Terrorism Affecting The World Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terrorism Affecting The World Economy - Essay Example To trigger development, it encouraged the formation of rural enterprises, liberalized foreign trade and investment, introduced education reforms, and invested heavily in industrial production. In several peak years, the GDP hit as high as 13 % and today the per capita income has quadrupled compared to what it was 15 years and if the predictions by various analysts hold true, the Chinese economy will cross that of United States in another 20 years. (Khan 2007) According to a research conducted by IMF in an attempt to find the key sources of its growth, it was found that the increase in the number of Chinese workers has been one of the major factors of its growth. At the same time capital accumulation through the growth in the overall assets of the country, new factories, manufacturing machinery and development in its communication systems have also marked its growth. According to most theoretical and empirical analysis conducted, more than 42 percent of china's growth has to do with productivity gains since 1979-94 but after 1994 capital took over as the most significant and primary source of growth. This marks an avid departure from the more traditional views on development wherein capital investment takes the lead. In most cases, economists studying Chinese Growth have faced lots of theoretical and empirical issues most of which cr... It elaborates over the link between productive factors such as capital and labour to output. This model is mostly applied to market economies but can also be used for command economies. In addition, finding from such empirically modelled data has led to the conclusion that in recent year's capital investment in goods and technology have led to increase in productivity. (A Measurement of the Contribution Made by Foreign Investment 2005) India: India has shown remarkable economic growth for the past three years of its running. For a decade, it has been registering an economic growth of 7% plus which has led to reduction in poverty by 10 %. However 60% of India's population continues to thrive on agriculture which makes a poverty alleviation a major economic channel. The fact that droughts and floods are still common in the nation, does not sit too well with the agents of economic growth. According to a hypothetical analysis that was recently conducted, one main reason behind India's economic growth has been the structural transformation that has been adopted by the national government. India's economic growth has been oft conceived as directly related to that of its performance in the service sector in particular. Its growth rate was above 11 % in 2007 and contributes to 53 % of GDP today. Investment in industrial sector has been another key component of its growth and it contributes to 29% of its GDP where as agriculture is 17 % of its economy. Manufacturing sector has emerged rapidly and has shown remarkable progress between 2005 and 2006. It grew by 12 % during this time where as communication and storage sectors grew by 16 %. (Indian Economy overview

African-American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

African-American history - Essay Example In Chesapeake, the slave trade took place to flourish the growth of rice and tobacco. The growing appetite for tobacco in Europe encouraged plantation farmers to purchase more slaves who would work on their farms. The slaves at first were white. However, white indentured servants were difficult to tame. This was because they spoke the same language as their masters. The indentured servants were weaker and would die in a year’s time. The thirst of making more money triggered the rich in the society to look for black people to work in their farms. The blacks were more productive and easier to tame. This is because they did not speak the same language. The blacks would share the same land with native Indians where they experienced hostile treatment. Due to price instability, the economy would suffer long depressions. Again the wealthy needed to maintain their lifestyle they then started planning on how to evict the Indians and black from the segregated land they occupied. Black p eople however began to intermarry with white women leading to their freedom from oppression. Thus, leading to a slave population which outnumbered the inhabitants In Georgia, the slave trade was a booming business. The slave would either work as slaves in plantations while women slave worked in their master’s houses as servants. It is in Georgia where slave trade was abolished. The reason for the petition is to encourage humane living conditions. Later the elite in the society appealed to the courts and convinced them the need for the slave trade. Owing to the heavy reliance on agriculture minus the slave labor, the economy of the province would collapse. Slave trade later became legal. Slave trade flourished again because of Eli White cotton gin invention. The southern county heavily relied on gin sales o the north. In both cases, slaves were held against their wish. They would be forced to work on large farmsteads for little or

Literature Review On Organisational Change Management Essay

