Learning and Development Provision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Learning and Development Provision - Essay Example Returns on such investments are often not clear and measurement of outcome is generally not possible in tangible formats. It is also observed in various studies that organizations, especially small and medium scale organizations, are vary of training programs due to non-clarity of its outcome. This has led to different hypothesis in the field of employee training and various training methodologies have been formulated to overcome the shortcomings of traditional training programs and meet the growing market challenges. Following discussion analyses structured training process approach to the analysis, design, delivery, and evaluation of learning and development provision. It uses the McDonald's training program as an example case to illustrate how a structured training program influence the productivity of employees and performance of business as a whole. McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving 52 million people in more than 100 countries each day. It has an ongoing commitment to employee learning and development, recognizing the importance of helping to build the skills base of their employees and the benefits this can bring to their business with better staff productivity. The company's recruitment policy is opt to its name 'hire and smile'. McDonald's hires people with a diverse range of qualifications, from highly skilled managers to college dropouts and focuses more on human qualities instead of educational qualifications. Its employee training programs are highly structured and are based on the company's core principles of quality, service, cleanliness, and value. McDonald's has also initiated its new employee training program known as 'Skills for Life' to provide an effective training to its employees, in association with the Learning and Skills Council. As a part o f its structured training program, McDonald's has also started Hamburger University that acts like a cushion for a highly skilled human resource development initiatives of the company. Structured Training Process Structured training process is setting and controlling the various training activities that facilitate a proper analysis, design, delivery, and evaluation of training that leads to development of human resources. Structured training is defined as a training activity with specific content that has a predefined objective and predetermined format, and whose progress can be monitored and/or evaluated. On-the-job training, on the other hand, is informal and does not necessarily have a predetermined format. It is generally conducted in the workplace itself (Guide to the Analysis of the Workplace and Employee Survey, 2001, Statistics Canada). It often relies on simulations of real time events. Structured training programs consist of certain predefined simulated organizational tasks that require a prompt response from trainees. It also incorporates a structured approach for feedbacks to improve performance of employees and the training process itself. Structured training programs have several advantages over traditional training. Some of the major benefits of structured training process are as follows: Focus on objectives Limiting the tasks and focusing on the

I-phone and I-teach Essay Example for Free

I-phone and I-teach Essay The highly anticipated and much celebrated release of the newest and perhaps hippest cellular phone on the market has spurred a number of discussions on the applicability of these devices to other forums. With an increasingly large number of prepubescent teens and children carrying cellular phones everywhere they go, a number of educators have begun to inquire as to its applicability as a teaching aid while there are some who argue that cellular phones have no place in today’s educational institutions. There is certainly no clear yes or no answer to this issue and instead it is important to arrive at a certain compromise in order to resolve this issue. There are basically two schools of thought behind this issue, the pros and the cons. The first argues that the changing times and evolving technology necessitate the use of these new devices in order to improve educational methods and take advantage of the ever decreasing attention span of students with regard to traditional teaching methods. The second school of thought, on the other hand, argues that the older methods which have been tested and tried are always better and thus these distractions (cellular phones) should be strictly kept out of classrooms. In order to, however, come up with a reasonable discourse concerning this topic it is first important to examine just how these devices have affected classroom activities. â€Å"Cell phones connect friends and families. In a moment, across the country or oversees a parent can call his son to see whether he is doing alright†. Businessmen can make their business deals and get everything done when away from office. Newer programs event take advantage of the cameras that most of today’s cellular phone models have by allowing one to take a picture of a page and have that file converted into a document that can be edited as reported in the October 29, 2007 issue of Newsweek entitled, â€Å"How to Make the Cellular Phone a Portable Scanner. † (Ellison, 2007, p. 1) In the same way that businessmen take advantage of the ever increasing conveniences that cellular phones have provided, students at schools all over the country communicate frequently with each other through the use of cell phones and this is the case of concern for most of the country’s school administrators (Armbruster-Sandoval, 2005, p. 64) The first school of thought, as presented earlier, argues that instead of banning these cellular phones from classrooms, an alternative can be reached. There is no need to reject this technology advancement but rather there is a need to embrace it and take advantage of it. With the average classroom attention span in the United States dropping, more and more educators have come to realize that there is a pressing concern to come up with new methods of teaching that is able to reach out to these children and one of these solutions is the cellular phone. In response to this, however, detractors have argued that this instant method of communication has its own drawbacks as well. Cellular phones are said foster interpersonal relationships as opposed to direct communication which provides a certain level of personal interaction. The essential factor or edge of having the instructor or teacher personally present to ensure that the student is able to learn will certainly be diminished by using cellular phones as a mode of conveying lessons and learning modules. The second bone of contention with regard to cellular phone use in the classrooms has arisen out of the recent traumatic events that have rocked the American educational institutions. The Columbine tragedy and even perhaps 9-11 have made parents more concerned over the safety of their children and have demanded that schools