Saturday, May 23, 2020

The Inheritance Of Loss East Vs. West - 1819 Words

Kiani-Maile Casillas World Civilization August 6, 2014 The Inheritance of Loss; East vs. West We have always known the world as four separate geographic regions, the North, South, East and West. The West has been significant in the ideas of America and Western Europe. All characterized by common clothes, language, culture, race, ethnicity and economics. But as time passes, the idea of â€Å"the West† begins to dissolve amongst other cultures and regions of the non-western world. Blending of cultures begins into the east creating multiculturalism and western influences. In Kirans Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss the experiences of the characters in the novel disintegrates the idea of â€Å"the West† into the East and we can no longer distinguish one†¦show more content†¦Jemubhai a character is influenced by racism and discrimination that leaves a permanent effect and realizes that those who are being colonized by Western cultures will not me accepted into the Western lifestyle or world. Although the west is and east are separated by race and ethnic ity, the idea of â€Å"the West† is spread out into the East. Benjamin Barber wrote â€Å"Jihad vs. McWorld† which discusses the future of nation-states to be split amongst two ideas. A split of traditional culture, versus evolving economics of the world, which are continuously clashing. These ideas are seen in The Inheritance of Loss. Culture of India is being drained away by Western ideas of advancing economics. Those who keep to the Indian culture are seen as inferior to the Westernization or European culture. Barber believed that each the Jihad, the traditional culture and the McWorld, the advanced world, had very specific qualities characterizing them. For example, the Jihad is deemed as culture against culture. Jihad goes against interdependence and social communities. While this occurs, the McWorld is constantly changing economically, ecologically and supports a unity of communities. Jihad remains traditional while McWorld constantly revolves around fast food, fast music and technology. India is seen as the Jihad and the McWorld is the Western culture. â€Å"The judge was thinking of his hate† (165). A character known as Judge or Jemubhai is

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Learn About Homonyms and See Examples

Homonyms are two or more words that have the same sound or spelling but differ in meaning. Adjectives: homonymic and homonymous. Generally, the term homonym refers both to homophones (words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings, such as pair and pear or roll and role) and to homographs (words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, such as bow your head and tied in a bow). Note that some dictionaries and textbooks define and distinguish these three terms in different ways. Some equate homonyms only with homophones (words that sound the same). Others equate homonymns only with homographs (words that look the same). See the observations below by Tom McArthur and David Rothwell. Also see Homophones and Homographs: An American Dictionary, 4th ed., by James B. Hobbs (McFarland Company, 2006). Pronunciation   HOM-i-nims Etymology From the Greek, same name Examples and Observations Mine is a long and sad tale! said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.It is a long tail, certainly, said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouses tail; but why do you call it sad?(Lewis Carroll, Alices Adventures in Wonderland)Your children need your presence more than your presents.(Jesse Jackson)I enjoy bass fishing and playing the bass guitar.The groups lead singer carried a lead pipe for protection.His death, which happend in his berth,At forty-odd befell:They went and told the sexton, andThe sexton tolld the bell.(Thomas Hood, Faithless Sally Brown)Attend your Church, the parson cries:To church each fair one goes;The old go there to close their eyes,The young to eye their clothes.Mae Maebe Funke: Do you guys know where I could get one of those gold T-shaped pendants?Michael: Thats a cross.Mae Maebe Funke: Across from where?(Alia Shawkat and Jason Bateman in Arrested Development) Homonymy A case of homonymy is one of an ambiguous word whose different senses are far apart from each other and not obviously related to each other in any way with respect to a native speakers intuition. Cases of homonymy seem very definitely to be matters of mere accident or coincidence. (James R. Hurford, Brendan Heasley, and Michael B. Smith, Semantics: A Coursebook, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2007) Three Kinds of Homonyms There are three kinds [of homonyms]: those that sound and look alike (bank a slope, bank a place for money, and bank a bench or row of switches); homophones, that sound alike but do not look alike (coarse, course); and homographs, that look alike but do not sound alike (the verb lead, the metal lead). . . . There are over 3,000 homographs in the Concise Oxford Dictionary (8th edition, 1990). (Tom McArthur, Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1992) Homographs and Homophones The reason that there is confusion and a lack of clarity over homonym is that it is closely related to two other words, homograph and homophone. I shall, therefore, define these words first. It is possible for a word to be a homograph or a homophone. However, whatever the word may be, it is also, by definition, a homonym. In other words, homonym is a conceptual word that embraces both homographs and homophones. . . . [H]omonym is just the collective noun for homograph and homophone. (David Rothwell, Dictionary of Homonyms. Wordsworth, 2007) A homograph is a word that is spelled identically to another word but none the less has a different meaning and probably a different origin. You will doubtless be annoyed if you tear your trousers while climbing over a fence. Indeed, you may be so upset that you shed a tear. As you can see, tear and tear are spelled identically, but they are pronounced differently and have entirely different meanings. They are good examples of a homograph. Many homographs are not even pronounced differently. Thus the word hide sounds exactly the same whether you are talking about the skin of an animal, a measure of land or the verb meaning to conceal or keep out of sight. A homophone is a word that sounds exactly like another word  but has a different meaning and a different spelling. If you stand on the stair and stare at the picture, you have a good example of a couple of homophones. . . . The Lighter Side of Homonyms Secret-keeping is a complicated endeavor. One has to be concerned not only about what one says, but about facial expressions, autonomic reflexes. When I try to deceive, I myself have more nervous tics than a Lyme disease research facility. [pause] Its a joke. It relies on the homonymic relationship between tick, the blood-sucking arachnid, and tic, the involuntary muscular contraction. I made it up myself. (Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper in The Bad Fish Paradigm. The Big Bang Theory, 2008) Test your knowledge by taking this  Commonly Confused Words Quiz

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Understand the Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture. Free Essays

string(57) " able to undertake a variety of tasks according to need\." Task 1: Understand the relationship between organizational structure and culture. P1. 1: Compare and contrast different organisational structure and culture. We will write a custom essay sample on Understand the Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture. or any similar topic only for you Order Now According to Buchanan and Huczynski, an organisation is a ‘social arrangement for the controlled performance of collective goals’. Chester Barnard described an organisation as ‘a system of co-operative human activities’. Organisation are can be define as; ‘A deliberately formed group of human being with known boundaries and common goal’. Or, a group of people working together to achieved a common goal. There are 2 types of organisation: i. formal organization and ii. Informal organisation. A formal organization is one which is deliberately constructed to fulfil specific goals’. It is characterized by planned division of responsibility and a well-defined structure of authority and communication. ‘An informal organization is one which loosely structured, flexible and spontaneous, fluctuating with its individual membership’. Examples of an informal organization are colleagues who tend to lunch together. Organizational structure: There are many types of organisational structures exist. Following are the common types that include their advantages and disadvantages: A. Geographical organisation: In a structure of geographical, regional or territorial departmentation, some authority is retaining at head office, but day to day operations are handled on a territorial basis. Example: northern region, western region. Advantage: i. There is local decision-making. ii. It may be cheaper to establish local factories or office. Disadvantage: i. Duplication and possible loss of economies of scale might arise. ii. Inconsistency in stander may develop from one area to another. B. Functional organization: functional organization involves grouping together people who perform similar tasks or use similar technology or materials. Primary functions in a manufacturing company might be production, sales, finance marketing and general administration. Advantage: i. Expertise is pooled and related technology/equipment or materials accessed more efficiently. ii. It avoids duplication and offers economies of scale. iii. It makes easier the recruitment, training and motivation of professional specialists. Disadvantage: i. It is organization by inputs and internal processes, rather than by output and customers demand. i. Communication problems may arise between different specialism, with their own culture and language. iii. Poor co-ordination may result, especially in a tall organization structure. C. Product-based organization: Some organizations group activities on the basis of product or product line. Some functional departmentation remains but a divisional manager is g iven responsibility for the product or product line. Example: manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sales. Advantage: i. Accountability. ii. Specialization. iii. Co-ordination. Disadvantage: i. It increased the overhead costs and managerial complexity of the organization. ii. Different product divisions may fail to share resources and customers. D. Matrix organization: Matrix organization crosses functional and product, customer and project organization. Advantages of the matrix organization: i. It attempts to retain the benefits of both structures ( functional organization and project team structure ). ii. Coordinates resources in a way that applies them effectively to different projects. iii. Staff can retain membership on teams and their functional department colleagues. Disadvantages of the matrix organization: i. Potential for conflict between functional vs. project groups. ii. Greater administrative overhead. iii. Increase in managerial overhead E. Centralization and decentralization organization: In a centralised organisation head office (or a few senior managers) will retain the major responsibilities and powers. Conversely decentralised organisations will spread responsibility for specific decisions across various outlets and lower level managers, including branches or units located away from head office/head quarters. An example of a decentralised structure is Tesco the supermarket chain. Each store of Tesco has a store manager who can make certain decisions concerning their store. The store manager is responsible to a regional manager. F. Multi-functional and Multi divisional organization: In a functional structure jobs become differentiated around areas of specialty. For example, accounting and human resource specialists are hired to handle these specialized tasks. These specialists (functional line managers) report to the CEO, but usually have autonomy for day-to-day decision-making, e. . , hiring and firing personnel. The multidivisional structure centres on the use of separate businesses or profit centres. The M-Form is used by many organizations that compete in the global economy. General Electric is an example of a company that uses this structure. Each unit is operated as a separate business with its own corporate staff including President. Some parent companies do little more than provide capital and guide units to an organizational-wide strategy. The overall goal is to maximize the overall organization’s performance. In order to accomplish this, managers at the â€Å"parent† use a combination of strategic and financial controls. G. Internal and external network structure: ‘A behavioral view is that a network is a pattern of social relations over a set of persons, positions, groups, or organizations’. ’ Network organizations are defined by elements of structure, process, and purpose’. A network organization maintains permeable boundaries either internally among business units or externally with other firms. H. Organizational charts: Organization charts, such as those used to traditional way of setting out in diagrammatic form: i. The units (department etc. ) into the organization are divided and how they relate to each other. ii. The formal communication and reporting Chanels of the organization. iii. The structure of authority, responsibility and delegation in the organization including. iv. Any problems in the above: insufficient delegation, long lines communication or unclear authority relationships. I. Span of control: The span of control refers to the number of subordinate immediately reporting to a superior official. The right Span of control is depended are those things: i. A manager’s capabilities limit the span of control. i. The nature of the manager’s work load. iii. Subordinates work. iv. The interaction between subordinates. J. Flexible working: A useful definition of flexible working relates to when, where, how and what work is done: Flexible time:Work is performed at times that better suit the employer and/or employee Flexible place:Work is carried out wherever is most appropriate and effective for the employer and/or employee. Flexible contract:Workers are employed and/or rewarded in non-standard ways. Flexible tasks:Multi-skilled workers are able to undertake a variety of tasks according to need. You read "Understand the Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture." in category "Papers" Organizational culture: Organizational culture (in the sense organizational climate) is the collective’s self-image and style of the organization; its shared values and beliefs, norms and symbols. In the bellow we discuss about various organizational culture: Power culture: This is also known as web structure. This is usually associated with the small organizations. This is where the central character, usually the founder has all authority and is typically surrounded by people they get on with and usually seen with empowerment since there is lot of trust between the webs. There is a central power source and the rays of influence spread out from that central figure. In this type of organization individuals rather than a group make all the decisions. The danger of this sort of culture is that, because it is autocratic, there can be a feeling of suppression and lack of challenge in the workforce. Since this is associated with small organizations there are not many theories associated with it and are only seen in smaller companies, which shows it, will only work on small scale. Role culture: The role culture is typical of bureaucracies. In the role culture, the jobs that people do- their roles – are more important than the people themselves. Managers have power and influence due to their status within the organization and not because of personal influence or expertise. Business would be divided into various functions (e. g. finance, marketing, production etc. ). These would then have a hierarchical ordering of offices (e. g. Finance director, Production manager, Supervisors, operators etc. ). Role cultures can only be successful where the environment in which the business is operating remains stable. Where a business faces rapid change, the role culture is likely to collapse. The large organizations, which can be difficult to control often, have a role culture. Task culture: Task cultures have become very important in business in the first decade of twenty first century. The task culture focuses on getting the job done. Groups or teams within this culture are not fixed but are made up of individuals brought together to achieve a specific task. In the task culture there is a strong emphasis on building the team. Team members will need to share values and aspirations. They will also need to feel valued by the organization they work for. In task culture, teams will often have considerable input in determining how a particular job will be done. Their views and opinions will be listed. Person culture: In a person culture, individuals are central. Person culture is also known as cluster structure. This is very rare and is only associated to small organizations with very short structures and an extremely wide base. This is because they are usually conjoined with the organizations that are specialist in many different areas (universities, many lawyers and scientific researching) there is no real rules, only law associated with the types of experimenting and research. Organizational cultures values and beliefs: i. It affects the motivation and satisfaction of employees. ii. It can aid the adaptability of the organization, by encouraging innovation, risk taking, sensitivity to the environment, customer care, willingness to embrace new methods and technologies. iii. It affects the image of the organization. Development of organizational culture: There are many factors which influence the organizational culture, including the following: i. Economic condition. ii. The nature of the business and its tasks. iii. Leadership style. iv. Policies and practices. v. Structure. vi. Characteristics of the work force. P1. 