Advantages and Disadvantages of GMO Cotton Free Essay Example, 1500 words

The increase in yields for the Bt cotton has significantly dropped from 2002 to 2012. Experts are suggesting that the increase in yield of cotton over the last decade cannot be attributed solely to the use of Bt cotton. The experts are suggesting that Bt cotton has only contributed to 2% of the increase in the general increase in cotton production. Improvement in infrastructure and the use of hybrid seeds are what have contributed to the increase in the cotton yields around the world. Some regions in the Southeast of India have seen a total failure on the use of genetically modified cotton. The government of India is suggesting that 70% of the land in the region had Bt cotton, and they experienced a 50% loss in production of the cotton. The decrease in yields from the cotton is worrying the Indian government as they expected the use of Bt cotton to increase the yields of the product drastically. The failure can, however, be attributed to India using poor quality seeds and the fact t hat the technology of Bt cotton cannot be well adopted in the Indian environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Advantages and Disadvantages of GMO Cotton or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Experts from cotton growing countries have suggested there has been a great impact on the use of Bt cotton on human health as well as the livestock. Farmers across India have a report on the sickness and death of their animal after the animals grazed in fields where Bt-cotton had been cleared. A report that the local farmers and research-based groups carried out suggests that around two thousand sheep from four different villages died after feeding on the land where Bt cotton was being cultivated. There has been no survey officially from the government to study the mortality rates and levels of animals in areas where there are Bt cotton fields. The farmers who work in the cotton fields have also had numerous complaints regarding skin and allergic reactions from working on the Bt cotton fields. There have been several studies conducted by independent scientists and civil societies regarding this type of complaints.

A True Education Should Be An Unforgettable Experience

It is important for a person to have a strong spiritual life for life experiences to be beneficial and fruitful for his souls. A true education should be an unforgettable experience, which makes an impermeable impressions on a student s soul. It should stay with them for the rest of their lives so that they might live in the truth and beauty of God s creation. Consequently, it is, therefore, important for students, when being educated in school, to obtain a strong spiritual understanding, so that they may view and discover the world as God created it to be viewed. In a truly Catholic school, the strengthening of the soul of the student must be the primary goal in order for it to grant their students a true catholic education. Naturally, the school must strengthen the students souls by helping them practice virtue in their daily lives, the most important virtues, the cardinal virtues; faith, hope and charity from where all the other virtues flow. While a true education develops a pers on s mind to discover truth, a true catholic education also has the responsibility to develop one s soul to discover their faith. Faith is strong belief based on spiritual apprehension while reason is the justification for a certain belief. The Catholic Church teaches that faith and reason together bring Catholics to the fundamental truths about God and man and are by no means separate. In school, teachers trains students to ask questions so they may be able to use resourceful reason andShow MoreRelatedTravelling Broadens the Mind820 Words   |  4 PagesTurkish proverb. It is true as long as one embraces experiences with an open mind. Traveling is seeing new countries, meeting new people, experiencing new things, learning a different side of life and more. It is in short the adventurous outdoor class trip to different cultures, different languages, different political climates and different histories. Getting out of the place where you always live, then going to an unfamiliar plac e will be a kind of unforgettable experience in your life. WhyRead MoreBuilding Blocks Of Education : Rabindranath Tagore By Rabindranath Tagore1596 Words   |  7 PagesEducation is one of building blocks of human civilization; its importance is self-evident. People are still exploring the importance of education and the best way of learning today. For example, one individual strongly supports the building blocks of education: Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore was considered to be one of India’s most important figures. In his article, â€Å"To People†, he illustrates his perception of education: a school should work with the natural curiosity of a child’s mind to stimulateRead MoreBenefits of Adoption940 Words   |  4 Pagesand house to a child through adoption, you make an everlasting commitment. It is an important decision that requires thought and discussion among the entire family. Adopting a child is without a doubt a life changing experience that requires patience and dedication. This experience allows families to change a child’s life who one day may have thought that they would never be loved. Parents who adopt from infertility have already felt what loss and disappointment feels like due to not being able toRead MoreThe Decline Of Music Education1432 Words   |  6 PagesDecrescendo: The Decline of Music Education and The Importance to Preserve it Across the United States many elementary school music classrooms are filled with simple and popular tunes such as Hot Cross Buns and The