Global Mindset Is A Major Factor That Can Help People Fit...

With the development of the globalization, the economic, political and cultural exchanges will be more frequent between different countries. In another word, the globalization gives more benefit to everyone. Global mindset is a major factor that can help people fit in cross-cultural environment. In the BUAD878, the course introduces the meaning of global mindset, how to improve the capabilities during globalization, and how the global mindset develops leadership in the future. In the book, I got some basic information and suggestions about the global mindset. Also, I read many articles that help me understand the global mindset and the leadership from many different aspects. Moreover, there are three topics that interest me at the beginning of the course. First, the global mindset influences the personal awareness of cross-cultural, the connection with different people. Secondly, the global mindset provides the new area, which will improve the leadership. The global mindset also str engthens my behavior toward my leadership. Last, it is necessary to focus on the global mindset for a leader. The capabilities of the global mindset will be my major direction in my future leadership. My personal growth paper will focus on these topics. And I truly learn sufficient knowledge, which helps me understand clearly on those concerns. First, I will talk about my personal awareness of cross-cultural that affect by global mindset, and the connection with different people. The globalShow MoreRelatedMarketing Analysis : Global Staffing Group2820 Words   |  12 PagesIntroduction Global Staffing group has been the pioneer leader in recruiting and staffing for different companies in the aviation industry. We carefully examine the culture of different firms and examine candidate’s qualifications to see if there is a good fit. We specialized in staffing these firms with the right people, and develop a series of skills and knowledge to ensure that a candidate delivers a perfect fit with an employer. Part of our strategy is to offerRead MoreBenefits Of A Formal Pay Strategy For The Administration Of Compensation Plans1571 Words   |  7 PagesLOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO QUINLAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS GLOBAL HR – HRER 422 WINTER TERM 2015-2016 ASSIGNMENT: Final Exam PROFESSOR: SCOTT, DOW (PHD) Name: PLACIDO, ELIANA Email: (EPLACIDO@LUC.EDU) CellP: 773 – 971 – 4997 â€Æ' 1. There are a number of pay philosophies and methods used to pay expatriates including what has called host country, global and home country approaches. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches? Why is the home country approach most often usedRead MoreWorld s Most Fastest Growing Economy With Top Exporting Companies And Huge Amount Of Foreign Investments1673 Words   |  7 Pages ASSIGNMENT 3 LEARNING JOURNAL CULTURE AND ETHICS IN BUSINESS SANTHEESH STUDENT ID 17951865 Introduction China is world s most fastest growing economy with top exporting companies and huge amount of foreign investments. Global financial crisis happened during 2009 due to collapse of international market hit china hard initially but its economy was the first one to rebound and return to growth. Now in 2014 country s Purchasing Managers Index survey suggests that manufacturingRead MoreHow Cultural Differences Affect International Human Resource Opertions2626 Words   |  11 Pageswas set to explore the importance of cultural differences and how they influence how people are valued within organisations operating on a global scale. While there is sufficient text on International Human Resources Management (IHRM), the matter of how organisations and HR are influenced by these cultural differences has not yet been sufficiently discussed. Therefore, the aim of this essay is to discuss how cultural differences have an impact on HRM on a global scale and how the processes of recruitmentRead Mor eConvergence, Divergence or Middle of the Path: Hrm Model6579 Words   |  27 PagesIt is difficult to prescribe a HRM model without analyzing the regional and socio-contextual factors inherent in Oman and neither convergence nor pure divergence provides a solution to this end. INTRODUCTION We are living in a highly dynamic and chaotic world of business today where organizations have to be an effective customer responsive organization. They have to gear up for becoming an effective global competitor. In GCC countries and especially in Oman, firms have no choices left as well. TheyRead MoreImpact of Cultural Differences on Corporate Strategies of Multinational Firms3826 Words   |  16 Pages culture can be a powerful, hidden asset or it can be a liability - a time bomb waiting to go off. If your leadership team has not pro-actively created a corporate culture to support the companys purpose, then chances are that the culture is a hidden liability. Every business has its own character which is unique and called corporate identity. It has one major part, corporate culture, often described as the â€Å"personality of an organization†. In that case multinational firms play a major role in thisRead MoreDirected Study6575 Words   |  27 Pagesuniversalism on other cultures because then we are passing judgment on what is right or wrong for others instead of what is right or wrong for our own selves. With so many varied cultural attitudes and beliefs 4.  What do you think should be the role of MNCs toward human rights issues in other countries?  What are the major human rights concerns at this time?  What ideas do you have for dealing with these problems?  What is the role of corporate codes of conduct in dealing with these concerns? MNCs (MultinationalRead MoreMicrosoft And A Single Software Program1592 Words   |  7 Pagesimportant things we would say is so have a great work environment for your employees. A company could have the best product, but if the company doesn’t treat their employees well the company is going to suffer. You want employees that are going to want to come to work and be over achievers at everything they do. I feel with Microsoft’s vision, mission, and their culture that they excel in taking care of their employees and creating a great work environment for their employees to excel in. Microsoft s officialRead MoreChapter 07 Essay7194 Words   |  29 Pagesï » ¿CHAPTER 7 Global ALLIANCES AND STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION LECTURE OUTLINE General Outline Opening Profile: From BP to Exxon: Beware the Alliance with the Bear! Strategic Alliances Joint Ventures Equity Strategic Alliances Global Strategic Alliances Global and Cross-Border Alliances: Motivations and Benefits Challenges in Implementing Global Alliances Implementing Alliances Between SMEs and MNCs Under the Lens: Dancing with Gorillas: How SMEs Can Internationalize Through Relationships with Foreign MultinationalsRead MoreSociety and Stakeholders the Impact of How Unilever Manage Their Interaction F5933 Words   |  24 PagesMoline, Il 61265 USA Tel (309) 762-9481 Fax (309) 762-6989 Abstract. This paper focuses on leadership competencies in multinational companies. It displays culture-contingent nature of effective leadership and reviews the lessons learned from Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research that are applicable to the multinational companies. The authors analyze Unilever’s experience in building leadership competencies and the results of interviews with company managers

An Exploration Of The Behavioral Management Aide Career Essay

Abstract This paper is a brief exploration of the Behavioral Management Aide career in the Social and Human Service Assistant field. It is a sometimes difficult yet rewarding job in which the professional works with clients to assess them and help them solve any issues they are having which hinders them from living a fulfilling, happy life. It is a career that is expected to grow over the next few years and it only requires a high school education, but a college degree and previous experience is preferred. It is a career that has a fast turn-around of professionals because the stress levels can be so high in specific portions of the field or due to a lower pay rate than some other areas of Human Services. If the professional is absolutely dedicated and can stick it out, it is a rewarding field which is beneficial to many people in the community. An Exploration of the Career of a Behavioral Management Aide The field of Human Services is wide and varied umbrella of smaller sections. According to NOHS (n.d.), human service workers can be found in any setting from schools, to government agencies, and even in hospitals and mental health institutions. Combing through each option in search of the perfect career can be a daunting task. Where will a I fit in best? The answer can only be provided through thorough research and with the help of good programs such as the programs found at Lindsey Wilson College. This paper will focus on Social and Human Service Assistants, moreShow MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagescom/college/quickstart Technical Support 24/7 FAQs, online chat, and phone support www.wileyplus.com/support Your WileyPLUS Account Manager Training and implementation support www.wileyplus.com/accountmanager MAKE IT YOURS! Fundamentals of Human Resource Management Tenth Edition David A. DeCenzo Coastal Carolina University Conway, SC Stephen P. Robbins San Diego State University San Diego, CA Tenth Edition Contributor Susan L. Verhulst Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, IA John WileyRead MoreHuman Resources Management150900 Words   |  604 PagesChanging Nature of Human Resource Management After you have read this chapter, you should be able to: ââ€"  Identify four major HR challenges currently facing organizations and managers. List and define each of the seven major categories of HR activities. Identify the three different roles of HR management. Discuss the three dimensions associated with HR management as a strategic business contributor. Explain why HR professionals and operating managers must view HR management as an interface. Discuss whyRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesCover Designer: Wanda Espana OB Poll Graphics: Electra Graphics Cover Art: honey comb and a bee working / Shutterstock / LilKar Sr. Media Project Manager, Editorial: Denise Vaughn Media Project Manager, Production: Lisa Rinaldi Full-Service Project Management: Christian Holdener, S4Carlisle Publishing Services Composition: S4Carlisle Publishing Services Printer/Binder: Courier/Kendallville Cover Printer: Courier/Kendalville Text Font: 10.5/12 ITC New Baskerville Std Credits and acknowledgments borrowedRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 PagesCenter Management Recent Titles in Library and Information Science Text Series Library and Information Center Management, Sixth Edition Robert D. Stueart and Barbara B. Moran United States Government Information: Policies and Sources Peter Hernon, Harold C. Relyea, Robert E. Dugan, and Joan F. Cheverie Library Information Systems: From Library Automation to Distributed Information Access Solutions Thomas R. Kochtanek and Joseph R. Matthews The Complete Guide to Acquisitions Management FrancesRead MoreProject Managment Case Studies214937 Words   |  860 PagesPROJECT MANAGEMENT CASE STUDIES, SECOND EDITION - PROJECT MANAGEMENT CASE STUDIES, SECOND EDITION HAROLD KERZNER, Ph.D. Division of Business Administration Baldwin-Wallace College Berea, Ohio John Wiley Sons, Inc. This book is printed on acid-free paper. @ Copyright O 2006 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored inRead MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pages Maytag, Nike, Dell Preface †¢ v TARGETED COURSES As a supplemental text, this book can be used in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses. These range from introduction to marketing/marketing principles to courses in marketing management and strategic marketing. It can also be used as a text in international marketing courses. Retailing, entrepreneurship, and ethics courses could use a number of these cases and their learning insights. It can certainly be used in training programs

Cleanliness Champions Free Essays

Hand Decontamination With the outbreak of antibiotic resilient infections, infection control is becoming a major concern for health groups all over the world (WHO, 2011). The risk of infection can be reduced by using three types of hand washing known as social, hygienic and surgical methods (HAI, 2011). Social hand washing is a useful method for removing dirt and transient micro-organisms. We will write a custom essay sample on Cleanliness Champions or any similar topic only for you Order Now Using soap or an alcohol-based gel if hands are not soiled, vigorously clean your hands using the eight stages of hand-washing. This can stop transmission of the transient micro-organisms when in direct contact with patients (NHS, 2009). Alcohol-based hand rubs or gels should not be used alone when infection is present as this alone will not kill the spores for infection such as clostridium difficile. After washing hands must be dried properly as failure to do this can increase the transfer of bacteria (Nottingham University Hospitals, 2011). Hygienic hygiene not only removes transient microorganisms but also reduces resident microorganisms. This is used when preparing to work in a sterile environment, during an outbreak situation or following contact with bodily fluids. Use an antiseptic hand cleanser when washing and vigorously follow the eight steps of hand-washing. After drying properly then apply an alcohol-based hand rub and repeat the eight stages (NHS, 2011). Surgical scrubbing is a longer and more thorough antiseptic wash of both the hands and forearms. Before a surgical procedure this method is designed to remove as many of the micro-organisms as possible. It involves systematic washing and scrubbing of the hands and forearms using the most effective antibacterial cleansing agent available. Sterile gown and glove procedures are performed following the surgical scrub (NHS, 2010). Effective hand washing can break the chain of infection which is known as: the infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry and host. If the chain remains intact then infection will develop, therefore, nurses must wash their hands before, during and after ontact with a patient and their environment. This will consequently stop the infection progressing while ensuring micro-organisms do not build up in the environment. Direct and indirect contact transmission involves contact with a contaminated object which may be unwashed hands or gloves that are not changed between patients (HAI, 2011). One of the main principles of good hygiene is the use of personal protective equipment as this forms a skin barrier. It is important to e nsure the equipment is intact and decontaminated. The decision to use or wear personal protective equipment must be based on risk assessment associated with the patient care activity or intervention. Personal protective equipment includes: gloves, masks, eyewear, caps, gowns, aprons and other items (HAI, 2011). The Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) advises that gloves be worn whenever there is a reasonable likelihood that hands will be in contact with blood or other potentially infectious material, mucous, non-intact skin or when handling contaminated items or surfaces. The safe use and disposal of sharps is essential in protecting each and every individual from contamination and injury. The sharps bin can be used to dispose of medical supplies such as needles and syringes. After the use of needles they must be immediately disposed of in the sharps bin (NHS, 2011). All healthcare workers must be aware of their responsibility in avoiding needle stick injuries (NHS, 2007). How to cite Cleanliness Champions, Papers

