Political power

Does political power Acquisition always lead to negative outcomes? I do not believe this because it has many gains. Power could be defined as authority and strength which may include any form of physical force or energy, ability to act, or control. Thus, when it comes to political power, power means an ability to control an area or people for specific outcomes. Political power is that form of power that an individual or a society hold and it can be achieved in various methods. This power might be used as a tool to achieve positive outcomes such as bringing the prosperity to the members of society, can positively be used to influence people to take a particular course of action, to suppress any external aggression, power can also be used crash rebellions from within the state and it can also be used in making individuals in a state to stay peacefully and obedient to the states law. Political power might also be used as a tool to produce negative outcomes such as establishing a dictatorship,   can be used to silence people who might be demanding for their rights, can be used in imposing your will on others forcefully and it can also be used to suppress and deny people to enjoy their rights. The meaning of using Political power negatively was clearly represented in the book ‘Animal Farm’ By George Orwell who Portrays how the negative use of political power. However, although George Orwell predominantly represents a negative use of Political power, it is highly unlikely that the acquisition of political power does not always lead to negative outcomes. The positive side political power is that it can be used in suppressing external aggression that might be directed to a particular state. It is power that a country or a state has that prevents other nations from interfering with the internal affairs of a country. This power is seen when military personnel are placed along the borderline that might be used by the aggressors in attacking. Any state that is unable to protect its national affairs is not worthy to be a sovereign state. This is because a sovereign state is that state that has its government, territory, and citizens and is able to protect its interests as well as the interests of the slate. This power is clearly portrayed in (Orwell G. I956; 45-54) when Mr. Jones armed with a shotgun appeared in what seemed to be a trial to recapture the animal farm. Mr. Jones together with about six men descended on the animal farm through the five barred gate carrying weapons like sticks but me Jones had a gun. He talked to his neighboring farmers Nilkington and Fredrick to help him in recapturing the farm. Finally the animals were able to chase these men out thus, they successfully safeguarded their sovereignty. This fight came to be named as â€Å"The battle of the cowshed† during their victory celebration. Another example of when power is used to prevent external aggression is of Cuba when what seemed to be self exiled Cubans who had sought refuge in United States of America turned to be rebels and attacked their own country with the help from USA. Fidel Castro organized his military men and within a short time the rebellion was crushed. Fidel had overestimated their power by directing all his military force on his enemies. Were it not for his powerful army, the rebels could have subjugated his country. Secondly, power can be used to suppress internal resistance or rebellion. When people start opposing the government that is place for no good reason, the country destabilizes, peace deteriorates and the economy of the country collapses. To prevent all these misfortunes, states use power in preventing or crushing those rebellions. This either done peacefully through dialogue but if it fails to be productive then, the only other alternative is to use force. A classic example of this is in the animal farm where snowball and Napoleon disagreed on the idea of constructing a windmill that would generate electric power that would be used in pumping water in each stall as well as heating these rooms. To show his displeasure, Napoleon decided to pee on Mr. Snowball’s sketches. Later when the animals convened for the weekly meeting, Snowball tried selling his idea to them but Napoleon appeared with nine veracious dogs that he had been rearing in secret. They descended on Snowball who fled out of the farm. When other animals tried to protest, a trained sheep silenced them by bleating at the top of her voice while singing that â€Å"Four legs good, two legs bad† while those dogs barked loudly (Orwell G., 1956; 85-90) Thirdly, power can be used in promoting and maintaining internal peace and stability. A good government is that which is capable of maintaining peace and providing security to its people. No government can do this if it does not have the required mandate or power to do so. A government is said to be in power if it is capable of commanding its police and its army. This is also clearly exemplified in the (Orwell G., 1956; 94-96) Napoleon who became the sole ruler after chasing Snowball became the one who controlled the dogs that he was rearing in order to achieve power. He used these dogs in reinforcing laws and ensuring that the animals obeyed the laws and ensuring that the animals obeyed the laws to the letter. Another example where power is used to maintain order is in the states of America. Every state has its governor, and its law enforcement agencies. The main aim of this is to ensure that people do not break the rule of law and abide by it. Just like the way police shoot criminals, that is what Napoleon’s dogs did. For example they ripped open the throats of the four pigs which confessed to have protested against the actions of Napoleon. (Grayston L.2000: 58-62) Fourth, power can be used to influence other people in taking or following certain desired course of action. For example, people, who are regarded as experts, have certain influential power. People tend to believe them and are assumed to know everything. Also if you are believed to have good characteristics, then you can highly influence others for example Oprah Winfrey is much capable of persuading and influencing many people in the whole world because of his attitude of believing in herself. For example, the squalor used his oratory skills to influence other animals. He even applied gestures to emphasize his points. Squalor that had round cheeks and shrilled voice tone talked brilliantly and when arguing a difficulty points, he swayed from side to side something that attracted many animals not forgetting the wagging and whisking of his tail. (Orwell G., 1956; 36) Power can positively used to create regimes, state or dynasties. Most dynasties in bible came to be because of power. This was after defeating many simple communities who were obstacles to their development here power was used to crush their resistance. This also happened in the same and made it to reach to its highest power levels. (Seagrave S. 1986; 103) On the other side of the coin, power can be destructive in that it can be used as a tool for establishing dictatorship or anarchism.   