Why is HIV-AIDs so prominent an issue in post-apartheid South Africa Essay

Why is HIV-AIDs so prominent an issue in post-apartheid South Africa Does religion offer solutions or exacerbate the problems - Essay Example However, the transition from apartheid to democracy was largely obscured by a HIV/AIDS crisis.1 A large number of the South African population have adopted traditionalists policies aimed at managing sexuality and thus controlling the spread of AIDS. These practices and policies are embedded in religious and ritualistic practices and beliefs that involve circumcising boys and testing girls for virginity prior to marriage.2 This research study analyses the traditionalist religious approach to controlling the spread of AIDS in post-apartheid South Africa and argues that rather than offer solutions, traditionalist religion exacerbates the problems. This research study is therefore divided into three main parts. The first part of the paper provides details of the HIV/AIDS crisis in post-apartheid South Africa and analyses why HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in post-apartheid South Africa. The second part of this research study defines and analyses traditionalist religion in post -apartheid South Africa. The third part of this paper analyses the role of religion, particularly the traditionalist religion in countering the HIV/AIDS crisis in South Africa. HIV/AIDS in Post-Apartheid South Africa HIV/AIDS ... On average life expectancy in South African fell from 64 years of age in 1994 to 49 years of age in 2001.5 The United Nations reported that the number of children orphaned as a result of AIDS in South Africa by 2001 was 700,000. In 2002, the number of orphans as a result of AIDS was 120,000 and 150,000 in 2003.6 USAID reports that as of 2011, South Africa has the largest number of HIV/AIDS infections worldwide With the first reported case in 1982, the disease has reached epidemic proportions with 5.6 million South Africans living with either HIV or full blown AIDS. Moreover, South Africa’s infant and maternal mortality rate has increased steadily since the 1990s with AIDS largely attributed to the cause of infant and maternal mortality. AIDS is responsible for 42.5 per cent of maternal mortality and 35 per cent of infant mortality cases. While South Africa only represents 0.7 per cent of the global population, it is responsible for 28 per cent of the global HIV population.7 UN ICEF’s report on HIV and AIDs in South Africa notes that â€Å"HIV infection rates† among adolescent girls are â€Å"on average five times higher† than â€Å"among boys†.8 According to UNICEF, â€Å"this is largely due to girls’ biological and social vulnerability†.9 For the most part women depend on men for economic support and usually do not have adequate education facilities and are therefore more prone to â€Å"poverty, sexual exploitation, coercion and rape† and are susceptible to work in the sex trade.10 Complicating matters for women, when they contract HIV or full blown AIDS they suffer heightened levels of gender discrimination. Women typically test

