Strengs Concepts Of Ultimate Dimension And Ultimate Reality Religion Essay

Strengs Concepts Of Ultimate Dimension And Ultimate Reality Religion Essay Q 1. Briefly define and discuss Strengs concepts of ultimate dimension and ultimate reality. Choose one of these concepts and explain how it manifests in one of the three monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity or Islam and give an example to back up your explanation. According to Frederick Streng (1985), the ultimate dimension of religious expression is achieved when a person reaches a deep sensitivity of the ultimate reality and has an action plan to continue seeing that reality. The ultimate dimension is where a person belongs when he is working toward his ultimate transformation. The ultimate dimension can be the reality that a person sees as he develops his frame of reference to distinguish between what is right and what is significant for him. The ultimate reality is one of the common experience or expression of the ultimate dimension as it is the process for people to establish their values of life. When people decided what is right and what is significant for them, they build their identity and an understanding of the reasons behind their behaviours (Streng, p.6) . In turn, this ultimate frame of reference, which we called wisdom, allows them to further develop themselves into greater beings. The ultimate reality can be seen differently ac cording to different peoples perceptions. One of the means to reach ultimate transformation is through religion as it helps people to be aware of the cosmic order by performing scared rite or an ethical act. In Islamic traditions, Muslims need observe the Five Pillars of Islam which are to bear witness, to pray, to do almsgiving, to fast during Ramadan and to do a pilgrimage to Makkah. Those rites of worship are to train the mind into understanding Gods sacred laws through practicing the way of living like the Prophet Muhammad. The sacred laws, which were revealed by God through His chosen prophets, are to guide humanity to not fear or grieve (Ayoub, p. 69). They were first transmitted orally for centuries until they were written and organized into the Quran. Different interpretations of Quran and sunnah have encouraged the development of various religious schools such as Islamic mysticism. In extreme cases, some followers have proclaimed their direct relationship with God through r igorous asceticism and divine love. For example, in Rabiahs ultimate reality, the only way to understand Gods sacred laws is to love God so passionately that her entire focus is on Him and not in desiring for paradise or fearing hell. This method allowed her to distinguish what is real for her and what is not. This connection with the reality allows Rabiah to live beyond her limits and away from the destructive forces of everyday existence (Streng, p.3). No one has the right answer to what is the ultimate reality, but everyone builds their own definition when they reached the level of ultimate dimension. However, we know that seeing the ultimate reality can be a source of joy, goodness, balance or power (Streng, pp.7-8). Q 2. According to Streng, the cultural dimension of religion includes historical conditions. Briefly define cultural dimension and then discuss some of the historical conditions during the time of Jesus, as well as those during the rise of Islam and the life of Mohammed. All religions have been marked by their historical past The cultural dimension of religion plays an important role in influencing the development of a person and communitys expression of their ultimate values because it is the basic framework of references of a person or communitys historical, social ,economical and political systems at a given time and place. Those underlying contextual references affect how people organize the expressions of their beliefs, values and behaviours. During the time of Jesus, he was known to teach about God and heal people. He was referred to as the Messiah, which is defined as a figure, who helped the Jews overcome the national captivity and religious persecution they were suffering under the Roman Empire (Cox, 34). Romans had power over Jewish people because they were the ruling empire. Religion was absent in the society they were living in. The Romans held pagan views and did not accept a variety of religious traditions. Jesus challenged their tradition, and with that became an influential leader and an icon to humanity. He challenged the upper class people and told them that they did not have sympathy for the less fortunate of people. Therefore, the Romans eventually persecuted Jesus and his people. For instance, the Romans invaded Jerusalem and destroyed holy temples and places of worship, causing numerous Jews to flee the city, known as the Diaspora. Due to the fact that Romans held a superior militaristic force, they kille d anyone who was seen as a threat to their society. For example, Jesus crucifixion was ordered by the elites since his message of a new kingdom threatened the Roman political reign. Jesus righteousness towards women, prostitutes, and the poor were viewed as unacceptable by the Roman Empire, causing him to be condemned. To this day, Jesus struggle is admired and appreciated by many. Another example of historical events impacted on cultural dimension is the story behind the rise of Islamic faith. Islam flourished in the city of Makkah where it was a busy crossroad for trade and exchange of ideas. This cultural openness allowed the worshipping of various deities and acceptance of pre-existent Jewish