Modern Symbolic Interpretive And Postmodern Perspectives Commerce Essay

Modern Symbolic Interpretive And Postmodern Perspectives Commerce Essay In what ways does the use of a multiple perspective approach assist us in achieving a more comprehensive understanding of complex organisational phenomena? Discuss with specific reference to modern, symbolic-interpretive and postmodern perspectives and how each perspective provides different ways to think about organisational phenomena (e.g. organisational structure, physical structure, culture and/or power within organisations). An organisation will usually start off as a small operating business with a few staff working towards the same goal and perhaps sharing the same interest. What draws them together in the first place was the commonality of interest or purpose. As a small operation organisation, it allows staff to communicate to each other more frequently as it lacks the complexity of a big operation organisation. Which will also means that they will work towards the common goal as it has a higher degree of pf centralization of authority. When the company become more successful over time, they will expand and need more staff. When they recruit, these new staffs are from all walks of life with different demographic. These newly joined employees might not share the common interest or understand the goal. This might lead to crisis as there might be in-fighting among the various departments within the organisation, profit may fall and the initial spirit of the organisation will disappear when the founder o r pioneer group of staff leave. As such, a mechanism, cultural is required to guide the staff towards a common path. Culture exists in all organisations even though some may be fragmented or difficult for outsider to see. Culture is the values, norms, beliefs and assumption embraced by the employees. Culture is important because it pervades and influences all activities in an organisation. Culture is something that is shared among the employees. It embedded in the employee, affecting all that they do or think. This provides them with a common viewpoint and binds them together as a group. (Howard W. Oden, 1999) Schein believes that the core of basic assumption will give people its values and behaviour norms who will in turn make choices base on it and eventually coming up with artifacts. The following diagram base on Scheins Levels of Organisation Level will explain more (Mary Jo Hatch, 2006) Level 1 Artifacts Visible Organisational Features (Eg Company names, uniform or brand images) Level 2 Values Non-visible facets of organisational culture (Norms and beliefs) Level 3 Basic Assumption (Core) Largely unconscious and tacit frames that shape values and artifacts formed through and out of particular social relationships. (Truth or what they believe is reality) Figure 1 Scheins three levels of culture Sub-culture within organisation are just as important as it allows the employees to identify themselve as a distinct group within the organisation. The sub-culture will be formed base on the organisation core culture and value. This enable them to move towards the same direction and have a better understanding of their task within the organisation. Modernism perspective mentions that organisations are objectively real entities operating in a real world. They are well-designed and managed system of decision and action driven by norms of rationality, efficiently, and effectiveness for stated purpose (Hatch and Cunliffe 2006). Modernist believes that cultures are real and they help to shape an identity of the company. Modernist believes in using proven theory. With a strong culture, the company can achieve a better result by improving organisation efficiency and effectiveness therefore achieving better result. However, a culture might also constrain the company progression. A Japanese company culture believes in respecting the seniority. As such, staffs are evaluated base on their year of service in the company over their performances. This does not encourage staff to work hard, which will in turn affect the efficiency of the organisation. Using Botak Jones, a western food outlet as example. It has its own cultures. The employees will wear uniform which is casual, jeans with the company t-shirt. Its slogan Damn good food at a damn good price might seems offensive in the context of Singapore culture, but its actually a very common way of speech between the westerners. Studies and research had been conducted to ascertain the link between strong culture and high performance within an organisation. American researchers John Kotter, James Hestter and Dan Denison adopted a quantitative modernist approach by conducted a survey with 200 corporations to investigate of cultural strength on organisational performance (Hatch and Cunliffe 2006). The result was there is a positive correlation between the strength of corporate culture and organisation performance. They also realise that by aligning these with the changing environment, it allows them to react faster to the changes. As such, modernist believes that if