Literature Review On Organisational Change Management Essay Part A Organisational Change: Organisational Change is the process by which organizations move from their present state to some desired future state to increase their effectiveness. Characteristically Change is vital if a company wants to avoid stagnation fast and is likely to increase further in the present competitive business Change is understood as doing things differently in order to cope up with emerging changes in the organisation environment. Change in any part of the organisation may affect the whole organisation. Change could be proactive or reactive. A proactive change has necessarily to be planned to attempt to prepare for anticipated future challenges. Generally it is initiated by management. A reactive Change may be an automatic response to a change taking place in the environment (John Lacovini, The human side of Organisation Change, January 1993, Page 35.) Change Management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organisations form a current state to a desired future state. Its major objective is to maximize the collective benefits for all people involved in the change and minimise the risk of failure to change. The major obstacle to change management is Resistance to Change. (K.Aswathappa, Organisational Behaviour, 8th revised Edition, Chapter 20, Page No.520) T John Lacovini says, The secret to real success of any organisation is effective management of the emotional vulnerability that accompanies organisational change. Types of Change: Different types of changes require different types of strategies to be implemented for effective functionality. The three types of change that occur most frequently in organisations are Developmental Change Transitional Change Transformational Change Developmental Change: Developmental Change occurs when a company makes an improvement to their current business. If a company decided to improve their processes, methods or performance standards that should be considered as developmental change. Companies are continually processing developmental changes to some degree in order to stay competitive. This type of change should cause little stress to current employees as long as the rationale for the new process is clearly conveyed and the employees are educated to new techniques. When major change such as decision to close a division, streamline the business and organisation downsizing, make developmental changes unacceptable to the employees. The employees could see that the company attempted different strategies before determining that closing the division is the only option. Transitional Change: Transitional Change is more intrusive than developmental change as it replaces existing processes or procedures with something that is completely new to the company. The period when an old process is being dismantled and the new process is being implemented is called transitional phase. A corporate reorganisation, merger, acquisition, creating new products or services and new technologies are examples of Transitional Change. It may not require a significant shift in culture or behaviour but it is more challenging to implementing than a developmental change. The future of the organisation is unknown when the transformation begins which can add a level of discomfort to the employees. (Bernald M. Bass, From Transactional to Transformation Leadership, Training and Development, May 1991 Pages 87-92) The outcome of transitional Change is unknown so employees Amy feel that their job is unstable and their own personal insecurities may increase. Education and orientation at every stage of new process implementation should be commenced in order to employees insecurity. This will make the employees feel comfortable. They will feel engaged and actively involved in change. As the employees level of engagement in new process increase, their resistance to change may decrease. Management should be a cognizant of the impact and stress these changes will have on their employees. The company should continue to inform the employees of their status offer support in helping them deal with the personal adjustments they will be forced to make. Transformational Change: Transformational Change occurs after the transition period. Transformational change may evolve both developmental and transitional change. It is common for transitional and transformational change to occur in tandem. When companies are faced with the emergence of radically different technologies, significant changes in supply and demand, unexpected competition, lack of revenue or other major shifts in how they do business, developmental or transitional change may not offer the company the solution they need to stay competitive. Instead of methodically implementing new processes, the company may be forced to drastically transform itself. (K.Aswathappa, Organisational Behaviour,8th revised Edition, Chapter 20, Page No.525) Part B Resistance to Change: The goal of any planned organisation change is to find a new and improved way of optimal utilisation of resources and capabilities in order to increase an organisations ability to create value and improve returns to its stake holders. Yet employees do not always welcome changes as expected by the organisation. As per the 2007 survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), organisational changes fail majorly due to employee resistance and inadaptability to change. Figure   Reactions to change may take various forms. Active resistance  is the most dangerous factor in change management. Employees with Active Resistance may go against the change effort and object the change in several manners. Boycotting the organisation, tending to disrupting habits and raising slogans against the organisation are some examples for high negative resistance. In the opposite nature,  passive resistance  is calm and doesnt include violence in any aspect. Passive resisters are insecure about their position after change. Instead of clearing their insecurities with the management, they tend to look for a new job and leave the organisation. Compliance, is coping up with the proposed changes with little enthusiasm. Finally, those who show  enthusiastic support  are supporters of change, who understand the value of change and contribute to the effective implementation of change. They are the defenders to organisational resistance and propagate the new way to actually encourage