Technological Management

Technological Management Technological Management of Spatial Security Home›Technology Posts›Technological Management of Spatial Security Technology PostsThe great yearning to control the entire space or the world at large has not been an easy task considering it does not just involve the control of space bodies but it involves the maintenance of their security.   Various technologies have been deployed through history and up to date to the control of technology on the spatial arena which includes the space meteorites and all the bodies in space the earth included. The standard or the average technologies that have been put into use has included barriers in the form of gates for exclusion purposes and doors that serve as filters to control space bodies. This of course required superior technology that was only defined by strong and technologically advanced countries.To begin with the concept of a wall in the virtual sense was a major security project that was developed through history so as to manage the earliest hill forts and fortresses in space. Famous examples of these walls included the Great Wall of China and the Hadrian’s Wall which were major technologies that were regarded as security concerns (Sean, 2007).There are other walls that act as barriers against crashes or blasts from bombs that protect countries or states from suicide bombers who pose immigration threats. With this immigration walls have been set up and to some extent they act in a similar fashion to political walls or boundaries.   They are meant to separate two different countries that are in great feud and death is likely to be the result. In this case they serve as preventive thresholds. These walls include: USA- Mexico boundary which also served as a political wall. The Berlin Wall constructed in 1961 to separate East Germany from West Germany. The Israeli-Palestinian Wall was a special control of the spatial technologies that were within those two countries (Jim, 2004).Filtration walls on their part hav e different security loopholes or weaknesses in maintaining total exclusion or segregation of warring sides during their whole length or the utmost occurrence of an outbreak of a conflict. First of all filtration walls shut out everyone including those who are not guilty of posing any security risk or danger (Peter, 2004). Everybody will be filtered irrespective of their innocence as it mainly involves blocking those who are undesired and permitting those with a higher top social status. The poor are discriminated as well as those who lack power to voice their plea or identify their human rights and the privileged top group is allowed to live and escape trouble.This particularly happens in areas with high mobility and in a globalized village or society. The filtering walls are deployed in such areas as tactics of prime security measures and technologies that act as barriers. They are used in areas such as airports around the world and border gateways that serve as entrances that all ow passage into high security zones. These zones include military bases, chemical laboratories, power stations, and political centers, entrances into proceedings or entertainment spots. The age limit acts as a filter in this entertainment spots for example underage teenagers are restricted from entering highly explicit clubs.Filtering walls of this caliber are controlled by sensory spatial management which employs different control measures that are inclusive of; controlling the physical space in direct physical ways and this is done through the following control measures:Surveillance or proper scrutiny of operations.Knowledge and extreme use of the five senses.These two control strategies have technologies that are based on various aspects like:Sensory technologies and tracking technologies enable easier forms of physical interventions in surveillance such as looking and listening. In accordance with deep or total surveillance of the body there is involvement of biological form of authentication, surveillance and control of anything that a person has on his body (Peter, 2004).In accordance with surveillance of information spaces there are digital forms of authentication as well as surveillance and control. However, this is applied to broader forms of physical space but this is inclusive of watching, listening and applying sensing technologies. This form of information surveillance originates from direct physical roles of spies or intelligence and operative traditional surveillance which are human operative or human dependent. This is common in well recorded details that use espionage or spying in every root of civilization.Egypt hieroglyphs expose the existence of court spies whom the early Egyptian pharaohs employed as agents of espionage to search out disloyal Egyptian subjects and also to trace tribes that could be easily conquered and finally enslaved. Their purpose was also to gather foreign intelligence who had vital information on military enemies like Rome. The Sun Tzu placed the all-inclusive treatise, which was the Art of War (Peter, 2004). This contained various chapters that dwelt on incorporation of spies both on and out of the battlefield.The Romans in their time developed vital espionage or spying expertise. Spies generally engaged in both foreign and domestic political operations and activities. Their primary objective is to gauge the political climate, the empire itself with its entire splendor, any weaknesses with its military and the viability of the surrounding lands. This was done by eavesdropping in the forum or in public market spaces where they acted as normal civilians but they carried out their missions either with the help of the natives or paid affiliates who were willing to sell vital information.Ancient sources have revealed information on secret police forces that were referred to as the Frumentari these were common in medieval or middle age societies. The Catholic Church on its part though religious used an extensive network of spies who played a major role in its inquisition purpose (Steve, 2005). The Catholic Church in the olden days was opposed to the idea of splintering factions and any group of people who went against the teachings were spied on and killed. This was an example of a religious wall that had been imposed and if broken then it only resulted to death.Surfacing of national states from the 17th Century created new international intelligence especially in the European continent as well as in America. The United Kingdom on its part had a famous and an extremely skilled intelligence agency since time immemorial. One of the most arrogant users of spying techniques in the United Kingdom was Sir Francis Walsingham who at the time was the Principal Secretary to the Queen Elizabeth the First (Rod, 2007). Walsingham developed a spy and intelligence network that was highly efficient and important