Japanese Hiragana With Audio Files

To learn Hiragana pronunciation, the following tables contains the 46 basic sounds found in Japanese. Click the link to listen the pronunciation of each hiragana character.  If you want to learn more about  Hiragana, have a look at our  lessons, which will teach you each character and the correct stroke order. Learning the stroke order is a great way to remember how to draw each character. (a) (i) (u) (e) (o) (ka) (ki) (ku) (ke) (ko) (sa) (shi) (su) (se) (so) (ta) (chi) (tsu) (te) (to) (na) (ni) (nu) (ne) (no) (ha) (hi) (fu) (he) (ho) (ma) (mi) (mu) (me) (mo) (ya) (yu) (yo) (ra) (ri) (ru) (re) (ro) (wa) (o) (n)

Text Analysis of Mice and Men - 1400 Words

In the excerpts George and Lennie are two friends, one smart the other intellectually disabled, both on a ‘mission’ to achieve the American dream. Their journey reveals a lot about the two. Lennie is a follower, in that he follows and imitates George’s every move. Lennie also suffers from a mental disability. It is also understood that they are from a working class upbringing. In the case of Lennie, it becomes very clear throughout the novel that he is a ‘follower’. He follows George everywhere he goes, even going to the extent of imitating George, â€Å"Lennie, who had been watching, imitated George exactly†, (11-17). This clearly and blatantly shows and supports the ‘follower’ notion, while at the same time showing Lennie’s insecurity.†¦show more content†¦The mere fact, that the very character that plays the largest part in Lennie’s death and the ultimate demise of the American Dream for the two main characters, does not have a name goes to show the sexism of society at the time, thus promoting a patriarchal context. Finally it is seen through Curley’s actions towards his wife. â€Å"You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad† (92-97) shows the domination of the male figure. That Curley is able to control his wife in such a manner strongly r e-enforces the patriarchal view. Language plays a large factor in revealing the age of the context in which the novel is set. The language used in the dialogue plays the biggest part in this. The only swear words mentioned are ‘Bitch’ and ‘Bastard’, and while these words are still offensive in the novel’s context, they are the only words used, dictating a much older context. If the text were a modern one the characters would posses a much larger arsenal of swear words thus, the context is an older one. Other dialogue features that point towards an older society are the use of grammar, but more importantly the phrases and words used. Words such as â€Å"Tramp† and â€Å"Jail-Bait† are not terms used today (instead replaced by â€Å"Slut† and â€Å"A ticket to the can† respectively) the former showing an older setting. The racism shown towards Crooks also displays the age of the context of the novel. When Crooks says â€Å"I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse†¦ ‘Cause I’m black†Show MoreRelatedTrap-Ease America: the Big Cheese of Mousetraps1483 Words   |  6 PagesStudy one: Trap-Ease America: The Big Cheese Of Mousetraps Presented To: Dr. Ziad Haddad Presented By: Shady Habboub Fall Semester 2009-2010 1- The Mission Statement of Trap-Ease America: â€Å"We want to free your homes from mice. Fathers: you can protect your families easily and safely. Trap-Ease America is your state of the art solution† 2- The opportunities that arise in the environment, if successfully captured by firms or entrepreneurs could become a success storyRead MoreFriendship and Overcoming Adversity1200 Words   |  5 Pages Topic: Friendship and Overcoming Adversity Story: â€Å"Of Mice and Men† by John Steinbeck ( a story about the hardships of two diverse men and their friendship) Literary Text: â€Å"Finding Nemo† by Andrew Stanton Introductory Claim: Of Mice and Men- Both â€Å"Of Mice and Men† and â€Å" Finding Nemo† both display an example of friendship and overcoming adversity within the novel and movie. Body 1: Of Mice and Men- Claim: Steinbeck displays the ideal of friendship and overcoming adversity within his novelRead MoreOf Mice And Men Rhetorical Analysis1458 Words   |  6 Pages Of Mice and Men Rhetorical Analysis Adrian Blackstone Mrs. Adkins AP Lang Comp 3/5/15 In 1929 the effect of The Great Depression echoed throughout The United States. Forcing many farmers to sell their farms and give up on their pursuit of the widely sought after American Dream. Although in third person Steinbeck centers the novella around the two main characters George, and Lennie. Using strong rhetorical strategies such as diction, imagery, novel structure, and literary devices. SteinbeckRead MoreAnalysis Of Walt Whitman s I Hear America Poem1314 Words   |  6 Pagespoem, and argumentative essays, like out The Raven analysis. We also gave speeches– that was the hardest for me, in my previous English classes, none of them made me go in front of the class and present–, made infograph, and even a multigenre project. We also can’t forget the books we’ve read in class, like poems from Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, and novels from F. 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I am exploring the issue of prejudice, in three different texts ‘Of Mice and Men’, ‘Half Caste’ and ‘Still I Rise’. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novel published in 1937 by John Steinbeck, set in the 1920’s. It follows George Milton and Lennie Small, two dis placed migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities duringRead MoreAnalysis of The Cinematic Techniques That Are Used To Capture The Audiences Interest In The Opening Sequence Of The Film Of Mice And Men1357 Words   |  6 PagesAnalysis of The Cinematic Techniques That Are Used To Capture The Audiences Interest In The Opening Sequence Of The Film Of Mice And Men In the first moments of a film, the director will attempt to capture the audiences imagination. He does this so that the audience maintains its interest. The Director will use a number of cinematic techniques to create a sense of urgency, suspense and dramatic tension. These techniques are often shown by fusing picture and sound. An exampleRead MoreOF MICE AND MEN ESSAY Libre2222 Words   |  9 PagesOf Mice And Men Essay Of mice and men essay State of California. essay writers salt lake city research paper writing chattanooga buy college ruled paper. Of mice and men essay Metis-sur-Mer of mice and men essay Columbus, Leicestershire, Palmdale, Bakersfield of mice and men essay san antonio write essay for me, of mice and men essay Alexandria