Immigration Issues in Alfonso Gonzaless Book Reform without Justice Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State

Immigration Issues in Alfonso Gonzaless Book Reform without Justice Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State The presentation of Alfonso Gonzales’s book â€Å"Reform without Justice: Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State† can be discussed as a kind of the political activity because the meeting is organized as the panel discussion of the United States’ current policies related to immigration issues.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Immigration Issues in Alfonso Gonzales’s Book â€Å"Reform without Justice: Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Gonzales’s statements and ideas presented in the book, today the United States refer to the strategy of the anti-migrant hegemony in relation to Latino migrants. Gonzales claims that it is necessary to develop the comprehensive immigration reform which can contribute to the rights of Latino immigrants who are often criminalized within the society because of the U S inappropriate immigration policy (Gonzales, 2013, p. 24; Reform without justice, 2013). The attendance of the meeting is important to become more informed about the political issues because the leaders of the Mexican communities presenting at the meeting discuss the problematic issues with references to the real situations and evidences. From this point, the event adds to the active discussion of the Latino migrant politics with references to the actual examples. It is rather difficult to correlate the issue of the global capitalism with the idea of the immigrant civil right movement without participating in the discussions during the meeting. Focusing on the emotions associated with the discussed ideas about the necessity of the comprehensive immigration reform, it is necessary to pay attention to the desire to support the claims of the Latino migrant activists because the issue is closely connected with the problems of ideological focus, immigrant rights movement, and social pre judice which should not be observed and developed in the democratic society. Moreover, the detailed discussion of the immigrant rights movement in relation to the racial prejudice issues is effective to receive the more clear vision of the reform’s idea and effectiveness. The problems analyzed during the panel discussion are closely connected with the concepts studied during the course. Thus, the focus on the Latino immigrant rights can be considered as significant in the context of discussing the principles of the 21st century democracy in the United States.Advertising Looking for report on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The problem is in the fact that the challenges experienced by Latino immigrants in the United States because of the weaknesses of the immigrant policy allow speaking about the inappropriateness of definite political approaches and strategies (Reform without justice, 2013) . Thus, following the concepts studied during the course, it is important to note that the effective democratic society is free from racial and ethnic prejudice. The issues discussed at the meeting respond to creating the picture of the diversified political background in the United States. Furthermore, the discussion is important to pay more attention to the issue of the Latino civil rights movements with references to the stories of the certain persons participating in the meeting. The meeting can affect the person’s life and viewpoint with references to rethinking the role of politically active groups in the reforming processes. The attendance of the meeting was necessary to learn more information about the activities of such groups as the Hispanic Congressional Caucus and the National Council of La Raza which work is rather controversial and provocative in relation to contributing to the comprehensive immigration reform (Reform without justice, 2013). It is possible to no tice the effects of the discussed anti-migrant hegemony more clearly with references to discussing the concrete evidences and the activities of the politically active groups. Heather Mac Donald on the Issue of Immigration Heather Mac Donald is the Fellow at the Manhattan Institute who works at the problem of immigration in the United States. In her works, Mac Donald argues that the effective development of policies in the United States is closely associated with proposing the liberal immigration policy which can address the needs of thousands of migrants from the Central and South America (Heather Mac Donald, 2013). According to Mac Donald, any additions to the current approach in relation to the immigrant politics can improve the situation and respond to the needs of the communities because adequate liberalization is the necessary aspect to provide the positive atmosphere within the society. Mac Donald states that many numbers associated with the rates of immigrants who develop bus inesses in the United States are inappropriate and cannot reflect the real situation in the social and economic spheres of the American society. It is impossible to state that illegal immigration caused the rates associated with the unemployment of the Americans. According to Mac Donald, these immigrant groups cannot be discussed as risky for the development of the US economy (Mac Donald, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Immigration Issues in Alfonso Gonzales’s Book â€Å"Reform without Justice: Latino Migrant Politics and the Homeland Security State† specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, Mac Donald also claims that the struggle with the illegal immigration cannot be effective enough, and it is necessary to pay more attention