Understanding Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Joshua Harris Althea Johns Organizational Behavior October 21, 2012 Understanding Organizational Citizenship Behaviors Citizenship, most don’t normally associate this term with an organization like a business. Many would think of the word citizenship in terms of the country that you may live in. Some may even think of it more broadly then that. As in we are all citizens of this planet. But what is the opposite? Are there smaller citizenship classifications, and are they as important? Particularly, what about citizenship at your place of employment? What does organizational citizenship behavior mean to a company?Can it affect things like job satisfaction, efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction? Research suggests that there is a â€Å"moderately positive correlation† between job function and organizational citizenship behavior. [ (Kinicki) ] This paper will examine real examples of OCB, explain how organizations can influence OCB, and which pitfalls to watch out for. (Kinicki) Organ defined organizational citizenship behaviors as, â€Å"Individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization.By discretionary, we mean that the behavior is not an enforceable requirement of the role or the job description, that is, the clearly specifiable terms of the person’s employment contract with the organization; the behavior is rather a matter of personal choice, such that its omission is not generally understood as punishable. † (Organ) Literature in this subject has been almost non-existent prior the early 1980’s, but has increased in popularity ever since. Its these â€Å"discretionary† behaviors that according to Brooker, â€Å"Our esprit de corps is the core of our success. That’s the most difficult thing for a competitor to imitate.They can buy all the physical things. The th ing you can’t buy is dedication, devotion, and loyalty. † (Brooker) Its this loyalty that convinced Herb Kelleher, from Booker’s article tiled â€Å"Can anyone replace Herb? â€Å" to argue â€Å"that employee citizenship is the single biggest reason for the company’s success. † However this was hard to prove with hard evidence until late 1990’s. (Brooker) In Bolino and Turnley’s 2003 article â€Å"Going the Extra Mile: Cultivating and managing Employee Citizenship Behavior† which appeared in Academy of Management Executive, they describe factors that can promote good OCB.It is the authors’ opinion that the most important being job satisfaction. (Turnley) Bolino & Turnley conclude from their analyst of several studies, that if an employee is happy, they will provide a positive organizational citizenship behavior. The article also covered other factors such as trust, job interest and involvement, organizational suppo rt, and Employee Characteristics. It is with these factors that researches use to try to come up with predictors. Perhaps one of the best predictors happens in what Bolino and Turnley calls the â€Å"recruitment & selection† process. Turnley)They provide three main ways in which human resource managers can help achieve this. The first is to look for causes that applicants are committed to. For examples, college graduates that have a lot of extra curricular activities or a professional with volunteer services. Another predictor in determining positive OCB would be to provide situational questions to the interviewee. (Turnley)This is one tool that Smucker’s uses to gage their employee’s. The last tool the article provides is personality trait questions.This is somewhat similar to situational interviews, but they are geared to the person and not a specific situation. The next natural step in influencing organizational citizenship behavior is during training. It is during training that an organization may have the best chance at eliciting citizenship behaviors. However, Bolino & Turnley, describe how this is usually the opposite of what organizations do, due to their emphasis on individual achievements. One way an organization can help influence positive OCB is to sponsor training programs that focus on cooperation and taking initiative.But probably the best would be to develop a training program that is used to improve relationships among coworkers and/or supervisors and subordinates. Bolino’s article gave an example of this at Southwest Airlines when works were cross-trained on other positions. This allowed employees to gain experience in other area, but also appreciate and help out when they could. Also a study showed that supervisors that have had training in organizational justice principles also benefit from higher levels of OCB. In the last direct way organizations can influence OCB is in compensation.Bolino’s arti cle concluded that employees are more likely to engage in behaviors that are rewarded. An example of this is Asada, the British subsidiary of Wal-Mart, gives awards to employees who go â€Å"above and beyond†. CitiGroup does something similar. It is called â€Å"Galaxy of Thanks†. Employees can thank other employees for going above and beyond. If an employee reaches so many, that employee gets special recognition by the company and can win rewards. (Young) Bolino’s article also pointed to group or organizational level compensation fosters positive OCB. But, there can be many pitfalls for compensating for OCB.Some more informal ways of promoting positive OCB would include developing a culture in the organization that is conducive for positive OCB. Having managers and supervisors living by the same standard and by having an organization act in a deserving way. As you can tell there are many ways that organizations can influence their potential positive organizatio nal citizenship behavior. But, there are some pitfalls to be aware of. While there are potentially several pitfalls, all seem easily manageable. Bolino places pitfalls in three categories: Impression Management, Costs, and Escalating.Impression Management, is noted in another article by Bolino as, â€Å"Several organizational behavior scholars have noted that individuals may engage in organizational citizenship behaviors not because they are concerned about the organization’s welfare but because such activities may cause others (especially their supervisors) to look favorably upon them† (Bolino) The pitfall here comes when rewarding this type of â€Å"Impression Management† behavior, which can put a strain on morale. (Turnley)Managers should watch for this type of motivation during citizenship assessments and be sure not to reward this type of behavior.If this behavior is rewarded the costs could certainly outweigh any potential gains. Another potential downside to positive OCB happens when employees become lax on their main job functions. Many don’t think helping another co-worker could potentially be a downfall, but that is exactly what Sprint, Xerox, and Ford found out in a Wall Street Journal study. Employees would help co-workers with computer issues and it was estimated to have cost the companies upwards of $15,000 per computer. It is thought that hiring more support personal would have been significantly less expensive, and with better quality of support. Bulkeley)The last area of pitfalls is a concept of Escalating Citizenship. You can think of this concept like inflation. Today a dollar will buy you much less than fifty or so years ago and escalating citizenship is something that manager must watch out for. If the bar for above and beyond is constantly moved higher and higher it can be catastrophic for an organization including high levels of job dissatisfaction, high turnover, and high stress. It is the author’s opi nion that the evidence is overwhelming that positive organizational behavior can greatly influence or be the â€Å"single biggest reason for the company’s success†. Brooker)In this essay we have examined why organizational citizenship is important to an organization. We also took a look at what organizations can do to positively impact OCB. Finally we examined some downsides of OCB and provided some way managers can navigate around them. Organizational citizenship behavior can be a very good thing, when done correctly. Bibliography Bolino. â€Å"Citizenship and impression managment: Good soliders or good actors. † Academy of Managment Review 24. 1 (n. d. ): 82-88. Brooker, K. â€Å"Can anyone replace Herb? † 2000. Fourtune. 19 Oct 2012 <http://money. nn. com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/04/17/278112/index. htm>. Bulkeley, W. M. â€Å"Study finds hidden costs of computing. † The Wall Street Journal (1992). Kinicki, Angelo. Managment: a practical introduction 5E. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Organ, D. W. Organizatioal citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome. Lexington: Lexington Books, n. d. Turnley. â€Å"Going The Extra Mile: Cultivating and managing employee citizenship behavior. † Academy of Managment Executives 17. 3 (2003): 60-71. Young, Joseph P. Interview. Joshua Harris. 19 October 2012.

