Womens rights

History of women's rights See also: Legal rights of women in history and Timeline of women's rights (other than voting) China The status of women In China was low, largely due to the custom of foot binding. About 45% of Chinese women had bound feet in the 19th century. For the upper classes, it was almost 100%. In 1912, the Chinese government ordered the cessation of foot-binding. Foot-binding Involved alteration of the bone structure so that the feet were only about 4 inches long.The bound feet caused difficulty of movement, thus greatly limiting the activities of women. Due to the social custom that men and omen should not be near to one another, the women of China were reluctant to be treated by male doctors of Western Medicine. This resulted in a tremendous need for female doctors of Western Medicine in China. Thus, female medical missionary Dr. Mary H. Fulton (1854-1927)[3] was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to found the first medical college for women in China.Known as the Hackett Medical College for Women this College was located In Guangzhou, China, and was enabled by a large donation from Mr. Edward A. K. Hackett (1851-1916) of Indiana, USA. The College was aimed at the spreading of Christianity and modern medicine and the elevation of Chinese women's social Greece The status of women in ancient Greece varied form city state to city state. Records exist of women in ancient Delphi, Gortyn, Thessaly, Megara and Sparta owning land, the most prestigious form of private property at the tlme. [8] In ancient Athens. omen had no legal personhood and were assumed to be part of the oikos headed by the male kyrios. Until marriage, women were under the guardianship of their father or other male relative. once married the husband became a woman's kyrlos. As omen were barred from conducting legal proceedings, the kyrios would do so on their behalf. [9] Athenian women had limited right to property and therefore were not considered full citizens, as citizenship and the entitlement to civil and political rights was defined in relation to property and the means to life. 10] However, women could acquire rights over property through gifts, dowry and inheritance, though her kyrios had the right to dispose of a woman's property[11] Athenian women could enter into a contract worth less than the value of a â€Å"medimnos of barley' (a measure of grain), allowing women to engage in petty trading. 9] Slaves, like women, were not eligible for full citizenship In ancient Athens, though In rare circumstances they could become citizens if freed. The only permanent barrier to citizenship, and hence full political and civil rights, in ancient Athens was gender.No women ever acquired citizenship In ancient Athens, and therefore women were excluded In principle and practice from ancient Athenian democracy. [12] By contrast, Spartan women enjoyed a status, power, and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. Although Spartan women were formally excluded from military and political life they njoyed considerable status as mothers of Spartan warriors. As men engaged in military activity, women took responsibility for running estates. Following protracted and 40% of all Spartan land and By the Hellenistic Period, some of the wealthiest Spartans were women.The unique thing about Patria Potestas was that it ad no age limits, according to Gaius a man could be consul, have a wife and children of his own and future prominence but as long as his father was alive was still under his potestas (power) and so could own nothing. Patria Potestas only ended with either the death of the father, or emancipation by him. Early in the Republic Manus Marriage ended the potestas for women, but during the middle and later Republic that form of marriage became rare, eventually disappearing completely.Marriage Under Law Rome had only two forms of marriage, and both had exactly the opposite view of legal effects. Manus Marriage was the earlier form of marriage and placed the woman under her husband's manus legally standing in the position of a daughter. Under this type of marriage women could own nothing, and had little if any legal protections. On the other hand a woman assumed the position of her husband's daughter in Manus Marriage making her agnatically instead of cognatically related to Manus, and was the opposite of Manus.Women married Sine Manu experienced no legal changes, so if her father was alive at time of marriage she continued to be his dependent and before the reign of Marcus Aurelius he could even force an end to he marriage. The lack of any legal change of status for the women meant that (provided their father had either died or emancipated them) they could own property, conduct most forms of business, and divorce her husband (without any reason needed). Legally speaking the only lack of independence a woman in Rome experienced in a marriage without Manus was from her fathe r.The only legal issue related to marriage was dowry. A dowry was not required by law, but was usually provided by a father or if a father was nonexistent it would be whatever the bride wished to come out of her own estate. It was administered by the husband, but in the vent of a divorce he was required to provide either the dowry or the equivalent of it back to his wife. In the case of adultery, husbands got to keep portions of the dowry. Politics Legally speaking women were banned from politics.As with freedmen and slaves of the Imperial Family women of the imperial family gained some benefits from the fall of the Republic, but because the nature of the Principate was to hide dictatorship such power had to be subtle and kept out of the public eye when possible. The ban on women and politics was they could not vote or run for office (sine suffragio) enlist n the army, or represent somebody else in court, women speaking their minds was not considered politics and so some women like Hortensia managed to make appearances in politics without violating the law.Inheritance Rights Everyone under the potestas of another had equal rights of inheritance under Roman Law, and wills that did otherwise ran risks of being challenged and invalidated as negligent. Stoic Influence Stoic philosophies had a strong effect on the development of law in ancient Rome. The Roman stoic thinkers Seneca and Musonius Rufus developed theories of Just elationships (not to be confused with equality in society, or even equality) arguing that nature gives men and women equal capacity for virtue and equal obligations to act virtuously (a vague concept).Therefore they argued that men and women have an equal need for philosophical education. [20] Stoic theories entered Roman law first through the Roman lawyer and senator Marcus Tullius Cicero and the influence of stoicism and philosophy increased while the status of women improved under the Empire. [21] Religious scriptures Bible See Women in the Bible â€Å"Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20) â€Å"Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. † Oudges 4:4) God chose a woman, Deborah, to lead Israel.Qur'an The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. feminism, and Sex segregation and Islam The Qur'an, revealed to Muhammad over the course of 23 years, provide guidance to the Islamic community and modified existing customs in Arab society. From 610 and 661, known as the early reforms under Islam, the Qur'an introduced fundamental reforms to customary law and ntroduced rights for women in marriage, divorce and inheritance.By providing that the wife, not her family, would receive a dowry from the husband, which she could administer as her personal property, the Qur'an made women a legal party to the marriage contra ct. [citation needed] While in customary law inheritance was limited to male descendents, the Qur'an introduced rules on inheritance with certain fixed shares being distributed to designated heirs, first to the nearest female relatives and then the nearest male relatives. 22] According to Annemarie Schimmel â€Å"compared to he pre-lslamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work. â€Å"[23] The general improvement of the status of Arab women included prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing women's full personhood. [24] Women were generally given greater rights than women in pre-lslamic Arabia[25][26] and medieval Europe. [27] Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures until centuries later. 28] According to Professor William Montgomery Watt, when seen in uch historical context, Muhammad â€Å"can be seen as a fgure who testified on behalf of women's rights. â€Å"[29] The Middle Ages According to English Common Law, which developed from the 12th century onward, all property which a wife held at the time of a marriage became a possession of her husband. Eventually English courts forbade a husband's transferring property without the consent of his wife, but he still retained the right to manage it and to receive the money which it produced.French married women suffered from restrictions on their legal capacity which were removed only in 1965. [30] In the 16th entury, the Reformation in Europe allowed more women to add their voices, including the English writers Jane Anger, Aemilia Lanyer, and the prophetess Anna Trapnell. English and American Quakers believed that men and women were equal. Many Quaker women were preachers. [31] Despite relatively greater freedom for Anglo-Saxon women, until the mid-19th century, writers largely assumed that a pat riarchal order was a natural order that had always existed. 32] This perception was not seriously challenged until the 18th century when Jesuit missionaries found matrilineality in native North American peoples. [33] 18th and 19th century Europe The Debutante (1807) by Henry Fuseli; The woman, victim of male social conventions, is tied to the wall, made to sew and guarded by governesses. The picture reflects Mary Wollstonecraft's views in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in 1792. [34] Starting in the late 18th century, and throughout the 19th century, rights, as a concept and claim, gained increasing political, social and philosophical importance in Europe.Movements emerged which demanded freedom of religion, the abolition of slavery, rights for women, rights for those who did not own property and universal to political debates in both France and Britain. At the time some of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment, who defended democratic principles of equality and challenged notions that a privileged few should rule over the vast majority of the population, believed that these principles should be applied only to their own gender and their own race.The philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau for example thought that it was the order of nature for woman to obey men. He wrote â€Å"Women do wrong to complain of the inequality of man-made laws† and claimed that â€Å"when she tries to usurp our rights, she is our First page of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen In 1791 he French playwright and political activist Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen,[37] modelled on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789.The Declaration is ironic in formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been devoted to equality. It states that: â€Å"This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society'. The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen ollows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen point for point and has been described by Camille Naish as â€Å"almost a parody†¦ f the original document†. The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that â€Å"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility. † The first article of Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen replied: â€Å"Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility'.De Gouges expands the sixth article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which declared the rights of citizens to take part in the formation of law, to: Australian women's rights were lampooned in this 1887 Melbourne Punch cartoon: A hypothetical female member foists her baby's care on the House Speaker â€Å"All citizens including women are equally admissible to all public dignities, offices and employments, according to their capacity, and with no other distinction than that of their virtues and talents†. De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law women were fully punishable, yet denied equal rights. 8] Mary Wollstonecraft, a British writer and philosopher, published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, arguing that it was the education and upbringing of women that created limited expectations. Women’s Rights Over the centuries, women have faced numerous difficulties in a male supremacist infested society who places gender as the main determining element of human capacity. Despite the rise of liberal, secularist ideologies that express support for women’s rights in the 08th and 19th centuries, the problem remains chronic as there remain social prejudices and blind convictions on the weaknesses and shortcomings of women as members of society. . During the 50s, the media projected women as undignified citizens who do not have the right to exercise free will. Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin recall Seventeen Magazine to have advised their readers about the role of women in a relationship. That the woman’s role was to function as partners and not rivals, enemies, and playthings, and that the relationship between women and men should create a heaven, a home that should serve as a place of sanctuary and peace (Isserman & Kazin, 2000, 13). The 1960s proved, on the other hand, to be one of the biggest turning points of women’s rights in the United States and across the world. Apart from the emergence of the second wave of feminists, the Vietnam War provided opportunities for women to show their capabilities as members of the working class. The entrance of women to the realm of the paid labor force were led by women who at the time were over the 40-year old mark Despite such remarkable turn of events, women remained to be deemed as underrated second class citizens. Primarily, tradition norms hold that women should not be granted education and right to labor as their capabilities are not equal to those of their male counterparts. As a result, society failed to acknowledge the statistical proliferation of women in the labor sector because of traditional belief and practice. In doing so, society also failed to look at the fact that the entrance of women in the labor force meant that women as unrecognized members of society have finally broken the domestic ideal that women are supposed to show their supremacy as homemakers and housewives. For the African American woman however, the deprivation of rights were enveloped in the concepts of gender and ethnicity. While African-American women enjoyed the rights to having paid labor similar to those of their male counterparts, they were always compared to white women (Isserman & Kazin, 2000, 26). And considering the rampant racial discrimination during the 20th century, the comparisons between African-American women and Caucasian women implied negativity. Likewise, the right to purity for African American women was among the most alarming concerns as the accepted norm regarding women who take pleasure for sensual activities were only ascribed to African American women. Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin (2000, 27) write that white American Writer Willie Morris was shocked by the fact that a woman of his own skin tone does actually enjoy sexual intercourse. Morris added more insult to injury as he denoted his personal thought that â€Å"only Negro women engaged in the act of love with white males just for fun (Isserman & Kazin, 2000, 27). † Women’s rights over the years have been hindered by male supremacists who only believed in the capabilities of their own ego. However, it has also been apparent that apart from gender, skin tone and other physical features are also factors that hinder women from proliferating and being part of a prejudice-free society. But putting all the obstacles that gender issues bring forth, such obstacles should not be the cause of disheartening but a beacon of hope that women would one day face a world free of blind prejudice and mindless conformity. Women’s Rights Women are increasingly under attack in Afghanistan as far as women’s rights are concerned. The Taliban overthrew the afghan government in 1996, and ruled from 1996-2001, and during that time; strict restrictions had been executed on women. Women and girls were not allowed to work or receive education. There was an exception to the rule if a woman was widowed, and had no other source of income, and then she could work. Women could not go outside, unless they were covered in a head to toe â€Å"burqua,† which is their traditional attire, and a male relative had to accompany them. The burqua only has a small mesh opening over the eyes allowing limited vision, and many of the women had been injured due to poor visibility. If a woman showed a bit of her ankle or had noisy shoes, she would be beaten. In addition, women had no voice, so they are were not allowed to speak in public. From puberty until death, women could only speak to men who were relatives. Once â€Å"The War on Terrorism† began, it gave the Afghan and Iraqi women hope to reform their nation and improve the social situation. The Taliban were chased from the country by U. S. military forces in 2001, and there have been some improvements in women’s rights concerning education and employment although many still suffer the hardships they did before the war. Most improvements have happened in major cites of Afghanistan such as Kabul, leaving rural areas with very much change at all. The police still enforce the wearing of the â€Å"burqua† by the women, but in Kabul, many professional women no longer wear the burqua, but many still do. According to a July 2003 Human Rights Watch report, the Southeast Afghanistan army and police practice of kidnapping, robbing and raping is so prevalent that women and girls are staying home as a means of protection. The fear of assault and political intimidation prevents the women and girls from gaining an education, employment and political influence. † (National Organization for Women, 2008) There is no abiding law and order in Afghanistan by the police o r local authorities. The NATO forces do not have enough manpower to offer protection. However, armed fathers, husbands and brothers do all they can to protect the women. Afghanistan is also known for child brides and marrying off girls as young as eleven to men in their thirties and even older. â€Å"True, women hold 27 percent of the seats in the National Assembly and one-sixth of the seats in the Upper House. But most Afghan women remain illiterate, impoverished and vulnerable to political and criminal violence. Only 15 percent of Afghan woman can read. The United Nations has described Afghan women as being â€Å"among the worst-off in the world. On average, women in Afghanistan die at least 20 years younger than women elsewhere. †(Women in Afghanistan, 2006) In Herat, which is Afghanistan’s second largest city, the government has given women and girls limited educational and employment opportunities. Women groups have been censored, and derailed from the governments’ administration. It is bad enough that the government is threatening womenâ₠¬â„¢s rights, but society has imposed other means by handing out pamphlets in communities encouraging parents not to send their daughters to school, and many of the girls schools have been firebombed and burned. Some girls have been poisoned to death for going to school. Parents that often deny education for their daughters, force their young girls into marriage. Girls are forced into marriage as young as eight years old. Other restrictions that Afghan women face as a violation of women’s rights is a ban on outside employment, strict dress code for women, very limited medical care, threats of violence if seen without a husband, father or male relative and rejection of humanitarian aid. Women are denied any share of humanitarian aid delivered to their country under the assumption that the men will take care of the women. Before the Taliban takeover in 1996, the Afghanistan women were scientist, members of parliament, cabinet members, and university professors. They led corporations, non-profit organizations and local communities. Many of these women are more than qualified to lead Afghanistan back to democracy. In November 2001, shockingly, Afghan women marched for their rights in Kabul. For the first time in more than six years, Afghan women rallied for their rights. Hillary Clinton established a campaign for women in Afghanistan and in 1999; she spoke out on their behalf about the abuse and the wearing of the burqua of the women in Afghanistan. Over the years, some schools have reopened in Afghanistan allowing boys and girls to attend. Several women have also been appointed or elected to important political roles. In the past five years, in the southern city of Kandahar at least five thousand women have graduated from special literacy courses, where they learned how to read and write and were taught skills such as dressmaking or computer knowledge. There is a woman minister of public health, a woman minister of women’s affairs and a woman heading the human rights commission. Women are also now able to travel more freely, and they have returned to work. Although progress is being made, there is still much more turmoil. â€Å"Registered cases of physical violence against women and girls in Afghanistan have increased by about 40 percent since March 2007. Some women seek escape by self-immolation, resulting in death or disfigurement. Last year, at least 30 women committed suicide in the western Farah Province alone, most of them by setting themselves on fire, according to Afghan media reports. † (Afghanistan Online, 2008) The Afghanistan government announced a plan to give nearly one third of jobs to women by 2012. I hope that this will lead to greater things, and that the women’s rights of Afghanistan will improve and that every woman will be included throughout the country, and they can move forward. Women’s Rights Womens rights History of women's rights See also: Legal rights of women in history and Timeline of women's rights (other than voting) China The status of women In China was low, largely due to the custom of foot binding. About 45% of Chinese women had bound feet in the 19th century. For the upper classes, it was almost 100%. In 1912, the Chinese government ordered the cessation of foot-binding. Foot-binding Involved alteration of the bone structure so that the feet were only about 4 inches long.The bound feet caused difficulty of movement, thus greatly limiting the activities of women. Due to the social custom that men and omen should not be near to one another, the women of China were reluctant to be treated by male doctors of Western Medicine. This resulted in a tremendous need for female doctors of Western Medicine in China. Thus, female medical missionary Dr. Mary H. Fulton (1854-1927)[3] was sent by the Foreign Missions Board of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to found the first medical college for women in China.Known as the Hackett Medical College for Women this College was located In Guangzhou, China, and was enabled by a large donation from Mr. Edward A. K. Hackett (1851-1916) of Indiana, USA. The College was aimed at the spreading of Christianity and modern medicine and the elevation of Chinese women's social Greece The status of women in ancient Greece varied form city state to city state. Records exist of women in ancient Delphi, Gortyn, Thessaly, Megara and Sparta owning land, the most prestigious form of private property at the tlme. [8] In ancient Athens. omen had no legal personhood and were assumed to be part of the oikos headed by the male kyrios. Until marriage, women were under the guardianship of their father or other male relative. once married the husband became a woman's kyrlos. As omen were barred from conducting legal proceedings, the kyrios would do so on their behalf. [9] Athenian women had limited right to property and therefore were not considered full citizens, as citizenship and the entitlement to civil and political rights was defined in relation to property and the means to life. 10] However, women could acquire rights over property through gifts, dowry and inheritance, though her kyrios had the right to dispose of a woman's property[11] Athenian women could enter into a contract worth less than the value of a â€Å"medimnos of barley' (a measure of grain), allowing women to engage in petty trading. 9] Slaves, like women, were not eligible for full citizenship In ancient Athens, though In rare circumstances they could become citizens if freed. The only permanent barrier to citizenship, and hence full political and civil rights, in ancient Athens was gender.No women ever acquired citizenship In ancient Athens, and therefore women were excluded In principle and practice from ancient Athenian democracy. [12] By contrast, Spartan women enjoyed a status, power, and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. Although Spartan women were formally excluded from military and political life they njoyed considerable status as mothers of Spartan warriors. As men engaged in military activity, women took responsibility for running estates. Following protracted and 40% of all Spartan land and By the Hellenistic Period, some of the wealthiest Spartans were women.The unique thing about Patria Potestas was that it ad no age limits, according to Gaius a man could be consul, have a wife and children of his own and future prominence but as long as his father was alive was still under his potestas (power) and so could own nothing. Patria Potestas only ended with either the death of the father, or emancipation by him. Early in the Republic Manus Marriage ended the potestas for women, but during the middle and later Republic that form of marriage became rare, eventually disappearing completely.Marriage Under Law Rome had only two forms of marriage, and both had exactly the opposite view of legal effects. Manus Marriage was the earlier form of marriage and placed the woman under her husband's manus legally standing in the position of a daughter. Under this type of marriage women could own nothing, and had little if any legal protections. On the other hand a woman assumed the position of her husband's daughter in Manus Marriage making her agnatically instead of cognatically related to Manus, and was the opposite of Manus.Women married Sine Manu experienced no legal changes, so if her father was alive at time of marriage she continued to be his dependent and before the reign of Marcus Aurelius he could even force an end to he marriage. The lack of any legal change of status for the women meant that (provided their father had either died or emancipated them) they could own property, conduct most forms of business, and divorce her husband (without any reason needed). Legally speaking the only lack of independence a woman in Rome experienced in a marriage without Manus was from her fathe r.The only legal issue related to marriage was dowry. A dowry was not required by law, but was usually provided by a father or if a father was nonexistent it would be whatever the bride wished to come out of her own estate. It was administered by the husband, but in the vent of a divorce he was required to provide either the dowry or the equivalent of it back to his wife. In the case of adultery, husbands got to keep portions of the dowry. Politics Legally speaking women were banned from politics.As with freedmen and slaves of the Imperial Family women of the imperial family gained some benefits from the fall of the Republic, but because the nature of the Principate was to hide dictatorship such power had to be subtle and kept out of the public eye when possible. The ban on women and politics was they could not vote or run for office (sine suffragio) enlist n the army, or represent somebody else in court, women speaking their minds was not considered politics and so some women like Hortensia managed to make appearances in politics without violating the law.Inheritance Rights Everyone under the potestas of another had equal rights of inheritance under Roman Law, and wills that did otherwise ran risks of being challenged and invalidated as negligent. Stoic Influence Stoic philosophies had a strong effect on the development of law in ancient Rome. The Roman stoic thinkers Seneca and Musonius Rufus developed theories of Just elationships (not to be confused with equality in society, or even equality) arguing that nature gives men and women equal capacity for virtue and equal obligations to act virtuously (a vague concept).Therefore they argued that men and women have an equal need for philosophical education. [20] Stoic theories entered Roman law first through the Roman lawyer and senator Marcus Tullius Cicero and the influence of stoicism and philosophy increased while the status of women improved under the Empire. [21] Religious scriptures Bible See Women in the Bible â€Å"Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. (Genesis 3:20) â€Å"Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. † Oudges 4:4) God chose a woman, Deborah, to lead Israel.Qur'an The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. feminism, and Sex segregation and Islam The Qur'an, revealed to Muhammad over the course of 23 years, provide guidance to the Islamic community and modified existing customs in Arab society. From 610 and 661, known as the early reforms under Islam, the Qur'an introduced fundamental reforms to customary law and ntroduced rights for women in marriage, divorce and inheritance.By providing that the wife, not her family, would receive a dowry from the husband, which she could administer as her personal property, the Qur'an made women a legal party to the marriage contra ct. [citation needed] While in customary law inheritance was limited to male descendents, the Qur'an introduced rules on inheritance with certain fixed shares being distributed to designated heirs, first to the nearest female relatives and then the nearest male relatives. 22] According to Annemarie Schimmel â€Å"compared to he pre-lslamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work. â€Å"[23] The general improvement of the status of Arab women included prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing women's full personhood. [24] Women were generally given greater rights than women in pre-lslamic Arabia[25][26] and medieval Europe. [27] Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures until centuries later. 28] According to Professor William Montgomery Watt, when seen in uch historical context, Muhammad â€Å"can be seen as a fgure who testified on behalf of women's rights. â€Å"[29] The Middle Ages According to English Common Law, which developed from the 12th century onward, all property which a wife held at the time of a marriage became a possession of her husband. Eventually English courts forbade a husband's transferring property without the consent of his wife, but he still retained the right to manage it and to receive the money which it produced.French married women suffered from restrictions on their legal capacity which were removed only in 1965. [30] In the 16th entury, the Reformation in Europe allowed more women to add their voices, including the English writers Jane Anger, Aemilia Lanyer, and the prophetess Anna Trapnell. English and American Quakers believed that men and women were equal. Many Quaker women were preachers. [31] Despite relatively greater freedom for Anglo-Saxon women, until the mid-19th century, writers largely assumed that a pat riarchal order was a natural order that had always existed. 32] This perception was not seriously challenged until the 18th century when Jesuit missionaries found matrilineality in native North American peoples. [33] 18th and 19th century Europe The Debutante (1807) by Henry Fuseli; The woman, victim of male social conventions, is tied to the wall, made to sew and guarded by governesses. The picture reflects Mary Wollstonecraft's views in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in 1792. [34] Starting in the late 18th century, and throughout the 19th century, rights, as a concept and claim, gained increasing political, social and philosophical importance in Europe.Movements emerged which demanded freedom of religion, the abolition of slavery, rights for women, rights for those who did not own property and universal to political debates in both France and Britain. At the time some of the greatest thinkers of the Enlightenment, who defended democratic principles of equality and challenged notions that a privileged few should rule over the vast majority of the population, believed that these principles should be applied only to their own gender and their own race.The philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau for example thought that it was the order of nature for woman to obey men. He wrote â€Å"Women do wrong to complain of the inequality of man-made laws† and claimed that â€Å"when she tries to usurp our rights, she is our First page of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen In 1791 he French playwright and political activist Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen,[37] modelled on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789.The Declaration is ironic in formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been devoted to equality. It states that: â€Å"This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society'. The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen ollows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen point for point and has been described by Camille Naish as â€Å"almost a parody†¦ f the original document†. The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that â€Å"Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility. † The first article of Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen replied: â€Å"Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility'.De Gouges expands the sixth article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which declared the rights of citizens to take part in the formation of law, to: Australian women's rights were lampooned in this 1887 Melbourne Punch cartoon: A hypothetical female member foists her baby's care on the House Speaker â€Å"All citizens including women are equally admissible to all public dignities, offices and employments, according to their capacity, and with no other distinction than that of their virtues and talents†. De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law women were fully punishable, yet denied equal rights. 8] Mary Wollstonecraft, a British writer and philosopher, published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, arguing that it was the education and upbringing of women that created limited expectations.

