A Government Older Than Its Country Essay -- Greek and Roman democracy

Albeit nearly everything in American engineering, language, military ideas, and goals can be followed back to both Roman and Greek societies, the absolute most persuasive idea that has been held from Rome and Greece is government set-up. Either the immediate majority rules system of Greece or the elective vote based system of Rome can be found in present day America. Despite the fact that seen increasingly more infrequently in the United States, direct popular government despite everything exists today. Direct popular government implies that every individual decisions on choices exclusively, instead of delegate vote based system in which a chosen singular settles on, or helps decide. This can be followed back to old Athens. At the point when ranchers and the average workers got irritated by the laws passed by Greece's well off, Great Council, they argued for demos kratia, which means majority rule government in English, and can be characterized as; government by the individuals, Gradually, Athenian pioneers concurred that more Greeks ought to be permitted to partake in the Great Council's dynamic procedure( dsusd.k12.ca.us). As of now, this type of government, which was counseled by the originators of the United States Constitution, isn't seen as often as possible in the United States. Not many models can be seen, for example, town gatherings, c asting a ballot in parent instructor affiliations, or other unassuming community choices where the measure of votes can be included by deliver a short gathering. Notwithstanding, since many accept that The idea of majority rule government was begun in antiquated Greece, yet the framework held what one may even identify with the balanced governance of current America. One of the most prominent of these was The Boule, The boule was a gathering of 500 men, 50 from every one of ten Athenian clans, who served on the Council for one year( history.com). This ... ...ent/>. The Editors of Encyclopã ¦dia Britannica. Roman Republic (old state [509 BC-27 BC]). Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Reference book Britannica, 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. . History.com, Staff. Old Greek Democracy. History.com. A&E Television Networks, 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 1 May 2014. . Wellsprings of Ideas That Shaped The American Plan of Government. . Desert Sands Unified School District, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. . Trueman, Chris. How was Rome represented. How was Rome administered. N.p., 1 Jan. 2000. Web. 1 May 2014. .

A Difficult Decision Essay Example For Students

A Difficult Decision Essay Word Count: 309Steve Bayne1/31/00English IVMr. LarsonPersuasive EssayThroughout every one of our lives, we experience numerous preliminaries. Life appears to be a major smack in the face on occasion. Anybody can identify with this, on the grounds that nobody has had an ideal life, an existence without flaw. Hardships are a piece of life, without them we wouldnt become familiar with the contrast among hot and cold or good and bad. The choices we make presently will influence us for the remainder of our lives. Ive had a lot of hardships in the initial 17 years of my life. Ive confronted some troublesome occasions, nothing contrasted with the future Im sure. Right now I am torn in a choice that could influence as long as I can remember. This choice could make me a well off, prosperous man one way and another it could expand my wellbeing and way of life. It could likewise make me undesirable and even spot me on the most reduced of the social scale. You wonder What on the planet could be sensational to the point that it could influence someones life so radically? Its essentially a decision between Scott Bathroom Tissue or Soft N Gentle Bathroom Tissue. Recollect that the choice you make could favor your life, or harm it. You may feel that this theme is surprising and somewhat outside the field of play, yet looking at the situation objectively, it truly is a major contention. You shouldnt consider how you feel about this, you should consider your bottoms emotions, in light of the fact that essentially that is the standard region its utilized. We should bring this choice into profundity, will we? Scott Bathroom Tissue is in the lower class of bathroom tissue. On the off chance that restroom tissue had a social scale like our own, at that point Scott tissue would be the vagrant bums that live on the streetstill worth somet

Orange Krush is back!

Orange Krush is back! On Friday night, myself, my sister and my friend Kirby went to the first basketball game included in our Orange Krush student passes. We were ecstatic as the Illini played Southern Universitys Jaguars and won 102-55. I dont think there is a better seat in State Farm Center than the ones located in the Orange Krush student section. With every shot made and rebound gained, our student section shows that our fan support runs deep. This is my third year of being a member of Orange Krush and it is more fun than it has ever been before. This year, my freshman sister is attending as well and found that she loves the Krush experience too. Every time we go to a game, we have a fantastic time because of the amazing support of our student section. Each of the students dancing, chanting, and singing during the Krush experience add to a great time. A sea of orange is sure to show up to each and every game and cheer on the Illini. Being a member of Orange Krush is an essential part of my experience at the University of Illinois. Whether its  a snoozy Sunday afternoon or a snowy Wednesday night, if there is a Illini home game, I will most likely be there. It is a great place to be if you want to get away from studying or homework in general. Plus, if you have friends in Orange Krush, it is a great place to meet up with them as well. My message to every future Illinois student is clear: join Orange Krush. You wont regret it. Myself (left), my sister Sarah (middle), my friend Kirby (right) Jacob Class of 2019 I’m an Advertising student within the College of Media. My hometown is a place called Fairmount, Illinois, which is about 30 minutes from campus. I began my Illinois journey in the Division of General Studies.

Nature and Nurture in Frankenstein - 1357 Words

For centuries, there has been enormous controversy over whether inherited genes or environmental influences might affect one’s personality, development, behavior, intelligence and ability. While it is clear that physical characteristics are hereditary by nature, nurture is mostly in control when it comes to an individuals manners and character. Nature and Nurture are both major contributors to the development of the monster’s behavior in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Since the beginning of life, nature and nurture have influenced all living things to learn, live, and survive. Nature represents the biological qualities that organisms inherit at birth, while nurture represents the qualities that organisms acquire from society. In the novel,†¦show more content†¦Much of the creature’s beginning takes place near Ingolstadt. Upon leaving the dormitory in which he was created, he ventured to a nearby village and was at once beaten and rejected by the peo ple who surrounded him. That was a recipe for a poor outlook on life for the creature. Later it says about the situation, â€Å"The whole village was roused; some fled, some attacked me, until, grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons, I escaped to the open country and fearfully took refuge in a low hovel....† (100). The creature was given all the worst circumstances from the very beginning, which eventually led to him lashing out for revenge towards humans, who all despise and hate him. Perhaps if the creature were introduced to an accepting environment and setting, it would have acted more appropriate with respect to the humans that surround him. Aside from the miserable environment of people the creature was placed in, part of the setting which influences the readers’ feelings toward the creature is the time period that the novel is set. Mary Shelley set the novel in the time period of her day, which makes the creature and the storyâ€⠄¢s events much more realistic and lifelike than if it were set in the middle ages like most other romantic novels of her time (Griffith). Doing so causes readers to better understand the despair and sadness the creature feels and allows them toShow MoreRelatedFrankenstein Nurture Vs Nature1374 Words   |  6 PagesFrankenstein, a novel by Mary Shelley, tells the story of Victor Frankenstein’s pursuit of creation and the monster he unintentionally brought to life. Horrified with his own creation, Victor escaped his responsibilities, leaving him to fend for himself. The story follows the monster’s futile attempts to assimilate into humanity, his hatred finally leading him to killing his creator’s family one by one until Frankenstein committed himself to vengeance. The theme of humanity was prevalent throughoutRead MoreNature vs Nurture in Frankenstein Essay882 Words   |  4 PagesNature vs. Nurture in Frankenstein In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the relationship of external appearance and internal feelings are directly related. The creature is created and he is innocent, though he is severely deformed. His nature is to be good and kind, but society only views his external appearance which is deformed. Human nature is to judge by external appearance. He is automatically detested and labeled as a monster because of his external appearance. He finallyRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture In Frankenstein By Mary Shelleys Frankenstein1158 Words   |  5 PagesNature versus nurture has been a popular topic of discussion among psychologists, scientists, educators, and parents. The main focus of the nature versus nurture debate is how it affects human behavior and development. The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley emphasises the idea that parents and families have a powerful influence on human behavior, which is demonstrated in the relationship between Creature and Victor. â€Å"Folding Bei jing† written by Hao Jingfang takes a different perspective on the ideaRead MoreNature vs. Nurture in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley884 Words   |  4 PagesNature (our genes) and nurture (our environment) affect our individual differences in behavior and personality. In the novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley addresses the conflict of nature vs. nurture. Victor Frankenstein creates a child whom he abandons upon birth. This brings up questions such as, was the creature genetically inclined to be evil, or did the hostility he encountered turn him evil? Are ones surroundings determined by who they become later in life? Does nurture form ones characteristicsRead MoreNature vs. Nurture in Mary Shelleys Frankenstein1247 Words   |  5 Pagesdevelopment, and deeds. As crucial as canvas in art, the philosophy of nature and nurture come together as the fundamental structure to one’s personality and genetic makeup. In the novella, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, the association of the exterior appearance and inner feelings are openly linked. The hideous creature that the science addict, Victor Frankenstein, makes is initially innocent yet severely deformed. His nature is to be benevolent and sympathetic, however, society only views his externalRead MoreNature and Nurture in Frankenstein and Rappaccinis Daughter Essay2520 Words   |  11 PagesNature and Nurture in Frankenstein and Rappaccinis Daughter  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most popular disputes in the history of philosophy regards whether nurture of a human being plays a more important role in the formation of its character than the genetic heritage that it bears. As a natural result, the dispute echoes in many literary works, not always directly, but sometimes taking the form of a pretext or a motif in a larger context. Such examples are Frankenstein by Marry Shelley andRead MoreNature Vs. Nurture in Mary Shelley ´s Frankenstein1008 Words   |  4 PagesNature vs. Nurture Francis Galton, the English Victorian polymath first coined the term, Nature vs. Nurture in 1871, when he considered how much influence our upbringing had on our fate, and whether or not our destiny was preset. Long before the term Nature vs. Nurture was coined, Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein, explored the idea of nature vs. nurture in the context of creation. The greatest exemplification of Nature vs. Nurture in Frankenstein is explored in the fate of the Creature, whoRead MoreEssay on The Theme of Nature Versus Nurture in Shellys Frankenstein2080 Words   |  9 PagesNature versus nurture is a debate of importance of one’s qualities when born, or of their personal experiences, leading them to the point where they are today. â€Å"You got your green eyes from your mother and your freckles from your father. But where did you get your thrill-seeking personality and talent for singing?† (Kimberly Powell). Kimberly raises a question that has been asked for centuries, â€Å"Do you learn this growing up, or did you genetically inherit these traits? One of the themes of FrankensteinRead MoreEssay on Nature vs Nurture in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein2036 Words   |  9 Pagesthe result of nature or nurture. In the writings of Thomas Hobbes, it is expressed that humans are endowed with character from birth, and that they are innately evil in nature. John Locke’s response to this theory is that everyone is born with a tabula rasa, or blank slate, and then develops character after a series of formative experiences. The idea that true character is the result of experiences and societal interaction is a theme deeply explored throughout Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Through differentRead MoreNature Vs Nurture : Mary Shelley s Frankenstein2057 Words   |  9 PagesMary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the theme of nature versus nurture is seen throughout the novel. Freud and many psychologists state that nature and nurture i nfluence development because genes and environment, biological and social factors direct life courses, and their effects intertwine. Through the Creature s continual rejection by society and Victor, Mary Shelley shows that social rejection altars the Creature’s attitude towards society and pushes him to be vengeful. In Frankenstein the Creature experiences

Mesencephalon (Midbrain) Function and Structures

The mesencephalon or midbrain is the portion of the brainstem that connects the hindbrain and the forebrain. A number of nerve tracts run through the midbrain that connect the cerebrum with the cerebellum and other hindbrain structures. A major function of the midbrain is to aid in movement as well as visual and auditory processing. Damage to certain areas of the mesencephalon have been linked to the development of Parkinsons disease. Function: Functions of the mesencephalon include: Controlling Responses to SightEye MovementPupil DilationRegulate Muscle MovementHearing Location: The mesencephalon is the most rostral portion of the brainstem. It is located between the forebrain and the hindbrain. Structures: A number of structures are located in the mesencephalon including the tectum, tegmentum, cerebral peduncle, substantia nigra, crus cerebri, and cranial nerves (oculomotor and trochlear). The tectum consists of rounded bulges called colliculi that are involved in vision and hearing processes. The cerebral peduncle is a bundle of nerve fibers that connect the forebrain and hindbrain. The  cerebral peduncle includes the tegementum (forms the base of the midbrain) and the crus cerebri (nerve tracts that that connect the cerebrum with the cerebellum). The substantia nigra has nerve connections with the frontal lobes and other areas of the brain involved in motor function. Cells in the substantia nigra also produce dopamine, a chemical messenger that helps to coordinate muscle movement. Disease: Neurodegeneration of nerve cells in the substantia nigra results in a drop off of dopamine production. Significant loss in dopamine levels (60-80%) may result in the development of Parkinsons disease. Parkinsons disease is a nervous system disorder that results in the loss of motor control and coordination. Symptoms include tremors, slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, and trouble with balance. More Mesencephalon Information: Grays Anatomy: Midbrain Divisions of the Brain Forebrain - encompasses the cerebral cortex and brain lobes.Midbrain - connects the forebrain to the hindbrain.Hindbrain - regulates autonomic functions and coordinates movement.

