Early Christianity in North Africa

Early Christianity in North Africa Given the slow progress of Romanization of North Africa, it is perhaps surprising how quickly Christianity spread across the top of the continent. From the fall of Carthage in 146 BCE to the rule of Emperor Augustus (from 27 BCE), Africa (or, more strictly speaking, Africa Vetus, Old Africa), as the Roman province was known, was under the command of a minor Roman official. But, like Egypt, Africa and its neighbors Numidia and Mauritania (which were under the rule of client kings), were recognized as potential bread baskets. The impetus for expansion and exploitation came with the transformation of the Roman Republic to a Roman Empire in 27 B.C.E. Romans were enticed by the availability of land for building estates and wealth, and during the first century C.E., north Africa was heavily colonized by Rome. Emperor Augustus (63B C.E.14 C.E.) remarked that he added Egypt (Aegyptus) to the empire. Octavian (as he was then known, had defeated Mark Anthony and deposed Queen Cleopatra VII in 30 B.C.E. to annex what had been the Ptolemaic Kingdom. By the time of Emperor Claudius (10 B.C.E.45 C.E.) canals had been refreshed and agriculture was booming from improved irrigation. The Nile Valley was feeding Rome. Under Augustus, the two provinces of Africa, Africa Vetus (Old Africa) and Africa Nova (New Africa), were merged to form Africa Proconsularis (named for it being governed by a Roman proconsul). Over the next three and a half centuries, Rome extended its control over the coastal regions of North Africa (including the coastal regions of modern day Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco) and imposed a rigid administrative structure on Roman colonists and indigenous peoples (the Berber, Numidians, Libyans, and Egyptians). By 212 C.E., the Edict of Caracalla (aka Constitutio Antoniniana, Constitution of Antoninus) issued, as one might expect, by the Emperor Caracalla, declared that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be acknowledged as Roman Citizens (up till then, provincials, as they were known, did not have citizenship rights). Factors Which Influenced the Spread Of Christianity Roman life in North Africa was heavily concentrated around urban centers- by the end of the second century, there was upwards of six million people living in Roman North African provinces, a third of those living in the 500 or so cities and towns which had developed. Cities like Carthage (now a suburb of Tunis, Tunisia), Utica, Hadrumetum (now Sousse, Tunisia), Hippo Regius (now Annaba, Algeria) had as many as 50,000 inhabitants. Alexandria considered the second city after Rome, had 150,000 inhabitants by the third century. Urbanization would prove to be a key factor in the development of North African Christianity. Outside of the cities, life was less influenced by Roman culture. Traditional Gods were still worshipped, such as the Phonecian Baal Hammon (equivalent to Saturn) and Baal Tanit (a goddess of fertility) in Africa Proconsuaris and Ancient Egyptian beliefs of Isis, Osiris, and Horus. There were echoes of traditional religions to be found in Christianity which also proved key in the spread of the new religion. The third key factor in the spread of Christianity through North Africa was the resentment of the population to Roman administration, particularly the imposition of taxes, and the demand that the Roman Emperor be worshiped akin to a God. Christianity Reaches North Africa After the crucifixion, the disciples spread out across the known world to take the word of God and the story of Jesus to the people. Mark arrived in Egypt around 42 C.E., Philip traveled all the way to Carthage before heading east into Asia Minor, Matthew visited Ethiopia (by way of Persia), as did Bartholomew. Christianity appealed to a disaffected Egyptian populous through its representations of resurrection, an afterlife, virgin birth, and the possibility that a god could be killed and brought back, all of which resonated with more ancient Egyptian religious practice. In Africa Proconsularis and its neighbors, there was a resonance to traditional Gods through the concept of a supreme being. Even the idea of holy trinity could be related to various godly triads which were taken to be three aspects of a single deity. North Africa would, over the first few centuries C.E., become a region for Christian innovation, looking at the nature of Christ, interpreting the gospels, and sneaking in elements from so-called pagan religions. Amongst people subdued by Roman authority in North Africa (Aegyptus, Cyrenaica, Africa, Numidia, and Mauritania) Christianity quickly became a religion of protest- it was a reason for them to ignore the requirement to honor the Roman Emperor through sacrificial ceremonies. It was a direct statement against Roman rule. This meant, of course, that the otherwise open-minded Roman Empire could no longer take a nonchalant attitude to Christianity- persecution, and repression of the religion soon followed, which in turn hardened the Christian converts to their cult. Christianity was well established in Alexandria by the end of the first century C.E. By the end of the second century, Carthage had produced a pope (Victor I). Alexandria as an Early Center of Christianity In the early years of the church, especially after the Siege of Jerusalem (70 C.E.), the  Egyptian  city of Alexandria became a significant (if not the most significant) center for the development of Christianity. A bishopric was established by the disciple and gospel writer Mark when he established the Church of Alexandria around 49 C.E., and Mark is honored today as the person who brought Christianity to Africa. Alexandria was also home to the  Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament which traditional has it was created on the orders of Ptolemy II for the use of the large population of Alexandrian Jews. Origen, head of the  School of Alexandria  in the early third century, is also noted for compiling a comparison of six translations of the old testament- the  Hexapla. The Catechetical School of Alexandria was founded in the late second century by Clement of Alexandria as a center for the study of the allegorical interpretation of the Bible. It had a mostly friendly rivalry with the School of Antioch which was based around a literal interpretation of the Bible. Early Martyrs It is recorded that in 180 C.E. Twelve Christians of African origin were martyred in Sicilli (Sicily) for refusing to perform a sacrifice to the Roman Emperor Commodus (aka Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus). The most significant record of Christian martyrdom, however, is that of March 203, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus (145211 C.E., ruled 193211), when Perpetua, a 22 year old noble, and Felicity, her slave, were martyred in Carthage (now a suburb of Tunis, Tunisia). Historical records, which come partially from a narrative believed to have been written by Perpetua herself, describe in detail the ordeal leading up to their death in the arena- wounded by beasts and put to the sword. Saints Felicity and Perpetua are celebrated by a feast day on March 7th.   Latin as the Language of Western Christianity Because North Africa was heavily under Roman rule, Christianity was spread through the region by the use of Latin rather than Greek. It was partially due to this that the Roman Empire eventually split into two, east and west. (There was also the problem of increasing ethnic and social tensions which helped fractured the empire into what would become the Byzantium and Holy Roman Empire of medieval times.) It was during the reign of Emperor Commodus (161192 C.E., ruled from 180 to 192) that the first of three African Popes was invested.  Victor I, born in the Roman province of  Africa  (now  Tunisia), was pope from 189 to 198 C.E. Amongst the achievements of Victor I are his endorsement for the change of Easter to the Sunday following the 14th of Nisan (the first month of the Hebrew calendar) and the introduction of Latin as the official language of the Christian church (centered in Rome). Church Fathers Titus Flavius Clemens (150211/215 C.E.), aka  Clement of Alexandria, was a Hellenistic theologian and the first president of the Catechetical School of Alexandria. In his early years, he traveled extensively around the Mediterranean and studied the Greek philosophers. He was an intellectual Christian who debated with those suspicious of scholarship and taught several notable ecclesiastical and theological leaders (such as Origen, and Alexander the Bishop of Jerusalem). His most important surviving work is the trilogy  Protreptikos  (Exhortation),  Paidagogos  (The Instructor), and the  Stromateis  (Miscellanies) which considered and compared the role of myth and allegory in ancient Greece and contemporary Christianity. Clement attempted to mediate between the heretical Gnostics and the orthodox Christian church and set the stage for the development of monasticism in Egypt later in the third century. One of the most important Christian theologians and biblical scholars was Oregenes Adamantius, aka  Origen  (c.185254 C.E.). Born in Alexandria, Origen is most widely known for his synopsis of six different versions of the old testament, the  Hexapla. Some of his beliefs about the transmigration of souls and universal reconciliation (or  apokatastasis, a belief that all men and women, and even Lucifer, would ultimately be saved), were declared heretical in 553 C.E., and he was posthumously excommunicated by the Council of Constantinople in 453 C.E. Origen was a prolific writer, had the ear of Roman royalty, and succeeded Clement of Alexandria as head of the School of Alexandria. Tertullian (c.160c.220 C.E.) was another prolific Christian. Born in Carthage, a cultural center much influenced by Roman authority, Tertullian is the first Christian author to write extensively in Latin, for which he was known as the Father of Western Theology. He is said to have laid down the foundation on which Western Christian theology and expression is based. Curiously, Tertullian extolled martyrdom, but is recorded of dying naturally (often quoted as his three score and ten); espoused celibacy, but was married; and wrote copiously, but criticized classical scholarship. Tertullian converted to Christianity in Rome during his twenties, but it was not until his return to Carthage that his strengths as a teacher and defender of Christian beliefs were recognized. The Biblical Scholar Jerome (347420 C.E.) records that Tertullian was ordained as a priest, but this has been challenged by Catholic scholars. Tertullian became a member of the heretical and charismatic Montanistic order around 210 CE, given to fasting and the resultant experience of spiritual bliss and prophetic visitations. The Montanists were harsh moralists, but even they proved to lax for Tertullian in the end, and he founded his own sect a few years before 220 C.E. The date of his death is unknown, but his last writings date to 220 C.E. Sources The Christian period in Mediterranean Africa by WHC Frend, in Cambridge History of Africa, Ed. JD Fage, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, 1979. Chapter 1: Geographical and Historical Background Chapter 5: Cyprian, the Pope of Carthage, in Early Christianity in North Africa by Franà §ois Decret, trans. by Edward Smither, James Clarke, and Co., 2011. General History of Africa Volume 2: Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Unesco General History of Africa) ed. G. Mokhtar, James Currey, 1990.

