Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor Essay Example for Free

Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor Essay During World War II, the United States of America thought they could live safely as none of the warring nations on the other continents could possibly attack the US. Americans were neutral to the war in Europe. What they didn’t anticipate was that they were the ones being targeted. The United States was going to be invited into the war with an attack from Japan at Pearl Harbor. But was the United States invited in or inviting themselves into the war? From the actions of the United States, they invited Japan’s war to come to them. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans were living life as usual. They were supplying other countries with no desire of war. They even passed a Lend Lease Act to make supplying other countries more business focused and neutral. Americans were at peace. President Franklin Roosevelt gave an addressed on October of 1940, â€Å"I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again; your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars. † Supplying other countries was business. That changed as Japan conquered northern French Indochina and expanded into China. The United States noticed this was going to be a big issue if Japan was not stopped. In 1940 they embargoed all scrap iron and oil to Japan which prolonged Japans expansion into China. This also led to Britain and the Netherlands cutting oil supply to Japan. This crippled Japans army effectively and became a big issue for Japan. This would force Japan to have to make quicker and better decisions with the limited amount of sources they had. Japan was riding on a huge momentum going into China, but the United States were starting to take that away from them little by little. The United States started looking more and more like an obstacle for Japan. But those actions don’t count as participating or not participating in a war. The Lend Lease Act was made to look like supplying the Allies was just business. One can’t simply go to war with another country just because they traded for leasing rights. Japan was buying natural resources from the United States but you can’t go to war just because a country won’t give you what isn’t yours either. These actions made it harder on Japan but were not the main reason Japan had to attack Pearl Harbor. The United States did more direct things to invoke the attack. The United States not only cut these supplies from Japan, they were lending resources to China to defend against Japan. The Americans also sent military advisor volunteers into China to help train Chinese Pilots. For the United States to claim neutrality and then supply China was very disrespectful towards Japan. Japan already felt bound to an island with limited resources and felt the need to seek out larger natural resources. For the United States to just build an obstacle to stop them angered Japan in a big way. America is already helping China in a big way by cutting oil and iron supply and now they’re training the Chinese on how to fight against Japan. To Japan, their conquest had nothing to do with United States. It’s almost as if you’re quietly fighting the war, but hiding behind the actual battle grounds. In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan underwent negotiations to see if the U. S. would resume oil, and iron trade with Japan. The offer was that if Japan retreat north of the Great wall, leaving mainland China to the Chinese, they would resume the oil and iron trade with Japan. The negotiations with America did not go smooth at all. The U. S. dragged out the negotiations which really puts Japan in a tough situation. â€Å"The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States. They wanted to continue their expansion within Asia but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan’s Aggression. † It seemed as if the U. S. prolonged the negotiations in hopes for them to run out of resources. This kept Japan in a desperate position. The result of all this is the attack on Pearl Harbor. Was it a surprise attack? No. America was already involved in the war. You can say America was involved indirectly with the war but cutting off supplies to Japan and then supplying China with war training, is direct involvement into the war. It is a very one sided involvement against Japan. Pearl Harbor can be said to have happened for many reasons but what is clear is it was invoked by the United States making war related decisions and war related actions. The attack came as a surprise when it should have been expected.

Dangers Of Tasers Misuse By Law Enforcement Officers Criminology Essay

Dangers Of Tasers Misuse By Law Enforcement Officers Criminology Essay This paper discusses the dangers and punishment of police officers who have misused the taser. The taser was created to be a less than lethal weapon to help police officers keep a safe distance between themselves and the person they are trying to subdue, and keep serious injury from occurring. However there are several situations where the officers have used this weapon on children, elderly, and handicapped person who did not show aggressive behavior toward them. These weapons were used to punish. The purpose of this paper is to explore the misuse, and address training of the officers to prevent this misuse of the taser. The Dangers of Tasers Misuse by Law Enforcement Officers in the Line of Duty This paper addresses the dangers when a police officer misuses the taser, which is a defense weapon. Tasers were developed as a new alternative to deadly force for law enforcement officers, corrections officers, and jailers to help protect themselves, the suspects, inmates, and civilians. Many law enforcement personnel and suspects have been injured in the past because of the close proximity of the officer and the person they were detaining. Less-than- lethal weapons were developed to help in decreasing injuries. Since less-than-lethal weapons have been introduced as an alternative to deadly force, police officers have discovered that these weapons were not only effective for detaining suspects, but it could be used for getting someones attention, or could be used as a way of getting the person to do as instructed. However, some law enforcement officers use their less-thanlethal weapons on children, the elderly, and the handicapped. There is still a chance of the person being injured if the officer is careless with the use of the non-lethal weapons and the risk of injury can be potently high. The taser is a type of weapon that is similar in appearance to a conventional firearm, because the body has the same shape as a conventional firearm. Instead of firing bullets, the taser fires two electrodes attached to an energy source designed to incapacitate a person. Examples of the misuse by police officers would be using the taser against someone who is non-threatening or who is already handcuffed. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine the recommendations set forth by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) for the law enforcement use of tasers. When do law enforcement officers, correction officers, and jailers misuse their non-lethal weapons (Tasers) on a civilian, prisoner, or suspect without justification for taser use? If the person is not showing a threat to the officer at that time, should the officer be punished? If the answer is yes, do the organizations in which the officers are employed have a disciplinarian plan in place to deal with the officer in question, what options do these organizations have, and are the punishments just and fair not only for the officer, but for the victim as well? Literature Review When law enforcement officers, correction officers, and jailers misuse their non-lethal weapons than an investigation must be done. Cameras can be a solution for the misuse of a taser by a police officer. This would help determine whether an investigation should be considered (Anonymous, 2009; Farrell 2009). MacDonald,Kaminski,andSmith (2009) reported that incidents of use of force by police officers account for less than 2% of the estimated total of police and civilian contacts (official interaction between any person and an officer), the prevalence of injury to civilians and officers in these situations is high (2 out of 8). Police departments in the United States are increasingly providing officers with less-lethal weapons to control suspects who physically resist arrest. Lee,Vittinghoff,Whiteman,Park,Lau,andTseng, (2009) discuss that police officers consider the taser a safer alternative to firearms. Taser deployment was associated with substantial increase in in-custody sudden death in the early deployment period, with no decrease in firearms deaths. Delong and Thompson, (2009) discuss that many police agencies have set up their own rules and procedure regarding the deployment of the non lethal weapons and the circumstances in which the weapons were deployed. The characteristics of the suspects at the time of deployment, and to dismal the difference between the media and the police in the use of the taser on a suspect. Discussion Less-Than-Lethal weapons Some of the less-than- lethal weapons used by today police officers are the oleoresin capsicum spray (pepper spray), conductive energy devices (tasers), and blunt impact devices (night sticks). These alternative devices help the officer from making physical contact with the person and limit the injury fact of the officer and the suspect. The night stick was the first less-than- lethal weapon that police had to subdue a suspect with out resorting to deadly force; however a suspect could be seriously injured by this weapon. The officers were trained and the nightstick was redesigned with a second handle that protruded from the side of the weapon so it could be used as a grappling weapon as well as a striking weapon. The police officer still had to be in close contact with the person for the nightstick to be effective. Injuries would occur not only to the suspect, but also to the officer. Oleoresin capsicum spray (pepper spray), conductive energy devices (tasers) were the next advancement to be developed for the police officer. Pepper spray is an agent to cause suspects eyes to water uncontrollable that causes the suspect to stop, it also burns the eyes and throat. The taser was also developed to help the officer to keep a distance between themselves and dangerous situations. There have been many other situations in which police officers were able to protect themselves from injury. The situations in which a police officer would use his or her taser in an altercation; escape attempt, restraining of the suspect, or when a suspect is showing paranoid and irrational behavior and threat of injury to the suspect or officer are clear. The locations where some officers have used their tasers are while the suspect is in police custody, at the scene of the arrest, or after being handcuffed. Some people who have been tasered have had an underlying health conditions (heart problems, mental illness, or drug use). More than 70 people have died in the United States and Canada after being struck with a taser. There have been 152 cases and 23 of these cases have resulted in death and the taser was the contributory factor (Adams Jennison,2007). Cases of Taser Misuse A Nevada legislator proposed a bill to require cameras to be mounted to the taser to limit the use of the taser. The Federal Court of Appeals panel made a ruling that a California police officer was not immune from civil litigation when officer Brain McPherson fired his taser at a motorist after a 2005 traffic stop (Anonymous, 2009; Farrell 2009). Law enforcement agencies in the United States stress that built in safe guards (such as chips that record the time and date of each time the taser are fired) are necessary to minimize the potential abuse. These safe guards do not go far enough to prevent officers from abusing their tasers. According to Amnesty International (2004b), there have been reports of inappropriate or abusive use of tasers in various jurisdiction, sometimes involving repeated cycles of electro-shocks on suspects. The evidence suggest that police officers are not using their tasers as a way to avoid using lethal force, but they are using the taser as a routine force to subdue non- complaint individuals who are not posing a threat. In some departments the officers use the taser as a prevalent force tool. Tasers have been used on unruly schoolchildren, unarmed mentally disturbed or intoxicated subjects, and those who were fleeing a minor crime scene. Also, reported victims of police tasering were people who do not follow the police office commands immediately. For example, 12-year old was tasered after fighting with another student on a school bus, and a 14-year old Florida girl and there of her class mates were taser because of fighting (Amnesty International 2004). It seems that todays police officer has converted to the old west mentally of shooting first and asking questions after the fact. This will be shown in this next case of a 40 year old man named Gregory Williams who is a double-leg amputee. According to Patton (2009), Mr. Williams and his wife were having a verbal argument and the police were called. When the police officers arrived at the Williams apartment, the officers separated the couple. One officer talked to Mrs. Williams and the other talked to Mr. Williams who at the time was holding his two year daughter in his lap. Officer Pinnegar informed Mr. Williams that he was under arrest for striking his wife, then Officer Pinnegar tasered him in the ribs. Mr. Williams was then pulled back into his wheelchair by the officer very hard, and was tasered a second time. Williams fell out of his chair and his shorts fell off his body; he was handcuff and left on the sidewalk with his genitals exposed for about ten minutes. The next abusive use of tasers was against a Louisiana man what was wanted by police for cocaine charges. This case will show the excessive use of a taser on a suspect; however this suspect was already in handcuffs. The Winnfield police had an arrest warrant for Baron Scooter Pikes and were going to arrest him, however the arrest was completed when Officer Nugent became over zealous with the use of his taser, and Mr. Pikes, who did not get to his feet quick enough for the officer. Griffin Fitzpatrick (2008) reported than the Louisiana State Police officer tasered 21 year old Baron Scooter Pikes nine times after Mr. Pikes was on the ground and handcuffed. The suspect had stopped twitching after seven jolts of 50,000 volts. Soon after, Pikes was dead. Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, ruled Pikes death as a homicide in June after an extensive study. Safeguards Against Misuse of Tasers Law enforcement agencies all over America, Canada, and other countries are adopting tasers as their less than lethal weapon of choose. This weapon gives the officer 21 feet to incapacitate a suspect at a safe distance. However the main concern is to ensure that officers do not become over zealous with this weapon and causes serious injury or death to the civilian population. The public is seeing and hearing more and more of police officers misusing this new weapon instead of using it when all other alternatives have failed. The aspect of the misuse is when officers use the technology on children under 18 years of age, elderly, and handicap persons; and on regular citizen who are not showing a violent nature toward the officer. Anonymous (2009) indicated that the Nevada Legislature is proposing a bill that all tasers issued to law enforcement be equipped with a camera. The bill will also include that the use of the taser is only to be used on people who have committed a felony, or who endanger themselves or others. The U. S. Supreme Count has three rules to justify the use of a taser; the severity of the crime, whether the suspect posed a serious threat to the officer, and whether the suspect was evading or resisting arrest (Rubin Winton, 2009, p 3). These rules were put in place from previous cases because the stun gun dispenses a measurable level of force. According to Farrell (2009) The California Federal Court has ruled that a California police officer was not immune from civil litigation resulting from questionable use of the controversial weapon. So, therefore, civil remedies are established This ruling was set after a Coronado police officer used his taser on a motorist after stopping him for not wearing a seat belt Although the driver showed irrational behavior the officer should have used more intrusive means to take control of the situation. This non lethal weapon needs to be classified in the same way that the officers firearm, pepper spray, and nightstick. Each one of the weapons has rules that guide the officer when the weapon needs to be used; these rules should apply to the taser. Taser International Inc. has developed a data port download kit that helps law enforcement officers to have accurate documentation on the use of the taser by their officers by recording the date and time when the officer fired the taser. They also have the camera attachment that records images and voice for the officer can use this data if accused of misuse. (Rose, 2007), these new attachments my not be affordable for some of the smaller departments, and the officers may believe it is not necessary to have because of confidence that their department policy will protect them from litigation. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), and Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) provided guide lines for the increasing police use of the weapon and the concern of risks and liability. These organizations have developed these guidelines to help the police departments development policies, procedures, and training curricula (Rose, 2007). (See the nine strategies in the Appendix). Each of the nine strategies help address issues that will affect the use of tasers by law enforcement officers. These strategies put emphases on training, testing, and safety for the public. The IACP recommends when a police department plans to acquire electronic defense weapons that they should form a leadership team comprised of management, training, policy, field, and budget staff. The team should additionally include members of the community and media representatives; legal counsel, medical practitioners and representatives of the governing or oversight body (Rose, 2007). The team will help to assess any issue that may arise in the acquisition of the cost, training, liability and evaluation. The taser should be placed in the use of force continuum with guidelines for police officers on the degree of force that is appropriate when responding to the subject (Rose, 2007). A leadership team within a police department will be able to help the individual police officers to remain up to date on new training procedures, new laws created on the use of tasers, and medical training in case of a medical emergency. The leadership team would be able to review each case when a taser is discharged and to give recommendations of whether the officer needs additional training or if the officer was within the department policy. The leadership team would be able to make a fair assignment on the cost and benefit of the police department having tasers as their secondary defense weapon. The police department and the officers need to be held accountable for the uses of electronic defense devices. Each police officer should be given clearly defined rules and protocols, and relevant and reliable information about the new technology. The police department additionally should gain public acceptance of the new weapons and should implement a community outreach program to inform the people of their community. The community members should be informed of the tasers capability and its effective goal as an alternative of deadly force, the benefit of its cost, and the goal to reduce officer and suspect injury. All police officers should have some emergency medical training to be a first responder in case a suspect has medical problems after being struck by the taser, and in the removal of the darts form sensitive areas. A medically trained officer could provide any medical attention such a CPR, monitoring the suspect while in custody, and assist in transporting the victim to the nearest hospital or clinic. Conclusion In conclusion, although the taser has been developed as a defense weapon many police officers have made it their primary weapon of choice and use it inappropriately. The misuse of the weapon has the public and the media concerned about whether or not the attitude of todays police officers are serving and protecting the public properly. or are officers using this new defensive weapon to punish people who break the law and who are non-violent just to show them use is in charge. This type of behavior from police officers are causing a lot of concern not only from the communities they serve, but also from the manufacturers that have developed and supply these less-than-lethal weapons to law enforcement agencies. The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum have produce guidelines for the law enforcement agencies to follow when a police department decides to add the tasers to their non lethal weapon storehouse. References Adams, K., Jennison, V.'