Principles based accounting as an accounting method which is used as a Essay

Principles based accounting as an accounting method which is used as a conceptual basis by accountants - Essay Example This system follows principles. The term â€Å"principles† can be used simply to refer to general rules, or also to suggest that these rules are implicitly higher in the implicit or explicit hierarchy of norms than more detailed rules: they express the fundamental obligations that all should observe (Black et al, 2007). Some of the rules set out are mandatory to follow but many other rules are used as a mere guidance and are not applicable to every situation. For instance, many countries have adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards governed by the IASB. According to Securities and Exchange Commission of US, â€Å"†¦the optimal principles-based accounting standard involves a concise statement of substantive accounting principle where the accounting objective has been incorporated as an integral part of the standard and where few, if any, exceptions or internal inconsistencies are included in the standard† (2002). Rule-based accounting is a set of det ailed rules which must be followed when financial statements are prepared. An example of such system is Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). In US, GAAP is used as a standard framework of guidelines for financial accounting. CPA firms and corporations in US prepare and present their business incomes and expenses, assets and liabilities in their financial statements following GAAP. ... The financial statements are prepared for the users who have reasonable knowledge of business, accounting and economic activities and a willingness to study the financial statements (IASB Framework, Para 25). The users of financial statements are of various types and their needs are different which are required to be catered efficiently because they have to make crucial economic decisions on the basis of financial statements. IFRS requires the financial statements to present a â€Å"true and fair view† of the financial state and economic activities of an entity. When a set of given rules is followed uniformly by all the entities in each financial year, comparability increases. A user may compare an entity’s financial standing with that of another entity or even with that of its own in the preceding years. In order to attain this uniformity, the rules are required to be followed but there are cases where following the rules becomes very difficult. For instance, the IFRS itself admits in the Framework that there is a trade-off between relevance and reliability. One must be forgone to avail the benefit of another. In a given case, preferring relevance over reliability might be useful for specific set of users but might not be useful for another set of users. The Framework has emphasized that the preparer or auditor of financial statements must exercise his professional judgment in such cases so that the information becomes more synchronized with the objectives of IFRS. One of the worst economic crises in history has been faced by the world recently. There are many studies and professional opinions that the fair value system is responsible for it. This system is more

Mis-wanting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mis-wanting - Assignment Example The market for weight loss programs, skinny diets and slimming pills is so huge that you can easily purchase anything that can help you lose those extra pounds at almost everywhere. Because of this brainwashing, most women are convinced that they will be completely happy if they will look like those model-like figures on TV and would even venture with non-healthy regimens to attain this. However, most of the people I know who underwent the same dilemma during their teens soon realized that they can still be happy even if they are fat. Some were even unsatisfied with their lives after reaching their target weight. According to Gilbert & Wilson, â€Å"We may misconstrue events, misunderstand ourselves misinterpret our feelings – and any of these mistakes can be a cause of miswanting.† (p. 194). And so we must take into consideration that true happiness and satisfaction can be achieved by simply having the things that will holistically improve our sense of self-worth and c ontentment. What we want to become in the future might not necessarily bring us bliss thus we should be grateful of whatever fate gives us and try to find light in every

Poetry Essay Example for Free

Poetry Essay Poetry is a form of literary art and uses particular forms and conventions to suggest alternative meaning in the words and to evoke some emotional responses. There are sound patterns in poetry which create further meaning, such as assonance, alliteration and onomatopoeia. These sound effects have a particular function in a poem. Poems often make heavy use of imagery and word association to quickly convey emotions. [1] Poetry is distinguished from prose because are used some techniques such as rhyme, meter and repetition. The same sounds can convey different meanings and it depends on the context of a poem. Sound patterns can be also discovered in some advertising slogans. In advertisement we have the freedom to change the natural order of the language. It depends on the product and the target group of consumers. The advertising text has to capture the reader’s or listener’s attention. Therefore the natural order of the language is modified, shaped and stylized. One of the most frequently used devices in slogans, catchphrases and article titles is alliteration: Don’t Live a Little, Live a Lotto! 2] The advertising slogans are the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of the product. In this text we can spot an example of foregrounding. ‘Deviation, which is a linguistic phenomenon, has an important psychological effect on readers (and hearers). If a part of a poem is deviant, it becomes especially noticeable, or perceptually prominent. We call this psychological effect foregrounding’. [3] Most of the writers use the sound of words in such a way that the readers’ attention is immediately engaged. The most common mean which is involved by the writers is repetition. Our attention is captivated and we start analysing the reasons why the writers use it. We can recognise play of sounds : little/lotto. There is also alliteration- the repetition of ‘l’ and ‘t’ sounds. Alliteration refers to tbe repetition of the same or similar consonants. /t/ is a voiceless, alveolar, plosive sound. It is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords, by obstructing the airflow in the vocal tract. /l/ is a voiced, bilateral, retroflex and approximant sound. The vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation and the airstream flows over the both sides of the tongue. When poets construct a poem they carefully choose words for their meanings, connotation and sounds. According to Paul Simpson ‘we make connections between, on the one hand, the physical properties of the sound represented within a text and, on the other, the non- linguistic phenomena situated outside a text to which these sounds relate’[4]. The sound effects of the poetic text are basic to the interpretation of poetry. When a relationship between sound and meaning is obvious, then it can reinforce the significance of a word for speaker and hearer. ‘The way people ‘sound’ their language can, certainly, be an indication of their individual or cultural personalities Speakers of a different language, from a different culture, might associate different implications with such sounds’. [5] The most critics are interested in the form of the poem and its meaning, and the poet’s message. According to Paul Fussell ‘Poetic forms are like that: they tend to say things even if words are not at the moment fitted to their patterns. As Louis MacNeice has said, â€Å"In any poet’s poem the shape is half the meaning. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. [6] Poetic forms refer to different sets of rules followed by poems. The rules describe such ascpects as the meter or rhythm of the poem, the rhyme scheme or the use of alliteration. One of the basic ways in which poetry can be distinguished from prose is the possession of metre. Some critics maintain the idea that the rhythm and metre are the same thing. The difference between both is in the way in which they relate to the whole. The metre is ‘an extra layer of rhythmic structuring’. 7] The rhythm is ‘the apprehension of a series of events as a regularly repeated pulse of energy, an experience which has a muscular as well as a mental dimension’. [8] The following lines aim to discuss the relationship between sound patterns, their function and their contribution towards the meaning a certain poem generates. Attention will be paid to the poem ‘My Last Duchess’, written by Robert Browning. He was an English poet and playwright whose verses of dramatic monologues made him one of the most renowned Victorian poets today. The poem is anthologised as an example of the dramatic monologue, ‘in which an identified character, or person, is the sole speaker: that is, the voice in the poem is ‘playing’ a role as in drama’. [9] The structure and the style of this poem play a significant role. It contains three formal elements – an occasion, a speaker, and a hearer. The words in dramatic monologues not only convey setting and action but also reveal the speaker’s character. The comments which he makes reveal information about his personality and psyche, knowingly or unknowingly. The main focus of a dramatic monologue is the personal information, not the topic which the speaker happens to be discussing. ‘We can see the personality of both poet and speaker in dramatic monologue, and can be aware of them operating as a reflex in the elements of action which is constant picture and vice versa’. [10] Browning defined the poem as a dramatic lyric. It is dramatic because there is an actor in it and performs a scene. However, at the same time it can’t be said that it is a typical lyric poem. The poem appears as one half of a conversation. He is not speaking his thoughts aloud to himself while he is alone. In general poems are written with the ‘full body’ of words and have their own meaning. ‘Meaning is something the reader intuits through the distorting influence of ‘form’, something the writer may choose, but does not necessarily control. ’[11] The goal of Browning is to illustrate a scene. There is a relation between sounds and meanings, the reality which language may represent. In his piece of work Robert Browning uses many techniques – enjambment, a simple rhyme scheme and caesura to convey various characteristics and qualities about the speaker and the situation. Mick Short claims that ‘The basic idea was that poems should enact what they described: ‘the sound must seem an echo to the sense’ (Alexander Pope, ‘An Essay on Criticism’, line 365). Musicality revolves around phonetic and rhythmic effects in particular, and it is thus necessary to be able to do metrical analysis in order to be able to explain important effects in many poems’. [12] ‘My last Duchess’ is written in iambic pentameter in order to imitate natural speech so that the poet is not confused with the persona. Browning’s intention is to imitate natural speech could be to distance himself from the Duke, who is the speaker in the poem.

Employee Resistance to Organizational Change

Employee Resistance to Organizational Change Methodology/Approach The research for this study was conducted by using secondary research and primary research. The secondary research reviewed current literatures on the natural, symptoms and reasons of employees resistance to organizational change, followed by the factors affect employees resistance. The main focus of the factors reviewed on employee personal factors consists of age, gender, personality (locus of control) and educational level. The primary research was deployed though distribution of questionnaires to employees from the agribusiness organization. Findings   All of four factors including age, gender, personality and educational background shaped individual difference on the value, perception, adaptability towards organizational change. Research Limitations As the research is carried out though a big agribusiness organization which has been and are undertaking change plans, the research result may deviate due to sample size, respondents bias, past organizational change experience as well as the choice of questions. Implications The research urge the improved understanding and identification of factors effect employee resistance to change, and underlies the importance of managing workforce diversity in an organization. The research suggested management to develop a framework and theorize on how to create a climate, educate, persuade, communicate and reward employees to alter their fundamental mental psychology resistance, aim to direct and motivate them initially involve and commit to organizational change. An exploratory study on the factors of resistance to change from employees perspective Chapter 1- Introduction Change comes from anywhere, and is the only constant. Propelled by the driving force of technology and globalization, the economic landscape continuously transform in a way that has come to undermine the relevance of received wisdom on how a firm should be managed and what underlies its success (Gregory Prastacos, et al., 2002). In this new millennium, it is more challenging for an organization to sustain its competency or even survive in the diversity market. When an organization is threatened by environmental changes such as crisis or competition, it results in the increasing needs for communication as technology develops rapidly and higher customer demands will be foreseen. Organizational change is not an option; it constitutes a fundamental necessity for success within the new competitive landscape (Hamel and Prahalad, 1996). An organization need to evaluate its performance and review its business strategies, corporate structure, operational process and HR policies to identify th e areas that need transformation. To maintain its competitive advantages,  an organization must make effort to implement changes accordingly. Usually changes to be made in an organization is for the seeking of extending the ability of the organization to achieve the strategic goals but sometime changes do not necessarily contribute to the improvement of the organization (Stroh, 2001). The expected result of the change might vary due to other unexpected factors, such as resistance to change. Resistance is a phenomenon that affects the change process, delaying or slowing down its beginning, obstructing or hindering its implementation, and increasing its costs (Ansoff, 1990). Effect of resistance of changes in organization will cause distorted perception, interpretation barriers and vague strategic priorities, low motivation among the people and lack of creative response (Val, 2003). It is crucial for change initiators to deal with resistance for a successful change. Forasmuch as employees are the one who get the job done, and possess the knowledge, skills, tools and experiences, it is clear that organizational changes cannot be achieved without employees support and involvement. Employee acceptance and commitment are the key factors for successful changes. Effective change management should recognize the importance of its employees and the way to minimize the resistant from employees. Therefore, understand why it is caused, the forms of resistance and the factors determine employees reactions to change is significant. 