allow the children to bring these devices into the classroom. In response to this rising safety issue, more and more schools in the United States have begun lifting the ban on cellular phones in classrooms (Shaw, 2005, p. 1). When Mayor Bloomberg banned cellular phones from New York public schools, most of the uproar that resulted from the institution of that policy came, not from the school children as previously anticipated, but rather from concerned parents who argued that the lack public payphones in the area made it more dangerous for their children (Williams, 2006, p. 1). While certainly it may not have an effect on the lessons that these students learn in classroom, it does affect the quality of education a child may receive since a concerned parent may relocate the child to safer place which may not provide as good a quality of education as the previous school. While there is certainly no doubt that the safety of children is of the highest priority, there is also a need to educate today’s youth if they are to stand a chance of surviving in this world. Another issue that has been presented is that cell phones lead to the deterioration of writing skills as the use of the text messaging feature leads to what has been termed txt-lingo. For some, â€Å"text messages, a popular phone feature has affected the English language† â€Å"That is (that the use of) abbreviated messages has also affected the use of vowels† (Silin, 1999, p. 20). This issue has even been made worse by the fact that the new dictionaries or rather predictive text feature on cellular phones make it easier for students to just tap away at the keypad with the phone doing the corresponding spelling changes. The loss of not only personal but grammatical communication skills is indeed an issue which must be tackled in response to the topic on whether or not children should be allowed to bring cellular phones into the classroom. It is important to remember, however, that even though the above argument may present a grain of truth, learning is simply much more that just missing vowels and spelling. Education has never been confined to the teaching of English but rather even to the discussion of the propriety of bringing cellular phones into the classrooms (Shaw, 2005, p. 1). As such, to even argue that cellular phones should not be brought into the classrooms because it leads to bad spelling skills would be totally disregard the other benefits that can be derived from the use of such a device. Benefits such as being able to send images of certain objects that may be used for a lively and scholarly discussion in class, encouraging discourses between students over certain topics and certainly the building of foundations for the educational improvement of today’s youth, far outweigh the simple problem of lacking vowels which can be easily remedied (Shaw, 2005, p. 1). Perhaps the answer to this problem lies in the students themselves who use these devices as argued be certain concerned parents. There are some parents, who can claim that their children are very responsible, and they know when to put on or put off the cell phone and therefore should be allowed to use cell phones even in schools (Fretcher, 2000, p. 69). According to Armbrustor-Sandoval, â€Å"Teenagers have learned to heavily rely on cell phones† thus transforming this into a serious issue. This is why the government is contemplating on banning cellular phones in not only classrooms but inside campuses as well. Banning cellular phones in most educational institutions is a good idea but some exceptions should be allowed since cellular phones can be used in reporting emergencies and the like (Armbrustor-Sandoval, 2005, p. 71). If parents cannot control their own children with regard to the use of cellular phones in education institutions, the question that begs to be asked therefore is whether or not the government is more qualified to make that decision and enforce is it for the students. There is no doubt from this brief discussion that there are indeed a number of pros and cons concerning this issue. On one hand, allowing the use of cellular phones promotes the safety of students and minimizes the concern that parents naturally have over their children and at the same time, the use of cellular phones presents new opportunities to extend teaching to beyond the confines of the classroom. The cons of this issue can be basically be summarized in a single thought which is the concern over the deterioration of quality of education a child will receive in an environment which may no longer be perceived as conducive for teaching if the use of cellular phones is allowed. Cellular phones have improved dramatically over the last few years. With the rate of technological advancement today, it is not far off into the future when cellular phones will be able to do certain things that were but unimaginable in the present. The question, however, is whether or not all these advances will remain to be benefits for just a certain group or if they can be used to improve every aspect of life (as most of the cellular phones are currently trying to do i. e. I-phone). The benefits and drawbacks are certainly very clear. The problem for the government and most educational policy makers is on how to balance these benefits and drawbacks so as to be able to take full advantage of the situation (Shaw, 2005, p. 1). As such, the only solution that remains is coming up with a well thought out cellular phone policy for the school in order for them to be able to continue to reflect the society which they serve. References: Armbrustor-Sandoval, R (2005): Is Another World possible? Is another classroom possible? Radical pedagogy. Activity and social change; social justice, vol. 32 Foust, R. C. , Soukup, C. (2006); Do I Exist? Transcendent subject and secrets in the sixth sense; Western Journal of communication, Vol. 70. Fretcher, H. G. (2000); Power up, Don’t Power Down: Barring students form cell phones, my space, and other communication technologies. Once they enter, the classroom is the wrong approach. A better move would be integrating. Those tools into instructions; The journal (Technological Horizons in Education), Vol. 33 Luke, A. D. (2005); Getting the big picture; community science. Methods that capture context; American journal of community psychology Vol. 35. Shaw, Katherine (2005) Students and Cell Phones: Controversy in the Classroom from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/4903/students_and_cell_phones_controversy.html

Organizational Decoupling Processes and Causes

