Accomplishments of Dorothea Dix

Accomplishments of Dorothea Dix Dorothea Dix Nekisha Riley In this paper I have chosen the public health pioneer Dorothea Dix to discuss. Dorothea was the person responsible for devoting her time to the welfare of the mentally ill. She was also and educator and an activist for many. In this paper, I will discuss the impact that Dorothea had on public health, what she did to advance public health, and some of the obstacles that she had to overcome. Dorothea Dix also known as Dolly was born in 1802 in Hampden, Maine to Joseph and Mary Dix. Dorothea was the eldest of her two siblings (Norbury, 1999). Dorothea’s father was a Methodist preacher and an alcoholic while her mother suffered from mental illness. Her father was known to be abusive, but Joseph was known for educating his children (Parry, 2006). Dorothea’s father taught her and her two brothers how to read and write. In 1812, the Dix family took up and moved to Vermont due to the war of 1812 (Gollaher, 1993). Dorothea and her family remained as one until Dorothea felt she had had enough of her dysfunctional family. At this time, Dorothea had dealt with enough of her father’s abuse, so she decided to run away at the age of 12 to live with her grandmother in Boston. Dorothea stayed with her grandmother for a brief amount of time before moving with her aunt in Worcester, Massachusetts (Parry, 2006). After staying with her aunt for two years, Dorothea opened up her first private school to help children learn to read and write. When Dorothea realize that her school was now a success, she went back to reside with her grandmother Dix in Boston. This is when Dorothea opened her second school and added a night school for the poor, which was one of the first ones in the nation (Gollaher, 1993). After being an educator for almost four years now, Dorothea met Edward, which later became her fiancà © (Gollaher, 1993). The unrealistic thing about her new relationship was her now fiancà © was also her first cousin (Parry, 2006). It was about three months later her father died and Dorothea decided that she no longer wanted to get married. Dorothea spent the next couple of years educating as many people as she could. She was also attending conferences to educate herself. At this point, Dorothea has been working so much without getting the proper amount rest that she has fallen very ill with a severe upper respiratory ailment. It was at this time, Dorothea decided to move to Liverpool, England to stay with the Rathbone family for almost a year while recovering from her illness (Ivan, 1976). The Rathbone family took a liking to her and showed her more affection that her family had. In 1837, Dorothea returned to the United States . At this point her grandmother passed away which her mother died a couple of days afterwards (Ivan, 1976). She was still ill and did not have the strength to resume teaching yet, so she used the Dix estate and savings to support herself (Ivan, 1976). In 1841, Dorothea met a ministerial student, who was teaching Sunday class for women who were incarcerated in East Cambridge Jail (Norbury, 1999). The ministerial student became so frustrated with his efforts of trying to teach these women, that he asked Dorothea for advice. When talking to Dorothea, Dorothea realized that this could be an opportunity for her to volunteer at this jail. This was the turning point of Dorothea’s life. She started volunteering at Cambridge Jail and noticed the living conditions and how the mentally ill was mistreated (Gollaher, 1993). The jail had no heat in any of the living quarters. Those incarcerated were not segregated and all lived together including hardened criminals, feeble-minded children, and the mentally ill (Norbury, 1999). Dorothea was determined to get the prisoners some heat by going through the court system. In Massachusetts, Dorothea had her first memorial for a law that they had permitting them to hold women and men who had mental issues (Ivan, 1976). In 1848, Dorothea asked Congress to grant 12 million acres of land for the benefits of the mentally ill, blind, and deaf. She had plans to build asylums to help house people that need help and could not receive it (Parry, 2006). Congress approved the bill, but six years later President Franklin Pierce vetoed it (Gollaher, 1993). This was one of the many setbacks that Dix had, but she did not allow it to hinder her from being devoted to helping the mentally ill. After having this minor setback she spent the next decade improving hospitals in Rhode Island and New York (Ivan, 1976). She also established hospitals in thirteen other states along with District of Columbia (DC), Ontario, and Nova Scotia (Ivan, 1976). At this point, in Dorothea’s life she had become worn out from working so hard and not getting any rest. In 1854, Dorothea decided to travel to Europe and rest (Gollaher, 1993). Once she was in Europe she learned that the private hospitals for the wealthy and the public facility for the poor were very different. Dorothea traveled from 1854 to 1856 to 14 countries and instigated many changes (Parry, 2006). In 1856, Dorothea returned to the United States to resume her reform work. When she returns, the country is in an uproar from slavery issues (Gollaher, 1993). She had to remain neutral on the issue of slavery, or if she was anti-slavery the southern states would have refused to hear what she had to say and her reform for mental institution would have not taken place in the south. Five years later, the Civil War began. Dorothea volunteered her services and became the Superintendent of United States Army Nurses. Dix’s job was to organize the first aid stations, recruit nurses, obtain supplies, and help to set up training facilities and hospitals (Ivan, 1976). Although Dix did have the determination required to pursue these tasks during the war, she lacked the social skills. Dix’s lack of social skills and training caused her to have some issues with the doctors. The doctors also felt like Dix was stepping over the line for telling them about the unsanitary conditions, their drinking habits, and the treatment of the soldiers. At this point they were treating Dorothea differently and no longer wanted her to be there. Dorothea resigned from her position but remained there to help find missing soldiers, write letters to families letting them know the status of their son’s well-being, and helped soldiers with securing their pensions (Parry, 2006). After the war Dix returned to traveling around the United States and Europe helping the mentally ill, while gaining the support of the wealthy (Parry, 2006). Some of the hospitals that Dix helped established were now understaffed and overcrowded. Some people were saying that Dix no longer cared for what she had started many years ago. At this time, Dix said that the hospital needed to provide the clients with therapy and that everything would go back to normal. At this time Dix had founded 32 of 123 mental hospitals in the country (Gollaher, 1993). She has now reached the age of 80 years old and has returned to New Jersey due to her ailing health (Norbury, 1999). Dorothea later retired and moved into one of the guest rooms at one of the mental hospitals that she help establish more than three decades before. Dix remained at the hospital for about five years before she died in 1887 (Ivan, 1976). Dorothea had accomplishments that came along with some obstacles. She was able to help many have a safe place to stay and receive the proper help that they needed. Dix was a pioneer to public health and stayed true to what she believed. While Dix was never married, she was engaged to her cousin for about three months (Parry, 2006). Dorothea has many things in today’s society that remains in her memory like the Dorothea Dix hospital here in my home state of North Carolina. References Gollaher, D.L. (1993). Dorothea Dix and the English Origins of the American Asylum  Movement. Canadian Review Of American Studies, 23(3), 149. Norbury, F.B. (1999). Dorothea Dix and the Founding of Illinois’ Firat Mental Hospital. Journal  Of The Illinois State Historical Society (1998-), Ivan, P.P. (1976). Pioneers in Special Education—Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887).  Journal Of Special Education, 10(1), 2. Parry, M.S. (2006). Dorethea Dix (1802-1887). American Journal of Public Health. pp. 624-625.

