Overcoming Defense Mechanisms Essay

Practical implications of each term are included for the benefit of organizations interested in applying theory in practice. Key words: organizational cohesion, action systems, compliance, culture of tradition, complete concrete systems, and symbolism Organizational Cohesion According to Etzioni (1961), cohesion can be defined as a positive expressive relationship among two or more actors that can reinforce negative and positive norms (p. ). He further differentiates cohesion bonds between persons of the same rank, peer cohesion, and cohesion bonds between persons of different ranks, hierarchical cohesion. The degree to which peer cohesion exists within an organization can determine how readily norms that are held by the majority of a given group or held by the most influential persons within a group will be accepted by the remaining group participants. In other words, peer cohesion dictates the degree to which actors within a given group are likely to mimic or adopt each other’s behavior and/or values. It has also been suggested by Homans (1951), that there is a direct correlation between the frequency and endurance of interaction within a group and the level of a group’s cohesiveness. In other words, the more group participants interact, the more likely it is that they will adopt each other’s mannerisms, outlooks, or orientations toward the larger group of which they are a part (Etzioni, 1961, p. 290). Assuming that norms that are beneficial to a particular organization are being fostered via peer ohesion, such as intra-team cooperation, the net effect could be a highly productive work environment with low employee turnover. Etzioni’s research implies that organizations with high peer cohesion tend to have low employee turnover, which reduces costs involved with recruiting and socializing new employees, knowledge capture, and maintaining daily work routines. However, it is important to note that cohesion can reinforce both negative and positive norms, which is to say behaviors that alienate an employee from an organization as well as behaviors that reinforce one’s commitment to an organization (p. 80 ). Reagans and McEvily (2003) suggest that cohesion, specifically social cohesion, influences the willingness of individuals to devote time and effort to assisting others within a given group, in addition to serving as a motivator to transfer knowledge to a coworker or colleague (p. 245). Ultimately, cohesion within an organizational group, can encourage a â€Å"you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours† effect that can encourage knowledge exchange across employees and reduce direct peer-to-peer or intra-departmental competition amongst employees (Reagan & McEvily, 2003, p. 245). In other words, â€Å"by limiting competition, social cohesion promotes knowledge transfer,† which is an essential component of a learning and innovative organization (Reagans & McEvily, 2003, p. 247). Although organizational cohesion can foster â€Å"exchange relationships that build commitment† (Tyndall, 2012, p. 3), it is essential that organizational leaders recognize tipping points wherein too much cohesion could increase group-think and inhibit innovation, performance, and potentially disrupt a work-group’s alignment with the overall organization’s values, should a given group’s norms contradict such values (p. ). Where possible, organizational leaders might assess the power that cohesiveness has within their organization, identify the source of cohesiveness, be it an agent of the organization or the organization itself, and take the necessary action to either encourage or discourage the cohesiveness, depending on whether it currently work s in favor of the organization or to its detriment. Action Systems An action system embodies a collective effort to attain a single goal, as executed by interdependent work units’ processes, tasks, and functions. To attain its goal as a unit, a social action system adopts a structure and a process for organizing member activities† (De Ven, 1976, p. 25). An action system is a term used to describe a system that produces an output only if the necessary actions are completed by the appropriate parties throughout the entire production process-placing emphasis on the relationship that exists between actions and the larger task they accomplish. The existence of this term serves to illustrate a theoretical shift away from focusing on work units or groups and a shift toward focusing on the individual job holders’ roles within the larger group, analogous to speaking in of terms of cogs within a machine (Tyndall, 2012, p. 3). As Parsons (1951) has noted, â€Å"acts do not occur singly and discretely, they are organized in systems† (p. 7). Simply put, an action system is made up of two components: the actor and his situation (p. 7). By speaking in terms of action systems, the theorist or manager hopes to identify all factors that affect these two components in the name of achieving their end objective, be it decreasing production error and lags, and increasing production successes (non-defective output) or any combination thereof. The more an organization can identify all variables, resources, and actions required at each phase of production, the more it can regulate and manage them. â€Å"Resources and information flows are the basic elements of activity in organized forms of behavior† (De Ven, 1976, p. 25). If, for example, an actor works in reception at a doctor’s office, he/she might require a computer, medical