Effect Of Technology On Architecture Construction Essay

Effect Of Technology On Architecture Construction Essay Technology has played a big role in shaping the current society and its surroundings. It has affected every aspects of human life and one of them is space in the field of architecture and interior design. As technology changes, so does the practice of architecture and interior design. Previously, without the technology, the value of architecture lies in the process of crafting experience in a space. But, nowadays, with the technology, the value has changed into privileging the visual aesthetics of the space or described as visual architecture. Therefore, this essay aims to investigate the current effect of technology in architecture and interior design. As well as to argue that the current visual architecture has decreased the value of architecture. INTRODUCTION Technology opens the door to the future. It is one of the main essences that shape and change the way society behaves, as well as transcends the surrounding to suit the way society lives. Nowadays, the effect of technology has reached almost every level of the society, and one of them is modern building technology. It has great implication in the creation of space in both architecture and interior design. Since the early days, architecture is one of the most important needs of man. It provides space to live and works, an environment for interaction and provoking emotions, as well as a realm where experiences and memories are created. Feelings and emotions are evoked by the form and shape, the arrangement of forms and by relationships that space draws with the surroundings. It affects every part of human senses. As technology developed, the meaning of architecture started to adapt accordingly. Formerly, with conventional building construction technology such as wood-framed, stone-stacking and mud bricks structures, the shape and form of architecture that could be achieved was only a simple and pure form. It led to a trend of homogeneous building, which made architecture looks similar with its surroundings. Because of this limitation, architects and designers became more sensitive and focused on crafting experiences in a space. These experiences then become memories that will be remembered by the visitor and elements that differentiate one building from another. As this continues, because of the limitation on the materials, buildings visual aesthetic is slowly decreasing. Currently, with the creation and development of new building materials and technologies, the inventions of cutting-edge and futuristic looking forms and shapes are possible. New materials and structures are evolved and manufactured everywhere. These advancements have made architects trying to work out and explore the possibility of how these new materials can be used to elaborate and create new structures for buildings. Unintentionally, these advancements has also made them became so attached to visual appearance. Meaning that majority of them concentrate on using technology in order to discover new forms and shapes for architecture in order to reflect the idea for which it was designed. The design of the building that focused on visual aesthetics has led to a trend of creating a form that looks good rather than a space that feels good. With this trend continuing, it seems that the role of visual sense has being privileged when compared to other human senses. The impact of this trend causes the design of the current architecture being reduced and restricted into visual senses. With the absence of other senses, the strength of interaction between our bodies and a space is being diminished. This is because human experience space and environment through all of their senses, not only through the visual. The trend also indicates that the tendency in architecture of image rather than architecture of experience is increasing. The products of architecture of image will only offer visual consumption which wont create lasting impressions that all the architects strive for. It will only become a nice looking postcard of visually striking building. Hence, the essay aims to prove that the current use of technology in architecture is only being used to achieve visual aesthetics and has decreased the value of architecture. The essay will also argue that technology to achieve powerful or aesthetically pleasing form to the sight has to be able to grow hand in hand with other human senses, in order to create valuable experience and memory in a space. Only then, the value of architecture can be pushed to a full potential. Architecture of Experience rather than Visual Instead of experiencing our being in the world, we behold it from outside as spectators of images projected on the surface of the retina. Pallasmaa, J, 2005, p.47 Before we can move forward to the main issue, to question the effect of technology towards current architecture, it is important to look and understand briefly what is the nature and value of architecture since the early days it was created. Throughout the history, despite of a large number of definitions which have been proposed by numerous architects, the answer to the nature and value of architecture has never come to a conclusion. Maybe it is because there are diverse ways to formulate an answer to this. Davies (2008) noted that one of the numerous definitions of architecture that can be found in dictionaries, refer to the meaning of, a method or style of building. It seems that this definition leads to a diminishing understanding that building is just an object of visual aesthetic. Some even make comparison of architecture with other form of arts which is sculpture. For instance, Santiago Calatrava, a world-renowned Santiago Calatrava: Sculpture into Architecture, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Spanish architects that combined sculpture and painting with architecture. He is claimed as a building sculptor and had a world-wide exhibition of his works. James Gardner (2005, The Art Behind the Architect, The NY Sun newspaper) mentioned that there is no clear line whether Calatrava is a sculptor that design buildings or an architect that makes sculptures. And whether