Organisational Change and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organisational Change and Development - Essay Example Organisational theory has compared and contrasted many ways of fostering the types of effective change deemed necessary to improve the production and distribution of goods and services. In addition, a variety of strategic change recommendations have been advanced based on organisational structures, relations with the public, and objectives oriented change to optimally enhance operations. This literature has given concerned stakeholders tremendous insight into the diverse methods available for enhancing the likelihood for successful transformation, all the while minimising risks for productivity, goals and objectives, as well as human resources. Given the turbulent financial environment that managers currently find themselves in, it is unlikely that any element of classic theoretical frameworks approaching problem identification and solution on a start and stop basis will provide the instruments or mechanisms necessary to continuously create the responsive flexibility and adaptability needed to survive in the current environment. Before describing the planned change factors and related resilience and fortitude now needed by contemporary organisations to address perpetual problem solving, it may be useful to describe relevant theoretical frameworks that can help managers understand and guide complex organisations through these turbulent waters of today, through the development of cohesive and responsive change strategies needed to survive and thrive under these challenging environmental conditions. RELEVANT LITERATURE The theoretical justification for organisational change has been reconciled in many ways. Classic organizational specialists argue that organisations should imitate the activities, structures, and operational patterns of those thriving in a given industry. Paradigms that advance these tendencies for organisational imitation are known as isomorphism, believed to be highly beneficial for performance and cultures (Zucker, 1977). In contrast, other frameworks suggest that flexibility and adaptation to fluctuating environments is much more likely to facilitate success (Robertson & Seneviratne, 1995). Still others examine organisational problem-based operations in light of resource mobilization or by the accumulation and maintenance of power structures (Pfeffer, 1977). Change management theorists take the position that change will be needed at certain critical points throughout an organizational lifespan, and that when necessary, constructive transformations might optimally be implemented through rational and judicious decision-making. Throughout the period of critical events when change might be indicated, managers should not necessarily exploit their power or opportunistically capitalize on their authority to impose unnecessary levels of uncertainty. According to Jackson and Carter (2007, p. 6), this could be highly detrimental to process and action oriented objectives. Our belief is that the proper purpose of the study of organisational behaviour is to provide an understanding of it, not to prescribe its uncontrolled manipulation. Such an understanding cannot be achieved independently of consideration of the purposes, practices, and ethical issues surrounding organisational

The Rise of Mao Zedong within the Communist Party in China, Essay

The Rise of Mao Zedong within the Communist Party in China, Culminating in the Proclamation of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949 - Essay Example He started his career as a teacher. In 1918 he left for Beijing and worked as assistant librarian at the Beijing University. There he became member of Marxist study group. In 1919, he returned to Changsha and became more attracted to the message of Russian revolution and Leninist version of Marxism. Mao was one of the thirteen delegates who attended the Chinese communist party's founding congress which was secretly convened in Shanghai in July 1921 (Mao, 2011). Mao was more attracted to countryside and peasants than cities and proletariats. He spent more time on studying the rural socio economic conditions and focused on organising the peasants. In fact, he discovered the great revolutionary potential of peasants. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has merged with the nationalist party of Kuomintang in 1923. However, this partnership did not last long. By 1927, it became clear that Mao and Chiang had different perceptions on Soviet interests in China. Mao supported Soviet Union while Chiang opposed it. As a result, the CCP- Kuomintang alliance broke. Both the leaders competed for domination of China. While Mao focused on rural areas, Chiang focused on urban areas. In 1927, Mao published the Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan. It contained the important ideas of Mao. He believed in the power of the peasants and described it as a tornado. In his opinion it is "so extraordinarily swift and violent that no power, however great, will be able to suppress it." (2011). He believed in the revolutionary creativity of peasants which Marxist-Leninists reserved for the Communist Party. According to Mao, it is not the party which has to determine the revolutionary capabilities of the peasants, but the peasants who has to judge the capability of the party for revolution. From April, 1927 onwards, Chiang Kai-shek focused on destroying communists and their organisational base in urban areas. Rise of Mao Mao had great admiration for sun Tzu and gave prior ity to maintaining an army. So he formed the Red Army. He knew that war against the powerful state will take years to win. He worked for gaining support for the red army among the peasants. He followed the tactic of sun Tzu, attack when stronger and retreat when weak (Seize the Night, 2010). Mao applied this strategy four times when confronted with the strong forces of Chiang. In 1930, a notable incident called the Futien incident occurred. That is, Mao suspected that a red army unit in Jiangxi is not supporting him and so ordered execution of 3000 officers and men. This shows Mao’s strict nature. Between December 1930 and September 1931, there were three guerrilla campaigns under the leadership of Mao, but failed. The fourth guerrilla campaign in 1932-33 was also a failure. But, the fifth one succeeded. In 1934, after series of defeats, the communists and three red armies were pinned down in the mountains of Jiangxi Province in southern China. The communist army became exhau sted as a result of harassment form the Kuomintang. As a result of the nationalist offensive, the communists and the red armies decided to flee their southern bases and retreat to meet Communist forces in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia in northern China (Hays, 2011). This retreat is known as the long march. It was a six thousand mile march. The long march began in Jiangxi on October 16, 1934 and crossed 24 rivers, 18 mountain ranges (5 covered with snow) and 11 provinces before it ended after 368 days at the caves of Yenan on the edge of the Gobi desert in northern China (Hays, 2011). On January 8, 1935, they met in Zunyi in Guizhou province. There, they discussed the future leadership of the communist party. The old leadership and generals of the red army supported Mao. He was made the

