Design bandpass FIR digital filter to extract sub-Hz low frequency Dissertation

Design bandpass FIR digital filter to extract sub-Hz low frequency signal - Dissertation Example The aim of this research work is to design and performance evaluation of 0.2 – 0.5 Hz Butterworth, Blackman and Chebyshev digital semi adaptive filters. For this work XILINX and MATLAB software’s were used for the design. As pert of practical research work these designs were translated Using FPGA hardware SPARTAN-3E kit. These were optimized, analyzed, compared and evaluated keeping the sampling frequency at 1Hz for 64 orders. These filters designed using software were tested by passing a sinusoidal test signal of 5 Hz along with noise and the filtered Output signals are presented. Signal to Noise ratios were evaluated, plotted and comparative analysis carried out in this paper. Keywords Digital filter, XILINX and MATLAB software’s, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), SPARTAN-3E, DSP Chips, DIP switches Contents ABSTRACT 2 Contents 3 1. INTRODUCTION. 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 7 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. 44 6. CONCLUSION 54 Reference list 55 1. INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Problem statement. The possibility of real time and low cost digital filtering emerged in when general purpose of microcomputers were introduced in the 1970s. The earlier designed digital filters had limited precision and speed which limited them to a restricted their application to simple algorithms and low frequency . In the 1980s, in its historical development DSP Chips which were of higher special cost were introduced (Tomlinson 1991). This contained an on chip D/A converter were incorporated and later improvements in their speed and complexity were advanced by ICS . This gave birth to the advanced digital filter design of today ( VolKenberg, 1987). Availability of F.P.G.A series kits helps researchers to take practical designs of semi adaptive band pass filters from low to high frequencies. It is on this basis that this project is designed to provide a high factor and high performance factor in attenuating frequencies which are undesirable for certain applications like the elec trocardiogram. 1.2 Objective The objectives of this project are: To inter-grate a low pass and high pass digital filters in a substrate known as band pass filter. To design FIR band pass that can help to extract low frequency of between 0.2-0.5 Hz 1.3 Scope of work The scope of this work is to design and develop a finite impulse response band pass digital filter. The following lists of objectives must be completed with the following in mind: 1. The scope of this project is making literature review which will survey on the magazine, journal, textbooks or conference papers. 2. During literature review, all the information such as theory and design of a digital filter will be explored. 3. Calculation based on Butter-worth and Chebyshev response will be done 4. Entering of the filter characteristics to generate coefficients using the FDAT tool block. 5. After the coefficients have been generated by the use of the FDAT tool block, design simulation using the FIR block will be done. 6. Th e last step in the finite impulse response band base filter design will be to hardware verify the performance of the hardware in the loop. 7. The preliminary work will use MATLAB tools and the result will compare with the theoretical result. 8. Finally, fabricate and make measurement for analysis result will be made based on the designed device. 1.4 METHODOLOGY This project will start with the background study of band pass basic concept through hole

Marketing Plan for Breads and Bakes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Plan for Breads and Bakes - Essay Example The experience and the knowledge of B&B owners, product variety, and skilled workers are the strengths of the enterprise. The weakness of the firm arises from its dearth of knowledge regarding the taste and preference of the local clientele. The firm has a prospect of benefiting from the mild competitive rivalry and the large consumer base in the locality. The competition arising from the well-established and prominent cafes are a major threat.The retail industry for food and beverages in the US is swelling rapidly. The increased demand for the freshly baked products, including muffins, bread, and beverages such as coffee arises from the cool business climate of Seattle. The low competition in the locality also increases the demand for products (U.S Department of Commerce, 2008). Large coffee chains and espresso bars are the main rivals of B&B. Nonetheless, the cafes often have limited clients because of the higher outlays with which they are associated. B&B is economical in its comp etitive price, acquiring more clients (Langlois & Csontos, 1993).The firm’s products are a variety of coffee, espresso, and freshly baked products. The firm will market the products to the locals, tourists, and travelers in the town.The local residents aged between 15 and 50 years are the target market of the firm. The firm also targets the tourists and the frequent travelers in the town.B&B will be different from other firms in terms of a wide variety of provisions and competitive pricing.