and Christian cultural values or practices. The pre-Islamic Arabs viewed Allah as the supreme creator, but he was one of the many deities that Arabs worshipped. In addition, they believed that time was synonymous with death or fate; therefore, Arabs did not believe in afterdeath experiences and enjoyed life materialistic pleasures instead to live their lives to the fullest (Ayoub, p. 66). Politically, the country was divided among the leadership of numerous tribes. Therefore, a membership to a tribe is very crucial in gaining protection from persecution. It was under those circumstances that Muhammad was born and lived. Due to the initial influence from Christian and J ewish faiths, Arabs were already acquainted with the idea of monotheism and expectation of a prophets arrival to save humanity. Therefore, it was not surprising for those people to hear about his disapproval of idol worship of his people and experience of Gods revelation. However, Muhammads new ideology demanded religious, social and moral changes that challenged the tribes powers. Since his uncle passed away, Muhammad was also persecuted until he arbitrated between two feuding tribes and reunited them into one new Muslim community. Afterwards, this event marked the start of the growth of Islam and transformed many customs of the Arab community. Q 3. Define Strengs concept of the personal dimension of religion. As an example of this, discuss the Five Pillars of Islam, giving a brief description of each. Which Pillar does M. Ayoub associate with granted the status of protected peoples to non-Muslims? Explain why. According to Streng, the personal dimension of religion is defined as a persons own interpretation of a religious life. This internal process demands a person to form reactions, decisions and meanings towards the different aspects of religion from his life experiences(4). For example, Islam traditions recognize that humans can choose to totally submit to Gods will or to reject this faith. Therefore, it is a choice to recognize God and Muhammads way of life as a guide to Gods kingdom. There are Five Pillars of Islam, which are rites of worship representing the stepping stones of Muhammads transformation to a faithful servant of God. The first pillar is to declare that there is only one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. The second pillar is to perform obligatory prayers five times a day. The prayers followed a prescribed structure and wording originated from the opening surah and Quran. Ritual washing is performed before each prayer to remove impurities. Almsgiving is the third pillar which consists of offering money or other gifts to the poor and needy. This rite of worship is to purifies a person from greed and attachment to material possessions (77). The zakat is an obligatory welfare tax of 2.5 per cent applied on the surplus of income earned by Muslims. The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting during Ramadan to honour the special month when the Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad. During this month-long fast, Muslims must not eat food, drink, smoke and have sexual relations until sunset in order to devote their mind to the worship of God. Finally, the fifth pillar is to do a pilgrimage to Makkah in remembrance of the experience of Abraham, whom the Quran recognizes as the father of all prophets and the first true Muslim (78). The pillar among the Five Pillars of Islam that is associated with granted the status of protected peoples to non-Muslims is Shahadah or bearing witness. This rite of worship consists of declaring that there is only one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are shared the common view that there is one God who is the sovereign Lord, creator and sustainer of all things(Ayoub, p.65). Therefore, everyone who is Christian or Jew is also considered as People of the Book and is allowed to obtain the status of protected people if they make a declaration of the shahadah to become Muslim (Ayoub, p.75). Muslims believe that the only one who can judge a persons faith in God is God himself and that people will only discover the truth on the Day of Judgement. Islam is characterised by its inclusive nature as it recognizes prophets from the Old and New Testament and believes that Muhammad was another messenger of God to give the final revelation. Muslims be lieve that God uses prophets and messengers to transmit His intentions through scriptures and implement his sacred laws in the communities(Ayoub, p.69). According to the Islamic tradition, there are differences between prophets and messengers. Prophets are the ones who need to transmit a message from God to his people while messengers are prophets who need to transmit Gods message and implement a set of sacred rules to help his people to be aware of their obligations to the one and only sovereign Lord and warn them against heedlessness and disobedience (Ayoub, 69) . The five main prophets are Noah, Abraham , Moses, Jesus and Muhammad . Therefore, the second declaration of Muhammad as the Messenger of God is important to assert a persons commitment to Islam. Q 4. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are often referred to as Biblical faiths. Define the origins of and describe the sacred text of each of these religions. Refer to the shared concepts of Creation, Revelation, Redemption and Covenant to discuss the differences and similarities among the three scriptures. The three religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism shared numerous similarities and differences in their teachings. The first similarity is that those three religions are monotheistic, which means that they believe in only One God (Epstein 24). Their holy books all somehow relate to the Christian Bible, since the Old Testament is actually the Hebrew Bible (the Torah), and Islams Quran contains many of the same holy figures, such as Abraham and his youngest son Ishmael as well as Jesus being a miracle (Ayoub 71). In my opinion, Judaism and Islam are more closely related than Christianity. For example, the rise of Judaism began with the story of Abraham and his sons, which resulted in the establishment of Israel. Also, all three faiths holy books, the Torah, Quran, and the Bible, shared the major concepts of the Old Testament and acknowledge Abraham as the founding patriarch who was the first to make a covenant with God (Epstein 12). Therefore, these religions all originated from a c ommon source and have evolved into separate faiths, although the core of ideology of their faiths is very similar. Judaism was around for a long time even before Roman religion, but the religion of Christianity was developed from Judaism by introducing Jesus as the son of God and the Messiah. Islam seems to be a combination of both religions Judaism and Christianity, except with the addition of the prophet Mohammed, who was the founder of Islam. Judaism and Islam share common practices like fasting , almsgiving and dietary laws, such as the prohibition of eating pork. Lawful food in Judaism and Islam are the same and mainly differ by name (Kosher for Judaism and Halal for Islam.). Similarly, both religions practice circumcision for men. However, all of these three religions believe in one divine God, the Father of all creations. This causes them to each celebrate various holidays such as Ramadan , Lent and Passover, in which they must complete a series of rituals and fasting to focu s in worshipping God. In addition, Christians believe that God has three personas, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but both Islam and Judaism disagree with the Christian belief in the Trinity and viewing Jesus as God because they believe that the idea of Jesus as God violates the idea of monotheism and was idolatry, which is strictly forbidden in both faiths (Ayoub, 69). Finally, all three faiths believe in the afterlife and are concerned with repenting their sins to free their souls from the Day of Judgment, when God will punish the sinners and reward those who follow his teachings(Ayoub,74) . Q 5. In Epsteins articles, he concludes that the cornerstones of Judaism are the belief in one God and Israels responsibility to God. Discuss this statement with specific reference to: The reason why Epstein states that the cornerstones of Judaism are the belief in one God and Israels responsibility to God because it was believed that God share a covenant with Abraham first who had the responsibility to influenced his people to give up in worshipping many deities and to worship in one God to have salvation. From the Book of Genesis, God promised Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations of the world would be blessed. Abraham was the one who informed Jews about the importance of circumcising their male babies in order to hold a covenant with God. Judaism along with Christianity follows the life of Abrahams oldest son Isaac. The Hebrew prophets are believed to be descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac (Ayoub 71). The Talmud contains the heart and minds of people seeking God and is founded on Scripture, which its teachings are in the direct line of development from those in the Torah, Prophets, and the Holy Writings (Espstein 24). Judaisms mission was to free individuals from their false beliefs and worship of other Gods and to focus on a monotheistic belief. Judaism accepts that God loves all races and that he chose the people of Israel to spread his word and teachings. The practice of Jewish faith was only attainable by the people of Israel since they were believed to be the direct descendants of biblical ancestors from God and were chosen by God to spread His word. It was very difficult to convert to Judaism at this time since you had to be born into a Jewish family to be considered a Jewish person. A religious practice that cherish the worship of one God is the Passover, which is a Jewish holiday commemorating the Jews escape from their enslavement in Egypt. The Bible states that God had sent out ten plagues upon the Egyptians before they released their Hebrew slaves, with the tenth plague being killing of any first-born son (book of Exodus). The Hebrews were instructed by God to mark their homes doors with the blood of a lam b, so that the plagues would literally pass over their homes, hence the holidays name Passover. The Egyptian Pharaoh finally liberated the Hebrews, but they left in a very big hurry and did not leave enough time for their bread to rise. This is why during Passover, Jews eat unleavened bread, or Matza. The Jewish holiday Passover mainly stresses the component of Redemption since it bears a reminder of the salvation of the Jews and how God helped to free them by instructing them on how to avoid the plague. It shows what kind of struggles Jewish people had to endure in order for Judaism to be accepted in ancient Egypt. Today, Passover is celebrated as a holiday or festival of freedom from enslavement as well as a festival dedicated to the one almighty God, the Lord. The book of Exodus states that all generations of Jews as an eternal decree will celebrate the holiday of Passover by eating unleavened bread for seven days.

