Organization Development and Theories of Change Management

Question: Discuss about the Organization Development and Theories of Change Management. Answer: Introduction The current report revolves around the theories of change management that can be applied to the organizational context to gain suitable outcome. It is observed that change management is the discipline that helps to understand how one prepares, equip as well as support the individuals to effectively implement change to drive organizational success and outcomes. When all changes are unique as well as all individuals are unique, a number of research demonstrate there are several action that people could consider to impact individuals in their individual transactions. It has also been identified that change management is considered as the systematic approach to deal with the change from both the perspective of company and the individuals. The current report provides an overview of the existing journals and articles regarding the change management. The research also extends to the literature that revolves around the change management. Considering the organizational context, report focuses on the strategies used by the organizations while implementing the changes. Investing the current journals articles about change management As put forward by Pieterse, Canils and Homan (2012), the change management is the common buzzword in todays business environment. Like the humans, the business has also started adopting the trends and culture. It is observed that a business that mostly develops the strategies based on the culture and trends of the regions where it runs the operation gains the popularity and ability to penetrate in the large market. The businesses that are on the verge of leaving the market apply the strategy of change management to bring the customers back. Many articles and journals that have been performed on the change management largely focus on the factors that influence the business to apply change in the organization. The articles also demonstrate that how the organizations implement the changes dealing with the resistance arising from the internal environment of the business. The popular journals professional discourage and resistance to change reviewed by by Josh H. and the Deriving values f rom change management reviewed by Chris Metro focus on theoretical analysis the perception of the change management activities with an emphasis on now an organization could optimize as well as derive increased values form change management initiatives. The authors of the first journals have mentioned in the article that change is the method driven by may strategic consideration with the need for more integrated ways of working as the need to enhance the business performance. These considerations usually result in the structured change programs that are based on the assumption that change management consists of a set of interventions that are considered as the objectives. Nevertheless, the authors on resistance to change highlight the need for the research that goes beyond the top-down organizational change. The research could have considered the dynamics of change methods or process. On the contrary, authors in the second article have mentioned that change is consequently redefined as either individually constructed brought about as well as given meaning in interaction with the social agents and contingencies. As put forward by Metre (2009), the change, which is rooted in the culture and communication essential but it is elusive. T hereby, it can be added that change is driven social, environmental and economical factors. Some journals have also stated as the outcome that several large organizations strategically implements change to improve organizational effectiveness. However, it is also observed that change management efforts have observed a poor record of success. In this context, Hayes (2014) commented that the organizations gain the ability in networks of cooperative relationship that have the impact on the flow of the resources. The outcome of the existing research also confirmed that dynamic resource flows as well as differentiated structural position that influence organizations competitive behavior towards others. Apart from the findings, the existing literature also discusses the change management theories and the models and based on the process of implementing them, the firm gains the competitive success. Explaining what the current research literature is saying about Analysis Change management model- Based on the journal article reviewed Chris Metro (2009), there are several change management theories and models such as Kotters eight step and PROSCI ADKAR mode and lewins theory that effectively guide as well as instruct the implementation of big challenge. Kotters eight steps change management model- John Kotter developed the model of understanding as well as managing change based on the experience of consulting with hundreds of organizations. Each of the steps of the model helps to learn that the importance and implementation of the change. Establishing a sense of urgency- This step emphasizes on the sense of urgency. According to Kotter, the urgency could inspire the individuals and create a sense of realism regarding the change effort goals as well as objectives. Hence, the organization should identify the potential threats and improve the scenario considering what may happen in the future (Kotter 2014). Forming a powerful coalition- In this stage, the firm needs to convince its people that change is necessary. This often requires strong leadership as well as the visible support from the key staff within the organization. Hence, the organization finds the true leaders and the key stakeholders and work on forming the team in the organization. Create a vision for change- Hence, the business needs to determine the values that core to the change and develop the strategy to implement the vision (Cummings and