Influence of Culture Versus Communication

First of all, defining â€Å"organizational culture is what employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values, and expectation (Matteson, 2002)†.Of course, any group or organization or human beings which gets together for a purpose has a kind of assumption invented, discovered or developed to learn and cope any issues/problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has a valuable to be thought to new members as a correct way to perceive, to think and to feel in relation to those issues/problems. At the other hand, communication is glue that holds organization together. Without this valuable interaction, nothing can be perceived, created and everyone in the organization would act as differently with no control for an unsustainable result. The two have a relationship because, for the organization to be effective, it has to have an effective communicator in the group who must understand not only general interpretation communication concepts, but also the characteristic of interpersonal communication within the organization or organizational communication. Since influencing is the process of guiding the activities of the organization members in the right and appropriate directions with effectiveness, there is ample coloration between both, the organizational culture and communication. Without the communication, nothing can be considered, encouraged, motivated, leaded, thought, understood and leaded. For and an appropriate organization. For a formal or informal culture within an organization, the input portions are: people, money, raw materials, and machines. The process seems to be the influence process where the consideration of the group, the motivation of the group, leading as managers to supervision, encouraging the group who after all understood through the communication.

Protagonist Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Protagonist Analysis Paper - Essay Example In fact, Jackie’s hatred extends to influence Anne into hating Isabella who later became a truly loving stepmother. Anne depicts strong attachment to Jackie and is unready to accept anything from Isabella. Anne considers Isabella as one responsible for the separation of Jackie and Luke that broke the family. Ben on the other hand seems to love Isabella and mostly accepts directives and help from her, but also depicts strong attachment to Jackie. Luke enjoys strong attachment to the children and rarely wants them to stay with Jackie. Even though separated, Luke confesses his love and friendliness to Jackie and cites children as the central reasons for the feelings. He tries hard to create understanding between Jackie and Isabella so that the former can entrust her children under the care of the latter. Isabella commits and spends most of her social time trying to familiarize with the children. Ben is responding well to Isabella’s struggles but Anne distances even more, a nd creating pursuer-distancer scenario (Nichols, 2013). In the movie, the family including the entrant Isabella involve in different forms of attachments. To begin with, the attachment between Ben and Jackie is healthy. This is evident through the fact that Ben is ready to separate from the mother and survive with a stranger, who in this case is Isabella. The healthy attachment that Ben has with the mother enables him to live a normal and happy life and even integrate well with Isabella (Nichols, 2013). At some point, Ben enjoys Isabella reading him a storybook. When Isabella persuades Ben to sleep, the boy refuses and compels the future stepmother to read him the book. Isabella feels soothed and sleeps when she asks Ben to read her the same book until the boy runs to the sister’s room claiming to have killed Isabella. The attachment between the children and Luke is also healthy considering that the children are

Leonardo da Vinci Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leonardo da Vinci - Research Paper Example Besides, Leonardo provided ample importance to his career as an artist, but provided less importance to his personal life. Thesis statement: Leonardo da Vinci’s professional life, major accomplishments, and major influences prove that Leonardo is symbolic of the influence of Renaissance spirit on humanity in general. Earlier Life: Some important facts on Leonardo’s birth, early life, parents, childhood days, and education are examinable. First of all, he was born in the year 1452. In addition, his birthplace was in Vinci. Joanne Mattern stated that, â€Å"Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in a town called Vinci, Italy† (8). His father was Ser Piero, and his mother was Caterina. His father was born in a wealthy family, but his mother was a peasant. He spent his early childhood with his mother. Later, Leonardo became under the control of his father. But Leonardo’s father did not try to be a role model to his son because he ignored Leonardoâ€℠¢s mother. For instance, Leonardo’s father married Albiera and Francesca Lanfredini. In short, Leonardo was raised in Florence, under the direct control of his father, and this deeply influenced his later life. But this did not affect his education because he received education in the Latin language, geometry, and math. Besides, hardships in early life helped Leonardo to turn his attention towards nature and to observe human relationship with nature. At the same time, Leonardo considered that art can help him to acquire mastery in different fields. Besides, he did not hesitate to learn new things in his life. So, one can see that all these factors molded Leonardo’s character. Personal life From a different angle of view, Leonardo considered that one’s personal life should not be shared with others. To be specific, his lifelong bachelorship, career centrism, and workaholic attitude hindered him from creating intimate relationships with women. Besides, his earlier life with his father may have instilled the feeling of hatred towards married life. But one must not misunderstand that Leonardo was not able to create and maintain cordial friendship with womenfolk. For instance, Leonardo maintained lifelong relationship with two women, named Beatrice and Isabella. Leonardo’s relationship with these women was so intimate because he painted Isabella’s portrait and carried the same with him. This proves that some women were allowed to enter Leonardo’s private domain without any restriction. From a different angle of view, Leonardo provided ample importance to his career and it reduced the scope of marriage in his life. In addition, Leonardo was a strict vegetarian. As an individual who is deeply interested in nature, vegetarianism and consideration towards living things deeply influenced his life philosophy. At the same time, Leonardo maintained a number of male friends in his private life. This helped him to be in touch with ot her fields of knowledge like mathematics, architecture, and military science. But Leonardo never disclosed his sexuality and never allowed strangers to enter his private circle. He passed away in the 16th century (say, in the year 1519). Professional life: Leonardo started his professional life with Verrocchio. John Malam stated that, â€Å"When Leonardo was in his teens, his father took him to the city of Florence to meet Andrea del Verrocchio, who was a well known artist†

BHS 328 - Team Building (Mod 3 CBA) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

