Criteria For The Project Success Management Essay

Criteria For The Project Success Management Essay Lundin and Soderholm (1995) illustrates the project as a temporary organization and assert the time conception as one of the four distinguishing features of temporary organizations from permanent organizations (task, team and transition are other three distinguishing features). Cleland and King in 1983 (cited in Cooke-Davies, T. J. 2001) adopted a similar approach by the following project definition: A complex effort to achieve a specific objective within a schedule and budget target, which typically cuts across organisational lines, is unique, and is usually not repetitive within the organisation. Moreover, recent definitions expanded the project definition to include the product and /or service as the project outcomes. For example Duncan (1996) defines project as A temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product or service. Temporary means that the project has a definite ending point and unique means that the product or service differs in some distinguishing way from all similar products or services. However, as expectations from projects increase, the definitions for project evolved to reflect this. Thus, Turner and Mà ¼ller (2003) incorporate the idea of beneficial change that product of the project is expected to deliver, to the project definition. Thus, they define a project as a temporary organisation that aims to create a unique service or product that brings added value or delivers beneficial change (Turner and Muller, 2003). Eventhough, there are various project definitions that have been accumulated for almost 50 years, the review of literature revealed that defined start and end, a common objective and complex set of activities are the three most common features that are shared by every project and thus present in almost every project definition. 2.2 Project Success: Although project success is a core project management concept, a review of the project management literature reveals that there is no standardized definition of a project success in the project management literature (Baccarini, 1999). The success of a project is perceived differently by different success assessors (Shenhar et al., 2001). Therefore, as Prabhakar (2008, p. 3) noted the only agreement seems to be the disagreement on what constitutes project success. According to Pinto Slevin (1988) based on their study conducted with over 650 project managers, the project success is not only meeting cost, schedule, and performance requirements rather it requires satisfaction of more complex specifications, such as client satisfaction. Baker, Murphy and Fisher (1983, 1988 as cited in Prabhakar, 2008 and Cooke-Davies, 2001) discuss that client satisfaction has been achieved together with the end result has a vital influence on the perceived success or failure of projects (Prabhakar, 2008 ). In a similar fashion, Baker, Murphy and Fisher (1983, 1988 as cited in Prabhakar, 2008, p.4) states that In the long run, what really matters is whether the parties associated with, and affected by, a project are satisfied. Good schedule and cost performance means very little in the face of a poor performing end product De Wit (1988), on the contrary, defines project success as the assessment of project outcomes against cost, time and quality (as cited in Cooke-Davies, 2001 and Prabhakar, 2008). However, he points out to a distinction between the project success and project management success, which he defines as measurement of project outcomes against the overall project objectives that will be discussed by most of the researchers interested in this subject area. Furthermore, another attempt at developing a viable foundation for project success definition was by Baccarini (1999), who attempts to contribute to this gap in the literature by his logical framework method (LFM). The LFM model distinguishes between four levels of project objectives, namely goal, purpose, output, and input, provides a comprehensive framework for defining, as well as, comprehending the project success concept. Baccarini (1999), just as some of his colleagues, based his work on De Wits (1988) a decade old research. Similarl y, Baccarini (1999) differentiates between project management success and the product success, instead of project success. Product success is related with goals and objective, while project management success is related with the project outputs and inputs. On the other hand, another stream of researchers, including Pinto and Slevin (1987), Belassi and Tukel (1996), Lim and Mohamed (1999) prefer not to distinguish between project management success and project success as two distinct concepts rather consider project management success as being part of and contributing to project success. Lim and Mohamed (1999) took a further step and conducted a study to determine criteria for assessing project success by different stakeholders. Since as Baccarini (1999) notes that criteria for assessing project success has vital importance in preventing the project and its team members from holding different views on project success which contributes to project failure. Therefore, it is fundamental to determine and agree upon the criteria satisfying various stakeholders, who have different perceptions of project success. 