Managing And Leading Change

Managing And Leading Change Ashland Case Study Assignment Company background Ashland Inc is a Fortune 500 and Standard and Poors (SP) Midcap 400 company, providing specialised chemical, technologies and insights through Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients, Ashland Hercules Waters Technologies, Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Consumer Markets (Valvoline) and Ashland Distribution. The firm has operations in more than 100 countries worldwide. In 2010 the companys revenue equated to $9bn, but its beginnings in 1924 were far more humble and it has   been though many changes since it was founded in 1924 as part of the refining arm of the Swiss Oil company, and it was then known as the Ashland Refining Company. The company takes its name after the town of its inception, namely Ashland, Kentucky in the United States. In 1936 both companies merged and Ashland General Manager, Paul G. Blazer, became the newly merged companys president and the company achieved $4.8m in sales, and by the entry of the United States into the Second World War they had grown to $12m. During the period a new refinery is built at Catlettsburg to produce aviation fuel. After the war the Ashland brand is developed, and products are sold under the companys name. This enables sales to further rise to $20.4m, and the company makes further strides in 1950 by acquiring the Freedom-Valvoline Oil Company and the contributed to a further boost to sales by 900 per cent. By 1959 the Valvoline brand had begun to reach the top of the lubricants world, thanks to an increase in the firms growing workforce, advertising campaigns, investments in infrastructure and it is highly featured in motorsport to this day. The growth in its petro-chemicals business led to further growth, leading to the acquisition of R.J Brown of St. Louis, Montana and sales grew to $280m. However, in 1966 the company diversified and it purchased Warren Brothers and Ashland Paving And Construction Inc. was born. The firms sales reached $699 million as a result of this acquisition. Furthermore the company continued to evolve during the 1960s with the acquisition of ADM Chemical Group and the formation of Ashland Chemical, making Ashland a leading chemical supplier. In 1969 Ashland Petroleum was formed, a year after the company had reached the milestone of having achieved an annual revenue of $1bn. However, the company further diversified and it enters into the coal-extraction market with the launch of the Arch-Mineral joint venture.   The following year the companys name is changed further to gaining shareholders support, and it became Ashland Oil. It also purchases a refinery, adding the SuperAmerica petrol station and convenience store chain to its holdings. The next milestone appears in 1986 with the establishment of Valvoline Instant Oil Change, which provided a service for lubricating vehicles across 70 units. Since then it has become the second-largest franchised quick lubrication business in the US, and it can be found at 870 locations. The table below, according to the company, shows its other important milestones: Year Event 1992 Ashland acquires most of Unocals chemical distribution business, becoming North Americas leading distributor of chemicals and solvents 1994 Zerex vehicle antifreeze and coolant, the No. 2 brand in the U.S., is added to the Valvoline product line-up. Sales reach $10.3 billion. 1995 Shareholders approve changing the companys name to Ashland Inc. to better reflect our diverse operations. This same year, more than $368 million is invested in 14 acquisitions to strengthen related energy and chemical businesses. 1998 Ashland and Marathon Oil merge their petroleum refining and marketing assets into a joint venture. Eagle One auto appearance products join the Valvoline brand line-up. 1999 Ashland celebrates its 75th anniversary. The company relocates its headquarters from Ashland, Ky., USA, to Covington, Ky., USA, adjacent to Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. 2002 Ashland introduces Envirez resin, the first commercially available unsaturated polyester resin containing a significant quantity of renewable materials. 2004 Ashland reorganizes into two sectors, Chemical and Transportation Construction. This lays the foundation for the companys transformation into a global specialty chemical company. 2005 Ashland divests its joint-venture oil and refining business to partner Marathon Oil, and also acquires Car Brite, a leading marketer of professional auto reconditioning products. Sales are $9.3 billion. 2006 The transformation into a specialty chemical company continues. Northwest Coatings, a technical leader in the development of innovative Waters-based and energy-curable adhesives and coatings, is acquired and Ashland Paving And Construction, Inc. is sold. 2008 Ashland acquires Hercules Incorporated in a $3.3-billion transaction. The deal moves us into the top tier of global specialty chemical companies. 2009 The Nanjing Technical Center opens in China. The applications lab supports customers in the coatings, construction, energy, food, personal care and industrial specialties markets. Sales reach $8.1 billion. 2010 Natrosol hydroxyethylcellulose rolls off the line at a new plant in Nanjing, China. Ashland launches a global joint venture in foundry chemicals with Sà ¼d-Chemie AG and announces plans to sell Ashland Distribution in 2011. 2011 Ashland and our people continue to set the standard for good chemistry and all of the great things it creates around the world. Table data source: Ashland Inc. Ashland vision, mission, values and operating principles The firm aims to be a leading global specialised chemical company by inspiring and engaging with its employees and adding value to everything it does. The company describes its mission as follows: â€Å"We satisfy our customers by delivering results through quality chemical products and services. Our desire to grow drives our passion to win in the marketplace. With a unified, low-cost operating structure, well remain competitive across every business and in every geographic region.