Cinematic Technique in the Film Wuthering Heights :: essays research papers

'Wuthering Heights' was originally written by Emily Bronte. She lived on the moors and she enjoyed wandering through the moors, which is where she got her inspiration to write the story 'Wuthering Heights'. In 1992, Peter Kosminksy directed the film version of 'Wuthering Heights,' he used camera angles/shots, sound, composition, lighting and character gesture/facial expressions to make the opening as effective as possible. To begin with, Emily Bronte is walking through the moors heading to a castle. When she enters the castle it shows her opinion and imagination of what might have happened there. It begins with Lockwood who lives nearby Wuthering Heights and gets caught up in a raging storm so he enters the suspicious castle away from the raging storm, which is building up very quickly behind him. He is soon told to leave by the occupants, although he stubbornly refuses and after he is offered a room by the woman, he is shocked by someone just outside his window. When Emily Bronte strolls across the vast moor land, a long shot is used to introduce the scene. It shows the loneliness, coldness and the isolation of the moor land. Dark, ominous clouds fill the sky, emphasising the mystery and suspense. The dullness of the moor land implies not that not much lives close by and it is quite a creepy place to be. In the beginning, the music is quite deep. When the castle comes into shot, the violins are added in this creates the impression that the atmosphere is eerie and bleak. However, they also suggest that Emily Bronte and where she is, is of some importance. When she makes her way across the dreary moor land, she is wearing a black hooded cloak so her face is not visible and it is hidden away, this increases the effectiveness by building up the tension. On her way through the moor, she passes two large rocks which tower over Emily Bronte, and elicit the idea she is vulnerable and insignificant. It shortly changes to a medium shot at eye level to show her facial expression of determination, this suggests that she knows where she is going and she may have been there before. It also creates the impression that she is slowly being revealed to the audience, and that they are equal to the character because they are on the same level. Natural shadows cover some of her face This low key lighting is effective because she is covered still partly, so it is suspicious.

Conflict in Organizations, Good or Bad Essay

Organizational conflict is a state of discord caused by an actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people working together. Conflict takes many forms in organizations. There is the inevitable clash between formal authority and power and those individuals and groups affected. There are disputes over how revenues should be divided, how the work should be done and how long and hard people should work (team and relationship conflict). There are jurisdictional disagreements among individuals, executives, managers, teams, departments, and between unions and management. There are subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes, role definitions, and struggles for power and favor. There is also conflict within individuals — between competing needs and demands — to which individuals respond in different ways. A process that begins when an individual or group perceives differences and opposition between itself and another individual or group about interest and resources, beliefs, values or practices that matter to them. It occurs or arises due to difference in expectation and knowledge, poor communication, fear, attachment, incompatible values, harassments, stress, scarce resources, past trauma, misunderstandings and perceived oppression. It also arises usually during mergers and acquisitions, union negotiations, performance appraisals, interpersonal issues, changing job functions, downsizing and reorganizations. Conflict has negative effects on organizations such as, increase in turnovers, absenteeism, health issues, wasted resources, increase in production cost and decrease in job satisfaction and performance. Its positive effects include, increases effort of workers, diagnostic information, creativity, learning of new skills and forming of deep bonds. Conflicts can be handled through in tegrating, forcing, competition, sharing, smoothing, avoiding and compromising. There are two ways of looking at organizational conflict; the functional and dysfunctional. Each of these ways is linked to a different set of assumptions about the purpose and function of organizations. Conflict that occurs in organizations need not be destructive, provided the energy associated with conflict is harnessed and directed towards problem-solving and organizational improvement. However, managing conflict effectively requires that all parties understand the nature of conflict in the workplace. The dysfunctional view (bad) of organizational conflict is imbedded in the notion that organizations are created to achieve goals by creating structures that perfectly define job responsibilities, authorities, and other job functions. Here, each worker knows where he or she fits, knows what he or she must do and knows how to relate to others in the organization. This traditional view of organizations values orderliness, stability and the repression of any conflict that occurs. To the â€Å"traditional† organizational thinker conflict implies that the organization is not designed or structured correctly or adequately. Common remedies would be to further elaborate job descriptions, authorities and responsibilities, increase the use of central power (discipline), separate conflicting