Organizational Decoupling Processes and Causes The field of organizational decoupling is a field that has not been researched very much. Meyer and Rowan (1977) were some of the first authors who wrote about this subject and define organizational decoupling as separating formal structure from actual organizational practice. In short, this means that organizations say that they do one thing, but actually do something else. For instance, an organization can announce that it will start a stock repurchase program. The organization can announce that it will repurchase a certain amount of stocks but actually repurchase much less stocks or dont repurchase them at all (Westphal Zajac, 2001). In this particular example the organization decouples what it says it is going to do, with what it actually does. Thus, the organization separates formal procedures (formal structure) from practice. So organizations seem to decouple their structure from actual practice, but why? Why do organizations try to fool other organizations, clients, customers and possibly even themselves? I argue that the main problem is legitimacy, and by exploring organizations quest for legitimacy and the problems they might encounter along the way, this research tries to map the main causes for organizational decoupling and thus give an answer to the following research question: What are the main causes of organizational decoupling? This research consists of a step-by-step overview of the entire process underlying decoupling. Four steps will be taken to explore and explain why organizations decouple their formal procedures (formal structure) from practice. Namely, 1) looking at the context of organizations and their search for legitimacy, 2) looking at problems organizations might encounter while searching for legitimacy 3) identifying the problem that is supported to be the prime cause of decoupling and 4) looking at organizational reactions to these problems (using decoupling) to connect the causes the action (problems to decoupling). These three steps will be discussed in three paragraphs and each paragraph consists of a review of existing literature from different authors about the decoupling process. Figure 1.1 shows the conceptual model sketching the process underlying decoupling. This model is divided into theory and propositions. The theory section shows which concepts form the theory behind the proposit ions and the propositions section shows which propositions are extracted from the theory. These propositions will form the core of this research. Research Structure The first step in the research is to take a look at the context of organizations and their quest for legitimacy. Organizations are embedded into institutional environments, meaning that the environment expects something of these organizations (Boxembaum Jonsson, 2008). There are certain norms, values and rules that organizations are being expected to act upon. Organizations have to conform to these expectations to gain legitimacy and this is the one goal all organizations have. They have to be legitimate to operate, survive, gain control over resources and create stability (Meyer Rowan, 1977; Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008). For organizations, expectations are being experienced as pressures to conform. Therefore, this research will use the term environmental pressures to refer to these expectations. However, using the term environmental pressure sketches an image that is too vague and incomplete. Therefore this research divides environmental pressures into normative pressures and coercive pressures (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). The term normative pressures refers to the expectations of the public or the cultural audience. These are the people and other organizations that form society and expect organizations to behave in a certain way and to conform to moral norms and values. It is important to keep in mind that it is not illegal to disregard these expectations; they are social guidelines, not laws. Nonetheless organizations have to conform to these expectations to stay legitimate (Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008; and others). Coercive pressures however do consist of laws. In some situations organizations have to conform to certain laws that are being imposed by the government and this creates a pressure to conform. Organizations must conform because disobedience is illegal and illegitimate (Edelman, 1992). The second step in finding the answer to why organizations decouple their formal procedures (formal structure) from practice lies in the problems organizations might encounter while pursuing legitimacy. This paper categorizes three different problems that might rise when organizations try to gain legitimacy by conforming to environmental pressures, namely: 1) organizations might encounter a misfit between the expectations of their environments and their practices (Meyer Rowan, 1977); 2) some organizations might encounter an inability to conform to the coercive and normative pressures (Oliver, 1991); and 3) in some cases what an organization is being expected to do is in conflict with the interests of the organization as a whole or of individual managers (Edelman, 1992; Westphal Zajac, 2001; Fiss Zajac, 2006). The third step is to identify one of the three possible problems as the one that is the most important or most found cause of organizational decoupling. This step will eventually form an answer to the research question. The fourth step is the step where organizations actually decouple their formal structure from practice as a response to the problems that have arisen as a result of environmental pressures. This chapter will discuss different ways in which organizations use decoupling to solve problems and it illustrates some particular situations and approaches to the different problems that might arise while trying to be legitimate. This chapter functions as a bridge between the problems and the actual decoupling. Relevance of the Research Because organizations experience the struggle for legitimacy on a daily basis, and therefore have to cope with problems that arise as a result, this research might give organizations an insight in how to deal with these pressures and problem situations. Managers of organizations can use the knowledge in this research to come up with strategies that both suffice the need for legitimacy as well as the need for efficiency and pursuing organizational interests. The process underlying decoupling as illustrated in this research might also be used as a mean to gain legitimacy on its own. Because this research provides an insight into the reasons that organizations have to decouple their structure from practice, the public or cultural audience might come to a better understanding of the situation. They might understand that organizations sometimes have no other choice than to decouple and that the actions of organizations are actually quite legitimate, even if they are not considered to be at the moment. The knowledge provided in this research can also lead to further research on decoupling an form a basis for other researchers to start from because it tries to explain the core concept behind decoupling and to give an answer to the why question. Theoretical Framework Theory The aim of this research is to explore and explain the process underlying organizational decoupling and summarize the main causes. But what is organizational decoupling exactly? Meyer and Rowan (1977) define organizational decoupling as separating formal structure from actual organizational practice, meaning that organizations