1.1 Research Objective This research will study on the factors of resistance to change from employees prospective. The aim of this research is to review the factors by better understanding these which a shift in perception could occur, the paper hope to develop a framework to managers of how certain group of employees is the likely to react and behave to change that being unleashed by the value and perception, this knowledge will enable change initiators to design change plan and training programs which recognize the values of employees, and to interact with diverse others in order to optimize the expected change affect. The research attempt to explore the followings areas as a systematic way to rationalize the value of this project study: To identify the natural of employee resistance to change. To identify the symptoms of employee resistance to change. To identify the reasons of employee resistance to change To determine the various factors to effect employees resistance to changes. To evaluate the effect of these factors on organizations future development. 1.2 Chapter Summary Chapter 1 of Introduction has provided a background of the circumstances that force organization to change, and examined the inevitable resistance can undermined organizational change. By identifying the importance of employee in the organizational change, research objectives were generated to study on the resistance of change from employees perspectives and listed done the areas of the study to be explored on. The research was planned in a systematic way to rationalize the value of this project. Next chapter of this project will touch on a review of current literatures on the natural, symptoms and the reasons of employee resistance to change and factors affect employee resistance, followed by the research methodology, samples and limitation of the research. The subsequent chapter will be the questionnaire data analysis presentation and lastly the paper will conclude the findings and its implications for change initiators. The aim of this research is to review the factors that affect employee resistance and evaluate it thought the target samples. Chapter 2- Literature Review 2.1 Employee Resistance to Change 2.1.1 The nature Organizations can be confronted with incremental changes that focus on doing things better through a process of continuous tinkering, adaptation and modification or transformational changes that are regarded as revolutionary and break with the past.(John Hayes, 2010) Although the incremental changes rarely presented any abrupt challenges to the assumptions people make about how they related to the world (John Hayes, 2010), this is not always that case. People are not duplicate, the values, beliefs, assumption and knowledge of that person will be developed over the time, formed as a set of personal opinion, perceptions, views of the world to guide their behaviors (Hallie Preskill and Rosalie Torres, 1999). It is concerned with whether employees regards view change can bring present or future personal benefit and opportunities or change is a threat to their job, skills or any other interests. The implementation of changes inevitably involves the vital interests of various shareholders, and especially employees.Resistance occurs since most employees desire to be successful in their work environments due to they have basic needs which must be satisfied. To begin with, employees want to know their role and their responsibilities within the organization. In additional, employees want to be able to predict what they will face in the future (Appelbaum, S.H. et al, 1998). Even though old procedures that were initially regarded as cumbersome, costly or ineffective, after a prolonged recursive execution, employees become comfortable and are used to the ways things were done. Employee might fear in a changing organization, therefore change are frequently be seen as a threat to ones existence within an organization if upgrading or acquiring new skills are a problem because of time constraints , or the inability of the person to learn these new techniques. Change within an organizational setting usually poses several problems and challenged by the pressure in aspect of money , ego, and power for those who resist it. Employees resist change because the associated negative feelings since their basic needs may now be threatened (Mealiea, 1978). Thus it is human nature that employees look at Change negatively, resistance thereby coming into play. 2.1.2 The symptoms Resistance, described by Kilian M. Bennebroek Gravenhorst (2003) is commonly considered to be standard or even natural in reaction to organizational change. It is described as an most inevitable psychological and organizational response that seems to apply to any kind of change, ranging from rather modest improvement to far-reaching change and organizational transformation. Symptoms are the specific behaviors exhibited when employee resistance to change (Albert F. Bolognese, 2002) According to Bhutan (1995), it is important to distinguish between the symptoms of resistance to change and the causes behind them. Symptoms can be reflected in varies of forms, which Marc Maltz (2008) categorized it into the two varieties: overt and covert. Overt resistance is concern with obvious opposition, disagreement, arguing, debating, etc., to any change effort. While, covert resistance comes in two forms: one is conscious covert which employees are concerned about the consequences of their actions that they apparently agreed but actually not following though or withhold information and avoid implementation. Secondly is the unconscious covert resistance, which is the most difficult to see symptoms among employees as employees are unaware their resistance. 2.1.3 The Reasons There are many causes attribute to employees resistance to change, such as Coch French (1948), studied the workers of a clothing manufacturer and find that lower employee participitation causing the mistrust of management and increase their resistance to change. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) identify four common reasons why people resist organizational change: people focus on their own interest and fear of losing something of value, it can be power and status, autonomy and control, or specific skills; Misunderstanding the change will cost them more than they will gain and lack of trust to the person who initiating change; Different assessment of the necessity and benefit of change situations; Low tolerance for change, sometimes people just resist to change emotionally even they understand the need for change. Several studies have acknowledged what Kotter and Schlesingers publication and enhance these categories with further researches, according to Prosci- A business process reengin eering directory and resource companys study (2003) in past six years in 288 organizations from 51 countries, result shows the top reasons employee resist to change is because of corporate history and culture, which the organizations past performance of change project failed or did not make much sense, employees are less interested to take initiatives to support the current change, they are not in the flavor the month , thus employee expected it go away like what happened in the past. Lorenzo (2000) also acknowledge that one attribute to employees resistance is that past failures leaves negative image for future changes. Another reason added on in Prosci (2003)s research is that employee often opposes to change because of the added job responsibilities, new processes or technologies. Changes with lower motivation to get employees involved and less consideration of employees interest and their emotional and perceptual perspectives thereby eliminate their initiatives and level of comm itment. Pardo Del Val, Manuela and Martinez Fuentes, Clara (2005) conclude above sources to employees resistance are most likely happen in change formulation stage, they further identify some reason rise resistance that consist of: (a) organizational values in relation to change values that cause a strong implementation climate to determine whether employee to accept or oppose to change; (b) departmental politics that form employees resistance. 