Recipe for the American Dream

Writing 100 October 28, 2009 Essay 2 Recipe for the American Dream Since the establishment of this country, Americans have set their eyes on success. The way we define success has changed along with technology. The American Dream is â€Å"that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. †[1] When repeating this phrase out loud one draws up images of fancy cars, big houses, quality clothes, etc. What Adams fails to mention is that success requires work, furthermore success in terms of fancy cars, big houses and other luxuries require over 40 hours a week of work. The more time one spends at work, the less time one has to spend doing other things. Ellen Goodman’s â€Å"The Company Man†, is a prime example of why spending an excessive amount of time working is harmful to a human being. In providing a comfortable life for his family, the main character neglects to have a presence in his home. The pursuit of the American Dream calls for an unbalanced lifestyle, which alienates individuals from their families. Very early on, Americans are taught to believe that the more one does, the more one receives in return. It is undeniable that this ideology stems from biblical teachings; â€Å"for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. † (Galatians 6:7) This ideology continues to get instilled in every aspect of the average American’s life. The more studying a student does, the better grade the student receives. The more an athlete practices, the better athlete he’ll become. It is not odd that adults keep this ingrained in their minds as they go into the workforce. The more time and energy spent on the job, the more money and benefits an employee will receive. Money is an important ingredient in making the American Dream become a reality, and Americans experience constant reminders of the need to live the dream, through the media and peers. Living the Dream is not a crime in itself, but what gets sacrificed in the process may prove to be more valuable than most of the objects themselves. Christopher Clausen helps readers to understand in â€Å"Against Work† that â€Å"the workaholic†¦neglects his family, withdraws from social life and loses interest in sex. (Clausen 673) Phil, the main character in Goodman’s, â€Å"The Company Man† works â€Å"himself to death, finally and precisely at 3:00 am Sunday morning. † (Goodman 629) Before his death, Phil â€Å"worked six days a week, five of them until eight or nine at night, during a time when his own company had begun the four-day week for everyone but the executiv es. He had no outside extracurricular interests† (Goodman 329), not even his life at home. It is heartbreaking for someone to die leaving their offspring to go around â€Å"asking the neighbors what [their father] was like† the â€Å"day and a half before the funeral. (Goodman 630) Phil is so consumed by his job that his children never have the opportunity to connect with him and get to know him as a person, rather than simply their biological father. His wife admits to â€Å"missing him all these years† (Goodman 629), which shows his absence as her companion. Phil never grasps the concept of balance, which is understandable considering the Dream he makes a reality never puts balance into the equation. â€Å"Working to earn one’s bread is something few people can escape. Working out of moral vanity is sheer self-deception. [2] It is true that the majority of people work because they are conscious of the fact that they will receive compensation for their time spent working. While it is imperative to earn enough to put food on the table and clothing on the backs of our loved ones, it is also imperative keep life outside of work in mind. Although working to obtain a â€Å"comfortable† life, without having to live from paycheck to paycheck demands a lot of time from a weekly schedule, there are benefits to hard work besides earning more disposable income. Some would agree with Voltaire who states that â€Å"Work spares us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need. [3] Work will absolutely remedy boredom, and vice, but people will always have a need for something else. Work satisfies the need of money to provide food, clothing and shelter, but it disregards the need for love, care and affection. Many Americans struggle with finding a balance of work and family. It is far too often the case that individuals choose to pursue riches, while leaving every other aspect of their lives to suffer. It is ironic that Phil and many oth ers like him work to provide the family with a â€Å"better† life, according to American standards, while neglecting everything that makes a life meaningful. A study of Workaholism states that â€Å"spouses and children of workaholics report feeling lonely, unloved, isolated, and emotionally and physically abandoned. †[4] This behavior is reflected in Phil’s wife and children. â€Å"His second child†¦lives near her mother and they are close, but whenever she was alone with her father, in a car driving somewhere, they had nothing to say to each other. † (Goodman 630) Since Phil was absent so frequently, his own daughter feels no connection to him, even when he is present, it is as if she is riding along with a stranger. Phil works his way near the top of his company, but has nothing to show for it. Yes, he earns a great deal of money, but look at what it costs him in the long run. â€Å"He works like the important people† only to have the company president, on the afternoon of the funeral to begin, â€Å"discreetly of course, with care and taste to make inquiries about his replacement. † (Goodman 630) To the company, Phil, and others like him are disposable, like plastic spoons used to mix up the ingredients for turning the Dream into a reality. His hard work at the job did not console his wife, nor did it establish a strong relationship with his children. Phil’s work ethic even steered the youngest of his children away from obtaining a â€Å"serious† job. â€Å"The youngest†¦has spent the last couple of years, like a lot his friends, doing enough odd jobs to stay in grass and food. He was the one who tried to grab at his father, and tried to mean enough to him to keep the man at home. † (Goodman 630) The boy is traumatized by the way his father lived his life. Work is what causes his father to withdraw from his family, and there is no doubt that the American Dream is what spearheads the separation. The need to ensure the family â€Å"happiness† pushes Phil to working toward the top of his career, eventually causing the detachment. It is very easy to get wrapped up in wanting to procure certain material things for one’s family, especially living in America. It is understandable that an individual may want to acquire the â€Å"finer† things in life, but doing so should not take precedence over any other aspects of life, such as one’s family. Once family alliances become solidified in the workaholic father's absence, spouses resent having their turfs violated when workaholics do try to become more actively involved in their families. Older children, too, often rebuff the workaholic's attempts to reconnect with the family because they feel the reentry is too little, too late, or both. â€Å"[5] Too much of one thin g is never a good thing, there needs to be a balance in order achieve more in life. In attempting to take the ingredients for cooking up the American Dream, one needs to consider adding the spice of balance into the recipe, without it, the Dream is bittersweet. Works Cited Sheet †¢ (Adams-Truslow, John). â€Å"What is the American Dream? † The Epic America. 2002. 28 Oct. 2009 http://memory. loc. gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/thedream. html †¢ (Clausen, Christopher) â€Å"Against Work† Occasions for Writing, Di Yanni & Hoy. Eds. New York: Thompson, 2008 672-676. Print †¢ (Goodman, Ellen) â€Å"The Company Man† Occasions for Writing, Di Yanni & Hoy. Eds. New York: Thompson, 2008 629-630. Print †¢ Healthcare Training Institute. Study of Workaholism Part II: Spouses and Children of Workaholics http://www. homestudycredit. com/courses/contentWK/secWK16. html †¢ Voltaire http://www. uotesdaddy. com/quote/302901/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need ———————– [1] Adams-Truslow, John. â€Å"What is the American Dream? † The Epic America. 2002. 28 Oct. 2009 http://memory. loc. gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/thedream. html [2] Clausen, Christopher. Against Work [3] Voltaire http://www. quotesdaddy. com/quote/302901/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need [4] Healthcare Training Institute. Study of Workaholism Part II: Spouses and Children of Workaholics http://www. homestudycredit. com/courses/contentWK/secWK16. html [5] Ibid