others around them to give support and contribute to the overall change effort. The best example of resistance of employees to change is computerisation. Change requires readjustment. Man always fears the unknown and a change represents the unknown(P Subba Rao, Essentials of Human Resources Management and Industrial Relations, Chapter 12, page 353) Factors causing resistance to change: Fear of Unknown: Such fear is due to uncertainty about the nature of change, feelings that one doesnt know what is going on and what the future holds. Loss of Control: Feeling that the change is being done to the person, worry that one has no say in the situation and events that are taking place. Loss of face: Feeling of embarrassment as a result of change and discerning it in such a way that the things one has done in the past are wrong. Need for Security: Worry about ones potential role after change and fear of losing job after change. Fear of Demotion: Employees may fear that they may be demoted if they do not possess the skills required to do their jobs, after change. Hence they prefer status quo. Loss of Power: Employees in superior cadre may assume that change may eventually result in the loss of their superior power. They give more prominence to maintaining prestige and status in the organisation, even if the change is for overall betterment of the organization. Fear of workload: Change in work technology and methods may lead to increasing workloads there by no proportional increase in salaries and benefits. This feeling creates resistance to change. Need for Training: Not all employees are interested in continuous learning and if the change necessitates relearning and continuous training, employees may resist to boredom to learn. Need for new social adjust: Any organisational change involves new social adjustment with various groups and sub groups.Some people refuse transfers and promotions, as they may need to need to break their current social comfort zone? Perceiving change as imposed from outside: Some employees may consider that change is enforced only for the development of organisation, not for their development. They perceive change as something imposed from outside on them. (Bernald M. Bass, From Transactional to Transformation Leadership, Training and Development, May 1991 Pages 93-95) Forces of Change: An organisation is affected by various forces to change. Internal forces: The forces inside the organisation which affect the change are as follows: Need to develop new products and new technologies in order to with stand in the ever changing competitive world. Focus on business diversification. Urge to implement bench marking standards in the organisation Business Process Re-engineering and Total Quality Management process implementation Cost Cutting strategies to with stand in recession times Company going for Public Issue External Forces :The forces outside the organisation which affect the change are as follows: Change in the employment and industrial laws of the country. Booming economy or recession situation. Business trends such as globalisation which helps to spread the commercial activity all over the world. Increasing competition makes companies concentrate more on customer satisfaction and customer excellence. Social, economic and political changes like terrorist attacks, political conflicts with other countries, UNO Regulations and World Bank policies. Demographic shifts like shrinking labour, droughts and drains, rising health care costs, rise in the number of foreign born workers force companies to concentrate more on matters of discrimination and civil rights. Part C: Approaches to Organisational Change Change Management Models: Management is said to be a change agent as its role is to initiate the change. It has to overcome the resistance in the organisation and make the change as a successful venture. Management must realise that resistance to change is basically a human problem and hence it must be tackled in a social and human manner. Several behavioural scientists and psychologies have studied group dynamics and organisation development and hence have proposed various theories and models to change management. They are described below. Levins Force Field Theory of Change(1936): Kurt Zadek Lewin (September 9, 1890 February 12, 1947) is a renowned psychologist and is recognized as the founder of social psychology. To his credit he was one of the first to study group dynamics and organizational development. Lewin proposed force field theory of change, which explains about various forces affecting the change and organizational equilibrium. Taken from www.change-management-coach.com An organisation at any time is a dynamic balance of forces supporting and restarting any practice. The forces supporting the practice are Driving Forces and the forces objecting the practice are restraining forces. When the forces are evenly balanced, the organisation is in a state of inertia and doesnt change. To stimulate an Organisational change managers must find ways to increase the Driving Forces and decrease the Restraining Forces. With these strategies an organisation overcomes inertia and implements change process. (John W. Newstrom and Keith Davis, Organisational Behaviour,8th revised Edition, Chapter 15, Page No.410,411) Change is introduced within a company by a variety of methods. The idea is to help change to be accepted and integrated into new practices: Adding new driving forces Removing restraining forces Increasing the strength of the supporting force Decreasing the strength of the restraining force Converting a restraining force into a supportive force A good example for this strategy is an urge for increased quality of products in an organisation is supported by forces like higher-quality work, increased company reputation and better customer satisfaction.Restrining