in protecting internal security of the United Kingdom at a very troublesome time. This model oversaw a mixture of operations which were meant to collect intelligent information about one of the most vital threats to the United States and Spanish military prowess.This spying group was responsible for the spying activities which instigated the trial of Mary, Queen of Scotland for alleged abuse of office and this was according to Scott (2003).Contemporary or current intelligence organizations like the M16 and M15 which involve more state activities like the Special Branch or division of the government which is basically human operative (William McClatchy, 2011). These are all modern security devices which are based upon collecting intelligence information and adept actions which are very crucial to the upholding of spatial security police force who spend time as in secret operatives who are used to uphold control over the street issues.The actions of the informal agencies like NPIOU, The Mark Kennedy issue which was stone related. State operatives at this historica l time perpetuated to operate through the borders in their maintenance and upholding of security in the state. Sophisticated technologies were employed by the Russian assassins for example in the poisoning of Alexander Litvnenko by the use of undetectable or untraceable radioactive materials. This was followed by the consequent assassinations of Iranian Nuclear Scientists which was said to be performed by a person called Mossad who was an Israeli security service agent (Raymond, 2008).These killings were examples of greatly organized technologies and operations that involved teams of motorists who were riding beside cars while secretly attaching bombs to them. These bombs were automated and specifically created to self-activate themselves after carrying out remote surveillance.The general effects of technology through history in extending or stretching further our bodies and heightening our senses has enabled people to have a higher range of knowledge and expertise. Technological va riations are dedicated to watching and looking for example the CCTV cameras. Listening is also results into major technological variations through sensing bugs. Sensing in this case is used by tracking technologies or even infrared sensing technique.CCTV which is one of the most important surveillance technologies discovered in current years rates among the highest funded crime preventive technique in the United Kingdom alone (Steve, 2005). By the end of the 1990s CCTV had sidetracked or diverted more than three quarters of its total expenditure to this country alone. Though millions of pounds were spent in separate cities in the United Kingdom still the area registered poor security turnovers. There were limited areas where these CCTV made a huge impact and these areas included car parks. The Metropolitan Police at the time noted that only a single crime is solved out of every 1000 cameras that have been installed (Raymond, 2008).Listening technology devices have consequently repla ced the dire utilization of the natural human ear in many security situations. Tapping of communication devices such as mobile phones has in a broader spatial sense been activated by placing simple bugs. Foreign embassies for example are extensively bugged and in such an instance the United States embassy in Moscow in the mid 1970s bugged were bugged by Soviet agent posing as laborers in the construction of the embassy.This was discovered in the early 1980s where the solid concrete columns were rigged with so many bugs in such a way that the building had to be torn down and rebuilt with pure materials and labor from the United States.Sensing technologies on their part go along way back where dogs were used in the society as tracking devices which had extended senses invisible in human beings. Similarly, others used hawks or falcons which had a wider field of view and to some extent pigs which could locate scents of specific foodstuff (Peter, 2004). In the current or contemporary tim es animals are continually being used as both tracking and sensing technologies. In world war two for instance cats were used to place particular bombs on enemy boats. The Criminal Investigation Agency in the United States spent a fortune 1.5 million dollars coaching a cat to be a listening apparatus. However, this plan was aborted after the cat was run over by a truck outside the Russian embassy.Dolphins have also been taught and trained on how to establish illegal divers in the sea near military localities and when they do they inject them with carbon dioxide using their snouts. This causes them to dive, rise and resurface enabling the authorities to spot them. In Iraq dogs were used by the US military to sniff out explosives in land mines as well as rats to smell land mines. Honey bees that are properly trained have also been used to locate landmines in controlled areas. However, there are limitations when animals are used as sensory techniques.The first reason is that they may n ot always be willing to comply or cooperate. They may also develop a bigger bond with their handlers thus they will not respond when a different person decides to take control. High investments have been spent on these animals as well as other automated sensory technologies. They include devices that are hand held and are able to sense chemical agents or constituents, gamma radiations and other devices that sense bad odor. The prototype system called HAMLeT for instance which stands for hazardous material localization and personal tracking (Steve, 2005).This device was created in Germany and it can be placed behind a corridor wall or barrier and sniff hazardous or dangerous chemicals through extremely sensitive odor sensors with chips. The chips of the sensors have circulating crystals. When the electronic nose traps chemical molecules the circulation or the oscillating speed and frequency is altered. This device is majorly applied in airports and other high security sites. It is us ed in extending automated senses and extra sensory information which is significant to security personnel as it signifies the coming of heat or thermal imaging devices.These devices collect data from infrared parts of the spectrum and with this ability they can easily view in the dark or in conditions where there is fog, smoke. These security measures are used in control of borders where intruders can be easily identified even when they are several miles away. In this case the distance level does not matter but what matters is the frequency of the infrared radiation.Another major usage of this detecting device is for policing services where it is used for tracking factories that process drugs in specific areas. Moreover, this detecting device is applied in security activities that are less brutal or which pose an undefined security threat. For instance, a local