Losing Weight Expository Essay

Losing Weight COM/150 Effective Essay Writing (AXIA) Struggling with the issues of weight loss and living a healthier lifestyle. Losing weight could be a short term goal, but the main idea is to eat and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Many Americans struggle with difficulties of weight loss, not only losing the weight but keeping it off. Different methods are used for losing weight, such as, exercise, various types of dieting and some medically needed procedures. Even though weight loss is vital to many people’s careers and futures, it doesn’t mean that it’s easier for these people than it is for you and me. The difference is that most people have a state of mind that they can’t afford to fail. So they are willing to pay thousands of dollars for personal coaching and expensive surgical procedures to lose the weight and keep it off. On a long-term basis, there is only one safe, effective, foolproof way to get down to a lower weight and keep off the extra pounds. That is eating a healthier reduced-calorie diet and getting enough exercise on a daily basis. Many have come to think that eating fewer calories means eating less food. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to walk around in a state of deprivation. A feeling of deprivation is the surest way to make your weight-loss plan fail. Most people find themselves eating more food when they deprive themselves. Most first-time dieters don’t enjoy counting calories because they quickly discover that it is time consuming and can become a complicated chore. Calorie counting goes hand in hand with feeling deprived that sometimes causes a person to back away from their diet. Struggling with weight-loss can be a very serious issue. The quality of your life and how long you live is to a great extent in your own hands. For what you choose to eat largely determines whether your body wards off or becomes vulnerable to a host of life-shortening diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, stroke, hypertension, and heart disease. But changing to healthy eating habits, especially if you have not previously followed the guidelines recommended by nutritionists, can be a challenge. One could have a normal number of calories but have them all from fat, and cause other problems that can lead to heart disease or stroke. Having a similarly unbalanced diet with all the calories coming from carbohydrates can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes, plus it's a really easy way to gain weight as you get older. It also promotes dental problems, especially if it's foods that tend to get caught in your mouth or on your teeth. The easiest way to do that is to avoid or at least severely limit intake of fast foods, candies, snack foods, and sweet desserts. There are all kinds of health issues related to over consumption of sugar. Diabetes would be the number one health concern. But, diabetes is not the only ill effect from over consumption of sugar. Obesity, thyroid dysfunction, kidney malfunction, and intestinal problems can all be directly associated with too much sugar consumption. Once your body has reached the point of unhealthy functioning, or you have placed such a strain on your body from over consumption that one of the related diseases has taken hold, it's almost impossible to correct one problem without creating another. Once you have become a diabetic, there are so many complications; simply choosing dieting and exercise is no longer an option. The health concerns you now have far outweigh the easy solution of diet and exercise. However, high blood pressure is also a known risk factor, for those that are over weight and have lack of physical activity and does not maintain healthy eating habits. The more you weigh the more blood your body needs to supply oxygen and nutrients. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your arteries. People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction and the stronger the force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight with stress that can lead to temporary high blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more you may only increase the risk of having hypertension. How to be successful with weight loss for a healthier lifestyle most people start by eating the right foods that can help us avoid certain diseases or recover faster when illnesses occur. These and other important functions are fueled by chemical substances in our food called nutrients. Nutrients are classified as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Although humans need food to survive, many people eat too much, or choose the wrong foods to eat, which leads to the body putting on weight. When you eat more calories than your daily energy requirements the extra calories are stockpiled as body-fat. Slowly these fat cells keep building up and settle on the hips, waist, thighs, upper arms and back, as well as around the heart, kidneys, liver and other organs. Fortunately body-fat can easily convert into energy; however, you must reduce your fat intake and exercise regularly. If you only reduce your fat and don't exercise, your body will also break down muscle tissue and use them for fuel. Many people struggle to lose weight that is put on and that's where weight loss companies come to the rescue. There are many different ways for weight to be lost, as there are many different sorts of weight loss companies. Firstly there is exercise centers such as gyms and recreation centers which focus on fitness as the key to lose weight, Many varieties of pills, tablets and vitamin supplements are available that claim to make you lose weight. Meal replacement programs are available where the consumer has a liquid drink instead of a meal and this provides them with necessary nutrients. Diet plans are commonly found in magazines as well as the more common weight loss centers which some supply you with foods to eat and others inform you and assist you in making wise food choices. In conclusion, I found in order to be successful with losing weight for a healthier lifestyle you can follow techniques such as, eating more vegetables during meals as water-rich foods like zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers reduce your overall calorie consumption. Some other water-rich foods include soups and salads; they are good source of nutrition, take most of the calories before noon because studies tell that the more you eat in the morning, the less you'll eat in the evening. Moreover, you will get more chances to burn off those early-day calories than late-night calories, make water your favorite drink. A person must have a minimum of 8 glasses of water in a day. Avoid taking soft drinks or carbonated beverages; moreover replace them with water. Water helps in reducing weight in the most effective manner. Avoid taking white foods as they contain large amounts of carbohydrates, which may further lead to weight gain. Replace white sugar, white rice, and white flour with whole grain breads and brown rice. Eat fruit rather than drinking fruit juice. Eating whole foods will keep you satisfied for longer period of time than juice. Moreover, fruit juices are very high in calories. Use skimmed milk as it is high in calcium and low in calories. For coffee, use nonfat powdered milk. Don't stuff yourself with food in a single sitting; instead have 5 to 6 small meals or snacks in a day. Eating several small meals helps the body to release less insulin, which keeps blood sugar steady and helps to control hunger. More and more methods develop each day but studies show the most effective method is changing your diet mentally and physically challenging yourself. Picture this: The weight is over. Of course, this essay is not promising you that you will add years to your life, or that a funny and fabulous new personality will emerge. Also, it is not promising that you will become thinner than you’ve ever been when changing your eating habits. What it is promising is that a changed relationship with your eating habits will add benefits to your life even as it subtracts pounds and takes away your fear of regaining weight. Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, and the knowledge you gain from this essay can give you the power you need to change the most constant, necessary, and ongoing relationship that you have, your relationship with food. The knowledge you take from this essay should give you a realistic sense of just what is an appropriate goal for you. Genetic predisposition and even psychological factors can affect your weight. Therefore, for the person you are, there’s an appropriate weight at which you’ll look and feel your best. That’s the goal you want to aim for and maintain. References {text:bibliography-mark} (http://exercise. about. com/cs/weightloss/a/howtoloseweight) (http://acefitness. org/blog/494/how-can-i-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off)

Knowledge Management and Organizational Competencies Dissertation

Knowledge Management and Organizational Competencies - Dissertation Example This research is planned to be carried out from the perspective of our school, The Commonwealth Secondary School Singapore. Given that this is an educational institution, knowledge management forms the key business system for the school in delivering against learning & development objectives of the students of the school. The school has multiple knowledge elements – Teacher’s notes, modules & class lessons, books & journals, past researches & dissertations by ex-students, white papers, essays, etc. It would be very interesting to evaluate how they have been organized in the school’s library system and how useful the knowledge management system has been to the students of all levels taking various courses and also for the teachers for their reference material in preparing for the classes. An old theory by Jeremy Hope & Tony Hope presented the three waves of Economic Change - agriculture wave that strengthened global economies based on the green revolution, industr ial wave that strengthened global economies based on the industrial revolution and the Information wave (modern wave) that is in the process of strengthening the global economies based on knowledge revolution. In order to achieve the best of the third wave, organizations need to implement a management system for conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit and then sanitize, organize and present them for the benefits of the business. Conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit requires overcoming of cultural barriers.

What is Romance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

What is Romance - Essay Example I plainly believe, on this ground, that one such element of huge significance is romance – a mystical fuel or driving force within what constitutes the essence of love yet which possesses distinct character that enables us to distinguish one relationship from the other. Despite the mystery of how it works, romance is something humans readily perceive for it is, I suppose, designed to relish our senses and recognize the truth of love in-the-making. By experience and common knowledge, we take romance as it is in thought and act capable of emerging moments of lasting splendor due to which, we feel young at heart. It is not merely present and cherished by couples of opposite sexes, as I see it. Apparently, there occurs romance between any two critically intimate entities – such as man and God, man and self, God and other creatures, man and world, or even mind and wisdom, as well as life and struggle. We may not derive strength from it on a regular basis but certainly, romance beats the dull and illumines a soul in gloom as we treat it an unseen worker of personal tale, an occasional spice of relief, a rainbow connection, a dancing reverie, or a starlight express in all aspects of living. Last week, I visited the Timken Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego. The painting ‘Mrs. Thomas Gage, 1771’ by John Singleton Copley especially caught my attention. Through oil on canvas, Copley seems to have managed his artistry to work on the fine details of the piece in the manner as to exude radiance of the main subject. In the overall view of the painting, hence, my critical observation led me to ponder that the chief task of his brainwork could have focused on lighting scheme. It appears that, besides the vital consideration of lines, curves, and colors that altogether formed the image of Mrs. Thomas Gage, Copley ensured that these visual elements were governed by the perspective of light, originating mostly out of the

Effect of Unethical Behavior Article Analysis Essay

Effect of Unethical Behavior Article Analysis - Essay Example ituations are critical to be accurately identified and resolved to avoid any fraudulent activities like exploitation of financial statements, inside trading, kickbacks, etc by the companies and to make them abide by the accounting laws. As like modesty and ethics, obedience is also top of the list trait taught to younger generation by the elder ones. They are tamed to obey the authorities: parents in the beginning, later teachers and ultimately the Boss! One of the traps employees mostly fell into is â€Å"follow what your boss is saying†. They are pressured by the boss to behave in an un-ethical manner and tamper the numbers to overestimate company’s value. The most damaging trait found in many people, whether they are aware of it or not is the inability to work with patience and view any problem or judgment from different angles. They want definite answers and jump to conclusions based on the first thing that comes to their minds. Strict work conditions such as time stress, fatigue, and etc work as a fuel to fire. Under such circumstances the employees are at high risk of taking short cuts and behave unethically by ignoring and not fully analyzing the facts. Many a time’s exploitation of the financial facts is done in greed to gain benefits for the individual, company or for both. There might be some large percentage of shares involved for the individual from the benefit the company as a whole will receive because of the unethical activities. Where else sometimes, the employee has to â€Å"cook the books† out of his own interest as it’s for company’s benefit. In any case it is done as to gain benefit without pointing a gun at someone and without anyone getting hurt. The white collar nature of this crime makes it very tempting for individuals and companies. Over estimating company’s ROI (return over investment), Equity, Etc involves ample interest of company’s owners. This provides them with the opportunity to attract more investors to invest in

International marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International marketing plan - Essay Example In this report, the marketing plan of IKEA to enter into the Pakistani market has been presented. The external environment analysis shows that IKEA can find huge opportunities in the Pakistan furniture industry as currently no international furniture brand is operating in the country. Although economy of Pakistan is threatened by unstable political conditions, terrorism and weak economic conditions still, the changing patterns of people and their preference for western furniture products over weigh these threats. Porter’s five forces analyses show that furniture industry of Pakistan is a highly attractive industry. The market audit shows the strengths of IKEA which can help the company to ensure a successful presence in the Pakistani market. After identifying the corporate and marketing objectives of IKEA, this report also describes a preliminary marketing plan to enter into the market. Direct investment strategy has been considered as the most suitable strategy for IKEA to en ter into the industry. The report also describes the marketing mix of IKEA. The company will keep its IKEA concept to promote its products and services in Pakistan. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCT Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (IKEA) is a Swedish company. From 1954 to 2010, the number of stores of IKEA has grown from 1 to 316 stores (http://franchisor.ikea.com/showContent.asp?swfId=facts1). The company has been developed to offer low price and modern home furnishings to the consumers. Unlike other home furnishing retailers, IKEA focuses on providing a combination of low price and good design and functionality to the consumers which never goes out of fashion. Today, the company is printing its catalogue in 25 languages and circulate in 35 countries around the world (http://franchisor.ikea.com/showContent.asp?swfId=catalogue9). Moreover, the stores of IKEA attract around 600 million visitors (http://franchisor.ikea.com/showContent.asp?swfId=store9). IKEA is currently targeting countries f rom Europe, North America, Australia, Asia Pacific and Caribbean. In Asia Pacific, company has been able to enter into China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore. In this report, the marketing plan of IKEA to enter into the Pakistani market has been presented. Pakistan appears to be an attractive market for IKEA because the westernisation in Pakistan is increasing very rapidly and people are seeking to import western clothes, home furnishings and other products. Therefore, in this report, the plan of establishing IKEA store in Pakistan has been presented. The store will initially offer home furniture products in Pakistan. ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS PESTLE Analysis Political Pakistan is facing high political instability which influences both the consumers and businesses. The decline of exports of furniture since 2007 is because of the political and economic problems especially load shedding (Arifeen, 2010). However, direct political influence is very less on furniture retailer s. Government has very weak regulatory control in the furniture industry