The Ministers Black Veil Essays -- Literature, Hawthorne

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil," Mr. Hooper, a Reverend in the town of Milford, surprises his parishioners by donning a conspicuous black veil one Sunday. The town is visibly spooked, yet still curious, about his eerie appearance and profoundly affected by his sermon on secret sin. "A subtle power was breathed into his words. Each member of the congregation, the most innocent girl, and the man of hardened breast, felt as if the preacher had crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought" (2432). The parishioner's expect that Hooper will only don the veil for one day and then remove it, having used the visage to make his point on secret sin, but they are taken aback to find that he does not remove the veil after that sunday, but in fact, ultimately wears it until his death. The town begins to gossip about why the Parson wears the crepe, questioning his purity and straying away from his person. When the Parson's i ntended, Elizabeth, asks him to do away with his foolishness and remove the veil, he sadly refuses, and Elizabeth reluctantly leaves him. The story concludes as the Parson dies, isolated by his choice to wear the veil with only the dying and the dead taking comfort in his presence, proclaiming that on each face he sees a black veil. In "The Minister's Black Veil," Nathaniel Hawthorne seeks to showcase the flaws of a society in which its members wear and create false facades by illustrating how it separates and alienates the individual from society, peers, reality, and spirituality. In The Minister's Black Veil, Parson Hooper uses his black veil as a way to represent an individual verses their hidden sin. He sees each member of his community as havi... ...o despise the veil are warranted in their dislike, because it is unnatural, shocking, and sudden. For them to react any other way would be odd. All but Elizabeth fail to ask him to remove the veil as well as the deeper meaning behind it. Sow could they expect him to yield to demands they themselves never voiced? Perhaps if the veil bothered his parishioners so greatly, they would have become more proactive in revealing their secret sins and thus relieved the Parson of his burden. Neither side is per say 'right', but it is important to note that the Parson acted out of desire to help the parishioners while the parishioners didn't truly act at all. Works Cited Lauter, Paul, Richard Yarborough, and John Alberti. "The Minister's Black Veil." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Vol. B. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub., 2009. 2431-439. Print.

