Banning Junk Food in Schools

Banning junk food what’s the point? It would be healthier in school than in McDonalds or the mall. They should not ban junk foods in school. My first reason is that if kept in schools it could make the school a lot more money than the healthy concession that we already have. The money could go to buying new gym/weight equipment and brand new team uniforms for the football team. It could also go to buying laptops for the grade 12 classes. My second reason is that it would keep kids in school at noon hour. If we had junk food in the schools it could keep kids in the school at noon hour which would minimize the # of fights, theft and problems in the streets. Students still may fight but would be less likely to because of all the teachers and supervision in the schools unlike the streets where there is no supervision for the students. My third topic is that we can eat what we want. If there was junk food we could ea what we want instead of just eating healthy food we could have a variety of food to choose from. It should be our choice what we do and do not eat. I say that we are old enough and mature enough to choose for our selves. â€Å"Don’t Ban Junk Food† My main topic. My three topics are makes money for the schools, It Could Keep Kids in at Noon Hour, and That We Can Eat What We Want. All this could happen if they didn’t ban junk food from schools.

Accused of witchcraft Essay

Parris : Why not? Now there are no spirits attacking her, for none in this room is accused of witchcraft. So let her turn herself cold now, let her pretend she is attacked now, let her faint. (He turns to Mary Warren.) Faint!  Act 3, Page 85  This is when the court first has the idea of getting Mary to prove the other girls are frauds by getting her to pretend to faint. She will not because she is afraid of what the girls will do to her. Or cannot, for fear of the court  This is one of the highest points of tension in the whole play because everything and everyone is focused on Mary, relying on her in one way or another to either tell the truth or to lie. But there is so much pressure on Mary that she can’t say anything. The pressure builds and builds until Mary cracks then Abigail launches a perfectly timed attack. Just when people are confused about whom to believe Abigail turns on Mary and makes them believe her.  The girls turning on Mary is a dramatically effective part in act three. This is because when the girls turn on Mary you feel sorry for her due to the fact she is torn between telling the truth to the court or joining the girls again to prevent them from accusing her.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mary Warren, do you witch her? I say to you, do you send your spirit out?† Danforth, Act 3, Page 87  When Danforth asks her this question Mary snaps and pushes herself away from Proctor.  Mary Warren, Act 3, page 88  This is when Mary’s delicate relationship with Proctor breaks down and she will no longer cover for him and put herself at risk from being accused by the rest of the girls.  Abigail : (Looking about the air, clasping her arms about her as though cold): I – I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. (Her eyes fall on Mary Warren.)  Mary : (Terrified, pleading): Abby!  Mercy : (Shivering): Your Honour, I freeze! Proctor : They’re pretending!  Hathorne : (Touching Abigail’s hand): She is cold Your Honour, touch her!  Mercy : (Through chattered teeth ): Mary, Do you send this shadow on me?  Act 3, Page 87  This is when the girls first start to turn on Mary, she is a very fragile person and when they start to turn on her she doesn’t know what to do. She was used to pointing the finger of accusation not having it pointed at her and on her own she can’t cope. So she betrays the truth and goes back to the safety of the girls and being the accuser not the accused. Mary finally breaks down and accuses Proctor of witchcraft. Fearful for her own life, Mary realizes that the only way to save herself is to accuse Proctor of coercing her into attempting to overthrow the court. In this case the accusation contains some truth: Proctor did force Mary Warren into testifying, yet in this case the purpose is to promote true justice rather than to dispute it.  Elizabeth lying to protect Proctor is a dramatically effective part in act three because there is a lot of tension when Elizabeth is brought into the court. Miller uses dramatic irony when Elizabeth doesn’t know that Proctor has confessed to lechery and that they are testing her to see if Proctor was telling the truth. Elizabeth doesn’t know that it is Abigail that is being tried and so she lies to protect her husband but in fact by lying she is in the eyes of the court proving that her husband is a liar. Miller uses the frustration of Proctor as his wife is lying but there is no way he can tell her that by trying to protect him she is actually getting him into more trouble â€Å"Look at me, to your own knowledge, has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery! (In a crisis of indecision she cannot speak.) Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher!†Ã‚  Danforth, Act 3, page 91  You can see by this, that Danforth doesn’t give Elizabeth much choice and practically puts the words into her mouth. By saying is your husband a lecher he leaves her no choice but to say â€Å"no†. What kind of woman would call her husband a lecher in front of a court? â€Å"(There is a knock. He calls to the door.) Hold! (To Abigail.) Turn your back. Turn your back. (To Proctor.) Do likewise. (Both turn their backs- Abigail with indignant slowness) Now let neither of you turn to face goody proctor. No one in this room is to speak one word, or raise a gesture aye or nay. (He turns towards the door, calls.) Enter!  Danforth, Act 3, Page 90  The Audience feel frustrated because all that Elizabeth has to do is tell the truth and Abigail’s ruthless revenge will be stopped and the truth will be brought to light but there is no way Elizabeth could know this so she does what she thinks is the right thing and tries to protect her husband. In this scene Miller uses dramatic irony very effectively. Danforth makes the trial look fair but in fact gives Elizabeth no choice  but to lie.  Danforth : â€Å"Answer my question! Is your husband a lecher!  Elizabeth : (Faintly): No, sir.  Danforth : Remove her, Marshal.  Proctor : Elizabeth, tell the truth!  Danforth : She has spoken. Remove her!  Proctor : (crying out): Elizabeth, I have confessed it!  Act 3, Page 91  This point is the dramatic climax of the whole scene because it is the point where Elizabeth finally finds out what she has done, and she is distraught. Hale tries to reason with Danforth when he says, â€Å"Excellency it is a natural lie to tell† this shows that Hale is the voice of reason but for most of the time he is not listened to, like Proctor who spoken sense throughout – both are shut out in their ways. To save her husband from accusations of witchcraft, Elizabeth must condemn him for lechery. Miller establishes that Elizabeth is an honest woman who never lies, yet at the moment in which her honesty is most critical she chooses the noble yet practical lie that she believes will defend her husband. As Hale notes, it is a natural lie for Elizabeth Proctor to tell, yet an incredibly ill timed one; Elizabeth Proctor chooses dishonesty at the precise moment that her integrity matters the most. Act 3 of ‘The Crucible’ is so effective because Arthur Miller uses a wide variety of emotions for his characters and a good variety of action. One minute the scene can be rather quiet with just simple conversation and the next minute it can be very chaotic with characters hurling accusations and abuse at each other. The reason this play is so effective is because Miller uses moments of calm as well as moments of extreme action, if it was just action, action, action all the time the audience would become immune to it and the really important parts wouldn’t stick in your mind as much. Act 3 is relevant to the play as a whole because it is the Act where a lot of important things happen and it is the most dramatic, with a lot of tension and anger between different characters. It is what the first two acts have been building up to and you could say it is the climax of the whole play.  When Arthur Miller wrote the play, â€Å"The Crucible† in 1953 the contemporary audience could relate to the play due to the media coverage that was occurring at the time. This era was concerned with the political movement of communism; the McCarthy trials. The contemporary audience saw Miller’s play as relevant because of the effects of mass hysteria- the destruction of the community in Salem. Miller felt that the play had relevance although he didn’t write it for that.  The reason why the crucible is still so widely liked even though the witch trials are long gone is because it demonstrates the terrible effects of mass hysteria and what it can do to normally rational people.  The story reminds its readers of an ugly blemish on human history. It reminds us that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. However, even with these mistakes, we can cleanse ourselves and purify ourselves by making right what is wrong.

International relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

International relations - Essay Example For instance, according to the BBC, Aljazeera, CNN, New Yorks Times, the NBC, and CBS footages, women who have been voiceless gained voice and their voices are until to-date have formed one of the revolution that is sweeping the Middle East. All these revolutions are well covered by both the United States based media groups and the non United States media groups or institutions (New York Times 01). Different media institutions have managed to cover the real actions of all revolutions as well as detailing what might have led to such revolutions (CNN and Times 01). Additionally, many media institutions often take an extra mile to cover and report the aftermath of such revolutions. For instance, the BBC, New York Times, CNN, Aljazeera, and Time Special among others covered what unfolded in Libya that led to the death of once renown dictator; Col. Gaddafi. From the coverage it is apparent that the people of Libya had become tired of the mode of his leadership. Additionally, the BBC brought the notion that all these revolutions were the United States among other super powers ideas. Nonetheless, after the defeat of the Gaddafi, different media coverages including BBC, New York Times, CNN, and Aljazeera revealed that Libyan people were happy since they celebrated everywhere across the streets among other places (Mass anti-Morsi†¦ 01). However, from the some media coverages on the same issues or revolutions had different intentions over their coverages in that they wanted to depict the extra force or inhumane nature that foreign forces used in Middle East whenever they were involved in such revolutions (BBC World News). For instance, the fight on terror has attracted attention of many people across the world especially from the views some media coverage instill in people. The BBC, CNN, and Aljazeera portrayed the Bush administrator as one that did not care about the

English Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English - Research Paper Example that there is a way to be good again, there is a way to redeem himself of his past misdeeds, and there is a way to atone for his past sins (Housseini, 2005; Hayes, 2003). Amir grows up in a country full of prejudice, injustice, wars and conflicts, and without a mother. He is therefore eager to please his father, make him proud of him, and show him that he has what it takes to be a competent member of society one day. But Amir is portrayed as a child who lacks some qualities like courage, conviction, daring. He is quite fearful, perhaps even gentle and timid, preferring not to get into trouble, to stay out of harms way. When he is approached, teased or attacked, and his best friend Hassan, the son of his fathers longtime servant and good friend, jumps in to save him and suffer the consequences- Amir is ashamed of himself, of his inability to step in and help the fight, help his friend Hassan. Hassan steps in to save Amir each time, and Amir cowers and doesnt participate in these fights. This is seen at its worst when Hassan runs all over town to bring Amir a kite and is caught by some taunting kids he and Amir know. One of them decides to punish him a nd brutally rapes him, as Amir is standing at the background, listening and doing nothing. As Hassan leaves the street later, his eyes encounter Amirs, as he leaves behind a trail of blood. His eyes are filled with disappointment, sadness, but he does not say anything or blame Amir (Stagnetto, 2008). Amir is therefore so full of guilt, remorse, shame that he cannot bear being around Hassan anymore. Hassan has always stood up to him, and has now paid the ultimate price for this. After the terrible incident, Hassan is not the same child again. He refrains from being in contact with others, just does his chores and returns to sleep in his bed, and becomes an unhappy, detached child. Amir is so guilt ridden that he plans for Hassan to be accused of theft, and as a result Ali and Hassan leave the house. Hassan knows once

