Traumatic Stress Disorder Essays - Psychiatry, Behavioural Sciences

Traumatic Stress Disorder After experiencing a traumatic event, the mind has been known to horde away the details and memories and then send them back at unexpected times and places, sometimes after years have passed. It does so in a haunting way that makes the recall just as disturbing as the original event. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is the name for the acquired mental condition that follows a psychologically distressing event "outside the range of usual human experience" (Bernstein, et al). There are five diagnostic criteria for this disorder and there are no cures for this affliction, only therapies which lessen the burden of the symptoms. The root of the disorder is a traumatic event which implants itself so firmly in the mind that the person may be shackled by the pain and distress of the event indeinately, experiencing it again and again as the mind stays connected with the past rather than the present, making it difficult to think of the future. The research on this topic is all rather recent as the disorder was only added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) in the last twenty years. Yet, the disorder is quite common, threatening to control and damage the lives of approximately eight percent of the American population [5% of men and 10% of women]. Any person is a potential candidate for developing PTSD if subject to enough stress. There is no predictor or determining factor as to who will develop PTSD and who will not. Although all people who suffer from it have experienced a traumatic event, not all people who experience a traumatic event will develop PTSD. Each persons individual capacity for coping with catastrophic events determines their risk of acquiring PTSD. And not everyone will experience the same symptoms; some may suffer only a few mild symptoms for a short period of time, others may be completely absorbed, still others who experience great trauma may never develop any symptoms at all (Friedman). More than any other psychological problem, symptoms are a reaction to an overwhelming external event, or series of events. From a historical perspective, the concept of PTSD made a significant change in the usual stipulation that the cause of a disorder could be outside of the self, rather than some inherent individual weakness (Friedman). There are many situations that may lead to developing PTSD, including: "serious threats to one's life or well being, or to children, spouse or close friends/relatives; sudden destruction of home or community; and witnessing the accidental or violent death or injury of another" (Bernstein, et al). Characteristic symptoms include re-experiencing the event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event or numbing of general responsiveness, increased arousal not present before the event, and duration of the disturbance for at least one month (Johnson). When a bomb exploded the Oklahoma Federal building in 1996, hundreds of lives were affected. Not only are the people who were in the explosion in danger of re-experiencing it over and over, but so are the people who witnessed the aftermath, from bystanders to the rescue workers on scene. The surviving employees not only were physically injured in the blast, but saw the deaths of their coworkers and children. Surviving a horrific trauma that many others did not is enough to cause serious emotional harm. For the rescue workers who arrived, many of them saw death and people who they could not help; feeling helpless and guilty may manifest into intrusive recollection and nightmares. To explain further, the first criteria is that the person was at one time exposed to a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or injury, where the response was marked by intense fear, horror or helplessness (Pfefferbaum). This event may have taken place only weeks ago, or as far back in memory as forty years. The disorder is most commonly found among survivors of war, abuse and rape. It also occurs after assorted crime and car accidents, as well as after community disasters such as hurricanes and floods. Workers of rescue missions are subjected to situations of severe stress frequently. Many emergency response workers (police, nurses, and medics) may become overwhelmed by the trauma they see so many people go through and end up with intrusive recollections themselves. Secondly, the trauma is re-experienced in the form of nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive memories and/or unrest in situations that are similar to the traumatic experience by an associated stimuli (Pfefferbaum). Auditory or visual stimuli can evoke panic, terror, dread, grief or despair. Commonly, in the case of war veterans, the patient may

European motivation Essays