BHS 328 - Team Building (Mod 3 CBA) - Essay Example nt helps to nurture a culture where every individual is given an equal opportunity regardless of his/her designation, age, gender and race to participate in an organization’s decision making process. In recent years, there has been a growing number of organizations that focus on delegating power to employees to make decisions since it warrants an environment where everyone can give their opinion and this not only enhances the creativity of an individual, it also increases the sense of ownership. In Books4Us, there is a concept of authoritative management which requires that every employee needs to ask his/her manager for making decisions which hampers him/her from taking any risk and thinking out-of-the box. Due to stiff competition, the organization needs innovation ideas to capture the market share but due to low level of empowerment, employees rely on their managers to give them instructions for each task regardless of its complexity and novelty. An Open Book Management culture will encourage employees to study the external environment and leverage the strengths of the organization to avail the opportunities at hand. Moreover, delegating authority to employees helps in building trust between the employee and his superior since the employee senses that he is trusted with the job therefore he strives to his best capability and this results in a higher-level of motivation. Lack of empowerment has resulted in lack of shared vision, mission and goals due to which every employee is pursuing personal goals and focusing on individual achievement rather than the success of Books4us. Increase in the level of authority held by each employee will result in the organization working as a team seeking identical objectives rather than acting as discrete groups. â€Å"What better way to tap into workers brains as well as their brawn than to encourage them to think on the job, to bring to it a greater sense of professionalism and self-motivation and to feel committed to the

605 GCP BIRD STRIKE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 11250 words

605 GCP BIRD STRIKE - Essay Example I would like to thank her for teaching me how to navigate through the ocean of knowledge. I am equally overwhelmed by the unflinching support of all my other professors, lecturers and administrative staff and the library staff at the _____________ University and thank them profusely. Their slightest disarrangement would have distracted my focus from the research. At the end, I pray the almighty whose invisible hands have guided me to successfully undertake this project. I sincerely hope that the project is useful to the society and help prosperity in its own way. Accidents caused due to bird strike with aircraft are a congenital issue in the aviation industry and has been a cause of worry for the aviation fraternity due to the risk of life and property at stake. Though all the stakeholders have been contributing their might for solving it, yet the problem persists and even is seen to be on the rise. This paper examines the actors and factors responsible for bird-aircraft strike, the species vulnerable to such strikes, their pattern and seasonality. It also critically examines the efforts underway to minimize bird-aircraft strike hazard and the results achieved therein. Ultimately, it tries to establish the reason why bird-aircraft strikes are still on the rise despite rapid progress made in the aviation industry. Bird-aircraft strike hazard (BASH) as it is called as, is a worldwide phenomena. Each year substantial loss of life and property is reported throughout the world due to bird-aircraft strike. An indication of the nature of the problem and the resulting loss of life and property can be understood by the fact that over 219 people have been killed world-wide due to bird-airstrike in the past 21 years. Worldwide, the annual damages caused by bird-airstrike have been estimated to be at 1.2 billion USD (Wikipedia, 2010). From 1990-2004, USA airlines reported 31 incidents in which

Scholarly Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Scholarly Writing - Essay Example In science, any decision made has to rely on tested evidence and factual data, for example psychology. As discussed in (â€Å"Psychology as a Science†, 2013), this is because it involves systematic observation, data collection, and data analysis (empiricism), the examination of testable problems, and the falsifiability of result. Information in science should be testable, and people can refer the decision as a fact. A scientific decision goes through different stages such as data collection, data analysis and testing to ensure its authenticity. Scientific decisions only factor in factual data (Pope, 1998). On the other hand, however, common sense does not rely in any form of data or tested information. An individual, basing his or her reasoning on what he believes to be true or as "intuitively obvious" makes a decision about a particular issue. Such a decision lacks any form of data or evidence. Therefore, the decision arrived at could be either true or false. According to (â €Å"Psychology as a Science†, 2013), the problem with common sense ideas about behavior is that much of it is contradictory, leaving one to wonder still about the actual answer to some of life’s questions. Common sense involves critical thinking. According to Douglas (2000), critical thinking puts into consideration the importance of beliefs. Since people find it easier to believe than to disbelieve, critical thinking helps them back their reasoning to believe in any decision they come up with. As discussed in (â€Å"Psychology as a Science†, 2013), a good critical thinker uses scientific inquiry to discover that both cliches in each dichotomy are unsupported, that only one is supported, or that both are actually supported. Personally, critical thinking helps me in believing what I have learnt or read. It is possible to differentiate between something that is true and one that is untrue by critically analyzing a text by use of prior information. Belief persevera nce is the tendency of an individual o hold on to his or her initial belief, even when provided with new information that contradicts the present belief. Paul & Elder (2003) assert that critical thinking involves focusing on the purpose of thinking, questions the thinking is pursuing, the information in use, the assumptions and inferences made, concepts and point of view guiding the thinking and the implications of the thinking. Belief perseverance acts in ignorance with this argument, as here is no way of solving an individual’s decision, despite being acquainted with this knowledge. Personally, I try to use common sense to allow for critical thinking in place of personal belief. With common sense, I know when something is wrong and when right. I cannot interchange these two, to make something right wrong and something wrong right using common sense. References Douglas, N. L. (2000). Enemies of critical thinking: Lessons from social psychology research. Reading Psychology, 2 1(2), 129–144. Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2003). Critical thinking: Teaching students how to study and learn (Part III). Journal of Developmental Education, 26(3), 36-37. Pope, K. S. (1998). Pseudoscience, cross-examination, and scientific evidence in the recovered memory controversy. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 4(4), 1160-1181. Psychology as a Science. (2013). [Study notes] Scholarly Writing The author had a good topic of discussion; the personal computer. The author, while introducing the topic, digs a little background

