The Zailckas Smashed A Story Of A Drunken Girlhood

I decided to write my final paper on Koren Zailckas Smashed: A Story of a Drunken Girlhood. A memoir based on a young 14 year old girl who drinks for the first time with her friend Natalie before a birthday party. Her experiences with alcohol doesn’t stop there. We learn that she gets her stomach pumped at age 16, and at age 22, wakes up in an apartment in New York City unsure of where she is, because of alcohol. After this, she realizes that she has a problem and that she needs help. I chose this book as the topic of underage drinking and alcohol abuse is constantly rising in our society today. It is a problem that many youth kids are facing, and this book perfectly describes a young girls story about her addiction with alcohol and the many poor decisions she makes. The main reason why I decided to choose this book is because I can personally relate to a lot of the events that Zailckas goes through, and know how she felt in certain situations. The way she describes how she li kes the way alcohol makes her feel, how each bar and drink can relate to different moods she’s in, or how good of a sleep she gets when she’s drunk because its such a deep sleep hit home, as I once have said those exact things. In the helping profession, I believe it is easier for a patient to open up to you if you have also experienced what they are going through. Being that I started drinking at a very young age, I can relate to my patients and help them to the best of my abilities and tell them myShow MoreRelatedSmashed: Story Of A Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas Essay1556 Words   |  7 PagesSmashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood is Koren Zailckas account of life as an alcoholic. It traces her life from her first drink, when she was fourteen, to her last, at twenty-two; Smashed chronicles Zailckas struggle with alcohol abuse, in an effort to explain the binge drinking phenomenon that plagues Americas youth. When Koren was fourteen her friend Natalie found a bottle of Whiskey at Natalies parents cabin. This would be her first experience, ofRead MoreKoren Zailckas, The Author Of Smashed: Story Of A Drunken1532 Words   |  7 PagesKoren Zailckas, the author of Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood (2005), is a 37 year-old Caucasian female who was born to a Catholic, middle-class family in 1980 (Zailckas, 2005, p. xiii). Zailckas grew up on the Northeast side of the United States with her mother, father, and sister who is five years younger than her—none of whom, according to her, have a history of alcoholism (p. xiv). Zailckas, however, recounts starting to drink as early as the age of fourteen and continuing to do so throughout

How Food Security And Hunger Are Huge Issues - 3133 Words

Chauntelle Ong (#0907515) ENG-200: Professor Wright Abstract This article introduces how food security and hunger are huge issues nowadays regardless of the advancement of technology and improvement in quality of lives. Obtained from (â€Å"National Geographic,† n.d.), by 2050, there will be approximately 9 billion people, which will result in greater demands for more crops to feed livestock like pigs and chickens. The farming practices to meet these demands are non-ecological and ineffective. This paper outlines the current environmental issues that our world is facing, and expounds on the strategies of utilizing social media to educate people about environmental issues and food ethics. The research methods used in this paper are scholarly articles, data from National Geographic and international non-profit organizations. This research paper also concludes on how to profitably manage and explore the precise technology and food ethics to feed a growing world sustainably and promote healthy living standards. Keywords: digital age, social media, technology, Internet, population, food, security, hunger, malnutrition, sustainable, healthy eating, diet, future generations, food ethics RAISING AWARENESS OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Today, the world population is 7.3 billion with an average of 360,000 births a day (Worldometers, 2015). Out of the 7.3 billion human populations, there are more than two billion people suffering from malnutrition and that accounts for more thanShow MoreRelatedHow Hunger Can Be Reduced in the United States Essay1376 Words   |  6 PagesHow can hunger be reduced in the United States? In order to reduce hunger, every possible cause must be addressed. Climate changes, natural disasters, wars, and lack of aid are just a few causes of hunger and food insecurity. 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Strategic Organizational Change the Role of Essay Example For Students

Strategic Organizational Change: the Role of Essay Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Steven H. Appelbaum Faculty of Commerce and Administration, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Normand St-Pierre Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada William Glavas Pratt and Whitney Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Presents an overview of strategic organizational change (SOC) and its managerial impact on leadership, learning, motivation and productivity. Theoretical and empirical data presented are: the sources and determinants of strategic organizational change; the management implications of SOC; organizational leadership within the context of SOC; learning aspects of SOC; the impact of SOC on organizational and individual productivity; a model that explains the relationships between SOC, leadership, learning, motivation and productivity. Depicts strategic organizational change as an integrative process with all organizational elements such as human resources, systems and technologies being considered for successful change to occur. The proposed model for strategic organizational change is an attempt to link the software and hardware components of organizations. In view of the pressures being expected from the external environment and the critical vision of organizations, research suggests that top management needs to establish a ? exible and adaptive infrastructure that should lead contemporary and complex organizations to optimum levels of performance. The largest barrier to â€Å"change† is not changes to technologies and work processes but changes involving people. Introduction For centuries philosophers have struggled with definitions of â€Å"change†, †¦To the ancient Greeks†¦ tampering with the basic character of things – was, if not actually blasphemy, a sure path to disaster †¦ In modern Western culture, â€Å"change† is a more malleable notion, a means to bend fate to one’s ends†¦ (Kanter et al. , 1992). Critical determinants of organizational success and failure The features of organizations that make for success are not always the same ones that lead to failure. Based on reports generated by professional consultants, it is possible to identify the speci? c factors that contribute ost to success and failure. It is also possible to classify these factors as primarily environmental, structural, or management-oriented (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). Although a successful organization need not possess all of the positive attributes, most successful organizations show more positive than negative attributes. S uccessful organizations tend to focus on customers and their needs. They invest in ways to improve sales and provide superior service to clients, and they do not forget that their customers and their customers’ needs underlie their organization’s existence. Successful organizations also adapt their structures to the needs of