to avoid the immigration of persons who cannot add to the welfare of the society in the United States. From this point, the national wealth can be improved with referen ces to accepting educated immigrants from the Central and South Americas. That is why, the immigration policy can be changed and improved with references to the idea that well-educated immigrants can contribute to the national wealth significantly (Mac Donald, 2006). In her articles, books, and interviews, Mac Donald provides arguments to support the idea that the current approach of the US government to regulating the immigrant policy is rather ineffective because the government is concentrated on limiting all the types of immigration from the Central and South Americas (Heather Mac Donald, 2013). As a result, following such immigration politics, the Americans fail to gain more benefits from immigration. Moreover, the shift of the focus from the possible illegal immigration to the legal immigration is also important for the Latinos who discuss immigration as the only way to improve their living conditions. The refusals to provide the status of legal immigrants for the majority of t he well-educated Mexicans and representatives of the South American countries can lead to weakening definite industries in the United States. From this point, the carefully developed immigration policy oriented both to the progress of the national economy and to the attraction of the legal immigrants can be discussed as the effective strategy for the US government to improve the immigrant politics and economic sector in the country (Mac Donald, 2006). Heather Mac Donald’s ideas on the immigration politics issues are rather logical and credible. These points of view and arguments are supported with the significant research on the problem and a lot of provided evidences. Thus, the author’s discussion of the immigration questions and possible solutions related to the problem can be considered as necessary to address the issue of the ineffective immigrant policy and reforms in the United States in order to overcome the social and economic challenges. References Gonzales, A . (2013). Reform without justice: Latino migrant politics and the homeland security state. USA: Oxford University Press.Advertising Looking for report on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Heather Mac Donald. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ignoring-law-2651.html Mac Donald, H. (2006). Seeing today’s immigrants straight. Retrieved from https://www.city-journal.org/html/seeing-today%E2%80%99s-immigrants-straight-12947.html Reform without justice. (2013). Web.

#1 - the effectiveness of graphic organizers #2 -Learning vocabulary Article

#1 - the effectiveness of graphic organizers #2 -Learning vocabulary through reading - Article Example There were earlier studies in the area, though limited in scope, which have brought out the positive aspects of graphic organizers. The reviewed study aims to provide additional knowledge in the recently implemented systems where remedial students and students with learning disabilities are mainstreamed, and it could ostensibly lead to significant research in the field. The review of literature is carried out promptly, mentioning studies in the field by Bergerud, Lovitt, and Horton, Darch and Carnine, Sinatra et.al., Scruggs et.al., Mastropieri et. al., and so on. The review goes in detail to the significance of their studies and critically evaluates them, establishing the necessity of the present study. It also establishes a theoretical framework, holds scope to make use of the effectiveness of graphic organizers for students with learning handicap to the relatively new aspect of mainstream instruction. The authors succeed in relating previous research to their work. The study has three research questions which are hypothesized in affirmative answers. The questions are: 1. are the graphic organizers more effective than self-study condition for the three classifications mentioned? 2. do graphic organizers produce consistent effects in middle school and high school across a variety of content area classes? and 3. can teachers successfully implement graphic organizers with heterogeneous groups through teacher-directed and student-directed procedures? The hypothesis is consistent with theory and known facts. It is explained as testable, and promised to provide expected results. The methodology is explained with sufficient clarity so as to allow future researchers to replicate it for their purposes. The population used is selected from nine whole classes of three each from middle school science, middle school social studies and high school social studies. From each subject area, two classes are randomly selected to serve as experimental groups and

Paper 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Paper 1 - Essay Example The City of Cleveland argued that the ordinance was constitutional, since it upheld the ruling made under Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, which had limited the number of people who could occupy a single dwelling (Casner, 189). The Supreme Court held that the ordinance created by the City of Cleveland was unconstitutional, since it violated the due process clause as provided under the Fourth Amendment Schedule of the United States Constitution (Areen, 227). The Supreme Court held that the material facts of the case were distinguishable from the nature of the facts provided under Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, which offered a provision for restriction of individuals who were unrelated from one another (Areen, 227). Thus, the limitation and definition of family as a nuclear family was a completely new conception, which violates both the