Osamu Dazai Essay Example for Free

Osamu Dazai Essay Osamu Dazai was one of Japanese novelist and considered one of the most important storytellers of postwar Japan. While known primarily as a novelist, Dazai also earned recognition for his numerous short stories, including â€Å"Omoide† (â€Å"Memories†), â€Å"Sarugashima† (â€Å"Monkey Island†), and â€Å"Ha† (â€Å"Leaves†), which were published in Bannen, his first collection of short stories. Like most of his longer fiction, Dazais short stories are autobiographical and reflect a troubled life marred by alcoholism, drug addiction, and several suicide attempts. Nevertheless, Dazais fiction showcases his artistic imagination and unique confessional narrative technique. Dazai was born the youngest of ten children in Kanagi, a small town in northern Japan, to one of the wealthiest families in the region. While Dazais later years were turbulent, he grew up a sensitive child in comfortable surroundings. Later in his life, however, his wealthy background led to self-consciousness, contributing to a nagging sense of isolation that is an undercurrent throughout his fiction. Dazai underwent his apprenticeship in writing during the 1920s while attending secondary schools in Aomori and Hirosaki and published many of his early stories in magazines founded and run by aspiring young authors. By the time he attended Hirosaki Higher School, however, Dazai began to live the unconventional lifestyle that brought him much fame. Despite his widely recognized talent, however, alcoholism, drug addiction, affairs with geishas, suicide attempts, and frequent psychological traumas plagued him the rest of his life. In 1930, Dazai enrolled in the Department of French Literature at Tokyo University, but by the end of his first year, he ceased attending classes. Instead, Dazai became involved with left-wing politics, caroused, and renewed his relationship with a geisha he met while attending Hirosaki Higher School. His family disapproved of this relationship, leading to one of Dazais suicide attempts. He attempted to take his own life on at least three other occasions and finally succeeded in a double suicide with a young war widow in 1948. This episode, among several instances of double suicide in Dazais fiction, is retold in his widely acclaimed novel, No Longer Human. Dazais highly autobiographical fiction first garnered popular and critical attention after the publication of his first collection, Bannen (The Final Years). The first and most significant of these stories is â€Å"Omoide† (â€Å"Memories†). With its highly personal tone, â€Å"Memories† reveals a common narrative technique in Dazais writing. Revealing his childhood and adolescent traumas, as well as his need for companionship and love, Dazais first-person narrative attracts the readers sympathy while raising doubts about the authenticity of the narration because of exaggerated rhetoric. â€Å"Gangu† (â€Å"Toys†), another tale in Bannen, illustrates Dazais playfulness. In this tale, the narrator — after briefly relating his financial troubles — details his plans to concoct a tale recounting the memories of an infant. While these and other early pieces exemplify the personal tone of much of Dazais work, another group of tales shows his talent for imaginative storytelling. Two tales — â€Å"Gyofukuki,† translated as â€Å"Metamorphosis,† and â€Å"Sarugashima,† translated as â€Å"Monkey Island† — provide good examples of this. In place of the Dazai like protagonist present throughout most of his other short fiction; â€Å"Metamorphosis† is about a peasant girl who, on the verge of puberty, takes on the appearance and identity of a fish. â€Å"Monkey Island† presents two humanoid monkeys as its protagonists. In astonishment, one of the monkeys soon realizes they are the objects of atte ntion, rather than the spectators, of the humans walking through the zoo. In his final years, he composed a series of stories that evince his interest in domestic issues, as titles such as â€Å"Villons Wife,† â€Å"Father,† and â€Å"Family Happiness†Ã¢â‚¬â€suggest. As critics have remarked, the stories of these collections are among the few works of artistic value produced by a Japanese author under the strict government censorship during World War II. While famous in Japan and avidly read — especially by the younger generation — Dazai has not achieved the international stature of Japanese writers such as Natsume Sseki, Kawabata Yasunari, Mishima Yukio, and End Shusaku. This is partly due to problems with translating Dazais highly personal style. Yet Dazai has earned himself a position in modern Japanese letters more or less comparable to that of an F. Scott Fitzgerald, as opposed to a William Faulkner, in modern American literature. Donald Keene, Dazais principal English translator, has described him as a Japanese writer â€Å"who emerged at the end of World War II as the literary voice of his time.† While Dazais body of work is sometimes criticized for its narrow scope, many critics maintain that his fiction contains some of the most beautiful prose in modern Japanese literature. Dazai became celebrated for two short novels, The Setting Sun and No Longer Human, both translated into English. I read both of them back when I was reading all the Japanese fiction I could get my hands on, but did not care for either, and have not read either again. The Setting Sun was published in 1947, and is set in those years shortly after the end of the war. It was a very popular novel, and the title came to represent Japanese of the upper classes who had fallen because of the war and American occupation. But Dazai was already well known for personal characteristics reflected in the major characters as wellnihilism, drunken dissipation, despair (a kind of model for our hippie generation)so, although the central character is a young woman, Kazuko, the novel is read as strongly autobiographical. This is true for No Longer Human, too, which is perhaps even more autobiographical, and, as Donald Keene describes it, is an attack on the habits and traditions of Japanese society, but above all a record of his alienation from society. (1063) I was not attracted to the narcissistic qualities in these two novels, or to the fact that Dazai, after having failed in two previous love suicides (in which the women succeeded) succeeded in a love suicide June 13, 1948 (he and the woman drowned in the Tamagawa Reservoir). I just didnt much like him or his charactersnever used those novels in courses I taught. But I did use one of his short stories, Villons Wife, several times, because it was in the anthology I most frequently used in the survey course of Japanese Literature, Donald Keenes Modern Japanese Literature, and I actually came to like that story very much (sort of like Oes The Catch, the exception that proves the rule). The husband in the story may be the closest self-portrait of all, and the most despicable, in his drunken dissipation, unfaithfulness, and unforgivable treatment of his wife, but the story is told by the wife, who, in her attempts to accommodate herself to all of this comes through as an attractive and courageous characterand you realize that even Dazai, in his more sober moments perhaps, must have appreciated her virtues. Anyway, thats the one I recommendthen, if you want to read either, or both, of the novels, you will be reading fiction that was very popular in Japan in the decade after the end of the war, and may, indeed, reflect some of the values in flux in that traumatic time, particularly for young Japanese who would have seen themselves as having lost everything. I will be comparing Akutagawa to Edgar Allan Poe next month for their short lives and some of the qualities of their fiction, and it is easy to compare Dazai to Akutagawa (1892-1927), as well. Akutagawa was more