Worley 2014). Communicate the vision- The firms need to talk about the change or discuss it with the employees o the origination to address peoples concern as well as anxieties strategically. Remove Barriers- In order to remove the barriers, the firm needs to identify or hire the change leaders whose major role is to deliver the change. Create short-Term wins- The major role of firm hence, is to analyze the potential advantages and disadvantages of the business targets. For instance, if the organization does not success with early goals, it could hamper the whole change management (Hon, Bloom and Crant 2014) Build on the change- Hence, the organization should develop the goals to continue forming on the momentum it has achieved. The firm needs to keep the ideas by introducing new changes agents as well as leaders for the change coalition. Anchor the change in the corporate culture- It is necessary, the key leaders of the firm should support the change. The leaders need to include the change ideals as well as values while hiring and providing training to the new employees. Lewins Change management model- Lewins change management model consists of three different steps namely unfreeze, change and Refreeze. Unfreeze- The stage of change includes preparing the company to accept the change, which is necessary. This could involve breakdown the existing status quo before the business could build up a new way of operation. Before implementing the change, it is necessary for the organization to go through the major the initial steps of unfreezing. It is evident that some people could resist the change; thereby, the major activity of this stage is to create awareness and learn the level of acceptability. Change- Once people are unfrozen, they could move; therefore, the organization needs to transition or adopt the new state of being. As the uncertainty and fear created in the first stage, in this stage, the people in the organization should solve their certainty and search for the new ways to deal with the realty (Fullan 2014) Refreeze- When the changes gain the stability as well as people adopted the new ways of working, the firm is ready to refreeze. Hence, the organizations make sure that changes are adopted all the time. ADKAR model This model provides the business with the principles that state that managing organizational change could start with understanding how to manage change with a single individual. The model ADKAR developed by Prosci stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement (Kuipers et al. 2014). This means in order to make change effectively in the organization, the individual or the leader needs to gain awareness of the need for change and desire to participate the change as well as ability to implement necessary skills and behaviors. The model can be used as the effective tool for planning change management activities and developing the corrective options. By implementing this change model, the firm gains the ability to sustain the change and derive the expected outcome. The change curve model- As put forward by Senge (2014), the change curve is developed is based on the model that is actually in developed in 1960 by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross to explain the grieving process. This model is relevant to describe the stages of personal transition involved in most large organizational change. The principles of the model help to understand how people could react to change and provide assistance for own personal transition. There four different stages and behavior involved the curve model in the form of status Quo, Disruption, exploration and Rebuilding. Interpreting, demonstrating, and explaining what it means in terms of todays organization The above-mentioned discussion helps to observe that organization applies changes to the operation, the when the market is saturated or the business observes losses. It is also observed that many organizations sometimes face the challenge that compels them to adjust with the current scenario. The large or developed organizations regularly have to regularly go through the process involved in the changes when it is necessary to respond to new environment as the part of their expansion and restructuring process. As stated by Rosenzweig et al. (2014), the managers of large organization now agree change which is constant phenomenon could be attended to as well as managed properly if the firm has to survive. Thus, it can be added that change cannot be applied to one single context; the changes in technology, the marketplace, global economy, social values as well as workforce and the political environment all have a significant effects on the products and process generated. As stated by Benn, Dunphymand Griffiths (2014), the organizations that effectively survive that are often regulated to the role of playing deal with the competitors. As organizational change is one of the persistent experience, the knowledge as well as awareness about many of the critical issues involved in the management of such change responsible for its progress. In addition, it has also been observed that if the companies ever have to experience a large level of success in their enhancement efforts, the leaders and the managers need to have a developed framework for considering the changes as well as key understanding of the key issues. Conclusion The idea of change management is familiar in most of the large business today. Nevertheless, the way business deals with the change and successful they are at it, could be different relying on the type of the nature of the business and the personnel involved. On the conclusion of the report, it can be added that change management is better the application of the structure techniques as well as tools to increase the ability of the group to transition from a present state to the upcoming state to accomplish the desired outcome. In addition, when the change is applied, people are engaged in