Saturday, November 30, 2019

Organizational change free essay sample

Organizational change is an ongoing process with important implications for organizational effectiveness. An organization and its members must be constantly on the alert for changes from within the organization and from the outside environment, and they must learn how to adjust to change quickly and effectively. Organizational change is the movement of an organization away from its present state and toward some future state to increase its effectiveness. Forces for organizational change include competitive forces; economic, political, and global forces; demographic and social forces; and ethical forces. Organizations are often reluctant to change because resistance to change at the organization, group, and individual levels has given rise to organizational inertia. Sources of organization-level resistance to change include power and conflict, differences in functional orientation, mechanistic structure, and organizational culture. Sources of group-level resistance to change include group norms, group cohesiveness, and groupthink and escalation of commitment. Sources of individual-level resistance to change include uncertainty and insecurity, selective perception and retention, and habit. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational change or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to Lewin’s force-field theory of change, organizations are balanced between forces pushing for change and forces resistant to change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously. Types of change fall into two broad categories: evolutionary and revolutionary. The main instruments of evolutionary change are sociotechnical systems theory, total quality management, and the development of flexible workers and work teams. The main instruments of revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation. Often, the revolutionary types of change that result from restructuring and reengineering are necessary only because an organization and its managers ignored or were unaware of changes in the environment and did not make incremental changes as needed. Action research is a strategy that managers can use to plan the change process. The main steps in action research are (a) diagnosis and analysis of the organization, (b) determining the desired future state, (c) implementing action, (d) evaluating the action, and (e) institutionalizing action research. Organizational development (OD) is a series of techniques and methods to increase the adaptability of organizations. OD techniques can be used to overcome resistance to change and to help the organization to change itself. OD techniques for dealing with resistance to change include education and communication, participation and empowerment, facilitation, bargaining and negotiation, manipulation, and coercion. OD techniques for promoting change include, at the individual level, counseling, sensitivity training, and process consultation; at the group level, team building and intergroup training; and at the organizational level, organizational confrontation meetings. CHAPTER OUTLINE 10. 1 What Is Organizational Change? Organizational change is the process by which organizations move from their current or present state to some desired future state to increase their effectiveness. An organization in decline may need to restructure its competences and resources to improve its fit with a changing environment. Even thriving, high-performing organizations such as Google, Apple, and Facebook need to continuously change the way they operate over time to meet ongoing challenges. Targets of Change Organizational change includes changes in four areas: 1. Human resources are an organization’s most important asset. Because these skills and abilities give an organization a competitive advantage, organizations must continually monitor their structures to find the most effective way of motivating and organizing human resources to acquire and use their skills. Changes made in human resources include investment in training, socializing employees, changing norms to motivate a diverse workforce, monitoring promotion and reward systems, and changing top management. 2. Each organizational function needs to develop procedures that allow it to manage the particular environment it faces. Crucial functions grow in importance while those whose usefulness is declining shrink. Thus, key functions grow in importance. Organizations can change structure, culture, and technology to improve the value created by functions. 3 Organizational change often involves changing the relationships between people and functions to increase their ability to create value. 10. 2 Forces for and Resistance to Organizational Change Forces for Change If managers are slow to respond to the forces of change, the organization will lag behind its competitors and its effectiveness will be compromised. (Refer to Figure 10. 1) Competitive forces spur change, because unless an organization matches or surpasses its competitors it will not survive. Managing change is crucial when competing for customers. To lead on the dimensions of efficiency or quality, an organization must constantly adopt the latest technology as it becomes available. To lead on the dimension of innovation and obtain a technological advantage over competitors, a company must possess skills in managing the process of innovation. Economic, political, and global forces, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or other economic unions, are significant forces of change. The European Union (EU) includes over 27 members eager to take advantage of a large protected market. Global challenges facing organizations include the need to change an organizational structure to allow expansion into foreign markets, the need to adapt to a variety of national cultures, and the need to help expatriate managers adapt to the economic, political, and cultural values of the countries in which they are located. Demographic and social forces include an increasingly diverse workforce. Changes in the demographic characteristics of the workforce require managers to change their styles of managing all employees and to learn how to understand, supervise, and motivate diverse members effectively. Many workers want to balance work and leisure. Managers need to abandon stereotypes and accept the importance of equity in the recruitment and promotion of new hires. Ethical forces such as increasing government, political, and social demands for more responsible and honest corporate behavior are compelling organizations to promote ethical behavior. Many companies have created the position of ethics officer. If organizations operate in countries that pay little attention to human rights or to the well-being of organizational members, they have to learn how to change these standards and to protect their overseas employees. Resistances to Change Resistance to change lowers an organization’s effectiveness and reduces its chances of survival. Resistances or impediments to change that cause inertia are found at the organization, group, and individual levels. (Refer to Figure 10. 1) Organization-Level Resistance to Change Power and conflict: When change causes power struggles and organizational conflict, an organization is likely to resist it. If change benefits one function at the expense of another, conflict impedes the change process. In the old IBM, for example, managers of its mainframe computer division fought off attempts to redirect IBM’s resources to produce the PCs that customers wanted in order to preserve their own power. Differences in functional orientation: This means that different functions and divisions often see the source of a problem differently because they see an issue or problem primarily from their own viewpoint. This tunnel vision increases organizational inertia. Mechanistic structure: Mechanistic structures are more resistant to change. People who work within a mechanistic structure are expected to act in certain ways and do not develop the capacity to adjust their behavior to changing conditions. A mechanistic structure typically develops as an organization grows and is a principal source of inertia, especially in large organizations. The extensive use of mutual adjustment and decentralized authority in an organic structure makes it less resistant to change. Organizational culture: Organizational culture, values, and norms cause resistance to change. If organizational change disrupts taken-for-granted values and norms and forces people to change what they do and how they do it, an organization’s culture will cause resistance to change. Group-Level Resistance to Change Many groups develop strong informal norms that specify appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and govern the interactions between group members. Often, change alters task and role relationships in a group; when it does, it disrupts group norms and the informal expectations that group members have of one another. As a result, members of a group may resist change because a new set of norms must be developed to meet the needs of the new situation. Group cohesiveness, the attractiveness of a group to its members, also affects group performance. A highly cohesive group may resist attempts by management to change what it does or even who is a member of the group. Groupthink and escalation of commitment also make changing a group’s behavior very difficult. Individual-Level Resistance to Change People tend to resist change because they feel uncertain and insecure about what its outcome will be. Selective perception and retention suggest that people perceive information consistent with their views. If change doesn’t benefit them, they do not endorse it. People’s preference for familiar actions and events is a further impediment to change. Lewin’s Force-Field Theory of Change Force-field theory is a theory of organizational change that argues that two sets of opposing forces within an organization determine how change will take place. When the forces are evenly balanced, the organization is in a state of inertia and does not change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change, or do both simultaneously. Any of these strategies will overcome inertia and cause an organization to change. (Refer to Figure 10. 2) Managerial Implications Managers must continuously monitor the environment to identify the forces for change. They must analyze how the change will affect the organization and determine which type of change to pursue. 10. 3 Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change in Organizations Evolutionary change refers to change that is gradual, incremental, and specifically focused. It adds small adjustments to strategy and structure to handle environmental changes. Sociotechnical systems theory, total quality management, and the creation of empowered, flexible work groups are three instruments of evolutionary change that organizations use in their attempt to make incremental improvements in the way work gets done. Revolutionary change refers to change that is sudden, drastic, and organization-wide. It has repercussions at all levels in the organization—corporate, divisional, functional, group, and individual. Three ways to implement revolutionary change are reengineering, restructuring, and innovation. Developments in Evolutionary Change: Sociotechnical Systems Theory Sociotechnical systems theory is a theory that proposes the importance of changing role and task or technical relationships to increase organizational effectiveness. It emerged from a study of changing work practices in the British coal-mining industry. The socio-technical systems theory argues that managers need to fit or jointly optimize the workings of the technical and social systems. A poor fit between an organization’s technology and social system leads to failure, but a close fit leads to success. When managers change task and role relationships, they must recognize the need to adjust the technical and social systems gradually so group norms and cohesiveness are not disrupted. By taking this gradual approach, an organization can avoid the group-level resistance to change. Researchers suggest that a team-oriented system promotes values that enhance efficiency and product quality. Total quality management uses sociotechnical systems theory. Total Quality Management Total quality management (TQM) is a technique developed by W. Edwards Deming to continuously improve the effectiveness of flexible work