Management At a Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management At a Company - Assignment Example Apple Inc. is best known for its creative and proprietary software and hardware and has reached many milestones in the world of technology in the recent years. Studies have shown that it is among the most admired organizations in the world and it tops in innovation and management of employees. From the time it was established it had a different and unique way of management i.e. it deviated from the traditional corporate structure that was common with organizations at that time. Its operations were based on the idea of information corporate culture within the industry of technology. It was in favor of the flat organizational structure to the tall structure. This replaces the rigid bureaucracy with informal forms of organization. This is best suited for organizations with difficult problems to solve and where the innovative culture is sophisticated. The advantage of this type of structure is its effectiveness in empowerment and innovation. It is also easy and quick to implement policies, coordination is also increased. This organization has the disadvantage of difficulty in changing the leadership or the culture of the organization. It may face damaging consequences especially when other components of the strategic structures may not fit together. One major management change that has been at Apple Inc was the time Steve Jobs became the CEO of the company. Many considered his management style as what it is expected in management as his leadership style could be admired or criticized but could not be copied. His management was orthodox and that’s how the company was managed. The leadership style approach was of vertical, top-down approach which was often harsh. He was the leading character at new product launches. His workforce was his most treasured asset and he offered meaning to them. The workforce worked hard on visionary projects,

Downsizing Strategy Is Being Used Management Essay

Downsizing Strategy Is Being Used Management Essay Given the issues relating to this research field are introduced and research objectives are also be proposed carefully in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, the researcher would like to continuous introduces the concepts, definitions and theories relevant to the issues that already mentioned in Chapter 1, through that, Chapter 2 will provide and build research hypothesis for research. Basically, Chapter 2 includes the main parts as follows (1) The definition of downsizing, (2) The definition of Survivors Syndrome, (3) The research hypothesis (4) Chapter summary. Definition of Downsizing In the economic context of continuos competitive, developing, changing and unpredictable, organizations suffering severe downturns in their business or facing difficulties, downsizing strategy is being used by many organizations in every industries and sectors with different goals and visions, their perception regarding the implementation of the downsizing policy within their organization also be different. There is not a single downsizing definition accepted by all researchers (Davis, Savage, Steward Chapman, 2003). There are many different definitions or understanding about downsizing, for example Cameron, (1994:194) defines downsizing as a positive and purposive strategy for organizations: a set of organizational activities undertaken on the part of management of an organization and designed to improve organizational efficiency, productivity, and/or competitiveness. Businesses for a long time that no longer considered downsizing as a situation solution in the hard time period, but they considered downsizing as an effective strategy to reduce costs, human focus, create job opportunites, increased job challenge and promotion. The right sizing contributes to better decision-making and the control of human resource so that the cost of expenditure can be cut short effectively. It develops a value system of proactive work culture where the members in the organisation get opportunity for better participation and involvement in the decision making process. It develops an ownership mentality among members and they shoulder forward an organization with more collaboration, fidelity, and accuracy. According to Mishra and Spreitzer (1998) defines downsizing has become the strategy favored by many organizations attempting to cope with fundamental, structural changes in the world economy. Or Freeman and Cameron (1993) defined downsizing as a set of activities, undertaken on the part of the management of an organization, designed to improve operational efficiency, productiv ity, and/or competitiveness. Downsizing as a deliberate reduction in size or complexity of a firms activities intended to improve the profitability, productivity, and/or competitiveness of the firms continuing operations(Legatski II, 1998). But in conclusion, most researches have defined downsizing as any reduction in the size of the organization (e.g. Budros, 1999; Cascio, 1993; Freeman Cameron, 1993; Kozlowski, Chao, Smith Hedlund, 1993). Downsizing, in general, refers to the reduction of work for certain organization. For employees, downsizing is considered as a management weapon to enforce greater control over the workforce. To management, it is a strategic measure to bring optimized operation efficiency and productivity in organization. Cameron and colleagues (e.g Cameron et all., 1991, 1993; Cameron, 1994b) have identified three organizational strategies to achieve downsizing: workforce reduction strategy, work redesign and systematic change. The first strategy is workfo rce reduction is typically a short-term strategy, which simply focuses on reducing organizations headcount. In a confirmatory study, Mishra and Mishra (1994) found that such strategy might lead to loss in valued organizational competency or negative outcome of those who remains. Human resource is essential and is a factor that makes the decision for the development of organizations. Lack of human resource will increase workload, anxiety about losing their jobs at any time, and these feeling leads to insecurity psychological, these are reasons that cause labor productivity reduced. Work reduction is applied by organizations through some programs such as attrition, early retirement or voluntary severance packages, layoffs and terminations. The second and third strategies are work redesign and systematic change strategies. While work reductions resulted is lead to reduction, rather than improvement, the work redesign and systematic change are positively related to organizational perfor mance in term of both cost reduction and quality improvement (Cameron et all.,1993; Mishra and Mishra, 1994) and to survivors (people who remains) of downsizing having a positive learning orientation (Farrell and Mavando, 2004). Many previous researches indicated that the use of workforce reduction is increasing and become popular despite the harmful impacts may arise for organization. Workforce reduction or simply called workforce downsizing is becoming the most popular strategy and a plethora of workforce reduction strategies for downsizing of employees has been proposed (e.g. Greenhalgh