of Tanizakis generation, but died in his late 30s, as a suicide, as Dazai did. But, I am happy to say, I am very fond of Akutagawaa highly disciplined literary artist. (MAIN BODY) â€Å"NO LONGER HUMAN† This book, by Osamu Dazai, is an example of the Japanese genre of shishosetsu, a kind of autobiographical fiction. Its different from what we think of as autobiography, in that the purpose is not so much to tell a story there is no real emplotment, beginning, middle, end in the traditional (or Aristotelian) sense, but rather, the text is a sort of rambling exploration of the self. Style is de-prioritized, sincerity and immediacy are tantamount. There is no constrained form, but rather, an attempt to establish a direct link between author and reader, to explain a particular perspective. The book is largely autobiographical, based on events from Dazais own life. He was a literary rock star, but a deeply miserable guy, attempting suicide several times before finally succeeding. Theres actually a monument at the spot where he killed himself (along with his mistress), and apparently people gather there on the anniversary of his death every year. In any case, the book itself is interesting. It makes me want to learn Japanese, for starters, because no matter how great the translator, theres no getting around the fact that the grammatical structure of Japanese is completely different from that of English, most importantly, for this book perhaps, in that it is entirely possible, and even common, to construct a sentence in Japanese with no subject. Apparently the entire book is written in this form, which would be particularly appropriate to the work itself. Though I wonder if the Japanese reader would really think of this as particularly artful, given that its apparently a standard thing to them. But I guess thats a question for psycho-linguists to answer. The book is the related story of a very unhappy guy who is essentially chronicling his downward spiral. Though its hard to say if its really a downward spiral though he does pinpoint a moment at which he ceased to be human, its not entirely clear that he was ever really human (by his own definition) to begin with. One question is what it means, in his eyes, to be human. There is a clear parallel to Notes from the Underground (Dazai was big into Dostoevsky, and the main character refers to Crime and Punishment), in that both are notes from deeply unhappy men who are convinced of their own uniqueness, but there are definitely differences. Dostoevskys character is raging against rationality, and the way in which it dehumanizes people, so in a sense, though he calls himself a mouse, etc, he could be seen as claiming that he is really the only human. Dazais character, Yozo, sees himself as inhuman, mainly, it seems, because he lacks certain basic human traits. He claims, for instance, that he has never felt hungry. However, there is also a certain issue of domination at play he is unable to say no to anyone, to turn down anything. In this sense, one could say that he is entirely determined by the outside world. Despite the fact that he has an inner life, he keeps it hidden from the outside world. In fact, his behavior is entirely, he claims, an act, he plays the clown for the amusement of others, refusing to let his own feelings show. But Im not certain if this is really the case. For instance, he wants to be an artist, and actually disobeys his father in order to pursue his artistic career, and confesses to the other authority figure in his life, Flatfish, that he wants to make art. So it seems as though the masking process is incomplete in this case, and at times he does behave authentically. I wonder if the same could be said for the Underground Man? I think that its slightly different in his case, in that the construction of the Underground Man is such that he cant behave authentically, because he has no stable self. Yozo, on the other hand, certainly has an inner life, its just a rather empty one. He doesnt seem to have any real will of his own, or rather, the will that he does have is purely towards self-destruction he can get booze and drugs, and drink himself into a stupor, without any difficulties. But then again, he also seems to have a brief lull of happiness, directly following his marriage. But even there, its hard to say if hes happy. Maybe its most accurate to say that he is so constructed as to be incapable of happiness? Hmmm. Theres more thinking to be done here. Unfortunately, I seem to like each Dazai Osamu (1909-1948) book less than the previous one. No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku, 1948) is more epigrammatic that The Setting Sun (Shayo, 1947), but perhaps I am too old for it (as I was once too young to read Proust) to be much moved for the plaint of a creature too delicate for the world. I cant muster sociological interest in it as social history of the 30s either, since dissipitation is basically timeless (though the preferred means vary). I read the epilogue differently from translator and longtime Columbia professor Donald Keene: as showing the notebooks writer was successful at mimicking good nature, not that his widow is right and the writer wrong. (In the way that most men fail to see their own cruelty, Yozo had not noticed his gentleness and capacity for love-p. 9; really? a capacity for love? and gentleness? or solipsism mixed with diffidence?) I am not so sure that Keene was right that the Japanese are certainly much more like A mericans than they are like their ancestors of one hundred years ago. As far as literature is concerned, the break with the Japanese past is almost complete (p. 7), though this is more credible now than it was six decades ago. Dazai seems very traditionally Japanese to me in many ways, a descendant of Sei Shà ´nagon both in wit and to some degree in aesthetics (Dazai is still plenty delicate and fairly indirect, even about what she would have considered vulgar and even sordid matters, very regretful and very perishable). Would Keene have been moved to translate Dazai, if there was nothing of the Japanese tradition that Keene venerates in Dazai? Let alone, recall translating Dazai as if I were writing a book of my own, an experience he only otherwise had with Kenkà ´s Essays in Idleness (On Familiar Terms, p. 189). I like Keenes characterization of Yozo as a man who is orphaned from his fellows by their refusal to take him seriously (p. 8, see p. 139), which in turn is a result of his desperate clowning. Of course, this resonates with my experience of people not believing I could possibly be serious when I am, and feeling Im not like other people, incapable of getting by. And unusual or extravagant things tempt me (p. 23). It is interesting that someone who felt himself different from an early age and for whom it would be no exaggeration to say that my only playmates while I was growing up were girls (48) became a diffident lady-killer rather than a homosexual. Ã…Å'ba cannot forget his abuse by a female servant when he was young. In high school, he played the buffoon. At university, he finds bad influence from Horiki and leads a life of debauchery (nonstop smoking, alcohol abuse, promiscuity), culminating in a double suicide (it cannot seriously be billed a love suicide) in which the married woman drowns and he survives. After being expelled from the university, Ã…Å'ba is clan and sober for a time in a relationship with an innocent young woman, but Horki shows up and leads Ã…Å'ba back into temptation, now adding morphine to alcohol abuse and being incarcerated in a mental asylum, where he is numb rather than violent. As for being zombified by Japans defeat, Dazai seems to me to have been as self-destructive and intellectually nihilistic while the Japanese Empire was rising as in the