Aristotle Plato Essay Example for Free

Aristotle Plato Essay Aristotle was born on 384 BC in Stageira, Chalcidice 34 miles east of modern-day Thessaloniki. His father Nicomachus was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. Aristotle educated as a member of aristocracy and at the age of eighteen, he went to Athens to do his further studies in Plato’s Academy. He was there at the beginning as a student of Plato, and then became a researcher and finally a teacher. Aristotle married Hermiass niece Pythias who died ten years later. After her death he married Herpyllis, who came from his birthplace, Stageira. By 335 BC he had returned to Athens, establishing his own school in there known as the Lyceum. This Academy focused more on biology than its predecessor that relied on mathematics. Aristotle not only studied almost every subject possible at the time, but made significant contributions to most of them. In physical science, Aristotle studied anatomy, astronomy, embryology, geography, geology, meteorology, physics and zoology. In philosophy, he wrote on aesthetics, ethics, government, metaphysics, politics, economics, psychology, rhetoric and theology. He also studied education, foreign customs, literature and poetry. His combined works constitute a virtual encyclopedia of Greek knowledge. It has been suggested that Aristotle was probably the last person to know everything there was to be known in his own time. He greatly admired Plato all the way to his death, despite the fact that he later opposed some of his most important points. Aristotle died in 322 BC at the age of sixty-two in Chalkis on the island of Euboea. He also said many sayings regarded to different topics or fields like other Philosophers. Once a person asked that â€Å"what is friend? † Aristotle answered as follows. â€Å"A single soul dwelling in Two Bodies†. Like other Philosophers, Aristotle too talked about friendship and the above quote is such one. When we talk about the friendship, it is a kind of internal bonding among two or more beings. Most of the time, this bonding does not depend on one’s caste, gender, age, occupation, wealth or any other. That is why even very best friend’s needs show a little difference from each other because our bodies are external and physical. The most valuable thing for a human life is the friendship because it is very difficult to live alone. Even the present Psychologists accept that concept. If we go deep into this particular relationship, this can be a good one or a bad one as this depends on their intentions and thoughts. Actually the friendship is a backup for a one’s life, when our self is down with a problem or sadness, our friend is the first person who identifies our situation. He/She may not be able to find a solution for us, but surely he/she will be there to cry with us. That is how best friends act at all. They never let the other down. One’s sadness will be the other’s sadness. That is why Aristotle clearly said that one sole dwelling in two bodies. Friendship will gives the same feeling for all the friends even that is a comedy, tragedy or a joy because friends are one in their souls. Friendship is not only within two persons but within a group of them. Education is the guider to a one’s life. Aristotle said that, â€Å"The roots of the education is bitter, but the fruit is sweet†. Education is received according to a specific order. That is why we can categorize it into primary education, secondary and higher education. Primary education or the very basic education is the important stage for a person because from that only he starts to think logically and effectively. Then only he can have a clear mind about his/her future. If the primary education is not strong, final result will be not a satisfactory one. If the root system is not well developed the tree will not be a good one. But the thing is our basic education is not a sweet one because there are many difficulties and hardships to undergo. Aristotle tried to tell that when we start something we must not judge its conditions from that point, we must think beyond that which means about its future. Because the fruit is our future. Although a tree is fully grown, it never is able to obtain nutrients and water from its top part. From root system only it will get those necessary nutrients. Likewise every new updating knowledge will come through our basic knowledge, if not we won’t be able to understand those. We must remember that there must be difficulties and unpleasant points in our life to make our future a brighter and comfortable one like the great Philosopher, Aristotle.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Benefits to Employees

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Benefits to Employees Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Your business doesnt exist in isolated way making money. Your employees always depend on your business. So customers, suppliers, local community all are affected by your business. Corporate social responsibility (in short CSR) is about understanding your business impact on the world and considering how you can use this impact in a positive way or keep well control on it. CSR can also be good for your attitude, going beyond to minimum legal requirement for the following straightforward principle is apply whatever the size of your business. Corporate social responsibility can cut across almost everything you do and everyone you deal with. You should think about the: The suppliers those you choose and the way how we deal with them. For example, trading with suppliers those who pollute the environment it could be as irresponsible as doing it so yourself. How we treat our employees. To make the responsible business, this means doing more than simple complying with legal requirements. How your business affecting local community and whether and how we should be actively involved. How do we affect the environment and what we can do to use resources more efficiently to reduce pollution and waste. This doesnt mean that you cant run a profitable business. In fact, corporate social responsibility can help you improve your business performance. By looking ahead, youre ready to cope with new laws and restrictions. We avoid costs such as wasted energy, paying unnecessary waste fees. In fact most importantly, we can keep winning business by increasingly demanding customers. Corporate social responsibility isnt just about doing the right thing. It means behave responsibly and also dealing with suppliers that do the same. It also offers benefits to direct business. Companies so often favour suppliers those who demonstrate responsible policies, as this could have a positive impact on it that how they are perceived by customers. Some customers dont just prefer to deal with responsible companies, but insist on it. The Co-operative Groups, for instance, places a strong emphasis on its corporate social responsibility and publishes detailed warts and all report on its performance on the wide range of criteria   from animal welfare to salt levels in its pizzas. Reducing resource use, waste and emissions doesnt just help the environment it saves you money too. Its not difficult to cut utility bills and waste disposal costs and you can bring immediate cash benefits. There are some other benefits too; Good reputation makes it easier to recruit the employees. Employees could stay longer by reducing the costs and disruption of recruitment and re-training. Employees are more motivated for better productive. Corporate social responsibility helps ensure you comply with regulatory requirements. Activities and involvement with local community are ideal opportunities to generate positive press coverage. Good relationships with local authorities make it easier doing business. By Understanding the wider impact of business can helps develop new products and services. Corporate social responsibility can make you more competitive and reduces the risk of sudden damage to your reputation and sales. Investors may recognise this and will be more willing to finance you. Understanding the environmental impact on business Your business affects many different people (employees, customers, suppliers and local community). It also has a wider impact on environment as well. Even the simplest step like energy efficiency measures by switching off lights and equipment when they arent needed, makes a real difference. By reducing the usage of water could also directly cuts your costs. Reducing waste also can make a big difference. Simple step like reducing the amount of the papers you waste could cut costs. You can even save more by planning about waste implications before you design new products and production processes. Doing Care about the environment can attract more customers too. Mostly customers prefer to do purchasing from responsible companies. There are many sorts of ways by you can reduce the environmental impact of business. e.g. making recyclable products sourcing responsibly (For example, using recycled materials and sustainable timber) minimising the packaging for products buying locally to save energy/fuel costs creating an efficient and fuel-efficient distribution network working with responsible suppliers and distributors who take steps to minimise their environmental impact We could reduce the environmental impact of our business by using environmental techniques assessment like lifecycle assessment and setting up an environmental management system. See our guides on environmental assessment techniques an overview and environmental management systems (EMS) the basics. Dealing responsibly with suppliers and customers By working with our suppliers and customers in a responsible way our business can reap substantial rewards. Customers We can take some actions when dealing with customers are: Make sure brochures  are in plain and simple English, telling the truth without hiding anything in the small print. Be honest about your products and services. Tell the customers what they want to know, including all