members, etc. This view of organizations and conflict causes problems. Unfortunately, most managers consciously or unconsciously, value some of the characteristics of this â€Å"orderly† environment. Problems arise when it is not realized that this way of looking at organizational conflict only fits organizations that work in routine ways, where innovation and change are virtually eliminated. Virtually all government organizations work within a very disorderly context — one characterized by constant change and a need for constant adaptation. Trying to â€Å"structure away† conflict and disagreement in a dynamic environment requires tremendous amounts of energy, and will also suppress any positive outcomes that may come from disagreement, such as improved decision-making and innovation. When a bad conflict worsens it becomes an ugly conflict. Ugly conflicts occurs where the manager (and perhaps employees) attempt to eliminate or suppress conflict in situations where it is impossible to do so. Ugly conflicts in organizations occur when: conflicts run for years, people have given up on resolving and addressing conflict problems, there is a good deal of private â€Å"bitching† and complaining but little attempt to fix the problem and when staff show little interest in working to achieve common goals, but spend more time and energy on protecting themselves Under these circumstances there is a tendency to look to the manager or formal leader as being responsible for the mess. In fact, that is how most employees w ould look at the situation. It is true that managers and supervisors play critical roles in determining how conflict is handled in the organization, but it is also true that the avoidance of these ugly conflicts must be a shared responsibility. Management and employees must work together in a cooperative way to reduce them, and increase the likelihood that conflict can be channeled into an effective force for change. The functional (good) view of organizational conflict sees conflict as a productive force, one that can stimulate members of the organization to increase their knowledge and skills, and their contribution to organizational innovation and productivity. Unlike the position mentioned above, this more modern approach considers that the keys to organization success lie not in structure, clarity and orderliness, but in creativity, responsiveness and adaptability. The successful organization, then, needs conflict so that diverging views can be put on the table, and new ways of doing things can be created. The functional view of conflict also suggests that conflict provides people with feedback about how things are going. Even â€Å"personality conflicts† carry information to the manager about what is not working in an organization, affording the opportunity to improve. Personal conflict Personal conflict refers to an individual’s inner workings and personality problems. Conflict sometimes has a destructive effect on the individuals and groups involved. At other times, however, conflict can increase the capacity of those affected to help deal with problems, and therefore it can be used as a motivating force toward innovation and change. Conflict is encountered in two general forms. Many difficulties in this area are beyond the scope of management and more in the province of a professional counselor, but there are some aspects of personal conflict that managers should understand and some they can possibly help remedy. Social conflict include interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup differences Role Conflict Another facet of personal conflict has to do with the multiple roles people play in organizations. Each member of the organization belongs to a role set, which is an association of individuals who share interdependent tasks and thus perform formally defined roles, which are further influenced both by the expectations of others in the role set and by one’s own personality and expectations. For example, in an organization, employees are expected to learn from the instructor by listening to him, following his directions, undertaking assigned tasks, and maintaining appropriate standards of conduct. The manager is expected to provide the employee with high-quality working materials and resources, give advice and direction, conduct evaluation tests and work appraisals, provide a conducive working environment, and set a good example. The system of roles to which an individual belongs extends outside the organization as well, and influences his functioning within it. As an example, a man’s roles as husband, father, son, and church member are all intertwined with each other and with his set of organizational roles. As a consequence, there exist opportunities for role conflict as the various roles interact with one another. Other types of role conflict occur when an individual receives inconsistent demands from another person; for example, he is asked’ to serve on several time-consuming committees at the same time that he is urged to get out more production for his work unit. Another kind of role strain takes place when the individual finds that he is expected to meet the opposing demands of two or more separate members of the organization. Such a case would be that of a worker who finds himself pressured by his boss to improve the quality of his work while his work group wants more production in order to receive a higher bonus share. Conflict within groups Conflicts between people in work groups, committees, task forces, and other organizational forms of face-to-face groups are inevitable. As we have mentioned, these conflicts may be destructive as well as constructive. Conflict arises in groups because of the