(2007). What we do not know about police use of Tasers(TM).Policing,30(3),447-465. Amnesty International, (2004a). Concerns about Taser users. Amnesty International Continuing Concerns about Taser Use. http:www.amnestyusa.org/print.php. Amnesty International, (2004b). Excessive and lethal force. Deaths and Ill-treatment Involving Police use of Tasers. http:www.amnestyusa.org/print.php. Anonymous, (2009,October).Use of Force: Are cameras on Tasers on the horizon? Law Enforcement Delong, G., Thompson, L. (2009). The application and use of tasers by a Midwestern police agency. International Journal of Police Science Management, 11 (4), 414-428. Farrell, B. M. (2009,December30). Federal court in California limits police use of Tasers: The appeals court ruling could raise the bar for when the electric stun-guns can be deployed. Local police departments said the ruling puts officers lives in danger. The Christian Science Monitor. ProQuest document ID: 1930343011, Griffin, D., Fitzpatrick, D. (2008, July 22). Man Dies after Cop Hits Him with Taser 9 Times. http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/22/taser.death/?iref=mpstoryview. Lee,B.,Vittinghoff,E.,Whiteman,D.,Park,M.,Lau,L.,Tseng,Z. (2009). Relation of Taser (Electrical Stun Gun) deployment to increase in in-custody sudden deaths.The American Journal of Cardiology,103(6),877-880. MacDonald, J., Kaminski, R., Smith, M. (2009). The effect of non-lethal weapons on injuries in police use-of-force events. American Journal of Public Health, 99 (22), 2268-2274 Patton, A. V. (2009,September). Merced police used Taser on unarmed, legless man in a wheelchair.McClatchy Tribune Business New. Pg. 1-7 Rose, V., (2007, January). Taser use guidelines, liability (law): Police department weapons liability, legal, police. OLR Research Report. Retrieved on 18, April 2010. Rubin, J Winton, R. (2009, December 30). Federal court restricts police taser use; the ruling allowing a man to sue officer for his injuriesmay spur agencies to rewrite use- of- force policies. Los Angeles Times. Pg. A. 3

Myths About Embryonic Stem Cell Research :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Myths About Embryonic Stem Cell Research Myth: "Human life begins in the womb, not the Petri dish" Reality: Actually, it usually begins in the fallopian tube, but it can also begin in a Petri dish. The testimony of modern science is clear on this point: "At the moment the sperm cell of the human male meets the ovum of the female and the union results in a fertilized ovum (zygote), a new life has begun." Considine, Douglas (ed.). Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia. 5th edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976, p. 943. See Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2; Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 146; Sadler, T.W. Langman's Medical Embryology. 7th edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 1995, p. 3; Carlson, Bruce M. Patten's Foundations of Embryology. 6th edition. New York: McGraw_Hill, 1996, p. 3. The issue is not whether human life is present, but how society ought to treat it. Even President Clinton's bioethics advisors said: "We believe most would agree that human embryos deserve respect as a form of human life..." - National Bioethics Advisory Commission on stem cell research, September 1999 (emphasis added) "Stem cell research" refers to research using stem cells that come from embryos or other sources, such as adult tissue, placentas, or umbilical cord blood. The only way to obtain embryonic stem cells, however, is to kill the living human embryo. The embryos killed for their stems cells are about a week old and have grown to about 200 cells. Embryonic stem cells have not helped a single human patient, while adult stem cells and similar ethically acceptable alternatives have helped hundreds of thousands. Myth: "Excess embryos are going to be discarded anyway" Reality: Not necessarily. Today, parents can preserve "excess" embryos for future pregnancies as well as donate them to other couples. Under proposed NIH guidelines, parents will be asked to consider having them destroyed for federally-funded research instead. In a recent study, 59% of parents who initially planned to discard their embryos after three years later changed their minds, choosing another pregnancy or donation to infertile couples. New England Journal of Medicine, July 5, 2001. With the NIH guidelines, these embryos might have already been destroyed. Myths About Embryonic Stem Cell Research :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics Myths About Embryonic Stem Cell Research Myth: "Human life begins in the womb, not the Petri dish" Reality: Actually, it usually begins in the fallopian tube, but it can also begin in a Petri dish. The testimony of modern science is clear on this point: "At the moment the sperm cell of the human male meets the ovum of the female and the union results in a fertilized ovum (zygote), a new life has begun." Considine, Douglas (ed.). Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia. 5th edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976, p. 943. See Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2; Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 146; Sadler, T.W. Langman's Medical Embryology. 7th edition. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 1995, p. 3; Carlson, Bruce M. Patten's Foundations of Embryology. 6th edition. New York: McGraw_Hill, 1996, p. 3. The issue is not whether human life is present, but how society ought to treat it. Even President Clinton's bioethics advisors said: "We believe most would agree that human embryos deserve respect as a form of human life..." - National Bioethics Advisory Commission on stem cell research, September 1999 (emphasis added) "Stem cell research" refers to research using stem cells that come from embryos or other sources, such as adult tissue, placentas, or umbilical cord blood. The only way to obtain embryonic stem cells, however, is to kill the living human embryo. The embryos killed for their stems cells are about a week old and have grown to about 200 cells. Embryonic stem cells have not helped a single human patient, while adult stem cells and similar ethically acceptable alternatives have helped hundreds of thousands. Myth: "Excess embryos are going to be discarded anyway" Reality: Not necessarily. Today, parents can preserve "excess" embryos for future pregnancies as well as donate them to other couples. Under proposed NIH guidelines, parents will be asked to consider having them destroyed for federally-funded research instead. In a recent study, 59% of parents who initially planned to discard their embryos after three years later changed their minds, choosing another pregnancy or donation to infertile couples. New England Journal of Medicine, July 5, 2001. With the NIH guidelines, these embryos might have already been destroyed.