2: Explain how the relationship between an organizations structure and culture can impact on the performance of the business. Broadly, we can say that a behavioural problem is anything in the behaviour of people-individual, interpersonal and group. At first we discuss about various type of diagnosing and interpersonal behavioural problems; Diagnosing behaviour problem: Diagnosis is the thorough analysis of facts or problem in order to gain understanding. Principles of diagnosis: i. Distinguish the symptom from the problem. ii. Look at the facts. iii. Don’t be simplistic about causes. iv. Focus on the problem, not the person. v. Don’t impose your own judgments. vi. Respect privacy and confidentiality. Methodology of diagnosis: i. Observation. ii. Interview. iii. Questionnaires. iv. Reports. Perception: Perception is the psychological process by which stimuli or in-coming sensory data are selected and organized into patterns which are meaningful to the individual. Perceptual selection: Perceptual selection as determined by any or all of the following: i. The context. ii. The nature of the stimuli. iii. Internal factors. iv. Fear or trauma. Perception and work behavior: Perception and work behavior do are following way: i. Consider whether you might be misinterpreting the situation. ii. Consider whether others might be misinterpreting the situation or interpreting it differently from you. iii. When tacking a task or a problem, get the people involved to define the situation. iv. Be aware of the most common clashes of perception at work. Such as, manager and staff, work culture, race and gender. Attitudes: An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related. Ability and aptitude: there have been many attempts to make a useful distinction between: i. Abilities-thins that people can do or are at- largely believed to be inherited. ii. Aptitudes-the capacity to learn and develop abilities or skill. Intelligence: Intelligence is a wide and complex concept. There are many forms of intelligence: i. Analytic intelligence. ii. Spatial intelligence. ii. Musical intelligence. iv. Physical intelligence. v. Practical intelligence. vi. Intra-personal intelligence. vii. Inter-personal intelligence. P1. 3: Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work: In the bellow we discuss about various type of individual’s behavior: Personality: personality is the total pattern of characteristic ways of thinking, feeling and behaving that constitute the individuals distinctive method of relating to the environment. Traits and types: Traits are consistently observable properties or the tendency for a person in a particular way. Self and self-image: Self: self has a two component: A. T- the unique, active, impulsive part of the individual, which rises above conformity. And B. Me- the mental process which reflects objectively on the self and measures it against the social norms, values and expectation. Self-image: People have a subjective picture of what their own self is like, this called a self-image. Personality and work behavior: Obviously personalities are complex and individual. Personality and work behavior conflicted in organization; manager will have to consider the following aspect: i. The compatibility of an individual’s personality with the task. ii. The compatibility of an individual’s personality with the systems and management culture of the organization. iii. The compatibility of the individual’s personality with that of others in the team. Where incompatibilities occur, the manager will have to: . Restore compatibility. ii. Achieve compromise. iii. Remove the incompatible personality. Organizational structure and Culture of Sainsbury and Tesco: Sainsbury’s organization structure: The organizational structure of Sainsbury’s is hierarchical because there is series of levels of people and the level above controls each level. Each lev el is the responsibility of the level above. For example senior managers are responsible for the line managers and line managers are responsible for sales assistants. The diagram below shows the downward flow of communication in Sainsbury’s. I think Sainsbury’s structure is between hierarchical and tall structure. Tall structure has many layers but not as many layers as matrix structure and as less as flat structure and this means the information is not a s fast in flat structure and not as slow as in matrix structure. Due to fast flow of communication it is easier and clear between each layer. This when decisions are made they will be specific to order instructions. Strengths of Sainsbury’s structure: i. It gives them a greater sense of unity and purpose as they can see themselves as members of a team. i. It is easier to get help, as they can ask experienced colleagues or take more difficult problems to boss. iii. It makes easier to carry out joint projects as everyone involved is working together. iv. There are economies of scale as specialist staff can do more work efficiently. v. Communications from top to bottom are better, as there are definite channels through which orders can flow. Weakness of this structure: i. Hierarchies usually have tall organizational structures with seven or eight levels of authority. This means that there is long chain of command. i. Each employee is concerned mainly with his or her own function, or specialized work, and often has only employees in other departments. iii. There is natural tendency for managers to protect the interest of their own department. This may make them more concerned with office politics than with the interests of the whole firm. iv. The hierarchical system emphasizes status. This creates divisions in the firm, which are reflected in separate car-parking spaces for managers, longer holidays for white-collar workers and separate canteen for blue-collar workers. Tesco organization structure: Tesco has a hierarchical/pyramid structure. In Tesco organisational chart they have more levels and they have more employees at down level. In hierarchical structure each functional area has many staff to do a particular task they are specialised in the job. Each person has a job role and there will be a specific salary for the job. In a hierarchical structure the communication can be distorted because their chains of command are long. When messages pass from top level to the bottom level they receive a message slightly different message than the one they intended to receive. In hierarchical structure the staffs at the bottom level feels that the manager at the top has no idea what they think or do. In a hierarchical structure many people have to be consulted before a decision is made. This means that the company is slow in responding to changes. The span of control is less in Tesco because they have many levels and the span of control explains the person who is responsible for you. For example if a store manager has 4 sections manager then his span of control are four. In hierarchical there is a good promotion prospectus because of many levels. Sainsbury’s organizational culture: Sainsbury is a varied company and I don’t feel it can safely be placed into any of these categories, but I will say it’s a mixture between Role culture and Task culture. Since Sainsbury is a big organization there can be many things at once, I feel Sainsbury has taken the best attributes of the two and made their own Sainsbury’s culture. This includes: – i. Very tall and board structure but with many web links. ii. Strict communication channels low down. iii. Jobs, not people lowdown (but they do get their say when needed). iv. Jobs suited to the task in the central range. . Communication between departments by knowledgeable workers (not manual laborers). vi. Formal communication going up the hierarchy. All these are associated with the two cultures and so Sainsbury can’t be defined to one group. Since Human culture is a mixture of hundreds of separate culture trying to produce the best of all words. In my opinion Sainsbury’s would more suite the Role culture since the formal structure also emphasizes this by adding a rigid structure you add a formality quality or a freedom associated with the person, thus the job is more than the employee, which is the role culture. These two also dictate the management style because Role culture has important job. There is communication with the job not the person, this is autocratic because the person has no say. The structure means there is a formality also so Sainsbury is a formal business and this means all jobs are done in formal and this should increase production by having quick workers who don’t have to think. All the difference influences each other because they all have an effect on certain aspects of the company. They all knock on to each other and manipulate the finer points of each. Tesco organizational culture: Tesco’s corporate culture can be determined from its corporate responsibility statements, which describe its core values and core ideologies as well as some aspects of cultural artifacts. Tesco’s stated core priorities include: i. Ensuring community, corporate responsibility and sustainability are at the heart of our business. ii. Being a good neighbor and being responsible, fair and honest. iii. Considering our social, economic and environmental impact as we make our decisions. (Tesco, 2008) These values have had a significant impact on the way in which Tesco does business, as well as its inancial performance. For example, its expansion into California was designed to be not only profitable, but also socially responsible. As in the United Kingdom, American inner cities have a food supply problem wherein there are few large supermarkets and the smaller supermarkets do not have an adequate supply of fresh foods, including fruits, vegetables and proteins. How the relationships structure and culture can impact Sainsbury and Tesco’s performance: Tesco’s organisational structure is a hierarchical structure. In a hierarchical structure the communication can be distorted as messages pass from one level to another means that the staff at the bottom level receive a slightly a different message than the message they intent to receive it. Many people’s have to be consulted before a decision is made so the company is slow in responding to changes and challenges. This means they cannot provides quick services to their customers and it is going to affect in terms of sales and profit but there is an advantage