Economic analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic analysis - Essay Example In normal circumstances, keeping other things constant (ceteris paribus), as the demand rises (the supply is held constant), the price of the good also increases. This is because as the demand for a good rises, the willingness and the ability of the buyers to buy rises. As a result, buyers are willing to buy more, and hence the price of the good rises. This can be shown in the diagram that is drawn below. From Figure 2.1 it can be seen that as demand rises (due to some exogenous variable), the demand curve shifts to the right (from AB to CD). The supply is fixed and so the new equilibrium is F instead of E that was initially the equilibrium. Since the supply is fixed it can be seen that the prices have risen from P1 to P2, such that P1 In the article, Erica Olsen, the marketing specialist for North Dakota Wheat Commission states that the prices of durum throughout the year 2009 have not been changed. In fact they have remained in a range of $4 to $ 4.20, so that the average price is $ 4.10.2 She states that the demand for durum has increased worldwide and so has increased the exports of America. The estimated number of exports was reported as 838000 bushels in the year 2009.3 Normally, this increased number of exports may lead to a shortage of durum in the domestic country. Consequently, the prices may increase more as the supply falls to the left (there is a shortage). This phenomenon can be seen in the figure below. In the figure, the demand is already high. With an increase in exports the supply in the domestic market should fall. (The supply curve should shift from UX to YZ). The equilibrium should shift to G from E. Hence the price should increase more, this time to P3 where P3> P2. However this is not what was observed in

Candid Communication Essay Example for Free

Candid Communication Essay Due to the costly failed attempt to expand to the European market, and recognition of the major underlying cultural problems which resulted in the unsuccessful expansion, our team has been tasked with proposing plans for revitalizing your corporate culture. Key personnel, who could have provided advice to avert the flawed expansion strategy, did not voice their concerns or advice because such actions were not culturally encouraged. As an executive management team, you have recognized that this failure to uphold a corporate culture which values candid communication at all levels was the ultimate cause of this setback. This proposal is designed to uncover potential obstacles to creating a culture which foster candid communication, and present a plan of action to alter the corporate culture from the ground up. Question 1: The obstacles of fostering candid communication can be categorized into three areas: personal, physical and cultural. When discussing personal obstacles, the outer layers peel back to find both interpersonal and intrapersonal barriers that your organization will find in their journey to value candid communication. For example, interpersonal barriers occur between team members, such as differences in personality styles or behavioral preferences. Ignoring or not addressing these differences can lead to rivalry, competition and fear of speaking up due to retaliation or further dislike from other co-workers. Though individuals in your company may not like or be willing to work with one-another, the major obstacle is to first get them talking to address their differences. Furthermore, even if your employees hold similar behavioral or personality styles, another obstacle may be that their relationships might not be strong enough to support constructive criticism from others, indicating a lack of trust. The absence of trust is the first dysfunction of a team, according to Patrick Lencioni. â€Å"Trust is the foundation of a team† and the lack of trust is the team’s inability â€Å"to understand and open up to one another† (Lencioni, pg. 43-44). Strong, trusting relationships support providing feedback to other employees and supervisors without fear of future scrutiny. Lack of trust within a group also holds a strong influence on intrapersonal barriers to speak freely. Intrapersonal barriers are those that occur within the individual self or mind but are strongly influenced by their surroundings. For example, without the feeling of trust, employees may revert back to their safety zone by keeping quiet and holding back opinions in order to protective themselves (Lencioni, pg. 195). Likewise, other intrapersonal barriers can be as simple as the individual’s self-confidence level or working with individuals who prefer not to provide criticism for fear of rejection from the group. In addition, another obstacle is the absence of individual’s sense of belongingness to the company, one of Maslow’s steps in his Hierarchy of Needs. Belongingness comes from the company support of employees through personal development and job enrichment which play a critical role for employees to recognize that they and their opinions are valued enough to be shared. Secondly, physical barriers of separation, such as the physical distance between locations, geographic barriers like oceans or even walls between offices, can also hinder the ability to communicate openly to employees,. For example, as your company expands internationally, it will face the creation of virtual teams. Virtual teams are at a disadvantage to build trusting, strong relationships because they do not have the luxury of sitting across the table from one-another to work out disagreements. And, even if they wanted to, it would be extremely expensive for the company to fund trips back and forth across the pond. On the other hand, co-located employees may still feel that physical barriers impede their ability to share from blocked areas and closed doors providing visual cues to employees that they are either not needed or wanted. Last, as your company grows it will face both society and company built cultural barriers. Societal barriers, such as international relations and generational differences can influence the effectiveness of conducting business and building relationships in the future. For example, do the companies that we are working with international hold the same emphasis on candid dialog? Do cultural barriers or age differences enable employees to provide productive feedback or criticism without violating a social norm or without fear of creating adversarial relationships? Both examples of societal based barriers greatly influence the ability of people to feel they can share openly. Likewise, company built cultural barriers continue to obstruct straight talk if the culture does not reward such behavior and the population contains individuals who do not fit the cultural mold. For example, Nordstrom employees who are not fanatic about how amazing you Nordstrom’s is will â€Å"be ejected like a virus† (). Employees who do not see rewards for behaviors or do not agree with the cultural behaviors will not be comfortable to share candidly. Question 2: In order to combat these negative obstacles the company must first create and communicate a solid value structure, mission statement and form committees to help implement and generate ideas. The assurance that people feel valued needs to be the primary focus of the company citing the well known fact that employees are the number one customers. A credo similar to the one mentioned in Built to Last (p. 9) for Johnson Johnson, listed open for all to see, must be presented to the employees specifically listing core values including but not limited to: welcome change, be honest/open, recognize