Overcoming Resistance To Change And Enhance - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Overcoming Resistance To Change And Enhance. Answer: In the current scenario, one of the major baffling problems that the business executives are facing currently is the employees resistance to change. Resistance to change is unavoidable and the management should be well prepared to respond the changes. People want stability and predictability in both their professional and personal lives (Hon, Bloom Crant, 2014). Advance management strategies can sometimes leads the associated change to grow into a more intense problem. It is a natural tendency for humans to resists change in their organization even though the change can lead to higher productivity and efficiency. Change is mostly resistant in the organization due to the fear of unknown. Change is regarded as the cause of something different implying vagueness, which causes apprehension and discomfort. Lack of clarity and confusion often result in creating concern and worry. As an employee of the organization, security of job is the main concern of the organization. When the employees control or security is challenged, the existing risks lead to loss. Change usually appears to be more of threat and less inviting to the employees (Georgalis et al., 2015). Resistance of change occurs mostly due to the fear of failure of the employees. The new changed approach may demand knowledge and skills that could generally appear to be more than the employees reach. Employees want to be successful simply in doing their specified activities and can appear less comfortable while embracing innovative new skills. Major factors of managers resistance to changes are problem in understanding and getting along with the advanced change in the organization. Moreover, their behavior towards the new technological changes in the organization that affect the managing process, equipment and impact products. Employee resistance to change: Change is a continuous challenge for the management in the recent times. The managers behaviors towards the organization result in frustration, bitterness and pessimism as change is considered as torturous (Klonek et al., 2014). This leads the manger to resist change consistently and opt to embrace status quo and constancy. Lack of trust is another reason for the employees being resistant to change as in the past; if an employee is suspicious of managers action then the employee is less interested in embracing the new vision. The organizational stakeholders on getting any rewards also resist change. The employee does not see a benefit or very little benefit for themselves than they resist changes and does not see any point for making the changes. Employees in the organization at first see benefits for themselves for making the new change and taking risks (Burnes, 2015). Many of the organizational workers are afraid on leaving their comfort zone and pursue a new direction for them so they resist change as it poses more risks to them. The change efforts also often fail due to absence of clear plan and poor information provided to the employees. Organizational changes are often regarded as the alteration in hierarchy, technology or structure of the organization. The changes made have a tremendous impact on the individuals within the organization. Though many organization fails to accomplish the change initiatives due to underestimating the impact of changes on the employees (Crdaba et al., 2014). Role of Managers: Manager considers this change management as significant part of the business that should be controlled to avoid resistance of change. It is the duty of the mangers for engaging and motivating their employees for the desired changes. Managers need to provide exact information to their employees about the change and reassure them about developing the skills required for the new changed task. The mangers should provide facilities to its workers like complete and adequate training (Lines et al., 2015). This provides the workers sufficient reassurance that they would not be punished in future if their performance level initially drops while learning the changed or new task. The manager can also lessen their employees resistance to change by encouraging them to get involved in the organizational changed process. In an organization people belonging in the managerial position generally faces various challenges. Among them the most difficult challenge is the effective and smooth management of the change. Traditionally, the manager were more control dominated rather than participative; order and authority were valued the most (Gregori? et al., 2017). Some employees resist change in the organization as their political strategy so that the manager making the decision is proved to be wrong. This becomes really frustrating for the manager to make the desired change. The resistance may lead various forms like, continuous reduction in outputs, growth in the rate of employees turnover, chronic quarrels, requests for transfer, sullen hostility, slowdown and strikes (Laumer et al., 2016). Power and resistance to change: The role of power is significant in making any organizational change. The instrument diversity and change trend is continuously beginning to increase. The change occurring in an organization is an inevitable phenomenon (Canado et al., 2017). It is managed and designed for improving the existing condition about the organization. In the era of globalization it is vital for an organization to change and adapt itself as per the environmental demands. It is further crucial for the mankind, organization and society to change them for surviving in the current business environment. Resistance to change leads to the decrease in the productivity rate and efficiency. This further increases job turnover and increase in organizational and group conflicts. This leads to the decrease in employees satisfaction for the job as well as the organization. Power is generally related to the employees ability for getting the desirable results (Turgut et al., 2016). The method for dominating the avoidance to changes includes participation, communications and offering facilities to the employees. It is important for the mangers to be more flexible in implementing the changes so that the employees are more adoptable to the desired changes in the work. Using coercion authority by the managers creates a negative impact on the employees and decreases their participation level. Prejudice or injustice in the organization is vital factors for employee resistance to change. If the existing manager of the organization has positive and favorable personality traits it results in increasing the confidence level of the employees. This further intensifies the participation level of the employees in the organization. The manager should utilize their power efficiently to improve the employees participation by accepting the desired change. Manager should increase employees confidence by promoting their positions and rewarding them. This affect the productivity of the organization due to employees increased salaries. The techniques of using manager reward authority could influence the particip ation level of the employees (Radzi Othman, 2016). Related ethical issues: The change managing process is affected by the political, ethical and cultural consideration within the organization. When the manager uses power for making decision to satisfy their personal interest, it is considered as unethical. Therefore to ensure that there would be no personal gain, the stakeholders involves in the organizational change is to be monitored. The key ethical issues related with power includes is to make sure that all the benefactors related with the change should be identified. The change management process should definitely ensure better and fair treatment for all the individuals involved. It should further be made sure that the business environment is also respected through their behaviors, ideas and values. The historical significance related to the change should be researched and properly evaluated before making the desired change. Since the change management process is initiated by the executive management, which can lead to misconstructed statements purpose fully about the scope of change (Canning Found, 2015). If the change in the organization is based on ascertaining result based performance metrics, it can scrutinize and suffocate employee activity. This creates unethical concerns as the employees are often in the dilemma of being terminated and forced conformity. Effectiveness of change management: Change is an established priority for the organization. This can be done through reengineering, right-sizing, culture change, downsizing and customer service initiatives (Podlesnik Fleet, 2014). In the current scenario, technological, global environmental and financial problems, which have practically forced the business organization to transform and adapt the activities. In an organization there will always be circumstances that will lead to resistance in change. Self-interest is one of the main reasons of employees resisting to change. As the employees generally focuses on their own best interest and not the total organization as a whole. Effective communication strategy results in avoiding the resistance for management changes. There are various ethical issues that can be generated due to the changed management process (Andersn Andersn, 2014). Generally, external change agents for making the relevant change in the organization are hired by executive management. They gather data or information and provide data analysis about the organizational issue. Moreover, if the provided proposed solution and data analysis is not in alignment with the agenda of the executive management, then the data can be easily manipulated. Along with leading the organization effectively, it is vital for the organization to create code of ethics. Efficient management of organization could promote initiatives for ethical change by developing adequate organizational changes. The culture of organization is based on the set of values, beliefs and principles on how the employee should act. Managers should promote ethical change processes in the organization to establish ethical culture in the organization. Managers have the ultimate power for the organization and they need to make the necessary changes requires and act accordingly to act ethically. This promotes ethical behavior to be considered as a norm throughput the organization. Ethical considerations include constructive criticism, department openness, and conformity to policies, clear communication and workplace respect (Heidenreich, Kraemer Handrich, 2016). The code of ethics related to the organization is a policy statement. This bind the employees altogether to set of ethical standards and wide values. It is crucial for the managers to control the transitions of employees in an efficient way for successful change initiatives. Change management in an organization can be done successfully through various ways. This includes effective communication, involvement, support, negotiation and co-optation. Individuals present in the organization should be educated about the need for change and informed before implementing the change. This allows the employees to contribute advices and ideas for the lead change through planning and designing. This approach is generally useful when the change maker in the organization does not have the relevant information needed to design the changes. Whereas, the other party has relevant information and considerable power that is required to resist the change (Bengat, Odenyo Rotich, 2015). The manager should support the employees on encouraging and motivating them, when they are frustrated due to difficulties and work constraints. Resistance to change can be considered as a valuable feedback tool that cannot be easily ignored. Changing an organization is highly significant for the company to remain effective in todays time. Failure to change could further influence the ability for an organization to survive. On listening to the views of the individual in the organization, it would be possible for the managers to make more effective changes. An effective change management program is entirely dependent on better communication practices. The change management process should be identified, planned and then only be executed. This approach helps in providing transparency in the organization. As it facilitates in changing the techniques that does not work and provide avenues to mangers vent their frustration. It can be analyzed that resistance is quiet normal for change management. Resistance to change can threaten the organizational success, if not managed efficiently. Mostly resistance occurs due to fear of uncerta inty or unknown. I anticipating and preparing beforehand for the risk through armed leadership will provide in smooth change lifecycle in the organization. Change is necessary for profitability and growth of the organization and is constant in nature. Consistent and efficient change management program would help in minimizing its impact on their staff and organization. Furthermore the change made within the organization should be implemented only if it is ethical in nature. References: Andersn, J., Andersn, A. (2014). Deconstructing resistance to organizational change: a social representation theory approach.International Journal of Organizational Analysis,22(3), 342-355. Bengat, J., Odenyo, M., Rotich, J. (2015). Organizational change and resistance dilemmas resolution approaches and mechanisms.International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management,3(2), 1-16. Burnes, B. (2015). Understanding resistance to changebuilding on Coch and French.Journal of Change Management,15(2), 92-116. Canado, C. R., Abreu?Rodrigues, J., Al, R. M., Hauck, F., Doughty, A. H. (2017). Responsereinforcer dependency and resistance to change.Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior. Canning, J., Found, P. A. (2015). The effect of resistance in organizational change programmes: A study of a lean transformation.International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences,7(2/3), 274-295. Crdaba, M. A., Briol, P., Horcajo, J., Petty, R. E. (2014). Changing prejudiced attitudes by thinking about persuasive messages: Implications for resistance.Journal of Applied Social Psychology,44(5), 343-353. Georgalis, J., Samaratunge, R., Kimberley, N., Lu, Y. (2015). Change process characteristics and resistance to organisational change: The role of employee perceptions of justice.Australian journal of management,40(1), 89-113. Gregori?, A., Oxelheim, L., Randy, T., Thomsen, S. (2017). Resistance to change in the corporate elite: female directors appointments onto Nordic boards.Journal of Business Ethics,141(2), 267-287. Heidenreich, S., Kraemer, T., Handrich, M. (2016). Satisfied and unwilling: Exploring cognitive and situational resistance to innovations.Journal of Business Research,69(7), 2440-2447. Hon, A. H., Bloom, M., Crant, J. M. (2014). Overcoming resistance to change and enhancing creative performance.Journal of Management,40(3), 919-941. Klonek, F. E., Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Kauffeld, S. (2014). Dynamics of resistance to change: a sequential analysis of change agents in action.Journal of Change Management,14(3), 334-360. Laumer, S., Maier, C., Eckhardt, A., Weitzel, T. (2016). User personality and resistance to mandatory information systems in organizations: a theoretical model and empirical test of dispositional resistance to change.Journal of Information Technology,31(1), 67-82. Lines, B. C., Sullivan, K. T., Smithwick, J. B., Mischung, J. (2015). Overcoming resistance to change in engineering and construction: Change management factors for owner organizations.International Journal of Project Management,33(5), 1170-1179. Podlesnik, C. A., Fleet, J. D. (2014). Signaling added response?independent reinforcement to assess Pavlovian processes in resistance to change and relapse.Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior,102(2), 179-197. Radzi, N. I. M., Othman, R. (2016). Resistance to change: The moderating effects of leader-member exchange and role breadth self-efficacy.Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol,4(1). Turgut, S., Michel, A., Rothenhfer, L. M., Sonntag, K. (2016). Dispositional resistance to change and emotional exhaustion: moderating effects at the work-unit level.European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology,25(5), 735-750.

