The 30s

Television And Its Impact On Society - 922 Words

Since the moment certain technology has been introduced to us, more specifically, TV, it has been the main means of distraction that we use constantly. For years, we have been mindlessly watching TV for no real reason, other than for passing time or distracting ourselves from more pressing matters. Our society has been greatly influenced by the presence of television and how we see ourselves, it has also informed us of what the â€Å"norms of society† really are. Television has given us information on pop culture and many of today’s famous TV shows and celebrities. The impacts of television, and whether it is positive or negative have been debated for years, and it has still not come to a conclusive answer. Although many think that television has no impact on an individual, or they are so slight that they should not even be taken into account, it is undeniable; television, does have an impact on us and the way we see ourselves and everyone else in our society, no matter how small. David Sedaris’s short story â€Å"Us and Them,† shows the effects of television on the individual’s views of themselves and others due to their dependence of TV, by the use of plot, point of view, and characters. The narrator’s views of the Tomkey family shows us the extent that TV influences our perceptions of ourselves and others. The narrator believes that those who own and watch television are normal and therefore socially acceptable, whereas those who do not, are more of a subspecies. When describingShow MoreRelatedThe Impact Of Television On Society1614 Words   |  7 PagesSince the 1950s, television has had a tremendous impact on American society. We have come to depend on it for many reasons including entertainment, learning, and even background noise. Television has many positive benefits to offer as well as a lot of negative implications. Americans have also witnessed historical events on national television that has affected them in one way or another. In many ways, television shapes American values and also reflects these values as well. Televison also providesRead MoreThe Impact of Television on Society646 Words   |  3 Pagesknown as the television increased significa ntly in popularity and usage, becoming a center of millions of families’ lives. In the 1950s, however, television started to change American society. Television programming mainly consisted of three national networks, which aired: comedies, westerns, quiz shows, and professional sports. By the end of the 1950s, there were nearly 55 million television sets across America and along with this seemingly rapid and broad introduction of the new television came significantRead MoreTelevision And Its Impact On Society1855 Words   |  8 Pages The early nineties thus emerged as a liminal period in the trajectory of media practices. Television shows during this period were forced to navigate the methodological shift from maintaining the myth of television as a living reflection of the movement of time to the imminent advancement of the spectacle. This intermediary condition of the period gave rise to shows with equally confused psychic realities, often appearing to straddle the thin line between real and fake, and highbrow and lowbrowRead MoreEssay Television and Its Impacts on Society 1171 Words   |  5 PagesOver the last forty to fifty years, television has been a major topic of discussion. Specifically, many debate societal benefits to television watching. One widely accepted opinion is that watching TV makes people dumber. People have referred to it with terms like the â€Å"idiot box† and do not feel that watching TV has any benefit at all. They feel that it is a waste of time and people need to spend th eir hours more wisely. Others are of the opinion that TV is actually has societal benefits. FromRead MoreEvolution Of Television And Its Impact On Society1054 Words   |  5 PagesEvolution of Television Introduction How has the television evolved since it was created? There is a whole variety of answers to this question varying from the affects the television has on people to the way the television has technologically changed and advanced. My goal is to answer both of those questions today. Televisions are a huge part of people’s everyday lives. They have made an enormous impact on society because the television allows them to be aware of current events. At this day in ageRead MoreTelevision And Its Impact On Modern Society1976 Words   |  8 Pagesof modern society the question of whether or not television (TV) is dead has risen in order to try and help understand the ever developing digital age. The term ‘dead’, however, is perhaps an overstatement as television isn’t necessarily dead yet, it has simply been trying to stay relevant and essentially has been ‘dying’ since its commencement in the 1940’s. Firstly, we need to ask, what is television? Author, Elihu Katz, provides a perfect understanding in which he states that television is a technicalRead MoreImpact of Reality Television on Society2286 Words   |  10 PagesThe Impact Reality Television Has On Our Youth Misty Stouffer ENG 122 Marnie Nollette April 18, 2011 â€Æ' The Impact Reality Television Has On Our Youth Television serves nearly 30 hours of entertainment to children 8 to 18, weekly. Reality television is a phenomenon that is sweeping the globe. These programs are widely viewed by kids, tweens, and teens. Many of these kids idolize reality stars and mimic their every move and their vocabulary. This alleged reality is negatively affecting the well-beingRead MoreThe Negative Impacts Of Satellite Television On The Society1740 Words   |  7 Pageshuge impact in people’s behavior, attitude and choices. Satellite TV channels has both positive and negative impacts on the society. Positive Impacts of the Satellite Television: Satellite television channels have many positive impacts on the audiences. It is helping people in broadening their outlook and destroying stereotypes beliefs. It is also increasing communication and access to diverse ideas. For instances, gender stratification has been lowered due to the effect of these television channelsRead More The Impact of Television on American Society Essay590 Words   |  3 PagesThe Impact of Television on American Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in theRead MoreTelevision And Its Impact On Society s Life1068 Words   |  5 PagesTelevision comes in many forms, from a box in your living room to the screen on your smart phone. From its creation to this very day it has impacted society’s way of life and enforced ideologies that affect various decisions. Television is what connects us to the outside world. It provides a sense of belonging for many and, metaphorically, becomes a member of the family. The concept of Patriarchy has been present in sitcoms and in fluences how we are supposed to act around others. Despite the downfall

Fighting in Hockey Free Essays

Still today, there is a continued debate on whether fighting should be allowed or banned in the National Hockey League (NHL). In generalization, most people see that physically fighting someone, fist-to-fist, is a negative conflict. However, in certain sports fighting is the main objective of the sport. We will write a custom essay sample on Fighting in Hockey or any similar topic only for you Order Now For instance boxing, kickboxing, or the rising sport of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). Then people look at NHL, and point out that fighting is not the main purpose or goal of the sport. People who disapprove of the fighting also believe that getting rid of the fights in hockey may draw in new fans. Fans that may see this newly constructed form of hockey as â€Å"family-friendly†. Although these people are trying to persuade the league into banning fights, there main focus as fans of the NHL, and maybe even the parents of the kids who play hockey, are to argue that fighting invokes a unsafe playing environment for the players, and also gives a bad national image to the sport of hockey and the good fundamentals of sportsmanship in general. Hockey may be a full contact sport, but many concerned people believe that banning fights in hockey leads to a safer environment for athletes to compete in, and can also have many other benefits to the sport. Although banning fights in the NHL may have its benefits, fighting should not be eliminated from the sport of hockey in the NHL because of the tradition it upholds, the loss of fans, the fact that hockey is already â€Å"physical† and entertains people. So why is the issue of hockey fights being debated in the NHL? It’s mainly due to the concern for the safety of the athletes, who by the way are professionals, which means that money is involved if injury was to occur. With economics being meshed into the issue, fighting becomes a huge reason why this topic is highly argued amongst the fans, players, general mangers, and even the team owners. With possible money issues and athlete injury risks on the line, why not just get rid of fighting now? EVIDENCE SECTION) In my major essay to counter act the fact that fights can lead to money loss due to the injury of a player, I will state that many people that watch the NHL are mostly intrigued and excited by the fights. According to the National Hockey League Fans Association (NHLFA) 91% of the fans oppose the full ban of fights in NHL games (www. nhlfa. com). So with the absence of fights in the NHL, there will be a loss of fans that watch the sport on television, and also a loss in attendance of fans at the sporting event. With less people interested of the sport, and less people watching the game either at home or at the event, there will be greater economic loss to a team with less revenue and income, than just losing a player for an amount of time. Another piece of evidence that will be brought in is the fact that fighting in hockey is a tradition. By removing fights, you are essentially removing a part of the sport itself. I will also mention that athletes who go into the profession of hockey realize that fighting is tolerated, and are aware of the risks. Not to mention it’s already a physical sport that involves a lot of risks. Back to fighting being a tradition of the NHL. Fighting has been tolerated for the NHL’s history of 94 years, but I must point out that it is penalized and regulated. So fight someone at the risk of your health, and the risk of your team winning the game. Another way to look at this is that fighting adds flare to the game. Kind of like how dunks in basketball adds flare. Essentially fighting and dunking are there to make the game more entertaining for its fans/audience, which means that if it’s more entertaining maybe a higher fan base can be achieve. Which of course leads to more money. It’s all about the money! (www. hockeyhistory. org) So why did I choose this topic and why is it an important issue? Personally I have never played hockey (competitively), but I am an avid sports fan and have seen some NHL games on T. V. I was watching ESPN one day and there was a debate on this issue between a hockey analyst and a former player and found the topic very interesting. This debate/topic is important because in the future if the rules of the game were to be changed, whether fighting stays or leaves, it could drastically change the sport itself, its fan base, and may even hurt the NHL greatly in an economic sense. Bibliography http://www. usatoday. com/sports/2004-09-02-pros-cons-fighting_x. htm http://sports. espn. go. com/nhl/columns/story? columnist=buccigross_johnid=2724254 http://www. nhl. com/ice/news. htm? id=413089 http://www. nhlfa. com/news/nr04_09_07. asp http://www. hockeyhistory. org/ How to cite Fighting in Hockey, Papers

