Learning About Human Behavior And Organizational Culture,...

Learning About Human Behavior Human Behavior in Organizations is a five week course; however the information that is presented over the five weeks is difficult to absorb and assimilate into everyday life. The amount of knowledge I could gain from this course would take me a whole semester to actually process. I thoroughly enjoyed the topics, case studies, and trying to decipher if a certain action is ethical and moral. What really defines ethical and moral? Is it one’s own cultural beliefs that dictate this or possibly the United States Constitution, the Holy Bible, and written laws? The topics I will focus on are organizational culture, team culture, motivation, managing conflict, and negotiations. These are a few key topics that stood†¦show more content†¦The team culture can become negative when one or more of the employees does not have the same values, work ethic, and personality. This brings me back to the human resource department who has the sole responsibilit y of determining candidates who will fit well with the organizational and team cultures, which includes the emotional intelligence and motivating factors of the candidate (Bethel University, 2011). I feel it is really important for a person to understand their own emotional intelligence and even more so for managers to understand and be able to identify their employees emotional intelligence. Now, companies hire motivational speakers and testing firms to teach and identify employees who meet a certain criteria in whom the company can invest in; moreover to create leaders and better overall performance. The knowledge of emotional intelligence will assist all levels or managers in motivating his/her team(s) to achieve a higher level of success. However, when negative motivation is applied and is comes across as demeaning, the employees may feel fearful, threatened, or even spiteful. When this occurs the productivity will falter. Now, we have to look at Maslow’s Need Hierachy. H is theory starts with the human basic needs of food, shelter, water, and no bodily pain. Once, these are met thenShow MoreRelatedOL 125 Syllabus 11213 Words   |  5 PagesUndergraduate Course Syllabus OL 125: Human Relations in Administration Center: Online Course Prerequisites None Course Description This course explores the human relations and interaction skills necessary for effective human resource management and increased productivity. Skill areas include leadership, motivation, communications, group dynamics, organizational development, management by objectives, and stress and time management. 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ISBN 0-13-609019-2 or 978-0-13-609019-9Read MoreEssentials of Contemporary Management7571 Words   |  31 PagesKingdom and the United States. He specializes in strategic management and organizational theory and is well known for his research that applies transaction cost analysis to explain many forms of strategic and organizational behaviour. He is currently interested in strategy process, competitive advantage, and information technology issues. He is also investigating the relationships between ethics, trust, and organizational culture and studying the role of affect in the strategic decision-making processRead MoreOrganizational Change Models and Strategies1814 Words   |  8 PagesOrganizational Change Models and Change Strategies Martin H. Pham Amberton University To remain competitive in today’s economy companies must be ready to manage organizational change effectively and efficiently. With the pace of change continually increasing, everyone is affected by change. 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It is an academic disciplineRead MoreLeadership Behavior, Team Effectiveness And Conflict Management Skills3098 Words   |  13 PagesIntroduction Due to the inception of the study on leadership behavior, team effectiveness and conflict management skills, leaders now have valuable resources available at their fingertips to determine what need be done to create a high-performing team. Unfortunately, often times, leaders miss the point and find themselves with teams ridden in conflict and become stuck, leading to organizational ineffectiveness (Gostick Elton, 2012). 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Urban deprivation is one of the characteristics of large cities in all parts of the world Free Essays