Hindrance to organisational performance

Hindrance to organisational performance 1 Introduction Ages ago, constant changes to an organisation was thought as a hindrance to organisational performance. However, now successful change is vital for every organisation. This change in thought is because of necessity of organisations to survive in highly competitive market and evolving environment (Todnem, 2005). Organisations should align their change programmes with management development to maintain their competitive edge. In contrast to abundance of academic literature on change models and framework showing the increase in business concern, it is reported that 70 per cent of change programme have failed (Burnes, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This report mentions about few theories on change implementation and issues arising while implementation. Furthermore, the report discusses about power as a tool in change process. Finally, the report concludes by analysing two case study: one with a change failure and another on successful change. 2 Organisational change Despite the vast academic research, empirical data shows that many organisations struggle to lead effective change projects and that problem arises in change implementation (Cicmil, 1999). Organisational change projects are continuous learning projects. Is continuous change a stable feature in organisation? Todnem (2005) mentions â€Å"Change cannot be relied upon to occur at a steady state, rather there are periods of incremental change sandwiched between more violent periods of change which have contributed to the illusion of stability once assumed to be the case.† Managing change has a six-stage approach: Envisioning, activating, supporting, implementation, ensuring and recognising (Hamlin, 2001). This report concentrates on change implementation phase. Implementation (also called ‘transition by some authors) is the process of making a design operational. Implementation involves planning, acquiring, installing equipment or technology, make employees change ready, schedule events for the new way of process to replace the old way. Basic elements of a change implementation plan are: Deliverables and its purpose, milestones to access progress, accountabilities, communication plan, measurement plan for accessing the consequences of the change. If change is large-scale, chances of failure in this phase is likely high (Martin, 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Various change theories can be categorised based on their approach to implement change: planned, emergent and contingency approach (Todnem, 2005). 3 Theories of change 3.1 Planned approach According to Todnem (2005), planned approach to organisational change outlines the change process. It also reveals the different phases that an organisation will be dragged through while making the change to a desired state. Planned approach to change is highly effective but takes a long time. Lewins change model Lewins change model states three levels of organisational change: unfreezing present level, moving to the new level, refreezing the new level. In other words, the model requires to get rid of old behaviour, structures, processes or culture before making it to the new level (Todnem, 2005 and Brisson-Banks, 2010). This theory raises few critical questions by the author. Abruptly leaving old customs might trigger uncomfortable reactions from employees. Also, it might be ironical to have stabilisation of change at the third level, when change is a continuous or open-ended process. According to Todnem (2005), planned approach to change suffers from few drawbacks. Firstly, some of the triggers of change are frequently spaced in time that planned approach (identify, plan, execute) to change is practically not applicable. Secondly, it considers the environment, which organisations interact, is stable from the start till the end of change process. This lead way to emergent approach. 3.2 Emergent approach Since change is so fast paced, responsibility for change implementation has to be decentralized. It is concerned about change readiness and ease the change process. Kotters change model The change model that is followed by many organisational leaders for planning and implementing change successfully by doing eight things right and in the right order. Kotter asserts organisation does not instil urgency for change in managers or employees, leading to change failure (Brisson-Banks, 2010). The eight steps which makes change initiative successful and errors that might crop up at each stage is summarised in table 1. For large organisations, it might become practically complicated to communicate the vision and hence empowering employees becomes difficult as the vision is not drilled to grassroots of the organisation (Paton, 2008). Though Kotters change model is popular, the author notes that the model mentions on eliminating any resistance to change but is deficient in not providing the cause. It also does not take the human element into account. Furthermore, the above theories does not look at the scale of change for successful implementation. 3.3 Contingency approach According to Buchanan (2007), The Dunphy-Stace contingency approach recommends to use the one which might fit the context of change (Scale, time, support for change) for an organisation. For senior managers to bring about change (time to change is less), dictatorial approach is apt. But middle managers will find collaborative style useful (time to change is more). Critical change proposals have to be driven through coercive modes. For change to be introduced quickly, dictatorial transformation should be chosen. The mode used should be complementary to the change implementation (Buchanan, 2007).Theories of change simply state the rules of the road but it is up to the organisation to acquire necessary competencies, skills and resources to implement them (Burnes, 2003). 3.4 Project management approach Project management approach takes into account the scale of change and the human factor that impede successful change implementation. Cicmil (1999) states three approaches to change implementation: project management, participative management and contingency approach. Project management approach sees change as a series of projects. Cicmil (1999) also mentions that this approach is the most effective as it makes change focussed with measurable outcomes and feedback through learnings. Empirical evidence shows significant organisations rolled out change as a project. Her research investigation spotted three common sources of gap in change implementation: Why (the reason and purpose of change), What (Specified outcome) and How (implementation process). She also found that human impediments like slow learning, fast forgetting and organised resistance which are related to Why, how and why. Organised resistance arises out of lack of understanding of what, how or both of change implementation. Fast forgetting and slow learning are a ‘misfit of change in business strategy. The issues around change implementation can be eliminated by following a suitable leadership style or power acquired by position in organisation. 4 Power as a tool in steering change Power is entwined into social and organisational life. It has become a tool that can be used by organisation to be a driver for achieving organisational outcomes. Buchanan (1999) also mentions about the ways in which one can get power in an organisation: Position or rank, know allies and supporters and maintain relationship, access and control over information, strong communication network, resolving critical problems, to be irreplaceable and the importance of the business one is involved in. â€Å"Power is built by ensuring that you control as much territory as possible, and this control is obtained by placing your allies in key positions and by expanding the activities over which you have formal responsibility.† (Buchanan, 1999). This is further asserted by Machiavelli in his book recognising the significance of skilled staff surrounding a leader. A leader might be ridiculed of his/her choice of appointing incompetent followers (Mcguire, 2006). According to Mcguire (2006), power should be directed at achieving organisational goals. A leader is one who utilises power to make employees follow him/her and inspires followers. However, sharing power with followers is apt when leader cannot stand up to organisational demands alone, indicating the need for teams. At times the leader needs to relinquish some power to successfully empower followers using the tools of rewards during organisational change. It can also be functional when managers use it to achieve organisational goals but dysfunctional when misused to promote self-interest (Buchanan, 1999). A leader need not have positive personal attributes that followers will admire, but it is his/her ability to make them believe that he/she has it (Mcguire, 2006). Machiavelli states there are two â€Å"carrot and stick† approaches for a successful change implementation by using power. Firstly, by executing reward power. Secondly, using disciplines. He advocates using reward power first but when that is not convincing people about change and its values, or followers not showing loyalty to the leader, then disciplinary action is suggested. An effective leader is the one who makes a punishment look like a reward (Mcguire, 2006). 5 Analysis of two case studies This report analyses two companies ABC Engineering and XYZ construction, which was investigated by Burnes (2003), using Cicmil (1999) which is summarised in Table 2 model mentioned in 3.4. ABC Engineering The parent company of ABC Engineering purchased a similar product German manufacturer in order to merge the companies for market expansion. ABC, threatened by the merger, lead number of changes, to increase productivity, improve quality and reduce costs. Resistance and reduced morale were the general feeling and the change efforts were fuelling them. Meanwhile to make situations better, engineering director came up with ‘Lean production and ‘Kaizen concept which involved restructuring the organisation. ABCs senior management team (SMT) agreed to ‘lean concept without involving people, none challenged the concept. SMT sought expert advice to manage the change. External change agent undertook a change readiness audit identifying number of key problems. XYZ Constructions XYZ constructions, an organisation the same size as that of ABC Engineering, had SMT who were employees but not directors of the company. The company had a head office and various regional offices. The structure created problems such as hostility between the head office and regional offices and lack of communication within functional units of same office. The managing director realised to remove functional barriers and promote ‘Kaizen requiring complete reorganisation within the company and its structure. Due to lack of expertise in change management, external change agent was called. The change was humungous and deeply seated that the change implementation was rolled out in phases. 6 Conclusion Change is part of everyday business operation that drives the organisation into a better state. With higher number of change failure being reported, managing change has become a competency and corporations are increasingly aware of the need of an internal change management team. This report discusses on theories of change management and mentioned why change might fail. It also identifies that success rate revolves around the leader and influence of power, to make a change impact on the employees which was seen from the two case studies. In summary, different variables initiates change uniquely for an organisation and leaders decide on fate of change implementation. Every organisation should carefully look into the transition phase of change and not overlook the human element to make change successful for its organisational development. Change management is definitely a challenge but possible to make it happen by observing the various elements of the organisation including the employees and unsaid assumptions. Improved ways of change handling can be found by connecting solutions and maybe even for new ways yet to be discovered. 7 Bibliography Brisson-Banks V. Claire (2010), Managing change and transitions: a comparison of different models and their commonalities, Library Management, Volume 31, Issue 4/5, Pp 241-252 Brown D. Andrew (1992), Managing change in NHS: The resource Management initiative, Leadership Organization Development Journal, Volume 13, Issue 6, Pp 13-17 Buchanan A. David, Huczynski A. Andrzej (2007), Organizational behaviour: An introductory text, 6th edition, Prentice Hall, Financial Times, Pp 602-603 Buchanan Dave, Badham Richard (1999), Power, Politics and organizational change, 1st edition, Sage Publication, Pp 52-53 and 192-193 Burnes Bernard (2003), Managing change and changing managers from ABC to XYZ, Journal of Management Development, Volume 22, Issue 7, Pp 627-642 Chapman Ann Judith (2002), A framework for transformational change in organisations, Leadership Organization Development, Journal 23, Issue 1, Pp 16-25 Cicmil Svetlana (1999), An insight into management of organisational change projects, Journal of Workplace Learning, Volume 11, Issue 1, Pp 5-15 Collins David (1998), Organizational Change Sociological Perspectives, 1st Edition, TJ International Ltd. Cutcher Leanne (2009), Resisting change from within and without the organization, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 22, Issue 3, Pp 275-289 Eriksen Matthew (2008), Leading adaptive organizational change: Self-reflexivity and self-transformation, Journal of Organizational Change management, Volume 21, Issue 5, Pp 622-640 Hamlin Bob, Keep Jane, Ash Ken (2001), Organizational change and development, 1st edition, Prentice Hall, Financial Times He Hongwei, Baruch Yehuda (2009), Transforming organizational identity under institutional change, Journal of Organizational change management, Volume 22, Issue 6, Pp 575-599 Jones Liz, Watson Bernadette, Hobman Elizabeth, Bordia Prashant, Gallois Cindy, Callan J. Victor (2008), Employee perceptions of organizational change: impact of hierarchical level, Leadership Organization Development Journal, Volume 29, Issue 4, Pp 294-316 Judge William, Douglas Thomas (2009), Organizational change capacity: the systematic development of a scale, Journal of Organizational change management, Volume 22, Issue 6, Pp 635-649 Kovoor-Misra Sarah (2009), Understanding perceived organizational identity during crisis and change: A threat/opportunity framework, Journal of Organizational Change management, Volume 22, Issue 5, Pp 494-510 Mcguire David, Hutchings Kate (2006), A Machiavellian analysis of organisational change, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 19, Issue 2, Pp 192-209 McHugh Marie (1997), The stress factor: another item for the change management agenda?, Journal of Organizational change management, Volume 10, Issue 4, Pp 345-362 OConnor A. Carol (1993), The handbook for organizational change, 1st edition, McGraw Hill publication Paton A. Robert, McCalman James (2008), Change management: A guide to effective implementation, 3rd Edition, SAGE publications, Pp 261-266 Paton Barbara, Beranek Lea, Smith Ian (2008), The transit lounge: a view of organisational change from a point in the journey, Library Management, Volume 29, Issue 1/2 Smith E. Martin, Mourier Pierre (1999), Implementation: Key to organizational change, Strategy Leadership, Volume 27, Issue 6, Pp 37-41 Todnem By Rune (2005), Organisational change management: A critical review, Journal of Change Management, Volume 5, Issue 4, Pp 369-380 Young Mike (2009), A meta model of change, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 22, Issue 5, Pp 524-548