steps you take to be socially responsible. If anything goes wrong, you should acknowledge the problem responsibly and deal with it. In returns you achieve the loyalty of customers in reward. Listening to consumers intentionally can also help you improve the products and services you offer them. Suppliers Choose your suppliers carefully as it is an important part of your approach to corporate social responsibility. For example, you may try to use local suppliers as many as possible. This helps you support the community and also reduces the waste, energy and carbon emissions from deliveries. When choosing suppliers you should also examine their environmental practices, health and safety and their employment. Customers are concerned increasingly about the wider impact of supply chains. Your business reputation can be damaged by being associated with others those abuse the rights of their employees or their local environment. Big organisations often audit their suppliers to ensure that they practise the responsible work. You could do something similar simply asking them about their attitudes to corporate social responsibility might be revealing. You should treat your suppliers fair way as particularly smaller business rely on you. For example, getting pay on time could make a big difference to employees. Working with local community Working with local community brings you a wide range of benefits. Local customers are an important source of sales for many businesses. By improving reputation of your business, you will find it easier to recruit the employees. A good relationship with local authorities can help your business run smoother. For example, mostly local authorities prefer to award contracts to businesses with a record of involvement with communities. There are different ways to get involved with local communities. Some businesses choose to support local charities, or sponsor charity/community a local event. It makes a commercial sense to get involved in activity related to your product. This will let you use your expertise as well as showing the human face of your business. For example, some restaurants provide foods to local homeless groups, and while builders can give free labour and materials to community projects. Look for opportunities that will directly benefits you, for example, by publicity, or improvement in neighbourhood around your premises. Many businesses involve their employees to work in directly or indirectly with the local communities. For example, you might support the charities chosen by employees. Some businesses encourage their employees to volunteer for the community activities and also offer them paid time off for the involvement in community activity. As well as by improving your community relationships can help motivating their employees and can help developing their interpersonal and team participation skills. You could also give your employees the option of making regular donations which are deduced at from their pay. Business in the Community (BITC)  has  developed  the Community Mark standard to help businesses get the most of our community involvement. Communities Justice Project The governments community justice initiative helps businesses work with local agencies to make improvement in the quality of life in their local area. This can benefit the business in different ways. For example, if your business suffers because of damage in your property or the surrounding area, the community justice team will work with you to address this. Your business could take a prominent approach to dealing with local crimes by supporting recent offender or your local community justice team. You could: provide financial and practical resources to help the local community justice team get involved with local projects support staff who volunteer in the criminal justice system, for example, as mentors, special constables, youth offender panel members, or in victim and witness support Corporate social responsibility can help you cut costs and boost sales. However, there are some other significant benefits which businesses forget about as they are harder to measure. Identify and measuring indicators of success You can benchmark business against others. Some of the UKs largest companies publish corporate social responsibility reports online. You can use key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure your environmental performance.   The Community Mark  standard lets you measure community involvement. Its worth remembering that measurements will probably only show the immediate impact of CSR. The biggest benefit can be the long term improvement in your businesss reputation. Benefits of corporate social responsibility Make the most of your corporate social responsibility activities by publicising them. Ensure the customers, suppliers and the local community that they know what you are doing. Corporate social responsibility lends itself to bring good news stories. Publicity can be a key part of using corporate social responsibility to successfully qualify for contracts. People want to get involve with businesses they respect. Corporate social responsibility can be particularly effective for targeting ethical companies, the public sector and not-for-profit organisations. At the same time, you should see corporate social responsibility as part of a continuing process of building long-term value. Everything and all good steps you do should help improve your businesss reputation and encourage customers to  stay involved with you for long time. A business that buys recycled paper, but exploits its customers and ignores the community, has missed the point. You can consider working towards a management standards which you can then use to publicise your ethical, social responsibility or environmental. For example, many businesses have achieved the environmental management standard ISO 14001. Images from: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/vcs.html Effective corporate social responsibility like this helps you continue to differentiate yourself. Even with dozens of competitors, a real commitment to corporate social responsibility lets you stand out.  For  example, John Lewis department stores  are well known for a business that owned by its employees.  Its commitment to corporate social responsibility feeds through into customer service, sales and profits. As well as affecting the way you behave, corporate social responsibility can lead to new product and service that reflect your values and those of your stakeholders. Over time can add up to powerful brand and winning business. How a corporate social responsibility initiative benefitted business The Venus Company is an award winning shop and a cafe operator with several outlets based in Cornwall and Devonshire. Established in 1995 by Michael Smith, the firm has strong environmental and ethical principles, and sells food that has been produced using local suppliers. And Michael explains how developing corporate social responsibility policies have helped him to run the business successfully. What Michael did to help the environment and support the local community Our mission is to be the greenest beach shop and cafe operator in the UK, and our attitude to almost every business decision flows from this. For us, CSR covers a number of elements. We support local producers, having spent more than  £300,000 on local food and drink from the immediate area around our cafes, and use local businesses for other goods and services. Over 80 per cent of our food and drink comes from Devon and Cornwall. We also work hard to minimise our impact on the environment, from using solar panels to recycling, carrying out regular litter collection and buying non-toxic cleaning products. Weve also focused on things like packaging to make sure its as biodegradable as possible. One scheme were really proud of is the SAM Beach Wildlife Fund, which raises money to educate local schoolchildren about their environment, and we also go into schools to do talks. Any business can engage in the local education system, and its very rewarding. Build a customer base and attract staff Building a positive image of a company that gives back to the community has undoubtedly created a number of business benefits. Over the past couple of years, we have been able to open two of our beach cafes year-round, rather than just through the summer months, as we have built up a loyal, local customer base and trade isnt simply seasonal. Recruitment is another area in which the business has benefited. Many of our staff are young, and they are really keen to work with a company that has a responsible and ethical approach, so attracting people to come and work for us has become easier. Generate PR Developing our CSR policies has also boosted our profile. Weve won quite a few awards, which have been good for us in PR terms, and weve also been able to use the award logos on our website and van. These have become part of our visual identity that people hopefully recognise. Entering awards can be a time commitment, but they can also be a fantastic way to audit and benchmark your business against others. What Id do differently Raise awareness about environmental protection earlier Id have got involved with the education side of things earlier. I think weve achieved a lot when it comes to teaching local kids how they can look after the environment, but if wed started ten years ago, wed be much further down the line by now. Heres how my business benefited from corporate social responsibility (Flash video) Bailey Partnership, established in 1971, is a progressive multi-disciplinary property and construction consultancy with five offices covering the South of England. Through their practices as a business, and role within community, they aim to support local causes, foundations, charities, schools, initiatives and people less fortunate than themselves. Here, Chartered Architectural Technologist Paul Chapple talks about how partaking in corporate social responsibility (CSR) work has benefited Bailey