Critically discuss the extent to which an organisations structure not Essay

Critically discuss the extent to which an organisations structure not only shapes its culture, but also its ability to transform itself - Essay Example Notwithstanding the fact that the influence of organisational structure on culture and transformation has been overlooked in many studies and practical management of businesses, there exists a rather important interconnection between these aspects of an organisation (Strandgaard & Sorensen, 1990). However, it may be quite a difficult task to distinguish an organisation’s structure and culture since structure always operates within business culture, implying culture and structure are quite intertwined. Therefore, this paper explores the assertion that the structure of an organisation not only influences its culture but also its ability to incorporate and manage changes. While culture refers to the umbrella issues and manner/patterns in which an organisation operates, structure refers to the infrastructures, methods, and practices therein. The structure of an organisation thus helps ensure that its culture is practised and run efficiently and consistently. Given this important role of structure in shaping an organisation’s culture and ensuring cultural consistency and efficacy, establishing good structures should be the hallmark of every organisation (Newman, 1996). Structure therefore not only influences and shapes organisational culture but it is also an integral part of the culture. The culture of an organisation is also a responsibility of its structure, which relates and deals directly with the settings of an organisation’s culture (Strandgaard & Sorensen, 1990). For instance, cultural issues in an organisation such as the workings of the management, employees’ responsibilities and the handling of disputes and complaints ar e all directly tied to its structures and how they work. The main way in which structure affects organisational culture is through the role of structure in interconnecting the different groups/teams in an organisation hence enabling them to work smoothly to realise

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early Essay

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960 - Essay Example Britain’s share of world trade fell from 13.9% to 10.8% during this time. Taxation increased from 32% of GDP to 43% of GDP. Economic planning had failed and this failure precluded major social planning despite the fact that some social reforms such as the launch of comprehensive education, reorganization of public transport, development in health and local government. Abel-Smith and Townsend are credited with the "rediscovery of poverty" in the 1960’s: noticed that certain categories such as, families with children on low incomes and retired couples often lived in difficult circumstances. The definition of poverty adopted by Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend in their 1965 study, was the concept of â€Å"The Poor and the Poorest†. They concluded that "poverty was entirely a relative concept," and defined households to be in, or at the margins of, poverty if their income was less than "140 percent of the then current National Assistance scale plus rent". In 1960, 17.9% of households lived below this relative poverty standard. An unknown, but significantly smaller, share of the population had incomes below the "physical efficiency" or "human needs" poverty lines. (Ian Gazeley, Poverty in Britain 1900-1965) There was a strong case for saying that socially deprived families are frequently found in confined geographical areas identifiable by certain physical and social characteristics. Examples of these characteristics: geographical location, "twilight zones" near a city’s business area; areas populated by immigrants; overcrowded and poor amenities, Victorian housing stock; areas with a high percentage of unskilled and semi-skilled workers; higher than average proportions of families on State benefits; higher than normal percentage of large families; large number of fatherless families; areas with little play space and recreational facilities; areas with poorer health; high percentage of child deprivation and delinquency.