INternational Corporate Communications in KFC Essay

INternational Corporate Communications in KFC - Essay Example Without effective communication, the business activities will become awkward and organisations will lose concentration on the operational goals. In the international corporate environment, majority of communication is external i.e. between organisation and customers, and without effective communication strategy, organisations will be unable to recognise market demand and ultimately lose effectiveness and market position (Smith & Et. Al., 1999). The paper describes the international communication strategies of KFC, which is a famous chain of fast food restaurants. The main focus of the paper is related to how KFC uses communication models, frameworks and theories in its business as well as how the company maintains its reputation and corporate ethics through proper communication media. The objective of the paper is to understand the importance and the aspects of communication in the international business environment and the way KFC has utilised those aspects in their business. Intern ational Communication Strategy International communication strategy is based on selecting the communication modes in a specific market. It is concerned about deciding communication themes in the international business environment. The choice of communication media can be achieved in terms of uniform method which indicates the application of same tool in every nation or identical selection method for selecting communication tools and media which are active in every market. Usually, an organisation requires differentiated approach as the international culture is different from nation to nation which can impact on the usage of media or availability of media (Morschett & Et. Al., 2010). The international communication strategies of KFC are targeted towards attracting the young customer segments. There are several communication tools available for an organisation in the international market such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling. Adv ertising: Advertising is one of the most vital communication media used by marketers to enter in the international market. KFC has participated in several advertising cooperatives and developed advertisements for appealing customers. KFC had developed several humorous and Claymation advertisements as a means of communication. In advertisement communication, KFC uses differentiated approach by considering the culture of a country. For instance, in China, people prefer to maintain a family tradition such as admiration, care, assistance and friendship among others. Thus, the advertisements of KFC reflect the theme of common Chinese people. KFC applies localisation approach in their advertisement communication by considering the culture, values, and ethics of customers (YUM! Brands, Inc, 2010). Promotion: Promotion is the other communication media used by KFC to communicate about the products to the target customers. Promotion is the other method which can help to entice chicken lovers to the offerings of KFC. In order to attract young customer segments, KFC uses premium strategy i.e. providing gifts such as wristwatches, keychain, coffee beaker, T-Shirt, and toys. In several stores, KFC provides customers with numerous inducements to

Paper 2 about Chinese media industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paper 2 about Chinese media industry - Essay Example Although there are still reports of suppression by the state of independent media sources, there is tacit encouragement given to these media sources to participate in China’s culture industry and the media. Moreover, although state authorities continue to exert control on the use of domestic private capital in the core production of news items, there is increased recognition of this capital should play in china. Taken together, the media system in China is characterized by the domineering role of state capital in controlling the media’s heights, whereas private capital makes investments in production and sales. This has led to a system where the state continues to exert ideological control of the media, while also enabling the cultural and media markets to respond better to the needs and preferences of popular Chinese culture (Zhao, 2008). The Chinese state authorities have managed to gain increasing managerial and regulatory control over the media system, playing a gate-keeping role that enables it accumulate capital by strategically controlling media outlets and subsequent rental-seeking behavior. On the other hand, the state has sought to increasingly outsource most of the distribution and production work, thus giving up its ‘heavy lifting’ role to private capitalists (Zhao, 2008). In turn, the character and nature of private capital in the domestic media market has been transformed from private capitalist owners with a media background to industrial conglomerate owners embedded within the current power structure. For example, there is a growing class of financial capitalists in the media industry who view the industry as a new capitalist frontier, rather than a medium for cultural expression and social communication. In addition, there is a significant shift towards the incorporation of domestic priva te capital into transnational capital’s distribution

Communicate in a business environment Essay Example for Free

Communicate in a business environment Essay 3.1 Describe ways of verbally presenting information and ideas clearly 3.2 Explain ways of making contributions to discussion that help to move them forward 3.3 Describe methods of active listening 3.4 Explain the purpose of summarising verbal communications 4.1 Describe ways of getting feedback on communications 4.2 Explain the purpose of using feedback to develop communication skills Describe ways of verbally presenting information and ideas clearly to present any information or ideas I need clearly I often use simple language and short sentences this makes it easier for everybody to understand. Also I present the information is a variety of ways as some people understand things and concepts in different ways. For example; some people understand by hearing or seeing. Before I present any information or ideas I always plan out what I want to say, I often also take out any information that is not necessary. I also use active and personal language like ‘’you’ and ‘we’’. Explain ways of making contributions to discussion that help to move them forward To make conversation move forward, I often learn to listen to people and give importance for everybody’s ideas. This way I can make positive contributions that can lead to further discussion. I also often do not make a contribution to a subject who isn’t positive or may not affect me or my work. Describe methods of active listening In order to perform within LSG and to develop my skills listening is one the most important skills I should obtain. As it will portray the quality of my relationship with my team and clients. Listening is important as I need to often obtain information from others to learn new things. Methods of active listening include: Listening calmly without interrupting, so that I let the other person speak and show them that I care and respect them Asking others to repeat if I do not understand anything, in order to avoid mistakes Taking notes of important points, so that I do not forget or miss out on any important points Confirming what I have understood, so that there is no misunderstanding of information Explain the purpose of summarising verbal communications The purpose of summarising verbal communication is to identify major points, behaviours, thoughts and feelings that have been discussed. I then often collate all the information I have collected. By doing this is helps to have a clear precise outline of all communications. Describe ways of getting feedback on communications I believe that feedback completes the entire process of communication. Feedback helps us to decide if the communication was effects and useful. I often get feedback from my line manager Scott or I often get it from clients on the phone. If any feedback given is to improve on anything I often make note of the feedback and make a working progress for myself to include the suggestion in my work. Explain the purpose of using feedback to develop communication skills I use feedback for improve my work performance. It helps improve my work ethnic, team work and quality of my work. To help develop communication skills the feedback has to be received and acted upon. Once I have acted upon feedback I always let my line manager Scott know so that he can see I am willing to learn and enthusiastic and this may encourage people to offer me feedback in the future.

Symbols of a Worn Path Essay Example for Free

Symbols of a Worn Path Essay Phoenix Jackson; an old negro woman that partakes on a journey to take medicine to her sick nephew that is off in another town. Phoenix is old and through the story there are many accounts that I think are symbolic to being of age. Being one with nature Phoenix Jackson is determined to travel through the forest to tend to her sick nephew. The story itself was full of symbols, some that where more noticeable then others. Phoenix’s face was said to look like a tree with burning glow under it. Pretty much saying she was one with nature, that she was in touch with the natural side of things. And her name is Phoenix which is the same name of the mythical Egyptian bird that lives for 500 years, and then dies but for 500 years it regenerates itself. Her name symbolizes in her old age she lives on. In her old age she is also in touch with nature as her tree trunk like face shows. There are many times she talks to the animals: â€Å"Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animal! Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites. Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way†(1) as in touch she is with nature, there are many instances that the forest showed signs of death when she seen a buzzard sitting on a dead tree, then she seen a scare crow. That also represents death, but she ended up dancing with the scare crow like she was dancing around death. So far through the journey Phoenix came upon many different things. She even had a symbolic dream; which had her reaching for a marble cake from a young boy which symbolized her living for a longer period of time. It also had a simple reason, just her hallucinating because of old age. But along the way Phoenix came across a well that she drank from that meant longevity. A lot of the symbols in the story had to do with her age or death. Soon after she was done drinking from the spring, a black dog came at her growling which symbolizes death once again. She hit the dog and it ran away. After the encounter with the dog Phoenix stumbles in falls into a ditch. Where she douses off and has a dream of her reaching and nobody pulling her up. Which symbolizes God looking down at her but does not reach for her because it is not her time to go to Heaven. After she wakes up from her dream she gets out the ditch and comes across a white hunter with two growling dogs. In her whole Journey she had many encounters with symbols of death, but made it through the forest to get the medicine to her sick grandson. â€Å"Critical discussion of A Worn Path largely has been concerned with thematic interpretation of the work, particularly the storys racial, mythological, and Christian motifs.† (2) Sometimes even called a Christian pilgrimage, because of the times God is mentioned and how she is still holding on to life. And he going through that forest sacrificing herself could go back to the scarifies Jesus did. But even with those things in it, there were still symbols of the mythological creature. As Phoenix walked through the forest she struggled with bad vision and hallucinations but still made it to the hospital to help her grandson. â€Å"The combined effects of her old age, her poor vision, and her poetic view of the world heighten the lyricism and symbolism of the narrative.† (2) Which made the story more interesting to the readers. Every hardship had a different meaning, and brought her closer to her goal.

