Organizational Culture Analysis Essay Example for Free

Organizational Culture Analysis Essay Each organization has a different culture. The culture can help shape how an organization functions and has the potential to set it apart from the competition. There are three levels to culture: observable artifacts, espoused values, and enacted values (Baack, 2012). Each level plays a different part within an organization. State Farm Insurance is the larges mutual property and casualty insurance carrier in the United States. The company was founded over 90 years ago and has had plenty of time to develop their layers of culture. Observable artifacts are the outward viewable signs of an organization. Observable artifacts are viewed not only by the employees of the company but also by outsiders. State Farm has a various artifacts. The company has a recognizable logo and slogan, â€Å"Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there†. These have artifacts are recognizable in most households. On an internal level, yearly there are ceremonies that the company conducts to reinforce the feeling of family. Yearly the company holds Christmas in the Atrium where Santa comes for all of the employees and their families to visit. Annual Easter parties and Founder’s Day celebrations also encourage the neighborly atmosphere, keeping in line with the slogan. According to Baack (2012), espoused values are aspirational opposed to the actual outcome. The values set forth by the company are to act as a guide but are not always achievable. State Farm includes its values within the mission statement, â€Å"†¦quality service and relationships, mutual trust, integrity and financial strength† (State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 2013). The most recent value set by the company is to be remarkable. Employees not only need to strive to give remarkable service to the agents and the policyholders but also be remarkable in the interactions with fellow employees. The idea of providing remarkable service guides how employees are to work everyday. It defines the product being sold and the interaction with policyholders. The last layer of culture is enacted values. These values are the actual behaviors exhibited by the employees. Rick Darby of Safety Culture (2012) stated, â€Å"the enacted values of an organization†¦may be at a considerable distance from those proclaimed in official statements and public relations material†. In the case of State Farm and being â€Å"remarkable†, employees are having a hard time providing the remarkable service. Slow systems, being short handed, and a disconnect between operation employees and agents, contribute to less than remarkable service. These enacted values differ from what the company would like but not much has been done to rectify the situation. Darby (2012) believed if a great gap was found between enacted values of the employees and the espoused values of upper management, there could be confusion and dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction found in employees can start to alter the observable artifacts of the company. The recognition of State Farm for being an admired company will stop being awarded if management does not address the enacted value of its employees. The three levels of culture contribute to how an organization is presented to the public. Observable artifacts, espoused values, and enacted values all supply a foundation for the organization’s culture. The culture of the organization is part of what defines their success and growth. State Farm is known as the good neighbor company but needs to address the enacted values of the employees in order to provide the remarkable experience it is striving for. References Baack, D. (2012). Organizational Behavior. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Darby, R. (2012, April). Pyramid Building. Safety Culture , pp. 52-55. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. (2013). State Farm. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from State Farm web site: www.statefarm.com

Economy stability, standard of living, labour laws and disparity of wea

Economy stability, standard of living, labour laws and disparity of wealth and product. Flowers are beautiful. Flowers can grow in the wild, alone, with only nature affecting their growth, or they can grow in a greenhouse, where all their conditions are controlled. With either option we find different effects on the flowers. In nature the environment can destroy the flower, but the flower in the greenhouse lacks natural nutrients received by the outside world and usually become withered. This can be related to government control within the economy. With too much control, the economy can become smothered and with not enough, it can collapse upon itself, therefore a healthy balance must be found. This brings up the issues of economy stability, standard of living, labour laws and disparity of wealth and product. On the right side of the spectrum we find capitalism. Capitalism is an ideal of free trade with no government involvement in the economy. It was created by Adam smith, and exercises the theories of laissez faire. Although in a capitalist economy the economy can see great times of boom or bust. Monopolies are also prevalent within these societies because there are no laws against such things. On the left of the spectrum we find socialism. Karl Marx created this concept. His was an ideal of scientific, where he stated there would eventually be no class, and a pattern would be followed in the economy. Another form of socialism is utopian created by Robert Owen. Owen believed the same concept, but he believed through providing more he would get more in return. This however did not happen because the workers ended up becoming lazy when they were guaranteed the things they needed. Socialism follows the ... ...risk the consequences of the abuse of people, poor quality goods and lack of advance in products. But if you have too little you face booms and bust, disparity, and an unstable economy. Finding equilibrium of the two extremes is a problem that nations struggle with constantly and a popular choice of many, including the successful Canada, is welfare capitalism. It's the best choice because it promotes the ideals of both capitalism and socialism. The spirit of capitalism with its free trade and market economy with advancing products and aggressive markets and the control of socialism with state programs like healthcare and unemployment coverage, education taxing and the regulation that government can provide. So when asked the question, to what extent should government be involved in the economy an impeccable answer that comes to mind is welfare capitalism.

