Monday, January 27, 2020

Communication is the cornerstone

Communication is the cornerstone Introduction (executive summery) Communication is the cornerstone of any successful business and is one of the very most important and unavoidable part in a modern business organization. Success of an organization depend upon a very high extend on the effective internal and external communication of the organizations. In present scenario, if there is a change to be happened in an organization it should be reached to each and every member of the organization which will add up to the success of the company .this is achieved through proper communication. An effective internal communication helps the manager to handle their employee smoothly and professionally. In this assignment we are discussing about various situation and stages of managerial communication and challenges faced by managers while dealing with different changes happening in organizations. Types of communication used in an organization External communication:external communication is referred to the communication of a organization with external world or public, it may be about their new product, about their shares, new, research and development and even new events organised by a organization. External communications are reached to the public in different Medias such as advertisement, news, websites etc. Internal communication: external communication is the communication happening with in the company with the members of the company. It should be very effective or the company may fall to achieve its goals. It is the process before external communication usually. It may happen between the higher members to the lower members through a series of procedures, it is not required two individual speak in order to hand over the massage. Newsletters, company portal, website, meeting, employee gathering are some examples through which internal communication can be implemented. It can be happened between two teams of same organization in different counties, when such international communications are usually done by the help of internet and telecommunication systems. Some other mode of communications Formal communication:this type of communication generally takes through the formal channels of the firm which is established by the organization. formal communication are generally written and can take forms,manuals,policy etc. the formal communication has its own advantages such as it will help to maintain the authority relationship in a firm and also disadvantages such as it is a time consuming process Informal communication: Communication that happens outside the formal channels in an organization. Informal communications does not follow the same path as that of formal communication. Informal communications gives more importance to relationships within the organisation. Managers could be your close friend and most of the time you could make your suggestions as if he is your friend in an informal communication. success of a company depend up on the various communication methods of the manager to a very high extend for example Assume that If there is a change in the timing of the operations of a company, to implement this change there are certain challenges to the manger as it is will change the day today routine of the employees. This can be solved by an effective internal communication between the manager and the employees. Communication handled in different level Communication is happened randomly in a business organization even though there are certain area which certain messages are only kept in a top- level but not all level such as middle -level and lower- level. It is not required to share all information with every members of the company, to be more specific top level strategies may not be shared with the lower level employees as it may indirectly cause damage to the company For example, assume that ownership of a company is to be changed, in this case after the deception is made it will not be told to the lower level workers in the company because it may lead to various strikes and the situation may go worse, some employees may even resign from the company. This may lead to rejection of the proposal from the other company. This is the case of communication happening in the top level managers, and at any cost this kind of information shouldnt be communicated among the lower level of employees at an early stage. Now we will see an example of communication held between top level and middle level management, assume that pricing of products of a company is changing, this kind of decisions will be communicated among the top-level and the middle level management. The various aspects and impacts of the decision will communicated to the middle level managers by the top level managers, this is discussed between the top level mangers and the middle level managers but not to the lower level workers, as it is not required to share all information with every members of the firm. And for the last case, where a proper communication from top-to-bottom is needed, we could take the example of salary for the workers in a manufacturing company. Decisions of this kind cannot be taken by the top-level or middle level management alone. They need to seek the opinion of the union leaders before coming to a conclusion on decisions like this, as this kind of decisions can affect the proper functioning of the company. So it is important to seek the opinion of the labourers and to know what the workers are expecting. Effective internal communication and different communication support As shown in the above diagram the managing director comes in the top most position (top -level)and then comes the sales and marketing, production directors, human resources directors, finance director, comes in (middle- level) they communicate to the managing director and then comes factory manager, quality control manager(lower- level) who report to the production director, Management accountant and financial accountant (lower level) report to the finance director as well. After this comes factory workers who work in production process of various products. Above explained is the main internal structure of an organization if a change is planned by the company in its normal routine the first level decision is taken by managing director and middle level managers. It is the duty of the middle level managers to inform the lower level employees about new decision; the middle level manager usefully hands over the information to the union leaders and finally reaches the workers. Communication supports: if a change has to be implemented in a company it should be communicated with in the members of the company it can be done using various methods according to the size of the firm. If the organization is small it is easy to communicate to all employees affectively by methods such as group meetings or group gatherings etc, if the