Analyse Reverend Parris Essay

Analyse Reverend Parris and his motivations in supporting the witch trials.  The crucible play is set in 17th century Puritan Massachusetts in America. This would have meant the area would be fairly newly inhabited by immigrants and there still might be problems from Native Americans. The society probably would have been quite close-knit and any accusations of witchcraft would easily have resulted in hysteria in a way that was only possible in modern days because of the media. Reverend Parris would have had many reasons for supporting the witch trials. Most of these were selfish and for protection of his own image, which he needed to do because in the setting of the Salem Witch Trials peoples image were their most important aspect, we know this because the first three people to be accused of witchcraft were all social misfits such as Osborn who, â€Å"was old, quarrelsome, and had not attended church for over a year.† Other reasons included jealousy, especially of Proctor who in his presence â€Å"a fool felt his foolishness instantly†. As well as this there was his duty as a Reverend First we know Parris was very greedy because he wanted things like â€Å"golden candle sticks† on his preaching altar, even though his church is Puritan and therefore meant to be very simple â€Å"their creed forbade anything resembling a theatre or ‘vain enjoyment'†. This may also have been a motivation for supporting the witch trials because the land of people like John Proctor would have been seized after he was hung. Reverend Parris was also very paranoid about his position in the town and about conspiracies to ‘drive him from his pulpit’. Another piece of evidence from the play that portrays his paranoia is that he ‘felt insulted if someone rose to shut the door without first asking his permission’. This shows paranoia because he thinks the slightest mistake in his presence is made as a serious insult. All of this is backed up by how Miller describes him with â€Å"he believed he was being persecuted wherever he went†. This is the second motivation for supporting the trials because if he destroys all his opposition by having them hung or sent to prison for witchcraft his own public standing will be safe. This theory is also basically what the whole Salem witch trials play is about, because all the way through we see a repetition of people blaming others to save their skins. A perfect example of this is on ‘HTTP://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crucible’ where it describes a very desperate Mary â€Å"Mary becomes completely desperate and turns on John Proctor, saying that he is in league with the Devil.† We know already Parris is very selfish and also very keen to protect and even increase his self image. So when witch craft is first mentioned he becomes very nervous and tries to stop any talk of the subject, ‘put out all thoughts of unnatural forces’. This could be for several reasons. First he wants to protect Abigail, although from what we have seen of the Parris character so far he probably is not that bothered about this. The main reason for Parris wanting people not to talk about the witchcraft is because if Abigail, who is his own Niece, is linked to witchcraft then he may be driven from his pulpit by the conspiracy group he thinks is already fighting him. There is even the possibility that Abigail could be seen as a Harlot after Proctor accuses it and it becomes clear that the reason for Abigail’s grudge against the Proctors is because she was put â€Å"out for a harlot†. We know that he thinks there is a conspiracy group because of the quote, â€Å"there is a faction†. When he finally does realise that the talk of witchcraft is inevitable he starts to support the trials to try and take the blame from Abigail and on to her so called bewitchers. He also knows if the trial fails and Abigail is labelled a liar then the entire family may be known as liars, this in turn would be devastating to his already troubled career. The final motivation for Reverend Parris supporting the witch trials is jealousy. Jealousy is obviously one of Parris’ characteristics and he is jealous of John Proctor. Reverend Parris would have several reasons for being jealous of Proctor; firstly he is well respected in the Salem community, ‘Proctor, respected and feared’, this cannot be said for Parris, Proctor is also quite wealthy with a lot of land and for a greedy Parris the prospect of seizing this would be very appealing! The final reason for Parris being jealous of Proctor and maybe even hating him is that Proctor is simply a good and honest man. Then there is Parris who ‘there is very little good to be said of him’. Reverend Parris is meant to be a respectful member of Puritan society. However, before he moved to Salem he was a sugar plantation owner, owned slaves (such as Tituba) and was thought to have been a credit agent for other plantation owners. This quite shrewd and probably selfish personality shows in the crucible for instance when Abigail runs away he doesn’t care for her but says â€Å"thirty one pound is gone† then says â€Å"I am penniless†. This evaluation provides a good background to why Parris supported the witch trials.  So overall Parris supports the Salem Witch trails because of a mixture of jealousy of Proctor, protecting his and his families image, a hatred of heathens and therefore witches, paranoia about the danger of his position as local Reverend and possibly the most important reason of all†¦ is his greed. He wanted more pay and even gold candlesticks for his altar.