his works are sculptures that are in a form of architecture or a combination of both art and architecture. So is architecture is just a method of applying aesthetics consideration to the form of buildings? Or it is just an art of making buildings beautiful? This idea of definition seems to have missed a central core of the nature and value of architecture. Previously, in the prehistoric time where architecture was not even born yet, human lived in a nomadic way. They moved from one place to another. When night came, they stopped and lighted a fire to warm themselves up. By doing so, they started to define a place. And if they intend to stay there longer, they started to define a place to sleep, a place to shelter them from the rain, a place to collect and store food, a place where they could defend themselves from danger, etc. From their chosen site, experience of their surrounding, until the organization of their place, this leads to an evolution from a place to architecture. Based on that, one can say that the nature and value of architecture is in the sense of a place that is created by the organization between buildings with the surrounding and context itself. Thus, architecture relates to the way people live, it changes and evolves based on the environments, experiences and needs. As time goes on, places that people used have became more diverse, sophisticated and complex which made architecture consistently changing as well. Starting from the prehistoric era where human dwells in occasional caves to stone-stacking shelters. Then evolves to temporal tents make by frame-wood structures and into round houses that made of mud bricks. And as human becomes more civilized, the needs of place for different functions emerged too. From a place to worship gods, a place to trade things, a place for entertainment and so much more. These places will keep on expanding to meet the different needs of human. Moreover, tools to build and transport materials, such as wheels or pulleys, have advanced and are still growing in order to make construction process becomes more efficient. So, not only materials have evolved, functions and tools to build each building have advanced as well. From the early civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Roman Empire and the East, the develo pment in architecture to create buildings for different purposes have greatly varied. Egypts Pyramids, Greeks Temples, and Romans Amphitheatres are just few illustrations of various functions that could be found globally. The forms, materials, tools and functions of the architecture evolve because of the resources that are available in the environment. The needs for stronger materials to create shelter and suitable types of materials to craft the atmosphere for different functions have pushed the tool and building technology to an advanced level too. With the application of the advanced materials and technologies, humans are able to generate unique experiences which would enrich the physical and psychological experience in architecture. In the time where modern building technology was not developed yet, there was a limitation in the creation of architectural form. Architects and engineers were only able to create certain kinds of form because of the limitation of the materials and tools at that time. Considering this constraints, the focus of architecture at this time is in the creation of experience, which is the nature and value of architecture since the early days. People lived through experiencing the world with body senses. One sense interacts with other senses to be able to let human integrate with the surrounding and the world. As a result, architecture is the product of this constant interaction between people with their surrounding and the world. Architecture provides spaces where people could do their daily activities, experience the environment, feel comfortable with it and generate impactful memories through these interactions. The interaction that happens can be either simple or complex. It means that t he space within the architecture should be able to interact with at least one or all of the body senses. This is due to, as human we have needs and desires, beliefs and aspirations, as well as aesthetic sensibility that are affected by warmth, touch, odour, sound and visual stimuli. Every interaction that happens will be experienced by the body. And if the experience through the space is strong enough, it will formulate an impactful memory to the users mind. And if this is successful, the lasting impression that every architects strive for will be achieved. That is why architecture should be designed with a thought of multi-sensory experience inside the space. Some examples of ideal architecture that illustrates significant historical buildings with good space design are The Colleseum in Rome, The Louvre in France, and Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca. For the first one which is The Flavian Amphitheatre or widely known as The Colosseum at Rome. The reason that it is one of significant historical buildings with good space design lies within the successful achievement of the monumental and grandeur size, practicality, efficiency for controlling the crowd and the most important is its ability to radiate the crowds and spectators excitement and experience throughout the whole space experience at that time. The hugely impressive vast ellipse form that is filled with tiers of seating was created to strike awe into anyone who saw this great monumental building. It was a symbol of the glorious power and cruelty of Rome and its emperors. Its classical design features, reminiscent of classical Greek architecture is the quintessential symbols of Roman cultur es and was meant to convey that Rome was a great, mighty wealthy, and civilised nation. The Colleseums design was heavily influenced by concrete and vault arches which are two of their greatest inventions. And the construction technique that the Romans used is the standardised parts system so that the components are interchangeable which similar to the current modular system. This standardised system allowed some components of the building such as stairs and seats to be