Partnership. References Link:- www.wikipedia.com http://www.carbonfootprint.com/vcs.html Change Management in Coca Cola | Case Study Change Management in Coca Cola | Case Study According to a Greek philosopher Heraclitus there is nothing permanent than change. He believed that change is the core of universe. This quote describes the importance of managing change in human as well as organizational life. A structured approach to transfer organization, its people and processes from current state to a desired future state is called change management. This process gives employees the ability to accept changes in the existing environment of the business. Change can be of different type for example, change in technology, operations or strategies etc. company needs to implement individual strategies to cope with each type of change. Organizations need to change and adopt dynamic survival strategies to stay alive in uncertain political, social and economic environment (Hiatt and Creasy, 2003). All environmental factors present in the nature experience change on continuous basis. Human nature resists change, so managing that resistance requires well planned change management strategies. This report is aimed at describing the importance of change management for organization its motives and objectives, change management processes, how company can involve all the stakeholders for successful implantation of change management and the strategies that an organization can adopt to implement the successful change. Reasons for adopting change Organizations need change for the following reasons: To respond to the rapidly changing environment To improve the overall performance of the company To rapidly respond to the customers demands To improve the effectiveness and efficiency To increase the employee performance To create the best practices inside the organization and setting standards for the industry To improve profitability and return on overall investment Change management is needed for organizational survival. So the company should adopt to change management techniques in order to maintain its worth in the industry. Importance of change management In a study 327 project managers had responded to the question that if you had a chance to do it again, what would you do differently? Most of them responded that we will implement an effective change management program planned way before starting the project. This study highlights the importance of change management in an organizational perspective. Change management moderates the risks that can cause failure (Jeff and Creasey, 2003). The change management process Change management is being studied by the philosophers, researchers and business experts for many years. A number of change management theories, approaches and philosophies are developed by psychologists and management professionals to implement successful change in the organization (Paton and MacCalman, 2008). There are three phases of change management i.e. preparing for change, managing change and reinforcing change. Preparation for change phase includes assessment of change capabilities and capacity and developing a strategy that fit to those capabilities. Second phase i.e. managing change phase includes processes like planning and implementation of strategies made in the first phase. Last phase which is the reinforcement of change includes the processes like collection and analyzing of feedback data, finding out gaps and coping with determined degree of resistance from inside and outside the organization and taking corrective actions to successfully conclude the change managemen t process (change management learning center, 1996-2011). According to Lewins 3 step model, change is episodic i.e. it can be easily planned into three stages: Unfreezing Changing Freezing Managers at Coca Cola Company can motivate workforce in the unfreezing stage by informing them about the vitality of change being planned in context of organization benefits. Training to the staff members can make them more adept at accepting the transformational stage. In the changing phase the company can initiate practical steps with regard to the strategic plan for change. It can be achieved by developing strong relationships and offering rewards. Refreezing phase allows Coca Cola Corporation to make recently innovated change a part of their strategy so that workforce does not get back to the previously used operational methods of the organization (Robbins and Coulter, 2008). Change managementA case of Coca Cola Corporation Coca Cola is a retailer, marketer and manufacturer of non-alcoholic drinks and is known worldwide for it coca cola beverage. In addition to its coca cola brand, Coca Cola Company offers 500 beverages and non beverages brands in about two hundred countries. The company was founded by Asa Candler in year 1892. Its headquarter is located in Atlanta, Georgia of United States of America. The company had total net income of approximately 11.8 billion US dollars in year 2010 with total number of employees 139,600 worldwide. Companys brand i.e. Coca Cola stands number one in the list of most well known brands of the world (Coca Cola company, 2006-2011). Coca Cola is a type of company that requires making changes in its products and business strategies according to the consumer expectations and external environment. Here in this study we would quote different examples from coca cola corporations history and will examine that what were the triggering events for opting the change and what strategies the company developed and implemented in order to successfully going through the transitioning process. The need for change in an organization is often created by external and internal factors, where external ones encompass governmental laws, labor markets, market conditions, economin scenario etc. and internal factors are the workforce, resources, attitudes of workers and strategy adopted by the organization (Robbins and Coulter, 2008). Coca Cola Corporation is among one of the oldest corporations of the world. It has gone through many internal and external changes since it has been in existence. The company has used techniques of change management in order to survive from the consequences of those events. The company has faced a lot of external changes, for example in world war II, the company was able to manage its existing position at that time and also entered in many new markets and discovered new niches (Coca Cola company, 2006-2011). The company also provided free drinks to soldiers which were the part of its strategy to become a patriotic symbol for the people of the country. Also it boosted the sales, so the company achieved two objectives by carefully planning to respond to that external environmental change. The plants developed by the company in war era helped its expansion after the war. Barton et al (2002) reported that Coca Cola Corporation adopted acquisition strategy in time of Asian financial crisis. The company acquired bottling, coffee and tea shop businesses in Korea and Malaysia. Beverage is a type of industry where tastes and preferences of the consumers change on continuous basis. Coca Cola Company also responded to such consumer changing behaviors in an effective way by developing new products like Diet Coke and Coca Cola Zero. The company also committed a marketing blender when a rival company launched a black beverage with comparatively sweet and smooth taste. The product was named as new Coke. But the sales gradually went down and company faced severe consumer critics and protests. The company managed this situation very commendably by restoring the old formula and naming the bottle as diet coke (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). As people are becoming more health conscious and willing to invest on health based products, coca cola is developing juices and v arious energy drinks as well. This shows the companys strategy to responding varying consumer tastes and expectations and changing itself according to it. The coco cola company used theory of organization change presented by Kotler (1996) which elaborated the procedure to manage change on the people dimension of the organization. In addition to making operational and strategic changes, the company also changed its advertising strategy by targeting various groups of consumers like American consumers, African consumers, Middle and far eastern consumers and European consumers. The company altered the packaging of its coca cola brand and developed more product lines and broadened them globally (The Coca-Cola company case. n.d.). The present condition of Coca cola Company worldwide is very good. The company is selling its beverages throughout the world successfully. But in some countries, coca cola stores are not as according to the companys main marketing, inventory and efficiency theme. The company is planning to align its performance standards according to its own corporate culture and strategies with the help of a comprehensive change management plan. These changes will be implemented within the business operations and management of the company. Change Management at Coca Cola Organizational change might be referred to as any change brought about in structure technology or people of an organization. Change in structure is maintaining the span of control, specifying different work roles, redesigning job scenarios etc. Change in technology could be an introduction to new innovative methods for improving the products quality launched by the organization. While change in people is to bring about alterations in the way people think and act. It means to modify their behavior towards the betterment of organization (Robbins and Coulter, 2008, p.364). Employee engagement The recent change management at coca cola is directed towards the intrinsic values and motivations of the employees and can be referred to as employee engagement. The change management process, together with internal branding programs is expected to bring about ideal behaviors in employees, which would