Assessing Corporate Culture Essay Example for Free

Assessing Corporate Culture Essay 1. Scheins approach to assessing organizational culture a. Strengths of scheins approach to assessing organizational culture Schein defines and describes culture as any one of many elements of organizational culture. The culture of an organization can be viewed and treated like other structures within an organization. Certain organizations such as by-laws, committees, and chain of command flow charts, may serve to answer basic questions such as â€Å"how do we interact with the external environment?† and â€Å"how do we order ourselves internally?† As an organization responds to these questions, the responses become core assumptions. These core assumptions become the frames through which the organization interprets the world round it. In place of questionnaire or instrument that utilizes typologies, Schein prefers clinical research model of assessing organizational culture. In this model of organizational culture investigation, the researcher gets much more directly involved within the organization by acting as participant observer or ethnographer. He suggests that members of the organization will more openly respond to the researcher and the investigation because the members of the organization think they have something to gain by collaborating with the researcher. Schein believes that valid data on the culture of the organization will only be collected when the researcher is perceived as the consultant who is seeking to help the organization and has the best interest of the organization in mind. Schein admits that the clinical model of evaluating organizational culture assumes that the researcher intervenes in the culture of the organization. If the organization perceives that the researcher is helping to make changes that will benefit the organization, then the research will accurately yield the cultural dynamics of the organization. b. Weaknesses of Schein approach to assessing organizational culture The results gained from qualitative result are limited to specific cases under investigation. Direct comparison cannot be made between the results from other studies unless the research is specifically designed in that manner. Furthermore, results cannot be generalized to other settings and links to organization’s performance are rarely explored. One significant weakness to Schein’s approach (qualitative method) is the time needed for data collection and analysis which makes the research more costly and time consuming 2. Cameron and Quinn approach a. Strengths of Cameron and Quinn approach to assessing organizational culture Cameron and Quinn provide an evaluation tool called the organizational culture assessment inventory (OCAL). The OCAI is a survey instrument established on a theoretical model called the competing value framework. This framework is valuable for organizing and interpreting various phenomena within an organization. The competing values framework refers to whether an organization strives for flexibility and individuality or stability and control, whether or not an organization is focused externally or internally. The purpose of the OCAI is to discern the relative strengths of these culture types within a given organization. Used over time, the OCAI can measure culture changes within the organization. Cameron and Quinn observe many cases in the business world where culture change is the key to increasing organizational effectiveness. The four major culture types proposed by Cameron and Quinn embody these competing values: clan-internal/control; adhocracy-external/flexible; market-external/control; hierarchy-internal/control. In fact pure control (hierarchy), compete (market), collaborate (clan), or create (adhocracy) are extremely rare. Most of the company cultures that have been diagnosed using Cameron and Quinn’s organization culture instrument indeed have a strong secondary component. Cameron and Quinn identify the cultural and organizational competencies that give rise to value creation. It explains how cultural and leadership competencies can be profiled which, in turn, can lead to a diagnosis of culture gaps, cultural congruency and cultural strength. 3. London first united church Cameron and Quinn’s model is appropriate for this church. This approach is built around clan, adhocracy, market and hierarchy. These four maps themes were also used in the analysis of how organizational culture of London first united Methodist church chances with structural inventions. The church is both an organization and an organism. As such, the church has a lifecycle development built into it: birth, growth, reproduction, decline, and death. The church itself historically has through several changes. Change as renewal is a major aspect of the Methodist movement. Much of the rise and fall of the Methodism can be traced to how the church was willing, or not, to change. Oftentimes, organizations experience growth and/or renewal because of structural changes within the organization. The four maps themes therefore fit this church.

