Organizational Structure and Competitive Advantage

Organizational Structure and Competitive Advantage In our fast-paced, ever-changing world, organizations are constantly seeking ways to gain and sustain effectiveness. Though there is no single thing that makes an organization successful no secret ingredient some concepts do universally apply. One fundamental is to create a right organizational structure for success by ensuring alignment in organization dynamic relative to core purposes, strategy, and culture. Organisational structure refers to the way tasks are divided up, how the work flows, how this flow is coordinated and the forces and mechanisms that allow this coordination to occur. It creates the framework within which organizations operate. It is the skeleton and later on becomes the engine of the business. Therefore an organization with a structure which does not fit into economic and business environment, differentiated from its core purposes cannot exist for a long time. The aim of this paper is to review an organizational structure as a competitive advantage. The objectives will be the guiding tour to achieve the goal: Review existing organizational structures and their respective Analyse relationship between organizational structure and strategy Define which organizational structure is relatively better for exporting companies As a case study, organizational structure of Hansa Flex was researched, and subject in question was applied to it to compare organizational theory in real business life. The paper starts formulating a unified theoretical framework by explaining what the organization is, and describing relationship within an organization. Then it defines common types of organizational structure, talks about their function principles, afterwards investigates organizational effectiveness and relationship between organizational structure and strategy. To describe how a company can gain a competitive advantage relying on this relationship, and to compare theoretical framework with real business life, at the end, organizational structure of Hansa Flex was studied and conclusion about comparison is described. Some have described organizational structure as a formal configuration of roles and procedures, the prescribed framework of the organization. Others have described structure as the patterned regularities and processes of interaction. Structure is important in organizations because it reduces ambiguity and clarifies tasks, expectations and goal. Bartol, Martin, Tein and Matthews (2001, p. 267) define organizational structure as the formal pattern of interactions and coordination that managers design to link the tasks of individuals and groups to achieve organizational goals. Different sources give different contingencies which define organizational structure. These contingencies change through the time due to economic and business environment, technology, innovation as well as designs of organizational structures. The elements that were main criteria for selecting organizational structure 20 years ago are not reliable nowadays. Contingencies like size of organization, role clarity, specialization and control, for example, have been replaced by speed, flexibility, integration and innovation (Ashkenas et al., 1995, p. 7). Methodology Before carrying out the research, it is reasonable to analyse particular method for a given study. There are two main points that the research process of the paper goes through, as the research is done to enlighten development of organizational structures and review organizational structures as a competitive advantage: Defining the resource for analysis of theoretical framework Applying the theory on particular case study (Hansa-Flex) Starting a new research paper is like starting a new project you have an idea of what you want to do, but are not sure how to start. Many writers, like many project planners and managers, find that outlining is frequently the most effective way to start writing (Keene, 1987, p. 2). So having this idea in mind, we started to draw a step-by-step methodology of the research. Following are the stages that paper went through. Formulating the research aim (Initiation). This is the first stage of our research process, and the purpose of this stage is for us to decide what we are writing about, therefore after this stage it is possible to know which are the other stages that are needed for the fulfilment of the paper. As it was mentioned, the aim of the paper is to review organizational structure as a competitive advantage. We want to analyse perspectives of modern organizational structures and see whether there is one best structure that exporting companies can use. Developing the objectives. Once the research aim is determined, the next stage of our research is to develop the objectives: Review existing organizational structures and their respective Analyse relationship between organizational structure and strategy Define which organizational structure is relatively better for exporting companies These objectives will keep the research study going on towards the aim of the paper. Resource selection. Having followed all the previous stages then is the next stage; determine how and where to collect the data that is crucial to draw inferences and conclusions for the study. Primary Data Secondary data Collection Purpose For the problem at hand For other problems Collection process Very involved Rapid easy Collection cost High Relatively low Collection Time Long Short Table 1. A Comparison of Primary and Secondary data Source. Malhotra (1996, p. 117) According to a source comparison table of Malhotra (1996, p. 117), due to absence of research budget and short time, secondary data was chosen to be relative as source. It was decided to use, for this area of study, the following sources: Books Records Journals Newspapers Internet articles Academic Papers Published censuses or other statistical data Company Hansa-Flex (interviews with representatives) Unfortunately, there were some difficulties using all the sources above. Since the research took place in Bremen, small town in North Germany, it was not easy to find physical books, journals or newspapers in English. Therefore, to help this situation, electronic versions of some of the books were