that if everybody is consulted they will come out with the best results. In hierarchical structure there are specific functional areas and job roles. The employees can be easily identified and given training so they can provide good services to their customers. Hierarchical structure has good delegations because they are many people’s with specialised skills are working here so they can easily assign their subordinates for a particular task. The span of control is less than the flat structures. In hierarchical structures they have good promotion prospectus so the staff are motivated and they provides good services to their customers. I think that the impact of the organizational structure has an excellent impact on Sainsbury due to the staff of Sainsbury working hard and being highly motivated in the work that they do, and the customer service that they provide for the customers that shop at Sainsbury. This is due to the human resources function of Sainsbury recruiting staff that they feel is suitable to work at Sainsbury, this could be due to the experience, qualifications, and availability of the member of staff working at Sainsbury. The finance function helps Sainsbury by the accountants keeping accounts up to date, this is an advantage because this has an impact on Sainsbury by enabling it to see if the financial factors of Sainsbury are improving or declining, and if new targets should be set, and if new objectives should be made. The marketing function has an impact on Sainsbury by the way that it helps the supermarket grow bigger by the advertisement campaigns it launches to make potential customers of Sainsbury notice what Sainsbury has to offer them. Task2: Understand different approaches to management and leadership. P2. : Compare the effectiveness of different leadership style in different organizations. In the below we discuss about various type of management style: Scientific management: According to Fredrick Winslow Taylor, â€Å"Scientific management means knowing exactly what you want men to do and seeing that they do it in the best and the cheapest way. † Classical administration: Henri Fayo l was a French industrialist, according to him, the idea that all organizations could be structured managed according to certain rational principle. Bureaucracy: An organization structured on classical lines is often identified as a bureaucracy. Human relations approach: The human relations approach emphasised the importance of human attitudes, values and relationships for the efficient and effective functioning of work organizations. Systems approach: Systems approach described as which consists of interdependent parts. Every system has a boundary which defines what it is ‘inside’ what is ‘outside’ the system. Contingency approach: The contingency approach to organization developed as a reaction to the idea that there are universal principles for designing organization, motivating staff and others. In the below we discuss about some function of management: Planning: This essentially means looking to the future. It involves selecting the ends which the organization wishes to achieve. Organizing: The work to be done must be divided and structured into task and jobs. Commanding: Fayol called this maintaining activity among the personal. Co-ordination: this is the task of harmonizing the activities of individuals and groups within the organization. Controlling: This is the task of monitoring the activities of individual and groups. P2. : Explain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management In the below we discuss about various managerial role: Interpersonal Roles: Interpersonal roles process and outlined three basic roles. Those are: i. Figurehead. ii. Leader. iii. Liaison. Informational role: A manager is likely to have a wider network of contacts within and outside the organization than his subordinates. So he is the best parson to gather and spread information. Decisional roles: The manager’s formal authority and access to information put him in a strong position to take decisions. In the below we discuss about nature of managerial authority: Power: Power is the ability to do something or get others to do it. Authority: Authority is the right to do something or to get others to do it. Responsibility: Responsibility is the liability of a person to be called to account for the way he was exercised the authority given to him. Delegation: Delegation is the process whereby superior A gives subordinate B authority over a defined area which falls within the scope of A’s own authority. P2. 3: Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organizations. Opportunist: The opportunist action-logic is aimed at controlling their environment in order to survive. Typically development has been blocked by a legacy of mistrust, egocentrism and manipulativeness. The title for this action-logic denotes a tendency to focus on personal wins and to see relationships as opportunities to be exploited. From the opportunist action-logic, the world is highly competitive. Only the fittest individuals survive and, since the opportunist assumes everybody else is also operating from this frame of reference, competition rather than collaboration is the only viable course of action. Diplomat: Moving away from the â€Å"anything-goes-that-serves-me† framework of the Opportunist, Diplomats are aware of group strength over individual power. Thus, they seek to belong to established groups which may be based on kinship, club, church or profession. Since power comes from affiliation with others, rules and social norms are followed to seek approval and safeguard status as a group member. Achiever: Leaders who have developed this action-logic can be both challenging and supportive, creating a positive atmosphere both inside the team and external to the team. They represent approximately 30% of the general managerial population and are tightly focused on deliverables. People whose developmental focus is on the Achiever action-logic have a more complex and integrated understanding of the world than do managers who display the previous three action logics. Strategist: At 4% of leaders, people who have developed to this action-logic are likely to be found in less conventional settings. If they have survived life in the Public service, they are likely to have developed a reputation as transformational leaders. They distinguish themselves from Individualists through their focus on organizational constraints and perceptions, which they treat as discussible and transformable. Transformational: Transformational leadership occurs when the leader and the follower elevates one another to higher levels of motivation and morality. Carlson (1996) points out that Burns felt that leadership theories developed up to the mid-seventies were lacking ethical/moral dimensions so he elaborated on his exchange theory which maintains that followers play a crucial role in the definition of leadership. This theory is made up of power relations and entails bargaining, trading and compromise among leaders and followers. Management styles and leadership used in Tesco’s: Tesco’s tend to use autocratic because the company needs too or the e tasks won’t be carried out within the business, also decisions need to be made quickly or they won’t be done for example a task that is set for a shelf filler to put the milk out but hasn’t been told to put the milk out because the management are still deciding who’s going to put what out, so the milk would be still sat in the storage room and the customers cant buy it. So if the management didn’t use autocratic then Tesco’s wouldn’t be run sufficiently. Tesco also uses management by objectives. They use this because they state to each employee in their appraisals what their objectives are for a certain period. Also each manager is set objectives by their line manager for their team for example the sales team’s objective that has been set is to increase the amount of customers using Tesco by 25%. The way in which Tesco is structured and managed. (Management at Tesco. † 123HelpMe. com. 05 Jan 2012 . ) Management styles and leadership used in Sainsbury’s: If a company adopts the consultative style, then the person may well set the objectives and this would mean a lesser extent of pushing to achieve objectives. In my opinion Sainsbury uses a mixture of two types of management style. First being autocratic means the objectives would be set up and to a good standard; they will want the most work out of their subordinates, to gain maximum value. For the key areas of operations: Sainsbury is using autocratic management style, for setting its objectives, policies at top management level. They also use democratic management style. These would be set to gain maximum revenue they would want this and strive to get this because this style is associated with the managerial levels and will mean they get bonuses. For overall working of the organization at middle management levels and lower management levels, the style of Sainsbury is democratic, because the area of operations is widely decentralized and for the implementation of policies in three different segments, policies should be consulted with the local personal, which are specially appointed for this purpose. As they know the inner constraints, strengths of that particular segment. Task3: Understand ways of using motivational theories in organization. P3. 1: Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organizations in periods of change. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs: The basis of Maslow’s theory of motivation is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be addressed. Per the teachings of Abraham Maslow, there are general needs (physiological, safety, love, and esteem) which have to be fulfilled before a person is able to act unselfishly. These needs were dubbed â€Å"deficiency needs. † While a person is motivated to fulfill these basal desires, they continue to move toward growth, and eventually self-actualization. The satisfaction of these needs is quite healthy. While preventing their gratification makes us ill or act evilly. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Chart As a result, for adequate workplace motivation, it is important that leadership understands which needs are active for individual employee motivation. In this regard, Abraham Maslow’s model indicates that basic, low-level needs such as physiological requirements and safety must be atisfied before higher-level needs such as self-fulfillment are pursued. As depicted in this hierarchical diagram, sometimes called ‘Maslow’s Needs Pyramid’ or ‘Maslow’s Needs Triangle’, when a need is satisfied it no longer motivates and the next higher need takes its place. Herzberg’s theory: Hygiene Factors Hygie ne factors are based on the need to for a business to avoid unpleasantness at work. If these factors are considered inadequate by employees, then they can cause dissatisfaction with work. Hygiene factors include: – Company policy and administration Wages, salaries and other financial remuneration – Quality of supervision – Quality of inter-personal relations – Working conditions – Feelings of job security Motivator Factors Motivator factors are based on an individual’s need for personal growth. When they exist, motivator factors actively create job satisfaction. If they are effective, then they can motivate an individual to achieve above-average performance and effort. Motivator factors include: – Status – Opportunity for advancement – Gaining recognition – Responsibility – Challenging / stimulating work Sense of personal achievement personal growth in a job McGregor’s theory X and Y: Theory X Theor y X assumes that the average person: †¢Dislikes work and attempts to avoid it. †¢Has no ambition, wants no responsibility, and would rather follow than lead. †¢Is self-centered and therefore does not care about organizational goals. †¢Resists change. †¢Is gullible and not particularly intelligent. Essentially, Theory X assumes that people work only for money and security. Theory Y The higher-level needs of esteem and self-actualization are continuing needs in that they are never completely satisfied. As such, it is these higher-level needs through which employees can best be motivated. Theory Y makes the following general assumptions: †¢Work can be as natural as play and rest. †¢People will be self-directed to meet their work objectives if they are committed to them. †¢People will be committed to their objectives if rewards are in place that address higher needs such as self-fulfillment. †¢Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility. †¢Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common in the population. Vroom and Expectancy theories: Essentially, expectancy theory states that the strength of an individual’s motivation to do something will depend on the extent to which he expects the result of his efforts, if successfully achieved, to contribute towards his personal needs or goals. Maccoby, Mccrac and costa: There is relative consensus on a five-factor structure of personality, based on a bipolar taxonomy of underlying traits, which is supported by factor analyses of extensive lists of trait adjectives. The five broad personality dimensions are commonly labeled extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, and openness. It should be noted that these dimensions are not types, meaning that personality is made up of scores on the five dimensions. Motivation and performance: Motivation, as it most nearly concerns the manager, is the controlling of the work environment and the offering of rewards in such a way as to encourage extra performance from employees. Rewards and incentives: A reward is a token (monetary or otherwise) given to an individual or team in recognition of some contribution or success. An incentive is the offer or promise of a reward for contribution or success, designed to motivate the individual or team to behave in such a way as to earn it. Motivation and manager: Managers are constantly searching for ways to create a motivational environment where associates (employees) to work at their optimal levels to accomplish company objectives. Workplace motivators include both monetary and non-monetary incentives. Monetary and Non-monetary rewards: The purpose of monetary incentives is to reward associates for excellent job performance through money. Monetary incentives include profit sharing, project bonuses, stock options and warrants, scheduled bonuses (e. g. , Christmas and performance-linked), and additional paid vacation time. Traditionally, these have helped maintain a positive motivational environment for associate. The purpose of non-monetary incentives is to reward associates for excellent job performance through opportunities. Non-monetary incentives include flexible work hours, training, pleasant work environment, and sabbaticals. P3. 2: Compare the application of different motivational theories within the work place. Leadership in organization: This definition is similar to Northouse’s (2007, p3) definition — Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. Managers and leaders: Influence is the process by which an individual or group exercises power to determine or modify the behavior of others. Leadership traits: People who believe that leaders are born are likely to buy into the Traits Theory. This theory basically centers itself on the leader. What are the qualities of a leader? Now if you look at the different leaders of the world, companies or armies they all carry certain traits. It is believed that if one carries these characteristics then one is likely to become a leader. So, this theory defines what are the qualities that a leader should posses rather than leadership. If one is a leader then these leadership traits should be present. Management style: Managers have to perform many roles in an organization and how they handle various situations will depend on their style of management. There are two sharply contrasting styles that will be broken down into smaller subsets later: oAutocratic oPermissive Each style has its own characteristics: Autocratic: Leader makes all decisions unilaterally. Permissive: Leader permits subordinates to take part in decision making and also gives them a considerable degree of autonomy in completing routine work activities. Contingency approach: The Contingency Theory takes in consideration the weaknesses of the previous theories. Since leadership functions in a dynamic situation, it is only logical that different styles and traits will work in different situations. The Contingency Theory takes into consideration the context where leadership is exercised. P3. 3: Evaluate the usefulness of a Motivation theory for managers. Leadership and successful change in organizations: Pluralistic: inclusive enough consistent with the needs of pluralistic leadership. Such organizations emphasize hierarchy, authority and structure over participation and inclusiveness. Pluralistic leadership results in diversity and diversity results in pluralistic leadership (Bass, 1990; Millman and Kanter, 1986). Pluralistic leadership is very consistent with notions of participation of all in the leadership decisions and the understanding of multiple perspectives within the organization and outside it (Kezar, 2000). Transformational: It depends on two main points of view: – The theoretical, and – The applied Theoretical definitions come from those that study leadership, who have the formal qualifications to write long dissertations on the subject. This body of knowledge is fantastic for grounding in the subject and to get into the depth of the potential implications, especially when it comes to the morals and ethics department. The applied is the interpretation, and then applied action in a specific field of endeavor. We’ll use the personal, organizational, and global contexts for this purpose. You will have your own applied experience, or not, depending on where you are on your own personal Transformational Leadership journey. Communications: The closest definition of a communication leader is Gramsci’s definition of the organic intellectual – which Gramsci essentially sees as a leader. Gramsci sees in the intellectual not only as a leader but also as a poet, thinker, reader and activist. Sainsbury’s motivational theories: Sainsbury agree that employees are their most important assets and need to be treated fairly. The good performance of employee’s management s has an effect on the organization’s success, in terms of profitability. Sainsbury give out financial rewords to most people who complete the training programme. Training is designed to keep employees motivated and is convinced to complete their training by rewarding them with financial gain. Motivation comprises of the need for employees and controls their action. Using motivation techniques can improve productivity and customer service. Also employee satisfaction leads to good service that leads to customer satisfaction. Maslows- Hierarchy of needs This theory is based on meeting staff needs with in the workplace and suggests that meeting their needs can lead to be fill are: – Self- fulfillment- researching your full potential Self-esteem needs- status and recognition, achievement and independence Social needs- love, friendship, a sense of belonging part of a team Safety needs- protection against danger, fair treatment, job security Physiological needs- food, rest and shelter Mc Gregor- Theory x and theory y They are two types of main types of managers. Theory x managers tend to have the point of view that the average dislikes and will try to avoid it. Therefore the managers must control direct and punish them to get them to work towards business objectives. Theory y suggests that the ordinary person does not dislike work; it all depends on the conditions in which the work takes place. If people are committed to objectives, they will be motivated towards achieving them the biggest motivation factor is the personal satisfaction of completing the job. (â€Å"A Report on Sainsbury’s Resource Management. † 123HelpMe. com. 5 Jan 2012 . Tesco motivational theories: Tesco is Britain’s largest retailer. It now has over 2,200 stores. As well as food, it also sells other products such as insurance and banking. To support growth, Tesco needs staffs who are motivated. It achieves this by increasing their knowledge, skills and job satisfaction through training and reward systems. Needs: Self-fulfill: Tesco offers Personal De velopment Plans, recognition of skills and talents, opportunity for promotion and career progression programmed. Career discussions feed into Tesco’s Talent Planning meetings. The Options fast-track management programmed provides a route for capable staff to reach higher levels. Self-esteem: Tesco values emphasize self-respect and respect for others and praise for hard work, its self assessment, 360 degree feedback and appraisal system help to recognize individuals’ contributions and importance and celebrate achievement. Social needs: Tesco promotes team and group working at various levels; The Company ‘Steering Wheel’ assesses individual and group work and enables store staff to work as a team. Working conditions and a home-from-home ethos encourages long service. Basic/physical needs Security needs: Tesco provides the security of formal contracts of employment as well as pension and sickness schemes and the option to join a union to give people a sense of belonging. It ensures health and safety in the workplace. Basic/physical needs: This would include a place of work, regular monthly pay and essential facilities such as a restaurant or lockers for personal belongings. Tesco provides motivation for its staff through many different routes. Reviews and personal development plans ensure that employees are able to develop and grow. This benefits both staff and the business. (The Times 100 Edition 15 | www. hetimes100. co. uk) EDITION Task 4: Understand mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in organizations. P4. 1: Explain the nature of groups and group behavior within organizations. Groups: Groups in business organizations are, in effect, sub-organizations and they require management for controlled performance of collective goals, not only their own collective goals, but those of the business organization as a whole. Definition of group is ‘A group is any collection of people who perceive them to be a group’. Informal group and formal group: Informal groups will invariably be present in any organization. Informal groups include workplace cliques and networks of people who regularly get together to exchange information, groups of mates who socialize outside work and so on. Formal groups, put together by the organization, will have formal structure and a function for which they are held responsible, they are task oriented and become teams. Team: A team is a formal group established to achieve particular objectives. Purpose of teams: i. Team allows the performance of tasks. ii. Team encourages exchange of knowledge and ideas or creation of new ideas. iii. The power of the team over individual behavior can be both: control and motivator. Selecting team members: A manager is able to select team members, he or she shuld aim to match some requirement: i. Specialist skills and knowledge. ii. Experience. iii. Political power in the organization. iv. Access to resources, v. Competence. Team roles: RM Bellbin researched business-game teams at the Carnegie Institute of technology. He developed a picture of the character-mix in team, which many people fine a useful guide to team selection and management. Bellbin suggests effective team is made following eight roles: i. The Co-coordinator. ii. The shaper. iii. The plant. iv The monitor and evaluator. . The resource investigator. vi. The implementer. vii. The team worker. Viii. The finisher. Multi-disciplinary teams: Multi-disciplinary teams bring together individuals with different skills and specialism’s, so that their skills, experience and knowledge can be pooled or exchanged. Teambuilding: The team building goal in this learning journey is to help participants devel op increased awareness of team dynamics, practical skills for maximizing team performance, and developing a belief in the power of teamwork. Team building assists participants in planning specific improvements in the way the team operates. Participants will gain an integrated set of skills that can be applied anytime and anywhere, while enhancing their team performance, leadership abilities, and team unity. The result of applying these skills will be serious TEAMWORK – not teamwork in the ordinary sense, but something stronger, more committed, more productive, and more personal. Team identity: A manager may be able to increase his work groups sense of itself as a team by any or all the following means: i. Giving the team a name. ii. Giving team a badge or uniform. iii. Expressing the team’s self-image. iv. Building a team mythology. Commitment to shared belief: All team members must agree on what the team is trying to accomplish. Teams work much harder if members have a say in team goals and focus. Having team members discuss and decide on team goals would foster this sense of team commitment. P4. 2: Discuss factors that may promote or inhabit the development of effective teamwork in organizations. Group norms: The rules of behavior that are part of the ideology of the group. Norms tend to reflect the values of the group and specify those actions that are proper and those that are inappropriate, as well as rewards for adherence and the punishment for conformity. Group decision-making behavior: As we noted, empowerment involves groups in decision-making. This can be having benefited where: i. Pooling skills, information and ideas. ii. Participation in the decision-making process makes the discussion acceptable of the group. Dysfunctional team: Dysfunctional is defined as â€Å"abnormal or unhealthy interpersonal behavior or interaction within a group†. Most definitions state that a team is dysfunctional when individuals strive to conform to the prevailing thought processes or decisions within the group, at the expense of feelings of individual responsibility or personal views. Cohesiveness: Cohesiveness is generally defined as â€Å"the resultant of all forces acting on all the members to remain in the group† (Cartwright, 1968, p. 91). Group cohesiveness is one of the essential concepts for understanding group dynamics (Zander, 1979) studied for its conceptual similarity with teamwork. P4. 3: Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within a given organization. Technology: Technology teams share a common goal: all members are dedicated to helping writing project site leadership meet local needs and priorities through the wise integration and implementation of technology. But while these tech teams generally have a similar purpose, the ways in which writing project sites have gone about establishing and using their technology teams are as nuanced as the sites themselves. Communication: One way to start developing a communications strategy is to look at the nature of the different kinds of work the team will be doing and what kind of communication is needed to support that work. There is a continuum which describes how individuals (or sub-groups) on the team are working from autonomously to interdependently. For example, there may be some tasks unique to a specific country which team members can do on their own without interacting with anyone else on the team. Other product-related projects may require more collaboration among team members in different parts of the region. Change: All these changes in organizations have changed how teams are formed and how they operate. Teams have changed: From fixed team membership all team members drawn from within the organization team members are dedicated 100% to the team team members are co-located organizationally and geographically teams have a fixed starting and ending point eams are managed by a single manager To shifting team membership team members can include people from outside the organization (clients, collaborators) most people are members of multiple teams team members are distributed organizationally and geographically teams form and reform continuously teams have multiple reporting relationships with different parts of the organizatio n at different times Network and virtual teams: The nature of teams has changed significantly because of changes in organizations and the nature of the work they do. Organizations have become more distributed across geography and across industries. Relationships between people inside an organization and those previously considered outside (customers, suppliers, managers of collaborating organizations, other stakeholders) are becoming more important. Organizations have discovered the value of collaborative work. There is a new emphasis on knowledge management – harvesting the learning of the experience of members of the organization so that it is available to the whole organization. Global and cross-culture teams: Cross-cultural training usually occurs as an integral component of training that’s designed primarily to attain a broader objective. Two of GROVEWELL’s Global Leadership Programs provide examples. †¢Influencing Colleagues across Organizational Units Mindsets is primarily about influencing colleagues within global organizations, but is infused with the intercultural perspective. †¢Working Effectively on International Projects is primarily for the managers and staff of global projects; it, too, is infused with the intercultural perspective. Effective teamwork in Sainsbury: General theories of work design suggest that groups can humanize work with group tasks designed to create meaningful work. Team working is associated with higher job satisfaction according to job characteristics and participative management theories. The variety of tasks in teams encourages workers to learn and use different skills and rotate between jobs to reduce the boredom of repetitive work. This enables team members to share a sense of collective responsibility for work in their area and to develop the mix of skills necessary for effective work teams who share both identification with a common task and mutual beliefs. Teams also make possible employee participation in goal setting, thereby enhancing intrinsic motivation for team members. www. sainsburys. co. uk J Sainsbury plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 2005 accessed through www. sainsburys. co. uk) Effective teamwork in Tesco: We treat people how we like to be treated. We want our people to enjoy working at Tesco. Our people do a great job each and every day by giving our customers the best possible shopping trip. By creating an open e nvironment of trust and respect, our people feel supported, they share their knowledge and experience and work hard to give our customers great service. We support our people, trusting in their ability to deliver while helping them to reach their full potential. We encourage our people to learn on the job and take responsibility from day one. Giving our people an opportunity to get on in their careers is very important. With the increasing breadth of the Tesco business, our people have a great opportunity to develop their skills and experience across new product areas, services and countries. Every year, we build our plans for the year around our People Promises. We want all of our people across all of our markets to: †¢ be treated with respect; †¢ have an opportunity to get on; †¢ have a manager who helps them; and †¢ have an interesting job. It’s through our People Promises and our benefits package that we are proud to say that our people stay with us for a long time. Around half of our Director population has at least 12 years’ service. Effective teamwork in Asda: Asda changes Norman outlines – in the way people work together and communicate with each other – are more complex. The company’s goal is to become a genuine leader in fresh foods and clothing – making the George brand a ‘real brand’, second in the UK to Marks Spencer’s St Michael – and also to create an ‘organization which is the preferred place to work’, offering customer service ‘with a personality derived from the heart of the company’. One change has, accordingly, been in the approach to recruitment, which now aims to seek out people for the stores who really do want to serve the customers and who genuinely like selling. There is no point, he remarks, in employing people who won’t like the ‘Asda Way of Working’. This is the name given to the new approach, intended to transform the old culture, which had grown autocratic and slow-moving, to one where all members of Asda feel involved in improving the business – the equivalent, within the context of a corporation, of market-stallholders, who run their own show, and who engage actively with their customers. (http://www. managementtoday. co. uk/news/410110/UK-ASDAS-OPEN-PLAN Bibliography: Reference: 1. HNC, HND BTEC Business Course Book, Organization behavior, Unit-3, first edition September 2000, publishing BPP, ISBN 0 7517 70337. How to cite Understand the Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture., Papers

Saturday, May 2, 2020

What Place Do Animals Have In Our Society free essay sample

But the deeper I dug the more enlightened I became on the subject, which led me to ask myself the question that when it comes to animal abuse and/or animal cruelty what rights do animals actually have, if any, and what place do they have in our society? Historically, animals did not have any rights or a place in our society, since they were considered solely as â€Å"property†. Today, the courts still solve issues under the same concept as if they are â€Å"property†. Animals should not be considered as property they should be considered as part of the family, as for production animals they should be treated with the utmost respect, and testing on animals should be done away with. By definition animal abuse and/or animal cruelty is inflicting physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, usually a tame one, beyond necessity for normal discipline. It can include neglect that is so monstrous (withholding food and water) that the animals has suffered, died, or been put in imminent danger of death. Unknown, 2012) Sometimes these animals escape with minor or major injuries. Other times they die a horrible death. A common mistake that many pet owners make is, when they first bought their pets, they didn’t give a thought to whether their pets would take up their time or require lots of attention. Neither are they aware that their small, cute pet would grow to become bigger and less cute in a couple of months. Thus, they lose interest and some will decide to â€Å"set their pet free. Some of these innocent animals get tied up to a tree, torched alive, their tails cut off, and many more cruel things done to them. The luckier ones get sent to animal shelters where they have a second chance in finding a good home. Also, there are cases of animals being used for the testing of medicines, cosmetics, etc. (Unknown, ZKJ Designs, 2007) On November 11, 2011 the South China Morning Post featured an article titled â€Å"Animals deserve justice for abuse† and it stated that whe n it comes to pet lovers’ cruelty to animals is as traumatizing as violence committed against human beings. Such abuse cases are not being followed up by the law enforcement properly, which could be perceived as an animal’s life is less valuable. But the police have realized that there is a need to â€Å"beef up† the training in the way they handle these matters. The training will consist of how to ascertain if an animal has been injured by a person, another animal, or simply by accident. Only 70 out of 687 reports of cruelty to animals between the years of 2007-2010 were deemed to be enough evidence for prosecution. However, the first step is just better investigation. (South China Morning Post, 2011) The San-Antonio Express-News published an article titled â€Å"Violence against pets, people linked† on January 8, 2012 states that when Animal Care Services (ACS) specialists investigate animal cruelty cases, they sift for clues of other types of aggression. And its that instinct that kicked in when an ACS specialist investigated a case of a man that was accused of seriously injuring a 5-year-old schnauzer named Chester. A year ago, the accused man and his wife were arguing when he snatched the dog from the wife’s arms and slammed him against a bathroom wall and bathtub, which caused the dog to be paralyzed. The man was charged with cruelty to animals. Recent studies show that 80% of households with family violence also have animal abuse. An ACS team member stated that they don’t think people realize how widespread it is, and explained that domestic abusers sometimes use the threat of hurting animals to control their partners. The connection was made by Phil Arkow in the late 1980’s when he visited a women’s shelter. While he was waiting to speak he was looking through a newsletter with drawings by children and saw a lot of killed or injured pets. About 60 battered women shelters across the country have kennels. 