their missions. At the department level, controls may be simultaneously loose, in that managers have autonomy, and tight, insofar as speci? c performance goals may be set. Highly successful organizations often maintain a simple but appropriate structure that employs an adequate number of staff; they avoid empire building and padding with surplus staff. Also, entrepreneurship is encouraged within the divisions of the organization by rewarding successful innovation and encouraging risk taking (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). A major management feature that can lead to success is a deliberate bias toward implementing solutions to problems. Management discourages â€Å"paralysis through analysis† of alternatives, and, instead, emphasizes satis? cing action that ensures goal attainment. Another management feature in successful ? rms is a commitment to the organization’s original arena of expertise. This is called â€Å"sticking to one’s knitting†. It involves staying close to what the organization knows how Management Decision 36/5 289–301  © MCB University Press In today’s turbulent environment of organizations, change has become synonymous with standard business practices as longterm organizational ends have to be reformulated on an ongoing basis. With this in mind, this article will present a conceptual framework of the various elements of organizational change in order to obtain a better understanding of the management of organizations. As such, the purpose of this article is to present an overview of strategic organizational change (SOC) and its managerial impact upon leadership, learning, motivation and productivity. The remainder of this article will be divided in six parts: the sources and determinants of strategic organizational change; a discussion of the management implications of SOC will be undertaken; organizational leadership will be addressed within the context of SOC; learning aspects of SOC will be described; the impact of SOC on organizational and individual productivity will be highlighted; finally, an attempt to develop a model that explains the relationships between SOC, leadership, learning, motivation and productivity will be presented. The discussion on strategic organizational change will be concluded by suggesting a need to develop more comprehensive models to study the impact of change on organizations. The following section of the article will identify the critical determinants of organizational success and failure which are significant in understanding how strategic organizational change may be managed more effectively, thus avoiding potential pitfalls. Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 o do best and not being led down different paths in pursuit of attractive but uncertain alternative product lines. Successful organizations also tend to stress a single value, such as delivering a quality product, reducing the cost of services to customers, or concern for each customer’s unique need. By emphasizing a single dominant value in its promotional mater ials and in its training of employees, the organization establishes a useful, distinct reputation for excellence in a speci? c area. Finally managers in successful companies often try to improve performance by achieving the agreement or consensus of employees. Thus, managers and workers may work together to set mutually agreeable performance goals. Employee suggestions are actively sought and a positive work-group spirit, which will serve as a basis for enhanced motivation, is encouraged (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). Different factors in an organization’s environment, structure, and management may also lead to its failure. Among the environmental factors, change in technology are a major cause of organizational failure. Technological innovations by competitors, as well as innovations that cannot be implemented within the organization itself, can lead to lost business. Two forms of dependency – dependency on suppliers and dependency on a single customer – can also create problems. Difficulties in obtaining raw materials and ? nancing from other institutions can prove fatal for an organization in a competitive environment. In addition, a customer who realizes that another organization is highly dependent on its business may use its resulting power to drive down prices or extract greater concessions by threatening to take its business elsewhere. In terms of structure, inadequate control mechanisms may contribute to failure. For example, an organization may lack devices for sensing when changes occur that need to be corrected. As a result, product quality may suffer or change in employee or customer satisfaction levels may be ignored (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). Management factors may also contribute to failure. Courageous and decisive leadership can inspire an organization to overcome difficult situations or take quick action. In contrast, a tendency to overanalyze data or to take a â€Å"wait-and-see† attitude may cause a ? rm to lose ground to competitors and may exacerbate internal problems. The kinds of expertise that enable a young organization to thrive may become outdated as an organization matures. The need for professional managers to aid, or replace, the founding group may go unrecognized, and the importance of hiring new talent to revitalize the innovative process may be ignored. Con? ict can lead to serious dysfunction if it is not well managed. Con? icting groups often suboptimize or set their own goals for political and personal gain ahead of organizational goals. For this reason, con? ict should be managed to ensure that it remains in desired forms and at desired levels. Success and failure factors are not evenly distributed across the three major sources. For example, more environmental factors may contribute to failure than to success. Conversely, more structural factors are potential sources of success than of failure. And an almost equal number of management factors seem to lead to both success and failure. This analysis, albeit simplistic, suggests a useful insight: Environmental factors are more likely to pose potential threats to an organization’s well-being, while structural factors are an organization’s major means of achieving success or, at least, coping with threats. It almost goes without saying that management-related factors are potential sources of both organizational success and organizational failure (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). The origins of strategic organizational change will be the next focus of this article. Conceptual framework of strategic organizational change In order to de? ne organizational change, one has to be able to appreciate the historical antecedents that brought about the current environment with which business ? rms have to negotiate. After the Second World War, there was a drive to improve efficiency Organizational . heorists followed into the footsteps of Frederick Taylor in their attempts to de? ne organizational effectiveness in terms of a scienti? c approach to the management of organizations. â€Å"This closed system approach (where the environment was ignored) resulted in control-oriented organizations with complex structures and simple, routine, monotonous tasks† (Volberda, 1992). This approach to the m anagement of organizations dehumanized the nature of work and subsequently favored the emergence of the human relations approach to the management of organizations. As Adam Smith and Karl Marx pointed out the â€Å"†¦simpli? cation of work processes beyond a certain point could have diminishing returns and produce Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 