The Significance of Adult Education

Adult education encompasses planned and organized activities that consists of classes, lecture series, group study and systematic discussions and conference which involves mature men and women acquire new knowledge, understanding, attitudes, interests and values as a means of adapting and coping up with dramatic changes happening in the modern society and environment. It is dedicated to learning improvement and extension of opportunity for adults (encyclopedia Americana). Adult education is a form of continuing education that serves as a way of expanding horizons, developing understanding, creating meaningful activities and bridging the gap between generations. It has a critical role in a rapidly changing world by providing information and knowledge that people need in dealing with changing conditions. It is of great help in perceiving and solving crucial issues of the times. It can be a tool also for sustaining social relationship among aged adults. Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through ‘extension' or ‘continuing education' courses at secondary schools, or at colleges or universities. Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers. The practice is also often referred to as ‘Training and Development ‘and is often associated with workforce or professional development. It has also been referred to as andragogy (to distinguish it from pedagogy). Adult education is different from vocational education, which is mostly workplace-based for skill improvement; and also from non-formal adult education, including learning skills or learning for personal development. Programs provide one to one tutoring and small group sessions for adults at the 6th grade level or below. Public libraries, nonprofit organizations and school systems administer these programs across the country. Many adult education centers from community colleges receive grants from Welfare and Unemployment departments to offer training to welfare and unemployment recipients to help these individuals gain life and work skills to facilitate their return to the mainstream. They also provide programs for ex-offenders to reintegrate to society. There are underlying factors and forces which paved way for the development and improvement of Adult education. Changes in technological processes, in communication, in knowledge in social organization and in patterns of living implies that a modern man must constantly learn new ideas, new facts, new skills and new attitudes to keep up with the progress of the society. Through this kind of formal literacy education, adults develop the sincerity and aim to learn those things they need to know in order to cope effectively with the real life situation. Adult education is simply a continuation and way of improving prior knowledge of matured individuals. It believes and wanted to prove that adults are pragmatic learners. Adults frequently apply their knowledge in a practical fashion to learn effectively. They must have a reasonable expectation that the knowledge recently gained will help them further their goals. One example, common in the 1990s, was the proliferation of computer training courses in which adults (not children or adolescents), most of whom were office workers, could enroll. These courses would teach basic use of the operating system or specific application software. Because the abstractions governing the user's interactions with a PC were so new, many people who had been working white-collar jobs for ten years or more eventually took such training courses, either at their own whim (to gain computer skills and thus earn higher pay) or at the behest of their managers. Adults by social definition, individual need, and institutional expectation are responsible people that seek to enhance their identity through learning that further develop their competence. They have a strong need to apply what they have acquired and in order for them to be competent in that application, there is a reciprocal needs of interaction between them and the rapidly changing environment to produce a powerful desire for more knowledge.