uploading essay to common app, Chester of mice and men essay Norfolk geometry and algebra 1 formula sheet Of mice and men essay State of Rhode Island andRead MoreJohn Steinbeck s The Loss Of Their Dream 1795 Words   |  8 Pagesof the characters. Lewis Milestone’s film Of Mice and Men is not only worthy of analyzing its cinematic resources, but its emphasis on the obstacles individuals encounter in achieving the American Dream. The historical event this film is based on is the Great Depression from 1929 to 1939, which started after the famous stock market crash happened in October 1929, this affected many investors and caused desolation in so many countries. Of Mice and Men not only conveys the obstacles of achieving theRead MoreAnalysis Of Of Mice And Men And Death Of A Salesman1810 Words   |  8 PagesJohn Steinbeck and Arthur Miller elucidates the theme of hopelessness ingrained in the American Dream, through the analysis of the many characters in their texts(Of Mice And Men Death Of A Salesman).Of Mice And Men was set in 1937,it had been set in the event of the great depression , at this time unemployment rate had boosted up, thus leaving majority thoroughly poor, the text relates to this event as all characte rs are either working to escape poverty or had already failed to escape it. Death

The Media s Influence On Suicide Rates - 1885 Words

The Media’s Influence on Suicide Rates Over the years, the publication of deaths has changed. There has been a general increase of media coverage around deaths surrounding suicides due to the increasing growth of social media and technology. A critical review on literature will analyze how publicized suicides in the media have influenced societal suicide rates. The literature reviewed will be analyzed in comparison to models of suicide from Emile Durkheim and Edwin Shneidman. The large theoretical issue of suicidal deaths will be examined in comparison to current literature precise to suicide coverage within the media. The media is a strong outlet that can influence the attitudes of society. With an addition of celebrity media coverage, it provides an even stronger media outlet. The coverage of celebrity suicides broadcasted through mass media impact’s societies by having a negative impact on attitudes of individuals causing an increase in suicide rates. Models of Suicide The death of a role model can affect fans of a celebrity in many ways. Edwin Shneidman created a cubic model classifying the three factors that influence suicide. He believed factors he termed as press, psychache and perturbation to be predictors of suicidal behaviour (Hadad, 2008). The term press, referred to positive or negative events that can affect the individual. Negative events such as large exposure to a highly idolized celebrity suicide can interpret negative emotions to an individual, which canShow MoreRelatedYouth Suicide in Australia: A Report Essay755 Words   |  4 Pagesdone enough to prevent youth suicide by showing the background and social significance of the issue. Furthermore, the participants involved and their controversial opinions related to the issue will be analyzed in this report as well. 2. 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Another reason for the harmful effects of western diets and lifestyle is western lifestyle has passive influence on people’s mental health. First, high stress in work and bad habits like smoking and drinking may lead to more risk of mental illness. As everyone knows, it is the important identification of western lifestyle which includes intemperance, smoking

Spinal Cord Injury free essay sample

Spinal Cord Injury Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) most commonly occur as a result of falls, motor vehicle accidents, violence, sports injuries, or any other form of impact directed to the spinal cord. Over half of SCIs occur in the adolescent or young adult age group, although the elderly population is at increased risk for SCI because of normal degeneration of the delicate spinal cord (Nayduch, 2010). These injuries can be fatal, cause permanent damage, or have temporary or no effect to the individual at all. Spinal cord injuries occur when there is damage to the neurons of the spinal cord (Huether, 2008). They are usually classified by the type of injury and where it occurs along the spinal cord. Fractures of the bones along the spinal cord or dislocations or partial dislocations of the bony structures most commonly cause SCI. The patient can experience many types of SCI including: * Concussion- short term disruption of the normal anatomy of the spinal cord * Compression- pressure on the spinal cord * Contusion- bruising or local short term damage to the spinal cord * Laceration- a tear in the spinal cord tissue Transection- a complete severing of the spinal cord * Hemorrhage- bleeding into or around the spinal cord causing pressure and irritation on the cord itself or surrounding tissues * Damage to the blood vessels surrounding the spinal cord causing local damage where the bleeding occurs (Nayduch, 2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Spinal Cord Injury or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page All of these types of injury to the spinal cord can cause swelling, bruising, nerve damage, localized bleeding, inflammation, and/or tissue necrosis. These injuries can also be classified as complete or incomplete. A complete SCI indicates no motor function below the site of injury while incomplete SCIs can have some remaining level of sensory and/or motor function below the level of injury. Most vertebral injuries occur along the most mobile areas of the spinal cord, including C1-C2, C4-C7, and T10-L2 (Huether, 2010). All of these injuries have the potential to be devastating. Spinal shock can occur, resulting in complete loss of function. This is a temporary occurrence and usually lasts up to 3 months after injury. It involves paralysis, loss of reflex, loss of bladder/bowel control and sexual dysfunction. It can also cause systemic changes, such as loss of temperature control, decrease in blood pressure, and poor venous circulation. When function returns, it is usually demonstrated by return of movement, reflexes, and bowel/bladder control (Heuther, 2008). As function returns, an uncompensated cardiovascular response can occur called autonomic hyperreflexia. This is a life threatening emergency and must be treated immediately. If left untreated, the result is death. Autonomic hyperreflexia displays as a dramatic rise in blood pressure, pounding headache, excessive