feelings of alienation of workers† (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). In the 1970s the market place demanded quality in products and services. Organizations had to distinguish themselves from their competition through excellence as markets opened up and competition became ? erce. In today’s environment, the ability of organizations to respond to micromarkets’ demands, where choice to the consumer is preponderant, will depend on their ability to be flexible. â€Å"The transitory nature of †¦ market demands is an important reason that flexibility †¦ ought to be a defining characteristic of organizational effectiveness† (Volberda, 1992). Therefore, from an organizational perspective flexibility can be defined as the ability to react to change. This section will also address conceptual origins and framework of change, internal and external determinants of change and directed/non-directed change. Like the ancient Greek philosophers, contemporary theoreticians do not agree on what â€Å"is† change. Instead of de? ning change as a transformation from one state to another, which would be logically circuitous, this article is intended to depict the characteristics of its manifestations in order to develop a framework for further discussion. Strategic organizational change will be referred to as a ? xible strategic planning process as opposed to a static form of strategic planning. Because organizational change has become an integral part of the planning and formulation of organizational strategies, the classical strategic planning model just presented where planning came before formulation does not apply anymore: In a turbulent environment strategic programs are insufficient and have to be complemented with strategic issu e (or change) management or even contingency planning. (†¦) If these programs and issues have to be revised too often, contingency planning is more suitable (Volberda, 1992). an either originate from the external environment such as changes in competitors’ actions, government regulations, economic conditions and technological advances. Organizations †¦ take inputs from the environment (e. g. suppliers), transforms some of these inputs, and send them back into the environment as outputs ( e. g. products) (Johns, 1983). Change can also originate from within an organization. These changes could be new corporate vision and mission, the purchase of new technology, mergers and acquisitions and the decline in the morale of the company. Consequently, among the most common and in? uential forces of organizational change are the emergence of new competitors, innovations in technology, new company leadership, and evolving attitudes towards work (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). Strategic organizational change could be undertaken in either a reactive or proactive manner. In other words, management could either foresee the necessity for change and undertake the necessary steps to adjust their organization to meet the impending pressures of the environment. Or, management could resist change and be forced into an organizational transformation in order to survive. Directed change is intentional and consciously initiated, managed, and evaluated in relation to (organizations’) current and strategic objectives (Felkins et al. , 1993). Other authors have suggested that organizational change can be a continuous and evolving process encompassing: â€Å"approaches which view organizational change as an emergent phenomenon and the result of the interplay of history, economics, politics, business sector characteristics† (Wilson, 1992). Strategic organizational change and its management implications In light of all the different approaches to organizational change, we would like to point out a common thread that runs across all of them. In doing so, it is necessary to draw a parallel to the work of Frederick Taylor in the early 1900s and the emerging theories being espoused by contemporary theoreticians and practitioners of these SOC efforts: The apparent re-emergence of certainty, and the process of management as a science, reminiscent of Taylor’s (1911) â€Å"one best way† of organizing. Today this certainty has arisen in a different guise from the original studies of scientific management. In place of Taylor’s various It can therefore be suggested that strategic organizational change encompass ongoing initiatives that are directed from the top to the bottom of the organization and has a profound effect on the depth of the change effort. Examples of SOCs could involve organizational transformations from mass production to lean production, the adoption of advance manufacturing technologies and the implementation of total quality management systems. Strategic organizational change can emanate from two different sources: change Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 efficiency-based routines, the â€Å"one best way† now proposed lies along more structural and cultural lines. The favored model propounded by many business schools as practiced in many large companies is that of the decentralized structure coupled with a task or project based culture. This requires managers to work increasingly in multi-disciplinary teams; to become generalists as well as functional specialists; and to develop a set of competencies as skills (Wilson, 1992). The above proposition does provide a serious warning to today’s managers of organizational transformations: There is no â€Å"best† approach to strategic organizational change and effort should be undertaken to develop contingency or adaptive strategic planning models to organizational change. Whether one adopts a proactive or a reactive approach to strategic organizational change, critical managerial variables have to be assessed in order to implement the proposed change. It has been suggested that some key management change variables should include goals and strategies, technologies, job design, organizational structure, and people (Johns, 1983). Other authors have argued that the management variables to be changed fall into so-called intervention strategies that assist the manager to implement the appropriate organizational change (Robbins, 1983). These strategies will be described in the â€Å"strategic organizational change process† section of this article. This section will illuminate vision, design/technology, management practices and organization culture, the SOC process and resistance to SOC. management may impede the change process (Felkins et al. , 1993). Others have proposed that strategic change and goal setting will be influenced by how a decision maker perceives issues related to the change strategy †¦ Through the combined effects of perceived attributes of an issue (magnitude, abstractiveness, simplicity, immediacy) and the political foundation of an issue (personal stake), goal setting will become part of an agenda-building process that will foster organizational change (Dutton, 1988). Leadership will affect how decision makers will pursue this agenda building process as discussed in the leadership section of this article. Organizational design and technology Organizational design consists of the decisions about †¦ formal structures, processes, systems, roles and relationships (Walton and Nadler, 1994). More speci? cally, the characteristics which will be affected by a change in the organization’s mission and strategy will encompass the organizational form (functional, divisional, matrix), the grouping of business units (function, product/service, target market), hierarchical levels (many, few), planning and control systems, job specialization, training and education programs, degree of centralization, delegation and