please follow the instructions
please follow the instructions. I’m stuck on a Writing question and need an explanation.
Select one book from the books listed below
(Outline- Critical Reflection Project )
Submit outline of your major critical reflection project. Your outline should be 2 pages long. The outline should showing the main arguments presented in the book and your personal reflection.
please make sure to do the outline showing the main arguments in the book.
1- Robert Kolb and Charles Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008).
2- Ta-nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015).
please follow the instructions
Read two case studies posted below and answer questions. Cite any references used. As the occupational health nurse in
online homework help Read two case studies posted below and answer questions. Cite any references used. As the occupational health nurse in. Read two case studies posted below and answer questions. Cite any references used. As the occupational health nurse in a factory that produces components for automobiles, you notice that there has been a marked increase in employee illness and absence within the last month. While the incidence of illness and absence are significant, the potential causes are not so clear-cut. 1. How would you go about assessing the workplace for potential hazards? 2. What types of potential exposures and hazards are in the workplace? 3. What are the components of the agent–host–environment interaction in the workplace? • The community health nurse has been requested to open a new hospice case at a local assisted living facility. The patient has end-stage dementia and needs the services provided by Medicare hospice benefits. The daughters have a lot of questions about the services provided with hospice. The community health nurse provides a brief overview of hospice. According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, how is hospice defined? The community health nurse reviews with the daughters conditions that must be met in order for their mother to obtain Medicare hospice benefits. What are those conditions? The patient believes in an afterlife and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As a protestant, what rituals have to be considered for this patient? This patient is having a lot of difficulty with dyspnea. What are appropriate nursing interventions to consider for dyspnea? Read two case studies posted below and answer questions. Cite any references used. As the occupational health nurse in
An Overview Of Torture And Ethics Philosophy Essay
Torture can be defined as mental or physical harm to a human being. Torturing of an enemy or of any individual and the ethics of it is a very controversial subject today. After 9/11 it became even more controversial. There is always the question of whether using torture to obtain information that could save lives outweighs the ethical and moral obligations not to use it. Human rights come into play here also and what global ramifications it could have. The question is torture ever justified. American free society is supposed to be just that free. Free to come and go, speak his or her minds, and be a democratic society. Americans have set themselves to have a very high standard of morality and ethics. If torture is considered morally wrong than does it lower the high moral standards of American society if used by them. Because terrorism has hit American soil torture has become a philosophical and political debate. The main point of this debate is whether torture should be absolutely prohibited or under special circumstances should torture be allowed to prevent a greater menace to society. If the position is moral absolutism it will hold that according to Evans (2007) an “individual must “do things only when they are right” rather than calculating the consequences of their actions” (para. 1). This perspective condemns torture by arguing that it is antithetical to human rights. Torture morally unjustified because treating people as pawns that can information can be gotten from them through pain is dehumanizing (Evans, 2007). Americans consider themselves a moral and ethical society, so if torture is unethical than it would lower the moral standards of American society. Some scholars criticize the moral perfectionism of the absolutists. These scholars believe that one would feel more moral guilt if there were hundreds of innocents that die if the choice would be to not torture one guilty person. They believe that the rights of some must be sacrificed to save lives of many (Evans, 2007). This type of thinking goes against the ethics of most American society. International law strictly prohibits any type of torture; it is a violation of human rights. According to Human Rights Education Association (2011) “under the international criminal prosecution system all governments are responsible for prosecuting torturing offenders” (Rights at stake, para. 4). Universal jurisdiction is the principle that requires all countries where torture offenders are located to either extradite them for prosecution by the country where the torture happened or to prosecute the offenders themselves. It is rare that these prosecutions actually happen. Some of the reasons are evidence, national amnesty laws, jurisdiction, flawed investigations, corruption, and political (Human Rights Education Association, 2011). Even though there are the international laws against torture because of human rights in different countries it still goes on without any repercussions. Torture could have global implications. It is like the saying “an eye for an eye”. If one country is accused of and proven to torture other country citizens then the citizen’s