Narrative Report Girl Scout Essay

INTRODUCTION The Girls Scout of the Philippines Visayas Regional Junior, Senior and Cadet Encampment was held at Marina Yulo-Vargas Regional Program and Training Center or Commonly known as Camp Marina, Located at Capitol Hills, Cebu City last October 22-27, 2014. GSP is indeed a labor of love, sacrifices and dedication of the combined effort of scouters, adult leaders, school administration and the council for the purpose of the following: 1. Acquiring new learning experience with the opportunity to develop sel-stem, confidence, creativity and life skills, 2. Discover and enhance their full potential and learn to relate with other girls in camp, 3. Acquire knowledge and skills on first aid and emergency preparedness with the opportunity to respond real situation that require them to use basic human survival skills, 4. Stimulate real enjoyment and appreciation of the out-of-doors through varied and interesting activities offered during the encampment. Southern Leyte Council registered 16 senior girl scout and 5 adult leaders headed by one council executive Marlita D. Corollo. The campers must be physical fit; must have earned at least one badge each under the challenge of environment, preparedness, Arts, eco-self-sufficiency, Heritage and Citizenship; and she must attended a troop/patrol camp/ provincial camp prior to this encampment. The encampment covers six (6) days of staying under the forest, sleeping on the tent with series of challenges and activities everyday. DAY TO DAY ACTIVITIES DAY 1, OCTOBER 22, 2014 (WEDNESDAY) ARRIVAL†¦. MORNING: The central staff welcomes the delegates and gives directions on how the campers could reach their sub-camps. Each sub-camps director guides and directs the campers under her jurisdiction to reach our respective area. Markers are used to designate the area for each delegation. Southern Leyte Council belongs to sub-camp Milagros together with Ilo-ilo, Negros Oriental and Northern Samar. Each council was responsible for making our area comfortable. We were put up tents, gadgets as part of the layout. We put some caption at the entrance of our area to identify the council we belong. Everyone were helping each other and do the task well in building our tent and making our area accommodating and comfortable. The head of the Southern Leyte Council were registering the girls with the secretariat. After registration the campers proceed to our area for the lunch. AFTERNOON: Medical re-check shall be done on the first day afternoon. The adult leaders were lead the campers to the infirmary area and present their Health Examination Forms to the Camp Physician upon examination to make sure that the campers were physically fit for the series of challenges and activities. EVENING: The orientation was given by the central staff. The details about the program of activities, food services, accommodation, management and other services as well as the camp mechanics were thoroughly explained by the staff in that orientation. The campers were feel free to ask questions if they were need further clarification on certain matters. DAY 2 OCTOBER 23, 2014 (THURSDAY) MORNING: At 7:30 AM the campers were in the grounds for the rehearsal of the opening ceremony, because they were forming 50 which represent 50 year anniversary  of Camp Marina.  At 9:00 AM the campers were in the actual area wearing their type A uniform for the Opening Ceremony. The central staff was sitting on the stage together with the guest speaker while the scouters and the adult leaders were on the ground forming 50. Each council was required to introduce their troop in the form of yell. The ceremony was ended at 12:00 noon. AFTERNOON: The first activity was all about Emergency Preparedness. It was held at the administration building. They were teach us on what to do during emergency, what are the things to prepare before the typhoon and other calamities come. After the discussion, we were doing the drill. EVENING: After taking our supper we proceed immediately on the covered court for the Council Extravaganza. Each council are required to present one presentation. For the Southern Leyte Council, a modern dance number were presented headed by the Dulfo twin sister. DAY 3 OCTOBER 24, 2014 (FRIDAY) MORNING: At exactly eight o’clock we were already at the covered court because the girls were very excited to do the activity no.2 which was all about ballroom dancing. The first move that the dance instructor taught us was the chacha, next in line was boggie, followed by zumba. That time I think, we were burn 1000 calories, fats and lipids because of so many sweats comes out from our body and so much fun. AFTERNOON: Activity no. 3 was the handicraft. At the back of the National Equipment Services (NES) building is a small auditorium, where the handicraft activity was held. Each girl were given a task to make any accessories using the  given accessories paraphernalia. Most of our girls make bracelets and some of them make necklace. EVENING: The most awaited part of the camping is the campfire. Everybody was gathered in front of the covered court to witness the campfire. Every sub-camp were required tp present a dance number which represent the culture and tradition of the place where they belong. The sub-camp 1 present a sinulog dance festival, the sub-camp 2 were present an ati-atihan festival and the sub camp 3 where we belong presents dinagyang festival. The girls from So. Leyte council wearing a type B uniform with malong, barefooted joined the dinagyang festival together with Ilo-ilo and the rest of the members of the sub-camp. The fire was lighted by the Regional Executive Director Mrs. Aida Saromines together with Mrs Ruth T. Jarantilla the Regional Vice Chairperson. DAY 4 OCTOBER 25, 2014 (SATURDAY) MORNING: Right after the breakfast of the girls they were proceeds to the top of the hill to perform the activity no. 4 which was all about mural painting. Southern Leyte was represented by Anna Henli and our very own Daphne Doris Jacka to do the mural painting while the other girls were the assistants and observer of their painting. The whole morning was not enough to do the task. The two were going down to take their lunch. AFTERNOON: After eating, the two were go back to work immediately, but trouble were happen because one of the girl from Maasin City change the work of Anna and Daphne totally while they were taking their lunch in the tent, this made the whole council shocked. Tears was falling down on the face of the two because many people were admired the work of Anna and Daphne but suddenly it was change by Inna. Until such time that the allotted time for mural painting  was up, so they do not have a chance to change it back. Sadness†¦..sadness†¦.sadness†¦. occur in the camp. At 5:00 o’clock we were going again to the top to attend the Holy mass which was an anticipated Sunday mass. EVENING: Inter-camp Visit was the event for that night but the girls are seems not interested anymore due to the trouble that had happen in that afternoon. The adult leaders were encourages the girls to nevermind that trouble because that was part of growing up and still do the task and perform it well. DAY 5 OCTOBER 26, 2014 (SUNDAY) MORNING: As early as five thirty our girls were ready for the scouts own. It is a solemn ceremony for the Girl Scout.  