Government vs. Private Sector Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Government vs. Private Sector - Coursework Example This set of practices, including double-entry accounting formula, is used in ensuring that uniformity and financial accuracy is achieved. According to Gauthier (2010), these methods can also be used in the public sector, but there is room for deviation to other methods in some cases such as during budgeting (Gauthier, 2010). The application of accrual and cash accounting and budgeting basis is a great divide between the private and the public sector, with the private sector employing accrual accounting, while the public sector employing cash accounting and budgeting (Finkler, 2010). However, there is a constant development of bridging between the two approaches by most governments, with the view of attaining better financial information. The context of public and private sector finance and accounting management also differs in such a way that the private sector has more autonomy to make any financial and accounting decisions in order to achieve what ought to be achieved (Finkler, 2010). On the other hand, the public sector financial and accounting is limited to rules and regulations that limit their reach in terms of incorporating practice to have ends meet. For instance, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement No. 20 restricts state and local governments to using private sector standards that were only issued prior to November 30, 1989, consistent with GASB guidance (Gauthier,

LEED Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LEED - Assignment Example the nature of LEED certified constructions, is that the renovation and maintenance cost is substantially lower than those which are not LLED certified. The tendency for the useful lives of LEED certified building is presumed to be increased. 4. One of the subjective claims that is raised regarding LEED certified buildings and properties is that the workers who perform their duties, feel a very healthy environment because of reduced toxic emissions which lead to more productivity and efficiency among those workers. This claim is quite hard to verify because other factors also contribute in a great deal towards increasing productivity and efficiency of the workers. 1. The biggest disadvantage of LEED certification is the heavy initial cost in addition to the normal construction cost. LEED certified buildings require commissioning, administrative, documentation, modeling and designing costs to meet the requirements of LEEF certification which increase the overall cost of the buildings from 2% to 7% on average basis. 2. Another disadvantage of LEED certification is the rigid requirements of the standards designed by USGBC. These requirements are hard to meet on consistent basis. When scrutinized and if any non-compliance is found, the rating of a particular building is decreased as a result. LEED certification involves a process based on menu system. The building commissioner has a right to pick different items from an exhaustive list which includes items such as â€Å"installing on-site renewable energy facilities†, â€Å"improving insulation† etc. The building construction and renovation have the implementation of those items which are mentioned in the list of commissioners. Points are then awarded to the buildings on the basis of those items. Every item has one point with maximum 69 points in accumulation. Some technical exceptions to this point system also exist, but in the end the level of points causes various certification degrees. 1. Sustainable sites (14

