Marketing Strategy

Marketing Strategy Marketing and Marketing Strategy Home›Marketing Posts›Marketing and Marketing Strategy Marketing PostsIntroductionCompanies adapt their brands to meet local and regional culture because of the understanding that, branding act as a means of linking items that are part of product line and emphasizes the individuality of product items. This emphasis can only be achieved in instances where products items fit into the local or regional culture of the target market. The paper will seek to explain the thought of Fournier in regards to consumer relation with brands. In addition to the above, the paper will emphasize on Fast food Restaurant and brand of chewing gum based on consumers choices.A brand is the identity of certain goods and services. Fournier (1998) has argued that “consumer-brand relationships cover a wide spectrum encompassing flings courtships ‘best friendships arranged marriages and enmities among others.” In addition to the above, there is evidence that support the suggestion that consumers do interact with brands in a manner that it appears appropriate for relationship between other people. In analysis of chewing gun and fast food restaurant, it is vividly seen that the relationship that their consumers possess in regards to the services provided.I believe from my analysis that customers have relation with these two brands (chewing gun and fast food restaurant). This is due to the fact that the frequency in which the products from the Fast food Restaurant and chewing gum are being sold has implemented customers’ orientation and long-range customer and societal welfare. The maintenance of sustained value added attributes to be derived from a consumer brand and determine brand attachment or detachment is in essence the key to consumer relation with these brands. According to Reda, (1999), brands are a direct consequence of the strategy of market segmentation and product differentiation. This point has been buttressed by Fournier (1998) who h ave pointed out that branding act as a means of linking items within a product line or emphasising the individuality of product items.This in essence has given rise to competitiveness in the market of chewing gum than in Fast food Restaurant. Marketing has been a crucial concept of philosophy that has draws its origins from the understanding of the market situations from the customer point of view in Fast food Restaurant. In the concept of marketing, Fast food Restaurant has made it an important assignment to find out gaps existing within the market in efforts to fulfilling customer needs and taking efforts in providing products to satisfy those needs. The multi-attribute model process of doing so in Fast food Restaurant and Chewing Gum Company involves a number of steps that determine the effectiveness of such a process. These include situation analysis, Marketing strategy, marketing mix decisions, implementation, control, and segmentation.An understanding of the consumer consumers ’ relation with brands best captures these needs and desires. The concept of cultural identity that has been widely exploited by Fast food restaurant and Chewing Gum brands in their marketing of products efforts has translated into a bundle of benefits in its brand management and promotion. According to Deighton (1996), “more accurate conception of cultural identity, business education, and training would improve.” This would effectively enhance the intercultural communication of people’s from diverse backgrounds. It is on this premise that the brands have exploited approaches to intercultural business communication in its market segmentation. An analysis of cultural identity components that have been used by these brands in the development and marketing of its products to customers include vocation, class, geography, philosophy, language or biological traits with cultural aspects. Marketing Strategy Marketing and Marketing Strategy Home›Marketing Posts›Marketing and Marketing Strategy Marketing PostsPRIMETECH College is a facility that is meant to provide quality services to nursery school teachers in the remote place in Africa; this is because these nursery schools teachers are considered as the most important people in the education of a child and their impact will be realized on the child’s life thus shaping the educational background of a child who will end up liking of disliking education as a result of the first experience with their teachers. It is noted that most of the nursery schoolteachers are untrained or even school dropouts and thus they tend to offer the young children with an unprofessional education (MarketValueSolutions, 2010).The college is currently facing a lot of stiff competition from other tertiary institutions that offer the sane kind of services to the students they enroll in them. This provides them with quality services that are a threat to the survival of PRIMETECH College; thus the management has engaged in exercises that will device a survival strategy for the company. This is through designing a Market Matrix that will provide the organization with the authority of offering an increased number of products. Additionally it will ensure the college diversify and at the same time penetrate more into the market (Miles, 2003).The following is a Product/Market Matrix to be used by the PRIMETECH College as a way of offering its competitors with the necessary competitions and thus ensuring that the college maintains its position in the education flied. At the same time ensuring that it diversifies its services to attract more and more customers into joining the college.                             PRODUCTS    MARKETS Current products of PRIMETECH   college Modified   products of   PRIMETECH college New   products   of   PRIMETECH   college Curent market for PRIMETECH   college  offering education courses to the nursery teache r. introduce sponsorship programs    to bright and less privileged students.-provision of accommodation to students from far locations.Extended markets for   PRIMETECH   college  -increase the   numbers of   nursery school teachers that enroll   to   join the college-introduce attachments to the teachers who are studying in order to improve there performances.  introduction of different education courses to the college students.New   markets   for   PRIMETECH college  admitting teachers of the primary schools and any person interested in early childhood education and development.    reduce the   fees that the   students pay   in order to attract   more   students into the   college   and also   increase   the   rates of   advertising.introduction of the colleges own nursery and primary school in order to test there skills while studying.Targets of PRIMETECH CollegePRIMETECH College is a college that aims at improving the levels of education in our African schools; this is by impr oving the levels of teaching in the nursery school. The institution is sited as the most important institution in any learning activity (Tzu, 2010). The target of this college includes all the interested parties in the education system and especially the people who are aspiring to be the teachers of the nursery schools in the future. This is because they are considered the most respectful people that are involved in the education of the children at this tender age (Miles, 2003).The second target are the school dropouts and the practicing untrained nursery school teachers, this is because the school provides them with the basic training that is necessary for them to deliver their teaching experience to the young once professionally without inflicting fear and tension on them. This ensures that the young ones are in the position of enjoying education at a very tender age (Tzu, 2010). This will yield positive results to the educational system since the young ones will be interested in education as a result of that good foundation.The other target is the children that are in the Nursery and Primary classes; this is one vision of PRIMETECH College that is aimed at ensuring that all the children are accorded the best quality of education (Laermer, Mark,  2007). For this reason the college will open up a primary and nursery school that will be used as a practical facility for the school and at the same time it will provide the company with extra finances that will ensure that the college gets extra income for its operations.Services to be offered by PRIMETECH CollegeThe main objective of the PRIMETECH College is to offer quality training to the nursery school teachers, and the college will strive at fulfilling this objective to the fullest, despite offering quality education; the college will also offer other services to its students (MarketValueSolutions, 2010). This is in efforts aimed at examining them to ensure that they are well prepared to take up their new jo bs and perform their duties more professionally. It also ensures they are effective and at the same time they stay in the college is comfortable.In the efforts aimed at overseeing that they are well qualified to perform their     respective duties more effectively they are placed on compulsory attachment on the nursery schools that are within the college and thus they will be examined from the ways the handle the children. To make it easier for the student the school will offer the students with affordable accommodation and food in order to attract the students from far places (Tzu, 2010). The general objective of this college is to offer the training teachers with professional kind of handling the nursery school children; thus this will result the improvement in the quality of education in Africa.