diaphoresis (sweating), nausea and bradycardia. This is caused by â€Å"stimulation of the skin or pain receptors† such as delayed bowel or bladder emptying and can be treated by first fixing the cause of stimulation (Huether, p. 379). Quick but thorough evaluation, diagnostic testing and treatment determined by findings is essential to sustain life in most patients with SCI. Airway, breathing and circulation must first be assessed followed promptly by full spinal immobilization including a cervical collar and long backboard. Immobilization can help decrease the chance of secondary injury (Nayduch, 2010). Continuous monitoring of blood pressure and temperature regulation must also occur. Nurses can also conduct a thorough neurologic exam which must be reassessed often to monitor for a change or worsening in condition. Movement including flexion and extension of body parts, pupil exam, muscle tone and vital signs must all be assessed to determine the extent of injury. Diagnostic evaluation leading to diagnosis includes physical exam, CT scan, MRI, radiologic studies and myelogram (Heuther, 2008). Treatment is aimed at reducing initial injury and preventing secondary damage. The patient must be closely monitored for spinal shock and automonic hyperreflexia. Patient education is a necessary nursing intervention for patients with SCI. All spinal cord injuries require close monitoring and therefore should be in an intensive care setting. Early stabilization (either in the field or in the ED) is key in treating SCI, and must continue on through the patient’s admission to the ICU and thereafter. Surgery to repair boney injury, decompress nerves and tissue, or insert long-term stabilization devices may be necessary. Some patients will need external stabilization devices that they wear for any amount of time up to one year. SCI patients are usually bedridden or severely limited in their activities, therefore the nurse must always be aware of the risk for skin breakdown, pneumonia, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary emboli (PE) (Nayduch, 2010). Nursing interventions for these patients include frequent turning and change of position, instituting cough/deep breathing exercises, applying compression stockings, and monitoring any infusion of anticoagulants. Again, patient education is key in these patients.

Spirituality in the Workplace

Introduction General Overview The interest in organizational spirituality partially derives from the necessity to balance organizational performance and to improve the codes of ethics within an organization. Specifically, a growing attention to the workplace spirituality allows people to construct and sustain fundamental values at work and facilitate various management operations and practices.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Spirituality in the Workplace specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Appeared in the 1990s, this domain of organizational ethics has captured the attention of the leading theorist examining management and workplace environment (Giacalone and Jurkiewicz, 2010, p. 27). In particular, contemporary researchers are primarily dedicated to the analysis of spirituality with regard to organizational performance and relationships between the employers and their employees. One way or another, these theoretic al frameworks provide promising perspectives for successful development and advancement of company’s philosophies and values allowing to adjust to social and cultural changes. In this regard, there is a growing necessity to study various dimensions of workplace spirituality to define how they influence organizational performance, ethical behavior, and overall atmosphere within an organization. Defining Spirituality in the Workplace So far, spirituality was not considered in relation to work and business and organizational workplace could be compared with oxymoron. However, since 1990 and several decades after, a dramatic interest in the examination of this term as an inherent component in understanding organizations and management provide a solid ground for providing a new definition of spirituality. Manz and Neal (2005) provide the following explanation: â€Å"Spirituality in the workplace is about people seeing their work as a spiritual path, as an opportunity to grow pers onally and to contribute to society in a meaningful way. It is about learning to be more caring and compassionate with fellow employees, with bosses, with subordinates and customers. It is about integrity, being true to oneself, and telling the truth to others. Spirituality in the workplace can refer to an individual’s attempts to live his or her values more fully in the workplace.† (p. 121)Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Analyzing this meaning, organizational spirituality touches upon various dimensions of employed environment such as organizational ethics, organizational performance, integrity, cultural diversity, and psychological factors in relations between managers and their subordinates. Literature Synthesis: Elements of Organizational Spirituality Spirituality and organizational performance The introduction of spirituality and virtuous approaches to bus iness management is largely predetermined by the necessity to increase organizational performance, productivity, and revenues. In this regard, a wide range of researches and reports are dedicated to the analysis of these relations. Cavanagh and Bandsuch (2002) question, â€Å"how does [spirituality] maximize the benefits and minimize the problem of spirituality in the workplace† or â€Å"how does one best judge whether a particular spirituality is ‘appropriate’ for the workplace†(p. 109). In this regard, the scholars pay attention to the fact that spirituality contributes significantly to improving cooperation and motivation. More importantly, they believe that spirituality positively affects organizational performance and productivity, thus dictating a person-oriented approach to human resource management. The same position is held by Collins (2010) who also believes that spirituality in the workplace is the primary condition for achieving impressive fina ncial performance and productivity and for striking the balance between company’s goals and ethical and spiritual behaviors within an organization. In particular, the scholar provides an original approach for proving that ethics and ethical codes, ethical decision making, and diversity training are closely correlated with performance analysis. More importantly, the research carried by Collins (2010) provides evidence that proper management of organizational spirituality will lead to the improvement of quality of goods and services and facilitates spiritual development and growth. Examinations of relation of spirituality to organizational efficiency and performance have also been proved by Karakas (2010). Specifically, the researcher has managed to successfully outline the main factors affecting high productivity and organization’s prosperity.