Critical Lens Essay on Archetypes

Miranda E. Remenar Per. 1 Bickmore Senior English 2/9/2012 Critical Lens Essay One might be angered that most of their child hood and lifetime stories are all based on archetypes. A simple skeleton of all tales, novels and stories alike. Until Discovering what an archetype was, you may have though that The Odyssey and Harry Potter were completely different tales, however this assumption would be wrong. Odysseus, a true hero destined by society to have the falls and triumphs of a hero, as well as â€Å"the chosen one† That was Harry.Both chosen by society, both had ambushed plans as well as successful adventures. Analyzing this story using a thought process based on archetypical example and themes, you can clearly see the naked structure of the ‘Willing Hero’ Archetype. Harry Potter, being a hero to all of society faces times in which society also hates him. Where the ministry of magic turns the entire world against a 16 year old boy. He deals with it and lives on to deal with more of the world’s problems. Odysseus has the same problem.He ventures to Troy, and whilst not many came home from such a war, he however survives†¦ No-one can claim the life of Odysseus though, because no one has seen him for seven years. When his son sets forth to seek his dad, the Gods throw him a bone and breath wind in his favor. While on the mission of coming home, little does Odysseus know that all the men of his city are set on marrying his wife. Harry Potter and his friends are just like Odysseus and his crew. Harry relies on his allies for mental support and ideas. While Odysseus relies on his crew for physical support, to get him from place to place.They are with him through thick and thin, so maybe a few of them get sacrificed to a Cyclops, but harry loses and gains a few friends here and there as well. When Harry is fighting the Dark Lord Voldemort, his allies are there for moral support, giving him advice but only he can slay Voldemort in the end. Same goes for Odysseus, while he is planning his attack on the imposters in his house when he returns from the long journey home from Troy, he finds his most loyal crew members, and friends to help him rid of the sinners occupying his hall.Both Harry and Odysseus have allies that they rely on till the very end. Without them, they probably would not have succeeded in the end. Growing up a mortal, Harry never experiences magic, until his eleventh birthday. He struggles with relying on his natural talents, just as Odysseus relies on praying to the Gods for help. When the Gods finally come through for Odysseus nobody seems to believe him. But Harry, he is the only one that can’t seem to rely on something that everyone else around him can’t live without.Odysseus finally gets his wish when the Gods answer his prayers. He begs to the sky like he had been doing his entire life, then finally, Hermes flies in, talks Calypso into releasing him and he was on his way. This sce ne seemed like an eye opener for Odysseus, probably because Hermes just flew right in, knew his name and did him a huge favor by releasing him from the wrath of Calypso. Without the God’s help, Odysseus never would have gotten released, he never would’ve been on his way home at all†¦ And he never would’ve been able to take back his hall from the hands of sinners.Odysseus’ faith in the seemingly non-existent God’s paid off in the end when he saved his wife, his city and was reunited with his adoring son, whom he had not seen nearly his entire life. Through analytical application of archetypes throughout this graphic novel, The Odyssey. Several archetypes, The Willing hero, The allies, The wise on looker, and several that have to do with the Gods strong role in this book were made clear. Some I found more distinct and more prompt than others.Understanding how archetypes make books and epic poems seem more pleasing to our minds eye is a hard idea to grasp, especially when everything that you read, watch or listen to has to do with some sort of archetype. Comparing Harry Potter, wizard in the world of magic, to a Demi-God in the world of Greek mythology and Gods was eye opening. Both alike in many ways, while the story was completely different. As well as the ideas behind both and several of the archetypes involved.