downloaded from the Hochschule Bremens internet network. Also, not being able to have an interview with Hansa-Flexs representative had negative impact on the case study part of the research. Literature Review. After collecting necessary data, this stage is an integral part of the research methodology, because it makes important contribution to all the next stages of the methodology. This stage helps to understand the subject area as well as the research aim precisely and clearly. Although the secondary sources created a framework for the study, censuses and annual reports published by Hansa-Flex did not help a lot to analyse the organizational structure of the company and evaluate it as a competitive advantage. The company presentation of Hansa-Flex given at the Hochschule Bremen by the companys Development Manager was used to fill this lack. Interpretation. After collecting and analyzing the data, and also subsequent to the clarifying of the questionable points, the next stage for the study will be interpretation in which the raw data, clean of mistakes, will be applied to the research aim. In this case it will be related to the case study, which is organizational structure of Hansa-Flex. Results and formal write of conclusions reached. The last stage is writing the report, in which all the previous stages come together as one research study and with the principle of enlighten the reader what all the research is about and all the results achieved drawn from what all the previous stages have done. It will also help to finally come with the result, whether the research aim was achieved or not. Organization and organizational structure. Definitions As it was mentioned before, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between organizational structure and strategy, and describe organizational structure as a competitive advantage. However, the goal of this chapter, as a starting point, is to introduce some common view about an organization and organizational structure. What is an Organization? Organizations all over the world share the same characteristics; they are social entities that are goal-directed, are designed as deliberately structured and coordinated activity systems and are linked to the external environment. Not all organizations are the same, some are large, multinational corporations, others are small, family owned business, some manufacture products, others provide services. One key element of an organization is that indeed the organization will exist when people interact with one another to perform essential functions that will help the achievement of goals. One organization cannot exist without the interaction with customers, suppliers, competitors, and some other elements of the external environment like the government etc (Daft, 2007, p.10-11). Definitions of organizational structure Having defined the organization, it is next sensible to define organizational structure. The Morris describes organizational structure as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the framework around, and the systems that support, the work being done in an organization. Walton (1986) notes structure as the basis for organizing, to include hierarchical levels and spans of responsibility, roles and positions, and mechanisms for integration and problem solving. The similar definition is given in the Dictionary-Organizational Behavior (2003) as: the established pattern of relationships among the components of parts of a company; the way that a company is set-up; the formally defined framework of an organizations task and authority relationship. (p.2) The organizational structure is reflected in the organization chart (Daft, 2007, p. 190). It is the visual representation of the whole organization and its processes. The organization chart enables to see employees going about their duties, performing different tasks, and working in different locations. The organization chart is very useful in the understanding how a company works. In general, it refers to the way that an organization arranges people and their jobs so that the work can be done and its goals can be achieved. If the size of a work organization is not big and communication can be made face to face, formal structure may be not necessary, but in a large-scale organization the messengers have to be passed about the delegation of various tasks. Then, structure is established that distribute responsibilities for various functions. It is these decisions that determine the organizational structure. Organizational structure and effectiveness Having a common view about what an organization is, and saying that organizational structure refers to the way that an organization arranges people and their jobs, it is time to think about the impact of the structure on organizational effectiveness. Organizational structure and organizational effectiveness are interrelated, because organizational structure impacts organizational effectiveness based on organization creativity. Woodman explains that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in general, adaptive organizational forms (e.g. matrix, networks, collateral or parallel structures) increase the odds for creativity. Bureaucratic, mechanistic, or rigid structures decrease the probability of organizational creativity. (Morris, 1995, p.64) Peguin (2003) comments that organizational effectiveness and its relation to structure are determined by a fit between information processing requirements so people have either too little or too much irrelevant information (para. 3). Andrews (1995) supports his idea and notes without clearly defined roles and responsibilities of getting information, any organization structure becomes dysfunctional. (p. 1) In analyzing the difficulties of realizing the organizational effectiveness, on the one hand, Bedeian (1986) says, Although effectiveness is a central theme in the study of organizations, it remains one of the most frequently cited yet least understood concepts in organization theory. (p. 186). He continues to argue that failing to consider organizations goals, characteristics, and constituents lead to fault assumptions of performance. (p. 190). He also believes that the relationship and consequences between organizational design and structure choice. Organizations