forces being employees feeling irresponsible for the quality of product they produce. This can be overcome by implementing programs to increase employees pride, performance based hikes, providing better machines and training, quality of work life etc. Three Stages in Change: Behavioural awareness in managing change is aided by viewing change as a three step process: Unfreezing Changing Refreezing Stage 1: Unfreezing Unfreezing means that old ideas and practices need to be cast aside, so that new ideas can be learned. It basically means to have an open mind and flexibility to accept new changes. Its getting rid of old practices and accepting new challenges. Its basically breaking the current comfort zone and getting ready for change. So a manager must help employees clear their minds of old roles and old procedures. Only then they will be able to embrace new ideas. The Unfreezing stage is probably one of the more important stages to understand in the world of change we live in today. Stage 2: Change or Transition Changing is a step in which new ideas and practices are learnt.This process involves helping an employee think reason and perform in a variety of new ways. It can be a time of confusion, disorientation, overload and despair. Patience is very important in this point. There should be hope, discovery and excitement to overcome to overcome all chaos and enter a new mode of development. Stage 3: Refreezing Refreezing means that what has been learned is integrated into actual practice. The new practices become emotionally embraced and incorporated into the employees routine behaviour. Successful on -the-job practice, then must be the ultimate goal of the refreezing step. In this step emphasis is on stabilising the work process after rapid change transition. (Lewin K. Force Field Analysis and Diagram. Online. www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_ lewin_force_field_analysis.html.) Even though the world has changed ever since Kurt Lewin has published the model in 1947, it is still extremely relevant and the foundation of several other new models.(John W. Newstrom and Keith Davis, Organisational Behaviour, 8th revised Edition, Chapter 15, Page No.409) Kotters Eight Step Model (1995): John P Kotter (1995) has designed an extremely helpful model to understand and manage change. Each step in the model is characterised by key principle, in which people see, feel and then change. Kotler explained them as principles of response and approach to change. These are explained descriptively in his highly appreciated book Leading Change (1995). The eight step process is described as follows: Kotters Eight Step Change model is considered as one of the worlds best change management models. It has simplified the change process immensely and concluded that every successful change effort is messy and full of surprises. Managers have to view change process in a see-feel view where major problems in the process are highlighted and there by easily solved. Pendlebury, Grouard and Meston -Ten Keys Model(1998): These Scientists have presented Ten Key Factors which can be adapted to any particular change situation. All these keys may be needed to be implemented either simultaneously of separately based on the change process. The ten keys are as follows: Define the Vision Mobilise Catalyse Steer Deliver Obtain Participation Handle Emotions Handle Power Train and Coach Actively Communicate (K.Aswathappa, Organisational Behaviour, 8th revised Edition, Chapter 20, Page No.520) Nandler -12 Action Steps: Nandler, has developed a management frame work of twelve action steps which is helpful for Managers and Executives to apply at every level of hierarchy during the change process.This is immensely helpful for leading and managing change at every corner of the organisation. The twelve action steps are as follows: Get support of key power groups Get leaders to model change behaviour Use symbols and language Define areas of stability Surface dissatisfaction with the present conditions Promote participation in change Reward behaviours that supports change Disengage from the old Develop and clearly communicate image of the future Use multiple leverage points Develop transition management arrangements Create feedback Kanter, Stein and Jick Ten Commandments(1992): Kanter, Stein and Jick have done a wonderful research on organisation change and proposed Ten Commandments on how to plan a change process. Analyse the need for change Create a shared vision Separate from past Create a sense of urgency Support a strong leader role Line up political sponsorship Craft an implementation plan Develop enabling structures Communicate and involve people Reinforce and institutionalize change Ghoshal and Barletts Model(1997) : Ghoshal and Barlett argue for the importance of sequencing and implementation of activities in a change process. The interrelated change phases are: Rationalization : Streamlining company operations Revitalisation: Leveraging reqources and linking opportunities across the whole organisation Regeneration: Managing business unit operations and tensions, while at the same time collaborating elsewhere in the organisation to achieve performance. They claim that while change is often presented as difficult and messy, there is nothing mystical about the process of achieving change with effective strategies following the rationalization, revitalization and regeneration sequential process. (K.Aswathappa, Organisational Behaviour,8th revised Edition, Chapter 20, Page No.540) Dumpy and Stance Contingency Model of Change(1993): Dumpy and Doug Stance developed the best change contingency approach. They argue that the style of change and the scale of change have to be matched to the needs of the organisation. Scale of Change Style of Change Management Fine Tuning International Adjustments