† The following are its values and operating principles: Our Values: Who we are We act with integrity and honesty. We focus on customer and shareholder success and compete to win. We recognize each person for the difference he or she makes. We drive innovation and results by understanding the market and its opportunities. We are committed to the values of responsibility, sustainability and transparency. We create safe and health-conscious work environments, require compliance and embrace environmental stewardship. Our Operating Principles: How it happens We operate in compliance with the law and adhere to high ethical standards. We assess the impact on customers and society when making decisions. We are externally focused. Our businesses are defined by markets. We are process-centred. Our processes are designed to optimize global performance. Ashland leaders are first responsible to Ashland and second to a business, resource group or process. We are led by an Executive Committee that enforces our principles, sets our strategy and manages our capital. We are united by our common vision, mission, values and operating principles. Case Study Background Ashland Incs earnings were off track in 2002. The company was also troubled by high levels of redundancy and operating costs throughout its business groups. The annual net results were also lower than the companys share value. Even though the company has evidently gone through a number of transformations and evolutions since 1924, the vice-president of HR at the time felt that the firms troubles because it had turned it into a change-averse organisation. There was apparently no desire for change, and this person felt that as a company they didnt do it well. Doing something different was thought of as change. Between 1998 and 2003 Ashland had gone through a resource group restructuring exercise, relocated its head office, sold its oil exploration business, and it engaged in marketing and refining joint ventures. Dwight King, Ashland Chemicals President for HR, said that there was a lot of rubble left behind, which led to unwanted turnover and reductions in performance. â€Å"As our previous VP of HR would say, a lot of wreckage results from somehow not executing our plans correctly†, he said before explaining that the elements of a previous failure were impacting severely on the business. There was also a new and critical project on the table, and the leadership team recognised that they were not being very efficient due to a lacking of understanding of what it means to be change leaders.   Dwight therefore felt that he was about to watch another car accident occur. What was missing was not the what and why, but the how to change the organisation for the better. So in 2003 the firms senior executives recognised that they hadnt changed direction as well as they could have done. So the organisation was nearly broken when the company tried to implement its first Enterprise Resource Planning system in its distribution unit, and this led to a shut down of west coast operations. The implementation hadnt gone as well as everyone had expected. Change was therefore vital, and so Dwight initiated a change management programme. The company needed to build change into the organisation as a competency. The objectives were to ‘retro-fit several of its major initiatives to a change management methodology, integrate project and change management, to create a training curriculum and to build competencies within the following groups: managers, supervisors, practitioners, intact project teams and employees. He recognised that this had to start from the top of the organisation, and so he arranged an executive briefing with all of the firms business unit presidents. He succeeded in gaining sponsorship for his initiative at the meeting. The programmes focused on HR, project managers and the distribution leadership team. By 2005 this had created tremendous momentum, including the adoption of change management terminologies and a new change management approach. However, the first investments in change occurred in 2004 when Dwight facilitated a conversation with the chemical sector leadership team. He asked them a number of questions to find out where the company should be in five years time, and what it should look like. The discussion also analysed, from that particular hypothetical perspective, how the company got there, and what they would have to do to arrive at their perceived ‘destination. There was also some in-depth discussion about the obstacles theyd face and how they would overcome them. The SAP implementation moved forward too. It was now fully implemented, and Ashland formed its GlobalOne project team for SAP to begin a worldwide roll-out. Dwight convinced the SAP project manager that he needed to include a change management element in its deployment. In fact he said that ‘change needed to go well beyond that which was defined by the SAP consultants. â€Å"There were plenty of people who gave lip-service to the word ‘change, including the consultants, two of the largest consulting firms in the world†, said Dwight. He added that their idea of change involved â€Å"documenting the new physical competencies of change around what new buttons you had to push, what new levers you had to pull, what new screens you were seeing in order to enter or bill an order, or service an account.