Role Of Analog Communication In Daily Life Computer Science Essay

Role Of Analog Communication In Daily Life Computer Science Essay This term paper is based on the analog communication and its role in daily life. Analog communication is performed on continuous signal. In electronics, a signal is an electric current or  electromagnetic fieldused to convey data from one place to another. Signal Sampling Quantizer Encoder Output Sampling: Quantising: Encoding: Signal is divided into two parts: Analog or Continuous signal: A  continuous signal  is a varying quantity whose domain, which is often time, is a  continuum. The function itself need not be  continuous. Digital or Discrete signal: A  discrete signal  is a  time series  consisting of a  sequence  of quantities. In other words, it is a time series that is a function over a  domain  of discrete integers.   2. Communication: Communication is a process of transferring information from one entity to another.   Information source transmitter channel receiver Noise destination Block Diagram of communication system modulating signal transducer electrical amplifier modulation Output signal demodulator receiver channel noise Block Diagram of analog communication system Basics of communication: Channel is of two types: Guided or wired Non-guided or non-wired Guided is of three types: Twisted pair Coaxial cable Optical fibre Non-guided is divided into two parts: Microwave Satellite Modes of Communication: Simplex Half-duplex Full-duplex Elements of communication system: Modulation: Change in one of the parameter of carrier wave in proportion to the instantaneous value of the modulating signal. Continuous Signal Amplitude modulation Angle modulation Frequency modulation Phase modulation Modulation Index: The  modulation index of a modulation scheme describes by how much the modulated variable of the carrier signal varies around its unmodulated level. It is defined differently in each modulation scheme. m=Em/Ec where m is the modulation index. Em=(Vmax-Vmin)/2 Ec=(VMax+Vmin)/2 Amplitude Modulation (AM): Change in amplitude of the carrier wave in proportion to the instantaneous value of the amplitude of the modulating signal. Amplitude modulationis a method used in electronic communication which is most usually used in transmitting information by means ofradio carrier wave. AM works by changing the power given to the transmitted signal in the message being sent. Example,changes in the signal strength can be used to reproduce the sounds to be reproduced by a speakeror to specify the light strength of television pixels. Compare it with  frequency modulationwhich is also commonly used for sound broadcasting in which thefrequency  is variable; and phasemodulation often used in  remote controls in which the  phase  is variable. AM is often used to refer to themedium wave  broadcastband. In telecommunications,  frequency modulation  (FM) conveyssine formation  over acarrierwave  by varying its  frequency  compare this with  amplitude modulation, in which theamplitude  of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant. In  analogapplications, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal.   Advantages of Amplitude Modulation: There are several advantages of amplitude modulation It is very easy to implement it can be demodulated using a circuit containing of very few apparatuses AM receivers are very inexpensive as no particular components are required. AM has benefits of ease, though it is not the most effectiveway to use, both in terms of the quantityof space or spectrum uses and the way in which it uses the power that is transmitted. This is the reason why it is not extensively used these days both for broadcasting and for two way radio communication. Even the long, medium and short wave broadcasts will eventuallychange because of the truth that amplitude modulation is subject to much higher levels of noise than other modes. Its easiness and its wide usage means it will be hard to change rapidly and it will be in use for many years to come. Frequency Modulation (FM): It is the process of variation in frequency of the carrier wave in proportion to the instantaneous value of the amplitude of the modulating signal. While changing the amplitude of a radio signal is the best method to modulate it, it is not the only way. It is also possible to vary the frequency of a signal to give frequency modulation. Frequency modulation is widely used on frequencies above 30 MHz, and it is mainlyknown for its use for VHF FM broadcasting. It is not easy as amplitude modulation;however frequency modulationdeals with some dissimilarbenefits. It is able to provide immediate interference free response and this is the reason it isassumed for the VHF sound broadcasts. These transmissions could offer high fidelity audio, and this is the reason, frequency modulation is much more prevalent than the older transmissions on the long, medium and short wave bands. In addition to its extensive use for high superiority audio broadcasts, FM is also used for a variety of two way radio communication systems where amplitude modulation is a failure. Whether for fixed or mobile radio communication systems or for use in moveable applications, FM is widely used at VHF, mobile radio. Advantages of frequency modulation, FM: FM is used for a number of reasons and there are numerousbenefits of frequency modulation. Some of the benefits of frequency modulation are as under: Resilience to noise: Frequency modulation has elasticity to signal level variations. The modulation is carried as there are disparities in frequency. This means that any signal level variations will not disturb the audio output, on condition that that the signal does not fall to a level where the receiver cannot handle. As a result it makes FM perfect for mobile radio communication applications including more general two-way radio communication or movable applications where signal levels are likely to vary much. The additionalbenefit of FM is its elasticity to noise and interference. It is for this reason that FM is used for high superiority broadcast communications. Easy to apply modulation at a low power stage of the transmitter:  Ã‚   Frequency modulation is linked with the transmitters. It is probable to relate the modulation to a low power stage of the transmitter and it is not essential to use a direct form of amplification to escalate the power level of the signal to its ultimate value. It is possible to use efficient RF amplifiers with frequency modulated signals:  Ã‚   It is possible to use non-linear RF amplifiers to amplify FM signals in a transmitter and these are more effective than the linear ones required for signals with any amplitude disparities. This means that for a given power yield, less battery power is necessary and this makes the use of FM more possible for portable two-way radio applications. Frequency modulation is widely used in various areas of radio technology including broadcasting and fields of two way radio communication. In these applications its specificbenefits can be used to good consequence. In spite of these changes, FM will continue to be in use for many years to come as there are many advantages of frequency modulation for the areas in which it has addedaimportanthold in recent years. Phase Modulation (PM): Change in the phase of the carrier wave in accord to the instantaneous value of the amplitude of the modulating signal. Advantages of phase modulation: Phase modulation demodulation is less complicated as compared to Frequency modulation. Phase modulator is used in shaping velocity of moving target by removing Doppler information. Doppler information needs steady carrier which is probable in phase modulation but not in frequency modulation. Role of analog communication: Analog communication plays a very vital role.Either in the form of AM,FM or PM. It is used in audio, video, telephony, wireless communication, radar, emergency services, etc. Audio AM broadcast radio which sends voice or music in the Medium Frequency Radio Spectrum which ranges from 0.3MHz to 3MHz. AM broadcast uses amplitude modulation in which high sounds at the microphone roots wide variations in the transmitter power while the transmitter frequency remains constant. Transmissions are regularlyaffected by static since lightening and other some sources of radio add their radio waves to the one upcoming from the transmitter. AM radio stations are the original broadcasting stations. They are aform of connection of radio waves by changing the amplitude of the carrier signal in proportion to the instantaneous value of the amplitude of the transmitted signal. AMs simple signal can be detected with simple apparatus which turns into sound. If a signal is strong enough then there is no necessity of power source, Another advantage to AM is that it uses a narrow bandwidth than FM. FM broadcast radio transmits voice and music with high fidelity than AM broadcast radio. In frequency modulation loud sounds at the microphone causes the frequency of the transmitter to varyfurther than the transmitter power stays persistent. FM is transmitted in the Very High Frequency radio spectrum ranging from 30MHz to 300MHz. FM needs extra radio frequency zone than AM and at high frequency more frequencies are accessible and there are additional stations each one sending more information to the station. And when shorter VHF radio waves usually act like light which travels in straight line so the response range is usually limited to 50 to 100 miles. During higher atmospheric situation, FM signals are echoed back to Earth by the ionosphere layer which outcomes in Long distance FM response. FM receivers are subject to capture outcome which causes radio to receive the strongest signal when many signals are on the similar frequency. FM receivers are reasonablyprotected to lightening and spark interference. Aviation voice radios use VHF AM. AM is used so as to obtain multiple stations on the same channels. Aircrafts fly high adequately so that their transmitters can be received thousands of miles away. It uses VHF. Marine voice radios use narrowband FM in the VHF spectrum for very smaller ranges and use AM in the shortwave HF radio spectrum extending from 3MHz to 30MHz for very long distances. FM Subcarrier services areminor signals transmitted associated along with the main program. Special receivers are necessary to operate these services. Analog channels may comprisesubstitute programming, such as reading services for the blind, background music or stereo sound signals. In some countries, FM radios automatically retune themselves to the matching channel inanother district by using sub-bands. Government, police, fire and commercial voice facilities use narrowband FM on distinct frequencies. Fidelity is sacrificed to use a lesser range of radio frequencies, typically five kilohertz of aberration rather than the 75 used by FM broadcasts and 25 used by TV sound. Civil and military HF voice services use  shortwave  radio to communicate withships at sea, aircraft and remote settlements. Most use  single sideband  voice which uses a smaller amount of bandwidth than AM. SSB sounds like ducks quacking on an AM radio. This also makes the transmitter about three times more influential, because it doesnt need to communicate the unused carrier and sideband. Telephony Cell phones transmit to a native cell transmitter/receiver which associates to the public service telephone system through an optic fibre or microwave radio. When the phone leaves the cell radios zone, the central computer shifts the phone to a new cell. Cell phonesinitially used FM. There are many cellphone service providers in India nowadays. The main among them are: BSNL Airtel Vodafone Idea Aircel Videocon Tata Docomo Tata Indicom MTNL MTS Satellite phones come in two types:  INMARSAT  and  Iridium. Both types provide world-wide coverage. INMARSAT uses geosynchronous satellites, with directed high-gain antennas on the vehicles. Iridium provides cell phones, except the cells are satellites in orbit. Satellite phone communication is not available in public domain in India. It is used by the defence services. The main companies that provide the satellite phones in India are: Motorola Siemens GE Satellite phone communication can be provided in the public domains as the media persons in the remote areas etc. But it needs a special licence from TRAI. Video Television transmits the picture as AM and the sound as FM on the identical radio signal. Digital television encrypts three bits as eight strengths of AM signal. The bits are directed out-of-order to cutdown the effect of gusts of radio noise. Even if any data could be transmitted, the standard is to use  MPEG-2  for video, and five CD-quality (44.1 kHz) audio channels (centre, left, right, left-back and right back). With all this, it takes only half of the bandwidth of an analog TV signal because the video data is generallycompressed. India saw the advent of satellite communication in 1995. But it was limited to cable operators till 2007. But then, satellite communication stepped up inot DIRECT TO HOME channels. These providers are: DishTV Reliance BIG TV Airtel Digital TV Tata Sky. Videocon d2h Navigation All  satellite navigation  systems use satellites with accuracy clocks known as precision clocks. The satellite communicates its position and the time of the broadcast. The receiver listens to four satellites and can figure out its location as being on a line that is tangent to a circular shell around each satellite, determined by the time-of-flight of the radio signals from the satellite. Loran  systems also used time-of-flight radio signals, but from radio stations on the ground. VOR  systems (used by aircraft), have two transmitters. A directional transmitter scans or spins its signal like a lighthouse at a fixed rate. When the directional transmitter is facing north, an Omni-directional transmitter pulses. An aircraft can get readings from two VORs, and locate its position at the intersection of the two beams. Radio direction-finding is the oldest form of radio navigation. Before 1960 navigators used movable loop antennas to locate industrial AM stations near cities. In some cases they used marine radiolocation beacons, which share a range of frequencies just above AM radio with amateur radio operators. GPS i.e. Global Positioning System is in use from past decade. Vehicles using navigation with the help of GPS. GPS is being installed in recent luxury cars and in many business class vehicles. It relies on high frequency radio signals from satellites in space. Vehicles having GPS navigation systems can travel in some situations where they may lose the signal for some time. It usually provides accurate navigation information. The companies that provide the Navigation systems in India are: Map My India Nokia OVI maps Garmin GPS systems. Radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) Radar detects things at a distance by bouncing back radio waves from them. The delay caused by the echo measures the distance. The direction of the beam determines the direction of the reflection. The polarization and frequency of the return can sense the type of surface. Navigational radars scan a wide 2 to 4 times per minute. They use very short waves that reflect back from earth and even stone. They are common on commercial ships and long-distance commercial aircraft. General purpose radars generally use navigational radar frequencies, however modulate and polarize the pulse so that the receiver can decide the type of surface of the reflector. The best general-purpose radars distinguish the rain of heavy storms, as well as land and vehicles. Some can superimpose sonar data and map data fromGPS  position. Search radars scan a wide area with pulses of short radio waves. They usually scan the area 2 to 4 times a minute. Sometimes search radars use the  Doppler Effect  to separate moving vehicles from confusion. Targeting radars use the same principle as search radar but scan a much smaller area. Weather radars resemble search radars, however use radio waves with circular polarization and a wavelength to reflect from water droplets. Some weather radar use the  Doppler  to measure wind speeds. This is how radar screen looks Emergency services Emergency position-indicating rescue beacons (EPIRBs),  emergency locating transmitters or  personal locator beacons are small radio transmitters that satellites can use to locate a person or vehicle need rescue. Their purpose is to help and free people in the first day, when survival is possible. Data (digital radio) Pioneers such as Marconi used the oldest form of digital broadcast which was Spark Gap Telegraphy. The operator could send messages in Morse coding just by reviving a rotating communicating spark gap b pressing the key. Simple spark gap generates a hiss when rotating commutator generates a tone in the receiver, same from the static. Spark gap transmitters are now banned because their transmissions span is several hundred MHz which is a waste of both radio frequencies and power. Its just inefficient and uneconomical. The next progress is to use continuous wave telegraphy (CW) in which pure radio frequency is produced by a vacuum tube electronic oscillator which is switch on and off by a key. A receiver having a local oscillator will heterodyne with pure radio frequency creating a whistle like audio tone. Less than 100Hz of bandwidth is used by CW. Amateur radio operators still use CW. On-off keying of a carrier should be known as Interrupted Continuous Wave or ICW. Radio teletypes usually run on short-wave (HF) and are much acceptable by the military since they generate written information with no skilled operator. They convey a bit as one of two tones. Groups of five or seven bits turn into a character printed by a teletype. From about 1925 to 1975, radio teletype was how on the whole commercial messages were sent to less industrial countries. These are still used by the military and weather services. Aircraft use a 1200 Band radio teletype service over VHF to send their ID, altitude and position, and get gate and connecting-flight data. Microwave dishes on satellites, telephone exchanges and TV stations frequently use  quadrature amplitude modulation  (QAM). QAM sends data by altering both the phase and the amplitude of the radio signal. Engineers like QAM because it packs the most bits into a radio signal. Usually the bits are sent in frames that repeat. A special bit pattern is used to position the beginning of a frame. Systems that need consistency or which allocate their frequency with other services may use corrected orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing or  COFDM. COFDM breaks a digital signal into countless several hundred slower sub-channels. The digital signal is frequently sent as QAM on the sub-channels. Modern COFDM systems use a small computer to make and decode the signal with  digital signal processing, which is more flexible and far less expensive than older systems that implemented separate electronic channels. COFDM resists fading and ghosting because the narrow-channel QAM signals can be sent bit by bit. An adaptive system or one that sends error-correction codes can also defy interference, because most interference can change only a few of the QAM channels. COFDM is used for  Wi-Fi, some  cell phones,  Digital Radio Mondiale,  Eureka 147, and many other local area network, digital TV and radio standards. Most new radio systems are digital, Digital  Satellite Radio,  Digital Audio Broadcasting. Heating Radio-frequency energy generated for heating of objects is generally not intended to radiate outside of the generating equipment, to prevent interference with other radio signals. For heating food and other eatables, microwave ovens use strong radio waves. It is a general misconception that the radio waves are tuned to the resonant frequency of water molecules. The microwave frequencies used are actually about a factor of 10 below the resonant frequency. Diathermy  equipment is used in surgery for sealing of blood vessels. Induction  furnaces are used for melting metal for  casting. Mechanical Force Tractor beams: There is a small electrostatic and magnetic force being exerted by radio waves which is enough for the performance of station-keeping in microgravity environment. Spacecraft propulsion: Propulsion method for an interstellar probe called Starwisp is proposed with the help of powerful radio waves which has a radiation pressure. Since the radio waves are long so the probe could be very light weighted metal mesh and hence it attains high accelerations. Other Amateur radio  is a pastime where enthusiasts who purchase or build their own equipment and use radio for their own enjoyment. They may also provide an emergency and public-service radio service. This can be of large use, saving lives in many instances. Radio amateurs are able to use frequencies in a big number of finebands all over the radio spectrum. Radio amateurs use all forms of programming including outdated and new ones. Several forms of radio were pioneered by radio amateurs and afterwards became commercially significant including FM, SSBAM, and digital packet radio and satellite repeaters. Individual radio services such as  Citizens Band Radio,  Family Radio Service,  Multi-Use Radio Service  and others offer simple, short range message for persons and small groups without the simplicity of licensing. Wireless energy transfer: Many schemes have been proposed which transmits power using microwaves and its techniques have been confirmed.These schemes consist ofsolar power  stations  in orbit beaming energy down to worldwide users. Radio remote control: Radio waves are used to transmit data to remote point as is done in some early forms of guided missile, TV remotes and a range of model boats, cars and airplanes. Remote controlled equipments which are used in large industries mostly use digital radio techniques for safety purposes and reliability. Such equipments are cranes and switching locomotives. Conclusion: From the one-way communication analog communication has now reached to two-way communication. From wired system to wireless communication. With the help of analog system one can find direction easily. It helps in spacecraft propulsion. Analog systems are inexpensive in many cases. It uses less bandwidth. Accuracy of analog systems is more. As the world is leaving from Wires to Wireless, The technology and swiftness or speed of wireless communication is also going leaps and bounds. The wired set-up often goes too crowded and offers obstruction to mobility needs of the users i.e. the wired system is not portable. If at all it is then it is very complicated. With wired Networks, although security characteristics and speed are however not matched by the wired networks, nevertheless the incapability to being flexible is what causes the wireless mediums to gain additional public awareness. Analog communication plays a vital role in our day to day life. It is used in many fields today and is growing each day. Its multi-tasking made the work easier. Just by changing the frequency range, it can be used differently. With the help of analog signals, the boom of communications is rising.

