the spiritual marketplace, rather than being detrimental to traditional religion has encouraged it to mutate into marketa ble entity that has increased its presence and market share of consumers worldwide. Word count, 2047 Bibliography Adogame, A. (2014) Putting God in Place! Religious continuities and mutations in classic and diasporic communities, Social Compass, 61(2), pp. 207-218. [Online] DOI: 10.1177/0037768614524662 (Accessed 8 March 2017). Bainbridge, W. (2004) Thinking about religious futures, Futures, 36(9), pp. 943-946 [Online] Available at http://dx.doi.org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/10.1016/j.futures.2004.02.006 (Accessed 3 March 2017). Beaman, L. (2016) Grace Davie, Religion in Britain: a persistent paradox, Religion, State and Society, 44 (2), pp. 185-186. [Online] Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09637494.2016.1210345 (Accessed 3 March 2017). Bowman, M. (2012) Understanding Glastonbury as a site of spiritual consumption in Lynch, G. and Mitchell, J. (eds). Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader, Abingdon, Routledge. [Online]. Available at Google Books https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=enlr=id=z4eoAgAAQBAJoi=fndpg=PP1dq=Religion,+Media+and+Culture:+A+Readerots=U-7W5rpHptsig=oS-Qq2lYBhtPm4hpFIW_TSXWyFs#v=onepageq=Religion%2C%20Media%20and%20Culture%3A%20A%20Readerf=false (Accessed 21 March 2017). Bowman, M. (2013) Consuming religion: materiality, markets and spiritually shopping around in Controversial Futures, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Bratton, M. (2015) Belief without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but not Religious, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 30(2), pp. 327-329 [Online] Available at http://dx.doi.org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/10.1080/13537903.2015.1025565 (Accessed 4 March 2017). Carrette, J. and King, R. (2005) Selling spirituality, [Online], London, Routledge. Available at ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docID=182496. (Accessed 7 March 2017). Fuller, R. (2001) Spiritual, but not religious, [Online] Oxford, Oxford University Press. Available at ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docID=3051860 . (Accessed 7 March 2017).. Available at ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docID=3051860 (Accessed 7 March, 2017). Gauthier, F., Martikainen, T. and Woodhead, L. (2011) Introduction: Religion et societe de consummation/ Religion in Consumer Society, Social Compass, 58(3), pp. 291-301. [Online] DOI: 10.1177/0037768611412141 (Accessed 10 March 17). Glastonbury Abbey, (2017) Gift Items Glastonbury Abbey Shop [online]. Available from http://www.glastonburyabbeyshop.com (Accessed 20 March 2017). Gottlieb, R. S. (2013) Spirituality what it is and why it matters. New York, Oxford University Press. [Online] DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738748.003.0006 (Accessed 5 March 2017). Hanegraaff, W. (1996) New Age religion and Western culture, Leiden, Brill. [Online]. Available from ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docID=253432. (Accessed 20 March 2017). Harvey, G. (2013) Religious individualism: the rise of spirituality in Controversial Futures, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Hedges, P. (2017) Remembering and the Creation of Sacred Place: Glastonbury, Anglican Christian Theology, and Identity, Implicit Religion, 17(3), pp. 297-320, [online] DOI: 10.1558/imre v17i3.297 (Accessed 19 March 17). Ivakhiv, A. (2001). Claiming sacred ground. Bloomington, Indiana University Press.[online] Available at https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QNHTOvnZ3poCdq=adrian+ivakhiv+glastonburylr=source=gbs_navlinks_s (Accessed 8 March 2017). Larson, E. (2000). Wired churches, wired temples: Taking congregations and missions into cyberspace Pew Internet American Life Project: Online life report [Online]. Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media/Files/Reports/2000/PIP_Religion_Report.pdf.pdf (Accessed 21 March 2017). Luss church. (2017). Luss Parish Church. [online]. Available at http://lusschurch.com/history.html (Accessed 20 Mar. 2017). Maclaran,P. and Scott, L. (2009). Spiritual Tourism: Mystical Merchandise and Sacred Shopping in Glastonbury, Advances in Consumer Research, 36, pp. 60-63.[Online] Available at http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/14366/volumes/v36/NA-36 (Accessed 21 March 2017). Meradante, L. (2014). life without borders: inside the minds of the spiritual but not religious, 1st ed. New York, Oxford University Press, [online] Available at http://www.oxfordscholarship.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199931002.001.0001/acprof-9780199931002-chapter-1 (Accessed 14 March 2017). OLeary, SD. (1996). Cyberspace as Sacred Space: Communicating Religion on Computer Networks, Journal Of The American Academy Of Religion, 64, 4, pp. 781-808, [Online]. Available at http://jaar.oxfordjournals.org.libezproxy.open.ac.uk (Accessed 21 March 2017). Woodhead, L.and Catto.R. (2013), Religion and Change in Modern Britain, [Online]. Available at ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/open/detail.action?docID=957397. (Accessed 17 March 2017). Yip, J. Ainsworth, S. (2010). Religious Artefacts as Consumer Culture Products, Advances in Consumer Research, vol. 37, pp. 702. [Online] Available at http://libezproxy.open.ac.uk/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=57668009site=ehost-livescope=site . (Accessed 20 March 2017). Should the State Promote Positive Liberty? Should the State Promote Positive Liberty? Critically discuss the argument (Isiah Berlin) that the state should not promote positive liberty. The term freedom has always been a difficult discussion; there are various views of freedom in different fields. According to Heywood, A, (2004), he pointed out that in philosophy, freedom is often described as an attribute of the will to observe and study. However, in economics and sociology, freedom has always been seen as a social