Kant's and Mill's Philosophical Theories on Morality Essay

Kant's and Mill's Philosophical Theories on Morality - Essay Example Then, I will elucidate Mill’s response to Kantian theory, and the grounds of his philosophy. Finally, I will argue through example that we ought to favor Mill’s philosophy as it will maximize the benefit to society. Kant’s Theory on Morality In his moral philosophy, Kant argues that for law to have any moral force, it must contain absolute necessity. He opines that morality cannot exist without metaphysics also known as a set of necessary truths. When one fulfils one’s obligation to these necessary truths, the act performed will have morally right regardless of the repercussions it will have. The will to fulfill this obligation forms the basis of our decisions to engage or not to engage in certain acts and it can only become moral if one’s actions are because of rather than merely in accordance with the duty. This will determines what is good or bad because when the will is bad all the other aspects of an individual can be used to further immoral pu rposes. Kant’s argument is that moral requirements are founded on a certain standard of rationality which he named, Categorical Imperative. Immorality is therefore the violation of the Categorical Imperative and which is therefore irrational. These standards of rationality upon which moral requirements are based are either desire-based instrumental rationality principles or based on natural rational intuitions. But he also argued that conformity to this Categorical Imperative, a non-instrumental principle, hence conformity to moral requirements themselves is capable of being shown to be integral to rational agency. He based this argument on his remarkable doctrine that generally a rational will should be seen to be autonomous, or free such that it is the author of the law which seeks to bind it, (Kant, 1999). The basic principle of morality, the Categorical Imperative, is the law of a free or autonomous will. Kant’s moral philosophy is centered on a principle of reason , that an individual’s moral behavior is more than just being a slave to his passions. The presence of this natural and self-governing reason in everyone means that each individual is capable of making the right moral choices and becoming a respectable member of the society. Mills Moral Theory Mills philosophy of the greatest happiness principle tends to divert from Kant’s philosophy. According to Mill, the correctness of person’s actions is measured by its effect on other people. The ultimate end of a person’s actions should be aimed at bringing about the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people. This standard of the greatest happiness has been desired because it is assumed that most people desires for their own happiness for as long as they believe they can achieve that. Therefore, the greatest happiness is a sum of the greatest happiness of every individual. For Mill, happiness is achieved when there is no pain and there is pleasure both in quality and quantity. Since this pleasure is everyone’s goal, then it forms the basis of our morality. Mill explains how one is to distinguish what will result into more or less happiness by saying that if a person has experienced two pleasures, he will choose the one with a higher value. Higher pleasures are mostly related to intellect while lower pleasures are mostly physical. He also explained why some people will choose a lower pleasure over a higher one even when they have had experience with both. He said that even though this

Is the Body Beautiful a guarantee for Happiness Essay

Is the Body Beautiful a guarantee for Happiness - Essay Example This ‘ideal’ image is usually defined as someone of a mid-20ish age, slender, with specific measurements and a certain good-looking charm. This limited view of the ideal automatically eliminates anyone who might have been born with a larger bone structure or other ‘defect’ that defies the reshaping of the scalpel from the ranks of the socially acceptable. Through the reality shows, though, those lucky few who are able to fit the ideal in any way, to attain the ‘body beautiful’, much is made of their subsequent happiness and success as a result of their ‘improved’ appearance. ASPS president Rod Rohrich pointed to the various individuals taking part in plastic surgery reality television indicating that many of them have unrealistic and unhealthy expectations for the results.1 It is perceived through these types of presentations that the only way to find happiness and fulfillment is through the construction of the ‘body beautiful ’, causing an extreme focus on the outward appearance many times to the detriment of the inner being. However, the question that must be asked in this scenario is: Does the body beautiful actually guarantee an individual the happiness they seek? From our earliest history, it has been through our outward appearances that we project who and what we are to other people. Studies have continuously shown that people dress a certain way and acquire certain things to try to evince an attitude of belonging to a particular subset of individuals who embody their ideals.2 With these outward appearances in hand, we can walk up to the ‘in crowd’ and proclaim ourselves a member. â€Å"Indeed Smith (1990) believes that women view their bodies as ‘objects of work’ requiring attention and upkeep in order to operate well and promote the desired effect.†3 Yet being a part of this crowd does not necessarily guarantee happiness as is evidenced by the lives of those people who help to set the standards, the movie stars

Job Design And Key Factors In Job Analysis Management Essay

Job Design And Key Factors In Job Analysis Management Essay There are some techniques which are used for job design like job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation, and job simplification. Productivity level of an organization can be raised by offering non-monetary rewards like to enlarge the job of an employee by appraise him in the meeting and prepare him to face new challenges, this can be done through job design. Job design is basically the arrangement of work in order to reduce or overcome job dissatisfaction and employee isolation occurring in the result of repetition of the task. Job Analysis The process of analysis that involves diversified techniques in order to examine the important duties, task and responsibilities is called as Job Analysis. As the job analysis is a very difficult task to identify the required skills and competencies but the process helps to determine the demand of the job with other requirements to meet the local area and Universitys need. It also helps to make possible the appropriate recruitment and selection process, sets standards for performance appraisals and allows appropriate classification/reclassification of positions. Key Factors in Job Analysis Task identity: If the employees have the clear vision about