The article written by John Hardwig Essay Example for Free

The article written by John Hardwig Essay In the article written by John Hardwig (1997) entitled â€Å"Is there a duty to die? † the discussion with regard to the duty of people to die is argued. The author does not recognize the need to present theoretical bases for his arguments as he intends to provide persuasive thoughts for his audience. His arguments can be considered as his own perspective and thought. In light of this, there are four arguments that the article has not answered in its discussions. This are to be answered using the perspectives of Hardwig. First, does this have to come with the free will of people and can be seen as a part of the rights of the people? In answering this, it can be said that indeed, it is within the free will of people to determine the circumstances to which they must exercise their duty to die. It is the personal choice of people to place their death as among the list of their duties because it is only the self who can determine when it needs rest. However, it can not be seen as a right because in this manner, it would be subject to abuse by the people. Second, what happens to the duty to die if people can not make decisions? For example, this problem occurs for illnesses where the person has slipped into comatose. In this regard, the person can not express the duty that is seen as appropriate for this instance, according to the beliefs of Hardwig. However, the people considered to be of close affinity or consanguinity should consider the implicit need for this duty to be given to the person to relieve the suffering and pain. Third, the assertion of the duty to die is against the goal of the society for a better quality of life for all. However, it is seen that alleviating people from being a burden or causing more harm to the self and to others is seen as a better means of achieving a better life for the society. Lastly, the family, being a part of the social institutions, can be seen as among the providers of care for people and should not consider its members to be a burden. However, as can be discerned from the two previous arguments, the duty to die gives the person the chance to have a greater chance of relieving the self from harm, as well as other people. Preventing him/her from doing it means more pain and agony for the people who are involved. References Hardwig, J. (1997). Is there a duty to die? The Hastings Center Report, 27(42), 34-42.

Water Scarcity in Egypt

Water Scarcity in Egypt Student Name: Gill Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to find the question about fresh water and analyze the fresh water data. In this text, first I will introduce the situation of fresh water in Egypt, and second is to tell you the methodology. The third and forth steps are Findings and Discussion to discuss the water issues in Egypt. Then I will to sum up all above information to write the conclusion. To discuss the problems and solutions of water resources in country Egypt. And analyze the data of the rainfall in every year in Egypt. 1.0 Introduction The purpose of this research is to find out the problem of fresh water scarcity and analyze the information about fresh water scarcity in Egypt. Fresh water is importance for Egypt because this country is located on desertification region and perennial drought. And about 98% of population lives in the most prosperous place, and they need a large number of fresh water to keep their life. China is also a country with severe water. In China, the ranking of freshwater resources is fourth in the world. However China has lots of population, resulting in the per capita water resources is only a quarter of the world average. And I think the water chemistry that may influence water scarcity is the industrial water. Almost all of the aquatic ecosystems in China are good and have fine environment. And now Chinese are improving the aquatic ecosystems be better. In my opinion, the reasons of lack of water in Egypt are the annual rainfall is less and the local population is more. Resulting in the per capita water consumption is less. 2.0 Methodology The plan for achieving research purpose is to evidence my hypothesis of fresh water in Egypt. The data that I got usually researched from Internet and some of them were got from news. The best is some of them have the example charts and detailed explanation that I can reference to my essay. I researched them by the key words fresh water in Egypt. And those articles needed to have writers, and I could do the detailed notes. Usually news articles are truth and valuable and usable, so they are of good quality for use in an academic report, and make my essay with authenticity. 3.0 Findings The two key fresh water issues in Egypt are annual precipitation is low and the per capita water resources are less. And every Egyptian cannot excessive use of water. Because these two issues involve the natural weather causes and the population causes. The potential solution of fresh water cannot choose the best one, but I think the solution is local government positive to improve the management of water resource and the family planning program. And Egypt government can try their best to control the number of population. In Egypt, people have different kinds of water for agriculture, such as Nile water, groundwater, precipitation and agricultural wastewater. Nile water is the mail water resources for Egypt country. Egypt government can get about 55.5 billion meters of water, and about 86% of this water be used to agricultural irrigation. On the groundwater, every year the Egypt government extraction of groundwater about 4.6 billion meters of water. On the precipitation, every year t he rainfall is about 1.5 billion water, however people cannot use the freshwater over than 50%. Egyptian recycling the agricultural wastewater and through purification the wastewater try to use the water again. But this way is in the test and small area application stage. Table: 4.0 Discussion In paragraph introduction my hypothesis are annual rainfall is less and the local population is more to make freshwater to be less in Egypt. Based on the findings text, I will discuss the water resources management by Egypt government. On the management way, Egypt government did a good demonstration. They implement the unified management on water resources. On the price of water for residential use, different live place has different price of water. For example the price of water in high-income residential area is higher than the price of water in low-income residential area. To try they best to save the water resources and reduce losses. However the price of water on the agricultural irrigation is free. Almost all of the agricultural wastewater that be recycled is used to the agricultural irrigation, and usually the groundwater is used to the drink and agriculture. Integrated all of the information, my argument is scientifically logical. Because my argument is based on the many arti cles, all of them think the reasons have the relationship with population and environment issues. After all, these reasons are not artificial, so that they are hardly solved. 5.0 Conclusion and Recommendation Those evidences that I researched can demonstrate my hypothesis. For example the news data, the data shows Egypt is belong to which climate, and to example why Egypt shortage of water resources. From above text, I got the main reasons for the freshwater shortage in Egypt is population and natural environment. On the solution for fresh water, Egypt government expects recovery the agricultural wastewater and clean is to try to use it again. And they also have another policy for water management. Researchers will detect the quality of the water resources in the fixed time. Resulting in they make the best plan for rational use of water resources. In addition, those scientists are going to expand study on save agricultural irrigation water technology. Thought check the local ecosystem, those scientists try to find the most suitable crop that can live in this harsh environment. Reference List 2014,Egypt:water resources from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia [Online] Available from: http://globserver.cn/node/37005 [Accessed 28 December 2016] Amir Dakkak (2016), Egypts Water Crisis Recipe for Disaster [Online] Available from: http://www.ecomena.org/egypt-water/[Accessed 28 December 2016] Water resources management and policies for Egypt [Online] Available from: http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacd/cd29/policies.pdf [Accessed 28 December 2016] Â   Â   Â  

