The Lloyds Building of London Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Lloyds Building of London - Essay Example These features are made to represent and replace decorative elements for the outer faà §ade. The focus on the mechanical elements is a distinguishing feature of the Modernist movement while its recognition that everything is in a constant state of change, requiring the ability to quickly change out parts, is a characteristic of the Postmodern. Located in the center of London’s financial district and originally intended to serve as headquarters for a large insurance firm, the context of the structure again emphasizes Modern ideals with its focus on monetary, capitalistic values. Yet its design functions to make the building highly flexible, quickly and easily converted into any number of different uses and ready for the addition of any newly developed technology, such as fiber optic internet which wasn’t developed until well after completion, placing it again within the realm of the Postmodern. It is only through a very close examination of the building that one can det ermine the structure is actually more Modern than Postmodern even though it reflects the major attitudes and emphasis of each era. Modern ideas suggest that everything important to human life can be categorically classified into specific categories and definitions. â€Å"Modernity is a project, and not only a period, and it is, or was, a project of control, the rational mastery over nature, the planning, designing and plotting which led and technocracy† (Beilharz, 2001: 6). The basic ideas of Modernism were to analyze the various processes that comprised human existence in the mechanized and standardized world to discover the universal truths that could then be applied to all cultures. Clean lines and clear boundaries were expected to be found that would then be canonized and applied throughout the world as a means of developing a perfect global civilization.

Managing&Leading Change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing&Leading Change - Assignment Example The significance of the specific article can be identified in the fact that both the literature and the empirical research have been employed in order to prove the interaction between theory and practice in the case of change management. The authors have used the concepts of change management theory along with the views of postgraduate students – currently managers – who have studied change management and had to apply theory in practice. The specific study can be therefore characterized as quite effective addressing the entire key issues using appropriate theories and empirical data; its potential use by teachers in the change management field could be considered to be one of its distinctive advantages. As in any study, weak points also exist – as analyzed below. However, they cannot be considered as having a major influence on the study’s effectiveness in the change management sector. The structure of the specific study is clear; it is also aligned with its priorities – as set by the authors. The views of the literature are presented in the first section of the study which is clearly distinguished by its second part – under the title ‘study approach’. Despite the fact that material within the study is appropriately placed - the concepts highlighted are valuable, still there is a significant weakness: the analysis of the literature presented in the first section is limited – in fact in the first section the views of the authors on the issues mentioned in the literature cannot be identified. The views of theorists are just placed one after another with no analysis of the content. In this way the interpretation of the definitions and the concepts presented in the literature section is not available to the reader of the specific article; it could be assumed that the reader is offered the chance to make his own assumptions on the mater ial presented in the literature section – especially after studying the findings of the empirical research presented in the second part of the article.  Ã‚