general anomie after Emperor Hirohito renounced divinity and the US occupied the archipelago. (Imamuras Pigs and Battleships show some of this social breakdown and women who were better at surviving it than the men.) The original publication sold more than six million copies in Japan, more than any Japanese novel other than Kokoro (1914) by SÃ… seki Natsume. A manga version was published in 2009, the centenary of Dasais birth, and also filmed. (CONCLUSION) Attending Meiji Gakuin University from the age 15 to 19, Toson gradually became aware of literature under the influence of unconventional traditions of the school. Toson literature is even said to originate during his days at the university. Toson joined Bungakukai, a literary group, and as a romantic poet, published a collection of poems including Wakanashu. Later, Toson turned a novelist and published Hakai (â€Å"The Broken Commandment†) and Haru (â€Å"Spring†), and is thus regarded as a prominent naturalist novelist. His other works include, Ie (â€Å"Family†), considered to have achieved the highest level in Japanese Naturalism literature, Shinsei (â€Å"New life†), a confession of his own incestuous relationship with his niece, Yoakemae (â€Å"Before the Dawn†), a historical novel modeled on the life of his father. Altbough he began his serialization of Tohonomon (â€Å"The Gate of the East†) in 1943, he died of a stroke at his own hom e in Oiso, Kanagawa prefecture on 22nd of August. (BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST) Dazai, Osamu, and Donald Keene. No Longer Human. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1981. Print. Lyons, Phyllis I., and Osamu Dazai. The Saga of Dazai Osamu: a Critical Study with Translations. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1985. Print. Hachimaki, Emi. ä º ºÃ©â€"“å ¤ ±Ã¦   ¼. é â€™Ã§ © ºÃ¦â€"‡å º «Ã£â‚¬â‚¬Aozora Bunko. Aozora, 1 Jan. 1999. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000035/files/301_14912.html. (REFERENCE) http://kirjasto.sci.fi/dazai.htm http://www.jlit.net/authors_works/dazai_osamu.html http://wlc.drake.edu/wordpress/japanese/2010/02/28/osamu-dazai%E3%80%80%E5%A4%AA%E5%AE%B0%E6%B2%BB%EF%BC%89/

Reflective Diary on Change Management

Reflective Diary on Change Management ABSTRACT This report states my individual reflection during the process of learning CHANGE MANAGEMENT module. This covers personal viewpoint of my experience on the issues of change. The later part of the report argues on the constructive and destructive role of resistance as a part of change process. This analysis is applied to the organization (water utility) where change has been experienced. INTRODUCTION It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change- Charles Darwin to cope with a changing world, an entity must develop the capacity of shifting and changing of developing new skills and attitudes, in short, the capacity of learning A De Gues, The Living Company This report has been written as a part of my module course work to state my personal views and experience on various issues of change. The report also emphasizes on the resistance to change and its impact on the change process. I was a bit tensed before the module started because as a database student I had no prior knowledge of change management but after the completion of the module I have gained pretty good knowledge on change management in an organization and issues involved in it. In todays economy, change is all-pervasive in organizations. It happens continuously, and often at rapid, because change has become an everyday part of organizational dynamics. There are 2 types of work in an organization viz. normal delivery process, where the main business of the organization is done and the change activities, whereby necessary change is made to the business and the way it is done. Change externally appears to be changing jobs, places, products etc. but actually occurs first inside peoples heads. It has both positive and negative effects. Change Management can be defined in 3 ways: The Task of Managing Change: It is the task of managing change. Managing change itself has 2 meanings. Firstly, it refers to the making of change in a planned and managed or systematic fashion. The aim is to implement new methods and systems in an ongoing organization. This type of change occurs in information system development projects. Secondly, it refers to the response to changes over which the organization exercises little or no control. An Area of professional Practice: There are change management experts/change agents who claim that they help clients manage the changes they face or help the clients make changes. A Body of Knowledge: There is large, reasonably cohesive albeit elective body of knowledge underlying the change management practice and on which most practitioners agree. It consists of various models, methods and techniques, tools, skills and other forms of knowledge. All the practitioners are integrated by set of concepts and principles known as General Systems Theory (GST). WHAT HAVE I LEARNT? From the course module Change management and Systems Implementation I have learned: Definition of Change management: As described above. Nature of change: Before implementing change the nature of change is analysed. Three various levels of change are understood viz. Alpha Level Change Beta Level Change Gamma Level Change The Change Process: The process of change has 3 basic stages: Unfreezing Changing Refreezing This is based heavily on Kurt Lewins Adoption of the systems concept of homeostasis of dynamic stability. Force-Field Analysis: identify driving and restraining forces and try to increase the driving forces and reduce the restraining forces. Human Issues in Change Resistance to Change. Change Diagnosis. 7- s Framework. Culture and Strategy in Change Management. Strategy safaris. Various personality types involved in CM. From the overall module, the topic Resistance to change excited me a lot. I enjoyed that session in class and have also done extra reading and research on that topic from web. The later part of the report describes my views on various issues of Resistance to Change in any organization and how I applied those issues to the organization where change has been experienced. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: Resistance is an inevitable response to change and will exist in any organization. It may happen at all levels of an organization. It is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change that is occurring as a threat to them. It can stimulate healthy discussion. Resistance is the last thing management wants during change process. In many instances if pervasive, resistance to change will have detrimental effects for the whole program. It may bring the change into disaster or worse collapsing the whole organization. It must not be ignored. Resistance may take many forms, including active or passive, overt or covert, individual or organized, aggressive or timid. Initially resistance was seen as an unfavourable thing a harmful problem that must be immediately resolved in anyway in order to achieve a successful change. In the early days Management experts agreed that resistance will bring nothing but unconstructive consequences to management as there was lack of support from people especially at management level. Waddell in her journal Resistance: a constructive tool for change management (1990) has found that resistance to change has long been renowned as a negative factor that may influence the success of any change process. She was supported by many experts like McGuire in her journal How to manage change (2003), Mabin in Harnessing resistance: using theory of constraints to assist change management (2001), Teare in Learning from change (2002), Karyn in her case study identifying