† There was no understanding about the resistance that would be created by any change programme implementation; their views didnt even consider the creation of a body of knowledge about expectations and then reinforcing them through training. This meant that there would need to be some systems training in place, and so a change management consultant was hired for the GlobalOne team. Previously they had implemented SAP Global One in Canada, and even though there was a good change management plan in place, some issues arose. The trouble was that the assets were only there for just two weeks, and then the team left to implement it in the US. Out of this situation came the realisation that you need a dedicated change management structure within the project to make sure that it succeeds. It was also recognised that certain people were needed in order to be responsible for the change effort. Around the same period the company implemented an organisation-wide rewards scheme, called Total Rewards, which redesigned the firms salary and incentive schemes. This migrated the company to a single incentive scheme. Previously each group had had their own. Ashlands CEO and Board Chairman, Jim OBrien, was introduced to the change leadership tools, and he used them to identify the champions within the company. Working collaboratively with HR and Communications he developed a strategy to target the change sponsors. â€Å"It went incredibly well†, said Dwight before adding that it was â€Å"fraught with potential landmines and we missed most of them, so Jim, our CEO, became an advocate for change competency.† They also adopted a change management methodology and 150 people attended a workshop. The companys distribution managers and projects leaders, upon participating in the workshops, thought that they had at last struck on what change was all about. Subsequently this marked a change in Ashlands deployment strategy. There was no longer a requirement to apply change management to one project at a time. An enterprise-wide approach was sanctioned by OBrien instead, and he selected Hank Waters to be the Ashland Enterprise Change Management Executive sponsor. Dwight King and Hank Waters then set about creating an organisational structure and identified key players within the ECM Deployment Team. The ECM Deployment Team was created in May 2006, and it began to implement the change management programme across the company from this point. While Hank Waters was at its leader, the team also included Pam Yost, Carol Chistobek, Jerry Prochko, Lisa Ireland, Mark Lambeth, Stacy Dunbar and Vondar Melton. An ECM Steering Committee was also formed to provide oversight for the ECM Deployment team, and it became an important catalyst for driving change further into the organisation. Two members of the team also undertook a course to become change management trainers in a change management methodology. The Steering Committee included heads of HR, Corporate Communications, IT, EHS and two business unit leaders. Its purpose was to provide direction to the change management programme. Together they achieved substantial change between 2003 and 2008, and the company made significantly more inroads than it had done previously to achieve their vision to construct a platform for growth. This exercise was repeated across the globe, and it was helped when a former business unit head and a member of the ECM steering committee, Peter Rijneveldshoek, became president of Ashland Europe. He requested that all members of the 200 plus European management team attend change management training in preparation for the SAP implementation. Dwight says that the company lost momentum at one point due to moving a key executive from change management deployment over to Ashlands Waters division, but the aim was to make change part of the organisations DNA. Therefore European project leaders were also required to undergo change management training. However, this was more embedded in the US more than in Europe. The training also occurred with project managers in China. In April 2007 a series of assessments were conducted, and there were also a number of professional development sessions held with the 12 members of the Operating Committee and the CEO. The aim of the assessments was to help the senior executives to understand the true meaning behind sponsorship of change, and it gave them an insight into how they were fulfilling their roles. Coaching sessions followed these ones, and sponsorship development roadmaps were created to enable the leadership team to develop their skills as sponsors of the change management programme. The project was deemed to be successful with 95% of the participants in a survey about the change management programme reporting that the training and tools helped them to provide support for their employees during the SAP EMEA implementation. An online training course was also provided, and 331 employees took part in it. Again 96% agreed strongly or just agreed that the course had been worth the time it took to take it. However, at one point it was felt that the ECM team required another 6-12 months to ensure that 90% of the organisation would be more change-ready. Problems arose due to members of the team being moved to more permanent roles within other parts of the organisation. Nevertheless, change became more part of Ashlands dictionary than it was previously, and more awareness of what change means was created. TASK: You are a change management consultant whose been asked to come into Ashland to assess the companys change programmes. Critically analyse and evaluate the success of the programme mentioned in the case study, consider other approaches that the firm could have taken, and think about what recommendations for change youd make for 2011 onwards based on the your knowledge of the companys history and previous change management efforts. Use the information contained in the case study, plus further primary and secondary research to form your assessment of Ashlands future strategic direction and explain how it will need to adopt new change management programmes. Consider all of the aspects of Managing and Leading Change that were discussed in your lectures, including the theoretical models and approaches to managing, leading and implementing change within an organisation. Compare your approach to the one taken by Ashland between 2003 and 2008, and explain how you would measure the success of your change management programme. For example, which metrics should Ashland be using to assess the success of its change programmes?