size of the firm is big then various communication systems are used rather than team meetings or team gatherings. Now we can discus about various communication supports used in a company in order to achieve affective internal communication of them are as follows: employee portals by meeting by group gathering intra website sending news letters For an effective communication it depends on the nature of the organisation/company. If its a manufacturing company and you are trying to use the employee portals and intranet website for implementing effective communication, then that kind of decision will be a strategic failure. Because the employees in such kind of company will not flexible using computers and wont be familiar with the internet age. In such kind of situations it is necessary that the middle level managers informing the decisions to Union leaders in a meeting and later these union leaders are communicating the decisions with the union members. In an IT organisation communication can be effectively implemented by deploying intranet websites, employee portals, sending newsletters as the emails. Its the employee culture that they used to check their emails intranet portals regularly before starting their work. Updating the change information in an employee notice board will be a good way of communication among all kind of industries. So it depends on the nature of organisation to choose which way will be better to communicate among the different hierarchy levels in an organisation. Impact of change in communication process A change in the organisation will affect the process of communication to a high extend. And so is important to manage the change properly so it wont affect the communication flow within an organisation. Considering in a present scenario as example, assume that a manager is resigning from a firm, and a new manger is been appointed this change will definitely cause difference in normal play of the organization. as changes are mostly rejected by the employees it will take time to adjust with the new manager and this will lead the new managers job challenging one, if the manager communicate in proper track this problems can be solved .if the manager is having the skill to deal with situation he can overcome this challenges. Hence the impact of change will affect the various aspect of an organization. So it is important to implement a â€Å"Change Management† policy within the organisation. Change Management policy should be in such a way that all the information regarding the work should be properly documented so that a new manager replacing the existing manager wont have that many difficulties in carry on with the normal operations. This is the case with a manager replacing an old manager. If we consider the change management in a network support organisation, any change made to the hardware configuration should be done via a change management policy, as this will be communicated among all the team members working in that particular project. So an effective communication can be established among all the team members and other person responsible in the project. This is one way to handle a change in the communication process within an organisation. Obstacles or challenges and their solutions in context of change There exist many obstructers or challenges which will affect the smooth running of a firm; they may be communication gap between the managers and employees, between top level management and middle level management. This can be overcome by the following methods Newsletter and other information such as intranet website may not be usually used by all employees at all circumstances. So it is better to implement a desktop policy, such as making the company intranet website as the default webpage in the internet browsers, such a policy will enable employees to look at the website whenever they open the internet browsers. Make a rule in a company that all the members should check or visit their employee portals, newsletters, and other information sources. For example assume there is change in sections of employees to communicate this information the managers can use different methods such as newsletters, company website, employee portals and many other, if an employee is not checking his mail or failing to see the portals in some circumstances and come to different work site rather than going to right work site the position mend for him will be vacant at the time and it will lead the company to loss. In some cases, whether employee ignorance to the newsletters and employee portals, the management can make them read the newsletter and ask the employees to give them a compulsory feedback. This will enforce the employees to go through the newsletters and the intranet portals on a regular basis. Also you can give rewards to the employees for the best feedback, so they will have an interest to read about the company. Challenges met when dealing with an international team. The main two mode of communication with the international team is over the phone, emails instant messaging. In all these three cases we are very much dependent on the Telecommunication Internet service provider. If anything goes wrong with the service providers link then we will lose contact with the international team, since they are not communicating face to face, there will be a small communication gap, and it is difficult to establish effective communication between international teams. To a certain extent we could avoid this problem with the help of video conference meetings. But still we are dependent on the external service provider to get this done effectively. Appointing a group of staff in our company who are in contact with international team during the work hours of the international team may help in maintaining the communication gap to certain extends. For example assume that a particular products price is to be changed internationally and they have decided in a meeting to implement this to its other sister concerns in other country, if this have to be communicated effectively this can be done by the above mentioned procedures. Time constraints in different geographical location are a major challenge dealing with the international teams. Suppose there are two teams working on a project and one team based in UK and one team based in India, there is a major time challenge between the countries. To avoid this challenge one of the team should work in parallel with the other countries time zone. It is the responsibility of the project manager asking the employees to work in the time zone of the other country. This will help the teams maintaining a proper communication between the two teams and will help the two teams in maintaining the level of progress of the project. Managers role in communication in context of change. When a change is happened in an organisation it is the duty of the manager to verify that if the internal