Kurt Lewin and the Planned Approach to Change Essay

Kurt Lewin and the Planned Approach to Change - Essay Example Several of those that are arriving late for their shifts are attending college courses and use this as an excuse to be late. While there may be some merit to this reasoning, the aftereffects on the rest of the staff are detrimental to moral. The group as a whole must then be looked at to see how it behaves and functions. This is a term that Lewin referred to as â€Å"Group Dynamics.† Lewin breaks this down into the following six categories: (1) Group productivity: why was it that groups are so ineffective in getting things done? (2) Communication: how influence is spread throughout a group. (3) Social perception: how a person group affected the way they perceived social events. (4) Intergroup relations. (5) Group membership: how individuals adjust to these conditions. (6) Training leaders: improving the functioning of groups (T-groups). (Greathouse, 1997) Using this as a guideline and framing out the power struggles in the force field above, in order to create change the restraining factors must be reduced and the Driving forces must be increased. In order to begin to improve the functioning of this group, the power base must be altered so that the tardy nurses who have received no sanctions to date, begin to understand that their behavior is no longer tolerated by the leaders in the group. This would be done by increasing the enforcement of a policy which would reduce the tolerance by management and increase sanction (decrease no sanctions) for the late nurses. This also alleviates the on-time nurses’ feeling that the late nurses’ are tolerated and special. And the relief shift would be more assertive and alert. The new graph would look like this: This will create the necessary energy to unfreeze the situation, create the momentum for change and then refreeze the situation with the new parameters in place (Burnes, 2004).  

Fight Club - How Multiple Identities Were Portrayed in The Film Essay

Fight Club - How Multiple Identities Were Portrayed in The Film - Essay Example The symptoms vary over time according to different conditions (Ringrose 64). The movie, Fight Club, clearly shows how D.I.D can affect a person. This is as discussed below. Dissociative identity disorder normally tends to be exhibited by an individual during highly traumatizing, painful, and violent moments (Ringrose 123). This is fully exhibited in Fight Club when Jack fights to put off the bombs set by Tyler for the destruction of the credit card companies. The trauma at the scene transforms him into someone else such that he acquires two personalities while being in one body. He has exactly to know the side of the body where Tyler is hiding so that he can shoot him. He uses sense and conscience to determine the side Tyler is hiding and finally manages to shot him (Palahniuk 13). The main symptoms of the disorder are depression, sleep disorders like insomnia, and sleep walking. Mood signs, headache, panic attacks, and phobias can also be part of the first symptoms of the disorder. The disorder makes an individual perceive intrusive thoughts and emotions, which make the individual act in accordance with such emotions and thoughts (Ringrose 63). It also causes them to forget information and thus act as a blank personality driven by the implanted thoughts and no logic or reasoning. This is the most dangerous part of the disorder. It thus makes it necessary to take good care of such patients. The treatment of such a disorder is not yet fully defined but is mostly dependent on past case studies. The reaction a patient gives is the one that gives the doctor a clue about the required action to be taken. A patient is handled according to how a previous patient was handled (Ringrose 78). It is thus important to notice any early symptoms for the treatment to be easier. Complicated cases can be difficult to handle. Considering Fight Club as a movie, identity is used as a style. Identity is used to show how the character of Jack, the narrator of the movie has the same pe rsonality with Tyler. This is well exhibited at the end of the movie when Jack has to shoot through his cheek so that he can hurt Tyler (Palahniuk 23). It clearly shows how Jack and Tyler have merged into one person and are operating using the same body and characteristics. Identity is also exhibited at places when people are referring to Jack as Tyler. This was mainly when Jack was following the trail of places where Tyler used to do the preparation for destruction of the credit card companies. All the people he met during the trip referred to him as Tyler. Marla also is seen to refer to Jack as Tyler. She even gets confused and ends up having an affair with both of them. This shows that most probably the two personalities having have merged into one body are inseparable and unidentifiable (Palahniuk 16). Fight Club as a movie exhibits a number of film techniques. Suspense as a technique is used in the movie at the place when the narrator is not given a name at the start of the mov ie. In this case, the viewer does not fully understand the position of the narrator. Finally, it comes out that he is the main character and suffers from failure of identity (Ringrose 92). This again brings up another film technique of symbolism. The disorder affecting the narrator that leads to lack of identity makes the narrator not be given a name. Suspense is created at the place when