Exam 06044100

Part A: 1. Organization’s commitment to social responsibility takes the form of policies or pronouncements on what the organization intends to do to address its social impact in the community where it operates, which includes its stakeholders, suppliers and the general public.As such, a key requirement in implementing an organization’s commitment to social responsibility is the buy-in from the board and the top executives which make the policies, and the support of the middle-management and employees which will implement the policies. To do this, the board and top executives must understand the firm’s effects as an organization, and everyone else must have a clear grasp of the direction where it is going.Implementation involves the day-to-day operations, processes, activities, decisions and practices which will ensure that the organization’s socially responsible commitments and policies are carried out and met The main obstacles to implementing socially re sponsible policies are ,lack of clarity in policy statements, lack of a supporting structure system, processes and organization financial constraints programs and projects must have appropriate funding,lack of coordination among activities, lack of understanding and support from implementers middle management and employees.Some specific actions that can be taken towards increased social responsibility's are. Come up with ways for the organization to integrate socially responsible policies into day-to-day operations and individual activities. This can be done by involving middle managers, employees, and other key players in brainstorming sessions. Develop a strong communication plan : Internally, focus on motivating factors such as how social responsibility can be a source of competitive advantage for the organization in terms of low production cost, improved product value, and build-up of customer loyalty.Externally, focus on making commitments public, not only to gain public attent ion, but to inform the public of what it is doing in terms of improving product value and customer service. Set measurable targets and continuously . Celebrating achievements can be a source of inspiration and increased commitment to social responsibility. 2. Departmentalization is the process of grouping activities, customers, or job functions into specialized groups of an organization to create better coordination. All large companies have multiple departments. These departments are specialized units that carryout pecific functions for a company. Most organizations have the functional departments of human resources, accounting, sales, and information technology. Types of Departmentalization 1) Functional: Groups of employees based on work performed (engineering, accounting, information systems, human resources). 2) Product: Groups of employees based on major product areas in the corporation ( woman's footwear, men's footwear, and apparel and accessories). 3) Customer: Groups of em ployees based on customer’s problem and needs (wholesale, retail, government). ) Geographic: Groups of employees based on location served North, South, Midwest, East). 5) Process: Groups of employees based on the basis of work or customers flow ( testing, payment) 3. Is a scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). SWOT analysis means analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firm's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. It is a useful strategic planning tool. It is based on the assumption that if managers carefully review internal strengths and weaknesses and external threat and opportunities, a useful s trategy for ensuring organizational success can be formulated. As such, it is instrumental in strategy formulation and selection. Strength. A firm's strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage.It is an important organizational resource which enhances a company, competitive position. Some of the internal strengths of an organization are Distinctive competence in key areas ,Manufacturing efficiency like exclusive access to high grade natural resources, Skilled workforce, Adequate financial resources,Superior image and reputation such as strong brand names. -Economies of scale -Superior technological skills -Insulation from strong competitive pressures -Product or service differentiation -Proprietary technology such as patents and resultant ost advantages from proprietary know-how -favorable access to distribution network. Part B: . 1. Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for n ear perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects (driving toward six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest specification limit) in any process – from manufacturing to transactional and from product to service. The statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is performing. . The balance of trade of a nation is the difference between values of its exports and imports. When exports are greater than imports, the nation is said to have a balance of trade surplus. On the other hand, if imports are greater than exports, the nation is said to have a balance of trade deficit. Exports and imports that figure in the balance of trade concept arise in the context of trade with other countries. Exports are the value of goods and services produced in the United States and sold to other countries . 3.Perception is the process by which you become aware of objects and events in the externa l world. Perception occurs in five stages: (1) stimulation, (2) organization, (3) interpretation-evaluation, (4) memory, and (5) recall. 4. A decentralized organization is one in which decision making is not confined to a few top executives but rather is throughout the organization, with managers at various levels making key operating decisions relating to their sphere of responsibility. Decentralization is a matter of degree, since all organizations are decentralized to some extent out of necessity. . Bounded rationality is the idea that in decision-making, rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have to make a decision. It was proposed by Herbert A. Simon as an alternative basis for the mathematical modeling of decision making, as used in economics and related disciplines; it complements rationality as optimization, which views decision-making as a fully rational process of fin ding an optimal choice given the information available.Thus the decision-maker is a satisfies, one seeking a satisfactory solution rather than the optimal one. 6. Although an early study, this is still often referenced. It is notable that the two factors correlate with the people-task division that appears in other studies and also as preferences. Consideration is the people-orientation and Initiating Structure is the task orientation. Initiating Structure is the degree to which a leader defines and structures his or her role and the roles of the subordinates towards achieving the goals of the group. . Think of negative punishment as Removing Something pleasant with the goal of decreasing a behavior. Think of negative reinforcement as Removing Something unpleasant with the goal of Increasing the target behavior. 8. A system is commonly defined as a group of interacting units or elements that have a common purpose. The units or elements of a system can be cogs, wires, people, compute rs, and so on. Systems are generally classified as open systems and closed systems and they can take the form of mechanical, biological, or social systems.Open systems refer to systems that interact with other systems or the outside environment, whereas closed systems refer to systems having relatively little interaction with other systems or the outside environment such as food and air and return other substances to their environment. 9. Basic tasks and functions of management include planning, organizing, staffing, motivating and controlling business and its activities. 10. Appraisals are most often used as a punitive tool, but they can be a very powerful management tool. Appraisals can help you find the areas that most motivate your employees and how to help them improve.By understanding the areas that most motivate your employees, the appraisals can provide you with the most important tool to guide your staff. 11. A group is said to be in a state of cohesion when its members pos sess bonds linking them to one another and to the group as a whole. Social norms are described by sociologists as being laws that govern society’s behaviors. Although these norms are not considered to be formal laws within society, they still work to promote a great deal of social control. Social norms can be enforced formally through sanctions or informally through body language and non-verbal communication cues.

Case Study 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case Study 1 - Research Paper Example These capabilities make windows 7 ultimate preferable as they help safe on time through the hard disk such engines and improve on data security through data encryption. Data security is guaranteed due to the data encryption security feature as only authorized personnel will be able to access the stored data. Additionally, windows 7 ultimate version also supports the multi finger touch-screen technology which allows the resizing of windows therefore improving the user interface and easing the use of the computers at Mr. Green’s business (Pane & Wentworth, 2010). The improved functionalities on data encryption and hard disk search functionalities will be beneficial to Mr. Green’s business in saving on the time consumed and improving on data security. The minimum processor requirements for both the 32 and 64 bit applications of windows 7 ultimate are 1 gigahertz or faster (Pane & Wentworth, 2010). The 32 bit application requires a minimum of 1 gigabyte of Radom Access memo ry while the 64 bit application requires a minimum of 2 gigabyte of Random Access memory. The minimum hard disk space for 32 bit application if 16 gigabytes while the 64 bit application requires 20 gigabytes (Zacker, 2010). The computers at Mr. ... ncryption and search capabilities, it supports direct access remote connectivity and Branch Cache which is a communication tool used for satellite offices (Rathbone, 2009). 2. List and explain the concerns about win 7 ultimate capabilities that Mr. Green should be aware of as his business and network grows There are however various issues and challenges that Mr. Greens business is likely to face as a result of the implementation of the network in his business. One of the main challenges is the security threats. Security has been a major challenge to most small and medium sized businesses, these businesses and faced by internal and external security threats that may even impair the business operations. One of the security challenges in the network is worms and viruses that may affect the network. The viruses and worms may affect all the computers on the network within a very short time. Virus infection is likely to cause loss of erroneous manipulation of data. As a result of the netwo rking, all the computers on the network are prone to virus infection. The viruses are mostly transmitted to the computers via emails and content from the internet. Another security challenge that Mr. Green is likely to face in the business network is the hacking of the network. Business networks are more vulnerable to hackers that are likely to leak or deliberately manipulate the important data about the business. These security challenges are likely to result to expensive costs so as to maintain a secured network. Therefore, Mr. Green will be required to commit various resources to implement security measures on the network. 5. Describe the concerns you have about helping Mr. Green experiment with Windows 7 ultimate without requiring commitment to it The transition from windows 7 home

Demonstrating Professional Skepticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Demonstrating Professional Skepticism - Essay Example Boyle et al. (2015) observe that the failure on the part of the auditors to exercise professional skepticism when conducting the audit of financial statements imposes costs on the shareholders and other stakeholders. When fraud fails to be recognized, the shareholders are the net losers. The article points to the application of professional skepticism in audit engagements as being the solution to the increased number of audit failures and deficiencies. Professional skepticism has become a matter of critical importance to the profession of auditing given the increased complexity of the audit environment (Boyle et al. 5). The article explains that the exercise of professional skepticism by the auditors is in line with the requirements of the Statements on Auditing Standards 1 (SAS1) (Boyle et al. 5). The standard on auditing requires that the auditors must apply due care with an emphasis on the exercise of professional skepticism as part of the auditor responsibilities and functions. T he role of professional skepticism in the consideration of fraud in the audit of financial statements is analyzed with a proper discussion and relation of the elements of skepticism to the audit (Boyle et al. 6). Boyle et al. (2015) explain that professional skepticism is an attitude that involves a critical assessment and analysis of audit evidence and a questioning mind. It is this questioning mindset that enhances the possibilities of recognizing fraud with less attention to experience.

Understanding the concepts of realized return of the stock, systematic Assignment

Understanding the concepts of realized return of the stock, systematic and unsystematic risk, risk of the portfolio, beta, WACC - Assignment Example Thus the total realized value of the stock is the summation of the realized value of the different assets. Segregating the different factors or components of a stock’s realized return it can be seen that such return is constituted essentially by three main blocks. The first factor reflects the total return that is expected of the stock. Second factor hints on the different economic changes that are taking place in the external world and the effect of such changes on the position of the stock. The third factor endeavors to figure out alterations in the external climate, which tend to render some unique effects on the firm’s stock position. Understanding of the components of realized return of a stock is essential for different stocks tend to reflect different types of sensitivity depending on the various factors. Further through the understanding of the firm’s stock position it becomes easy to infer on the stability position of the firm. (Brigham & Daves, 2009, p. 97; What is a Realized Return?, n.d.). Q.2. Contrast systematic and unsystematic risk A.2. The concept of systematic risks hints at the evolution of risks, which happen not by the occurrence of chance events. These risks rather happen due to the simultaneous occurrence of events, which do not rely on chances. Thus systematic risks are generally undiversified in nature. They can be easily correlated to the occurrence of certain external events. Examples of systematic risks entail changes in the state of economic conditions, which brings in abrupt losses for the economy as a whole. Hence a tight regulation brought about by the monetary organizations causes the rise in the rates of interest for financial concerns. However because of the correlated happenings of these risks due to changes in the economic conditions these risks become simultaneous in nature. Thus it becomes difficult to render insurance schemes covering such risks for these risks go on occurring spontaneously with economic changes. On the other hand the happen ing of unsystematic risks is related to the occurrence of events, which generally take place owing to chance factors. Risks emanating out of chance events cannot be correlated to the occurrences of the events, which are probable, by nature. For example the outbreak of fire in a complex is simply a probabilistic event and depends highly on chance factors. Thus any amount of expected economic loss amounting from such counters an unsystematic risk and can be insured beforehand (Condamin, Louisot, & Naim, p.4). Further the due to certainty measures the amount of systematic risks can be rendered for explanations and also can be easily modeled. On the contrary, the unsystematic risks for the uncertainty factor adhered to it fails to be modeled. (Los, 2001, p.114) Q.3. Explain why the total risk of a portfolio is not simply equal to the weighted average of the risks of the securities in the portfolio. A.3. The total risk of a portfolio is computed based on the variance or standard deviatio n of the different returns emanating out of the different assets of the portfolio. However the variance computed does not depend on the weighted average of the different range of returns amounting from the employment of different assets. Rather the computation of the total risk of the portfolio is done based on the factor of correlation of each asset to other assets employed such. Thus if two assets constitute a certain portfolio then the

Relationship Marketing, Electronic Marketing and Integrated Marketing Assignment - 1

Relationship Marketing, Electronic Marketing and Integrated Marketing Communications - Assignment Example This essay stresses that electronic marketing comprises of all those realms where product promotion and customer relations come in direct contact with the various electronic media forms. These can entail the television, the radio, the Internet and other related disciplines. Since the electronic marketing discussion is centered on a wider spectrum than relationship marketing, its positives as well as negatives are immensely drawn so as to gain a fair enough understanding. The relational sentiment is thus made apparent through the efforts of the people who bring forward the relationship marketing, electronic marketing and the integrated marketing communications domains to the fore. This paper makes a conclusion that the marketing discipline is indeed comprised of a number of entities, all of which play one role or the other. These dictate the essential basis of understanding where the problems lie and how these can be done away with as and when required. Also a proactive measure sets the basis of undertaking quite a few steps which are geared to achieve results for the betterment of both the business and the end consumers. All said and done, the overlapping of the three forms of marketing is always a good omen for the marketers, the end consumers and the marketing process. It is because of these measures that the brands and campaigns are able to reach out to newer markets, reclaim the old ones and thus reinforce sales whilst building a positive word of mouth all along.