et al., 1988; Gutchess, 1985; Leana Feldman, 1992; Price, 1990). Whenever reduce equipments, machinesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ organizations can find out the outcome and its impact through simple calculations, but in workforce downsizing, the emotions, loyalty, and human effort can not simply calculate. In an organizational context, employees not only contribute their individual skills and knowledge, they also collaborate and integrate their separate skills toward creating firm capabilities. As such, both human and social capital-and therefore the commitment and the loyalty of employees-play an important role in dictating a firms c apacity to create competitive advantage. Reducing headcount may lead to immediate labor cost savings, but it can also seriously erode employee commitment and loyalty, with negative consequences for firm competitiveness and performance. So the questions are what the impacts of workforce downsizing to organizations are, how it effects, and what the advantage and disadvantage of the impact are? Some researches indicated the opinion that organizational downsizing produce better result in performance and productivity, while, others indicate downsizing as a threat to the human resources and existing organizational culture. Downsizing has been defined as an attempt to increase organizational effectiveness(Kozlowsky, et. al. 1993). Freeman Cameron (1993) and Tomasco (1990) indicate from their findings that the presumed benefits of downsizing include faster decision making, greater flexibility, and improvements in quality and increased efficiency and productivity. Cascio (1993:97) suggested that proponents of downsizing generally expect the following benefits: lower overheads, less bureaucracy, faster decision making, smoother communications, greater entrepreneurship and increases in productivity. Downsizing can suggest to financial markets or government funding agencies that an organization is cutting costs and reducing waste, which may increase availability of capital for subsequent activities (Cascio, 1993; Dial Murphy, 1995; Palmon, Sun Tang, 1997). Downsizing has been defined as an attempt to increase organizational effectiveness (Kozlowsky, et. al. 1993). It develops a value system of proactive work culture where the members in the organization get opportunity for better participation and involvement in the decision making process. It develops an ownership mentality among members and they shoulder forward an organization with more collaboration, fidelity, and accuracy. However, many others strongly disagree with those arguments and indicate that it has devastating effect on human morale, motivation, and productivity. Downsizing may provide a decrease in operating expenses in the near term, but the long term impacts may not be so positive (Difrances, 2002). Downsizing can lead to a loss of knowledge and experience base because of some laid off will be the people who worked for a long time with organization, old people, who may not have a fast and efficient action in work like young people, but they have extensive knowledge, experiences that young people learn in short time, loss available mentors for existing and new employees, loss of corporate culture, and downsizing can have direct impaction to the customers such as loss of established customer service and contacts. Therefore, whenever workforce downsizing is chosen by organizations in hard time or peaceful time, there is definite and obvious impact good or bad on organizations. But in all the affected elements, the human factor is probably the most affected element. They are staffs of organization, they dedicated their soul to the development of organization, they are people who be laid off or people who lucky enough to keep their job. The individuals who lose their jobs (called victims) are obviously the most affected by downsizing. Numerous researchers have focused on the impact of downsizing on workers whose employment is terminated due to reasons independent of job competence (Cappelli, 1992). These individuals are often known as the victims of downsizing due to research that documents the devastation of job loss, focusing on negative consequences in terms of psychological and physical well-heing (e.g., Bennett, Martin, Bies, Brockner, 1995; Cappeili, 1992; Fallick, 1996; Leana Feldman, 1 992). The real pains of downsizing cannot be minimized. Careers change, families struggle, and downsized victims suffer loss of prestige, income and security. While a few downsized individuals may be victims of their own past inefficiency, the vast number are those who have performed well and played by the rules but have become the victims of a changing economic environment. However, several researchers have analyzed those who remain in the downsized organization called survivors (e.g., Allen, Freeman, Russell, Reizenstein, Rentz, 2001; Appelbaum Donia, 2001; Brockner, 1988a; 1992; 1995; Brockner, Grover, OMalley, Reed, Glynn, 1993; Cascio, 1993; Mollica Gray, 2001; Noer, 1993; ONeill Lenn, 1995; Shah, 2000). The survivors of downsizing are not the happy campers, grateful to have their jobs, but rather that surviving is so difficult that continuing employees experience higher levels of stress than displaced employees (Collins-Nakai, Devine, Stainton Reay, 2003). The downsizing has more effect on the psychological contract that exists in between management and workers within the organization. Many researches reported that it would develop stagnation, deterioration, low morale, low trust and productivity. The fear and anxiety of the retainers of the organization is more, as there is more uncertainty and insecurity feeling among them. This is called a s survivors syndrome. Definition of survivor syndrome The literature suggests a condition referred to as survivor syndrome, or a set of attitudes, feelings and perceptions that occur in employees who remain in organizational systems following involuntary employee reductions (Collins-Nakai, Devine, Stainton Reay, 2003 p.109-110). Survivor syndrome is defined by some human resource professionals as being the mixed bag of behaviors and emotions often exhibited by remaining employees following an organizational downsizing (Appelbaum, Close Klasa, 1999 p.424-436). Survivor syndrome has become known as the emotional and attitudinal characteristics of those who have survived from a downsizing (Mossholder et al., 2000; Iverson and Pullman, 2000; Allen et al., 2001). The emotional responses of each survivor are different. There are not many previous researches confirmed the positive response for survivor when downsizing occurs, some note that concentrating on core operational competencies can reduce unnecessary management layers and increase the speed of decision-making (DeWitt, 1993; Tomasko, 1989), somes even suggest that fear of termination may increase individual effort among employees who wish to retain their jobs (Kraft, 1991). A few active survivors feel themselves so lucky because they still have their job, survivors may work more hours without compensation to help the organization through the transition. They believe that they quite understand the difficulties as well as the main reasons why