Freedom Of Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Education

Shayla Tran WRI 102 3.3.17 Prof. Armbruster Freedom of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Education Until this past 2016 election, free college was a mere idea. That is, till’ a white headed democratic socialist informed us how that idea could very well be a possibility. Vermont Senator and 2016 Presidential election candidate, Bernie Sanders, was one of the biggest supporters of tuition-free colleges. He introduced an idea that not only was completely doable but highlighted main reasons why we should have tuition-free colleges. Through the use of multiple sources on education we will explore Sen. Sanders’ notion of tuition-free colleges. It is because of this that I argue that free college tuition would not only benefit students†¦show more content†¦Sanders is not alone on this topic, he sparked this conversation that democrats everywhere needed to have. Supporters of this included Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren who favor debt-free college a little more than tuition-free college. One of the biggest benefits of tuition-free college is that it would rel ieve so much financial stress. According to â€Å"The Student Debt Dilemma†, â€Å"fifty six percent more of today’s students have federal subsidized loans than students ten years ago. Graduates with loans borrow and average of $19,300- 60 percent more than they did in the early 1990s† (Burden, 2005). All these loans take a toll on a student. Worrying about student debt can actually discourage people from continuing their education. In, â€Å"The Academic Impact of Financial Stress on College Students† it states, â€Å"The link between financial stress and poor academic performance is noteworthy. Financially stressed students who participated in this study were significantly more likely to drop out of school than others, holding all other relevant factors constant† (Joo et al, 2009). The more money that students are going to owe, the more they are discouraged from continuing their secondary education. It doesn’t make sense for students to be in this much debt just because they wanted to learn. While studies found that debt discouraged students to continue education, other studies found that when students were givenShow MoreRelatedNegative and Positive Liberty Essay1473 Words   |  6 PagesNegative and positive liberty are best understood as distinct values within Berlin’s own scheme of value pluralism. While an increase in either is desirable, ceteris paribus, attempting to maximize any single idea of liberty without regard to any other values necessarily entails absurd and clearly undesirable conclusions; any sensible idea of jointly maximizing freedom in general, therefore, must acknowledge the tradeoffs inherent in increasing one aspect of freedom or another. The tension here isRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence By Katya Blanter1147 Words   |  5 PagesDeclaration of Independence, written as a founding document for the freedom and values that the Americas established in escaping British control, sta tes that â€Å"We [Americans] hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.† Regardless of its many guarantees to personal liberty, the original Constitution was deeply flawed in its express recognitionRead MoreThe Principles Of Individual Responsibility And Freedom928 Words   |  4 PagesGovernments across the world manipulate their subjects into believing that the only way they can survive is through the government. The ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are what this country was founded upon. At that time of our founding fathers in 1776, the people controlled the government. In our day and age, the government controls the people by manipulation and convincing citizens that mandatory taxation is charitable, when the very definition of charity states that charityRead MoreThe Ideals of the Declarat ion of Independence862 Words   |  4 Pagesall very important to the founding of this country, unalienable rights is the most important because without life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the other three key ideals are not meaningful to the future of this young nation. Equality of men and women is extremely important even in American society in recent times. It is the reason that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his life to make sure that African-Americans would have the very same rights as any other American citizen. â€Å"We holdRead MoreThe Declaration Of Independence : The Rights Of Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness854 Words   |  4 Pagesendowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.† Many groups of Americans such as African Americans, Native Americans, and women have been denied the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – which is why the phrase â€Å"all men are created equal† is a phrase that has been used loosely, as it was often contradicted throughout history. Liberty is the power to freely do and chose what one wants to do. As mentioned beforeRead MoreEssay about The Declaration Then And Now1348 Words   |à ‚  6 PagesHe said that these â€Å"natural rights† were life, liberty, and property. He also said that the evildoers who conspired to deprive others of their life, liberty, or property ruined the good life of the state of nature (Locke). The only way to protect these rights is by joining together to form governments. The power of government, then, stems from the consent of the governed, which entrust the government with responsibility for protecting their lives, liberty, and possessions. Should the government failRead MoreDemocracy : A Democratic Society Essay1601 Words   |  7 Pagesleadership succession through elections. Another value that should be held by a democratic society is the protection of individual freedoms which includes personal freedom, political freedom, and economic freedom. One of the primary objectives of a democratic government should be to protect basic human rights. One personal freedom found in a democratic society is freedom of religion. This provi des citizens the right to worship alone or with others, in public or private, or not to worship at all, andRead MoreCommunity, Individuals, And Religious Liberty1415 Words   |  6 Pages001059537 Community, Individuals, and Religious Liberty. The end of the 16th century and beginning of 17th century witnessed the departures of various European fleets setting out on their journeys westward to explore the New World. From the Pilgrims, who came to America aboard the Mayflower, to the Puritans, who later came across their sacred â€Å"city upon a hill,† hundreds of thousands of people eagerly set sail across the Atlantic Ocean on the premise of escaping the King’s tyranny and the uncheckedRead MoreDeclaration of Independence and the Beginning of Womens Rights Movement in America1226 Words   |  5 Pagesindividual freedoms for citizens of America would become a reality. Thomas Jefferson ideals expressed in The Declaration of Independence was a stepping stone to the foundation of America. Many of Jefferson’s ideals expressed his concern for equality and liberty. The ideals he expressed in The Declaration of independence such as â€Å"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created e qual† (392), â€Å"all men have unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness†Read MoreThe Philosophy Of The Declaration Of Independence1614 Words   |  7 Pageshistory, the concept of liberty has been fought for, has evolved, and has been the basis of American lives. According to the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness† (Foner, 197). Benjamin Franklin’s famous writing became the normative view of what freedom ought to be. What should

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancers in...