the change method as well as work together considering the common goals and objectives. Recommendation Empirical-Rational Strategy- People are known as the rational-being and they rely on the self-interests. Thus, the change should be implemented based on the communication of the information and incentives. Most significantly, the people behave reasonably; thereby, they could be with reasoned with the purpose of the implement change. Besides the values judgment, they could also be bought. This is known as the carrot side of carrot-and-stick management. Furthermore, the resistance to change from the internal environment can be controlled . Normative-Reeducative Strategy- People will always adhere to the cultural norms as well as values. Therefore, the successful change is relied on redefining and re-interpreting existing norms and values enhancing the commitments to new ones. Hence, the changes should be aligned with the peoples culture and trends. Reference list: Benn, S., Dunphy, D. and Griffiths, A., 2014.Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge. Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014.Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014.Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Fullan, M., 2014.Leading in a culture of change personal action guide and workbook. John Wiley Sons. Harmon, P., 2014.Business process change. Morgan Kaufmann. Hayes, J., 2014.The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan. Hon, A.H., Bloom, M. and Crant, J.M., 2014. Overcoming resistance to change and enhancing creative performance.Journal of Management,40(3), pp.919-941. Kotter, J.P., 2014.Accelerate: building strategic agility for a faster-moving world. Harvard Business Review Press. Kuipers, B.S., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J. and Van der Voet, J., 2014. The management of change in public organizations: A literature review.Public Administration,92(1), pp.1-20. Matos Marques Simoes, P. and Esposito, M., 2014. Improving change management: How communication nature influences resistance to change.Journal of Management Development,33(4), pp.324-341. Metre, C., 2009.Deriving Value from Change Management(Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania). Pieterse, J.H., Canils, M.C. and Homan, T., 2012. Professional discourses and resistance to change.Journal of Organizational Change Management,25(6), pp.798-818. Rosenzweig, C., Elliott, J., Deryng, D., Ruane, A.C., Mller, C., Arneth, A., Boote, K.J., Folberth, C., Glotter, M., Khabarov, N. and Neumann, K., 2014. Assessing agricultural risks of climate change in the 21st century in a global gridded crop model intercomparison.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,111(9), pp.3268-3273. Senge, P.M., 2014.The dance of change: The challenges to sustaining momentum in a learning organization. Crown Business.

Sample of Essay on Patient Background and Current Diagnosis

Sample of Essay on Patient Background and Current DiagnosisA sample of the essay on patient background and current diagnosis should be useful to students of the medical course in teaching them about the historical and current problems regarding diagnostic and treatment processes in all fields of medicine. It should also be interesting to students who are writing for exams because it can help them to write better essays on the exam.The process of diagnosis is made possible by the use of diagnostic methods and equipment that can be used with very high accuracy. All these methods have been improved over the years but there is still a long way to go until we can reach the situation where we can really diagnose diseases through these instruments. In the process of diagnosis, we cannot afford to make mistakes which may lead to delay in treatment or death.At times, we may even get it wrong because we do not have enough information to understand what exactly we need. For example, many people are known to die before reaching the hospital because of incorrect diagnosis. Thus, we can use this sample of essay on patient background and current diagnosis to help us avoid these mistakes.The sample of essay on patient background and current diagnosis should be interesting to both the teacher and the student. It should stimulate the writer and the student at the same time. Students who are writing papers for examinations can use this essay to learn about the history of diagnostic and therapeutic instruments that are commonly used in medicine. They can also use it to learn about how current diagnosis, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, laser therapy, etc are being done in different countries and cultures.In addition, the sample of essay on patient background and current diagnosis can be used as an introduction for essays that include discussions on cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes among others. It can also be used for evaluating essays written on child nutrition and on the his tory of diagnostic equipment.A good sample of essay on patient background and current diagnosis can also be used to help evaluate different types of essay writing styles. It is important to keep in mind that many people writing on specific topics do not really know about the different aspects of the topic. They may simply think that all these methods work together perfectly but this may not be the case.One reason why students do not use this sample of essay on patient background and current diagnosis properly is because they do not know about the history of diagnostic equipments. The various parts of an instrument may have been invented several times but each one of them has changed very little from its original form. This fact will be useful to students who are writing essays for examinations.It is a proven fact that diagnostic tools are used only when the situation requires such tools. Thus, even though it is impossible to produce a perfect diagnosis, we can learn a lot from curre nt diagnosis.