Pac-Man Video Game History and Background

Pac-Man Video Game History and Background On May 22, 1980, the Pac-Man video game was released in Japan and by October of the same year, it was released in the United States. The yellow, pie-shaped Pac-Man character, who travels around a maze trying to eat dots and avoid four mean ghosts, quickly became an icon of the 1980s. To this day, Pac-Man remains one of the most popular video games in history. Inventing Pac-Man If you ever thought that the Pac-Man character looked like some kind of food, then you and Japanese game designer Toru Iwatani think alike. Iwatani was eating pizza when he came up with the idea for the Pac-Man character. Iwatani has more recently said that the Pac-Man character is also a simplification of the  Kanji character for mouth,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹kuchi.   While a pizza with a slice out of it turned into the main character of Pac-Man, cookies became the power pellets. In the Japanese version, the pellets look like cookies, but they lost their cookie look when the game came to the U.S. Apparently, Namco, the company that made Pac-Man, was hoping to create a video game that would entice girls to play as well as boys. And everyone knows that girls like food, right? Hmmm. Anyway, a relatively nonviolent, food-based video game with cute little ghosts and a bit of humor did appeal to both genders, which quickly made Pac-Man an unquestionable success. How He Got His Name The name Pac-Man continues the eating theme of the game. In Japanese, puck-puck (sometimes said paku-paku) is a word used for munching. So, in Japan, Namco named the video game Puck-Man. After all, it was a video game about a pizza eating super-powered cookies. However, when it was time for the video game to be sold in the U.S., many were worried about the name Puck-Man, mostly because the name sounded a bit too similar to a particular four-letter word in English. Thus, Puck-Man underwent a name change and became Pac-Man when the game came to the States. Playing Pac-Man Its probably a very rare person who has never played Pac-Man. Even for those who may have missed it in the 1980s, Pac-Man has been remade on nearly every video game platform since then. Pac-Man even appeared on the front page of Google (as a playable game) on Pac-Mans 30th anniversary. However, for those few who are unfamiliar with the game, here are the basics. You, the player, control the yellow, circular Pac-Man using either keyboard arrows or a joystick. The goal is to move Pac-Man around the maze-like screen gobbling up all 240 dots before the four ghosts (sometimes called monsters) get you. The four ghosts are all different colors: Blinky (red), Inky (light blue), Pinky (pink), and Clyde (orange). Blinky was also known as Shadow because hes the fastest. The ghosts begin the game in the ghost cage in the center of the maze  and roam around the board as the game progresses. If Pac-Man collides with a ghost, he loses a life, and the game restarts. If Pac-Man eats one of the four power pellets available on each level; the ghosts all turn dark blue and Pac-Man is able to eat the ghosts. Once a ghost is gobbled up, it disappears- except for its eyes, which run back to the ghost cage. Occasionally, fruit and other objects appear on the screen. If Pac-Man gobbles those up then he earns a point bonus, with different fruit worth different values. While all this is happening, Pac-Man makes a wocka-wocka sound that is nearly as memorable as the yellow character itself. The game ends when Pac-Man has lost all (usually three) of his lives. When You Win Many people are impressed with themselves if they get to level five or six on Pac-Man. However, there are always those die-hards out there who are determined to finish the game. Despite how popular Pac-Man was in the 1980s, it actually took 19 years for the first person to ever finish Pac-Man. That amazing feat was reported to be accomplished by 33-year-old Billy Mitchell, who finished Pac-Man with a perfect game on July 3, 1999.   A Scandal in Gaming Mitchell completed all 255 levels of Pac-Man. When he reached level 256, half the screen became jumbled. This is an impossible level to complete and thus the end of the game. It took Mitchell about six hours to win the game and he did so with the highest possible score- 3,333,360 points. Mitchell went on to record record-breaking runs in Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Centipede, and became a mini-celebrity, named as Gamer of the Century, featured in Life magazine in 1982 and in the 2007 movie The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. In 2018, however, Twin Galaxies, the American organization that tracks video game records, announced their discovery that some of Mitchells record-breaking runs were not achieved on an arcade machine, but rather using emulation software, a violation of the rules. All of Mitchells titles, including his Guinness World Records, have since been stripped. Pac-Man Fever In the early 1980s, the nonviolent and goofy nature of Pac-Man made it a phenomenal attraction. In 1982 an estimated 30 million Americans spent $8 million a week playing Pac-Man, feeding quarters into machines located in arcades or bars. Its popularity among teenagers made it threatening to their parents: Pac-Man was loud and stunningly popular, and the arcades where the machines were located were noisy, congested places. Many towns in the United States passed statutes to regulate or restrict the games, just as they were allowed to regulate pinball machines and pool tables to combat gambling and other immoral behaviors. Des Plaines, Illinois, banned people under 21 from playing video games unless they were accompanied by their parents. Marshfield, Massachusetts, banned video games outright. Other cities used licensing or zoning to limit video game playing. A license to run an arcade could stipulate that it had to be at least a certain distance from a school, or it could not sell food or alcohol. Ms. Pac-Man and More The Pac-Man video game was so immensely popular that within a year there were spin-offs being created and released, some of them unauthorized. The most popular of these was Ms. Pac-Man, which first appeared in 1981 as an unauthorized version of the game. Ms. Pac-Man was created by Midway, the same company authorized to sell the original Pac-Man in the U.S. Ms. Pac-Man became so popular that Namco eventually made it an official game. Ms. Pac-Man has four different mazes with varying numbers of dots, compared to Pac-Mans only one with 240 dots; Ms. Pac-Mans maze walls, dots, and pellets come in a variety of colors; and the orange ghost is named Sue, not Clyde. A few of the other notable spin-offs were Pac-Man Plus, Professor Pac-Man, Junior Pac-Man, Pac-Land, Pac-Man World, and Pac-Pix. By the mid-1990s, Pac-Man was available on home computers, game consoles, and hand-held devices. Lunch Boxes and Other Collectibles As with anything super popular, merchandising went wild with the Pac-Man image. You could purchase Pac-Man T-shirts, mugs, stickers, a board game, plush dolls, belt buckles, puzzles, a card game, wind-up toys, wrapping paper, pajamas, lunch boxes, sheets, bumper stickers, plus so much more. In addition to buying Pac-Man merchandise, kids could satisfy their Pac-Man cravings by watching a 30-minute Pac-Man cartoon that started airing in 1982. Produced by Hanna-Barbera, the cartoon lasted for two seasons. In case you really wanted that wocka-wocka sound to stay in your head, listen again to the 1982 song by Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia called Pac-Man Fever, which made it all the way up to No. 9 on Billboards Top 100 chart. Although the decade of Pac-Man Fever might be over, Pac-Man continues to be loved and played year after year. Sources Crecente, Brian. King of Kong Star Stripped of High Scores, Banned from Competition. Variety April 12, 2018.Gallagher, Marcus, and Amanda Ryan. Learning to Play Pac-Man: An Evolutionary, Rule-Based Approach. The 2003 Congress on Evolutionary Computation, 2003. CEC 03. 2003. Print.Goroff, David B. The First Amendment Side Effects of Curing Pac-Man Fever. Columbia Law Review 84.3 (1984): 744–74. Print.Lucas, Simon. Evolving a Neural Network Location Evaluation to Play Ms. Pac-Man. IEE 2005 Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Games. Ed. Graham Kendall and Simon Lucas. Essex University, 2005. Print.Moore, Mike. Videogames: Sons of Pong. Film Comment 19.1 (1983): 34–37. Print.Rife, Katie. King of Kongs Billy Mitchell Has Been Stripped of All His High Scores, Banned From Competitive Gaming. AV News April 12, 2018.Yannakakis, Georgios N., and John Hallam. A Generic Approach for Generating Interesting Interactive Pac-Man. IEE 2005 Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Games. Ed. Graham Kendall and Simon Lucas: Essex University, 2005. Print.

