Psychology and Health Problems

Jennifer Graves The multifunctional model uses different factors from different types of influences, traits and behaviors to determine health conditions according to different influences, as well as susceptibility to illness. Each factor belongs to a group such as, biological and environmental factors, as well as personality, behavior, and stress. (Envied & Rather, 2010) Each group shows the factors and the behavior that can be harmful under that group. The multifunctional model shows the relation between psychology and medicine and how behavior and environment can influence health.The multifunctional model can be used in aiding diagnosis as the factors correlate to illness and health. The multifunctional model cannot diagnose illness or specify the diversity in people's overall health as it can only aid in helping diagnose illness. When a person contracts the cold or flu, which can be reflected in the model showing which influences were involved such as environment or biological. (E nvied ; Rather, 2010) Each factor plays an important role in relating to illness such as the biological group which consists of many different factors such as a family history of illness and individual medical history.Age and gender are important factors to consider when ruling out contracting illness biologically. Environmental factors include a wide range of factors from vehicular safety, to radiation exposure which can help to diagnose cancer and ailments from radiation poisoning. Coloratura factors are an important group of factors which include; socioeconomic status, family statistics as well as prejudice and discrimination. Socioeconomic statuses as well as family status are both psychological factors that can lead to illness.Under the personality group, there are several factors that can lead to stress. Anger, depression and anxiety are all behaviors that can lead to stress which are another group of factors entirely. Stress are daily hassles and life changes that although al one, may not lead directly to illness but when combined with other factors can help in diagnosing illnesses that are caused by multiple factors. The multifunctional model is used to analyze the correlation of the interaction of different factors to aid in diagnosis.In 2012, a study was done to test ethnic disparities in children's acute asthma through parental visits. (309 White, Puerco Rican, and African American families conducted) The test was to show the ethnic disparities in asthma cases through the parent's. (Isadora-Oracles, Fieldsman, Exercises , ; Spray, 2012)The methods of the study were a multi-factorial model which utilized structural equation modeling to investigate the association of children's acute asthma illness through parental representations, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics as well as health care providers.The results provided evidence of a 45 % variance in illness representations and 30 % of the illness representations was explained for whites, 23% for African Americans, and 26% for Puerco Ricans. The model accounted for % of the variances in acute visits for African Americans and Puerco Ricans but only 19 % for whites. In conclusion, the model provided support that ethnic heterogeneity in asthma illness representations affects the outcomes of children's health. Isadora-Oracles, Fieldsman, Exercises , ; Spray, 2012) The model helped prove the theory that many influences or factors including heredity and location, contributed in the outcomes of children's health. The combination and interaction of the factors in any model can be the contributing aspect of a diagnosis before any initial medical testing has been done. Psychology has played a large role in defining stress as a major factor in migraine headaches that affects 1 in 10 Americans. Migraines are intense headaches that usually occur on one side of the head that can last several days.Migraines are not well understood and it is believed that migraines are caused by a sero tonin imbalance which causes neurotransmitters to misfire. (Envied & Rather, 2010) Other studies have shown that migraines are also linked to brain lesions and incomplete artery structure. Researchers at the Gila institute in SAA Paolo, Brazil found that children with grains are much more likely to have behavior problems such as attention issues, anxiety, and depression. Other researchers, including Emily Bates, PhD have identified a gene mutation that also increases a person's susceptibility to migraines. What Causes Migraines? , 2013) Without understanding the psychological factors that cause migraines such as stress, and hereditary behavior, it would be much more difficult to diagnose the ailment as the psychological factors are Just as much of an influence, if not more. On of the main causes of migraines, which is also a warning sign is stress and anxiety. Psychology has also helped in the treatment of headaches as well. Recognizing that stress is one of the triggers of a migrai ne, behavioral methods such as relaxation training and biofeedback training are also helpful treatments. Envied ; Rather, 2010) Understanding the role psychological factors play in illness can help diagnose and treat the illness. Coronary heart disease is another illness mentioned in the text that can also be treated by understanding the underlying psychological factors that cause or trigger the illness. The list of factors for CHAD include, age and family, psychological conditions, lifestyle factors and type a behaviors as well as negative emotions. The majorities of the factors is psychological, or have psychological implications such as lifestyle factors.

How does Human Activities have an Effect on Climate Change?

â€Å"Humans are almost entirely the cause† of climate change, according to a scientist who once doubted that global warming even existed. As many scientists and physicists across the world believe that human activities contribute to climate change by causing changes in Earth’s atmosphere in the amounts of greenhouse gases, aerosols (small particles), and cloudiness. A recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that the largest known contribution comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases and aerosols affect climate by altering incoming solar radiation and outgoing infrared (thermal) radiation that are part of Earth’s energy balance. Furthermore, changing the atmospheric abundance or properties of these gases and particles can lead to a warming or cooling of the climate system. Since the start of the industrial era (about 1750), the overall effect of human activities on climate has been a warming influence. The human impact on climate during this era greatly exceeds that due to known changes in natural processes, such as solar changes and volcanic eruption. As a result it is clear why climate change has such a big impact on our planet and what it has in store for our future as well. It is caused by many reasons as stated above, with supporting evidence it no doubt that climate change is becoming serious as time passes. Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the greenhouse effect. Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Long-lived gases, remaining semi-permanently in the atmosphere, which do not respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature, are described as â€Å"forcing† climate change whereas gases, such as water, which respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are seen as â€Å"feedbacks. Many of these gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. The role of humans play a very important role in climate change, in its recently released a recent report called, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which states, a group of 1,300 independent scientific experts from countries all over the world under the auspices of the United Nations, concluded there's a more than 90 percent probability that human activities over the past 250 year s have warmed our planet. Furthermore, it concludes that the industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from 280 parts per million to 379 parts per million in the last 150 years. The panel also concluded there's a better than 90 percent probability that human-produced greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have caused much of the observed increase in Earth's temperatures over the past 50 years. They said the rate of increase in global warming due to these gases is very likely to be unprecedented within the past 10,000 years or more. Scientists have blamed human activities such as causing a negative effect on the planets natural resources such as increasing amount of greenhouse gases releasing into the atmosphere, burning more unnatural sources, and cutting down more forests. As a result, restricting the use of unnecessary resources and contributing to a cleaner process. Many reports state that when humans burn gasoline, coal, natural gas, and other common fuels to make electricity or drive cars, they release a substantial amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. For every gallon (or liter) of gasoline your car burns, 1300 times that volume of CO2 is released (a gallon of gas weighs about 6 pounds or 2. 8 kilograms, but the released CO2 would weigh over 19 pounds or 8. 75 kilograms). Greenhouse gases are emitted from power plants and cars, but also from landfills, from farms and cleared forests, and through other subtle processes. Many contributions and research have proven many of this facts one of them is the use of modeling with the aid of computers. To prove the case that climate change is mostly caused by humans, scientists had to take into account other factors: complicated atmospheric physics, the interactions between air and land and between air and water, changing amounts of ice and of desert and forest, and the natural processes that have changed the climate for 4. 54 billion years. To do all this, scientists recreate the crime scene. Because there’s only one Earth, they do that with computers. Climate scientists use powerful computers to construct models based on physics of the climate system. These models enable scientists to make predictions and test hypotheses about what processes affect the climate. These models are based on the fundamental of science, many of them include thermodynamic principles, orbital dynamics, and the balance of heat entering and leaving the atmosphere. Scientists can do experiments with these models that they can’t do on the planet. They can set the atmosphere to match conditions a century ago, and see whether the model’s predictions match what scientists measured at the time. And they can set the models to match conditions millions of years ago, to better understand how past climate changed. This allows them to verify that the models are accurate and to fine-tune the output. They can also remove the effects of human activities from the models, and see how much of the climate change they observe is still predicted by the models. As a result, there is very little time on what necessary steps must be taken in order to decrease the climate change and stabilize the amount of greenhouse gases omitted into the atmosphere. Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping therefore are resulting in an increase on the rate of global warming throughout the planet Climate scientists use powerful computers to construct models based on physics of the climate system. These models enable scientists to make predictions and test hypotheses about what processes affect the climate. Many hard proved evidence point to only one reason, which is towards human activities, resulting in a negative effect throughout the Earth’s atmosphere causing many disasters, climate change, raise in sea levels, and most importantly a threat to the human race, and other life forms.