Marketing Change Management How to Influence It [Backed By Science]

Marketing Change Management How to Influence It [Backed By Science] Something is broken. Maybe its your workflow. Maybe its how you collaborate across multiple teams. Maybe its knowing how the content you produce influences ROI. At , we  know  youd like help to get organized and to do that, you might need to pitch to your boss  and to your team. ^^^ So whatever snag youre hitting as you manage your marketing team, chances are something needs to change before it will get better. And the best person to influence  that change for the better is you. So the question becomes how can you do it? It takes some finesse with office relationships, psychology behind change management, and perseverance. Lets explore how you can be the marketing change management mastermind. ;) How To Influence Marketing Change Management [Backed By Science]Get Your Marketing Change Management Timeline Template Use the free spreadsheet that complements this blog post to plan your marketing change management strategy. Youll put everything youll learn throughout this post into a plan you can execute. Youll also get a marketing change management template in Word to help you communicate effectively with your manager, team, and stakeholders. Go ahead. Download fo free now! Step 1: Create The Business Case For Change Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Ugh. But. Creating a doc to have one version of the truth- a reference point for questions- will help you convince your manager and team that change is needed. There are three key points to address in your change management business case doc: #1. Show There Is Need For A Change You feel when you need a change. There is disorganization. There are poor results. There are missing pieces. The best way to prove the need for change is with cold hard facts and brutal honesty. It's impossible to argue against factual information  that informs your stakeholders why the change is necessary. There are a few ways to do this: Data Is what you're doing producing the results you expect? For example, you may be spending a lot of time on trivial projects that don't actually produce repeatable, measurable results. You could measure the hours  you and your team spend on those projects in an average week. Then multiply the time by each employee's hourly wage to understand how much money the company literally spends on projects that do not actually add anything to your bottom line. If you add up those dollar values and multiply by 52, you literally know how much money goes down the drain in a year. You can ask your team to track their time over the course of an average week using a tool like Toggl. Then use the Time Tracking  tab in your change management template spreadsheet that complements this blog post to track the  time + spend on tasks: Think about how much time you spend: Switching in and out of tools not designed for the specific purpose you're using them for. Making edits to  content that won't actually make a difference in the end results it will produce (shooting for perfection is extremely expensive). Getting approval after you create content (then reworking nearly everything). With very simple math, you can demonstrate how expensive these activities are, thus showing the need for change. Pro Tip: You can also use this method to show what you could be doing with your time that would generate bigger results. So, let's say you find that  logging in and out of multiple tools + disorganization sucks up 4 hours of your week. Is that the same amount of time it would take you to write a blog post? There is proof: When we find a tool that is designed to help  my team be more productive, we will write more blog posts which are proven to help us grow the business. Another data example involves analyzing the success  of your best-performing content. What if you focused more time  shipping new projects that are similar to your existing top-performers? From experience, I can tell you that you don't need to publish more content,  but the same amount of the right content. And you could boost your results by 9,360%. No joke. Here is how to calculate this quickly, but read this for an exhaustive, in-depth guide: Set up goal tracking in Google Analytics and create a custom report to easily view the content that contributes to those goals. Here are in-depth instructions to help you do this in 5 minutes or less. Create a list of the last 30 pieces you published  that are at least 30 days old. Use the Content Grading tab in your change management template to do this. Write down the amount each piece has contributed to your goal by using the Google Analytics custom report. To make this an even fight for each piece, I like to collect data from the first 30 days after publish, so every piece has an equal amount of time to contribute to your goal. Sort your content  by your goal, peruse through those top-performing pieces, and write down the qualities you see repeated over and over. For example, at , the qualities we saw repeated over and over again were an interesting topic, well-researched and factual, comprehensive + actionable, keyword-driven, and optimized to convert traffic into email subscribers. Find the average goal contribution from every piece in your sample. If you continue status quo, this  is what you will continue to produce. Then  find the average contribution from your top 10 pieces. It's way higher, right!? Now you know if you publish the same amount of content, and simply match the qualities from your top-performers, you will boost your results. ^^^ And there you have it. Proof that you need to pivot to increase your team's performance. Examples where this method may work best for demonstrating the need for change: You don't currently have a way to measure how what you're doing is working. You  hypothesize  that doing more (or less) of something will produce better results. Bureaucracy has you doing the same old thing because... "We've always done it this way." You want to create new content initiatives and need to prove that they'd be well worth your time. Examples You might not have content that exists to help you prove you need to do more of what's already working. That's where examples come into play. Examples are also proof, or evidence, of a need for change. You can: Demonstrate a broken internal process by showing the inefficiencies of your current workflow. Again, inefficiency is expensive, and you could back this up with numbers using the process above. Examples: Workflows, approval processes, collaborating across multiple teams. Show an interesting use case with the new marketing idea from any other company. Then connect the dots to how you could do it for your business. Researching the data behind this makes your change management business case that much stronger. Example: You believe a blog would be great for your business, but you know there will be some resistance. Find examples of successful businesses that have built their credibility with a blog and are now multi-million dollar enterprises. Show how your competition is doing something amazing, but you don't have a presence in that area. This appeals to the fear of missing out, or FOMO. Example: You  know  your audience uses Instagram and would like to have a presence, but you're hitting some resistance. Find  examples of your competition engaging with your audience on that channel as proof that your audience indeed uses that network to communicate with brands they love. Industry Trends If there is one thing that's constant, it's change. Especially in the marketing industry: New technology, new channels, and new ideas are ever-evolving. This is similar to examples, but you can: Cite credible industry publications that cover new changes. Look for the why behind this: Why should you use the new tool, social media channel, or new content idea? Look for case studies that demonstrate the value of the trend. Has anyone (even outside of your niche) published a piece that shows percentage increases or demonstrates what you'll get out of the new idea? You'll note, I led this section with more  examples of finding your own real data to prove why you need to change. Using your data as much as possible builds the strongest case for the change you'd like to implement. It's hard to argue with your facts versus how others have been successful. #2.  Show How You Will Thrive After The Change You've  shown evidence that suggests change is necessary. Now it's time to demonstrate the benefits behind making the change. An easy way to think about this, is with a simple framework: When  we {do this}, we will {get this}. Note when there. When demonstrates an inevitability whereas if is only possible. Let's look at an example here, using examples and data to prove the need for change + backing up how implementing that change will help you produce bigger results. The example is a broken process. I hear from marketing supervisors all the time that disorganized process and "herding cats" sucks the most time away from their days, preventing them from focusing on the strategic work that would generate bigger results. To prove the need for change, you: Lay out the example of what the existing workflow looks like. Leave no stone unturned: Every step, every person involved, every tool, every point of communication, and especially the parts that are broken. For you, this could be writing a white paper. The workflow  involves: Email: Gather the idea from the sales manager. Email: Determine who the subject matter expert is with the sales manager. Meeting: Interview  with the sales team member who is a subject matter expert on the topic to gather the story. Email: Hound the sales team member to provide  stats + facts to support the claims you'll make in the white paper. Google Docs: Write the "What's in it for me?" and outline. Email: Peer review the outline with the subject matter expert. Google Docs: Write the first draft. Email: Gather feedback on the first draft from the subject matter expert. Google Docs: Implement the feedback from the subject matter expert into the white paper. Email: Gather further feedback from the subject matter expert. InDesign: Design the white paper. Email: Gather further feedback from the subject matter expert. InDesign: Implement changes from subject matter expert. Email: Get approval from the sales manager. InDesign: Implement changes from sales manager. Email: Get approval from your manager. InDesign: Implement changes from your manager. Email: Give final draft to sales manager and your manager to distribute to internal staff. ^^ If that even looks remotely like your workflow, there is definitely a better way. Recommended Reading: How to Boost a Marketing Workflow Process That Will Reduce Work By 30-50% By showing something like this, you demonstrate the problem. Now you can show off the solution. When we cut several unnecessary approval steps, we will save my team 5  hours of productivity time every week. That's the same amount of time it takes to write a brand new white paper, which is proven to generate 150 marketing qualified leads when we write it like our top-performing white papers. Therefore, when  we don't change, we are literally wasting time on a broken process rather than focusing our time on generating bigger results. Here's how. Weekly Meeting: Gather the story  from the sales manager and subject matter expert with clear action items for sales to provide stats on time saved from our solution + percentage increase on their desired goal by the end of the week. Google Docs (integrated into ): Write the "What's in it for me?" and outline. : Peer review the outline with the subject matter expert. Google Docs: Write the first draft. : Gather feedback on the first draft from the subject matter expert. InDesign: Design the white paper. : Get approval from the sales manager + your manager. InDesign: Implement changes from sales manager + your manager. : Give final draft to sales manager and your manager to distribute to internal staff. ^^^ You just literally cut the amount of work in half, not to mention eliminating endless email strings that are super easy to miss. Cut your work in half and eliminate endless email strings.Now you can track how long it would take for each step from the existing process and subtract the time saved from your new process. So all 18 tasks minus the 9 you removed would be the equivalent of 5 hours in this example. This doesn't even take into account the feeling of being organized, which everyone involved in the process will also love! #3. Show The Roadmap To Get There It's one thing to know what you need to do. Now you need to lay out the plan to implement the change. Humans are naturally adverse to change, so the odds are this will not happen over night. In fact, if you've been following an old process for a long period of time, it may take up to 21 days to help your team members build new  habits. Therefore, your roadmap to onboard your team members to learn this new behavior should span several weeks. In this time period, you will want to literally  lay out your game plan schedule of what you'll do to  make the change stick. Pre-rollout: Gather the data, examples, and industry trends demonstrating the need for change. Pre-rollout: Create your timeline for implementing the change. Pre-rollout: Script the questions, roadblocks, and objections that have potential to mitigate change. Pre-rollout: Discuss the forces driving change, timeline, and scripts with your manager. Day 1:  All hands kickoff meeting. Your itinerary should cover the three things you've been learning about: The problem (what's wrong), the solution  (why this change is necessary now), and the roadmap you're creating at this moment. You should also leave time for questions + answers (more on this to come). Day 2: Implement your team's initial feedback into the new solution. Day 3: Show  your team that you took their advice and enhanced the new solution. Day 4: Remind your team to use the new solution. Day 5: Retro and iterate. Weekend Day 8: Ask your team informally how things are going. Instant message could work well. This  reminds  everyone (especially your most quiet team members) that they have a voice in the change process. Day 9: Implement the feedback into your process, and remind the team to use it and not retrogress to old behavior. Day 10: Day 11: Day 12:  Retro and iterate. Weekend Day 15: Again, ask your team informally how things are going, and look for feedback. Day 16:  Implement the feedback into your process, and remind the team to use it and not retrogress to old behavior. Day 17: Day 18: Day 19:  Retro and iterate. Weekend You can map out your game plan in , too, using  a Marketing Project. When you decide to use , everyone will see everything you're working on in one place... so why not add this into , too? ;) Step 2: Be Prepared + Proactive For Any Situation Bill Walsh was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and helped turn a losing football team into one of the best, winning three Super Bowls. ^^ Talk about change management. Walsh is known for planning  his plays for every scenario. He carefully planned exactly what play would work for specific situations like being 30 yards from the end zone with only 5 seconds on the clock. He's known for having planned the first several  plays of the game whether the 49ers were kicking or receiving. In short, Bill Walsh  planned his work, then worked his plan. He called this practice scripting. And it's a great  framework you can apply to your change management, too: Scripting allowed me to take randomness and stress out of the decision-making process. The result is a very adaptable but intelligent  plan for the future. - Bill Walsh Anticipate Questions Uncertainty avoidance is the psychological term used to describe a specific society's tolerance for ambiguity. While this term is generally used to describe  larger cultures as a whole, your team and business have a culture within them, too. And the main idea here is that people like process, rules, and the same-old-same-old because it's familiar, easy to remember, and they already have habits that literally help them do the work with less thought and effort than taking on something new. Knowing this, you can plan on the questions your team will ask as you make the change. This is your script for an FAQ (or frequently asked questions) for your team. Simply take 30 minutes to brainstorm all of the questions your team may ask, then write down the answers: Why this change? Why now? What do you expect from me now? How will we collaborate now? What aren't we doing anymore? What new things are we doing? How should I voice my feedback? The point here is to think through the most common questions you can realistically expect your team and stakeholders to ask you, so you have all the answers prepared in advance. You can use the change management Word doc template that complements this blog post to help you get started. Recommended Reading: The Best 30 Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Anticipate Roadblocks Again, change is often difficult for people to accept. Most people are satisfied with status quo, in other words, doing exactly what they're doing now. Back in 1947, psychologist Kurt Lewin researched this phenomenon and came up with the force field analysis. Essentially, there are forces driving change while other forces restrain change, which makes it most comfortable for people to stay in the status quo. You are the force driving change within your organization. So you should prepare for how you'll address  the forces resisting change: How will you phase out old, outdated tools you no longer need to use? What does the timeline look like? How will you onboard your team members to use the new tools as you expect?  