Essay --

Experiencing a poor social upbringing has influenced my desire to help children from socially deprived backgrounds achieve a success. With the drive to assist others and inspired by my mother in the teaching profession my aspirations of becoming a teacher can be recognised from the past three years of my life through my academic knowledge and experience. I am strong and varied communicator, with the belief that motivating individuals is the key to success, which gives me the confidence to adjust my approach to suit my audience. This was highly beneficial as an activities instructor as I was working with children from a range backgrounds and abilities. I demonstrated that I have valuable leadership skills as I was conducting over forty activities with a group of sixteen children. As I was sent to different camp sites in the UK I was leading different groups consistently. This increased my knowledge in the field of SEN as I was working with children with autism. I have learnt to improve children's self-esteem through motivation, praise and team innovation. As a teaching assistant/ment...

Artificial Intellegence: Identification And Description Of The Issue :: essays research papers

Artificial Intellegence: Identification And Description Of The Issue Over the years people have been wanting robots to become more Intelligent. In the past 50 years since computers have been around, the computer world has grown like you wouldn't believe. Robots have now been given jobs that were 15 years ago no considered to be a robots job. Robots are now part of the huge American government Agency the FBI. They are used to disarm bombs and remove dangerous products from a site without putting human life in danger. You probably don't think that when you are in a carwash that a robotic machine is cleaning your car. The truth is that they are. The robot is uses senses to tell the main computer what temperature the water should be and what style of wash the car is getting e.g. Supreme or Normal wash. Computer robots are being made, that learn from their mistakes. Computers are now creating their own programs. In the past there used to be some problems, now they are pretty much full proof. The Television and Film business has to keep up with the demands from the critics sitting back at home, they try and think of new ideas and ways in which to entertain the audiences. They have found that robotics interests people. With that have made many movies about robotics (e.g. Terminator, Star Wars, Jurassic Park ). Movie characters like the terminator would walk, talk and do actions by its self mimicking a human through the use of Artificial Intelligence. Movies and Television robots don't have Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) but are made to look like they do. This gives us the viewers a reality of robotics with AI. Understanding Of The IT Background Of The Issue Artificial Intelligence means " Behavior performed by a machine that would require some degree of intelligence if carried out by a human ". The Carwash machine has some intelligence which enables it to tell the precise temperature of the water it is spraying onto your car. If the water is to hot it could damage the paint work or even make the rubber seals on the car looser. The definition above shows that AI is present in everyday life surrounding humans where ever they go. Alan Turing Invented a way in which to test AI. This test is called the Turing Test. A computer asks a human various questions. Those conducting the test have to decide whether the human or the computer is asking the questions. Analysis Of The Impact Of The Issue With the increasing amount of robots with AI in the work place and in everyday

Ethical differences in cultures Essay

Culture is defined by Lustig and Koester (2003) as an acquired set of shared values, norms and beliefs by a group of people. It is the unifying element communities have. It is their image and identity. Other definitions classified culture as a means by which people communicate with each other, more importantly how they set goals. Goal setting in communities should coincide well with the culture it shall reside in. This is because of the observation that it is better that the goals match with culture, otherwise the people will not find the initiative to accomplish these goals. With that said, culture have a long-term perspective. Since culture is the silent agreement about how things should be in their community, one can assume that its influencing factors include their goals. Furthermore, setting group or community goals are one of the major elements that would affect culture. For example, if the community decided that they should be the cleanest county in the country, then they are framing how their culture should be like: conscious and disciplined. The perspective applied in culture is more long-term. However, this does not mean to say that culture cannot set short-term goals. This paper believes that culture does not give greater importance to rules and regulations because one can say that the rules and regulations are actually based on the culture of the community. It is more important to point what created the culture, which are the relationships and spirit involved within their group or community. Rules and regulations would stand as a form of guidelines for the people so that they will not deviate far from what has been silently agreed upon within the circle. But the relationships are those that binds everything as one culture. The article written by Eric Leocadio entitled Reinventing Our Culture Through Relationships concluded that people can change their culture by embracing relationships. Although the article regarded the different genders, it still pointed out that relationships create trust and understanding. Furthermore, this paper believes that relationships increases the desire to share interests and beliefs. They will be able to interact more, and have stronger bonds. Rules and regulations cannot produce the same thing from the people. Coercion is not a suggested activity to shape culture, unless they want the people to always have a sense of fear. To reiterate, culture is a shared aspect of the group or community involving values, beliefs and norms. With this said, it is possible that culture could be the standards by which the people live by. A culture will not tell what profession or gender is acceptable, but the people will. However, as time moves forward, the culture will eventually dictate for the people. They should stand firm upon the criteria they have set for themselves. There should not be constant changes, unless that is already the nature of the culture. However, most of the time, cultures are set through the years, and is difficult to change overnight. In summary, short term goals are set in accordance to the culture, while long term goals are the elements that strongly affects the culture of the community or group. Relationships are the factors that influence culture. Rules and regulations are created from their culture. In relation to how standards are set, the people subconsciously create the culture, and one day confer to this culture. With this said, it is quite funny to think that what man has created, man follows. Sometimes, man even follows blindly. References Leocadio, E. (n. d. ).Reinventing our culture through relationships. Retrieved January 15, 2007 from http://www. catalystlb. org/article_reinventing_relationships. php. Pratt-Johnson, Y. (February 2006). Communication cross-culturally: What teachers should know. Retrieved January 15, 2007 from http://iteslj. org/Articles/Pratt-Johnson- CrossCultural. html.