create an illusion of their activities (formal structure) but actually perform different activities (organizational practice). Many authors have used the term organizational decoupling but most of them refer to Meyer and Rowan as the founding fathers of this field of study and therefore this research will use the definition of organizational decoupling as given by them. The second important concept in this research is legitimacy. This research hypothesizes that organizations are on a quest for legitimacy and might encounter problems along the way. Legitimacy is therefore one of the core concepts and will be defined as a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions (Suchman, 1995, p. 574). This definition will be used in this research because Suchman (1995) includes the importance of the social audience in his definition. As mentioned earlier, the audience defines the social pressure that organizations experience and is therefore an important player in the process underlying decoupling, which in a way determines what is legitimate and what is not, and should therefore be included in the definition of legitimacy. The third concept as mentioned in the conceptual model (figure 1.1) is environmental pressure. Meyer and Rowan (1977) call this environmental pressure myths. According to them, institutional rules function as myths to which organizations have to conform to be legitimate. This research however does not use the term myths but the term environmental pressure, the definition however remains the same. As mentioned earlier this research separates environmental pressure into two different sub pressures: coercive pressure and normative pressure. Coercive pressure will be defined as the demand of the state or other large actors to adopt specific structures or practices, or else face sanctions (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000 in Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008, p. 80). Normative pressure will be defined as what is widely considered a proper course of action, or even a moral duty (Suchman, 1995, in Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008, p. 80). These two definitions are chosen because they both point out the important difference between the moral and legal background of the concepts. The definition of coercive pressures specifically points out the role of the state and the risk of facing sanctions. This expresses the legal background of the concept. On the other hand, the definition of normative pressure points out the role of the audience. This on its turn expresses the social background of the concept. Dimaggio and Powel (1983/2000) also mention a third pressure, namely mimetic pressure. These mimetic pressures are mainly caused by uncertainty. This uncertainty for organizations causes organizations to imitate other, successful organizations to reduce their own uncertainty. Even though the concept of mimetic pressures is a part of the pressure package of Dimaggio and Powel (1983/2000) it will not be used in this research. The reason for leaving mimetic pressures out of the research and include only coercive and normative pressures is that this research hypothesizes that conforming to certain en vironmental pressure causes problems. Mimetic pressures however do not cause but rather solve problems (uncertainty)(Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). Propositions This research also mentions three different problems that organizations might encounter while trying to be legitimate. The first are efficiency problems. These problems are defined as problems that might arise when organizations try to conform to environmental pressures, which actually are in conflict with efficiency criteria (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The second problem is the inability to conform to environmental pressures. This problem will be defined as a problem that might rise when an organization has inadequate resources or capacity to meet the requirements of conformity (Oliver, 1991). The third are conflicting organizational or managerial interest problems. These are problems that might rise when environmental pressures are in conflict with the organizational or managerial interests (Edelman, 1992; Westphal Zajac, 2001; Fiss Zajac, 2006). Based on these three possible problems three propositions are made: Proposition 1 Organizational decoupling is caused by efficiency problems. Proposition 2 Organizational decoupling is caused by the organizations inability to conform to environmental pressures. Proposition 3 Organizational decoupling is caused by conflicting organizational or managerial interests. Table 2.1 Concept Definitions Organizational decoupling Separating formal structures from actual organizational practice Legitimacy A generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions Environmental pressure Institutional rules function as environmental pressures to which organizations have to conform to be legitimate Coercive pressure The demand of the state or other large actors to adopt specific structures or practices, or else face sanctions Normative pressure What is widely considered a proper course of action, or even a moral duty Efficiency problems Problems that might arise when organizations try to conform to environmental pressures, which actually conflicts sharply with efficiency criteria Inability to conform to environmental pressures Problems that might arise when an organization has inadequate resources or capacity to meet the requirements of conformity Conflicting organizational or managerial interests Problems that might arise when environmental pressures are in conflict with the organizational or managerial interests Research design This research can be characterized as both a descriptive and an explanatory research. It is both descriptive and explanatory because the aim on one hand is to describe current mainstream findings of other researchers on organizational decoupling and on the other hand to explain the whole process underlying organizational decoupling. This chapter will describe the process of data collection and data analysis using a part of the guidelines for conducting a systematic literature review as suggested by Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003). According to them conducting a review can be divided into several phases (table 3.1). These phases will form the steps used in this research for both data collection and analysis. Phases in conducting a review (Tranfield, Denyer Smart, 2003) Phase 1 Identification of research Phase 2 Selection of Studies Phase 3 Study quality assessment Identification of Research This phase of the research is the actual start of the data collection. According to Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003) a systematic search begins with identifying keywords and search terms. As mentioned in chapter 2 (Theoretical Framework), this research contains several concepts, which again can be found in the conceptual model (figure 1.1). These concepts are the core of this research and therefore some of them will be used as keywords to find