participation (Volberda, 1992). The degree to which the above organizational design variables are responsive to the change of an organization’s strategic objectives will re? ect the ? exibility of the structural design. For the management of organizations, the success of organizational change †¦ depends on the extent to which every aspect of the system (design) – formal structure, information ? ows, rewards, recruitment, etc. – support the new de? nition of what the organization is to be and how it is to operate Organizational vision: goals and strategies Although there is much talk about vision, mission, goals, and so on in most organizations, in too many those issues are not adequately articulated. An organization needs to understand the strength of its internal capabilities to properly communicate a vision and mission to its employees. The evolution of an organization’s leadership skills (e. g. technocratic versus â€Å"intrapreneurial†), training programs and investment capabilities will determine how the latter will set its goals and strategies. The degree to which management sets goals and strategies to change the organization is contingent upon the organization’s historical goal setting process success in implementing changes (i. e. learning from past mistakes). Unrealized past goals, poor communication to lower levels of management, lack of commitment from top (Kanter et al. , 1992). A new organizational design needs to be supported by appropriate technologies. A change readiness assessment should illuminate the factors that affect on an every day basis and how people use the technology in their job (Trahant and Burke, 1996). The change readiness assessment will highlight the extent to which people in the organization are ready to adopt and use the new technology and will determine the magnitude of the change efforts needed. According to other researchers: productivity bene? ts derived from the incorporation of routine tasks into advance manufacturing technologies †¦ effectively intensi? es the complexity in the remaining jobs Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 ecause the production hardware, its software, and their maintenance impose more complex technical requirements than most earlier production technologies†¦ (Zammuto and O’Conner, 1992). Therefore, the change readiness assessment may help identify people who lack necessary skills to evolve in the new organization. By technology we are referring to: (1) hardware (like machinery and equipment) and the software (knowledge, techniques and skills) used in the transformation of material or informational inputs into various outputs (either goods or services) as well as (2) the con? guration of the hardware and software (Volberda, 1992). discipline, socialization, tolerance for ambiguity) and its external orientation (focus, planning attitude – from short-term to longterm) (Volberda, 1992). The extent to which these organizational cultural elements can assist managers in implementing strategic organizational change will explain their potential to contribute to the organization’s success. It has been suggested that organizations try to establish a link between the above cultural elements and some critical success factors such as continuous improvement, customer service orientation, cost consciousness, quality, teamwork and people oriented (Rogers and Byham, 1994). Effects of the Constitution Bill of Rights and Dec EssayMotivation, productivity and strategic organizational change This ? nal section of the article will discuss vision, performance management systems and technology and the linkage between motivation, performance and culture. To implement a new organizational vision and strategic organizational change, it has been suggested that organizations should Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 undergo transformational change. By transformational (change) we mean areas in which alteration is likely caused by interaction with environmental forces and will require entirely new behavior sets from organizational members (Burke and Litwin, 1992). For senior teams of organizations, it will require the following of decision strategies that will lead to superior organizational performance. Such strategies might involve creating value by introducing new products, penetrating new markets, introducing ? exible manufacturing capabilities and implementing activity-based costing within a new management control system framework. The basic idea behind strategic organizational change is to provide a clear focus and to help establish the gaps in performance and the areas greatest concern and opportunity for change management (Felkins et al. , 1993). The success of strategic organizational change will in turn be measured by improving key strategic organizational variables such as market shares, sales volume, earnings per share, stock price, cost reduction and stakeholders (i. e. suppliers, customers, public at large, etc. ) satisfaction. Motivation, performance and organizational culture The rules and principles governing how people accomplish their jobs in an organization can have profound impact on the latter’s ability to introduce any type of strategic organizational change. As was stated earlier, the biggest challenge for management is to have their change initiatives supported by the employees of the organization. These change initiatives are likely to encounter serious resistance from various levels in the organization, and especially middle management. This has already been addressed in a prior discussion. At the individual level, it has been argued that the organization members’ willingness to buy into a culture of change can be facilitated by applying the principles of behavior modi? cation. These principles, derived from operant conditioning concepts, are not applicable to all behavior modi? cation attempts. In designing jobs, organizations have to assess individuals’ capabilities to adapt to change. For example, it has been advanced that the degree to which individuals will translate organizational change initiatives into higher performance achievement (BM) is related to their â€Å"locus† of control. Since internally oriented individuals (internal â€Å"locus†) believe that their own actions determine outcomes, internals are more likely to take an active posture with respect to their environment. Externals (external locus), in contrast, may adopt a passive role (Kren, 1992). The ability of any organization to motivate individuals, whether they have an external or internal locus of control, to superior levels of performance is closely related to their reward systems. Therefore, strategic organizational change efforts must ascertain that different types of rewards are offered to employees who might have quite a different attitude set towards organizational change. Although it has been suggested that ideal organizational climate would provide opportunities for independence, recognition, and responsibilities (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995), some employees’ performance under an organizational change environment might still be motivated by extrinsic job satisfaction factors (e. g. pay, job security, fringe bene? ts, working conditions, explicit working rules, etc). As pointed out earlier in this section, individuals need control over the job attributes (intrinsic or extrinsic) that will determine how successful they are at reaching their performance objectives. A careful assessment of an individual’s ability to control Performance management system and technology The importance of control systems in organizational design has been highlighted earlier in this article. As such, performance management systems are being introduced in order to monitor the performance of implemented transformational activities in the organization. In a performance management system, strategic initiatives (are) broken into clearly de? ned accountabilities and responsibilities and then integrated into the performance objective of all employees who are responsible for turning them into actions (Rogers and Byham, 1994). For transformational change to occur, every employee in the organization needs to know what his/her responsibilities are, how his/her performance is to be evaluated and how his/her performance will be monitored against a predetermined set of goals. At the organizational level, performance improvement will occur when management provides the entire work force with all the necessary training and technical infrastructure to support the transformational change initiatives . All is needed for (strategic organizational) change is to determine the right training program, technology (requirements) and the appropriate incentives for each situations (Felkins et al. , 1993). Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 hort-versus long-term performance, risk taking versus risk aversion, division performance versus total (organizational) performance, maximizing return on investment versus sales growth, and so on is requested (Lawler, 1994). This article has examined and discussed the following: †¢ sources of strategic organizational change (SOC); †¢ SOC and management implications; à ¢â‚¬ ¢ leadership and SOC; †¢ learning and SOC; †¢ motivation, productivity and SOC. At this juncture, the development of a proposed SOC model will be presented for potential application. Conclusion: a proposed model for strategic organizational change The quest to develop a model of strategic organizational change has resulted in the selection of elements from Burke and Litwin’s (1992) â€Å"Causal model of organizational change† and Robbins’ (1993) â€Å"Model of planned organizational change†. The Robbins’ model depicted the â€Å"how† of organizational change while Burke and Litwin’s causal model presented the â€Å"what† of organizational change elements. An objective is to represent vision and strategy as organizational elements because of the importance that is placed on these in organizational theory and practice. In addition, it was decided not to represent the relationships between organizational elements in a matrixlike causal framework because similar to Burke and Litwin, that reality is much more complex than most, if not all, models can depict (Burke and Litwin, 1992). Furthermore, it was also decided that a model is needed that was relatively easy to understand for people who are required to manage change. On the pages to follow, a description is made of how the external environmental pressures and the vision of top management initiate a change process which affects the goals of the organization, its design, technology, culture, management practices, task skills and resistance to change; all topics covered in this article. Subsequently, the change process interaction with organizational leadership and learning is presented with the ultimate impact on individual and organizational performance. All of this is re? ected in the model presented (Figure 1). The strategic organizational change process was depicted earlier in this article as an organizational development underpinning and outcome. In discussing organizational change and strategies to manage it effectively, the success of organization development (OD) needs to be re-addressed in order to fully comprehend and appreciate the proposed model. A critical question to grapple with is does OD work? Despite difficulty of measuring the effects of OD efforts, it is possible to draw some tentative conclusions about the general value of OD in enhancing organizational effectiveness. In their examination of 35 studies, Porras and Berg (1978) sorted the obtained results into outcome variables and process variables. Outcome variables refer to measures of productivity, efficiency, absenteeism, pro? ts, and so on (relatively â€Å"hard† measures), while process variables refer to measures of trust, perceptions of leadership, motivation, and decision making (relatively â€Å"soft† measures). In addition, they further divided their sample of studies into categories based on whether the OD efforts were directed at groups, organizations, individuals, or leaders. Their analyses of these studies suggested that group outcome variables (e. . group productivity) were most likely to be enhanced following OD interventions. Individual process variables also showed relatively positive improvement (e. g. individual job satisfaction increased in roughly 40 percent of the OD studies in which it was measured) (Porras and Berg, 1978). A further analysis was made of these studies in terms of the impact of various OD procedures. By and large, Porras and Berg (1978) observed that the most common OD techniques, such as team building and survey feedback, were reported to have positive effects, while T-groups were somewhat less effective. Porras and Berg (1978) also observed that OD efforts that used four or more techniques (the eclectic approach) were likely to produce more meaningful change. This suggests that a multifaceted approach to achieving organizational change is most appropriate. In addition, they noted that interventions lasting at least six days had superior results, with maximum bene? ts being reported when the duration was between ten and twenty days. This suggests that OD efforts should be neither too brief nor too extended. Despite the methodological shortcomings of many of the studies that Porras and Berg examined and the tendency of OD specialists to report their results in the most positive light (OD failures are less frequently written up), these results suggest that the efforts are usually effective. As Porras and Berg’s (1978) Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 Figure 1 Strategic organizational change model Feedback External Environment Organization Vision Strategy Determinants of Change Feedback SOC Initiative Change Agents *Directed undirected Change agent(s) SOC initiatior Change Process *Unfreeze/Change/Refreeze *Organizational Behavior Process (Behavior Modification) Change Process *Organization Goals *Organizational Design *Technology *Organizational Culture *Management Practices *Resistance to Change *Training, Tasks Skills Leadership Top and Middle Management Motivation Learning Inter-Networked Organizational Elements Affected Feedback Individual Organizational Performance Source: Adapted From Burke Litwin (1992), Robbins (1993). analysis suggests, the precise nature of OD’s impact will depend on the type of technique, its duration, and the measure chosen to evaluate the intervention (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). Although Porras and Berg’s review points to many positive conclusions, the value of OD as commonly conducted is often questioned by both managers and behavioral scientists. Some of this criticism derives from a healthy skepticism on the part of managers and behavioral scientists. However, other factors can partially account for this criticism. First of all, OD is not a panacea for every difficulty an organization may face. Its successful use requires skill and expertise, and it is most applicable to interpersonal problems. When used by nonexperts and applied to inappropriate situations, OD cannot be expected to succeed. Users may also be disappointed to find that OD often does not live up to its stated ideal as described in articles and texts, but the flaw may be traceable to the users’ approach. For example, OD is often performed at