we can understand organisation culture, management can use that knowledge to achieve certain outcome such as improving efficiency and effectiveness. Symbolic Interpretive researcher believes that cultures are real but they focus in find out the meaning behind the culture instead. They believe that the organisation is like a theatre and the employees each have a role to play while the world is the stage. The employees role not only performs to external customer, but internally as well. A company success will base on how well the employee understands its role and how good they play it. Other than physical labour, there are also additional criteria required from the employee which was defined as emotional labours by Hochschild. This requires the employees to suppress his/her feeling to portray certain image or expectation for others. The similarity between the emotional labour and physical labour is that the employee might become alienated from an aspect of themselves either a part of the body or the margins of the soul that is use for the work. Using Singapore Casket as an example, the employees do not show their feelings as it is inappropriate for the business. They cannot smile or laugh despite how happy they are feeling. They could only show a solemn face when facing customer. On the other hand, air stewardess can only show a friendly and cheerful image. They are supposed to make customer feel welcome. They cannot throw their temper or show unhappiness during the course of work no matter how demanding or unreasonable the customer is. And for both cases, the employees will have to suppress its feeling, making them the emotional labour for its organisation. To understand more about the organisation, researcher will participate in the organisation themselves (eg work in the organisation) instead of just doing survey. Alternatively, they can conduct observations or in depth interview. This enables them to understand the culture better and to understand the jargons or symbols used by them. The method of thick description Geertz advocated is a form of ethnography which shows how cultural members interpret the symbols and its context. (Mary Jo Hatch, 2006) This helps to understand the culture better as the culture from one organisation will not mean the same at another organisation. By understanding the culture meaning, they are able to communicate with others more effectively as they know that each of them are just fulfilling their roles and it is nothing personnel. This knowledge also enable the organisation to better plan its training for each role player as well as better control over them. As the study of modernist culture provides knowledge that is already translated into prescriptions for management, they are restricted by the objective of the study dimension which is defined by the researcher (Hatch and Cunliffe 2006). As such, symbolic interpretative researcher has a benefit over the modernist researchers as they enter cultural territory and is able to relate better. Postmodernist are sceptical and challenges the idea that organisation have a culture. They think that culture are unreal, its a dream, an illusion and created in the mind of the employees. Post modernist feel that the cultures are created by people so that they can exert power over others. This is use as a tool to contest power or power struggle. This is like a soap opera whereby there are no fixed rules but constant changes in the organisation. They do not focus on culture but the way power and control is exerted thru narrative. When a new management took over, they will change the vision statement or goals or set certain rules or regulation. This is to exhibit their powers and to marginalise other voices. This changes does not necessary communicate ideas, train them or even increases effectiveness or efficiency. These changes are just to find out who its supporters are and who isnt. This allows the management to identify power struggles, fragmentation, points of instability and dissatisfaction within the organisation. This also helps to marginalised employees and uncover multiple and competing interpretations. IBM for instances, had a very strong culture however it isnt just one aspect of the game; it is the game. In the end, the organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value. (Louis V. Gerstner, Jr, 2002) This culture prevents the organisation from processing and keeping up with the current environment situation. Through deconstruction, changes were made and new cultures were introduced. This make IBM returned from near-collapse to market leaders. Tradition organisation values will be challenged by postmodern values if they are influences by economic, social and political values of todays workforce (Green, 2007) Though there are 3 different perspectives that organisations can use to understand the culture, each perspective varies from another. There is no specific perspective that is more useful than the other. It will need to depend on the organisations situation as well as the external environment to decide which perspective will be more appropriate.