Issues of Politcs and Pubic Administration Dichotomy

Issues of Political Dichotomy and Public Administration Genyne Coleman South University Online Patricia Wright Kelly, J. , & Wanna, J. (2000). New public management and the politics of government budgeting. International Public Management Review, 1(1), 33-54. Retrieved from http://www3. imp. unisg. ch/org/idt/†¦ /IPMR_1_1_BUDGETING. pdf The article examines the New Public Management (NPM) to address government budget conflicts using the guardian-spender framework of political scientist Aaron Wildavsky’s.Wildavsky explains traditional budgetary politics as missing structure and formal procedure of financial control which resulted in the the dichotomous relationship of guardians and spenders. The guardian and spender relationship is examined under NPM that suggest they are forced to perform together rather than separate which makes for a streamline budget process. (Kelly & Wanna, 2000, â€Å"successful budgeting is portrayed as a product of ongoing guardian and spender rel ations: both roles are legitimate and necessary in resolving budget decisions.Dividing functions and responsibilities between spenders and guardians enables specialization, increases predictability and, therefore, reduces complexity in budget decision-making (p. 34)†. The article describes the current usefulness of guardian and spender as an effective evaluation tool The research used in this article encompasses different budgeting conflicts and strategies used by parliament and government.The relevance of the article to the research of dichotomy in politics and public administration is important as it examines the history of budgetary practices, conflicts, and its evolvement. The author presents an insightful and well drafted interpretation of forward thinking budgetary processes. Hildebrand, D. (2008). public administration as pragmatic, democratic,and objective. Public Administration Review, 222-229. Retrieved from http://www. academia. edu/597816/Public_administration_as_p ragmatic_democratic_

The subject matter of phonetics Essays

The subject matter of phonetics Essays The subject matter of phonetics Essay The subject matter of phonetics Essay Phoneticss is a scientific discipline devoted to the physical analysis of the sounds of human address. including their production. transmittal. and perceptual experience. Phonetics is traditionally divided into two subdivisions: acoustic. concerned with the construction of the acoustic signal itself. and articulative. concerned with the manner these sounds are produced. Theoretical Phonetics surveies speech sounds: 1 ) from every point of position. Articulatory point of position – every address sound is a composite of definite finely coordinated and differentiated motions and places of the assorted address variety meats. Acoustic – address sounds have certain physical belongingss. Phonological – address sounds are studied through the phonological resistances. Auditory – all of address sounds have infinite figure of characteristics. 2 ) surveies mechanisms of vowel and harmonic production: Vibrator mechanism – vocal cords Resonator mechanism – unwritten pit. rhinal pit Obstructer mechanism – lingua. VC. dentition Power mechanism – lungs. stop 3 ) sounds are studied non merely individually but in bunchs and in address. Therefore we’ve come to dynamicss and kinaesthetic factors. 4 ) the affair of analysis: – description – puting down every bit many as possible characteristics which are present in sounds. – categorization – adverting those characteristics by which sounds arrant. One of the chief topics is modulation. Theoretical phonetics positions it from the point of position of different schools and attacks: Russian – modulation consists of address tune. tones. alteration in pitch. British – modulation is a contour. that is a unit of modulation dwelling of pre-head. caput. karyon and tail. American – modulation is pitch. Differences in pitch cause differences in significance. Talking about sounds we normally view them in words. which consist of syllables. This is another topic of theoretical phonetics – syllable division and different attacks to it. 2. The manner phonetics is connected with other subdivisions of linguistics and other scientific disciplines Phonetics is an independent subdivision of linguistics like lexicology. g rammar and stylistics. It surveies the sound affair. its facets and maps. Phonetics is connected with lingual and non-linguistic scientific disciplines: acoustics. physiology. psychological science. logic. etc. The connexion of phonetics with grammar. lexicology and styl ­istics is exercised foremost of all via writing system. which in its bend is really closely connected with phonetics. Phonetics formulates the regulations of pronunciation for separate sounds and sound combinations. The regulations of reading are based on the relation of sounds to orthography and present certain troubles in larning the English linguistic communication. particularly on the initial phase of stud ­ying. Therefore. vowel sounds. for case. are pronounced non merely as we name the letters matching to them: the missive a as /ei/ . the missive vitamin E as i’v. l. the missive I as /ai/ . the missive à ³ as /wai/ . the missive U as one { J ) N: l. the missive à ® as /à ½Ãƒ ©/ . jnq a can be pronounced as: /ae/- can. /a/ - auto. 7sa/- care- . vitamin E can be pronounced as: Id- them. [ à §:1- fern. libl- here. etc. Through the system of regulations of reading phonetics is connected with grammar and helps to articulate right remarkable and plural signifiers of nouns. the past tense signifiers and past participials of English regular verbs. e. g. /d/ is pronounced after sonant consonants ( beg- begged ) . It! - after voiceless consonants ( wish- wished ) . /id/- after It! ( want- wanted ) . It is merely if we know that /s/ is pronounced after voiceless consonants. /z/ after voiced and /iz/ after sibilants. that we can articulate the words books. bags. boxes right. The stoping -ed is pronounced /id/ following /t/ or /d/ . e. g. waited /iweitid/ . folded /ifauldid/ . Some adjectives have a signifier with /id/ . e. g. crooked /’kru-kid/ . bare /ineikid/ . ragged /’rsegid/ . One of the most of import phonic phenomena- sound interchange- is another manifestation of the connexion of pho ­netics with grammar. For case. this connexion can be observed in the class of figure. Therefore. the interchange of It- v/ . /a- z/ . /O- à / helps to distinguish remarkable and plural signifiers of such nouns as: calf- calves II- v/ . leaf- leaves II- v/ . house-houses /s- z/ . Vowel interchange helps to separate the singular and the plural of such words as: basis- bases /’beisis-

