Organizational Decoupling Processes and Causes

Organizational Decoupling Processes and Causes The field of organizational decoupling is a field that has not been researched very much. Meyer and Rowan (1977) were some of the first authors who wrote about this subject and define organizational decoupling as separating formal structure from actual organizational practice. In short, this means that organizations say that they do one thing, but actually do something else. For instance, an organization can announce that it will start a stock repurchase program. The organization can announce that it will repurchase a certain amount of stocks but actually repurchase much less stocks or dont repurchase them at all (Westphal Zajac, 2001). In this particular example the organization decouples what it says it is going to do, with what it actually does. Thus, the organization separates formal procedures (formal structure) from practice. So organizations seem to decouple their structure from actual practice, but why? Why do organizations try to fool other organizations, clients, customers and possibly even themselves? I argue that the main problem is legitimacy, and by exploring organizations quest for legitimacy and the problems they might encounter along the way, this research tries to map the main causes for organizational decoupling and thus give an answer to the following research question: What are the main causes of organizational decoupling? This research consists of a step-by-step overview of the entire process underlying decoupling. Four steps will be taken to explore and explain why organizations decouple their formal procedures (formal structure) from practice. Namely, 1) looking at the context of organizations and their search for legitimacy, 2) looking at problems organizations might encounter while searching for legitimacy 3) identifying the problem that is supported to be the prime cause of decoupling and 4) looking at organizational reactions to these problems (using decoupling) to connect the causes the action (problems to decoupling). These three steps will be discussed in three paragraphs and each paragraph consists of a review of existing literature from different authors about the decoupling process. Figure 1.1 shows the conceptual model sketching the process underlying decoupling. This model is divided into theory and propositions. The theory section shows which concepts form the theory behind the proposit ions and the propositions section shows which propositions are extracted from the theory. These propositions will form the core of this research. Research Structure The first step in the research is to take a look at the context of organizations and their quest for legitimacy. Organizations are embedded into institutional environments, meaning that the environment expects something of these organizations (Boxembaum Jonsson, 2008). There are certain norms, values and rules that organizations are being expected to act upon. Organizations have to conform to these expectations to gain legitimacy and this is the one goal all organizations have. They have to be legitimate to operate, survive, gain control over resources and create stability (Meyer Rowan, 1977; Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008). For organizations, expectations are being experienced as pressures to conform. Therefore, this research will use the term environmental pressures to refer to these expectations. However, using the term environmental pressure sketches an image that is too vague and incomplete. Therefore this research divides environmental pressures into normative pressures and coercive pressures (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). The term normative pressures refers to the expectations of the public or the cultural audience. These are the people and other organizations that form society and expect organizations to behave in a certain way and to conform to moral norms and values. It is important to keep in mind that it is not illegal to disregard these expectations; they are social guidelines, not laws. Nonetheless organizations have to conform to these expectations to stay legitimate (Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008; and others). Coercive pressures however do consist of laws. In some situations organizations have to conform to certain laws that are being imposed by the government and this creates a pressure to conform. Organizations must conform because disobedience is illegal and illegitimate (Edelman, 1992). The second step in finding the answer to why organizations decouple their formal procedures (formal structure) from practice lies in the problems organizations might encounter while pursuing legitimacy. This paper categorizes three different problems that might rise when organizations try to gain legitimacy by conforming to environmental pressures, namely: 1) organizations might encounter a misfit between the expectations of their environments and their practices (Meyer Rowan, 1977); 2) some organizations might encounter an inability to conform to the coercive and normative pressures (Oliver, 1991); and 3) in some cases what an organization is being expected to do is in conflict with the interests of the organization as a whole or of individual managers (Edelman, 1992; Westphal Zajac, 2001; Fiss Zajac, 2006). The third step is to identify one of the three possible problems as the one that is the most important or most found cause of organizational decoupling. This step will eventually form an answer to the research question. The fourth step is the step where organizations actually decouple their formal structure from practice as a response to the problems that have arisen as a result of environmental pressures. This chapter will discuss different ways in which organizations use decoupling to solve problems and it illustrates some particular situations and approaches to the different problems that might arise while trying to be legitimate. This chapter functions as a bridge between the problems and the actual decoupling. Relevance of the Research Because organizations experience the struggle for legitimacy on a daily basis, and therefore have to cope with problems that arise as a result, this research might give organizations an insight in how to deal with these pressures and problem situations. Managers of organizations can use the knowledge in this research to come up with strategies that both suffice the need for legitimacy as well as the need for efficiency and pursuing organizational interests. The process underlying decoupling as illustrated in this research might also be used as a mean to gain legitimacy on its own. Because this research provides an insight into the reasons that organizations have to decouple their structure from practice, the public or cultural audience might come to a better understanding of the situation. They might understand that organizations sometimes have no other choice than to decouple and that the actions of organizations are actually quite legitimate, even if they are not considered to be at the moment. The knowledge provided in this research can also lead to further research on decoupling an form a basis for other researchers to start from because it tries to explain the core concept behind decoupling and to give an answer to the why question. Theoretical Framework Theory The aim of this research is to explore and explain the process underlying organizational decoupling and summarize the main causes. But what is organizational decoupling exactly? Meyer and Rowan (1977) define organizational decoupling as separating formal structure from actual organizational practice, meaning that organizations create an illusion of their activities (formal structure) but actually perform different activities (organizational practice). Many authors have used the term organizational decoupling but most of them refer to Meyer and Rowan as the founding fathers of this field of study and therefore this research will use the definition of organizational decoupling as given by them. The second important concept in this research is legitimacy. This research hypothesizes that organizations are on a quest for legitimacy and might encounter problems along the way. Legitimacy is therefore one of the core concepts and will be defined as a generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions (Suchman, 1995, p. 574). This definition will be used in this research because Suchman (1995) includes the importance of the social audience in his definition. As mentioned earlier, the audience defines the social pressure that organizations experience and is therefore an important player in the process underlying decoupling, which in a way determines what is legitimate and what is not, and should therefore be included in the definition of legitimacy. The third concept as mentioned in the conceptual model (figure 1.1) is environmental pressure. Meyer and Rowan (1977) call this environmental pressure myths. According to them, institutional rules function as myths to which organizations have to conform to be legitimate. This research however does not use the term myths but the term environmental pressure, the definition however remains the same. As mentioned earlier this research separates environmental pressure into two different sub pressures: coercive pressure and normative pressure. Coercive pressure will be defined as the demand of the state or other large actors to adopt specific structures or practices, or else face sanctions (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000 in Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008, p. 80). Normative pressure will be defined as what is widely considered a proper course of action, or even a moral duty (Suchman, 1995, in Boxenbaum Jonsson, 2008, p. 80). These two definitions are chosen because they both point out the important difference between the moral and legal background of the concepts. The definition of coercive pressures specifically points out the role of the state and the risk of facing sanctions. This expresses the legal background of the concept. On the other hand, the definition of normative pressure points out the role of the audience. This on its turn expresses the social background of the concept. Dimaggio and Powel (1983/2000) also mention a third pressure, namely mimetic pressure. These mimetic pressures are mainly caused by uncertainty. This uncertainty for organizations causes organizations to imitate other, successful organizations to reduce their own uncertainty. Even though the concept of mimetic pressures is a part of the pressure package of Dimaggio and Powel (1983/2000) it will not be used in this research. The reason for leaving mimetic pressures out of the research and include only coercive and normative pressures is that this research hypothesizes that conforming to certain en vironmental pressure causes problems. Mimetic pressures however do not cause but rather solve problems (uncertainty)(Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). Propositions This research also mentions three different problems that organizations might encounter while trying to be legitimate. The first are efficiency problems. These problems are defined as problems that might arise when organizations try to conform to environmental pressures, which actually are in conflict with efficiency criteria (Meyer Rowan, 1977). The second problem is the inability to conform to environmental pressures. This problem will be defined as a problem that might rise when an organization has inadequate resources or capacity to meet the requirements of conformity (Oliver, 1991). The third are conflicting organizational or managerial interest problems. These are problems that might rise when environmental pressures are in conflict with the organizational or managerial interests (Edelman, 1992; Westphal Zajac, 2001; Fiss Zajac, 2006). Based on these three possible problems three propositions are made: Proposition 1 Organizational decoupling is caused by efficiency problems. Proposition 2 Organizational decoupling is caused by the organizations inability to conform to environmental pressures. Proposition 3 Organizational decoupling is caused by conflicting organizational or managerial interests. Table 2.1 Concept Definitions Organizational decoupling Separating formal structures from actual organizational practice Legitimacy A generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper, or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions Environmental pressure Institutional rules function as environmental pressures to which organizations have to conform to be legitimate Coercive pressure The demand of the state or other large actors to adopt specific structures or practices, or else face sanctions Normative pressure What is widely considered a proper course of action, or even a moral duty Efficiency problems Problems that might arise when organizations try to conform to environmental pressures, which actually conflicts sharply with efficiency criteria Inability to conform to environmental pressures Problems that might arise when an organization has inadequate resources or capacity to meet the requirements of conformity Conflicting organizational or managerial interests Problems that might arise when environmental pressures are in conflict with the organizational or managerial interests Research design This research can be characterized as both a descriptive and an explanatory research. It is both descriptive and explanatory because the aim on one hand is to describe current mainstream findings of other researchers on organizational decoupling and on the other hand to explain the whole process underlying organizational decoupling. This chapter will describe the process of data collection and data analysis using a part of the guidelines for conducting a systematic literature review as suggested by Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003). According to them conducting a review can be divided into several phases (table 3.1). These phases will form the steps used in this research for both data collection and analysis. Phases in conducting a review (Tranfield, Denyer Smart, 2003) Phase 1 Identification of research Phase 2 Selection of Studies Phase 3 Study quality assessment Identification of Research This phase of the research is the actual start of the data collection. According to Tranfield, Denyer and Smart (2003) a systematic search begins with identifying keywords and search terms. As mentioned in chapter 2 (Theoretical Framework), this research contains several concepts, which again can be found in the conceptual model (figure 1.1). These concepts are the core of this research and therefore some of them will be used as keywords to find relevant articles and papers. The first string of keywords is as follows: 1) Decoupling; 2) Legitimacy; 3) Institutional pressures. Table 3.2 shows the number of articles found for each keyword. Number of articles found Decoupling 12.262 Legitimacy 8.199 Institutional pressures 1080 To make the keywords more specific and to make sure that the results of the search are narrowed down the following, more specific keywords were identified and some keywords were added to the string (see table 3.2 for argumentation): 1) Organi?ational decoupling; 2) Acquiring legitimacy; 3) Maintaining legitimacy; 4) Conformity + institutional pressures; 5) Symbolic management Keyword argumentation Organi?ational decoupling Adding organi?ational to the term Decoupling makes the term more specific and narrows