What does the timeline look like? How do you take into account everything else on your team's plate and the time it takes to learn new skills (100 hours per person)? What will you do if a team member does not adopt the new process from the get-go? What will you do if a team member tries the new process for a day, then regresses to their former behavior? How will you handle team members who actively fight against the new process and try to get other team members on their side? How will you agilely  learn from your success and mistakes as your team implements change? Like your FAQ, think through and script  the answers to these questions. When- or if- the situation arises, you've planned exactly how to get your change strategy back on track. Here's how to keep your #marketing change management strategy on track.Anticipate  Objections Your own team may fight for the status quo without really knowing why. This could be a force resisting change, or  once again, a few more scenarios to script for: I don't think this will work. I don't like the new process. This is taking even more time than before the change. We can't remove those steps from our workflow because of {insert excuse}. Change  is an emotional beast. The best thing to do, according to change management pros, is to address these concerns with factual evidence backing up the need for change. Step 3: Get Your Manager On Board Those same change management pros suggest change is best instituted from the top-down. Change is best instituted from the top-down.So once you have your game plan, it's probably time to loop in your manager to get her on the same page as you (and to have your back if the forces of resistance  get in the way of the forces driving change). Set up an hourlong meeting your manager with the following agenda: 10  minutes: Explain the existing problem. 10 minutes: Show the evidence that the problem is a big one. 10 minutes: Show the  roadmap  you'll use to implement the change. 10 minutes: Show your proactive planning to address the forces of resistance. 10 minutes: Chat through how you'll communicate the change with your team (and get their feedback), next steps, concerns, and when you will roll out the change. 10 minutes: Lay out your action items to work through after the meeting is over. ^^^ Those sections might feel  a little long, but the point is for this to be a working meeting. Let your manager ask questions throughout, and show up ready to take notes so you can improve your marketing change management strategy based on her feedback. What If Your Manager Doesn't Like The Suggested Change? This is where  you can use questions as a framework to understand how you can improve your pitch (or at least understand what the heck your manager is thinking): Why {do you believe that}? How {might you suggest I do that}? If you're way off, schedule a second meeting with your manager (with the same agenda) to show her how you  took her advice and will implement it in your strategy. Recommended Reading: 30 Marketing Plan Samples And Everything You Need to Include In Your Strategy Step 4: Involve The Team Early On No one really likes to be told what to do. On the other hand, involving your team members early and helping them help you make the change decisions makes them feel like they made them in the first place. In their book, Sprint: How To Solve Big Problems And Test New Ideas In Just Five Days, authors Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz suggest: By asking people for their input early in the process, you help them feel invested in the outcome. Later, when you begin executing your successful solutions, the experts you brought in will probably be among your biggest supporters. So... how can you involve  your team + stakeholders early on? Host A Process Change Kickoff Meeting With Everyone Involved In The Change You pretty much have the itinerary from the chat with your manager (but make a couple optimizations  here): 10  minutes: Explain the existing problem. 10 minutes: Show the evidence that the problem is a big one. 10 minutes: Show the  roadmap  you'll use to implement the change. 20 minutes:  Give your team the chance to provide feedback right now, but also give them some time afterward to let the ideas percolate. This gives your quiet folks the chance to digest the information and provide thoughtful insight afterward. Beware of the psychological principle of conformity (and keep your loud team members in check). 10 minutes: Lay out your action items to work through after the meeting is over. ^^^ You have all of that documented in your marketing change management template. Recommended Reading: 21+ Marketing Templates That Will Make You More Efficient And Organized Provide Time To Think Through Feedback Give your team a deadline to provide their feedback and provide the method to do it (email, instant message, etc.). You can plan this into your change management roadmap. If anything, this keeps the process moving forward (and on a schedule) so you can fix what's broken quickly. Incorporate Feedback Into Your Change Management Process When you ask for feedback, you take it. That said, not all feedback will improve the plan. The point is to literally help your team know and understand you are listening to them, that their thoughts are valuable, and you understand they will be the major players  implementing the change. So change the roadmap as needed and clearly communicate you heard every idea and implemented many, but it just wasn't possible to include everything they requested. Retro On What's Working, What's Not, And What You Could Improve I'm borrowing this from agile product management practices. Every Friday, the marketing team at retros on the week, asking three questions: What went well? What should we continue doing? What went wrong? What should we stop doing? What could we improve? Retros like this are great for gathering feedback from your team as you change their processes. I'd suggest hosting 15-minute retro meetings every week within your first 21 days specifically to discuss the change you're implementing to learn from your mistakes (and successes). As feedback rolls in, you can use all of the work you put into writing scripts to great use! Recommended Listening: How to Get Extremely Organized With Agile Marketing With Jeff Julian From Enterprise Marketer Step 5: Break Through The Resistance To Change Change of any kind requires breaking existing habits. And that is really difficult... because humans literally need habits to not think through the nitty-gritty details of everything in their lives (we would all go crazy). So, to influence the right behavior, the most important thing to do is to over-communicate with your team as they undergo change. As Bill Walsh said: We did the same drills over and over again; I said essentially the same thing over and over, discussed the same information, concepts, and principles over and over. Gradually, my teaching stuck. If it starts to become a joke that your team knows exactly what you're going to say next... you've done well. So plan your communication touch points in your change management timeline to remind yourself when to communicate. The point is: When your team starts to think like you, they'll start to act like you. ^^^ And that's exactly what you want. When your team thinks like you, they'll act like you.Which brings me to leading by example. Maintain zero tolerance for retrogressing behavior. If you see someone do something wrong, use your scripts to change the behavior and ask the following questions: What went wrong? Why did this happen? How can we make sure this doesn't happen again? How can we get this situation back on track? The point of using questions like this as a framework is to literally let your team member answer them. They come up with their own solution for preventing unwanted behavior. And they know your thought process + expectations upfront. There is no room in change management for being wishy-washy. Finally, commitment and perseverance influence change. This process has potential to feel messy. Remember: You are the change management leader. You are responsible for planning your work, then working your plan. You are the one who will make this a reality. You just need to do it. Marketing Change Management How to Influence It [Backed By Science] Something is broken. Maybe its your workflow. Maybe its how you collaborate across multiple teams. Maybe its knowing how the content you produce influences ROI. At , we  know  youd like help to get organized and to do that, you might need to pitch to your boss  and to your team. ^^^ So whatever snag youre hitting as you manage your marketing team, chances are something needs to change before it will get better. And the best person to influence  that change for the better is you. So the question becomes how can you do it? It takes some finesse with office relationships, psychology behind change management, and perseverance. Lets explore how you can be the marketing change management mastermind. ;) How To Influence Marketing Change Management [Backed By Science]Get Your Marketing Change Management Timeline Template Use the free spreadsheet that complements this blog post to plan your marketing change management strategy. Youll put everything youll learn throughout this post into a plan you can execute. Youll also get a marketing change management template in Word to help you communicate effectively with your manager, team, and stakeholders. Go ahead. Download fo free now! Step 1: Create The Business Case For Change Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Ugh. But. Creating a doc to have one version of the truth- a reference point for questions- will help you convince your manager and team that change is needed. There are three key points to address in your change management business case doc: #1. Show There Is Need For A Change You feel when you need a change. There is disorganization. There are poor results. There are missing pieces. The best way to prove the need for change is with cold hard facts and brutal honesty. It's impossible to argue against factual information  that informs your stakeholders why the change is necessary. There are a few ways to do this: Data Is what you're doing producing the results you expect? For example, you may be spending a lot of time on trivial projects that don't actually produce repeatable, measurable results. You could measure the hours  you and your team spend on those projects in an average week. Then multiply the time by each employee's hourly wage to understand how much money the company literally spends on projects that do not actually add anything to your bottom line. If you add up those dollar values and multiply by 52, you literally know how much money goes down the drain in a year. You can ask your team to track their time over the course of an average week using a tool like Toggl. Then use the Time Tracking  tab in your change management template spreadsheet that complements this blog post to track the  time + spend on tasks: Think about how much time you spend: Switching in and out of tools not designed for the specific purpose you're using them for. Making edits to  content that won't actually make a difference in the end results it will produce (shooting for perfection is extremely expensive). Getting approval after you create content (then reworking nearly everything). With very simple math, you can demonstrate how expensive these activities are, thus showing the need for change. Pro Tip: You can also use this method to show what you could be doing with your time that would generate bigger results. So, let's say you find that  logging in and out of multiple tools + disorganization sucks up 4 hours of your week. Is that the same amount of time it would take you to write a blog post? There is proof: When we find a tool that is designed to help  my team be more productive, we will write more blog posts which are proven to help us grow the business. Another data example involves analyzing the success  of your best-performing content. What if you focused more time  shipping new projects that are similar to your existing top-performers? From experience, I can tell you that you don't need to publish more content,  but the same amount of the right content. And you could boost your results by 9,360%. No joke. Here is how to calculate this quickly, but read this for an exhaustive, in-depth guide: Set up goal tracking in Google Analytics and create a custom report to easily view the content that contributes to those goals. Here are in-depth instructions to help you do this in 5 minutes or less. Create a list of the last 30 pieces you published  that are at least 30 days old. Use the Content Grading tab in your change management template to do this. Write down the amount each piece has contributed to your goal by using the Google Analytics custom report. To make this an even fight for each piece, I like to collect data from the first 30 days after publish, so every piece has an equal amount of time to contribute to your goal. Sort your content  by your goal, peruse through those top-performing pieces, and write down the qualities you see repeated over and over. For example, at , the qualities we saw repeated over and over again were an interesting topic, well-researched and factual, comprehensive + actionable, keyword-driven, and optimized to convert traffic into email subscribers. Find the average goal contribution from every piece in your sample. If you continue status quo, this  is what you will continue to produce. Then  find the average contribution from your top 10 pieces. It's way higher, right!? Now you know if you publish the same amount of content, and simply match the qualities from your top-performers, you will boost your results. ^^^ And there you have it. Proof that you need to pivot to increase your team's performance. Examples where this method may work best for demonstrating the need for change: You don't currently have a way to measure how what you're doing is working. You  hypothesize  that doing more (or less) of something will produce better results. Bureaucracy has you doing the same old thing because... "We've always done it this way." You want to create new content initiatives and need to prove that they'd be well worth your time. Examples You might not have content that exists to help you prove you need to do more of what's already working. That's where examples come into play. Examples are also proof, or evidence, of a need for change. You can: Demonstrate a broken internal process by showing the inefficiencies of your current workflow. Again, inefficiency is expensive, and you could back this up with numbers using the process above. Examples: Workflows, approval processes, collaborating across multiple teams. Show an interesting use case with the new marketing idea from any other company. Then connect the dots to how you could do it for your business. Researching the data behind this makes your change management business case that much stronger. Example: You believe a blog would be great for your business, but you know there will be some resistance. Find examples of successful businesses that have built their credibility with a blog and are now multi-million dollar enterprises. Show how your competition is doing something amazing, but you don't have a presence in that area. This appeals to the fear of missing out, or FOMO. Example: You  know  your audience uses Instagram and would like to have a presence, but you're hitting some resistance. Find  examples of your competition engaging with your audience on that channel as proof that your audience indeed uses that network to communicate with brands they love. Industry Trends If there is one thing that's constant, it's change. Especially in the marketing industry: New technology, new channels, and new ideas are ever-evolving. This is similar to examples, but you can: Cite credible industry publications that cover new changes. Look for the why behind this: Why should you use the new tool, social media channel, or new content idea? Look for case studies that demonstrate the value of the trend. Has anyone (even outside of your niche) published a piece that shows percentage increases or demonstrates what you'll get out of the new idea? You'll note, I led this section with more  examples of finding your own real data to prove why you need to change. Using your data as much as possible builds the strongest case for the change you'd like to implement. It's hard to argue with your facts versus how others have been successful. #2.  