organizations choose to apply downsizing strategy, they are willing to stick with organization for a long time and continue add their efforts to the development of organizations. Contrary to a few positive responses, a stream of research, both laboratory and field, has provided a lot of evidences of the h armful effects downsizing can have on survivors, these effects have been described in terms of lower morale (e.g., Armstrong-Stassen, 1993), high stress (e.g., Leana and Feldman, 1992), and anger, envy, and guilt (e.g., Noer, 1993). According to Collins-Nakai, Devine, Stainton Reay (2003) consistent with the terminology of a syndrome, this collection of symptoms includes anger, depression, fear, distrust, and guilt, or Baruch and Hind (2000) indicates that survivors exhibit a plethora of problems, such as de motivation, cynicism, insecurity, demoralization and a significant decline in organizational commitment. Termination of co-workers may lead to perceptions of organizational injustice and distrust of top management (e.g. Brockner Greenberg, 1990; Mishra Spreitzer, 1998; Noer, 1998). A lot of research shows that in case of downsizing, the organization breaks the implicit psychological contract between employer and employee-a contract that implies lifetime employment in return for hard work and loyalty. As a result, the feeling of dependency that may have evolved into entitlement is transformed into a sense of betrayal. Downsizing survivors often curious about management and spend their times to observe the intention of management after downsizing occurs; they have greater concern on their future with the organization. It leads to stress and strain among members in the organization; it affects their next attempt and the willing to stay with the organizations. With survivors, organization may thinks they are lucky, but in the reality of many people, their emotions are anger, loneliness, feel lost in broken team work because of missing their colleages, they do not feel confident enough for work due to their wondering about their job. Downsizing occurs that means org anization is left with fewer employees who are expected to put in their best effort in a manner that enhances organizational productivity (Kets de Vries Balazs 1997). They are the ones who organization put their faith in; expect long term commitment, but with fews people, it may lead to workload, role conflict, and role ambiguity tend to be high among the remaining staff after downsizing (Hellgren et al. 2005; Parker et al. 1997; Tombaugh White 1990). Workload reflects the perception of having too much work to do in the time available (Beehr, Walsh Taber 1976). Workgroup membership changes also may be associated with the loss of important organizational knowledge (Fisher White, 2000). Role conflict concerns the experience of having to deal with conflicting terms, instructions, and demands in the work environment (Rizzo, House Lirtzman 1970). Role ambiguity relates to the individuals experience of not knowing what is expected of her at work (Caplan 1971). Beside that, survivors may view downsizing as a threat to their job security, an indication of poor organizational performance, or a symptom of unfair management behavior. Survivors may also develop negative feelings toward the organization, as well as perceiving that organizational goals are difficult to achieve. According to Isabella (1989) has noted that while organizations are usually prepared to meet the needs of those being laid off, they are often unprepared for the strong emotions, lengthy adjustment periods, diminished morale and lower productivity often experienced and expressed by survivors. Managers may expect survivors not only to be grateful they were spared and to forgive what happened to their friends, but also to put their feelings aside and work harder. But the reality is not that, a bag of survivor behaviors or called survivors syndrome has always existed, it is like a contract between employees and organizations, the contract gives survivors psychological control over their work enviro nment, which lets them freely invest themselves in caring for customers. Trust Granovetter (1985) and Lewis and Weigert (1985) define trust as a willingness to be vulnerable to others, based on the prior belief that those others are trustworthy. Another definition of trust is offered by Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995), who proposed that trust is the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party. Or according to Mishra Spreitzer (1998) trust is related to psychological contracts since trust is the expectation of a future action based on the action in the past by observing the rules of behaviors in relationships. If these expectations are not met, the expecter becomes hopeless, frustrated and will lose confidence, distrust will appear instead of trust (Robinson, Kraatz Rousseau, 1994). The trust is an essential part of managing people and building a high performance, pro ductivity organization. Trust is the foundation of all relationship from top to bottom in the organization. If employees believe in their manager, their organization, this relationship will always help to create good working conditions, employees are willing to stand up for their organization at any situations, they will naturally want to do a good things, contribute their best effort for the success of their organization. Conversely, if there is no trust between employees and managers, employees will have negative actions, will not devote their energy to the development of their organization, the relationship is broken. Downsizing organizations appear to suffer a deterioration of trust (Buch Aldridge, 1991; Cascio, 1993) and an increase in fear (Buch et al., 1991). The occuring of downsizing makes employees feel uncertain about organization, stress à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the responses tends to score lower in problem solving, creativity and the ability to learn new skills, uncertainty and anxiety reduces the focus of work. Trust between employees and organization also reduced because downsizing is usually a headful though of managers, they need along time for making the decision, but with employees, downsizing is just a sudden result, sometimes they do not have a chance to prepare or may not believe that they will be the one who be laid off. According to ONeill Lenn (1995), survivors who believe that management is competent and reliable, may view downsizing as less threatening because they believe that the managers will keep their promise, be honest và   open và ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬ ºi what is going on with their employees. Trust is instrumental in overcoming resistance to change, for it shapes how individuals interpret the implementation process (Kotter Schlesinger, 1979). If they have trust, survivors are willing think that all the things that organization do, have a reason, it is a good thing for them, for organization, downsizing just helps organization stand in difficult time as well as creating opportunities for employees in the future. In other words, trust in top management minimizes the categorization of threat by helping survivors to understand and