Here individuals misuse power so that they would become authoritarians. In dictatorial regimes the leader is above the law thus, no law on the land that is applicable to him. In other words, his deeds are not subject to questioning. This power misuse is evident in the Animal Farm (Orwell G., 1956; 42-47) Napoleon and Snowball were both pigs who almost disagreed in every thing. The final straw came when they disagreed on a project to construct a windmill that would generate electricity power to the farm. Napoleon used his secret weapon, nine dogs that were secretly reared to attack Snowball and chasing him away. They were both supposed to be the leaders of this farm but Napoleon usurped it after snowball was chased. These dogs were like policemen. They defended his laws, enforced it and offered him protection. He never walked outside alone without being accompanied by these dogs on both sides. He used these powers to alter the law as he pleased without consulting anyone and used his dogs to impose it on other animals. Another case where political power was used to create dictatorship is in Italy and Germany. Mussolini and Hitler used their political powers to ascend to power. They used the same force to clear anybody who stayed on their way. The same force was used to suppress their subjects in to submission of their laws. Hitler killed about six million Jews using his troops. After the First World War, he conquered and acquired other countries’ territories by force. Though this stabilized his country, it destabilized others. For example France lost its two provinces; Lorraine and Alsace to Germany. (Richard E., 2005: 250-252) It is used to silencing the voice of the people especially when they are demanding for their rights. This mostly is applied to those individuals who hold different opinions about the government or those who are referred to as radicalists. These are the people who are the watchdogs of human rights or whistle blowers. Many regimes have been noted to have used their political powers to silence these people either by giving them death threats or they are arrested and never tried. A good example of where power was misused in this way was in the Animal Farm. Napoleon used his veracious dogs to silence his fellow animals by killing them. For instance, the four pigs who protested after napoleon victimized snowball were killed. Their throats were ripped open by these dogs. Also the hen ringleaders who were protesting against lack of enough food and yet they were expected to lay eggs which would be used in buying grains for other animals to eat. They were killed immediately after they confessed that they incited other hens to lay their eggs from rafters so that they could smash on the ground. (Orwell G., 1956; 95) Also power is negatively used by leaders to protect their personal interests as opposed to those of the majority. Leaders change or alter laws so as to suit their selfish ends. For example in the past there was a law that said that four legs were good and two legs bad. This was made with an objective of discouraging any relationship with human beings but later after there was a shortage of seeds and other supplies, the pigs started trading with people in their neighborhood. A law that prohibited animals from sleeping in beds was altered to read that â€Å"No animal shall sleep in bed with sheets† this was altered with a motive of allowing the pigs to sleep in bed but without sheets. Another power misuse is of leaders who kill their opponents. Some people use their political powers in clearing these people who they refer as obstacles. Saddam was said to have killed about hundred and forty eight Shiites who were against his government. (Joseph B. 2003; 125) Political powers can be used in acquiring the properties of others illegally. When state of lawlessness exists, the strong ones take those of the weak. It is misused by avaricious leaders in amassing wealth by illegal means for example, (Orwell G.1956; 34-35) manor a 12 years boar who had earlier won the farm’s prize called a meeting of all the animals so that he could tell them about his dream and the prophesies he had. He also taught them a song called (Beasts of England). After he died, his prophesy and dream came true when Snowball and Napoleon rebelled against Mr. Jones land after he became obsessed with beer. He never fed his animals and this forced them to break in to the grain store. When Mr. Jones came with his hired men, the animals chased them away and usurped the power. After looking critically looking the pros and cons of political power, the positive side or the pros outweighs the negative effects of power. This because power when used well it brings out significant changes like good government, external aggressions are controlled. This is what makes a state to be sovereign. Power can also be used in acquiring new territories and properties that would increase the wealth and economic base of the country whereas it can negatively impact on the type of government in place, it can be used in silencing people but this issue can be addressed by the constitution and the international criminal court. This essay can be concluded by saying that acquisition of power does not always lead to negative outcomes, as there are many positive uses of power than the negative ones. The positive uses are like protecting the nation against external attacks, maintaining peace, crushing rebellions within the state, to positively influence people and on the other hand it can be misused in bringing anarchy, suppressing the subject from airing their grievances, leaders imposing their will on others and when used uncontrollably it can lead to abuse of human rights. Reference: Seagrave Sterling. The Soong Dynasty. Harper:   trade paperback publisher. Seagrave   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sterling.1985; 58 Orwell G. The Animal Farm: a Fairly Story. Signet Classic, USA. 1956. 36-96. Joseph B. The new Iraq: Rebuilding the Country for its People, the Middle East and the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   World. New York, Basic Books.   2003; 125. Scott R E: Solving the Iraq Crisis. NCY: Simon and Scruster. 2002:78 Richard E. The Dictator: Hitler’s German, Stalin’s Russia. Penguin Books. 2005: 250-  Ã‚  Ã‚   252 Grayston L. Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs. Potomac Books Dulles    Virginia 2000; 58-62.   