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Spirituality in the Workplace specifically for you for only $16 .05 $11/page Learn More The researcher believes that a successful performance is based on three factors: employee’s welfare and living standard, employees’ motivation and incentives, and employees’ interaction with community. All these factors are effectively enhanced by spirituality. Kolodinsky et al. (2008) have proved the research question provided by Karakas (2010). However, the researcher is more focused on the structuring the main elements of spirituality believing that it should be views through the prism of individual, organizational and interactive aspects. Milliman et al. (1999) agree with this idea that the introduction of the organizational spirituality triggers the increase of company’s profits and provides new incentives and motivation for employees to work harder and more efficiently. With regard to the considerations presented above, it should be stressed that all the researchers have provided completely different positions toward the connection between spirituality and organizational performance. Nevertheless, all of them emphasize the importance of spirituality penetration to the workplace. Spirituality and organizational ethics The fact that spirituality and ethics are closely interconnected is undeniable. This is obvious when it concerns the world of business and organizational management, which is another dimension of social world. Therefore, there are plethora of researchers and explorations that provide exhaustive information about codes of ethics, organizational ethics, personal development and how they are connected with spirituality in the workplace. Sheep (2006) sufficiently explains two important factors – spirituality in the workplace and ethical dilemmas – with regard to the overall atmosphere within an organization. In particular, the researcher believes that harmonic co-existence of several ethical climates will not provide serious problems, but they can trigger ethical mi sconceptions within differently oriented working teams. In order to eliminate and to prevent such dilemmas, the researcher pays attention to â€Å"quiet desperation† and the problem of instrumentality (Sheep, 2006, p. 538). What is more important, Sheep (2006) suggests a comprehensive approach to solving the problems.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Specifically, he refers to instrumentality, societal good, and individual fulfillment as the main pillars for striking the balance between ethical issues and organizational spirituality. The same view is held by Manz and Neal (2008) who believe that â€Å"[w]hile virues offer a blueprint for ideal ethical and moral workplace conduct, the realities of the market are often largely in opposition to these lofty intentions† (p. 131). The researchers also suggest that performance can often encounter the problems of spirituality and virtue formation because such aspects as compassion and integrity can conflict with high productivity. In contrast to Sheep’s suggestions, Pawar (2009b) provides a completely different view on the consideration of spirituality and ethical issues. Unlike previous statements, the researcher does not refer to spirituality in the workplace as to the cornerstone for constructing and adapting ethical codes, but as to the basics of organizational ethics. Like Kolodinsky et al. (2008), Pawar (2009b) offers a three-dimensional approach to the evaluation of various techniques for facilitating spirituality in the workplace. These dimensions touch upon personal, group, and organizational viewpoints on the connection between spirituality and ethics. Judging from the above assumptions and evidence, the connection of spirituality and ethics in relation to organizational performance is quite controversial. Therefore, this concept should be carefully considered before introduced in the working environment. Spirituality, religion, and social interaction in the business world The contradictions derived from considering organization spirituality are largely connected with wrong understanding of this definition. The problem is that religion and spirituality are closely interconnected because religion can be considered as the main source of spirituality (Manz and Neal, 2008, p. 121). However, this is only one of the basic components included in t his definition which are not properly revealed and explained. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the differences between those terms because there are people are spiritual enough, but do not belong to any of the known religions. Some researchers believe that spirituality in the workplace does not presuppose religion as its main component (Pavlovich and Corner, 2009). The scholars insist on the idea that organizational spirituality identifies various techniques for consolidating and connecting employees. More importantly, Pavlovich and Corner (2009) provide comprehensive models for analyzing environmental and social issues and connect spirituality management with ecological levels. In the studies provides by Pawar (2009a), there is no mentioning about religion as the basic precursor of workplace spirituality. Instead, the scholar provides that this phenomenon is constructed on the basis of self-interest transcendence, organizational behavior, transformational leadership, proce dural justice, and organizational support. Being the main concepts of organizational behavior, spirituality, thus, is presented as a component of organizational ethics where religion cannot be considered, or should be presented apart from business ethics. In order to separate religion from spirituality, it is necessary to consider several dimensions these two aspects encounter. According to Hill and Smith (2003), religion is more community-focused while spirituality tend to be more individualistic; religion is more observable, measurable, and objective while spirituality is less visible and quantifiable and more objective†¦.religion tend to be behavior-oriented with an emphasis on outward practices while spirituality tend to be more