The inner city areas of many Global cities have an image of decay with poverty, pollution, crime, overcrowding, poor housing conditions and unemployment. Such problems are more prevalent in inner-city areas than in other areas of the city. Deprivation has been caused by old industries closing down and increasing the unemployment levels which are not tackled due to the old workers not being skilled enough to work in these new factories or line of jobs. We will write a custom essay sample on Urban deprivation is one of the characteristics of large cities in all parts of the world or any similar topic only for you Order Now This happens more in MEDC’s compared to LEDC’s where overpopulation and urbanization have cause the problems in the inner city. Counterurbanization has been another problem within MEDC’s as it has left houses derelict and the people would rather commute than live in the inner city. This has then led to out of town shopping centers being set up. In MEDC’s the inner city initiatives for reversing the decline of the inner city started back in 1945 with comprehensive redevelopment. This program involved large-scale clearance of old terraces in order to provide space for new housing and inner city environmental features. Over twenty years 1. 5 million properties wee knocked down in the inner city. Elswick and Kenton in Newcastle were two areas embarked for comprehensive redevelopment. Existing residents were moved either into new towns of Cramlington or to extensive council houses estates built in areas such as, Byker. Many local authorities followed identical planning and soon the landscape of the inner city was transformed with huge concrete and glass tower blocks separated by flat expanses of grass. At the time these high-rise flats were a great success architecturally however the policy failed due to redevelopment underachieving demolition. This gave a housing shortage and vast spaces of derelict land. This policy that lasted till 1967 also failed to tackle the social and economic problems. 1968 saw another scheme come into action; the Urban Aid programme gave grants to local authorities to expand services in deprived areas and to establish community development projects using self help. This scheme was a great deal more localized and it was unfortunate that the economic downturn limited the funds and therefore by 1977 the scheme had finished. The next year the new towns policy was abandoned in an effort to stop decentralization of people and businesses. For the first time inner cities were officially declared problem areas. In 1988 Margaret Thatcher introduced the â€Å"Action for cities† policy. From 1991 onwards-Local authorities were able to bid for funds for specific urban projects. An example is Sunderland; the money was used to redesign parts of the city center with a new shopping precinct. And bus station. A single government department, the end of the 1990’s had created the Urban Regeneration Agency. In Greater Manchester 4. 5 hectares of the city were destroyed with 30,000 homes left damaged form the bombing of World War II. By the end of the war 70,000 homes were deemed unfit for living mostly in the high density Victorian inner center. The plan for Manchester was launched in 1945 with the aim of clearing all Victorian housing. Following the repair of the war the Manchester Slum Clearance Programme restarted in 1954. Over five years 7500 properties were demolished mostly in the Miles Platting area. In 1961 the policy of comprehensive development took place with the clearance programme expanding in four main areas: Hulme, Beswick, Longsight and Harpurhey. Over 55,00 new houses, a mixture of low and high rise were built to replaced the cleared terraces reducing the housing density and population by up to 50% in some areas. The Hulme area was a typical Victorian area of Manchester and was tightly packed with terraces. Conditions were overcrowded and polluted with few housing having toilets. After the demolition of the terraces, shopping facilities were introduced in three areas. By 1972 the redevelopment of Hulme was completed with 5,000 new houses being built. Problems did arise with new properties leaking and then the heating bills were too high for the residents and many found the accommodation inappropriate. This area fell into a spiral of decline with growing unemployment, drugs and violence along with eh deteriorating environment. The Hulme city challenge was launched in 1992. This plan involved building of 3000 new homes, shops, roads, offices and community facilities to replace existing properties in a 60-hectare area. The funds of i200 million came from the government, local authority and private finance. Manchester faced other problems form the closure of the nineteenth century industries that left 24,000 jobs unavailable between 1974 and 1984. Plans included 2000 new houses and 375,000 square meters of industrial and commercial floor space to provide 10,000 jobs. In 1988 central Manchester was given n UDC to regenerate 200 hectares of land and buildings in the southern part of the city center. This area included six conservation areas, over ninety listed buildings, three universities, the Granada Studios Tour and the Museum of Science and Industry. However these were the areas of contaminated land, derelict warehouses, mills and canals. The IDC ended in 1996 and in the eight years of operation invested i420 million. Urban deprivation in the LEDC’s have been tackled in many ways however there have been schemes that have proven to be a lot more successful than the others. In Chennai there has been a rapid increase in population due to the rural to urban migration and the high birth rates. About one third of the population lives in the slums, mostly shantytowns. The planning solutions began with the building of four to six storey blocks however these largely failed due to high maintenance and lack of uptake as the tenants would be unable to afford