Organisational Change Essay Example for Free

Organisational Change Essay Organizational change is also known as organizational transformation and it may involves organisational change in mission, introducing new technology, restructuring operations, introducing new programmes, mergers, re-engineering and having new major collaborations. (Bridges 1991) Organizational changes are aimed at achieving some set organizational goals and objectives which need to be a attained within a given period of time. In many cases changes in the organizational are provoked by some outside forces which includes taking care of new markets, substantial cut in finding, need for increase in services and productivity among others. There are many approaches that managers uses to introduce change in the organization, some are planned, explicit and structured while others are more unfolding, implicit and organic. Managers goes for the approaches that will be supported by all the employees and those that will enable the organization to maximize the profit margin as they achieve the set goals and objectives within the set time frame. Some approaches works from the future to the present where by the managers uses the organizations vision to plan all the organizational activities aiming at achieving the vision while other approaches works from the present to the future which may include pointing out the currents needs of the target clients and then making the necessary changes towards achieving those needs. This is the best approach since the clients and other stakeholders are the backbone of any organization and they determine the success of the any business (Easterby 1999). Identifying their needs should be a continuous exercise which should be followed by implementing the necessary changes which will facilitate in satisfying their needs hence building a good and strong customer relationship which will lead to increased sales hence increasing the Organizational profitability (Dent 1999).  Aegon UK  is a member of the AEGON Group which is among the worlds largest life insurance and pension company. The company is the owner of different life insurance, pensions, adviser and management businesses in the UK (Folger 1999). The company has 27,000 employees and a total of over 25 million customers worldwide with its main markets being in Netherlands and the United States. Factors That Lead To Change One of the major hindrance for decision making is a clear understanding of the working environment where the decisions made will be operated. (Brewster 2004) Proper understanding of the working environment improves the decision making and it minimizes uncertainty. In the UK where life expectancy has risen in the past few years, people are expected to retire for a longer period of time hence the need to think ahead and save for retirement, an idea that many people find difficult to comprehend. (Kotter 1979) Many people do not properly plan about their retirement hence they suffer during the old age since they do not be have enough money for survival and on the other hand the government is also emphasizing on reduced dependency on the state in old age. This resulted to many insurance companies coming up with new cheap pension schemes who also emphasized on employee pension (Hultman 1995). The Industry Aegon operates in the life insurance and pension industry which for the past few years had a poor reputation. Some organisations in the industry has been blamed of mis-selling where by they do not give the customers quality products that satisfy their needs. (Johnston e 2004) The Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced some regulations in the industry which were aimed at avoiding such situations from happening again in the future. The industry has been faced with intense competition where by AEGON is competing with other organisations that are well known in the UK and they specialise in selling directly to the customers (Kirkman 2000). The company normally distributes its services and products to customers through financial advisers. For AEGON to remain competitive it had to take care of all the problems that the industry was facing. Reasons For Change Historically AEGON had been very successful and profitable but some times back the government introduced some regulations that reduced the organisations profitability. Comparing the company with its competitors, AEGON was not well known though it had very good services and products and it also had good relationship with the distributors. (Strebel 1996) For consumers to have the confidence of investing in a long term product, they have to know more about the organisation they are planning to invest with by learning more about the brands that are being offered by the organisation and by understanding the value of each brand. As AEGON offered different brands it was hard for the financial advisers and the consumers to identify and understand the different depth and breadth of the brands. Facilitators of Change AEGON company appointed a new (CEO) Chief Executive Officer who entered into the office with new strategies for the company and the first thing that he implemented was to bring AEGON into a discovery phase which would help him in achieving the goals he had for AEGON. The CEOs goal was to develop the best long term savings and protection business in the UK while the discovery phase was aimed at finding ways of achieving those goals. (Kegan 2001) Another aspect that needed consideration was the companys brands and how they could be audited. The company was examined both internally and externally to find its position in the market. The process of auditing was aimed at giving more information about the company which assisted AEGON in making more informed decisions which were needed to start the process of change. Creating a New Culture Culture refers to the attitude and the personality of an organization and it is also involves the shared values, behavior and beliefs of the employees and other stakeholders (Morgan 1997). It acts as a key part in the change process since it dictates the way in which the organisation and the stakeholders solve problems and makes decision. By developing a new culture, AEGON was able to provide services