5 Steps To Prepare For An Interview Essays - Legg Mason, Baltimore

5 Steps To Prepare For An Interview Intro to Business November 11, 2000 Five Steps in Preparing for an Interview 1. Tell me something about yourself a) Graduated from a single sexed college preparatory school, Garrison Forest in Baltimore, Maryland. Now finishing my fourth year at the College of Charleston, double- majoring in Business Administration and Pre-Law. b) Honors: (HS) graduated 3rd in a class of 76 girls, 3.9 G.P.A, president of the senior class. (College) graduating Magna Cum Laude, 3.8 G.P.A, and active in student government. c) Worked in Smith, Smith and Wilson's Law firm as a secretary for two summers and had an internship with Legg Mason working in the Business Law department under Mrs. Charlotte Brownstein, CEO of Legg Mason. 2. Why are you looking/leaving? a) Want to go into the field of Business Law and felt that this company had a positive reputation, respected credentials and a favorable location. b) Seeking to improve and develop my job specializations in law. 3. What are your goals? a) Redesign and widen the strategic planning of the company. b) Demonstrate team management. c) Improve the database and statistical analysis software. 4. Why should we hire you? a) Persistence. b) Experienced. c) People skills. d) Diligent worker. e) Team player. 5. What are you earning/looking to earn? a) I rather not discuss money at this time; instead I would like to confer on how your company could benefit from me as well as how I could profit from your company. Business

Free Essays on History Of Internet

Origins of the Internet The first recorded description of the social interactions that could be enabled through networking was a series of memos written by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in August 1962 discussing his "Galactic Network" concept. He envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any site. In spirit, the concept was very much like the Internet of today. Licklider was the first head of the computer research program at DARPA, 4 starting in October 1962. While at DARPA he convinced his successors at DARPA, Ivan Sutherland, Bob Taylor, and MIT researcher Lawrence G. Roberts, of the importance of this networking concept. Leonard Kleinrock at MIT published the first paper on packet switching theory in July 1961 and the first book on the subject in 1964. Kleinrock convinced Roberts of the theoretical feasibility of communications using packets rather than circuits, which was a major step along the path towards computer networking. The other key step was to make the computers talk together. To explore this, in 1965 working with Thomas Merrill, Roberts connected the TX-2 computer in Mass. to the Q-32 in California with a low speed dial-up telephone line creating the first (however small) wide-area computer network ever built. The result of this experiment was the realization that the time-shared computers could work well together, running programs and retrieving data as necessary on the remote machine, but that the circuit switched telephone system was totally inadequate for the job. Kleinrock's conviction of the need for packet switching was confirmed. In late 1966 Roberts went to DARPA to develop the computer network concept and quickly put together his plan for the "ARPANET", publishing it in 1967. At the conference where he presented the paper, there was also a paper on a packet network concept from the UK by Donald Davies and Roger Scantlebury of NPL. Scantl... Free Essays on History Of Internet Free Essays on History Of Internet Origins of the Internet The first recorded description of the social interactions that could be enabled through networking was a series of memos written by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in August 1962 discussing his "Galactic Network" concept. He envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any site. In spirit, the concept was very much like the Internet of today. Licklider was the first head of the computer research program at DARPA, 4 starting in October 1962. While at DARPA he convinced his successors at DARPA, Ivan Sutherland, Bob Taylor, and MIT researcher Lawrence G. Roberts, of the importance of this networking concept. Leonard Kleinrock at MIT published the first paper on packet switching theory in July 1961 and the first book on the subject in 1964. Kleinrock convinced Roberts of the theoretical feasibility of communications using packets rather than circuits, which was a major step along the path towards computer networking. The other key step was to make the computers talk together. To explore this, in 1965 working with Thomas Merrill, Roberts connected the TX-2 computer in Mass. to the Q-32 in California with a low speed dial-up telephone line creating the first (however small) wide-area computer network ever built. The result of this experiment was the realization that the time-shared computers could work well together, running programs and retrieving data as necessary on the remote machine, but that the circuit switched telephone system was totally inadequate for the job. Kleinrock's conviction of the need for packet switching was confirmed. In late 1966 Roberts went to DARPA to develop the computer network concept and quickly put together his plan for the "ARPANET", publishing it in 1967. At the conference where he presented the paper, there was also a paper on a packet network concept from the UK by Donald Davies and Roger Scantlebury of NPL. Scantl...