2.3 Criteria for the Project Success: According to Lim and Mohamed (1999, p.243), Success criteria is defined as the set of principles or standards by which project success can be judged. Early research on project success criteria adopted the so-called Iron Triangle of time, budget and quality as the set of principles for evaluating the success of a project. Almost 40 years ago, Oisen (1971) proposed budget, time and quality as the project success criteria. Many scholars accepted this set of success criteria but also noted the necessity to take into consideration other criteria for the project Success (Turner, 1993; de Witt, 1998; Pinto and Slevin, 1988). More recently, this set of criteria has been evaluated as being insufficient for assessing the project success comprehensively (Turner, 1993; Jugdev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). To illustrate this point, according to Jugdev and Mà ¼ller (2005), assessing project outcomes only with respect to time, cost and, quality is to consider only operational level project management as o pposed to anything of strategic value. Jugdev and Mà ¼ller (2005) focussed on evaluating project success based on the organizational aspects that are internal to the project, leaving out external ones as being too complicated. Nevertheless, there are researchers, such as Pinto and Mantel (1990), who tend to include both internal and external aspects of a project organization, as well as, complex criteria in assessing project success such as, stakeholder satisfaction, stakeholder community benefits, organization benefits, etc. (Pinto and Mantel, 1990; Atkinson, 1999; Wateridge, 1998). Pinto and Mantel (1990) proposed two additional success criteria, namely, the quality of the project as it is perceived by the project team and an external performance indicator of both project and its team performance (e.g. client satisfaction) in addition to the efficiency of implementation phase criterion that assesses the project success in relation to internal performance indicators, and the Iron Triangle. Similarly, in a subsequent study, Andersen and Jessen (2000), who attempt to assess project success with respect to the task- and people-oriented aspects, defined project success criteria further into 10 elements. These elements, besides the traditional Iron Triangle components of time, budget, and quality, include the degree of importance of the products to the base organization, the results as perceived by all stakeholders, the learning experience, motivation for future work, knowledge acquisition, the final report preparation method, and the way of project termination (Andersen Jessen, 2000). Andersen and Jessen (2000) thus provided a more holistic picture for assessing the success of a project. Lim and Mohamed (1999), on the other hand, in their study attempted to justify this diversity in perception of project success criteria. They concluded different stakeholders perspectives on project success criteria, such as those of the project manager, the project team, the client, and the general public, as being the reason for different perspectives on project success criteria. In addition, Lim Mohamed (1999) note success criteria as one of two constituents of the project success. The other constituent of the project success are Critical Success Factors (CSFs), which will be reviewed in the following section. 2.4 Critical Success Factors: It was Daniel in 1961 (as cited in Amberg et al, 2005), who first coined the term success factors in management literature. In his study, he came up with a set of industry-related CSFs that are claimed to be relevant for any company in a particular industry. Anthony, on the other hand, in 1972 (cited in Amberg et al, 2005), discussed the need for adaptation of CSFs to a companys and its managers specific strategic objectives. Then, based on the both perspectives by Daniel (1961, cited in Amberg et al, 2005) and Anthony et al. (1972, cited in Amberg et al, 2005), Rockart (1979, cited in Amberg et al, 2005) conducted a study that involved three organizations. He found out that organizations despite operating in the same industry may have different CSFs due to differences in geographic locations, strategies etc. Then on, studies on identifying CSFs for different industry projects proliferated in the project management literature. According to Cooke-Davis (2002) researchers have been trying to find out those factors that are critical to project success since the late 1960s. Therefore, the review of literature on CSFs reveals several definitions. The following CSF definition by Rockart (1979, cited in Amberg et al, 2005) is one of the most cited: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization. In subsequent studies CSFs are defined as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ characteristics, conditions or variables that, when properly sustained, maintained, or managed, can have a significant impact on the success of a firm competing in particular industry by Bruno and Leidecker (1984, p. 24). Whereas, as factors which, if addressed, significantly improve project implementation chances by Pinto and Slevin in 1987 (p.22). Lim and Mohamed (1999, p. 243) define critical success factors (CSFs) as the set of circumstances, facts, or influences which contribute to the project outcomes. 