Management Leadership Free Essays

string(37) " to upward performance team working\." [pic] Course: MBA Part Time Student Number: Level: HE7 Module: Management and Leadership (MBA 4054) Credits: 20 Assignment: One of one Weighting : 100% Submission date : 16th January, 2012 Module Tutor: Module guide at Bolton: RECORDS SECTION Introduction Management and leadership is a subject that has been in discussion for a long time and has been dealt and answered in different ways . Both the concepts go hand in hand but they differ in many aspects. According to Yukl (2010, p24) there is an ongoing argument regarding these two concepts. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Leadership or any similar topic only for you Order Now Yukl reached to a conclusion that however everybody agrees the fact that both are equivalent, the degree of overlap is a point of sharp disagreement. ( Yukl ,2010, p24) . This course takes into account the fact of overlapping, where successful managers often have to be in a role of leaders in various circumstances. Here we are scrutinizing our behavioural characteristics as a manager and a leader in different situations i. e. how we tend to behave in situations towards others and for achieving the task. I have analysed various models of self-assessment tools developed to assess self. Each assessment gives me a picture of various aspects of my behaviour and the areas that need improvement so that a development plan can be made on the basis of my strengths and weaknesses. Self Assessment Results 1: Firo-B Scores Firo-B is a model for the identification of our behaviour towards others and how I want them to behave towards me. This instrument helps to know more about our self-understanding in various important areas, like interpersonal relationships and how is your recognition among others and how you perceive others. |Inclusion |Control |Affection |Row Totals | |Expressed towards Others |5 |2 |7 |14 | |Wanted from others |2 |4 |5 |11 | |Column Totals |7 |6 |12 |25 | My result detailed above indicates that I have a moderate level of expressed inclusion, with low degree of expressed control and high level of expressed affection towards others. But I do not expect similar level of inclusiveness from others and am not comfortable in flexible situations . But I expect similar level of warmth and closeness from others. Conclusively,I am a person who prefers a balance between time alone and with others ,with low degree of control and who likes warmth and closeness. 2: Locus of Control Locus of Control is a theory developed to refer to the level to which individuals tend to believe that they are the controller of their own destinies (Julian . B. Rotter, 1954). we use the questionnaire produced by Whetten et al. and was adapted from work of Rotter (1966) |Locus of Control (out of 23) |3 | According to locus of control questionnaire, here the score refers to a comparatively low external locus of control. This score shows that I have a tendency to believe that my life and destiny is a result of my own doing. External factors are not so relevant in determining what happens. 3: Tolerance of Ambiguity This is a tool of assistance to find how individuals operate in ambiguous circumstances where too many things are happening. A highly influential work in this regard was done by Budner (1962) and the questionnaire followed was his. The way in which people deal with an ambiguous situation reflects their tolerance of ambiguity. Where there is no sufficient information to structure a situation, there exists an ambiguous situation. Managers who are highly tolerant of ambiguous situations are more productive in their actions. (Whetten et al. 2000) Budner further divided this concept into subdivisions like novelty, complexity and insolubility where each relates to the degree you are tolerant of new and unfamiliar information of situations, tolerant of multiple or unrelated pieces of information , tolerant of difficult situations where alternate solutions are not evident. |Tolerance of Ambiguity Score(44 – 48 average) |70 | According to Whetten et al. the average Score is between (44-48). My score shows that, I am intolerant of ambiguous situations. Hence I am intolerant of â€Å"change† which is often characterised by new, uncertain and complex environment. According to Budners subscale ‘novelty’ stands high on my side in the tolerance of ambiguity. High tolerance of ambiguity is a necessity in today’s changing world to cope up with new and unfamiliar situations which always occur. 4: Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory David. A . Kolb’s (1984) Learning styles model, is based on experimental learning. This model sketches two related views towards possessing experience. They are, Concrete Experience and Abstract Conceptualisation, Reflective observation and Active Experimentation. Kolb’s gave rise to learning style inventory as an assessment used to determine an individual’s learning style. |Concrete Experience(CE) |Reflective Observation(RO) |Abstract conceptualisation(AC) |Active Experimentation(AE) | |25 |31 |28 |36 | CE refers to feelings, RO is watching, AC is thinking, AE is doing. As the model highlights two related views the table below gives a picture of the relation. | |Doing (AE) |Watching (RO) | |Feeling (CE) |Accommodating (CE/AC) |Diverging (CE/RO) | |Thinking(AC) |Converging (AC/AE) |Assimilating(AC/RO) | According to Kolb, as I score more in Reflective Observation and Active Experimentation where learning reflects back on the experience and to test a theory or plan for a new experience. As shown in the diagram below, for east-west axis, it is processing continuum and north-south axis it is perception continuum where my style is placed on east-west axis which is doing and watching which Kolb calls ‘grasping experience’. Honey and Mumford (1970) developed their own inventory based on Kolb’s model. Their styles corresponding to stages in the cycle are named Activist who involve fully in every situation, Reflectors who considers deeply and observe experiences from different aspects, Theorist who convert their findings into theories, thinking of problems systematically to be a perfectionist and Pragmatist who are very eager to experiment their ideas and to check whether they work or not. In this style I will be classified as Pragmatist who tries to experiment theories for planning new steps. Stress should be given to the fact that all four approaches are important for a managerial role to be successful. If we lack any of the styles, strong emphasis should be given to develop the skills. Kolb’s Learning Style [pic] 5: Work Preference Score Team Management Profile Work Preference is an extensively investigated and authenticated psychometric tool that determines how individual development is the critical initial step to upward performance team working. You read "Management Leadership" in category "Essay examples" While in olden days individual appraisal was given focus for getting things done, The Team Management Profile -Wheel and Index- from Margerison and McCann (1988) consists of techniques particularly useful for assessing team management in relation to individual and wok preferences. Margerison and McCann questionnaire leads to 4 dimensions which give a picture about how we are related to others, how information are handled, how decisions are made and how well we are organised. This is the work of famous theorist Carl Jung and was re-interpreted by Margerison and McCann. | | | | | | | | |Extrovert |Introvert |Practical |Creative |Analytical |Belief |Structured |Flexible | | | | | | | | | | |6 |6 |8 |6 |8 |5 |6 |9 | This can be calculated mainly in 4 ways as, preferences for extroverted or introverted work, proportion between practical and creative work, impact of analysis and beliefs in judgements, the need to work in a structured or flexible way. In a major role, I tend to be Extrovert, Practical, Analytical and Flexible. This can be compared to Myer’s – Briggs type indicators. My result compared to Myer’s – Briggs type indicator shows that I am an Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking and perceiving person. From the work preferences my work function is assessed as ‘Developing’ (Extrovert and Analytical) . If assessed more ‘Inspecting’ (Practical and Introvert) can also be a work function as my preference for extroverted and introverted work is same. A team management wheel is provided with 8 team role work preferences people can perform which form the basis of outstanding teamwork. They are 1) Advising 2) Creating 3) Promoting 4) Developing 5) Organising 6) Producing 7) Inspecting 8) Maintaining. In the team management wheel my work preference is evaluated as Assessor-Developer who assesses and develop ideas, likely to have well prepared people around, with situations fully analysed, communications and facts focused are clear and logical. Team Management Wheel [pic] 6: Problem Solving Questionnaire This questionnaire gives emphasis to characteristic traits needed for an individual for a managerial team environment. |Enquiring |Diagnosing |summarising |Proposing |Directing | |21 |25 |24 |17 |23 | Among the problem solving skills, my strengths are Diagnosing and summarising . Skills of Directing and Enquiring are also on a moderate level. But I need to improve a lot in my Proposing skill. My proposing skill is very poor and I am more of a Problem centred person than solution centred. For a successful managerial role all five skills are equally inevitable, especially person has to be more solution centred. 7: Managing Conflict Managing Conflict Style is an assessment of how conflicts are handled by each person. This style is adapted from a title by Thomas K. W. (1976). hen two persons make an attempt to solve a dispute ,they express varying levels of assertiveness and co-cooperativeness in their behaviour. Assertiveness is the extent to which one tries to satisfy his own concerns and co-cooperativeness is the extent to which others concerns are satisfied. My different personality types of managing conflicts is rated in the below table as per the instrument. |Compromise |Compete |Accommodate |Collaborate |Avoid | |9 8 |9 |9 |10 | In this style, my scores ar e on a balanced side. But ‘Avoiding’ dominates my handling conflict style of character. My score is low for ‘Competing’, which is a style used when new strategic changes should happen for which there could exist strong opposition. This can be evidenced in my high avoiding conflict style where I am uncomfortable in changing or conflict situation. In this personality style, I expect to work as a subordinate, concentrating more on a particular skill, willing to put in extra efforts to accomplish the task given. 8: Linking Skill Questionnaire Linking is the leadership skill required to bring people together. In Margerison- McCann linking skill profile t is the central part of team management essential to high performance working . There are 11 skills of linking and my scores in each are tabulated in the table below:. Active Listening |26 | |Communication |23 | |Problem Solving and Counselling |25 | |Team Development |19 | |Work Allocation |22 | |Team Relationships |21 | |Delegation |28 | |Quality Standards |24 | |Objective Setting |22 | |Interface Management |24 | |Participative Decision Making |26 | According to linking skill, my three best attributes are delegation, active listening, and participative decision making. For an effective managerial performance, I need to improve in other aspects like team development, work allocation and objective setting as well. 9: Driver’s Questionnaire An individual is ruled by five identified drivers. The Driver behaviour questionnaire determines which driver behaviour is dominant in my character. Among many characteristic traits, an individual is driven by or dominated by some traits of his personality. My scores are given below: Be Perfect |Please Others |Hurry Up |Be Strong |Try Harder | | | | | | | |17 |16 |13 |10 |14 | The analysis seems accurate where I tend to focus on perfection and to please others . Even if the work is done perfect there is a want for me to analyse the negatives ignoring the positive aspects of it. If the work is allocated and got done, the perfectionist instead of looking into the effort and positive aspect of work, questions the drawbacks which discourages the subordinates. For pleasing others I may take on additional work which I don’t have time for . This increases stress. 10: Personal Styles Transactional Analysis Theory (Eric Berne, 1968) gives us a picture of our self-development and our action towards us, how our communication is connected with others and suggests and intervenes changes to grow. Berne developed 3 ego states to describe our own making up and our relation to others. The 3 ‘ego states’ are categorised as ‘Parent, Adult and Child. Considering this as three base ego states, it has subdivisions shown in the table. |Critical Parent |Nurturing Parent |Adult |Adapted Child |Natural Child |Rebellious Child | |16 |20 |16 |25 |17 |12 | My result indicates that when I interact with others ,I act more like an adapted child, if taken positively this could be seen as cooperating with others and at times I act like a nurturing parent which could be seen as caring for others. However these ego states fluctuate depending on transaction. 11: Leadership Style Questionnaire Adair’s three circle model ‘Action Centred Leadership’ (John, Adair-1989) is a long lasting view which defines leadership in terms of three overlapping and interdependent circles. The circle consists of The Task, The Team, and The Individual. This is a fundamental model which describes the qualities of a leader, the action they must take whatever be the environment, to be an effective leader. [pic] The leadership style questionnaire is designed to help identify our leadership style. My scoring grid is as follows: |Task (A) |Team(B) |Individual (C) |Non-Managerial (D) | |31 |41 |21 |3 | In Adair’s leadership style, I have scored high in Team which determines that I have concern for Team and Team Spirit; Here I have succeeded in keeping my Non-managerial attribute very low. An effective manager tends to have concern for each attribute depending on the situation as this is the fundamental model. 12: Johari Window Johari window is a model for self-realisation, individual development, familiarity with relationship and development of the group. This model was created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in United States. According to Charles Handy, the concept Johari House has 4 rooms. These four rooms are referred as quadrants. 1. Open quadrant- The part of our behaviour which is known by ourselves as well as others. 