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International marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International marketing - Assignment Example 67). The Coca-Cola brand is currently sold in over 200 countries. The Coca-Cola Company head quarter is situated in Atlanta, Georgia (Susan, Douglas &Samuel 2005, p.91). The company has as well employed over 300, 000 employees around the world. Over 70% of the company’s products are sold in international market. Due to its accessibility and subsidised cost, the brand has turned out to be one of the most preferred soft drink in the world. The company’s success in global market is significantly brought about by its effective globalisation strategies and strong foothold in many countries. The company’s main competitors are: Cadbury-Schweppes and PepsiCo. Coca-cola however clams over 47% of the global market, with PepsiCo and Cadbury-Schweppes claiming 21% and 8% respectively. The essay below therefore seeks to unveil the Coca-Cola Company standardisation strategy and its impacts to global market. ... The main aim of this strategy is to integrate its global operation by encouraging strong organisational culture. Coca-Cola Company has in the last 25 years systematically changed its standardisation strategy to meet market demands and customers’ needs (Calof & Beamish 2005, p. 131). 1996 standardisation strategy In 1996, the company adopted a very rigid standardisation strategy which was aimed at producing similar flavour of coke brand to all countries across the world. The company as a result produced Coca-Cola brand with similar quality, quantity, and content in all its global production plants (Coca-Cola website, 2012, par. 4). The bottle design and branding were as well identical. This strategy was different from the previous strategy which focused on producing dissimilar brand in different markets. The new strategy was therefore, represented by tagline â€Å"think global, act global†. The strategy proved to be very success in many parts of the world (Zyman 2009, P. 23). As a result, the company registered one of its highest profits in its history. In 1997, the Coca-Cola Company earned 67% of its total revenue. Standardising its products also popularised the company’s Coca-Cola products in global market. Standardising global finance Following the 1999 financial crises in Asian countries, the Coca-Cola Company decided to improve its strategy by standardising its global prices. This was due to the huge loss that was incurred by the company in 1999 financial year. The company witnessed a one third decrease in its profit. To prevent future loss, the company opted to harmonise the prices of its products in the world in order to dominate the global market. To ensure acceptability and profitability of the Coca-Cola brand, the company used loss

Tequila, Vodka, Rum and Cordials Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Tequila, Vodka, Rum and Cordials - Assignment Example The paper tells that Spirits and Wine remain much more important on the dollar share basis. For the past five years, the consumption of spirits and wine has been growing significantly while the rate of beer consumption has been on the decrease. Through the same trend, spirit brands of Tequila, Vodka, Rum, and Cordials have grown significantly in their popularity and sales. Each of these spirit brands has its unique history, Tequila, Vodka, Rum, and Cordials are subject to produce through similar methods. Variations may only occur in the raw materials and the skills employed in creating these portables, but the basic stages involved in their production of all these spirits brands follow the same methods of production. Tequila, Vodka, Rum and Cordial's spirit brands have their distinctive character, distinctive aroma, and distinctive flavors. Vodka has a distinctive aroma, taste, and character that make it unique and original in the market. Rum, is popular in South America is produced through distillation from fermented molasses or sugarcane with its light flavor making it a unique drink in the market. Tequila gets its popularity from the flavors it has and being a drink of Mexican origin adds to its popularity. Cordials enjoy its popularity from its sweet taste with flavors of various botanicals. Since each of these spirits has their unique flavors and history, it gets the attention of the consumers and thus contributing to their growth in the market.

Research Methods Law Term Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Methods Law Term Paper - Essay Example Moreover, this paper also shows different types of quantitative research and how it is helpful for findings and analysis of relevant data about the criminal justice. Discussion The aspect of criminal justice may entail the requirement of dealing with a few attractive dodgy characters. However, when it comes to conducting a research related to cases which are presented in the courts; two types of methodology are believed to assist to solve such crimes. The first is quantitative figures and statistics marked across graphs, charts, reports and spreadsheets which delivers indisputable confirmation of theories. Qualitative research techniques assist criminalists or investigators to recognize the reasons behind committing crimes and solves through case studies, interviews and profiling (Smith, Liu & Lindquist, 1988). Quantitative research techniques encompass the entire bases of scientific investigation and pairing mathematical perspectives with subjective data. A criminal justice professi onal may apply regression analyses to utilize inductive reasoning, calculate timelines, place people and proofs in context to the concerned circumstance and make non-biased evaluations. Operating computer models, analyzing evidences and implementing systematic as well as personality tools assists the criminalists to understand the suspect well enough to depict their attitudes which helps to portray scenarios of case studies as well as test theories and further assists to solve cases (DiCristina, 1997). Criminalist is an individual who is considered to be quite proficient in collecting and examining physical evidences of crime. Criminalists utilize quantitative techniques to ensure confidences regarding inductive statistics, Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and ballistic tests, proof-based comparisons, crime-based neighborhoods and family demographics, previous offenders’ data, crime mappings, meta analyses, computer based structures and evaluations of anthropological data which ar e believed to be associated with forensic tests (Higgins, 2009). Survey Research: In this method, a research technique dependent on survey is utilized in case of criminal justice which concentrates on the use of statistical data. Hypothesis needs to be developed through this type of research which primarily deals about the way a given population is likely to react to different issues in criminology. According to the survey research program of â€Å"Sam Houston State†, it has been found that the primary objective of survey research is to notify the general public as well as public officials with an exact picture of attitude regarding various types of crimes and several ethical as well as legal issues within the organizations associated with criminal justice. There are three methods of survey research for instance personal interview, mail questionnaire and telephone survey. This type of research is considered to be quite essential as it can deliver legislators the various forms of actions which can be undertaken concerning different significant issues which affect the aptitude of bureaucrats’ related to law enforcements for carrying out businesses (Sukamolson, 2012). Time Series Research: This technique is designed for conducting researches on criminal justice and

Words of the Bewitched in Bridget Bishop Assignment

Words of the Bewitched in Bridget Bishop - Assignment Example This affirmed the fears of the witnesses that indeed the Bishop was a witch. Each witness had an account different from the next, all of which were related to an interaction with the Bishop. In most of the testimonies, the unsuspecting culprits would welcome the Bishop into their homes as a visitor or simply interact with her as they would any other villager. However, the more her visits became, the more their miseries increased. This showed them that the torments would not have been instances of accidents but was well planned and the culprits carefully selected. The Bishop’s gender contributed to the accusations against her. Being a woman, she had gained so much influence and was living on her own. This was not common with the villagers. On the trial day, a body search revealed shambled body parts that did not resonate with the physique of a woman. A teat that was found mysteriously disappears right in the sights of her searchers. This is an occurrence that she could not let herself out of. The presence of puppets made of rugs and hogs bristles with headless pins on them were found in her house. These were weird things that the witnesses could not fathom. Their presence in her home and lack of a proper explanation of their use worsened the case against her. The bench of female jurists thus made the ruling of guilt against her based on the amount of evidence. To protect one from being accused of witchcraft, all it took was the courage to sign a book. The Bishop refused to sign this book. This is an act that proved her among the villagers as an outright witch. She could not thus be accused of routine misconduct. Furthermore, the accusation leveled against her and the following testimonials were unique in that they involved strange occurrences that inflicted pain and torture on her culprits. A large number of her culprits and the intensity of their predicament could not help matters for the Bishop either.

Change Management towards a Successful Merger Essay

Change Management towards a Successful Merger - Essay Example This will be achieved by undertaking a questionnaire based survey in organisations that have undergone mergers and by undertaking in-depth analyses of case studies selected using non-probability sampling methods. There are limitations to using both questionnaires and the non-probability sampling methods, however by contacting the human resources departments, the study is increasing the probability of gaining a valid response; and whilst the non-probability sampling method may not produce statistically significant results, the case studies are part of a qualitative study, and it would be beyond the scope and resources of this study to undertake a study that would produce statistical significance. Organisational values are more important in the personal and societal context within which business operates. It is becoming more important to identify the organisation and what it stands for the customer, and these values are important to the majority of stakeholders (Barrett). Organisational culture is also important for determining an organisation's capacity, effectiveness and longevity (Woodbury 2006), and it also contributes significantly to the organisation's brand image. When this culture does not align with mission, core values, and operational strategy it can turn into a significant liability for the organisation, and this is more pronounced when the organisation undergoes change (Woodbury 2006). Therefore culture change is a result of the organisation moving away from its original mission, goals, and strategies, a process which is more associated with mergers. When the culture change occurs the organisation has to focus on building the values of the new organisation and th is involves; making the organisation's values meet the society's expectations, making values meet the needs of new shareholders, attracting the best people/employees for the organisation and retaining the best people (Barrett). Value building is even more important when an organisation is undergoing a culture change as it can affect how existing employees feel about the organisation and it will also affect the ability of the organisation to attract the best employees. Research has shown that corporate performance is strongly correlated with employee fulfilment, with 39% of corporate performance variability being attributed to the personal fulfilment of employees (Barrett). Employee fulfilment is also strongly correlated with the leadership skills and emotional intelligence of managers, with 69% of employee fulfilment variability being attributed to qualities of leadership of the manager or supervisor (Barrett). With these figures, organisations need be aware of the mechanisms for value building and culture change which include ensuring employee fulfilment by providing: physical fulfilment (remuneration, canteen, gym), emotional fulfilment (professional growth, work appreciation), mental fulfilment (accountability, creativity and personal growth), spiritual fulfilment (opportunity to be service) (Barrett). During a change management process, the organisation undertakes a variety of processes to make this process effect. The engineering process of value building