Right after the ceremony, we were took our breakfast immediately because we were excited for the tour which was the last activity of the encampment. Before seven o’clock we were on the top of the hill waiting for the bus to take us a ride for the tour. We were passing by the Cebu Capitol and Pari-an. The first place that we visit was the Fort San Pedro, commonly known as â€Å"Plaza Independencia† Then the next stop was Sto. Nià ±o de Cebu, then going to the South to visit the Chapel of Pedro Calungsod, and the last was the roaming around the Ayala Center of Cebu. While touring ourselves, everybody were so much fun, enjoyed and busy on taking pictures†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Click†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦click†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦click†¦.. AFTERNOON: Back to the camp at almost 1 o’clock, and take our lunch from Jollibee. Chicken joy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ hhhmmm†¦ yummy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. At two o’clock the closing ceremony was done†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Then home sweet home†¦. Joining the Visayas Regional Junior, Senior and Cadet Encampment was so fantastic and awesome experience which we will never forget forever. Through this memorable experience we were grow towards a responsible girl scout and become a better person and a good leader soon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ It is indeed a labor of love, sacrifice and dedication.

Nursing Essay Writing How the Paper Differs from Other Types

Nursing Essay Writing How the Paper Differs from Other Types Among a variety of occupations, the nursing profession is among the most demanding ones. The essential goal of the job is to maintain a healthy level of life and provide the population with a decent level of medical care. The studies of a nurse compose of numerous activities, and writing an essay is only a single type of assignment that is fulfilled by young practicing nurses. A professional medical nurse should be capable of boasting with extensive writing skills that are required for everyday medical practice. The description of the health status of the patients and clinical observance of the disease history require decent skills of writing in order to provide a detailed analysis of the medical case. What is Professional Nursing Essay Writing? Good quality essay writing proves the dedication of a medical student to the case. It forms the required level of professionalism in both social and educational fields. Writing is obviously an essential part of the medical work, so it is an integral skill that is necessary for every representative of the profession including both nurses and high-class practitioners. A fundamental difference of nursing writing against all other academic writing fields is the importance of material due to a great impact on the life of a potential patient. The nurse that will work on the assignment needs to put into operation all the practical skills, supporting them with the evidential base. Most of the writing is expressed through the observations of the student so that is why this activity is among the most essential skills for medical nursing students. The essay writing on nursing topics prepares the students for the following future responsibilities: Nursing resumes with the description of personal skills. Creation of health history. Taking nursing notes regarding the health state of the patient. Creating the nursing care plan and medical report. Researching the disease case. Reviewing medical articles with the following critical analysis. Organization of comparative charts regarding some particular situation. Personal Qualities the Nursing Essay Reveals The work of a nurse requires a portion of decent skills. The process of academic writing can be considered a preliminary stage of formation of the habits and abilities which are necessary for the foundation of a personality of a medical worker. It teaches attentiveness. The writing involves numerous aspects, and a student is supposed to maintain a decent level of attentiveness in order to work simultaneously on various aspects of the research object. It develops self-organization. The amount of the types of essay assignments differs greatly starting with simple explanatory texts and finishing with some serious nursing presentation topics to teach the student the self-control. It increases the adaptability level. The written tasks are composed of numerous sub assignments from various medical aspects, so it is required to shift from one field of medicine to another using all the knowledge in possession. It contributes to the growth of quick-thinking. There are multiple tricky tasks that develop powerful situational thinking. It increases the level of hard working. Medical students obtain a lot of tasks, and professors demand all the tasks to be fulfilled on time. That increases the hard-working level a lot. Specifications for Nursing Essay Writing Demands The nursing writing has several points to which the writer should pay a portion of attention. All the points are connected with the academic formatting of the document and form a contextual unity which solves the assignment. Content. The essay’s content is dictated by the questions that are posed in the task. The content should correspond all the assignments posed in the task. Structure. The structure of the text should be logically organized so that the readers could understand the order of the writer’s thought and receive the information in small portions. Such presentation of the ideas is more beneficial for apprehending the material. Balance is a specific feature of the nursing essay when information is analyzed from various points of view and such approach forms the credibility of the material that is under review. Argumentation. Every decent medical essay should be filled with strong arguments as they make the work look solid and reliable. It increases the work’s applicability and value among the essay of similar type. Theoretical basis. The fundament of every essay is the theoretical basis. The student should prepare strong evidence and interesting investigations which are supposed to describe the case in the brightest light. Applicability. Most of the nursing essays have a practical aim and the applicability is among the most vital features of nursing essays as it shows how important the conducted investigation is as well as what positive changes it can bring. Facts. Like any other paper, nursing writing assignment has to be interesting as well. Thus, make sure you have used catchy facts that will help you make the audience involved in the writing. Hopefully, the information above will add you some knowledge about the importance of professional nursing essay writing, and how students develop themselves while working on it. There are practical types of assignments which basic goals are to contribute to the development of health level in the world.