relationship. The political theorist often viewed freedom as a liberal ethic or normative principles. Among many definitions of freedom, Isiah Berlin subdivided freedom into positive and negative liberty. On the basis of this distinction, Berlin not only declared that positive liberty concept is the theoretical basis of totalitarianism, but also aggressively criticized the concept of positive freedom. He believed that the state should not promote positive freedom. In this essay, we will discuss the theoretical structure from Berlin’s concepts of liberty and pros or cons respectively. Also discussion about whether the state should not advocate posi tive liberty will be included. According to the Berlin (1958) in the Two Concepts of Liberty à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’the concepts of negative liberty and positive liberty were clearly distinguished. The negative liberty was defined as a personal action without interference from others. For instance, the individual has the freedom that others do not have right to attack him. The positive liberty means that the choices of individuals living pattern were decided by themselves rather than any other factors, or simply known as everyone has the freedom to pursuit happiness. In other words, the purpose of negative freedom is the protection of individual rights and resistance of collective rights, which serves for the implementation of various individual rights. For the positive freedom, its main purpose is to obtain certain interests or achieve contain goals. Mostly it displays in the social rights of various participatory. Therefore, it is often expressed as social rights. Isiah Berlin indicated in his theory of freedom that positive freedom always lead to despotism and society should focus on negative freedom. Pursuing positive freedom may lead to no freedom. For instance, we asked for the right of education, which is a positive freedom. It will require government intervention; hence the power of government will increase accordingly. It may result in a violation of individual freedom. As comparison, the negative freedom is less risky. The freedom of not suffering from invasion by external forces is a fine illustration of such point. If people want to enhance the negative freedom, we only need to change regulations. However to promote the positive liberty, not only we need to change the distribution system, but also the ability of mankind. More importantly it is related to the desire of people. Therefore, compare with negative freedom, positive freedom has more opportunities for people to abuse. Criticism of positive freedom from Berlin was very critical. He warned us that dangers come with positive freedom, which are restriction and compulsion. Berlin thought that positive freedom has a generally applicable correct mode, rationale for instance, and we should do everything in accordance with this model. However, in reality, people are affected by various factors including level of understanding, which leads to diffident opinions about right model. Therefore, they need an authority to define what the right model is and force people to comply such rule. Eventually, people will follow the rules under the power of authority, but meanwhile it has changed freedom to restriction. Berlin called the procedure of turning positive freedom into not restriction as strange conversion. After such change, the reversal of positive liberty becomes deprival of freedom. However, in fact such phenomenon is unlikely to happen. Berlin was not completely certain about positive freedom will move tow ard to constraint and inevitable fetter. He only recognized that the possibility was extremely high. Based on that, Fromm,E (1941) refuted the view of Berlin. He thought that positive freedom has a generally applicable correct mode. This mode implies that people can only act in accordance with this model without other choices. He analyzed through German history to understand the reason of Nazi successful controlling their power. He believed despotism of Nazi could be achieved based on the two premises. The first one is that with the development of society, people have the negative liberty, which appeared before the rise of capitalism. The second one is that people obtained the negative liberty, but not the positive freedom. He also indicated that freedom will become constraint even tyranny, if and only if society does not have positive freedom. Fromm’ opinion was consistent with other members from Frankfurt school. They all thought that fascism and capitalism had a close rela tionship. The tyranny of Nazi will become a powerful weapon to deny Berlin’ view, as no matters what negative freedom will always stay the same. In Fromm,E s opinion, state should promote positive liberty due to it will promote development of society. Although in Berlin’ view, the positive freedom is always connected with rationalism and through the rationalism, it can turn into constraint or autocracy. However, negative liberty will also face such problem. For example, when people do not have any restrictions, they will do anything just based on their desires, and this will lead to conflict inevitably. Therefore, as a result, we need the law to limit the people’ freedom. Based on that, positive and negative freedom face the same issue as law is required to restrain both of them. The negative freedom and positive freedom must be considered as equally important factors when people discuss the problem of freedom. However, because of positive freedom is very easy to be used by the autocratic government. It always associated with a very poor reputation, which makes people embarrassing to advocate positive liberty. Taylor, (1985) pointed out, contemporary liberalism paid too much attention to the negative freedom and rejected positive freedom. This behavior was inappropriate. The negative freedom and positive freedom are indispensable parts of the liberty. In order to achieve real freedom, it is necessary to link both of them. Secondly, in the real practice, positive freedom is one of the most essential