country will feel obligated to do the same. It could be a rolling stone that never stops. Teleological theory could be used to justify torture. This theory “determines the moral worth of an action by the extent to which that action accomplishes a purpose or an end” (Souryal, 2007, p. 71). If the consequences from torturing someone for information ends with a good result and information can be used for the greater good, then torture is a good consequence. If the end result brings about the wrong consequences in this theory the act could be wrong, but the chance would be worth taking. An example would be that if a crime has been committed knowing that one may be tortured may deter another from committing the same crime. Teleologists use hierarchy based on the quality. The belief is that the goodness of justice is worth more than the goodness of pleasure (Souryal, 2007, p. 71). The justification for torture will not be for pleasure but for justice. The theory holds with “morality of an action is based on the morality of its consequences” (Souryal, 2007, p. 72). Society’s interests as a whole is the moral consideration because the agent of universal happiness is morality (Souryal, 2007, p. 72). Another theory to that could be used to justify torture would be the deontological theory. The intent or consequences of an act does not matter if the act is right. The act is all that matters in this theory. With this theory torture could be considered inconsequential. If torture proves to be harmful it makes no difference if the end results is a correct action such as saving lives. This theory is considered moral or immoral on two standards: “(1) what they are or (2) what principle they conform to” (Souryal, 2007, p. 70). Torture will bring out the truth, so the truth is good regardless of how this truth was obtained (Souryal, 2007, p. 70). One theory that may used against torture may be the utilitarian theory. Utilitarianism is for extending social reform. This theory is aimed at expanding political privileges. It would like for the less fortunate to have a higher standard of living. The theory is for correcting injustices caused by “harsh and corrupt penal codes” (Souryal, 2007, p. 171). Torture is a harsh penal code so therefore Utilitarianism could not be used to justify it. Utilitarianism takes human dignity into consideration whereas torture does not. Utilitarianism brought about political social reforms. The theory was meant to create a civilized community that would work for the common good (Souryal, 2007, p. 171). Torture is not a civilized action and cannot be used for the common good. Natural law is defined as laws that control human behavior and regulate the right way to live (Banks, 2009, p. 13). Natural law is not used to justify torture. Humans search for moral absolutes that define to them what is normal and natural (Banks, 2009, p. 13). Using torture to gain information is not natural and not in human nature to do. Natural law dictates what is right and what is wrong. Torture within a human conscience is morally wrong so therefore within the natural law it is considered wrong. Natural law leans more toward human rights and torture is against human rights. Morality during the time of conflict between nations and terrorism is ever being questioned. The 9/11 attacks on the United States has brought American’s morals into question. These prisoners have been tortured either for information, to try and stop another attack, or out of angry for what happened. This information which has been publically made available has brought angry from Americans as well as others from foreign soil. The acts of other countries brought cries of human rights being violated from Americans but the fear and angry has led to violate other’s rights. These acts can and eventually will lead others to torture Americans as happen quite frequently on foreign soil. The international humanitarian law states according to Human Rights Education Association (2011) “the right to freedom from torture is absolute and includes times of war” (International humanitarian law, para. 1). The Geneva Convention in 1949 prohibited torture. The military has a duty to protect civilians, non-soldiers and soldiers that have been captured and laid down their weapons. Torture of these individuals regardless of the reasons is absolutely forbidden (Human Rights Education Association, 2011). Any country that goes against these laws are violating the Geneva Convention and it could have global implications. According to The Human Rights Education Association (2011) The United Nations has the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 that states “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” (United Nations, para. 1). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights are part of the international law. Being part of the international law makes them binding in all states and countries. States and countries because of this law have the right to enforce this law against any suspects found in their borders (Human Rights Education Association, 2011). Torture of another human for any reason is not justifiable. There are alternatives to getting information that can save lives. If someone is being tortured they will say or do anything to make the pain stop. If people are fanatics and believe totally in their cause the torture will be welcomed along with death. The question always arises is torture ethically or morally wrong. If a country or a person has set high moral standards for themselves then the answer to this question is yes it is. Violating one’s rights or harming one intentionally is wrong. Natural law is the law of what is right or what is wrong so torture is breaking natural law.