the rent. If the rent were reduced the scheme would lose money. After this initial failure The Board took up a new idea of upgrading the slums. The aims set were providing one bath and one toilet per ten families; one public fountain per twenty families; one street light per forty meters of road and one pre school per two hundred families. Other initiatives required self-help financing after an initial investment had been made either by the World Bank or welfare organizations. These schemes encouraged greater community involvement. Some of the start up loans were gave to families to build their own homes. Site and service schemes were implemented with finance provided for the acquisition of land; purchase of building materials, road building and the provision of basic services such as, water and sewage. New owners were then responsible for building the property on their allocated land. The upgrading after that often led to the sale of homes to higher income groups. The generated some money for the poor families and allowed the Board to re-invest in new schemes. An area in the southern outskirts of Chennai was the location for a site and services scheme known as Velacheri. It provided fourteen hectares of land to house 2,640 families many of whom were being forced out of Chennai. Waiting for the new residents building their homes would have caused a delayed the rail building so contractors were used to begin the building of properties. Along with the roads, water supply, streetlights and many other services. These services did face problems with many being left unfinished and extra floors being added without regulation. Some families sold their home for profit and the poorest were unable to afford these houses. These are some example of the initiatives being taken in order to solve the problem of urban deprivation. However there have been many other schemes and one of the most successful was that of the Favelas in Brazil redevelopment that won several prizes such as, the famous Habitat Award from the United Nations. These have been more successful as it didn’t break up the families and kept the community spirit and the families could continue to access their place of employment. The similarities between the initiatives of the MEDC and LEDC worlds that have been undertaken for there reduction of urban deprivation are not all that similar. This is due to the fact that the MEDC’s have more finance so there are able to use other schemes to tackle their problems. Also the fact that the problems they face are of a different cause. In the LEDC’s it tends to be shanty towns are therefore have to look to house these people unlike the MEDC it not so overcrowding but unemployment due to the decline of the Industrial Revolution and recently Counterurbanization has left old Victorian buildings derelict and an eye-saw. How to cite Urban deprivation is one of the characteristics of large cities in all parts of the world, Papers

From Heaven To Hell Essay Example For Students

From Heaven To Hell Essay In the United States we often look to European and African countries for examples of dictatorship, civil war, inequality and genocide. In the 1990s, several countries experienced mass exodus, civil war, race war, religious war, and genocide. Yugoslavias Serbian population attempted to cleanse itself of Muslims and Croats, in Rwanda the Hutu population exterminated almost the entire Tutsi population, while in East Timor and several other countries refugees fled from the tyranny of their government. Less often however do we look, or even realize that our neighbors to the south are experiencing remarkably similar acts of violence, hate, and misuse of power. Bordered mostly by Mexico, Belize, and Honduras Guatemala is known for its volcanoes, exquisite beaches, gorgeous landscapes, ancient Mayan ruins, and a unique culture. However, it is also a country tainted by oppression, injustice, servitude, racial inequality, and genocide. Andrew Miller, a Penn State University student describes G uatemala: Guatemala, it has been said, is a country of extremes. Within can be witnessed the riches of breathtaking scenery, natural resources and cultural diversity. Simultaneously, however, one sees extreme poverty and exploitation of indigenous peoples which characterize the countrys history. Another view, by Jean-Marie Simon, describes the Guatemalan dark side, the reality of all Guatemalans. Guatemala is a place where the political, economic, and social panorama is unfairly skewed in every possible way. In Guatemala, life gets better for a minority, at the expense of millions of others. After centuries of race and class wars, Guatemala teetered between peace and war during the ten years of spring, or ten years of democracy. Unfortunately, Guatemala finally plunged into complete darkness and genocide followed. Guatemalas genocide now serves humanity, along with all other occurrences of genocide, as a reminder that we are all capable of committing acts of horror. History is the only reference that humanity has to use to answer the unanswerable questions that surround any genocide. The questions include why and how could this have ever happened, and what makes