Technical Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technical Paper - Essay Example This is especially handy for developing graphical user interfaces. Create one (1) original example of a class with at least one (1) attribute and one (1) method. Class Person { Private String name ; Public Person (String name){ this.name = name; } Public String getName() { return this.name; } } (Hegner, 2000) The class represents a person. The attribute stored is the name of the person. The purpose of the related method is to retrieve the name of the person. The constructor stores the name of the person when you create an instance of the class person. In object oriented programming, the program can be seen as a group of interacting objects, in contrast to the conventional model where a program is essentially a list of tasks. In OOP, every object can receive messages, process data, and send messages to other objects. An object can be viewed as an independent entity with a distinctive role or responsibility (ECOOP 2010 & D'Hondt, 2010). Methods on these objects are directly related to the object. For instance, data structures in OOP tend to bear their own operators or inherit them from a related class or object except in cases where serialization is required. On the other hand, Visual Logic programs can be one extended list of commands, and more complicated programs often assemble smaller parts of these statements into subroutines or functions. Each function can perform a specific task. These kinds of designs commonly make some of the data for the program to be universal, i.e., the data can be accessed from any section of the program (ECOOP 2010 & D'Hondt, 2010). The programs allow any function to change any piece of data as they grow in size, meaning that bugs in the code can have extensive effects. Event driven programming is a technique of programming used to create responsive programs. The software created does not perform any action until the event occurs. One advantage of this method over purely procedural programming is that no concurrent data access by di fferent execution threads is required. This prevents the need for leveraging shared data with the complex procedure required for such, thus preventing a lot of bugs (Samek, 2009). The technique also makes computer applications more user friendly, meaning that they can be operated by most people without the need for expert information on computer programming languages like OOP. References ECOOP 2010, & D'Hondt, T. (2010). ECOOP 2010 -- object-oriented programming: 24th European Conference, Maribor, Slovenia, June 21-25, 2010 : proceedings. Berlin: Springer. Hegner, S. J. (2000). Intelligent help systems for UNIX. Dordrecht [u.a.: Kluwer Acad. Publ. Samek, M. (2009). Practical UML statecharts in C/C++: Event-driven programming for sembedded systems. Amsterdam:

What is opera (with reference to Moses and Aron by Schoenberg) Essay

What is opera (with reference to Moses and Aron by Schoenberg) - Essay Example Snowman defines it in passing as â€Å"an art form that aspires to combine all the others†1 and goes on to chart the history of opera as a pastime of the elite which started in the Renaissance, reached its peak in the nineteenth century and began to decline in the twentieth century. This paper looks at the nature and purpose of opera in the twentieth century with specific reference to the unfinished masterpiece Moses and Aron which was written by classical composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) between 1930 and 1932. In the mediaeval period most people encountered formal music principally in religious settings but after the great turbulence of the Reformation, there came a time of gradual extension of musical performance into the salons of high society. Wealthy patrons of the Renaissance commissioned music to be written for special occasions such as weddings and coronations. In France the ballet form emerged, and in Italy genres such as the pastorale became popular: â€Å"The attraction of the pastorale consisted therefore, not in the plot but in the scenes and moods, the sensuous charm of the language, and the delicately voluptuous imagery, at which the Italian Renaissance poets excelled.†... tieth century new genres, and notably also technology such as gramophones and radio, extended the range of genres for musical production available and brought musical performances to still further sectors of the population. Schoenberg’s compositions were, however, unreservedly directed at the music-loving elites, and his choice of theme for his own modern opera harks back to the religious heritage of the Old Testament. Snowdon describes the changes that opera had undergone in the intervening centuries as a negative process: â€Å"opera has become at best a museum of art, a kind of old-fashioned religion re-enacted inside great temples before a dwindling audience of the devout.† 3 This description fits the more intellectual style of opera and it can be contrasted with what Snowman calls the â€Å"dumbing down of a once great art form to the point where any appeal it has beyond the narrow world of the cognoscenti is necessarily derived from the imposition of hype, shock and bogus sex appeal.†4 Schoenberg’s Moses and Aron is musically difficult, both to perform and to listen to, and it deals with ancient themes using heavy moral and religious overtones. It hardly seems likely to attract a wide audience, but for Schoenberg, the composition of both text and musical score seem to have meaning beyond the immediate context, serving to some extent as a life’s work, or a summing up of the most important elements in his own view of the world that he wants to leave for posterity. Schoenberg had a complex religious background, being born a Jew in Roman Catholic Austria, and then converting to Protestant Christianity before returning to his Jewish roots in later life.5 This return was provoked by the rising anti-Semitism that was gaining ground in central Europe in the early