the lower levels of an organization, following top management’s endorsement. The attitude that OD is a task to be delegated to lower-level managers is likely to minimize the impact of most such programs. Yet high levels of participation, support and concern for OD efforts from top-level management are fairly rare. As discussed earlier, resistance to change is a signi? cant obstacle to OD efforts. While resistance on the individual level may be Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 anageable, more difficult challenges arise when resistance stems from the total organizational system and its need to cope with its external environment. The external environment, of course, cannot be meaningfully changed by most OD efforts – and OD efforts are rarely intended to make such changes. Therefore, this larger constraint limits the progress that is possible within the organization (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). In the future, organizations may need to rely more heavily on the services of OD specialists as they are forced to undergo planned change. This need for managed change will result from a variety of emerging forces. Rapid changes in technology, for example, will require organizations to adjust their structure and processes. Also, the environment for many organizations will become more turbulent and uncertain. Contributing to this pressure will be an increasingly global business environment and a shrinking qualified labor pool (caused by both a â€Å"baby bust† and a struggling educational system). All of these forces will require organizations to be more flexible and responsive. The ability to effectively implement planned change will be of great importance in the years to come (Vecchio and Appelbaum, 1995). In conclusion, it is critical to depict strategic organizational change as an integrative process, and all organizational elements, the soft (human resources) and the hard (systems and technologies), need to be considered for successful change to occur. The proposed model for strategic organizational change is an attempt to link the software and hardware components of organizations. In view of the pressures being expected from the external environment and the critical vision of organizations, top management needs to establish a ? exible and adaptive infrastructure that should lead tomorrow’s organizations to higher levels of performance. The largest barrier to â€Å"change† is not changes to technologies, and work processes but changes involving people. To reach such level of performance, links between the environment, the vision of the organization, its leadership and learning processes are essential. Further research is needed to identify systematic integrative models of strategic organizational change with predictive capabilities. These models could be utilized both by management and organizational researchers in order to facilitate the implementation of adaptive strategic change initiatives. This is the challenge. References Argyris, C. (1991), â€Å"Teaching smart people how to learn†, Harvard Business Review, May-June, pp. 99-109. Beatty, C. , Lee, A. and Gloria, L. (1992), â€Å"Leadership among middle managers – an exploration in the context of technological change†, Human Relations, Vol. 45 No. 9, pp. 957-90. Beekin, R. I. (1989), â€Å"Assessing the effectiveness of sociotechnical interventions: antidote or fad†, Human Relations, Vol. 42, pp. 877-97. Beer, M. and Eisenstat, R. A. (1996), â€Å"Developing an organization capable of implementing strategy and learning†, Human Relations, Vol. 49 No. 5, pp. 97-617. Burke, W. and Litwin, G. H. (1992), â€Å"A causal model of organizational performance and change†, Journal of Management, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 523-45. Dutton, J. E. (1988), â€Å"Understanding strategic agenda building and its implications for managing change†, in Pondy, L. R. , Boland, R. J. Jr and Thomas, H. (Eds), Managing Ambiguit y and Change, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, pp. 127-44. Felkins, P. K. , Chakiris, B. J. and Chakiris, K. N. (1993), Change Management: A Model for Effective Organizational Performance, Quality Resources, Chapters 1,3,8,10, White Plains, New York, NY. French, W. L. and Bell, C. H. (1978), Organizational Development: Behavioral Science Interventions for Organizational Improvement, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, p. 14. Hitt, M. , Keats, B. A. and Nixon, R. D. (1996), â€Å"Rightsizing: building and maintaining strategic leadership and long-term competitiveness†, Organizational Dynamics, pp. 18-32. Johns, G. (1983), Organizational Behavior: Understanding Life at Work, Scott, Foresman and Company, Glenview, IL, Chapter 17. Kanter, R. M. , Stein, B. A. and Jick, T. D. 1992), The Challenge of Organizational Change, The Free Press, New York, NY, Chapter 6, 10. Katzenbach, J. R. (1996), â€Å"Real change management†, The McKinsey Quarterly, No. 1, pp. 148-63. Kren, L. (1992), â€Å"The monitoring effects of locus of control on performance incentives and participation†, Human Relations, Vol. 45 No. 9, pp. 991-1012. Lawler, E. (1994), â€Å"Effective rewards systems: strategy diagnosis and designâ₠¬ , in Howard and Associates (Eds), Diagnosis for Organizational Change, The Guilford Press, New York, NY, pp. 210-38. Porras, J. I. and Berg, P. O. 1978), â€Å"The impact of organization development†, Academy of Management Review, No. 3, pp. 249-66. Robbins, S. P. (1983), Organizational Theory, The Structure Design of Organizations, PrenticeHall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Chapter 15. Steven H. Appelbaum, Normand St-Pierre and William Glavas Strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity Management Decision 36/5 289–301 Rogers, W. R. and Byham, W. C. (1994), â€Å"Diagnosing organizational cultures for realignment†, in Howard and Associates (Eds), Diagnosis for Organizational Change, The Guilford Press, New York, pp. 179-209. Rummler, G. (1996), â€Å"In search of the holy†, Training Development, pp. 26-32. Sleeth, R. , Johnston, G. and Wallace, R. (1996), â€Å"The effective leader as a link between tasks and people†, SAM Advanced Management Journal, pp. 16-21. Trahant, W. and Burke, W. (1996), â€Å"Creating a change reaction: how understanding organizational dynamics can ease re-engineering†, National Productivity Review, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 37-46. Van Buren, M. E. and Werner, J. M. (1996), â€Å"High performance work systems†, Business and Economic Review, Vol. 43 No. , pp. 15-23. Vecchio, R. P. and Appelbaum, S. H. (1995), Managing Organizational Behaviour Dryden, , Toronto, Chapters 10, 19. Volberda, H. W. (1992), Organizational Flexibility Change and Preservation: A Flexibility Audit Redesign Model, Wolters Noordhoff, Chapter 3, 4, 6. Walton, E. and Nadler, D. (1994), â€Å"Diagnosis for organization design†, in Howard and Associates (Eds), Diagnosis for Organizational Change, The Guilford Press, New York, NY, pp. 85-105. Wiggenhorn, W. (1990), â€Å"Motorola U: when training becomes an education†, Harvard Business Review, No. 4, pp. 71-83. Wilson, D. (1992), A Strategy of Change: Concepts and Controversies in the Management of Change, Routledge, New York, NY, Chapters 1-4. Zammuto, R. and O’Conner, E. J. (1992), â€Å"Gaining advanced manufacturing technologies’ bene? ts: the role of organizational design and culture†, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 701-28. Application questions 1 Would you agree with the author that the largest barrier to change is people, not technology and work processes? 2 If planned change is the key to organization success, should people hold a de? ned change planning role?