down results The ? makes sure that both the English and the American spelling of the word are being checked for Acquiring legitimacy Adding Aquiring to the term Legitimacy makes sure that the search focuses on the organizations search for legitimacy and not just on legitimacy itself Maintaining legitimacy Adding Maintaining to the term Legitimacy makes sure that the search focuses on the organizations struggle to maintain legitimacy and not just on legitimacy itself Conformity + Institutional pressures The term Institutional pressures refers to the pressures that weigh upon organizations The term Conformity refers to the theory that organizations have to conform to certain pressures to be legitimate Symbolic management Decoupling is using symbols to show that your organization conforms to certain institutional pressures (myths) (Meyer Rowan, 1977)The use of these symbols as a management strategy is called symbolic management (Westphal Zajac, 1998; 2001) The main source of information will be the ISI Web of Knowledge. This database contains thousands of articles and papers, which can be found using the license of the University of Tilburg. Unfortunately this license only allows the search for articles that have been published in 1988 or later. However, for the first step in searching relevant literature this is not a reason for concern. Again, to narrow down the results of the research and to exclude irrelevant results, the search will be refined to the general category Social Sciences. This makes sure that the search results do not include findings in irrelevant categories such as Science and Technology and Arts and Humanities. Second, the subject areas of the search are also refined. The subject areas that are included in the search are Business and Economics, Sociology and Behavioral Sciences. An example of the exact syntax of the search command can be found in the appendix. Besides using search-strings, this research also used the technique of snowballing. This technique uses the literature references of articles and papers that might have been found using the search-strings. For instance, the paper of Meyer and Rowan (1977) is being referred to by almost every author in the field of organizational decoupling. However, this article does not pop up in the search results in the Web of Knowledge database because it was published before 1988. By using snowballing other relevant articles about the subject can be found. The result of using this technique is that the latter part of the literature used in this research was found in the literature references of the articles that were found by using the organi?ational decoupling search term. Selection of Studies After searching for articles a selection of relevant studies had to be made. This process consists of three steps: 1) scanning the titles 2) reading the abstracts of the studies found and 3) matching the content of the studies to this researchs concept. The first and second step give an indication of what the studies are about. The title says a lot about the content of a paper and the abstract of an article gives a short summary of what the author has found in his or her study and thus gives an indication of the usability for this research. The third step is actually a sort of analysis of the studies that have been marked as relevant and usable in the previous two steps. This step consists of actually reading the selected studies and mapping their contents. Mapping the contents of a article or paper that are relevant for this research is being done by using a summary table (see appendix 6.2). This table is an oversight of the different articles and papers, their authors and the main concepts of these studies. After reading all the relevant literature this table is used to divide the different studies into different categories. The different categories consist of the core concepts of this study as shown in figure 1.1 (conceptual model), namely: 1) legitimacy; 2) conforming to coercive pressures; 3) conforming to normative pressures; 4) efficiency problems; 5) inability to conform to environmental pressures; 6) conflicting organizational or managerial interests; and 7) implementing decoupling. Dividing the literature into these different categories makes it easier to link them together in this research and to formulate an answer to the research question. Study Quality Assessment The quality of this research will be guaranteed by checking the literature that is being used as data. By checking the literature for times cited the reliability and validity of the literature is being secured. The more a particular article or paper is cited by other authors, the higher the reliability and validity of this particular article or paper. However, this also means that the older articles seem to be more reliable. To overcome this bias articles of more recent years have also been taken in to account and have been checked for usability separately. Another method for improving the reliability of the research is to use theoretical triangulation. By looking at different theories, the concept of organizational decoupling will be explained in a reliable and multidimensional way. To guarantee that this research can be replicated and checked for inconsistencies or to extend it, every step of the research process is being recorded. Also, the systematic way of analyzing the data ensures both replicabillity and reliability. Results As mentioned earlier, this research consists of three steps in explaining the causes of organizational decoupling. These three steps are according to the conceptual model (figure 1.1) and try to explain the process underlying decoupling step-by-step and will be covered in the following paragraphs. Quest for Legitimacy Before we can point out which problems could cause decoupling we must first take a look at how these problems rise in the first place. The theory shows that organizations try to be legitimate and are thus on a quest for legitimacy. Acquiring and maintaining legitimacy is the most difficult task for most organizations (Elsbach Sutton, 1992; Pfeffer Salancik, 1978: 194). Nonetheless, organizations have to be legitimate to operate, survive, gain resources and create stability (Meyer and Rowan, 1977; Boxembaum Jonsson, 2008). So one of the main goals of organizations is to be legitimate, but how do organizations achieve this? Boxembaum and Jonsson (2008) argue that organizations are embedded into institutional environments. Being embedded into institutional environments means that this environment has certain expectations of the organizations. These expectations are being experienced as pressures, and organizations have to comply with these pressures to maintain legitimacy (Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000; Monahan, 2006). These pressures can be either coercive or normative (Seidman, 1983; Dimaggio Powel, 1983/2000). Coercive pressures refer to environmental expectations such as, for instance, laws. The argument that organizations have to conform to coercive pressures is supported by the work of Tsoukas (1994) who argues that in some environments organizations have to conform to rules and institutions as imposed by the legal state. Normative pressures refer to norms and values about what is considered proper or normal (Suchman, 1995). In their work on educational organizations and ranking Sauder and Espeland (2009) write about the normative pressures that educational organizations have to conform to. According to them, educational organizations are being ranked according to their performance. Schools have to be the best of the best to survive and thus have to conform to todays ideas of what is considered good quality and bad quality. Problems Along the Way So in short, organizations try to be legitimate by conforming to both coercive and normative environmental pressures. Conforming to these environmental pressures seems to be the right and only thing for organizations to do. However, this research hypothesizes that it might also cause certain problems. This research distinct three particular problems, namely: 1) efficiency problems; 2) inability to conform; and 3) conflicting interests. Efficiency Problems Meyer and Rowan (1977) argue that organizations that try to be legitimate by conforming to environmental pressures might encounter a misfit between the organizational structure and its practice. In other words, the environmental pressures are not in line with the organizational practice. For instance, Meyer and Rowan (1977) mention the example of a bus company. A bus company is expected to service certain routes, even when there are no passengers. This is highly inefficient, but the bus company has to conform to the environmental pressures. Edelman (1992) also point out the efficiency problems that might rise in their example of the equal employment opportunity and affirmative action (EEO/AA) law. This law is designed to ban discrimination in the hiring processes of firms and thus restricts organizations and managers to hire or refuse whomever they want. According to Edelman (1992) organizations experience this as highly inefficient and obstructing to managerial power. Inability to Conform A second problem that organizations can encounter is that they simply cannot conform to the environmental pressures. Oliver (1991) argues that some organizations are just not able to conform to certain environmental pressures because they do not have the needed resources or the capacity. For instance, it is more or less a social expectation (thus, a normative pressure) that the area surrounding a fast-food-restaurant is kept clean and clear of garbage by the restaurant itself. However, the restaurant might not have enough personnel or the material (resources and capacity) to conform to this expectation. It might also be possible that organizations simply do not know what is being expected of them or that multiple environmental pressures are conflicting with each other (Oliver, 1992). If any of these options is the case, then the organization might not be able to conform or choose to conform to one pressure, but ignore the other (conflicting) one. Conflicting Organizational or Managerial Interests The third problem that can rise as a result of trying to conform to environmental pressures is that certain organizational or managerial interests might be conflicting with the expectations (environmental pressures). Westphal and Zajac (2001) point out that some organizations that announce a stock repurchase program do not always fully implement these programs. According to them this might be a result of conflicting managerial interests. They argue that top managers might use this strategy, which is actually decoupling, to preserve free cash flow for themselves and thus to maintain managerial discretion over the allocation of resources. In other words, the organization is being expected to fully implement the stock repurchase programs, but top managers seem to want to keep control over the allocation of resources and thus do not (completely) conform to this environmental pressure. What is being expected, and the interests of the managers are conflicting with each other. The previous mentioned findings of Edelman (1992) about the EEO/AA law and its consequences for organizations are also supporting the conflicting interests argument. Edelman (1992) not only argues that conforming to the EEO/AA law, a coercive pressure, is inefficient but also argues that it is in conflict with organizational and managerial interests. Managers want to be free in hiring whomever they want but the EEO/AA law prohibits them from doing this. Thus, the coercive pressure to which the organizations have to conform is in conflict with the interests of the organizations themselves and their managers. Decoupling as  a Problem Solving Tool So far we have traced the process underlying decoupling from trying to be legitimate, to conforming to environmental pressures and to the problems this might cause. This research argues that these problems are the main causes of organizational decoupling but so far nothing has been said about the implementation of decoupling as a response to these problems. This paragraph will give some examples of how organizations use decoupling to solve their problems and will form a bridge between the problems and decoupling. According to Meyer and Rowan (1977), efficiency problems can be solved by formally adopting a structure but then internally decouple this structure from the actual practice. They give an example of how a hospital applies this strategy. In this example Meyer and Rowan (1977) point out that hospitals treat, not cure their patients. The environmental pressures prescribe that hospitals are being expected to cure patients. However, this is highly unpractical because they cannot cure every single patient. The solution to this problem is decoupling. Hospitals give an impression that they cure their patients, and thus conform to the environmental pressures, but actually these hospitals treat their patients and do not cure all of them. In fact, hospitals only publish numbers on treated patients and not or seldom on cured patients (Meyer Rowan, 1977). Edelman (1992), regarding to the EEO/AA law example, also gives a solution to the efficiency problems. Organizations create formal structures in the form of offices, positions, rules and procedures within the organization. These formal structures are actually symbols of compliance. They give the impression that the organization conforms to the environmental pressures, but in fact the organization can hire or reject someone on illegitimate grounds (Edelman, 1992). When an organization does not have the resources or capability to conform to environmental pressures, it will attempt to preclude the necessity of conformity or to conceal nonconformity behind a faà §ade of acquiescence (Oliver, 1991). Oliver (1991) gives an example: when a construction firm is building a house and they are expecting a government inspection of the building site, they might display several activities that normally are not there. For instance, rules require two men to operate heavy machinery on building sites. However, a building firm might not have enough personnel to put two men on the job and thus normally only one man operates the machinery. When the building firm expects an inspection it will, for instance, relocate someone from another building site to the one that is being inspected. So when the inspectors come, the heavy machinery is operated by two men, while normally it is not. This way the organization (construction firm) conceals its nonconformity. A possible solution to the third problem, conflicting organizational or managerial interests, is already mentioned shortly in the previous paragraph. The example of the stock repurchase program (Westphal Zajac, 2001) shows that individual managers simply do not implement the whole program when their interests are in conflict with the plans. So in short, decoupling actually comes down to the following: give the environment the impression that the organization conforms to all expectations (environmental pressures), but when these pressures cause some sort of problem for the organization, actually follow the organizations own rules and routines. Conclusions Recommendations This chapter will formulate conclusions that are derived from the results and give some recommendations for further research on organizational decoupling. Conclusions

How Changes in Communication and Technology Affected the Role of the Modern Diplomat