Show How You Will Thrive After The Change You've  shown evidence that suggests change is necessary. Now it's time to demonstrate the benefits behind making the change. An easy way to think about this, is with a simple framework: When  we {do this}, we will {get this}. Note when there. When demonstrates an inevitability whereas if is only possible. Let's look at an example here, using examples and data to prove the need for change + backing up how implementing that change will help you produce bigger results. The example is a broken process. I hear from marketing supervisors all the time that disorganized process and "herding cats" sucks the most time away from their days, preventing them from focusing on the strategic work that would generate bigger results. To prove the need for change, you: Lay out the example of what the existing workflow looks like. Leave no stone unturned: Every step, every person involved, every tool, every point of communication, and especially the parts that are broken. For you, this could be writing a white paper. The workflow  involves: Email: Gather the idea from the sales manager. Email: Determine who the subject matter expert is with the sales manager. Meeting: Interview  with the sales team member who is a subject matter expert on the topic to gather the story. Email: Hound the sales team member to provide  stats + facts to support the claims you'll make in the white paper. Google Docs: Write the "What's in it for me?" and outline. Email: Peer review the outline with the subject matter expert. Google Docs: Write the first draft. Email: Gather feedback on the first draft from the subject matter expert. Google Docs: Implement the feedback from the subject matter expert into the white paper. Email: Gather further feedback from the subject matter expert. InDesign: Design the white paper. Email: Gather further feedback from the subject matter expert. InDesign: Implement changes from subject matter expert. Email: Get approval from the sales manager. InDesign: Implement changes from sales manager. Email: Get approval from your manager. InDesign: Implement changes from your manager. Email: Give final draft to sales manager and your manager to distribute to internal staff. ^^ If that even looks remotely like your workflow, there is definitely a better way. Recommended Reading: How to Boost a Marketing Workflow Process That Will Reduce Work By 30-50% By showing something like this, you demonstrate the problem. Now you can show off the solution. When we cut several unnecessary approval steps, we will save my team 5  hours of productivity time every week. That's the same amount of time it takes to write a brand new white paper, which is proven to generate 150 marketing qualified leads when we write it like our top-performing white papers. Therefore, when  we don't change, we are literally wasting time on a broken process rather than focusing our time on generating bigger results. Here's how. Weekly Meeting: Gather the story  from the sales manager and subject matter expert with clear action items for sales to provide stats on time saved from our solution + percentage increase on their desired goal by the end of the week. Google Docs (integrated into ): Write the "What's in it for me?" and outline. : Peer review the outline with the subject matter expert. Google Docs: Write the first draft. : Gather feedback on the first draft from the subject matter expert. InDesign: Design the white paper. : Get approval from the sales manager + your manager. InDesign: Implement changes from sales manager + your manager. : Give final draft to sales manager and your manager to distribute to internal staff. ^^^ You just literally cut the amount of work in half, not to mention eliminating endless email strings that are super easy to miss. Cut your work in half and eliminate endless email strings.Now you can track how long it would take for each step from the existing process and subtract the time saved from your new process. So all 18 tasks minus the 9 you removed would be the equivalent of 5 hours in this example. This doesn't even take into account the feeling of being organized, which everyone involved in the process will also love! #3. Show The Roadmap To Get There It's one thing to know what you need to do. Now you need to lay out the plan to implement the change. Humans are naturally adverse to change, so the odds are this will not happen over night. In fact, if you've been following an old process for a long period of time, it may take up to 21 days to help your team members build new  habits. Therefore, your roadmap to onboard your team members to learn this new behavior should span several weeks. In this time period, you will want to literally  lay out your game plan schedule of what you'll do to  make the change stick. Pre-rollout: Gather the data, examples, and industry trends demonstrating the need for change. Pre-rollout: Create your timeline for implementing the change. Pre-rollout: Script the questions, roadblocks, and objections that have potential to mitigate change. Pre-rollout: Discuss the forces driving change, timeline, and scripts with your manager. Day 1:  All hands kickoff meeting. Your itinerary should cover the three things you've been learning about: The problem (what's wrong), the solution  (why this change is necessary now), and the roadmap you're creating at this moment. You should also leave time for questions + answers (more on this to come). Day 2: Implement your team's initial feedback into the new solution. Day 3: Show  your team that you took their advice and enhanced the new solution. Day 4: Remind your team to use the new solution. Day 5: Retro and iterate. Weekend Day 8: Ask your team informally how things are going. Instant message could work well. This  reminds  everyone (especially your most quiet team members) that they have a voice in the change process. Day 9: Implement the feedback into your process, and remind the team to use it and not retrogress to old behavior. Day 10: Day 11: Day 12:  Retro and iterate. Weekend Day 15: Again, ask your team informally how things are going, and look for feedback. Day 16:  Implement the feedback into your process, and remind the team to use it and not retrogress to old behavior. Day 17: Day 18: Day 19:  Retro and iterate. Weekend You can map out your game plan in , too, using  a Marketing Project. When you decide to use , everyone will see everything you're working on in one place... so why not add this into , too? ;) Step 2: Be Prepared + Proactive For Any Situation Bill Walsh was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and helped turn a losing football team into one of the best, winning three Super Bowls. ^^ Talk about change management. Walsh is known for planning  his plays for every scenario. He carefully planned exactly what play would work for specific situations like being 30 yards from the end zone with only 5 seconds on the clock. He's known for having planned the first several  plays of the game whether the 49ers were kicking or receiving. In short, Bill Walsh  planned his work, then worked his plan. He called this practice scripting. And it's a great  framework you can apply to your change management, too: Scripting allowed me to take randomness and stress out of the decision-making process. The result is a very adaptable but intelligent  plan for the future. - Bill Walsh Anticipate Questions Uncertainty avoidance is the psychological term used to describe a specific society's tolerance for ambiguity. While this term is generally used to describe  larger cultures as a whole, your team and business have a culture within them, too. And the main idea here is that people like process, rules, and the same-old-same-old because it's familiar, easy to remember, and they already have habits that literally help them do the work with less thought and effort than taking on something new. Knowing this, you can plan on the questions your team will ask as you make the change. This is your script for an FAQ (or frequently asked questions) for your team. Simply take 30 minutes to brainstorm all of the questions your team may ask, then write down the answers: Why this change? Why now? What do you expect from me now? How will we collaborate now? What aren't we doing anymore? What new things are we doing? How should I voice my feedback? The point here is to think through the most common questions you can realistically expect your team and stakeholders to ask you, so you have all the answers prepared in advance. You can use the change management Word doc template that complements this blog post to help you get started. Recommended Reading: The Best 30 Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Anticipate Roadblocks Again, change is often difficult for people to accept. Most people are satisfied with status quo, in other words, doing exactly what they're doing now. Back in 1947, psychologist Kurt Lewin researched this phenomenon and came up with the force field analysis. Essentially, there are forces driving change while other forces restrain change, which makes it most comfortable for people to stay in the status quo. You are the force driving change within your organization. So you should prepare for how you'll address  the forces resisting change: How will you phase out old, outdated tools you no longer need to use? What does the timeline look like? How will you onboard your team members to use the new tools as you expect?  What does the timeline look like? How do you take into account everything else on your team's plate and the time it takes to learn new skills (100 hours per person)? What will you do if a team member does not adopt the new process from the get-go? What will you do if a team member tries the new process for a day, then regresses to their former behavior? How will you handle team members who actively fight against the new process and try to get other team members on their side? How will you agilely  learn from your success and mistakes as your team implements change? Like your FAQ, think through and script  the answers to these questions. When- or if- the situation arises, you've planned exactly how to get your change strategy back on track. Here's how to keep your #marketing change management strategy on track.Anticipate  Objections Your own team may fight for the status quo without really knowing why. This could be a force resisting change, or  once again, a few more scenarios to script for: I don't think this will work. I don't like the new process. This is taking even more time than before the change. We can't remove those steps from our workflow because of {insert excuse}. Change  is an emotional beast. The best thing to do, according to change management pros, is to address these concerns with factual evidence backing up the need for change. Step 3: Get Your Manager On Board Those same change management pros suggest change is best instituted from the top-down. Change is best instituted from the top-down.So once you have your game plan, it's probably time to loop in your manager to get her on the same page as you (and to have your back if the forces of resistance  get in the way of the forces driving change). Set up an hourlong meeting your manager with the following agenda: 10  minutes: Explain the existing problem. 10 minutes: Show the evidence that the problem is a big one. 10 minutes: Show the  roadmap  you'll use to implement the change. 10 minutes: Show your proactive planning to address the forces of resistance. 10 minutes: Chat through how you'll communicate the change with your team (and get their feedback), next steps, concerns, and when you will roll out the change. 10 minutes: Lay out your action items to work through after the meeting is over. ^^^ Those sections might feel  a little long, but the point is for this to be a working meeting. Let your manager ask questions throughout, and show up ready to take notes so you can improve your marketing change management strategy based on her feedback. What If Your Manager Doesn't Like The Suggested Change? This is where  you can use questions as a framework to understand how you can improve your pitch (or at least understand what the heck your manager is thinking): Why {do you believe that}? How {might you suggest I do that}? If you're way off, schedule a second meeting with your manager (with the same agenda) to show her how you  took her advice and will implement it in your strategy. Recommended Reading: 30 Marketing Plan Samples And Everything You Need to Include In Your Strategy Step 4: Involve The Team Early On No one really likes to be told what to do. On the other hand, involving your team members early and helping them help you make the change decisions makes them feel like they made them in the first place. In their book, Sprint: How To Solve Big Problems And Test New Ideas In Just Five Days, authors Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz suggest: By asking people for their input early in the process, you help them feel invested in the outcome. Later, when you begin executing your successful solutions, the experts you brought in will probably be among your biggest supporters. So... how can you involve  your team + stakeholders early on? Host A Process Change Kickoff Meeting With Everyone Involved In The Change You pretty much have the itinerary from the chat with your manager (but make a couple optimizations  here): 10  minutes: Explain the existing problem. 10 minutes: Show the evidence that the problem is a big one. 10 minutes: Show the  roadmap  you'll use to implement the change. 20 minutes:  Give your team the chance to provide feedback right now, but also give them some time afterward to let the ideas percolate. This gives your quiet folks the chance to digest the information and provide thoughtful insight afterward. Beware of the psychological principle of conformity (and keep your loud team members in check). 10 minutes: Lay out your action items to work through after the meeting is over. ^^^ You have all of that documented in your marketing change management template. Recommended Reading: 21+ Marketing Templates That Will Make You More Efficient And Organized Provide Time To Think Through Feedback Give your team a deadline to provide their feedback and provide the method to do it (email, instant message, etc.). You can plan this into your change management roadmap. If anything, this keeps the process moving forward (and on a schedule) so you can fix what's broken quickly. Incorporate Feedback Into Your Change Management Process When you ask for feedback, you take it. That said, not all feedback will improve the plan. The point is to literally help your team know and understand you are listening to them, that their thoughts are valuable, and you understand they will be the major players  implementing the change. So change the roadmap as needed and clearly communicate you heard every idea and implemented many, but it just wasn't possible to include everything they requested. Retro On What's Working, What's Not, And What You Could Improve I'm borrowing this from agile product management practices. Every Friday, the marketing team at retros on the week, asking three questions: What went well? What should we continue doing? What went wrong? What should we stop doing? What could we improve? Retros like this are great for gathering feedback from your team as you change their processes. I'd suggest hosting 15-minute retro meetings every week within your first 21 days specifically to discuss the change you're implementing to learn from your mistakes (and successes). As feedback rolls in, you can use all of the work you put into writing scripts to great use! Recommended Listening: How to Get Extremely Organized With Agile Marketing With Jeff Julian From Enterprise Marketer Step 5: Break Through The Resistance To Change Change of any kind requires breaking existing habits. And that is really difficult... because humans literally need habits to not think through the nitty-gritty details of everything in their lives (we would all go crazy). So, to influence the right behavior, the most important thing to do is to over-communicate with your team as they undergo change. As Bill Walsh said: We did the same drills over and over again; I said essentially the same thing over and over, discussed the same information, concepts, and principles over and over. Gradually, my teaching stuck. If it starts to become a joke that your team knows exactly what you're going to say next... you've done well. So plan your communication touch points in your change management timeline to remind yourself when to communicate. The point is: When your team starts to think like you, they'll start to act like you. ^^^ And that's exactly what you want. When your team thinks like you, they'll act like you.Which brings me to leading by example. Maintain zero tolerance for retrogressing behavior. If you see someone do something wrong, use your scripts to change the behavior and ask the following questions: What went wrong? Why did this happen? How can we make sure this doesn't happen again? How can we get this situation back on track? The point of using questions like this as a framework is to literally let your team member answer them. They come up with their own solution for preventing unwanted behavior. And they know your thought process + expectations upfront. There is no room in change management for being wishy-washy. Finally, commitment and perseverance influence change. This process has potential to feel messy. Remember: You are the change management leader. You are responsible for planning your work, then working your plan. You are the one who will make this a reality. You just need to do it.