authority can send one of its most significant planes as a way of identifying the radio frequency identification waves or s imply RFID (Scott, 2003).RFID or radio frequency identification is used to monitor or scrutinize livestock and majorly cattle. It is also applied in tracking or hunting animals. It is promoted by detecting smell and odor that the animals produce. This detection is slowly extended or stretched to consumer goods and in the contemporary era supermarkets in the early 2000s have raised claims that it is an exclusive barcode technology (Steve, 2005). This code provides a unique identification identity which is a numbering strategy that is called an electronic product code or EPC in short. This code gives specific identity to any object in its physical nature only once in the world. This code has no capability of appearing twice as it is definitely unique.This code or number once assigned is transmitted by the radio frequency identity tag or signal. The signal that is transmitted in this perspective by the RFID tag is then automatically picked by a specific receiver or a reader device. Thi s is a technology that is very cheap and affordable thus it is highly applicable.The best objective of the RFID is to create a world that is physically joined where each and every aspect or item in the world is practically numbered, recognized, identified, catalogued and even tracked.Security applications for radio frequency identified or RFID is during retail security and the tagging of products that are to be produced to the market. This enables ease in tracking of the products and tracing of them in theft cases where they are stolen. The supermarket or the retail suppliers and chain managers use the RFID in tracing and tracking the stock and also protecting the stock against theft as it is moved around the boundaries.Security RFID is also incorporated in tagging of movement passports and other security documents like driving licenses. Its main advantage is that it increases the ease in reading the border points that are crossed by individuals who have or tracking devices.They are also used in hospitals to put specific tags on hospital patients. The RFID tags are placed to specifically identify them. Newborn babies have the tracking devices that are also placed to identify the newborn babies as they are very difficult to identify (William McClatchy, 2011).The only weakness of RFID tags or tracking devices is that they are easily hacked by computer geeks and in the virtual world they can be read or interpreted from a far distance off for instance one kilometer away. These tags may also have details which may be utilized by criminals once they are hacked.Another major disadvantage is that the animals that are chipped or have the tags inserted on them end up suffering from cancer related symptoms which only leads to death of the animals. This has made the organizations that specialize in using animals as trackers to have a hard time with those who campaign for animal rights.With this in mind it is important to realize that the entire world and its space is all enshrined in a form of a boundary that exists either in its physical or virtual form. It may be constructed with human hands or in virtual sense like the Radio Frequency Identification tags (Peter, 2004).The great longing to control the entire space or the world at large has not been an easy task considering it does not just involve the control of space bodies but it involves the maintenance of their security.   Various technologies have been deployed through history and up to date to the control of technology on the spatial arena which includes the space meteorites and all the bodies in space the earth included.The standard or the average technologies that have been put into use has included barriers in the form of gates for exclusion purposes and doors that serve as filters to control space bodies. This of course required superior technology that was only defined by strong and technologically advanced countries.In conclusion the general concept of a wall in the virtual sense was a major security project that was developed through history so as to manage the earliest hill forts and fortresses in space and to the lives of people. The types of the walls have developed through history with each of the advancement based on the year and the country that is associated. Those who struggle to destroy the walls that have been created are in the example of spies as earlier on elaborated. With increase in technology it is difficult to determine whether the brick walls will still be used as borders or will there be tracing gases. As it stands the walls of technology have a common similarity which is prevention against intrusion.

Anchors Aweigh History of the United States Navy Free Essay Example, 1500 words

It is evidently clear from the discussion that Josephus Daniel was the secretary of the navy in the 19th century. He strengthened the naval force of the US in the period between 1913 and 1917 to a great extent. He was totally against the war, yet he did every possible effort to make navy the strongest military force of the US. Many men stood against Daniel and argued that he was making the entire naval force incapable of fighting in the wars. Daniel claimed about the shortage of men in the naval force of the US. More men were employed in the army, and the force was enlarged to a great extent (Howarth 122). The author of the paper states that the naval act of 1916 was passed by congress on 29th August 1916. It was a strong act and was strictly ordered to be implemented on the US navy. It basically comprised the rules and regulations, the new policies of the US navy, the recommendations for the entrance of new men in the force and many other important issues. We will write a custom es say sample on Anchors Aweigh: History of the United States Navy or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In 1917, Daniel was replaced by Wilson, and he started preparing the force for war. He strengthened the Naval Militia and established a Naval Reserve force. Large shipbuilding programs were introduced and the navy was made stronger. Different bureaus were established in the period of 1914 to 1918 including the bureau of navigation, construction, and repair, steam engineering, yards and docks, and ordinance as well (Howarth 325). According to the essay findings, it can, therefore, be said that the war started in 1917, and different districts were established by Wilson. Each district managed a specific area of England. This made the work relatively very easy for the US navy. The total number of districts was 13 and each managed its own territory. Schools were organized to train the reserve army of Navy as well. In 1920, there were 28,000 regular men and 23,000 reserve men in the US navy because of the efficient working of the training camps started by Wilson (Howarth 326).