success but not shun failure, treat everyone with respect and spend considerable amount of time nurturing culture. For maximum impact management needs to proactively practice (MBWA) by walking around displaying, encouraging and measuring the success of all these values. These values and structures need to be engrained early in the employees so that the culture will become second nature. The objective is for the employee to be culturally rooted early. This is why the processes of recruiting, hiring, socializing and training new employees is critical, similar to Nike within Built to Change â€Å"the company fostered a â€Å"just do it† identity that was reflected in its structure, the people it hired†(p. 46). Once hired, the cultural foundation has been set and injection into the company’s system will receive little resistance making it simple to promote candid communications. Disregarding early processes may allow people to slip into the company who don’t fit the cultural mold and/or they are not properly adjusted into the system. These outcasts have a possibility of being rejected from the system resulting in employee turnover or a multitude of other problems. Recruiters can ensure recruits fit into the open communication culture by various techniques of evaluation, starting at first contact, including socializing events and interview processes. Events that require potential employees to socialize with current employees at their peer level will help evaluate their compatibility within the system and the employees. Employees administering interviews are encouraged to ask more behavioral questions rather than job function related questions. This will also ensure that new candidates are on the right path to successful transplant into the company. Once hired, new employees are to be indoctrinated with the concept of free speech. In order to build relationships and foster vertical communication, all new employees regardless of position, are to attend a high level onboarding training that is done within one large room. Next they participate in a communication building scavenger hunt requiring them to find and speak to certain individuals within the organization. The new employees are then paired with existing employees in their own department for 3-6 months because it typically takes a while for employees to become situated and comfortable in their new environment. By training employees in this way you guarantee little deviation from expected culture and instill the free speech initiative, making it easier to have candid conversations. People tend to respond positively to change when they receive recognition from managers. Displaying exceptional behavior is often overlooked leading employees to believe that the attribute is not exceptional or essential to success. When establishing a system for rewarding positive behaviors, especially those that revolve around the core values and candid communication, the rewards need to be in high regard to the employee and not necessarily monetary, Microsoft shows this in Built to Change when it â€Å"employees have challenging work and, of course, one of the most highly rewarding stock plans around†¦. hereby attracted some of the country’s top software engineers and marketing geniuses†(p. 47). Equally important within the innovation process is having more time to develop new ideas shown in Built to Change 3M’s â€Å"policies and practices that give employees time to experiment, and its reward system recognizes innovative work† (p. 39). The rewards and time provided for ideas generated will bring about open communication but would be ultimately ineffective in the event that there isn’t a way to evaluate these ideas and innovations. Therefore a committee consisting of white and blue collar workers should be assembled to evaluate and investigate ideas that are submitted for validity or cost effectiveness. To instill a culture that embraces and utilizes open communication candidly the company must have a way to promote and judge the performance of the changes. A committee will be formed in order to set goals, establish who will be in charge, schedule mingling events, enrich communications and ultimately ensure that this initiative isn’t forgotten. The mingling events would serve as a tool to not only build relationships between employees, breaking down communication barriers, but to strengthen and reinforce ties to the company. Some examples of the events would include speed mentoring, company picnics, benefit fairs, blood drives and fundraising events. Next the committee would be responsible for enriching communications throughout the company by fostering goodwill, laying out company-wide changes and compiling and maintaining the medium for communication disbursement. Mediums of communication can vary from newsletters, memos, banners or blogs. In Corporate Culture and Performance, Tandem Computers practices this by displaying achievements â€Å"are regularly recognized on bulletin boards as Our Latest Greatests†(p. 16). Communication transmitted must be professional to avoid wasting time across the organization. Some additional information, including information about the CEO’s family, may be added to show that she is human and the message is genuine. The committee would also explain new product information, organizational issues that might be confusing and benefit changes that might seem to only benefit the employer. By doing this managers can build rapport to increase employee understanding of the company, products, ethics, culture, and external environment, showing that the managers are not hiding information. This builds trust and fosters open communication. In order to facilitate information sharing, the company must utilize various ways of mentoring. Level mentoring should be skipped so that employees get an opportunity to meet with someone above the direct management. Reverse mentoring will be also instilled in the company as the younger person might have some fresh ideas and new tools. Sometimes, a new set of ideas might be the solution to a lingering issue in the company. Training sessions are organized by putting the management and employees on the same teams. Likewise, large group information sessions are implemented to talk about issues related to employees with management information similar to Merck’s communication meetings that are held three times a year. These meetings will have the full support of upper management and are used to open communication, improve the flow of information among all levels of management and to provide employees with information they need to do their jobs better. There could also be an improvement in information sharing by having no doors on offices or no physical barriers between management and lower level employees. Honda and Harley Davidson have an open door policy as described in Built to Change (p. 9). The company should clearly define fair policies and procedures. This will help the employees to know what is expected of them. If employees know what the company expects, it is easier for them to be accountable for their own behavior and contribute accordingly. Clear guidelines for professional conduct will be established by the company so that co-workers treat each other with respect regardless of their position in the company. Also, a process of performance review system will be implemented to ensure the employees are promoting the company’s value structure. A 360 degree review process will be utilized by the company which will help to provide on-going feedbacks to all the employees. This will enable all the subordinates, peers and supervisors to have their input towards the company. This will