New Industries in the Caribbean Essay Example for Free

New Industries in the Caribbean Essay Caribbean economies from their earliest periods of colonization were essentially agrarian based (during slavery). Economical activities included livestock farming and small farming done by the peasants. There were also trading and commerce which included the establishment of shops, inns and taverns. Large plantations were worked by a mass of slaves with the premier crop being Sugar Cane. When the colonizers first came to the West Indies they mainly grew crops such as coffee, cotton, ginger, banana and cocoa mainly for export. However during the second half of the 18th century, these crops lost their comparative advantage to sugar. When sugar experienced its depression the planters relaxed their stronghold over control of the land and some estate workers turned their attention to the peasant sector and other industries. NEW INDUSTRIES By the beginning of the twentieth century, the peasantry had begun to play a very important role in the diversification of the West Indian economies. The Royal Commissions before the Norman Commission, and the Norman Commissions had made recommendations for the development of the peasantry (Curtis: p 32). Many of the export crops recommended by the Norman Commission were already being cultivated by the peasantry. For these crops to have greater success, the peasantry would need capital for greater investment. But this capital was not forthcoming. This was due to the fact that they had limited capital, occupied small plots of land because they were charged a lot for these lands. Additionally the peasants cannot produce at subsistence level. The black peasantry in particularly faced a number of obstacles which included the increase in land prices, eviction from lands, refusal to subdivide and sell lands and also heavy taxations. The planters most of the times sold large pieces of lands for lower cost to the whites in comparison to the ex-slaves. Rice, which had been cultivated earlier as a subsistence crop in Guyana began to assume importance as a cash crop in the late nineteenth century. The abandonment of sugar cultivation on some estates made more land available, as did the opening up of riverain crown lands in 1898 on what for some were manageable terms of purchase. By 1900 government interest was being channeled through the board of agriculture ith conducted experiments in different rice varieties and supplied seed to the growers. A more objective was to develop a uniform grain size to reduce wastage in the milling process and by 1908 this had been substantially achieved. All of this stimulated further expansion so that, whereas in 1891 the land under rice amounted to only 4000 acres, there was a tenfold increase in the following two decades, and by 1917 for every ten acres planted in sugar, Guyana, eig ht acres were planted in rice. Expanding rice acreage was accompanied by the mushrooming of small mils. In 1914 there were 86 of them in existence. They were hardly elaborate structures but they were linked to the large mercantile firms in the capital and they controlled growers in the villages through a system of advances. Many of the millers, like many large rice growers were Indians who employed Indian labour, and the evidence suggests that ethnicity hardly guaranteed favourble treatment. In 1905 it was exporting to the Caribbean. Rice enjoyed considerable prosperity during the first war. In the inter-war period alternative sources of supply to the Caribbean market dried up and this provided the main basis for the steady expansion of the industry in Guyana. Guyana is by far the most important producer of rice in the Commonwealth Caribbean. There were about 20 thousand peasant farmers in 1952; by 1965 their numbers were believed to have more than doubled, reaching 45 thousand. There were 222 rice mills in 1960 and 199 in 1970. All were privately owned, except two which were owned and operated by the Rice Development Company. Bananas were first introduced into Jamaica in 1516. However the first exports took place in 1869 after the depression of sugar. As the industry flourished American companies came in to handle the trade as the peasants supplied bananas to a US [Boston] banana trader Lorenzo Dow Baker. Boston Fruit Company later formed to trade in Bananas with Caribbean and Central America which later became the United Fruit Company [UFCo]. By 1890 the value of Banana exports exceeded that of sugar and rum, and it retained this position except for a few years until the Second World War. By 1937 Jamaica provided twice as many stems as any other country in the world. It thus became a plantation crop-corporations and large entrepreneurs. Banana soon became the principal exports from Jamaica, and Windward Island. Trading partners also changed-Destination was now USA. During the war the industry declined because the ships could not be spared to transport the product. By the beginning of the nineteenth century coffee was also an important crop in Jamaica (The Banana production was done mainly by the Middle class mulattoes). During the depression sugar farmers in Trinidad turned their attention to cocoa which was the first major export of the island, and by 1900 it had become the major export once again. It retained this position until 1921 when Ghanaian cocoa began to swamp the world market. During that time too cocoa was also an important crop in St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Vincent. In the 1930’s citrus, which had been cultivated in the stricken cocoa areas became important. So too did Pineapples in the 19th century. Relatively small scale farmers earned cash for production of bananas, coffee, cocoa and pimento for exports. They also produced tubers, fruits and vegetables for domestic markets. A substantial part of small farming was for subsistence with relatively small surpluses for sale. Bauxite, tourism and urban-based manufacturing and services replaced export agriculture as the dominant sectors of the economy in the post-war era, as the British West Indies pursued a programme of industrialization-by-invitation The mineral resources which include bauxite, aluminum, gold et cetera have been developed by foreign capital and for the export market, to a much greater extent than the main agricultural products. In Guyana the American-owned Bauxite industry shipped its first load of ore in 1922. Expansion was steady throughout the inter-war period but it was not until the second war that bauxite became an important force in the economy. The Jamaican bauxite industry was developed by American companies after the second war. Demand for aluminum by the United States military and space programmes and by the automobile and other consumer goods industries created a lucrative market for bauxite and aluminum. As of such in 1957 Jamaica became the world’s leading bauxite producer and the main U. S. supplier. The U. S. dollar earnings from this new export financed the import of capital goods manufacturing industries that were set up to produce for the growing domestic and regional markets. The investment cycle of the multinational bauxite mining companies began topping offs as the decade of the 1960s drew to a close. Bauxite and aluminum thus replaced sugar and bananas as the leading export product after the Second World War. In 1964 Jamaican bauxite industry had over 800 registered manufacturing establishments including a cement factory, cigarette factories, breweries and bottling plants, extiles, clothing factories and plant producing soap, margarine and edible oil. In February 1967 an agreement was announced between the Jamaican government and an American metal-fabrication company to erect an aluminum plant in Jamaica. The petroleum industry in Trinidad and Tobago is the oldest mineral industry in