Best Schools for Children with Aspergers Syndrome

Best Schools for Children with Aspergers Syndrome In recent years, more and more children have been diagnosed with autism or autistic spectrum disorders, including high-functioning autism or Aspergers Syndrome. Students who are non-verbal generally need special-education settings, but when it comes to educating those students who are high functioning yet still on the autistic spectrum, it can often be harder to find the appropriate learning environment due to their specific needs both in and out of the classroom. How Aspergers Students Learn Students with Aspergers or high-functioning autism may seem gifted in certain areas, and many of these children are quite bright. By definition, they have above-average intelligence, and they may also show talents such as a well-developed vocabulary or the ability to do math. Aspergers kids often also have an area of great interest, which may be in a restricted area, such as subway cars or certain kinds of animals. However, they may need a great deal of structure and routine, and they may react negatively to changes in schedules. They tend to have trouble making transitions, and they may need advanced warning when their schedules are going to change, as change can be a trigger that negatively impacts their abilities to cope with a situation. They may also have sensory issues that make them sensitive to loud noises or to smells or textures. Finally, many students with Aspergers have difficulty communicating about their wants and needs. Even though their vocabularies may be sophisticat ed, they may struggle with the practical aspects of language. The Accommodations Aspergers Students Need While Aspergers students are often bright, they may need accommodations or changes in their curriculum or classroom, including changes that are reflected in their Individual Education Plan, or IEP. While public schools are required to grant students with learning issues or other disabilities accommodations, private and parochial schools that do not receive public funding are not required to grant students these accommodations. However, with the proper documentation, including a professional evaluation, private schools may often grant students certain accommodations that can help these students handle the curriculum. Aspergers students may require accommodations such as speech and language therapy to improve their ability to communicate and to help them understand when to use pragmatic expressions such as how are you? They may also need occupational therapy for autism, which helps them make sense of the information coming in through their senses and integrate it. Occupational and speech and language therapists can also help students with Aspergers play better with other kids and understand how to navigate the classroom. In addition, students with Aspergers may benefit from counseling to help them process their emotions. Best Placement for Students with Aspergers Aspergers students can thrive in a range of schools, and to determine the best school you may need the assistance of an educational consultant who has experience working with students with special needs, including Aspergers. Some students may do well in a mainstream private or public school setting, with additional services such as counseling or occupational or speech and language therapy provided in school or outside of school. Other students may benefit from placement in a special education school. There are schools designed to meet the needs of students with autistic spectrum disorder; some special-education schools are for lower-functioning kids, while others are for higher-functioning kids. Placing a higher-functioning child with Aspergers requires parents to visit the school to make sure that the school can offer the right academic program. Often, special-education schools are so small that they can offer individualized instruction to meet the needs of a child with Aspergers. In other words, these types of schools can offer a student a higher-level class in an area in which he or she excels, such as math, while still providing other services the child requires, such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, counseling, and social skills training to help students improve their ability to interact with other children and teachers. With these types of services, students with Aspergers and other forms of autistic spectrum disorders can often be very successful in school.