buy custom Medicaid Requirements for Florida and California essay

buy custom Medicaid Requirements for Florida and California essay Medicaid is a program that involves all the federal states that aim at providing health insurance to people of low income. The aim of Medicaid is providing medical services to people who cannot afford. The federal government provides the funds required to finance the program. These people include children, adults, people with a disability and pregnant mothers whether single or married. It also covers services in nursing homes for people who qualify. However, each state runs its on Medicaid programs, and makes policies on how the program should be managed. In Florida, children below the age of 18 years, their parents or guardians are eligible for Medicaid if the familys net income does not exceed the set income limit and the asset worthiness are below $ 2000. However, eligibility for Medicaid for the child in California depends on the Childs status and not the status of the parent or guardian. This means a child qualifies for Medicaid services even if the guardian is rich. Therefore, the uniting factor in the two states is that eligibility for Medicaid requires that the child to come from the family of low income and resources. In California, any pregnant woman, whether married or single s eligible for Medicaid. In addition, the Medicaid eligibility extends to both the mother and the child if the Medicaid covered the mother. Considering Florida, the pregnant women can also apply for Medicaid. Although, in Florida, Medicaid is packaged into categories ranging from the prenatal care, which partially coves for the pregnant woman for the short period, fully coverage for pregnant women, and regular Medicaid coverage. In Florida, parents and guardians can apply for Medicaid on behalf of their children, provided their children are below 19 years. However, parents application is possible if the children are living in their homes, or the family income is under the predetermined limit. This is the case in California, though one can apply if the child is sick to the point that he will need nursing home care, and could enjoy quality care at home. In addition, California State allows a child living on his own, to apply for Medicaid on his behalf, or any adult. In both California and Florida states, they consider people of 65 years and above eligible for Medicaid. This is subject to limited income and resources for the individual in question. In both states, blind people receive the same treatment when it comes to Meddicaid eligibility. The blind is eligible for Medicaid provided they have limited income and resources. The disabled living in nursing homes and could live in their homes if given quality home care are eligible for Medicaid. The Medicaid eligibility is allowed to people in both the states, if the person is suffering from chronic diseases. In both California and Florida states, Medicaid is provided to a noncitizen in the case of emergence. The aliens are required to prove that indeed it was an emergence situation. However, the rules of classifying situations to emergence may vary from states to states depending on the rules that govern the classification of emergence situations. Despite the difference that is apparent between the eligibility for the Medicaid, there is a similarity in the way the rules applies. However, a similarity of eligibility seems to concentrate on the low income and resource levels that the person is required to meet. Both of the states focus on the individuals age whether pregnant, the level of income, is he blind or aged. However, in California and Florida Medicaid is a particularly significant program of providing affordable health care services to those who could not meet the basic health requirement. Buy custom Medicaid Requirements for Florida and California essay