the common-wealth Caribbean. The first successful well dates back to 1857 but it was not until the first decade of this century that the industry was established. By 1909 the country was exporting oil and by 1919 five refineries were in operation. The industry is largely owned and controlled by foreigners. The production of crude oil is mainly in the hands of four companies-Texaco, Shell, Trinidad Northern Area owned by Trinidad Tesoro, Shell and Texaco as equal partners. However by 1980 the government had purchased all foreign operations except Amoco. The tourist industry was developed after the Second World War, and this two is foreign owned and controlled. This industry is an offshoot of the banana and bauxite industry especially in Jamaica. The establishment and development of the tourist industry were facilitated by incentive legislation and special institutions. Jamaica passed the Hotels Aid Law, 1944, granting accelerated depreciation allowances and duty-free importation of materials for the construction and furnishing of hotels, and the Hotel Incentives Law, 1968, granting tax holidays and other concessions. The Hotel Aids Act passed in Barbados in 1967 allows duty free importation of building materials and equipment and grants a tax holiday of ten years. And all three territories set up Tourists Boards to promote and service the industry. As in the other generating sectors of the economies, there is a large proportion of foreign ownership in the tourist industry. In 1971 thirty-five per cent of the hotels in Jamaica were wholly foreign owned, 56 per cent wholly locally owned and 9 per cent joint ventures. Foreign ownership was more pronounced in Barbados. Foreigners owned 61 per cent of the capacity there: 33 per cent was owned by nationals of the United Kingdom. 16 per cent by Canadians and 12 per cent by Americans. Barbadians owned 34 per cent, and 5 per cent was jointly owned. Local ownership was dominant (80 per cent) among the smaller establishments which provided 25 per cent of the total capacity. Trade and commerce was also taking place in many places in the British West Indies as well. According to Beckles and Shepherd (1993) â€Å"export trade in the British Islands showed in a number of the units spectacular increases to the peak of prosperity between 1929 and 1940. † British Guiana traded with Europe and North America, commodities such as sugar cane, coffee and fruits. Trinidad exported petroleum products such as oil to places such as North America and the United Kingdom. Jamaica too traded tropical fruits, sugar cane, coffee, cocoa and other commodities with Europe and North America. In the late 1950s, Jamaica became the biggest supplier of bauxite to the United States. RACE: The Indians are concentrated mainly on the sugar estates while the Africans are concentrated in the villages and the towns. The Africans have always been more mobile geographically and socially and the chief supporters of the urbanization movement. They provide the overwhelming majority of the labour force in the bauxite industry and mining camps in the interior of Guyana, and the petroleum industry in Trinidad, and the bulk of the factory and service workers in both countries. Until the 1950s they occupied a somewhat monopolistic position in the white-collar and professional positions. The Indians supply the bulk of the field sugar workers and also the rice producers in Guyana. -Europeans owned most of the wealth-producing assets in the colonial economy. The indigenous Ihere, imported labour] populations were allowed to engage in small-scale peasant farming on the fringes of large white-owned plantations but mainly relegated to providing cheap labour for the white settlers in the expanding corporate economy. Where this posed problems, intermediary racial groups (Chinese, Indians, etc. ) were brought in to fill the gaps in labour supply. As export staples increased the wealth base of the colonial economy and as some diversification into minerals, tourism and manufacturing increased that wealth base further, commerce and services expanded. This opened up opportunities for small-scale capital and smaller entrepreneurial firms to operate alongside the large white-controlled corporations. (Thompson: p 244). In Jamaica, this intermediate minority group comprised immigrant white ethnics like the Lebanese and Jews (who joined a much older community of Jamaican Jews dating back to the period of colonization and settlement) and the Chinese, whose upper and middle echelons, occupying a shopkeeper niche, secured for the group the real and/or symbolic function of social whites. A racially mixed brown middle class also formed a component of this minority, intermediary ethnic group. The traditional white planter class was displaced both by foreign corporate capital, whose interests were concentrated on sugar, and later bauxite and tourism, and the intermediary ethnic groups with whom they eventually merged. The latter groups formed a domestic merchant and manufacturing sector alongside the transnational enclaves. A black rural middle class emerged on the basis of medium-sized holdings concentrating on export crops such as bananas, pimento, coffee and citrus. They comprised a tiny minority of the rural population, however, most of whom occupied a range between full-time peasants and full-time proletarians. The race related dualism of Caribbean economy was classically exhibited in the division between the (TNC or Jamaica-white-owned) plantation and (black) peasant economies of rural Jamaica. In 1938, this division was reflected in a tenure system which concentrated over fifty per cent of agricultural land into some 800 holdings and left nearly 100,000 poor peasants and their families with twelve per cent of the land* (Post, 1981: 2-3). In addition, the black peasant economy was itself internally stratified, partly along the lines of the division between export production and domestic food crop production, which was itself related to size of holding. In addition, there were roughly 80,000 households at the lower margins of the peasantry with an average of a quarter of an acre each. .A significant bureaucratic and professional black middle class emerged, but Blacks failed to challenge the entrenched economic positions of the intermediary-ethnic elites. In the meantime, economic frustration and disfranchisement led large numbers of peasant and working class Blacks to participate in a massive outward migration to Britain and a large-scale exodus from rural to urban areas, which translated rural poverty into urban ghettoes and urban poverty (ibid. : 252). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, many ethnic elites from the BWI began migrating abroad. This created unanticipated and unexpected new openings for black entry into the entrepreneurial class and facilitated large-scale entry of Blacks into the middle and upper levels of private sector management (ibid: 254). Blacks became well established within the corporate managerial elite and gained a foothold in many sectors of the economy manufacturing, construction, business services, tourism, commerce and agriculture alongside the still dominant minority ethnic groups. Their enterprises tended to be smaller, but a few were large. Other developments were the growth of import-trade higglering, which represented an expansion and in some cases a very lucrative enhancement of a traditional female working class role. The big corporate sector enterprises in insurance, banking, distribution, manufacturing, hotels and services remained under the predominant ownership of the economically dominant minority Jews, Whites, Lebanese and Browns. Indeed, migration of some of the less important families appears to have facilitated a consolidation and expansion of corporate ownership among the biggest capitalist families.