Internal And External Factors That Impact Organisational Business Essay
Every company has an unique organisational culture. Its culture derives from its past, its present, its current people, technology and physical resources and from the aims, objectives and values of those who work in the organisation (Lynch 2003). In recent years there has been increasing recognition of the role that organisational culture plays in the formulation and implementation of firm strategies and in influencing the success of those strategies. According to Deal and Kennedy (1982) research, they also stated that organisational culture defines the success or failure of organisation. Therefore, it is important to understand culture in an organisation as to help organisational leader in making management decision and in achieving excellences strategy. It is necessary to view strategic management from a cultural perspective because successful organisational performance often rests upon the degree of support that strategies receive from the organisation’s culture (Hodge 1996). Organisational Culture Definition of Organisational culture and its importance to strategic management. When any group of people live and work together for any length of time, they form and share beliefs about what is right and proper. They establish behaviour patterns based on their beliefs, and their actions often become matters of habit which they follow routinely. These beliefs and ways of behaving create the culture of the organisation. Culture is a pattern of shared tacit assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid in organisation and it is necessary to be taught to new members as the correct way to think, perceive, and feel in relation to those problems that occur in many organisation today (Schein 2009). Culture also influences the selection of people for particular jobs, which in turn affects the way in which tasks are carried out and decisions are made in an organisation. With the word of organisation added to the definition of culture, it can be defined as the patterns of beliefs, values and learned ways of coping with experience that have developed during organisation’s history, and which tend to be manifested in the behaviours of its members (Brown 1998). Organisational culture is the taken-for-granted assumptions and behaviours that make sense of people’s organisational context and it contributes to how groups of people respond and behave in relation to issue they face. It means that culture has important influences on the development of organisational strategy. Strong organisational cultures are important strategic asset as it is the heart of all strategy creation and implementation. In the early 1980s, Berry (1983) mentioned that by using culture, organisations could become more strategically effective. In order to support this statement, the popular global online book-seller known as amazon.com, used their culture which described as intensely customer-focused to drives their organisational strategy creation by focusing more on intensive training of each individual employee as these could reinforce the culture. As the result of using their culture and become more strategically effective, today’s amazon.com has become one of the most successful online shop worldwide (Bezos 2007). Moreover, an effective strategic leader should understand and shape the culture of organisation in order that vision can be pursued and intended strategic implemented. This is something that leaders of Apple Inc. have applied, by leveraging their culture of innovation toward product as well as internal processes; they have been able to survive among their competitors as well as venture into new and profitable markets. In fact that in third quarter of 2012, Apple Inc. has made more than $35 billion revenue as this determine their success in technology industry (Fekete 2001). Moreover, organisational culture is dependent on the leadership such as particular individuals. For example, organisational culture of the body shop company is based on the commitment of their founder, Anita Roddick, to produce only environmentally friendly products (McGuire 2009). Through her commitment, nowadays The Body Shop has grown and prospers to become large and international businesses. From all examples above, it shows us the connection between culture and strategy of an organisation is necessary in order to understand roles of culture that affect the creation and implementation of strategy in an organisation. Key characteristics of culture in an organisation. There are some key characteristics of culture in an organisation. Firstly, culture can be shaped by people as employees’ personality and experience create the culture of an organisation. For example, if most of employees are very outgoing, the culture in the organisation likely to be open and sociable. The other characteristics are culture is negotiated; this is because culture cannot be created by only individual person. Employees must try to change the work environment, the direction, the way work is performed, or the manner in which decisions are made within the general norms of the workplace. Its difficulty to change is another characteristic of organisational culture (Heathfield 2012). Changing in culture require people to change their behaviours. It is often hard for people to unlearn their old way of doing things, and to start performing the new behaviours consistently. It takes time and effort to change the culture in an organisation especially in firms with strong culture. Older strong culture organisations have established stories, use symbols, conduct rituals and even use their own language. In this type of strong culture organisations, the core values are widely shared, respected and protected. However, according to Beamish (2008) research, he argued that culture is not static. He mentioned although a strong culture is extremely resistant to change but culture is not static. Once a culture is established in an organisation, it tends to be reinforced by the types of leaders chosen, by the selection, induction and training processes, by the systems, procedures and structures, and by the statements and communications of senior leaders about the way things are done around organisation. In addition, overtime, the environment changes, new technologies develop, new social norms occur, and new competitors emerge, cultures will evolve to match these developments (Beamish 2008). For example, as new technology developed, CEO of General Electronic (GE), Jack Welch develop new strategy called’GrowYourBusiness.com’, aimed at getting the various businesses to embrace electronic commerce as the new way of doing business and this had a significant effect on the required culture (McGuire and Rhodes 1999). Benefits of electronic commerce are cost saving, provide faster answers for customers and offer more interesting assignments for employees. Nowadays most of GE’s customers are using web to track orders, sometimes right to the location of a delivery van and instantly getting details of products. The last characteristics of organizational culture is more than one culture might which means that