communication is successful or not. if the communication is not complete the manager has make sure it has reached every one, this is one of most imported step in by a manger which will help the company to grow more rapidly and smoothly. Manager has to see that the employees are checking their mails, website and portals regularly He has to make sure that all employees are one time for group meeting and group gathering in various occasions, at which various informations about the changes of the firms are discussed Change policy should be implemented in firm so that it will help the new mangers to run the firm smoothly and professionally. For example assume that if salary of workers are going to be decreased due to credit crunch the employees will protest against this, at this time it is the power of a manager comes in to action, that he can console the workers about explaining the situation globally as many lower level employees may not be much educated, and he can tell them the upcoming future of the company and can give them promises that the will be paid once the company reaches its success Conclusion: After analysing various situations and levels through which a manager moves it is understood that effective internal communication is one of the most impotent and unavoidable aspect of an organization which lead the organization to success, and a role of manager dealing with this in different changing environment is a challenging process, as a manager there might be certain situations you need to be informal while dealing with certain cases, hence the role of informal communication is also important and it is the skill of a manager to deal with all various situation in order to archive the goal of the organization.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Heart of Darkness Essay

Kurtz is the man who Marlow searches for through the Congo. Marlow’s search develops into an obsession and when the search has ended, he only finds a shadow of a man that was once Kurtz. Kurtz was a man who had achieved great things in his life, inspiring each person he had come across and was expected to accomplish more. He came into the Congo with great plans for civilizing the natives, however he became greedy, which ended up being the subject of his own demise. ‘I had immense plans†¦ I was on the threshold of great things’. Kurtz’s main characteristics were his ability to talk passionately to people and inspire them with his words. He had a charisma that made people feel that he was some kind of a genius. Kurtz was a very talented human being, gifted in many areas. He could not be pinned down to a specific talent. He was seen as a great musician to his cousin that Marlow visits, a brilliant politician and leader of men to the journalist and a genius and humanitarian to his intended. Marlow views him as a universal genius. Kurtz is a round character, who is explored deeply and at times, almost to deep. He is neither the protagonist nor the antagonist, but he is a complex main character within the novel. In places where Kurtz is described, there is imagery of darkness and foreboding evil. Kurtz was an exaggeration of the white people who had come to Africa for money. Kurtz’s greed for ivory became extreme and even made him violent and aggressive. He was the idea of the self-made man that was the American dream. It was thought that any man could travel and be wealthy materially and spiritually. He was living that dream for a while, before it swallowed him whole. His ego inflated and he believed himself to be a superior being such as God. He let himself be worshipped among the natives and encircled himself with darkness and evil. Hence, his ideals had changed from his journey through Africa. And he soon became one of the natives. Releasing himself from civilization and restraint. When Marlow finally reached Kurtz, Kurtz had become hollow. Kurtz had reached insanity. He was no longer the great man he had once been. ‘He was hollow at the core. ‘ Through conversing with the natives and immersing himself with them, Kurtz lost his restraint, which he had learned through civilization. By taking part in native ceremonial gatherings, he had lost his soul and he had succumbed to darkness. ‘How many powers of darkness claimed him for their own. ‘ The reason for his behaviour was his greed for ivory. He gave up his soul only for the sole purpose of money and success. However, his actions are justified as Marlow expresses that leaving a man in a jungle with nothing but himself and the desire to make money, will make him go mad. Without restraint from his own culture, Kurtz’s basic instincts were released. Kurtz’s appearance had dramatically altered as well. He was extremely thin and had a baldhead; he had also lost the ability to walk. From being a God to the natives, he soon comes to despise them. He sees them as rebels, which is why he has stuck heads on sticks outside his hut. ‘Exterminate the brutes’ In the end, Kurtz dies just after he has come to realize that he has become the heart of darkness. He is an embodiment of evil and he highlights this by saying, ‘The horror! The horror! ‘ Kurtz was an imperialist who was a symbol of colonization, and a symbol of the jungle.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Carol Sheriff’s The Artificial River Essay

APUS, Section 4 Mr. Gordinier January 8th, 2013 All situations and topics have multiple views and perspectives to them. A paradox exhibits contradictory aspects in which there is not either a single good or a bad, positive or negative. In The Artificial River The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862, written by Carol Sheriff, there are many different examples of paradoxes. Towns initially saw the Canal having a negative impact on them, but realized it could help. The Canal provided for faster transportation, but in the case of a crash would take a long time to recover from. Also businessmen benefitted from the Canal, but other lost a lot of money because of it. The Canal provided dramatic change to the upstate New York area. In some cases this change resulted in prosperity and in others it resulted in failure and loss. At the time prior to building the Canal many negative impacts were the only things being considered. In 1826, a Canal Board was set up to deal with many of these complaints and problems. Most of the agreements and compromises were expressed through contracts made between the Canal Board and the people of the towns. Individuals questioned the right to take land to build the canal, water resources being used, and also commercial structures being built along the Canal. The thought of how much these commercial structures could drastically benefit these towns were not contemplated. When the Canal was built towns all along the route from Buffalo to Albany prospered from the revenue and the attraction the Canal brought with it. Whether the Canal was being