humans capable of terror? Through understanding and studying the causation and actual genocide in Guatemala, it may be possible to shed some light on the questions that humanity faces. What, one may ask, causes a country with such obvious beauty and potential to recess into a shadow of hate, racism, and classism that can only lead to one result, genocide? Guatemala was not always teetering between genocide and no genocide. Rather the genocide that occurred in Guatemala happened as a result of a sort of evolution from a dictatorship to a largely peaceful revolution to conditions embracing hate, violence, and finally genocide. Several factors influenced this transition from relative peace to extreme violence. Economic issues regarding land and labor fueled the fire, as did political issues. In fact, the United States of America greatly contributed to the violence by training Guatemalan police in torture tactics in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Between 1956 and 1963 annual U.S. military assistance to Guatemala multiplied by tens times. Conflicts between races and classes also contributed to the evolution. However, what remains amazing about Guatemalas genocide is th at it followed ten years of a relatively peaceful revolution from 1944 when Ubico was overthrown to 1954 when President Arbenz resigned (due to a coup led by the United States). In his history of Guatemala, Gift of the Devil Jim Handy, a Central America historian describes those ten years as Ten Years of Spring. Nevertheless, and while generally peaceful, the national revolution between 1944 and 1954 provided Guatemala with a foundation for decades of racial injustice, economic and political inequality, and the worst genocide in the Americas since the first arrival of the Europeans.General Jorge Ubico, who Handy describes as the archetype of Guatemalan dictators, led the dictatorship that existed before the ten years of spring. To many Guatemalans, the rule of Jorge Ubico too closely resembled the European and Japanese fascist dictatorships they were now joined in struggle against. During the last years of Ubicos reign, from the late 1930s to the early 1940s, Guatemala experienced a growth of workers, small businessmen, professionals, and students. While the indigenous and poor workers of Guatemala were the most involved in the opposition to Ubico, all of these groups of Guatemalans proved critical to the revolution as they led the desire for reform. They sought a new leader as well as economic and social reforms. Finally in 1944, students, workers, professionals, intellectuals, and young military officers overthrew Ubico. A year later, in 1945, a teacher was appropriately named president, Juan Jos? Ar?valo. Juan Jos? Ar?valo wanted to create a capitalist economy while leading a democratic and nationalistic revolution that was sympathetic to the working man and woman. In his inaugural speech he proclaimed, Now we are going to begin a period of sympathy for the man who works in the fields, in the shops, on the military bases, in small business. This is a monumental proclamation. In Guatemala it was and remains rare for any political figure with power to openly support the indigenous majority. For decades, the white minority had ruled with an iron fist creating barely bearable living conditions for the working man, woman, and child. Ar?valo sought to change all this, and began by signing into law the 1945 Constitution. The 1945 Constitution reflected Ar?valos first four political reforms. First, the constitution created new voting regulations. This is a substantial reform because it allowed illiterate men and literate women the right to vote. As well, the new voting regulations allowed Guatemala to catch up in voting rights with fully developed democratic nations. In the United States the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote in 1920, the 15th Amendment granted black men the right to vote in the US in 1870. The second major provision of the 1945 Constitution attacked Guatemalas history of dictatorships. It prevented the re-election of any president. This, in theory, ensured that Guatemala would no longer be subjugated to dictatorial rule and ensured democracy for the future. Thirdly, the new Constitution required the military to be apolitical and uphold the 1945 Constitutional decrees. Making the military apolitical is another device that Ar?valo used to prevent future dictatorships. An ap olitical military is only a tool for the government, and cannot act as the government in any way, thus preventing a man like General Jorge Ubico from taking power. Finally, the 1945 Constitution paid tribute to the students who had fueled Ubicos overthrow. The Constitution allocated money to the University of San Carlos and granted it autonomy and the right of association. This of course ensured that there would always be students and intellectuals to counter aspirations of dictatorial rule. Ar?valo did not stop his reformation of Guatemala with the 1945 Constitution; in fact, he almost immediately embarked on creating health and social reforms for Guatemala. Truly revolutionary, the health and social reforms instituted under Ar?valo targeted