Describing the Social and Cultural Dimensions in My Organization Essay

Social and cultural theories strive to explain how people relate to each other and/or the surrounding environment. Organizational culture represents a common perception held by the organization’s member. This was made explicit when we defined culture as a system of shared meaning. Therefore, those individuals with different backgrounds or at different levels in the organization will tend to describe the organization’s culture in similar terms. Most large organizations have a dominant culture and numerous sets of subcultures. A dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members. When we talk about an organization’s culture, we are referring to its dominant culture. It is this macro view of culture that gives an organization its distinct personality. Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences that members face. These subcultures are likely to be defined by department designations and geographical separation. The purchasing department, for example, can have a subculture that is uniquely shared by members of that department. It will include the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to members of the purchasing department. Similarly, an office or unit of the organization that is physically separated from the organization’s main operations may take on a different personality. Again, the core values are essentially retained but modified to reflect the separated unit’s distinct situation. If organizations had no dominant culture and were composed only of numerous subcultures, the value of organizational culture as an independent variable would be significantly lessened because there would be no uniformity in the interpretation of the values that represented appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It is the â€Å"shared meaning† aspect of culture that makes it such a potent device for guiding and shaping values in the cultural behavior. But it is not to be ignored that the reality which many organizations contained also has subcultures that can influence the behavior of their members. The field of sociology focuses on cultures that are ethnically or geographically defined. However, the study of any culture is referred to as â€Å"a group of people who work (or play) together and journey towards a shared meaning and assumption†(Griswold, p.133). Griswold (1994) also shared that â€Å"culture† is one of those words that people use all the time but have trouble defining. Peterson (1979) states that when sociologists talk about culture, they usually mean one of four things: norms, values, beliefs, or expressive symbols. Norms are the way people behave in a given society; values are what people hold dear; beliefs are how people think the universe operates and expressive symbols are representations of the culture. Moreover, Lincoln and Kalleberg (1990) hold that â€Å"the quality of relationships between workers and their co-workers is positively associated with commitment and satisfaction.† If the people within a school do not connect and work together toward a common goal or passion, the culture is said to be stagnant or unproductive. Lincoln and Kalleberg provide three models of organizations. The consensus model holds shared goals and values within an organization that are the norm and dissidence is a problem requiring correction. The cleavage model has distinct groups within an organization that have different interests, especially fault lines that exist between job levels. The fragmentation model shows that are riddled with ambiguity where people hold multiple perspectives. It is plausible that most working environment can fall under all three models or have factions of each model within one department. I am now attached with SMK (P) Methodist, Pulau Pinang as an operational clerk. My services here include the basic operation of the school administration and also involved accounting for the staff and stock inventories in the school. I am under the Ministry of Education and the Jabatan Pelajaran Pulau Pinang. My school consists of 42 academic staff, 8 non-academic staff and 640 students. We have a unique ethnic diversity whereby most of the teachers are Chinese, four Indians and ten Malays. The students are also diversified into the three main ethnicity in Malaysia with minimal number of mixed ethnic students. My Principal is a Chinese lady. Her name is Wong Soon Kee. She is a very fierce and strict head of department. I do not have a very close rapport with her. She does not have very much concern for the teachers as well. It has been a very stressful environment for me and most of the staff here. But, the teachers have been very helpful and understanding to me. They are very friendly and accommodative towards me. At the office, there is a typist and a general worker to assist with my work here. This really helps ease my work and release my pressure of working here. My works is about service conformation of the teachers and support workers, prepare salary and pension worksheets and do the necessaries if there is any changes. My work also involved accounting such as preparing the accounts, paying bills, and bookkeeping. Every month, I have to settle the bill and make orders for items needed by the school. Any bills that I received will have to be settled in 2 weeks time which is a very short dateline for me. However, it is the ethics of the Jabatan Pelajaran Pulau Pinang. We have to abide by the rules set by the upper hands. If I have any meeting by the JPN, I will meet up with my friends from other schools. During this time, we will exchange our experiences about work and how to handle certain situations that arise. It is very useful and helped me a lot to improve my performance to do better than before. Every year, auditors from Jabatan Audit Sekolah will come to school to do auditing on the school accounts. They will take a week to check the accounts and identify whether all the transactions are according to the rules or not. Nevertheless, there will never be a session where they had never found any errors. If we had done a lot of errors, our school will be categorized under â€Å"Audit Bersyarat† and the JPN will send us for a course on how to improve our accounting skills to upgrade our performance. With the teachers’ high spirit and determination to guide the students, the PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah/Lower Secondary Assessment) and the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia/Malaysian Certificate of Education) results are very encouraging. Most of the students show fortitude and willpower be it in their academic or co-curricular activities. All these achievements had helped them to be successful and quite a number of them had furthered their studies abroad. As a conclusion, a social and cultural dimension in an organization is important. It is because, it portrays the relationship between employees in completing their daily tasks and ensuring that the tasks are done well with high quality. Culture Beginnings and the Impact of Founders as Leaders spring from three sources: 1. beliefs, values, and assumptions of founders