People and organization management- leadership Essay

People and organization management- leadership - Essay Example The transactional leadership approach â€Å"works through creating clear structures whereby it is clear what is required of their subordinates, and the rewards that they get for following orders† ("Changing Minds"). This theory focuses on the interaction between the leaders and Subordinates.   It is rely on the concept that a leader’s role is to let his followers to know clearly what he expect from them, this theory uses the rewards and punishments approaches for getting these prospects.   8 The servant leadership model is one of the less mainstream leadership models. This theory believes that leaders have to put the interest of followers, customers, and the society ahead of their own benefit to get the success (Stevens 2003). The principle of this theory has a huge amount of recognition within leadership circles and it is described as a set of beliefs and morals that leaders are willing to embrace them. 8 There are many benefits of democratic leadership. By adopting this style of leadership better ideas and more creative solutions for the problems can take place. Group members also feel more touched by the higher management, involved and devoted to projects, all these making them more likely to care about the end outcome. Researches show that democratic style has a result to elevated productivity among group members. Empirical studies have even indicated that individuals with high self-esteem prefer democratic leadership models (Schoel, Bluemke, et al. 2011) Still, there are also downsides of democratic leadership. Even if this style has been described as the most successful and effective leadership style, it has a few downsides. In cases where roles are undefined and unclear or time is essential democratic leadership can lead to communication failures and incomplete tasks. In some situation, group members may not have the appropriate knowledge or skill to make quality contributions to the decision-making process. 14 In the modern world one often hears about

Those the year 1968 has benefits us Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Those the year 1968 has benefits us - Essay Example Martin Luther King and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy had their lives extinguished through the barrel of a gun. For many Americans then, the year 1968 came to signify the end of innocence and the dawn of a new era of dashed hopes and unfulfilled promises (Sibley 2009; Hobsbawm 244-270). Events on the international stage further added to this perspective as the Cold War started to heat up and the ramifications of the capitalist-communist split were coming to the fore. It is important to remember that this was the height of the Cold War and as Czechoslovakia sought increased liberalization as a member of the Soviet block, the USSR and Warsaw Pact’s military might crushed any appearances of dissent emanating from Prague and its environs. On August 20, 1968, Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia culminating in the largest internal Eastern offensive since the dawn of the Iron Curtain leading to the forced occupation of this fraternal communist country. Troops from Bulgaria, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and the USSR were coordinated in the effort to crush the spring liberation emanating from Czechoslovakia. Accordingly, more than 500,000 troops effectively occupied this country in what became known as a devastating moment in world history. For Americans and o ther Westerners, the occupation of Czechoslovakia during the height of the Cold War confirmed fears of the authoritarian nature of communism and brought home the importance of maintain a staunch anti-communist foreign policy during this period. The war in Vietnam was another reminder of the precarious situation which existed between the capitalist and communist world and the Vietcong launched the Tet Offensive during this period. With the successful Vietcong attack on the US Embassy in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive effectively ratcheted up the battle for supremacy in Vietnam between North and South Vietnamese forces as well