Intelligence led policing Essay

The terrorist attacks of September 2001 had several governments taken aback of their incapacity to detect and prevent crimes of such magnitude. The United State’s Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, for example, have been working extra hard to detect and thwart such mishaps now and in the future. In order to realize this, most aspects of national security have been reviewed by various governments around the world (Wisler and Onwudiwe, 2009). One of these aspects is intelligence improvement and use for both internal and international security. Of most importance is internal security, given the fact that crimes such as international terror are planned and carried out by deterrents that are already living among us. Because the police have the mandate to provide internal security, they require effective intelligence to enable them to collect and act on any information related to looming attacks and dangers. Apart from intelligence led policing, there are numerous other types of policing. However, the main ones are: knowledge-based policing, problem based policing and community policing. For any crime type to be bunged, the intelligence used by police ought to be based on all possibly available information and data, collected and thoroughly evaluated. Intelligence has been defined in multiple ways. For the sake of this discussion, we will settle on a single definition: it is collecting data and information precisely touching on crime, analyzing and drawing conclusions on it. Therefore, intelligence is not any kind of information but that which has been studied and quality conclusions made on it. Intelligence can then be used to inform any concerned decision maker of the several available choices. The security personnel of any department, either the police or the military, can then draw on the analyzed findings to carry out their duties of preventing and stopping crimes by strategizing and laying good plans on how to achieve their set objectives. Intelligence led policing is a structured method of collecting, analyzing and evaluating data and information related to crime. The analyzed information is then used to guide the institutions which enforce law in determining their actions. It was first used in the United Kingdom in 1990 and later received a huge acceptance in the United States after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Kent police in the UK used this kind of policing on car stealing, home breaks and certain types of crimes which were then considered high priority. The world’s governments later decided to use this method alongside others to curb international crime especially terrorism and to react effectively to simpler crimes at the domestic front (Wisler and Onwudiwe, 2009). The problem based policing is broad in its coverage bearing its stand on the notion that other types of policing are not committed to solving the basic criminal acts. While it concentrates on crimes that need the attention of the police and that it handles other issues other than implementing crime prevention programs, is not able to cover all sorts of crimes. On the other hand Public policing usually focus on a single type of crime for example street gangs only. It is normally used when certain crimes occur and their area of operation is the streets. It is also effective in the sense that the time, when the required information is obtained and when action is taken on it, is relatively short. Its mainstay is to deter and disable unlawful trends. Criminals are also profiled to help in analysis. Finally, its approach involves the use of tour of duty personnel, strategic divisions and detectives.

Poetry’s Influences on the Harlem Renaissance Essay

Racial equality has been the topic of many works for centuries. Many of those works weren’t written by those actually affected by inequality. During the 1920’s African Americans began to express their opinions on the issue more frequently through the arts. Poetry was among the most prominent forms of art used for spreading equality and justice. Poets like Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude McKay wrote many poems that spoke on equality in society. African Americans felt betrayed after the civil war. They had given their lives and after the war nothing had changed (Cartwright, â€Å"The Harlem Renaissance†). They were still not treated equal and didn’t get paid as much as any other worker. During the 1920’s they started a cultural and racial movement in Harlem, New York called the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time of growth of African Americans during the 1920’s. During this time ideas on equality and freedom spread through the African American community like wild fire. African Americans were expressing their emotions about racial equality in many different ways (Rau 167). Some chose poetry some chose painting or jazz. They used these arts to highlight the injustices they saw in their everyday lives. 