the beginning and ending of the task then it will give more satisfaction to them by the completion of whole piece of work. It is also very obvious that employees want to know the result of the work whatever they have done or produced. Variety: Employees always want to do variety of work as they get easily fade up by the repetition of work. They may lose their interest and get dissatisfied with their task, so variety of task can improve their interest level, challenge and commitment to the task. Variety means more than simply adding an extra but similar task. For example, processing different forms would not make the work more meaningful as there would be no extra challenge. But employees can get frustrated with the plenty of variety so it must depend on the level of the position. Responsibility: Employees must know that their success and failure depends upon their performance. This is very important to make them feel about their responsibilities towards their task. The employee should understand the significance of the work and where it fits into the purpose of the organisation. Autonomy: Autonomy means giving more scope to employees to regulate and control their own work. They should know they also have some responsibilities of decision making within the framework of their job. Working environment: There must not be any type of discrimination and harassment in the job. It is also very necessary that job should provide a safe and healthy working environment and consider the types of work aids and equipment required to perform the role. Recognition and support: The moral of employees goes high when they got acceptance and recognition from their fellow workers and supervisors because it gives satisfaction to their self-respect. So encouragement to team work and individual relationships give them positive feelings about their task and the environment and the worker would never feel isolated within the environment. Outcomes performance measures: Employees must know about their identified targets and their outcomes according to their position and also they have the knowledge about how to relate all the operations of the organization. Performance measures can be identified through the standard of performance. An equitable capacity for ongoing learning and advancement can be provided by the feed back. Different Roles in an Organization Managers are building blocks of the organization. A manager performs five basic functions Planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. At different levels of management, a manger performs different managerial functions at a time and has the key function to achieve the effective utilization of resources. Manager is the person who delivers the vision of an organization to the employees of that organization. It is also included in the responsibilities of a manger that he takes part in the decision making process of an organization. Mostly managers have to perform functions at three different levels of management and they have different role according to their positions that are given below: Top Level Management: This is the administrative level management. Managers do executive coaching, change management, leadership, delegations and empowerment. Middle Level Management: It is the executor management in which managers have the responsibility of problem solving, team building, talent development and performance management. Low Level Management: It is also known as supervisor management and the managers are also known as first-line managers and their functions are emotional intelligence and coaching for performance. Strategic Objectives of Indus Motor Company Ltd The strategic objectives of IMC are as given under: Achieving market leadership by delivering value to customers Bringing Toyota quality to Pakistan Optimizing cost by Kaizen (need of continues improvement) Respecting our people Becoming a good corporate citizen Job Design and Job Analysis supports Strategic Objectives of IMC Employees of IMC have the clear vision about Customer First philosophy in their manufacturing and providing high quality vehicles in order to fulfill the needs of their customers. They also have had their customer insight and feedback that leads to the continuous corporate renewal by means of product development, service improvement and care for customers. IMC is also trying to improve its quality, reliability and durability through the utilization of newly entered technologies in the market in order to meet the Toyota Global Standards. Every employee is responsible for the implementation of Toyota Production System and does the operations in lowest cost quartile of the industry. Employees are considered as the most key element as sustainable competitive recourse and they are provided by the continuous learning environment in order to enhance their individual creativity and team work. Company provide them diversified task and equal employment opportunities and also build competitive value through mutual trust and mutual responsibility between the Indus Team and the Company. Every employee of IMC is restricted to follow the ethical business practices and the laws of the land, and also engaging in generous and social activities that contribute to the enrichment of Pakistani society, especially in areas that are strategic to both societal and business needs e.g. Road Safety, Technical Education, Environment Protection, etc. Importance of Competency Modeling in the Current Environment Enhanced manufacture expertise by tracking latest inclusive technological trends and publicize it to engineering industry after doing the Gap Analysis of Industries and carrying out investigation to discover weaknesses of native industry and their technological needs and adopt best practices, environmental and quality standards. Sector wise revelation to relevant trade fairs is being studied. There is a need to give International Exposure to local engineering industry through participation in local and international exhibitions. Approaches to Human Resources Management to aid the Development of Business Strategy The Human Resources Management (HRM) function involves different activities, and key among them is resolve what employment needs you have and whether to use autonomous service provider or hire employees to fulfill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices be conventional to a variety of system. Activities also include administration move towards employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Generally small businesses have to carry out these activities. Though, they should always ensure that employees have and are aware of personnel policies that match to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have. Assess the Effectiveness of Human Resource Strategy The Indus Motor Company puts together a vigorous attempt to promote a sagacity of belonging and a family feeling amongst its employees. It refers to all of them as team members irrespective