The Ways I Learn English

The Ways I Learn English I was born in a small village outside Kodiang Town. It was a Malay village and most of the villager work as farmer. I was raised up in Malay family and my native language was Malay. My parent work as educator until today, but they had basic knowledge about English because their studies not an English Education. It was a long journey for me to learn English and until this moment I still continue to master this language. Beside English, I also got opportunities to learn Arabic language in a formal education. I also try to learn other foreign language by my own such as Japanese. Even my parents do not talk English at home, but they always encourage and support me to learn English. At the age of four years old my mother always bought many flash card, book with picture, puzzle and colouring book for me. After she getting back from school she will take one of the books and pronounced the word and ask me to repeat it. My mother also uses some English word to teach me about common object that we could found in my house. She will said that is cat, cat, a cat and I will repeated slowly cat. At the age of five years old, my mother had sent me to kindergarten. At there, I started my first formal lesson with English. The teacher teaches us about the letter A to Z, number 1 to 10, spelling and also pronunciations. When I enter primary school by the age of seven years old, I already used few English words in my daily conversation. The common words that I always used with my family and friends is baby, colour, bag, toilet and others. I got very motivated teacher at that time; he always inspired me to talk fluently in English. His name is Mr Zamarul Hisham Bin Kamaruddin. One of his teaching technique is he wanted us to have our own personal dictionaries and each student must bring that dictionaries every day to school. The use of that dictionary is for student to record every single new word that we learn in his classes or from other teacher. I think he did help student a lot in learning this language. During this time my mother also encourages me to read lots. My passion is always on science and technologies and mother know I love science very much. So, she bought me hundreds of English science book during my childhood. Book about fact on animals, plants, car, building and astronomy is among my favorite book at that time. Sometime I does not read at all because science term are difficult to understand for me at that age, but I really love to looking at those picture. Another effort of my mother to make me understand English well is by reading bedtime story books. Each month she will take me to Popular Bookstore to bought one bedtime story book. I always choose story book that have been write by Grid Blyton. The story that he write always have moral value and lesson for children to learn. Every night I spend some time with my mother to read those stories book. I always ask a lot to my mother about each story which such a great curiosity. Beside from reading books and formal lesson in school, another environment which also gives big influence for me to learn English is the exposure to technologies. In early ages, English cartoon program such as Sesame Street, Barney and Friends, Blues Clues and Mickey Mouse and Friends help me to communicate and understand English. Sesame Street encourages me to learn by demonstrating how people use various strategies, such as observing and predicting, to explore the world around me. Watching cartoon in English helps to hone my listening skills and learn how English is actually spoken. In addition through watching television, we learn with our desire and not by force like in classroom. So, I can learn a lot through watching television. I also can learn about general knowledge, science fact and recent news when I watch documentary on National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Another advantage to watching television is the learning of playing with words. English taught in schools can b e very rigid and sometimes the words are straight out of the book. Learning through television though is very good for pronunciation because the learner can actually hear the words spoken as they should be. Another innovation of technologies which help to develop my English skill was computer and mobile phone. As those gadget was invented and it become a trend for everybody to use it, I realized that it also help me to improve my vocabulary in English. All the term used in technologies was an English word and the term like make a call, sending massage, printout, copy and paste and others was widely use after the technologies was invented. I also learn a lot of new vocabulary through playing game on computer. Strategic game such as Red Alert 2, Call of Duty and Modern War used high vocabulary of word to explain the goal of each game. Sometimes I had to open up my dictionaries or seek the certain meaning of words from the internet to understand the task given in the game. If I cannot understand the task or the mission, I cannot compete and win the game. I like to write a narrative essay. This is because narrative or stories is an open essay which I can use my own imagination to write those essays. In public examination such as PMR and SPM, I always choose the narrative essay to answer. My Secondary School teacher, Madam Asliza Binti Zubir always encourages me to develop my fiction writing skill. She gives me a lot of fiction stories for me to get idea and inspiration to write a better first individual essay using my own imagination. My lifes principle for learning language also helps me to improve my English skill. I believe that to master the certain language desire is important for a person to explore and discover the language by himself. It does not need a formal education to learn other language. As long as there are desire and effort, we can learn what ever language we want through any medium of learning. I prove myself by learning Arabic language in school and learning Japanese through anime. I notice that, I easily memorize J apanese words when watching Japanese anime more than all the memorizing activities of Arabic class in school.

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskel Essay -- Papers

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskel Elizabeth Gaskell's Nineteenth Century novel, Mary Barton, is an example of social realism in its depiction of the inhumanities suffered by the impoverished weavers of Manchester, England. The main story in Mary Barton is that of the honest, proud and intelligent workingman so embittered by circumstances and lack of sympathy that he finally murders a mill owner's son as an act of representative vengeance. In growing embittered, he becomes as a natural consequence, more isolated in his community; both humanity and faith lose their power to guide him. Mary Barton, his daughter, really loves Jem Wilson, who is arrested after having threatened the murdered man for trying to seduce Mary, and it is her efforts that produce the melodramatic last minute evidence that saves him. Against the novelistic background of this murder and the central love stories, Mrs. Gaskell outlines her main themes of life in Manchester during the early stages of the Industrial Revolution and of the conditions that initiated the Chartist Movement. Thus, the historical background of Mary Barton is as much, if not more important than its strictly novelistic aspects. Manchester becomes a symbol of the outrageous conditions endured by the laborers, instead of a real city in itself. It is always grimy, oppressive, and ugly, just like the lives of its inhabitants. The only detail the author gives us is with the individual homes, not with the city itself. It is almost as if she were afraid of impairing the city's inherent symbolism by describing any actual streets or shops. Even when wealth is shown, as with the Carsons, the setting is still ugly and drab; the only difference is that the drabness has been made comfor... ... led up to the Chartist Movement. Despite the author's concentration on the social aspects of the situation, she has nonetheless succeeded in providing us with the main points of the new economy and its laws. Mary Barton tells the story from the laborer's point of view, but we are not without knowledge of the mill owner's side of it either, especially through the philosophical wisdom of Job Legh. In her attempts to present the plight of the laborer in Manchester, Elizabeth Gaskell has not neglected to make us understand the importance and significance of the industrial movement, as well as the great possibilities it possessed. It is, perhaps, a dated novel. However, it is important in its delineation of the social, political, and economic forces that were at work in England from 1835 -- 1850, and it is an attempt to bring them all into harmonious focus.