Government Spending and Price Levels Term Paper

Government Spending and Price Levels - Term Paper Example A part of the consumer’s income is taxed. Let the fixed rate of tax be t. Then the savings can be written as S = (1-t)Y-C+ tY-G. Consumption can be written as C=c(1-t)Y, c is the marginal propensity to consume. Therefore, S=(1-c)(1-t)Y-tY-G. Let us concentrate on the monetary side. The assumption here is that the supply of money (M) is determined by the central bank. The consumer’s decision on their holdings is the sole driving force behind the demand for money. The consumers allocate a part of their wealth as currency and the remaining part in the form of bonds. It is expected that an increase in the interest rate will induce consumers to keep a smaller proportion of their income as currency which, in turn, reduces the demand for money. An expansionary monetary policy will reduce the interest rate and increase output in the short run while an expansionary fiscal policy will do just the opposite (Weins, n.d.). A reduction in marginal propensity to save will increase the rate of interest along with the output. A shock of drop in consumer’s confidence will have its effects on savings, investment, money supply and demand assuming rate of interest and output remains constant. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009, p. 1) The original point A is still equilibrium of the money market. Therefore, the LM curve must include point A. But investment is same as before but savings has increased. So the point A which originally was in the IS curve is now a point where S>I. If there is movement to the right from A, then interest rates and investments are same and savings increases due increase in output. This will make the savings even bigger and so the actual movement should have been to the left of A. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009, p. 1) An increase in money supply will have no effect on savings and investment or demand for money. Therefore, savings and investment will remain the same and so IS curve must include point A. Keynesian model of cross planned expenditure The cross planned expenditure is given by Ep. Ep= C+I+G. Investment Demand Schedule (Cooke, 2010, p. 10) Ip is planned investment. Ep=E(Y,r,G,T)=C(Y-T)+Ip(r)+G Keynesian Cross (Cooke, 2010, p. 12) Government Spending (Cooke, 2010, p. 13) Phillips Curve The relationship between inflation and unemployment is represented through Phillip’s curve. There is a relation between the prices charged by the company and the wages. (Hoover, n.d.) Suppose the government plans for an expansionary fiscal and monetary policy in order to bring the unemployment below the natural rate. This results in increase in demand conditions. The firms are encouraged to raise the prices. The rate of increase in prices is faster than that anticipated by the workers. Workers in this situation are likely to suffer from money illusion. They witness a rise in the wage rate and thereby supplies more labor. This results in fall unemployment rate (Liaudes, 2005, p. 31). Imperfect Information The real economy is significantly affected by monetary policy in the short run. The non-neutral effects of monetary policy rise because of temporary nominal price rigidities. The short term interest rate is taken as the instrument of monetary policy. The Central Bank should adjust the nominal rate so that it cannot offset the movement in expected inflation. The nature of the disturbances has a role to play in this part. The Central Bank may not

The French Reign of Terror Essay Example for Free

The French Reign of Terror Essay As if the French Revolution were not enough, the French people having endured decades of irresponsible governing and political unrest were plunged into another nightmare of drastic proportion. Indeed, in today’s terms the French terror would be called an act of genocide. The Reign of Terror is synonymous with one man in particular: Maximilien Francois Marie Isidore Robespierre. Robespierre was born in Arras on 5 May 1758, to an advocate father but was brought up by relatives along with three siblings after the tragic death of his mother in 1767. Robespierre himself qualified as an advocate in 1781 and exhibiting profound oratory prowess he became a successful advocate. His fascination of social theory grew into a form of a hobby with his chief mentor being the French philosopher Jean Jaques Rousseau. Robespierre joined a group that became known as the Jacobin Club, of which he was nominated president. This group of intellectuals were often referred to as â€Å"The Incorruptibles† and along with Petion de Villeneuve, the two men became patriotic to the company of France. At this stage, war with Austria was imminent. In June of 1791 King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette attempted to defect and Robespierre’s former support for the monarchy dwindled. The Duke of Brunswick made full use of this political unrest and together with Prussia and certain non-patriotic French threatened France with annihilation should anyone oppose his entry into France (Age of the Sage, 2008). The Reign of Terror lasted from September 1793-July 1974 and was largely due to the philosophical belief that the guillotine and execution, although terrible and extreme, was necessary for the building of a pure French nation. Rousseau, the philosopher held the belief that no man is inherently evil or born evil, but that society makes them evil. This gives rise however to old argument of whether the chicken or the egg came first. So an estimated 16 000 people between these dates were guillotine in an effort to purge the nation of the trouble makers and rabble of society from January. The corruption that settled into France after the execution of the monarchs, questioned whether or not the monarchy had been so bad after all, since the battles between Austria and France were not in Frances’ favour, those that appeared to be siding with the enemy were, of course disposed of by the Jacobin Assembly. The Committee of Public safety, of which Robespierre and his colleague Danton were influential, ruled France from January of 1793, but it was only in September that the mass executions began in earnest. The Assembly passed from Danton to Robespierre and the real collapse of Robespierres reign of terror came to an abrupt and grotesque end when he condemned his two friends Danton and Desmoulins ( The France of Victor Hugo). At this stage the obvious pressure of power and worse still of maintaining power had taken its toll on the diverse Robespierre. By some misfortune, he believed his own fellow comrades to be conspiring against him. This scenario is not unlike that of the German autocrat Adolph Hitler, whose mantra and volatile personality played out in a similar fashion. The connection is that they both were intent on ‘purging’ their countries and were staunch defenders of their nationality. The simple paranoia that had gripped Robespierre was defined by rumor alone, when it was heard that Danton had been taking bribes from officials and the monarchy, whether or not this was true is met with considerable skepticism. Desmoulin had the misfortune of having sided with Danton on a completely different subject altogether. The fact that he sided with Danton once must surely mean that he is acting in the same way as Danton and is therefore also not adverse to corruption. The cycle of paranoia is in the end the very rationale that sent Robespierre to his death on 28 July 1794 (Ibid. ). The rationale used by Robespierre was one of intense self-delusion. The only man to decide what was right and what was wrong, he allowed no other arguments to sway his opinion. With the death of his two friends, he had crossed the barrier between seeking what was good and right for the people and what satisfied himself. In modern terms he could be termed Narcissistic, a disorder associated with many of the modern autocrats including Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein. That there was something wrong with the ideology of purging the nation may not have been the chief problem, the problem was his meteoric and shadowed rise to power. At this stage some of the members of the Committee planned the coup of Robespierres power, fearing their own lives to be in danger. He was arrested the day before his execution, the Committee not leaving room for his defense or release (Ibid. ). But Robespierre did not go to the guillotine alone, nineteen followers were also sentenced, including Louis St Just and Georges Couthon (Age of the Sage, 2008) A moral question inevitably rears its head within the context of the story of Robespierre: at what stage does a good idea become a horribly bad one? At what stage does one the power of a group of people pass to one person, and why? Moral high-ground in this case argues that yes, society should be purged of those who corrupt it, but who is granted the soul power with which to judge these people? In addition to this is the philosophical question Robespierre himself might have asked: what are the just deserts? Just deserts, contemplated by the ancient philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle would say that to each person should be given the penalty they deserve for the crime they committed. A person convicted of treason of felony, would be measured not in the same way as one convicted for murder. This would not give Robespierre or his compatriots grounds by which to execute those who have not committed murder, or those who cannot be tried beyond reasonable doubt for what they have allegedly done. This was Robespierres prime downfall. But Robespierre was not alone in his plight to rid France of the corrupt. He numbered about 19 supporters close to him. Along with Danton and Desmoulins was also the likes of Marat and the upstart St Just