Relationships in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre Essay

‘To what extent is Jane Eyre influenced by relationships in chapters 1-10 in the novel?’ Relationships are a key theme in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Throughout the novel we see the rise and fall of Jane, all most importantly due to relationships. This starts primarily with her lack of relationship with her parents, as she was orphaned when she was very young, she has no idea what it is like to love or to be loved and we see her strive to find out these feelings throughout the novel, until finally she achieves it, but the journey towards this is deeply important. In chapters one and two we see the basis of Jane’s view of relationships through her connection with the Reed’s. Firstly Mrs Reed does her upmost to make sure Jane is excluded from her and her ‘contented, happy, little children’ we as readers see this as a cruel act from Mrs Reed, she does not care that Jane is deeply unhappy because Jane is not one of her children, therefore she does not see it as her duty to care for her emotionally and thinks by punishing her and excluding her from the family that this will teach Jane to be a ‘contented child’ however we as readers see that this causes Jane to be deeply troubled within herself. This leads to Jane not only resenting Mrs Reed but also her children as they have been taught that Jane is a ‘dependant’ especially John who ultimately sees himself as above Jane in every aspect of life, he believes that Jane is just scavenging off them and this causes him to act in a horrific and bullying manor towards Jane. This causes Jane to act in a way she ordinarily would not, she even says herself that it causes ‘sensations for the time predominated over fear’ she feels so angry and let down that she finally stands up for herself. Therefore this influences Jane in a way that she feels like nobody will ever truly love her and she feels very much an outcast, this causes Jane to act in a way that even she herself expresses that she does not want to, she is cold and unloving and strives desperately to be appreciated but of course, this all happens in vain. We also see Jane to act very irrationally towards Mrs Reed, she deeply wants her to love her, yet w hen it comes down to it and she realises Mrs Reed never will she has an explosion of anger and tells Mrs Reed all the things that have been stewing up in her mind for so long; ‘I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to visit you when I am grown up; and if anyone asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick. . . .† this we  see as Jane being bitter towards Mrs Reed which we learn in later chapters as a very uncharacteristic feature of Jane Eyre, she is usually forgiving. The relationship between Jane and the nursery maid; Bessie is an important one, in the first few chapters we see Bessie as being somewhat cruel and dismissive of Jane compared to the other Reed children, she does not feel a connection towards Jane as she is not as pretty or funny as the other children therefore Bessie does not see her appeal. However after the event in the red room we see a change with Bessie’s attitude towards Jane, she turns somewhat softer as we see her feel sorry for Jane and how hard Mrs Reed is on her. This is an extremely important turning point in the novel as we see Jane in the chapters leading up to this as very self involved and saddened as she has no one to love, yet as soon as Bessie softens to Jane and tells her that she can sympathise with the position she’s been put in she tells Jane ‘I don’t dislike you, Miss; I believe I am fonder of you than of all the others.’ This affects Jane greatly and we see a completely different little girl, she seems to talk which much more glee and excitement and even for her ‘life had its gleams of sunshine’. So we see how much relationships influence Jane and her attitudes in the novel, relationships affect Jane and how her personality is. In chapter five Jane meets Helen Burns, Helen is also an orphan and see’s the school as somewhat of a sanctuary even though she is constantly picked upon by the teacher. Helen is Jane’s first friend but more importantly she becomes Jane’s best friend and we see as the relationship grows that Helen deeply influences Jane, she teaches her to be less excitable and too see the best in others, a quality that Jane desperately needs after her experience with the Reed’s. She teaches Jane to be self sacrificing when she tells her ‘it is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you’. Helen believes that you should suffer pain yourself than have others see and feel an action that you may regret when you have calmed down. Jane learns from this and this causes Jane to be a character who thinks beyond this life and onto the next with God. We see Jane finds this as a great comfort and now instead of looking onto God as something to be feared, she looks at him as somewhat of a comfort, especially after Helen dies of typhoid. Helen believes that after she dies she is going to be with her family and loved  ones and most importantly with God, therefore she does not fear death and although Jane is deeply distraught by the death of the only friend she’s ever had in the world, the fact that she will, if she lives correctly see her again is a great comfort. This shows the importance of friendship throughout the novel and how with Jane having the comfort of a friend she can be the person that she has always wanted to be, thanks to Helen Jane finds herself acting more appropriately and being able to handle her anger. Therefore this relationship has greatly affected Jane as she strives to be more like Helen. Relationships are of key importance to Bronte writing about Jane Eyre, it is how she expresses her feelings of how relationships have perhaps affected her and it shows how deeply the lack of love can affect someone. This novel is primarily about love, whether it being a lack of love or so much love that it turns into passion, Jane strives to feel this emotion and closeness with anyone who will allow her to be their friend. Therefore relationships are a key influence to Jane Eyre, they affect how she acts and how she feels and without them, as we learn in the first few chapters, life can be a very lonely existence.

