Is It Convincing to Propose That Matter Can Have Agency Research Paper

Is It Convincing to Propose That Matter Can Have Agency - Research Paper Example There are also scholars who argue that matter does not have agency. They say that it is individuals and societies who tend to ascribe some kind of agency to matter, but that is limited to continuums of time and space. The substance of this paper is to examine in depth the assertion in Sociology that matter has agency or a life of its own so to speak. This is understood in the context that human beings tend to attribute life-like characteristics to inanimate objects which give them conventionally accepted life and functional forms that they did not have initially. This paper delves into the extent of truth about this assertion that matter does have agency. Meaning of Matter in Social Life Human beings is essentially social beings. They do not exist on their own even if they do make individual decisions at times. In order to augment their existence, they inevitably use matter. Take the cross for example; in Christian ideology, the cross symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by the Roman authorities in order to enable the salvation of mankind from sin. However, in a much wider sense, the presence of the cross on a building has become an insignia of Christianity as a religion (Christiano, 2008, 228). Another much-explored meaning of matter in sociology is on the question of security. The passport is considered an important document of identification in international travel. Once a passport is handed over at an airport, there are coded messages in it in the form of barcodes which can be read by a computer to establish identity. Moreover, there is an attached photograph and writings which identify the holder. A lot of communication takes place between the passport and the security agent examining without any input from the passport holder. As such the passport is capable to communicate on its own just as if it were a person (Carter, Simon, 2008, 8). These examples are seen as giving the cross and passport a life of their own independent of the people immediately using them. Since they both play an important role in social life; the cross being an agent of Christian identity and belief and the passport being an agent of individual identity and right of getting through a checkpoint; they are both seen as having agency (Carter, Simon, 2008, 8). An important factor to consider in analyzing this role of matter as having agency is the issue of individuality. An individual is a constant factor of sociological analysis. Though there is raging controversy on whether an individual is the basic unit of sociological analysis or there is no such thing as an individual outside the social setting; the bottom line is that any society is made up of individuals. Certain circumstances, like moving through customs, force persons to present themselves as individuals even if they are in a family group. Individuality is, therefore, an inevitable aspect of human existence and identity (Carter, Simon, 2008, 9-10). The passport helps in identifying the human person as an individual. At an airport, even in a family group, an individual has to produce his own passport which identifies him only and not as part of the larger group. Yet the individual is shaped by society and in sociology is therefore seen as part of the larger social group. To sociologists, therefore, the individual is always seen as part and parcel of the society that shapes his character and world view.

GSM Implementation

GSM Implementation GSM Implementation in various places Transaction terminals: SMS messaging can be used by machines like the EDC, POS terminals to conform transaction from the main server. Supply Chain Management: The GSM M2M technology can be used to fulfil the needs of SCMs huge IT infrastructures with leased lines, data centre, workstations. Multiple Remote Data Collection Points: With the help of the GSM modem connected to PCs, GSM electronic terminals PCs one can send and receive data from all over the world. This help client to receive data from branch offices, business associates, warehouses, and Mobile phones. Large Transaction Volumes: GSM SMS messaging is capable of handling large number of transaction data in a very small period of time as it can receive large number of messages on your server without internet connectivity. With the help of GSM at a time the shopkeeper can handle hundreds of transaction. High Uptime: GSM mobile network have high uptime as compared to other communication networks so it helps business. It can be used in communication industries as it doesnt require any kind of wires for setting up the network so there is no fear of cutting of wires. Implementation of GSM Technology There are three main parts of the GSM Network * Mobile Station (MS):-The subscriber carries out this part. * Base Station Subsystem (BSS) :- It controls radio link with mobile station. * Network and Switching Subsystem (NSS):- This part keeps track of the call switching between two mobiles and also