built off-site and then brought to the amphitheatre to be fitted in to their specific location. Along with the standardised parts system, there were also a huge number of entrances and exits being built throughout the amphitheatre. These entrances and exits were imperative to the amphitheatre in order to ensure the crowd to be seated quickly and efficiently. All of the design and system of The Colleseum has been used as the basic for the architects and designers to design and construct the current stadiums globally. The design and form of The Colosseums breath-taking architecture was as a result of the needs of major requirements as a theatre or arena for staging various forms of entertainment to the Romans. As well as, it is a result of the consideration towards the excitement that the designers wanted the spectators to feel. And even today, The Colosseum is still one of the hugely impressive skyscrapers and the memories of how Romans culture, social and life was like before can still be felt through exploring and experiencing the interior of it. Another significant historical architecture with good spatial qualities is The Louvre in France. Currently, it is one of biggest art museums in the world. Built in the 12th century, it was constructed with a cut stone bearing masonry system and previously it was function as some kind of royal or defensive fortress against invasion until the late 18th century where it was first open to the public to display the royals collection such as paintings and sculptures. The reason that The Louvre is considered as significant historical building that has good spatial design lies in the strong sense of the countrys cultural knowledge that the building exhibits and can be identified through its architectural quality. Although The Louvre has a history of the ever-changing function of the architecture, started from a fortress to a palace and eventually becomes one of the worlds largest museums, no matter what it always bear and have its original identity, history and culture of that time it was bu ilt. It is because of the consideration towards the identity, history and culture aspects in mind that the designer had the idea of the form of the architecture and was able to craft the experience inside the space in order to display and showcase those aspects through the test of time. And the third architecture that illustrates significant historical architecture with good spatial design is Masjid Al-Haram which is located at Mecca. It is the largest and considered as the holiest mosque in the world. The current architecture of the mosque is not what it was like since it was first built in the 7th century. There have been major rebuilt, modifications and expansions on its architecture and because of these expansions it has became the largest mosque in the world. The expansion happened in order to accommodate the increasing number of the pilgrims. Since the past, mosque has been considered as a medium for communication; either it is a communication between God and pilgrims or between fellow pilgrims. This idea of the mosque that it is built as a centre for social interaction rather than a building only for ritual or worshipping is being clearly shown and felt in the architecture of Masjid Al-Haram. For examples the presence of the courtyard surrounds the Kaaba or t he grey square house which is designed or placed there with the intention of providing the best meditative and interactive atmosphere for the performance of prayer and community interacting experience to happen inside. And the placement of the minarets or the tall free standing towers is based on the topography of the site in order to create harmonious balance with the Kaaba. These considerations towards the pilgrims experience and the meaning for every placement or form that is created has made Masjid Al-Haram or The Holy Mosque a significant historical building with good spatial design. These 3 architectures above show that designing through paying considerations towards the experience and behaviour of the visitors or occupants would create lasting impression that could stands the test of time. Nevertheless, through this time, because of the limitation on the materials and tools that they could be worked or used, architects and engineers were only able to build certain kinds of forms which made them unsatisfied with the visual aesthetic of the building. With this feeling of unsatisfactory as the main force that drives architects and designers to overcome this issue, which then becomes one of the main factors of the emerging trend of visual architecture or an architecture that the visual aesthetic considerations is being privileged or have dominated the designers thoughts rather than the experiential value. It is until the late 18th century, in the industrial revolution era, when cast iron can be produced in a large numbers and cheaply enough and has opportunities in creating new forms. This is when architects and designers started to become aware of the glorious potential of cast iron used in architecture. One of the first architectural projects that are entirely made from cast iron is The Iron Bridge in Shropshire (Potter, D, 2006). And this marks the dawn of Modern building technology. As technology has advanced towards a new stage, which is the modern building technology, the nature and value of architecture started to shift and adapt as well. The birth of modern technology is as the result of architects using experimental science and engineering theory and tools to inform the form and construction of their buildings. Which previously form and structures of buildings were relied strongly on the knowledge of the craftsman or builder. This development has begun to revolutionize architecture into an entirely new direction. Through this modern building technology, architects and designers are provided with a new range of materials and tools to achieve and satisfy their hunger for more advanced forms. Previously, the architectural form of each location has their own unique characteristics. This is because of their environment would only be able to produce certain kinds of materials. Due to this constraint, architects and designers had