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancers in the world. There are three main types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, and lung carcinoid tumor. Just like any other cancer, lung cancer is dangerous, and a life threatening problem. Many studies and researches have been presented to find a cure, but an exact cure has yet to be found. There are however multiple causes, ways to diagnose, and treatments for lung cancer. When you think of lung cancer, you think of smoking, it is the most common cause of cancer but there are many other causes that people don’t think about. You don’t have to be a smoker to develop lung cancer, secondhand smoke, radon, diesel exhaust, air pollution, and some gene†¦show more content†¦After a cancer is diagnosed, the next step is to determine the stage. The different symptoms someone will experience depend on the stage of the cancer, and the type of lung cancer. There are many symptoms that le ad people to believe they may have lung cancer. Unfortunately, there are rarely any early symptoms, if any. Some early symptoms you might see in a cancer patient are a cough, shortness of breath, or fatigue. Some of the most common symptoms that are noticeable later are; a cough that won’t go away, or continually gets worse, chest pain, coughing up blood, shortness of breath, repeated problems with pneumonia or bronchitis, swelling of the neck or face, and/or weight loss. There are many other symptoms but these are the most common. Some symptoms may be related to other diseases, so it’s always best to find out for sure before proceeding to the next step. To treat a cancer patient the doctor needs to know the type of cancer, the stage, and how advanced the cancer is. The four most commonly used treatments are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or targeted therapy. Surgery is an option used for early stages of cancer; this procedure is usually just where all cancerous tis sue is removed from the lung. The second type of treatment is radiation, which are high energy rays or particles used to kill cancer cells. This treatment can be used at any stage, and is also effective after surgery to kill any cancer cells that may remain. Another type ofShow MoreRelatedLung Cancer : A Common Malignant Disease794 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Lung cancer is a very common malignant disease around the world, which is mainly caused by long-term exposure to tobacco smoke (85% of all cases). [1] It is reported by WHO that, globally in 2012, 1.8 million people suffered from lung cancer, and 1.6 million patients died of lung cancer. [2] In cancer-related death all around the world, lung cancer ranks the top in men and second in women, only after breast cancer. [3] Statistically, 17.4% of lung cancer patients in the United StatesRead More Lung Cancer Essay1667 Words   |  7 Pages There are two different types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. It is all depending on the size of what the cells look like under a microscope. Both of these types of lung cancer can grow differently which leads to them both being treated differently. Non-small cell lung cancer is the more common of the two and it usually grows fairly slow. There are three main types of non-small cell lung cancer and they are squam ous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and largeRead MoreCancer And The Second Point1432 Words   |  6 PagesSince the beginning of time cancer has had a major impact on the world, from your love ones or your self slowly dying from it. What is Cancer, where did it come from, how did we as humans get it? Who does it affect? Are there different types of cancer? Can I get cancer? These are just some questions that can go through a persons mind just thinking about cancer or seeing it in the media. The Definition of cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the bodyRead MoreAsbestos And Its Effects On Society1515 Words   |  7 Pagesnaturally in the environment. These minerals are silicate compounds, which means they contain silicon and oxygen; they form as groups of fibers that can easily be separated. These fibers are very durable, as they show a strong resistance to many common chemicals, heat and electricity. This made asbestos appear b e a useful chemical for products used in a wide range of industries, so much that the United States military mandated its use in its branches. Since the industrial revolution, asbestosRead MoreLung Cancer : The Most Common Cause Of Cancer1309 Words   |  6 PagesLung Cancer is by far the most common cause of cancer related death in the world. Every year more than 200,00 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer and over 100,000 Americans die from lung cancer. Lung Cancer is partly preventable with smoking cessation and it is slowly decreasing in the developed countries because of the many campaigns against tobacco addiction developed in the last decades but this is not the case in developing countries. In addition, we are observing a growing amount ofRead MoreEssay about Cancer1518 Words   |  7 PagesCancer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Right now, cancer is one of the most feared diseases in the world. In the early 1990s almost 6 million new cancer cases developed and more than 4 million deaths from cancers occurred. Also more than one-fifth of all deaths were caused by cancer and it has been predicted, by the American Cancer Society, that about 33% of Americans will eventually develop this disease. This is a huge disease that is killing people all over the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The field of cancer study is called OncologyRead MoreTobacco Kills One Person Every Six Seconds (Sahil). The1678 Words   |  7 Pages Tobacco kills one person every six seconds (Sahil). The use of tobacco has been around for many years, and it seems only to be getting worse. The human body is affected in an abundance of ways due to the abuse of tobacco products. If individuals would stop the use of tobacco, this would help prevent many diseases, negative health consequences and possibly early death according to their age. Tobacco use is a problem because, it causes numerous health effects on individuals, such as addiction, birthRead MoreEffects of the Increased Smoking Trend688 Words   |  3 Pagesthe years throughout the world. Smoking is a trend that did not start in the recent years but its history dates back to early 5026 BC. Surprisingly it was first used just for the medication purposes as opium was considered to have some medical properties. One of the reasons behind this wide spread of smoking tradition is the portrayal of smoking in movies and television, no doubt, this encouraged people to smoke and created a concept in young and immature minds that one looks cool when smokes. ManyRead MoreProstate Cancer : The Second Most Common Type Of Cancer1510 Words   |  7 PagesProstate cancer is the second most common type of cancer diagnosed in men around the world today. Despite years of research, little is known as to the exact cause of prostate cancer, making it an area of intense research in medicine today. The pathology of prostate cancer has yielded important information on prevention, diagnosis and treatment methods. It has been understood that diet has much to do with tumour growth, and new research into nutrition is revealing new strategies in prostate cancer preventionRead MoreLung Cancer : A Genetic And Acquired Disease2073 Words   |  9 PagesLung cancer is a genetic and acquired disease. Lung cancer is genetic becaus e cancer in general is caused by changes to the genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide. All of these changes include mutations in the DNA that makes up our genes. Genetic changes that increase cancer risk can be inherited from our parents, if the changes are presents in germ cells. Which are the reproductive cells of the body, those are the eggs and the sperm. Lung cancer is also