of their work. IMC constantly motivates its employees through various techniques such as the reward system in Kaizen, leisure activities such as fun fair, meals and conventions. IMC tries to improve a team spirit and has done away with obstacle such as eminence dissimilarity. A practicable exhibit is the fact all the people in offices are made to sit in the same hall irrespective of their description. IMC strictly implements the Japanese practice of Participative Management. Every worker is allowed to make decisions related to his work and to make suggestions so as to improve it. Planning Process The strategic planning process involves the following steps, which are given below: Clearly define the target / goal in writing. It should be set by a person having authority. The goal should be realistic. It should be specific. Acceptability Easily measurable Identify all the main issues which need to be addressed. Review past performance. Decide budgetary requirement. Focus on matters of strategic importance. What are requirements and how will they be met? What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure? Identify shortcomings in the concept and gaps. Strategies for implementation. Review periodically. Manpower Planning Framework Manpower planning is the first step towards manpower management. It refers to the procedure of employ existing assets for the completion of the business plans. It also involves the procedure of synchronizing and scheming a variety of actions in the organization. An effective manpower planning requires a cautious evaluation of the future requirements of the organization. It engages the growth of approaches to match the obligation of workers and accessibility of positions at a regional as well as a national level. Those in charge of manpower planning need to have forethought about the business plans. They need to plan the activities for achieving business growth. They are required to estimate the business needs of the organization and plan for the resources needed to realize the business goals. We can refer to manpower planning as the process of reconsidering existing resources, envisaging prospect requirements and ensuring that the demand and supply of people and skills is balanced. M anpower planning is useful for both the employees as well as the organization. Principles Related to the Demand and Supply of Labour Affiliation between the amount of a product that manufacturers have accessible for auction and the amount that customers are eager and capable to purchase. Demand depends on the price of the article of trade, the value of allied merchandise, and customers profits and flavors. Supply depends not only on the price available for the commodity but also on the prices of comparable products, the practices of assembling, and the accessibility and costs of contribution. The gathering of the market is to balance demand and supply through the price device. If buyers want to acquire more of a commodity than is obtainable on the market, they will tend to bid the price up. If more of a commodity is available than buyers care to purchase, suppliers will offer prices down. Thus, there is a propensity toward a stability price at which the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied. The measure of the receptiveness of supply and demand to changes in price is their flexibility. Role of Legal and Organizational Requirements in Creating a HR Plan HRP is an energetic and continuing procedure. The process of modernizing is not very easy, since HRP is prejudiced by numerous aspects, which are as follows: Type of organization establishes the manufacture practice and amount and type of human reserve needs of an organization depend on the staff needed. Strategic plan adopted by it. For e.g. the enlargement of a business calls for engaging organization of additional labour, while mergers will need a plan for layoffs. Operates under different political, social environment and has to carefully express the HR policies and so the HR manager has to evolve suitable mechanism to deal with reservations through career developments, succession planning, HRP also depends on the time periods and consequently retirement schemes etc. The short and long-term plans are adopted. And this time span is based on the category and feature of information extent of environmental qualms used in making forecasting is an important factor manipulating HRP. Precise and appropriate human resource information system helps in receiving improved quality HRP is required to make sure that appropriate candidates should be personnel. Prearranged for the right kind of job. It is very difficult to determine future manpower requirements of an organization, as future is always indeterminate. It is a time countries that face the problem of insufficiency of human resources. It is advantageous in the organizations that overwhelming and costlier procedure. Accept a specialized method and at the same time are deliberate about the HRP is valuable where sufficient skillful manpower is altering environment. HRP is also made difficult in the organizations that have a very obtainable high labor precedes. Employee Personal and Managerial Effectiveness through a Process of Personal Reflection A positive, supportive, encouraging, and rewarding culture must be created, which motivates staff, facilitates the acquisition of knowledge and encourages innovation and creativity. Organizational arrangements and service procedures should be urbanized that assist, rather than hold back or dissuade, individual and team achievements. Cut through red tape, reduce bureaucracy and assist decision-making as close to the exploit as possible. Intimates must also be considered and cope as assets. This means preventing the dual criterion of valuable the staff that they are the enterprises supreme assets while telling the intermediate and speculation community that people are the greatest cost (which infers the greatest liability) to the organization. While the accounting statistics may show that staff-related costs do in fact represent the major item of expenses, predominantly in labor-intensive industries, the semantics and communication processes require considerable care. Organization Culture in Recruitment Process Using culture for recruitment requires identifying aspects of companys culture that make it different from other companies. In essence to identify the unique beliefs, behaviors and practices of company. A culture audit should provide the primary cultural attributes that set company apart. These themes will probably not be completely positive. However, culture tends to evolve based on a past or current need, and it is usually possible to find ways to word each attribute in a way that highlights its advantages. Methods and Tools of Recruitment A manager can recruit in two different ways: Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from within its existing workforce. External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any