lesser choices of resources that w ere available. This led to vernacular architecture of that area which meant that the material and building tool that they used to construct buildings in a location would have a more deeply grounded meaning with the context of the building and in a way was more purely defined with the unique representative form of that certain location. For instance, the Pyramid in Egypt that is made from stone is entirely different from the Temple in China which is made from wood. But since the developed worlds industrialisation trend has expanded globally throughout the world. This has influenced the local architects and designers wanting to follow the international architectural fashions style and has become another factor that contributed in the emerging trend of visual architecture. With modern building technology , transportation of materials from one location to another location has became possible, the ability of mass production has lowered the cost of construction, and computer software has accelerated the time to finish the drawing or design of a building. These developments have made the process of realizing architecture become more efficient and effective in every layer, either it is the time span to complete, the construction, the planning of the project, the creation of the buildings form or even the innovation of new and better materials is continually increasing. The development of materials has played a big role in the creation of advanced architectural form. It is one of the aspects that started the trend of architecture of image. Beginning by looking into the traditional materials that have been used since the prehistoric times, which is wood. This material could be considered as the forefather of all current materials. In the early days, prehistor ic people used these to build tents as their shelters from the sun and rain. By constructing tree trunks or branches together creating the shape of an inverted V-shape, putting some support to hold it firm on the ground and covered with leaves. This creates the simplest foundation of architecture form. As human evolved so did materials for shelter. Moving from wood to stone, as a stronger material, the form of the shelter started to develop into tent-like house by stacking different stones together. As human moves on to the times of early civilizations, the needs, desires, and beliefs have been greatly varied too. This leads to the creation of places of worships, sacrifices, monuments, and governments. Based on this, the form of the architecture started to goes vertically higher and bigger. At this time, pillar, column, beam, arch and dome has started to be built to fulfil the functions of the architecture. Moving on from the prehistoric times into the middle age, at this time, castles are becoming common forms of architecture in every part of Europe. And as it moves through The Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Gothic revival, from 15th century to 18th century, architects and designers feel that every architectures in their own location has looked similar because of the limitation of technology and materials provided at that time and that location. Until early 19th century, when modern building technology was discovered. This technology allowed iron to be used in architecture because it has became relatively cheaper while previously it was considered as a very expensive material. Iron is architecturally unique because of being relatively lightweight and malleable as well as strong. Moreover, because of its properties, it can be used for free-form designs. In this period, glass has also been widely used and available. Glass is widely used for its optimal balance between aesthetics, functions and its ability to create effects that could change experience. The reason is because glass has the property that allows light to transmits in and by using it, the architects or designers has the power to controls light which creates an illusion that the building are able to change, move and create certain atmosphere. And for architect light is one of the powerful tools in crafting experience in architecture. One of the architecture that ref lects a building of high technology in this period is the Joseph Paxtons Crystal Palace of the Great Exhibition. Built in 1851 in London, this building was made of modular cast iron and glass which symbolized the industrial, technological and economic superiority of the modern building technology. Progressing to the late 19th century, which reinforced concrete is invented. At this time, concrete is being reinforced with iron or steel in order to increase the strength of tension in concrete to minimize cracking problem. By doing so, this reinforced concrete have special properties which are more durable to thermal expansion, provides strength to optimize building structures and it has the ability to bend allowing it to be made into any shape or size for architectural purpose. Because of these special properties, reinforced concrete is still one of the most popular materials that are being used for construction purposes until now. And in 20th century, plastics became widely known and popular as well. It is because plastics are lightweight, resilient, generally resistant to corrosion and moisture, and can be moulded and formed into complex shapes. And because it is the only man-made material, this allowed it to be developed even more in the future. This development in modern building technology has opened the door for architects and designers to realize all the unrealized ideas that they had in mind. And with this the notion of architecture of image is slowly becoming a trend. With advancement in modern building technology, materials and tools to construct a building have greatly expanded. Back then, buildings are limited with height. Mainly it is because of the limitation of materials and tools that caused architects and designers to think and design horizontally. But with modern building technology, current buildings are able to go higher becoming a skyscraper or go deeper underground, maybe becoming an earth scraper, and not only going vertically, it also allows the buildings to be built diagonally. From