teams. It was embraced by Japanese companies after World War II. Changes frequently inspired by TQM include altering the design or type of machines used to assemble products and reorganizing the sequence of activities—either within or between functions—necessary to provide a service to a customer. Changing cross-functional relationships to help improve quality is important in TQM. The changes associated with TQM are changes in task, role, and group relationships. Implementing a TQM program is not always easy because it requires workers and managers to adopt new ways of viewing their roles in an organization. Managers must be willing to decentralize control of decision making, empower workers, and assume the role of facilitator rather than supervisor. The â€Å"command and control† model gives way to an â€Å"advise and support† model. Flexible Workers and Flexible Work Teams In implementing socio-technical systems theory and TQM, many organizations are finding it easier to achieve their goals by using flexible workers and teams. Flexible workers can be transferred between departments and functions as demand changes. The advantages of flexible workers include quick response to environmental changes; reduced boredom and increased incentives for quality; better understanding by learning one another’s tasks; and combining tasks to increase efficiency and reduce costs. A flexible work team is a group of workers who assume responsibility for performing all the operations necessary for completing a specified stage in the manufacturing process. A flexible work team is self-managed; members jointly assign tasks and transfer from one task to another. In a flexible work team, separate teams assemble different components and turn those components over to the final-product work team, which assembles the final product. Each team’s activities are driven by demands that have their origins in customer demands for the final product. (Refer to Figure 10. 3) Developments in Revolutionary Change: Reengineering The term â€Å"reengineering† has been used to refer to the process by which managers redesign how tasks are bundled into roles and functions to improve organizational effectiveness. It involves rethinking business processes, activities that cross functional boundaries. Instead of focusing on an organization’s functions in isolation from one another, managers make business processes the focus of attention. A business process is an activity that cuts across functional boundaries and is vital to the quick delivery of goods and services or that promotes high quality or low costs. Because reengineering focuses on business processes and not functions, an organization must rethink the way it approaches organizing its activities. A good example of how to use reengineering to increase functional integration comes from attempts to redesign the materials management function to improve its effectiveness. In the traditional functional design the three main components of materials management—purchasing, production control, and distribution—were typically in separate functions and had little to do with one another. Thus coordinating their activities is difficult. Each function has its own hierarchy, and there are problems in both vertical and horizontal communication. Today, most organizations put all three of the functional activities involved in the materials management process inside one function. Three guidelines for performing reengineering successfully are as follows: Organize around outcomes, not tasks. 2. Have those who use the output of the process perform the process. 3. Decentralize decision making to the point where the decision is made. Reengineering and TQM are highly interrelated and complementary. E-Engineering This is a term used to refer to companies’ attempts to use all kinds of information systems to improve performance. The importance of e-engineering is increasing as it changes the way a company organizes its value-creation functions and links them to improve its performance. Restructuring Restructuring is a process by which managers change task and authority relationships and redesign organizational structure and culture to improve organizational effectiveness. Downsizing is the process by which managers streamline the organizational hierarchy and lay off managers and workers to reduce bureaucratic costs. The drive to decrease bureaucratic costs results from competitive pressures. Mergers and acquisitions in many industries, such as banking, have led to downsizing because fewer managers are needed. Other companies have reduced staff to match competitors. The negative effects of downsizing include overworked managers and lost opportunities. Companies that fail to control growth must downsize to remain competitive. The terms anorexic or hollow are used to refer to organizations that downsized too much and have too few managers to help them grow when conditions change. Restructuring, like other change strategies, generates resistance to change. Often, the decision to downsize requires the establishment of new task and role relationships. Because this change may threaten the jobs of some workers, they resist the changes taking place. Innovation Innovation refers to the process by which organizations use their skills and resources to develop new goods and services or to develop new production and operating systems so they can better respond to the needs of their customers. 10. 4 Managing Change: Action Research In Lewin’s view, implementing change is a three-step process: (1) unfreezing the organization from its present state, (2) making the change, and (3) refreezing the organization in the new, desired state so its members do not revert to their previous work attitudes and role behavior. Action research is a strategy for generating and acquiring knowledge that managers can use to define an organization’s desired future state and to plan a change program that allows the organization to reach that state. Figure 10. 6 highlights the steps in action research. Diagnosis of the Organization The first step in action research requires managers to recognize the existence of a problem that needs to be solved and acknowledge that some type of change is needed to solve it. In general, recognition of the need for change arises because somebody in the organization perceives a gap between desired performance and actual performance. Determining the Desired Future State This step also involves a difficult planning process as managers work out various alternative courses of action that could move the organization to where they would like it to be and determine what type of change to implement. Implementing Action 1. First, managers identify possible impediments to change at all levels. The second step is deciding who will be responsible for actually making the changes and controlling the change process. The choices are to employ either external change agents or internal change agents or use some combination of both. 3. The third step is deciding which specific change strategy will most effectively unfreeze, change, and refreeze the organization. The types of change that these techniques give rise to fall into two categories: Top-down change is implemented by managers at a high level in the organization, knowing that the change will reverberate at all organizational levels. Bottom-up change is implemented by employees at low levels in the organization that gradually rises until it is felt throughout the organization. Evaluating the Action The fourth step in action research is evaluating the action that has been taken and assessing the degree to which the changes have accomplished the desired objectives. The best way to evaluate the change process is to develop measures or criteria that allow managers to assess whether the organization has reached its desired objectives. Institutionalizing Action Research Organizations need to institutionalize action research—that is, make it a required habit or a norm adopted by every member of an organization. The institutionalization of action research is as necessary at the top of the organization as it is on the shop floor. Managerial Implications Managers must develop criteria to evaluate whether a change is necessary, and carefully design a plan that minimizes resistance. 10. 5 Organizational Development Organizational development (OD) is a series of techniques and methods that managers can use in their action research program to increase the adaptability of their organization. The goal of OD is to improve organizational effectiveness and to help people in organizations reach their potential and realize their goals and objectives. OD Techniques to Deal with Resistance to Change Education and Communication: One impediment to change is that participants are uncertain about what is going to happen. Through education and communication, internal and external agents of change can provide organizational members with information about the change and how it will affect them. Participation and Empowerment: Inviting workers to participate in the change process is a popular method of reducing resistance to change. Participation complements empowerment, increases workers’ involvement in decision making, and gives them greater autonomy to change work procedures to improve organizational performance. These are key elements of most TQM programs. People that are involved in the change and decision-making process are more likely to embrace rather than resist. Facilitation: Both managers and workers find change stressful. There are several ways in which organizations can help their members to manage stress: providing them with training to help them learn how to perform new tasks, providing them with time off from work to recuperate from the stressful effects of change, or even giving senior members sabbaticals. Bargaining and Negotiation: Bargaining and negotiation are important tools that help managers manage conflict. Because change causes conflict, bargaining is an important tool in overcoming resistance to change. Manipulation: Sometimes senior managers need to intervene, as politics shows that powerful managers have considerable ability to resist change. Coercion: The ultimate way to eliminate resistance to change is to coerce the key players into accepting change and threaten dire consequences if they choose to resist. The disadvantage is that it can leave people angry and disenchanted and can make the refreezing process difficult. OD Techniques to Promote Change Counseling, Sensitivity Training, and Process Consultation: Recognizing that each individual is different also requires them to be treated or managed differently. Sometimes, counseling will help individuals understand that their own perceptions of a situation may be incorrect. Sensitivity training is an OD technique that consists of intense counseling in which group members, aided by a facilitator, learn how others perceive them and may learn how to deal more sensitively with others. Process consultation is an OD technique in which a facilitator works closely with a manager on the job to help the manager improve his or her interactions with other group members. Team building is an OD technique in which a facilitator first observes the interactions of group members and then helps them become aware of ways to improve their work interactions. The goal of team building is to improve group processes to achieve process gains and reduce process losses that are occurring because of shirking and freeriding. Intergroup training is an OD technique that uses team building to improve the work interactions of different functions or divisions. Its goal is to improve organizational performance by focusing on a function’s or division’s joint activities and output. Organizational mirroring is an OD technique in which a facilitator helps two interdependent groups explore their perceptions and relations in order to improve their work interactions. This technique is designed to get both interdependent groups to see the perspective of the other side. Appreciating others’ perspectives allows the groups to work together more effectively. Total Organizational Interventions: A variety of OD techniques can be used at the organization level to promote organization-wide change. Organizational confrontation meeting is an OD technique that brings together all of the managers of an organization at a meeting to confront the issue of whether the organization is meeting its goals effectively. Organizational Change free essay sample A look at how organizations manage change. (more)