The Life of Serial Killer Israel Keyes

The Life of Serial Killer Israel Keyes On March 16, 2012, Israel Keyes was arrested in Lufkin, Texas after he used a debit card that belonged to an 18-year-old Alaska woman that he killed and dismembered in February. During the following months, while awaiting trial for the murder of Samantha Koenig, Keyes confessed to seven other murders during more than 40 hours of interviews with the FBI. Investigators believe there are at least three more victims and possibly much more. Early Influences Keyes was born Jan. 7, 1978 in Richmond, Utah to parents who were Mormon and homeschooled their children. When the family moved to Stevens County, Washington north of Colville, they attended The Ark, a Christian Identity church which is known for racist and anti-Semitic views. During that time, the Keyes family was friends and neighbors with the Kehoe family. Israel Keyes was childhood friends of Chevie and Cheyne Kehoe, known racists who were later convicted of murder and attempted murder. Military Service At age 20, Keyes joined the U.S. Army and served at Fort Lewis, Fort Hood and in Egypt until he was honorably discharged in 2000. At some point during his young adult years, he rejected religion completely and proclaimed he was an atheist. Keyes life of crime had begun before he joined the military, however. He admitted to raping a young girl in Oregon sometime between 1996 and 1998 when he would have been 18 to 20 years old. He told FBI agents that he separated a girl from her friends and raped, but not killed her. He told investigators that he planned to kill her, but decided not to. It was the beginning of a long list of crimes, including burglaries and robberies that authorities are now trying to piece together into a timeline of Keyes criminal career. Sets up Base in Alaska By 2007, Keyes established Keyes Construction in Alaska and began working as a construction contractor. It was from his base in Alaska that Keyes ventured out into almost every region of the United States to plan and commit his murders. He traveled many times since 2004, looking for victims and setting up buried caches of money, weapons, and tools needed to kill and dispose of the bodies. His trips, he told the FBI, were not financed with money from his construction business, but from the money he got from robbing banks. Investigators are trying to determine how many bank robberies that he may have been responsible for during his many trips across the country. It is also unknown at what point Keyes escalated to committing random murders. Investigators suspect it began 11 years before his arrest, shortly after he left the military. Modus Operandi According to Keyes, his usual routine would be to fly to some area of the country, rent a vehicle and then drive sometimes hundreds of miles to find victims. He would set up and bury murder kits somewhere in the targeted area - stashing items like shovels, plastic bags, money, weapons, ammunition and bottles of Drano, to help dispose of the bodies. His murders kits have been found in Alaska and New York, but he admitted to having others in Washington, Wyoming, Texas and possibly Arizona. He would look for victims in remote areas like parks, campgrounds, walking trials, or boating areas. If he was targeting a home he looked for a house with an attached garage, no car in the driveway, no children or dogs, he told investigators. Finally, after committing the murder, he would leave the geographic area immediately. Keyes Makes Mistakes In February 2012, Keyes broke his rules and made two mistakes. First, he kidnapped and killed someone in his hometown, which he had never done before. Secondly, he let his rental car be photographed by an ATM camera while using a victims debit card. On Feb. 2, 2012, Keyes kidnapped 18-year-old Samantha Koenig who was working as a barista at one of the many coffee stands around Anchorage. He was planning to wait for her boyfriend to pick her up and kidnap both of them, but for some reason decided against it and just grabbed Samantha. Koenigs abduction was caught on video, and a massive search for her was conducted by authorities, friends, and family for weeks, but she was killed shortly after she was abducted. He took her to a shed at his Anchorage home, sexually assaulted her and strangled her to death. He then immediately left the area and went on a two-week cruise, leaving her body in the shed. When he returned, he dismembered her body and dumped it in Matanuska Lake north of Anchorage. About a month later, Keyes used Koenigs debit card