Organisational Change and Development

Introduction So as to be able to achieve organizational goals and objectives, it’s important for the organization to embrace effective interventions. Organization development interventions are aimed at increasing the performance and output of the organization. So as to be successful, organization development interventions should affect the whole organization and should go down to the individual level.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organisational Change and Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The interventions should be sponsored by the head of the company and should be supported by the organization’s staff. Interventions that should be implemented in this case should involve respect for employees and the administration, having a working administration in the organization, having trust and open channels of communication between the administration and employees. The interventions must be ab le to support open confrontation of problems that are facing the organization. Major stakeholders in the organization must also participate actively in the interventions. This will somehow give the interventions a bit of weight and seriousness Dustdar (2006). Management For any company to prosper, proper management should be implemented. Management is defined as the act of leading and directing all or part of an organizational structure through the deployment and use of resources; human, financial, material intellectual or intangible. It involves providing guidance and letting others follow through. Poor management often leads to chaos and confusion among workers in a particular company or organization, leading to misuse of available resources and hence low production Dustdar (2006). Problems noted Bladetech Australia is a manufacturing company that after a while of being a productive company has seen its growth rate dwindling. It is noted that the company has began failing due faci ng direct competition from the Korean Manufacturing of windscreen wipers and as a result causing the Australian government to reduce its tariffs. As much as the tariff reduction would help consolidate the global competitiveness of Australian companies as a whole, it also makes them four to five percent less competitive than other economies in the world. Bladetech therefore may suffer a great loss to the Korean company.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Bladetech a need to have better use of support functions and resources involved in new product development. This is an issue noted that has led to the inflexibility of the structure and service operations such as engineering and design. The lack of flexibility in a manufacturing company, or any company for that matter should be an issue of concern as it may lead to dysfunctional relationships between different departments in the company and miscommunication. This leads to failure in the company as a whole because it is the departments that make up the organization. Another problem facing Bladetech is the lack of proper and aggressive marketing. Marketing is an important aspect in the development and growth of a business venture. It is through marketing that a company attracts its potential customers and investors more so advertises its products creating new opportunities for market expansion. Badetech has failed in actively trying to expand its marketing horizons leading to it having limited access to its products. Bladetech has poor structure and the lack of co-ordination among the departments. The general manager is viewed as the overall overseer of the three departmental heads; operations, sales and marketing, and human resource management, under which operation and sales and marketing managers are concerned with the departments of engineering and design, manufacturing and distribution. Apart from havin g a disorganized structure, there is weak managerial competence and training at all levels of employees in the company. This has led to disunity between the various departments due to unconstructive criticism and comments towards each other. The efforts employed to initiate several training and change programs have seemed futile due to the negative attitude from the affected parties which has as a result provided almost no solution.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Organisational Change and Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The manager operations points out that the marketing and the HRM fields are at fault. He notes that the marketing field engages in expensive marketing that he implies might not be necessary because he probably does not seem to see its results, whereas HRM involves itself in training and development courses. The major problem here however is the issue of pointing fingers. This partic ular manager blames his failures on his fellow colleagues without acknowledging any efforts that might have been put out by them towards the improvement of their firm. He further fails to concede that one of his teams a need attention to achieve improvement Spedding (2008). The main constraints affecting the operations group is the lack new ideas and innovation, the time taken to implement the ideas and the time it takes to come up with new products Williamson (2004). This has been greatly fuelled by the lack of proper technological assistance and the slow adoption of the latest technologies and current management practices. These management practices have been characterized by the head of operations who actually maintains that a need for an expert in organizational development is merely a waste of financial resources! According to the manager of sales and marketing, the major issue facing his field is the lack of proper rewards to him and his subordinates who often are dedicated to lengthy working hours Nuthall (2010). This has led to loss of productive force hence poor production. He further comments that his proposals for improvement have been met by strong rejections from the other fields. The lack of support of the various departments is seen as the problem here that has hindered the development of the company. It can be concluded here that each department is after individual benefits other than the general growth of the company Bates (2005). The problems affecting the accounting and financial field as mentioned by its manager is bombardment of too many changes in the field in a short spun of time. It the lacks the newest system of financial technology that might be useful in updating its financial records and is not welcoming to future changes in its operations Burrow (2008).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Unfortunately, management in this department does not exhibit the confidence and assertiveness that is key to any employee that hold an important post. She avoids one on one discussion about the issues affecting her field and prefers to communicate via email. The issue with this kind of communication method especially when dealing with important matters is the information might be missed or not clearly understood. In general, the key problems facing the company are as listed: Poor organizational structure. Poor communication channels among the departments in the company. The lack of proper marketing strategies. The lack of incentives for workers. Presence of incompetent employees. The lack of new and improved technologies. The lack of new ideas for innovation. In order for Bladetech Company to move forward in their quest for improvement, there is a need for providing probable solutions to the problems that are affecting them by evaluating each individually and noting their roots S tatt (1999). Bladetech structural organization might not be viewed as a strong one in that there is only one overseer that is supposed to manage and direct operations of the other heads. This problem might be taken care of by introducing assistants to all levels of managements. This improves the chances that the head is overwhelmed by too much work hence losing track of the activities of the subordinates North (1997). Bladetech needs to work as a unit in terms of communication. Listening skills need to be used to facilitate better relations between the fields. Heads of department should try to hear each other out and try to understand the challenges that face individual fields before disregarding their opinions and wishes. This will generate better working environment comfortable to each employee Jeston (2006). Recommendations The company should improve its marketing strategies. This can be done by looking for ways to expanding market for their products, looking at the current compe titive pricing of the product in the available market and try to regulate their prices that is being fair yet competitive. Bladetech sales and promotion field should try to look for better opportunities outside and view this venture positively, not as a cost but as a means of creating awareness of their products in the global market Thomas (2011). Orientation is the most important part of the first day of an employee at a company and must be done effectively so as to ensure that new employees easy find and identify a place for