My Reflection On Communication And Communication - 1100 Words

This quarter during communications we were told that we had to do four speeches and two impromptus. Initially, this made me nervous because I didn’t know what I would speak about or who I would do pair and group work with. These speeches made each student in the class meet goals at their own pace (sort of), allowed them to grow their communication skills, and learn more about topics that interested them. The first of the three goals was to â€Å"improve ability to deliver speeches for a variety of purposes, situations, and audiences.† This goal was to be met by giving both prepared and impromptu speeches both in class and to other groups. My speeches were my introductory speech, my talk from TEC, a persuasive speech about media bias with†¦show more content†¦There were times where I was unable to meet with my ILP partner that day but even with that everything went smoothly in regards to communicating ideas. This also relates to my persuasive speech. There were many times where one of the pair of Abby and I were gone. However, we were still able to communicate our ideas with each other because we had documents that we could both access and were efficient enough to get everything done when both of us were here. The goal of communicating effectively in groups was shown by the senior center visits and group informative planning. The senior center visits ability is shown mostly through my senior service learning project, where I went over each what happened during our visits, how I felt, and what impact it had on me. These things are also shown through my journal entries from the weeks that we visited. The group informative helped me grow as a communicator because we had three people that were all working together and all had different ideas of what should be in the speech. We had to discuss exactly what part of the broad topic we wanted to inform the audience of, which ended up being misconceptions. The time spent working on it w as sometimes silent, but at other times was full of discussion on what we were working on and what partsShow MoreRelatedMy Reflection on Nursing Communication1143 Words   |  5 Pagesaphasia (speech loss) and dysphagia (swallowing difficulties). He relies on carers for all normal activities required for daily living (Roper et al 1996) and is advised to have a pureed diet and thickened fluids. My mentor asked me to observe her feeding Mr Comer. She had prepared my learning the week previously by providing literature on the subject of feeding elderly patients and discussion on safe practice for feeding patients with dysphagia. I was alarmed and unprepared for the physicalRead MoreReflective Essay1432 Words   |  6 Pagespatients outcome. Reflection is an everyday process and is very personal matter. Jasper (2003) suggests that reflection is one of the key ways in which we can learn from our experiences. 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Gender Discrimination in the Workplace Free Essays

Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace Unfair treatment of women has been prevalent throughout time. Although there have been many movements to attempt to terminate this tendency, it is still ubiquitous in today’s society. Sex discrimination in the workplace occurs when women are treated differently because of their gender. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Discrimination in the Workplace or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many factors influence employers and coworkers to display prejudice against women. Gender bias in the workplace is an unfair practice that results in lower payment, disrespect, and an overall bad occupation experience for victims. Gender discrimination is not necessarily a new issue, but it remains to be a major struggle despite the attempts that have been made to stop it through legal manners. In a report by The Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s Ariane Hegewisch, Cynthia Deitch, and Evelyn Murphy, the results of these attempts are summarized on both simple and complex levels. â€Å"The 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating in their employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Although Title VII banned employment discrimination, it did not require specific actions to achieve this objective. † Because the Act lacks such a critical detail, employers are able to avoid obeying it very easily. Laws besides the Civil Rights Act have been put into place in order to reduce unjust treatment in the workplace. For example, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed. This act was supposed to end â€Å"the practice of paying men more than women when performing the same jobs and duties. Despite these protections, many women still feel gender biased discrimination is a problem† (Gluck). The effects of both the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act have obviously been minimal, seeing as women are still very much looked down upon in the workplace. One of the most direct effects of sex discrimination in the workplace is the stereotyping that occurs. The mass overrepresentation of men in â€Å"senior management positions† is a sub-result of discrimination (â€Å"Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment†). The favoring of the selection of men over women for promotions has had a dramatic effect in the workplace over time. â€Å"Stereotypical views regarding gender can cause supervisors to engage in the llegal practice of passing a person over for promotion due to gender. Supervisors most often pass over women due to preconceived notions about their roles and abilities† (Gluck). Stereotypes about women come not only from their under representation in the workplace, but from preconceived notions about their family roles. Even If a woman is hired withou t being asked about her family responsibilities, once she takes the position, her boss can â€Å"view her employee file to see that she has young children† and then will be able to â€Å"give her less responsibility or assign menial tasks to her that do not fit her job description. Although illegal, this practice still exists in offices today† (Gluck). Once again, employers ignore the laws put in place to stop discrimination because of stereotyping. The only way gender bias will disappear is if stereotypes disappear as well. One of the reasons sexual discrimination is so prevalent today is that sexual harassment has become so accepted in society and in places of employment. â€Å"Women have long been exposed to workplace harassment which involves conduct of a sexual nature or is premised on the sex of the victim† (McCann). Because of the wide range of behaviors that are considered sexual harassment, it is difficult to identify some action as harassment, which means rules against it are easy to ignore. Sexual harassment has terrible effects on the morale of victims. A loss of motivation â€Å"necessary to perform their jobs effectively† is one of the most notable results of bias (Gluck). â€Å"Offensive jokes of a suggestive or sexual nature and jokes implying that an employee’s work is sub-par due to her gender† are one of the major causes for the loss of motivation that victims experience. Sexual discrimination is obviously an extremely negative practice, but one of the most devastating effects of the prejudice is the payment gap between men and women. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), â€Å"in 2011, female full-time workers made only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 23 percent† (â€Å"Pay Equity Discrimination†). IWPR predicts that â€Å"if change continues at the same slow pace as it has done for the past fifty years, it will take almost another fifty–or until 2056–for women to finally reach pay parity. Such inequality in payment is absurd, especially since â€Å"women compromise 47% of the total U. S. labor force† (â€Å"Women’s Bureau†). Throughout history, women have battled gender discrimination inside and outside of the office. The difference in payment of men and women is a significant problem that needs to be paid more attention to. Once stereoty pes are dissolved, problems with gender bias will dissolve as well and the payment gap will become easier to close. Until then, the laws that have been imposed need to become enforced more strictly and individuals need to pay more attention to sexual harassment norms. Women deserve every right that men have and vice versa. Sexual discrimination affects all of society in some way or another, so it is important that society’s members work towards ending it. Works Cited Gluck, Samantha. â€Å"The Effects of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace. † Small Business. N. p. , n. d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. Hegewisch, Ariane, Cynthia Deitch, and Evelyn Murphy. Ending Sex and Race Discrimination in the Workplace: Legal Interventions That Push the Envelope — IWPR. Rep. N. p. , 2008. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. McCann, Deirdre. Sexual Harassment at Work: National and International Responses, Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 2. † Sexual Harassment at Work. N. p. , n. d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Pay Equity Discrimination. † — IWPR. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment. † Knowledge Center | Catalyst. N. p. , 1 July 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Women’s Bureau (WB) – Quick Facts on Women in the Labor Force in 2010. † Women’s Bureau (WB) – Quick Facts on Women in the Labor Force in 2010. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. How to cite Gender Discrimination in the Workplace, Papers

The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture Essay Example

The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture Essay The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organization’s Culture Describing and identifying the importance of abstract terms is a difficult task because their meaning rely more on substance than form. For this and other reasons, individuals as well as organizations tend to overlook or underestimate their importance for a successful career and for the effective functioning of an organization. Organizational Culture† is one of those terms, we can’t see it, but we can feel and experience it, and it has a profound impact in the way people behave in an organization. It denotes the attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values of the work group or team within the organization, which to an extent affect the organization as a whole. All employees whatever their grade is, and whether they are professionals or not, contribute to the culture of an organization by bringing their diverse talents, knowledge, skills, values, and beliefs to the entity. Employees may possess abilities and talents that might enable them to fit into the organization and empower it, partly as a result of socialization, but they might need assistance from others, such as Human Resource Development specialists and Union cooperative efforts, in order to learn the skills that will enable them to play their part in the team, group, or department. The culture of an organization is important not only to individuals but to the organization itself. This makes culture an important part of every organization and union leaders and management need to understand the central role it plays in forming an effective organization. Union understanding of the important role culture play for an organization is essential since the recognition of unions and the labor agreement usually means structural changes to an organization’s policies, practices, strategies, and the environment. According to Neal M. Ashkanasy, author of the book Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate, more and more practitioners are coming to realize that, despite the best-laid plans, organizational change must include not only changing structures and processes, but also changing the corporate culture as well. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Role of Unions in Improving and Disrupting an Organizations Culture specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Unions can play a role in creating and changing an organization’s culture, since they are in a position to provide the workforce with information designed to influence decisions about work practices, rules, preferred behaviors and attitudes, etc. Management as well as staff developers need, therefore, to communicate frequently with trade union officers. Improving organizational culture has become a necessity in todays ever- changing business environment. However, it can be a big challenge for the organization and its members. Managing in a union environment can be frustrating and confusing. Managers in a unionized workplace are challenged to manage effectively within legal and contractual parameters. This make the decision-making process more difficult for managers who must count with the union approval for many decisions and changes that might conflict with the labor agreement. If managers are not flexible in outcome, or are too specialized, then the organization may become too narrowly focused and the motivation and creative thought, a necessary precursor for innovation may be stiffed. Also, although individual ideas are important, strategies for team-working are essential. One of the primary responsibilities of strategic leaders is to create and maintain the organizational characteristics that reward and encourage collective effort (Neal M. Ashkanasy, 10). Individuals should be motivated to work as part of a team sharing a common vision of the direction in which they would like the organization to develop. To this end, unions are one of the most effective institutions that can be used to bring people that share common interests, goals, and principles together and motivate them to work as a team, since the mechanism of the union itself encourages team participation. Today, organizational leaders are confronted with many complex issues during their attempts to generate organizational achievement. A leaders success will depend, to a great extent, upon understanding organizational culture. Paul Clark, author of the book Building More Effective Unions contends that â€Å"Many of the problems confronting leaders can be traced to their inability to analyze and evaluate organizational cultures. † Many leaders, when trying to implement new strategies or a strategic plan leading to a new vision, will discover that their strategies will fail if they are inconsistent with the organizations culture. For example, a CEO, SES, political appointee, or flag officer who comes into an organization prepared to shake the place up and institute sweeping changes, often experiences resistance to changes and failure. These difficulties with organizational transformations arise from failures to analyze an organizations existing culture. According to Franklin Ashby, author of the book Revitalize your Corporate Culture, â€Å"When an organization has a union, most of the culture of the organization is dictated by the union contract, and the on-going relationship with the union. Unless Union cooperation is obtained, little can be done to change the culture of an organization. However, Unions often resist change to protect the interests of their members. One of the strongest cultures in the United States is the United Automobile Workers. Over the years and through many negotiations, they have established work rules that workers and companies must follow. These are now an integral part of the organizational culture of the Big Three Automobile Makers. For example, when competition from Japanese car makers cause the Big Three U. S. utomobile firms a significant loss of market share, the organizational culture of American Auto manufacturers had to be changed. This could be accomplished only through negotiation with the union. Although some labor leaders oppose any change they feel may weaken the union’s position, more and more enlightened labor union leaders are moving from an adversarial to a more cooperative philosophy (Franklin Ashby, 3). According to Paul F. Clark, author of the book Building More Effective Unions, â€Å"Most efforts to change an organization’s culture will meet with some resistance. A systematic approach to change is most effective in meeting such resistance. Many of us are