The Contribution of Processual and Emergent Perspectives to Strategic Change Free Essays

string(32) " related to contingency theory\." Change is ubiquitous. Organisational change has become synonymous with managerial effectiveness since the 1980s (Burnes, 1996; Wilson, 1992). However, north American influence over the quest for commitment, efficiency and improved performance, appears to have fallen back upon largely Tayloristic notions of management, with the result that organisational change is widely perceived to be controllable by modern management, with organisations themselves instrumental in their in their hands (Collins, 1997). We will write a custom essay sample on The Contribution of Processual and Emergent Perspectives to Strategic Change or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, this ‘scientific’ approach appears to have diffused with scant regard to contextual variables that may serve to modify and constrain contemporary managerial rhetoric for change (Hatch, 1997). One perspective that attempts to refocus the debate on wider issues has come to be known as the processual or emergent approach to organisational change (Collins, 1997), and it is this perspective that this paper seeks to evaluate You can read also Waves First, the inevitability of change is briefly considered as the time frame selected for organisational analysis tends to dictate the substance of investigation. This leads into a critique of planned change under the umbrella of strategic choice, with its core assumptions based upon managerial hegemony. This approach is then contrasted with the processual and emergent perspectives that seek to widen management appreciation to include factors beyond the organisation and its immediate environments. The implications of the apparent divergence between theory and practice are briefly outlined before concluding that the subjectivist paradigm of the processual/emergent approach is best seen as a modification to theories of strategic choice, which may add to effective managerial practice in the future. This argument is qualified by the need to support such a modification by a fundamental change in modern managerial education. The Inevitability of Change ‘Change’ exudes temporality. While it may be a truism that in any field of activity, all periods may be characterised by change and continuity, the time frame selected will tend to highlight change or continuity (Blyton and Turnbull, 1998). For example, a focus upon organisational change during the last two-decades may reveal a period of rapid change. However, a perspective encompassing the last two hundred years may indicate a basic continuity in the capitalist social mode of production (ibid). Consequently, differentiating between whether organisational change should be analysed from the perspective of a strict chronology of ‘clock’ or linear time, with its associated notions of relentless progress, planning and implementation, or whether changed is viewed from the perspective of a processual analysis over tracts of time, has given rise to a vigorous debate on how change should be understood as it applies to complex business organisations (Wilson, 1992). Two paradigms dominate the analysis of organisational change. On the one hand, a positivist view holds that change is objectively measurable, and thus controllable, embracing notions of rationality, temporal linearity and sequence – change is an outcome of deliberate action by change agents (Hatch, 1997; Kepner and Tregoe, 1986). On the other hand, a subjectivist view holds that change is dependent upon the temporal context of the wider social system in which it occurs and is thus a social construction – while organisations define and attempt to manage their change processes, outcomes are not necessarily the result of the top-down cascade advocated by the planned approach (Pettigrew, 1985). Consequently, as a point of departure, planned organisational change shall be discussed before moving on to examine the emergent approach as a challenge to the rational model. The Planned Perspective Contemporary US and UK managerial ideology may be identified as an outcome of, and a contributor to, neo-liberalist voluntarism (Dunlop, 1993). This ideology is mobilised through the agency of management to protect capital’s interests above all others. Consequently, management and managers come to be considered a social elite through their exercise of ‘god-like’ control over a logical and rational process of adaptation, change and ever-improving performance. The organisation is thus instrumental in the hands of management (Collins, 1997; Daft, 1998; Hatch, 1997; Kepner and Tregow, 1986). Generally referred to as ‘strategic choice’, the planned approach, according to Wilson (1992:22) is constructed upon the following theories of organisation: 1 Organisational Development (OD) and Behavioural Modification (BM); 2 Planned incrementalism; 3 The ‘enterprise culture’, best practice and ‘gurus’ as change agents. These perspectives have all in common the role of human agency, whereby, ‘†¦human decisions make an important difference†¦ a voluntarism in which human courage and determination count’ (Gouldner 1980, cited in Wilson, 1992:25). OD and BM (closed system) approaches emanate from the field of psychology, positing that organisational change is implemented by management through changing the behaviour of individuals. OD aims to foster consensus and participation on the basis that management attributes resistance to change to poor interpersonal relations (Wilson, 1992). BM is a systematic approach to the conditioning of managerially defined ‘appropriate’ behaviour, based upon Skinnerian psychological theories of learning (reward and punishment) and motivation (ibid). Both approaches are based on the assumptions that managers are capable of identifying internal barriers to change, determining appropriate behaviours, and designing and implementing programmes to achieve