and Couthon. St Just and Couthon were bothe guillotined with Robespierre on that fateful July day. Robespierre is quoted as having said in a proposal to the deputation at Aisne, In the situation in which it now is, gangrened by corruption, and without power to remedy it, the Convention can no longer save the republic; both will perish together. (Morris, 2007). Jean Paul Marat, a Swiss born doctor, died not long after the start of the Reign of Terror, when he was assassinated by Charlotte Corday in his apartment. Marat had suffered a debilitating skin disease contracted from hiding out in sewers after the execution of the monarchy. Because he opposed the trial and guillotining of his king and queen, he was hated by the ruling party of the parliament at the time, the Girondins and had been on the run since his outspokenness regarding the lack of justice in the parliament. The Jacobin Club of course welcomed him whole-heartedly as an alliance, but after his tragic stabbing, the leading forces of the Committee began to weaken. With Danton and Robespierre now the main voices for the cause it was not long before the rot would set in (NNDB, 2008). Jean Jacques Danton had also opposed the trial of the king and had also pleaded for the release of his friend Marat, long before the execution of the monarch’s occurred. Although he was allied to Robespierre, he did not consider him to be terribly bright, yet saw him in this manner as a good scapegoat in the face of the new decision to purge France. To Danton’s demise, Robespierre had his moment of revenge when he ordered Danton’s execution. But Danton died with one phrase that would soon prove to be right, I leave it all in a frightful welter, he said; not a man of them has an idea of government. Robespierre will follow me; he is dragged down by me. Ah, better be a poor fisherman than meddle with the government of men! (NNDB, 2008). Camille Desmoulins and his wife Lucille were both executed by the maniacal Robespierre along with Danton. He was a writer and as a result had great power to boost or shatter any government or parliament. More a friend of St Just than Robespierre, he was accepted into the fold of Jacobin Assemblies and continued to write in favour of the purge of France. Also a fan of Jean Jaques Rousseau, Desmoulins used Rousseau’s statement â€Å"burning is not answering†, to the indignant Robespierre on the day he ordered the burning of Desmoulins Vieux Cordelier. At this stage both St Just and Robespierre were becoming too fundamentalist about their pursuits, using unnecessary means to order the execution of civilians on a whim rather than because they had grievously damaged the Assembly (NNDB, 2008). Memoirs written in a dissertation called Memoirs From Beyond The Grave, by Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand recalls the life of a noble man returning to Paris after the revolution. The excerpt it cutting and altogether rather frank in its description of the Paris under Terror. â€Å"In 1792, when I returned to Paris, it no longer exhibited the same appearance as in 1789 and 1790. It was no longer the new-born Revolution, but a people intoxicated, rushing on to fulfil its destiny across abysses and by devious ways. The appearance of the people was no longer curious and eager, but threatening. The kings flight on June 21, 1791, gave an immense impulse to the Revolution. Having been brought back to Paris on June 25, he was dethroned for the first time, in consequence of the declaration of the National Assembly that all its decrees should have the force of law, without the kings concurrence or assent. I visited several of the Clubs. The scenes at the Cordeliers, at which I was three or four times present, were ruled and presided over by Dantona Hun, with the nature of a Goth. Faithful to my instincts, I had returned from America to offer my sword to Louis XVI. , not to involve myself in party intrigues. I therefore decided to emigrate. Brussels was the headquarters of the most distinguished emigres. There I found my trifling baggage, which had arrived before me. The coxcomb emigres were hateful to me. I was eager to see those like myself, with 600 livres income. My brother remained at Brussels as an aide-de-camp to the Baron de Montboissier. I set out alone for Coblentz, went up the Rhine to that city, but the royal army was not there. Passing on, I fell in with the Prussian army between Coblentz and Treves. My white uniform caught the kings eye. He sent for me; he and the Duke of Brunswick took off their hats, and in my person saluted the old French army†(De Chateaubriand, 1802). In his memoirs, the division in France was obvious, and was not to die even in the writings observed by the writer Alexandre Dumas, whose book The Three Musketeers, bravely holds to the army of the king. The state of France was not only thwarted by impending attacks of Austrian and Prussian power but also threatened by the Terror from within its country, which had originally formed in order to prevent the breaking up of the unity France had tried to maintain. Bertrand Barere de Vieuzac remembers the succession of the Robespierre Triumverate and the request to disband the law of violence as a means to control and prevent further deterioration of the already fragile climate. De Vieuzac had been a member of the Committee and Constituent Assembly: â€Å"As for the Committee of Public Safety, they stated that they had played no role in the matter, and disowned the law completely. Everyone agreed that it would be revoked the next day. After this decision, Robespierre and Saint-Just stated that they would put the matter before the public. They stated that it was perfectly clear that a party had been created to ensure immunity for the enemies of the people and that in this way, Libertys most ardent friends would be lost. But, they said, they would know how to protect the good citizens against the combined maneuvering of the two governmental committees. They departed, threatening members of the committee, including Carnot, among others, whom Saint-Just called an aristocrat and threatened to denounce to the Assembly. It was like a declaration of war between the two committees and the triumvirate. †(De Vieuzac, 1842: 205-206). Another memoir that relates the opposite side of the field are from the Nationalist movement, those opposing Robespierre. Marthurin de Lescure recalls how he stood up against the Triumverate and by some miracle was not executed for his beliefs. His prime argument was that a man cannot be persecuted on the grounds of hi opinion. He remembers the idea of persecution of civilians and parliamentarians simply because their opinion differed from that of Danton and Robespierre: â€Å"Bentabolles proposition requesting a report on my motion was rightfully argued against, since the freedom of opinion is the right of a representative of the people, and that without this freedom, the entire State would be oppressed. Also, far from wanting either a report or a decree on this matter, I proposed that only those who were against this sacred right receive a punishment. In addition, Bentabolles language made it clear how the Montagnards judged the silence of their colleagues on their right. They called them the weak beings, a name which, if they were right, was a serious charge against us, since we were sent by the Nation to uphold its interests. To neglect those interests, or sacrifice them through weakness, would have been a real failure to do our duty. But we only had the appearance of weakness, because, not being able to fight the follies of the Mountain under pain of death, our inertia was but a great strength. We preferred the dangers, the disrespect, the humiliations with which we were bombarded, than giving in to being accomplices of the Mountain for our own safety. Nothing was easier for us than to line up in the reassuring ranks of our dominators. But the price to pay for this peace was worse than death. . . . There was, in the space that separated the Right from the Mountain, a spot in the hall that was called the stomach. Those that sat there were not of the Right, they did not share in our humiliations, but neither did they have the courage to disprove the evil done by the left side by sitting so close. They had nonetheless the silly pride to call themselves wiser that those on their right, even though they were less courageous, and alone deserved the name â€Å"weak beings. †Ã¢â‚¬ (de Lescure, 1881: 410-413). I the end, Robespierre had his day, and it was an entirely necessary part of the French history from the point of view that it draws attention to the dangers of radicalism. It draws the realization that power is both fixating and damaging. Robespierre has unfortunately been reincarnated in the form of Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein and in time has become the most hated and strangely respected man in French history. The French Terror lasted a maximum of 15 months but killed more than 16 000 people in a vain attempt to rid society of corruption. It is not unlike the ideas of the ancient philosophers, but it has to be remembered that what works in theory may not work in reality. Sources: Bertrand Barere de Vieuzac, Memoires de B. Barere, membre de la constituante, de la Convention, du Comite de Salut public, et de la Chambre des representants, vol. 2 (Paris: J. Labitte, 1842), 205–6. Translated by Exploring the French Revolution project staff from original documents in French found in John Hardman, French Revolution Documents 1792–95, vol. 2 (New York: Barnes Noble Books, 1973), 250. â€Å"Camille Desmoulins†, â€Å"Georges Jacques Danton† and â€Å"Jean Paul Marat†. 2008. NNDB. Accessed: 11 February 2008. (http://www. nndb. com/people/480/000097189/)(http://www. nndb. com/people/658/000092382/ ) (http://www. nndb. com/people/630/000092354/)