Agricultural Tools Essay

Farmers in Medieval times did not have tractors or farm machines as we do today. All that a farmer needed was a horse or ox, a wife and a plough. The mould-board plough was invented after the fall of the Roman empire by Slavic tribes. This complicated device was made out of metal and wood. The design allowed six or more oxen to pull the plough which was used to break up ground, or heavy, clay burdened soils. The second invention was the horse collar. The old horse tackle was useless because an animal could not use its full strength. The new horse collar did allow horses to use their full strength when pulling a plough, or heavy loads. This created a big increase in the horse population, as the horse was more versatile a beast of burden than the ox. In later years people discovered the 3 field system from trial and error. The 3 field system was the system where a field was left fallow for a couple of years, depending on the quality of the soil, while two other fields were planted with crops. Farmers would then rotate fields leaving a different field fallow so that it could rebuild its fertility.

Assignment: Change and Innovation Essay

In today’s society companies are finding that it is more demanding that they make changes in certain departments or in the entire company. May managers are faced with the question, â€Å"How do I make successful changes? † Another issue company’s face is the resistance to changes by employees. How can a company reduce the resistance from employees? What role do human resources play in managing change? Change is a part of moving forward in the company and keeping the company successful in years to follow. To make successful changes managers, employees, and human resources need to work together in making those changes. In companies there are factors that create a need for change. Some changes are motivated from external forces, such as competition or updating technology. Other changes are motivated by internal forces, such as employee attitudes, new equipment, and redesigning of jobs. When implementing changes the person who implements those changes are called a change agent. A change agent can be a manager or a non-manager. Mangers make smaller, less drastic changes and are more cautious about the outcome. Non-managers tend to make larger, more drastic changes because they do not have to deal with the repercussion of the change (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Once the manager or non-manager implements the changes or changes that need to take place they have to make sure that the plan is followed by employees to have the biggest chance of success. When implementing the change from regular medical record to electronic medical record the first thing that needs to happen is, the change agent needs to accept the change and communicate the importance to the employees. The electronic medical records will be more successful if the change agent recognizes the impact on staff and adopts an open policy if one is not already in place. Committing to an open environment will establish trust and open-door policies. Open-door policies allow feedback and allow for employees and change agents to give and receive feedback with less defensive approaches. Employees need to feel comfortable when change is being implemented, providing training and allowing them to be a part of the change process are ways to help them feel comfortable. Allowing employees to help with the change making decisions will help them to accept the change. Employees that work with the customer may also have better insight on how to better provide for the customers. Providing the employees with training on why and how the change to electronic medical records will be implemented and making sure they know what is going on will help keep the employee more comfortable about the process. Letting employees know that some failure is okay will help ease them when failure comes. Changing agents need to look at failure as a positive learning experience and encouraging them to think the same way. Taking these steps and recognizing the employees efforts along the way can have a huge effect on if the employee feels positive about the change or not. If these practices are not implemented then employees may resist the change (Richards, 2012). Some common reasons why employees resist change are because they are afraid of the uncertainty, they may fear that the change will not work, change interrupts habit, and they may lose personal benefits or have personal losses due to the change. If an employee is not trained or allowed to give feedback they may resist changes due to uncertainty. Employees need to be trained on the reasons for the changing to the electronic system as well as how to use the system. Training employees may ease them out of their habit of the old way and into accepting the change and creating a new habit around this change. When a change in implemented in a company the employees resist the change due to the fear of the loss of status, money, or benefits they were getting from the old system. Employees should be told what changes will affect them personally and be allowed to give feedback on ways to minimize loses. All changes should be expressed in positive ways to help employees deal with their fears. Open-door policies and encouraging feedback will help with minimizing employees’ fears and resistance to change. Being proactive and allowing the employees give ideas for the change, along with supporting employees during and after the change will help resistance of employees be minimized (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011). Human Resources (HR’s) also play a role in managing change. HR’s can act as the change agent and overlook the whole change process. HR’s can be in charge of setting a strategy, facilitating, training, and monitoring employee engagement, input and feedback. If a company does not feel that they want HR’s be in charge of the whole change then they may ask them to play no role at all or to evaluate the change effort once the change is complete. HR’s may have a small role or a big role in the change process at a company. Many companies are starting to give HR’s bigger roles and allowing them to be part of the change (APQC, 2012). Human Resources, manager, and even non-managers can implement change in a company. It is up to the person who is implementing the change to communicate, train, and support employees so that they feel comfortable with the change. Allowing HR’s and employees to be a part of the change can help everyone feel more at ease with the change. Failure should always be a learning experience and if a change agent gives employees a positive outlook and support while making the change then resistance will be minimized.

Money is the Root of Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Money is the Root of Good - Essay Example Ancient people graduated from Barter trade to using precious metal coins as their form of money. Gold, silver, bronze among other metals served as money in the olden days. Today, money is accepted as physical currency made of paper and coins. The growing technology has also introduced an acceptable business platform that involves online trade where currency is rarely used. These transformations aim at making exchange of goods and services easy. Even though there are various evils associated with money, money’s goodness outweighs its associated evils, thus money is the root of good stands. In the ancient world when money had not been introduced, traders used to engage in barter trade whereby goods were exchange for goods based on mutually inverse needs. It was difficult to agree on the value of goods to be exchanged due to quantity and quality differences. Traders needed to come up with a material that would be used to stop the direct exchange of goods. Money stepped in to determine the value of various goods. Moreover, it was widely accepted. It is divisible and trade has been easy since its introduction in the markets (Wollenberg para 1). Money is any acceptable material of exchange in a transaction. In a hypothetical situation, absence of money would mean that there wouldn’t be any platform to conduct trade. People would acquire goods from others by forceful means. Money has enabled trade thus it is good (Wollengerg para 2). Anything used rightfully and fairly is good. This includes money and general wealth. Wollenberg tells of a story of a poor man whose generosity elevated his financial status in the community but once he became rich, selfishness stepped in. Shannon Christman, in her article â€Å"why money is not the root of all evil† argues that its not money that causes evil but the love for money. Christman suggests that if money was the root off all evil, then religious people would be striving hard to be as

The X and the Y Theories of Management Research Paper

The X and the Y Theories of Management - Research Paper Example Some leaders consider the role of decision making as solely theirs and engage no one else even when the issue at hand requires them to do so. Such managers allow no flexibility on the workers and expect them to follow the set guidelines. Other leaders are accommodating and therefore, give some level of independence to their employees, encourage teamwork, involve employee’s opinions in decision-making and often delegate duties. The X and Y theories are based on assumptions that human personality and behaviors differ and play a major role in determining the appropriate management styles to be applied. This paper focuses on the different management theories applied in managing different job types. The X theory by McGregor posits that management should intervene on the performance of its employees. This is by controlling their activities, altering their behaviors to guarantee their actions, are in line with wants of the organization, as well as inspiring them to ensure they direct all their effort towards progression of the organization (Fisher 12-17). The theory explain this by claiming that most human beings, hate responsibilities, dislike work, have no ambition, and thus require to be directed and sometimes threatened to work effectively. Another argument to support this theory is that people resist change, put their own needs above those of the organization, and value their security beyond all other things. Leaders using this theory in management frequently turn out to be autocratic (Stewart 2). The Y theory on the other hand, claims that people are not dormant and are always willing to direct their efforts towards the success of the organizations. However, the management is insensitive to their need of appropriate working environment. This would enable them grow individually and be in a position to contribute to organizational growth. The theory further argues that most employees prefer rewards to satisfy their self-esteem by encouraging them to be inve ntive, and imaginative other than work related rewards. Such rewards make the employee to feel secure and more committed to their work. Neither the X nor the Y theory is good or bad because they apply to different types of jobs and work settings. However when applied in wrong job settings, conflicts could arise in the management. Usage of theory Y by some managers can cause them loose control and being incapable of making final decisions as required. Theory Y could result in the manager being too judgmental on the doings of employees (Stewart 3). The X theory is applicable in a number of job types especially in the public service where organization structures obligate only those in higher administrative ranks to make and oversee implementation of policies. Revenue collection authorities are a good example of managements that follow the X theory. They fear that not only the citizens but also their employees may possibly cheat on them. They assume that employees are untrustworthy and thus try to monitor, supervise, and, control their operations. The employees end up wasting plenty of time writing reports to validate their decisions (Barnett web). They therefore, underperform, which emphasizes the manager’s mentality that they are incompetent. In military and most of the police departments, the superiors give orders that all those under them have to carry out without questioning their