Jihad Vs McWorld Essay

In nature, there are always at least two forces acting on each other. They either tend to be always in opposition to one another to ultimately destroy the other or to create a new force that is a mixture of elements coming from each of the present forces. In society, Benjamin Barber identified two forces or tendencies, given the political and economic trends at the time of his writing, which may come in to being and could pose a threat to democracy as we know it: tribalism and globalism. At the present time, â€Å"Jihad Vs. McWorld† offers a good retrospective view of things that had just recently occurred. Students of history are offered a good summary of how things were going at the end of the last century and how these could possibly come out, if it had not yet turned out to be so, today, and a possible means of securing democracy that can withstand the forces of McWorld and Jihad. As a political theorist, Barber offers some insights of the trends that were going on in the 1990s and as well as some factors that are inextricably linked to these trends. These trends, McWorld and Jihad, he described as both being undemocratic in its effects to the citizenry. In McWorld, he talks of the â€Å"four imperatives† that govern its dynamics. Market imperative, resource imperative, information-technology imperative and ecological imperative, according to Barber, make up the working guidelines that govern the dynamics of McWorld. Personally, it may seem a bit far-reaching to talk about these imperatives verging on generalities, but then again he is trying to clarify a concept that is in operation in a big world and that because of these imperatives such a big world in ever shrinking smaller with the passing of each day. In Jihad, he talks of the struggles of people based on ethnic, racial, cultural, and religious differences whose final aim is â€Å"to redraw boundaries†¦ [and] escape McWorld’s dully insistent imperatives. † At first reading, it may be quite surprising that these same reasons for which minorities struggle to be recognized within existing national boundaries are claimed to be the self-same reasons for which nations were born; nations composed of various groups of people with many differing aspects but with at least one common feature that became the focal point of their unification in the past after the break up of empires. This initial surprise can probably be overcome if one looks at the latter concept as a case of self-determination against a colonial master and the former as a case for self-identification. For both McWorld and Jihad, Barber paints grim pictures if in case one of the two takes the upper hand over the other and it really does not matter which wins in the end for both have undemocratic tendencies. McWorld is said to offer peace and prosperity and relative unity while Jihad brings forth a sense of community, kinship and solidarity. Seemingly, the offerings to the citizenry of McWorld and Jihad are mutually exclusive. One might not have a slice of McWorld and another slice of Jihad at the same time. McWorld hinges on interdependence while Jihad is based on exclusion. But Barber offer a middle ground for which the economic benefits of McWorld can be availed of while maintaining the exclusionist ideal of Jihad. He offers a representative confederal government as an ideal solution to address the excesses of both McWorld and Jihad; a form of â€Å"decentralized participatory democracy,† that has some elements of parochialism, communitarianism and participatory governance. Barber argues that, after all as a tree grows from the roots going upward, democracy starts from the bottom up and not from the top going down. This view I share with Barber. People compose nations and it is essential, I believe, that the ideal principles of self-determination and government be well laid out and understood by this self-same people so as to avoid the excesses of Jihad and McWorld or at least minimize them. The discussions of Barber in Jihad Vs. McWorld creates a dark picture that sometimes we could not easily accept that we could even dismiss it as a far-reaching generalization of the trends of the time that would eventually dissipate. But the beauty of this essay lies in the fact that it came at a time when the events that he was discussing were but recent and may have been witnessed first-hand by those among us right now. We could easily ascertain the accuracy and veracity of his claims from other resources or even from our own memories, if it is sufficient enough (i. . had we been born a few years before or within the years of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Quebecois unrest, etc. ). Furthermore, the solution that he proposes is something that is not totally radical and would pose as a mild readjustment of the current system of have now. Students of history, both those studying it in the halls of learning and those studying it in the realm of wide world, can benefit greatly from this work by Barber. In exposing the excesses of McWorld and Jihad, he did not indulge in radical rhetoric and offered a middle ground solution that could take in the best of both worlds, so to speak. He leaves the reader the choice whether to adopt his proposal or at least gives room for others to expose a better one than his, after all this is the very essence of the democracy that he espouses. It may take time to reap the benefits of finding or adopting a middle-ground solution of Jihad and McWorld and could not be rushed. Moderation is the key and haste is an invisible wall. In the end, the tortoise has always won over the hare.