themselves at the organization. There are however some improvements that the company can make to the program so as to ensure that the new employees are well oriented. The company should have extended the time that is allocated to employees for the orientation. This would give employees more time to get used to their jobs. This can help foster productivity. The orientation process should also be made broader. Instead of having a board room meeting the company s hould organize a number of activities for orientation. This is because people learn best from processes that allow them to see, feel, touch and be one with whatever they are being oriented into. This will also promote productivity and faster settling in by employees. Incompetent workers should be dealt with accordingly. First of all, uncooperative behaviour should not be condoned as this contributes to poor work ethics. Individuals exhibiting such behaviour should have their terms or contracts terminated with immediate effect. The company’s discipline system recruitment rules to guidelines that are in the form of company policies which dictate what employees are allowed to and what they are not allowed to do. The rules are enforced in all departments of the organization. This has increased awareness of employees towards disciplinary measures that the organization takes Thomas (2011). The discipline program also contains a number of steps that are geared at correcting wrong em ployee behaviour. The system has two types of warnings and reprimands that an employee could receive for any form of misbehaviour. These include verbal and written reprimands. The discipline system contains elements such as suspensions without pay where by the reprimanded employee is supposed to take some time off their work without pay and serious offenses may invite a direct dismissal of the employee. This system is effective because it keeps all employees in check and ensures that they are all well disciplined at work. Relevant training sessions and courses should be offered frequently to maintain the credibility of the human resources and to keep up to date with the current technological know-how Barrile (2007). The company also needs to update all its technological equipments so that they may be at par with their competitors Stokes (2006). Management should understand that technologies are bound to change frequently and should therefore work to enable their fields to quickly ad opt these sudden changes Longenecker (2006). This involves greatly the financial sector which is prone to breaking under these sudden changes. Bladetech need to improve management of its financial sector by introducing aggressive individuals who are up to date on the newest forms of technologies Bates (2005). The company must integrate new individuals with new ideas into their work force. This will provide ideas on the improvement of their products and their performance hence better products. It requires these individuals to research other companies’ products in order to find new ideas in producing their own improved version of the products. This may also alleviate competition which was seen as a major hindrance towards the development of the company Drucker (2007). This intervention improves the productivity of the company by modifying the existing organization structures. So that the organization can be able to achieve its goals it is important that it changes its structure . By changing the structure the organization will be able to regain control of management and employees as well. This will increase the organizations efficiency and performance Spedding (2008).The implementations of these interventions require a dedicated process. As it may be costly to integrate new forms of technology, financial back ups are needed. This also requires agreement and support of each individual in the company. They should be ready to accept and implement the changes that come along with the implementations for the overall benefit of the company’s productivity. Bladetech management should incorporate the government in its dealings overseas. This will help promote its products and increase its marketing options. Employee diversity is also a major setback to employees working together. Therefore the organization should be able to harmonize all its employees so as to be able to achieve its goals. Employee relation intervention would be very important when there ar e many conflicts at the work place, when there is recruitment of new employees and low employee morale. The organization could implement this on the individual level and also on a personal level. These include: Individual coaching and Counselling: the organization could choose to hire a professional to coach and counsel individuals in the organization. Individuals could be coached on the importance of working together with their colleagues. Counselling may also offer a chance for individuals to voice their complaints about the work place. Mentorship Programs and Visionary Leadership: the organizations top brass for example, the CEO should have a mentorship program for the organizations employees. Management should lead the other employees towards meeting the organizations goals. Leadership and mentorship should be by example. The company should also address employees as a group. The organization should resolve all conflicts that exist between employees. The organization must encoura ge dialoguing and an open communication line between employees. The organization should encourage team building and offer incentives for teams that have good performance Barrile (2007). It is also important to increase employee performance so as to increase the overall performance of the organization. The organization’s goals offer the reference to performance. The organization should clearly state its objectives and the progress to the goals must be monitored regularly. The organization should have a feedback system that tells employees hoe close or how far they are from the organization’s objectives. So as to be able to meet this objectives employee performance is critical Barrile (2007). The first step to performance management is the statement of the organization’s performance goals. The organization must have clearly stated and defined goals. Employees should be made aware of these goals. The next step would be coming up with a performance plan. The company must routinely monitor and track this plan. The organization should evaluate performance and reward where due. The performance plans of the organization should be open to development. They should allow for improvement. Morale Boosting and employee Motivation: the organization can use incentives and gifts to motivate employees. The organization should propose a system which offers employees financial incentives which are pegged on the profits made by the company. This will increase work input and output. This will in turn increase the company’s profits. Employees participating in the scheme directly affect the company’s profits. The organization must ensure that the scheme motivates the selected employees to be more productive. The goals and ambitions must be realistic and attainable. The organization must spell out goals that can be achieved. It would be best if the goals were based on the history of the company. If the goals are set too high it would demoralize emplo yees Barrile (2007). The organization should provide a suitable climate for the development of employee careers. Promotions should be given upon merit not based on years of service. This will enhance career development for hardworking employees. It will also act as a motivating factor. The organization must also plan for leadership and management. Only qualified employees should be promoted to leadership and management positions. This will ensure that the organization has competent leadership and thus increase the company’s productivity Williamson (2004). Benefits are offered by employers so as to make the employee’s stay at the company comfortably and will be more inclined to staying at the company. Other benefits that are offered by employees are so as to enable employees to be able to balance their work and social life outside work. This allows employees to have time for their family, friends or whatever they is important in their lives (Ivancevich, 2010). The main intention of these benefits is to make sure employees are highly motivated and have the morale to work. This is because the benefits are out to make employees happy and if employees are happy at the work place they will increase their work input as well as their work output. The benefits are also beneficial to the company since they ensure the company retains its critical employees. By being able to retain critical employees the organization remains strong towards the path of reaching its goals and objectives. Work life programs help to bridge the gap between work and the personal life of an employee. These programs create a balance between work and the personal lives of employees. This leads to an increase in productivity and work output and creates a better place for employees to work in. There are various options of work life programs for example adjustable work arrangements, salary bonuses and discounts foe employees. Good work life programs highly motivate employees to work bet ter and to love their jobs. Conclusion Organization Development interventions require a leader who is actively participating in the in the interventions. The organization should not implement the above discussed interventions without a good leader. It will negate the need to implement them. A leader is needed to guide and inspire the change required in the organization. The leader should be a visionary. As discussed early they should commence from the apex of the organization. They should start with the CEO and go all the way down to the lowest employee. The organization should also constantly reward employees who embrace the interventions. This will motivate all employees to embrace change Williamson (2004). Reference List Barrile Steve,and Terry Cameron. 