Persuasive Bullying Essay Example for Free

Persuasive Bullying Essay This article is a practical help for you in your persuasive bullying essay writing. In order to write a good persuasive bullying essay, you have to become determine with the fact what the bullying is and how badly it influences the people. The definition of the notion of bullying is as follows: bullying is an open aggression towards a person or towards a group of people by the other person or a group of people. There are so many kinds of bullying, however, we are going to deal with the bullying, which is taking place in the colleges and other higher educational establishments because of this problem is too sharp in this very field nowadays. In order to write a professional persuasive bullying essay you have to write it from the prism of psychology. That is why be ready to investigate and analyze a lot while your persuasive bullying essay writing. A Topic Addressing a Common Occurrence Bullying Essays Need Novel and Fresh Perspectives Have you ever been bullied? Have you ever bullied someone? Sometimes what we think as simple teasing may amount to bullying in the eyes and the minds of someone with a sensitive mind. Therefore, this is a common occurrence which has repercussions which most of us may not foresee. Writing a bullying essay, can contain the feelings you had when either being bullied or bullying someone. On the other hand, it could be about the repercussions as mental trauma undergone by the victims. There are many ways in which to write this essay. However, firstly, we need to understand what bullying is. Defining Bullying Bullying is behaviour where one individual who is usually physically bigger act obnoxiously, annoying and physically and mentally disturbing another individual. Most often bullying comes from people who are either lacking in social skills or some form of personal affliction or a complex. Bullying is most common in young children. There are many instances where a small made child is often bullied by bigger and aggressive children. But we also see adults resorting to bullying younger children or more timid individuals. Write a Bullying Essay Which Address this Social Bane The Dire Repercussions of Bullying can be addressed in a Bullying Essay Bullying is something which can occur in many places. Bullying will begin mainly in schools, beginning at the age of ten or twelve. However, it is something which many people do regardless of age as well. This extends the habit to colleges, work place and even home. Writing a bullying essay will educate you and others on the repercussions of bullying. Your essay on bullying can be handled in various ways. If you wish, you will be able to concentrate on the repercussions of being bullied, especially once itâ„ ¢s carried too far, how to stop bullying, and the reasons for bullying. Make sure that you develop a proper essay layout and plan what part of bullying you will concentrate on in your essay.

Employee Relations Analysis of UK Airline

Employee Relations Analysis of UK Airline 2.2.1 An overview of employee relations Employee relations is a term which is now frequently used but very ambiguously defined. It is usually regarded as the substitution of industrial relations. Although many professional bodies such as CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), and many of the recent textbook authors such as Blyton and Turnbull (1998), Farnham (2000), Gennard and Judge (1999), and Hollinshead et al. (2003) considered that there are still some differences between employee relations and industrial relations in context and emphasis, it seems that the term employee relations is still indistinguishable from industrial relations in their articles and books (Rose, 2008). Industrial relations issues actually turned up since the Industrial Revolution in the UK. However, it did not emerge as a recognized field of study and area of vocational practice in industry until approximately 1920, appearing first in the United States (Kaufman, 2004). In the United Kingdom, where the birthplace of industrial relations, it did not became a academic research subject until a decade later and did not get a mainstream position until after the Second World War. This disparate pattern of the term in the US and UK was caused by several factors, such as their different university systems, different management and labour market status, etc (Kaufman, 2004). Kaufman (2004) defined the post war period until the end of 1970s as the golden age of industrial relations, when the term gained rising academic visibility and enhance its influence on national labour policy. After the golden age, a cold climate period emerged, which can also be recognized as the beginning of the shift from industrial relations to employee relations. The shift was resulted in by several influences. Since the early 1980s, an obvious decline in trade union recognition arose at workplace (Salamon, 2000).Kessler and Bayliss (1998) summarized three major factors that resulted in these new departures. The first factor was the political environment of this period. During the period of the Conservative government (from 1979 to 1997), a series of steps were taken to limit the scope of trade union action, set new rules for trade union operations and enhance the role of management, because the government treated trade unions as an institutional impediment, which are harmful or at least unnecessary, to the operation of free markets (Legge, 1995). The marginalization of trade unions enhance the power of employers and gave them more flexibility to deal with employees more directly, so that they could achieve the business goals based on their own value systems without the hindrance of powerful collective bargaining from unions (Hollinshead et al., 2003). The second factor was economic changes. With the development of economic globalization, competition became fiercer in both the product market and the labour market. The decrease in manufacturing industry leaded to the high levels of unemployment. In addition, the great post war recessions were another reason, which raised unemployment dramatically. The third was change in management policies. As a result of fiercer product market competition, organizations began to realize that only hold the technology advantage is no long enough to maintain their competitive advantage. Employers sought to achieve higher level of employees productivity than the past to improve the organizational performance. In addition, non-unionism not only changed the balance of bargaining power between employees and employers, but also individualistic issue within employee relations, although this result is not the object of Conservative legislation. Besides these factors mentioned above, Hollinshead et al. (2003) additionally insisted the social-demographic factors, which refer to higher education levels, woke life balance, and the increase number of women and part timer in labour market, and technological factors, which refer to flexible working time, knowledge workers and computerisation of routine jobs. Because of those different situations, the professional party and textbook authors mentioned above tried to define the new boundary for the term employee relations so that it can be distinguished from the traditional industrial relations. Based on a series of interviews and surveys with human resource practitioners and employee relations managers, CIPD defined employee relations to be a more comprehensive employment relationship than the traditional industrial relations. As CIPD indicated, employee relations emphasizes more particularly on direct communication, managing organisational change and involving and motivating staff, while industrial relations is a narrower conception which just refer to the relationship between employers and collective employees (CIPD, 2005). However, the definition made by CIPD just reflected the perspective of employers. Gennard and Judge (1999) argued that comparing with the CIPDs perspective, the academic discussions require the plurality of perspective on issues and themes. Therefore, they defined employee relations as: a study of managing employees both as individuals and as a collective group, with the priority given to the individual as opposed to the collective relationship varying between companies depending on the values of their management. (Gennard and Judge, 1999) They emphasized the importance of acquiring employee relations knowledge and skills in unionised environments as well as non-union environment. In addition, they also treaded the relative balance of bargaining power between the buyers and sellers of labour services as one of the most important employee relations concepts. Similarly, Farnham (2000) also insisted that the essence of employee relations is paid employment or the pay work bargain between employers and employees. As Farnham, Gennard and Judge all emphasized upon individual aspects of the employment relationship more than collective aspects, Blyton and Turnbull (1999) considered that industrial relations was included in employee relations. They summarized that the particular industrial relations is only about trade unions and strikes. On the other hand, they viewed that employee relations is not only about the collective relationships, but also about the relationship between individual employees and employers. However, the collective aspects of relationship between employees and employers are still their focus point in the field. No matter how many differences these party and authors summarized between industrial relations and employee relations, there is still no significant distinction between these two terms. As Rose summarized (2008), employee relations become more mainstream than industrial relations may be just because it is considered as a more acceptable term than industrial relations as it averts the negative undermeaning associated with industrial relations. Like Edwards argued in 1995: In order to survive, industrial relations needs to change its focus to employment relations, examining not just institutions but how the employment relationship operates in practice, and exploring the outcomes for efficiency and equity. To sum up, employee relations is the outcome of changing contemporary industrial relations influenced by many external factors such as economic environment, development of technology, political steps, etc. It refers to not only the collective aspects of relations between workforce and management, but also the individual aspects of the relationship. 