Comparing the Play versus the Film of William Shakespeares Much Ado Ab

Comparing the Play versus the Film of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing ?Much Ado About Nothing'' is a postwar love story. Its principal subject is that of romance that may settle over the land after soldiers come home. I noticed that Much Ado is actually two love stories. One concerns sweetly innocent lovers who are driven apart by the plotting of enemies. The other involves very sarcastic lovers who are swept into each other's arms by the benign machinations of friends. I had a lot of trouble understanding the dialect, I grew up a country boy and we didn?t do much of this in my 14 persons graduating class. None the less I didn?t think it was a waste of time either. It was of very good quality as far as a plot is concerned. It had evil, jealousy, lust, love, romance, comedy and of course tragedy. If I were to do it over again I would go see the movie first, the play second. I was able to understand more from the movie than I did the play. I think that if I had done this I might have got more from the play. As the good prince of Arragon, Denzel Washington did a superb job, and as Claudio, the love-struck innocent, Robert Sean Leonard performed great just as he has done in any other theatrical movies that I have seen him in. But in the lesser role of the prince's evil half brother, Keanu Reeves didn?t appear to be all that special, at times he did look evil but I have never been a big fan of Keanu?s acting. He always sounds like a baboon when he opens his mouth. Maybe I am just remembering too much of Bill and Ted?s Excellent adventure? Beatrice and Bene*censored* are adversaries united only in their contempt for marriage. Once the two finally let down their guard and allow their true feelings to blossom... ...and several more keeps you and your emotions on a roller coaster ride. Which is brilliant because we all know that as humans we adhere to stimulation and that is what it does, it stimulates us by incorporating all these emotions and jumping around with them. With the movie it also adds a score and soundtrack as well as camera shots and things that appeals to our senses that much more. At least it does for me. Branagh's interpretation of Shakespeare's play leaves the viewer with the impression of a fairy tale in which everyone (except the villain) will live happily ever after. The film is good, but even as I am partial to the movie I do believe to properly appreciate Shakespeare's work it is necessary to take the time to peruse the play in a leisurely and contemplative manner, and if anything to get the WHOLE play in which the movie did not give.

BCR Importance of nitrogen Essay

1. Probably they include negatives and, if possible, positive controls. Is your negative control a test plant that is planted in a pot with no legume planted in the pot? Do you have any other negative controls? How about positive controls? Are there some plants which you know will grow well under the conditions that you are specifying? Are you using these as positive controls, while your test plants will be a different type of plant? 2. I suspect they also include a method of checking, periodically, for results â€Å"over time,† meaning either daily, weekly, monthly †¦. 3. Wouldn’t you want all of your test â€Å"subjects† exposed to the same environmental conditions, with the exception of the one element for which you are testing. That means that all get the same amount of light, water and soil and that the light, water and soil are from the same source. So, you will need a way of measuring the amount of light, water and soil. If you are planting in containers, wouldn’t you want all of the containers made of the same substance, instead of having some be of plastic and some of wood? Wouldn’t you want them to all be the same height, width and depth? Wouldn’t you want them all oriented with respect to the sun such that none blocked sunlight from the others? Wouldn’t you want to weed them all frequently and regularly to insure that the presence of weeds did not adversely effect one or the other of your test subjects? I suspect that your instructor wants you to say in your experimental proposal write up how you will orient the containers and what they will be made of and what are their dimensions and how often you will check for weeds and measure light water and soil†¦ 4. Won’t you need to decide what constitutes a positive result and what constitutes a negative result. 5. Probably your instructor wants you to choose an objective measure for your results and state what that will be. For example: If you are growing other plants along with the legumes, will you measure the growth of their stems with a ruler? If they are branched, will you only measure the total height, or will you measure all of the branches separately? If they have fruit, will you weight the fruit? If you weigh it, how will you decide that it is time to pick and weigh it? At the end of the experiment, will you remove the whole plant, roots and all and weigh it? 6. Will you plant the legumes at the same time that you plant the test plant? or will you plant the test plant on day 5, 6, 10†¦ after the legumes have been planted? Will you plant only one legume to each box? If you have them growing at the same time, how will you orient your plants so that neither the legume nor the test plant will overshadow the other but that the roots of the legume are close enough to effect the soil for the test plant? Or, if you don’t think that will work, will you plant the legumes and let them grow and die before you plant your test plant? 7. How will you record what you have done? Will you make a spreadsheet and record that, for example, you have gave all the plants a cup of water per day or a quart of water twice a week? Where will you note the growth of the plant? how many weeds you pulled? Will you note the conditions of the leaves of your test plant or the conditions of the legume plants? Where will you note any unforeseen changes? 8. How will you write up your results? Most scientific papers have 5 sections. Does your instructor wish for you to include this in your proposal? 1) Introduction, 2) Materials and Methods 3) Results, 4) Conclusions and Discussion, 5) References

Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller - 1285 Words

What is the American Dream? How does one define success? Many people hold different views on how to obtain true happiness. One common view is the accomplishment of something yearned. A majority of individuals desire love, compassion, and a family. On the other hand, there are those concerned with self-image, material items, and the fact that money can indeed buy true happiness. In Arthur Miller s play DEATH OF A SALESMAN [published by Ted Buchholz (1993)]--the story of a sixty-three year old man named Willy Loman striving to achieve the American Dream and his family who suffer as a cause--contains many examples of trying to achieve material success. Willy s ultimate dream concerns following in his brother Ben s footsteps and rising to be a successful salesman. Willy Loman wanted success so badly that he lost a realistic sense of himself. He wished the same for his sons, Happy and Biff. Yet his struggle for popularity, authority, and money for success caused his downfall. Unfortunatel y for Willy, most of his dreams were illusions. He was unable to come face to face with this fact. Willy Loman s definition of success warped his view of himself and that of his sons. Willy Loman s definition of success pertained to being popular and holding high authority within the business and corporate world. Often lost within his memories the reader gets a glimpse of Willy s meaning of the American Dream. The audience first witnesses this as he speaks with Biff and Happy aboutShow MoreRelatedDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1387 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican play-write Arthur Miller, is undoubtedly Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949 at the time when America was evolving into an economic powerhouse. Arthur Miller critiques the system of capitalism and he also tells of the reality of the American Dream. Not only does he do these things, but he brings to light the idea of the dysfunctional family. Death of a Salesman is one of America’s saddest tragedies. In Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, three major eventsRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller888 Words   |  4 PagesDeath of a Salesman† i s a play written by Arthur Miller in the year 1949. The play revolves around a desperate salesman, Willy Loman. Loman is delusioned and most of the things he does make him to appear as a man who is living in his own world away from other people. He is disturbed by the fact that he cannot let go his former self. His wife Linda is sad and lonely; his youngest son Biff is presented as a swinger/player while his eldest son Happy appears anti-business and confused by the behaviorRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1573 Words   |  7 Pagesrepresents a character with a tragic flaw leading to his downfall. In addition, in traditional tragedy, the main character falls from high authority and often it is predetermined by fate, while the audience experiences catharsis (Bloom 2). Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is considered to be a tragedy because this literary work has some of the main characteristics of the tragedy genre. In this play, the main character Willy Lom an possesses such traits and behaviors that lead to his downfall, and theRead MoreDeath of Salesman by Arthur Miller972 Words   |  4 PagesIn the play Death of a Salesman by the playwright Arthur Miller, the use of names is significant to the characters themselves. Many playwrights and authors use names in their works to make a connection between the reader and the main idea of their work. Arthur Miller uses names in this play extraordinarily. Not only does Miller use the names to get readers to correlate them with the main idea of the play, but he also uses names to provide some irony to the play. Miller uses the meanings of someRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1628 Words   |  7 PagesArthur Miller wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning play Death of a Salesman in 1949. The play inflated the myth of the American Dream of prosperity and recognition, that hard work and integrity brings, but the play compels the world to see the ugly truth that capitalism and the materia listic world distort honesty and moral ethics. The play is a guide toward contemporary themes foreseen of the twentieth century, which are veiled with greed, power, and betrayal. Miller’s influence with the play spreadRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller949 Words   |  4 PagesDeath of a Salesman can be described as modern tragedy portraying the remaining days in the life of Willy Loman. This story is very complex, not only because of it’s use of past and present, but because of Willy’s lies that have continued to spiral out of control throughout his life. Arthur Miller puts a modern twist on Aristotle’s definition of ancient Greek tragedy when Willy Loman’s life story directly identifies the fatal flaw of the â€Å"American Dream†. Willy Loman’s tragic flaw can be recappedRead MoreThe Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller846 Words   |  4 PagesA Dime a Dozen The Death of a Salesman is a tragedy written by playwright Arthur Miller and told in the third person limited view. The play involves four main characters, Biff, Happy, Linda, and Willy Loman, an ordinary family trying to live the American Dream. Throughout the play however, the family begins to show that through their endeavors to live the American Dream, they are only hurting their selves. The play begins by hinting at Willy’s suicidal attempts as the play begins with Linda askingRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller Essay2538 Words   |  11 PagesSurname 1 McCain Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course: Date: Death of a Salesman Death of a salesman is a literature play written by American author Arthur Miller. The play was first published in the year 1949 and premiered on Broadway in the same year. Since then, it has had several performances. It has also received a lot of accordances and won numerous awards for its literature merit including the coveted Pulitzer for drama. The play is regarded by many critics as the perfectRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller2081 Words   |  9 Pages#1 â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller is a tragedy, this play has only two acts and does not include scenes in the acts. Instead of cutting from scene to scene, there is a description of how the lighting focuses on a different place or time-period, which from there, they continue on in a different setting. The play doesn’t go in chronological order. A lot of the play is present in Willy’s flashbacks or memories of events. This provides an explanation of why the characters are acting a certainRead MoreDeath Of Salesman By Arthur Miller1475 Words   |  6 Pagesto death to achieve their so- called American dream. They live alone and there is no love of parents and siblings. They may have not noticed the America dream costs them so much, which will cause a bigger regret later. In the play Death of Salesman, Arthur Miller brings a great story of a man who is at very older age and still works hard to achieve his desire, which is the American dream. Later, he no tices that his youth is gone and there is less energy in his body. Willy Loman is a salesman, who