the poor and working class individual. The first four reforms focused on health and safety issues, while the fifth and sixth reforms were social in nature. Ar?valo first instituted rural health clinics, and then projects to provide potable water in isolated villages. White Cross-clinics were also set up and the infrastructure improved in the poor neighborhoods of the cities. To ensure a healthier lifestyle Ar?valo set up sewage systems in poor neighborhoods as well. The social reforms included a higher income (wage reform) and freedom for unions to organize and operate, which Ubico did not allow during his dictatorship. In 1946, Ar?valo also instituted the Social Security Law and began his school reform that would last until 1950. The Social Security Law did several things for Guatemala to ensure good health and prosperity. It establish the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) and provid injur y compensation, maternity benefits and health care. The school reforms Ar?valo created from 1946 to 1950 also did several things to ensure future prosperity for Guatemala and all its citizens. Ar?valo allocated more money to schools for the expansion and improvement of the schools, and instituted literacy campaigns. By 1950 the Ar?valo government was spending over $7 million on educational projects. Never before had the Guatemalan government cared for or spent so much on the education of not just the white minority but also the indigenous and peasant majority. The ten years of spring also saw major attempts at labor and wage reform under Ar?valo. In 1947, the Ar?valo government passed into law the Labour Code. The Labour Code took steps towards providing economic equality and dignity for all Guatemalans. This is significant because it attempted to bridge the gap between the elite minority and poor majority. The Labor Code first provided workers with the right to strike. Before the Ar?valos Labor Code workers who went on strike faced serious punishments including torture, imprisonment, and even death. While the Labour Code did not completely abolish such acts of employer violence, it at least made them illegal and punishable under the law. The Labour Code also gave workers the right to collective bargaining, which is a tool for unions. In addition, the code set minimum wages, restricted child and female labor, and legislated working hours. Finally, the Labour Code created labor courts. Designed to deal with labor-management problems the lab or courts often reimbursed for lost wages if a strike was found to be the fault of management. In addition, in 1947, the Ar?valo government created the Agrarian Studies Commission. The government designed the commission to evaluate the use and ownership of Guatemalas lands and to study agrarian reform in other countries, with the intent of producing a report with recommendations for agrarian reform in Guatemala. Ar?valo also in 1947 abolished the Vagrancy Law and adopted Law(s) of Forced Rental. Eric Repas EssayDuring the Mendez Montenegro presidency the peak of the counter insurgency occurred, in which FAR was wiped out. The elections of 1966 marked the beginning of the end for the guerrilla forces of that era. Taking advantage of the guerrillas unofficial truce, the army unleashed a brutal counter-insurgency under the command of Colonel Carlos Arana Osor?o. As well, 1966 and the Mendez presidency saw the formation of death squads. The first death squad to appear was Mano Blanca, or white hand. The government and Mario Sandoval Alarc?n, a right-wing political leader of the National Liberation Movement (MLN) organized Mano Blanca. By 1967, a year after its formation, Mano Blanca was accompanied by over 20 other death squads that targeted over 500 individuals whose names appeared on the lists. The death squads that came into being during this time consisted mainly of off duty police officers and soldiers who acted as a sort of vigilante. During this time, the United States became even more involved with Guatemalan politics. The counterinsurgency was a campaign that included the use of U.S. advisers and American pilots flying napalm attacks on suspected guerrilla strongholds from the U.S. base in Panama.In the four years of the Mendez presidency, over 30,000 Guatemalans lost their lives. The indigenous peoples, during this time, were murdered, disappeared, tortured, raped, and beaten. A decade earlier the people of Guatemala lived in relative peace, now they lived in state of terror. Between 1966 and 1970, on the pretext of eliminating communism, some 10,000 non-combatants were killed in order to assassinate an estimated 300 to 500 guerrillas who retreated to the northern Pet?n jungle to recover and regroup. While the guerrilla movement had virtually stopped by 1970 when Carlos Arana Osorio took office disappearances, which most often led to death not only continued but also according to Amnesty International peaked during the 1970s. Between 1970 and 1 974, 15,325 Guatemalans ?disappeared.' Nevertheless, peasant organizations began to form during the mid-1970s. Much of the organization of peasant groups and unions was due to the Christian Democrat arty and the Catholic Church. Two