also help to assess all employees on a continual basis on how they are performing to business needs as well as adapting to the values of the company. The results from these reviews can be used to make administrative decisions as well as to plan for training and development in the future. The company should also not sway from their core values no matter what, as described in Built to Change (p. 4) in the Southwest Airlines example. This will enable the employees to stay loyal and feel comfortable knowing that their jobs are stable. Finally, the company will provide proper benefits to the employees including fair pay based on individual performance, team performance and seniority so that the employees feel valued. A proper organic organization structure will be designed to empower people and allowing them to make their own decisions. This will make the employees accountable with their decisions. A flatter organization structure will be designed in order to enable employees to speak freely to higher levels of management for advice. This will also enhance the mentoring process and help to build effective relationships. After assessing the culture and gathering input, the company should identify the system, policies and procedures that must be either changed or implemented to support the new culture. The new infrastructure should address role expectations, accountability, rewards and selection systems. The company will also have defined job descriptions and encourage people to switch departments so that employees won’t feel pigeon-holed. In other words, the company will also allow mobility within the organization in order to get the most out of their employees and employees will be more flexible. The employees should also understand other roles and jobs in the company to be able to relate to them and provide input for improvements. The company will focus more on team based design that will eventually help to elevate individual performance in the company. Individuals in the company will be cross trained or conditioned in order to improve the overall performance of the whole team. Although the word â€Å"team† is heavily used in the industry today, teams often play a major role in initiating organizational change. A cross functional team design will create mutual accountability for results and joint ownerships of work products. Above all, a properly designed organic organization structure will positively impact the ability to focus, directly affects the communication channels and empowers people by giving the employees a drive to make their own decisions. Question 3: While designing and implementing an effective, company-wide communication structure is vitally important, the activities performed by leaders at all levels are paramount to sustaining an effective communication culture. Managers are the face of your company’s culture and their interactions with their direct reports will be the frontlines of the company’s culture battles. Beginning with the hiring process, managers must be mindful that they are not only assessing the potential hire’s technical skills and abilities, but also their fit within the culture. They must abide by and practice recruiting and hiring techniques that will reasonably ensure that the company is hiring candidates that will express the desired behavior and align with the culture. These techniques could include maintaining relationships with contacts at local universities and recruiting firms. If these contacts are familiar with your company and culture they could aid in providing a stream of potential new hires and would be able to â€Å"pre-screen† for cultural fit. Mangers should openly discuss the company’s culture and ask explicit questions regarding how the potential hire feels he/she will fit within the culture. This will set cultural expectations of open and candid communication with all interviewees long before any are hired. Also, managers should use behavioral type interview questions to test the candidate’s attitudes, trust and ability to speak freely. Additionally, the interviews should be conducted by employees of varying levels of the company, both managers and non-mangers, with a single manager soliciting feedback from all other interviewers regarding their assessment of the recruit. Once potential employees are deemed to be a cultural fit and are hired it is important to continue the initiation process into the culture. Managers need to immediately begin teaching new employees about the open communication culture and submerging them in it. The Container Store, for example, submits all new hires to a weeklong orientation in which they are taught the inner workings and philosophy of the company (FoE, pg. 75). Socialization techniques can be utilized to build the relationships between the new and established employees, understanding that well socialized employees are more likely to share information freely. Managers can organize gatherings of new and current employees to introduce the new hires to their co-workers. Examples would be ice cream or pizza socials in which ice-breaker type games are used to introduce and socialize new hires to their peers. Mangers can also take new hires to lunch with a small group of their fellow employees in an effort to socialize the new employee in an environment outside the workplace. An emphasis should be made at these types of gatherings to learn about the employee’s life outside of the work environment. Other practices like a mentoring or buddy system could also be utilized to engage the new employee in an open communication culture. The focus of these activities should be to build trust and a sense of value within the new hire. Employees that perceive themselves as being valued and have strong trust relationships with their direct reports and co-workers are more likely to give of themselves, that is, to invest their â€Å"heads and hearts† with your company. While recruiting and initiating new hires into the culture is vital, most of a leader’s time will be spent maintaining the open communication culture. These tasks can be broken down into activities that build relationships, empower employees and provide reviews and feedback. Mangers should spend a considerable amount of time getting to know and nurture relationships with their direct reports. Leaders should adopt a Management by Wondering Around system where managers spend time with employees getting to know what they are doing, how they are doing it, what kind of problems they are facing, and what help is required to solve the problems (Dynamic Business Strategy, info from Vick). This type of communication should be seen as an integral part of managing people, not as an additional burden to a manager’s already busy schedule. An open-door policy should be utilized so that managers are available to their employees as much as possible. Leaders should also maintain a database of employee birthdays and employment anniversaries and recognize these occasions with cards and/or gifts. Management could also hold monthly get-togethers to celebrate the birthdays, anniversaries and milestones that occurred that month. Managers should be encouraged to spend time with their direct reports outside the work environment. Informal gatherings like lunches and happy hours could be utilized to get to know direct reports on a more personal level. Managers should hold occasional casual days in which employees are allowed to wear themed casual attire like university t-shirts to kick off football season or Hawaiian shirts at the start of summer. Additionally, leaders could send out daily or weekly e-mails informing employees of what is going on around the company.