forms, chairs for patients, clipboards, pens, etc. By tracking usage and resource requirements over an extended period of time, records might reveal that there are too many patients or too few chairs in the waiting area at any given time. Identifying this fail point will serve as a signal to the organization to either increase the number of chairs in the office, increase the number of business hours (to spread out patients), add a second partner, expand to a second location, or some other alternative. Total Quality Management, Lean Six Sigma, and Demings 14-Points of Quality are all examples of how organizations have provided structure to these very practices (Tyndall, 2012, p. 16-18) Just as an organization can identify, measure, and manage tangible resources along each stage of an action system, so too can an organization identify and measure intangible factors that influence workers orientation toward the organization and their assigned tasks. By understanding a worker’s motivation for being on the ob, an organization will be better equipped to frame that employee’s work and performance evaluation in such a way that will encourage the worker to achieve higher levels of performance. By structuring job functions in ways that directly attach task ownership to individual job holders, an organization can increase the accountability for that employee, and increase the likelihood of their experiencing satisfaction upon completely their assigned task –due to the ta sk’s proximity to its â€Å"owner† (Tyndall, 2012, p. 8). Forward-thinking and adaptable organizations will encourage transparency and two-way feedback between management and those who are managed. For this reason, it would be wise for organizations to seek input from employees when identifying areas of process improvement within action systems, share successes across the organization, and openly value collaboration between groups and collegiality within groups (Trist, 1981, p. 43, 57, & 49). Compliance Etzioni (1961) defines compliance as â€Å"a relationship consisting of the power employed by supervisors to control subordinates and the orientation of subordinates to this power† (p. xiii). Sciulli and Etzioni (1996) identify three sources of compliance: coercion, economic or pecuniary incentives, and normative values (p. 137). This interplay between the governors and the governed directly influences how an organization will function and be perceived by internal and external stakeholders. Further, the dynamic between these two parties sheds light on where power, and specifically the power to make change, resides within an organization. As was exemplified in The Challenger Disaster, the extent to which an organization’s members recognize when it is necessary to comply and when it is necessary to break from routine impinges on an organization’s ability to adapt and respond to catastrophic events: Argyris’s (1990) analysis of The Challenger Disaster brought to light the following: The problems were not only in the structure, rules, and independent monitoring devices. The problems also were that highly committed, well-intentioned, safety-oriented, can-do players reasoned and acted in ways that violated their own standards and made certain that this violation was covered up and that the cover-up was covered up. (p. 42). One could argue that NASA’s employees ignored their respective ethical instincts and instead complied with that of the organization, NASA: an unspoken practice of ignoring unsettling information in the name of making deadlines, satisfying stakeholders, or perhaps satisfying its own hubris. Regardless, this catastrophe serves to illustrate the negative implications of compliance, particularly as perpetuated through normative values. Organizational theorists, such as Ogbonna and Harris (1998) have set out to determine what behaviors within organizations evolve through genuine organic change and behaviors that evolve in response to deliberate actions taken by management via compliance. Their research indicates that efforts made by management to alter culture within an organization via compliance may prove successful, but not for a signal unified reason. In other words, an organization’s members may all buy-in to a behavioral modification or practice advocated by management, but for reasons that are unique to the individual members or groups of members within the organization. â€Å"Hence, a key implication of these findings is that managements attempting to alter culture should consider how multiple interpretations of the rationale for change influence the success of the change effort† (p. 284-285). Some changed in resigned compliance, some in authentic willingness, and some â€Å"cognitively accepted espoused values in order to further their careers† (p. 85-286). Management might benefit from this insight by carefully selecting which company practices or values they wish to indoctrinate employee with, particularly if such practices do not relate directly to tasks associated with production and instead relate to rules on how employees might govern themselves socially or culturally within an organization; if laun ching a new effort to encourage the valuing of X, perhaps it would be wise for management to seek employees’ input on why everyone should value X in order to determine whether a consensus on the promotion’s rationale exists. This will help ensure that all employees are not only helping to move the company in the same direction, but are doing so for the same or perhaps, intended, reasons. Culture