suitable applicant outside the business. The stipulation of selection tools in recruitment has happen to an industry all on its own. From psychometrics, verbal and numerical reasoning, assessment centers and competency based interviews. With so many surrogates it can be difficult for recruitment agencies to fathom what to use where. Here are some deliberations when preferring which tools to use and where. Creation of the Learning Organization through self-managed Learning, the Promotion of  Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Management Managers need to give up power in order for erudition potentials to be improved. This will direct to superior business consequences by abolishing wasteful routines, and bring about the expansion of new business practices that lead to better results. And rational sculpts need to be observed. The restrictions that obstruct organizational learning inventiveness have a great deal to do with the mental models entrenched in the culture of an organization. For important change to lead to sustainability, hierarchical control must be put aside. The appearance and expansion of unperturbed system must be supported so that people can share their implied information and help one another. Communities of practice can be geared so that people continually learn to help each other. The dispersal of pioneering practices needs informal networks through which new ideas can extend in and transversely organizations. Such informal networks are almost always superior to hierarchical channels for spreading new innovations because these informal networks already exist; research with new ideas needs help and time to think in a safe circumstance; and because there is a strong element of trustworthiness with people whom we know. Without active internal societies of practice, an organization cannot anticipate thoughtful and continued change. Approaches to Employee Relations with a Focus on the Benefits of Partnership Involvement and Engagement The idea of some kind of employee influence in organizational decision-making is one that seems to attract much support amongst all the parties who are involved in the employment relationship; that is, employers, employees, trade unions and the state. Initially then the thread will consider this debate about how best to conceptualize the contemporary employment landscape. Conflict can be considered at a number of levels, one of which is the potential conflict of interests between trade unions and employers. However, the tourism and hospitality industry is often suggested as being one where trade unions have little or no influence. The veracity or otherwise of this view will be discussed, including why tourism and hospitality employees may or may not join trade unions. Having considered one mechanism for articulating an employee voice, that of trade unions, the thread moves on to consider a range of other mechanisms which seek to involve employees in the decision making process in organizations through the processes of employee involvement and participation. Purposes and Benefits of Performance and Reward Management Performance appraisal may be defined as a prearranged official communication between a assistant and administrator, that typically takes the form of a episodic interview in which the job presentation of the subordinate is looked at and talked about, with a sight to recognized weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for development and ability growth. In many associations but not all assessment consequences are used, either directly or indirectly, to help decided reward conclusion. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses, and promotions. By the same token, appraisal results are used to recognize the shoddier performers who may require some form of therapy, or in tremendous cases, relegation, discharge or decreases in pay. Whether this is a suitable use of performance appraisal the task and validation of plunder and punishment is a very uncertain and contentious matter. Management and Reward Processes to Improve Organizational Performance. Performance Management (PM) is much additional than appraisal. In the broadest sense, its about translating goals to results. Performance Management concentrates not only on individual employees, but also on teams, programs, processes and the organization as a whole. Performance Management programs should have a long-term perception, accentuating worker maturity and procedure development. As such, optimal Performance Management programs are incorporated with an agencys leadership development, progression development, and guidance agenda. Legal Issues Involved in Grievance, Discipline and Dismissal Processes and Procedures A grievance is distinct in the policy as a criticism by a worker about an exploit, which his manager has engaged or is considering captivating in relation to him. The grievance process related to productive removal from office circumstances. Employers should ensure their disciplinary and grievance procedures are fully up to date and incorporate the minimum statutory procedures. Also, employers should be aware of and implement current best practice when dealing with grievance and disciplinary issues. The DTIs guidance on the new regulations and particularly, the updated Aces Code of Practice provide vital advice and practical guidance. Organizations Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures The HR department and managers at all levels need to be familiar with the regulations. All procedures and management guidelines affected such as guidance on record-keeping, the wording and structure of procedures, timescales, adjustments to standard letters, new arrangements for certain types of grievance where they do not already exist, and training need to take the guidance in the code into account. Training is important for both employers and trade unions. The code stresses the need for unions to ensure their officials are both experienced in performing this role, and are provided with periodic refresher training, and the same applies to managers. The code also emphasises the need for managers to know and be able to apply the rules and procedures, and suggests that organisations may benefit from joint management/trade union training. The code also emphasises the need for managers to know and be able to apply the rules and procedures, and suggests that organisations may benefit from joint management/trade union training. Deal with Problems Situations in a Timely and Effective Manner Many organizations have struggled with the concepts of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and taking effective corrective action, but doing a good job of RCA will lead to effective and lasting corrective actions. The need for corrective action can arise from many different sources including internal audits, external audits, customer complaints, employee complaints, injury reports and the requirements of regulatory bodies. The aforementioned audits may include quality management system (QMS), environmental management system (EMS), occupational health and safety (OHS), or any number of other requirements-based systems. The point is that all of these inputs to the corrective action process should be dealt with in a timely and effective manner. Where ISO/TS 16949 is concerned, the IATF expects that internal nonconformances, customer complaints and nonconformances issued by CBs are areas of critical importance, and need to have an effective root cause analysis done, followed by effective corrective actions taken to resolve the nonconformances. Stages of the Discipline Issues that  Result in  Dismissal The statutory disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures amounted to a minimum standard that all employers and employees were obliged to follow until 6 April 2009.   