are incredibly complex. They are molded by increasingly fluid and disorderly environmental forces that constantly threaten their rationally ordered structures and stated goals. (p. 198) On the other hand, he emphasizes the possible result of wrong structure choice. Declining organizations face many problems. One of the most serious of these is the lack of flexibility at time when adaptiveness and agility are especially needed. Among the attributes most commonly affected are an organization leadership, innovative processes, work-force composition, and relationships with interest groups. (p. 197). Relation between organizational structure and strategy This chapter is divided in two parts, while first part describes how organizational structure and strategy are related via environmental conditions; second part explains how to build proper organizational structure that supports strategy and defines the authority for each manager. Nearly always, development of corporate strategy begins by analyzing the industry in which it operates and environmental conditions. Then having industry and competitive analyses, through research and benchmarking the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, executives set out to carve a distinctive strategic position where they can outperform their rivals by building a competitive advantage. To obtain such advantage, a company chooses a structure, which is supposed to group people due to their duties, tasks and responsibilities as well as hierarchy of decision making (Mouborgne, et al., 2009). Developing an organizational structure that supports the strategy is not easy, because of uncertainty in the global economys rapidly changing and dynamic competitive environments. When a structures elements, such as reporting relationships, procedures, etc., are properly aligned with one another the structure facilitates effective use of the strategy (Hitt, et al., 2009, p. 309). Choosing the most appropriate organizational structure that supports the strategy does not ensure an organization from future mismatches. As previous chapters describes organizations has to change and adopt to innovation and changing environment, and just as organizations strategy needs to change with changing external environment, so must a structure change for proper strategy implementation. In other hand companys strategic options are bounded by the environment. In other words, structure shapes strategy (Mouborgne, et al., 2009). So organizational structure and strategy are like two different sides of the same coin. In structure strategy relationship, organizations must be wide awake in their efforts to verify that the structure calls for work to be completed remains consistent with implementation requirement of chosen strategy. There is no perfect or ideal organizational structure that lasts forever. The strategy must be supported by the structure that provides the stability needed to use current competitive advantage as well as flexibility required to develop future advantages. Therefore, properly matching organizational structure and strategy can create competitive advantage (Hitt, et al., 2009). Characteristics of organizational structures After the impact of organizational structure on organizational effectiveness and strategy was described, based on the literature review of the definition and characteristics of organizational structure above, this part explores the types of organizational structure. There are different approaches to design the organizations activity. In the other word, that is different types of organizational structure. Common types of organizational structure Numerous international scholars are working on identifying the types of organizational structure. Thus, various literatures identify several dominant organizational structure types from different perspective. According to traditional organizational type of bureaucratic and other new forms, dominant organizational structure types include functional structure, divisional structure and matrix structure. The descriptions below are summarized and supported by reference to current literature. Functional structure. It refers to a set of people who work together and perform the same types of tasks or hold similar positions in an organization (Ledbetter, 2003, p.13). Organizations that grow too complex to be administered through a simple structure usually adopt the functional structure as a means of coping with the increased demands of differentiation (Hatch, 1997, p.183). As Raymond mentions also a functional organization is best suited as a producer of standardized goods and services at large volume and low cost. Coordination and specialization of tasks are centralized in a functional structure, which makes producing a limited amount of products or services efficient and predictable. Moreover, efficiencies can further be realized as functional organizations integrate their activities vertically so that products are sold and distributed quickly and at low cost. Divisional structure. It refers to an organizational structure that is divided along some criteria, and most commonly it is geographic location, but there can also be product, functional, or strategic divisions. (Ledbetter, 2003, p.13) Matrix structure. It refers to simultaneously groups people in two ways: by the function of which they are a member and by the product team on which they are currently working. (Ledbetter, 2003, p.13) According to Hatchs organization theory, the matrix structure was developed with the intention of providing the best of both the functional and multi-divisional alternatives. The sad truth is all these structures have their disadvantages parallel to their advantages. If one of the structures did not have any disadvantage, it would be automatically accepted without any need to consider the pros. Pros and Cons of each structure Which structure effects efficiency most and works best for an organization can be quite complicated because of the nature of different organizations themselves. Every way of designing an organization has pros and cons. However, this section describes some general advantages and disadvantages of each organizational structure. This will help us to analyze the case study in the next chapter and see whether a company can use