Evaluation for presentation to management Essay - 1

Evaluation for presentation to management - Essay Example The recent globalisation has changed the management of human resource in the organisations. There has been focus upon developing better organisational structure and hiring knowledgeable and experienced work force. The globalisation has removed the barriers in searching of talents within the corporate sector of a particular country (Jackson & Alvarez, 1992). The HR manager assists in developing the system of E-Recruitment through which there is every possibility of hiring knowledgeable and experienced personnel for MechCon. This also allows outsourcing certain activities and employees (Prude University, 2005). The globalisation has changed the needs of the organisation as well as the structure. The HR manager facilitates in developing the perfect organisational design and structure that best suit the Australian human resource policy and helps in increasing the efficiency of MechCon (Pucik, 1996). The public sector of Commonwealth of Australia administrates the policy of HRM. The company’s human resource policies should be in line with the Australian policy of HR practices (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004). HR is known to assist in developing strategies that are aligned with the business. This is highly complex and a specialist HR manager with experience can develop such strategies along with business strategies to grow in the competing business environment. The complexity lies in the achievement of organisational excellence and growth (HRPS, 2011). It also lies in planning, development and acquisition of human resource in reaction to the demand for MechCon and dealing with strategy with industrial conflict. The HR manager in recent competitive advantage with application of knowledge successfully manages personnel, relationships, organisational capabilities and learning (Schuler & MacMillan, n.d.). This will help MechCon to gain competitive advantage not only in terms of employee

Accounting paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Accounting paper - Essay Example Return on equity (ROE), according to the analyst, is considered to be the most significant ratio in order to evaluate a company’s performance from an investor’s point of view. ROE measures a company’s ability to earn a return on all of the capital that is being employed by the company. The ratio is calculated as net income upon total shareholder’s equity. The Stephen’s company ROE amount to 25.45% which can be comprehended as for every $100 invested in the equity of the company, the company generates a return of $25. Any company has a negative financial leverage when the return on common stock holder’s equity is less than the return on assets. In the discussed case, Stephen’s company has a positive financial leverage and thus portrays a sound financial outlook. Earnings per share calculates the $ which is earned by the shareholder per share which is held by him. Stephen’s Company EPS is 7.90 which appears to be quite suitable and portrays sound and strengthened financial outlook. The ratio is calculated by dividing net income minus the dividend paid on preferred stock per the common stocks outstanding throughout the year. Dividend payout ratio on the other hand is calculated by dividing the total dividend paid during the year with the net income. It is basically the percentage of the total net income during the year the directors of the company decide to give out as divided. From an investor’s point of view, the companies with higher dividend payout ratio are the best ventures to invest in. Price per Earning or P/E ratio is calculated by comparing the market price per share with the EPS. Stephen’s company’s P/E ratio is 7.59 which is lower than the industry average of 10. This could be due to the lower share price of Stephen’s company as compared to similar companies in the industry. Lower P/E ratio can

Globalization, Nation-States and Transnational Entities Essay Example for Free

Globalization, Nation-States and Transnational Entities Essay The historical study of the main characteristics and normative legacy of a nation-state has proved complicated for the social sciences as a whole. During the past few centuries, the nation-state has been deified and demonised equally; it has been regarded as modern as well as ancient form of social and political community; it has been seen as an imagined or imaginary society; rational structure of the community; it has created as much happiness as well as misery; it has been a source for political democracy, cosmopolitanism and ethnic cleansing. It has also coexisted with empires colonies, blocks, protectorates, city-states among other forms of political organisations. It has gone through and experienced the unification, occupation, totalitarian terror, divisions and then unification. It has won legitimacy around ethnic or racial, republican, liberal, democratic class principle and federal (Chernilo, 2007). In spite of all these, a nation-state succeeded to present itself as a solid, stable and as the necessary form of social and political organisation in the contemporary world. The nation-state is a territorial organisation that self-recognizes and deriving its political authenticity from the people and serving as a supreme body for a country as a sovereign territorial entity (Chernilo, 2007). Most people view a nation as a political thing that is self evident, a kind of natural culmination of all societies. It is high time people realised that the idea of a nation that Europe gave to the world was perhaps short-lived political form, a European exception, a precarious transition between ages of kings and the â€Å"neo-imperial† age (Guehenno Elliott, 2000). 