scarcity of freedom, position, and resources. People who value independence tend to resist the need for interdependence and, to some extent, conformity within a group. People who seek power therefore struggle with others for position or status within the group. Rewards and recognition are often perceived as insufficient and improperly distributed, and members are inclined to compete with each other for these prizes. In western culture, winning is more acceptable than losing, and competition is more prevalent than cooperation, all of which tends to intensify intragroup conflict. Group meetings are often conducted in a win-lose climate — that is, individual or subgroup interaction is conducted for the purpose of determining a winner and a loser rather than for achieving mutual problem solving. The win-lose conflict in groups may have negative effects such as: divert time and energy from the main issues, delay decisions, create deadlocks, drive unaggressive committee members to the sidelines, interfere with listening, obstruct exploration of more alternatives, decrease or destroy sensitivity, cause defensiveness, members to drop out or resign from committees, arouse anger that disrupts a meeting, interfere with empathy, leave losers resentful, incline underdogs to sabotage, provoke personal abuse. Conflict in the group need not lead to negative results, however, the presence of a dissenting member or subgroup often results in more penetration of the group’s problem as well as more creative solutions. This is because disagreement forces the members to think harder in an attempt to cope with what may be valid objections to general group opinion. But the group must know how to deal with differences that may arise. True interdependence among members leads automatically to conflict resolution in the group. Interdependence recognizes that differences will exist and that they can be helpful. Hence, members learn to accept ideas from dissenters (which does not imply agreeing with them), they learn to listen and to value openness, and they learn to share a mutual problem-solving attitude to ensure the exploration of all facets of a problem facing the group. Intergroup conflict between groups is a sometimes destructive, sometimes necessary, since event occurs at all levels and across all functions in organizations. Intergroup conflict may help generate creative tensions leading to more effective contributions to the organization’s goals, such as competition between sales districts for the highest sales. Intergroup conflict is destructive when it alienates groups that should be working together, when it results in win-lose competition, and when it leads to compromises that represent less-than-o ptimum outcomes. Intergroup conflict occurs in two general forms- Horizontal and Vertical strain. Horizontal strain involves competition between functions: for example, sales versus production, research and development versus engineering, purchasing versus legal, line versus staff, and so on. A clash between a sales department and production over inventory policy would be an example of horizontal strain. Vertical strain involves competition between hierarchical levels: for example, union versus management, foremen versus middle management, shop workers versus foremen. A struggle between a group of employees and management is an example of vertical strain or conflict. Certain activities and attitudes are typical in groups involved in a win-lose conflict. Each side closes ranks and prepares itself for battle. Members show increased loyalty and support for their own groups. Minor differences between group members tend to be smoothed over, and deviants are dealt with harshly. The level of morale in the groups increases and infuses everyone with competitive spirit. The power structure becomes better defined, as the â€Å"real† leaders come to the surface and members rally around the â€Å"best† thinkers and talkers. On the other hand, each group tends to distort both its own views and those of the competing group. What is perceived as â€Å"good† in one’s own position is emphasized, what is â€Å"bad† is ignored; the position of the other group is assessed as uniformly â€Å"bad,† with little â€Å"good† to be acknowledged or accepted. Thus, the judgment and objectivity of both groups are impaired. When such groups meet to â€Å"discuss† their differences, constructive, rational behavior is severely inhibited. Each side phrases its questions and answers in a way that strengthens its own position and disparages the other’s. Hostility between the two groups increases; mutual understandings are buried in negative stereotypes. It is easy to see that under the conditions described above, mutual solutions to problems cannot be achieved. As a result, the side having the greater power wins; the other side loses. Or the conflict may go unresolved, and undesirable conditions or circumstances continue. Or the conflict may be settled by a higher authority. None of these outcomes is a happy one. Disputes settled on the basis of power, such as through a strike or a lockout in a labor-management dispute, are often deeply resented by the loser. Such settlements may be resisted and the winner defeated in underground ways that are difficult to detect and to counter. When this happens, neither side wins; both are losers. If the conflict is left unresolved (it becomes an ugly conflict), as when both sides withdraw from the scene, intergroup cooperation and effectiveness may be seriously impaired to the detriment of the en tire organization. Disputes that are settled by higher authority also may cause resentment and what is called â€Å"lose-lose† consequences. Such settlements are invariably made