of Tradition A culture of tradition within an organization consists of a subset of individual cultural traditions or â€Å"shared symbolic system[s] which function in interaction† (Parsons, 1961, p. 11). A culture of tradition is a culture that engender s its participants with values that center on traditional or historically patterns of interaction, patterns that have come to exist through repeated practice carried out by members of the organization. If an organization comes to value tradition, it could be inferred that such an organization will devalue or sanction behaviors that encourage or work in support of change, behaviors that we have come to know as organizational defenses or defensive routines. As Tyndall (2012) suggests, â€Å" defensive routines are rewarded by most organizational cultures because routines indicate a sense of caring and concern for people† (p. 13). Further, Tyndall suggests that routines are often protected by the same people who prefer that such routines not exist. Rather than expose detrimental cultural practices, organizations prefer to keep them hidden so as to prevent exposure and embarrassment (p. 13). For the purpose of this paper, let us assume that organizational identity and organizational culture are interconnected. Santos and Eisenhardt (2005) point out that â€Å"organizational identity helps members make sense of their situation by clarifying the defining attributes and purpose of the organization, thereby reducing ambiguity and providing direction† (p. 500). If an organization’s current culture, a culture of tradition, is borne out of circumstances from fifty years ago, it can be inferred that there will a disconnect or lack of alignment between the direction the organization needs to be going in and the direction it actually is going in. Santos and Eisenhardt go on to suggest that: Organizational members actively perform collective sensemaking (Weick 1995) through which they gain awareness of new information, share interpretations of prior actions, and converge on the meaning of environmental changes and appropriate courses of action. p. 500). Assuming that employees are constantly being exposed to new information, but are inhibited on how to make use of or capitalize on such information because of the existence of cultural constraints, it will not only discourage innovation within the organization, but will also stymie employee’s desire to exercise creativity and engage with the organization. Ultimately, an organization s hould work to align its identity, culture, and activities it carries out (p. 00), maintain traditions that to not impinge on efficacy of essential processes, and foster an environment that embraces conflict and change (Trist, 1981, p. 47). Complete Concrete Systems Parson’s (1951) defines a complete concrete system of social action as consisting of a social system, the personality systems of the individual actors involved, and the cultural system which is built into such actors actions (p. 5-6). A cultural or social system is stagnant, unless the elements included therein are carried out through practice and action via an action system (p. 17). He further elaborates: A social system consists in plurality of individual actors interacting with each other in a situation which has at least a physical or environmental aspect, actors who are motivated in terms of a tendency to the ‘optimization of gratification’ and whose relation to their situations, including each other, is defined and mediated in terms of a system of culturally structured and shared symbols. p. 5-6). Parsons emphasizes the need to consider these three elements independently, as no one can be further reduced or ignored in the context of the general theory of action systems. In short, Parsons wishes to draw attention to the interplay that exists between personality, culture, and the society in which these elements exist; one cannot consider personality without also considering the context in which it exists or has been cultivated. As an organization develops its sense of self, it might also come to recognize the types of personalities that it supports and the types of personalities that it prefers not to engage. Once an organization is able to identify the types of personalities it attracts or tends to hire, it might then explore the question of why it is that these personalities â€Å"fit† the organization; it may be that the personalities hired within an organization are in fact not working in favor of the organization’s larger mission, but instead reflect historical cultural practices that actually work against the organization. The more that an organization is able to hone in on the types of personalities, behaviors, and the types of individuals that it is best suited to hire or from which it would benefit the most, the better able it will be to refine the organization’s culture and overall defining character. This is not to suggest that an organization should attempt to hire one type of personality, but it is to suggest that an organization should attempt to identify the types of personalities best uited for particular work units, roles within such work units, and conceive of ways to encourage hiring, training, and evaluation practices, that foster the development of such individuals rather than inhibit them. Agents within an organization should be mindful of the personalities with which they interact, particularly when presenting ideas to or interacting with decision-makers. Framing ideas in ways that appeal to decision-makers could