Please see in other instructions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Please see in other instructions - Essay Example One of their more recent forays happened to be one into the financial industry, specifically in the form of Virgin Money plc which, at 17 years old, is still relatively new to this industry. Regardless, it was able to achieve a respectable level of success, if its global expansion in the turn of the millennium is anything to go by. Whatever complaints people might have about the level of customer service, Virgin Money plc must have at least halfway decent services if it has managed to go on operating for the past 17 years. have been getting mixed reactions from clients. Indeed, there are firsthand accounts on various forums and review sites on the internet that tell of the quality of Virgin Moneys services, not all of which are flattering. This being the case, it may be worth examining the customer service management approach taken by Virgin Money. The paper shall first provide a brief, 2-page history of Virgin Money, before introducing the concept of customer relations management - sometimes called customer services management - and how it applies to this firm. An explanation on the groups findings on the matter comes next, as well as on the methods used to obtain data. Rounding the study off is the conclusion, which includes recommendations as to how Virgin Money can improve on its customer service. Virgin Money was established as Virgin Direct by Richard Branson in 1995, and has always been owned by the Virgin Group. Based in the UK, this company deals primarily in banking and other financial services, and has been known as a pioneer of index tracking in its introduction of Personal Equity Plans at relatively affordable prices. Since it expanded its services worldwide early on in the past decade, the company went on to achieve even greater levels of success (BBC News, 2011). As with all companies, Virgin Money had tender beginnings of its own, having first been launched in partnership with Norwich Union in 1995 as Virgin Direct Personal Financial