Modular Transformation Corporate Transformation Collaborative Consultative Lowers Performance (Avoiding Change) Developmental transitions (Constant Change) Charismatic Transformation (Inspirational Change) Directive Task Focussed Transistors (Constant Change) Turnarounds (Frame-Breaking Change) Coercive They identify five change approaches: Development Transitions: They refer to situations in which there is constant change as a result of the organisation adapting itself to external and environmental changes. The primary style of leadership is consultative, where the leader acts in the capacity of a coach aiming to gain voluntary, shared commitment from organisational members to the need for continual improvement. Task Focused Transitions: In this, the change management style is directive with the change leader acting as a captain seeking the compliance of organisational members to redefine how the organisation operates in specific areas. Directive leadership means that the overall change is driven from the top; this may translate into a more consultative approach by managers operating lower down in the organisation who are required to implement the changes. Charismatic Transformation: With this model, people accept that the organisation is out of step with its environment and that there is a need for radical, revolutionary change. Helping to create a new identity and a paradigm shift in the way in which the organisation conducts its operations, the charismatic leader is able to operate symbolically to gain emotional commitment of staff to new directions. Turnarounds : This is aimed at frame breaking changes. Turn around change leaders as commanders utilizing their positions of power to force required changes through the organisation. Taylorism: It is associated with the fine-tuning, paternalistic approaches to managing change. Dumphy and Stance their model indicates that medium to high performance organisations are likely to be using consultative and directive change management. (K.Aswathappa, Organisational Behaviour,8th revised Edition, Chapter 20, Page No.530) Huys Work on Change Management(2007) : Huy categorizes change into for ideal types: Commanding : Commanding change intervention is one where the time period is short term, abrupt and rapid. Change is usually implemented by Senior Managers who demand compliance from organisational members. Changes may well include downsizing, outsourcing and divestments. Engineering: This model is oriented toward a medium -term, relatively fast change perspective and often assisted by work design analysts who assists in changing work and operational systems. The change agent act as an catalyst in this process Teaching : This model takes a more gradual, long term organisational change perspective. Assisted by outside process consultants, staffs and taught how to probe their work practices and behaviours to reveal new ways of working. Socializing : This intervention is also gradual and long term. It sees change as developing through participative experimental learning based on self-monitored democratic organisational processes. Each ideal type has its limitations. The commanding approach may lead to resentment and rarely produces lasting behavioural change. The teaching approach is very individualistic and may not be aligned to corporate strategic objectives. The engineering approach may not encourage collaboration and spread of change across business units and socializing approach may lead to over focusing on individual work groups rather than on how they may operate as part of larger, corporate collective. (K.Aswathappa, Organisational Behaviour,8th revised Edition, Chapter 20, Page No.550) Part D Implementing Change: Implementation is the institutionalisation and internalisation of a change after it has been accepted by an organisation and a decision has been taken to accept and make it part of the on-going activity. Implementation is a multidimensional process whose end is stabilisation and institutionalisation of change. Support Training Resources Commitment Linkages Planning the implementation process: The objective of planning is to have an overall understanding of the nature of implementation. Planning process determines the entire process of implementation of change phasing. Phasing may be either temporal (in terms of time) or spatial (in terms of various units or the locations of the organisation) Processes: All processes involved in the implementation should be pre-determined. Various stages of the process include initiation, motivation, diagnosis, information, collection, deliberation, action proposal, implementation and stabilisation. Strategies: Management should formulate various strategies to implement processes. These strategies should focus on taking outsiders help, change agent, designing permanent organisational structures, unit/location of the organisation to be selected for initial process, openness with the environment etc.( P Subba Rao, Essentials of Human Resources Management and Industrial Relations, Chapter 12, page 358) Monitoring : It is the process of routine periodic measurement of programme inputs, activities and outputs undertaken during programme implementation. Monitoring is normally concerned with the procurement, delivery and utilisation of programme resources, adherence to work schedules to progress made in the production of outputs Implementation team : A broad based task group of implementation should be set up to look after the implementation of change programme and monitor it continoulsy.HRD department of the organisation may be asked to take up this responsibility.es and Minimum control: As monitoring is a delicate issue, control should be minimum in order to make the monitoring effective. Control attempts to develop new norms of creativity, diversity and experimentation. Feedback and