believe in managements intentions and expected behavior. If they do not have trust, survivors wil have negative thinking such as the decision of manager is wrong, or managers put their personal interests above the interests of employees. Without trust, employees are likely to feel threatened by downsizing, leading to resistance and retaliation, rather than the constructive cooperation that is necessary to facilitate deep change (Quinn, 1996). Commitment There are a lot of definitions about employee commitment such as A force that stabilizes individual behavior under circumstances where the individual would otherwise be tempted to change that behavior (Brickman, 1987), or The relative strength of an individuals identification with and involvement in a particular organization (Mowday et al, 1979) or simply A psychological state that binds the individual to the organization (Allen Meyer, 1990). Commitment is loyalty to the organization. A loyal employee identifies with an organization and is involved in being an employee of that organization (Price Mueller, 1986). Committed employees feel that there is a tight string between them and the organization, which, in the positive form, makes them more willing to perform their job. Organizational commitment is the driving force behind an organizations performance (Suliman and Iles, 2000, p. 408). The multidimensional approach poses that organization commitment is influenced by three constru cts: emotional attachment (affective commitment), perceived costs (continuance commitment) and moral obligation (normative commitment) (Allen and Meyer, 1990). Affective commitment is mean that employees stay with organization because they want to, they believes in organization and feel it like their home. Normative commitment is mean that employees stay with organization because they feel obligated to continuew to work for many different reasons and purposes. Continuance commitment is mean that employees stay with the organization because cost of giving up the job is too high for them. (European Motivation-Index.com). It has also been proposed that different types of commitment can have different effects on behaviors and attitudes (Iles et al., 1990). For example, continuance commitment can have detrimental effects on job satisfaction compared to the beneficial effects of affective commitment (Suliman and Iles, 2000). Affective commitment has been shown to be the best predictor of intention to leave (Stallworth, 2004) and found to be more important than job satisfaction in determining service quality of customer-contact employees (Malhotra and Mukherjee, 2004). It can be seen that in human resource management process, organizations should pay attention to the affect commitment group because these people will add value, increase productivity and quality to the organization, but they also be the most affected by downsizing, or in other word maintaining a high level of employees affective commitment to the organization is assumed to be a critical factor for successful downsizing, but downsizing tends to reduce employees affective commitment to the organization (Lee Jaewon, 2002). According to many research about employee commitment, in downsizing context, employees commitment to an organization is challenged. Moreover, commitment has been shown to positively influence other variables related to survivor syndrome, such as job satisfaction (Liou, 1995; Fletcher and Williams, 1996; Mowday et al., 1974; Wong et al., 1995; Vandenberg and Lance, 1992), performance (Hartmann and Bambacas, 2000) and perceived organizational support (Eisenberger et al. , 2001). A negative relationship has been shown for absenteeism (Iverson and Deery, 2001; Metcalfe and Dick, 2000) and turnover intention (Schnake and Dumler, 2000) Stress According to Casico Wynn (2004) stated that the downsizing create a breach of an unwritten rules that constitute the psychological contract between employer and employee leads to a rise in stress and a decrease in satisfaction, commitment, intention to stay and perceptions of an organizations trustworthiness, honesty, and caring about its employees. Stress has been defined as a stimulus, a response, or the result of an interaction between the two, with the interaction described in terms of some imbalance between the person and the environment (Cooper, Dewe ODriscoll, 2001). When downsizing occurs, like the victims, the survivors often lose control over their employment status and work situation. Survivors often feel angry and overwhelmed by the sudden disruption of the workplace, similar to people who be laid off, survivors also have feelings of betrayal and fury when downsizing occurs. Research also indicates that other stressful characteristics tend to emerge when work has to be carried out by fewer employees (Hellgren Sverke 2001; Hopkins Weathington 2006; Pfeffer 1998). The lack of people to work become overwhelmed, constant anxiety because of imbalance as well as job lossed can be happened anytime that creates stress to survivors. Employee stress can take many forms and significant impact on both employees and organizations; it can manifest as anxiety, irritability, dependency, depression and it results in reduced productivity, employee burnout, absenteeism (Valueoption.com). It has been suggested that layoff survivors experience stress that is as great, or even greater than, the stress felt by those who have been laid off (Kaufman 1982). Job insecurity Job insecurity is the exact opposite of job security, is defined as the perceived powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation by Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt (1984). Job insecurity represents one of the most frequently investigated stressors in the context of organizational change and downsizing (e.g., De Witte 1999; Sverke/Hellgren 2002). The string sticks employees with organizion is job, in other word, any organization keeps their employees by proper job with many opportunities to learn, to develop, and above all of them, the job has to be durable and security. When downsizing occurs, survivors feel like the promise of organization has broken down, they see their colleagues lose their job and they fear of losing their jobs at anytime, fear of instability of income, loss of status or self esteem. They believe that their work will no longer be safe, if the organization was willing to let the employees go in the past, they would be willing to do it again i n the future. Job insecurity leads to dissatisfaction, people intent to leave the organization and come to a safer place; it also leads to greater absenteeism, higher turnovers and disability claims (Boroson and Burgess, 1992; Koco. 1996; Mishra and Spreitzer. 1998; Tombaugh and White. 