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example It is also considered to be the job of a HRM to recruit and hold on to the most skilled and proficient employees to make the organization competitive with respect to attracting potential candidates. In the present competitive and rapidly altering business environment, management of human capital has become critically important to preserve viability of the team. Thus, the HRMs involve a pivotal role in today’s business as people are considered to be the key factor which helps to attain long-run competencies. Organizations can replicate production processes or marketing strategies, but the talent of employees makes an organization unique and differentiates it from other competitors (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012). My Personal Leadership Philosophy The concept of leadership is quite broad and situational. In order to become a successful HRM, I have examined the most vital aspects in me for the reason of mastering leadership. I have realized that leadership is not about having subordinates, it is not a mere title and it cannot be accomplished by mechanically following few ideologies but rather leadership means to have the nerve for making the appropriate choices. Leadership is empowering the subordinates to pursue a shared objective of accomplishing a positive and long-term influence. My leadership philosophy has been formed with the help of several aspects. The first aspect is self-understanding. I believe that without self-understanding, one cannot successfully accomplish leadership qualities. The rarest form of leadership is believed to depend on relationship. One of the most significant activities conducted by me for the reason of developing my personal form of leadership is identification of the core worth. Probably, the most critical aspect to become an operative leader is to define and realize the core values of the organization or the team so that shared objectives can be created and a culture to promote coordination as well as competition can be developed. Based on these philosophical guidelines, I shall determine my core values as self-understanding, honesty and respect, passion, growth and learning as well as communication skills which I expect to assist me in facilitating the attainment of organizational goals and objectives. My Skills /Competencies Se lf-understanding: It is believed that one cannot accomplish leadership qualities without self-understanding which signifies the realization of his/her strengths and weaknesses. Once this understanding is gained, decisions need to be made in accordance with the individual principles. It is in this context that a genuine leader is believed to remain true to every concerned person. Genuineness in this sense denotes reliability in behavior and decisions along with the appropriate level of sincerity towards the subordinates. Honesty and Respect: Honesty has great significance in life and helps to control actions which are ethical and well-justified. I regard honesty to be one of the vital values in my life. It sets a particular framework based on which a leader makes all decisions. Without honesty, there would be no inspiration to follow other morals. According to my experience in the HRM division, the other imperative factor measured to be essential for leadership is ethical practice. T he factor of ethical practice is one of the efficient and effective aspects of leadership in order to make appropriate decisions. It

Rule of St. Benedict and the Prayer of St. Francis Essay

Rule of St. Benedict and the Prayer of St. Francis - Essay Example Significantly, a variety of monastic traditions have contributed to the growth of the religious life within the Catholic Church. The regulation of monasticism was mainly carried out by the various religious rules such as the Rule of St Basil and the Rule of St Benedict in the early periods of monasticism and these rules were strictly observed by the monks. However, the Church laws of different denominations began to regulate monasticism in the later periods and there was a great change in the attitude towards these religious rules. The selections from the Rule of St. Benedict and the Prayer of St. Francis as given in the textbook provide an important illustration of the monastic traditions of different periods in the Church history. In spite of their apparent differences, both of these texts make sense in the context of the monastic traditions of the different periods. A comparative analysis of these two texts explains how monasticism fits into the Christian tradition generally and t hese texts provide the most effective demonstrations of the religious rules of different monastic traditions. In an analysis of the selection from the Rule of St. Benedict, one comes to recognize the example of the monastic tradition of the early stages of monasticism.

The Principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty Research Paper

The Principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty - Research Paper Example The principle of parliamentary sovereignty was held high in Jackson v Attorney-General by Lord Bingham. Jackson v Attorney-General was a pivotal House of Lords case that brings to fore the legality of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 in the context of banning fox hunting by passing the Hunting Act 2004. The Hunting Act 2004 was passed while ascribing to section 2 of the Parliament Act 1911, which was amended by section 1 of Parliament Act 1949, in the sense that the Act was passed sans the consent of the House of Lords after the expiry of the prescribed delay. In that sense, Jackson v Attorney-General stood to be an important case lies within the scope of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Within the sphere of the parliamentary sovereignty, Jackson v Attorney-General raised the question raised the questions regarding the validity of all the legislation passed under 1949 Parliament Act as the appellants argued that the Hunting Act passed under the 1949 Parliament Act was inv alid, because the parent act was passed while ascribing to the 1911 Act, a privilege that the 1911 Act never intended to allow. Since the Enrolled Bill Doctrine enunciated that the courts of law could not look into the procedural aspects of passed legislation, the bigger question that this case raised was that whether it was allowable to courts to challenge an Act passed by the Parliament. Lord Hope put an end to this controversy by referring to the principle of pre-enactment practice when he said that: â€Å"The political reality is that of general acceptance by all the main parties and by both Houses of the amended timetable which the 1949 Act introduced.