tradition and cultural conception of a family as involving the extended family. Further, the court held that when the conception of the family unit is challenged through the government intrusion of the choices that concern the living arrangements of family, then the interest advanced by the government in this case must be carefully examined (Casner, 189). The court also held that the ordinance established by the East Cleveland City had a weak relationship with its intended objective such as reducing overcrowding and the heavy financial burden on the schools, since a larger nuclear family could have a more overcrowding and financial burden on the city than a small extended family. Finally, the court held that the basic values underlying a society, as well as the teaching of history must be recognized and respected, at the expense of laws that seek to draw superficial and arbitrary boundaries like confining the family unit to a couple and their dependants (Areen, 228). Thus, the court held that the

The controversy of water fluoridation Research Paper

The controversy of water fluoridation - Research Paper Example One particular issue has to do with the overall potential benefit for drawbacks that this fluoridation might necessarily affect. For the most part, it is been broadly accepted that water fluoridation is beneficial to the overall health of individuals within society. For the most part, this benefit has been tangentially related to dental health. However, there are also been claims by many scientists and researchers that fluoride within drinking water also benefits the overall bone health within an individual that is exposed to it. Furthermore, this practice has been approved and supported by both the American Medical Association and the American dental Association since 1951 and 1953 respectively. Essentially, two government agencies are ultimately responsible for overseeing the way in which fluoride is represented within the water supply in the United States. These government agencies are the Federal Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. The government requirem ents for fluoridation of water and acceptable levels stipulate that the maximum level of fluoride that can be found in public water should not exceed 4 ppm (parts per million) (Vandana, 2014). In several studies that have been conducted nation-wide, this has been found to have been exceeded. For the most part, there is a great dearth of effective and fully scientific studies that have been conducted as a means of determining the potential drawbacks or extant benefits that water fluoridation is able to effect. This is unique and at the very least somewhat troubling; in light of the fact that the nation’s water supply has been fluoridated for well over 60 years now. As such, the following analysis will pay a special level of attention to some of the positive and potential negative effects that water fluoridation may have on the populace. Through such a level of examination and

In Nazi Occupied Eastern Europe, the Jewish Reaction to the Final Solution Varied :: Papers

In Nazi Occupied Eastern Europe, the Jewish Reaction to the Final Solution Varied The common belief of the reaction of the Jews to the final solution is that they did nothing. Many believed that they went like 'sheep to the slaughter'. However only recently has evidence come to light through documents hidden, found then translated from Russian, Polish and other languages. Also only recently survivors are coming forward and recollecting their experiences. Now it is therefore coming to light that many resisted in many different ways. The Jews resisted in various ways, one of which was passive resistance. One forms of passive resistance was survival. Survival was a form of resistance because it went against the Nazis aim, which was to exterminate the Jews. Examples of the effort of survival were seen in ghettos where food smuggling operations were carried out and also various activities, which supported the will to live and try to add some 'normality' to life. Also another example of the will to preserve life was the Jewish Self Help association, which organised street collections and soup kitchens. The reason for the will to survive is that they believed that they were going to be resettled in the East rather than sent to their death. However if the Jews knew that they were going to be executed many would have lost the will to live, but some it would of given them more determination to resist the Nazis by force, which became apparent around 1942. However the passive resistance and defiance through survival raised morale, due to the fact that they were snubbing and defying the third Reich, which was one of the strongest armies the world has ever seen. Examples of surviving were also seen in the actual death camps where tact and initiative were used to avoid the gas chambers in which Samuel Pisar who was a prisoner a Auschwitz was in the line for entering the gas chambers at which point he saw a pail of water & a brush, he then got them & started scrubbing the floor, until he got out the door he then

Transforming anglian water