Decisions together to make our performance stronger Essay Example for Free

Decisions together to make our performance stronger Essay The development process in drama is where as an actor or director a person looks, in depth, at the meaning of the plot, the feelings created by this and the stage directions and uses or implements these in his or her own dictation of the scene to his or her own taste and liking. Development can also be achieved in groups where, as diplomacy, we can decide on which aspects of the script we wish to implement and which stage directions we also wish to implement or create so as to better perform a section, or whole, of a play in the surroundings and set provided. In this case I developed my section of the script (pages 70-71) in a group of two, where we made choices and decisions together to make our performance stronger and to make the performance work and flow more easily. Shortly after we began to rehearse, we decided that it would be better if the actor playing Mickey in the section, which was myself, began the scene sitting, so that we could add levels into the performance and so that the mood of Mickey and the entire scene came across as a contrast between the joy of Edward and the depression of Mickey. Another reason we chose to add levels to the performance (from the beginning) was so that we could show the difference in class between Mickey and Edward. We had no costumes so we were forced to show the upset and depression of Mickey purely with expressions and in posture and position. Where as, we had to show the happiness and excitement from Edward, which was far more easy to procure, in the way he moved around the stage quickly and also in happy expressions and in innocence (e. g. when Edward asked questions he needed to not understand Mickey, to not realise how he was feeling and so he needed to be very upbeat and confused). Another factor which came into our minds when rehearsing the section was the time of day we believed the section to have been set in and in this our opinions differed. My partner believed that the section happened in the day, with snow falling from the trees, creating a beautiful picture in the viewers mind which would have been spoiled by the upset of Mickey. However, I believed that the section would have taken place at night. The air would have been dark and smelt of gas and the area around Mickey would have been run-down and worn-out so to speak. This would have, in my opinion, made Mickeys story of unwork seem more plausible to the audience as they would have been able to feel the depression and coldness in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, being limited to the use of only lighting and minimal props we had to settle with the idea of dimmed lighting to show the depression, darkness and resentment in the atmosphere. As I mentioned before we decided to show the difference in moods between the characters in the section (Edward and Mickey) by their movements and actions and the speed of these. We chose to portray Mickey as a slow and upset figure, and this was because we saw that he was upset and depressed by not being in work and also, was jealous of Edwards life at university and the money he had. We hoped that, by making Mickey slow and angry we could show how he felt inside to the audience without having to describe what had happened to him beforehand. On the other hand, we needed to show the excitement and happiness of Edward so as to give a full portrayal of the section. We decided that large amounts of fast movement was the best way to show how happy Edward was, when entering the scene, to see Mickey. Movement on stage (from one side to the other), coupled with various hand motions was also the way we decided to portray the excitement of Edward in the section. This said we had to remember that Edward didnt need to move too much because this would make him look nervous or as if the actor playing him was his or herself nervous. Bearing this in mind we decided to make Edward move in his lines from one side of Mickey to the other, at the beginning of the section. As the section progressed we needed to show how the atmosphere and moods of the characters changed as they confronted one another and we decided to do this by slowing the movements of Edward and changing his actions and expressions to a more uneasy mood and also to change the mood of Mickey so that he was even more angry as Edward revealed the wonderful time he had been enjoying whilst he was away. For example, when Edward says the line: Mickey, its fantastic. I havent been to so many parties in my life. And theres just so many tremendous people, but youll meet them Mick, some of them, Baz, Ronnie and Clare and oh, lots of them. Theyre coming over to stay for the New Year, for the party. Ooh its just . . . its great, Mickey. we decided that he should become happier and more excited and move more as the line goes on but that Mickey shouldnt look at him but that he should become more and more angry in his expressions. Climaxing in perhaps hitting his leg or some other action to show frustration. Also, we decided that as Edward asks more and more questions Mickey should become more and more annoyed and that his speech should become more and more strained as if he is trying to withhold his anger but still remain seated. This is until the line: You. Youre a dick head! where we believe that Mickey should stand and shout the line to contrast from the rest of his speech and to show his anger at Edward in full, for the first time. We decided that, in Edwards next speech he should still sound innocent and speak as if he knows everything about being poor and face the audience, sounding proud and sure of himself. Whilst this happens Mickey would become more and more annoyed at him but now speak more calmly, as if he has regained control of his rage. As the section concludes I think that Mickey should perhaps mock Edward for still being a kid etc. And this would show how he has changed, to contrast from how he was Edwards best friend. Mickey should talk as if disgusted at Edward but remaining calm and envious of him. Oppositely, Edward, as the scene concludes, should turn from being innocent and confused to turn and be on the verge of anger. The line: Im exactly the same age as you, Mickey should be portrayed with a slight hint of anger towards Mickey from Edward. However, after this, Edward should become calm again and then change, as Mickey announces his last line, so that he seems upset and on the verge of tears. In the last line, Mickey should begin facing Edward but as the line moves on he should turn to face away from him, half to the audience, half to the other side of the stage and Edward should stare at his back so that we can see the expressions they expose. Both should be upset, Mickey should sound harsh but actually be upset about what he is saying and Edward should just be upset so the audience can see the brothers, separated and see them upset. In the pause, both of the characters should remain still, Edward staring at Mickey and Mickey staring at the audience. Then, as the pause ends, Mickey should turn to face Edward and shout the final line: Go on . . . beat it before I hit y and, at this point, there should be another pause. After this Edward would slowly back away and Mickey should turn again to face the audience. Both characters should have expressions of upset on their faces to show how the mood of the scene has changed. So that the audience can feel the upset and the separation of the brothers, the lights should fade so that a spot is left on each brother. This would not only portray the mood but would show how the brothers feel inside without each other.