The Rice Subsidy Programme in Malaysia

The Rice Subsidy Programme in Malaysia Rice is an important security crop which acts as a staple food in Malaysia. During the last 30 years, rice cultivation in Malaysia was converted from a subsistence farming crop, to a commercial crop which is highly controlled and subsidized by the Malaysian government. As rice is a major staple food in the country, a large range of protective policies has been introduced by the government to protect rice farmers’ incomes and to ensure the existence of sufficient rice supply in the nation due to the country’s interest in food security. Local rice farmers produce approximately 60-70% of the domestic rice supply in the nation, while imports fill up the remaining 30-40% of the rice supply. Another interesting aspect of the Malaysian rice market is that rice firm Malaysias Padiberas Nasional Bhd (BERNAS) acts as the sole importer for foreign rice. On top of that, BERNAS is also responsible for the distribution of paddy price subsidies to local rice farmers and acts as a last resort buyer at Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP), fixed at RM550 per metric tonne. According to the Finance Ministry of Malaysia, the government allocated RM528 million as subsidy for approximately 700,000 metric tonne of rice as of 2013, under the nation’s Rice Subsidy Programme. The cheapest type of rice which is subsidized by the Malaysian government is the Super Tempatan 15%, priced at RM1.80 per kg. The Malaysian government aims to protect the interest of local farmers as well as low income earners via its Rice Subsidy Programme. One of the main reasons as to why the nation’s government should continue subsidizing rice is to increase the self-sufficiency level of the local rice market. According to BERNAS, the firm imports around 30% to 40% of Malaysias domestic rice demand to fulfil the nation’s rice requirement. This shows that the local rice market’s sufficiency level is only around 60% to 70%. Therefore, in order for Malaysia to achieve a 100% sufficiency level, rice production in the country must increase.   Ã‚   Diagram 1: Subsidy graph Referring to Diagram 1, S0 refers to the supply of rice that the local rice farmers can produce without subsidy. With the introduction of subsidy by the government, local rice farmers collect RM248.10 for every tonne of paddy that they harvested. This indirectly lowers the cost of paddy production for the farmers, which allows them to expand their production from S0 to S1. If the subsidy provided by the local government continues, it is possible to further increase the production rate of paddy in Malaysia and thus increasing the self-sufficiency level of the rice market. Furthermore, Malaysia will be less dependent on foreign rice to meet the nation’s rice requirement, and a self-sufficiency rice market will prepare the nation to face any food crisis similar to the rice crisis in 2008, which might occur in future. According to Christopher Teh Boon Sung who is a senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia, the nation would need to increase the rice yield per capita to a minimu m of 106 kg in order for Malaysia’s rice market to be 100% self-sufficient by 2015. Rice production in Malaysia is largely restricted by the fact that most local farmers do not have enough modal or funds to further expand their supply. Therefore, the nation’s Rice Subsidy Programme will provide the necessary benefits to assist the rice farmers to increase the nation’s rice supply. Besides being beneficial to the producers, the continuation of the Rice Subsidy Programme by the government of Malaysia will also help lower the cost of living for the low income earners. While the subsidies provided by the government are distributed to the rice producers only, it has a direct effect on consumers as well. Diagram 2: As shown in Diagram 2, the subsidy given to the producers shifts the supply curve to the right from S0 to S1, thus lowering the equilibrium price of rice from P2 to P1. This will benefit the low income earners as the reduction in price equilibrium of rice allows them to consume more rice at a lower price. Furthermore, producers will not suffer any loss from selling rice at a price lower than equilibrium as the amount subsidized by the government (P3-P1) covers the full market