1). Modern nation-states have diverse feelings to their territory, compared to the dynastic monarchies; it is semi-sanctified, and non-exchangeable. No nation would swap territory with other states simply, for instance, because the kings daughter got married. They have a discrete type of boundary, in principle defined only by the area of settlement of the national group, although most nation-states also sought natural borders like rivers, lakes, mountain ranges among others. The most outstanding characteristic is the degree to which nation-states use the state as an instrument of national unity, in economic, social and cultural dimensions. This is done by promoting economic unity, first by abolishing internal customs and taxes. Nation-states normally have a guideline to form and sustain a national shipping infrastructure, facilitating business and movement (DiVanna, 2003). Nation-states usually have more centralised and identical public government than its colonial predecessors; they are smaller, and the population less diverse. In several instances, the regional administration is also subordinated to central or national government. They also have an identical nationwide customs, through state’s guiding principle. The model of the nation-state suggests that its populace constitutes a nation, fused by a widespread descent, a common language and various forms of shared culture. When the unity is absent, the nation-state frequently tries to craft it; by promoting a homogeneous national language, through language guiding principle. The nation-states create a common curriculum for both primary and secondary education as a way of fostering a common language. In addition, to create a common identity, history of a nation-state is enshrined in their curricula and taught usually in a propagandistic and mythologized edition, and especially during wars some nation-states still teach this kind of history. Language and cultural policy was sometimes negative, aimed at the suppression of non-national elements. Language prohibitions were sometimes used to accelerate the adoption of national languages, and the decline of minority languages. A nation-state has a constitution that is a set of rules that governs its operations and is official. A state is as well recognised but other countries as independent and with the United Nations by her being a member of the UN. Besides, the state also acts on behalf of the people that are residing in that territory and nation-state is continuous; in the sense that a set of leaders come and go but the nation-state remains, thus its continuity. Nationalism being a product of modernity, reflecting on people’s need to belong to a social group to have a feeling of security in an environment where a people live. Nationalism has been seen as an intense force that has resulted into socio-political conflicts all over the world, besides, it has been an instrument for bigotry and social unrests. The key to lasting business viability in a connected world is that each firm is part of one or more networks of value. Thus collaboration is the pillar to adding value as a network member. More often, people and corporations collaborate because of the profit that may accrue due to such collaboration (DiVanna, 2003) A nation defines itself by not only what it is, but as well as what it is not. It is not a social group, neither is it a religious group, nor a racial group; a nation is what binds together the citizens of a nation is a amalgamation of historical factors that can not be reduced to a single dimension as social, religious, or racial (Guehenno Elliott, 2000) an example of a nation is Germany. A state such as Georgia is described as a definite territory in which a legitimate government has the ability to control its own activities without intrusion from other system of governments (Europa, 2010). It depicts more of a political and geographical area associated with a kind of political body; a nation, on the other hand, describes more of a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term nation-state implies that the two geographically concur, and this distinguishes the nation-state from the other types of state, which historically come first, an example of a state is Georgia. In addition, a nation-state is understood as a political expression of a single or a central and relatively homogenous ethnic group. It groups very heterogeneous societies, communities loosely under the guidance of a common religious, and/or dynastic tradition. The basis of segmentation that characterise such communities can be geographical, religious, political, social, economical, ethnical, race and even class or caste (European Parliament, 2008), an example of a state is Algeria. 