looks over Memory management and also between fixed network users and mobile. Network structure All of the elements when combined together produce many GSM services such as voice calls and SMS. Mobile Station Consists of: * Mobile Equipment (ME):- These consist of equipment such as hand portable and vehicle mounted unit * Subscriber Identity Module (SIM):- It is a chip size object which contains the information about the user like its identification, secret keys. The BSS In the above diagram the Base Station Subsystem (BSS) is shown containing the Base Station Controller (BSC) and the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) which are connected together on to A-bis interface. The Packet Control Unit (PCU) is also shown connected to the BTS although the exact position of this depends on the vendors architecture. The Air Interface or Um is used to connect the mobile to the BSS which is connected by the A interface to the NSS. The NSS The Network and Switching Subsystem(NSS)comprises of the MSC connected via the SS7 network to the HLR. The AUC and EIR, although function differently from the HLR are shown together as combining them is a standard in all Vendors networks. The NSS is connected by the A interface to the BSS. It is directly connected to the PSTN from the MSC. There is also a connection to the Packet Core (called the Gs) although this is optional and not always implemented. The GPRS Core Network The GPRS Core Network shown here consists of SGSN which is connected to the BSS by the Gb interface and the GGSN. These two devices are connected together to a private IP network called the GPRS backbone shown as the Gn Reference Point. http://www.pulsewan.com/data101/gsm_basics.htm http://sinarsuryakomindo.blogspot.com/2008/10/gsm-history.html http://foosms.com/gsm.htm MODULATION TECHNIQUE Modulation is the technique of embedment of a signal into the carrier frequency (wave). There may be analog (includes FM, AM) or digital modulation. In digital modulation Binary values 0 and 1 is embedded in the carrier frequency by changing its frequency, amplitude or phase. In this way digital modulation may be ASK (Amplitude shift keying), FSK (Frequency shift keying) or PSK (Phase shift keying). In GSM, GMSK (â€Å"Gaussian Minimum shift keying†, also known as â€Å"Gaussian filtered Minimum Shift Keying†) Modulation technique is used which is a type of FSK that continuously uses Phase modulation. Advantages of GMSK over other techniques-> * Being able to carry digital modulation and efficiently using spectrum. * Sidebands do not extend outwards from main carrier like other phase shift keying and thus, it avoids interference. * No discontinuities as change in frequency occur at â€Å"carrier zero† crossing points. * Being continuous frequency shift keying modulation scheme. It uses the frequency hopping technique, which involves switching the call frequency many times per second for security. GMSK Fundamentals The unique factor of MSK (Maximum Shift Keying) is that frequency difference between the logical 1 and 0 states always equals to half of data rate, expressed in modulation index terms and always being equal to 0.5. MSK modulation Signal using MSK modulation Sidebands extend can be easily traced in the plot drawn for the spectrum of an MSK signal. Therefore before applying it to the carrier modulating signal is passed through a low pass filter (Gaussian filter). Before filtering it must have narrow bandwidth, sharp cut-off and impulse response should have no overshoot. Finally MSK signal gets converted to GMSK modulation. Spectral density of MSK and GMSK signals Spectral density of MSK and GMSK signals Generation of MSK Modulation There are mainly two ways of to generate MSK modulation. Description of First way- The filtering of Modulating signal is done using Gaussian filter and then it is applied to frequency Modulator to set modulation index to 0.5. It is the simplest way. Its limitation lies in the fact that Modulation index must exactly equal to 0.5, which is practically not suitable as drifts are experienced by the components (which is not possible to be set exactly). Generating GMSK using a Gaussian filter and VCO Generating GMSK using Gaussian filter VCO Description of second way- Quadrature Modulator (or I-Q Modulator) is one of the ways. Here the phase of a signal lies in quadrature or 90 degrees to other one. It uses one signal, known as to be in-phase and another being quadrature to the first one. Use of Modulator of this type the Modulator index is exactly maintained to 0.5 without any further setting. Thus it is much easier to use and also it provides the required level of performance. Block diagram of I-Q modulator used to create GMSK Block diagram of I-Q modulator used to create GMSK For Demodulation the above techniques can be used in reverse. BASIC IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS- The three systems of GSM are * Switching system (SS) * Base station system (BSS) * Operation and support system (OSS) The Switching System- It is responsible for all call processing and other functions