freedoms in any society. Negative freedom alone can never constitute freedom completely. If there is no positive freedom, negative freedom cannot exist by itself. For example, the right to vote is recognized in all free societies. Such freedom is an essential condi tion for guaranteeing various freedoms. However, this freedom itself is not a negative freedom, but a positive freedom. According to this, positive freedom is always the condition of guaranteeing and completing negative freedom. So the negative liberty could not be understood and implemented alone. Apart from voting right, we can cite many other apparent examples, which also belongs to the positive freedom and also very important that we cannot understate it. For example, it includes obtaining the basic right of survival; the rights of freedom of speech, press freedom; the right of education; the right of obtaining medical support and healthy environment; the right of obtaining healthy food; and the right of enjoying the sunshine, clean air and water. Everyone has to admit that these rights are critically important, but they are all positive freedom. Therefore, it is incorrect that Berlin suggested that state should not promote the positive freedom and only keep the negative freedom . He ignored the importance of positive freedom, as the freedom that people wanted to obtain it directly is always a positive freedom, these freedoms help people to carry their life. Negative freedom should only be used to guarantee or protect the positive freedom. If there is no positive freedom, negative freedom will lose its meaning. The goal of freedom is the positive freedom; negative freedom is just a rational agreement, which provides a limit upon positive liberty. It can be seen that the negative freedom itself is hollow; its only content is to guarantee rational strategy of positive freedom. In the conclusion, Berlin’s theory was against positive freedom, and mainly it was directly against the positive freedom of Marxism. He stated that the positive freedom of Marxism will lead to a totalitarian society, which will vanish individual freedom. However, we cannot just focus on negative liberty and ignore positive liberty, and vice versa .We need to link them together, use the negative freedom as the premise, then we could carry out various positive measures to protect the negative freedom. Therefore, if the positive freedom implemented without negative freedom, it will fall into compulsion or tyranny as Berlin said. However if the negative freedom does not involve positive freedom, it will become weak and fragile, as such freedom cannot maintain a long time by itself. So if a state wants to achieve a good level of development, only negative freedom is inadequacy. Hence the state needs to promote the positive freedom, as it has its own unique value, which also made a certain contribution to the society. Reference: Heywood,A.,(2004).Political Theory: An Introduction .3rd Edition Berlin, I., (1969). Four Essays on Liberty,Oxford: Oxford University Press Matravers, D., Pike, J., Warburton, N. (2000). Reading Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Mill.P231 Fromm,E.,(1941). Escape from Freedom. Inc., New York Fromm,E., (1942). The Fear of Freedom. Inc., Great Britain Taylor, C., (1979). Whats wrong with Negative Liberty, in D. Miller (ed.) (1991), Liberty. P141-162

Let Bolton Battle :: essays research papers fc

Let Bolton Battle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What if you had just got off work early and decided to fly home to surprise your family, but just as you take off the screaming starts. Your plane was just hijacked by an extremist terrorist group that hates the United States and is going to take the plane down in a city for maximum casualties. Do you think something should be done to prevent this? It is horrible that after 9/11 no one could agree â€Å"on something as basic to the war on terror as a comprehensive definition of terrorism† while other innocent people died. The author, Newt Gingrich, recognizes these dangers and presents a strong argument for the election of John Bolton, Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, to become ambassador to the United Nations. With a tough tone, Newt Gingrich presents his unyielding position on an urgent cause.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have chosen to analyze Newt Gingrich’s article because it is so influential and steadfast to his cause. The article is on a website at â€Å"www.newt.org† and is unrelenting throughout both pages. Gingrich does not vacillate from his objective in the article and remains sturdy in his stance on Bolton’s need for election. The way that Gingrich sets up his position generates a decision for the reader: Why not elect Bolton?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Newt Gingrich knows politics; he has served on Congress since 1978 till he was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1995. During his four-year term, the Washington Times called him â€Å"the indispensable leader† and Time magazine named him â€Å"Man of the Year† for 1995. Not only was he influential on the floor, he has written nine books including two best sellers, Contract With America and To Renew America. Furthermore, he has become a sought-after public speaker, and just finished a keynote address at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University. Through Gingrich’s website he responds to questions and concerns about pieces that he has written and states that he will even have an open debate about his articles. This is an ethos appeal for the reader since they know that Gingrich is well respected and knowledgeable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, Gingrich opens with the powerful statement that contains demanding diction, such as â€Å"right choice† and â€Å"without further delay† to propel his argument for confirming Bolton to the United Nations. Then he states the reason that Bolton needs to be elected by stating that Americans are at uncertain times and face serious threats, and that the â€Å"U.