2.2.2 The importance of employee relations to airline industry Belobaba et al. (2009) indicate that the employee relations is particularly important in the airline industry. First of all, the fundamental reason for the significant position of employee relations in the airline industry is its service-intensive nature. Airline industry is labour intensive industry; therefore its proportion of labour costs to total costs is very high. Figure 2.1 European airline labour and fuel cost shares (%) of total operation costs: 2001 to 2008 Source: ITAT (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, 2010) Although the research made by ITAT indicates a slight decrease of labour cost from 2003 to 2008, it still in a large share of total operating costs. According to Rodrigue et al (2009), the percentage of labour cost in the operating costs of the airline industry in the world was approximately 35%, which illuminated about 75% of all non-fixed costs. Figure 2.2 Operating Expenses of the Airline Industry (2004) Source: ATA Annual Report 2005 (Rodrigue et al, 2009) Second, with the high level of union representation in this industry, employees can affect the performance level of airlines significantly. Those effects can be positive and also negative. For example, in adversarial employee relations environment, no matter achieve agreement or not in collective bargaining, it will result in higher costs and less operating flexibility (Gittell et al., 2004) for companies. If collective agreement can be achieved, higher wages should be paid for employees and companies layoff plan may be restricted to improve employment security of employees. If collective agreement cannot be achieved, additional costs might be leaved to companies through collective dispute such as strikes, go-slows, etc. On the other hand, employees also play important roles in adding values for companies. They can reduce companies unit costs through their coordinated and committed efforts and their productivity-enhancing ideas (Gittell et al., 2004). In addition, they can provide hi gh quality service to customers which can be seen as a competitive advantage in contemporary airline industry. Therefore, the status of employee relations within airlines can significantly affect their costs, their financial performance, and the achievement of their business goals. 2.2.3 New perspective of employee relations within contemporary airlines in the UK In the UK, airline industry has a tradition of adversarial employment relations (Marchington et al., 2004). Most airlines within UK accept the existence of trade unions; however, generally have bad relationships with them. Layoffs and wages cut are usually the first strategy used to improving financial performance and avoiding crisis during an economic recession (Rodrigue et al, 2009). However, reducing labour costs is not the only way to get competitive advantage and achieve better financial performance. According to Legge (1995), employee relations actually do not need to be so adversarial even in labour intensive industries. She argued that even companies choose to be more competitive on costs, they can still achieve this aim by increasing the productivity of their capital assets rather than by reducing labour costs. Similarity, Batt (2000) considered that comparing with reducing labour costs, investing in better employee relations could gain a greater return. Hence, like Gittell and Bamber (2010) summarized, although reducing labour costs are the focus of an service sector companys competitive strategy, their costs can be cut down not only by cutting wages and benefits, but also by increasing labour productivity. Management style in employee relations Different authors summarized different types of management styles in employee relations under different systematization. 2.3.1 The unitary theory and the pluralist theory Fox (1966) identified unitary perspective and pluralist perspective based on different general control and direction of labour. There are three main differences between these two perspectives: 1. Management acceptance and recognition of trade unions 2. Views about managerial prerogatives and employee participation 3. The perceived legitimacy of, and reactions to, conflict at work. (Blyton and Turnbull, 1998) Hollinshead et al (2003) indicated that unitary perspective of employee relations essentially treats employee relations as a harmonious relationship between employers and employees. The unitary perspective emphasize that there is a common goal between employees and employer. This common goal can avoid the potential source of conflict and hold employees and employer together to strive for their common objectives. Because of the harmonious relationship within a unitary employee relations environment, there is no need for a third party on behalf of either employees or employers to participate in bargaining process (Hollinshead et al, 2003). Therefore, trade unions are not necessary for both employers and employees. In other words, the labour market is depicted as a natural structure composed of an omnipotent management backed up by the state and of labour dependent on those two parties for its well-being (Gospel, 1992). However, the high level of consensus between employees and employers not always exists, even it does, it is hard to be maintained. The assumption is not reasonable in most application. Employees may accept a series of organizational objectives at the very beginning, but it is unlikely to maintain the long-term cooperation of a workforce (Hollinshead et al, 2003). The failure of the assumption reflects some weaknesses of the unitary theory that is summarized by Hollinshead et al (2003). First, it ignores the existence of differing interests between employees and employers. Second, conflict between employees and employer were considered as deviance (Palmer, 1983). The only way to deal with the conflict is dismissal or the law. Third, with more developed management techniques, many practitioners indicate that ignoring employees interests could result in more intense conflict. Although the unitary perspective can be seen as the earliest theory used to describe employee relations, it refers to many contemporary management ideas related to corporate culture and human resource management (Farnham and Pimlott, 1995). Hence, many employers nowadays still adopt this perspective as good business sense. Comparing with unitary theory, pluralist theory is a perspective that can more accurately reflect the employee relations within larger and more complex employment environment. The pluralist theory acknowledged that there is a limited level of conflicting interests between employees and employers, so that all parties within organization need to work together to achieve a consensus (Hollinshead et al, 2003). Like Trades Union Congress (TUC, the umbrella organisation of the trade union movement) described in a policy document published in 1997: The theme of this statement is partnership, a recognition that trade unions must not be seen as part of Britains problems. At the workplace social partnership means employers and trade unions working together to achieve common goals such as fairness and competitiveness; it is recognition that, although they have different constituencies; it is a recognition that although they have different interests, they can serve these best by making common cause wherever possible. (TUC, 1997) The implication of using this analysis was, unlike unitary theory, which it drew from accounts based upon a political heritage in democratic theory that portrayed decision making as a process of reconciling the different claims made by a variety of competing groups. In other words, it acknowledged the existence of a variety of competing interest groups, but in addition it accepted this variety as legitimated and normal. The existence of conflict was allowed for, and to an extent encouraged. What the theory appears to offer is an account of the nature of industrial relations which achieves greater realism by reflecting the political realities of the situation at that time. This is hardly surprising when the details of that historical period are considered, along with the level of trade union activity and the incidence of industrial disputes in evidence at that time. Conflict was very much the norm (Bassett, 1987). Once again, the theory also established based on a series of assumptions that are hardly recognized in practice. 2.3.2 The individualism and the collectivism Purcell (1987) considered that although Foxs unitary and pluralist theory had a major influence in the beginning of management style issue, the conceptions actually had a lot of limitations in practice. First, both unitary frame and pluralist frame have a number of variations. For example, both organizations those are essentially exploitive of labour and organizations those value the loyalty and commitment of employees are contained within the unitary frame, however, their management style are almost extremes. Similarly, organizations within pluralist frame also need to be sub divided through different kinds of variations. In addition, because of their mutually exclusive feature, these two perspectives seem do not useful as a framework of management style in employee relations. Third, it is often unclear in the way the terms have been used subsequently whether they related to managements beliefs and policies toward trade unions or, in addition, cover direct relations with employees. Therefore, he identified individualism and collectivism as two dimensions of management style of employee relations. Individualism dimension refers to the extent to which the firm gives credence to the feelings and sentiments of each employee and seeks to develop and encourage each employees capacity and role at work. Firms which have individualistically centred policies are thus expected to emphasize employees as a resource and be concerned with developing and nurturing each persons talents and worth. Payment systems might emphasize merit elements and make use of appraisal and assessment techniques designed to distinguish the contribution of each employee in anything from attitudes to attributes, as one firm puts it, The line managers role in managing people is likely to be emphasized, irrespective of whether the manager is in a production, sales, finance or a personnel position. Attitude surveys may well be used regularly since such organizations are keen to assess the efficacy of their policies. Communication systems are likely to be extensive and developed through a variety of media from newspapers and videos to the personal contact between the managers, the individual and small groups of employees. Collectivism is the second dimension of management style that concerns the extent to which the organization recognizes the right of employees to have a say in those aspects of management decision-making which concern them. There are a number of ways to distinguish it from the first one. One possibility is to use a test of trade union recognition for the determination of pay and conditions through collective bargaining. However, this is not of itself sufficient since in so doing we make assumptions about the nature of the relationship between the firm and the union and exclude organizations where employees participate in decision-making through non-union structures. A focus on industrial democracy might be more helpful since it would allow for a variety of methods by which managers become to a greater or lesser extent accountable for their actions to employees, and where staff have some say in decision making. The only problem is that there is no agreed definition of industrial democracy. Purcell and Grays category of management style The category developed by Purcell and Gray in 1986 is one of the most popular typologies of management style (Torrington et al, 2008). Comparing with the typologies mentioned above, it is more comprehensive. Purcell and Gray (1986) defined five types of management styles in employee relations, which are traditional style, Sophisticated human relations style, consultative style, constitutional style, and standard modern style. The traditional style considers labour as a factor of production and employee subordination is assumed to be part of the natural order of the employment relationship. Usually, trade unions are not accepted in this style. This style is mainly adopted by small owner managed companies. In addition, the product market often highly competitive, emphasis on cost control. Grunwick processing laboratories Ltd, Port of Tilbury are typical case adopting this management style. The sophisticated human relations style view employees as the companys most valuable resource. Comparing with the other companies in the same industry, this kind of company usually par employees more above average pay. The aim is to inculcate employee loyalty, commitment and dependency. Companies choose this management style seek to make it unnecessary or unattractive for staff to unionise. This style is usually adopted by large, American owned, single industry, financially successful organizations with a high market share in growth industries. IBM and Marks Spencer are typical cases adopting this management style. The consultative style is similar to the sophisticated human relations companies except that unions are recognised. An attempt is made to build constructive relationships with the trade unions and incorporate them into the organizational fabric. Emphasis is also placed on techniques designed to enhance individual employee commitment to the firm and the need to change. This style is often adopted by British or Japanese owned single industry companies that are large and economically successful, often with a high market share. Companies with relatively low labour costs often adopt this style. Esso and Cadbury Schweppes are typical cases adopting this management style. The Constitutional style have been recognised for some time and accepted as inevitable. Employee relations policies centre on the need for stability, control and the institutionalisation of conflict. Management prerogatives are defended through highly specific collective agreements. The importance of management control is emphasised with the aim of minimising or neutralising union constraints on both operational (line) and strategic (corporate) management. This style is often adopted by single industry companies with mass production or large batch production requiring a large unit size of operation. Labour costs form in these companies indicates a significant proportion of total costs. The product market conditions are often highly competitive. Ford is a typical case adopting this management style. The standard modern style refers to pragmatic employee relations and trade unions are recognised within organizations. Employee relations are viewed as the responsibility of operational management. The importance attached to employee relation policies changes in the light of circumstances. There can be marked differences of approach between establishments or divisions and between various levels of the hierarchy. This style is often adopted by conglomerate, multiproduct companies that have grown through acquisition and diversification, especially in the engineering and heavy manufacturing industries with long traditions of unionisation. General Electrical Co., and British airways are typical cases adopting this management style. 2.4 Employee involvement 2.4.1 The importance and necessity of employee involvement It is quite possible to run a successful business without involving employees in management activities to any meaningful extent, but the chances of sustained success are higher when employees are involved (Torrington et al, 2008). Objectives are more effectively and efficiently achieved if employees have some say in decision making, especially as it affects their own areas of work. Torrington and his colleagues summarized two main reasons for this phenomenon. On one hand, managers may be paid more than their staff, but that does not mean that they always know best. There is no fount of wisdom exclusive only to managers. Ultimately it is for managers to make decisions and to be held accountable, and these can be tough to make. But the chances that they will make the right decision are enhanced if they listen to the views of others and allow their own ideas to be subjected to a degree of scrutiny and constructive criticism. Moreover, involvement allows managers to tap into the ideas and suggestions of staff. The best new ideas often originate from people lower down organizational hierarchies, because they are closest to the operational coalface and often to customers. On the other hand, employees like being involved. They appreciate having their opinions listened to and acted upon, particularly in matters that directly concern their day to day activities. The chances of their being positively satisfied with their work are thus greatly improved if they are genuinely able to be involved. The knock on effects include lower staff turnover, lower levels of absence, the ability to attract more recruits and higher levels of performance. The effective management of change is especially enhanced by employee involvement because people are always happier to support what they helped to create. Types of employee involvement practices Hyman and Mason (1995) identify four categories of employee involvement: Downward communication to individual employees Downward communication to groups of employees Upward communication to individual employees Upward communication to groups of employees Downward communication from managers to employees is used to inform and educate employees so that they are more likely to endorse management initiatives and plans. Chapter three RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Introduction Based on Morse and Fields (1995) framework from the health sciences, Creswell et al (2007) summarized five main approaches used in qualitative research, which are narrative research, case study research, grounded theory, phenomenology research and participatory action research. In this dissertation, case study research methodology is used to explain how employee relations can affect the business performance of legacy airlines. background and definition Although some (Stake, 2005) stated that case study research is not a methodology but only a choice of the object of study, more experts considered it as a methodology, a comprehensive research strategy, and a type of design in qualitative research (Merrian,1998; Yin, 2003; Creswell et al, 2007). According to Yin (2003), a case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. Therefore, he (2003) indicated that the case study inquiry is mainly used to deal with the technically characteristic situation in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points, and as one result relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis. Likewise, Creswell et al (2007) summarized that case study research is: a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a bounded system (a case) or multiple bounded systems (cases) over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information (e.g., observations, interviews, audiovisual material, and documents and reports) and reports a case description and case-based themes. 3.3 Variants of case study research Qualitative case studies may be distinguished by the intent of case analysis. Three variations that exist in terms of the intent- the single instrumental case study, the collective or multiple-case study and the intrinsic case study (Creswell et al, 2007). In a single case-study the focus is on one issue or concern and a bounded case is selected to illustrate this issue (Stake, 1995). In a collective or multiple-case study, the focus is one issue but multiple cases are selected to illustrate this issue. Multiple case design uses the logic of replication as the procedures a re replicated for each case (Yin, 2003). Qualitative researchers are reluctant to generalize from one case to another as the contexts of the cases differ. However, to generalize, representative cases should be selected (Creswell et al, 2007). In an intrinsic case study, the focus is on the case itself e.g. studying a student having a difficulty (Stake, 1995). This paper examines the nature of employee relations (issue or concern) taking the example of an organization- British Airways PLC (case). Therefore it is a single instrumental case study. It explains how theories of employee relations have been applied in practice. 3.4 Case study techniques Many researchers such as Simons (1980), Yin (1984) and Stake (1995) have written about case study research and suggested techniques for conducting this research. They proposed the following steps- determine the research question, select the case and determine data gathering and analysis techniques, preparation and collection of data in the field, evaluate and analyze the data and prepare the report. I have followed these steps during my research. 3.3.1 Determining the research question To arrive at the research question a research focus has to be established along with a research object. In this research, the main focus is on managing employee relations in organizations. The research object can be a program, entity, a person or a group of person (Soy, 1997). Here, the research object is an organization (entity). In this study, I am primarily interested in determining how employee relations is dealt with in organizations. First, I have conducted a literature review that provides information on employee relations and helps to define the following questions: The employee relations status in British Airways, and How to deal with poor employee relations? 3.3.2 Select the case and determine data gathering and analysis techniques There are a number of organizations in the UK suffering from poor employee relations. One of these is the British Airways PLC (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002). British Airways is now getting bogged down in collective disputes from its employees. Foreman (1948) suggested three broad categories of data gathering techniques. First, personal documents includes all record yielding information concerning the pattern or functioning of the researchers own personal or social life. It may reflect a social situation to which the author is responsive to or his/her own behaviour (Foreman, 1948). Second, participation observation records includes all chronicles prepared by the analysts following assumption for purpose of investigation of member roles in the unit studied (Foreman, 1948). Third, person reports includes all forms written by persons not directly participating in or identified with, but seeking to organize or to interpret the experiences or history of some personal, group, class, ecological, or cultural unit (Foreman, 1948) 3.3.3 Preparation and collection of Data A case study research requires large amount of data from multiple sources. Systematic organization of data is important to prevent the researcher from becoming overwhelmed by the amount of data and to prevent the researcher from losing sight of the original research purpose and questions (Soy, 1997). Databases have to be prepared to assist with categorizing, sorting, storing, and retrieving data for analysis. It is essential to note down key problems and events, identify key people and revise the research design to address and add to the original set of res

Identify How Employees Resist To Organizational Change Management Essay

Identify How Employees Resist To Organizational Change Management Essay The purpose of this paper is to review recently published research to identify how employees resist to organizational change and which change strategies could be used in order to minimize employee resistance to organizational change. In the literature review it is discussed why employees show resistance to change. Communication and Participation are selected for discussion as significant change strategies after identifying various other change strategies that can be adopted by the organization to minimize the level of resistance. At the end of this seminar paper, the limitations of this study are discussed and recommendations are made for future researches. Keywords: Organizational Change, Change strategies, Employee Resistance, Introduction Organizations today are facing more changes than ever before (Conner, 1992, cited in Wanberg and Bans, 2000). As they strive to more competitive edge, they are reorganizing, downsizing, focusing on incremental changes and radical changes through the implementation of new technologies. The success rate of change initiatives is dependent on diverse number of obstacles. Among them the main obstacle to organizational change achievement is human resistance. Employees reactions to change are considered critical for the success of change effort (Piderit, 2000). Bovey and Hede (2001) cited numerous studies including one of 500 Australian organizations indicating resistance as the most common problem faced by management in implementing change. Despite this claim that it is difficult for the individuals to cope the change that is why they try to resist. Human resistance may be the main hurdle in the success of organizational change. Researchers and practitioners have been working on employee r esistance to organizational change from the decades. But they may be defining the phenomenon inconsistently and studying it incompletely. It has been reported that resistance is likely to occur because the change process involves moving form known to unknown (Coghlan, 1993; Steinburg, 1992; Myers and Robbins, 1991; Nadler, 1981, cited in Bovey and Hede, 2001). Each individual resist the change in a different manner, it is important to assess how individuals resist changing and why so that manager could select an appropriate way to overcome resistance (Kotter and Schlesinger 1979). Much of the organizations face difficulties with employee resistance. Successfully managing resistance is one of the major challenges faced by change initiators and is the more important aspect of change process. Different researcher proposed different change strategies that would help in successfully implementing change process and could also be helpful in minimizing employee resistance to change. Focus of this study is to identify different change strategies and to highlight those change strategies that play major role in minimizing much of the resistance by the employees. Problem Statement In support of organizational change practice, this study attempts to answer the question: Which change strategies are most helpful in minimizing employee resistance to change? .Scope of Study Much of this paper will cover how employees resist to organizational change and which change strategies are most beneficial in minimizing the employee resistance in the course of change implementation. The goal of this paper is to provide change agents and managers with the theoretical insight to employee resistance to organizational change and practical guidance in dealing and ultimately minimizing employee resistance to organizational change, based on previous research. Literature Review Resistance to Change Change is defined as a move from the present current state to some desired future state and a denial to that movement is said to be the resistance. The studies discussed under this subject suggest a comprehensive definition of employee resistance to organizational change. Resistance to change is a concept explaining why efforts to organizational change fall short of expectations and usually fail. The word Resistance is always considered a negative connotation. Organizational change often incurs two types of responses: positive or negative, supportive and resistant etc. Resistance is mainly due to the fact that key interests of employees get at risk during the change process. The key concerns of the individuals upon the announcement of the change that may affect resistance to change may include threats and benefits of change, personal capabilities to accomplish change (Dennis G. Erwin Andrew N. Garman, 2009).Dianne and Amrik (1998) explained resistance to change has been recognized a s an important factor that can influence the success or failure of organizational change effort. Resistance if not properly handled leads towards the failure of the organizational change. So resistance is defined as the negative employee attitude with counter-productive behaviors. Resistance among employees arises because of the negative feelings they have about the change and these negative feelings arise because all the information regarding change process is not properly communicated to them by the management themselves, their only source of information is either word of mouth or local newspapers. So because of these sources of information a feeling arise in them that management itself is not very clear about the change and its objectives and as a result this causes them to resist (Tony proctor Ioanna Doukakis 2003). Change Strategies Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) identified six strategies to organizational change such as Education, Participation, Facilitation, Negotiation, Manipulation, and Coercion. Education means informing and communicating the desired changes and giving reasons for them. Participation is to involve the potential resisters and even employees in designing change plan and implementing change. Facilitation is a process that includes training employees in new skills and giving them emotional support by listening to them. Negotiation is offering incentives to potential resisters. Manipulation means involving the selective use of information and conscious structuring of events. And finally coercion is basically forcing people to accept change and threatening them. Focus of this study to identify those strategies that play a major role in minimizing employee resistance to change. Out of Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) mentioned strategies, communication and participation will be the focal point here. Purpose is to study the role of these two strategies (Communication and participation) in minimizing employee resistance to change. These strategies as factors of change process influence individual attitudes and resistances toward change. Communication Different researchers defined the concept of change communication differently. For example, Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) defined communication as informing and communicating the desired changes and giving reasons for them. According to Lewis (2006), Communication about the change is dissemination of information that is the dispersal of knowledge, ideas, training, facts and respects or directives of action concerning the change. Oreg (2006) defined communication as the amount and quality of information that is provided to employees about the change. Van Dam et al. (2007) defined communication as providing information about the change is to keep employees knowledgeable of anticipated events such as specific changes that will occur, the consequences of the changes and new roles of the employees. Effective communication is the main reason for the success of organizations as it helps the managers to get employees involved in the particular task of change and thus helping them in implementing change successfully (Mary Welch Paul R. Jackson, 2007). It has been suggested that inadequate information leads to more uncertainty about specific changes because it will give rise to feelings such as how change will affect their job and organization or how to respond to that change (Milliken, 1987, cited in Wanberg Banas, 2000). It has been proposed that in order to improve employees attitude towards organizational change, information about the change helps to reduce employee anxiety and uncertainty (K.I. Miller Monge, 1985; Schweiger DeNisis, 1991, cited in Wanberg Banas, 2000). Lewis (2006) defined that communication is critical in the process of creating and articulating vision; channeling feedback between implementers, key decision makers, and key users; providing social support; forestalling and constructive use of resistance and assessing and promoting results. Study of Lewis describes how employee experience communication of change messages; the types of channels they use to communicate with implementers; and finally the qualities of implementers change communication that employees associated with the change outcomes. Employees perceive the communication about the change differently than do implementers themselves. Implementers usually have clear idea about the change process as they themselves the change agents whereas employees have lesser knowledge about the change program, formal goals and progress of the change. Participation Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) defined participation is a process to involve the potential resisters and even employees in designing change plan and implementing change. Lewis (2006) defined participation as employees cooperation during the change initiatives is the key to success to organizational changes. It has been argued that participation lead to qualitatively better strategic decision (Kim and Mauborgne, 1998, cited in Lines, 2004). Giangreco and Peccei (2005) reported that more participation of employees in change process is associated with more positive attitudes towards the change and it will minimize resistance to change. Wanberg Banas (2000) proposed that higher level of participation in the change process is related to more positive view of the change. Higher level of involvement is associated with a view that changes are beneficial. Lewis (2006) explained that Participatory structures in organization that value the input of participants and that allow them opportunities to influence decision making are more likely to succeed in reaching the desired goals. So, employees who feel that they have more participatory opportunities and the organization value their inputs are more likely to adopt the change process and are less likely to observe resistance to change. Lack of participatory involvement of employees in change process will predict more resistance to change. The more the employee input is valued and is allowed to participate in the change process, the less will be the resistance. Lines (2004) studied the influence of participation on resistance to change. Lines identified a strong relationship exists between employee perceptions of their participation in change process and reduced resistance to change. Lines defined participation as involvement of employees in the initial assessment and development of change plan. Lines suggested that participation allows more interaction between the change agents and change recipients who will help them to overcome their resistance to change. Lines concluded that use of participation will lead towards successful implementation of change. Van Dam at el (2007) reported that participation of employees in the change planning and implementation process increases the change acceptance. Participation often offers number of benefits: such as increased understanding of the circumstances that make change necessary and a sense of ownership and control over the change process increases the readiness for change. Van Dam et al. found a significant relationship between resistance to change and change strategies such as communication and participation. Dianne and Amrik (1998) reported that participation of employees in change process is the best method of handling resistance. It has been suggested that involving employees in learning, planning and implementation stages of the change process tends to increase employee commitment to change and will ultimately lowers the resistance to change (Lewin, 1991; Coch French, 1948, cited in Dianne Amrik, 1998). Employees must be given the opportunity to be involved in every aspect of change process and they must be given the opportunity to provide feedback. Involving management and employees in the change process will help to overcome many of the difficulties experience during the change process. Discussion Literature indicated a significant relationship between change strategy communication about the change, participation of employees in change process and employee resistance to change. If there is higher level of communication about the change process, there will be lesser employee resistance to change. If the employee tends to participate in the change process, there will be lesser resistance to change. After going through the above literature it is established that the communication as a change strategy helps in minimizing resistance to change. Resistance to change can be minimized by informing about the change and providing reasons for change (Kotter and Schlesinger 1979). Communicating about the change, its consequences and new roles of the employees will play a positive role in minimizing resistance to change (Van Dam at el 2008). Effective communication helps in minimizing resistance to change by involving employees in the change process and implementing it (Mary Welch Paul R. Jackson, 2007). Minimal information about the change process results in uncertainty and ambiguity. Individuals being uncertain and ambiguous about the change process will incorporate ideas that how change will affect them, their department and their organization and how to respond to change, such feelings usually give rise to resistance to change so adequate information about the change facilitates lowering the level of resistance to change (Milliken, 1987, cited in Wanberg Banas, 2000). (K.I. Miller Monge, 1985; Schweiger DeNisis, 1991, cited in Wanberg Banas, 2000) develop a connection between flow of information and acceptance level of employees in a way that sufficient level of information increase the level of acceptance among employees which in turn decreases the resistance. Lewis (2006) examined a relationship between communication of the change and employee resistance to change. Lewis found that communication of change influences the resistance to change and if the employees receive more information about the change, there will be less resistance to change. Participation of employees in the change process in one way or other assists managers to overcome the resistance. One way is the involvement of employees in the change process that has significant effect on individuals attitudes towards the change itself, which in turn directly influence their reactions to change. Individuals who are more involved in change process will have positive attitudes towards change, so they will react to it in less negative way (Giangreco and Peccei 2005). Wanberg Banass study in 2000 also supported the above mentioned findings. Lewis (2006) proposed that if employees are not allowed to participate in change process, they might feel that their opinions and suggestions are not wanted and valued. So they will actively resist change. According to Van Dam at el (2007) participation offers certain benefits to employees which minimize the level of resistance by the employees. Dianne and Amrik (1998) study reveals that the participation increases the level of commitment among employees and decreases their level of resistances towards a particular change. Limitations of Study This study is limited to reviewing previously published research involving employee resistance to change and change strategies which will help in reducing employee resistance to organizational change. Study focused on two major change strategies: communication and participation and their relationship with the employee resistance to change. Impact of these strategies (communication and participation) is studied on employee resistance to change unilaterally meaning that resistance is considered only a single dimension concept. Future Research Present study focused solely on the relationship between change strategies (communication and participation) and employee resistance to change as a one-dimensional concept. Oreg (2006) found that not enough information, as well as too much information about the change may be detrimental and can increase employees resistance. He suggested that moderate amount of information about the change would be optimal when introducing organizational change. So, future research could be done in order to identify the contexts and processes in which information can reduce the resistance instead of enhancing it. As there are other strategies of change such as Facilitation, Negotiation, Manipulation, and Coercion which also play a role in minimizing resistance to change. Facilitation will help overcome the resistance when people are fearful and anxious about the change. Negotiation helps deal with resistance when people are losing through the change and they have enough power to influence the change process. So offering them incentive will help defuse their major resistance. Manipulation is helpful in resisting change by co-optation i.e. involving an individual in design or implementation of change. It is relatively easier, quicker and cheaper solution to the problem Future research could further explore the relationship between these strategies and employee resistance to change. -à Ãƒâ€˜Ãƒâ€™ ÑÒ ÑÒà  -

Lookin at the Law :: essays research papers

Looking at the Law: Drug Courts With the Hon. Paul F. Chaiet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Drug Courts are new to the Monmouth county area but not new to the United States. The first Drug court was established in Miami, Florida in 1989. There is at least one Drug court in each of the 50 states. Camden, Essex, Passaic, Mercer and Union were the first five counties in the New Jersey to start the Drug courts in the states. The Hon. Paul Chaiet after being assistant persecutor for Monmouth County for 14 years, he was appointed the Judge of the Drug Court.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Drug team for Monmouth County consists of the Judge; Hon. Chaiet, Drug court coordinator; Noreen Carmoday, Assistant Prosecutor; Carol McConnell, Asst. Public Defender; John Brown Jr., Substance Abuse Evaluator; Adri Lieb, and Probation Officer; Sara Felle. All these people are trying help the people who have a substance abuse problem rather then just send them to jail. Not everyone is eligible for the Drug court program. They must fill out an application, they will be interview, they must want to be in the program, and must live in Monmouth county. Also no previous violence, no more than three offenses, must be a first-degree offense and no sex crimes. This program is for offenders who might have to serve jail time so this is an option rather than prison. One of the major reasons as to why they developed this program was to reduce the jail population. Since 1980 there has been a 467% increase in jail population and most of them are from drug cases. It cost $3 5,000 per prisoner in jail for one year and $17,000 per patient in treatment. So not only are they trying to reduce the jail population but trying to say the government money.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Offenders shouldn’t just go into to the program to get out jail. It’s very hard. They must serve at least 6 months in the patient part of the program. They send the offenders to inpatient houses. There are eight inpatient programs in our state. The whole program is 5-6 years long from beginning to end. Once they are out of the first part of the program, the next year is the intensive part and they are assigned to a probation officer. There is one probation officer for every 50 kids, so the probation officer can keep a closer eye on the participants.

Communism :: Communism Essays

The lure of easy women almost made me a spy and traitor to my country "Sex Lead Me To Communism" from Man to Man Vol. 2, No. 2, 1951 SEX, woman's most resistless weapon through the ages for the domination of the male, has proven one of the most successful and insidious devices in the secret arsenal of the Communists to recruit their unsavory army of spies, saboteurs and disruptionists in the grimly declared war on the United States and all decent mankind. In the relentless effort of the Kremlin to turn the whole world into faceless slaves in order that "The International Soviet shall be the human race," as their official song, The Internationale, declares, there is no honor or conscience, and promiscuity is the rule, not the exception. The only vice the Reds frown, upon is drinking! I know, because I was one of those witless persons who fell into the mantrap set by the modern Delilabs who follow the Party line. They stopped at nothing--absolutely nothing--in order to enlist their fellow Americans into the great conspiracy to subjugate, and later to liquidate, every human being who does not deify the unholy trinity of Marx, Lenin and Stalin. First came Sonia, with her full, cherry lips and her brown, limpid eyes. She was a secretary, a graduate of a woman's college and as unscrupulous a little witch as ever shook her clenched fist at a passing flag of her country or stuck a pin into a patrolman's horse. Next came Margie, a full-bosomed redhead, a new comer from England and an expert dress designer. She had made it her life work to lure men into Communism. Then Mildred, a honey blonde with a Vassar degree. She was the gay and sophisticated type on the surface, but underneath she was deadly serious about her radical beliefs. She had a cozy apartment and seemingly plenty of money. She liked to discuss the social significance of Shakespeare over cocktails and make converts to the "cause." Then Terry, Betty and several others whose names I have forgotten. And lastly, Gladys, a banker's daughter who had run away from home, landed in New York's Greenwich Village and become the most radical of all the Communist girls I met. Talk about free love! This was really something. You tired of one, and there was always another at your beck and call. No Turk could boast a more variegated harem.

A Rewiew of a Rose

Tiffany Gattis Tavel ENG 151 05 Oct 2012 A Review of a Rose â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, by William Faulkner is a riveting tale of the perils of love lost. Though the story offers up an elaborate plot, the conclusion did not fully provide closure as would be the natural expectation. Instead, the conclusion was heavily shrouded in mystery and secrecy. â€Å"Miss Emily after Dark†, by Thomas Robert Argiro, which was published in The Mississippi Quarterly, discusses the many obscurities within the story and the effects of them remaining so right up to the conclusion with relation to the reader.Laura J. Getty’s critical essay,† Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily† touches on the manner in which these obscurities evoke sensationalism among readers by leaving room for the imagination to run wild with approximation. This is what great stories are built on; allowing each reader perceptive resolution. According to Dictionary. com, the word conclusion is defined as the last main division of discourse, usually containing a summary of the main points and a statement of opinion or decisions reached. There is, by definition, a sense of finality in the word.Despite the suggested intent, not all stories provide this presumed closure. Among the many tales ending in such a manner is Faulkner’s masterfully crafted â€Å"A Rose for Emily†; a story set in a small, post World War II southern town struggling with post-war socio-economic transformations. The conclusion of this ominous tale allows the readers imagination the freedom to supplement omitted details with personally palatable concepts. Among the central yet under-developed themes were Emily’s relationships with her father, the surrounding community, and her assumed lover, Homer Barron.The relationship between Emily and her father, as described by Faulkner, leaves the reader pondering what, and exactly how much was left unsaid, and the possible implications as they relate to t he proverbial white space of the story. â€Å"The townspeople are extremely sensitive to Emily’s psychological state. â€Å"When Emily tries to keep her father’s corpse, they believed that she had to do that. We remember all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would cling to that which had robbed her, as people will†(Getty 2).Though it is not unusual for fathers to be protective of their daughters, the rapport described begins to border on what most would consider discomfited and deviant. The relationship was so constrictive that it mired her progression through crucial developmental milestones; likely contributing to the progressive emotional unrest witnessed in the years following his death. â€Å"The specter of incest opens the story up to consideration of the psychic damage that Emily may have suffered† (Argiro 2).With her only permissible companion now laid to rest, Emily seems unable, or even unwilling to master the art of normal human interaction. Her self-imposed isolation did nothing to alleviate strained relations with a town already grappling with the adaptations of a new era; the death of the south, as it had been know to its inhabitants, was underway. Though the reader is given the impression that Emily did not recognize the progressive deterioration of her already severely dilapidated living quarters, this seems highly unlikely.More plausible is the possibility that she did in fact recognize the decline, and as a result renounced the inquiries of the masses in an attempt to protect her residual stateliness. â€Å"Emily’s myth does not enliven Jefferson; instead it discloses an impoverished fantasy of a lost noblesse oblige† (Argiro 3). Throughout childhood, Emily had been psychologically inundated with the notion that she was superior to southern-born counterparts; a queen amongst paupers. The effects of this are apparent in the nonchalant manner in which she dismisses the legitimate concerns of the townspeople. I have no taxes in Jefferson†, was her sole response when asked about payment that was undoubtedly long overdue; a response that should have resulted in eviction in the absence of the unanimously sympathetic sentiments of the townspeople she clearly did not hold in high regard. â€Å"She appears visible enough to the townspeople bent on scrutinizing her every move, yet she remains well beyond their comprehension† (Argiro 1). Emily lived by her own scruples in both her business and personal matters, and gave little or no thought as to social consequences.Her love life was not exempt from these sentiments. â€Å"The indignant community is scandalized that she would ever think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer† (Argiro 1). Homer Barron did not at all fit the profile of what the surrounding community considered a suitable husband. Among the many concerns voiced was his assumed sexual preference. He could b e seen by all gallivanting about the town with various young men drinking and causing a great ruckus; behavior not at all like that which was expected of a southern gentleman, and certainly not becoming of a suitor of a revered southern belle.Speculation as to his true motives with regard to his public courting of Emily spread riotously throughout the community. The scene evoked mixed emotions because though the relationship did serve to increase Emily’s socialization, to the public eye, they appeared hopelessly mismatched. â€Å"Emily’s liaison with Homer is in many respects remarkable: she makes a leap out of her seclusion and into a new intimate social reality† (Argiro 2). Though Homer’s motives will forever remain a mystery, it is abundantly clear that whatever his rationale could have been, it ultimately cost him his life.Though little clarity was provided as to the circumstance surrounding Homer’s death, it can be deduced that the overwhelmin g fear of loneliness and lost love were among Emily’s motivators. â€Å"No one knows the intimacies of Emily and Homer with any certainty, but select details may expose various reasons for Homer’s corpse winding up on gruesome display in Emily’s upstairs bedroom†(Argiro 3). It seems unfathomable that a man of Homer’s experience would not have recognized her social immaturity and vulnerability. Homer seemed to take full advantage; accepting gifts which pointed to the prospects of a dignified future with Emily in holy matrimony.Still, he appeared in no hurry to solidify a commitment. In a time when a woman’s virtue was considered transposable with her character, such mismanagement could have triggered the emotional instability that resulted in his untimely demise. Despite Faulkner’s choice to input such ambiguity into the story line; what emerged was a masterpiece that will likely evoke great debate for centuries to come. It is this imp recision that makes this story such a powerful read; reigniting within its readers a burning, child-like curiosity that sets the imagination afire with conjecture. The main secrets in Jefferson take place inside that building, and the most important secret is revealed only after the flowers have been placed on Emily’s grave† (Getty 2). Like stories of the haunted, abandoned house just at the end of lane, this story will endure through generations of fresh perspectives and renewed deliberation. Work Cited Argiro, Thomas Robert. â€Å"Miss Emily after dark. † The Mississippi Quarterly 64. 3-4 (2011): 445+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 29 Sep. 2012. Getty, Laura J. â€Å"Faulkner's A Rose for Emily. † The Explicator 63. 4 (2005): 230+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 29 Sep. 2012.

Best practices in project quality management/leadership for information technology Essay

Most people simply accept low quality from many information technology (IT) products. So what if ones laptop crashes a couple of times a week? Just ensure there is back up for data. So what if one cannot log in to the business intranet or the internet right now? Just attempt a little later when it is less busy. So what if the latest version of word-processing software was shipped with several bugs? One may like the software’s new features, and all new software has bugs. Is quality a real problem with information technology projects? Yes, it is! IT is not just a luxury available in some offices, homes, or schools. Firms throughout the world provide employees with access to computers. The majority of people in the US use the internet, and usage in other countries continues to expand rapidly. It took only six years for 60 million people to use the internet compared to 20 years for 60 million to use cell phones (Kathy, 2008, p. 292). Many issues of individual and or group lives depend on high-quality IT products. Food is produced and distributed with the help of computers; vehicles have computer chips to monitor performance; students use computers to aid them learn in school; organizations depend on technology for many business functions; and millions of people depend on technology for entertainment and individual communications (Kathy, 2008). Many IT projects develop mission-critical systems that are utilized in life-and-death circumstances. Such as navigation systems on aircraft and computer components built into medical equipment. Financial institutions and their clients also depend on high-quality information systems. Clients get very upset when systems present inaccurate data or display information to unauthorized people that could result to identity theft. When any of these systems fails, it is much more than a mere inconvenience (Taguchi, 2004). 1. 1 Definitions Before one can enhance the quality of IT projects, it is good to understand the fundamental concepts of project quality management. Indeed, it is hard to define project quality management. According to the international organization for standardization (ISO) quality can be defined as the totality of features of an organization that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied requirements (Kathy, 2008). It can also be defined as the extent to which a set of inherent features fulfils needs (ISO9000). Other professionals define quality based on adherence to needs and fitness for use. Adherence to needs means project’s products and processes meet laid down specifications. Fitness for use implies a product can be used as it was intended. The purpose of project quality management is to make sure that the project will fulfill the requirements for which it was undertaken. Project management involves among others things meeting or surpassing stakeholder requirements and anticipations. The project group must initiate good relationships with core stakeholders, especially the primary client for the project, to comprehend what quality implies to them. Many technical projects fail because the project management group aims only at meeting the written requirements for the project (Juran and Frank, 2002). Quality, therefore, must be on an equal basis with project scope, cost, and time. If the project’s stakeholders are dissatisfied with the quality of the project management or the end products of the project, the management group will require adjusting time, cost, and scope to fulfill stakeholder needs. In which case meeting only documented requirements for time, cost, and scope is not sufficient. To attain stakeholder fulfillment, the project group must come up with a good working relationship with all stakeholders and comprehend their implied or stated requirements. Best practices: over the years, organizations have become mesmerized with the term-best practice-but after continued use, experts began scrutinizing the expression and now better definitions exist. A best practice starts simply with an idea. Knowing that there is a process, tool, activity, or method that can deliver results effectively than any other method and provides one with the desired results with less barriers and predictable complexities is a welcome. As a result, one apparently ends up with an efficient way of completing a task by use of a repeatable procedure that has stood the test of time for quite a large number of IT projects (Kathy, 2008). As project quality management evolved, so did the meanings of best practices. Some definitions of best practices are complicated while others are somehow simple. Yet, they both address the same aim of encouraging project quality management throughout the organization. Firms must decide on the depth and extent of their best practices. Must it be at high level and generic or at a low level and detailed? A generic best practice may not attain the desired efficiencies whereas a detailed one may not have unlimited applicability. Basically, any firm can decide to have own definition of best practices and there might even be company quality requirements on the definition of such best practices. For example, a best practice can be defined as something that: works, works well, works well on a repetitive basis, leads to a competitive advantage, can be identified in quest to improve business, and prevents the firm from problems. 1. 2 Principles Generally, there are 3 basic principles/processes of project quality management: 1. 2. 1 Planning quality Planning for quality involves identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and how to fulfill those standards. Integrating quality standards into project design is a core portion of quality planning. For an IT project, quality standards include enabling system growth, planning a considerable response time, or making sure that the system produces accurate and consistent information. The core outputs of quality planning are a quality management plan, quality metrics, quality checklists, a process improvement plan, and project document updates. 1. 2. 2 Performing quality assurance Performing quality assurance includes periodical evaluation of the whole project performance to make sure that the project will meet the desired quality standards. The process involves assuming roles of quality in the entire project life cycle. Senior management must take the lead in emphasizing the roles all employees play in quality assurance. The core outputs of this process are organizational process asset, project management, project document, and change requests updates (Kathy, 2008). 1. 2. 3 Performing quality control Performing quality control involves monitoring specific project results to make sure that they adhere to the desired quality requirements while identifying methods to enhance ultimate quality. This process is mostly linked to the technical techniques and tools of quality management, such as quality control charts, statistical sampling, and Pareto charts. The main outputs of quality control include quality control measurements, validated deliverables, change requests, validated changes, organizational process asset updates, project management plan, and project document updates (Kathy, 2008). This research seeks to: †¢ Incorporate the best practices in project quality management with quality leadership/ team work within a quality focused company, †¢ Evaluate the significance of project quality management for IT products and services, †¢ Understand the techniques and tools for quality control, and †¢ Describe how leadership model relate to enhancing quality in information technology projects. 2. 0 Review of Literature In his book on quality control, Juran (2002) stressed the significance of top management commitment to continuous product quality improvement. In 2000, Juran published the fifth edition of his famous book. In both texts, Juran developed and built upon a trilogy involving quality improvement, quality control, and quality planning. Juran emphasized the difference between the manufacturer’s view of quality and the client’s view. He observed that manufacturer’s focused on adherence to requirements, but client’s focused on fitness for use. In this book, Juran developed 10 stages to quality improvement. These include; building awareness of the need and chance for improvement, set goals for improvements, organize to reach the goals, provide training, carry out projects to solve problems, report progress, give recognition, communicate results, keep ratings, and maintain momentum by establishing yearly improvement part of the regular systems and processes of the economy. Crosby (1979) wrote Quality Is Free and is best known for suggesting that firms struggle for zero defects. He stressed that the costs of low quality must include all costs of not doing the work right the first time, such as rework, scrap, wasted man hours and machine hours, customer ill will and wasted sales, and warranty costs. Crosby proposed that the cost of low quality is so misappropriated that firms can profitably spend unlimited amounts of money on enhancing quality. Like Juran, Crosby developed 14 stages for quality improvement; these include making it clear that management is committed to quality, organizing quality control teams with representatives from each section, establishing where current and potential quality problems lie, evaluating the cost of quality and explaining its use as a management tool, raising the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees, take actions to correct problems identified through previous steps, establishing a committee for the zero defects program, training supervisors to actively carry out their part of the quality improvement program, holding a-zero defects day-to allow all employees realize that there has been a change, encouraging individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their teams, encouraging employees to communicate to management the barriers they face in achieving their improvement goals, reorganizing and appreciating those who participate, establishing quality councils to communicate on a regular basis, and reworking to emphasize that the quality improvement program never ends. Crosby (1979) initiated the Quality Management Process Maturity Grid. Such a grid can be applied to a firm’s attitude toward product usability. For instance, the initial level in the grid is ignorance, where employees might think they do not have any difficulties with usability. The last level is wisdom, where employees have changed their attitude so that usability defect prevention is a routine part of their activities. Ishikawa (1976) developed the concept of quality circles and pioneered the utilization of cause-and-effect graphics. Ishikawa made notable contributions to quality management, the most important being Ishikawa’s total quality perspective, organization quality control and emphasizes to human based quality, the quality diagram, and the creation and use of his 7 basic quality tools. The tools are: Pareto analysis, stratification, cause and effect diagrams, check sheets, scatter charts, histograms, and process control charts. Ishikawa believed these 7 tools must be known in depth, if not by all, in a firm and used to evaluate problems and create enhancements. Used effectively the tools form a powerful quality kit. Genichi (1998) believed it is good to develop product that is stout and or insensitive to manufacturing process variation, rather than trying to control all variations during manufacturing. To practice this idea, he embarked on the already developed knowledge on design and made it more practical and usable for quality experts. Genichi’s idea was mainly about the routine maximization of process and product prior to actual processing rather than quality control through inspection. Reliability and quality are ensured at the designing stage. Genichi went on to break off-line quality into 3 core levels. These levels include; system design, tolerance design, and parameter design. Foster (2004) identified leadership as being core to the quality improvement process, assuming minimal difference between management and leadership. The role is of a facilitator, and the foundation is-managing by walking, allowing the leader to be in touch with clients, people, and innovation, the three primary sections in the expedition of excellence. Foster believes that, as the leader walks, three main operations are occurring: listening, facilitating, and listening; suggesting caring, able to provide instant help, and transmission of values respectively. Foster, having analyzed key American firms concluded that any smart concept to organizing had to take into account 7 variables, a framework that was designed to include both the software and hardware of a firm. 3. 0 Findings 3. 1 Best practices Every organization has its own point of view of best practices. But generally there seem to be four basic reasons for embracing best practices. The four are: †¢ Improving efficiency, †¢ Standardization, †¢ Improving effectiveness, and †¢ Consistency In whatever definition, the company must identify which of the four, or combination therein, the firm targets. The paper focused on best practices as practiced at Orange Soft-Link Ltd, an IT company based in Switzerland (Crosby, 1979). †¢ A best practice is an experience based, published, and proven way to achieve company objectives. †¢ The company has detailed best practices in its procedures/policies and work flows. There are templates and guidelines as well as procedures that the company embraced. Additionally, when it closed a project, the company conducts a formal lesson learned section. The session involves the sponsors, core team, project manager, and other stakeholders impacted by the project. The lessons are stored in a common database and reviewed with the whole team. Its best practices depend on lessons learned. The company shares these practices with other IT firms for those vendors for which the company is a reference site. All Orange Ltd templates, procedures/policies, and work flow can be accessed when necessary and, by request, the quality leadership team set conferences to give feedback as well as explain in details all practices. †¢ Any tool, activity or template used by a quality manager that has had a positive impact on quality delivery, knowledge, and process. For example, performing to satisfy customers is a best practice in this IT Company. This is done by assessing each phase of a project. †¢ Generally the company views a best practice as any process or activity that enhances a given quality issue, eliminates the need of other more complicated procedures, or significantly improves an existing procedure. Each best practice is a living unit and subject to amendments, removal, or review. †¢ For Orange Soft-Link ltd, a best practice is any process or method that has been successful in producing the desired outcomes through practical application. This IT Company do not embrace professional or industry standards as a best practice until it has been proven that the process or method works in its corporate environment (Kathy, 2008).