Sales Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sales Exam - Essay Example 4. Designing of a proper induction training program in which one or two sales managers will provide them with a fifteen day comprehensive training covering all aspects of the requirements of their job including field training as well. The sales managers providing training will be rotated and in every induction training program there would be a separate sales manager who would be instructing the group. 5. Employment quotas for all leading business schools. The aim of this would be to make the career counseling sections of the business schools act like recruitment agencies for us. They will be provided a commission on per hire basis. A quota of 5 students per college would be kept for the top five colleges. This would ensure that we employ the best of the best. This objectives are time taking and will start providing results in two years, However, the immediate requirement of filling idle territories can be solved within six months through on campus recruitment. The rest of the strategies will start bearing fruit in five years. Mead envelope is a diversified business division of a large paper products company. For the past five years it has been steadily growing at 5-6% per annum. However, the recent market research shows that there is a market potential of growth up to 10-12% per annum. Considering this company has hired Hal Jones as the Vice President of sales to determine why the growth in sales does not match the potential. Based on the industry projections, the management has allocated a budget of US $ 106 million of Mead Envelopes. Currently, the sales force is lagging behind in achieving this target and the chances of achieving it seem bleak. To make the target possible, a higher level of sales effort is required by the sales force. Due to this a new compensation plan is required to give the sales force the right incentive plan to try harder to achieve

Herr Samsa Is Content Essay Example for Free

Herr Samsa Is Content Essay In Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Gregor Samsa, the main character turns into an insect. Although many would argue that this transformation is literal, I would argue that Kafka uses it as a metaphor or some other form of symbol. If my theory is right, this metaphor is used as a means of portraying the dehumanisation and hence insanity of Gregor Samsa caused by the intense stress and demands of his daily job that he worries about so much. I also believe that Kafka uses the particular case of Gregor to represent a whole generation of workers that all fear the same fate. Herr Samsa, Gregors father, in particular fears this and having seen what he fears most in his son, he becomes violent and aggressive towards him; eventually delivering him a slow, gradual death. To support this argument, we find out that, even before the actual transformation, Gregor behaves strangely with regards to his work; studying train timetables for example. It is for this reason that I have decided to carry on with this idea. With Gregor dying at the end of the novella, I decided to use this metaphor of dehumanisation again and apply it to another one of the workers of the same generation as Gregors his sisters boyfriend that she has found since the Samsa family left their home to start a new life. In order for my adaptation of Kafkas extended metaphor to be successful, I have had to adopt his style of writing, something that is very particular to Kafka. Kafka uses long sentences yet keeps the novella moving at quite a fast pace. This is because he pays great attention to detail and turns each detail into something significant. Despite this, he is not particularly descriptive concerning the settings that he has chosen in Metamorphosis. This has the particular effect of rendering the scenes of Metamorphosis full of action and gripping for the reader. This is what I have tried to apply in my extension of Kafkas fantastic tale. Grete watched her father open the door, pull his feet across the mat, throw his overcoat off his shoulders and drop it on the banister. He took both his daughters shoulders, smiled at her for a moment with an expression that could only be associated with pride and then gently kissed her forehead. He then moved on to the kitchen, Grete in his footsteps. Once there, he placed his hand on his wifes shoulder, squeezed it, asked her what was for supper and, in turn, kissed her. Herr Samsa presently moved to the living room and with a pleasant sigh of relief he settled into an armchair and watched in amusement as Grete gazed fixedly at the clock on the wall counting down the seconds. At precisely five, the doorbell rang and Grete let out a little squeal of delight before glancing sheepishly at her father and rushing off to answer it. The same routine had not changed one bit for the last two months yet Herr Samsa could not complain. He knew that five was the time when he could afford himself the pleasure of watching his daughters face light up, making her even more beautiful; reminding him of the attractive and successful woman she was turning into. He had never been happier. Simple and polite but pleasant conversation came from the kitchen a mixture of questions, exclamations and quiet laughter. Following this, Grete entered with Franz who greeted Herr Samsa with a gentle inclination of his head. Ah! Franz my son! How are you? And how are things at work? asked Herr Samsa. Well, as you know sir, not too well Im afraid. We all have a ridiculous amount of work to get through and I, for one, can hardly cope. The only thing that keeps a smile on my face is the prospect of coming to visit your daughter each evening. Grete looked up at him adoringly and smiled before turning to her father with a face that begged no more talk of work matters. Accepting this, Herr Samsa looked at them both. Very well. Off you go. Thank you, sir replied Franz and he eagerly scuttled behind the beautiful young woman who led him to the parlour. Herr Samsa got up and poured himself a small glass of schnapps and settled back down into the warmth of his armchair. As he let his eyes close, he reflected upon how much better life was now. Even going back to work didnt bother him in the least. He felt healthier and fitter than he had been in a long time and he was now always able to join in with the family walks on Sundays. Franz also came with them. The four of them would walk with their arms linked, talking and laughing with a spring in their step. Thus half an hour passed very happily for Herr Samsa before he was called to join the rest of his family at the dinner table. Grete was rather sullen right throughout the meal. Her usual manner of vigorously attacking her food was not there. Eventually, whilst Gretes mother was in the kitchen, clearing the table, he asked her what the matter was. She dismissed the question with another intense stare at the table so her father thought it best to leave the matter alone. The next evening, the atmosphere at the dinner table was tense once again. Grete insisted on glaring sullenly at her plate. Again, Herr Samsa asked her what the matter was whilst his wife was busy in the kitchen. Once more, she tried to ignore him but this time, her father insisted and she lifted her face, covered in tears, before answering. Hes exhaustedI cant stand it anymorehe puts on a brave facebut with me She desperately tried to control herself but burst into tears. Frau Samsa, who had come back into the room, put her arm round her and encouraged her to go on. Gretes parents watched, bemused and shocked, for this was the first time they had seen her cry since theyd decided to restart their lives. Seeing the discomfort in her parents faces, Grete took a deep breath and started again. He doesnt complain about it but when were alone, he talks about nothing but work, almost as if he doesnt know how to talk about anything else. Just last night, instead of talking to me, he spent two whole hours studying a train timetable! And hes developed a regular twitchspasms every now and then. Hes not reallymy Franzanymore. The following evening, nothing changed. As always, Herr Samsa was met in the hallway by his daughter whom he embraced before making his way to the kitchen, in order to greet his wife. As Grete waited for the clock to approach five, she had the same anxious look on her face. But it faded and was replaced with a frown because as the hands hit five she heard a far-off cry. She glanced at her father but he obviously hadnt heard it and so she continued waiting. She was silently surprised that Franz hadnt turned up yet, despite the fact that it wasnt even a minute past yet. As she continued waiting, now perched on the arm of one of the sofas, she heard another cry, closer this time and it resembled more a scream. Yet again, Herr Samsa had not noticed but he was watching Grete with amusement as she visibly became more and more nervous as the minutes went by. Once again, a scream came from up the road. This time, it was accompanied by the smashing of a window. Grete rushed to the living room window and pressed herself up against the window to see what was going on. The last cry had even managed to reach her father and he too had jumped out of the comfort of his chair to see what was going on. Both wore anxious looks upon their faces and as more shouts of terror approached their house, Frau Samsa joined them from the kitchen, wiping the backs of her hands in her apron as she walked. Wheres Franz? she asked immediately. A look of horror crossed Gretes face as it occurred to her that the angry manifestation outside and Franzs lateness could be linked. She tried desperately to see what was going on through the living room window but the angle wasnt wide enough. A couple of flying stones and an apple came into her field of vision and with that she rushed to the front door with both her parents close behind her. It was as she grabbed the cold brass handle to pull the door open that she realised what this was. She remembered the conversation last night at the table and, sure enough, as she hastily poked her head through the door and looked down the street, she clasped her heart. Franz was there sure enough, scuttling desperately down the street, followed by an angry mob yelling at him in disgust and flinging stones of hatred at him. Before her parents were able to see anything, she ran back in, bolted the door and sunk to the floor. Bibliography à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka, translated by Malcolm Pasley, Penguin, 2000