relevant articles and papers. The first string of keywords is as follows: 1) Decoupling; 2) Legitimacy; 3) Institutional pressures. Table 3.2 shows the number of articles found for each keyword. Number of articles found Decoupling 12.262 Legitimacy 8.199 Institutional pressures 1080 To make the keywords more specific and to make sure that the results of the search are narrowed down the following, more specific keywords were identified and some keywords were added to the string (see table 3.2 for argumentation): 1) Organi?ational decoupling; 2) Acquiring legitimacy; 3) Maintaining legitimacy; 4) Conformity + institutional pressures; 5) Symbolic management Keyword argumentation Organi?ational decoupling Adding organi?ational to the term Decoupling makes the term more specific and narrows down results The ? makes sure that both the English and the American spelling of the word are being checked for Acquiring legitimacy Adding Aquiring to the term Legitimacy makes sure that the search focuses on the organizations search for legitimacy and not just on legitimacy itself Maintaining legitimacy Adding Maintaining to the term Legitimacy makes sure that the search focuses on the organizations struggle to maintain legitimacy and not just on legitimacy itself Conformity + Institutional pressures The term Institutional pressures refers to the pressures that weigh upon organizations The term Conformity refers to the theory that organizations have to conform to certain pressures to be legitimate Symbolic management Decoupling is using symbols to show that your organization conforms to certain institutional pressures (myths) (Meyer Rowan, 1977)The use of these symbols as a management strategy is called symbolic management (Westphal Zajac, 1998; 2001) The main source of information will be the ISI Web of Knowledge. This database contains thousands of articles and papers, which can be found using the license of the University of Tilburg. Unfortunately this license only allows the search for articles that have been published in 1988 or later. However, for the first step in searching relevant literature this is not a reason for concern. Again, to narrow down the results of the research and to exclude irrelevant results, the search will be refined to the general category Social Sciences. This makes sure that the search results do not include findings in irrelevant categories such as Science and Technology and Arts and Humanities. Second, the subject areas of the search are also refined. The subject areas that are included in the search are Business and Economics, Sociology and Behavioral Sciences. An example of the exact syntax of the search command can be found in the appendix. Besides using search-strings, this research also used the technique of snowballing. This technique uses the literature references of articles and papers that might have been found using the search-strings. For instance, the paper of Meyer and Rowan (1977) is being referred to by almost every author in the field of organizational decoupling. However, this article does not pop up in the search results in the Web of Knowledge database because it was published before 1988. By using snowballing other relevant articles about the subject can be found. The result of using this technique is that the latter part of the literature used in this research was found in the literature references of the articles that were found by using the organi?ational decoupling search term. Selection of Studies After searching for articles a selection of relevant studies had to be made. This process consists of three steps: 1) scanning the titles 2) reading the abstracts of the studies found and 3) matching the content of the studies to this researchs concept. The first and second step give an indication of what the studies are about. The title says a lot about the content of a paper and the abstract of an article gives a short summary of what the author has found in his or her study and thus gives an indication of the usability for this research. The third step is actually a sort of analysis of the studies that have been marked as relevant and usable in the previous two steps. This step consists of actually reading the selected studies and mapping their contents. Mapping the contents of a article or paper that are relevant for this research is being done by using a summary table (see appendix 6.2). This table is an oversight of the different articles and papers, their authors and the main concepts of these studies. After reading all the relevant literature this table is used to divide the different studies into different categories. The different categories consist of the core concepts of this study as shown in figure 1.1 (conceptual model), namely: 1) legitimacy; 2) conforming to coercive pressures; 3) conforming to normative pressures; 4) efficiency problems; 5) inability to conform to environmental pressures; 6) conflicting organizational or managerial interests; and 7) implementing decoupling. Dividing the literature into these different categories makes it easier to link them together in this research and to formulate an answer to the research question. Study Quality Assessment The quality of this research will be guaranteed by checking the literature that is being used as data. By checking the literature for times cited the reliability and validity of the literature is being secured. The more a particular article or paper is cited by other authors, the higher the reliability and validity of this particular article or paper. However, this also means that the older articles seem to be more reliable. To overcome this bias articles of more recent years have also been taken in to account and have been checked for usability separately. Another method for improving the reliability of the research is to use theoretical triangulation. By looking at different theories, the concept of organizational decoupling will be explained in a reliable and multidimensional way. To guarantee that this research can be replicated and checked for inconsistencies or to extend it, every step of the research process is being recorded. Also, the systematic way of analyzing the data ensures both replicabillity and reliability. Results As mentioned earlier, this research consists of three steps in explaining the causes of organizational decoupling. These three steps are according to the conceptual model (figure 1.1) and try to explain the process underlying decoupling step-by-step and will be covered in the following paragraphs. Quest for Legitimacy Before we can point out which problems could cause decoupling we must first take a look at how these problems rise in the first place. The theory shows that organizations try to be legitimate and are thus on a quest for legitimacy. Acquiring and maintaining legitimacy is the most difficult task for most organizations (Elsbach Sutton, 1992; Pfeffer Salancik, 1978: 194). Nonetheless, organizations have to be legitimate to operate, survive, gain resources and create stability (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Boxembaum Jonsson, 2008). So one of the