Portentous and Pretentious - Commonly Confused Words

Portentous and Pretentious - Commonly Confused Words The adjective portentous means ominous or momentous, referring to a sign or prediction that something important is about to happen. Portentous can also mean pompous or self-important. (This second meaning overlaps with that of pretentious.) The adjective pretentious means full of pretense, making excessive or unwarranted claims to be important or sophisticated. Notice how these two words are spelled: portentous ends in -tous; pretentious ends in -tious. Examples No one spoke. But they all knew this was a portentous moment, and that this day Mister Skye would say a thing that would affect their lives. (Richard S. Wheeler, North Star. Forge, 2009)The notepaper had been given her as a wedding present, embossed with a monogram of her new initials, by a Southampton aunt, boxes of it; Marcia had laughed, thinking it hideously pretentious, the essence of everything she had married Harold to escape, and used it so seldom, once the thank-you notes were written, that after twelve years it was not used up. (John Updike, Couples. Knopf, 1968)Elizabeth Bishops poetry is rarely portentous or grand, and never pretentious or grandiose. (Michael Ryan, A Difficult Grace: On Poets, Poetry, and Writing. University of Georgia Press, 2000)I must have parchment! Oh, but I like writing on parchment! Each time you turn a page it rumbles like thunder. My words are so portentousthats portentous, dear, not pretentious- it seems appropriate. Like Jove. (David Blixt, The Master of Verona. St. Martins Press, 2007) Usage Notes [P]ortentous can be either ominous (a portentous event) or pompous (his portentous attitude); pretentious means pretending to be important. Since a pretentious person can also be pompous/portentous, theres a risk of confusion with these words. Prefer ominous or pompous to portentous.  (Wynford Hicks, Quite Literally: Problem Words and How to Use Them. Routledge, 2004)The main distinction is that a portentous man just might be as important as he seems, but a pretentious one cannot be as important as he claims. (Kenneth G. Wilson, The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Columbia University Press, 1993)Portentous . . . used to mean portending evil; ominous and has come to mean pompous; self-important, possibly because it sounds like pretentious mixed with portly- but there is poetic justice in that, since pretentiousness can be ominous. (William Safire, On Language. The New York Times Magazine, June 7, 1981)

History of the World Bank. What is the impact of the world bank upon Essay

History of the World Bank. What is the impact of the world bank upon development in the south - Essay Example The World Bank Group has five agencies (IEG, 2008). Since its inception during World War II with an objective to rebuild Europe, the World Bank generated more criticism and controversy than any other financial institution in the world. Even threatened by its conceivers, beneficiaries, and supporters, the World Bank is closely monitored by agencies which developed around it over a period of time. The institution itself reached at a stage of engulfed by the mounting pressures. However, these pressures have always been there and exerted by either donor governments, national governments, donor agencies, citizen groups, or even World Bank's employees. Their annual meetings are echoed by the slogans of "Ya Basta!" ("Enough is enough!")(Nath, 2001, p.1). Moreover, Meltzer commission report (2000) declared the World Bank as "irrelevant" in the mission of reducing poverty and promoting development (cited in Nath, 2001, p.1). The World Bank as Global Development Agency During the Bretton Woods , USA conference in 1944, 43 countries' meeting led to the establishment of International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).IBRD's major objective was to provide loans for rebuilding Europe after WWII. For instance IBRD provided US$28,600,000 for rebuilding and development of the steel industry in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg (World Bank, cited in Nath, 2001, p.2).However, the World Bank's lending portfolio failed to meet the increasing demands within the industrialized countries. Mounting pressure led IBRD to channelize its funds in other developing and poor nations. However, the lack of expertise in dealing with developing countries and a continuous pressure to lend made it disastrous which led to overnight rebirth of IBRD as the World Bank. In its shift from West to East, the World Bank could anticipate the investment opportunities in long-term loans to developing countries for their huge infrastructure projects. It led to the dramatic increase in the Bank's lendi ng for large scale dam project sin Asia, roads projects in Africa, and highway projects in Latin America(Nath,2001,pp.2-3). With above deployments, the World Bank found its niche-electricity supply that is associated with dam projects and represented nearly 50 percent of Bank's annual lending.World Bank patented the approach of "Economic Colonization" for global development. The newly found role as a developmental financial institution, World Bank grew as a powerful and influential institution throughout world. Its investments proved to be very profitable for donors and stakeholders since 1948.There had been times when annual rate of return exceeded the annual amount of loan provided. In that period, even when Bank focused on investing in socials sector, the traditional sector investments increased (World Bank 1992, BIC, 1990 cited in Nath, 2001, p.3). The trend of such investment and returns continued until international debt crisis emerged in early 1980s.The risk of World Bank loa n's default increased. The Bank changed its focus after a series of closed door meetings of World Bank's shareholders (United States, Japan, Germany, France, and UK). Rather than a traditional project lending approach, World Bank focused on bringing developing economies in its control in order to ensure the return. Until the ends of early 80s, approximately 25 percent of the Bank's funds were used for economic restructuring of developing countries through its Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs).SAP was remote controlling the budget and expenses of the recipient countries. World Bank and IMF, often called Bretton Woods twins, were in a