2.5 Critical Success Factors and the Projects: During the 1970s-1980s, critical success factor requirements had been addressed rather as a response to the indicators of project success at the implementation phase, focussing on time, cost, and quality, as well as, stakeholder satisfaction (Jugdev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). It was Pinto and Slevin (1987), who first attempted to develop a comprehensive set of CSFs related to project implementation success. In their work, they propose a project implementation profile (PIP) model, which consists of 10 CSFs, namely, project mission, top management support, project schedule/plan, client consultation, personnel, communication, technical tasks, client acceptance, monitoring and feedback, troubleshooting, determining project success. Additionally, the PIP model of 10 CSFs, is claimed to be suitable as an instrument for project managers to measure those factors (Pinto and Slevin, 1987). Later, Pinto and Prescott (1988), take a further step by determining the relative importance of 10 CSFs over the life of a project and discover that the relative importance of several CSFs vary at different phases of the project life cycle. The generalized 10 CSFs of the project implementation process (PIP) have also been employed as a model for many project types in several studies (Pinto and Prescott, 1988, Finch 2003, and Hyvari, 2006). However, the factors identified by Pinto and Slevin are not likely to cover every aspect involved in project management. Finch (2003) indicates that the PIP model does not take into consideration a number of significant external factors that affect the success of a project, such as, competence of the project manager, political activities within the organization, external organizational and environmental factors, and responsiveness to the perceived need of project implementation. Nevertheless, subsequent research, conducted during the 1990s-2000s, i ncorporate the stakeholder issue, as well as, interactions between internal and receiving organizations as factors that are critical for a project success (Jugdev and Mà ¼ller, 2005). Moreover, in pursuit of providing a comprehensive CSF framework, there have also been attempts that integrate CSFs categorizations and frameworks with project success criteria. Belassi and Tukel in their study conducted in 1996, criticize previous studies, whose critical success factors are mainly focused on the project manager and project organization. They incorporate characteristics of the project and team members, as well as external factors, into their framework. Their framework, thus, provides a classification of project CSFs into four groups; namely, project manager, team members, organization, and external environment. Additionally, the framework by Belassi and Tukel (1996) provides an explicit and systematic way for examining the intra-relationships between factors in different groups. This scheme provides grouping of project success factors, however it is generic rather than industry specific. Another interesting study is by Cooke-Davies (2002, p.185), in which he introduce s a set of questions for the purpose of grouping of CSFs, such as; What factors are critical to project management success?; What factors are critical to success of an individual project?; and What factors lead to consistently successful projects? Moreover, he distinguishes between project management success and project success by claiming that project management success is the satisfaction of traditional criteria of time, cost and quality, whereas, project success is the satisfaction of the overall project objectives. Then, he proposes 12 CSFs, which he extracts from multi-national organizations activities and practical actions. Additionally, although his proposed CSFs are not directly related to human factors, he points out that people have intrinsic importance to all project processes. On the other hand, CSFs introduced by Clarke (1999) involve effective communication, clear projects objectives and scope, decomposing project into manageable size, using project plans as working documents, whereas, Nicholas (2004) proposes a set of CSFs, which are grouped into three categories: project participants, communication and information sharing and exchange, and the project management/systems development process. Based on an analysis of the literature it can be concluded that there is not a consistent CSF framework. Rather there are different perspectives of what constitute CSFs, depending on how the authors identify and classify them. Moreover, although early literature on project management does not consider project success criteria, containing the focus to CSFs, subsequent studies attempt to close the gap between CSFs and project success criteria, both of which impact on project success. In addition to this, recently developed CSFs are more complex than those of the previ ous decade as more recent CSFs cover both hard and soft aspects of project management such as the competence of the project manager and the project team members and leadership. The challenge to determine relevant CSFs over the full life of a project has been attracting growing interest in recent publications. 