My Father Essay Sample free essay sample

Dedication. perspiration. and a will to be on top is what runs through every jocks venas. Motocross isn’t like hoops or any other athleticss in school where it is consisted of refs at every point of perspective eye-balling every move you make. It is a moto Canis familiaris battle from the 2nd the gate beads. Every successful jock has non become what they are by themselves. Behind the scenes there are huge sums of support. The adult male that has had my back since twenty-four hours one would be my male parent. When I was merely 4 my male parent got me my first bike. It was Christmas forenoon. as any child would make. every bit shortly as my oculus palpebras caught light I sprinted to the Christmas tree. inconsiderate of the noise I was doing. As I arrived in the life room I was uttered in complete daze. It was before my eyes laid a bluish pw50. We will write a custom essay sample on My Father Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page the aluminium frame reflecting merely every bit much visible radiation as the visible radiations on the Christmas tree. As I rushed over to saddle up on my new bike. ignorant how to even get down it. I look up to see my male parent walking around he corner with a smiling on his face merely every bit large as mine. My male parent used to race back in his clip so he ever wanted me to turn into motocross like he did. So we spent infinite hours in our back pace. learning me the rudimentss and bit by bit throwing more hard undertakings my manner. He neer pushed the issue like most parents do to their childs these yearss. he took his clip and waited until I was ready. After holding some pattern on my new bike I was eventually confident plenty to inquire my male parent if I could race. When he said yes I couldn’t have been more aroused. I had played t-ball but it merely didn’t comparison to the love I had for motocross. As I had been siting and been acquiring used to the motorcycle. it felt like everlastingly until I was really able to race. Then my pa had told me that he was traveling to be taking me to a race this weekend and I was so aroused. I got all my cogwheel packed for the weekend even though it was non for a twosome of yearss. As yearss began to crawl by I merely got more and more dying to sit. as the clip was nearing. It was race twenty-four hours. we had came to a path in Shelby. North Carolina and I was more than ready. We arrived at the path early that forenoon to subscribe up for the race. As we stepped out of the truck the dew was merely get downing to fall. After subscribing up it felt like an infinity before it was clip for my race. as if I was starring at a broken clock. Watching the races before mine merely got me more dying to acquire out on the path. It was eventually clip. as we lined up on the get downing gate there was merely five other riders in my category. As the old race was coming to an terminal they signaled us to get down up our bikes. the two card was being raised up intending its race clip. Then the two card is so turned sidewise intending the gate will drop in three-seven seconds. As we are sitting on our bikes eager for the gate to bead. those couple seconds to the mean individual seems like an infinity. When the gate drops we took off and I was in 2nd topographic point traveling around the first bend. coming up on the first leap I was so focussed on go throughing for first that I forgot to allow off the gas for the leap until it was excessively late. I was in the air and I knew it wasn’t traveling to stop good. I had over jumped the leap and when I landed I came down and broken my mentum on the grip bars. As my pa came running over to look into on me he seen the blood merely pouring out of my mentum. He took me back to where we was parked and was look intoing on me cause I was still dazed from the wreck. My first race had ended with 12 stitches in my mentum and a broken pride. Just as I had thought that I had let my dad down he began to state me how proud he was of me. It immediately brought a smiling to my face because every immature male child loves to do their male parent happy. He began to state me how he was so proud of me for acquiring out at that place for my first cli p. Although I didn’t win. it was a start and from so on me and my male parent began to travel to races about every weekend. Each weekend I began to acquire better and better until I won my first of all time race. The trophy still stand entirely in my life room merely for the simple fact that it was the most of import being it was my first of all time trophy. It was about eleven old ages subsequently and I have raced and went through the ranks. I was at a race in Blountville. Tennessee. It was my first race in 250B category which is the category under pro. It was a large race for me which besides put a batch of force per unit area on me which make me really nervous. There are a batch of fast childs that race 250B and now I jumped in the heap. It is no longer merely travel out and have fun like rushing when you’re little. its serious. There is a gate of forty-one other riders be aftering to acquire to the bend foremost merely like me. As we start our motorcycles. the olfactory property of race gas begins to linger. Like every jock. we all have our rite of acquiring in the zone. The two card is so raised and everyone is acquiring ready. acquiring the last spot of butterflies out of their tummy. The two card is turned sidewise as our engines begin to rev as we are watching the gate in forepart of us merely the slightest spot. As the gate falls. our back tyres begin to delve into the soil lunching us out onto the path. I get to the first bend in 4th and immediately set my eyes on first. Right as we are about to finish our right lap. 2nd and 3rd got together and wrecked so I had a clear path in front of me between first and I. The remainder of the race me and first was combating. trading places back and Forth and as we get the white flag signaling our last lap I knew it was clip to do a move. Everywhere I tried doing my move to acquire around him he would protect the interior so I couldn’t acquire under him. As I kept seeking to acquire around him the last lap was weaving down. As we were coming the the 2nd to last bend I had to do something go on. I held on the accelerator longer than him merely to acquire a leap on him into the corner and hit him fundamentally utilizing him as my ain corner doing him to bust up and me to win the race. I was so wired to come over the finish line foremost to take the checked flag. I was filled with exhilaration as I had won my first B category race. doing a statement that I was the new competition in the category. In decision motocross has non merely been a major portion. it has besides been a major portion of my male parents every bit good. It has brought us closer and it is something we can bond while making. He has ever supported my passion non merely by fiscal aid but he has besides devoted eternal sums of clip as good. He non merely acknowledges my triumphs when I win. but he besides acknowledges my attempt when I wreck and I get back up and complete.

The Advantages Of Reading Essays - Reading, Linguistics,

The Advantages Of Reading The Advantages of Reading There are many good reasons for learning how to read. Many people think that it isn't important to know how to read. There are also those of us who know the importance of reading abilities. So, I believe whenever you have the opportunity to better your reading skills you should take that opportunity. If you do it will better your chances of success in life. You see, there are many reasons reading is necessary in life. Without having a good reading capability there will be a limited amount of opportunity. In order to have unlimited opportunities you have to be able to read. The reason you have to know how to read is so that you may be able to find a good job. The reason we need good jobs is because with a good job we are able to get things we need or that we may want. Without good reading skills you prevent yourself from the privileges that life has to offer. Some people choose not to use this ability. I believe that those people should be ashamed of themselves. There are some people who don't have this ability, and are not given opportunities to succeed in life. Even after everything that these people hear in the news every day they still choose to put aside this ability. If you choose to put this ability aside any longer you'll probably end up flipping burgers or being on the streets asking for money the rest of our lives. In conclusion, I believe that those of us that do cherish and use this great ability will be able to help other in life. If you choose not to take advantage of this wonderful ability you're making a huge mistake. I feel sorry for those of you who don't think reading is a necessary part of your life. So when your English teacher tells you to do something you should probably do it. That is, if you want to further better you're reading ability. English Essays

Verbal cues to construct space in the plays Everyman and Oed essays

Verbal cues to construct space in the plays Everyman and Oed essays The medium of expression, also known as the marriage of language and action is theaters most impressive mechanism. It is through this medium that theater is capable of creating a world both on stage and in the imagination. Verbal cues are a significant component in constructing this space. Everyman and Oedipus Tyrannos are no exceptions to this phenomenon as they exhibit minimalist settings and highly intangible personas, therefore, are highly dependent on verbal cues. In the following essay these plays will be used to demonstrate, how verbal cues such as metonymy, chorus, character names and descriptive conversations, are essential in constructing space. Everyman and Oedipus Tyrannos use very contrasting as well as similar means of verbal cues. One type of verbal cue used in Oedipus Tyrannos is metonymy. In the play Oedipus Tyrannos, the audience is transported into the space of Thebes, through dialogue. In the following example we see how space is created by both Oedipus and the priest indirectly. Oedipus My Children, ancient Cadmus newest care... ( Line 1 pg 70 Broadview) Priest You came to Cadmus city and unbound... (Line 35 pg 71 Broadview) By mentioning Cadmus the king, the audience is aware that they are in Thebes the palaces location. This form of indirect address, known as metonymy, is not the only technique used in the play to establish space. Another verbal cue used to establish space within Oedipus Tyrannos is in the form of the Chorus. The Chorus in a direct manner, is there to inform audiences of what happens "off stage." (I.e., no murders or suicides were shown; instead, a messenger would inform the characters of the news) The Chorus is also vital in constructing space, by informing the audience where the conversation is being held, or where the actors are coming from. True to tradition, all ancient Greek theaters were open-air auditorium and, due to the lack ...