geometric to organic form or from masses to pixels, current technology makes everything possible. Moreover, modern building technology is being used for visualizing and selling the ideas that the designers have to the clients too. For example 3 dimensional simulation software that are able to produce photo realistic images of the building even though it has not being constructed yet. Architecture has entered into a realm of visual form which is nothing more or less than the creation of buildings tangible and visible shapes. Beekman Tower, Frank Gehry New York One example of a purely visual architecture is the Beekman Tower in New York by Frank Gehry. It is a curious fusion of public and private zones. The main design feature is the organic form of the buildings facade which is made of aluminium foil. The organic folds evoke the sense of water ripples. And the effects of ripples are being enhanced more on the daytime because of the natural light. This building is surely a successful design and appealing to one of human senses which is the visual. But for the interior, everything inside the space is dully conventional. The consideration towards other senses inside the space in order to experience the space has been neglected. Another one is the Orchard Central in Singapore by DP Architects. The key design element of this shopping mall is on the facade of the mall which is a faceted membrane which will function as massive media wall and is set to be an iconic feature at the junction of Orchard and Killiney roads. The idea of this is to add aural and visual vibrancy to the central stretch of Orchard Road. By doing so, the architectural facade of the building will be able to generate visual connection with the public. But the problem is the elimination of other senses and the dependency towards the vision has made the design of the space unattractive and unable to create a connection with the visitors. In addition to another architecture that illustrates purely visual architecture is The Central Plaza Shopping Mall by Manuelle Gautrand which is located in Bangkok, Thailand. The design of the architecture relies heavily on the faà §ade of the building while the interior is not greatly different from most other shopping mall in the city. The idea of the glowing red lines that simply clad or covered the facade of the building which is the key design element of the architecture is being conceived by the designer as tools that are able to send messages of flow movement and fluidity to the visitors. This perception shows that the design of the building is influenced by technology and only focus on the visual aesthetics to resolve the issue of the space. And by doing so it weakens the architectural value of it and diminished the experiential value inside. Orchard Central, DP Architects Singapore Based on both of the case studies above, it is fairly obvious that the privileged of visual senses over other human senses will create a sense of detachment between the architecture and the visitors. This is merely because humans experience the world and their surroundings through their senses. For instance, the sounds of steps, the light that penetrates through the space, the coldness of the concrete walls, scale and proportion are just few ways of how architecture interacts with the visitors senses. Such interaction is then strengthened and articulated through the complex interaction of human senses and will be perceived by the visitors as an experience. With this two-way interaction between visitors and architecture, it will lead to the creation of meaningful memory towards the space. It is true that vision is the first connection between human and the world. Most of us, when we are walking through a space or street, are affected in one way or another by the looks of the buildings that we pass through, the positions of the objects and the arrangements inside the space. But in architecture, the reliance in the sphere of vision will only made the building existed merely on a surface level which is as an object of visual expression such as a postcard. Architecture should be able to interact with every human sense because it is a representation or expression of human minds. And the only way to communicate with the mind is by experiencing the world and surrounding through the senses. That is when architecture has moved on to another level. So, by using the modern technology, not only to grasped the visual aesthetics that has became a trends nowadays, but also to craft the experience that has been the nature and value of architecture since the early days. This will affe ct the human physically and psychologically and will push the architecture to the full potential. Word Count Word count 4885 (excluding Abstract, Table of Contents, Captions, and Works Cited)

Action Learning Review

The Longwall department is responsible for the majority of coal production at the mine and hence, revenue for the business. The management group in this department consist of five staff members, with the Superintendent as the senior person reporting to the Mine Manager. As Technical Services Manager I am a member of the senior management team for the mine, and a peer to the Mine Manager. However, I have no direct authority over the Longwall department. Although it is suited to the approach, the Longwall department does not tend to operate effectively as a team.Whilst there is a clear annual performance target set by senior management, there will often be confusion amongst the group when they attend the mine’s planning meetings as to what the specific short term priorities for the department should be and the best way to achieve them. This confusion invariably leads to conflict in these meetings between group members, with individuals attempting to ensure that their specific ar ea of responsibility is not affected by the other’s individual priorities.There has been a high turnover of staff in the past year and the overall performance of the Longwall has been poor, with production results 40% below budget impacting significantly on the profitability of the business. Analysis The Longwall mining process is complex and to be successful requires reciprocal interdependence