Theodore Dreiser Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Dreiser was born August 27, 1871 in Terre Haute, Indiana. The younger brother of Paul Dresser, a well-known songwriter, Theodore was a famous novelist known for his outstanding American writing of naturalism. He was also a leading figure in a national literary movement that replaced the observance of Victorian notions of propriety with the unflinching presentation of real-life subject matter. Even though a majority of his works were about his life experiences, he also wrote about new social problems that had risen in American at the time as well as things sexual in nature. Dreiser was born the ninth of ten surviving children in a family that was stricken with life-long poverty. His father was a German immigrant that was mostly an unemployed mill worker with a strict attitude because of his narrow Roman Catholic belief. His mother had a Czech Mennonite background and she was a fair lady that was always compassionate to her son. Because of the family’s severe degree of poverty, they moved frequently between small Indiana towns and Chicago in search of a better cost of living. Dreiser did not have much of an education in his lifetime. He attended parochial and public schools including a year at Indiana University in 1889-1890 throughout his academic years. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago in 1892 before working his way to the East Coast. While living on the East Coast in 1894, Dreiser found a job working for a Pittsburgh newspaper. In the same year, he move to New York City and started working for several newspapers and magazines. Dreiser would soon meet a woman named Sara White and they would get married in 1898. The marriage did not last that long due to his roving affections and resulting infidelities causing their divorce in 1912. Dreiser began writing his first novel, Sister Carrie, in 1899 at the suggestion of a newspaper colleague. Doubleday, Page and Company published the novel the following year, than ks in part to the great enthusiasm of the firm’s novelist, Frank Norris. The story line of the novel was about a young kept woman whose "immortality" goes unpunished. The publisher was not fond of the story line and decided to limit the book’s advertising. Because of the limited advertising, the book sold only 465 copies and Dreiser made less than $100 dollars on the deal. In 1890, the dis... ...erty level. He always spoke and wrote of his mother being affectionate and caring at all times. Theodore Dreiser was born in Terre Haute and lived in Indiana until the age of eighteen. He was born into a family that was stricken with poverty and he had little hope of making it big in the real world. Dreiser did not have much of an education nor any experience in writing. Through hard work and dedication, he ended getting a job in Chicago for a newspaper and then moving to New York a few years later. In New York, Dreiser also got many jobs for magazines and newspapers. While living in the city, he wrote a majority of his famous works. Dreiser’s most famous works were Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy. In 1938, he moved to Los Angeles with his mistress, Helen Richardson. Dreiser continued on writing literary works until his death in 1945. Theodore Dreiser was a well-known novelist and a great man as well as a historic member of the Terre Haute area. Bibliography Bibliography Gerber, Phillip. Theodore Dreiser, Chicago, Woodford Publishing., 1986, pp. 34-75 Warren, Robert Penn. Homage to Theodore Dreiser: His World and His Novels, New York, Coleman Publishing., 1975, pp. 82-140