Treatment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Treatment - Essay Example Which self-help groups (12-step and non-12-step groups) discussed in the textbook is available in your community or neighboring community? How many meetings of each group are offered per week and what are the venues? If a group is not available, state that. Most of the groups are the 12-step groups and majority of them meet three times in a week while others meet twice in a week. Since there are three groups, they each have their own venue to avoid clash of the days of the meeting but all these areas are in halls. One has the social hall, the other the gymnasium in the high school and the last one meets in the elementary school’s hall. Given your response to the above two questions, which groups’ meetings are feasible for a person to attend? That is, are all the self-help groups mentioned in the textbook represented in your community neighboring community? The most feasible for an addict that is still working is the 12-step group since daily presence is not needed, but if the addict is truly not-functional, then they can try the non 12-step program even if not available in the neighborhood as most are in-house like the St. Jude Retreat mentioned above. Not all the groups are available and only the 12-step group is but not the

Human systems-Co-ordination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human systems-Co-ordination - Essay Example The hormones released by the gland effect on growth, sexual development, metabolism and system of reproduction. Pituitary Gland consists of anterior pituitary and posterior Pituitary (Endocrine System) Growth hormone - stimulates growth in early days and is vital for keeping up a strong body composition. In grownups it is also responsible for retaining muscle mass and bone mass. It can influence fat allocation in the body. Antidiuretic hormone - is stored in the posterior pituitary gland and adjusts water balance. Improper release of this hormone, this can lead to salt problems and water balance, and could can affect the kidneys. The hypothalamus is division of the brain that lies just over the pituitary gland. It discharges hormones that begin and end the release of pituitary hormones. The hypothalamus regulates hormone production in the pituitary gland by several "releasing" hormones. Some of these are growth hormone-releasing hormone, thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and corticoptropin-releasing hormone, Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (The hormone Foundation) Humoral factors assist to build up the lymphoid system, which is a system throughout the body that facilitate it to achieve a mature immune response in cells to defend them from attacking germs and bacteria. (Definition of Thymus) Pineal Gland has long been interest for the medical experts. It is located at the center of the brain It secretes a hormone called melatonin. Melatonin regulates sleeping habits. Studies prove an increased production of this hormone when night falls and thus people feel sleepy; when morning arrives the melatonin production drops which triggers alertness. (Dr. Gary Farr 2003) These are male’s twin reproductive glands that produce a hormone called testosterone. Testosterone assist a boy build up and then continue his sexual behavior. Throughout puberty, testosterone aids to carry about the physical modifications that turn a boy into an adult

Insulin Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Insulin - Term Paper Example The termination of gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis results to restoration of normal glucose levels in the blood. The action of insulin in the body is usually brief and the level blood sugar changes after the action of insulin subsides. Besides the control of blood sugar, production of insulin initiates a series of metabolic reactions that are mainly mediated by the changes in expression of over 100 genes in the body (O’Brien and Granner, 1117). One of the major effects of insulin in such physiological processes includes the regulation in the expression of genes that stimulate absorption of amino acids, metabolisms of lipids mainly in the muscles and adipose tissue. In addition, insulin affects the expression of genes used for growth, development and survival of somatic cells (Rhodes and White8) Alfred Sanger did the first sequencing of amino acids that make up insulin hormone in 1955 (BCBC 1). According to BCBC (1) insulin is the first protein to have its amino acid chain determined and sequenced. Moreover, the hormone is the first â€Å"peptide protein measured by radioimmunoassay technique†. In addition, insulin is the first hormone to be produced in microorganisms using recombinant DNA technology, a process that was successfully conducted in the 1970s. Since then, insulin produced by recombinant DNA technology has been used for treating diabetes, replacing earlier hormones that were produced from purification of insulin from animal species (BCBC1) Disruption of insulin synthesis in the body causes several physiological changes in the body. One of the major impacts of low glucose production is hyperglycemia, a medical condition characterized by an abnormal increase of glucose in the blood plasma (Steiner and James 42). Other effects include poor growth and development of the body. Diabetic patients

Outline the Roman Empires attitude to Christianity Essay Example for Free

Outline the Roman Empires attitude to Christianity Essay Q: Outline the Roman Empires attitude to Christianity until the end of the first century. The Christian church from its outset has faced many challenges as a result of external influences; one of the most important of these influences was the persecution of the Christian people by the Roman Empire. From the year 64AD onwards the church was persecuted by the Roman authorities in an intermittent and sporadic manner, not on account of their beliefs, but was a result of chance and circumstance. Christianity was born out of Judaism and appeared as an entity after the death of Christ. Of course Jews of the time felt threatened by the emergence of Christianity as a faith, and so the earliest persecutions of Christians occurred at the hands of Jewish Sadducees, who branded Christians blasphemous. Indeed it is clear that the Jews played a part in persecution of Christians as late on as AD156 in the persecution of Polycarp. The persecution of Christians in the first century by Jews however were minimal in comparison to the much more widespread and systematic persecutions by the Roman authorities from the year AD64 onwards. Before this date Christians were accepted as a national sect of Judaism, and therefore they enjoyed the status of religio licita- a lawful or tolerated faith. The Roman Empire even protected many Christians against Jewish attack in the early years. This all changed however in the year 64AD, during the reign of the emperor Nero. See more: 5 paragraph essay format 64AD was by general concurrence of early Christians, the beginning of imperial repression of Christianity. This fact was supported by early Christian writers such as Tertullian, Eusebius and Sulpicus Severus. This date coincides with the fire of Rome, a devastating blaze which destroyed almost half of the city. The pagan writer Tacitus reports to us in 115 of the fact that Despite Neros efforts the accusation that the fire was ordered could not be quashed. The mounting suspicion had a disastrous effect on Neros popularity (which had been very high before then), so Nero set about searching for a scapegoat. Christians were perfect candidates for a number of reasons; they were a relatively new group that were small in number and there was already an air of suspicion surrounding allegations of anti social behaviour. However the actual circumstances may have been more complex than will never be understood by ourselves, as banks points out: The reasons behind the persecution of Christians included religious, political and social factors which were so inter-related and inter-dependant that it would be historically misleading to separate them out as isolated issues. There are however some other opposing views on the exact circumstances of the fire of Rome. Critics such as Frend have argued that it is possible that Nero originally put blame on the Jewish community, who in turn blamed Christianity. Yet other critics have also suggested that the fire may well have been started by Christian extremists, anxious to fulfil apocalyptic prophecies. The first persecuted Christians were charged with arson and as Tacitus tells us, immense in number, this charge apparently changed to a charge of hatred for the human race. This in itself indicates the immense suspicion of the Roman population towards Christianity and the ability of Roman authorities to exploit this. Wand indicates to us the state of Roman perceptions of Christianity after Neros reign: By the end of the reign of Nero the state had settled down to an attitude of suspicion towards the church. The persecutions themselves were reported to be gruesome and perverse in nature by Tacitus among others. They were deliberately devised to create amusement for the public as well as humiliate the incumbent. Accounts included victims being covered with the hides of dogs and beasts and set upon by dogs, being crucified and being used as streetlights to illuminate the darkness. Even Tacitus the most ardent of anti Christian writers, could not help but feel pity for them. There is much dispute over the impact that Neros persecution had on the Christian church. Some feel that it represents the beginning of Christianitys status as an illegal religion, and that it set the precedent for a further 2 centuries of imperial persecution. What is certain is that the church lost many of its influential early leaders during Neros reign, including St Peter and St Paul as reported by Eusebius. Some commentators believe that without the writings of early evangelists, the Christian faith may have disappeared altogether. After Neros removal from office there was a period of considerable civil unrest within the Roman Empire, and therefore Christians were not seen as an important priority. It was not until the reign of Domitian that persecution of Christians began in earnest. This time though the persecutions were different in nature in that he did not search out the Christian community as a group but sought out individuals by stealth. Domitian is described by Bernard as: A jealous man who went in fear of his life. He kept power (like Stalin in Russia) by a series of sudden blows against those who he felt were plotting against him. There is evidence to suggest during the end of his reign Domitian began to fervently persecute the Christian community as a whole. Showing the mans deep paranoia and distorted frame of mind. The ancient writer Suetonius writes of the Gladiator Glabrio who was executed by Domitian on Christian charges, although the real reason was the Emperors apparent jealousy of his abilities, underlining the unstable nature of Domitians personality. It is widely regarded by many critics such as Banks that a possible source of conflict between Domitian and the Christian church was his enthusiasm for the imperial cult, and therefore he persecuted them because of their refusal to accord him divine honours. However it still remains in dispute whether Domitian persecuted Christians at all. The early church writer Dio Cassius, wrote from Bythinia, a strong Christian province and yet he never mentions any of Domitians victims as Christians. Furthermore, Pliny, a lawyer working in Rome at the time of Domitians reign tells Trajan many years later that he had never been involved in a Christian trial. This indicates at least that Domitians persecution was not exactly widespread or for reaching, if it existed at all. There is little doubt of the immense impact the early persecutions had on the growth of the Christian church. While some argue that it has helped the church in its growth, others claim that it has actually hindered the churches growth. Tertullian observes the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. I believe that because of the limited nature of early persecutions they did not seriously slow down the expansion of Christianity. What is certain though is that the persecutions at the hands of Nero and Domitian set a precedent for future Christian persecution.