The implementation of strategic change at Microsoft Canada

The implementation of strategic change at Microsoft Canada The Organization Development literature has directed appreciable attention at in being able to lead and manage change. The major portion of the material is highly normative, advising managers about how they should be planning and implements organizational changes. For example, one study suggested that successful managers in ceaselessly changing organizations should first; provide clear responsibility and priorities with extensive communication and freedom to improvise. Second, explore the future by experimenting with a wide variety of low cost probes; and thirdly, link current projects to the future with predictable intervals and choreographed transition procedures. Traditionally the main focus of change management is on identifying sources that resist change and offers ways to overcome them. Most of the recent contributions have been challenging the focus on resistance and have shifted the aimed at creating vision along with gaining political support for them, and managing the trans ition of the organization toward them. The various ways in which managing change can be classified are in figure below. MOTIVATING CHANGE Creating Readiness for Change Overcoming Resistance to Change CREATING A VISION Describing the Core Ideology Constructing the Envisioned Future EFFECTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPING POLITICAL SUPPORT Assessing Change Agent Power Identifying Key Stakeholders Influencing Stakeholders MANAGING THE TRANSITION Activity Planning Commitment Planning Management Structures SUSTAINING MOMENTUM Providing resources for Change Building a Support System for Change Agents Developing New Competencies and Skills Reinforcing New Behaviors Staying the Course The above mentioned activities contribute a lot to effective change management and have been listed in the order in which they usually are performed. The first amongst the activities involves motivating change and also includes creating a readiness for change amongst the members of the organization and which indeed helps them to address resistance to change. Initially motivation is a critical issue for change process because a lot of evidence indicates that people as well as the organizations want to preserve the status quo and are willing to change only when there are strong powerful reasons to do so. The next activity is considered with creating a vision and is closely alignment with leadership activities. The vision has the sole purpose of providing a purpose and lay out for change and it describes the desired future state of the organization. The next activity involves the task of developing political support for the change. Organizations of all kinds are composed of powerful ind ividuals as well as groups that can either block or promote change, and it is the task of the leaders and the change agents to gain the support and permission of the higher authorities in order to implement changes. The fourth activity is concerned with managing movement from the current state to the desired level in the organization. It involves designing a plan for managing the change activities as well as planning particular management structures for working of the organization during this transition. The next and the final activity involve sustaining the flow or momentum for change so that it is being able to be carried to completion. The final activity includes task such as providing resources for implementing the changes, building a support system for change agents, developing new competencies and skills needed to implement the changes. Unless man-to-man are motivated and bound up to change, unfreezing the status quo will be very difficult. Without vision, chances are there th at change will be disorganized and diffused. Along with the fast moving pace of global, economic, and technological development change becomes an inevitable feature of the life of the organizational. But change that happens to an organization externally by the environment is quite different from the change that is planned and incorporated by the members of the organization. The main motive of Organizational development is to bring in changes in the organization in a planned manner so as to be able to increase its effectiveness and this organizational change is usually initiated and implemented by managers, with the help of professional OD practitioners. Conceptions of planned change have tended to focus on how change can be implemented in organizations. In order to implement change in any organization, certain frameworks are used as models that describe the activities that must take place to initiate and carry out successful organizational change. Let us now discuss change that Microsoft Canada tried to implement in its organization by implementing Strategic Change. MANAGING STRATEGIC CHANGE AT MICROSOFT CANADA Microsoft Canada is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation responsible for the service, marketing and the sales of the full range of software products, including the Windows operating system, the office productivity suite, a variety of Net products, and the Xbox game console. The organization marketed to a variety of segments, such as software application developers, small and medium business and large enterprises, through a broad range of partners that worked directly with the client organizations to install and optimize the software used. A small service organization provided consulting support to clients with the partner. Before 2001, Microsoft Canada had been part of North American subsidiary. Under this structure, large US market was clearly the focus of attention from Microsoft server, desktop, other software products. However, Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada, argued that the Canadian market was different and under developed. It had a different mix of customers that did a United States, different competitors and different growth opportunities. Moreover, software sales and personnel computers shipments as a percentage of markets size and growth were below worldwide averages. These differences, Clegg argued warranted a specialized strategy. As the fiscal year ended Clegg and his newly appointed Director of Strategic Planning, Sandra Palmero, wanted to cease the opportunity to define a uniquely Canadian strategy. Before becoming Director of Strategic Planning, Palmero had been Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications in Microsoft Canada. There with Richard Reynolds, her Senior Marketing Manager, they had planned and implemented a participative process of strategic planning. Sandra conducted the OD practitioner who had worked with them and contracted to design and implement a Strategic planning process for the Canadian organization. Over a 2 month period, Sandra conceived of a series of workshops involving the Canadian leadership team. This team represented a broad cross section of the organization including representatives from legal staffs, human resources, service business and Microsoft consultant, marketing managers, customer support and managers responsible for different segments of Microsoft business inclu ding enterprise customer, small and medium business, the Microsoft Network and the Xbox. The strategic analysis phase consisted of preliminary work by several members of the Canadian leadership team as well as initial exercises during the first workshop. Member of Canadian Leadership team each prepared an analysis of their respected areas of responsibilities. For example, the enterprise sales manager provided historical growth rates in the revenue, developed forecast for market growths and Microsofts share, described current levels of Customer satisfaction and technology road map of products being developed by the Redmond headquarters organization. In addition to this specific analysis, Sandra contracted with a market research firm to provide overall description of Canadian information technology market. Finally a competitor analysis was performed to develop and understanding of likely strategies, goals, and initiatives from key competitors such as IBM, Sun Micro System, and Oracle as well as competitive threat posed by the Linux Operating System Software. During first workshop the Canadian Leadership team used the pre work data to perform an environmental scan. They discussed, debated, and ultimately came to some agreements about the trends affecting the organization. Based on that scan, the group engaged in a vision and value formation exercise and set out an initial list of short and long term goals. These activities let to several important decisions for new marketing organizations. For example, the vision and values exercised produced important insight about what the Canadian organization stood for, its uniqueness compared to the marketing subsidiaries within the Microsoft Organization, and its strengths in competing as a Canadian organization. The values also informed discussion about future goals and strategy to achieve them. Importantly, the Canadian leadership realized that customer loyalty would and should become a driving force for the organization. This realization led to passionate discussions about the relative emphasis i n the organization on revenues versus customer satisfaction and loyalty. It also led to development of Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) that the members of the Canadian Leadership Team believed would be challenging but achievable. The first workshop ended with a number of assignments, unresolved issues, and excitement about the future. In between the first and second workshops, members of the Canadian Leadership Team worked with their own organizations. Issues, decisions and questions that were addressed within the Canadian Leadership Team were discussed throughout the organization. The most important discussion concerned the Big Hairy Audacious Goal and the relative emphasis of revenues and customer loyalty over the short and long term. A consensus began to emerge that the right and proper strategy for Microsoft was to argue for a slower growth rate in revenues the short term, invest in customer satisfaction and then leverage that loyalty for a more secure stream of revenues in the future. Frank Clegg took this idea to the executives in Redmond and discussed the implications of this strategy, including revenue projections, risk involved, the budget implications, and how the strategy aligned with corporate and other marketing organizations initiatives. The result of these conversations became the subject of opening discussions at second workshop. The cautions but positive support from the corporate organization allowed the Canadian leadership team to move forward on its strategic intent. In second workshop, the organizations mission and values were finalized; year by year revenue goals were agreed upon to achieve the Big Hairy Audacious Goal, and these goals were broken down and assigned to specific groups and managers. Finally, key customer and partner loyalty programs were established and outlined. Ownership for different initiatives was assigned and a strategic change plan originated. Frank Clegg pressed the group on its decision to emphasize customer loyalty and challenged the group with several scenarios that tempted them to trade off satisfaction for revenue. These scenarios helped fix the Canadian leadership teams commitment to their strategy. The important part of the strategic change plan that came out was a discussion and decision to tie the individual performance appraisals of Canadian leadership team as a whole also staked their end of fiscal year bonuses to the achievement of customer satisfaction, instead of revenue goals. The strategic change efforts at Microsoft Canada are important for few reasons. First, the Canadian organizations realization of the benefits of customer satisfaction and loyalty was influential in moving the larger Microsoft Corporation to examine its values in this area. Business Week reported on the changes Steve Ballmer was making in the organization; they reflected the increased importance of customer loyalty in Microsofts strategy and structure changes. Second, the organization learned how to organize a strategic planning effort. In the second year since this effort began, Sandra Palmero did built a stronger strategic planning organization and taken more and more responsibility for driving the strategic planning process. Even as the corporate Microsoft organization was making important changes in its reporting structure, business process, financial systems, the Canadian organization was able to adapt using its own resources and knowledge. Finally, the Big Hairy Audacious Goal h as become an institutionalized part of the organization that drives thinking and decision making in the organization. In context with the case in hand we are suppose to work on a few task related to the case in hand. Firstly, let us discuss the history of the organization in hand, which is Microsoft Canada. Microsoft Canada Inc. was established in 1985. It is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. the worldwide leader in services, software and solutions that help inhabit and small business realize their full potential. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. It has its headquarters in Mississauga and has nine regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software- anytime, anywhere and on any devise. Secondly, let us now discuss the circumstances that led the organization to undergo strategic change. Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada, argued that the Canadian market was different and under developed and it had a different mix of customers. Thus it demanded for different co mpetitors and different growth opportunities. Another circumstance was that the percentage of markets size and growth of software sales and personnel computers shipments were below worldwide averages. These circumstances demanded a specialized strategy. Thirdly, the type of change that was implemented in the Microsoft Canada was basically strategically. The change has been incorporated in such a way that every aspect of the organization starting from legal staffs, human resources, service business and Microsoft consultant, marketing managers, customer support and managers responsible for different segments of Microsoft business including enterprise customer, small and medium business, the Microsoft Network and the Xbox were taken into consideration. The senior members of the organization have tried its best to formulate and design the strategically change in such a manner that it helps Microsoft Canada to increase its percentage market share and gain better growth. Fourthly, in orde r to incorporate the strategically change into the organization the involvement of every member of the organization is very necessary. The strategically change was initiated by Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada and Sandra Palmero, Director of Strategic Planning. Sandra Palmero along with Richard Reynolds, her Senior Marketing Manager, had crafted and implemented a participative process of strategic planning. Sandra conducted the OD practitioner who had worked with them and contracted to design and implement a Strategic planning process for the Canadian organization. Fifthly, the methods used in implementing the strategically change were basically workshops, assignments and discussions of issues related to work. Canadian Leadership Team was formed by members of various departments of the organization that were focused on developing and implementing strategically change in the Microsoft Canada Organization. During the first workshop the Canadian Leadership team used the pre w ork data to perform an environmental scan. They discussed, debated, and ultimately came to some agreements about the trends affecting the organization. Based on that scan, the group engaged in a vision and value formation exercise and set out an initial list of short and long term goals. These activities let to several important decisions for new marketing organizations. The Canadian leadership realized that customer loyalty would and should become a driving force for the organization. A consensus began to emerge that the right and proper strategy for Microsoft was to argue for a slower growth rate in revenues the short term, invest in customer satisfaction and then leverage that loyalty for a more secure stream of revenues in the future. In second workshop, the organizations mission and values were finalized; year by year revenue goals were agreed upon and these goals were broken down and assigned to specific groups and managers. The important part of the strategic change plan that emerged was a discussion and decision to tie the individual performance appraisals of Canadian leadership team as a whole also staked their end of fiscal year bonuses to the achievement of customer satisfaction, rather than revenue goals. Steve Ballmer increased the importance of customer loyalty in Microsofts strategy and structural changes and also the organization learned how to organize a strategic planning effort. Microsoft organization has made important changes in its reporting structure, business process, financial systems; the Canadian organization was able to adapt using its own resources and knowledge. Big Hairy Audacious Goal has become an institutionalized part of the organization that drives thinking and decision making in the organization. Finally, the main changes that have been seen in the performance level of the employees getting better along with rise in the percentage of market share which led to its growth both internal as well as external. Also, the Canadian Leadership Team and the Big Hairy Audacious Goal was permanently incorporated in the structure of the organization. (b) Strengths of Bureaucratic organizations are as follows: Higher level of consistency is maintained in decisions and implementation of projects. The control exerted by the head quarters or top level management ensures that the systems and delivery of services to the beneficiaries are in line with the laid down procedures. The major and important final decisions made by top management, considering various perspectives of organization. In this aspect the powers and interests of various stakeholders also taken care in delivering the final outcome. Another benefit is better cost control and management. Weaknesses of Bureaucratic organizations are as follows, The higher level of bureaucracy leads to lack of innovation and development in the organization, which leads to loss of competitive advantage in certain circumstances. Another disadvantage is that higher the structure and communication ladder impedes the speed of communication and decision making, and speed of response in emergency situations. The motivation of employees drops because of the lower level of delegation of duties and responsibilities and lower empowerment.. What must be realized is only that the strait jacket of bureaucratic organization paralyzes the individuals initiative, while within the capitalist market society an innovator still has a chance to succeed. (c) Managing change is an inevitable part of Organizational Development. Organization Development is about how people and organizations function and how to get them to function better. The field is based on knowledge from behavioral science disciplines such as psychology, social psychology, sociology, organizational behavior, organization theory and management. OD programs are long-term, planned, sustained efforts. Various definitions of OD are: Organization development refers to a long-range effort to improve an organizations problem solving capabilities and its ability to cope with changes in its external environment with the help of external or internal behavioral-scientist consultants, or change agents, as they are sometimes called. (Wendell French) Organization development is a system-wide process of data collection, diagnosis, action planning, intervention, and evaluation aimed at (1) enhancing congruence among organizational structure, process, strategy, people, and culture; (2) developing new and creative organizational solutions; and (3) develop the organizations self renewing capacity. It occurs through the collaboration of organizational members working with a change agent using behavioral science theory, research, and technology.(Michael Beer) Thus, Organization development is a system based and wide application that transfers behavioral science knowledge to the planned improvement, and reinforcement of the process that lead to effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. All OD programs have three basic components: diagnosis, action and program management. The symptomatic component represents a uninterrupted collection of data about the total system, its subunits, its processes, and its culture. The action component consists of all the activities and interventions designed to improve the organizations functioning. The program management component encompasses all activities designed to ensure success of the program. The process of Organizational Development is quite complicated and the completion of the change process consumes a lot of time with a minimum of one year and sometimes keeps indefinitely. There are different approaches to the process but the usual process consists of seven steps, which are initial diagnosis, data collection, data feedback and confrontation, action planning and problem solving, team building, inter group development and evaluation and follow up. organizational development process The following steps are vital steps taken into consideration while implementing any alternative forms of organizational development: Communications patterns, styles and flows. Goal setting. Decision making, problem solving, and action planning. Conflict resolution and management. Managing interface relations. Superior- subordinate relations. Technological and engineering systems. Strategic management and long-range planning. Vision/ Mission formulation. Organizational learning. Task 2 (a) The key stakeholders in Microsoft Canada can be people from any of the departments and levels of the organizations. But in general, the following people are the stakeholders of Microsoft Canada: Financial analysts Business analysts Forecasting or sales individual contributors Controller IT specialists and administrators. Legal staffs Human resources Service business and Microsoft consultant Marketing managers Customer support Managers responsible for different segments of Microsoft business including enterprise customer. Etc. (b) As discussed already it has been seen that the above cited stakeholders are the main members of the Canadian Leadership Team and plays a very significant role in the successful formation and implementation of Strategically Change in Microsoft Canada. The stakeholders, most of whom are also the members of the Canadian Leadership Team have played important role in the workshops, assignments, and discussions that was basically done to decide upon implementing new strategically changes required by Microsoft Canada to achieve its long term and short term goals. Also in the beginning of this report we have discussed three different models that are usually used in any organization as models for implementing and managing change, which are, Lewins Planned Change Model, Action Research Model and Positive model. After going through the entire case in hand it is seen that the Action Research Model best suits the procedure in which implementation of strategical change was carried out in Microsoft Canada. As the Action Research Model of change suggests, Microsoft Canada firstly, identified the problem that the organization was facing and having done that it was discussed upon by the experts of the organization and data was gathered from various sources to analyze the problem in order to be able to provide with the best possible solution. Finally, The Canadian Leadership Team acted as the Action team that helped to implement the solutions and bring in the Change in Microsoft Canada. Thus, the above report is a good example of implementing and managin g change in an organization. Task 3 (a) UnfreezingLewins Planned Change Model Refreezing Movement Action Research Model Data Gathering after Action Action Joint Action Planning Joint Diagnosis of Problem Feedback to Key Client or Group Data Gathering and Preliminary Diagnosis Consultation with Behavioral Science Expert Problem Identification Positive Model Design and Deliver ways to create the Future Envision a Preferred Future Discover Themes Inquire into Best Practices Initiate the Inquiry There are various types of change that an organization may implement. (b) It is often remarked that the only constant thing in the world is Change and having said that in todays so fast moving world and economy, every organization needs to implement change in its working structure and structure to be able to cope up with the changing environment. Today, organizations basically go for a change in order to be up to date with the current world and also are able to cope up with the increasing competition. Change suiting to the organization helps the organization to attain better brand name and a increased market share. Also change in the structure and working environment usually helps the organization to provide its employees to be happy and satisfied working in the organization and give maximum effective result to the output of the organization. Thus there may be a number of reasons that might have led to any organizations decision to implement change in the organization. In case of Microsoft Canada, Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada, argued that the Canadian market was different and under-developed and it had a different mix of customers. Thus it demanded for different competitors and different growth opportunities. Another circumstance was that the percentage of markets size and growth of software sales and personnel computers shipments were below worldwide averages. These circumstances demanded a specialized strategy. Thus this was the major reason that led Microsoft Canada to decide to implement Strategic Change in the organization.