Transforming anglian water

Introduction It is believed that survival of an organization in contemporary era of globalization & liberalization is directly correlated to the extent to which it utilizes advanced information technology tools and practices Total Quality Management. The concept of â€Å"Learning Organization† was introduced by Chris Argyris and further researched and explained by Sange (1990). Sange defined Learning Organization as the organization â€Å"in which you cannot not learn because learning is so insinuated into the fabric of life.† He further defines Learning Organization as â€Å"a group of people continually enhancing their capacity to create what they want to create.† The purpose of this assignment is to study Anglian Water in the light of Learning Organization and: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Investigate the extent to which the organization could actually claim to be a Learning Organization. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Identify those factors that may undermine the concept of â€Å"Learning Organization† in   Anglian Water and call into question the investments made. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Explain if Anglian Water can sustain the ideals and practices of a Learning Organization. While exploring the definitions and characteristics of Learning Organizations, the case study of Anglian waters will be investigated and comparisons will be drawn. Chris Argyris differentiates between first order or single loop learning versus second order or double loop learning.   Learning is further explained as detection and correction of errors. Single loop learning detects the errors and then functions within the construct of organization’s governing variable to achieve the desired result. Double loop learning challenges the governing variable itself and aims at producing drastic cultural changes within the organization. Argyris further divides organizations into Model I and Model II. Model I represents the traditional bricks and mortar culture, a few characteristics of which are: Achieve the purpose as the actor defines it, Win, do not lose, Suppress Negative Feelings, Advocating courses of actions which discourage inquiry, Defensive relationships, low freedom of choice. Model II represents a learning organization, the characteristics of which are: Valid Information, Free and Informed choice, Internal Commitment, Sharing control, Surfacing conflicting view, Minimally defensive relationships, High freedom of choice, Increased likelihood of double loop learning. Considering the above view point, Anglian water clearly falls in the Model II category of double loop learning. In the 1990’s it diversified into new markets, conducted employee satisfaction surveys and acted on the results of it. The Management clearly had a vision to introduce and sustain drastic cultural changes and move towards becoming a learning organization. This was achieved to a great extent through employee empowerment & implementation of ‘transformation journey’ which enabled incumbents at all levels to develop attitudinal and behavioral change to be able to cope up with turbulent and uncertain environment. Argyris further introduces us to the concept of triple loop learning (Learning how to learn) which is in continuation to single loop (What to do); Double Loop (Learning what to do). Triple Loop Learning questions the structures and strategies of learning; and how our mental map affects the way we behave. It is considered as the highest level of organizational learning and restructuring. Triple loop learning leads to restructuring of current systems and processes. Dialogues are initiated with in the organization in the form of â€Å"collective mindfulness† to understand the basis of existence of hierarchies; policies, procedures etc and RESTRUCTURING within the organization takes place. A Learning Infrastructure is created where existing structure is studied, dialogue is initiated and new and more effective structures are proposed. Focus then is on developing competencies and skills of individuals – teams – organization and hence emerges a Learning Organization. Anglian Water as an organization seems to have all the characteristics that the Triple Loop learning mentions as that of a Learning Organization. At Anglian water, face to face communication is given utmost importance amongst employees; university of Water was established to integrate , support and accredit all forms of learning; develop skills and competencies that was required to move Anglian water to the 21st century and place it as a global player. Peter Senge (1990) remarks â€Å"The rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage†. He differentiates between adaptive and generative learning. Adaptive Learning is the initiation of a company into the community of Learning Organization. Generative learning utilizes the power of creativity and innovation to reconstruct those systems and processes that govern consequences. Senge, in his much acclaimed book The fifth discipline explains the five disciplines which according to him are cucial in building a learning organization. The first discipline Personal Mastery concentrates on learning of each and every individual in the organization resulting in Learning organization as a whole. Individual goals and tools to measure the proximity to these goals are developed. Significant evidence of Personal Mastery can be found at Anglian water through the introduction of the concept of travelers whose four guiding principles were a willingness to get to know myself, a desire to develop myself, a desire to develop my full potential with and through others, an ability to link my personal development to the development of Anglian water. The second discipline of Mental Model is the framework of cognitive processes of our mind which determines our thought and action process. Argyris concept of theories of action is similar to the Mental Model concept and govern actual behavior. Espoused theory is what we would like others to believe as our actual action theory. Anglian Water does not seem to have incorporate the Mental Model theory in its learning curve. The third principle of systems thinking or the ability to see interrelationships / circular causations (where a variable is both the cause and effect of another)is prevalent in the practice of Transformation Journey , Total Quality Management , Change Agent Networks. The Fourth principal of shared vision (build on individual vision of it’s members) is not well supported at Anglian Water. While the vision and value statements were rolled out in the 1990s it is unclear if these were created through the interaction between leaders and employees of the organization. It seems more likely that the vision and values were communicated from top to bottom. The fifth discipline of team learning or â€Å"genuine thinking together† was highly encouraged by the leadership at Anglian water and is corroborated with the team and group formations through the methodology of Transformational Journey. Victoria Marsick states that learning organizations involve deep change in the mind sets of people as well as the culture of the organization and socities. Gephart , Marsic & Van Buren 1997 emphasize on Continuous Learning at the system level which at Anglian Water was initiated in the form of Transformational Journey and University of Water. Knowledge generation and sharing was made possible through the introduction of University of Water which aimed at acknowledging, integrating, supporting and accrediting all forms of learning in the company. The concept was further given a boost with the establishment of an intranet for information exchange and communication. Systematic Thinking capacity which enables employees to identify linkages and feedback loops. The presence of the concept of systematic thinking can be illustrated by the feedback statements of employees on the Journey being a good learning experience OR the findings of the employee satisfaction survey that clearly demanded a cultural change in Anglian Water. Greater Participation and accountability by a larger percentage of employees is promoted by Anglian Waters through various methods such as ‘employee satisfaction survey’ , ‘employee empowerment’ , ‘transformational journey’ that saw the participation of more than 3000 employees, new ‘HR Performance Management Policies’. Culture and structure of rapid communication and learning was introduced with the advent of the 2 year long traveler role and Aqua University. Rapid communication was facilitated through the installment of Intranet. Pedler, another major pioneer, in his work ‘Blue prints of a learning company’ characterizes such organizes through the usage of five themes. ‘Strategy’ is explained through: i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learning approach to strategy was seen in the efforts to promote team working and cooperation through transformational journey which would have a direct bearing on the operational effectiveness and business performance. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Participative Policy making is missing in Anglian Water’s organizational learning. ‘Looking in’ encompasses: i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Informating or use of information technology to inform and empower employees by giving them access to information was being practiced at Anglein Water through installation of Hawk – their intranet system. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Internal Exchange was facilitated through the introduction of Total Quality Management i.e. Each department treated the other as Internal Customer iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Formative Accounting and control and iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reward flexibility are missing from the grounds of Anglian Water. ‘Enabling structures’ are flexible organizations which revisit & reformat structures, goals, objectives to align with the interest of employees, shareholders and suppliers. Post privatization, Anglian Water reorganized it’s business, restructured to a flatter organization, encouraged cross functional and individual participation to facilitate positive change. Transformational Journey empowered employees to arrange for their own support and skill development. ‘Looking out’ encompasses i. ‘Boundary workers as environmental scanners’, which refers to the collection of information from the external stakeholders of an organisation in order to establish their needs is evident through the introduction of TQM a key element of which is to be: ‘sensitive to customer requirements and to respond rapidly to them†¦to achieve customer satisfaction†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Stark, 1998) ii.‘Inter-company learning’ which entails joining with customers and suppliers in training experiences, research and development and job exchanges is conspicuous by its absence in Anglian Water. Learning Opportunities talks of i.    Learning Climate encourages employees to seek continuous improvement, learn from their experiences and make time to question practices and try out new ones. Establishment of university of water by Anglian Water for the sole purpose of learning and development of employees attests the presence of Learning Climate in the company. ii. Self Development opportunities for all was encouraged at Anglian Water through the introduction of Transformational journey which was a holistic strategy designed to prepare and equip employees for the technical and emotional challenges of operating in a turbulent and uncertain environment. To Summarize, whether Anglian Water can claim to be a learning organization, I would like to include a few ideas organized by Art Kleiner states as Why Bother? i.   Because we want superior performance and competitive advantage ii.    For customer relations iii. To avoid decline iv.    To improve quality v.    To understand risks and diversity more deeply vi.    For innovation vii.   For our personal and spiritual well being viii.    To increase our ability to manage change ix.       For energized committed work force x.   To expand boundaries Above mentioned ten points are positive results of a successful learning organization. Anglian Water when viewed in the light of the above mentioned results comes out as a winner in the field of learning organizations  The next step is to identify factors that may undermine the concept of Learning Organization in Anglian Water. Senge states that the role of a leader is to build a shared vision. Though the vision and value statement that were released at Anglien Water were designed to inculcate new attitudes and behaviors, no evidence of participation of employees in shared vision building exercise is found. Shell (1997) also talks of Creative tension as a characteristic of Learning Organization. This enables innovation and visioning the future and further working towards a commonly agreed goal. However, this capacity to vision the future seems to be lacking in the employees of Anglian Water. This was more than evident when in 1990 Ofwat recommended a price reduction of at least 17.5%. and this decision hit the company hard. It suffered tremendous losses and had to initiate a major cost reduction strategy. If the government decision had been predicted by the visionaries of the company, they would have had time to prepare ground for the turbulence that they faced as a result of this Change. Davenport and Prusak (1998) are concerned with the magnitude of importance that has been given to Information technology centric Knowldege Management in Learning Organizations. They state that it is more important to build a culture conducive to knowledge and learning rather that emphasizing on information storage, retrieval and transfer. Clarke and Cooper state that in their goal to be a learning organization, Anglian Water rolled out a complete Knowledge Management Policy. However, their Intranet, despite of being called HAWK – Harnessing Anglian Water’s Knowledge appears to play only a secondary role. One of the major characteristics of Learning Organization is Experiential Learning. Polanyi (1967) characterizes experiential learning as tacit or not highly conscious. Lave and Wenger term the process as ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ which further dilutes   lessons learnt. Employees undergoing experiential learning might not be capable of fully understanding the reasons for success or failure. Thought Processes that are different from that of the value systems of a learning organization might be considered null and void. Marsick points out that when an organization is undergoing change and simultaneously assessing feedbacks, a confused and chaotic situation is bound to emerge. Multiple feedbacks emerge resulting in reception to various signals at the same time. Envisioning the environmental factors that would affect the well being of the company in future and predicting the types of challenges that the company should be ready for becomes very difficult. A tiny random fluctuation, often called Noise ‘can induce the path of choice’ (Capra 1996). It is hence expected of a learning organization to analyze well the various feedbacks and signals and prepare for the future challenges. It appears that the visionaries ay Anglian Water missed the point and hence future environmental challenges could not be well predicted. A few other vital characteristics of a Learning organization, mentioned by Pedler, seem to be missing at Anglian Water are â€Å"Formative Accounting and Control†, â€Å"Feedback loops being built in policy making process†. Formative Accounting and control insists on accounting , budgeting and reporting systems that are designed to help people understand the operations of organizational finance. However, It is important to add here â€Å"scholars often caution against one size fits all approach to creating the learning organization† (Marsick). Hence, it should not be a mandatory criteria for companies to absorb all characteristics defined by all scholars in the field of learning organizations. The third step is to analyze if Anglian Water can sustain the ideals and practices of a Learning Organization. If we refer to that portion of case study which is called â€Å"The future†, what immediately comes to our mind is that Anglian Water can not sustain the ideals and principles of a learning organization. When Anglian Water adopts a major cost reduction strategyin 1998 – 99; it seems to be moving away from the concept of Learning Organization. 10% of the employees (400 in number) were seen losing their jobs. While Learning Organizations are all about Investment in social, human and intellectual capital; Cost reduction strategies include downsizing, ‘low levels of risk taking, ‘short term focus’ ‘minimal levels of employee training and development,’ and ‘narrowly defined career paths’ (Schuler and Jackson, 2006:168) These practices are in stark contrast to senior managements bid to change Anglian Water’s approach to doing business to ‘entrepreneurial, innovative and outward looking’ (Jenkins, 2008:1) Cost Reduction would further mean minimizing overheads and it is assumed that the worse affected areas would be Human Resources & logistics. Under Human Resources, most of the benefits such as training programs, employee engagement activities would have been scrutinized and the logical conclusion would be to cut the costs related to them. In this scenario, existence of a corporate university might come under investigation with respect to the total costs being incurred on it. Huczynski and Buchanan (2001:135) describe LO practices as: ‘A complex difficult set of practices, difficult to implement systematically.’ This criticism is relevant toAnglian Waterin numerous ways. Firstly, with regards to the University of Water, in the long run, those employees involved may struggle with coping with learning and their ‘day job’ at Anglian Water and also the need to encourage employee attrition and encourage ‘new blood’ at Anglian Water. Secondly after the initiation of the cost-reduction strategy the practices of a Learning Organization would be even harder to implement for reasons which were discussed previously. It is imperative to mention here that a lot of scholars in the field of Learning Organizations consider downsizing as a part of the Learning and restructuring process. Labbas 1999, states that employment downsizing has been regarded as the preferred route to improving organizational performance. Success or failure of a downsized organization depends on the workforce remaining after the downsizing (Best Practices in Downsizing: 1997). The Organizational trends in late 1990’s and then at the advent of 21st century was moving towards downsizing , restructuring and outsourcing. Managers continue to use downsizing – and other forms of restructuring – to improve productivity ( Ellis, 1998 ).   Downsizing has been termed as a reorganization strategy by Mckinley, Sanchez and Schick. Few other companies which downsized in 1998 and are still going strong are Kodak, Levis and Citicorp. Freeman and Cameron mention downsizing as an intentional reduction in personnel intended to improve the efficiency of the firm. Last but not the least, the chaos theory related to learning organization deserves to be given its due importance while discussing the probability of success of Anglian Water after downsizing. This theory talks about a situation when an organizational equilibrium becomes structurally unstable at critical bifurcation points†¦.in the system’s evolution where a fork suddenly appears and the system branches off in a new direction (Capra 1996). As a result of occurrence of chaos, a new form of organization would evolve. Since it is important for an organization to always be in the learning category to be able to survive environmental changes, downsizing at Anglian water could be looked as a phase in the learning process. It can be assumed that Anglian Water emerges successful after the process of downsizing and continues in its process of learning through as innovative techniques as â€Å"Transformational Journey†; â€Å"Traveller† and â€Å"University of Water†. Bibliography Peter Sange, Fifth Discipline Chris Argyris On Organizational Learning Watkins and Marsick Sculpting the Learning Organization Beardwell, J and Claydon, T (2007) Human Resource Management A contemporary approach Fifth Edition Pearson Education Ltd Organizational Behavior Tata Mcgraw Hill Burnes, B (2004) Managing Change Pearson Education Ltd Easterby-Smith, M, Burgoyne, J and Araujo, L (2006) Organizational Learning and The Learning Organisation Sage Publications Huczynski, A and Buchanan D (2001) Organisational Behaviour (4th Edition ) FT/Prentice Hall Paton, R, Peters, G, Storey, J and Taylor, S (2005) Handbook of Corporate University Development Gower Publishing Pedlar, M., Boydell, T. and Burgoyne, J. Learning Company Project: A Report on work (see mullins p205) Mabey, C and Salaman, G (1999) Human Resource Management a Strategic Introduction Blackwell Publishers Ltd Schuler, R and Jackson, S Strategic Human Resource Management (2006) Blackwell Publishing Torrington, D and Hall, L(1995)   Human Resource Management Prentice Hall Perter Clarke & Maggie cooper, Knowledge Management & Collaboration      

Downfall of Macbeth Essay

The tragedy of â€Å"Macbeth,† by William Shakespeare, follows the fall of Macbeth from a man in a position of power with a contented life, to a man with nothing but â€Å"mouth honor† and a corrupted soul. In this essay, I wish to show to what extent Macbeth’s tragedy was his own fault. The downfall of Macbeth begins early on in the play when he and Banquo (a fellow Scottish noble) meet the witches. The witches waylay Macbeth and Banquo whilst they were on their way to meet Duncan, King of Scotland. They decide to listen to the witches, out of sheer curiosity. The three witches greet Macbeth as â€Å"Thane of Glamis†, the title he already holds, and begin to tell the two nobles of things to come, and prophesies that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and the King of Scotland. Macbeth asks how they know of his current title, and laughs at the following two prophesies. The witches ignore his questions, and tell Banquo of how he will not be king, but his sons will be kings. Instead of just ignoring the witches, the statement of his current title intrigues Macbeth and he follows the witches to try and get them to tell him more. Stay you imperfect speakers, tell me more† says Macbeth, showing that he is indeed interested in what the witches have to say. The witches disappear, and Macbeth dismisses them, and he and Banquo ride off. The witches appearance, and Macbeth becoming intrigued may amount to his downfall, but I believe that they were merely the ‘helping hand’ for Macbeth who’s own weak will and other events where the catalyst for his eventual death. At this point, Macbeth is still a highly respected man, and is about to get more