The main features of the procedures were: Three step statutory disciplinary, dismissal and grievance procedures   Failure to follow the statutory procedures by the employer prior to dismissal rendered that dismissal automatically unfair. Employers could have faced a potential increase in compensation of between 10-50% if the procedures were not followed. An employee may have been prevented from presenting some types of claim in the employment tribunal if they had not followed the grievance procedure first. These procedures applied in a wide range of circumstances which were not limited to issues relating to the capability or conduct of the employee but, for example, to dismissals which occured on the expiry of a fixed-term contract and in smaller scale redundancies. How to Identify and Involve External Agencies that could be involved in Grievance, Discipline and Dismissal Processes Disciplinary and grievance procedures provide a clear and transparent framework to deal with difficulties which may arise as part of their working relationship from either the employers or employees perspective. They are necessary to ensure that everybody is treated in the same way in similar circumstances, to ensure issues are dealt with fairly and reasonably, that employers are compliant with current legislation and follow the Acas Code of Practice for handling disciplinary and grievance issues. Disciplinary procedures are needed: So employees know what is expected of them in terms of standards of performance or conduct (and the likely consequences of continued failure to meet these standards). To identify obstacles to individuals achieving the required standards (for example training needs, lack of clarity of job requirements, additional support needed) and take appropriate action. As an opportunity to agree suitable goals and timescales for improvement in an individuals performance or conduct. To try to resolve matters without recourse to an employment tribunal. As a point of reference for an employment tribunal should someone make a complaint about the way they have been dismissed. Grievance procedures are needed: To provide individuals with a course of action should they have a complaint (which they are unable to resolve through regular communication with their line manager). To provide points of contact and timescales to resolve issues of concern. To try to resolve matters without recourse to an employment tribunal. Determine and Pursue all aspects of Best Practice The request messages contain data that will be used by the service to perform the business logic of the operation. These messages can also contain data that are more pertinent to system-level processing associated with the transaction, rather than business logic performed by the transaction. Examples of these data include: Identification of the service requestor application Service implementation version Dispatch and receipt timestamps Similarly, the response message issued by the service operation can contain system-level data, such as: Identification of the responding application (service provider) Receipt and dispatch timestamps Computed response time These system-level data have to be processed either by the service provider application, in addition to the business-level data, or by the enterprise service bus (ESB) infrastructure. In the context of building SOA solutions,

John Lennon :: essays research papers fc

John Lennon   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  October 9, 1940, John Lennon is born into a dysfunctional family in Liverpool, England. After John’s father left him, his mother left him to stay with his Aunt Mimi. At a young age John started writing short stories. The young John Lennon was always a leader. John had his own little gang as a child in England. Nigel Whalley, a friend of John’s, said,† John was always a leader. He was the one to dare you. He never cared what he said or did.†(Corbin13). John and his friends were troublemakers; however, the only people to ever get in trouble were John’s friends and not John. Even though John Lennon died at a young age, he inspired people through his music with the Beatles, his solo career, and through his death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John’s music career began with the look. John wore tight jeans, a leather jacket, and his hair was slicked back (the â€Å"greaser† look). John idolized Elvis and Buddy Holly and the Crickets. After John begged his aunt to buy him a guitar, the first song he learned how to play was Buddy Holly’s â€Å"That’ll be the Day.† John then decided to organize his own band. He gathered up people from his â€Å"gang† in grammar school: best friend Pete Shotten, washboard; Nigel Whalley, tea-chest; Ivan Vaughan, tea-chest; Eric Griffith, guitar; Colin Hanton, drums; and Rod Davis, banjo. As the leader of the band, and the only person with any musical talent, John played lead guitar. The band, Quarrymen, was named after the school they attended. The band had a positive affect on john; he wasn’t getting in any trouble. If John were to get into trouble the band wouldn’t be able to play at school events, dances, parties, or weddings. They played popular rock ‘n’ roll songs like â€Å"Blue Suede Shoes.† John did not like to memorize the words to songs, so he often made up his own lyrics as he was going along.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A double affect of inspiration happened when Ian Vaughan introduced John to Paul McCatrney. John was impressed by Paul and he even admitted that Paul was as good at the guitar as he was. However, John wanted to be a leader and if Paul joined his band he would have to share his leadership. Then John, a few weeks later, came to his senses and asked John to join the band. Pete left the band after John smashed the washboard over his head; however, they still remained friends. Paul started writing songs and this made John jealous. This was probably a good thing, because then John started writing songs.Then they started collaborating songs and they credited them to â€Å"Lennon/McCarthy.