familiar with the slogans, songs, jackets, parades, banquets, and picnics of unions because they are all part of the labor movement. To some they are simply windows dressing, unconnected to the important things that build an effective union. But, in fact, these things are part of a potentially and powerful phenomenon called â€Å"organizational culture† (Paul F. Clark, 10). It is important that unions understand the central role that culture plays in an effective organization and work to build a strong culture consistent with the union as well as the organization’s values, beliefs, and objectives. This is essential to avoid conflict by having two different cultures with different organizational objectives in the same company. Although one general culture might be ideal and best for an organization, subcultures exist and they do not necessarily exist to hurt the overall culture of the organization as long as the culture that involves the common interest of most members is accepted and recognized. The existence of subcultures is normal. In an organization with a strong culture, subcultures created by union members do not cause problems because the overall values and beliefs of the group are well recognized and accepted. If the culture of an organization is week, however, subcultures can override and compete with the overall culture, which can be disruptive to the organization’s culture. In his analysis, Paul Clark mentions that the effectiveness of a culture can be measured by the degree to which that culture and its various elements and subcultures clearly communicate the values of the organization. One of the core values emphasized by unions is the welfare of the collective group. Towards this end unions emphasize the principles of solidarity, unity, and togetherness. One common aspect of union culture that helps to communicate these values is the use of the terms â€Å"brother† and â€Å"sister† to refer to union members (Paul F. Clark, 6). Other values held in great regard by unions are fairness, equity, and justice. Unions help improve an organization’s culture by enforcing these values whenever they are violated or necessary for the welfare of employees. For example, managers often complaint about the tendency of unions to challenge through the grievance procedure many of the disciplinary actions taken by management. However, such challenge simply reflects the value that unions and union members place on due process and the fairness it brings to the workplace. By challenging any questionable management decision, unions are forcing management to evaluate the fairness of every action they take, before they take it. The member-union contract has an impact not only on union attachment, attitudes, and behaviors, but also on how it affects organizational culture. In summarizing the findings of their widely cited book, What Do Unions Do? Freeman and Medoff conclude that â€Å"Unions alter nearly every aspect of an organization’s culture. † The authors suggest that unions exert effects on organizational culture through collective bargaining. The primary effects of collective bargaining are the gains that the union is able to realize at the bargaining table for the employees. For example, extrinsic benefits like wages, job security, and working conditions, are all concerns that have dominated the collective bargaining agenda of North American Unions. Gains in these areas are determined primarily by the union’s ability to acquire and use power in the bargaining relationship. For example, the union wage effect is largely dependent on the ability of the union to achieve monopoly power within an industry. It is important to note that the union effects on organizational culture are also outcomes that emerge though management’s reaction to collective bargaining provisions. Management’s adjustment to the conditions imposed by collective bargaining and the union’s counteraction to managerial action will determine the nature and extent of union effects on organizational culture. The ability of unions to achieve their goals in areas such as wages, job security, and working conditions have important ramifications for organization culture both within the union and within the organization. For example, unions have a direct effect on the level, form, structure, and system of compensation plans. Through effective bargaining unions can improve an organization’s culture by emphasizing and enforcing the values, principles, and beliefs the members of the organization consider important. For example, the union can achieve fairness and equity with wage increases and justice and dignity with provisions for job security and better working conditions. Although these effects wary across industry and individuals, some general conclusion may be drawn. First, and most important, unions raise wages. Estimates of union wage effect wary but in general wage levels in unionized industries are 10 to 20% higher than wages for comparable non-unionized industries (William Holley, 324). Similarly, unions have a positive impact on employee benefits with unionized industries spending more on fringe benefits than comparable non-unionized firms. Job security is another factor through which unions help improves an organization’s culture concern for layoffs. For example, collective agreements often contain clauses that directly influence individual’s job security such as provisions for layoffs, job transfers, and contracting out. The prevalence of such provisions indicates the high priority placed on job security by union members. Based on the Quality of Employment Survey data, union membership was the best predictor of whether individuals would trade a 10% increase in real wages in exchange for increased job security. Unions also increase the security of their members from arbitrary decision making though the provision of grievance systems. Through the implementation of grievance systems with provisions for third-party dispute resolution, unions substantially increase the costs of arbitrary management decisions. As mentioned by Julian Barling, Author of the book The Union its Members, One would expect, and empirical evidence confirms that â€Å"Management decision making in a unionized environment would be more regulated by formal procedures and based on more objective criteria. Other areas in which Union have helped to improve an organization’s culture is through their intensive efforts to improve occupational health and safety in the workplace by advocating for government regulations, negotiating health and safety provisions, and encouraging the formation of labor-management committees to deal with health and safety issues. In additional to the negotiation of clauses dealing with health and safety, unions may also negotiate compensating wage differentials for workers exposed to higher risks. By doing so, they increase the incentive for management to improve working conditions by increasing the cost of dangerous work. Overall, unions substantially increase awareness of health and safety issues in the workplace. In addition to safety and health issues, unions also negotiate contact provisions dealing with a variety of working condition (William Holley, 435). For instance, hours of work, scheduling of rest breaks, and, in some cases, and rate of production. To the extent that unions are successful in negotiating these gains, unionization may have an indirect effect on occupational health and safety. Provisions such as rest breaks, minimization of overtime, and shift scheduling may all affect the risk of on-the-job injury. According to Clive Fullagar, the Neo-Classical Economic Theory suggests that â€Å"Management may react to the increased costs associated with unionization by replacing labor with capital. However, an alternate theory suggests that unionization has â€Å"shock effect† on management, whereby management reacts to unionization by becoming more efficient. † Such increased efficiency may be evidenced by the introduction of centralized, professional human resources functions and increased reliance on formalized decision making. Union involvement in the formulation of management decisions may be seen as usurping the rights of management to run the workplace. On