and products that were required in the market hence they were able to remain competitive. A Behavior Framework In order to support the new culture, AEGON came up with a behavior framework which was aimed at strengthening the brand values. It was designed in such a way that it could influence how all the employees in the organisation could work and make decisions where by the behavior emphasized the values of AEGON. (Coetsee 1999) The company also introduced a Management Development Programme which emphasised on eight main behaviors which are, think customer, embrace change, encourage excellence, act with integrity, decisive actions, work together, learn and grow and finally relate and communicate (Piderit 2000). Implementing The Change The organisation has emphasised on the customers needs which determines the decisions, behaviour and it also informs actions. The senior mangers keeps the customers needs at the heart of all the operations in AEGON while the other managers and professionals innovates with the needs of the customers in mind so that they come up with products and services that can satisfy the needs of the customers. AEGON brand have been extensively promoted alongside Scottish Equitable or other brands are traded under it. Association with AEGON is stronger where by the Scottish Equitable is currently AEGON Scottish Equitable which reflects the local knowledge and the global power. Currently all the brands has a new look that is common, different and refreshing. Impacts Of The Changes Implementing change in AEGON affected it both externally and internally. Internally the changes influenced how the people behaved and communicated while the organisational operations has been focused on satisfying the needs of the customers. Great emphasis has been on making information clearer so that the customers can be in a position to understand the company well so that they can do business with them. The company has intensively done external promotional campaigns and it has managed to launch new innovative products aimed at satisfying the customers needs. This changes has worked very well for AEGON since the company has been able to maximise its profit. Currently AGEON brand is in a position that it influences the financial services in the industry. Challenges The main challenge that AEGON is facing is that the competition is growing at a very fast rate in an increasingly difficult market. This has forced the government to implement some regulations to govern the industry. To fight competition, AEGON should maintain two way communication channel which should be open and they should emphasis on getting feedback from all the stakeholders. This feedback is very important since the stakeholders can inform the organisation where they might be going wrong and can even give some recommendations which can work very well for the company hence being ahead of the competitors which leads to maximising the profit margins of the company. The stakeholders can also help the company in identifying the needs of the customers hence enabling the company to provide what is needed in the market . Also when there is open communication between the management and the employees it is normally very easy to prevent conflicts since the employees will be free to air their grivances hence cultivating a culture of good working relationships in AEGON which will even motivate the workers to work even harder thus enabling the company to realize the set goals and objectives within the set time frame. Conclusion Organisational change is continuous and the process of change is like a journey which will be faced by external factors that can affect the operations of the organisation. AEGON respond to the external factors was by clarifying, simplifying and strengthening its brand in the UK. As the organisation changes, its culture and pattern of behavior develops which is a cycle which requires the business to use the knowledge it has to learn from the experiences. This has enabled AEGON to move towards achieving its goals through realizing its full potential while they remain competitive in the market. Taking care of the needs of the customers increases the sales of the company since many customers will be interested in the products or services that are being provided by the company hence increasing sales which in turn increases the profit margin of the company.

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As we ended the year, the State Board of Education had approved a plan to replace the OGT with eight to ten end-of-course exams and had proposed that students earn points toward graduation. The State Board’s plan met challenges as the Ohio House committee passed HB 193 on December 18, 2013. HB 193 differed from the board’s plan by reducing the number and types of state tests that students will need to graduate. It also delays the timeline one year for implementation of the new assessments citing technology readiness issues from school districts. The State Board of Education was not included in the drafting of HB 193 but did provide written testimony on a number of issues it had with the bill early on in the process. HB 193 is expected to receive a House floor vote in early 2014, and then head to the Senate for consideration. I will continue to monitor HB 193 as this makes its way through the legislative process. In the meantime, a technology study conducted by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) shows difficulties in schools’ capacity to administer the new assessments online. T...

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence

Flake's use of the pastoral in Songs of Innocence and Experience Put simply, Flake's Songs of Innocence and Experience Juxtapose the innocent pastoral world of childhood against an adult world of corruption and repression. The collection as a whole, by meaner of paired poems in Innocence and Experience (The Lamb, The Tiger; The Echoing Green, The Garden of Love/London; The Nurse's Song (l and E); Introduction (l and E); The Chimney sweeper (l and E), etc) explores the value and limitations of two different perspectives of the world. The same situation or problem is seen through the eyes or perspective of Innocence first, then Experience.Blake stands outside Innocence and Experience, in a distanced position from which he recognizes and attempts to correct the fallacies of both perspectives. He uses the pastoral, in many songs, to attack oppressive and destructive authority (Church, King, parent's, adult figures), restrictive morality, sexual repression, established religion – t he Established Church, social inequality, militarism. The pastoral is a literary style that presents an idealism and artificial picture of rural life, the naturalness and innocence of which is seen in contrast with the corruption and artificiality of city and court.The pastoral is often seen as a nostalgic looking back at a lost paradise, a lost Eden, a lost Golden Age. However, Blake does something different with the pastoral. Firstly, he rejects the nostalgia of the ideal in order to show the real human condition. He does this by opposing pastoral ideal and urban reality both within the single states of Innocence and Experience and between the two states. (For example – ‘Introduction' of Innocence, ‘The Shepherd'). Secondly, he radically redefines the relation of the pastoral to the city because the Songs as a volume could be said to take place in the city.Blake frames the obviously pastoral scenes within an urban setting in a way that breaks down the convention al city/ country dichotomy – and his criticism is aimed at not merely social problems, but the source of these problems – a limited way of seeing. Within Innocence, Blake takes us into the frame, or confinement of the pastoral space and explores inner tensions, exposing and attacking social problems. For example, in ‘The Little Girl Lost' of Innocence, the pastoral setting is that of ‘a desert wild' that becomes ‘a garden mild'.The reference is the biblical image in Isaiah 35 of an ideal mime in which the ‘desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose'. Lacy, the innocent child, lives ‘In the southern clime'/Where the summer's prime/Never fades away (distinctly pastoral! ). She ‘had wandered oleomargarine the wild birds' song. Blake brings in a contrast between Local's trust and her parent's' fear (that she is lost and will come to harm). For Lacy, there is no cause for distress, except consideration of her mother's feelings (if my m other sleeplessly shall not weep').The other side of the conflict is the parent's' fear and concern: As far as they are concerned, there is nowhere safe; (Where can Lacy sleep? . Their concern becomes more and more self- centered, until it becomes emotional blackmail (oho can Lacy sleep,/elf her mother weep? ). A moral prescription is then introduced – Lacy ought to be worried – and we notice that this is Justified only by the mother's distress, not by any real danger. By meaner of the command, ‘Then let Lacy wake', Blake shows how fear turns into tyranny. The parent's' fear of nature has made them unreasonable – They command their daughter to be unhappy, simply because they are.Stanza 8 resolves the conflict as Local's surroundings become transformed – the desert is ‘bright'. Local's positive perception dominates the rest of the poem – The imperative, ‘Let' in the line, ‘Let thy moon arise', underlines her opposition to her parent's. The pivotal word, ‘bright' stands between Local's and her parent's' attitudes to nature (for the parent's, it is a dark, unknown world of fear; for Lacy, it is safe and bright. ) The lion licks Local's bosom and the lioness ‘Loosed her slender dress'. The dress is a symbol of her parent's' upbringing, which Local's perception can cast off.She is naked, so shame is removed (a reference to Adam and Eve's nakedness in the Garden of Eden). In the ext poem, ‘The Little Girl Found', the lion's masculinity, his mane, was what frightened the parent's (soon his heavy man/Bore them to the ground'). So, the poem conveys the need for sexual freedom, natural energy, sexual energy, feared by Local's parent's. (In ‘The Little Girl Found', the parent's' perception of the lion as fearful is transformed -then they followed/Where the vision led'- by meaner of transforming their vision, their perspective, the parent's' fear disappears (nor fear the wolfish howl,/Nor t he lion's growl').Within the pastoral frame of the Garden of Eden, Blake explores inner tensions, exposing and attacking social problems. (In The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which Blake wrote between the two parts of the Songs, he stresses that man's instincts are not fallen (sinful from the moment of birth) and therefore to follow the instinctive desire for love and pleasure cannot be wrong: The soul of sweet delight can never be defiled. On the contrary, it is the thwarting of desire that leads to corruption and a warping of the personality: Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse enacted desires.The conventional goodness of Flake's time, therefore, is Just a passive failure o act out desire and is not something to be admired, unlike evil which is evidence of positive energy:. Good is the passive that obeys reason. Evil is the active springing from energy and Energy is eternal delight. So, in the volume of Songs of Innocence and Experience, the tensions, oppositions or c onflicts are within the frames of a song, as well as between the two contrary worlds of Innocence and Experience.The Songs not only Juxtapose pastoral ideal with urban reality (echoing Greenwood's'; ‘Echoing Green/'The Garden of Love'), but within the single state of Innocence, pastoral images are Juxtaposed with a flawed urban society. The oppositions also exist within the single states of Innocence and Experience. The Songs of Innocence begins with a clearly pastoral ‘Introduction' followed by ‘The Shepherd', ‘The Echoing Green' and, of course, ‘The Lamb'(in Flake's final order of the Songs). These songs show pastoral harmony between humans and nature.However, we are led out of (or in and out of, depending on the order of Songs), pastoral and into a disturbing world of social difference and injustice through such lyrics as ‘The Little Black Boy, ‘The Chimney Sweeper'(l). Yet even these songs eave a pastoral element. Tom Decree, in ‘T he Chimney Sweeper', is identified with the lamb of pastoral and of innocence