2. Hidden quadrant-The behavioural part which is seen only by us, not known to others. 3. Blind Spot- This part is which others see in our behaviour, but not seen by us. 4. Unknown-This part is mysterious to both parties. Disclosure of our behaviour is a significant fact as it includes an amount of faith in other individual because they are made to know something regarding you which they are not aware of (Hannagan, 2008) One contradicting fact (Anita Kelly,1996) is that disclosing personal secrets to others invites dangers as we give them control over us. Another contradiction is that it has a limitation of selecting only five or six from the fifty six adjectives. This is too small a selection. However this is an effective tool for self awareness. |Known to Self |Not Known to Self | |Known to others |Friendly |Able, Adaptable, | | |Nervous |Brave, Cheerful, | | |Trustworthy |Confident, Dependable, | | | |Dignified, Energetic, | | | |Happy, Helpful, | | | |Independent, Mature | | | |Observant, Religious, | | | |Self-Assertive. | | | | |Not Known to Others |Caring |All oth er objectives | | |Kind | | | |Sentimental | | My Johari Window conducted in accordance with 5 of my colleagues is given above. My result shows that only 3 adjectives come under open area. Majority adjectives is a blind spot for me and through this tool, I can assess myself. As my blind spot area is wide, I need to realise myself and this assists me to develop these attributes for a better managerial role. The adjectives not known to others can also be assessed. However this can be an eye-opener to an individual. SWOT Analysis A SWOT Analysis helps to estimate the results of the questionnaires. SWOT Analysis comprises of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and Threats. Strengths †¢ Self Knowledge as realised through strengths and weaknesses questionnaire †¢ Balanced learning habits and skills †¢ High internal locus of control which signifies that I take responsibility for my action †¢ ‘Be Perfect’ trait helps me set high standards and try to achieve them †¢ Keen on experimenting new ideas as I am a pragmatist. †¢ Strong ‘Delegation ‘ skills ‘Active listening’ and ‘Participative Decision Making’ skills. †¢ High Team skills and Team Spirits Weaknesses †¢ Low â⠂¬ËœExpressed Control’ which makes me weak in taking control in crucial situations †¢ Extremely high internal locus of control which makes me associates responsibility for all happenings to my actions. †¢ High Tolerance of Ambiguity score which signifies that I’m tolerant highly intolerant of ambiguous situations †¢ Low on creativity. †¢ Lack of relevant professional knowledge which can push me back in the corporate world. †¢ Adaptive Child who is very emotional. Opportunities †¢ The identification of my strengths will help me capitalise more on them in my career. The identification of my weaknesses will help me workout strategies and overcome them to achieve further excellence. †¢ A good qualification will give me relevant professional knowledge and added skills to advance in my career. Threats †¢ Difficulty to manage personal and professional lives in the right balance due to demands on the personal side. †¢ Executive stre ss due to busy personal and professional lives. †¢ Tough business environment due to the current economic crisis ANALYSIS SECTION Critical Incidents: 3 critical incidences from my work life have been narrated below to highlight my behaviour at work. Incident 1 This was an experience I went through during my first job as a student counsellor at Aptech Computer Education Centre. As a student counsellor I was responsible for timely submission of student records to head office. The last day of every month was the deadline for submission of all such reports and records so that the response from the head office could come back by the 15th of the next month. Since I was new in my job, I was not familiar to the systems and procedures and I had realised the seriousness of missing such deadlines. This particular incident happened in the second month after I joined. The system of sending the documents was to collect all relevant documents by the 25th and check all the documents for correctness and courier the documents on or before the last day of the month without fail. This document packet contained exam score sheets, attendance reports, course conduct schedules, lab usage reports etc. This was very important to be sent on time as this was the basis for all replies from Head Office including student results, certificates etc. I had prepared all the documents as per schedule and was on target to despatch the reports in time . I fell ill during the last week of the month and had to go on leave. I started being so upset whether I could send the reports in time and so I reported to the office on 29th to send the reports. I was still weak and exhausted from my illness. I came into office on time on 29th and started my work of arranging the documents . I noticed that that the exam results card for last week had not been collected. It was at least half a day’s job to collate data and prepare this report for about 100 students. I started to panic and felt weaker. I started on the report and by noon I was half way through. Next I remember is waking up in the hospital bed and it was around 5pm. I had lost consciousness and my colleagues had brought me to the hospital in a taxi. I was so weak and took more than a week to recoup and get back to work. The above incident which happened early in my career could be attributed to a lot of my personal characteristic traits which I discovered through the various instruments of personal discovery. My locus of control was Internal and my score was 3 which meant that I was a person who assumed responsibility for my action. I would relate the events in my life to my own actions. Here, I was holding myself responsible for not sending the reports in time and was getting worried more than needed. My Tolerance of Ambiguity is 70 which means I was highly intolerant to the ambiguous situation of what would happen if I missed the cut off date to send the report . My Firo-B results showed a low expressed control which meant that I would prefer to be controlled and was submissive in nature. I was being fearful of the repercussions of not sending the report on time. I should have realised the possibilities to delegate some of those responsibilities and to seek the help of my colleagues, could have informed my superiors in time about my health issues and made alternate arrangements to avoid such happenings. I assume that my driver to be perfect also acted here making me go to extremes to be perfect. It was interesting for me to note that my linking skills showed that I had the quality of delegating , but my driver to be perfect , my high internal locus of control and my high tolerance of ambiguity caused me to mess up the situation. Incident 2 The second incident that stays fresh in my mind is one which I had later in my career with Aptech Computer Education after I had been promoted to the post of Centre Manager. Aptech used to have a budget meeting in the last week of December every year this meeting would be a review of the current year and the presentation of the budgets and forecasts for the next year. The Centre Manager’s from all over the region (about 30 of them) would come to the state head quarters and meet at a five star hotel for a full day conference. It was my first budget meeting after I was promoted as Centre Manager and I was keen to put in my best efforts to come up with an excellent presentation. I was keen to make it innovative as well. I collected a lot of data regarding our performance in 2004 and prepared a detailed budget for 2005. I called in some of my brilliant students at the centre and got done a multimedia presentation for my introduction . This presentation had sound effects and music and I was sure this would be unique. I used the help of my team members to make a detailed power point presentation for the budgets for 2005. The day of the budget meeting came and I got quite tensed as the meeting began and progressed. The regional head and his team were asking a lot of questions about the budgets and how the figures were obtained etc. It was a very serious meeting and everybody was serious and formal. I started getting worried as my presentation had a lot of sound effects and music in the introduction and played an introduction multimedia clip. I could see everybody including the regional head laughing as they saw this. I could see that they were laughing with the message that it is the figures that they want to see and not such colourful or glossy presentation. I felt embarrassed. But my power point slides had a lot of analytical data. I took longer than all those who presented before me. I could answer all the questions by my superiors and could give a good presentation. The regional manager appreciated me as I concluded my presentation. When I relate this incident to my personal discoveries about working behaviour, I could see a lot of matches to my evaluation scores and my actual incidences. My driver to be perfect was the driving factor which made me put in lot of effort on my presentation. I delegated a lot my work and made a beautiful presentation which had a lot of information. As can be seen in my linking skills score I am good at ‘Delegation’. I think my personal style of ‘Adapted Child’ and my Learning style of ‘Active Experimentation’ was visible in my making of a colourful multimedia presentation. My work preferences of ‘Extrovert’, ‘Practical’ and ‘Analytical’ were seen in my report which was appreciated by my superiors. My needs for ‘Expressed Inclusion’ and ‘Expressed Affection’ might have influenced me to make such a presentation so as to attract the attention of people and gather appreciation. When I evaluate all this, I realise that I could have done a better job as my presentation in itself was good but if had restrained my needs of expressed inclusion and expressed affection, as well as controlled the adapted child in me, I would have made a very formal but deeply analytical presentation which would have been more appreciated by my superiors. Incident 3 The third is a more recent incident that happened in early 2011. One of the key machine operators in our factory tendered his resignation quite abruptly. His move was quite unexpected. We had to get a replacement immediately to meet the production demand or convince this person to continue for some time until we found an alternative arrangement. But this person was quite adamant that he should be relieved immediately after his 30 days notice period. I called him for a meeting . He told me that he had communicated many times his desire to get a personal loan from the staff provident fund through the production manager and I had not approved the same. I had information through other office sources that this particular person used to consume a lot of alcohol during after office hours and squander his money lavishly. This was the reason I did not approve the loan application and kept his application pending without citing a reason to him. This lack of response from my side demotivated this person and soon the situation escalated to a stage where he decided to tender his resignation . When I discussed this with him he seemed more upset and stood his stand to resign. I was unsuccessful in convincing him to continue but he agreed to stay on for a maximum of another 30 days until we found an alternative. When I analyse this incident , I realised that my trait of avoiding which I discovered through the managing conflict instrument was one of the main factors that led to the deterioration of the situation here . The ‘Johari Window’ showed nervousness in my open area which signified that I am quite nervous at handling situations . This explains the uneasiness I had felt in explaining my reason for not approving the loan application. My linking skills rated me low on team development and I would associate that as a reason to why I was not aware of this deteriorating situation and I realise that I should have rather been solution centred in my approach by realising his problem in time and acting upon it to avoid the employee becoming demotivated and agitated. Self Development Plan | | | | | |Three Personal Development |Objective Achievement Plan |Progress Monitoring Plan |Improvement in situation after following | |Objectives | | |the plan | |Improve my Professional |Identify relevant areas |Compare present performance with earlier. Improvement in performance standards | |Knowledge |Attend Training Programmes |Presenting my ideas to my subordinates in|Is a best tool for career development | | |Refer through articles and journals|relation to the profession seeking their |Can command more respect in team | | | |feedback | | | | |Do periodical progress checks by | | | | |conducting discussions with colleaguesâ€⠄¢ | | | | |on relevant topics | | |Increase Concern for Individuals|Identifying the importance of |I will seek the opinions of my |My increase in individual/employee concern | | |individuals in completing a task. |subordinates and colleagues whether they |will motivate them. | | |Improving the behavioural pattern |were comfortable working with me. |Increase in productivity in the group where| | |towards colleagues’ and |Should seek their feedback whether they |I am in charge or involved in. | |sub-ordinates which supports and |felt like their contributions are |Able to build good relation with co-workers| | |motivates them to complete the |considered. |which lessens conflicts among them. | | |task. |If a project yields good and healthy | | | |As a manager or leader, I will |result, it shows that my individual | | | |provide them favourable working |relation has improved. | | |conditions. | | | |Self-Organising to be made |Prepare a time schedule on a daily |Make continuous checks on development of |Will not feel overload of work. | |Structured |basis. |new methods. |Time is effectively used and can be more | | |Try to utilise time effectively by |Check whether time is effectively managed|productive | | |setting tasks on a priority basis. |and work is progressing as per schedule |Reduces mental stress. | |Proper delegation of work will |Will keep a chart for noting the progress| | | |improve my self-organising factor. | | | Bibliography Adair, John. (1989). Great Leaders. Guildford: Talbot Adair. S Berne, Eric. (1968) Games people play : the psychology of human relationships, London : Penguin Books. Budner, S. , (1962). â€Å"Intolerance of ambiguity as a personality variable. † Journal of Personality. 