Trace character vs. fate theme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Trace character vs. fate theme - Essay Example Nevertheless ancient civilizations of Europe: Greece and Rome had presented new outlooks, new philosophies and ethics which were based on humanism and materialism. Ancient Greek philosophers and dramaturges had presented a new, liberal and unique idea of human's place in the universe. It was a human-centered philosophy, based on ration, sensualism and freedom of thought. Plato's Allegory of the Cave has become classical example which presents the world we live in: "Behold! Human beings living in an underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets." (Plato, 2000, p.297) Allegory of the Cave is a symbolic name as it implies that human's world is not a world of darkness, where there is no way out, where everything is preplanned and where everyone has his own fate. The word "cave" means that there exists a way out, and this way is will power, confidence and knowledge based on rationalism of enquiring mind. There exists a sun at the end of cave, and sun of knowledge and reason shines for everyone and creates harmony, confidence and promotes social progress. The freedom-loving and democratic spirit of Plato's works and of Allegory of the Cave in particular case witnesses about original and new philosophy of human-centered universe, where the fate meant nothing but a cave or prison, as it was only a "prison" of human's will and mind. Plato stated that: "the man who truly worships the stars does not need to enquire what fate they weave for him, he is lifted above the reach of fate in his communion. By becoming one with the stars, he becomes one with his own fate." (Plato, 2000,p.194) Plato continues his discourses about human will, human nature, feelings and reason in his another work The Symposium which is written in the form of dialogue (like "the allegory") of several prominent citizens of Athens: dramaturges and philosophers. The theme of conversation is love, a very contradictory theme and very subjective. Nevertheless The Symposium remains to be a classical reference for study of this theme. As every participant in the dialogue presents his own point of view, presents his arguments, myths and discourses about love, we see the diverse ethic atmosphere in Ancient Greece, such triumph of human reason and ethical thought. Through logical and exhaustive discourses about love in the dialogue of famous Greeks we observe the power of subjective thinking and power of speech through arguments. It's a dialogue of people who are confident in their ethical principles and are confident that they are able to change something in the surrounding word. Their speeches do not contain elements of mysticism in the volume we can find in works of earlier authors such as Homer for example, their

Organizational Commitment and Organizational Effectiveness Term Paper

Organizational Commitment and Organizational Effectiveness - Term Paper Example Organizational change is primarily structural in character and it is designed to bring about alterations in organizational structure, methods, and processes. (Nilanjan, S et al,3 2006) Change is endemic to all organizations operating in business markets which involve improvements on current ways of doing things, of fine-tuning operations and implementing incremental changes on standard operating procedures. (Patrick D, and Constantine A, 2009)4 According to Whybrow (2007,p.5)5 it is necessary to act in times of immediate change, no matter how nasty it may seem or how much it impacts on staff or colleagues. In view of the changing nature of business and risks involved in it which is evident through the recession and economic depression occurring time and again challenging the business policies of the top leaders, change is necessary to face new challenges of every facet like accounting, technology, management, etc. There are certain factors that contribute to the change process in an organization like internal forces which include financial constraints, the need to do more with less, cross-functional teams, mergers and acquisitions, and empowered workers, etc. and external forces like new workforce demographics, changing expectations about quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction along with new technologies (APQC, 1999).6 The transformation of the bankrupt organization like Chrysler in 1970s to profitability which was possible due to the effective leadership of Iacocca, who revamped the internal politics and systems, changed the management structure, trimmed tens of thousands of employees, won concessions from UAW and transforming the company loser stigma of government bailout into positive cultural shift. It is pertinent to mention here that organizational change is triggered by an event which indicates the need for change like bankruptcy, in the case of Chrysler. However, it is assumed that change is followed by mixed reactions which provide positive i mpetus for change along with negative resistance from individuals and the organizations like technical systems, political systems and cultural systems (Pagan, 20087 and Rashid, Sambasivan & Rahman, 2003)8 The present paper discusses the role of culture and commitment to organizational change and provides some recommendation to maintain the commitment in the change process. Culture is often defined as that which is shared by and unique to a given organization or group and is an integrating mechanism, the social or normative glue that holds together a potentially diverse group of organizational members. (Warwick Organizational Behavior Staff, 2001, p.322)9 Smircich (cited in Iivari, n.d)10 analyzed different conceptions of organizational culture in relation to anthropological schools which have been conceived either as a variable or as a root metaphor for conceptualizing organization which is further divided into two areas: organizations have been regarded as cultures or having a cult ure. It is further mentioned that culture contributes to the overall balance and effectiveness of an organization.