Financial Ratio Analysis for HSBC

Financial Ratio Analysis for HSBC HSBC is the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, established by Thomas Sutherland, in 1865. HSBC is one of the leading banking group on the financial market in the world today. In 2000, it ranked fifth largest global company in the world. HSBCs headquarters is located on the HSBC tower, Canary Wharf, London. HSBC bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holding plc. The shares of HSBC bank are not publicly-traded, but those of HSBC Holdings plc are traded on the London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris and Bermuda stock exchanges. The HSBC Corporation has been expanding rapidly with merger and acquiescing and it ranked second with assets for worlds wealthy company. HSBC has $1.861 trillion in assets as compared to Citigroup, which has $1.884 trillion, 31 Dec 2006. Nearly 22% of HSBCs earnings are derived from Hong Kong, which is one of its major operational bases. HSBC has grown into one of the largest global financial institutions with 9,500 offices in 79 countries and identity of HSBC brand have been well recognizing in the worldwide since it established. Known as the worlds local bank, HSBC has a history of helping millions of customers for their financial needs. FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS Financial ratios for HSBC (2005-2009), for the industry of Foreign Money Center Banks are provided below. Industry 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2009 Net profit margin(%) 9.0 6.1 20.6 20.7 25.1 11.9 Return on Equity(%) 4.5 6.1 14.9 14.6 16.1 12.6 Return on Assets(%) 0.2 0.2 0.8 0.8 1.1 7.9 Debt to equity 1.38:1 2.23:1 2.12:1 2.33:1 2.90:1 3.68:1 Current Ratio(2:1) 1.05 1.03 1.06 1.06 1.07 1.40 Interest Coverage(times) 1.3 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.7 1.2 Profitability Ratios Profitability ratios are show effectiveness of the business with generating profit. This ratio is popular that assessing a business to assess the amount of wealth generating for the amount of wealth invested. In 2009, HSBCs net profit margin ratio (9.0) is dramatically lower than year 2005. In 2005 net profit margin ratio is the highest (25.1) in other years. The lowest net profit margin ratio appeared as a 6.1 in 2008 and that had brought by global economic recession. There is slightly lower ratio (9.0) on net profit margin compare to its industry (1.9) in 2009. The higher net profit margin explains HSBC has good financial performance and cost of sales lower than other years in 2005. Liquidity Ratio HSBCs liquidity ratios are almost remained the same, between 2005 and 2009. Although, HSBC is slightly less liquided than the average firm in the industry, with both a current ratio and a quick ratio that is lower than the industry average. If a both ratios are lower than its norm (current ratio2:1, quick ratio1:1), it could be face liquidity problem. Capital Gearing Ratios Capital gearing is concerned with the relative sizes of the funds provided by share-holders, on the other hand by loan creditors. HSBCs Debt/equity ratio has dropped from (2.90) in 2005 to (1.38) in 2009. The lowest figure (1.38) occurred in 2009 on debt to equity and its dramatically lower than its industry (3.68). Debt to equity ratio indicated that HSBC is less leveraged than other firms in industry. This lower leverage shows HSBC has good financial performance in its industry. Management efficiency 2010 (1st quarter) HSBC Barclays Industry SP(500) Income/employee 22,226 36,763 66,753 99,430 Revenue/employee 238,067 303,095 396,097 896,721 Net profit margin 14.0 11.6 11.9 HSBC has net profit margin higher than other firms in industry and SP(500). But if we look at productivity of HSBC, and compare to Barclays, its industry and SP(500), its dramatically lower than any other those. Which means productivity is poor and $14,537 ($36,763-$22,226) lower than Barclays productivity of per employee. Therefore, there is a conflict between practice and theory of (productivity and net profit margin). According to theory productivity should be high if net profit margin high, in that case they are not. Perhaps HSBC need to consider about poor fixed and indirect cost. Conclusion We need to consider about market efficiency (which form of efficient market hypothesis). Seems to me, the efficient market hypothesis is involved in semi-strong form, which means we able to use all available public information including firms data (annual reports, income statement, exchange commission etc.), competitors financial situation, macro economic factors etc. . .Before we invest 250,000 pound to buy some share of HSBC. HSBC has strong balance sheet, income statement is perfect except some losses between mid 2008 and early 2009 and price earning per share higher than its main competitors of Barclays, SP500, and its industry. The management efficiency little bit poor but the management performance getting strong and they making their share price uptrend dramatically since the economic recession (in 2008). HSBCs net profit margin was 9.1% in 2009, now it is increased at 14% in 1st quarter of 2010. Which means the management performance is strong and marketing is effective in the market place. The history of share price chart is illustrated the share price increased slightly from at the price of 81.00 GDP in September 2005 till at price of 90.00 GDP in December 2007 and it is peaked up at 100.00 GDP in January 2008. January effect is very strong in HSBCs share price. The share price huge difference between End of December and January of every new a year and since 2005, the investors were making profit (3.00 GDP to 5.00 GDP) on per share in 3 weeks. I would like to recommend that we need to make an investment on HSBCs share with 250,000 GDP before January effect (end of December most of the stock holders want to sell their stocks, because of tax issue). The strategy of stock investment is buy-and-hold. That would be good investment for buying HSBCs shares.