Introduction It is believed that survival of an organization in contemporary era of globalization & liberalization is directly correlated to the extent to which it utilizes advanced information technology tools and practices Total Quality Management. The concept of â€Å"Learning Organization† was introduced by Chris Argyris and further researched and explained by Sange (1990). Sange defined Learning Organization as the organization â€Å"in which you cannot not learn because learning is so insinuated into the fabric of life.† He further defines Learning Organization as â€Å"a group of people continually enhancing their capacity to create what they want to create.† The purpose of this assignment is to study Anglian Water in the light of Learning Organization and: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Investigate the extent to which the organization could actually claim to be a Learning Organization. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Identify those factors that may undermine the concept of â€Å"Learning Organization† in   Anglian Water and call into question the investments made. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Explain if Anglian Water can sustain the ideals and practices of a Learning Organization. While exploring the definitions and characteristics of Learning Organizations, the case study of Anglian waters will be investigated and comparisons will be drawn. Chris Argyris differentiates between first order or single loop learning versus second order or double loop learning.   Learning is further explained as detection and correction of errors. Single loop learning detects the errors and then functions within the construct of organization’s governing variable to achieve the desired result. Double loop learning challenges the governing variable itself and aims at producing drastic cultural changes within the organization. Argyris further divides organizations into Model I and Model II. Model I represents the traditional bricks and mortar culture, a few characteristics of which are: Achieve the purpose as the actor defines it, Win, do not lose, Suppress Negative Feelings, Advocating courses of actions which discourage inquiry, Defensive relationships, low freedom of choice. Model II represents a learning organization, the characteristics of which are: Valid Information, Free and Informed choice, Internal Commitment, Sharing control, Surfacing conflicting view, Minimally defensive relationships, High freedom of choice, Increased likelihood of double loop learning. Considering the above view point, Anglian water clearly falls in the Model II category of double loop learning. In the 1990’s it diversified into new markets, conducted employee satisfaction surveys and acted on the results of it. The Management clearly had a vision to introduce and sustain drastic cultural changes and move towards becoming a learning organization. This was achieved to a great extent through employee empowerment & implementation of ‘transformation journey’ which enabled incumbents at all levels to develop attitudinal and behavioral change to be able to cope up with turbulent and uncertain environment. Argyris further introduces us to the concept of triple loop learning (Learning how to learn) which is in continuation to single loop (What to do); Double Loop (Learning what to do). Triple Loop Learning questions the structures and strategies of learning; and how our mental map affects the way we behave. It is considered as the highest level of organizational learning and restructuring. Triple loop learning leads to restructuring of current systems and processes. Dialogues are initiated with in the organization in the form of â€Å"collective mindfulness† to understand the basis of existence of hierarchies; policies, procedures etc and RESTRUCTURING within the organization takes place. A Learning Infrastructure is created where existing structure is studied, dialogue is initiated and new and more effective structures are proposed. Focus then is on developing competencies and skills of individuals – teams – organization and hence emerges a Learning Organization. Anglian Water as an organization seems to have all the characteristics that the Triple Loop learning mentions as that of a Learning Organization. At Anglian water, face to face communication is given utmost importance amongst employees; university of Water was established to integrate , support and accredit all forms of learning; develop skills and competencies that was required to move Anglian water to the 21st century and place it as a global player. Peter Senge (1990) remarks â€Å"The rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage†. He differentiates between adaptive and generative learning. Adaptive Learning is the initiation of a company into the community of Learning Organization. Generative learning utilizes the power of creativity and innovation to reconstruct those systems and processes that govern consequences. Senge, in his much acclaimed book The fifth discipline explains the five disciplines which according to him are cucial in building a learning organization. The first discipline Personal Mastery concentrates on learning of each and every individual in the organization resulting in Learning organization as a whole. Individual goals and tools to measure the proximity to these goals are developed. Significant evidence of Personal Mastery can be found at Anglian water through the introduction of the concept of travelers whose four guiding principles were a willingness to get to know myself, a desire to develop myself, a desire to develop my full potential with and through others, an ability to link my personal development to the development of Anglian water. The second discipline of Mental Model is the framework of cognitive processes of our mind which determines our thought and action process. Argyris concept of theories of action is similar to the Mental Model concept and govern actual behavior. Espoused theory is what we would like others to believe as our actual action theory. Anglian Water does not seem to have incorporate the Mental Model theory in its learning curve. The third principle of systems thinking or the ability to see interrelationships / circular causations (where a variable is both the cause and effect of another)is prevalent in the practice of Transformation Journey , Total Quality