resistance in managing resistance to change (2002) and Dym in his PhD paper Resistance in Organisations: How to Recognise, Understand respond to it (1999). Mabin found a survey that reveals the prerequisites for a successful change vision, mission, culture, communication and leadership. If those pre-requisites are not met the whole change will fail due to what is often termed as resistance to change (Mabin, 2001). Teare from his analysis of different scenarios of changes argues that the best suited managers are those with entrepreneurial type who would examine problems as whole, willing to take risks to challenge conventional practices and view change as an opportunity rather than threat (Teare, 2002). The 4 factors for failure in managing change are: Lack of consistent leadership. De-motivated staff kept in the dark. Lack of capacity: budget cuts, no spend-to-save policy, short-term approach to investment, stressed out staff working hard just to stand still. Lack of initiative to do something different. McGuire listed 4 key factors for success when implementing change within an organization: Pressure for change demonstrated senior management commitment is essential for change. Leadership is getting others to do what they want to do because they want to do it Eisenhower Pressure is the 1st thing that triggers change and it may come from external or internal organization (McGuire, 2003). A positive message should be communicated throughout the organization of the need and the case for change. Senior management should be supportive both privately and publicly and their commitment and the drive for change is essential if momentum is to be maintained for effective implementation. Teare concern was more on organizational de-layering (Teare, 2003). A clear,shared vision must take everyone with you. This is shared agenda that benefits the whole organization. Business are nothing more or less than organizational of people trying to a jointly defined future Professor Howard H Stevenson, Harvard Business School. The managerial level of the organization should not only work towards the change process but they have to be able to see the vision and institute the change plan to finally achieve this vision (McGuire, 2003). Teare suggested that organization must focus on its desired outcomes during the change process. The managers should be motivated with recognition of their achievements and should participate in change learning process. Exploring Capabilities Provide the resources time and finance. More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause Jim Cathcart According to McGuire organization should analyse its capabilities in dealing with change. It needs to know its existing capabilities, the abilities those may be required during the change process (McGuire, 2003). Action Plan plan, do, check, act and keep the communication channels open. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit Aristotle Follow the management methodology PLAN DO CHECK ACT A handy formulae to deal with resistance positively and effectively is D x V x F = R, where: D = Dissatisfaction V = vision F = First (or next) steps R = Resistance to change This says that Dissatisfaction, Vision, and First Steps are all necessary in order to overcome Resistance to change. The model most commonly used to illustrate elements of change and resistance to change is lewins force-field analysis: According to this model, pressing for change threatens stability and thus increase the power of forces maintaining the system. The most effective way to bring about change is to reduce the forces of resistance. Both forces (change and resistance to change) exist within the system and if the system depicts an interaction, the forces need to be conceptualized as interactive. According to kotter and Schlesinger (1979), there are four reasons that certain People Resist Change: Parochial self-interest some people are concerned with the implication of the change for themselves and how it may affect their own interests rather than considering the effects for the success of the business. Misunderstanding communication problems and inadequate information. Low tolerance to change certain people are very keen on security and stability in their work. Different assessments of the situation some employees may disagree on the reasons for the change and on the advantages and disadvantages of the change process. The main reasons for employee resistance are A lack of awareness about the change i.e. when the reason of change is unclear. Ambiguity where it is about costs, equipment, and jobs can trigger negative reactions among users. Comfort with the ways things are and fear of the unknown. When the proposed users have not been consulted about the change, and it is offered to them as an accomplished fact. When the change threatens to modify established patterns of working relationships between people. When the communication about the change timetables, personnel, monies, etc. has not been sufficient. When the benefits and rewards for making the change are not seen as adequate for the trouble involved. When the change threatens jobs, power or status in an organization. Fear of failure. Personality conflicts. Loss of status and/or job security. Lack of tact and/or poor timing. Disruption of cultural traditions and/or group relationships. The risk of change is seen as greater than the risk of standing still. People have no role models for the new activity. People fear that they lack the competence to change. People feel overloaded and overwhelmed. People have healthy scepticism and want to be sure new ideas are sound. People fear hidden agenda as among would-be reformers. People anticipate loss of status or quality of life. People genuinely believe that the proposed change is a bad idea. The different ways to deal with resistance to change are: Facilitation and Support: Where people are resisting change due to adjustments problems, Managers can head off potential problems by being supportive of employees during difficult times. Managerial support help employees deal with fear and anxiety during transition period. Education and Communication: Where there is lack of information or inaccurate information and analysis. Educate people about the change effort beforehand. Up-front communication and education helps employees see the logic in the change effort, this reduces unfounded and incorrect rumours concerning the efforts of change in the organization. Participation and involvement: Where employees are involved in the change process emotionally. When their hands are dirty, they realize that dirt is not so bad, after all. They also justify their involvement to themselves and so persuade themselves that is the right thing to do. Negotiation and agreement: When the other person cannot be easily persuaded, then they have to be given order. The manager has to sit them down and ask what they are seeking. Work out a mutually agreeable solution that works just for them and just for you. Manipulation and Co-option: Where the other tactics will not work or are too expensive. Co-option involves patronizing gesture in bringing a person into a change management planning group for the appearance sake rather than substantive contribution. These leaders can be given symbolic role in decision making without threatening the change effort. Explicit and Implicit Coercion: Where speed is essential and to be used only as last resort. Managers can explicitly or implicitly force employees into accepting change by making clear that resistance to change can lead to losing jobs, firing, transferring or not promoting employees. Depending on the degree and type of performance gaps, different organizational change interventions are designed to conserved resources and effectively close those gaps. The best way to understand resistance to change is to use the change management worksheet. This should be filled out separately by people in an organisation and then discussed. This tells the reasons why people in your organization resist change. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE IN BRITISH GAS : British Gas was formed in 1940 and it commenced its operation in 1948 with the mission of supplying gas in Great Britain. By 1950 it became one of the monopolies among the various gas providers in the market. There vision is to be a leading supplier of energy and related services in there chosen market and to build position in Europe. There mission is to create value for there share holders and to provide cost effective services for optimum satisfaction of the customers by enabling good environment. They view them selves as partners with there customers, suppliers and share holders by creating value and prosperity for all the stake holders and there respective community at large. The main aim for change in this company to improve customer service in order to save time and improve corporation competitiveness. BRITISH GAS IN THE PAST In the past British gas had very complex system. The staff has to use different software for different queries. Customers services are not up to the mark as the salutation and DPA was very lengthy and customers has to wait for long time in the queue to get there queries resolved. There were different department for different services. British gas followed the strategy safari planning school. The new changes and implementations include drastic change in IT, better customer service user friendly software, maintaining integrity, training and recruiting new staff and providing more choices to the customer. The level of change in British gas is Alpha change. The alpha change includes implementation of effective software in order to improve customer satisfaction, improved IT infrastructure which leads to success in their business. Through the change is small its implications are large. From the Force-Field analysis, the driving forces and restraining forces are identified. The driving forces include: Customers willing to change to the new system. Later support from the staff (Willing to work overtime to get trained to new software.) though there was initial criticism. Instant approval by management members to change the present system. The restraining forces include: Few staff unwilling to adapt to new software as they have to get trained again. Requires extra investments for developing, installing and maintaining new software. RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: As a customer service agent working in british gas I have experienced this alpha level change of software in the implementation of queries from the customers. The change was declared by higher management people (My team leader) very suddenly. There was a mixed reaction from the staff, some have welcomed the idea but few opposed it. There was a initial criticism in the staff because of the following reasons: Comfort with the way things and fear of unknown. Fear of failure. Personality conflict. Lack of awareness. People had no role models. The change was surprise. Parochial self-interest. Unwilling to adopt new system. Misunderstanding. Different assessment of situations. Though there was initial criticism, the staff later cooperated very well in the change process as the management as taken necessary steps to deal with resistance like: They had facilitated the staff that had trouble working overtime to get trained to the new software. They educated the staff the reason for change and benefits of new software (how it will be better to them.) They got the people involved in the change process by encouraging them to take part emotionally. They had to sit down and work out mutually with the staff on the implementation of change. As there was pressure of drive from the management, communicated there vision to the staff in an understandable way and supplied the various available resources and acted upon the change towards its successful implementation. The staff later realized the advantages of new software as it reduced most of their work upon acting the queries from customers and made their job very easy and welcomed the idea without any contempt. CONCLUSION: After completion of this module I gained enough knowledge about the concept of Change Management and its implications. I enjoyed the module thoroughly. This knowledge will be very much useful for me in the future understanding of the change process in any organization I work for. The various concepts covered in this module have been very useful. The case study has given a practical experience of what all I have learnt in this module by providing a real-life scenario.

Long-term Effects of an Expanded Cardiac Rehabilitation Program after M

Introduction An acute coronary syndrome is defined as a â€Å"sudden onset of myocardial ischemia which results in myocardial death, that is, a myocardial infarction.† (Citation) A myocardial infarction occurs when the blood flow is reduced in a coronary artery, usually due to excessive plaque, which results in a complete occlusion of the artery. Cardiac rehabilitation is an important aspect of continuity of care after a patient who has recently experienced a myocardial infarction is free of symptoms. A major goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to improve and extend quality of life. Problem Statement The purpose of this study was â€Å"to evaluate whether an expanded cardiac rehabilitation program, intended to alter patient’s lifestyle, could decrease cardiac events as compared to standard cardiac rehabilitation during a five-year period† (Plà ¼ss, et al., 2011). The purpose statement indirectly expressed a relationship between two independent variables and one dependent variable. The two independent variables in this study were an extended cardiac rehabilitation program and a standard cardiac rehabilitation program. The dependent variable was a decrease in cardiovascular events. Review of the Literature Throughout the years, there have been many studies outlining the importance of cardiac rehabilitation and its role in reducing risk factors that predispose individuals to cardiovascular complications. However, these studies and the guidelines previously proposed are mainly based on small studies which included young men with a low risk of experiencing a myocardial infarction. Furthermore, there have been few randomized, controlled studies conducted to evaluate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation on cardiovascular morbidity. According... ...farctions and the risk reduction expressed as HR 0.51 (95% CI 0.31-0.86)† (Plà ¼ss, et al., 2011). The Danrehab study reported similar reduction in the length of stay for patients with heart disease and at high risk for ischemic heart disease. Transferring these findings into nursing practice will provide great benefits. There will be a great reduction in healthcare cost and consumption. Along with, fewer deaths related to cardiovascular events. Patients will be able to live longer, healthier lives. Works Cited Plà ¼ss, C., Billing, E., Held, C., Henriksson, P., Kiessling, A., Karlsson, M., & Wallen, H. (2011). Long-term effects of an expanded cardiac rehabilitation programme after myocardial infarction or coronary artery bypass surgery: a five-year follow-up of a randomized controlled study. Clinical Rehabilitation, 25(1), 79-87. doi:10.1177/0269215510376006

Essay --