Gender and Sexuality Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Gender and Sexuality - Research Paper Example Biological, psychological, social, ethical, legal, cultural, religious, and spiritual factors influence sexuality. Combination of sexuality and gender makes a huge difference in people’s life. These differences determine wellness or ill-being of a person. In addition, the disparities of people’s life stretch between life and death (Rahman and Jackison 52). Gender refers roles and behavior that a particular group of people prefers suitable for women and men. These differences can lead to inequalities between men and women in both health status and access to health care. Women have been on the receiving end for a long time and they continue to fight for their recognition. Patriarchy dominates many societies placing women in a lower class than their men. Some traditions dictate that women should be chaste and pure. A violation of this ideology can lead to restriction in women’s economic and political participations. Other ideologies invites for female genital mutila tion and honor killings incase women goes contrary with such societal beliefs. These ideologies seek to ensure that man and woman stay in line with gender stenotypes (Rahman and Jackison 55). This paper addresses gender difference in sexuality. The paper endeavors to look gender differences in sexuality. According to an article entitled gender differences in sexuality, published in Psychological Bulletein journal, there is a difference in the subject of sex between men and women. In this research, Oliver surveys the incidences of gender differences among males and females. The report was looking at sexual attitudes using 21 different variables (Oliver and Hyde 29). Some of the factors that the article sought to understand were masturbation, casual sex, homosexuality, and sexual satisfaction between men and women. Oliver reveals that, the largest and common incidence among men was masturbation. The articles portray men to have biggest numbers of masturbation incidences as compared to the males. In addition, this article on this journal points out that there is a greater gender disparity in the feelings towards casual sex. Oliver et al depict that men are very lenient and engage in casual sex more often than women do. On matters of homosexuality and sexual satisfaction, the article reveals that there is no evidence or noticeable difference on these issues in both men and women. Each gender expressed a fulfillment in the matters of sexual satisfaction (Oliver and Hyde 46). This article explains the noticed sexual differences between men and women bear their explanation in neo-analytic theory. According to the authors, the observed genders difference in matters of sexuality emanate from early mother child interactions. The article alludes that mothers are the primary caretakers and develop a strong relationship with their children. This implies that young girls and boys have a close-knit relationship between their mothers. The article points out that boys and girl s internalize such a tight connection with their mothers, which determines the gender roles when they grow up. The article suggests that difference in motivation to casual sex and masturbation are attributable to maturity. Women display a difference in sexual desire when they mature. This sis because women needs are for relational commitments and are not completely fulfilled even through marriage and cohesive friendship. The findings of the report of the low