1990). Previous studies such as Moore, Grunberg Greenberg (2006); Ashford, Lee Bobko (1989); Brockner et al. (1992) or Hellgren Sverke (2003) have concluded that job insecurity are related with organizational downsizing both in short and long term perspective and the worried about future job loss is associated with impaired work attitudes and well-being. Theorists have emphasized that job insecurity is a multidimensional phenomenon (Ashford, Lee Bobko, 1989; Greenhalgh Rosenblatt, 1984; Jacobson, 1991). The first dimension, called severity of threat, consists of the range of work features at risk, the valence of these features, probabilities of losing each feature, and the number of sources of threat. The second dimension is perceived powerlessness, or ones ability to respond to risks. Job insecurity can also be thought of in terms of expectancy (i.e. probability of loss) and valence (i.e. value of job features) from expectancy theory (Jacobson, 1991). Job insecurity is a broad concept , including threats to any desired work features including opportunities for career development or wages. perceptions of job insecurity also can be considered as stress inducing, so reports of worry and stress are sometimes used as proxies for perception of job insecurity. Results showed that perceived job insecurity increased over time as layoffs unfolded but no new information arrived. Job insecurity was lowest among those employees who had no contact with workforce downsizing, with higher insecurity among those who had friends or co-workers laid off, and the highest insecurity among those who had been warned that they would be laid off or who had been laid off and then rehired. Hypothesis Many organization managers apply workforce downsizing strategy for their organization, often focus their attention and effort for those employees who be laid off and pay little attention to those who remain with organization As the large bank in Vietnam, VietinBank is also applying workforce downsizing like many other organizations to overcome the current difficulties. Get to know the survivors syndrome is very important not only for VietinBank but also for many other organizations. The future of the organization can be at stake if these warning signs take hold and start to have a long-term effect. Organizations that understand and combat the causes of survivor syndrome at an early stage have a far better chance of weathering the storm and moving forward after the period of unsettling change. Based on the previous studies, in the scope of this research, researcher would like to find out the impact of workforce downsizing to the behavior such as trust, commitment, and stress and job insecurity of Vietinbanks staffs to see how they were affected by downsizing and which elements of fours will be the most impacted by downsizing. Through this research, researcher hopes to put some help for VietinBank managers in order to have a better understanding about their employees so that they can looking for an appropriate direction as well as specific plan to minimize the harmful impacted may arises from downsizing. Based on the above theory discussion, the Hypothesis is formulated as following: (H1) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors trust. (H2) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors stress. (H3) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors commitment. (H4) There is a significant relationship between downsizing and VietinBank survivors job insecurity. (H5) There is a survivors symptom that be strongest impacted by downsizing in VietinBank Chapter Summary Through out the chapter, researcher give a deeped review of previous research on downsizing and its impacted on survivors. There are many different opinions about the effects of downsizing on organizations, somes indicated that downsizing is an effective stratefy for organization, which may lead to increase innovation, human resource focusing. However, numerous previous studies have concluded that there are adverse effects of downsizing on organizations, especially for survivors, who is considered to be lucky one for remaining their job. Previous researchs have come up with a term survivors syndrome to describe the behaviors or attitudes of survivors during and after the workforce downsizing occurs. And by understanding the attitudes, emotions and viewpoints of the survivors, a clear perspective on the true short and long term benefits, gains or losses of downsizing for corporations can be derived. Even in early survivor syndrome literature there was some evidence that effective mana gement of downsizing can control for negative effects on the survivors (Brockner, 1990; Brockner et al., 1992) The next section of the research studied further the impact of downsizing on trust, stress, commitment and job insecurity of VietinBanks survivors. This research enables better understanding about the perspective and behavior of VietinBanks survivor when downsizing situation occurs.

The Status of African-American Soldiers in the Regiments of Massachuset

The Civil War, which began in April of 1861, was a war that most saw as ending by the end of the year – not one person expected it to turn into the long and drawn out slaughter that it became. It was a war that came about originally because of the secession of Southern states from the Union in the belief that the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency would render emancipation inevitable. Only white soldiers fought against each other at the outset of war but by mid-July of 1862, Henry Wilson – a Senator from Massachusetts who strongly opposed slavery – had passed a bill that allowed the President to bring African-Americans into active service in the Union army and following the Emancipation Proclamation the President finally allowed the recruitment of colored regiments. By creating a position for African-Americans in the army the status of these men in northern society was increasingly under question. This reflects recognition of the fact that as slavery became the main issue of the war something had to be done in relation to the position of these men in northern society. However, the changes that occurred could not go unnoticed by the South or by Northern whites and put a final stamp on the sectional division. The institution of slavery and the increasing strain it brought between North and South made questions about the position of African-Americans in society increasingly prominent both amongst whites and blacks. Since they had been removed from their home environment and branded as slaves, a process beginning in 1619, the status of blacks had remained one of inferiority to white Americans. Although Lincoln originally argued that the Civil War was about keeping the Union together, a change would have to occur if the N... ...ntry, 1863-1865. Boston: Boston Book Co., 1894. Fitzgerald, Michael. Splendid Failure: Postwar Reconstruction in the American South. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2007. Glatthaar, Joseph. Forged in Battle: Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers. New York: Free Press, 1990. Greenberg, Kenneth. Masters and Statesmen: The Political Culture of American Slavery. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985. Hapgood and Adams, eds. Western Reserve Chronicle. May 20, 1863, image 2. Smith, John. â€Å"Let Us All Be Grateful That We Have Colored Troops That Will Fight.† In Black Soldiers in Blue: African American Troops in the Civil War Era, edited by John Smith, 1-78. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002. Williams, George. A History of the Negro Troops in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1888.