Ihrm In The Multinational Context Today Commerce Essay

Ihrm In The Multinational Context Today Commerce Essay The back bone of an organization is its human resource management thus within an organization HRM activities include human resource planning, staffing, performance management, Training and development, compensation and benefits, Industrial relations. Having these things in hand HRM then walks in to International with IHRM. The class discussion was lead under the main topics of Defining key IHRM terms (HRM, IHRM, HCN, PCN, TCN, Expatriates and impetrates) which gave me a broader understanding on the basis of what IHRM really meant. The lecture further explained on review expatriate management evolution which gave us the understanding of the review trends in the international management. Then the discussion moved in to understanding the difference between domestic and international HRM, the functions and the differences these two has was then clearly brought out with examples. Then the discussion linked in to discovering the increase complexity and potential challengers of current IHRM. The importance of the topics guided me to think critically on how it could be implemented to the work place performance. Having being able to use the knowledge what I learnt in class at my work place gave me a real life experience. Learning outcome of the increased travels, advancement of global technology telecommunication, the rapid development of new technologies, the impacts of free trade, the effectiveness of new education system further helped me to advance my knowledge in IHRM context. Learning of global village lead me in further search on new market performance when a company is thinking global and it helped me to significantly comprehend when I need to converge with global lifestyle and values during my performance at my work place. Most importantly at the use of E- Commerce to lower the cost being business globally helped me when I had to communicate with the upstream customers in negotiation on purchasing products. When working in a multinational company IHRM can be implemented in many ways thus it would implemented to my work by assisting me when I need a broader perspectives on curtain things. When handling the boarder external influences this would be very important. I will also be exposing to risks in the field and this knowledge would enhance me with what I have to do when an IHRM issue comes up. In analysis the learning outcome of the session brought out a vast knowledge in IHRM mainly focusing on the IHRM in the multinational context. The inter relationship in approaching to the field with the idea of domestic and international IHRM brought out a very argumentative yet very interesting points and examples to prove the importance of it as a whole. 3.0 Cultural differences Sri Lanka is a country which is originated from a collectivist culture however the counties culture has now evolved more in to individualistic subcultures which had become more powerful in certain cities i.e. Colombo compared to Anuradhapura. The cultural dimensions in a country has a greater impact when discussing, the focusing on the individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, short term vs. long term orientation, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femminity. (Hofsted) The video which was showed to us in class on Saudi women and their ability to educate themselves cleared us on that they have their own freedom to learn, Islamic word explains it to everyone. The discussion then moved to understanding limited dimensions as a critical analysis and brought out the fact that conquering nature is an approach to certain societies which lead to an interesting argument on how nature can bring out different dimensions. Then the atmosphere of the class turned in to an exciting point where counter agreements came up with general beliefs and how it deprives with trust. I.e. when the society is driven as being bad it is a good opportunity for the lawyers to succeed. The discussion further evolved around how Japaneses people around the world has more respect to the history of them and how people believe that they are more trustworthy. Understanding of different cultural dimensions in IHRM context helped me significantly as I had to communicate and make purchases from different cultured individuals around the world at my work place. Knowing from what country that supplier comes from and what context he belongs to I can adjust the way I think when dealing. I now have an understanding on the cultural differences globally and it helps me to respect each culture as it is a crucial thing in culture. My broader perspective helps me to make a difference in day to day work place performance. In analysis the overall cultural differences which are unique to each country brought up the idea that it is significant when communicating and making agreements globally and how human nature would effect to the overall outcome of the company cultural perspective. 4.0 The organizational context This weeks lecture was based on organizational context and the class discussion went ahead relating to a case study on how Chinese companies work in western counties. Then we discussed on how the global matrix structure coordination and corporation is highly needed in an organization. Then the organizational context as a whole was discussed with regard to the path to the global status. Then the class argued on how does a networked organization bring strength and good will to a company and the answer was with a lot of understanding and negotiation companies can differentiate work, responsibilities and authorize them across the network subsidiaries only then a company could cherish its strengths and good will. Controlled mechanism was then added in to the discussion to see how the formal and informal mechanisms within the organization coordinately function when going global. Global area division structure became the next sub topic conversation in relation to how it is geographically implemented in the organizational context i.e. within these structures political problems occurs turf battle is one of those on which colleagues fight on who get the opportunity first and on the contrarily when a hot issue comes along nobody will be waiting to take it which will cost in loss of accountability. The discussion became very interesting as I could relate some of my work experience to the debate as I know that having a good knowledge of the organizational context I can make decisions which could bring profit to the organization. This would further enhance on my experience when I relate what I have learnt in class without any issue. Having a good understanding on the organizational context it is easy for me to avoid risky situations where I might end up doing something that would ruin the image of the organization and my skill level. In my point of view I believe that understanding on the organizational context is very important to a business personal as they should be trained to face any problems within the organization through such a thing. The structural responses to international growth, Control and coordination mechanisms, including cultural control and effect of responses on human resource management approaches and activities had critically analyzed on how the organizational context should be functioning. 5.0 HRM in the Host Country Context International human resource management has become one of the most important subjects in the degree as it had brought many of us the intelligence of how to deal with human resources when working in a subsidiary. The class discussion took off with describing the Standardisation and localisation of HRM practices,Factors driving these, Retaining, developing and retrenching local staff, The HR implications of language standardisation and Monitoring the HR practices used by intl subcontractors. The hamlets question standardize or not to standardize HRM? Was put across to the students to argue by bringing up their own justifications. As Mr. Chandana would always recommend the students to do so. He expects us to answer with deep understanding of the broader perspective. The breakdown of IHRM was then elaborated to us with its segments of Host country, parent country and third country nationals. When elaborating the Host country national HSBC (the worlds local bank) can be taken as an example where HSBC practice a standardized culture as a host country company. This is done in order to capture the market within a shorter period of time. Uniliver is another company which would use the localization aspect when it comes to marketing as they bring out the village atmosphere in most of their advertisements. Nestle however stands at standardization in marketing methods. The strategy most of the foreign company s uses to get close to the host country is by getting along with their culture and lifestyles i.e. HSBC. Thus it will lead a very strong business relationship among the country and the company as well as the parent country. In contrary at some point even though they make it visible to the out sides that they are using the customs in with the host county culture, It comes out otherwise when they malpractice cultural values. Then standardization vs. Localization took in to discussion making everyone speak up of their own view. Where everyone understood that companies go through various marketing campaigns to localize their product yet keep the internal culture standardizes i.e. the dress code, believes of standard charted bank is standardized all over the country The best part being a student of Mr. Chandana Kumara is that for every answer or argument we come up with we are presented with some marks. This motivates a lot of students and at the same time it helps the students to understand on the topic much more clearer than when he just teach the subject. When foreign companies start recruiting the local human resource they would first mold the local the way they want this is done so that they can practice the same policys around the world, It will further help them and to us to make the decision making process easier. This is done in order to retain and develop the person as well as the organization. Furthermore we were asked to come up with what extend the localization is imposed and to what extend the standardization is imposed. It is a must for a HRM to support the corporate Operations and HRM should go line in line and to an extend both localization and globalization should go in order to retain the market leadership. Thus its the only way to have a successful approach. Companies move in to villages as a strategic objective i.e. HNB gami pubudu. Branch managers being recruited with different criterias. I.e. Salary, expertise and culture. HR has described on 5 s, quality circle, 6 sigma. (High quality products) Sunlight is another global product where global products being localized has brought out significantly. It was truly a privilege to have being in the class as I have learnt a lot out of it and at the work place I saw certain things that can be implemented and this discussion helped me to understand the process and way . The overall class has knowledge and we believe that Mr. chandana has done a very great job. In the analysis of the days session we can now come to a conclusion that even though a company can stay standardizes it is essential for them to look in to Host-country culture workplace environment in regard to Mode of operation, involved Size and maturity of the firm, Relative importance of the subsidiary. Only then a successful host country context can be seen through a company. 6.0 Sustaining International Business Operations and staffing As a full time working student Thursday nights seem to be long but the moment I step in to the class our lecture pitch a high note. This had always being a wakeup call for me. Thus the discussion took in to place and this time its quite different as Staffing approaches, Reasons for Intl assignment, Types of intl assignments, Role of expatriate, non-expatriates and corporate HR took off and I loved it because I can imagine what is happening at my work place and relate it to the lecture. As Mr. Chandana would say relate my lectures to real life experience The discussion took lead with understanding PCN (Expatriates) to understand the talent available from them impact to the performance of the organisation and how it could be of use to greater control over the others. PCNs could bring alot of company experience and their special talent of mobility has a greater impact in the organisation. On the other hand this could be looked in to as experience provided to corporate executives. I.e. The CEO at Ceylon Tobacco Company is British and he is an expatriate who has given a task from the British American Tobacco company. Working with him at CTC has made me understand the true nature of an expat the way he behaves and the way he relates to the company culture is just the right experience I get. Speaking of HCN (Locals) it is quite a different approach as they would know what is happening in the culture aspect preference aspect and the intimate knowledge of the environment. They would be masters in language skills to make the company perform w ell when working with HCNs and TCNs. Our supply chain director is from Bangladesh and he is the best example I could find for a TCN he has Broad experience as he worked in Pakistan Tobacco Company and now working at Ceylon Tobacco Company with a broader perspective in international outlook, multilingualism. The discussion then moved to factors affecting approaches of staffing which elaborated on Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Geocentric and Regiocentric which focuses on positioning subsidiaries. The reasons for international assignments was then taken in to consideration with regard to Position filling, Management development and Organizational development , when an expatriate is working in an organization to full fill above reasons they would also undergo mental stress as Home and family issues frequent absences , Work arrangements domestic side of position still has to be attended to, Travel logistics waiting in airports, etc., Health concerns poor diet, lack of sleep, etc. and Host culture issues limited cultural training come in to action. The role of expatriates differ vasty when compared to the role of non expatriates who do not relocate to another country, the only reason they would go to another country is for business meetings and periodic visits to foreign operations , so the stress level is less. Therefore we can now understand the importance of expatriates in a sustaining international business operation as his unique effort of playing different roles Agent of direct control, Agent of socialization, Network builder, Boundary spanner, Language node and Transfer of competence and knowledge leads the company to a better passion in the global market situation. According to Charles M. Vance (2006) as with all other management decisions and practices, global staffing should be linked to the overall strategy and the objective of the multinational enterprises. These strategies and objectives are of cause influenced by and set within the context of overall business environment. This weeks lecture was an interesting and a important leasson about recruiting staff for international assignments. working and exposing my self in a forign country as an employee will give me a different experience rather than being a tourist. Working in a alian soil wont be a simple task due to the culture, demographic, social interfierences and the mantality has to compete with their environment. according to Dessler (2003) he has identified five important personalities that would need to be considered when selecting a manager for a foreign assignment they are job knowledge and motivation, relational