Red Convertible Essay -- essays research papers

Perceptions & Deceptions: Life before and after Vietnam for Henry   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever wanted to take the summer off from work and escape from reality in order to travel around the world without having any worries? Well this is what Henry and Lyman in the â€Å"Red Convertible† by Louise Erdrich decided to do one summer. Henry and Lyman are two brothers who grew up on the Indian reservation. They perceive life on the reservation as an ongoing circle with a harmonious atmosphere. During their trip to Montana and Alaska Henry and Lyman’s idea of a carefree life is only reinforced, but when Henry is sent to Vietnam this perception is surpassed by a new reality and changes Henry’s reactions to the surrounding circumstances.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Henry and Lyman grew up on the reservation where life was peaceful and harmonious. The two brothers had a very close relationship growing up together and were able to expand their adolescence and simplicity with the purchase of the red convertible. A red convertible was not the typical car you would expect to see on the reservation but Henry and Lyman saw the car and bought it on a whim. They traveled to many different places with the car. The red convertible only let the two brothers enjoy their summer by taking them to many comfortable and peaceful places other than the reservation. One of the places they traveled to was filled with willows. â€Å"I remember I laid under those trees and it was comfortable. ...

Nutritional Health Essay

Explaining the terms: food, diet, meals and snacks, nutrients Food: Food is a nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink in order to carry on life and growth. Food has been categorised as carbohydrates, including fibre, protein, fat and vitamins and minerals. Food allows us to keep on living. For example bread contains carbohydrate, meat contains protein, milk contains fat but it depends what milk you take, fruit and vegetables both contain vitamin and minerals. Examples of non food are tea, it has no nutritional value. Diet: Diet means the different food types that have been eaten regularly by a person. It doesn’t always mean losing weight. A diet means everything a person has eaten throughout the day. In the UK people might eat 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can also have special diets such as losing weight which means you are reducing your fat on your body. Being more careful with sugar because you are diabetic or because you are anaemic you will need to eat food with iron such as red meat and green vegetables. Meals and snacks: A snack is a portion of food which is smaller than a meal. Snacks are eaten between meals. Snacks designed to be small, quick and enjoyable. For example you have snack and jacks it doesn’t contain fat or fruits such as bananas or apples. You eat a meal 3 times a day which are breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is reasonable amount of food in a day. Nutrients: The process by which people take in food and use it for growth and repair. Examples of nutrients are: protein which you can find in fish, fat which you can find in milk, carbohydrate which you can find in bread or pasta and minerals which you can find in spinach. Malnourished and undernourished: Malnutrition is a serious condition that comes when a person’s diet does not have enough nutrients to meet the expectations of their body. This can affect the growth, your physical health, mood and behaviour. Being malnourished does not always mean that you’re thin or underweight. It is possible to eat a diet which contains high calories but a few vitamins and minerals. This means that you can become malnourished when you are obese or overweight. Symptoms of being malnourished are: Lack of strengths or energy to do activities Lack of energy and breathlessness because of anaemia Changes of your skin and nails Mood changes An increase of illnesses or infections Undernourished is a lack of calories or nutrients from eating not enough food or unable to break down nutrients from the diet because of medical condition such as Marasmus and Kwashiorkor. Marasmus means having problems with: Growing A huge amount of weight loss Muscle wasting Diarrhoea Irritability Kwashiorkor means having problems with: Bad growing Muscle wasting A long time of diarrhoea and infections Deterioration of hair, skin and nails A swollen liver and abdomen Swelling of the face, hands and feet The most common symptoms of being malnourished is unplanned weight loss. If your BMI is lower than 18.5 or you experience the symptoms you will need to contact your GP. To calculate your BMI you can use a chart or you can calculate it like this BMI = weight (kg) height (cm) BMI CHART Young children are taken to the health care centre at least once a week to look at their weight and height. They are looking if the baby is gaining weight in a healthy way or gaining weight too fast and also to check if the baby is growing. The babies are going to be compared to other babies of their age to see if their weight and height is normal. They mostly use growth charts too at the weight and height. GROWTH CHART They also look at someone’s gender and height to see what their weight has to be. For female the weight looking is different than that of a male because a male is builder than a female and also a man needs to take 2500 calories as to which a female has