Deception Point Page 79

Silent black helicopters. The conspiracy theorists were going nuts over these. Some claimed the invasion of silent black helicopters was proof of â€Å"New World Order storm troopers† under the authority of the United Nations. Others claimed the choppers were silent alien probes. Still others who saw the Kiowas in tight formation at night were deceived into thinking they were looking at fixed running lights on a much larger craft-a single flying saucer that was apparently capable of vertical flight. Wrong again. But the military loved the diversion. During a recent covert mission, Delta-One had flown a Kiowa armed with the most secretive new U.S. military technology-an ingenious holographic weapon nicknamed S M. Despite conjuring associations with sadomasochism, S M stood for â€Å"smoke and mirrors†-holographic images â€Å"projected† into the sky over enemy territory. The Kiowa had used S M technology to project holograms of U.S. aircraft over an enemy anti-aircraft installation. The panicked anti-aircraft gunners fired maniacally at the circling ghosts. When all of their ammunition was gone, the United States sent in the real thing. As Delta-One and his men lifted off the runway, Delta-One could still hear the words of his controller. You have another mark. It seemed an egregious under-statement considering their new target's identity. Delta-One reminded himself, however, that it was not his place to question. His team had been given an order, and they would carry it out in the exact method instructed-as shocking as that method was. I hope to hell the controller is certain this is the right move. As the Kiowa lifted off the runway, Delta-One headed southwest. He had seen the FDR Memorial twice, but tonight would be his first time from the air. 93 â€Å"This meteorite was originally discovered by a Canadian geologist?† Gabrielle Ashe stared in astonishment at the young programmer, Chris Harper. â€Å"And this Canadian is now dead?† Harper gave a grim nod. â€Å"How long have you known this?† she demanded. â€Å"A couple of weeks. After the administrator and Marjorie Tench forced me to perjure myself in the press conference, they knew I couldn't go back on my word. They told me the truth about how the meteorite was really discovered.† PODS is not responsible for finding the meteorite! Gabrielle had no idea where all of this information would lead, but clearly it was scandalous. Bad news for Tench. Great news for the senator. â€Å"As I mentioned,† Harper said, looking somber now, â€Å"the true way the meteorite was discovered was through an intercepted radio transmission. Are you familiar with a program called INSPIRE? The Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiment.† Gabrielle had heard of it only vaguely. â€Å"Essentially,† Harper said, â€Å"it's a series of very low frequency radio receivers near the North Pole that listen to the sounds of the earth-plasma wave emissions from the northern lights, broadband pulses from lightning storms, that sort of thing.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"A few weeks ago, one of INSPIRE's radio receivers picked up a stray transmission from Ellesmere Island. A Canadian geologist was calling for help at an exceptionally low frequency.† Harper paused. â€Å"In fact, the frequency was so low that nobody other than NASA's VLF receivers could possibly have heard it. We assumed the Canadian was long-waving.† â€Å"I'm sorry?† â€Å"Broadcasting at the lowest possible frequency to get maximum distance on his transmission. He was in the middle of nowhere, remember; a standard frequency transmission probably would not have made it far enough to be heard.† â€Å"What did his message say?† â€Å"The transmission was short. The Canadian said he had been out doing ice soundings on the Milne Ice Shelf, had detected an ultradense anomaly buried in the ice, suspected it was a giant meteorite, and while taking measurements had become trapped in a storm. He gave his coordinates, asked for rescue from the storm, and signed off. The NASA listening post sent a plane from Thule to rescue him. They searched for hours and finally discovered him, miles off course, dead at the bottom of a crevasse with his sled and dogs. Apparently he tried to outrun the storm, got blinded, went off course, and fell into a crevasse.† Gabrielle considered the information, intrigued. â€Å"So suddenly NASA knew about a meteorite that nobody else knew about?† â€Å"Exactly. And ironically, if my software had been working properly, the PODS satellite would have spotted that same meteorite-a week before the Canadian did.† The coincidence gave Gabrielle pause. â€Å"A meteorite buried for three hundred years was almost discovered twice in the same week?† â€Å"I know. A little bizarre, but science can be like that. Feast or famine. The point is that the administrator felt like the meteorite should have been our discovery anyway-if I had done my job correctly. He told me that because the Canadian was dead, nobody would be the wiser if I simply redirected PODS to the coordinates the Canadian had transmitted in his SOS. Then I could pretend to discover the meteorite from scratch, and we could salvage some respect from an embarrassing failure.† â€Å"And that's what you did.† â€Å"As I said, I had no choice. I had let down the mission.† He paused. â€Å"Tonight, though, when I heard the President's press conference and found out the meteorite I'd pretended to discover contained fossils†¦ â€Å" â€Å"You were stunned.† â€Å"Bloody well floored, I'd say!† â€Å"Do you think the administrator knew the meteorite contained fossils before he asked you to pretend PODS found it?† â€Å"I can't imagine how. That meteorite was buried and untouched until the first NASA team got there. My best guess is that NASA had no idea what they'd really found until they got a team up there to drill cores and x-ray. They asked me to lie about PODS, thinking they'd have a moderate victory with a big meteorite. Then when they got there, they realized just how big a find it really was.† Gabrielle's breath was shallow with excitement. â€Å"Dr. Harper, will you testify that NASA and the White House forced you to lie about the PODS software?† â€Å"I don't know.† Harper looked frightened. â€Å"I can't imagine what kind of damage that would do to the agency†¦ to this discovery.† â€Å"Dr. Harper, you and I both know this meteorite remains a wonderful discovery, regardless of how it came about. The point here is that you lied to the American people. They have a right to know that PODS is not everything NASA says it is.† â€Å"I don't know. I despise the administrator, but my coworkers†¦ they are good people.† â€Å"And they deserve to know they are being deceived.† â€Å"And this evidence against me of embezzlement?† â€Å"You can erase that from your mind,† Gabrielle said, having almost forgotten her con. â€Å"I will tell the senator you know nothing of the embezzlement. It is simply a frame job-insurance set up by the administrator to keep you quiet about PODS.† â€Å"Can the senator protect me?† â€Å"Fully. You've done nothing wrong. You were simply following orders. Besides, with the information you've just given me about this Canadian geologist, I can't imagine the senator will even need to raise the issue of embezzlement at all. We can focus entirely on NASA's misinformation regarding PODS and the meteorite. Once the senator breaks the information about the Canadian, the administrator won't be able to risk trying to discredit you with lies.† Harper still looked worried. He fell silent, somber as he pondered his options. Gabrielle gave him a moment. She'd realized earlier that there was another troubling coincidence to this story. She wasn't going to mention it, but she could see Dr. Harper needed a final push.