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Biography of Carl O. Sauer

Biography of Carl O. Sauer Carl Ortwin Sauer was born on December 24, 1889, in Warrenton, Missouri. His grandfather was a traveling minister, and his father taught at Central Wesleyan College, a German Methodist college that has since been closed. During his youth, Carl Sauers parents sent him to school in Germany, but he later returned to the United States to attend Central Wesleyan College. He graduated in 1908, shortly before his nineteenth birthday. From there, Carl Sauer began attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. While at Northwestern, Sauer studied geology and developed an interest in the past. Sauer then shifted to the broader subject of geography. Within this discipline, he was primarily interested in the physical landscape, human cultural activities, and the past. He then transferred to the University of Chicago where he studied under Rollin D. Salisbury, among others, and earned his Ph.D. in geography in 1915. His dissertation focused on the Ozark Highlands in Missouri and included information ranging from the areas people to its landscape. Carl Sauer at the University of Michigan Following his graduation from the University of Chicago, Carl Sauer began teaching geography at the University of Michigan where he remained until 1923. In his early days at the university, he studied and taught environmental determinism, an aspect of geography that said the physical environment was solely responsible for the development of various cultures and societies. This was the popularly held viewpoint in geography at the time, and Sauer learned about it extensively at the University of Chicago. After studying the destruction of pine forests on Michigans Lower Peninsula while teaching at the University of Michigan though, Sauers opinions on environmental determinism changed, and he became convinced that humans control nature and develop their cultures out of that control, not the other way around. He then became a fierce critic of environmental determinism and carried these ideas throughout his career. During his graduate studies in geology and geography, Sauer also learned the importance of field observation. He then made this an important aspect of his teaching at the University of Michigan and during his later years there, he did field mapping of the physical landscape and land uses in Michigan and surrounding areas. He also published extensively on the area’s soils, vegetation, land use, and the quality of the land. The University of California, Berkeley Throughout the early 1900s, geography in the United States was mainly studied on the East Coast and Mid-west. In 1923, however, Carl Sauer left the University of Michigan when he accepted a position at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he served as the department chair and advanced his ideas of what geography should be. It was also here that he became famous for developing the Berkeley School of geographic thought which focused on regional geography organized around culture, landscapes, and history. This area of study was important for Sauer because it further enhanced his opposition to environmental determinism in that it placed an emphasis on how humans interact with and change their physical environment. Also, he brought up the importance of history when studying geography and he aligned U.C. Berkeleys geography department with its history and anthropology departments. In addition to the Berkeley School, Sauers most famous work to come out of his time at U.C. Berkeley was his paper, The Morphology of Landscape in 1925. Like much of his other work, it challenged environmental determinism and made clear his stance that geography should be the study of how present landscapes were shaped over time by people and natural processes. Also in the 1920s, Sauer began applying his ideas to Mexico, and this began his lifelong interest in Latin America. He also published Ibero-Americana with several other academics. During much of the rest of his life, he studied the area and its culture and published widely on the Native Americans in Latin America, their culture, and their historical geography. In the 1930s, Sauer worked on the National Land Use Committee and began studying the relationships between climate, soil, and slope with one of his graduate students, Charles Warren Thornthwaite, to detect soil erosion for the Soil Erosion Service. Soon after though, Sauer became critical of the government and its failure to create sustainable agriculture and economic reform and in 1938, he wrote a series of essays focused on environmental and economic issues. Additionally, Sauer also became interested in biogeography in the 1930s and wrote articles focusing plant and animal domestication. Finally, Sauer organized the international conference, Mans Role in Changing the Face of the Earth, at Princeton, New Jersey in 1955 and contributed to a book of the same title. In it, he explained the ways humans have impacted the Earths landscape, organisms, water, and atmosphere. Carl Sauer retired shortly after that in 1957. Post-U.C. Berkeley After his retirement, Sauer continued his writing and research and wrote four novels focused on early European contact with North America. Sauer died in Berkeley, California on July 18, 1975, at the age of 85. Carl Sauers Legacy During his 30 years at U.C. Berkeley, Carl Sauer oversaw the work of many graduate students who became leaders in the field and worked to spread his ideas throughout the discipline. More importantly, Sauer was able to make geography prominent on the West Coast and initiate new ways of studying it. The Berkeley Schools approach differed significantly from the traditional physical and spatially oriented approaches, and though it is not actively studied today, it provided the foundation for cultural geography, cementing Sauers name in geographic history.