Interesting topic would get your readers to know what your main point Essay

Interesting topic would get your readers to know what your main point - Essay Example In The Geography of Bliss, Weiner travels from east to west including India, Thailand, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, and Moldova among other countries to investigate their idea of happiness. Among the countries he visits, the Swiss have an interesting view of happiness. Democracy, moderation, and the absence of envy are the factors that drive happiness in this country. While investigating happiness according to the Swiss, Weiner’s expresses his impression of the place concerning their behavioral habits and lifestyle. The author personally relates his experiences and investigations in the narrative. In chapter two of the book, Weiner looks at the Swiss source of happiness. While on safari with his girlfriend, he comes across a Swiss couple and their perfectionist tendencies. The writer takes his time to go to Geneva and learn a little more about the Swiss. The first thing that strikes him is how clean the streets are and how sober and controlled the Swiss are. Accordingly, he questions their lifestyle, habits, and general behavior, as well as wonders what makes the Swiss tick. Secondly, Weiner asks why the Swiss are so humorless and serious all the time. Further, the author questions how they could be so disciplined and focused. Additionally, Weiner wonders if a link could exist between the Swiss lifestyle and habits, and the high suicidal rates. Moreover, he tries to understand why the Swiss do not find it appropriate to talk about money. Given these revelations, he inquires where the Swiss get their happiness. Consequently, Weiner alludes that they could probably get happines s from not generating envy in others. Notably, there is little or no privacy in Switzerland, and everyone knows their neighbor’s business. Hence, it is hard to understand how they find privacy because such a lifestyle is hard to handle. The Swiss have one activity that helps them unwind. Skiing is a sporting activity that they love. According to Weiner, they usually take time off

The Concept of Open Kitchen Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Concept of Open Kitchen Design - Essay Example Among the range of advancements however, of particular interest is the concept of Open Kitchen Design. This concept has been attractive to many restaurateurs for not only its entertaining factor, but also because customers can be able to see exactly how food is being prepared and as such they are more likely to prefer it as opposed to situations where they cannot tell what is being put into their plate. This increases the level of hygiene that is involved and lowers the chances of occurrence of food poisoning. So what exactly are the views of customers on the Open Kitchen design? This paper analyzes the work of Alonso and O’neill, Exploring Consumers’ Images of Open Restaurant Kitchen Design, where a research has been conducted on this area so as to find out what the customers really want and as such give them exactly that in this era where customer satisfaction is the recipe to the success of every business. The Background Research has revealed that consumers in the Un ited States have a preference for food prepared outside the home setting, (Alonso et al, 2). On average, a consumer will take five meals in a week in a restaurant as opposed to home. On the same note, it has been noted that consumers obviously attach a lot of importance to the hygiene and safety of the food they eat though this is something that most restaurants ignore. Further, hygiene and cleanliness of food is closely related to the design of the kitchen that a restaurant decides to have thus the design of a kitchen can play a big role in ensuring food safety, reduced number of accidents as well as efficiency in operations. This idea in itself will attract customers as it gives them the satisfaction that they are having a meal that is properly prepared by merely looking at the physical setting of the kitchen. An attractive kitchen design will also encourage employees to carry out their duties with utmost care in providing high quality food. Reports indicate that more and more res taurants are embracing the open kitchen design and it has been responsible for booming business for small enterprises despite meager materials through research, (Alonso et al, 4). Thus the work of Alonso and O’neill aims at bringing more light on the subject. Methodology Used Consumer data was obtained through questionnaires distributed within duration of four months at a university in the United States from individuals attending a baseball sport during the season. The reasons for choosing a university for the collection of this data was the convenience of collecting data from a large number of individuals composed of different groups in terms of gender and age and then making comparisons. The success of the research was also facilitated by the fact that the researchers also belonged to the university in question and therefore it was easy for the respondents to identify themselves with them. The content and design of the questionnaire was prepared according to the little avai lable data from research previously conducted on the image of consumers on the idea of Open Kitchen Design. The research also took into consideration the demographic factors of the respondents, experience and frequency of consumers, type of restaurant visited, factors affecting consumers’ tastes and preferences and to what extent the design of the restaurant affected their choices. Instructions on how to go about the research questions were also provided. The potential respondents were

Marketing research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing research - Assignment Example ... This corporate combination has become popular because it enhances competition, limiting of trade barriers and free flow of resources across countries. Acquisition or takeover even enhances the globalization of business also. Takeover or acquisition is a strategic decision taken by the think tanks of the company, for optimizing the growth of the company, enhancing its production and marketing operations. When the acquisition is forced or unwilling in the sense of the term, then it is called take over. Acquisition: Acquisition means taking control of the target firm by another firm. This corporate action is now a part of company strategy. The control is accessed by buying the most of ownership stakes of the targeted company. Acquisition is also called takeover, which is a â€Å"process through which one company takes over the controlling interest of another company. Acquisition includes obtaining supplies or services by contract or purchase order with appropriated or non-appropriated funds, for the use of federal agencies through purchase or lease† (Venture Capital Glossary: Definition of Acquisition 2001). Friendly Acquisition: In some cases, the board of directors approves a buyout offer from an acquiring firm. The stakeholders of the company may vote,  to pass the decision  as well.  The most important matter is whether the buyout will happen at the price offered per share. The acquiring company (The company which offers the buyout) will recommend a premium to the existing market price, but  the amount of this  premium  will be settled on the overall support for the buyout, from the shareholders within the target  company. In friendly acquisition, the managers of both companies hold a meeting in order to take decisions. â€Å"The acquisition of