desired outcomes. Consequently, there is a plethora of ‘frameworks’, ‘recipes’ and ‘how to’ packages aimed at managerial audiences (Collins, 1997) A central feature of many of these packages is Lewin’s (1951) ‘force field’ framework, which proposes that change is characterised as a state of imbalance between pressures for change and pressures against change. It is suggested that managers are capable of adjusting the equilibrium state of zero-change, by selectively removing or modifying specific forces in the required direction (Senior, 1997). Implicit is the normative nature of planned change: managers should know the various forces as they apply to their own particular situation, and should understand and possess the means to exert influence over them. It follows that, ceteris parebus, without deliberate managerial action, change, at worst is unlikely to occur and, at best, is unlikely to realise desired outcomes without the intervention of chance (Collins, 1997). Planned incrementalism argues that change is constant and evolutionary and should be planned in small steps based on an orderly adjustment to information flowing in from the operating environment (Quinn 1980, cited in Senior, 1997). This approach is related to contingency theory. You read "The Contribution of Processual and Emergent Perspectives to Strategic Change" in category "Papers" The argument runs that the most effective way to organise is contingent upon conditions of complexity and change in the environment. Thus, the organisation should achieve congruence with its market environment and managers should support their strategies with appropriate structures and processes to enhance the likelihood of success (ibid). Turning to the final ‘ingredients’, Wilson (1992:37) argues that ‘enterprise culture’, ‘best practice’ and ‘management gurus’ are different faces of the same ideology. Enterprise culture denotes best practice and grows from a particular interpretation of management theory. This interpretation shapes the role of external consultants and thus determines who are the gurus; the ideology becomes self-supporting. Thus the ideology of strategic choice is mobilised in support of managerial ideology: to be successful in a free market system (entrepreneurial), firms should be modelled by managers upon best practice (currently, from the US and Japan), should adopt flexible specialisation and decentralised structures, and should seek to create organisational cultures congruent with managers’ own. The ‘successful’ manager comes to be defined as a ‘change master’ (Kanter, 1993; see Peters and Waterman, 1982). The Emergent, Processual Perspective A common critique of the planned perspective is that the ability of management to rationally plan and implement organisational change ignores the influence of wider, more deterministic forces outside the realms of strategic choice (Wilson, 1992). Largely in opposition to this perspective and generally referred to as ‘systemic conflict’, the emergent approach, according to Wilson (ibid:22) is constructed upon the following theories of organisation: 1 Contextualism; 2 Population ecology; 3 Life cycles; 4 Power and politics; 5 Social action. While also tending to acknowledge the role of human agency in effecting change, these approaches serve to widen the debate to include the impact of human interaction at micro and macro levels, thus constraining strategic choice (ibid). Contextualism is based upon an open systems (OS) model which views any organisation as being an interdependent component of a much larger whole (Pettigrew, 1985). Serving as a direct intellectual challenge to closed system perspectives, fundamental is the notion that no organisation exists in a vacuum. Emery and Trist (1960, cited in Wilson, 1992) argue that OS reveals the following characteristics: Equifinality – no one best way of achieving the same outcomes; Negative entropy – importing operating environment resources to curtail or reverse natural decay; Steady state – relationship stability between inputs, throughputs, outputs; Cycles and patterns – cash flows, stock-turns and so on. Thus, OS enables the variances between organisations’ performances to be explained by external influences, facilitating comparative analysis, the establishment of sectoral norms and the identification of ‘supra-normal’ practices (Wilson, 1992). Population ecology (and perhaps institutional theories) is based upon the Darwinian notion of ‘survival of the fittest’ (Hatch, 1997). Thus strategic change is aimed at maximising ‘fitness’ within the general population of organisations, through the identification of ‘market’ niches and strategies of specialisation, differentiation or generalism (Porter, 1980, 1985). Competitive advantage is thus created and sustained through the construction of distinctive and inimitable structures, processes and cultures, eg: erecting high barriers to entry through technological investment, or eliminating threats of product substitution through high R D investment and thus (desired) innovation (ibid). The life cycle perspective explicitly recognises the temporal nature of organisational change. Though linear in nature (all life cycle theories assume birth, growth, maturity, decline and death as givens), this approach provides insights into the potential internal and external conditions (and constraints) that an organisation is likely to encounter during distinct life cycle phases (Greiner, 1972 cited in Senior, 1997). However, this approach suffers from a similar critique to those levied at models of planned change. ‘Cycles’ are not in fact cycles (suggesting reincarnation). Development is linear and progressive and an organisation’s location on the ‘cycle’ is highly subjective. Perhaps the major contribution of the emergent approach to organisational change, is the highlighting of the role of power and politics in moderating managerial efforts to effect fundamental and sustainable change (Handy, 1986). Essentially, three political models of power reveal that outcomes are incapable of being considered independently of processes and personal stakes. First, overt power is the visible manifestation of localised influence over preferred processes and outcomes (eg: ‘it’s the way we’ve always done things around here’). Second, covert power is less visible and related to the extent of information sharing and participation in change processes afforded by organisational sub-groups (eg: senior management) to others – the phrase ‘inner circle’ is a common indicator of covert power relations in operation. Finally, third, contextual power suggests that outcomes are mediated by societal forces and the economic structure of society itself (eg: elites, notions of social justice, and so on) (Burrell and Morgan, 1979). Postmodern analysis reveals the influence of discourse, symbol and myth as interchangeable between organisations and societies in the endorsement of preferred solutions. Thus, contextual power may be