with following described units. GSM Network Elements Home Location Register (HLR)- It is the most important database of an operator storing every important details of subscribed customer. Whenever a customer buys a new connection his registration is made in HLR. Mobile services switching centre (MSC)- It performs telephony switching functions of system including controlling calls to and from other telephone and data systems. Visitor Location registers (VLR)- When a cell phone roams into a new MSC area, VLR connected to that MSC requests for data about mobile station from HLR. Later VLR will not need to interrogate HLR whenever customer makes any call. Authentication centre (AUC)- It verifies each callers identity and ensures confidentiality of each call. Equipment Identity Register (EIR)- This database stores information of Mobile devices thus preventing calla from unauthorised or stolen ones. Base Station System- It consists of Base Station Controllers (BSC)- It is the switch serving as physical links between MSC and BTS also providing functions like handover, cell configuration data, and control of Radio frequency (RF) power levels in BTS. Base Transceiver Stations (BTS)- It is the radio equipment which serves each cell in Network. A group of BTS are controlled by BSC. GSM Telecommunication Tower Operation and Support System (OMC)- This entity (connected to all equipment in switching System and to BSC) helps the operator to govern the whole system and offer customer cost-effective support and maintenance activities need for GSM network. Additional Elements- Message centre (MXE)- It Handles SMS, voice mail, fax mail, email, and cell broadcast. Mobile Service Node (MSN)- It governs Mobile intelligent network (IN) services. Gateway Mobile Services Switching Centre (GMSC)- It interconnects two networks. MSC then known as GMSC. GSM Interworking Unit (GIWU)- It consists of Hardwires and Software both and acts as an interface to various network for data communication. Problems in Implementation of Technology:- Ø Implementation of GSM technology requires a number of equipment. Many equipment need to be installed like tall towers. These towers are fixed at proper area in line of sight. Also satellites functionality also requires attention. Ø Installation of Several equipment and devices require huge amount of money. Thus GSM architecture is very costly. Ø Maintenance of equipment used in GSM is practically not affordable time and again. Ø There are several protocols applied in GSM Technology, resulting problem in implementation. Ø There is possibility of breaking into GSM networks that use cipher text-only cryptanalysis encrypted communication. These attacks are based on security flaws of the GSM protocols, and work whenever the mobile phone supports A5/2. Ø The available radio frequencies need to be re-used closer together and continuously within the network so that spectral efficiency can be unlimited. Ø There is huge consumption of power in GSM implementation, which is not convenient. Ø GSM is also not secure as the sent signal or message is not so much hard to be decoded. So the third party may avail of it somehow using some technology. ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY GSM (Global System for Mobile communications: originally from Groupe Special Mobile) is the most widely used digital cellular technology for transmitting mobile voice and data services in the world. It uses SIM (SubscriberIdentityModule) cards, which acts as digital identity, and is tied to the cellular network by searching for cells towards the towers (bts) in the nearby location. GSM is a second-generation (2G) cell phone system used by over 3 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories. In over twenty years of development, GSM has been continuously upgraded to provide better signal, speech quality and thus fulfil the mass demands. It also facilitates to roam, switch carriers and the operators without replacement of handsets. 01-01-10 The GSM technology originally originated by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) in 1982 when it firstly created Group Special Mobile (GSM) for the purpose of designing a pan-European mobile technology. European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI) later in 1991 adopted the GSM standard. GSM technology was firstly commercially lunched in 1991 in Finland, although it has been for testing purposes since 1980. 