Ode to Joy, played on the recorder, while high school students may be playing collegiate or professional pieces of music such as Armenian Dances and Carmen Suites. I have been very fortunate to have gone on the journey of progressing through different music education programs within FairfaxRead MoreMy Pastime As A Child1375 Words   |  6 Pagesthose things except for the part of motherhood, which is the greatest lifetime achievement of all. The profession I did choose was a modest one. I became a travel agent who for over twenty years assisted a countless number of people in making unforgettable memories. It was a livelihood where I did not benefit in traveling myself, since for the majority of that era I was a single mother. I spent the first part of my lifespan raising my two daughters practically alone. However, when I read, I usedRead Mor eNstp Reflection Paper1469 Words   |  6 Pagesteaching experience was indeed my unforgettable experience. I really won’t forget this because it taught me several lessons. I witnessed many scenes that a teacher encounters in her teaching career. I felt what a professional teacher felt when she wants her students to learn something new from her. Here, I felt pity with the students not having a proper care from their family. So this experience was my most unforgettable ever in my NSTP subject. I learned so many things in this teaching experience. I learnedRead MoreRacism Is Not A Secret Against Black Men853 Words   |  4 Pagesutilizing the character of Byron to symbolically embody the aptitude we share to be cruel or the capacity to stand up towards cruelty. African American Review should consider The Watson’s go to Birmingham-1963 as a part of the literary tradition to solidify the body of work presented by Curtis as a true representation of the African American experience and influence more schools to include the book in classroom reading selection. Christopher Paul Curtis was born in Flint, Michigan. He graduated from theRead MoreHow Social Media Has On Our Society1010 Words   |  5 PagesDeresiewics originally published this piece in The Chronicles of Higher Education in December 2009, but this piece has been published in The Nation, The American Scholar, The London Review of Books, and The New York Times. Deresiewics’ attempts to convince readers that social media take away our ability to build relationships in person. Despite Deresiewics’ appeal to ethos and this rebuttal to the opposition, â€Å"Faux Friendship† should not be considered for Culture Comment’s top prize for persuasive essaysRead MoreMarketing reflective essay1106 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ As Jobber(2012) was claiming, the marketing concept is Achieving corporate goals by meeting and exceeding customer needs, better than the competition. Marketing is the process of telling a true story in an unforgettable manner. As a consequence, it became an essential tool in the competitive business environment. The main objective is to maximize the company s profit by showing up with stunning adverts. Bearing in mind the development of technology, It is well known that markets growRead MoreThe Benefits of a Gap Year Essay1208 Words   |  5 Pagesacademic year, when a student takes a break from formal education and routine (â€Å"Gap Year.†). This time off provides a break after many years of formal study and is often spent travelling or working. In the past, taking a gap year resulted in problematic return into education. Today, however, they are generally seen as positive and are supported by Universities and employers. The idea behind a gap year is that it offers opport unities practical experiences, which enable young people to learn more about themselves

Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events Free Essays

Introduction We often defined climate as a long term weather pattern for a particular region. Climate is part of the ecosystem where wildlife adapts with it over long period of time. Changes in climate may lead to extinction of species and other catastrophes. We will write a custom essay sample on Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events or any similar topic only for you Order Now According to Charlie Moore, CNN producer of â€Å"Planet in Peril†, rate of extinction due to human pressure is pronounced. It is estimated that three species are lost per hour.1We are going to investigate the relationship between climate change and extreme weather events we have experienced in recent decades. Besides, adaptation and mitigation strategies at local, national and international levels to reduce rate of climate change and at the same time reduce its impacts to vulnerable group would be discussed as well. Human activities such as deforestation, extensive burning of fossil fuels, over farming to support food demand, agriculture and others have cause a drastic rise in greenhouse gasses including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Accumulation of these greenhouse gasses brings unwanted greenhouse effect which will lead to global warming, melting of glaciers and rising of sea levels. From statistic2, burning of fossil fuels for the purposes of transport, heat, manufacture and light has emitted more than 30 billion tonnes of CO2 annually and this has caused a significant increase in global surface and ocean temperature. Rising of temperature may have negative effects on human health, food availability and ecosystems. Food and water availability would be uncertain due to variable rainfall patterns as crop yields are depending on availability of rainfall. Besides, climate change would cause climate sensitive diseases such as dengue fever, respiratory tract diseases, diarrhoeal diseas e to be worsen especially in third world countries where shortage of health facilities and health professions are often observed. 