Effects of Privatization on Performance

Effects of Privatization on Performance This research study investigates the impact of privatization on the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) financial performance which is privatize in 2005.The variables Net Profit Margin, Operating Profit Margin, Return on Assets and Earnings per Share and Number of trades of shares are used as representation for financial performance. The paired-samples t test for mean difference has been used for comparing the pre and post privatization performance. Analysis of the financial data shows decline in the net profit margin, operating profit margins, return on assets and earnings per share after the privatization; but the impact is insignificant for all the variables except the operating profit margin. The effects of privatization on employees performance and management remain a potential problem and issue for further research due to shortage of resources and knowledge. Effect of Privatization on Performance Poor performance of many companies and public institutions in general has shown that in principle the government is not a good businessman. In this regard Privatization, a global phenomenon considered as a tool that leads to economic growth, increase in productivity, efficiency in utilization of resources and expansion in output and employment. The rational consumer takes benefits from competition among private firms in the form of better quality services and low prices especially in banking, air travel and telecommunication sectors. Due to rigidity in our culture, Public Sector companies do not become flexible and more dynamic as compared to Private companies. In general, it can be claimed that privatization is a part of a broader economic policy which is referred to as the economic release or connecting to the world economy by some governments. Privatization is the process of changing the conditions of governmental activities so that the major context is fixed but the atmosphere of the sectors changes and the effect of atmosphere and conditions of markets on companies performance is likely to consider private sectors mechanisms Telecommunication plays a vital role in the economic development of any country. PTCL was privatized in 2005. Due to the privatization of PTCL, overall financial performance and the share prices of the PTCL became volatile. This purpose of this study is to study dynamic aspects of privatization and compare the pre and post privatization financial performance of the company. An overview of PTCL In 1947, after independence, Pakistan had an insufficient telecom base. Only 14,000 land lines were there in whole country and only one department of Telephone and Post Telegraph. In 1962 these two departments were alienated as Postal department and Telephone and Telegraph Department (TT). Pakistan started gradually enhancement in telecommunication sector in 1990. The brief history of PTCL is as follows: Telegraph and Postal Department was established in 1947. Telephone and Telegraph Department was established in 1962. Pakistan Telecom Corporation was established in 1990-1991. PTCL was listed in the Karachi Stock Exchange in 1996. Internet and mobile subsidiaries was established in 1998. Policies of Telecom sectors were finalized in 2000. Deregulation policy of Telecom sector was announced in 2003. Objectives of Research This research study aims to examine the effect of firms privatization on the performance of the Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL). The objectives of the study are as follows: To evaluate impact of privatization on the financial performance of PTCL. To understand whether privatization how much privatization is effective To help policy makers and other authoritative bodies regarding decision making about privatization. Literature Review Memon (2007) argue that privatization and the preparations for privatization are very important to minimize the social costs and dislocations caused by such initiative. Most South Asian countries have come to realize that privatization for the purpose of reducing fiscal deficits has caused them to off-load those enterprises which are loss making first. Such action has not inspired private sector confidence, and has resulted in large-scale worker retrenchment. Privatization is the key factor that enables markets to work properly and appropriately. According to Megginson Netter (2006) from last two decades most countries of the world shifted their firms from state ownership to privatization. In 1999 the revenue of privatization firms was $ 1 trillion around the globe. Given the importance of the subject, a lot of studies have been performed to analyze the impact of privatization in a number of countries. Taghizadeh (2009) compared 12 privatized telecom corporations with 12 non-privatized (governmental) ones regarding their per capita cost of operating, per capita cost to fix damages and per capita wage and costs of labor maintenance and conclude that the costs were lower in privatized centers regarding all three above mentioned domains. A recent study (Farinos et al., 2007) while investigating the companies privatized in Spain through the years 1990-2001 argue that privatization has had a great impact on efficiency, sale income and employment. Warzynski (2003) in his study of 300 Ukrainian firms finds that competition does not have a significant effect on firm performance measured by productivity and profitability while privatization has a marginal positive significant effect on profitability and an insignificant effect on productivity. He points out; however, that competition and privatization might be complementary measures, as he finds that competition increases the performance of privatized firms. Boubakri et al. (2005) study the post privatization corporate governance of firms and show that performance gains are associated with the type of dominant owners. Choi and Hassan (2011) argue that Privatized banks, on average, perform better than established banks, whereas this is not true where we do not consider country differences across privatizations. They conclude that although governance and foreign ownership are significantly correlated with decreased performance deviation of privatized banks relative to the established bank group, banking freedom (regulations) and extensive deposit insurance schemes in respective economies are associated with increased performance