Cameron International Corp Essay Example for Free

Cameron International Corp Essay The three major issues facing Cameron International (CAM) are acquisitions, environmental, and competition risk. Cameron International is primarily involved in the manufacture of petroleum production equipment, compression and power equipment to direct flows of oil and gas wells. Acquisitions The company is formerly known as Cooper Cameron Corporation. The company growth depends on the availability of natural resources. To be able to be competitive in the industry, it needs to analyze the existing processes and identify the best production method for harnessing oil and gas, and adjusting it manufacturing operations towards the identified need. The Company made significant investments in improving its services and products over the years. During 2004 to 2005, the company has acquired Petreco International and Dresser Flow Control Businesses. Also, â€Å"Recently CAM paid approximately $44 million to acquire DES Operations Limited, a Scotland-based supplier of production-enhancement technology, which will enhance the subsea operations within the Drilling and Production Systems segment† (value line). Subsea operations is the new direction to which the company is heading. In fact, the company is currently working on more than 15 major subsea projects using motors and other equipment made by an aerospace-industry contractor (Factiva Wall Street Journal). These projects will require a longer time, a large increase in financial scope, a need in substantial engineering, and it will also involve the application of existing technology to new environments or new technology (CAM 10K 2006 p. 7). Because this new operations are larger and more complex than traditional operations, the Company may not be prepared for meeting the expertise and technical requirements of the projects. Failure to meet client’s expectations does not only lead to loss in revenue, but also to loss of the significant financial investments committed by the company towards this innovation. The company has had both success and failures in this new endeavor. Subsea operations account for eight percent (8%) of the company’s revenue in 2006 (CAM 10K 2006 p. 7). According to Fortune magazine, the company has raised earnings by producing an array of subsea valves, wellheads and blowout protectors which are currently on high demand. The result is expected to make Camerons profits to climb thirty-nine percent (39%) this year. On the other hand the company experienced backlogs on the projects, amounting to as much as four hundred eight million dollars ($408 millions). Based on these figures, it is clear that the new operations of the Company can be lucrative and risky. As mentioned above, the new operations involve the following risks: not meeting client’s expectations, incurring delay, loss of revenue, loss of opportunity and loss of capital. Environmental Litigation The Company has a strong policy on environment sustainability and has implemented measures to ensure the quality, safety and reliability of its products. It utilizes an all electric sub-sea production system which is designed to reduce environmental contamination risks. It line of compression products offer greater efficiency and reduced emission levels. (Annual report 2006 p. 9) The company has conducted oil risk spills analysis through the OSRA models originally developed by Smith and company, which has been enhanced over the years and uses realistic data fields of winds and ocean currents in the GOM (OCS Report 2007). However, it may be noted that with Cameron’s policy to pursue an electric sub-sea production system, the risk of oil spills is reduced and the likelihood of it being involved in a major oil spill is reduced. In addition to this, the company has exerted efforts towards managing environmental risks involved in subsea operations by contributing in the development of a shut-off device called Environmental Safe Guard. This device has been proven successful in operation under 2000-m water (Simondin, et. al. 2005). Competition Risk Cameron International has maintained a track of growth in the oil industry, from 1833 up to the present. It currently manufactures 50 different brands of drilling and production systems. Growth can be expected to continue. As pointed out in the Company’s annual report (2006), sales of equipment like compression systems has registered a steady increase with the greatest share of revenues accruing from sales outside the United States. The Company has maintained an excellent revenue growth rate at thirty-nine point sixty-seven percent (39. 67%). It also has a net income growth rate of eighty-one point eighty-eight percent (81. 98%), while maintaining a good debt to equity ratio of forty-three point fifty-two percent (43. 2%). Debt to equity ratio is good compared to the industry average of 63% (Corn 2007). A comparison of the company’s ratios with others in the fields provides a clearer picture of its performance in the industry. The company’s touted revenue growth rate is ranked fifteenth (15th) in the industry and is extremely small compared to the leading company. Its long term growth rate is assessed as twenty-one percent (21%), also fifteenth in the industry. These ratios show us that the company’s performance is not the leading company in its industry but it does perform respectably compared with the other players. In its 10K, the company claims that it has a growing global market (CAM 10K p. 7). Some financial analysts agree with this statement. The CEO of Clear Indexes LLC and Clear Asset Management LLC claims that there is an increasing demand for oil in China and India and the Company is â€Å"ideally placed† in supplying the demand for increased production (Corn). However, because of the ties of Corn’s own company with CAM, this statement should not be taken at its face value. In the 30 April 2007 issue of Fortune, the company is only seventh in the industry with Halliburton ranking first. On a positive note, the company did climb up the Forbes 500 list with a present ranking of five hundred fifty-third (553rd) from last year’s six hundred eighty-fifth (685th). (Fortune 500 annual ranking) Based on the analysis above, the company’s performance is acceptable but not stellar. The changes made by the company towards subsea operations may be the wave of the future, providing not only a significant portion of the company’s revenues but also lowering environmental liability risks that are necessarily included in the company’s operations. The move, however, is not without its disadvantages. Subsea operations requires the commitment of large amounts of capital and expertise, expertise that the company has not fully mastered. The failure of the company in this endeavor will adversely affect the company’s growth for years to come.

Japans Economic Growth and Americas Vulnerability Essay -- Economy

Japan's Economic Growth and America's Vulnerability For years after the end of the second world war, the Japanese suffered from an inferiority complex. This was the result of the American aid to Japan which helped to rebuild their country. Soon the Japanese started producing goods, small stuff at first, like junky toys in the earlier years - but then came better items, much better items. Now it is the Americans that suffer from the inferiority complex, not familiar with being economically vulnerable and not entirely in control of their destinies. Who to blame - the Japanese of course. If Americans can not learn to compete with the Japanese, then there is going to be some serious trouble because the economic problem will not just "go" away. When Japan lost World War II, six million Japanese had to return home from the colonies Japan lost. These people had to be fed, clothed and housed. The outlook for Japan's recovery did not look very hopeful. The Americans had no intention of helping the Japanese, but the communist victory in China changed this, because the Americans wanted to stop the further advance of communism. Americans started to help Japan out by not making them pay reparations for war damages and opened Japanese trade to other countries. The Americans dissolved the powerful family businesses which opened business to more competition and in the countryside, they took land from the landlords and gave it to the tenant farmers. By the time American occupation ended in 1952, Japan had returned to prewar levels of production. With their recovery now ensured, Japan embarked on a period of great economic growth which is growing at a faster rate every day. The Japanese are now at the ... ...may not last. I believe that they can either become more like the Japanese, giving up the lifestyles so grown accustomed to, by working harder for less money, or learn to live with not always being on top of the world economy. It is always hard to change, but sometimes you have to. Bibliography 1. "Cocksure Japan Loses Confidence", Cook,Peter. From the Globe and Mail Newspaper, May 2, 1992 2. "Japan to Rethink Bullish Marketing Abroad", From the Toronto Star, April 27,1992 3. "The Ties that Bind", Territh, Edith. From the Business Community Magazine, September 24, 1992 4. "Japan Hits Hard Times", Hillenbrand, Barry. From Time Magazine, March 23,1992 5. "Japan in the Mind of America", Morrow,Lance. From Time Magazine, February 10, 1992 6. "The Rise of The Global Village", Baldwin Spiran Stuart Cregier. Pages # 188-190 Copyright 1992 ??

Alliant Health System: A Vision of Total Quality Essay

1. Is Alliant’s strategy Sound? What does it have to do well to succeed? a. No strategy is totally sound.b. On paper, Alliant’s strategy would seem sound but, even though over the past five years they have made progress, Alliant has hit a few snags along the way that has prevented their strategy from becoming truly sound. i. They have only been able to lay down a foundation.c. Alliant is faced with â€Å"a culture and a climate that is inhospitable to the TQM philosophy.† ii. CEO Wolford states the he cannot â€Å"point to any one area that demonstate[s] we are substantially better than our competition.†d. â€Å"Alliant had achieved breakthroughs in organizational learning at each step in their TQM journey.† e. CARES+ – â€Å"basic outline for quality goal-setting and review†; bureaucraticf. EQUIP – â€Å"employees used it as a substitute for talking to their managers about day-to-day issues† g. Quality Improvement Teams – weren’t able to â€Å"bite off little pieces† and instead tried to solve â€Å"world hunger† problems; only able to come up with programs but was not capable implementing them; some have been â€Å"going on for over a year with nothing to show for it† h. Critical Paths – Unable to monitor rate of compliance, statistics was anywhere from 2% to 70% i. Have to do well to succeed:iii. Alliant needs to get everybody on board with Total Quality Management (TQM) for their strategy to succeed. 1. The quality process still needs a jumpstart.2. Some physicians are reluctant to adopt the new way of thinking. iv. Implement an IT system that â€Å"support[s] TQM and provide[s] Alliant with the information it need[s] to manage its evolution into the health care organization of the future.† v. Create a central quality organization that could come up with programs and implement them. 2. How well have they implemented the quality strategy? j. Alliant came up with guiding principles and a 10-point action plan to help introduce TQM to the organization through quality management teams (QMT). vi. Alliant was thorough in making sure their quality strategy was implemented systematically through targeted programs and processes that would help their â€Å"organization achieve a competitive advantage based on the management of quality. â€Å" vii. They implemented the quality stategy well in the first year because after Petersdorf died in 1987, â€Å"quality had already taken root† and â€Å"one of the board’s primary selectin criteria for Petersdorf’s replacement was a commitment to total quality management.† k. In the second year of implementation, Alliant saw their most profitable year in the history of the company. l. Four components of TQM strategy were implemented pretty well: viii. CARES+ process â€Å"diffused rapidly across Alliant†; Were â€Å"making the transition from traditional planning to quality improvement†; found quality planning process to be highly effective ix. EQUIP allowed employees to voice their ideas; helped communicate between employees, managers, and executives x. Quality Improvement Teams â€Å"prescribed specific analytical tools and walked a team from problem statement through actions, results, and future plans†; drilled right to the core of performance issues; applied statistical process control techniques to cash flow to bring the receivables range down xi. Critical Paths worked; was able to shorten length of hospital stay for coronary artery bypass graft surgeries from 17 days to 13 days and reduced average costs from $41,863 to $35,843; saved Alliant almost $1 million in 1990; moves process along if everyone works with the same time frame in mind 3.  Assess Alliant’s information technology agenda/strategy. m. Believed information technology (I/T) is a key in the future strength of TQM n. Need â€Å"expert systems – computers to help the mind†Ã‚  o. â€Å"Was a shift in focus: to patient-oriented systems rather than functional, â€Å"stove pipe† applications that met narrow departmental needs. p. Physicians, clinical support professionals, and administrators could share information and drive continuous improvement in service q. â€Å"HELP offered advice on possible diagnoses, cost-effective treatments, resource scheduling, and drug contraindications.† r. New I/T strategy offered significant advantages over Alliant’s existing patchwork of stand-alone systems: xii. System worked concurrently – advice was available as patient was being treated xiii. Had the potential to improve coordination dramatically by collecting data from  all corners of the hospital into a single patient-centered system 3. This would minimize patient costs and stay and the quality of care would be improved by eliminating â€Å"inappropriate procedures, unnecessary waiting time, and ineffective treatments.† 4. Would you proceed with HELP? s. Yes xiv. HELP would bring together Alliant’s hospitals and technically make it one working unit by providing a single patient-oriented system that had all data of a patient from every area of the hospital in one computer making Alliant efficient, productive, and quality focused. xv. This would allow information to be shared and eliminate all repeat and unnecessary procedures and allow a shorter waiting time because information would not have to be collected again. xvi. In effect, HELP would improve quality. 5. What would you do to make sure the implementation is successful? t. Make sure that the process works for us rather than us work for the process u. Take everything one step at a time; analyze little by little instead of taking in everything at once v. Make sure everybody was on board with Total Quality Management by restructuring the culture and climate in making TQM more hospitable w. Train managers with a familiar interface as that of HELP  xvii. This would help with a smooth short-term transition and involve fewer hiccups. xviii. â€Å"Stabilize the existing infrastructure, lay the foundation for HELP, and begin to make some progress on automating support for TQM†