An Analysis of the Epic Poem, Beowulf - Fame, Kingship, Fate and God in Beowulf :: Epic Beowulf essays

Fame, Kingship, Fate and God in Beowulf The Anglo-Saxons were a people who lived in and ruled England from the fifth century AD until the Norman Conquest. They were a people who valued courage and leadership. They lived under kings who were "keepers of gold" and were guarded by their loyal thanes (knights). They were a Pagan culture until the Normandy conquistadors came. They believed in fate and believed the only way to live forever was if you had fame. In the Anglo-Saxon book, Beowulf, there was a combination of many different people. The characters in Beowulf are defined by their status. Their status was in form of their fame and accomplishments. Beowulf was a very famous warrior, who sails to the Danes to kill a monster who is murdering their people. Beowulf kills Grendal, Grendal's mother and a dragon throughout the entirety of the story. Every time he receives more fame and more glory. Beowulf became a king. He was a great king who received honor and loyalty from his men. Although, during the fight with t he dragon Beowulf's men run away and as a result Beowulf dies. The book claims that Beowulf had fate against him in his last battle against the dragon, but also says that Beowulf had Christian morals. By having two conflicting religions (paganism and Christianity) it makes the story more interesting. This book is composed of four main characteristics: fame, kingship, fate, and God, which play very important roles throughout the book. In Beowulf the Anglo-Saxons longed for fame. To them fame meant immortality. For example, the narrator says, "But Beowulf longing only for fame, leaped into battle" (Raffel 1529). To Beowulf the only reason to risk his life is a battle, is so he can have his moments of fame, hence immortality. Even if a character gains fame, they will always be fighting to receive more. After Beowulf becomes king one of his servants says, "Beloved Beowulf, remember how you boasted, once, that nothing in the world would ever destroy your fame: you fight to keep in now, be strong and brave, my noble king, protecting life and fame together" (2586). So even though Beowulf had fame, he had to keep fighting and being successful in order to protect and keep his fame.

Ethical behavior is legally governed rather volunteered by organizations

Corporate Organizations, in today’s cut- throat competition and globalized economy are forced to focus to improve their bottom line. Corporate governance or ethical practices are limited to a level which is mandatory as per laws. Genuine commitment to ethics is like a needle in haystack. There are various elements to ethical behavior expected from the organizations Accounting transparency: Enron and Worldcom are glaring examples where ethics were compromised to maintain profitable image of the organization.Accounting firm Arthur Anderson’s creative accounting and ulterior motives of management crippled investor’s confidence to the nadir, resulting in bankruptcy/ closure of all three organizations. Leading by example: As per data, US CEOs were paid 42 times the average worker's pay in 1980, to 85 in 1990, and then skyrocketed to 531 times by 2000. Leadership teams of organizations are paid everything to show healthy growth in turnover and profits, for shareholder to be exited at stock markets.No CEO is paid to exemplify ethical leadership at Wall Street. Child labor: Many corporate, primarily in apparel segment, overlook the extreme levels of child exploitation in third world countries. In absence of strict law or policy, child labor is another big area which is not effectively monitored and contained. Summary: Though state (U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission) try to put accounting and auditing system, Corporate Ethics remain an Oxymoron.Ethics, like democracy, is a lot easier in theory than in practice. It would be imperative on regulatory bodies and responsible corporations to take lead in showing value in becoming ethical organization. Moreover, shareholders also should reward organization which exhibit transparency and good quality corporate governance. References: Munzig P G, â€Å"Enron and Economics of Corporate Governance† Stanford University, (June 2003), (http://www-econ. stanford.edu/academics/honors_theses/theses_200 3/Munzig. pdf) Holmstrom, Bengt and Steven N. Kaplan, â€Å"The State of US Corporate Governance: What’s right and What’s wrong? † National Bureau of Economic Research: Working paper 9613, (2003) Jense, Michael and Kevin Murphy, 1990, â€Å"Performance Pay and Top Management Incentives†, Journal of Political Economy, (1990) September/October 1996 edition of At Work [email  protected] com, byBerrett-Koehler Publishers. Jon Entine is a writer and Emmy