to take 2000 calories a day. Male Female To prevent yourself from getting malnourished and undernourished you will need to have a good diet which has enough vitamins, minerals, fat and carbohydrate. To make sure you take enough and healthy food you can use the eat well plate which shows varieties of food we need to eat and what proportion we should eat it, to have a good and balanced diet. You can also use the five-a-day which means eating 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This makes sure you get all the right things your body needs. You can eat sweet things because your body needs fat but you will need to take a small amount. Here are some easy and healthy recipes to give some ideas. A recipe for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks: Breakfast an avocado on toast: INGREDIENTS 2 avocados 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Juice of 1 lime A little splash of Worcestershire sauce 4 slices of sour dough/rye bread Salt and pepper Small bunch of basil, roughly chopped 2 sweet tomatoes, roughly chopped METHOD How to make simple avocado on toast breakfast 1. Mash the avocado with a fork to a rough puree, adding the olive oil, lime juice, and Worcestershire sauce as you go. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 2. Toast the bread, drizzle a little olive oil over each piece then spread over the avocados. Sprinkle with basil and the diced tomatoes. Lunch Italian turkey club sandwich: INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp olive oil 4 turkey breast steaks 3 tbsp fresh red or green pesto 200g carton half-fat crà ¨me fraà ®che 1 baguette, cut into 4 pieces 4 ripe, plum tomatoes, sliced Small bag baby leaf salad METHOD How to make Italian turkey club sandwich 1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a griddle pan. Season the turkey and cook over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning, until lightly charred and cooked through. Set aside. 2. Meanwhile, lightly mix the pesto into the crà ¨me fraà ®che and season to taste. Split each baguette piece in half lengthways, to give 8 halves. Brush the cut-side with the remaining oil, then griddle or toast under a hot grill in batches until golden. 3. Assemble the sandwiches. Spread a little pesto and crà ¨me fraà ®che sauce on 4 baguette halves, then top with sliced tomatoes. Top with a turkey breast, add a handful of salad leaves and another spoonful of the pesto and crà ¨me fraà ®che sauce. Top each sandwich and serve. Dinner chicken pasta soup: INGREDIENTS 5–6 chicken thighs 1 large white onion, sliced 1 tbsp olive oil 4 medium carrots, chopped into small dice 6–8 closed cup mushrooms, quartered  ½ red pepper, seeds removed and chopped into small dice 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes 600ml chicken stock 175ml white wine 100g frozen sweet corn (use tinned if you cannot find any frozen) Salt and freshly ground black pepper 150g pasta shells Handful of fresh coriander, chopped Method 1. Preheat the oven at 190ÚC/gas mark 5. Place the chicken thighs on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 30–40 minutes, until cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cooled, remove the skin and separate the meat from the bones before cutting the meat into pieces. 2. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over a medium heat, add the onions and fry for a minute or two before adding the carrots. Cook until the carrots and onions start to soften, about 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms and red pepper. Mix thoroughly and continue to cook until the mushrooms have shrunk in size and begin to brown. 3. Next, add the can of tomatoes, chicken stock, wine, sweet corn and chicken pieces and season well with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer on a low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes. 4. Add the pasta to the soup and leave to simmer for a further 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked, stirring occasionally to avoid the pasta sticking to the pan. Once ready, remove from the heat and set aside for half an hour, covered, to allow the flavours to infuse. When you’re ready to serve, reheat the soup, pour into bowls and garnish with a sprinkle of fresh coriander. Snacks: You can have snacks such as: Banana Apple Cookie Snack and jack Overweight and obese: Overweight means that you’re BMI is 25 or over 25. If you are overweight you will have a great risk of getting: Arthritis Type 2 diabetes High blood pressure. When people talk about being overweight they mean that the person is not eating enough healthy or they could eat healthy food but they will eat a big portion. It will not only affect somebody health but their self esteem as well. They won’t be able to do activities when people of their same age can do all the things they won’t and wear the clothes they want to wear. Obesity means that your BMI is 30 or over 30. Being obese increases your risk of getting serious and life-threatening diseases such as: Type 2 diabetes Heart disease Some types of cancer, such as breast cancer and colon cancer stroke Obesity can affect your life in a serious way than being overweight it could damage the way life and it often leads to depression. There are simple ways for you can see if you are obese or overweight, for example you could go to the GP or to a dietician, they are able to give you advice at how you could live a healthier life. You could also use a BMI chart or you could look at the weight for height and gender. Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) is something that also could be use to see what you are recommended to take in. The DRVs shows you what your daily intakes should be, they have made charts to show you what you should take in. The charts are: Chart made for age and gender Chart made for ageïÆ'   Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNTs) is part of the DRVs which shows the amount of nutrients each individual is recommended to take in to maintain good health. If you look at the backside of the product it shows you how much nutrients you take in per portion and per 100 g of food. It can help you see if you eat too much. You could also look at your actual food intake which means that you are looking what you eat everyday and compare it to you should have been eating every day. What I would recommended for people who are overweight or obese is to look at the portion of what you eat. Go to your GP or dietist they are able to help you make a diary of you should eat every day. Also eat things of the food groups which are: If you eat at least one of the things in each food group you will be able to stay healthy. Examples of using the different types of the food group are: In the morning drinking milk with bread and peanut butter For lunch eating a fruit salad For dinner eating vegetables with pasta and fish. Also using the right food preparations and processing methods will also make a huge difference in your diet. Example of good preparations and processing methods is using fresh food. If you buy fresh it means that the vitamins and minerals are still in the food but if you buy old food it could be that the vitamins and minerals already left the food. Good ways of cooking your food is grilling and steaming it makes sure that every vitamin and mineral stays in the food. Make sure that there are varieties of colours on your plate which will make it more interesting for you to eat. Eat small portions which will make sure that you ate enough. Use small plates which will make it look like you are eating a lot. Not only eating healthy food is a good thing for you to stay healthy but also doing exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. 30 minutes a day exercise is enough. A few examples of exercises you can do at home are: You can also go to the gym and get a personal trainer who will help you do the right exercise every day. Eating healthy food and doing exercise will make your body stay fit.

Lord of the Flies: Examine Goldings methods of writing in the last three paragraphs of Chapter Nine

The end of chapter 9 is very different to the rest of the novel, both in the style it is written and in what Golding is trying to portray about human nature. My first impressions of this extract are how different Golding's style of writing is; he is much more poetic, mythical way â€Å"the clear water mirrored the clear sky†. The rest of the novel is written in much more of a matter-of-fact style, through the eyes of one of the other boys, however still in third person. The way he uses adjectives such as â€Å"inaudible† create a sense of calmness and silence, which is a harsh contrast to the killing scene just before â€Å"the noise was unendurable†. This is perhaps to represent the calm, quiet spirituality of Simon's nature, and show how he is a million miles away from the other boys, who made so much noise. It could also represent the fact that Simon is now alone, both physically and metaphorically as he is the only one who knows the truth. Golding also creates an almost superhuman element to Simon, making Simon godlike or giving him the air of a Saint; â€Å"†¦dressed Simon's course hair with brightness†. This is interesting as it is something he was made a point of not doing elsewhere in the novel. He has made a point of showing how fragile human nature is- â€Å"Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked to and fro†, here showing Ralph's emotional breakdown after participating in a murder, and shown the other boys to have regressed to become subhuman â€Å"savages†, in opposition to Simon becoming almost angelic. Throughout the novel Golding has also used the island as a microcosm of the ‘real world', and towards the end of the extract he goes against this idea and describes the world beyond in great detail â€Å"itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations†. I think the fact he describes this in so much detail is important, he is clearly trying to make a point of it: the fact the death of Simon is such a huge human tragedy, but yet when compared to the enormity of the natural world it pales in insignificance. Even though the novel at first seems pessimistic, and hard to believe the author was a Christian, I disagree. When Golding writes â€Å"Simon's dead body moved out to sea†, I think he is showing that amongst all the injustices in the world, those with faith and spirituality (as I think Simon is meant to represent the spiritual aspect of human nature) will go to a better place away from the horror of the world. I think the novel perhaps has a subtle underlying Christian message. You can see throughout that Golding has been very crafting in how he uses techniques to explain the importance of Simon's death in the novel, and the important differences between Simon and the other boys, and the fact Simon has not turned savage. The language he has used to show this is not typical of the rest of the novel however the symbolism is.