The Unity of Northern and Southern America Essay Example for Free

The Unity of Northern and Southern America Essay The attempt of the Southern States to secede from the American Federation in 1861, created a dangerous crisis in the history of America. The crisis turned into an internal war and, by the superior military power of the Center, they had to be kept within the Federation as integral part of the country which was, at that time, already moving towards plenty and prosperity. It was a complex process, and the Northern Federal Government really showed some extraordinary skills in order to bring the South back into the political system Historical Background In 1776, under the brilliant leadership of George Washington, 13 British Colonies in America united together and achieved a glorious freedom. On November 15, 1777, a confederation was created in order to provide for common defense, securities for their liberties and for their mutual and general welfare in the future. But the system had many loopholes and, hence, soon the leaders felt that the system must be either revised or superseded by a new one. Thus, the Philadelphia Convention was held in May 1787 which introduced a full fledged Federation for fostering a sense of unity among the units. According to K. C. Wheare, â€Å"The fear of military insecurity and the consequent need of common defense, a desire to be independent of foreign power and the need of economic prosperity etc. have encouraged modern nations to form Federations† (Wheare). Naturally, it needs unity among the federal units and the supremacy of the national Government. In the view of Bernard Schwartz, â€Å"The American system has properly ensured those arrangements†. (Schwartz). In 1819, Chief Justice Marshall established the doctrine of federal supremacy in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland; and it was declared in the case of Texas v. White (1869) that Northern and Southern Unity 3 America was â€Å"an indestructible union, composed of indestructible states†. So, no unit can secede from it and, an attempt to do so can be failed by the superior power of the Center. The Crisis Yet the crisis came up in 1861 when the civil war broke out with a threat to the very existence of the Federation. Of course, a conflict between the north and the South was inevitable and this is a real wonder that how the breakdown could have been avoided for such a long period of time. In fact, ever since the formation of the Union, the units of the North and the South were cross-purposes. Ostensibly, the war centered round the institution of slavery; but, in fact, it was involved with much bigger issues of political and economic affairs as well. There was a strong reason for which the Southern states intended to desert the Union. While the North was highly industrialized, the South depended upon Agriculture and the finished goods from the North. Moreover, the South needed the slaves for agriculture, but the North was in favor of their emancipation. â€Å"The cotton-growing South, irritated by the growing threat of Abolitionist Movement, and fearing this predominance in the Congress, began to talk of secession from the union† (Wells). In short, the interests were very much conflicting. Gradually, the idea state-right gained ground and the Southern states began to think that it was useless to remain in the Federation. As their political fear along with the economic grudge mixed up, the existence of the Federation was seriously at stake. Finally, the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President of America in the year 1866 brought the matter to a head. His success in the election was taken to be the ominous sign of a triumph of the slave-abolitionists and thus, everything rapidly drifted from bad to worse leading to a five-year war in 1861. Northern and Southern Unity 4 The War It is during this crucial time that the quality of the presidential leadership was seriously tested. As Sidney Warren has observed, â€Å"Abraham Lincoln, reacting boldly to the challenge of rebellion not only enlarged the constitutional role of presidency in times of crisis but invested the office with the attribute of moral leadership† (Warren). He believed that the Federation could not be broken up by the Southern states in this way and, in order to keep it intact, military measures were to be adopted with unbending tenacity and firm determination. Resultantly, the South was defeated, and the Federation was preserved. It is a fact that the South began well and initially it achieved a number of victories. But the failure to capture Maryland was a turning point of the war. Lincoln immediately seized the opportunity to proclaim the emancipation of slaves in the rebellious states. It was truly a master-stroke, because the slaves in the Southern zone now began to support the President. And, moreover, it won the sympathy of foreign nations with the result that, since then, the rebels failed to win any outside assistance. Reconstruction Policy and the South After the civil war, the fundamental task of the Central Government was to adopt a proper policy of reconstruction and re-union with a view to strengthening the American Federation. But due to various reasons, the task was a complex one. The sad assassination of President Lincoln made it amply clear that the fanatics were strongly opposed to a progressive policy. He, indeed, had hated slavery and desired its abolition. But he actually fought for Union and not for the emancipation of the slaves as such. His primary Northern and Southern Unity 5 purpose was to protect and preserve the unity of the Federation by thwarting the disintegrating attitude of the South. So, after the end of the civil war, the Primary Task of the new President, Andrew Johnson, was to carry out a generous conciliation as advocated by his predecessor. But the victorious North, mindful of its own loss due to the war, was by no means conciliatory in its attitude towards the South. At least initially, the states of the North were in favor of adopting a policy of retaliation (L. Mukherjee). So, bitter quarrels broke out between the President and Congress which was dominated by the Republicans. As a matter of fact, the party-system of America was, during this time, almost localized and the Republican Party had no strong base in the south. This is also a reason for which it did not, initially, take much care for the interests of the South. The Reconstruction Act of 1867-68 provided that the Southern states should be treated as the conquered provinces to be administered by the military Governors and were to be readmitted to the Federation after they ratified the fourteenth amendment of the constitution. As some of the states withheld such ratification, the Congress proceeded to subject the South to Negro-rule under military protection. Naturally, the Negroes took the advantage of this provision and the reign of ‘Black Terror’ came into being. But gradually, a basic change ushered in primarily due to political and constitutional measures. Politically, the Southern states came to realize that the Federation was indestructible and any such attempt to break it would surely end in vain. The Federation was protected and it was taught to all that the units of and nobody, however mighty and powerful, had the right to break it up. The civil war also established the fact that the Center, though dominated by the Northern Northern and Southern Unity 6 states, was, for ensuring Federal unity entitled to adopt strict military measures. Such realization slowly infused in the South the idea of national unity and solidarity. Similarly, the Northern states rectified their earlier stand and accepted the Southern states as the integral part of the Federation. In this way the South were brought back into the Union and the rebels were taught to be loyal citizens. Of course, the party-system also helped much in the growth of such unity. Gradually the Republican Party expanded its organizations in the South and the, eventually, it too acted as a unifying force. Constitutionally, too, the process was towards unification. As O. P Goyal observes, â€Å"The 13th (1865), 14th (1868) and 15th (1870) amendments grew out of the civil war† (Goyal). The 13th amendment abolished slavery which so long appeared as a bone of content between the South and the North. The 14th amendment defined citizenship and forbade states to deprive persons of life, liberty and property â€Å"without due process of law†. The abolishment of the institution of slavery has brought about the emancipation of billions of people who had so long forced to remain as the casualties of modern civilization. The Negroes, who had suffered much due to racial hatred, were now placed in power and position. In this way the people of the North and South were brought in a state of equality. The 15th amendment forbade the Governments, both central and provincial, from abridging the right to vote because of race, color, residence or other previous conditions of servitude. Thus the concept of equality and liberty was upheld through the constitution and, naturally, the vast majority of the Southern people who so long nurtured a grudge against the center, became loyal and submissive. The republic was, however, strengthened by the civil war. America emerged out of it with a new spirit, hope and vigor. It now adopted a bold policy – France was forced to withdraw Northern and Southern Unity 7 its army from Mexico and Britain was persuaded to compensate for the American loss in the Alabama issue. This political factor had its influence on the economic side too. The Center, still dominated by the North, showed a practical sense in this matter. The Government adopted a policy which encouraged rapid industrialization and this scheme largely helped the South to proceed towards prosperity. As stated earlier, the slave-dependent society of the South now became much more rational in their approach and concentrated on the system of rational industrialization. Due to the abolition of the slave-system, and the new spirit of industrialization, they broke up the big estates and invested in the industrialization process. Thus an economy of cotton-cultivation gave way to the industrial revolution. They now manufactured their own goods and the spread of railways expanded their markets and also united them with the North. In the place of localism, a new feeling of solidarity and community of interests grew up. In this way the North and the South united together and formed a strong Federation. Rapid industrialization not only improved the living standard of the South, but also ensured a regional balance in the economy. Conclusion Thus the defeat of the South in the civil war is a landmark in the American history. It marked an era of new spirit of unity and solidarity which enriched the life of the Americans in different ways. Its resources were immensely developed and the country rapidly marched towards the goal of plenty and prosperity. Particularly, the defeat of the Southern-localism soon produced a sense of common citizenship and brotherhood which acted as the basis of subsequent affluence and tranquility. Northern and Southern Unity 8 In fact, the changed attitude of the North immensely helped to strengthen the Federation and, in such a favorable political climate, the Center adopted various measures in order to woo the people of the South. In this way, the process of unification smoothly proceeded after a temporary halt during the aforesaid conflict. However, Harold J. Laski one condemned the American system as an ‘obsolescent federalism’. According to him, it denied rapidity of action and rested upon compacts and compromises (Laski). But there is no wonder in it. It must be remembered that it is composed of a number of separate units which, for a long time, had remained isolated from each other under the British rule. Naturally, their economic system, political attitude, social structure and the way of life were divergent. The civil war clearly brought out such inherent differences. But in spite of a war between two parts of the Federation, the pragmatism of the North and the adaptability of the South eminently bridged the gulf and thus, an integrated and unified Federation of America came out of the civil war. Northern and Southern Unity 9 References Goyal, O. P. (1985). Comparative Government, McCurillan Press, India, p. 172 Laski, H. J. (May 1939). The Obsolescence of Federation, New Republic, Vol. 98, p. 367-69