30, 29-50 FIRO: A Three-Dimensional Theory of Interpersonal Behavior. (1958). NY: Rinehart Goleman, D, Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A. (2002) The New Leaders: transforming the art of leadership into the science of results, London: Little Brown. Hannag an,T (2008)–ManagementConcepts. 5th edition. Harlow, Pearson Education Honey,P. And Mumford,A (1986) –The Manual of Learning Styles Kolb,D A(1984)Experimental Learning EaglewoodCliffs,NJ:Prentice Hall Kelly, Anita E. and McKillop, Kevin J. (1996), â€Å"Consequences of Revealing Personal Secrets. † Psychological Bulletin, v120(3), pg. 450 Margerison, C. and McCann, D. (2002) Team Leadership. TMS (UK) Ltd†¢ Problem Solving/communications Margerison,C. (2002) Team Leadership. Padstow. Thomson Learning McCann, D. (1988) How to influence others at work. Glasgow. Butterworth- Heinemann. Parker C and Stone B (2002) Developing Management Skills for Leadership, Glasgow. FT Prentice Hall. Pedlar, M. , Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. (2007) A Managers guide to Self- Development. Maidenhead. McGraw-Hill. Thomas K. W. (1976) â€Å"conflict and Conflict management† Dunette, MD (ed) Whetten, D. , and Cameron. K. (2007) Developing Management Skills. Pearson International Edition. New Jersey (new 2011 edition now available) Winstanley, D. (2005) Personal Effectiveness. Trowbridge. CIPD Yukl, G. (2010) Leadership in Organizations. New Jersey. Prentice Hall. How to cite Management Leadership, Essay examples Management Leadership Free Essays Apple’s Management and Leadership Apple’s Management and Leadership Apples management and leadership have taken the small company in Silicon Valley and transformed it into a multinational conglomerate. From the time of its inception, Apple’s innovation has delivered the personal computer, the Graphical User Interface, the world’s most popular portable music devices and favorite cellular phone. The creation of these products only illustrates part of the success of Apple’s management; the other would be the successful integration into the lifestyle of cultures around the world. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Leadership or any similar topic only for you Order Now Apple has molded the face of personal computing at a global level with its strong and visionary leadership, ability to remain innovative, and its ability to maximize globalization will remain a dominant force organizationally. This paper will investigate Apple’s management and leadership, their responsibility in creating and maintaining a healthy organizational culture, the effect of globalization and management across borders and will recommend two strategies to maintain their healthy organizational culture. Management and Leadership Friends Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple Computer Incorporated in 1976 in California’s famous Silicon Valley (Apple Bios, 2010). The company initially made custom circuit boards for people who wanted to build their own computers. Between Jobs marketing genius and Wozniak’s technical expertise the two realized the potential of the computer and with a little work they created a whole new market; personal computers (Schneider, 2010). Though the beginnings were fairly humble with only $1300 for startup (Funding Universe, 2010) which would soon change. In 1977 the Apple II Personal Computer launched, grossing 2. 7 Million its first year and growing to over $200 million in three years (About. com, 2010). Apple has since revolutionized the world with its personal computing products and creative marketing. Apple’s management has been as innovative in the growth of this global organization as their products have been. A quick glance would leave one to think this Apple is ripe, but the company has only recently started to bloom. Expanding into European and Asian markets in 2003 they have made a steady climb every year, but still have claimed only ive percent of the Windows PC market (Yarrow Angelova, 2010). To examine the leadership of Apple is to look to its original marketing director, Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was the visionary force at Apple, determining the company’s vision and orchestrating its implementation. He lured executives as John Sculley away from Pepsico (Costello, 2010) and raised funding from former Intel Ma rketing Director Mike Markkulla Junior (Wikipedia, 2010). The team entered 1984 with a revolutionary new line, the Macintosh. The Macintosh was the first computer to use a graphic user interface. When the company initially launched the Macintosh, it rolled out with a commercial based on George Orwell’s novel 1984 with Apple representing the heroic rebel struggling for freedom (Costello, 2010). The captor was widely recognized as IBM’s business based computer and in the commercial the new Macintosh was destroying the IBM world. Directed by Ridley Scott the commercial cost nearly 1. 5 million, and only aired once in 1983 on a small unknown station to make it eligible for film awards, but news and talk shows replayed it everywhere (Bellis, 2010). Unfortunately, the Macintosh was not well equipped with programs for the business side of the market and though the GUI interface was well received, the company slumped, high tensions between Sculley and Jobs increased, which ultimately lead to a board decision 1985 to give Sculley control of the company, Jobs quite (Schneider, 2010). This proved to be a bad move for Apple’s board of directors, they were left with management but lacked Jobs visionary leadership. This management continued to perform the daily task, making small improvements, they struggled to hold to its small market share as well as its internal talent and managed to do so only because of its small but loyal following. Though Jobs was no longer at Apple in a management position, he retained his seat on the board and had continued to work on an advanced operating system; this new system would become Apples biggest advance in their operating system since the GUI. This software platform would become the new OSX platform and pave the way for Jobs return to Apple in December 1996 (Schneider, 2010). In early 1997 the effects of Jobs leadership were already being felt at Apple as Jobs announced that Apple would start to sell their computers online, and within one week of its launch it was the third largest e-commerce site on the Internet (Schneider, 2010). Inspired by the success Apples board of directors decided to give Jobs the reigns as CEO. The decision to bring Jobs back to Apple and to make him CEO has proven in large to be Apples keys to success. Jobs technical knowledge and innovative thinking have pushed Apple ahead in product development and brought to market the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone. Jobs understanding of the importance of design and aesthetics have also been felt by Apple and the global market. He has driven the development of functional and elegant products and this leadership has earned Apple and its products a devoted following. Creating a Healthy Organizational Culture In 1984 Bill Gates had caught a glimpse of Apples first GUI product called Lisa, immediately realizing the potential he reworked Microsoft Windows and pitched the platform to IBM (Bellis, 2010). This action quickly developed into threats of a lawsuit between Apple and Microsoft over infringement of copyright, patent, and trade secrets. Knowing that they had overstepped their bounds, Microsoft quickly proposed a license agreement that would allow Microsoft to use similar structures such as tiled windows, a mouse pointer and drop down menus, Apple agreed (Bellis, 2010). In 1987 Microsoft released Windows 2. 0, having the look and feel of a Mac. Apple took Microsoft to court for 170 infringements of copyrights, patents and trade secrets. The court ruled that the license agreement given to Microsoft granted the legal right to develop and market the Mac drop down menus, the floating windows and the mouse point and click environment. Furthermore they ruled in favor of Microsoft on all 170 infringements (Bellis, 2010). This judgment helped surrender Apples technological lead in the computer industry, cost the company potential revenues and forced layoffs. No doubt these events affected the corporate culture at Apple, to this day the company is very secretive of any development the organization works on and takes its secrecy so seriously that employees are timid to give out any information on the company at all. Some authors voice their frustration claiming that employees back out of interviews, refuse to give any detailed information and even refuse to give their name for fear that the company will discover them and take action (Morrison, 2010). Despite this supposed fear, the employees understand the potential consequences financially if product information is leaked; this understanding develops trust in Jobs leadership and with the company’s success in every market it enters reinforces this trust. Apple’s corporate catch phrase is â€Å"Think Differently† (Apple, 2010) and the company has proven to do so by ignoring trends and market research analysis, and triumphantly resisting pressure from other large corporate conglomerates while continuing to increase profitability and bring revolutionary products to market. In his younger years before Apple Steve Jobs had taken a trip to India and returned with his head shaved, wearing traditional Indian clothing and claiming he was a Buddhist (Wikipedia, 2010). This is perhaps one of the biggest influences in Steve Jobs life personally, and though he does not continue to wear the traditional Indian clothing, the Zen influence of meditation and intuition, and minimalism are still very visible in his leadership and the culture at Apple. Additionally Jobs has kept Apples creative talent in an incubator of sorts, deep inside the campus catering to their comfort and privacy (Morrison, 2010). Apples leadership has also brought attention to detail to the forefront, spending tremendous amounts on perfecting minor details in products before they are released. The creative talent at Apple are highly protected and hidden deep with the camp Globalization and Management Across Borders The effect of Globalization on Apple has been tremendously positive. In 2003 the company started expanding into European and Asian markets with products and Apple stores and has experienced growth exceeding 500% (Yarow Angelove, 2010). Despite this rapid growth CEO Steve Jobs and only a small handful of his top executives see new products in completed form, the rest of the organization develops small parts of the products they built in different locations amidst Apples sprawling global campus (Morrison, 2010). This organization continues to hold its vertical structure with the majority of the important decisions coming from Jobs and his small group of senior executives. Apple continues to maintain its vertical structure in an effort to protect its product development and globalization have to add to its ability to remain secretive in this process. Strategies to Maintain a Healthy Organizational Culture Apple has undoubtedly changed all of our lives with its computers, iPods and iPhones, and with its current leadership has managed to create an organization that does indeed â€Å"Think Differently† (Apple, 2010). The task becomes maintaining this innovative corporate attitude to ensure the companies future success. It is clear that most of the success that Apple has experienced because of its innovative leadership and preserving its leadership is one strategy for maintaining its healthy organizational culture. It’s inevitable that age if nothing else will weaken the current leadership. With this in mind, where as the organization and its leadership are strong, plans to train or recruit future leaders, which are aligned with Apples unique culture, should be developed. These plans should account for Apples maverick attitude and future goals. A second strategy for maintaining this successful culture is to plan strategically. Apple’s products have had profound effects on their prospective markets, decimating its competition; however competitors will watch and learn and begin to implement Apples strategies to compete in emerging markets making strategic planning much more important. Typical strategic planning ranges from three to seven years out and is handled by senior management (Bateman Snell, 2009, p. 141). This type of planning will take into account foreseeable obstacles that the company may face and provide enough time to respond effectively. Apples history of bucking trends and ignoring fads can still be maintained, and even some low performing products may be endured if the proper strategic planning has been done. Conclusion Apple’s corporate catch phrase â€Å"Think Differently† (Apple, 2010) and their ability to do so is shown in their innovation and marketing. Their innovation, creativity and corporate secrecy all play a part in maintaining their unique culture and will ensure they remain a dominant force globally (Morrison, 2010). Their strong and visionary leadership has changed computing, as we in our lifetime have known it with inventions like the Graphical User Interface, the iPod, and the iPhone. Apple has demonstrated the positive effects globalization and management across borders has had on the company by its move into European Asian markets. These markets have seen enormous growth and still possess plenty of potential for growth. By retaining their innovative leadership as opposed to corporate management and plan strategically they will ensure their place as one of the most uccessful and innovative companies in human history. References Apple (2010). Bios. Retrieved April 15, 2010 on the Apple website: http://www. apple. com/pr/bios/jobs. html Bellis (2010). Inventors of the Modern Computer. Retrieved April 15, 2010 from the About. com website: http://inventors. about. com/library/weekly/aa051599. htm Morrison (2010). How to Innovate Like Apple. Retrieved April 16, 2010 from the BNET website: http://w ww. bnet. com/2403-13501_23-330240. html Schneider, Laura (2010) Tech Careers. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from the About. om website: http://jobsearchtech. about. com/od/historyoftechindustry/a/SteveJobs. htm Thomas, S. , Bateman, S. , Snell, S. (2009). Management  (8th ed. ). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Wikipedia (2010). Steve Jobs. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from the Wikipedia website: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Steve_Jobs Yarrow Angelova (2010). Chart of the Day: Apple’s Retail Strategy is Paying Off. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from the Business Insider website: http://www. businessinsider. com/chart-of-the-day-apple-stores-vs-mac-market-share-2010-3 How to cite Management Leadership, Essays