The five levels of employee motivation

The five levels of employee motivation Title Impact of economic stability on the employees motivational levels and sustainability Aim The aim of this research is to find the strategies and theories of motivation for economic stability and sustainability of Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd employees and explore the effectual ways by examining the factors that employees made their decisions for their development. Introduction Motivation amplifies as employees or team members take pleasure in one another and struggle not to let each other down. For motivating employees organizations must always work to support employees for their sustainability and for their financial growth. Satisfied and happy employees about their work are motivated to work better in an organization. Other factors also play a vital role in motivating employees then pay rates. Therefore management must do best to make available an environment of work which increases employee satisfaction even if the market is in uncertain conditions. Then economic instabilities would never affect organizations employees bank. The Hawthorne study proves this point after conducting a research on the employee productivity and its effects on working environment (William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes and Jack R. Kapoor, 2009). Motivation leads to higher productivity and longer sustainability of employees in an organization. As self motivating is crucial for empl oyees it is also necessary for organizations to ensure that their employees are motivated. To some level, a great level of motivating employees obtains from valuable management practices. Hence this research will identify the strategies in order to motivate employees under economic instability conditions. Therefore choosing this topic for conducting research will help to learn and experience the practical conditions of employees in economic crises. Example for this topic is Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd. Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd is a service provider of web designing and development. Company believes in thoughts as the starting and ending of all creative work. This is a total creative workshop handling a to z things of internet and intranet solutions including ASP, PHP, ASP.NET, website and brochure design and development etc. It is situated in London, and servicing to provide complete end to end internet solutions to customers requirements. Major services provided by the company are web designing and development, graphic design and SEO services, to provide these services with the best technology based solutions, company has to maintain speed in terms of following latest technological changes with the support of their employees. A discussion on the Sumudra technologies pvt Ltd issue As discussed above, it is one of the best companies to provide best internet solutions to the customers in London and it also worries about its employees pay packages due to the fear of their productivity and sustainability in their company. Though, from the employees perspective over a 3years there was about 86% higher total return to shareholder for the companies which have maintained elevated levels of trust evaluated to those with low levels of trust (Watson Wyatt, 2002). Regional or global strategies of sustainability of employees should be chosen wisely by companies. Strategies chosen according to the regional requirements would give fruitful results to companies or to individuals (SAS, 2008). Hence, company should improve its strategies of motivation and sustainability to pace according to the new changing market conditions in order to overcome the hurdles of market situations. This research work will give valuable information on how company can improve its strategies to motiv ate its employees. Literature Review Motivation Motivation is a drive which leads people towards achieving their goals. Its a enthusiasm and determination with a kind of excitement that directs one to continue to achieve greater heights, whether it is personal or professional. Motivating oneself is a continuous requirement for constant growth. Kanfer (1990) says that it is a imaginary construct that cannot be seen or cannot be felt. People can observe the impacts that are indicative of various motivation levels. Another author Pinder (1998) resolves the direction, form, strength, and duration of work-related behavior. He argues that by observing these dimensions of behavior, one can make conclusions about the effects of motivation on employees behavior (Steve M. Jex, 2002). This is a crucial factor because in economic instability of the present market conditions its very important to have a workforce with high spirits of motivation. This is a factor which normally produces results that are incompatible to study the employee behavi or. It can also be defines as the quality of actions, initiation, persistence and it can be categorized with their comparative constructs, goals and strategies. Strategies are the techniques used to get the goals and therefore to assure the goals and motives are the direct objectives of specific sequences of employee behavior. It is all about an individual moving towards the goal to understand the thing that sends them into deed. Intrinsic and extracts are the two types of motivation. These two types help to achieve and develop skills of a particular species. Jere E. Brophy (2004) says that motivation is differed from its related parts called goals, approaches which are used to achieve aimed goals and objectives. It is used to boost people to initiate useful activity sequences. Motivation is considered as an important factor in making employees upbeat and down to business which results in increasing organizations output. Levels of motivation Motivating employees would be a challenging task for management. The decision on how dedicated and committed will be an employee towards the company will totally depend on the individual employee. Here management of Sumudra technologies need to understand that applying one strategy to all employees cannot help to motivate everyone in the organization. While looking at the levels of motivation Maslows hierarchy theory of needs has helped us to guide to recognize what to look for management with their employees. Level 1: Security and safety Employees need to be assured about their safety and security at the work place; management must provide security services and create an fear free environment. Level 2: Incentives This is a level which is known by every individual. Most of the people dont work after winning a huge amount of reward. With this perception companies try to satisfy the compensation and benefits requirements of employees. Level 3: Affiliation This level discusses about the sense of belongingness. It contains being in the know and being part of the team. This is too a variance in professional and personal values can have a great affect on the motivation of employees. Level 4: Development Employees wish to have the faith that success is taking place. They feel secure, obtain all the money they want to earn and feel part of the group. But if there are no development opportunities employees think about absconding from the organization. Level 5: Life or Work Harmony Employees may have all types of rewards which are desired by them, but they will burn out