Hum 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hum 1 - Essay Example Consequently, the outstanding performance made Achilles, Hector and Odysseus make them heroes of all ages and all regions of the globe at large. One of the most distinguished characteristics of the Homeric heroic code includes that the heroes contain exceptional physical strength and mental capabilities. Hence, even humans, they enjoy some traits attributed to Greek gods. Thus, Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, Patroclus, Ithaca and others perform such marvelous deeds that arouse astounding wonder and invite shocking surprise of the readers and spectators alike. Hence, Iliad serves as â€Å"an expansive poem of enormous scope, composed in an archaic and superbly elevated style of language, concerning the wondrous deeds of heroes; these deeds were meant to arouse a sense of wonder or marvel is difficult for the modern mind to comprehend, especially in a time when even such words as wonderful or marvelous have lost much of their evocative power.† (Nagy, 1991) Furthermore, another uniq ue trait of them is that they never surrender on the way to gravest challenges, either they are being challenged by the enormous monsters, or fighting against the floods, famine and any other natural calamity. For instance, Hector did not the prophecy of his being killed in the battlefield, and left his beautiful wife Andromache and innocent son Astyanax in order to display gallant deeds against the foes of his Trojan nation fighting under the commandership of Greek Achilles. Hence, he strictly observes pride, prestige and honor in his behavior, and his feet never waver or tremble even when he was at the verge of his inevitable death at Achilles’ hands in the war. The same was the case with Achilles himself, who forgot his resentment he had maintained for Agamemnon because of his injustice towards him in the case of Chryseis, the Trojan lady, who became captive during the war and was taken by Achilles but was snatched by Agamemnon. Thus he displayed unconditional and unflinch ing dedication and valor during the Trojan War and killed Hector in the battlefield. "Oh Father Zeus, people say for wisdom you exceed all others, men and gods alike. Yet all this comes from you. . . ." (13.744) [13.631] Similarly, Odyssey concentrates upon the long and challenging journey of Odysseus, which was meant to return home in order to reunite with his wife, son and father. During the journey, he has to undergo severe trials and hurdles on his way, and every time he manages to crush these hurdles under the chariot wheels of his astounding determination, extraordinary commandership and exemplary intellect. He loses his companions in the Island of Cicones and is captured in a cave in the Island of Cyclopes. The race of cannibals stops him from proceeding on the one hand, and bad winds prove unfavorable towards Odysseus on the other. In addition, he has to spend many years as captive of the goddess Calypso. But he remains as firm as rock in the face of hardships and obstacles and subsequently comes out successful and triumphant in all ordeals and trials. Hence, he is

Evaluation of Agency's Human Resources Management Research Paper - 1

Evaluation of Agency's Human Resources Management - Research Paper Example Human resource also entail resource alignment whereby it integrates decisions concerning people and the outcome that the organization is striving to obtain. This paper will seek to develop an in-depth analysis and evaluation of the selected agency’s human resources management systems and processes and then provide recommendations for improvement. Ray Consortium is an agency located in the US. I did a research that revealed that this agency has processes and systems that intersect between information technology and human resource management. One of the agency’s major components of human resource processes for hiring and retaining is the enterprise resource-planning package (Department of Administration, 2004). In this package, the agency merges human resource management as a doctrine with its basic human resource processes and activities, within the field of information technology in particular (Lawler, 2004). With the emergency of enterprise resource planning software, this agency added its crucial components of planning to incorporate data processing systems programs that standardize routines and integrate information from and within various applications towards a single universal database (Briscoe, Schuler, & Tarique, 2011). According to the human resource manager of Ray Consortium, integration of enterprise resourc e planning as a major component of the agency’s human resource system facilitated faster and easier linkage of the agency’s human resource modules and financial modules. Furthermore, this agency has a performance appraisal process that evaluates employees’ performance, capabilities, and abilities and provides a systematic platform for rewarding. This procedure aims at motivating, mobilizing, and fostering their zeal towards their respective jobs (Lawler, 2004). In identifying predecessors of different sections of the agency, this agency uses modules of human resource that link performance of an employee through a single database that

Principles of Data Privacy & Protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Principles of Data Privacy & Protection - Essay Example Although genetic profiling has its origins in the healthcare establishment, other establishments are warming up to the benefits of genetic profiling, for instance, education and insurance. This interest has stirred up a debate as insurance laws for example, do permit the use of medical data, which could be interpreted as genetic data for underwriting. This has led to concerns among the general public and other organisation of the use and development of genetic profiling by organisations that do not understand the concept of informed consent, and the issues surrounding the use and retention of very personal information. This paper will argue both sides of the argument, as there is a case for and against genetic profiling in each case study, however it soon becomes apparent that the same issues keep arising - namely, discrimination and informed consent. What this means for data privacy and protection is that more clarity is required, as well as a structured approach to amending the cur rent legislation, and it also means that non-medical organisations interested in genetic profiling, may need to provide the solutions to the issues raised in the argument. Data privacy and protection started becoming an issue, after the dawn of the information age. It was now very easy and simple to transfer personal data and information, without going through all the mandatory security checks. The digital age also brought with it the realities of digital crime. Privacy can be defined as "the interest that individuals have in sustaining a 'personal space', free from interference by other people and organisations (Clarke)." For example, banks operate privacy conditions, where it is not possible to access another individual's bank account as this infringes on their personal space and confidentiality. The medical establishment also practices privacy in the form of confidentiality, where a doctor cannot disclose any information to anyone else even if they are related to the patient. This disclosure is often left to the patient.Privacy has several dimensions as knowledge of personal information can be classed under four different areas (Clarke). The first a spect is the personal privacy which is concerned with the individual's body and includes compulsory immunisation, blood transfusion, and compulsory provision of samples of body fluids and tissue and even compulsory sterilisation. This deals specifically with medical notes and medical history. The second aspect deals with the privacy of personal behaviour. This involves what are considered to be sensitive matters such as sexual preferences and habits, political activities and religious practices whether or not they occur in public places. This is particularly important as these matters can subject the individual to unnecessary discrimination and/or unprovoked attacks in the form of homophobic attacks or even intimidation. One example of this in the UK is with the animal testing laboratories, where those involved in animal testing are frequently targeted by groups opposed to testing animals. The third aspect deals with personal communications where the individual can claim the right t o be able to communicate to others, using various media, without routine monitoring of their communications by other persons or organisations. This mainly applies to the wider aspect of

Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 1.0 Introduction This paper will labour to explicate the intricacies of enterprise resource planning (ERP), a concept that has long fascinated many in both academic and professional work environments, including the United Nations (UN). In fact, the UN has expressed the need to implement ERP. As part of their examination into this procedure, the UN has implemented ERP at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Pristine, Republic of Kosovo, and other agencies of the UN. As they look into the ramifications of ERP implementation, so does this case study. This study attempts to make predictions of the impact of ERP implementation on the business processes and organisational culture of the United Nations secretariat based on results from the UNDP. 1.1 Introduction to the Problem Since the late 1990s, businesses have flocked to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, e.g., one study showed that more than sixty percent of Fortune 500 companies had adopted an ERP system (Stewart et al. 2000). The United Nations, as one of the largest organisations in the world, has lagged behind in adopting the transformation in the management of its resources. The United Nations has been seriously hampered in its ability to deliver results effectively and efficiently due to the lack of an integrated information system for managing its resources (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to Davis and Olsen (1985), ERP is an integrated system that provides information to support operation management and decision-making functions in an organisation. Therefore, the goal of implementing an ERP system is to build an integrated global information system that fully supports the needs of the United Nations, enables the effective management of human, financial and physical resources, and is based on streamlined processes and better practices (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2Background of the Study 1.2.1 Existing System Currently, the United Nations uses an in-house developed system—commonly referred to as Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)—for the management of human, financial and physical resources. The development of IMIS was a milestone in the use of information technology as a discipline that can beneficially affect many, if not all, areas of administration and management in any given organisation. IMIS was developed as a functionally integrated system, which combines all departments to support key processes such as human resources management, payroll, finance and accounting, requisitioning and funds control, budget execution and travel management. IMIS was introduced in conjunction with desktop, networked computing and office automation tools such as electronic mail in many offices. â€Å"If an organisation is not yet sure of the need for client-server networks, the state of the art in enterprise-wide computing, it has only to consider the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the United Nations,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The launching of IMIS was subsequently affected and conditioned by major developments in the technological market, and an accelerated shift of focus in the United Nations to field activities. In short, IMIS was designed and developed at a time when the context began to change rapidly and profoundly. Yet, only a few years after the implementation of IMIS, it has become evident that the system cannot take full advantage of the advancement in technology; e.g., even though IMIS is functionally integrated, it was deployed and managed locally at each geographical location, which makes reporting and global management very difficult. The implementation in the United Nations peacekeeping operation was partial, as it is a separate department in the UN, and was not able to support the supply chain and logistical management (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The IMIS was not an alternative communication technology to paper and telephones, but it involved the synchronization of multiple data sources and the linking of them to several mainframes,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). An investment in tactical systems, which includes a stand-alone system and a modular integration into IMIS through interfaces, was able to address the functional gaps of IMIS. However, the organisation today faces challenges that demand profound transformation beyond the capabilities of IMIS and its ancillary legacy systems currently being used (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2.2 The need for change â€Å"The United Nations struggled to get everybody in their building to connect electronically. It soon realised that it was time to connect the world with a client-server network,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The need for the United Nations to take on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) lead to the requirement of significant change in the accounting processes and systems in order to comply with the international public sector standard for accounting. The requisite changes, indeed, were so fundamental that it is fair to say that the life of IMIS had come to an end after fourteen years; moreover, the benefits that the staff and managers expected from the information system in day-to-day operations and decision-making no longer matched the cost of maintenance and ongoing support. This is because IMIS is no longer able to cope with the fast technological development, and the cost of maintenance and ongoing support has become very expensive (Report of th e Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The success of your organisations quality initiative depends upon your ability to communicate the need for change throughout the organization,† (Arcaro, 1997, p. 146). The United Nations as an organisation needs to improve the value and cost-efficiency of the services it provides. They report that the existing systems are not up to the standard, not integrated, duplicative, and are inefficient (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to the UN, the effective management, planning and decision-making have been hampered by the lack of integration and complete data on resources (ibid). As the organisation continues to grow in complexity in its activities, they are dissatisfied with the lack of integration and data-sharing between different departments as it has become a bigger problem, and the need for a new ICT global enterprise system for streamlining and simplifying processes has become more crucial as the nature of the organisation is changing itself (ibid). 1.2.3 Goals and objectives of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning System The United Nations reports that the implementation of an ERP system will present the opportunity to fully combine resources and functions across the organisation by replacing the existing IMIS system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Minahan (1998) reports ERP to be a multifaceted system that integrates and automates the basic processes of a business such as finance and budget management, human resources management, supply chain management, central support services, and other corporate core functions. Most importantly, the main value of an ERP system is the opportunity to streamline and improve the operations of an entire organisation through process reengineering, sharing of common data, and implementation of best practices and standards, and perform as the inter-organisation information backbone for communication and collaboration (OLeary, 2004). According to reports from the United Nations (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008), the main objectives of the ERP project can be summarised as follows: To have a global operating system that precisely captures core resource data from each department and agency at the UN while linking them together to provide better decision-making. This will minimise the time required to perform administrative processes and enable easy access to necessary reports for each department, thus increasing the efficiency of the organisation and directing the focus to high priority situations. The main functionalities sought from the new ERP system are expected to encompass functions such as programme planning, budgeting, contributions and performance; human resources management and administration; payroll, including management of benefits and contribution to pension, medical and insurance schemes; supply chain management, including procurement; assets and facilities management; general accounting, travel and other administrative flows; reporting to management and stakeholders, and more (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008, p. 8). Specific United Nations peacekeeping operations functions such as logistics, transportation, fuel and rations systems need to be supported by the new ERP system, as these functions are not held in common with other organisations of the United Nations operations. 1.3Purpose and Significance of the Study The research done in this study will attempt to answer the following question: What will be the impact of ERP implementation on the business transformation and business culture of the United Nations? Specifically, this study will attempt to establish the relationship between the business process transformation and organisational culture change offered as the result of ERP. These questions and findings are expected to provide an increased ability in evaluating the performance and standardisation of the business processes within the United Nations, as well as an increased awareness of its effect on the business culture and productivity over time in the UN. In addition, answers to these questions will subsequently enable other researchers to gain more insight into ERP implementation and business process reengineering. It will also enable the management of the United Nations to see how ERP can be a better means of technological reform, thus providing the opportunity to re-evaluate the existing business processes. 1.4 Research Questions The question that constitutes the primary point of pivot for the paper is: What will be the probable future impact of ERP on the business process transformation and business culture of the UnitedNations? The three subsidiary questions of the present work are: > How will ERP implementation make the organisation better off in the foreseeable future? > What will be the effect on the reformed business culture in terms of productivity? > How does the organisation perceive the benefit of ERP on the standardisation of business processes? 1.5Structural Approach The rest of the dissertation has been structured as follows. Chapter 2 provides a review of relevant literature including ERP, business process reengineering, and their impact on organisational culture. Chapter 3 discusses the methodologies used for the case study and describes the data and the various proxies employed for analysing ERP implementation in the United Nations. Chapter 4 provides empirical findings on the relationship between ERP implementation and its effects on business processes and organisational culture. Chapter 5 analyses the research findings. Chapter 6 concludes the research by pointing out the key impacts of ERP on the UN. Chapter 7 makes various recommendations for policy direction and potentially fruitful areas of ERP systems for further research. Chapter 8 reflects on the study as a whole. CHAPTER II 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW The following Literature Review will focus on four main areas of evaluation regarding enterprise resource planning (ERP) on the business process transformation (BPR) in organisations, and more specifically, the United Nations. These are: 1. ERP: definition, evolution, implications 2. BPR: definition, evolution, implications 3. ERP and organisational culture 4. BPR and organisational change This review will analyse the abovementioned systems and related processes insofar as the available data in the literature will allow for a comparison of ERP and BPR and their effects on the United Nations and other large organisations. 2.1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are commonly described as commercial software packages that allow the assimilation of data and processes throughout an organisation (Markus Tanis, 2000, cited in Kim et al. 2005). ERP enables the flow of information among all business areas such as â€Å"finance, human resources, manufacturing, sales and marketing,† (Tan Theodorou, 2009, p. 52). Basically, it allows data from all departments to exist in one computer system (Pang, 2001), making the managerial dream of unification of all information systems into one computer system come true (Adam ODoherty, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007). This unification should offer many benefits to the UN and other large organisations. Large organisations may have a more difficult time relaying information from one sector to another as they have many different departments and even multiple locations. The combination of all departments in one system, presents benefits of relaying data in a timely mann er. Rather than sending files through inter-office mail or needing to track down one particular staff member, each employee will have access to the information required for their job by simply logging into the system. The researcher will attempt to discover whether this unification does indeed allow for more time-efficiency as well as making simple operations tasks easier to accomplish in the UN. The start of ERP systems came about in the 1960-1970s with the invention of Inventory Control (IC) and Materials Requirement Planning (MPR) systems, which managed inventory in manufacturing. In the 1980s, Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II) systems came into use to manage both inventory and production requirements together. In 1973, the first ERP system was created with the goal of supporting all business needs. Since then, ERP systems have become much more popular. In fact, by the year 2000, enterprise resource planning systems were estimated to have serviced $23 billion USD in profits for the various organisations that have been implementing them (Pang, 2001). ERP systems are larger, more influential and faster growing than any other systems in the industry (Finney Corbett, 2007). This is probably why the UN has shown such interest in ERP. The increase in ERP implementation does not seem surprising as ERP allows corporations to update to a new integrated system cutting out the previous legacy systems known for their difficulties in maintenance, large size, and old age, as they are segregated systems (Martin, 1998; cited in Boudreau, 1999). This appears to be helpful for the UN as they reported difficulty with their current legacy system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). It is likely that employees of the UN will be satisfied with the replacement of the legacy system due to the reported problems it has. However, there is a chance that employees may be intimidated by this change as they will have to learn an entirely new system. Advantages of ERP systems for organisations include overcoming fragmentation by streamlining activities and processes, which provides direct access to real-time information by supplying a group of software modules that encase all departments of a business (Koch, 2003, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This implies that all information accessed through the new system will be current as it is constantly being updated by various employees based on the tasks they complete. Rather than there being pieces of information in various places, all information regarding the same issue will be together implying that employees can look in one place and have all the information they need rather than searching through various documents or consulting multiple co-workers. However, it provokes the question as to how employees can be sure the information entered is accurate. This aspect