01-01-5 Newer versions of the standard are much compatible with the original GSM system. For example,Release 97,the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) added the packet data capabilities to GSM technology. Release 99 introduced higher speed data transmission usingEnhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE). It uses variation of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and is the most widely used of the three digital wireless telephone technologies (TDMA, GSM, and CDMA). Data is digitized and compressed and, sent down a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own time slot. Most 2G GSM networks operates in the 900MHz or 1800MHz bands. It operates on four different frequencies worldwide. GSM calls are either based on data or voice. Voice calls use audio codecs called half-rate, full-rate and enhanced full-rate. Data calls can turn the cell phone into a modem operating at 9600 bps having ability to carry 64 kbps to 120 Mbps of data rates. GSM technology even keeps people in touch while roaming also as it home operators are having roaming collaboration with foreign operators. IMPORTANCE OF TECHNOLOGY GSM is the most popular, reliable and the fast growing wireless technology for mobile phones in the world. It has approximately covered the 89% share market of the global mobile telecom in more than 219 countries and territories with more than 3.8 billion people as per May 2009 study. Its signalling and speech channels being digital differs it from its and so pronounced as a second generation (2G) mobile phone system. This has also meant that data communication was easy to build into the system. It also provides the integrated high-speed data, fax, paging, voice mail and short messages services (SMS) capabilities and thus offering communication to be secure, private and fraud prevented. Many operators provide access to ISDN services to transmit data fast. Several offer GPRS facility to connect to high speed data communication channel (9600 bps). Global GSM Growth GSM market share has grown at exponent rate over recent years. However the target to achieve 1 billion customers took 12 years (Feb 2004) but later it was a surprising fact that it crossed the 2 billion mark only in another 2.5 years (By June 2006) and 3 billion GSM customers in another less than 2 years. Now the Telecoms and Media hope to surpass 5 billion targets by 2013. GSM is the legacy network of the evolution to the third generation (3G) technologies Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, (UMTS) also known as WCDMA, and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Maximum Mobile phones manufacturer develop their products based on GSM technology and all mobile companies provide their customers GSM networks. The Social Impact of Mobile Telephony Mobile telephony is undoubted one of the most superb developments telecommunications industry. The number of subscribers is rapidly increasing in tremendous way. More and more people are being connected to the telecom. GSM technology has greatly affected the social life. The various operators have been proving a number of offers to fascinate their customers. Due to aspects like reliability, security, voice and data transmission facilities GSM is much popular among the users. People are shifting to wireless communication from their fixed phones. Rapid increase in GSM market Popularity Reasons of GSM Technology * Improved spectrum efficiency. * High speech quality. * International roaming. * Better signal quality. * Offer voice, data and fax. * Offer secure communication and privacy. * Low-cost mobile sets and base stations (BSs). * Flexibility SIM. * High share market capture. * Low terminal and service cost. * ISDN compatibility. * Compatibility with Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) for data transmission. * Support for new services like VAS. Backbone for 3G and other evaluating technologies GSM customer growth in India Health Issues It is the recent report that use of GSM mobile technology poses Health Hazards. Its regular and continuous use for hours may create heath problems like irritations, allergies, headache, ears pain etc. It is fact proved by scientists that radio waves of frequencies that it utilises can create electric fieldsin human cells and brain. Long term exposure may have adverse health effects too. Many research institutions controlled by government and independent bodies are continuously studying over it. Also research results are being revived by ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) and the WHO (World Health Organisation) at global level. Use of cellular phone is highly restricted to be turned off while in flight as the radio frequencies may interfere. The same case happens at hospitals as the radio signal may create interference with electronic medical devices at short rang or cause uneasiness among patients. While driving use of cell phone is advised to avoid and in petrol pumps as the radio waves used in GSM technology may cause interference. d> GSM SECURITY:- 1. PURPOSE OF USING GSM SECURITY:- As we know that security is the essential feature in any service. Hence, GSM network also follows certain level of security in the services which it provides. Hence, there are mainly two security purposes which are kept in mind when it is concerned of the GSM network:- First of all, to protect the Accessibility to the mobile services and secondly to prevent disclosure of any crucial information/data at the radio path to achieve the privacy regarding that particular data. 2. THE SECURITY FEATURES OF THE GSM SERVICES:- There are several features of the GSM service for the security of its customers. Some features are stated below: 1. Authentication is being provided to the registered customers only. 2. The process of encryption is being used for secure data transfer. 