Personal respond of the text â€Å"on the rainy river† The role of relationship you have with other people often has direct influence on the individual choices and belief in the life. In the short story â€Å"on the rainy river†, the author Tim O’Brien inform us about his experiences and how his interacted with a single person had effected his life so could understand himself. It is hard for anyone to be dependent on just his believes and own personal experience, when there are so many people with different belief to influence you choices and have the right choices for you self. Occasionally taking experience and knowledge of other people to help you understand and build from them your own identity and choices in life. Throughout the story, O’Brien speaks about his adventure with man by the name Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O’Brien stays at while on he want to run away from his responsibility. O’Brien describe Elroy as â€Å"Elroy Berdahl: eighty-one years old, skinny and shrunken and mostly bald... His eyes had the bluish gray color of a razor blade, the same polished shine, and as he peered at me I felt a strange sharpness, almost painful, a cutting sensation, as if his gaze were somehow slicking me open.† O’Brien give the reader a clear idea about what Elroy looked like and how he the big influence on his, he eels Elroy can see the pain and desire inside of him. The circumstance of O’Brian has while he was their helping him to find and realize what his true believes and personality. The author of the story gives the audience the sense that our personal understanding of self is built on the role of relationship we have with others. There are many things that could influence the person choices such as family, friend... ...es â€Å"behaving like his hero from his youth.† while he was at the river to describe his thought and feeling and why he did decided to go to war rather than run away. His thought of going to war was, so he does not be guilty man in front of his family and friends. In either way the people you met throughout your life has always influence to build your moral character and your personal understanding of self. Everyone had influenced by their surrounding. Your personal identities and choices in life are based on the role of the relationship you have with others. This helps you to realize who you are and what you need in the life. The combination of all you learns come together to give you a clear idea of what your needs, values, and belief in this life. Finally, it is clear that the role of relationship play an important role in the framework of our personal identities. Essay -- Personal respond of the text â€Å"on the rainy river† The role of relationship you have with other people often has direct influence on the individual choices and belief in the life. In the short story â€Å"on the rainy river†, the author Tim O’Brien inform us about his experiences and how his interacted with a single person had effected his life so could understand himself. It is hard for anyone to be dependent on just his believes and own personal experience, when there are so many people with different belief to influence you choices and have the right choices for you self. Occasionally taking experience and knowledge of other people to help you understand and build from them your own identity and choices in life. Throughout the story, O’Brien speaks about his adventure with man by the name Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O’Brien stays at while on he want to run away from his responsibility. O’Brien describe Elroy as â€Å"Elroy Berdahl: eighty-one years old, skinny and shrunken and mostly bald... His eyes had the bluish gray color of a razor blade, the same polished shine, and as he peered at me I felt a strange sharpness, almost painful, a cutting sensation, as if his gaze were somehow slicking me open.† O’Brien give the reader a clear idea about what Elroy looked like and how he the big influence on his, he eels Elroy can see the pain and desire inside of him. The circumstance of O’Brian has while he was their helping him to find and realize what his true believes and personality. The author of the story gives the audience the sense that our personal understanding of self is built on the role of relationship we have with others. There are many things that could influence the person choices such as family, friend... ...es â€Å"behaving like his hero from his youth.† while he was at the river to describe his thought and feeling and why he did decided to go to war rather than run away. His thought of going to war was, so he does not be guilty man in front of his family and friends. In either way the people you met throughout your life has always influence to build your moral character and your personal understanding of self. Everyone had influenced by their surrounding. Your personal identities and choices in life are based on the role of the relationship you have with others. This helps you to realize who you are and what you need in the life. The combination of all you learns come together to give you a clear idea of what your needs, values, and belief in this life. Finally, it is clear that the role of relationship play an important role in the framework of our personal identities.

Political Power Essay

‘A gets B to do something that he or she would not otherwise do’. Does this sum up the essence of political power? â€Å"Political analysis can be defined quite simply as the analysis of the nature, exercise and distribution of power.†1 This argument is criticised of being too broad, excluding almost nothing, nevertheless it is reasonable to argue that power is the central theme which lies throughout the study of politics. Therefore defining the concept of power is one of the crucial things in the study of politics consequently it is often contested and can never be agreed among the scholars. This essay will focus on so-called the ‘faces of power’ controversy in the post war period. First of all, the idea which consists of the first and basic part in interpreting power will be introduced. Then what its critiques argue and their flaws will also be discussed to draw the conclusion how far the argument ‘A gets B to do something that he or she would not otherwise do’ reflects the essence of power. The ‘faces of power’ debate was raised from different theoretical traditions and approaches to political analysis. Basically the argument is about whether the concept of power is simple and quantifiable or it is rather complicated and intuitive concept which cannot be measured. Lukes2 acknowledges that this concept can never be settled. Alternatively he accepts the broad definition of power as A’s ability to get B to do what he or she would not otherwise have done but tries to highlight 3 different ways in which A can influence B’s behaviour: decision-making, agenda-setting and thought control. The one face of power – power as decision-making was suggested by Dahl in the early post war years. The thesis put forward above was originally proposed by him and this one-dimensional view of power was significant and influential in 1950s. â€Å"Power is somehow about getting things done, and is therefore most clearly reflected in decision and how they are made.