of ERP systems will be investigated at the UNDP in Kosovo in order to determine whether this feature is beneficial. Furthermore, ERP systems are said to provide cost-reduction in addition to increased flexibility (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Since the initial costs of implementation are so high, it doesnt seem like cost-reduction can be achieved anytime close to implementation. However, Rowe and Davis (1996) reported, the IMIS system which is the current system being used in many UN agencies does not cut down the amount of paper needed in order to do processes. Switching to an ERP system should reduce costs related to this amongst other things, as suggested by the literature. For the UN, this would mean more money to use for their peacekeeping missions or other operations. The reduction of costs and flexibility appear to be linked in some way as decreasing operation costs would imply having more flexibility to perform other processes. Then again, its possible for the availability of data to imply flexibility in making decisions, or flexibility could result from rearranging t he organisations processes and being better equipped to perform certain tasks. ERP systems have been reported to enhance business performance by accelerating the merger of organisational resources as well as strengthening the operational efficiency of the company through minimising human error (Shin Knapp, 2001, cited in Wang, 2006). The implication that ERP reduces human error seems to be correct as there is less opportunity to make a mistake for employees because there is generally only one time they need to input information for data-sharing as opposed to the multiple steps needed to take before but how can employees be sure that the initial information entered was accurate? One may argue that if multiple people are doing the same step there is increased accuracy as there are that many more people assessing the situation. Aside from that, it seems these benefits should assist the UN in accomplishing some of their proposed goals, such as linking all departments within one operations system, which decreases the time required for administrative processes. The UN hopes implementation will increase their operational efficiency by allowing valuable time to be spent focusing on high priority situations rather than simple operations tasks (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). More advertised benefits include improved information accuracy and decision-making capacity (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). The UN wants to make use of these proposed advantages (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Decision-making is a large part of the UN as they have to make difficult decisions everyday that effect large numbers of people; making a bad decision is not necessarily easily corrected in this case. Furthermore, many situations the UN deals with are time-sensitive; if its easier to access data, and the accuracy of that data is improved, officials can rest assured that they are making decisions with proper knowledge. In implementing ERP, organisations no longer have to create their own applications that are then unique to their company. They now have standard software available for their business processes, referred to as Best Business Practices (BBPs), which came into existence around the same time as ERPs. BBPs are general guidelines to assist companies in the way of handling certain business processes, meaning that each company can now improve itself on the basis of the experience of other corporations that share similar functional processes (SAP, 2007, cited in Revia, 2007). It seems any organisation would be hesitant to implement a system that has not proved to benefit other large organisations as the risk of failure is not unlikely (Moon, 2007). However, each organisation is unique so BBPs may not work for every organisation. .Some of the disadvantages of ERP are that the implementation requires time, costs and risks (Boudreau, 1999), as they tend to be â€Å"large, complicated, and expensive† (Mabert et al. 2001, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008, p. 3). ERP implementation calls for serious time commitment from all involved as it is often the biggest project that an organisation will ever face (Moon, 2007). ERP execution requires new procedures, employee training and managerial and technical support (Shang Seddon, 2002, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008), which can be accomplished through good communication of the corporate strategy to all employees (Umble et al. 2003, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Consequently, the biggest problem is not actually the implementation itself but the expectations of board members and senior staff as well as not having a clear plan or realistic projections (Somers Nelson 2004, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). However, the UN has already proposed clear goals and plans for t heir implementation. The question is whether or not they will be able to successfully translate these goals/plans to all employees of the organisation and whether or not they will be successful. Finally, the importance of selecting the appropriate ERP package is stressed. Corporations must make sure they select the appropriate ERP package that will match their organisation as well as its business processes (Chen, 2001, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This seems obvious as every organisation is different. Some corporations strategise around providing excellent customer service while others focus on decreasing costs to customers as a way to attract more business. However, there are studies that show that customising ERP packages beyond minimal adjustments is discouraged; these studies show that organisations should adjust their processes to fit the package rather than adjust the package to fit the processes (Murray Coffin, 2001 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). 2.2 Business Process Transformation (BPR): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Business process reengineering (BPR) was not very popular until the release of the book Re-engineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy (Barker, 1995). Hammer and Champy introduced the term â€Å"Business process reengineering† in 1990 and defined it as a â€Å"fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed† (Grover Kettinger, 2000, p. 151). Business process reengineering is also defined as a strategic redesign of important business processes, including the systems and policies that support them, in order to achieve maximum productivity of an organisation (Manganelli Klein, 1994). This would suggest a link between ERP and BPR as they are both structured around the redesign of core business processes. In fact, some goals of BPR are the reduction of cost, cycle-time, defects, and the increase of worker producti vity (Hales Savoie, 1994), very much the same as ERP. The aim of BPR is to change current business processes in order to make them more efficient overall, again mimicking ERP. In fact, Some researchers suggest that ERP systems â€Å"are the major tools for making business processes better, leaner and faster through associated business process reengineering,† (Shang Seddon, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007, p. 25). It is not yet known whether or not BPR will be performed at the UN. It is assumed that it will as it is so closely related to ERP. Additionally, reports have shown that ERP often causes BPR to occur due to its very nature (Seebacher Juszczyk, 2002). It seems that in order for ERP to be most successful, BPR should be performed (Sumner, 2000 cited in Law Ngai, 2007), otherwise the UN may not recognise exactly which processes are most important for their operations. Or, they may not be fully aware of the exact way in which ERP should be performed in relation to the core business processes, which is vital to understand for the selection of the proper ERP package. BPR has its origins in the private sectors as a management tool for companies to deal with change and reorganise their work to â€Å"improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors,† (Hamid, 2004, cited in Wang, 2006, p. 5). Generally, business process transformation takes business processes and allows them to be done routinely through a computer system. It incorporates peoples perspectives and input to make sure that the processes fit needs specific to each corporation (Wang, 2006). This suggests benefits for ERP implementation in any organisation as the systems are supposed to be designed around core processes specific to each company. It would be helpful for the UN to determine which processes are vital to their operations. Furthermore, cutting operational costs should prove to be very valuable for the UN as many of the services it provides are non-profit. Of course, whether or not this will be achieved is a question of interest. Here is a further look into what a core business process is: A core business process is one that gives value to the customers or stakeholders of the company. These are the most important processes within the organisation and are the ones that will set a company above their competitors if done well. In order to figure out what processes are core, one may ask the following questions. 1) Does the process make valued contributions to the customer? Does it improve customer service, increase response-time, decrease customers costs? 2) Is it important for the production/operation of the company? 3) Can it be used for other businesses? If the answer is yes to one of these questions, then the process under consideration can be considered core (McHugh et al. 1995). The UN may consider any process involving cash flow to be core as that is a huge component to many of the services they provide. Furthermore, any documentation of information from one department to another is probably considered core as this organisation relies on data-sharing for its decision-making capabilities. Therefore, it seems that these types of processes will be affected by ERP implementation and will most likely be reengineered. The three most basic strategies that increase a business success are lowering prices, offering more value in products, or focusing on less diversity in commodities and specialising in a certain area (Berrington Oblich, 1995). This suggests that BPR would be structured around these strategies when reorganising core business processes. If the UN is restructuring using BPR, they are likely to focus on a combination of strategies. As already mentioned, the cost of operations is a huge factor for the United Nations to consider as they provide aid to many countries without expecting any favours in return. This implies they would focus on reduction of costs. However, the main reason they are an organisation is to provide services to those in need. That would suggest they would reorganise their business processes around the strategy of offering more value in their services. In implementing BPR, organisations are asked to choose five or six of the processes that are central to the operation of the company and focus on those to see the ways in which they can make them more efficient (McHugh et al. 1995). Concentrating on making sure core processes are completed to the best of the companys ability only ensures the organisation will do better. In the case of the UN, focusing on data-sharing and managing cash flow suggests an increase in the organisations efficiency as those components are vital to their operation. These changes would suggest benefits for both the cost-reduction strategy as well as providing better service to â€Å"customers.† 2.3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Organisational Culture Organisational culture is a set of core beliefs, values, and behaviours shared by all members of one company, thereby affecting the productivity of the business. It is often described as â€Å"a pattern of shared assumptions produced and manipulated by top management† (Schein, 1992 cited in Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 131). Organisational culture is influenced through many aspects, including leadership, personal characteristics, interactions of members, as well as tradition. Culture has visible signs and hidden insinuations. Visible signs include behaviour while the hidden insinuations entail morals and beliefs (Rousseau, 1990 cited in Cooper, 1994). The culture of an organisation is even displayed in the way certain processes are done as well as the outcomes of these processes, which will be examined at the UNDP in Kosovo. Because ERP systems involve most departments in a company, they change many business processes and thereby affect the more deep-seated organisational culture of a corporation. Companies that focus on incorporating their cultures into organisational efforts are said to have an edge in accordance with their productivity. Organisations can focus on culture and work with the people to shape new values, morals and work ethics. If employees are happy to be working for the organisation, they will be more apt to want to work, implying there will be an increase in productivity (Farbrother Marc, 2003). Enterprise resource planning can lead to changes in organisational culture e.g., ERP is implemented in order to increase productivity by changing current business processes (Deal Kennedy, 1982 cited in Cooper, 1994). These changes are maximal and cannot be simply brushed aside. When a company implements ERP, if the organisational culture is ready for the changes it will bring, the employees can work with the system to increase productivity. Consequently, the culture within the business must be one that can be made amenable for change (Nah et al. 2001 cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). There is the belief that positive and supportive attitudes of those embarking on implementation of ERP will actually bring about a successful transition (Chatterjee et al. 2002 cited in Law Ngai, 2007). However, if the culture has not been made ready for change or the employees are unwilling to change, the system will be less likely to succeed. A system cannot work if there are no users. â€Å"System implementation represents a threat to users perceptions of control over their work and a period of transition during which users must cope with differences between old and new work systems,† (Sternad Bobek, 2006, p. 285). The social setting of a company and its technology most definitely shape each other; they are hardly independent of one another (Boersma Kingma, 2005). A mistake companies frequently make is to presume that people can change their habits easily when in actuality such changes are considerably taxing for many people. These companies underestimate the effect ERP implementation will have on their employees. Many employees panic when nothing looks the way it used to, nothing works the way it used to, and they can no longer go through their workday with the previously earned sense of familiarity and assurance (Koch, 2007 cited in Revia, 2007). One study showed that it took over two years for users of the new system to forget the process problems they found initially and to gain new knowledge of the system (Seddon Shang, 2003 cited in Revia, 2007). A Chief Information Officer from Nestle sums up this concept very well—she says, â€Å"‘No major software implementation is really about the software. Its about change management†¦You are changing the way people work[†¦]You are challenging their principles, their beliefs and the way they have done things for many, many years† (Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 123). It seems the best way to ensure that employees are on board with proposed changes is to make them aware of these changes. It is important for them to feel that they are included in the decision to create new values and procedures for the company. Otherwise, they will be clinging to the old culture and ways of doing things. The change will be stressful and forced rather than