Many MNEs may want to start operations in some foreign country Essay

Establishment manner means that the MNE starts its operations from abrasion in the foreign state normally through a entirely owned subordinate where as in entry manner ; this can be accomplished by a subordinate or through partnership with a local party which involves shared ownership. In this survey the writers examine the consequence of same variables on both these picks available to a company. They do it through a series of hypotheses. The first hypothesis measures the positive consequence of greater institutional promotion on the pick that the company makes. Institutional promotion is defined in the survey as refering to alterations in formal establishments over a period of clip. It is argued that regulative forces are likely to be a large influence on a determination that an MNE makes with respect to its constitution or entry pick. Regulative forces or instead Regulative forces as described in the survey are non limited to Torahs and ordinances merely but besides include political and other societal factors. The writers conclude that institutional promotion has a positive consequence on the pick to set up a subordinate with shared ownership. The 2nd hypothesis postulated by the authors’ measures the chairing consequence of institutional promotion on the inclination of a technologically intense house to either travel for constitution manner or entry manner. It is argued that houses which are engineering intense should travel for constitution manner because their competitory advantages are embedded in their labour force accomplishments and organisational patterns so it is more efficient for them to get down from abrasion. They should engage and develop the local labour force. Furthermore in instance of a joint venture or portion ownership of the subordinate. protecting the rational rights can be an issue. Protection of such rights is dependent on the judicial system. In passage economic sciences where the bench is corrupt and rational belongings rights are non respected. an MNE would be loath to reassign its engineering. Therefore writers conclude that house with advanced proprietary engineering are likely to prefer establishment manner but degree of institutional promotion has a positive moderating consequence on such a house traveling for entry manner. The 3rd hypothesis measures the chairing consequence of institutional promotion on a multidomestic MNE to either travel for constitution of entry manner. Multidomestic houses are defined as those which pursue multidomestic scheme and want to set up a sustainable local market presence. For such MNEs geting a local company is a more attractive option because such acquisition can supply them with local trade names. market cognition. distribution channels and web relationships with the host country’s other concerns and authorities. How the restructuring and realignment of the acquired entity can be really ambitious. The houses in the host state are likely to be following a different paradigm. But on the other manus if an MNE goes for shared ownership or entry manner. it can carry through more without confronting these troubles. It is argues that a multidomestic MNE requires lesser control on the subordinate. If this is so so subordinates in the host state can hold considerable freedom and run on their ain to the full leveraging their local expertness. Hence it is concluded institutional promotion has a positive moderating consequence on a multidomestic MNE to travel for entry manner. Finally the writers have used an international study to garner the information to back up their findings. The study consists of a questionnaire with 33 unfastened and near complete inquiries. Furthermore the MNE’s latest constitution manner pick or entry manner pick has been taken as the dependant variable. Review This survey is no uncertainty a valuable plus for directors and pupils likewise in analyzing the behaviour of MNEs in doing their picks when it comes to Foreign Direct Investment but however it has a few defects and failings. But the biggest defect of this survey is the range. The writers have chiefly taken a sample of European MNEs. And the so called economic systems in passage are fundamentally east European states which were one time under the Fe drape. First we need to see the fact that Europeans MNEs may be really different from Nipponese or American MNEs and so forth. The constitution or entry manner pick for Nipponese houses may be dependent on or moderated by variables other than the 1s discussed here. Similarly an MNE whether European or Nipponese may make up one's mind to put in some state in Central Asia or North Africa or even South Asia. The market conditions in these states are really different from those of the passage economic systems discussed by the writers. This means that the findings in this survey are non universally applicable. Nevertheless it is a valuable add-on to our cognition sing MNE behaviour in doing Foreign Direct Investment determinations. But for any research worker seeking to confer with this survey. it is really of import to maintain the above mentioned restrictions in head.