align the operations of coca cola worldwide, and bring about efficiency throughout coca cola across all its business segments. Coca cola hopes to bring about a thoroughly integrated system of communications, and focus on creating brand relationships with their employees. This would enhance the operations of Coca cola, as an integrated approach would mean all employees believe in engaging fully in the values, and this would become an inherent part of the employees at a personal level. Coca-cola is actively seeking to incorporate the change into its company for building capability in engagement, maintaining engagement momentum and ensuring that engagement is integrated into CCRs people practices (Samdahl,2011). For this purpose, employee engagement surveys are conducted twice every year for all the coca cola associates, which serve to highlight the areas where action is required, and further actions and implementations can henceforth be executed. Coca-cola believes that their business results hinge on the dedication of their employees to operational excellence. The company truly recognizes the importance of the people to the business, and knows that to continue to bring about tremendous results it is bringing in, employees throughout the world should believe in the values intrinsically, and therefore the employee engagement is being focused on all the countries the company serves to align, thoroughly integrate and align the company so that operational efficiency can be achieved. Importance of change to coca cola Employee engagement is very significant to all segments of operations at coca-cola and has translated into performance in areas where employee engagement is higher. For coca-cola, an engaged workforce means: A more committed workforce Employee performance aligned with organizational objectives Employees have a clear idea of what is expected of them and what are the deliverables Customer experience focuses an inherent part of employees values, who strives to provide a better experience to the customers. Customer focus was identified as a central tenant of the multi-year engagement strategy to be implemented in 2011(Gee,2011) When employees are aligned with company goals, they themselves adopt a proactive approach towards issues such as waste elimination Employees awareness gives them a voice which helps to influence legislations at local levels An integrated system of communication is very helpful in the volatile and dynamic markets of today, where conditions change very often and the company has to be responsive at all times Therefore, for all the business segment of coca-cola wherever they are located across the world, the change towards employee engagement is justified if they have to reap the fruits gained by an effective system of integration. Ensuring the Involvement of Required Stakeholders Coca Cola Company can use two change management tools to make sure that all people who are required to be the part of change management process. These tools are Force Field analysis and AKADAR model. Force field analysis is a technique developed by Kurt Lewin to scrutinize the forces that are causing an opposition to change process (Bass, 2009). By doing Force Field Analysis, Coca Cola Company will be able to induct people who are in need of appropriate training. Another useful tool is AKADAR model which stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. Through AKDAR model, firm creates awareness about the need of change, generate desire in the people to help in transitioning process, give knowledge to the people that how they can help the change process, develop an ability in the people to go through the change and provide them with continuous reinforcement to withstand the change (CMLR, 2011). Ensuring that change is successful Some considerations that will facilitate the change management process include: productive and consequential dialogues and talks with employee representatives Online and paper surveys from all the stakeholders involved in the change throughout the world, and with associates to gain an insight on their perceptions Effective communication at this stage for informing the stakeholders the reasons for change and the benefits it would bring Overcoming the inertia by taking all stakeholders in confidence. The surveys can serve as a pre requisite to gain an insight on the stakeholder perspective Details of the action planning process communicated to all those who would initiate the change Recommendations for Coca Cola Company In the volatile dynamics with which companies operate today, change is inevitable. Therefore, the focus should not be on avoiding change, rather bringing about a smooth transition towards the new change by communicating about the change, and ensuring all parties of the change that it is for the best of all those involved. To successfully implement organizational change of any nature, a specific regards to organizational structure, design, culture, management and leadership is required to see whether the change would make a best fit with the organizational goals and objectives. First of all the company should ascertain the core problems exist in the company for the change management. The company may develop a change management program for responding to financially uncertain environment of the world. It can also develop change management programs for better operations and logistics. The company can introduce new procedures and technological systems to carry out operations. Programs can be introduced in forms changing companys mission and corporate culture enhancements. For all that, the most essential thing is to train upper management to provide them with specific skills necessary to effectively going through the transitioning process. Following is the brief expression of plans that the company can adopt. Systems thinking Systems thinking can be used to guide the successful change in the organization. The model is based on an integrative and interactive open system which consists of the variables, attributes, internal relations and environment. The system is based on characteristics like wholeness, interdependence, chain of influence, need for balance and adaptability etc in an open system where communication is seen as an integrated process that facilitates change within the organization. Several system characteristics are: wholeness and interdependence (the whole is more than the sum of all parts), correlations, perceiving causes, chain of influence, hierarchy, supra-systems and subsystems, self-regulation and control, goal-oriented interchange with the environment, inputs/outputs, the need for balance/homeostasis, change and adaptability (morphogenesis) and equifinality: there are various ways to achieve goals. Different types of networks are: line, commune, hierarchy and dictator networks. Communication in this perspective can be seen as an integrated process not as an isolated event. Establishing new structure It is a well known fact that Coca Cola Corporation was an entrepreneurial venture started by one person who bought the formula from another firm and laid foundations of that beverages manufacturing firm. Current structure of the coca cola company is simple with minimal labor and management division. New system that can be adopted by the company may be the machine bureaucracy which Henry Mintzberg (1992) defined as an organization with clearly defined hierarchy, well defined area of operations, standard operating procedures, proper rules and regulations, well division of labor, formal relationships among the member of organization, centralized decision making, technical competence and standardization of work. Reducing employee defiance Opposition of change is a common human behavior. Particularly, in the workplace people resist the change in organizational culture, structure and policies. But in order to successfully and effectively implement the change management program, it is important for Coca Cola Company that it should develop strategies to reduce employee defiance to change. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) explained six strategies which can be useful for coca cola Company in employee defiance management. First strategy is to involve the employee in change process and make them participate as far as they can. Second strategy is to communicate the change management programs to the people effectively to educate them about the benefits the programs would bring. This will make them comfortable in adopting the change. Third strategy is negotiation and agreement. The company should create a consensus on important change issues and with the agreement of all important stakeholders; it should launch the change management program. The resistance level will be zero on change programs that are being launched with the mutual agreement of all relevant stakeholders. Fourth strategy is that to support the employees who are due to some disability or emotional or psychological issue or some other threat unable to adapt to the change. If the company develops proper channel for such people, they would adjust gradually to the change management program. In case of failure of above mentioned four strategies, company can manipulate the employees by calling union leader other than relevant ones as fifth strategy. Sixth strategy is to force the employees with articulate or non-articulate methods but this is not a very good approach. Conclusion To conclude, it may be said that communication can be a key element to successful change management. Communicate the changes to the employees; tell them why the change was inevitable and how they will benefit from the change. The management should itself adopt a positive attitude towards the change so that employees can follow their lead and welcome the change. Coca-cola as a company has a heritage of embracing change rather than resist it and it should translate into their future endeavors towards change management to ensure that the organization is best poised to market under all sorts of environmental conditions.