Fahrenheit 451 (365 words) Essay Example For Students

Fahrenheit 451 (365 words) Essay Fahrenheit 451â€Å"We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute, we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is full of passion.† Mr. Keating said this to try to get his class to look beyond writing poems because the teacher told them to and because that is what they have done for years. But to write poems that meant something and had passion. In Fahrenheit 451, they use â€Å"man’s best friend†, the dog, against man. I think the author picked the dog rather than another animal because it is known to be man’s best friend. The dogs have always been loyal to man and he was trying to make it show how bad things can be. â€Å"Two roads diverged in the woods and I, I took the one less traveled by.† This is shown a lot in Fahrenheit 451 especially in Mr. and Mrs. Montag’s marriage. They do not love each other but they can live together. This is the author’s way of showing what life could be like if people not only stop communicating but stop thinking and choosing, then loosing control over their lives. â€Å"Difficulty maintaining your own beliefs in the faces of others† is shown a lot in Montag in the beginning of the book. He takes a couple of books and after that he could not face Beatty, not even to stand him being in his house. Neal could not face his dad and tell him what he thought about acting and what he wanted to do the rest of his life. And when his dad found out about him acting he was so worried he killed himself. Clarisse asks Montagare you happy? I think she asks him this because he is a fireman and a firefighter is a respectable profession. And she knows that he thinks what he is doing is wrong and he is doing it because that is what he is supposed to do. I think that one quote is what made Montag start reading books and change his way of viewing the world. Book Reports