deviation. A recent study (Okten Arin, 2006) on the effect of privatization argues privatized firms improve productive efficiency by increasing their capita l and decreasing their labor endowment. But this effect disappears when we control for changes in market structure using a measure for market concentration. Hence, while private ownership has a robust positive effect on productive efficiency, whether gains in productivity will be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices will depend on the market structure ensuing from privatization. Kerr et al., (2008) studied the privatization process in New Zealand and Australia through which they confirmed that the performance of companies after being privatized has improved greatly and privatization has increased the annual growth of New Zealand companies up to 12% and Australian companies up to 9%. Another study (Sarboland, 2012) conducted in Iran conclude that privatization has increased the overall financial performance of the corporation, however financial (debt) leverage ratios also increase, which reflects the companys poor performance in the years after privatization because in such a situation creditors will have less assurance and, moreover, in the view of lenders the less financial (debt) leverage ratio, the better. Some research studies found average performance after reforms, whereas, some studies found positive effect of reforms. However, most of the literature suggests that there is a significant relation between privatization and efficiency and due to the importance and the role that privatization has in increasing efficiency and optimum use of resources, more research is needed to confirm or reject the findings of previous studies. To do so, this current study has been tried to investigate the relation between privatization and efficiency in PTCL. Methodology The study basically focuses on the impact of Privatization on the financial performance of PTCL. Since the domain is PTCL, financial ratios of years 2000-2004 (before being privatized) and financial ratios of years 2005-2009 (after being privatized) have been analyzed, research population and sample are the same. Information and data needed for this research has been collected from the annual reports of PTCL. Since used data was obtained from company documents and financial records and accounting, the data is considered reliable. For measuring financial performance the following four variables have been used: Operating Profit Margin Net Profit Margin Return On Equity Earnings per share Number of Share trade In this study, to analyze data obtained from documents available in finance department, first, after separating and identifying the data of two periods (i.e., after and before privatization), the paired-samples t test for mean difference has been applied to analyze the data. This test explains volatility and significance of the variables, with the assumptions that the distribution of the variable is normal and that the variance of the variable is same in both set of populations. The test id done with help of Microsoft excel and SPSS. Analysis and Findings Refer to Table.1 in appendix, the shows summary of result of Paired-samples t test for the variable operating profit margin. Mean value of the operating profit margin is lower in the post privatization period. On the other hand, standard deviation is higher in the post privatization period as compared to pre privatization period. It indicates that privatization has negative impact on the net profit margin; moreover, it has also become more volatile after privatization. Whereas, the significant value is less than 0.05 which indicates that significant change has been observed in the operating profit margin after privatization. Refer to Table. 2, 3, 4 in appendix, the result shows summary of result of Paired-samples t test for the variable Net Profit Margin, Return on Equity, and Earning per Share respectively. Results show that all of these three variables have declined after privatization, and have become more volatile. The significance value is greater than 0.05 which indicates that changes in these variables are not statistically significant. Refer to Table. 5 in appendix, the result summarizes result of paired t test for the variable Number of trades. The mean value of the Number of trades is almost double in the post privatization whereas, the standard deviation for the number of trades is high in the post privatization period. P or significant value for the variable Number of Trades is highly significant as it is less than .005 indicating that the number of trades per day is significantly affected due to privatization. Conclusion Based on the results obtained, it was shown that there is a significant effect of privatization on the average number of trades of shares. This effect is being found positive as well. However, Analysis of the financial data shows decline in the financial performance of the company after privatization measured by operating profit margin, net profit margin, return on equity and earnings per share ratio. These entire four variables show decline in the post privatization period but the change is significant only in the variable operating profit margin. Hence we can conclude that privatization of PTCL has not been found analytically favorable. It is recommended, based on the result of the research, the legislative agencies should make appropriate policies to achieve a suitable market for Pakistan. Information clarification, choice of investor and a transparent privatization process should be the top priorities of authoritative bodies in order to make privatization more effective and effic ient. As suggested by Zeitun and Tian (2007) a privatization reform should go gradually and government should provide all necessary social securities to reduce the negative social impact of a firms liquidation. Issues for Future Research Many issues are not covered during the study due to shortage of resources and time. Based on the findings of the current research the following suggestions are recommended for further research: To examine the relation between privatization and management performance. To examine the impact of privatization on employees sense of job security. To examine the failures of financial ratios in decision makings. To examine the analysis of financial ratios in decision makings. To examine the impact of privatization on staffs efficiency.