Introduction This brief aims to discuss how changes in communication and technology affected the role of the modern diplomat. A diplomat is one who is sent abroad to represent his own country to carry out diplomatic duties (Carta, 2012). Kopp and Gillespie (2011) gave a sardonic definition of a diplomat as â€Å"an honest man or woman who is sent to lie abroad to carry out certain tasks for the welfare of his/her country† (p. 3). This definition more or less shows the purpose of a diplomat’s work. Although written sardonically, the statement only conveys an atmosphere of suspicion that has always enveloped the diplomatic profession. The diplomat represents the interests of his own nation, seeking information that can provide an advantage to his government whilst being protected by international codes and regulations (Barker, 2011). In order to clarify how communication and technological changes have affected the role of the modern diplomat, this brief will first discuss how the diplomat carried out his duties in the past, followed by how these duties and roles have changed now with the advent of such changes. Overview of the Diplomat’s Role A diplomat has certain roles to perform. He must serve as a trained theologian; he must be able to quickly solve the most complex problems in correct dialectical shape, and must be a specialist in civil and canon law, amongst other relevant fields. He has several functions, such as negotiating serious and/or secret agreements, and some of these negotiations aim to prevent the occurrence of wars, while some others provoke such occurrence (Shaw, 2006). The diplomat is sent on a mission where he must represent the sending state and protect its interests in the receiving government. He reports what occurs in the receiving state and fosters friendly relations. Part of his role is to generate diplomatic documents. These documents engender the greatest amount of information about international relations (Jonsson and Hall, 2002). There are also customary functions that he must carry out with the receiving state (Aust, 2005), such as trade promotion cooperation, matters relating to economic, defence, cultural, and scientific concerns, and those relating to terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other related issues. Diplomacy is the sort of thing that a nation cannot manage to lose; to the point that even the poorest country would make an effort to afford a modest diplomatic corps (Singh, 2002). Accordingly, when a diplomat pursues a consular function, this task is in keeping with the Vienna Consular Convention and does not forego his diplomatic immunities and privileges. This point is important to stress here since there are some overlapping functions that may take place between consular and diplomatic works, specifically in protecting one’s nationals, given that the consul has limited immunities and privileges compared to the diplomat (Aust, 2005). Performing consular work is part of the role of the diplomat, which is necessary to mention when considering changes in communication and technology. This is because such changes have in one way or another eased up the overlapping functions due to the speedier processes entailed in carrying them out. How changes in communication and technology affected the role of the modern diplomat The role of the modern diplomat has been greatly affected by changes in communication and technology. The rapid means of communication and transportation has diminished the importance of the modern diplomat. Prior to these developments, the diplomat was allowed considerable discretion in how he dealt with matters that arise on short notice. This is because of the lengthy time it took to communicate with his home government, given the limited available communication channels (Jonsson and Hall, 2002). With the absence of a previous position of his government, it was the diplomat who shaped policy; he was given enough leeway even in the implementation of policies developed in his country. In the past, the diplomat had the opportunity to avoid making decisions by doing nothing due to the slowness of events. During World War II, state leaders did not bother the diplomat (i.e. ambassador) for important things. They could not also telephone or correspond directly to one another (Singh, 2 002). The limitation posed by the then not-so-advanced technology has set this kind of environment. Today, the modern conditions characterised by speedy exchange of information paved the way for the disappearance of this opportunity (Batora, 2008). Through mobile devices, internet technology, and other similar devices, the modern diplomat can be instructed conveniently and rapidly on what position he is to take, what he is to say, etc. The advancement of technology has enabled the foreign office to direct and follow almost every detail of negotiations. In similar fashion, national leaders and foreign ministers have enabled themselves to communicate directly in as much as the diplomat is able to communicate to his home government as occasioned by advanced communication technologies. Early technological developments escorted the improvement in air travel, which affected the role of the diplomat. They would often see themselves shunted aside by the sorties that their bosses (presidents and prime ministers) performed in relation to improved air travel, where these chief executives coul d now afford to visit various foreign countries, including their diplomats’ own posts (Singh, 2002). If analysed carefully, one would surmise that the surge in communication and technology has in fact made the whole process of information sharing more rapid and convenient. This would affect the pace and speed in which the home country responds to certain information that reaches its hands. On a positive light, the diplomat is in fact aided by these information channels when relating new information to his government (Cornago, 2013). Members of the media, who in the past had difficulty accessing a foreign country due to limited air travel, have also in effect helped the diplomat in relating news stories that he may have set aside; thereby not putting all the burden of information dissemination on his shoulders. It is like providing the diplomat the opportunity to focus on more important details of his job, such as promoting friendly relations with other nations, performing negotiations, etc. Information dissemination would then become a limited area of his duties as the media enters into the scene in a very active fashion. In Gilboa’s (2000) article, changes in communication has affected the role of the diplomat in such a way that the media is now playing an important role in contemporary diplomacy, a role that it did not use to play prior to these changes. Officials and journalists often utilise the media extensively to promote negotiations. The media thus play an active part in contemporary diplomatic processes, which only the diplomat used to undertake prior to all those changes in communication and technology. As social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook continue to serve as a fresh source of information for political events, diplomats are being encouraged to use social media as a regular part of their jobs to participate directly in political discussions (Paris, 2013). If one wants the latest political news, he needs only to read blogs, follow Twitter, or watch YouTube (Cooper, et al., 2013). Gone are the days that a nation would wait for the diplomat to relate the official information about similar events. Hence, it may be inferred that the enhanced complexity of information flows in diplomatic processes, amongst others, has bridged geographic distances (Batora and Hocking, 2007). The effects of technology