main goals of organizations is to be legitimate, but how do organizations achieve this? Boxembaum and Jonsson (2008) argue that organizations are embedded into institutional environments. Being embedded into institutional environments means that this environment has certain expectations of the organizations. These expectations are being experienced as pressures, and organizations have to comply with these pressures to maintain legitimacy (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000; Monahan, 2006). These pressures can be either coercive or normative (Seidman, 1983; Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). Coercive pressures refer to environmental expectations such as, for instance, laws. The argument that organizations have to conform to coercive pressures is supported by the work of Tsoukas (1994) who argues that in some environments organizations have to conform to rules and institutions as imposed by the legal state. Normative pressures refer to norms and values about what is considered proper or normal (Suchman, 1995). In their work on educational organizations and ranking Sauder and Espeland (2009) write about the normative pressures that educational organizations have to conform to. According to them, educational organizations are being ranked according to their performance. Schools have to be the best of the best to survive and thus have to conform to todays ideas of what is considered good quality and bad quality. Problems Along the Way So in short, organizations try to be legitimate by conforming to both coercive and normative environmental pressures. Conforming to these environmental pressures seems to be the right and only thing for organizations to do. However, this research hypothesizes that it might also cause certain problems. This research distinct three particular problems, namely: 1) efficiency problems; 2) inability to conform; and 3) conflicting interests. Efficiency Problems Meyer and Rowan (1977) argue that organizations that try to be legitimate by conforming to environmental pressures might encounter a misfit between the organizational structure and its practice. In other words, the environmental pressures are not in line with the organizational practice. For instance, Meyer and Rowan (1977) mention the example of a bus company. A bus company is expected to service certain routes, even when there are no passengers. This is highly inefficient, but the bus company has to conform to the environmental pressures. Edelman (1992) also point out the efficiency problems that might rise in their example of the equal employment opportunity and affirmative action (EEO/AA) law. This law is designed to ban discrimination in the hiring processes of firms and thus restricts organizations and managers to hire or refuse whomever they want. According to Edelman (1992) organizations experience this as highly inefficient and obstructing to managerial power. Inability to Conform A second problem that organizations can encounter is that they simply cannot conform to the environmental pressures. Oliver (1991) argues that some organizations are just not able to conform to certain environmental pressures because they do not have the needed resources or the capacity. For instance, it is more or less a social expectation (thus, a normative pressure) that the area surrounding a fast-food-restaurant is kept clean and clear of garbage by the restaurant itself. However, the restaurant might not have enough personnel or the material (resources and capacity) to conform to this expectation. It might also be possible that organizations simply do not know what is being expected of them or that multiple environmental pressures are conflicting with each other (Oliver, 1992). If any of these options is the case, then the organization might not be able to conform or choose to conform to one pressure, but ignore the other (conflicting) one. Conflicting Organizational or Managerial Interests The third problem that can rise as a result of trying to conform to environmental pressures is that certain organizational or managerial interests might be conflicting with the expectations (environmental pressures). Westphal and Zajac (2001) point out that some organizations that announce a stock repurchase program do not always fully implement these programs. According to them this might be a result of conflicting managerial interests. They argue that top managers might use this strategy, which is actually decoupling, to preserve free cash flow for themselves and thus to maintain managerial discretion over the allocation of resources. In other words, the organization is being expected to fully implement the stock repurchase programs, but top managers seem to want to keep control over the allocation of resources and thus do not (completely) conform to this environmental pressure. What is being expected, and the interests of the managers are conflicting with each other. The previous mentioned findings of Edelman (1992) about the EEO/AA law and its consequences for organizations are also supporting the conflicting interests argument. Edelman (1992) not only argues that conforming to the EEO/AA law, a coercive pressure, is inefficient but also argues that it is in conflict with organizational and managerial interests. Managers want to be free in hiring whomever they want but the EEO/AA law prohibits them from doing this. Thus, the coercive pressure to which the organizations have to conform is in conflict with the interests of the organizations themselves and their managers. Decoupling as  a Problem Solving Tool So far we have traced the process underlying decoupling from trying to be legitimate, to conforming to environmental pressures and to the problems this might cause. This research argues that these problems are the main causes of organizational decoupling but so far nothing has been said about the implementation of decoupling as a response to these problems. This paragraph will give some examples of how organizations use decoupling to solve their problems and will form a bridge between the problems and decoupling. According to Meyer and Rowan (1977), efficiency problems can be solved by formally adopting a structure but then internally decouple this structure from the actual practice. They give an example of how a hospital applies this strategy. In this example Meyer and Rowan (1977) point out that hospitals treat, not cure their patients. The environmental pressures prescribe that hospitals are being expected to cure patients. However, this is highly unpractical because they cannot cure every single patient. The solution to this problem is decoupling. Hospitals give an impression that they cure their patients, and thus conform to the environmental pressures, but actually these hospitals treat their patients and do not cure all of them. In fact, hospitals only publish numbers on treated patients and not or seldom on cured patients (Meyer Rowan, 1977). Edelman (1992), regarding to the EEO/AA law example, also gives a solution to the efficiency problems. Organizations create formal structures in the form of offices, positions, rules and procedures within the organization. These formal structures are actually symbols of compliance. They give the impression that the organization conforms to the environmental pressures, but in fact the organization can hire or reject someone on illegitimate grounds (Edelman, 1992). When an organization does not have the resources or capability to conform to environmental pressures, it will attempt to preclude the necessity of conformity or to conceal nonconformity behind a faà §ade of acquiescence (Oliver, 1991). Oliver (1991) gives an example: when a construction firm is building a house and they are expecting a government inspection of the building site, they might display several activities that normally are not there. For instance, rules require two men to operate heavy machinery on building sites. However, a building firm might not have enough personnel to put two men on the job and thus normally only one man operates the machinery. When the building firm expects an inspection it will, for instance, relocate someone from another building site to the one that is being inspected. So when the inspectors come, the heavy machinery is operated by two men, while normally it is not. This way the organization (construction firm) conceals its nonconformity. A possible solution to the third problem, conflicting organizational or managerial interests, is already mentioned shortly in the previous paragraph. The example of the stock repurchase program (Westphal Zajac, 2001) shows that individual managers simply do not implement the whole program when their interests are in conflict with the plans. So in short, decoupling actually comes down to the following: give the environment the impression that the organization conforms to all expectations (environmental pressures), but when these pressures cause some sort of problem for the organization, actually follow the organizations own rules and routines. Conclusions Recommendations This chapter will formulate conclusions that are derived from the results and give some recommendations for further research on organizational decoupling. Conclusions

The Life Of Jesus :: essays research papers

The Life of Jesus The New Testament is mainly based on the life of Jesus and the early church. He is known as the son of God though his parents were Mary and Joseph. Jesus was born in a stable in city of Bethlehem as there was no room in the inns. Once he was born, Mary had no crib to place him in, so they made one with a troth and some straw. Three Kings and some shepherds came to visit him. The kings gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Jesus and his family travelled to Jordan from Galilee so Jesus could be baptised. Jesus went all over Galilee preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He educated in the synagogues, speaking and reading in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin. He taught people how to live properly and to always make the right decision. He also told many parables. Jesus healed many different people with incurable diseases and sicknesses. He performed many miracles with the power of God. It was time for Jesus to choose his twelve apostles. He chose Simon, James, John, Andrew, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thaddaeus, Simon and Judas. They all came from different backgrounds. Judas was the apostle who betrayed Jesus. It was time for the last supper. Jesus sat down with his disciples at the table to share the bread and wine. Jesus went to pray in Gethsemane with his disciples when Judas arrived with an armed crowd sent by the chief priests. They arrested him. Jesus was brought to Pilate and he sentenced him to death. Then he was crucified. When he died, a man named Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and he replied yes. Joseph took the body down wrapped him in linen and placed him in a tomb. He rolled a large stone across the entrance. Jesus's body still had to be anointed, so the day after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James came to dress him. When they arrived the stone was rolled open so they entered though shocked that it was open. In there they saw a man in a white robe, an angel. They were shocked even more. The angel calmed the women and told them that he had been raised. The women were so afraid that they ran out of the tomb yet they were filled with joy. A man stopped them. It was Jesus. The women were so happy.

Game Theory as it Relates to Abortion in Canada Essay -- Politics

Flanagan’s Status Quo In 1988 abortion legislation was abolished by the supreme court of Canada (Flanagan 120). Current law was deemed to violate a women’s â€Å"security of person† under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Wikipedia). Drafting and passing abortion legislation became the responsibility of the current Prime Minister and the House of Commons (Flanagan 121). Attempts by Brian Mulroney to introduce abortion legislation into the House of Commons and senate failed repeatedly (Flanagan 121). ) Despite public opinion favoring moderate legislation, abortion in Canada remains unlegislated (Flanagan 121).Under the circumstances stated why does Canadian abortion law remain in a state of limbo? In Game Theory and Canadian Politics Thomas Flanagan attempts to elucidate this seeming anomaly in Canadian politics. Firstly, the inability to pass new legislation is explained by the tendency for the status quo to prevail when a â€Å"cyclical opinion structure†(Flanagan 121) is present in the legislating body (Flanagan 121). Secondly, Flanagan (121) emphasizes how parliamentary outcomes are influenced by the procedures with which legislation is passed. These two points are illuminated and analyzed using aspects of game theory. Rational choice theory is used to analyze the parliamentary procedure and cyclical opinion structure that caused all possible resolutions and amendments introduced into the House of Commons to fail. Than, the game of chicken and extensive form games are introduced to explicate bill C-43’s majority vote in the House of Commons and subsequent failure in the senate. Although enlightening, Flanagan’s analysis lacks in-depth explanations and pertinent aspects of game theory. He comments on the vote’s failure t... ...the outcome is seen to mirror real life events. Finally, certain aspects of Flanagan’s sequential game model were critiqued and found deficient. Although Flanagan’s case study was enlightening, some aspects may be flawed and an enhanced analysis farther explicates the phenomenon of the â€Å"staying power of the status quo.† Works Cited Abortion in Canada." Wikipedia. 01 Apr.-May 2007 . Brams, Steven J. Rational Politics. Washinton, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1985. Flanagan, Thomas. Game Theory and Canadian Politics. Toronto: University of Toronoto Press, 1999. Gates, Scott, and Brian D. Humes. Games, Information and Politics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. Green, Donald P., and Ian Shapiro. Pathologies of Rational Choice. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994.