Business Process Reengineering and Organisational Change

Business Process Reengineering and Organisational Change Introduction This chapter reviews the Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and its vision of radical business process change, focusing upon the use of Organisational culture change for multidisciplinary team-working. It highlights BPRs superficial treatment of the human dimension of its programme for radical organizational change and raises the question of how HRM specialists are to respond to its trivialisation of the complexities and dilemmas associated with the reengineering of work processes. Business Process Reengineering Following the publication of the fundamental concepts of BPR by Hammer (1990) and Davenport and Short (1990), many organisations have reported vivid benefits gained from the fruitful implementation of BPR. Corporations like Porsche AG (Zinser, Baumgà ¤rtner, Walliser, 1998), CIGNA (Caron, Jarvenpaa, Stoddard, 1994), and Wal-Mart (Altinkemer, Chaturvedi, Kondareddy, 1998) are all acknowledged as having productively implemented BPR. However, in spite of the noteworthy advancement of the BPR concept, not all organisations embarking on BPR projects achieve their intended result. In 1993, Hall et al. claimed that 50-70 per cent of business process reengineering (BPR) initiatives fail to deliver the expected results (Hall, Rosenthal, Wade, 1993). Having BPR constantly at the top of the list of management issues in annual surveys of critical information systems reveals executives failure to either implement properly or attain the benefits of BPR (Stefanescu, Stefanescu, Constantinescu, Constantinescu, 2007). This combination of outcomes makes the concern of BPR implementation very significant. BPR has abundant capability for accumulative productivity through reduced process time and budget, enhanced quality, and superior customer satisfaction, but it frequently involves a fundamental organisational change. As a consequence, the implementation process is multifaceted, and needs to be examined against numerous succes s/failure factors to ensure successful implementation, as well as to prevent implementation drawbacks. Practitioners and Researchers have classified BPR in various ways with dissimilar prominence. Hammer and Champy (1993) described BPR as the primary rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to accomplish spectacular enhancements in significant, modern measures of performance, such as expenses, service, speed and quality (Adeyemi Aremu, 2008). Lowenthal (1994) defined BPR as the fundamental rethinking and redesign of operating process and organizational structure, focuses on the organizations core competencies, to achieve dramatic improvements in organizational performance (Aurand, Schoenbachler, Gordon, 1996). Alter (1990) described BPR as a systematic process that uses information technology to radically overhaul business process and thereby attain major business goals (Grover, 1995). Sethi and King (1998) defined BPR as a redesign and reorganization of business activities that results from questioning the status quo. It search for fulfilling explicit objectives and ca n lead to revolutionary enhancement. It is often interrelated with major cultural and technological changes (Sohail, Daud, Rajadurai, 2006). Nevertheless the idea of BPR began to evolve where many theoretical propositions underlying BPR surfaced (Khong Richardson, 2003). Figure 1 shows some of the developments that BPR has undergone. Although the theoretical propositions differ, similarities are present. Figure 1: Comparison of Perspective and theoretical proposition underlying BPR (Khong Richardson, 2003) Impact of BPR on the organisation The previous segment highlighted the fact that for the BPRs success organizational culture plays a crucial role. In this segment of debate a description is provided on the basis of various thinkers thought that what are the main units or elements of organization, where the organizational culture element stands among them and the inter twinning of these various elements showing that how influencing one can guide rest in the desired direction. As discussed ahead, an organization is an integration of various sub-units or sub sets. For successful implementation of process such as BPR, one needs to consider all these elements simultaneously or to identify the core of these elements so that by influencing that the entire organization can be aligned for the process change purpose. In 1988, Leavitt and Bahrami Diamond model (see Figure 2) accentuates the association between technology, business structure, and people issues and related control mechanisms (Peters Waterman, 2004). They identified these four elements as the core and need to be considered for any change initiative in the organization. Figure 2: The Leavitt and Bahrami Diamond (1988) Again, Weisbord (1978) tries to develop a diagnostic tool for identifying six-box organisational areas, using the categories if structure, purposes, relationships, rewards, helpful mechanisms, and leadership (see Figure 3), where an organization has to perform well in order to succeed (Weisbord, 1978). Figure 3: Weisbords six-boxes Organisational Model (Weisbord, 1978) Further elaborating and developing on this thought McKinleys 7s provide a comprehensive set of factors to assess an organizations readiness for change. These factors recognize seven fundamental components (see Figure 4) none of which should be overlooked before the change process starts (Peters Waterman, 2004). The various frameworks and models have several common aspects. Since, McKinleys 7s encapsulates the important constituents of an organisation and because it has Shared Values (or Culture) at its heart, McKinseys 7s model will be used as a framework to assess the impact of BPR on the organisation. Because of the comprehensive nature and the area of vastness and dimension, McKinleys model holds a bigger degree of acceptance in the literature of Change management in organizations. A further elaboration on the elements identified by McKinleys will make this fact more elucidate to the reader and establish its importance for this research work. Figure 2: McKinseys seven S (Peters Waterman, 2004) Systems Systems are codified knowledge, structured in an analytical arrangement (Zack, 1999). They are management control system, performance measurement and reward systems, planning, budgeting and resource allocation systems and management information systems (Kaplan, 2005). They are the guidelines that direct workforce and administration in their daily tasks. All the BPR explanations, either explicitly or implicitly, imply to these features of systems as the subsequent examples of BPR implementation demonstrate. Rohm, in his examination of BPR at the Principal Financial Group Inc., gives an illustration from its field support transaction. He found that earlier, it has 16 step process involving input from nine people located in several areas and on distinct floors of the home office. The modern structure empowered this process to be diminished to six steps, involving the work of only three people. Consequently, customers were supplied with a single contact individual who could implement and control the whole process (Rohm, 1992). Often, new processes are aided by new technology. Thus, both the new technology and the new multi-function positions demand employees learn new techniques. Structures In 2005, Kaplan describes structures as The way in which tasks and people are specialized and divided, and authority is distributed; how activities and reporting relationships are grouped; the mechanisms by which activities in the organisation are coordinated (Kaplan, 2005). Henley goes on to classify six distinct kind of organisation: Simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalised form, adhocracy cult organisation. Having redefined the crucial processes within an organisation, the next step within BPR is to reorganise the organisation along process lines. Process organisations present a new form of organisation that aims to break away from many of the above traditional types, particularly the bureaucracies and divisional forms. Hammer Champy recommend a move to a widely horizontal structure established around the processes (Hammer Champy, 1993), whereas Davenport recommends a multi-facet matrix structure, with process accountability as a key element (Davenport, 1993). To achieve this, Jon Minerich states: the new organisation must adjust a balance between functional expertise and process involvement and goes on to say it is essential to remove functional barriers (Minerich, 2008). Still, whilst a process orientation is a new organisational structure it will incorporate attributes of the adhocracy: Workforces do not need to be supervised; they are grownups who are willing to take accountabilit y for their work products. Staff Buchanan Huczynski (1997) defines Staff as the quality and quantity of people employed but also adds the management concerns of motivation, reward systems, empowerment, the structure of jobs and team work (Buchanan Huczynski, 2004). The quality concerns will be noted in the Skills section that follows. BPR is often linked to new rewards systems. Davenport (1993) mentions gain-sharing, lateral promotion and a move from role title to process title, and variety through work role rotation. Life time employment, he considers encourage employees to redesign the processes to eliminate their own job (Sabki, Nawi, Mohamed, Azzli, 2005). BPR has certainly made some significant impact on the number of staff. At least in its early phase, re-engineering generally means heavy downsizing and extensive job reorganisation. The role of supervisors gets transformed and the number of intermediate managers usually decreased. At the same time, staffs at all horizontal have new, more receptive roles and specialist roles change fundamentally (Vollmann Brazas, 2004). BPR has indeed become related with down-sizing and right-sizing, and in such situations it is problematic to square with Davenports assertion above, that staffs should ha ve the confidence to redesign themselves out of the process. Skills Skills are defined as The distinctive competencies of the organisation needed to perform difficult tasks to a high standard along the dimensions such as people, management practises, systems technologies (Kaplan, 2005). The word empowerment is invariably associated with BPR. Bambarger (1993) and Anon (1993) illustrate employee involvement in the decision making through brainstorming potential solutions and by developing necessary skills to allow teams to make quick decisions. Hammer Champy (1993) elucidated on changing nature of job from simple tasks to multi-dimensional work, managers role from supervisors to coaches and executives evolves from scorekeepers to leader. Strategy Kaplan (2005) defines Strategy as: The positioning and actions taken by an enterprise, in response to or anticipation if changes in the external environment, intended to achieve competitive advantages. He concluded that strategic decisions are complex in nature, involve a high degree of uncertainty, and involve major changes. Johansson et al definition of the BPR drivers are of a strategic nature: Customers; Competition; Cost; Technology; Shareholders; Politics; Economics, Legislation, and Regulation [i.e. Environment] (headings in pp 37-49). One can see these relate to the Strategy definition given above. Johansson et al first task is to Discover the companys strategy and of what drives competitive advantage in a particular industry; the industrys value chain and the basis for competition, and how a particular company seeks to gain competitive edge (p87). Hammer Champy talk about the three Cs: Customers, Competition and Change (p17). Davenport (1993) advocates a Process Vision that is driven by Business Strategy (p127). BPR decisions, like Strategy decisions, are complex and involves a high degree of uncertainty ([BPR] is a complex undertaking and carries significant risk (Carey, 1993), and as noted under Systems and Structures, BPR involves major change. Style Style is the norms, dominant values and beliefs adopted by managers in their use of leadership (Kaplan, 2005). Hammer Champys New World of Work suggest managers to change from supervisors to coaches and executives to change from scorekeepers to leaders (Hammer Champy, 1993). Davenport (1993) also highlights that communication and commitment building must occur at all levels because changes incurred by process innovation are not only broad, but deep, extending from the vision of managers to the attitudes and behaviours of the lowest-level workers (Marjanovic, 2000). Considerable behavioural factor makes process innovation based change qualitatively distinctive from other forms of large scale restructuring. Process innovation involves immense change, not only in process flows and the culture surrounding them, but also in organisational power and controls (Davenport, 1993). Shared Values Shared values are the core or fundamental set of values that are widely shared in the organisation and serve as guidelines principles of what is important; vision, mission, and values statements that provide a broad sense of purpose for all employees (Kaplan, 2005). Successful reengineered business operations and individual belief systems need to be aligned with the specified beliefs of the organisation. Real value in an organisation is to be gained by looking at shared values that elevate above growth and profit objectives by connecting the ambitions of the organisation to innate human needs and principles (Ridder Wesselink, 2006). Reengineering entails as great a shift in the culture of an organisation as in its structural configuration. Reengineering demands that employees deeply believe they work for their customers, not for their bosses (Hammer Champy, 1993). The new process teams combined with shared values must believe in rewards, self-development and self-management centred on skills used. Critical Success and Failure factors of Business Process Reengineering There are a number of factors responsible for making a BPR process successful; simultaneously there are numbers of factors coexistent which can make BPR unaccepted in organization ultimately resulting in a complete negation of this process. Here is a discussion provided to elaborate on some of these factors so that it can be identified that which factor holds the bigger responsibility for a BPR to succeed or to fail. Success factors of BPR Among the chief success factors are aspiring objectives, a process approach and integration of electronic data processing (EDP), and the deployment of a creative team in problem solving (Peppard Fitzgerald, 1997). Ascari et al. (1995) emphasize four other elements in an organization with regard to successful BPR: Culture, Processes, Structure and Technology (Chang Powell, 1998). Ascaris analysis discovered that the enterprises that implemented BPR consented that its effect on the change of their culture was associated to the organisations reconsidering of its elementary business process. The concentration was also on recognising and enhancing core processes. Conversely, the extent and maturity of the business process architectures and the nature of changes within processes diverge within organisation. Furthermore, there must be substantial changes in structure, exclusively with stress on cross-functional work teams. The extent of the business process architectures is related to the study done by Maull et al. which showed the significant importance of this subject. He defined business process architectures as the definition of an integrated set of business processes (Maull, Weaver, Childe, Smar, Bennett, 