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Changing Institutions in Modernity
The focus of Week 9's reading, Newman's "Architects of change" is on social change. It is pivotal to note that this particular chapter serves as the conclusion for a book based on institutionalism. As such, the author noted that he wanted to end the manuscript on a more positive note that was less bureaucratic, and which provided optimism for change within some of the myriad institutions discussed in this work as a whole. The chapter begins with a prolonged case study about a man in the United Kingdom who was able to effect change in national health care policy to help his son who was suffering from a disease. The anecdote serves as a means of conveying that change is possible in institutions, and that in the process people are actually helping to reconstruct society and the way it functions.
The author then details the context for current changes in the institutions that affect contemporary life, which are all "post-industrial" and benefit from that long ago revolution in which man was able to begin modernization. A good deal of changes that take place in current society are due to advances in science and technology, and have invaded myriad institutions including social, cultural, educational, health...
The author provides plenty of examples for each of these changes wrought in the face of the technological age in which he lives. Not all of these changes are benevolent the author notes; he provides copious evidence of harmful changes taking place across families in which children no longer have childhoods. However, the author also details some of the factors that actually characterize social change, one of the most salient of which is the speed of change. In general, social change that is too expedient is labeled an "anomie" and frequently results in high crimes and suicides. The author closes out the chapter by discussing factors of change, such as technology and the environment.
The latter is related to environmental pressures and involves changes that the growing population has made to expedite global warming -- which partially stem from the cutting down of forests as a need to plant more food to feed that growing population. However, the changes that are rendered via technology are given a certain prominence by the author. There are numerous different institutions of life that cultural changes of technology impact. In fact, the author does a good job of illustrating the fact that technological changes rarely produce only good. Antibiotics can help in certain instance, while over-prescription of them can harm people in others. The internet and smartphones can facilitate immediate access to information and communication, yet also create a culture in which people are disengaged from their surroundings. A…
Institutions are defined as the existence of formal rules, on the one hand, and informal conventions and norms (such as impolitic societal rules that constrain behavior and impose forms of conduct) on the other. A system of enforcement structures are set in place to ensure that society abides to both and the strength of that enforcement system generally determines the extent to which individuals of a particular society will
By way of introduction to the topic, Legro examines the general presumption that a state's sense of identity defines the parameter of its national interests, thus directing its domestic or international conduct. Rather than subscribing blindly to this fundamental precept of neorealism, Legro offers a competing theory of identity and its influence on international relations, surmising that "states become what they do as much as they do what they
" (Stevens, 2006) While the pay of education staff has been lowered, tuition fees have been raised and yet public spending."..on higher education in the UK is one of the lowest in the industrialized world." (Stevens, 2006) Currently Britain is stated to spend only 1.1% of its national income on higher education, compared with the EU average of 1.2%." (Stevens, 2006; paraphrased) the U.S. spends 2.6% of its national income
According to Liao (2006), "The companies have entered into significant, long-term agreements that give Lenovo customers preferred access to IBM's world-class customer service organization and global financing offerings. This will enable Lenovo to take advantage of IBM's powerful worldwide distribution and sales network. Lenovo's customers are able to count on the entire IBM team - including sales, services and financing - for access to IBM's legendary end-to-end it solutions"
Change management is both a necessary component to organizational success, and, at the same time, it is cause for confusion and tension among employees. This paper reviews the issues and problems presented in the Spice-Trail Oriental Condiments and Relishes paper -- from the perspective of change management theories and practices. Hired by Kim as a consultant to help smooth out the rough edges and provide strategies for success, this paper
Changing Roles for Health Sciences Librarians: A Synopsis of Current Trends As modern technology stimulates increasingly savvy and complex electronic innovations, the role of health science librarians has continued to adapt and change year after year. Whereas in days of old health sciences librarians served as information keepers, today they serve more as partners, educators, creators and information mangers in a new sense. As Ralph A. Wolff once stated, "forging librarian/faculty