respect from Duncan, for defending Scotland from the invading forces of Norway. The messengers who tell Duncan of Macbeth’s deeds portray him as a man of great courage, who showed no fear in the battles. Duncan sends a messenger to tell Macbeth of his reward for his great deeds. Two messengers to greet Macbeth with the news of Duncan’s reward: he is to be made Thane of Cawdor. â€Å"Why do you dress me in borrowed robes? † asks the startled Macbeth, as the messengers begin to explain how the last Thane of Cawdor was helping the Norwegians invade. Aside, he says, â€Å"Two truths are told, as happy prologues to the swelling act†¦Ã¢â‚¬  obviously relating to the first two prophecies the witches made. He now asks Banquo, aside, whether or not he believes the witches now that Macbeth’s second prophecy has come true. Banquo says he is wary and that he really doesn’t want anything to do with these witches, but he will merely sit back and let the prophecies run their course. Macbeth seemingly decides to follow Banquo’s idea, and makes an agreement with himself â€Å"If chance will have me king, why, chances may crown me, without my stir†. Macbeth decides to write to his wife and tell her of his new title, a fatal mistake in my opinion, since his wife reacts to the letter in a totally unexpected way. All of a sudden, Lady Macbeth decides to make a push to get her husband to make the effort to fulfil the third prophecy. Meanwhile, Duncan names his son as the next king, and Macbeth becomes bitter, and looks towards the prophecies for his next move; â€Å"That is a step on which I must fall down, or else o’erleap†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Clearly Macbeth has decided that he will now ‘stir’, and make some move to become king. Back with Lady Macbeth at Macbeth’s castle, she is reading Macbeth’s letter. She reads about his new title, and the mentions of the witches’ prophecies. Lady Macbeth first starts off by thinking about how she can get her husband to become a king, and concludes that she’ll have to make some effort to get her husband to do whatever it takes to get him to be king. A messenger, who brings news that Duncan wishes to stay at Macbeth’s castle, interrupts her thoughts. Lady Macbeth decides, almost instantly, that she will persuade her husband to kill Duncan so he can become king. Whilst in the middle of her thoughts, Macbeth returns home. They talk, and Lady Macbeth brings up the subject of getting rid of Duncan so he can be king. Macbeth appears shocked although was secretly thinking the same thing, and tries to dismiss the idea. Underneath, however, he wants to go along with the idea so he can become king. His underlying motives become clear when he decides that he will do the evil thing, and is going to kill Duncan. â€Å"We will speak further,† he says, making his intentions apparent to the audience. Although unsure, he will not totally dismiss the idea, and is even considering it. Lady Macbeth now knows that she has him within her grasp, nd she will now make sure that she wins him completely over. In my opinion, not making his mind up creates a chance for Lady Macbeth. She sees this uncertainty and later exploits his unwillingness to make decisions. A short while later, Duncan arrives, accompanied by all of his Thanes. They all feast, and drink to the success of the battle against Norway. As the night wears on, Macbeth has to time to contemplate the consequences of killing Duncan. Macbeth makes the moral decision not to proceed saying; â€Å"We will proceed no further in this business. He (Duncan) hath honoured me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people, which would be worn now in the newest gloss, not cast aside so soon†. Macbeth attempts to give excuse for not proceeding, but fails to give any proper reasons for it. The only advantage he sees for not killing Duncan is that he respects him, and by killing him it would be disrespecting him. I believe that this is not a valid reason for committing murder, and shows Macbeth’s underlying ambition to become king. By putting forward pithy excuses Macbeth makes his ambition very clear to the reader. Lady Macbeth is not swayed by his pathetic excuses, and she knows that secretly, Macbeth wants the same things she does. In an attempt to convince Macbeth to continue with the plan, she first insults his manhood â€Å"When you durst do it, you were a man; And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man†¦Ã¢â‚¬ and accuses him of being cowardly for not sticking to the plan. She then attacks his ego further by saying â€Å"From this time such I account thy love† and accuses him of not loving her. For Macbeth, this is the final straw, and he gives in. Lady Macbeth plans the murder. When Macbeth goes to murder Duncan, he still doubts himself, and even starts seeing things as he approaches Duncan’s room. Upon committing the murder, Macbeth finds himself in a state. Lady Macbeth attempts to clean him up, and make him appear well, but now Macbeth has lost all control. This murder of Duncan leads to the destruction of Macbeth. Aware of any possible opposition, Macbeth begins spying and murdering people. There are also psychological problems that Macbeth has which lead to his destruction. This is shown by his brief madness after Banquo’s murder when he sees Banquo’s ghost. The tragedy ends when Macbeth is slain by Macduff who, with many others, find out about what horrific things Macbeth has done. Macbeth begins to get paranoid about Banquo, and feels that he should be killed so as to stop him from being exposed. â€Å"So is he mine; and in such bloody distance that every moment of his being thrusts against my nearest life;† Macbeth says, aware that the only way to truly silence Banquo is to have him killed. At the banquet scene, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, showing that he has indeed gone mad. Even in insanity, he feels guilty. â€Å"Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! † he says, his conscience acting on him and showing his remorse. Macbeth has finally gone mad, and it was all due to his ambition and want to be king. He goes on to become entirely evil, as he visits the witches again and again, seeking solace for his crimes, and answers to his impending doom. He begins to stop feeling remorse and guilt for his actions, and eventually becomes a cruel, twisted man. His wife falls ill, and he shows no compassion towards her, instead saying everything would be better once she is dead. This is near the end of the play and where Macbeth slowly returns from his evil side, feeling remorse for his actions finally. When the English army and Macduff advance on his castle he becomes the courageous Macbeth once again, and when he finally comes to fight Macduff, he is back to the brave and bold Macbeth at the start of the play. With his wife dead, he feels more able to do what he wants. The main people to blame for Macbeth’s tragedy were his wife, and Macbeth himself, and this is shown all the way through the play (Lady Macbeth willing him to murder, Macbeth being easily convinced etc) there some unfortunate circumstances that contributed to Macbeth’s downfall, such as Duncan making his son king instead of Macbeth, and Duncan putting his trust in Macbeth by coming to his castle, but none were as major a cause as Macbeth’s personality fault and his manipulative wife. To conclude, the blame for Macbeth’s tragedy should be placed on his head and his wife’s, due to his personality defect (ambition and a weak will) and her persuasiveness (pushing him to fulfil his ambition). The combination of these two defects and Duncan staying at Macbeth’s castle caused the entire play and tragedy to unfold.