Kamote free essay sample

Read the information and develop a research question or thesis statement that will guide your thesis. You will need to take notes and keep accurate track of the sources that you used up to this point. Many people use note cards, but with current technology there many electronic note taking programs available. Use a method of recording source information that you are comfortable with. Be sure to cite the source of the information on each note so you dont forget where each piece of information came from, should o decide to use it in your thesis. Write a thesis statement or research question. We will write a custom essay sample on Kamote or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Think about what youve read and look for issues, problems or solutions that others have found and determine your own opinion or stance on the issue. Write out your opinion as a authoritative statement on the issue, problem or solution. At this point, you can do more detailed research and find sources that are more relevant to your thesis or research question. 4Complete your research using your thesis statement and research question as your guide. You will find relevant sources that will provide insight into your specific thesis issue or problem. Make sure that your sources provide details on the history and past research related to your research question. 5 Create relevant sections as you write the background study.

Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Report Essay Example

Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Report Paper Tiffany Parker Mr Taylor Biology 6th period 2/12/15 Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Report Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to measure the amount of Osmosis in different types of solutions and to see how a cell would react in different types of solutions. Hypothesis: My hypothesis for this experiment is that the Gummy bear will absorb more of the plain tap and sugar water and the salt water will shrink the gummy Procedure: Materials- 3 clear cups, one spoon, 3 gummy bears, timer, tap water, salt, sugar, ruler, and beaker Fill one cup of tap water, one cup f tap water and salt, and one cup with tap water and sugar. Measure the 3 different gummies height, width and weight balance before putting them into the solutions. Put a different gummy bear in each of the solutions. Time for about 24 hours then remove each one with a spoon carefully. Now measure their height, width and weight balance again. Data Collection: BEFORE Salt water gummy Sugar water gummy Tap water gummy Height CM Width LLC Weight balance g AFTER 1. CM CM CM . CM 2. CM leg 3. G Representing Data: Conclusion: My data clearly shows the differences between the height, width, ND weight balance before and after the lab. Also that the salt water gummy height was the only one to decrease, while the Tap water gummy increased the most (CM). I think the Tap water increased the gummies size the most because its easier for the gummy bear to soak in plain tap water than sugar water because the gummy already has the sugars in it. We will write a custom essay sample on Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Report specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Gummy Bear Osmosis Lab Report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The salt water gummy shrunk because salt soaks up water and other substances. The sugar water gummy barley increased because I think the gummy already has sugar in it so I really just absorbed a bit of the water. I would like to point out not only did the gummy shrink in the salt water but I also was very sticky unlike the tap water which was a little slimy and the sugary water gummy felt a like sticky but not that bad. The Weight balance of the gummy bears can most accurately show you how the different solutions affect the gummy bear (cell) because the any substance can change the height and change the width yet it could still be the same weight yet if you look at the weight you can determine that the gummy bear (cell) if is a different height and width. In this lab diffusion can be taken place just as cells o, the gummy take in the solutions and eventually the solution will escape if not kept in solution. The lab is using the gummy bears to show how cells work because cells can take in more and less concentrated solutions just as gummy bears do but it leaves a different appearance depending on the solution. In conclusion my hypothesis was partly correct, the gummy did absorb more tap water and the salt water did decrease the size of the gummy but, the sugar water gummy did not increase as much I thought it would have, it absorbed very very little so it didnt change any appearance much at all.