The 4 functions of management within the Department of Defense Assignment

The 4 functions of management within the Department of Defense - Assignment Example The three steps of planning involves setting out the goals which the organization plans to achieve , creating a plan for achieving these goals .Once the plan has been made the last function of planning is to decide how the limited resources need to be allocated in order to achieve the plan. (Richard L. Daft, 2010) The DoD is very complex in the terms of organizational structure. The planning for DoD is done at the top level of the country. The President along with the secretary of defense and the national security council determines the security needs of the country or in other word we can say that they set the goals which are to be achieved by DoD. Once the goals have to be set the plan for the execution of these goals is made by the commander in chief in consultation with senior military and intelligence officials. The allocation of resources in DoD is done by the U.S congress which controls the budget for the various plans. Various committees of both the houses examine the goals w hich have to be achieved and allocate the resources accordingly. Organizing Organizing means creating working relationships between the members of the organization to facilitate better working conditions which leads to achievement of goals. An organization structure is the outcome of this organizing activity. (Flamholtz, 1996) The structures are made to breakdown the goals into different components and assign it to individuals who can complete them. The organizational structure of the DoD is shown in the figure below – Apart from this broad level organizational structure presented above there are various agencies and departments which function under the defense secretary. (Kinnard, 1980) Leading Leading is very vital part in management. The leader determines direction, in which the employees have to move, helps them understand the roles that have to be played by them and motivates them to achieve their goals. Leader uses his power, influence and vision in order to motivate hi s employees and make them dedicated in achieving the goals that have been set. The goals made in the planning stage will never be realized without proper leaders. In DoD the functions of leader are performed by various persons. Leading is done at the top by the president who tries to motivate the nation and the whole department of defense on the general level as to why a particular war is necessary. He along with the joint chief of staff’s can motivate the soldiers only on a very broad level; the various officers who are in charge of the field units have to perform the function of leading at the ground level. They have to motivate the soldiers in their command to achieve the goals. Leading is the most complex function in DoD as it is entirely different from corporate leadership. Leadership in DoD means motivating your employees to even lay down their lives for the nation. That is why officers are trained thoroughly in order to inculcate leadership values in them. These values are very essential to win wars and to achieve the overall goals of the DoD. Controlling Controlling means evaluation. This evaluation may be mid-term or after a particular time period has elapsed. Controlling defines how well the organization is doing, how far it is from achieving the goals which have been set; any changes in the goals or resources needed to achieve the goals. Sometimes even the goals might be changed midway if they are considered to be too easy to achieve or very