2.2 Factors affect employees resistance to change Literatures have identified variety of factors affect employee resistance to change, the most cited views of the factors fall on the organizational level, for instance the communication process, employee participation, change facilitation procedures in change process (Ricky Griffin ,2008) to improve organizational effectiveness. Moreover, employee motivation (David Clarence and McClelland, 1987) and quality of leadership (Ken W. Parry, 1999) have been widely acknowledged to have influence on employees work initiatives, involvement and commitment, so that it can argues to be a significant factor to affect employees willingness to change. Above factors virtually are the ways to deal with the subtext of organizational humanity on the stage of change process. However, one must understand the root factors played to affect employees perception towards organizational change. Fail to understand the intrinsic factors govern employees values and beliefs guided behavior in the context of the way they were doing and expected in the future, and all the necessities organization attempt or should to do to implement and facilitate change is crucial. Therefore, the research will mainly explore on the personal factors played to affect employee resistance to change including age, gender, personality traits (Locus of control) and employee educational level as follows: 2.2.1 Age Baby Boomers refer to people who are born between 1945-1964. This generation grew up in an era of unprecedented economic growth and stability, so as to be regarded as a generation that finds comfort with long term employment with one organization. This has provided them with a false sense of stability (Loomis, 2000).Their perceived working values emphasize on chain of command, teamwork, technically challenged, team work and loyal to employer As they born after War II, which they entered the economic boom era, Money and job security such as life time employment are definitely extremely important for them to sustain their living. In this regard, it is argued that Baby Boomers are easier to accept organizational change as their working value of chain of command which they tend to commit to the hierarchical order. Moreover, the inception of organization loyalty also attributes them to be more committed rather than resistant or any other negative reactions. (Hui-Chun, Yu and Peter Miller, 2003) Another neuropsychological research held by (Stanford University professor Laura L. Carstensen et al. 2000) on the relationship between age and emotional experiences found that the periods of highly positive emotional experience were more likely to endure among older people and periods of highly negative emotional experience were less stable. With age, older adults report relatively low levels of worrying (Sandra Hunt, Patricia Wisocki and Julianne Yanko, 2003), experience less anger (Schieman,1999), and have lower levels of emotional distress after natural disasters (Bolin Klenow, 1982-1983). The implication of these findings are older employees have better capability to regulate their negative emotions with organizational change and adjust themselves to adapt the environment.Employees adaptability has been seen a key attribute to a successful organizational change (Heslin , 2005). Compared with Baby Boomers, Generation X refers to those people who were born between 1965 to 1980. This generation of employee tend to more independent, self-motivated and self-sufficient (Loomis, 2000). This is because most X generations did not have enough of their family attention as children because their parent may have been single or working parents. X generations therefore became adaptive at handling things on their own and in their own ways. Their work value is perceived more on personal satisfaction, and their attitudes towards work are focus on flexibility empowerment, loyal to skills. (Hui-Chun, Yu and Peter Miller, 2003). Hence, when the change conflict with their own interest such as against what they used to do , their skills, or leave less empowerment to them, they will feel unmotivated towards to commit to the change. However, David J. OConnell, Eileen McNeely and Douglas (2004) argue that since Xers entered the workforce under the employment of deal, in which career planning and development are largely individual responsibilities and where the average worker can expect to make several changes during their working lives. In this regards, it seems like Xers are more adaptive to change. However, there are also many scholars debate the relationship between the age and the personal adaptability to change, such as Mirvis and Hall, 1996. Recent research held by OConell, McNeely and Hall, 2008 also support this assertion, reporting that age is limited measured as a categorical variable namely the characteristics about an individual . 2.2.2 Gender Although many literatures have acknowledged the impact of gender difference on the management practice, there had been little systematic attention focus on identifying the gender roles on effective change management relatively. Feminist perspectives have tended to highlight not only the impact of organizational change on womens relatively marginalized position but also the role of women in the change management (Melissa Tyler, 2005). Jamie L, Michael G and Homer Tolson (2005) research findings suggest that there is a difference between male and female executive of their emotional expressiveness, and women are regarded to process better skill at encoding and decoding emotions (Laura K. Guerrero and Kory Floyd, 2008). Emotions are intensive feelings that are directed at someone or something (Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, 2010). Goleman-the founder of emotional intelligence theory also mentioned that women are good at reading others feelings than men averagely in his book pub lished in 1995. The skills to encode and decode emotions generally have advantage to develop and maintain relationships (Laura K. Guerrero and Kory Floyd, 2008), because skilled encoders have ability to express their internal emotional state so that other people can decode their emotions more easily and accurately (Burgoon and Bacue, 2003). In this regard, the chances such as misunderstanding and conflict due to implicit or unclear message delivered or received prone to be decreased, the communication becomes more easily and effective. In many literatures, communication has been widely acknowledged as a useful approach to eliminate resistance to change. Therefore, women are deems to be more successfully engaged in change circumstances. Maddock (1999) added that Women focus on relational aspect of how to do things,  while men tend to be expected to think what to do. It appears that women are emotionally discreet on how they are going to process the information, express and interpret their view points to react to change before making any decision. Combined with womens secondary position in labor market due to gender discrimination, especially in Confucian countries, in addition to their greater responsibilities in family and child care than men, which cause women are relatively powerless to challenge the situation (Melissa Tyler, 2005). Hence Melissa argues that women in change management appear to be positioned as performing an interpersonal function associated with safety; providing security in times of unexpected turbulence and anticipating. On the basis of these arguments, it seems that women tend to avoid conflict in working in this regard and to accept the change accordingly. 