International Monetary Fund Essays - Economy,

International Monetary Fund -International Monetary Fund- Addressing Fundamental Economic Goals On an International Level The International Monetary Fund is an important function that makes world trade less strenuous. The International Monetary Fund, or IMF as it is called, provides support and supervision to nations in all stages of economic progress. International trade is a key element to enable nations, large and small, to strengthen their economic positions. Larger nations need the international market to export their goods and services, and smaller nations also need this world scale market to import products so they are able to produce more efficiently. In order to achieve these goals, one major component must be in place. The ability to value other nation's currency. Throughout the years, many different ways have been used to do this, mostly ending in failure. There is no perfect way to accurately measure the true value of another country's currency. The International Monetary Fund is an effort to see each country's economic position, offer suggestions, and provide the fundamental economic securi ty that is essential to a thriving (world) economy. Many of the domestic economic goals are reiterated by the INF on an international level. To understand the current INF we will investigate the events leading up to its existence. Between 1879 and 1934 major nations used a method of international exchange known as the Gold Standard. The Gold Standard was simply a fixed-rate system. The rate was fixed to gold. In order for this system to function properly three things had to happen. First, each nation had to define its currency to gold (this definition then could not change). Second, each nation must than maintain a fixed relationship to its supply of money and its amount of actual gold. Third, the on-hand gold must be allowed to be exchanged freely between any nations throughout the world. With all of those policies successfully in place, the exchange rates of the participating countries would then be fixed to gold, therefore to each other. To successfully maintain this relationship some adjustments had to be made from time to time. For example, two countries A and B are doing international business together and A buys mo re of B's products than B buys of A's. Now B doesn't have enough of A's currency to pay for the excess products purchased. B now has what's called a balance of payment deficit. In order to correct for this deficit the following must occur; Actual gold must now be transferred to A from B. This transfer does two things. First, it reduces B's money supply (a fixed ratio must be maintain between the actual amount of gold, and the supply of money) hence lowering B's spending, aggregate income, and aggregate employment, ultimately reducing the demand for A's products. Second, A's money supply is now increased, raising A's spending, aggregate income, and aggregate employment, ultimately raising the demand for B's products. These two events happen simultaneously stabilizing the exchange rate back to its equilibrium. The Gold Standard served the world's economy very well until one unfortunate event happened. The Great (worldwide) Depression of the 1930's presented the world with a new set of problems to be dealt with, not only domestically, but throughout the entire world. The situation was bad, so bad that nations would do anything to dig themselves out of economic disaster. Nations now would break the biggest rule of the Gold Standard. Nations started to redefine the value of there currency to gold. This act of devaluation, as it was called, disrupted the entire world's perception of the relationship of each country's currencies to there own. Bartering systems were tried, however, eventually the Gold Standard failed. After The Depression international trading was crippled. A new method of international currency exchange had to be developed. Many ideas were listened to, but not until 1944 would a new entirely accepted method be adopted. During this year in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire a modified adjustable-peg system was formed, in addition to this new innovative system, the International Monetary Fund was formed. For many years the Bretton Woods adjustable-peg system worked well. This system became more and more dependent of the United States currency's value. Since from the inception of the IMF in 1946 the

Greenpeace History essays

Greenpeace History essays Greenpeace History The year 1996 is a year of celebration for greenpeace. They are celebrating their 25th year anniversary. Everything startde in 1969; Members were part of the Dont make a wave committee in vancouver. This committee was founded by Jim Bohlen. He was a forty-three year old American and was a composite-materials researcher. Another founder of the committee was Irving Stowe; he was a Philadelphia lawyer. A jew who had joined the Quaker religion. Paul Cote, a canadian lawyer in his mid twenties who had just gotten out of shool when he joined the committee. During this year, the United States had chosen to test its nuclear arsenal in Amchtka, which is a small island off the west cost of alaska. This was a home for many animals including eagles, falcons, endangered sea otters,etc... These three men decided to produce means to end nuclear testing in Amchitka.Next they decided to sail a boat theyd name it Greenpeace because they wanted the earth to be green and yhey wanted peace. It was Bill Darnell who came upwith that name. Suddenly, more peaple joined the commitee to stop nuclear testing in Amchitka, including Terry Simmons, a cultural geographer. Bohlen and Stowe were attracting journalist, columnist, writer, anyone who had somthing to do in the media. It took them two years to get them ready for their journey towards justice for a land. Bohlen and cote were in charge of fiding a boat. Meanwhile, Stowe took care of fiding the money. He used contacts from the United States; he was a very serious man and did everything possible to get the money they needed, he even organized a benefit concert which made seventeen thousand dollars. The first boat they found Phylis Cormack was first seen as old and used that wasnt going to be capable of sailing to Amchitka, so they werent sure of using this boat; it would carry twelve crew members and ...

Unit 8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Unit 8 - Assignment Example It thus provides a more thoughtful and relevant platform for designing economic policies since it take psychological thinking into consideration. Effects of behavioral economics in the free market. It relaxes rational thinking assumptions and therefore allows for argument in predicting how economic decisions can be guided. According to Barberis N.K (2001) behavioral economics can be used to predict and explain field phenomena such as the anomalies in the stock market. Behavioral economics borrows from the Proverb; a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It argues that consumers will prefer to hold what is already in their hands than what is far from them even if it costs less. They try to avert losses that may occur when they decide to seek high returns. It also tends to explain the case of giffen goods whose demand increases with an increase in price. So in this case of mp3 and the digital camera consumer will be less rational by considering the second option even if the opport unity cost as well as other costs is the same. They will be guided by their behavior and human

POWER AND VIOLENCE IN FAMILIES Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

POWER AND VIOLENCE IN FAMILIES - Movie Review Example However, the part where Jennifer Lopez is shown getting trained in just one month and taking a revenge on her husband is a bit dramatic and theatrical. It usually takes longer than that to get trained for self defense and learn martial arts. At the same time, one cannot say that this cannot happen in real life. If a woman is strong and determined, then she can do anything to fight abuse. So the movie is quite realistic. A: Wives who are psychologically weak are the ones who usually become the victim of abuse. It is their psychological and emotional weakness, and the fear of being abandoned, that makes women suffer the domestic violence silently. It is the lack of psychological weakness in the first place which makes them vulnerable to abuse. Huge amount of mental strength and determination is needed for women to overpower their husbands and fight physical abuse at home. Hence, it is not easily possible for abused wives to overpower their husbands physically. They lack the mental strength to do so. Unfortunately, it is the mental strength that is usually found missing in victims of physical abuse. A: No. One can say that a woman is ‘most battered’ when she experiences persistent beating for no reason, suffers physical injuries due to physical violence everyday, lives in constant fear, and is tortured mentally and emotionally. Most of the times, battered women suffer major physical injuries and psychological traumas which make them incapable of functioning normally in daily life. Most battered women lose their self-esteem, confidence, communication ability etc. However, this does not happen in case of Lopez’s character. Lopez is shown getting only one tiny scar on her face and no other major injuries. The physical abuse shown against her is quite less and hence, one cannot say that she presents ‘most battered women.’ A: This movie is definitely not damaging. In

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Importance of Elasticity Demand Price Elasticity of Demand (PED) measures the percentage change in the price of a product, to the percentage change of demand for that same product. It is measured through varying degrees of elasticity. An inelastic good means that a change in price will have a very little effect on the demand. Due to PED=%?Q / %?P, inelastic  ­goods have a PED