6 common traits of horrible bosses

6 common traits of horrible bosses While in a perfect world your boss would be a magical combination of friend and mentor, you’re very lucky if you land a gig where that’s the case. For the most part, bosses are just fine. Some are just mediocre and more or less tolerable. Some are good and make work a nice place to be every day. But then, in rare instances, you come across a boss who’s truly  awful. A terrible boss can ruin your life and derail your career. Do you despise your relationship with your boss and wonder if maybe you’re overreacting? Read on for 6 of the most common awful boss behaviors. If you recognize more than 2 of these, it might be time to look elsewhere for work to save your sanity.1. They micromanage every little task.Bosses are supposed to hire people they trust enough- based on their skills and experience- to do the job they’re hired to do. Then, they’re supposed to leave you a bit of room to actually do your job, rather than breathing over your shoulde r and confusing things- or just stressing you out. A good boss eases up and lets you fly. A bad boss attaches himself to your every move, all the time.2. They always take credit for others’ successes.Taking credit for the ideas of others is never a good habit. It’s especially vile in a boss, who is supposed to nurture their employees and help them achieve. If your boss likes to claim the credit for something you had a heavy hand in and bask in the glow of accolades after a success, that means she’s getting in the way of your limelight. It’s not just unfair, it’s detrimental to your career.3. They’re never satisfied with anything.No matter how many expectations you meet or succeed, it’s never enough for your boss. She finds a way to demean your efforts or to belittle them. She’s always wanting more. There never seems to be any room for positive feedback or recognition because the goalposts are always moving. If you stick around too long, your self esteem is going to drop dangerously low.4. They constantly manipulate you, but never enough to cross a line.Often, a terrible boss comes to understand just how much criticism you can handle without snapping, breaking, or quitting.  and sticks to that limit- again and again. He knows if she takes too much from you too fast, you’ll simply quit. But if he beats down your self worth and builds you back up, again and again, you might stay. Don’t.5. They hoard the knowledge and the power.Everything flows through your boss. All things are CC-ed. He has his hand in every project. And, most importantly, he is the only one with enough knowledge to see the big picture, or the whole scope of a project. If you and your team members are laboring in the dark, chances are your boss is keeping you there.6. They’re easily threatened.Anytime your boss’s authority is tested, she flips out. This is not normal behavior for a boss, particularly if that â⠂¬Å"threat† is just someone having an idea, or a conversation that doesn’t include her. Horrible bosses see other people’s successes as their losses. If your boss flies off the handle whenever she’s not #1, you’ll find yourself trying to hide your accomplishments, which is  not a way to build a career. Consider talking to human resources, requesting a transfer, or looking for a new gig if possible.

How Technology is Changing the Face of Business Today 1 Assignment

How Technology is Changing the Face of Business Today 1 - Assignment Example Therefore, the most critical business processes that largely use information system in Coca Cola Company include customer service and communication. In retrospect, productivity is improved because employees perform their roles and responsibilities with ease when dealing with customers. Additionally, efficiency and transparency is increased when information systems are constantly used in conducting business particularly in issues of marketing (Abrams, 2003). Overall, production processes remain the greatest beneficiary of new technology platforms used by Coca Cola. In Coca Cola Company, IT is the driving force that makes business process faster, cheaper, and more accurate. This is through new communication formats that are easy to manage between the clients and the management. For example, the use of social media forums, text messaging, and teleconferencing ensures that customer-savvy customers are better in selecting their preferred goods and services (Roberts, 2011). It also improves their choices and decisions when giving a feedback or

Cultural Background Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Background Summary - Essay Example Our dance movements can be easily traced to many tribes of sub-Saharan, Sahelean Africa and western dance form. Similarly our music and songs are an amalgamation of African and European styles giving rise to unique styles like jazz, swing, blues and ragtime. When these evolved they were restricted to African Americans only but have become popular the world over. Similarly our folktales were a clever way of preserving the cultural traditions of the past conveyed through the convenience of riveting stories whose magic enthralled not just through words but also the expression and tone of the story teller. Modern day rap songs are an extension of the same. The dialect and distinct accent has also been shaped in the historical melting pot in which English and often unknown various African regional languages were thrown in. We are able to manage the Standard English at school and our unique dialect at home with equal ease. Though we know that our ancestors were forcibly converted, we are practicing Christians and regularly go to the church in the best possible dresses. The women especially like to wear elaborate caps for worship and our gospel songs also display unique African American flavor. Culturally the preference is for brightly colored attire as is the case with many western Africans, though mainstream clothes (fabric and patterns) do influence the dress sense and appearance.