Primary Behavior Changes of MDMA :: Illegal Drugs Ecstasy Medical Essays

Primary Behavior Changes of MDMA As an attempt to define the primary versus secondary (or side effect) behavior changes, I will first discuss the differences between the two. One way to separate the two will be to refer to the primary behaviors as those that occur during the use of the drug. This time span will include the behaviors that occur from the point of ingestion through the time when the effects of the drug wear off (approximately 4-6 hours after ingestion). At this point I will go on to discuss the secondary effects on behavior and how they are a result of the primary effects. With this distinction made, it will make the comparison easier to follow and understand. One of the first, and most commonly reported, behavior changes is that of a created sense of, or feeling of, empathy towards all individuals. In many this feeling is a dominating force that enables communication in an outwardly expressive manner, much different than is normally expressed if the participant were to be in a sober state. As a result, MDMA was slated for use in the medical field by psychologists and psychiatrists who were interested in these qualities as an aid in therapy. With lowered inhibitions and a willingness to express one's inner thoughts and feelings, many therapists were convinced that the drug would have very important therapeutic advantages. These advantages would be clearly expressed in cases where months of therapy had little effect on creating an inviting space where patients could feel comfortable with sharing in the presence of a therapist. Under close supervision, the therapeutic consequences could be priceless to the individual who potentially would be able to overcome a traumatic experience. With this being only one of the primary behavior changes associated with the use of MDMA, it's easy to see how the complexity of such a drug can be easily underestimated. When viewed from an outside perspective, someone in such a euphoric state would appear to be very outgoing and accepting of many types of people. It's this sense of compassion towards all people that has created a phenomenon that expresses itself in the form of large dance parties, called raves. People get together to enjoy music, dance, drugs, and most of all each other. In a heightened state of awareness, participants are