1995). In 1999, Al-Mashari and Zairi underlined several facets of the critical success factors for BPR, including management proficiency and support, system composition, project management planning, change management and human resistance to change (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999). According to Smith and Fingar (2002), BPR aims to achieve business performance and competitive advantage by applying innovative ways of doing business. Among few things, they stated to manage radical change efficiently comprises: communication is crucial to show support to the process change project and effective leadership to coordinate deployment of the resources to accomplish the strategic objectives (Smith Fingar, 2002). Further, to recognise the critical success factor of BPR in an organisation, it is essential to comprehend the organisation itself, since the factors may diverge viewing the type of organisation, including private or public. In the public sector, Hutton (1996) stressed several factors that need to be considered in order to implement BPR. These comprise swift dramatic changes in policy direction, rigid hierarchies, culture, multiple stakeholders, overlap of initiatives, wide scope of activities, and staff resistance that are crucial parts of public sector organisations (Hutton, 1996). However, he suggested that human issues should be considered for BPR to be performed in the public sector. This is supported by Smith and Finger (2002) who emphasized that communication at all levels becomes one of the critical elements here. According to the research done by (Berrington Oblich, 1995), it could be encapsulated that in order to implement reengineering, an organisation must understand it s composition first and ensure the vision was achieved. One of the significant points here is that commitment needs to be sustained and improved through communication. The employee concern rather than the technology concern is seen as vital to be dealt with and disciplined so as to make the change effort a success. The concern of culture becomes an imperative factor for BPR, which was further highlighted by Peppard and Fitzgerald (1997) who inspected the allocation of culturally based management procedures, namely BPR, making explicit reference to the German Organisation and cultural context. Their analysis determined that managers and employees as well should contribute their pledge for change. The conflict-free state will reflect on the sustainability of BPR in the long term. Other factors such as empowerment, culture, organisational circumstances and self-autonomy seemed to be significant for BPR to be effectively implemented. Hall et al. (1993) emphasized the depth factor which is related with shared values or culture in following BPR. This study identified six depth levers roles and responsibilities, measurements and incentives, organisational structure, IT, shared values and skills, which require change to enable successful reengineering. In an addition of methodology from the Hall et al . (1993) composition, Maull et al. (1995) concluded what the concerns are which fortify a BPR programme, by study commenced into a range of companies, located solely within the USA. Unstructured interviews took place with selected leading practitioners who had undertaken successful BPR projects and who were asked to share their experiences. The study was conducted with an individual or, more commonly with a team, which had overall responsibility for the BPR project within the organisation. There were five key issues in this study: scope of change, performance measures, information technology, human factors, and business process architecture. It is fascinating to observe and learn that human factors could become one of the sepping stones for the change to occur. The outcomes in Hall et al. (1993), Ascari et al. (1995), Maull et al. (1995), Hutton (1996), Peppard and Fitzgerald (1997), Al-Mashari Zairi (1999) and Smith and Finger (2002) underlined that Organisational culture and human resistance to BPR could lead to unproductive BPR projects. If the change has not been controlled and supervised carefully, employees would resist it, even it is a top-down approach, i.e. driven from the top. Failure factors of BPR Apart from the success factors, several authors also emphasized various failure factors in deploying BPR. Aggarwal (1998) stressed fiascos of BPR deployment, which were related to managers arrogance, resistance, crisis, expenditure, idea, etc. Hammer and Champy (1993) stressed some failure factors such as failure to have a process viewpoint, a rigid process that is not adaptable enough to be receptive to the requests and requirements, not linking workforce (i.e. bottom-up) in decision making, assigning someone that does not understand BPR, technology constraints, fabricating a project but concentrating on downsizing and cost diminution, processing an ineffectual team, and trouble with communication. Therefore, this research emphasized that reengineering is believed to commence with a new vision, mission and customers. Moreover, the scarcity of human resources, and insufficient IT competence and proficiency posed the main inconvenience in carrying out these programmes (Stoddard, Jarve npaa, Littlejohn, 1996). Other factors are the insufficient support from organisation members, absence of strategic vision, rigid organisational arrangement, and shortage of champion for BPR efforts (Ranganathan Dhaliwal, 2001). It is exciting to observe that, among erstwhile failure factors are poor top management support and human resources (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999), people resistance to adopt (Stoddard et al., 1996; Peppard and Fitzgerald, 1997; Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001), IT related problems (Al-Mashari and Zairi, 1999; Ranganathan and Dhaliwal, 2001; Smith, 2003), and ineffective BPR teams, lack of project management, and problems in communication (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999). The point for reiterating with these critical factors is that without another kind of fundamental change, namely, a change in organizational culture, there is little hope of enduring improvement in organizational performance. Although the tools and techniques may be present and the change strategy implemented with vigour, many efforts to improve organizational performance fail because the fundamental culture of the organization-values, ways of thinking, managerial styles, paradigms, approaches to problem solving-remains the same (Quinn Cameron, 2006). Evaluating the above discourse it can be summarised to some extent that although there are numerous factors which make impact on BPR majority of them can be summed under the organizational culture umbrella and those who cant be listed under this head can be guided and impacted by the organizational culture dimension. So here onward the essence is to explore further this crucial dimension of BPR which not only impacts the success of BPR most but can guide it to the way of success. Conclusion Using McKinseys organisational model it was shown that a implementation of any change like BPR will impact on six of the organisational dimensions, and that it is driven by the seventh element i.e. Strategy. One can deduce then, that a full BPR programme will embrace significant organisational change. BPR is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes that result in dramatic improvements especially in meeting customer needs and other external strategic demands. Crucial to prosperous reengineering is not only the formulation of more effective and efficient BPR processes but orientation of organizational culture to support BPR. Since, shared values is placed at the heart of an organisation by McKinsey, one can also infer that a full BPR programme will incorporate substantial organisational culture change. To fully understand this repercussion, the subsequent chapter will investigate the literature on organisational and culture change. Organisational Culture Managing Organisational Change Introduction Previous chapter emphasised that reengineering is not sufficient to attain necessary change in an organisation. It had to be integrated with an overall approach to changing an organizations culture. All prosperous organisations have established something special that surpasses corporate strategy, market presence, or technological advantages. They have found the potential that exists in developing and supervising a unique corporate culture. The failure of reengineering occurred in most cases because the culture of the organization remained the same. Almost every highflying firm has established a unique culture that is visibly recognizable by its key stakeholders. This culture is sometimes shaped by the original founder of the organisation, for e.g. Disney or Microsoft (Schein, The Role of the Founder in Creating Organizational Culture, 1995). Sometimes it is established intentionally by management teams who decide to enhance their organisations performance in systematic ways, for e.g. , G.E or McDonalds (Karp, 2006). But, not all companies automatically acquire a robust and highly operative culture; henceforth further discussion would be on methodology for how to lead a culture change effort in an organization. The potential for professional subculture exists within any organisation employing professionals. Professionals entering an organisation bring with them a large range of cultural knowledge gained both from the wider society and from their professional training schools and previous work experiences. When they join an organisation and meet like professionals, then their previous cultural repertoire gets validated. Even a sole professional within an organisation will find support for his or her existing beliefs and interpretations through interaction with peers outside the organisation, reading professionals journals, and so forth. This sharing of experiences and belief leads to the development and maintenance of professional subcultures which compliments, conflict and counterbalance the primary organisational culture (Bloor Dawson, 1994). To comprehend how culture change can improve implementation of BPR and organisational capability, it is important that we make clear what is and isnt Organisational culture. A description of organizational culture and subculture will be first delivered followed by the clarification of methods for comprehending culture change in the context of organizations. Finally, employee response to cultural change will be described followed by process of initiating culture change is described which can be used in organizational development interventions. Organisational Culture Subculture There is no clear consensus of an organizational culture definition (Zammuto, Gifford, Goodman, 2000). However, many researchers tried to describe organisational culture as below: According to Quinn Cameron (2006), an organizations culture is revealed by what is valued, the dominant managerial and leadership styles, the language and symbols, the procedures and routines, and the definitions of success that make an organization unique. Culture has been an important concept in organisational study for a long period, but there remains significant range in how researchers observe and analyse culture (Martin, 2002). The anthropologist Kluckhohn (1949) defined culture as the set of habitual and traditional ways of thinking, feeling, and reacting that are characteristic of the ways a particular society meets its problems at a particular time (Price Chahal, 2006). Several academicians who have analysed culture and have frequently come up with considerably narrow definitions, or some have used these definitions and merged them into recent, more espousing definitions. For example, Schein define culture as: a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein E. , 2004). Scheins definition highlights that culture is something not to do with individuals alone but with groups of people collectively, who through their skills together in the work surroundings, will construct an image of what the organisation is all about and how it carry out its purpose. This image is constructed by knowing how to perform for survival and advancement. Contrary, (Smircich, 1983), support analogous hidden features of beliefs and values, while (Thompson Luthans, 1990) emphasise the behavioural interpretation of organisational culture that is learning through both direct and indirect means. For example, employees observe how they are cared by management and how they infer management treating other people. Accor ding to above theory, two components of behaviour exists: the patterns which are internal opinions of how one should act and the norms which are external observable manifestations of the internal opinions. Ogbonna (1993) asserted that culture may have lost much of its meaning as academics and practitioners use culture to refer to any facet of organisations that does not offer itself to obvious explanation. Also, there is a strong tendency among researchers and practitioners towards viewing organizational cultures as unitary belief systems (Ogbonna Harris, 1998). According to this, homogeneity, harmony and unity are features of organization cultures, and cultural change is understood as an organization-wide transformation process, where the old unity is replaced by a new one (Martin, 2002). This is a common view, although cultural organization studies have provided plenty of reflection on the issue of how organizations are subject to different types of cultural divisions (Lindstead Grafton-Small, 1992). It has also been made clear that the organizational belief systems are not necessarily clearly articulated or internally consistent, but that they may at the same time include inconsis tent and ambiguous elements (Meyerson Martin, 1987). The claim goes that the unitary interpretation can only deliver information regarding beliefs that are usually held within the complete organization. This creates problems such as the inability to reveal subcultures and a multiplicity of views, the inability to handle inconsistencies and the inability to take into account ambiguity in organizational beliefs. But, many theorists such as Morgan (1986) and Sackmann (1992) call for a view of culture that is pluralist with the existence of subcultures (Harris Ogbonna, Employee responses to culture change efforts, 2005). There are many kinds or levels of culture that influence organizational and individual behaviour. At the widest level, a global culture, such as a world religions culture or the culture of the Eastern hemisphere would be the highest level (Quinn Cameron, 2006). At a less general level are national cultures or subgroup cultures such as gender-based cultures, ethnic gr oup cultures, occupational cultures, or socioeconomic group culture. Each of these cultures is generally reflected by unique language, symbols, and ethnocentric feelings. Still less broad is the culture of a single organization (Quinn Cameron, 2006). Subcultures are groups whose common characteristic is a set of shared norms and beliefs. In contrast to subgroups, subcultures need not form around existing subdivisions, such as departmental or functional groups (although they often do), nor do they need to be consciously or intentionally formed (Boisnier Chatman, 2003). The range and variety of subcultures is as diverse as the range and variety of existing organizational cultures. Siehl and Martin (1984) gave three categories of subcultures: orthogonal subcultures, enhancing subcultures and counter cultures. Orthogonal subcultures are those groups of organisational members who accept the dominant values but also hold the