skills, flexibility, extra cultural openness and finally family situation. If we consider Desslers points almost all the recruits have an idea about the job they also motivated and they also have relational skills but most of them dont have flexibility in the sense they cant adjust to the alien environment. Also most of the recruits go through a cultural shock which almost led them to withdraw for the host country. And finally the family situations, as we all are from the Asian region; we belong to a collectivist cultural dimension we expect and like to live with the family and be a part of it. Especially when it comes to a females perspective unlike the western world most of the Asian women are married and committed to their family and children, in a situation like this most of Asian woman will be reluctant to take the opportunity even its a better offer or else they make an early return. Mr. Chandana also explained the above mentored criterias also can be known as expatriate failure. He also mentioned most of all cultural shock plays important role in expatriate failure. Cultural shock also can turn a good employee to a worst employee. Also he explained how some employees adjust themselves with the culture and overcome the situation. Basically in a phase on cultural adjustment there are four stages, those are entering the culture, facing the cultural shock, accepting or exiting the culture, adjusting to the host culture. By reviewing the class discussion I understood when a company selects its employee on a foreign recruitment it has to spend fair amount of time in selecting the correct candidate also they have to take some counter measures like training the candidate properly and making awareness of the host culture and the job specification. By taking these counter actions the company can increase in its productivity and efficiency. As a conclusions from this discussion I learnt how important is to select a proper candidate for an international assignment. Also as an IHRM student I understand the importance of knowing the alien culture and work environment and adjust to accomplish my goals and to do a better job. 7.0 Training and Development The lecture took off at 6.00pm and everyone is ready for another session of arguments examples and real life experience stories. This weeks lecture was based on Training and developing the individuals who falls under International Human Resource management. We were thus made to understand that within a global market more firms are focusing on human resources as a critical part of their competence and as a source of competitive advantage. In order to do so a firm must focus on the Role of expatriate training, Components of effective pre-departure programs, The effectiveness of pre-departure program, Developing staff though intl assignment and Trends in Training and development. In order to develop the Human resource a company must focus on Expatriate orientation, Cross-cultural training and Development of global managers. The firms originally use expatriates as trainers because they show how system and procedures work and they would monitor the performance of (HCN). We were thus enlightened on that the use of job rotation is a form of management development. The training is done to have a better skilled manager whom is capable of developing with various procedures. Before going in to training programs the trainers undergo training mainly on cultural awareness and language skills furthermore for successful cross cultural Intercultural business skills are highlighted and looked in to with greater concern and also making them understand the cultural variations for those with regional responsibilities. Reflective my learning to my work experience our supply chain director Mr. Khalid is always full of questions. The moment we step in to quotation committee meetings he would unfold his set of questions making all of us very uncomfortable but the learning at class has now made me understand that they are trained to put across such questions in order to showcase their global managerial skills. His experience in other country operations speaks through his questions and it is important for him to ask them and make everyone understand what to be inquired before purchasing a product i.e. the country of origin, The make , the brand , the part number why is it cheaper in India than china etc in regard to a machine . IHRM had made me feel that I am not a fresher to the multinational world as now I understand why certain managers behave that way and why they would question such things and so on. Thus I can happily say that the discussion at class are very effective as it made me understand the real concepts behind training and developing an individual in order to make him a successful global manager . 8.0 Performance management Its Thursday again and I am ready to learn IHRM, listening to all arguments justifications broader perspectives and so on. A class a session a time period full of hot arguments and explanations. This weeks discussion was based on the differences between performance appraisal, performance evaluation and the broader perspective of Performance management. Re entry and career issues were discussed along with this Performance appraisal is used to evaluate the output of the behavior of an individual within a company A format is sketched in order to showcase the way in which appraisal is conducted Difference appraisals could come in with appraising with different languages i.e. English is spoken with different accents/ pronunciations. According to the performance the company will decide whether to keep a specific individual or not. However the performance appraisal has its drawbacks too since it is capable of demotivating individuals. This happens if performance appraisal is used in a wrong country context the employees will suffer due to the fact that they are demotivated with evaluation of their own behavior. However using the correct format one can overcome this situation. The discussion thus moved in to Factors which makes the Performance evaluation critical. I.e. Culture of an organization the Language they use in day to day work environment, the format they follow in the work area and the specific believes the company has from years. Taking Performance appraisal discussion with regard PCN s and HCN s I came to the understanding of that they will be affected when the format changes according to the TCN s further in to consideration how we understand the emotional attitude of them is by understanding who gets appraised and who matters. Then we moved on to discuss on the concepts of whole Vs part. whole is when the company is taking decision as a whole which will give them a long term perspective and Part is when the company is taking subsidiary dictions as a part which will give the company a short term perspective Dowling Welch (2004) However when performance appraisal comes in to action the performance management can be used when evaluating. If this is such you cannot expect a good evaluation. In this factor year on year increase and decrease is not relevant Substitutes are made open to make yourself felt to your clients. You can get company information then it is possible to learn the strengths weaknesses of the competitors as well as the customer behavior even though it wont give a financial contribution. In performance network the contribution of the substitutes are not handling in good grounds when compared to other subsititiues i.e. Airtel being expand to Sri Lanka they are still running at a loss for 5 years. This how ever could be a different strategic approach, in order to research the market For my account this information has helped enormously as a trainee at a multinational company my performance has also being evaluated to see who can do better and who has the capacity in doing a project and what is the limit I could go at a stretch. The discussion in class assists me in a greater perspective as I can understand how the performance appraisal and performance evaluation is done with regard to performance management Therefore Performance management is a combination of individual performance and subsidiary performance and the outcome could motivate or demotivate an individual of an organization and it would also give the current status of a company 9.0 Re-entry and Career Issues This weeks discussion was in relate to re entry and career issues in IHRM and MR. Chandana began to explain that the expatriate process also includes repatriation which is the activity of bringing the expatriate back to the home country . This process needs careful management as re entering in to a country and to an organization is not as easy as it seems. As global managers it is with great difficulty they struggle to settle down in their assigned country and when returning they will have to face culture shock again for what they have missed while they were away. It is very challenging for them to re enter as they would face the reverse culture shock this will also lead some individuals to exit the company. If an expatriate need to repatriate first he needs to prepare himself by developing plans for the future and gathering information about the new position however if this is done accordingly he would have a less cultural difficulties when adjusting back. We were them made to under stand that physical relocation, Transition and readjustment are some of the crucial aspects a repatriate should look in to. Say the repatriate adjusted to the culture of the home country again but he will again face career issues when he needs to look for a job to settle down. He will thus have a career anxiety which post will he be assigned to do will he get the same job back or will he get a lesser position and will his experience be enough to compete with others repatriates. In reflection the same scenario is being evident at my work place our production manager just returned from his foreign assignment and he is yet again starting to readjust himself with the company culture and etiquettes. According to him what he misses most is coming to work from home and going back to his family every day. The understanding I got through this discussion further enhanced me in with what kind of procedure a repatriate would go through before completely feeling home again. The language the customers which were away for a long time is now right there in front of him and he still cannot practice them as he is taking time to readjust. When analyzing on repatriation it is necessary to understand that in IHRM it is a must to take up such challengers as it brings positive aspects to an individual in both financially and also in career wise. The experience an expatriate gets cannot be compared with the person who had not begin assigned to such operations. However in order to help the repatriates to settle down in the home country they should be given counselling, their family also should go through counselling and it is important for them to have a family repatriate programmes. If such necessary actions are taken in to consideration settling a repatriate will not take such a long time. 10.0 Compensation This week the lecture is all about money, as for all I am also an employee at a multination company I was excited about the lecture today. Thats because the subject is mainly based on how a compensation package is made, what are the elements that must include init and the problem which occurs when selecting a proper compensation package. As we all know while working for a firm a good employee will expect a reasonable compensation from the employer. When preparing the compensation package the HRM manager has to consider many things mainly how it has to be, what are the benefits it must include and whom it will be most suitable for ?, are like some of the main questions to clarify at the first step. When we consider the situation as an international compensation package a HRM manager must understand the environment before preparing. When a company recruits an employee from a foreign country or sending someone to a foreign country, the HRM managers job is to find out some basic elements such as inflation, life style, cost of living, taxations, currency value and mainly the housing and education costs if the employee have any family. Mr. Chandana very clearly explained this point and also spotted us how to overcome this situation by arranging multiple paying schemes, compensating in multiple currencies, multiple taxations schemes and multiple expatriate benefits. When selecting a compensation package it should be always designed wisely, as an example the CEO at C.T.C is an Englishman though hes working for Sri Lankan Tobacco Corporation hes been paid according to their compensation system while all the other employees are paid according to the Sri Lankan system. By this I understood the company has managed to fulfill the employee interests. Also its very important to consider how the compensation package meets certain objectives that will motivate the employee to move to the host county. This can be covered by giving an incentive which will make the employee to consider the opportunity also considering to full filling family and other needs and facilitating them on their re entry. When considering compensation there are two well recognized approaches one is going rate approach the other one is the balance sheet approach. As we all know, these methods hold its own advantages and disadvantages. In order to simplify the methods the company can also follow an international compensation method which will include the base compensation, this consists of salary, benefits and other need depending on the job requirement. This can be added with more benefits or can be deducted according to the companies prospective with the addition of incentive components and equalities adjustments. By adding up these two components its always easy to satisfy an employee. As the final conclusion of this chapter I learnt how a HRM manager prepares the compensation packages for their recruits. I also understood when a employee is selected for a operation like this, the responsibility is high, risky and important, because not all the employees gets a chance like that. Also I understood satisfying both the employee and the employer can be tough job for the HRM manager. 11.0 Business Etiquette Social Custom It is the final day of interesting IHRM lectures and the interesting arguments, IHRM related stories will come to an end. However to make the last class interesting the lesson played a huge role Business etiquette and social customs was explained in class with interesting examples of food fashion and lifestyle one would face in different cultures Manners and behavior considered acceptable in social and business situations (Dowling Welch, 2009) this is what business etiquette Social custom means from the authors point of view. However Business etiquettes and social customers can be further elaborated under believes values and the way people think in certain cultures. This lesson became more interesting as Mr. Chandana showed us a video of how culture can affect different personal globally. Having a basic idea of culture from a previous semester as I learnt cultural framework through a counties point of view. The discussion at this lecture made me clear out doubts and clearly understands on some of the concepts. The learning on netiquettes the electronic communication techniques further added on to the intriguing aspect of the discussion. The verbal expression and non verbal expression made me understand that when dealing with suppliers at work premises I should follow the same instructions in order to retain and attract more suppliers. The discussion also helped me to understand the high context and low context cultural aspect when dealing with expatriates in my working place. In analysis I believe that if a business ind