The 4As Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The 4As - Essay Example 4A’s always attempts to improve the agency business. With 750 members and 1250 branch offices, approximately 80% of 4A’s members are placed in all national advertising agencies. Virtually all of the large multinational agencies are members of the 4A’s. While at the same time, along with addressing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders, the organization fulfills its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as well. The association represents advertising agency business to public service work of the Advertising Council, Inc. and Spencer, AAAA Educational Foundation which offers allowances and fellowship to graduate multicultural learners studying advertising at college or graduate school levels. It also runs a group insurance and group pension/profit sharing plan for the benefit of employees in agencies. 4A’s has its individual composition of constitution, mission statement, by-laws and standards of practice approved by the Board of Directors along with membership together (American Association of Advertising Agencies, 2013). Mission and Purpose of 4A’s The mission of 4A’s is to improve and to strengthen the advertising agency business in the United States by counselling members on operations and management by offering collective experience of the many to each. It strives to establish high creativity and business standards by attracting quality workforce to the business. Considering itself as a management oriented agency, the association is focused on providing leadership, support and assistance to the advertising community in serious areas such as compensation, agency operation, talent management, business development, government policy and technology. The organization divides its purpose in short-term and long-term bases. Short-term goal includes endorsing friendly relations within the entire associated agencies and maintaining as well as preserving honesty along with fairness. Moreover, working with the govern ment and consumers on matters which affect advertising is also a key short-term goal. Long-term goal includes fostering social responsibility of advertising and marketing, and fostering scientific research along with innovation to continually improve advertising. Moreover, to provide their members with unlimited access to their full time team of information specialist, which helps a client to meet all the secondary research needs, such as industry statics, creative work, and demographic data, original research, surveys and white papers, comes under their prime purpose (American Association of Advertising Agencies, 2013; SlideShare Inc, 2013). Services Offered by 4A’s 4A’s provides insurance and pension/profit sharing plan for the welfare of their associates in agencies. The agency is mainly involved in planning, producing, creating advertisement and performing research along with selecting media. The 4A’s runs its own research departments. Consulting and advisor y services on a variety of management related topics, training and professional development programmes and research services, including access to specialists and numerous databases are a few more services offered by 4A’s. 4A’s devotes a part of its time and energy in facilitating government on matters that have an impact on advertising and marketing communication industry. It has committed a substantial effort in creating responsible practices in two vital areas, food and beverage related advertising to the children along

Read and decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Read and decide - Essay Example Nevertheless, over 60 percent of UK residents are registered members of assorted libraries including local public or private libraries, educational institutions, and prisons in addition to enrolling online within their homesteads (EMAC, 2003). The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) (2004) has underlined three major objectives including encouraging a reading culture and casual scholarship; access to ICT skills and facilities including government systems; and dealing with the socially neglected groups to integrate them into mainstream communal structures. Although reading is predominantly a private individual affair savouring varied verbal prose, it subsequently induces persons to seek sharing this pleasurable experience with others including friends, workmates or online friends, thus has enabled libraries that offer online access expanded reach as their clients or groups share the fantastic experience. Municipal authorities have been charged with the responsibility of operating and improving public libraries in the UK under the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. There were 4,759 permanent public libraries and 693 mobile units, in addition to 19,136 service areas stationed in diverse locations like health centres and jails all over Britain by 1997. These public libraries have served as a learning forum for communities with many people preferring them for obtaining information and study to universities hence the adage ‘universities in the streets’ (Bennett, 2001). To enhance ICT skills among the library patrons, most public libraries have established Open Learning Centres that engage staff who are able to impart knowledge to the unskilled patrons. Nonetheless, the Library Association has called for a formal standardised scheme to ensure the correct and appropriate skills are taught. This would

Perceptions And Experiences Of Survivors Of Retrenchment Philosophy Essay

Perceptions And Experiences Of Survivors Of Retrenchment Philosophy Essay The preceding chapter justified the selected methodology as an appropriate research strategy in the framework created by the research problem and literature review. This chapter presents the findings obtained from the present study. It represents a thematic synopsis of the prevailing survivor responses obtained through three in-depth semi-structured interviews, where each core theme is described followed by a description of the contributory sub-themes within the core themes as well as aggravating factors (if applicable). Themes will be illustrated with direct quotations in a manner that adequately addresses the construed experiences of the interviewed survivors. The first core theme to emerge is the prevailing end state of survivors in the present study. The survivors demonstrated differing forms of denial, and these manifestations are illustrated as the subsequent three core themes, with their aggravating factors. The next core themes to emerge relates to the affective and behavioural responses of survivors throughout the retrenchment process. Finally, the theme underlying and giving rise to the other themes is that of the survivors perception of the company retrenchment experience. The chapter concludes with a critical discussion of the present study in light of previous research and literature in the field, and guidelines for organisations that are contemplating, or have already commenced, with retrenchments to reduce the anticipated negative effects of the retrenchment process. 5.2 RESEARCH RESULTS AND FINDINGS In this section, the themes obtained from the gathered data are considered. As previously noted, the interviewees were quoted verbatim these quotes are demarcated by the use of blue, italic text type. Journal and memo inclusions are demarcated by the use of italic text in shaded boxes. In order to illustrate the perceptions and experiences of survivors of retrenchment, the outcomes of the present study are represented in Figure 5.1. 