A Tale of Two Coaches Essay

The path-goal theory relies on the how a leader motivates their subordinates to accomplish the task before them. This theory evaluates the relationship of the leader’s style of leadership and the characteristics of the subordinate and how the two compliment or supplement each other to achieve the desired outcome. In the cases of Coach Knight and Coach Krzyzewski, both were achievement-oriented. They both had clear goals and expectations of their players, win the game. This is evident by both coaches high lifetime career win totals. They both set high standards that their players were expected to meet. Each team was put through a series of drills and practices to prepare them and help build their confidence to succeed. Coach Krzyzewski â€Å"invested heavily in drills and skills with his players, practicing set plays and exhaustively analyzing practices, game films, and strategies† (Snook, Perlow, & Delacey, 2005, p. 3). The ability of both coaches to use achievement-oriented leadership contributed to their success. Each coach challenged and set high standards for their players. This raised the players’ confidence that they had the ability to achieve their goals. The achievement-oriented leadership demonstrated by each coach helped motivate the players to want to succeed. The leader-member exchange theory is a â€Å"process that is centered on the interactions between leaders and followers† (Northouse, 2013, p. 161). Two main groups of subordinates exist in the LMX model: the in-group and the out-group. Research found that there is a direct connection with high quality leader-member exchanges and job satisfaction and performance. Evaluating the leadership styles of Coach Knight and Coach Krzyzewski shows that there is evidence of the leader-member exchange theory in addition to the positive performance results that were indicated by the research of Dansereau (Northouse, 2013, p.162). Building relationships is important to Coach Krzyzewski. The success of his team was built on the relationships he established with his players and making everyone part of the in-group. He uses his â€Å"high-quality leader-member exchanges† to increase the positive performance of his players. It is a standard practice among his players that when they talk to each other they look each other in the eye. This way they are honest and truthful with each other at all times. Coach K also stated he believed â€Å"people have to be given the freedom to show the heart they possess. I think it’s the leader’s responsibility to provide that  type of freedom. And I believe it can be done through relationships and family. Because if a team is a real family, its members want to show their hearts† (Snook et al., 2005, p. 4). Coach Knight on the other hand was not as concerned about his relationship with his players. His demonstrated attitude was that he was there to do a job and so were the players. A good practice was flawlessly executed drills where players were â€Å"taught to play his game of basketball. Coach Knight’s motivational toolkit included push-ups, wind-sprints, and insulting verbal barbs† (Snook et al., 2005, p. 2). He was a perfectionist and he expected perfection of himself and his players. His players were mainly part of the out-group. They did not appear to spend much time developing relationships and the leader-member exchange was not as high-quality as the leadership experienced by Coach K’s players. The dominant leadership style used by Coach Knight is the Authority-Compliance style. He is task oriented and is looking for results. He is not as concerned about the individual or establishing relationships. On the other hand Coach K is more interested in the relationships with his players. He wanted them to feel a part of his family. His leadership style is more Team Management. He is task oriented but the difference is he places almost equal importance on the interpersonal relationships established with his players. In studying both of these great basketball coaches, who were equally successful, I learned that great successes can be achieved with various leadership styles. The team’s winning records is only one type of success. The larger picture is how willing were the player’s to follow, support, defend, or even send their own son’s to be coached by either Coach Knight or Coach Krzyzewski. Coach Krzyzewski has his players’ universal approval and therefore he is the more effective leader.