of tasks (Thompson, 1967). The engineers must work closely with the operations staff in the department through the planning and implementation stages to ensure safe and productive operations with minimal unplanned delays.This requirement of interdependence makes the Longwall process ideally suited to a team approach for management. Although it is a small group comprised of five staff with complementary skills, and a common production target for the year, the Longwall department does not currently satisfy the requirements of Katzenbach and Smith’s (1993) definition of a team. The y fail to define short term goals and work processes which would lead to achievement of the annual production target and, in addition, the group does not hold themselves mutually accountable for their performance.The lack of team approach towards these highly interdependent tasks leads to competing short term priorities within the group and results in poor overall performance. One of the key reasons that the Longwall department has failed to come together as a team is a lack of group cohesiveness (Shaw, 1981). The members of the group are heterogeneous (Managing People & Organisations, 2006), with different expertise and experience and as a result there is often competition and conflict (Raelin, 1985) with regards to the best approach to various tasks.This is potentially linked to the lack of specific short term goal setting completed within the group as they seek to avoid conflict because they lack the interpersonal skill of conflict resolution (Managing People & Organisations, 200 6). However, this conflict inevitably occurs when the group attends the mine’s planning meetings, as the individuals promote different priorities and ideas. If the group was more cohesive and co-operative, individuals would not feel threatened by other members and the heterogeneity of the group could be harnessed in a positive way through creative and flexible solutions to problems.For example one of the mining staff may have a different solution to an engineering problem which was not considered by the engineers. The lack of cohesiveness has led to a high turnover of staff over the past year. This means that Tuckman and Jensen’s (1977) life cycle of the group has had to return to the forming stage of the on a number of occasions and this in turn has hindered the development of group norms (norming stage) which would enhance co-operation within the group and is essential to achieve the required performance.This lack of progress through the group life cycle is also link ed to the level of competition between heterogeneous group members as they battle for power and influence in the group. The required short term goal setting and work approaches would be more easily achieved by a cohesive group. If the group was able to achieve the latter stages of the life cycle it is likely that group cohesiveness would be high and there would be significantly less staff turnover.The management processes at the mine currently manage individuals rather than teams (Hackman, 1990). This is linked to the Longwall department’s reluctance to embrace mutual accountability for performance and also the reluctance of the Superintendent to effectively lead the group as a team, as discussed below. Remuneration and bonuses are reviewed on the basis of individual performance, with little accountability for performance as part of a team. This leads individuals to â€Å"protect† themselves by making excuses and blaming others for poor performance.It also encourages i ndividuals to focus on the specific tasks and priorities that are linked to their individual performance rather than those best suited to the overall department’s performance, resulting in conflict and a lack of co-operation in the planning and implementation of tasks. On the basis of Thompson’s (2000) model, the Longwall department achieves two out of three essential conditions to be an effective team. The group has the requisite knowledge, skills and ability to complete the required tasks and their motivation to do so is evidenced by the long hours that each individual spends at work focussing on those tasks.However, as mentioned earlier, the group lacks co-ordination strategies such as short term goal setting and work method development which prevents them from developing into a real team. In addition, Thompson’s team effectiveness model also requires an appropriate environment in which the team can operate. As discussed earlier, the design of the team is app ropriate however the requisite organisational context and team culture are currently absent.As can be seen from the earlier analysis, the management of the Longwall mining process is well suited to a team approach, provided that the personnel are managed effectively as a team rather than as individuals in a group. On the basis of Katzenbach and Smith’s team performance curve (1992) the Longwall department is currently at the potential team stage. The individuals in the department have a clear annual production target and are all working hard to achieve it, however, they lack specific short term goals, a common working approach and an attitude of mutual accountability.To achieve the desired performance and meet the annual production targets, the team will need to move from the potential team stage to the real team stage. Improvement Planning From my analysis of the Longwall department I have identified three specific improvement opportunities that I would pursue if I was the M ine Manager to move the team from the potential team stage to the real team stage. Firstly I would look to improve the group’s specific competencies essential for effective teamwork through formal training and improve group cohesiveness through team building activities.Secondly I would implement a process to facilitate the setting of short term goals and work methods to achieve them. Finally I would modify the performance management system and remuneration packages for the individuals in the department to reflect a team based approach rather than individual management. However, prior to beginning the improvement processes I would begin calling the department the Longwall team so that they begin to identify