European motivation Essays European motivation Essay European motivation Essay There Is also a free online version of the book at: http:// . NM. Halfpennyworth. Mom/zlnnapeopleshlstory. HTML. Students are encouraged to obtain their own copy since other chapters will be assigned throughout the course of the year. PART II: Answer the questions at the end of this handout to the first three chapters of Howard Zinc. The answers should be informative, detailed, and completed by the first day. PART Ill: Anyone reading history should understand from the start that there is no such thing as impartial history Howard Zinc, Declarations of Independence Write a one page paper describing whether or to you agree with the above statement. Make sure you use evidence to support your argument. You can give examples from your summer readings and/or any previous knowledge of history you may have. Upon completion of Howard Zions A Peoples History of the United States consider be administered in the first week of school). A. How did the interactions between Europeans and indigenous peoples, African slaves, and indentured servants shape colonial society in North America prior to 1750? How does Howard Zions A Peoples History paint a different portrait than what is normally taught? Explain. B. Analyze the extent to which religious freedom existed in the North American colonies prior to 1700. C. Although Northerners and Southerners later came to think of themselves as having separate civilizations, the Northern and Southern colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries were in fact more similar than different. Assess this statement. D. Evaluate the extent to which trans-Atlantic interactions from 1600-1763 contributed to maintaining continuity as well as fostering change in labor systems in the British North American colonies. When reading the chapters following the concept from below- CODES- this will enable you to actively read and grasp a stronger concept regarding the text. C Count and Number a Sequence or Chronology Many times in history textbooks, you will find concepts or ideas in a sequence or chronological order. A way to remember this is to simply write numbers where there is a sequence of events. When you go back to review the material, you can simply look and find the numbers you have written to review the chorological order. After you eve the chronological time-frame down, you can concentrate on the key details and other concepts. 0= Circle Important Vocabulary, Names Places Also in history textbooks, there are many vocabulary terms, names of people to know and places to remember. An easy way to annotate this concept is to circle these items. Clearly, one should look up vocabulary terms, research the person was and how they were significant and the significance of the places as well, but in an initial annotation of the textbook, this is a good way to identify these items first. D= Decide and Underline Key Details Many students develop techniques of underlining key details to identify the information they need to remember. This can be a very helpful technique, but one should limit the amount of underlining that is done. Too much underlining is worse than none, since it defeats the purpose, which is to clearly mark those items in a book or secondary reading that you think are important to remember. E= Emphasize the Most Important Ideas Identifying the most important ideas and points are also what history is about. In reading, you need to know what the big picture ideas and concepts are as well as, he main ideas within the chapter. Once you have identified the most important ideas, you can then back up this with key details. S= Summarize In Your Own Words truly shows your understanding. When you summarize articles or portions of chapter in your textbook, you are synthesizing information, and demonstrating your understanding of the material. This can be done on an open space or area in the article, or if you are summarizing the text, you can summarize in a section of your notebook. Wherever you have your summaries, this is the last step in the annotated process.

Must-Reads on Every 12th Grade Reading List

Must-Reads on Every 12th Grade Reading List This is a sampling of the titles that often appear on high-school reading lists for 12th-grade students, and are often discussed in greater depth in college literature courses. The books on this list are important introductions to world literature. (And on a more practical and humorous note, you might also want to read these 5 Books You Should Read Before College).   The Odyssey, Homer This epic Greek poem, believed to have originated in  the oral storytelling tradition, is one of the foundations of Western literature. It focuses on the trials of the hero Odysseus, who tries to journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy The story of Anna Karenina and her ultimately tragic love affair with Count Vronsky was inspired by an episode in which Leo Tolstoy arrived at a railway station shortly after a young woman had committed suicide. She had been the mistress of a neighboring landowner, and the incident stuck in his mind, ultimately serving as the inspiration for a classic story of star-crossed lovers. The Seagull, Anton Chekhov The Seagull by Anton Chekhov is a slice-of-life drama set in the Russian countryside at the end of the 19th century. The cast of characters is dissatisfied with their lives. Some desire love. Some desire success. Some desire artistic genius. No one, however, ever seems to attain happiness. Some critics view  The Seagull  as a tragic play about eternally unhappy people. Others see it as a humorous albeit bitter satire, poking fun at human folly. Candide,  Voltaire Voltaire offers his satirical view of society and nobility in Candide. The novel was published in 1759, and it is often considered the authors most important work, representative of The Enlightenment. A simple-minded young man, Candide is convinced his world is the best of all worlds, but a trip around the world opens his eyes about what he believes to be true. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky This novel explores the moral implications of murder, told through the story of Raskolnikov, who decides to murder and rob a pawn broker in St. Petersburg. He reasons the crime is justified.  Crime and Punishment is also a social commentary on the effects of poverty. Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton This novel set in South Africa just before apartheid became institutionalized is a social commentary on the racial inequities and its causes, offering perspectives both from whites and blacks. Beloved, Toni Morrison This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is the story of the lingering psychological effects of slavery told through the eyes of escaped slave Sethe, who killed her two-year-old daughter rather than allow the child to be recaptured. A mysterious woman known only as Beloved appears to Sethe years later, and Sethe believes her to be the reincarnation of her dead child. An example of magical realism, Beloved explores the bonds between a mother and her children, even in the face of unspeakable evil. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe Achebes 1958 post-colonial novel tells the story of the Ibo tribe in Nigeria, before and after the British colonized the country. Protagonist Okonkwo is a proud and angry man whose fate is closely tied to the changes that colonialism and Christianity bring to his village. Things Fall Apart, whose title is taken from the William Yeats poem The Second Coming, is one of the first African novels to receive universal critical acclaim. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley Considered one of the first works of science fiction, Mary Shelleys master work is more than just a story of a terrifying monster, but a Gothic novel that tells the tale of a scientist who tries to play God, and then refuses to take responsibility for his creation, leading to tragedy. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte The coming-of-age story of one of the most remarkable female protagonists in Western literature, Charlotte Brontes heroine was one of the first in English literature to serve as first-person narrator of her own life story. Jane finds love with the enigmatic Rochester, but on her own terms, and only after he has proven himself worthy of her.

Financial economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial economics - Assignment Example Most investors as well as investment managers always assume that they can pick securities which can beat the market. As such, they always utilize available public information when making promising investment decisions. According to Lengwiler (2004), when investing, shareholders utilize financial information as their core decision-making tool. That is, if a market is termed as efficient, shareholders will purchase the security most probably at its present market price, though depending on accessible public market information. Consequently, investors who purchase other securities or the stock perceive that market information as an indispensible appraisal. Market efficiency commands that any market price of a security indicates the consensus projection of the market value of such security. As such, efficient market is can only be achieved if the security price is a replica of the accessible public market information. That is, information concerning the economy, financial markets, and th e specific companies involved. However, as a consequence, the market prices of such securities adjust very swiftly to fresh market information. In Finland Stock Exchange (FSE), it was affirmed that the market did not exhibits weak-form market efficiency since stakeholders are capable of utilizing the time series data concerning prior stock prices to differentiate the design of price changes when forecasting prospective stock return. To establish if variation in current stock price is not caused by changes in prior stock prices is our concern. As an effort to tests, with regards to data from Finland`s Stock Exchange, how market prices exhibit weak-form efficiency, a variance ratio test, nested if instructions, and run test was done on past and present stock price. This was done by investigating whether market value data, liquidity data, debt data, and profitability data have any effect on future stock returns. By collecting the data of various companies listed in

Operation Management Eassy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Operation Management Eassy - Essay Example (Chase, 2001, 5) Buffa discussed that 'OM had progressed from an entirely explanatory foundation through the Management Science/Operations Research (MS/OR) phase, and is currently in the course of finding itself as a practical field of organisation. Amoako-Gyampah, K., Meredith, J., 2004, 251), Many authors, since the beginning, advocated that OM should be an area of knowledge with a 'sense of purpose’, in terms of providing insight into problems of the real word, the ones engineers and managers face in their work. As Chase (2001) observed, when analysing the four journals that historically, at that time, had published most extensively with OM subjects - namely, AIIE Transactions, Decision Sciences, Management Sciences and the International Journal of Production Research - that the orientation (people or equipment) and emphases (from micro to macro) were heavily focused on equipment and micro analyses as, for instance, inventory control and scheduling. This picture was changed , as we will see in this literature review. 