Friday, November 22, 2019

James West and the Invention of the Microphone

James West and the Invention of the Microphone James Edward West, Ph.D., was a Bell Laboratories Fellow at Lucent Technologies where he specialized in electro, physical and architectural acoustics. He retired in 2001 after dedicated more than 40 years to the company. He then took a position as a research professor with Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering.   Born in Prince Edward County, Virginia on February 10, 1931, West attended Temple University and interned at Bell Labs during his summer breaks. Upon his graduation in 1957, he joined Bell Labs and began work in electroacoustics, physical acoustics, and architectural acoustics. In conjunction with Gerhard Sessler, West patented the electret microphone in 1964 while working at Bell Laboratories. West’s Research   Wests research in the early 1960s led to the development of the foil electret transducers for sound recording and voice communication that are used in 90 percent all microphones built today. These electrets are also at the heart of most telephones now being manufactured. The new microphone became widely used because of its high performance, accuracy, and reliability. It also cost little to produce, and it was small and light weight. The electret transducer began as the result of an accident, like many notable inventions. West was fooling around with a radio – he loved taking things apart and putting them back together as a child, or at least attempting to put them back together. In this instance, he became acquainted with electricity, something that would fascinate him for years.   West’s Microphone   James West joined forces with Sessler while he was at Bell. Their goal was to develop a compact, sensitive microphone that wouldn’t cost a fortune to produce. They completed development of their electret microphone in 1962 – it worked on the basis of the electret transducers they had developed – and they began production of the device in 1969. Their invention became the standard of the industry. The vast majority of microphones used today in everything from baby monitors and hearing aids to telephones, camcorders and tape recorders all use Bell’s technology. James West holds 47 U.S. patents and more than 200 foreign patents on microphones and techniques for making polymer ​foil electrets. He has authored more than 100 papers and has contributed to books on acoustics, solid-state physics, and material science. He has received numerous awards, including the Golden Torch Award in 1998 sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Lewis Howard Latimer Light Switch and Socket Award in 1989. He was chosen New Jersey Inventor of the Year in 1995 and was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999. He was appointed president of the Acoustical Society of American in 1997 and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Both James  West and Gerhard Sessler were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1999.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTas coherent and strategic management Essay

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTas coherent and strategic management - Essay Example The term 'human resource,' first emerged in 1950's, coined by Peter Druker in one of his seminars and traces back to organisational development and human capital theory. HRM is controversial and debatable surrounded by great academic diversity. Confusion is caused because of the 'ambiguous pedigree' of the concept (Noon, 1992). There is a lack of clarity, the term can be viewed as being broad. HRM is a concept regarded as being enigmatic / obscure due to ideological, empirical and theoretical reasons and in many cases because of micro politics (Storey, 1992). Difficulties in defining HRM and the lack of a universally accepted definition implies that HRM is an innovation that takes on the meaning of whatever the person speaking at the time wants it to be (Torrington, 1989). Questions arise over the existence of HRM (Armstrong, 2000), over its meaning and status; is HRM a 'map,' 'model' or 'theory' (Noon, 1992) and of whether it is distinct from the traditional rhetoric of personnel an d industrial relations management. ... However, there must also be something extra if HRM is to be considered as a new innovative approach. Distinction by integration similarly leads to debate as integration is viewed differently. Again, lack of clarity leads back to the thought of HRM being whatever an organisation wants it to be. There is an apparent scale in operation which takes into account hard and soft HRM. Hard versions of HRM place emphasis on: "Strategic interventions to secure full utilisation of labour resources" (Worsfold, 1999, 340). This type of people management may be expected within the manufacturing industry, on the production line which is product and profit driven rather than service. Whereas soft versions of HRM emphasise: "Strategic interventions for commitment and development" (Worsfold, 1999, 340). Soft HRM would appear to be more synonymous with service industries, where the product is generally intangible, customers often receive an experience provided by the 'human resource,' thus commitment is sought. The human resource is perhaps more valuable, their impact greater and they may not be as easily replaced as perhaps a production operative in the manufacturing industry. Hard HRM relates back to the human relations movement from where personnel management can claim some of its origins and presents workers as a commodity, a resource to be exploited: "to be used dispassionately and in a formal rational manner" (Storey, 1992, 26). Hard HRM reflects the capitalist tradition, operating against workers' interests with no significance regarded to their well being, exploitation being paternalist and benevolent (Guest, 1999). "Essentially workers are simply resources to be squeezed and disposed of as business