themselves as a team rather than a workgroup or department.To improve the group’s task-related and interpersonal competencies, which are important for effective teamwork, I would organise for the group to go off site together for one week of formal training and team building exercises (Managing People & Organisations, 2006). This training may need to be ongoing. It is important that the group attends this training together so that they can begin to build mutual trust and respect and develop social capital (Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 2004).It is also essential that the training is held off site to ensure there are no distractions. One possible obstacle to carrying out this training is that taking the whole group offsite at the same time leaves the workforce with a lack of supervision or direction. To overcome this I would arrange the Superintendent of another area of the mine who has significant Longwall experience to cover the absence of Longwall Superintendent. I would also arrange for the mechanical and electrical engineers from the engineering department to provide coverage from an engineering perspective.The success of this training can be measured through an assessment process conducted by the training organisation at the end of the training program to examine the understanding and application of the concepts by the individuals in the group. A questionnaire completed by each member of the group would also be implemented to determine their perception of the applicability and success of the training. To facilitate the group’s setting of short term goals and work methods to achieve them, I would send them off site again for two days with an external facilitator.This forum would also include team building activities to break up the workshop and continue to promote team bonding. They would utilise the task-related competencies gained in the formal training process to develop and document short term goals based on achieving the annual production targets set by senior management. They would also be required to assess the potential obstacles and risks to achieving their short term goals and develop and document contingency plans to overcome those obstacles. It is essential that the team develops the goals togeth er so that they have ownership and commitment to achieving them.They need to ensure that the goals and work methods focus on performance not just togetherness (Katzenbach and Smith, 1992). Again, a potential obstacle to this process is taking the group offsite together leaving the workforce with a lack of supervision and direction. This would be addressed in the same manner as previously for the formal training. A second potential obstacle/risk to this process is the quality of the external facilitator. If this person does not have the appropriate skills to keep the workshop on track and the understanding of the desired outcomes, it is likely that the workshop will not be successful.To overcome this obstacle I would interview potential facilitators and seek references from others who have used them in the past. Once selected, I would ensure that the facilitator is very clear about the purpose of the workshop and the required documented outcomes. To measure the success of this worksh op I would review the documented short term goals to ensure that they will allow the team to meet the annual production target and I would also assess the adequacy and relevance of the contingency plans to overcome the identified obstacles and risks.A second measure will be whether or not the group achieves its self developed short term goals over the following weeks. To modify the performance management review system I would change it from an individual performance review by the Superintendent to a 360 degree review process. This review would be based on individual contribution to the team performance as viewed by other members of the team and will provide valuable feedback for individuals.I would also change the remuneration system for the individuals in the team to incorporate a bonus related to Longwall performance as a team measured on the basis of coal produced against targets (Gross 1995). This would encourage the team culture to develop with individuals supporting each other and keeping each other on track rather than pursuing individual priorities. One obstacle to this could be the feeling that some things which could impact Longwall production are out of the management team’s control, such as geological conditions.To overcome this I would document the potential influences on performance which are not controllable by the team and undertake to discount the production targets by a proportional amount to any performance impacts suffered to ensure that the bonus arrangement is not compromised. The measure of the success of this improvement strategy will be the achievement of production targets over the short and long term. References Gross, S. E. 1995, Compensation for teams: how to design and implement team-based reward programs, American Management Association, New York.Hackman, J. R. 1990, Groups that work (and those that don’t), Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Katzenbach, J. & Smith, D. K. 1993, The wisdom of teams: creating the high perform ance organization, McGraw-Hill, London. Katzenbach, J. & Smith, D. 1992, ‘Why teams matter’, extract from The wisdom of teams: creating the high performance organization, in The McKinsey Quarterly, no. 3 of 1992, pp. 3-27. Lengnick-Hall, M. L. & Lengnick-Hall, C. A. 2004, ‘HR’s role in building relationship networks’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 53-63.Managing People and Organisations, 2006, Unit 5, pp. 1-56, AGSM MBA (Executive) Program. Raelin, J. 1985, The clash of cultures, Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Shaw, M. E. 1981, Group dynamics: the social psychology of small group behaviour, McGraw-Hill, New York Thompson, J. D. 1967, Organizations in action, McGraw-Hill, New York. Thompson, L. 2000, Making the team: a guide for managers, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River. Tuckman, B. & Jensen, M. 1977, ‘Stages of small group development’ Group and organisational studies, vol. 2.   