2). The US has territorial boundaries which are not easily swopped. Besides, US is a symbolic community with her people voluntarily dedicate their most important political loyalties in spite of the many meticulous loyalties; economic, spiritual, racial, ethnic, political, social; that otherwise divide them. This gives the people of united state to identify with a common culture as a people of a modern nation-state. In addition, the U. S has an impersonal power structure which bears it legitimacy from a people. A countrys foreign policy, which at time is called the international relations policy, consists of approaches preferred by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals in international relations. The plans are intentionally employed to interact with other nation-states. Contemporarily, due to transnational and globalization activities, the nation-states will also have to interact with non-state actors like terrorists. A nation-state’s interests are paramount; foreign policies are premeditated by the government through high-level decision making progressions. More often than not, creating foreign policy is the job of the head of government and the foreign minister. In some countries the legislature is also involved in the process. 2 b). An example of foreign policy of US is Security from attack is the most paramount foreign policy of any nation. That is a nation should endeavour to have foreign policies that do not make her vulnerable from physical external attack, either by other countries or by individual actors like terrorists. The focus of US foreign policy is thus, geared towards building a power to defend herself from against attack from other nation-states and these individual actors like international terrorists. Security from attack should go beyond the physical attack to include the domestic wellbeing of the American citizens and protect them against some psychological troubles like the loss of their jobs to foreigners, because of perhaps, poor foreign policy on immigration issues, and trade among others. Foreign policy of the US is national interest or international justice; which focuses on the role of the US when other nations go against human rights like right to life, by some regimes which go to war and engage in massacre, genocide among others. Others argue that US should develop a foreign policy that protects human right when abused not only in American soil but also in other parts of the word. This may take a more noble form as diplomacy and may go to the extreme as military intervention if necessary, and then help with the reconstruction of the nation-state in question, like in the case of Iraq (Page Bouton, 2006). The aftermath of World War II saw the creation of European Union which was seen by many as an escape from the extreme forms of nationalism which had destroyed the continent. This followed the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community which, while having the modest aim of consolidated control of the previously national coal and steel industries of its member states, is seen to be the first step which culminated in the formation of the European Union. The founding members of the Community were Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. It progressed to form a peaceful Europe through cooperation in the 1940s. Due to the war between the east and the west in the 1950s there was need for peace in Europe. Therefore the soviet tanks put down protests against the communist regime in Hungary. In 1957, the launch of the first man-made space satellite by the Soviet Union acted as a pioneer in the space race in addition to the European Economic Community or Common Market that was created by the Rome treaty. The emergence of youth cultures took place in the 1960s bringing with it economic growth. In return, the EU countries stopped charging duty on custom in the course of their trade with each other. During this period, they agreed on joint food production control so that everyone had enough to eat which resulted in excess agricultural produce. In 1973 resulted in a growing community when Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined the European Union, and raised the number of members to nine. This period experienced the last right wing dictatorship in Europe due to Salazar regime being overthrown in Portugal and the General Franco of Spain’s death. The influence in EU affairs by the European Parliament increased and hence all citizens could elect their members directly for the first time. In addition jobs and infrastructure in poorer areas were created when the EU regional policy started to transfer huge sums of money. The changing face of Europe was introduced by the fall of the Berlin wall in the 1980s. Greece additionally joined the European Union followed by Spain and Portugal five years later. The single European Act which is the foundation for a six year program that resolves problems with the free flow of trade across EU borders and creates the Single market was then signed in 1987. In 1989, the Berlin wall was pulled down and for the first time, the border between East and West Germany was opened and led to the reunification of Germany when these two united in 1990. In the 1990s the European Union developed a Europe without frontiers which resulted in Europeans being closer to each other when in central and Eastern Europe there was a collapse of communism. This was when the single market was completed and the four freedoms of movement of goods, services, people and money was developed in addition to the Maastricht Treaty on European Union in 1993 and the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1999. Austria, Finland and Sweden join the other member states in 1995, people are allowed to travel without border checks of passports when as, all village in Luxembourg gave its name to the â€Å"Schengen† agreements, numerous young people were able to study in other countries with the support of EU and with the use of mobile phones and the internet, communication was made easier. From 2000 to present, the European Union experienced further expansion due to the introduction of a new currency for many