are greatly far-reaching so as to transform diplomacy, which is being reinvented gradually for the information age. Through available technology, diplomacy can enable physical presence in a virtual fashion (Batora, 2008). The United States and the UK have already taken this big stride to digital diplomacy. Those lagging behind are seen to lose influence over time albeit their engagement in private diplomatic communication. Canada lags far behind US and UK although it has recently displayed little interest in utilising social media in its diplomatic functions (Paris, 2013). There are more positive effects of changes in communication and technology in the role of the diplomat. With the advent of globalisation comes the so-called globalisation of international relations (Lawson, 2002), suggesting new important diplomatic functions due to an increasing awareness about the idea that global problems necessitate global solutions, thereby expanding the scope of the diplomat’s role from merely representing his country. It is worthy of note that globalisation will allow the diplomat to operate in the future at the bilateral and multilateral levels, and the advancing communications technology is seen to conveniently aid such operation by the diplomat (Copeland, 2009). With the aid of changes in communication technologies, diplomats have been transformed as ‘globalisation managers’ who are charged with managing the ‘global village’ (Lawson, 2002). The advancing communication technologies enable the diplomat to perform his duties s peedily, which can likewise permit him to respond to various issues right away, such as international terrorism, drug trafficking, and climate change, to name a few. The abounding information, which may be verifiable or not and can be readily accessed anytime and anywhere is marshaled by modern means of communication. The modern diplomat has now a genuine task of inspecting and analysing the content and credibility of all available data and opinions, putting these data in a broader and more profound political context. This can then provide a suitable guideline for decisions by the diplomat’s home country (Bolewski, 2007). It therefore proves to show that despite the information age in which the modern diplomat functions and in the midst of the available information, the diplomat’s task is to screen this information in terms of truthfulness and credibility. He must not use such information right away in his diplomatic decisions but must scrutinise them instead. Not only do changes in communication and technology expedite the diplomatic process, but they also provide the necessary information to the diplomat as well. It is therefore apparent that structural changes have taken place in the diplomatic environment due to technology and modern means of communication. The acknowledgement of the value of the media to his tasks is considered one of the ways in which changes in communication and technology have affected the role of the modern diplomat. Cooper et al. (2013) even claimed that today’s emphasis in diplomatic work is much more on interaction with the media and language ability, putting a decline to the written skills of the diplomat. Cooper et al. do not however mean this literally, but what they are pointing out is that the media have played an important role in the diplomatic process, to the point that the diplomat must consider interaction with them part of his routine. It must be noted that negotiations and diplomatic missions are two main areas of diplomacy which have been considerably influenced by technology. Virtual negotiations now take place amongst diplomats, in which they reach certain commitments and agreements electronically, such as through voice conversation, video conferencing, and exchange of emails and faxes. Virtual diplomatic missions and virtual Ministries of Foreign Affairs contribute to enhancing negotiators’ investigative power as they continuously search for information (Batora, 2008). This setting is helpful for diplomats who are engaged in other processes or events and can save themselves so much time and trouble travelling. It also allows poor countries to save much money in travelling since e-negotiations are cost effective. Thus, a diplomat can participate in multiple negotiations and other events that occur simultaneously in geographically dispersed locations (Grech, 2006). On a separate note, this can bring certain risks, such as lack of face-to-face interpersonal relations with fellow diplomats, increased participation expectancy by citizens, susceptibility to attacks, misreading of information, loss of credibility, lack of identity verification in online presence, and delicate maintenance (Grech, 2006). These threats are brought by the online nature of virtual diplomatic missions. The injection of communication technologies in diplomacy has corresponding negative repercussions such as those mentioned because virtual diplomatic missions cannot trade the culture delivered by a physical relationship in an embassy or consulate. Since human factor is of high value to diplomacy, changes in technology will not change the importance placed by the diplomat on personal contacts, feedback mechanisms, and human experience, which all characterise diplomatic procedures (Aneek, 2010). In a virtual diplomatic setting, the diplomat is in fact deprived of developing relationships with fellow diplomats and the citizens, and such deprivation could be unfavourable to certain diplomatic functions such as developing bilateral relations and negotiations. Since interpersonal relations are lacking in virtual diplomacy, it would be difficult to verify identity in this fashion and illegitimate users may exploit this service, leading to adverse results. Increased vulnerability to attacks therefore puts the virtual diplomacy in a detrimental situation. Added complexity is thus required since special care must be warranted to ensure clearness and ease of understanding of site navigation . On a similar note, delicate maintenance of mission websites is essential, which a subject specialist must ensure. This subject specialist must be a diplomat also since only a diplomat has the best understanding of the nature and context of information (Grech, 2006). There is also a threat to misinterpret information available in diplomatic mission websites because of the text-based nature of information, which can cause confusion than when such information is presented on a face-to-face basis where diplomats can have an open discussion and active deliberation (Grech, 2006). Conclusion This paper tackles the role of the modern diplomat alongside changes in communication and technology. The diplomat is sent by the home government to a receiving government for purposes of performing certain duties in behalf of the home country. Diplomacy is a process that every nation must carry out in its international relations activities. In the past, a diplomat was tasked to relate news and information in the country where he was posted, and such information can aid his own government in designing certain decisions. This has changed now however; first, due to availability of air travel, and second, because of the prevalence of communication technologies that can enable speedier transmission of information. The modern diplomat no longer holds the banner of bringing news stories and information to his own country since he is outdone by the media in this department. However, he is not involved in a rat race with the media; instead, his daily activities include interacting with the media who aid him in conveying necessary information to the home government and to the world. In the past, he did not incorporate the media to his daily activities. Globalisation, a phenomenon aided by advances in