The Civil rights Museum Essay Example For Students

The Civil rights Museum Essay One day in class, I was told to look up subjects concerning the civil rights. The only problem was that I did not know how and where to start, and neither did the rest of my classmates. After awhile working on the computers, someone in the class found out the address and presented to the whole class. I tried the address and it was not an easy task. I found myself searching the web on the computer for some time. When I finally came to the web site page, I chose the Civil Rights Museum. The Civil Rights Museum is a historical museum that I did not know about. Why is it that I did not know where my history is told? The problem is, poor advertisement, and poor promotion is done to inform, particularly Afro-Americans, about their background of history. I should know just about this museum as the next person does, such as it contain the history of our ancestors in their unremitting struggles. African-American experience is deeply rooted by protest against injustice for many years. Afro-Americans has striven to gain the opportunity to participate in every political, economic, and social life America. This museum has specific information about my ancestors in civil rights movements. For example; it tells us the many voices of struggle, Nat Turner, Dred Scott, Fredrick Douglass, etc who fought against bondage by stealing from their owners, escape arson, even homicide. We will write a custom essay on The Civil rights Museum specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The civil rights museum is a useful place, because I need to know where Ive been to know where Im going. There are still thousands of African-Americans who do not know of such a place, and that poses a big problem. I personally think that finding information for the museum was a little difficult. No one in my English class but a non-African American knew how to bring up the web page, and that was the first time for many students to see what the civil rights museum is, and what information about our history it has. The web-sited page collectively gave me a short summary of each part of the civil rights movement, such as the Civil War, and how thousands of African Americans were willing to participate in the military, during the war. Another is Freedom at Last, which tells how President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by proclamation in 1862, during the civil war. The Civil Rights Acts which were the civil rightsact of 1866, the Reconstruction act of 1867, the Enforcement Act of 1870, the Civil Rights Act of 1870, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875. There are solutions to the poor advertisement and the poor promotion. What can be done is very simple; the media can play a major role in informing people by the newspapers, such as the city or state news, TV programs and radio stations. The World Wide Web site on the computer is another source of promotion, that consist of subjects or topics as an address, for an example, you may type civil rights.com or history.com to find information pertaining to your interest. Other sources can be the NAACP and Colleges courses, more funding could be provided to build similar museums, because overall, history is important, and thats why I chose the civil rights museum.

Essay on Impact of GDP and Inflation on Unemployment

Essay on Impact of GDP and Inflation on Unemployment Essay on Impact of GDP and Inflation on Unemployment Essay on Impact of GDP and Inflation on UnemploymentThe study conducted by Umair and Ullah (2013) focuses on the revelation of the possible interdependence between the inflation and unemployment rate and their overall impact on the economic development of Pakistan. The authors suggest the hypothesis of the research which they attempt to prove in the course of their study, which is as follows (Umair Ullah, 2013):H1: Inflation significantly influences the GDP rate of the Pakistani economyH2: Inflation significantly influences the GDP rate of the Pakistani economy on the unemployment of Pakistan economy.Furthermore, the researchers present the research design of their study which shows how the researchers are planning to conduct their study and what methodology they will use in the course of their study. The milestone of the research is the experiential method which involves the data analysis based on the analysis of statistical information available to the researchers from open source s.   The researchers focus on the study of the development of the unemployment and inflation rate in 2000-2010. The decision of the researchers to study the change of the unemployment and inflation rate within a decade allows them to conduct the extensive study and the period studied by the researchers is sufficient for the study of economic performance in the mid-term perspective.At the same time, the ten years period is apparently in sufficient to obtain reliable financial and economic data because ten years period does not show changes and transformations that occur to the economy in a long-run. In fact, the ten years period can show the economic development and respective changes in the inflation and unemployment rate but these changes are typical for one cycle of the economic development characterized by the rise and fall of the economy.In this regard, the period chosen by the researchers is quite accurate because 2000 is the period, when the global economic have already star ted to grow after the profound financial crisis in South-East Asia in 1998. The ten years period marked the rise of the development of the global economy which peaked in the mid-2005 and the inflation and unemployment rate drawn by the researchers in the study prove the high level of the economic development in target countries involved in the study.At the same time, the researchers could study the steep decline of the global economy in 2007-2008, when the economic recession in the US has struck causing the profound global financial crisis. The researchers find out in their study how that crisis has influenced the inflation and unemployment rate or has been triggered by the growing inflation and unemployment.Furthermore, the researchers focus on the study of the inflation and unemployment rates and their changes in Pakistan only. Therefore, the researchers narrows the scope of their research to one country only that makes it difficult to trace how the inflation and unemployment rate could have influenced other countries in the time studied by the researchers.The experiential approach is quite efficient and based on the statistical information available to the researchers. In this regard, the use of the statistical information shows clearly changes that the researchers uncover in the course of the study.At the same time, the researchers do not provide the detailed description and analysis of limitations of their study and its methodology.To test the accuracy and reliability of their conclusions, the authors of the study use the null hypothesis. They try rejecting hypothesis made in the course of the study and eventually conclude that inflation does not have a significant impact but GDP and unemployment as the major macroeconomic factors that influence the economic development of the country that is being under the study, i.e. Pakistan.The researchers focused on the use of the inflation and unemployment rates as independent variables, involving related issues, s uch as the economic situation in global markets as dependent variables. In such a way, the researchers attempted to arrive to the reasonable conclusion on the accuracy of their findings and made their conclusion on the ground of the relevant information.On the other hand, it is still possible to distinguish certain limitations of the study, such as the limited timeline of the study and only one country involved in the study. The limited timeline of the study influences consistently outcomes of the study. At this point, it is worth mentioning that the average business or economic cycle takes seven – eleven years. This is why the study basically shows changes in the unemployment and inflation rate in the course of one economic cycle only. However, the researchers do not exactly show the evolution of the economic cycle from its beginning to the end because the beginning of the new economic cycle after the financial crisis in South East Asia dates back rather to 1999 than to 2000 and the economic cycle ends by 2008-2009, when the new global financial crisis has struck. Nevertheless, the timeline allows obtaining the basic information on the evolution of the unemployment and inflation rate during one economic cycle. However, the researchers underestimate or neglect the fact that there are long waves of the economic development which may take decades and smaller crisis that occur with different frequency of seven – eleven years at average. Therefore, the longer timeline of the study could help to obtain more accurate information. In addition, the authors could try to focus on the development of the correlation between different stages in the economic development of Pakistan within the economic cycle and the inflation and unemployment rate. In such a way, the researchers would provide the information on the correlation between the economic development in general, on the one hand, and the inflation and unemployment rate, on the other.Furthermore, the stu dy involves Pakistan only that is another limitation of the study because the involvement of different countries to obtain the information on the change and interdependence of inflation and unemployment rate could help the researchers to conduct more extensive study, especially taking into consideration the level of the integration of the global economy today.Thus, the study conducted by Umair and Ullah reveal the impact of the unemployment and inflation rate on each other and the overall economic development of Pakistan. The study involves the use of the experiential approach and is based on the statistical analysis, while findings and results of the study are tested with the help of the null hypothesis. However, the study still has some limitations, such as the relatively short timeline and only one country involved in the study.

Sociology of Developing Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Sociology of Developing Countries - Essay Example There was an economy relative to the region, where class structure and a system of racial difference which caused the South to become unique to the rest of the nation. Historians such as James Henrietta have said that Sociology was the cause of all evil within the Developing countries South. Developing countries Sociology defined by Max Weber is "a greed forgone", and "acquisition by force, whether directly in war or in the form [of] exploitation of subjects" (Weber, The Viewpoint of Sociology of World Religions). Republicans helped Developing countries Sociology prospering by introducing tariff barriers, making it that all goods coming from abroad had to taxed heavily before entering the country, meaning that prices in the USA for those products raised so the foreign companies could still make a profit. When presented with two items of similar quality, one with ultra-inflated prices from England, and one with a cheap price from Developing countries, it's likely that a normal person would choose the cheap Developing countries home brand product. By doing this Republicans helped the idea of Developing countries Sociology to prosper. As well as being the place to make a fortune, Developing countries also signaled freedom from persecution, in whatever form in came in. People facing religious or political persecution or just plain poverty came to Developing countries to alleviate themselves from negative aspects of life. This was an important part of the Developing countries dream as it made many immigrants cross the seas to seek this liberty. On the surface Developing countries Sociology seemed to be helping the country no-end. There were several visible indications of the prosperity. Mass production meant that technological advances such as washing machines and hovers became available to many families. The inflating wages helped to fund the new streak of consumerism that swept the country, Developing countriess wages were far higher than any comparitable jobs over the world. New motor cars were popping up all over the place, thanks to Henry Ford, a figure often used to symbolize the Developing countries dream as he was so successful, and even today is a household name. A newly founded advertising industry worked its tricky magic amongst the susceptible citizens, making goods seem all the more glamorous. Easy credit helped in the purchase of the goods once a person was dedicated to enriching their life with it. For those who lived far from shops and arcades came mail order catalogues and traveling salesmen, meaning people all over Developing countries could enjoy the wonders of consumerism. Prosperity could also been seen in the low unemployment rates, helped considerably by the roaring construction industry, turning cities around Developing countries in bristling concrete porcupines. Over all this opulence was the booming stock market on Wall Street, rising to an all time high, representing all that was Developing countries Sociology, rapidly increasing from strength to strength, unfortunately building on the unsteady foundation of a dream. In 1928 the number of people living beneath the poverty line - those who do not earn enough to buy basic food, clothing and shelter- increased to an estimated 42% of Developing countr

Paramedic assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Paramedic assessment - Essay Example This results to the sound made by the blood as it forces its way through the vessel (Campbell, 2005, pp. 595). Narrowing of the blood vessels resulting in bruits could be a manifestation of high cholesterol deposits in the vessels thus inhibiting the proper flow of blood. Bruit could equally result from a generalized narrowing of all arteries in the body or because of narrowing of a specific blood vessel. Thinning of individual vessel is prominent especially when it involves a major vessel (Hui, 2011, pp. 60). In the event of a bruit, there is a resultant inhibition of flow of blood to some of the vital organs of the body. Blockage of blood supply to organs like the brain, the kidneys, heart and the liver could result in a permanent damage to the system or even death (Aboyans & Lacroix 2008, pp. 1554). According to Evans et al. (2013, pp. 594), Paramedics have a crucial role to play in the event of a bruit, as the condition is very significant to the profession. Due to the potentiality of the conditions resulting to a bruit causing a sudden death, paramedics must be vigilant in providing interventions like delivery of oxygen to patients experiencing bruits with the aim of providing maximum supply of oxygen to tissues and organs. Bruit demonstrates the significance of collaboration with other health care providers in giving a timely transfer of the patients to specialized care centers providing treatment for a condition resulting to a bruit (Mohler, 2006, pp. 224). Evans, R. et al., 2013. Which extended paramedic skills are making an impact in emergency care and can be related to the UK paramedic system? A systematic review of the literature. Emergency medicine journal†¯: EMJ,