Weekly progress report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Weekly progress report - Coursework Example This. The questionnaires also include questions based on Likert Scale. I modified questionnaires on Sunday and Monday along with reading other relevant information from the book, Research Methods for Business Students. I read chapter-7 based on data analysis on Tuesday and Wednesday for 4 hours each day to gain insights over how to analyse primary and secondary data On Wednesday, I started distributing designed questionnaires to identified participants based on snow ball sampling method. I distributed questionnaires to 25 people on Wednesday personally and 30 more questionnaires were distributed on Thursday. I also identified 45 more respondents in the week and distributed questionnaires to the remaining 45 respondents. Overall, the entire process of distributing questionnaires took 4 hours of time on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday In the upcoming week, I will be analysing data collected through 100 respondents. I have already received 50 answered questionnaires and by the end of Monday, I am expecting to receive the remaining questionnaires. Once, I receive total numbers of questionnaires, I will be analysing them critically using graphs and charts. I am also reading the secondary information that has been presented in the literature review just to identify the relationship between primary and secondary information, if any. The idea is to present data in an ethical and transparent manner to highlight the views and opinions of respondents on effective delivery of m-government in Oman. The whole activity will take 2 days of time that means findings chapter will be completed by Tuesday. In the coming week, I have also planned to complete the discussion chapter including current status of m-government in Oman, current issues and way forward. Based on the analysis of primary and secondary data, I will be writing the conclusion and recommendation part. Overall, planning is to complete discussion and conclusions and

MGM604-0802B-01 Organizational Behavior - Phase 3 Individual Project Essay

MGM604-0802B-01 Organizational Behavior - Phase 3 Individual Project - Essay Example Human Relationship Management (Armstrong, Michael 2006) is a strategic function of the management, and diagnosis reveals how and why people react under given circumstances and the ways and means of bringing about affinity in the workplace. Having decided to change to a new vision and mission statements, the organization faces the crucial stage of managing the change in terms of human resources. However, prior to taking any step in this direction, there is a need for organizational diagnosis, which has been described by Posma and Kok (1999) as being the research of the functioning of an organization. This is relevant as it highlights the holistic nature of the current status and helps in developing a model for affecting the change required. During such diagnosis, many components such as organizational structure, leadership, and motivation are examined to determine the culture of the organization. It is argued that such a diagnosis should be done for the whole organization and not just the individual components, as otherwise the larger picture will remain incomplete (Nadler & Tushman 1980). An organization can be examined from different perspectives. There are a number of diagnostic models that provide many different views, emphasizing a variety of aspects, but in the end a complete picture emerges. It is prudent to use more than one model in order that the culture and sub-culture of the organization are disclosed for the change managers to decide on which course of action should be taken to bring about the changes and to implement change plans. The most commonly used diagnostics are the PEST and SWOT analysis. They examine how the internal and external environments affect the performance of an organization. There is also a third model called the Evolutionary Cycle of Competitive Behaviour evolved by Strebel (1966). PEST stands for Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological