Democracy As Myth Essays - Human Resource Management, Corporatism

Democracy As Myth Each of us is aware that change is everywhere we look. No segment of society is exempt. We as the public are dealing with the advent of continuous and ever increasing change. Change in technology, change in resource availability, change in national demographics, change in workforce diversity, change in simply every facet of the organizational environment and context in which public institutions must operate. Change, as the saying goes, has truly become the only constant. The challenge for organizations is whether they can become flexible enough, fast enough. And will they do it on terms set by the organizational culture, and then adapt and succeed in the face of it or will they challenge the status quo and attempt to transform the prevailing culture. What follows is the story of a public organization, which is trying to change the context under which it performs rather than be changed by that context. In the realm of Philosophy, as Erasmus of Rotterdam, the first truly great humanist of the modern age once said, "The intent suffices in a great design". Erasmus, no doubt was right. However, beyond simple intent, or to phrase it in the current vernacular, vision, action is required to bring the vision to life. In any age, there are those individuals willing to challenge the status quo, whether it is in the field of politics, science, business, or public administration. If these individuals are to enjoy a measure of success, they must be willing to take an inordinate amount of risk and withstand criticism, indifference and cynicism from every quarter. Most importantly, they must have the capacity to envision a great design and then transform that vision into action. A skeptic would find little or no relationship between philosophy and the modern practice of the public. A purist would probably go further and find offensive the very idea of comparing these two seemingly opposed disciplines. One, grounded in the metaphysical pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and the other, a pragmatic and practical effort to conduct the public's business, appear to be at opposite ends of an intellectual continuum. Closer examination reveals that both disciplines share similar characteristics and both pursue parallel aims. Philosophy and public administration seek to understand human motivation, philosophy for the sake of pure knowledge, and public administration to harness this understanding to practical ends. Human apprehension and resistance to change is but one aspect of this understanding that is shared by both disciplines. The idea of a flatter, more horizontal organization, one with a minimum number of organizational layers separating the front line employees from senior management is by no means new. Organizations, if one can call them that, in the early years of the industrial revolution consistently reflected an absolute minimum number of layers. Indeed, a face to face relationship often existed between ownership or management and the employee or worker. As methods of production grew increasingly complex and the principles of scientific management were applied, more and more layers of organizational structure were created. Organizations being ongoing entities, these layers tended to become permanent features of the organizational landscape, often well beyond the time where they're original intent and usefulness has become obsolete. The private as well as the public sectors has found that the pressures of operating successful enterprises in an ever-changing competitive world, demand new management approaches. A realization has emerged that a principal impediment to the rapid response to a changing environment is organizational structure. Cultures Slowly at first, and with increasing intensity as the weeks went by, a document that was to serve as an organizational blueprint began to take shape. Five propositions were to serve as the guiding principles: We will treat all human beings with respect and dignity. Sharing is not a weakness. No one will lose compensation. No one will lose his or her job. A high priority will be given to training employees in new skills. The organization, which was to emerge, was to strive to become boundaryless, free from the confines of the hierarchical past, and organized around processes rather than functions. We desired to become a customer-oriented, fast, focused, flexible, friendly and fun organization. But here again the government felt as though they need to step in. We carefully blended concepts from a diverse variety of management thinkers. As we met in community meetings, every idea and suggestion that complemented our vision of the future organization was documented on video and considered. If we valued the people as assets, then we had to come to respect them.

An Analysis of the Poem Spain by W. H. Auden Essays

An Analysis of the Poem Spain by W. H. Auden Essays An Analysis of the Poem Spain by W. H. Auden Essay An Analysis of the Poem Spain by W. H. Auden Essay What is Aden trying to achieve in writing this poem? First of all, Aden is asking to meditate on the relationship between the past, the present and the future. The poem refers to the past as History is the operator People should not be limited by the past and it should help them to make the future > inspiration from the past (first part of the poem). Tomorrow the enlarging of consciousness by diet and breathing (plus all the lines on Tomorrow) indicate hope that humanity will draw from the creative past instead of destruction. The final nines are saying to act now in the present, not wait for History to solve everything. Once the omen has passed, you cannot offer help nor ask for forgiveness. Aden is also monopolizing the nations to get engaged in the war. And also inspire personal implication of the people of Spain and Europe. Overall, this poem is ambiguous, Aden doesnt take sides which makes this poem a special and a powerful representation of the Spanish Civil War. He shows the rights and wrongs on both sides (republican and nationalist). He also shows the contrast before, during and after the war (yesterday, today and tomorrow). Before war is the time for creation, invention and offering global universal history. Some of the lines that are the most convincing in convincing us of the significance of Spains Civil War are in stanza 18 the menacing shapes of out fever are precise and alive This stanza describes berry well the horror, terror, destruction that the war has brought upon the people. The war thoughts have replaced the normal everyday thoughts about the medicine ad and the brochure of winter cruises.