Prose and Style in Sons and Lovers :: Lawrence Sons and Lovers Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   [1]And after such an evening they both were very still, having known the immensity of passion.   [2]They felt small, half afraid, childish, and wondering, like Adam and Eve when they lost their innocence and realized the magnificence of the power which drove them out of Paradise and across the great night and the great day of humanity.   [3]It was for each of them an initiation and a satisfaction.   [4]To know their own nothingness, to know the tremendous living flood which carried them always, gave them rest within themselves.   [5]If so great a magnificent power could overwhelm them, identify them all together with itself, so that they knew they were only grains in the tremendous heave that lifted every grass-blade it's little height, and every tree, and living thing, then why fret about themselves?   [6]They could let themselves be carried by life, and they felt a sort of peace each in the other.   [7]There was a verification which they had had together.   [8]Nothing could nullify it, nothing could take it away; it was almost their belief in life.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   [9]But Clara was not satisfied.   [10]Something great was there, she knew; something great enveloped her.   [11]But it did not keep her.   [12]In the morning it was not the same.   [13]They had known, but she could not keep the moment.   [14]She wanted it again; she wanted something permanent. [15]She had not realized fully.   [16]She thought it was he whom she wanted. [17]He was not safe to her.   [18]This that had been between them might never be again; he might leave her.   [19]She had not got him; she was not satisfied.   [20]She had been there, but she had not gripped the-the something-she knew not what-which she was mad to have. (336-337)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This passage, from D.H. Lawrence's novel, Sons and Lovers, describes the thoughts of Paul Morel and Clara Dawes after they have spent an evening of passion together.   It is now that Paul and Clara realize that they are not able to fulfill each other's needs adequately.   Most of the sentences are complex, illustrating the complexity of the situation and the character's thoughts, yet the speech is simple and descriptive.   Lawrence's can be seen by   examining the diction, grammar, and the rhythm and sound devices.

Organization development Essay

This paper presents an overview of an article by Padraig Healy on training in Zimbabwean public sector organizations. It outlines the methods of organization development as detailed by Healy and offers a critique of the article produced as a report on the implementation of his own training program as an alternative to previously implemented ones. The paper then goes on to assess the company Petroleum Development Oman, offering insights into the company’s leadership structure, organizational culture, communication practices, and organizational structure. It also offers some analysis of these practices in light of organization development theory. Article Idea Summarized In the article by Padraig Healy, â€Å"Training and Public Sector Reform: An Integrated Approach,† the author defines organization development as a strategic method of defining and aligning companies underlying goals in an effort to increase its effectiveness within the sphere of its operation. Healy reminds his readers that one of the main goals of such development is to facilitate the organization’s ability to compete with rival companies, and such competition takes place at the levels of performance and output. He emphasizes that it is through carefully planned developmental strategies as well as through their proper execution that these goals can be met. He shows, also, that the ability to set and achieve these goals is of immense importance to managers in today’s work environments. Healy demonstrates his understanding of the need for training in building company capacity. Yet the article then gets more specific in addressing the limitations of training as a stand-alone method of organizational development. As a method of strengthening the capacity of an organization to handle all the aspects of its responsibilities, Healy offers an alternative that mixes capacity building with a top-down cultivation of trust between/among managers and employees (Lesmeister, 1992). It therefore goes without saying that the role of the manager is indispensable to the proper development of any organization, whose efforts are to be coupled with an thorough understanding of the organization’s culture in order to attain the general and specific developmental goals set forth for the company. Discussion of themes and arguments Healy begins his article with a discussion of organizational development. He stresses the fact that managers cannot afford to consider organization development as something that takes place spontaneously. Rather, he shows how it is generated through the orchestrated efforts of the stakeholders involved in a particular company. Planning is particularly necessary as such development involves a long range approach and a long-term commitment to the general course of action decided upon (CODL, 2004; Leadership and Organization Development, 2004). Such plans also involve detailed analysis of the organization’s cultural climate as well as its performance as it regards trends as well as alongside its competitors. This particular point made by Healy hits on an important aspect of management, as without a detailed understanding of the positive and negative aspects of the current organization’s performance, it becomes impossible for management to formulate and execute an effective plan for improvement of the company. Healy also correctly notes that such improvement can occur on more than one level, not the least of which is employee performance. This variable affects other important ones, such as organizational output and general performance (Packard, 2005). The article then demonstrates how organization development is considered to be organization-wide since it focuses on the total system. It explains OD as the method through which a system whose climate is managed from the top, so that the heads of the organization set examples concerning the methods of action to be taken at all lower levels of the company (Gallagher, 2000; Mindek, 2005). The ownership of the strategy by workers within the organization is thought to stem directly from this, as they are expected to take their cues from the executives. The article by Padraig Healy goes further by offering a practical application of the theory in a particular situation. It demonstrates how organization development was applied in the public sector and analyzes the success of the various approaches. The first step according to the organization development method is to implement a thorough analysis of and intervention into the performance of workers within that sector. Healy finds that that though most of the employed people are the natives within their working environment, the quality of much of the work done is substandard. In order to solve this problem, rigorous training has been undertaken in order to improve the quality of work, thus increasing the outputs and the level of performance from the workers (King & Colonies, 2006). According to this practical section of the article, training is implemented as a series of events, which includes various workshops, seminars and study visits (Healy, 2001; Lesmeister, 1992). It is significantly different from just adjusting the knowledge and skills of the employees in order to meet the demands of the organization; rather, it can be classified as action research that focuses on the implementation of proposed improvement plan and the charting of the results at each stage of the implementation. Training people in that context demonstrated how much of an investment employee development is, and shows the major requirement of time and money involved. Furthermore, the Healy article suggests reasons why such large-scale development might be a luxury that most developed countries would have difficulty achieving, though they would profit from it greatly (Healy 2001; McNamara, 1997). Strengths and Weaknesses In the article, Padraig Healy performs a good analysis in his consideration of the local situation as he shows himself able to highlight the fact that the organization development performed in the public sector is demonstrates benefits of (as well as the necessity for) rigorous planning. Showing how this is achieved through an in-depth visualization of the situation helps the reader understand not just the concept of organization development but its application to real life situations. Healy also demonstrates a commendable ability to highlight (within this specific Zimbabwean context) the need for astute, active, and honest CEOs that can identify and take ownership of problems and their causes. Since the organization that already existed within the nation had already been associated with weak organizational systems, the results of the application of the training to these leaders as well as to employees demonstrated the need for reforming the training models (Lesmeister, 1992). Healy’s article was also very adept at explaining the need to have key policy makers and leaders that are able to identify, re-examine and then redistribute the important roles involved in the organization. This proved more effective compared with its previous existence which was apparently at the district level (McCourt & Sola, 1999). In the Healy article, the concept of change is given great importance, emphasizing it all throughout the organization. This is in accordance with the theory of organization development, which is one that embraces change. Within the article, organization development is shown to be very important at the public sector level because it deals with various concerns, including human resources, changing the nature of the workplace, global markets and the overall acceleration of change. The fact that Healy gives a practical demonstration of the interplay of all these departments makes his argument for organization-wide development stronger (Kappeler, 2007). Furthermore, in the aspect of human resources, the article takes in consideration the most important player in the organization: the people who do the work. In demonstrating the importance of employee development and training, Healy represents this demographic as contributing the largest degree to the costs incurred by organizations. This approach is effective in demonstrating the dire need for training employees, which represent such a large portion of an organization’s investment and have the ability to determine the success or failure for the organization. The assessment of the areas in which the training program was successful and where it failed also served as a good method of demonstrating the effectiveness of the different types of training programs. Information from this article can therefore be synthesized with others in order to further refine the methods of training in the hope of finding or creating one that is most effective. The organization development weakness (as shown through the Healy article and his application of the concept in Zimbabwe) is its low level of efficacy in the short term. It can often prove self defeating that the real effect or outcome of organization development is most evident over a longer period of time—especially when organizational change is considered an expedient necessity. The paper demonstrates through its attempt to find an improved method of organization development, that even though more than one way exists, it is always best to have the luxury of time in which to implement any of the methods. However, one drawback of this paper is that it deals solely with methods of training, and does not mention other methods of organization development, such as employee promotion, merit-based pay, benefits attractive to already skilled personnel, and decrease of political control on public sector budgets (Besley & McLaren, 1993; Evans and Rauch, 1999; McCourt & Sola, 1999). Conclusion This article is essential in the field of organization development because it shows the various factors that are at play within public sector organizations and how they affect the different aspects of these companies. Healy’s Zimbabwe example presents a concrete look at the complexity of organization development, and how it requires the training of leaders, the careful planning of things, the setting of goals, and other concepts that interplay in the achievement of these goals. The article shows that organization development demands the totality of all the efforts beginning with the leaders (through management training) and then extending downward through the employees and into production. The Case of Petroleum Development Oman: Introduction Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is considered to be the biggest oil explorer and producer in Oman. It is a national company that has the biggest share in the country’s oil production, accounting for about 90% of Oman’s crude oil and almost all of the country’s natural gas supply. PDO can be considered as a large organization, wherein other companies share in its interests, not only the country of Oman. Despite these strong points, the organization lacks unity in its management and leadership, and this disunity is funneled down to the level of employees. These problems are thought to contribute to a below-optimal production rate. Developmental Background In the Case of Petroleum Development Oman, it is managed and owned by separate entities which include the Government of Oman, having a 60% share of interest, Royal Dutch Shell which has a 34% interest, Total, who poses a 4% share of interest and Partex who has a 2% interest (PDO, 2007). Because of this, the leadership and management are not fully unified, and this disunity factor creates an important effect in the case of PDO’s organization development. First of all, the proper approach to (and implementation of) organization development could help usher in a renewal process, which PDO could encounter when and if it chooses to focus on the efficiency and collaboration of the administration. When ones speaks of efficiency, it is undeniable that PDO (like so many other organizations that are lacking in this aspect) just try to supplement this deficiency by increasing the size of the work force. Yet this has not solved the problem, but complicated it, as with the greater number of employees has come a larger responsibility for each managerial personnel. The difficulty of trying to manage a larger workforce with the limited amount of skill and unity has made the job of the manager that more difficult. In this, the company also demonstrates itself as being production oriented rather than employee focused. Yet the Islamic culture also plays a role in this set-up, where work teams are socialized to sacrifice their own comforts for the sake of the team objective. This is where organizational development has the opportunity to improve conditions at PDO. Leadership The leadership structure of the company is defined by a board of directors that control the different divisions of the company: North, South, and Gas divisions. This board consists of 12 members, and included in this number are the managing director and the deputy managing director. The managing director serves also as chairman of the board. The standard setters, as mentioned earlier, are directed or overseen by functional directors, who are also in charge of recruiting and allocating the staff under their jurisdiction. Presumably, they are also in charge of seeing to the capabilities of that staff, by means of training as well as other methods. These functional directors are also in charge of determining the production process, and are therefore termed â€Å"process owners† (PDO, 2007). The work of the Petroleum Development Oman’s board of directors is to devise and make available to the managing directors the objectives of the firm. This is therefore a direct allusion to the planning that takes place in the company’s organization development. The twelve-member board, which includes the Minister of Oil and Gas as chairman, are representatives of the country Oman’s government. This therefore points toward the inextricability of politics from the running of the company, and demonstrates that Petroleum Development Oman can be considered a definitively public-sector company. Therefore, the methods of training identified by the Healy study would appear to be applicable within this organization. Analyzing the situation from a developmental standpoint, one can see clearly that in several areas the principles of organization development are being properly applied in the case of this multinational company, Petroleum Development Oman. The notion of an organization is said to be a conglomeration of efforts from two or more people which are working together towards a common goal, and that is usually the issue of productivity and effectiveness. However, with management and leaders divided among governmental and private sectors, one might find some cause for alarm in the case of PDO. When it comes to the concept of leadership, the case of Petroleum Development Oman mirrors that of many other multinational organizations. PDO is headed by a number of leaders, since many owners exist within the corporation. The majority of the company’s shares is held by the government while the rest is divided up among several smaller companies. The divided nature of the ownership could give rise to the lack of unity regarding the decisions that must be made about the company’s management. However, the organization seems to have countered this through its representative board and the way it has chosen to structure its functionality division as the authors and directors of the company’s process.

MORRIS Surname Meaning and Family History

MORRIS Surname Meaning and Family History The Morris surname has several possible origins: As an English or Scottish surname, Morris may have originated as Maurice, an Old French personal name derived from the Latin Mauritius, a given name itself  derived from the Old French more (Latin maurus), meaning moorish or dark, swarthy. In this respect it was often a nickname given to someone with dark skin. Morris may also have derived as an Anglicized form of the Welsh personal name Meurig, also from the Latin Mauritius.Possibly an Anglicized form of the ancient Irish name Ó  Muirgheasa (variant  Ãƒâ€œ Muirghis), a personal name thought to derive from muir, meaning sea and geas, meaning taboo or prohibition.Morris may also have originated as a  variant of the German Moritz, or as an Americanized form of other like-sounding Jewish surnames. Morris is the 56th most popular surname in the United States. Morris is also popular in England, coming in as the 32nd most common surname. Surname Origin:  English, Irish, Scottish Alternate Surname Spellings:  MORRISS, MORISH, MORISSH, MORCE, MORSE, MORRISEY, MORICE, MORRICE   Famous People with the MORRISSurname Robert Morris Jr.  - American merchant and banker known as the financier of the American RevolutionWilliam Morris  -  American theatrical agent who founded the  William Morris Agency, one of the foremost theatrical agencies in the U.S.Lewis Morris  -  American land owner and developer, and signatory of the Declaration of IndependenceMargaretta Morris  -  American entomologistWilliam Morris  - British writer and artist; one of the principal founders of the  British Arts and Crafts Movement Where is the MORRIS Surname Most Common? According to surname distribution from  Forebears, Morris is the 805th most common surname in the world- found most prevalently in the United States, where it ranks 54th, but also very common in Liberia (17th), Wales (18th), England (39th), Jamaica (46th) and Australia (55th). Surname maps from  WorldNames PublicProfiler  also show the Price surname as especially common in Wales, as well as in the West Midlands region of England. Within the United States, Price is most common in the state of North Carolina, followed by South Carolina and West Virginia.   Genealogy Resources for the Surname MORRIS 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Morris DNA ProjectThis DNA project connects individuals with the Morris surname, or variants such as Maurice, Moris, Morres, Morress, Morrice, or Morriss,  who are interested in using DNA testing to help discover common Morris ancestors. Morris Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Morris family crest or coat of arms for the Morris surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. MORRIS Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Morris surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Morris query. FamilySearch - MORRIS GenealogyExplore over 11  million results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Morris  surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. DistantCousin.com - MORRIS  Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Morris. GeneaNet - Morris  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Morris  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Morris  Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Morris  surname from the website of Genealogy Today.- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back toGlossary of Surname Meanings Origins