Art Therapy Essay Example for Free

Art Therapy Essay I. Introduction, History, and Problem Art speaks of originality, individuality, a creative process, graphic materials, colors, textures, spontaneity, risk, alternatives, and imagination†¦ Therapy implies taking care of, waiting, listening, healing, moving towards wholeness, growth provoking medicine, human exchange, sympathetic understanding† (Fleshman and Fryrear, 1981, p.75), quoting from a research paper of Dr. Carol Lark of The Art Center in Missouri. So what then truly is Art Therapy? Art therapy is a form of psychological therapy that employs artistic media, not verbal communication, as its principal means of communication to help and cure patients, who are suffering from traumatic experiences, mental or physical problems, and behavioral imbalance. Art media includes painting or drawing, photo image, sculpture, clay art, color art and other forms that showcase their feelings, moods, and maybe even show hidden talents or abilities that they are not aware of. But clients who are in need of this therapy do not have to be skilled in the arts, for the main concern is not the aesthetics of the creation but to cause change and growth in the life of the client. Art therapy is a procedure administered by an art therapist in a designated art therapy room to bring about a successful result of the practice. The art therapist is a highly-trained and experienced professional whose skills are tested by a patient in a complex and difficult task to improve his/her well-being. They are well educated about human nature and development, psychological theories, clinical practice, spiritual, multicultural and artistic language and traditions, and the healing probabilities of art. Art therapist convenes with people of all ages and social standing either in individual or group settings. The art therapy room or â€Å"creative arena† (Case, 1992, p.19) is the place where a â€Å"triangular relationship† (Case, 1992, p.19) is formed by the art work created, the patient or client, and the therapist. This kind of relationship is what makes art therapy different form other clinical practices of therapy. This arena is expected to be a place of security and of peace so that the right therapeutic process is administered thoroughly and far better results are achieved. Art therapy was first coined by an artist named Adrian Hill who was practicing it with his tuberculosis patients at the King Edward VII Sanatorium in Sussex to recover from their illness. In its formative years in the United States, from the early 1930s through the middle 1950s, art therapy was practiced by fine artists and art educators in medical, psychiatric and educational centers and facilities. Although the first post was established in 1946, early stages of the profession of art therapy were seen in the 1950s. There were debates and discussions whether it is to be considered a profession or an acceptable mode of therapy in psychology. Through the other disciplines, these are psychology, sociology, anthropology, physiology, aesthetics, and education, it later became known as a profession and was officially recognized in the health service in 1981. It became extensively distinguished from then on and is continuously expanding. Since art therapy is practiced by different therapists, it is rather a diverse career or clinical practice. However, despite the diversity of work, I believe that art therapy improves/changes attitude of people who have psychological problems. II. Function/Significance of Research This research is designed to further address the argument within this kind of profession: whether it is the art creation itself that serves as a healing mediator, whether it is the existence of the therapist that uplifts the distraught, whether it is the art therapy place that serves as a temporary haven, or is it the overall components of art therapy-the art, the therapist, and the therapy room- working together as a team to improve the condition of the patient. It aims to present an understanding of art therapy as an effective psychotherapeutic approach to patients and give them an idea of the progress of this clinical practice. The discussion in the rationale page is an extensive talk about the real claims of art therapy as a healing process to psychologically-impaired individuals. It talks about the factors that comprise a sound art therapy session and the affirmation seen by therapists on their clients after the artistic experience is explored. This paper intends to introduce to the readers both the theory, applications, and practices of art therapy and gives them the imagination to discover the value of it through different work settings. There is also the attempt to summarize the most important points and features of this kind of practice for understanding of new readers to this field. Although, the foremost objective of this paper is to make people believe what they think is unbelievable in the arts and its purpose. To let them realize that healing is not just a personal struggle if you let other people come into your life and show you the way to personal redemption. III. Rationale (explore the hypothesis) When Hill started to practice art therapy, he discovered that painting has two purposes for the patient: it became a way to kill the time