Europeans. The member states began to work jointly to fight crime and introduced the war on terror after hijacked planes were flown in New York and Washington buildings. More than 10 countries joined EU and between east and west Europe there was a healing of political divisions (Europa, 2010). b). These major institutions of the European Union are the European Parliament or EP which is elected directly by EU’s citizens to act as their representative, the Council of the European Union which is a representative of individual member states and the European Commission which endeavours to sustain the union’s interest as a whole. The three form an institutional triangle which makes policies and laws applied throughout the EU. The new laws are proposed by the commission but then they are adopted by the parliament and council. In addition, the Court of Justice which maintains the European law and the Court of Auditors which checks the union activities finances are other institutions that play important roles (Europa, 2010). Moreover, there are also the European Investment Bank, Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions, European Ombudsman, and the European Monetary Institute (ILO, 2010) The countries that make up the European Union are otherwise known as its member states. Though they maintain their independence, they put their power together in order to achieve strength and influence which they could not as individual nations. This means that they give some decision making powers to created institutions which they share so that issues related to a common interest are decided on with democracy at European level. In total, they are27 are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (Europa, 2010) c). The European Union enables closer relationships between its member states in order to maximize on their collective potential. This applies to economic and political activities such as free trade, freedom of movement, and choice of job. In addition it serves to unify the actions of its member countries in terms of security, foreign policy, and cooperation in matters related to police and justice. A lot of beaucracy that was involved with these issues has since been dissolved. In addition it has achieved its principle aim of ensuring Europe’s stability after the Second World War (ILO, 2010) d). Foreign policy objectives for the European Union include peace building and peace making. This involves prevention and control of war or conflict between member states and other nations. It works to eliminate suffering of related citizens The rule of law and respect for human rights and basic freedom should also be strengthened by pursuing ambitious human rights policy that is based on agreement with the respective clause that is concerned with human rights and democracy. An agreement based upon structured and deep political dialogue should also be established in addition to the implementation of the introduced parliamentary dimension (European Parliament, 2008) 4a). The nation-states and transnational entities pursued by the use of foreign policy tools such as diplomatic negotiations, economic aid, and sanctions, trade restrictions, military interventions, unilateral, or cooperative. These options are evaluated and monitored in attempts to maximize benefits of multilateral international cooperation. A nation-state can use them singly or a combination. b). The consequences of this interaction for international politics are numerous. Some of them include the subordination of national interests of a country to uphold the collective interests of the nation-states, like the United States, or the transnational entities like the European Union. The economic interdependence is likely to either make war between trading partners less likely or, as realists claim, that economic interdependence increases the likelihood of conflict. Such countries that engage in international may be prone to terrorist’s attacks besides, the nation-state can be less popular in other countries when the use military interventions like the case or US intervention in Iraq. References Busby,W. J. , 2010. Who Cares about the Weather? Climate Change and U. S. National Security. Retrieved from http://www. gechs. org/downloads/holmen/Busby. pdf on 12th July, 2010. Chernilo, D. , 2007. A Social Theory of the Nation-State: The Political Forms of Modernity beyond Methodological Nationalism. New York: Routledge. Desmoyers-Davis T. , 2001. Citizenship in Modern Britain. New York, USA: Routledge. DiVanna J. , 2003. Synconomy: Adding Value in a World of Continuously Connected Business. USA: Macmillan. Europa, 2010. Europen Union. Retrieved from http://europa. eu/abc/history/index_en. htm. on 12th July, 2010. European Parliament, 2008. EU strategy for reform in the Arab world. Retrieved from http://www. europarl. europa. eu/sides/getDoc. do? pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2007-0179+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN on 12th July, 2010. Guehenno, J. M. Elliott, V. , 2000. The end of the Nation-State. Minnesota: U of Minnesota Press. International Labour Office (ILO), 2010. European Union (EU). Retrieved from http://actrav. itcilo. org/actrav-english/telearn/global/ilo/blokit/eu. htm. on 12th July, 2010. Page, B. I. Bouton, M. M. ,2006. The Foreign Policy Disconnect: What Americans Want From Our Leaders But Dont Get. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Rosenberg, M. , 2010. Defining an Independent Country. Retrieved from http ://geography. about. com/cs/politicalgeog/a/statenation. htm