3. The identity of customer is being verified. 4. The cellular phones are useless without a SIM card. 5. A secret key Ki is being used to achieve authentication. 3. Representation of the GSM Security:- GSM security is represented in two ways:- a. Authentication b. Encryption A. Authentication: The process of authentication is being categorized in to various stages which are stated below:- 1. First of all an IMSI (International mobile subscriber Identity) is being send to the network by the mobile station. 2. After that the IMSI is being received by the network and the KI corresponding to that IMSI is found. 3. A 128 bit random number (RAND) gets generated by the corresponding network and is send to the mobile station through the medium of air. 4. Through the use of the algorithm A3, the network (AuC) and the MS (SIM) use KI and RAND to produce a signed result (SRES). 5. The SRES is being sent to the network by the MS. 6. For the validity purpose network performs the testing on the received SRES. B. Encryption: The process of encryption gets started by ciphering mode request (i.e.: secretly executed request) command from the GSM network. After receiving the request the process of encryption and decryption of data gets performed by the mobile station. Different key stream is involved in the encryption of each frame over the air traffic. Different key stream is generated for each frame as the A5algorithm which is used to encrypt the data is initialised with the KC and the number of the frame to be executed resulting in the generation of different key stream. The same KC gets executed as long as it does not get verified by the MSC (Mobile services switching Centre) through the MS(mobile station) which results in the generation of the new KC. The Authentication of MS is an optional process and is usually not performed in the beginning of a call. Hence it is assured that the KC will not get changed during a particular call. As it gets switched off IMSI (International mobile subscriber identity) gets stored by the mobile station on the SIM card to assure that is gets available when it is switched on again. In the hardware of the mobile phone the A5 algorithm gets executed as data is being encrypted and decrypted through the air. 4. The Algorithm used in the GSM Security: There are three algorithms which are used in the GSM security:- 1> A3: The MS Authentication Algorithm:- In the GSM model, A3 acts as the authentication algorithm. This algorithm generates a 32 bit output as it gets the RAND (128 bit random number) from the MSC (Mobile service switching Centre) and the secret key KI as input from the SIM. The size of KI and RAND is of 128 bits. The A3 algorithm is represented as a one-way hash function. This function produces an output which is of fixed length as a random input is given to it. A COMP 128 algorithm is used for the A3 algorithm by every GSM operator in the world. This algorithm acts as the reference algorithm for the various tasks which has been pointed out by the GSM association. 2> A8, The ciphering Key Generation Algorithm: In the GSM network, A8 algorithm acts the session key algorithm. The A8 algorithm generates 64 bit output by taking two 128 bit input. The output generated is 64 bit session key KC. COMP128 acts the reference algorithm for the A8 algorithm also as it is there in the A3 algorithm. At one run, COMP128 generates both the session key KC as well as the SRES response. 3> A5, the stream-ciphering algorithm: In this algorithm encryption of data over the air occurs. For secure data, there are three possibilities in the case of GSM; it includes the A5/0, A5/1 and the A5/2 algorithm. This algorithm came into existence because the GSM standard was designed for Europe and as per the export regulations it did not allow the implementation of the technology outside Europe. f> Advantage of GSM Services:- Following are the Advantage of GSM service: - 1>First of all the GSM network is fully developed which means that it contains stability with proper features and services. Hence it has over 450 million subscribers worldwide. 2> The other advantage of GSM network is that it contains better voice quality and low- cost alternatives to make calls, such as Short message service (SMS) . In the case of GSM network the quality of voice is fine inside the buildings. 3) Another advantage of this service is that the equipments are easily available from the vendors who execute the following service. 4> GSM services provide the roaming facility to its customers so that they can use the service anywhere in the world. 5) GSM networks provide higher talk time due to its pulse nature of transmission and its ability to use routers. 6) GSM provides the facility of International Roaming which is highly beneficial in context to its customers. 7> The presence of Smart Cards which acts as subscriber Identity Modules through which encryption of data occurs in a secure manner which is highly advantageous with respect to commercial background. 