How MTV Maintains Its Dominance Essay -- essays papers

How MTV Maintains Its Dominance Music Television, a basic cable service known by its acronym MTV, remains the dominant music video outlet utilizing effective marketing and competitive business practices throughout its nineteen year history. The creation of the "I Want My MTV" marketing campaign and use of the campaign throughout the 1980's helped the cable outlet secure a substantial subscriber base. MTV dealt with competition from cable mogul Ted Turner's Cable Music Channel by creating a fighting brand, sister cable service VH-1, along with facing challenges by numerous other music video programming services. Through exclusivity agreements with record labels for music videos and limiting access to cable systems owned by MTV's parent company, MTV exercised anticompetitive and monopolistic means to fend off competition. From its launch, MTV successfully applied these marketing and competitive business practices. The board of the Warner - AMEX Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), a partnership between Warner Communications and American Express, gave approval in mid-January 1981 for the creation of a cable service that would broadcast music videos . Music videos, song length visual depictions used in the promotion of a musical act's latest release, were already popular on European television since the mid 1970s. A deadline of August 1, 1981 was set for the launch of this new cable service as programs featuring music videos were beginning to appear on cable outlets such as Home Box Office and USA Network. The set-up and programming of the entire operation was to be established in approximately six-and-a-half months. Bob Pittman, a WASEC programming executive with a background in radio, wanted to ensure the new music video outlet delivered programming that appealed to its target audience of twelve to thirty-four-year-olds. This age demographic was both desirable and difficult for advertisers to reach as young adults typically did not watch much of what television offered at the time. He determined that, with little exception, the cable service would have no distinguishable programs. Video upon video would be presented by on-air personalities dubbed video jockeys, veejays for short, who would also provide entertainment news and conduct artist interviews. The absence of scheduled programming was, as stated by Tom McGrath in MTV: The Maki... ..., Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. (Pennsylvania: Running, 1996), p. 47. Ibid., p. 53. Ibid., p. 47. Ibid., p. 48. Ibid., p. 48. Ibid., p. 50. Banks, Jack. Monopoly Television: MTV's Quest to Control the Music. (Colorado: Westview, 1996), p. 34. McGrath, Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. (Pennsylvania: Running, 1996), p. 62-63. Ibid., p. 80. Ibid., p. 80. Ibid., p. 81. Ibid., p. 81. Ibid., p88. Ibid., p. 88-89. Ibid., p. 89. Ibid., p. 124. Ibid., p. 124. Ibid., p. 125. Ibid., p. 125, 129. Ibid., p. 129. "Ted Turner Turns off the Music." The Economist. 8 December 1984: 77. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Denisoff, R. Serge. Inside MTV. (New Jersey: Transaction, 1988), p. 155. Ibid., p. 155. Ibid., p. 155. Ibid., p. 156. Bibliography: Banks, Jack. Monopoly Television: MTV's Quest to Control the Music. Colorado: Westview, 1996. Denisoff, R. Serge. Inside MTV. New Jersey: Transaction, 1988. McGrath, Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. Pennsylvania: Running, 1996. "Ted Turner Turns off the Music." The Economist. 8 December 1984: 77. How MTV Maintains Its Dominance Essay -- essays papers How MTV Maintains Its Dominance Music Television, a basic cable service known by its acronym MTV, remains the dominant music video outlet utilizing effective marketing and competitive business practices throughout its nineteen year history. The creation of the "I Want My MTV" marketing campaign and use of the campaign throughout the 1980's helped the cable outlet secure a substantial subscriber base. MTV dealt with competition from cable mogul Ted Turner's Cable Music Channel by creating a fighting brand, sister cable service VH-1, along with facing challenges by numerous other music video programming services. Through exclusivity agreements with record labels for music videos and limiting access to cable systems owned by MTV's parent company, MTV exercised anticompetitive and monopolistic means to fend off competition. From its launch, MTV successfully applied these marketing and competitive business practices. The board of the Warner - AMEX Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC), a partnership between Warner Communications and American Express, gave approval in mid-January 1981 for the creation of a cable service that would broadcast music videos . Music videos, song length visual depictions used in the promotion of a musical act's latest release, were already popular on European television since the mid 1970s. A deadline of August 1, 1981 was set for the launch of this new cable service as programs featuring music videos were beginning to appear on cable outlets such as Home Box Office and USA Network. The set-up and programming of the entire operation was to be established in approximately six-and-a-half months. Bob Pittman, a WASEC programming executive with a background in radio, wanted to ensure the new music video outlet delivered programming that appealed to its target audience of twelve to thirty-four-year-olds. This age demographic was both desirable and difficult for advertisers to reach as young adults typically did not watch much of what television offered at the time. He determined that, with little exception, the cable service would have no distinguishable programs. Video upon video would be presented by on-air personalities dubbed video jockeys, veejays for short, who would also provide entertainment news and conduct artist interviews. The absence of scheduled programming was, as stated by Tom McGrath in MTV: The Maki... ..., Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. (Pennsylvania: Running, 1996), p. 47. Ibid., p. 53. Ibid., p. 47. Ibid., p. 48. Ibid., p. 48. Ibid., p. 50. Banks, Jack. Monopoly Television: MTV's Quest to Control the Music. (Colorado: Westview, 1996), p. 34. McGrath, Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. (Pennsylvania: Running, 1996), p. 62-63. Ibid., p. 80. Ibid., p. 80. Ibid., p. 81. Ibid., p. 81. Ibid., p88. Ibid., p. 88-89. Ibid., p. 89. Ibid., p. 124. Ibid., p. 124. Ibid., p. 125. Ibid., p. 125, 129. Ibid., p. 129. "Ted Turner Turns off the Music." The Economist. 8 December 1984: 77. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Denisoff, R. Serge. Inside MTV. (New Jersey: Transaction, 1988), p. 155. Ibid., p. 155. Ibid., p. 155. Ibid., p. 156. Bibliography: Banks, Jack. Monopoly Television: MTV's Quest to Control the Music. Colorado: Westview, 1996. Denisoff, R. Serge. Inside MTV. New Jersey: Transaction, 1988. McGrath, Tom. MTV: The Making of a Revolution. Pennsylvania: Running, 1996. "Ted Turner Turns off the Music." The Economist. 8 December 1984: 77.

Things Fall Apart Essay -- essays research papers

Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. New York, New York Copyright 1959 Author Biography Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, or Chinua Achebe, was born November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, Nigeria. His parents were Janet N. Achebe, and Isaiah Okafo, a teacher in a missionary school. Mr. Achebe was educated at the University College of Ibadan, but also attended Government College in 1944. He wrote his first novel, Things Fall Apart, in 1958. During the Biafran War, he was in the Biafran government service. After the war, Mr. Achebe taught at several universities, both in Nigeria and in the United States. In 1967 he cofounded a publishing company with a fellow author, Christopher Okigbo. Mr. Achebe’s later works include No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, and Anthills of the Savannah. A serious car accident left Mr. Achebe paralyzed from the waist down in 1990. The majority of his novels deal with Africans struggle to free themselves from European colonial and political influences, due to his experiences in the Biafran War and the Nigerian Civil War. Main Characters Okonkwo- Okonkwo is the main character in the novel. He is a distinguished man in the clan, and has been since a young age, when he established himself as a skilled wrestler. He had a very lazy father, and this was a source of much embarrassment to him, so to overcome this, he is an overbearing husband, and father. He feels that he always has to prove that he is different than his father, which is eventually his downfall. Unoka- Unoka is Okonkwo’s father. He was a very lazy man and always an embarrassment to his family, especially his son. He is the reason that Okonkwo is so scared of failing. Nwoye- Nwoye is Okonkwo’s son, and he is lazy and complacent, like his grandfather. Okonkwo’s way of changing this is to be especially hard on him, which drives him further away, eventually to join the missionaries. Ezinma- Ezinma is Okonkwo’s daughter, and he is proud of her, even though he won’t show this because he thinks that it is a weakness. She is smart and pretty. Okonkwo wishes that she were a boy so that he could pass on his knowledge and fortune to her. Mr. Brown- Mr. Brown is the first missionary to arrive in Umuofia. He is nice enough to the clan, so they decide to let him stay, but soon enough he brings others, both from the clan and from outside, into the c... ...alk to you.† This is an important excerpt from the book because it shows how the natives tried to negotiate with the white men peacefully. All they wanted was for the clan to return to the way it was before the white men came, and they even agreed to let the white men stay and practice their religion as long as they didn’t bother anyone. But the Christians had to have everything, so there was a conflict. 5.Obierika is talking. Chapter Twenty Five Obierika, who had been gazing steadily at his friend’s dangling body, turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: â€Å" That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog†¦.† He could not say anymore. His voice trembled and choked his words. This quote is significant because it shows the falling apart of the clan as a whole. Okonkwo was a one of the strongest men in Umuofia, both in physical strength and mental determination. His taking his own life is a sign that the natives are losing the battle against the stronger white men. If he is not strong enough to endure the white men, than it is obvious that no one else in Umuofia will last much longer.

Importance Of Dream in Black Boy by Richard Wright :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author of the story â€Å"Black boy†, Richard Wright, expressed the theme, the importance of dream by making readers relate to the situation in â€Å"Black Boy†. â€Å"Black Boy† is about this little boy who writes a story and the story’s title causes this uproar because it has the word hell in it. â€Å" The Voodoo on hell’s half acre† is the title of the story. The theme is importance of dream, and this theme relates to the story because the main character had a dream. Stayed with that dream, and he didn’t let what others said about him bother him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme importance of a dream relates to â€Å"Black Boy† because the boy decided to go for his dream. His dream was to become a writer, as seen on page 431, the narrator expressed that the boy woke up one day wanting to be a writer, and he then picked up his composition book and he wrote the story. He showed a way on how go with that dream and he had also had the courage to stay with that dream.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also, The character had stayed with his dream; this is shown on pages 432-434. He had put so much time into that story that he took it to the editor himself. Once the editor got it he wanted a response immediately. That shows that he stuck with his dream, he wanted an immediate response from the editor. After that he wanted to know what was he going to do with the story. The main character had a dream, and he didn’t care what others said.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lastly, the main character in the story â€Å"Black boy† didn’t care what people said about his 3part story. He even was hurt by his own grandmother, (as seen on pages 432-

The Act of Valor

The Act of Valor Today’s society consists of a diverse human race that shares a common goal, to live life to its fullest potential. In the film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, the main character, Frodo, is set out on a quest to destroy the ring that has long acquired the presence of evil. On his quest to destroy the ring, he encounters many challenges. His challenges consists of keeping the ring safe from the evil ones who want it back, making sure the ring gets to the destination, and keeping his life safe from harm.Along his journey, he is joined by a couple of his friends, all of which he must learn to trust, in order to destroy the rings that possesses evil. They are faced with the challenges to keep safe from Saruman and his orcs, the black riders, and Sauron’s soul. Throughout his journey, his qualities of a hero show. He owns the qualities of resilience, determination, courage, trust, and heroism. Without the qualities he possesses, it would have been an impossible task to complete. Frodo faces many challenges as he tries to destroy the ring.Those who seek to retrieve the ring are out to murder him. Without the help of his friends and those who care for him, he would not have stayed alive. Through his courage and determination, he shows that he can be trusted to be the one that destroys the ring. He is equipped with many qualities that help him complete the task. His optimism brought the strength he needed to succeed. As individuals in today’s society, we face many challenges in our lives. Yes, challenges can bring us down, but it also makes us stronger.Some of us are faced with challenges such as being able to survive, fighting cancer, being the first to go to college, being able to pay for bills, etc. Nevertheless, each of us encounters challenges that help shape and develop our lives. Challenges are not meant to kill anyone, but instead they are meant for people to reach their full potential in being able to f ind the answers and strength to be able to overcome the challenges we face. Each of us is born for a reason. It is impossible to tell what out fate is, but as time goes by, we start to find out just what our mission on Earth is.Frodo possesses the qualities of a Hero Archetype. Being a determined, resilient, trustworthy, and courageous individual, he is one that pleases everybody. Frodo never quit with being able to destroy the ring. Although he faced many challenges along the way, he managed to stay strong. He witnessed Gandalf’s death, he was nearly dead, and he had to leave his home to complete the task, but despite all that he encountered along the way, he managed to be determined. There were many negative effects on Frodo, but he maintained his composure and stayed optimistic until the end.Each of us has been knocked down multiple times by school, work, or simply the stress that we all face. Being knocked down is for us to realize what we need to do to get back up. Deter mination is the key to withstanding any negative effects on life. If we have a positive outlook on life and how our future will be, we can start to be heroes of our own lives. Frodo’s goal was to destroy the ring. Facing the challenges that follows as he is on his journey may impact him. By being determined, his goal to protecting the ring from the evil is reached.In our lives, we have many goals in life that we want to reach. We make mistakes here and there, but we learn from them and grow stronger. By being determined and positive, we can make sure our goals are reached. During Frodo’s journey, his friends and individuals who help protect him from those that want to retrieve the ring from him accompany him. They guide him in his journey to find his way safely. They are there to protect him from the evil that surrounds him. During our lives, we befriend many individuals who help us with our future.These friends of ours, are people we trust, turn to when they are in ne ed, or simply to have a sense of security. Just like Fordo being accompanied by his friends, we have friends we turn to when we need them. Frodo’s task is to protect the ring from the evil black riders that want it back. As he is on his journey, he makes many decisions that help him and his friends stay alive. The critical decision making that he makes throughout the film are vital in order to keep the ring in his possession, as well as stay alive.We are faced with making decisions that are crucial to our future. Without making the best decision, we cannot be successful in our lives. Frodo’s decision making made it possible for him to succeed. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, is not just a film, but it also shows its comparison to today’s society. Frodo faces many challenges while he is set out on his quest to destroy the ring. Each of us, face challenges in our life that make it difficult for us to succeed, but by working extra hard, we can m anage to overcome any challenge.Also, Frodo makes vital decisions that help with the safety and survival of Frodo and the group of followers. We face many points in our lives that consist of valuable decision-making. Those who want to protect him, as well as his friends accompany Frodo. During our lifetime, we befriend many people who become treasures to our hearts. Being able to have people we can turn to and trust is truly amazing. The film shows many relations between reality and how the movie is portrayed. As Frodo is on his journey to destroying the ring, he shows great heroism that is noticed by many.

Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Essay

Psychology can be described as examination of ideas, intuitive feeling, and the way someone thinks and uses his or her wits be it physical, mental, or cognitive. Abnormal psychology is ideas or conduct causing the individual troubles. The deficiency may be sadness, potential fight, or simply uncomfortableness in the individuals daily life. Mental disorders or mental disease are practices not in general associated with a person. A number of these disorders can harm others or the one who is battling with the disorder. There are a number of therapies for these disorders and are different in each case. A closer look and contrast of normal and abnormal psychology is need along with mental disturbance and mental disease from a psychology position polishing off by way of a look at different therapies useful for normal and abnormal psychology. Abnormal and Normal Psychology are likewise, also the two look into behaviors, and because of individuals different cultures and beliefs some behaviors are normal. Then again oftentimes they could be different for the behavior is not really typical or something out the ordinary. To know the difference between normal and abnormal psychology helps with acknowledging mental disturbance from a psychological perspective. To help illustrate our research on abnormal psychology, this section will compare and contrast normal and abnormal psychology. Normal psychology focuses on the different ways different people see life and want to live life, rather than relying on generalizations made about whole populations of people. See more:  Mark Twain’s Humorous Satire in Running for Governor Essay These generalizations can often do harm because without proper consideration they can often imply norm of behavior inimical to a person’s existence. A normal psychology in this way doesn’t imply a perfect individual existence, nor that there aren’t any pathologies. Abnormal-is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought, which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder. The field of abnormal psychology identifies multiple causes for different conditions, employing diverse theories from the general field of psychology and elsewhere, and much still hinges on what exactly is meant by â€Å"abnormal†. Mental disorders and mental illnesses This next section will examine mental disorders and mental illnesses from the perspective of psychology. Adjustment disorders of mental disorders is related to an identifiable source of stress that causes significant emotional and behavioral symptoms. Anxiety disorders are those that are characterized by excessive and abnormal fear, worry and anxiety. In one recent survey published in the Archives of General Psychology 1, it was estimated that as many as 18% of American adults suffer from at least one anxiety disorder. Cognitive disorders are psychological disorders that involve cognitive abilities such as memory, problem solving and perception. Some anxiety disorders, mood disorders and psychotic disorders are classified as cognitive disorders. Alzheimer’s disease †¢Delirium †¢Dementia †¢Amnesia Therapies Psychotherapy is a general term that is used to describe the process of treating psychological disorders and mental distress. During this process, a trained psychotherapist helps the client tackle a specific or general problem such as a particular mental illness or a source of life stress. Depending on the approach used by the therapist, a wide range of techniques and strategies can be used. However, almost all types of psychotherapy involve developing a therapeutic relationship, communicating and creating a dialogue and working to overcome problematic thoughts or behaviors. †¢Psychoanalytic: An approach to therapy that involved delving into a patient thoughts and past experiences to seek out unconscious desires or fantasies. Cognitive-behavioral: A type of psychotherapy that involves cognitive and behavioral techniques to change negative thoughts and maladaptive behaviors. Humanistic: A form of therapy that focuses on helping people maximize their potential. Medical therapy for mental disturbance and sicknesses change between each philosophical system. The earlier style of psychotherapy were the psychodynamic therapies. Psychodynamic therapy tries to change personality practices through perceptiveness and the therapist-patient relationship (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). Inside this subdivision of therapy dwell the proficiencies of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy. These particular therapies ask the patient to lie on a sofa or sit opposite with a therapist and talk about what one thinks of, a technique known as free association. The two most adept humanistic therapies are Gestalt therapy and the client centered therapy. Gestalt therapy is somewhat like psychodynamic psychotherapy. The most commonly known technique of the therapy is the empty chair technique. Through this method the patient exercises emotional expression by visualizing that the individual him or her wants to converse with is in the chair. The second humanistic therapy is the client centered therapy. Through this technique the therapist exhibits an position of full credence for the patient by listening emphatically. Therapeutic change occurs as the patient hears his or her own thoughts or feelings reflected by the nonjudgmental listener. Conclusion There are a number of therapies for these disorders and are different in each case. Abnormal and Normal Psychology are likewise, also the two look into behaviors, and because of individuals different cultures and beliefs, some behaviors are normal. Lastly, normal and abnormal look into behavior, this behavior may be causing the individual troubles, confrontation, or simply uncomfortableness in daily life. Mental disorders including schizophrenia and Obsessive compulsive disorder can harm others or the individual battling with them. Mental illnesses comprise of perturbations of mentation, experience, and emotion cause operative disability making it very hard to nurture relationships, keep a job, and can lead to suicide. Treatment will change with regards to the form of disorder a individual has and the individuals commitment to look for assistance with a therapist. References Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2009). Psychology (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Nami ( National Alliance on Mental Illnesses, http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Mental_Illnesses/Depression/Mental_Illnesses_What_is_Depression.htm retrieved December 01, 2012. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mental-illness/ retrieved December 01, 2012. www.uidaho.edu/psych101/abnormal6.pdf. Retrieved December 02, 2012 Wood, S. E., & Wood, E. R. The World of Psychology. Boston, MA: A Pearson Education Company. Page 538 Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Essay Teresa Neal Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Paper In a world where nothing seems to be considered normal anymore, psychology tries to draw the line between what it is and what is not. The different schools of thought have their own perspective on the definition, origin, and treatment of abnormal behavior and this paper will cover a few, trying to make it possible to have a clear difference between normal and abnormal psychology. Normal and Abnormal Psychology Specifically defining behavior as normal or abnormal is a contentious issue in abnormal psychology. To try to distinguish between normal psychology and abnormal psychology, psychologists use three criteria; whatever is infrequent, maladaptive, and deviant from the cultural norm, falls under the category of abnormal behavior (Spoor, 1999). Mental health, also known as normal psychology, and mental illnesses and disorders, also known as abnormal psychology, have been defined in many ways, but should always be viewed in the context of ethnocultural factors and influence because what is considered normal in some environments may be considered abnormal in others. A person with a normal behavior and mental processes has the ability to adapt and cope with adversity, has a correct perception of reality, accepts self, avoids harm, and experiences continual psychological growth and development (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). Abnormal psychology, on the other hand, is