2.2.3 Personality Traits (Locus of Control) Some people are quiet and reserved, while others are aggressive and outgoing. Some people are trustworthy, some are not. People differ with each other in various dimensions as a result of different behavior and attitude towards things in personal life and working. The individuals differences are shaped by personalities (Stephen P. Robbins and Timothy A. Judge, 2010) Personality refers to the traits and characteristics that make individuals unique (Greenberg and Baron, 2002). The most frequent used definition of personality was produced by Gordon Allport nearly 70 years ago which he commented that personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment. Personality thus becomes an important reason mangers need to know to generate a view of employees likely behaviors and examine their coping reaction. Meselaar and Cozijnsen (1997) further highlighted the personality is a determinate of individ ual reaction to organizational change. Locus of control refers to the degree people believe their own behaviours determine what happens to them. People believes they have more control over their destiny are referred as internal, and people who believe they have less control over their life and the results are attributing to the will of God, or to the fortune of being born in the right social class or family are referred as external. At this point, it is suggested that people behave differently towards change. Wilson (1992) developed an approach referred as determinism to study change management portrays the manager and other organizational members as pawns affected by change rather than as agents who can initiate and secure change. Their ability to influence is limited because of the main determinates lie outside the organization. John Hayes (2010) argues that those who are overcommitted deterministic view of change may be inclined to believe that the locus of control is external to themselves and the organization and may therefore develop view that there is little they can do to influence events. Hence, people who think this way is less likely to attempt to adopt a proactive approach to the management of change than those who have more internal view about locus of control. 2.2.4 Educational Level Although there were not many literatures specifically emphasize the employees educational level to their resistance to organizational change, it is widely acknowledged (e.g.: George H. McCall, Karl E. Ristow and Daniel J. Cimini, 2004) that higher education improves employees personal management, time management, communication skills and problem solving skills. Higher education defined by Roberg (1987) refers to the instruction that was obtained at university or colleague. According to Thomas Kent Gaylor (2001)s research on 286 police officer from two North Texas Police department in 2001, result shows no significance relationship between the educational level and employees openness to change. However the limitation of his research was lack of variation in respondents education level. Nevertheless, the author believe that higher education of employees will be more likely to support and commit organization change with more positive thinking of why the change is needed, hence the resea rch intend to do further evaluation with different samples on the relationship of educational level to employee resistance to change since it is a logic factor that higher education equipped with employees more knowledge and broader thinking and believe, which reduce the tendency to be dogmatic and to be more creative. 2.3 Chapter Summary Chapter 2 of Literature Review has explored on the current literatures on employee resistance to change in terms of the natural, symptoms and reasons. The inevitable resistances from employee impulse the research to further find out the factors that affect employee resistance to change. The research noted many factors including communication process, employee participations, change facilitation process, employee motivation and quality of leadership, and lastly mainly reviewed the personal factors played consist of age, gender, personality traits (locus of control) and employee educational level influence various aspects from values and beliefs and emotions as a result of different behavior and levels of adaptability reacted to change After exposit the literature review of factors affect employees resistance to change, the paper will tackle the main objectives of this research. Starting with the description of research methodology, samples and limitation of the research, then paper will touch on the analysis part of the questionnaire, to examine the reflected results against with the literatures reviewed earlier on, so as to evaluate its universality of the factors in the sampling organization. Chapter 3- Research Methodology 3.1 Secondary Research The research was carried out at the beginning though a secondary research to review the current literatures on the areas of the study, which contains of the nature, symptoms and the reasons of employee resistance to change and the factors affect employee resistance to change from a more intrinsic view by looking at employee personal factors. The factors focus on the employees adaptability to change determined by age and gender, one dimension of personality traits -locus of control, and employee educational level. The information is collected from textbooks, journals and articles from reliable and creditable online Journal Publications, National Library and Campus Library. 3.2 Primary Research In order to evaluate the factors been presented in literature review, the research will primarily employ questionnaires as the main methodologies for information gathering. The questionnaire will be carried out with various employees working in a large organization. The methods allow directly and original information to be gathered from participants. Questionnaire results are to be consolidated, and will be analyzed using various questionnaire analyze techniques, to interpret the data. The main reason of using questionnaire and interview is because data is collected directly from specific target respondents. Interviewers have the ability to ask extra intensive questions of the respondent concerning survey responses. 