and it also provided them a medium to release anxiety and trauma. Even in the most serious or aggravating situations in our lives, through artistic expressions we experience a sense of power and liberation; our dignity and self-respect are stimulated by this creative activity as opposed to those who say that creative expression is a shallow approach to good health and well-being. History shows that self-repair and total transformation is achieved through the dominant force of art expression. Victims of disaster, tragedy, despair, or the daily dangers of life respond to these kinds of cases with affirmations of care and love for each other due to the healing process of art therapy conducted in peaceful and safe places of free expression. Take for example the case of 9/11 terrorist attacks. During their time of grief, people gathered together to release the negative emotions and commemorate the loss of their loved ones. Despite the hatred and anger, compassion among them superseded everything. Within the area of attacks, people offered flowers, prayers, songs, and presented memorabilia such as drawings, sketches, photo images of the victims. These are true examples of artistic expression, both the verbal and nonverbal medium that help the families and friends of the victims overcome the pain and trauma of losing a loved one. â€Å"Psychological safety is a primary element of the healing environment† (Kalmanowitz, 2005, p.xiv) because they are afraid to reveal themselves in places where they believe their artworks and actions will be misunderstood and shamed. In this tragedy, even though the towers were the targets of attacks, these people felt secure expressing their grief because mainly of the overflow of emotions encompassing the area. They felt that it was okay to pour out their pain, and they were not alone. Volunteer groups, either professional or non-professional clinicians, stood by them and comforted the down-trodden. But the process did not end there because survivors were involved in support group therapy that uses art as the basis of healing. Any creation or image presented by the client signifies an emotion or thought, even the past, present, or future phases of his/her life. Inner experience and feelings surface through the art process in a chaotic raw form. These art materials provide a concrete way through which the conscious and unconscious aspects of a person can be revealed. Art or expressive therapy grants an opportunity for the individual to discern the bad habits that generate conflicts within himself and conflicts with other people. â€Å"Making the invisible visible is a major function of the art in art therapy† (Lark, 2001, p.1). The object appears to the therapist as an extension of the client’s self with a symbolic meaning yet to be understood by both of them. The object or image is telling us a story. It opens opportunities to enter and read the human psyche. The making of an artwork encourages discipline and self-esteem, and requires socialization within the confinements of the therapeutic sessions. The judgment and comprehension of the therapist is based on how the object is made and what art materials are used to complete the image. Therapists are expected to learn the underlying meanings of it since this was part of their education and practice. Therapists are expected to be sensitive people on matters of sensitivity of the client’s mind and soul. Let’s take another example designed by art therapy practitioners. The â€Å"House-Tree-Person technique† (Hammer, 1964, p.9) is one of the popular and widely-used psychoanalytic tasks used as an approach in art therapy. The House-Tree-Person technique requires the client to draw a house, a tree and a person on a white paper. This drawing or image evaluates how the client sees himself or herself in the world through the comprehension of the therapist. The branches of the Tree overextended upward or outward are interpreted by the therapist as the subject’s over striving for success. Windows situated against the wall of the House, so the side of the House also serves as one side of the windows, represent feelings of lack of self-confidence. If in profile view, only one part of the person-for example, head or body- is shown, an elusive attitude in social affairs is projected. For deeply depressed patients, lack of complete details and use of very faint lines are a combination found in their works. A feeling of isolation, exposure, and helplessness in the face of environmental pressures is, on the other hand, seen in a line sloping downwards and away from the drawn whole. Meanwhile, art therapy with individual clients and groups should also be considered as to the client’s presentation of his art. Individual client setting is requested when he/she feels more comfortable in creative expression if it is a direct one on one approach. Group therapy setting is rather joined by an individual if she feels profited by another person’s warmth and physical closeness, which is based on the philosophy that man is a social being. However, group clients still break away from each other at some points and that has to be understood and patiently addressed by the therapist. IV. Methodology of Research The methodology of research I used is mainly through the inductive technique or the collection