2.2 Areas of Operation Management As presented by Buffa, the first call for papers sketched out a list of topics that defined the Operation Management subjects. Since then, relevant studies as Miller and Graham, Voss, Amoako-Gyampah and Meredith, Pannirselvam et al. and Gupta, Verma and Victorino, among others, using different approaches, were carried out looking to identify the content, new topics and trends in the field, and also to establish new research agendas. Nowadays, the scope of the journals focused on OM is considerably broader. (Miller, J., and Graham, M., 2004, 548) Operation Management borrows theories from other areas and that 'this field has changed from its narrow occupation with strategic, disjointed topics toward more premeditated, incorporated and large-scale subjects. For instance, as an alternative of studies in the tactical, stand alone areas of 'Inventory' and 'Process Design’; researchers are now looking at the complete 'Supply Chain' and organisation-wide 'Flexibility', correspondingly (Anderson, 2008, 58). Decision Areas within Operation Management includes Design of products and services Quality Management Development and capacity plan Location strategy Layout strategy Human resources & employment design Supply chain management Inventory, material requirements, progression and JIT (Just-in-time) Intermediate and short-range scheduling Maintenance Description of Layout Strategy of Operation Management The arrangement of equipments, departments and work centers with special concentration on movement of work (consumers or materials) all over the system is called Layout of organization. Selecting an appropriate layout of an organisation requires significant investments of funds and hard work, which involves serious commitment. Appropriate layout of an organisation leaves considerable effect on cost and competence of various operations within the organisation. There are several types of layout, which are as follows. Fixed Position layout In Fixed Position layout manufactured goods and whole project remains motionless. However, employees, materials, and machinery move from their position according

Organizational Culture And Change Management

Organizational Culture And Change Management The world has become a global village and so do the businesses. Competition among industries is becoming more and more global and businesses are facing ever climbing pressure to compete at this level. The market needs are changing rapidly and continuously and to cope with this, organizations have to keep on changing themselves to meet the new demands. The change can be a change in product or service, marketing strategies, change in management or IT system etc. but the most difficult thing to change is the values and beliefs of the people because its natural that people resist change. Cultural change is a difficult thing to do as there are people involved in it. British Airways had gone through a cultural change which started in early 80s when the company was in bad condition and was about to go bank corrupt. The newly appointed CEO Colin Marshall lead the change and took the company out of the crises and made it one the most respectable airlines of the world in less than 10 years time. This paper will talk about the problems with BAs leadership and organizational culture which lead the company to those crises and its affects on performance and this paper will also talk about the successful implementation of the change. The paper will demonstrate the analysis of the change process and flaws in the change which could have lead to better results if managed properly. Organizational Culture: Culture is the beliefs and values of people. The collective programming of the mind which differentiates the one group of people from another, culture in this sense includes system of values. Culture comprises of language, religion, customs, manners and education (Bode 2008). Language is the most important way of understanding cultures as this is the way information flows. Many scholars have been trying to define culture and they have defined it but it is always said that it is difficult. Culture is a very complex a phenomenon and cannot be captured in a few dimensions (Bode 2008). Organizations do have a culture and in simple words it was defined by Deal and Kennedy (1996) that the culture is the way things get done around here. Organizational cultural is influenced mainly by the leaders of the organization and also by the personal values and beliefs of the people. It is basically the system of mutually shared beliefs and values by the people of the organization. Organizational culture is a key component in achieving the organizational goals and strategies, improving the organizations competitiveness and effectiveness and management of change (Adeyoyin, 2006). BAs History: British Airways came into existence in result of a merger of two British carriers, BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) and BEA (British European Airways) in 1970s (Marriott 1998). British Airways is one of the most respectable and preferred airlines in the world today. British Airways won the Airline of the year award in 2007 on 25th OAG awards (BBC news). This success of the airline is the outcome of a successful cultural change started in early 80s. Before 1980s BA was doing good as there was little competition in the market and BA controlled 60% of the UK domestic markets and faced competition on only 9% of the routes in and out of the UK (Redman Wilkinson 2009). Due to little or no competition BA didnt focused on customer satisfaction and other issues and carried on the traditional way of doing things which lead them to disastrous situations when they felt the need for change. In 80s the rivalry among the airlines was limited in concerned to BA because BA was controlling 60% of the routes (Business Economics 1982). The threats of the substitutes was also limited for BA because BA has covered most of the routes and had large number of destinations and left the customers some times with no other choice. BA didnt have the focus on customer satisfaction and profit maximization and this caused major customer