3.2.1 Research Samples The research was conducted using data collected from a large size agribusiness organization located in Singapore, mainly doing palm oil plantation and trading. The reason of choosing this organization is because it is currently undergoing turbulence and change on merger with one small size palm oil trading company and one ship chartering company. And it also has experienced many merger and change in the past. Therefore the target samples of the questionnaire participants in the organization must have many varies views on organizational change to enable the research generate more practical reflections from employees perspective on organizational change and change effect on them, aims to evaluate the universality application of all those factors on employee resistance to change presented in literature on the target sampling. The questionnaire attempt to invite 150 employees in this organization from four departments who are affected by the merger plan, respectively 25 employee from IT department, 35 employees from logistic department, 25 employee from finance department and 65 employees from operation department. 3.2.2 Limitation of This Research During the research, data collected could be deviated due to limitation in the research methodology as follows: Data may not represent the entire population due to the limitation of sampling size As the four department employees may experience different kinds of minor changes in their department respectively, whether the change offend their interest or not might bring subjective bias towards their response to the questionnaire, hence the accuracy of data collected will be deviated. Respondent who experience the past organizational change may bring different perceptions towards new change. The choice of the question may limited respondents response. 3.3 Chapter Summary Chapter 3 presented the methodology of this research which employed on secondary research to review the current literatures on the area of the study, and also the primary research using questionnaires to collect data. Research Samples chosen was a large agribusiness organization who is experiencing turbulence and undergoing merger and work structural change. The limitations of the research were also discussed including the sample size, respondents bias, past organizational change experience as well as the choice of questions may also affect the accuracy of the survey result. Next chapter will touch on the research result analysis and discussion. Chapter 4- Result Analysis and Discussion The questionnaires were distributed to 150 employees in IT, Logistic, Finance and Operation department respectively as planned in Chapter 3, the responding rate is about 76%, namely 114 employees attend the questionnaire. Following are the result of each factors being tested. 4.1 Age The research finding on age factors shows that respondents in different age group perceived change differently and appears with different level of resistance. The result shows that in the age group of 20 to 65+, employees are more resistant to change as they age; an interesting finding is that for employees aged below 20, whom were surprisingly scored higher marks on resistance. Figure 4.1.2 shows details of scores on resistance in each age group. This is in contrary with literatures presented earlier on which Laura L. Carstensen et al. (2000) found that the periods of highly positive emotional experience were more likely to endure among older people. While elder people emphasize working value on the obedience of chain of command and organizational loyalty to commit the work instead of resisting and challenging hierarchical order (Hui-Chun, Yu and Peter Miller, 2003). All the earlier findings demonstrated elder people are more adaptable and emotional stable to organization change, yet this research findings reflect an even more complicated relationship between age and resistance level. The possible causes lead to this result might because when younger people firstly enter the workforce with no experience and lower educational background, they are uncertain about their skills and abilities. They may behave self-concerned and less flexible dealing with working matters, and not mature enough to regulate their emotions as they are undergoing a transition from childhood to adult, school life to working life with increased responsibilities, time is needed to help them accept such big changes and adapt themselves in the new environment. As they age and become more mature, they seek for competence, career movement and relationship, they are more flexible and motivated to change themselves in the organization to achieve their objectives. As time goes on, they feel tired and queried about what supposed to be. They are loyalty to their skills and fear losing it in the future. Stability, job security and sense of seniority may become the main values after they age 46. Hence th ey might act more resisting to change as demonstrated in below figure. Super (1980)s Life Stage Theory displayed some common characteristics against to the above analysis and assumptions, which the author would like to research further. 4.2 Gender Out of total 114 respondents, 78 are women, and 36 are men, most of men respond strongly agree that organizational change is necessary and beneficial, and express t

The Use of Symbolism in T.S. Eliots, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufro

The Use of Symbolism in T.S. Eliot's, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock A well-written poem is built out of levels. Each level alludes to the next until the ultimate discovery of the poet's message. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," by T. S. Eliot, provides a perfect example of a well-crafted poem comprised of sequential levels, also known as a framed story. At the level just below the very surface, the poem obscurely tells the story of a failed lobster prophet, resurrected from the dead to warn other lobsters of the cruel fate that awaits them in the event of their capture. In the course of the story, the lobster prophet falls prey to the harvest of a lobster catcher and is then sent to a restaurant as food. While in the tank with the other lobsters, he reflects on and laments his life. This interpretation serves as a vehicle for presenting the true message of the poem, which exists on the next level, to the audience. The story of the lobster represents Eliot's own fear of people overlooking the messages he attempts to convey in his poetry. Even th ough he has learned this lesson from previous poems, he feels an attempt to save his future poems is futile in the same way as one lobster saving another is futile. One indicator that the lobster interpretation exists at the level below the surface of the poem is the yellow fog that fills the "... sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells" (Eliot L. 7). The persona describes "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes / ... Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains" (Eliot LL. 15&18). The yellow fog from the passage is the steam from a restaurant's lobster pot that boils and cooks the lobsters. The yellow fog receives its color from the dim yellow lighting of... ...e, inside the obscurity of the poem at its most superficial level, like the abuseds' half of the ox. Eliot is afraid that the audience will mistake the obscurity of the poem as the best part, and overlook the hidden good on the inside, just as the abusers' did with their half of the ox. By wrapping one thing inside of another in this way, Eliot builds an excellent compilation of levels into one, well-written poem. Works Cited Eliot, T. S.. "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 2nd Ed. Schlib & Clifford. Boston: Bedford, 2003. 851-855. Hesiod. Theogony. Trans. Apostolos N. Athanassakis. Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 1983. Hesiod. Works and Days. Trans. Apostolos N. Athanassakis. Baltimore: John Hopkins University, 1983. Holy Bible. King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1984.