communication technologies, affects the way the modern diplomat performs his role. Alongside ease in communication and information, his role is now seen to expand bilaterally and multilaterally as he faces global issues in his task to manage the global village. The threats posed by changes in communication and technology in the role of the modern diplomat and his adoption of virtual diplomacy are increased participation expectancy by citizens, susceptibility to attacks, misreading of information, loss of credibility, lack of identity verification in online presence, and delicate maintenance. References Aneek, C. (2010). International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley Pvt. Ltd. Aust, SA. (2005). Handbook of International Law. UK: Cambridge University Press. Barker, J. C. (2011). The Protection of Diplomatic Personnel. England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Batora, J. (2008). Foreign Ministries and the Information Revolution: Going VirtualBoston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Batora, J. and Hocking, B. (2007). Bilateral Diplomacy in the European Union: Towards ‘Post-Modern’ PatternsECPR/SGIR 6th Pan-European Conference: Turin 12-15 September. Bolewski, W. (2007). Diplomacy and International Law in Globalized Relations. New York: Springer. Carta, C. (2012). The European Union Diplomatic Service: Ideas, Preferences and Identities. Oxon: Routledge. Cooper, A. F., Heine, J., and Thakur, R. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Copeland, D. (2009). Guerilla Diplomacy: Rethinking International Relations. US: Lynne Rienner Publishing. Cornago, N. (2013). Plural Diplomacies: Normative Predicaments and Functional Imperatives. The Netherlands: Koniklije Brill NV, Leiden. Gilboa, E. (2000). Mass Communication and Diplomacy: A Theoretical Framework. Communication Theory, 10 (3), 275-309. Grech, O. M. (2006). Virtual Diplomacy: Diplomacy of the Digital Age [Published Dissertation]. Malta: Faculty of Arts, University of Malta. Jonsson, C. and Hall, M. (2002) .Communication: An Essential Aspect of Diplomacy. 43rd Annual ISA Convention, New Orleans, LA, March 23-27. Kopp, H. W. and Gillespie, C. A. (2011). Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the US Foreign Service. US: Georgetown University Press. Lawson, S. (2002). The New Agenda for International Relations. Cambridge, UK: The Polity Press. Paris, R. (2013). The Digital Diplomacy Revolution: Why Canada is Lagging BehindRetrieved on March 19, 2014 from http://opencanada.org/features/the-think-tank/essays/the-digital-diplomacy-revolution/ Shaw, J. (2006). The Ambassador: Inside the Life of a Working Diplomat. Virginia: Capital Books, Inc. Singh, N. N. (2002). Diplomacy for the 21st Century. New Delhi: Naurang Rai for Mittal Publications.

Early Childhood Curriculum Essay

In Early Childhood Education you use philosophies to help you succeed. You also make sure that you look into the NAEYC position and standards to make sure you are running a classroom that is within the standards. These are two critical factors in an Early Childhood classroom and you have to know how to implement them in your teaching. John Dewey was an American educator and philosopher. He helped develop the idea of pragmatism. He felt that children should explore and discover. â€Å"Dewey and other progressive followers suggested a curriculum for young children that focused on the situation and challenges that children faced as members of a democratic society† (Eliason & Jenkins pg. 5). Maria Montessori is best known for her teaching method that has her name the Montessori Method. She believed that the scenes were the source of intellectual growth and development. â€Å"She emphasized the importance of the schools and families working together† (Eliason & Jenkins pg. 5). Jean Piaget is known well for his cognitive development theory. â€Å" Programs that incorporate Piagentian theory emphasizes that children learn through experimentation and initiative and construct their own knowledge and understanding through adaptation o the environment† ( Eliason & Jenkins pg. 5). There are many different ways to teach. Some of the goals of teaching are: â€Å"1. understanding the nature of development and learning. 2. Know what to teach, how to teach, and know how to access what children have learned. 3. Create a caring and responsive learning environment. 4. Establish positive mutual relationships of trust and respect with families 5. Pursue professional training and knowledge. 6. Treat every child with respect, dignity, and positive regard† (Eliason & Jenkins pg. 13). â€Å"The NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with the focus on quality of educational services for all children birth to age eight† (NAEYC. ORG). NAEYC position statements are their position to issues related to early childhood education. Some of the issues are: anti-discrimination, code of ethics, developmentally appropriate practice and early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. â€Å"Naeyc’s first commitment is to the rights and interest to all children† (NAEYC. ORG). They believe that one should be hired on their competence and qualifications to perform their designated duties and that it should not be based on gender, race, national origin, religious beliefs, age, marital status, disabilities, or sexual orientation. The NAEYC code of ethics â€Å"offers guidelines for responsible behaviors and set fourth a common bias for resolving the principal ethical dilemmas encountered during early childhood care and education† (NAEYC. ORG). It also does not allow educators, doctors, and nurses to deny services to children. The developmentally appropriate practice is to â€Å"to promote excellence in early childhood education by providing a framework for best practices† (NAEYC. ORG). It promotes quality of care and education. The NAEYC â€Å" constructs comprehensive systems of curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation guided by sound early childhood practices, effective early learning standards and program standards are a set of core principles and values, belief in civic and democratic values† ( NAEYC. ORG). They make sure that children are active, and engaged curriculum goals are shared by all and that curriculum is evidence based. â€Å"Early childhood classrooms should communities of inquiry, problem posing, and problem solving, where children perceive that in math lessons they are expected to offer their thoughts about questions posed and to find resolution to these problems† (Eliason & Jenkins pg. 319). Teachers need to incorporate problem solving and math in the curriculum to do this teachers must avoid gender bias regarding math. They should recognize different opportunities during the day to teach math and also to make sure that early math is concrete and manipulative. † The focus in early childhood is in understanding numbers and the number system and understanding operations specifically addition and subtraction† (Eliason & Jenkins pg. 323). Children are counting all their life. They learn by playing different games or things such as climbing stairs. Repetion helps the child to memorize the sequence and sounds of numbers. When you are doing songs or finger play the children are learning their numbers and the correct order they should be in. â€Å"The basis of a high quality program in early childhood is promoting feelings or self esteem and dignity in each child† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 143). Teachers have to help the children build their self esteem. Some ways to help strengthen a child’s self esteem would be to make sure you are honest, sincere, and consistent in expressing feelings. Teachers should make sure they value the children’s work and effort. If a child has a problem you can help in anyway that you can. Violence is not good for young children. â€Å" Violence results in children believing that there is no safe place, that their protectors can no longer protect them â€Å" ( Eliason & Jenkins pg. 149).