3As World Wildlife Fund 4suggested, climate change would also impose irreversible changes on ecosystem and animals. More species extinction would be expected due to the disability of animals and plants to adapt with new habitats. The Fourth Assessment Report5 from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that since 1750 human activities have attributed to the warming of mother Earth. Scientists believed that human induced climate change would increase the likelihood of extreme weather events. More floods, drought, heat waves would be expected due to uncontrolled human activities. As what we have been experiencing in recent decades, climate has been changing in the last century. We are now on the trend towards warmer temperature and more frequent extreme weather events.6 Figure 1 shows the Changes in average surface temperature both in central England and globally, compared with the 1961-1990 baseline. (Taken from Summary report on the change in average surface temperature produced by Department of Energy and Climate Change2) The following case studies tell us how vulnerable is UK to climate change and how we are going to adapt with it. Water scarcity has become an issue in some parts of UK especially south west area due to longer, drier and hotter summers brought by continuing warming. Drought would be more frequent. Population in south west area particularly at higher risk as their water bills are higher than anywhere else in UK and water poverty is already an issue there. Other socio economic factors such as fast growing tourism sector, planned development and expanding population have worsened this scenario. One is described as water poor when he spends 3% of his income on water bill. This phenomenon is likely to worsen with bills predicted to raise by 5%a year for some consumers.7In this scenario; water companies such as South West Water Company are the leaders that play significant role. Challenges for leader would be to maintain water affordability and at the same time improving water efficiency. There is no doubt that the primary root to alleviate water poverty is to slow down climate change by reducing emis sion of greenhouse gasses drastically. However, it may take a long time before we can see the obvious effect in this issue. In order to adapt climate change, a new pricing system, Rising Block Tariff (RBT) 8 has been introduced in south west region. People would be charged depends on amount they used. Three different prices are introduced depends on their consumptions. RBTs have three blocks: Essential use-Cheap water for daily use (drinking, washing and cleaning) Standard block-Standard priced water as a safety net for households exceeding â€Å"Essential use† Premium Block-Expensive water for household consuming more than they need In short, the more a person use, the higher they would be charged. This system sounds reasonably practical as people would tend to save water if they are charging on their consumptions. South West Water claimed that the â€Å"essential use† block will be 27% cheaper than standard use. Customers who use water efficiently would be able to save up to ?60 annually for a large family.9 However, it is argued that this system is unfair especially to households that are not able to reduce their water consumption due to household size, medical needs and ability to invest on water-efficient devices. This â€Å"differential water charging† approach may create affordability problem in vulnerable households especially those have low incomes.10 In order to protect vulnerable group from this adaptation strategy, South West Water Company has set up support schemes.8,10,11 WaterCare scheme provides advice, repair and practical help to improve water efficiency for households in debt whereas Watersure scheme is a capped charged to help qualifying households in paying water bills. WaterSure and WaterCare support schemes are only available to qualifying households. Not all vulnerable groups can benefit from these schemes. Low income single household and unmetered customers are ineligible for the support schemes which mean water poverty continue to become an issue in these groups of people. Water companies may help those unqualified but having hard time in paying water debt group by allowing them to pay water debt by instalments and provide free installation of water meter so that they can limit their water usage.12 Another solution to water poverty problem in south east England is to build water reservoirs. Water companies such as Southern Water, South East Water, Portsmouth Water and Mid Kent Water would develop new resources by building four new water reservoirs by 2020 to maintain adequate water supply. It is more cost effective as compared to building pipeline transferring water from North of England or from Wales.13 Reservoir plays an important role in supplying water for home, industry and agricultural use. Building of new reservoirs may solve the immediate water shortage problem but it has its drawbacks as well. It needs long time to plan and build. Other than that, the building of new reservoirs may create other environmental, social and economic problems such as deforestation for dam construction, emission of greenhouse gasses during construction, relocation of dwellers and others. Therefore, a lots of geographical, social, economic and environmental factors need to be taken into cons ideration before building new reservoirs. Heat wave is another popular extreme weather event. According to research, global warming has increased the likelihood of heat wave by four to six times.19 Severe heat wave and drought cases were reported in several Europe countries in the summer of 2003. This extreme weather event has caused enormous detrimental effects in Europe with more than 30,000 premature deaths occurred. 