8> lastly the common advantage of the GSM service is that it provides the user the freedom to choose a mobile set of his/her choice and the SIM card is also being selected by user of their choice. They also have the option of making the changes to both the equipments accordingly. Disadvantage of GSM Services:- The GSM service has following Disadvantages:- 1> The first disadvantage is that the algorithms which are being used in this service for the security purpose is not available to the public. 2> In the GSM service only Access security is being provided and the different communications occurs only in a fixed network. 3> The major disadvantage of the GSM service is that it lacks the access to the American market. 4> For the usage of this service, the user needs the requirement of higher power and the coordination between cell to cell. 5> The network coverage of this technology is not better in the rural areas as compared to its competitor service of the CDMA technology. Reference: http://sawaal.ibibo.com/computers-and-technology/what-advantages-gsm-technology-3g-technology-245344.html http://www.connectindia.in/posts/list/gsm-what-are-the-advantages-of-gsm-technology-how-it-works-910021.htm http://www.edaboard.com/ftopic200835.html http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070202053500AA6OrQt http://www.gsm-security.net/papers/securityingsm.pdf http://cryptome.org/jya/gsm061088.htm

Motivational Plan Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Motivational Plan To-A-Tee Screen-Printing is a local t-shirt manufacturing company located here, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This organization provides t-shirt, sweatshirt, and sports hat solutions primarily to retail businesses. The Auto Grill Corporation recently sold the To-A-Tee print shop to a local sole proprietor. Previously, the print shops’ directives were handed down from the corporate office such as how much profit they had to budget for, the types of designs and styles offered by To-A-Tee, and the company policies and procedures that were written for their main locations, retail shops. In addition, the corporate office utilized the print shop for production for its own retail shops rather than endeavoring to clients outside the company. With the purchase of To-A-Tee, the new owner has the responsibility of improving the business by pursuing ideas, technologies, and procedures that were missed while belonging to the larger retail chain. This print shop was a very small entity of a very large corporation and its profitability did not warrant the requisition of expensive equipment for the new technologies in screen-printing. To-A-Tee has a diverse workforce who offers a wealth of experience that they bring from other shops, vendor trade shows, and seminars that they have either worked for or attended. Unfortunately, these employees have not been allowed to implement the knowledge and skills they bring because of the strict nature of the corporation’s directives. Generally, these employees are unhappy because the shop never got the attention it deserved from the large corporation. With this in mind, the new owner and manager must implement a motivational plan to build the employee morale to improve the business of the shop. The first step in this plan is to be a leader to these people rather than having them report to a manager. Providing leadership to the company plays an important role in motivating the employees to provide higher levels of production. Although this is one of the most important impacting factors, it will be the hardest to implement. The new managers role is to show optimism and determination. Implementing these traits in the managers everyday business will show that the manager herself is willing to work hard to achieve the final goals. The manager must â€Å"walk and talk† these traits so that she is believable... ...s. Each department has a lot to offer in order to reduce costs and increase productivity. Moreover, establish groups to increase efficiencies even further. A measurement of the success of the business is the number of shirts that are printed in an hour. For a start, the obvious goal here is to not have to change out jobs as often. Each job requires new screens to be set-up and new ink prepared for the colors of the new design. This can lead to the sales force creating a strategy to go after the large accounts; for example, Casinos that sell or use a high volume of shirts in their gift shops. The key to creating and keeping momentum from the employees is good leadership. If the new manager consistently exhibits the characteristics essential to a great leader, the employees will begin to trust the leadership and will strive to provide support to this leadership. The new manager must not demonstrate fear or hesitation in decisions to avoid failure or to keep from making mistakes. It is important that once the plan is completely established and implemented, that the leader stay focused on providing the energy, ideas and idea generation, responsiveness, control, and success.