5.2.1 Denial The first theme elicited from the interview transcriptions is that of survivor denial. Other researchers (De Vries Balazs, 1997; Greenhalgh Jick, 1989; Noer, 1993) have explored diverse defensive responses provoked by the retrenchment experience. One frequent and widespread response is denial, a defensive mechanism equally manifesting in both management and employees who is currently experiencing, or have recently experienced, retrenchment. Denial can be defined as unconscious negation of some or all of the total available meanings of an event to alleviate anxiety or other unpleasant condition. Denial covers situations in which individuals in words, act, or fantasies attempt to avoid painful reality. (Dorpat, 1983). Denial assisted the survivors in regulating their feelings of grief, thus protecting them from anxiety and pain by refusing to completely experience happenings that the survivor could not cope with. In this regard, there is a charm in denial, as it only lets in as much grief as can be handled. However, the survivors could not work through these initial stages of the grief cycle, and subsequently, became stuck in the denial phase. This outcome is the result of various contributing factors, which has been identified as themes supporting this end state. All three interviewed survivors were in a state of denial, as they had not developed or were not equipped with constructive coping mechanisms to deal with the stress and anxiety caused by the retrenchment process. According to Chapman (2009), individuals reactions to distressing events are as unique as a fingerprint. This is clearly demonstrated as the denial manifested in three forms, which will subsequently be discussed. Fish bowl reaction The first manifestation of denial was that of the Fishbowl effect this is characterised by the survivors experiencing a pervasive sensation of being under constant scrutiny from other employees affected employees in the organisation. The survivors are scrutinised as a result of their position within the company whether it be hierarchical position or divisional position. Although the mental process of denial cannot be observed directly, it can be inferred from verbal behaviour. To this effect, Cramer (1987) developed categories for identifying denial. Pertinent to the fish bowl effect are: Statements of negation: An individual contradicts an action, wish or intention, which, if acknowledged, would cause discontent, pain, anxiety or humiliation. Again, you know, and then it seems almost like the fairy tale situation where I am ecstatically happy you know, you get your days where you just want to dart out of here and it is too much Overly maximising the positive or minimizing the negative: Sizeable exaggeration or underestimation of a characters quality, size, power, role and authority. I was involved, sitting in at the meetings with some of the directors and general managerswe did discuss some of the positions that might fall awayI was involvedbut not the actual decision making. Survivors soon realise that working in this fishbowl, everyone scrutinizes what they are doing and because other employees can offer their critique, looking good becomes as important as doing the right thing. It appears that initially, the interviewees are intensely aware of the scrutiny and their role in the unpleasant exercise, however, in order to escape the anxiety that this creates; selected stimuli and observations are unconsciously denied. You are emotional when you in our function you cant be emotional, you need to kind of your emotions need to be put to the side to stay professional. So we were stretched, and I was stretched beyond that I thought that I could do or endure. But luckily we went through it. Further to this, in the fish bowl effect manifestation, considerable attention was given to the details of the issue as this served as a distraction enabling the survivors to avoid the affective whole. This was clearly demonstrated by one survivor who insisted that the company did not communicate the financial specifics for the severance package. However, when I reviewed the company documentation, this seemed to be the one element that was clearly and consistently communicated. Kets de Vries and Balazs (1996, 1997) reported similar findings. I would have handled the process in such a way that employees knew exactly what the package entailedknow where you are at lets have a look at maybe, how does your Provident Fund look like. Keep more information, so that people can make a more informed decision. In the present study, denial appeared to be an extension of the initial avoidance response. When reality threatened the survivors directly, and when the behaviours of avoidance were no longer adequate, the survivors turned to denial. The difference between denial and avoidance is the difference between passivity and activity, or between the tacit and the overt (Gottlieb, 2004). however, the meeting was postponed on the first occasion, due to the participant being too busy on the specific day. The interview was re-scheduled on this day, I had to remind the participant of the interview, yet the interview started 10 minutes late. I found it rather disturbing that the participant was rather non-committal with some of the answers, not committing to any specific viewpoint, but rather skirting the issue as to not tick anyone, thereby remaining on the fence. The participant seemed to take on the role of champion of the company, even though most answers pointed towards disagreement. During the interview, she spoke freely about relevant retrenchment issues, but it left me with a feeling of superficiality, as the issues raised were addressed fleetingly (this seems to be a denial in itself?) and the topic was consistently changed after a few minutes, almost contradicting what she said earlier. The change of topic occurred when discussions about emotions were further explored. It seems that the recall of intense emotional experience (negative) during the period of retrenchment creates feeling of anxiety that is denied and suppressed. Non-committal answers might be an attempt to deny negative experiences and or defend the company out of a sense of loyalty to organisation or defending own role in retrenchment. In the fishbowl state, the survivor is so preoccupied with doing the right thing and looking good to both management and employees that they consistently deny and bury their own emotional responses to retrenchment. This manifestation of this denial encompasses the alteration of language and logic to justify their behaviour (Cramer, 1987; Stein, 1997). Looking back on the entire process and where we are now, a year later you think it was a good business decision? At the time yes, for the business to continue, because we didnt know the economy was going to turn. Yes, I would say at that given point in time it could have been a good business decision. all affected people kind of made good business senseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I dont know if that makes any sense at all but made good business sense. So I think everybody would understand that none of this was a personal mission to get rid of anybody. It is possible that, as a consequence of prolonged denial in the fishbowl state, the survivors reasonable argument and cognitive schemata might be discarded altogether, because those strategies are not sustainable and are unable to persuade others; at which time the survivor will merely refer to their feelings or emotions as the exclusive justification. (Cramer, 1987). Placing all your eggs in the downsizing organisations basket It would seem that the strategies of retaining