Defining The Concept Of Terrorism

Defining The Concept Of Terrorism The phenomenon of terrorism has become a major concern of the international community. It is elevated to the foremost foreign policy problem of the states. The terrorists power is growing day by day. The new and faster modes of transportation and communication technologies have made it easier for the terrorists to reach their targets and strike them without any difficulty. This has magnified the threat of terrorism and made it more sinister than it has been in the past. Although the menace is very dangerous and terribly affecting our daily lives, the states and even the academics have so far failed to comprehensively define and build a consensus on the term terrorism. The analysts face difficulty when it is considered that some forms and classes of terrorism are justifiable whereas others are not.  [1]   This article is an effort to highlight the complexities in defining terrorism, and to find out some ways to reach at least a partial consensus among states. The article is divided into four parts. The first part focuses on the definitional problems as far as the term terrorism is concerned. In the second part an attempt has been made to distinguish between terrorism and freedom fighting. The third part deals with the changing meaning and nature of terrorism over a period of time. And the last part discusses some practical approaches to reach a partial consensus over the definition of terrorism. II. PROBLEMS IN DEFINING TERRORISM Who will define terrorism? A victim state or a society, a stronger state, any international or regional organization, or the Super Power? Terrorism is a relative term and expresses different meanings to different people. To Israel terrorism means when a suicide bomber blows himself up in a market place. To Palestinians, it means when Israeli troops bulldoze a house or shoot stone-throwing kids. India views Pakistan sponsored militancy in Kashmir as terrorism. On the other hand, overwhelming majority of the Kashmiris calls it freedom fighting and resorts to the use of brutal force by the Indian troops as state terrorism. Terrorism is sometimes properly or sometimes improperly used as a synonym of rebellion, insurrection, guerrilla warfare, coup detat, civil strife, or any of many other related terms that produces fear or terror. Most of the times, such lackadaisical and random use of the term may make the understanding of the specific meaning and nature of terrorism more murky and intricate. Although the literature on terrorism offers plenty of definitions, most of them give a very narrow vision of the concept of terrorism. While some view terrorism in political terms, others insist that it should be defined in legal terms. Still some believe that it is related with morality. Undoubtedly, academics works on terrorism have helped understand the problem, but their contributions have not even materialized to create a consensus among the political circles. The academics themselves are divided on the very particulars of the concept. Experts on terrorism, such as, E.V. Walter  [2]  , Grant Wardlaw  [3]  , Leonard Weinberg  [4]  , Steven Spiegel  [5]  , Thomas Mathieseu  [6]  and Richard Overy  [7]  have all defined terrorism in the political context. (See Box 1). For them, terrorism is mainly a sophisticated violence, politically exploited by a group or organization with a religious, ideological or ethnic appeal. Box 1: Definitions on terrorism Terrorism is a process of terror having three elements: the act or threat of violence, the emotional reaction to extreme fear on the part of the victims or potential victims, and the social effects that follow the violence (or its threat) and the consequent fear. (E.V. Walter: 1969) Political terrorism is a sustained policy involving the waging of organized terror either on the part of the state, a movement or faction, or by a small group of individuals. (Grant Wardlaw: 1982) Terrorism is a politically motivated crime intended to modify the behavior of a target audience. (Leonard Weinberg: 1989) Terrorism is the use of violence by an individual or group, designed to create extreme anxiety in a target group larger than the immediate victims, with the purpose of coercing that group into meeting certain political demands. (Steven Spiegel: 1995) Terrorism is violent and arbitrary action consciously directed towards civilians, with a political or ideological goal more or less clearly in mind. (Thomas Mathieseu: 2002) Terror is not an organization or a single force. It is related to a variety of political confrontations, each of which has to be understood in its own terms. (Richard Overy: 2004) However, political biases increase difficulties in defining the term because of its subjective nature. The subjectivism is captured in a popular saying that one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter, for whom terrorism is a calculated tactic of the weak against the strong and established authority. The problem is how can one get out of this relativist enmesh? Similarly, the US State Department in its annual document, called, Patterns of Global terrorism, defines terrorism as politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.  [8]  The problem with this definition is that it does not clearly explain non-combatants, and the perpetrators, according to the definition, are non-state actors (sub-national groups and clandestine agents), while exclude the state terrorism. Moreover, the interpretation of political motivations is very broad. Some intellectuals have tried to define terrorism in legal terms and consider it a criminal act. J. Dugard notes that when a person commits an act which threatens the stability of other states or undermines the international order, he ceases to be a political offender and becomes a criminal under international law, like the pirate or hijacker.  [9]   But the problem with legal definitions is that they completely ignore the political aspects of violence. Treating a terrorist as a criminal undermines the legitimacy of political violence. In other words, the political notion in any terrorist activity cannot be discarded, which, again, becomes the major source of confrontation to reach an international consensus on the definition of the term terrorism. The moral connotations of terrorism have further divided the experts between right and wrong. Do all the nations take moral values uniformly or there are different patterns and orders of priority? Moreover, in this world of power politics, where states give priority to their national interests, what will be the extent of relationship between moral values and power? The common observation is that states are unwilling to give equal status to non-state actors which challenge their authority, and try to deal with them sternly by using brutal force. There are five major problems in defining the term terrorism and building a consensus. The first major problem faced by the academics and even the nations in defining terrorism is the relativist enmesh of the concept. For one it is a freedom fighting, while for the other it is terrorism. This aspect in defining the term has made the task more difficult. Second problem is related to the contents of the definition. If it is described as violence against the innocent people or non-combatants for achieving various goals, the application of the term, then, becomes too broad. It is very difficult even to define non-combatants. What if a soldier is not on the battlefield or he is performing peacekeeping duties under the aegis of the UN, attacked by a suicide bomber of a warring faction? Or would the terrorist attack on the U.S. Pentagon Building on September 11, 2001, not qualify as terrorist act? Moreover, the indiscriminate use of violence does not include those who employ terrorism against specific targets, such as, political assassinations. Third, when it is referred to spreading fear among the audience, one cannot distinguish between terrorism carries out by any individual, group or organization, and the state itself. This is also a major problem in defining terrorism that all the definitions portray non-state actors as terrorists, while completely ignore terrorism perpetrated by the state. Instead, it is called as the gross violation of human rights. It is also a fact that the incumbent political regimes have used terrorism as a means of repressing elements in their populations they view as a threat, real or imagined, to the continuation of their rule.  [10]   Amalendu Guha emphasizes that the recent use of power hegemonism by certain global nations, can be regarded as state terrorism, in the sense that its symptoms, behavior and actions as well as effects are, either the same, or, similar to the terrorism launched by fundamentalist beliefs or ideologies. Both are anti-human, anti-social and frightful.  [11]  The history is full of the tragic incidents, where state, instead of protecting its citizens, has unleashed reign of terror and has become responsible for their annihilation. The fact is that the state terrorism has killed more people as compared to terrorism by non-state actors. Fourth problem in defining the term is whether the act of terrorism is seen in terms of historical continuity or every incidence is considered as a unique in history and dealt with separately. Those who believe in the historical continuity, analyze this phenomenon since the French Revolution. They insist on the unity of terrorism throughout ages.  [12]  Others view each act a unique and absolutely different from the previous one.  [13]  So the rivalry is between the two extremes. Fifth problem in defining terrorism is: whether any act of violence should be analyzed by considering means or ends. As all ideologies sanctify the ends for which every mean is justified. The ideological indoctrination compels the terrorists to the righteousness of their cause and to justify any violent means to accomplish it. On the other hand, many researchers believe that the unethical means may also question the legitimacy of the cause. It is because of the above-mentioned problems in defining the term terrorism, that making distinction between terrorism and freedom fighting has become very difficult. However, there are some aspects which help differentiate between a terrorist and a freedom fighter. III. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TERRORISM AND FREEDOM FIGHTING It is a well-known fact that the subjectivity of the term terrorism has made it very difficult to distinguish it from freedom fighting. In this process, another difficulty is which forms of violence should be recognized as legitimate and which should not. Martha Crenshaw  [14]  opines that revolutionary violence and terrorism are two different phenomena and should not be confused with each other. The activities of freedom fighters cannot always be termed as terrorism, because their target is the repressive government. John Gearson raises some pertinent questions: What, if anything, is legitimate dissent using violent means? When is being a freedom fighter acceptable?  [15]  Labeling any group terrorist is very difficult particularly when the same group becomes the part of the negotiation process, and the governments have to sign peace deals with them. Nelson Mandela himself has provided perhaps the most satisfying answer to this perennial question. Pointing out that many people once described as terrorists are leading governments today, Mandela says: When you succeed people are prepared to accept you and have dealings with you as head of state. You become a terrorist if your aims and objectives fail.  [16]   In my opinion, the distinction between freedom fighting and terrorism must be made on the grounds of the legitimacy of the movement for independence, recognized by the UN. Article 1(2) of the UN Charter recognizes the right of self-determination of the peoples. It emphasizes the respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of the peoplesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ã‚  [17]   Article 7 of the Definition of Aggression adopted by the General Assembly in 1974 authenticates the right of self-determination. It states: Nothing in this definition, and in particular Article 3 (which gives an inventory of the acts that are regarded as aggression) could in any way prejudice the right of self-determination, freedom, and independence, as derived from the Charter, of peoples forcibly deprived of that right and referred to in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, particularly peoples under colonial and racist regimes or other forms of alien domination; or the right of these peoples to struggle to that end and seek and receive supportà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.  [18]   Similarly, Article 12 of the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (1979), which came into force on June 3, 1983, clearly recognizes the means used by the people for their right of self-determination. It states: [The] Convention shall not apply to an act of hostage-taking committed in the course of armed conflicts as defined in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Protocols thereto, including armed conflicts mentioned in article 1, paragraph 4, of Additional Protocol of 1977, in which peoples are fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.  [19]   The liberation movements are deprecated as terrorists by the governments against which the struggles for independence are conducted. While analyzing the independent movements in Kashmir and Palestine, one may disagree over the means; it is beyond any doubt that both the movements are recognized by the UN. Terming these movements terrorist may also undermine and question the legitimacy of the UN itself. So, one can say, here, that the movements for freedom fighting are those movements whose legitimacy is recognized by the UN. Besides this, in both the cases, the role of state is very repressive and brutal. Both India and Israel have illegitimately occupied the land of the Kashmiris and the Palestinians respectively. Moreover, both states, since the inception of disputes, have been continuously denying the right of self-determination to these people. For this, they have also completely ignored the UN resolutions. So, if anyone calls struggle movements in Kashmir and Palestine as terrorists, it not only refutes the UN resolutions, which give right of self-determinations to the oppressed nations, but also legitimizes the power of the strong over the weak. According to Moulaye el-Hassen, the former Mauritanian Ambassador, The term terrorist could hardly be held to apply to persons who were denied the most elementary human rights, dignity, freedom and independence, and whose countries objected to foreign occupation.  [20]   Now the question arises why is there no consensus on the definition of terrorism? The most convincing reason is that the meaning and nature of terrorism have frequently been changed over a period of time. IV. CHANGING NATURE / MEANING OF TERRORISM The lack of consensus among the nations on the definition of terrorism has caused a continuous change in its nature and meaning. According to Jonathan White, the rise of modern terrorism in the West is linked to the struggle for freedom in the Western World in the 1700s and early 1800s when most Europeans did not enjoy freedom, and America was still only an experiment. A change in social perceptions and actions, however, revolutionized the system and structure of Western governments. Many forms of violence accompanied the struggle for democracy; terrorism was one of them.  [21]   The popular use of the term terrorism occurred during the French Revolution. Contrary to todays usage, terrorism at that time was seen in a positive context. The Jacobins reign of terror was purely a political in nature, which was a deviation from the old sacred terrorism. Also, that terrorism was unleashed by the State to protect the Revolution on the basis of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The terrorism during French revolution provided a model to the other revolutionary groups in Europe to use it as a strategy to transform their societies as they wished. But the failure of the 1830 and 1848 revolutions compelled the revolutionaries to change their strategy. However, the use of force to bring any revolution remained the main weapon at the hands of revolutionaries. The 19th century witnessed the rise of nationalist movements, which struggled against the colonial powers for the self-government. Although the nationalists adopted violent means to achieve their objectives, unlike anarchists, they considered themselves freedom fighters. Anarchists were socially isolated, but the nationalists could hope for the possibility of greater support. Governments labeled them terrorists, but nationalists saw themselves rather as unconventional soldiers fighting in a patriotic war. They opted only the tactics of anarchists.  [22]   During the inter-war period, a new form of terrorism emerged in Europe, known as Right-wing terrorism. The purpose of this terrorism was to preserve the status quo. There were two important factors, which contributed to the surfacing of Right-wing terrorism in Europe. First, the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which gave confidence to the socialist movements in other European countries to bring a possible change in their societies as well. So, such movements were considered a great threat by the respective governments and the elements which wanted to maintain status-quo. A second factor was the establishment of fascist governments in Italy and Germany during the same period. They justified violence by uprooting the communists and anti-nationalist elements in their societies. The dominant form of violence in the post-War period, aimed at either de-colonization or social revolution, was rural-based guerrilla warfare.  [23]  The major success stories were those of Mao-Tse-tung in China, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Fidel Castro in Cuba. But there were also less publicized failures. Guerrilla insurgencies were defeated in Greece, Malaya, and the Philippines. In some of these instances, both the successful and unsuccessful, terrorism was used by those groups pursuing national liberation (Vietnam) or social revolution (Greece).  [24]   During 1960s and 1970s, the world witnessed this sudden upsurge in the form of Left-wing terrorism. This confused the experts on political terrorism, who saw terrorism as a new and unprecedented phenomenon, something that was essentially a response to injustice.  [25]  This meant that the focus was on to address the root causes of terrorism, which could be political, economic, social or religious grievances. The end of Cold War was followed by an eruption of religious terrorism in a large number of countries, particularly in the Middle East, South and Central Asia. The Soviet disintegration provided an inspiration to the Islamic movements particularly in South and Central Asian regions to launch an organized offense against their respective states to: 1) seek freedom; 2) capture the state apparatus; and 3) replace the old communist system with the new Islamic order. The vacuum, which was created because of the Soviet disappearance, also provided a great amount of solidarity among the Muslims all over the world as it gave them a confidence that they were the main force behind the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the American neglect to Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, added to the already existing political chaos. Out of this situation, the Taliban emerged as an organized political force with the support of Pakistan and to some extent Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan under the Taliban proved to be a place for socializing Islamic radicals from all over the world. The Saudi-born millionaire and Afghan war veteran, Osama Bin Laden, was one of them who took refuge in Afghanistan under the Taliban government. He had resentments against the Saudi Royal family for permitting the Americans to stay on the holy soil after the Gulf War in 1991. As his criticism against the Royal family got severe, he was compelled to flee Saudi Arabia. His nationality was cancelled. The stateless Osama then entered Sudan. But under the U.S. pressure, Sudan expelled him in 1996. Then he moved to Afghanistan, where the Taliban government was recently established. To run the state machinery, the new government badly needed financial assistance, which was provided by Osama and his organization, Al-Qaeda. Consequently, Osamas influence on the Taliban leadership increased. In a unique sense, Afghanistan became a terrorist-sponsored state. Taking advantage of his influence, Osama not only established links with other militant groups in Pakistan, Egypt and other Muslim countries, but also posed himself as a highly religious figure, who could issue a fatwa (Islamic ruling). In 1998, he issued a fatwa, stating, To kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is an individual duty of every Muslimà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦until their armies, shattered and broken-winged, depart from all the lands of Islam, incapable of threatening any Muslim.  [26]  Since then, a series of terrorist attacks can be observed on the U.S. civil and military installations. The September 11 catastrophe could be seen in this connection, though Al-Qaeda did not take the r esponsibility of it. The September 11 incident has further changed the meaning and nature of terrorism. The incident has characterized terrorism as transnational with religious orientation. The purpose of these groups is not only to overthrow their respective governments, but also to establish a worldwide authority on the basis of their own religious interpretation. Today, terrorism has become very lethal and destructive. Technological changes in the fields of transport, military and communication have added to the strength of terrorists. In such a scenario, it is indispensable to evolve a consensus, at least partial one, over the definition of terrorism. V. HOW TO REACH A CONSENSUS: SOME PRACTICAL APPROACHES The world has now entered a New Age of Terrorism.  [27]  Three important factors confirm this hypothesis. First, the terrorists are equipped with deadly weapons and sophisticated technology at their disposal. Second, the religious orientation has compelled them to believe the rightness of their cause. In other words, the ideology and cause of the terrorist group or organization attracts the potential terrorists to join it. Third, the transcendence of national boundaries has further complicated the issue. In the presence of such emerging threats, it is necessary to evolve a working definition with little disagreement. Although it is extremely difficult for the nation states to compromise over their national interests, still there must be some starting point because there is almost a consensus among the states that the modern transnational religious terrorism is the major threat to the world peace and stability. To begin with, it is the responsibility of the academics to provide some basic roadmap which can help the states reach a consensus on the definition of the term terrorism. First, the academics task is not to label any individual or a group as terrorist but to objectively analyze circumstances which compel the weaker to take arms against the stronger. In doing so, we consciously or unconsciously put all the freedom fighters into the category of terrorist, as well as we also question their legitimacy. This must be kept in mind that a freedom fighter can be distinguished from a terrorist on the basis of the legitimacy and mass support to the organization and the cause. If these factors are absent, then a person or a group can be termed as a terrorist. Second, states must stop defining the term on their own, because the problem starts when two rival states or parties define terrorism by themselves and believe in the authenticity of that definition. In contrast, they should discuss and debate this issue in the UN, particularly in the General Assembly, to reach a consensus. It must be noted that there is no universal definition of terrorism that can be applied to every act of political violence. Besides, every act of violence should be analyzed separately, while keeping in view the motivations of the perpetrator. It means that there must not be any generalization. While analyzing any violent act to be qualified as terrorism, following aspects need to be kept in mind: If the motives are abstract, meaning if any individual or a group aims to commit violence with the purpose of achieving goals on the basis of religious interpretation of its own. If the struggle is transnational in character, meaning affecting the political, social and economic life of the other country. If the struggle is not recognized by the UN. If the violence is not aimed at against the repressive government. If the target is innocent people who have nothing to do with the government policies. So, if any violent activity fulfills any one or all the five aspects, should be considered as terrorism. VI. CONCLUSION As discussed above, todays terrorism is distinct from the past terrorist activities and tactics. The emergence of transnational religious terrorism, coupled with the advancement in military, communication and transportation technologies, has enhanced the power of the terrorists and intensified their brutalities. Despite all such known threats and hazards, the world community is still far from reaching a consensus on the definition of terrorism. The disagreement between one mans terrorism, another mans freedom fighting is still there. A collective and mechanized effort on the part of the international community is needed to overcome this relativist entangle. A genuine understanding of the phenomenon can only be achieved if it is considered beyond the propaganda purposes, and concerted efforts are made to discuss and analyze this menace at international forums, with the consideration that terrorism is equally threatening the peace and stability of the whole world.

My Religious Belief Essay -- Religion Religious Christianity Essays

My Religious Belief I am a Christian and I believe in the Holy trinity: God, the Son, the Holy Spirit. †¢ God is the most high God, all-powerful, all-knowing, the creator, full of unfailing love and truth, God is the only â€Å"true† God. He is the light. †¢ Jesus is the son of God, he is God in the flesh, he came into this world for two purposes, to teach us how to live on earth and because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, Jesus. Jesus died on cross for our sins, and is sitting at God’s right hand today. †¢ The Holy Spirit is the spirit of love that dwells in each and every last one of us, it is not a part of the body so if the body dies, the spirit will continue to live. Because love never dies. All three, God, the son, and the Holy Spirit are one, which is love. A Christian’s core belief system basically boils down to what’s in the heart and in the heart should be nothing but love. Unfortunately, our heart’s isn’t naturally overflowing with the love. The heart takes time to blossom because as humans, we really don’t know what true love is, we only know the love the world has taught us and that love is selfish/ false. We learn true love when we build a loving relationship with God and that requires a lot of patience, faith, time and God’s help. At any time in our lives, we can have a loving relationship with God. Many people choose not to accept God because they are walking in the dark, which is why we say God is the light. The ...

Witchcraft In U.S. History :: essays research papers

Aboriginal Dreamtime The Aboriginal Dreamtime is that part of aboriginal culture which explains the origins and culture of the land and its people.Aborigines have the longest continuous cultural history of any group of people on Earth, dating back 65,000 years. Dreamtime is Aboriginal Religion andCulture.The Dreamtime contains many parts. It is the story of things that have happened, how the universe came to be, how human beings were created and how the Creator intended for humans to function within the cosmos.As with all other cultures it speaks of Earth's Creation by Gods and Goddesses, some of whom were kind hearted while others were cruel.The Australian Aborigines speak of jiva or guruwari, a seed power deposited in the earth. In the Aboriginal world view, every meaningful activity, event, or life process that occurs at a particular place leaves behind a vibrational residue in the earth, as plants leave an image of themselves as seeds. The shape of the land, its mountains, rocks, riverbeds, and water holes, and itsunseen vibrations echo the events that brought that place into creation. Everything in the natural world is a symbolic footprint of the metaphysical beings whose actions created our world. As with a seed, the potency of an earthly location is wedded to the memory of its origin. The Aborigines called this potency the "Dreaming" of a place, and this Dreaming constitutes the sacredness of the Earth. Only in extraordinary states of consciousness can one be aware of, or attuned to, the inner dreaming of the Earth.The Australian aboriginal shamans, "clever men" or "men of high degree", described "celestial ascents" to meet with the "sky gods" such as Baiame, Biral, Goin and Bundjil. Many of the accounts of ritualistic initiation bare striking parallels to modern day UFO contactee and abduction lore. The aboriginal shamanic "experience of death and rising again" in the initiationof tribal "men of high degree&quo t; finds some fascinating parallels with modern day UFO abduction lore. The "chosen one" (either voluntarily or spontaneously)is set upon by "spirits", ritualistically "killed", and then experiences a wondrous journey (generally an aerial ascent to a strange realm) to met the "sky god." He is restored to life, a new life as the tribal shaman.Ritual death and resurrection, abduction by powerful beings, ritual removal or rearrangement of body parts, symbolic disembowelment, implanting of artifacts,aerial ascents and journeys into strange realms, alien tutelage and enlightenment, personal empowerment, and transformation, these and many other phenomena are recurring elements of the extraordinary shamanic tradition.