the other hand, collective bargaining maybe e viewed as a way of managing the workplace rather than an abandonment of traditional management prerogatives. In this regard, it should be noted that through their involvement in establishing work rules and organizational policies, unions may have both positive and negative effects on organizational culture. The impact of unions in managerial decision making is seen clearly in the development of personal policies. It is commonly recognized that unions influence the use of seniority as a criteria for promotions and job transfers. Unions also have an effect on hiring decisions. For example, one managerial response to wage premiums maybe to raise the hiring standards of the firm and in particular to place more emphasis on education as a hiring criteria. The presence of a union may result in the implementation of policies that are in the organization’s best interest. Thus, the presence of a union is associated with more efficient managerial decision making. In particular, this increased efficiency is attributable to the formalization of decision making and the substitution of policy for individual judgment as a basis for decision making. As the preceding discussion indicates, unions have substantial effects on organizational culture through the negotiation of specific provisions in the collective agreement. Additional union effects on organizational culture also accrue during the administration of the collective agreement as management and the union adjusts to the new environmental conditions mandated by the collective agreement. Unions improve organizational culture by supporting, developing, and enforcing values, beliefs, attitudes that are of importance to the members of the organization. As a result, this has a direct effect at increasing productivity and performance. Freeman and Medoff have concluded that unions substantially increase the productivity of organizations. That is, after controlling for various organizational characterizes, unionized firms are more productive than their non-unionized counterparts. However, nionized firms are found to be less profitable than non-unionized firms because the increase in productive do not seem to offset the increased costs of unionization. Freeman and Medoff point out that â€Å"The union impact on the firm’s productivity can be explained by two factors. † First, unionization leads to a more stable workforce by reducing voluntary turnover. A direct consequence of this increase stability is the firm’s investment in human resources management. Second, the union effect on productivity provides a conceptual basis for the hypothesis that unionization may have an effect on individual job performance. For example, through more rigorous selection, investment in employee training, and the institution of more professional management practices, an organization attempts to adjust to the cost of unionism by increasing individual job performance. While the end result of such strategies is an increase in firm productivity, the initial effect is plausibly an increase in individual job performance. It is imperative to note that the union’s effect on firm productivity is moderated by the quality of union-management relations. When the industrial relation climate is favorable, unionization is associated with higher firm productivity. Conversely, a poor quality of union-management relations is associated with decreased productivity in unionized firms. The quality of union-management relationships influences the motivation of employees. When the quality of union management relations is poor, the potential for increments in job performance maybe be offset by decreased individual motivation, work stoppages, and work-to-rule campaigns. Perhaps one of the most well documented effects of unions in organizational culture is the reduction in voluntary employee turnover in unionized industries. According to Clive Fullagar, unions help to reduce turnover in two different ways. First, unions increase wages and improve working conditions. These primary union effects make unionized jobs more attractive and conversely reduce the likelihood of finding an equivalent job. The union affects on benefits and particularly the increase in deferred compensation schemes that favor senior workers, contribute to the union effect on turnover. Similarly, benefits based on seniority also help to decrease the voluntary turnover rate. Second, unions reduce turnover by providing individuals with a voice. Through the provision of employee grievance systems, unions provide the individual an alternative to quitting, the opportunity to redress specific dissatisfactions through the grievance system. Unions provide mechanism for individual to express their dissatisfactions and influence their working conditions. The provision of such mechanism reduces the probability that an individual will voluntarily resign his or her position. If unions reduce voluntary turnover by providing voice mechanisms to individuals then these effects may be logically extended to other forms of individual withdrawal from work such as absenteeism. However, unionized firms experience higher absenteeism rates. Therefore, in this sense unions hurt organizational culture. For example, increased sick-leave benefits negotiated during collective bargaining are associated with higher rates of absenteeism. Another ways in which a union can hurt an organizational culture is by causing strain and stress. While not widely researched, there are conceptual reasons to suggest that unions and the practice of industrial relations have consequences in terms of individual stress and strain. First unions negotiate contract provisions that directly affect working conditions. Management may react by implementing more formal policies and standardized job descriptions. The result of such increased formalization may be experienced as a reduction in role ambiguity and increase in role conflict, which are two components of roles stress. The consequences of worker participation in union activities also have an impact on organization performance and various behavioral outputs. Unions provide discontented workers with a participatory forum and a collective voice at the workplace by means of which they may articulate their feelings rather than exiting temporarily through absenteeism or permanently through turnover. Unions encourage member participation making employees feel valuable to the organization. Union organizations have mechanisms such as a written constitution and bylaws that ensure an opportunity for members to participate in the governance of the organization, hold office, attend meetings, vote in elections, or express dissatisfaction with the leadership. Unions help improve an organization’s culture by maintaining some balance between employer and employee’s rights and responsibilities. Although employers and employees share some common interest, each group is motivated by self-interest. The inherent conflict of interest between employers and employees inevitably creates conflict within any employment relationship, which must be managed effectively. Unions rather than an individual are more effective in managing this conflict of interest and creating an enjoyable working environment. The presence of the union formalizes the employee representation activities because employees may file a grievance if they believe the company has violated the terms of the negotiated agreement. If the company employs an accommodation and labor management cooperation strategy, unions can help by cooperating with management rather than the parties having an adversarial relationship. Management and the unions can actively work together to create an organizational climate and a way of operating that will allow employees to participate directly in decisions in their work areas as members of task teams and as members of problem-solving groups. Unions can contribute to companies’ strategic planning and implementation activities which directly affect the organization’s culture. For example, a union can provide input from a clearly defined group of employees, as well as transfer information about corporate plans and direction to those represented