utilised to shape the wider justification and acceptability for organisational change( eg: ‘restructuring’ for labour stripping; ‘reingeering’ for work intensification; ‘partnership’ for collective labour coercion; ‘TQM’ for zero-tolerance and panoptican managerial control). Moreover, the contextual power perspective also reveals the hegemony of accounting ideology in neo-liberal systems (itself positivist, reductionist and inextricably linked to Taylorism). Thus serving to expose the influence of elite groups, notably silent under the strategic choice framework (Wilson, 1992). Finally, social action theories depict organisational culture (OC) as the structure of social action (ibid). The strategic framework choice would hold that OC is a possession of the organisation and is thus capable of manipulation . In contrast, the systemic conflict framework depicts OC is something an organisation is (a contrasting ontological position) and is therefore largely beyond managerial influence (Legge, 1995). Nevertheless, ‘strong’ (integrated) notions of OC are eulogised by the so-called gurus (see Kanter, 1993; Peters and Waterman, 1982), despite receiving severe criticism for their weak methodological foundations (See Guest, 1992). The emergent approach appears to be at odds with the strong culture = high performance proposition at the heart of most change programmes; its causality is unclear. Implications As the above discussion illustrates, the management of change appears to hold sway over the analysis of change (Wilson, 1992). This implies that understanding has been exchanged for expediency. Put differently, managing change is both a learnable and teachable skill. In view of the short-termism inherent in the US and UK economies, with their shareholder emphasis on maximum financial returns and minimal financial risk (itself a contradiction with the notion of ‘entrepreneur’), it is hardly surprising that ‘recipes for success’ are so eagerly sought after by under pressure managers and eagerly supplied by management gurus with pound-signs in their eyes. Practice appears to be on a divergent path from theory (Collins, 1997). Collins (ibid) attributes this apparent divergence to managerial education, which itself (as must any educative process) be viewed as a perpetuation of ideology. With respect to organisational change, management education serves to promote the aggrandisement of managers as †Canute-like rulers of the waves’. Epitomised by the MBA (Master of Bugger All?) with its roots in north America, such programmes are themselves reductionist and short-term in nature. Thus, students are precluded by time constraints from exposure to the theoretical foundations of change and, consequently, may be discouraged from challenging received wisdom. This is not to assert that ‘hands on’ skills are unimportant, rather to expose that they lose potency in the absence of the appreciation of the wider context which MBA ‘babble’, among a wider range of programmes, serves to suffuse. Conclusion – a rejection of Positivism? The investigation of organisational change has not escape the inexorable north American ‘shift’ towards hypothetico-deductive perspectives of economics and psychology, with their positivist paradigms focused upon atomisation akin to the natural sciences (Cappelli, 1995). From a temporal perspective, while organisational change is viewed as inevitable in much the same way as in nature, the time frame selected for analysis tends to dictate the scope and degree of change to be investigated. Short-termism, it appears, is a form of temporal reductionism in the search for objective truth, that is a key factor behind the notion that managers can be trained to manage change through sets of skills that imply mastery over the ‘natural’ world and therefore, time itself. In this view, planned models of change, rooted in classical theories of management, may be accused of being an ideological construct of assumed legitimacy and authenticity. On the other hand, a subjectivist systemic tension approach, rejects reductionist ‘tool kits’ and lays claim to the inclusion of contextual variables at work throughout an organisation, its operating environment and beyond. In this view, while change is clearly not beyond managerial influence, its management is reliant upon wider understanding of the interplay of these variables, of which power relations may be prominent, in order to be able to predict the likely outcomes of managerial actions. However, for something to exist it must be capable of theoretical explanation. That practitioners have opted for voluntarist models of strategic change is not surprising given the elitist ideology of modern management: to control is to manage; short-termism equates to reduced risk and increased control; the institutions of Western corporate governance and finance thus have their goals met by such an approach. Yet, this is to obfuscate the quintessential qualities of the processual, emergent contribution to organisational change. While not refuting planned change, it perhaps serves to modify it – for any change to be understood, explained and sustained, the duality of voluntarism and determinism must be acknowledged and incorporated into the managerial knowledge base. The emergent approach exposes the potential folly of the extremes of positivism as applied to organisations as social entities, thus throwing open the debate to multi-disciplinary perspectives and enriching the field or organisational change. To be of value, such enrichment must be reflected in managerial education itself. How to cite The Contribution of Processual and Emergent Perspectives to Strategic Change, Papers

Janet Hoffman

Janet Hoffman -1- Essay SociologyJuly 10, 2000SILENT VOICEWhen I read the chapter on The De-Voicing of Society, I have to say that I was not surprised. I saw this coming back in the 1960s. But Inever really believed that as we grew and evolved that it would escalate to the point where people would become obsolete in many areas. Certainly wehave advanced greatly in technology, but I think that we may have gone to far. People must never be replaced by machines. I have always had a voice,but just didnt use it when at critical periods of my life. I advocate free speech at every turn. Machines should enhance it, but certainty not replace our right to use our collective voices. If we can advance in technology, then we must advance as humans right along with it, and not allow ourselves to be a faceless, voiceless being. We must never ever depersonalize ourselves from society. In recent times, andusing my own experience , I can now look back and understand just how isolated one can become when one is locked away in a cubicle or a roomfor years at a time, using only a television or radio as a source of human voice. Or using a phone for that much needed contact. My reaction to our silenced voices it that of genuine concern.Every human being needs personal contact. We are not meant to