What are some of the individual and group †level factors that affect organisational change and development? How can these be managed?

Introduction â€Å"Change and resistance go hand in hand: change implies resistance and resistance means that change is taking place† (Gravenhorst, 1993). This definition exemplifies the importance of the human element in organisations as it is this constituent that ultimately becomes the face of any organisation. Due to the difficult economic and political situation nationally and internationally, many organisations have changed their working practices; it has never been more vital for managers to handle change effectively by avoiding common errors made by change agents and become what Tushman and O’Reilly call an â€Å"Ambidextrous Organisation†. Implementing change in organisations has proved to be a lot tougher than originally thought, as success depends on the stakeholders involved in the process, the organisational context for facilitating change, as well as many other internal and external factors. This essay will argue the most difficult aspect of organisation change is the human element in change processes, due to the emotional dimension that humans bring with them into organisational life. This essay will first will discuss change resistance generally, stating reasons why people resist change and offering ideas for how to overcome resistance. Then the impact of emotions will be dealt with: why they are important in change processes referring to scholarly texts and theories. The last sub-section of the essay will address group level factors, making distinctions between different types of groups and teams. A discussion and analysis on group norms and how they can prove to be problematic will follow. Finally, solutions will be provided for combating group factors of resistance and how they can be seen as an opportunity to oversee past management behaviour. The conclusion will reiterate the main arguments put forward and will summarise the essay findings. What is Resistance to Change? From an internal point of view, resistance to change is situated at individual and group levels. Beer and Nohria (2000) argue that 70 per cent of change programs fail because of a lack of strategy and vision, inadequate communication and trust, poor commitment from top management, a lack of resources, poor change management skills, and resistance to change from within organisations. Resistance to change inside organisations has been understated in the past, and many organisations continue to neglect emphasis on the internal factors of change. â€Å"Resistance towards change encompasses behaviours that are acted out by change recipients in order to slow down or terminate an intended organisational change† (Lines, 2004, cited in Hughes, 2010, p 33). This quote exemplifies that behaviours of change recipients play a key role in the implementation of change, which can act as a barrier during transition processes. Resistance to change can be defined in many different ways, but trad itionally ‘resistance’ is experienced negatively in organisations, with management viewing resistance as a stumbling block, delaying mechanism, and enemy of necessary changes. However, Ford and Ford (2009) and Waddell and Sohal (1998) have argued that the way managers interpret resistance is wrong and posit that in many cases management do not truly understand such behaviour, instinctively interpreting objections as a form of resistance from employees. This point has validity since it is very common for managers to see any form of feedback as resistance from their subordinate counterparts (Ackroyd and Thompson, 1999). Why Resistance Occurs Resistance to change occurs for many reasons, whether at the individual or group level. The first point to consider is whether change processes benefit employees or not. There are such cases where change is structured in favour of employees, but where the change is still resisted. This type of self-sabotaging behaviour can be directly related to organisational misunderstanding and a lack of trust between staff and management (Kotter and Schlesinger, 1979). The word change itself is defined in such a way so as to bring an element of surprise to organisational structure and processes – altering the status quo (Hughes, 2010 p.164). Whenever changing a process, there will always be a sense of anxiety and fear amongst recipients, especially if organisations have previously failed in adopting to change and implementing new practices (Hughes, 2010). This will increase the likelihood of change resistance from the shop-floor, regardless of the change proposals put forward. Change agent s often unintentionally alienate employees in the decision making process, acting without the consent of other groups within the organisation and assuming they have all the knowledge needed for implementing the best changes (Ford and Ford, 2009 and D’Amelio, 2008). Fransella (1975, p135) states individuals have to negotiate and manage change on a daily basis; this point validates the argument of Ford that resistance will occur if there is no input from the employee perspective. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) have, in their work, noted four common factors as to why individuals resist change: self-interest, misunderstanding and lack of trust, different assessments of the changes most needed, and a low tolerance to change. Parochial self interests are a very common reason for resistance since loss is always a difficult acceptance. Therefore, individuals will always try their utmost to keep what they have, and in an organisational context Zaltman and Duncan (1977) view threats to power and influence as one of the most important sources of resistance to change. How to Manage Resistance Managing resistance to change can be very problematic, the reason being that managers have a tendency to view resistance as something oppositional, dangerous or purely self-serving (Brown and Humphreys, 2006). However, if managers adopt new behaviour patterns, dealing with resistance from an optimistic perspective where feedback loops can be seen as a positive means for discussion amongst employees and management (Ford and Ford, 2009), then stronger relationships can begin to be built across organisational hierarchies, and change can be more effectively managed. Seeing resistance from a more favourable perspective allows