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Another reason is that someone gets fired or laid off from work and tries hard to get another job. After a year and a half of unemployment benefits now running out and no job in sight, a person has to resort to extraordinary measures to make money or lose the home, car and even the family in some cases. Times can get really hard for these people. Whatever the reason for my finally becoming an entrepreneur, there are certain principles of business and marketing that have to be consolidated first before even getting started. What will I be selling or promoting? That is the heart of my business and, whatever the choice, the product or service must stand out in some way to attract the attention of potential clients (Kiyosaki 2012). My idea is that I would like to start a photography and graphics business as I love digital photography and working with graphics to make unusual and original graphic art. The Entrepreneurial Personality The personalities of entrepreneurs will tend towards tho se who are willing to take risks in order to achieve a goal and I certainly have that characteristic. They also are willing to devise a plan on their own to build a product or service that others will need or want and to put it out there for the entire world to see and comment on. It takes a change of mindset from being an employee where one is told what to do and when to get it done (Kuratko & Hodgetts 1998). That change for me will not be hard to do. ... Entrepreneurial Risk Taker Fig. 1(DCTC 2010) Research must be done on how to proceed and that means finding out what others did and how they did it which is something I have already done. It is one thing to be in an office setting where everything is laid out and most of the hard part is already taken care. An entrepreneur now is in charge of not only developing the product or service, but also the funding, setting up the structure of a business, creating the financial system of operation, designing and building a website for promoting the product and finally, for ensuring its success in the marketplace. At some point, I will hire people to take care of the financial books and office work so I can create the art. All of this takes an organized mind, a lot of determination, a plan of the product or service and a planned structure of the business overall along with marketing procedures (Action Coach 2012). The person therefore, must have the strength and will to take risks, to get back up when falling down, to revise and redevelop as needed, and to study others who may be in the same field or genre of product and service. I have already made some mistakes but view these as a learning process before getting right down to creating my business. Ultimately, I view myself as strong, innovative, utilizing creative thinking in solving problems and always open to making changes for the better without going overboard. It is essential not to grow too fast but only enough that control is maintained over every part of the business (Action Coach 2012). The following table shows what the entrepreneur is typically responsible for within the structural framework of a

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Odyssey bibliography Essay Example for Free

Odyssey bibliography Essay Odysseus was one of the famous Greek poets. He was Laertes and Anticlea’s son and was married to Penelope (a woman thought to be inordinately faithful) and was a father to Telemachus. Odysseus was the king of Ithaca, a favorite place in Athens, and was one of the few Greeks that returned home safely from troy and the Trojan War though it took a long time before they returned. He is believed to have written some poems in the end of eighth century BC. Odysseus was among the leader of Achaeans who have contributed to most part of Greek literature. In his different walks of life, he is view as a hero and in other side as a failure, in the focus of his bibliography as written by homer, his participation in Trojan war and his tricks that made him stand unique paving way for his success in his missions. He was a family man who focused on achievements and did not believe on failures, he believed in as supernatural power of gods that were making him strong in believe that they were in his support in the victory. The essay focuses on the life line of Odysseus, participation and contributions as well as his character traits as narrated by different poets and other literatures. Joachim, 2005) Odysseus early life When Odysseus was a young boy, he exhibited on his talent; his main fond was archery and was excelling on it. Young Odysseus was fond of hunting with his dog, Argos, he could not stop doing what he liked no matter the challenges example is when he was gored by a bear and left a scar on his thigh. The scar was a lifetime mark that would help his old nurse Eurycleia when he returned from his wonderings. He was know to mind less about the appearance, some people went far as saying that he had bandy-legged, but when he began talking, he was unstoppable. His cleverness brought him closer to goddess Athena; he became his protector at troy and later on the sea. Odysseus became one of the original suitors of Helen of troy. He came woo her in Sparta for it was expected of him though his main interest was in her cousin Penelope. To avoid dispute among the suitors that were interested in Helen, Odysseus suggested to her father to help him win Penelope, Helen’s cousin, her father feared the preference of one suitor. Odysseus suggested to Tyndareus to exact an oath to all suitors that they will defend the favored suitor and protect his marriage against anything wrong that may be done to him. Helen married Menelaus of the cursed horse. Icarius of Lacedaemon, the Penelope’s father, offered his daughter to Odysseus, the man who defeated him in foot race. Penelope’s father, the old king of Lacedaemon was trying to make the newly wedded couples to stay in Lacedaemon but Odysseus refused and set for Ithaca. After much insisting, Odysseus had to bade to his wife either to move with him or return to her father. Penelope did not respond but instead she covered her face which was a clear indication that she wished to move with her husband, this was a clear prove of her cleverness and wily as her husband. Martin, 2007) On arrival in Ithaca, Odysseus had to build a new palace for him and his new bride. The couple got a son, it did not take long before the news came to them that Paris had eloped Helen. After the Paris abducted Helen, her father invoked an oath of Tyndareus, Odysseus refused to make good out of it. He pretended to be mad just to proof his sanity after he avoided hitting a child. (Kayakas, 1988) Odysseus character Odysseus is described as a hero due to his cunning intelligence. The use of deceptive speech describes him well and is well manifested in his character traits as a peer of Zeus in counsel. His disguising character takes form altering his appearance and verbal, this may be seen in the event when he blinded Cyclops when he told him that his name was nobody the managed to escape after blinding Polyphemus. When polyphemuss was screaming and Cyclops asks him why he was doing that, he said that nobody is hurting him, every one (Cyclopes) thought no one was hurting him and may be he was suffering in the hands of immortal Zeus. According to Odyssey of Homer, it is evident that Odysseus was arrogant and proud, as he sailed away from the Cyclops’s island, he boasted as he shouted his name saying that no one defeat him ‘great Odysseus’. The Cyclopes were not happy with him and the threw bitter words to him as he tells his father that Odysseus blinded him which enraged Poseidon and caused the god to curse Odysseus home coming and delayed for a long time. (Rodney, 2006) Odysseus events Odysseus events are narrated and given from the middle of the plot; this has been done through flashbacks and story telling. The later authors have done this through imitation, examples of these authors are Virgil and Aeneid, the modern poets were not left behind such as Pope Alexander in the mock epic, mock-heroic also commonly known as ‘the rape of the rock’. At first we find Odysseus trying to assert control on the household and later at Athena’s advice while in search for news concerning his lost fathers. Odysseus was a captive for a long time of the beautiful nymph Calypso who he had spent with his seven years of his lost ten years. (Karykas, 2003) After his release by intercession of his patroness Athena, he leaves and his raft was destroyed by his known enemy Poseidon who was much annoyed because Odysseus had blinded Polyphemus his son. Odysseus washed up Scherie, which was the home to Phaeacians and is assisted by Nausicaa who treats him with great hospitability. When he returned he narrated about his adventures since he left troy to Phaeacians and the leader of his adventures satisfying their curiosity. This flash back extends back to where Odysseus stands and his tale told. Odysseus got a ship through loan from shipbuilding Phaeacians to return to Ithaca, he is assisted by swine hearder Emaeus to meet Telemachus, in the process he got back his house hold and managed to kill the suitors and then he was able to reunite with his faithful Penelope, his wife. Odyssey is divided into 24 books in all modern editions and translations. The message contained there in is convincing but not original, Alexandrian editors developed this by 3rd century BC. Through the period, the books have been given different titles. Barry, 2006) Odysseus and culture Different cultures have risen in concern of Odysseus; some of the cultures describe him as a hero and others as a scoundrel. Odysseus was ruling the Cephallenians, this were the people who were dwelling on the islands that was on the northwest coast of Greece. His palace was on the rocky island of Ithaca, compared to other Greek princes that were fighting at troy; he was not as wealthy as them though he was living a com fortable life. (Malcom, 2000) Trojan War According to myths of Greek, the Trojan war was war that was Achaeans against the city of troy after Helen was stolen by troy of Paris from her husband Menelaus who was the King of Sparta. Trojan War was among the most important events that happened in the Greek mythology which was narrated by many and different works of Greek literature that included the Iliad, Homer and the Odyssey. Trojan War believed to have originated from a quarrel between the Aphrodite, Athena and Hera goddesses after the Eris, goddess of strife and discord offered them a golden apple, and this is also referred to as apple of discord that was marked to be the fairest. When the goddess went to Paris and judged that Aphrodite as the fairest and should be the one to receive the apple. In exchange apple, Aphrodite made Helen to be the most beautiful woman and fallen in love with Paris who would take her to troy. Achaeans desecrated temples and they slaughtered Trojans, they got the wrath of gods’, only few of the Achaeans returned home safely while others found colonies in different places in the shores. The Romans were led by one of the surviving Trojan to their origin, Italy. Wood, 1998) Odyssey describes the Odysseus journey home. He was among the Achaean leaders. Other parts of the war have been narrated by cycle of epic poems, though has survived in fragments. The war episodes were important for they provided materials for the Greek literature and for the Roman poets like Ovid and Virgil. Odysseus had fought for more than ten years in the Trojan War before he came up with the idea of wooden horse. This was probable the reason why wily or c rafty was attached to his name. Odysseus incurred another decade on the way before arriving home after blinding Poseidon’s Cyclops son that brought a wrath to him. This delayed him to arrive in time so this covers him and his crews return way to Ithaca from Trojan War. (Jonathan, 2004) Dilemma of Odyssey Though the ancient Greeks great epic poems were attributed to the confusing figure of homer, not much is known about him and the contribution of odyssey beyond his name being attached to the poems. There is some doubt whether homer was the real author of Odyssey and Iliad. Homer played a primary role in shaping the master work, much is said about the probability of his contribution, if he is the real author, he must be a great literature artist. Odysseys are the most influential poems; Odysseus epics are used in the Greek education and culture throughout the age and have formed a backbone of human education from the time of Roman Empire and spread of Christianity. The translation of odysseys have brought an impact on Renaissance culture of Italy, this have helped in forming European tradition. The poems are of some use in determining when Homer and Odysseus lived, this gives a clue that make it easy to assume that they lived around 8th century, The Odyssey may belong closer to this period. The dilemma behind this is that odysseys were oral; this was to be passed through generations till the time of writing. Odysseus own means of poems are through singing. Another dilemma is what would affect the accuracy of when epics came to written form. (Michael, 1976) Conclusion Odysseus was a man of different character; no one could really describe his character confidently. He was a man of high moral and he used his cleverness to avoid what he wanted and avoid what seemed not good for him. During the Trojan War, Odysseus was a man his group could not do without; his mode of decision making was quite unique and stood as a pillar for the victory. The life of Odysseus was a life well lived, he left a legend behind that would become a literature to learned in European education, this was an epic that taught much of the Greeks’ empire and history.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Victims Essay -- Analysis, Sharon Olds