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

English - Essay Example American foreign policy has transformed to one that shifted from the traditional conservatism, to a modern liberalism that takes a keen interest in world affairs. It is also vital to note that, as a global superpower, it would be questionable for the USA to take a back seat at what is happening on the global scene... Introduction United States of America has come a long way from dealing with internal issues to one that is now a global superpower. This power is in terms of its advancement in technology, political ideology, military, culture, and society in general. Any sober mind would observe that all these were advancement the US earned after a bitter struggle by scientists, technologists, men and women in uniform and every sector of the United States. Hard work, dedication, vision and the desire to be the very best were some of the values that laid the foundation for such impressive achievements (Brooks et al., 2003). Accordingly, such advancements accelerated the shift from an iso lationist foreign policy to the current global force that the federation has earned. The years immediately after the 1865 were probably the foundation years in which unfolding events of the world put the country’s military capability to test (Arthur et al., 2007). Pockets of war that ensued after the 1865 civil war were Japan conflicts, Colombia hostilities, Uruguay conflicts, Formosa conflicts, Nicaragua and China conflicts (Arthur et al., 2007). The US responded with military action, in many cases, to protect her interests in the conflicting countries. Such conflicts were particular of smaller magnitude given that a lot of military involvement later followed that redefined the strength of the US in newer terms. Most importantly, it appears that the engagement of wars that followed later were what actually defined the position of the US in the global map in as a military power and as a leading global ideologist. These wars were the First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, Eastern Europe wars, the Gulf war and the Middle East wars. Entering all of these wars was a test for what the United States believed in in terms of right of nations to liberty, free determination of the masses, playing neutral in external aggressions and foreign policy of non-interference with European affair. Without knowing, such wars were silently laying the foundation for a change from Isolationist policy to a new one where the United States had to be worried about the forces that surrounded her in the larger volatile world. In essence, wars and political ideologies resulted in the transition from an isolationist foreign policy, in America, to one in which the nation is now a global superpower (Arthur et al., 2007). The United States embarked on this course staring with her involvement in the WWI after the Zimmerman telegram and German’s blatant disrespect to neutral shipping (Winkler, 2000). The Road to Global Superpower When the WWI broke out in 1914, the United States policy of non-interference with European affairs kept her at bay. The war began with factions such as the Triple Entente and Triple Alliance. Fought on Europe soil predominantly, the war saw Britain, France and Russia rise in arms against offensive from German, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The US

OB CASE STUDY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

OB CASE STUDY - Essay Example This will be achieved by drawing parallel between the situation that James has found himself in and the principles driving these motivation theories According to McClelland’s theory, each employee has one of the three motivation drivers that are dominant in him or her depending on their personal aspects. Bruce’s main driving force is achievement. He would like recognition of the work he is doing at the hotel and being rewarded for it. Working twelve hours a shift requires a better pay or at least another demand since, according to Adams Equity theory, Money is not the main factor of motivation but recognition and appreciation is. Bruce’s next source of dissatisfaction in the workplace presents itself in the lack of equity in how the hotel treats its employees. Jeanette Smith, a colleague who joined the hotel at the same time as he and with the same qualifications has been sponsored to take HND in the hotel and catering. Bruce was also promised the same sponsorshi p during recruitment, but no follow-up has been made. Worse still, whenever he approaches the supervisor, he is put off using flimsy excuses about being busy or is told to bring the topic up the following year. This is contrary to what is advocated for in Sirota’s three-factor theory. ... This is what makes Bruce bitter. From this incident of sponsoring Jeanette and leaving Bruce out despite the promise made to him during the interview, it is evident that the organisation does not keep its promises and commitments. Theory X/Y as advanced by McGregor classifies such as an organisation in the X class. Organisation in the X class usually withheld likes (the sponsorship) and did not deliver on promises. The organisation is not concerned about the staff welfare and morale and is instead focussed on one goal, which was to reap maximum benefits from the customers. When Bruce was summoned to the HR department, he was informed that ‘the customers were always right’ the implication of this statement is that the organisation does not care about it employees at all and is willing to subject them to all manners of ill treatment if only to make a profit. Another characteristic of theory X organisation and indeed the Ambrose hotel is being poor listener since they did n ot listen to what Bruce had to say about the incidence. This kind of organisations issue threats to get things done, and Bruce was treated no differently. The organisation should have focussed on how to avoid recurrence of the incidence rather the blaming Bruce for the whole incidence. This would save them potential customer and employee loss. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, the ideal workplace should provide an individual with the opportunity to advance, in their career in relation to levels four and 5 of his theory. Ambrose hotel was instead curtailing Bruce from advancement through overworking him and withholding the promised sponsorship.