employees. The union leaders can help the rank-and-file employees better understand the business plan and lend credibility to the plan. According to our textbook, The Labor Relations Process, â€Å"Unions can help improve an organization’s culture by reducing the employees feeling of alienation which have resulted from the extensive use of machinery in manufacturing operations. Employees might feel alienated because they have lost contact with their own labor when the product they created were taken away from them, thereby reducing their spirit and status or when they became estranged from fellow employees when their work made them too tired and competitive that they were incapable of having authentic relationships. Unions can and do address a possible aspect of employee alienation, namely the employees’ desire to speak their minds without fear of management reprisal. For example, a union typically indicates to its potential members that the employee’s rights to voice their opinions regarding a managerial action are protected by negotiated grievance procedures and disciplinary polices. In conclusion, Unions play a crucial role in improving an organization’s culture. Therefore the union’s members understanding of organizational culture as well as management recognition of the union as a key player in improving organizational culture is imperative. The above examples indicate that failure to achieve organizational change when necessary can be accredited to the lack of management’s understanding about the important role culture plays for an organization. The most important point of this is that such as an organizational culture is made of members that might be union’s members in a unionized firm, and their approval, understanding, and acceptance of any change in their inherent or traditional culture is essential for an organization to operate effectively. Although, the majority of examples and research suggests that unions have more positive impacts in improving an organization’s culture, they can also hurt it if they don’t develop the skills needed for mutual union-management cooperation such as understanding the business and the problem-solving process. They can hurt the organization’s culture if they don’t maintain contact with the membership to better represent members’ interests. Also, if management doesn’t take steps to reorient its view from seeing unions and labor agreements as constrains to recognizing a more cooperative union-management relationship and provides the union with a secure position as the legitimate, permanent representative of the bargaining unit employees. Bibliography Ashby Franklin C. Revitalize Your Corporate Culture: Powerful Ways to Transform your Company. Golf Professional Publishing. Burlington: MA, 1999. Ashkanasy M. Neal, Wilderon Celeste, and Peterson Mark. Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate. London: New Delhi, 2004. Clark F. Paul. Building More Effective Unions. Cornell University Press. New York: Ithaca, 2000. Julian Barling, Fullagar Clive, and Kelloway Kevin. The Union Its Members: A Psychological Approach. Oxford University Press. New York: Oxford, 1992. Holley William, Jennings Kenneth, and Wolters Rogers. The Labor Relations Process. South-Western. Ohio: Mason, 2005.

Victorian Era essays

Victorian Era essays The Victorian Era was a time of wide extremes. elegant city streets, gas lamps, and in contrast grinding poverty. It was also a time of exploration and invention. With their pioneer spirit wild frontier towns were born across the world. and with their flare and ingenuity the Victorians took with them their values and elegance. the term Victorian, which literally describes things and events in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), conveyed connotations of "prudish," "repressed," and "old fashioned." Although such associations have some basis in fact, they do not adequately indicate the nature of this complex, paradoxical age that was a second English Renaissance. Like Elizabethan England, Victorian England saw great expansion of wealth, power, and culture. (What Victorian literary form do you think parallels Elizabethan drama in terms of both popularity and literary achievement?) In science and technology, the Victorians invented the modern idea of invention the notion that one can create solutions to problems, that man can create new means of bettering himself and his environment. In religion, the Victorians experienced a great age of doubt, the first that called into question institutional Christianity on such a large scale. In literature and the other arts, the Victorians attempted to combine Romantic emphases upon self, emotion, and imagination with Neoclassical ones upon the public role of art and a corollary responsibility of the artist. In ideology, politics, and society, the Victorians created astonishing innovation and change: democracy, feminism, unionization of workers, socialism, Marxism, and other modern movements took form. In fact, this age of Darwin, Marx, and Freud appears to be not only the first that experienced modern problems but also the first that attempted modern solutions. Victorian, in other words, can be taken to mean parent of the modern and like most powerful parents, it provoked a powerful ...

Minor v. Happersett - Womens Voting Rights Denied

Minor v. Happersett - Women's Voting Rights Denied On October 15, 1872, Virginia Minor applied to register to vote in Missouri. The registrar, Reese Happersett, turned down the application, because the Missouri state constitution read: Every male citizen of the United States shall be entitled to vote. Mrs. Minor sued in Missouri state court, claiming her rights were violated on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment. Text of Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments After Minor lost the suit in that court, she appealed to the state Supreme Court. When the Missouri Supreme Court agreed with the registrar, Minor brought the case to the United States Supreme Court. Fast Facts: Minor v. Happersett Case Argued: Feb. 9, 1875Decision Issued: March 29, 1875Petitioner: Virginia Minor, a female U.S. citizen and resident of the state of MissouriRespondent: Reese Happersett, St. Louis County, Missouri, registrar of votersKey Questions: Under the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause, and the 15th Amendments assurance that voting rights must not be denied or abridged ... on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, did women have the right to vote?Majority Decision: Justices Clifford, Swayne, Miller, Davis, Field, Strong, Bradley, Hunt, WaiteDissenting: NoneRuling: The Court ruled that the Constitution  did not grant anyone, specifically female citizens of the U.S., the right to vote. The Supreme Court Decides The US Supreme Court, in an 1874 unanimous opinion written by the chief justice, found: women are citizens of the United States, and were even before the Fourteenth Amendment passedthe right of suffrage the right to vote is not a necessary privilege and immunity to which all citizens are entitledthe Fourteenth Amendment did not add the right of suffrage to citizenship privilegesthe Fifteenth Amendment was required to be sure voting rights were not denied or abridged ... on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude in other words, the amendment was not necessary if citizenship conferred voting rightswomens suffrage was explicitly excluded in nearly every state either in the constitution or in its legal code; no state had been excluded from joining the Union for lack of womens voting rights, including states re-entering the Union after the Civil War, with newly written constitutionsthe US had made no objection when New Jersey explicitly withdrew womens suffrage rights in 1807arguments about the need for womens suffrage were irrelevant to their decision s Thus, Minor v. Happersett reaffirmed the exclusion of women from voting rights. The Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, in granting suffrage rights to women, overrode this decision. Related Reading Linda K. Kerber. No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies. Women and the Obligations of Citizenship. 1998