emotionally oriented and inwardly directed;†¦and religion is more oriented toward doctrine, especially that which distinguishes good from evil while spirituality stresses harmony and unity and is less concerned with doctrine (p. 233). With rega rd to these distinctions, it is possible to conclude that spirituality and religion create a two-polar opposition where the coincident point can be observed in case emotional and inward states of an individual are based on religious concerns only. Alternatively, considering spirituality and religious are homogenous terms can lead disorganization and misconception of the established theories and approaches. In particular, according to Hicks (2003), spirituality should be presented in the opposition to religion; otherwise, it can create negative connotations in the employed environment. Therefore, spirituality should be set before religions to avoid frictions and conflicts in the workplace. Summing up the presented evidence, spirituality in the workplace is based on numerous aspects and influences, among which are organizational behavior, leadership, organizational ethics, self-interest transcendence, and religion. It should be emphasized that the latter provokes numerous controversie s because it is often confused with the spirituality in the workplace. Hence, the analysis of differences and peculiarities has revealed that religion may serve as a component of organizational spirituality, but it does not provide fundamental conceptions for constructing business ethics. Discussion and Findings An in-depth examination and assessment of the presented sources have infused several valuable assumptions and findings concerning different dimensions of spirituality in the workplace. This specifically relates to the ethical dilemmas in the business environment, strategies for handling an organizational behavior, factors affecting an organizational performance and productivity, and the main elements of spirituality. In addition, the definition and explanation of the term have also been identified. To begin with, the literature analysis has provided several discoveries concerning organizational spirituality and performance. Specifically, it has been found that the majority o f the researchers (Cavanagh and Bandsuch, 2002; Collins, 2010; Karakas, 2010; Kolodinsky et al., 2008; Milliman, 1999) agree with the assumption that this aspect positively influences company’s performance and employees’ performance because meeting workers’ spiritual and ethical requirements provides more incentives and more solid motivations for working harder. Second, there are some difficulties in defining the relations between spirituality and ethical issues due to some reasons. Hence, it has been found that such controversy is predetermined by various theoretical orientations of both terms with regard to organizational management. Hence, spirituality is more individual-oriented, it provides subjective outlooks and positions that should be tackled carefully by organization (Sheep, 2006; Manz and Neal, 2009; Pawar, 2009). More importantly, it is more connected with cultural and emotional diversities that are sometimes difficult to adjust because they may cont radict some established conceptions within an organization. In contrast, organizational ethics is more concerned with inventing some integral and universal concepts that could contribute to establishing favorable working environment and to meeting high levels of performance and productivity. Third, religion and spirituality are not identical notions, specifically with regard to organizational ethics and behavior. Certainly, both spirituality and religions have similarities if considering them apart from the business world. But within it, spirituality prevails where religion may be included only as one of the components along with leadership, organizational behavior, self-interest transcendence (Hill and Smith 2003; Hicks, 2003). At the same time, businesses should treat religion carefully cultivating tolerance and respect being the basic of cultural considerations. All it can be seen spirituality involves a plethora of complicated issues and dilemmas that are carefully studied and c onsidered at interdisciplinary level. This also implies that organizational spirituality is, indeed, crucial for constructing efficient strategies in the field of human resource management and organizational ethics. Limitations to the Presented Literature The majority of the selected scholarly works provides positive perspectives and connotations for introducing organization spirituality. However, little research has been done to analyze the reasons and negative outcomes of implementing spirituality in the workplace. Mostly all reviewed works relate to the analysis of spirituality from the viewpoint of organizational ethics. Specifically, the point is that this notion is not considered as a separate concept, but inherently affiliated to ethical and cultural considerations. Another explicit gap presented in the researches is absence of sufficient models for implementing spirituality in the workplace with regard to psychological factors and professional growth issue. Rather, the intro duction is primarily aimed at improving organizational productivity and performance. Consequently, there is a great distinction between spirituality in the workplace and that presented in the community. The latter is closely associated with individuals’ religious concerns rather with inward emotional state. Finally, there are no accurate studies dedicated to the measurement of spirituality with regard to different organizations. In particular, irrelevant identification of spiritual goals and approaches can lead to theories ethical conflicts. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the meaning of organizational spirituality to keep pace with recent cultural, social, and political changes. This can serve as serious reasons for further researchers in this field. Conclusion The spirituality in the workplace is connected with a wide range of disciplines and studies. Specifically, this notion concerns such areas as human resource management, business ethics, and organizational behavio r, and conflict management. The examination and assessment of presented theories and models for treating organizational spirituality provides great perspectives for further exploration and encouragement for building company’s values and codes of ethics and allows to establish a more favorable ground for adapting to cultural and social shifts. The analysis and review of presented scholarly sources have proved numerous hypotheses and provides a solid ground for further explorations. More importantly, the review has also presented the most urgent problem connected with organizational ethics and establishing spirituality in the workplace. The concerns are specifically connected with failure to correctly define the essence of spirituality which is often confused with religion. Numerous findings have proved that these concepts belong to completely different dimensions and studies, especially when they are considered in relation to business and management. Another problem occurs whe n searching place for spirituality within the ethical frameworks. Ethics and spirituality can also be subjected to a two-polar confrontation because sometimes organizational ethics is not congruent with moral and spiritual concerns of individuals. In this respect, there are still many issues and aspect that are worth further examination and discussion to provide more accurate explanations for the place of spiritual issues in the employed environment. Reference List Cavanagh, G. F., and Bandsuch, M. R. (2002). Virtue as a Benchmark for Spirituality in Business. Journal of Business Ethics. 38(1/2), pp. 109-117. Collins, D. (2010). ‘Designing ethical organizations for spiritual growth and superior performance: an organization systems approach’, Journal of Management, Spirituality Religion, 7(2), pp. 95-117. Giacalone, R. A., and Jurkiewicz, C. L (2010). Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Performance. US: M. E. Sharpe SharpeLtd. Hicks, D. A. (2003). Reli gion and the workplace: pluralism, spirituality, leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hill, P. C. and Smith, G. S. (2003) Coming to Terms with Spirituality and Religion in the Workplace. In R. A. Giacalone and C. L. Jurkiewicz. Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational Performance. US: M. E. Sharpe SharpeLtd. Karakas, F. (2010). Spirituality and performance in organizations: A literature review. Journal of Business Ethics, 94, pp. 89-106. Kolodinsky, R. W., Giacalone, R. A., and Jurkiewicz, C. L. (2008). Workplace Values and Outcomes: Exploring Personal, Organizational, and Interactive Workplace Spirituality. Journal of Business Ethics. 81(1), pp. 465-480. Manz. C. C., and Neal, J. (2008). The virtuous organization: insights from some of the world’s leading management thinkers. US: World Scientific. Milliman J., Ferguson J., Trickett D., Condemi B. (1999). Spirit and community at Southwest Airlines: An investigation of a spiritual values-based model. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12 (3), pp. 221-233. Pavlovich, K. and Corner, P. (2009). Spiritual Organizations and Inter-Connectedness: The Living Nature Experience. Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion, 6 (3), pp. 209-229. Pawar, B. S. (2009a). Some of the Recent Organizational Behavior Concepts as Precursors to Workplace Spirituality. Journal of Business Ethics. 88(2), pp. 245-261. Pawar, B. S. (2009b). Workplace spirituality facilitation: A comprehensive model. Journal of Business Ethics 90, pp. 375–386. Sheep, M. L. (2006). Nurturing the Whole Person: The Ethics of Workplace Spirituality in a Society of Organizations. Journal of Business Ethics. 66(4), pp. 357-375. This essay on Spirituality in the Workplace was written and submitted by user Lexi House to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Environmental Uncertainty Essays

Environmental Uncertainty Essays Environmental Uncertainty Paper Environmental Uncertainty Paper Environmental Uncertainty in Organization. Define environmental uncertainty and resource dependence. Describe the major ways in which managers can deal with high environmental uncertainty and resource dependence. A good answer would base the analysis of environmental uncertainty on Dunces approach, which characterizes uncertainty in the stable-unstable and simple-complex dimensions. It should identify buffering, boundary spanning, organizational differentiation and integration as responses to growing uncertainties. As to management of resource dependence, the student should refer to inter-organizational linkages (ownership, strategic alliances, interlocking directorates, executive recruitment) and boundary spanning. The modern organizations do not live in the vacuum. They are open systems, which must interact with the environment. It must continuously change and adapt to the environment. Organizational environment is defined as all elements that exist outside the boundary of the organization and have the potential to affect all or part of the organization. The environment of an organization can also be understood by analyzing its domain within external sectors. An organizations domain is the chosen environmental field of action. Domain defines the organizations niche and defines those external sectors with which the organization will interact to accomplish its goals. The environment comprises several sectors or subdivisions of the external environment that contain similar elements. Ten sectors can be analyses for each organization: industry, raw materials, human resources, financial resources, market, technology, economic conditions, government, acculturation an d international. The environment influences the organization by two essential ways, first, the need for information about the environment; second, the need for resources room the environment. The environmental condition of complexity and change create a greater need to gather information and to respond based on that information. The organization also is concerned with the scarce material and financial resources provided by the environment and with the needs to ensure the availability of resources. Environmental uncertainty means that decision makers do not have sufficient information about environmental factors and they have a difficult time predicting external changes. Uncertainty increases the risk of failure for organizational responses and sakes it difficult to compute costs and probabilities associated with decision alternatives. Characteristics of the environmental domain that influence uncertainty are the extent to which the external domain is simple or complex and the extent to which events are stable or unstable. Simple and complex dimension The simple-complex dimension concerns environmental complexity, which refers to heterogeneity, or the number and dissimilarity of external elements relevant to an organizations operations. In a complex environment, many diverse external elements interact with and