two or more subcultures might exist in same organisation. However, most of the researchers assume that there should be a single culture for the organisation (Stanford 2010). It might be true for small or extremely focused or geographically concentrated organisations, but for organisations with a broad range of products, customers and geographical locations, separate subcultures are necessary. For examples, the China operation of a multinational manufacturer seeking low-cost production will have quite a different culture from its sales and marketing operation in Singapore and Australia, where the company is trying to present an up-market image. Therefore it is important for an organisation to have appropriate cultures in each unit and to be able to coordinate these cultures for the benefit of the organisation as a whole. Internal and external factors that impact organisational culture. Organisational culture is subjective by several factors which affect its development, performance and growth. Organisational culture originates and keeps evolving from the dynamics of the interaction between internal and external factors (Wilson and Bates 2003). Internal factors consist of organisation’s values, leadership style and structure (Kwamme 2010). Values in an organisation determine the inner culture of each individual employee. Moreover, managerial focus and leadership style has known as the contributor of shaping organisational culture as it could preserve an innovative and creative culture in an organisation. Healthy organisational structure includes procedures, expectations and policies are likely for employee to be motivated, more efficient and creative that could influence the culture in an organisation. On the other, external factors that affect organisational culture, includes business relationships, technology, laws and policies (Kwamme 2010). Business relationships have a great impact on employee’s behaviour and the culture in an organisation. For instance, if an organisation has association with a further business and that business is based on high prospects, staff may react in their working as the reason of those high prospects. As the result of today’s technology advancement, it could lead to changing in culture of an organisation particularly with an increasing interaction between human and machine. Furthermore, technological creating competitive organisational culture as it reduces face-to-face interaction between human. Lastly, organisational regulations, policies and external work related acts significantly influences organisational culture, for example employee who work in organisation that performs a strict “work to rule” policy, they exhibit characteristics such as do things as they are told, less passionate about their job and refuse to be creative, thus it could directly change the whole culture in an organisation. This combination of internal and external factors will influence the organisation’s culture and have an effect on interpersonal relations. What is important is to be aware of it and to take account of how plans to develop the organisation may be affected by and affect its culture (Wilson and Bates 2003). Organisational cultures and organisation’s performance Studies of Peter and Waterman (1982) stated that high-performance organisations usually have strong organisational culture. A strong culture will help to align the elements required for effective implementation. Each organisation in same industry requires different business strategies. Different strategies require different cultures. Clearly, the culture of the organisation needs to be matched to the business strategy of the organisation. The issue is to align the culture with the strategy, not to seek some ideal culture. There are some views on the relationship between organisational cultures on organisation’s performance. The most common one known as strong-culture thesis, that assumed the commitment of employees and managers to the same set of values, beliefs and norms will have positive results that directly correlated with the level of profits in a company (Dess 2008). It is possible that success brings about a common set of orientations, beliefs and values. This culture may be more than just a by-product of high performances, but values and meanings may reproduce a successful organisation and thus contribute to performances. Since the cultural values are observable and measurable, it can be compared directly between organisations, employees and organisational performance. Recently, employee engagement has become a key measure of people’s commitment to the organisational culture and high scores have been linked to high organisational performance. For example, Italian eye ware and eye care company Luxottica improved its employee engagement and achieved improved performance. This company found that employees in its Australian and New Zealand operation of total 6500 people were disengaged and 56% of them did not understand the business strategy. However after employee engagement program was constructed which include understanding the culture of the organisation, Luxottica has achieved 15% of improvement in engagement, 30% reduction in recruitment costs and an 8% reduction in turnover (Story 2009). Many business leaders are convinced that culture does have a substantial influence on performance. Therefore, when an organisation performs consistently at their capability, the outcome is not only improved strategic success but also an organisational culture permeated with a spirit of high organisational performance. Organisational culture influence on strategy Because of its crucial role in organisation performance, it is necessary to examine the relationship between culture and strategy because chance of success will be higher if there is a close incident fit between culture and strategy. Organisational cultures should be accompanied by any changes in strategy of organisation; otherwise the strategy is probably failed. In other hand, if supportive cultural arrangement is supported by right strategy, most likely the strategy will be succeeding (Montanari, Morgan and Bracker 1990). The taken-for-granted nature of culture makes it centrally important in relation to strategy and the management of strategy. George Davis (2010), the founder of clothing retailers Next and GIVe, sees culture as central to management. He added that culture is the thing that makes us do things and stops us doing things. There are benefits in the taken-for-granted nature of culture. Josephine Dumont (2010) supported this view and stated that because of all employees take as given the way the firm operates, it reduces the need for constant supervision. The stronger the fit between culture and strategy, the less managers have to depend on policies, rules and procedures, which means that lesser supervision needed to enforce what people should and should not do. There are then benefits to the taken-for-granted aspect of culture. Moreover, a positive culture might influence in achieving strategy in an organisation. For example, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) is the second largest financial institution in the