Staff Roles And Responsibilities In Rfp Process Information Technology Essay

Staff Roles And Responsibilities In Rfp Process Information Technology Essay Best Western International is looking at develop the functionality and the eServices of the European consolidated Best Western website that support the national European IT departments to integrate their functions and maintain-operate this single website portal. As the travel industry is characterised by dynamic changes such as mergers and acquisitions of hotel chains and properties, Best Western International is looking for a partner who is willing to share the responsibilities, benefits and risks. The partner should continually find ways to advance the functionality of the consolidated website portal and advise Best Western on the change management processes for its national IT departments. The vendor is also expected to help and assist the hotel to plan and go through with the required organisational change. The project is to complete within the next six months. This is a huge challenge as Best Western does not have any single IT department to oversee the design and the management of outsourcing requirements and process. This report helps to identify its operational and strategic needs for developing the Request for Proposal (RPF) as well as identifying and selecting an appropriate outsourcing vendor. One of the major requirements of the RFP is not only the technical requirements of the application but also the organisational competencies of the vendor that is required to help Best Western, Europe, manage the organisational transition process. This report advise the client how to write and negotiate the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the selected vendor in order to ensure the provision of reliable services, how to develop and negotiate a contract with a potential vendor so that Best Western enjoys pricing, technological and organisational flexibility. This report also examines the business operational environment, its culture and propose strategies. This should enable Best Western to effectively manage the knowledge transfers and process collaboration between the internal multi-national IT staff and the IT vendor development staff. The focus areas include knowledge management and transfer issues, management of the transition process and organisational changes that are required to take place within Best Western in Europe. In addition, it helps Identify the staff who should be involved in the transition process and their roles and responsibilities. Major outsourcing risks and recommend practices to overcome them were identified as well. Introduction Best Western International is the worlds largest hotel brand. With its presence in 80 countries, it has over 4,000 hotels all around. Member hotels of Best Western consortia enjoy many benefits. Besides being associated with the international brand name, they receive the benefits of the marketing and operational services of Best Western. This includes access to (electronic) distribution channels, international reservation call centres, training, and centralised e-procurement. While Best Western International has its footprints all over the globe, its local representative offices in each country function independently in more ways than one. They develop and operate their own websites. These websites are not characterised by any standardised design. Each one features different online services and functionalities. Furthermore, there is limited synergy and links amongst these country specific websites. These websites create confusion to international travellers and also act as a major technological and organisational inhibitor to the future development and adoption of sophisticated eServices by the hotel chain. Furthermore, every national Best Western office has an individual IT department. This department is responsible for developing its own eServices based on the departments financial resources and skills. As a result, eServices development efforts are replicated; leading to a waste of resources at a European level despite the fact that other national IT departments may be lacking resources for website development The organisation has recognised the need to develop a consolidated portal providing access to all European Best Western websites. This should feature integrated and holistic new eServices; such as dynamic packaging solutions and an easier interface to the Best Western Reward programme Dynamic packaging solutions provide several benefits and revenue making opportunities to travel companies. It can also help the organisation realise its aims to promote Europe as a single destination. It has envisaged the need to re-organise the IT departments of Best Western in every European country. Other requirements will be to foster and support their cooperation and synergies as well as define their roles and responsibilities related to website design and e-services development. RFP Development RFP is typically drafted at the end of the requirements-gathering phase of a project. It is important that the following prerequisites be completed before embarking on RFP process: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify organisational objectives. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify stakeholders. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify project objectives. Once the prerequisites are completed, we can then accurately capture, interpret, and represent the voice of the client in specifying the IT system requirements. It is important that all stakeholders must achieve a common understanding of what the IT system will be and do. To achieve that, a combination of meetings with user representatives, facilitated workshops with analysts and users, individual customer interviews, prototyping, and user surveys be employed. It is important that Best Western International undergo the following pre-RFP activities before developing its RFP Has it performed any prior feasibility studies or High level design analysis on the new web portal to be developed Has the cost and benefit analysis of the consolidated systems being conducted and documented Was the benefits been quantified and shared with key stakeholders within the organisation to get consensus and endorsement about the new business for developing and consolidating the IT system Was the high level scope been identified including completing the documentation of the business process procedures (BPPs) to be enabled through new IT systems Identifying the sponsor for the new Portal and receiving approval to proceed. For example, a project charter to formally engage the necessary resources for the outsourcing project an Has the timelines for the implementation of new IT system and the estimated budget for the entire programme including TCO(total cost of ownership) for enduring support been finalised Pre-RFP activities are critical for formulating any business case into an RFP. It is recommended to use information gathering or IT requirement gathering methods, tools and techniques in order to capture the requirements for the new IT system. Some of the main tools that would help in elicitation of requirements are Brainstorming, structured questionnaires, case scenario, state transition diagrams and UML model diagram to capture relationship between the real time objects and classes. In other words, the pre-RFP activities are as much critical as the RFP activities. A good RFP address and capture the following: Scope of activities that are clearly defined to be delivered by the vendor. Unless the scope of the engagement is clear, vendors would not be in a position to submit a viable and competitive response for the RFP. Include inputs from the initial study/HLD analysis performed by client organisation with the quantifiable benefits expected out of new IT system. Vendor must understand the sizeable benefits and criticality of the new system to client organisation otherwise it would not be able assess direct financial implications on client organisation for any slippages and understand the criticality of the project to client Include technical requirements including specific technical infrastructure, platform and software. Furthermore, it is important to highlight reasons behind finalising on a particular platform and software including its roadmap in the RFP Include timelines for the vendors response submission and timelines for the project implementation and what impact would have on the client organisation in case of slippages Explicitly mention Vendor characteristics and minimum qualifications expected from vendor for being trusted partner for this engagement Clearly articulate the service level Agreement (SLAs) for the delivery of new IT system and impact of not adhering to SLAs along with financial liabilities (if any) Highlight the expected frequency and details to be incorporated in status reporting Explicitly document the mandate for signing on non-disclosure agreement of vendor with client organisation in order to ensure security and integrity of data Highlight the need for obtaining approval from key client personnel who will be engaged in the programme from vendors team Enforce the business units to highlight the risks, operational constraints and issues that the vendor can foresee on the programme/project. This will help in assessing its impact and its likelihood even before start of the programme and plan for mitigation What infrastructure required from a vendor perspective to deliver the new information system Vendors commercial offer and what factors that vendor thinks that would position them ahead of others Any live case studies whereby vendor had involved in similar engagement with other clients along with contact references from those clients for future enquiry and reference. Articulate clearly responsibility and accountability of activities to be taken by vendor and other parties as part of the engagement through RACIS(R-Responsible A-Accountable C-Consulted I-Informed S-Supported) matrix Include the warranty requirements that is expected from vendor on the new IT system to be developed The acceptance criteria for the new system and the process for obtaining signoff In addition an RFP should request a corporate profile of the responding vendor. Typically this will include risk statements around corporate liquidity, market share, an outline of local operations, number of staff in this country, support models (where support may be with a third party), escalation procedures to parent, local install base (number of customers in this country) etc.. A typical RFP for a website project should include the following components: Introductiona summary of the organization including the mission statement. Project outline Goals and purpose Project scope Website requirements Database development requirements User requirements Design requirements Functional requirements Budget constraints-limited budget Time constraints-when we need the project completed by and when we require responses from vendors Criteria for selecting a vendor Submission of proposal and further information-contact information that encourages vendors to contact the organization for more information Staff roles and responsibilities in RFP process: One of the critical success factors of an outsourcing deal is involving the right stakeholders who will be actively involved in this project whose interest may be positively or negatively affected as a result of the project execution or successful completion. For project outsourcing to succeed, it must be well-planned and carefully implemented. To help ensure the organisation benefit from outsourcing, different teams or roles can be formed or specified: Ideas team This team is involved in identifying processes which can be beneficial to outsource. They should be directly involved in overseeing the companys business strategy to ensure that they have a strategic overview of the companys existing processes and goals. Policy-level team This team is involved in assessing whether outsourcing specific processes is appropriate. For each process, this requires analysing the possible benefits of outsourcing in relation to the companys policies and strategic goals. The team should consist of senior company executives, rather than employees from individual departments. A common perception is that outsourcing a process implies a departments failure to manage it. Using senior executives rather than department members in a policy-level team helps ensure objectivity. It also ensures that the team has the required strategic perspective. Assessment team This team is involved in analysing the likely implications of outsourcing the process for the company. This team should include members from the policy-level team, and should be lead by an executive from the team. This team should include members with different roles and skills. This helps ensure that the team can recognise the likely implications of outsourcing across different areas and form the perspectives of different stakeholders. Members of an assessment should include: Consultants Functional managers Process experts Representative customers Technical experts Implementation and transition team This team is responsible for setting up project outsourcing to address any implication identified. It makes the changes required to pass internal production processes to a service provider. The transition team should be involved in managing the change involved in outsourcing project. This teams focus should be on ensuring that the move from internal production to outsourcing des not impact negatively on the company. Vendor evaluation and assessment criteria Prior to developing the evaluation criteria, it is important to clearly define the company objectives of outsourcing its IT operation in term of functions, performance, quality and costs. We can then define the following outputs expected from the vendors: Operational systems Documentation Management Training Communication Support Reduced costs Expertise Assets When we have the above outputs, we can define the following acceptance criteria: The quality of the service in term of functionality, usability, performance, reliability and availability The implementation and operational plan The quality of the support Capability for future enhancements in line with business expansion Qualification of vendor technical capacity ability to meet objectives financial stability quality system In additional, an evaluation of the following should be performed: Assess the managerial proposal: Desired working relationships Depth and frequency of liaison, meeting, reports Dealing with extraordinary items Location of offices and services Resources/commitment required of client Confidentiality Assess terms and condition: ownership of hardware and software maintenance of customer supplied equipment protection of customers and vendor proprietary information Warranty period Escrow arrangement Assess the technical proposal completeness of