closer or later if employees dont have the sufficient time to spend it on the other things they desire for (Derik Mocke, 2010). Therefore it is advisable to be aware of these five levels of motivation of employees when management employ with their employees. Company should assess what are the needs and desires of every individual employee before applying these levels in their organization. Employ with every individual and explain them about the various levels and inquire them where employees find themselves suitable on the pyramid. Engaging with greater teams and eventually with the entire company about the levels of motivation of employee etc are some points which are to be remembered when management engages these five levels with their employees. This needs a detail discussion which will be done in the research dissertation project. As there are six more steps to high levels of motivation. Thi s needs to be discussed in detail in order to understand the intensity of motivation factor when applied on employees. Theories of motivation Motivation of human beings is a study which has been carried from past many years. But none of them were not developed to explain employee behavior at workplace or were they practical enough to apply in the working environment. The following are some theories which specially explain motivation for employees. Theories of motivation are categorized into four: Require based theories explains work motivation in terms of the level to which employees satisfy their necessary needs at the place of work. Job based theories rest the resource of motivation majorly in the content of jobs that employees execute. Cognitive procedure theories highlight the decisions and choices that employees make when they distribute their attempts. Lastly behavioral approach highlights principles of learning. These will be discussed in detail in the research dissertation. Motivation and Communication Motivation is depended on having clear goals and objectives. As motivation is personal, goal is align staffs individual constrains with the companies uses in common and units in specific. Motivation can be done through communication organizational goals correctly to the employees (John Kotter, 1995). Author says to analyze how much communication of the vision is required, and then multiply that attempt with ten. He mentions that management should not limit to the meeting rooms. Actions adjoined with words are powerful communicators of the fresh ways. Here one needs to understand that transformation effort will fail if most of the employees doesnt understand, realize, commit and try to make the effort occur. The principle behind this is utilize every possible communication channel and opportunity to motivate in order to achieve the organizational goals. Teach fresh behaviors by showing the example of the guiding coalition team to the companys employees. Communication at the workplace can acquire numerous forms and has a lasting cause on motivation of employee. If employees feel that communication from organization is valuable it can show the way to feelings of employee work satisfaction, loyalty towards the company and increase trust at the workplace. This is an area of which a detail research and review is required. This will be done in dissertation part. Process of motivating employees Some standards are required to motivate the employees to achieve the objectives (quality) and to continue improvements and growth of the organization. Achievements of an organization completely depend upon the workforce and its activities so the organization will recruit the staffs who are motivated to attain the organization goals. Motivation is a key to the performance where it depends upon the environment, motivation and ability to perform the task. Motivation can be simply defined as it is an inner mental state to prompt intensity, directions and persistence. The proposed dissertation will explain about the motivation process which operates inside the individuals (Marjaana Gunkel, 2006). From the diagram motivation occurs if the employees satisfies their personal requirements and also work expectation from the company. Usually any employee can be motivated if an organization recognizes his efforts and appreciation and hence they can feel like, they are the main part of an organization or team. This process also explains about the barriers which affect the motivation process like job related, goal related, fear of failures, suspect of management, not a challenging environment, little respect, no rewards, no responsibilities. So the manager has to motivate the employees by removing these barriers to achieve the organization goals. Employees can be motivated if proper training and counseling sessions should be conducted to improve the process under the controlled conditions (David Hoyle, 2000). Sumundra technologies are also providing the motivation process to increase the employee capabilities in order to enhance the business prospects. Here the employees should have proper communication skills because this organization majorly deals with the customers throughout the world so better understanding of the customer requirements is very important. So the staff should have good communication skills to interact with the various customers and they ought to know American and UK accent to understand the clients without any disappointments (David Hoyle, 2000). Culture and leadership Culture is defined as learning values, norms, symbols, beliefs, traditions which are common to the group of people. Sharing these qualities of a group will make people unique. According to gudykunst and ting Toomey (1988), culture is the way of different customs, different scripts of group and their lives. Whereas nature of the leadership itself is the complex and it can be defined as stepping forward to solve the problems by sheer force of will. It is the influenced relationship between the followers and the leaders who plan for real revolution and outcomes to replicate their shared purpose (Richard L. Daft, 2007). The main important task that the leaders can do is, managing and creating the culture in addition to this they (leader) also have the capability to understand the work with culture. Studying the organizational culture can be focused more on performance and behavior of an employee than the values. If the interaction or the communication between the employees and management is good then the organization culture could be created. If it not good then the culture of an organization has to be changed inside and outside of an organization. But changing the organizational culture is not an easy task and it takes more time through the relationship of individuals and interactions (Mary J. Davis, 2000). Proposed dissertation will give a detailed description about the culture and leadership definitions and with some examples. It also discusses about the organizational cultures and how will be the organization if it does not maintain proper leaderships and culture inside and outside the company, how it effects on the present economy will be discussed. Present sumundra technologies are maintaining proper culture and leadership qualities among themselves. This is a corporate culture and they are completely aware of how to behave, how to understand, how to manage the things, how to communicate, how to work in a team. Their managerial staff also recognizes what the present