Persuasive Essay on Global Warming Essay

Recent news all around us gives rise to much concern about global warming. Personally, I am alarmed at the rate that the earth is now deteriorating. For example, there is the fact that the second warmest global surface temperature in more than a century was recorded in 2001. News such as these should not only affect me, but the entire world. Starting from individuals like me, every little effort towards avoiding global warming would count and make a difference. On this note, it is nice to learn that there are many groups and institutions that actually endeavor to develop new technologies that could help prevent global warming. The whole world should join in this effort to save the environment. There are many issues that are bothering the human population nowadays, such as terrorism, war, economy, and others. However, there is no other issue that so pervades human consciousness recently than the issue on global warming. Many celebrities and international organizations are exerting efforts to build awareness around the world that there is a real danger to our planet, and that the time is ripe for all to take action. Everyone should be concerned about global warming, especially considering the various deleterious effects it poses on life in the planet. The gravity of the situation calls upon nations, as big movers and possessors of power in large scale, to put more effort into developing new technologies to prevent further global warming. On the small scale, recent news on global warming should be enough to wake everyone from slumber and do their part in saving our environment, which is becoming more dangerous because of continued global warming. The gravity of the current situation is shown by the fact that the second warmest global surface temperature in more than a century was recorded in 2001. Previous decades, particularly the period between 1951 and 1980, registered cooler climates. This trend of warmer climates is seen as a consequence of anthropogenic causes such as the emission of greenhouse gases (Hansen, Ruedy, Sato, and Lo 275). Such trend is alarming and should wake people up from their inaction, because the recent calculations of temperature increase foretell the possibility of even greater temperature in the coming years (King 780). Moreover, as the facts recorded at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hilo, Hawaii tell, carbon dioxide levels consistently rise at a rate of about 2 p.p.m. per annum (King 780). These data show a marked increase in the rate of carbon dioxide levels, that are way above recorded levels in previous warm periods (King 780). These facts also show how warm global temperature has gotten since the last century, which further confirm the realization of the greenhouse effect theory (King 780). It is appropriate to note that the theory of climate change can be traced as far back as 1827, when a French mathematician named Fourier thought about the possibility that the earth may be absorbing the heat that should be sent back to space (King 779). At the time, Fourier built upon the observation of British scientist Tyndall that minority gases in our atmosphere, namely, carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, cause the greenhouse effect (King 779). This theory is fast demonstrating its reality, as shown by the above observations. Globally, there are observed environmental changes that have become worse in time. Among these are deforestation, greenhouse gas-induced warming, loss in biodiversity, and desertification (Grimmond 83). These environmental changes are caused largely by the rapid increase in human population (Grimmond 83). The effects of all these environmental changes are being felt both in large and small scale. The effects of these changes in small scale climate change can be seen at the urban level, wherein broader environmental changes are being felt in greater magnitude (Grimmond 83). Urban climates have changed. Among the effects of urbanization on climate are the alteration of energy and water exchanges and airflow due to surface and atmospheric changes and urban warming due to direct anthropogenic emissions of heat, pollutants and carbon dioxide (Grimmond 83). While there are some cities that can be considered lucky, because their large spaces of irrigated greenspace provide cooler temperature, a majority of the cities experience up to a 10-degree-Celsius difference in temperature (Grimmond 83). The materials chosen and used in the construction of buildings and other infrastructure in urban locations and other factors such as the distances between such structures all contribute to urban warming (Grimmond 86). The morphology of cities, particularly in terms of the width, height and density of the buildings therein, affect solar access in daytime and the cooling rates at night (Grimmond 83). Unfortunately, urban warming has grave implications to inhabitants, such as those relating to their well-being, health and comfort (Grimmond 86). Compared to rural environments, urban locations are warmer by an average of 1 to 3 degrees Celsius (Grimmond 83). One of the scariest implications of urban warming is felt mostly by the poor (Grimmond 87). For example, heat waves swept all over India in 1998 and caused injuries and deaths (Grimmond 87). The same catastrophe occurred in France and Spain in 2003 (Grimmond 87). With regard to the effect of urban warming on human comfort, there is involved a vicious cycle. The intense heat makes people uncomfortable. Thus, they would want to use airconditioning systems (Grimmond 87). The increase use of airconditioning, on the other hand, generates more heat and demands more energy through increased generation of electricity, which again would cause increased urban warming (Grimmond 87). Indeed, this is not an unjustified fear. The increased use of airconditioning had already been observed in large continents such as Asia, Europe and North America (Grimmond 87). Such increased demand has been observed to cause amplified electricity generation (Grimmond 87). This, in turn, results in the production of more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which again leads to intensified global warming (Grimmond 87). With the continued abuse by people of the environment and the continued generation of heat, risks greater than the heat waves experienced in many countries are very likely to arise (Grimmond 87). It may be considered that the contribution of urban development and urban warming to the global scenario is small; however, the dangers tat urban warming poses should not be ignored (Grimmond 87). Gases from urban areas, such as pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are the leading anthropogenic sources of global warming (Grimmond 87). Moreover, as discussed above, the experience of warmer climate in the cities lead to increased consumption of energy, which again causes global warming (Grimmond 87). The combinations of many factors, including those occurring in urban zones, would surely give rise to global consequences and implications (Grimmond 87). It is important, in any effort to convince people into action, to make them understand the implications at stake (Grimmond 87). The strategies towards solving the problem of global warming cover a wide range, and any move should involve the participation of all stakeholders (Grimmond 87). For example, in the community level, each person can do his small but significant part in mitigating global warming, by avoiding or minimizing the use of airconditioning in order to reduce consumption of energy. Reduced demand for airconditioning would lead to decreased demand in energy supply, which would lead to less production of greenhouse gases (Grimmond 87). Thus, a simple act of minimizing the comforts of the modern world could do wonders in preventing further global warming. The threat of continued and sustained global should be enough to raise concerns among all people, because of the extreme events that we should be prepared for as a consequence of global warming (King 780). For one, global warming causes more water vapor to remain in the atmosphere, which is exactly what the greenhouse effect means (King 780). Increased water vapor is a result of increases in the level of carbon dioxide in the air, and comes alongside the increase of temperature in the seas and the earth (King 780). Deforestation is another negative effect of global warming (King 780; Saxe, et al.). The increased temperature leads to decreased rainfall, which leads to dryer conditions and more forest fires (King 780; Saxe, et al.). Increased global heat contributes to easier catching up of large fires in the forest. In turn, deforestation again increases global warming, like a vicious cycle. Deforestation deprives the planet of vital carbon sinks, which are required to balance the global carbon budget (Saxe, et al. 389). Fortunately, this can be reversed through the planting of more trees and building more density in the forests, in order to counter the production and existence of carbon in the atmosphere (Saxe, et al. 389-390). Global warming can also cause the loss of the Greenland ice sheet (King 780). This would cause serious problems because it could raise the sea level around the globe by approximately 7 meters over a period of about a thousand years (King 780). It could also cause enhanced retreat of glaciers in some places (King 780). Further effects of global warming can also be observed in the oceans, through increased acidity (King 780). The increase in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere cause a corresponding increase of the same in oceans, thereby increasing their acidity (King 780). Thus, there are already observed effects on coral reefs and plankton population, while wider impact on marine life and on the food chain is yet to be observed (King 780). To date, a documented total of 17 coral reef ecosystems have been found to be degraded around the world. This is a huge blow to the planet, since it is estimated that â€Å"coral reefs provide support to ecosystems worth more than $375 billion per annum to the global economy (King 780).† These terrible consequences should be enough to make everyone concerned about global warming and its deleterious effects on all aspects of life in the planet (King 780). People should be concerned about destroying life and support systems in different ecosystems, which would eventually affect human lives. Having seen the scary possibilities that come alongside global warming, everyone should join the movement towards making this planet greener and healthier. People should be moved by stories of forest fires, destruction of ecosystems, and deaths due to heat waves, that are occurring all over the world (King 780; Saxe, et al. 389). The planet is becoming less safe with each passing day that people live in ignorance of the damage they are causing the environment. Continuous apathy and inaction could lead to more catastrophic deaths and further destruction of the planet, which possibilities should raise alarm and concern in all mankind. Each person can definitely do his share in minimizing the anthropogenic causes of global warming. We have seen how a simple act of minimizing the consumption of airconditioning could have positive effects on the environment. It is time that each of us does our share to save our home. This is the only way that future generations could still enjoy earth as we know it. Works Cited Grimmond, Sue. â€Å"Urbanization and global environmental change: local effects of urban warming.† Cities and Global Environmental Change: 83-88. Hansen, J., Ruedy, R., Sato, M., and K. Lo. â€Å"Global Warming Continues.† Science, New Series 295 (2002):275. Kellomaki, Seppo, Rouvinen, Ismo, Peltola, Heli, Strandman, Harri and Rainer Steinbrecher. â€Å"Impact of global warming on the tree species composition of boreal forests in Finland and effects on emissions of isoprenoids. Global Change Biology 7 (2001): 531-544. King, David. â€Å"Climate change: the science and the policy.† Journal of Applied Ecology 42 (2005): 779-783. Saxe, Henrik, Cannell, Melvin G. R., Johnsen, Oystein, Ryan, Michael G., Vourlitis, George. â€Å"Tree and forest functioning in response to global warming.† New Phytologist 149 (2001): 369-400.