proposal demonstration of capabilities or products compliance to requirement (performance and quality) demonstration of degree of understating of problems and applicability of solution technical strategy maturity applicability and compatibility Assess the financial proposal assess method of payment E.g., fixed price, by usage of resource, shared savings, revenue it Identify Total costs Identify cost payment schedule Other factors in assessing proposal The vendor The company industry specification, track record Length of time in business Length of time with local presence Standard qualification (ISO 90000, etc) Size, ownership, financial position / paid up capital etc. Staff assigned CV, security clearance (if appropriate) Experience, is who you see who you will get? Any other commitments References (other customers) Previous experience with contractors Does contractors representative come across as direct or straight forward? interest in your business In addition, we can quantify evaluation criteria of each vendor by aiming to score vendors against each other. For example: Attached weights to each Criteria Weight Proposed Functionality 6 Demonstrated Services 5 Previous Experience 3 Costs 5 We can give each vendor a score of 1-10 for each criterion and determine total weighted score = sum (weighted scores) Criteria Weight Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Score Weighted Score Score Weighted Score Proposed Functionality 6 8 48 7 42 Demonstrated Services 5 4 20 5 25 Previous Experience 4 6 24 4 16 Costs 5 5 25 5 25 Total 117 108 The vendor with the highest score is usually the preferred partner. Service Level Agreement (SLA) development An SLA defines the boundaries of the project in terms of the functions and services that the service provider will provide, the volume of work that will be accepted and delivered, and acceptance criteria for responsiveness and the quality of deliverables. A well-defined and well crafted SLA should set expectations for parties, including the incentives, rewards and penalties applicable to the outsourcing agreement and its results. To ensure the provision of reliable services from the service provider, an SLA should specify client and the providers accountabilities in the outsourcing relationship. These include: Client role The organisation needs to detail its role in the outsourcing relationship. This extends beyond providing its requirements because it details what the provider can expect from the client organisation. For example, the organisation may need to advise the provider about the process, keep them informed about the vision of the project, provide any customise software it needs, or help it acquire and maintain infrastructure The terms of service This should include the cost and duration of the contract, and a time frame for deliverables. The terms should be realistic and measurable, based on the organisations requirements. It need to stipulate any context-sensitive terms, such as a roadmap for release dates, an hourly billing rate, any ceilings on billing rates, and conditions for payments. Delivery measurements This should detail how the providers service is measured, and any performance bonuses payable if metrics are exceeded. The organisation needs to specify who is in charge of completing the metrics, who reviews status reports, and how any conflicts in the measurements are to be mediated or arbitrated. For example, we should set metrics for service reliability, availability and response times for transactions and any service incidents such as server failure. Reliability = Uptime / Downtime The system shall not suffer a downtime greater than 15 minutes during continuous 24 hours operation Downtime = Operational down time + Waiting time + Investigation time + Recovery time Availability = Uptime / (Uptime + Downtime + Maintenance time) The system shall be 99% available during normal working hours (0700 1900) Performance Response time 95% of all online enquiries will be serviced within 5 seconds Average response time to online enquiries shall be 4 seconds No enquiry shall suffer a response time > 10 seconds Throughput The system will handle a maximum of 100,000 transactions per day Storage The system must currently store 1 million customer records and provision must be made for an increase in records of 5% per annum Delivery and Output The following reports will be delivered daily at 0800 Penalty clauses This should include the price and penalties of non-compliance in the SLA. This should clearly define the expectations in the relationship and helps establish remedial processes to resolve any compliance disputes and ensure uninterrupted service. We can dictate a fee reduction, corrective action or payable compensation for any defects or damages to the organisation reputation or service quality due to non-delivery. For example: A Defect is any non-conforming performance that occurs during a day. A Level one defect is any defect that lasts for more than 2 hours but less than 24 hours A Level two defect is any defect that lasts for more than 24 hours A Level three defect is any defect that occurs more than once during any seven-day period A Level four defect is any defect that occurs more than once during any thirty-day period Penalties For each Level one defect, service provider will grant the client a credit of $1000 against the provider fees For each Level two defect, service provider will grant the client a credit of $5000 against the provider fees Exit clause The organisation may need to terminate an outsourcing relationship due to non-performance, violation of the SLA like Termination for cause, or to reintegrate the outsourced processes into its in-house operations due to mergers or acquisition Termination for convenience. These instances and related activities need to be stipulated in an exit clause to ensure both parties understand how and when the outsourcing relationship can end. For example, the organisation stipulates that the contract automatically terminates after six months or if a contact violation occurs. Flexibility SLA should be flexible enough so that any changes or updates either internal or market-related can be easily added to the contract. It is recommended that SLA be reviewed every six month depending on service aspect and its occurrence of poor performance and duration of the contract itself. However, this should not negate the benefits accruing to either party. For example, if a project is scaled upwards to accommodate extra transactions, the metrics for measuring service deliverables need to change. When setting an SLA, we need to consider the organisation and service provider existing infrastructure, including expertise, employees, and technology. It is useless setting up an SLA that details commitments that cannot be fulfilled due to limited infrastructure. A typical SLA should be as long as it must be and as short as it can be. SLA of 10 to 50 pages are not unusual. The longer it is, the more important it is to focus on structure, clarity and readability Contract Development Building flexible in an outsourcing contract is important to ensure the success of an outsourcing arrange. Today market is moving fast and changing fast. Many IS outsourcing deals seem to be obsolete as soon as they are signed. Business strategy changes, market environment changes, technology changes, law, rules and regulatory changes could affect scope of services which means that outsourcing objectives no longer aligned to the business goals to achieve the desired outcomes that they were set to achieve. Flexibilities need to be built during planning stage, contracting stage and post contract management stage to meet any of the above changes. Planning Stage Selecting the right vendor with culture that reflects its business philosophy is important instead of evaluating merely on price and capability. The selection process should involve due diligence regarding the vendors record and attitudes toward rigidity, structure, adaptation, bureaucracy, change and, most importantly, the vendor attitudes toward creating customer value. Choosing the right vendor by forming a strategic alliance promotes the spirit of teams whereby both share relevant risk and rewards would enable contracting parties to be flexible in getting over those bumps along the path. Contracting Stage Contracts are made to allocate risks. Typical contracts allocate known risks and provide some opportunity to each party to obtain a commercially reasonable outcome for risks that are unlikely but nonetheless possible The first is a change in the scope of services. This will likely affect staffing commitments, technology investment, pricing and service level commitments, among other things. In defining the scope of contracted services, the customer should establish a method for integrating the vendors services into the customers other service infrastructures, both internal and external, both current and planned. In the contracting stage, provision for flexibility should be catered for changes in the business environment within organisation. As mentioned, with rapid globalisation, change is a constant to the business. Such change could result in a drastic increase or decline in provider services. The contract should contemplate the impact on pricing and service level commitments in the face of such dramatic changes. The pricing schedules should reflect a band of services at varying, foreseeable levels in order to facilitate financial planning for both parties. At the outer limit, unbundled and transparent pricing, particularly for commodity-type services should be considered. Pricing algorithms and strategies should be studied separately, since pricing flexibility reflects a constellation of business terms. Next are changes in the legal environment. Laws, rules and regulations change, often unpredictably. A contract that did not foresee such changes must be construed to allocate the cost of compliance with such new directives and compliance. Accordingly, contracts should require the vendor to comply with changes in the laws, and costs of compliance should be addressed. Otherwise, the vendor would be exculpated from having to comply by arguing that an act of state, act of God or other force majeure exonerates the vendors non-compliance. The vendor should assume certain predictable risks of technology changes. With rapid technological update and changes, both parties may predict and contractually agree on certain technology refreshment cycles beyond a certain threshold like three to five years where both sides must provide contractual leeway to benefit from such changes without incurring material adverse consequences if those changes should radically alter the contractual balance. Additionally, organisations are moving towards the concepts such as business process management (BPM). BPM allows an organisation to continually make adjustments to its business processes as it evolves and learns. A vendor should embrace this type of concept and allow flexibility into its processes. Furthermore, using best practices such as Service Oriented Architecture could also aid in flexibility. Business operational environment and Culture Staff roles and responsibilities in transition Staff or stakeholders involved in the transition process and knowledge transfer would include Ideas team, Policy-level team, Assessment team, and Implementation and transition team as mentioned Staff roles and responsibilities in RFP process who roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. In addition, the teams should consist of members from both the client and service provider organisation. Culture and resistance to change The culture of each organisation in an outsourcing relationship helps to determine its flexibility. Change typically involves stress because it requires that people adjust to new roles, process and responsibilities. An organisation culture helps to determine the level of stress caused by change, and whether this stress inspires resent or commitment. An organisation culture can help to determine: Its approach to the value of the relationship and to building the relationship over time with the provider Its openness to change The extend to which employees share a common vision and can work together One of the crucial factors to successful outsourcing is a smooth transition. The transition phase involves multiple stakeholders and a number of dynamics paradigms that outsourcing brings to an organisation impacts all clients stakeholders employees, users, and support groups. Many employees will be concerned about the implication of this change to their jobs and to their futures. For some employees, a clear understanding of the required changes and their rationale will foster immediate buy-in and support. Other employees will express their concern by asking questions, challenging rationales, and finding holes in the implementation plan and process. Other employees may resist the change by either avoiding involvement or causing real or potential disruption. Understanding the stages of Resistance A key step in a smooth transition is to understand the three stages of behavioural patterns as it relates to organizational resistance. The three basic stages that have been identified by organizational management professionals are Holding On, Letting Go, and Moving On. Holding On is the initial the resistance to change that occurs when individuals hold on to that with which they are most familiar and comfortable. Many users are used to getting served in a particular way from a team. There is mutual trust as well as fear of the unknown. In the case of outsourcing, their team may now be thousands of miles away instead of just down the floor. This naturally causes concerns such as: How do I know what my team is doing offshore? How do I speak to my team during my workday? Where is everybody? Signs of this stage include forgetting to attend meetings about the change, coming into work late or an increase in employees calling in sick, or when people become irritable or withdrawn from others with whom they have previously had good working relations. Letting Go is the second phase individuals typically experience when confronted with change. You may start hearing people say things like it just might work if management will let it happen. I will do it once I see others do it without any backlash. It might work somewhere else, but I dont know how it would work here. Letting Go is visible when people start attending meetings and either do not contribute or take opposing perspectives or when individuals question the issues associated with the change and start challenging thinking. They begin spending more of their personal time discussing how it might just work if only Moving On is the third phase. At this stage, we can hear comments like: When am I going to learn how to do this? How can I get this going already? This isnt so bad after all. Moving On is visible when individuals spend time planning how to make things wo