Health, Safety, and Nutrition Worksheets for Kids

Health, Safety, and Nutrition Worksheets for Kids Nutrition, health, and safety are important topics to discuss with your children. Youll naturally discuss many facts about these subjects as you go about your daily life. However, spending some time focusing specifically on each can help children understand why their eating habits, hygiene, and exercise are vital to their overall well-being.   Additionally, talking about safety topics with your children helps to ensure that they know what to do in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.   Worksheets and coloring pages can make discussing these topics more engaging and easier to understand for young children. Use some of these free printable collections to guide or enhance your study of nutrition, health, and safety. Nutrition Worksheets Proper nutrition is an important part of a  healthy lifestyle. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), people should consume foods from the fruit, vegetable, grains, protein, and dairy groups every day for optimal health. The USDA suggests eating a variety of foods and limiting those with added sugar, sodium, and higher levels of saturated fats.   They may not be a students favorite topic, but fun printable worksheets about vegetables, which introduce children to a wide variety of veggies, can make learning better eating habits a bit more fun. So can following the USDAs recommendation to vary the way you eat vegetables. They suggest trying them raw, cooked, fresh, frozen, or canned. Roasting veggies in the oven or on the grill is a tasty treat, too! Dental Health Worksheets According to the American Dental Association (ADA), cavities remain the most prevalent chronic disease of childhood. Because they are so common, cavities may not seem like a big deal, but oral health is an important part of overall physical health. Poor oral health can increase a persons risk for health problems such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory infections, and certain types of cancer.   Use a fun set of  dental health  printables  to introduce your children to the basics of good oral hygiene. Some of the simplest ways to ensure good oral health include brushing your teeth at least twice a day, flossing, eating a healthy diet, and visiting your dentist regularly.   Physical Education Worksheets Physical Education  is vital to a students understanding of the benefits of an active lifestyle. A good PE program will teach kids about health, physical fitness, and the importance of regular physical activity. One option for teaching PE is an  online physical education  course. Other options may include combining a personal health course with individual or team athletics to ensure that students remain active.   Individual sports may include golf, gymnastics, skateboarding, or swimming. Other sports such as tennis, badminton, and volleyball can also be played with only one or two players on each team. Kids may also enjoy getting active with team sports such as baseball, softball, basketball, or hockey. Safety Worksheets It can be frightening to think about emergencies and natural disasters, but knowing what to do in the event of such a situation can save lives. According to the American Red Cross, children under the age of five are twice as likely as other people to die in a house fire. It is important to teach children fire precautions as well as what to do in the event of a fire. Combine  fire prevention worksheets  that  introduce  terms such as fire drill and escape route with other tools to teach children potentially life-saving fire safety tips. These tips should include stop, drop, and roll if a childs clothing catches on fire and where to go in the event of a fire. Have an escape plan in place and practice it at least twice a year.   Teach your children what your homes fire alarms sound like, how to call 911, and the importance of going to fire fighters and getting and staying out of the house if there is a fire. Its also important to teach your children what to do in the event of a natural disaster based on what is most likely in your area of the country. Your children may need to know what to do in the event of a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. For example, you might use a free set of  earthquake worksheets  to learn more about where earthquakes typically happen, what causes them and what safety steps to take if an earthquake strikes. Updated by Kris Bales

Special educational needs provision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Special educational needs provision - Essay Example The Education reform Act of 1988 marks an historic and radical revision of education in England and Wales based on an ideology starkly at odds with that which guided the system’s development in the previous four decades (Cor, 1996). The reliance on market forces as a mechanism of quality control and the unprecedented degree of centralized control of the curriculum, for instance, are principles calling for revolutionary changes in the way teachers operate. Their impact has been made more difficult to assimilate by the speed with which these policies are introduces and there political sponsors refusals to acknowledge what may educationists have argued are potentially dangerous implications. And also in this, special education is not only reflected as a broader educational concept but also as a broader social and political concept. (Len, 1988). Special educational needs are defined in the 1993 Education Act as learning difficulties that call for special provision besides that rou tinely provided in mainstream schools (1993 Act, para 156). If what is provided routinely does not meet the child’s learning needs then a statement of SEN, specifying additional resources will be required. The inexorable rise in the number of children with statements, combined with increasingly high levels of parental expectations concerning special educational needs provision, has led to demands on the founders, the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) which can no longer be met (Ann, 1997). met (Ann, 1997). Recognizing this, the 1993 Education Act proposed a Code of Practice to clarify what special educational needs provision should be made generally available in mainstream schools. Children with special educational needs form a substantial minority of the primary school population. The Warnock Report (DES, 1978) suggested that 20 percent of children will have special educational needs at some time during their school careers. This figure, derived from standardized test and survey data, has been criticized as arbitrary and self-fulfilling but is supported by a wide range of research evidence (e.g. Croll and Moses, 1985; Mortimore et al. 1988; Shorrocks et al, 1992). Thus children with a variety of special educational need form a significant group and one that may draw disproportionately on scarce educational resources. To be precise, in 2005 around 18% of all pupils in school in England were categorized as having some sort of special educational need (SEN) (1.5 million children) (Ann, 1997). Around 3% of all children (250,000) had a statement of SEN and around 1% of all children were in special schools (90,000) - which represents approximately one third of children with statements. With such a large number of children involved, it is important to recognize that many children are receiving the education they need in an appropriate setting. It is equally important, however, to highlight the difficulties faced by a large number of parents for whom the system is failing to meet the needs of their children. The influence of the Warnock Report was not restricted to a new conceptualization of special educational needs; it also made wide - ranging recommendations about the way in which special educational provision should be developed. The Committee argued that the provision should be seen as 'additional or supplementary" rather than 'separate or alternative' to regular education, and described a continuum of settings in which it might take place. For most children, their needs would be met in ordinary classrooms, with additional support as required. The Warnock Committee (DES, 1978) heralded a