its structure as an advantage. Functional structure. In the functional structure, as it was recently described, the employees are allocated in departments based on their skills and what they do. Common functional departments are purchasing, accounting, manufacturing, sales and marketing, human resources. Each department acts as its own entity and they are focused on activity performance rather than final result. It leads to centralization of specialized personnel, equipment and facilities, and results high development of skills, however, this major benefit can be a major pain for the communication with other departments. In manufacturing companies, for example, weak communication within departments may affect the quality of final product. It also does not allow for flexibility because of the centralization. Divisional structure. As Rao (2003) mentions, the main benefit this structure provides arise from, appositely from functional structure, from the fact that this type of structure tends to be more result oriented than activity oriented. Each division in this structure contains all the necessary resources and functions within it. The employees of each division know about the specific needs of the division, and are involved actively to achieve the goal. This structure creates an atmosphere of individual commitment and motivation. Divisional structure has its own disadvantages. As it is decentralized, it results duplication of facilities, equipment, and personnel usually leads to more costly processing. Although the employees are aware of specific needs of the division, they might not know organizations overall needs. As functional structure divisional structure also may lead to a weak communication between divisions. The lack of cooperation reduces improvement of techniques. Matrix structure. This type of structure tries to get the benefits of functional structure and of divisional structure, reducing their disadvantages. One of the benefits is resources can be used from all over the organization. Another benefit, as Rainey (2009) underlines, is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the advantage of the ability to share or shift personnel or other resources rapidly across product lines. However, it is not easy to implement this structure because of the dual authority. Having two bosses may sometimes confuse the employees. But this fact can also have a positive impact, as two managers share responsibilities. Matrix structure requires heavy investment in coordination. Because such structure often produce high level of stress and conflict that must be resolved. It is important to remember that each managerial decision has its pros and cons. When designing an organizational structure management should take necessary actions to decrease the disadvantages of the chosen structure. Nowadays, many companies are based on mix of these structures. Whatever structure is chosen, management has to make sure that it supports organizations strategy and can be used as competitive advantage. Case study. Hansa-Flex As previous chapters suggest, when establishing an organizational structure a company has to make sure the structure supports companys strategy and fits into its culture. Having done this, a company can create sustainable resource for a competitive advantage. This chapter describes how Hansa-Flex, supplier of hydraulic hose, applies the theory of organizational structure to its business to achieve a competitive advantage over its rivals. Hansa-Flex. Company overview Since it was initiated in 1962 in the garage of the companys founder Joachim Armerding, Hansa-Flex Hydraulics has been Europes leading privately owned supplier of hydraulic hose, couplings, fittings, adapters and hydraulic accessories. Hansa-Flex offers replacement of spare parts due to customers require even at short notice. This can be done very efficiently as Hansa-Flex holds over 82,000 different parts permanently in its stock. With the expertise of committed workforce and focus on service Hansa-Flex provides fast, qualified help in any situation. Hansa-Flex equips more than 300,000 customers in various industries with hydraulic and metal hoses and components. Until now, it has more than 350 branch offices in 33 countries worldwide operations, has an annual turnover of 165 million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ in year 2009 (Hansa-Flex Annual Report 2009). Furthermore, Hansa-Flex has a customer service fleet of 225 vehicles worldwide, of which 100 are in Germany on the road (Hansa-Flex Annual report 2009). The staff and training service in the fleet take FLEXXPRESS Services throughout the world around the clock repairs and install replacement parts. For instants, defective hydraulic hoses to forklifts and related fittings are replaced in the automobile production. In a word, the motto of Hansa-Flex is thinking globally acting locally, which means being positioned in Bremen with a worldwide network of branch offices. All of these branch offices guarantee great availability of their products throughout of world. For instants, by May 2010, the facility in Geisenfeld keeps about 150 branches in southern Germany (Hydraulikpresse 2010). In October 2010, Hansa-Flex opened their Operation Centre for the Asian market in Shanghai, China. This Operation Centre provides training program in training center and central warehouse as well as manufacturing and administrative space. Therefore, Hansa-Flex is well standing in Asian Market to take advantage of future developments. This is one of the last but not least successes for Hansa-Flex. Strategy of Hansa-Flex Hansa-Flex is also very well founded through all over world. Generally, in the process of globalization the competition between the companies is more disastrous. More customer attraction and more market share are the main targets of companies. In other words, the company needs the appropriate strategy for the organizational structure in different environment conditions, especially an international company. Well-designed structure provides effective outcome. This is the reason why Hansa-Flex has developed very fast in its founding in Germany and in Europe. Hansa-Flex believes that The whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Aristotle). It considers that it is