1 states allow judges include pets in domestic violence protective orders. (Davis, 2012) Some forms of abuse and neglect of animals are illegal, but in many states, animals have no legal protection from â€Å"standard† practices. (Anonymous, 2012) The following is a list of some common cruel practices: ? Chaining dogs restricts their ability to exercis e ? Caging birds denies them the opportunity to fly or stretch their wings ? Declawing is a painful mutilation that involves 10 individual amputations—not of the nails only but the ends of the toes (bones and all) ? Ear cropping is done for cosmetic purposes only (Anonymous, 2002) Debarking involves the removal of 2 folds of tissues on either side of the larynx (Anonymous, 2002) ? Shock collars, electric fences, and prong collars are painful training devices ? Animal hoarding (Anonymous, 2012) Not all animals are equal: hundreds of millions of animals raised for food each year in Australia are denied the full protection of animal cruelty laws despite the knowledge that all animals share the ability to suffer. As a result, so-called ‘production animals’ endure intense confinement and surgical procedures without pain relief—all of which would be a cruelty offense if those same animals were dogs or cats. Each state and territory in Australia has enacted animal cruelty laws, which reflect our society’s opposition to animal cruelty. However, few in the community are aware that governments included exemption in that legislation which results in the vast majority of animals in human care—some 500 million animals that are raised for food each year—being denied the full protection of these laws so that cruel animal industries can maximize their profits. Instead of being protected by the law, so-called ‘production animals’ are subject to ‘Codes of Practice’ which exempt animal industries from prosecution for cruelty. Common practices on farms that cause immense suffering are legalized in these codes. As a result, millions of farm animals endure horrific living conditions and acts of abuse such as debeaking, dehorning, castration, and the cutting of tails and pulling out teeth without anesthetic, despite these practices being cruelty offenses if performed on cats or dogs. Cruel animal industries, retailers, and governments mislead the community to believe that these codes exist to ensure the welfare of animals—when in fact they are directly responsible for permitting cruel practices. These animals have no voice and they need ours to help them. Unkown, Animals Australia the voice for animals). Many animals are used in scientific and medical research. Animal experimentation is both cruel and sometimes unnecessary, and humans have no right to put innocent animals through such torture. Scientists often don’t benefit from testing on animals as they are so different from human beings and r eact differently to drugs. Results obtained from experimenting on animals are sometimes unreliable. There are numerous cases that highlight the absurdity of assuming that humans and animals have biology sufficiently similar for experimentation to yield useful results. For example, morphine calms humans but excites cats, cortisone causes birth defects in mice but not in humans, penicillin kills guinea pigs and hamsters and aspirin poisons cats. Certain steroids, adrenaline, insulin, and some antibiotics are also toxic to many animals but medically beneficial to humans. Not only are results obtained from animals testing sometimes unreliable, but animal testing puts animals through a lot of unnecessary suffering. Some tests that are commonly used include the Draize Eye Test, the Lethal Dose 50 Percent (LD50), and Skin Test for Toxicity. These tests are used in the general cosmetic industry and in the household products industry. The Draize Eye Test is used to test shampoos, weed-killers, pesticides, household detergents, and riot natural gases. The substances are applied to the eyes of conscious rabbits in order to test irritancy. Rabbits, dogs, cats, mice, and guinea pigs are used in the LD50 test, and it’s used to test lipstick, skin-care products such as: moisturizers, cleaners, shampoos, and nail polish. The LD50 test is administered by introducing the ingredients under investigation into the animal via the mouth or intravenously. The animal is fed up to 50 percent of its body weight and the aim of the test is to find the dose which will kill half the animal sample. For the test to be valid statistically, a minimum of 50 animals are required. Rats are used in the Skin Test for Toxicity test. Their fur is shaved and the substance to be tested is applied thickly to the exposed skin. The skin is frequently broken or cut to increase absorption. (Unkown) Although I disagree with testing on animals for any reason, using animals in research is a concern to some. However, the benefits derived from the ethical, humane use of laboratory animals for biomedical research are huge. Nearly every major medical breakthrough in the last 100 years has been achieved by research with animals. For example, vaccinations against smallpox, measles, mumps, diphtheria, and tetanus; development of anesthesia, antibiotics, and insulin; use of cardiac pacemakers and heart bypass surgery; surgical advancements for organ transplants, hip replacements, and cataract surgery; and treatments for a host of diseases, including diabetes, multiple sclerosis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and children’s leukemia were developed through animal testing. (Unknown, 2004) The replacement of animals in research is actually the aspiration of most medical researchers, because not a most scientist would use any animal if there were a choice. Biomedical research is aimed at alleviating both human and animal suffering through the development of new preventing and therapeutic agents. However, this aspiration cannot be achieved in the foreseeable future. All scientists who use animals are required to justify in great detail why there is no non-animal alternative and must describe how they are applying the â€Å"3Rs† (Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement) in their proposed studies. In particular, non-human primate models have played an important role in demonstrating, for example, the pre-clinical efficacy of novel drugs such as the highly effective agent tenofovir as well as the benefits of other strategies in the treatment and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Research using non-human primates also remains essential in the search for novel treatments for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s dementia (Furman, 2009). All seven of Scotland’s MEP’s (Member of the European Parliament) signed last year a declaration in the European Parliament seeking a ban, eventually, on primate testing. We all agree that the use of primates in experiments is regrettable; so do Scotland’s scientists. But, if there is an outside chance of a cure for cancer, Alzheimer’s, MS, motor neuron disease, infertility, or any number of human ailments then Mr. Parton, for his part, fall on the side of Scotland’s flourishing biotech sector continuing experiments, subject to strict controls, until we no longer have to (Parton, 2009). The concern is that there are many just like me that disagree with the abuse or cruelty of animals; however, we use the makeup, use the medication, and eat the food that if it were not for these animals, none of this would be here. We should ask ourselves what is it that we can do to help these animals since they did not volunteer to be food for humans or a test subject so we can look pretty. When it comes to testing on the animals for makeup, why can’t we use humans since they can volunteer their services? Dr. Ian Gibson, a member of the Commons’ Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee, said, â€Å"There is a great variety of impressive technologies to assess drugs in humans: the species in question. They deserve to be given a fair trial against animal tests, to find out whether they could do a better job of protecting patients. These new technologies coming through – using human tissue cells – mean we don’t need to go straight to animal testing. We have got locked into animal experiments as the only way. It’s still very important that we do that, but sometimes we don’t look at the alternatives. It states that one possible option is â€Å"micro dosing† – the practice of administering drugs in such low quantities that the effect can only take place at a cellular level, rather than on the organ or body as a whole. The dose is often administered to a tissue culture extracted from a human volunteer. (Adams, 2009) In conclu sion my position to animal abuse still stands the same that I for one am against it. However, unfortunately when it comes to ‘production animals’ or testing on animals I am standing on the fence. I know that if it were not for the testing on animals must of us humans would not be here today. And now when I sit down to eat a meal that contains meat I sometimes wonder if the animal that unwilling gave their life for me was ever abused at any time. References Unknown. (2007). ZKJ Designs. Retrieved 04 15, 2012, from http://www. nma. sg/nnmc2007/woodgrove/animalabuse. html South China Morning Post, L. (2011, November 11). LexisNexis Academic. Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://www. lexisnexis. com. proxy. itt-tech. edu/hottopics/lnacademic/? Davis, V. T. (2012, January 8). LexisNexis Academic. Retrieved April 23, 2012, from http://www. lexisnexis. com. proxy. itt-tech. edu/ Anonymous. (2012). Retrieved 03 26, 2012, from http://www. peta. org/issues/Companion-Animals/Cruel-Practices. aspx Anonymous. (2002). Retrieved 03 26, 2012, from http://www. vet4petz. com/articles/cosmetic_surgery. htm Unkown. (n. d. ). Animals Australia the voice for animals. Retrieved 04 15, 2012, from http://www. animalsaustralia. org/take_action/legal-protection/ Unkown. (n. d. ). Retrieved 04 15, 2012, from http://members. iinet. net. au/~rabbit/aniexp. htm Unknown. 2004, November 18). News Medical. Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www. news-medical. net/news/2004/11/18/6385. aspx Furman, B. L. (2009, January 10). Retrieved April 16, 2012, from http://www. lexisnexis. com. proxy. itt-tech. edu Parton, C. (2009, January 13). Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://www. lexisnexis. com. proxy. itt-tech. edu/hottopics/lnacademic/ Adams, S. (2009, January 25). The Telegraph. Re trieved May 07, 2012, from http://www. telegraph. co. uk/science/science-news/4339504/Human-alternatives-to-animal-testing-should-be-investigated-MPs-say. html