employees for the long-term have had negative, inadvertent consequences on the survivors seducing employees into a co-dependent relationship with the organisation. The co-dependent employees sense of value and identity is based on pleasing someone or something else. A lot of duality in this interview unhappy at work, yet wishing to stay, also expressing regret at not being retrenched, yet sacrificing her relationship to perform responsibilities at work. Defending abuse from management, yet complaining about management style. According to Noer (2009), benefits, services and office size are all advantages that reward seniority and tenure. In addition, Company X has in recent years placed more focus on employee wellness programmes, thereby channelling employees social patterns into organisationally endorsed activities. The result is that numerous employees have placed all of their emotional and social eggs in the organisational basket as the retrenchments were implemented and the new psychological contract unfolded, the basket has been dropped, and, according to Noer (1993), resulting in a range of negative survivor symptoms, such as fear and anxiety and triggering co-dependent behaviours like control and denial. The duality experienced could possibly be viewed as anxious denial there seems to be a swing from one extreme to the other, as if she cannot consolidate these conflicting emotions and feelings and the anxiety that this is causing. This denial and need for control is verbalised / acted out in the desire to have been retrenched. Due to the role that I fulfil on Organisation X, I have been privy to discussion about subsequent decisions made by this participant affecting / sacrificing her private life for the benefit of her career. As previously discussed, the higher the organisational level, the stronger the denial tends to be. It is therefore not surprising that the interviewee who most strongly displays this manifestation of denial, is the highest ranking employee interviewed. Although the concept of co-dependency will be discussed later in this section, it should be noted that previous research (Noer, 1993) indicated that co-dependants make themselves into permanent victims. It seems that perhaps this is the most salient characteristic of this manifestation of denial by denying any other role other than that of the victim, the survivor has rejected their role and accountability as part of the senior management team of Organisation X, as well as rejecting activities that should have been undertaken as part of management responsibility. Thereby effectively denying the extent to which her lack of action contributed to negative impacts on others, specifically the affected subordinates. A possible explanation for this unconscious decision is that it is an attempt to avoid guilt, and possibly shame. but with even like with subordinate I worked with, right until a week which before she moved, she didnt really know what was going to happen to her. She was told, Divisional Manager said to me, well maybe she would fit in with General Manager: XXXs department. So I went back, said to Subordinate, please set up a meeting with General Manager: XXX go speak to him, see what the job is all about. But nobody spoke to her I spoke to her said, lets make an appointment with General Manager: XXX.so nobody spoke to her, it wasnt like a person or thing. I know with Subordinate, nobody came to speak to her to say you know you are going to lose your position, but there is another position for you this is what it entails or set up an appointment with General Manager: XXX or anythingI would have like to just walked with my people a little bit more, so that theyre not so unhappy. There were lots of rumours and think from that aspect, maybe they were not as open as they should have been. This is congruent to two of Cramers (1987) characteristic of denial, namely the denial of reality whereby the survivor avoids addressing something that would be unpleasant to think about, in this case the loss of her subordinate to another department as well as her abdication of responsibility as departmental head. Secondly, statements of negation where the individual contradicts an action, wish or intention, which, if acknowledged, would cause discontent, pain, anxiety or humiliation. Further to this, and supporting the previous assertion of the strong denial of management responsibility, dissatisfaction with company direction, management credibility and long-term strategy were particularly strong amongst the most senior survivor interviewed, which is interesting as she is responsible for some of these functions. A lot of the instructions that were given are very short term. So, I think from an environment point of view, I just feel Im not learning as much as I could have, because everything is now killing the fires and its short term strategies, so you dont actually learn or develop and there is not time to develop as a person within the company. How would you describe your level of trust, in the management team of the company?very low trust. Because if something goes wrong, they blame somebody else. This candidate is part of senior management, yet seems to feel ostracized. Perhaps this is the reason for her projections? Further to the above, when psychological denial distorts reality, individuals are prone to make erroneous decisions or avoid complicated decisions and disregard serious problems; holding others responsible when things do not turn out as expected (Cramer, 1987). This finding is supported by subsequent verifiable information that became known to me recently as a result of the interview and my position within the organisation. one interviewee fluctuated between almost total denial of her accountability and role (as senior manager) in the retrenchment and repeated attempts to bring about her own death (Kà ¼bler-Ross, 1969) in the organisation. This self-sabotage took the form of non-performance, defiance when dealing with top management and ignoring communications. Some aggravating factors to this denial reaction must also be noted the first is the espoused value of the new psychological contract and secondly the presence of aggravating peripheral circumstances. These factors will be explored and discussed later in this section. Keeping up appearances: coping by not coping This manifestation is characterised by the minimisation of the overall effect that the retrenchment had on the survivors. Although feelings of uncertainty, stress and guilt had been experienced, there were some expressions of optimism and perceptions that Company X engaged in a tough, but necessary activity to get or keep the company on track toward profitability. I think for anybody this is a very difficult exercise to go throughà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ there was not you dont need to worry, it is never going to happen, youre safe. There was never any of that false hope created. I dont know if that makes any sense at all but made good business sense. Unfortunately, as a business, this is the only way we can survive. This technique has been termed denial of injuries by Gandolfi (2009) and pertains to survivors involved in the retrenchment process maintaining