See order instructions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

See order instructions - Assignment Example Krishna then tells Arjuna that it is his right to fight. He uses the following arguments; Arjuna is a Kshatriya, and so it is his dharma to fight if he disobeys he will suffer bad karma. The other argument is that the soldiers he will kill will not die, and only their bodies will die. Finally, if he refuses to fight the soldiers will die in some other way (Hindu worldviews, p.12). According to the author, the Gita justifies war based on the arguments of Krishna. Also in the Gita there are certain rules about war that are similar to the Western just war principles but justified differently. Most of the Hindu rulers have used war and most of the citizens have supported it. However, from the author most Hindus believe Ahimsa is against both animal sacrifice and war. The best-known anti-war Hindus were Vinoba Bhave and Mohandas K. Gandhi. The author also demonstrates that ‘just war’ which is the use of war to finish a war or injustice as advocated Arjuna by Krishna, shows that the end justifies the means. Gandhi reversed the order and claimed that the means justify the end. Gandhi interpreted the Gita as a spiritual message dealing with the inner human struggle and not external war (Hindu worldviews, p.14). According to the author, Gandhi had an idea that after the end of a war there will be many deaths, and the situation will be worse than it was. He also saw that Arjuna had selfish favoritism since he was not opposed to war he was just opposed to killing his relatives. Therefore, if war were acceptable, he could also kill his relatives. On the other hand, Vinoba noted that Gita teaches about the worship of God and service to others especially that in need and not killing them. The author shows that most Hindus see violence and warfare as a regular part of life, especially the Kshatriyas. The work of police officers in the criminal justice system is to ensure that

Ford vs Toyota Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ford vs Toyota - Essay Example rds protecting the environment Ford has often been categorized as one of the leaders in terms of innovating fuel efficient vehicles in the current automotive market Ford has expanded its business activities to several developing countries including the European, Asia Pacific, Middle-Eastern, African and American regions Weaknesses Ford has been noticed to significantly depend upon the automobile sector restricting itself from expanding to other segments. In this regard, it can be stated that Fords is likely to lack in diversification strategy The company has also been criticized on the basis of its efficiency in establishing sustainable markets for high end cars The company can be witnessed to face the limitation of continuously declining market share in its global market, especially in the Asia Pacific region owing to the increase in competition level Ford can be witnessed to consider defensive competitive strategies in most instances to cope up with the competition in the internati onal arena Financial stability of Ford is significantly impacted by the economic fluctuations of that particular region Opportunities Ford has introduced hybrid cars which runs on electrical energy and is forecasted to have great opportunity in the near future The demand for fuel efficient vehicles of Ford has been notably increasing opening up significant opportunities for its future growth The increasing sales revenue evidently depicts that Ford has been well accepted in the global market by its customers The automobile sector has been noticed to demonstrate a growing trend in the small and medium markets Introduction of fuel efficient cars, such as ‘Focus ECOnetic’ of Ford in the European market, are likely to have significant opportunities for the growth of the company in its future Threats The sales volume of cars has been noticed to decline to a certain extent in various places such as US, Canada and UK among others imposing a market risk to Ford The company has b een facing significant competition from the Japanese automotive companies operating within the Western regions The company faces difficulties as a result of the strict emission norms in certain nation such as US and Europe causing an obstruction on its marketing operations Ford has been facing a problem in capturing the Asian markets owing to the presence of automobile giants such as Toyota which in turn hampered the growth of the company in terms of its market share Economic fluctuations tend to impose a major threat to Ford’s financial stance in that particular region (Ford Motor Company, 2012; Richter, A. & Pahl, 2009) Toyota Motor Corporation Strengths Toyota is among the leading manufacturers of automobiles in terms of production capacity as well as sales volume Toyota is recognized as a company which is dedicated towards producing environmentally safe vehicles and technologies, since its inception Toyota is the manufacturer of world’s most excellent selling hybri d car, Prius which evidently rewarded the company a leading position in the inter

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Essay Oliver Twist is a novel written by Charles Dickens. The novel follows an orphan boy named Oliver through many trials and tribulations he must endure. Through this he does have a few kind, compassionate, and stable people to rely on. Two of the most important were Nancy and Rose Maylie. Within this essay I will give a detailed description of both Rose and Nancy and also compare and contrast the two. First I would like to introduce you to Nancy. Nancy is the only female character of Fagin’s group. Being a part of this group Nancy must steal from the rich in order to make money for basic necessities and keep her relationships with the crew. This lifestyle puts he in the criminal social class or otherwise know as the lowest of the low social class. Nancy, much like Oliver, was also an orphan growing up. She acquires no formal education; therefore she can neither read nor write. Even though Nancy was not blessed with the luxury of the basic upbringing, she maintains very impressive street smarts. She displays this when bringing stolen goods to Fagin that are bundled like a baby so it is not witnessed as suspicious. Nancy may have been a criminal but she had a great heart. She had a great relationship with all of Fagin’s boys and cared for all of them. She also cared greatly for her boyfriend Bill Sikes who, in my opinion, did not return this love. Bill was very abusive towards Nancy and seemed to threaten her on a regular basis. When confronted with the question, â€Å"Do you love me Bill?† by Nancy, he did not directly answer and proceeded to ignore the question. In the end it was also Bill who ended up murdering Nancy. Apparently, Bill Sikes thought Nancy telling Mr. Brownlow and Rose where to find Oliver was punishable by death. By following through with the action of â€Å"peaching†, Nancy shows how much she truly cares about Oliver. Another major character in Oliver’s life was Rose Maylie. Rose Maylie was a ward of Mr. Brownlow, therefore also making her an orphan. Mr. Brownlow was an Upper Middle Class man, which made Rose and Upper Middle Class â€Å"Victorian woman.† She, like many others from her social class, was well educated. She even was very talented at playing the piano. Mr. Brownlow’s grandson, Edward, wanted to marry Rose. Rose, seeing that Edward’s thinking was wrong, expressed to him how against the idea she was; something very uncommon for that day in age. Oliver was brought into the home by Mr. Brownlow after Oliver was wrongfully accused of pick pocketing him. While Oliver is changing into clean, more appropriate clothing, Rose notices scars on Oliver’s back due to beatings. From then on Rose feel obligated to protect poor Oliver. She becomes somewhat of a sister figure to him. Throughout the novel Rose protects and defends Oliver. As you can see Nancy and Rose are different in many ways. However, both women do have a few things in common. Rose and Nancy both had very different social classes.

British Petroleum (BP) Strategic Change Management

British Petroleum (BP) Strategic Change Management BP is most widely associated with its fuel stations and forecourt retail operations; it also has a wide range of activities. The exploration of oils, gas, extraction, transportation, and the processing and selling of fuels. Bp has developed a low carbon energy strategy such as wind farms and solar power. BP operates the Wild Bean Cafà © brand in the UK, Europe, South Africa and Australia. The convenience store brand is also in the US. However, Wild Bean Cafà ©s are focused on quality food and coffee, having a strategy of differentiation from competitors offering poorer quality Refreshments. 1.1.1. Companys Mission The company aims to be competitive on the low pricing of its fuels, and this is evident on garage forecourts where drops in oil prices have been passed on to their consumers more rapidly than some of its competitors. In all BPs activities they seek to display some unchanging fundamental qualities, integrity, honesty, honest dealing treating everyone with respect and dignity, striving for mutual advantage and contributing to human progress. The group aims To have the best competitive corporate, operating and financial performance. To improve and to be accessible, inclusive and diverse. To engage the creative talents of their employees, and develop and apply leading Cost- effective technology and intellectual creative to enhance innovation and new ideas. To carry on its business in an environmentally responsible manner, and develop cleaner energy and renewable energy sources. The group is committed to the responsible treatment of the planets resources and to the development of sources of lower- carbon energy. BP expresses that their group value fewer than four headings Performance People and capability Health, safety and environment External relationships GROUP VALUE PERFORMANCE Compliance with the law and ethics > to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in each jurisdiction in which the group operates. All BP employees will be required to comply with the code of conduct, which prohibits illegal, corrupt or unethical practices and high standards of decency. Continuous improvement > improve continuously in pursuit of the group values by setting targets and through encouragement of our employees. Internal targets > to establish realistic and reasonable targets in the group plan. Any Progress against targets will be reported internally and analysed transparently and in a timely manner so that progress and variations can be understood voluntarily. PEOPLE AND CAPABILITY Human capability and technology > to nurture human capability and ensure that the right technology, skills, behaviours and intellectual property are available for the pursuit of the broad goals. 1.1.2. Challenges BP is currently underperforming due to TNK BP in Russia is currently experiencing power struggles between British executives running it and Russian billionaire shareholders Its safety record has been questioned The company has experienced an explosion at the Buncefield in 2005 which killed 15workers and the spill in the United States of America which caused pollution. The company has also lost consumer confidence. Financial problems Bp also has been responsible for the spill in the Gulf of Mexico (Online). TASK 1 Understand issues relating to strategic change in an organisation The importance of strategic change management in any organisation cannot be overemphasised. Change management has increasingly become a necessary business concept among business firms especially in the wake of the recent dynamic global business environment. Strategy is the direction and the scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations. Strategic change management is a systematic approach to dealing with change, both from the perspective of an organisation and on the individual level including adapting to change, controlling change, and effective change. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE GURUS Julia Bologun (2001) describes strategic change as Arising from management trends such as culture change, business process swings, empowerment and total quality. Other change initiatives are driven by the need for organisations to reposition themselves in the wake of changing competitive business conditions. Strategic change is context specific in any organisation and the way it is managed has no simple formula or universally agreed framework that will work in all cases (Bologun, 2001). Organisations have different challenges and issues that affect them and when the change process is deemed necessary to undertake, the roadmap is always different per case study. Different theorists have made attempts by giving and emphasised that strategy must be context sensitive. The culture web framework is introduced as a means of addressing the softer issues, which is a critical first step, as barriers to change must be identified. The strategy kaleidoscope will help managers to understand the change context and plan for transition. According to Gray Hampel his refered strategies as Strategic decay the notion that the value of all strategies, no matter how brilliant decays overtime. (Gray Hampel 2000) Abell.D also came up with his own understanding of strategy as Strategic windows and stressed the importance of the timing both entrance and exit of any given strategy (Abell .D 1978). Henry Mintzberg looked at the changing world around him and concluded that there are five types of strategies (Henry Mintzberg 1988) Strategy as plan Strategy as ploy Strategy as pattern Strategy as position Strategy as perspective The entire three theorists were talking about the equivalent things to which I do agree with. For an organisation such as BP to prevail in this ever changing market their strategies have to change and not stick to the same strategy for too long because it wont be as effective as it was, timing is of importance to an organisation, where and planning, of the strategy is vital. AC2.1 Examine the need for strategic change in BP All organisations are currently undergoing some type of change. Many of the organisation change programmes arising from management fads such as customs change, business process engineering, empowerment and total quality, branding, reputation. For instance BP had the need to change because of its Experience of controversies regarding business practices, environmental damage, and hazards to workers. Other large energy companies have come under fire for releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. For some time, BP is trying to turn a new leaf in its history book toward a more environmentally-friendly future through investments in renewable energy and a support of ethics and compliance initiatives. British Petroleum changed its name to BP and then tried to rebrand itself as Beyond Petroleum. As an organisation its important to change with time and surroundings. There is need for change because of the external and internal developments and internal factors. These factors bring attention to the organisation to formulate and implement strategies to survive in the competitive market. There is need for strategic change because it  is also necessary in order to gain competitive advantage  enables the organisation to be focused  also enables adaptability BP has been able to enjoy a large market share and gain competitive advantage over its competitors because of accepting to change with its surroundings and by learning what its customers need and want from them as a company. Change has also enabled Bp to adapt in any environment; For example the company has gone green to protect the environment and have become the big campaigners for going green and change has also enabled the organisation to be focused on what is important to their stakeholders. AC2.2 Assess the factors that are driving the driving the need for strategic change According to Johnson, Scholes, Whittington (2006) the major influence of change in organisations is categorised as six factors namely Political, Economic, Social, Technology, Environment, and Legal otherwise known as the PESTEL framework P- POLITICAL: Government stability, Taxation policy, foreign trade regulations and the social welfare policies. E-ECONOMIC: Business cycles, GNP trends, interest rates, Money supply, inflation, unemployment, and disposable income. S-SOCIO-CULTURAL: Analyzing the population demographics, income mobility, life style changes, Attitudes to work and leisure, Consumerism, levels of education. T-TECHNOLOGY: Has unleashed a process that has been called perennial gale of creative destruction.Technological change can make established products obsolete overnight and simultaneously create host new product possibilities. Thus technological change is both creative and destructive both an opportunity and a threat. E-ENVIRONMENT: specifically stands for green issues, such as pollution and waste. L-LEGAL: embraces legislative constraints or changes, such as health and safety legislation or restrictions on company mergers and acquisitions. INTERNAL The employment of a new leader. Benchmarking exercise against external organisation Senior management dissatisfaction with the status equo Employee -Management conflict. Bp has been affected by the political and the environmental aspect. It had a spill in the USA which had an intervention of the politicians. The organisation had to respond to the demands and controversy from the media, consumer and politicians of the state by changing alot of its strategies in place. BP agreed to the demands of the politicians (foreign trade regulations and social welfare policies) to compensate the residents affected by the spillage. All these problems needed Bp to change its strategies. The world is advancing in technology and for it to compete in the ever changing business world, Bp has to be ready to change and adapt to those changes. The organisation has come up with programs that can help its staff to have knowledge of the new and advancing technology; For instance they needed to improve on the machinery that they use to drill. Bp has advanced in technology by using sophisticated technologies and tried- and true techniques to be able to find oil and gas. The company also incurred a loss when they lost alot of oil in the spillage which affected their financial situation. The spillage affected their market share by its price dropping in the global market; the other factor which affected Bp was the environmental factor. The spillage polluted the water and hence affecting the residents livelihood and it also affected the wildlife. BP had to come up with a strategy to stop the spillage which resulted to large sums of money being spent. Bp has changed and responded to change by striving to secure and make sure that it isnt affecting the environment since they are big campaigners of climate change and going green. In the case of BP, management was dissatisfied with the way Tony Hayward Group Chief Executive handled the Mexico oil spillage. Tony Hayward resigned and this called for replacement of new management. A.C2.3 Assess the resource implications of the organisation not responding to change There are severe resource implications to an organisation such as BP for not responding to strategic change. The response should be implemented at the right time and BPs call to sort out the spillage needed a response at the time; had they not responded and acted as efficient as possible their reputation would have been damaged further. If BP as an organisation does not respond to change, this will affect its entire resources adversely. Human resources normally includes the Restructuring Redundancies Interviewing Hiring Training Layoffs Physical resources mainly affect the non-current assets of an organisation such as Equipment Vehicles buildings reputation Financial resources have an impact and it may also have a huge one on the Costs of training Redundancy costs Relocation costs New building Refurbishments of existing buildings For BP to manage the changes effectively, Human Resource has to implement strategies that would enhance change: Training is a vital aspect of human resource and ensuring that its members of staff and employees are well trained. The organisation bought together a project team to develop Andrew oilfield, located in the North Sea. Since discovery about 20 years earlier, attempts had been made to develop the field, but each conceptual plan floundered and Andrew had gained a reputation as being too difficult to achieve economic sanction. Bp brought in consultants who coached Bp engineers and contractors in ways of working together and think out of the box to solve Andrews technical and economic problems Interviewing is paramount for the succession of Bps organisational aims and objectives. Bp has to have the right employees in place so as to be able to compete with its competitors in the ever changing environment A.C 3.1 DEVELOPING SYSTEMS TO INVOVLE STAKEHOLDERS IN BP Stakeholder is a person, group, or organisation that has direct or indirect stake in an organisation because it can affect or be affected by the organisations actions, objectives and policies. Stakeholders in every organisation play a very important role in day to day running of an organisation. It is vital to develop a system that involves stakeholders in the planning of change. The systems need to be appropriate, applicable and workable in the organisation chosen. Most importantly concentration must be devoted to the most influential stakeholder. Stakeholders include Government, suppliers, competitors, owners, customers, unions and these can be internal stakeholders or external stakeholders. Its important for Bp to have knowledge of its business surroundings for them to identify market segments to fulfil customer need. The expectations of BP will certainly be an increase in profit maximisation, growth in market share, capital investment, high product quality and high quality performance. Systems to involve stakeholders A system is a structured collection of parts that are highly incorporated to accomplish an overall goal. The system has various inputs, which go through certain processes to generate certain outputs, which collectively, accomplish the overall required goal for the system. So a system usually brings in stakeholders to perform in different aspects to achieve organisational objectives. (Online) Configuration system An organisations configuration consists of the structure, processes and relationships in the course of which the organisation operates. The reason for configuring challenges is vital to organisational success. Functional structure- Once an organisation grows beyond a very basic level of size and complexity, it has to start dividing responsibilities. This system is based on the primary activities that have to be undertaken by an organisation such as production, finance and accounting, marketing, human resource and research and development. Convergence system- This is where previously separate industries begin to overlap in terms of activities, technologies, products and customers. (G. Johnson et al 2008) A.C3.2 Develop a change management strategy with stakeholders Management strategy is an arrangement to manage stakeholders according to the level of power and level of interest. It is a key concept for business to survive /grow by responding to any environmental changes. A strategy is the direction and scale of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment throughout its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of satisfying stakeholder expectations. STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS (MAPPING) Stakeholder analysis helps an organisation to define whom to try to involve when designing a process of change. It also helps to determine in which way and how to include the stakeholder in the organisation. The process allows the organisation to find out whose information needs should be considered. A KEY PLAYERS Involve them Increase effort and level of interest B KEEP INFORMED Engage and update Involve C KEEP SATISFIED Lest important Communication and update D MINIMAL EFFORT Participate Increase level of interest The stakeholder analysis has two axis and four quadrants: The x axis represents influence The y axis denotes power The quadrants are: HH high high HL high low LH and LL low high and low low High power, interested people these are the people you must fully keep and make the greatest efforts to satisfy. High power, less interested people: put enough work in with people to keep them satisfied, but not so much that they become uninterested with the message. Low power, less interested people keep these people adequately informed, and talk to them to ensure that no major issues are arising. These people can often be very helpful with the detail of your project. Low power, less interested people: again, monitor these people, but do not turn them off with undue communication For the analysis to be effective the following should be carried out: Their interests, values, and concerns What sources of stakeholder power What claims they might make on the organisation Who the most important stakeholders are from the organisations perspective Map the relationship between them Identify the resultant strategic challenges A.C3.3 Evaluate the systems used to involve stakeholders in the planning of change Six steps need to be taken into consideration so as to involve stakeholders in the planning of change: Indentify: who the stakeholders are (government, customers, investors, suppliers) Prioritise: Stakeholders will have varying degrees of power, influence and interest in planning. Its important to identify, prioritise and understand the impact they will have on the decisions made. Map their profiles: This will show their different responsibility and who will have greater influence on the stakeholders. Develop an engagement strategy: one way of engaging with the stakeholder is by using a stakeholder light traffic strategy. Using the traffic light image is a useful way to flag up what strategy is appropriate with the different relationships in place at any given time. Optimise their support to make good of the support they are giving you in the planning of change. This is by ensuring that you keep those stakeholders satisfied. Monitor changes to ensure that any changes are put across to those stakeholders. Its important to give frequent updates. BP stakeholders can be involved through meetings such as the Annual general meetings where all aspects of the company are discussed with members of the BP board and Carl- Henric Syanberg as chairman. The chairman informs other stakeholders on the different plans and issues that were discussed by board and what projects they were ready to take as an organisation as an organisation. Change in Bp happens all the time and I think that out of the four systems I have picked the stakeholder analysis because it is effective and it gets involves all stakeholders and Bp is able to operate for the best intentions of its stakeholders. A.C3.4 Create a strategy for managing resistance to change In every company there are forces involved when a company decides to adopt new strategies. There are resistive and driving forces. In this case the resistive forces are those that dont want to accept any kind of change brought about in the company and sometimes there those who are in the favour of change. Its important to put in place strategies of how to manage any resistance going on in the organisation INDIVIDUAL RESISTANCE Individually, people may resist, although this is generally limited to the extent of their personal power. For those with lower power, this may include passive refusals and covert action. For those with more power, it can include open challenge and criticism. COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE When people find a common voice in organized resistance, and then their words and actions can create a significant threat to the change, even though they are individually less powerful. An organised resistance is usually a sign of a deep divide. People will not go to the bother of organizing unless they have serious issues with the change. PASSIVE RESISTANCE Passive resistance occurs where people do not take specific actions. At meetings, they will sit quietly and may appear to agree with the change. They may agree and then do nothing to fulfil their commitments. ACTIVE RESISTANCE- Occurs where people are taking specific and deliberate action to resist the change. It may be overt, with such public statements and acts of resistance, and it may be covert, such as mobilizing others to create an underground resistance movement. 1-Participation and involvement: Is a strategy which is used when dealing with key stakeholders of the organisation. Participation and involvement is usually adopted when the key stakeholders are neither keen nor interested in company matters and every time the company tries to adopt change for the benefit of the company they resist that change. Using such a strategy can be very helpful to achieve the objectives and on the other hand it is time consuming for the company. 2-Education and communication: Is a strategy which is applied when stakeholders are not aware of benefit of the strategy. Its important to educate and communicate with the stakeholders so as to get them to understand the reason for the change. The major advantage of the strategy is that the stakeholders will cooperate productively and positively. Using this strategy can be time consuming and costly too. 3-Negotiation and compromise: The strategy of negotiation and compromise take place when there is a group division. By this strategy a company convince the both groups at working together for the benefit of company. Its also promotes unity which is very good for a company. It is cost effective. The current situation for Bp Company is not good because there is division of groups. This groups are the Russian shareholder and the British shareholder. This means that there can be experiences of groups opposing each others opinions hence bringing about resistance for change. In my opinion if BP as a Company has to sustain their rank in international market then they should work together and be united as an organization. Stakeholders should be ready compromise for the benefit of the company. TASK2 AC 1.1 Discuss models of strategic changes There are many theories about how to accomplish change. Many begin with leadership and change management guru, John Kotter. A professor at Harvard Business School and world-renowned change expert, Kotter introduced eight-step change process.