1. Langston Hughes Langston Hughes is one the most well know poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes was born in 1902 in Joplin, Missouri (Rampersad, â€Å"Hughes’s Life and Career†). His beginnings were more humble than most. At a very young age Langston’s Hughes parents divorced. After the divorce Hughes moved to Lincoln with his grandmother. This is where he began to write poetry (The Academy of American poets, â€Å"Langston Hughes†). Hughes ideals were closely based around his grandfather, who was a militant abolitionist (Rampersad, â€Å"Hughes’s Life and Career†) His poetry was influenced by many poets who shared his colorful writing style (The Academy of American poets, â€Å"Langston Hughes†). Hughes lived his life as he wrote, with passion. After high school Hughes spent a year in Mexico with his father who disliked his passion for writing and urged him to stop. At that time Hughes was beginning to get published in a number of places like magazines and children’s book. During this time he was noticed but W. E. B Dubois. Upon Hughes return to America he enrolled in Colombia University in New York. Hughes did not like the atmosphere at Colombia so after a year he left. After Columbia he moved to New York and began work on a freighter. This job took him to many places. He traveled to the coast of Africa, Spain, and Paris. ( Rampersad, â€Å"Hughes Life and Career†)He ended up staying in Paris for a couple of months this is where he began practicing a new style of poetry there. Hughes writing style was a lot different from the others. Throughout his life time Hughes wrote many poems that showed common experiences that all African Americans shared. Hughes never discussed the differences between his life and the lives of other Africans Americans. His poetry always showed the negative and positive sides of the African American experience. Hughes may have seen both sides of African Americans but when it came to issues between African Americans and Caucasians he had strong opinions. He (Rampersad, â€Å"Hughes’s Life and Career†) wrote many poems that touched on the controversial topics of that time. In poems like I, Too and The nergo speaks rivers Hughes talked about the struggles that African Americans went through. (Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, â€Å"Langston Hughes†). Hughes used his dislike for Caucasians often in his poetry. 2. Countee Cullen Countee Cullen might not have reached the fame that Langston Hughes has over the years but his poetry was just as influential. Countee Cullen was born in May 30, 1903 in New York when his grandmother died in 1918 Cullen was put under the custody of Reverend Fredrick A. Cullen. Cullen’s connection to the Salem Methodist Episcopal church through Reverend Cullen placed him in the center of black politics and culture at the age of 15. This gave him a more unconventional education. Instead of learning regular writing and math like other children his age he was taught about black ideals. Most of his education was provided by completely white influences. This gave him a well rounded look at racism. (Poetry Foundation, â€Å"Countee Cullen†). This was often shown in his writing. Cullen’s writing technique would never directly attack Caucasians like other poets during the Harlem renaissance. He was a new voice for the African Americans, one that was actually listened too Cullen graduated from New York University in 1925 as Phi Beta Kappa. At that time he was already writing some of the acclaimed poems published in books by Harper and Brothers: Color (1925), Copper Sun (1927). He won first prize in the Witter Bynner Contest in 1925. Graduating with a Harvard University M. A. egree in 1926, the poet traveled to France as a Guggenheim Fellow(A grant). Upon his return in 1928, he married Yolanda Du Bois, daughter of W. E. B. Du Bois. She divorced him two years later, saying that he told her he was sexually attracted to men. From 1934 on, Cullen taught English and French at the Frederick Douglas Junior High School, though he declined a Creative Literature invitation from Fisk University in Nashville. In 1940 he married an old friend, Ida Mae Roberson. (The Harvard Square Library, â€Å"Countee Cullen† He died in 1946 of gastrointestinal disorder Cullen’s upbringing helped his poetry reach both African American and Caucasian audiences. Cullen was able to do something most African American poets in the Harlem renaissance couldn’t and that was reaching both sides. Cullen was against the way that African Americans were treated but he also understood not all Caucasians had the same ideals. He was brought up with Caucasians in his life which causes him to show a less offensive type of poetry. Cullen’s poetry often presented the sad side of an African Americans life (Poetry Foundation, â€Å"Countee Cullen†). The poem The Little Brown Boy tells of the death of a young black boy (Nelson and Smethurst, â€Å"Countee Cullen poems†). This shows the method of persuasion he used. Countee’s poetry’s influence reached many and his voice spread far. 3. Claude McKay In 1889 Claude McKay was born in sunny vile, Jamaica to peasant farmers. His lower class up bringing taught him how to love himself and have pride in his African heritage. Similar to Cullen, McKay was unconventionally taught as well. McKay was home schooled by his older brother and neighbors. He studied romantics and many other European based things. In adult hood he moved to Kingston which would be the first time that he had actually experienced racism he was immediately disgusted with the way that African Americans were treated and returned home disgusted. Once he returned to sunny vile he published his first verse of poetry. (Academy of American Poets, â€Å"Claude McKay†) After hearing about Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee institute he decided to move to Alabama and enroll. There he sees American racism for the first time. McKay took a lot