Contraception Mandate in ACA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contraception Mandate in ACA - Essay Example The policy takes the form of strict guidelines to be observed in relation to the preventive health services that are to be covered mandatorily in the health insurance schemes, while providing the fines for those who fail to adhere to the policy (Friedman, 2014). The major conflict in this policy issue is that; there is a possibility of unending court battles between the federal government and the faith based institutions, which will not relent on their fight against the requirement to cover for the contraceptive and unintended pregnancy prevention or termination costs (Bassett, 2013). Further, there is a possibility of the rise of conflict between the federal government and other employers, who may not easily agree to cover the expenses that some employers, such as the faith-based institutions, are exempted (Tate, 2012). The structures and strategies I seek to explore is how a truce can be reached between the federal government and the employers, to ensure that all the employees are equally covered for all preventive health risks, while also ensuring that the faith-based doctrines and the religious principles held by different religions are not violated. Thus, the study will seek to establish what structures can be applied towards ensuring that the law stipulated is observed, while that the institutions that seek to be exempted are exempted. The personal interest in his issue emanates from the fact that I fall in both the employee category so would want to be afforded the equal health services, while still being a faith-based individual, and thus would like to see the religious principles remain un-violated. Bassett, L. (April 5, 2013). Contraception Mandate Likely Headed To Supreme Court, Experts Say. The Huffington Post.

Business Intelligence Application Design Case Study

Business Intelligence Application Design - Case Study Example The integrated business intelligence constructions from most design companies are not described as organic, but they emerge because of incorporating proprietary business intelligence technologies (Mantyla and Gerwitz, 2009). BI applications are a critical part of the organization’s definition giving vital information or data to various branches of the enterprise (Gale Research Company and Gale Research In., 1978). Information Technology departments should ensure that challenges facing the growth of business intelligence applications are identified and corrected. Information consumption in an organization increases with the development of new technologies. When the problems related to information flow are tackled in a professional and timely manner, the enterprise will realize business intelligence standardization (Prabhu, 2011). Figure 1: The integrated design created to define the new composition of enterprise BI, and aid organizations grow from past descriptions of poor business intelligence technologies and ineffective departmental business intelligence applications Since 1990s, business intelligence products and applications were represented formatively. During this era, enterprises realized that they had to include various BI competencies to meet the increasing user needs. Consequently, the range of business intelligence competencies can be combined into ‘Schemes of BI’ platforms (these contain five different sets) (Khosrowpour, 2005). The schemes of business intelligence platforms are: (1) data mining-advanced analysis; (2) OLAP and visual analysis; (3) enterprise reporting; (4) scorecards and dashboards; and (5) alerts and mobile Apps. Considering the changing market demand, a number of business intelligence developers create various products designed to cater for the requirements of the listed schemes of business intelligence (Mantyla and Gerwitz, 2009). Several companies have embraced various products of

Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism - Essay Example U.S., which have faced terrorists’ attacks and other security threats in the recent past have also initiated these steps. Although, these constructive initiatives were to protect the people of America, certain sections of the population have raised opposition mainly regarding the privacy related issues. Their view is, these measures sometimes infringes upon the privacy of citizens and compromises their lives, social standing, economic status, etc, leading to a lot of physical and mental problems for them. This paper will first discuss US’s government initiatives to protect its vital digital assets, then will discuss how it is crucial to protect both personal privacy as well as classified national security information, and finally will discuss how these classified assets could be breached and the safeguards that can be taken. The United States government’s classification and protection system for certain crucial information is established with the aid of number of legal regulations and executive orders. That is, all the important information and all the related documents, files, etc., pertaining to national security are classified and protected from getting into wrong hands in the form of USA-PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, FISA, etc. USA-PATRIOT Act (manufactured acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) was passed in 2001 due to the initiatives of the former US President, George Bush, and it provides for a lot of security measures particularly for digital assets. In 2011, President Barack Obama strengthened this act by signing a four-year extension for three key provisions found in the Act, particularly related to digital terrorism. That is, the â€Å"roving wiretap† power allows the â€Å"federal au thorities to listen in on conversations of foreign suspects even when they change phones or locations†. (Mascaro, 2011). While