dissatisfaction. Lack of punctuality and uncomfortable flights were the reasons for this dissatisfaction (Warhurst 1995). BA recorded financial losses of  £140m and this leaves a threat for the new entrant in the market. So the threat for the new entrant was there. Drivers for change: Humans change with the passage of time as per the requirement and situation at hand. Similarly organisations need to change as well to adapt to the changing internal and external environment. A need of change can arise from two kinds of factors i.e. Internal and External factors. External factors include the competition, technological advancements, innovation, and deregulation of industry, labour costs, and access to resources, international economic changes, and government policies. Internal change factors tend to follow on from the external ones, and include adapting to shifts in corporate missions, changes in technological equipment and processes, shifts in employee attitudes and behaviour and corporate culture. In BAs case the initiating factors were both internal and external. The external factors were the competition, the governments threat of privatization, and access to cheaper resources and increasing prices of oil. The internal factors involved in pushing BA towards going f or a change were the internal rigid culture, Change of equipments and staff related issues. How the culture was formed? BAs cultural change was a success and still it is being used as a reference or a guide for the firms who go for cultural change (Mills et al 2008). There were four major companies who went through cultural change and some of the reasons among them were common, e.g. threat of privatization. Those companies were Jaguar, British Airport Authority (BAA), British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL), and British Airways (BA). The founders of a company or the forefathers have a significant influence on the culture formation of a business. The way they do things leave a long lasting impact on the followers thus become the part of the culture (Poole et al 2004). Jaguar and BAA for example have always had charismatic leaders. Sir William Lyons and Sir Norman Payne were both charismatic leaders and autocratic in style (Salama 1995). This leaves the impression on the follower managers and showed its effects in their decision making styles. BNFL and BA till 1984 didnt have any charismatic leader like Jaguar and BAA (Salama 1995). There was variation in departments which shows the values of each of the departmental head. Christopher Harding was appointed as the chairman in 1984 and before him there wasnt a single dominant character at the top management level. Because BA had its origin from the ministry of defence, there was a strong civil service influence in the company. BA had a strong and close contact with Royal Air Force and both pilots and managers were recruited from RAF frequently. These militants left a very operational flavour to the organizations culture. In a survey a manager said that we couldnt get away from the fact that we are on a mission and that mission is everything to us and the customer are just an unfortunate add on. The management and leadership style was not participative as the CEO and the former chairman personally were very distant from the staff. The technical knowledge was considered to be very vital and the managers were recruited and promoted on the basis of their technical abilities instead of managerial abilities. All these factors made the culture of BA very rigid and a critical cultural change became the only solution for the company to survive. The Change Scope: Background: Other than the increasing competition and fuel costs, old fleets, and high staff costs in 80s, BAs management had to tackle these issues in order to avoid going bank corrupt, Improving the companys financial performance fundamentally, pre-tax losses were showing a figure of  £240m in 81 and 82 (Annual report 1st April 1983). CEO of BA said in 1982 that their money is draining at the rate of  £200 every minute (Mills et al 2006). Convincing the workforce of the supreme importance of customer services for the success of the company. Improving the perceptions about BA in the market. Maintaining momentum and regaining the focus which will allow them to meet new challenges. The main reasons for this crisis on BA were its culture and history. BEA and BOAC came together to form BA in 1981 (Staniland 2003). They remained sovereign till 1976 when the group division was changed to a structure based on functional divisions. Still a distinctive split within BA persisted until the mid 1980s. This improper assimilation disallowed BA to achieve the desired benefits of the merger, could not attain a common focus, created management segregation squabbles and resulted in a lack of a unifying corporate culture (Doganis 2002). The funny side of the merger was that most of the BEA and BOAC employees were war veterans who used to fly military aircrafts and they had a great influence on shaping the culture of BA. BAs culture was influenced by military mentality with a purely operational focus. The employees believe that their job is only to fly the plan safely and land it on time. Customer satisfaction and customer care, profit maximization and productivity were not considered as top priorities (Bowhill 2008). BA had financial support from the government and was doing a profitable business in the 70s (Parker 2009). These were the reasons which made it easier for BA to neglect its increasing inefficiencies over time. It was getting even more difficult to persuade the workforce and the management towards the need of a fundamental change. The competition was rising in the market and customer dissatisfaction plus the employees absenteeism were on the rise and the need for change was critical. The 1981 survival plan: The merger in 1981 leaves the company overstaffed and the staff expenses were unaffordable. The survival plan involves downsizing and the staff was reduced from 52000 to 43000 through voluntary measures. A 20% decrease in workforce in 9 months was a major downsizing (Thompson Martin 2009). Freezing pay was increased for a year which caused more volunteers leaving the job than was required. 