Leading Change in an Organization Essay

Abstract The reality of change is that it is likely to occur in personal life and business. In order for an organization to confront the realities of change, effective leadership is essential. Leadership is critical to the success of any change initiative. There are many forms of leadership that each come with a variety of personality traits, this paper will discuss leadership characteristics believed to be necessary to successfully manage change in organizations for the next decade and how to use Kotter’s change model to implement successful change management. Change in simply defined as â€Å"to make something different†, according to Mr. Neryl East, the author of â€Å"Change –What it is and what it isn’t† (East, 2007). Change management is the process that an organization uses to respond and adapt to change in order to improve its effectiveness and ensure continued success (Leban & Saban, 2008). Leadership is critical to the success of any change initiative in an organization. Quality leadership characteristics are equally important to the success of an organization. When good leadership is in place in an organization, it can be felt throughout the entire organization. When good leadership exists, positive corporate culture is not forced, it is developed (Mills, 2005). Leadership is defined as a process by which one person influences the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of others (Leban & Stone, 2008). Leaders set a direction for everyone else and they help the people around them see what lies ahead; they help their followers to visualize what might be achieved and they encourage and inspire. Without leadership it is likely that a group of individuals would quickly collapse into argument and conflict. Leadership helps to point people in the same direction and works towards joint efforts.  Leadership is the ability to get other people to do something significant that they might not otherwise do. It’s energizing people toward a goal (Mills, 2005). In order for a leader to affect change in others he/she should possess many positive characteristics such as the ability to be a good communicator, be proactive versus being reactive and be flexible and adaptable among many possible characteristics to name a few (Group, 2009). As a leader, it is equally important to deliver clear, concise and consistent messages as it is to listen. Leaders should demonstrate a willingness to work to understand the needs of others. Leaders who are able to be successful at listening are able to ask meaningful questions, consider all options and provide leadership in the right direction. Secondly, is the ability to always think ahead, being proactive instead of reactive. Leaders who possess this characteristic are able to master their work environment with the goal of avoiding potential problems before they occur. And lastly, an effective leader will adapt to new surroundings and situations, doing their best to adjust in unexpected or uncomfortable situations (Val & Kemp, 2012). Change strategies that are believed to generally be effective for leading fundamental change are first the need for close and constant communication, it is also important to communicate regularly on the important, significant issues and topics. Also, it is important that all members of the company think and act purposefully and then communicate the assignment and required parts to each member of the department, positioning the foundation for a good fit with the company’s mission and plan. The leadership style of a manager during the change process can be either cooperative and consultative or commanding and coercive (Leban & Stone, 2008). According to Neryl East, the author of â€Å"Implementing an Effective Change Management Strategy†, when staff members are working jointly with management in a cooperative style, it can be expected that there will be both long and short term success to the company since the team will address issues and concerns and makes decisions in the general best interest of the organization. In the same way, when the decision is made by management to force the change, the staff may not be allowed to participate in the decision making process. (East, 2007). Following this further, the Kotter’s process of leading change model has good framework to allow the manager to work in a collaborative style with staff. Kotter’s model was established after studying more than one hundred organizations (Leban & Stone, 2008). Mr. Kotter was perplexed about the fact that the majority of change efforts were unsuccessful, and he sought out to identify the common error made in the change process. Kotters’s eight stage model offers a process to successfully manage change and avoid the common mistakes that occur during change in an organization (Leban &Stone, 2008). Furthermore, the Kotter’s model for change is effective because it provided two lessons, first that the change process goes through a series of phases, each could last a considerable period of time and second that critical mistakes in any phase can have a devastating impact on the momentum of the change process. Kotter’s process of change focuses on the strategic, not tactical level of the change management process (Leban & Stone, 2008). In retrospect, the use of the Kotter’s change model during the implementation of electronic health records at my current employer, Clayton Eye Center could have yielded a better transition and fostered a more positive work environment. In the Kotter’s change model, the first four stages deal with â€Å"unfreezing† the organization. These steps involve reducing those forces that are allowing the organization to continue its current behavior. The next three stages introduce new practices, â€Å"changing/moving†. This step shifts the behavior of the organization to a new level. The last stage is required to ground the changes in the corporate culture â€Å"refreezing† and make them stick. This step steadies the organization at a new state of balance (Leban & Stone, 2008). The first step in the Kotter’s model of change is to establish a great sense of urgency, identify crisis, potential crises and major opportunities (Leban & Stone, 2008). The passing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) in 2009 by President Obama was the driver of change for The Eye Center (CEC) (Secretary, 2013). The system had to be in place by deadlines set forth by the government, therefore the  urgency for change was created. The second step in the Kotter’s model of change is creating the guiding coalition, by putting together a group of people with enough power to lead the change (Leban & Stone, 2008). The Eye Center was successful in organizing a core team, composed of managers from each department to provide various perspectives to the change process. The appointed core team had previously worked together on various change issues and working as a cohesive unit was of no concern. The third