A Dolls House Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Dolls House - Research Paper Example â€Å"A Doll’s House† which is a scintillating play, was written by Henrik Ibsen during the period of the ‘Naturalism Movement’ and revolved around the women of the 19th century society. The basic premise of the play was the portraying of women in different gender roles and how they looked after their families by staying at home. In sharp contrast to Ibsen’s poem is Larkin’s poem ‘Home is so sad’. In this poem, the poet expresses the dark vision of home and of human solitude. In this essay an attempt is being made to find out how the poem ‘Home is so sad’ relates to the play ‘A Doll’s House.’ Body Most of Ibsen’s plays depict the struggle between individuals for an authentic identity of their own. This struggle rests against the backdrop of a tyrannical society, with the individual on one hand, and their families and society on the other. In ‘A Doll’s House’, Nora is the chief protagonist in the play and represents such struggling women, suppressed by society. Larkin’s poem on ‘Home is so sad’ also has a melancholic atmosphere as he deals with some of the negative aspects of life such as loneliness and disappointment. Both these works though moody and pessimistic in approach never fail to engage its audiences because it helps them to identify themselves with its characters. The playwright and the poet have attempted to express their thoughts and ideas through the eyes of society. Women in the 19th century were expected to be the typical stereotype subservient housewife, but one would be surprised at the turn of events in Henrik Ibsen’s play. Women in those days were hardly educated and hence were very easily relegated into a corner and never came forward to voice their opinion. Nora was one such stereo type who was controlled by her husband Torvald Helmer, who was very controlling and he looked upon Nora as one of his resp onsibilities. In the beginning of the play, Nora accepts her doll-like existence, with no identity to call her own. In fact , Nora seemed to like being treated like a child and used this technique to get what she wanted. According to Shaw "She has learnt to coax her husband into giving her what she asks for, by appealing to his affection for her: that is, by playing all sorts of pretty tricks until he is wheeled into an amorous humor" (Shaw, 226) However, according to Clement Scott "Helmer's attitude towards his child-wife is natural but unreasonable" (Scot, 222).   While pinching her ear he calls her using pet names like squirrel and mouse, but he clearly understands that she is a â€Å"positive hindrance to his ambition† (Scot, 221) This clearly reflects the attitudes of ancient society filled with suppression. In Phillip Larkin’s poem, ‘Home is so sad’ we find the same gloomy atmosphere of existence depicted by the loneliness that is experienced. We s ee this sadness in the following lines of the poem. bereft Of anyone to please, it withers so, Having no heart to put aside the theft (Phillip Larkinn, Home is so sad,) www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16659 The inhabitants of the house have left and all that remained was loneliness and memories that brought remembrance of the times shared there. In the same manner, in the play ‘A Dolls House’ Nora goes about her duties as a good mother despite the emptiness she feels in her existence, and agrees to do whatever Torvald asks her to. â€Å"Yes, whatever you say Torvald† (Ibsen, 872) However, when she finally decided to leave, she bravely confronts him saying, â€Å"I’ve lived by doing the tricks for you Torvald.† (Ibsen, 919) She understands that her life with Torvald was like a dolls house and they had been lying to each other about their love, which was no more than a facade.

Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 37

Questions - Essay Example What surprises me most about the godly woman of Proverbs 31 is her trading skill. The woman’s ability to exchange goods in the market at a bargain and profit is incredible considering her responsibilities required domestic attention and skills. The woman was able to maintain a genuine sensitivity and show empathy in situations that would otherwise be stressful for other people. It is surprising that the woman realizes the needs of people who are less privileged while still catering to her own needs. What surprises me most about Songs of Solomon is that the Shulammite woman kept her virginity and purity for Solomon whom she honestly looked forward to be her future husband. This devotion moves Solomon to use words of high praise for being a pure woman. Solomon wrote Songs of Solomon from both man and woman’s perspectives. Evidently, the book contains many symbols of masculine and feminine natures that reflect relationships for those married in the true