16 routed were closed, 8 online stations and 2 engineering bases were shut down (Carleton Lineberry 2004). The survival plan was all about minimizing the costs and expenses as the company was heading towards bankruptcy. The activities involved in minimizing the costs also includes the halting of cargo service and selling the fleets and massive cuts in number of offices, administrative services and staff clubs etc (Jones and Lockwood 2002). Things were not going right and the survival plan was amended and staff was reduced by another 7000 and the total number than was appro ximately 35000. The voluntary laying off schemes cost the company around  £150 million and the company ended up with more volunteers than necessary because of no job security and sinking conditions of the company (Carleton Lineberry 2004). Changing image of the Airline: British airways had a bad image in the customers mind dew to unsatisfactory services and relatively higher prices. A survey by the International Airline Passengers Association put BA at the top of a list of the airlines to be avoided. (Redman Wilkinson). To improve the image of the organization BA launched its Manhattan Landing and The worlds favourite Airline campaigns and raised the advertising budget which was  £19m to  £31m for the year 1983-1984 in order to signal a clear commitment to changing the corporate image (Leban et al 2005). Building its turnaround team: 30% of the old employees had left the organization voluntarily which involved senior mangers as well (Barsoux Manzoni 1997). Culture is formed by leaders and now these leaders were not there which helped the cultural change process. Newly appointed CEO Sir Collin Marshall was a very charismatic leader. He brought in some new blood to give the company a fresh perspective and to regain focus. In 1983, Colin Marshall made customer service a personal crusade (Reichheld 1996). Customer services were something absent in the BAs culture which was very rigid and he wanted to achieve a shift from a strongly British, engineering, and operationally driven culture to one that emphasized productivity and profits while increasing the value placed on customer service. Support from top management: To make a change successful the leaders need to play the role model. Leader needs to be the one, who actually put the change terms in practice, supports his team and give them freedom of expression (Cameron 2004). Collin Marshall in this regard was very concerned and he used to spend lot of his time in terminals with staff communicating and reinforcing the desired culture for the organization and its mutual and individual advantages. Employees were given the freedom to share their ideas and thoughts and give their suggestions about helping the change to carry forward. Employees feel listened to and feels themselves as part of the companys success. Education and Training: Change needs to be reinforced and communicated regularly to make it feel happening. A continuous training needs to be done to help employees adapting to the new culture. BA in this regard conducted a training program named PPF (Putting People First). This training program was aimed at the people to examine their interactions with other people. The main focus of the training was to build positive relationships and customer services. Nearly 40000 of BAs employees attended the training program (Leban et al 2005). Another training program conducted by BA was MPF (Managing People First). This training program was aimed at other issues like culture and its importance, the leadership, trust, vision and feedback. These behaviour moulding programs resulted in good and BA was able to move on towards cultural change. After one year of training with TMI (training consultants), BA moved into profit (Senior Fleming 2006). Make the Change visible: Change needs to visible to the outside world. British Airways unveiled their new planes at Heathrow Airport and their new uniforms to give the world an impression that they have gone through a change and now they are a better organization (Leban et al 2005). With in 10 years the cultural change program succeeded in creating a strong commitment to productivity, profits and customer services. The morale was higher and the companys image in the market was better and this change lift the company out of bankruptcy to become one the worlds most respected airline. British Airways have launched a new campaign in 2009 named ONE DESTINATION. The CEO said at the time of launch that we started our journey towards responsible air travel in 1984 and we have discovered that our customers love to fly with us but are concerned about their impact on the environment (BBC news). Getting over the resistance with the help of suitable change models: Kurt Lewins change model comprises of three steps, i.e. Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze. The first stage in Lewins change model is unfreezing that is when manager develops a felt or need for the change which can be because of declining profits or shrinking market shares etc. In BAs case both profits and market shares were declining. This is where the CEO Collin Marshall felt the need for the change. The unfreezing stage is very crucial as this is when managers are making the workforce ready for the change. This is the advertising phase where the vision and content of the change is communicated which inspires the workforce and gains their commitment. Brirish Airways in this regard conducted the behaviour moulding conferences named PPF and MPF to change the behaviours and make the people ready for the change. The next stage in Lewins model is the change it self. This is the stage where the terms of the change are practically implied and practiced. The survival plan discussed above aimed at cost reduction and than the activities like increasing the advertising budget, hiring new blood and educating and training the people was the change process which was very well lead by the CEO. At this stage continuous feedback and reinforcement is required to make the change feel happening. Collin Marshall himself used to talk with the employees in small groups and spent his most of time reinforcing his vision and desired culture. Refreezing is the stage when people start to embrace the change and the organization has moved to the new culture. This is the stage where the change should be visible and BA made the change visible by inaugurating their new fleets and uniforms. John P. Kotter in his 8 step change model says that a strong enough team is required to carry the change process forward. BA did create a team of new blood managers who gave the company a fresh ad current perspective of business. Kotters model emphasize on communicating the vision of the change and BA was up to the task and had a great support from the senior management as the employees had the freedom of sharing their ideas and thoughts. Leadership Styles: As mentioned above that leadership of BA was heavily influenced by the retired army officers and co ordination and co operation was missing and leaders were like dictators. When the new CEO took over he changed the way of leading as in the process of downsizing, some senior managers were also removed from their positions because of the out dated leadership techniques. The success of the change was because of the new leadership who acted as mentors, and by adopting the democratic, consultive and persuasive, and transformational styles of leadership. Analysis of the Change at BA: The Thatcher Governments announcement of privatizing British Airways was the initial trigger which started the whole process of change (Staniland 2003). The need for the cultural change in BA arises in the transitional phase of the economic environment. The airline industry in UK was facing a severe competition which was an outcome of the privatization. Airline industry in UK was put to work under highly deregulated market which historically used to work in highly regulated market. The privatization decision changed the historic values and beliefs of BA dramatically as the organizations mission in the past was to make sure that planes fly safely and land safely. Profit maximization and competition were not much of an issue. Changing the culture is an ongoing process (Schabracq 2007) and even it is fully achieved, it still goes on in the form of monitoring and continuous inspection. British Airways since 1984 is in the transition phase and is replacing some of its main historical values and beliefs to be consistent with the new mission (Salama 1995). Collin Marshall was appointed as the CEO in order to accomplish this required cultural change. Training and behaviour changing programmes and evaluation systems have been introduced to motivate and stimulate changes. But in some areas other managerial career subsystems such as selection and promotion, had experienced minor modifications. Despite BA had put great deal of effort into encouraging certain behaviours, staff did not collate its employment policies and practices around the new culture (Coles et al 2000). BA failed to institutionalize the change through their stabilisation action plans. Management techniques were certainly impressive, but not everyo ne benefited from them. In areas such as marketing, the criteria for choosing Managers had changed from technical to managerial skills. However, some managers still preferred the old fashioned recruitment procedure based on promoting and selecting people who were good technical individuals, therefore BA had difficulties maintaining the change. At the corporate level, the managers were now rewarded based on performance. The new appraisal system varies across functions as the criteria for good performance was different among different departments. This issue arises from the HR departments ignorance towards the different subculture. The HR department had been trying to impose its own values and beliefs on the rest of the organization and this was identified by Marshall and a new structure for HR was developed later on in order to give the department units more autonomy. This conflicting situation reflects a lack of consensus regarding the desired organizational culture as viewed by top management. Recent Issues: BA had won awards for Best Airline and Best Business Class, a total of 7 awards (Investors Report BA.co.uk). However, BA was also on top of the list of the companies that had complaints, made by the AUC (Air Transport Users Council), totalling 117. Air France came second with 110 and Ryanair third with 77, EasyJet had 42 total complaints (BBCnews.co.uk 20 Aug 2002). If BA adopt a strategy for focus differentiation, tighter controls on the safe handling of baggage, more