2007 Business Management: Corporate Management, People and Change: VCE Units 3 4. South Yarra, Vic.: Macmillan Education Australia. Bates,Bronwynne. 2005.Business Management: Fresh Perspectives. Cape Town, South Africa: Pearson E ducation. Burrow, Jim, Brad Alan Kleindl, and Kenneth E. Everard. 2008. Business Principles and Management. Mason, OH: Thomson Learning. Drucker, Peter Ferdinand. 2007. The Practice of Management. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Dustdar, Schahram, JoseÃŒ  Luiz Fiadeiro, and A. Sheth. Business Process Management: 4th International Conference, BPM 2006, Vienna, Austria, September 5-7, 2006: Proceedings. Berlin: Springer, 2006. Print. Jeston, John, and Johan Nelis. 2006. Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful Implementations. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann. Longenecker, Justin Gooderl, and Justin Gooderl Longenecker. 2006 Small Business Management: an Entrepreneurial Emphasis. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western. Longenecker, Justin Gooderl. 2010. Small Business Management: Launching Growing Entrepreneurial Ventures. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning, Nieuwenhuizen, C.,and Barney Erasmus. 2007. Business Management for Entrepreneurs. Cape Town: J uta. North, Klaus. 1997. Environmental Business Management: an Introduction. Geneva: International Labour Office. Nuthall, P. L. 2010. Farm Business Management: the Core Skills. Cambridge, MA: CABI North American Office. Spedding, Linda S., and Adam Rose. 2008. Business Risk Management Handbook: a Sustainable Approach. Oxford: Elsevier/CIMA, Statt, David A., and David A. Statt. 1999. Concise Dictionary of Business Management. New York: Routledge. Stokes, David, Nicholas Wilson, and David Stokes. 2006. Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship. London: Thomson Learning. Thomas, Christopher and Dianne. 2011. Organisational Change Development Transformation. New York, NY: Cengage Learning. Williamson, David. 2004. Strategic Management and Business Analysis. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heineman. This essay on Organisational Change and Development was written and submitted by user Ronald Nunez to help you with your own studies. 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Improve your college paper writing with us! Why Your College Writing is Not Getting Good Grades - Tips to Fix It Once you walk into your first college class, you are subject to much higher expectations for course work. Your reading assignments will be more frequent and lengthier; your assignments will be more challenging; and the type of college papers you must produce will be more complex and held to a higher standard than is typical for high school students. It is highly unlikely that your professors will do the following: Receive a rough draft, make corrections and suggestions for improvement, and then receive a final draft for ultimate grading. Assist you in improving your writing, unless it is a writing course with a lab component. It is highly likely that your professor will do the following: Read and assign a grade to an essay or paper that you submit Assign a poor grade if the piece of writing does not meet his/her expectations If your writing assignments result in poor grades, there may be a number of reasons, and there are also methods for fixing any of the issues you may have with your research and writing skills. Mis-understanding/Failing to Adhere to the Specifics of the Assignment This is one of the most common mistakes students make. When a college paper assignment is given, they fail to read carefully from their syllabi or listen to their professors’ specifications. Frequently, a details of a writing assignment will be contained in the syllabus, so be certain that you read them very carefully and stick exactly to what your professor wants. If the assignment specifies that you compare and contrast, then that is exactly what you must do; if you are to analyze an outside reading assignment, then you are to read it carefully, take it apart, summarizing the points the author is making and commenting on those points. If you are asked to evaluate, you are being asked to make a judgment – are the author’s points or opinions valid? Why or why not? If you are to write a book review discussing one of its themes, you will not be providing a plot summary. The Fix: Read the assignment very carefully and look for key words – compare, contrast, analyze, discuss, respond to, evaluate, describe, etc. If you do not understand the assignment, contact your professor of the TA. Do not do a thing until you know exactly what is expected of you. Too Broad or Too Narrow a Topic You will usually be given a minimum and maximum length for a writing assignment, ad your topic must be of a breadth and depth to â€Å"fit.† When you choose a topic that is too broad, you will become overwhelmed with the amount of information there is and may fall into a trap of leaving out crucial research and points, in order to stay within the length requirement. If your topic is too narrow, there will not be enough information to meet the minimum requirement, you may try to add â€Å"fluff† to fill pages, and your grade will definitely suffer. The Fix: If you have to choose your own topic within a broad area, select a couple that are of interest. Contact your professor or TA and ask for advice. They are usually happy to help! If your topic is too broad, you can probably narrow it down to one or more aspects; if it is too narrow, better pick something else. Part of writing a college paper is selecting a topic that is correct for the required length! Unsophisticated Research You are in college now, and Wikipedia is not a resource for research. You will be expected to find scholarly resources on your topic. If you use the same types of resources that you did in high school, or if you use resources intended for middle and high school levels, your professor will be angry, and you could easily end up with an â€Å"F.† The Fix: Once you have your topic, perform a simple â€Å"Google† search. For example, use â€Å"college level resources for eugenics movements in the United States.† You will get a long list, including one or two clearing houses of resource lists. Choose your resources from among these lists and be grateful you are not in college 4 decades ago when searches had to be conducted in the library, using the card catalogue! And if you do go to the campus library, you can search by topic and be comfortable knowing that resources housed there are at an appropriate level of sophistication. One note, however: Wikipedia does have its place, particularly as you are attempting to refine a topic, because the entries are almost always divided into sub-topics. Lack of a Thesis You may have been able to get away with this in high school, but never when writing college papers. Choosing a topic is one thing. Coming up with a solid thesis is quite another. The thesis statement tells your reader why you have researched this topic or presents your viewpoint or opinion on the topic. Without a thesis, your paper has no scholarly merit and will certainly earn an â€Å"F.† The Fix: Once you have a topic, ask yourself some questions about it. Is this something that most people don’t understand? Why is it important? What is your purpose in researching this – are you trying to enlighten, persuade, or analyze? When you answer one or more of these questions you will have your thesis statement. (And put it at the end of your introductory paragraph) Composition Issues If you lack good writing skills – organization, coherence, paragraph development, sentence structure, transitions, mechanics, you will always receive lowered grades, no matter for what course you are writing an essay or paper. The Fix: Unfortunately, correcting this issue is a process that takes times. You need to begin a self-taught program of grammar and composition, get a tutor, or spend a lot of time in the writing lab. Anyone can become a good academic writer, but it takes commitment and lots of practice. In the meantime, you may want to enlist the services of a reputable academic writing service that can provide you with original, custom writing while you develop your own skills.