characterized by unusual patterns that some people might show in their behavior, thought process, and expression of emotion, patterns that are associated with distress or disability and can cause harm and an unreasonable response to a particular situation. Mental Disorders Daily functions such as the ability to think, read, remember, plan, and understand rely on an individuals cognitive skills (Medalia & Revheim, 2002). Cognitive disorders are disorders of thinking or memory that signify an evident change from the personal former level of functioning. In certain situations the exact origin of the disorder can be identified, other cases the cause is unclear. Even though these disorders are biologically founded, the environment and psychological factors play significant roles in shaping the effect and extent of disabling symptoms in addition to the personal capacity to deal with them. (Nevid, et a. 2008). The most common cognitive disorders are amnestic, delirium, and dementia disorders. Amnestic disorders are a cognitive impairment relating a failure to develop new memories and the failure to remember old memories. Delirium is a severe, and reversible state of mental disorder, which involves confusion, and the lack of ability to focus on information or the surrounding environment. Individuals that suffer from delirium may suffer frightening hallucinations, particularly visual hallucinations. The loss of memory and understanding usually associated with behavior and personality changes describes dementia disorders. Different forms of dementia exist, depending on the cause; therefore; some types of dementia may be reversed with treatment. For example; those cases that are caused by brain tumors. Dementia caused by the disease Alzheimer’s cannot be reversed (Nevid, et al. 2008). On a personal note; these patients are difficult, they have to watch be continually as they can do harm to themselves and others. Mental Illnesses Although diagnoses of ADHD are based on behavioral symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity, evidence suggests that children with ADHD also show important cognitive weaknesses in areas that are necessary to daily functioning at home work and school. Particularly research studies indicate that children with ADHD often have problems in; Executive functions (for example, planning a project, keeping attentive to a task, ignoring irrelevant information) Working memory (which is often considered an executive function) speed of information processing (children with ADHD process information more slowly than their peers) Many of these cognitive processes are often interrelated. For example problems in working memory can negatively affect other executive functions, or slow processing speed may lower an individual’s ability to recall and organize information. ttp://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/15499890 From the cognitive perspective, theorists suggest that a person diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorders suffer from impaired information-processing. The impairment is present in defined categories and boundaries that are maladaptive and result in an over-structuring of input but there is no evidence to show that this is the c ause, rather than a consequence of OCD symptoms. Another cognitive theory suggests that OCD â€Å"fear structures† are especially various and a large number of stimuli can become associated with threat or danger. Passive avoidance of such a large number of stimulus associations can be extremely difficult and compulsions become necessary for the individual to feel safe. Although cognitive theories do provide insight into the outward aspect of OCD, they fail to clearly define how and why OCD and this cognitive impairment can arise. Similarities between the Schools of Thought There are quite a few similarities between the different schools of thought in treating mental disorders. All but the Psychodynamic therapies are short term usually lasting a year or less and most all therapies have the client or patient facing the therapist and are conversational. All therapies also look to help the client or patient change behaviors or thought patterns that are causing problems of one kind or another. Cognitive-Behavioral therapies help patients with behavior and cognitive problems. The therapist helps the patient focus on the problematic behavior and helps him or her find ways in which to address these behaviors and learn skills to change them. These therapies use a variety of techniques to help patients with phobias, social skills, accomplishing goals, anxiety disorders, and the like. Psychodynamic therapies both examine the patient’s thought patterns to get to the bottom of the undesired behavior or emotional responses. Humanistic therapies including Gestalt and Client-Centered therapies focus on the patient’s feelings and to experience themselves as they really are. Family, Marital, and Group therapies use group communication either one- on-one or in a group to help with problematic relationships and behaviors. Self-help groups are another type of group therapy that aims to help people either cope with undesired behavior, loss of a loved one, addictions, and disease. [ (Kowalski, 2009) ]The common thread here with most therapies, the approach is a warm relationship with the therapist who shows empathy for the patient or client and giving him or her hope or efficacy in coping with their problem[ (Kowalski, 2009) ] Differences between the Schools of Thought While each school of thought has common factors in treatment methods, each school has developed different ways of addressing psychological problem. For instance, Psychodynamic therapies rely on two principles: the role of insight and the role of the therapist-patient relationship (Kowalski & Western, 2009). It is believed that in order for therapeutic change to occur, a person must understand his or her own psychological processes. When in therapy it is one on one; the patient is either face to face with the therapist or lying on a couch with the therapist sitting behind them. Psychodynamic therapy emphasizes the notion that the patients problems stemmed from childhood. These problems follow the child into adulthood causing a conflict within new relationships. This transfer of emotion from past experiences is called transference, one of the techniques psychotherapies rely on. The two main treatments, psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy, are a long term process that focuses on developing awareness of these unconscious feelings. Psychodynamic therapy, like psychoanalysis, consists of three days a week over a long period of time. It is considered that patients who meet at least twice weekly benefit more than those who do not. Unlike psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on the person’s life as it is now; the current and conscious thought patterns and behavior. They are not concerned with exploring and altering underlying personality patterns or unconscious processes (Kowalski & Western,  2009). The focus is on the present feelings and not the childhood experiences. Cognitive-based therapies are relatively short term and direct. Specific recommendations are made to bring about change in behavior. The sessions are well structured with questioning, and the patient usually is sent home with an assignment (Mote, 2011). While most cognitive behavioral techniques try to alter behavior, such as classical conditioning, cognitive therapy focuses on changing dysfunctional cognitions (Kowalski & Western, 2009). These behaviors are automatic, and not unconscious. Therapy is a process of identifying and altering these automatic thoughts. Cognitive therapy techniques such as rational-emotional behavior therapy recognize the behaviors and works to mediate between the activating conditions and the emotional reactions. As each of the other therapies are more therapist-patient, Humanistic therapies focus on the world of the patient and qualities that make him or her unique (Mote, 2011). The therapy techniques that are used, Gestalt therapy and Roger’s client centered therapy, are primarily based on becoming aware of one’s own emotions, values, and motivations to bring about change. With group therapy, the individuals are concentrated on the individual dynamics and their reactions in the group process. Family therapy is centered on the structure of the family, and the main roots of conflict in family interaction.