Spike Lee – Auteur

Spike Lee – Auteur BY as_e453 An auteur is a director who personal creative vision and style is expressed through films. The term auteur is originated in France and is French for author. There are different ways in which a director can express their vision in films and show who they are. There are many directors that are considered to be a auteur such as: Quentin Tarintino, Tim Burton, Kathryn Bigelow, Stanley Kubrick and Woody Allen. The director I have chosen as an auteur is Spike Lee.Lee's Life: Spike Lee is an American film director who has directed, produced, written and acted in Spike Lee films such as Malcolm X, Jungle Fever, Inside Man and Love ; Basketball. Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia where he attended Morehouse College and made his first student film Last Hustle in Brooklyn, he then graduated from New York University in 1982. Lee grew up in a well-off, respective African American family and by the time he was 20 he started to make amateur films. He won a s tudent academy award for his thesis film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.Spike originally became interested in the arts because of his parents' background but after attending college e realised he had a stronger passion for film making and decided to become a filmmaker. Film Career: Lee created his first feature film She's Gotta Have It in 1986 which grossed over $7,000,000 and was one of the most profitable films made in 1986. It was a comedy Lee on set directing a film film which makes fun of the stereotyped vision on black men cheating on their partners but instead the roles were reverse and focuses on a woman having 3 different partners.The film did have some mixed views in Hollywood but it became a hit with his African American fans. After making his first feature film Lee began to reate many other great films and was not only being known as a director but also a comic actor. His ultimate goal was to â€Å"make films that will capture the Black experience by any means necessary' and that is exactly what he did. Here's a trailer for Do the Right Thing: His other work: Other than being a successful director, producer, actor and writer. Spike is also a successful music director and documentarian.He has directed music videos for celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Naughty by Nature, Anita Baker and Public Enemy. He has also directed the documentaries, Jim Brown: All-American and 4 Little Girls which was nominated â€Å"Best Documentary'. He is also known for making some great commercials for Nike, Converse, Jaguar, Taco Bell and Ben ; Jerrys. His Personal Style: Themes: Spike is no stranger to controversy due to the elements he uses in his films. Most of Lee's tilms consist ot an Atrican American theme and inspect the issues ot race relations, political issues, urban crime and violence.His 2nd film he made Do the Right Thing (1989) explored all of these issues. He also explored the issues of family/ father & relationships in his films Crooklyn (199 4), Get on the Bus (1996) and He Got Game (1998). In his films School Daze (1988), Do The Right Thing (1989), Jungle Fever (1991), Get on the Bus (1996), Summer of Sam (1999) and Bamboozled (2000) he included the issues circulating around racism. Another issue he explores is black female sexuality which is in the films She's Gotta Have It (1986), Girl 6 (1996) and She Hates Me (2004).Genre: Whenever it comes to genre Spike always picks the right one. He switches them around so sometimes his films will be a comedy, sometimes it will be a romantic comedy (a hybrid genre) or a drama. Spike never seems to fail when it comes to enre because he always brings something different to the film and it's so enjoyable to watch. Use of actors: Spike frequently casts himself, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Delroy Lindo, Roger Spike as Mars Blackmon a character from his film Guenveur Smith, Michael Imperioli and Denzel Washington in his films.I think it's because he knows exactly what he wants i n a film and if he see a person who could portray the character they are given in a certain way then that is who he will choose, plus these actors are professional actors and know what they are doing. Lee often cast real life families in his films. In Do The Right Thing (1989) he casts Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee (who are real life husband and wife), Joie Lee (Spike's real life sister), Danny Aiello and Rick Aiello (who are real life father and son).He has done this in other films such as School Daze (1998), Jungle Fever (1991), Mo' Better Blues (1990) and Malcolm X (1992) His Signature shot: Spike has a signature shot which he likes to use in his films. It is named â€Å"The Double- Dolly Shot†. The camera is placed on a dolly and moves along a track, the movement of the camera is smooth and makes the subject in the scene look like its floating or gliding. Here is an example of Spike's Double Dolly Shot being used in his films: Another thing which is common in Lee's films is th e way the characters addresses the camera.Spike prefers the characters to address the camera directly when filming. Narrative Structure in films: Lee calls his films â€Å"A Spike Lee Joint†. In the ending of his films he would usually use the phrases, â€Å"By Any Means Necessary', mia Dig† and â€Å"Sho Nuff'. Ending the film like this will make the audience remember it , you won't be able to forget a film with a ending phrase like that. The films that use a narration (She's Gotta Have It 1986) are ften associated with the subject of baseball teams and players.Spike Lee talks about the issues that are going on in the world today and he is not afraid to tell the truth in his movie. He casts characters that portray their characters in a positive light just like in Malcolm X (1992 biographical film). Yes, people may see him as controversial, but that Just makes him who he is. Spike is a good director and he is good at what he does. Spike one wish was â€Å"to put the vast richness of black culture on tilm† when he became a tllm maker. films in his own vision. He is an auteur who continues to make great

Thomas Hardy Poem Interpretation

Poems for essay: Neutral Tones, A Broken Appointment, The Moth-Signal. Interpretation is said to be an explanation or conceptualization of a work of literature or other art form by a critic. Hardy is known for integrating personal events from his life, into his poems that allow the reader to develop a fully rounded view of what he was trying to convey in his work. Love and its effects are one of his most famous themes that are the basis of many of his poems. Hardy tends to use references to many of his loves in his life in his poems especially his first wife Emma.The context from which he writes helps immensely when deducing the meaning of his works. However, knowledge of the poet’s background is not a necessity when interpreting all poems nor does it always influence the interpretation given by the reader; this only true to a certain extent. In the poems: â€Å"Neutral Tones†, â€Å"A Broken Appointment† and â€Å"The Moth- Signal (Edgon Heath)† are all e xamples of poems by Thomas Hardy that does not require awareness of his background to be interpreted by the reader.The poem, â€Å"Neutral Tones† can be deciphered is about a man who loses his true love and thus skews his view of love forever. The first stanza may be interpreted as the setting of which this heartbreaking moment between these two lovers took place. The setting bares no identification needed towards the writer and can be easily interpreted by the reader. The proceeding stanzas basically describe the scenarios in the relationship that led to ultimately the couple going their separate ways and as a result changes the man’s perception of love as the event is relayed from his point of view.This poem is just based on a love gone wrong and does not need Hardy’s background information to be successfully understood by anyone who reads it. His personal detached tone from the poem allows this to be possible. Along with â€Å"Neutral Tones†, â€Å"A Broken Appointment† follows the same trend of love and freedom to be interpreted without having knowledge of his past loves. This poem is about a man who is now reflecting later about the time he was stood up by the woman he loved. This is an issue that happens regularly and does not need to be referenced to sometime in the author’s life to be analyzed thoroughly.This poem was also written generally so it also bore no semblance to the life of Hardy. This goes to show that the background of an author when interpreting a poem is not utter importance. In addition, â€Å"The Moth-Signal (Edgon Heath)†, is another one of Hardy’s poems that lack the need for the context from which the poet writes. In this poem, there is an affair by a woman that is summoned to her lover via a moth being burned in the flames of a candle to indicate her lover was present.Since infidelity is a common issue, the background of Hardy is not needed to influence the interpretation of th is poem. In all of the above mention poems, they all encompassed a plot that was easily identifiable by any reader. The thread of love and heartbreak ran through each and they are all poems that are relatable to all who reads these poems. This gives proof that a poet’s background does not need to be known in order to interpret a poem nor influence its interpretation.