that retrenchment victims did not suffer any detrimental consequences. In the aforementioned study, this was the reaction where victims were provided with generous severance packages. The findings of the current study in consistent with this, as all interviewed survivors exhibited a manifestation of denial and without fail, referred to the generous severance packages. Well, I looked at the packages and I know that they were really good based on obviously you know what the packages based on experience, based on years service and based on beginner service and all those sort of things. However, the denial is evident in the contradictions during the interviews, as well as during discussion that pertained to behavioural and affective responses during the retrenchment. This is congruent with two of Cramer (1987) identified characteristics of denial, namely: Statements of negation: An individual contradicts an action, wish or intention, which, if acknowledged, would cause discontent, pain, anxiety or humiliation. Obviously I could not divulge that until the final decisions had been madeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ when you are going through a structural change there is this cloud of secrecy and certain people know whats going on, and there is talking à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it was communicated to them [affected department], and it was done right down to the brutal truth. Unexpected goodness, optimism, positivity: nonchalance in the face of threats. The team is not quite where it needs to be yet, but certainly we pulling more together in terms of the transparencies and the cross functional support areas where we may be 5 years ago. I got to say the resizing exercise did a lot in terms of shaking up peoples foundations where you thought you were so secure, everybody realized nobody is secure. But what changed it and what made this last resizing exercise so positive, is the way it was handled. These reported perceptions are complex and quite often contradictory. The same survivors who articulated sentiments of optimism also articulated strong sentiments of uncertainty, stress and changed work life perceptions. Uncertainty was most apparent in the continuous attempts to obtain the approval and validation of reactions from me, as if to establish whether the perceptions are correct, or perhaps to avoid confronting actions that causes guilt by perceiving this to be a common occurrence. It seems as if the survivors escaped dealing with their personal feelings by focusing on projected organisational outcomes. This is congruent to previous research (Noer, 1993) as well a variation on the fishbowl effect, where survivors focus on details to escape dealing with their personal feelings. The objectives were pretty clear and that was that we need to look at the functions within the department, and the main objective was not clearing heads, that was never the main objective. The main objective was look at the functions, how can we work and structure this department to work smarter. Not necessarily cheaper, but smarter and obviously ultimately is there a possibility for the right sizingthe objective was never to get the heads of the headcount, never. Obviously you know long term wise it is a win- win situation for everybody. This particular manifestation seems to be exacerbated by previous experience of a retrenchment possibly colouring the survivors frame of reference. The interviewee that displayed this manifestation most prominently has personally survived two previous retrenchments at Organisation X. Another interviewee who displayed this manifestation of denial to a lesser extent had survived one previous retrenchment at Organisation X and recalls that her father had experienced a retrenchment at his employer at the time. I am left to wonder whether this positive attitude is genuine or whether the participant is still keeping up appearances for the benefit of who perhaps top management perhaps. Is this denial (of damage done to others) a facade to hide feelings of being the executioner as the participant clearly indicated that she felt guilty for being picked to stay whilst other employees (in her department) became victims. This reaction can possibly be attributed to repeated experiences of retrenchment resulting in emotional numbing (Kets de Vries Balazs, 1996), whereby the survivor starts to experience problems with a reduced capacity to feel. According to Kets de Vries and Balazs (1996), this defensive process is set in motion a state of affairs overflowing with painful emotions and psychological conflict. This reaction was used as a means to shelter the survivors from intolerable experiences and functions as a type off shut-off mechanism this emotional shut-off is essentially the core of psychological denial as discussed in the introduction to this section. It appears as if the survivors resort to doing to prevent experiencing. One of the survivors went into great detail about her growth in the company, her flexibility with regards to long-term career goals, the positive relationships with both top management and Human Resources, and her perception of how other departments handled this process. In all of this, she never voluntarily referred to feelings. When specifically asked about her feelings and reactions during the time of retrenchments, she conceded that she did feel saddened by the process, but quickly added that this was reserved for after-hours and in general, she felt that it had been a process well handled. What seems to be true for all of the participants is that their involvement in retrenchments is an activity that opposes their base belief about organisational life. Underlying this base belief is the psychological employment contract. These survivors have to cope with significant change at the same time as experiencing it. Shared denial Although the survivors engaged in the same basic defence mechanism, the expression of the defence took various forms. It is interesting to note that there are some shared reactions in the expression of denial, namely the denial of the survivors own expectation of the old psychological contract to hold true and the unfailing blaming of others for negative outcomes experienced. Each of these shared reactions will consequently be explored. Denial of belief in old psychological contract All of the interviewees espoused the values of the new psychological contract and advocated its importance in the new world of work, yet, all the interviewees demonstrated throughout the interview, that they have a very strong expectation that the old psychological contract is to hold true for them on Organisation X. . I really would like to have an overseas assignment. Just to get exposure, because for me is I want a long term relationship with Company X. I was quite happy here and I thought, well, I am happy to stay with Company X for the next 10 years. Whatever I wanted to develop, I would like to get to a General Manager level, learn as much as I can from the company. It seems that the survivors agree with the logic and the theory of the new psychological contract, but that this new way paradigm conflicts with their need for membership and would require a great