change agents to hear concerns and advice from change recipients, and it also gives employees the opportunity to address entrenched problems such as a lack of communication between management and employees and ineffective organisational practices that continue to survive. However, such harmonious outcomes are easier espoused than achieved; since management is intrins ically suspicious of giving over power, and placating disenchanted workers has proven to be a difficult task in the past (Coghlan, 1994). Cialdini (2001) suggests six principles of persuasion, based on communications which are very effective. Cialdini states that every leader has to harness the art of persuasion in order to win people over and overcome resistance to change, without creating negative feedback. However, management behaviour has proven to be a very path dependant model, where radical change is needed to convince people that past events will not reoccur. As soon as management behaviour has changed, it is vital to make new incentives achievable, where benefits and outcomes are in tandem and there is no confusion or lack of knowledge on the part of employees that would inhibit them from delivering satisfactory outcomes (Vroom, 1964). Role of Emotions in Change Processes Emotions and responses to change can be so intensive that the literature in organisational change has compared them with individual responses to traumatic changes such as death and grief (Grant, 1996; Elrod and Tippet, 1988; Kubler-Ross, 1969). Emotions are such that they are experienced by everyone, mainly by individuals but also collectively in groups as well as by change agents themselves. This point is consistent with Myers et al.’s (2010) claim that â€Å"emotions are not just experienced by those on whom change is imposed on; those who lead change may experience transitions as equally emotional† (p. 63). From an organisational perspective, emotions play a key role; they can directly affect performance and emotions have an impact on the overall culture within organisations (Hofstede, 1989). Organisational change can be seen as either a challenge or an opportunity; triggering positive emotions such as excitement and anticipation or negative feelings such as fear, anxiety and the anticipation of a tangible threat to the material position of staff within an organisation. The challenge for change agents is to carefully manage such emotions to ensure that they do not affect the transition process change entails. Negative emotions have proven in the past to be a major hurdle in organisational change (Hofstede, 1989). The impact of negative change will leave an impact on the collective morale of staff, which can be an obstacle for future successful change processes. ‘Emotional contagion’ is also an important unintended consequence of change and little explored facet of organisational life to be highlighted here. It refers to situations when â€Å"emotions can be directly picked up from other people† (Myers et al, 2012 p. 66). In other words, emotions can initiate and spread amongst all members of an organisation, for example if organisational change has adverse effects on a few individuals, their negative emotions will affect their peers. Therefore, emotions can move from individuals to other individuals, and as a result become an influential group dynamic and even epidemic. Emotion Coping Cycle To understand emotions from a theoretical perspective, the works of Elizabeth Kubler Ross (1969) are informative to the debate. She puts forward six stages of emotional responses that effect individuals; her work is especially relevant to organisational change discourses since employees and change agents go through similar stages of emotions during periods of change and transition. Mark and Mirvis’ 1992 study based on a failed merger of two computer companies is also an intriguing example of emotional interplay and its role within organisational change. Mark and Mirvis discovered individuals involved in the merger feared a loss of control, ‘unknowns’ associated with their new work responsibility, and also how they would be judged in the future. Since organisations often use mergers as a cost cutting strategy, likely resulting in people being made redundant, such negative emotions associated with mergers are founded on previous experience and hence validated. During the redundancy process, employees affected will go through stages where emotions vary Ross (1969). From an appraisal theory perspective, individuals affected will make their own interpretation of events and emotions will trigger behaviour. It is vital for change agents to possess excellent communication skills in order to manage the emotional cycle individuals will likely go through as the anxiety of the merger spreads amongst employees (Mark and Mirvis, 1992). The most dangerous stage of the redundancy process is the depression stage, which can take months to subside, especially if the redundancy is not effective immediately. Change agents need to deploy sympathetic communication methods and be reasonable in explaining why change is taking place by taking blame away from the individual and ensuring employees move to the acceptance stage as fast as possible. Solutions (Emotional Intelligence) Emotional Intelligence encompasses a multi-dimensional framework of thought which raises awareness, facilitation, knowledge and regulation of emotions. Emotional intelligence allows individuals to form substantiated, reasoned opinions about emotions during periods of transition without allowing emotions to turn their subjectivity against their goal of better understanding the emotions they are feeling. However, personalities initially dictate the levels of emotional intelligence individuals have to a certain extent; an individual who possesses traits of a ‘sensing and judging’ person will likely resist change as they will see radical change as a violation of the psychological contract. However, instilling employees with high levels of emotional intelligence requires an overall organisation transformation. Senge (1992) emphasises that organisations and employees need to develop personal mastery and take account for their own actions as well as learning how decisions based on emotions are dangerous for one to make. Organisations should not buy into the fact that emotions cannot be tampered with, they should invest heavily in developing staff