Proble Solution Essay

Problem/Solution Essay Procrastination The biggest problem that has always given me trouble is procrastination. Though I’m not the only student that suffers from this problem, it is one of the most common occurrences among teenagers. How procrastination is detected is shown by people doing their work at the last second and rushing to get it done. Ways I procrastinate it by getting side tracked by something usually more entertaining; for instance TV, radio, or even video games.When I start to do my work I always get bored with a silent room, so I happen to turn on the TV and listen to it. Instead of listening to the TV I turn around and start to watch it. Before I realize what I am doing I turn to the clock and thirty minutes have already passed. Another problem that I have is being too lazy to make the effort to get the work done, or just even start it. I am lazy because I work and go to school so when I get home from work I don’t want to even do anything beside just si t there and watch TV or something.Being forgetful is a big problem I also have, when I go to school and a teacher gives me home work I don’t write it down or anything, then by the time I get home I don’t remember to do it. This is bad because not doing my home work gets me in trouble with school and my parents. As I have gotten older I procrastinate less but it is still bad, but not as bad as when I was younger. When I was younger I would almost never turn in my work either because I forgot to do it or I wanted to go hang out with friends instead of taking the time to sit down and do it.When I procrastinate work does not get done. I also forget when important date’s things are due. Forgetting important date’s is bad because when a big project is due and you don’t have any work done it makes my grades suffer a lot. For example last year I forgot a 100 point project was due. My grade was a 78% and when I didn’t turn that project in it really h urt my grade. It dropped me down to a 60%. Thanks to that happening I almost didn’t pass that class. Thankfully I did well on the finals and it put my grade to a higher D. hat is when I realized I had a big problem, through out my senior year I have been trying to fix this terrible. I have been doing really well on making sure all my work is getting done and saying no to friends that want to hang out. I just simply tell them that I have home work to do and it’s important because it is my last year in school and I want to pass with good grades. Ways I can approach this issue is start paying close attention to when dates are due and when assignments need to get done. This will better me in school and also life.Some other ways I can get pass this issue is just focus on the main goal no matter how boring it might be, and how much more something else might be more exciting. In life one mistake on a assignment might cost me my job so I have to really pay attention to detail and just kick the lazy habit and put my best foot forward and try my hardest to make sure I succeed in life and in school. Another way I can also approach this problem is by making a schedule and write down when the assignments are due and when and where I need to turn them in at, doing this will help me a great deal in college and also in the work force.Making sure I use time management will be very effective with me handling my work. If a teenage like me has this issue the best way to confront it is to sit down and think of ways they can get past it. I know that with me sitting down and thinking of ways of beating this problem it has helped me a lot in the long run. I have been getting better grades and all my work has been getting turned in. I know that if I can do it then so can anybody else that has this same problem.

Leaders Creating Value in Organizations

Leadership in today’s world has a vital role for organizations in achieving and maintaining long-term success, to create sustainable values and to improve the quality of business. Without good leader any activity is doomed to survive in changing environment. Only purposeful leader with clear vision and openness to diversified world can effectively achieve goals, creating and keeping up certain values. Actually, leadership is about â€Å"understanding people, and mainly about the process of getting people all pointing and acting in the same direction. It is about listening, and making a real connection with the followers. It implies unique vision, making strategic choices, and designing and enabling an organization to conduct business.† (Leader Values)   In short, leadership has evolved to the creation of a culture around a shared vision and value system based on certain principles. Creating a vision that encompasses the ultimate goal of the organization gives direction to the purpose, processes, and employees. Through communicating this vision, the leaders are able to tie in the vision to the work processes, constructing a solid structure to bring focus to the organization’s goals. A clear vision creates an environment of support from lower management and as well as their subordinates. In other words, leadership can be defined as a way to influence others ideas. Values represent a leaders standards and what exactly a leader represents. Leadership has stood the test of time as a way to influence other actions, thoughts, and ideas. The primarily purpose of leadership is to create goals to follow and live by. Values play a central part of a leaders psychological makeup. Values are an important component of the moral reasoning process. Values also serve to organize attitudes, which are general and enduring positive or negative feelings about some person, object, or issue. Leaders value the relationships they hold with their co-workers and employees. A leader sees his or her relationship with others as the window to how effective they are at leading.   If they have good relations with others, then that reflects how they operate and who views them as valuable.  Ã‚   Although many leaders can have the wrongful impression that they are the ones that make things happen and that is untrue.   The realization that the leader does not know everything is an attribute that makes them a better leader.   A leader that is humble creates an environment that is relaxed and warrants the creation of better work and products from other employees. Trust of the leader among employees becomes a major responsibility in the office when leading others.   It is impossible to lead people who think that you are not trustworthy. A good leader knows that they must earn the trust of their co-workers rather than expecting it to be handed to them with their position within the office.   Leader must also give full support to his employee base in times of prosperity and ruin.   Employees must have a sense of confidence in their leader when decisions are to be made and operational changes that affects them as a whole. Effective leader is also good listener and communicator.   I think that employees find a grave difference between hearing and listening.   Listening involves taking time to understand not only the problem but also the details surrounding the situation that is occurring. A good leader is cultivated through hearing the troubles of employees at a deeper and more personal level.   Employees are conscientious that their leader take the time to know intimate details about them and this increases their loyalty and motivation to reach higher levels of productivity. This relationship also improves the work environment and enables employees to commit to their jobs, the corporation, and to their leader. Appreciation is another value-creating activity and is an esteem-builder that is irreplaceable by any other means.   It energizes people, and it makes them want to exceed their goals and commit to a lasting relationship to a particular company.   By creating a supportive atmosphere, it aids the overall productivity of the employees because they feel successful when the corporation succeeds. It is vital for leaders to â€Å"conduct their work in an ethical manner to earn and maintain the confidence of team members, colleagues, employees, employers, clients and the public† (Gray and Larson, 550). Leadership integrity must be firmly grounded in the company’s values and integrated into individual employee values.   Leaders must build a company culture based on its core values and supported by a storehouse of stories, by telling your people what the organization stands for, what it is trying to achieve and what is in it for them.   The changing world calls for leaders who will react openly to the introduction of new cultural identities and diversities and who will face ethical issues responsibly. â€Å"Leadership comes from within us, in the sense that deeply held values and principles provide the road map for the way we lead, and the way other people respond. Whether the leader is a person of impeccable moral fiber, or quite disreputable, it is always their personal value system that sustains them in their quest.† (Leader Values) First of all, we must realize, understand and communicate our own value systems, and must focus on balancing the interests and concerns of others, helped by understanding their value systems. This is a precondition to enable others to recognize, understand and then follow any leader’s activity. In conclusion, it is clear to see how many difficult characteristics a leader must possess, making the importance of the leadership role irrefutable.   Much like sheep needing a shepherd, a group needs a leader to guide them in the right direction.   In order to be classified as a leader, one must have a sense of drive, leadership motivation, integrity, self-confidence, and knowledge of the business.   It is with these characteristics that a true leader can accomplish the ever-important aspiration of getting a group of people to work with each other towards a goal and create sustainable value in organization. References:  §Ã‚   Leader Values. 4 E’s in Short. Leader Values Website, 2004 Gray, Clifford F.; Larson, Erik W. Project Management – The Managerial Pr