more than just the number of its branches; more than the sum of its products and services. To be considered as a whole, Hansa-Flex has to include the totality of the experience and skills of every employee. Based on this point view Hansa-Flex sets a very important and interesting Strategy for the Company. It has opened the training center for their employees and potential employees early in 2001 when Hansa-Flex merely focused on local. Besides that, as a glocal  [1]  company, Hansa-Flex sees customer proximity as part of its responsibility for ensuring smooth processes in hydraulics. To sustain the proximity the company has chosen strategy of growth through diversification acquisition, subsidiary, partnership. This strategy makes sure Hansa-Flex is maintaining international growth while at the same time enlarging their product range. Figure 1. Number of branches Source. Hansa-Flex Annual Report 2003 According to the researches which are made by the majority of international scholars we find this growth strategy highly appropriate reflexed the following theory. The strategy must be supported by the structure that provides the stability to current competitive advantage as well as flexibility required to develop future advantages (Hitt, et al., 2009). In briefly, Hansa-Flex has a deeply understanding about how could organizational structure and strategy be related via environmental conditions and how to build proper organizational structure that supports their strategy to grow the market share and enter a new market. Hansa-Flex never stops changing and always thinks forward such as their catchword Think globally act locally. Organizational structure of Hansa-Flex Interesting point here is how the company controls such a large network of branches. How is the company organized to provide a strong communication between departments, and basically between warehouses to keep customers satisfied? This section answers this question by analyzing organizational structure of Hansa-Flex, and finds out whether or not the company uses it as a competitive advantage in the market. Obviously, as many other starter companies, Hansa-Flex was founded based on simple structure. Later on, as we see on figure 1, it starts opening branches in different regions of Germany, and so created functional structure. Starting from 1992, Hansa-Flex goes international. Being international and offering products in different countries is always a big deal and requires a lot of research. Nowadays, Hansa-Flex has established a mix of functional and divisional structures and customized it by its strategy and culture. The structured is divisioned by geographic location to push the company toward being bounderless organization. Basically it has centralized functional areas, such as purchasing, quality management, warehousing, human resources, marketing; and decentralized sales and local marketing. Most significant advantage of centralized purchasing is that it speeds up the purchasing cycle. Thanks to centralized purchasing Hansa-Flex can complete this process very fast, sometimes even within one day. It is because purchasing data is stored and accessible via the internet. The company can access the necessary order information and place an order much more quickly. It also saves a lot of time on conducting the correlation between supplier and Hansa-Flex. This way the company can easily forecast how it could suffer if the supplier goes bankrupt unexpectedly. This is easier to be done, because the company does not need to collect all the purchasing data from different branches. Another advantage is centralized purchasing makes it easy for everyone who needs to track the information even across multiple branches and corporate divisions. For Hansa-Flex this means insurance of customer proximity, and results on less time waste between branches and subsidiaries on tracking down the data. Thus, centralized warehouse again gives an advantage to Hansa-Flex to satisfy its customers faster than competitors. Having centralized HR, first of all Hansa-Flex ensures to have most qualified applicants for work. Because centralized HR decision making promotes a more equitable treatment of employees, and is political abuse. Therefore, HR experts review and rank job candidates very carefully and transparent. Using the advantage of purchasing power centralized marketing continue to create even better brand image among customers. The company also needs a local marketing on destination point. Because local employee knows local market better than foreigners employees. Therefore, central marketing transfer knowledge to local marketing to continue the whole process of marketing. Following the same logic Hansa-Flex has divisional sale force that is in charge of sales in specific regions. This gives the company flexibility to react and adapt to local environment changes. Conclusion Due to the globalization the concept of competitive advantage of a product or service has recently changed. It is not easy to sustain this sort of advantage, because of high competition and growing number of follower companies. Therefore, companies like Hansa-Flex use their organizational structure as a competitive advantage. As most of economic writers and managers say, there is no one ideal organizational structure. Each structure has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is also true that, due to its mission, organizational culture, and history, two companies in the same market can apply the same one structure, but still get totally different outcome. In our fast changing world, sticking into one classic structure is not enough. Establishing a structure needs a lot of creativity, knowledge, experience, and customization of the structure to the companys indicators. Following this logic Hansa-Flex designed a customized mix structure of functional and divisional structures. It efficiently uses advantages of both structures, reduces disadvantages. Therefore, having structure that supports strategy, Hansa-Flex can easily achieve its goals towards its mission. The model which Hansa-Flex constructs may not be applied in other companies; however, it provides a practical experience concerning the organizational structure, which is considered as the crucial factor for organizational effectiveness.