influence the organization. While in a simple environment, as few as three or four similar external elements influence the organization. MBPS is good example for the organization in a complex environment. It must cope with the customers, which is the potential students, competitors, which is the other business school such as LBS, Cornfield, and it must cope with government as well. We can also add alumni, MBA association To this list. In a word, a large number of external elements thus make up the organizations domain, creating a complex environment. Comparing with MBPS, a community middle school is rather living in a simple environment. As in the same community there are no other competitors, it also need not to attract potential students for all the students are assigned to this school. Stable-unstable dimension The stable-unstable dimension refers to whether elements in the environment are dynamic. An environmental domain is stable if it remains the same over a period of months or years. Under unstable conditions, environmental elements shift abruptly. Take competition for example, instability may occur when competitors react with aggressive moves and counterforce regarding advertising and new products. The simple-complex and stable-unstable dimensions are combined into a framework for assessing environmental uncertainty. ( Daft 137) There are four kinds of external environment uncertainty. A simple stable environment has low uncertainty. There are only a few outside elements to concern about and they are very stable which makes it to be easy to predict. Container manufactures are a good example under this environment. The whole market for container is 2. An a complex but stable environment the uncertainty is somewhat greater than the above one. A large number of elements have to be scanned, analyses, and acted upon for the organization to perform well. But as the external elements do not change rapidly or unexpectedly, it is not difficult for the decision maker to predict future change. Hospitals are under this 3. The simple but unstable environment has greater uncertainty than complex but stable environment. Although there are small numbers of external elements and they are similar, they are hard to predict and they react unexpectedly to organizational initiatives. Most e-commerce companies are in this kind of environment. They focus on a specific competitive niche which are not complicated. But the elements in this environment are not stable. The taste of customers is changing all the time; the competitors will introduce new product from time to time, even the government will set some regulation unexpectedly. The greatest uncertainty for an organization occurs in the complex, unstable environment. A large number of elements impinge upon the organization, and they shift frequently or react strongly to organizational initiatives. When several sectors change simultaneously the environment becomes turbulent. We have countless examples under this environment Most of the international company sees are facing Environmental uncertainty represents an important contingency for organization structure and internal behaviors. Organizations facing uncertainty generally have a more horizontal structure that encourages cross- functional communication and collaboration to help the company adapt to changes in the environments. Organizations need to have the right fit between internal structure and the external environment with respect to positions and departments, organizational differentiation and integration, control processes, and future planning and forecasting. 1 Positions and departments As the complexity in the external environment increases, so does the number of positions and departments within the organization, which in turn increases internal complexity. Each sector in the external environmental sector requires an employee or department to deal with it. One of the traditional ways to cope with uncertainty is to establish buffer department, whose main task is to absorb uncertainty from the environment (this can be called buffer role) so that the technical core, which performs the primary production activity of the organization can keep relatively stable and internal efficiency. For example, the human resources department buffers the technical core by handling the uncertainty associated with finding, hiring, and training production employees. Recently a rather new approach is to drop the buffers and expose the technical core to the uncertain environment. The advocates of this approach insist that being well connected to customers and suppliers is more important than internal efficiency. While opening up the organization to the environment makes it more fluid and adaptable, the organization must have good way to keep balance between reaction to the environment and internal efficiency. It requires the organization have more efficient communication and learning system. Another important role of organization to avoid uncertainty is boundary- spanning roles which link and coordinate an organization with key elements in the external environment This is a two directions role, on one hand detecting and bringing into the organization information about changes in the environment, on the other hand to send information into the environment that presents the organization in a favorable light. In this changing world, organizations have to react to environment very fast, otherwise the organization will die. One of the fastest growing areas of boundary spanning is competitive intelligence. Companies large and small are setting up competitive intelligence departments or hiring outside specialists to gather information on competitors. And then the organizations can adapt its own activity according to the information. The boundary task of sending information into the environment to represent the organization is used to influence other peoples perception Of the organization. In the marketing department, advertising and sales people represent the organization to customers. If the department does not deliver the right information about organization to the external environment, the organization will meet some problems. Organizational differentiation and integration Organization differentiation is the differences in cognitive and emotional orientations among managers in different functional departments, and the difference in formal structure among these departments. The external environment and main challenge for different department within organization is different which makes organizational departments