The role of nursing theory in nursing education, research, and Essay

The role of nursing theory in nursing education, research, and clinical practice - Essay Example Nursing theories help in generating further knowledge in the field of nursing. Though some theories may differ and can be confusing to the nurses, they are all meant to provide additional information to the nurses. Nursing theories are supposed to form the basis of practice, in that they lay down the foundation and provide a framework upon which training is based on. Before the training starts, it is important to bring out some ideas and concepts, which will help the students to comprehend the training process. The theories act as a form of introduction, thus preparing the nurses for the practice (Parker and Smith, 2010). One will find that other professions have theories that help in establishing a unique approach to the different aspects involved in that particular discipline. Since nursing is also a profession, it is important for it to have its own theories that will help the nurses to understand their role and purpose in the medical sector. Nurses need to be recognized in their own profession and this can be achieved by establishing a unique body of knowledge and concepts. Therefore, nursing theories play a role in establishing the professionalism in Nursing by providing a different approach to health care and treatment from the one used by doctors. They play an important role in creating a boundary between medicine and nursing. They help in defining a nurse’s role in the hospital, medical field, or medical practice (Ahmad, 2010). Nursing theories play a role in reinforcing nursing practices for they provide education required in treatment and care of the patients. They help the nurses to understand why a certain procedure is carried out in a certain manner and help the students to react in an appropriate manner when faced by a particular situation. By providing the education needed, the nurses are able to carry out the actual practices that their nursing

Discussion board 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discussion board 5 - Essay Example The industry provides children with a good platform that enables them to learn their environment, grow, and to have a cordial relationship with their parents. The various products from this industry include Toys, online games, and other manual games. In the recent past, the industry has experienced high level of competition from both the veteran firms and new firms (McDonald, 2011). Owing to the cutthroat competition that has characterized the industry; several firms are exploiting expansion strategies such as exports in order to increase their fortunes in the market. In order to realize increased exports for their products in foreign markets the companies have adopted sound export marketing plans. Similarities between the exports plans The various exports plans that exist in the industry have a striking similarities, which defines them. The major similarity between the marketing plans for ToyLearn, Toys " R " us and my own marketing plan is that they all target the children. Toys an d children's games target specific age group, which is children. It is important. Therefore, that the market plan is designed in such a way that when it is implemented it will be appealing to the children who are the main targets. The fact that the entire three export market plans utilize all the media platforms to popularize their products is yet another similarity among the various marketing plans under review. It is worth noting that in order to reach the foreign and the domestic markets, all forms of media such as print, audio, visual, and the Internet has to be utilized. The internet is the latest addition to the media forms, which has grown rapidly in popularity. McDonald (2011) says that children are not left behind in as far as the Internet is concerned, kids from developed economies such as Europe and America is exposed to the Internet at a tender age. It is due to this reason that the marketing plans targets the Internet as a vehicle to popularize their various products. T he internet as a form of media has several potent capabilities, which makes it the media platform that has the widest coverage. In fact, the social media is yet another aspect of the Internet that is utilized by the three marketing plans in order to reach the target audience. Almost everyone is into the various popular types of social media, which include Facebook, Twitter, and LilnkedIn. The three marketing plans have developed vibrant positioning techniques, which are responsible for ensuring success in marketing. The companies have positioned themselves as the company, which offers unrivalled medical services in America. The other positioning strategy is the fact that the company offers quality toys and other games at reasonable prices. The company is located at various strategic locations in America, which allows it to be accessible to various people seeking toys and other children games. McDonald (2011) asserts that exporting is one of the important elements of global business strategy that plays a significant role in making globalization a success. Exporting is the selling of products in international markets. The success of exporting as an approach to international global strategy is highly dependent upon the input of the government. Government must develop interest and acknowledge the immense input of exports in economic development. The procedures involved in facilitating exports of

Universalist Approach To Strategic Human Resource Management Business Essay

Universalist Approach To Strategic Human Resource Management Business Essay Your role and background is that of a Human Resource Management generalist consultant who has been called in to provide observations and suggestions to the current situation. You are an HRM generalist who has been asked to sit in on the meeting with John of PF. The CEO will ask for your opinions about how the organisation can move forward and overcome the current issues that it is experiencing. This is based on two critical forms of fit. Firstly, external fit and secondly internal fit. The external fit has to do with the HR strategy that fits with the demands of business Strategy. It is also referred to as vertical integration, the internal fit which is also referred to as horizontal integration suggests that all HR policies and activities fit together so that they make a coherent whole, are mutually reinforcing and are applied consistently. The strength of this model is that it provides a simple framework to show how selection, appraisal, development and reward can be mutually geared to produce the required of employee performance. Resource based approach This approach in concerned with the relationships between internal resources of which Human resources are one, strategy and the firm performance. It focuses on the Promotion of sustained competitive advantage through the development of human capital rather than merely aligning human resources to current strategic goals. The universalistic perspective posits the best of HR practices, implying that business strategies and HRM policies are mutually independent in determining business performance. The contingency perspective emphasizes the fit between business strategy and HRM policies and strategies, implying that business strategies are followed by HRM policies in determining business performance. The configurationally perspective posits a simultaneous internal and external fit between a firms external environment, business strategy and HR strategy, implying that business strategies and HRM policies interact, according to organisational context in determining business performance. Recruitment and selection Using the three recruitment methods of advertising in the national press, advertising in the technical press, and the internet, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each. National press When considering a press adverting campaign there are two main venues to think about; newspapers and magazines. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The magazine ads look better but the quality and the workmanship that goes into producing a magazine ad make it expensive. The readership of a magazine, on the other hand, is much easier to target, and is comes with the type of magazine you choose; a car magazine, sports or fashion magazine. On the flip side, magazine ads are viewed more times than newspaper ads and can double the exposure of the readership. the newspaper ad is much quicker and cheaper. Newspapers vary in circulation and with that they vary drastically in price. From the national press advertising campaign in newspapers, advertising in newspapers still holds a charm. Newspapers give credibility to the ads unlike radio advertising that is heard while doing something else, newspaper reading is done when a person has leisure time and his attention is not diverted. Local press advertising has benefits when dealing with a local supplier. Internet Advertising is the branch of marketing that deals with communicating to customers about products, brands, services and companies. The Internet, as a global communications medium, provides advertisers with unique and often cost-effective ways of reaching advertising audiences. As with all media, however, advertising on the Internet has unique advantages and disadvantages. Advertising on the Internet is almost a necessity for modern businesses, especially those that do business outside of their local