effective booking services would require to be implemented in order to provide this quality service, thus gaining customer satisfaction and justification of price differentiation. This would inevitably enhance its image and reputation (Johnson et al 2008). CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION: British Airways had gone through many changes in order to promote this cultural change. British Airways lacked a holistic approach while implementing the change because despite of the HR departments attempts towards forming policies and procedures around the new culture, there was evidently a gap between HR and middle management. Some managers were still using the traditional approaches of reward system and recruiting people. British Airways needed to adopt a partnership model within HR. This model is about establishing a common interest in order to secure the competitiveness, viability and prosperity of an organisation. Economic tensions appreciated within this model, are fitting to British Airways unstable environment. The Partnership model talks about getting a commitment from employees to improve quality and efficiency and the acceptance by the employers as stakeholders with interest to be considered when decisions are made. In the beginning it will require a top to bottom approa ch in order to promote and advertise the change. However promoting good strategies which are suitable for all the departments and areas of the organization, as opposed to some areas, is the key to its success. British Airways need to adopt this model to promote teambuilding and working together kind of environment. This model will help in identifying the organizational goal by mutually sharing the values and beliefs of the people and they will start moving in same direction and the outcome of the change can be seen in the whole organization. British Airways is once again in crisis at the current time and is showing record  £401 million pre tax losses (BBC news). Flights are late and customers are facing some sort of the same issues as there were in 1980s. British Airways has a good history and current image in the consumer market. They might need another change in the organization. The change started in 1984 and still things need to be done. Therefore it can be said that changing culture is a complex and long term undertaking (Thomas 2005). It involves coordinated efforts by the top management to change its own values and behaviour and communicates it to the followers and others in the organization. Such changes must be reinforced by shifts in management education, selection and promotion. Culture cannot be managed on its own or as separate from the rest of the organization.

Persusave Essay

Rodney Klein To whom it may concern, Thank you for taking the time to consider my proposal. As you know the Bay Cafe had a grand Re-opening in January of 2014. At this time we changed our menu options, our times of operation, and we included the opening of the Boardwalk Bistro coffee shop. Our fellow hospital employee's took a few months to adjust to the change. We lost some customers but we gained some new ones as well.I believe now that everyone has acclimated to our new changes it is time to start implementing daily or Kelly deals/options as well as a change to our hours of operation. First, our hours of operation are very confusing to our nursing and support staff. We are open in the Bistro coffee shop from am to 10:AMA for hot cooked to order breakfast. From 10:AMA to 1 1 am, we only offer grab and go options as our cafe staff changes from breakfast to lunch.During the 10:AMA-1 lam hour the Bistro coffee shop looks deserted as the staff makes the necessary changes to lunch and i s not always present in the Bistro. The cafe is then open from 1 lam to pm for lunch at which time the grab and go option is available from pm to pm. At pm the Bistro coffee shop is then open until pm. During the hours of pm to pm the cafeteria looks and feels deserted. If we were to keep the cafe open during this time the friendly atmosphere would draw more customers and potential business.These few minor changes would not require more staffing or cost more to operate. However it would simplify the confusion and frustration to the Bay Park staff and lessen the stress of the Bay Cafe employees. Recap of suggested new hours of operation: Bistro Coffee Shop open am to loam (Breakfast) Bay Cafe open loam to pm (Lunch and Dinner) Second, since our grand opening in January 2014, our menu has not changed for breakfast. We offer the same few selections and the same daily specials Monday through Friday.If we incorporated a daily or weekly drink special we could draw new potential customers. Our supplier is through Cattle's best which is owned by Struck Coffee. They have a list of possible drink mixes on their website that we could add to our menu and offer as a special. Our menu is good but these few changes could make it great. We would not be adding any supplies or need any extra staffing to accomplish these changes. For example: Monday: Caramel Machismo $x. Xx and Pancakes (already offered) Tuesday: London Fog $x. X and Sausage Burrito (already offered) In closing, the Bay Cafe and the Bistro coffee shop are great additions to Bay Park Community Hospital. The new hours of operation however are extremely confusing to the nursing and support staff, a few adjustments would reduce this confusion. The meal offerings for breakfast in the Bistro Coffee shop are very popular, especially the daily breakfast specials. A daily or weekly coffee/drink special would add to offerings and potential earnings. Thank you Food and Nutrition Services