2.6 Critical Success Factors and the Project Life Cycle: According to Mintzberg (Mintzberg et al, 1998) many academicians, especially in the strategy development field have stated the necessity for better project implementation. Nevertheless, Walker and Rowlinson (2008) argue that mainstream literature in the project management and strategy field fails to address these issues because it views implementation: As a lesser form of intellectual pursuit than strategy and planning (Walker and Rowlinson, 2008, p.32). Furthermore, Belassi and Tukel (1996) contribute to this issue by claiming that when it comes to project implementation issues, project management literature focuses more on improving tools and techniques such as scheduling, or project failure, rather than on success. However, such position is understandable, as to identify the success factors of a project is a more complex task than identifying failure factors, mainly because of the following reasons. First, parties involved in a project tend to see project success differently and therefore, each party may allocate different success criteria to each phase (Pinto and Slevin, 1987; Pinto and Prescott 1988; Baker et al 1983; Belout and Gauvreau, 2004; Fowler and Walsh, 1999). Several academicians have proposed models in attempts to capture the processes which a project undergoes during its life. Adams and Barndt (1998), King and Cleland (1983) and Westland (2006) support the model which consists of the following four stages: initiation/conceptualisation, planning, execution / implementation and closure / termination. Pinto and Prescott (1988) propose empirically derived CSFs for each of the phases over the project life-cycle and CSFs proposed for implementation phase are mission, trouble-shooting, schedule/plan, technical tasks, and client consultation. Their work was later criticized unsuccessfully by some authors, including Belout (1998) and Belout and Gauvreau (2004), whose result s were found to support those of Pinto and Prescott (1988). Third, Belassi and Tukel (1996), Clarke (1999) and King (1996) argue that the CSFs may not directly affect the project outcome. It is the combination of these factors at different project life-cycle stages that influences the success of the project. They also add that due to uniqueness of a project, some CSFs may be missing or become irrelevant for some projects and therefore covering as many factors as possible that could influence the project would be of little or no help to project manager. Moreover, Adams and Brandt (1988) remind us that projects are not static entities; rather they change significantly as they progress through their life-cycle stages. Finally, as Belout and Gauvreau (2004), Bellasi and Tukel (1998), Fryer, Antony and Douglas (2007) argue that the relevance of the CSFs vary across different industries. For example, Belout and Gauvreau (2004) found that in the IT industry, with the exception of client ac ceptance, all other factors proposed by Pinto and Prescott (1988) are critical to success. In construction and engineering industries, on the other hand, client acceptance is critical. 2.7 Non Profit Projects: According to Ba Khang Lin Moe (2008), Non Profit Projects plays a significant role in the socio economic development process of both developed and developing countries. In business literature, indicators of success of the business organization are typically assessed against the profit it gains. But what makes NGOs become effective and efficient, as their work is not driven by the profit motive? It is widely accepted that the non-profit sector has not yet developed its own theoretical framework of management, because of the fact that they do not possess a bottom line against which to measure success; organizational standards of performance simply do not exist. Contrary to the corporate sector, NGOs often promote vague and non-quantifiable objectives such as improving human rights, protecting the environment, or advocating democracy. To be more specific, the primary objective of non-profit organizations is to change the quality aspects of the human life or transform societies, thus ma king assessment of effectiveness extremely difficult. As Fowler (1997, p172 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °points out, Establishing performance criteria for non-profits and then using them for comparative purposes is a conceptual and practical headache. NGO capacity-building is tied up with indicators of organizational effectiveness or project success (Eade, 1997 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. In other words, capacity of an NGO should be constructed against indicators the NGO lacks or is weak in. Since NGOs greatly vary within themselves and within different development contexts, as stated above there is no formal consensus on standardized determinants of organizational effectiveness or project success, particularly of NGO development activities with grassroots people. Therefore, assessing the NGO capacity or project performance should be done based on the particular context of individual NGOs and their project activities ¼Ã‹â€ Kanter, 1979; Drucker, 1993) 2.8 Characteristics of Non Profit Projects compared to For- Profit Projects: Non profit projects have distinctive characteristics compared to the For-profit projects and Youker (1999) states the differences between International development projects; one of the important types of non-profit projects and the other for-profit projects. First of all, compared to hard type industrial and infrastructure projects, Development projects as soft type projects with their less tangible social objectives and deliverables pose a special challenge in managing and evaluating of Development projects (Do and Tun, 2008). In addition to their less tangible objectives and deliverables, the complex web of the many stakeholders is an IDP characteristic that results in another management challenge (Youker, 1999). To illustrate, compared with industrial and commercial projects, which involve the client, who pays for and receives the