prove advantageous and foster productive discourse. Symbolism Symbolism, or symbolic systems of meaning, come into existence as individual social actors engage with social objects (Parsons, 1951, p. 10). An actor comes to expect or associate certain actions with particular results through practice. The dynamic relationship between actions and the associations one comes to assign to particular actions exists through communication that is both implicit and explicit across an organization. Like culture, symbols come to exist by observing or partaking in patterns of behavior; if I do X, Y happens, or on a more simple level, if I sit on X, X is a chair. These expectations form â€Å"pattern consistency† (Parsons, 1951, p. 10), or logical consistency that enable people to transmit information to one another in ways that can be easily understood, whether this transmission is intentional or unintentional. These transmissions deliver messages to the receiver and it is these messages that come to form symbols. For these reason, symbols are highly subjective and based on the perception of the message’s recipient. Organizations must be mindful of the role that symbolism has in shaping the culture of an organization. Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchinson, & Sowa (1986) define perceived organizational support (POS) as â€Å"global beliefs about the extent to which the organization cares about [employees] well-being and values their contributions† (Fuller, Barnett, Hester, Relyea, 2003, p. 789). Research consistently shows that perceived organizational support (POS) is positively correlated with organizational commitment. In other words, the more an organization’s employees perceive themselves to be supported by an organization, the more likely it is that they will commit themselves to the organization and its mission. Further, when people perceive that their organization values and appreciates them, they interpret it symbolically to mean that the organization has respect for them or sees them as having a high status within their organization. Perceiving one’s self as having high status, Gardner & Pierce (1998) suggest, will likely encourage commitment to an organization; this encourages a person to believe themselves to be worthy of being an organizational member (Fuller, et al. , p. 790).

Autobiography Essay Essay Example for Free

Autobiography Essay Essay Many people in today’s society think just because I am a young lady I have an easy fun filled life. Well, that is not true. Life has many ups and downs but it is up to us whether we want it to be a successful one or not. Life is filled with obstacles for us to overcome no matter how tragic. Back in 2009, the most unexpected tragedy I thought that would never happen occurred. My grandfather died in September and my grandmother died in December. It was a hard and difficult time for me because they both died within a matter of four months apart from each other. Another incident occurred that was almost fatal. My brother was involved in a car accident in Kemp Road last year May. The accident was so horrific, the right side of his body was paralyzed. He had to do therapy at Doctors Hospital so he could drive and walk properly again. Sometime in everyone’s life, they are either nervous or scared to take an examination. I had my experience of nervousness when I had to take my national examination. In the Bahamas, the national examination is a test students would have to take for the Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (B.G.C.S.E.) or the Bahamas Junior Certificate (B.J.C.). The exam I had to take was Music which consists of theory and a practical exam. Theory means to listen to a musical piece and answer questions about it and practical means to play a musical piece. When it was my turn to perform my musical piece, I panicked but I tried my best to keep calm. Yes, millions of butterflies were in my stomach just like any other person would have before a big exam like that one. As I played my piece, the millions of butterflies I was experiencing were decreasing by each note I played. By the time as I finished playing my piece, I was confident I passed and I did with a B. One of my greatest successes I achieved in my life is graduating from Aquinas College Catholic High School and receiving my diploma. I was very  satisfied with my accomplishment and achievement and made my parents proud. My other success in life is obtaining my driver’s license. For a teenager, having your license is a big deal because it is one step closer to freedom. Most persons could not say they have their first godchild until the age of 30, but I had the privilege of having my first godchild at the age of 16. Her name is Danielle Rigby and she is my pride and joy. Some other successes in my life are cooking and playing the flute from the age of 10, playing my clarinet from the age of 15 and being accepted into the great Bethune Cookman University. Some of the Bahamian dishes I can make are curry chicken and white rice, friend plankton, potato salad, BBQ ribs, minced lobster and many more. I have been playing the flute for nine years and counting, and I treat it just like a young baby. My future goals and aspirations are to graduate from college with honors, obtain a career where I can prove I am worth being there by working to the best of my ability and having a family of my own someday. All of these things I went through to become the young lady I am today. This is my life, my story. Autobiography Essay. (2016, Apr 24).