The Electoral College System :: essays research papers

The Electoral College System   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You walk in to the voting booth on the first Tuesday of November to cast your vote for who you think should be president. You take your ballot into the box believing, as most people do, that your vote will be counted along with the rest of the population. You do this because you believe it could be the deciding vote for the presidential race. Well, you are wrong. Your vote only decides who the electors that join the Electoral College in December will be, but the elector can always change his or her vote. How can this be right? What happened to the idea of a democracy where every citizen had his or her say? The Electoral College worked in the beginning because there were no political parties or political campaigns. During the next four presidential campaigns, political parties began to emerge in the United States. During the presidential election of 1800, two candidates from the same party received an equal number of votes. It took the House of Representatives thirty-six tries to break the tie. The tiebreaker involved bribes and other political dealings that the Electoral College was designed to prevent. This all prompted the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution in 1804.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Amendment requires that each Elector cast one vote for president and another vote for vice president. If that system does not come up with a majority winner, then the House of Representatives selects the winner from the top three contenders. The U.S. Senate selects the vice president from the top two contenders if one candidate does not receive the majority vote.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In a winner take all state; if a candidate receives 51 percent of the vote, he automatically wins the electoral votes for the state. If that state happens to be California, he has won 54 of the 538 possible votes. That is 1/5th of the amount of votes needed to win the presidency. So, if a candidate won only ten of the states' electoral votes, he can win the presidential race without taking into account the other 40 states (Procedural). That is just not the way a democracy is supposed to work. I believe that it is time for the United States Government to start realizing that the campaign process is getting out of control. The majority of presidential candidates only want to win a state's electoral votes. They do not concentrate on the smaller states.

Movie and the Society Essay

The pleasure of watching movies is considered vital in our society today. It gives us a temporary escape from reality and allows us to indulge in a world of thrills and chills within the persona of each character in the film that we watch. We also find ourselves contemplating on the identities of characters and somehow see a part of our life in theirs. Typical reaction of movie goers are â€Å"good†, â€Å"boring†, â€Å"exciting† and â€Å"O. K. † People’s judgment is based on their feelings and how the film made them feel that way. Are they triggered with fear during the movie? Did they end up crying? Did they feel good at the end of the movie and leave the theater with a smile on their faces? This approach in analyzing a movie is not really bad, since feelings and sensual pleasures are part of humanistic approach and initial reaction. An audience tends to react based how they exactly feel right after they’ve seen a film: how they indulge in fantasy on magical movies, how they drop off their seats during suspense and horror films, and how they feel the triumph of heroes and heroic figures on suspense and action films. Movies give us a two- to three-hour experience that we often lack in our daily lives. They also give us ideas and make us try to imagine what kind of life are we going to experience if we are in the shoes of the characters that we have watched. Movie Construction Movies are not only judged according to our feelings and emotions but also with ideas and assumptions. The plots and story give us a better vision and meaning of our own lives. Most people are not good evaluating, examining, and analyzing movies. Most people don’t bother to think much because they are after the experience of feeling different emotions or they just love the actors and actresses of the film. As a student who is in line with film studies, I think various bases should be used in analyzing movies. With this learning, we don’t only enjoy the film that we are watching but be more keen observers on the different aspects of movies that filmmakers tend to hide from us; how the film is made and what values are promoted (Kolker, 1999, p. 33). We often forget that films are not only artificial construction where people on screen are only projections from television and made out of cameras and videos. We should bear in mind that these films are results of thousand hours of writing scripts, directing, acting, shooting, editing, cutting, and splicing. Most filmmakers tries their best and makes them forget that its just a story by making sure that there is no equipments like cameras or microphones seen as a part of the filming context. They also work very hard to keep us from noticing how the film is pieced together from the footage taken in many different places, from many different camera positions, and over a much longer period of time than we experience in watching it. â€Å"Because we’re used to thinking that seeing is believing, that pictures don’t lie, it is easy to feel as if what we are seeing is really happening. † (Mast, 2008) Basic Terms in Movie Analysis Shots These are streams of images which are not interrupted by editing it is a continuity of scenes and where graphics are formed by series of still frames. In order to be able to think about a film, we have to resist the â€Å"suspension of disbelief† in order to pay attention to how the film is put together. Start by noticing when one shot ends and another begins. In film studies parlance, a â€Å"shot† is any â€Å"unbroken, unedited length of film. †(Kolker, 1999, p. 33) In most films shots gives us interpretation regarding scenes and characters. We can see the emotions and predict future events base on shots provided in the film. Like the extreme long shots that gives us the overall scenario where the enemies and soldiers begins a battle. Most of the time shots are cut through editing so that it will appear as one to the viewer but in reality it is taken with series of shots to make up one particular scene. Once we have enough knowledge in analyzing the shots and editing in the movie we can also understand how the film starts to manipulate us and our feelings through the rest of watching the entire movie. Shorter shots gives us faster pacing of the film and transitions in the events of the characters. â€Å"When we get used to fast-paced films like this, films with longer shots and fewer cuts can seem slow and difficult to watch. But, of course, such fast-paced films also make it harder to think! Films that constantly use close-up shots of the characters create a higher level of intensity and intimacy than do films which focus more on landscape, geography, and other aspects of context. † (Mast, 2008) If a film always provides us