world which comprises of more than 10,000 offices in eighty countries. HSBC has their own unique and effective culture as part of its strategic management. One of the known practices within the HSBC organisational culture is its regard for work-ethic endorsement. This practice involves the careful screening of employees with the necessary skills and high potential for improvement. Through this culture, the HSBC are able to create an effective workforce that is determined to succeed and is highly committed to work. It believes that when employees are highly committed with their job and always do their very best, it could help in achieving strategy and plan in an organisation. Business strategies of HSBC are to increase revenue growth, developing brand strategy further, improving productivity and maintaining the company’s prudent risk management and strong financial position (HSBC 2011). According to appendix 1, it shows the effect of culture in an organisation to strategy development. In the situation of declining performance of an organisation, managers or leaders need to improve the implementation of existing strategy such as trying to lower cost, improve efficiency, tighten controls or improve accepted way of doing things. If this not effective, a change of strategy may occur, however change in line with the existing culture. For example, when there are attempts to change highly bureaucratic organisations to be customer-oriented so there is a need to change a culture’s of an organisation. However, some employees do not readily to accept the cultural change in an organisation as they are used to the culture they had before. People prefer the familiar and typical culture as to minimise uncertainty or ambiguity in the organisation. The connection between success and culture may seem obvious as successful business is the result of successful execution of a good strategy, and therefore culture is all about execution (Stanford 2010). Strategy can be effectively implemented only when an organisation’s culture is both strong (consistent) and healthy (employees are engaged and committed, customers are satisfied and other stakeholders are included in organisational discussions). Appendix 2 summarises the link between the two through the case of Southern Airlines. They believe that the link between strategy and its culture are the one of the reasons that makes this organisation become successful. The culture in an organisation is strong as there is consistency of what people see, hear and feel about it and employees are clear of how things are done and are willing and able to help the airline achieve its goals. Furthermore, their business strategy is good includes stretching and addressing short-term and longer-term goals and they are clearly articulated. As the result of the strong culture and good strategy, Southern Airlines has reached their business success in airline industry. The CEO of Southeast Airline, Gary Kelly (2009) added that strong culture contributes to business success and is instrumental in some of the strategic decision of the organisation. Organisational Culture and Strategic Decision Nowadays, terms of strategic is used more often in its broader sense, including strategic decision. There are some important key elements of strategic decisions that are related primarily to the organisation’s ability to add value and compete in market place (Lynch 2003). This include making sustainable decisions that can be maintained over time, it must be able to delivers sustainable competitive advantages over its actual or potential competitors, it has to exploit the many linkages that exist between the organisation and its environment and lastly it must have the ability to move the organisation forward a significant way beyond the current environment. Therefore, it is the responsibility of strategic decision maker to reach and maintain key elements of good strategic decision to an organisation. It is important to a strategic decision maker to make decisions by considering the different cultures, agencies, agendas, personalities and desires in an organisation (Guillot 2003). Strategic decision makers must not only be aware of the culture within an organisation, but they must also work to shape an organisation’s culture to help achieve its objectives. If an organisation needs to improve the public’s perception of its customer service, then strategic decision makers must steer the organization’s culture so it promotes or encourages high achievement in customer service activities. Changing an organisation’s culture helps guard against unethical or illegal behaviour by members of the organization. Organisational culture directly affects how the members of the organisation view and interact with the environment the organisation operates in, including their interactions with the general public. For example, Howard Levin, President and CEO of Digicon Electronics, he took the time to understand the company as an organisation and he even undertook the benchmarking the company’s culture against companies with reportedly effective business culture and not just in that industry. Every operational improvement and new strategic decisions he undertook was linked to the new culture that he was building for the company. He was determined that the company would have a culture that would support enlightened leadership. Over time, the student of culture became the teacher as Digicon became an industry leader (Want 2006). Conclusion In conclusion, this academic essay has explored the role of culture in the overall scheme of organisation in terms of strategic management. An organisational culture is observable and powerful force in organizational that can influence the development and change of organizational strategy. Culture and strategic management of the organisation are closely tied together. Adjustment in one often signals the need for changes in the other. Therefore, strategic system approach emphasizes the need for alignment between culture and all other aspects of the organisation. It is important for organisation to have creative and learning organization in order to improve company’s efficiency and effectiveness, as well as being the source of inspiration on changing and improving organisation. Moreover, it is a power and beneficial potential when culture and organisation’s performance well integrated in a set of effective values, beliefs and behaviours with the purpose of achieving organisation’s systems since cultural values are observable and measureable through stakeholders (organization, employees and organizational performance). In addition, a chance of success will be higher in organization if there is a close incident fit between culture and strategy. When culture has clear values, beliefs and behaviours and it connects to the vision, objectives and strategic, it will encourage to the right behaviours and actions on supporting the strategy. Therefore, with understanding of organisational culture, strategic leader will be able to make a wiser decision by means adapting with external environment on strategy formulation and encourage and leads his/her people on strategy implementation.