Brutus in the play Julius Caesar by Shakespeare Essay

Marcus Brutus is a character in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar which is based on the true story of events in Rome more than 2,000 years ago. Caesar’s loyal friend, Portia’s loving husband, and a noble Roman. However, he leads other conspirators and murders Caesar. People often question, is Brutus a hero or a villain? Brutus is not a hero nor a villain because he is not totally bad or good. Brutus doesn’t kill Caesar for power, but the good of Rome. Brutus is not a villain because he trusts Antony and refuses to murder him. Brutus is a villain because he is overconfident and therefore their actions fail. There is no human that is totally bad or good in story nor real life. Brutus loves Caesar but kills him because he believes that Caesar is not a good leader and that Caesar’s ambitions are dangerous to the future of Rome. The decision to kill Caesar is not easy for Brutus and his wife sees that. Portia tells Brutus she believes he has â€Å"some sick offence within your mind† (II.i.267-270) and that is why he can not sleep. The fact that he can not sleep shows that he is thinking about the murder and not comfortable with it. Also, he will not share his thoughts with his wife, even though she believes that â€Å"which by the right and virtue of my place/ I ought to know of†(II.i.267-270). When Brutus says â€Å"Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.† (III.ii.26) he means that he believes his actions are for the benefit of the Republic not to improve his position. During Brutus’s speech at Caesar’s funeral, he reveals his motive â€Å"I honour him; but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.† (III.ii.26) He tells the Romans they are better with Ceasar dead since if they would â€Å"rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?† (III.ii.21-24). Brutus believes that Caesar would have turned the freemen of Rome into his slaves and therefore was not the best leader for Rome. Cassius must also convince Brutus that Caesar’s murder is good. Cassius tells Brutus a story about a day in the winter where they swam in a river and Caesar almost drowns. Cassius uses this story to show Brutus that Caesar is just a man, not worthy of his â€Å"name being sounded more than yours?† (I.ii.143) Cassius also tell Brutus that the fault â€Å"is not in our stars/ But in ourselves† (I.ii.140-141) which sounds like Brutus has a choice about the future of Rome. Brutus is not a villain because he trusts Antony and refuses to murder him which shows that Brutus isn’t interested in gaining power and he has a good heart. Brutus believes that â€Å"For Antony is but a  limb of Caesar. /Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers†(II.i.165-166) and that without Caesar Anthony is not be a threat. He says, â€Å"And for Marc Antony, think not of him,/ For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm/ When Caesar’s head is off†(II.i.180-183). He does not want to murder innocent people, because he believes the â€Å"Our course will seem too bloody† (II.i.162). Brutus is a villain because he is overconfident and does not listen to the words of Cassius. His overconfidence is shown many times. Brutus shows his over confidence when talks about Cicero. On the day Ides of March, Brutus was discussing with other conspirator about if Cicero should go with them. Although other conspirator want Cicero to join them, Brutus don’t agree with that, he said, â€Å"O, name him not. Let us not break with him,/For he will never follow anything†(II.i.156-157). Later, when Cassius is talking about how he fears Antony, Brutus says â€Å"And for Mark Antony, think not of him,/For he can do no more than Caesar’s arm/When Caesar’s head is off.†(II.i.188-190). Also he believes that Anthony can speak at the funeral since whatever Antony speaks â€Å"I will myself into the pulpit first/ And and show the reason of our Caesar’s death./ What Antony shall speak, I will protest.† (III.i.237-239) and the people will believe him. In conclusion, Brutus is not a hero and not a villain. He kills his best friend, but it is for the good of Rome. Therefore he is not a villain. He trusts Antony, but that trust is the reason their plans to prevent Rome becoming a republic fails. Therefore he is not a hero. Although Antony calls Brutus â€Å"the noblest Roman of them all.†, he is overconfident. And this overconfidence leads to his suicide. Is difficult to say he is a hero or a villain. Because if he change his action, the history will change. Once the history change, our life today will change, too. One thing we learn is, no matter Brutus’s action is good or bad, he try his best and do what he believe is right to make himself and other people a better life.