of his influence for his writing from similar poets to Langston (University of Illinois, â€Å"Claude McKay’s Life†). As early as 1912 he had published his first volume of verse, Songs of Jamaica, which had been widely praised and had won a medal for poetry. McKay slowly decided not to return to Jamaica and stayed in America. In 1914 he left college and began work menial jobs typical of the African American in the Northern cities of America at that time. At different periods he worked as wheelwright, porter, dishwasher, waiter, and longshoreman. McKay didn’t take his jobs very seriously they were just a matter of earning enough cash to quit for a while and write. McKay’s interest in politics led him to the socialist like many other artist. He was associate editor of The Liberator, a socialist U. S. journal of art and literature. In 1923-24mckay went to Moscow, Russia to be a part of the Bolshevik Revolution. As a African American, McKay was used to show the soviets commitment to racial equality, and he was treated like royalty, being lavishly entertained and exhibited on platforms with the most famous revolutionary leaders. But McKay was skeptical of all this, though he had sympathy for the lives lost in to the Revolution. Claude traveled the world trying to find a peaceful place to write. He went to Morocco and France. In 1928 he published his famous novel, Home to Harlem, which was a national best-seller in the U. S. and was instantly a literary sensation. ( Though McKay reached great success in his life he died impoverished and unappreciated. Claude McKay’s experience with the racism in Alabama was the basis for a lot of his writing. McKay more geared towards the empowerment of blacks and less toward equality. McKay wanted to show that African Americans weren’t just equal but they were better. A lot of his poetry was written to show how much power African Americans had. (Academy of American Poets, â€Å"Claude McKay†) in the poem â€Å"If We Must Die† McKay writes about how African Americans must fight as hard as they can even if the end result is death. This poem says a lot about McKay’s style of writing. In the years after the Harlem renaissance African Americans expressed themselves more often than ever before. The Harlem renaissances effect on African Americans was obvious. Free ideas were flowing and battles were being fought for equal rights. In the thirties no one had much money so African Americans had even less opportunities for work. Each of these poets had a different style and finesse but there messages were all the same. They all grew up as African Americans and they all experienced racism in some way shape or form. They all took those situations and used them to empower those around them. Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes might have all had different writing styles but they all played a major role in the growth of African Americans in the United States of America.

High School Dropouts Has Become A Crisis - 1575 Words

High School Dropouts Education is to be known to be the key to success, but high school dropouts have become a crisis. To get by in today s world education is a must to become economically and financially secure. A high school dropout or dropout is to be known as an undergraduate that does not complete schooling before earning a high school diploma. According to Carolyn L. Carlson, an estimate of 7,000 high school students drop out daily in America (1). Which is 1.2 million a year, when a student decides to drop out of school before graduating not only will they be affected but so will society. Only sixty percent of students attend high school from ninth grade and graduate as a senior (Carlson 1). That s almost half of high school†¦show more content†¦Everything for a child starts from in the home when a mother or parents are struggling, so is the child. When a mother or parents are earning less money due to many responsibilities, it puts the teen as a student at greater risk of dropping out by having fewer resources and gaining stress that is carried to school and become very distracting. Furthermore, family structure is one of the most important factors that causes a student to drop out of school because what happens in the household reflects a student. Another major reason to cause a student to drop out of school is school structure. School structure is the way the school is built, arranged and organized that include resources, curriculum, and communication between both schools and students. When a school structure is negative it most definitely lessons in student achievement. Gary Natriello highlights that one compelling associate of dropping out of school done by research is the lessening in student success (601). If a student is not succeeding in their class work and receiving bad grades it will lower their motivation to strive. In this case, studies are proven to show that when students do not do well in school, it affects their confidence and lessens the chances of continuing to try to get greater grades, to just give up and decide to drop out. Students that frequently obtain lower grades, do not pass subjects, and that are held back a grade increase likelihood ofShow MoreRelated Raising the Dropout Age Essay1421 Words   |  6 PagesChildren are told from a young age that it is mandatory for them to graduate from high school, but it’s not until they are on the verge of dropping out that they hear the importance for staying in school. It is also when they hear how high school students who dropouts learn the incredible price to pay in the future when they give up on an education. Thinking with a teenage state of mind and trying to take the easy way out they go straight for a GED, which is told to be an equivalent earning of aRead MoreHigh School Dropouts : Too Many Kids Are Leaving School Before Graduation1284 Words   |  6 PagesHigh School Dropouts Too many kids are leaving school before graduation. High school dropouts rates are increasing everyday. 