With the evolution of man has come the inevitable evolution of the arts

With the evolution of man has come the inevitable evolution of the arts. Whether decorative, visual, or musical, the arts have seen several distinct periods of development through the course of history and as one of the definitive artistic media, music is no exception. During the 17th through middle 18th centuries, music progressed through a period that historians labeled â€Å"Baroque. † New musical forms and a style of music that was unheard of at the end of the renaissance characterized this period. These new styles and forms saw the emergence of several composers who, rather than break new ground in the musical world, took the existing forms and developed them into robust, mature works that fully exhibited their virtuosic command of the â€Å"rules† of composition. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) were two composers that historians and musicians alike use to describe the essence of the baroque period. Neither composer generated groundbreaking reforms in the core of the music they composed, but rather they took that which was defined and increased the breadth, scope, and complexity of existing genres to suit their purposes as working musicians and/or composers. During the Baroque period, a popular musical form was the Prelude and Fugue (also called Toccata and Fugue or Fantasia and Fugue). Such a form was nothing new during the Baroque period, as examples of similar forms date back to renaissance and even pre-renaissance musical examples. The practice of freely improvising a few notes of the coming contrapuntal passage was common in those periods prior to Baroque. When composers such as Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) and Dieterich Buxtehude (1637-1707) codified the Prelude and Fugue into its then-modern form, the way was paved for Bach's Praeludium et Fuga in A Minor, BWV 543 (~1708-1717). The prelude section consisted of contrasting irregular rhythms coupled with sets of asymmetric runs of driving sixteenth notes (Palisca 346). Such irregular compositions were used to emulate the improvisational nature of the prelude of days past. While the form was codified by the likes of Buxtehude and Frescobaldi, there are some fundamental differences between their works and those of J. S. Bach. Bach's Praeludium et Fuga in A Minor consists of separate sections for the prelude and fugue. A staple of Frescobaldi's work, Tocatta No. 3 (1615 revised 1637) gives us the relentless movement associated with a prelude form, although its extensive use of cadence evasion is a contrast to Bach's mostly uniform movement from tonic to dominant and vice versa. The less-defined fugal section in Frescobaldi's work also serves as a contrast to Bach's later work, however, the roots of the template for his toccata are nonetheless prevalent in this example. Buxtehude's Praeludium in E Major, BuxWV 141, followed a progression of several â€Å"free† segments with fugal segments intertwined within the whole of the piece. While the prelude and the fugue sections may not be as clearly defined as Bach's piece, they nonetheless serve as the template from which they will be written. Parallels can also be drawn to Arcangelo Corelli's (1653-1713) Trio Sonata, Op. 3 No. because the second movement, Allegro, makes use of fugal sections in the melodic structure. The voices of the fugue are spread out among the voices of the instruments involved. The evolution an artistic medium such as Prelude and Fugue to its mature form spanned the better part of the 17th century, and then took its place among the many popular forms of the Baroque Era. The chorale prelude in the Baroque era is â€Å"a short piece in which the entire melody is presented just once in readily recognizable form† (Palisca 350). Both Bach and Buxtehude wrote chorale preludes and each had an interesting take on how to arrange the chorale. In Bach's Durch Adams Falls BWV 637 (~1717), Bach places the original melody in the topmost voice and makes extensive use of the lower voices and pedal to participate in large amounts of text painting. The passages marked with any kind of text related to a â€Å"fall† have intervallic drops that were considered dissonant at the time. The intervallic dissonances coupled with the easily recognizable melody in the topmost voice made for an effective setting of Lazarus Spengler's text. Danket dem Herrn, BuxWV 181, by Buxtehude, provides a contrast to Bach's style of text setting for a chorale prelude. Buxtehude sets the text for â€Å"Thank the Lord, for He is very kind† by taking the original melody and dividing it among the various voices and making the melodic phrase the subject of a short fugue. Each of the three verses would see an individualized segment of imitation followed by a run of freely composed counterpoint (Palisca 429). The two seem to share characteristics of the chorale prelude in name only, however, there is a connection between the two, for without Buxtehude's setting of his text, Bach could have never developed upon the idea of making the text more effective even though there would be no actual text in the organ chorale. The idea of making the meaning of the text more effective was characteristic of Bach's chorale prelude. Such a development from the counterpoint-centered chorale prelude of Buxtehude to the message-conveying text painted medium of Bach shows just how much variation there can be within a certain medium. As one of the more massive works in J. S. Bach's repertoire, the cantata is a massive musical setting of a religious text delivered in multiple movements. Although not a dramatic medium, the cantata was organized religion's answer to the use of aria and recitative. Cantata in the Baroque era made use of alternating aria and recitative sections to set a religious text to a specific story. J. S. Bach's Wachet Auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, sets the story of Philip Nicolai's telling of angels come down from heaven to wake the virgins in anticipation of the bridegroom's arrival. The entire cantata makes distinctive use of ritornello reminiscent of Antonio Vivaldi's (1678-1741) Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 3, No. 2, RV 578. The ritornello is divided into four-bar phrases that are based on several distinct melodic motives (Palisca 547). Bach also makes extensive use of text painting and subtle musical paintings that are clearly throwbacks to composers such as Josquin Des Prez (~1450-1521) and Carlo Gesualdo (~1561-1613) that wrote in the â€Å"musica reservata† style in the renaissance and ars nova periods. J. S. Bach lived and worked in Germany all of his life. His work was, almost exclusively, with the Lutheran church, which is not surprising since it is known that Bach was a devout Lutheran. Such information may seem peripheral to his works as a musician but it becomes integral when trying to take a historical analysis of J. S. Bach's Mass in B Minor, BWV 232 (~1749). It is somewhat of a historical idiosyncrasy that Bach, a self-professed devout Lutheran, to write a Catholic mass, but historians have inferred that the mass was probably written as a gift for the King of Poland. The historical oddity aside, Bach's Mass in B Minor, is one of the most well-known and oft-performed examples of his work. His setting of the credo includes a single tenor being accompanied by a small chamber group of instrumentalists. Such an instrumentation differs with Credo's of the past, especially that of Giovanni Da Palestrina (1525/6-1594). Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass (1567) sets the credo, in a style typical of the period, for unaccompanied voices set in contrapuntal melodies. Such a fundamental difference in the setting of a mass would indicate the differences in philosophies regarding the setting of text between the two periods. Bach's post-reformation world held a belief that, with matters regarding religion, the meaning of the text should come first and thus should not take second place to musicianship or rules of counterpoint. For those who wrote â€Å"traditional† catholic masses, such as Palestrina and Josquin Dez Prez the meaning of the text took a backseat to the melodic structures of the pieces at hand. Although Josquin's Missa Pange lingua (~1510) presents a homo-rhythmic setting of the credo, the rest of the mass is a contrapuntal mess of voices taking complex imitative passages of each other. Bach's setting of â€Å"Et expecto resurrectionem† is a reflection of a Baroque trend of large-scale instrumental accompaniment to a choral text setting. Here, a full orchestra accompanies five voices. The text is displayed in blocks alternating to and from a ritornello from the orchestral accompaniment. While Bach's works throughout the Baroque era are vital to the understanding of music during that period, where it came from and where it was headed, Bach's work contributed no less to the development of music than G. F. Handel. Bach is probably best known for his work as a German in Germany, Handel, however, is perhaps best known for his work as a German in England. During a brief period in the early 18th century, Handel was patron to the elector of Hanover, and although this appointment would not last, it would prove to be a defining point in Handel's career. In 1712, he was granted permission to take a trip to London, and what started out as a short leave of absence turned into a 2-year stay in England's capitol. Ironically, George I, Handel's master in Hanover, ascended the British thrown shortly thereafter, becoming King George I of England. This two year period in London would only be the tip of the ice burg of what would be considered a long and prosperous career for Handel. If Bach were to be defined by his eclectic collection of religious works, then the defining works of Handel would be his adherence to the operatic tradition. Handel wrote many operas like Giolio Cesare (1724) that emphasized the dramatic tradition of the opera. Giolio Cesare is the story of Julius Caesar and subsequent trip to Egypt and all the drama that occurs therein. Handel skillfully uses the orchestra as an accompanying force during the recitative and aria, but also knew how to take advantage of a full orchestra by writing passages in which there were powerful unison passages and utter silence when appropriate. Like Alessandro Scarlatti's (1660-1725) opera La Griselda, Handel uses a repeat to return to the phrases at the beginning at the end of use, thus making effective use of â€Å"Da Capo† or â€Å"Dal Segno† form. The setting of the text is done effectively to create both musical and dramatic beauty by using well-placed sets of delays and avoided cadences. Fierce competition with a rival operatic company coupled with the tightening of the moral collar by the church forced Handel to adopt an alternative to opera as his main artistic medium. The church ruled that during solemn periods in the liturgical year the theatres in England would be closed, and as such, no operas, or any other dramatic works for that matter, could be performed. As such, Handel took a foray into the form of the Oratorio, an adaptation of the operatic tradition for the purpose of telling religious stories. His Oratorio, Saul (1739), was, for all intents and purposes, an opera set to the story of Saul's conversion into Christianity. Although Oratorios make extended use of accepted operatic forms, aria, recitative, etc. no physical drama takes place in the setting of the stories. Handel makes use of contrapuntal passages and fugue, typical baroque compositional elements, to tell his story of Saul, while Heinrich Schitz (1585-1672) used more of a concerto grosso form to tell of Saul's revelation. Schitz set the story of Saul for six voices and orchestra and made extended use of harmonic dissonance rather than play with rhythms or melodic structures to tell the story. The relatively thick-textured nature of Schitz's setting makes for a dramatic interpretation of Christ's words to Saul. Handel, however, takes his experience with recitative and aria to paint a no-less striking story of Saul. The â€Å"masters† of any historically defined era or period are usually those that came into the scene â€Å"en medias rex† (in the middle of things). We see that both J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel took the existing artistic forms and artistic media available to them codified at the beginning of their period and expanded them into what would become the defining elements of music of the Baroque period. Like Josquin Des Prez during the height of the Ars Nova and Adrian Willaert during the peak of the madrigalists, composers at the middle of their respective periods were responsible for creating the defining characteristics and notable references to that period before the inevitable move towards evolution and change take hold and move the music or art away from its previous center. The process of musical evolution is, perhaps, not as notable as some of the social or political watermarks, but provides much needed insight into the minds and hearts of those who lived during such fascinating times.