welcomed with ease. They should feel that the change is happ Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 1.0 Introduction This paper will labour to explicate the intricacies of enterprise resource planning (ERP), a concept that has long fascinated many in both academic and professional work environments, including the United Nations (UN). In fact, the UN has expressed the need to implement ERP. As part of their examination into this procedure, the UN has implemented ERP at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Pristine, Republic of Kosovo, and other agencies of the UN. As they look into the ramifications of ERP implementation, so does this case study. This study attempts to make predictions of the impact of ERP implementation on the business processes and organisational culture of the United Nations secretariat based on results from the UNDP. 1.1 Introduction to the Problem Since the late 1990s, businesses have flocked to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, e.g., one study showed that more than sixty percent of Fortune 500 companies had adopted an ERP system (Stewart et al. 2000). The United Nations, as one of the largest organisations in the world, has lagged behind in adopting the transformation in the management of its resources. The United Nations has been seriously hampered in its ability to deliver results effectively and efficiently due to the lack of an integrated information system for managing its resources (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to Davis and Olsen (1985), ERP is an integrated system that provides information to support operation management and decision-making functions in an organisation. Therefore, the goal of implementing an ERP system is to build an integrated global information system that fully supports the needs of the United Nations, enables the effective management of human, financial and physical resources, and is based on streamlined processes and better practices (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2Background of the Study 1.2.1 Existing System Currently, the United Nations uses an in-house developed system—commonly referred to as Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)—for the management of human, financial and physical resources. The development of IMIS was a milestone in the use of information technology as a discipline that can beneficially affect many, if not all, areas of administration and management in any given organisation. IMIS was developed as a functionally integrated system, which combines all departments to support key processes such as human resources management, payroll, finance and accounting, requisitioning and funds control, budget execution and travel management. IMIS was introduced in conjunction with desktop, networked computing and office automation tools such as electronic mail in many offices. â€Å"If an organisation is not yet sure of the need for client-server networks, the state of the art in enterprise-wide computing, it has only to consider the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) of the United Nations,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The launching of IMIS was subsequently affected and conditioned by major developments in the technological market, and an accelerated shift of focus in the United Nations to field activities. In short, IMIS was designed and developed at a time when the context began to change rapidly and profoundly. Yet, only a few years after the implementation of IMIS, it has become evident that the system cannot take full advantage of the advancement in technology; e.g., even though IMIS is functionally integrated, it was deployed and managed locally at each geographical location, which makes reporting and global management very difficult. The implementation in the United Nations peacekeeping operation was partial, as it is a separate department in the UN, and was not able to support the supply chain and logistical management (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The IMIS was not an alternative communication technology to paper and telephones, but it involved the synchronization of multiple data sources and the linking of them to several mainframes,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). An investment in tactical systems, which includes a stand-alone system and a modular integration into IMIS through interfaces, was able to address the functional gaps of IMIS. However, the organisation today faces challenges that demand profound transformation beyond the capabilities of IMIS and its ancillary legacy systems currently being used (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). 1.2.2 The need for change â€Å"The United Nations struggled to get everybody in their building to connect electronically. It soon realised that it was time to connect the world with a client-server network,† (Rowe Davis, 1996, p. 122). The need for the United Nations to take on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) lead to the requirement of significant change in the accounting processes and systems in order to comply with the international public sector standard for accounting. The requisite changes, indeed, were so fundamental that it is fair to say that the life of IMIS had come to an end after fourteen years; moreover, the benefits that the staff and managers expected from the information system in day-to-day operations and decision-making no longer matched the cost of maintenance and ongoing support. This is because IMIS is no longer able to cope with the fast technological development, and the cost of maintenance and ongoing support has become very expensive (Report of th e Secretary-General, 2008). â€Å"The success of your organisations quality initiative depends upon your ability to communicate the need for change throughout the organization,† (Arcaro, 1997, p. 146). The United Nations as an organisation needs to improve the value and cost-efficiency of the services it provides. They report that the existing systems are not up to the standard, not integrated, duplicative, and are inefficient (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). According to the UN, the effective management, planning and decision-making have been hampered by the lack of integration and complete data on resources (ibid). As the organisation continues to grow in complexity in its activities, they are dissatisfied with the lack of integration and data-sharing between different departments as it has become a bigger problem, and the need for a new ICT global enterprise system for streamlining and simplifying processes has become more crucial as the nature of the organisation is changing itself (ibid). 1.2.3 Goals and objectives of implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning System The United Nations reports that the implementation of an ERP system will present the opportunity to fully combine resources and functions across the organisation by replacing the existing IMIS system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Minahan (1998) reports ERP to be a multifaceted system that integrates and automates the basic processes of a business such as finance and budget management, human resources management, supply chain management, central support services, and other corporate core functions. Most importantly, the main value of an ERP system is the opportunity to streamline and improve the operations of an entire organisation through process reengineering, sharing of common data, and implementation of best practices and standards, and perform as the inter-organisation information backbone for communication and collaboration (OLeary, 2004). According to reports from the United Nations (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008), the main objectives of the ERP project can be summarised as follows: To have a global operating system that precisely captures core resource data from each department and agency at the UN while linking them together to provide better decision-making. This will minimise the time required to perform administrative processes and enable easy access to necessary reports for each department, thus increasing the efficiency of the organisation and directing the focus to high priority situations. The main functionalities sought from the new ERP system are expected to encompass functions such as programme planning, budgeting, contributions and performance; human resources management and administration; payroll, including management of benefits and contribution to pension, medical and insurance schemes; supply chain management, including procurement; assets and facilities management; general accounting, travel and other administrative flows; reporting to management and stakeholders, and more (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008, p. 8). Specific United Nations peacekeeping operations functions such as logistics, transportation, fuel and rations systems need to be supported by the new ERP system, as these functions are not held in common with other organisations of the United Nations operations. 1.3Purpose and Significance of the Study The research done in this study will attempt to answer the following question: What will be the impact of ERP implementation on the business transformation and business culture of the United Nations? Specifically, this study will attempt to establish the relationship between the business process transformation and organisational culture change offered as the result of ERP. These questions and findings are expected to provide an increased ability in evaluating the performance and standardisation of the business processes within the United Nations, as well as an increased awareness of its effect on the business culture and productivity over time in the UN. In addition, answers to these questions will subsequently enable other researchers to gain more insight into ERP implementation and business process reengineering. It will also enable the management of the United Nations to see how ERP can be a better means of technological reform, thus providing the opportunity to re-evaluate the existing business processes. 1.4 Research Questions The question that constitutes the primary point of pivot for the paper is: What will be the probable future impact of ERP on the business process transformation and business culture of the UnitedNations? The three subsidiary questions of the present work are: > How will ERP implementation make the organisation better off in the foreseeable future? > What will be the effect on the reformed business culture in terms of productivity? > How does the organisation perceive the benefit of ERP on the standardisation of business processes? 1.5Structural Approach The rest of the dissertation has been structured as follows. Chapter 2 provides a review of relevant literature including ERP, business process reengineering, and their impact on organisational culture. Chapter 3 discusses the methodologies used for the case study and describes the data and the various proxies employed for analysing ERP implementation in the United Nations. Chapter 4 provides empirical findings on the relationship between ERP implementation and its effects on business processes and organisational culture. Chapter 5 analyses the research findings. Chapter 6 concludes the research by pointing out the key impacts of ERP on the UN. Chapter 7 makes various recommendations for policy direction and potentially fruitful areas of ERP systems for further research. Chapter 8 reflects on the study as a whole. CHAPTER II 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW The following Literature Review will focus on four main areas of evaluation regarding enterprise resource planning (ERP) on the business process transformation (BPR) in organisations, and more specifically, the United Nations. These are: 1. ERP: definition, evolution, implications 2. BPR: definition, evolution, implications 3. ERP and organisational culture 4. BPR and organisational change This review will analyse the abovementioned systems and related processes insofar as the available data in the literature will allow for a comparison of ERP and BPR and their effects on the United Nations and other large organisations. 2.1 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are commonly described as commercial software packages that allow the assimilation of data and processes throughout an organisation (Markus Tanis, 2000, cited in Kim et al. 2005). ERP enables the flow of information among all business areas such as â€Å"finance, human resources, manufacturing, sales and marketing,† (Tan Theodorou, 2009, p. 52). Basically, it allows data from all departments to exist in one computer system (Pang, 2001), making the managerial dream of unification of all information systems into one computer system come true (Adam ODoherty, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007). This unification should offer many benefits to the UN and other large organisations. Large organisations may have a more difficult time relaying information from one sector to another as they have many different departments and even multiple locations. The combination of all departments in one system, presents benefits of relaying data in a timely mann er. Rather than sending files through inter-office mail or needing to track down one particular staff member, each employee will have access to the information required for their job by simply logging into the system. The researcher will attempt to discover whether this unification does indeed allow for more time-efficiency as well as making simple operations tasks easier to accomplish in the UN. The start of ERP systems came about in the 1960-1970s with the invention of Inventory Control (IC) and Materials Requirement Planning (MPR) systems, which managed inventory in manufacturing. In the 1980s, Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II) systems came into use to manage both inventory and production requirements together. In 1973, the first ERP system was created with the goal of supporting all business needs. Since then, ERP systems have become much more popular. In fact, by the year 2000, enterprise resource planning systems were estimated to have serviced $23 billion USD in profits for the various organisations that have been implementing them (Pang, 2001). ERP systems are larger, more influential and faster growing than any other systems in the industry (Finney Corbett, 2007). This is probably why the UN has shown such interest in ERP. The increase in ERP implementation does not seem surprising as ERP allows corporations to update to a new integrated system cutting out the previous legacy systems known for their difficulties in maintenance, large size, and old age, as they are segregated systems (Martin, 1998; cited in Boudreau, 1999). This appears to be helpful for the UN as they reported difficulty with their current legacy system (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). It is likely that employees of the UN will be satisfied with the replacement of the legacy system due to the reported problems it has. However, there is a chance that employees may be intimidated by this change as they will have to learn an entirely new system. Advantages of ERP systems for organisations include overcoming fragmentation by streamlining activities and processes, which provides direct access to real-time information by supplying a group of software modules that encase all departments of a business (Koch, 2003, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This implies that all information accessed through the new system will be current as it is constantly being updated by various employees based on the tasks they complete. Rather than there being pieces of information in various places, all information regarding the same issue will be together implying that employees can look in one place and have all the information they need rather than searching through various documents or consulting multiple co-workers. However, it provokes the question as to how employees can be sure the