through his hair, That curled like a lamb's back. The black boys mother describes his body as a ‘shady grove' that enables the soul to bear the beams of love', identifying the time on earth as a ‘little space', akin to a pastoral retreat, rather than a time of preparation labor.The pastoral narratives in both poems seek to free the boys from the stigma of their blackness, but ironically that freedom, in the form of a pastoral paradise, is attainable only after death. In ‘The Chimney Sweeper'(l), an angel ‘opened the coffins and set them all free. /Then down a green plain leaping, laughing they run,/And wash in a river and shine in the sun'. In ‘The Little Black Boy, God's voice will call: ‘Come out from the grove my love and care,] And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice'.Only in death will the white boy be taught to reject his ignorant racist views: ‘And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair/And be like him, and he will then love me'. So, Blake uses the pastoral to attack social evils and injustice, but also exposes the limits and inadequacies of the pastoral ideal. He transcends the pastoral to show the limits of pastoral innocence; to criticism the human condition; and to show a new vision. He does this by rejecting the nostalgia of the ideal to show the real condition – by opposing the pastoral ideal with urban reality.The dual presence of town and country, idealization and realism, celebration and regret provides the tension that is fundamental to the pastoral space. The pastoral's critical function is based upon the writer's handling of internal tensions between oppositions. Flake's objective in Songs of Innocence and Experience is to show the wow contrary states of the human soul'. He shows that we create our worlds by meaner of our perception of it. (Milton: ‘A mind is its own place, and in itself/Can make a Heav en of Hell, a Hell of Heaven' Paradise Lost).Our world is ‘Innocent' – loving, meek and mild, delightful, protected, gentle – if we perceive its creator as loving, caring and protective. But there are limits to this vision; we are vulnerable because we are ignorant of the dangers and threats that exist. The world of Experience is one that is dark, authoritative, oppressive, uncaring and repressive of enjoyment. We see ourselves imprisoned in this despair if we perceive its creator as oppressive, cruel, punitive and Judgmental – and if we perceive ourselves as imprisoned in Original Sin.The two worlds opposed are those of childhood innocence and adult experience. He uses iconic pastoral images (piper and muse, shepherds, rural idyll, innocence of childhood, the Garden of Eden, gardens and greens, lambs, pathetic fallacy) and pastoral states (harmony, Joy, protection, care, love) and opposes these to urban images and states of adult authority and cruelty, st ate and church repression and authority, dishonest and destructive emotions.Blake sets up oppositions, in the frames of the poems (as artistic creations) between Innocence and Experience and within Innocence and Experience. Blake provides (in Songs of Innocence) pastoral images, but shows the limits of pastoral innocence. In Songs of Experience, he writes in anti-pastoral mode and uses pastoral images to show the destruction of innocence, as well as ways to regain innocence in a vision of a New World.Discussion of ‘putting the complex into the simple': Approaches – discussion of ‘The Lamb' and ‘The Tiger', pages 91 – 101 Songs of Innocence and Experience can be regarded as anti-pastoral: Blake exposes he limitations of a comfortable image of pastoral innocence by 1) redefining the relationship between city and country (Russ in rube – the country in the city); 2) he uses the pastoral as a frame to expose social injustice and human suffering; 3) he uses pastoral images to show true innocence, then subverts these, both in Innocence and Experience, to expose the dark world of adult authority and repression.Blake use pastoral, not to show the contrast between rural and urban, but to expose the injustices of the human condition. Blake was a poet of the city, of London, and his pastoral setting is in the greens, parks and gardens of London.

Exercise Test Of Fasting Blood Glucose Levels - 1360 Words

Following the establishment of fasting blood glucose levels subjects in the oral glucose tolerance test consumed a 10 ounce beverage that contained 100 grams of glucose. Over the next 2 hours subjects repeated the same method as used in the control test to test their blood glucose levels 4 more times. These 4 tests were conducted at 30 minute intervals and all readings were recorded for later examination. Physical Exercise Test After recording their fasting blood glucose levels subjects in the exercise test group transitioned to the gym. At the gym each individual engaged in 45 minutes of moderate exercise. Although no strict controls were put in place to regulate the type or intensity of exercise conducted individuals generally engaged in a reasonably strenuous amount of exercises. Most individuals conducted either cardiovascular exercise such as running and biking or strength training such as calisthenics or weight lifting. Immediately upon completion of the exercise period, subjects returned to the laboratory to conduct a second blood glucose test. Utilizing the same method as described in the control test the subjects examined and recorded their post exercise blood glucose levels. All data from both sets of tests were then compiled and recorded in a Microsoft excel file. The results were then examined by calculating the mean and standard deviation for each set of data. In o rder to test our null hypothesis, the results of the oral glucose tolerance test wereShow MoreRelatedA Brief Note On The Blood Glucose Concentration941 Words   |  4 Pagesperson’s ability to handle a certain load of glucose, thus it is important that they have not eating anything that will interfere with the results. Initially, a fasting glucose blood tested is performed. If an individual has high resting blood glucose level, it indicates that their body is unable to produces insulin to regulate normal level of blood glucose. 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