Sociology research term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sociology research term paper - Essay Example Some academics believe that stratification is the difference between equality and inequality, elitism and non elitism. Stratification introduces the idea of "hierarchy" into society. Social hierarchy can be based on the possession of different qualities in different communities, and some societies are more equal than others, but none can ever be completely unstratified as there will always be inequalities in certain areas, due to individual differences. However, in contradiction to this anthropologists have confirmed that social stratification is not as universal as once thought. Non-stratified egalitarian societies exist which have little or no concept of social hierarchy, political or economic status, class, or even permanent leadership. Also known as acephalous (or "headless") societies, the best examples of egalitarian cultures all have hunter-gatherer economies, although not all hunter-gatherers can be considered egalitarian. In modern western society such as in the US, UK and Europe we live within a stratification system. David Grunsky describes a stratification system as; " the constellation of social institutions that generate observed inequalities." (523) The "observed inequalities" referred to generally points towards the unequally distributed resources in our society; privileged families receiving a disproportionate level of power, prestige and other valued resources. A common place saying that "money goes to money" perhaps therefore actually derives from an accepted creditable sociological theory / observation. Grunsky highlights that the three key components of a stratification system are: 1. Institutional processes that define certain types of goals as valuable and desirable. 2. The rules of allocation that distribute those goals across various occupations. 3. The mechanisms of mobility that link individuals to positions and generate inequalities. Inequality is thus produced by 'matching' systems; of occupation and social role to reward packages of unequal value and then the allocation of positions to individual society members to the defined positions and rewarded accordingly (Grunsky, 523) The stratification system is very complex and multidimensional. Many types of reward can be attached to certain social roles and different sociologist theorist would advocate differing factors / rewards as being pivotal in creating social stratification. Factors which can be used to create a social hierarchy / stratified group include economic, political, cultural, social honorific, civil and human factors. There are different types of stratification systems, each dependant on a differing factor. Examples include: Tribalism within a hunting and gathering society, created by human factors such as hunting and magic skills. Slavery within a horticultural and agrarian society, created by economic factors (human property). A Caste society created by honorific and cultural factors (Hinduism) And, most relevant in Western industrial society: A Class system created by economic factors and supported by Classical and Liberalism ideology. Socialism created by political factors and supported by Marxism and Leninism ideology. (Meyer, 523) In modern industrialised society there is a class system in operation, as a stratification system it is generally acknowledged as a system of inequality. The class system of stratification is the source of

Reflective Diary on Change Management

Reflective Diary on Change Management ABSTRACT This report states my individual reflection during the process of learning CHANGE MANAGEMENT module. This covers personal viewpoint of my experience on the issues of change. The later part of the report argues on the constructive and destructive role of resistance as a part of change process. This analysis is applied to the organization (water utility) where change has been experienced. INTRODUCTION It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change- Charles Darwin to cope with a changing world, an entity must develop the capacity of shifting and changing of developing new skills and attitudes, in short, the capacity of learning A De Gues, The Living Company This report has been written as a part of my module course work to state my personal views and experience on various issues of change. The report also emphasizes on the resistance to change and its impact on the change process. I was a bit tensed before the module started because as a database student I had no prior knowledge of change management but after the completion of the module I have gained pretty good knowledge on change management in an organization and issues involved in it. In todays economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens continuously, and often at rapid, because change has become an everyday part of organizational dynamics. There are 2 types of work in an organization viz. normal delivery process, where the main business of the organization is done and the change activities, whereby necessary change is made to the business and the way it is done. Change externally appears to be changing jobs, places, products etc. but actually occurs first inside peoples heads. It has both positive and negative effects. Change Management can be defined in 3 ways: The Task of Managing Change: It is the task of managing change. Managing change itself has 2 meanings. Firstly, it refers to the making of change in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim is to implement new methods and systems in an ongoing organization. This type of change occurs in information system development projects. Secondly, it refers to the response to changes over which the organization exercises little or no control. An Area of professional Practice: There are change management experts/change agents who claim that they help clients manage the changes they face or help the clients make changes. A Body of Knowledge: There is large, reasonably cohesive albeit elective body of knowledge underlying the change management practice and on which most practitioners agree. It consists of various models, methods and techniques, tools, skills and other forms of knowledge. All the practitioners are integrated by set of concepts and principles known as General Systems Theory (GST). WHAT HAVE I LEARNT? From the course module Change management and Systems Implementation I have learned: Definition of Change management: As described above. Nature of change: Before implementing change the nature of change is analysed. Three various levels of change are understood viz. Alpha Level Change Beta Level Change Gamma Level Change The Change Process: The process of change has 3 basic stages: Unfreezing Changing Refreezing This is based heavily on Kurt Lewins Adoption of the systems concept of homeostasis of dynamic stability. Force-Field Analysis: identify driving and restraining forces and try to increase the driving forces and reduce the restraining forces. Human Issues in Change Resistance to Change. Change Diagnosis. 7- s Framework. Culture and Strategy in Change Management. Strategy safaris. Various personality types involved in CM. From the overall module, the topic Resistance to change excited me a lot. I enjoyed that session in class and have also done extra reading and research on that topic from web. The later part of the report describes my views on various issues of Resistance to Change in any organization and how I applied those issues to the organization where change has been experienced. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: Resistance is an inevitable response to change and will exist in any organization. It may happen at all levels of an organization. It is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change that is occurring as a threat to them. It can stimulate healthy discussion. Resistance is the last thing management wants during change process. In many instances if pervasive, resistance to change will have detrimental effects for the whole program. It may bring the change into disaster or worse collapsing the whole organization. It must not be ignored. Resistance may take many forms, including active or passive, overt or covert, individual or organized, aggressive or timid. Initially resistance was seen as an unfavourable thing a harmful problem that must be immediately resolved in anyway in order to achieve a successful change. In the early days Management experts agreed that resistance will bring nothing but unconstructive consequences to management as there was lack of support from people especially at management level. Waddell in her journal Resistance: a constructive tool for change management (1990) has found that resistance to change has long been renowned as a negative factor that may influence the success of any change process. She was supported by many experts like McGuire in her journal How to manage change (2003), Mabin in Harnessing resistance: using theory of constraints to assist change management (2001), Teare in Learning from change (2002), Karyn in her case study identifying resistance in managing resistance to change (2002) and Dym in his PhD paper Resistance in Organisations: How to Recognise, Understand respond to it (1999). Mabin found a survey that reveals the prerequisites for a successful change vision, mission, culture, communication and leadership. If those pre-requisites are not met the whole change will fail due to what is often termed as resistance to change (Mabin, 2001). Teare from his analysis of different scenarios of changes argues that the best suited managers are those with entrepreneurial type who would examine problems as whole, willing to take risks to challenge conventional practices and view change as an opportunity rather than threat (Teare, 2002). The 4 factors for failure in managing change are: Lack of consistent leadership. De-motivated staff kept in the dark. Lack of capacity: budget cuts, no spend-to-save policy, short-term approach to investment, stressed out staff working hard just to stand still. Lack of initiative to do something different. McGuire listed 4 key factors for success when implementing change within an organization: Pressure for change demonstrated senior management commitment is essential for change. Leadership is getting others to do what they want to do because they want to do it Eisenhower Pressure is the 1st thing that triggers change and it may come from external or internal organization (McGuire, 2003). A positive message should be communicated throughout the organization of the need and the case for change. Senior management should be supportive both privately and publicly and their commitment and the drive for change is essential if momentum is to be maintained for effective implementation. Teare concern was more on organizational de-layering (Teare, 2003). A clear,shared vision must take everyone with you. This is shared agenda that benefits the whole organization. Business are nothing more or less than organizational of people trying to a jointly defined future Professor Howard H Stevenson, Harvard Business School. The managerial level of the organization should not only work towards the change process but they have to be able to see the vision and institute the change plan to finally achieve this vision (McGuire, 2003). Teare suggested that organization must focus on its desired outcomes during the change process. The managers should be motivated with recognition of their achievements and should participate in change learning process. Exploring Capabilities Provide the resources time and finance. More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause Jim Cathcart According to McGuire organization should analyse its capabilities in dealing with change. It needs to know its existing capabilities, the abilities those may be required during the change process (McGuire, 2003). Action Plan plan, do, check, act and keep the communication channels open. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit Aristotle Follow the management methodology PLAN DO CHECK ACT A handy formulae to deal with resistance positively and effectively is D x V x F = R, where: D = Dissatisfaction V = vision F = First (or next) steps R = Resistance to change This says that Dissatisfaction, Vision, and First Steps are all necessary in order to overcome Resistance to change. The model most commonly used to illustrate elements of change and resistance to change is lewins force-field analysis: According to this model, pressing for change threatens stability and thus increase the power of forces maintaining the system. The most effective way to bring about change is to reduce the forces of resistance. Both forces (change and resistance to change) exist within the system and if the system depicts an interaction, the forces need to be conceptualized as interactive. According to kotter and Schlesinger (1979), there are four reasons that certain People Resist Change: Parochial self-interest some people are concerned with the implication of the change for themselves and how it may affect their own interests rather than considering the effects for the success of the business. Misunderstanding communication problems and inadequate information. Low tolerance to change certain people are very keen on security and stability in their work. Different assessments of the situation some employees may disagree on the reasons for the change and on the advantages and disadvantages of the change process. The main reasons for employee resistance are A lack of awareness about the change i.e. when the reason of change is unclear. Ambiguity where it is about costs, equipment, and jobs can trigger negative reactions among users. Comfort with the ways things are and fear of the unknown. When the proposed users have not been consulted about the change, and it is offered to them as an accomplished fact. When the change threatens to modify established patterns of working relationships between people. When the communication about the change timetables, personnel, monies, etc. has not been sufficient. When the benefits and rewards for making the change are not seen as adequate for the trouble involved. When the change threatens jobs, power or status in an organization. Fear of failure. Personality conflicts. Loss of status and/or job security. Lack of tact and/or poor timing. Disruption of cultural traditions and/or group relationships. The risk of change is seen as greater than the risk of standing still. People have no role models for the new activity. People fear that they lack the competence to change. People feel overloaded and overwhelmed. People have healthy scepticism and want to be sure new ideas are sound. People fear hidden agenda as among would-be reformers. People anticipate loss of status or quality of life. People genuinely believe that the proposed change is a bad idea. The different ways to deal with resistance to change are: Facilitation and Support: Where people are resisting change due to adjustments problems, Managers can head off potential problems by being supportive of employees during difficult times. Managerial support help employees deal with fear and anxiety during transition period. Education and Communication: Where there is lack of information or inaccurate information and analysis. Educate people about the change effort beforehand. Up-front communication and education helps employees see the logic in the change effort, this reduces unfounded and incorrect rumours concerning the efforts of change in the organization. Participation and involvement: Where employees are involved in the change process emotionally. When their hands are dirty, they realize that dirt is not so bad, after all. They also justify their involvement to themselves and so persuade themselves that is the right thing to do. Negotiation and agreement: When the other person cannot be easily persuaded, then they have to be given order. The manager has to sit them down and ask what they are seeking. Work out a mutually agreeable solution that works just for them and just for you. Manipulation and Co-option: Where the other tactics will not work or are too expensive. Co-option involves patronizing gesture in bringing a person into a change management planning group for the appearance sake rather than substantive contribution. These leaders can be given symbolic role in decision making without threatening the change effort. Explicit and Implicit Coercion: Where speed is essential and to be used only as last resort. Managers can explicitly or implicitly force employees into accepting change by making clear that resistance to change can lead to losing jobs, firing, transferring or not promoting employees. Depending on the degree and type of performance gaps, different organizational change interventions are designed to conserved resources and effectively close those gaps. The best way to understand resistance to change is to use the change management worksheet. This should be filled out separately by people in an organisation and then discussed. This tells the reasons why people in your organization resist change. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN BRITISH GAS : British Gas was formed in 1940 and it commenced its operation in 1948 with the mission of supplying gas in Great Britain. By 1950 it became one of the monopolies among the various gas providers in the market. There vision is to be a leading supplier of energy and related services in there chosen market and to build position in Europe. There mission is to create value for there share holders and to provide cost effective services for optimum satisfaction of the customers by enabling good environment. They view them selves as partners with there customers, suppliers and share holders by creating value and prosperity for all the stake holders and there respective community at large. The main aim for change in this company to improve customer service in order to save time and improve corporation competitiveness. BRITISH GAS IN THE PAST In the past British gas had very complex system. The staff has to use different software for different queries. Customers services are not up to the mark as the salutation and DPA was very lengthy and customers has to wait for long time in the queue to get there queries resolved. There were different department for different services. British gas followed the strategy safari planning school. The new changes and implementations include drastic change in IT, better customer service user friendly software, maintaining integrity, training and recruiting new staff and providing more choices to the customer. The level of change in British gas is Alpha change. The alpha change includes implementation of effective software in order to improve customer satisfaction, improved IT infrastructure which leads to success in their business. Through the change is small its implications are large. From the Force-Field analysis, the driving forces and restraining forces are identified. The driving forces include: Customers willing to change to the new system. Later support from the staff (Willing to work overtime to get trained to new software.) though there was initial criticism. Instant approval by management members to change the present system. The restraining forces include: Few staff unwilling to adapt to new software as they have to get trained again. Requires extra investments for developing, installing and maintaining new software. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: As a customer service agent working in british gas I have experienced this alpha level change of software in the implementation of queries from the customers. The change was declared by higher management people (My team leader) very suddenly. There was a mixed reaction from the staff, some have welcomed the idea but few opposed it. There was a initial criticism in the staff because of the following reasons: Comfort with the way things and fear of unknown. Fear of failure. Personality conflict. Lack of awareness. People had no role models. The change was surprise. Parochial self-interest. Unwilling to adopt new system. Misunderstanding. Different assessment of situations. Though there was initial criticism, the staff later cooperated very well in the change process as the management as taken necessary steps to deal with resistance like: They had facilitated the staff that had trouble working overtime to get trained to the new software. They educated the staff the reason for change and benefits of new software (how it will be better to them.) They got the people involved in the change process by encouraging them to take part emotionally. They had to sit down and work out mutually with the staff on the implementation of change. As there was pressure of drive from the management, communicated there vision to the staff in an understandable way and supplied the various available resources and acted upon the change towards its successful implementation. The staff later realized the advantages of new software as it reduced most of their work upon acting the queries from customers and made their job very easy and welcomed the idea without any contempt. CONCLUSION: After completion of this module I gained enough knowledge about the concept of Change Management and its implications. I enjoyed the module thoroughly. This knowledge will be very much useful for me in the future understanding of the change process in any organization I work for. The various concepts covered in this module have been very useful. The case study has given a practical experience of what all I have learnt in this module by providing a real-life scenario.