Effects of sugar speech Research Paper Example

Effects of sugar speech Research Paper Example Effects of sugar speech Paper Effects of sugar speech Paper Today I am going to tell you all about sugar by describing what it really is, the main forms it exists in, its effects on the body, and how we can avoid it. Body: I. Sugar is the simple name for the sweet, short-chained, simple carbohydrate used in foods. Sugar is broken down into two categories; simple incarcerations such as glucose, fructose, and calaboose, and complex disaccharide such as sucrose, maltose, and lactose. A. Sugar is a very calorie dense food with no nutritional value. Not all calories act the same way, calories from sugar are more fattening than any other calorie. A study done y Mind, Body, Green concluded that In the American diet added sugar alone accounts for 496 calories per day. B. A major problem in the food industry is that sugars are hidden in almost all of our foods and we dont even realize we are eating them. Hidden names for sugar include High Fructose Corn Syrup, Malnutrition, glucose, cane crystals, and many more. Some high sugar foods that we may not expect are; BBC sauce, with 16 grams of sugar per 2 tablespoons, low-fat yogurt, with 30 grams of sugar per 8 ounces, fruit juice, with 23 grams of sugar per 8 fluid ounces, and soda with 29 grams of sugar per 8 fluid ounces. According to Forbes, an adult should not be consuming more than 40 grams of sugar per day. However, the average American consumes over 90 grams per day. Many companies are now producing low fat versions of their foods but all they are really doing is taking out fat and adding more sugar, which just ends up turning to fat. II. Now that you have an overview of sug ar will go into detail about some of the different types, focusing on Glucose and Fructose. A. There are three different types of macroeconomics sugars. The first, called glucose, is a naturally occurring sugar found in fruits and vegetables. The second, called fructose, is another naturally occurring sugar found in fruits, root vegetables, cane sugar, and honey. It is also the sweetest of all the sugars. The third, called calaboose, is a milk sugar and is less sweet then glucose and fructose. B. There are also three different types of disaccharide sugars. The first, called sucrose, is found in sugar cane and used in table sugar. The second, called maltose, is found in grains and is the least sweet of the sugars. The third, called lactose, is found in milk. C. Glucose is one of the main sugars we consume and is also the safest. This is the type of sugar that our cells use for energy and it also produces insulin in the pancreas. Its downside is that it causes the liver to produce a substance called very low density lepidopterist or BLVD d. Sucrose and High Fructose Corn Syrup, or HUFFS, is the other main sugar we consume and also the most damaging. Sucrose is 40% fructose and HUFFS is 55% fructose. The reason for why it is so bad for you lies in how our body processes it. It can only be metabolize by your liver, which causes it to contain more calories, about 3 times the amount in glucose. It also results in a higher production folds. Fructose releases a substance called lepton to the brain which causes you to not feel full, resulting in a larger consumption of the fructose containing food. E. There is also a very big difference between processed sugar and UN-processed sugar. The fructose contained in fruit is k because fruit is very high in fiber, which causes you to feel full so you wont eat as much. Processed sugar has all of the fiber stripped from it which is why you will never feel full. Ill. Now Im going to focus on fructose and its effects on the body. Unfortunately, fructose is the main sugar in almost all foods that we eat. This is unfortunate because it is the most calorie dense and unhealthy sugar that exists. A. The most basic effect is tooth decay. Decay created by Sugar is faster than decay created by any other substance. B. The second effect is its relation to belly fat. In the past 30 years adolescent obesity rates have tripled and child rates have doubled. Americas sugar intake has also doubled in this time period and the main blame lies on our fructose-filled beverages. Fructose intake matures visceral fat cells, setting the stage for an increased amount of fat. C. The third effect is that it damages both the heart ND the liver. The American Heart Association displays strong evidence that sugar can affect the pumping mechanism of your heart and could increase your risk for heart failure?. A Journal in Nature Magazine suggests that sugar also has detrimental effects on your liver and companies should be putting the same labels on sugar that they do on alcohol. It states that while fructose is being metabolize by the liver, it damages these metabolic pathways and leads to several problems down the road. D. The fourth effect of fructose is its interference with immune function. Sugar has been proven to suppress immune responses. This is because the bacteria and yeast found in our bodies feed on sugar and when these organisms get out of balance, we are more likely to contract an illness or infection. E. The last effect Im going to discuss is advanced aging. After entering your blood stream a percent of all sugar attaches itself to a protein in a process called glaciating. This leads to loss of elasticity in both our skin and our organs. IV. Now that have told you all of the horrible things about refined and processed sugars you are probably wondering what to do about it. Your main goal should be to stick to trial sugars and eat them in moderation. Try and get most of your daily 40 grams of sugar through fruits but if you need to satisfy a sweet tooth or need to use sugar in baking there are lots Of natural sugars that work just as well and are much more nutrient dense. A. Raw honey is a great natural sweetener and works well in place of white sugar while baking. It is a natural antibacterial and it boosts the immune system, promotes digestive health, and is very high in antioxidants. It also stabilized blood pressure and helps to balance blood sugar levels. B. Pure Maple syrup is another great natural whitener that works well in place of brown sugar while baking. It contains only evaporated maple tree sap and is very high in manganese and zinc. C. There are also several other natural sugars that you may not know very much about. Steven is a sweetener extracted from a Steven plant. It IS all natural and about 300 times sweeter than table sugar. It is not very nutrient dense but it contains no calories and will not change blood sugar levels. Date sugar is simply dried dated pulverize into a powder. It is very sweet and works well replacing either white or brown sugar in recipes. Coconut sugar contains iron, Inc, calcium, and potassium as well as several antioxidants. It is also high in fiber and has very minimal effects on blood sugar levels. D. Other than using natural sugars it is important to stay away from both low-fat foods and sweeteners labeled as artificial sweetener. This is because, as mentioned before, when companies produce low fat foods they are usually just taking Out the fat and adding loads of Sugar, which is much worse for you. You should try and avoid artificial sweeteners because they are extremely processed and loaded with chemicals, which again, ends up being worse for you than sugar itself.