Politics and Architecture: A Literature Review

Chapter Two:Methodology In this chapter the research methodological analysis used in the survey is described. Theoretical analysis, informations aggregation, interviews conducted as collaborative method and the information beginnings are clarified. 2.1 Literature Review In the undermentioned paragraphs I will exemplify the methodological inspiration I take to analyze the confrontation between formal planning and informal slums in Zhengzhou. In conformity to the research inquiries stated in the direction, the theoretical lenses I adopt could be categorized into three spheres. 2.1.1Power and Governmentality Space is a critical portion of the conflict for control and surveillance of persons ( Michel Foucault, 1988 ) , and urban planning is one of the important tools to put to death province control. The first analytical end of this thesis is to show a political analysis of urban programs based on a coexistent, feeder, and conflictual theory of power. Sing the assorted nature of power and the coexisting humanistic disciplines of authorities, intriguing parts have been made to the spheres of psychological science ( Rose,1998 ) , broad governmentality ( Barry, Osborne, & A ; Rose, 1996 ) , insurance and hazard direction ( O’Malley, 2002 ) and ecological administration ( Darier, 1999 ; Binkley & A ; Capetillo, 2010 ) . Foucault’s construct provides a wider spectrum of political phenomena than what is traditionally defined as â€Å"political† ( e.g. citizens, province, political representation, freedom, etc. ) , by including classically non-political phenomena like machines, air, H2O, animate beings, workss and infinite. He suggested that there are three types of power: crowned head, disciplinary, and biopolitical, which I intend to pull on to clear up some of the complex relationships of power operating at urban planning, particularly on the control over internal migrators. Their grade of strength, common dealing ss of convergence, and hostility will be analyzed in Chapter Four, but here I would wish to indicate out how the classification of crowned head, disciplinary, and biopolitical are relevant to the instance survey in China. Sovereignty, Foucault says, creates a territorial treaty, and the major map of it is vouching boundary lines. Sovereign power is so exercised within the boundary lines of a district ( M. Foucault, 2009 ) . The family enrollment system in China is an convergence of societal and geographic division, which creates an unseeable but rigorous boundary line between the rural and urban countries. Binary exclusion, territorial regulations and even penalty for boisterous migrators [ 1 ] were implanted to procure the urban district. The undertaking of subject is to enforce a breakdown grid within the inside of the district established by the crowned head and bring forth organic structures that are both docile and capable of holding their bodily motions directed ( Foucault, 1979 ) . In China, internal migrators are surveilled, supervised and reformed through disciplinary power so as to do them prevail, obedient and able to digest adversity. When a individual steps out of the rural country and enters the metropolis, he must be prepared to be expelled, to work without societal public assistance, to digest general favoritism and to be soundless in his endurance. More than a disciplinary mechanism that acts on persons, biopower Acts of the Apostless as a control setup exerted over a population as a wholeto achieve an optimum result in a multivalent and convertible model ( M. Foucault, 2009 ) . Architecture, or urban planning, in this regard, is a signifier of biopolitics. Reconstruction of the reinforced environment, street, rivers and even flora, has become political mechanisms for way or redirection of migratory organic structures. The configuration of political schemes can be explained through Foucault’s surveies, which contributes to the inquiry ofhowto command the migration of people. In seeking to understandwhyauthoritiess are seeking to â€Å"sedentarize† people, James Scott came to see these strategies as â€Å"a province ‘s effort to do a society legible, to set up the population in ways that simplified the authoritative province maps of revenue enhancement, muster, and the bar of rebellion† ( Scott, 1998 ) . Harmonizing to Scott fully fledged catastrophes of societal technology necessitate a combination of four elements: the discernability of a society, â€Å"high-modernist† political orientation that believes itself in command of nature and society, an autocratic province willing to utilize all its coercive power to implement these strategies, and an incapacitated civil society which is easiest to happen in times of war, depression, crises, or attempts at national rele ase. China still has a long manner to travel in developing a stronger civil society under the autocratic societal construction, hence when the province got excessively deep into a tunnel vision to accomplish Utopian alterations, catastrophes necessarily happened ( e.g. the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution ) . The family enrollment system, which dated back to the black fragments of Chinese history, is portion of the simplified narrow vision. Its negative impact on urban development and human rights protection needs to be to foster revealed before major alterations could take topographic point. 2.1.2 Segregation and Marginality One of the byproducts of the family enrollment system is urban small towns, which presently shelter the bulk of the migratory population in the metropolis, individually from the urban system. I intend to cast visible radiation on its effects upon the society and measure planning policies designed to cover with it though residential segregation analysis. Park presented the really first definition of residential segregation in 1926, as a nexus that exists between both the societal distance and the physical distance ( Park, 1926 ) . Since so assorted definitions have been contributed to a better apprehension of the residential segregation construct ( e.g. Timms, 1975 ; White, 1983 ; Jargowsky, 1996 ) , with the most influential one drawn by Massey and Denton, sing residential segregation as a multidimensional phenomenon based on five dimensions: evenness, exposure, constellating, centralization and concentration ( Massey & A ; Denton, 1988 ) . Over the decennaries, legion quantitative attacks have besides been proposed taking to measure the different indices and steps ( both spacial and non-spatial ) of residential segregation. As quantitative analysis will non be carried out in my thesis, delight refer to the researches below for more description: James and Taeuber ( 1985 ) , Massey and Denton ( 1988 ) , Wong ( 1993 ) , Anselin ( 1995 ) , Reardon and O’Sullivan ( 2004 ) , Echenique and Fryer ( 2007 ) . The thrusts of residential segregation can be classified into two groups: endogenous ( e.g. income and single penchant ) and exogenic ( e.g. public policy and existent estate market moral force ) . In this regard, Nightingale believes that there is basically no such thing as genuinely voluntary segregation, or â€Å"good segregation† ( Peach, 1996 ) ; and he argues that segregation Acts of the Apostless as a political agent to reenforce unequal power dealingss in metropoliss, assisted by popular support and sustained by the land and economic markets which benefit from it ( Nightingale, 2012 ) . In the instance of urban small towns, the causes come from both classs: societal and physical division was created by public policies in the first topographic point, so enhanced by the income disparity and societal inequality between the urbanites and the rural migrators, every bit good as their willingness to populate with equals. Sing effects, there has been no consensus reached by bookmans. Positive effects may look in the short term sing the migrants’ formation of societal capital and networking. At the same clip negative effects are good acknowledged, including joblessness, wellness, academic public presentation, criminalism, prolongation of poorness and bad income distribution. However, new findings ( chiefly informations from the Traveling to Opportunity programme ) have shown that residential segregation has about negligible effects on families well-being ( it is still an unfastened inquiry and a topic of argument ) . I believe the being of urban small towns, as a signifier of segregation, has mix effects in Chinese society, and its negative impacts will be examined chiefly through marginality theories. Marginality is by and large used to depict and analyse socio-cultural, political and economic domains, where disadvantaged people struggle to derive entree ( social and spacial ) to resources, and full engagement in societal life ( Andersen & A ; Larsen, 1998 ; Brodwin, 2001 ; Heikki & A ; etc, 1999 ) . Social marginality is by and big reflected on the implicit in societal conditions of people, represented by hapless support options ( deficiency of resources, accomplishments and chances ) , reduced or restricted engagement in public decision-making, less usage of public infinite, lower sense of community and low self-pride ( Brodwin, 2001 ; Larsen, 2001 ) . Marginalised people are normally discriminated against, stigmatized, ignored and frequently suppressed on the footing of race, gender, age, civilization, faith, ethnicity, business, instruction and economic system by the mainstream ( Larsen, 2002 ) . The dimension of spacial marginality is normally linked to the geographical farness of an country from major economic Centres ( location ) , and refers to countries that are hard to make in the absence of appropriate substructure and hence isolated from mainstream development ( Brodwin, 2001 ; Hurni, Wiesmann, Schertenleib, & A ; North-South, 2004 ) . InUrban OutcastsLoic Wacquantdraws on a comparative analysis of the black ghetto of Chicago and the deindustrializingbanlieueof Paris to show that urban marginality is non everyplace the same ( Wacquant, 2008 ) . In the same mode, this thesis intends to lend to the survey of urban marginality, by exemplifying the similar yet different state of affairs in Chinese urban small towns. How the root causes of inequality, exposure and exclusion in urban small towns are linked with spacial and social marginality and the convergence between the two will be farther elaborated in Chapter Four. 2.1.3 Resistance and the Right to the City In one of the most well-known quotation marks of Michel Foucault, he claims that â€Å"Where there is power, there is resistance† ( Michel Foucault, 2012 ) , which besides applies to the confrontation between formal planning ( public policies ) and informal slums ( urban small towns ) . As I indicated before, for a better apprehension of power it is necessary to beef up opposition surveies. The theoretical construct of â€Å"everyday resistance† was introduced James Scott, as a sort of opposition that is non as dramatic and seeable as rebellions, public violences, presentations, revolutions, civil war or other such organized, corporate or confrontational articulations of opposition. He besides argues that these activities are tactics that exploited people use in order to both survive and undermine inhibitory domination, particularly in contexts when rebellion is excessively hazardous ( Scott, 1985, 1992 ) . Based on this model, research has grown within legion Fieldss, including surveies related to specific societal infinites, such as the workplace ( Huzell 2005 ) and the household ( Holmberg & A ; Ehnander 2007 ) , and among specific groups of population, such as adult females, low-skilled workers, migrators, homosexual ( Myslik 1996 ; Campbell 2004 ) , minorities, and â€Å"new agents† ( e.g. white-power militants ( Simi & A ; Futurell 2009 ) ) . However, a job with the construct of â€Å"everyday resistance† is that it risks labelling many other looks of difference, divergence, or individualism as â€Å"resistance† . Therefore although the oppositional act from urban small towns is quiet, dispersed, disguised or apparently unseeable, whether it is or to what extent it is a signifier of â€Å"everyday resistance† demands to be discussed. Furthermore, this construct has besides been criticised of making a duality between the â€Å"disguised resistance† ( mundane opposition ) and â€Å"publicly declared resistance† . Asef Bayat, for illustration, prefers an instead construct of â€Å"quite encroachment† : â€Å"the silent, protracted but permeant promotion of the ordinary people on the property-owning and powerful in order to last and better their lives†¦marked by quiet, mostly atomized and prolonged mobilisation with episodic corporate action† ( Bayat, 2000 ) . The signifier of opposition can non be isolated from the power it counters. Resistance, be it hidden of â€Å"spectacular† ( Bhabha ) , is situated in certain clip, infinite and dealingss, and engages with different discourses. Therefore mundane opposition can go on between or at the side of unfastened opposition, and frailty versa. In the instance of Chinese urban small towns, there are occasions when the hidden mundane opposition becomes public, corporate and officially organized. It is of import to analyse the opposition of the urban small towns ( some of which they do non see as â€Å"resistance† themselves ) , but non necessary to find precisely when and where â€Å"everyday resistance† happens ; what is more important is to understand what they are seeking through their opposition. Originally proposed by Henri Lefebvre as both a â€Å"cry and a demand† , David Harvey describes the right to the metropolis as â€Å"a collective right which goes beyond simply accessing single urban resources, a freedom to do and refashion ourselves and our cities†¦the most cherished yet most neglected of our human rights† ( Harvey, 2012 ) . During rapid urbanisation, old parts of the metropolis is invariably being wiped off and the metropolis is going an foreign entity, or, as Harvey puts it, the infinite where excesss of capital are being generated. In this manic gait of alteration, the marginalized population, are being invisibilized and pushed out of the metropolis to its borders. As stated before, really frequently they try to entree physical infinite in the metropolis and other services in really quiet, ordinary and elusive ways, but Harvey suggests that the marginalized people should come together as a community and take control of the â€Å"surplusesâ₠¬  which are generated at the disbursal of the metropoliss. However, Harvey has been criticised of romanticising the metropolis as a governable entity, and neglecting to acknowledge the multiple mediums by which people try to negociate their entree to the metropolis. Beyond an abstract rights claim, what extremist public-service corporation does this construct of â€Å"the right to the city† have for the present state of affairs in China, and how might it go, as Harvey suggests it could, â€Å"both working slogan and political ideal† for the urban villagers ( Harvey, 2003 ) ? Could theaccess to the metropolis be conceptualized in footings of rights, or is it the infinites through which people develop belongingness and ownership that should be examined? These inquiries will be farther examined through instance survey in Chapter Three and Chapter Four. 2.2Case Study 2.2.1 Data Collection In order to analyze the confrontation between formal planning and informal slums, informations demands to be collected from both kingdoms. Official programs ( authorised by cardinal authoritiess ) and original paperss of public policies related to urban planning, building ordinance, migration direction and societal public assistances are collected to measure the relationships of power operating. Statistical information sing the redevelopment undertaking of urban small towns in Jinshui District, including continuance, size, developing manner, redevelopment program, and major obstructions ( if any ) besides belong to this kingdom. Geographic informations of urban small towns in Jinshui District and their surrounding environment, including transit system, substructure system, lodging monetary value in the existent estate market and distribution of public installations are collected to analyze the opposition of urban small towns, or in other words, their impact on the urban development. 2.2.2Interview Interviews referred to in Chapter Four were carried out by my confederate in China. Due to the bound of clip and location, I did non take the method of field work or questionnaire study. The interviews were conducted in an informal mode, with the purpose of supplying personal experience and positions, non official historical â€Å"truth† , to the empirical research. At the petition of the interviewees, personal information will non be provided. 2.3Data Beginning Geographical informations dated prior to 1984 were sourced form historical maps and paperss that belong to the private aggregation of a native Zhengzhou citizen, Mr. Niu. Geographical informations ( including official maps ) from 1984 onward were provided by the Mapping Institute of Henan ( a subordinate of the Surveying and Mapping Bureau of Henan ) . Data sing the four cardinal programs conducted in Zhengzhou were provided by the Urban and Rural Planning Bureau of Zhengzhou. Data sing the urban small towns and redevelopment undertakings in the Jinshui District were provided by the Urban Village Renovation Office of Zhengzhou. Other societal and economic informations referred to in this thesis was chiefly collected from the authorities web site, or provided by the Archive of Zhengzhou and the Urban Development Archive of Zhengzhou. All the written stuffs from the above mentioned beginnings were originally in Mandarin Chinese, and the interlingual rendition ( if any ) was conducted by myself ; some of the numerical informations were conjunct signifier Chinese units. Detailed information will be provided for each figure and tabular array. 2.4 Drumhead It could be concluded from the predating description that the research presented in this thesis is strictly qualitative. By pulling on the surveies of Foucault, Scott, Nightingale, Wacquant, Harvey and Castells, the theoretical model of this thesis consists of three parts: power and gavernmentality, segregation and marginality, opposition and the right to the metropolis. The urban development, particularly the issue of urban small towns in Zhengzhou will be examined under this model, taking to reply the research inquiries proposed in the direction.