The process of addressing memories of private suffering within â€Å"The Victims† by Sharon Olds is implied through contradictive perspectives. In the poem there is a shift in focus and tone during line 17. The poem addresses issues of suffering from two distinct perspectives, the first coming from a little girl and the second a grown woman. The narrative, imagery and diction are different in the two contrasting parts of the poem, and the second half carefully qualifies the first, as if to illustrate the more mature and established attitudes of the narrator in her older years – a stipulation of the easy imitation of the earlier years, when the mother’s views dominated and set the tone. Change has governed the poems structure here; differences in age and attitude are supported by an entirely different point of view and frame of reference. The change in the tone of the stylistic elements used by Sharon Olds implicitly portrays the impact that suffering has on the f amily sphere; the complex emotions that arise because of divorce are conveyed through past and present perspectives, comparative imagery and a significant shift in tone. The change in perspective of the narrative, from past to present, portrays the father in two different lights. The poem is told from the point of view of the daughter of a couple who experience marriage problems. The beginning of â€Å"The Victims† illustrates the memories that the woman is recalling nostalgically of her childhood. From lines 1 to 17 the narrator evokes her father, with the repetition of â€Å"you†, (1, 3) who had acted terribly during the narrator’s youth and who was abruptly kicked out and divorced by the mother. The narrator describes her father who, to his daughter, lived a luxurious and insensitive... ...Olds to portray to the reader, through diction, the image of a drowning person. This image, after being taken, analyzed and dissected, reveals deeper connections with the narrator, the narrator’s father and society as a whole. In conclusion, â€Å"The Victims† concerns real purposes and themes that enhance the overall text. When perceiving the term victim many people immediately think of a target of violence or abuse. In the poem â€Å"The Victims†, Olds portrays the sufferers as victims of an experience, rather than a physical scar. As a child, Sharon Olds’ parents divorced. So who is the victim in â€Å"The Victims†? As the narrative, imagery and diction evolve, from the first half to the second half of the poem, so does the classification of victim. Throughout the poem the mother, children and father are all victimized, but also made out to be the culprits.