A significant event that occured in my life Essay

A significant event that occured in my life - Essay Example However, the contentment on having an ‘A’ did not last for long. Dad: I expected something better than an ‘A’ this time; no wonder you always let me down! Me: I’ll try harder next time, I am sorry. Dad: You better do, it is for your own good. Surely my father wanted to see a more successful person than I was. I greatly appreciated my father’s encouragement yet expected a bit of appreciation. I understood his urge to see a prosperous and winning person as his son. Whatsoever happened, it encouraged me on exerting more energy, time and efforts to achieve a better result. The whole academic year went with only one aim in mind, i.e. to attain a smile on my father’s face. The only possibility I could see to accomplish this aim was through attaining a better result. The struggles whole year resulted in satisfactory exam attempts. I hoped for good results as I did quite well in the examinations. My class performance was a standing example of my hard work. My teachers, friends and relatives appreciated me on every little achievement during my academic career. My aim, though, was to satisfy a person who was the hardest to please. I knew he wanted a better end result and does not appreciate these little achievements that I had. Walking ahead towards the car garage, the voice echoed once again and I smiled with a deep satisfaction on my results and achievements this time. The feeling of finally satisfying my father with the achievement of a full scholarship grew stronger. My uncontrollable feeling of happiness and urge for sharing the news with my father could not wait for him to enter the house. With the throbbing heart and a continuously smiling face I met my father in the car garage. My existence in the car garage was surprising for my father, but I was certain that my achievement is a better surprise and would fade away the presence of any other factor. With an astonishing expression, my father greeted me yet remained per plexed. I knew I had never given him any better than what I achieved that day. I expected the appreciating words any father can have for his son on having a scholarship. Like any other person, I was sure of some soothing words, a wholehearted smile and a sense of pride he would have for his son’s achievement. Without any delays, I disclosed the news of my achievement. Me: Guess what, I have got a full scholarship. I am one of the toppers at school. (I finally spoke up with uncontrollable emotions and in a passionate voice) Dad: Good, so when are you leaving? (The ever cold voice and emotionless response I heard) Me: I will discuss it in the evening. (I hardly uttered while he was busy locking the car). Sitting in my room I reviewed my life. When was the last time I went for vacations without having the cold voice demanding better grades and higher marks in my educational career? When was the last time I partied with friends for longer hours like others did? There were numerou s questions in my mind regarding my struggles and a greater number of awards and achievements which went unnoticed. The feeling that I had a few minutes back vanished like it never existed. I was badly hurt. My emotional state that moment was no better than a hungry man getting a loaf after days which is later found to be made of plastic, which is neither edible nor of any use. All my struggles went unnoticed. My achievement meant nothing but another hopeless attempt to bring a smile on my father’s face. The morale remains high as long as a person’

How might a seaside resort in 1870 be expected to differ from the same Essay

How might a seaside resort in 1870 be expected to differ from the same resort in 1930 What accounts for the changes - Essay Example People began to filter into the cities to find work and thus seashore towns were developed. Many of the first settlers along the seashore began to open up boarding houses and hotels. The wealthy stayed in hotels and the less wealthy people used the boarding houses. The first boarding houses rented for a fee of $8 – 12 a week for room and board and often included meals and a wagon ride through the cornfields to the beach. As an example, Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey developed in the 1870s as a destination for visitors through Captain John Arnold. He retired from a sea career and bought land in Point Pleasant Beach. He built a railroad to the ocean, which is now known as Arnold Avenue. As in other seashore towns, the railroad was the most influential factor in development and