live a lifeof isolation. I suppose if we choose to do that on our own accord, while not healthy, it is our choice. However, when technology gets to the point wherewe are being replaced by machines, then I for one have a problem with it. If I had to equate a silent voice, then I would start with my own life. The lasttwo years of my marriage, I had totally isolated myself from any human source. Not because I wanted to, but because it was a means to survive. Iwas so isolated. The only voices I heard was from the television or the radio and sometimes the phone. Sometimes calling an eight hundred number just to hear another living breathing person. It was during this time, that I purchased a computer. Which ultimately became my life line. While I could not hear the voice of those I chatted with, there came a time when I for some unexplainable reasonbecame very close to someone, and would actually reach out and touch the computer screen at the same time he did. Neither of us know what it would`serve, but both of us knew that our isolation had to end. We both realized the need for human contact. Conversation, laughter. I might have gone on to look back at this and laugh and think how stupid how naive we both were. But that never happened. Our isolation from humans came to us because we had been hurt by others. Yet both of us were still human andboth very vulnerable. Today we are both very dear friends, and we often remind each other that via this media, it showed us that even through thewritten word we could communicate, but we needed to hear the voice of another. We both recognized the world had changed so much. Writing then became paramount to me. It enabled me to see things that perhaps I never would have before. The Internet was a God send for me, and a definite life line to so many others that I have sincegotten to know and have helped. Today all of us have moved beyond that time in our lives, and none of us is isolated at least from ourselves. Wevowed to be vocal and not be silenced for any reason. Through my experience with this, I have come to know and understand that while we have advanced in so many areas from the time we were babies, we have lost the all important thing. Togetherness. .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 , .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .postImageUrl , .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 , .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:hover , .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:visited , .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:active { border:0!important; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:active , .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674 .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u2706de6ed7ac29c1847d4a2c0cb45674:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Artificial Intelligence1 EssayI dont need to live in anyones pocket and surely there comes a time when we want our quiet moments to reflect, yet I will always want tohear a voice. I wont let a day go by without expression of my thoughts. Making the decision to return to school, has enabled me to talk aloudeveryday. While I may not be right in my assessment of things, it is my right to voice my opinion to other human beings. The inner part of me hasalways been the voice of reason. It took me years to understand that I needed to express myself with my voice not just with pen and paper orkeyboard to keyboard. I remember growing up knowing all of my neighbors. Going on picnics or to a fair and running into people I knew, no matter where I went. Always engaging in conversation, not matter how trite it might have been at a young age. Even then we had the instinctive need and desire to communicate. I think that when one advances into a new time, with newthings to try out, we become intrigued with the things that went on to change the course of the world. Everything seems so simple now. When infact I think that given the things we have, like radios, televisions, answering machines, computers, we get so caught up by them, that we have lost theall important meaning of true verbal communication. When they come up with computerized sex, and I dont mean in the world of cyber space, then I will know that we have reversed our advancement to total isolation. We may as well be clones if we are to be isolated from society, even our friends and family. It is really scary to know that one can sit in front of a computer screen for hours and chat with someone, yet not hear a voice for hours on end. We have virtually every piece of equipment that enables usto communicate without using our voice. It is no small wonder that some children today begin to speak at a later age. They can hear the voices on the television. And in so many homes today, the television is a comfort zone and company. It enables us to listen freely, but not to talk back withanyone. Is this healthy?Our thoughts now are easily reduced to writing or faxing. It just is not healthy for us to go day by day without human interaction and voice. I am guilty of calling eight hundred numbers just to hear a voice. That in and of itself is frightening. It is not that easy to do now, because rarely do real people answer the phone. Most people, because they dont have toconfront someone, can say whatever they want via a computer, yet they might not be able to do that face to face. That is not what we as human beings are all about. When in the course of human nature, we are suppose to reach out and touch a life, lift up a spirit, give comfort with our words ofwisdom. I have wondered if email one day might cause the United States Postal System to become obsolete? I remember waking up as a child knowing right from wrong. Knowing where I stood and knowing that therewas that line you never crossed, or the morals or values that we would never betray. When we look around today, do we see those people we knew all our lives? Have we advanced so much in technology that we lost sight of all that we hold dear?I dont want to give off the impression that I know all the answers when in truth I am not ever close. I dont wish to give a false impression that I am confident and secure with the things that we have before us, knowing that with the De-Voicing of America, we have lost not just our voices, but humanization. .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 , .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .postImageUrl , .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 , .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:hover , .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:visited , .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:active { border:0!important; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:active , .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50 .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u5301c554fb37533284c0a4f0e5a7be50:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Mexico And International Trade EssayWe must never loose site of the traditions we were raised on. we must never loose site of the fact that we our human and we need human contact on a regular basis. There is a passage that I find comforting and makes sense to me. If One AdvancesConfidently in the direction of his dreamsand endeavors to live the life which he has imagined he will meet with a Successunexpected in common hoursIf you have built castlesin the air,your work need not be lost;now put the foundations under them. Henry David Thoreau