information entered is accurate. This aspect of ERP systems will be investigated at the UNDP in Kosovo in order to determine whether this feature is beneficial. Furthermore, ERP systems are said to provide cost-reduction in addition to increased flexibility (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Since the initial costs of implementation are so high, it doesnt seem like cost-reduction can be achieved anytime close to implementation. However, Rowe and Davis (1996) reported, the IMIS system which is the current system being used in many UN agencies does not cut down the amount of paper needed in order to do processes. Switching to an ERP system should reduce costs related to this amongst other things, as suggested by the literature. For the UN, this would mean more money to use for their peacekeeping missions or other operations. The reduction of costs and flexibility appear to be linked in some way as decreasing operation costs would imply having more flexibility to perform other processes. Then again, its possible for the availability of data to imply flexibility in making decisions, or flexibility could result from rearranging t he organisations processes and being better equipped to perform certain tasks. ERP systems have been reported to enhance business performance by accelerating the merger of organisational resources as well as strengthening the operational efficiency of the company through minimising human error (Shin Knapp, 2001, cited in Wang, 2006). The implication that ERP reduces human error seems to be correct as there is less opportunity to make a mistake for employees because there is generally only one time they need to input information for data-sharing as opposed to the multiple steps needed to take before but how can employees be sure that the initial information entered was accurate? One may argue that if multiple people are doing the same step there is increased accuracy as there are that many more people assessing the situation. Aside from that, it seems these benefits should assist the UN in accomplishing some of their proposed goals, such as linking all departments within one operations system, which decreases the time required for administrative processes. The UN hopes implementation will increase their operational efficiency by allowing valuable time to be spent focusing on high priority situations rather than simple operations tasks (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). More advertised benefits include improved information accuracy and decision-making capacity (Siriginidi, 2000 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). The UN wants to make use of these proposed advantages (Report of the Secretary-General, 2008). Decision-making is a large part of the UN as they have to make difficult decisions everyday that effect large numbers of people; making a bad decision is not necessarily easily corrected in this case. Furthermore, many situations the UN deals with are time-sensitive; if its easier to access data, and the accuracy of that data is improved, officials can rest assured that they are making decisions with proper knowledge. In implementing ERP, organisations no longer have to create their own applications that are then unique to their company. They now have standard software available for their business processes, referred to as Best Business Practices (BBPs), which came into existence around the same time as ERPs. BBPs are general guidelines to assist companies in the way of handling certain business processes, meaning that each company can now improve itself on the basis of the experience of other corporations that share similar functional processes (SAP, 2007, cited in Revia, 2007). It seems any organisation would be hesitant to implement a system that has not proved to benefit other large organisations as the risk of failure is not unlikely (Moon, 2007). However, each organisation is unique so BBPs may not work for every organisation. .Some of the disadvantages of ERP are that the implementation requires time, costs and risks (Boudreau, 1999), as they tend to be â€Å"large, complicated, and expensive† (Mabert et al. 2001, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008, p. 3). ERP implementation calls for serious time commitment from all involved as it is often the biggest project that an organisation will ever face (Moon, 2007). ERP execution requires new procedures, employee training and managerial and technical support (Shang Seddon, 2002, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008), which can be accomplished through good communication of the corporate strategy to all employees (Umble et al. 2003, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). Consequently, the biggest problem is not actually the implementation itself but the expectations of board members and senior staff as well as not having a clear plan or realistic projections (Somers Nelson 2004, cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). However, the UN has already proposed clear goals and plans for t heir implementation. The question is whether or not they will be able to successfully translate these goals/plans to all employees of the organisation and whether or not they will be successful. Finally, the importance of selecting the appropriate ERP package is stressed. Corporations must make sure they select the appropriate ERP package that will match their organisation as well as its business processes (Chen, 2001, cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). This seems obvious as every organisation is different. Some corporations strategise around providing excellent customer service while others focus on decreasing costs to customers as a way to attract more business. However, there are studies that show that customising ERP packages beyond minimal adjustments is discouraged; these studies show that organisations should adjust their processes to fit the package rather than adjust the package to fit the processes (Murray Coffin, 2001 cited in Al-Fawaz et al. 2008). 2.2 Business Process Transformation (BPR): Definition, Evolution, and Implications Business process reengineering (BPR) was not very popular until the release of the book Re-engineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy (Barker, 1995). Hammer and Champy introduced the term â€Å"Business process reengineering† in 1990 and defined it as a â€Å"fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed† (Grover Kettinger, 2000, p. 151). Business process reengineering is also defined as a strategic redesign of important business processes, including the systems and policies that support them, in order to achieve maximum productivity of an organisation (Manganelli Klein, 1994). This would suggest a link between ERP and BPR as they are both structured around the redesign of core business processes. In fact, some goals of BPR are the reduction of cost, cycle-time, defects, and the increase of worker producti vity (Hales Savoie, 1994), very much the same as ERP. The aim of BPR is to change current business processes in order to make them more efficient overall, again mimicking ERP. In fact, Some researchers suggest that ERP systems â€Å"are the major tools for making business processes better, leaner and faster through associated business process reengineering,† (Shang Seddon, 2003, cited in Revia, 2007, p. 25). It is not yet known whether or not BPR will be performed at the UN. It is assumed that it will as it is so closely related to ERP. Additionally, reports have shown that ERP often causes BPR to occur due to its very nature (Seebacher Juszczyk, 2002). It seems that in order for ERP to be most successful, BPR should be performed (Sumner, 2000 cited in Law Ngai, 2007), otherwise the UN may not recognise exactly which processes are most important for their operations. Or, they may not be fully aware of the exact way in which ERP should be performed in relation to the core business processes, which is vital to understand for the selection of the proper ERP package. BPR has its origins in the private sectors as a management tool for companies to deal with change and reorganise their work to â€Å"improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors,† (Hamid, 2004, cited in Wang, 2006, p. 5). Generally, business process transformation takes business processes and allows them to be done routinely through a computer system. It incorporates peoples perspectives and input to make sure that the processes fit needs specific to each corporation (Wang, 2006). This suggests benefits for ERP implementation in any organisation as the systems are supposed to be designed around core processes specific to each company. It would be helpful for the UN to determine which processes are vital to their operations. Furthermore, cutting operational costs should prove to be very valuable for the UN as many of the services it provides are non-profit. Of course, whether or not this will be achieved is a question of interest. Here is a further look into what a core business process is: A core business process is one that gives value to the customers or stakeholders of the company. These are the most important processes within the organisation and are the ones that will set a company above their competitors if done well. In order to figure out what processes are core, one may ask the following questions. 1) Does the process make valued contributions to the customer? Does it improve customer service, increase response-time, decrease customers costs? 2) Is it important for the production/operation of the company? 3) Can it be used for other businesses? If the answer is yes to one of these questions, then the process under consideration can be considered core (McHugh et al. 1995). The UN may consider any process involving cash flow to be core as that is a huge component to many of the services they provide. Furthermore, any documentation of information from one department to another is probably considered core as this organisation relies on data-sharing for its decision-making capabilities. Therefore, it seems that these types of processes will be affected by ERP implementation and will most likely be reengineered. The three most basic strategies that increase a business success are lowering prices, offering more value in products, or focusing on less diversity in commodities and specialising in a certain area (Berrington Oblich, 1995). This suggests that BPR would be structured around these strategies when reorganising core business processes. If the UN is restructuring using BPR, they are likely to focus on a combination of strategies. As already mentioned, the cost of operations is a huge factor for the United Nations to consider as they provide aid to many countries without expecting any favours in return. This implies they would focus on reduction of costs. However, the main reason they are an organisation is to provide services to those in need. That would suggest they would reorganise their business processes around the strategy of offering more value in their services. In implementing BPR, organisations are asked to choose five or six of the processes that are central to the operation of the company and focus on those to see the ways in which they can make them more efficient (McHugh et al. 1995). Concentrating on making sure core processes are completed to the best of the companys ability only ensures the organisation will do better. In the case of the UN, focusing on data-sharing and managing cash flow suggests an increase in the organisations efficiency as those components are vital to their operation. These changes would suggest benefits for both the cost-reduction strategy as well as providing better service to â€Å"customers.† 2.3 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Organisational Culture Organisational culture is a set of core beliefs, values, and behaviours shared by all members of one company, thereby affecting the productivity of the business. It is often described as â€Å"a pattern of shared assumptions produced and manipulated by top management† (Schein, 1992 cited in Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 131). Organisational culture is influenced through many aspects, including leadership, personal characteristics, interactions of members, as well as tradition. Culture has visible signs and hidden insinuations. Visible signs include behaviour while the hidden insinuations entail morals and beliefs (Rousseau, 1990 cited in Cooper, 1994). The culture of an organisation is even displayed in the way certain processes are done as well as the outcomes of these processes, which will be examined at the UNDP in Kosovo. Because ERP systems involve most departments in a company, they change many business processes and thereby affect the more deep-seated organisational culture of a corporation. Companies that focus on incorporating their cultures into organisational efforts are said to have an edge in accordance with their productivity. Organisations can focus on culture and work with the people to shape new values, morals and work ethics. If employees are happy to be working for the organisation, they will be more apt to want to work, implying there will be an increase in productivity (Farbrother Marc, 2003). Enterprise resource planning can lead to changes in organisational culture e.g., ERP is implemented in order to increase productivity by changing current business processes (Deal Kennedy, 1982 cited in Cooper, 1994). These changes are maximal and cannot be simply brushed aside. When a company implements ERP, if the organisational culture is ready for the changes it will bring, the employees can work with the system to increase productivity. Consequently, the culture within the business must be one that can be made amenable for change (Nah et al. 2001 cited in Finney Corbett, 2007). There is the belief that positive and supportive attitudes of those embarking on implementation of ERP will actually bring about a successful transition (Chatterjee et al. 2002 cited in Law Ngai, 2007). However, if the culture has not been made ready for change or the employees are unwilling to change, the system will be less likely to succeed. A system cannot work if there are no users. â€Å"System implementation represents a threat to users perceptions of control over their work and a period of transition during which users must cope with differences between old and new work systems,† (Sternad Bobek, 2006, p. 285). The social setting of a company and its technology most definitely shape each other; they are hardly independent of one another (Boersma Kingma, 2005). A mistake companies frequently make is to presume that people can change their habits easily when in actuality such changes are considerably taxing for many people. These companies underestimate the effect ERP implementation will have on their employees. Many employees panic when nothing looks the way it used to, nothing works the way it used to, and they can no longer go through their workday with the previously earned sense of familiarity and assurance (Koch, 2007 cited in Revia, 2007). One study showed that it took over two years for users of the new system to forget the process problems they found initially and to gain new knowledge of the system (Seddon Shang, 2003 cited in Revia, 2007). A Chief Information Officer from Nestle sums up this concept very well—she says, â€Å"‘No major software implementation is really about the software. Its about change management†¦You are changing the way people work[†¦]You are challenging their principles, their beliefs and the way they have done things for many, many years† (Boersma Kingma, 2005, p. 123). It seems the best way to ensure that employees are on board with proposed changes is to make them aware of these changes. It is important for them to feel that they are included in the decision to create new values and procedures for the company. Otherwise, they will be clinging to the old culture and ways of doing things. The change will be stressful and forced rather than welcomed with ease. They should feel that the change is happ