to get money from an ATM in Texas. The camera in the ATM captured a picture of the rental car Keyes was driving, linking him to the card and the murder. He was arrested in Lufkin, Texas on March 16, 2012. Keyes Begins to Talk Keyes was originally extradited back from Texas to Anchorage on credit card fraud charges. On April 2, 2012, searchers found Koenigs body in the lake. On April 18, an Anchorage grand jury indicted Keyes for the kidnapping and murder of Samantha Koenig. While awaiting trial in the Anchorage jail, Keyes was interviewed for more than 40 hours by Anchorage police detective Jeff Bell and FBI Special Agent Jolene Goeden. Although he was not completely forthcoming with many details, he began to confess to some of the murders that he committed over the past 11 years. The Motive for Murder The investigators tried to determine Keyes motive for the eight murders to which he confessed. There were just times, a couple of times, where we would try to get a why, said Bell. He would have this term; he would say, A lot of people ask why, and I would be, like, why not? Keyes admitted to studying the tactics of other serial killers, and he enjoyed watching movies about killers, such as Ted Bundy, but he was careful to point out to Bell and Goeden that he used his ideas, not those of other famous killers. In the end, the investigators concluded that Keyes motivation was very simple. He did it because he liked it. He enjoyed it. He liked what he was doing, Goeden said. He talked about getting a rush out of it, the adrenalin, the excitement out of it. Trail of Murders Keyes confessed to the murders of four people in three different incidents in Washington state. He killed two individuals, and he kidnapped and killed a couple. He didnt provide any names. He probably knew the names, because he liked to return to Alaska and then follow the news of his murders on the Internet. He also killed another person on the East Coast. He buried the body in New York but killed the person in another state. He would not give Bell and Goeden any other details of that case. The Currier Murders On June 2, 2011, Keys flew to Chicago, rented a car and drove almost 1,000 miles to Essex, Vermont. He targeted the home of Bill and Lorraine Currier. He conducted what he called a blitz attack on their home, tied them up and took them to an abandoned house. He shot Bill Currier to death, sexually assaulted Lorraine and then strangled her. Their bodies were never found. A Double Life Bell believes the reason that Keyes gave them more details about the Currier murders was because he knew they had evidence in that case pointing to him. So he opened up more about those murders than he did the others. It was chilling to listen to him. He was clearly reliving it to a degree, and I think he enjoyed talking about it, Bell said. A couple of times, he would kind of chuckle, tell us how weird it was to be talking about this. Bell believes their interviews with Keyes were the first time he had ever talked with anyone about what he referred to as his double life. He thinks Keyes held back details of his other crimes because he didnt want members of his family to know anything about his secret life of crime. How many more victims? During the interviews, Keyes referred to other murders in addition to the eight to which he confessed. Bell told reporters that he thinks Keyes committed less than 12 murders. However, in trying to piece together a timeline of Keyes activities, the FBI released a list of 35 trips that Keyes made across the country from 2004 to 2012, in hopes that the public and local law enforcement agencies could match up bank robberies, disappearances and unsolved murders to times when Keyes was in the area. Talk Is Over On Dec. 2, 2012, Israel Keyes was found dead in his Anchorage jail cell. He had cut his wrists and strangled himself with a rolled-up bedsheet. Under his body was a blood-soaked, four-page letter written on yellow legal pad paper in both pencil and ink. Investigators could not make out the writing on Keyes suicide note until the letter was enhanced at the FBI lab.​ An analysis of the enhanced letter concluded that it contained no evidence or clues, but was merely a creepy Ode to Murder, written by a serial killer who loved to kill. The FBI concluded there was no hidden code or message in the writings, the agency said in a news release. Further, it was determined that the writings do not offer any investigative clues or leads as to the identity of other possible victims. We may never know how many people Israel Keyes killed.