8The heat wave that raised average temperature by 20-30% spreads from northern Spain to Czech Republic and from Germany to Italy. UK reported that there are more than 2045 casualties during the month of August in 2003 using a method from National Institute of Health and Medical Research.14 Elderly are more sensitive to heat stress due to their disadvantages in ages, physical and mental health. Other than causing deaths of vulnerable elderly people, heat wave causes advance ripening and maturity of fruits and over consumption of water.14 This in turn creates problems of soil water depletion and lower crop yields. In this case, Department of Health is the leading party. They launched an annual national Heatwave Plan for a risk posed by high temperature in UK.8 This plan is to support vulnerable group during emergencies. Heatwave Plan incorporates the nature of the threat and respective obligations of health and social care services. One of the challenges in this adaptation strategy is the identification of heat vulnerable group. Local decision makers may have hard time to define heat vulnerability and identify all vulnerable groups due to limited tools and resources. This limitation may reduce the effectiveness of planned response. Department of Health use physiological and health related factors to measure people’s heat vulnerability which is insufficient as research suggested. Factors such as social networking, social support, knowledge and awareness on heat stress as well as financial ability may have to take into consideration when determine whether a person is heat vulnerable. Anot her potential challenge is service provider tends to overlook on certain groups of people as they are likely to omit those social processes when defining heat vulnerability. Besides, another weakness of this plan is limited engagement of service providers. This is because Department of Health’s Heatwave Plan focuses only on health sector and emergency response planning. A large variety of agencies may have no way to get involved. As Stern Report suggested, climate change is going to cost us more when we are living with it compared to preventing it; a long term and more comprehensive preventative strategy involving multiple sectors, governmental, non-governmental organisations should be proposed. In order to protect those vulnerable from heat stress, campaigns and talks can be held to encourage participation of community and voluntary sectors. For effective implementation of Heatwave plan, health care providers and frontline staffs should be informed on the nature of plan and the expected service from them.15 Sufficient training should be conducted so that health care providers are able to deliver support to vulnerable group completely. Other than that, up-to-date database containing list of vulnerable groups should also be provided so that they can appropriate care can be provided.15 Besides, preventative skills and knowledge should be taught to family members of vulnerable group to avoid outbreak of heat re lated morbidity and mortality. Last but not least is financial aid. Vast amount of funding needed in order to carry the plan at national level, benefiting a wider community. Other than heat wave that hit Europe in 2003, widespread floods in UK have shown how vulnerable UK is to the climate change. In year 2000, floods in England and Wales have caused 10,000 houses been flooded, paralysis of rail services and power supplies.16 Flood damage costs up to one billion pounds every year. A new research has suggested that climate change attributes to the increased risk of flood occurs in England and Wales during October and November 2000.16Coastal communities are more likely to suffer from the impact of climate change due to their geographical position and other factors such as migration of youth, high proportions of retirees and benefit claimants, transitory populations, physical isolation.17 Climate change in coastal region would cause more frequent and intense flooding, storms and rising of sea level which will then leads to severe coastal erosion. Besides, extreme weather events including flooding and heat wave would cause more severe effects in coastal regi on due to their prior disadvantages such as poor housing and higher ratio of elderly. Flooding, erosion and storms would affect the agricultural sector, public transport and other public infrastructure. Challenge for this scenario is the spending cut on flood defences. 18Scientists have proved that climate change do increase the risk of flooding which means more funding and investments are needed to reduce flood risk of vulnerable group. A fall of 8% in spending on flood defences over the next four years, compared with the previous four years would make local authorities and communities that have already lacked of support and funding to tackle flooding issue. Poor public awareness on wider impacts of climate change and incorrect perception of climate change are challenges to this issue as well. It would be hard to protect vulnerable group if they themselves do not have knowledge on the danger of climate change and how climate change is going to affect their health, lifestyle, economic source and society. Besides, adaptation activities are not always in the priority list as some of the coastal local authorities had more concerning issues. Immediate adaptation actions should be taken to protect vulnerable communities. Local authorities have to incorporate adaptation in their land management policy and activities.17 This is to avoid any further exposure of vulnerable region to climate change. Good communication and right message should be conveyed to local communities to raise their awareness so that appropriate actions could be taken.17 Furthermore, computer modelling is used to monitor effect of climate change on weather pattern. Climateprediction.net was introduced to predict Earth’s climate up to 2100 and to test the accuracy of climate models. 