community. Consumers use the Internet for more than simply entertainment or information, as they do with radio, television, magazines and newspapers. Consumers use the Internet to assist them in nearly every aspect of life, creating countless opportunities to place relevant, targeted ad messages. The Internets vast reach can allow advertisers to reach significantly more people than traditional advertising media at a fraction of the cost. Internet advertising is ideal for businesses with a national or international target market and large-scale distribution capabilities. As a rule, the more people your business serves, the most cost-efficient internet advertising can be. Internet advertising can also be more targeted than some traditional media, ensuring that your messages are seen by the most relevant audiences. One disadvantage of advertising on the Inter net is that your marketing materials are automatically available for anyone in the world to copy, regardless of the legal ramifications. Logos, images and trademarks can be copied and used for commercial purposes, or even to slander or mock your company. This is not the case with television and magazine advertising, wherein images must be replicated rather than simply copied electronically. Another disadvantage is the fact that the Internet-advertising gold rush has begun to introduce ad clutter to the Web. Web users are so inundated with banner ads and spam email that they have begun to ignore internet advertising just as much as ads on traditional media. Technical press There are many trades, technical and professional magazines read by customers, suppliers and businesses in your sector. If your business sells to other businesses, advertisements in these publications can be a powerful way of gaining sales, product enquiries, higher profile, trade partnerships and even potential investors. Editorials are generally perceived by readers to be independent and impartial and are therefore seen as more trustworthy than advertisements. Editorial support or endorsement helps lend your business credibility with the reader. A proactive PR strategy can increase your chances of gaining favorable editorial content. The technical press can also be used for recruitment and to source suppliers. Trade magazines provide a variety of ways to advertise: Classified advertising particularly for recruitment and gaining suppliers. Display and semi-display display advertisements are bigger and more sophisticated, often appear on editorial pages or in special supplements, and can use pictures and other design devices. Advertisement features theyre laid out like editorial pages but feature you and your business or product. You pay for them, and you may also be given advertisement space. Your suppliers might advertise as well and offset the cost. Loose inserts that you supply yourself to the magazine publisher for them to insert into the magazine. Advantages and Disadvantages of performance related pay Performance related pay is the idea of Fredrick Taylor who comprised his theory of scientific management. It is a bonus salary increase awarded in line with an employees achievement over a range of criteria. These criteria depend on each job. Awards are decided based on appraisal results. They must link achievements to pay. Advantages Rewards employees with highest productivity It is argued this system motivates staff It enables firms to recruit highly qualified staff who like the idea of being to earn a bonus Encourages employees whose performance is not u to scratch to leave company on a voluntary basis Easy to identify companies aims and objectives Disadvantages Only those who perform well get paid High flyers find it attractive possible to give employees no pay rise at all Inflation means pay will be cut and this coupled with; the indignity of being judged and found wanting, would make it that employees see a job elsewhere. Employees can be de-motivated if the goals set are too hard to achieve. Disgruntled employees Performance related pay cannot be determined unless there is a measuring system in place to assess output. It also provides a limiting factor to the use and extension of incentive pay in instances where work is difficult to measure. Where output cannot be measured, the sensible solution seems not to pay any bonus. However, because some jobs are difficult to measure, doesnt mean that good performance shouldnt be rewarded.. Learning and Training The essential purpose of training is to develop that knowledge and those skills and aptitudes which contribute to the welfare of the company and its employees. Further, all training programmes aim at making the employees more effective and productive in their present job and increasing their potential for higher level jobs. For effective transfer of training to occur, two conditions must be met; The trainee must be able to take the material learnt in the training process and apply it to the job context in which they work. The use of the learnt material must be maintained overtime on the job. Benefits of Good Training Programme It increases performance on the job, if applied. It help employee to raise current skill levels and correct any deficiency that have in doing their job efficiently. It enables present employees to acquire more and greater skill, thus increasing their versatility for transfers and their qualifications for promotions. If employees are properly trained, accidents, soiled work, and damage to machines and equipment are reduced. Training helps employees to adjust to new methods and processes that are introduced from time to time. Good training reduces dissatisfaction and absenteeism because it helps both new and experienced employees to use to the full, their individual capacities. It improves the quality of output which will benefit the company in the long run. Training improves the promotional prospect. Evaluation The HR Manager has o critically assess the training after the training exercise to determine if there is any change in their knowledge, skills, attitudes and ability. It is important to understand which skills; attitude and ability existed before therefore it is recommended that a measure of performance be undertaken before the training program begins. Transfer/behaviour This address the question, to what extent did the participant job behaviour change as a result of the training? Are the participants using their newly acquired skills and knowledge in their work environment? Is their change in behaviour and new knowledge sustained, are they using them effectively overtime. Is the trainee able to transfer the new skills to another person? Result Results answer the question, how is the training impacting on the organization overall. Is There a reduction in cost, increase in sales, are there more persons being attracted to company, improvement in production levels, less customer complaints or reduction in incidents? Performance appraisal This system is designed to measure the actual job performance of an employee. It provides feedback about the success about previous trainees and discloses the need for additional training. It helps to determine rewards or sanctions eg, of reward are pay increases based on his/her performance, promotion, commendation, demotion, warning or termination. It also gives the employee a clear understanding where he stands in relation to the organisation performance expectation. Performance Management System Performance appraisal is a method of evaluating a workers performance to ascertain how well he/she is meeting up with performance standards and targets and communicating it to the worker in order to set up a plan of improvement. Performance is the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an employees job. An individuals performance is a combination of: Effort-physical and mental energy put in a work Ability-personal characteristics used doing a job Role perception-an understanding of direction and requirements of a job Performance evaluation on individual and group is usually based on: Standards set at the planning stage Performance targets set for individual or groups Accountability-the rate at which an employee understands and takes responsibility for his actions Competencies-the skills, experience, knowledge that a worker exhibits in a job Uses of performance appraisal Performance appraisal information can be used for: Promotions Firings/layoffs Merit pay increases Individual and organisational training and development Suggesting changes in behaviour, attitudes, skills or knowledge Selection procedures, and Human resource planning Performance Appraisal Methods Performance appraisal methods include: Goal setting, or management by objectives (MBO) Work standards approach Essay appraisal Critical incident appraisal Graphic rating scale Checklist Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) Ranking methods 1. Goal setting or management by objectives. Management by objective consists of the following steps: Establishing a clear objectives for the work to be done by an employee Developing an action plan indicating how these objectives are to be achieved Allowing the employee to implement the action plan Measuring objective achievement Taking corrective action when needed Establishing new objectives for the future 2. Work standards approach. This method of appraisal involves setting a standard or an expected level of output and then comparing each employees level to the standard. Performance standards include: Quantity Quality Time Cost Dependability Accuracy Attendance, etc. 3. Essay appraisal In this method the appraiser prepares a written statement (narrative) describing a workers strengths and weaknesses, and past performance. A typical essay appraisal question might be Describe this employees performance, including quality and quantity of work, job knowledge, and ability to get along with other employees. 