mindset shift. I believe that most employees expect an organisation to look after them and that you will receive the benefits, or reap the benefits of hard work. But in reality, that does not work that wayI know that your psychological contract has changed during the course of the last few years, but still, I think that maybe employees want to be trained in such way that they can move on, out of the organisation, with more skills they what they come into. Despite strongly advocating the new psychological contract the participants responses throughout the interview indicates a strong co-dependency on the company being researched. It seems as if the participant defines a (big?) part of herself by achievement / growth / future in / at the company being researched. Also, this participant perhaps more than the other participants espouses the values of the new psychological contract, yet looks at the organisation to provide growth and development, and feels betrayed and offended that the current situation impacted on her development. The survivors denial of their belief in the old psychological contract could possibly be explained by the concept of co-dependence. The co-dependent changed their identity, denied their feelings and spend a substantial quantity of energy in an effort to control an alcoholic; shared the alcoholics addiction. The co-dependent does not notice the destruction that their denial causes to themselves and others they were co-dependent with the alcoholic (Bekker, 1998; Noer, 1993) According to Noer (1993), just as a person can exist in a co-dependent state with another person in relation to an addiction, a person can also be co-dependent with an organisational system. Employees of an organisation who have become co-dependent on the organisation, defines themselves to a large extent by their job. During a retrenchment, it is therefore not only their job that becomes vulnerable, but also their sense of worth, sense of relevance, identity and purpose. This phenomenon could explain most, if not all, of the survivor experiences explored in this study. As discussed in section 3.3.4, the greater the sense of personal violation, the greater the susceptibility to survivor syndrome and destructive defence mechanisms. The perception of violation appears directly related to the degree of trust employees had that Organisation X will take care of them (Noer, 1993). The survivors all indicated that they definitely had the expectation of long-term employment at Company X, with the associated growth and development as reward for their tenure and performance. The retrenchment experience seemed to be a rude wake-up call that this is in actual fact not the truth. There is no such thing as life-long employment. There is a classic saying, if you want loyalty, buy a dog. It is all good and well to be committed to a company, but there is no guarantee, not either way, that you are going to be with that company for a life-long commitment or that that the company is going to keep you on for a life-long commitmentonce you heard that very clear definition that life owes you nothing and Company X owes you nothing and I owe you nothing. That kind of inspired you to do more and to want more. You know, if I came in at age 17, turning 18 in February, that I was working, thinking I am just going to be a typist for the rest of my life and Company X going to keep me, keep me, you gonna have to want that little bit more ever so often. If you are not motivated, and if you are not accepting those challenges, there is no future for you here. Denying their belief in the truth of the old psychological contract, might serve two purposes: By verbally acknowledging the value of the new psychological contract, they are espousing the message that is expected of them due to their position within the company. As in the fishbowl effect manifestation, the survivors are seen to be doing the right thing and looking good; By denying their belief in the truth of the old psychological contract, the survivors are attempting to avoid the painful reality that this paradigm no longer holds true by refuting their own truth by their words and actions. Blaming of others All interviewed survivors blamed other groups. In most cases, generic management were blamed or colleagues in organisation X, however, no interviewee assigned any blame for negative outcomes to themselves. Nevertheless, people tend to blame others usually the next person up on the organisational chart for what is a basic systemic change, beyond anyones control. But then, if I look at other areas that the same sort of exercises, and I dont know if it is because it was handled poorly, that maybe their management wasnt being honest or forthcoming with their people. Look at the XXX department a huge mess. You know, where people left on the end of the month, and there was absolutely nobody trained to do those. If youre ultimate goal is to get rid of people on downsize and get rid of people on a head count level that is easy to do. This blaming phenomenon could be a form of projection that serves as a defence mechanism, assisting the survivor to confront their own survivor guilt by allowing the survivor to consider others as dysfunctional without experiencing the discomfort of realising that these views and feelings are their own. This allows the survivor to express disapproval of the other person, distancing themselves from their own dysfunction (Straker, 2009). This reaction has also been noted by previous researchers such as Noer (1993), Kets de Vries and Balazs (1996) and Appelbaum et al. (1997). Based on the preceding discussion, it is put forward that blaming others for whichever collection of consequences generally represents denial. Contributory themes As a result of the survivors inability to progress through the stages of grief and complete their mourning, the interviewed survivors remained in state of denial. Contributing to these responses and outcomes were the presence of aggravating peripheral circumstances and role conflict. Role conflict Beauchamp and Bray (2001) defines role conflict as referring to the presence of incongruent expectations placed on a role incumbent. The presence of role conflict exacerbating the effects of denial was evident amongst survivors. This role conflict related to the dual roles of being involved in the implementation of the retrenchment for the survival of Company X and the emotional effect that the aforementioned has on the survivor. You are emotional when you in our function you cant be emotional, you need to kind of your emotions need to be put to the side to stay professional. So, you talk to people over the telephone, and they are emotional that side, youre sitting on this side, and you know their affected it is a difficult, difficult time. It is possible that this role conflict also contributed to the extensive engagement in reasoning to justify retrenchments. This reaction is similar to what Noer (1993) described as the Judas complex. This reaction seems to allow the survivors to deny the negative impact of their actions on others. It is very difficult to keep your managers hat on and on the other side of the scale to put your humanitarian hat on.you had to come in