Monday, November 11, 2019

“Marriage and what makes a good one?” i Essay

â€Å"Marriage and what makes a good one?† is a major theme of Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ discuss this aspect of the novel. The novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ gives many ideas of marriage. It can be seen as a business transaction, an alliance between families or a social improvement for women but whichever way it is seen sometimes, ‘happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance’. As the novel opens we can tell that marriage in the late 19th century was mainly based around society; ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ We learn in the novel that women did marry for money or security like Charlotte Lucas but others like Elizabeth and Jane marry for love. Mr and Mrs Bennet’s marriage was impulsive, Mr Bennet was ‘captivated by youth and beauty’ and because of Mrs Bennet’s ‘weak understanding and illiberal mind’ it ‘put an end to all real affection for her’. Mr and Mrs Bennet’s marriage is a good example of what a marriage shouldn’t be, if they had married for love, Mr Bennet wouldn’t use his ‘sarcastic humour’ to ‘vex’ his wife. Their bad marriage has a serious effect on Kitty and Lydia who are ‘two of the silliest girls in the country,’ this is caused by their parents’ lack of guidance in life and is the reason for their insensible behaviour and frivolous nature around men, which later leads to Lydia’s ‘elopement’ with Mr Wickham. Mrs Bennet’s ‘business of life was to get her daughters married,’ and to her it was important to do this before anybody else. This is why when Lydia marries Mr Wickham, Mrs Bennet fails to see their unsuitability because she is so happy that her youngest was married; ‘she will be married at sixteen.’ Lydia is like her mother in many ways so her marriage to Mr Wickham will end up like that of her parents. Lydia and Mr Wickham’s marriage is unbalanced so it is unlikely that it will last; ‘their elopement had been brought on by the strength of her love, rather than by his’ Jane and Mr Bingley are well suited because Jane always sees the best in people; ‘never†¦speak ill of a human being’ and Mr Bingley was ‘good looking and gentlemanlike’ with a ‘pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners.’ Mr Bingley doesn’t care about social status; ‘if they had uncles enough to fill all Cheapside it would not make them one jot less agreeable,’ and he loves Jane for who she is. Jane has the ‘most affectionate, generous heart in the world’ and was ‘all loveliness and goodness’ so her and Mr Bingley were able to overcome their obstacles to be the perfect match. Elizabeth also wants to marry for love so when Mr Collins proposes to her she rejects him because she doesn’t love him and he doesn’t mention that he loves her. At first impressions Elizabeth finds Mr Darcy the ‘proudest, most disagreeable man in the world’ which was contrary to her ‘lively, playful disposition’. Elizabeth is prejudice against Mr Darcy because he is ‘proud and conceited’ and even though he believes that someone with his high social status shouldn’t form a romantic attachment to someone of a lower status he ‘began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention.’ Elizabeth falls for Mr Wickham’s charms and believes his story about Mr Darcy which leads her to not just dislike him but to hate him and when she finds out that it was he who warned Mr Bingley off her sister Jane she chooses to hate him even more. Mr Darcy proposes to Elizabeth and confesses how he ‘admires’ and ‘loves’ her but at this point in the novel they aren’t suited to each other because they both still have narrow views. Also at this point in the novel they are both guilty of pride and prejudice. As the novel progresses we see that Elizabeth’s prejudice gradually disappears and is replaced with love for Mr Darcy, but by then she thinks it is too late and that he will never want to marry her after the shame Lydia put their family to. However he proves that he is not ‘proud and conceited’ anymore by paying off Mr Wickham and when she thanks him thinking all hope is lost in him ever asking her to marry him again, he does. Charlotte’s idea of marriage is very different to that of Jane and Elizabeth; she would rather sacrifice love for security. She believes that ‘a woman had better shew more affection than she feels’ or she may ‘lose the opportunity of fixing him’. This is why she agrees to marry Mr Collins who only wants to marry because he thinks it will be good for his image and she ends up avoiding him throughout the day because he is a ‘pompous’, ‘odious man’. Mr Collins doesn’t show any sign of wanting to marry for love because he first turns his eye to Jane but when he finds she is already taken, he turns his eye to the next best thing: Elizabeth.Ã'‹

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Important Part of Education Essay

The website www. labsafety. org offers secondary science teachers both with resources and training in enhancing and providing safety in laboratories and in the environment. It seeks to cater questions and insights surrounding effective facilitation and education in adherence to the standards given to students. The site offers supplementary areas for training, consultation, audits and design that will make each educational institution responsible and accountable in such aspects. The information provided gives important ideas surrounding implementing and adhering to specific guidelines and standards mandated. Likewise, it will encourage both educators to practice safety and responsibility in their actions. The other website www. regentsprep. org is an important guide that can help secondary science students to adapt to the current curriculum design and models towards New York State Regents requirements. It offers resource and links for examinations and procedures of handling necessary information related to the study of science. Seeing this, this site is essential in classrooms because educators can use such as a guide in building and establishing frameworks that are synchronized with standards. At the same time, it can offer students the possibility to expand and develop in areas that are deemed important in the study of secondary science. Such perspective garners the needed boost in obtaining efficient and optimum inputs from both the students and educators. Work Cited Oswego School District. Regents Exam Prep Center. 2007 accessed 19 March 2009 from The Laboratory Safety Institute. Making Health, Safety and Environment and Integral and Important Part of Education, Work and Life. 2007 accessed 19 March 2009 from

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Analysis of Rembrandt Essays - Joseph, Book Of Genesis, Erotic Art

Analysis of Rembrandt Essays - Joseph, Book Of Genesis, Erotic Art Analysis of Rembrandt Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is told in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, chapter 39. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and bought by Potiphar, a high ranking official in the Pharaoh's service. "The Lord was with Joseph," and gave him success in everything he did. This pleased Potiphar and before long Joseph was given the highest position in the household, and left in charge when Potiphar was away. Now Potiphar's wife found Joseph to be very good looking and had approached him several times saying "come to bed with me;" and Joseph being a man of God would not sin against his master or the Lord, so he refused her. One day when all the servants were gone, Joseph entered the house and Potiphar's wife approached him and while holding on to his cloak said "come to bed with me". Joseph refused and left the house leaving his cloak behind. Potiphar' Wife screamed for help saying that Joseph had attacked and tried to sleep with her. When her husband came home she told him the same false story. Potiphar was so angry at Joseph he had him locked up in Pharaoh's prison. "But while Joseph was in the prison, the Lord was with him." This is the subject matter for which Rembrandt choose to do his representational painting by. The content of the painting all reveals Rembrandt's interpretation of the story This is the account from the Bible of the accusation of Joseph by Potiphar's Wife. Rembrandt Van Ryn chose this particular story as the subject of his narrative painting completed in 1655, under the title of "Joseph Accused By Potiphar's Wife". Before researching this painting, I noted my fist perception of Rembrandt work of art. I realized through that as a result of my later research, my first perception did not change, but instead were enriched and enlarged by a newfound understanding of the man and his art. I largely concentrated on my first and later perceptions in the design elements and principles of lighting or value, infinite space, color, and focal point. After conducting research, my first perceptions about the value, or relative degree of lightness or darkness, in the painting did not change, but instead I learned that Rembrandt's use of light and dark was both purposeful and a technique well- known to the artists of his time. When I first observed this painting, I thought how dark everything seemed. The only exceptions to the darkness are the bed and Potiphar's wife, both of which are flooded in light almost as if a spotlight were thrown on her and the bed. Some light shines on Joseph's face and from behind him like a halo around his body, but this light is very dim. Potiphar in great contrast to his wife is almost in complete darkness. I first felt there should be more light from perhaps candles to cast the entire room in partial light. But after research I found that "Rembrandt liked strong contrasts of light and dark and used them in his paintings all his life, letting darkness hide unnecessary details while using light to bring figures and objects out from the shadows. The high contrast of light against dark changed an ordinary scene into a dramatic one ... the Italian word for this use of light and dark [is] chiaroscuro " (Muhlberger 9). Rembrandt must have believed that too much detail in the room would have obscured the primary players of this scene. He uses light to brightly illuminate the most important person in this painting, Potiphar's wife. In descending order of importance, Rembrandt places a glow around Joseph and casts Potiphar in a almost total darkness. I now am able to see how the contrast of light and dark demonstrates drastically this crucial turning point in Joseph's life. The fact that an Italian word exists for Rembrandt's lighting technique only proves the technique's establishment in the art world he lived and worked in. As a result of research, my fist perceptions about the presence of infinite space in the painting did not change, but instead I gained an understanding of why Rembrandt employed this particular technique in his painting. I first noticed before conducting any research on Rembrandt or this painting how the walls appear to go on indefinitely; there are no boundaries to the room. In addition the artist chose not to add and details to the walls or floor. I believe that the design element of infinite space, endless space as found in nature,