Management , Change Agent Networks. The Fourth principal of shared vision (build on individual vision of it’s members) is not well supported at Anglian Water. While the vision and value statements were rolled out in the 1990s it is unclear if these were created through the interaction between leaders and employees of the organization. It seems more likely that the vision and values were communicated from top to bottom. The fifth discipline of team learning or â€Å"genuine thinking together† was highly encouraged by the leadership at Anglian water and is corroborated with the team and group formations through the methodology of Transformational Journey. Victoria Marsick states that learning organizations involve deep change in the mind sets of people as well as the culture of the organization and socities. Gephart , Marsic & Van Buren 1997 emphasize on Continuous Learning at the system level which at Anglian Water was initiated in the form of Transformational Journey and University of Water. Knowledge generation and sharing was made possible through the introduction of University of Water which aimed at acknowledging, integrating, supporting and accrediting all forms of learning in the company. The concept was further given a boost with the establishment of an intranet for information exchange and communication. Systematic Thinking capacity which enables employees to identify linkages and feedback loops. The presence of the concept of systematic thinking can be illustrated by the feedback statements of employees on the Journey being a good learning experience OR the findings of the employee satisfaction survey that clearly demanded a cultural change in Anglian Water. Greater Participation and accountability by a larger percentage of employees is promoted by Anglian Waters through various methods such as ‘employee satisfaction survey’ , ‘employee empowerment’ , ‘transformational journey’ that saw the participation of more than 3000 employees, new ‘HR Performance Management Policies’. Culture and structure of rapid communication and learning was introduced with the advent of the 2 year long traveler role and Aqua University. Rapid communication was facilitated through the installment of Intranet. Pedler, another major pioneer, in his work ‘Blue prints of a learning company’ characterizes such organizes through the usage of five themes. ‘Strategy’ is explained through: i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learning approach to strategy was seen in the efforts to promote team working and cooperation through transformational journey which would have a direct bearing on the operational effectiveness and business performance. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Participative Policy making is missing in Anglian Water’s organizational learning. ‘Looking in’ encompasses: i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Informating or use of information technology to inform and empower employees by giving them access to information was being practiced at Anglein Water through installation of Hawk – their intranet system. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Internal Exchange was facilitated through the introduction of Total Quality Management i.e. Each department treated the other as Internal Customer iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Formative Accounting and control and iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reward flexibility are missing from the grounds of Anglian Water. ‘Enabling structures’ are flexible organizations which revisit & reformat structures, goals, objectives to align with the interest of employees, shareholders and suppliers. Post privatization, Anglian Water reorganized it’s business, restructured to a flatter organization, encouraged cross functional and individual participation to facilitate positive change. Transformational Journey empowered employees to arrange for their own support and skill development. ‘Looking out’ encompasses i. ‘Boundary workers as environmental scanners’, which refers to the collection of information from the external stakeholders of an organisation in order to establish their needs is evident through the introduction of TQM a key element of which is to be: ‘sensitive to customer requirements and to respond rapidly to them†¦to achieve customer satisfaction†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Stark, 1998) ii.‘Inter-company learning’ which entails joining with customers and suppliers in training experiences, research and development and job exchanges is conspicuous by its absence in Anglian Water. Learning Opportunities talks of i.    Learning Climate encourages employees to seek continuous improvement, learn from their experiences and make time to question practices and try out new ones. Establishment of university of water by Anglian Water for the sole purpose of learning and development of employees attests the presence of Learning Climate in the company. ii. Self Development opportunities for all was encouraged at Anglian Water through the introduction of Transformational journey which was a holistic strategy designed to prepare and equip employees for the technical and emotional challenges of operating in a turbulent and uncertain environment. To Summarize, whether Anglian Water can claim to be a learning organization, I would like to include a few ideas organized by Art Kleiner states as Why Bother? i.   Because we want superior performance and competitive advantage ii.    For customer relations iii. To avoid decline iv.    To improve quality v.    To understand risks and diversity more deeply vi.    For innovation vii.   For our personal and spiritual well being viii.    To increase our ability to manage change ix.       For energized committed work force x.   