of data and evaluation of results. Definition, background, historical context and other useful data were collated from resource books on art therapy and from the suppositions of clinical practitioners of art therapy. Data collected were also taken from some research and background academic papers of art therapy professionals. The case sample on the 9/11 attacks were based on newspaper and television accounts, audio-visual and printed memories and notes of the tragedy by journalists. The concrete sample of House-Tree-Person technique was taken from an author’s description. Most research details were gathered from the books and resource papers of authors Lark, Case, Kalmanowitz, and Hammer, carefully examined and understood. Although interviews were not taken, personal notes of motivation and daily observation on people around were also bases on this research. Motivational quotations were also extracted from the resources to define the drama of the whole healing process. V. Conclusion of Research Art therapy can be used with children, adolescents and adults in a wide variety of settings and applications. As an integrative therapy, it offers a necessary option for clients who may need an experiential, less verbally-driven approach. People in all walks of life turn to creative expressions, some may not even be aware that they are already exposed to this activity, because of the lack of knowledge and help from professionals. There are national organizations in and outside America looking after the improvement or development of standards and training in art therapies. One is seen in private offices or corporations, outpatient clinics and hospitals, community and rehabilitation centers, prisons, and schools or universities. They work with individual or group to paint, draw, or do other artwork and derive the importance of imagery used in their creations. These professionals and organizations work hand in hand with each other to bring about a better quality of service in art therapy for their craft and for the benefit of their clients. It has to be realized by the people around psychologically-problematic cases that healing does not only come from the successful art therapy sessions, but their support also contributes to the whole process that they want to achieve for themselves or for other people. Lest they forget that some of the causes of their depression, stress, trauma, and tensions come from their family and society. The successful interpretation of the art object by the therapist, the willingness of the client to open up to the therapist and to other people as well, the comfortable and secure setting of the therapy room, and the artwork itself be it aesthetically balanced or not, all of these components of art therapy are relevant to the client’s well being. The absence of one component means the incomplete and ineffective process of art therapy. Kalmanowitz (2005) also believed that â€Å"the healing qualities of art relate to the total spectrum of the soul’s experience and that art therapy’s relevance is dependent upon its willingness to meet new challenges and go to places where troubles in the human condition exist† (p.xii). Friedrich Nietzsche also once said that unless we deal with our pain, we are truly lost. So much has been said to validate the real nature of art therapy in personal and communal perspectives then and now. But one thing is for sure, art therapy and its relations with other disciplines will continue to develop in the future. Art therapy really changes/improves the attitude of people with psychological problems. We just have to look within ourselves and we might find the urge to help them; we have to look again within ourselves and we might find ourselves needing the therapy for our own conscious and unconscious demons tearing us apart. In these difficult times, we are everyday faced with disconcerting situations where we are left in the middle of the struggle and we do not know how to fight back. These kinds of situations when treated with neglect, thrown away in the air as if it is nothing, are the ones that are dangerous to the human psyche. Do you want to see yourself dancing in the streets naked? Can you see one of your family members killing herself or himself? Would you like to see a world of deranged men acting as beasts? That is why God created us in his own image and likeness, for us to realize that we are made human beings to love and be loved just like he did. References Case, C. and Tessa Dalley. (1992). The Handbook of Art Therapy. New York: Tavistock/Routledge. Fleshman, B. and Jerry L. Fryrear. (1981). The Arts in Therapy. Chicago: Nelson-Hall. Hammer, E. (1964). The House-Tree-Person (H-T-P) Clinical Research Manual. New York: Western Psychological Services. Hill, A. (1941). Art versus Illness. London: George Allen Unwin. Kalmanowitz, D. and Bobby Lloyd. (2005). Art Therapy and Political Violence: With Art, Without Illusion. London: Bruner-Routledge. Killick, K. and Joy Schaverien. (1997). Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis. London: Routledge. Lark, C. (2001). Art Therapy Overview: An Informal Background Paper. Retrieved from http://www.art-therapy.com/ArtTherapyOverview.htm. Waller, D. (1993). Group Interactive Art Therapy: Its Use in Training and Treatment. London: Routledge