become highly specialized to handle the uncertainty in their external sector. Sometimes, those expertise even seem opposite. The conflict between sales department and finance department is not rare in our life. This naturally introduces another important approach to uncertainty: organization integration, which is the quality of collaboration among departments. Integration mainly involves in coordination among department. As the different departments have different goals, different ways to cope with external environment, coordination between different departments become more and more important. The main role of coordinator is to improve the immunization between departments, maintain common goal of the organization, and so on. Facing the highly uncertain external environment, the organization has to have a high level of differentiation and integration, which help organization keep both flexibility and efficiency. If the uncertainty level of external environment is low, the best strategy for organization is to have a relatively low level differentiation and integration which will be more efficient. 3. Control processes Organization will perform better when the levels of differentiation and integration match the level of uncertainty in the environment. Here we come to another related issue: what kind of control processes is suitable for the organization. This depends on The organization with a high level of differentiation and integration should has looser, free-flowing, and adaptive organization structure. 4. Future planning and forecasting Framework, (Handout 4. 6) organization design under different external environment. Now we turn to the second way the environment affects organization: the need for scarce material resource and financial resource from the organization. Organizations need resources from environment to support velveteen. Resource dependence means that organizations depend on the environment but strive to acquire control over resources to minimize their dependence. Two strategies can be adopted to manage resources in the external environment: 1 . Establish favorable linkages with key elements in the environment; There are five main ways to establish favorable linkages with key elements in the environment. Namely, ownership, formal strategic alliances, interlocking directorates, executive recruitment and buffer spanning. Ownership: companies use ownership to establish linkages when they buy a art of or a controlling interest in another company. This gives the company access to technology, products, or other resources it doses t currently have. Formal strategic alliances: when there is a high level of complementary between the business lines, geographical positions, or skills of two companies, the firms often go the route of a strategic alliance rather than ownership through merger or acquisition. Such strategic alliances reduce uncertainty through a legal and binding relationship with another firm. Almost everyday we can hear the news of merge of big companies. Toshiba is en of the most successful companies, which established market strength through merge. It became the top maker of large-scale memory chips through a joint venture with Motorola. Interlocking directorates: interlocking directorate is a formal linkage that occurs when a member of the board of directors of one company sits on the board of directors of another company. The individual is a communications link between companies and can influence policies and decisions. Executive recur tenement: transferring or exchanging executives also offers a method of establishing favorable linkages with external organizations. This provides another channel of influence and communication between organizations serves to reduce financial uncertainty and dependence for an Buffer spanning: as I mentioned above, buffer spanning role involves transfer organization information to external environment. A further effort of buffer spanning is try to establish favorable relationships with external environment so that the organization can occupy more resources. 2. Shape the environmental domain. In addition to adapt to the environment, organization also sometimes try to change the environment.

Rail Track Design for Line Speed Improvement Research Paper

Rail Track Design for Line Speed Improvement - Research Paper Example The design issue under consideration includes route surveying, track component identification, designing the rail curve and other design aspects that help in improving rail transport. Suggestion indicated can be implemented by any train organization seeking to improve or optimize their services (Mundrey, 1993). Rail tracks are used for the guidance of trains and consist of two steel rails laid in parallel. The rails guide the train in motion without the need for steering. The rails are laid on sleepers. The sleeper is also referred to as the cross ties. The sleepers are embedded in the ballast and form the railroad track. The rails are fastened to the sleeper by the use of spikes, lag screws, bolts clips, and patrol clips. The type of fastening sleepers depends on the type of sleepers. For the concrete sleepers clips are used, for the wooden sleepers' spikes are used and for steel sleepers, bolts are commonly used. Conventional rail design involved route surveying and finding the most economical route for the rail line. The engineer worked on ways of designing the rail so as to surpass the geographical obstacles (Engineering Policy Group (EPG). 2009). Currently, the rail design encompasses many design aspects. This design aspect results from the need for greater speeds and heavy loads. Due to these factors, the most important consideration for the rail design are: Route surveying. This involves planning the rail routes so that it passes through the most economical route (Hickerson, 1967). Long term traffic levels; if the projection shows that in the long run, the traffic will increase. Design consideration for expansion of the rail as well as incorporating trains with high speed and heavy should be taken into consideration. Environmental concern: the design should focus on an environmental friendly rail that does not damage the environment. Politics: Government influences and funding greatly affect the quality of the rail and also its long term benefits. Land issues; when designing for increased speed, huge curves are required; the constraining factor to this is the limitation of land. Economic factors: this determines the type of rail constructed. Well funded projects can archive most of the design requirements. Â