Goals of Bureaucracy Essay Example for Free

Goals of Bureaucracy Essay Bureaucracy is an organizational or governmental structure wherein the regulations and principles are set in a specified and rigid way to control the activities within a group. Bureaucracy follows a standardized set of procedures which its members are expected to follow in order to execute tasks. Bureaucracy is highlighted by its distinct characteristics which put emphasis on hierarchy, division of powers and relationships which translate to a formal political influence within the organization. The modern day practice of bureaucracy is set to towards reaching predetermined goals by sticking to rigid policies. Bureaucrats are expected to follow certain rules and regulations in order to ensure a smooth work flow within the organization (â€Å"Bureaucracy and Adhocracy,† n. d) Bureaucracy under different types of government works either for the benefit of the people, or their demise. As such, there are certain values that bureaucrat representatives must take into account in order to efficiently provide for the needs of the majority. There are different values which bureaucrats must be able adhere. These values are efficiency, accountability, neutrality and responsiveness to citizens among others. However, I personally believe that among these qualities and goals that a bureaucratic government must adhere, accountability and neutrality are two of the most important. Accountability within a government body is always important. Government bodies are elected because the majority of the people have chosen them represent their needs in the society. And as such, in a bureaucracy or in any other form of government, the importance of putting the people first is always a necessity (Mises, 1969, pp. 42-60). Accountability, if observed within a government translates into the other goals that bureaucracy should be accounted for. If government officials or bureaucrats will hold themselves accountable for the needs of the people, then they also render themselves responsive to the needs of the people who entrusted the government into leadership. Further, neutrality within the government system is equally as important. Leaders of a nation must, at all times, maintain neutrality – between the rich and poor; majority and minority. In this way, the rights of every individual for a fair and just treatment in the society will never be less prioritized. The right to fair treatment in the court or in the peoples daily lives is one of the most important aspect that a government or organization must provide to their people (Mises, 1969, pp. 42-60). Failure to provide the people with these two – accountability and neutrality – any government body or organization will function less properly and less effective in addressing the needs of the people. In addition, failure to make the people feel that the government is neutral in dealing with their people, and if the people felt that their government is less accountable to their needs and rights, people lose the trust they have for their government. Losing the trust of the people means that the organization itself is not efficient and is not effective into delivering the needs of the people. Thus, accountability and neutrality are two of the most distinct and important goals that any government or bureaucracy must instill. Accountability and neutrality, if put into practice, shall guide the government and the people to work efficiently together. These two values will render the government or organizational body the credibility towards the people under their rule. And as such, credibility shall also earn leaders respect and trust from the people.