Malicious Vengeance: The Ghastly Acts of Murder Essay examples -- essa

Malicious Vengeance: The Ghastly Acts of Murder   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, â€Å"The Cast of Amontillado,† and Louise Erdrich’s essay, â€Å"Fleur,† have prominent themes about revenge, Poe focused on the act of Revenge, whereas Erdrich focused more on the events leading up to the horrific act.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Poe’s short story of revenge discusses how the main character, Montresor, abuses the victim’s trust to ultimately kill him. The story starts out with the victim, Fortunato, and the avenger, Montresor, joking and drinking merrily while walking through a carnival together. Then, Montresor lies to Fortunato about having a rare wine, in a hidden location, that he would love to share with him. Fortunato, an avid wine connoisseur, is pleased to follow him due to his drunkenness, and also for the chance to taste such an exquisite wine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By this time, Fortunato is so drunk and trusting of Montresor that he blindly follows Montresor deep into the back of a catacomb. During their journey Montresor gives Fortunato plenty of chances to turn around; Montresor tells his victim at one point â€Å"we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed.† (Poe 1316) Upon reaching the end of the cavern, Montresor does not explain himself, and does not gift his enemy with a bottle of wine, but instead sentences him to a slow and horrific death. In his short story, Poe describes the act of revenge almost as a dark insanity that plagues the main character. Montresor’s madness is shown when he goes from friend to foe. He gives the impression that he is worried about Fortunato’s health at first, but towards the end takes satisfaction in hearing the cries of his helpless victim. Montresor even told the listeners of his story â€Å"I ceased my labors and sat down upon the bones. When at last the clanking subsided, I resumed the trowel, and finished without interruption.† (Poe 1318) Poe views the act of vengeance as a solemn, sinister, and deranged work of hatred. I hold this to be true because he portrays an image where the murderous avenger can look into the victim’s eyes while burying him alive behind a wall of brick and mortar. Montresor can also continuously hear â€Å"the furious vibrations of the chain.† (Poe 1318) After finally... ...ble by any means. I believe that nature will act upon the â€Å"eye for an eye† belief by its self without me interfering. I also think that if I take my revenge on a person, or group of people, I will also suffer bad karma from nature. I believe that revenge comes from hatred, and living with an excess of hatred throws off one’s balance in life, like the ying-yang idea. Even though I disagree with acts of revenge, I still battle with those undesirable thought. Just today, November 2, 2004, my car was stolen while in Reading class, and I would love to meet the people that stole it. I have thoughts racing through my head about how much I would enjoy making that person, or group of people suffer. I am so angry; I even have thoughts of inflicting pain to anyone that just looks at me wrong. Even though I am very angry about what this person has done to me, I would not do anything outside of my moral and ethical point-of-view to that particular person. Poe’s and Erdrich’s story styles were very different, even though both stories accomplished the same goal of showing the act of murderous revenge. I enjoyed Poe’s story of horror much more then the tame story of revenge that Erdrich showed.

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

I am (Author’s Name); currently the president of the California Nurses Association (CNA) and the overseeing head of its umbrella organization, the Arizona new Registered Nurse (RN) Union called the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Arizona (NNOC-Arizona).I am sending you this letter in connection with a significant health issue in the State of California. This pertains to the apparent incorrect and irresponsible nursing staffing ratio in hospitals and other medical or nursing facilities here in California.This specifically concerns the defiance of the authorized safe ratio in the number of RN-to-patient thereby endangering the welfare and eventually the lives of patients while at the same time hinders our profession’s goal of providing quality nursing care for our patients (â€Å"The Ratio Solution,† 2008).Our profession’s positive position to said measure is substantiated by the fact that the bill supports the mandated RN-to-Patient Ratio which works t o the improvement of patient care by having enough number of RNs. Citing the CNA/NNOC’s Report, the results of a series of scientific researches have proven that the RN-to-Patient Ratio indeed work to the advantage of both nurses and patients (â€Å"The Ratio Solution,† 2008).While similar bills already ensure adherence to RN-to-Patient Ratio, it is an utmost goal that HB 2041 heralds the same objectives in all states of the country.In view of this, I respectfully hope for the Speaker’s full support and eventual endorsement of HB 2041 to the Senate once it is approved by the lower Congress. The Prezelski-sponsored bill aims that the mandated RN-to-Patient Staffing Ratio be guaranteed and that nurses are protected when they spill irregularities in the profession and eventually turned witnesses.I show gratitude to you for finding time to regard our position on this issue. I hope that the above problem concerning the nursing field will be addressed through the supp ort/endorsement of HB 2041 that we earnestly pray from your office.ReferenceCalifornia Nurses Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee-Arizona. (2008). The Ratio Solution: CAN/NNOC’s RN-to-Patient Ratios Work – Better Care, More Nurses. Retrieved January 21, 2009, from http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/ratios/ratios_booklet.pdf

Mind Your -eds

Mind Your -eds Mind Your -eds Mind Your -eds By Maeve Maddox The English verb ending -ed is a curious construction. Although always spelled -ed, it has three different pronunciations. Two of them can lead to misspellings: /ed/ as in faded /d/ as in turned /t/ as in wrecked The suffix -ed is the sign of the past tense. That is, most English verbs form their past tenses by adding -ed. For example, walk/walked, love/loved, sneeze/sneezed. The same ending marks the simple past tense and the perfect: Yesterday I walked. I have walked for hours. In earlier periods, English verbs presented more variety in the way they formed the simple past and the past participle. A few of the older forms survive in what the grammar books call irregular verbs. These verbs do not form their past tenses by adding -ed: sing sang (have) sung give gave (have) given write wrote (have) written These irregular verbs are sometimes called strong verbs. Once very numerous in English, only a few survivefewer than 70. Many of them, like help, became ed verbs long ago so we no longer say holp or holpen. Some of the survivors, like wake and dive, are in the process of changing and the old and new forms are both in use: He woke the baby. or He waked the baby. He dove from the top board. or He dived into the pool. One changing form that makes me sad is slayed for slew. The characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer made the -ed form current. My view is that slay is an old-fashioned word that deserves old-fashioned past forms. If I ever slay a vampire, I will say that I have slain it, and I want the reporters to say that I slew it. And speaking of old-fashioned, dont commit the error of leaving off the -ed when it is called for. Dont write old-fashion girl for old-fashioned girl, or I was suppose to go home early for I was supposed to go home early. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Possessive ApostropheTrooper or Trouper?

Senorimotor Skills and Cognitive development

Senorimotor Skills and Cognitive development There are many changes that take place as an infant embarks on life. The infant starts to grow and put on weight at a remarkable pace. Integrated in this developmental stage, from birth to age 2, includes the sensorimotor skills and intelligence. Throughout this stage the infant will use senses and motor skills to begin understanding the new world around it. The newborn will be bombarded with new and constantly changing images and sounds. "Newborns strive to organize perceptions and to put them all together: sensations, sequences, objects, people, events, permanent and transient features, causes and effects."(Berger, 2005).Stage 1 begins from birth and continues to one month old. This is when it demonstrates its reflexes, such as sucking, grasping, staring, and listening. The sucking reflex can be demonstrated by outside stimulus coming into contact with the baby's lips and then observing the sucking motion. This reflex is used to latch onto the mother's breast for feeding or a baby bottle for feeding.Bergers of CalaisThe baby is also experiencing looking and listening at diverse objects in its surroundings.Stage 2 continues from one month to four months of the infant's existence. At this phase the baby begins to merge acquired adaptations from previous experiences. "This change from reflexes to deliberate action occurs because repeated use of reflexive responses provides information about what the body does and how that action feels."(Berger, 2005). For example, a baby will begin to suck on distinct things in different ways. It will not suck on a pacifier the same way it does a bottle, because it can differentiate between the two at this stage in its advancement.Stage 3 starts at four months and carries on till eight months of life. Throughout this phase the baby will become attentive of certain items in the vicinity of...