deliverables of the project, and the contractor, who manages and obtains the desired result (Do and Tun, 2008). Development projects involve a web of st akeholders, including the coordinator as the head of the project management unit; the task manager as the supervisor of the project implementation in the multilateral development agency; the national supervisor, to whom the coordinator reports; the project team; the steering committee as an interface with the local institutional system; the beneficiaries as those actually benefit from the project outputs without paying for it; the population at large. In addition, ensuring accountability of the project manager is more troublesome within this complex web of stakeholders (Diallo and Thuillier, 2004) as opposed to traditional projects. Youker (1999) based on his study of evaluations of World Bank IDP post- project reports, outlines a number of IDP management challenges in addition to the above mentioned. He states that the lack of shared perception and agreement on the objectives of the projects by staff and stakeholders, as well as, the lack of commitment by the team, management and stakeholders as the problems that had been most persistent during implementing Development projects. Also, Youker (1999) counts the lack of detailed, realistic, and current project plans, unclear lines of authority and responsibility, the lack of adequate resources, poor feedback and control mechanisms for early detection of problems, poor or no analysis of major risk factors, delays caused by bureaucratic administration systems as other challenges that had occurred frequently during IDP implementations in past. 2.8 Conceptualising Critical Success Factors for Non-Profit Projects: Eventhough, identifying critical success factors is one of the most popular topics among researchers and practitioners; there are very few research conducted on Non-profit projects. One of the studies that identified in the literatures was the research conducted by Do Tun (2008). Do and Tun (2008) studied on critical success factors of International Development Projects (IDP), a kind of non profit projects followed by Diallo and Thuiller (2004; 2005) have developed a framework based on an adaptation of the Logical Framework Approach (LFA), which is a general methodology commonly used by the development community to design, plan, manage and communicate their projects, for IDP context. Their proposed framework focuses on project life cycle, and then assesses the success of each phase based on the outputs produced by the previous phase. As a consequence, these partial successes are integrated into an assessment of the overall success of the IDP according to the Life-Cycle-Based framewo rk.

The Impression of Life on the Western Front in the Blackadder Goes Fort

To what extent does the 'Blackadder Goes Forth' series give an accurate impression of life on the western front? In this essay I will be writing about life on the western front and the trenches in The First World War and how accurately the 'Blackadder Goes Forth' series portrays it. The First World War started on 4th August 1914 because the Archduke of Austro-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand got shot by a Bosnian named Gavrillo Princip. Austro-Hungary declared war on Bosnia and all the allies got involved and it turned into a huge World War which lasted longer than expected. The war then finished in 1918. Blackadder goes Forth was written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton in 1989. Both of them have historical backgrounds. Blackadder is a BBC comedy series set in the trenches of the Western Front in The First World War. It starred Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Tony Robinson and Stephen Fry. It was filmed in a studio in front of an audience. It was intended for an adult-thinking audience. It was made to entertain and also give the audience some historical knowledge about the trenches. I will be evaluating the last episode ?Goodbyeee? to see how it compares to real life on the western front. On the western front the soldiers had to build trenches to provide defence for the army and hold their position to show their opponents they weren?t going anywhere. The trenches were built in a crocked line next to each other because if the line was straight and a shell landed on it the explosion would kill and injure much more people then if it was straight. They had barbed wire and Sandbags at the top of trench to protect them from enemies coming in and attacking them. The trench had many layers and at the bottom there were dug outs were the sold... ...ries. There was lots of useful information to a historian about recruitment, the tactics and if they were changed the casualty rate could have decreased, and that there was a huge presence of death in the trenches. There was also some information about the weather and the trenches but it didn?t seem too wet and cold in the dug outs, which it would have been because of the awful weather at that time. Some things were imprecise about the trenches like there wouldn?t have been a sink, the dug out was too big and it looked too warm in there. The inaccuracy is because of the filming conditions and they wouldn?t have been able to fit a camera crew and the actors into a smaller dug out and they couldn?t have made it too wet as they were filming in a studio. I would still rely on the episode ?goodbyeee? to tell me what life was like in the trenches and on the western front.