â€Å"This can influence their  emotional development. â€Å"Stress develops when we can not cope with either external or internal demands† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 148). Some external sources of stress would be hunger, pain, illness, fatigue, shyness, and emotions. External stress would be divorce, family separation, hospitalization, and death. Teachers can help children deal with stress in many ways such as: encourage the child, praise the child, ect. â€Å"Development in cognitive language and literacy allows young children to construct meaning and build understanding† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 189). Teachers should make language and literacy development in all curriculum. â€Å"Literacy development begins in the very early stages of childhood, even though the activities of young children may not seem related to reading and writing† (Johnson, D. ). When you are helping your children with their literacy development you need to help to encourage them. Some ways to help encourage them would be: To provide many opportunities for talking, make sure you listen, ask the children questions, make sure they are in a comfortable relaxed atmosphere, and recognize and help correct if the child use grammatical errors. Sharing stories and poetry are good activities to help support language development. â€Å"The primary factors influencing the development of language appear to be 1) The child’s innate ability to learn language,2) The quality of the model or the early stimulation and variety provided by the model. 3) The ability of the caregiver to expand or extend the Childs language† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 204). â€Å"Children’s development in semantics, or the meanings of words, is directly related to the experience and interactions that they have† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 193). If a child hears a word they have never heard before they will not be able to use it, but they can use sentences they have never heard before. Books help expand their language meanings and vocabulary. â€Å" It is very important that adults constantly share, converse, extend, exchange language, and provide labels for words as children have experiences at zoos, grocery store, park, school, home, in the car, in the classroom, or in any setting† ( Eialson & Jenkins pg. 193). Children tend to learn to read different signs that they see constantly over and over even before they can actually read. These signs include ones such as stop signs, McDonalds, burger king, ect. â€Å"Syntax is the set of rules for creating or understanding a sentence† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 193). When children first begin to use words there is no evidence of syntax but as the child turns four you can start to here this with the children. The children learn to imitate sentences when they are first learning and this is how they learn syntax. You can also help the child learn by expanding what the child says till they learn to add this in themselves. As teachers we need to make sure that we speak ton every child using correct grammar. â€Å"As children grow, they gain increased facility with syntactic structure, leading us to believe that maturation is a variable in syntax growth† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 194). â€Å" Through music and movement young children express themselves, explore space, develop language and communication skills, increase sensory awareness, and express themselves through rhythm, gesture, time, and space† ( Eliason & Jenkins pg. 353). Adding music to your curriculum is important because it helps children learn about different cultures as well as about their own culture. Through music they express their emotions and it helps them release their feelings. Depending on what music you are listening to it can either calm, or help soothe troubled feelings. It can help the children enhance their self worth. Music also helps with children’s listening skills, attention span, and their memory. Language and language concepts can also be developed through music. â€Å"Research supports the notion of the physical and psychological advantages of music on the body and mind† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 354). â€Å"Young children have a natural curiosity about the world, and this is where science education should begin† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 237). Science should be taught as hands on learning, it should be a natural part of the everyday curriculum. â€Å"Language and literacy development are strongly supported when science activities are included throughout the curriculum† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 239). Science is taught through observing, manipulating, problem solving, and engaging with science activities. They learn to classify, compare, define, measure, listen, ect. When they are learning science. Early childhood education is a very critical time in a young person’s life. This age has a big influence on their learning for the rest of their lives. The government developed The No Child Left behind Act to make sure that all children have an equal opportunity to a good quality education. The government designed grants to help all children succeed. The Special Education Preschool Grant â€Å" provides formula grants to states to make available special educated and related services to three to five year  old children with disabilities† ( ED. GOV). They also have grants to help with high poverty communities to help improve their knowledge and skills. â€Å"Currently American schools and early childhood programs focus on standards-based education† (Eialson & Jenkins pg. 17). Some of the qualities o0f effective childhood teachers are: Caring, enthusiastic, flexible, and creative. Early childhood teachers must be willing to be patient and help these children learn so that the children will be ready for their future. Philosophies are an essential part of early childhood curriculum. They help the teachers to help the children to learn in different ways. The NAEYC standards are implemented to help teachers understand what the proper way they should teach the children. They help the teacher set up their classroom and understand the way the children should be taught. â€Å" Early childhood educators must strive to be learners who are willing to continually study, grow, and change to think and solve problems† ( Eialson & Jenkins pg. 19).

Language Development An Example Of Telegraphic Speech

Language development is a huge step in a child’s life. For parents it’s a build block that shows growth within their child. When language begins to develop it allows us to finally â€Å"get to know† the child. Before language development, parents had to guess or find ways of knowing what their child wanted or needed. However, during and after language development the child is able to express what they need, and attention. For my field project I collected data by walking around my family’s farm with my nephews and my niece. The ages of my nephews and my niece are 3, 4, 5, 5, 9, and 12. During this walk I picked up telegraphic speech, holophrases, referential style, pragmatics and expressive style. Telegraphic speech is when simple words are forgotten in a phrase (Feldman 162). Telegraphic speech is often compared to writing a telegram because you payed for each word in the telegram. Since the word amount was limited for most they took out simple words. 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