Social and Economic conditions on NHS Funding

Social and Economic conditions on NHS Funding In the middle ages, access to health care and sanitation facilities was only available to people belonging to a sound socio-economic background. Hill, Griffiths and Gillam (2007) state that in earlier time, even ensuring the supply of clean water and sanitation facilities was a tough task for municipal authorities. It was not until eighteenth century when provision of health services began to get recognition as governments responsibility. The NHS was founded in 1948 and is the currently the worlds largest health service that is publicly funded. The basic idea behind the establishment of the NHS was to ensure that people from all kinds of socio-economic backgrounds receive health facilities without any discrimination. This makes the service free for any individual who is a resident of the UK. According to the official statistics of the NHS, it deals with about 1 million patients every 36 hours. Funds for the NHS come directly from taxation. The NHS budget for 2008-2009 was more than  £100 billion, which means a contribution of about  £1980 by every individual in the UK. Considering the fact that health and education are the most important public services on any governments priority list, however the functionality of these services is directly related to the social and economic conditions. Same goes for the NHS, which has faced management crisis during times of economic austerity, both in present and the past. Although the NHS has seen a sharp increase in funding over the last few decades, however, given the current economic recession, the chances of future funding are quite uncertain. It is feared that either the NHS will go through a funding cut or the government will have to resort to tax-raising measures. Health Care and Social and Economic Conditions: Although good health is a need of every individual, however, the access to health care services is greatly dependent on the social and economic conditions of both the individual and the country he is residing in. An individual can either opt for a private health care service, which is subjected to his willingness and ability to pay for it, or is dependent on the services provided by the government. A large proportion of the population goes for the latter option. A poor socio-economic condition of the country means that either a person sacrifices on his health or will forgo any other of his basic needs in order to pay for medical bills. According to the Social Care Report 2008-2009 issued by the Health Committee of the House of Commons, A care gap may occur if people avoid using services wither because of affordability issues or if the services do not meet their requirement. The report also claims that the past three years have seen a significant drop in the number of people using the public sector health services, despite of the fact that the countrys ageing population have increased by 3%. This makes it apparent that either the public cannot afford to pay for the health care services or the government is finding it difficult to ensure the provision of standardized health facilities on equality basis. At the same time, given the economic crises, the government itself also gets stingy with providing funds due to lack of resources. Consequently, the quality of service provided by the NHS is compromised. Fowler (Taylor and Field 1998, p. 158) states that lack of resources means that new hospital building would not be built advanced medical technology and equipment could not be purchased and the staff would be working under conditions that would demotivate them. This directly questions the value for money provided by the NHS services. George and Miller (1997) state that in 1960s and 1970s politicians started to doubt the economic viability of a universalist welfare state. They argued that achieving economic growth is the governments primary objective that is being sidelined due to increasing public expenditure. Consequently, they demanded a cut in public expenditure, which meant less funding for public sector health services. Powell (George and Miller 1997, p. 8) claimed that public expenditure has overshot economic growth by a substantial margin, thus resulting in disastrous financial effects including internal inflation, external devaluation and foreign indebtedness. Lees (George and Miller 1997, p. 8) argued that medical care should be treated like any other commodity available in the private market. This will not only make the NHS more cost efficient, but will also make it less politicized and will offer more consumer choice. Although while debating on making the public health services free at the point of use, many social scientists and economists agree that it can be easily funded by taxation, they tend to overlook other factors, which may directly or indirectly effect the NHS funding. McLeod and Bywaters (2000) argue that the inflationary pressures on the NHS funding of the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries and the continued presence of private health care services are two major constraints on measures for equitable health care. Moreover, the deteriorating condition of hospital buildings and their repair and maintenance costs also add to the financial pressures. Funding Public Health Services: Although the funds for the functionality of the NHS are directly acquired from taxation, however, it should be noted that all the capital works such as building hospitals are funded through Private Finance Initiative (PFI). This means that these capital works are being financed through loans raised by private sector financing institutions. According to Pollock, Shaoul and Vickers (2002) this is a very expensive way of financing the NHS. Using Private Finance Initiative requires the NHS to pay an annual fee including the cost of borrowing. Considering the fact that the NHS is a free service at the point of use, this method leads to an affordability gap for the NHS trusts. As a result, the NHS is forced to resort to external subsidies, charitable donations, sale of assets and even cuts in bed capacity and hospital staff. This in return makes the NHS questionable as the idea behind its establishment was to ensure access to health facilities to everyone without any class difference. When a large proportion of a service is being funded by the tax payers, then the service providers are suppose to make sure that they are being cost efficient and provide the value for money. Unfortunately, this has not been the case with the NHS. Davies (2007) states that the NHS was provided with unprecedented funds, however it still overspent by a substantial amount. Moreover, clinical outcomes, waiting periods and the level of satisfaction of patients are all less as compared to that provided by private health care services. According to Davies (2007), the government argues that if the NHS manages itself efficiently, the NHS trusts can achieve significantly positive results. Conclusion: The problems in the health sector are similar to any other economic problem. It is facing a price hike due to gaps in demand and supply. The list of people waiting to get medical treatments is mounting up but there is a shortfall of resources to cater that list. One suggestion given to deal with the problem is to impose user charges on the services provided by the NHS. Some critics argue that if user charges are imposed it will give two benefits. Firstly, it will generate funds for the NHS to finance the shortfall. Secondly, people will start taking care of their health and will make healthy choices in order to avoid seeking a medical care. The first argument is a socially unfair argument. The current economic conditions are such that people make sacrifices even when choosing in between the basic necessities. Imposing user charges on health means that they will start avoiding seeking medical treatment not because they do not need it, but because they cannot afford it. The second argument requires one to assume that people are aware and educated enough about what right choices they need to make in order to seek minimum medical help. Countries like France and Germany have already tried this approached and it only resulted in undermining the ef ficiency of public sector health services, rather than helping to achieve the required results. Therefore, imposing user charges for the NHS consumers should not be considered. Instead, the government and the NHS trusts should look for alternative instruments. In order to deal with the problem the government will have to make both short term and long-term strategies. In short term, it should be ensured that the NHS becomes cost efficient and the consumers get value for their money. This can be done by minimizing dependency on the private finance initiative. On long term basis, preventive measures should be taken and the emphasis should be on primary care. People should be educated such that take care of their health so that they are least prone to diseases. REFRENCES Davies, P 2007, The NHS in the UK 2007/08, London. George, V and Miller, S 1997, Social policy towards 2000: squaring the welfare circle, Routledge, London. Hill, P, Griffith, S and Gillam, S 2007, Public health and primary care: partners in population health, Oxford university Press Inc., New York. McLeod, E and Bywaters, P 2000, Social work, health and equality, Routledge, London. Taylor, S and Field D 1998, Sociological perspectives on health, illness and health care, Blackwell Science Ltd., London. Pollock, A, Shaoul, J and Vickers, N 2002, Private finance and value for money in NHS hospitals: a policy in search of a rationale, viewed 21 October 2010, Thomson, S, Foubister, T and Mossialos E 2010, Can user charges make health care more efficient?, viewed 21 October 2010, 2004, Health Economics, Biz/ed, viewed 21 October 2010,