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Plato\s Republic Essays - Socratic Dialogues, Dialogues Of Plato

Plato?s Republic is a profound philosophical treatment of the meaning, nature, and application of justice by way of describing the perfect city-state and the use of comprehensive allegory. As Ancient Athens was the prototype for the modern ideas of Democracy, Republic is still incredibly relevant. The discussion of justice is not only explored from a political standpoint, but it also informs Epistemological views on nature, beauty, and truth, adding even more weight and importance to the term. During the time of Republic (circa 380 B.C.E.) Two prominent philosophical groups were splitting Athens apart, a rivalry from which the beginning of Republic is spawned. Plato belonged to epistemology, a branch of philosophy dedicated to the nature of knowledge. Plato and his colleagues believed in logic and reason as a means of reaching the truth while criticizing emotions and sensory perceptions. The Sophists, the archenemy of Plato?s ideas, were merely concerned with rhetoric and applying la nguage in any means necessary to gain a desirable outcome. The effect that these differences rendered on the topic of justice is brilliantly displayed in ?Book 1? through dialogue by Plato?s analogue, Socrates, and a temperamental Sophist called Thrasymachus. The argument between Socrates and Thrasymachus sets the tone for the remainder of the book and gives Plato a place from which to start explaining justice, and specifically what justice is not. ?Book 1? of Republic is distinctively different than the remainder of the book, both stylistically and in intent. Plato established the logistics of his argumentative tactics and engages in a heated discussion about justice that will necessitate the explanations and proofs provided in ?Books II ? X.? The so-called meat of ?Book I? begins with a confrontation between the hotheaded Sophist, Thrasymachus, and Socrates as they enter into a disagreement about the worth of justice; a diversion from Socrates? original task to define justice itself. Thrasymachus? assertion can be encapsulated in the phrase, ?Justice is the advantage of the stronger.? He believes that justice is unnaturally imposed upon humans and is contrary to their desires, as well as entirely unprofitable. In terms of external gain, Thrasymachus points out that the perfectly unjust will necessarily profit where the just will not because they will be unfettered by a notion of morality. Perfect injustice will allow one to a cquire more money, power, status, etc. at the expense of the unjust. This follows the basic Sophist idea that no such thing as morality really existed, but only what was advantageous or disadvantageous to a person. It stands to reason, then, that if a man were to be faced with cheating his way into greater profit or honestly gaining less, the unjust path would make more logic sense. The intrinsic value of injustice, Thrasymachus thinks, is also far greater than that of justice. A person who is able to gain money and power, even through disreputable means, will be happier as a result having the spoils of his injustice to enjoy. Though Thrasymachus? confidence is deceiving, there are considerable flaws in his ad hominem argument, specifically the wording and his fluctuating and interchangeable definitions of ?justice? and ?injustice.? Socrates wastes no time cleverly evaluating the statements of Thrasymachus and then using them for his own benefit to prove that justice has significant worth and necessity. One of the most important things to note about the argument posed by Thrasymachus is his attempt to use rhetoric instead of logic. It is even noted in ?Book I? that Thrasymachus is equating justice with injustice. Likening opposites to make a point is clearly the weaker strategy as it doesn?t actually make sense, and this is something Socrates must work around, as he is objecting to the idea the justice is the advantage of the stronger. Rhetoric aside, the first objection by Socrates lies in human fallibility. Because all humans are fallible (and this can not be disputed by even Thrasymachus) an unjust person would eventually make a mistake that may undermine his own success. For instance, an unjust man might kill someone he suspected to be an enemy and that man actually could have been an ally; this would be a mistake that could ultimately reduce the unjust man?s power. Socrates second objection is

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Biological Cloning and Nuclear Transplantation Essay

Biological Cloning and Nuclear Transplantation - Essay Example Burnett states about the scientific concept, â€Å"Scientists will take the nucleus of a somatic, or nonreproductive, cell from Alcalde and insert it into an egg cell from a cow, from which the nucleus has been removed. The resulting embryo will be grown in an incubator and then implanted in a cow to develop† (2008, p.1). In lay language, the concept involves the desire to produce animals with superior qualities that cannot be achieved through normal reproduction. The process involves nuclear transplantation, in which the genetic material from a given cell is inserted into the host. In this case, the host is an unfertilized egg whose genetic material has been removed through enucleation process. The biological process of nuclear transplantation is whereby scientists derive a cell from an adult animal they wish to clone. The genome of the animal is contained in the nucleus of this derived cell. Genome is the DNA that has instructions to create a new individual. The next stage i n this process is taking an unfertilized egg from the female of the same species, and removing its nucleus (Mann, 2003, p.1). The scientists then put the nucleus into the egg; thus, basically replacing the DNA of the egg with that of the cloning animal. The nucleus derived from the donor cell is fused with the egg with the help of a smell electric current passed through the cell. Adding a series of chemicals into the egg tricks it into believing that fertilization is taking place. At this stage, the outcome may be successful or unsuccessful.