Free Essays on Computers

This paper is about the computer. Today computers are used by hundreds of millions of people. There have been many advances in the computer. The computer used to weigh 30 tons and filled warehouse size rooms, but today can be as light as 3 pounds and fit in a persons pocket. There were basically three times the computer was mentioned. One as a mechanical computing device, in about 500 BC The other as a concept in 1833, and the third as the modern day computer in 1946. The first mechanical calculator was called the abacus. The abacus is a is a string of moving beads. The first concept of the modern computer was first outlined in 1833 by the British mathematician Charles Babbage. His outline contained all of todays features in a computer today. Those features are memory, a control unit, and output devices. Even though Babbage worked on the machine for over 40 years he never actual saw it work. The modern computer grew out of intense research efforts mounted during World War II. The military needed faster ballistics calculators, and British cryptographers needed machines to help break the German secret codes. Early as the 1940's the German Inventor, Konrad Zuse, produced the first operational computer. It was used in aircraft and missile designs, but the German government would not let him improve the machine so it never reached its maximum capability. Two engineers called John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr. from the University of Pennsylvania constructed a calculator. Its construction was an enormous feat of engineering. The 30-ton machine was 18 feet high and 80 feet long, and contained 17,468 vacuum tubes linked by 500 miles of wiring. This calculator performed 100,000 operations per second, and its first operational test included calculations that helped determine the feasibility of the hydrogen bomb. Computers were finally made to a smaller size in 1958 by Jack Kilby. He used less expensive silicon chips, this made ... Free Essays on Computers Free Essays on Computers The following benefits are feasible if the ordering process at Three in Bun were modified: Employees could spend less time writing the same things over and over again and more time getting a new range of customers. It will take less time to get more of the products and this will make the customers much happier. Less wasted resources. Supplies would last 50% longer then they do now. Operational A new system will decrease the amount of equipment use and paperwork. Customer information will be available in an easily accessible form to any employee. Employees will have time to complete meaningful job duties, alleviating the need to hire some temporary clerks. Technical Three in Bun already has a successful way of operation in the ordering process. To handle the increased volume of data however, it will need to purchase a new database server. Economic A detailed summary of the costs benefits, including all assumptions, is attached. The potential costs of the purposed solution could range from $20,000 to $25,000. The estimated savings in supplies and postage alone will exceed $40,000. If you have any questions on the attached detailed cost/benefit summary or require further information please contact me. Based on the findings presented in this report, we recommend a continued study of the ordering system at Three in Bun.... Free Essays on Computers People always tend to seek the easy way out looking for something that would make their lives easier. Machines and tools have given us the ability to do more in less time giving us, at the same time, more comfort. As the technology advances, computers become faster and more powerful. These new machines are enabling us to do more in less time making our lives easier. The increased use of computers in the future, however, might have negative results and impact on our lives. In the novel, Nine Tomorrows by Isaac Asimov often criticizes our reliance on computers by portraying a futuristic world where computers control humans. One of the images which Asimov describes in the book is that humans might become too dependent on computers. In one of the stories, Profession, Asimov writes about people being educated by computer programs designed to educate effortlessly a person. According to the Profession story people would no longer read books to learn and improve their knowledge. People would rely on the computers rather than "try to memorize enough to match someone else who knows" (Nine Tomorrows, Profession 55). People would not choose to study; they would only want to be educated by computer tapes. Putting in knowledge would take less time than reading books and memorizing something that would take almost no time using a computer in the futuris tic world that Asimov describes. Humans might begin to rely on computers and allow them to control themselves by letting computers educate people. Computers would start teaching humans what computers tell them without having any choice of creativity. Computers would start to control humans’ lives and make humans become too dependent on the computers. Another point that is criticized by Asimov is the fact that people might take their knowledge for granted allowing computers to take over and control their lives. In a story called The Feeling of Power, Asimov portrays how people starte... Free Essays on Computers This paper is about the computer. Today computers are used by hundreds of millions of people. There have been many advances in the computer. The computer used to weigh 30 tons and filled warehouse size rooms, but today can be as light as 3 pounds and fit in a persons pocket. There were basically three times the computer was mentioned. One as a mechanical computing device, in about 500 BC The other as a concept in 1833, and the third as the modern day computer in 1946. The first mechanical calculator was called the abacus. The abacus is a is a string of moving beads. The first concept of the modern computer was first outlined in 1833 by the British mathematician Charles Babbage. His outline contained all of todays features in a computer today. Those features are memory, a control unit, and output devices. Even though Babbage worked on the machine for over 40 years he never actual saw it work. The modern computer grew out of intense research efforts mounted during World War II. The military needed faster ballistics calculators, and British cryptographers needed machines to help break the German secret codes. Early as the 1940's the German Inventor, Konrad Zuse, produced the first operational computer. It was used in aircraft and missile designs, but the German government would not let him improve the machine so it never reached its maximum capability. Two engineers called John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr. from the University of Pennsylvania constructed a calculator. Its construction was an enormous feat of engineering. The 30-ton machine was 18 feet high and 80 feet long, and contained 17,468 vacuum tubes linked by 500 miles of wiring. This calculator performed 100,000 operations per second, and its first operational test included calculations that helped determine the feasibility of the hydrogen bomb. Computers were finally made to a smaller size in 1958 by Jack Kilby. He used less expensive silicon chips, this made ... Free Essays on Computers â€Å"Computer Literacy: Body of Knowledge or Myth† Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Case Study - Bubba College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Regional Survey and Review of Current Textbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Materials Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Other References and Sources of Material on the subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Appendix A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Appendix B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Introduction Agnst College is in the process of creating and implementing a revised computer literacy course called CIS110: Computer Literacy. A debate of what computer literacy is led to this report. In this report we hope to reexamine the issues of computer literacy and, in some small way, define a body of knowledge which may offer an educational framework for educators as we approach the new millennium. Is computer literacy still following the cycle of hardware, software, data, procedures, and people, or has it ‘morphed’ into a new definition? Does computer literacy include the understanding and knowledge of the five components, or has it been reduced in scope? What is today’s definition of computer literacy anyway? Computer Literacy ... Free Essays on Computers Computers There are many different sides to the discussion on moral and ethical uses of computers. In many situations, the morality of a particular use of a computer is up to the individual to decide. For this reason, absolute laws about ethical computer usage are almost, but not entirely, impossible to define. The introduction of computers into the workplace has introduced many questions as well: Should employers make sure the workplace is designed to minimize health risks such as back strain and carpal tunnel syndrome for people who work with computers? Can employers prohibit employees from sending personal memos by electronic mail to a friend at the other side of the office? Should employers monitor employees' work on computers? If so, should employees be warned beforehand? If warned, does that make the practice okay? According to Kenneth Goodman, director of the Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy at the University of Miami, who teaches courses in computer ethics, "There's hardly a business that's not using computers."1 This makes these questions all the more important for today's society to answer. There are also many moral and ethical problems dealing with the use of computers in the medical field. In one particular case, a technician trusted what he thought a computer was telling him, and administered a deadly dose of radiation to a hospital patient. In cases like these, it is difficult to decide who's fault it is. It could have been the computer programmer's fault, but Goodman asks, "How much responsibility can you place on a machine?"(3). Many problems also occur when computers are used in education. Should computers replace actual teachers in the classroom? In some schools, computers and computer manuals have already started to replace teachers. I would consider this an unethical use of computers because computers do not have the ability to think and interaction an interpersonal basis. Com... Free Essays on Computers All-digital, active-matrix LCD Flat-panel displays produce flicker-free images with twice the brightness, sharpness, and contrast ratio of a typical CRT display. The high-performance graphics engine in the Power Mac G4 or PowerBook G4s provides an all-digital signal between the computer and the Apple flat-panel displays, producing undistorted screen images every time. Thanks to this all-digital approach, there’s no need to convert the digital signal to analog form (a process that inevitably leads to image degradation, since translation errors often cause screen distortion and artifacts). Certified color All-digital technology means you get consistent color from edge-to-edge as well as color consistency over time. Apple flat panel displays are immune to heat, humidity and electromagnetic fields that can cause color changes to a CRT. And while Apple displays leave the factory at tuned to perform out-of-the-box, you can use calibration devices such as the GretagMacbeth Eye-One to create a custom ColorSync profile. This gives you the peace of mind that an Apple display will integrate perfectly into your color workflow, ensuring accurate color from screen to print.... Free Essays on Computers Over the past ten years billions of dollars have been spent on computers for our nation’s schools. The goal was to improve and update our educational system but there is very little evidence of change through the years and taxpayers that have been paying for these upgrades in the schools want to know where the payoff is. A small Belridge school district in Mckittrick, California was proud to be the first and only in the state to provide every student with two Apple IIg computers, one for school and one for home. It reshaped its curriculum to use computers in all subject areas and they thought it was working well. The parents were shocked to hear when the annual standardized test scores came in, that the entire first grade class, along with more than a third of the 64-member student body, had scored below their grade level for both reading and math. The school’s officials argued that students had scored even worse before the help of the computer program but in fact this was just one case where the computer program had failed. Many skeptics think schools should give up but educators and parents continue the fight to keep computers in the schools. Research has proven that electronic drill and practice programs make children better spellers. Intensive preparation programs raise S.A.T. scores. So-called integrated learning systems, which deliver entire curriculums to student’s sittings at workstations in a learning laboratory, practically guarantee that grade point averages will go up. So why all the confusion? Everyone is worried that too many tax dollars are being wasted on computers for kids when the old learning system worked just fine. They feel children do not need computers in school, that they can learn to use them at home, or in college, or even after they enter the work force. New York University’s Neil Postman writes in his article â€Å"The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School† that â€Å"approximately 35 million... Free Essays on Computers A computer is an electronic device that can receive a set of instructions or program and the carry out this program by performing calculations on numerical data or by compiling and correlating other forms of information. ("Computer" Encarta). It also performs calculations and processes information with astonishing speed and precision. Computer Technology has improved our lives. It will continue to affect our future which will lead to an easier, less complicated lifestyle, with more job opportunities and their benefits. ("Computer." America On-line). The modern world of high technology could not have come about except for the development of the computer. (Astle 1). Different types and sizes of computers find uses throughout society in the storage and handling of data, from secret government files to banking transactions to private household accounts. ("Computer" Encarta). Research and development in the computer world moves simultaneously along two-paths hardware designs and software innovations work in each are alternately influences the other.("The Future Of Computers" America On-line) Computers help people in many different ways, but many people prefer to use paper and pencil to write and to use folders and file cabinets to organize there papers. ("The Future of Computers." America On-line.) Many people in the world use computers to make their lives easier. Such advances computer technology will benefit us all. People use computers for research, organization, writing, communication for personal or business matters and even to look up stock updates. (Astle 786). Whether it is personal or business, computers can help make our daily life easier. Typing is quicker and easier and its also a lot neater than hand writing. When you type on a computer you can look at them and open them a lot faster than having a folder of papers you have to carry around where ever you go. (Masters 654). Computers can also help with editing a paper, they can...