19However, the computer system is time consuming and it totally depends on the time devoted by volunteers. It needs up to one billion hours processing time which cost 120 million pounds if it is not running on voluntary basis. It would be costly to run the project if there is no enough volunteers. Climate change is not a new idea. People have increased awareness on this issue in recent decades especially those experienced it.17 However, how well a person knows about the climate change and its impacts to our society, economy and ecosystemIt is true that Earth weather pattern is always changing but human activities have speed up the rate of change and leads to several extreme weather events such as drought, flood, heat waves and tropical storm. Scientist has estimated that there would be a rise of 6 degree Celsius at the end of this century if accumulation of excess greenhouse gasses is left unattended. Small temperature rise of 2 degree Celsius means more severe storms, floods and droughts, acidic seas, disrupted food chains and many more negative impacts on ecosystem. 20 In conclusion, climate change and extreme weather events are not an individual issue. They are linked to each other and the primary root to eliminate extreme weather events is to work on climate change by reducing our carbon footprint. It is a global issue where cooperation from all parties is demanded. We have to adopt adaptation and mitigation strategies in our daily life if we are going to maintain the global temperature rise below 2 degree Celsius. The saying â€Å"Roman wasn’t built in one day† comes into play here. Time and commitment are needed in order to achieve our goal. Remember, together, we can make the changes! References 1. Moore,C., 16 March 2007. Umm, are those spider fangs in your legAnderson Cooper Blog 360 °.Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/archives/2007_03_11_ac360_archive.html [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 2. Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2011. What is Climate ChangeLondon: Department of Energy and Climate Change. Available from: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/change_energy/what_is_cc/what_is_cc.aspx [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 3.World Health Organisation,2010.Climate change and Health.Geneva:World Health Organisation.Available from:http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/index.html [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 4.World Wildlife Fund,UK,2010.The Impacts of Climate Change on Nature.United Kingdom:World Widlife Fund.Available from: http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/impacts/ [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 5.Oreskes,N.,2005.The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change.Science,306,1686.Available from: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/306/5702/1686.full.pdf [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 6. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2003.Has the climate changed alreadyCambridge: Union of Concerned Scientists.Available from: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/has-the-climate-changed.html [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 7.Doward,J.,2011. ‘Water poverty’ to rise in the UK as scarcity pushes up bills.The Guardian.Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/20/water-poverty-uk-scarcity-bills [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 8.Benzie, M., Burningham,K.,Harvey,A.,Hodgson,N.,Siddiqi,A.,2011. Vulnerability to heatwaves and drought: adaptation to climate change,York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Available from: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/vulnerability-heatwaves-and-drought-adaptation-climate-change [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 9.South West Water,2009.Water tariff trial,prices and investment for 2009/10.Devon:South West Water.Available from: http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/index.cfm?articleid=6903 [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 10.Stott, J., 4th March 2011.Unintended Consequences – understanding the impact of policy responses to climate change.Joseph Rowntree Foundation blog.Available from: http://www.jrf.org.uk/blog/2011/03/unintended-consequences-policy-responses-climate-change [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 11.Auriga Services Limited,2011.Help for water and energy customers.(1st ed.)Sutton Coldfield: Auriga Services Limited.Available from: http://www.i-m-a.org.uk/pdfs/help_for_water_and_energy_customers_booklet.pdf [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 12.National Health Services Choices,2010.Personal and household finance.London:Department of Health.Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/moneyandlegal/finance/Pages/Utilitybills.aspx [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 13. Environment Agency,2006.Do we need large-scale water transfer for south east England?Rotterham: Environment Agency. Available from:http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/grid_1464452.pdf [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 14.United Nations Environment Programme,2004.Impacts of Summer 2003 Heat Wave in Europe. Environment Alert Bulletin. Available from: http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/download/ew_heat_wave.en.pdf [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 15. Abrahamson,V.,Raine,R.,2009. Health and social care responses to the Department of Health Heatwave Plan.Journal of Public Health,31(4),478-489.Available from: http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/content/31/4/478.full.pdf [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 16.Aina,T.,Allen,M.R., Hilberts,A.G.J., Lohmann,D.,Pall, P., Nozawa,T., Stone,D.A.,Stott,P.A., 2011.Anthropogenic greenhouse gas contribution to flood risk in England and Wales in autumn 2000.Nature, 470,382-386.Available from: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v470/n7334/full/nature09762.html [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 17.Fernandez-Bilbao,A., Knight,J., Smith,D., Scott Wilson,J.A., Zsamboky,M.,2011. Impacts of climate change on disadvantaged UK coastal communities.York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Available from: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/impacts-climate-change-disadvantaged-uk-coastal-communities [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 18.Carrington, D., 2010.UK flood defence cuts leave 5m vulnerable homes ‘at risk’.The Guardian. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/dec/22/uk-flood-defence-cuts-risk [Accessed 21 April 2011] 19.Carrington, D., 2011.Climate Change doubled likelihood of devastating UK floods of 2000. The Guardian. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/16/climate-change-risk-uk-floods [Accessed 21 April 2011]. 20.World Wildlife Fund UK,2010.Global Warming?Climate change?What’s it all about?.United Kingdom:World Wildlife Fund.Available from: http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/tackling_climate_change/climate_change_explained/ [Accessed 21 April 2011]. How to cite Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events, Essay examples

Organizational Change free essay sample

It gives attention to issues such as planning, incentives and rewards, the role of support functions such as personnel, internal competitions among organizational units, standards for remuneration, partnerships, hierarchies and the delegation of authority, organizational control, accountability and performance assessment (Lusthaus, Adrien, Anderson, Carden Montalvan, 2002). The Six Boxes model is relatively uncomplicated, easy to understand and to visualize by clients. It reflects the essential activities and key variables in an organization, and has been successfully implemented to assist clients in their change programs (Shaw, 2013). The 6-box model consists of six steps which are purpose, structure, rewards, helpful mechanisms, relationships, and leaderships (Palmer, Dunford Akin, 2009). The six steps each have their purpose in the model, which each step has to be completed before you can move to the next step. The first step is purpose, in which there are three categories to complete this step; goal fit, goal clarity and goal agreement. These three components all revolve around the overall goal of the organization. In each of these components there are questions that need to be answered in order to move onto the next step. Structure is the second step in model. The structures are focused on drawing the organization chart, determining the project, assessing the rate of change, and check the rationale behind the change. The third step is relationships. In this step the organization assess the quality of relationships between the organization members, the technologies, the different teams, and the methods of operating. Once the relationships have been properly addressed and corrected the organization can move onto the next step. Rewards help the organization decided what they need to reward, what type of reward they will give, and what the circumstances to getting rewarded are. Leadership is very important in this model. In order for leadership to be successful, the leadership style needs to fit the organization’s image. Leaderships main tasks are to scan the environment, set goals and align the internal organization to fulfill the defined objectives. Mechanisms are the final step of the model. Mechanisms are helpful when they assist in the coordination or integration of work, assist in monitoring the organization’s work, and help deal with issues from scanning and diagnostics activities (Shaw, 2013). Ford motor company used this system very well when incorporating the changes needed to keep the company from falling in the economic crisis. Ford started making changes well before the economic crisis, which helped them get through the crisis. Ford started by mortgaging the company’s assets which was approximately $24 billion dollars worth (Hall, 2013). Ford also hired a new CEO to run the company. The structure of the company is very different from others as the Ford family is still ultimately in control. The structure is very well thought of as it goes from top down and also the communication between everyone is very good. The purpose that Ford had was to make sure that they did not have to go bankrupt like other competitors. Ford was successful in making sure that their organization was able to get through the economic crisis. The relationships at Ford are very open and it makes everyone feel like they are part of the company and not just a â€Å"number. † At Ford the leadership roles are influenced by the Ford family. Leadership at Ford was changed in order to help Ford navigate through the economic crisis and to help them focus more on their company rather than trying to be like all the competitors. Ford used different mechanisms in order to make sure that their organization was able to stand on its own without needing to borrow money from the government. Ford decided to focus more on Ford, get rid of other brands that they had, mortgage against