(Lecture Notes) Step One: Create Urgency For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really wants it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving. This isnt simply a matter of showing people poor sales statistics or talking about increased competition. Open an honest and convincing dialogue about whats happening in the marketplace and with your competition. If many people start talking about the change you propose, the urgency can build and feed on itself. Step Two: Form a Powerful Coalition Convince people that change is necessary. This often takes strong leadership and visible support from key people within your organization. Managing change isnt enough you have to lead it. Step Three: Create a Vision for Change When you first start thinking about change, there will probably be many great ideas and solutions floating around. Link these concepts to an overall vision that people can grasp easily and remember Step Four: Communicate the Vision What you do with your vision after you create it will determine your success. Your message will probably have strong competition from other day-to-day communications within the company, so you need to communicate it frequently and powerfully, and embed it within everything that you do. Step Five: Remove Obstacles If you follow these steps and reach this point in the change process, youve been talking about your vision and building buy-in from all levels of the organization. Hopefully, your staff wants to get busy and achieve the benefits that youve been promoting. Six: Create Short-term Wins Nothing motivates more than success. Give your company a taste of victory early in the change process. Within a short time frame (this could be a month or a year, depending on the type of change), youll want to have results that your staff can see. Without this, critics and negative thinkers might hurt your progress. Step seven Build on the Change Kotter argues that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early. Real change runs deep. Quick wins are only the beginning of what needs to be done to achieve long-term change. Step Eight: Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture the market Finally, to make any change stick, it should become part of the core of your organization. Your corporate culture often determines what gets done, so the values behind your vision must show in day-to-day work. (Lecture class) Models of Strategic Change Lewins Change Management Model was developed in the 1950s by a psychologist named Kurt Lewin (Syque, 2007). According to Lewin for change to occur in an organisation he looked at three stages, which are still widely used today: unfreeze, transition, and refreeze. Unfreeze Most people tend to stay within certain comfortable zones and are usually hesitant of change. Employees tend to become comfortable in this unchanging environment and become uncomfortable when any change occurs, even if it is not a major one. To overcome this frozen state, we must initiate an unfreeze period, which is done through motivation. Motivation is important in any organisation, even when it is not changing. Transition -This period is when the change is occurring, which is a voyage and not a step. The transition period takes time because employees dislike change. This is when leadership transition period is good for the company as well as the employees. Refreeze At the end of the transitional voyage, comes the next stage refreeze. At this stage its where the company once again becomes stable. BP has encountered several problems but they have been able to change with its challenging and demanding surroundings. BP as a company has changed its strategies for it to survive in this competitive business world. As an organisation there has been need for change and it has improvised strategies, so as to adapt to this ever changing world AC1.2 Evaluate the relevance of models of strategic change to BP in the current economy All organisations are currently undergoing some type of change. Many of the organisation change programmes arising from management fads such as customs change, business process engineering, empowerment and total quality, branding, reputation. For instance BP had the need to change because of its Experience of controversies regarding business practices, environmental damage, and hazards to workers. Other large energy companies have come under fire for releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. For some time, BP is trying to turn a new leaf in its history book toward a more environmentally-friendly future through investments in renewable energy and a support of ethics and compliance initiatives. British Petroleum changed its name to BP and then tried to rebrand itself as Beyond Petroleum. The different models of strategic change are of relevance in the current economy because the group will be able to compete with other oil companies such as Shell strategically. These models assist on the sustainability of the group, the growth of the group and the market share by using the different models. AC1.3 Assess the value of using strategic intervention techniques in organisations Contingency Theory There are many forms of contingency theory. Contingency theories are a class of behavioural theory that challenge that there is no one best way of organising or leading and that an organisational or leadership style that is efficient in some situations may not be successful in others (Fiedler, 1964). In other words: The most favourable organisation or leadership style is dependent upon various internal and external constraints. There are also contingency theories that relate to decision making (Vroom and Yetton, 1973). The effectiveness of a decision process depends upon a number of aspects of the situation such as the importance of the decision quality and acceptance; the amount of appropriate information possessed by the leader and subordinate and the likelihood that subordinates will accept an autocratic decision or assist in trying to make a good decision if allowed to participate; the amount of disagreement among subordinates with respect to their preferred alternatives. Kurt Lewin and his colleagues did different leadership decision research in 1939 and acknowledged that there were three different styles of leadership, particularly about decision-making. Participative Style A leader who involves others in decision-making improves the perceptive of the issues involved by those who must carry out the decisions. Individuals are more committed to actions where they have been involved in the relevant decision-making. A leader will find that people are less competitive and more collaborative when they are working on united goals. When people make decisions jointly, the social commitment to one another is greater and that increases their commitment to the decision. Several people deciding collectively make better decisions than one person alone. Autocratic In this case the leader takes decisions without consulting with others. A leader makes a decision without any form of consultation. In Lewins research he found that he this type of style caused the most level of discontent. An autocratic style works when there is no requirement for any input on the decision, In style it means that the decision would not change as a result of input, and where the driving force of people to carry out subsequent actions would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in the decision-making. Management Intervention There are always teams in organisations that are there and the possibility of getting different results. No matter how dedicated a team is there will be tim