used for business people, immigrants, settlers of the region, or tourists, the border-towns all had some appeal to these persons. After some time the state was continually asked to expand the Canal from the original route to include connecting canal routes. However, the same towns along the route from Buffalo to Albany had already been established along the lines of the original canal. These towns would need to be relocated in order to obey these new requests. This presented a major problem because the people in these towns had formed a life around the Canal and many of them made their income based of the Canal. The inhabitants of the towns changed their mentality from not wanting the Canal to invade on their lives, to it being an essential part of their lives they depended upon. The Erie Canal provided an extremely fast source of transportation compared to other ones of that time. A lot of the land that the Canal went through was uninhabited and therefore people weren’t able to move through these areas. Once the Canal was built it served as that pathway through these areas. The Canal also was a much cheaper source of transportation that was used by residents, tourists, emigrants, and workers during this time. Evangelical preachers used the artificial river to seek salvation among these people. Also the Canal helped to serve as an underground railroad, transporting slaves from Syracuse to Buffalo, near the Canadian border (Sheriff 53). The Canal not only sped up transportation, but also cost much less for goods to be delivered. Before the Canal goods from Albany to Buffalo would increase to five or six times their actual value just because of transportation. This helped business prosper and served as a positive aspect for the Canal. Although transportation was faster if a boat along the Canal crashed it would hold things up for a long time. A boat crashing had a chain effect on other boats because they then would be slowed down as well. People would not get where they needed to be on time was well as goods. A lot of the times if a boat did crash the goods were not able to be salvaged and hurt the business that owned them. There was also the issue of passing under bridges and how low they were. In a play of William Dunlap the brother of Amelia describes the inconvenience this was saying â€Å"In constant dread of lifting your head above your knees for fear of having it knock’d off your shoulders by a bridge† (Sheriff 55). Inconveniences such as these eventually encouraged travelers to find a different source of transportation; the railroad. The railroad had advantage over the Canal in the fact that it could run all year round. Individuals took advantage of the Canal and used it to help themselves gain profit. Businessmen and entrepreneurs saw the Canal as an opportunity to make money. Some bought their own boats and turned them into their business place. Boats were transformed to stores and markets in which people would buy off of them. Business was not only done on the Canal, but other men would use all the people, especially tourists, and try to sell consumer goods to them. A lot of times these vendors would scam people buying from them. They would sell fake remedies with false claims. Many times they would also trade counterfeit bills for items of actual value. The Canal helped solo merchants in a way that had never been done before. On the other hand the Canal was also very detrimental to many people as well. The people it affected were those whose land and water supply it had taken. When the Canal was built it ruined early settlers property such as the Archbalds. Frequently properties were cut in half. Once water was let into the Canal it caused a number of problems. Majorly because of poor workmanship and laziness water would stream out of the Canal and into farmers’ land. Fields and basements would be flooded, livestock would be injured, and gardens would be damaged. Also the workers feet would trample over fields, showing no regard or carefulness of their surroundings. One farmer claimed that workers torn down his fence simply for their own amusement. Without a healthy stock of crops the farmers would not make as much money and financially were negatively affected by the Canal. The Erie Canal had widely varying results on the people it impacted. Businessmen and entrepreneurs received financial success through the Canal while farmers and people already established along the lines of the Canal seemed to be negatively affected by it. There is no question transportation was faster and cheaper than any other source around that time. Communities and towns both benefitted from the Canal being around them. Initially there was a great amount of hype surrounding the Canal and all this hype brought people. Businesses thrived off these tourists and newcomers. Positives and negatives came from the opening of the artificial river that would change history forever.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

The War Of The Civil War - 1540 Words

Over the course of the Civil War, approximately three million men (and a handful of women disguised as men) served in the armed forces. By comparison, before the war, the U.S. Army consisted of only about 16,000 soldiers. The mobilization that took place over the four years of the war touched almost every extended family North and South and affected the far reaches of the country that had split in two. By war’s end, approximately 620,000 men had died, an estimate that is currently undergoing scrutiny as historians question whether it is too low. As it is, this figure translates to a rate of death six times that experienced by Americans during World War II. The horrific, and largely unanticipated, number of casualties suffered by Northern and Southern soldiers during the Civil War devastated people throughout the country and influenced public life for years to come. Most Civil War soldiers volunteered to fight, although some signed on as conscripts (the Confederacy began to dra ft men in April 1862; the Union in March 1863). North and South, men joined companies formed in their communities. Within their companies, they served beside relatives, friends, and neighbors. Within their regiments, which were formed from ten companies, soldiers served with men from their state. Despite these ties, desertion was an ongoing problem for both sides (about 200,000 Union men and about 100,000 Confederates abandoned their posts), though it had a greater effect on the smaller ConfederateShow MoreRelatedCivil Wars And The Civil War873 Words   |  4 Pages Therefore, the fact that ISIL has become very active in the context of civil war could be a strong indicator of its affiliation to AQ. This, as Robbins (2014) argues, is because civil wars can be said to be better and more reliable predictors of AQ affiliated groups than mere affiliation. 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