To expand boundaries Above mentioned ten points are positive results of a successful learning organization. Anglian Water when viewed in the light of the above mentioned results comes out as a winner in the field of learning organizations  The next step is to identify factors that may undermine the concept of Learning Organization in Anglian Water. Senge states that the role of a leader is to build a shared vision. Though the vision and value statement that were released at Anglien Water were designed to inculcate new attitudes and behaviors, no evidence of participation of employees in shared vision building exercise is found. Shell (1997) also talks of Creative tension as a characteristic of Learning Organization. This enables innovation and visioning the future and further working towards a commonly agreed goal. However, this capacity to vision the future seems to be lacking in the employees of Anglian Water. This was more than evident when in 1990 Ofwat recommended a price reduction of at least 17.5%. and this decision hit the company hard. It suffered tremendous losses and had to initiate a major cost reduction strategy. If the government decision had been predicted by the visionaries of the company, they would have had time to prepare ground for the turbulence that they faced as a result of this Change. Davenport and Prusak (1998) are concerned with the magnitude of importance that has been given to Information technology centric Knowldege Management in Learning Organizations. They state that it is more important to build a culture conducive to knowledge and learning rather that emphasizing on information storage, retrieval and transfer. Clarke and Cooper state that in their goal to be a learning organization, Anglian Water rolled out a complete Knowledge Management Policy. However, their Intranet, despite of being called HAWK – Harnessing Anglian Water’s Knowledge appears to play only a secondary role. One of the major characteristics of Learning Organization is Experiential Learning. Polanyi (1967) characterizes experiential learning as tacit or not highly conscious. Lave and Wenger term the process as ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ which further dilutes   lessons learnt. Employees undergoing experiential learning might not be capable of fully understanding the reasons for success or failure. Thought Processes that are different from that of the value systems of a learning organization might be considered null and void. Marsick points out that when an organization is undergoing change and simultaneously assessing feedbacks, a confused and chaotic situation is bound to emerge. Multiple feedbacks emerge resulting in reception to various signals at the same time. Envisioning the environmental factors that would affect the well being of the company in future and predicting the types of challenges that the company should be ready for becomes very difficult. A tiny random fluctuation, often called Noise ‘can induce the path of choice’ (Capra 1996). It is hence expected of a learning organization to analyze well the various feedbacks and signals and prepare for the future challenges. It appears that the visionaries ay Anglian Water missed the point and hence future environmental challenges could not be well predicted. A few other vital characteristics of a Learning organization, mentioned by Pedler, seem to be missing at Anglian Water are â€Å"Formative Accounting and Control†, â€Å"Feedback loops being built in policy making process†. Formative Accounting and control insists on accounting , budgeting and reporting systems that are designed to help people understand the operations of organizational finance. However, It is important to add here â€Å"scholars often caution against one size fits all approach to creating the learning organization† (Marsick). Hence, it should not be a mandatory criteria for companies to absorb all characteristics defined by all scholars in the field of learning organizations. The third step is to analyze if Anglian Water can sustain the ideals and practices of a Learning Organization. If we refer to that portion of case study which is called â€Å"The future†, what immediately comes to our mind is that Anglian Water can not sustain the ideals and principles of a learning organization. When Anglian Water adopts a major cost reduction strategyin 1998 – 99; it seems to be moving away from the concept of Learning Organization. 10% of the employees (400 in number) were seen losing their jobs. While Learning Organizations are all about Investment in social, human and intellectual capital; Cost reduction strategies include downsizing, ‘low levels of risk taking, ‘short term focus’ ‘minimal levels of employee training and development,’ and ‘narrowly defined career paths’ (Schuler and Jackson, 2006:168) These practices are in stark contrast to senior managements bid to change Anglian Water’s approach to doing business to ‘entrepreneurial, innovative and outward looking’ (Jenkins, 2008:1) Cost Reduction would further mean minimizing overheads and it is assumed that the worse affected areas would be Human Resources & logistics. Under Human Resources, most of the benefits such as training programs, employee engagement activities would have been scrutinized and the logical conclusion would be to cut the costs related to them. In this scenario, existence of a corporate university might come under investigation with respect to the total costs being incurred on it. Huczynski and Buchanan (2001:135) describe LO practices as: ‘A complex difficult set of practices, difficult to implement systematically.’ This criticism is relevant toAnglian Waterin numerous ways. Firstly, with regards to the University of Water, in the long run, those employees involved may struggle with coping with learning and their ‘day job’ at Anglian Water and also the need to encourage employee attrition and encourage ‘new blood’ at Anglian Water. Secondly after the initiation of the cost-reduction strategy the practices of a Learning Organization would be even harder to implement for reasons which were discussed previously. It is imperative to mention here that a lot of scholars in the field of Learning Organizations consider downsizing as a part of the Learning and restructuring process. Labbas 1999, states that employment downsizing has been regarded as the preferred route to improving organizational performance. Success or failure of a downsized organization depends on the workforce remaining after the downsizing (Best Practices in Downsizing: 1997). The Organizational trends in late 1990’s and then at the advent of 21st century was moving towards downsizing , restructuring and outsourcing. Managers continue to use downsizing – and other forms of restructuring – to improve productivity ( Ellis, 1998 ).   Downsizing has been termed as a reorganization strategy by Mckinley, Sanchez and Schick. Few other companies which downsized in 1998 and are still going strong are Kodak, Levis and Citicorp. Freeman and Cameron mention downsizing as an intentional reduction in personnel intended to improve the efficiency of the firm. Last but not the least, the chaos theory related to learning organization deserves to be given its due importance while discussing the probability of success of Anglian Water after downsizing. This theory talks about a situation when an organizational equilibrium becomes structurally unstable at critical bifurcation points†¦.in the system’s evolution where a fork suddenly appears and the system branches off in a new direction (Capra 1996). As a result of occurrence of chaos, a new form of organization would evolve. Since it is important for an organization to always be in the learning category to be able to survive environmental changes, downsizing at Anglian water could be looked as a phase in the learning process. It can be assumed that Anglian Water emerges successful after the process of downsizing and continues in its process of learning through as innovative techniques as â€Å"Transformational Journey†; â€Å"Traveller† and â€Å"University of Water†. Bibliography Peter Sange, Fifth Discipline Chris Argyris On Organizational Learning Watkins and Marsick Sculpting the Learning Organization Beardwell, J and Claydon, T (2007) Human Resource Management A contemporary approach Fifth Edition Pearson Education Ltd Organizational Behavior Tata Mcgraw Hill Burnes, B (2004) Managing Change Pearson Education Ltd Easterby-Smith, M, Burgoyne, J and Araujo, L (2006) Organizational Learning and The Learning Organisation Sage Publications Huczynski, A and Buchanan D (2001) Organisational Behaviour (4th Edition ) FT/Prentice Hall Paton, R, Peters, G, Storey, J and Taylor, S (2005) Handbook of Corporate University Development Gower Publishing Pedlar, M., Boydell, T. and Burgoyne, J. Learning Company Project: A Report on work (see mullins p205) Mabey, C and Salaman, G (1999) Human Resource Management a Strategic Introduction Blackwell Publishers Ltd Schuler, R and Jackson, S Strategic Human Resource Management (2006) Blackwell Publishing Torrington, D and Hall, L(1995)   Human Resource Management Prentice Hall Perter Clarke & Maggie cooper, Knowledge Management & Collaboration      

The Current Constitutional Foundation For The United...

Written Assignment Federalism can be viewed as the current constitutional foundation for the United States of America. This structure of government provides our country with a fortified relationship between each individual state and the national government. Prior to the U.S Constitution, the United States government operated under the Articles of Confederation, which outlined the United States previous federal system. The system provided in the Articles failed due to limited central power and unorganized leniency in the states. This pushed Americans to implement a revised version of these articles, which first introduced a stronger federal government to the people in a document we now know as our Constitution. America was among one of the†¦show more content†¦The Tenth Amendment granted all power to the states, unless specifically delegated to the federal government by the constitution. In addition, the Supremacy Clause may be found in Article Six, Clause Two of the constitution, and states th at the federal government will be the â€Å"supreme law of the land†. This means that if the state and the national governing bodies came into conflict, the federal government would ultimately rule over the state. These two additions to our Constitution exist to limit the tension between the State and United States government, all while ensuring that powers are shared in a fair nature. Today, we see an example of the Supremacy Clause taking action when it comes to same-sex marriage rights. Prior to June 26, 2015 each state had the option to ban or recognize gay and lesbian marriages in its own government. For instance, some states, such as Texas, did not deliver marriage licenses to the LGBT community, where other states would. In June, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that all states must issue same-sex marriage licenses and lift their ban on the issue. Although each individual state was previously allowed to govern this area independently, once a Supreme Court decision was introduced, that power was over-ruled. When it was decided that gay and lesbian couples had a right to marry, the states no longer had the ability to pass laws against gay and lesbian couples. This became the new law of the land.