Development and Analysis – Case study

The case study is about the challenge in the classroom in my working experience. It is about two twin boys who were in my class, whereby I was the class teacher. The boys were really bullies, rude, lazy and very abusive. They used to abuse me, their teacher, other teachers and the other pupils. These boys really stressed me to a point that I was not even concentrating in what I was supposed to do. The father of the twins was a member of the school board and taking complaints to him all the time about the bad behaviors of the boys could cost me my job.The twins could interrupt many learning sessions by making noise, abusing and beating other children, and even saying that if I report them to their father, nothing could be done as he was a member of the board. The behaviors of the twins affected the other children who went home and told their parents about it. The parents responded by calling me and coming personally to school to complain on how the twins are affecting their children f rom learning and how the class teacher and the school management had been unable to contain twins.The case was challenging to my career and was degrading the name and status of the school in general. A quick and faster action had to be taken to contain the situation. Decisions had to be made whether for better or for worse since a lasting solution was needed. The boys had to be counseled and their behaviors modeled and at the same time the pupils in my class had to be counseled. The best solution for this was to apply the behavioral modeling to the twins whereby model looks closely at the behaviors of the victims, by going back by collecting data on their behavioral history.The behavioral modeling is meant to assess at the behavioral patterns of an individual from the past and relate to them to the present, know why individual is behaving in that strange manners, whether the causes for the behavior change could be the family, environment, the friends, the workplace or the community and then look for strategies that can assist in correcting the behavior and was done in the following ways; a) Initiating a session-the counselor should first initiate a session for discussion. He/she should introduce him/herself to the twins so that they could be aware of who they are going to discuss with.The initial rapport will determine on how the discussion will flow. The counselor should tell the twins what he/she expects from them and the boys should be given time to decide if they will be willing to talk but should be given options. b) Isolation- the twins should be isolated from other children. The counselors should in isolation with the twins study their behaviors and know what is really happening. He/she should dig deep into the past history of the twins, the behaviors of the family and the circumstances that have made them to behave like so.This information can only be gotten from the twins when they alone with the counselor whereby they have the freedom of expressing t hemselves freely. When victims of the same circumstance are mixed with people of the same problem it becomes very difficult to get information from them because those who are with them may influence their answering to the questions asked. Isolation does not mean that the twins should be completely isolated from other children or the family but put in isolation when talking to the counselor.The counselor must also make sure that the isolation process does not affect the twins but improves their concentration during the discussion exercise. c) Find out about the historical background of the family/ information gathering- the consultant should critically look at the behavioral patterns of the twins’ family before making conclusions. Are there other members of the same family who are still in school and have the same behavior? The counselor should find out whether if the had been counseled previously and if there was any impact.It will be necessary to know the behavioral patterns of their parents and then relate them to those of their children. d) Show the paternal and maternal love-the counselor should at his/her level best the paternal and maternal love to the twins. The twins may be missing the love and attention of the one or both parents, and this has made the twins to become uncontrollable as there is no one to control them and show them love and affection. Every person needs the love of both parents to grow and develop normally and if the twins are missing the love and absence of their father or mother or both of them, their mind set and behavior will change.e) Become closer to the boy- the counselor should develop a very close relationship with the twins. He/she should make sure that the twins are comfortable with him/her all the time they will be spending together. The counselor should not be sympathetic to the twins as this will worsen the situation but should make sure that they understand that what they are doing is wrong and they should be read y to change their behaviors so that they will be able to interact and mix freely with the rest of the other children.They should be told that their behaviors are affecting the whole class and that parents of the other children are complaining of their behaviors. The counselor should also involve the friends of the twins to find out more about the twins behavior when they are together. The friends should be encouraged to talk to them on changing their behavior pattern and they should at the same time tell them the consequences of their bad behavior in a friendlier manner.If the twins feel that they are insecure when they are being counseled, they should be taken to a place of their choice, but should be given options or else they will dictate the situation. This will give them more freedom to express themselves and will build confidence and trust between them and the counselor. The consultant must also involve the family members who should be urged to become closer to the twins. The parents should be told Without any fear of the bad behaviors of their children and how this has had a negative impact to the other children and to the school.The family members and friends should play a bigger role in modeling the behavior of the boys through being closer and talking positively to them on how good behaviors and manners come with good rewards. Having gone through all these steps, the twins in their minds will be in a position to condemn their bad behaviors and see the need to reform for the better. Behavioral change is a long term process which needs a lot of patience and perseverance. The above actions will help solve this crisis and also create a good learning environment for the other children and at the same time ease my work as the class teacher.