Ebola And Marburg Viruses :: Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola HF)

The Ebola and Marburg viruses are extremely lethal viruses that have placed repugnant thoughts on the minds of many people that have any background knowledge on this field of viral infections. Where does it come from? Where does it hide? What could it do to me? As these questions burn holes in the minds of many people, something should be done to learn more about these horrendous viruses. People sometimes become scared stiff from the thought of the bone-chilling effects from these viruses, and had good reason to. "Ebola, the slate wiper, did things to people that you did not want to think about. The organism was too frightening to handle even for those who were comfortable and adept in space suits." (paperback pg.63-64 - Project Ebola). A large, shy man by the name of Gene Johnson was the first pioneer to venture out to find the roots of the Ebola and Marburg viruses. Gene spent many years in Central Africa looking for these viruses. After digging up virtually every piece of land in Central Africa, Gene Johnson wound up without a single case or report of a virus. A man by the name of Charles Monet and a young boy referred to in this book as Peter Cardinal both contracted the same level 4 hot virus. There is only one connection between Charles and Peter. "The paths of Charles Monet and Peter Cardinal had crossed at only one place on earth, and that was inside Kitum Cave." (pg. 140 - Cardinal). Kitum Cave is where the virus is expected to be living or where the history of the Ebola virus lays. So Kitum Cave is where the search for the deadly virus begins. Led by Gene Johnson, the team members on the Kitum Cave expedition set up many differing animals inside the cave with the hope that one of the animals would contract the virus. Even though the expedition's results came out negative, Kitum Cave is still the only logical place where the virus thrives. There have been a handful of outbreaks as the cause of a shipment of monkeys to a civilized community. For example, this occurred from a monkey shipment to an old city in central Germany. Killing 7 out of the 31 people it infected, this virus would later be named after the city it erupted in, Marburg. The monkeys posed as the host in this terrifying disaster. The possibility that humans are the natural host is very, very unlikely. "...its original host was probably not monkeys, humans, or guinea pigs but some other animal or insect

Education for All Essay

Education is the topmost priority of the government of Pakistan Awami Tehreek. The literacy rate will be raised through adult education movement and by imparting formal and informal education within a period of 10 years through a great educational revolution. The first priority of the manifesto of Pakistan Awami Tehreek is education for all (EFA). The literacy rate will be raised up to 90% in the next 10 years. The educational system from the initial stage to the level of university will be changed in the next 10 years by enforcing the modern and developed educational system. In keeping with the new educational policy the teachers will be trained in order to enhance their competence to meet the demands of new trends in education. The educational activities based upon thinking and understanding will be started systematically from early education and primary level. The basic knowledge of ideology of Pakistan and Islamic studies will be incorporated in the curriculum at every level. The educational institutions and curriculum will be purged of every kind of sectarian, regional, linguistic and sectional biases and hatred. For the effective implementation of educational reforms educational devolution scheme will be enforced in the department of education. Efforts made for the spread of education in the private sector will be encouraged at every level. Information technology will be promoted at economic, educational and industrial levels. The proposed reforms will also be implemented in the seminaries to integrate them in the national mainstream. Respect for human rights, rule of law and philanthropist behaviour will be made part of the curriculum of every level. Primary education confirmation card (PECC) for children will be issued throughout the country. The number of the students will not be allowed to exceed by 30. For this purpose the double shift system will be started in the schools so that the students are able to get maximum individual attention of the teachers. A special educational fund will be set up for the higher education of the helpless and needy students. Traders, industrialists, rich citizens and people with good economic standing will contribute to this fund on the basis of proportion of their income. Our government will impose educational emergency throughout country to achieve 90% literacy rate under 10-year educational plan. According to this plan, new educational institutions of every level will come into being and double shift system will be introduced in the existing schools. Thus the number of educational institutions will double through the introduction of this system. A ‘National Education Force’ comprising of the jobless educated youth will be established for the availability of educational staff, which will organize efforts for the achievement of 90% literacy rate. All Pakistani schools, colleges, universities and research centers will be linked to the national industrial enterprises so that the theoretical and practical knowledge is harmonized. Volunteer scholarship schemes would be launched at national level for the education of the c PAT on FB Education is the topmost priority of the government of Pakistan Awami Tehreek. The literacy rate will be raised through adult education movement and by imparting formal and informal education within a period of 10 years through a great educational revolution. The first priority of the manifesto of Pakistan Awami Tehreek is education for all (EFA). The literacy rate will be raised up to 90% in the next 10 years. The educational system from the initial stage to the level of university will be changed in the next 10 years by enforcing the modern and developed educational system. In keeping with the new educational policy the teachers will be trained in order to enhance their competence to meet the demands of new trends in education. The educational activities based upon thinking and understanding will be started systematically from early education and primary level. The basic knowledge of ideology of Pakistan and Islamic studies will be incorporated in the curriculum at every level. The educational institutions and curriculum will be purged of every kind of sectarian, regional, linguistic and sectional biases and hatred. For the effective implementation of educational reforms educational devolution scheme will be enforced in the department of education. Efforts made for the spread of education in the private sector will be encouraged at every level. Information technology will be promoted at economic, educational and industrial levels. The proposed reforms will also be implemented in the seminaries to integrate them in the national mainstream. Respect for human rights, rule of law and philanthropist behaviour will be made part of the curriculum of every level. Primary education confirmation card (PECC) for children will be issued throughout the country. The number of the students will not be allowed to exceed by 30. For this purpose the double shift system will be started in the schools so that the students are able to get maximum individual attention of the teachers. A special educational fund will be set up for the higher education of the helpless and needy students. Traders, industrialists, rich citizens and people with good economic standing will contribute to this fund on the basis of proportion of their income. Our government will impose educational emergency throughout country to achieve 90% literacy rate under 10-year educational plan. According to this plan, new educational institutions of every level will come into being and double shift system will be introduced in the existing schools. Thus the number of educational institutions will double through the introduction of this system. A ‘National Education Force’ comprising of the jobless educated youth will be established for the availability of educational staff, which will organize efforts for the achievement of 90% literacy rate. All Pakistani schools, colleges, universities and research centers will be linked to the national industrial enterprises so that the theoretical and practical knowledge is harmonized. Volunteer scholarship schemes would be launched at national level for the education.