culture is expecting, and how to nurture and feed the current culture is. Here the corporate changes has been occurred and is successful because of its good team work and proper leadership. From this I can say that culture can effect on a strong leader. And if and only if the culture and leadership of an organization is maintained well then that particular organization can give best customer satisfaction and good customer service. Psychological contract levels and factors Rousseau, D.M. (1989) describes psychological contract as an entitys belief in mutual compulsions among this entity or person and another person or party, like employer. This faith is forecasted on the perception that an exchange of promises have been prepared to which the parties are vault. Tekleab (2003) in the book Supervisor Psychological Contracts Management suggests designing realistic job previews to comprise data on employee obligations and socialization agendas to contain information on companys obligations. Psychological contract levels and individual factors that influence data formation of the contract are discussed by many authors in their articles. Like in the same book Vos et al (2005), views at how work values and locus of manage or control influenced data seeking during socialization. He also agrees that individual factors influence psychological contract level developments. But these factors are of limited significance when talking about psychological contract level s which intends to indentify organizational and supervisor chances to make easy positive psychological contracts (Maida Petersitzke, 2009). A 3rd group of extra-organizational factors contains wider political, economic and legal changes that in turn form observations of the psychological contract (Neil Conway and Rob B. Briner, 2005). Psychological contracts would be operationalised from a diversity of viewpoints. A prior cut on operationalization happens with the decision whether to focus or not on the aspects of the psychological contract considered to simplify across persons and settings. And a 2nd cut on the operationalization happens with the decision of whether to concentrate upon content, characteristics, evaluations. This refers to the terms and elements which have the contract (Rousseau, D.M. and Tijoriwala, S.A., 1998). Economic Circumstances Economic conditions play a major role in motivating employees and in creating sustainability. Assessment, tax rates, revenues, municipal debt, financial assets like development charge accounts, reserve funds, complete fire protection system charges, employment and unemployment conditions, previous and present political philosophy regarding the budget up/downs, borrowing, etc, loss affect of one employer, main industry institution, barriers to rebuilding like zoning and climatic needs are some of the economic circumstances which effects the employees (Ontario, 2010). For example decreasing prices have not allowed decreasing nominal pensions in a way of prevailing monetary circumstances. So for the time being undoing the move from payment to price indexation would result in the level of pension waiting, comparative to national income, anticipated for the year 2008 was attained in 2002. This is presented by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2004). Perceptual Process Perception or awareness is a process through which people choose, systematize, understand and react to data from the world in the region of theirs. This is the data which is collected from the 5 senses like hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and smelling. It responds to the psychological process whereby people take data from the atmosphere and make sense of their particular worlds (Don Hellriegel and John W. Slocum, 2007). Perceptual process permits management to test their present level of perceptual expertise. Perception engages several sub-processes like Stimuli, attention, translation, recognition, behavior, performance and satisfaction etc are some of the things which takes place only after giving some attention to them (Perception, 2010). Sumudra Techonologies pvt ltd has to know and understand all these procedures and processes to motivate and sustain their existing employees. Conclusions According to the discussion happened above makes clear that there are some questions which have risen out from the initial literature review: There is a minute literature which examines theories of motivation. There is also a minute literature that investigates theories and processes of motivation with respect to Sumudra technologies. There is no literature that evaluates Sumudra Technologies management in detail. There is no discussion about the surveys of relationship between motivation and communication. There is no research that scrutinizes the benefits of motivating employees by Sumudra Technologies Company. There is also no literature that revises the gap of perceptual apprehension recruitment management among management and employees concurrently. There is no discussion done on the sustainability benefits which can be earned if Sumudra technologies motivate their employees in down turn economic situations too. Therefore, this proposal proposes the following objectives for the proposed dissertation: To find out the effect of economic instability on the Sumudra Technologies employees motivation levels. To identify the advantages of motivating employees in Sumudra Technologies Pvt Ltd. To examine the sustainability aspect of employees in detail. To study the various elements of motivation theories and levels in order to fulfill the proposed aim for the dissertation. To suggest Sumudra Technologies to the way that its motivational strategies are able to manage employees effectively. Hence there is need for conducting enough research on this topic to know the sustainability and motivational levels of employees to be consistent in this company. 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Briner (2005), Understanding Psychological Contracts at Work: a critical evaluation of theory and research, Published by Oxford University Press, pp. 226. Ontario (2010), Economic Circumstances, Economic considerations, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 5th April, 2010]. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2004), OECD Economic Surveys: Japan 2003, Published by OECD, pp. 224. Perception (2010), Elements of Perception, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 4th April, 2010]. Richard L. Daft (2007), The Leadership experience, Published by Cengage Learning, pp. 493. Rousseau, D.M. (1989), Psychological and implied contracts in organizations, Employee Rights and Responsibilities Journal, 2, 121-139. Rousseau, D.M. and Tijoriwala, S.A. (1998), Assessing psychological contracts: Issues, alternatives, and types of measures, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19, 679-695. SAS (2008), Sustainability across Borders, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 30th March, 2010]. Steve M. Jex (2002), Organizational Psychology: a scientist-practitioner approach, Published by John Wiley and Sons, pp. 540. Watson Wyatt (2002), Weathering the Storm: A study of employee attitudes and opinions, [Internet] Available at URL: , [Accessed on 29th March, 2010. William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes and Jack R. Kapoor (2009), Business, Published by Cengage Learning, pp. 627.