The Argument About Writing My Paper

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Revenge In The Crucible by Arthur Miller - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 651 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/04/01 Category Society Essay Level High school Topics: Revenge Essay Did you like this example? Revenge In Arthur Millers play The Crucible, revenge plays a significant role in making the Putnam believe Rebecca Nurse is guilty of witchcraft, and of making other people accuse each other of witchcraft. In this story revenge was huge in more than one part of the story revenge took place. In the following paragraphs, I will be talking about three situations where revenge was used. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Revenge In The Crucible by Arthur Miller" essay for you Create order The first out of the three examples I will be explaining about revenge was when Abigail Williams was jealous of Proctors wife Elizabeth. Revenge was also shown by Ann Putnam and Rebecca Nurse. The last example I will be sharing is how Thomas Putnam uses revenge against everyone in Salem in a very odd way. Abigail Williams is jealous of Proctors wife Elizabeth so Abigail Williams starts to do things to get Elizabeth away from Proctor. She started to accuse her of witchcraft by stating that Elizabeth sent her a spirit to stab her with a needle. Abigail Williams came to the point where she wants Proctors wife Elizabeth dead so she can have John Proctor to herself. Her revenge continues in the way of her telling John lies about Elizabeth to make Elizabeth seem like a lair and Abigail like a good person. After the affair, John didnt want anything to do with Abigail no more while Abigail was still dangerously in love with him. Abigail, I will cut my hand off before it can ever reach you again (page.24). Abigail started to understand that while Elizabeth is alive she will never have a chance with Proctor again. Abigail mentioned Elizabeths name at the court which ends up sending her to jail taking her out of the picture like she wanted and ends up killing John Proctor with her filthy lies.Secondly, revenge was highly shown by Ann Putnam and Rebecca Nurse. Her thinking goody nurse was a witch made her kill her children purposely. Goody nurse The Lord knows I have not hurt them. I am an innocent person. There is a murderous witch among us (page.17) For murder, she was charged! So she was charged with murdering the marvelous babies. Ann Putnam was extremely afraid because she didnt want anything bad to happen to her last child that she had so this made her take caution. Thirdly, Thomas Putnam accused people through his daughter Ruth of witchcraft the people they accused were all from Salem. If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeits up his property thats law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to by so great a piece.(page.97) What Thomas Putnam did was once the person was accused then once they were either hung to death or just sentenced to jail he would just simply buy all their land off. Like I said before he accused everyone or the people he tried to accuse they were from Salem so his revenge was towards the people in Salem. This continued for a very long time so Putnam felt very powerful himself so he got very happy every time he got to accuse someone because he knew he would get to buy the land after. In conclusion, this story contained a lot of revenge within it, all the revenge was very unfair towards the people it was used against. I explained three examples of how revenge was used in the story The Crucible. These examples that were explained where the top three situations where I thought revenge was highly unfair especially in the case of Elizabeth and Proctor I extremely dont like how unfair Abigail was with them she was just very jealous which made her take the wrong decisions. None of these examples of revenge were acceptable they were all wrong to do. Revenge in my opinion revenge should never be used against someone because revenge can take you to do stuff youll end up regretting in life.