Entrepreneurial Organization Essay Example for Free

Entrepreneurial Organization Essay In Business today the Entrepreneurial Organizations continue to grow, thrive and help change the way companies and people do business. These Entrepreneurial changes that happen internal to large organizations or at small start-up companies all have some of the same traits in common with each other and use some of the same tactics to create business opportunities. Some of the traits they share to promote their business are: Individual action and initiative, Innovation, Differentiation and Risk Taking. Individual action and initiatives taken by the employees within the organization are to create new product offerings or enhance existing products. These actions do not always succeed in creating revenue for the business, but might help start another product line that will create revenue in the future, but the failures of these products is not seen as a negative within the organization but are treated as growth and are seen as positive steps. Innovation is a primary and necessary building block for the entrepreneurial organization. There are 2 types of innovation that should be looked at, used, changed and viewed when using innovation and these are Product and Process. These types of innovation will create change in either a product or process but both are essential to using innovation within the organization and will be used to create new ideas, process and test new theories. Differentiation is another advantage that has to be used, displayed and shown for an entrepreneurial organization. This shows the advantage to customers and investors what unique good, service, talent and innovation that the organization has that makes the customers willing to pay a premium for their services. Risk taking from a large or small organization requires some sort of investment on the part of the company, either in personal resources or financial resources. The level of risk that the organization is willing to support shows the employees that the organization is willing and able to make changes if the risks are worth the reward. But risks must be taken in these types of organizations to create and discover new opportunities. In conclusion, these are four reasons why entrepreneurial organizations seek to use innovation to create new opportunities and are  some of the building blocks for many large and successful companies. With the landscape of business always changing, if companies are not willing to use innovation to try and create new opportunities they might not be successful in the future.