on the basis of incomplete information —without data that the conflict itself obscures — and therefore are poor substitutes for mutually reasoned solutions. Strategies for Managing Group Conflicts include: Avoidance – a management strategy which includes non-attention or creating a total separation of the combatants or a partial separation that allows limited interactions. Smoothing – technique which stresses the achievement of harmony between disputants. Dominance or Power Intervention – the imposition of a solution by higher management, other than the level at which the conflict exists. Compromise – strategy that seeks a resolution which satisfies at least part of the each party’s position. Confrontation – strategy featuring a thorough and frank discussion of the sources and types of conflict and achieving a resolution that is in the best interest of the group, but that may be at the expense of one or all of the conflicting parties. Trained conflict resolver can begin with an economical intervention, such as getting group members to clarify and reaffirm shared goals. If necessary, he or she moves through a systematic series of interventions, such as testing the members’ ability and willingness to compromise; resorting to confrontation, enforced counseling, and/or termination as last resorts To conclude, the notion that conflict should be avoided is one of the major contributors to the growth of destructive conflict in the workplace. The â€Å"bad† view of conflict is associated with a vision of organizational effectiveness that is no longer valid (and perhaps never was). Conflict can be directed and managed so that it causes both people and organiza tions to grow, innovate and improve. However, this requires that conflict not be repressed, since attempts to repress are more likely to generate very ugly situations. Common repression strategies to be avoided are: nonaction, administrative orbiting, secrecy and law and order. Thus, conflict affecting organizations can occur in individuals, between individuals, and between groups. Also, conflicts within and between work groups in organizations are often caused by struggles over control, status, and scarce resources. The constructive resolution of such conflicts can most often be achieved through a rational process of problem solving, coupled with a willingness to explore issues and alternatives and to listen to each other. Conflict is not always destructive, it may be a motivator. When it is destructive, however, managers need to understand and do something about it. A rational process for dealing with the conflict should be programmed. Such a process should include a planned action response on the part of the manager or the organization, rather than relying on a simple reaction or a change that occurs without specific action by management. If managers should subscribe to the flexible vision of effective organizations, and at each conflict situation provide opportunity to improve, they can have the chance to harness the energy of conflict, directing it to be productive. Rather than trying to eliminate conflict, or suppress its symptoms, their task becomes managing conflict so that it enhances people and organizations, rather than destroying people and organizations. So, the task is to manage conflict, and avoid what we call â€Å"the ugly†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.where conflict is allowed to eat away at team cohesiveness and productivity.

The Road Not Taken Poetry Exp. - 983 Words

Poetry Explication: â€Å"The Road Not Taken† By Robert Frost The four time Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Robert Frost, is well known for his picturesque portrayal of rural lifestyle, focusing mainly on the New England region of the United States. â€Å"The Road Not Taken†, published in 1916 is one of his earliest written and most highly praised works. It is considered a masterpiece of American Literature and its content is frequently studied by high school and college students to this day. The poem is a closed frame narrative type consisting of four stanzas with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB. While being the most popular of the numerous poems written by Robert Frost, it has also been one of the most misinterpreted and openly interpreted poems of his†¦show more content†¦This is a perfect metaphor for the many crossroads that people face in day to day life and how, depending on character, we choose our way. Also, just because one is walking the same path as someone else doesn’t mean there footsteps will land in the same places. Figuratively speaking, the trail is always wider than our bodies so there is always room for one to put their own spin on anything. Even if the trail you are walking has been trampled on, you can still make it your own â€Å"road less travelled† and that will make â€Å"all the difference†. The tone of this poem is what makes it so openly interpreted. It can be used as motivation for almost any path one decides to take in life. The verse â€Å"Yet knowing how way leads on to way/ I doubted if I should ever come back† can be related to by anyone who has ever experienced having to make crucial decisions in life. Life is not easy, and it is not worth our precious time to be whimsical in our decision making. Nobody wants to have to backtrack, and this poem portrays that rigorous ‘keep your head forward, shoulders back and your eye on the prize’ mentality that has been part of our culture as Americans for so long. These two very salient lines of the poe m also do well to instill an element of mystery and air in the mind of the reader. It is human nature to think what could have been ‘if only I’d done this’ or ‘If that never