Ethnocentrism Develops Racial and Religious Differences - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 630 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/04/10 Category Culture Essay Level High school Tags: Cultural Identity Essay Did you like this example? Ethnocentric individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based on their heritage. Hierarchical and dichotomous thinking are the basis for ethnocentrism and ethnocentric biases (Jun 2010). According to the article titled Looking at how cultural differences influence human behavior, Kendra Cherry defined Ethnocentrism as a tendency to use your own culture as the standard by which to judge and evaluate other cultures. In other words, taking an ethnocentric point of view means using your understanding of your own culture to gauge what is normal. This can lead to biases and a tendency to view cultural differences as abnormal or in a negative light. It can also make it difficult to see how your own cultural background influences your behaviors. Furthermore, ethnocentrism can be seen as viewing ones own group more positively than others and judging another group, including perceiving other groups as inferior and less valuable. It also refers to having prejudicial attitudes towards other ethnic groups (Byrne Kelly 1981). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Ethnocentrism Develops Racial and Religious Differences" essay for you Create order In addition, ethnocentrism is caused by an in-group members desire to protect and enhance his/her group identity. Having this in mind, there are some positive aspect of ethnocentrism these are; ethnocentrism makes individuals have a strong national pride, it creates a feeling of belonging, and it allows people to keep old traditions and practices alive. According to Jun 2010, being proud of ones own country will not lead to ethnocentrism if holistic thinking is the dominant thinking pattern of that country/ individual. Therefore, in the film Jodhaa Akbar, Jodhaa displayed an attitude of ethnocentrism where she demands a meeting with Akbar and gave him two conditions before she will agree to the marriage rite. Thus, the demands were as follows: not to have her religion changed after marriage and that a temple be built for her to continue her faith in her room/ palace. Furthermore, this concept of ethnocentrism impacts Jodhaa socially that she is not able to relate freely or socialize with other women outside the palace because she is blinded by her own self-righteousness. According to Gudykunst Kim, (2002); Lukens, (1978) states that a higher degree of ethnocentrism also creates social distance in interaction among people from different cultures, which makes cross-cultural communication dysfunctional. In addition, the concept of ethnocentrism impacts Jodhaa emotionally because according to Lin and Rancer (2003) implies that ethnocentrism might potentially bring about positive outcomes such as patriotism and willingness to sacrifice for ones own group, its negative consequences are obvious in intercultural communication because individuals with a high-level of ethnocentrism tend to misperceive people from other groups and misinterpret their behaviors. Similarly, the concept ethnocentrism impacts Jodhaa psychologically by affecting her thinking pattern. This made Jodhaa instead of her to have a holistic thinking pattern; rather had more of the inappropriate thinking style where she sees her own religion as the most sacred. Correspondingly, as a clinician what I will do to help address my client issue is to transcend ethnocentrism by deconstructing inappropriate hierarchical and dichotomous thinking styles/patterns and adopt a holistic thinking style according to Jun (2010) she mentions that, adopting a holistic thinking style can be accomplished by deconstructing dichotomous, hierarchical, linear thinking, and generalizations through transformative learning. Transformative learning occurs by integrating emotion, which is culture specific. Also, one of the valuable tools for facilitating transformative learning is an analysis of individuals defense mechanisms. Interestingly, individuals use defense mechanisms to cope with their stress and anxiety. Moreover, using this method on my client will help bring life changing behaviors because it requires active client involvement, deep-level processing, and reflection (Jun 2010). Racism In the readings for diversity and social justice, racism is a particular form of prejudice. Hence, prejudice is a combination of stereotypes, omissions, distortions, and it is a preconceived judgment or opinion, usually based on limited information about others.