price. In other words, with the existence of the Rice Subsidy Programme, it assists both local rice farmers and low income earners to ease the burden of rising costs of living due to other developments in the nation. On top of that, the reduced prices of rice due to subsidy will also protect local rice companies against competition from imported foreign rice. Consumers will be more attracted by the cheaper prices of local rice, which will result in local rice being the preferred choice over the others. One of the main reasons why the Malaysian government should discontinue subsidizing essential goods such as rice is due to the fact that subsidies require massive amount of funding for it to be financed. While giving out subsidies to rice farmers has been a norm in the country for many years, the government of Malaysia should also consider the fact that it is very costly for the nation to continue funding them. According to the Finance Ministry of Malaysia, the government allocated a staggering RM528 million to fund subsidies for 700,000 metric tonne in 2013. Moreover, the rice subsidy provided by the government inevitably comes with an opportunity cost. As a large portion of government’s funds being allocated for the rice subsidy, the government is unable to increase the budget of other essential sectors in the nation such as education and infrastructure development. By discontinuing the subsidy for rice in the country, the government will obtain additional funds to increase its expenditure in other sectors which could reduce the burden of citizens even further. With that, the government is able to execute other essential policies such as free education. Besides that, the government should also take into account that the continuation of rice subsidy will lead to long-term environmental issues. As the government aims to protect local rice farmers and encouraging them to increase rice production in the nation via its subsidy programme, it might also encourage the rice farmers to use intensive farming methods in order to gain faster yields. Those intensive farming methods might be a huge threat to the sustainability of the country’s ecological resources. If that happens, concerned non-governmental organizations or angry citizens will possibly stage mass rallies and protests which could tarnish the nation’s image in the eyes of global investors. Moreover, With so much taxpayer’s money being allocated as subsidy for rice by the Malaysian government, there are surely questions on who benefits more from the subsidy. A suitable policy which could possibly satisfy all parties is that the government removes all trade barriers for the rice market in Malaysia. This policy has a slight similarity to the one executed by Thailands military government which dismissed all rice price-support scheme imposed by the former civilian government. In order to run free market policy for the rice industry, the policy will require BERNAS to be removed as a sole importer for rice, and the abolishment of the Rice Subsidy Programme in Malaysia. The objective of this policy is to allow the prices of rice to be set by the forces of supply and demand without government intervention. As a direct result of this policy, rice supply in the country is expected to decrease due to the fact that local rice farmers no longer have the aid to increase their production capacity. However, this will not be a major problem as the gap between production and consumption can now be filled up by rice vendors importing rice from foreign coun tries. As BERNAS no longer holds the rice import monopoly, rice imports are expected to increase as vendors face competition among one another. More importantly, the government will no longer have to fund over RM500 million each year and can allocate the extra funds to other sectors. One of the disadvantages of this policy is that the prices of rice are expected to rise slightly following the removal of subsidy. However, that will only affect consumers for a short term, as competition in the market will set a lower equilibrium price sooner or later. Also, removal of subsidy might cause dissatisfaction among farmers and low income earners who no longer have additional aids to bear the high costs of living. In conclusion, the Rice Subsidy Programme in Malaysia has its advantages and disadvantages.