4. Critical incident appraisal In this method the appraiser keeps a written record of incidents that illustrate both satisfactory and unsatisfactory behaviors of the employee. The appraiser then uses these incidents as a basis for evaluating the employees performance. 5. Graphic rating scale This method requires the appraiser to indicate on a scale where the employee rates on factors such as quantity of work, dependability, job knowledge, and cooperativeness. Graphical ratings include both numerical ranges and written descriptions. Ex. On quantity of work (1) the worker does not meet minimum requirement (2) Does just enough to get byà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(5) has a superior work production record. 6. Checklist In this method the appraiser answers with a yes or no to a series of questions about the behaviour of the employee being rated. The checklist can have varying weight assigned to each question. 7. Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS) This method of appraisal determines an employees level of performance based on whether or not certain specifically job behaviors are present. BARS consist of scale value and anchors. Scale values define specific categories of performance such as: Excellent, good, average, poor, etc. Anchors are statements which indicate the level of performance on the scale opposite that particular anchor. 8. Ranking methods In this method of appraisal, the performance of an employee is ranked relative to the performance of others. Ranking methods include: Alternation ranking Paired comparison ranking, and Forced distribution Alternation ranking-the appraiser lists the names of employees to be rated on the left side of a sheet of paper. The rater chooses the most valuable employee on the list, crosses that name off the left-hand list, and puts at the top of the column on the right-hand side of the paper. The rater repeats the process for all names on the left hand side of the paper. Paired comparison ranking: suppose a rater is to evaluate six employees. The names of these individuals are listed on the left side of a sheet of paper. The rater then compares the first employee with the second employee on a chosen performance criterion, such as quantity of work; he then makes a mark on the first employees name if he produced more. He then compares the first employee with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth employees on the same performance criterion. Forced distribution-In this method, the appraiser places a certain percentage of employees at various performance levels. It assumes performance in a group of employees is distributed according to a normal curve. Thus, the rater could place 60% of employees as meeting expectation; 20% as exceeding expectation, and 20% as not meeting expectations. Model of Attendance Your company wont suffer much from the occasional employee day off or sick day, but patterns of absences can create havoc in your work place. With several employees out of the office, production slows, or other employees may have to pick up the slack causing the quality of their work to suffer. While you cant prevent every absence, you can take steps to decrease the number of overall absences. Create an Attendance Policy Some employees may show up late or take several days off because they do not understand the companys stance on absences. You need a clear-cut attendance policy so every employee knows what you expect of him. Include reasons for acceptable absences, what you consider unacceptable and any disciplinary action or reduction in pay the employee may face after abusing holiday or sick days. Make sure every employee receives a copy of this policy. Have your supervisors monitor their employees and enforce the policy. Improve Morale If your office staff suffers from general low morale, employees will start to dread coming to work. This can increase absences throughout the staff. Spend time each week on boosting morale. Make sure every employee has regularly scheduled breaks throughout the day. Offer group lunches, prizes for completing projects or other incentives. Creating a positive environment that incorporates hard work with down time helps boost morale. Reduce Stress An employee can feel stressed in the workplace, especially if she has a large workload. High levels of stress can lead to avoidance, or even cause an illness. Both of which can lead to frequent absences. Make sure every employee has an even workload and can complete tasks given to them. Create teams to complete projects, rather than assigning one employee to the entire task. Reducing workloads and placing the right people with the right jobs will reduce stress levels in the office. Steers and Rhodes developed a model on absenteeism which according to Harrison and Martocchio, 1998 was deemed to be very influential and frequently cited in literatures about absenteeism within organizations. The model states that the capability of employees or workers to attend work is primarily dictated by how motivated as well as their ability to attend and perform their duties. These variables, ability and motivation have been thought to interact in a manner that an individual supposed ability to be present at work usually moderates his/her enthusiasm to attend work-what has been known as attendance relationship(Steers and Susan, 1978).The two further argued that personal characteristics or attributes which include sex(gender), tenure, family size, education, in addition to that, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, the ability to attend which encompass sickness, family responsibilities, accidents as well as transport problems, pressure to attend that include attendance reward system/incentives/bonuses, work group norms all either in isolation or in combination influence absenteeism of employees. It is worth to note that these were addition to their initial model developed in 1978 which only identified job satisfaction as the only specific significant factor affecting attendance motivation. From the diagram, attendance motivation is influenced by organizational practices, culture of absenteeism, attitude, values and goals of employees. Employees who are fully satisfied with their jobs do have strong loyalty to the organization and proud of it hence will desire to actively engage in activities to better the organization, and this is done by being present at work. REFERNCES Retrieved August 12, 2011, from World Wide Web http://smallbusiness.chron.com/things-improve-employee-work-attendance-19070.html Retrieved August 3, 2011, from World Wide Web (function() { var scribd = document.createElement("script"); scribd.type = "text/javascript"; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = "https://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js"; var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })() Retrieved August 3, 2011, from, from World Wide Web http://www.businessballs.com/trainingprogramevaluation.htm Retrieved August 12, 2011, from, from World Wide Web http://managementhelp.org/training/basics/reasons-for-training.htm Daft, R. and Marcic, D. (2007). Management, The New Workplace. Ohio. USA: Thomson Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (1996). Principles of Marketing. New Jersey: Prentice hall.

BURNING QUESTION THE GLOBAL WARMING

Make you hold that planetary warming emanation in USA and China can be reduced?â€Å"Global heating is excessively serious for the universe any longer to disregard its danger or split into opposing cabals on it.†TONY BLAIR, address, Sept. 27, 2005. Decidedly in the past decennaries planetary warming emanation has been increasing bit by bit in all over the universe. Worlds are playing an of import function in accepting the effects and duties of their action behind the issue of planetary warming emanation ; in fact we do n't hold any other beginning to set the incrimination on. We are seting our kids are in menace by coercing them to inhale toxic gases into their lungs in the hereafter, people should work to turn up a solution for this job. In order to decrease the planetary heating emanation many organisations are taking action to promote citizens, authoritiess, corporations, and politicians take the stairss necessary to haltplanetarywarming. A protocol was made in Japan on 11 December 1997 called by Kyoto Protocol which is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major property of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets adhering marks for 37 industrialised states and the European community for cut downing nursery gas emanations.These sum to an norm of five per cent against 1990 degrees over the five-year period 2008-2012.The protocol is non merely promoting these states to stabilise the emanation but commits them to make so. ( www.ec.europa.eu ) We are cognizant of these series accomplishment that had been made but humanity still persevere to happen a convincing reply for the inquiry, which is, can planetary warming emanation in USA and China be reduced? If we come across the concern as human beings we can be able to happen a solution for the emanation worldwide merely if we worked together as one state and convey to an terminal the actions the human doing it, all for the interest of us and to see a cleansing agent and brighter hereafter for our kids. This research will exemplify convincing indicant of ways to cut down the emanation of planetary heating. The study findings are restricted to both United State of America and The Republic of China. Entirely because both states are rated on the highest beginnings of planetary warming emanation. There many factors and beginnings behind the increasing of emanation in both USA and China, chiefly the factors are semisynthetic, ensuing from human activities and impacting negatively in our planet. A few beginnings are of course caused, but merely the incrimination can belong to us as homo. Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is gathered in the ambiance, pin downing the Sun ‘s heat and doing the planet to warm up. Coal firing power workss are the major U.S. beginning of C dioxide pollution ; they produce 2.5 billion dozenss every twelvemonth. Cars are following major beginning, bring forthing about 1.5 billion dozenss of CO2 annually. Local temperatures rise and autumn of course, over the past 50 old ages the typical planetary temperature has increased at the fastest rate. And specializers think the motion is speed uping. The 10 hottest old ages on record have all taken topographic point since 1990. Scientists say that unless we cut down planetary heating emanations, mean U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 grades higher by the terminal of the century. Global heating is already doing injury in several parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon suffered their most atrocious wildfire seasons of all time. In the same twelvemonth, drouth created dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and inundations caused 100s of 1000000s of dollars in harm in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow assemblage has decreased by 60 per centum and winter seasons have shortened in several countries of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. ( www.earthjustice.org, www.climatehotmap.org ) China is counted as the one of the top states in emanation of toxic gases. In 2008, China became the universe ‘s largest emitter of nursery gases, in front of long clip leader the United States. China is confronting a series threaten and catastrophe caused by the big sum of C dioxide been emitted to the ambiance, the menaces may impact the imbibing H2O system, more hurricanes and twister, a side to longer dry seasons which may straight impact the agriculture industry. ( www.news.mongabay.com ) There have been many ideas declaring that the emanation is acquiring out of control and no 1 is able to take back control of it. As the figure of autos, planes, trains, ships, and mills increases bit by bit will take to an addition in the emanation of toxicant gases to the ambiance. Many will state it is non possible to command our planet no more. We can answer by stating there are many stairss should be taken in order to keep a lower emanation rate. Car shapers are bring forthing new type of autos called â€Å"Hybrid cars† these auto will utilize a clean beginning of energy such as solar energy or electrical energy which will non breathe toxic exhausts to the ambiance. All these clean beginnings can be used into other transit vehicles other than autos merely. hypertext transfer protocol: //ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/kyoto.htm The Greening of Global Warming Book by Robert Mendelsohn ; American Enterprise Institute, 1999 hypertext transfer protocol: //news.mongabay.com/2009/0817-hance_china_climate.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.carnegieendowment.org/topic/index.cfm? fa=viewTopic & A ; topic=3000145 & A ; gclid=CO6iqsPYxJwCFSn6agodUEelmA hypertext transfer protocol: //www.earthjustice.org/library/background/climate_change_additional_links.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.climatehotmap.org/namerica.html

Christianity and Islam Essay

A few months ago, when a Vatican official announced that Catholicism was surpassed by Islam as the world’s largest faith, many news agencies around the world carried what seemed to have been a largely unnoticed issue for this present generation – religion. At least for some time, renewed debates about whether or not one should indeed consider Islam as a religion that commands world’s largest followers surfaced one after another. The issue many people think should not be dismissed is the fact that Christianity – a religion which combines an array of all its offshoots namely Roman Catholicism, Orthodox, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Evangelicals, among others – still has the largest adherents compared to any other religion, including Islam. Even if Christianity may be broken down into some larger or other smaller denominations, many people subscribe to idea that since all Christians root their belief in Christ, one must take them as belonging to a singular religion, the largest in the world to be exact. To consider Christianity as a single religion involves rounds of new separate debates. Surely, when the differences between the mainstream Christian blocks and the thousand of other minor denominations are brought into the fore, their respective beliefs will manifest diversity, resemblance, opposition, and even contradiction. Tedious as this process may appear, one may not yet consider the fact that even in the Islam religion itself there are further classifications of membership that must be taken into careful account. Again, it is legitimate to inquire whether it is proper to take Islam as a unitary religion, or they too must be broken down into their finer types. As one may correctly observe, inner divisions within the world’s largest religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. – appear to be a fundamentally given fact. One can perhaps inquire whether it is possible to identify a major religion with millions, if not a billion of adherents, which does not have any, or have not suffered from any inner rift at any given point of its history. It may be interesting to ask therefore, what accounts for the eventual internal fall out of world religions in history? Better yet, how must we attempt to understand what happens in a religion that has been divided into smaller aggregate types in the course of history? II. Rationale and Scope This brief study presents a case for divisions transpiring within world religions. But since the scope of studying the issue is broad (considering that there are many major world religions to cite), this research shall be restricted at tackling Christianity and Islam as chosen types. Specifically, the study shall describe the events that transpired during the Catholic-Protestant divide of the mid 1500’s for Christianity, and the Shiite-Sunni divide for Islam. To be sure, there are other identifiable divisions which can be noted in the history of Christianity. While there are small schisms involving â€Å"heretics† who refuse to accept fundamental Christian teachings, Christianity is said to have been divided into two major blocks during the 11th century. It produced the dichotomization between the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, which until the present still exists. For the purposes of limiting this study, the Christian division which shall be discussed in this study shall dwell on the Luther-led Reformation of the 1500’s. Meanwhile, it is also insightful to note even in the Islam religion, there have been various types of smaller divisions and schisms. For the purposes of this study too, the rift between the Shiites and the Sunnis that was created in the early years of Islam religion shall be the one in focus. A short analysis and interpretation of the sample religions used shall comprise the conclusion of this study. III. Discussion Proper a. Nature of Religion Before relating the events defining the divisions that were experienced both by Christianity and Islam, it will be helpful to cite some theories to help explain the dynamics of religion. This is important since it shall provide a working perspective which is to be used later on in the analysis. Religion is a phenomenon which may be understood in many ways. Basically speaking, it refers to the common innate feeling or â€Å"belief in a Supreme Being† (McCutcheon, 2007, p. 22). Religion obviously stems from a belief that there is a higher being that must be worshiped or adored. But religion does not pertain to kind of personal belief alone. It also describes how a believer finds the need to belong to a community which shares the same belief, and thus obey a given set of rules within it. Thus, another definition for religion may also be expressed as a â€Å"unified system of belief and practices relative to sacred things† which â€Å"unites (believers) into one single moral community† (McCutcheon, 2007, p. 22). Combing both definitions enable one to fully appreciate the fact that religion pertains to both a personal ascent to God, and a commitment to a community, a set of rules and a specific set rituals. When seen under the lenses of scientific inquiry (e. g. anthropology, sociology, philosophy, etc. ) religion reveals patterns and dynamism consistent with human belief system, knowledge, interest and relationships. This means that religion is molded into the belief system of the believers. For instance, if Christians hold that Christ in his lifetime was compassionate to the poor, it follows that they too, since they follow Christ, must do something good for their less fortunate brethren. Or if Moslems take