Last Words Essay

Her last words will live forever with me. The night before my grandmother died we said our last good-byes in hopes that she would rest in peace knowing that we loved her. I had known her for 35 years, and in those 35 years we had become extremely close. She was not only a grandmother to me but also a friend and a confidant. I feared the day that I would have to deal with the pain and the realization of losing her. Although I knew that day was coming, I didn’t want to let her go. She passed away almost ten years ago, in October, but it still feels like yesterday that I was standing over her deathbed and telling her that I loved her for the last time. I am just now coming to grips with the pain and loss I feel when I think of her. My family and I were sitting down at home having dinner, and we received a phone call. My mother answered the phone. It was a nurse calling from â€Å"Saint Francis Medical Hospital†, where my grandmother was a patient in intensive care unit (ICU), also known as a critical care unit (CCU). The nurse said to my mother, â€Å"Fermina is not doing very well and she might not make it through the night. You and your family might want to come and say your â€Å"good-byes.† My mother’s tan face turned pale white, and tears began to fill her deep brown eyes. She looked as though someone had punched her in the gut, as a long tear came down her face and a look of fear and sadness had over taken her to a different world. After she got off the phone she was shaking like a naked child on a cold night. Through great gasps of breath she filled the family in on what was going on. My mother was very upset to drive so I had to drive to the hospital. We wanted to be by my grandmot her side. In silence we reached our destination, and I was extremely hesitant to go in because I knew what I had to face. I was afraid of death, of losing my grandmother. When I found enough courage to at least enter the hospital ICU unit, I felt emptiness inside of me that I had never felt before. I was cold and the halls were dark, almost like I had entered a dungeon. As we were walking, my family and I passed the nurse’s station. I could tell that they  recognized who we were because the heavy-set one with red hair curled in a bun atop her head began to cry, and the other nurse that look thin as a noodle with brown hair even ran toward us and gave us hugs and her condolences . Trying to fight back the tears, the nurse said to me sadly, â€Å"Your Nana loves you very much; every time she sees you she gets a twinkle in her eyes.† As we embraced I began to think about all the times that I was with my Nana and how much fun we had. I began to cry. Sobbing, I realized that time was passing by and that I had not yet seen my grandma. Not wanting to accept the fact that she was going to die, I reluctantly began to walk toward her room. My shoes made slight squeaking sounds, but all I could focus on were the rectangular square white ceiling tiles and the sadness in my heart. The hallway that led to her room was dark and dreary; it smelled slightly of urine. There was a slight draft, and I heard the other residents moaning for help. I was horrified—reliving that feeling I got the last time I was in a haunted house. It seemed like the hallway had gotten so much longer since the last time I had walked down it. As I approached the thick, brown wood door, there was a blue and white nametag on it (about the size of a Pop Tart) that said â€Å"Fermina Pellot† in large, black block letters. I was not ready to go in and see my grandmother in her death bed. However, it was time to face the music; the moment in my life that I never wanted to happen was right before me. I chose to stay outside and get my composure. I watched my father and sobbing mother go in and say their good byes, and both come out with tears streaming down their faces. â€Å"Is she talking?† I asked. â€Å"Not a word,† cried my dad, his stern, olive face now broken red with sadness. It was my turn; the thought of not even going in crossed my mind, but I knew I would regret it. Hesitantly I took one step into her room, and I saw one of my most favorite people in the world laying in the bed on the left. She just lay there with her eyes softly closed in a state of tranquility. I smiled at her, and she did not respond; at that time a sense of loneliness overcame my body. Her complexion was transparent, her body skinny and fragile and her light pink mouth was gapping open. I walked closer to the bed and she began to breathe heavier and heavier. She could sense my presence. I reached for her hand,  and it was ice cold. It was difficult for me to see her like that. There was so much that I wanted to say, but the words caught on the lump in my throat. Forcing them, I spoke loudly in hopes that she would answer, â€Å"Hi, Nana; it’s me Luis. We just came to see you, and it looks like you’re not doing very well. I brought you your favorite drink, Coca Cola.† No words came from her mouth, not even a whisper. But she gave my hand a squeeze. I leaned over the rail on the bed and gave her a hug. I pushed back her spider-web-like hair with my mouth and whispered to her â€Å"When you leave you will be taking a big piece of my heart, but you will be leaving an even bigger piece of yours.† Having not said one word all night, she looked up at me and whispered loudly, â€Å"Mijo (son), I love you so much,† as a tear trickled down her face from her right eye. Then she returned to her comatose state. I wiped the tear off of her face and said, â€Å"I love you.† Even though that was one of the worst feelings that I ever had, it was also a relief to know that she loved me. That night left me empty and sad, but when I woke up the next morning, I knew that she had passed, and I was okay with it because I knew that she was in a better place. Even though Nana is gone and it has almost been 10 years since her death, it is still hard to fathom the idea that she is no longer physically in my life. I miss her, but I know that she loves me because of her last words. She still lives on within me and her words carry enormous weight. More than we sometimes think. They often impact people for decades, providing the courage to press on or one more reason not to give up on life.