7,000 students drop out of school each day. One thing that they fail to realize is the cause and effect this will have on their lives. A study from the Alliance for Excellent Education predicts that 12 million kids will drop out in the next decade. Everyday there is a student that drops out of school because of the mentally challenges he/she faces. Stress can be a very hardRead MoreDropping Out Of School : A Silent Epidemic963 Words   |  4 PagesDropping out of school has been called a silent epidemic (Bridgeland, DiIulio, Morison, 2006), a crisis (Rumberger Lim, 2008), and a challenge (Steinberg, Johnson, Pennington, 2006). In 2007, approximately 6.2 million people between the ages of 16 and 24 years old were high school dropouts. â€Å"Among these dropouts, 60.1% were men, 18.8% were Black, and 30.1% were Hispanic† (Center for Labor Market Studies, 2009, p. 2). Dr opping out is costly not only to the student but also to society as wellRead MoreSpeech On Let s Talk Success1731 Words   |  7 PagesK-12 education. Despite the plethora of accurate statistics on the number of students leaving school there are various reasons attributed to why less than $200,000 of federal money has been devoted to researching the causes. This leads to the question that many educators like myself have: how do we stop students from dropping out? A report from U.S. today in 2012, found that nearly 87% of high school dropouts listed the second main reason for dropping out was because they were struggling and eitherRead MoreIs College Education Really Worth It?1485 Words   |  6 Pages Is a college education really worth it? A college education is definitely worth it, with a college degree, you will be given even more opportunities and benefits than you would as a high school dropout or even graduate! it will allow you to earn a more gainful amount of money than a high school dropout and graduate and even more than a 2 year college degree. Although if you are a 2 year college graduate or 4 year college graduate and studied in the field of mechanical engineering, graphic designRead MoreEssay about Hsm220 Final Project1449 Words   |  6 Pagesstatement of opportunity comes from the mission statement which is a statement of purpose of any organization. The organizational statement of opportunity for services provided for high school dropouts is that the organization will provide a staff that is knowledgeable in different fields which are required for high school dropouts to obtain the skills needed to gain employment, provided that the setting is safe and structured . In addition to not having any basic skills for even manual labor, they alsoRead MoreTeen Pregnancy Essay1513 Words   |  7 PagesTeen Pregnancy Teenage pregnancy affects our society in many different negative ways. Approximately seven percent of all teenage girls in the United States become pregnant each year (MacKay, 6). Becoming a mom at a young age will make you grow up faster than the average teenage girl. You may have the help at home but it’s up to you to get things accomplished. That will cause you to rely on taxpayers and the society. For some teen moms, that’s all they will rely on, they don’t want more than thatRead MoreEducation Is A Priceless Tool Capable Of Providing Limitless Opportunities908 Words   |  4 PagesPsychological Association (APA) people who do not graduate high school are likely to seek social services, be unemployed and live in property, engage in crime and face health problems more than people who graduate. Also, according to the APA â€Å"The United States is facing a dropout crisis, with an estimated 1.1 million members of the 2012 high school graduating class not earn ing diplomas.† (APA). Who are these Dropouts and why do they Dropout Dropouts vary by race and ethnicity, but the Hispanic populationRead MoreWhy is there so much poverty in the United States? Essays991 Words   |  4 PagesThe question â€Å"Why is there so much poverty in the United States?† has such a broad spectrum of issues. There is no simple cure or single cause of poverty. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, â€Å"the 2011 Poverty Guidelines are $10,890 for a single member household and $22,350 for a family of four† (par 13). In addition, â€Å"families’ incomes that fall below the threshold given, means that every individual in the household are considered to be in poverty† (par 13)Read MoreIncrease High School Graduation Rates Essay1301 Words   |  6 PagesIncrease High School Graduation Rates Did you know that 1.2 million high school students drop out of school every year just in the United States alone (11 Facts)? The decrease of high school graduation rates is a fairly important issue, and there are plenty of reasons to propose a change. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the current standard dropout rate of high school students is 7.4%. High school dropouts encounter way more difficulties and challenges than a high school graduate