If By Alan Ware Essays - If, Rudyard Kipling,

If By Alan Ware An Explication of the poem "If" written by: Alan Ware Tuesday, November 2, 1999 English II (H) If If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on !"; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run - Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! Rudyard Kipling's life, style, and writing are very interesting and it'll be remembered for a long period of time, much longer into the 20th century. On December 30, 1865, Rudyard Joseph Kipling was born in Bombay, India. Kipling wrote 19th century in his short stories, novels, and poems. He used little symbolism in his work. Kipling wrote adventure and with a didactic mind, which showed in his works. "The survival of the fittest" was in Kipling's vision of impearilism and British Life, and in his eyes, the love of animals was the law of the jungle. He mostly wrote on a defensive side. In 1936, Kipling's poor health was reported throughout the whole world foreshadowing his death. Kipling died from a fatal hemmorrhage two days after King George. His ashes were buried in poets' Corner in West Minister Abbey. Rudyard Kipling was overall an outstanding figure in the 19th centrury. Even though his style has "dropped out of modern literature" his stories and novels are still heard today. In the poem "If" there are thirty-two lines or verses, and four stanzas. The metrical pattern alternates from trochaic pentameter to iambic pentameter from one line to the other. The rhyme sceme is ABAB except for the first four lines which all rhyme. Examples of sound devices include aliteration. There is aliteration in line six, "Or being lied about, don't deal in lies", line eight, "And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise", and line twelve "And treat those two imposters just the same." Other signs of aliteraion are found in lines fourteen, eighteen, twenty-four, twenty-six, thirty, and in line thirty-two. Another example of a sound device is assonance. Assonance can be found in line one, "If you can keep your head when all about you", line sixteen, "And stoop and build ?em up with worn-out tools", and line eighteen, "And risk it on one turn of pitch- and-toss". Other signs of assonance is seen in lines twelve, thirteen, sixteen, twenty, twenty-seven, and twenty-three. There is no onomatopoeia in the poem "If". There is few signs of literal language. In line nine it says, "If you can dream?and not make dreams your master," there is a sense of being in a dream world. In line thirteeen, "Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ?em up with worn-out tools," a picture of someone working with old tools runs through the mind. In line twenty-five, "If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue," this line lets the reader imagine talking to a group of people. In line thirty, "With sixty seconds' worth

The Constitution Essays (588 words) - United States, James Madison

The Constitution Essays (588 words) - United States, James Madison Prof Lauren Conj Comm 301 15 November 2015 A chief aim of the Constitution as drafted by the Convention was to create a government with enough power to act on a national level, but without so much power that fundamental rights would be at risk. One way that this was accomplished was to separate the power of government into three branches, and then to include checks and balances on those powers to assure that no one branch of government gained supremacy. This concern arose largely out of the experience that the delegates had with the King of England and his powerful Parliament. The powers of each branch are enumerated in the Constitution, with powers not assigned to them reserved to the states. Much of the debate, which was conducted in secret to ensure that delegates spoke their minds, focused on the form that the new legislature would take. Two plans competed to become the new government: the Virginia Plan, which apportioned representation based on the population of each state, and the New Jersey plan, which gave each state an equal vote in Congress. The Virginia Plan was supported by the larger states, and the New Jersey plan preferred by the smaller. In the end, they settled on the Great Compromise (sometimes called the Connecticut Compromise), in which the House of Representatives would represent the people as apportioned by population; the Senate would represent the states apportioned equally; and the President would be elected by the Electoral College. The plan also called for an independent judiciary. The founders also took pains to establish the relationship between the states. States are required to give "full faith and credit" to the laws, records, contracts, and judicial proceedings of the other states, although Congress may regulate the manner in which the states share records, and define the scope of this clause. States are barred from discriminating against citizens of other states in any way, and cannot enact tariffs against one another. States must also extradite those accused of crimes to other states for trial. The founders also specified a process by which the Constitution may be amended, and since its ratification, the Constitution has been amended 27 times. In order to prevent arbitrary changes, the process for making amendments is quite onerous. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the states request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each state for ratification. In modern times, amendments have traditionally specified a timeframe in which this must be accomplished, usually a period of several years. Additionally, the Constitution specifies that no amendment can deny a state equal representation in the Senate without that state's consent. With the details and language of the Constitution decided, the Convention got down to the work of actually setting the Constitution to paper. It is written in the hand of a delegate from Pennsylvania, Gouverneur Morris, whose job allowed him some reign over the actual punctuation of a few clauses in the Constitution. He is also credited with the famous preamble, quoted at the top of this page. On September 17, 1787, 39 of the 55 delegates signed the new document, with many of those who refused to sign objecting to the lack of a bill of rights. At least one delegate refused to sign because the Constitution codified and protected slavery and the slave trade.