shots of the characters it gives us the notion that these individuals are the most important element in the story and through the rest of the film, places and situations also gives valuable shot as it shapes the lives of the main character. Scenes and Sequences This usually takes place in a single time and place with the characters of the film having a conversation at a given time. There are times that two scenes are provided in the film alternately showing the viewers different scenarios which often combined or talks about the same topic. â€Å"Sometimes a single scene may contain two lines of action, occurring in different spaces or even different times, that are related by means of crosscutting. Scene and sequence can usually be used interchangeably, though the latter term can also refer to a longer segment of film that does not obey the spatial and temporal unities of a single scene. For example, a montage sequence that shows in a few shots a process that occurs over a period of time. † (Film Analysis Guide 2008) Story/Plot This term refers to the overall order of the film. It is consist of settings, time frame, events and the relations between them. Story on the other hand is more extensive sine it is more straightforward especially if the genre is drama where the story is manipulated by the plot to produce dramatic effects. Often times we tend to interpret easily a film based on the story without giving consideration to other factors in the film. We easily conclude that this film is made merely to frighten or to make us laugh or cry. Without noticing factors like the mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene This is the overall projection of the film on an audience perspective. All things are put in the scene which includes the setting, properties, wardrobe, lights, acting,etc. Things like this often manipulates the minds of the viewers as they tend to easily judge the character based on its appearance. This is also one strategy that a film critic may use in determining the role of each character. For example if the character wears red and the rest of the cast wears pink we can easily say that he is the lead character and the whole story will revolve around him. Props also gives us interpretation regarding future events once they are used as symbolism in the film. With the use of shots and camera angles we can easily predict a future event like a shot of knife then the lead character then the villain. The mise-en-scene is arranged in a way that the viewer can picture out totally what is happening in the film itself. Genres The type of films are recognized and analyzed based also on its genre. This gives the film certain distinctions in terms of â€Å" narrative or stylistic conventions, or merely by their discursive organization in influential criticism. Genres are made necessary by high volume industrial production. † (Film Analysis Guide 2008) Focus This is another element of film wherein â€Å"the degree of light rays coming from any particular part of an object pass through the lens and re-converge at the same point on a frame of the film negative, creating sharp outlines and distinct textures that match the original object. This optical property of the cinema creates variations in depth of field through shallow focus, deep focus, and techniques such as racking focus. † (Film Analysis Guide 2008) The sharpness of an image in a film gives the viewer an eye shot of the main subject. Through focus we can also interpret and analyze film since we are given enough exposure of the scenes and we feel the intense feeling of the characters using this technique. Rocking focus makes us feel the thrill during chase scenes between the killers and the main character. Editing After shooting the entire film, clips are gathered and series of shots are combined in a single filmstrip. Here the sequence of scenes are added with transitions and uses cuts to remove unnecessary scenes. Hard to achieve effects which cannot be provided by means of humanistic approach is enhanced and produced by editing to give film a more enticing effect. Magics and special effects are added to make films more appealing. Hence this also helps us to interpret and analyze movies sometimes if a film is easily cut without giving further ado to the audience it may result negatively on the end of the audience because it was edited but with bad quality. Sound and Light Effects In cinemas, sounds in films does not necessarily need to match the scenes or it needs to be continuous. â€Å"Sound can also be used to reintroduce events from earlier in the story. † (Film Analysis Guide 2008). It gives viewers interpretation of what that scene is for base on the type of songs that is played during a particular scene. Lights also gives us predicaments as to what is really happening on that particular scene. Like on love scenes lights are always darker and mostly turned off in many movies. While Enhanced light which almost blinds the viewers are provided if there are scenes of triumphs and enjoyment. Ideology and Interpretation of Films After the given terms and interpretation of film above, â€Å"We have come to understand films as artificial constructions that are pieced together by filmmakers, we can more easily begin to ask questions about the ideological agenda of a film what values it promotes. Because films are cultural products shaped by the historical context of their making they can tell us much about the values and commitments of their makers and their audiences. An ideological analysis of a film that appeals to a viewer can also tell about a great deal on ones own conscious or unconscious values. (Mast, 2008) I believe that the real criteria in evaluating an interpreting a movie is by analyzing not only its components in the technical terms of movie analysis but how it appeals to our consciousness and sensitivity as an individual. Our Values and Social responsibility as impacted by the type of film that we’ve watched. So that later on we will drop comments like â€Å"boring† and â€Å"OK† and use more helpful words like how the film reinforces you as an individual and how it challenges an assumption regarding a particular topic. â€Å"Instead of dismissing films because they are slow-paced or follow unfamiliar plots or include unusual characters, it may be more inspiring and personally transformative to ask what surprised you about these films and why. For these Studies in Cinema films, in short, it will be worthwhile to move beyond the question â€Å"How did I feel? † to the more difficult question: â€Å"What do I think? † (Mast, 2008) There are some films that makes viewer easily understand bodies of literature. Movies like Romeo and Juliet are arranged and scripted in a way that can be easily understood in literal and lay man’s term. Unlike the words used in the literary piece it is more innovated in terms of using appropriate words and drops off words that are hard to understand by viewers. Reference Film Analysis Guide (2008). Yale Film Studies Website. Retrieved January 15, 2008 from: http://classes. yale. edu/film-analysis/ Kolker, Robert (1999). Film, Form and Culture. McGraw Hill College, p. 33. Mast, Gerald J. Biesecker (2008). How to Watch Movies Intelligently. Retrieved January 15, 2008 from: http://www. bluffton. edu/~mastg/Watchingmovies. htm