†3 For Dahl, in order to find out power relationship, three steps are needed. First, a number of decision areas are selected and then the actors involved in that decision and their interests are figured out. Finally by comparing the decisions made and the actors’ preferences, the power relationship can be revealed. In this sense power is understood as a concept which can be simplified and quantified. A clear example was shown in?Political Analysis?: Anna buys Ben’s car for à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500 which is actually worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½800 and both of them are aware of the real value. In this case, Anna’s power has been exercised over Ben in terms of decision-making since this decision would not have been the case if he had an influence in the process. One of the critical assumptions here is that the actors involved are fully aware of the information. Anna could have made this deal without exerting power if Ben did not know the real value. This argument of power as a decision-making does often make sense in tripartite political system where a number of different parties exercise their influence on controversial issues. In this case it is obvious to see the frequency of a particular party’s preference coincides with the final decision. Thus, how far they have influence on decision-making can be understood in terms of their political power. However Dahl’s argument faces critical attack in a sense that it too focuses on its narrow concept of power in decision-making. First of all, since only the key decisions are studied, it raises the problem of how far we are capable of distinguishing key issues and routine issues which are often ignored. Moreover, it does not take the potential power into account. In this manner, the power which is not exerted cannot be regarded as power. For instance, some business groups would not be concerned with the welfare issues until they realise the increased burden for welfare tax. Then it might be possible for them to begin exercising their power which has not been exercised without any explicit need for it. Also as assumed from its name, it only uncovers ‘one face of power’ ignoring other circumstances â€Å"in which decisions are prevented from happening, the area of non-decision-making.†4 This gave a rise to the second face of power argument by Bachrach and Bar atz. According to their view, power should be understood as agenda-setting which is the two dimensional approach. â€Å"Power might be manifested not only in doing things but also in ensuring that things do not get done.†5 What they basically insist is that power is exercised in choosing what should be involved in formal discussion and what should not be. In other words, who holds the power needs to be understood in agenda-setting process before the actual decision-making process. In this way, they have broadened the boundary in the concept of power. This kind of approach is well shown in the liberal democratic system where parties are seen as the medium of representing a particular preference on issues. However they can actually block a certain kind of issue to be discussed by disregarding it or make an agreement not to raise the issue. It is difficult to quantify the concept of power from this approach nonetheless not impossible. Thus they agree with the one-dimensional approach in a sense that there should be observable and demonstrable evidence of power relationship between the one who exercise power and the other who are subject to the power. However â€Å"the attempt to limit the concept of non-decision-making to observable behaviour is entirely arbitrary†6 since it does not take in the case in which the subordinated do not recognise themselves as being subordinated. Consequently this problem gave a rise to the third-dimensional view introduced by Lukes. According to his argument, the basic assumption of the above two views is not quite right. What people believe as their interests does not necessarily mean their ‘real’ interests. â€Å"The ability of A to exercise power over B, not by getting B to do what he would not otherwise do, but, by ‘influencing, shaping or determining his very wants'†7 What is meant here is that power lies in shaping people’s consciousness rather than their actions. In other words, without forcing them to do something visibly it is possible to make them do regarding that as natural and beneficial for them. This can be true where people’s preferences are often influenced by social experiences such as culture, education and media and these can be manipulated by those who have the power. In this way it naturally leads to the concept of ‘false consciousness’ which reflects the idea that people are â€Å"prevented from recognizing the fact of its own exploitat ion†8 However Luke’s argument also faces severe criticism. Back in the example of Anna and Ben, the critical point is not in the fact that Anna forced Ben to do something that he would not otherwise do, but in the fact that Ben behaved in a way which is contrary to his genuine interest. This raises a problematic point that who is to know Ben’s real interests. In effect, â€Å"It is impossible to argue that people’s perceptions and preferences are a delusion, that their ‘felt’ needs are no their ‘real’ need, without a standard of truth against which to judge them.†9 In this sense this debate become meaningless since there is no scientific method which to prove and make an absolute judgement over this. Furthermore it is contested that nobody is capable of distinguishing the autonomous decision based on real interests and the one based on felt interests being manipulated from powerful. To conclude, the debate over the concept of power has been developed from the shallow one dimensional understanding to a more intuitive and complex three dimensional one. It cannot be said that the effort of developing it into more sophisticated form has always been successful. However through this process, it is true to say that the concept of power has been understood from various approaches which enabled better understanding. Nevertheless the important point to note is that the latter has never attempted to replace or deny the former approach since no single argument can define the political concept of power by its own. Rather, it has its root in the former argument and tries to make it more convincing. From this point of view, power is definitely something which enables ‘A gets B to do something that he or she would not otherwise do’. Therefore on one hand, it is possible to say that the essence of power lies in this argument to a certain extent but there can be plur al ways depending on approaches in doing so. (1,419 words) References Clegg, S.R. (1989:11) Frameworks of Power. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Hay, C. (2002:168) Political Analysis: A critical introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Heywood, A. (2004:122, 124, 125, 127 and 128) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Goverde, H. et al. (eds) (2000:26) Power in Contemporary Politics. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Bibliography Clegg, S.R. (1989) Frameworks of Power. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Goodwin, B. (1997) Using political ideas (4th edn). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Goverde, H. et al. (eds) (2000) Power in Contemporary Politics. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Hay, C. (2002) Political Analysis: A critical introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Heywood, A. (2004) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. McLean, I. & McMillan, A. (2003) Oxford concise dictionary of Politics (2nd edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1 Hay, C. (2002:168) Political Analysis: A critical introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave. 2 Heywood, A. (2004:122) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 3 Heywood, A. (2004:124) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 4 Heywood, A. (2004:125) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 5 Clegg, S.R. (1989:11) Frameworks of Power. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. 6 Goverde, H. et al. (eds) (2000:26) Power in Contemporary Politics. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. 7 Heywood, A. (2004:127) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 8 Heywood, A. (2004:128) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 9 Heywood, A. (2004:128) Political theory: An introduction (3rd edn)). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.