Sexual Biography

To be honest, I do not remember any milestone or turning point of my sexual biography. My sexual awareness came smoothly and naturally as I grew up. The events I am going to tell will be pretty vague in terms of time order and my feelings. I have no idea when I began noticing that girls and boys have different parts but it was not earlier than my first grade. However, I did notice that there was something from the girls in class that made me blush and acting awkwardly when I had to talk to them.Also, the boys in my fourth grade talked about condom everyday, so I perhaps knew how condom was used, but it would not be a proper way even before I were aware of what a penis could do. I masturbated quite often until I were 14 and had a first relationship. The reason were self masturbated felt good andI thought no one would know about it. But my dad knew eventually. One day he talked to me about it, but in an awkward way. That time I was embarrassed, but I also wondered why he had to behave so unnaturally. He expected me to tell my little brother later on, but I never told him so I bet he did it himself.I read much about masturbation and knew people found it embarrassing themselves when doing it, but I have never thought masturbation was a guilty behavior or some kind of sins. I barely asked my parents about how I was born. Actually we did not talk much about everything. I remember I asked my mom just one time. She pointed at her navel and said I came from that little hole and I believed her. When I was around 12, I still wondered is if girls are interested in taking about boys? Of course I didn’t know what they would do together! I didn’t even wonder if girls masturbate.I thought they were some kind of godlike creature, some kind of angels that don’t do things boys do. But now I know female also want the things male want, although they want less than male do. Also, I liked a girl who was 2 years younger than me in middle school. I was bothered by the fact that I have had wanted a girlfriend in the same age. I thought I should not like that girl, that it was immoral and going against the natural order of the community. I fought against those thoughts and eventually gave up. After that, I didn’t think it immoral anymore†¦ I am recently in a relationship with a young lady who is 2 years younger than me.We have sex and were very clear about premarital sex. Unlike before I now have very clear position about controversial issues such as premarital sex, abortion, gay marriage and transgender. I am also aware of condom, menstruation, pregnancy, masturbation, oral sex and sex positions†¦ The fact were I and my partner agreed not to have sex until marriage, but we failed and committed to intercourse sex 3 times per week. It has been 2 years since we started having sex and it feel good and splendid. But more than that, we feel great and secure since we are together.

Free Essays on Acquaintance Rape

The last time I had to debate an issue, it was on the subject of â€Å"Acquaintance Rape.† My goal was to inform my audience that rape is most often committed, least reported, and least prosecuted serious crime in the United States. I also wanted to convey the fact that rape is an act of violence using sex as a weapon. It is also an attempt to control and dominate the other’s physical and emotional safety. Thus, it is not about simply letting ones sexual passions get out of control or is it about how a person looks. Date rape is defined as nonconsensual sex between people who have a social or dating relationship. This term was created to make people aware that rape is not only when a stranger attacks, but it can happen between two people who know each other. This type of attacker may be a friend, associate, classmate, neighbor or relative. In order to achieve the goal of informing my audience as to the serious of this topic, I researched the issue and presented som e alarming statistics. I feel that this argument was somewhat typical of my argument style, however I had to keep in mind the sensitivity of the subject matter. In light of this fact, my approach needed to be a little less adversarial. Typically, I would have been a little more competitive and confrontational. However, I decided to take the consensual approach in some areas such as trying to be both logical and emotional. I feel that in this particular instance that gender and life experience has influenced my argument style. As a survivor of sexual abuse, I understand the confusion one experiences about whether or not he or she has consented to a sexual act. I also understand that in some instances the perpetrator often feels that he is â€Å"entitled† to sex. Both attitudes are incorrect. Unless sex is fully consensual for both parties, it can be classified as rape. Nothing ever gives you the right to force sex. It does not make you cool, powerful, sm... Free Essays on Acquaintance Rape Free Essays on Acquaintance Rape The last time I had to debate an issue, it was on the subject of â€Å"Acquaintance Rape.† My goal was to inform my audience that rape is most often committed, least reported, and least prosecuted serious crime in the United States. I also wanted to convey the fact that rape is an act of violence using sex as a weapon. It is also an attempt to control and dominate the other’s physical and emotional safety. Thus, it is not about simply letting ones sexual passions get out of control or is it about how a person looks. Date rape is defined as nonconsensual sex between people who have a social or dating relationship. This term was created to make people aware that rape is not only when a stranger attacks, but it can happen between two people who know each other. This type of attacker may be a friend, associate, classmate, neighbor or relative. In order to achieve the goal of informing my audience as to the serious of this topic, I researched the issue and presented som e alarming statistics. I feel that this argument was somewhat typical of my argument style, however I had to keep in mind the sensitivity of the subject matter. In light of this fact, my approach needed to be a little less adversarial. Typically, I would have been a little more competitive and confrontational. However, I decided to take the consensual approach in some areas such as trying to be both logical and emotional. I feel that in this particular instance that gender and life experience has influenced my argument style. As a survivor of sexual abuse, I understand the confusion one experiences about whether or not he or she has consented to a sexual act. I also understand that in some instances the perpetrator often feels that he is â€Å"entitled† to sex. Both attitudes are incorrect. Unless sex is fully consensual for both parties, it can be classified as rape. Nothing ever gives you the right to force sex. It does not make you cool, powerful, sm...