Larsen and Toubro Case Study Essay

Organizational Development (OD) is a planned long term effort led and supported through the top management to improve an organization’s ability and to solve its own problems by continuously working together and on managing the culture using behavioural skills. Thus, there are some certain aspects worth discussing about which are- OD is a planned effort. It requires a lot of effort, patience, and faith and is time consuming. Secondly, OD usually uses outsiders. These ‘facilitators’ as they are called are process specialists and are involved in depth in this process. The pioneers of OD in India were Larsen and Toubro India (L&T). OD at L&T started by calling in 2 eminent professors- Dr Udai Pareek and Dr TV Rao to study the appraisal process at the company. The existing appraisal system had many faults and needed to be corrected. The difficult task started by the professors interviewing some bosses and subordinates from different departments (using Diagnosis or Action Research) and they got a very interesting feedback. Some of the aspects of the feedback were – juniors wanted to know how well they were doing on the job, but weren’t told; people wanted to know what the growth opportunities in the company were; the appraisal form was too lengthy; some bosses had too many subordinates to appraise, etc. After getting the feedback from the employees the professors gave a report to the top management about the actual problem. The appraisal system had to serve not just one but many purposes namely it should help people understand their strengths and weaknesses, their own progress on the job, how they can perform better, and how they could grow in the company. So the appraisal process had to address the issues of appraisal, potential, counselling, career development and training all in one! The top management after reviewing the report gave the go ahead and they did two main things which were the most important which were bifurcating the Personnel department into personnel department and HRD department. This bifurcation was the first sign of ‘structural’ change. Secondly, a team of 6 senior managers was formed which would be responsible for implementing the changes required. The story continues when the 6 task force and the professors decided that the appraisal process had to involve the line managers personally, the performance goals must be set jointly by boss and junior and the appraisals must also involve feedback and counselling to people. Thus, they prepared a Performance Appraisal Manual by involving the departmental heads and other senior managers to analyze what kind of objectives could be set and then added such guidelines in the manual. To address the issue of feedback and counselling, the team identified around 29 senior line managers and some senior staff with a flair for public speaking. These selected people were put through a workshop on how to be good ‘Givers’ and ‘Receivers’ of feedback and then later conducted the same workshop for other employees at HQ and regional offices. Thus, the first workshop was a ‘Train the trainer’ workshop which was cascaded to the other employees. After putting in so much of effort now the management at L&T wanted to know whether the process was working for them or not. So again the professors interviewed some seniors and juniors about how the appraisals were going on. This time different views came into the picture – the goal setting was seen as time consuming, appraisal was becoming a numbers game, and was tending to become ritualistic. The HRD department was asked to conduct a survey (Participant Action Research). The survey also threw new light about the new appraisal process. The bosses now did involve their juniors in the goal setting and there was ‘healthy resolution’ of difficulties and there was a ‘high degree of trust’ between the seniors and juniors which led to ‘increased joint understanding about the job’. After receiving such a feedback, they again tried to simplify the appraisal form by adding the definitions of the attributes listed in the appraisal form. In addition, they held refresher courses in feedback skills for both ‘givers’ and ‘receivers’ of feedback. The facilitators felt that the appraisal system has stabilised when 80 to 85% of the appraisal forms were returned within six weeks of the target date. Also the HRD department started analyzing all the appraisal forms. The data from the analysis was used for listing high and low performers for a certain period; for finalising departmental developmental plans and for preparing the list of department wise employees and the training courses they needed. The above mentioned process took L&T 8 years to complete and stabilise themselves. Thus, I can conclude that OD is a long term process which requires a lot of patience, support from the top management and a vision to a bright future.