prominent unions emerged at this time, the National Workers Confederation (CNT) and the Autonomous Trade Union Federation of Guatemala (FASGUA). As well by 1974 when Laugerud Garc?a was inaugurated the guerrilla movement had regrouped and grown. In addition to the previous guerrilla groups a new one emerged, the Guerrilla Army of the Poor (EGP). The Guatemalan government and military responded forcefully to the growing guerrilla groups. Under the Laugerud Garc?a government, army penetration of the rural countryside began, establishing in many areas the groundwork for later occupation. In 1976, Guatemala received another blow; this one however came from Mother Nature. On February 4, 1976 an earthquake, that registered 7.5 on the Richter Scale, hit Guatemala. It killed 22,000 people, injured 77,000, and left one million peasants homeless. Nevertheless opposition gro ups and recouped continued to grow, and on May 1, 1978 the Committee for Peasant Unity, or CUC, publicly announced its existence. Rigoberta Mench?, an indigenous peasant woman from Guatemala turned human rights activist, explains how her father, a political prisoner and other peasants started the CUC. So my father came back very proudly and said, ?We must fight the rich because they have become rich with our land, our crops. That was when my father started to join up with other peasants and discussed the creation of the CUC with them. A lot of peasants had been discussing the Committee but nothing concrete had been done, so my father joined the CUC and helped them understand things more clearly. Thats how the CUC began to form as such. It organized the peasants both in the Altiplano and on the coast. It wasnt a formal organization with a name and all that : more like groups of communities, at the grass roots, that sort of thing, (emphasis added). Nevertheless, while peasant and student organizations grew along with guerrilla groups the repression continued. Massive violence began during the last year of the Laugerud Garc?a government, with mounting selective assassinations in Guatemala City and large-scale army repression in the countryside.Such violence continued into the Lucas Garc?a government. An example of this repression and violence is apparent in the Panz?s massacre of 1978. The governments scorched earth campaign against isolated peasant villages believed to support the opposition carried a deadly toll, with a massacre at Panz?s in May 1978 being perhaps the best known military operation of this type. On May 29, 1978, 500 to 700 Kekch?, an indigenous Mayan group from Guatemalas highlands, gathered in Panz?s to protest their expulsions from their land to the Mayor and an official of INTA. Once in the central square the military ringed the square and opened fire killing over 100 protestors. The dead were put into mass graves, supposedly dug beforehand. The government later asserted that the Indians had started the violence, and only admitted to killing 38 people. The violence and repression did not end unfortunately with the Lucas Garc?a government either. While Rios Montt declared in 1982 after a coup that he led, that there would be no more assassinations and fair trials from those who violated the law, rural repression soared immediately after the coup, and continues, though in lesser amounts, today. Since 1982 Guatemala has lived through two presidential elections, two military coups, two states of alert, two Constitutions, an eleven-month state of siege, a three month state of emergency, at least four amnesty periods, and four heads of state ? three of them army generals. Could all of this and the genocide of Guatemala been prevented during the ten years of spring? Possibly if Arbenz and Ar?valo had restricted union organization to non-communist unions, which would have, in theory prevented U.S. involvement. However it remains unlikely that this would have been enough. The UFCO and United State could have found, or created other reasons for the coup, which ultimately destroyed the democracy and peace in Guatemala. Now Guatemala is left with the remnants of genocide, oppression, and political instability. Terror remains a driving force in Guatemalan society, and to think it all could have been avoided if the United States had not led the coup on the Arbenz administration. BibliographyAndrew Miller: http://www.west.net/~tmiller/gh/Simon, Jean-Marie. Guatemala: Eternal Spring ? Eternal Tyranny. Pgs. 16-17. Handy, Jim. Gift of the Devil. USA: South End Press, 1984. Pg. 156. Handy. Handy, pg. 106. Handy, pg. 107. Handy, pg. 108. Handy, pg. 108. Handy, pg. 108. Handy, pg. 109. Handy, pg. 110. Handy, pg.110. Handy, pg. 113. Handy. Handy, pg. 115. Handy, pg. 115. Handy, pg. 115. Handy, pg. 115. Handy, pg. 116. Simon, pg. 21. Simon, pg. 23. Andrew Miller: http://www.west.net/~tmiller/gh/Jim Handy: Gift of the Devil: A History of GuatemalaJim Handy: Gift of the Devil: A History of GuatemalaSimon, pg. 25. Simon, pg. 25. Simon, pg. 28. Simon, pg. 28. Burgos-Debray Elisabeth, ed. I Rigoberta Mench?: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. Trans. Ann Wright. London: Verso, 1984. Pg. 115 and pg. 159. Simon, pg. 29. Handy. Simon, pgs. 109-110. Simon, pg. 14.