Biological basis of schizophrenia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Biological basis of schizophrenia - Essay Example This paper will discuss the biological basis of schizophrenia and what has led to that belief. Schizophrenia is a complex debilitating psychotic disorder that involves a disconnection between thought and language. It affects, thoughts, feeling, perceptions, and overall behavior. The usual onset is age 17 to 25. 90% of those that are being treated are 15-55. Onset before 10 and after 60 is rare (Porth & Matfin, 2008). Recent research and data present a complex image of a brain dysfunction with alterations in anatomic structures as well as protein synthesis and functional disturbances. Some of the manifestations include incomprehensible speech, delusions, hallucinations, and sometimes catatonic behavior. It is thought that sounds and color are more vivid and louder to these patients (Porth, et.al., 2008). There is paranoia as they believe people are watching them or out to get them. Though the studies following show some research into the neurophysiology of schizophrenic symptoms, it is still virtually unknown what the pathogenesis is. It is known from the imaging techniques being used that there are abnormalities in the construction of the brain but how do those abnormalities relate to the psychological issues. This is still unknown. It will be important to discern at what age this disease begins to manifest itself. One of the studies noted leads the researcher to believe that it may be a manifestation of development in uterus and not occur post partum. Young children are not often scanned so it is not known for sure (Porth, 2008). It is known, however, that adolescents who have a strong family history and who have been scanned do have the larger ventricles shown in a parental scan. Treatment at this time has not changed much though future study may change that. Presently the goal of treatment is still to attempt to induce remission, and improve behavior and c ognitive function. Outcomes from the illness are improved and some

Terry fox a canadian individual whose contribution made a difference Research Paper

Terry fox a canadian individual whose contribution made a difference in the lives of canadians or non-canadians - Research Paper Example He continued his run for 143 days during which he covered 5.373 kilometres in the country. The run ended up his life but gave him worldwide lasting legacy. The essay aims to discuss the contribution of Terry Fox who was an ordinary young man that turned to the national hero in Canada due to his remarkable contributions and efforts to insist Canadians to make some donation for cancer research. His efforts resulted in annual fund raising run in Canada as well as other countries of the world and the funds collected from the run are used for providing cancer patients with better treatment and cure through detailed research work. His contributions not only benefited the Canadians but the people outside the Canada also avail the benefits of the cancer research conducted with the help of funds and public awareness raised by his run (Murphy, 2005). Fox was a basketball player and distant runner. He played for the Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, high school and Simon Fraser University teams. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer in 1977 due to which his right leg was removed from his body at about six inches about his knee. He however continued to run with the artificial leg and also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver and also won three national basketball championship events. The time he spent in the hospital was the worst time of his life that he always hated (Chivers, 2009). His experience made him realize that there is very little money spent in Canada for the cancer research that must be raised to bring improvement in the condition of people and help fighting the cancer patient with their disease. He decided to raise money and awareness all over the country to fight against cancer. He decided to insist the Canadians to donate one dollar for the cancer research. He persuades people that when 24 million Canadians will donate just one dollar it will help collecting around 24 million rupee

Economic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Economic - Essay Example Subsequently, the bulk off the sloppiness emanate from the irregular investment decisions of that JP Morgan undertook. According to Greenberg and Eavis, managers were admitting the bank has a lower quality of risk management that was not sophisticated enough to cushion it from the $2bn loss. Dimon was adamant that the execution of the hedging strategy was inappropriate and poor. This revelation of the loss was causing ripples in the Stock markets of the US and did affect the share price of JP Morgan. The loss dented the share value of the investment bank by 9.3% on Friday and for a bank that was previously recording significant earnings, this was shocking to its stakeholders2. The bank has enlarged its credit quantities over several years of trading in profitable investment projects, which were subject to exhaustive monitoring from management. However, recently JP Morgan did not incorporate these stringent measures into the diverse hedging strategies of the bank thus resulting in the disastrous loss in their earnings. In 2007, there was discontent of various stakeholders of the company in the manner The Chief investment Officer (CIO) Bruno Iskil was utilizing the corporations resources in undertaking unnecessary risks. In addition to the financial woes, the CEO of JP Morgan was suggesting the company could further experience losses of $ 1 billion due to the inevitable economic turbulences. This supposition will increasingly injure the share prices of the bank, which will dwindle further downwards3. This can discourage potential clients from trading in the stocks of JP Morgan since they will be of a lower value. This factor will diminish their confidence and the clients will not be enthusiastic to deposit their savings in JP Morgan. Furthermore, Fitch, a credit rating agency, did downgrade the bank and was affirmative that this decline could extend unless JP Morgan acts upon the

Judging Words Not Fidgets Essay Example for Free

Judging Words Not Fidgets Essay â€Å"Judging Honesty by Words, Not Fidgets† is a short essay written by Benedict Carey. It explores how in police interrogations, interviewers can use words to decide if people are lying more than looking at their physical movements. Traditionally, police have used lie detector tests and underhanded techniques to force suspects and witnesses to give confessions. This author cites research and experiments to show that analyzing how a witness communicates can be indicative of his/her honesty. This essay explains how different, less aggressive interrogating techniques, can be more helpful than forceful types of questioning. It points out that sometimes suspects can learn to â€Å"cheat† on a polygraph and that liars may not have different body language than those that are being truthful. This essay has many strengths. One is the author’s use of entertaining phrases and questions at the beginning, which helps to engage the reader. Anybody that has watched Law and Order or CSI has seen the type of interrogation where the police lie to the suspects to get them to confess. The opening makes a connection with the reader in an entertaining way and that is a strength of this essay. There are also many examples of research that have been used to tell if people are lying; this indicates that the writer is informed and makes him credible. The reader has confidence in the author’s information. This essay is short and easy to read, which is a huge positive. When essays are long, they tend to take the reader out of the mindset needed to maintain interest. The author points out how police are altering their techniques to make use of this research, so the application aspect of this research is interesting. While there are many strengths to this essay, there are a few weaknesses as well. The biggest weakness is in the amount of time spent reading names of psychologists and researchers that have studied body language, interview techniques, and lying. While it is understood that it is a requirement that researchers’ names be cited, it takes away from the entertainment value and becomes more like reading a research paper and can be boring in those sections. Another minor weakness is the mention of the TV show Columbo at the end of the essay. While the character in that show may have used some of the techniques from the research, many contemporary readers may not be familiar with him. â€Å"Judging Honesty by Words, Not Fidgets† is a short, easy read. It is also very interesting since most readers have seen police interviews on TV and in the movies and are familiar with some of the techniques fictitious officers use. Also, with all of the reality shows on TV today, many readers may have seen real interviews taking place. With readers having some knowledge of the topic, it is very interesting. While there are a few minor weaknesses of this essay, overall, it is entertaining and engages the audience. Works Cited Carey, Benedict. Judging Honesty by Words, Not Fidgets. 2009. The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues across the Disciplines. Ed. Gilbert H. Mueller. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 9-12. Print.

Perspectives On Women In Brownings Poetry Essay -- English Literature

Perspectives On Women In Browning's Poetry One of the recurring themes in the poetry of Robert Browning, is that of woman, and it is this that I have chosen to focus on. In The first of the poems I have chosen to look at, Porphyria's Lover, Browning initially portrays the female character as the one with the power, although this in inevitably removed from her. In the opening lines of the poem: 'The rain set early in tonight, The sullen wind was soon awake' we gain a sense of forboding as the landscape of the poem seems to reflect the state of mind of the narrator, this is further explored in the next two lines where the speaker describes the weather as spiteful. All the narrator can do at this point in the poem is listen to the weather outside and he is completely helpless. 'I listened with heart fit to break.' However when Porphyria enters the poem, she alters the circumstances by replacing cold with warmth and seems completely unaffected by the weather even though it is she who has been out in it. 'And kneeled and made the cheerless grate Blaze up and all the cottage warm' Porphyria's actions at this point in the poem seem effortless in direct contrast to the impotence of her lover. Porphyria continues to take charge at this point in the poem by removing the evidence of the wet, cold weather outside, and even when her lover is unresponsive she manipulates the situation, moving his arm around her and placing his head upon her shoulder. We see at this point that her lover is the weaker of the two, but this is soon altered as in the lines: 'Too weak for all her heart's endeavour, To set its struggling passion free From pride' We finally see Porphyria described as weak, ... ... be even more attractive to the poet: 'What is far conquers what is near.' These women are the most perfect in the poets eye as they are whatever his imagination is capable of creating, they are the perfect idealistic objectification. These women spring from the poet's imagination in the moment of the poem being written just as they will spring from the earth to which he has returned. 'I will make an Eve, be the artist that began her, Shaped her to his mind' In Porphyria's Lover and Women And Roses, Browning treats us to two very different poems where a woman or women are the main subject matter. However, in both poems we see that the ideal figure of woman is one who has passed or is yet to be born as then she is able to exist in the most perfect state possible, not that of a real person with flaws and free will, but in that of a pure fantasy.

An Investigation of Literary Greatness: Still a Battle of the Sexes :: Argumentative Persuasive Literature Essays

An Investigation of Literary Greatness: Still a Battle of the Sexes "'I am an experienced writer and have some sense whether an idea can work or not...I wasn't sure it would work and I really thought about it for nine months before I put pen to paper. But I didn't feel intimidated by Melville's accomplishment. I felt inspired by it.'" Naslund quoted by Jamie Allen (CNN Interactive Senior Writer)(1999) For most people the mention of "great literature" stirs up the classic images of such authors as Shakespeare, Twain, Hemmingway, Salinger, Fitzgerald, and Melville among many others. Without belittling those very talented authors I would like to question their superiority over lesser acclaimed or widely known authors. What makes great literature and who gets to decide what qualifies? Perhaps a book such as Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund could be a "greater" book than its famous precursor, Herman Melville's Moby Dick. But who can one say that one book is greater than another? In the end the question of greatness comes down to who is measuring it. Well first off, what does it mean to be great at anything? Perhaps it means to have succeeded gracefully at whatever goal there was in mind. Perhaps it is to be liked by others, or to be meaningful. Perhaps it is represented by being carried on through time. Or perhaps greatness is whatever people make it to be and can never be fully defined. Most likely any or all of those things contribute to greatness. Given a flexible definition of greatness, what is great literature? Is it literature that has meaning (doesn't it all), invokes thought, is it defined by being likable, or achieving the authors goal, is it marked by the span of time and influence that the story has, or is a broad equation encompassing any or all, perhaps even none, of those characteristics? Many would say that Melville's Moby Dick is great literature. Moby Dick is a classic novel that surely has had, and continues to have, a huge influence on the collective evolution of writing and literary thought. Melville's story of madness and obsession combined with his realistic old English style of writing has been mimicked and transformed to give rise to hundreds, possibly thousands, of new stories and an infinite number of thoughts have been born. There is no question that Moby Dick has been a very influential book. Does that mean it's great?