Ethnic Disadvantage Has Not Disappeared from the Labour Market

LUBS3001 Gender and Equality at Work in Comparative Perspective Ethnic disadvantage has not disappeared from the labour market despite legislation. What theoretical explanations have been put forward to explain why people from ethnic and racial minorities experience discrimination? Which do you consider to be the most helpful in explaining disadvantage in the labour market? Ethnic and racial discrimination in the workplace is a controversial topic, which has been researched and assessed thoroughly over the past years.Although the terms ‘ethnicity’ and ‘race’ are often talked about in union, they have different meanings and stem from different social contexts. Race is an ideology with a particular concept in mind, and can be understood in various social and historical contexts, for example when slavery was prevalent and race was an important factor for distinguishing groups in society. Race can also refer to particular physical features someone may have, for example someone’s skin colour.Ethnicity on the other hand, relates more to groups of people who share significant, common beliefs that are part of their embedded culture, and usually passed down through their heritage. Race and ethnicity are key issues in the workplace because evidence shows that when analysing different measures of achievement in the workplace, such as unemployment rates, earnings and progression into higher levels of work, ethnic minorities are disadvantaged (Cabinet Office), and although the magnitude of these disadvantages are generally decreasing over time, it is still an un-resolved issue affecting millions of people every year.Although many theoretical explanations have been proposed regarding this ‘glass ceiling’ theory (The economist, 2009) in the workplace, it is important to recognise that many of these theories are linked, and therefore there is no one prevailing answer to resolve the issue.During this essay I will discuss the Undercl ass theories, with reference to Murray (1989) and Wilson, (1987) theories of discrimination and racism focusing on Macpherson’s concept of institutional racism (1999), and theories of ethnic diversity in relation to human and social capital, concluding with which theories I deem to be the most explanatory in reference to this topic.Evidence of ethnic disadvantage in the labour market is plentiful, with statistics covering multiple areas of the subject. In the TUC report of Youth, Unemployment and Ethnicity (2012) it shows that the unemployment rate for White people (male and females) is 20%, for Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi the figure increases to 29%, and for Black/African Caribbean the figure is more than twice than that for Whites, at 45%.However, when analysing this research it is important to recognise that these employment rates may be particularly high due to the economic recession around this time affecting the labour market, but the variation in figures amongst the groups is still apparent. Similarly, this research cannot be fully analysed as different ethnic groups have been grouped together, and between these ethnicities there are substantial variations with regards to employment.An example of this arises from statistics from the Labour Force Survey (1999), which show that the unemployment rate for Indians is closer to that of Whites than it is to Bangladeshis. In the Cabinet Office report of Ethnic minorities in the Labour market (2003), information states that ‘while ethnic minorities are disadvantaged on average, the labour market successes of the Indians and Chinese show that the old picture of White success and ethnic minority under-performance is now out of date’.Although this is extremely positive progress for Indians and Chinese, there is still much more to be done to further bridge the gap between other ethnic groups in the labour market. Statistics from the Labour Force Survey (1999) show White people had an unempl oyment rate of just 6%, Indians 8%, Pakistanis 16%, Black Africans 17%, and Bangladeshis 24%. It is evident that Bangladeshis have the highest rate of unemployment out of these ethnic groups, and one reason for this could be due to an English language barrier.If Bangladeshi parents are not fluent in English, then not only will it be considerably harder for them to find a job, but also this disadvantage will be passed down to their children when they attend school, therefore this particular weakness is transmitted over generations, and may be one explanation for the on-going trend of high unemployment levels. Statistics also show that different ethnic groups are more susceptible to be employed in particular areas of work.Rex and Tomlinson (1979) found that in Birmingham, ‘immigrants and employed predominantly in less attractive industries and in less rewarding jobs’, (Pilkington, 2003, p61) and evidence for this can be found in the National report by Green, Owen and Wils on (2005). Research from this report shows that in the UK on average, around 8% of all jobs are filled by ethnic minority employees, yet there are various different structural positions in the labour market.Ethnic minorities are under-represented in occupations such as managers and administration, with only 12. 7% occupying these types of jobs, compared to 15. 5% for Whites. Furthermore, ethnic minorities are over-represented in occupations such as sales, at a figure of 10. 5%, compared to 7. 4% for whites. As previously mentioned, one of the main reasons employees from ethnic minorities may work in lower skilled jobs could be due to insufficient language skills.In the National report it states that in London, where 28. 8% of the population are from ethnic minorities (Ethnic minorities, Information Centre Guide 2003), there are opportunities for people to learn English via English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provisions, however local studies in the area show this opportun ity needs to be made even more accessible and on a wider scale for a positive impact to be made (Africa Educational Trust 2002).The Underclass thesis was first developed in the United States and later gained awareness in Britain due to an American journalist, Auletta in 1982. Auletta claimed that the underclass had ‘four distinct categories’, these comprising of the ‘passive poor’, ‘hostile street criminals’, ‘hustlers’ and ‘the traumatised drunks†¦and released mental patients’ (Pilkington, 2003, p52). Morris (1994) stated ‘Auletta’s categorisation of them as dependent and deviant carries an implicit moral judgment’.Although there are various definitions of the underclass, the majority of them share similar characteristics, these being unemployed by choice, dependent on welfare benefits, social exclusion, and links to crime and delinquency. It could be seen that by labelling such a diverse grou p as ‘the underclass’, whilst assuming they all possess these negative qualities would ultimately be extremely de-motivating, and may even result in a self-fulfilling prophecy (David Straker 2002-2012) If so, this may result in members of the underclass feeling hard work is not expected of them, resulting in little or o effort to strive for employment and integrate with society. The concept of the underclass is linked to social divisions based on gender and class, as well as race, making it a widespread topic with significance to various groups in society. Therefore, the explanations put forward for this thesis are fundamentally opposing. Conservative writers of the underclass place specific emphasis on cultural factors, such as the surrounding environment a person has grown up in, resulting in deviant values and behaviour.On the other hand, liberal writers maintain that structural factors such as the way our society functions, result in an underclass forming due to ins ufficient opportunities and on-going racism. Two of the most influential accounts of the underclass that have been provided derive from Charles Murray (1984) and Wilson (1987). Murray believed a Black underclass developed in the late 1960s due to the ‘culture of the ghetto’. He claimed this shared culture amongst the Black community created lack of education and stunted employment opportunities. Evidence of this theory can be seen in the U. S.National Canter for Health Statistics (1970s), whereby statistics report more than 50% of black babies were conceived out of wedlock, an increase of more than 33% in the 1950s (The Atlantic, 1986). Murray states that these changes took place during economic expansion; therefore the reasoning for these statistics is the existence and availability of welfare benefits. Murray believed that whilst state benefits were available, there was no incentive for women to go to work, meaning when they had children these values of state dependen cy would be passed on and it would become the norm to be unemployed.One example of a state benefit for women was Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Social Welfare History, 1988) which provided single mothers with financial security, acting as a disincentive for both mothers and fathers, as it took away the pressure of having to provide for the family. Murray said ‘because poor, uneducated single teenaged mothers are in a bad position to raise children’ poverty and deviant values are transferred from parents to children, with the end result being a general lack of motivation and contribution to the labour force (Murray 1984).There has been considerable amount of criticism for Murray’s theory and it was generally rejected by most sociologists. One critic of the theory is Devine (1997) who argued ‘the value of AFDC benefits declined in the 1970s while the number of single parents were growing’. This would suggest there is a further underlying issu e, other than welfare benefits, for the explanation of growth of unemployed single parent mothers.Morris (1994) also disputed that ‘young employed are one group in American society who have no claim to state support as of right’. Again, this would suggest that dependency on state benefits is not the main cause for unemployment amongst young people. Wilson criticised Murray’s theory by saying it ignored racial discrimination and did not account for deindustrialising, whereby there was a change from a goods-producing economy to a service-producing economy meaning people who did not possess the required skills were out of work.Wilson went on to provide a structural theory of the underclass, this being the major liberal response to Murray’s explanation. Although Wilson also acknowledged an urban underclass and agreed that their ‘behaviour contrasts sharply with that of mainstream America’ (Wilson 1987), he argued that it was because of the unfair structures of society and existing inequalities that caused lack of education and unemployment. Wilson also acknowledged that unemployment was linked to discrimination and stemmed as a result of economic changes.Racial discrimination in the rural South encouraged migration to inner cities in the North, however the situation was not aided as service work replaced the manufacturing industry, requiring skills that the majority of Black and Hispanic citizens had not acquired. Townsend (1991) agrees with Wilson’s structural theory, and concluded from his major study, Poverty in the UK (1979) that the underclass emerged due to government policies in the areas of trade unions, industry and taxation. Therefore it was due to the way that society was structured and designed which caused an underclass of unemployed, low-paid or prematurely retired workers.Although sociologists deemed Wilson’s theory as more credible that Murray’s, there is still substantial criticism on th e matter. Fainstein (1992) argues that Wilson fails to recognise ‘the continuing significance of race’ which, for Black people, causes ‘segmentation into low wage employment’ (Pilkington, 2003, p55). Furthermore, Miles (1982) criticises both theories by stating that migrants have not developed a whole underclass they are just simply a ‘fraction’ of society (Sociology Central 2010).It would appear than in general the underclass theory is not the most valid explanation for inequality in the labour force as there is a lack of empirical evidence with regard to the cultural theory, and both the cultural and structural theories generalise all members of ethnic groups together, when in fact statistics vary hugely amongst individuals within these groups. Another major theory used to explain the position of ethnic minorities in the workforce is ‘institutional racism’, also referring to direct and indirect discrimination.Institutional discri mination is defined by Macpherson (1999) as ‘the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin’ (Pilkington, 2003, p85). Macpherson launched a police investigation into the murder of a Black teenager by five White youths, and through this inquiry concluded that all major British organisations are characterised by some form of institutional racism (Parliament UK, 2009).For Macpherson, this concept did not mean that all policies of institutions were intentionally racist; rather it arises through ‘social and cultural processes’ (Parekh 2000). The fact that institutional racism is said to stem from the occupational culture of the organisation is a major concern, as the culture of a company is usually embedded within the employees who share similar values and beliefs, and they tend to remain consistent over time.Although the Macpherson report has created new aw areness regarding institutional racism (Solomas 1999), and remains to be a valid explanation for ethnic minority disadvantage in the labour market, it has also been critiqued for various reasons. One of the main critiques is that the concept is too ambiguous, with Pilkington (2001) referring to it as a ‘blunderbuss concept’. This is because the concept does not specifically refer to the different components within institutional racism.The term ‘institutional racism’ is rather broad, as it may contain elements of individual discriminatory behaviour and also direct intentional discrimination. Regardless of anti-discrimination legislation, for example The Race Relations Act (1965) intentional discrimination can still be found in some areas of the present labour force. Evidence of this type of discrimination can be seen through discrimination testing, whereby testers from different ethnic backgrounds both apply for the same job at the same time, using identical application forms.A study performed by Modood et al (1997) found one in five ethnic minority employees felt they had experienced racial discrimination, in the form of being refused a job due to racial or religious reasons, yet only one in twenty white employees felt they had every experienced any form of discrimination. This evidence may suggest that employees who have been faced with discrimination could be discouraged from future job opportunities.Ethnic minority groups may also be faced with indirect discrimination, whereby an organisation unintentionally discriminates against certain groups, for example an up-market clothing store may only employ people who fit certain appearance criteria. Combined, these various forms of discrimination in the labour force would be extremely detrimental to ethnic minority groups and appear to be one of the major contributors to patterns of employment amongst ethnic groups.Ethnic diversity and patterns of discrimination amongst ethnic minority g roups can also, to an extent, be explained by patterns of inequality. Social capital can be seen as an important aspect of society, which may provide some explanation for the diversity amongst ethnic groups. Putnam (1995) defines social capital as ‘features of social life –networks, norms, and trust that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives’. Social policy is linked to all members of a community and the social networks, and social norms or values within our society.The fact that social policy is composed of shared customs within a society, would suggest that members of minority ethnic groups may not be part of this concept, as they are likely to have different values as their cultures and backgrounds will vary. This could result in ethnic minority groups feeling segregated from the local community, especially if they have not lived there for very long, and therefore have not yet integrated with neighbours or fellow citi zens.The terms ‘social capital’ and more specifically, ‘bonding social capital’, are significant when discussing the labour force as they refer to networking with people and communicating through shared objectives. Nowadays, with high levels of competitiveness in the work force, it is extremely advantageous to have general networking links into different areas of the labour market, and often the phrase ‘It’s not what you know, but who you know’ is used. Employers will often create a workforce of people that they can trust, or at least someone who has come with a trust-worthy reference, perhaps suggested by a colleague.Therefore, if ethnic minority members do not share this same sense of social capital and appear to have few or no network connections, it will be harder for them to succeed in the labour force and ultimately could it have a significant effect on their employment status. This theory of social capital can also be linked to wh y less ethnic minority graduates are taken on by large firms after university, than Whites. Statistics provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency from 2007-08 showed 66% of Whites found full-time or part-time employment within one year of graduation compared to 56. % for minority ethnic groups. Although the figure is not alarmingly higher, one reason for the difference could be due to social capital and networking advantages. Work experience completed throughout university years can often be acquired using contacts, and the majority of employees will consider the quality and amount of work experience endured before employing a graduate. Although this essay is primarily focused on ethnicity, it is also important to consider religion as a contributory factor for patterns of inequality in the labour force.Religion can often be a trigger for discriminatory behaviour, for example since the 9/11 terrorist attacks the term ‘Islamophobia’ was used more widely, this refe rring to fear of Muslims. Many types of religion are expressed using distinctive types of clothing, such as a turban, making it apparent to others what religion someone may be, which could lead to discrimination. Lindley (2002) compared employment and earnings across ethnic groups within five religious groups, and compared these results with that of Whites.Evidence was provided to show Muslims were substantially disadvantaged compared to other ethnic minorities, however other factors such as individual attitudes and levels of motivation may have also contributed to these statistics. Religion can also be linked to the previously mentioned topic of social capital, as members of a particular faith may choose to socialise only with people who share their same beliefs and values, which would affectively limit opportunities of bridging social capital in mainstream society.To conclude, with the aid of various legislation and trade unions, the positioning of ethnic minorities in the labour market has advanced over the past forty years. However, regardless of this improvement, discrimination in the workforce and ethnic penalties are still prominent. From examining theoretical explanations for the disadvantage of ethnic minorities in the labour force, it would seem that the answer lies within a number of different causes.Although some of the theories seem more plausible explanations than others, for example theories that recognise racial disadvantage along with the concept of ethnic diversity are more accepted than that of the underclass thesis, it is still important to acknowledge all of the theories, as individually they all provide possible explanations. There is not one possible reason for ethnic and racial disadvantage, more than it is due to a combination of factors such as discrimination in the workplace, economic restructuring overtime, and race, religion and ethnicity.Further aspects are also relevant to consider, such as historic patterns of migration and also class and gender. Various elements of these theories will be more applicable depending on the group in question, and it is also essential to recognise that within different ethnic groups, statistics vary considerably making it un-reliable to treat groups as one whole instead of addressing the individuals within. Bibliography Books BRADLEY, H. , HEALY, G. , FORSON, C and KAUL, P. 2007 Equal Opportunities Commission. Manchester. BRADLEY, H. , HEALY, G. , 2008 Ethnicity and Gender at Work.Inequalities, Careers and Employment Relations London: Palgrave Macmillan CHEUNG, S. Y, HEATH, A and SMITH, S. N, 2007 Unequal Chances: Ethnic Minorities in Western Labour Markets. Proceedings of the British Academy. Oxford: Oxford University Press CLARK, K. and DRINKWATER, S 2007 Ethnic minorities in the labour market: dynamics and diversity York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. HOLDAWAY, S. and O’NEIL, M. (2007) ‘Where has all the racism gone? Views of racism in constabularies after Macphe rson’. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30, 3: 397-415. PILKINGTON, A. 003 Racial Disadvantage and Ethnic Diversity in Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan SHAH, P. , 2011 ‘Ethnic and religious diversity in Britain. Where are we going? ‘ in HEALY, G, KIRTON, G. , and NOON, M Equality, Inequalities and Diversity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan TOWNSEND, P, 1979 Poverty in the United Kingdom. Great Britain: University of California. Websites CABINET OFFICE. 2009. Ethnic minorities and the Labour market Final report [online]. [Accessed 26 October 2012]. Available from: http://www. irr. org. uk/pdf/em_labour_market. pdf GORDAN, L. 1998.Aid to dependant children, the Legal history [online]. [Accessed 21 October 2012]. Available from: http://www. socialwelfarehistory. com/programs/aid-to-dependent-children-the-legal-history/ GREEN, A. OWEN, D. WILSON, R. 2005. Changing patterns of employment by ethnic groups and for migrant workers [online]. [Accessed 27 October 2012]. A vailable from: https://docs. google. com/viewer? a=v&q=cache:KVKNA4lMHX4J:dera. ioe. ac. uk/6250/1/nat-changingpatternsofemploymenttechnicalreport-re-may2006. pdf+national+report+green+owen+wilson&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESHIGHER EDUCATION STATISICS AGENCY. 1993. [online]. ]Accessed 29 October 2012]. Available from: http://www. hesa. ac. uk/content/view/1897/239/ INFORMATION CENTRE GUIDE. 2003. Ethnic minorities [online]. [Accessed 24 October 2012]. Available from: www. londonchamber. co. uk/docimages/149. pdf LEMAN, N. 1986. The Origins of the Underclass [online]. [Accessed 24 October 2012]. Available from: http://www. theatlantic. com/past/politics/poverty/origin1. htm LIVESEY, C. 1995-2010 Sociology Central [online]. [Accessed 20 October 2012]. Available from: http://www. ociology. org. uk/steth. htm PARLIAMENT, 2009. Parliament UK [online]. [Accessed 27 October 2012]. Available from: http://www. publications. parliament. uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhaff/427/42703. htm SMITH, A. 200 1. The new ethnicity classification in the Labour Force Survey [online]. [Accessed 20 October 2012]. Available from: https://docs. google. com/viewer? a=v&q=cache:zWnhexhVW8cJ:www. ons. gov. uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-trends–discontinued-/volume-110–no–12/the-new-ethnicity-classification-in-the-labour-force-survey. pd STAKER, D. 2002-2012.Self-Fulfilling Prophecy [online]. [Accessed 26 October 2012]. Available from: http://changingminds. org/explanations/theories/self-fulfilling_prophecy. htm THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. [online]. [Accessed 21 October 2012]. Available from: www. legislation. gov. uk/ukpga/1976/74 TUC report. 2012. Youth, unemployment and ethnicity [online]. [Accessed 28 October 2012]. Available from: www. tuc. org. uk/economy/index. cfm? mins=364 WALL STREET JOURNAL. 1986. The Economist [online]. [Accessed 27 October 2012]. 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Best Snack Foods

Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: BEST SNACKS INC. Problem Solution: Best Snacks Inc. University of Phoenix Problem Solution: Best Snacks Inc. Over the last few years Best Snacks has been faced with declined sales, decreased market shares as well as steadily decline stock market prices. As a result of these changes, Best Snack is currently no longer on top of the snack food industry. The current CEO Elizabeth Fairchild, has enlisted the assistance of Vice President of Organizational Development Sabrina McKay to help change the creative and innovative culture. The purpose of this paper is to provide solutions to the issues facing Best Snack that will allow the company to regain the new one spot in the snack food industry. The solutions will focus on the overwhelming need for a return to creativity and innovation into the organization. Describe the Situation Issue and Opportunity Identification The snack food industry is consistently changing and evolving. Best Snack currently has not been able to keep up with the competition. Several issues will need to address before a turn around can begin. The issues with Best Snacks are lack of creativity and innovation, which has led to the decrease sales, decreased market share and decreased profits. The time is now for Best Snacks to adopt a culture that fosters creativity and innovation or jeopardize losing even more. A full outline of the issues facing Best Snack is outlined in Table 1. As a result of the survey, Best Snack has several opportunities to address with the employees. Much of the research on innovative companies points to the importance of management practices that support creative employees and their ideas† (Best Snacks, 2009, p 4). Becoming a learning organization is one of the opportunities for Best Snack. Becoming a learning organization will encourage the changes that the CEO wants to implement. As the employees become more skilled and start to use those skills the creativity and innovation will be reinforced and become a vital part of the company’s organizational culture. Senge’s principles for designing a learning organization emphasizes the importance of building shared vision, by which he means building the ongoing frame of reference or mental model that all organizational members use to frame problems or opportunities and that binds them to an organization† (Jones, 2004, pg 379). Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas Each stakeholder has their one ideas of how they relate to Best Snacks. The key stakeholders are the customers, the management team, employees and the shareholders. Each stakeholder has some investment in the success of the company and each stakeholder wants a high return on his or her investment. The investment and values of each key stakeholder is identified and explained in Table 2. The management team is looked upon by the employees, shareholders and the customers to make the decisions that will ensure the success of the company. These decisions include fostering an environment that fosters creativity and innovation to keep the company competitive. The employees are looked upon by the management team to provide creative and innovation ideas that can control cost and maintain product lines. The stakeholders look to the management team and employees to work in a manner which uses the Capitol in the best manner. The stakeholders want a decent return on their investment and want to know that the management team is managing their capitol effectively. The customers want to know they are receiving value for their money as well as purchasing from an honest and reputable company. Frame the â€Å"Right† Problem Best Snacks will provide all employees opportunities to grow and develops skills related to creativity and innovation. As the employees use these new skills, Best Snack will be come an organization that will lead the snack industry in using creativity and innovation to materialize the company’s strategic plan of increased market share, increased sales and increased stock prices. Describe the â€Å"End-State† Vision Best Snack has an upward climb to becoming number one in the snack food industry again. Major changes will need to be made and the best method for Best Snacks will be to incorporate radical innovation into culture. The company will need to evaluate both the business model as well as technology to see what improvements can be made. This will be a first in the snack food industry and will position Best Snack a true leader in the industry. The next step is to increase creative thinking and innovational skills on all levels of the organization. By looking at both internal and external sources for creativity and innovation Best Snack will have a consistent flow of creative and innovative ideas for developing and marketing products. The need for new products and marking ideas is essential to increase sales, market shares and stock prices. Identify the Alternatives and Benchmarking Validation â€Å"Making decisions on a product enhancement requires communications between many parts of the organization, including R&D, manufacturing, marketing and sales, and finance, as well as processes and criteria for making the decisions† (Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006, p 120). Best Snacks R&D department is currently not producing the type of ideas that will lead to new innovation products required to keep the company competitive. By creating an outreach program Best Snack R&D department will be in contact with fresh and innovative ideas. â€Å"By 2000, it was clear to us that our invent-it-ourselves model was not capable of sustaining high levels of top-line growth. The explosion of new technologies was putting ever more pressure on our innovation budgets. Our R&D productivity had leveled off, and our innovation success rate—the percentage of new products that met financial objectives—had stagnated at about 35 percent. Squeezed by nimble competitors, flattening sales, lackluster new launches, and a quarterly earnings miss, we lost more than half our market cap when our stock slid from $118 to $52 a share† (Connect and Develop: Inside Procter & Gamble's New Model for Innovation 2006). This served as a major wake up call for Proctor and Gamble so the company began looking at university and government labs to create partnerships to assist both parties in product research and design. Proctor & Gamble soon realized that this process was paying off because of the best ideas had come from the partnerships outside the company. Lafley made it our goal to acquire 50 percent of our innovations outside the company. The strategy wasn't to replace the capabilities of our 7,500 researchers and support staff, but to better leverage them. Half of our new products, Lafley said, would come from our own labs, and half would come through them† (Connect and Develop: Inside Procter & Gamble's New Model for In novation 2006). With this new change in obtaining ideas, it was important that the culture of the company changed as well. As Best Snacks is looking to make changes to product line, the company could benefit from creating partnerships with universities and even individuals looking to sell product ideas. Procter & Gamble has created a website in which individuals can log in and provide new ideas. Best Snacks could add a link to the company website that could serve the same purpose. The link on the website could be a cost-effective way to begin to obtain new ideas. If the website generates valuable suggestions, then the outreach program can be expanded as-needed. The solution of a culture change and using an out reach program is the best solution for Best Snacks as it will lead to continued growth and development for the company. Evaluate the Alternatives Best Snack has attempted to use incremental innovation without much success and the CEO see this and is aware of the need for radical innovation and increased creativity. â€Å" She determined to make Best Snacks the first consumer snacks company to make radical innovation and creativity a vital part of the organization’s culture† (Best Snacks, 2009, p 1). The company will need to embrace the need for a culture change and work toward more products that will reach the target customers. Innovation and creativity is exactly what Best Snacks needs to regain the top position in the snack industry. The company will need to educate the employees and train them to think creativity and identify innovative thoughts. This can be accomplished by the management team identifying the behaviors of other creative and innovative companies. Once these behaviors are identified, the next step is to incorporate these behaviors in the daily routines. These steps set the ground work to empower the employees to introduce new products. Narrowed List of Alternatives When looking at the list of alternatives presented in Table 3, the best alternative solution is to look at gaining outside partnerships to assist the R team in providing new ideas. Before this solution can work the culture will need to shift to encourage creativity and innovation from all employees. The employees need to understand that the external ideas are not to replace the internal ones but to enhance the brainstorming sessions. The next best solution would be to create a learning organization. All of these steps are necessary as Best Snacks focuses on shift to a company known for innovation and creativity. Identify and Assess Risks Best Snacks needs to understand that each solution carries a different set of risks. It’s important these risks are taken into consideration before any decision is made. The current risk that needs to mitigate is the declining sales, declining market share and declining stock prices. Table 4 provides the risk and consequences of the each of the proposed solutions and most important it provides ways to lower the risk of each solution. The management team will need to have solid techniques in place to help the employees more toward the new organizational goals. Make the Decision When evaluating all of the solutions provided, Best Snack would benefit from all of the solutions in some manner. By developing the partnerships with local colleges, shifting the culture to foster innovation and creativity by implementing the behaviors of that lead to creativity and innovation will help to transform ideas to new product lines. The first step is to contact the local colleges to create internships program. This program will consistently provide the R department access to new ideas. The R team can take the ideas and brainstorm how to implement the ideas. The downside of this solution is that the R department may not take the ideas seriously and not focus enough attention to the development because of resentment. The second and third alternative is change the culture to foster creativity and innovation by identifying the behaviors of other creative and innovative companies. These two alternatives are interrelated as before one can occur the other needs to occur. The shift of culture will be hard from several of the employees because of resistance to change. The management team will need to provide change management training to employees because the future of the Best Snack is full of consistent change. The final alternative is to create a learning organization. As Best Snack is making the other adjustments to the business model, the company will have no other choice but to implement organizational learning. The benefit to this alternative is that the company will be consistently looking for new ideas and products that new learning will be required of each employee. As the employees learn and share new skills the company continues to learn and grow and in turn the product line will continually evolve to meet the demands of the customers. Develop and Implement the Solution Sabrina McKay the Vice President of Organizational Development has a full slate to ensure that all of the pieces are in place. Sabrina’s first action item is to identify the leadership behaviors are required to lead the company. These behaviors will be identified within two months. Once the behaviors have been outlined, over the next three months the review of the current management process will be evaluated. During this evaluation, the necessary changes will be outlined. During these evaluations, the management team will be review all polices and procedures to benchmark against the new set of behaviors and processes. The management team will have two months to complete this evaluation. Once the changes have been outlined, a new training program will be created by Sabrina and this should take approximately nine months to create and provide the training to all associates. While the training is being conducted Sabrina will also be working on the creativity and innovation plan. This plan will include the partnerships with local colleges. Sabrina will have eight months to create and identify the best college to use for the program. Once the partnerships and training is complete the management team can continue to outline the strategies for supporting the employees in all of the new endeavors. The support for the employees is vital to the whole plans success. The project will be reviewed every six months to ensure adequately progress. Evaluate the Results The focus for Best Snack is to become the first company in the snack industry actively using radical innovation in the organizational culture. The plan that was outlined in Table 6 and Table 7 has the project completed within the next 12 months. The changes that will be made during this time will need to be consistently reinforced by management. It is also very important that management support the employees as training and change is provided. This is the time for management to increase the trust factor between management and employees. As the trust increases, creativity will also increase. The employees’ surveys will be used to measure how well the management team is nurturing the increased creativity and innovation. Once partnership program is in place, Best Snacks will have consistent flow of ideas for the R team to brainstorm and transform into new products. As the R team is brainstorming both internal and external ideas this lead to additional ideas. Within a year, the R team will be able to provide more marketing ideas and products in a more efficient manner. Best snacks will a 30% increase in new products in one-year. The increase in products will start to increase company sales, market share and stock price within the year. With the consistent new ideas, increased creative and innovative thinking, Best Snack will see consistent growth over the next few years. Conclusion Best Snack has become very dependent on incremental innovation and the low risk factors that when change is urgently needed it is hard to stray from it. Best Snack is trying to become a leader in the industry but is stuck therefore the need to shift to radical innovation. The second level at which systems interact with learning is through their own improvement and the improvement of organizational processes. During the execution of a particular project, there is learning about the process itself that is captured. In other words, there is learning not only about the particular innovation, but also about how the company can improve its innovation processes† (Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006, p 218). For Best Snacks to maintain the new competitive edge it is important to continue to foster the communication as well as the concepts of creativity and innovation. Best Snacks is now in a position to use the knowledge of the past to create a better future for the employees, customers and shareholders. References Davila, T. , Epstein, M. , & Shelton, R. , 2006. Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It, 1e. Jones, Gareth R. , 2004. Organizational Theory, Design, and Change, 1eChapter 12: Decision Making, Learning, Knowledge Management, and Information Technology. P&G’s New Innovation Model 2006 retrieved April 10, 2010 from http://hbswk. hbs. edu/archive/5258. html University of Phoenix, (2009). Best Snacks Scenario Inc. Retrieved March 21, 2010 from University of Phoenix rEsource Center. Table 1 Issues and Opportunities Identification |Issue |Opportunities |Reference to Specific | | | |Course Concept | |Business Model Change to drive |The CEO Elizabeth recognizes the company’s need to make|Davila. , Epstein. , & Shelton | |innovation in the following areas: |some innovated changes. The changes to the business |2006, p. 32 | |Value Proposition |model will help Best Snack Foods become more | | |Supply Chain |competitive. The first change will be to look at the | | |Target Customer |value of the items for sale and make the necessary | | | |adjustments to provide more value to the consumers. | | |The next step is to look at the supply chain and make | | | |the necessary adjustment. The changes should provide | | | |product to Best Snacks at a quick and lower price so | | | |that cost savings can be passed on to the customer as | | | well as increased margin for the company. The final | | | |step is to determine the target customer for the new | | | |product or the enhanced product. Best Snack foods to | | | |look at what areas that they have no presence and what | | | |areas they need to increase product presence. This | | | |will determine which customers they are not reaching | | | |and then can determine value of reaching out to a new | | | |demographic. | | |Technology Change to drive innovation |The CEO Elizabeth recognizes the company’s need to make|Davila. , Epstein. , & Shelton | |in the following ways: |some innovated changes. According to the survey the |2006, p. 5 | |Product and service offerings |associates believe that management does not quick | | |Process technologies |decision regarding new products. The company has | | |Enabling technologies |introduced only five new products in three years. The | | | |company needs to determine what products they want to | | | |improve on or, which new items to produce. This new | | | |products could also require some changes in the | | | |technologies. The company has just implemented an | | | |automotive packing system and will need to find other | | | |technologies that will help decrease cost associated | | | |with production. The nest step will be for Best Snack | | | |food to look communication between vendors. The close | | | |relationship can also help to reduce cost. | | |Organizational |The executive team should begin to outline the learning|Jones 2004, p. 376 | |learning The process |for the individual through the University. Once the | | |through which managers |learning continues with the individual, the new | | |seek to improve |knowledge will begin to have an impact on the group and| | |organization members’ |when the group is learning the whole organization is | | |capacity to understand |learning. Best Snack needs to outline training classes| | |and manage the organization |for all levels of the company. As the company | | |and its environment |continues to learn the groups and individuals will | | |so that they |begin to look deeper into process to determine ways to | | |can make decisions |streamline and reduce cost. This is creating an | | |with continual organizational |environment that fosters creativity. This will so help| | |effectiveness. The following are |to decrease the fear of taking risk within the company. | |types of organizational learning | | | |Exploration | | | |Exploitation | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Organizational decision making is the |This is what the executive team is currently working |Jones 2004, p. 368 | |process of responding to a problem by |on. The CEO has outlined the problem, which is the | | |searching for and selecting a solution|company is not as competitive and innovated as the | | |or course of action that will create |competition. As a result of these issues the company | | |value for |is beginning to suffer financially. The executive team| | |organizational stakeholders. |is working to find the proper solution that will | | |This type of decision model has five |provide increased profits and margins for Best Snacks. | |different models | | | |Rational Model | | | |Carnegie Model | | | |Incrementalist Model | | | |Unstructured Model | | | |Garbage Can Model | | | |Decision making drives the operation | | | |of an organization. At the | | | |core of every organization is a set of| | | |decision-making rules and routines | | | |that bring stability | | | |and allow the organization to | | | |reproduce its structure, activities, | | | |and core competences | | | |over time (Jones, 2004, p. 375) | | | |Learning in a innovative organization |Sabrina will be able to provide this characteristic to |Davila. , Epstein. & Shelton | |has the following characteristics: |Best Snack foods once she is has completed her new |2006, p. 212 | |Process learning is linked to |assignment. The first step that she has completed of | | |strategy |the employee survey is an excellent start to determine | | |Systematic approach to complex |the current state versus the new look of the company. | | |organizational dynamics |She is also looking at the values and the mission of | | |Shared vision |the company. Both of these will more than likely be | | |Flexibility and agility |updated to reflect the new strategy. Once the new | | |Timely anticipation of challenges and |strategy is determined the company will be working | | |threats |toward a common goal and will be able to foster a | | |Collaborative and challenging |creative environment. The company currently has a Best | | |environment. |Snack University for the students but the courses are | | | |not mandatory. The company should look at requiring so | | | |many hours a year so that each employee can continue to| | | |improve upon there skills. | | Table 2 Stakeholder Perspectives and Ethical Dilemmas |Stakeholder Perspectives and Ethical Dilemmas | |Stakeholder Groups with Competing Values | | | | |The Interests, Rights, and |The Ethical Dilemma Based on the Competing | |List: Group X Values of Each Group |Values | |versus Group Y | | | |Executive Management vs. Employees |Fairness, accountability and social responsibility |The employees completed a survey and it is up | | |The interest of employees revolves around Best |to the Management team to make the right | | |Snacks ability to provide job security, market share|decision with the answers. It is important the | | |security and on the job training to improve job |management use the information to provide the | | |skills. The Executive management has the |necessary program to the employees and support | | |responsibility to implement the organizational |growth and development. | | |changes in order to maintain competitive. | | |Executive Management vs. Shareholders |Increased return on investment, |The main interest is the history of innovation,| | |Loyalty, respect, responsibility and reputation of |market shares, stock performance, operating | | |company. |profit, return on investment, and | | | |profitability. The shareholders are fearful | | | |about their investments not increasing and the | | | |shareholders want to know that the capitol is | | | |being managed properly. If the capitol is being| | | |managed properly then there should be a return | | | |on their capitol. | |Executive Management vs. Customers |Customer is interested in cost and quality. The CEO Elizabeth Fairchild has meeting with | | |The customer is also wanting accountability and |customers to talk about values and how they | | |honestly from the executive team. |compare to the competition. The customers are | | | |expecting that the company to take their | | | |answers and work to make the necessary changes. | Table 3 Analysis of Alternative Solutions [pic] Table 4 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Risk Assessment and Mitigation | |Alternative |Risks and Probability |Consequence and Severity |Mitigation Techniques and | | | | |Strategies | |Identify and individual and |Ineffective due to lack of |According to the survey results, |Management team will communicate | |organizational behaviors that |participation and rejection by |the employees do not believe that |how creativity and innovation will | |foster creativity and |employees – high |improved innovation and creativity|assist the company to reach the new| |innovation |There is littler or no growth – low |is achievable –high |goals | | |Inadequate management of strategies |Will not have immediate impact on | | | |structures, or cultures – low |product improvements, finance or |The management team will also need | | | reputation-medium |to understand all of the dynamics | | | | |that affect growth. | |Create organizational learning |Employees are hesitant to follow the |Increase turnover as employees |The CEO and | | |organizational learning system- high |will not make necessary changes – |management team will need to | | | |medium |define and communicate the | | | | |organizational learning process. | | | | | |Adapt a culture that focuses on|Creation of goals for employees to have|Will not address all of the |The management team will focus on | |creativity and innovation |continuous learning – medium |important issues. – high |creativity when outlining the new | | | |The major issues will still need |vision of the company | | | |to be addressed | | |Create partnerships with |Current employees will resent the ideas|This will generate new ideas that |The management team must | |colleges to generate new and |from the outside -high |can be implemented by the current |communicate the program and foster | |creative ideas. |R&D team with the necessary |the culture to accept the ideas as | | | |modifications to fit the needs of |if they were generated from the | | | |the company. – Low |inside. | Table 5 Pros and Cons of Alternative Solutions |Alternative |Pros |Cons | |Create organizational learning |All departments will be on the same track |The training can be c ostly and be hard for some| | |toward the new goals. employees to make changes | | | | | | | | | |Adapt culture that focuses on creativity and |Company will operate more efficiently due to |The current culture may be too strong to allow | |innovation |all of the new changes in operating models and |the shift in focus and implement the new ideas | | |technology |and concepts | |Identify individual and organizational |Increased competences for employees that can |Products are not improved | |behaviors that foster creativity and innovation|improve product lines |Products may no longer meet the needs of the | |and implement the necessary changes | |customer | | | | | | | | | |Create relationships with colleges to generate |New ideas that are not bound by boundaries from|Current team members might feel threaten by | |new ideas |the culture of the company |ideas | | |The customer is provide suggestions to improve |Students that create ideas may not be involved | | |value or products |in w hole process. | | |Ideas that are generated can be modified by the| | | |R&D team to fit the business model | | Table 6 Optimal Solution Implementation Plan Action Item Deliverable |Timeline |Who is Responsible | |Proposal for new employee training |9 months |Sabrina McKay, VP of Organizational | | | |Development | |Organizational strategies for supporting the |12 months (continual) | Executive Management Team | |employees | | | |Creation of Creativity and Innovation Plan |8 months |Sabrina McKay | |Review of all policies and procedures |2 months | Executive Management Team | |Identify leadership behaviors |2 months |Sabrina McKay | |Identify management process |3 months |Sabrina McKay | Table 7 Evaluation of Results End-State Goals |Metrics |Target | |Best Snacks will be the first snack company to |Innovation and creativity will become a |With in a year, radical innovation will be | |implement radical innovation and creativity as|integral part of the companies ongoing |encouraged regularly. | |part of the companies organizational culture |processed | | |Best Snacks encourage creative thinking on all |Best Snack will now be known as a cutting edge |All employees will be trained on creativity and| |levels by using new skills |innovation organization |innovation skills within one year. |The development of new products will be more |With in a year, Best Snacks will see an |The will be a 30% increase in new products | |innovative resulting in an increase in sales, |increase in development of new products as a |within one year. | |market share and stock prices. |result of new ideas from both internal and | | | |external sources | | |The executive management team will create an |The results of the assessment show that |Full employee involvement with in 4 months. |assessment to increase creativity and |management is following the new organizational | | |innovation throughout the company |plans for the company. | | |Best Snacks will become number one again and |Best Snacks leads the industry with creative |Within one year, Best Snacks will have | |will remain competitive due to organizational |and innovation products and will increase |increased profit margins and increased | |changes |revenue and operating incomes |creativity. |