tourism of seashore towns. The 1870s were an era of major tourism expansion brought on by developers who bought and subdivided old farms for vacation home lots. In 1877 The Point Pleasant Land Company bo ught a 250 acres farm and began selling lots. To attract buyers, a Resort House was built and began a horse-drawn trolley service for tourists. The Resort House was a four-story hotel type structure that housed 200 guests, and was the largest building in town. The resort featured shaded oak and locust trees, a manicured lawn and a clear view of the beachfront dunes. The inside included a ballroom and bowling alley, which was very upscale for that time. Several other hotels and boarding houses were built similar before the turn-of-the-century. Some of the hotels advertised access to New York and Philadelphia trains, trolley lines, water works, electric lights plants and no mosquitoes. Many of these hotels burned to the ground due to being wood structures and others lost business due to changing tastes in lodging. The first beachfront pavilion was constructed in 1880, and ten years later the first boardwalk was built. The first boardwalk was very flimsy and washed away within two year s. During the Victorian period rapid growth in population began in the seaside resorts. The railways made if possible for visitors to travel to the seashore, and it became much more affordable. The seashore had a nostalgic draw to people as a focal vacation point. A seaside holiday was considered very charming at that time. Again, only a few ordinary people owned cars or telephones until the 1950s. Even when televisions became available, they were very expensive for the average family. The working class worked hard all week in factories, offices, shops and mines and very rarely had the opportunity to travel. However, it became popular to set aside a time during the year to take a seaside holiday. This was popular both in England and the Americas. Traveling to the seaside became popular when it was decided that the sea and bathing in the sea was good for your health. Dr. Richard Russell advocated the use of seawater in bathing and in drinking to treat many early illnesses, in the lat e 1700s. So it became fashionable for the rich especially to visit the seashore. For people of England a railway trip to the seaside and a week or two-holiday stay at a resort was the highlight of the year. The popularity of holiday seaside trips grew until it became popular to take trips abroad to experience different lifestyles. This became very popular with the wealthy, as the ordinary person could not afford such luxuries. Just as the industrial revolution helped build the

Womem and men and media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Womem and men and media - Essay Example dorned with words like â€Å"Take It Off,† â€Å"Let’s Get A Room,† and â€Å"I Get Around.† I find these messages very tasteless and a huge deviation from what should be fed to a 15-year old girl. The manner in which you are exploiting media messaging vulnerability of teenagers is quite appalling. Most parents are worried about the possible impact these vulgar messages on teenage girls because your company is appealing for teenage girls to sexualize at tender age and sway boys to explore girls’ sexuality at inappropriate age. This is dangerous to the existence of a moral society. Hyper-sexualization and self-objectification are currently taking a toll on national health with many women losing self-esteem over their own bodies. Even though I am a loyal customer to the company, I will use social media platforms to discourage my family, friends and "friends of friends," colleagues and the entire the entire world from buying your PINK underwear if no c hanges are made. I expect the company should do more on making women feel empowered rather than sexualizing, objectifying and throwing their intimacy into mockery. I therefore expect your company to make necessary changes and stop perverting young