and training them to become more emotionally intelligent, so they can adopt the practice of monitoring their own actions which will help facilitate transition. Group level Dynamics Individual factors of resistance to change are a big issue for change practitioners, but it is unrealistic for such practitioners to work with every individual who comprises an organisation, especially when working within big corporations. Almost every individual in an organisation belongs to at least five or six groups inside that organisation. Groups have a direct impact on change processes; moreover, change agents must devise strategies where they do not cause anger and resentment to groups as they have more of an influence than individual resistors of change. However, focusing on group dynamics is a realistic way of tackling organisational change and development, as consistent with Lewin’s (1966) idea of group decision making being more effective and more likely to be pursued. McKinley et al. (2010) have distinguished between groups and teams, stating that groups are two or more people working to a common goal, where there is no psychological contract between them. Teams a re seen by Katzenbach and Smith (1991) as differentiated to other working groups by performance results, since only teams produce individual results and â€Å"collective work-products† , the results from several members working together. Teams and groups can come in many different forms, such as formal and informal groups, both of which are vital to life within organisations. Informal groups are dangerous to management as they do not possess any form of institutional rules and are governed by ideas which are not always in the best interest of employers. Causes Of group Resistance (Group Norms) Group norms can be a big stumbling block for organisations and can be a root cause for resistance to change. Coghlan (1994) has described group norms as unwritten rules which constitute the atmosphere within groups and teams. Group norms in a formal setting can be governed and overlooked by organisations. However, since informal groups are self-organised by the thoughts and identities of individuals it is not so easy for organisations to influence them. The dangerous aspect of group norms is that they can easily become viral as personalities differ in groups in which a very outspoken and influential figurehead can influence the thinking of the quiet individuals getting them to comply with their frame of mind, this is in line with Watson’s (1969) argument where he posits that team resistance is based on conformity to group norms. In an organisational context group norms can cause difficulties for change processes due to the influence they have. During change processes, where th ere is a great deal of uncertainty, there is a strong possibility that this will result in people joining informal groups since these may wield hidden but significant power within organisations and be able to influence decisions on organisational process due to such power. This will also have a positive impact on groups as they will broaden their capacity. Solutions Group dynamics can be an extremely difficult question for organisations; however, winning groups over can benefit organisations in terms of morale, productivity and cultural cohesion that results from positive networking: â€Å"It has been argued that the modern organisation is no longer a collection of individuals, but rather a network of interconnected teams (Kozlowski and Bell, 2003). This way of imagining organisations exemplifies the importance of groups and collective thinking in this context, and how such thinking can shape the outcomes of organisational change. It is therefore vital that organisations include groups in change processes or else they will run the risk of engendering demotivated and disempowered work forces, as well as the possibility of employees joining informal groups resisting top-down transitions and changes in order to exercise power and feel valued as individuals. Solutions presented by Ford and Ford (2009), where change processes are seen as an opportun ity to change the status quo by changing norms within groups, have been seen to produce positive results in Coch and Ford’s 1948 case study among others. These solutions also coincide with the thoughts of Kotter and Schlesinger (1979), where methods of dealing with resistance which emphasise the importance of participation and communication are put forward as the best resolution to issues of organisational change. Change agents are seen as needing to encourage cross-organisational participation and dialogue, and to see resistance as a resource and a necessary feedback loop in order for change to be implemented successfully through the medium of groups. Conclusion This essay has discussed internal factors of organisational change and development from the human element perspective. Resistance to change is something which has traditionally been assumed as a negative development by managers. This perception was shown to be a cause for change attempts being resisted. How resistance to change is helpful to organisations where poor employee participation has been a prevalent feature during past transitions has also been discussed. The points made by Ford and Ford (2009) are useful as they see resistance as a resource which encourages organisations to start afresh and change the employee base instead of gratifying the self-interest instinct. Emotions have been shown to play a key role in change processes, where negative emotions have a big influence not only on individuals but also on groups, as they can be highly contagious and effect organisational cultures. It is clear that managers need to carefully manage emotions during transitions, since a pro longed coping cycle can prove to be disastrous for organisations. Dealing with emotions can be complicated; however, having a high level of emotional intelligence among staff will make the probability of resistance lower without letting emotional subjectivity surpass objectivity at work. As mentioned above, almost every individual belongs to several groups within their organisation. The most dangerous types of groups are informal ones due to their hidden power agendas and circumventing influence they can have on individuals, which can be a direct form of resistance to change. 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