Angels Demons Chapter 39-41

39 The Apostolic Palace is a conglomeration of buildings located near the Sistine Chapel in the northeast corner of Vatican City. With a commanding view of St. Peter's Square, the palace houses both the Papal Apartments and the Office of the Pope. Vittoria and Langdon followed in silence as Commander Olivetti led them down a long rococo corridor, the muscles in his neck pulsing with rage. After climbing three sets of stairs, they entered a wide, dimly lit hallway. Langdon could not believe the artwork on the walls – mint-condition busts, tapestries, friezes – works worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Two-thirds of the way down the hall they passed an alabaster fountain. Olivetti turned left into an alcove and strode to one of the largest doors Langdon had ever seen. â€Å"Ufficio di Papa,† the commander declared, giving Vittoria an acrimonious scowl. Vittoria didn't flinch. She reached over Olivetti and knocked loudly on the door. Office of the Pope, Langdon thought, having difficulty fathoming that he was standing outside one of the most sacred rooms in all of world religion. â€Å"Avanti!† someone called from within. When the door opened, Langdon had to shield his eyes. The sunlight was blinding. Slowly, the image before him came into focus. The Office of the Pope seemed more of a ballroom than an office. Red marble floors sprawled out in all directions to walls adorned with vivid frescoes. A colossal chandelier hung overhead, beyond which a bank of arched windows offered a stunning panorama of the sun-drenched St. Peter's Square. My God, Langdon thought. This is a room with a view. At the far end of the hall, at a carved desk, a man sat writing furiously. â€Å"Avanti,† he called out again, setting down his pen and waving them over. Olivetti led the way, his gait military. â€Å"Signore,† he said apologetically. â€Å"No ho potuto – â€Å" The man cut him off. He stood and studied his two visitors. The camerlegno was nothing like the images of frail, beatific old men Langdon usually imagined roaming the Vatican. He wore no rosary beads or pendants. No heavy robes. He was dressed instead in a simple black cassock that seemed to amplify the solidity of his substantial frame. He looked to be in his late-thirties, indeed a child by Vatican standards. He had a surprisingly handsome face, a swirl of coarse brown hair, and almost radiant green eyes that shone as if they were somehow fueled by the mysteries of the universe. As the man drew nearer, though, Langdon saw in his eyes a profound exhaustion – like a soul who had been through the toughest fifteen days of his life. â€Å"I am Carlo Ventresca,† he said, his English perfect. â€Å"The late Pope's camerlegno.† His voice was unpretentious and kind, with only the slightest hint of Italian inflection. â€Å"Vittoria Vetra,† she said, stepping forward and offering her hand. â€Å"Thank you for seeing us.† Olivetti twitched as the camerlegno shook Vittoria's hand. â€Å"This is Robert Langdon,† Vittoria said. â€Å"A religious historian from Harvard University.† â€Å"Padre,† Langdon said, in his best Italian accent. He bowed his head as he extended his hand. â€Å"No, no,† the camerlegno insisted, lifting Langdon back up. â€Å"His Holiness's office does not make me holy. I am merely a priest – a chamberlain serving in a time of need.† Langdon stood upright. â€Å"Please,† the camerlegno said, â€Å"everyone sit.† He arranged some chairs around his desk. Langdon and Vittoria sat. Olivetti apparently preferred to stand. The camerlegno seated himself at the desk, folded his hands, sighed, and eyed his visitors. â€Å"Signore,† Olivetti said. â€Å"The woman's attire is my fault. I – â€Å" â€Å"Her attire is not what concerns me,† the camerlegno replied, sounding too exhausted to be bothered. â€Å"When the Vatican operator calls me a half hour before I begin conclave to tell me a woman is calling from your private office to warn me of some sort of major security threat of which I have not been informed, that concerns me.† Olivetti stood rigid, his back arched like a soldier under intense inspection. Langdon felt hypnotized by the camerlegno's presence. Young and wearied as he was, the priest had the air of some mythical hero – radiating charisma and authority. â€Å"Signore,† Olivetti said, his tone apologetic but still unyielding. â€Å"You should not concern yourself with matters of security. You have other responsibilities.† â€Å"I am well aware of my other responsibilities. I am also aware that as direttore intermediario, I have a responsibility for the safety and well-being of everyone at this conclave. What is going on here?† â€Å"I have the situation under control.† â€Å"Apparently not.† â€Å"Father,† Langdon interrupted, taking out the crumpled fax and handing it to the camerlegno, â€Å"please.† Commander Olivetti stepped forward, trying to intervene. â€Å"Father, please do not trouble your thoughts with – â€Å" The camerlegno took the fax, ignoring Olivetti for a long moment. He looked at the image of the murdered Leonardo Vetra and drew a startled breath. â€Å"What is this?† â€Å"That is my father,† Vittoria said, her voice wavering. â€Å"He was a priest and a man of science. He was murdered last night.† The camerlegno's face softened instantly. He looked up at her. â€Å"My dear child. I'm so sorry.† He crossed himself and looked again at the fax, his eyes seeming to pool with waves of abhorrence. â€Å"Who would†¦ and this burn on his†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The camerlegno paused, squinting closer at the image. â€Å"It says Illuminati,† Langdon said. â€Å"No doubt you are familiar with the name.† An odd look came across the camerlegno's face. â€Å"I have heard the name, yes, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"The Illuminati murdered Leonardo Vetra so they could steal a new technology he was – â€Å" â€Å"Signore,† Olivetti interjected. â€Å"This is absurd. The Illuminati? This is clearly some sort of elaborate hoax.† The camerlegno seemed to ponder Olivetti's words. Then he turned and contemplated Langdon so fully that Langdon felt the air leave his lungs. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, I have spent my life in the Catholic Church. I am familiar with the Illuminati lore†¦ and the legend of the brandings. And yet I must warn you, I am a man of the present tense. Christianity has enough real enemies without resurrecting ghosts.† â€Å"The symbol is authentic,† Langdon said, a little too defensively he thought. He reached over and rotated the fax for the camerlegno. The camerlegno fell silent when he saw the symmetry. â€Å"Even modern computers,† Langdon added, â€Å"have been unable to forge a symmetrical ambigram of this word.† The camerlegno folded his hands and said nothing for a long time. â€Å"The Illuminati are dead,† he finally said. â€Å"Long ago. That is historical fact.† Langdon nodded. â€Å"Yesterday, I would have agreed with you.† â€Å"Yesterday?† â€Å"Before today's chain of events. I believe the Illuminati have resurfaced to make good on an ancient pact.† â€Å"Forgive me. My history is rusty. What ancient pact is this?† Langdon took a deep breath. â€Å"The destruction of Vatican City.† â€Å"Destroy Vatican City?† The camerlegno looked less frightened than confused. â€Å"But that would be impossible.† Vittoria shook her head. â€Å"I'm afraid we have some more bad news.† 40 â€Å"Is this true?† the camerlegno demanded, looking amazed as he turned from Vittoria to Olivetti. â€Å"Signore,† Olivetti assured, â€Å"I'll admit there is some sort of device here. It is visible on one of our security monitors, but as for Ms. Vetra's claims as to the power of this substance, I cannot possibly – â€Å" â€Å"Wait a minute,† the camerlegno said. â€Å"You can see this thing?† â€Å"Yes, signore. On wireless camera #86.† â€Å"Then why haven't you recovered it?† The camerlegno's voice echoed anger now. â€Å"Very difficult, signore.† Olivetti stood straight as he explained the situation. The camerlegno listened, and Vittoria sensed his growing concern. â€Å"Are you certain it is inside Vatican City?† the camerlegno asked. â€Å"Maybe someone took the camera out and is transmitting from somewhere else.† â€Å"Impossible,† Olivetti said. â€Å"Our external walls are shielded electronically to protect our internal communications. This signal can only be coming from the inside or we would not be receiving it.† â€Å"And I assume,† he said, â€Å"that you are now looking for this missing camera with all available resources?† Olivetti shook his head. â€Å"No, signore. Locating that camera could take hundreds of man hours. We have a number of other security concerns at the moment, and with all due respect to Ms. Vetra, this droplet she talks about is very small. It could not possibly be as explosive as she claims.† Vittoria's patience evaporated. â€Å"That droplet is enough to level Vatican City! Did you even listen to a word I told you?† â€Å"Ma'am,† Olivetti said, his voice like steel, â€Å"my experience with explosives is extensive.† â€Å"Your experience is obsolete,† she fired back, equally tough. â€Å"Despite my attire, which I realize you find troublesome, I am a senior level physicist at the world's most advanced subatomic research facility. I personally designed the antimatter trap that is keeping that sample from annihilating right now. And I am warning you that unless you find that canister in the next six hours, your guards will have nothing to protect for the next century but a big hole in the ground.† Olivetti wheeled to the camerlegno, his insect eyes flashing rage. â€Å"Signore, I cannot in good conscience allow this to go any further. Your time is being wasted by pranksters. The Illuminati? A droplet that will destroy us all?† â€Å"Basta,† the camerlegno declared. He spoke the word quietly and yet it seemed to echo across the chamber. Then there was silence. He continued in a whisper. â€Å"Dangerous or not, Illuminati or no Illuminati, whatever this thing is, it most certainly should not be inside Vatican City†¦ no less on the eve of the conclave. I want it found and removed. Organize a search immediately.† Olivetti persisted. â€Å"Signore, even if we used all the guards to search the complex, it could take days to find this camera. Also, after speaking to Ms. Vetra, I had one of my guards consult our most advanced ballistics guide for any mention of this substance called antimatter. I found no mention of it anywhere. Nothing.† Pompous ass, Vittoria thought. A ballistics guide? Did you try an encyclopedia? Under A! Olivetti was still talking. â€Å"Signore, if you are suggesting we make a naked-eye search of the entirety of Vatican City then I must object.† â€Å"Commander.† The camerlegno's voice simmered with rage. â€Å"May I remind you that when you address me, you are addressing this office. I realize you do not take my position seriously – nonetheless, by law, I am in charge. If I am not mistaken, the cardinals are now safely within the Sistine Chapel, and your security concerns are at a minimum until the conclave breaks. I do not understand why you are hesitant to look for this device. If I did not know better it would appear that you are causing this conclave intentional danger.† Olivetti looked scornful. â€Å"How dare you! I have served your Pope for twelve years! And the Pope before that for fourteen years! Since 1438 the Swiss Guard have – â€Å" The walkie-talkie on Olivetti's belt squawked loudly, cutting him off. â€Å"Comandante?† Olivetti snatched it up and pressed the transmitter. â€Å"Sto ocupato! Cosa voi!† â€Å"Scusi,† the Swiss Guard on the radio said. â€Å"Communications here. I thought you would want to be informed that we have received a bomb threat.† Olivetti could not have looked less interested. â€Å"So handle it! Run the usual trace, and write it up.† â€Å"We did, sir, but the caller†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The guard paused. â€Å"I would not trouble you, commander, except that he mentioned the substance you just asked me to research. Antimatter.† Everyone in the room exchanged stunned looks. â€Å"He mentioned what?† Olivetti stammered. â€Å"Antimatter, sir. While we were trying to run a trace, I did some additional research on his claim. The information on antimatter is†¦ well, frankly, it's quite troubling.† â€Å"I thought you said the ballistics guide showed no mention of it.† â€Å"I found it on-line.† Alleluia, Vittoria thought. â€Å"The substance appears to be quite explosive,† the guard said. â€Å"It's hard to imagine this information is accurate but it says here that pound for pound antimatter carries about a hundred times more payload than a nuclear warhead.† Olivetti slumped. It was like watching a mountain crumble. Vittoria's feeling of triumph was erased by the look of horror on the camerlegno's face. â€Å"Did you trace the call?† Olivetti stammered. â€Å"No luck. Cellular with heavy encryption. The SAT lines are interfused, so triangulation is out. The IF signature suggests he's somewhere in Rome, but there's really no way to trace him.† â€Å"Did he make demands?† Olivetti said, his voice quiet. â€Å"No, sir. Just warned us that there is antimatter hidden inside the complex. He seemed surprised I didn't know. Asked me if I'd seen it yet. You'd asked me about antimatter, so I decided to advise you.† â€Å"You did the right thing,† Olivetti said. â€Å"I'll be down in a minute. Alert me immediately if he calls back.† There was a moment of silence on the walkie-talkie. â€Å"The caller is still on the line, sir.† Olivetti looked like he'd just been electrocuted. â€Å"The line is open?† â€Å"Yes, sir. We've been trying to trace him for ten minutes, getting nothing but splayed ferreting. He must know we can't touch him because he refuses to hang up until he speaks to the camerlegno.† â€Å"Patch him through,† the camerlegno commanded. â€Å"Now!† Olivetti wheeled. â€Å"Father, no. A trained Swiss Guard negotiator is much better suited to handle this.† â€Å"Now!† Olivetti gave the order. A moment later, the phone on Camerlegno Ventresca's desk began to ring. The camerlegno rammed his finger down on the speaker-phone button. â€Å"Who in the name of God do you think you are?