Organization management Essay

Contents Click to go to section: The organizational problem. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. The constraints I needed to work within. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. The workshop design. How I used the change puzzle kit. The end result Top Drag Me Contents Click to go to section: The organizational problem. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. The constraints I needed to work within. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. The workshop design. How I used the change puzzle kit. The end result The organizational problem. I was called into a hospital by their HR manager. The hospital needed to improve 1 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ morale amongst its nurses. But as I spoke to different stakeholders, the issue became more complex. The HR managers told me that morale amongst nurses was at an all time low. At the same time the hospital was trying to change its culture to become more patient and profit centric. It started off as a morale problem. But as I spoke to different stakeholders, it becam e more complex. The matron of the hospital was concerned about the poor relationships between the nurses, their unit managers and the doctors. The unit managers were upset by the way that doctors by-passed them and shouted at their nurses. The nurses and their managers blamed arrogant doctors for the poor morale in the hospital. The CEO was concerned that the doctors, who he saw as clients and partners of the hospital, were not happy with the service they were getting. The doctors, chose to locate their independent practices at the hospital, but had the freedom to take their business to another hospital, anytime they wanted. Losing specialists to competing hospitals would affect his hospital’s brand and offering – as well as its profitability. He was also tired of being the only leader in the organization, and wished that the managers would begin to take responsibility and act like leaders. The Organizational Development intervention they wanted. The CEO, matron and HR manager all agreed that they wanted a one-day workshop for all internal managers in the hospital. They wanted the workshop objective to be: â€Å"To help the managers to develop a common focus regarding what they would need to do as a united team, over the next 18 months. † The thinking behind the design of the OD intervention. I knew that I had to provide far more than what they’d asked for in their workshop objective. And far more than even the problems they had briefed me on. In choosing my design for the workshop, I needed a tool that would: Build trust. Allow the managers to vent their frustrations in a way that allowed every manager to be heard. But not in a way that would degenerate into a negative gripe session about the doctors. Get the managers to see all the problems facing the hospital – not only their own problems. Get the managers out of the habit of blaming doctors or the hospital for problems that they could resolve themselves. Get them to take responsibility and begin acting as leaders. Get them to stop seeing themselves and their nurses as being victims of the arrogance of doctors, and to start seeing the doctors as important customers of the hospital. Support the move to a patient centered and profit oriented culture. Help them to identify the most important issues that they as a leadership team need to deal with. Help the managers to develop a common focus for the future. One that not only solved their frustrations, but one that would make them excited 2 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ about their future in the hospital. Help the managers to identify the core changes they would need to make to achieve the future they wanted. Help them identify projects that would help them to implement those changes. To do all of this in a way that would build a leadership team. One in which team members take responsibility and support one another. The constraints I needed to work within. The hospital could only afford the time for a one-day workshop. There would be 32 people in the group. In this workshop, the process would be as important as the content. Therefore the way in which the group developed their own solutions, was as important as the solutions they developed. We needed a process that would encourage participation, buy-in, ownership, build the managers confidence and energize them. The tools I decided to use in the one day workshop. 1. The main tool I used was The Change Puzzle Kit I had one kit for each group of 8 delegates. Each kit consists of: Two laminated charts. (A1 size). The first chart is called The Organisation Of Today. The second chart is called The Ideal Organisation Of The Future. The design on each chart is of the organization as a puzzle comprising 20 organizational development pieces. The organizational development tool I chose for this complex OD intervention was â€Å"The Change Puzzle Kit. † A set of water soluble pens which allows the delegates to write directly onto the laminated charts. The charts can be wiped clean and used again. A box of clue cards to help the groups think about the 20 organizational elements from an Organizational Development and systems thinking perspective, as they complete their charts. 2. The secondary tool I used was a single activity from The Powerful Facilitation cards. These workshop activity cards are designed like recipes. They provide detailed workshop activities to achieve specific workshop goals. I chose a card that helped a group to create a vision in a way that created fun and positive energy. The workshop design. I chose The Change Puzzle Kit because it allows a group to do the complex systems thinking they needed to do to solve their own problems, in a very practical and very participative way. This is the process I followed. To ensure that everyone could participate, I divided the larger group into 3 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ 4 groups of 8 delegates per group. These groups were mixed to provide as much variety as possible. We mixed the groups so we had different functions (HR, marketing, administration & nursing), and people of different ages and races working together in each group. Each group had their own change puzzle kit to work with. I used this diagram to explain the process we would be following which was: We would take a ‘systems thinking’ photograph of the hospital as it was today – with all its frustrations and all its strengths. To do this we would use The Organisation of Today charts and cards. We would do a right brained exercise to look at what the hospital would be like 3 years into the future, if it was delighting its patients, was profitable, and a place where the managers would be proud to work. We would translate that right brain ‘vision of the future’ back into left brained, systems thinking. We would look at the elements that would need to be in place for that vision to work. To do this we would use ‘The Ideal Organisation Of The Future charts and cards. We would then compare what came out of our two charts. From this, we would choose a few core changes. Changes that would help us to solve the most important of today’s problems, and move us towards the future we wanted. We would then create some projects to make achieve these changes. How I used the change puzzle kit. Step 1. Provide an overview of the change puzzle The attention span of most groups for listening to a presentation is less than half an hour. So, to keep the group’s attention, I provided a very quick overview of the charts and clue cards they would be using. Step 2. The groups analyze their organization as it exists today – using ‘The Organisation of Today’ charts and cards. 2. 1 Instructions: Each group was given the chart â€Å"The Organisation Of Today† plus the 20 clue cards about the current organization. They were also given a set of water soluble pens. They were asked to write on their chart how they saw their hospital today in terms of each puzzle piece or OD element. They could use the clue cards to help them. Each person was encouraged to write how he/she viewed the situation independently of their group as the group didn’t need to achieve a consensus. I also explained that some people see things in a positive light, others in a negative light and others prefer to put down facts. All of these views were equally valuable. 2. 2 Activity: Each group spent about an hour recording their answers. Then instead of having formal feedback, each group simply read what the other groups had written on 4 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ their charts. This was to prevent a very tedious feedback process – and potential conflict. 2. 3 What came out: The three groups were surprised that they had similar responses. For example: They felt their roles were not clear enough. They were too ‘rank obsessed. ‘ They felt doctors had too much status and that they needed to be empowered more. There was too much gossip. People operated in cliques. No one was taking responsibility. They felt they needed to acknowledge one another more. They wanted to create a culture where people ‘don’t feel intimidated when someone shares skills. ‘ But most of all, they were surprised by how much negativity came out. ‘Surely there are some good things too? ‘ One person asked. 2. 4 Why this happened: Their common responses were due to two design factors – the mixing of the groups, and the systems thinking behind the design of the chart they used. Negative responses are common amongst groups when they analyze their current situation. Groups are more positive when they create their own future. Step 3. Groups develop a vision of the future. I used a creative activity from the Create fun and energy section of the Powerful Facilitation cards. I needed to turn around the group’s energy from negative and powerless, to positive and creative. I also needed the groups to develop a vision of their future, which was far more creative than simply that of solving their frustrations of today. As they developed their right brain picture of the future hospital, the groups became energized. Alive. Full of fun. They began laughing. They worked well as a team. They started coming up with brilliant ideas of how they could add value to the doctors, and earn their respect. They created slogans for themselves showing how they would care – for their patients, their doctors and one another. This was the turning point of the workshop. Step 4. Groups complete The Ideal Organisation of the Future charts. 4. 1 Instructions and activity I remixed the groups – so that each of the four visions were now represented by members within each new group. I then asked the groups to complete the Ideal Organisation of the Future charts. In doing so, I asked them to think about what would need to be in place for them to be able to live their visions. I encouraged them to be creative. This is because I wanted them to come up with more than simply the opposite of the problems they’d identified in their The Organization Of Today charts. I wanted them to capture all the wonderful ideas they’d had in their right brain vision, onto the ‘Ideal organisation of the future charts. ‘ I suggested they also look at the future clue cards to generate even more creative ideas. 4. 2. What came out What came out of this activity were wonderful positive ideas that not only solved the problems they’d identified in their organization of today charts, but started achieving all the objectives I’d hoped for when designing the workshop. For example, in order to clarify roles, they though of having a monthly picture board, entitled ‘meet the team’. They decided to have a day where they would 5 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ change roles with one another. They decided to have a programme where as managers, they would ‘go back to the floor’ for a day, to better understand some of the issues that both nurses and doctors faced. They would visit the receptionists of doctors to find out all the doctors preferences. Then they would educate one another and their nurses on how to provide great service to each doctor. They decided that one thing that would demonstrate patient centered care, was to think of ways for caring for families of patients who came from out of town. They created slogans for themselves that demonstrated customer care. They decided to lead their teams by getting each unit to develop their own vision linked to the hospital vision. The team became quite excited about what was possible. 4. 3 Why this happened. The groups’ energy had already turned during the previous exercise. Building on this, we know that groups are always more positive when they are allowed to be creative, and when they focus on the future. The â€Å"Ideal Organisation of the Future† charts are designed in a way that combines creative thinking and a future vision. Also, by analyzing all the OD elements that would be in place to support their vision, the group could see that achieving their vision was possible and practical. This made them feel hopeful about their future. Step 5. The groups choose core changes. The group was blown away by all their wonderful ideas. But there were too many to implement all at once. They needed to apply the 80/20 principle. Once again I remixed the groups. I asked them to choose 2 changes that would: Solve the biggest problems identified in â€Å"The Organization of Today charts† Help them move towards their most exciting ideas in â€Å"The Ideal Organization Of The Future† charts. I asked them to record these changes in a ‘From’ and ‘To’ table. The ‘From’ would be drawn from â€Å"The Organization Of Today† charts. The ‘To’ would come from â€Å"The Ideal Organization Of The Future† charts. † The four groups were surprised that they all came out with the same core changes. This happened because of the design of The Change Puzzle Kits which gets everyone to use systems thinking, and because we kept mixing the groups. They immediately started volunteering for projects around the core changes. The end result I then got the groups to list what they’d achieved as a leadership team during the day, and what they wanted to do after the workshop. What came out was how amazed they were at what they’d been able to achieve in one day. They left the session excited and motivated. You may also like: Case studies: A strategy implementation case study This describes a two-day workshop. 6 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM OD interventions case study. An employee morale problem. file:///C:/Documents and Settings/staff/Desktop/OD interventions case stud†¦ to help an executive and management team to develop a comprehensive plan to implement their strategy. Member tools: Poor morale in the workplace – a diagnostic tool Based on a complex decision tree, this powerful coaching tool provides a quick way to diagnose your particular morale problem. It provides over forty possible solutions and helps you choose the best solution for your particular problem. How to rebuild morale after an organizational restructure. 4 OD interventions to rebuild trust, focus, morale and commitment after an organizational restructure. A CEO’s guide to implementing strategy What to do after you’ve developed a strategic plan. How to use your vision to lead an executive team. The 12 steps for aligning your organization to your strategy and getting them to implement it. Develop an innovation system that results in a cultural change. How to develop an innovation culture in your organization. Articles: Team leader skills – Managing Morale Managing morale is a key leadership skill because it determines whether or not a team has the energy, confidence and commitment to perform at their best. Inspiration at work How to inspire and motivate your team at work. Practical EQ and SQ tips for leaders. Restructuring Organizations: Leadership problems after an organizational restructure. Typical problems experienced by leaders after a restructuring exercise. The role of a change agent during an organizational restructure. The role a change agent can play during a restructure. When to do strategic planning. Strategic planning as an OD intervention. Participative tools to use in OD interventions The Change Puzzle KitA powerful tool for any OD intervention that requires group participation, systems thinking or a diagnosis of a problem. Powerful Facilitation CardsA set of OD activities to choose from to use in your OD intervention workshop. Winning the Game of Change A powerful planning tool for developing an OD strategy for your organization, or for helping your executive team to plan to implement their strategy. Contains 20 cards covering the major OD interventions. 7 of 7 4/9/2013 2:36 PM.