communication: Implementation requires reviewing various processes and provides feedback. It involves getting data information and experiences and providing feedback to the people on how they are implementing compared to the design and plans. Action : Action covers all the minute details of what is implemented at different stages. This process involves various phases and steps for people and various group tasks in relation to change programme. Adaptation : Adaptation is the combination of two main criteria of effectiveness and implementation. It may be general or specific or both. Support : Various types of support from all concerned will be required for the implementation of change. The HRD department, Operations and management committee are some of main agencies which render major support. Institutionalisation: Institutionalisation is making change permanent part of the organisation and internalisation is stabilisation of change. (P Subba Rao, Essentials of Human Resources Management and Industrial Relations, Chapter 12, page 340) Part E: Evaluating Organisational Change The Balanced Score Card Approach: Since centuries Top Management has been depending only on financial measures to evaluate the performance after the organisation change. But this approach was not enough to provide information about overall effectiveness of the organisation.in 1992 Robert Kaplan and David Norton have published Balanced Scorecard in Harvard business review as a management tool for organisational development. Managers can get a comprehensive picture of the financial and operational measures using this framework. HR Consultants and OD strategists all over the world opine that Balanced Score Card is the best tool to enforce organizational change management and organizational development in todays technology driven world. They emphasize the principle that Businesses must develop in a multidimensional way viz., providing best value to its stake holders, achieving ultimate customer satisfaction, implementing bench marked business standards and developing a learning culture in the organisation. The scorecard facilitates managers to view critical performance factors and understand their interrelationships evaluating current performance and targeting performance to be achieved. Emphasis is on the organizational vision and long-term success. (Robert Kaplan and David P. Norton, The Balanced ScorecardMeasures that Drive Performance, Harvard Business Review, January and February, 1992.)   Performance levers in a Balanced Score Card : The Balance Score Card acts as a catalyst for driving organisational change within the organisation. It is dependent on four perspectives which are considered as performance levers for any organisation. The four perspectives of a Balance Score Card are as follows: 1. Financial Perspective How do we perform according to our shareholders? 2. Customer Perspective How do our customers see us? 3. Internal Organisation Perspective What should we excel in? 4. Innovation and Learning Perspective Can we keep on improving and adding value? Hence, the rationale of Balance Score Card is to give uniform importance to non-financial factors of business performance and balancing them with the financial factor. Therefore it is termed as a complete comprehensive framework which tries to bring a balance and linkage between the (a) Financial and the Non-Financial indicators, (b) Tangible and the Intangible measures, (c) Internal and the External aspects and (d) Leading and the Lagging indicators. (Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy, California Management Review, Vol. 39, No.21, 22 1996.) All the four perspectives of a Balance Score Card are explained briefly as follows: The Innovation and Learning Perspective This perspective emphasizes on developing a learning culture in the organisation.The key goals in this perspective are Employee training and self-improvement Grooming and communication Increasing quality of work life Developing skill and knowledge management The Internal Organization Perspective This perspective emphasizes on developing internal business processes in the organization. The key goals in this perspective are Value creating internal operations Innovative supply chain management Total Quality Management. Team building The Customer Perspective This perspective emphasizes on achieving customer delight. The key goals in this perspective are Reducing customer response time Timely updated information Taking regular customer feedback Achieving best vendor award from customer The Financial Perspective This perspective emphasizes on developing financial systems in the organization. The key goals in this perspective are Centralized and automated financial information system Developing financial corporate database Providing more value to stake holders Risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Increased working capital and current assets. (Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy, California Management Review, Vol. 39, No.21,22 1996.) Based on the above discussion, organsiations must develop scorecards fitting their current and future needs. Transformational leadership and strong commitment are required to initiate a change process, using Balance Score Card. Some of the worlds best Balance Score Card practises are as follows: GEs HR Score Card design and implementation HR Score card of Washington state HR Score Card of U.S. Department of Transportation Balance Score of Texas State Auditors Office (McKenzie Shilling, Avoiding Performance Measurement Traps: Ensuring Effective, Incentive Design and Implementation, American Management Association, July/Aug., 1998.)   All metrics to organisational performance

John Adams Essays -- essays research papers