† 41 The voice emanating from the camerlegno's speaker phone was metallic and cold, laced with arrogance. Everyone in the room listened. Langdon tried to place the accent. Middle Eastern, perhaps? â€Å"I am a messenger of an ancient brotherhood,† the voice announced in an alien cadence. â€Å"A brotherhood you have wronged for centuries. I am a messenger of the Illuminati.† Langdon felt his muscles tighten, the last shreds of doubt withering away. For an instant he felt the familiar collision of thrill, privilege, and dead fear that he had experienced when he first saw the ambigram this morning. â€Å"What do you want?† the camerlegno demanded. â€Å"I represent men of science. Men who like yourselves are searching for the answers. Answers to man's destiny, his purpose, his creator.† â€Å"Whoever you are,† the camerlegno said, â€Å"I – â€Å" â€Å"Silenzio. You will do better to listen. For two millennia your church has dominated the quest for truth. You have crushed your opposition with lies and prophesies of doom. You have manipulated the truth to serve your needs, murdering those whose discoveries did not serve your politics. Are you surprised you are the target of enlightened men from around the globe?† â€Å"Enlightened men do not resort to blackmail to further their causes.† â€Å"Blackmail?† The caller laughed. â€Å"This is not blackmail. We have no demands. The abolition of the Vatican is nonnegotiable. We have waited four hundred years for this day. At midnight, your city will be destroyed. There is nothing you can do.† Olivetti stormed toward the speaker phone. â€Å"Access to this city is impossible! You could not possibly have planted explosives in here!† â€Å"You speak with the ignorant devotion of a Swiss Guard. Perhaps even an officer? Surely you are aware that for centuries the Illuminati have infiltrated elitist organizations across the globe. Do you really believe the Vatican is immune?† Jesus, Langdon thought, they've got someone on the inside. It was no secret that infiltration was the Illuminati trademark of power. They had infiltrated the Masons, major banking networks, government bodies. In fact, Churchill had once told reporters that if English spies had infiltrated the Nazis to the degree the Illuminati had infiltrated English Parliament, the war would have been over in one month. â€Å"A transparent bluff,† Olivetti snapped. â€Å"Your influence cannot possibly extend so far.† â€Å"Why? Because your Swiss Guards are vigilant? Because they watch every corner of your private world? How about the Swiss Guards themselves? Are they not men? Do you truly believe they stake their lives on a fable about a man who walks on water? Ask yourself how else the canister could have entered your city. Or how four of your most precious assets could have disappeared this afternoon.† â€Å"Our assets?† Olivetti scowled. â€Å"What do you mean?† â€Å"One, two, three, four. You haven't missed them by now?† â€Å"What the hell are you talk – † Olivetti stopped short, his eyes rocketing wide as though he'd just been punched in the gut. â€Å"Light dawns,† the caller said. â€Å"Shall I read their names?† â€Å"What's going on?† the camerlegno said, looking bewildered. The caller laughed. â€Å"Your officer has not yet informed you? How sinful. No surprise. Such pride. I imagine the disgrace of telling you the truth†¦ that four cardinals he had sworn to protect seem to have disappeared†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Olivetti erupted. â€Å"Where did you get this information!† â€Å"Camerlegno,† the caller gloated, â€Å"ask your commander if all your cardinals are present in the Sistine Chapel.† The camerlegno turned to Olivetti, his green eyes demanding an explanation. â€Å"Signore,† Olivetti whispered in the camerlegno's ear, â€Å"it is true that four of our cardinals have not yet reported to the Sistine Chapel, but there is no need for alarm. Every one of them checked into the residence hall this morning, so we know they are safely inside Vatican City. You yourself had tea with them only hours ago. They are simply late for the fellowship preceding conclave. We are searching, but I'm sure they just lost track of time and are still out enjoying the grounds.† â€Å"Enjoying the grounds?† The calm departed from the camerlegno's voice. â€Å"They were due in the chapel over an hour ago!† Langdon shot Vittoria a look of amazement. Missing cardinals? So that's what they were looking for downstairs? â€Å"Our inventory,† the caller said, â€Å"you will find quite convincing. There is Cardinal Lamasse from Paris, Cardinal Guidera from Barcelona, Cardinal Ebner from Frankfurt†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Olivetti seemed to shrink smaller and smaller after each name was read. The caller paused, as though taking special pleasure in the final name. â€Å"And from Italy†¦ Cardinal Baggia.† The camerlegno loosened like a tall ship that had just run sheets first into a dead calm. His frock billowed, and he collapsed in his chair. â€Å"I preferiti,† he whispered. â€Å"The four favorites†¦ including Baggia†¦ the most likely successor as Supreme Pontiff†¦ how is it possible?† Langdon had read enough about modern papal elections to understand the look of desperation on the camerlegno's face. Although technically any cardinal under eighty years old could become Pope, only a very few had the respect necessary to command a two-thirds majority in the ferociously partisan balloting procedure. They were known as the preferiti. And they were all gone. Sweat dripped from the camerlegno's brow. â€Å"What do you intend with these men?† â€Å"What do you think I intend? I am a descendant of the Hassassin.† Langdon felt a shiver. He knew the name well. The church had made some deadly enemies through the years – the Hassassin, the Knights Templar, armies that had been either hunted by the Vatican or betrayed by them. â€Å"Let the cardinals go,† the camerlegno said. â€Å"Isn't threatening to destroy the City of God enough?† â€Å"Forget your four cardinals. They are lost to you. Be assured their deaths will be remembered though†¦ by millions. Every martyr's dream. I will make them media luminaries. One by one. By midnight the Illuminati will have everyone's attention. Why change the world if the world is not watching? Public killings have an intoxicating horror about them, don't they? You proved that long ago†¦ the inquisition, the torture of the Knights Templar, the Crusades.† He paused. â€Å"And of course, la purga.† The camerlegno was silent. â€Å"Do you not recall la purga?† the caller asked. â€Å"Of course not, you are a child. Priests are poor historians, anyway. Perhaps because their history shames them?† â€Å"La purga,† Langdon heard himself say. â€Å"Sixteen sixty-eight. The church branded four Illuminati scientists with the symbol of the cross. To purge their sins.† â€Å"Who is speaking?† the voice demanded, sounding more intrigued than concerned. â€Å"Who else is there?† Langdon felt shaky. â€Å"My name is not important,† he said, trying to keep his voice from wavering. Speaking to a living Illuminatus was disorienting for him†¦ like speaking to George Washington. â€Å"I am an academic who has studied the history of your brotherhood.† â€Å"Superb,† the voice replied. â€Å"I am pleased there are still those alive who remember the crimes against us.† â€Å"Most of us think you are dead.† â€Å"A misconception the brotherhood has worked hard to promote. What else do you know of la purga?† Langdon hesitated. What else do I know? That this whole situation is insanity, that's what I know! â€Å"After the brandings, the scientists were murdered, and their bodies were dropped in public locations around Rome as a warning to other scientists not to join the Illuminati.† â€Å"Yes. So we shall do the same. Quid pro quo. Consider it symbolic retribution for our slain brothers. Your four cardinals will die, one every hour starting at eight. By midnight the whole world will be enthralled.† Langdon moved toward the phone. â€Å"You actually intend to brand and kill these four men?† â€Å"History repeats itself, does it not? Of course, we will be more elegant and bold than the church was. They killed privately, dropping bodies when no one was looking. It seems so cowardly.† â€Å"What are you saying?† Langdon asked. â€Å"That you are going to brand and kill these men in public?† â€Å"Very good. Although it depends what you consider public. I realize not many people go to church anymore.† Langdon did a double take. â€Å"You're going to kill them in churches?† â€Å"A gesture of kindness. Enabling God to command their souls to heaven more expeditiously. It seems only right. Of course the press will enjoy it too, I imagine.† â€Å"You're bluffing,† Olivetti said, the cool back in his voice. â€Å"You cannot kill a man in a church and expect to get away with it.† â€Å"Bluffing? We move among your Swiss Guard like ghosts, remove four of your cardinals from within your walls, plant a deadly explosive at the heart of your most sacred shrine, and you think this is a bluff? As the killings occur and the victims are found, the media will swarm. By midnight the world will know the Illuminati cause.† â€Å"And if we stake guards in every church?† Olivetti said. The caller laughed. â€Å"I fear the prolific nature of your religion will make that a trying task. Have you not counted lately? There are over four hundred Catholic churches in Rome. Cathedrals, chapels, tabernacles, abbeys, monasteries, convents, parochial schools†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Olivetti's face remained hard. â€Å"In ninety minutes it begins,† the caller said with a note of finality. â€Å"One an hour. A mathematical progression of death. Now I must go.† â€Å"Wait!† Langdon demanded. â€Å"Tell me about the brands you intend to use on these men.† The killer sounded amused. â€Å"I suspect you know what the brands will be already. Or perhaps you are a skeptic? You will see them soon enough. Proof the ancient legends are true.† Langdon felt light-headed. He knew exactly what the man was claiming. Langdon pictured the brand on Leonardo Vetra's chest. Illuminati folklore spoke of five brands in all. Four brands are left, Langdon thought, and four missing cardinals. â€Å"I am sworn,† the camerlegno said, â€Å"to bring a new Pope tonight. Sworn by God.† â€Å"Camerlegno,† the caller said, â€Å"the world does not need a new Pope. After midnight he will have nothing to rule over but a pile of rubble. The Catholic Church is finished. Your run on earth is done.† Silence hung. The camerlegno looked sincerely sad. â€Å"You are misguided. A church is more than mortar and stone. You cannot simply erase two thousand years of faith†¦ any faith. You cannot crush faith simply by removing its earthly manifestations. The Catholic Church will continue with or without Vatican City.† â€Å"A noble lie. But a lie all the same. We both know the truth. Tell me, why is Vatican City a walled citadel?† â€Å"Men of God live in a dangerous world,† the camerlegno said. â€Å"How young are you? The Vatican is a fortress because the Catholic Church holds half of its equity inside its walls – rare paintings, sculpture, devalued jewels, priceless books†¦ then there is the gold bullion and the real estate deeds inside the Vatican Bank vaults. Inside estimates put the raw value of Vatican City at 48.5 billion dollars. Quite a nest egg you're sitting on. Tomorrow it will be ash. Liquidated assets as it were. You will be bankrupt. Not even men of cloth can work for nothing.† The accuracy of the statement seemed to be reflected in Olivetti's and the camerlegno's shell-shocked looks. Langdon wasn't sure what was more amazing, that the Catholic Church had that kind of money, or that the Illuminati somehow knew about it. The camerlegno sighed heavily. â€Å"Faith, not money, is the backbone of this church.† â€Å"More lies,† the caller said. â€Å"Last year you spent 183 million dollars trying to support your struggling dioceses worldwide. Church attendance is at an all-time low – down forty-six percent in the last decade. Donations are half what they were only seven years ago. Fewer and fewer men are entering the seminary. Although you will not admit it, your church is dying. Consider this a chance to go out with a bang.† Olivetti stepped forward. He seemed less combative now, as if he now sensed the reality facing him. He looked like a man searching for an out. Any out. â€Å"And what if some of that bullion went to fund your cause?† â€Å"Do not insult us both.† â€Å"We have money.† â€Å"As do we. More than you can fathom.† Langdon flashed on the alleged Illuminati fortunes, the ancient wealth of the Bavarian stone masons, the Rothschilds, the Bilderbergers, the legendary Illuminati Diamond. â€Å"I preferiti,† the camerlegno said, changing the subject. His voice was pleading. â€Å"Spare them. They are old. They – â€Å" â€Å"They are virgin sacrifices.† The caller laughed. â€Å"Tell me, do you think they are really virgins? Will the little lambs squeal when they die? Sacrifici vergini nell' altare di scienza.† The camerlegno was silent for a long time. â€Å"They are men of faith,† he finally said. â€Å"They do not fear death.† The caller sneered. â€Å"Leonardo Vetra was a man of faith, and yet I saw fear in his eyes last night. A fear I removed.† Vittoria, who had been silent, was suddenly airborne, her body taut with hatred. â€Å"Asino! He was my father!† A cackle echoed from the speaker. â€Å"Your father? What is this? Vetra has a daughter? You should know your father whimpered like a child at the end. Pitiful really. A pathetic man.† Vittoria reeled as if knocked backward by the words. Langdon reached for her, but she regained her balance and fixed her dark eyes on the phone. â€Å"I swear on my life, before this night is over, I will find you.† Her voice sharpened like a laser. â€Å"And when I do†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The caller laughed coarsely. â€Å"A woman of spirit. I am aroused. Perhaps before this night is over, I will find you. And when I do†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The words hung like a blade. Then he was gone.