Australopithecus :: Informative, Anthropology

Australopithecus There are many types of the hominid called australopithecus, which means southern apes. These were small ape-like creatures(with a height between 107cm and 152cm) that showed evidence of walking upright. It is difficult to tell whether these begins are "humans" or "apes". Many of their characteristics are split between humans and apes. The many species of australopithecus include A.(australopithecus) ramidus, A. anamenesis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A . acthiopicus, A. robustus, and A. boisei. The oldest known and identified species of australopithecus that roamed the earth was a. ramidus who lived about 4.5 million years ago. Next came A. Anamensis, A afarensis, A africanus, A. acthiopicus, a boisei and a. robustus. Ausralopithecus boisei roamed the earth as early as 1.1 million years ago and was on earth at the sametime as homo habilis and homo erectus. Most of the australopithecus fossils that have been discovered have been found in eastern africa and have been dated between 4.5 million and 1.1 million years old. There has also been evidence that the australopithecus "man" lived in australia where fossils have also been found. The first discovery of an australopithecus fossil was made in 1924. The body of the australopithecus is smaller than humans, but biffer than chimpanzees. Also, The brain size of australopithecus is bigger than humans at about 475 cubic centimeters. This is also biffer than the chipanzees, but the brains were not developed in most areas. For example speech. The australopithecus species all had mostly the same features with a low forehead, a "bony ridge"over the eyes, a