John Adams, who became the second president of the United States, has been accused by some historians of being the closest thing America ever had to a dictator or monarch (Onuf, 1993). Such strong accusations should be examined in the context of the era in which Mr. Adams lived and served. A closer examination of the historical events occurring during his vice presidency and his term as president, strongly suggests that Adams was not, in fact, a dictator. Indeed, except for his lack of charisma and political charm, Adams had a very successful political career before joining the new national government. He was, moreover, highly sought after as a public servant during the early formation of the new federal power (Ferling, 1992). Adams was a well educated, seasoned patriot, and experienced diplomat. He was the runner-up in the election in which George Washington was selected the first United States President. According to the electoral-college system of that time, the second candidate with the most electoral votes became the Vice President (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). As president, Washington appointed, among others, two influential political leaders to his original cabinet; Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson, a veteran politician became the Secretary of State and Hamiliton, a young, outspoken New Yorker lawyer, became the Secretary of the Treasury (Ferling, 1992). Jefferson, like Adams, had also signed the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, however, was the only cabinet member relatively unknown to Adams (Ferling, 1992). It was Hamilton, nonetheless, who excelled during this new administration by initiating numerous, innovative, and often controversial programs, many of which were quite successful. Adams and Hamilton were both Federalists. Unlike Hamiliton, Adams was more moderate (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). During this first administration, Adams and Hamilton quarreled (Washington Retires, 1995), and Adams contemptuously began referring to Hamilton as â€Å"his puppyhood† (DeCarolis, 1995). This created a rift in the administration, for Washington generally favored Hamiliton (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975), and disregarded Adams (Ferling, 1992). Hamilton also went to great lengths to drive Jefferson out of the cabinet (Allison, 1966). Jefferson did finally, indeed, resign from the cabinet. The Federalists â€Å"party,† of which Hamiliton w... ...larity in the latter part of his term. It should also be pointed out that though the Sedition Act was anti-democratic in practice, Thomas Jefferson, who defeated Adams, used it against the Federalists in 1803 (People v. Croswell) and indicted a publisher (DeCarolis, 1995). Jefferson was not accused of being a dictator for such non-democratic actions. Adams was neither dictatorial in his conduct, or imperial in his policies. He appeared to have had the interest of the common people at heart. The conflict with France, the high taxes needed to keep the army and navy operating, and the poor legislative faux pas Congress made during period time, all cast a negative reflection on President Adams. This provided his opponents, like Hamilton, Burr, and even Jefferson, with political leverage to use against him, just as politicians and political parties do in our own modern era. If Adams were a dictator, then one must ask would the citizens elect his son to be the future president, twenty-four years later? Or, how his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, became America’s minister to London. Apparently the citizenry remembered President Adams in a positive, democratic way, and not as a dictator.

Bandura theories social cognition Essay

Albert Bandura`s social learning theory places learning in a social context. Bandura and his colleagues take the position that personality is acquired, or learned behavior. In particular, Bandura`s insistence that behavior can be learned from mere observation is a significant departure from Skinner’s behaviorist position. An original empirical demonstration of observational learning was presented in a study by Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1993). Nursery school children were allowed to watch an adult’s unusual aggressive actions against an inflated Bobo doll – the kind that pops back up after it has been punched or knocked down. The adult models hit the doll with a hammer and kicked it, tossed it in the air, and even sat on it and punched it. After merely observing this behavior, the children were later allowed to play with toys that included the Bobo doll and hammer. The children who observed the adult model, either live or on videotape, hit the doll more frequently than a control group who had not seen a model. They also tended to hit the doll the way they had observed the adult model do it. Bandura interpreted this study as demonstrating that the probability of behavior can be strengthened through observation. Indeed, in Bandura`s approach to personality, much of one’s behavior is learned and strengthened through imitation, which is a kind of social cognition learning. In this term paper I address the difference in the effectiveness of using simulation intervention program based on a Bandura`s Social learning theory. Moreover, to find out if the program improves either or both the quality and speed of the learning process of students enrolled in a highly technical training program. This term paper focuses on using simulation based learning environments in vocational training program. In this paper, the experimental methodology and instruments are described, results and findings presented and finally discussed and concluded. METHODOLOGY Doing my research on Bandura`s Social learning theory in complex simulation-based learning environments, I experienced a large difference in how learners reacted to my learning material (Kluge, in press, 