The eNotes Blog Marchs Teachers Corner BlendedLearning

Marchs Teachers Corner BlendedLearning In the olden days- really not that long ago- technology in the classroom was an intercom connection with the  office and a 16mm projector that showed black-and-white documentaries. When film strip projectors arrived  on the scene, they represented real innovation; a film strip machine with audio and auto advance was cutting  edge. The term â€Å"blended learning† didn’t exist because there was nothing to blend. The concept of blended learning didn’t enter the mainstream of education until the 1990’s as the internet  continued to expand and schools began investing in classroom computers and software. Since then, the idea  of â€Å"blending† internet and digital media resources with traditional classroom instruction has become the  prevailing force in determining how instruction is delivered. Laptops and tablets are quickly replacing  textbooks, and blended learning has become the focus of professional development. Teachers now race to  keep up with the explosion of new technology resources and the myriad ways they can be used in instruction. There are six models of blended learning. For an overview and a description of each model, check out this Web site.  Based on the descriptions, the â€Å"Face-to-Face Driver† model  seems to be most representative of how blended learning is being implemented in the majority of our  classrooms. The teacher delivers most of the curriculum and employs online resources to supplement  instruction and promote learning. Sounds easy enough, but keeping up with the increasing number of technology resources at  hand and using them most effectively have  become daily challenges. Here are some ideas to help sort things out. Kids the Internet With laptops, tablets, or shared classroom computers, students have immediate access to a world of  information. Sometimes, though, they lack the skills and experience to trek through the blizzard of articles  they find online. For younger students and those whose reading levels make it difficult  to use online resources, here are a couple of good Web sites: Factmonster is an online general  encyclopedia that’s not hard to navigate, and it’s filled with information in easy-to-read articles. Ducksters is designed for students K-8, and offers information and  activities in history, biography, geography, and science, along with homework help, games, and sports. Kids Computer Games Using interactive games and activities can be effective in supplementing instruction in every subject and grade  level. They’re also useful in differentiated instruction and remediation. There are thousands to choose from on  the net, but finding the right ones takes time, and time is always in short supply. To narrow your search, look  at these: For students K-12, check out the interactive games and activities at Hoagies Gifted Education Page. They cover many subjects, including engineering, physics,  space, and astronomy. At Interactive Sites for Education  you will find lots of good  interactive games and activities, K-5, in math, science, language arts, social studies, music, art, and  even typing. The brainteasers are worthwhile, too. Other Ways to Blend Learning In making blended learning effective and engaging, consider some of these ways to implement it: Tap into social media. Write some lessons that incorporate Skype, Twitter, and Facebook. Here’s a site  that features 100 ways to use social media in developing classroom projects and activities. Read books online, free of charge. Create a virtual classroom library filled with new books and stories.  At www., you’ll find eTexts of hundreds of works of literature that can be read in their  entirety online, free. Also free are the children’s books that can be read online at Childrens Books Online. It’s an amazing collection. Project Gutenberg  offers free ebooks in the public domain and features titles from world  literature. Supplement and enhance lessons with instructional videos, movies, and film clips. Save time in locating  what you need by visiting this article. It features The  100 Best Video Sites for Educators and describes what you can find at each one. Whatever subject or grade you teach, take your students on virtual field trips. A great collection of  virtual tours can be found at here. Among them  are some virtual reality tours of famous places as they existed in the past. Design lesson-related activities that allow students to use technology in creative ways- drawing  pictures, completing DIY projects, and making music or their own movies. You’ll find top-rated apps for  students K-12 at Graphite. Many of the apps are free. Every resource that can be tapped through technology isn’t necessarily valuable in the classroom. For blended  learning to be effective, it must be orchestrated by teachers who understand their students and who  recognize what can be achieved by connecting them with the right resources at the right time. As always, kids need their  teachers. Without them, the newest, most sophisticated technology is just an improvement on the film strip  machine. Have a great spring break! See you in April. This is a guest post from Staff Writer, Susan Hurn.   Susan is a former high school English teacher and college instructor. She loves writing for and also enjoys good books, creative writing, and all things related to history.   Let us know if youre interested in contributing to the   blog.