Student Nurse Reflection Essay Exposed

Student Nurse Reflection Essay Exposed The class taught me the value of time management, how to cope with stress and a number of other things that could affect me during my college experience. In academia, you might be requested to formalise your reflections to demonstrate that learning is occurring. Reflection is an essential part of the learning procedure, and at times you aren't even aware you do it. Make certain you see what you are writing down. Writing is among the things that I used to hate the most. Therefore, the procedure for writing will turn out to be much simpler. Writing a reflective article isn't much different than writing other forms of essays say personal pieces. After all, life is simply a string of events, and those that you remember most vividly are those that is likely to make the best essays. You must extract the key thoughts of the author and make an article based on his suggestions and goals he was hoping to reach. Think about what you've learned from the experience that you're writing about. Even if you're writing not about your distinct experience, your work ought to have a personal strategy. Choosing only the proper reflective essay topic can be challenging, but here are a couple of guidelines to assist you in that approach. You need to remember that reflective essay is for your private opinion and own experience. A superior reflective essay may be an excellent reflective essay with the appropriate planning. Generally speaking, writing a reflective essay doesn't differ from any other sort of paper. On occasion, you might be missing some decent suggestions for your reflective essay topics. Hopefully you are starting to acquire a better grasp on how best to pick from the endless varieties of reflective essay topics and possibly even a better idea of the way to get started writing your essay. To make certain you will write the most suitable sort of essay, it is likewise important you know what it isn't. It may be tough to compose a kind of essay for the very first time. The Ideal Strategy for Student Nurse Reflection Essay There's just much more to speak about! The Cornel Method is used most by student because it's the simplest and most efficient means of note taking. Kane (2009) states in keeping with the NMC nurses must offer appropriate and thorough care to all patients, no matter their reason for being in hospital. The individual may have incomplete bladder emptying or overflow incontinence that the night nurse may have assumed as patient voiding normally. In order t o better their quality of life, it is essential that nurses provide support and supply information that's related to their social and wellness needs (NMC 2008). Nursing students complete their community placement in the very same community for the two years, permitting them to form a deep comprehension of the neighborhood and those who call it their residence. For example, a reflection paper isn't a piece composed of mixed thoughts of different folks. It is really thinking about thinking. Young individuals must understand how to compose a reflection paper to create their buddies and the remainder of community share their emotions. Moreover, it provides you a notion of the manner by which the people around perceive you, permitting you to compose a more holistic reflective essay. It is not hard to write because you simply have to express your thoughts and the way you see things. The very best thing is to pick a topic that will supply you with a chance to present new ideas or a fresh perspective on an issue. Your Conclusion needs to be striking and solid giving the greatest tone to the full paper. The article has the comprehensive instructions about how to compose a reflective paper. The thesis statement functions as the focus of your paper. As is true with the majority of reflective writing, a Personal Reflection is an answer to a specific stimulus. You introduction doesn't have to be any longer than a paragraph.

Administrative Ethics - 1259 Words

Find a current administrative issue in a newspaper, magazine, or journal article relating to topics such as patient privacy, confidentiality, or HIPAA. Write a 1,050 word paper that includes the following: †¢Describe the issue and its impact on the population it affects most. †¢What arguments or facts are used in the article to support the proposed solution? †¢What are the ethical and legal issues reported for your administrative issue? †¢Explain the managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues. If none were stated, what should have been done? †¢Identify any proposed solutions. Include at least three sources in your paper. Administrative Ethics Name Institution The everyday†¦show more content†¦Policies need to be modified to ensure that personal health information is not leaked to social networking sites. This is the most vital tool for making any healthcare facility run properly and efficiently. References Dimick, C.(2010). Privacy Policy for Social Media. Retrieved from http://journal.ahimaorg/2010/01/06/social-media-policies Greysen, S. R. (2010)Online Professionalism and the Mirror of Social Media. Journal of Internal Medicine, 25(11), 1227. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/2m13601666qn074g/abstract/ U.S. Department of Human and Health Services. (2011) Massachusetts General Hospital settles potential HIPAA violations. RetrievedShow MoreRelatedAdministrative Ethics1083 Words   |  5 PagesAdministrative Ethics Misty Sorensen HCS/335 August 19, 2012 Christine Singel Administrative Ethics Patient privacy is the responsibility of the medical organization that treats the patient. Patients have the right to have their medical issues kept private from people that do not need to know the information. 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