2004). Complex technical simulations involve the placement of the learner into a realistic computer simulated situation or technical scenario which puts control back into the learner’s hands. The contextual content of simulations allows the learner to â€Å"learn by doing. † Although my primary purpose was in improving research methods and testing procedures for evaluating learning results of simulation-based learning, the different reaction of the participants were so obvious that I took a closer look. I had two different groups participating in my learning experiments: students from an engineering department at the University, mostly in their 3rd semester, and apprentices from vocational training programs in mechanics and electronics of several companies near the University area in their 3rd year of vocational training. Most of the students worked very intensively and concentrated on solving these complex simulation tasks whereas apprentices became easily frustrated and bored. Purposes of the Study Although my first research purpose was not in investigating the differences between these groups, colleagues and practitioners showed their interest and encouraged me to look especially at that difference. Practitioners especially hoped to find explanations why apprentices sometimes are less enthusiastic about simulation learning although it is said to be motivating for their perception. As mentioned above, my primary purpose when I started to investigate learning and simulation based on Bandura`s Social Cognition theories was focused on improving the research methodology and test material (see Kluge, in press, 2004) for experimenting with simulation-based learning environments. But observing the subjects’ reactions to the learning and testing material the question arose whether there might be a difference in the quality of and speed of the learning process of students involved in my study. Research Design A 3-factor 2 ? 2 ? 2 factorial control-group-design was performed (factor 1: â€Å"Simulation complexity†: ColorSim 5 vs ColorSim 7; factor 2: â€Å"support method†: GES vs. DI-GES; factor 3: target group, see Table 2). Two hundred and fifteen mostly male students (16% female) in eight groups (separated into four experimental and four control groups) participated in the main study. The control group served as a treatment check for the learning phase and to demonstrate whether subjects acquired any knowledge within the learning-phase. While the experimental groups filled in the knowledge test at the end of the experiment (after the learning and the transfer tasks), the control groups filled in the knowledge test directly after the learning phase. I did not want to give the knowledge test to the experimental group after the learning phase because of its sensitivity to testing-effects. I assumed that learners who did not acquire the relevant knowledge in the learning phase could acquire useful knowledge by taking the knowledge test, which could have led to a better transfer performance which is not due to the learning method but caused by learning from taking the knowledge test. The procedure subjects had to follow included a learning phase in which they explored the structure of the simulation aiming at knowledge acquisition. After the learning phase, subjects first had to fill in the four-item questionnaire on self-efficacy before they performed 18 transfer tasks. The transfer tasks were separated into two blocks (consisting of nine control tasks each) by a 30-minute break. In four experimental groups (EG), 117 students and apprentices performed the learning phase (28 female participants), the 18 control tasks and the knowledge test. As said before, the knowledge test was applied at the end because of its sensitivity to additional learning effects caused by filling in the knowledge test. In four control groups (CG), 98 students and apprentices performed the knowledge test directly after the learning phase, without working on the transfer task (four female participants). The EGs took about 2-2. 5 hours and the CG about 1. 5 hours to finish the experiment. Both groups (EGs and CGs) were asked to take notes during the learning phase. Subjects were randomly assigned to the EGs and CGs, nonetheless ensuring that the same number of students and apprentices were in each group.

Compare and contrast Charlie Gordon

Flowers of Algerian People are never happy with themselves we all have our imperfections and that's Just part of life. In the story â€Å"Flowers for Algerian,† Charlie Gordon has a mental disability and he wanted to be smart and for that he had to get an operation. Although he shouldn't have offered himself because before the operation he was happy, he worked at a factory, he liked his Job, he had true friends and fake friends Just like a normal person does. Having the operation Charlie cut his life short.Charlie should not have had the operation. Charlie had gone through a lot and he wanted to change. Charlie wanted to be smart, before the operation Charlie was gullible, his â€Å"friends† would make fun of him but he never realized it and he was happy. Charlie was smart in his own way but he never realized it because he was focused on being â€Å"smart. † After the operation Charlie was a serious person he understood everything his friends said. Charlie's beha vior changed he was more aggressive and he got fired.In conclusion, Charlie should not have had the operation he became aggressive, he scared people and got fired. Charlie was not as happy anymore, he was a serious person and he understood everything people said. Charlie wanted to be smart and never realized he was smart in his own way. Charlie should have never had the operation because he cut his life short, he was not happy, he was more aggressive but was giving up his life, and being happy worth It to be Intelligent.