Mohammad as their example, and Mohammad was a deeply spiritual man, they too must not take spirituality lightly in their lives. Religious mindset is committed to certain courses of action (Slater, 1978, p. 6); and these actions are meaningful only because believers draw their identities from a person or a belief system they embrace – be it the Lordship of Christ, or the greatness of the Prophet Muhammad (Slater, 1978, p. 82). This is one of the primary reasons why religions possess their â€Å"continuing identities† (Slater, 1978, p. 82). So long as a group of Christians identify themselves to the teachings of their religion, say Catholic Church, they will remain to be Catholics. As indeed, so long as a group of Moslems identify themselves to the teachings of their religion, say Shiite group, they will remain to be identified with it. What explains the shift in a belief system is when one cannot anymore identify either with a teaching, or specific religious structures. It is a general rule that key to a religion’s perpetuity is establishing an identity. When people start to feel alienated with what they used to hold or believe it, it can explain why a group of believers create their own groups to accommodate their otherwise alienated belief system. To help establish the point, it may be good to lay down two glaring examples. b. The Shiite-Sunnis Divide Islam was born at least five hundred years after Christianity was already an institutionalized religion. But what started out only as a small community following Muhammad, Islam grew in exponential proportion in just a short span of time. Within the rapid growth came bitter disputes and eventual breakaways. Although Islam is a religion which does not readily recognize that there are divisions within them, scholars are almost unanimous in agreeing that some factions already broke from within the Moslem community dating back to the days when the religion itself was merely beginning to be established. In a sense, Islam is a religion broken down into at least two major divisions even before it got to be formally established as a religious phenomenon. It all started when a certain man named Muhammad, who by the way was born in 570 to a very poor family, begun to attract followers after experiencing visions and revelations (Renard, 1998, p. 7). His reputation spread in neighboring places, and soon found himself at odds with ruling empires for the large number of followers he had gathered. After this increasingly expanding community finally settled in Mecca in 630, Muhammad would die two years after (Renard, 1998, p. 7). His death would then see his community figure in a prolonged tug-of-war for rightful succession, and would officially begin the drift within the newly established religious community. One group claimed that Muhammad chose his rightful successor in the person of his son named Ali before he died. The other group contested the claim and said, no instructions were made by the Prophet whatsoever. Instead, they held that it was appropriate for to appoint leaders themselves, and eventually chose Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, as the first of the four caliphs (meaning head), to rule the Islam community. Those who embraced the leadership of Ali were eventually known as the Shiites, while the followers who believed Abu Bakr’s caliphate eventually came to be known as Sunnis. As such, the neat separation within the just-emerging Islamic religion has been established. Since it exists up until today, it can be described as the â€Å"largest institutional division within the Muslim community† so far (Renard, 1998, p. 13; Ayoub, 2004, 72). c. The Catholic-Protestant Divide The era that colored the Catholic-Protestant divide was a Church marred with controversies, silent disenchantment and an ever growing discontent among Christian faithful. As history would show, it was through and because of Martin Luther – and his whole ebb generating protests against the Church – that the radical break from Catholicism was to be established. But hundreds of years before the supposed break, there had already been numerous events that point to the restlessness within the membership of the Church which it tried to quell. What were the controversies about? As early as the 1300’s, roughly two hundred years before Luther was born, an ordained priest by the name of John Wycliffe started to publish series of attacks against some of the major teachings and traditions of the Church. In 1372, he was summoned and reprimanded by Church authorities for his teachings that dwelled on the following: his denial of the doctrine of transubstantiation (a belief that the bread and wine used in celebrating the Eucharist is transformed into the real body and blood of Christ), attacks on the authority of the Pope as the head of the Church, corrupt practices within the Church, and emphasis on preaching and the use of Scriptures for teaching the doctrines of the Church (Cook, 2008, p. 95). Wycliffe probably represented the first courageous voices which tried to confront what’s wrong with the Church. In fact, he did try to raise legitimate concerns about both the divisive doctrines and lamentable discipline which the Church at that time practiced. Years after, Luther would pick up from where his predecessors had left out. In 1517, he released his Ninety-Five Theses to the public – a collection of ninety-five protests against many Church teachings – both doctrinal and moral – and Church practices, such as indulgences (spiritual merits obtained in return for monetary donations), celibacy (the promise for priests not to marry), Eucharist, among others (Cook, 2008, p. 100). Since the general religious atmosphere at that time was already ripe for reforms, his ninety-five theses were easily duplicated and spread throughout the German empire – a testament, as it were, to a huge popular support he enjoyed for the risks he took. Luther’s break from the Church was formally established when he burned the Papal bull Exsurge Domine (a decree which threatened him of excommunication if he did not recant his protests) in front of many people in a public square (Cook, 2008, 101). After which, he did subsequently ask the authorities of the German kingdom to support his cause for Church reform. Luther is remembered as a man who broke the Catholic Church apart. True enough, even before he died, he already saw the far reaching effects of his call for reforms he perhaps initially did not intended to jumpstart. Thanks to Luther, Christianity would never be the same again. The â€Å"Germany after (the) Reformation† movement in the mid 1500’s became a home to a new breed of Christians who came to be branded as Lutherans, Calvinist, Reformers, or even Protestants (Pennock, 2007, p. 168). In principle, Luther earned the reputation of being an agent of division within the Christian religion. IV. Conclusion To be sure, Christianity and Islam are not the only major religions in the world which had suffered a kind of break-up from within. Religious divisions are commonplace, and that variations sprouting from within large communities may be brought about by various factors. When divisions occur, one normally observes that differences pertaining to a host of issues including (but not limited to) doctrines, practices, or even recognized leadership become patent. As earlier mentioned, the dynamics of religion may help explain why a feeling of alienation (or a loss of identity) can push a believer or a group to break-away from mainstream religion to form their own set of practices and norms independently. Christianity and Islam were taken as exemplifications. In the points that were developed, it was seen that they share a history with lots of bitter disputes, which in turn led to an eventual division. But both religions suffered from internal rifts quite differently as well. Islam’s division was more political in nature, as two major factions with their respective claims to rightful succession to their now-dead Prophet-leader tore the emerging community apart – thus, the Sunnis and the Shiites. Christianity on the other hand, after experiencing many breakaway groups in the course of history, had to suffer yet another major blow from internal disputes led by Martin Luther in the 1500’s on account of doctrine and practices. What followed was a Christian religion torn once again, which ushered the creation of a big faction named Protestants. Religious divisions can be put under rigorous inquiry. There are viewpoints that consider these divisions as something that separate one group after another, while there are those who propose to see the same divisions as something that merely distinguish (but not separate). While the two viewpoints may be valid in their respective senses, this study places much interest not on their â€Å"distinguishability† or â€Å"separability†, but on the fact that, truly, religious divisions from within happen. References Ayoub, M. (2004). Islam. Faith and History. Oxford: Oneworld. Cook, C.. (2008) The Routledge Companion to Christian History. New York: Routledge. McCutcheon, R. (2007). Studying Religion. An Introduction. London: Equinox. Pennock, M. (2007) This is Our Church. A History of Catholicism. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press. Renard, J. (1998)101 Questions and Answers on Islam. New York: Paulist Press. Slater, P. (1978). The Dynamics of Religion. Meaning and Change in Religious Traditions. San Francisco: Harper and Row. (Also consulted) http://ca. news. yahoo. com/s/capress/080330/world/vatican_muslims