themselves, and start change from the top down. This allowed everyone to see that Ford was making the changes needed in order to ensure the livelihood of Ford, and ensure that they did not â€Å"go under† when the economic collapse happened. GM was not very successful with this method. They did not have any clear purpose or structure; also the relationships within the organization were not very well established and were not working together. GM allowed the government to step in and take charge of a situation that could have been avoided if they worked together to make sure that the organization survived. GM had the tools they needed to make the changes within the organization, but they did not have the leadership to help navigate them through the changes. Both organizations have felt environment pressures to change because consumers are looking for more environmentally friendly vehicles. These pressures are external pressures that affect the organizational as a whole because the car market is trying to improve the vehicles to help with pollution in the air. These changes have a great affect on both organizations because they have to reconstruct the way they manufacture vehicles as well as reconsider their marketing strategy. |SWOT ANALYSIS | |   |FORD |GM | |Strengths |1. Strong position in US market |1. Global presence | | |2. ECOnetic initiative |2. New vision and strategy | | |3. Sound financial performance |3. Strong brand portfolio | | |4. ‘One Ford’ approach |4. Strong presence in China | | |5. Significant growth in China |5. Knowledge of home market | | |   |6. 4 well performing brands | |Weakness |1. Poor environmental record |1. High cost structure | | |2. High cost structure |2. Brand dilution | | |3. Unprofitable Europe operations |3. Bureaucratic culture | | |   |4. Car recalls | |Opportunities |1. Positive attitude towards â€Å"green† vehicles |1. Positive attitude towards â€Å"green† vehicles | | |2. Increasing fuel prices |2. Increasing fuel prices | | |3. New emission standards |3. Changing customer needs | | |4. Growth through acquisitions |4. Growth through acquisitions | |Threats |1. Decreasing fuel prices |1. Fluctuating fuel prices | | |2. Rising raw material prices |2. New emission standards | | |3. Intense competition |3. Rising raw material prices | | |4. Fluctuating exchange rates |4. Intense competition | | |   |5. Exchange rates | (Jurevicius, 2013) According to the SWOT analysis, the two companies are quite similar in many ways and quite different in other ways. There are not many resistances to change, but the two that they both have in common are the exchange rates and competition. Both Ford and GM, may negatively be affected by fluctuating exchange rates as it earns more than half of its profits outside the US. The profits may be lower due appreciating dollar against other currencies. Another resistance to change is also the competition. Ford faces more intense competition from other auto manufacturers more than ever, especially in small cars segment with hybrid engines. GM for 77 years from 1931 to 2007, GM led global sales of vehicles, but lost its position in 2008 due to increased competition of cheaper and better quality cars, especially from Japan and South Korea (Jurevicius, 2013). In order to minimize the resistance of change you can help by educating and communicating the changes as well as have the employees participate and be involved in the change. By educating and communicating the changes you are informing the people of the rationale for the change and providing them with the information of the changes. Employees’ participation is very crucial in the change process as it makes them feel like they belong within the organization (Palmer, Dunford Akin, 2009). The recommendation that I would have for GM is to make sure they are accurately monitoring their organizations methods of communication and ensuring that they have a strategic plan to help them get through any other economic collapse. GM needs to focus more on their organization and get feedback from the employees about what they feel can be improved. Ford did a very good job in handling change within their organization, but the only recommendation that I would have is for them to make sure that they take always have a strategic plan for helping them get through any major changes in the future. In conclusion, even though change is always going to be present within an organization, it doesn’t always mean that the change will be negative; it only means that the organization saw something that needed to be corrected in order to continue improving. Change doesn’t always have to mean that you completely re-do the organization, you can change a certain product, department, or portion of the organization. References Hall, J. (2013, February). The Detroit three after the big whoa: An examination of domestic carmakers. Retrieved from http://www. caranddriver. com/features/the-detroit-three-after-the-big-whoa-an-examination-of-domestic-carmakers-feature-ford-recreates-itself-page-3 Jurevicius, O. (2013). Strategic management insight. Retrieved from http://www. strategicmanagementinsight. com/index. html Leadersphere. (2008). Organizational diagnostic models: A review and synthesis. Retrieved from http://www. leadersphere. com/img/OrgmodelsR2009. pdf Lusthaus, C. , Adrien, M. , Anderson, G. , Carden, F. , Montalvan, G. (2002). Organizational assessment: A framework for improving performance. Ontario, Canada and Washington, D. C: International development research centre and Inter-American development bank. Palmer, I. , Dunford, R. , Akin, G. (2009). Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Companies Inc. Shaw, A. (2013). Six boxes. Retrieved from http://www. provenmodels. com/23/six-boxes/marvin-r. -weisbord/