Adam Smith's Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Adam Smith's Theory - Research Paper Example Born in 1723 and died in 1790, Smith left a legacy in his model Wealth of Nations that has been an influential contribution in economics. In brief, the theory identifies the basic principles that nation acquire wealth and function effectively when individuals use capital and proficiency at their own diplomacy. His model revealed the nature of country’s prosperity as many learn the principles of economics. Up-to-date, his arguments are used and cited in debates as many learn from his great insights. Nevertheless, some people disagree with his assumption as many view him as an activist of callous individualism. Regardless of the way he is viewed, his theory is paramount in the economics field. How the economy does stem from his theory and importantly economists assume that the theory is accurate in how the world’s economy operates. At this point, this paper seeks to analyze the theory and lay a discussion of its pros and cons. Wealth of Nations In his theory wealth of nat ion, Smith noted that wages and prices might reach optimal level when freedom of using capital and skills as per wish is imposed (Smith, In Cannan & Lerner, 1937). He taught by examples of new products, which he argued that, when invented prices are usually high until when others discover the profit potential, and join the field then prices go down. Indeed this can be outlined in today’s electronics where such scenarios take place. ... According to O'Rourke and Smith (2007), the theory explored that there cannot be consumption if there is no production. To explain further, Smith’s theory affirmed cars do not just exist there is a process through which they are put together in production to manufacture cars. Similarly, capitalism works in this way in the sense that when a car is manufactured, those in need of a car search for it in the car factory and purchase as per their choice of the car. In the 21st Century, people do not just walk in the car factory and request to purchase the car but they are purchased by a dealership and later sold to clients. The main point that Smith wanted to highlight is that, one can break capitalism in two parts consumption and production. In this case, there cannot be consumption without production and vice versa. Applicability This law is applicable in today’s society in that one cannot purchase products at the market without being manufactured and supplied by a differen t party. Still, one cannot eat without preparing or acquiring food and cannot be in a house that has not been constructed. From his theory, Smith assumed that the market force ensured there is right invention of goods and services. The theorist based his idea on the aspect of free market economy whereby consumers have the free will to choose what they need. Smith perceived capitalism as the main aspect, which drives, and motivate the economy. He believed that it motivates companies and individuals to gain and accumulate profits. To support his argument, Smith developed two theories through a research on production in Europe during industrial revolution. The two theories are moral sentiments and wealth of nations, which

Literature Review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Literature Review - Research Paper Example A majority of practitioner also do not use the recommended thiazide for managing hypertension (Deshpande, Patel, Godbole, Champaneri, & Patell, 2014; Drawz, et al., 2009). The non-adherence by physicians could explain patents’ lack of knowledge of non-adherence to treatment (Chiazor & Oparah, 2012). Non-adherence to guidelines could be a factor of years of practice and specialty area (Axon, et al., 2010). Educational programs, however, helps physicians to manage barriers to practice, improves their knowledge and confidence in approaches to care, and can therefore improve their adherence to recommendations towards better outcomes (Dacey, Arnstein, Kennedy, Wolfe, & Phillips, 2013). Evidence suggests that practitioners do not implement available guidelines in managing hypertension and this could be a factor to high incidence and prevalence of the condition. Identified effects of continued education, such as awareness of existing and new guidelines can improve outcomes and the current study seeks to ascertain possible effects of awareness initiatives. Framework/Theory: measurement of blood pressure, â€Å"diagnosis of prehypertension and hypertension,† new cases of hypertension, non-pharmacological approaches to treatment, threshold blood pressure level for treatment, and use of antihypertensive agents are the concepts that formed the study’s framework (p. 5). Concepts: blood pressure, â€Å"diagnosis of pre-hypertension and hypertension,† new cases of hypertension, non-pharmacological approaches to treatment, threshold blood pressure level for treatment, and use of antihypertensive agents Dependent Variable: blood pressure, â€Å"diagnosis of pre-hypertension and hypertension,† new cases of hypertension, non-pharmacological approaches to treatment, threshold blood pressure level for treatment, and use of antihypertensive agents A significant percentage of the