step of the Kotter’s model of change is developing a transformational vision and strategy. Create a vision that will help direct the change and develop strategies for achieving that vision ( Leban & Stone, 2008). During this step, The Eye Center missed the opportunity to develop a positive need for the change. The vision for implementing a new EHR system was often stated as, â€Å"because we have too†. This was an opportunity for upper management to frame the view of the change before anyone formed a negative opinion about the change. The fourth step of Kotter’s model of change is communicating the change vision, using all possible avenues to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies (Leban & Stone, 2008). In this step, The Eye Center was reluctant to communicate the change because they held hope that ultimately the change would not be needed. Once it was clear that the bill signed into law by the President would be upheld, there was very little time to effectively communicate the change vision and receive positive buy in from the staff. The fifth step of Kotter’s model of change is empowering a broad base of people to take action, getting rid of blockers, changing systems or structures that did not line up with the change vision (Leban & Stone, 2008). Empowering the staff, whether real or perceived could have been a very important step to achieving staff support towards the change. However, in the case of The Eye Center, only the managers appointed for the core team were empowered as they were the only members of the staff who had knowledge  about the upcoming change. Keeping the majority of the staff members in the dark about the change and not providing a platform for them to feel a part of the change was instrumental in the outcome for the possibility of successful change. The sixth step of Kotter’s model of change is generating short term wins, visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible (Leban & Stone, 2008). Generating short-term wins is necessary to prevent the loss of momentum and keep the organization engaged. The Eye Center was not as successful as it could have been in this step. Approximately 2 months after implementation, upper management decided to reward the front desk staff for what had been considered reasonably successful implementation of the system thus far. However, the other 4 departments that were largely affected by EHR implementation and played a role in its success, although only 2 months in were not offered rewards for their efforts. This flaw in judgment created negative vibes between departments that needed to work together for continued success of the change implementation. The seventh step of Kotter’s model of change is consolidating gains and producing even more change by hiring, promoting and developing people who can implement the change vision (Leban & Stone, 2008). In this step, The Eye Center could make strides to correct past change errors by focusing on the continued development of staff with the new EHR system. The company should also consider utilizing previously purchased unused project management hours to aid them in this step to ensure that moving forward the change vision process is revitalized. And finally in this step, the company could build on polices and structures that have worked during the change process and remove all polices and structures that don’t fit the change vision. The eighth and final step of the Kotter’s model of change is institutionalizing new approaches in the culture by articulating the connections between new behaviors and company success while developing means to ensure leadership development and succession (Leban & Stone, 2008). This step again creates an opportunity for The Eye Center to build a foundation for successful change moving forward. The company could use this step to  make successful change a part of its culture by communicating to the staff how current behaviors do or do not line up with the change vision of the organization. The implementation of continued leadership development through ongoing training would also fulfill this step while preparing the company for successful change behavior in the future. A clear description of the characteristics of a healthy organization prepared to address the issues of change in the 21st century is upper management support and involvement, considering the needs of employees and an effective project manager. Change is almost impossible without the support and involvement of top leaders. Leadership must set the direction, pace and tone while providing a clear vision that brings everyone together (Leban & Stone, 2008). In order for any change initiative to be successful, the company must create a positive culture and motivate the staff, this allows them to visualize and buy in to the change project (Leban & Stone, 2008). Effective project management involves planning and coordinating all aspects of the change program, this allows the organization to place necessary focus on the values, attitudes and behavior of everyone involved to guarantee an effective outcome ( Leban & Stone, 2008). Without these characteristics, change programs risk failure. In final consideration, there are many change models available to organizations; the Kotter’s eight-stage model dictates that each stage be worked through in order to obtain successful change. Skipping even one step or moving too far ahead with a concrete foundation can create problems according to Mr. Kotter (Leban & Stone, 2008). In the case of The Eye Center, we see this to be the case; as complete follow through of each step could have yielded better results for the organization. The need for change is almost guaranteed for every organization if they want to remain relevant. Organizations that will succeed in the 21st century and beyond are those who are aware of what is changing in their perspective industries and are willing to take into account how those changes are most likely to affect its current success. References East, N. (2007). Change-What it is and what it isn’t. Retrieved from Implementing an Effective Change Management Strategy: http://www.ark-group.com/downloads/Change-Management-Chap.pdf Group, H. L. (2009). Holden Leadership Center. Retrieved from Leadership Characteristics: Leadership Styles. Pathways: The Ontario Journal Of Outdoor Education, 24(3), 28-31. Leban, B., Stone, R. (2008). Managing Organizational Change 2nd ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Mills, D. Q. (2005). Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live. Retrieved from The Importance of Leadership: http://www.cafanet.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=qwswE8roe74%3D&tabid=96 Secretary, O. (2013, June 13). FACT SHEET: White House Task Force on High-Tech Patent Issues. Retrieved from The White House: www.whitehouse.gov Val, C., Kemp, J. (2012). Leadership Styles. The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, v24 n3 p28-31 Spring 2012 4pp.